Meet Me on Monday {6/27}

Some interesting questions today! Thanks, Java of Never Growing Old, for keeping this great meme going!








1.  What is your favorite food?
 WHAT?! I can't pick just one food! Though I'm skinny as a bean pole, I LOVE eating. Yeah, hate me. I'm just lucky that way, I guess. But, really, most of my favorites are fruits & veggies, so...
I do love bread, cheese, butter, and chocolate - but only sometimes (can you say PMS?) My very favorites, that I could eat anytime, are fresh berries (especially raspberries), Brussels sprouts, broccoli, raw cabbage, carrots, mushrooms... you get the idea! I was one of those weird kids who refused hot dogs and would have been happy with a giant bowl of frozen peas. (My kids inherited that particular trait and so we eat meat rarely.)

See I Love Food Dinner Plate and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

2.  What color scheme is your bedroom?
Well, how about Swiss Coffee/Eclectic? We live in an apartment and, if you know anything about the color scheme of apartments, they're pretty much all painted in "Swiss Coffee" color - an off-white. The "eclectic" part is my mish-mash of sheets, blankets, and pillow cases. Nope, no coordination!

3.  Do you carry a donor card?
I don't carry any cards. When we go out, I never remember my purse. It's more important to have a change of pants/underwear for Little Guy and Band-Aids than anything else! I am, however, registered to donate whatever they may happen to need should a bus hit me.

4.  In your opinion, is the glass half empty or half full?
Hmm... it's never the same. Depends on how thirsty I am, I guess! LOL

5.  Vanilla or Chocolate?
Chocolate for eating, vanilla for smelling. Ha! Thought you'd get me to make a decision!

***As always, if the photo is not my own, just click on the pic to be taken to where I found it!

Meet Me on Monday 6/20

1.  What feature of the opposite sex do you notice first?
HAIR! I love guys with lots of hair. Eyes are next. There are guys out there with "evil eyes" that completely freak me out. Could be the nicest man in the world, but I won't stick around to find out!

Kind of hard to see, but that's hubby's hair coming down over his shoulder and behind the baby blanket. And, though they're closed, he DOESN'T have evil eyes!

2.  Do you talk to yourself?
YEP! I think I'm talking to someone, but no one is paying attention, so I'm essentially talking to myself... or the walls.

3.  What is your current relationship status?
Married... and working very hard at it right now.

4.  Do you have a garden?
Yes! A little teeny, tiny garden, but a garden hjust the same. We live in an apartment, so our landlord was kind enough to allow me to till up part of the yard. We've been here for going on 6 years, so it's not like we were just going to leave it. Plus, I promised to plant a lot of perrineals so, when we do eventually move, it won't turn into an instant weed patch.

Taken June 3. It's grown a LOT since then - we even have pea pods on the peas now!

5.  What is your favorite licorice flavor?
BLACK! And I also like Twizzlers original strawberry.

Remember these?!

***The original page where I found all photos that are not my own can be found by clicking on the photo itself.

Meet Me on Monday {6/6}

Too much going on for me to blog much lately. I have a ton of half-written posts and I REALLY want to get them finished, so keep an eye open for them!








1.  What is was the last piece of candy that you ate?
      Twizzlers! I go on candy kicks, where I crave just one kind for a month or so and that's my craving this month!

OMG - I could eat this WHOLE bag right now! (Must be PMS...)

2.  Do you "read" in the bathroom?
   Nope, although when I see a magazine with an interesting article that my husband left behind from his bathroom reading, I'll steal it to read later. Drives him nuts to get all comfy and then realize the only thing to read is the insert from my tampon box!

Was searching for tampon instructions, but couldn't find any that didn't have diagrams! This is funnier, anyway!

3.  I can't stand when someone _________?
    Lies. Drives me nuts. A lie is usually used to cover up a screw-up. Why not just admit it? Much more admirable, in my opinion. And when it's used to mislead, I have to ask myself if it's even worth knowing the person. (Of course, with family it's a little different!) I raise my kids to know that: 1) I will always catch them if they lie to me - may not be right away, but I WILL find out, and 2) If you lie to avoid punishment, then when you get caught (see #1), life will be so much worse for you!

Look at it well!  (by Kevin Schroeder)

4.  Do you do daily, weekly or monthly grocery shopping?
Monthly with supplemental shopping (milk, bread, eggs, cravings, etc.) We gave up our car over 3 years ago.  Since taking the bus to the store involves at least 1 1/2 hours actually on the bus (we have a really crappy bus system) and than a 7-block walk home, we avoid going more than absolutely necessary. We carpool with a friend once a month to get the bulk of our food.

We don't usually take Little Guy to the store on the bus because it takes forever - too much to expect him to handle well. This was a "just for fun" trip, and he sure was excited!

