Sunday, January 24, 2010
Laundry Soap made Easy
Melissa found this recipe for powder laundry soap so we thought we give it a shot. We have a high efficiency washing machine and I was concerned that it wouldn't work but I was wrong, this stuff is better than the high dollar stuff that we were originally brain washed into using. We combined equal parts of Borax, Washing Soda and Baking Soda = $15.00 when not on sale compared to $23.00 for one of the high efficiency and the mix will out last two of them.
Hey Melissa how about this?
It sounds great and its mak'n me hungrey:
Cornbread Salad
Ingredients
Directions
In the bottom of a large glass bowl, place cornbread cubes. Layer beans, corn, onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, and cheese on top of cornbread. Spread ranch dressing evenly over cheese. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired
Cornbread Salad
Ingredients
- 1 batch cornbread, cut into 1-inch cubes, recipe follows
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can niblet corn, drained
- 1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped
- 1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 3 large tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
- 1 (8-ounce) bottle ranch dressing
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for garnish
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Dad's Maverick
January 23, 2010
Got it out of storage today and moved it inside the shop to let it melt down. My plan is to get it set up before Monday so we can start on it. More updates to come as we go along with the rebuild.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Just needed to type....
January 21, 2010
When it rains it pours!
Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse the tow trucks transmission took a sh*t today. It’s getting tuff; I started to feel good about the business after taking my certifications and got pumped about the industry as a hole to just come to a screeching halt.
Challenges.......
Being a small mom & pop operation is getting to be a challenge from day to day, it’s either no capital to purchase or to much capital out on accounts owed to us, stress is becoming over whelming. I ask myself why do we continue, its tuff trying to make a dollar dealing with the insurance companies trying to control costs, new EPA rules and village regulations, working physically and mentally hard, day to day living on money you really don't have and then the added stress it puts on Melissa and my relationship. I do love what I do, I remember enjoying my job but it seams to be different know, it changed for me about 4 or 5 years ago. I really don’t know why it did, I do know that the day to day stuff is really bothering me, I am worried and stressed.
Health?
My health is not so good; it’s nothing major, just my bad cholesterol is high. The doc told me to exercise and diet and in two months I go in for a complete physical to check everything and to make some decisions. I had an incident around Labor Day, that was an eye opener and a major out of pocket expense thanks to our high deductible on our health insurance. Stress, Stress and more Stress, need to de-stress!
Our Dream, My own Little World......
I find myself wondering around in my own little world, our dream of having a piece of land, being self sufficient to a point, Melissa wouldn't allow me to go to my extreme of being off the grid but to be comfortable. I want to able to get up in the morning and enjoy the day doing something that I want to do and look forward to it the night before. To be able to work the land, build on it and to have a future. A small shop in the back to do a small job, maybe some custom work or a wreck I bought to fix and sell, just enough to get by and survive. A place that my daughters can come out and enjoy and want to be out there with us, a life with less stress and overhead! Overhead, that’s a topic that I haven’t even scratched on yet but really, this dream needs to become a reality and soon, we are saving for it and it will become a reality but not soon enough.
Blurp'n.....
I do have to apologize for my ramblings or even a hint of it being a woe's me blurp but I needed to let out and I started this blog to keep track of our lives and this is something that happens (ramblings) in all our lives and I found that keeping it pent up does no good but to be able to express your thoughts and feelings is defiantly a good thing, so bear with me cause I’m sure this won’t be the last time.
Later,
Bob
When it rains it pours!
Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse the tow trucks transmission took a sh*t today. It’s getting tuff; I started to feel good about the business after taking my certifications and got pumped about the industry as a hole to just come to a screeching halt.
Challenges.......
Being a small mom & pop operation is getting to be a challenge from day to day, it’s either no capital to purchase or to much capital out on accounts owed to us, stress is becoming over whelming. I ask myself why do we continue, its tuff trying to make a dollar dealing with the insurance companies trying to control costs, new EPA rules and village regulations, working physically and mentally hard, day to day living on money you really don't have and then the added stress it puts on Melissa and my relationship. I do love what I do, I remember enjoying my job but it seams to be different know, it changed for me about 4 or 5 years ago. I really don’t know why it did, I do know that the day to day stuff is really bothering me, I am worried and stressed.
