Pink Polka Dot Thoughts

The Mystery of the Mystery Hole

For years we've driven past The Mystery Hole and we've asked each other "What is the mystery?" The last time we were up that way, it actually was closed, so we didn't even think about going in.

Today, it was obviously open, but we still didn't go in.

It's become a joke with us. We'd rather wonder to ourselves about the mystery than plunk down the $6 each to witness it ourselves.

Something about a VW Bug stuck half in a building is just entertaining enough to us. If we ever go in, I'll let you  know. For now, here are a few pics from outside and you can go read up about it on their website. You won't find out much information about the mystery though!

These are the signs on the gate to the side. As you can see, they're very protective of the MYSTERY! They apparently have a vicious dog.

Just one of the many roadside attractions in the great state of West Virginia!

Waterfalls and Mountains

Mr. Polka Dot and I decided to take a drive up into the mountains today. Certainly living where we do, we have mountains all around all the time, but there are spots we like to visit and we enjoy the ride. We hit the road alone and we weren't even sure where we were going, but knew we'd find something worth seeing.

First we stopped at these waterfalls. It's relaxing to just watch the falls and I remembered very quickly, why I love living here. There's so much beauty all around--even on a cloudy day.

Then we headed up the mountain. The roads are narrow and mostly two lanes. The speed limit says 55mph, but every ten feet or so, it seems there's a caution sign warning to take the curves at 15-20 mph. 

It was an overcast day, so the pictures aren't as good as I'd hoped, but here are a few.

We've had a lot of rain this past week, so the river looks extra high and muddy. You can ride that tram down the mountain to the bottom. I've never done it because I'm too chicken, but Mr. Polka Dot and the kids have. :)

And look what I happened to spy on the way home. I had to snap a picture.

Pass the tissues

Goodbye, George.

I'll miss you. My Grey's Anatomy hour will never be the same.

It's true. The good always die young.

What a heartbreaking episode. It wasn't as bad as the finale last year, but it was still a lot to process. I think the worst part for me was when Bailey demanded to know where his organs were going. To have it personalized so much was moving and just what George deserved.

I hope that will make people think about donating their organs. It is a final gift we can all give and as Izzy said, George would give everything. So true...

Easy Lasagna that's also YUMMY

Yesterday, The Boy came home from school begging for lasagna for dinner. My answer to that is usually to grab a Stouffer's one from the freezer, but I didn't have any. I say that because making lasagna is time consuming and usually, it's just easier(and cheaper actually) to grab a frozen one.

Then I remembered L.A. Mama's recipe from the other night over at Raising California. I realized I had almost everything to make that in my kitchen, so I got busy and cooked it up. They're vegetarians and we're not. In fact, we are definitely carnivores around here, so I added some ground beef to ours.

I didn't take a picture either, but I can assure that L.A. Mama's looked much better than mine although mine tasted pretty darn good!

I loved this recipe because it was SO easy to make. It just took one pan and so clean up was easy, too! There are even left-overs for tonight if anyone cares to have it.

Grey's Anatomy Season Premiere aka I Love Izzy & George

Tonight is the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy and I'm really glad because I'm not sure how much longer I could hold out!

I was probably one of the only Grey's fans who liked George and Izzy together, so last season's finale was like a knife through my heart when I saw George and Izzy meeting up together--both as they were dying--in some sort of near death experience.

Or was it actual death for them both? We just don't know.

I've stayed away from spoilers and message boards, so everyone else might now, but me. I did watch the first 5 minutes of tonight's show that was put out on the Facebook fan page...

So who dies? Is it my beloved George who is looking so handsome in his uniform:

or is it Izzy? I love her, too!

Maybe neither of them dies. Maybe the both die. I don't know. I'm off to stock up on some Kleenex for tonight though!

There's only ONE Madonna. Really.

I'm driving in the car today and this song comes on the radio. Now, I HAVE heard the song quite a few times, but for some reason, I found myself thinking "Is that Madonna?" Ahhh!

Then I realized it was Lady Gaga!

I've heard her compared to Madonna so many times lately and really, she is NO Madonna! There is only ONE Madonna. And yes, I say this as a true fan of the one and only Material Girl herself!

Let Lady Gaga be herself. No need to compare.

HOW is it possible?

Here it is, late at night and flipping through the channels, I stumble across a show on TLC about women who didn't KNOW they were pregnant until they gave birth.

Can I ask a question?

HOW?

HOW is that possible?

