Roomba

I have ALWAYS wanted a Roomba. I think we first saw one in real life at Mikes grandmothers condo in Florida when we went to visit them one weekend. I thought "wow..she says it does work..hmm" But the $300 price tag was quite a turn off.

Mike & I have always discussed getting one, when he was working at Lowes we REALLY considered it. But, no, we always stuck with a faithful old normal vac!

WELL! There is this website, that every woman should probably ban from their accessable websites..
www.slickdeals.net

Unfortunately, 2 of my best friends LOVE it & they held me at gun point until I caved & looked at the page myself ( what? I feared for my life, OK??)

Bad idea.. I found a Roomba for $60, with free shipping. Mike & Idecided to splurge& snatched it up & called it our Christmas gift to eachother. (Wow, 2 years in a row I've bought MYSELF a vac for Christmas..hmm) Free shipping apparently meant over night express from Amazon, which was lovely, of course.

The baby is BURNT orange.. You know, that color that they creator spitefully handed his 5 year old a crayon box & said "pick out the UGLIEST color son.." to color a handful of Roombas before he quit his job. However, their loss, my gain!!

Andy calls it "No touch, MOMS vaccuum!!!!" and he & Ryan watch it eyefully from a distance while it cleans the poop out of my floor ( not literally, of course..but it cleans alot of crap off my floors..just not fecal matter.. thats gross)

I have to say.. For $60, its impressive. However, I'd be REALLY pissed, and making a quick return if I paid $300 for one of these suckers.

Cons

-Its round, do those little corners dont get taken care of.

-Its also not that perfect of a design to empty the filter..Mike emptied it, and then used the Dust Buster to clean up its mess, with out the remote, you cant spot clean, so you have to wait for it to follow its cycle around the room, if you only need one little area cleaned, that isnt too helpful.

- If you buy it for a steal, like we did, getting accessories is kind of crappy.. I'd like a wall docking base for it.. A wall docking base is close to $50..I'm not going to buy a base for $50, when I paid $60 for the damn appliance itself ya know???

Pros

-It plays a sad little tune when it sout of batteries, which makes me laugh, so that adds major bonus points.Poor little robot..dying, singing a lonely tune..

-Its ugly. I've always had a penchant for ugly things..I believe in my heart they have feelings & that poor brown game player, or the ugly orange sweater stuffed in the back of the rack is sad that no one loves it.. So, It makes me happy I gave a fugly Roomba a home.

-It makes MIKE happy..I havent seen the guy this excited for something since.. hmm..I SHOULD say since Ryan was born..but he recently got a new computer game..and he was PRETTY excited about that....

-I turn it on, lock it in the bedroom & it cleans for me. Whats NOT to love about THAT??

I give it.. hmm.. a B plus. It could definately be better. I thought perhaps the reson it wa smarked so low, it was the crappy old model. But, the sale on it lasted only a few hours, its at $150 right now as a "normal on sale price" So.. thats not the case..It does work!!! However, I have a feeling that the newest possible model of it (which is likely $300+ dollars) might have some of the kinks worked out of which I complain.

SO.. The model 4000 gets a B plus, it sure could be better, but it certianly could be worse!!!

I liked the review I read on Amazon.. "If it could cook, do dishes & laundry..I woul dget rid of my wife"

I suppose for me.. if it could watch TV and play computer games.. Oh.. hmm.. I guess that doesnt really apply to me!!!!

Here is how I really feel..

About taking your kids to get pictures done.

I've never had professional pics opf my kids done except that one in the hospital.. I take tons of photos, so..eh I just never really bothered to.

I really wanted to do Holiday photos this year, the first Christmas with 2 boys! We cancelled a session b/c of course, not only are Holiday budgets tight, but the end of a semester is always tough for us financially.
So, my darling mother paid for a photo session for the boys for my big Christmas gift. I really just wanted to have pictures of my boys, taken by someone other than me, for my house & my own memory.

WELL!! The appointment was for 3:20.. Mike had an exam he had to leave for at 4pm. I love you Mike, but husbands are that helpful, they just sort of stand there with the "yep, thats my kid" grin. The lady is trying to get Andy to not be scared of her, with a frog, which worked.. but as soon as she would get him to cross his legs, Ryan would get into position, Andy would move. She went to grab a *helper* and I believe I heard the words " not going so well.." being uttered.

