Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
What’s New?
What’s new? Lot’s of stuff going on and a couple of bits of news that I haven’t posted about on here, yet – like big news at CIS and a new restaurant in town! My excuse for not posting sooner…….well, that’s news, too! Lot’s of stuff going on and, unfortunately, no time to write about it!!!! So, taking some time this morning to cover a few things:
The Steele Pig is the cool, catchy name of a new restaurant in town! It isn’t really “NEW”, but more like a make-over of an old favorite! Bella Bistro has been a key feature in downtown Sanford for many years. Chad Blackwelder, chef and owner of Bella, decided to reinvent his restaurant and make it more affordable and attractive to a wider customer base. The name was changed to The Steele Pig and the menu was revamped to include a mix of old favorites and new, exciting smoked meats and sandwiches! I took Mom earlier this week and we had a wonderful time chowing down on smoked spareribs that were melt-in-your-mouth delicious!!! Check out the Roving Review I wrote for the SocialSanford blog. Better, yet – go see for yourself – The Steele Pig….dinner….Tues-Sat….133 S. Steele Street…..be there!
Communities in Schools of Lee County announced a couple of weeks ago that we have a new Executive Director! Heather Little begins her journey in her new role at CIS on May 3rd. Laura Biediger tendered her resignation to go back to school in the fall – she’ll be pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at UNC Chapel Hill. We wish Laura well and will miss her! But, we are so very excited to welcome Heather as our new ED. Heather is no stranger to CIS Lee….she is on the Board of Directors and serves as Program Committee Chair. She is also credited with starting and building the BackPack Pals Program for Lee County Schools and bringing it to CIS Lee. We’ll be so lucky to have her!
Personally………the reason I haven’t had a lot of time to catch up on the news is that my Mom is visiting! YAY!!!! We’ve had a great week sharing all kinds of stuff — pedicures at Marcello’s, dinner at The Steele Pig and Cafe 121 (she told me before she got here to not forget to plan time with Chef Hamm and his wonderful ribeye steaks!!!), cooking together, watching lots of NetFlix movies, and just plain sitting around, relaxing, and enjoying each other’s company!!!
Well, that’s all for now…….I’m sure there is more news to catch up on, but no more time this morning!
Sanford Info At Your Fingertips
Wanna know all of Sanford’s best kept secrets and what’s going on? Well, there is a new blog in town – SocialSanford – and it is filled with interesting and useful information. A couple of my blogging friends started the site a month or so ago and it is well worth a spot on your blogroll. It has been on my blogroll since it started, but I realized I didn’t draw attention to it, so that oversight is being remedied right now!
Check it out for yourself — you’ll surely find something that you needed to know about our fair city!
Product Review – Dyson
I have watched with great interest as friends asked for help in finding a vacuum that will do a really good job on pet hair and is easy to handle. I have a similar need and I’ve been through vacuum after vacuum after vacuum……some are easy to handle and some do a really good job…….I have yet to find one that is BOTH!!!! So, when I heard almost everyone who responded to my friend’s pleas for help highly recommend the Dyson Animal vacuums, I decided to get one! I have looked at them before, but stayed away from them because they are bagless – I am not a fan of bagless vacuums! But, decided that if they work as well as I’m hearing they do, I will make do with the bagless feature!
I used it for the first time today. I thought I’d give my opinion, since I know so many people who will likely be interested in hearing what I think about it!
PROS:
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The rumor was correct — it does a GREAT job!!! It sucks pet hair from several inches away and picks up everything it comes into contact with! It is powerful and effective! So — it gets an “A” for productivity!
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It is easy to use — I chose the “ball” version (the dc25) because I heard that the ball makes getting in and around things very easy. I made a good choice! It is easy and, although it isn’t as light weight as others I’ve tried, it is light and does glide around as if it were almost weightless. So — another “A” for ease of use.
CONS:
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The whole bagless issue I mentioned in the beginning of the post is a major con for me! I have asthma, so dumping the cup makes me cough and gives me some minor respiratory distress. I did see on their website, though, that they offer a free asthma/allergy kit, so I will look into that when I get a chance.
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The collection cup isn’t very big (most aren’t). I mentioned that I need it because of the need to control the pet hair in my home. If you’ve read this blog at all or even if you noticed the header photo on the home page, you know I have three dogs – one of which is a golden retriever mix! Every few days, I can sweep up enough hair to cover a fourth dog!!! So, the small cup has to be emptied often, creating more of an issue for my asthma than it might if I could get away with only dumping it once each time I vacuum.
