Angela

crazy baby

2012-02-08T17:21:00.001-05:00

Early yesterday morning, Buster was trying to get into our bed, so I kicked him out of the bedroom and went back to sleep. I heard a beeping noise coming from the living or dining room, but didn't think much of it at the time.

A little while later, Brian got up for work and woke me up to say that there was something wrong with Buster. Brian brought him into the bedroom and he was shaking like a leaf. It was not unlike when we have a bad thunderstorm. But the weather was just fine. We then wondered if he got into something that he shouldn't have, but we couldn't figure out what that would have been since our house is pretty much dog-proof at this point.

Buster wouldn't leave the bedroom, but I left it in order to investigate. While I was looking around, I heard the beeping noise again. It was our carbon monoxide detector, which was emitting a low battery warning. You might not know this about Buster, but he doesn't like beeping noises. This goes back to his puppyhood when Brian was trying to figure out the alarm system that we bought for the office and accidentally set it off a couple of times (we couldn't use the microwave for a week after this incident without Buster going nuts).

So, I replaced the battery in the carbon monoxide detector and, while Buster was still on alert, he was more or less ok at this point.

Fast-forward to today. I was working on my computer in the living room this afternoon and thought I heard a beep. I looked over at Buster and found out that he definitely heard a beep. I couldn't tell where it was coming from for a few minutes--it was the smoke detector in our family room. By this point Buster was shaking again and wouldn't move from the carpet by the door. He sat there for about 30 minutes (until the shaking stopped) and then moved to the dog bed.

Beep! Beep!

super bowl

2012-02-06T22:35:00.000-05:00

We had our annual Super Bowl party last night. I like to do a food theme each year (either based on one of the teams playing or on the location of the game), so after the Steelers dropped out of the playoffs, I was rooting for food. I was really hoping San Francisco was going to be in it (not because I used to be a fan, but because Napa Valley would've been a great theme), but we ended up with the Giants and the Patriots. I wasn't about to make baked beans and clam chowder, so I stretched the idea a little and we went with an Italian theme for food (there are a lot of Italians in NJ/NY in case you didn't know).

This year, our guest list included various members of our family. Everyone shared in the food preparation duties so I didn't have to do that much, really. For whatever reason, I hardly watched any football this season, so last night was the first full game I saw. And, unbelievably, the Giants beat the Patriots (again) and it was a pretty decent game at that. All in all, a good evening.

the money pit

2012-02-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

We kicked off Brian's Birthday Month of Comedies with a Family Movie Night! How's that for a bunch of made up events? This was another one of those movies that did not hold up over time. It wasn't horrible, but just not that great. Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of PG rated comedies these days, so we're stuck with the "classics".

super "bowl"

2012-01-31T22:20:00.000-05:00

In recent times, we've been having a mold issue on the wall in our basement bathroom. There was no plausible reason for the mold as the wall is completely above ground thanks to our sloped lot. The only thing I could figure was that the toilet was leaking. As it turns out, I was right.

We pulled the toilet on Saturday and found that the rubber seal that came with the toilet flange was warped and hardened. This was easy enough to remedy, but what about the wall? It was decided that we would paint the room since it would be easier to paint with the toilet out, rather than in.

So, paint we did. It didn't take too long as it is a small room, but we had to do a second coat on Sunday. I always hope one coat is going to do it, but it never seems to do the job.

We spent this evening cleaning the bathroom, so now it's all ready for our annual Super Bowl party on Sunday. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the bar.

gran torino

2012-01-28T10:14:00.001-05:00

Brian and I caught part of this movie on television a few months ago and wanted to see the rest, despite it being a Clint Eastwood film (I had just about all of the depression I could take from him after watching Mystic River and Changeling). While this movie also had a sad ending, it was the kind of movie I enjoyed watching.

Despite the overall tone of the movie, there was a surprising amount of funny dialog going on. I laughed more while watching this movie than I did for some recent comedies. In summary, this was what I would call a "good story". Well worth watching.

cleaning house

2012-01-27T23:26:00.000-05:00

In an effort to keep up with the housecleaning, I started cleaning rooms on a schedule a few years ago. I've been able to keep to it for the most part, but there was just something missing...

Brian came across this article recently. I was intrigued (because there's only one thing I like better than a schedule and that's a list). Normally, my cleaning tasks take longer than the 20 minutes of the article. Of course, I wasn't cleaning every day, either. But, I decided to give this a shot, so I broke down the tasks, made a list, and recruited Brian and Jake to help me with the work.

So far, so good. We're less than a week into it and the house looks better already. Plus, it's not a chore to devote 15-20 minutes a day to cleaning, though we'll see how I feel about that once the weather is nice again.

primal fear

2012-01-22T09:07:00.000-05:00

This was a pretty good drama from the 90s. Netflix thought I might like it and I did. As Brian mentioned while we were watching the movie, it's nice to watch something that's not purposely trying to confuse you (Inception--I'm talking about you). The movie had the requisite twist at the end--no surprise there. Overall, it was a good movie, though.

horrible bosses

2012-01-15T12:46:00.000-05:00

This was a pretty funny movie. Not hysterically so, but funny nonetheless. The plot was about three friends who have "horrible bosses" and decide to kill them. You wouldn't necessarily think that storyline would lend itself to a comedy, but it did a pretty good job with it. Jennifer Aniston played one of the bosses and she stole every scene she was in--too bad there weren't more of them. Recommended.

dirty blonde

2012-01-12T22:07:00.000-05:00

My mom bought me a few Lisa Scottoline books and I liked them, so she ended up buying me her whole catalog. While this particular book had a questionable storyline, it was a pretty quick read. To summarize the plot, the story is about a (female) federal judge who likes to sleep around (i.e. pick up guys in bars). These actions land her in trouble (otherwise there wouldn't be a story). As much as I thought the plot was corny, I did enjoy the book. I think I might try another one of hers next before I temporarily move onto something different.

family weekend

2012-01-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

Saturday night, my brother hosted a "meet and greet" for his girlfriend at his house. He had some of his friends and some of our relatives over for drinks and snacks that evening. It was a fun time. Sunday evening found us at Brian's parent's house celebrating Brian's dad's birthday (Happy Birthday, Ed!). Also, fun.

finding nemo

2012-01-08T08:54:00.000-05:00

Jake and I watched this movie quite some time ago (I think he had it on a VCR tape back in the day). Despite multiple viewings by Jake, Brian never saw the movie in it's entirety, so we watched it on Friday night. The movie was quite good--an animated classic for sure. This is one of those movies that is for more than just kids.

366

2012-01-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

So, there's the photo thing that's been going on the past few years, Project 365, where you take a photo each day and post it somewhere for people to see. The idea behind it is to make yourself a better photographer. Jake received a new camera for Christmas this year, so I suggested that maybe we should give it a try. So, we're all doing it and posting our photos to Facebook (and we've even recruited a few others to join us). It's kind of fun at this point, but I have a feeling that it's going to get tedious after a while, so I'm trying to get ahead (which is technically cheating because you're supposed to take a photo each day, but whatever).

unknown

2012-01-02T13:10:00.000-05:00

I thought this was going to be another ass-kicking Liam Neeson movie, but alas, it was not. And the plot was so contrived that it was hard to enjoy. Three thumbs down.

bad teacher

2012-01-01T09:54:00.000-05:00

Overall, I thought this was a pretty funny movie. Not a classic, by any means, but worth watching if you're into the kind of comedy that presents itself in this movie. There were a number of funny scenes/quotes, some not mentionable here. I did a Google search and was disappointed to find out that the phrase "shut the front door" did not originate in this movie, but since I first heard it there, I'll give them credit for bringing it to my attention. (We've been using that phrase around the house ever since we heard it in the commercials.) The car wash scene was hilarious and was made even better by the soundtrack ("Still of the Night" by Whitesnake). Sure, Cameron Diaz's role was over the top and her change of heart at the end was not believable, but it's just entertainment--not rocket science.

