Grandma Stories» Grandpa

Kids Luggage Suitcase Sets – Melissa and Doug Trunki – Disney Suitcases For Kids and Babies

Grandma — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:45:48 +0000

Kids luggage, specially designed suitcases for kids, babies and toddlers are very popular for children of all ages for travel or when going to Grandpa and Grandma’s house for a visit. Children enjoy having their own luggage to call their own and put their clothes and toys in when traveling out of town, and since Grandpa and I have grandchildren that enjoy visiting, we thought it would be a great idea to look for kids suitcases for sale that are age appropriate and in colors or designs the kids would enjoy.

Kids luggage come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Children’s suitcase styles include backpacks, duffel bags, kids rolling luggage with wheels attached and are the right size as carry on bags when travel requires flying on an airplane. With a new grand baby on the way, we’ve of course looked for baby luggage as well. When our soon-to-be born granddaughter is coming to visit or spend the day/weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, the cute little baby girl will come supplied with everything she’ll want or need for a fun stay.

The toddler suitcases we found for sale are so cute, from popular luggage brands like Samsonite, and the Disney suitcases and polka dot luggage sets for kids or babies are not very expensive at all. To make it easy for young children to lug around their suitcases, luggage makers have fortunately made rolling luggage for kids, toddlers and even babies in the cutest styles.

Melissa and Doug Trunki Kids Suitcases

Since there is a new grand baby on the way, we were happy to find specially designed baby luggage by Child to Cherish in pink or blue colors that says Ready or Not, Here I Come Grandma on the outside of the suitcase. The very popular brand Melissa & Doug luggage called Trunki, part luggage and part riding toy, is prefect for little kids and toddlers who might otherwise grow tired pulling their suitcase or walking through the airport.

Older kids might be happy with solid color luggage or any number of character themes, patterns and styles of kids suitcases, but after seeing how cute the Melissa and Doug Trunki suitcase is for girls and boys, our grandchildren will have fun riding on their suitcase as a scoot toy and have the benefits of very own luggage all rolled into one.

While I’m sure there are many suitcase brands for kids of all ages available for sale to choose from, Melissa and Doug toys and wooden toys, puzzles, toy kitchen and play food, kids crafts, train sets, drawing easel, puppets and blocks for kids, and the extremely popular Melissa and Doug dollhouse for little girls are all high quality, trusted products. It only makes sense that Melissa & Doug’s luggage for kids on wheels, that little girls and boys can ride on and play with, would also be a high quality product parents and grandparents can fully trust.

Our toddler size granddaughter is almost two years old now and she has fun playing with all of the Melissa & Doug toys she has received so far and will continue to receive for Christmas, birthdays or as just because gifts, and the same goes for our yet-to-be born granddaughter when she makes her appearance into the world. Melissa and Doug’s Trunki comes in several colors for boys and girls, including Trixie pink, Sunny orange, Ruby red, Terrance blue, Jade green and Iris purple.

Disney Luggage Bags For Kids

Disney bags and Disney luggage sets and sleeping bags for kids are also very popular suitcases, with a variety of Disney character themes that toddlers and kids love. Some of the best known Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse, Little Mermaid, Disney Princess and the Frog, Winnie the Pooh and others are amongst the list of very popular kids rolling luggage, tags and backpacks.

With so many luggage options for little girls and boys, it’s sometimes hard to choose one over the other choices, especially when kids get a little older and become a tad picky. We’re nowhere near that kid stage with these little grandchildren being babies and toddlers, so until the children get old enough to voice their own preferences for a specific suitcase style or their parents choose their favorite, we’re going to go with Trunki by Melissa and Doug in pink and purple. Once the Trunki’s are received and tested out, maybe I’ll do a blog review about it.

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Grandfather Birthday Gift Ideas For Grandpa’s Birthday

Grandma — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:05:36 +0000

Grandpa’s birthday is coming up soon so I’ve been trying to come up with some really good ideas of what to get him for his birthday. Even though Grandpa’s birthday isn’t one of the so-called milestone birthdays, like if he were turning 50, 60, 70 or 80, his birthday is an important occasion and I want to make sure his gifts are things he would want and enjoy having.

As always, I pay very close attention to what Grandpa says, and by being thoughtful about gifts for people, I can usually come up with some great gifts for his birthday or as Christmas gifts etc. There isn’t much that Grandpa “needs”, so whenever I’ve asked him directly what he might want for his birthday, the usual answer is something like getting him a new bottle of his favorite cologne.