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The “on” button is on the body of the vacuum. A preferred location would be on the handle so you could use the thumb of the hand that is holding it or on the bottom so you could press it with your foot. Because it is so far away from your hand and your foot, you must have your second hand free to turn it on and off when needed. This makes it difficult to multi-task while vacuuming — like picking up things and carrying them with you while you vacuum, holding the coiled cord so it is out of the way, etc. I tried to just let go of the handle to turn it off and let the handle rest against my stomach, but the vacuum is so powerful, it kept going and pulled away from me and fell onto the floor before I could press the button or grab the handle again!
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The foot lever that lets the handle lay down at an angle to vacuum is easy to use, but putting it back into the upright/locked position is not easy! The stabilizing wheels fold up when it is angled to vacuum, which makes the ball easier to steer (one of the PROS mentioned earlier). When you lift the handle up to lock it, you have to lift up on it and snap it in place so that the stabilizing wheels come back down. It makes a very loud clanging sound – like it cracked or broke! And, it takes two hands to get it to lock — it could be because I have arthritis in my hands and don’t have the gripping strength someone without arthritis has…..but, I am not the only person in the world with this problem, so I can’t be the only one who finds it not so easy to do. I’m wondering, though, if it will get easier once it gets broken in more. For now, though, every time it clangs, the dogs jump and run cause it scares them!!! They have never been afraid of the vacuum, but they are now!
So — I do like it — it does the trick, for sure! But I do have some issues I need to either get used to or find a way to work around……the CONS are not minor little things to me! We’ll see if, in the long run, it survives or if I go looking for another one!!!
UPDATE:
The PROS are absolutely out weighing and over coming the CONS — I LOVE this vacuum!!!! Again, it glides around and maneuvers beautifully and the power is incredible!!! I’ve gotten the hang of putting it back in the upright position, so that “con” is gone! Even the girls are getting used to that clanging “con” and don’t seem to care anymore! As for the frequency I have to dump the cup and the dust it causes, I started getting a trash bag out when I start and putting the cup down in it and covering it with the sides of the bag when I dump it……so, not as much of a problem for my asthma! This vacuum is WONDERFUL!!!!
Movie Review – Date Night
A friend called yesterday and asked if I wanted a girl’s night out to go see “Date Night” at the theater tonight……..hello, when am I NOT ready to go see a movie? Like, did she really need to ask? DUH!!! But, “Date Night”? I saw the trailers and it did look like it might be very funny and I do like Tina Fey a lot! The part that caused me to pause for a half a second or so before I responded was Steve Carell……not really a Steve Carell fan! But, hey – it was a movie in the middle of the week – comedy on hump day eve – how bad could Steve Carell be opposite Tina Fey, anyway? Making it to the 5:20 showing was a tight squeeze after work and I had a ton of other things I should have been doing, instead. But, it has been a hectic week (I had to rearrange several other things throughout the week to accommodate crazy stuff that came up) and it was the only night I didn’t have to be somewhere else or do something that couldn’t wait until later in the evening or tomorrow! AND – more importantly – it has been a couple weeks since I’ve been out to a movie! So, I agreed to go! (you know it didn’t take much thought or convincing)
First off, let’s address the Steve Carell concern……he was actually funny and not at all his usual irritating self! Refreshing! He was really quite good in the part of tax accountant Phil Foster. There, that is out-of-the-way – on with the review!
The story is this: Carell and Fey play Phil and Claire Foster, an average suburban couple with two kids and good, but unexciting careers. After hearing the news that their friends are getting divorced, they start to wonder if they are in the same, familiar, boring rut as their friends are – even their typical date night routine feels forced and less than special. So, in an effort to spice up date night, Claire goes out of her way to look especially pretty and Phil decides to take his beautiful wife into the city for dinner at a very expensive and exclusive restaurant. They show up at the restaurant with no reservation and are met by an extremely rude, obnoxious maitre d’ who sarcastically tells them they can wait at the bar to see if something opens up. After a while, Phil hears another couple’s name called several times and, assuming they are a no-show, gets the idea to claim they are that couple and take their reservation! They are seated and begin to enjoy an amazing dinner! A couple of men come to their table and the way they start asking them questions and addressing them by the other couple’s name, they naturally assume their deceit was discovered. They follow the men out into the alley and soon discover that the couple who’s reservation they took stole something from the head of an organized crime ring and they are in serious trouble! From that point on, they get themselves in deeper and deeper and in more and more trouble! Hilarius scene after hilarious scene of wild chases, car crashes, and narrow escapes take them through the process of figuring out what is going on while staying one step ahead of the thugs and the cops!
