Concerts

When the boys asked if Joe and I wanted to go to the Kenny Chesney concert with them, we, of course, said  yes. When two college kids ask their parents go to somewhere, that's pretty exciting. Even though, for us, it's fairly typical. 

The concert was on Saturday. We had a great time even though it was 97 degrees out.  I sat under the bed cover of the truck for most of the afternoon to get out of the sun.  Of course, it was popped up.  The parking authority wasn't allowing any tents to be set up. 

I wasn't real sure what to expect. The tailgating was crazy. The people, cars, and alcohol was outrageous.  I don't think I've ever seen so many cutoff jean shorts in one place before. 

Chesney refused to come to Pittsburgh a few years ago because of all of the trash the tailgaters left.  So this year, they handed out recycle bags to the cars as they drove into the parking lots.  The theory was good. Most people cleaned up after themselves before going into the stadium. There were blue recycle and trash bags in the parking lot. The problem was leaving the parking lots. There was nowhere to put the bags, if you weren't parked against a guardrail or fence like we were. We put our bags behind the guard rail. But for those people in the center of the lots, the bags got ran over by cars and trucks leaving the parking lots. The city should have had some one come by in a truck when everyone was in the concert and picked up the bags.

The concert was fun.  Both McGraw and Chesney were great entertainers. They seem to really enjoy what they do for a living.  Won't that be great if we all felt that way.

You have to enjoy people watching when you go to an event such as this. There are too many stories to even write about - Between the sunburns so bad that they look purple, to people sleeping in pool of garbage, and people generally having a good time.

When they come back to town next July 4 weekend, I'm sure we'll be in the stadium again. Hopefully, it won't be 97 degrees out again.


     Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Utilities

Fran had sent me this link for Duquense Light and their Watt Choices program.  I'm not sure if other utility companies are offering something similiar.  After completing their 10 minutes energy audit, they had suggestions for saving energy. Most of them were pretty typical.  After completing the survey, they will also send you a energy saving package. What I received in the mail after 7-10 days was 4 of the new light bulbs, 2 night nights, and a great power surge protector.

It was well worth my 10 minutes.

https://www.duquesnelight.com/wattchoices





Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Beach 2

This weekend was World Ocean Day. I thought the photos on the site were very interesting. It makes you think about how our actions effect the environment.


Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic. Broken down bits of plastic the size of a fingernail are floating across thousands of miles of open ocean, and are ingested by fish, birds and other animals. Love the ocean and reduce your plastic consumption. See the following for more pictures and the remaining article
http://www.completely-coastal.com/




If you enjoy the beach, you might like this website too. Check out the stores on the site. They have some really neat and funky beach items.  I might be spending some money decorating. There's a lot of craft ideas also. I have some ideas that I think I'll be making.  Too bad I don't have a summer Bunko night because I think I know what the theme would be.

Thanks Crystal for sending me the link.

Talking about crafts, I saw that TLC is going to have a new show - Crafters Wars.  Really- that was my idea. I think we should all nominate Terry U to be on the show. I would be willing to be her assistant. The blurb on TV didn't show too much but I would be curious to see what the show is all about.


  Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Refunds

I was in DSW shoes last week and bought a great pair of boots on sale for more than 50% off and a purse for a function we were attending. I really didn't like the purse but thought I'd get it anyway in case I didn't find something I liked better.  And of course, I had a coupon. Actually it was a $10 rewards coupon. 

I decided to return the purse the next day. The cashier informed me that I would not be getting my entire purchase price back but less part of the reward coupon or $4.70 less.  I said her that it was ridiculous since the rewards coupon should have been taken off the bottom line not a % if each item. She told me that in the future, if I think I might return an item, I should ring the purchases up separately.

While I was in line, I was talking to the next customer, who also had a return. She agreed, saying that had she known the return policy, she would have had the cashier ring her items up separately.  Being irritated at the entire situation, I pondered returning the boots at a later date, but figured I'd spend $5 in gas to prove a point which the company really has no plans of changing. 

I could understand if it was a coupon for a % off of purchase, but when it's a rewards coupon, it's more of an incentive for you to buy.

I  emailed DSW my opinion, and surprisingly, weeks later, I heard back from them.  They stated that it was an individual store policy and I should talk to the store manager.

Another lesson learned.

Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Beach

I just spent a long weekend with the boys down at the beach. Every time I walk into the house, I say that I love this place. Between the sun  sand, and laid back attitude, I wonder why we don't live year round. Yes, I would miss family and friends but I think I would be a happier person. Something about waking up when it's sunny and warm out as compared to rainy and dreary in Pittsburgh. I have to admit that I don't like the really hot weather. 80 and sunny is perfect for me.