***I want to mention that, when the photos I use are not my own, you just have to click on the photo itself to be taken to where I got it from!
Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment and I'll head over to your post. If you've followed me, let me know and I'll return the favor, too!

Meet Me on Monday! {5/16}

From: ICanHasCheezburger.com

OK, now that I have your attention, I need to let everyone know a couple of things:

1) I have a new linky!!! See the little "Green Parenting Giveaway Linky" button over there in the sidebar? Yep, that's it! So, before you take off, go see what there is to win. And, if you've got any giveaways that are green or have to do with parenting (or being a parent), add them! I checked my stats and people are actually using the linky (I know! I was surprised, too!)

2) Starting today, I am going to be giving away lots of handmade stuff from online businesses (mostly Etsy.) I've saved up a little PayPal survey-taking money and I am using it to thank some of the shops I've won giveaway prizes from. Plus, many of the shops have offered to add to the prize I am paying for, give readers some pretty good discounts, or both! I'll be adding a new giveaway each day until I run out of money! Check my giveaway linky or homepage each day for the newest giveaway.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled program!

1.  Crunchy or smooth peanut butter?

Only smooth for me! and only Jif or Kroger (not the nasty red, white, and blue label - the all read one!

2.  What is your favorite color Rose?

Oooo... tough one. While I like red, yellow, pink, and those ones that are yellow inside and red on the tips, and just about any other colors, it's the SMELL that is most important to me. Roses, irises, and lilacs are my three very favorite smelling flowers!

My Sweet Rose by John William Waterhouse

3.  Do you remove your shoes when you walk into your home?

Um... it's kind of a rule. My rule. But, um... I'm exempt from it. Yeah. But here's the deal - I have a 13 year-old son who still loves jumping in puddles and traipsing through all kinds of nasty stuff. In fact, his shoes have been on the back porch since Friday because they're covered in mud and smell like something BIG dies in them and then sat out in the sun for three days. My husband just doesn't think and, it never fails, will wear muddy shoes right after I've scrubbed the kitchen floor. I swear, one day I just lost it and declared that no one was ever going to wear shoes in this house ever again - EVER!

4.  What is your favorite season?

Summer!!!
#1 - I absolutely HATE being cold.
#2 - I love fresh fruit and veggies.
#3 - And I love being outside (unless it's cold out - see #1 for explanation.)

5.  Approximately how many hours a day do you spend blogging?

Well... It all just depends. Sometimes I'll get on a streak and blow through a few posts and schedule them. Other days I can hardly get out of bed, yet alone think! And then, there are those days when all I want to do is screw around blog hopping, entering giveaways, and checking out what everyone's doing on Facebook. And, now that the weather's getting nice, I'm spending a LOT more time outside with my husband and kids. So, it's somewhere between 4 hours and 1 minute, depending on the day! 

Meet Me On Monday {4/18}

Howdy! Thanks, again, to Java for this great meme. If you want to join in, head over to Never Growing Old!

Now, before I get going on the questions, I want to let you know that I am participating in the Natural Parenting Blog Party. If you would like to join in, or are just interested in finding a few new natural parenting blogs, head on over to our host, The Peaceful Housewife.




 Also, I have a giveaway going on right now. It is for a $15 gift certificate to Freckles Crafts. It's a great craft store that specializes in all-inclusive craft kits for children. The kits sell for an average of $5, so with the GC, you could get yourself THREE kits for free! The giveaway is open to US and Canada and will close on 4/28.

 On to MMOM!

Questions:

1.  Caesar Salad or Garden Salad?
Garden salad. Well, let me change that. I like all of the stuff on Ceaser Salads, I just can't stand the dressing. Give me a nice Ceasar salad with Ranch or French dressing and I'm happy!

2.  Will you be watching the Royal Wedding on April 29th?
Uh... no? Had no idea it was happening so soon. I don't keep up on those things. All I knew was one of the prince guys is getting married. LOL

3.  Last thing you spent lots of money on?
Bills? Really, I spend the most on my cable/phone/internet bill. I mean, I'm too embarrassed to even mention how much it is! If you're talking about and actual thing, I'd have to say it was a PSP for my oldest for Christmas. I bought him a used one on eBay and nearly flipped at the price. That is, until I saw how much they cost new! Oh, and I don't usually contribute to his video game addiction. But I figured this was his last year doing Christmas as a "kid" and he deserved to get a thrill.

4.  Window seat or aisle seat?
Window - all the time. I'd rather look out the window and the trees, buildings, etc. than at all of the people. I'm a loaner like that.

5.  Do you know your blood type?
I think it's O-, but I'm not too sure. I'm almost "positive" it's O, though.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be seeing you when I make my rounds. If you're here, please leave me a comment so I can be sure to visit you, too!

