Groovy Giveaway Opportunity!

Hey Humble Readers...

Carla over at My 1/2 Dozen Daily is sponsoring a giveaway for a Lilla Rose Gift Certificate!  Pop over and check it out (there's bunches and bunches of ways to enter...).

And check out the awesome collection of hair clips that Lilla Rose has to offer!

:)

(You guessed it, blogging about the giveaway is a way to enter the giveaway too.)

Why You Should Clean Your Oven Regularly

Hey Humble Readers...

Yesterday shaped up to be a day of minor injuries around the hobbit-hole. 

First, my Beloved nicked his chin while shaving.  Not a big deal, right? 

Then, Ginny managed to get an angry red scratch on her arm, about an inch and a half long.  Still not a big deal.  A little poly-spor.in and she's on the mend. 

Followed shortly thereafter by an oops while I was trimming Pippin's fingernails.  A little wiggle at the wrong moment and I nipped his fingernail too short.  A little dot of blood and a lot of wailing (on both our parts), and things were sunshiney again.

And then it was dinner time.  Shepherd's pie.  Yum!  I turned on the broiler for the last five minutes to brown the top of the potatoes.  Double yum! 

When I opened the oven I remembered that I had just made yorkshire puddings on Sunday and that always leaves a mess in my oven from the oil over-flow (when I forget to put in a tray to catch the drips).  Combine that with the fact that I haven't actually cleaned my oven in about four months. 

Yeah, there was a fair bit of smoke coming out of my oven.  Enough to set off the smoke detector in the hall.  Not a big deal.

I went down the hall and was waving the oven mitts I had in my hand at the smoke detector (I'm too short to be able to hit the button).  As I was doing this, I was talking to my Beloved, so I wasn't paying the closest attention. 

As I was waving the oven mitts, they must have connected with the smoke detector, which must have not been reattached to it's base correctly after the last battery change. 

All I know... one second I'm getting the smoke detector to shut off, and the next I'm holding my forehead and seeing stars.  And behold, the smoke detector is on the floor, after bouncing off my noggin. 

Now I'm sporting a lovely little bruise.  (feel free to chuckle at my expense)

And that, Humble Readers, is why you should clean your oven regularly. 

Memorable Moment Monday & Opinions Needed

Hey Humble Readers...

I hope that your Labour Day (if it's Labour Day wherever you're at) is shaping up to be a nice one.  Ours has been pretty good so far, as we have been able to get a few thing accomplished that have been nagging on me. 

Sorting Ginny's clothes

I was able to go through both Ginny & Pip's wardrobes to pack away things that no longer fit or are no longer seasonal while my Beloved took Ginny to the park.  Pippin is pretty well set for clothes for the next six months, and all I need to get for Ginny is a couple of pairs of jeans and one or two sets of pjs. 

Pip's first nap in the crib

Soon it will be time to move our wee little mister from the cradle in our room, into his crib in the nursery.  I'm hoping that the transition will go smoothly for both he and Ginny.  The nursery is small, so we don't have much room to work with in terms of layout and I confess I'm a bit concerned about having the cribs side by side.  We'll see how it goes.

(Posted as part of PAIL Bloggers' Memorable Moment bloghop.)

*****
Ok... anyone know much about computer viruses?

I have known that Beauregard (yes, my puter has a name) has been suffering with a virus for some time now.  Back in the spring, I went for a couple of days between the end of my free trial of McAfee that came with this computer when we got it and when we were able to load some new software, and I'm pretty sure that's when it hit.  I know it's got some elements of a redirect virus (I've had one of those before) along with pop-ups (some of which are nasty).  Particularly irksome is the fact that the anti-virus software I have doesn't recognize that there's a virus on my computer. 

Anyway, today the sound has just stopped working on my computer.  Headphones don't work, speakers don't work.  Is it possible for a virus to mess with the sound? 

I don't use sound a lot, but Ginny watches youtube clips of Sesame Street on this computer and Elmo without his voice just doesn't cut it. 

I know I need to take Beauregard to the computer doctor, and the thought of that actually makes me kind of sick to my stomach because of the cost.  But I don't want to let this go any longer and cause more problems.  Ugh... and just the idea of being without my computer for a week is icky!

Sunday Night Chit Chat: Long Weekend Edition

Howdy Humble Readers...

Are you having a good long weekend?  Are you busy with back-to-school details, household projects, or are you kickin' back and relaxing?  We've been doing a little bit of work around the hobbit-hole and a little bit of relaxing.  It's always nice to have some extra family time.

I'm participating in Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat again, and I encourage you to click over and see what everyone else is up to tonight (after you read my contribution of course!). 

