How often do I wear make-up?

If you guessed "rarely," you are correct.

So, if I rarely wear make-up other than eyeliner and mascara, why do I have 18 make-up brushes?

If you are ever with me at Ulta - I think you know what your response should be if I even think about buying a make-up brush.

Why does peach cobbler look different?

I made peach cobbler this morning - more fruits from our berry farm trip.



But for some reason, it doesn't look the same as the blackberry cobbler? Is it because I mixed the dough part with the hand mixer instead of by hand? Hope it tastes just as good!

Hooville is so brainwashed...

Dave and I went to Charlottesville a few weeks ago to check out Monticello. Dave knew by the tone in my voice when I screamed COOOOOOLLLL (a la Ashley Brown), that we needed to stop at Carter Mountain Orchard.

I was not a fan of the curvy, steep-dropoff, side-of-the-mountain road we had to drive up to get there, but it was so worth it! They have a vineyard, apple trees, peach trees, and a barn full of mountain goodness.

Goodness, except for this:


Um, WTF is a JMU Bulldog? They got the Hokies and Wahoos/Cavaliers right. They even got Pittsburgh Steelers right, although the color combination is questionable, but not JMU. I am offended.

Blueberry Update....

This guy didn't make it. But he tasted good.



This one made it out of the baking tin in one piece:

Blueberries

Being Amish is cool and all, but taking your laptop to the kitchen so you have a recipe handy is awesome too. :)




Today's creation is blueberry muffins, made from the ones I picked up at Westmoreland Berry Farm on Sunday.

Love this picture:



I doubled the recipe because once I added the ingredients, the ratio of blueberries to wet stuff was way off. Hope they aren't too blueberry-ey. Or is there such a thing?



Looking good so far...here's the recipe (un-doubled).

1 1/2 c. self-rising flour
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pans. Beat egg; stir in milk and oil. Add dry ingredients, stirring until flour is moistened (should be lumpy). Stir in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12.

Looks like Bonnie and I were both busy bees today!

Visit my blog at updownleftrightbastart.blogspot.com

Test blog from cell :)

I am writing a blog from my phone! I'll use this when I take pictures of funny things from my cell and don't have a computer! I am a fan!

Or when I just want to say why is her butt so big and why does she think those pants look good on her!

This happens often.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Mud bathroom

Finally I got a picture that is focused enough to show the texture of the walls!


I finally took down all the tape, except the corner I couldn't reach even with a step ladder. I cleaned up all the paint in/on the sink, floors, and toilet tank topper - Green Works took paint off porcelain with just a little help from a plastic putty knife and a patient me!

So, now all that's left is the light installation, new toilet seat, cabinet, and curtain and we'll be done! Unfortunately, all of those require work that neither of us is apparently in the mood to do. One day. Hopefully soon.

Here is my documentation, um, sorry, brainwashed from work. Here are pictures:

See, God is smiling down on it :)



Insert light /here\.

Bet you can't see the huge hole in the wall that I patched up? That's the one good thing that came out of using the textured crap - it covered up any and all imperfections in the wall.....wait, but it created one HUGE imperfection! BAH!!

Don't laugh

Peter Gibbons: "It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime; so where's the motivation?"

Dave and I are so lazy lately. We've both had a rough couple of weeks at work, and neither of us want to talk about work while we're not at work, so when we get home, we just sit in silence and wait for the day's stresses to go away. Usually while we're doing that, Gibbs, Abby, McGee, and DiNozzo from NCIS keep us company. After we watch a couple of episodes and have dinner, we're calm enough to have a conversation, but then it's time to go to bed and do it all again the next day.

The downside to this relaxation technique/routine is that our house has been severely neglected. When I say neglected, I don't mean it in that clean freak way some do when they have 3 magazines waiting because they haven't had "time" to read them. I mean, really neglected. Like if we had a kid and Social Services came over, Leah would be in foster care in a second. Kitty Social Services has already made a visit, and we're hoping to have Zoey back within 30-60 days, if they haven't lost her in the failing kitty foster care system. Turtle's terrarium is so dirty that they didn't even see him in there, so he's still with us.

You think I'm exaggerating, but I can prove it. Take a look:


So today I got home earlier than normal, and I decided today was the day to get out from under the chaos. Yep, I cleaned the living room. The laundry chair is still full of laundry, but I wasn't in the mood to do that too! Here's the living room now:


Much better, no?

