4/30/2012: Cloverleaf Dairy Bottle/Bank

The eggnog that once filled this Cloverleaf Dairy bottle was delicious. When is it eggnog season again???

4/29/2012: Brown Suede Shoes

4/28/2012: Plaid Fleece Blanket

This plaid fleece blanket should be packed away or folded up and stuck in a closet by now. But it was cold last night! I miss the warm days of March...

4/27/2012: Wooden Vase

I know this wooden vase doesn't seem like something the dog should hate, and most of the time he doesn't even notice it. Until it gets knocked over and rolls and rattles around on the hard wood floor. THAT he doesn't like.

See also: World Crap, Wooden Elephant

4/26/2012: Clock

4/25/2012: Broom

This broom has prompted me to start a new category tag, "things the dog hates." Darwin will not go near the broom if he can help it. Not liking the vacuum or the lawn mower makes sense, they're loud angry machines. But what's to fear from a broom.

I should remember though that this is a dog that once barked at an empty Coke Zero box for an extended period of time.

See Also: Lawnmower

4/24/2012: Homer Coffee Cup

4/23/2012: Irises

These irises come from bulbs that originally grew in my grandmother's yard in New Jersey. Aka the "garden state." After my grandmother and grandfather passed away my parents were out east cleaning out the house and dug the iris bulbs up to bring back. Gave some to me so I planted them in the front yard.They came up quite nicely this spring.

Not only are irises one of my favorite flowers but they're also one of my favorite Vincent Van Gogh paintings.

4/22/2012: New Phone

This is my new phone. I've been long overdue for an upgrade, longer than I thought. Apparently I've had my last phone for three and a half years. Didn't think it had been nearly that long. But since the on/off button stopped turning the phone on this morning, I decided it was time to get a new one. And here it is. Well, here is the box for it since I used the phone to take the actual picture.

4/21/2012: Lawnmower

I hate my lawnmower, and not in the way most people hate their lawnmowers. I hate my lawnmower for sucking. The thing broke down and had to be serviced after being less than a year old. Then it broke down again after another summer of use. I spent all last year borrowing my parents' mower because I refused to take mine in for servicing because I was pissed at it for not working. Which I realize is completely nonsensical, but there it is. This year I've just been paying somebody to mow my lawn for me. The best thirty bucks I spend every couple weeks. Because as I drive around and see other people mowing their lawns, they all look absolutely miserable doing it. Nobody enjoys the task. Nobody wakes up on a Saturday morning and thinks "Thank god the weekend is here now I get to mow the lawn!" I used to spend the entire time I was mowing repeatedly muttering the f-word under my breath. But no more. I've freed myself from lawn duty. So maybe I should thank my mower for sucking. If it didn't I'd be one of those miserable bastards too.

4/20/2012: Pot

This pot is part of a set I got a couple years ago. An upgrade from my previous bunch of miscellaneous, warped non-non-stick and burned pots and pans I'd been using since my 20s. There was a choice between red and black. I went with red.

See also: Kitchen Stuff

4/19/2012: Shovel

This shovel, according to my dad, is "a good shovel." He was quite taken with it at one point, liked the weight and feel of it. Me? I primarily use it as a scoop when I'm experiencing one of the great joys of dog ownership, doody duty.

See also: Bucket

4/18/2012: Pendant Lamp

This pendant lamp may or may not have been purchased because when I saw it at Target it reminded me of one that Monica and Rachel had in their living room on Friends. Of course it'd be pretty stupid to buy a lamp because it looks like one on a TV show... wouldn't it?

4/17/2012: Saw

4/16/2012: Samsung Computer Monitor

You can see my W2 and tax docs from my mortgage company sitting under the computer monitor from doing my taxes early. Two whole days early! Finished them up yesterday.

See also: guest room stuff

4/15/2012: Coffee Table

I've had this coffee table a very very long time, probably at least 10 years. And it isn't a particularly nice one. I think I got it at KMart. Been meaning to upgrade for awhile now but haven't really gotten around to it. It serves it's purpose I guess - a place to keep the remotes and the magazine. And yes, a place to set a cup of coffee.

See also: Wooden Box (for remotes)

4/14/2012: Coasters

4/13/2012: Mail Box

This is how much I don't want mail: when I opened the front door to snap a pic of my mail box, I didn't even bother to check for the mail. I'd love to completely stop getting mail. The only reason to have a mailbox is for Netflix and for the couple magazines I subscribe to old school style (ie: I actually get the physical magazine mailed to me). Otherwise it's just all junk that I don't even bother to open, just gets tossed right away.

4/12/2012: Lilac Bush

I figured I'd better snap a pic of my lilac bush while it was still in bloom.

