Another Chance Ranch

The Search for Socks

Socks are so hard to shop for.  It seems like every time I try to find socks for McD my inner tightwad comes out.  I mean, they are just socks for crying out loud.  Then one day I watched McD try to pull up his socks as he was driving.  Not only did it scare the crap out of me as we swerved on and off the road again, but it made me feel guilty for buying him the cheapest socks on the rack.  That is when the search for the perfect socks began.

Some of our friends were over one evening and somehow the subject of socks came up.  He said, "Gold Toe is the only way to go."  So, I went to J C Penney to see if I could find a better pair of socks.  And I did!

Here it is, the best tube sock I have found.  McD loves them!  Of course you have to need tube socks to love these socks. 

Now, if you will excuse me.  I have to go and figure out what to do with all the other socks, some of them haven't even been taken out of the package.

Magic?

Have you heard of the Magic Bullet?  I had not heard of it before.  Not until my sister called me last December telling me that was what I would be getting for Christmas, just not until sometime in January.  She was very excited, and giggly. 

They finally came, she ordered 4 of them...3 as gifts and 1 for herself.  She called before she even got home to tell me that, Handsome, my nephew, called to tell her there that several big packages arrived.  She was so excited.  My mom then called me, she was one of the Magic Bullet recipients, to tell me how wonderful it was.  She was making a smoothie everyday for lunch.  Here I sat, almost 3 hours away just dreaming of what I could do with one of this gadgets. 

Then one weekend my parents came to visit, I called her the day they were visiting and said, "Please do not forget my magic bullet."  As soon as they arrived my mom and I prepared our list of frozen fruit we needed from the store.  The guys were standing out by the fire McD had built and we were off.

McD made us steaks for supper and then mom made us smoothies for desserts, oh and I made McD a chocolate malt.  I don't think I am much of a smoothie person, but I am sure I will find more uses for this thing. 

It is very easy to use.  It smells though and it says everything in 10 seconds.  I guess if you want huge chunks of stuff in your so-called smoothie it would work in 10 seconds.   The malt even took longer than 10 seconds, but it isn't like it takes 10 minutes either.  I hope to find more ways to use this, but I am pretty partial to my regular food processor.

Then there's the box...

I decided to continue with yesterday's product review on Muck Boots, except this time it we are talking about the box the boots come in.  I normally don't have a great use for the boxes my shoes/boots come in but this time I do.

Mordecai has adopted this box as his own.  I almost threw it away a couple of times because really, it is just in my way.  But he loves his box.

Now how can you take the box away when you see this almost daily? 

Not only does he sleep on it, he plays with it too.  He is ate up with this box.  So there, you get the boots and your cat can have the box.  It is a two-in-one deal.

Product Review - Muck Boots

                                                      

Muck Boots ROCK!

I'm just giving my opinion here. 

About three years ago while were at Marlboro Man's family's farm his mom let me borrow some Muck Boots to run out to the arena.  It was close to midnight and we were walking out there to see Missy ride.  When she placed the rubber boots in front of me I remember thinking, "Gee thanks!"  Then I sunk my foot into them and my feet were on a cloud.  I can't explain how good they felt.  They have CR Grade Foam in them for extra comfort.   They felt so good I went out and bought some for myself.  I couldn't find the same style she had in our little town, so I settled for a chore boot instead of the tack classic. I really, really wanted the taller boot...mine aren't as tall as these pictured, but I wouldn't trade them for a different brand.

I might be mistaken, but Marlboro Man is wearing Muck Boots in this post of Ree's. 

About a month ago McD and I were in the city and I insisted we stop in and get him a pair, that way he will quit wearing mine.  (I got mine a size bigger than I needed for room when I wear thick socks.)  The boots in the above photo are McD's.  Mine were so dirty that I was embarrassed to show a photo of them.

The Muck Boot Co. has everything covered.  Do you need something to wear while gardening?  Maybe you don't have horses or cattle, but you have other pets...there are all kinds of muck footwear for ya.   They have "hippers" too.  Do you know hunters that need some good waterproof boots?  Check them out!  They make great gifts.  I got my mom a pair for Christmas a couple of years ago and she loves them!

Hope you found this interesting and/or helpful!

Go Bananas

With all of the New Year's Resolutions to lose weight this year I decided to post a something kind of healthy. 

Have you ever seen a chubby monkey?  No?  Well, there could be a good reason for that.  The smell of bananas may actually curb your appetite.  Bananas, along with vanilla, green apples, and peppermint are considered neutral smells, according to Dr. Alan Hirsch, neurologist and founder of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago and author of What's Your Food Sign?  In a study of 3,193 overweight people, those who were told to sniff these foods when they were hungry lost, on average, 5 pounds a month over 6 months.  In a different study, Hirsch found that sweet scents, such as chocolate, have the opposite effect:  They trigger hunger, which leads to overeating.  One possible reason neutral smells such as banana suppress your appetite is that they act on the satiety center, the part of the brain that tells the body when to feel full.  So the next time you're tempted to snack before dinner, try a sniff instead.  (BH&G - Sept 06)

Hope this was helpful to you.  As for me, I am going to test it on McD.  :)  We'll see if it really works.

The Good & The Bad

Typepad vs. Blogger

After being on Typepad for a little while now I still really like it.  I haven't had a lot of time to play with it and have found somethings I want to change.  Like the photos.  I have not figured out how to get them centered.  It drives me up the wall.  I don't have time to play with it right now, so they won't be centered for a  while.  That is okay I guess.  At least they load.

An amazing feature of Typepads, that I found when I was gone to Colorado, is the publishing feature.  It has a feature that will post for you while you are away, or are too busy to post.  All you have to do is type it all up, click publish on and the date and time you want it to post and save.  How sweet is that?  I had to test it before I posted any kind of review on it.  So there you have it.  While I was away, it posted three different posts for me.  I love it!  That is going to be extremely helpful! 

Now a little about Blogger.  I am still having difficulty leaving comments on some of your blogs.  If that continues then this weekend I am going to post all my comments here on my blog so you can see them.  I have been reading, but having a hard time letting you know. 

Balls

                                                   

                                                               

Dryer balls that is. 

My very first product report is on these dryer balls that I saw on television and just had to have.  I saw them a few months ago and was too cheap to pick up the phone and pay $20 + shipping for them.  So I waited.  One day I walked into a Goody's store and there they were for $9.99.  I couldn't resist. 

When I got home I ripped open the package and just held them for a while.  Trying to figure out how these balls were going to make my clothes softer and fluffier and even reduce static better than fabric sheets.  I decided I had to test these little suckers.  On the package it showed the difference with towels.  So I did the next best thing, washcloths.  The results are below:

                                                               

I heart my new balls!  In fact, I like them so much I am going to be buying several more sets as Christmas gifts.   They do make your clothes, towels, washcloths, etc softer, fluffier, and static free.  Another bonus is that they decrease drying time.  So they help save energy as well.