My Vacuum Fixation

I have a fixation and it's sucking the life out of me...

I am fixated with vacuuming. Strange I know, but still it's an obsession that I thought I had fixed but it's coming out of me again..

Being home from work more than usual has enraged a past fixation that I really thought I had under control.. Vacuuming. I find my urge to vacuum creeping up on me more and more as the days pass by. Why? I wonder am I so fixated on vacuuming?

I am a clean freak in nature, it was gene passed on to me by my mother. I love a clean house, and a well vacuumed rug. In my old house I had a large living room rug that I would find pleasure in seeing vacuum lines in like this..

When I moved to this house and called my carpet man, I specifically said, "I do not want a rug that I can see lines in when I vacuum" because I knew that would be like a drug addiction to me.

Apparently, I'm within an elite crowd as there's even a Facebook group called, "OCD people who LOVE vacuum lines in the carpet"! There's only 11 followers in that group so there can't be many of us! No, I didn't join.. yet..
 I am the person that vacuums out of a room and makes perfect zig zags as she goes, not missing a single thread in the carpet pile. I'm just like that in an odd sort of way..  A clean freak gets into the nooks and crannies, making sure every last thing is clean and well kept and of course vacuums until every last fuzz is picked up!

I've gone through the best of vacuums.. you name it, I've had it.. Electrolux, Hoover, Kenmore and others, and today I have a Hoover Wind Tunnel with a side attachment for floors but it has failed the test of this obsessive vacuum gal. Why? Because the bag has an odor that I can't stand! I've written Hoover, googled and complained with no suitable resolution. I know this vacuum is nearing its days at Tranquil Acres of Alexandria!

I'm looking for a vacuum that I can use on both hardwoods floors and rugs and will suck the lint, dust, sock fuzz, dirt, hair and dust bunnies out of anything! I'm looking for power and good inhalation! Do you have a suggestion?

I've tried uprights and canisters with no satisfaction! What I've found is if a vacuum is good on carpets it's rarely good on hardwood or linoleum as it usually spits out dirt from all angles when it's not on carpet. So, is there a better solution? A better brand that I haven't found? I'll let you vote on your favorite vacuum! Think of it this way - If your current vacuum would break today, would you run out and buy the same tomorrow?

Meet Me On Monday - January 31

Are you ready for another "Meet Me On Monday"? hosted by Java at "Never Growing Old".  Here's your chance to learn more about me!

Question 1: What do you put on your hot dog?

Well, the answer depends on where I am..

A) If I'm at home and turning the dogs on the BBQ I like ketchup, raw onions and a line of mustard.

B) If I'm in NY I love a dirty water dog with red onion sauce, ketchup and mustard.

C) If I'm at a baseball game I like raw onions, relish and just mustard.

D) Sauerkraut is OK but not my first choice..

Question 2: Do you play Sudoku?

Do I play what? Let's talk Scrabble, Yahtzee or any other board game!

Question 3: What is your favorite vegetable?

Oh, this is easy.. I love, love, love, white corn. Preferable right off the cob with butter, none of the processed stuff or even margarine, just plain ole' butter and a dash of salt.

Question 4: Do you color your hair?

HA! Of course I do! My hair at times has been a color wheel! I've colored my hair auburn, red, warm brown, blond, almost black, and believe it or not I went to Germany back in 1996 I left NJ as a blond and came back with purple hair.. It looked good in Germany, way to wild for NJ!

Question 5: What is your favorite brand of clothing?

Levi's - Relaxed clothing for me! Like the photo of my husband and I?  NOT!

So there you have it.. Another insight of the woman behind Tranquil Acres of Alexandria!

Have a great Monday!

Bad HTML

After two weeks of frustration I can finally say that my Blog is "Open For Comments".


Because I never seem to be satisfied with the overall look of my blog, I am always on the lookout for gadgets, widgets, buttons, banners, you name it, I'm looking at it. What's behind all these little bells and whistles? You got.. HTML.

What is HTML? In short, stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is the predominant markup language for web pages. Yes, it's all the coding, the </\>: and all the rest of the symbols and strange language that goes along with it. It's all foreign to me, but without it, I would not be writing on my blog and you wouldn't be reading it.

Let me explain. A few weeks ago I was surfing from place to place, cruising along, picking up this and that on my virtual shopping trip of cool things to put on my blog when I found this neat background. Ah! Just the look I was searching for. Had to have it, right click, add the gadget, then the HTML/Java Script, clicked SAVE and there! I was happy!

Then, the problems began. Comments were non existent on my posts, new followers slowed down to a halt and I started receiving emails from those bloggers that were intent on communicating with me. What is wrong with your blog? Nothing is clickable? I can't leave comments, I can't even get the comment box to open! What's the deal lady?

OH NO! I realized it was primarily with FireFox users that had the most problems and man, that is one popular browser because I'm seeing a lot of you on Feedjit!  I started to Google the problem, asked other bloggers if they've ever experienced it trying to find a solution to my "blogger blues".   I was starting to feel like the "Odd Blogger or the Ugly Duckling" because it apparently was only with me I was told.

