Monday, March 19, 2018

#atozchallenge Theme Reveal

Woohoo!  It's that time of year!

Time for the Theme Reveal of the 2018 Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

This year I'm going to showcase the beauty of Detroit!  
(fun fact - Detroit is the only US city that is directly north of Canada)
This picture was taken from Windsor, Ontario.

I know most people think of Detroit as thugs & arson & blight.  Bah!  Most big cities have their bad areas.  Detroit is filled with lovely places, if you know where to look.  

And it was surprisingly easy to get all the letters - even X, thanks to a Mexican restaurant (which will be reviewed!)

I've been doing the A-Z Challenge since 2012.  I started out full throttle with 3 blogs in 2012/2013, then dropped to 2 in 2014/2015 and finally dropped to just one in 2016/2017 and now 2018.  It's been a fun ride so far!

Come on & join in!
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Monday, March 12, 2018

10 on the 10th linkup, March edition


Ooooo-weeee  this one will be a hoot!  10 spring cleaning tips from someone who'd rather burn the house down and start over??

Confession to those who don't know me - I an most definitely NOT Suzy Homemaker.  


When Randy & I moved in together in 2003, we condensed 2-1100+ sq foot apartments into this minuscule 850 sq foot house (in our defense, it felt a lot bigger when the realtor showed it to us and it was empty!)  Which means WAY too much clutter.   Let's just say there's never been a car in the 2 car garage.  Our laundry "room" is barely big enough for the washer & dryer and up until a year ago - the furnace was also in there!  It added a degree of difficulty to doing laundry.  Since the 40+ year old beast was getting to be a fire & carbon monoxide fear, we upgraded to a new furnace that oddly enough....hangs on the wall.  I was so excited for that!  No more contortionist moves to get clothes from washer to dryer!

So yeah.   I don't really have any "tips" per se.  

I do recommend FlyLady (which works great if you actually DO what she suggests!) - in a nutshell, keep your kitchen sink empty & work on chores 15 minutes at a time.  

Another great suggestion I saw online somewhere, is to get rid of 40 bags  of stuff during the 40 days of Lent.   (edit!  I found the site so I can give credit!  White House Black Shutters )

You can bet I'm going to go check out off the other posts that have linked up with Erin! 
If anyone wants to come over to help get me over being so overwhelmed.... 
I'll feed you & give you margaritas!  

 photo http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54494-124-9BF74C716651145ECAC7EDD1AB729D6B_zpsxkuumtdq.png

Saturday, March 10, 2018

What Up, Weekend?

I had a great week so I have a lot of positive things to write about in this week's linkup with the Peaceful Posse! 

So if you've never heard of this phenomena, you basically write about any little or big thing that has made you happy this past week.  Since we're all tired of reading / hearing / watching all the horrible & depressing things going on in the world these days, it's refreshing to reading some positive & good things!

1.  No more playing chauffeur!   Back story - in mid February Miss Angela was in a car accident and her car was totalled (she was shook up, but fine otherwise) and she'd been Ubering to work and I'd pick her up after & did the dance shuttle, etc.  Last weekend we went on another car shopping trip where she looked at & test drove several prospects.  Then as we were walking up to the building, the sun shone on this "old person" car and made it glow (it's pearl, not white!).  We both gasped, since it was so pretty!  
Long story short - "Reginald" is now sitting in our driveway.    
2.  As we were driving back out to the dealership Monday night to take possession of Reginald, I caught a glimpse of this car in the far right lane and I grabbed my phone and told Angel to get a picture of it.   It's a Hazzard County Sherriff's car!!  I couldn't tell what state was on the license plate, but it said HCOUNTY.
3.  Some of us moms from the studio made a FB page, to encourage each other to get in shape before going to Orlando for Nationals in June.  One lady had been doing virtual races on an app called Yes.Fit and showing off her medals that she's earned.  So several of us joined in.  I jumped right in with a 64 mile race called Popeye Strong.  But since I linked my Fitbit up to it, I was able to finish my race in 21 days, just by daily activity (and 2 days at the gym).  So this is my medal that just shipped yesterday.  Can't wait to get it! 
 4.  Apparently this is how one of the ladies at work now feels about this poor snowman that's been on the counter in the restroom.  
 5.  Driving in snow sucks, but it sure is pretty!
 6.  Me & sister Laurie had our first meeting with the Lapeer County Sheriff's Mounted Division Search & Rescue Team last night!  They talked about uniforms, gear, radios, required training,  GPS units & opportunities / events to get involved in.  We're getting excited to be a part of this!
(OMG - Lt. was saying they were only able to get 4 radios for his division.  I texted the model to Randy since we're both hams and I knew he'd be interested.  He looked them up online one they run $2000 used!!  Damn!!)
My window decal for the car.  It's getting real up in here!

