I Said No To A Cub Scout

Yesterday I said no to a cub scout. I felt bad about it, and I always feel bad about it. The thing is, we didn't want any giant tins of popcorn. It's not that we don't like the popcorn, it's just that lately I've enjoyed flashing back to my childhood and making popcorn on the stove. No, I'm not referring to Jiffy pop:

I'm channeling way back in the day when my mother used to make popcorn on the stove with a pot and some oil; and you could see it turn from a kernel to popcorn! With the pre-popped bags of popcorn and microwave popcorn I had completely forgotten about this old fashioned way until my nephews came over. I like to cook things with them when they come over. They enjoy being little helpers. I realized that I had purchased a bag of popcorn that I had forgotten about, so I pulled it out and we made it happen:

Camden has the oil and Jamison has the popcorn

They poured their ingredients in the pot and then we watched the magic happen:

They were completely intrigued when that practically empty pot of kernels and oil turned into this!

Tada!! We poured it in a bowl, added butter and were good to go!

Not to mention I can buy all types of flavors in the grocery store for just a few dollars to add to my yummy old fashioned popcorn. I don't need no stinking tin! It's not that I didn't want to support the poor fella, he was awfully cute in his little hat and uniform.

Kind of like this guy, but way less cartoony

His mother was on the sidewalk not making eye contact with me, probably in an effort to encourage him to do his thing like a big boy. Little did she know I still felt pressure. It really doesn't matter how much you give to organizations. When any cub scout comes to your door and you tell him no it always feels like you're not being supportive! We could have already given to 3 cub scouts before him but it always makes me feel like the cheap un-supportive neighbor when I say no. Yep, I said neighbor, they live diagonally from us which makes it more weird.

We purchased popcorn from the little guy when we first moved into the neighborhood, mainly because it was kind of fun being the new kids on the block and having little people come to the door in their uniforms. We wanted to show our support, and they are such a sweet family.  We soon realized that there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood...in uniforms...walking around selling things and inadvertently making us feel guilty. Not to mention we have kids in our family to support. Well in this situation I saw them walking up and down the neighborhood as kids do and I was thinking to myself, we are not buying popcorn this year, maybe we can dodge them.  You know, close the blinds and turn off all the lights. We didn't want to be rude, but to thwart the awkwardness, especially since they live right across the street.

Then Chris comes home, he opens the garage and together we look down the street at the cub scout knowing that when they get to our house we will not be purchasing. We go in the house and get on with our lives. Everything is great until Chris says "oh no, the cub scout is coming toward the house" then the doorbell rings. Of course our plan is to not answer it and then I ask Chris, "you did close the garage right?" he says "crap, I didn't, they know we're home!" Then he hides and I am left answering the door being the neighbor who has to say no thank you. As I close the door and look out the window I see them walking back across the street and I'm sure they are thinking that we suck as supportive neighbors. Okay, they may not be thinking that but seriously, we are going to have to deal with this every year. I do care about the kids being supported but we can't support everyone! I hate saying no, but if I always said yes to each kid who came to our door we'd be in debt, more debt.

Now, what I am about to say might sound bad but it's just the truth. It would be a little better if the cub scout was a girl scout. It's not that I am biased to girls, it's just that I really enjoy their cookies! Not to mention they are much cheaper. Thank goodness a girl scout didn't come to my door next. I would have had to slip her a covert note asking her to meet me around the corner so that the neighborhood cub scout didn't see me make a purchase. It really shouldn't be that serious, but it kind of is!

Tatum

I Think I'm Addicted

To coffee that is. Well caffeine would be more accurate. I love coffee, I can smell it from a mile away. Coffee makes me happy.

I drink coffee in the morning. I might drink coffee at the end of the evening just to wind down...it soothes me. There are some days however when the idea of drinking coffee just does not appeal to me. I have no idea why that is...and that bothers me. Today was one of those don't drink coffee days, so was yesterday.