Yada Yada.. I could only find ONE pair of black socks as I got them dressed & for some STUPID reason, put them on Ryan thinking Andys pants were long enough & blue socks would be ok. Well, duh. Andy moves, he crosses his legs, etc. Ryan just sits there, so, I got to hate myself a little bit every time those damn blue socks popped out. I'll say this.. it could have gone ALOT worse, but it could have also gone alot better. I'm positive that they were glad when they decided to be done. I could hear them muttering "they're done.. " with a THANK GOD tone under their breath..

Then the fun starts. MIKE LEAVES. Not that my wonderful husband wasnt helpful to begin with, but I get to sit there with Andy trying to play with devil child of mom bitch over there who is showing Andy how to stand on chairs & jump off while Mom ignores my "boys" smile at her & just glares around like shes the ice queen. I'm juggling Ryan, who is getting crabbier by the second, trying to tell Andy to knock it off whil ehe says "No!!!" and trying to pick pictures.

By the time I was done picking them ( they are ready in 15 minutes) I just blurted out "I can come for them tomorrow, right?" the girl tol dme Absolutely.. and I said "I'm sure you want us to get out of here just as bad as we do" Paid, and we left..

Off to a car ride full of "ICE CREAM" screams (Oh, I forgot to mention..after 5 minutes I told him if he was good we'd get ice cream & he talked about it until we finalyl did!!) & Ryan practically hyperventilating..

SO.. what do I REALLY think about taking your kids to get pictures done??

I do NOT recommend it. EVER.

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Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Train

Today I finally ventured on down to check out the tipped train. I couldnt get super close, and there were people near by & I didnt want to get yelled at & feel like an idiot..So, here is what I got!!

Either Mikes updates to the computer, or Blogger have messed with my picture settings, so I cant see what I am uploading..I have more pictures, but they'll just have to wait =0)

Really Easy Big Bread

Today I made one of my favorite bread recipes.

Outrageously Easy BIG Bread

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

2 packs of yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups hot water
3 tablespoons turbinado
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups flour
1/3 cup vegetable or corn oil
3 cups flour

Directions:

Note: This recipe works best if all ingredients are set out, ready to go, in advance. Also, make sure the turbinado, salt, flour, and oil are measured in the exact amounts called for.

Pour warm water into a small ceramic bowl and add the yeast, but DO NOT STIR. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, pour hot water over the turbinado and salt, then stir with a wooden spoon to completely dissolve. Combine 3 cups flour with the water mixture. Pour the oil on top of the dough mixture then add the yeast mixture on top of that, but DO NOT STIR. Top with the remaining 3 cups of flour and mix well. (I begin mixing with the wooden spoon but I very quickly have to move into squishing the dough with my hands.) At this point, the dough should be pliant and moist, but not gooey. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and set aside to rise for at least 45 minutes. (I've left it for almost two hours.)

On a lightly floured cutting board or countertop, divide the dough into half. (This is when I recruit someone to knead the dough, but the recipe actually calls for no kneading; I've done this recipe many times without kneading anything, and it always turns out really good.) Flatten each half into roughly an oval/rounded rectangular shape, about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thickness; then roll the dough lengthwise and place on an ungreased, but very BIG, cookie sheet. (If you don't have a very large cookie sheet, use two cookie sheets, one for each half of the dough.) Cover the dough with a moist towel and set aside to rise again for another 45 minutes (or longer).

After the dough has risen the second time, preheat the oven to 375 and bake for exactly 23 minutes. If you can keep everyone from digging in right away, allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then enjoy. (Also, before the bread bakes, you can slit the top of each lump of dough a couple of times and brush lightly with some kind of egg substitute. The glaze helps the bread come out with a slightly crunchier crust. I don't usually bother.)

I personally, leave out the sugar. It makes it too sweet for a dinner bread. I'm eating a warm piece with some soy butter riiigghtt now. Yum Yum!!!

Men..BEWARE

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