Bye bye, Mr. Fish

When you get a pet, you know that you will outlive it. It is just the sad reality. Our cute little nemo look alike came into our house and graced us with his presence for about six-ish years. He was just always there in that little tank in the living room. Every now and then he'd smack the surface of the water when he wanted to eat. Laura took care of him when we went away. My mom thought he was dead when she saw him, even though he wasn't. He'd bobble about in the water and do what fishies do and we simply watched him. It's hard to bond with a fish, but he made his place in our home.

As we were getting ready for work yesterday morning, my honey was coming out of the bathroom, looked down and said "what is that?". Behold, it was Mr. Fish. He figured out a way to escape the confines of his tank only to be transported about the house, courtesy of one of the cats, and landed on the rug in the hallway. I think the only thing that spared him of being breakfast was the fact that he was a salt water fish and probably didn't taste enough like salmon supper via Fancy Feast.

So we remain with a vacant 2-gallon salt water tank, and our memories of Mr. Fish, simple as they are. His little life makes me think that simple can be great...bye bye.

You GF-ers better sit down when you look at this...

Yes, you are seeing it right. I did not photoshop this to tease you. Betty Crocker has decided to develop GF desserts. They should be in the stores soon! Can you believe it? Thank you!!! I am still floored over the idea that baking might be "normal" again and I won't have to navigate through the special-dietary needs section in the stores to find something worth buying at a very premium price. At least we can shop normal for a few things. But if we can get mixes to make chocolate chip cookies, brownies and cake, what else do we need?

Ok, some muffin mixes would be nice... Who knows, if this idea works out, they might develop them next!

Get out the seeds....

According to my Dad, the first planting in the garden can be done on (or around) St. Patrick's Day. Yes, sugar snap peas can be planted right now, ladies and gentlemen! They don't mind the cold. Maybe that is why they are called snow peas. Can you say "stir-fry"? Mmmmm.

As you may remember, my gardening efforts failed miserably last year. I have alot of work to do in order to get it right. Since I am not a green thumb, this is a big challenge, but I am always interested in trying again. There is nothing quite like home grown garden food! My carrots were so sweet and tasty, we want more!

I do not have any sugar snap pea seeds, and my ground is not even close to being cleaned of the debris from the fall and winter. I am not even sure that I know where all my gardening tools are at the moment. But this is exciting! Time to prepare, time to till, time to plant!

Simple Pleasures -pt 4

A simple little thing like putting on nail polish can really lift your spirit. French manicure on squared off nails is my personal favorite. I love the way it looks. My fingers are really long and slender, but my nail beds grow thin and are kind of wide so my nails never look very long. I used to do acrylic nails, but they are so bad for your nail bed. After I got a fungus on one of my nails, that was the end of fake nails for me!

Nail polish helps keep them in tact for a little while longer than they would on their own. Interestingly enough, when I started eating a more GF diet, my nails started to grow a bit stronger and would get some length to them on their own. Filing and polishing is a great spring-thing to do for yourself. The gorgeous red polish is for the toes, but sometimes it winds up on my fingers.

Give yourself a manicure and/or pedicure. There are wonderful cleansing cremes and lotions to use on your hands and feet. They feel so soft and pampered afterwards. Get out the foot tub, some bath salts, the lotion and polish, and spa it up at home. Maybe even have a friend over and share the luxury!

Simple Pleasures -pt 3

One of the things I decided to do on a regular basis is wash my face. I know, it probably sounds like a given, or an exaggeration. How can this be a pleasure? It is more of a chore than something to look forward to....

When you look at your face in the mirror in the morning, you see what your body has done all night long in order to rejeuvenate your skin. We loose the most amount of skin cells in our sleep. The face needs a good cleaning after all that! And most of us ladies will spend time putting makeup on before we head out for the day. If the face is already dirty and gets covered over with cremes and powders, it will break out. At night, it is time to take all that gunky makeup off, in order to help the third shift be able to do it's job! And to soak a washcloth in hot water and hold it up against the skin, feeling the tingles going down the neck, breathing in the steamy warmth and getting the day's dirt away.... it is a good feeling. It's like starting anew.

You see several different companies represented in my picutre. That's what I have in my cabinets right now. I have to say, they are making my skin feel so soft and wonderful. It is a pleasure to take the mere 3 or 4 minutes in the morning and at night to help refresh the part of me that people look at the most.