THE 'HONEY-DO' WAR ...

Remember the 'Honey-Do' post a few weeks ago? It was actually part of a contest through Twitter Moms, sponsored by ServiceLive. Guess what? I was chosen as one of two winners of the grand prize! So now I have a nice credit over with the good folks at ServiceLive to hire a handyman. And, even though my husband is super handy and owns every tool imaginable, I REALLY do need that handyman. Here's why......
Remember this picture? This is the toilet paper holder in the boys/guest bathroom. It fell down last November. I remember when it fell down because it was right before I was going to host over 30 people for Thanksgiving dinner. When you are about to have that many people over, you notice things like toilet paper on the floor.

"TEMPORARY"

Remember on my "Honey-Do" list when I said that the stairs, walkway and patio area outside the kitchen door were "temporary"? Well, I have come to terms with the fact that they are "TEMPORARY" in the same sense that the Throgs Neck Bridge is "TEMPORARILY" under construction. A LIFETIME of "Temporary". And, I just can't live with the scene above for one more summer. It looks like the yard of ax wielding banjo players...Oh, wait.

SUDDENLY SIXTEEN AGAIN.

Norman has been on vacation all this week. Since he has been at his job for a long time he gets more vacation time than we can actually spend vacationing. So, he has been taking a week off every year just to get stuff done around the house. Although, we never really get anything done during that week...see Honey-Do post! We always have big plans, and we do get some things done...but, well...when Max is finally on the bus and Jack 'Chuck Taylor's' it out the door...Norman and I give each other the same look that two teenagers whose parents just pulled out of the driveway headed away for the weekend give each other. Except now the keg is already hidden in the basement, we have the keys to the car and we know the pin for the ATM.

Today we finally got bored in the house...ahem...and ventured out to do some shopping and lunching. Now that we are equipped with navigation, we were feeling brazen and ventured to the Garden State. Without navigation, New Jersey is just a maze of jug handles and intersecting routes and seeing your desination on the other side of the road WITH NO LEFT TURNS IN THE ENTIRE STATE.

My Mother's Day and Bumps and Co.

Norman woke me up bright and early this morning with coffee and an amazing lox, red onion and tomato everything bagel. It was splendid. We ate, laughed and ignored the crumbs that come with eating an everything bagel in bed. I stayed in bed and Norman went to wrangle the boys. This is where I have to keep in mind that they mean well. Quiet is not a color those boys wear well.

TAKE THAT....GAS MAN!

This is Norman. He is my most favorite husband. I call him Gas Man...since that's what he is. He makes sure houses don't blow up. Sometimes, like when I ask him to hang molding around the blackboard I painted in my office and he just laughs, I call him Butthead. I am NOT calling Norman lazy, he is not. He just has a certain way of prioritizing projects around the house. Things that are flooding, sparking, crumbling or crying get first priority. Followed by anything that involves using a chainsaw, axe or his log splitter. Next comes anything that requires buying a new tool or a trip to Harbor Freight. Then there are projects that are fun, make him look cool in front of the kids, can be done while drinking beer, or require other men to come over and stand in the yard and drink beer while discussing a project, the list goes on. And somewhere on that list, so far down that if you stood at the top of the list and looked down you would get that queasy feeling in your stomach like when you stand on the edge of a cliff, down that far would be where 'Heidi's projects' are.

So I decided that I would make a frame around my blackboard wall myself. I measured, purchased, cut WITH A MITER SAW, hammered, set the nails deep into the wood, patched the holes and painted.

Sandy was there telling me 'You know you shouldn't touch that' with her eyes. I was going to call Norman during this project just to ask him stupid questions and make him nervous that I was touching all of his toys. But, I didn't want him coming home to check on me.

BTW...The slide show at the top is Norman getting into his GAS MAN jumpsuit. It's a little snug...and fireproof...and ORANGE! I have posted it purely as punishment for putting me at the bottom of the list!

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M SHARING THIS WITH YOU!

Our house was renovated a couple of years ago. As the contractors were putting up new Sheetrock in the Master Bedroom, I noticed a space that was about to be sealed over forever. It was not a big space...it was eve, much lower on one side and not very wide...maybe 4'. Anyway, I called everything to a stop, declared this space mine and ordered a door.

The room started off as a craft room...but, I don't really 'craft'. So, it became a storage room. It was a mess and I never really used it. However, out of envy of Julie's office where we record the show, I have decided to makeover my space and put it to use as an office. I'm actually posting this from that room right now! Here is the 'before' picture and I will reveal the 'after' once Norman puts some molding around the blackboard wall I created. Keep in mind that THE TOILET PAPER HOLDER IS STILL NOT UP...so Norman may not get this project done anytime soon.

