Back for another week...

I've been timing the weekly blog with The Amazing Race lately, but tonight I am a little behind and for a good reason.

First, lets update the show. For the first time, the married couple didn't win. We didn't see the whole show, so I don't have much of a recap but I don't want anyone to think I've giving up on the show. Last week, I received an email requesting a Google map of the trip. I thought this was a really good idea. Instead of trying to create the map myself, I found the following website.

The reason for missing part of the show is really simple, we ate some seriously awesome dinner tonight. Elizabeth and I watch a diverse series of television. One night last week, we found a good sounding recipe while watching Rachel Ray. You can find the recipe here. Tonight, Elizabeth threw this little ditty together and it was awesome. We have plenty of left overs, so this dinner is probably going to be good for at least two dinners this week.

Have you been watching the World Series? I don't think I've watched more than ten games of baseball all year. I will admit that some of the reason is the poor performance of the Braves for the past year, but with the series starting this past week, I am a little excited. The Montgomery Biscuits are a Double A team for the Tampa Rays, so we have enjoyed watching some of the kids playing ball. We try to catch at least 5 or 6 games a year and this past year was no different. We've been lucky enough to see many of the guys playing in the minors.

Halloween is on the horizon. Does everyone have there customes ready? Elizabeth and I have a party this Friday but I dont think we have customes, yet. I am interested in your ideas for a cool costume. The cost of the costume needs to be minimal, so the idea of some store bought costume is out. I am open to all ideas though. One that I have seriously considered and simply dont have a good idea for is ............. a fart. I really dont know how to pulll this idea off, but it sounds fun. Send me your ideas.

Green tip of the post: For a simple multi-purpose house cleaner, try combining a little warm water, a little salt (the abrasive), and a little lemon juice. The combination is very effective for most of your cleaning needs and it costs a fraction of the cost for your everyday cleaners.

Overtime?

CBS needs to get their priorities straight. Its only 49 minutes late getting started but it looks like we have a little bad blood to kick thins off. While we wait to see how the bickering ends, lets review the weekend.

This overtime stuff is making it impossible for me to catch all of my shows. I guess that I will have to pass on "True blood" this week and catch a reply sometime during the week.

Friday night was the final home football game for the Alabama Christan Academy Eagles. The day was a little chilly with slight rain throughout the day making for perfect football weather. We won a tight one with only minutes to spare. For Jessica, this was her final home football game.

We finished the night by watching Saw II. We are re-watching all of the Saw movies in preparation for the upcoming release of Saw V. If you are not familiar with the Saw series, it is a series of movies that are part gruesome, part suspense, and completely twisted. These movies are not for the average person.

Game break ... the frat boys are charming little fellows and Little Elizabeth's team just got a flat tire.

Saturday we had a little family fun. To begin with, we purchased a few pumpkins for carving (I'll post pictures next time). We visited with my mom and dad for a couple of hours, and we concluded the day with a little grill action.

For entertainment, we had two alternatives. The first was little Gabe. Gabe is a funny little fellow, Jessica and Brooke's cousin, who comes to spend the night with us every now and then. Gabe provides a lot of laughs through his continual harassment of Rusty and his ability to forego sleep. As the old saying goes .... out of the mouth of babes!!

The second half of our entertainment was Saw III. This was not my favorite of the Saw movies but it did explain a lot about the relationship between the two main characters and the reasoning behind the gruesome trials.

Today, Little Elizabeth and I visited my grandmother for lunch. We had a neighborhood grill and block party this afternoon. This was our neighborhoods first block party. I hope that everyone had a good time, I know our family had a good time.

Game break ... the fast track was insane. If Elizabeth and I were the first to arrive for that task, we would have had to turn around and go back to the normal tasks. Elizabeth is terrified of heights so climbing that tower would have never happened.

And the winner is ... for the third week in a row, the struggling married couple. I cant believe that they are playing so strong. And the loser is ... the Carolina girls and Phil's dad for volunteering to give them a big hug!

A good show ...

So its Sunday and tonight is the Amazing Race .... Tonight is the last night to select a team (Heather you better pick one soon!), so I hope you get in on the fun soon.

We had a pretty solid week. Elizabeth, Jessica and I spent Thursday in Birmingham learning about the new blood meter / injection system. I love technology to an extent, but I am not a fan of technology for the sake of technology. This thing is not technology for the sake of technology though. Its an all-in-one device that checks the blood sugar level, determines the best amount of insulin to inject, and injects the insulin in a timely manner, etc.

Next Saturday is the birthday party for our friends little one. We won't be able to make the party (its in Memphis), but wish Maddox a happy birthday. We haven't been able to see Maddox since they moved. I bet he is really getting big. I hope that we can make a trip up to Memphis sometime soon.

We had a great day Friday. To conclude a recent project at work, we had a little party for everyone that helped. For the party, we had a shrimp and crab boil. As you can imagine, the food turned out VERY good. In addition to food, we also had a little entertainment including the Wii, poker and pool. Elizabeth and I won two pairs of movie tickets!!! She thinks that she won the tickets, but actually I did.

OMG!!! Wrestling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See a trainer and learn a routine, that is awesome!!! I could have owned that task.

Did you notice the "Day of the Dead" skeleton hanging in the taxi cab? The Day of the Dead is a holiday, generally observed in Mexico or by those of Mexican decent. The general concept of the Day of the Dead is a celebration of the those that have passed. I love the art associated with this holiday. I bought a cool t-shirt related to this holiday a few years ago. I hope that I can find a few characters related to this holiday in the coming years.

Ok, so the geeks can't wrestle. Third team in to the wrestling arena and who knows which team out.

Arghh, the ex-football player and his estranged wife won the round again for a second time. No worries though, I dont't think they can keep it up. Big E is safe for another week .....