Meet Me on Monday! {4/11}

Yeah, no photos this week. I'm running late with everything today! Long story short: I have a huge project due for my class and read the instructions wrong. The work I did can't be used and I have until midnight tonight to do an entirely new project! UGH!!!



1.  Who would be your dream celebrity date?
  Um... I gotta say that I really don't have a dream date. All the guys I find attractive are either really old or dead. As I mentioned in my last post, Roger Daltrey Was In My Kitchen, I should have been born a generation sooner!

2.  Do you have any food restrictions?
 Only the ones I impose. That's basically no fat-free, low-fat, sugar-free stuff. Sounds bad, doesn't it? But I'm underweight, my husband and kids are skinny. Most of those foods have chemicals replacing the fat/sugar in them. I'd rather take my chances on the "bad-for-you" sugar, butter, etc.

3.  How much time do you take to get ready in the morning?
Um... getting ready for what?! I'm a SAHM, so my getting ready pretty much means getting out of bed and downing a couple of cups of coffee immediately. I'm still in my PJ's at 9am (to be honest, they'll probably still be on two hours from now), my hair gets braided before bed and I'll comb it sometime today. I haven't worn make up since last Christmas, when I realized that ALL of my makeup was so old that it either dried up or separated. So, no make up for me.

4.  Sausage or bacon?
Hmm... good question! I love Bob Evans sausage links. When I was pregnant, I made those with pancakes about three times a week. But then, bacon is just perfect if cooked correctly. And it smells great! Until the next day when you have that greasy, bacony scent still clinging to the walls. And it's messy to cook, for me at least! Grease everywhere, no matter how careful I am. I've taken to tossing it on a baking sheet and putting it in the oven, but that comes with it's own set of dangers and messes!

5.  Do you Google, Bing or Yahoo?
Uh... search engines? Google. All of the time. I love all of the options, especially the blog search and the scholar search. Usually, no matter what kind of stupid mixture of keywords i put in, the perfect result is usually on the first page.

Meet Me on Monday {4/4}

Hi everyone! I can't wait to read all of your answers this week! Not much has been going on this past week. It got cold out, again, but I'm just glad we didn't get any of the snow that our neighbors on the other side of Lake Erie received!

If you have a few minutes, please take a minute to check out some of my posts from this past week. There's even a giveaway at the bottom!
If you have a few minutes, please check out some of my posts from this past week;

• I Was Featured!
• I Just LOVE Cherries!
• Soon-to-Be Sugar High {Wordless Wednesday}
• Random Acts of Kindness (This is one of my favorite posts so far - what do you do when you see a parent about to spank a child in public?)
• What's Under YOUR Sink? {Review & Link to a Great Giveaway}
• Constructive Critique - My Artsy-Fartsy Photos
• Do You Like These?

And, finally, a GIVEAWAY!!! I Love Spring, But Dread the Cleaning!




And now, on to the questions for this week!


1.  If you had to eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
     Really??? I really love food. I'm not sure I could choose only one thing to eat for the rest of my life! I once heard that, if you mix beans and rice, you can get nearly all of the nutrients you need. Not that beans & rice are all that appealing to me!

Eww... I mean... just... eww.

2.  Do you write your blog posts in advance or the day you post them?
    LOL! I write them about two seconds before I post them! Most of the time, they're filled with grammatical and spelling errors. When I get an idea, I just jump on it. If I let it sit too long, it gets stale. I take my camera with me everywhere. If the kids are doing something with me, I take a zillion photos. You never know - I may write a post about it!

I was going to use this for a "What to Do with Broken Crayons" post. But, thought too much about it, let it sit too long, now it's just not ap'peel'ing to me.

3.  Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
    Where I came from, we called it a "rescue squad". Only once when I was a little kid at the volunteer fire department's annual festival. I got to sit up front and push the button to turn on and off the lights! (Way back before "liability" and "seat belt laws" came into play!)

Believe it, or not, something very similar to this just happened recently around here. The officer tried to arrest the driver because he was speeding! The cop is suspended and has to go through a ton of psych tests before they'll consider giving him his gun back.

4.  What is your favorite candle scent?
    Man, you are giving us some tough ones this week, Java! I like to smell cinnamon and sandalwood together. Since it's really hard to find them mixed, I usually end up burning two candles at the same time. Oh, and I hate apple-cinnamon combination!

Remember this one? I must have watched Sixteen Candles a million times in the 80's. I LOVE Joan Cusak - did you know that she narrates on Peep and the Big, Wide World? (It's one of my favorite kiddie shows.)

5.  Coffee or tea?
  Coffee! Super-strong coffee with a spoon of sugar and a little half and half. Not milk, not fake creamer, no low-fat crap. And I love my expensive coffees with weird exotic names. They really stink, but they taste so great! Whenever I'm brewing a pot of "Mommy's Coffee", my husband will come into the kitchen, sniff around, and then go find the cat to toss him outside for spraying in the house! LOL Every time. Poor kitty.