This year for his birthday, I want to get him something really special, something I know he would really like and be very happy to receive as a birthday gift. A couple of years ago, he had mentioned in passing conversation how someone he knows was talking about a new GPS Navigation System the guy had received as a birthday gift, and sure enough Grandpa thought the GPS was a really cool gadget and said he might like to get one ‘one of these days’. Grandpa does love his gadget gifts, that’s for sure, and I’ve found some very unique gadgets over the years that he really enjoys.

Well, either for a previous birthday present or as a Christmas gift a couple of year ago, I surprised Grandpa with the same exact GPS gadget that the other guy has and boy oh boy was Grandpa excited about getting that as a gift. That’s what thoughtful gift giving is all about and it’s a lot of fun for me as the gift giver. Grandpa hasn’t talked about any particular gadget gifts on the market that he would like to have, but he has talked about how having just network television has become increasingly boring, especially during weekends when sports games are being shown on cable television channels and we haven’t had cable television for years.

Grandpa had fun recently playing with an iPad someone else owns, and I’ve seen him checking out the Kindle ereader too, so either or both of those may become gift ideas for him at some point in the future. Of course, considering how much Grandpa enjoys doing fun things like fishing, hunting, golf etc, sports-themed gifts for Grandpa are always a good idea. I’ve noticed there are some new/newer sports type electronic games that can be played on the tv that just might be a hit for Grandpa when he’s feeling bored or wants to engage in game playing.

Having said that, I thought well.., maybe it’s time things change and we start looking into bundle packages for cable tv by DirectTv or some other cable provider company that serves our area. Grandpa and I had researched options for cable television, satellite tv and HDTV’s etc quite awhile back, but for the timebeing we decided to get a couple digital converter boxes and continue to use our non-digital tv’s. We’ve focused our energies and money on getting out of debt as fast as possible, and we’ve managed to accomplish quite a lot of that since we curtailed most of our spending on gifts for Christmas, birthdays and other special occasions.

Apparently, a local network television station is battling to be able to continue airing sports on their network station, which is the channel Grandpa usually turns on when he’s wanting to watch sports. Grandpa couldn’t watch the Rangers play and win the game against Tampa because we don’t have cable television, and “watching” the baseball game on an internet animated play-by-play simulator showed me how much Grandpa would enjoy having cable tv and be able to watch his favorite sports shows and movies.

Grandpa’s birthday this year is going to be a very special one, and he deserves every one of the gifts he’s going to receive, including finally getting digital cable tv hooked up and happily handing him the remote so he can relax and watch his favorite shows and sports games. Grandpa isn’t having just a one-day birthday party this year; Grandpa’s going to be enjoying a long weekend of fun and games for his birthday this year. His birthday this year will include what are commonly referred to as “experience gifts”, rather than gifting Grandpa with a lot of ‘stuff’ he doesn’t want or need.

Coming up with gift ideas for this particular man, husband, father and grandfather is pretty easy for me. Grandpa doesn’t ask for anything, nor does he want for anything. Whenever there are things he or I really want or need, we just go ahead and buy them for ourselves because we can and these sort of gifts or gadgets aren’t things that would be appropriate to ask for as gifts because they’re a bit higher priced than what would be considered reasonable.

I can hardly wait for Grandpa’s birthday to arrive because he is going to have the biggest smile on his face when he sees what very special and unique ideas I have planned for his birthday celebration. Birthday parties are fun, with delicious favorite foods and birthday cake, birthday cards and gifts made especially for the birthday boy. Grandpa’s birthday this year just might turn out to be his favorite birthday celebration thus far, and I’ll be camera ready to capture each activity and every happy smile and fun experience as they occur.

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I’m Going To Be a Grandma Again! More Grandma Stories to Tell!

Grandma — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:28:27 +0000

Yep, I’m going to be a grandma again, and I’m so happy and excited since hearing the news, I can’t help but make an announcement on Grandma Stories! I still consider myself a new grandma, since my two grandchildren are still so young, but now we’re having grandchild number three! Grandpa and I are both beside ourselves with excitement at the upcoming birth of my third grandchild (his fourth), and I’m doing my best to control my desire to rush off to the baby stores and shop till I drop!

Even though I don’t have an official grandma name or nickname quite yet, it really does not matter if I chose a name for myself or not, because the grandchildren are going to ultimately decide on my/our nicknames. My grandchildren are so young, but starting to talk more at this point, so there is plenty of time for choosing grandma and grandpa nicknames. I can think of a whole variety of grandparent names to choose from for my/our grandchildren to call us that we would prefer, but when it’s all said and done, the grandkids will make the decision and I’m fine with that.

Calling me Grandma is just fine of course, but I’d prefer not to be called Nana because one of the other grandmothers is already called Nana and the baby’s are going to get confused figuring out who Nana 1 is and who Nana 2 is. One of my sons and his lady love are expecting our new grandchild sometime in May of next year, so there’s plenty of time to prepare and plan for the day of his or her birth. I’ve already seen sonogram pictures of the growing baby, but it’s still very early into the pregnancy, so more sonograms are sure to be taken.

