Did She Drink the Cholesterol?

Caboose is going through a phase where he has to go with Hubby and me whenever we go run errands together. If it's just me or just Hubby alone, he stays home, but if we both go, he has to go. He's afraid we're going to die and he won't be there with us. We're hoping he outgrows this phase soon, because it's getting a little stressful for us too.

Lately he's been bringing his DS along with him, but then when we get to the store he wants to carry it in. He'll be in the middle of a game and not want to stop, or not be at a saving point, or something crazy like that. So the other day Hubby and I said, "If you come with us and it's not at least as far as Ikea, then you can't bring your game."

Tonight we made a quick run to Wal-Mart together and so Caboose came along. Since he didn't bring his game it required him to make conversation. Who knew there was so much to talk about?

Since there were some dark clouds he talked about rain and how it formed, thunder and lightning and how it formed, hurricanes and tornadoes and how they form, and which one of the two can cause more damage.

Somehow we mentioned spiders. It could have been me mentioning it first, Betsy over at My Five Men being on some sick spider kick all of a sudden and creeping me out, but I can't remember. That made Caboose start talking about the black widow Hubby found right before we left Virginia last year.

Caboose asked if it died, to which I answered a definite yes. He asked why we didn't just step on it and get it over with. Well, Hubby had it contained already when I got home, and once we got it in that jar it seemed like it would die pretty fast. Who knew those things were such stinkers.

If you haven't clicked over and looked at the old posts yet, we stuck an alcohol-laden cotton ball in the jar to suffocate it since it was still alive seven days after being put in the jar with no air holes poked to help it breathe. Tonight on the way home from Wal-Mart Caboose asked, "Did she drink the cholesterol?" Well, the spider did attack the cotton ball, which was what he remembered, and I told him I wasn't sure if she actually drank some alcohol or just suffocated.

Hubby told Caboose that drinking cholesterol would have been pretty bad for her too.

I'm just glad she's dead.

Fall Wreath

Last week I went to Michael's and was wandering amongst their fall decor. They have a lot of it, and it is completely different than what you will find at Hobby Lobby.

I surveyed their wreath fixings and determined that were I able to successful assemble a wreath, I could complete one for about $20. I purchased the necessary supplies, drove home, and assembled this wreath for my front door, because the one in front of my fireplace is just too pretty to have bugs and other things possibly nest in it.

To say I'm pleased is an understatement. I used one extra-leafy garland, two different berry garlands (one also had some pumpkins), a grapevine wreath, and some ribbon just to tie it up. I did use some covered wire in large 'u' shapes poked in at various intervals to hold everything on the wreath. From the road you can't really see all the colors as well as you can up close. Maybe next year I'll add in some bright yellow sunflowers or something. Or maybe I'll just be lazy and leave it exactly like it is.

I was so happy with my inexpensive wreath, since it was inexpensive and because it was easy to assemble, that I went back and purchased the supplies to make a second one. I hung it on the inside of the door where we walk out to the garage.

This is the door we use when we leave the house so we see this wreath all the time. That makes me happy. And since it's up close I can see all the bright colors and don't need to add anything to it. That makes me even happier.

Menu Plan Monday — September 14

I'm not ready to plan for a new week yet, but it's here, so I don't really have a choice if I want the week to run smoothly.

Monday — Clean out the fridge and pantry, because I haven't been to the store and won't be before dinner tonight.

Tuesday — Sloppy Joes.

Wednesday — Leftovers.

Thursday — Chili Parmesan Chicken. I didn't get to this recipe last week.

Friday — Cheesy Spaghetti Bake.

Saturday — Leftovers.

Sunday — Eat out since we ate in all week!

This week I'll be making some Homemade Granola which I've made before and is yummy on top of vanilla yogurt. I'm also going to try making some Potato Flake Sourdough Starter to use in making homemade bread. I had to throw my starter out when we left New Jersey in 2000 and haven't had any since. It was given to me, so I've never actually tried to start starter. We'll see how it goes.

Go visit The Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday!

Sometimes You Want To Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Having lived in eight different states during my life and moving to seven of them during the last 20 years, I've met lots of new people.

My name has caused casual comment.

My name has caused raised eyebrow.

The pronunciation has been questioned.

It's origination has been questioned.

My name has been thought to be simply due to a Southern accent.

My name has been butchered, mispronounced, and misspelled more than it's been pronounced or spelled correctly.

My mother's middle name is Kay, and so I'm Kayren instead of Karen. It's pronounced with the long 'a' sound like you hear in play or day. The first syllable is emphasized stronger than the second one.

