Ladies, this is awesome--Men, you may want to step away for a moment...

Ladies, today we're going to talk about your period. Yes, that awful monthly visitor that we all hate. I am the first to admit that I am one of those women who is horrible about remembering when it's due, having supplies on hand, etc. But when I upgraded my phone at the beginning of the year I found an application that I think is totally awesome! (Yes, that's the Southern California beach girl coming out in me...I said totally awesome...)

It's called "My Days" and this little application has really been helpful to me. In this application you can click on a specific date on the calendar and add "Start Period" or "End Period". You can even take it a step further and add "Had Sex" or "Took Pill" if you need to keep track of these things (or if you just want to remind your husband that no, it has NOT been WEEKS since the last time you had sex.) ;) Once you add in your first period cycle, it then calculates when all of your future periods will be. It also tells you when your are in "high fertility" days and when you are ovulating. This can be handy for those of you who might be trying to get pregnant. Or if you're like me, when to NOT get pregnant.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, for me) this is only available for the Android-based phones--not iPhone or Windows based. But if you have an Android-based phone I would highly recommend looking into this application. If you don't, hopefully your phone has a similar application available.

Oh...and did I mention this is FREE? Yay for free!

Just Call Me Madam....

So to try to supplement our current income, I've been trying to find a job I can do in the evenings. Preferably something that doesn't take too much time away from my family and is interesting enough that I'm not bored out of my mind. I just had an interview today at Mystique Dining in Boise and to quote the woman I talked to there, "We like you!" (Thank you to my junior high school Glee teacher, Mr. Dublin for casting me in various parts in musicals so I would be prepared for this later in life...ha ha.)
Technically I don't know if I'm what they call "hired" yet...at this point I'm "auditioning". I will only work one or two nights a week to start off so they can see if I'm a good fit with everyone else and to see if I like it. My official title is "Hostess", which is not the typical hostess you think of at a restaurant. I do not stand by the front counter and seat people as they come in. Instead, the people who come in are guests to "my" dinner party. They're announced by butlers and seated at a table that holds 18. I welcome them to the evening, let them know what will be in store for them and then proceed to "mingle" and help out the butlers throughout the night. (Announcing courses, helping fill drinks, making sure the guests feel like it's all about them...)
Did I mention I'll be wearing a Victorian dress the whole time?

Ebay Listings

Every once in awhile I go through my closet & the house and see if there are things I can get rid of that I don't use, wear, need, etc. Lately it's been about shoes.
I've had a bad habit in the past of buying a pair of shoes because they look really cute in the store. Then I get them home & wear them maybe once or twice and then they sit in the box in my closet not getting any use. By listing them on Ebay, someone else who would appreciate them more can buy them for less than they would from the store.

So if anyone out there is interested, I'll be listing several things over the next few days or weeks. You can find my listings here:
http://shop.ebay.com/mcfaddensfarm/m.html?_dmd=1

Pass the info along if you know of anyone else who might be interested...I won't give anyone a guilt trip by telling them that the proceeds from these bids will go towards my son's graduation present trip... ;)
Let the bidding begin! :)

What Were They Thinking??!!

This is the last year my son is a "child"...he turns 18 this summer. Every year I have done up an Easter basket for him, using the same basket (with stuffed bunny attached) that my parents bought for him when he was 9 months old. (Call me a sentimental old fool...) So I decided to go all out and make him a basket full of all of his favorites from over the years. A trip the local Walmart was necessary.

As I was walking down the Easter aisle at Walmart, I happened upon something that made me do a double-take.

Behold....the sugar cookie lollipop with the pornographic monkey (squirrel??):

Who's brilliant idea was it to decorate these cookies this way?? What is that supposed to be?? I showed a picture of it to my husband and he said, "Maybe it's a flashlight, honey." Yeah...because monkeys carrying flashlights just screams Easter... I could see maybe a mushroom...but again, why a random mushroom in front of a monkey for Easter? Oh, and not all of them had such a large...er...mushroom cap on them. (Maybe these were the Gentile monkeys?) I'm sure there was some original concept behind these (maybe it IS a squirrel and that's his nut. Heh.) But either the machine that made these was set incorrectly or the people who did these by hand were giggling to themselves while they decorated.