The problem with that is that I get headaches, bad throbbing headaches that medicine can't fix...well that bayer didn't fix. That is why I think I must be addicted to caffeine. I have never been addicted to anything before so this is new to me. Maybe I should check myself into some institution to get a caffeine detox. Do they even allow people with a caffeine addiction into those facilities?

How can something I love so dearly cause me harm! Anyways, I just thought I'd share that. I know that you don't care about my recent discovery and maybe this isn't news after all. It is news to me though, and it's making me miserable.  I refuse to let coffee (caffeine) control my life, I am gonna fight back! I don't need coffee to fix this horrid headache. I'm tough, I can wait this pain out. Even if it does feel like a ram trying to break free from my skull, I can handle it.

Since my head is pounding, looking at this computer screen is only making it worse so I'm done rambling. I'm going to sign out now and relax a little. I'm going to go...brew a pot of coffee do something in the kitchen. I don't know what exactly, but I'll just hang in there awhile until my headache goes away.


Tatum

New Ways To Cook Bacon

No, for all of you bacon enthusiasts out there like myself I am not about to enlighten you on new ways to cook bacon...even though while having family over the other day for my birthday, my curious husband decided that after grilling hamburgers he wanted to know what it would be like to grill bacon. Then he did it...he actually put bacon strips on the grill! Quite humorous...but apparently tasty!! Had I known that I would be posting about bacon today I would have taken a pic.

Anyway, my point is that the other day while watching an episode of Dr. Oz about the 5 fastest moving cancers he mentioned biggest risk and best solutions. One point that stood out to me was brain cancer and solutions to help eliminate it:

"Solution #3: Eliminate Cooked Ham, Processed Pork and Fried Bacon
Meat products such as cooked ham, processed pork and fried bacon contain a lot of nitrates, which may be connected to brain cancer and other cancers as well."

Now I understand that there are always studies being done on certain foods and diseases and that he is simply making us aware of things to think about etc. The problem with this is that he didn't cover one major topic (well major in my head)...other ways to cook bacon!! Bacon has always been a happy place in my world. Bacon fits quite snuggly next to my scrambled eggs and pancake. The thought of bacon not being there anymore is too hard to bear. What would fill it's space?? Obviously not ham, apparently that is a problem too. I mean I really would have appreciated some alternatives. If I was in the audience I would have raised my hand. I don't think I'm going to cut fried bacon out of my diet...but I know I will at least think about that episode while it's frying up.

Well until this past weekends grilled bacon experiment I thought all hope was lost. However, the idea of firing up the grill each morning for breakfast seems a bit much...and clearly won't be happening.  For all of you bacon enthusiasts out there, have you ever made bacon any other way but fried? I guess you can boil it but floppy bacon is not my thing lol.

More importantly I know that Dr. Oz's point was to offer cancer elimination solutions and not alternatives to frying bacon.  I did get the purpose of the show, I just got a little distracted along the way...it is bacon after-all..that's a big deal!

Tatum

I Might Be Dead

That can only be the case since I have no life. What does it really mean to have no life? I don't do anything EVER. I spend most of my time at home with Chris. As long as we have some crab legs and a movie we are good lol. If I go out and do anything it is with Chris and my family, and we do have a blast together. I love to go to the movies and could do that everyday but there is something a little reclusive and weird about being holed up in the dark all the time. If I'm not on the computer, I'm working on the house or I'm reading a book. I need to get OUT more, I am such a people person and would love to meet new people and make new friends. That's another hard thing to do as an adult. "Hi I'm Tatum, will you be my friend?" Really only works in elementary school.

