Menu Plan Monday

Monday--Great Northern White Chili from Meatless Monday

Tuesday--leftovers

Wednesday--Tacos

Thursday--leftovers

Friday-Sunday--will be out of town for my birthday!

In Love With A.....

Vacuum?! Yes, it has happened again. I guess I have some sort of vacuum fetish (hey, don't get any ideas, this isn't that type of blog lol).

My first love was the Dyson Animal. Oh the times we had together. From leaving the awesome vacuum lines in the carpet at one house, to being able to go between area rugs and hardwood floors in the house now in a blink of an eye. All the while never getting clogged up and picking up the dog hair marvelously. Well after about 5 or 6 years, my beloved Dyson is beginning to fade. The motor is giving out for the carpets and personally, I'm not going to use 2 vacuums to vacuum the house, it cheapens the chore altogether. Since I'm a little tight on money or *cough* broke, buying a new vacuum is not an option. So, I ask my mom if she still has her old Rainbow vacuum. The Rainbow is a canister vs. the Dyson being an upright. So I pick up my mom's Rainbow yesterday and despite the dust it had on it (from sitting out in the work garage), it still worked great. I remember my mom using this vacuum the whole time while I was growing up. When I used it yesterday I thought I had figured out why my mom only vacuumed once a week back then. The little Rainbow is a heavy bugger. I was out of breath and could feel my arms burning a little, odd since I vacuum on a daily basis. So I call my mom and tell her my epiphany about her vacuuming habits from back-in-the-day. Her response? "No, I only vacuumed once a week because I wanted too." Oh, so much for that theory. I was in awe at how much stuff the Rainbow vacuumed up. There's something fulfilling when you empty the canister and see what it no longer in your carpets or on your floor anymore. So while I won't be able to afford to buy a new Rainbow, I can have my little tryst with it while it's in my possession.

Friends

I saw this on Open Seven Days a Week. Closed Sundays blog and thought I would share it because it is very true.

We should thank the friends that:

• made promises that they didn't keep
• broke our plans or stood us up because something better came along
• abandoned us every time she got a new boyfriend
• excluded us when planning a girl's spa weekend, or a ladies' night out, or choosing her bridesmaids
• smiled in our face, then stabbed us in the back
• sneaked around behind our back to date our ex
• provided plenty of backhanded compliments, and loved to tell us all the nasty things other people said about us
  
• continually hijacked the conversation to talk about her life and her problems, but changed the subject when we needed to vent
• told us they'd be there for us, but made themselves scarce just when we needed them most
• conveniently forgot when she owed us money, or when it was her turn to pay

Because without them, we wouldn't have learned to appreciate the friends who:

• went out of their way to be helpful in times of need
• looked out for us when we couldn't look out for ourselves
• always treated us the same, in happy and unhappy times
• always pointed out what was best for us
  
• were always sympathetic when the chips were down
• were the first to rejoice at our good fortune
• stood up for us and stopped others who spoke against us
  
• always gave more than they needed to

And without them, we wouldn't have learned that:

• a good friend is worth more than all the world's purest gold, platinum and rhodium combined
• in order to have a good friend, you need to first be a good friend
  

"Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget." - unknown

Menu Plan Monday

I am getting back into the swing of things by Menu Planning, it feels good to be back :)



Monday--grilled New York Strip and roasted potatoes. (The steaks are generally out of my budget. However, after I dragged my sweetie to The Fresh Market, he couldn't resist buying them.)

Tuesday--leftovers since my sweetie won't be getting home til 11:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Wednesday--white bean chili.

Thursday--leftovers

Friday--going out to eat.

Saturday--Mexican night (tacos and margaritas)

Sunday--grilled subs.

Stella and Blue

On Friday I was thinking this weekend would be like any other. Do some chores around the house, run some errands, spend time with mini-me and my sweetie. My mother went to the beach this weekend, so that meant on top of running after my brood of 6 dogs, I also had to go by her house to feed and check on her 3 dogs. Really no biggie. Saturday morning the 3 of us head over so I could check on them and give them a cookie (ever loved Milk-Bone). To my surprise, my mother's electric gate was wide open. I start worrying already and see no dogs anywhere. We pull up to the garage and out comes Speedy, 1 dog, check. Then Dawn comes running, 2 dogs, check. Hmm where is Stella? I yell and yell, walk all around the house and backyard in the awesome Georgia heat and humidity to no avail. Stella is MIA. So I tell my sweetie let's go drive down the road and see if we see her (and hoping we see her running down the road, not the other way to find her on the road). We do this and still, no sight of Stella. So I call the pound to see if they happen to have her, and thank goodness they do. I go bail Stella out of doggie jail and we take her back to our house so Blue (our lab/shepherd mix) can have a play date. Stella is 14 months old and Blue is right at a year so they would be perfect for each other. My sweetie fills up Blue's kiddie pool, yes Blue loves her pool and before we know it (with a little coaxing) Stella is laying in the pool with Blue. I think all they were missing was a nice margarita or a drink with a little umbrella in it :)