The S List

For those of you reading Meredith's blog- you know that she created the M list of her favorite things. All of her friends followed suit and now I am the last to jump on the bandwagon. But, since I have nothing blog worthy today. Here it goes- the S list. I don't have many things on it- but everything here I highly recommend.

Polarized Sunglasses

These are well worth the investment. I used to be a kind of girl with a million pairs of dollar store sunglasses. Now, I have invested in a good pair of polarized sunglasses and I can never go back. Get yourself a pair- your eyes will thank you!

This is the best lotion I have ever used. I use it daily. It is very light and doesn't have a greasy feeling to it.















This is the most high end addition to my list. They are my LG washer and dryer. I can't tell you how enjoyable they make laundry. These guys do everything except sort the laundry and put it away. I look forward to using them for years to come.









This is my food saver. I am not sure how I lived with out it. I love to seal things up. This particular model came from Costco. It came with bags and canisters. I love it love it love it. I have even created a sealing station on top of the washer.











This is V05 moisture milks- strawberries and cream shampoo. Now, I do not use this product on my hair- so I can't attest to that. It is however the yummiest smelling bubble bath. The best thing is it is only 79 cents for a bottle.

Happy Birthday Brady Boy

Brady celebrated his third birthday this week. Three is the magic age we have been waiting for. Every time we go to the vet they say Brady will mature at 3. I am very doubtful that this in entirely true- but during the times when he destroyed something precious to me- I would just keep telling myself- he will mature when he is 3. Well, on the third day that he was three years old- he destroyed the object on an earlier post. So, I don't know when this magic maturation will begin. So here are a few pictures of Brady and his birthday presents. The fish lost all of it's stuffing while we were out last night- but he is still dragging the unstuffed body around with pride.

And here- is Brady's new bed. Since he has reached the magic age of 3- we thought we would try again with a bed. Brady has had many beds in the past, but they have all suffered the same fate.
Now Brady has matured enough to sleep in the floor next to my bed, so I bought this nice new cozy bed. My thought process was 2 fold:

1) If he starts destroying it- I would hear him and stop it immediately.

2) He doesn't have access to it if I am not home.
So, we have made it thought night one. The dog is well rested and the new bed is still in one piece. Maybe he is maturing... or maybe he was just tired.

guess what

Can you guess what this was?
Can you guess what happened to it?

my decorating

After living in my house for 3 years and staring at a blank shelf area near the ceiling in the bathroom everyday- I finally found something to put there. I walked around the house yesterday and discovered the candle sticks in one room and the ivy in another. I think they go together nicely. I wonder what I will redecorate next.

I am back

After a refreshing and much deserved vacation at the beach, I am back to blogging. I had a fabulous time. The trip took about 4 hours. On the first day, we walked around on got our bearings. We had a 1 bedroom condo and I think it was furnished with the actual furniture from the Golden Girls. It was very quiet where we were and there was a little pool for our building which we had to ourselves most to the time. We also had the big resort pool to hang out in, and of course the ocean. On the second day, our dear friends came down. They proved what I always say- a vacation is just more fun with other people. We laughed so hard that my laugh muscles ached the next day. Our third day included lots of rest and relaxation. I dove head first into the online book club book and I am already 100 pages or so in. Today, we drove from one beach to another one- the one with the outlet mall. We hit the Bass Pro Shop and picked up our wading boots for the trip to Tahoe. I also picked up the most hysterical thing while I was there. Here is it- a Brady bobblehead!
I think it is so funny and I just laugh every time I see it. It looks and acts just like my crazy dog! So now I am back- and left with bags to unpack and laundry to do. I am so glad to have one more day off!

hiatus

Summary by Sandy is going on hiatus until Tuesday, July 24th. I encourage all of you to spend some time making your own blogs while I am on this break. I would love to read about all of my dear readers and the happenings in their lives. It could really be about anything. Before I even knew how fun blogging could be- I used to read a blog by a friend of mine about what he ate for breakfast everyday. For some reason it was mostly chick-fil-a. :) (hey-if you are that friend and you are reading- contact me and let me know if you have a new blog I can read!) If you are missing Summary By Sandy while I am on hiatus, please feel free to read the older material and check out the other blogs I am hooked on.

book club

If you are interested in being in an online book club started by my sweet sister-in-law Meredith- please check out the following blog.

