The nose knows.

First off...I have a VERY sensitive sniffer. If something stinks...I'm gonna smell it. And if I smell it...I'm gonna do everything I can to get rid of it.

Second...there's a stinch in my house and I can't figure out what it is.

Third...I'm still feeling funky. My body can't decide if it wants to feel like it has the flu or a tummy bug...or both. But this icky smell isn't cooperating with the nausea.

I've been smelling this funk for weeks...just can't locate it. So today was just the last straw. I pulled myself from the couch....deciding I was either going to find and conquer the smell or I was going to find a huge can of air freshener and arm myself with it. So I get in bloodhound mode....sniffing every inch and corner of the house.

When I think I'm close...I start cleaning. I *thought* it was in the hall closet. I had some blankets and extra pillows in there, so I pulled them out and sent them to the laundry pile. I figured if I was in the closet I should go ahead and clean/purge it. So the closet is clean...but the smell is still there.

Next I head to Trent's room...usually the source of most odors. And BAM!...I hit the jackpot. Apparently in T's pre-potty training days he decided to take a leak on his rug. Not only does it reek like something awful....it has left a nasty stain under the rug...on the hardwood floors. So I pulled the rug from his room and as soon as I have another burst of energy I'll toss it out the door.

It felt wonderful to find the source of the stinch...but it totally exhausted me, so now I have returned to the couch.

Not five minutes later...my sniffer picks up another odor. This one is dusty/musty. My guess is the air filter needs changing. And I WILL find out what it is...today.

So if I ever go to your house and something stinks....I'll be the first to know it. The nose knows.

Don't Forget: Make it Better

Don't forget...tomorrow is the day I give away a set of cards!!!

See this post for more info: Make it Better

The drawing will take place at approximately 5 PM EST tomorrow.

Share and Share Alike.

Share and share alike. I've heard that all my life and I find myself repeating it to Trent. We want our kids to share. It's so nice to see two kids playing happily while sharing toys.

But there are some things not worth sharing. Like a cold, for instance. My dad had a cold. A few days later my mom had a cold. And guess what? A few days later I have a cold.

Share and share alike. Who's next? Heh...heh...heh.

More Etsy

An addition to the Etsy order posted earlier.

Custom Etsy Order

Just posting an Etsy order so a customer can view before purchasing.

Make it Better.

Well here it is! The give-away I've been promising for a week....maybe longer. These photo cards are something new I'm trying with the photos I take. And someone is going to be the lucky winner of a set of these cards (5). They come with envelopes and are GREAT quality!!!

What do you have to do to win these cards?? First, you have to do something to make the world a better place. It doesn't have to be huge. It can be as simple as recycling....or sending a card to someone...or picking up the tab on someone's lunch...or planting a tree. You decide how you want to "make it better". Once you have completed your task, post a comment to this blog entry saying what you did: "sent a card", "called a friend", "recycled", etc. On SUNDAY I will check back at all the entries and assign a number to each entry (you may post as many times as you like). Using a random number generator I will pick a winner. It's completely random and anyone can participate. And as my way of saying "thank you" for making it better....I'll send the lucky winner this set of cards!!

So go....make it better!!!

Mother's Day Dinner

We're always a little behind on everything. With G's crazy work schedule, we've learned to celebrate holidays, birthdays, etc. whenever we can. And it also means that a lot of events turn into multi-family events so we can celebrate with everyone at one time.

Well, G had to work Sunday....Mother's Day. So this meant that we couldn't really "celebrate" with the mothers. I did go to church and lunch (McD's...ha!) with my mom. But since G couldn't be a part of the fun we planned a Mother's Day dinner for our moms (the dads got to eat, too) and had it Tuesday night.

These were the table decorations and each mom got to take their plants home. My mom's color was green and G's mom's were blue (pictured below).



At each of the mom's place at the table we had these colanders filled with goodies. Once again my mom's was green (pictured) and G's moms was blue.


The food was delicious (and I can say that because G cooked most of it). G grilled a yummy pork tenderloin that was marinated and then rubbed with a lime/cilantro/cumin concoction. He also grilled apples which are always my favorite! I made some roasted potatoes and broccoli and this yummy vanilla/fudge marble cake (pictured below).

We had a great night. When there's good food, good people and good chats...what more do you need? :)

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there....even if I am a few days late. :)