2011: the year in review

2011-12-31T19:11:00.000-05:00

Favorite movie: Without a doubt, Winter's Bone.

Favorite book: While I really enjoyed The Hunger Games series, the Sookie Stackhouse series has to trump them. I received all of the Sookie Stackhouse books for Christmas last year and read them in succession and then bought the new one when it came out in May.

Favorite music: 2011 was the "Year of the Foo" for me. I can't get enough of that band.

We went to Wildwood, NJ for vacation. While we did not do a lot of motorcycle riding this year, we did take an enjoyable day trip to Kentuck Knob. And, we finally managed to see some live stand-up comedy for the first time.

A few new business ventures were taken on--at the beginning of the summer we bought a rental house and I also launched my drinking/craft website, Everyone Drinks.

We like to know how to do things. This year we added canning to our repertoire.

Oh, and there was an earthquake in Johnstown.

Here's to 2012!

the living dead

2011-12-31T10:50:00.000-05:00

I like zombies as much as the next person, but apparently not enough to read a book of short stories on the subject. There were a few good stories in this book, but the problem was that many of the stories were only loosely related to the topic at hand. I started this book while on vacation in July and did not finish it until last week. Ugh. Of course, I read some other stuff in between. Not recommended.

christmas wrapup

2011-12-29T08:53:00.000-05:00

Judy and Dave came over last night for a Christmas visit. This should mark our last Christmas-related activity for the season. Onto New Year's...

We had a nice time sitting around and talking all evening. The dogs even behaved for the most part. Plus, I managed to snag another Foo Fighters CD and a bottle of wine, so we'll call it a winner! With four new Foo CDs, methinks it is time to get the iPod updated.

Well, I guess I have one Christmas related thing left on my to do list--I forgot send Judy's dogs' treats home with her, so I'll be making a stop at her place as early as today.

'tis the season

2011-12-26T10:22:00.002-05:00

We spent a nice weekend with our families. First up was Christmas Eve. We had dinner at my parent's house (Brian's parents also spent the evening there). Afterward, we all went to the late service at our church, where Jake performed a Christmas song on guitar. He did a great job!

Yesterday, we spent Christmas afternoon at Brian's parents house with his extended family. In the evening, my parents, brother, and his girlfriend stopped over our house for a visit.

I got a lot of nice things such as: clothes, books, kitchen stuff, watch, cds, and pedestals for my washer and dryer that Jake and Brian worked tirelessly on in the weeks leading up to Christmas--that was a nice surprise!

The holidays are all but over, so after all of the food, drinks, and cookies, it's time to get back on the "diet".

parenthood

2011-12-24T11:11:00.000-05:00

Jake and I watched this movie last night--Brian was busy in the shop finishing up a Christmas present (for me!), so he got a pass. Since I watch the television show which is based on this movie, it was interesting to watch it (again, for that matter, as I saw the movie when it first came out). While I thought the movie was good, I now understand why the television show is so boring--they basically took a two hour movie and based the first two seasons on it. Talk about slow-moving!

11/22/63

2011-12-22T22:45:00.000-05:00

This is the latest Stephen King book (or should I call it a tome?). I rather enjoyed it. When I first heard about it, I was not looking forward to reading it because 1. it is a time travel novel and I'm not normally into science fiction and 2. it is about a historical event (the assassination of President Kennedy) and I'm not all that into history, either. But, as it turns out, it was a pretty good read. It took me a little while to get into it, but at 800+ pages, this was not a surprising development. The time travel stuff was kept to a minimum (that is, it wasn't a book about time travel, it just involved time travel) and it wasn't much of a lesson in history, either (the bulk of the book took place in the late 50s and early 60s but was reminiscent of "It" and "Stand by Me").

in concert

2011-12-18T10:37:00.000-05:00

Last night, my parents and brother went to church with us in order to see Jake play guitar. Apparently he's going to be doing this every Saturday, so the novelty will probably wear off at some point. After church, we all came back to the house, had dinner and sat around the table and talked for a bit.

Jake has some additional performances coming up this week. He's in a choral concert at the school on Wednesday and he's also performing at one of the Christmas Eve church services at our church. This will be different than what he has been doing as he's going to be playing the melody while someone else plays chords along with him. At our regular Saturday services, he's one of a group of four guitarists.

limitless

2011-12-18T10:29:00.000-05:00

Eh. This movie was ok, but nothing earth-shattering. The three of us watched it last night and I believe we're all of the same opinion. Just in case you haven't heard the premise, the movie is about this pill that can make your brain work at 100%. You would think this would be interesting, but ultimately it wasn't.

christmastime

2011-12-13T22:00:00.000-05:00

While I am not completely done with preparations yet, I feel like I am on top of things this year. I got all of my shopping done early, so that helped immensely. And, the dog treats have been baked and the Christmas cards were made and are in the process of being mailed. Those are my three main things. Everything else is just a bonus.

Sure, the house isn't decorated yet, but I hate decorations so we never do that until around the 15th. So, technically, I'm still on schedule. And, I still need to wrap gifts and bake cookies. I normally like to wrap all of the gifts at the same time, but I had to wrap my sister-in-law's crew's gifts last week because my in-laws were going there for a visit and they were taking the presents for me. I didn't have time to wrap the other gifts, so those are still on my to do list.

As for baking, I'm going to bake even less this year than usual because Brian rarely eats things like cookies and I have cut back on them myself. And we're not celebrating Christmas here, so we're not likely to see a bunch of cookie-eating people at our house over the holiday. Still, I feel the need to make something, so I will bake a couple of batches of cookies next weekend. And, Christmas gives me a good reason to make truffles--there's no other time of year I can justify the calories.

bridesmaids

2011-12-11T10:16:00.000-05:00

It felt like this movie was a female version of The Hangover. That said, it was pretty funny, though I was expecting more. While there were a number of funny scenes in the movie, it didn't have any "laugh till you cry" moments. Some of the scenes were a little long. I think if the movie would have been slightly shorter, it would have been better. But, still, it was worth watching.

performance

2011-12-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

Jake started playing guitar at our church's Saturday evening service. He is playing with a couple other guitarists and his first performance was last Saturday.

Of course, all of the grandparents want to see him play, so my in-laws (and niece) came to yesterday's service (my parents will be attending a service later this month). Jake is doing a great job and it's good experience for him to play in front of people.

Church is at a kind of inconvenient time 5:30 (it's too early to eat beforehand and too late to eat after), but I threw a lasagna in the oven before we left and we all had dinner at our house after the service. Maybe it's just the former Catholic in me, but I wish the service was at 4 or 4:30. That would be perfect.

mockingjay

2011-11-30T20:59:00.000-05:00

This was the third and final installment in the Hunger Games series. I think I liked this one better than the second, but the first was still my favorite. I'm still stoked for the movie next spring. It will be interesting to see how they translate the books to film.

beetlejuice

2011-11-27T10:55:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past. This movie was enjoyable years later thanks to Tim Burton. While it was not full of laughs, it had enough of them to keep Jake interested. Plus the f-bomb was dropped at least once--you don't see that every day in a PG movie.

thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T12:41:00.001-05:00

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. My parents, brother, grandmother, and great-aunt shared the day with us.