http://titillatingtomes.blogspot.com/

my planner

Here it is dear readers- another one of my many plans to get organized. I have a Franklin Covey Planner- but it is too large to fit in my purse. I had a little planner- but it was too small to write anything in. Yesterday, I found a somewhat perfect planner. Here it is:This planner is super cool because in addition to a monthly view, it has a 2 page weekly spread with columns for to do list, grocery list and menus. With school starting and all of the millions of trips, doctor and dentist appointments I have planned, I am ready to start writing it all down. I know you are wondering why all of this info isn't stored in my blackberry. I guess I have to be honest- I just like writing on paper. I love notebooks, list making and writing. I always have. So anyway- on the very day I sit down to write in my new planner- I received this in the mail. It is a party invitation from our dear friends. I was so excited to add it in the planner first thing. It is also my goal to write down all of the birthdays and anniversaries that I always seem to miss. (now, I am not promising to actually get the card in the mail on time) Hopefully all of this preparation will keep me on task.

not a pain in my tooth..

Tonight, I did not experience any pain related to my root canal. I have not taken any pain meds since the 1 I took last night at 9:30. I am very thankful that so far this has been an easy breezy situation. I am glad because I have had many not so fun things happen this evening.
One thing is that I came home to a house that was 84 degrees. Yes, I was home for about a 1/2 hour before I realized it... and then someone else told me that it was hot :) Luckily the HVAC man diagnosed and told us what to do over the phone and we were able to fix it in about an hour and a half.
Another thing was we went to dinner and they didn't bring all of the food at once- and in fact mine was last to arrive to the table after the other food had been eaten. I felt a Chef Ramsey moment... I imagined him in the kitchen screaming that all of the food should have arrived at the same time.
Another disappointing thing was I was going to meet Reid tonight- but he had other plans. It seems he liked the nurses at the hospital better that his new mommy and daddy. He was screaming and his mom asked for us to visit another night. No big deal. We have his whole life to enjoy him- so we can wait another day.
There are many things I am thankful for today as well. A new teacher store opened up. I went to have a snack and shop with my friend Tiffani. My class was full of little angels today. All of my loved ones are safe and sound. Overall I am happy. It would have been much more fun to just come home and veg- but were is the adventure in that?

the plate

Here is the plate I painted for my nephew at the pottery place. I know- it looks like a kid did it. I knew he would love it thought because he is nutzo crazio about dinosaurs. Here is the thank you note I received today. I love seeing his little handwriting.

update on the root canal

I know you are all worried about me- dear readers. Last night- I was able to eat a normal dinner- including left over Oreo cake. I took 1 pain pill at 9:30 in case I started hurting in the night. This morning I feel fine so far. I am a little sensitive at the injection site in the corner of my jaw. I will take Advil to work today just in case I need it.

tales from the root canal

Well, I survived the first root canal. Right now I am still pretty numb and the nitrous oxide has not completely worn off. I dropped my prescription for pain meds and antibiotics off at the drug store and plan to pick them up later tonight. The overall procedure wasn't bad. The worse part was the hour wait in the waiting room- almost enough time to let me talk myself out of having it done altogether. Once they called me back - it was really no big deal. The assistant took 4 x-rays, and then put on the gas mask. She came back a few minutes later and asked me if I could feel the gas. I said not really and she cranked it up a notch. The Dr. came in and we discussed which of my 2 teeth we would do today. Since neither of the teeth were hurting me, I just said "surprise me". He was young and cute, and made me think of my brother-in-law Travis, who is in dental school. His eyes were chocolate colored and you couldn't see where his pupils were because they just blended in. We decided to do "#19- which is a molar on my left. I got a few shots and things went numb. The news was on tv and I was just watching it. They would work a little and then take more xrays. Then when they were finished they gave me Advil and wrote my prescriptions. I will be having my other tooth (#30) done on August 7th. I will dress warmer that day because I got very cold during the procedure. Hopefully when all of this numbness wears off- I will feel no pain. Cross your fingers.

dinner for four

Last night- all of the hard work and effort in the back yard truly paid off. We had our friends Natalie and Jesse over for dinner. We served dinner on the screened in porch. It was drizzling rain while the steaks were being cooked. It made it seem like a cool fall night. We ate and chatted while listening to the rain and music from XM radio. The menu included:

New York strip steaks
shrimp skewers
twice baked potatoes
buttered mushrooms
yeast rolls
Oreo and fudge ice cream cake

Natalie made the super yummy ice cream cake. Here is the recipe. I highly recommend trying it out if you are entertaining this summer.

