Design on a Dime

I finished my drop cloth curtains yesterday and with Kurt's help, we got them put up last night.  I love them, especially that they only cost me about $25 and an hour or two of my time.

I bought two 6'X9' canvas drop clothes at Home Depot, cut them each into two panels of 3'X7'5".  I hemmed the two sides that I had cut, the entire clothe comes hemmed so make as few cuts as possible to save on sewing time.  I dyed the curtains just a little bit darker then the light canvas they came in.  I sewed five plastic circles evenly on the back of the each curtain, about an inch from the top and about 1/4" from the edge (I bought these at the local fabric store).  Then we penciled in 5 marks on the wall 4" from the top of the window and evenly spaced to cover all the open wall between the windows.  All I need to do yet is steam them a little and decide if I want to add fabric to the bottom like my sample shot I posted a couple weeks ago.


Before:

After:

Probably not the shake they had in mind.

Tonight I made these steak/onion sandwiches for dinner...thanks pioneer women!  I used less butter and of course since I live in Wisconsin, I added some cheese.  I really liked the combination of tabasco, worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt and pepper and I think it will be making it's way into the beef the next time I make hamburgers.

After dinner though I was craving something sweet, so I made my own after-dinner drink.  I combined a scoop of frozen yogurt, 1/4-1/2 cups fat free milk, a scoop of milk chocolate slim fast powder and 1 oz. vanilla schnapps...it was heavenly...and smack full of vitamins, how can you feel guilty about that?

First Impressions

My first day went fairly well.  I'm all signed up for my benefits...which take affect April 1st already!  I got my badge and my keys to everything, now starting today I start a 2 week training they have lined up for me.  They have it all written out with what I'll be going over each day, it's very organized.  I hope I can learn it all quickly and do a great job.

On a side note:  I recently bought a external hard drive to back up my system on, because my monitor is slowly getting dimmer and dimmer, trust me..it's not me it's the computer!  Anyways I came across this picture of Tweed and his buddy Hank (he's climbing the shepard's hook).  It's time for spring and according the the cat, time for Hank to come back.

New Day

I have to admit, I am a little nervous today.  This afternoon and tomorrow afternoon I am starting work at my new job.  And then starting Monday I will be working full-time.  It's nice that I can ease into it like this, get my feet wet a little before going right into a 40 hour week.  But after almost 8 months of moving at my own speed, arranging my schedule around whatever I wanted to do and sleeping in...it's a little nerve wracking.  Don't get me wrong I am very happy to finally have a job, and excited about the future....I just have a small case of the butterflies.  Wish me luck, I'll let you know how it goes!

Damn, it smells good in here....

I am finally making the potato recipe from the aforementioned "Potatoes - check, Cream Cheese- check....." post from earlier this month.  I figured I would get them made during the day to make room in the oven for the Russian Chicken I will be making later.  Don't let the name of the dish we're having tonight let you think we are being ethnic by any means.  It just means it includes Russian dressing which I believe is only related to the country by the fact that they both have a history of being red.

US wins 5-3 = many cookies eaten by my Canuck

After the loss by the Canadians, Kurt found solace in the cookies I made yesterday.  After his third or fourth, it was just a distant memory.  Unfortunately the hoser thought it would be a good idea to bring me one to bed to eat.  I don't know about you, but at 11pm I'm not really hungry for sweets, and the idea of waking up with a cookie crumbs stuck to my forehead does not seem appealing.  So he ate it and brushed all the crumbs to my side of the bed...what a wicked hoser, eh?

Some Enchanted Evening

Tonight is a BIG night incase you don't know.  Team US is playing Team Canada, and incase you also don't know we are a split household on this.  Kurt's support is with his home country, even though he's lived here all but seconds of his life.  And mine is with the US, even though Martin Brodeur is one of my favorite players.  So we both be torn while watching the game, but I hope my homemade spaghetti sauce and the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies I made today will soften the blow when the US wins tonight.....GO US!!!  (How 'bout a hat trick Parise!)