Oh the fun we will have holding, loving, playing with, rocking in the rocking chair, singing lullabies and playing peek-a-boo, buying toys and gifts for this new little baby. Oh yeah, and spoiling him or her is on the top of my list, just like my other grandchildren, that’s for sure! Okay, spoiling within reason, but not over the top extravagant, where the parents might feel the need to tell me to pull back the reins a bit. Grandparenting is awesome!

Over the Christmas holiday this year, the pregnancy will most likely be far enough along where the happy parents will find out whether we’re having a healthy baby boy or girl. I already have a grandson and a granddaughter, so we have no particular wish for a boy vs. a girl baby, even though the parents are hoping to have a baby boy. Seeing my son holding and cradling my granddaughter when she was first born tells me it won’t matter at all if the baby is a girl or a boy, because he is going to be an excellent father either way.

It is very important to me as a Grandmother to be careful to respect boundaries and give the parents their rightful space to make their personal decisions together, and not over-step. That is not to say that as grandparents we won’t offer suggestions, recommendations and guidance when desired, but the ideas we share are just that, ideas and suggestions. The fact that I am a mother of six children myself, and Grandpa is a father of two, we both know a few things about pregnancy, childbirth, babies, two o’clock in the morning feedings, parenting etc, so any advice or suggestions we may give is always with the purest intentions.

I understand all too well the sometimes overwhelming thoughts, fears, concerns, feelings and emotions that run through the minds and hearts of new parents. First-time parents often experience a flood of self-doubt, as to whether they will be good mothers and fathers, and that is one area that Grandpa and I can be of help. As a matter of fact, I’ve already ordered my son Armin Brott’s book The Expectant Father, as it provides a lot of great information for brand new fathers to help answer all of the questions new dad’s ask and wonder about.

Of course, the baby’s mother also receives the very popular What to Expect When You’re Expecting book by Heidi Murkoff, with excellent information and pictures of each stage of pregnancy and more. Quick, someone hold me back from rushing off to Babies R Us and Toys R Us and buying up a bunch of baby stuff already! Oh my gosh! I’m going to be a Grandma again! I couldn’t be more excited and neither could Grandpa.

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Vincent’s Restaurant in Plano TX – Vincent’s Seafood Restaurant – Review

Grandma — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:53:48 +0000

We’ve been planning on going to Vincent’s Restaurant to enjoy the seafood menu items for some time now, and finally did. Vincent’s Seafood Restaurant is located in the Towne Crossing Shopping Center on Preston Road in Plano, just north of West Park Blvd.

Officially called “Vincent’s Restaurant Seafood & Steaks” since 1898, the first Vincent’s restaurant opened in downtown Dallas between Commerce and Main Street. That original location closed after seventy years in 1968, when the “One Main Place” project was developed, but Vincent’s restaurant opened its second home on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, across from the old Dr. Pepper Company.

Now Vincent’s Seafood is serving seafood lovers from their Plano location, and Vincent’s longevity speaks for itself. Return customers love Vincent’s menu of delicious seafood and steaks! Cuisine at Vincent’s Restaurant is a combination of American and Seafood, and based on customer reviews and fellow diners, Vincent’s is sure to stick around for a long time.

Vincent’s full lunch and dinner menu of fresh seafood and steaks could make Vincent’s restaurant a favorite place to go for seafood lovers, but we’ll have to go back again to try the steaks for the first time before I can review or recommend the steaks or Prime Rib at Vincent’s restaurant.

Vincent’s Restaurant – Menu

Vincent’s seafood restaurant offers a wide variety of choices, starting with the appetizers, which include: Stuffed Mushrooms ($7.00); Oysters Rockefeller ($7); Calamari ($6); Crab Cake ($7) or Crab Claws ($15); Stuffed Shrimp or Shrimp Cocktail ($7); Oysters on the Half Shell (half a dozen $6, or $10 for a dozen).

The soups and salads at Vincent’s are a little expensive in our opinion, but we both chose to order a small Greek salad for $5.00 each. The chicken entrees were also a bit pricey, and considering the fact that entrees do not come with even a small dinner salad like other local seafood restaurants, paying $15-17 for a chicken entrée plus the price of a salad simply costs too much. Entrees do come with one vegetable side dish, and diners are provided Vincent’s “cheese bread”, which are so hard and crusty you might be afraid of breaking a tooth.

