Book Club

Last night I attended my Book Club meeting, we meet the last Thursday of the month. I usually, 85% of the time, do not like the books we read. This month was an exception. I would recommend this book to someone who does a lot of reading or for anyone that belongs to a book club. There are so many great subjects to discuss within this book.

The club has forced me to read books I never would have read. It got me out of my “Danielle Steele type books.” Book after book after book, boy & girl meet and they end up living happily ever after. Another good thing is we are always served a glass of wine at the start with a great snack and hot tea after the book discussion.
Well, the girls LA, DDS, LL and Kristy are really starting to show me up with their blogging skills. Rumor has it Ke has a blog in the works. Her non-blogging daughter doesn’t believe that it will ever happen. I am also putting pressure on this non-blogging daughter to start one of her own. She won’t want her MoM to show her up. I’ve given up on Mau. I am going to work the kids when I see them in March. I also mentioned blogging to Lilpoppy, she could put that new camera of hers to use. I’ve yet to see a picture from that camera!!

Tomorrow TGIF.
Thank goodness.
Everyone have a GREAT weekend.

Shuffleboard

We went about six miles “out of town.” Now, the term “out of town” takes on a different meaning when you consider where we started from. When we arrived the parking lot was filled with trucks, snowmobiles and a few four wheelers. I told Mick when we parked, don’t get us blocked in, thinking we may need to leave quick.
I thought the shuffleboard that we were going to play was the kind played on cruise ships and by senior citizens in Florida. I completely forgot about this kind of shuffleboard.

We couldn’t get the machine to accept our quarters so the owner came over and told us the machine wasn’t working and play was free. She also said the machine was purchased by her grandmother in 1947. I remember playing when I was young and my brothers and I would fight over who was going to sprinkle the sand onto the lane.

We had a great night, there were six of us and we each played two games.

I didn’t know there were any pictures taken of me playing until I downloaded the media card. Thanks Mike. I can’t say for sure but I think I remember correctly, Mick & I were the only couple to win both our games.

We are planning to go back.

Library Benefit

We played in a trivia contest to benefit our local library on Friday night. It was held at a coffee shop. The donation was $5.00 per person with a maximum of six per team. We thought our chances were not that good since we are all in the same age group, plus or minus three years of 50. The other teams had wider ranges of age. Not having older team members, we thought, was to our disadvantage. Truthfully, we didn’t want to embarrass ourselves. The questions were very hard. We had a great night & I loved the game. I would do it once a month, if it were available. Mick even enjoyed it, he hates playing non sports related games.

Notice a reoccurring theme?

No Pudge

YUMMMMM

I have several food weaknesses. One of them is brownie’s. LA Girl recommended NO Pudge and they are delicious. They taste like a cross between brownies & fudge, fudge another weakness. No Pudge brownies have 120 calories per piece with Zero Fat. To make the brownies the only thing you add is No Fat Vanilla Yougurt. A piece would be an 8 x 8 pan cut into 12 slices. The brownies come in several other flavors; Raspberry, Cappuccino and Mint. I purchased all four flavors at Wegman’s. You can also purchase No Pudge off the Internet.
I have been going back to my old exercise days and walking on Sunday's. Since I have eaten about 250 calories in NO Pudge I had better get walking. Now, you go out and have a GREAT day.

Blogging 101

Mom mailed me a newspaper article titled Blogging 101, a very interesting article. The term “Blog” is shortened from the term “web log.” I always wondered why the term “Blog.” There are about 175,000 new blogs started each day. Who knew? When I started my Blog it was to keep my children informed as to what was going on at home. I never imagined there would be such an interest with friends & other family members. Although, Mick has never read it. Thank goodness, I am still scared he will find out why we had all the ants.
Some of the feedback on my Blog; “I check your Blog each morning.”, “I always like the entries with lots of photos.” during a dinner with friends “Do you have your camera? We want to get on the Blog.” and “Are you keeping things from me to save up for your Blog?” Also, I’ve received emails and been given ideas for subjects. I’ve also learned to be careful with my posts. The day I talked about the football pool 94 people from all over the world looked at the blog. I am not sure if they were criminals or law enforcement. Thankfully, none have returned to view.
It will be nice a year from now to look back and see what went on. If no one ever read this thing again I would keep it up just to have the diary. Two family members have joined this means of keeping in touch with family & friends. I hope more will join in. I am so glad I’ve started one & my life is no more interesting than anyone else’s, so I know you can do it.

Rebuilding Project

The living room renovation is coming along. The first photo shows what the shelving units looked like prior to the renovation. I never liked the arches, they look like they belonged in an Italian restaurant. The cabinetrey is not original to the house. The cabinet was built in 1974 the house in 1890.

The arches were cut off and new molding was made to go across the entire unit. The moldings were made to match the original moldings in the house. I wanted to get a few more pictures of Mick cutting off the arches but when I took the one shown he thought he cut an electrical outlet when the flash went off. He, surprisingly, is VERY tolerant of my picture taking but that little scare was the end of the photos for this day. I continually remind him that he bought me the camera.

The doors are coming off and new ones have been made. They will have no knobs and will be hung with hidden hinges. I don't want them to look like they belong in a kitchen. The cabinetrey will be painted ivory. Not sure about the color for the back wall. I have purchased paintable wallpaper that has a linen texture, we may or may not use the paper.