Tonight we had a meeting at church for all the Awana workers. This is the first year Hubby and I will be working in Awana at this church. I was in the meeting for the T & T girls, and the director was saying my name...Karen...Karen...Karen. I corrected her several times. Finally she heard me and repeated it to make sure she had it correct. I walked into another room and someone I thought knew my name called me Karen, and so I corrected her (I found out in Virginia that if I don't, it becomes ingrained and then it's harder for people to correct later).

When I'm on the phone I will usually always spell my name, because if I don't people think I say Kaylen. I'm not sure if it's because I talk fast or if it just comes through the phone that way. Since the name Kaitlin has become popular, people will sometimes mistake my name for that. I've also been called Kayreen, Kayleen, and some twisted pronunciation between Karen and Kayren that I can't even try to replicate.

But the name issue is not limited to unusual names. For one brief blog post Hubby is going to come out of anonymity. His name is Robert, and he goes by Robert. Not Bob, not Bobby, not Rob. Robert.

When he meets new people he is inevitably asked, "Do you go by Robert or Bob?" His answer, "Robert." Their reply, "Okay, Bob."

People will often shorten his name to Rob even if they don't call him Bob, but at our church there are at least two people who call him Bob. I never call him anything but Robert, so they have to hear me call him that and they still do it anyway.

So what about you — have you had problems with your name being misspelled, mispronounced, or shortened?

Photo by Eugene Hood Photo. Original blog post idea by Ronnica, the Ignorant Historian.

Fall Decorating

One of the things I am most excited about this year is decorating for the holidays, primarily Christmas, but I've seen so many blogs lately where people are decorating for fall and it's really started me thinking — I need to do some seasonal decorating during the rest of the year.

Because we moved so frequently when Hubby was in the military it was not something that I really put much effort into. We never lived in a home that was large enough for our family plus had extra room for 'fluff.' For example, we didn't have a coffee table or end tables to put things on, we didn't have enough storage space to keep a lot of extra seasonal decorations, etc. The last two years in Virginia we didn't even have room to put up a Christmas tree.

I did have a few fall decorations that I pulled out. It was limited to five strands of leafy garland I bought in Illinois, a tole-painted Halloween basket I won playing Bunco in New Jersey, and a glass pumpkin and candy corn dish I picked up on sale last year at Kohl's. I shopped last week's Hobby Lobby sale on Saturday and then went back when the sale changed over on Monday. I only bought things that were on sale and that would cover the entire fall season, not just Halloween or Thanksgiving, except for maybe one bowl that we're using for Halloween candy. Let me give you a tour and show you the fall decorations.

This is an antique sideboard that sits to the right when you come in the front door. It is opposite the front coat closet and backs up to the stair wall that leads to the second floor. That's some of my old garland, and the bowl is what we'll use for Halloween candy. Maybe I can leave it out for the entire fall season. What do you think? Too Halloween looking or can I leave it out?

This is an antique lowboy that sits on the wall directly facing the front door. You see it immediately when you walk in. I just wrapped some of that old leafy garland I had around the base of the lamp.

This is the coffee table and side table in the living room. Again, old leafy garland with some new pieces: glass pumpkins and a glass leaf dish.

This is the bottom of the china cabinet that we repurposed and put behind the couch. Old leafy garland with those two cute dishes from Kohl's, plus the requisite somewhat black cat.

This is the cabinet with the whole hole picture, and I added a pumpkin and the tole-painted Halloween basket. At the beginning of November I'll replace the basket with a ceramic turkey that one of the kids painted during homeschool co-op in Illinois.

Last, this is my wreath. I got the adjustable height wreath hanger at Marshall's last year. It can go inside or outside, but I can't quite bring myself to put the wreath outside. I still want to figure out how to hang one from my door and then get or make a second one. That way I can always have one hanging in the house too.

Hobby Lobby had their wreaths half price, so I went ahead and got a pre-made wreath, then I bought some of the extra stuff on floral wire to make it thicker and bushier. That stuff was on sale too. I don't know what it's called, maybe floral embellishments, seasonal embellishments...I'm so guessing here, and so wrong, but you know what I mean. And this is what it looked like afterwards.

These weren't before and after pictures, just one is up closer than the other one to show you where it is in front of our fireplace.

Oops, the wreath wasn't last. I got to the end and I had one picture left. This cute little glass pumpkin. It could be a candy dish, but candy doesn't last in our house so I don't bother. It's sitting on one of the little tables in the dining room.

Football season has arrived, baseball season is wrapping up, the weather is getting cooler — okay, it's been cool all summer, but the days are getting shorter — so fall is definitely in the air, and now it's in my house! The most exciting thing is that my kids notice and they like it.

This post is linked to Get Inspired for Fall! at The Inspired Room and to Show and Tell Friday hosted by Kelli at There is no place like home.

