Ten on Tuesday

1. What are your pantry staples?
Cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, rice, tortillas, Kraft Mac & Cheese, English muffins, apple sauce, pasta of some kind, a few cans of chicken noodle soup or tomato soup, a few cans of Speghettios, raisins, tuna and cereal.

2. What are your refrigerator staples?
Milk, cheese slices, hot dogs, lettuce, butter, carrots, cream cheese, string cheese, a block or two of cheddar cheese, sliced turkey and/or some kind of lunch meat, milk boxes (for kids lunches), and beer.

3. You already look like Heidi Klum (or your favorite supermodel). Now, what are the top three non-physical things you would change about yourself?

1. My ability to ignore things I don't want to do.
2. My impatience with my kids.
3. Learn to let things go and have more fun.

4. What’s holding you back from your dream job? (If you already have your dream job, how did you get there?)
My dream job would be to run my Etsy shop full time and I guess what's holding me back is that I just haven't devoted time and enenergy to figuring out how to market myself and my stuff to be more sucessful.  I'm not a salesperson but there is an element of that in having your own arts and crafts business and so I have to learn a lot about it.  It scares me a bit that I have to sell myself too....

5. You have $500 to spend but it has to be on one item only. Go.
Oy! This is a lot harder than I thought because it's not enough to get a new computer which I want and kinda need and it has to be on one item.  At this point it would either be a fairly cheap front loading washer or a new fancy lawn mower.  Because a front loading washer would be nice to go with my dryer and we need a new lawn mower.

6. What is something that you are embarrassed to admit you buy on a regular basis?
A sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle sandwich from McDonalds.  I LOVE it and I get one about once a month.  They sounds nasty but they are sooooo good.  I would eat them more if they weren't pricey (especially when you throw in coffee) and so bad for you. 

7. What’s in/on your bed every night?
Besides James and I and the 7 pillows? Usually the tv remote that gets left on the bed.

8. What is a non-necessity item that, no matter how expensive it gets or how tight your budget if, you will always find room for it?
An espresso drink every once in awhile from either Port City Java or Starbucks.

9. What is the weirdest sandwich you’ve ever made?
I don't tend to get adventurous with my sandwiches.  A cream cheese and cucumber is about as weird as I get.  James on the other hand will make a sandwich out of just about anything much to my chagrin.

10. Would you rather: Be banned from Pinterest forever, but gain a million captive Twitter followers; or, never get on Facebook again but gain five thousand blog readers?
Neither!!!  I couldn't give up either Facebook or Pinterest.  But I suppose if I HAD to choose Pinterest but think of the things I would never know about or have in my to try file!

Ten on Tuesday

1. How do you take your coffee?


I drink a skim Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks or the equivalent of it a Carmello Leche at Port City Java.  If pain old coffee is my only option I drink it with milk and 2 sugars.


2. Do you prefer soft or crispy chocolate chip cookies?
Really.... if you place a chocolate chip cookie in front of me I will eat regardless of weather it's crispy or soft.  But in a perfect world it would be soft.

3. Do you wear a belt everyday?
Nope, only when I have a pair of pants that are a tad big and I do happen to have a couple pairs of jeans I have to wear a belt with.

4. What is your favorite color combination?
Blue and brown.

5. Do you like sour candy?
Oh yeah!  One of my favorite candies ever is sour patch kids.

6. How often do you do laundry?
Once a week.  I know people say it's better to do a load a night or so but I just make big piles of every one's clothes according to color and do about 4 or 5 loads on Sunday.

7. Did you ever wear braces?
Yep.  I had braces for 2 years.  During junior high school no less.

8. Are you good at Roman Numerals?
Not at all.  I've got 1-10 down but I have no idea how to tell the years using roman numerals.

9. What is your favorite form of social media?

Facebook and/or Twitter.  I love both but use Facebook way more than Twitter.

10. How do you feel about chin dimples?
I don't really give them much thought to tell ya the truth!  I guess they can be pretty cute on the right person but then there is that whole butt chin name for a reason.

Ten on Tuesday

1. How do you take your coffee on an average day? How do you like your coffee if you’re splurging?
I don't drink coffee everyday.  When I do drink it I get fancy smancy stuff from Starbucks or a local coffee house call Port City Java.  I usually go with a skim Caramel Macchiato or a carmello leche, they are basically the same drink just a different name at each place.  If I am desperate I will drink regular drip coffee with cream and sugar.  My splurge would be to get the drink with whole milk or 2% instead of skim.

