Car Wash Games

I gave in yesterday and finally washed my car.  It was in dire need of a wash but I'm so impatient and don't like to wait in line behind all the other filthy cars so I tend to put it off as long as I can. I mean really, I have things to do!  In the meantime I play a little game.  I watch all the other cars and see who has a dirtier car than mine.  I can usually find plenty of winners.  "Whoa!  Did you see that one?  Where's he been?  Four wheeling?  Sheesh!"  That always makes me feel better.

Then once I've washed my car the game changes to looking out for who hasn't washed their car recently.  "Oh wow!  She really needs a car wash.  Wonder what's holding her up? heh heh."  Then a little voice reminds me that my car is in that category 90% of the time and maybe I shouldn't laugh.  But I laugh anyway cause for once (and for about 10 minutes) my car is clean.  Well, the outside at least...

New Il Divo

I got the new Il Divo CD, The Promise, for Christmas and I love it!  It's just fabulous and better than their last CD.  If you don't have it, I think you should put it on your wish list. :) 

                                                

Here's to happy Christmas gifts!

time to organize

Always at this time of year I want to organize things. Well, I want to organize things pretty much all the time but mostly don't have (or take) the time but now I'm ready. And feeling a desperate need to do so. (Have you seen my desk?) I was pretty excited to see rubbermaid tubs (not for my desk) and other various organization tools in the ads yesterday. Am I the only one to get excited about that? Every year? 

I was also wishing we could have our 2nd annual Stuff Swap in January but alas, basketball trumps all. So, that gives me until March 21st to clean out and organize and clean out so I can donate all sorts of things. It just occurred to me that maybe not everyone knows what the Stuff Swap is... 

Our Stuff Swap is like a giant indoor garage sale where everything is free. People bring anything they want to get rid of and we set it all up by category in the gym at church. Then for the next few hours people can come "shop" and take home whatever they might need/want. Last year was a huge success and we had stuff in just about every category you can imagine - clothes, electronics, toys, fabric, decor... Someone even donated several bars of soap that they didn't want. That might sound odd but it was great! The left overs go to various charities such as Goodwill, the Jeffco Action Center (JAC), Warm Hearts Warm Babies, etc. Places like JAC help homeless or needy families so things like soap are needed. 

Anyway, it was really cool and I'm looking forward to it this year. (You may be able to tell that I'm also in planning mode...) I guess I'd better get back to my desk.

If your arms are full...

This morning I went to Sams Club to get stuff for our annual fondue dinner on Christmas Eve. I was putting two large trays of meat in the fridge... well, let's rephrase... I was holding two large trays of meat in one arm and attempting to move stuff with the free arm. You might already have a foreboding feeling, and maybe you're thinking 'why didn't she just put the meat on the counter?' Let's not oversimplify things. I was sure there would be no problem to juggle things. 

I reached for this largish tupperware, that was a little heavier than I had anticipated, and tried to move it up a shelf. The tupperware, however, decided that the floor was a better location. As I dropped it the lid went flying off and stroganoff-type sauce went flying everywhere. I got in my eye (even with my glasses on!), on my face, all over my clothes, across the room to the pantry doors... Needless to say there was a massive puddle on the floor with pork and potatoes swimming in a lovely brown gravy. 

Of course I was supposed to be at the church in 30 minutes, when do these things ever happen at convenient times? I was trying to clean up quickly so that I'd have enough time to change rather than go smelling like onion and mushrooms. And because it was wet and uncomfortable.

This afternoon I started making a cake that looks great. It's a cinnamon cake with caramel glaze and chopped cashews on top. You're supposed to make the topping so you can pour it on the hot cake while the sauce is hot. Sounds easy enough. BUT the cake, which is supposed to take 22-25 minutes to bake, has now taken 35 minutes and is so not done. And the caramel sauce is burned. I'm thinking the outside of the cake will likely burn before the inside is done. Sigh. So much for our yummy dessert tonight. 

I'd better get out of the kitchen before I create a real disaster. Good thing dinner is in the crockpot. I can't mess that up too much, can I? Can I? 

The Question

The question that is currently driving me batty is "Would you like that in a bag?"  Oh. My. Gosh. YES. I would like a bag. Call me a planet killer but I am not going to carry my [x-many] oddly shaped items out in the snow in my arms. 

Oh, no thanks. I'll just shove some of this in my pockets, some in my purse and some in my arms. No problem.

Sometimes it's only one item and not such a big deal but seriously people if I have more than that, put it in a bag. I will fully admit that I am not on the green bandwagon. I believe in taking care of our planet because it was a gift from Heavenly Father, however, that does not mean we must throw common sense out the window. 

So, the next clerk that says "Would you like a bag with that?" beware - I've been shopping for days on end and I'm tired and really tired of that nonsensical question. 

OH, and just print a stupid gift receipt unless you are prepared to accept a return without it without arguing! If you make stupid rules then play fair. 

Excuse my little Christmas rant. I'm almost done shopping and I'm sure I'll happy up soon. :)

Christmas Shopping

I was at Barnes & Noble this week and there were about 4 people in front of me. To one side they have a table for free gift wrapping done by various organizations that are hoping that you'll donate generously to their cause. (There isn't room for this table at the end of the line after you've paid so there it sits at the beginning of the line...) The guy immediately in front of me began talking to the lady at this table. Great, no problem. Accept that he totally forgot to monitor the line and before you know it it was his turn. There were two cashiers ready so I walked quickly past him to one of the cashiers and he stopped mid-sentence and said "Was I holding you up?" His face said so much more. It was more like "you dumb broad! What's your problem?" I smiled and said, "We're both up!" and pointed to the cashier who was waiting for him. Her face said, "Hey bozo, there are 20 people behind you who are ready to check out if you're not." (Never underestimate what a face can say. They say so much, you just have to pay attention.) Even my cashier was looking at him rolling her eyes because she had been waiting for him too.  

Now, what I really wanted to say to him was that I think it's wonderful that he's interested in the I'll-Wrap-Your-Gift-For-Free-If-You'll-Donate-To-My-Charity lady but if you're not going to pay attention and step lively when it's your turn, then don't be offended when I go in front of you. Step out of line until you're ready to be part of the line. 