I'M TOTALLY TRADER JOE'S BITCH!

I love Trader Joe's. They have some great products, and I fall deeply in love with them dangerously quick. But sometimes, Trader Joe and I need counseling. I try to be understanding, really I do....but Trader Joe's discontinues product I love with NO warning. And I get angry. And I call Trader Joe's names. I slam the door behind me and say I will never come back. Why did you get rid of Peanut Butter Jo Jo's Joe??? But a couple weeks later, I have forgiven Joe and I find myself strolling down the aisles finding new products I love as much as the old ones. Then I have to hug Trader Joe's and say: "Why do you make me hurt you baby?"

I thought we might be broken up for good when they stopped selling my favorite Grapefruit body scrub. HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO GET MY SCRUB ON IN THE SHOWER NOW JOE? See...anger, I can't control myself!

Anyway, while trying to heal from the betrayal, I thought, 'I bet I can make that'.

First time around I tried it with Kosher Salt...OUCH! Too rough. So, then I tried it with sugar. Perfect! Good scrub and its tasty! Easy, cheap and scrubby...I'm hooked.

1 c. white sugar

Essential Oil - I use 12 dropped of Grapefruit. You can use any smell you like.

1/4 cup Olive Oil

I throw everything into a glass jar with a lid and shake it up. It may be wise to use plastic in the shower. I like the glass.

Also, when you use an oil product like this, it will make your shower floor slippery. If you are planning to redo your bathroom...I'M LOOKING AT YOU JULIE...you should use small stone tiles on the floor of your shower with some texture. That's what I have and even if they get oily you don't slip.

I SHOULD JUST START GIVING GEICO MORE MONEY NOW.

Until very recently, if you had asked me if I was going to allow my oldest son to get his learner's permit at age 16, I would have said 'NO'. Not just a polite 'NO', an ALL CAPS NO, along with a request that you sign a petition asking our state to raise the legal driving age to 18. Truthfully, if they had a petition to make the driving age 21, I would have signed. I was not totally unjustified in my fear of this child getting behind the wheel. This child? He can't find a hook in the bathroom to hang up a towel...there are FIVE. He can't remember to walk the dogs. If I ask him to load the dishwasher, the finished product looks like the dishes have been dropped into the washer from a high distance, with a backhoe. I just didn't think he would be ready for the responsibility of driving in just a few short years. There is too much attention to detail, and the consequences are so much bigger than pee on the rug or broken dishes.

THINGS WE LIKE: NAN'S SEWING BOX

During last weeks spring cleaning blitz, I came across a box of items that were given to me when my grandmother passed away. One of the items was her sewing box. I remember this box so well from visits to her house. Sometimes it was by her chair in the living room, sometimes in her bedroom next to the table that held her pink ashtray with the black specks to make it look like stone.

Cookbooks!

I have a bit of a cookbook obsession. It may be an addiction. I have been collecting them since I was a kid, seriously, like as a 10 year old. But of all of my cookbooks, I do have a favorite. The Gourmet Cookbook. This is my all time favorite. If I ever had to pick only one cookbook, like if my husband and I ever really do buy that RV and travel the country, this would be it. It is my go to for all occasions. If I'm cooking for a block party, cocktail party or dinner party, this book has a recipe for everything from soup to nuts. So, if you are looking for a cookbook to cover all of your bases, this is it.

I can't believe I'm sharing this with you!

Okay, so on last weeks show, I mentioned a love affair with my Hoover carpet cleaner. Well, this week, with some BEAUTIFUL weather in the Northeast, I was inspired to do some spring cleaning. Here is a shot of the filthy water being poured down the sink by my son, who thinks his mother is NUTS for getting a thrill out of the no longer in her rug dirt being poured down the drain. Incidentally, he is also probably accountable for at least a third of the dirt!

-Heidi

Pad Thai Is No Longer A PFD For Me

I love Thai food.  Spicy, Sour, Sweet and salty all at once, its like a day at the spa for my mouth.  I just can’t ever make it successfully at home.  I think it’s just a general unfamiliarity of ingredients and the fact that I typically don’t follow a recipe.  Thai night, for me,  has always lived up to its potential…for disaster.

Last night I tried again…after scoring a package of Thai noodles from Trader Joe’s yesterday.  All the rice noodles I have tried previously were, gummy, weird, just not right.  But these noodles were just what I was looking for.  I used ingredients I typically always have on hand and, guess what?  Everyone ate it!  Some of us even ate it for breakfast, Ahem.

- Heidi

P.S. Next time I will remember to take the picture BEFORE we eat it all.