How do you not realize there is an 8 lb human growing in your uterus until it pops out? I don't think I'll ever understand it.

So you didn't gain weight. Ok, I lost weight with BOTH my pregnancies(and certainly could spare it to lose at the time) but I still knew I was pregnant!

You didn't have morning sickness? Ok, but weren't there other clues? Like no period? Like a backache? Like SOMETHING?

There had to be some little thing that told you that you were pregnant before you went into labor. Really.

I just don't buy this show!

Not only that, but it's sad to me because imagine missing out on the fun things of being pregnant--the kicks, the movement, the planning the nursery, picking a name. When you don't know it's happening, you miss all of that.

So even though I would have loved to skip the 9 months of morning sickness each time and the backaches, swollen feet and pre-term contractions, I'm still glad I knew in advance. It gave me my wonderful(most of the time) children.

Modern Family: AKA - TV IS BACK!

YES!! TV is new again! I'm thrilled beyond your imagination.

I was looking forward to Modern Family, but I didn't have huge hopes because it seems like the past several years the shows that looked good to me, turned out to be duds.

Modern Family was hysterical though! I loved it.

The pseudo-cool dad, the gay couple, the girl bringing her boyfriend home who just happens to be a senior...ok, maybe that last part hit too close to home...but I'm digressing.

It was FUNNY! When the mom said "you have to shoot him." I thought I'd die laughing. This one looks like a keeper!

I liked Cougar Town, too. I didn't have the highest of hopes for that one either, but I love Courteney Cox, so I had to check it out. Thumbs up to both!

Now we begin the impatient wait for Grey's Anatomy.

I Hate Cleaning

I read a tip over at Couponing To Disney about emailing companies to get free coupons. I've been doing that for a few weeks and I've snagged a stack of coupons. Today, I was showing Mr. Polka Dot my stack of free product coupons.

He was impressed with my free cereal coupons, my free Eggland's coupons, my free M&Ms, and my free dog food coupons. When I got to my free Scrubbing Bubbles coupons though, he looked at me oddly confused.

"Do we use that stuff around here?" he asked. We were sitting in the kitchen which I'm not embarrassed to say was a total mess.

"Of course," was my reply.

"Hmmm..." was his.

Then of course laughter because he really knows better than to criticize my housekeeping because my philosophy is, if something bothers you, then get off your @ss and clean it up!

I've never been one who likes to clean. Yes, I hear there are people who enjoy cleaning. Me? Ick. Before the kids were born, our house was always spotless. Of course, that's because there were only two of us and nothing was ever moved around.

Once you have a baby and your "stuff" multiplies, it seems it's a never ending cleaning frenzy. I sometimes wonder what the point is. It's dirty again in 5 minutes.

Then I told Mr. Polka Dot that I'd been asked to review a cleaning product for my blog. His response? "They asked the right person. There's plenty of dirt around here!"

I'd be offended if it wasn't true. ha

 

P.S. My house is not a pig sty. It's just a cluttered mess...dusting isn't a high priority for me.

My First Chapter Book

When I was a child, I read ALL the time.  My siblings were both older than me and both my parents worked full time. I spent a lot of time alone and reading was my escape. In fact, I think I read every book in our school library. I'd go to our library almost every day before school to pick out a new book and our wonderful librarian always knew which books I'd enjoy. She'd set them aside for me even. Books were my fantasy life and I drank it all in.

I also had some wonderful teachers who read to us after lunch each day. It was a nice way to ease back into schoolwork after the lunch break. I don't think any of my children's teachers read them chapter books. It's too bad because I have wonderful memories. My first grade teacher, Mrs. B., read books like The Boxcar Children, but my favorite book she read to us was B Is for Betsy.

I looked for this book when my daughter was younger and couldn't find it! How I wish she'd had it to read. I suppose you could call Betsy the Junie B. Jones of my generation!

The book is a simple story about simpler times-- definitely an Ozzie and Harriet book--but it hooked me on reading. I checked it out from the library and later read the entire series. It may not have been first grade, but I know this was my first chapter book. In another of the books, Betsy got a baby sister for Christmas. They named her Star which at the time, was amazing to the 8 year old reading the book!

When I look back on my childhood, so many of my memories are about the books I read and the time I spent hanging out in our neighborhood. How times have changed. We didn't have video games(ok, we did get an Atari when I was 10 or 11) and we didn't sit in the house all day watching TV. Of course there was no internet.

At least I had my books.