That same day I was in line at Walmart and had a huge cart load (HUGE). The lady behind me started rolling her eyes and sighing. I was thinking she could have used those very eyes to look before she got in line and if she doesn't want to be behind my big cart, choose another line. And I have to mention that my order went very smoothly. It's not like I was that annoying customer that had 12 price checks and an open package that needed to be replaced, and, well you know what I mean. I just had a big order. 

So, today I'm heading out for more shopping. I hope I have nothing to report when I return.

pop

As we arrived at school this morning J saw a kid get out of the car in front of us carrying two 12-packs of pop. 

J - OH DANG! 

Me - I suppose you were supposed to bring something for German today? (German is the only class that sponsors parties - all the time!)

J - Yeah.  I need you to go to King Soopers and get me 2 12-packs of pop and bring them back.

Me - Why? What is it for?

J - Frau is back.

Me - So you guys all have to bring her pop?

J - No, we're just having a party. Just go get me some pop.

Me - No. I'm studying for finals and I have a cold and I'm tired. I'm sorry you didn't remember.

Several hours later the phone rings.

J - Mom, seriously, I really need you to bring me some pop right now, it's time for German.

Me - Fine. Be waiting outside.

I grabbed the only pop we have that I was willing to give up (i.e. not my diet Pepsi w/lime) and drove to school. J opened the car door and his mouth fell when he saw a 12-pack of lemonade and a 12-pack of Fresca. 

J -Are you serious!?

Me - Yeah, that's all we had.

J - I told you Mt. Dew and Coke.

Me - Did you? (Seriously, I don't remember him saying that at all which I attribute to the cold) Well, this is what I have.

J - Forget it. I'll just tell her I forgot.

I take a couple things away from this story: First is that teachers do not need to ask students to bring in lots of pop (btw, wouldn't one 12-pack be sufficient from one student?) to celebrate her return from a short absence. Second, as much as I would like to hope that J will learn from this, I'm sure he'll mostly remember that I was mean and didn't do exactly what he wanted. It won't even occur to him that he was the irresponsible one, not me. 

I'll just add this to my list of 101 ways to annoy your teenager. It's amazing how fast that list grows...

Tree Trimming

One of the things I love about Christmas is seeing the wonder and excitement in little kids. Last Friday, after our mad morning of shopping, I set out to put up the Christmas decor. My 5 year old nephew was all too happy to help so we started with the trees. First, he helped me check lights and we discussed ways to make the tree even "wonderfuler" and "beautifuler" and we talked about why they don't make brown Christmas lights (Joshie's favorite color!). He's glad they at least make orange (his other favorite color) and maybe he'll put a string of all orange lights in his room. (His mom doesn't think they own a string of all orange lights...)

Let's start with the tree on the patio. This is our "Scandinavian Tree" and it has several matching ornaments (thus the theme). Joshie was happy about that and as he started hanging them up he said "OH! Another snowflake. I'll put that right by this one."  I should mention here that Joshie has been a liner-upper his whole life. He puts everything into nice, neat little lines - M&Ms, cars, pumpkins, anything. So pretty soon I looked over at the tree and realized there was a line forming:

Next we went to the living room and did the silver tree. Another theme tree which means more matching of like-ornaments:

Last we started on the family tree. (Yes, we do have 3 trees. Yes, I'm a little crazy. No, I won't come decorate your house. No, mom likely won't put up even 2 of them after I leave.) As we were decorating this tree Joshie shared some of his logic with me. I told him to be very careful with the glass ornaments because they can break easily. He said, "Yeah, so we have to put them down low [this is where I paused and listened closer] so they won't break if they fall." Oh! Ok, really, not bad logic. Not quite the way I think of it but I can see where he's coming from. 

Then Tiernan, who's 3, woke up from his nap and needed to help too. Both of the boys were oooing- and aahing at all the ornaments they unwrapped, it was great. Tiernan replaces many letters with "w" and he was just cracking me up. "Dis one is not wastic [plastic]. Dis one is wass [glass], I will hang it on the wanch [branch]." But, the show stopper was when someone handed him a nutcracker to hang up. "Oh, dis nutwhacker is not wass!" Oh my. That was a good laugh. I've never met a kid who has such a knack for saying things the most inappropriate of ways so innocently! 

My two little decorating buddies:

It was also so funny to look at the tree when they were done because they both chose a spot and stuck to it, putting pretty much all their ornaments on just a couple branches.  This is Joshie's branch - it was so loaded down that it was touching the floor. We did move some of the ornaments after boys left so that we wouldn't step on them...

Tagged

8 TV shows I enjoy watching: (This assumes I have time to watch TV?)

1. The Office

2. I used to like Lost but now I'm kind of lost so I think this one is out...

3. History Detectives

Seriously that's all

8 Things that happened yesterday: (I guess we're assuming on this one that I can remember yesterday and specifically eight things about yesterday...) [I started this yesterday which means now I have a different yesterday than the one I began with so I’m going to do a combination of the last 2 yesterdays because why start over? That might hurt my brain that is on vacation!]:

1. Sacrament meeting was the primary program (lovely job ladies!!)

2. We had Dad's birthday party

3. Did the laundry and changed the sheets

4. Mom and I finally finished assembling hygiene kits

5. Went to the library

6. Ate peach pie - yum

7. I laughed about my Cort furniture snow globe

8. I contemplated cleaning off my desk - the desk lost

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Christmas! Everyone will be here!!

2. The end of the semester

3. Snow

4. Reading a book that I want to read

5. Sleep

6. Waffles with chocolate chips and whipped cream for Joshie's birthday

7. Cooking yummy food (this might surprise some of you but I've been quite out of it)

8. Christmas enrichment will be a happy memory rather than a big to do list in just a couple weeks...

8 Things I love about Fall:

1. The leaves (is there anyone that doesn't love the leaves?)

2. Walking in the park (ok, this is a memory not a recent event but I'm pretty sure I used to like that in the fall.)

3. Cooler weather

4. The holiday season begins!

5. school supplies  What a dork! I know!  But really, when summer is ending and school is starting I love getting new school supplies.

6. Pumpkin - yum! 

7. Well, most fall baking really

8. Winter comes next and that’s fun

8 Things on my [I’m changing this from my “wish list” to my “thankful list” because I can’t seem to put my wishes out there. No worries, they aren’t weird or anything, they’re just touchy at the moment.]:

1. My family

2. Good friends

 The Gospel

 Technology

 Laughing

 Four seasons

 That I live in America

 Chocolate - let’s be honest, no ‘thankful’ list would be complete without it!