Best parts: 1) I – laughed – so – hard!!! I laughed out loud so hard I had tears pouring down my cheeks!!! 2) (well, actually, my VERY favorite part) Mark Walberg!!! In multiple scenes, Walberg is called upon to help them out and in every one of the scenes he is conveniently (and much to my personal pleasure) without a shirt! WOW – definitely worth the price of admission!
Besides Mark Walberg, Ray Liotta also has a supporting role as the crime boss at the center of the Foster’s troubles. I like Ray Liotta a lot and, although he has a small role and isn’t seen much, he is true to form and very enjoyable to watch. Tina Fey is charming as Claire Foster, as well.
I liked this movie — it was fun, it was entertaining, it was funny, it was a perfect mid-week pick-me-up, and it made for a very enjoyable girl’s night out event! I rate this one an A and will likely take Steve Carell off the “avoid at all cost” list!
By the way — they also have out takes at the end that are as fun as the rest of the movie!
Elizabeth Taylor – Another “Mr. Taylor” Soon?
I read something very interesting this morning – Elizabeth Taylor may be headed down the aisle yet again! Aside from being a movie legend from a time when movie stars were glamorous and beautiful, she is best known for her penetrating violet eyes, her love of jewels (in particular very large diamonds and emeralds), and for her matrimonial exploits. If this ends up being true, this will be her NINETH wedding to EIGHT different husbands!
I adore Elizabeth Taylor and her movies. In fact, she is one of my two favorite legendary screen actresses, along with Katherine Hepburn. My beautiful Katie is named after them – Katie Elizabeth (which she only gets called when I need to get her attention and she’s on a mission)! Born Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor on February 27, 1932, she is one of the most recognizable faces and names from Hollywood’s heyday.
But, this post is about the thought that she may actually be getting married for the nineth time at age 78. If you were to hyphenate all of her last names, her name would read as: Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor – Hilton – Wilding – Todd – Fisher – Burton – Burton – Warner – Fortensky. Whew! That’s a mouthful! If she marries her current love interest, you can add “Winters” to the hyphenated series! Apparently, she may be marrying Janet Jackson’s manager – Jason Winters, who is 49 years old.
I wonder what the engagement ring will look like. Given her love of diamonds, it will need to be impressive to please her, but will likely never live up to some of her other well-known gems – like the 29-carat engagement ring presented to her by Michael Todd or the 69-carat one that Richard Burton gave her. According to Eddie Fisher, “A $50,000 diamond could keep her happy for approximately four days.” So, word to the wise, Mr. Winters, GO BIG!
As for predictions for how long this will last? Well, she has been in poor health for many years and near death several times, so I wouldn’t take her age into consideration here – she’s a survivor! But a history of lengthy marriages really doesn’t exist. Her shortest marriage was to Nicky Hilton, which only lasted 8 months. Her longest was to Richard Burton, which lasted 10 years the first time and then a year and a half more a second time. Their’s was a tumultuous relationship and I think she lived for the adventures and passion (good and bad) that it brought her – I wouldn’t count on that kind of energy providing for another long span with anyone else. With the exception of her 13 month marriage to Michael Todd, which ended in his death in a plane crash, all her other marriages lasted an average of 5 years. So – given her track record, I give it no more than 5 years!
Elizabeth’s past husbands are:
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Conrad “Nicky” Hilton (May 6, 1950 – Jan 29, 1951) – divorced
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Michael Wilding (Feb 21, 1952 – Jan 26, 1957) – divorced
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Michael Todd (Feb 2, 1957 – Mar 22, 1958) – widowed
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Eddie Fisher (May 12, 1959 – Mar 6, 1964) – divorced
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Richard Burton (Mar 15, 1964 – Jun 26, 1974) – divorced
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Richard Burton (Oct 10, 1975 – Jul 29, 1976) – divorced
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John Warner (Dec 4, 1976 – Nov 7, 1982) – divorced
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Larry Fortensky (Oct 6, 1991 – Oct 31, 1996) – divorced
So, there you have it…….will she become Mrs. Jason Winters? I’m sure we’ll hear whether or not the rumors are confirmed or denied soon! I hope her lawyers write up a good pre-nup……
Take me out to the ball game….
I am not a sports fan….except for baseball – especially Yankees baseball….I know, I moved to the wrong part of the country! I don’t like basketball, Nascar, football, or hockey and there are no major league baseball teams in NC!
