stuff

Ike is no longer going to be a threat to Austin thanks to the pressure from the storm that's pounding the Mexican west coast currently.

Who would have thought that a 4.5 year old boy would have such trouble with 5 letters of the alphabet, L M N O P.

We ate dinner at church last night and afterwards Giselle tried out for the Christmas play. No parents were present but the choir leader told me that she was impressed with Giselle's reading level. No comments were given about her singing ability; although Giselle said that she was the only one trying out that wasn't already in the choir so she didn't know the song too well that they asked her to sing.

Paul and I heard some coyotes while we walked the labyrinth at the church at dusk.

Dinoland is on tap for today after we are done at our La Leche League Meeting. Our topic for today's meeting is fitting for a blog-friend, Nutrition and Weaning.

Why can't the kids throw their used Kleenex in the trash instead of leaving them on the side table next to the Kleenex box?

I was mowing the lawn with a manual push mower in a dream that I was having this morning during my extra 20 minutes in bed after the kids got up. Note to Joe: We are NOT going that green and ditching our gas-powered mower! I LOVE to mow the lawn but not THAT much! I'd be melted into a puddle of sweat halfway through the front yard.

Gotta go round up stuff for the meeting, brush my teeth and get some makeup on. See ya!

The 80's will NEVER die!

Charles posted this link to a mother-load of 80's music videos of ALL genres on his blog and quoted The Flock of Seagulls. Of course I clicked IMMEDIATELY since I ate, drank, slept, breathed and lived music during the 80's. There are some odd videos there but there are a LOT of ones that I had forgotten about. What's odd for me is that many of these songs I only knew from the radio or the record store or the clubs and while I have been singing the song all these past 25 years, there is a good chance that I never saw the video. At home we had cable and MTV but once I graduated in 84 I didn't see many videos until after I had moved to Texas and we finally got cable/MTV in 1990.

I recall a summer that we either didn't have cable yet or it was 'out' where the only thing that Joe and I had to watch was the ENTIRE catalogue of Star Trek: The Next Generation on VHS. Not only that but the only VCR we had at the time was an old-style one that my sister in Houston had given to us - it had a CORDED remote that could fast forward while the tape was playing but the audio track was still engaged so the intro to every episode sounded like it was spoken by The Chipmunks instead of Patrick Stewart (I don't remember if Mike H had edited out all of the commercials or not). Patrick Stewart certainly was the hottest old bald guy around in those days! And speaking of Mike H brings us full circle back to the 80's videos since he is the guy who introduced Joe to 'butt-twitcher music' while they were roommates in college which is the ONLY way that Joe is familiar with one of my favorite types of music.

BUT, I didn't see many videos in the mid to late 80's so while the songs are old favorites, the videos are new to me. I don't remember the video for Belouis Some "Imagination" being so nude but I'm glad that I didn't play it in front of the kids. They only watched The Untouchables "Free Yourself", The Jam "That's Entertainment", Big Country "In a Big Country", Altered Images "I Could Be Happy" and Hazy Fantazy "Shiny, Shiny" (a single from an album that I've owned for 27 years and had never seen a video for EVER!)

Billy Idol's "Hot in the City" brings back so many memories of my summer in LA! Yeah, I know that he yells "New York" in the middle but I just ignore that part.

I can't believe that I'm seeing GUYS wear those tight black jeans again and with Converse high tops no less. Don't they realize that those pants make their calves look really skinny which is not at all flattering if they have anything but a negative-sized rear. Tight white pants on baseball players is a good look but THEY have normal-sized calves. (That whole tangent was for Holly!)

While scanning the list of videos I noticed the one for Pebbles "Girlfriend" and I remembered how there were "issues" among us at the record store regarding my hair and how every time that I changed it there would be some new album out where the singer on the cover would have that exact same hair style. Pebbles' curly look was my twin at that time.

My final comment on this era (for now) is that I LOVE how the nicely-dressed men knew how to use product on their hair.

Almost

We almost made it to Dinoland today but even though we finished school by 12 noon I felt that we didn't have enough time before ballet to fully appreciate all that Dinoland is supposed to be. I think that since we don't have any afternoon events tomorrow that we'll go after school then. I'm in a rush to go there this week since the public school field trips start next week. And I know from our experiences of going to the zoo during the daytime, that attending ANY place that you have to share with a large field trip is too scary for me!
I downloaded all of the study material that accompanies the Dinoland exhibit so we'll be sure to cover all of that in school tomorrow before we go.
I love field trips!

Thank You Joe!

After many years of forgetting about my love of potato salad, over the last 3 years Joe has consistently remembered to bring home a to-go container of potato salad for me from The County Line every time he eats there. If you've never had their potato salad let me describe it for you. Big chunks of potato, lots of celery, lots of onion, lots of pepper, lots of something creamy (mayonnaise?), lots of pickle relish and pickle relish juice, mustard (but not too much), and it almost seems like there is pureed hard boiled egg in there too. Most importantly, there is NO RED BELL PEPPER in it! Next to my mom's, this is by far the best potato salad I have ever had; and, having grown up in the South and living in BBQ country for 19 years, I've tried a LOT of potato salads!
Joe ate there for lunch today and brought me home a pint of it. Thank you Sir and I'll be sure to share some of it with the kids!

The potato salad that the food distributor Sysco sells is pretty excellent too even though there is a bit of red bell pepper in it. They get the rest of the ingredients correct, including the egg, so I'll cut them a bit of slack. I get that one at our local BBQ joint, Donn's Texas BBQ. I'm assuming that theirs is from Sysco since I see the truck delivering product to them and I see them scooping the potato salad out of a big plastic tub.

Frist Day of School

Well school started off fantastically today!
While the kids ate breakfast outside on the deck and played in the rocks on the 2nd driveway, I got all the schoolbooks pulled off the back stock shelves and stacked them on the table. I got the table cleaned and the extension pulled out for Giselle's place at the table (it gives her more work space). I got out the pencils for Giselle and the crayons for Paul and put those on the table. At 5 min before school was to begin the kids were inside, dressed and cleaning up from playing earlier. I had just finished writing Giselle's 8 spelling words (Hang, Hare, Hot, Huge, Hunt, Hurry, Hurt, If) on her page and was in the middle of looking them all up in the dictionary to be read out loud, when the phone rang - it was Marie calling from Sweden! While talking on the phone the school bell went off and with out prompting Giselle started in on her words and sentences and Paul started on his coloring book while I talked on the phone. Usually I cut people off quickly when they call during school but since this was a special call I chatted away.
20 minutes later, after Paul talked to Luke and Giselle talked to Grace, we got off the phone and got back to school.

