Wii had fun!

So yesterday was the annual corn maze event for the JoKeRMob. For the past 3 years (this makes 4), we've gone out to Amherst and split up guys against girls and navigated the maze. We also try to pick apples when we can, and yesterday we did that too. (I LOVE Jonagold apples that are fresh picked! So much better than what you get at the store!)

The theme for this year's maze was baseball and the 1948 World Series. The maze was of a baseball player. The girls all 'talked' before hand, and our plan was to use the Maze-o-vision glasses that Lynn had, along with copies of the maze printed out to find all of the stations within the maze. From what I understand, the boys 'talked' too, and pretty much got caught up on the trivia as well as printed out copies of the maze to navigate. Jim went so far as to change his email password so that Susan couldn't read what the boys were saying. Hilarious!

The weather yesterday wasn't perfect-it was drizzling and a bit on the chilly side. But being the JoKeRMob, we went ahead. (Whether rain, sleet, sun or snow, the JoKeRMob events are always a go!) We navigated the maze to the best of our abilities, and I must say, that we ladies did much better than we have in the previous runs. We were able to find all but 2 stations before the men were on the bridge mocking us. Next year is our year, girls!

After the maze we went back to Brian and Lynn's for pizza and entertainment. They have a Wii and they decided to show us what it could do. It was fun watching and playing the different games. Who knew that cow racing could bring Lynn to tears?! It definitely was a fun evening. Joe's claiming Wii elbow today. It's not my fault he had to rematch against me in bowling!

I'm thinking that a Wii might be on my list of things to purchase someday. It really was a bunch of fun, and I could see us using it a lot more than our PS2 or XBox. Probably because the games were much more amusing to me. Don't know. Just a guess. Before yesterday I was really wanting a touch iPod, the games on that can be fun, and it would be nice to listen to fun music when roadtripping to Nashville/Hopkinsville. Cassettes of hair bands just don't cut it for me. I need a mixture of music! I suppose an iPod still might be on the list, but I'd probably take a Wii first. Now if only I had a 'real' job so I could purchase these!

Another fun giveaway

Found this one from Heather's blog too. It's a giveaway for a free Hoover Sweeper. Now, many of you might now that I grew up in a Hoover Vacuum household, since my grandfather worked there for 55 years. Many of you didn't, but now you do! Anyway, Mama Kat's giving away a new model, and you might just win one for your house!

Fun Giveaway!

I found this site through a friend. A Resting Place is giving away a $25 gift certificate for looking over her store and for leaving a comment on her blog. Go check it out-the contest is over tomorrow (the 29th)! (Sorry for the late notice!) I really liked a lot of the items, and I hope you do too!

Why does my crock pot hate me?

So as one of the many ways to save money here in la casa del Ramey, I've vowed to start cooking more. I know. I'm hilarious! But, it's worth a try. Especially since I'm still gluten free and feeling better as a result.

Today I decided I'd start the new cooking regime now that there is food in the fridge. (Hey, it only took a week after the storm, that's not too bad!) So I decided I'd make chicken, broccoli, rice and cheese in the crock pot. Now seriously, it was that easy. Put all of those ingredients, some water, some seasonings, cream of chicken soup and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours. Sounds easy. Perfect for putting together when I get home from school and ready for Joe when he gets home from work, now that he works until 5 instead of 8:30. Um, yeah, not so much. In 3.5 hours, the rice wasn't cooked. So, I let it cook a little longer and then I went ahead and made more rice in the microwave. The results? Blah. the food had no flavor. I'm so disappointed! I really wanted to like it. I need to tweak it somehow. How, I don't know. If you have suggestions, let me know. An empty crock pot will be waiting by...

Hurricanes and things

You know, living in Ohio you wouldn't think that we'd be bothered by a hurricane. HA! Yesterday the remnants of Hurricane Ike came barreling through Ohio, including our nice little city of Green. I say barreling because wind speeds were up around 60 mph or so. Insane! Around 3 or so our power went out for the first time. There was no rain, just the crazy winds. I didn't mind too much, it was daylight, so I could still see to read. I just couldn't play on the Internet or watch tv. Or go to the bathroom or take a shower. Or cook lunch/dinner.

We decided to drive to the local home improvement store to check out different drainage solutions, and in turn of a/c and a bathroom if we needed it. We went and did our grocery shopping and returned home and there was power. Yay! Joe decided to do a load of laundry and I watched TV, basically to see what the weather was going to do. After all, if this was what was left of a hurricane, I wanted to know what we were in for! The winds really started picking up, so much so that I decided it was time to go to the basement. The trees were really moving and we're pretty sure our car moved a couple of inches. We'd turned on a football game and I was just finishing my food and POOF! The power went out again. I went upstairs to see the wind just whipping around, branches and leaves flying. The neighbor had a huge limb down and we noticed we had a limb that if it were to drop would take power, cable and phone out for our house.