2. What is your genre of books to read?
I read stuff all over the map.  I used to read mainly best selling fiction and science fiction but the last few years have been all about what ever catches my eye.  I have read best sellers (The Help), science fiction (The Host, The Sookie Stackhouse books, Twilight), autobiographies (Scar Tissue - autobiography of Anthony Kiedis lead singer of Red Hot Chili Peppers and sTori Telling- Tori Spelling autobiography), Historical fiction (Centennial by James Michener), and true crime/story type books (Under the Banner of Heaven and Into Thin Air).


3. Where do you want to retire, if you could go anywhere?
I have no idea.  I am thinking where ever my grandchildren are and hopefully that will be here near the beach.  And of course this is if I ever work long enough to make the money to retire.

4. The 17-year-old you is told to write a 10-minute speech. What topic would you have picked?
Ummmm.. well I have no clue.  I would have been petrified that I had to get up and give a speech in front of  people, I was really shy.  I most likely would have picked something to do with music or maybe my favorite artist Henri Matisse.

5. What word describes you best?
Eclectic

6. What is the next “event” that you are looking forward to? (ex.: vacation, moving, date, job change, etc)
My family reunion/vacation next week.  I will get to see a lot of my family, who I only get to see once a year.  Plus it's a vacation so it's all good.

7. Do you like to discuss controversial topics or do you prefer to avoid those types of conversations?
I love to discuss controversial topics!!  I like to see how people react and what their take on them is.

8. Would you rather add 4 free hours to each day, or add 1 extra day to the week?
I think 1 extra day but one that I didn't have to go work on.  So it would be like a 3 day weekend.

9. If you created a sports team; what would your colors and mascot be?
Blue and silver and the mascot would be a kangaroo.  Random I know.

10. If you had to be a teacher, what subject would you teach?
Ha ha!  I was a teacher and I was a special education teacher.   I taught both elementary and high school.  I like both and would teach both again if I had to (long hours and waaaayyy too much paperwork has made me want to find something else).  But I think being an art teacher would be fun too.

Coffee Snob

Some how in the last couple of years I have become a full blown coffee addict.  This may not seem so unusual to anyone considering I have two kids.  Even though they are 5 and 2, I still get up at least once or twice a night most nights to deal with a lost pacifier, bad dream, or wet bed.  But I don't have coffee in my house or most mornings.  Why? Because I am a coffee snob who used to hate coffee.  Neither of my parents drank coffee in our house growing up.  So I never even tried coffee until I was in high school and I thought is was nasty!  Fast forward a few years in college and I got a job at a Barnes & Noble that was brand new and opening in my town.  I didn't get hired to be a book seller like I wanted but I was hired in the Cafe that sells Starbucks coffee.

Because it was a new store we had a special Starbucks trainer from corporate come to teach us the proper way to make all their drinks and coffee.  Not only did I learn to make all the espresso and coffee drinks but I had to try them all as well.  You would think that would have turned me into a coffee drinker but you would be wrong again.  I thought most of the drinks were still nasty!  I did kind of like the Cafe Mocha with an extra shot of flavored syrup (can we say really sweet).  I worked there for almost 3 years and got a huge discount on food and drinks but still didn't drink coffee.  But I made a damn good latte let me tell you! Or at least that's what my regulars said. I even went back to work there years later for a Christmas season after my son was born.  I still didn't drink coffee even then with a baby in the house and again with a big discount.  Some how a few years ago it just started.  I think it happened at an all day scrapbooking event that I do about once a quarter.  My friend usually stops by a local coffee house called Port City Java.  She got my order too (a mocha but they don't call it that) and I liked it as I pretty much always had but I really liked it more this time around and somehow I was hooked.  Now I am still pretty  much  a wuss and would prefer to have a Carmel Macchiato at Starbucks

or a Milky Way Latte (now called a Black and Tan Mocha) at Port City Java but I will drink McDonald's Cafe mochas if I am desperate. 

I will also now drink regular coffee (only really good mild stuff like my uncle's partner makes in his french press) but I add a lot of cream and sugar to it.  So not only am I a coffee wuss but also a coffee snob.  Especially if my latte isn't made right or the espresso shots have run too long I get cranky.  See I still know all my barista terms!!!  I don't know weather to be ashamed or proud of my coffee snobiness!!!  Oh and if you don't know the difference between a latte and cappuccino ask me, ask someone, ask anyone, just don't order a cappuccino and then take it back and tell them they didn't put enough milk in it!!