Preparedness - The Sound of Music Way

I am once again in my preparedness mode - something that the basics of which are generally at least in the back of my mind and now and then takes the front seat. I was looking around for preparedness ideas on the net and found the funniest thing. The following was on a blog for a condominium in Seattle:

•The Sound of Music (1965)

The Sound of Music tells the story of an Austrian family -- with seven singing children -- in the days before the Holocaust. It’s a Couch Potato Preparedness classic for its sustainability and the sheer number of preparedness lessons.

– Maria is resourceful, making new clothes out of curtains.
– Captain von Trapp demonstrates using whistles as communication tools.
– He stays aware and informed of the situation, to make good decisions.
– To escape, they make a plan, share it, and adapt it as things change.
– The adults protect the children and the children help each other.
– In crisis, the family finds sanctuary and help from old friends.
– Of course: “My Favorite Things” is about thinking positively when bad things happen!

Use this family favorite to recognize diverse preparedness skills and actions.

I just laughed out loud when I read that - clever and certainly something I never thought of when watching the Sound of Music. And kudos for the condominium management for trying to help their tenants get prepared for natural disasters.

The O Goggs!

Let's start with a little background to the onion goggle story. Here it is in a nutshell - I HATE ONIONS. That's about it. But allow me to elaborate a little... Not only do onions wreak to high heaven, they taste gross and they have a gross texture and they make me bawl. I mean bawl like someone just died. Generally I use onion powder and I'm perfectly happy with that. Other people like onions, my mom LOVES onion. One time I was on vacation and she called me to tell me that she made onion burgers with sauteed onions on onion rolls for dinner. Sick and wrong!

I've made a general rule that if mom wants onions in the food I cook (when I won't be eating) she has to chop them ahead of time and freeze them. Sometimes she does and then I just pull them from the freezer which works beautifully. Plus, then she can't complain when there aren't onions because she's the one who hasn't chopped them so it's her fault if there aren't any. hee hee.

A few months ago I was being particularly generous and decided I'd go ahead and cut up an onion for the whatever I was making. I chopped away and bawled - we're talking tears streaming down my face - and I couldn't even see what I was chopping so really I'm lucky I didn't chop a finger off! My eyes were burning and burned for a couple hours after the deed was done. I mean that is just ridiculous. I vowed that that was the last time I would be nice and add onion to anything unless it was pre-chopped and frozen.

Imagine my surprise on Christmas morning when I unwrapped these beauties:

Wow! Nothing says hottie like super-hero O goggs! The deal is that you wear these while you chop the onion and you won't cry and your eyes won't sting. I will admit that they mostly work. Some onions are just so nasty that nothing can help but if it's a mild onion they mostly do their job. (Have I mentioned that I also wear plastic gloves while chopping onions so that my hands don't stink?)

I have used them a couple times and aside from looking like a loon it was a better experience than most onion experiences. Did I also mention how self-serving this gift from Mom was? Or maybe you noticed that yourself. haha! But, lest mom or anyone else gets too excited, I still won't cook with onions (unless I won't be home for dinner) and the rule about chopping your own onions is still in full force. Just sayin'. Wanna make sure we're clear on that.

I Fell Off the Blogging Planet For Awhile

...and really, I'm not sure if I'm totally back. See, I was going to blog about our fun Halloween party -

But I didn't get to it. Then I was going to blog about.... well, no I was going to skip Thanksgiving. So I was going to blog that Christmas was coming -

but it already came and went along with all the family -

that was here that I could've blogged about... Missed that too.

So here's the latest. I was released from the RS presidency after 3 1/2 years. It's bittersweet. I'm excited for the new presidency because as much work as it will be it will also be full of sweet blessings and so much growth. It was truly an awesome calling. So, what does that have to do with blogging? Well, not much really. I first thought maybe I'd be better about blogging but let's be honest, I probably won't. But I suppose I can't say it's cause I'm too busy now...

Maybe I'll blog about my most unique Christmas present - onion goggles. Stay tuned...

My Guy

When my niece Mia was little (she's exceptionally grown up now at 2 1/2) we would ask her who everyone was and when the J came in or we saw a picture of him we'd ask her, "Who's that guy?" She apparently thought "Guy" was his name and that's what she's called him ever since.