In just 3 short hours we got A LOT accomplished, especially considering that today was day 1:
# Paul worked on coloring within the lines while I read aloud all the definitions of the spelling words.
# While I was teaching Paul in the playroom Giselle wrote 1 sentence for each of her 8 spelling words using correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.
# I was still teaching Paul in the playroom when she finished her sentences (she has 30 min to complete the sentences but she did it in only 17 min) so she moved on to practicing her cursive handwriting.
# I finished with Paul in the playroom at the same time that Giselle finished her cursive practice so we moved on to First Language Lessons, lesson 156 was the one for today, while Paul practiced writing his letters.
# Next we all moved on to geography: memorizing what each of the 50 states looks like, where they are and how to spell them.
# Paul was dismissed from school then while Giselle started on her 3rd grade math book. Since today was the first day she only had to do one page.
# While Giselle worked on her math I made quesadillas for lunch since it was noon:15.
# After lunch I quizzed Giselle on 10 pages out of the math section of What Your 1st Grader Needs To Know. Note to self: Hurry up and get the 2nd grade book.
# To finish out the school day we did 3 experiments out of the 365 Simple Science Experiments book. Done by 1:30
We didn't get to US History today but maybe I'll read that chapter aloud tonight at bedtime.

I gotta get off of here and get our grocery shopping done so that we'll be back for the kids to play with their PS friends when they get off the bus at 3:15.

Exhaustion

Paul wore himself out so much on the giant bouncy/water slide thing at a birthday party this afternoon that he fell asleep in the car on the way home (7:10) and barely woke up on the trip inside. He did get up around 8 to tell me that he needed to go pee and that there was something poking him in the shoulder. I had him drink more water, go to the bathroom and go back to bed.

He did a great job at the market today trying to sell the aloe plants. I think that he actually sold 3 of them but he was disappointed that he didn't sell more. He kept trying to sell the okra but Giselle kept running him off - she was selling the okra and peppers.

Speaking of peppers, I roasted and canned up two bag-fulls on Tuesday (I already wrote about that didn't I?) and I took pictures for part of it. I got two more bags today to do the same again with them. This time I'll take pictures of the second half of the process which is what I forgot the first time around. They end up being giant-sized pimentos and WOW are they good. My favorite way to eat them is chilled with some of Full Quiver Farms' jalapeno cheese spread on them and rolled up. Mm, mm good!

The dog seems to be feeling better, maybe.

There's a mosquito flying around the kitchen. It better stay away from me unless it wants to die.

Giselle got bored at the party since she was the only girl between the ages of 3 and 35 but consequently she did an incredible job of clearing all the tables and organizing the presents and throwing away the trash - all on her own. She takes great pride in helping others (except when it's her brother and he's abused her generosity) as well as not liking to sit around doing nothing when she's bored. What a wonderful little girl!

Paul actually got OUT of the pool at the end of the bouncy water slide to go pee! That deserves a trophy!

I'm sorry

I'm sorry about the worm post, but that really did happen and I honestly had nothing better to post. No sign of a UTI but some chemical levels aren't right so they're going to culture the sample; she got 4 de-worming pills this evening.
I got all of the laundry done today and I mowed the lawn again.
Edgar fussed at me last week about giving him one dirty jar for milk so I've got to give them all a second washing tonight before I turn them in tomorrow.
I made the kids tortellini & ravioli w/ homemade pesto (frozen cubes from 2 years ago); they both had seconds and Giselle wanted thirds. A home run on dinner again!
School starts on Monday.

Dog's got worms

Going to the vet this afternoon. The other week she was caught eating things that she doesn't normally eat (washcloths) and this week she's leaking a LOT more than usual. I made a call to the vet this am when I got up to get her checked for a UTI. But a half hour ago when I was walking her around the block I captured some of the gross white things when I collected her stuff for the vet. Now I've got to research what our choices are regarding treatment. FUN! Not exactly the way I was planning on spending Park Day.

withdrawls

- The house is too quiet.
- After Cartoon Network's Pokemon marathon that was on Monday we had a TiVo full of episodes. The last one is being watched right now - the 3rd Movie. Cartoon Network isn't running it daily in the fall like they did all summer so this is THE LAST episode for a while.
- Vacation from school ends in 4 days.
- I've watched all the episodes of Doctor Who that TiVo had for me.

I'm going to bed early tonight.

You know that your kids REALLY enjoy black beans & rice when they finish their bowls before you do!

rest

Everyone is gone.
I got the kids in bed with the lights out at a normal time of 7:30 and, after watching last week's episode of The Dog Whisperer, I followed them to bed at 8:30. We slept until 7:30. The kids got up to play and I WAS going to sleep some more but I was informed that the dog had thrown up on the playroom floor - the leftover Mexican food that I had given her for dinner. So I got up to take care of that and I've been up for the day since then.
Joe recharged my car a/c in the early hours of the morning - driving to ballet yesterday it never cooled down the car - and is now trying to recharge himself after the last few days of intense family interaction.
Gotta get going to take on the day - laundry, vacuuming, shopping, mowing and tending to the condo - so that we'll be ready to play when Claudia and the boys come over at 3:30.

We're going to stay on school break until next Monday - I decided that yesterday.

the exodus continues

Phuong and Melinda left this afternoon and tomorrow everyone else leaves. It's going to seem awfully quiet around here for a few days until we get used to it being just the 4 of us again. It's NOT a good time of the month for me to be saying good-byes to people.


Joe thinks that Chuy's on Barton Springs has the best tres leches cake in town. I had it there for the first time today and, while the piece was HUGE, it was not the best that I've ever had. I think it needed more flavor - more cinnamon, more vanilla. It just tasted like a dense angelfood cake soaked with sweetened condensed milk. I still think that Sol Y La Luna has the best followed closely by Whole Foods. I haven't tried HEB's yet; that's next on my list.


I think that we're starting school on Wednesday. Thursday I'll be wanting to leave.

It's crazy

Actually, it's not been crazy around here at all. It's been busy but certainly not crazy. We had a giant family meatfest at The Salt Lick yesterday afternoon so no one wanted dinner. We just sat around all evening nibbling on cheese and crackers while chatting and watching the kids bounce around from family member to family member. Giselle did 3 people's hair and Paul did one. Looked at some pictures from a trip to Vietnam and another person's trip to Costa Rica.

Gotta go, they've all arrived for the day's events!

