Bed Dimensions

So many things to think about ...
as we move from an apartment to our own house.
One of those things is about upgrading our bed.

Twin is 39 wide by 75 long
Full is 54 wide by 75 long
Queen is 60 wide by 80 long
King is 76/78 by 80 long

Found the diagram on Dormia website.

Magazine Links

I had not picked up magazines for awhile.
The other day I picked up a few.
They were ones I've read in the past.

Monthlies: Good Housekeeping,
Family Circle and Woman's Day,
Weeklies: Woman's World
Also read Parade on Sundays.

Others I may want to check out:
Today's Christian Woman
Better Homes & Gardens
Ladies Home Journal

News magazines:
Newsweek, Time, World
Us News & World Report
and political National Review

Getaway Corelle and Pyrex

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The reason we headed to the Kittery outlets was
to replace Corelle Dish Set from Spice of Life design
to the newer Livingware design of Country Cottage.
I did a lot of research comparing Corelle old set
to Corelle new sets and Corningware.

We got a lot of the items at reduced prices.
Awhile back I had signed up to get emails
from either Corelle or World Kitchen site.
We had received notice of the sales going on.
Also before leaving we found a 25% off coupon
over at CorningWareStores.com (World Kitchen).

We originally wanted the 42 piece dish set but
they did not have them at the factory outlet store.
We saved money buying the two 16 piece sets
with the extras ONLY because we used
the two 25% off coupons (one for each of us).

16 piece set (cathy with coupon) orig 26.99 less 6.75 = 20.24
16 piece set (randy with coupon) orig 26.99 less 6.75 = 20.24
lunch plates (had gotten 3 at Walmart) 2.59 x 5 = 12.95
1 qt serving bowl (one "extra" from set) 7.99 x 2 = 15.98
12.25 serving platter ("extra" from set) 7.99 x 1 = 7.98
18 oz bowl covers ("extra" from set) 0.99 x 8 = 7.92
1 qt bowl covers ("extra" from set) 1.99 x 2 = 3.98
5 piece pasta set - orig 19.99 less 10.00 = 9.99
(includes 2 qt serving bowl and 4 20 ounce bowl - in winter frost white)

Except for the pasta set everything else
is in the Livingware Country Cottage design.
We did not pick up any Corningware/Corelle bakeware
because they are all too heavy for daily use (in my book).
The clerk said they were going to be coming out with
a lighter weight line that should be like the older version.

Pyrex purchases - these are see thru glass items
Warning: do NOT use on stove top or under broiler
Picked up two matching Pyrex 13 x 9 oblong baking pans.
Also a new pie/souffle plate for the "Impossible" pie recipes.

Getaway Great Finds

These are items of note



From Kitchen Collection:

Progressive Ceramic Tool Crock
Kamenstein 3 piece Chrome Value Set
which included trivet, napkin holder
and upright paper towel holder

All Natural Spices - 3 for five dollars

Sesame seed caught my eye
then italian herbs
and chicken rub seasoning

Hamilton Beach 14 pizza pan
its considered "professional"

From Kitchen & Company:

Newbridge Vinyl Tablecloth
it was in rose, 52x52 square

Weber Flame Resistant grille mitts -
I like their length for regular oven use.

Getaway Kitchen Finds

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Kitchen stuff was the prime focus of our shopping.
These are kitchen gadgets and other great finds:

From Corningware Corelle Revere outlet:
• OXO "Good Grips" Dough Blender
• OXO "Good Grips" Stainless Steel Serving Spoon
• OXO "Good Grips" Nylon Flexible Pie Server
• EKCO vegetable brush - amazing find!

From Kitchen Collection outlet:
• set of 3 chrome plated whisks
• Progressive Jumbo Ceramic Tool Crock (GF)
• Kamenstein 3 piece Chrome Value Set(GF)
trivet, napkin holder and upright paper towel holder
• All Natural Spices - 3 for five dollars
Sesame seed, italian herbs and chicken rub seasoning
• Hamilton Beach Professional 14" pizza pan

From Kitchen & Company (NH):
• Sonoma Rose 52x52 vinyl tablecloth (GF)
• Long oven mitts (actually Weber grilling mitts) (GF)

From Pfaltzgraff outlet:
• Farberware measuring cup scoops

* GF stands for Great Find!!!

Forever Stamp

We need to pick up new stamps.
Only nondenominational stamps are available.
They are better known as "forever stamps".

You purchase them at the current stamp price.
But you can use then anytime in the future ...
even when stamp prices rise.

The current first class rate is 41 cents.
Come May 12th they go up to 42 cents.
It is wise to stock up while the stamps are still at 41 cents.

Blog specifically about Forever Stamps
Governors propose "forever stamp"
All nondenominated (unmarked) stamps from USPS

Movies and Organization

Interspersed with watching movies we continued to organize.
I use a four tier white cart on wheels as my nightstand.
It had started to overflow so sorted thru all the stuff.
And moved some of the lesser used items other places.
Now I have space for notebooks and books I am reading.
Randy also put together yet another three shelf unit.

I picked the first two sci fi movies of the day:

Paycheck (2003) - Has plenty of action for those that like it.
It stars Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart,
Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Morris (Lilly Rush on Cold Case).
Also in it is Joe Morton (Henry Deacon on Eureka).

THX 1138 (1971) - I found this very slow moving.
It is the full length version of a George Lucas student project.
He is better known for Indiana Jones and Star Wars.
Starring in this film is Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence.