Not to brag, but I really have this holiday cooking thing down to a science. I did have some help with the food--my mom brought cranberry sauce, my grandmother brought the pumpkin pies, and my aunt brought a jello salad. I started off on the right foot by taking Wednesday off of work in order to prepare some of the dishes ahead of time. Most of the side dishes I made were oven-based, so it made it easy to have all of the dishes ready at the same time--as soon as the turkey was done, I was able to start baking the side dishes.

It was a nice day all around. After dinner, everyone sat around the dinner table and talked. Towards the end of the afternoon, we had dessert, and that concluded the festivities.

Here are the new recipes I tried this year (hint--all of them are keepers):

Green Beans Amandine
Roasted Squash with Butter and Sage
Sweet Potato-Pecan Casserole
Basic Bread Stuffing
Parker House Rolls
Roasted Turkey with Rosemary-Garlic Butter Rub and Pan Gravy

Good stuff!

watching too much tv

2011-11-19T22:06:00.000-05:00

There is so much good television to watch, but not so much on network tv, unfortunately. Showtime keeps me busy with Dexter, Weeds, and Californication. HBO has True Blood. We don't have either channel, so thank goodness for Netflix. We just finished watching season 4 of Californication last night. The dialog on it is so funny--that show never disappoints.

I kept hearing great things about Breaking Bad (on AMC), so we rented the first three seasons around the beginning of the year. Season four just finished up in October. There is only one season left--I can't imagine how they are going to wrap the show up, but I know it will be interesting. We'll see how things pan out, but I think it could be one of my all-time favorite shows. Another AMC show that I enjoy is The Walking Dead. Last season, I thought it was good. Zombies are definitely interesting, but there wasn't much else going on. Interestingly, while many people are complaining about this season (not enough zombies, too much drama), I absolutely love it.

As for network tv, there are a few good shows on. There are some other ones I watch, too. Tuesday nights, I watch Parenthood. This show kind of sucks, but it stars Peter Krause (Nate from the amazing Six Feet Under) and I can't stop watching it due to him. Brian refers to the show as a "steaming pile of Parenthood". He's got a point. Wednesday nights used to be my favorite, but now I only watch The Middle and Modern Family. I used to like it when Cougar Town was on, but they are moving that to Tuesdays as a mid-season replacement for Dancing with the Stars. I do love Modern Family, though. It's my current favorite show on network televsion. For years, NBC had a strong Thursday night lineup, but no more. I only watch The Office now. It's still funny, but not as compelling to watch now that Steve Carell is gone.

The new show Up All Night looked funny in the previews, but was rather disappointing. I'd watch it if it wasn't up against The Middle, but The Middle is definitely a better show. I've also caught a few episodes of Happy Endings. That show has some promise, but I'm going to wait and see where it goes before I commit myself. I watched a few episodes of Suburgatory (mostly since it's on between The Middle and Modern Family), but I just can't get into it. NBC has been airing extra episodes of Up All Night in the same time slot, and that's a better choice if I'm looking for something to watch.

catching fire

2011-11-15T22:24:00.000-05:00

This was the second book in the Hunger Games series. Again, very good. I just found out recently that they are making a Hunger Games movie--it'll be out next spring. Jake and I can't wait! Next up, the third and last book in the series. Unfortunately, Jake is only half way through it, but I think I might steal it from him. I need to wrap this series up as I just got the new Stephen King book in the mail today.

the hunger games

2011-11-12T10:25:00.001-05:00

Jake was going on and on about this series of books, so I decided to give them a try. I finished the first one the other day. I have to say, it was quite good. I found myself reading when I was supposed to be doing housework, so that's how you know it was good (not that I wouldn't rather be reading than doing work, but stuff needs to get done, you know?).

The story was about a future version of the United States which is broken up in to 12 districts. On a yearly basis, the government picks two teenagers from each district who must fight to the death (until one person is left) in a televised battle. Pretty interesting.

The only negative thing I have to say is that the book is definitely written at a level for kids--as opposed to something like the Harry Potter books, which are directed at kids, but not necessarily written at a lower reading level. Nevertheless, I'm onto the second book in the series...

biutiful

2011-11-07T22:23:00.003-05:00

Oops. I ordered two depressing movies in a row. I didn't mean to do it--I forgot to update my Netflix queue. Anyway, this movie was much sadder than Rabbit Hole. But, it starred the handsome Javier Bardem. And he was speaking Spanish the whole time. +2.

The move was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, who also directed such films as 21 Grams and Babel. If you've seen either, you can guess the vibe of this one, too: depressing.

I thought it was pretty good. Brian complained about it due to the subject matter. In protest, he fell asleep on the couch during the last half hour or so of the movie. His loss.

lizzy's day out

2011-11-05T14:24:00.000-04:00

We got a new employee at Prime Design Solutions recently. She's into dogs, so I thought I'd take Lizzy in to meet her. I didn't want to take her in for a full day because I actually have work that needs to be done, so when I picked Jake up yesterday, I brought Alice home and took Lizzy back to the office with us. She's been to the office before so I pretty much knew what to expect--she was mooching scratches from the employees all afternoon. While she would not be a great dog to take to the office every day, she's not too bad on occasion. I'm sure this made her day--goodness knows, she likes going places.

arachnophobia

2011-10-30T21:25:00.001-04:00

I know I've been dogging on the movies from the past, but this one was actually pretty good. It was surprisingly uncheesy given he subject matter. It was a good way to cap off Halloween Movie Month.

rabbit hole

2011-10-29T09:51:00.002-04:00

I like a good, depressing movie just so long as there's a spark of hope at the end. This one fit the bill. Brian does not like depressing movies at all--at least not ones he can relate to.

This movie told the story of a couple's relationship in the aftermath of their young son's accidental death. It starred Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. Both were excellent in their roles. Nicole Kidman has been in some pretty bad movies recently, so it was nice to see her in a good one for a change. I'm only surprised that this movie did not make more waves at the box office.

While this film was an honest portrayal of the couple's grief, there were a couple of surprisingly funny scenes that did not take away from the message of the film at all. Recommended--except for Brian (who, incidentally, is still complaining about having to watch this movie).

p90=results

2011-10-25T21:51:00.000-04:00

I'm only a few weeks into the P90 exercise routine, but already, I'm seeing results. While I haven't lost any weight per se, I'm definitely more toned than I was when I started. And, I'm only 25 days in, so I have to think things will only improve from here.

I really like the weight training days--I will definitely base future workouts on it. I absolutely loathe the aerobic days--I will definitely trade those in for the treadmill after I complete the 90 days.

I'm happy to have found an exercise routine that works and that I don't mind doing (well, not too much, anyway).

paranormal activity 2

2011-10-23T13:16:00.001-04:00

Much like the first movie in this series, I didn't think I was going to like this one, but I did. Unlike Poltergeist, which we watched a few weeks ago, this one was actually kind of creepy. Poltergeist was just too over the top to be believable, but this movie, you could actually see happening--not really because I don't believe in this crap, but on the other hand...