Tax Time! (Turbo Tax coupon included)

I finallly got my corrected W-2 from Old Navy, so this morning was spent nervously working my way through turbotax.com.  I found this coupon online, and even though I'm not a customer of bank of america, I still saved $10 on my federal filing:

35% off TURBOTAX.com. Go to www.bankofamerica.com. Type TURBOTAX in search box. Click on link for 35% discount. Follow from there. Dont even have to be a Bank of America Customer.

What the $#@#%!

6-9" of snow tomorrow?  Seriously?  I thought after the last few days of 30+ degree weather and sun, resulting in melting snow and increased productivity from moi', that spring was on the way.  I am sincerely disappointed in Mother Earth...and Al Gore (makin' me think Wisconsin would soon be a tropical destination is just mean).

Update 2/21: Today the weather forcast is a much less depressing forecast of 1-4"...I can handle that.

Collecting Dust

You ever get a pile like this...

And you go through them and end up with a pile like this...

I'm going to try really, really hard to start cooking 1-2 of these a month and either end up with a really nice repertoire of recipes to choose from or have a lot cleaner shelf for my cookbooks.  It's a win for my kitchen either way.

The Best Way to a Man's Heart, is Through His Stomach.

When Kurt and I first started dating, years and years ago, I was a young 21 year old.  My idea of making dinner was heating the oven and putting a Tombstone pizza on a pan.  He never acted like it bothered him that I didn't cut vegetables, nevermind ever put them into some kind of recipe...but I grew up.  It started small, oven-baked chicken, french onion soup and the ever succulent herb-roasted turkey.  But now I seem to be making everything from scratch, and you know what?  I love it!  So does my man. 

Yesterday morning when he came to bed at 6:30am, and I was getting ready to get up (well at least thinking about it), we discussed what was on the menu for dinner.  I had already decided we were having eggs and was telling him of my plans to shred some potatoes and make some fried hashbrowns, scramble the eggs with cheese and bacon and make some toast.  We both drooled on our pillows a little thinking about a dinner that was hours away. 

Needless to say once we were sitting down with some brown crusty hashbrowns and cheesy oniony scrambled eggs, we were not disappointed.  In fact this morning Kurt was still talking about those hashbrowns, telling me I could make them again any time I feel like it.  I never heard a reaction about one of those frozen cardboard pizza's the day after.

Sausage and Peppers

...and more mushrooms then anything.

Last night I made it for dinner and actually kept track of everything I put in it.  Usually it's a little different every time because I never measure my seasoning.  I figured it was a good idea to get the recipe down incase Kurt every decides to make dinner for me...I even took pictures so it should be easy for him to follow.

Heat up 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil in a frying pan at medium heat

Add -
1 chopped Onion
1 chopped Red Pepper
1 chopped Green Pepper
2 teaspoons Garlic salt
2 teaspoons Basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon parsley

Stir occasionally.

While veggies are cooking, heat oven to 450 and cook 1 package of Italian Sausage.  Cook for 10 minutes on each side.  Let cool.

Add 8-16 ounces of chopped mushrooms to the cooked veggies depending on your liking of the fungi.  As you can tell we really like them so I use 16 ounces.

Drain two cans of Italian Seasoned Diced Tomatoes and stir in.

Slice the Sausage into 1/2 inch sized pieces and add to pan.  Season with Crushed Red Pepper to taste.

Serve over Penne, Farfelle or Mostaccioli and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Cat Nap

Today was shipment day at Old Navy...and it was a huge one at that!  Somehow the corporate office cancelled everyone's shift last Thursday by error and without notifying the truck company so today was a double shipment.  So getting up this morning at 4:45, after less then 5 hours of sleep, was difficult to say the least.  And tonight Kurt and I are going out for a romantic dinner, and making a semi-romantic trip to Menard's and Home Depot on the way.  So I'm grabbing the guy in the above pic and hauling my butt up to bed for a good ol' nap.

Misc. Monday

It was extra difficult to get out of bed this morning, I'm not sure if it's because I've been staying up way to late watching the Olypmics or because there's only two more weeks until I'll have to be up at the crack of dawn...or maybe a little of both.