I finally broke down and clicked on the "HELP" button in blogger.com and it took me to the Google Help section. I posted one simple question: "How can I fix my blog so that FireFox Users can actually leave a comment? I am an IE user". 

With that a response was in my inbox. It was posted by "Yoboy", to which I said, "OH BOY!" He and I had a couple email swaps and he even suggested I change my HTML code in my settings to allow for two types of posting. OH! That scared me, but nevertheless, I was ready for anything. He included the link as to how I should change it and I was on my way to a fix.. So I thought.  Well, I got the coding correct, but the fix was not.  A couple more emails swapped and we finally nailed it!  I had a bad HTML/Java Script in my blog!

Guess what it was? The pretty background that I found a few weeks ago. OK, the pretty background wasn't worth shutting out all you foxy bloggers. Of course, along the way I had to delete a couple other HTML/Java Scripts and some pictures as I didn't know what gadget it was that gave me such heart ache.  I will be replacing your gadget if you suddenly realize it gone from my blog..  all except that background that is..

The moral of the story is.. 1) Be careful of the gadgets you pick up along the way. 2) If your blog starts acting funny go back and look at the things you recently did just before it started going wacky, 3) thank the blogging friends that are willing to privately email you letting you know that something is not right in your little world..

Oh! and as far as Yoboy.. I thanked him too! As it turns out, he even has his own blog, although, he is a little shy I think after reading more about him, but his help was genuine and very much appreciated. If you have any blog problems, give Yoboy a try and see if he can help you out. He also has a lot of good suggestions for blogs and many other fixes in the mix!  You can check out his blog at Southern Speakers - Voices from South V2.0

So, let me have it, fill me in on what you've wanted to comment about!

My Love Affair With Mr. Milo

Yes, it's true.. I am having a love affair with someone other than my husband...

It's OK, my husband knows about it and understands. It's not just a one night stand, as this love affair has been going on for the past 10 years.  Who is it with? Mr. Milo.. He's got beautiful green eyes, has stunning black hair with a little bit of grey and white for distinction. He is like a typical man as he loves it when I scratch his head, back or behind his ears. He's like my husband in a lot of ways as he's usually quiet but when he's hungry you can bet you'll be hearing him call out, "What's for dinner? and in the mornings, he stands next to the bed calling out for breakfast.

He is a lover in the bed as well. He will sneak up on me in the middle of the night, lay his paws all over me and 'knead' me. I love to be 'kneaded' don't you? Then, when you least expect it he'll lick your nose with his scratchy tongue. Oh.. Mr. Milo..

He is well groomed but will let me cut his nails when I feel they are digging in my legs.

Who is Mr. Milo? He's my utterly adorable, most affectionate, Maine Coon Cat.

Mr. Milo will be 10 years old this coming April and it seems like yesterday that I rescued him. I say "rescue" because the home that we bought him from was the worst living quarters you could ever imagine for such a beautiful breed, or any feline for that matter.

He is an indoor cat who gets his exercise by running around my house and catching mice, flies and every other bug that crosses in front of him. That is of course, all BUT a Stink Bug as even Mr. Milo can't stand the smell of that insect!  He also tolerates my Boxer, "Ms. Bailey" and will often play hide and seek with her.

Mr. Milo sleeps in the strangest of places. During the day you can either find him on my chaise lounge sleeping like a king, or at night, under my side of the bed. He has a demanding job during the day as he protects my husband's fish tank as you can see.

Mr. Milo is a snack fanatic! There is never a time anyone can go into the kitchen without Mr. Milo following you and crying out for a snack! He also loves medium rare London broil and his dessert of choice is Angel Food Cake. Strange I know for a cat to love cake!

Mr. Milo is so lovable, huggable and confident. He's dependable, reliable and one fantastic animal. He greets our guests and will sit there until he gets the tap on the head. He's my furry best friend for sure!

Getting It Straight

Recently I've noticed more and more that I have a problem getting things straight.

Maybe it's because I'm taking a lot more pictures and noticing the smallest details especially when I have to edit more pictures than not?

You know that old saying, "Measure Twice - Cut Once"? I think I need to start paying more attention to that as I think I would waste a lot less paper, etc. Today I was cutting a piece of paper and although everything looked OK it actually looked terrible!

I can also equate that saying to a lot of other areas in my life, like 'think before speaking', 'proof read before hitting send', or as I'm keenly aware of this morning, 'eating food before drinking wine'.

My problem with getting it straight appear in so many other things other than just cutting paper, for example, I've learned that cutting my bangs is a challenge better suited for a hair stylist..

Mounting things on walls is better done by a handyman..

Taking pictures and hanging them is best when done with a straight hand..

I even have problems finding suitable glasses that fit straight on my face.. Maybe my eyes are crooked or the bridge of my nose is my problem?

I can never seem to get things straight it seems, not even stories or jokes! I suppose I can relate to the old nursery rhyme..

There was a crooked man
Who walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence
Against a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat
Which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together
In a crooked little house.

I think I have found a cure though for my crooked ways. First, I will only use pinking shears for cutting.

