Cutest apron on the block

Cookie girl over at Cookie Girl Creations is giving away this adorable apron. I have to say that I had no choice in entering. It is just too adorable. And lately i've found myself in a wierd love affair with aprons. I want one, they're just too cute and pretty, but then I get one and I don't want to wear it cuz I don't want to ruin it and get it dirty. So my goal is to make it fashionably acceptable to wear your apron anywhere. Oooohhh..maybe the newest swimsuit cover? There ya go.

Wierdness

It truly has been a bizarre week. Let me recap, just so I can keep the wierdness in some semblance of order.

Monday: Oh crap, there was a monday? Oh yeah, it was supposed to be the busiest day of the month, but Nicole was having a family emergency so I brought alot of paperwork home and got caught up on 'Big Love' before the season premier sunday. (DVR set!!)

Tuesday: Going about the day, minding my own business, and about 2 in the afternoon I get a text that reads 'Hi Tina. Havent spoken in a while. Hope everything is going good for you.". I was like who the f is this? It was Chris, my first husband. Let's just say dont' ever be behind the wheel when you get a text from your first husband that you havent spoken to in 5 years. I'm lucky that tree jumped out of my way. Turns out that he's getting married. To a girl that I was best friends with in high school. Hm.. so of course my first question was how long have they been dating. Guess they've been friends for 6 years and things just naturally progressed. So, yay. I am happy for him. And her. I'm glad he's finally found someone. We got married 3 days before high school graduation and made it 7 years together before I was going out of my mind and we split. I'm the first one to jump on the your too young to get married band wagon, having done it myself. That was wwwwaaayyy too young. Neither one of us knew who we were as individuals, much less what we wanted to be as a couple. But I know he carried alot of resentment and anger for a long time about the split, so I truly am happy that he's fallen in love and found someone that he wants to be with. Just shocked the snot out of me to hear from him like that.

Wednesday: Boring morning. (should have been a clue) Had a depo for a case going at work. Now while I can't give the specifics in the case I can say that I was truly not prepared to be attacked. I thought the depo would take maybe 30 minutes top. Nope. Two and a half freakin hours. By the time I got out of there I was fit to be tied. There wasnt' a Baskin Robbins close enough. And of course being in that mental state there was no way I was getting anything else productive done the rest of the day. Now mind you, I tried, but after attempting to put something in the computer 3 times and it going going right (damn computer) I quit and went home. Went to bed at 9 pm and didnt wake up til 7 am.

Thursday: After the last two days, Nicole promised me a nice boring day of inspecting some vacant properties and then we'd go shopping. We both had gift cards to Macy's burning holes in our pockets and I for one dont like fire that close to my body. So we headed to the first property. Yep. That was the last one. This house was evicted the day after christmas. They decided they didnt like that and moved back in and rekeyed the flippin house! Metro was called. Locksmith was called. Went through it all again. So we show up a third time and they have done it again! New hardware on the door, house locked up tight. Well, I got smart (a-ha!) there in between the second and this time and had the power turned off so they were in there for 3 days with no power. But seeing as how I am not about to rush in a house with a squatter and get shot for nobody, we waited for metro. Again. Then waited for the locksmith. Again. Finally, after 2 hours, got back in the house, did our inspection and locked the house up tight. In my 5 years doing this this is the first time i've ever had this happen. Sign of the times?

So after all that we headed straight to the mall. Macy's was having some amazing sales so I bought 2 summer nightgowns (and yes I was tempted to come home and turn the heat up to 80 so I could wear them), a pair of silky short gouchos, and a bottle of perfume. I love this stuff! Long day of shopping, got home around 6, got in my jammies, and just surfed around online all night reading blogs. Friday: Full day in the office. Didn't get home til 5. Had plans to go to Ken's for dinner, but V called right when I was walking out the door. They (he and T, the new wife) have found a new place to live. (currently they still rent from me, in the same house that I lived in when we were together). Cheaper, which was his main goal. But they needed a letter of recomendation from me, the landlord. (the power!) So, realizing that this was probably the only moment in our relationship where I had the upper hand I told him that it was a friday night and I had plans, but if they would like to type up the letter for me and bring it over, say 10-ish, I would be more than happy to sign it and give them one of my business cards. They accepted (did they have a choice?) So went all the way up the mountain to Ken's for dinner. He fixed a delicious shephards pie that i'm going to have to watch him make next time so I can post it on my other blog. Got home about 9-ish and worked on cataloging comics for the ebay store til they got here. And it was a pleasant exchange. Havent spoken to HER in 6 months? V calls like maybe twice a week, just to tell me what's going on in his life (havent decided if I care still or not). But paper signed, they have a meeting today with the new landlord. Keep your fingers crossed for me. This is the last tie that he and I have together.

So..... if anyone else from my past pops up I think i'm going to spend the rest of the month in hybernation.

This weekend is going to be spent cleaning my house, since I didn't get anything accomplished during the week. Oh joy.

Catchin up on blog awards

First, I'd like to thank Mrs. Potts for the Honest Scrap award! Very cool!

The rules...

1) Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.

2) Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with "Honest Scrap." Well, there's no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.

3) List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

The 7 brilliant blogs that I bestow this award to are:

Jane at Jumpin in the Jungle
Michelle at One Crafty Mama
Rachel at Adventures of an American Mum
Sassy Engineer at Pretty Peony
Lena at Inner Green Fairy
Andrea at My Chihuahua Bites
Maven at A Fabulously Good Life

Okay, now to the 10 honest things about myself.