I liked how they tied the two movies together--that was pretty clever. I'll definitely be seeing Paranormal Activity 3.

foo fighters

2011-10-21T22:04:00.000-04:00

Somehow the Foo Fighters have become my favorite band. I mean, I've always liked them, but never enough to buy their albums. A couple of years ago I finally picked up their greatest hits album, which I liked well enough.

A little while back, David Grohl formed Them Crooked Vultures with another of my faves, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, (and don't forget John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin). I really liked this band. It was kind of like QOTSA, but a little different. The next thing you know, the Foo Fighters released another album. One of the songs I kept hearing on the radio was reminiscent of Them Crooked Vultures, so I was into it. Then I heard another, and another, and I liked them all. So, I picked up the album and have been listening to it nonstop ever since.

The funny thing is whenever I hear old Foo Fighters songs on the radio, I like them even more than I did before. So, I'll be purchasing all of those albums, too. I suppose this is a good thing because it's slim pickings these days for good rock music.

I only regret that we didn't go see them in Pittsburgh last month. But, surely that won't be our last opportunity to see the band.

the end

2011-10-17T22:22:00.000-04:00

Of gardening season, that is. I removed the remaining plants from the garden this evening. I have to say, this is one of my least favorite days each year. But, it had to be done. I need to get the garlic planted within the next week (hopefully tomorrow), thus the urgency--the weather isn't exactly going to be improving from this point forward.

Overall this was a good gardening year. I was hoping for more tomatoes, but I think that's just because I started canning this year. Next year I will plant more so that I can preserve even more. I'm going to simplify things next year by eliminating some items and planting more of other items. My ultimate goal is to preserve enough food to get us through winter, so I need to concentrate on the things we eat the most and that are easiest to preserve.

two nights in a row

2011-10-16T08:23:00.000-04:00

Brian and I went out again last night--this must be some kind of record. We attended a wedding celebration for a couple we are friends with. They were married last month in the Caribbean. We hung out with another couple we know and had a great time. There were appetizers, desserts, drinks and an acoustic band to be had. The event took place at the Boulevard Warehouse, which was cool. Another great evening!

ron white

2011-10-15T15:47:00.003-04:00

Brian and I went to see comedian Ron White, who played at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena last night. His set was excellent and the opening comedian was pretty funny, too. This wasn't a rock show--as soon as the opening act was done, Ron started. His act was around an hour and 15 minutes--not very long--but every minute was packed with laughs.

My grandmother watched Jake while we were on our "date". Since we got out of the show earlier than anticipated (around 9:10pm), we decided to stop at the Alibi for a drink before picking up Jake.

I like the fact that the War Memorial has been bringing in some quality acts. That place sat stagnant for so long. The new management is really doing a great job. Jake and Brian are going to see Judas Priest next month. I opted out of that one because I'm not that much of a fan and it's not like the tickets were cheap. But two cool events in town in two months is pretty good.

But, I digress. Two thumbs up for a great evening!

motorcycles

2011-10-11T22:51:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful weekend so we took a spin on the bikes on Sunday afternoon. What a great day for a ride. Unfortunately, that may very well have been our last ride of the year and we didn't do much riding to begin with this year.

Besides the either too hot or too wet weather, we lost a month to buying our rental property (I'm not complaining, I'm just saying).

At any rate, winter is officially on its way.

the rite

2011-10-09T11:29:00.000-04:00

This movie was more suspenseful than horror, which is fine with me (because today's horror movies are usually a gorefest, of which I'm not a particular fan). This movie was ok--a decent movie for the month of Halloween. It was PG-13 so we let Jake watch it. I think he had his blanket over his head for half of it, but it really wasn't that scary. While the movie was about exorcisms, it was nothing like "The Exorcist" so you'll want to make sure you don't have that mindset going into this movie or you're not going to enjoy it at all.

p90

2011-10-07T19:45:00.000-04:00

I'm trying a new exercise routine called the P90. It's a routine developed by the same guy who did P90X, which is popular right now. I have no desire to be in P90X shape, so I'm doing the P90, which is easier (for the record, Brian's been doing P90X off and on).

Anyway, I've completed my first week and don't mind the routine. It's just difficult trying to fit it in as it's 6 days a week for 90 days. My ultimate goal is to get into some sort of shape doing this and then go back to my usual routine of weights and treadmill. I always lapse in exercising over the summer (why exercise when you can be outside gardening?) so I'm using this to kick-start my way back into shape.

poltergeist

2011-10-02T21:46:00.000-04:00

I thought this would be a fun movie to kick off the month of Halloween with. Jake liked it, but I just don't think some old movies hold up over time, this being one of them. It was definitely dated. Still, it was pretty mild for a "horror" flick, so it was good for Jake. He's going to totally freak out when we watch "The Rite" next weekend.

kick buttowski

2011-10-01T21:02:00.000-04:00

Today was quite productive. Not only was it laundry day, wherein I did six loads of laundry (and put away the two loads I did last night), I also took some time to clean out my email inbox and get caught up on some accounting-type things for Everyone Drinks.

I also vacuumed the house and did some shopping online (both general and Christmas). I managed to put a good dent in my Christmas shopping list, but I still have many more things to buy. Everyone is so hard to buy for anymore--it's tough coming up with something interesting year after year.

I also cooked three meals today (while I cook every day, I rarely make more than two meals in one day). Jake had a friend over last night, so I made waffles for breakfast (from scratch, of course, otherwise it wouldn't count as cooking). Next up was lunch. I have a bunch of winter squash from the CSA. I'm not a big fan of winter squash so I've been looking for interesting ways to prepare them. I found this squash soup recipe and it looked pretty good, so I made it for lunch (minus the cheese croutons. I wish I would've made those, but, alas, I had no bread on hand). Anyway, for soup made out of squash, it was pretty good. I'll definitely be making that again some day. For supper, Jake and I whipped up some Rigatoni with Spicy Italian Salami, Oven-Roasted Tomatoes, Olives and Capers. Delicious! I think we made a new record today for how many times a dishwasher can be run in a single day.

Today, I was motivated by the fact that I need to do some Prime Design Solutions work tomorrow. I wanted to clear my schedule so that I didn't have a bunch of things hanging over my head. Mission accomplished. I even managed to sneak in a nap, so not all was lost.

Oh, and I started this morning with a new exercise program. More on that in a later post.

pond lady

2011-09-30T22:25:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I was doing some yard work when I saw our neighbor walking down the street with a friend and their respective dogs. We briefly exchanged pleasantries and they continued to walk down the street. Once they got a few steps away from the house, I heard the friend say the phrase "pond lady". He was obviously talking about me because I'm the only "lady" in the neighborhood with a pond in her yard. I guess I've been called worse. Though it is interesting that we (Brian and I) used to call another neighbor "the crazy gardener". What goes around comes around.

mother earth news fair

2011-09-26T22:13:00.001-04:00

Brian, Jacob, and I went to the Mother Earth News Fair on Saturday. It took place at Seven Springs. We were hoping to hit up some of the seminars they had going on, but the one we wanted to attend the most was jam-packed, so we opted out. There were quite a lot of vendor booths to visit, so we did that instead. I was hoping some of the booths would have the info I was after, but they did not. I guess we shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss the seminars. Though, they did have a nice bookstore set up inside and there were animals on display outside (including alpacas!), so that was all good.

Just as we were about to leave, Jake got caught up in some kids' activity (against his will). Let's just say that 350 did not help further their cause on Saturday.