Tag! You’re it!

Tales from the...

Public restroom! Yes, it's time for some potty talk.  

First, there's a girl in my math class that for some reason I've run into in the bathroom multiple times. (Perhaps that's because I was blessed with a tiny bladder and spend more time in the bathroom than normal people...) This wouldn't be such a big deal except that she doesn't wash her hands! (You notice these things as you stand in line waiting for your turn.) One time she paused in front of the sink, while talking on her cell phone, and then apparently decided that there was no need to wash and she left.  

So, what's the big deal besides the fact that that is sick!? Well, we were grading each others quizzes in math yesterday and mine didn't get handed back in right away so the teacher asked who had it - it was the-girl-who-doesn't-wash-her-hands! Ish! I really wanted to tell her she could just keep it and I'll assume I did ok on it and we'll call it good. I held my tongue but it was a close one.

The other thing I've noticed among random people is even more disgusting! I know, one almost hates to ask what could be worse. I've seen more than one woman come out of the stall, proceed straight to the hand dryer, dry her hands and leave the bathroom. Pause! Let me know if I've forgotten something here (I'm running on less sleep than is recommended) but generally when one dries ones hands doesn't that usually indicate that there was moisture on the hand(s)? And if you just left the toilet stall and did not stop at the sink dare I wonder what is on the hand that needs drying? And, further, if I am correct in my assumptions, then I really wanna know what the heck is wrong with some people that they would dry pee on their hands to save themselves the trouble and time (what? one minute if you are really thorough maybe) of washing with soap and water before drying???

running through my mind

More random thoughts - sorry, that's about all I can handle at the moment.  :)

1. It's a good thing Pepsi products are on sale this week - my stock of Diet Pepsi is dangerously low!

2. Is it ever going to get cold?  Weird, I know.

3. Hmm, how late was it when I typed this paper?  There are a lot of typos...

4. I'm really thankful when I find things that give me hope!

5. After these papers all at once finals will seem like a breeze...  Hopefully. 

The big 16

Last Sunday we had Justin's birthday party. With the big 16 and all we had to have a party, right? 

So, I got pictures to load this time but they're in the reverse order that I wanted them... Whatever.    

Here's little Mia, my niece (she's Becky's but I get to claim her for the moment because this is my blog...) who got to enjoy some mushed up something or other while we all had cake and ice cream.  She kept looking at our plates, pretty sure that something was not right...  So not fair. 

Here's the birthday boy. You might notice something missing - lots of hair. About a month ago he decided he'd had enough and cut it off. He looks older and really great! :) And this is, of course, the best picture I could get of him. Grrr. (That's a mom 'grrr' for when mom's get annoyed with kids who just go out of their way to be difficult.)

This is the joker cake. Becky did a great job! The fondant joker piece was in a box on my bed when I got home from church (so that Justin wouldn't see it before the party) and I have to tell you, it kinda creeped me out when I looked inside. Maybe next year Justin will be into something cute and cuddly rather than creepy and menacing...  Right, I won't hold my breath.

We had confetti poppers and balloons and Joshie & Tiernan especially liked that! Such fun! 

AWOL

Where did I go?  Well, I've been a little overrun lately so I fell off the blogosphere but here's a little update.  Not in any particular order, I've been...

1. Writing long papers!  Only 2 left to do.  (That doesn't sound good to me yet...)  Here's my stack of reference material from paper #1:

And here's the aftermath of the post-it tabs when I have to return the books...  (Have I blogged about post-it tabs yet???  They're just about my favorite thing - best thing since sliced bread for sure!  If you haven't tried them, you should!!  If you need an idea of where to use such wonderful little things let me know and I'll help you.)

2. Worrying about J.  Who, by the way, just turned 16!!  Eeehh!

3. Working on a great service project with the RS and of course enrichment is coming up... on finals week...

4. Keeping up with political campaigns

Ok, I'll stop with the list.  But, I can't promise to be better about blogging for a few more weeks - I still have 1 1/2 projects in one class, 2 papers, 2 math tests...........

Oh, I tried to upload pics of J - much more interesting than piles of books but it won't work so maybe I'll try again later.

Running Through My Head

Just some random thoughts running through my head...

1. If I have to pay outrageous, absurd, over-the-top (one might even say unethical) prices for text books - they better be perfect. No spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors. No inconsistencies. And no, that isn’t too much to ask! Not when you pay $30 for a 200 page used book. (Would you pay that much for a skinny little book at Barnes and Noble? No way!)

2. Teenagers are an enigma. One minute they like you and the next they hate you. What the heck? How are we supposed to navigate around them?

3. When did socialism become acceptable, and even desirable, to so many Americans? And why are so many so eager to try it out???

4. If you are very tired maybe you should just skip shaving and wear long pants. I got my ankle bone and it bled. And bled and bled and bled.  And bled.

5. NObama, NObama, NObama!

6. I better stop blogging and study for my midterms...

Brothers

Last night I asked the little boys (my nephews) if they wanted to have a fire in the fire pit. Of course they did! What self-respecting little (or big) boy doesn't want to play with - or near - fire? So we put jackets on and headed outside only find that it was raining. :(   Joshie and Tiernan were really quite upset so Justin explained that the wood was too wet. 

Tiernan, who is 2, said, "Wet's go in da sront yard!" [Let's go in the front yard!]

His big brother Joshie, who has reached the wise age of 4, put his hands in the air, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Tiern, it's raining in the front yard too." Then he made a classic Joshie face that said 'sorry kid, better luck next time!' 

Good thing uncle Nick got there just then! He saved the day, as always, by letting the boys tackle him relentlessly. Poor Nick probably went home with a headache and a sore back but the little guys were sure happy! 

This is Important because...

In a jar you have collected spare coins. You have the same number of dimes as quarters. The rest are nickels. You have a total of 34 coins valuing $4.20. How many of each coin do you have?

Now really, if you are neurotic enough to need to know how many of each type of coin you have in your jar - and you only have 34 coins - just take the bloomin' things out and count them! 

Oh, I know, this is not about coins necessarily, it's just a way to think about a certain type of math problem.  (Forget that there's a whole category of word problems called 'coin problems.') I maintain that it's a ridiculous kind of math problem that will likely never do me any good. 

