Heiderino

On Thanksgiving Day, my washing machine started to sound suspiciously like my breadmaker during the spin cycle. It whined and spun, went through the rest of the cycle, and sat there, full of water. When we walked out the door to go to my inlaws for Thanksgiving dinner, I hoped that some miracle would occur while we were gone.

It didn’t.

Friday, when everyone else in the world was out shopping, I sat home with the kids waiting for the repair man. Suddenly, I found water on the floor in the laundry. Thinking of our relatively new basement movie room with drywalled ceiling, I panicked and started to bail water out with my tupperware pitcher from the seventies. Man, that thing has been worth every dime my Mom spent on it. Topped off with the wet/dry shop vac, I felt a little better!

The repair dude finally arrived. It took him about 4 minutes to inform me that the drain had a BABY SOCK gnarled all around it. While on one hand, I wonder - is that where all of the rest of the missing socks in my house have gone? Just down the drain? Or was this the one that got away?

Well, I can tell you one thing. At $145, that turned out to be one expensive sock.

Going forward, I will be washing all baby socks in net laundry bags.

If you like pasta, you must try this. It’s my husband’s favorite thing that I make, and the leftovers are even better than the first time around.

1 lb. cut ziti, penne, or mostaccioli noodles,cooked and rinsed in cold water
1 lb. ground beef, browned and seasoned with onion, salt and pepper to taste
1 16 oz container of sour cream
8 deli slices of provolone cheese (10 if you want to snack during preparation!)
2 large jars of store bought spaghetti sauce, whichever flavor you choose!
1 large bag of shredded mozzarella cheese. (you can never have too much cheese!)
Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Pour a small amount of sauce into a 9×13 pan.
Put half of the noodles into the pan.
Cover the noodles with the 8 slices of provolone
Spread the entire container of sour cream over the provolone
Sprinkle all of the ground beef over the sour cream
Cover generously with sauce
Put the other half of the noodles into the pan
SMOTHER THEM with mozzarella
Cover generously with sauce
Sprinkle with parmesan
Bake for about an hour, or until bubbly.

ENJOY! And don’t forget the Zantac!

Can I just say that I think Verizon has stinky billing practices?

Grr. I might add to this later, once my vision returns to normal from the BRIGHT RED I’m seeing right now!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

A couple of months ago, I was meeting a friend to discuss a freelance project after work. I arrived at our meeting place before my friend, so I decided to sit out at a picnic table to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Not long after I sat down, I thought I felt someone looking at me. I turned to my left to see a guy standing there, giving me a strange smile and just staring. I turned quickly back to my papers, and saw him approach me out of the corner of my eye. Just as he started to speak, I looked up to see my friend pull in and hop out of his car. Whew! The guy had almost reached me, but saw me wave at my friend and (pretty creepishly) RAN away.

Dan approached the table laughing, and said “I see you made a new friend…” I laughed it off and we started talking, when I saw the guy slowly slinking back in our direction. He walked all the way around the table and came up, then just stood and lurked. Not able to take it any more, I looked up and said “Can I help you?”

Guy: “Um, I was just wondering where I could sit down.”
Me: “Well, there’s this whole table…” (gesturing to the rest of the picnic table)

Now where do you suppose this guy decided to sit? But of course! Right next to yours truly. He started to try to make small talk, and I had to politely interrupt him. “I’m sorry - we’re planning for a meeting…” He apologized and walked away.

For about 2 minutes.

He circled around, came up to me, and started staring at my FEET.

I tried to ignore this for about three minutes until I could ignore it no longer. Once again, I said “Can I help you?”

Guy: “Those are some VERY interesting shoes you have.”
Me: “Thank you.”
Guy: “What kind of shoes ARE those?”
Me: “Um, I don’t know… Sandals, I guess…”
Guy: “What brand are they?”
Me: “Well, would you look at that… It’s worn off… I don’t really know…”
Guy: “Can I see it?”
Me: “What???!!!”
Guy: “Can I hold it?”

At this point, my friend is trying to not have a heart attack or laugh out loud. I’m trying to maintain myself.

Me: “No. I would like to keep my shoes right where they are, thank you.”

The guy extended his hand, said “Thank you. I’m sorry. Thank you…” and walked away for good.

Welcome to a day in the life of Heiderino.

:)

Okay. The latest trend for super models is apparently to don a 350 lb. “fat suit” so they can “see what it’s like to be weight-challenged.” Both Tyra Banks and Vanessa Minillo (ET) have spent hours in makeup and disguises to walk around town and get stared at, made fun of, and ignored.

According to Vanessa, she’s “Fighting for women everywhere…” (that is paraphrased.) I have some questions… 1) What is she fighting for? 2) What is she going to prove?

I may not be necessarily “weight-challenged,” but I take offense to this technique. If they truly want to see how an overweight person is treated on a daily basis, what about a hidden camera on someone who truly faces such treatment, rather than a SUPER MODEL??

I feel better now for venting about this. Thank you for listening, if you happened to do so.

I’m totally into Kelly Clarkson right now. As I drive to work each day, I find myself blasting “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Since U Been Gone,” and my latest favorite - “Beautiful Disaster.” I was never even really that big into American Idol. And although I did run out (shh!) to buy Clay Aikin’s first album, I didn’t realize or recognize the guilty pleasure, addicting quality to Kelly’s tunes.

Until now! So, next time you hear her belting out the tunes on the radio, imagine me in my mini van belting along with her in a voice that is so embarrassing that I don’t even sing in the shower.

Quoter: My Hubby

“The thing about Matt Dillon is that he’s like a Dick Clark - he never ages. Seriously - he looks the same as he did in the eighties.”

I drive about an hour each way to work. It’s generally a pretty nice ride - I get a little time to myself, it’s kind of scenic, and I can LISTEN TO WHATEVER I FEEL LIKE! (No Hakuna Matata!)

Unfortunately, it is deer season in Wisconsin, and it’s also pretty much dark each way to work. I’ve been paranoid each time I get in the car about hitting one of them, and with pretty good reason. This morning, I counted 6 hit deer on the sides (and in one case, the middle of) the road! Yes - I almost feel lucky that I didn’t slide off the road during what seemed like 1/2 mile of “deer pulp.”

With that said - HAPPY HUNTING, WISCONSIN!

Grandma Jule, Uncle Ray, Grandpa Ray

Originally uploaded by Heiderino.

I’ve loved this picture for as long as I can remember seeing it. I still can’t get over how great everyone always looked in old pictures! Technology has advanced, but we don’t go all-out anymore to look awesome, dressed to the hilt for photos.

When I take my kids for portraits now, I look for their cutest jeans-based outfits.

It’s impossible to imagine that my grandparents were anything other than well-off, but that’s far from the truth!

It’s true! Just ask anyone who has known me for a long (or in some cases, even short) time! I’m going to use this category to document some of the weirder events in my life: Our family minivan being shot by a 7 year-old with a .22 rifle, being shot by a random paintball-terrorist, getting picked out of the crowd at a Jon Secada concert and pulled onstage, talking to Liam Neeson on the phone on my 25th birthday, having some customers at a table I was waiting on get into a physical fight, complete with “plate being smashed over head,” having a random person approach me and ask to hold one of my shoes, etc.