Overall, it was worth attending, but I probably won't go back for a few years (maybe when we're closer to the goal of building our new house).

neglect

2011-09-21T18:39:00.000-04:00

I've been neglecting the blog a little lately. I've been watching season 5 of Dexter, so I don't have movies to force me to blog. That will be remedied soon enough. Maybe I'll even read a book (if I can ever finish this book of zombie short stories I started reading on vacation).

Gardening note: I decided to remove the herb garden as it always turns into a mass of weeds by the end of the summer. I try to keep up with it, but there's only so much time to do weeding tasks. So, it's on its way out. I'm just going to plant grass in that area. I'll still grow some herbs, but they'll be in pots. There are so many things growing out there that I hardly ever use, so it doesn't seem worth the effort.

There are still some things growing in the garden, but the tomatoes have been removed. September has been a bit rainy so I haven't had a lot of time to work outside. Plus, it gets dark at 7:30, so that cuts into my gardening time even more.

The good news is that soon I will have time to do some things in the house. I need to beef up my Everyone Drinks inventory as well as work on some home-improvement type things. I guess that's one good thing about fall/winter.

hmm

2011-09-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

Nothing much going on here. I'm just trying to use up all of the daylight hours before they are gone. We spent all of Saturday at our rental property, wrapping up some projects that needed to be completed before winter. That was an exhausting day. I'm not used to doing anything but sitting on my butt for 8 hours. But, at least everything has been completed and we don't have any work to do there until next year (emergencies excepted).

I had to remove the tomatoes from the garden as they were spent. I did plant a few things for fall, but it's starting to look a little barren out there. I spent this evening working on the pond. The pond pump quit working a while ago. I replaced it, but didn't manage to bury the new piping until this evening. But, it's all good to go now.

shutter island

2011-09-04T08:42:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since we've watched a really good movie. I thought this one was going to be one, but it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, the movie was ok, but I was expecting a little more from Scorsese. The movie had a crazy twist at the end, which was good. But, clocking in at 2 hours and 18 minutes, it was a little long (I found myself glancing at my watch several times in the first hour). Overall, worth watching, but not quite what I expected.

behold!

2011-09-03T21:17:00.004-04:00

The world's most expen- sive fruit! Consid- ering the fact that I pur- chased three fruit trees (apple, peach, and cherries) and then some fruit sox to keep the bugs away, I didn't get much of a harvest for my money. Note: the entire harvest is shown in the photo.

I'm blaming it on the birds--I don't know what else would have done such a thing. All of the trees had fruit on them at the beginning of the season. It wasn't long after I put the fruit sox on the apples and peaches that the fruit disappeared. So, I guess I'll be spending even more money next year on bird netting.

I will say, that the peach was the most delicious I have ever eaten. Probably not worth the money, though.

red

2011-08-29T21:15:00.001-04:00

This was a typical action/comedy type film. It had a couple of laughs; the plot was ok. Casting Helen Mirren as a hit-woman was an inspired choice, though. I approve.

catching up

2011-08-28T22:38:00.000-04:00

I tried planting a couple more things in my "fall" garden last week: carrots, spinach, peas, and more radishes. Of course, we got a couple of inches of rain right after I planted the seeds, so who knows if they will sprout? I hope some of what I planted works out--it would be nice to have a few veggies in my fall arsenal.

Yesterday morning, we went to the range to target practice and in the afternoon, we took a motorcycle ride to the Flight 93 Memorial. It was a lot different than the last time we were there (quite a while ago), but I thought it was going to be further along for the 10 year anniversary. The next phase isn't going to be complete until 2014, which will pretty much wrap things up. I guess we'll be going back then.

This afternoon, we went to Yellow Creek State Park for a wind and solar power class. It was pretty interesting. They have both wind and solar power set up at the park and went over the pros and cons of each. If we build a house in the future, as we are hoping to, we'd like to implement some green technologies in order to reduce our dependence on "the grid".

Tomorrow is back to school for Jake and we already have a packed fall schedule. I'm almost looking forward to winter so I can relax for a couple of months. Yeah, right.

infrequent occurrences

2011-08-24T21:49:00.001-04:00

So, the earthquake yesterday was pretty exciting. Who would have ever thought we'd have an earthquake in Pennsylvania?

I was sitting at my desk and heard Brian get up and walk down the hall. My first thought was that he was walking rather heavily to be shaking the walls like that; my second thought was that he was doing something in the basement that rattled the walls; my third thought was that someone hit our building with their car. I didn't have a chance for any further thoughts as one of our employees exclaimed that there had been an earthquake. Crazy! Hopefully that will be the first and last of that nonsense.

Yesterday was exciting for other reasons, too. I actually left the office at lunch and went out with Judy. She was in the area around lunchtime and invited me to the Village Street Cafe, which happens to be one of my favorite places to eat, so how could I say no?

the mechanic

2011-08-21T08:50:00.002-04:00

This movie was ok for what it was--full on action--but certainly not the best of the genre. Still, I liked it better than last weekend's movie, The Fighter.

kentuck knob

2011-08-17T22:36:00.000-04:00

Ever since we visited Fallingwater a few years ago, I've been wanting to see Kentuck Knob (not to mention a number of other Frank Lloyd Wright creations).

I actually liked this place better than Fallingwater, if you can believe that. I felt it was more practical in nature. Plus, it was very well kept. Apparently the owner of the house still entertains there in the summer.

We couldn't have asked for a better day to visit. We both took the day off and went there on our bikes--what a nice trip it was! Perfect weather and motorcycle roads. We stopped for some pizza when we got back to Johnstown. Who could ask for anything more?

the fighter

2011-08-14T09:19:00.003-04:00

I hate it when I rent a movie that was supposed to be good but it bores me to tears. This was one of those movies. It did not help that all of the characters--except for two--were completely unlikeable. I will say that the boxing scenes were kind of good (very realistic), but that's about it. I guess I should have read Roger Ebert's review before adding this to my queue. That about sums it up.

after dark

2011-08-12T22:04:00.002-04:00

It's already starting to get dark before I'd like it to. I'm able to garden until about 8:30pm at this point, but before you know it, it'll be dark at 7pm and I will no longer get outside during the week, regardless of how nice it is outside. I was reminded of this fact this evening when I was harvesting potatoes from the garden--the garden is getting a bit thin. In a few weeks, there won't be much left growing. On the plus side, at least I'll accomplish some things in the house--I have a hard time doing all there is to do whenever I'd rather be outside gardening. I could almost be happy with the crappy weather we put up with around here if it didn't get dark until after 8pm every day.

dodging bullets

2011-08-07T10:17:00.002-04:00

As if I needed a reason to want to expand my garden, put up my own food, and get some livestock, too, our personal food supply has been involved in two recalls this year. And, the year's not over yet.

Since we have a Giant Eagle Advantage card and they track all of our purchases (kind of like a "Grocery Big Brother"), we were contacted directly both times. The first one occurred in the spring and was related to salmonella-tainted cucumbers. However, we had already consumed the cucumbers a few weeks prior to the call, so there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it. Obviously we did not contract salmonella (or you would have heard about it here), so I guess you could call it a false alarm.

