Let The Races Begin – Part II

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So Saturday evening was the 30th annual Shootout race in Daytona (Pre Daytona 500) and we were oh you bet ever so tuned in watching the race so intently.As the race was coming to an end, Earnhardt Jr. was in first and “MY Tony Stewart” was in second.I could not force myself to cheer for Jr., just couldn’t do it.And surprisingly enough, Hubby still had our Tony Stewart deep down in his gut and was pulling for Tony.

The race ended with Earnhardt Jr. in first and Stewart in second.And I’ll have to say we were both so happy with Jr’s win, especially with all the unpleasant stuff he went through this past year with his step mother.We’re so happy for you JR!  Jr. made his debut in his new car, the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and new # 88 and his brand new team.We are truly celebrating this victory with him. We just gotta like this great guy!

No matter how happy we are with Jr., we are still underneath it all very strong Stewart fans.We both found out that making a complete switch to another driver is easier said than done.So Tony will always be our number 1 fan and JR, not to worry, you are right up there in our #2 slot!And we are wishing you a great season! And for those of you who heard about Tony’s little altercation incident with Bush this weekend, we’ve already forgiven him in our little corner of the world and what happened in the trailer stays in the trailer.

I’m feeling so much better about watching the races now that Hubby and I are on the same team. Alright, I don’t expect to bore you all season long with racing so I will let you guys get back to all the other fun blog reading literature out there.  And really, this will not be a weekly post, I promise!

Let The Races Begin

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NASCAR Racing is beginning a new season and Hubby and I are standing by waiting for this exciting season to unfold.  Hubby is so disappointed in Tony Stewart’s owner changing Tony’s car from a Chevy to a Toyota this year.  As Hubby is all about American Made and has a problem cheering for a “Toyota”.It’s such a sad thing as I just can’t switch from being a Tony fan that easily so I will remain a very proud Stewart fan, no matter if he’s in the back of the bus.There will never be another driver to come in front of my driver Tony no matter what place he comes in.  Hubby has a very special driver that he’s been a fan of all along and he’s really pulling for this gentleman and that gentleman’s name is Earnhardt Jr.

Hubby did state that he will always be a Stewart fan and we have both learned to love Jr. even more over the past year.So I will proudly cheer for Tony and Jr.Let the races begin.

The first thing I noticed about Tony this year is his long ugly hair.I just don’t like it at all, but I’ll get over it.Some men can wear long hair and I think it suits them just fine but in my opinion, it sure doesn’t do anything for Tony.Then again, he didn’t ask me and I’m still cheering for you Tony.

TGIF

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It’s Friday! And I have a list of things I want to get done today. There’s errands to run, nails to tend to, and perhaps a hair appointment too if I can squeeze it in. And the beauty of this day – The pretty white flakes are falling ever so gently to the ground.

I LOVE the new Survivor this season! And I’m so happy the Favorites lost to the Fans last night. And even happier that little Mister Sly Johnny Fairplay got voted out. I just don’t think I could have taken him one more week. Now I’m ready to watch Survivor without my feathers getting ruffled.

Coming And Going This Week

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The week is going by quite gingerly. Tuesday evening the gentleman that purchased our furniture arrived with a U-Haul and carted it all out of here. Moving furniture in and out of here is not an easy task and we’ve learned through movers that the rock makes the best passage in and out of here. So when the “team” of guys arrived to move the furniture, Bobby explained that going up the rock was an option. Side note… We live on the ground floor but there is no way of getting out of here without going up. So when they started out they used the stairs for the loveseat. By the time they got back for the second load, ‘the sofa’, the man in charge announced they would be climbing the rock this time. So here’s the gentlemen rock climbing with that heavy sofa.

On Tuesday evening, this was the way Bobby chose to recline and I must say he had such a hard time getting comfortable. I was sitting on our hard wood dining room chairs and my bum; well let’s just say that was not the most comfortable chair to relax in all evening.


Wednesday morning first thing, the delivery showed up with our new furniture. Oh the joy it was last evening for both of us to be able to recline in the loveseat. We have always wanted to sit next to each other in the evenings and Bobby has always wanted to recline. I like to recline too and it’s nice to sit without my feet dangling as I’m so short. And it’s wonderful having the best of both worlds.