But, I’m still happy – the 2010 MLB season is here. I watched tonight’s game with excited anticipation as the Yankees were ahead of the Red Sox and kept them at bay……right until the end, when the Sox pulled ahead! Yeah, I was disappointed, but it is early – first game of the season – there are a lot of games between now and October! AND – it was a really good game – not a massacre by either team – I like that – even if the team I want to win doesn’t!
Yep – I am a Yankee transplant in the south and I am a NY Yankees baseball fan! I’m doomed! I’m definitely in the minority! I will root for the Yanks no matter what – whether they are having a good season or a bad one – in good times and in bad! And, if the Yankees are out of the picture when it comes to the end of the season, I root for whatever American League team gets there – except for the Red Sox! I’ll root for anyone playing against the Red Sox.
I wish I lived closer to a major league ball park! I lived too far away from Yankee Stadium to go to games there when I was growing up. But I did get there once a few years ago on a business trip to NYC! I was in total awe and was numb the entire time I was there just at the thought of being among the rich history and so close to greatness! I also saw games at Camden Yards and Three Rivers Stadium. But, that is it for up close and personal major league games.
As for minor league games — I used to enjoy going to see the Rochester Red Wings play. I would go with friends and sit up in the cheap seats and enjoy some beer and dogs while taking in a game on a warm summer day! Some great times were had! I’ve been to a couple Durham Bulls games, but it just wasn’t the same!
So – I guess I’ll be happy to watch it on TV and hope for a chance to get to the NEW Yankee Stadium for a game sometime soon! One of the things on my bucket list is to see the Yankees play the Dodgers (cause any self-respecting New Yorker still sees them as the Brooklyn Dodgers) in Yankee Stadium……it will happen, I know it!
But, for now……..PLAY BALL – the 2010 MLB season is up and running!
The price we pay for Spring
Spring is so beautiful — the colors, the weather, the newness of it all…..I love it!!! But, it comes with a price. Especially for those of us with allergies or asthma or both. I am one of those people with BOTH! So, while I adore spring and all its beauty, I suffer through most of it – at least the beginning of it!
I never knew you could actually “see” pollen before I moved south. The first spring I was here, I saw all this greenish-yellow dust on everything – coating everything outside and filtering in through the windows to coat everything inside, too! Then, when the rain comes, the dust turns into yucky looking greenish-yellow rivers and residue! I asked around to find out what in the world it was and was told it was “pine pollen” — what? really? But, I found out they weren’t joking…..it was pine pollen! And I soon learned to keep the windows shut until it was over and not to rub my eyes with hands that have touched anything outside before they were washed! I once rubbed my eye outside and in less than an hour, I had an eye that was almost swollen shut with a HUGE puffy sack under my eye – it wasn’t sore, but it looked horrible! It went down after a little while and some allergy medicine.
The other thing that really gets to me in the spring (and summer, really, but more so in the spring until I get used to it) is the smell of freshly cut grass! I used to enjoy mowing grass and loved the smell of it, but had to completely stop doing it myself and try to stay away from breathing it in…..the event that forced that decision was a time not long after I bought my house and I was using the push mower on the hill in the front – it was well over 90 degrees and the combination of the heat, the smell of the grass, and the strain of pulling the mower up the hill sent me into a major asthma attack. I didn’t have my inhaler with me, so I had to get into the house and find it in my purse…….the stress of trying to get myself help added to the attack and I came really close to a very serious medical situation! Hence, I now rely on “the elves” to take care of my lawn and they put spreading blue juniper on the hill……
All this comes to mind today because I notice the pine pollen is starting to create a dusty blanket on things and my neighbor across the street was mowing his lawn when I got home. I am having a hard time getting a good breath and my eyes are all scratchy like I have sand in them!
I already don’t open the house windows in the spring to keep the house “safe”, but I refuse to not put the top down and enjoy the breeze when driving the pony around town! I just have to be careful once the pine pollen hits the peak and is the heaviest of the season — there will likely be a few days in the near future where I’ll need to stay inside and keep the top up! But, for now, I’ll suffer through the light start while enjoying the top down when I drive!
Charmin of Choice
Toilet tissue is a very personal product – not only because of the reason you use it, but also because people have very personal opinions about brands, types, etc. This past week, I purchased a large package of Scott toilet tissue instead of the usual Charmin. I had a coupon for it and, even though I tried other brands in the past and always came back to Charmin, I decided to go with the price break.
Scott is a good product — a little less soft than Charmin, but not that noticable and not uncomfortable. It definitely does the job and holds up to the demands of the task – so to speak. So, you’d think I found a nice alternative to Charmin. Right?