Our calamari appetizer was very good and priced right, for the amount of calamari and sauce included. The fresh grilled salmon and rice entrée was tender, flaky and delicious. Grandpa, the family food critic expert, thoroughly enjoyed the grilled halibut dinner entrée and broccoli he ordered, although he felt the prices were too high. The “Vincent’s Specialties” menu items, like the Alaskan King Crab Legs and Australian Lobster Tails, were among the most expensive things on the menu, so we chose from the “cheaper” areas on the menu.

Angelo, owner of Vincent’s Restaurant, obviously takes great interest and pride in his seafood place, as he was regularly seen visually checking on his seated customers from afar. Vincent’s restaurant is a small place, with a “family owned” atmosphere, and is nicely decorated throughout for ambiance.

White linen tablecloths and linen napkins for a “casual” attire restaurant seemed a tad strange, especially since virtually every customer was wearing at least business casual, if not suits and ties or dresses. Jeans, T-shirts and tennis shoes are okay to wear at Vincent’s, but be prepared to feel under-dressed and out of place amongst a restaurant full of nicely dressed patrons.

Our Italian-looking waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu, always pleasant and courteous, while never hovering around our table too much. Overall, we like Vincent’s restaurant and will most likely return again, sometime. As nice a place Vincent’s Seafood Restaurant is, we were surprised the restaurant was not completely full of customers, even during the busiest time of day for restaurants – the dinner hour.

Vincent’s Restaurant

There were plenty of available tables waiting for customers to drop in, and we couldn’t help but wonder if part of the problem might be that Vincent’s restaurant hasn’t yet gotten involved with modern social media like Facebook and Twitter. Given the tremendous popularity of businesses creating Facebook Fan Pages and Business Twitter accounts to create buzz and attention, Vincent’s should give serious consideration to updating its website (www.vincentsseafoodplano.com) with a more appealing look, along with restaurant photos and menu/food pictures (currently on yelp.com), more detailed information about the restaurant.

Plus Vincent’s restaurant really needs to get involved with social media networks, build a fan base of Facebook fans and Twitter followers who have eaten at Vincent‘s and enjoy the food, who will then pass on to friends and family and online acquaintances information about Vincent‘s Seafood Restaurant. Plano residents, Dallas and/or Collin and Denton county area residents will be lined out the door waiting to get in to Vincent’s. Standing room only sounds just about right for this quaint little seafood restaurant called Vincent’s.

Vincent’s has a full bar and extensive wine list. Full menu, including their famous coleslaw, is available for Takeout to-go orders. Reservations are allowed but not required. All major credit cards are accepted. Gift certificates are also available. Vincent’s Seafood restaurant is open Monday – Thursday (11:00 am to 10:00 pm), Friday (11:00 am to 10:30 pm), Saturday (5:00 pm to 10:30 pm) and Sunday (11:00 am to 12:00 am). Vincent’s Restaurant’s address is 2432 Preston Road (at Park Blvd), Plano TX, 75093. 972-612-0969. Enjoy!

[img credit: yelp.com]

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Napa Valley Spinach Salad with Pinot Noir Vinaigrette and Goat Cheese

Grandma — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:23:25 +0000

If you have never tried any of the variations of Napa Valley Spinach Salad, you are really missing out on a delicious salad option. We eat a lot of salad, with a meal or as the main dinner meal all by itself. Typical “dinner salad” that consists of the basics many people include in their salads can get boring real fast, so we always try to come up with healthy recipes that offer different ideas of fruits and/or vegetables to add to our salads for variety and taste.

I recently enjoyed a version of the Napa Valley Spinach Salad with chicken at one of my favorite lunch spots, and couldn’t wait to make the salad at home for my family and visiting friends. To say that the Spinach Salad was a hit for everyone would be an understatement. There are many different ways of making the Napa Valley Spinach Salad, but the differences only amount to what fruits and/or vegetables you like or don’t like, as most of the ingredients are optional according to your tastes and likes.

I use Feta cheese as a topping on some of my own salads, while others may like goat cheese in one of its variations. The goat cheese or feta cheese topping is of course optional as well, so it doesn’t “ruin” the salad if you choose not to use either of the cheeses. Making the Napa Valley Spinach Salad is fast and easy, and most of the ingredients are those we usually buy at the grocery store anyway and almost always have on hand.

Grandpa sometimes makes a fresh spinach salad with just spinach, strawberry slices and balsamic dressing lightly tossed, and it’s been a family favorite ever since. The Napa Valley Spinach salad has a lot more ingredients added to the fresh spinach, and now our salads are as if we’re enjoying our own salad bar at home.