After Bobby learned the furniture was delivered, he wanted to meet for lunch. He prefers I pick him up so that we can ride together and that’s what we did. We went to a nice little restaurant downtown where we had a tasty healthy lunch, great conversation and such an enjoyable time.

Today I plan to give us a good cleaning over here and get a little laundry done up. I also need to get caught up on some ironing and I think that will keep me busy for a while. I’m also watching a beautiful snowfall and I’m more than ready for another beautiful white ground covering.

So here I go again and wishing all of you a pleasant day.

The Wandering Chef Finally Takes A Fork

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I haven’t really been able to put my finger on exactly why I have not been a happy chef until now. I believe the reason for this frustration was the very old set of pots and pans we both had from our single years. It all “boiled down” to the frustration of cooking and food sticking, burning or both and then some. Talk about “from the frying pan into the fire”, that’s what our meals were at times, BURNT, ok, so I’m exagerating a bit but just trying to get my point across.

Bobby always wanted to purchase a nice set of pans. We would look, then I would research, we would look again and I would research. Then the whole pot and pan issue would die off for a while and then we would start the whole cycle all over again. The decision was such a struggle that we kept stopping at the same fork in the road.

When we moved to NY, I really needed to make up my mind quick as I needed pots and pans and there was no more room for research or questions. I made my decision and went with the beautiful stainless steal set. I really like the quality of my set and I love that air pocket between the bottom layers of the pan that provides even heating and I like the lightness of them too. The cleanup is a snap and the glow from these pots is truly a site for sore eyes.

Cooking is no longer the dreaded chore that it once was and now I’m cooking my own lunches, no longer reaching for the Lean Cuisines every day. I’ll have to admit, it took me a while to embrace them as I had that old mentality of cooking, sticking, burning and so on. Now I’m wondering what took so long as I’ve taken to them like a fish to water enjoying this experience as much as I did when I was a kid.

What will tantalize our taste buds for dinner? Asian Chicken Stir-Fry served on a bed of jasmine rice cooked in chicken broth laced with the finest table setting and candles. Finally I took the fork and discovered the whole kitchen.

Moving Forward In More Ways Than One

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The latest news is that I’ve been staying in waiting for the gentleman to come over and pick up his furniture. He was to come either yesterday or today and with our conversation last evening, it looks like he may be here sometime today, depending on the weather. I’m also waiting on a call from the store where we purchased our furniture as it’s to be delivered tomorrow. They’re supposed to call sometime today and give me that 3 hour window for delivery so I’m hanging out here by the phone.

Other than that, I’m trying some new recipes and yesterday I was in the kitchen fixing up a couple different dishes for myself. I had a nice pot of soup on by mid morning and by the afternoon I was chopping dicing and whatnot making a nice vegetable snack. I made a cauliflower and carrot medley combined with extra special loving doses of Dijon mustard, honey, green onions, and fresh thyme. I’ve always been a lover of veggies and I’m constantly looking for great ways to mix it up. So it proved to be a great day in the kitchen for sure. Last evening I marinated chicken in a Mesquite mixture and fixed us a lovely salad loaded with all sorts of veggies. I found my favorite salad dressing which is the light Raspberry Vinaigrette with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, by the way, it’s so delish.


And the truth comes out… I’m so back on the healthy eating wagon full steam ahead with a small 7 pound loss so far this year. I’ve got a ways to go but I’m off to a good start. I won’t tell all the weight I gained having lived in a hotel for 3 months and eating out every single day, not to mention the holidays. But the excuses have run out and the scale went in the upwards direction and I went in the expanding outwards direction so it’s high time I “get a grip”, it’s time to move on.

Family Treasures

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I’ve been working on more pictures of my mother and her siblings. Unfortunately I don’t have my dad’s pictures yet so it does seem pretty one sided lately. Unfortunately over the holidays, I didn’t bother scanning any more family pictures and that bums me out. But I have made a mental note that that is one of my priorities when we return to mom and dads the next time.

A Few Family Treasures





As a child I used to love looking through all the old family albums and I always wanted to know who was in the pictures. And now as an adult, I have not grown weary of family pictures.