The second one occurred this week. Again, Giant Eagle contacted us about salmonella-tainted ground turkey. We consumed the turkey a month or two ago with no ill effects, so, again, no action is required on our part. I've always operated under the assumption that all turkey and chicken products contain salmonella, so I'm not sure how all of these people are getting sick from this. I mean, unless I'm missing something, proper food handling and preparation should prevent any illness from occurring when consuming poultry products. Still, it is a shame that we have to be concerned with the safety of our food supply.

crocodile dundee

2011-08-06T12:05:00.001-04:00

It's strange how the movies I enjoyed while growing up aren't quite as entertaining 20+ years later. Case in point: Crocodile Dundee. I remember liking this well enough when I was younger, but I didn't find it all that entertaining last night. But, seeing as how we're all caught up on watching recent "family" movies, I guess we'll be stuck on the past until Jake is old enough to start watching the types of movies we usually watch (that is to say R-rated).

fall garden

2011-08-04T23:15:00.000-04:00

After removing some spent plants, I ended up having a large empty space in the garden. So, I dug through my seeds to find out what I could plant for fall. I've tried planting seeds for fall before, but have only had luck with broccoli rabe. But, since I had the opportunity to try again this year, I went for it. So, in went the broccoli rabe, lettuce, radishes, and beets.

The soil got a fresh layer of compost, so if that doesn't help, I don't know what will. I noticed that the radish seeds were sprouting already. They sprouted in the past, but were rather pithy. We'll see how it goes this year.

shoot

2011-07-31T13:49:00.000-04:00

Because Brian's "so caught up in [me]," he bought me a .38 special as my anniversary present this year, which marked 15 years. Coincidentally, we joined the Portage Revolver and Pistol Club at the beginning of the year. We have a few other guns that we haven't shot in a while and wanted to do some target practice. My Dad joined the club as well because he bought a replica muzzleloader this year and needed a place to shoot it.

In addition to the "club" location, they also have a location out in the middle of nowhere in Portage. That is where we went yesterday to shoot. This was our first time out and it was pretty fun. We even let Jake shoot some of the smaller guns. We're hoping to go back a few more times before the weather turns cold.

my melons

2011-07-29T23:28:00.002-04:00

A few years ago, I tried growing water-melons from some plants that I bought at a local nursery. I believe I got one watermelon--approximately the size of a quarter--for my efforts. Not all that refreshing, really. But, a friend and fellow gardener introduced me to the "Sugar Baby" watermelon. Since I like to try something new every year, I decided to try it this year. I was pleasantly surprised to see some watermelons forming. They must really like heat and humidity because they really started to grow during the recent heat wave. I don't want to wish away the summer or anything, but I am looking forward to trying these watermelons next month.

cocktail party

2011-07-23T13:40:00.001-04:00

Last night, we hosted our first cocktail party. It was a lot of fun. We had a handful of friends over for drinks and appetizers. I made way too much food (note to self: make less next time), but I tend to do that (I've never been accused of sending anyone away hungry). It was nice getting to talk to some people I don't get to see all that often. Best of all, everyone seemed to have a good time, so I'll call this party a success.

nothing to report

2011-07-20T22:59:00.000-04:00

But, I'm going to do a quick report anyway. Since we got back from vacation, I haven't had anything pressing to do, though there's always something to do. I did some weeding outside. I can't say I finished because that work is never done until winter, though things are looking pretty good. We did a bunch of canning/preserving over the weekend (blueberry jam, pickles, and pickled cherries) despite my proclamations that I don't want to can more that one thing a weekend. I also picked the rest of the garlic and made some onion braids. I had some smaller onions, too, and I put those on the storage rack Brian made me at the beginning of the season.

Work has been going ok, too. Though, since we hired the new sales guy, all I have been doing is writing proposals and this week was no different. But, this is a good thing, though I'm a little concerned that a bunch of projects are going to hit at once, but these are good problems to have.

All in all, things have been going great and the weekend is shaping up to be a good one, too.

wildwood crest, nj

2011-07-14T22:24:00.000-04:00

We went to the Jersey Shore for our 2011 vacation. We let Jake take a friend this year so the boys had a great time swimming and otherwise. For the most part, we stuck to the beach and the pool, but we did do a couple of extra things yesterday (our last full day of vacation). In the morning we went to the boardwalk wherein we did a little shopping; the kids played some video games; and we visited the Wildwood Insectarium, which was pretty cool. Later that afternoon, we went to the Cape May Winery. Their wines were pretty good--we brought home two bottles.

Brian and I got some well-deserved R&R. We got in a lot of reading and relaxation. I busted my ass at work and the house the weeks prior to our vacation so that I wouldn't have a bunch of stuff hanging over my head while we were away and that definitely paid off.

cross

2011-07-13T21:54:00.000-04:00

It's getting hard to keep track of all of James Patterson's Alex Cross novels. One thing is for sure--I always enjoy reading them and this one was no different. At this point, I'm pretty sure that I've not read these books in any kind of order, but it doesn't seem to matter too much.

I do find that I enjoy Patterson much more if I don't read two of his novels in a row, so I'm going to keep to that schedule and read a few other things before tackling another one of his books.

everyone drinks

2011-07-12T22:11:00.001-04:00

Well, my website, Everyone Drinks, finally launched at the end of June. I was holding off on the official announcement because there were still a few things that needed to be done to the website. All of the major stuff is done, but there are still a few things remaining--I'll get to them someday. At any rate, the site is up and running. Now, to start my marketing campaign...

law abiding citizen

2011-07-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

We watched this movie over the weekend. If you are able to suspend disbelief at all the numerous improbable plot turns, it was kind of interesting. But, overall, not a great movie.

dead reckoning

2011-07-09T22:55:00.000-04:00

This was the latest book from Charlaine Harris, whose books inspired HBO's True Blood series. On one hand, I wasn't as into this book as some of her others. On the other hand, I tore through it pretty quickly. It did serve as a warm-up for season 3 of the series, which came out on DVD recently and will be topping my Netflix queue shortly.

canning

2011-07-06T22:15:00.004-04:00

So, I got canning equipment for Mother's Day and my birthday (including a fancy-ass pressure canner). Now we are canning. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while (I mean, my freezer only holds so much stuff).

Despite the fact that I'm a hypochondriac and fear that I will contract botulism each time I eat one of our canned goods, we have been soldiering on with this project. We've been trying to can something every week (I say "we" because Brian is on board with this project--and we even got Jake into the mix last weekend). We are running out of ideas until tomatoes come into season (soon enough), so we might not be able to keep up with our previously torrid pace. So far we've done two types of strawberry jam and two types of mustard. I can't wait to start canning tomatoes, salsa, and tomato sauce! We'll probably be doing pickles next but that might have to wait another week or so as I don't have enough cucumbers yet. Anyway, I definitely like learning new things and this has been a lot of fun so far.

blue valentine

2011-07-04T19:47:00.000-04:00

I heard a lot of good things about this movie, so I was surprised to find that I did not like it as much as I expected to. Sure, the movie was depressing, but that much I knew going in. The performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were great. But, it was just missing something--and I don't know quite what. Brian did not like it at all. That, I would have guessed.

garlic braids

2011-06-30T22:16:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to try my hand at braiding garlic for some time now. I finally got around to doing that tonight. It was pretty easy and looks cool so I think I'm going to do that with all of the garlic from my garden (and the onions, too).

My garden is doing pretty well this year. The potato plants look better than they ever have in past years. I'm hoping that means I'm going to get a good harvest. I'm trying a few new things this year, watermelon being one of them. I have a couple of tiny watermelons growing. I hope they turn into something.