The really funny thing about it (as if x-rated monkeys on children's Easter cookies was not funny enough), was that there were several other styles of these cookies. All of the other boxes had about 1/2 of ONE box left. This style? FIVE boxes. So I know I'm not the only one who saw these and thought they looked like they should be sold at the local adult shop instead of the Easter aisle at Walmart. I can just see the parents, seeing them and picking one up to put in the cart saying, "Oh, what cute a little monke.......oh.......OH!" And then quickly putting it back on the shelf and scurrying away.

Someone at quality control needs to be fired....

Sweet Tea....for Grown Ups

In my old age (ha ha) I'm trying to be more adventurous when it comes to food & drink. More recently, I've wanted to learn a lot more about wine. I've never really been a beer drinker (can't stand the taste of the stuff) so wine seems the other obvious option.

When I was in my early 20's, the only thing I knew about wine was what I learned drinking White Zinfandel with my room mates. (That was back when I thought spaghetti consisted of spaghetti noodles & a jar of spaghetti sauce...) As I've gotten older, especially more recently, I've tried to expand my experience with wines. Thanks to my sister I even found a red wine that I liked. I'm also surprisingly impressed with the knowledge my niece possesses about wines & pairings. Of course, she does own a restaurant and is married to a master chef. That could have something to do with it. Lately I've discovered that at World Market you can try all kinds of different wines from around the world, a lot of them at pretty decent prices. It's a good way to try new things without breaking your budget.

So the other day when I walked into my local World Market, a display right near the front of the store caught my eye. I zeroed in on the words "Sweet Tea" because I am a tea drinker--a sweet tea drinker. I'm talking the sweeter the better...Southern style, so sweet you can feel your tongue curl. (Okay, maybe not THAT sweet, but I do like mine pretty strong!) Imagine my surprise when I looked closer at the display and discovered it was actually a wine! Olde Savannah Sweet Tea. I paid my $6.98 (on sale!) and brought my new found purchase home.

Tonight seemed like a good night to try it--no kids at home and I'm in a relaxed mood. So I pulled out my favorite rabbit ears (wine opener people.....just a wine opener) and got a wine glass out of the cupboard. It was only then that I realized that this bottle has a screw-off cap. Okay, no big deal--I've had some good wines before with screw-off caps. Heck, I've even had some good wines out of a box.

When I poured it into the glass, it was a little odd. Only because it is in fact the color of sweet tea. I could see that in the bottle, but when it was actually sitting in the glass it hits home. It's hard to pick up a glass that looks like it has whiskey in it and expect to taste wine. Another thing--it has a distinct smell. This is a problem for me because I am big on smell. Of all my senses, my smell is probably strongest. I can't be around people with strong perfume and can smell b.o. a mile away. I don't know how to describe the smell--some reviews I've read say that it smells like perfume. I can't say I'd wear it. Maybe it's more like a cologne. I don't know, but it has a distinct smell.

So the time for tasting was here. I don't know what I was expecting....maybe sweet tea? Again, I'm having a hard time describing it. Doesn't exactly taste like wine...doesn't exactly taste like sweet tea...definitely had an aftertaste. Maybe something a little medicinal? I can't say it hated though. I also couldn't say that I loved it. I don't know if I'll finish the bottle. I've read it should be served very chilled, over ice, with a slice of lemon. Well I did have it chilled, although I didn't put it over ice and didn't happen to have a lemon handy. Maybe next time I'll try it that way and see if my opinion changes. If you're feeling adventurous, maybe you'll want to try it for yourself.

One last thing I thought was funny....it's made in California. I really thought it would have been from Georgia with a name like "Olde Savannah", or at least some other southern state...