Things happen for a reason, almost

Today when I showed up at the market, Gayla asked me if I could take her to go get some blood work done during the market. Normally I would have been able to but I had family in town that were going to come to the market with me and I WAS going to be leaving early. BUT those family members got stuck in Phoenix overnight and weren't coming in until 4 pm so I WOULD be able to take her after all!
Then, her doctor showed up and Gayla had some questions for her. It was noticed by Gayla that the wrong tests had been ordered so they rescheduled the tests for another time - next week I think. As of now, Claudia will be gone next week so she won't be taking my kids home so they'll go with us to the blood test facilities. An educational field trip!
I love homeschooling!

OH MY!

The election has now become interesting!

Quick update

One more family member arrives shortly - my sister Angie got here on Wednesday AM and her son gets here right now. We're actually waiting on his call to go pick him up at the airport.
Tonight 5 people will be getting off of their planes just before midnight, I'm not picking them up! We spent most of the day yesterday inside of the condo getting it ready for guests and discovering the hard way that the compressor on the air conditioner was broken. It was kind of fun since it was a great way to experience what life was like in Austin before air conditioning. Yeah, you sweat a bit more but as long as the ceiling fan was on and we had cold water to drink it was comfortable to lay around reading books and listening to the kids play the electronic keyboard all afternoon. It was nice.
gotta go!

All guests should give thanks to Joe for fixing the a/c that same afternoon so that they didn't have to sleep in those 'Austin of old' conditions!

NBTSPP

Yes, today was the annual Not Back To School Pool Party. It was the first day of public school here and in a very kind way we homeschoolers like to gloat about the fact that we aren't stuck inside an institutional education building on this day that is very much still in the middle of summer. About 100 moms and 300 kids usually attend this giant pool party that's always held on the first day of public school in the middle of the day at one of the few City pools that stays open during the week after the ps school year begins. Unfortunately, the party got rained out in hour 3 - thunder & lightning don't mix well with a pool full of kids. But that's OK, the food had all been eaten by then anyway.
We're starting school next Wednesday, after all of our guests have gone back to their homes.

another day, another chore

Today it was Mowing in the Rain.
Still have to do the laundry.
Got the bed frame put together in Giselle's room-to-be.
Cleaned the blinds and windows in the same room.
Bought a bed for the same room but it won't be ready for pickup until tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow is the annual Not Back To School Pool Party, pictures at 2.

playing in the rain

We spent 2 hours playing in the pouring rain Friday afternoon the kids were running and jumping and sliding all over the place at the park. Paul is getting to be a pretty good soccer player - good blocking skills when playing goalie and getting better about stealing the ball when I'm on offense - we were playing one-on-one while at the park in the rain.
I LOVE playing in summer thunderstorms! Everyone was soaked and for once we weren't the only family willing to stay and get wet.
Dinner was hot chocolate and cold tortellini.
I'm still on a break for another week and a half. Joe, hurry up and get me that QuickBooks information before I have guests to entertain!

update

Ballet went well. It's SUPER close to home. We got new ballet shoes and a black leotard on Sunday. I sewed the straps on the shoes on Tuesday morning. The class seems to be challenging and that's the way I want it to be. This year she'll actually need to practice between her lessons. Hopefully she'll make friends with the girls and expand her friendship circle to include girls her own age.

I contacted the local Girl Scout council to find us a Brownie troop this year. I tried more than 5 times last year to find her a troop via email and no one ever got back with me enough that we actually found a troop. I'm using the phone this year and I hope to have better success.

Public school starts next week so it's our last chance to play with those kids during the daytime.

Claudia and the boys came over yesterday and we had a big dinner here last night. Shrimp scampi, rice pasta, pasta sauce w/ meatballs and baby greens salad w/ veggies. For dessert there was ensalada de fruita fresca con mil para los ninos y para us grown-ups a piece of tres leches cake from Whole Foods to share.

The 14 year old dog went to the vet for her annual checkup yesterday and got a clean bill of health. She got a thumbs up for loosing 3 lbs since last year and the vet would be happy if she lost another 3. The dog and I both need to start going on regular walks again so that we can get in better cardio-pulmonary shape.

Gotta run, Paul's angry at ME since the boys next door are not home to play with and his other friend around the corner doesn't want to play AGAIN!

Ballet

The new season starts today!

Sunday Seven #26

Whipping out a quickie Sunday 7, this is number 26 for me.

Seven things that I am thankful for this past week ending August 16, 2008:
1 - My love of 20 years, Joe.
2 - Good friends to share numbers 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 with.
3 - Bottles of wine.
4 - Swimming pools.
5 - Local lakes.
6 - Personal watercraft.
7 - California Wonder bell peppers and Costa Rican melons.

20 years and counting

Twenty years and 1 day!
I hope that the next 20 are just as event-filled as the first 20 were!

"Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch You know that I love you. I can't help myself, I love you and nobody else."

"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right; here I am, stuck in the middle with you."

"Like a river flows surely to the sea, Darling so it goes, Some things are meant to be. Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can't help falling in love with you."


And I know that your response is this:
"Ooo. you make me live.
Whatever this world can give to me
It's you, you're all I see
Ooo, you make me live now honey, Ooo, you make me live.
You're the best friend that I ever had.
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine.
And I want you to know That my feelings are true,
I really love you, You're my best friend."
"In rain or shine You've stood by me girl
I'm happy, happy at home, You're my best friend.
You're the first one When things turn out bad.
You know I'll never be lonely.
You're my only one And I love The things that you do, You're my best friend.
Ooo, you make me live.
I'm happy, happy at home
You're my best friend You're my best friend
Ooo, you make me live
You, you're my best friend."

Happy 20th Anniversary Joe, I'm gonna love you for ever & ever, for ever & ever, Amen!

WOW!

This evening Joe took the kids and me Jet Ski-ing out on the lake for the first time. Well, it was the first time ever for the kids and the first time in 15 years for me. 'Uncle' Chris came along with his Ski to join in the fun and Christian was with us too.

Giselle and Joe were the first to go out on the Bombardier Sea-Doo, aka The Couch. She and Paul both were driving this themselves by the end of the evening; Joe or I was still sitting behind them but they were doing the steering and throttle themselves. WAY TO GO!

And here is Paul and 'Uncle' Chris on Chris' Ski. Paul climbed on and stood right up like he'd been doing it for years. I guess all that practice pushing the shopping cart has paid off.

Speaking of standing up, when it was my turn on one of the stand-up Skis, I tooled around kneeling for a few minutes, then went to a half stand for another minute and then stood on up. I blasted around the lake for 10 min or so then came in with wiggly arms. I never fell, not even once. Not bad for my first time riding in 15 years! The grown boys were impressed and I was proud of myself. Of course there were no pictures of THAT!