While we were at my parents over Christmas, mom got out the ‘old’ slide projector and we reminisced once again. As a matter of fact, that old slide projector is as old as me if not older and my parents made it a family tradition way back when to view slides at Christmas time. Mom and dad’s honeymoon pictures in Niagara Falls are in the batch of slides and I’m thrilled with the old treasure chest of memories. I’m happy that’s still a family tradition and we all enjoyed that this year with both of my grandmother’s with us.

P.S. – Bobby is so happy the Giants won the Super Bowl! For the simple reason the Patriots didn’t take the Miami Dolphin winning streak title from 1972! So here’s a little shout out for the Giants!

Ice, Sleet and Sales

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We had a great day (yesterday) in spite of the ice, sleet and whatnot. Bobby opted not to get out there in the mess and stayed home. We neither one have 4 wheel drives nor does Bobby want to take chances, so he worked from home.

He did take on another roll yesterday changing hats depending on whether our phone was ringing or not. The ad for our furniture ran for the first day yesterday and our phone seemed to ring off the hook with loads of interest and I lost count of the callers early on. Many callers took the day off due to the weather and quite frankly most of them were not game to get out at all. As a matter of fact, Bobby was telling callers that they may want to hold off coming ‘til Saturday. Well, this one gentleman insisted on coming yesterday so Bobby didn’t hold him back. Out he came in his 4 wheel drive, came in, had a look, shelled out a substantial down payment and bought it! And the kicker is we made an extra $250 smackers on top of what we purchased the set for. He’s made plans to pick it up the beginning of the week depending on weather conditions and we’ll be reclining soon with our new set!

The Beauty Of Innocence

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The beauty of innocence doesn’t get prettier than this.

Mom and Her Baby Brother


I’ve been working on this picture of mom since August and finally I was able to put together a frame yesterday that spoke to me. I have many favorite pictures of mom but I think this could potentially be at the very top.

So, to start off the “LOVE” month I thought it would be a good day to begin with mom. She’s the one responsible for teaching me how to be a lady and showed me by example a woman of grace. She is polished elegance and holds kindness beneath her wings. She has a charm that words can’t express and her gentleness has no ending. She possesses tenderness sewn with compassion and quilted with that extra special softness that was always seen day in and day out. I count myself blessed to call her my wonderful loving mother.

Plans For Vacation

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Our thoughts have turned towards more vacation time and this time we’re going to go to, drum roll please, TX!!! How did you guess? We’ve been planning another week in TX since we got back to NY from our last visit to TX which was this past November.

We’ve got good excuses though. We need to get back to change the heat over to AC. I know the realtor could do this but we don’t want it set wrong or anything. Hey, it’s our excuse after all. And then we need to turn the water back on for our sprinkler system, don’t know if the realtor could get that figured out, we better get back. Then we need to get the lawn maintenance crew back out on a weekly basis to make sure we are all manicured, not sure if the realtor knows the exact property line for the maintenance crew, we really need to get back. And I won’t mention the few BBQ restaurants we need to visit to see if they still know how to make brisket among others that I won’t mention. We have to get back home!

I’ve been checking flights and I think we’re going to narrow our trip over the weekend and make plans to go back sometime late March.

Twins – My Wish Came True

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So many memories come back when I think back on my twin nieces. There was a time when I wanted twins (way before I met my hubby) and I’ll never forget the day my brother and sister-in-law announced that they were having twins. I still remember thinking “I have my twins now” and the feeling of being content settled over me.

The girls were my little cutie pies wrapped in all their sweetness and I was so overjoyed to be their Aunt Deb. As they grew older, they would love to get their little hands on all my jewelry. They would take my rings and put them on their toes and do all silly sorts of stuff with jewelry. I still remember polishing their little finger nails and even giving them hair cuts.

On this particular day I made arrangements to have a nice little outing with just me and the girls for the day. And I’ll never forget all the fun times we had.


Back in the day, they were two of the cutest apples of my eyes and the only girl nieces we have on both sides of our families.

I’m not intentionally leaving my nephews out but my nephews in Dan’s family didn’t live in FL and my little nephew Ryan was just a little guy so the girls and I seemed to bond in those days.

This past Christmas I remember thinking oh how the time goes by. And those sweet little girls are now all grown up into very lovely young ladies and almost as tall as Aunt Deb.