When the J comes home from work, or wherever, Mia runs to find me and says, "Oh TeeTee! (her nickname for me) Your guy, your guy is home!! You see him? You say hi to him?" Then she'll find Guy and say, "Dere's your mom, Guy." This is always very exciting to her and makes me laugh!

And speaking of my Guy, he turns 18 this weekend!! Eighteen! Where did the time go? That's 18 years of all the typical parent/child roller coaster emotions and experiences. And 18 years of a happy life with my Guy! I love the J and I'm glad I'm his mom. (Even though he just reminded me that an 18-year old does not want to hang out with his mom on his birthday. Hey?! I'm cool! Oh fine! We'll hang out later.)

Happy Birthday Guy!

Enjoy Fall

The J and I went to the mountains after church today to enjoy the fall colors and just kind of take a break away from our usual routine. We mostly missed the peak of the fall colors but there were still some great scenes. It was so nice and peaceful up there! We were by a little stream and I had to laugh when I realized there is no age limit on throwing rocks and sticks in streams and playing in the water. :) I always want to take my shoes and socks off and play in the water but it really was too chilly for that today. I'll have to go back there next summer.

While we were there the only thing that marred the scene were the random pieces of trash people left behind. I wonder (I often wonder) why smokers think the world is their ash tray. That drives me insane!! But there was plenty of other junk around too. I saw this quote from Pres. Hinckley this evening which expressed my feelings exactly:

“Our society is afflicted by a spirit of thoughtless arrogance unbecoming those who have been so magnificently blessed. How grateful we should be for the bounties we enjoy. Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind. It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance of self-sufficiency. It expresses itself in ugly egotism and frequently in wanton mischief. We have seen our beaches, our parks, our forests littered with ugly refuse by those who evidently have no appreciation for their beauty.”

Gordon B. Hinckley, "With All Thy Getting Get Understanding,’” Ensign, Aug. 1988, 2

The J thought I was crazy when I made him pick up some of the trash at the picnic area so I reminded him that we always leave it better than we found it. (And when I read that quote I was glad I did that!) We enjoyed the afternoon and I'm so grateful for the beautiful world Heavenly Father has given us. I'm grateful for the time to sneak out and enjoy it once in a while too! If you haven't had a chance to get out there and enjoy - make some time soon. You won't regret it!

Words, Words, Words

I'm studying for the GRE - mind-numbing business - and some of the words in the Vocabulary Box are just amusing. Here are some of my favorites (See if you know or can guess the meaning before you read the definition):

Cosset - (kah suht) - to pamper; treat with great care.

We would love to cosset you at Enrichment night!

Now, if I said that we'd probably have an empty house because everyone would be scared of what's on the program.

Diaphanous - (die aaf uh nuhs) - allowing light to show through; delicate

"My your curtains are so diaphanous!”

Secretly I've used this word for years.

Panegyric - (paan uh jeer ihk) - elaborate praise; formal hymn of praise

The director’s panegyric for the donor who kept his charity going was heart-warming.

I'm not really sure what this sounds like, but it doesn't sound nice.

Legerdemain - (lehj uhr duh mayn) - trickery

The little boy thought his legerdemain was working on his mother, but she in fact knew about every stolen cookie.

What she really wondered was who the heck taught him to say legerdemain...

Contumacious - (kahn tuh may shuhs) - rebellious

The J is a contumacious teenager.

And if he thinks I used big words before, now he’ll really be confused.

And my favorite:

Pulchritude - (puhl kruh tood) - beauty

The mortals gazed in admiration at Venus, stunned by her incredible pulchritude.

Seriously?? Such an ugly word for a thing of beauty? I think this one should be tucked away in the vocab box and left there forever.

Ok, it's back to my 494 other vocab words for me! You're jealous, I know. I'll send them to you when I'm done if you'd like.

School Breakfasts

School is back in which means we're back to the eternal question - what is quick and filling for a teenage boy for breakfast? "Quick" is a key here for me, but if you ask him, "filling" is the key. I made breakfast burritos, waffles, and french toast and froze them so he can just take out what he wants to eat in the morning and warm it up and that works pretty well but really, that'll only last so long... We do make egg mcmuffins frequently but he's fairly sick of those. (I can't blame him, it's about all he ate last year.)

Do you have any great breakfast ideas?? It really has to be A) something that I can freeze beforehand because I'm not getting up in the 4s to make breakfast or B) really fast if it's made the morning of. I'd love any and all ideas. :D