We'll be sure to do this again SOON! Paul couldn't stop yelling "This is SO AWESOME!" the whole time and Giselle never stopped smiling. Paul found a rusty open-end box wrench and Giselle found a LOT of pretty rocks that she brought home.

WOW!

Thanks Joe! We could call that a 20th anniversary gift and I'd be satisfied just fine.

just when my stats were looking good...

I've got family-business business to take care of that I really need to concentrate on over the next couple of weeks, followed by a lot of family coming to town for the Labor Day weekend. I'm even giving Giselle a vacation from school until after Labor Day to help clear my daily plate.
So over the next 3 and 1/2 weeks I'm going to be pretty irregular in my posting here. I'll post when I've got time but certainly not daily like it has been.
See you when I see you!

I'm always awake enough for Sci-Fi

Well, almost always.
Joe just called, he was out mailing accounts receivable, and he dropped by Blockbuster on the way home to see if any of the checked out copies of the new Stargate SG-1 movie had been returned yet. Well one copy HAD been returned and now Joe is coming home with it for us to watch instead of me going to bed to prepare for our day at the water park tomorrow.

Oh, he's here! Gotta go!

Do you remember the days when they used to charge you money if you didn't rewind the video tape? I'm so glad about DVDs for that reason! Although I seem to get an average of one unreadable/damaged disc per every 6 that I rent and it's a bit aggravating when it's the main one that you wanted to see. Stargate is free tonight due to Toy Story 2 being unplayable.

sorry

Too busy dealing with insurance all day to make a post - not making claims, just updating policies.

And this evening we were busy at a Biscuit Brothers show.

Oh, did I tell you? Giselle spent the night at Jessi's last night and made it all the way until 11:30 this morning!

Tapioca Pudding Re-dux

We made tapioca pudding again yesterday but this time I put some pureed ginger into the milk when I added the tapioca balls (I just read what I typed and first I had typed 'garlic' instead of 'ginger' - now THAT would have been gross!). I had a feeling that doing so would help infuse the balls with some flavor and I was correct. I waited until AFTER the tapioca had totally cooled before I added the strawberry puree (again) and this time it stayed red instead of turning slightly brown like last time. I added so much that it's too fruity for Giselle (TOO FRUITY? Who's kid is this?) but Paul is really enjoying it.

Paul fell asleep on the way home from the grocery store yesterday (6 pm) and slept through until 1:30 when he needed to go pee and I reminded him that he hadn't eaten supper. So we got up and he ate his cold spaghetti w/ sauce and a whole lot of tapioca pudding. He had some more for breakfast this morning until Giselle told on him and I made him put it away.

meatballs

Paul is helping me make meatballs this morning while Giselle sits on the sofa reading her book about a pioneer girl making the trek to Oregon in the 1860's. Homeschooling at it's best!
Next time I'll make her take the pictures while Paul and I cook.

My Meatball Recipe (this time)
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground Jersey bull (the last of him)
1 1/4 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
about 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
5 cloves of garlic put through the press
1/4 cup of Italian seasoning ground in my hand
a bit of salt
lots of freshly ground pepper (on fine)
1 egg
about 3/4 cup of grated and crumbled Parmesan cheese

Paul mixed together all the ingredients in a large bowl except for the meat. When it was all mixed I put the meat in and combined by hand until fully incorporated. Then Paul and I made 1-inch balls by hand and put them on the toaster oven tray that was lined with parchment paper (parchment paper is one of the greatest inventions of all time!). I'm cooking them in the toaster oven on 450 for 10 min and boy are they sizzling away! First tray is done, time to transfer them to the cooling rack, make more balls and get the second load in the oven.

Once this is done we can start on spelling.

this made 138 aproximately 1-inch meatballs

Sunday Seven #25

Sunday Seven - a post in which one usually gives thanks for things that happened in the past week but also can be used to list seven things about a specific noun (person, place, thing or idea) that we are thankful for.

MY SEVEN THINGS THAT I AM THANKFUL FOR IN THE WEEK ENDED 8/2/08
1 - That we safely got to the Farm and Houston and back again.
2 - That the Vietnamese food wasn't too far off from the Asian food we are used to.
3 - That the beach was clean and not crowded and my kite flew for a little bit.
4 - That we at least got to play in the water park pool for 30 minutes before it closed.
5 - That the Houston Zoo wasn't too crowded and the gift shop wasn't terribly overpriced.
6 - That Joe managed to feed the dog daily and not kill any of my plants while we were gone.
7 - That our dog has finally gotten over the fact that I left for 5 days to play with 11 Yorkshire Terriers and 8 Boston Terriers.


Leave a link to your Sunday Seven in the comments, or even easier, just write up a quick list and post THAT in the comments.

Carnival of Kid Pictures #2

Time for another Carnival of Kid Pictures and I'm a day late AGAIN! My excuse is that Fridays are just too full for me to remember to take care of posting the kid's pictures, especially THIS Friday. The morning after returning from our trip we had a 10 o'clock appointment with an insurance agent who showed up at 9 instead - fortunately I had changed out of my pajamas already but none of us had had breakfast. Then at noon the windshield repair guy came to fix all the chips in the windshields of our 37 cars. Then I had to prep for and go to the park, hang out and talk to friends, then rush home and get the kids cleaned and fed so that I could go to an Usborne books party (think Pampered Chef party but with kid's educational books).





Back to the main point of this post - Carnival of Kid's Pictures #2!


These are some pictures that I found on the memory card in Paul's camera after he had left the camera outside overnight IN THE RAIN.


A kitchen chair from under the table with dog bowls and moc-crocs in the background.


A view of the kitchen obstructed by a Mexican blanket.


Paul's trike through the variegated hibiscus and his mint.


I'm impressed by the composition of this shot - a very cool view of the see-saw and his swing.


Self-portrait of the artist and a cool view of the trees.



Go and take a ride on Karen's blog to see her pictures and the links for all the other carnival participants. Then, post some of YOUR kid's pictures on your blog and put your link on Karen's page so that others can enjoy. You could put your link here too if you want.

P-Dub Sightings

It's not like I go out much so it's highly UNlikely that I'd see her anyway, but Ree is in town currently tending to her sister and her newborn baby so there's more of chance to see her in person than if she was still at home in Oklahoma. I just wanted to let y'all know that I did NOT see her at the Farmers Market today, in case you were wondering. Although she would have been able to get some great beeswax products and some of that garlic salt that I'm always raving about if she HAD showed up there today.