And, for everything else, well, I'll just tilt my head as the world looks straighter already!

So, tell me how do you keep things straight? Do you "Measure Twice and Cut Once"?

Mantle Makeover

Before I get into the main jist of this post, I want to "Thank" all of my followers and fellow bloggers who have inspired me in ways that you will never realize..

So, today I set out on a mission to redo my mantle. Just so you understand, I rarely change my mantle and for the life of me I don't know why. I guess I was just content with the way it was. Of course, I changed it up a bit for Christmas adding my usual snowmen but during the rest of the year, it basically remained the same. That was BEFORE I started finding out that so many changed their mantels on a regular basis and after thinking about it, I said, "you know... I could do the same!" Why I've waited this long is beyond me but today was the day I was going to do it.

Just so you know, this is what my mantle looked like before.. Boring right? Especially when you've had the same foundation items on it for what... OH... five years now! I know. I know.. Boring with a capital B! 

I set out to go to a local thrift shop in a nearby town who I have visited only twice before and have been totally turned off with the unpleasant, sour staff they have working there. It is a challenge to get there while they are actually open as their hours are quite limited, but I got up early with a mission in mind and I was going to get their while their door said OPEN!  So, I went in and immediately found a couple of vases that I wanted and asked, "Can I put them on the counter and start to make a pile?" The woman said, "Well, we do have baskets!" I said, "yes, but these are glass". Well, "OK" she said. Again, the same sour ball face! Grrr.. I proceeded to shop some more and went back to the counter several times to place my items down to add to the pile. Ironic that each time I went back to the counter the woman got nicer and nicer huh?

I finally left paying $28.00 for two bags of vases and such.. OH, she was sweet as pie by the time I left and even handed me their flyer that had their hours on it.. lol..

With that I raced home and began the mantle makeover. Yes.. I finally packed away my snowmen... I usually wait until Valentine's day but I figured with all this snow, maybe I'm the cause of it all? Then, came the cleaning of course as I can't seem to do anything without cleaning.. In the middle of all this transition, in came the plumber to fix a leaky pipe and casually said, "Oh, you're house always looks so nice.. I can't wait to see what you're going to do next".. OK! He is now the BEST plumber!

Since I had luck with forcing Forysthia branches to bloom in my home I decided to do an entire mantle full of branches that could potentially bloom beautiful flowers in the following weeks. Out I went, walking through 20" of snow cutting branches of Lilacs, Snow Fountain Weeping Cherries, Viburnums and Fringe Trees. I figured, "Why not?" What have I got to lose?

I printed out little tags that showed the picture of what the blooms should look like, found some ribbon that I've had for atleast three years now and started working on the new mantle. 

I was placing the new cloth napkins that I bought at the Thrift Shop on the mantle when the plumber was leaving and he said, "You know Leslie, you remind me of my sister.. she always has everything "Just SO". OK so now the plumber has moved up from "Best" to "Great"..

Then the transformation began.. I was getting more excited with every vase I placed and was tickeled pink that I finally decided to do this.. It is so out of the ordinary for me.

So, here I am waiting for my husband to come home and notice. I'm not going to say a word about what I did and wait until he notices (hopefully he does) because usually, I'll wait and wait and then after almost busting I'll say, "SO, do you notice anything?" Of course, the first place he looks is at my hair to see if I've gotten it colored or cut!  This time though, he had better notice the mantle and keep his eye on it because in the next few weeks, it will be full of SPRING! I've decided that my mantle will be my new playground!

So, thank you my friends... I've read your blogs, absorbed your creativeness and applied all your ideas to my own home and heart.. 

Pink Afternoon Delight

This week's "Pink Saturday" post comes straight

from the 

Today I got a little crafty and decided to adorn my bedroom doors with some Valentine's decorations. Not wanting to spend too much money, I picked up a couple packages of Pink Valentine Cookie Cutters and two rolls of pink heart ribbon. What better place to put them then on the doors that open to my bedroom. <wink wink>

While we're in the Afternoon Delight mode, why not enjoy the pink petals of my cyclamen plant that I creatively put in a champagne glass..

Adds to the mood wouldn't you say?

Have a beautiful Pink Saturday and visit

"How Sweet the Sound"

A Virtual Tour Through Signage

Being of a retail background, I've always been taught that "signage" is everything.

Proper signage needs to be clear, self explanatory and to the point.

Years ago a friend of mine teased me about the fact that every craft show we went to I bought another "Welcome" sign.  I suddenly realized she was right and stopped buying them. Instead, I took to buying other signage that I felt portrayed my inner most feelings. Then, there were the friends who bought me signage that I treasure. In fact, there are two signs in this post that this one particular friend gave me.. "I'll be waiting to see if she recognizes them.."

So, let's begin my virtual tour through my signage. Then, when you reach the end let's see if you can tell me what kind of person you think I am..

Entering the front door

Entering my bedroom

Entering my dining room

Entering my kitchen

Entering my den

 

Did you notice anything? Where are all the welcome signs? I guess I must have left them all at my old house! Time to buy some new ones! :)

So tell me, what kind of person do you think I am?