Beardy boy

Even

Just because

Thanks to BosGuy for this sexy stud!

Let there be lights

About 2 weeks ago I hired a couple of teenagers to weed our flower beds.  The weeds had gotten out of control and Spouse & I have neither the time nor the interest in removing them ourselves.  Plus, I think its nice to give teenagers an opportunity to earn 'pocket money' like I did when I was a teen.

Yesterday Spouse & I took advantage of the absolutely incredibly beautiful weather to try and prevent some of the weeds from returning, and to make the beds look prettier.  We cut some landscaping fabric to fit, spread a couple of bags of mulch, and then installed some solar powered landscape lights.

Here's one of the cleaned up beds in the daylight

Here's the same bed (from a different angle) at night

Here's another bed with more of the new lights

We're happy with the way it turned out.  Having the teens get us started with the weeding meant we could finish up and not kill ourselves trying to complete the project.

Repeal & replace

I haven't been posting much political stuff at all for several reasons:

1. Lots of others are doing it, and doing it much better than I would
2. I honestly can't keep up with all the unimaginably crazy/inappropriate/scary stuff going on
3. Thinking about the aforementioned unimaginably crazy/inappropriate/scary stuff is driving me crazy

However, I came across this meme on Facebook and just found it too good not to share:

Beardy boy

Fit

Just because

Eclipse

So today was the big total eclipse.

Personally I don't 'get' the whole fascination with it, yet it dominated Facebook all day.  I mean really... what's so cool about a totalled Eclipse??

Kindness

I love this!

Beardy boy

Hello, Fresh!

Our 1st dinner kit from Hello Fresh came on Mon.  We were super-impressed with the packaging.  The box is lined with insulated cardboard and the meats were packed between 2 freezer packs and were still cold after sitting on my porch for several hours.

Our 1st meal was Honey Mustard Chicken with roasted sweet potatoes, zucchini and onions.

Our 2nd meal was Thyme Honey Pork Chops over couscous with a nectarine arugula salad.

Our 3rd meal was Buttered Up Steak with roasted potatoes and garlicky green beans.

Spouse & I really liked all the meals.  One of his concerns prior to signing up was about the quality of the meats, but we both found them to be good/high quality.  Another of his concerns prior to signing up was that the portions would be too small, but we both felt they were perfectly sized.  In fact, Spouse feels these meal kits actually help with portion control and not over-eating.  I know we've both over-eaten simply because there was food that would be left-over, so we just ate it.

The things I enjoy most about the program:

• Its fresh, real, whole food.  Whole vegetables you cut up, fresh garlic, herbs and spices, chilled (not frozen) meats.  You actually prepare/cook the food as opposed to defrosting or microwaving.
• The menu is decided for you.  I don't have to struggle with what to make for dinner.
• The ingredients are all provided, in the correct proportion.  No more forgetting a key ingredient at the grocery store, and no more wasted food from having to buy an entire bunch of celery when you only need 1 stalk.
• The app allows you to see what menus are coming in the next week AND swap out any you don't like or have an allergy to.  You can also 'pause' a week if you're going away.
• The program allows you to choose your delivery day of the week, which was really important to me.

The only 'negative' thing I've found about the program is the only 'negative' thing I anticipated: using a lot more pots, pans, plates and utensils than I did before.  And this is a relatively minor 'negative' thing since most of those items can be tossed in the dishwasher.

I think the cost is right on target.  The program costs $60 per week which gives you 3 meals for 2 people, so it averages out to $10 per meal.  You certainly couldn't get these meals in a restaurant for $10.  You may be able to purchase the ingredients in a grocery store for $10 or less, but the convenience of NOT having to shop is well worth it to me.

All in all I would say our 1st week was a big success!  I'm looking forward to next week's delivery.

Just because

Evening out

One of the many great things about living here at the beach is all the friends that come for vacations but don't stay with you.  We love meeting up for dinner and/or drinks with friends who are in town for a weekend or a few days at the beach.

Yesterday we enjoyed a really fun evening out.  We met Matt & Stacy and their twins Dana and Jake through Steven & Thad.  Matt & Stacy and Thad went to high school together.  The family came to the area to spend a few days at the beach so we all met up for dinner.