Saturday Six

Six things that I don't like about us being self-employed
1 - I have to research new health insurance EVERY year.
2 - I have to research retirement investments EVERY year.
3 - As the boss, Joe can't forget about work while he's on vacation.
4 - We're the ones who worry about accounts receivable going past-due.
5 - Ultimately, Joe is responsible for EVERYTHING that his contractors do.
6 - We get a lot of business junk mail.

Viewer Mail!

Carla said...
how do you freeze melons?
July 27, 2008 8:11 PM

I say:
I scrub them clean, then peel them, then cut I cut each one in half and scoop out the seeds. Then I cut each half in half and then cut each quarter into slices. Then I put them on a rimmed baking pan (formerly known as a cookie sheet to me) in one and 1/2 layers and stick them in the freezer until they are hard (usually overnight or two). When the are frozen I take the pans out and set them on the counter to thaw for a bit so it's easier to separate them. After they have thawed enough so that my hands don't stick to the pans, I take them off the trays and put them into 1-gallon freezer bags and store them in the freezer for use over the next year.
YUM!

gone gone gone I've been gone so long

Name that song and artist and I'll send you a prize.

I just got back this afternoon from a trip to Houston, thus the lack of posts since Sunday. Too bad too since I was on a roll on posts, wasn't I? Oh well.
I'll give details about the trip in other posts; I really just wanted to let you know that I'm back and the posts will start coming again.

Sunday Seven

Sunday 7 #24
Seven things that I am thankful for the week ending 7/26/08

1 - That the people at the church we tried out were VERY nice and welcoming.
2 - That Giselle got to do another study at the UT Children's Research Lab.
3 - That I exercised great control and didn't purchase any Doctor Who action figures when I saw them in the store. I mean really, what do I need a Martha Jones doll for?
4 - That Hurricane Dolly lost it's power once it hit land.
5 - That Marie called from Sweden and I was available to talk with her.
6 - That I got a case of melons to freeze up for eating in the winter.
7 - That our friends who've been on vacation for the last 6 weeks will be back NEXT SUNDAY!

Of course, thankful for the spouse of 2o years (next month) and the 2 great kids! And my many friends!
Not thankful that I forgot to use my 10% owner appreciation coupon when I shopped at Wheatsville on Monday.

Kid Pics Carnival #1

It's the inaugural edition of Kid Pics Carnival! I'm a day late but just back off!



Two from Giselle

And two from Paul

Are you inspired? Then join in by posting your kid's pictures on your blog then post your name and the link to your carnival ride (post) HERE <- this is a link to the main carnival page for this week and it's where all the participants are listed.

Hiking

This week we went for a hike in the front 25. Paul didn't listen to me when I told him that he needed to wear socks with his cowboy boots so he got blisters. The socks are to protect from blisters and the boots are to protect from snakes. I wore my rain boots since my Ropers still aren't broken in all the way - they're ONLY 15 years old. We had fun, except for the blisters, and the plants that we picked are still alive in water.
Yesterday we went on another hike, this time at the park. It was just a short one to check if the creek had retained any water from the Dolly rain. It hadn't. The rocks were wet on the bottom but the tops were already dried out and flaky with dried mud. It was so much fun last year playing in the flooded creek each week that we really wish it could be full again.

I gotta unpack the produce from The Market and take care of this case of Costa Rican Indian melon. Gayla brought me her last pound of ground pork so now I can make another batch of meatballs - Giselle is delighted since she LOVES my meatballs.

Scary statistic!

According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies:
Almost 4 BILLION prescriptions are filled each year.
More than 50 MILLION medication errors are made each year.
More than 1.5 MILLION injuries happen each year due to those medication errors.
More than 7 THOUSAND deaths each year are caused by those prescription errors.

Make sure your doctor is writing your prescription correctly and make sure that your pharmacist is filling it correctly.

Thanks

OH NO! Here's another post that didn't get published when it was supposed to. This one is from January 27, 2008 at 3:36 pm. I'm sure to find some more since I've never before thought to look at my list of posts to check that they published instead of just saving to draft.



The kid's grandparents left on Tuesday and all of us at Casa De Galletti just want to say to them again:



Thanks for visiting us! We had a lot of fun and we want to do it again SOON! We love you both very much and we all really enjoyed getting to play and hang out with y'all. We started missing y'all the moment that you drove away from our house on Monday night! We're looking forward to your next visit, whenever it may be.

We love you!

Joe, Natalie, Giselle & Paul

Palm Centro

I just came across this post that never got posted back on May 2, 2008 at 12:01 pm so I'm posting it now.


I returned my Palm Centro (in a most beautiful shade of pink) to the Sprint store yesterday. It just wasn't the phone that best serves my needs. In order to use the miniature full qwerty keypad I needed to keep my fingernails long and that's just plain hazardous when you've got small kids around. Since it's a non-flip phone it was more complicated to end a call one handed. I really felt that it was a kid unfriendly phone since there were so many buttons that could be accidently touched when they were using it. And while the keypad lock is pretty easy to undo, that just makes it easier for it to get undone while in my purse. I REALLY liked the ringtone options but that's not enough of a reason to keep a phone. The Sprint store didn't have the replacement phone that I wanted (a pink Sanyo flip phone) so I just got my old phone re-activated until I can get ahold of the new pink Sanyo I want.

I said "Hello Dolly!"

These are from earlier today. SOOC and all that, well, I did shrink the size of some of them but other than that...

Up until yesterday and today we haven't had many clouds this summer so seeing this up in the sky was a sure sign of Hurricane Dolly on the way.













Oh, and don't worry for us. We are WAY too far inland for hurricanes to do anything other than give us a little rain.

Well Hello Dolly!

10:49 am CDT Wed Jul 23 2008

This hazardous weather outlook is for south central texas.

Day one...today and tonight.
Hurricane dolly will make landfall this afternoon near and just north of Brownsville. Dolly is then forecast to move west northwest across the lower Rio Grande valley this afternoon and evening...and to northeast Mexico

Tonight and Thursday.
Showers and thunderstorms will increase this afternoon and tonight as the outer bands of dolly move westward across the area. Locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds around 30 to 35 mph can be expected mainly along and to the south of a line from Giddings and Schulenburg to near new Braunfels and san Antonio...then west to near Uvalde and Del Rio. This thunderstorm activity could move further north to the Austin area and parts of the hill country later this afternoon and during the evening hours today. Rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are possible today. Rain that is heavy at times could cause some flooding on low lying streets and roads or at low water crossings that are easily subject to flooding.

In addition...a tornado watch has been issued through 7 pm CDT today for Lavaca...Dewitt...Gonzales...Karnes... and Wilson counties. As thunderstorms on some of the stronger outer bands of dolly sweep across these counties...isolated tornadoes...hail to one half of an inch in diameter and strong...damaging winds are possible.