4/11/2012: New TiVo

Blame this purchase on Mediacom. Cable switched to digital something or other, my old series 2 TiVo no longer picks up channels higher than 13 so... new TiVo time. Even if I eventually cancel the cable and go to using an antenna (Like watching TV in the 70s!) you can't use an antenna with the old series 2. And that's my plan. Of course, I say I'm cancelling cable every time I see the bill... and then I notice Sharktopus is on SyFy and I forget what I was planning to do...

See also: Anderson Media Console

4/10/2012: Dining Room Light

4/9/2012: Coffee Canister

This airtight canister will help you better prepare and store foods for the up and coming Monsoon months. Also, OXO SoftWorks POP containers are ideal for storing leftovers to help stretch your food dollar. This 2.7 quart Sealz 'em Right container will keep hot dog buns fresh for days or would make an ideal coffee canister.

See also: Cuisinart Automatic Grind and Brew Coffee Maker

4/8/2012: Reese's Eggs

Resse's Eggs are, simply put, the perfect candy. I used to buy pack after pack of these every year. I used to buy extras and freeze them so I could have them later in the year. But no more. These two Reese's Eggs represent my entire annual consumption for this year. Why? Because I don't want to have to go buy all new pants.

There is of course a right way and a wrong way to eat a Reese's Egg. You don't just tear open the wrapper and shove the egg into your mouth in a few bites. Unless you're a shameless heathen. Reese's Eggs should be savored. And as such there are a few simple steps to follow to ensure you consume your Reese's Egg properly. These steps are in no way obsessive, compulsive or borderline insane. Just like only eating M&Ms in color matched pairs is perfectly normal behavior to exhibit.

How To Eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg:

1. Remove your Reese's Egg from the wrapper but leave it on the cardboard insert.

2. Using a knife, cut the egg down the middle the long way. Be sure to use a sharp knife to avoid crushing the egg as you cut.

3. Perpendicular to this cut, cut across the middle the short way.

4. Make two additional cuts half-way between this cut and the egg's ends.

5. Now enjoy your Reese's Eggs in 8 convenient pieces! (There's also a best order to eat the pieces in but I'll leave you to figure that out on your own. It's pretty obvious.)

4/7/2012: Scissors

As you can see I keep this pair of scissors in the kitchen to help me with my couponing. And by couponing I mean the once every month or so that I cut open the empty coffee bean bag to get the coupon printed on the inside of it when it's time to go and buy another bag of coffee beans. Other than that the only coupons I tend to use are the ones that are actually attached at the store to whatever it is I'm buying, and even those I tend to forget to use.

4/6/2012: Dog Tire

This dog tire is one of Darwin's toys in the backyard. For the endless games of fetch he so enjoys. You would think that it would get old of the second or third toss and "Git it!"... but it doesn't. At least not for the dog.

4/5/2012: Blue Rimmed Drinking Glass

I have a lot more glasses than I would ever conceivably need, including 6 or maybe 8 of these blue rimmed drinking glasses. For some reason I went through a phase where I kept buying glasses. I didn't need them, but I'd see some I liked and I'd buy them. In fact as I'm typing this I'm trying to remember where the set of Dr Seuss glasses I bought at a Universal Studios Florida gift shop are... I haven't seen them in awhile. They're probably still packed in a box up in the attic from when I moved into the house. Four years ago.

4/4/2012: Chair

This chair matches the couch that I posted a couple months ago. While the couch was the result of a years long couch search, the chair just kind of came along with it. Chairs like this are just the sidekicks of the furniture world, Robin to their respective couch's Batman.

4/3/2012: Pile of Bricks

This is just a random pile of bricks I have sitting next to my house in the backyard. Previously it formed the border of a small flower bed the previously home owners haphazardly put in for 5 or 6 feet along the fence. But since it was difficult to keep weeded and I kept running the mower over the bricks, I just made the flower bed more yard and removed the brick border. Intending to eventually do something with the bricks... but not sure what.

4/2/2012: Outdoor Coffee Table

This outdoor coffee table has been sitting in my garage in its box waiting to be assembled for two possibly three years. It was one of those late-season buys, when the last few odds and end in the lawn and garden section of Target hit the 75% off point - you know, just before it's time to set up the Back to School stuff there. I actually kind of forgot I even had it. But yesterday the table's wait was over, and I used my ratchet set to finally put it all together.

4/1/2012: Ratchet Set

Pulled out my ratchet set this afternoon to build me a coffee table for my patio. I would personally like to thank the inventor of the ratchet. I assume his name is something like Horatio Peabody Ratchet III or something. Whatever your name is, thank you sir. Without your handy invention I'd likely still be sitting on the floor of my garage attempting to tighten bolts with the free little wrench that came with the coffee table. And assuredly there would be quite a bit of swearing involved as well.