Quitting my job was great but it's about time I get back into the workforce. Even though mornings make me want to throw cats at padded walls (which I would never do because even though I'm allergic to them, deep down I know they are not purposely out to harm me) at least there you have co-worker friends...even though, if I dislike the company I never call workers friends. I called them "work people", I know it sounds a bit cold doesn't it. At my last job I did have friends there, friends that I do still talk to and communicate with on occasion.  I simply need to stop being such a homebody and take the first step...leave the comfort of my home and live a little.  I also need to try some new things like horseback riding or cooking classes. Right now my life is not very interesting or exciting. It's just a life, a life that I am happy to have but sometimes I don't feel like I'm living. Hence the title, if I'm not living I must be dead. Honestly, I really don't feel like being dead right now. I've got to get with it. I have to break out of my rut and out of my comfort zone and get out there and break some rules!

Then there is my blog, my happy place. I was thinking about this blog the other day and was like...I don't feel like talking. And regardless of what my elementary lunch lady named my best friend at the time and I (Gabby1 and Gabby2) sometimes I actually don't have anything to say.  Have you ever just had nothing to say?  Yet I felt the need to blog. I mean, I didn't but I thought about it. As much as I enjoy writing an interesting post, at times I have moments when I don't feel like talking/blogging. However I feel like I'm supposed to blog or need to because of my faithful readers. My response to that...my bad. I've decided that if I'm not feeling it I'm just not going to blog. I think that is for the best. I LOVE blogging and forcing it will take the fun away and I need the fun!

I don't even know how my blog would be classified. I tend to follow home decor blogs because I LOVE to look at other peoples homes. I am addicted to HGTV and attend as many Parade of Homes and Decorator Show Houses as I can...between you and me I even look in peoples windows at night if they have their curtains open. I figure, they must be trying show me something, so I look. Now don't get me wrong, I don't stand out there like some crazy killer person like Freddy or Jason, I just walk by really slowly. Then I turn around and walk by again. I might even tie my shoe, buys me some time to peep their decor style. I'm saying, it's a great way to check out other peoples decor and it is night time after all, they can't see me. Then again, I don't know. About a month or so ago I was just chilling on the sofa watching television when I looked to my right and outside was a man looking right inside at me!! He was just standing there with his arms crossed looking all killer like! FREAKED ME OUT!!!! So, I slithered off of the sofa and dropped to the ground and went to a different window where he couldn't see me and I looked out. Fear averted! He was standing next to his wife (who apparently was out of my line of site) and they were looking at our seating area. Whew!! Now to my defense I don't stand outside of peoples homes like Mr. Creepy did, I walk by (albeit slow) but not enough to scare anybody :-)

Back to my point though, most of my blog is made up of changes we have made to our house but I have a lot more to say than house stuff. I wouldn't really classify my blog as a house blog, maybe it's more of a lifestyle blog. Maybe it's just a blog about my randomness and it doesn't have to have a category. I named my blog Many Moments of Me because there was a lot that I wanted to talk about, but I found myself mainly focusing on my home. Now I feel a little pigeon holed in wondering if that is what my readers come here for, my renovations.

I think I need to stop over-thinking and just talk about whatever is on my mind. Might be a post full of random photos, might be a post of one little paragraph with no photos. I might even add in some videos. I wonder sometime if I am really putting my whole self out there. Actually I know I'm not. I mean what you see and read is me but there is so much more to who I am. I should have my own reality show because I am THAT much more interesting, I'm talking serious depth here lol. Anyway, I hope to be a bit more open and free with what I put on my blog (no worries, I wont be posting any naked pics while wearing peace signs).

I hope that I don't lose your interest....I mean you joined this cult and as your leader I expect you to stick around. Okay, not exactly like that. I appreciate all of you who feel like my blog is worth reading, your comments and emails make my day! Thanks for reading this random, vent session. I don't think I stayed on point once, I was really all over the place...maybe I need to wind down a bit. I'm gonna go get my wind down drink of choice, a cup of coffee (yeah I know) don't judge :-) That's how I roll...

Tatum

Never Forget

Tatum

Apparently I Didn't Invent The "Mimosa"

Stupid fancy-pancy name. I prefer Orange-pagne or Cham-juice (pronounced Sham-juice) as Chris and I called it. Okay, so for all of you out there who know Chris and I, you know that we are not drinkers. Whenever we are invited out with friends and family for dinner and a glass of wine or a beer, we are the people that order the sprites and pepsi's (with no ice because we don't like them watered down...yeah, we're particular like that).