Like Daddy. like daughter

Reading? 
Finished an amazing book last night... "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachael Joyce.  A wonderful novel about a retired man who decides that, to save an old friend from cancer, he must walk the 600+ miles between his home and the hospice where she lives.  It's a story of rediscovery, forgiveness, absolution, and hope.  Now I'm back into my Harry Potter re-read (Just started Order of the Phoenix).  Can I just say, I'm so glad that I can read again?  It was like pregancy somehow made my attention span shrink.  I haven't read this fast in ages (two books last week) and I'm loving it!

Watching?
Right now, a rerun of How I Met Your Mother is on, but it's just background noise.  After Ginny goes to bed, I'm planning on watching "Eat Pray Love" (I recorded it last night).

Listening to?
Our wee little mister sucking on his fist.  My Beloved playing with our wee sweet girl. 

Cooking/Baking?
Dinner tonight was a pork roast glazed with dijon mustard and brown sugar, mashed potatoes, along with some steamed veggies, and Yorkshire puddings.  Earlier this week I had a major triumph.  Sesame salmon with sriracha cream sauce, oven roasted baby potatoes (the best I've ever made) and roasted asparagus.  It was for my Beloved's birthday dinner and it was awesome!  I also made a pretty cool poke-cake (cookies & cream).

Happy you accomplished this week?
I was able to surprise my Beloved with a night out for his birthday (dinner & a movie, kids left with a sitter), and then a family birthday dinner the next night.  I think I succeeded in spoiling him. 

Looking forward to next week?
Getting a few things done around the hobbit-hole... going through closets and dressers, possibly rearranging the nursery in anticipation of moving Pippin in with Ginny, posting a couple things on Kijiji for sale.   

Thankful for today?
Have I mentioned that I've found my reading mojo?????  Ok, I did.  But I don't know if you understand how important this is to me.  Reading has been a major part of my life since I was 4.  It has been my escape, my continuing education, my entertainment, and my joy for almost all my life.  Heck, it was my career for 10 years.  The last couple of years, since I was pregnant with Ginny, my ability to focus on reading a novel has gotten progressively worse and worse, until this past fall when I was actually unable to read a manuscript for a writer-friend, even though I desparately wanted to.  Things have been slowly getting better over the past few months, but this is the first inkling of my old book-loving self.  I used to read upwards of 17 or 18 books a month.  Recent history has shown me reading one book a month.  This has been a major stressor for me, like a loss of part of myself.  And now it's making a reappearance.  Yay!

Do you collect anything? Purple elephants, unicorns, etc... ;)
Nativity sets (currently own 10 or 11), books (occupational hazard), and lip balm (mostly because I never remember to make sure I have one before I leave the house, and end up needing to buy another.  I am a chapstick addict...)

Observations of a Grumpy Hobbit

Hey Humble Readers...

I don't know if it's because it's September (I always get a little bit cranky as the anniversary of my nativity approaches), or because we've been trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of our budget, or just a tad bit of lingering hormonal changes (my hair has only just started falling out post-pregnancy, and my skin is going through yet another transition... aka more acne).  Whatever it is, I've been a bit of a grump the past few days. 

I have been watchful for signs of PPD, but so far nothing as serious as after I stopped bf-ing Ginny.  I'm just grumpy.  Hoping it passes soon. 

But because of the grumpies, I've been noticing a lot of little annoyances lately.  Can you relate to any of these?

• Why don't all websites have that handy little 'scroll to top' button that lives on my Pinterest screen?  It would be so handy, particularly on long blog posts where the comment link is at the top. 
• I love grocery shopping.  It gets me out of the house, on my own, for a little while every week.  And yet, I have come to despise grocery stores, or rather the people in them.  Clerks who bag my groceries in the most nonsensical manner possible, shoppers who feel the need to ram the back of my ankles with their cart, and store employees who park their massive pallets of boxes in front of the one stretch of shelving where my needed item resides. 
• Also grocery related... a store offering certain products seasonally, when there really is nothing at all seasonal about the product.  I have recently fallen in love with a couple of new condiments (sofrito and caramelized onion jam... and if you're Canadian you likely know what store I shop at) and they are only going to be available during the summer months.  Grrr...
• Last grocery shopping annoyance (I promise)... when the store changes their layout.  I've worked in retail, I know the deal, but really... Did Cost.co really need to hide the pork chops on me?  Really?
• Captcha codes.  Need I say more?  (and to my knowledge, I don't have them activated on this blog, but for the love of pete, if I'm forcing you to try to decipher nonsensical blurry words, please let me know.  I will do everything in my power to remove them.)
• Going to the movies and only seeing one good preview out of three.  I know, they're just commercials, but I love the anticipation, the wondering what might be coming out that I haven't heard of yet. 
• Getting an invite to the wedding of a distant cousin (as in, I've only been in the same room with her three times in my life). 
• Fitted sheets that don't stay on the mattress. 
• The fact that I just spent a lot of time on Thursday cleaning my house, and now, two days later, my living room is dusty again. 

Ok... enough of my griping.  Is there anything bugging you a bit tonight?