I love a good book

So, after Joe went to bed at 1 I continued to stay up. Silly me decided to pick up the book that Giselle was reading - the diary of a girl captured by Lenape Indians in 1763. I finished the book shortly before 4 am. 8 am seemed to come awfully quickly today so I stayed in bed until 9. Giselle finished the book this morning before school.

If you have a little girl that is about 7 to 12 years old then y'all should get ahold of these books. Actually, there are some about boys too so your son would enjoy them too I think. They are published by Scholastic Books and the series is called Dear America. These books will really help bring history to life for Giselle, similar to Story Of The World.

Blueberry Pancakes

So the other day I got an email newsletter from Cook's Illustrated and it had a video recipe for blueberry pancakes listed. I watched it with the kids and they immediately decided that we'd (I) would be making them for breakfast the next day. So Monday morning I made the BEST blueberry pancakes that I've ever made. We ate them naked for breakfast and lunch (the pancakes, not us). The next time that I make them, which will be soon, I'll add some cinnamon into the batter and maybe a touch more sugar.

Oh, and if you ever need to make substitute buttermilk because you don't have any on hand and choose to make it using 1 TBS of lemon juice in 2 cups of milk. Well, don't use lime juice instead if you don't have any lemon juice. Trust me on this, I know. The milk didn't thicken like it was supposed to so the cooked pancakes were a little thinner than the should have been. I bought plenty of pure lemon juice when I was at Wheatsville on Monday so this won't be happening ever again. I'm sure you're thinking "Why can't you just get one of those big green bottles from HEB?" Well, HEB doesn't carry the Santa Cruz Organic Lemon Juice that I use. They don't even carry another brand of organic lemon juice and I had used up all of mine during the liver cleanse that I did last month. But it's all OK now!

Forgot One

and one more book - it was in my purse to read to them while we ate dinner out on the way home that same night - The Railway Children by E. Nesbit.

And Giselle is already half-way through the book of the diary of the girl taken captive by Indians in 1763. I see lots of trips to the library in our future!

Half-Price Books

We finally made the trek to North-Central Austin to check out the giant-sized Half-Price Books Monday afternoon. Here is what we walked out of there with:

Roald Dahl & Quentin Blake - Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes.
Ruyard Kipling - The Jungle Book - this edition is annotated so we'll be using this for school.
The American Girls Collection - Kirsten's Craft Book - crafts from 1854.
Predators Sticker-Pedia - includes a CD-ROM with over 224 clip art images!
Dover Game and Puzzle Activity Books - Knock Knock Jokes.
Decide Your Destiny Series - Doctor Who - The Spaceship Graveyard.
Patricia MacLachlan - Sarah, Plain and Simple.
Patricia MacLachlan - Skylark - the sequal to the above book.
John R Erickson - Hank the Cowdog.
John R Erickson - The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog.
Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals.
Laura Lee Hope - The Bobbsey Twins In Volcano Land.
Uncle John's Wild & Woolly Bathroom Reader for Kids Only - wacky facts about amazing animals!
Gertrude Chandler Warner - The Boxcar Children.
Gertrude Chandler Warner - The Boxcar Children Surprise Island.
Gertrude Chandler Warner - The Boxcar Children The Yellow House Mystery.
Scholastic - Li'l Book O' Big Laughs.
Frances Hodgson Burnett - The Secret Garden.
Joy Adamson - Living Free - I'll try to get Born Free before we get around to reading this.
Walter Farley - The Black Stallion and the Girl.
JM Barrie - Peter Pan: The Original Story.
Roger Lea MacBride - Little House on Rocky Ridge - the continuation of the stories that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote.
Roger Lea MacBride - Little Farm in the Ozarks - #2 of the above.
Roger Lea MacBride - In the Land of the Big Red Apple - #3 of above.
Roger Lea MacBride - On the Other Side of the Hill - #4 of above.
Scholastic Series Dear America - The Captive Diary of Catharine Cary Logan 1763.
Scholastic Series Dear America - The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell 1847.
Scholastic Series Dear America - The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi 1883.
Scholastic Series Dear America - The Diary of Libby West 1868.
Scholastic Series Dear America - The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift 1932.

I have no idea where we're starting with these books although most of them are for Giselle to read by herself in the mornings before school.

Sunday School

So, what do YOU look for in a good Sunday School for your kids?

I'm unhappy with the program that my kids are attending at our regular church so we're on a quest to find a better one. I gotta get back to school right now but I'll expand on this later.

Sunday Seven #23

Sunday Seven
Seven Things That I am Thankful for this past week ending 7/19/08

1 - That our head colds were going away by the time I had to lead the West meetings.
2 - That our food and service at Maudie's Milagro was just right.
3 - That the starter in my car died while it was in my driveway in the morning, not while in a parking lot in the middle of the day.
4 - 3 other friends showing up for Park Day.
5 - Summer School continuing to go well.
6 - Pokemon action figures being such a well received reward.
7 - Having so many churches nearby for us to choose from since I'm not satisfied with the Sunday School at our current church.

And family and kids and friends, of course.


Leave a link to your Sunday Seven in the comments!

Photography Fun

Karen at Life in the Crazy Lane is starting a Toddler Photo thing and I'm going to join in. Any others of you that let your kids get a hold of the camera every once in a while, feel free to join in on her Carnival that she's starting This Coming Friday Night. It's guaranteed to be fun viewing!

Paul's perspective of leftover pizza


A 50 year-old German stacking toy

A flower arrangement of Giselle's

The Sun-Moon-and Stars in our bedroom. The stars glow. And yes, that IS an Elvis doll up on that top shelf.

Pork and Pipian

I made the pork shoulder/pipian squash thing for dinner again and I remembered to take some pictures while I cooked it. I'll post them after dinner or tomorrow. I haven't cooked the onions yet and I'm sure that the kids will revolt if I don't make them so I better get back to cooking.

Dinner Calendar - January 2008

Wow, I'm totally on a roll on these!
Thomas moved out this month so dinner was back down to usually being for just the kids, somewhat for me and occasionally for Joe. Actually, he went back on Adkins with the new year so he started eating chicken breasts at home for dinner more often. But we switched chicken, previously I always cooked up fajita-seasoned chicken breasts to order in the cast-iron skillet. Now, with the microwave oven installed, I was buying the pre-cooked breasts and Joe waves them himself whenever he wants them. With Thomas not being here regularly, Big Dinners started to include both him and his best friend/house-mate Bobby and they both have a big liking for the Tamaleo tamales so that's what we usually have for the Big Dinners.

