Day 204 (October 29th) Thank you

I stole this one from Jen (Everyday Giving). I wrote a thank you card to the mailman. It was still in there when I got the mail today but I am hoping he/she saw it.

-Jackie

Day 203 (October 28th) Having a Matzo ball

I have been wanting to try this for a long time so today I seized the day and did I. I made and ate for the first time, Matzo Ball soup. Yummy!

-Jackie

Day 205---Took the test.

I went to this link http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/MatchoMatic/fullpage?id=5542139 which was a test to see which candidates philosophies matched you the most. It validated my vote all the more. I passed it on to others as it was both legit AND valid...unlike a lot of the ads and e-mails floating around!

Day 202 (October 27th)--Parade Wave

When I was driving home today I was trying to think of a new thing to do...then I thought of one I have always wanted to drive down the street waving at Random Pedestrians so I did. I think I confused a whole lot of people, LOL!

-Jackie

Day 201 (October 26th)--Toaster tops?

Today I discovered something I find to be wonderful (I do not like to do shameless plugs for my new things but this one deserves it.) I tried Eggo Toaster Muffin Tops. They come in with 32 muffin tops--4 to a section. You put the section in the toaster and Voila. The best part of the muffin. Now comes from the Toaster! YUMMY!

-Jackie

Day 200 (October 25th)--Flea Market

Today our scrapbooking store was having a flea market. So I went. It was disappointing. Too crowded and not a variety that I was looking for. I stayed 5 minutes and spent 1.75.

Extra Credit: I preserved some pretty fall leaves by finding out via the Internet that you can preserve leaves by putting moisturizer on them. I liked this new thing much better.

-Jackie

Day 199 (October 24th)--Unwanted Promotion

Today I got a call from the City Election official. The head judge at my polling place supposedly had to drop out because of doctors orders. So today I was promoted to head election judge. I am not thrilled about it but at least it will be a nice bit of extra money!

-Jackie

Day 198 (October 23rd)--Got Shot

I am deathly afraid of needles but today I got a flu shot to help prevent getting sick this winter. The nurse was good at it too. Barely felt a thing!

-Jackie

Day 197--(October 22nd)---At Home

With my job one of the perks is I get to work from home once in awhile. Normally I either work from home the whole day or go home after a late morning appointment, or after lunch at the office. Today my plans unexpectedly changed so I left the office specifically to eat lunch from home. I went home, ate lunch then finished off my day from home. I had a delicious lunch too--Grilled cheese with Portabella Mushrooms and onions and those apples from the orchard with Carmel dip. YUMMY!

-Jackie

Day 196(October 21st)--Herbal remedies

Today I was pretty stressed out---with many stressors adding to the equation. So I decided to pamper myself and use the herbal spa kit I got as one of the things from the Fall Swap. I liked everything in it except for the bubble bath---the bubbles did not last as long as I like them to. But the kit does soothe and relax me. Yes, I will be doing this one again...and again...and...again?

-Jackie

Day 195 (October 20th)--Jump Jive and Wail!

Today my hubby and I went to the Grocery store and while we were there the song Jump Jive and Wail came on which is one of my favorite. So I began dancing in the Pop aisle. I just could not control my feet...and my hubby just looked at me like I was crazy!

-Jackie

Day 194 (October 19th)--Silhouette

Today I read a Silhouette Romance novel. I tend to stray away from some of them because they are all flesh and no story line but this one was actually pretty good.

-Jackie

Day 193 (October 18th)--Apples and Horses and Fluxx

PLEASE SEE DAY 189 for an important update on Ratchet also! =)

This morning I went with my friends Michelle, Jodi and Steve (and Jodi's niece and nephews) to the Apple orchard. I got to pick my own apples and taste test kinds before deciding which ones I wanted to pick. Michelle and I also had some delicious BBQ pork sandwiches as well as visited with some horses. I found I was especially fond of the Sweet 16, Regal and Fireside Apples.

EXTRA Credit: Tonight Mike and I went to our friend "A"'s and played Sequence as well as a card game called Fluxx. It's an interesting game and the rules constantly change. But it's not one of my favorite games. (As you can see in one of the above pictures Mike pretends to smoke a cigar but it's just a chocolate stick).

-Jackie

Day 192 (October 17th)--Chips and Vinegar

Today I went to Jimmy John's and took a big step. I tried the Salt and Vinegar Potato chips. They are a little too potent for my taste but I do enjoy their Turkey Tom sub. YUMMY!