Lost in Space (1998) - We had both previously seen this one.
The mom and dad were played my William Hurt and Mimi Rogers.
Others included Heather Graham, Matt LeBlanc and Gary Oldman.
Cameos by four of the cast from tv series including June Lockhart.

DVD's & VHS (Part 2)

The apartment looks a little bit different now. We've managed to bring most of the DVD's over. The only DVD category still left in storage is TV shows. So now we have access to all the Family, Drama, Comedy, Classic, Action, Sci-Fi, Horror, Foreign, Religious, Music and Documentary DVD's that I own!

I also dug through the boxes of VHS classics and picked out some more for her mom (and a few more for Cathy too). It's too bad that her mom doesn't have a DVD player - I could get her a few more Bob Hope movies.

Home Management

I started a category called Home Management.
I believe it was a couple of weeks ago now.

Home Management includes many things ...
Organization and Space Management
Tips or info about household matters such as ...
Kitchen Concerns and Cleaning in General

Cleaning Coffeemaker

Monthly you should clean regularly used coffee maker.
Between run sessions wait 15 to 20 minutes.
When doing the cleaning use full pot.

1) run 1 part vinegar to 2 part water mix thru machine
2) if its been awhile, run a fresh mix of same thru again
3) rinse with a run thru of warm clean water alone
4) do a second rinse cycle of just warm water alone

From article How to Clean a Coffee Maker
Originally from Best Coffee Maker Online article

Rearranging Apartment

The better part of the last week we have been rearranging the apartment. Only in sections at a time. We purchased individual modular pieces to create a bakeware/cookware storage unit. And now we are slowly adding some of Randy's video collection into the apartment. If you know Randy you know he has a HUGE collection. Did I mention he has a HUGE video collection, both VHS and DVD. It's been in a storage facility just a mile away for lack of space. Luckily he also has some nice modular units to house them in.

First we put two 32 wide by 45 high brown wood grain units in bedroom office area. Second we put six 12 wide by 45 high black units on top of the white office desk. I already had black as my second office area color so everything coordinates nicely. Third we moved the two 36 wide by 60 high wooden bookshelves my dad made me next to each other in the livingroom on the side wall. One of these units is still mostly books while the other is holding DVDs two deep. Fourth we put two 20 inch by 60 inch high light wood grain units in living room, one on either side of loveseat. And lastly we put a third of the 32 wide by 45 high brown wood grain units between the office area and the bed area of the bedroom.

I am happy to report while adding function to the apartment it is still aesthetically pleasing. It has been a balancing act for sure. And I want to thank Randy for all his hard work in this matter as I change my mind as to where everything goes to accomplish this task. We, okay mostly Randy, has had to shuffle things around a few times along the way. I believe Randy is as pleased as I am at how things have turned out.

Randy is still in the process of unpacking the videos for placement on the units. In the future once we get all the rearranging settled we will take pictures to show off all our efforts. I expect Randy will add his own blog entry about what movies he is putting where. He is very logical and wants to keep different genres together. Got to love a hard working, logical man of God!

Non Stick Refresher

It's been awhile since I bought new non-stick items.
Recently purchased new items to start new married life.
Having been reading instructions to see what I need to do.
Most items did NOT tell me I needed to "season" ...
Although the T-Fal griddle did mention it.

In the Farberware 15-piece set there came plastic utensils.
We both thought they were wrong for included that type.
But reading up on it things have changed in the last 20 years.
Only real rule is to avoid anything sharp and cutting food in pan.
What to use on pots/pans? plastic, rubber, silicon, and wood utensils

Links of interest:
Non Stick Coatings
How to Clean Non Stick Cookware
Non Stick Cookware

Organize It

Living in an apartment we have limited space.
And with all our new cookware and bakeware ...
we needed to find some new stackable storage.
Want to keep the new pots and pans protected.

We picked some modular furniture from Organize-it.
They are all 2 feet across and we will stack 3 items.
One is a two drawer unit, one is 2 shelves horizontal,
and then a 2 door three shelf organizer unit.

While Randy was at Target getting the items ...
I was busy cutting coupons for grocery shopping.
Randy enjoys shopping and saving "megabucks".
I then organized them by category for ease of use.

Update: We purchased a second horizontal unit.
We did not stack it next to the other.
Our order is from bottom up: drawers, horizontal,
three shelf organizer (without doors), and horizontal.

Stain Removal

Randy has a collection of sweatshirts and t-shirts.
They all have Hard Rock Cafe logos/images.
They have really bad set in sweat stains.

My job now is to try to clean them up if I can.
Because of the huge number of his collection some of them
we actually cut up to possibly be used in a quilt.

I was googling and found some sites with good information.
I have not actually tried the ideas yet but plan to.
I figure I will test on the patches cut for the quilt.

How to Get Rid of Sweat Stains
Cleaning Up: Set In Sweat Stains
How to Remove Sweat and Perspiration Stains

DVD's & VHS (Part 1)

Unpacked a couple more boxes of DVD's (mostly classics). I put them on 2 of the DVD shelving units I also brought from storage. I also grabbed four boxes of classic VHS (we're trying to set up her mom with movies while she's recovering from surgery - 8 of which are Bob Hope movies) and Cathy picked out about 16 of those to check out herself. So we're slowly finding spots to bring some of my collection here.