Napa Valley Spinach Salad with Pinot Noir Shallot Vinaigrette Dressing

Even though the spinach salad I enjoyed so much at my favorite lunch restaurant included finely diced shallots, I opted not to use shallots when I made this recipe at home. Given the fact that most salads make very healthy meals, I wasn’t the least bit concerned about the specific “nutritional value” amounts, and just added each vegetable or fruit ingredient to taste rather than following some rule about “a cup of this, or cup of that”.

To make the Napa Valley Spinach Salad with vinaigrette dressing, purchase the following ingredients (those you like) and toss them all together in a large bowl. For the vinaigrette dressing, I bought the Red Wine and Vinegar dressing by Marie, which I found in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store. There are recipes online on how to make Pinot Noir Vinaigrette dressing, with or without shallots, but I was thrilled to find what I believe to be the perfect dressing for this salad to buy rather than making it myself.

Fresh spinach (I purchased two 9 oz. bags of fresh spinach) and the salad was enough for four people, as the main meal.
Grilled chicken – thin slices or chunks
Crisp bacon – “Real Bacon” bits in a jar is fine too
Fresh mushrooms – thinly sliced
Fresh strawberries – sliced or chopped
Sun-dried cranberries (or sun-dried raisins)
Julienne red onions
Granny Smith apples – thinly sliced or chopped
Candied pecans – (I used cinnamon pecans found in small bags in the produce section)
Fresh tomato – wedges, slices or chopped
Goat cheese – lightly crumbled as a topping, or Feta cheese
Pinot Noir Vinaigrette dressing – or Red Wine Vinegar dressing (Marie’s version is great for this salad!)

The restaurant where I often go for lunch had the thinly sliced granny smith apples and sliced tomato around the edges of the plate, to add color and visual appeal, rather than everything within the salad itself. Keep in mind that these ingredients are optional, so if there are ingredients listed that you don’t particularly like, leave it out of the salad. If there are other “salad bar” type ingredients you or your family like, such as chick peas, go ahead and add them to your Napa Valley Spinach salad.

Eating salads is of course a healthy meal option, whether the salad is the main meal or as a side dish, but having a variety of healthy salad options to change things up at the dinner table sure helps in keeping salad from becoming boring and dull. No one wants to feel as though they “have” to eat salads that are boring and monotonous week after week, so finding a variety of healthy salad recipes that are fun and enjoyable for the whole family has been a priority that tastes great.

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Valentine’s Day For Grandparents

Grandma — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:12:24 +0000

Valentine’s Day is a special holiday for sweethearts, friends, lovers, spouses etc and that includes grandparents, on February 14 of each year. Valentine’s Day for us this year will be spent visiting with our grandchildren and grown children, out of town. There will likely be the Valentine’s Day cards and small gift-giving, even if the gifts are very cheap from stores like Walmart or Target.

Valentine’s Day gifts for lovers or wives typically mean sending flowers of one kind or another, but considering how overpriced flowers are during the Valentine’s holiday, flowers just never cross our minds to give as a gift to each other. I don’t mind at all either because there is really no good reason I can think of to spend so much money on Valentine’s Day flower bouquets that are just going to die in a few days.

We’ll wait until we arrive at our destination, where the kids and grandkids live, before we embark on buying any cards or inexpensive gift of some kind. The most we will do gift-wise is probably just buy a small toy for the grandchildren and just give cards to the adult kids. Since the grandkids are still very young, any Valentine’s Day gift for him and her may end up being a little toy they can play with to their heart’s content.

Maybe, and it’s a big maybe, we might also give the grown kids a small box of Valentine’s Day heart candy or something similar, if they’re not already sold out at the local stores near our hotel. Valentine’s Day is at the very beginning of our Chicago vacation trip for a week’s visit with the grown children and grandchildren, so planning anything special to do on Valentine’s Day may be a little difficult depending on their work schedules and other family responsibilities.

There is of course the weather to consider as well, so we’re expecting to plan mostly indoor things to do while we’re in Chicago, and spend some time checking out some of the new businesses, fun venues and restaurants that have opened up since we were there last. If it weren’t for the fact that we’re spending Valentine’s Day out of town, playing and having fun with the kids and grandkids, I’d almost say that Valentine’s Day for grandparents is overrated. Why?

Because neither of us are interested in the over-commercialism (materialism) of many of the holidays, especially Valentines Day and Christmas, and just because we’re grandparents doesn’t mean we will make a big deal out of one more holiday pushed on consumers to spend, spend, spend. We’ll just go with inexpensive, cheap, cheaper and cheapest.

If I had the time and inclination to actually make some homemade gifts for Valentine’s Day, like winter scarves or gloves etc, making gifts could almost count as a free Valentine’s Day gift since yarn is so dirt cheap. Since I don’t know how to knit or crochet, nor do I care to learn how, we’ll just make a point of stopping in one of the local stores and pick up something appropriate for the holiday.