I've realized that half of my problem in math is that I sit there and think to myself "this is so STUPID!" or "I am ne-ver going to use this!" and that distraction (never mind how TRUE it is) makes math even harder. But it's true! (You can see that I really do get stuck here.)

Milk women instead of cows?

In case you're not already convinced that PETA is out of their minds, here's one more reminder - maybe the best yet. They have asked Ben & Jerry's ice cream to use human breast milk rather than cow milk. Those little baby cows need milk whereas human babies.... I don't know, I guess they don't need it...  You can read the article and the letter sent to Ben & Jerry's here:

http://www.wnbc.com/new/17539627/detail.html

Good for PETA! Let's milk women instead of cows!! We could have milking stalls at the local mall where you could donate unwanted breast milk. No pump with you? No worries we have extras! A little shy? Well then, just pull this lovely privacy curtain around you. Bring your full container to the receptionist and she'll give you cash on the spot. It's that easy!

Why hasn't anyone thought of this earlier?  Now, some of you moms are thinking that you have plenty of extra milk so this could be a great opportunity for you but what about those moms without extra milk? How ever will they choose - feed my baby or make ice cream?  

And think of the extra choices you'd have at the local Ben & Jerry's store. Hmm, I think I'll have a Mooo-ther's Milk with chocolate sprinkles. Wait, are those milk chocolate sprinkles? No? Oh, um, then I'll have to pass on those. Just 2 scoops of Mooo-ther's Milk please.

Mmm, mmm! I'm hungry just thinking about it!

Less Laundry

Over the last few weeks I've noticed that J's laundry is quite a bit less than it has been in the past. He'll probably suggest that it's because he has no clothes and therefore nothing to wash.  I assure you, this is not the case. You might think he's wearing dirty clothes over and over.  Trust me, he's not into that - he likes his image far too much. What then, can be going on?  

I realized that I haven't been bothering him as much about picking up the clothes on his floor and putting them away.  Of course when I say that, I mean 'away' in the sense of putting them in a dresser drawer (he has 5 drawers available to him) or hanging them neatly (or not neatly - what do I care?) on hangers in his closet (where he has ample room). Since those options don't appeal to him (FAR to much work and sadly, then he "can't find anything") he leaves them on his floor. When I bug him to put them away, he puts them in his laundry hamper and brings them down on laundry day. So since I haven't been bugging him, he hasn't bothered "cleaning up" and I have less laundry to do. 

This is one of those contradictions that as a parent I'm not quite sure how to address. I mean, I appreciate less laundry but, really, he should learn to put his clothes away... Eh, whatever. Less laundry for me!

The Little Things

Life is full of little things that make me happy so I thought I'd share some of them that I've enjoyed this week.

1. I love it when my hair turns out really cute but I can't for the life of me figure out what I did differently... This also confuses me but I'm more happy than confused so happy wins. 

2. I love finding a great new recipe!

3. I love sleeping in a bed that you just changed the sheets on cause the sheets are all tight and even if you make the bed every day it's never quite like that until you change the sheets again.

4. As I study history I love to see how things worked together to ready the world for the Restoration! It's so cool!

5. I love it when I get a math problem right the first time. Seriously, this doesn't happen very often so it's really a happy thing when it does!!

What are some things that make you happy?

To Disengage My Brain

Some weeks the 'tiredness' sets in more severely than others and this is one of those weeks.  This morning I told Justin that I'm going to have Diet Pepsi for breakfast and I'm so tired I might just die by the end of the week. (yes, of course I'm being dramatic)  He said, "oh no."  You know, I'm not entirely sure he was concerned.

Last night my eyes just hurt and I was about to fall asleep on the spot - where ever that spot may be.  Until I got into bed. Then there's an instant awakening as my head hits the pillow and my brain starts going over and over what happened today and what I need to do tomorrow, etc. I have got to learn to disengage my brain at bed time but I have no idea how. Ok little brain, enough is enough - if you can't work properly during the day (what was that I was supposed to do??) you certainly don't need to bother at bed time. Because then I can't sleep for way too long and by the time I actually go to bed it's already late then I start to freak out cause I can't sleep and now I'll really be tired cause I'll only get __ hours of sleep at the best...  which makes it worse and then I really can't sleep. What a viscous cycle! My brain needs to work with me, not against me.  I think that's only fair.

etiquette question

Today I arrived at my class about 10 minutes early. This was a mistake because I sat down and instantly the girl next to me began talking. And she didn't stop until the professor walked in and began class. You might be thinking that this doesn't sound like such a big deal. Let me give you a little taste of our one-way conversation: 

She talked about her favorite English teacher, who sadly only teaches 100 level classes so even though he was a bit eccentric she's sad that she can't take his class again. Then she said she was so glad our book this semester is hardback (yeah, me too - that only adds another pound of two to the monstrous thing) because it's so much better, (gasp for breath) but then "there's just not room to annotate and really what are you supposed to do? Put sticky notes all over? Then that looks messy but really I just like to be able to write lots of notes. In other books there's lots of room to write so I don't know what I'll do with this one." yada, yada, yada...

Then she went on for-e-ver about how each and every one of her books arrived in the mail - what packing was used (FOR EACH ONE) and what shape they were in and she gets sooo frustrated if the corner is bent or anything like that (gasp for breath)...

So, what's the proper etiquette in a situation like that? I believe my eyes glazed over today and I just nodded every so often and wished the teacher would hurry on up and start the class. I think next week I'll meander the halls until about 1 minute before class starts.

Falling Leaves

Fall is on its way and I'm pretty excited! I do think the Aspen next door has jumped the gun a little because it's mostly lost all of it's leaves already but nevertheless I'm happy to see the change coming. Some other things I love about fall:

1. Yankee candles that give off delicious fall smells such as pumpkin and fall harvest and mulled cider.  Yum!  I just got a BOGO coupon in the mail for Yankee so maybe I'll go check out their new fall scents...

2. A chill in the air. I love, love, love the cooler weather!!  Here's funny scene I came upon yesterday - my mom and brother sitting in the living room complaining to each other about how freezing cold (they were serious) it was yesterday. Yesterday was 65 degrees out. They'll be good company for each other when it actually does get cold.