Health?
My health is not so good; it’s nothing major, just my bad cholesterol is high. The doc told me to exercise and diet and in two months I go in for a complete physical to check everything and to make some decisions. I had an incident around Labor Day, that was an eye opener and a major out of pocket expense thanks to our high deductible on our health insurance. Stress, Stress and more Stress, need to de-stress!
Our Dream, My own Little World......
I find myself wondering around in my own little world, our dream of having a piece of land, being self sufficient to a point, Melissa wouldn't allow me to go to my extreme of being off the grid but to be comfortable. I want to able to get up in the morning and enjoy the day doing something that I want to do and look forward to it the night before. To be able to work the land, build on it and to have a future. A small shop in the back to do a small job, maybe some custom work or a wreck I bought to fix and sell, just enough to get by and survive. A place that my daughters can come out and enjoy and want to be out there with us, a life with less stress and overhead! Overhead, that’s a topic that I haven’t even scratched on yet but really, this dream needs to become a reality and soon, we are saving for it and it will become a reality but not soon enough.
Blurp'n.....
I do have to apologize for my ramblings or even a hint of it being a woe's me blurp but I needed to let out and I started this blog to keep track of our lives and this is something that happens (ramblings) in all our lives and I found that keeping it pent up does no good but to be able to express your thoughts and feelings is defiantly a good thing, so bear with me cause I’m sure this won’t be the last time.
Later,
Bob
Monday, January 18, 2010
Another run to Mom & Dad's
January 18, 2010
Spent this last weekend back down at Mom & Dad's in Mississippi. Melissa and TJ and I left out Friday after work and drove down to Marion Il in the PT Cruiser and stayed at the Dury inn, they are pet friendly and drove back home today (Monday). We made it in to Moms at about 12:30 Saturday, It had just started to rain. It was in the low fifties but about 95 in the house, Herb had a chill! It was good to see them again and I believe they were happy to have us there.
Well Melissa started cleaning and I headed out to the Fifth wheel camper that they had let one of their strays take up residency for a while to asses the damage she had done. I opened the door of the camper and smells made me wanna loose my lunch! Melissa cleaned and almost fumigated us out of the trailer; she got carried away with the bleach thinking she would bleach Betty’s smell out the camper. I hauled off 4 big bags of garbage, 2 boxes of junk and Carl got one big bag of cans out of the camper. It was bad! I can't understand why people would want to live like that. I've been told that if its given and you don't have to work for it you won't appreciate it, well that’s a load of sh*t! I was raised to respect others and their property; she just took advantage of the situation, glad she's gone!
Saturday night Mom wanted to go out for dinner so we went up to South Haven to a place called Ponders. It’s a buffet featuring catfish :0) one of my favorites when I'm down there. The food was unbelievably good and I defiantly ate way too much. Melissa had her nerves shaken up pretty good on the drive back home cause Herb refused to let me drive, it was interesting.
So the drive home today was pretty uneventful except for the fog we had, it started off pretty thick and then dissipated when we crossed the IL border. It was a good trip, even though Melissa feels she didn't accomplish much.
Spent this last weekend back down at Mom & Dad's in Mississippi. Melissa and TJ and I left out Friday after work and drove down to Marion Il in the PT Cruiser and stayed at the Dury inn, they are pet friendly and drove back home today (Monday). We made it in to Moms at about 12:30 Saturday, It had just started to rain. It was in the low fifties but about 95 in the house, Herb had a chill! It was good to see them again and I believe they were happy to have us there.
Well Melissa started cleaning and I headed out to the Fifth wheel camper that they had let one of their strays take up residency for a while to asses the damage she had done. I opened the door of the camper and smells made me wanna loose my lunch! Melissa cleaned and almost fumigated us out of the trailer; she got carried away with the bleach thinking she would bleach Betty’s smell out the camper. I hauled off 4 big bags of garbage, 2 boxes of junk and Carl got one big bag of cans out of the camper. It was bad! I can't understand why people would want to live like that. I've been told that if its given and you don't have to work for it you won't appreciate it, well that’s a load of sh*t! I was raised to respect others and their property; she just took advantage of the situation, glad she's gone!