Wrong……there is one thing that drives me nuts about it and is the sole reason I likely won’t purchase it again. It doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not it works or if I like the product itself. Actually, it is OCD related……it doesn’t tear on the perforation!!! There, I said it! I have a thing for balance and evenness! When the tissue doesn’t tear on the perforation, it leaves a jagged edge on the roll that eats at me unmercifully, driving me to the very edge of insanity. I am driven to tear the jagged piece off and sometimes it takes multiple attempts, not only wasting the tissue, but also wasting my time and causing EXTREME anxiety and stress!!! Uugghh!!! (OK, so I like to exaggerate to create drama – it is called writer’s prerogative or poetic license or something like that)
Moral of the story? Lots of things factor in to the personal opinions that make up our preferences for products…….sometimes it is the product itself and sometimes it is the perception of performance and sometimes it is just a nit-picky little annoyance!
There’s an APP for that…
I’ve had my iPhone for about six months now – it seems like I’ve had it forever and have no idea how I lived without it! I am still learning what all it will do and how to do it…..but am loving all the ways I use it now. I literally have a computer in my purse that goes with me everywhere I go and gives me access to whatever I need wherever I am! I get my emails, check my facebook, listen to my favorite music, access the internet, view my calendar, take great photos, instant message my buddies, keep a grocery list, post notes to myself……….oh, yeah – and I also make and receive phone calls!!!
Not long after I got it, I made the comment that “it does everything for me but slice my bread……but, I’m sure if I look hard enough, I could find an app for that, too.”. APPS – short for Applications – are little icons you download onto your iPhone to link you to programs that do ANYTHING you want! There are thousands and thousands of APPS available for whatever you need. I have 46 apps on my iPhone – most were free – I look for free ones! Some cost me 99 cents and the most I’ve ever paid for one was $1.99. I have a couple games, but mostly ones that are for referencing or searching for info – like the one that links me to “All Recipes” with the coolest search feature to find just the right recipe for any situation……and “Fandango” or “Flixster” to look up movies, view trailers, get reviews, show times, and other movie related info……..”TV Guide”, “AccuWeather”, a dictionary, “People” which lets me look up phone #s and addresses, a thesaurus, one that lets me search for the perfect quote for any situation, and even one that gives me the daily and archived “Bizarro” cartoons – I love Bizarro!!! I also have several that give me internet search options – Yahoo, Wikipedia, YouTube, E! Online, and more. I typically fly SouthWest, so I have an app to check my flight status and even lets me book a flight! I can connect to AOL, Facebook, WordPress, and LinkedIn! I can get maps and stock updates and nutrition info…..the world is at my fingertips!! I haven’t found one that will slice my bread for my, though……yet…..I’m still looking!!!
But, what I have is just a drop in the bucket……..there is an APP for everything and every interest — there is even an APP called “iFart” – no, it won’t keep track of your farts – it is designed to give the user a wide variety of different fart sounds to play for the entertainment of their friends! Not my cup of tea, but it is actually a very popular APP – go figure!
I love my iPhone…….I’m looking for more APPS I might enjoy — what are your favorite APPS and what would you recommend for me?
Bread Discovery
I stopped in at Food Lion last night for a few groceries and made an amazing discovery – a new kind of bread! I had a craving all day for a good hamburger made with onion soup mix, so I got a small package of hamburger and a bunch of other stuff I was out of. When I got to the bread aisle, I looked for some hamburger buns and something caught my eye. I’m not sure why I even gave it a second look cause I was specifically looking for hamburger buns……but, it looked cool, so I picked it up for a closer look. The package was Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats – 100 calorie thin rolls – soft 100% whole wheat! They kinda look like pita bread, so I thought they would be hard and dry – but, I poked at them and they felt soft!!! I’m always looking for bread that won’t add on a lot of carbs, so I thought they might be worth a try. I almost bought a package of hamburger buns, too……just in case……but, decided that would be a waste of money, so just got the package of deli flats.
I got home and put my groceries away, fed the girls, and made my hamburger – mixed in an envelope of onion soup mix and a little Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder! It was delicious!!! But, the best part by far was this new bread!!! It was surprisingly good!!! It had a really nice whole grain flavor that was very evident – even over the highly seasoned hamburger, the miracle whip, the ketchup, and the sugar-free sandwich pickles! I was shocked that I could taste the bread at all!
And it only had 19 total grams of carbs!!! And only 100 calories!!! And BIG flavor!!! And soft!!! It comes in three varieties, too — Soft 100% Whole Wheat, 7-Grain, and Whole Grain White.
I have a new favorite sandwich bread!!! Woo Hoo!!! Try them out — I bet you like them, too!
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