The only negatives to note are the eggplant and carrots. Something is eating the eggplant leaves--I do not think the plants are going to survive. As for the carrots, every year I have to plant carrots twice. They never seem to come up the first time. This year, I got them in the ground late. By the time I decided that the seeds were not going to sprout, it was too late to reseed. I'm going to be disappointed in the fall--picking carrots is one of the fun things about gardening. I guess there are a couple of them growing out there, but it's not going to be the same as picking 10 pounds of carrots.

The cucumbers are doing especially well, too. I think we're going to have a bumper crop this year. Coincidentally, Brian and I have started canning this summer, so pickles are on the upcoming schedule. I'll have more on canning in a future blog post...

salt

2011-06-26T09:39:00.001-04:00

We drank Margaritas while watching Salt, coincidentally enough. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a fan of Angelina Jolie action movies. This movie wasn't as bad as Wanted, but I could have thought of a better way to spend 90+ minutes.

drizzle in the valley

2011-06-26T09:33:00.000-04:00

The weather was not ideal for this year's Thunder in the Valley, but we managed to go downtown a couple of times (albeit without the bikes). Thursday night, we caught half of a set from the Eric Tessmer Band. I could have listened to them all night. The band was great, but the guitarist was phenomenal.

We took Friday off, as is our custom and we went downtown in the afternoon and walked around for a bit. Saturday, having seen all there was to see, we simply went for a ride on our bikes. Next year, I think we need to branch out and check out Windber Rumbles.

poor alice

2011-06-24T08:56:00.000-04:00

Alice had to have some lumps removed (5 to be exact). Poor dog. She's doing well. Though, she's not allowed to go on walks or anything for two weeks.

Prior to her surgery, the vet did some routine bloodwork. Everything was good except her triglycerides. They were 1,500. They're supposed to be in the 70-100 range. So, I guess you could say they are a little elevated. Sigh. The first thing we need to do is put her on low fat dog food. Of course the prescription stuff from the vet has the lowest fat in it, so I'm going to buy a bag of that to start. I'm hoping I can find something at Petco that is comparable. Beyond that, I'm not sure what can be done. I'm assuming there's probably a pill for this, but it's not like she needs to be on any more pills.

While she was out, the vet also cleaned her teeth. I noticed that she cut her toenails too (that one was a freebie). I think this particular visit may have wrapped up the financing for the Law wing of Richland Veterinary Hospital.

fushing feefs

2011-06-22T22:01:00.000-04:00

So, I was all excited the other week because my fruit trees were bearing fruit. I went to the trouble of ordering nylon footies to put on each piece of fruit so that they would not get eaten by bugs. One day recently, I noticed one of the nylon footies in the driveway. I assumed it must have blown off the tree. Another day, I noticed one in the yard. By this point I was pretty curious, so I took a look at the trees to find that almost all of the fruit is GONE. There's maybe one peach and one apple left. I have to assume the birds stole all of my fruit, but the jury is still out on that one. My neighbor informed me that a gang of chipmunks has been hanging around my garden during the day, so they are suspects as well.

predator

2011-06-19T13:15:00.000-04:00

This was a novel by Patricia Cornwell. I've read some of her stuff in the past and it was ok, but I just could not get into this book. I was trying to slog through it because I got the latest Sookie Stackhouse novel for Mother's Day and was anxious to start reading it. Still, it took me over a month to read. But, I finally finished it yesterday. By the time I got to the end, I didn't even know what was going on. I'm sure I'm not going to have any of these issues with the book I'm reading now.

black swan

2011-06-14T22:43:00.000-04:00

Cripes. I've been so busy I haven't had time to blog about this movie, which we watched last Friday. Saturday we had a wedding and Sunday Jake had a belated birthday pool party with his friends at my in-laws' pool. Beyond that, we have been spending time at the office (painting the exterior) and doing some odds and ends at a rental house we bought two weeks ago. So, it's not like I have been busy or anything...

Anyway, I found this movie to be a disappointment. It sounded like it would be right up my alley, so I was careful to not pay attention to all of the hype surrounding it. However, for a thriller, it was not thrilling enough. I guess the overall premise was clever, but I just wasn't into it. Interestingly enough, Brian managed to stay awake through the entire movie (and I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with the gratuitous lesbian sex scene that was part of the film). He liked the movie, by the way.

real birthday

2011-06-08T22:56:00.000-04:00

My birthday started off on a bad note. I was outside doing a few things and I got stung by a wasp. But, thanks to Jake's quick fingers, we found a couple of remedies to try and one of them worked. We tried onion, baking soda paste, ice, and Tylenol. I'm putting my money on the ice and Tylenol, but who knows?

After that, things improved. Brian grilled up some food and we had lunch outside on the patio. It was a pretty nice day. For presents, I received more canning stuff (namely a canning cookbook and a pressure canner). I spent a good chunk of time that evening going through the cookbook and picking out recipes. We even ran to the hardware store to pick up some canning jars. Hopefully we'll get to can something in the next couple of weeks--I can't wait to try it!

megamind

2011-06-04T23:17:00.000-04:00

This was a pretty good film, for a cartoon. Will Ferrell did the voice for the title role and he was totally excellent. All three of us enjoyed it. Sadly, Brian fell asleep halfway through (I don't remember the last time he made it through a movie, though).

fruit

2011-06-01T21:59:00.000-04:00

I planted some fruit trees last year (apple, peach, and cherry). I didn't get any fruit from them last year, but this year, there are little fruitlings on all of the trees. The peach and apple have a decent amount of fruit on them, but there are like three cherries on the cherry tree. I guess I won't be making cherry pie.

the girl with the dragon tattoo

2011-05-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

This was a pretty good mystery. A friend recommended the movie to me, but just last weekend, my (great) aunt was telling me how good the book series was, so I had intended on reading the book before watching the movie. However, I forgot to update my Netflix queue and the movie happened to be at the top, so guess what we watched this weekend? Oh well. I still might read the book but it's not as urgent now. By the way, this was a Swedish film so if you don't like subtitles, you might want to wait until this comes out later this year as an American remake.

birthday

2011-05-25T21:58:00.001-04:00

We'll it's not my birthday quite yet, but my parents had us over on Sunday to celebrate my (and my brother's) birthdays. We had a delicious turkey dinner and then opened presents, wherein I received the worst present ever from my brother. He bought me a scale that I wanted, but the damned thing makes me weigh four pounds more than my previous scale. I guess the good news is that I still lost the weight I thought I did, but now I want to lose more so I can hit my "real" target weight. Damnit.

oops

2011-05-23T22:12:00.000-04:00

I've had an algae problem in the pond, so I thought I'd try some pond dye in it (pond dye is supposed to block out the rays that allow algae to grow). It arrived today so I mixed some up and dumped it in and now the pond is solid black. Methinks I put too much in. It shouldn't cause any problems, but you definitely cannot see anything now. So, in effect, it has solved my algae problem. I suspect with more rain in the forecast, the pond will turn a lighter color shortly. If not, hopefully the algae that is in there will die from lack of sunlight.

painting & drinking

2011-05-22T11:56:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, we spent a good bit of time at the office and started painting the outside. We got most of the rear wall done and all of the one side (with the exception of a few small areas that need to be cut in). It looks great. My only concern is the weather forecast--I'm not sure when we will be able to finish up. We need probably 3-4 hours to do the other wall. If we have any nice days this week, we'll go and do some of the areas we skipped. After everything is done, we have to go back and paint the trim, but that will be easy in comparison. Boy did this make us tired--we're used to sitting on our butts all day, not doing actual work. Even after a nap yesterday and a decent night's sleep, I woke up tired this morning.