-Jackie

Day 191 (October 16th)---Fall Sawp

The Community Group I am assistant organizer for had a swap tonight. You brought in items from home you could no longer use (like clothes, household items, beauty products) and swap them out for other items. There were 23 women in attendance and LOTS of items! So we were divided into groups and started with the letter of the room we got in our goodie bags. Then you rotated rooms every 15 minutes. The first round you could pick 15 items per room and the next round was a free for all. They also had refreshments: drinks and appetizers. I went to this swap and left with so much more than I came in with. Here is just a small sample of what I went home with.

-2 seasons on DVD of a TV show I like and a Latin Dance workout DVD
-2 sweaters, a dress, 2 tops and 2 really cute sweatsuits....some still had the tags on them.
-Some Mary Kay items (I think a former cosultant was getting rid of all her stuff)
-New picture frames and photo albums
-Lots of lotions and cosmetic sets.
-A really cute new bag for work.

*There was a breadmaker too but someone who got assigned to that room first got it. =( Oh well, I had so much I was barely able to carry it!

They are going to have future ones of these in the winter and spring; I am looking forward to it! Next time it will be in a community room which will probably be better...the bathroom was one of the rooms with items and I ended up having to stop at a gas station on the way home to use the bathroom!

-Jackie

Day 190 (October 15th) Would you like some cheese with that wine?

Today a small group of my coworkers and I went to an all day conference. After work my co-worker invited us over for a Cheese and Wine party. We had seven different types of cheese, Carmel and apples and apple spread (I bypassed the wine for Apple cider). We also played Apples to Apples (which I had never played before.)

-Jackie

Day 189 (October 14th) Save Ratchet

EPILOGUE: The response has been so overwhleming that Ratchet has been saved! The Military reversed the ruling and now Ratchet is on a plane headed home! I am so thrilled!
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DISCLAIMER: I have strong views on this post. Which is why I did this new thing. You have a right to disagree with me but would prefer to have any negative comments about this left out of the comments section. Thank you.

Today I heard the story of Ratchet which moved me to tears. I actually heard it on two different Radio stations. A female soldier serving in Iraq rescued a dog from a burning area in hopes of turning it over to the ASPCA. On the way to the airport the US military confiscated it and are planning to kill the animal for no reason. All she wants to do is bring the dog home and find a good home for it. It just frustrates me as a HUGE animal lover.

So I signed the petition going around online through the ASPCA. For those of you interested in signing it too here is the link. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/clemency-for-ratchet.

-Jackie

Day 188 (October 13th) Split Pea and Ham--Sam I am I am

Tonight I went to my first small group mtg at my new church (another new thing) and we had soup before the group started. It was split pea and ham. I had never had that type of soup before and while it was homemade and I had some.....I do not think I will have it again. Not my cup of tea (or bowl of soup.)

-Jackie

Day 187 (OCtober 12th)--Little House on the Prairie

Today my Mom and I saw Little House on the Prairie, the Musical which is premiering here at our NEW Guthrie theater. We had lunch inside the Guthrie Restaurant and enjoyed the little house musical soon thereafter...Melissa Gilbert was playing Mrs. Ingalls and she did it so well. I was unsure of how good Little House could be as a musical but it was WONDERFUL! We had a great time.

Oh and...on our way out the Silly MN Vikings game was ending at the same time...the MN Vikings fans all looked grouchy so I thought they had lost. Come to find out they WON but played so terribly none of their fans cared about the win (and they were playing the Lions who have yet to win a game.)

-Jackie

Day 186--Can do--fondue!

Today I was supposed to be going paintballing but that did not happen due to circumstances beyond my control. So today my husband and I got out the cheese and the fondue pot and made fondue. It was a little bit of a disaster. I made one batch based on the recipe. My husband hated it. I made it with straight cheese after that. That worked well but then my husband was so grossed out by the last batch he had lost his appetite. Bummer.

-Jackie

Day 185 (October 11th)--The perfect belt

Lately I have been having a difficult time trying to find a belt that is not too small or not too big but at a good price. I had looked all over and today I found one at the drug store. They were selling belts for $5 so I thought I would give it a shot. The belt fit perfectly.

-Jackie

Day 184 (October 9th)--New Bridge

Many of you may have heard last year about the collapse of the 35W Bridge here in Minneapolis last year which took 13 lives and left many other people injured. Construction was completed recently on the new bridge and today I drove across the new bridge for the first time and said a prayer for the families impacted when the old bridge collapsed.

-Jackie

Day 183 (October 8th)---HALFWAY THROUGH

Today marks the halfway mark in my new things a day challenge. I ended up doing today's new thing at work. I learned how to take the first step in how to pursue Guardianship for a client. I can't get into specific details but I am learning how to take steps to do this, something I have never known how to even start doing before now.