From what all the grown kids have said so far while planning this vacation trip, all they care about is having us there for the week and spending time together “hanging out” and doing a bunch of fun activities around town that are soft on the wallet. Theirs and ours, since they pay their own way to each of the places we go while we’re in town.

Our not being expected to pay their way for everything we do and places we go is a great bonus, and we greatly appreciate their pre-planning of their budget to leave some room for spending Valentine’s Day with the grandparents, with their own money. The hugs, kisses, tickles and laughter are all free gifts to each other, and those last a lot longer than some stupid bouquet of flowers anyway.

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GE Side By Side Refrigerator Freezer Problems and Recall

Grandma — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:47:36 +0000

We have a large General Electric (GE) side-by-side refrigerator freezer that suddenly and without warning broke down and quit working. At first Grandpa thought that maybe the problems were only with the freezer motor or blown fuse, since it appeared that the frig was still cooling. The lights inside still worked and the water line for the ice maker and water dispenser on the door still worked. It turns out that the refrigerator circuit board was giving us the problems and in need of repair or replacement, and both the refrigerator and freezer had died.

It figures that the refrigerator would break down on a weekend and we would have problems trying to reach a local service provider or repairman to come and fix the refrigerator for us. Then again, having refrigerator or freezer problems happen on a weekend is much better than if it happened during the work week or while on vacation. Fortunately, we still have a very old stand-up freezer in the garage so we were able to save all the frozen food, and didn’t have any problem keeping the food in the refrigerator cold and nothing was spoiled.

I started searching the net for information about GE refrigerator and freezer problems to try and narrow down the possibilities and reasons why the circuit board would die after just six years, and I found out that there was a circuit board recall in 2006 for several models including our exact model number! A recall of the main circuit board for several GE refrigerator/freezer models and we never got the memo. No letter. No phone call. Thanks GE, for nothing.

GE Refrigerator Master Control Circuit Board Recall

An official letter addressed to GE Customer Care Servicers, written and signed by GE’s National Service Manager Richard Zutterman, dated November 7, 2006 says:

“GE Consumer & Industrial places a very high priority on product quality and customer satisfaction and thus continuously assesses our product reliability. Recent analysis has discovered a potential problem with the main circuit board on a limited number of refrigerator models, which could lead to lower than anticipated life expectancy on that component. Therefore, if the main circuit board fails, GE Consumer & Industrial will replace this part free of charge to the consumer until further notice.”

Zutterman’s letter adds that the affected refrigerator/freezer models are side-by-side plastic liner, side-by-side metal liner, bottom freezer two door and bottom freezer French door styles. These models were produced between May 2005 and August 2006, with the HH-FL serial number range, and all are included in the recall program.

Interesting how this letter was provided to servicers directly, but I still want to know why we as a consumer and customer of GE never received any notice regarding a recall of the main circuit board. I have a pretty darn good guess as to why, but I’ll keep that to myself.

I found the General Electric appliance website to find local providers who could service the refrigerator free of charge because of the recall, wrote down the listed phone numbers in hopes that we’d be able to find someone on a Saturday to come and fix the refrigerator. That didn’t happen. I called the first GE phone number listed to register our complaint and was surprised to reach a human rather than a recorded message machine, and I can imagine the company rep wished she had taken the day off or called in sick.

I gave the lady rep the model number of our refrigerator and freezer (GSS25), also explaining what I had found about there being a circuit board recall on several models, so she put me on hold to check on that. She finally comes back and explains that IF there were a recall, we would have received a phone call, letter or email. Umm, yeah, right.

She then gives me a phone number to call for information on appliance recalls, but calling the number was a complete waste of time because the voice-recorded message was strictly about dishwashers – not refrigerators and/or freezers. There was no option given to “push zero for an operator” or anything like that. Thanks again GE, for nothing.

I printed off the recall information I found online so we can either fax or mail in copies of the invoice and receipt to get our money back from the stupid GE company, since they were oh-so-kind enough to inform us that our circuit board had been recalled several years ago. Not.

Luckily, Grandpa found a local GE parts store that had our circuit board in stock, at a cost of about $150.00 plus tax. We’ll be sending GE a bill this week for a full refund of our money, especially since the recall info said the “units may be in or out of the standard 1-year product warranty and both instances are covered under this concession program”. If you are having motherboard problems with your GE refrigerator/freezer, the link above will provide you the complete list of models and model numbers said to be included in the circuit board recall, phone and fax numbers etc.

Grandpa has to be one of the best do-it-yourself handyman geniuses on the planet and he had the refrigerator/freezer working perfectly in no time at all.

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Beer Perfume Attracts Beer Loving Dudes – Eau de Beer Anyone?