Last night, we had another couple over for drinks, appetizers, and conversation. It was a nice evening to spend on the patio. I think we're going to be doing more entertaining like this and less "dinner" entertaining and see how that goes--it's so much less work, but with the same results.

127 hours

2011-05-21T09:19:00.001-04:00

Long time, no blog. Good thing I watch a movie just about every week, otherwise I might not have anything to say.

Last night we watched 127 hours. I found the acting and cinematography to be excellent, but overall it was kind of boring. I mean, there's only so much you can do with one character that immobilized in a cave, you know? The movie clocked in at about 90 minutes, so it's not like they could have made it any shorter. The part where the guy cut his arm off was pretty disgusting. I'm thinking they could have shortened that scene a bit, though.

Today is supposed to be beautiful, so we're going to start painting the outside of the office. Hopefully we will get a lot done because the forecast is calling for some sort of precipitation 11 out of the next 14 days so who knows when we will be able to paint again.

the week

2011-05-14T09:57:00.001-04:00

I got all caught up with my vegetable garden last week. Everything that is supposed to be planted is now planted. Whew! Of course, there will be more to do in the coming weeks but it feels good to be caught up. I have plenty of other things to do outside, too. First up will be weeding.

Yesterday was Jake's 11th birthday (Happy Birthday to Jake!), so we went out for dinner at Rey Azteca to celebrate. Jake's friend and his friend's mom joined us for dinner. The food there is really good and I still can't believe how cheap it is. As crowded as that place always is, you'd think they'd raise their prices.

This afternoon, we're making a trip to Toys R Us so Jake can spend all of his birthday money (which, evidently, is burning a hole in his pocket). And, tonight is Family Movie Night. So, the fun continues...

sunday

2011-05-11T17:34:00.000-04:00

We had a Jake's birthday/Mother's Day cookout on Sunday. It was just with the family--Jake will have a kids' pool party next month. The day was pretty nice, so we did the outside thing. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. Brian and Jake worked like mad on Saturday to open the patio, so at least we were able to use it. It was an afternoon full of drinking and eating. Brian's dad brought this cool bottle of wine (check out the label). And my mom brought some homemade limoncello (yum!). Couple that with the extra wine from our bottling session the night before, and there was no shortage of things to drink! A good way to spend the afternoon.

the book of eli

2011-05-07T09:43:00.000-04:00

Continuing with the Denzel Washington theme (we watched Unstoppable last weekend), we watched The Book of Eli last night. It was a pretty good movie, but I was so tired from working outside all evening that I had trouble concentrating on it. There were some great fight scenes and it was an interesting story with some cool twists. I only wish I had been more alert while watching it.

mulch

2011-05-07T09:37:00.000-04:00

We had a bunch of mulch delivered yesterday and got that taken care of last night. The three of us worked like mad to get things done before dark. During the mulching process, I removed the nonproductive blueberry plants and raspberry bushes. It made it easier to mulch, anyway. Someday, I will attempt both again, but not until I can put them in a secure area.

minus one

2011-05-05T22:21:00.000-04:00

Since I have been having trouble coming up with content for both of my blogs, I have switched back to a single blog. My gardening blog has been imported into this one and has been deleted. Since I had my gardening blog on my custom domain (angelalaw.net), I'm going to use it for this blog now. It's not currently working, but hopefully it's just a DNS thing and will be up soon.

unstoppable

2011-05-01T22:20:00.001-04:00

I didn't really want to see this movie, but since it was partially set in central PA, I figured we'd watch it as a Family Movie Night (rather than the kids' movies that we always watch). The problem was that Jake ended up not being around this weekend (he apparently doesn't sleep here anymore on Fridays or Saturdays), so Brian and I watched it last night. Correct that--I watched it last night. Brian fell asleep 15 minutes in (that seems to be a recurring theme lately). This movie was kind of like Speed on a train. That statement wasn't a compliment.

too much rain

2011-04-28T22:45:00.000-04:00

I mean, seriously. Besides having an effect on my gardening schedule, this rain has been affecting other parts of my life as well. For one thing, we haven't been able to get the motorcycles out of the shed. Due to this, we haven't been able to get the lawnmowers out of the shed. We got the bikes out yesterday so the grass has finally been cut. Good thing, too, because it was only about 10 inches high. I've needed to access some other stuff in the shed, but the bikes were in the way of that, too. I guess I'm good to go now, but I feel like I'm so far behind because I haven't been able to work outside much this spring. Jake's family birthday party is next weekend, so I need to get ready for that. We like to do a cookout, but the weather rarely cooperates. Just in case, I need to be prepared for it.

water, water, everywhere

2011-04-24T15:31:00.000-04:00

It has been raining like every day this month. I haven't been able to plant anything for a couple of weeks (and given all of the rain, the potatoes and onions are probably rotting in the ground). Nor have I gotten much done outside. Everything's so wet. Ugh. It's not just me, the farmers haven't planted yet either according to an article in the local paper.

I'm assuming that the weather will turn around at some point, so I'm moving forward wherever I can. One of my friends sent me a variety of tomato seeds (and also some gherkin seeds--I've never planted those before) this week so I planted all of them last night, with the assumption that I will be able to garden by the end of May.

NOAA weather is again calling for rain every day this week until Friday, on which it will be 58 degrees. Great.

the town

2011-04-24T15:10:00.000-04:00

This movie was directed by Ben Affleck, who was also the lead actor. It was a "heist" movie which is a subject matter that Brian and I typically enjoy. While I have never been a big Affleck fan, I thought he did really well in this movie. He also directed Gone Baby Gone which I thought was pretty good, too. So, I guess I'm going to have to keep an eye on his movies in the future.

johnstown generals

2011-04-23T09:15:00.000-04:00

Last night, we took Jake and one of his friends to a Johnstown Generals game. The boys had a blast, as they always do. I'm not sure of Brian's opinion of the game, but I was a little underwhelmed. It was not as polished as I was expecting and the play was not quite on par as compared to something like ECHL hockey.

The War Memorial was maybe 1/4 full. The boys wanted to change seats so we let them go over to the end zone area. No sooner did they get there and they were kicked out of their seats by the usher. It seems that tickets for the first four rows are more expensive than the rest so they don't let you sit there unless you've paid to do so. Never mind that hardly any of the seats in the building were sold. It's always been my experience that you can pretty much sit wherever you want at these kinds of events. But, if someone with a ticket shows up and you're in their seat, you move. So, I thought that was a bit much, but maybe that's just me.

just one look

2011-04-21T22:20:00.000-04:00

This book had the most convoluted plot of any book I have ever read. At first, it seemed like it was going to be interesting, but in the end, it was not. I still don't get the ending--it made no sense. I think I'm going to stay away from this author's (Harlan Coben's) other books.

the weather

2011-04-21T22:14:00.000-04:00

The weather has not been very cooperative this spring. Usually we have a couple of nice days strung together, but we've only had a couple of nice days total so far this month. So, I have not been outside much, unfortunately. I did manage to get the pond open on one of the nice days, but that's about all I have done outside. I hope it gets nice soon because I have a lot to do.