Oreo and fudge ice cream cake

1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
1 tub of cool whip, thawed and divided
1 (4oz) package of chocolate instant pudding mix
8 Oreo cookies, chopped
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches- unwrapped

Pour fudge topping in a medium bowl and add 1 cup of the cool whip. Stir with a wire whisk until blended. Add dry pudding mix. Stir for 2 minutes. Stir in chopped cookies.
Layer ice cream sandwiches and whipped topping mixture like lasagna. Cover top and sides with remaining cool whip and garnish with Oreos. Freeze for at least 4 hours.

The dessert was so rich and so good that we should have skipped dinner all together and just had dessert. It was truly that yummy! After dinner we played a game and watched TV. It was all in all a fun evening with good friends and good food.

future scrapbooker?

Today, I got a few more photo CD's from my sister-in-law Dawn. Here is a picture of my neice "reading" a scrapbooking magazine. We may have a future scrapbooker on our hands. This will be great- because she can help her Aunt catch up on all of the stuff she needs to put into albums! Last night, I worked on my travel scrapbook and managed to complete 2 two page spreads. They were both of trips from the early 2000's.

Happy Birthday Karen

I don't really know when my friend Karen's birthday is- but I know it is this month. It is one of our little things- we can't remember each other's birthdays. It has really gotten to be very funny- so in case it is today- I thought I would give a shout out to her!

my pretty bracelet

Today, I received this beautiful bracelet in the mail. It was made for me with love from my sweet sweet sister-in-law Meredith. She has started making jewelry and was kind enough to create this for me. The girl is simply amazing. She has taken a 2 week cruise, and became an Aunt all in the last few weeks. She still took the time to make a bracelet for me. Meredith is such a thoughtful person that I can only imagine her saying little prayers for me as she crafted the bracelet. She included many shades of favorite color-- BLUE! I love it so much that I am had to put it on right away. I love it love it love it!

major drama!

So today, something incredibly dramatic happened to me. I got an email on my BlackBerry at 8:14am that read "Woke up this morning and looked in the hall, the bathroom, the kitchen, outside and could not find Brady….do you know where he is?" My heart sank. Where could my sweet boy be? When I left he was eating. He doesn't have opposable thumbs- so how did he escape. Then, I panicked. I tried calling - but no one answered. I reviewed my morning. The only thing abnormal was that when I went to shut the garage door it went down and then back up. I thought OH NO- he somehow got into the garage and ran out while I was backing up. I tried calling again and still no answer. I thought OH NO he has been out on the loose for at least an hour and a half. Then I thought OH NO- he tried to follow me to school and now he is lost. Then I thought OH NO- he is dead and no one wants to tell me. I thought I was going to vomit. I grabbed my stuff and jumped in the car driving towards home. I was less than a 1/2 mile from school when I finally found out everything was OK. The email wasn't intended as a PANIC- "where is the dog" email, but more of a FUNNY "guess where the dog is now" email. He was of course hiding out in the guest bedroom- sprawled out on the bed. Yes, dear readers- the same guest room he had previously been evicted from. It seems that when I went in there this morning to get my paper cutter- I didn't close it back up. This in one reason why I do not like emails- they can easily be misinterpreted. So everything was fine- I panicked for no reason at all. This afternoon, I gave him access to the guest room back. All is happy once again.

700

I have now had over 700 views to my page. I want to thank all of my loyal readers. If you are reading- email me or leave me a comment to let me know.

trip to the market

It's Monday- so of course my after school job is to go to the grocery store. Here is the list of items purchased today at Publix. Looks like a yummy week ahead. I was shopping today without a list- if you can believe that. Tonight, we are having teriyaki chicken kabobs and pasta.

strawberry-kiwi yogurt smoothies
crinkle cut fries
a watermelon
potato wedges
american cheese
cream corn
whole kernel corn
teriyaki marinade
buffalo wing sauce
mini diet cokes
dishwasher tablets
popcorn
chocolate chip muffin mix
blueberry muffin mix
salad mix
orange juice
roasted garlic instant potato mix
swiss cheese
butter
1 peach (that cost $1.33)
creamy chicken rice mix
milk
pasta roni
gatorade
portabella mushrooms (I could live on these alone)
vidalia onions
white grapes
cucumbers
bananas
blueberries
strawberries
unsweet tea
ground sirloin
chicken breast
alpo (for Brady)
eggs
wheat hamburger buns
sandwich bread

from wedding dress to waders

Today, I decided to clean out another closet- this time one with actual clothes in it. I vowed to myself that I would try on and evaluate every item. It was really funny trying on old bridesmaids dresses, and other out of date clothing. There was even 1 outfit in the closet still in the dry cleaning wrapper and the date on the tag was from 1998. I am sure you can imagine that item went straight into the donate pile.