WFMW — Shark Steam Pocket Mop (It Really Works on Your Floors!)

Excuse me for just a moment while I become an infomercial. Pretend I'm yelling at any point you like.

I love my new Shark Steam Pocket Mop!

I've been cleaning the wood floors in my kitchen and dining area since last November on my hands and knees. I'm a little tired of it and it was always a temporary thing. I just didn't know the best option, and I was afraid of buying any of the cleaners for wood flooring since they all have warnings on them that they might damage your floor.

I've been using the Swiffer Wet Jet for the linoleum right off the garage that extends into the powder room, laundry room, and walk-in closet; the area right inside the front door; and both kids' bathrooms. I've also been using it for the ceramic tile in our bathroom. I figured that if I bought this Steam Pocket Mop that I could use it for all the flooring in my house and never have to buy the cleaner or pads again, thus saving money in the long run.

Bed, Bath & Beyond sells the Steam Pocket Mops and I had a 20 percent off of one item coupon. (By the way, did you know they honor expired coupons. It doesn't matter how old they are!) This is the Steam Pocket Mop that swivels so you can use both sides (they do make a less expensive one that doesn't swivel and doesn't flip), but the items you get with it are a little different than the infomercial on tv. It doesn't come with the extra-large mop head or pad, but it does come with two of the triangular and standard pads instead of just one of each, plus it still comes with the duster pad and carpet glider. I also got to use a coupon, so it was definitely a good deal.

I used it today on all my floors and I loved it. It was quick and easy and worked fantastic. I was especially pleased how it left my wood floors looking.

I'm not usually sold on the tv items, but this is definitely a great product and it works for me!

Go visit We Are THAT Family for Works-For-Me-Wednesday.

Organization — Laundry Room

Technically it might be a reorganization since we've lived here ten months now, but if I never actually organized it in the first place and it just sort of happened, am I really reorganizing it, or just finally organizing it? Rhetorical...no need to answer.

You might remember I mentioned in my Pantry Overhaul post that when I work in one area it usually ends up affecting another area as well. This one was no exception and ended up causing changes to happen in the front coat closet.

There is a door that separates the laundry room and the walk-in closet from the rest of the house. This is the back side of it that I showed you when I did the pantry post, totally unrelated to the pantry and obviously the items that got organized as a bonus.

On the wall to the right I have a utility sink, my washer, and my dryer. I am standing with my back to a window and to my immediate left is an open doorway to a large walk-in closet. You also would have seen this in my pantry reorganization post. I was using the tops of the shelving, and you'll notice that at the very bottom of the picture that we had coats hanging on this side of the 'L.'

I've always used the other side of the closet to hang up the clothes when they come out of the dryer before they get taken upstairs. My coats and Hubby's coats hung in this closet, and the kids' coats and jackets hung in the front coat closet.

To make this makeover work, I had to move our coats out of this closet. I decided that our coats would now hang in the front coat closet and the kids could keep theirs in their closets.

I moved one of our adjustable-height tables in from the garage and kept it at the lowest setting. I hung all of the extra hangers up on the now-empty rod.

I have desperately been needing a folding surface. You know why? Because laundry baskets are a really bad idea in most cases. Until we were in the apartment here in Michigan (waiting for our house to get finished) I hadn't had a laundry basket for probably 8-10 years. My laundry areas were in the hall central to the rest of the house, and in Virginia it was in the kitchen. I had to fold and put away immediately. Now I need the large laundry baskets just to move the laundry to the second floor.

The problem was that I would throw all the towels, underwear, and socks in there and then not fold them for a long time. They would sit in my bedroom floor waiting. I needed to fold everything as soon as it came out of the dryer. I also needed to sort it downstairs rather than have piles all over my bedroom waiting to be sorted out for all the kids.

Tonight I didn't have much to fold, but I'll show you how it's going to work since I've done a few of these things before. Here I had folded all the towels except for the load that wasn't done in the dryer. In the interest of not causing life-long embarrassment to my kids, I waited to fold their underwear and socks until I took the picture.

After I have folded everything into stacks on the table, I'll put the kids' things into their own Sterilite basket. Even when I didn't have laundry baskets I used to do this at the dryer, but for some reason I haven't been here. I need to find a basket of some kind around the house that I'm not using to keep here for the lonely socks until their mates show up.

When I'm folding and I don't need the baskets over at the table yet I'll keep them stacked over on the dryer. I tidied it up so they'll fit nicely.

That clear basket holds my mesh laundry bags for delicates.

I've been mulling different ideas around in my head for a while, so I definitely think this will work for me. I'm pleased with the outcome. I know I'll be glad not to have laundry piled up in my bedroom, clean or not.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!