So here is the dinner calendar for January 2008:

1 - Salmon, tortellini, black-eyed peas, rice
2 - Black-eyed peas & rice w/ turkey gravy, tortellini & ravioli w/ sauce
3 - Ate out at Satellite Cafe
4 - Hot dogs w/ buns, broccoli
5 - Tortellini, seaweed salad
6 - Spaghetti w/ sauce, broccoli, Joe had salmon & brisket
7 - Ravioli w/ meatballs & sauce
8 - Hot dogs w/ chili
9 - Macaroni & Cheese w/ mixed veggies & ground beef mixed in
10 - Leftover Mac & Cheese, spaghetti & ravioli
11 - Pizza bites
12 - Ravioli w/ sauce
13 - Ate out at Trudy's
14 - Baked potato soup (doctored a fresh-ingredient kit from HEB)
15 - Ate out at The Cheesecake Factory
16 - Homemade veal dumplings (the Asian kind not the Bisquick kind), smoked oysters
17 - Smoked sausage, cheese
18 - Asian noodle soup, veal dumplings
19 - Pigeon peas w/ rice
20 - Big Dinner - King Ranch casserole (see my archives for the recipe) and Bumbleberry Blossoms (berry tarts from Costco)
21 - Ate out at Satellite Cafe
22 - Leftover King Ranch Casserole for Paul, Vegetable broth for Giselle
23 - Chili w/ hot dogs, mixed veggies
24 - Ham & cheese sandwich - Giselle, yogurt w/ bananas - Paul, homemade cinnamon sugar cookies
25 - oops, forgot to write it down
26 - Ate out-in - Domino's Pizza
27 - Meatfest on the Grill 2008 - cube steak, fajita-seasoned chicken breasts & thighs, pork shoulder steak, okra & tomatoes, pasta & pesto, mixed veggies, smores (I told you that it's charcoal grill weather year-round here)
28 - Spaghetti w/ meatballs & sauce
29 - Lo Mien w/ veggies and veal dumpling insides
30 - Tortellini & ravioli w/ sauce
31 - Ham & cheese tortilla roll-ups

Dinner Calendar - December 2007

I'm on a bit of a roll with these, mainly because I wanted to get 2007 over and done with so I could file the calendar away. Thomas was still with us so he was joining in on meals whenever he was home at dinner time. Joe ate out most nights, and I continued with my 'grazing through dinner' meal plan. So, this is really a list of what the KIDS ate every night for dinner, unless there were veggies involved or soup because THOSE I join in on. I love me some soup! Just last week (July '08) I made some FANTASTIC chicken noodle soup; Joe even loved it and he usually only likes soup if he's sick.

'Mixed Veggies' means either a half or full 16 oz bag of frozen Central Market Organic brand mixed peas, carrots, corn and green beans. 'Big Dinner' means that we had more than just our family of 4 eating the meal, anywhere from one more person up to 4 more people.

So, without further delay, here is the dinner calendar for December 2007:
1 - Ate out-in from Burger King, leftover black-eyed peas thing
2 - Fresh meatballs (ground pork & ground Jersey bull) w/ homemade sauce, mushroom ravioli
3 - Big Dinner - Salmon, scallops, pizza bites
4 - Pasta (foot-long ziti) w/ white bean sauce (maybe from Everyday Food?)
5 - Macaroni & Cheese w/ mixed veggies, grilled hot dogs, smores (we must have just gotten the charcoal grill 2 days before - it was end of the season clearance. I know you're saying "End of season clearance? But it's December! I think the grilling season ended a while ago." But see, in December we still regularly have daily highs in the 70's (80's in the sun) so grilling out is really a year-round thing here)
6 - Big Dinner (Lisa was in town) - Tamales, broccoli, guacamole & chips, still-in-season-at-the-farmers-market bell peppers & dip, pepper & tomato soup w/ rice
7 - Macaroni & Cheese w/ ground beef and veggies mixed in
8 - Oops, forgot to write it down
9 - Pasta (star shaped) w/ sauce
10 - Pizza bites
11 - Big Dinner - Salmon, scallops, home-made Lo Mien
12 - Hot dogs w/ chili & rice
13 - Tortellini w/ sauce & meatballs, green beans
14 - Ate out-in - Summer Sausage & cheese from North Carolina (thanks Cea & Charlie), Domino's pizza (our standard order is double black olives, double mushrooms on a hand-tossed crust, Joe's is green pepper, onion, pepperoni on thin crust)
15 - Ate out at a dinner/Christmas party at a friend's house
16 - Tortellini w/ mixed veggies
17 - Hot dogs w/ chili & rice
18 - Ate out at Kerby Lane Cafe
19 - Ravioli w/ edamame
20 - Tamales
21 - Macaroni & Cheese w/ ground beef & mixed veggies mixed in
22 - Tortellini w/ meatballs and sauce
23 - Ravioli w/ meatballs and sauce
24 - Home-made black olive pizza, tortellini w/ fresh meatballs & sauce
25 - Christmas - Big Dinner - Wild turkey (the poultry not the bourbon), mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans, steamed carrots, dressing, King Hawaiian rolls, gravy, chocolate cherry cheesecake (from Aunt Nita at the Farmers Market)
26 - Leftovers from last night except we had brisket (thank you Christian) instead of turkey
27 - Leftovers from last night minus the beans and the rolls
28 - Ate out at Dynasty Buffet
29 - Tortellini & ravioli w/ meatballs and sauce
30 - Macaroni & Cheese w/ mixed veggies and ground beef
31 - Ate out-in - Domino's Pizza

November '07 Dinner Calendar

Thomas was still with us in November so he was at most meals. Joe, as usual, ate most dinners out with contractors and friends. And I continued to eat a little of what the kids were having and the rest of my meals were leftovers or grazing in the fridge & freezer.