I hope that these teams tip the taxi cabs very well.

And now they figure it out .... a time delay! Arrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhh! It looks like I am going down tonight. Obscenities are being spoken under my breath. It looks like both Pop and I are out of the race. We have been eliminated from the race! I still think they could have won the race, but I was wrong.

Little Elizabeth called me already!!!!! She could not remember if she or I chose the geeks. Well, Pop and I are out. To keep it fun, I am choosing another team but it will not count at the end (unless I change my mind). I think I will go with the ex wife and husband.

Another fun Sunday show. I hope that everyone enjoyed it with us.

No green tip this post. Have a great week.

PS - Roll Tide at number 2!!!! Can I get a heck yes???????

A quick update or two ...

I'm trying that whole Tapas idea again ....

1. Three new blogs listed today. I found them Monday evening. Some of the posts on the pictures blog are a little risky, but many of them are really cool.

2. The two other blogs are based on some mothers saving a TON of MONEY buying groceries, etc. Can you imagine spending less than $800 dollars a year on food for your family? I am trying to figure out their secrets. Actually, they are blogging their secrets, maybe I will be able to figure out!!!???

3. Big day tomorrow, we go to our first training class on Jessicas new blood sugar monitoring gadget. We actually have to go to two of these classes.

4. We took the girls to the park Sunday for a little football action. I was the only one to suffer an injury.

5. Roll Tide! It was an ugly win, but a win all the same.

6. Elizabeth is getting her hair done tonight so I solo'd it for dinner. Steak Ranchero and beer!!!! No tapas there, I am stuffed. I better remember that her hair looks great when she gets home.

I hope you are having a great week. Leave me a comment with your favorite Amazing Race team.

Quick green tip: Cling wrap and really thin plastic wraps like you see at the deli or butcher are actually bad for your food. The chemicals used to make them plyable tend to leach into your food. Instead, use a wax or other paper before you wrap your foods in them. Many of the microwave safe and microwave steam bags have the same chemicals.

An amazing week two....

First, the divorces from Texas are idiots. If you chose that team, then you need a mental examination. Basically, their night went like this .... Read clue number one, not checked. Read clue number two, not checked. Get kicked off ... missed it by the seat of their pants.

As for selecting our teams ... Brooke has chose the brother/sister team (the cheerleaders). I really wanted to chose that team, but Brooke called them first. Jessica chose the divorces team from Texas. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on them. Lil Bit chose the black couple team. Momma chose the Mom and son team. I like this chose from a sentimental standpoint, but these types of teams never work out.

For me, I will take the computer geeks team. The ones that came in second tonight. I fear that I will regret this decision, but at least they can speak Spanish, so that should help along the way. I just hope that they don't get involved in a foot race along the way.

As for the show tonight, not so good. I hate it when football goes long (better get used to it). It messes with the rest of shows for the night. I missed nearly 30 minutes of True Blood on HBO.

I hope that the rest of you had a good weekend. Elizabeth and I went to a party Saturday night for a friend that was turning 30 (a baby). Anyway, someone hired a belly dancer for the party. The young lady is a very beautiful young lady, who is obviously good at her trade. Even Elizabeth enjoyed the show. For those wondering in your minds, there was NO nudity about her show. I hope that Jeffrey enjoyed the show and the party.

As a family, we went to the park today to play a little football. We should be in a little better condition considering all of the walking and running that we have been doing!!!!! Apparently, the exercises thing is not helping to the degree that we think it should be helping.

I'll be back next week. Please leave a comment about which team you are going with for the Amazing Race.

Green tip of the Post: After that last tip, do you really need another tip so fast? Save some water, or some energy (turn your lights off) or something else!!!!

Saving Water ...

Yesterday, we finally poured the concrete for the driveway extension. We've been planning and working toward this day for several months. Our neighbor is a concrete guy, so we were waiting to share a truck with him.

Jerry, his brother-in-law and I all met around 7:30 for breakfast and began working around 8:45 when the truck arrived. For his house, Jerry was pouring a new walkway in the backyard and for our home, we were pouring an extension to the driveway (about 90 square feet).

For the walkway, we had to transfer the concrete via wheelbarrows, all 72 loads! To say that I hurt yesterday and today would be an understatement. Luckily when it came time to pour the driveway, we didnt have to use wheelbarrows any longer!!!!

It's awesome to have quality neighborrs and this is just one example of the quality of our neighbors.

Switching subjects, this morning Elizabeth decided to bath Rusty. Rusty recently got into the trash can and the sticky syrup from the cinnamon buns was stuck to his coat. In addition, he smelled like a DOGGGGG!!!!!!!!! So, Elizabeth decided to bath Rusty.

Thankfully, Rusty is pretty good about taking baths, BUT he hates to be dried off. Rusty considers drying off to be a contact sport. I have learned to use two towels when drying him off; one for drying him and one for distracting him. The distracting towel is wrapped around my arm to allow him to bite and chew it without cutting me up. Occassionally, the towel will get loose and Rusty will sling it around side to side (which enivitably will swipe me across the face).

Anyway, the dog is clean, he smells clean, and I survived.

Green Tip of the Post: Save water by sharing a shower. Think about it, if two people share a shower, you are effectively cutting your water consumption in half!!!! I know, I know, I know what you are thinking!!!! If the length of the shower time is doubled as a result of sharing, then you haven't saved any water, BUT you probably had a little fun. Sometimes, its OK to have a little fun, despite the impact.

We tried this theory this morning!!!!! WoooooooHooooooooo!!!!!!!!!1

Elizabeth shared her shower with ...... Rusty!!!! Did you think that I was going to say something different (get your mind out of the gutter)? Its true, Elizabeth bathed Rusty while taking her shower this morning. Now, that is conservation.