Corn Stove?  What the heck is a corn stove? Well, a corn stove is similar to a pellet stove (which burns wood pellets) except that it burns dried, shelled corn. This is a picture of ours (I can't take a straight on picture because a wall is in the way): It sits between our dining room and living room, and heats most of our house (which is over 2500 sq ft) Unlike a wood stove, it does not have a chimney, it just vents to the outside.  The heat is circulated away fro...

I know a lot of people who really don't get along with their siblings.  My sister and I have always been close.  I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we are fundamentally similar in our views, but our personalities are very different. But, to the point of this story.  I have been insanely busy at work.  We're building a new office, and I have been knee deep in planning, furniture, color selections, budgeting, electrical layouts, phone systems, etc. etc. etc. ...

My daughter is one of the youngest in her grade.  She is in 1st grade and won't be 6 until the end of October.  Last year, during Kindergarten round up, the Principal strongly suggested that we put her in early 5's instead of kindergarten.  I refused because she had already been in Parents as Teachers, 3 year-old preschool and 4 year-old preschool (which was taught at the school by one of the Kindergarten teachers).  The teacher from 4 year-old preschool said that she was mor...

I have 3 dogs (miniature dachshunds). One of them was diagnosed with cushings disease, and is on expensive medicine for it. I never really paid attention to how much my pets cost, but it ends up being more than I thought. First, each dog averaged $500 each to buy, so that is $1500. They are an average of 7 years old, and heartworm testing and medicine is $300 a tear for 3 of them, so, that is another $2100. My other dog now has a $70 a month drug need, and we have bought 4 months so far, ...

My daughter and I usually go grocery shopping together every Saturday. This Saturday was no different, except I also had to go to the bank, pick up a prescription, buy some printer paper, and return some stuff from Christmas. So, it was to be a busy day. After going to the bank, my daughter tells me that she is “starving” and “needs” to go to McDonald’s. I really don’t like McDonald’s food, but I usually get a coffee and watch her play after she picks at her Happy Meal. Of course, I ha...

We had a great dog when I was growing up. She died when I was 13. She was a golden colored pembroke welsh corgi. I have always wanted a welsh corgi, but somehow fell into a nest of weiner dogs instead (I have 3 mini dachshunds). So, just to prove that I really am insane, I bought a (tri colored) pembroke welsh corgi. Her name is "Holly" and my 5 year old daughter completely loves her. My daughter loves her so much that she will even try to help clean up messes. This, however, is not reall...

This week has just not been going well. My daughter had a cold, which then got worse and then she got an ear infection. By Sunday night, it was obvious that I would need to stay home and take her to the doctor, which I did. Luckily, she is now feeling better. Tuesday the power was out at the office. I stuck around (well, at least in the area) until about 12:30pm then gave up and left. So, that made 2 days of being behind on work. Today there was some hiccup with the co-lo servers and ...

I would like to start this off with first explaining my stance on Christmas in general. We are not a religious family. My daughter has never been to church, and the last time that I went to church I went with a family friend and that was over 10 years ago. My husband was in grade school the last time he went to church. We got married in a non-religious chapel because we were afraid that we would burst into flames if we tried to get married in a church. So, Christmas is different for us. It...