1. I am addicted to sweet tea. Seriously. Check my blood sugar level sometime.
2. I bite my nails when i'm nervous.
3. I babble alot when i'm nervous also. (makes my boss nervous when i'm alone with clients)
4. I am addicted to clothes and shoes. (I just counted - I have 28 pairs of capris. Should I consider this a problem?)
5. I am teaching myself how to cook. (growing up, cooking mostly consisted of openeing a box of hamburger helper. I'm now trying to make it from scratch)
6. My mom is from Tennessee and my dad is from Georgia and even though I was born and raised here in Las Vegas, when I get nervous or pissed off, I get a southern accent.
7. I have a very unique giggle. I've been told it sounds like a horse whinnying.
8. I love the movie 'Waitress' so much one of my goals now is to open my own pie shop.
9. I love the Star Wars movies and was at the midnight premier of the first three.
10. I talk to my dogs like they're my kids and often carry Sunshine around on my hip like a baby.
And !llegally Blonde over at Could've Been Blonde awarded me with this!

The rules of the award are:
- You must be a true lover of the New Year to receive this award. The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with the New Year.- List 5 things that you love about the New Year. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space.- Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But keep the New Year cheer going.- Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving a comment on their site. Also, link back to the person who gave you the award.

Since we're already at the freakin middle of the month (I swear it's gonna be christmas again before ya know it) I am awarding this to everyone!! We should all have had at least 5 things happen that we love about 2009 so far.

Here is my list:

1. I am 34 years old! Yes, I am proud of this. I am shocked by this. Maybe i'm just in so much shock that i'm confusing depression for pride.

2. My first husband called and told me that he is getting married. To a girl (woman now) who was one of my best friends in high school. I wish them both the best!!!

3. Business's are going great. Busy little bee over here. No time to sleep. I'll do that when i'm dead.

4. My relationship with Ken is growing by leaps and bounds. We are both moving forward and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds in store for us.

5. I am addicted to blogging! I feel like i'm making so many new friends out there in bloggy land and am looking forward to getting to know more!

I do believe that's it. If there are any that I forgot please remind me. Remember, natural blonde here.

Wordless Wednesday

Sleeping puppy. I want to be THAT relaxed.

It was a wonderful, relaxing, stress-free birthday weekend. The absolutely best birthday i've had in a very long time. Friday night Ken came over and I made manicotti. (recipe on my other blog) I don't even remember what we watched on tv, just that dinner was good and it was a nice, quiet evening.

Saturday Ken woke up with a mission. For my birthday, he went to Home Depot and spent like $300 on misc stuff to fix up the house. I gave him a 'honey-do' list and he went to work. I got three new curtains and rods, new weather stripping on the patio door in my bedroom, a new shower head and doors for my master bath, and he redid the cable wiring for the front media room. I swear I love this man. This was better than any other present I could have thought of or asked for. He just kept coming up with 'well, would you like me to do.....' and of course my answer was yes! He topped off the day with steak dinner and a cheesecake from Freeds, the absolute best cheesecake in the entire world. This of course led to a discussion of wedding cakes, since he saw a few that they had displayed when he went in. They had one there years ago that i've always said if I were to get married again I would get. It was a 4 layer chocolate cake with chocolate covered strawberries all over it. Divine. But after several bites of cherry cheesecake, I have decided that all I want is a GIANT cherry cheesecake. Or even a bunch of little ones. They are that good.

Sunday I got alot more done around the house, talked to V (more on that later) and then went to see 'Yes Man'.

Loved. It. Honestly, I laughed so hard I think I peed in my pants a little. Enough said.

Vinegar

ALL NATURAL PRODUCTS

Homemade Citrus Vinegar for Cleaning
This is a gentle but effective vinegar cleaner. It is fresh smelling and a wonderful homemade alternative to harsh chemical cleaners. Fill a glass quart jar with the peelings (make sure there isnt any white pulp left) of any citrus frut (grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, etc). Cover the peelings with white vinegar. Cover jar and allow to sit for about 2 weeks. Occasionally shake the jar. Strain and use in any of the following ways:
Pour into a small dish or bowl to absorb room odors. Make an all purpose cleaner by mixing 1/2 ucp to 1 galon of water. Make a glass cleaner by combining a quart of water with 1/2 cup of the vinegar mixutre and add to a spray bottle. Make a linoleum floor cleaner by adding 1 cup of the vinegar mixture with 2 gallons of water and mop as usual. Make an oven cleaner buy spraying the vinegar mixture directly onto the burned on or soiled areas. Close the oven door and allow it to sit for 2 hours. Wipe clean with a sponge or rag that has been moistened with warm water. Might need to be done twice.

10 Money Saving Ideas for the Kitchen

1. Make a meatloaf stretch by adding oatmeal or rice.

2. Try to make your oven do double duty when you heat it up. Bake soem poatoes with the cookies, or the biscuits with the meatloaf. Or simply cook two of whatever your making and freezer or store the second in the fridge.

3. When boiling potatoes, save the water. If you're makign mashed potatoes us it instead of part of the milk. Or you can let it cool and use it to water houseplants.

4. Buy a whole chicken and chop it yourself.

5. Buy holiday hams and turkeys when they're on sale and freeze them.

6. Grow your own herbs. Lots of herbs, and even some veggies, grow great in small-med size pots that fit right on your window sill.

7. Have one meatless meal night a week.

8. Always watch the scanner when checking out. Just because it's marked a certain price doesnt mean it made it into the computer.

9. Make your own juice from frozen concentrated juice instead of buying bottled juice that says 'from concentrate'.
10. Price Comp! Find a store that will price comp any ad and find the best deal for what you're shopping for.