20 year rule?

My Mom, because she is the best, gave Ben and I an Easter basket. She even used the same Easter basket I've had since Aunt Dudie made it for me when I was eight. She filled it it full with chocolates and caramels and at the bottom she she dumped in Starburst Jelly Beans. Those are the BEST! You seriously cannot beat those jelly beans!

This is where Ben gets grossed out.

My basket has beautiful purple Easter grass that matches the basket. It always has. Ever since Aunt Dudie bought it. The grass never gets thrown out. It just stays in the basket, get stored in the attic and then once a year I eat candy off of it. This is also true for all my siblings Easter baskets. Every year we comment on how unsainitary it is, but we can't resist the CANDY! Sure the grass was made in the 80's and sure it probably has some awful chemical in it, but it's a tradition. That makes us exempt from food safety rules right? The bonus to this is that I think Ben and my sister's husband are going to refuse to eat anything that is unwrapped and placed in that basket. Which really works out well for me. More CANDY for me!

So what do you think? Would you eat it?

There's a new post up at Our Old Shoes. Today we look at how we can take care of the environment through "green" cleaners.

Death and that other thing....

So today is tax day. Hope you remembered...

We were up late last night doing ours. I know. Why did we wait until the last minute to do our taxes? Well there was this thing and then that other thing and then Ben had that empty promise from his school of a Spring Break and then some more stuff came up and did you see what happened on The Office? So yeah. Didn't do them until last night.

I learned a lot of stuff last night. Like that Ben's work-study money isn't tax free. Which we thought it was since taxes weren't being taken out. Oops. I also learned a lot more about the tax code than I ever wanted to know. Did you know that you can claim the saline solution you buy for your contacts? You would have to be a VERY detailed record keeper to claim that...

Our taxes were somewhat complicated this year since we lived and worked for two weeks in Ohio. Two weeks. Ben figured it would be pretty simple to file the Ohio taxes using their online tools. He was wrong. By the time I had filed our federal, Kentucky and local taxes Ben was yelling at the computer, "I DON'T OWE YOU $830! YOU OWE ME MONEY OHIO!" After some ice cream and an exciting read of the Ohio tax code we finally figured out how to claim part-time resident status. Sigh. I hope your tax filing was simpler than ours. Next year we are having them done...

Random

There is, FINALLY, another post up at Our Old Shoes. This post was written by my old friend, Chris.

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Today I went to the doctor and learned 3 things:

1. I gained 4 pounds. This explains why my pants have stopped fitting. I was hoping that it was because I had dried them too long...

2. 3 sips of coffee an hour before my appointment will raise my heart rate 15 bpm. Which means that the girl I saw at the gym drinking a red bull while running on an elliptical had to have had a heart rate of about 300.

3. My doctor lacks bedside manners. At one point I wanted to punch her.

Questions my blog might ask me if it became self-aware

Hey there! Where have you been? Haven't been posting much....

Well I've been busy. You know how those things go.

Actually I don't. I've been bored. What have you been doing?

I told you were were selling our car. That's been taking some time. And Ben's getting ready to graduate which means we may get to move into a house with more than half a closet and things are kind of crazy at my work. So you know. I've just been busy.

Uh... Huh..... You know your other blog is also feeling neglected.

I know, I know. I haven't had much energy to spend time researching things like slavery. When we move into a place with some storage space I'd also like it to be closer than an hour from my work. That would be nice.

Why does my banner still have snow on it? It's been in the 70's. I think it's time for a spring banner!

Fine. I'll replace your banner.....

You know it wouldn't kill you to at least post something, sometime.

It also wouldn't kill me to fold my laundry, but it's still sitting there on the couch in pile. Or maybe I should file my taxes but that's not done. Getting the dishes done would be nice too. Also going for a walk. Meeting my neighbors. Reading that book I started a month ago. I'm just a little overwhelmed right now and something has to give.

That's cool. I understand. But while you are sleeping I'll be posting pictures of you from Jr. High and the journal entries that are still stored on your hard drive.

I think it may be time for Ben to reformat this computer when he gets home....

Posting may be light for the next several weeks. We have a lot of things that are up in the air and we need some time to get them all done....

New Post

There is a new post up at Our Old Shoes about the modern day slave trade.

For Sale: One wicked cool car

This weekend was a sad weekend. We put my baby up for sale. It's sad and exciting all at the same time. I am going to miss driving my Miata - but I am excited to be taking steps towards inner-city ministry. So if you know anyone who is looking for a 2002 5-Speed Miata with 78,000 miles on it, have them e-mail me at andicandi at gmail dot com.

Ben and I have been obsessed with trying to figure out what kind of car to buy once we sell the Miata. Like we can't focus on anything except figuring out which car would be the best value for our money. So we need you help. Please respond to the poll on the side as to what kind of car we should get. We've narrowed it down to four choices, only two of which I will actually consider, but I want to hear what you think first. So fill out the poll. Now. And let us know if you would recommend the Scion xA, the Nissan Sentra, the Toyota Prius, and the Ford Focus.

In happier news, the weekend before last Ben and I went caving at Mammoth Cave. It was pretty awesome, except that it totally kicked my butt. Apparently sitting in front of a computer all day does not prepare you for sudden exercise. Neither does eating candy bars or watching T.V., but I made it and I am glad we took the short trip. We crawled through small holes, narrow passages and down rock piles. We also got really thirsty and very sore. Ben found a bat, which was less climatic than it seems. You would think that he could have found it after it bite him on the neck or something, but instead he was just walking along and said, "hey look, a bat." It didn't bite anyone or do anything exciting except hibernate, which is cool and all, but it makes for a lame story on my blog. I found an eye-less beetle. That also did not bite anyone.

In fact the most alarming thing that happened on our trip was that my pants ripped. Right on the butt. Which if I was on a normal hike I could totally be discrete about it, but on a caving trip where I was crawling on my hands and knees? No. I just ended up mooning everyone for half of the trip. Mostly I just mooned Ben, but I am sure that the people behind him got glimpses of my right cheek now and then...

I would love to post pictures of this trip. Especially the one Ben took of my butt cheek, but we took a disposable camera and I am too lazy to go somewhere and scan them in. Which is probably better. We didn't get a picture of the bat or the beetle and I am sure no one wants to see the other pictures of me.

Now go respond to my poll! I need your help!