Happy Friday: Holidays and Such

Possibly the best sandwich I've ever made. Pretzel bun, peppers, pickles, apple, tomato, pepper cheese, honey ham...And yes that is a pumpkin and a tiara in the background. Don't pretend there's nothing odd in your house.

Hey, friends! It's shaping up to be a cool, but clear Good Friday. We've got family visits and new things planned, so let's hope it stays rain free during the days and warm enough not to ruin my new garden. Happy Easter to all who celebrate it!

On to some webby goodness...

1) If you need a new kind of photo gift, or are just trying to spruce up the old abode, ceramic tiles might be a good idea.

2) The web-only shows are popping up like April showers. Squaresville is one of the latest.

3) Geek Goddess Felicia Day has a new YouTube channel, Geek and Sundry for "the very best of indie geek culture."

4) All the cooks out there will appreciate the Garject, a device to help you cook with the fresh stuff without getting the scent all over your hands.

5) Stop your junk mail with the free PaperKarma smartphone app.

That's all for me. Have a great weekend, lovelies!

Relief Is A Wonderful Feeling

Finally! We closed on our refinanced mortgage today. We'll save about $100 a month, which is a very welcome position to be in.

We've had quite a few bouts of luck in the past week or so. HUBS and I have both made some extra cash. He landed a computer consulting job, and I did a stint as a medical research guinea pig (They took some blood, I tasted some stuff...The pay was pretty good for 18 hours of non-work.). I've also been making a bit doing surveys online.

I already mentioned our day trip on Saturday and our weekend filled with eating nice food I didn't cook.

Things feel slightly lighter right now, and that's nice. Plus, yesterday, I did this:


I know, that looks like nothing, but it's not. It's a garden, people! If all goes well, we'll be able to save even more money by not buying every vegetable and herb under the sun...Because we'll be growing some of them ourselves! Don't get me wrong, I do not delight in outdoor activities and the relatively small amount of time I've put in so far (three hours yesterday and one and a half today) have proven that gardening will be a workout. But, we need to do all we can to limit our expenses, so I'm willing to give this a try toward that end.

The only thing I'm battling right now are my own bad habits. For the past month I've been eating dessert twice a day. I even went so far on some days as to skip meals so that I could eat another dessert. Now, I'm no nutritionist, but that can't be good. As much as I believe in daily dessert breaks, even I must admit that's not a pattern that should be sustained.

I was able to eat one dessert yesterday, though the craving for another post-dinner was so strong I actually felt anxious and antsy not caving for about 40 minutes. Let's all hope I can keep up my resolve.

What's good in your life right now? Have you sucessfully broken any bad habits?

Music Monday: Getting Around

It was a nice weekend folks. We got out, took a road trip, ate some good food, saw a movie and did some different things. Here's our weekend by the numbers...

96.4 - Miles driven each way
1 - Number of road trips taken
4 - Hours in the car
3 - Meals eaten away from home
2 - Live turtles trying to cross the road at different points in Illinois
2 - Number of cars from opposing lane of traffic that drove toward me head on in an attempt to pass the car in front of them
0 - Pant wettings when the aforementioned terror occurred...but it was very, very close
3 - Farm equipment graveyards passed


1 - Home of Popeye driven through
4 - Times I got teary-eyed during Hunger Games
5 - Instances the dystopian future of Hunger Games made me angry
2 - Arguments had
1 - Nap taken
5 - Desserts eaten

So, how was your weekend?