I have to say that the folks who have weathered storms like these amaze me. I wasn't scared so much as bored. I still am, to be honest. 24 hours later and we're still waiting for our power to come back. We bought water so we could flush the toilet, and we bought extra candles because well, it gets dark! You never know how much you rely on electricity until you don't have it. Even the little things like looking at the alarm clock in the middle of the night isn't possible. This morning I received 2 calls asking me to come in and sub. I couldn't do it. I wanted to, but I really wanted to take a shower, and I didn't want to go in feeling icky. So I stayed home. Joe, on the other hand, had to go in, so he used what water we did have to take a shower. He's called me a few times to ask if we've got power yet. Nope. That's why I'm bumming electricity here at Panera. My phone is pretty much dead, so I needed to charge it up, and while I really wanted to read one of the many books I've checked out of the library, I wanted to get online. The Internet is an addiction. I've realized this. Here's hoping we have power soon. Otherwise, thank you Kate for saying I can come over and take a shower. I so appreciate it!

As for other things. Yesterday morning we had to go move furniture for Joe's aunt. He's only met her twice. I think I've seen her that many times as well, and it's been when Joe wasn't with me. So she's not exactly a close relative of his. Anyway. We drove down to Navarre to move some furniture that she needed to get out of her apartment because she was being sued by her niece/cousin. It was crazy. Her apartment definitely helped me see that I cannot become a pack rat. I have a bunch of stuff in the basement that I need to start going through. i don't think I'll be able to live like his aunt. There was stuff EVERYWHERE. There wasn't an empty shelf, counter, chair, sofa, whatever. It was crazy. The only good thing was that we got to see some old pictures of Joe's dad, and that was pretty cool. We both liked that. I love seeing old photos anyway, and to have them be of Joe's dad when he was 8 and 9, that was just awesome. Now I just need to figure out how to get copies of the pictures for us-without having to see his aunt again.

I am back on the 'sauce'. Sauce being Dr. Pepper. I'd been off for about a week, but yesterday's event caused me to go back. I only drank it yesterday, and even then it was just a bottle. I've decided I'm going to give myself one day a week to have some DP for about a month, and then I'll get off. I needed the caffeine, and since I couldn't open the fridge to get to my iced tea (or make more, for that matter), I had to get some sauce. I still haven't gone back to gluten though. I don't see that happening. I feel so much better without it! Plus, I really don't miss bread. I am at Panera now, and I do miss their desserts, but I'll survive.

Ok. I'm done for now. I think I'm going to write a book review shortly, and then maybe see if there's power back at home. I've been here for almost 2 hours now, and I have a feeling they're going to ask me to leave. Have a good one!

Greatest American Dog, Season Finale

I haven't mentioned the show for quite awhile, but I have been keeping up on the show. I was pretty upset when the Brittany Spaniel was voted off. She really was a talented dog, and the owner definitely showed a love for his dog and his family. I tuned in tonight not really realizing it was the final show. When I started watching, the final of the border collies was being 'expelled' leaving the smallyippee toy dog and the boxer. I still really love the boxer. He's just a pup, but he's got so much energy, and his owner, well, you can just see how much he adores his dog. The final challenge was for the dogs to go through a maze, a teeter-totter, a wobbly board thing, do two jumps AND get their toy out from underneath an elephant. The boxer was first to go, and he flew through the first 4obstacles like there was nothing to it. The elephant, yeah, not so much. But hey, who wouldn't be a bit scared?! He didn't go under until his owner proved that it was ok by going through himself. I totally gave him props for that. The second to "compete" was the yippee dog. (It was a Maltese, totally clung to his owner. Couldn't handle being away from her and would run to the door when she left. She claims he wasn't clingy. Psh, yeah, RIGHT!) Anyway. The Maltese was up, and she was like practically holding it through the first 3 obstacles. Then he flew through the jumps and easily retrieved his toy from under the elephant. I seriously think he was more afraid of his owner than the elephant! So, at the end they had to decide who was the best and who would win the title Greatest American Dog. It was rough, both dogs really did know their stuff. It had to have been rough for the judges. In the end they picked Presley, the boxer. Yay! I was so happy. They said that they had a newly wed type of relationship, and that the owner totally showed America what it was like to be a dog owner. I totally agree. So, even though I didn't agree with the judging through most of the show, at least theyippee dog didn't win AND the psycho dog didn't win. Phew!

Now...on to other shows...