Everyone knows that  exercise isn't one of my favorite things to do. Something about being hot and sweaty... 

For years, I've been saying that we should get bikes. For Christmas, the boys all bought me a pink beach bike for the beach.  We also decided to get the boys beach bikes. We thought that it was going to be hard to find them. First we tried Walmart and they had all kinds of beach bikes. We were so excited.

Now we go on daily bike rides throughout the neighborhood. It doesn't feel like exercise at all!!


Anyways...

This is our house.

One of our favoritve places is to sit under the house, especially at night. It always has a nice breeze blowing

This is our walk to the ocean.

Not too bad. The golf cart (or beach bikes!) makes it faster!

 

Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....



..

Mail

The Post office has been running commercials on TV about how great the US Postal Service is and how they want to sustain jobs. I thought it was interesting since they are considering closing so many of the stores. But with email and faxes, I guess less mail is going thru the post office.

Maybe the cuts are due to the poor service the postal workers give. The Counter people are crabby and less than enthusiastic at our local branch.  I have never understood the theory behind "going postal". It's climate controlled and what stress. I'm sure they have their share of demanding customers, but really, how bad could they be!  I do feel for the mail carriers out in the weather and climate. But they knew that was part of the job duties when they signed up for that job. 

There are fewer and fewer neighborhood mailboxes around. You have to drive to the post office to mail a letter. Some mail carriers won't even take mail that you leave out in your mailbox for them. I recently had a letter returned with 1 cent postage due. It was a normal envelope with two pieces of paper. I was going to question the Post Office why it was returned but the line at the counter was out the door.  I pulled the yellow postage due sticker off and re-sent it. It hasn't come back again yet.  Another time, an envelope was returned because I sent it First class instead of Parcel post. Sorry I paid the extra money for quicker service.

We've all gotten envelopes torn to shreds. Machines to blame.  At our office, sometimes the mailman will just put all of the tenants mail in one mail box, leaving us to sort it all.

We know alot of people who work for the post office. Yes, we feel bad that some of them have had to leave their families and move to other parts of the country to keep their Federal jobs. And I'm sure many of the carriers are wonderful and care about their jobs.  But apparently, there are some major issues. 

Would the services be better if it was a privately or publicly held company instead of government run?


  Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

S'More Cupcakes

I found this cupcake recipe and wanted to try it out on the guys.  I had to sample it and it sure was tasty. Definitely not low cal though.

It's so hot today. Probably not the best day to be baking and heating up the house. The kitchen got so warm that I frosted the cupckes in the dining room. But it still was so warm in there that all of my icing started melting off of the cupcakes.  When it cools down some, I'll post pictures, if I can get my icing to stay on the cupcake and look pretty!

S’Mores Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 box chocolate food cake mix

1 ½ c crushed graham crackers

¼ c sugar

5 TBS butter, melted

5  (1.55 oz each) Milk Chocolate bars

2 c mini marshmallows

For Icing:

1 c butter, softened (2 sticks)

2 c marshmallow fluff (1 jar 7 oz)

4 c powdered sugar

4 TBS milk

Directions

1.      Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 24 muffin cups with paper liner.

2.      In medium bowl, combine graham crackers, melted butter, and sugar. Spoon one tablespoon amount of graham cracker mixture into each liner and press down to form crust. Bake the crusts for 5 minutes.

3.      Prepare cake mix as directed on package.

4.      Pour batter into the graham cracker crusted muffin cups. Bake as directed on package. Remove from oven. Let cool in muffin pans for 5 minutes. Remove and place on wire racks.

5.       While the cupcakes are baking, break the chocolate bars into piece and place in a microwavable bowl.  Melt in microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir and continue melting for 30 seconds, until melted.

6.      Spoon 1 TBS of chocolate on top of each cupcake, spreading to cover. The cupcakes will still be warm.

7.      Chill cupcakes in fridge until chocolate is set.

8.      For the icing: Mix butter and fluff until smooth on medium speed with an electric mixer.  Slowly add powdered sugar with mixer on low.  Add milk and increase speed to medium and mix until combined and smooth.

9.      When chocolate is set, frost cupcakes.

10.  Reheat and drizzle with remaining chocolate, if desired.

11. (I didn't do this part, but I'm sure it would add to the athenticity of the S'More)  To toast the marshmallows, spread marshmallows on a baking sheet. Turn oven to broil. When oven is ready, place baking sheet on top rack. Toast marshmallows under broiler for 15 seconds. They toast very quickly. Remove from oven and garnish cupcakes.

Hope you enjoy!

Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....