Saturday night Mom wanted to go out for dinner so we went up to South Haven to a place called Ponders. It’s a buffet featuring catfish :0) one of my favorites when I'm down there. The food was unbelievably good and I defiantly ate way too much. Melissa had her nerves shaken up pretty good on the drive back home cause Herb refused to let me drive, it was interesting.
So the drive home today was pretty uneventful except for the fog we had, it started off pretty thick and then dissipated when we crossed the IL border. It was a good trip, even though Melissa feels she didn't accomplish much.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Dupont Training Certification
I attended Duponts Chroma Certification at their new facility in Itasca. These are just a couple of shots of the inside from my phone.
It was an interesting class, I found that you can teach an old dog to do new tricks.
The class ended early on Thursday so our instructor gave us an opportunity to spray water borne, only three out of the ten took this opportunity and I was one of them. In doing so it alleviated my fear and misconceptions of water borne. Im am now a fan of it and will have no issues when we make the switch besides our shop equipment limitations.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
PT Cruiser got some Color!
The PT Cruiser got some color the other night, sorry Melissa I did not do Pink Flames, maybe next time.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Ahhh, The New Year
1/02/2010 The first post of the New Year!
Well, we ended our trip to grandma's early. We decided to leave that Sunday due to the shop getting some much needed work. The visit was a little tough on Melissa, family will be family as well I know! One good thing to come out of it is that Melissa and her younger sister's relationship I believe has strengthened and they are talking more often now than before.
Right before the new year, Melissa and I had a heated discussion (due to the lack of my caffeine) I know I said some things that should have never left my mouth and it has put stress on our relationship. I can say that I will make the changes needed to keep our relationship and make it stronger than it has been in the past.
Now to the family, I can not allow 2010 to be another year that family will have control of our feelings, things will be different and if they cannot accept us for who we are then there is no place for them in our future. Some will have to let things go from the past, others it will be a time to mature and then there are those that will need to set their priorities in place. I say this becuase Melissa truly tried to bond the family in 08 & 09 and it didn't seam to change the way the family is towards us, they accepted our hospitalitly but never accepted us, we are still just a second thought, if that at all. I love you all with my heart but cannot and will not allow it to hurt my family by your actions any longer. I love Melissa and will do anything for her and My Daughters to keep them being hurt emotionally and physically with a major priority on the emotional part! If you are reading this you know I am referring this to you, my family.
Melissa and I have made some decissions about our future and we will in 2010 start the process to make our life less stressful and more enjoyable.
Well with that being said, lets get 2010 rolling in a positive direction, Happy New Year to All!
Love Bob & Melissa
Well, we ended our trip to grandma's early. We decided to leave that Sunday due to the shop getting some much needed work. The visit was a little tough on Melissa, family will be family as well I know! One good thing to come out of it is that Melissa and her younger sister's relationship I believe has strengthened and they are talking more often now than before.
Right before the new year, Melissa and I had a heated discussion (due to the lack of my caffeine) I know I said some things that should have never left my mouth and it has put stress on our relationship. I can say that I will make the changes needed to keep our relationship and make it stronger than it has been in the past.
Now to the family, I can not allow 2010 to be another year that family will have control of our feelings, things will be different and if they cannot accept us for who we are then there is no place for them in our future. Some will have to let things go from the past, others it will be a time to mature and then there are those that will need to set their priorities in place. I say this becuase Melissa truly tried to bond the family in 08 & 09 and it didn't seam to change the way the family is towards us, they accepted our hospitalitly but never accepted us, we are still just a second thought, if that at all. I love you all with my heart but cannot and will not allow it to hurt my family by your actions any longer. I love Melissa and will do anything for her and My Daughters to keep them being hurt emotionally and physically with a major priority on the emotional part! If you are reading this you know I am referring this to you, my family.
Melissa and I have made some decissions about our future and we will in 2010 start the process to make our life less stressful and more enjoyable.
Well with that being said, lets get 2010 rolling in a positive direction, Happy New Year to All!
Love Bob & Melissa
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