3. Most of the girls at school will start to wear more clothes - this is really good!

4. I like to walk through the park in the fall.

5. The leaves.  Who doesn't like the leaves?

Once fall really does arrive I'll probably add to my list but this will tide me over for today.

Freezer Meals

Yesterday Becky and I made freezer meals.  She wanted to do this last winter before Amelia was born so that she'd have some easy meals while the baby was brand new so we did it and it was great.  It was a lot of work but for me, when it came to midterms and finals it was so nice to have something in the freezer ready to go. I'm sure my family appreciated having dinner during those weeks as well.  So, I decided we should do it again for this semester.  

Here are some rules/suggestions to follow if you'd like to do freezer meals:

1) You need a good friend to work with.  Here are my helpers:

Becky and Amelia (who was decidedly bored with the whole process) and Tiernan and Joshie. Tiernan is very often my sous chef. He does a fabulous job. 

(The junior helpers aren't as much help as you'd sometimes like but they do make the day more entertaining! Oh! And they think they are loads of help!)

2) Good music that you play really loud. When the junior helpers arrived I had to turn it down a little, well, quite a bit, but you still need fun music. And I'm not talking Kenny G put-you-to-sleep stuff, I mean something that makes you want to dance and keeps you going.

3) Plan ahead. You need to plan the meals you want to make, make a good shopping list and shop the day before. Don't forget things like foil pie plates or pans and good quality freezer bags. If you are really on top of things (we weren't so good at this this time) you will plan ahead far enough in advance so that you can watch for sales on the items you'll be using.

4) You need an apron. Ok, maybe you don't but I sure do. I think I'm perhaps the messiest cook ever. The apron is in the washing machine as we speak. 

5) Back to planning, you should take a few minutes to make note of where each dish will be cooked and how much time it will take.  Stovetop, oven, crockpot, etc. You can't have everything on the stovetop all at once so you have to coordinate. 

6) Have fun. I realize that to some of you this sounds like drudgery (and by the end of the day you're body will agree) but you'll be so glad to have a freezer full of good things to eat. And when you have a really super crazy schedule, as is prone to happen on occasion around here, you'll be even more glad that you have them in your freezer!

Here are some of the things we made:

Breakfast Burritos

Tuscan Bean Soup

Split Pea Soup with Ham (left) and Taco Chili (right)

We also made (but don't have pictures of) Spaghetti Pie, Chili Verde, Texas Beef Skillet, Chicken Caesar Casserole, and Florentine English Muffins.  In the end we each left with 10 dinners. I did the burritos before they arrived (because Becky had just made those at home) so I also have those in my freezer. And, because we're crazy, we also cooked and shredded about 22 chicken breasts so we each have a nice store of shredded chicken breast in the freezer.  

If we were just doing our meals it would have taken from about 9:30am to 4:30pm but since we did the chicken too that took until about 7:30pm. Next time we're probably not doing chicken on the same day. Right? 

And my dad was gem and cleaned up the kitchen last night. Let me assure you, I had already done 3 loads of dishes and taken the trash out 3 or 4 times and swept twice (I mentioned that I'm a messy cook, yes?) so I don't mean to imply that we left everything for him to clean up but the stove was rather a mess and there was yet another pile of dishes. And I planned on scrubbing the stove this morning but I sure am grateful that Dad got the jump on that! :)

Steinbeck is for the Birds!

Who decided that John Steinbeck's books are classics?? I tried to read The Grapes of Wrath when Megan was reading it for school - it was terrible. And terribly boring. I never finished it and have no desire to ever return to it. 

This year I am determined to read the books Justin is reading in English so that we can talk about them, etc. (And I'm secretly hoping that it will give me an edge when he says he's read something - then I can quiz him and see if he's being honest or not...) The first book this year was Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. In the first 12 pages there were 17 swear words and the Lord's name was taken in vain 10 times. I assure you that there were instances of one, and usually both, on every single page in the book. No exaggeration.

Now I will say that it's a story with complex themes that can be pulled apart and analyzed, which is exactly what English teachers love to do, but I just didn't think it was that great. Certainly not a book that should be on everyone's 'must read' list. I guess I just feel like there's no reason to read a book that is filled with crap when there are so many books out there that truly are great! Why is it hard for the English department to find them?

Next up is The Great Gatsby - I can only hope it's an improvement.

Justin fell in alright

Yesterday Justin's friend was teaching him how to do a "fall in" trick on his skateboard - and it worked. He fell. And banged up his toes, has a nice bump on his knee and I'm thinking he maybe has a concussion. His jaw hurts pretty bad and he has a bad headache and was dizzy for a little while. Poor kid. Maybe this will be a good incentive not to try falling tricks any more. It seems they aren't so good for you. But then I do tend to avoid pain whenever possible, so maybe that's just me. He'll probably try again but hopefully not until his head has had proper healing time.

Denvocratic National Convention

It's finally taken over! The Denvocration National Convention is in town this week so I just thought I'd put word out there that if any big news or interesting news, etc. happens in the world you might think of letting me know because in Denver all we care about is the convention and Comrade Obama. Don't get me wrong - this an historic event and important, and I'm into politics, etc., etc., etc. but really, I'm not kidding when I say it's all we talk about on the news, in the paper, on the radio... you get my point. I think the whole state of Washington could fall off into the ocean and we wouldn't even hear about it.  

I'm glad I get to stay nice and snug in my little corner of the world this week. :)

Shout out

I just thought I'd give a shout out to a favorite of mine on laundry day!  Becky recommended Shout Color Catcher sheets in the wash and I'm hooked.  

You use a sheet in the washing machine when you have new clothes, or clothes that are dark and may bleed the first few times you wash them - think of the dark, dark jeans that are the thing these days...  They work like a charm!  They catch all the bleeding color and keep it from messing up your other clothes.  These are right up there with Magic Erasers in my book!  :)

9pm on any given Sunday

What is it about the 9:00 hour on Sunday evening that reminds kids (read: teenagers especially but not exclusively) everywhere that they still need their moms?  

9pm: "Mom?  Can you help me with my homework?"

Mom:  "Hmm, didn't get that done yet, huh?"

Kid:  "Seriously, can you just help me?"

Mom:  "Sure. What do you have to do?"

Kid:  "Two papers."

Mom:  Blank stare followed by "Did you say TWO PAPERS?"