People would often say, oh you should try this wine because it's really sweet. Or, you should try this because it tastes like fruit juice. Or, don't try that, it's too dry. What the heck!! How can a drink be dry? Even in college, we were those people...perfectly fine with water. I recall a particular time when someone asked me if I wanted a "drink". My response, no thanks I'm not thirsty. Their response was, you don't drink because you're thirsty! So I asked them why on earth would I drink if I'm not thirsty? And from what I hear, the stuff doesn't even taste good! They didn't have a response. Apparently it's all about being social...or having a problem. Who knows? Either way, I don't judge.

Now don't get me wrong, our friends and family are not alcoholics or anything. They simply have a grown up drink on occasion like many people. I understand it a lot more now that I am a full grown adult, but in college it just seemed wrong to me. So, for my 30th birthday Chris surprised me with an amazing trip to New York. Once we returned back to Ohio we of course gathered with my family for cake and ice cream.  On that day Chris and I decided that we were going to  take the plunge. We were going to have our first glass of wine. The wine of choice, a Moscato suggested by my sister Von. I was told that it was a dessert wine, so I figured perfect, it would go lovely with the birthday cake. Here I am, fresh from New York City all naive and excited to have my first grown up drink:

 And here me and Chris do the silly arm thing to make it a moment to remember...yeah, he was naive too:

 Can you say NEGATIVE? It was an EPIC fail. Note the picture below:

I know, not a flattering pic but you had to see it in order to understand the grossness lol.

Chris was just as disgusted. Needless to say, those full glasses were poured right down the drain. Then someone had the bright idea that I might like something a bit different. My dad was not a fan of this at all because to him, I wall always be too young to drink. But hey, I'm 30 now and I thought what the heck lets see! I had no idea exactly what it was but as you can see below, it too soon went down the drain:

Soon thereafter we decided that we would try to do the daily 2 ounces of red wine for health reasons that Dr. Oz said was good for us. We tried that for a short time but as you can suspect, we soon failed.

One thing that we always knew was that we would have our first champagne on our wedding day. Fast forward four years later and we were in yet another first experience moment. Here we are all bright eyed and naive again:

After the toasts we salute:

Then we drink:

Yep, check out those faces:

Down the drain again! Oh, then again I think my dad finished mine. Clearly Chris and I are juice box people. We need to leave the grown up drinks to the big kids. Well, that is what we thought until one day while at home I decide to crack open a bottle that we had left from the wedding (maybe I thought it would taste good the second time around) it didn't. Right next to that bottle was a carton of orange juice and I thought...hmm I wonder.  So, I added it in and .........TADA!!!!! It worked! I created a grown-up-esque drink!! I immediately went to the garage to tell Chris who was welding...because remember he's a welder lol and he liked it too. It was a great day. Finally, we could have a grown up drink with our adult peers.

Of course I proceeded to call my sisters and let them know that I have invented a drink! My oldest sister Calista said "oh a Mimosa?" Now I had heard that word before but never knew what it was. She proceeded to tell me that I didn't invent this orange juice and champagne concoction...Whatever!!! Soon thereafter, a google search proved her right. I had to go and tell Chris that we weren't drink inventors after all.

Hmm, I wonder if champagne and apple juice already has a name...Either way, Chris and I are now rolling with the big dogs. We are no longer limited to non-alcoholic drinks! (Not that that is something to be proud of). But if we're feeling frisky, Mimosa's it is!

Tatum

Temporary Hiatus

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I will be taking a temporary hiatus from blogland. I have some things that require my full attention, but I hope to be back soon!

Until then...

Tatum

Happy Resurrection Day

I wish all of you out there many blessings on this day. I hope you take the time to reflect on the days meaning and enjoy it with those you love.

  

Tatum