How We Keep the Dog Alive

This is one of my "Kenny is outside going pee" hats. Dax and I are easily distracted people, and we constantly worry that we're going to let the dog out to go to the bathroom and then forget he's out there, and it is COLD outside! Kenny rarely barks so there's no guarantee that he'd let us know if he wanted in. Dax came up with the solution that whoever lets the dog out, puts on a hat until we let him back in. It works like a charm, and I get a moment to be stylish too! ;)

Wow. I'm boring myself!

From Saturday...

After taking this one, I realized every single picture so far is from inside my house. Yes, it's cold, I haven't been going anywhere, but sheesh! I'm a little surprised at how boring I am. So today I decided to mix it up a bit and take a cell phone pic from the McDonalds drive-thru. Still boring, but boring with a different background.

Some may notice the absence of a Sunday photo. Let's all just assume that I looked fabulous and was far too busy with my exciting life to stop for a snapshot!

Wugh.

From last night...



Dax and I went to dinner. It was nothing fancy, but we'd been planning on going for awhile and looking forward to it. The photo above was taken by my best friend before we left the house, and unfortunately, was the happiest I was all night. We fought on the way there, talked about stressful stuff while we were there, and pretty much did our own thing for the rest of the night when we got home.

Me tonight....

still not feeling terribly happy.

Mii

I dusted off the Wii Fit today. As you can see, I've had it a long time, but most of those days, the balance board just hung out under the couch with dead batteries. I pulled it out and dusted it off today though. It's time to start exercising again. I hurt my left knee twice within the last couple of weeks, so I need to start slow, and the Wii Fit is perfect for that! My favorite is Rhythm Boxing.

Tough girl.

Cleaning Up

Today I had to help out at chess club, so that means I had to be presentable. Yay! My hair is naturally curly, and I have grown to like it best that way, but I'm out of my good curly hair stuff and it's kind of pricey. Plus, it takes my hair three hours to dry, and it's COLD here! So I straightened it which has the added benefit of looking decent for a few days before I have to wash it again. I have crazy dry hair....

This is what it looks like right after I blow dry it. Every time. I even brushed it down before the picture so it wouldn't look toooo crazy. lol. I have always thought that one day I should go as Magenta from Rocky Horror Picture Show for Halloween. But only if Dax goes as Dr. Frankenfurter.

You Say You Want a Resolution?

Inspired by the 365 projects I see floating around (where you take a photo a day of something/anything) and my own slovenliness, I've decided to perhaps go the self-absorbed route and take a photo of myself everyday.

What can I learn from this? Well, I'm hoping I learn something more about me. I've neglected to post to this blog like I hoped I would, mostly because I've been neglecting to live my life like I want. As time goes by, I see myself settling into more and more bad habits of laziness and convenience. I'm not creating the me I want to be. I'm wallowing in old patterns and heading down a path towards a place I do not want to go. Maybe at the end of the year, this project will have shown me if I'm happy, if I'm making the most of myself and my life, and if I ever bother to brush my hair unless I have "plans". If I really look at how I look, maybe I'll see what other people must see and maybe I'll make some changes. I hope my end of the year photo is better than this one. And I also hope that this isn't the ONLY photo I ever bother to post.

So this is the first picture (and not surprisingly, I apparently did NOT start with photos on January 1st like I hoped I would. I mean seriously, I haven't even sent out my Christmas cards yet. I'm not exactly "on the ball" about things.). This picture was taken right before I started writing this entry, so probably around 4:30 in the afternoon. I slept in my clothes last night because I had to get up at 4:15 am to take my brother to the airport. I also had my hair in braids and slept in them too. This was all to hopefully trick my brain into thinking that I was really taking a nap last night rather than an actual night's sleep. It worked pretty well too! After the kids went to school, I went back to bed, still in my clothes, still in the braids. It is unlikely at this point that I will shower or anything today. This is how I look and I look awful.

Peachy Keen

Friday we went peach picking at Love Apple Farm in Ghent. This was our second year in a row there. I really like that place! The peaches work out to be about $1/lb. We only got 21.5 lbs this year, so none for canning. But we did have enough to make 2 pies for a picnic, and I have the makings of 3 more in the freezer, and of course, a few left to just eat.

We had a lot better luck with the blanching and peeling process this year. Last year, we finally gave up and left the peels on everything (not that I really mind them). This year we were successful, even though the peaches did get a little cooked around the edges during the process. That doesn't matter, right? We're going to bake them anyway. (for whatever reason, my camera would not focus on anything throughout this whole process. eh, whatever.)

The filling recipe is an old and simple one from a Betty Crocker cookbook. The crust recipe was a new one from America's Test Kitchen (secret ingredient...Vodka!) They both turned out fabulous. This was definitely my best crust.

That crust has a half cup of vegetable shortening and 1 1/2 sticks of butter in it. Healthy, it's not. Yummy? oh yeah!

A little egg wash and sprinkling of sugar, and voila! It even set up really nicely!