Sincerely 'Fro Me to You My Great Grandma

I inherited this photo when my Great Grandma passed away. It was December 1999, and she was just shy of her 109th Birthday.

This photo was taken in October of 1983. Look at those sporty socks I'm wearing. And the velcro shoes... Oh yeah, I was a styling kindergartener.

I apologize now, Mom, this is not the best photo of you. My brother looks pretty cute though. Scary thing is, I realize from this photo how much Mo looks like him.

For more photos, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Office Fun

Our office has cleaners come in each Monday night to, well clean. Now we can debate this in our office based on what does and doesn't get done, but the fun part is some of the things they do.

We recently had a note saying we had the wrong paper towels. Well we didn't. We had changed the paper towel dispenser in the kitchen, so that it would take the same style of paper towels as the other dispensers. The multi-fold towels do stick out nicely for you to grab, but the restroom dispensers were designed for C-fold and when you would try to take just 1 multi-fold towel, you'd end up with 5 or more. It was messy and wasteful, but the kitchen dispenser couldn't dispense C-fold.

This was an easy $30 fix, and we quickly put it up. For some reason the cleaning staff felt that because the towels didn't stick out, they were wrong. So they didn't fill the paper towel dispensers and left us the note. So the next Monday, my coworker put up a very nice note asking them to please fill the dispensers, that we wanted that style of paper towel.

Apparently they took offense to that. They left a note to let us know the towels wouldn't stick out, but they would fill them anyway. My coworker came in to find her desk wiped down and her stack of rubberbands sprinkled across her desk. Now we've always laughed about how much stuff around our desks move after cleaning. But this wasn't just moving something to clean.

After a few weeks, my coworker came in to find her phone turned around, her picture frame laid face down, the adding machine cock-eyed and more. We knew that this was deliberate. We had a good laugh, because they weren't doing that to anyone else's desk.

So the next Monday as we were picking up so that they could wipe down desks I said to her, "Why don't you move everything to where it was when you came in on Tuesday? See if they leave it, or put it back." So she did. And next morning, everything was put in it's rightful place.

This Tuesday morning, her computer, which had been turned off Monday night, was on. Everything is passworded, so they didn't go into her PC, but they had to have turned it back on. Tuesday mornings are fun now, just to see what's been done this time. Do you have any crazy inside jokes or games that you play? Or are we just wierd? Or both is an option too.

Where Did These People Come From?

Friday night Mo and I went to Thomas the Tank Engine Live on Stage at the Capitol Theatre. We had a good time, and the show was actually pretty good. What was really fun was people watching.

God made all kinds of people, and some of them are very interesting. I didn't see any designer moms, which surprised me. It may be that we were in the cheap seats, and they were all on the lower level. Thinking of it, I wouldn't expect designer moms to buy the least expensive ticket and hike up all the stairs to watch the show. My section was for us moms that don't blow a fortune on tickets to children's shows and designer clothing.

I did see someone that I'm sure stepped right out of a time machine. I first saw her hair. Bleach blond, frosted, wavy and big. Then I noticed the silver and black shoulder padded shirt. Wow, I thought. No one told her it was 2009. Think CC Deville (second from left for those non Poison fans)

This is not my photo, I have no idea who owns it, but it was the best photo I could find of CC's hair.

The worst part was, I looked at her son. The poor kid is probably 8 or 9 years old and he had a full on mullet. The mullet with his hair spiked up front, and long in the back. Now, I have no problem if an adult can't leave the 80's behind, but to subject your child to the 80's... Come on, have some pity. The look was bad then, and it's still bad.

Now if my encounter Friday night wasn't interesting enough, on Sunday, I saw a guy walking into the grocery store wearing shorts. Although it was only 40 degrees out, that isn't the strangest part. What was really strange is that he was wearing a flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off. He had to be freezing, and he looked like he was ready to audition for a part in the next Dukes of Hazzard.

I enjoyed my people watching this weekend, and they definitely made me giggle. What interesting looks have you seen lately?

Menu Plan Monday Finally!

