I may have made a painting mistake

I may have made a painting mistake. So, what I'd like to know is ... what's the trick to picking the RIGHT wall color from a teeny tiny paint chip. I was adamant that today I'd actually do something while looking and not getting a job, that actually gives me a feeling of accomplishment. The plan was to (1) cook a new recipe (using the slow cooker, of course) and (2) begin painting the upstairs hallway as a precursor to the downstairs foyer.

The Meal? Penne Italiano. The paint color? Taupe 4. Only when I began painting, it looked more like 'Basketball 3' than 'Taupe 4'. After tomorrow's painting, I'll post a pic. Did I mention I HATE painting? I seem to forget that every time I go to paint again.

The meal was OK - though I'm not too much of a fan of Italian sausage, so I sorta swept the meat aside and ate the penne & sauce. Hubby said it was OK too, though he said he 'wouldn't want to eat it twice a week or anything'. Not quite as harsh as yesterday's 'I believe this is the worst pork chop I've ever had' critique. This comment sounds mean but really, we were both laughing so hard we could barely breathe.

Sarah Clay insists that she doesn't like 'pasta', though she loves spaghetti. No matter how I try to draw a similarity with, say, Goldfish - "Sweetie, cheddar goldfish still taste the same if they're shaped like fish or like whales - it's simply a different shape made of the same ingredients" - I get no where.

"No, mom, it's not. Goldfish are not made from pasta." So dinner included a bowl of Cookie Crisp cereal, grapes, and a piece of garlic bread. I love that kid.

Very sleepy and looking forward to sleeping till at least 6:30am! 'Night.

St. Patty's Day

St. Patty's Day began with the traditional race-to-build-a-quality-leprechaun-trap before 7:30am, the official leave for school time. The prized trap includes one Tortino's single pepperoni pizza box (top cut to bend upward), double-sided tape (inside the box), 3 shiny pennies (attached to the tape), and various kitchen chotzkes (barriers encircling the trap).

Next, off to school...back home to check email and scan job postings....and then out to "run errands". The mission? Find fun egg fillers for our annual Easter egg hunt.

First stop, Party City. A couple of cute things - teeny tiny cameras that you can look through and rotate pics, similar to the old-timey View Master, a few necklaces, some furry chicks, etc. I skip the idea of going to Target 'cause we're there all the time anyway, so where else might I find some obscure cutie booty? K-Mart.

Not to offend anyone, but I am always totally grossed out at K-Mart. It starts in the parking lot where I swear there's more gum in more colors than any Wrigley's plant could hope to produce in a lifetime. Naturally, it's all ABC gum, so I hop-scotch through the parking lot and search out the automatic door entrance so I don't have to touch any handles.

I browse the candy displays and head for the toy dept. for a quick look-see. By this time, I've been in the store about 4 minutes and surviving OK. And then, the creep-out.

Somewhere toward the back of the store, this loud voice begins to bellow "Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurls n' Peeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaarls". What??? And again, loud like a Carnie, "Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurls n' Peeeeaaaaaaarls". OMG - why can't people in K-Mart just be normal?!

The 'Girls n' Pearls' chant continued about every 10 seconds as I hurried my Dansko-ed feet through the store and to the first available checkout. I never saw the guy, but I can describe him easy: greasy slicked back hair, tobacco-ed teeth, creepy slits for eyes that never blink, and skin that's way dirtier than it should be. Sorry, Martha.

Back home, sufficiently safe and anti-bacterialized, I'm off now to the carpool line.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hello world!

So what kind of gal starts her very first blog at 11:34pm on a Monday night?

Well, for starters, an unemployed gal ... who, by the way, happens to be quite inspired by her good friend's #100 post at http://www.lettucebeglad.blogspot.com/. OK, so maybe my competitive nature has a bit to do with it too - after all, woman can't live by LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter alone.

I'll have lots to say - much of it funny (hopefully) - but all of it told with love.

My name is Sallie, and I'm happily married to my husband Ricky (12 years) and we have a terrific daughter, Sarah Clay, who's 8 years old and loves her pets: Happy (a fish), Skittle (a cat), Dixie (a Springer Spaniel), and Molly (a Yorkie-Poo). Oh yeah, and did I mention we live on a 9 acre pond? That's right .... right next door to my parents-in-law, a brother/sister-in-law, another brother/sister-in-law, and another brother/sister-in-law.

For the purpose of my blog, I shall call it Pegasus Pond. For it, is my muse.