-Jackie

Day 182 (October 7th)--Throw it out

I am not sure if I have mentioned this in previous entries, but we ended up leaving our last church due to some very serious things. Tonight when I was cleaning I came across the Welcome Packet I received when I went to the first service there. With the help of my puppy Pretzel I ripped up and disposed of the welcome packet (Pretzel held it down while I tore it up.) Kind of a symbolic gesture...out of sight, out of mind!

-Jackie

Day 181 (October 6th)--Grouplink

Tonight's new thing was going to Grouplink at our Church. Our new church is different that those I have gone to in the past as you have more control over the type of small group you want to be in. They had a separate night for married couple's grouplink but with Mike's crazy schedule I decided to join a Women's Group. At this Church you spend time mingling, getting to know others and talking to small group leaders...from there you decide what small group you want to be in. I found a group that is Women in various stages of life (no small groups with all mommies of toddlers like i have been put in in the past) and the group meets 2 miles away from my house! Our first meeting is on Monday and I am looking forward to it!

-Jackie

Day 180--(October 5th)--Out with a bang!

Today I was in my own little world. I will not lie, the wknd had been a stressful one. I decided to go to the later church service so I could have some time to eat breakfast at home and read my book. I turned on the stove to boil my eggs and went back to my book. Five minutes later I heard a huge crash in the kitchen. I went to look and there was glass everywhere. I turned the burner on that my tempered glass cake pan was on. I spent the morning getting all of the broken glass out of the kitchen, off the burners and off the nearby carpeting. I am just glad no one got hurt.

-Jackie

Day 179--(October 4th)--90210athon

Today was "one of those days." So I decided to do something that I have wanted to do for a very long time....have a 90210athon (the old series not the new...) so I got my Season 2 DVD's out (Season 1 is a little boring if you ask me.) I did not get all the way though since the running time for all of the discs is 24 hours. I DID however get through the whole part where Brandon's Girlfriend Emily got hauled off to the Psych hospital and such.....reminds me of back in High school when I would borrow the Videotape from my best friend because I had Youth Group on Wednesday nights when it was on.....I would never miss an episode!

Day 178 (October 3rd)---Shoe Wash

Today was one of the fun days where I was able to bring my dog to work. I got to work at 5:30Am and right away my dog decided to "DO his business." I picked up after him then got the work garbage together (to take out as it was my turn.) I notice the smell of dog poo the whole time. In the car the small was still there. I found out that I had poo on my show so I spent the time getting if off in the bathroom at work before the others got to work. Thank goodness there is a shower with a sprayer in our bathroom!

-Jackie

Day 177 (October 2nd)---Quiet and Serene

Today I went to do my Yoga DVD and my husband had been messing with the TV again (hooking up his Game cube, etc) so I could not get the sound working on the DVD. Since he was out running errands and would not be back for awhile I did the Yoga without the sound on. It's a lot harder to concenrate on the DVD and my breathing without the sound and the calming music on.

-Jackie

Day 176 (October 1st) In Sequence

Our friend "A" has themes things he specifically likes to do for 2 month spans. He calls these things themes. One theme was an outdoor theme, another was a restaurant theme. His current theme is a Board Game theme. To celebrate this, tonight Mike and I went to "A"'s and played Sequence. Neither Mike nor I had ever played it and it s a lot of fun. This is certainly a game we would like to add to our board game collection!

Day 175 (September 30th) Document the day

I was inspired by Jeanne (see Life of Something like it blogsite.) To document my day in photos. These are just some of the photos but you get the idea....my drive to work (isn't my car interior cool?), lunch at Arby's, starting the work day....time at home.

-Jackie

Day 174 (September 29th)--On a Rainy Day

Today was rainy and cold which made me feel very unmotivated early in the day. So I took a small break from work and treated myself to a hot Chocolate. I normally do not get Hot Chocolate unless it is complimentary but I might have to more often. It was a nice treat.

-Jackie

Day 173--September 28th (Smallville)

Today was day 2 of being sick. The only thing I did yesterday besides sleep was go to evening service. Today I was pretty bored because they were showing the silly Vikings game instead of either of the more important games (Packers or Jets games). So I was flipping channels and watched an episode of Smallville. I know it has been on forever but I never got around to watching it. I think I know why now--I don't like it. Too violent and melancholy for my taste. I think I will stick with my shows for now (the new 90210, Fringe, The Hills and One Tree Hill.)

-Jackie

Day 172 (September 27th)--ZZZZZZZZ

Today I was supposed to go walk as part of a team through the company I work for (It was for the National Alliance of Mental Illness which raises money for Mental Illness trainings and programs). But I woke up with a runny nose, sore throat and the sweats. So I decided to take it easy at home. I went to the store and got cold medicine that had both the AM and PM doses in it. I settled in on the couch and fell asleep for 4 hours because I had taken the nighttime dose of the med instead of the AM dose. Good thing I stayed home!

-Jackie