Okie-Dokie... See you all next week, if not sooner!

Yay! It's Time For Meet Me On Monday!!! {March 28}

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

I had a great week! I won a bunch of stuff (and here), ended my first giveaway with lots of entries,  started a new giveaway, and have been asked to write a guest post! (Yeah, little ol' me!) OK, on to this week's questions!






1.  Crunchy or soft tacos?
      Soft. Always. It's not that I don't like the taste or texture but, as I mentioned in last week's spaghetti question. I hate making a mess when I eat. And hard-shell tacos and I do NOT get along. No matter how carefully I bite into one, no matter that I've wrapped the darn thing in 18 napkins, meat, cheese, salsa, etc. ends up on my lap.

He really doesn't look pissed. More of a, "What the hell are YOU looking at?" face.

2.  Do you scrapbook?
      Nope. I have all of my photos on the computer. Whenever a good photobook deal comes along, I upload my pics to whatever site is doing it and make myself a book. I just don't have time. Now, I've tried scrapbooking, but it just never worked out. I have a little one who likes to help and, when you spend upwards of $5 on a sticker, you really don't want it in the middle of Daddy's face!

THIS is what it would look like if I attempted to scrapbook at this point in my life!

3.  Do you take any daily medications?
     Um. Medications, no. I take prenatal vitamins because Little Guy is still nursing on and off and I occasionally take Fenugreek to keep that milk supply going and to help me out with stuffy nose and coughing from seasonal allergies. Oh! I lied. I DO take Claritin from April through October, everyday, along with a giant spoonful of raw, local honey for those allergies. They're terrible. If I don't keep on myself to do those two things, I will have a sinus infection within a day. Sucks.

My absolute worst fear in the summertime (especially if I'm down wind.) You will see me literally running away from this guy with my nose and mouth covered with a Kleenex and a look of pure terror in my eyes.

 
4.  What is your favorite sound?

      Silence.

      OH, okay. An actual sound? Low, rumbling thunder in the evening, warning of an impending storm, after a long, hot, dry summer day.

5.  Where were you born?
     In a hospital. OK, I know, I'm getting tired and the smart-ass is really coming out tonight! I was born in Toledo, Ohio. The home of Jeep, Libby Glass, and Owens-Illinois (AKA Owens-Corning.) Known as "The Glass City". Oh, and it's where Klinger (Jamie Farr) from MASH is from and Tony Packos.

 
OKAY... I'm off to link up and check out some of your answers. See you all next week, if not before!

Meet Me On Monday {3/21}

Please check out my giveaway, HERE! It ends on Friday and had only 94 entries as I wrote this. It's for 4 sheets of stickers from Sticker You. These aren't ordinary stickers, you can customize them however you want. Even upload your own artwork. Great for kids, businesses, schools, home, etc.

1.  What jewelry do you wear 24/7?
  I wear my Claddagh ring all of the time. Same ring, same finger, different position since I was 13! I also wear the same earrings all of the time. I have two silver hoops in the bottom holes, one silver hoop with a Celtic design on the next hole up on the left (hubby has the other), and a "diamond" stud up on the top of my left - through the cartilage (That one HURT!) I don't wear my wedding ring right now. Since I had my little guy, I've had to put it away because the stone became a hazard - it sticks out to much and I'm afraid of scratching him.

Click on the picture for a little history and meanings of the Claddagh.

2.  Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?
Cut it. I hate getting messy when I eat. I break it into small pieces before I cook it, then cut it more before I eat.

by Matthew Vimislik at Vimislik Art

3.  How many siblings do you have?
I have a brother and a sister. My brother is 2 years younger than me and my sister is 5 years younger.

My brother (left), My sister (middle) kissing my nephew with her daughter in front of her, and me (right) with Little Guy and my oldest in front of me.

4.  Were you named after anyone?
Nope! I used to hate my name, Alicia, because it was so different from all of the Jennifer's and Kristin's I grew up with. I just wanted to blend in, ya know? But, as I grew older, my name really didn't matter to me. Now, if I stand out in a crowd, I don't even notice. I have more important things on my mind rather than worrying whether I'm like everyone else!

5.  Coke or Pepsi?
Pepsi! For some reason, I get a ginger ale aftertaste from Coke. I can't stand ginger ale! I threw it up too much as a kid (it was my parents' cure-all for any stomach ailment.)

Are you old enough to have taken the original Pepsi Challenge in the 80's? Do you remember Like Cola?

Can't wait to read what everyone else's answers are! See you all next week!


Sorry there's no linky. I tried adding it, but it's just not working. Hmm...