Then there it was, in the back of the closet- my very own wedding dress. I of course put it on as well as my headpiece and shoes. I felt like I was in the episode of Friends where Monica was doing the dishes in a wedding gown except I was cleaning out a closet instead of doing dishes. It was fun.

Then after I changed clothes, we went out to lunch and to the sporting goods store to try on waders for fly fishing. This is not a fun task by any means. I tried on several pairs and I was able to find one that would do. There is absolutly nothing cute about them. I may have to dress them up a bit with ribbon or something. I am sure they will serve their purpose and keep me dry in the river. So here I am at the end of the day feeling like I actually accomplished something. I have a clean closet, 2 lawn and leaf bags full of clothes to donate and I have new waders.

fly fishing lessons

The fly fishing lessons were great. We did not however get Chick-Fil-A since we were running behind. There were 5 people in the class. I was the only female. There were 2 other guys about my age (one of which I was with) and a father and his son. The instructor was pretty nice and extremely helpful. I learned how to put together a rod, thread a rod, how to cast with one and with 2 hands.
Believe it or not, on the one day we planned something outdoors- it is pouring down rain. I was shocked. I just kept getting wetter and wetter. We got to practice casting on the grass for a long time and then we got to cast our lines into a man made lake/fountain type thing. The instructor said we needed to practice at home 3 times a week for 15 minutes each time. I will have to add it to my to do list. I just hope I know enough before Tahoe so I will be able to play with the others. I talked to the instructor afterwards and told him about the upcoming trip. He recommended the fly pictured above. I bought one for every fly fisher Tahoe bound.

actual quote from the bathroom this morning

"do you think Laurie asks Travis how she should do her hair before she puts her waders on? Just put it in a ponytail and lets go"

already in trouble

Readers- I am already in trouble with this fly fishing lesson. Apparently I was dressed to nicely for the adventure and was told to change. How funny is that???

More info

Here is some more clues.
1) It is a class, but not a cooking class
at this point I guessed-- and I was right....
We are going to take a FLY FISHING lesson!

more on the surprise

Based on your questions- I now know the following.
1) I can bring my camera (fear not faithful readers)
2) It sort of involves food- but we won't be eating any
3) It could or could not be considered a sport
4) It isn't anything I have ever done before
5) We will not be leaving the ground.

Keep those questions coming!

shocking discovery

I used to have huge fish in my pond until a red tailed hawk moved into the neighborhood eating the fish I had taken care of for 5 years. I stocked 40 fish in the pond last July and they didn't fair well. They must be super tasty. I had 4 to last until now- and then this weekend I made a shocking discovery. I actually have FIVE! I have a white and gold fish in there. Here is a rare pic of him on the the bottom right. He is usually hiding but I lured him out with some food. Also, you would not believe how hard it is to get a picture of a fish. I am glad to have digital!

pretty plants all in a row

Here is a picture of the plants I have put in recently. Trying to find plants that are not poisonous to Brady has proven to be very challenging.

ribs

Here is a picture of the super yummy ribs we had yesterday. We scaled down the SSDC (if you have been to one- you know what it stands for) to just 3 people. We ate ribs and chicken wings that had been smoked pretty much all afternoon. We also had corn and rolls. We were supposed to have what the mix box proclaimed to be the ultimate brownie experience-- but it fell way short of what I really wanted it to be. After dinner we saw fireworks. It was another fun 4th.

my surprise

I am going somewhere to do a surprise activity on Saturday. I am allowed 20 questions about it. Here is what I know... because I already asked some of them.

1) It will happen at 9am
2) It is very fun- but not super fun
3) It is not dangerous or gross
4) I can wear a t-shirt and jeans
5) It is an indoor and outdoor activity, but mostly outdoor
6) It cost less than $30
7) If 9am doesn't work- we could go at 3pm.
8) I would get Chick-Fil-A breakfast before.
9) It isn't anything scary
10) My friend Leah thinks it is a well thought out sweet gesture- and that the Saturday part may not be fun- but it will lead to more fun later.

I have 10 more questions I can ask between now and Friday night. I am looking to my readers for suggestions. I moderate all of my comments on the blog. If I choose to ask a question you have submitted, I will publish the question and the answer. Please don't be offended if your comments are not published. If I know you, and you leave an anonymous comment- somehow let me know who you are. Only 2 people know and they aren't spilling it- so no luck finding out from them. Thanks for your help. I look forward to reading you comments.

the patio lighting

This afternoon, we started putting in the patio lighting. We have 2 of the 6 lights hooked up at this time. Things are really coming together.