Kid:  "Yeah, well, pretty much. Well, one is just a poem [at this point mom is remembering the last time she had to help kid write a poem, it was not an easy or short process...] and the other is a paragraph about the American Dream and what it means."

Mom:  Thinking the paragraph might not be too bad - and at least it's not really 2 whole papers - but the poem might kill us.  "Ok well, let's get started."

10:30pm:

After a long evening of "your ideas are all stupid!" and "just HELP me" and "just write it down then I'll put it in my own words" followed up with "great! Do it yourself then" and "I've already graduated from high school so this is for you to do" and "think of how much less stress you'd have if you'd started this earlier" --- 

Kid:  "I don't even care if it's long enough, it's close enough. I'm going to bed."

Mom:  "Great way to start the year.  Can you please bring your planner AND write in it tomorrow?"

Kid:  "Maybe.  Night mom.  Love you."

Mom:  "Night, love you."

And let the school year begin!

Makin' Waves

I made a few waves today with the feminists in my Lit class as we were discussing a character in a short story.  In a nutshell the lady finds out her husband has died in an accident, grieves for about 2 minutes then she's elated as she realizes she's "free, free, free." To her dismay hubby walks in the door, clearly alive and well, and she falls down dead from the shock. The story is set in the year 1894.

We were discussing possibles for the story such as did she ever try to be happy in her relationship? Clearly since she couldn't be the CEO of a multi-national corporation back then so there was no possibility of happiness for her. Unless her hubby died. A girl in our class said she understands the woman's grief and sense of relief because you know back then she couldn't have even talked to her husband. Men didn't care one bit about women on any level, and never wanted to hear anything they had to say or what they wanted, etc. And on she went. 

I finally raised my hand and said I had to disagree. (I'm so, so tired of hearing how poor women have been miserable for their entire existence until about the 1960s!)  I said that "too often when people look back at history they assume that no one was happy until modern times, that no one had anything good in their lives and that's just wrong. It's just not true." Then I read the part of the story that says her husband's "face never looked upon her save with love," which seems to indicate that he loved her. Or am I misreading? Certainly a possibility.

I refuse to believe that all women in history have been miserable. That's just ridiculous. This story seemed to indicate that this marriage may have been arranged - we get to choose our marriage partners these days and that doesn't guarantee happiness any more than an arranged married guaranteed misery. I think that people have been and will always be able, in most cases, to find some level of happiness and contentment within their sphere if they try. If we don't put any effort into it then that's to our own detriment and the same was true for women of the past and will be for women of the future.  I didn't give this whole spiel (and believe me, I could go on but I'll spare you...) but I think even my short comment annoyed the girl in the back who prefers to think only modern women can possibly be happy. I wonder how much she limits her own happiness, even today, by dwelling on what she still thinks she can't do?

cell phone dependency

Justin lost his cell phone in a creek while we were in Utah and it's really made me realize how dependent I am on that little piece of technology! Hopefully his new phone will arrive soon but in the mean time it makes simple communications not so simple. Sometimes I have to walk all the way up to his room (2 flights!) just to remind him to set his alarm to get up for school and sometimes I just want to send him a text while he's with his friends so he can remember that his annoying mom is thinking about him.  That's of course with the hope that he'll 'remember who he is...'  haha!  And further, how did parents ever know exactly where their kids were after school before the advent of cell phones? Not that the cell phone is a fool proof plan for that but it does at least help. I miss his phone!

Real Life

Ah sigh, it's back to real life tomorrow. I've been enjoying this summer and even came to the conclusion that summer might not be my least favorite time of the year any more. (Don't get too excited, it's still not on the top of the list...) We had great visits with our friends and lots of fun with our family in Utah and then here the last three weeks! I can't lie though, I'm ok with hearing less tattle tailing for a little while... 

School starts tomorrow and I haven't even got my backpack in order or the clothes folded or most of my books purchased or anything. I think this is officially the least prepared I've ever been for the start of a semester - hopefully that doesn't indicate how this semester will go! (I better go set my alarm right now while I'm thinking about it.)

Drat!

Drat! A few months ago I had put my hair back in a ponytail and to my horror I saw a few grey hairs. (Have I written about this?) Well, I was a little stressed because they were at the back of my head which surely means that there are more that I can't even see. And the only reason I saw these buggers was because of the ponytail. Now, fast forward a few months to 2 days ago. My hair is a little on the short side now so no more ponytails for me. BUT, I put my glasses on and pushed them back on my head while I brushed my teeth (which pushed my hair back) and to my horror I saw more than a few grey hairs. I plucked 8! Then I stopped counting - it was disheartening, as I'm sure you can imagine. I vigilantly pluck the greys in front but how am I to get to the bloomin' things in the back??

So, here's my dilema? What do I do? I'm far too young to have a head full of grey. Maybe I'm just being vain but I'm ok with that right now. Do I start dying? If I do that I have to keep up with it and that can be expensive (and potentially damaging to my hair) plus if I ever decided to stop it would be rather a shock when people saw so much grey all at once.

Do I just highlight and pluck? That wouldn't cover it all up but maybe a fair amount? Or should I just suck it up and live with it? No. I don't like that option...

It's a Banner Day!

Woohoo!  Joshie and Tiernan helped me make breakfast bars today and here's the best news of all - Joshie is eating one!!  Wow! This is huge. He doesn't eat anything so this is great. No seriously, he has a list of about 6 items he'll eat. You can ask him and he'll recite the list for you.  The breakfast bars are also healthy - made with wheat flour, oats, bananas (or zucchini if you like) and nuts - which makes it all the more exciting.  Becky and I were practically dancing in the kitchen (where he couldn't see us of course).

lost and found

When I bought my little car a few years ago, the previous owner had removed the part of the cup holder that keeps the cups in place.  Very annoying but I didn't realize when I bought it how much it would annoy me.  Anyway, when he or she removed that part of the car (that should always stay in the car!) it left a little hole on both sides of the console thing (and that's what this story is really about).  One day I was driving home from work and I took my cute little earrings out and tossed them into the console where I could grab them when I got home - if I put them in my purse, I'd lose them for sure.  As I turned the corner, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my earring slide right down the hole in the side of the console.  Then I turned another corner and the other one went down with her friend as well.  I was really sad because I had only worn them once.  