Once I dragged my lazy butt out of bed I headed to Michael's for their Presidents' Day sale, paper packs were 30% off and I had an extra 20% coupon.  All the items below cost less then $50, which I used my b-day gift from Craig and Kristy to pay for (Thanks Guys!).

Then it started doing this when I was on my way home, and it's been doing it ever since.

I also started a project of cleaning the pantry today, which has already resulted in the floor and walls of the kitchen being washed and a double batch of chex mix being made. It's amazing how off-track I can get.

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Here are a couple cards I made Friday.  The top one is Kurt's Valentine's Day card, I tried not to make it too sappy since he's a guy's guy.  The bottom card is for Kurt's Aunt Aileen, she's been in the hospital and we wanted her to know we are thinking about her

Potatoes - check, Cream Cheese- check.....

I'm sitting here waiting for the Olympics to come on, with Montel Williams trying to sell me some amazing power juicer that will change my life!  Thank goodness for the mute button, and The Pioneer Women.  I found a recipe to try that has cream cheese in it, which I now have 5 containers due to my coupon shopping.  Of course I'm going to lighten mine up a little with less butter and skim milk, but I'm sure they will still be great.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/10/creamy-herbed-potatoes/

Thrifty Curtains

I have a big bay window in the living room that has those awful white blinds that come in all new houses...unless you fork over the money for wood ones.  I would remove them and just hang curtains, but our condo association forbids us.  I had started working on some gold roman shades a couple years ago and have changed my mind over and over again about what to do. 

Tonight I found a possibility that's cheap enough that if I don't like it in a year, or even a month, I won't feel guilty about it.  The plan would be to buy some canvas drop cloths from Home Depot and dye them with some fabric dye, buy about 12" of a fabric that goes with the sofa colors.  Then to hang them up I think I'll just sew some hooks on the back and tap a few nails in to hang them from.  So far it sounds like a pretty good plan, lets see what Kurt says.  I think I could probably get the whole window done for less then $30 if I use my coupons wisely.

Sayonara Old Navy

Today I walked into Old Navy with my head high....and gave my 2 weeks notice.  I really didn't think it was going to be very formal but they still wanted me to write something up stating my notice.  My favorite LOD, Melissa, looked like she was going to cry;-(  I hated the job, but there are some really good people there, even some I am seriously going to miss.  They were there when I needed some social interaction and I will always be grateful!  I will be back to shop!....especially during stuff and save and the extra 50% off clearance sales.

Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pork Chops

Tonight I made my new pork chop recipe, adjust any seasoning to your own taste...I don't normally measure spices when I add them to my recipes like this so these are guesstimates:

4 pork chops seasoned with salt and pepper

1 pound chopped mushrooms

3 strips bacon - diced

4 Tablespoons butter

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup milk

nutmeg

parsley

garlic powder

salt

pepper

Cook pork chops on medium heat till cooked through.

While pork chops are cooking saute mushrooms and bacon, add 1/2 tsp parsley, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp garlic powder.

In a saucepan combine butter, cream cheese, and milk.  Whisk until smooth once the cheese and butter is melted.  Stir in parmesan cheese.  Add 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper and  1/8 tsp nutmeg.

Serve pork chops with mushroom/bacon mixture and drizzle some sauce on top.  This would also taste great with pasta sans the pork chops.

New Leaf, New Title

So starting March 1st I will be back in the 9-5 working world.  I figured that meant my blog deserved a new title.  My new mission will be to live on my same frugal budget while making actual money, working a normal 40 hour week.  In a couple weeks I start a new careerpath in the finance world.  I will be a Customer Service Representative at a small credit union for employees of St. Mary's Hospital here in Madison....wish me luck!