Grandma — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:39:25 +0000

Beer perfume (EOS) is aimed to attract beer loving dudes and the perfume supposedly helps the planet too. What, Eco-Friendly Beer Perfume perhaps? Apparently so, according to news reports announcing the release of the new beer perfume by Washington perfume company, Sweet Anthem, along with Blue Marble Energy, which is a Seattle based recycling company.

Beer perfume? Really? Are ladies so desperate to get a man that they would actually consider using a beer smelling perfume to attract a guy? Believe it or not, but you can actually buy a 1/2 ounce bottle of this limited edition fragrance “Eos for Her” directly from Blue Marble (bluemarble.net) for just $30. Oh yeah, there is also a Eos for Him too in case you’re interested, but it’s called the “unisex” version.

Eos for Her contains neroli, sandalwood, green tea, and banana; while Eos for Him contains cognac, honeysuckle, white ginger, apricot, and candied fruits. Not only that but the Eos fragrance line is presented in “elegant, square glass bottles with silver metallic caps with roll-on applicators”, and the silver-stamped tags were handmade by local jeweler Carolyn Buss. Ain’t that sweet?!

One of the many ingredients in the perfume is “organic spent brewery grain” from nearby Freemont Brewery. The beer perfume “for her” is described as “a green bright floral, tea-based scent. Very modern and feminine”, while the male or masculine unisex version of the perfume is described as “citrus and cognac with hints of powdery apricot. Equally appropriate for men and women.” It also includes “Propyl Butyrate (bioester), White Ginger, Apricot, Cognac and Honeysuckle.”

News reports say “Seattle’s Blue Marble Energy chemists are cooking up a perfume made from the waste products of a local organic brewery. James Stephens of Blue Marble Energy says the product is a viscous sludge – a mixture of about 50,000 different kinds of bacteria. Black sludge, rancid beer grains, green slimey stuff and it’s all good for the earth and you.” Completely carbon neutral. And…? Does it really smell like beer?

Umm, after reading the description, am I really supposed to say this new perfume sounds lovely and delightful and I’ll rush right out and buy this stuff? I think not, especially after reading King5’s review saying Eos does NOT smell like beer… at all. Well shucks! And here I was thinking I could spritz on a bit of “refined beer sludge” and really spice things up tonight with Grandpa! Dammit!

I was really hoping to tell Allyn Hale about this beer perfume so maybe he’d do a kick-ass review on his Big Beer Blog just for laughs. You Whoooo!!! Allyn!!! Are you up for doing a perfume review that doesn’t smell like beer perhaps? It would be a HOOT! You can even use F-bombs if you wanna. Ha!

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Repairing Drywall Cracks in Textured Drywall

Grandma — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:00:40 +0000

Repairing drywall cracks in drywall, due to foundation settling from the extreme heat we get in Texas, started before my husband fell through the ceiling and we had to learn about repairing large ceiling holes in a textured ceiling. If you have ever had cracks in your foundation and needed to know how to fix or repair cracks in drywall, let me tell you right now, doing these repairs yourself is a pain in the butt.

Having to fix foundation cracks is a costly project, plus the cost of repairing or replacing broken brick on the exterior of the house, and replacing shrubs or bushes that were destroyed in the process. Getting our green grass to grow back again isn’t a big deal at all, and we’re not the least bit worried about regrowing grass right now. I know people who decided to fix their cracked foundation themselves, rather than hiring a foundation specialist to do the repairs, but that is one do-it-yourself project that has “Hell No” written all over it.

As a homeowner, doing repairs or home improvement projects comes with owning a house, that’s for sure. Being able to fix drywall cracks on the interior of the house ourselves, with the help of an experienced carpenter in the family, is saving us a lot of money in the long run.

Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to go far to learn how to patch drywall cracks, and I was happy and relieved to find out that do-it-yourself drywall repairs to repair damaged drywall doesn’t take very long to finish. If we didn’t have our own carpenter to rely on to help us repair the drywall, something tells me that our DIY project to patch the drywall plus taping, bedding, texturing, painting and finishing the walls would have brought on a lot of cussing and do-overs.

Foundation Problems Warning Signs

Cracks in the ceiling or walls

Separation of ceiling trim or crown molding

Cracks in interior walls near corners of doors or windows

Obvious cracks in exterior brick and mortar

Windows, doors and wall joints cracking and pulling away from each other

Doors that are sticking or have been shaven at the top

Door sill separates from the door frame

Cracks and/or leaks in and around the brick fireplace wall

Noticeable change in elevation or “slope” of the floor when walking

Cracks in ceramic tile

Tears, wrinkles or separating wallpaper

Previous or existing sheetrock repairs showing signs of curling or tearing

Windows that stick or are very difficult to open/close

Drywall nails popping out of sheetrock, gypsum board or corner frames

I don’t know all of the causes of foundation problems, but extreme heat is one we know all too well here in Texas. If we had to do all of this drywall work completely on our own, without our trusted carpenter to help us, there are “how-to” videos online that teach how to fix drywall cracks and even videos about how to tape drywall that would come in very handy.