   7.  Angel's solo costume finally came in and it doesn't really even need any alterations!  Her legs look freakishly long here. 
8.  I went in on 2/28 was was sworn in at my VFW post.  The very next day, I ordered a name tag, a necklace (with a dogtag charm that has the VFW emblem on one side and "Real women wear dogtags" on the other) and my garrison cover.  Since my name tag and cover are personalized, it said it could take several weeks to get them.  So when I got an email that part of my order shipped, I assumed it was just the necklace.  Nope!  My name tag was in there, too!  It's to the Maltese cross on one side, then my name, post # and city.  I'm happy to have it before the next meeting.  

9.  Getting together with some coworkers for beverages earlier this week to send off one of 3 dispatchers who quit last week.  There's a fairly big turnover with dispatchers there, I'm not sure if it's because of the redundancy (they basically dispatch trucks 3 different ways - 2 of which are unnecessary and most trucking companies don't use anymore because, computers!) or the really shitty hours?   I personally wouldn't want to work 5am-5pm, 4 days on, 4 days off.

10.  Taking Jack (my dog) out to Laurie's with me and watching him plow thru chest-deep snow as fast as he could when we went out to the barn.  He loves going to Aunt Laurie's!  And giving him the chance to hang out with her dog Barney while we were at the SAR meeting. 

11.  Going to Ford Field in Detroit tomorrow night to see the Monster Trucks!

So what's made you happy this week?  

 photo http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54494-124-9BF74C716651145ECAC7EDD1AB729D6B_zpsxkuumtdq.png

Monday, March 5, 2018

TBB Asks - Beauty Edition



Here's another fun linkup from The Blended Blog!

I'm not the most girly one out there, but I'll still join in. 

1.  An eyelash curler has touched my eyes exactly once.  When I let Miss Angela do my makeup for a family "Girls Night Out" last year. 

2.  Favorite nail shade?  I tend to have my toes painted more often than my fingers.  I prefer bright colors for them.  The last time I had my fingers painted was last September for my nephew's wedding and I used this polish I got from Hot Topic that's basically clear with a tons of glitter in it.  It looked so cool and bonus!  The bottle is skull-shaped!
Related image
3.  Lipstick?  I don't wear it often, but when I have recently I've stolen Angel's lipstick that she uses for dance competitions.  It's Revlon Colorstay in "Relentless Raisin" - a darkish purple that doesn't wear off until sometime the next day. 
Check me out all duded up for the nephew's wedding!

4. Air Dry

5. Real nails

6. Foundation?  Not too often.  I tend to use it like concealer & put it mainly around my eyes. 

7.  Hair is usually up in a clippy. 

8.  Body wash

9.  Shower

10.  Nivea Smooth Daily Moisture

11.  No perfume.  At least not often.  Strong scents give me a headache, so I have to be really selective about what I wear.   

12.  HA!  Nope!  Actually, since I turned 40, the leg hair seems to be getting less!  And oddly enough - it's only on the fronts of my shins. 

13.  Blistex Medicated Mint.  I always put it on at night.  Or any of the Chapstick seasonal flavors - pumpkin pie, peppermint, etc. 

14.  I was probably 6th or 7th grade when I started - I can't remember which one of my school pictures had the lovely 80s shocking blue garage-door eyeshadow.....! 

 photo http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54494-124-9BF74C716651145ECAC7EDD1AB729D6B_zpsxkuumtdq.png

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Skywatch Friday 3/1/18

Look at the difference a little more than 24 hours makes!
 On my way home from work day before yesterday - 
there are about a gazillion birds in this tree and they were all screeching. 
About 55*F.

It was glorious!  
The robins have returned.  There was a crocus peeking up in my lawn - not blooming yet, but I could see the bright orange ready.  There are tulip sprouts in my flower beds.  I took the dog for a walk, just wearing a sweatshirt! 

....and then
Tonight. 
Michigan is awesome.

Linking up with all the talented peeps over at Skywatch Friday - 
go check out the rest of the linkups!

 photo http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54494-124-9BF74C716651145ECAC7EDD1AB729D6B_zpsxkuumtdq.png