We intended to meet at a restaurant that happened to be closed, so we went next door to a place we'd not tried before.  At 1st it seemed a little sketchy because our waiter appeared to be tweaking, but he managed to get everyone's order right.  The 3 separate checks was a different story.

I had a cocktail called Liquid Lap Dance.

It was fine, but didn't really live up to its provocative name.

Matt and son Jake

Stacy

Dana

The food was pretty good and we had lots of laughs.  Dana and Jake will be freshmen in college next week so we got to hear all about their activities and bucket list items.  Although twins, they are not going to the same school.

Hot dog

No special reason for posting this.  I just love Jennifer Coolidge!

Beardy boy

DIY

This is our laundry sink, logically located in the laundry room, next to the washer and dryer:

before

We primarily use the laundry sink for bathing Marvin & Walter.  Neither of them really like getting a bath.  Marvin tolerates it better and doesn't give us as much trouble as his brother.  Walter will make multiple attempts to try to escape the laundry tub, causing lots of splashes.  Both of them have gotten better with this, but between them and Spouse wrestling them to keep them in the sink, there can be lots of water splashed on the wall behind the sink.

I'd seen in the Lowes and Home Depot self-adhesive vinyl back splash tile, and since they're waterproof I thought this would be a great application.  Its WAY less expensive than actual tile and doesn't require grout or much skill level to apply.  But Spouse & I weren't happy with the color options found in Lowes and Home Depot, so I decided to look on Amazon.

Oh.  Em.  Gee.  Amazon had literally hundreds of colors and shapes of vinyl tile sheets.  And they were less expensive than the bricks and mortar stores.  So after surfing through a bunch of the options, Spouse & I agreed on a brightly colored mosaic.  Since the laundry room door is always closed and nobody goes in there but us, we weren't concerned with the color of the back splash coordinating with other colors in the house.  This gave us creative freedom to do something bright and fun.  

after

The sheets of vinyl tile came from Amazon in 2 days and it took me less than 10 minutes to 'peel and stick' them.  I used 6 of the 10 sheets so I've got 4 sheets leftover for other projects, although I can't think of any right now.

Oh, and the cost?

$19.99 with free 2-day shipping since we're Prime members.

I'm super happy with the value, the look, and the ease of installation.

Just because

Hello Fresh

For a couple of months now I've been seriously considering signing up for one of those meal kit delivery programs.  I asked my Facebook friends which they preferred, Blue Apron or Hello Fresh, and why.  I got some great feedback which helped me make a decision.

I chose Hello Fresh because most people felt there was more variety in the meals.  They've got a handy app that lets you look ahead at what's coming and allows you to swap out meals that contain something you don't like.  They work with farms to provide food just for them, so its not like those frozen microwave dinners that were never ever fresh.

I also liked that Hello Fresh gives you the ability to choose any day of the week for your meal kits to arrive.  That was important to me because we eat out on Fri, Sat, and Sun so I didn't want the 3 meals for 2 people to show up on Wed or Thurs.  I selected Mon delivery so I'd have fresh food on the nights we eat at home.

I like that the meals are thought out for me.  The main reason I hate going to the grocery store is because I get there and can't think what to buy for dinners for the week.  This takes care of it for me.  It also ensures that everything I need for the recipe is there, so no forgetting a key ingredient while at the grocery store.  The kit includes the correct amount of everything so there's no left-over ingredients and no waste.  

I also like that this is a set portion size which will prevent overeating.  Sometimes I catch myself eating more than I should because I don't want to save/put away a small amount of left-over food.  These are normal size portions and most are under 550 calories.

The only downside I can see is that it will likely require the use of more pots and pans than I'm used to using (I'm the king of 1-pot meals) so that means more hand washing since pots and pans never seem to get completely clean in the dishwasher.  But I think it will be worthwhile for all the convenience and healthy, fresh food.

I think this is going to be so good for me!  My 1st order arrives next Mon so I'll post again after I've made a few meals.

Happy Friday

Beardy boy

What I do

Just because