I want to continue making special memories with our nieces and nephews and the times we have with family will be cherished forever.

All Hunkered In

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Last evening (late as in just before we went to bed) Bobby went out to get the mail and this

is the goodie he brought in. Every time Clay Times arrives, it’s like Christmas reading through all the pages and soaking in all the lovely pieces of art. It’s an every other month issue so I really cherish it when it arrives. The sad thing is, it’s my last issue but Bobby insists I get it again even though we don’t know how long we’re going to be at this address. As he states, just make a change of address at the time and don’t worry about it. I think he’s on to something and I may have my new subscription submitted before the day is over.

In just a bit, I’m going to be curling up here on the loveseat and ottoman, soaking in the wonders this magazine has to behold. Oh and I’ve just put on a fresh pot of coffee for this grand occasion too!

And as for the day, it’s perfect conditions to stay indoors. We have sleet/rain falling and Bobby is also here with me as the roads are covered in ice. Bobby tried to get out this morning and saw several accidents in just the short distance he went and noticed a slew of mailboxes knocked down at the bottom of the hill. And just about a mile away from home a cop was there and would not allow him to move on any further. He learned that road upon road was closed and the interstate that he normally takes was closed as well. I’m just so thankful he made it back home. Now he’s all set up with his laptop conducting meetings via the phone from home.

 The weather conditions should change as it’s supposed to be warming up a great deal today but for now we’re hunkered in. And this is the breakfast I made for Bobby, just because…

Furniture Switcheroo

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After getting all situated with our new leather furniture, we found the exact leather furniture that’s in our home in TX. We just noticed it yesterday at the discount furniture store and we decided that we now want that instead of what we already have. We love our set from home as it is a full reclining set. The sofa and loveseat both recline and we like that set so much that we just hauled off and purchased the set this weekend. The store is going to hold it for us ‘til we get rid of what we currently have. Now Bobby and I can’t wait for our new reclining set to get here!!! I’m working on the ad and I’m sure we will have no trouble getting rid of this set.

Below is a picture of what our set looks like in TX and a picture of what we have here in NY that we are going to be selling.

Thank Goodness For AAA

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It all started last evening when Bobby flew in from MD. When he got to his car it would not turn over. And the next thing he knew all the power in his car was completely gone. For that matter, he couldn’t even get his keys out of the ignition, strange. So I got a call saying honey can you come get me. Of course and I was there to get him in a flash.

So we called AAA this morning and we had his car towed to his mechanics which is about a 40 min drive from the airport. AAA finally arrived and they were able to get his car in neutral and loaded without much trouble and I had the honors of taking Bobby to work.

We decided to stop for a lunch date on the way and bumped into Quinton (the gentleman who is helping Bobby move the sofa). He’s still on for dinner and will be helping Bobby get our sofa tonight. Right after lunch I stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for dinner and got home in good time this afternoon.

Bobby just learned it was the battery and it was deader than a door nail. He tried jumping it last night for about 15 min and no luck. Bobby was not up to fooling around with it himself especially since he doesn’t have his own garage and he’s happy to let his mechanic get him back on the road with his wheels.

As for me, I’m so happy the house is clean and I’ll be ready for them when they walk through that door. But I had better keep movin’!

Happy Weekend!

Wrapping Up Our Week

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It seems I’m finally reaching the end of my huge job transferring all of my old posts over. I still have a little ways to go but I’m so happy this job is almost complete. I didn’t realize all the effort it was going to take but its well worth it as I want everything in one spot. So that’s what I’ve been doing pretty much the whole day, transferring posts. I’ve been so obsessed with this and it’s so hard for me to move onto anything else so my plan is to be all caught up and finished over the weekend.

Our plans to move our sofa last night were changed due to the owners having to go out of town for her father’s emergency visit to the hospital. So we are back on schedule to get our sofa tomorrow evening. And Quinton has agreed to help with the move and I’ve agreed to make dinner and Bobby’s agreed to play the Wii with him per Quinton’s request. I’m sure Quinton didn’t need to twist Bobby’s arm for that. So that’s our plan for tomorrow evening.

Bobby is off to Maryland today and will be flying back home tonight. And that about wraps us up for the day. Oh and I’ve been watching the pretty snow fall this afternoon, I’m loving it!