Easy Peasy

Putting my blackberries to good use!

Blackberry Cobbler

1/2 c. butter
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen blackberries, thawed (I used 1 quart of fresh blackberries)

Melt butter in a 2 quart casserole. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk in a small mixing bowl, mix well. Pour mixture over melted butter, do not stir. Spoon blackberries over batter; do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Put it all together and what do you get?

Summer Lovin'

This was a productive weekend. I can't include Friday in that weekend, however, because we did nothing. And it was awesome.

Saturday I put the second coat of paint in the disastrous half bath off the kitchen. I bought a textured finish kit that was supposed to make the wall look like sand, but since I didn't read the directions until after I painted, it looked more like I rubbed mud on the walls. I was not a fan. That contributed to the fact that I waited more than a week to enter and/or repaint the bathroom. It was all lonely in the corner of the house with the door closed all week. I effectively put the bathroom in time out.

After the second coat, I definitely don't hate the bathroom anymore, but I am still not a fan. Once I take the tape off and we put all the finishing touches on - wall cabinet, curtain, new light fixture, and such - I'm sure it'll grown on me.

So, after painting, I took a break for a while to do some homework and then we ran some errands. I can't make grocery shopping, bulk and regular, and Lowe's occupy more than this amount of space.

Saturday night, we were pooped. We resisted the urge to go out to dinner because we had a full fridge (and still nothing to eat), and instead watched Act One of "Apocalypse Now Redux." Pretty good, and it solidifies my theory that in the 70's, you only had to make one movie to be famous for life. Same with "Deer Hunter." Both classics, and both great movies. Still haven't watched Act Two yet. Maybe this weekend.

As if that weren't enough for the weekend, Sunday I got up early to go to Westmoreland Berry Farm with Bonnie. We didn't do any picking, but we picked up some fruit that someone else toiled and sowed, and then drove down to the fields to take pictures of the berries that hadn't been picked yet. Yes, we're spoiled.

Here are some pictures from the farm - the peach one is my favorite!








When we were finished taking in the berry farm, we went to Joseph's 11th birthday party! I cannot believe Joseph is in double digits!!! Yes, I know he was in double digits last year, but I still can't believe it!

Natalie's roommate made burgers and dogs on the grill, and after we ate we sat around playing the games Ashley got him for his birthday. Here's a picture of him opening his gifts, and his brother in true Adam fashion picking his nose (and presumably eating it):

13 years later...

...and I'm on the Dean's List.

If only I knew what I know now when I was in college the first time!



I have much more to say about this, but I'll keep it to myself.

Does no one else see this?

OK - usually I save my blog for projects or road trip summaries, but I had to share this.

Jon and Kate circa 1999:


Jon's new girlfriend (Hailey) 2009:


I can hear Jon screaming "I JUST WANT THE OLD KATE BACK!" from Wernersville all the way down here in Richmond. We've heard several times about the chemistry these 2 had when they first met - they were wild and crazy and fell in love at first sight. then Kate got knocked up and turned into this:



I get it, she turned into a controlling bitch after she had 8 kids (wouldn't you?), but now it is painfully obvious that all this acting out Jon is doing is the result of a quarter-life or mid-life crisis. He wants to regress back to his partying days, and part of that is finding a girl that reminds him of the crazy blonde he met at a picnic, before he turned into a dad of 8.

Just had to post this. I'm done.

I am old.

On the way home from Dave's parents, the neighbors had fireworks going off in the road, so we had to hit our brakes and sit there, unable to pass, until they were finished. I wanted to scream my head off because I had to pee. Then this little kid sitting on the porch (presumably the one who has a RAT TAIL) yelled "turn your lights off!"

You mean I am supposed to park in the middle of the road, wait for your illegal fireworks to burn out, and on top of that, you want me to turn off my headlights too?

I don't think so.

It is at this exact moment that I realized - I AM OLD. Kids shooting off fireworks in the street on 4th of July annoy me. What has happened to me?

On a positive note, I used my cake decorating (though limited) skills to make some festive cupcakes to take to the in-laws:

What made me smile today

Bonnie and I have started sharing something each day that made us smile. Yes, we're nerds.

Today, after work, I went to Joann Fabrics to get some fabric to make a curtain (pics will be posted after I make it this weekend). When I drove up I noticed some Halloween decorations out front.

Really, Joann?!? Halloween decorations? On July 2?!? Really?!?