One day everything will work out

So today I have my second interview at St. Mary's Credit Union, and I am ok with the fact that I may be going in a completely different direction then my years in Printing have lead me....then what happens?  Just as I'm about ready to head upstairs to change I get an email from a printing place I applied for last week asking for a phone interview for their opening for a Customer Service Rep.  Not that I'm expecting to get a job offer today or anything, but if I did what would I or should I do?  I can't think about it right now, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Pork Chop Experiment

Today I went to the store and bought everything I need for a new recipe I'm making up as I go.  I'm going to fry up some pork chops with salt and pepper and while that's cooking I'm going to saute some mushrooms with bacon and whip up a cream cheese, milk and parmesan sauce to pour on the top.  It's pretty close to the alfredo sauce I've been making, but I'll change it a little.  I figured it was time to try something new to do with pork chops since I always bbq them, and I'm not a big fan of Kurt's favorite version with cream of mushroom soup poured on them, so we're going to compromise.  I think I'll try it this weekend, and I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

Iced with Love and Cream Cheese

Here they are, can't wait to try one after dinner.  Now I'm off to clean up all the dishes before it's time to wake Kurt up.

Crossing the Valentine's picket lines

I finally got sick of getting all these Betty Crocker, Kraft emails titled Valentine's Day Ideas and clicked on one.  Usually I'm not really into this Hallmark holiday (though I would never turn down a gift;-).  So I looked through their chocolatey delights with a little interest and then saw the coveted chocolate velvet cupcakes.  I have only seen, and never tasted them, so today I decided to try something new in the form of a Valentine's Day dessert for our household.  Hopefully they turn out since I didn't have buttermilk and I had to use Betty's emergency substitute of milk and lemon juice.  They are in the oven now...once they've cooled I think I'll frost them with cream cheese frosting.  Hopefully I can get a pic up later this afternoon.

So sick of winter

I'm just going to close my eyes and imagine Kurt and I sitting here with a nice cold drink.   Now I have to keep them closed until it's dark outside so I don't see the 7-10" of snow we got today.

Change in the air?

I guess sending a handmade thank-you for my interview last week made a difference, I got an email and phone-call today for a second interview for the position. So now I am a little nervous to think I could be close to having an actual job again. Maybe things are turning around for us, now if by some miracle I could get my dream home, though at this point I would be happy to have just have a job.

Old Navy: Lace Camies Only $2

Old Navy: Lace Camies Only $2

I forgot to add this on Friday, I already picked up a couple for myself. Sale is good through the 11th.

Superbowl Sunday

So this is one of the few Superbowls Kurt gets off of work, so we're doing it up a little special tonight. I'm making a supreme pizza from scratch for dinner, I hate to admit but this is special for us. We've still been very good about spending, only going out for breakfast yesterday on our way to Sauk City for a gun show. The trip was not my idea of course, but it was a nice little roadtrip.

I'm working on my Target shopping list, checking all the sales, finding all my coupons this afternoon, we have to stock up before the Olympics start Friday night. A week and a half of television entertainment Kurt and I can both agree on, I can't wait!

What better idea for the stimulus money?

So on the 17th I'm going to an orientation to find a new career path and possibly get a grant that the gov't set up for laid-off workers to update their education.  I would be even more happy if somehow the grant covered these classes.  Hey if AIG can get millions and millions in bonuses, why can't I get a class on some new stamping techniques?

Old Navy...good for shopping, not so good for working.

At least not for an extended amount of time.  I have to say I'm bored with it, it's been over 4 months and I have to say I would much rather find something more constructive to do with my time.  Working these 4-5 day weeks with 3-4 hour shifts feels like I'm wasting my days getting ready for work and not finding real work.  I sure hope I can start up some classes quickly after I have my orientation through the unemployment office...I'm ready for a change.

The Roads are Crap!!

I just got back from my first interview in a couple months, thank goodness I left crazy early because parking was horrendous because of the snow.  Even after circling around Alumni Hall at St Mary's 10 times I still had to park a block and a half away and walk through slush in dress shoes.  Oh well, the interview went well.  I went in there without any pressure, since I had already told myself that if the pay is lower then $12 an hour, forget it.  I would stick with my plans to go back to school.  But Elyse, who is in charge of hiring, was super nice and so was everyone else there....and the starting pay...$12!  Maybe it's destiny, or maybe not, either way it was a nice interview and I met some nice ladies who have made me think banking might not be that bad of a direction to go.