This week is a bit crazy, and in order to avoid takeout or late dinners every night this week, a menu plan was essential. Tuesday and Wednesday night I'll be home late, Thursday we have just a short time between me getting home and the kids and I heading to church. Saturday Kaia is at Dance Camp most of the day. Luckily last week I did my real grocery shopping and stocked up, so this week will mostly be using up what I bought, and what's already in the freezer and cupboards.

Monday:
Ham-Potato Bake
potatoes, carrots (I'm going to substitute broccoli), cubed ham, cream of mushroom soup, shredded cheese, milk, onion, pepper, bread curmbs, butter. Layer potatoes and broccoli on bottom of casserole. Mix the ham, soup, some of the cheese, milk, minced onion and pepper together. Pour half of it over the veggies. Put the rest of the veggies on top, pour the rest of the soup mix over. Top with the rest of the cheese, and the buttered bread crumbs and bake.

Tuesday:
Pinto beans in the crockpot. Chopped onion, shredded cheese, and an iceberg lettuce salad. I'll make the salad and prep the onions and cheese tonight, so Dana and Kaia can eat while I'm at my Board Meeting.

Wednesday:
Ribs in the crockpot. Frosted cauliflower. (cauliflower partially cooked. Then mix mayo and dijon mustard together, spread over the cauliflower. Top with shredded cheddar and finish cooking)

Thursday:
Stuffed Green Peppers. (hamburger and rice with cream of mushroom soup, inside the peppers and topped with cheese)

Friday:
Tamale Pie

Saturday:
Orange Pork Chops with asparagus and grilled bread.

Sunday:
Chicken of some sort.

I only have about 3 things that I will need from the store for all of this. Mayo, chili powder and an extra can of cream of mushroom soup. I'll probably pick up some extra veggies to for sides.

For more Menu Plan Monday menus, visit orgjunkie.com.

Show and Tell: Gifts

It's now February, and I've finally taken some photos of the amazing Christmas gifts I wanted to show you. Of course I received many lovely gifts, but these are a few I wanted to share.

On my list was things for my retro dream kitchen. My dream kitchen is turquoise, red and white. Also my favorite color is pink, which doesn't go in my kitchen, but will be perfect for a formal dining room one day (as in, when we get a house with a formal dining room).

My first Christmas gifts were received in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve. I had no idea what my Mother in Law June had planned for gifts, as I hadn't told her anything I wanted. I wasn't worried about it though. She always has wonderful ideas. I was almost in tears though at how special my gift was.



June had filled a picnic basket with her teapot from Japan and the tea cups with lids. She bought these when Gordie was stationed in Japan, I think in the 1960's. There are 4 cups and the tea pot in a beautiful pink and reddish pattern. She also added a tea ball and loose leaf teas to the basket. She told me that they say if you want someone to have something, don't wait until your gone. She added that she had no plans of going anytime soon (And for that, I'm very thankful. My kids love their Grammy and Papa so much!), but thought I should have it.

While I was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the tea set, she asked if I would also like the sake set. Of course I would, was the only answer I could think of. And she brought it to me.


Those little sake cups are so small. Even the pitchers are, just look at them in comparison to the poinsettia pot behind it. I have visions one day of having a beautiful side board to display both the tea set and sake set on. Of course they will be used also, but not until the kids are a bit older.

Later on Christmas Eve I received more wonderful gifts. My Nana (aunt) made me a beautiful retro valance for the kitchen window. We still need to purchase drywall anchors (or some such thing) in order to hang it, otherwise I'd show you it over the kitchen window. My mom took some of the material from the valance and put it onto some kitchen towels.


Aren't they beautiful?! They will be perfect in my dream kitchen. And for now, the towels and soon the valance look pretty good in my modern kitchen.

One last gift. The white table center that all of this has been displayed on, that was a gift from my Grandma in Mexico. She's so thoughtful and always leaves gifts for Christmas when she visits in the fall. I think it really dresses up our patio table turned dining table.

Thanks so much for visiting. For more great items, visit Kelli's blog.