The brick on the fireplace is going to be refaced. LUD sent us some samples of brick and we have decided on Pennsylvania Dry Stack Stone. Will take some pictures of that phase for another post.

Happy Valentine's Day

Everyone have a SWEET day!

My Gym

This is where I have been spending four or five times a week since January 1st. The gym has a key pass system and is open seven days a week from 6am – 9pm. On weekdays I go right after I get out of work. Now, I have NEVER, in my 50 years, done any kind of exercise or sports related activity. I have been walking a three mile route about four times a week for fifteen years but I have now found out that it’s not a “get your heart going activity.” For some reason, I love this gym. It takes me about one hour to go around the circuit of 12 machines which includes stretching at the end. Mick asked me which machine I like best and I told him I liked the stretching. : ) The morning after my third workout I was so sore I didn’t think I would be able to get out of bed. I finally decided I needed to get up and was prepared to crawl into the bathroom if I had to. My poor muscles are most likely shocked that they are being used and I do feel bad for them, and they thought they were going to get thru life without having to work.

The Good. The Bad. The Beautiful.

The Good: LA girl had a car accident on the 6th. The car is a complete loss. The GOOD, neither Amie nor Lisa were injured. She will now lease a car and hopefully be safe on the busy streets of the city.

The Bad: Our weather has been terrible, since the 1st of February. My work commute has been slow going. It took me 49 minutes one morning, instead of my usual 24. We went to the Syracuse basketball game vs. Connecticut and never got home until 12:20am. There was ice, sleet, slush & snow. A section of Route 81 was even closed.

The Beautiful: My friend Sandra turned 50 Saturday, the last in my circle of friends to join the club. We had a delicious dinner out on Thursday and gave her a Syracuse sweatshirt. She is an alumni and a huge SU sports fan. Most importantly, she is a GREAT Mom. I learn so much from watching her interact with her daughters. Also, she owns her own business and is one of the hardest workers I know.

The above is a picture in NYC the summer of 2006.

sUpEr tUEsDaY

We will go out and vote today. At least today I don't have to worry about slipping up and remind Mick today is election day, if he remembers to vote my vote gets cancelled out. We will go into different booths today. NO one guessed the candidate that matched the most with my views. In fact, my candidate is no longer a candidate. Not sure what that says about my political views. I'll miss you John Edwards. I do have a nice Valentine gift in mind that I wanted to put together so we will have a winner after all. I will write down the names of everyone who guessed, I'll close my eyes and pick a name. A thanks for participating prize. I do so LOVE all the comments onto my Blog. Have a great day and for anyone in a state that can vote, GET OUT and VOTE.

Monday Monday

Well, it was a pretty exciting game last night. The Giants were the best team last night & so happy the best team won, that doesn't always happen.
Don't forget the contest, see the post from January 29th, ends tonight.

It's not to late to guess.
Also, look at the side of my Blog under "Favorite Blogs."

There is a new addition,

SMALL TOWN GIRL IN A BIG CITY.

Now I need to get more family to join the Bloging world.

WASHINGTON has started his Blog but has yet to make an entry.

Come on!

WE WON

NOTHING MORE CAN BE ADDED TO THIS ENTRY!!!!

Life in a small town at 50.

For the first time in over 20 years we went bowling.

We drew for teams prior to the start of our two games. I hate to admit, not really, the same team won both games. We are very competitive and we have competitive friends. Can you believe how happy we were to win our two games of bowling? Especially when it was against our own friends.

The very sheepish looking team the came in last place, no sorry,

SECOND place.

For all my readers who don't live in a small town, below is what a bowling score sheet looks like.Bet you didn't even know there are bowling alleys where you had to keep your own score!

Mini Ice Storm

The above picture was taken from inside our family room looking out onto the deck on Friday afternoon. The sleet and rain stopped around 7pm and then the snow started. I took the below pictures this afternoon.

This picture below is in honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday.

This is the bell I used to ring when the kids where little to call them home. Now it is for decorative purpsoes only.

Buck Rub Part Two

Our trek to look at the buck rub began at the bottom of the hill behind our lodge. To get an idea of the hill that Bone lead Leigh Leigh & I up, look off the side of the barn. The hill is not that steep but it is very wooded. Bone was blazing the trail with myself in the middle and Leigh Leigh following. The snow was deep, Bone walked fast and his stride was very long. We followed, without complaint, with the prospect of seeing what a buck rub was and what it looked like. We hiked up the hill for about 300 feet before Bone realized he went to far to the left. We started to cut across the hill when all of a sudden a wind and snow storm started. It lasted for much longer than we expected, below is Leigh Leigh during the storm.
We stood and waited for the storm to stop, my poor Southern girl. Finally, we reached the rub. One of the largest rubs Eric had ever seen??? Leigh Leigh and I could NOT believe the rub.This little twig of a tree with some bark torn off was a rub. I would have hiked by this and never even notice this being anything. Well, now we know and this taught us to be more observant while hiking. Sorry Bone, we were not that impressed.

After our adventure I did become more observant while hiking. Other signs of deer were; first our buck rub,
second a deer run, seen on our Christmas Day hike,

and finally, in the woods by the Reynolds cabin.

Unfortunately, NO deer sightings.