I don’t know if it has anything to do with our foundation problem or is related at all to having to repair cracked drywall or not, but it seems odd that we had ant problems for a short time during this whole ordeal. As soon as the foundation was fixed, closed and sealed up, the ant problem disappeared completely.

I don’t know if these were just your ordinary household ants or if they were carpenter ants, but Grandpa mentioned something about Rasberry crazy ants being a big problem in Houston, Texas in recent years and that the crazy ant problem is spreading.

Oh great, just what we need. A crazy ant invasion taking over our homes and neighborhoods. Ick. Why I keep wanting to spell Rasberry ants as Raspberry crazy ants with a P, I don’t know, but who would have thought that repairing drywall cracks and fixing foundation problems would make me think of raspberry jelly? I crack myself up sometimes.

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Grandma’s Cooking Ham Roll Ups in Grandma’s Kitchen

Grandma — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:00:16 +0000

What’s cooking Grandma? Grandma’s kitchen is a favorite place to be at Grandma’s house when the kids and grandchildren are in town, and one of Grandma’s recipes that continues to be popular is Grandma’s ham roll ups recipe with broccoli.

Being a Grandma is wonderful, and passing along to my children and grandchildren many of their favorite recipes that have been prepared for them over the years is an added perk. People that haven’t learned how to make ham roll ups, or broccoli ham roll ups, are really missing out on a great recipe.

I would guess that many of the recipes given to me over the years originally came from my Grandma or great grandmother, but I can’t be sure of that. Cooking in the kitchen with my mother as I was growing up usually meant we were baking cookies or other sweet treats, as she preferred to be cooking in the kitchen by herself when preparing or cooking dinner meals for a family of eight, and that was ok.

There were never any leftovers at our house when mom made her ham roll ups recipe, and since we all loved broccoli with cheese sauce anyway, her ham roll ups were a hit. When I got married, I was given many family recipes and some great cookbooks to start my own cookbook collection, and I was thrilled to find a Mexican roll ups recipe included in one of the cookbooks. We always doubled (sometimes tripled) this recipe, since the kids love ham-broccoli roll ups so much.

Broccoli Ham Roll Ups Recipe

20 oz Broccoli spears, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

6 slices boiled ham, 4×6 inches in size

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook broccoli according to package directions or until tender. While broccoli is cooking, melt butter/margarine in a heavy saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add cheese and continue stirring until cheese is melted. Do not overcook.

Divide broccoli spears into 6 portions, splitting large stalks as necessary. Alternate direction of flower ends within each portion. Place broccoli portions on and parallel to narrow end of each ham slice, extending flower ends over edges of ham. Roll as for jellyroll with broccoli in the center of each rollup. Arrange rollups in a baking dish with seam side down. Use toothpicks to secure, if necessary. Pour cheese sauce over rollups. Bake until sauce is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Another variation of the ham broccoli roll ups is Asparagus-Ham Rollups — Use fresh or frozen asparagus spears in place of the broccoli.

Cooking Mexican food and learning how to cook Mexican type dishes I hadn’t learned yet became a favorite hobby of mine, and my Mexican husband was beside himself when I surprised him with Mexican roll ups. My entire history of cooking was all about Mexican food, and making typical American type meals was a rare thing at our house, except for the ham broccoli roll ups and a few other American foods.

I can make some pretty mean authentic homemade tamales, Mexican posole soup, beef tongue tacos, Octopus stew, Mexican fish soup, potato tacos, menudo, and many other Mexican dishes that would blow your mind. No Tex-Mex type dishes were ever made in this Grandma’s kitchen – only Authentic Mexican food will do.

I haven’t made homemade tamales for many years now, and the idea of spending two full days in the kitchen making tamales with pork, beef or chicken just doesn’t appeal to me anymore. I have one of the best sweet tamales recipes ever known to man in my recipe collection, and one of these days I may have to make some sweet tamales to surprise the kids and grandkids.

Since my whole history of cooking was making Mexican food and not your ordinary American meals, I couldn’t be happier that Grandpa is an excellent cook and is very handy in the kitchen. Grandpa knows how to grill a steak like no one else does, and you know you’ve had a great steak when you don’t want or need to add steak sauce to give it any flavor. Thank goodness for Grandpa’s kitchen abilities!

Image Source: Kraft Foods

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