Fast forward to about a week ago - I had to take my car in to have some sensor replaced and they had to take that part of the console apart...  And they found my earrings!  How fun is that?  Well, I was pretty excited because I figured I'd never see them again and now here they are!  Yay!  But, they also found a third earring that I can only speculate must have belonged to the previous owner because, despite my plethora of earrings, I've never seen it and never owned a pair like that one.   Perhaps that's fair that her earring was never recovered by her since she ripped the cup holders out.  Or, I suppose, it could be sad that she lost an earring because someone else ripped the cup holders out.  Or maybe finding her earring wouldn't be as exciting for her as it was for me...  :)

Fresh Raspberries

Our raspberry bushes are full this year and the birds haven't been eating the berries before we get to them for once.  I made a raspberry cobbler one night that was yummy and I have another batch of raspberries to use. Maybe we'll make jam if we get enough raspberries all at once...  Yummy! This is one of the blessings of summer.

jewelry

A couple months ago we had an enrichment class on jewelry making and we made bracelets. I went and made a couple bracelets and put them away and didn't think much about it. The last little while, however, I decided to try my hand at it on my own - seeing how I'm a jewelry fiend and all.  So, here are a few I've made this summer.  Nothing spectacular but it's kind of fun.  

I've tried earrings to go with a couple of these but I can't figure out how to make the wire wrap so they're just going to sit in my box until I learn how to do that I guess.  

Perils of the basement

Sometimes living in the basement is great. But there are risks that go with that life and one of them is particularly traumatizing for me. Spiders. They seem to think the basement is their space as well (it's not!!) and lately they've been a little too bold.  I have spider traps all around my room (5 plus one in the bathroom) and they do catch a number of the little creeps but they were a little full and there must have been a sign on each that said "No Vacancy" because there were 5 sightings in the last couple days.  OH! Don't worry, that's not all, there are also 3 bites on my legs with fang marks in the middle.  So, the snake-that-lives-right-by-your-window isn't doing his job of eating spiders so they don't come into my room (that really is what snakes do) so I'm going to have to evict him if he doesn't start working harder.  Dad's going to spray once we leave for Utah but that's still 2 weeks away so I'll be tense until then.  Ish! I hate the icky, scary, nasty, little (and sometimes not little) beasts!

Family, Food, and Fireworks

Yesterday we had a BBQ with the fam and lots of delish food.  We made our traditional homemade peach ice cream and Tiernan was really excited to "wick" the paddle that churns the ice cream.  Yum!  

We gave the boys pops (snaps) to do while it was light out then Justin lit a flower inside a pail of water. Here's what Tiernan thought of it:

Once it got dark Justin and Jeff played pyrotech and put on the show for us.  All the boys (big and little) enjoyed sparklers:

Tiernan was so excited - he's only 2 so this is like a new experience for him - and he was jumping (literally, jumping up and down all over the grass) all over and laughing and kept saying, "wet's do it again!"  

After we ran out of fireworks Joshie and Tiernan, who were really wound up, pounced on Justin.  He had to run the first chance he got or I think they would have clung to his back like monkeys the rest of the night.  

What a fun Fourth of July!!  Hope ya'll had a fun time too!

Painting with a 4-year old

Yesterday I decided to paint the chairs in the patio (this adventure started out with 2 chairs in mind and ended up with only one done) that I had put off forever and ever.  I asked Justin to come out and open the paint can for me and my nephew Joshie followed him out to help because 4-year olds like to help.  Just a few minutes earlier I had suggested that maybe Joshie would like to help Justin clean his bathtub (rather than watch him play video games).  Justin didn't think that was a good suggestion and when he saw Joshie, the paint, the chair, and his loving mom, he concocted an evil plan.  He suggested to Joshie that he might like to help Carrie paint the chair, that would be way more fun than cleaning a bathtub!  Since I'm everyone's favorite aunt, of course I said ok.  Oh, also maybe because I was not thinking...

It started out just fine.  Joshie, of course, filled his paintbrush to overflowing and it dribbled on his foot and the grass on the way to the chair.  Then he leaned his hand into the wet paint while he was reaching for another part of the chair and got all blue.  I told him his dad would think he was turning into Cookie Monster (blue paint) if he kept getting paint all over himself.  While all this is going on I was trying desperately to catch the many, many drips of paint because it was really hot outside and they were drying fast, when, out of the blue I was attacked.  My leg had a big blue patch on it and my little 4-year old nephew was laughing so hard. 

A paint fight ensued.  I will say it went on much, much longer than I had thought it would but how can you get mad at the kiddo when he's clearly having so much fun and his laugh is so merry and true?  Here's the little devious face in question:

You can see it says trouble.  And then I'm trying to ward off another attack.  You might notice that my arms, neck and legs are covered. And it's in my hair. And on my shirt. And my face... I reminded him that we're painting the chair not his favorite aunt Carrie! He just swiped me again.

And now he's supposed to be washing his paint off (he was all too glad to take his shirt off and play in the water while I tried to finish the chair.)

But, you can still see the devious look on his face. This would be when he began plotting his water attack.  With the sprayer that reaches really, really far.

The moral of the story is do not attempt to work on projects when your 4-year old nephew is at your house unless you want to be blue. (Thankfully my 2-year old nephew was napping.  When he woke up he kept looking at me and Joshie then at his hands and telling me, "I don't have bwue on my hands..."  I think he realized he missed out on something...) I'll finish my project later and hope I have enough paint...

Dance in the Rain

So I saw a sign in a catalog that said, "Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass, It's about learning to dance in the rain."  I really liked it but it was $40! Plus shipping and all that yada so this weekend I made my own (which is cuter than the one in the catalog, I think):

This isn't the best picture but I would need my photographer sister(s) here to get a decent pic and they aren't anywhere nearby.  ;)  It ended up being a little more involved than I had anticipated but that's mostly due to the time spent figuring out how to best do a long quote on the board. It was kinda fun. I haven't done a craft for awhile but look out - now I'm in that mode!

Snake Update

Here's my mom's "little buddy" the snake-that-lives-right-by-your-window:

I caught him sunning himself the other day (although this is only one of the two that live here) and thought I'd better put a picture of him on here in case you thought I was just looking for empty sympathy. I wasn't. He's real. And right by my window.

hair, hair, hair

Megan & Jeremy went to Thailand last month and they were showing us pictures of their trip (way fun!  You can click on "Megan" in my blog list to see more fab photos she took in Thailand, just scroll down aways once you get there...) and I learned something new!  Teenage elephants have long hair just like teenage humans!  Who knew? See:

So, apparently it's a cross-species thing and both elephants and humans grow out of it.  

New 'do

Ok, I decided it was time for a new do again so here it is...

I don't know if these pics are the best but the ones Justin took were a little random and didn't work so well. So much for my great helper!

I really love it and it's nice and cool. Oh! And ea-sy to take care of. (That's huge!)

Summer School is Crap!

I must rant for a minute. My dearest child is in summer school, apparently he didn't feel his needs were met during the regular school year and he wanted more. Ok fine. Whatever. (Here's where the rant starts.) It costs $150/class (he paid for it) and ruins, I mean, takes up most of the summer. You may or may not wonder what they do during summer school. I didn't, but I was naive. I'm so silly, I thought when he's there to make up an English class they'd do English class type work. Well, no worries, it's a lot more fun than that! It's storytime!!! Woohoo!

What? You think I jest? Oh no, I assure you, that's the nicest way I can explain what they do there. They will be reading 3 whole books this summer BUT rather than expect the widdwe kids to wead the teacher is reading them out loud. I called to ask the Vice Principal about it and he said he has no idea what they do in class as that is not his job. Huh? Whose job is it then? What do the principal and his little wing men do in all their spare time since they have no idea what goes on in classrooms?

Anyway, no homework, basically no written work. Just sit and listen nicely kids. OH! I forgot, they do have 20 minutes each day that they have to read all by their-own-selves, but, lest it become an arduous task, the wee ones can read anything they'd like, even comic books. I thought that was bad enough but don't worry, today was the most fun of all. They watched I Robot. Why? Did it have relevance to something - although I'd be hard pressed to understand why it would be necessary or even acceptable? Nope. It was just fun cause they had a substitute. Apparently subs cannot even read out loud - that task is much too difficult and more than can be expected. Gee, I think I won't be a teacher, I'll just sub - great pay, basically no work.

Here's my main dilema. I must ask this question - what is the purpose of summer school? And why must students take summer school to make up specific credits such as English, science, or math and not gym, foods, or foreign language? If what they should have learned (but apparently didn't learn because they failed) in those classes is important is that not the reason to require that they make it up? They must have passing grades in these classes to graduate. Why? If the school treats summer school classes as a joke, or more accurately as a fund raiser, then it seems that the classes cannot possibly be very important. And if it is, what is wrong with the school?

I realize these are the "loser" kids who failed. I further recognize that while Justin has his issues there are kids there that have way more severe issues. However, just because these kids gave up does not mean the school can give up on them. I realize they blew it. I realize they, for the most part, don't care. Yet, as educators is it not your job to try every possible means to help them succeed? And by that I simply mean teach them the English skills they will undoubtedly need in the coming years (and for the rest of their life) rather than treating this as a joke and filling it with mindless drivel. I also realize that parents of many of these kids don't care either but never should a teacher assume that a failing child has a parent that doesn't care. I would bet I'm not the only parent who is appalled at the lack of substance in this required time waster they call summer school. It is nothing but a fundraiser and a farce. Ok, I could go on but this is long enough. :)

New Toy

I got a rice cooker for Mother's Day and finally tried it out the other day. It's great!! It has a delay timer, which for busy mom's is great news! I can put dinner in the crock pot and rice in the rice cooker and everything is ready at the same time. I was a little skeptical of the delay timer, I mean after all, is rice supposed to sit in water for hours and hours? The answer is yes. It came out perfectly. I recommend this handy product, (that also, by the way, steams food - and you can make rice and steam food at the same time), to all you busy gals. It's available at Target. :)

Some things I've learned...

The last couple weeks have been chaos around here! And amidst the chaos I was reminded of or learned a few new things:

1. New carpet stinks. As in, it smells. And it's a pain in the butt because it's just like you're moving - you have to pack everything up and relocate it so they can remove the old and bring in the new.

2. Toe nails are there for a reason! I was working my way through the mass of relocated furniture, boxes, etc. as the carpet was being installed and stubbed my big toe on something large and heavy and now 1/4 of my toe nail is missing. Toes are very sensitive - to everything - without their little toe nails. And they practically scream "stub me please!" Which is not very nice.

3. When the dentist is removing your wisdom teeth and says, "You won't feel anything but pressure" just know that pressure hurts! Especially when it seems they are going to break your jaw. And a week later I'm still quite tender on that side of my mouth, which I'm told is normal for the circumstances and to expect that to last a while longer...

4. The temple is a great, great place and I need to be better about going.

5. When you find a really, really great enrichment leader that's like a dream come true - she'll move! This might bring you to tears (especially when she says this just days after she put on a super enrichment!) but just know, this too shall pass. And you'll find another leader. She may not be as great as the one who's abandoning camp but almost certainly she'll be great. Right?

6. When you host the enrichment cooking class at your house 2 days after the carpet was put in and you have to move back into the house, clean it, and prepare a bunch of food, it means that you are crazy! And your son will refuse to do any work the day after because you wore him out. In fact, he thinks a week without work would be fair compensation. And he won't care that you are tired too. You'll think your son is crazy and wonder if it's genetic.

recipes

Here are the recipes for the ice cream and topping:

Raspberry Ice Cream Topping

1 (12oz) package lightly sweetened frozen raspberries, defrosted & juice reserved
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp sugar
1/3 C maple syrup

Drain defrosted raspberries and reserve liquid. Add water to the liquid, if needed to measure 1/2 cup. In a small saucepan combine berry liquid and cornstarch until smooth. Add sugar and syrup. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Boil 1 minute. Stir in raspberries and cool to room temperature before serving.

Luscious Lemon Ice Cream (from Southern Living - one of my favorite cookbooks ever!)

3 C sugar
4 C milk
3 C whipping cream
1 C half-and-half
½ C finely grated lemon rind
¾ C fresh lemon juice

Combine first 5 ingredients; add lemon juice, and stir well. Pour into freezer container of 1-gallon ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturers directions.

Pack freezer with additional ice and rock salt, and let stand 1 hour before serving.

Yield: 2 ½ quarts.

Enjoy!!