November 2007 - what we ate for dinner each night:
1 - Tortellini w/ broccoli & pesto
2 - Hot dogs w/ chili
3 - Asian noodle soup
4 - Spaghetti w/ meatballs, fresh green beans
5 - Leftover spaghetti, green beans
6 - Ate out at Marie's house
7 - Big Dinner - Salmon, mahi mahi, mixed veggies
8 - Ate out-in - Taco Bell (our standard order is a Seven-Layer Burrito for each of us and the kids also each get an order of Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes)
9 - Tortellini w/ hot dogs
10 - Ate out at a friend's house for their son's birthday party
11 - Tamales
12 - Big Dinner - Seafood Fettuccine (recipe from http://www.momskitchencooking.blogspot.com/)
13 - Macaroni & Cheese w/ mixed veggies and ground beef mixed in
14 - oops, forgot to write it down and already forgot what we had 24 hours later
15 - Ate out - Paul and I at Taco Bell and Giselle & Joe at Abuelo's
16 - Leftover Macaroni & Cheese
17 - Pork steak, rice, mixed veggies
18 - No Dinner - the kids were sick
19 - Asian noodle soup
20 - Ate out-in - Sonic (Grilled Cheese) and made steamed clams
21 - Pasta (skinny lasagna noodles) w/ fresh home-canned sauce and meatballs
22 - Thanksgiving - Turkey, dressing, steamed carrots, chunky mashed potatoes (w/ garlic and cream cheese mixed in), fresh green beans, cranberry sauce, ayote squash, pie (didn't write down what kind of pie but it was probably from Aunt Nita at the Farmers Market)
23 - Leftovers from last night
24 - Hot dogs w/ chili
25 - Pork pot roast (onions, potatoes, carrots)
26 - Mixed veggies, green beans, mashed potatoes, dressing, Thomas had salmon
27 - Ate Out at Satellite Cafe
28 - Black-eyed peas, rice, stewed tomatoes, mixed veggies
29 - Tamales, fresh broccoli
30 - Hot dogs w/ chili & rice, leftover black-eyed peas mixed w/ stewed toms & veggies & rice

October '07 Dinner Calendar

A chronological listing of what I made for dinner for the kids (and sometimes me) each night in the month of October 2007. When Joe eats dinner at home it's usually chicken breasts or salmon fillets. I sometimes have a little of whatever the kids are having, other times I'll have some of my green juice or leftovers from the previous night. In October Thomas was still living with us so he joined us for dinner most nights and he ate what the little kids ate.


1 - Big Dinner - Shrimp, salmon, crab cakes, tuna, mixed veggies
2 - Tamales, fresh broccoli
3 - Tater tot casserole (NOT your standard version - I refuse to use cream of *anything* soup)
4 - Leftover tater tot casserole, tortellini
5 - Chicken Fajitas
6 - Ate out at Chick-fil-A as part of a birthday party at the mall
7 - Hot dogs w/ chili
8 - Black-eyed peas w/ okra served over rice
9 - Ate out at Chuy's Tex-Mex Comida Delux
10 - Ate out at Marie's house - hot dogs and tortellini
11 - Big Dinner - Salmon, shrimp, tamales
12 - Hot dogs, pizza rolls (I know, I went through a phase here for 2 months where I served the kids 'normal' food. Then I kicked the pre-packaged habit and got healthy again.)
13 - Pizza rolls, mixed veggies, tortellini
14 - Macaroni & Cheese
15 - Beef Stroganoff, 3 bean salad
16 - Yogurt & granola
17 - Big Dinner - Salmon, tuna, mixed veggies
18 - Ate out (didn't write down where)
19 - macaroni & Cheese, chocolate cake
20 - Tamales, eggplant w/ okra over rice
21 - Tortellini w/ meat sauce made from the Jersey bull that got Edgar
22 - Big Dinner - Salmon, perch, shrimp, mixed veggies
23 - Chicken Alfredo
24 - Ate out at Buffet Palace
25 - Leftover tortellini
26 - Leftover chicken Alfredo
27 - Macaroni & Cheese w/ mixed veggies mixed in
28 - Asian noodle soup
29 - Big Dinner - Salmon, mahi-mahi, shrimp, mixed veggies
30 - Leftover mac, veggies & cheese w/ ground beef added in, leftover Asian noodle soup
31 - Tortellini and a BOATLOAD of candy

1988

Since my post a few months ago, what-happened-to-1988, I've had several people come to my blog because they too are having trouble remembering or finding the year 1988. Strange.

What can I remember from 1988?
Right around the 4th of July, a group of us went to King's Dominion in Richmond, VA for the day. One of us was on crutches due to an on-the-job accident (he was a bicycle courier) so ALL of us got to go to the front of EVERY line and ride on the coaster or whatever for as many times as we wanted!
The Bon Jovi album called New Jersey came out.
Holly and I saw a whole lot of concerts. I was going to say that we saw The Cult with Metallica at the Capitol Center but that was in 1989.
I was still working at Kemp Mill Records in Georgetown.
Def Leppard was still on tour for Hysteria.
Ronald Reagan was still president so there was still a Rock Against Reagan concert on The Mall before the 4th of July.
The Iran-Contra thing and all that mess was going on.
The Last Emperor was STILL playing in the movie theaters - gosh that was a LONG movie!
Andy Gibb died - I used to have his poster hanging on my ceiling when I was a pre-teen.
The girl from the movie Poltergeist died.
Chet Baker died. There was a cool documentary about him 'cause he was a famous jazz trumpeter.
The guy from The Red Hot Chili Peppers died - I saw them both before he died and after he died. "True men don't kill coyotes."
Roy Orbison died just before the Traveling Wilburys went on tour.

Oh, and it's the year that I met my husband, Joe. Which kind of overshadows everything else that happened that year.

Sunday Seven #22

I haven't done a Sunday Seven since the Fall, it's about time to get back into the groove.

Sunday Seven is where every Sunday you post 7 things on your blog that you are thankful for (or whatever) from the previous week. If it's near a holiday, you could post 7 things that make that holiday meaningful for you. If it's near a birthday, you could post 7 things about that person that makes them special to you. The possibilities are endless.
The official Sunday Seven site is a bit dormant recently but that doesn't mean that you can't still share your thankfulness. Feel free to leave a link to your Sunday Seven in the comments.

Sunday Seven #22
Seven Things That I Am Thankful For This Week Ending July 12, 2008
1 - My kids being able to go to more than one church's Vacation Bible School every summer.
2 - Vitamin C being the cure-all for every ailment.
3 - Joe letting me stay in bed all day last Sunday.
4 - The love of music that my kids have learned.
5 - A never-ending supply of Pokemon products on eBay.
6 - Diane taking my kids to VBS every morning.
7 - My new blender because it's working great.
*as always, I'm thankful for my family and friends but I like to acknowledge them anyway.

good drink

Wow! 12 ounces unfiltered apple juice, 2 oz Brugal Anejo Rum, 12 oz can of Blue Sky Organic Ginger Ale, 12 oz crushed ice. Shake it all together and leisurely ENJOY!
WOW!

not for us

The kids now know that not all packages addressed to Joe are really FOR Joe - sometimes they are for me/them. And we've gotten so many packages lately that they automatically think that it's for them when when it's addressed to Joe.
So there were 2 packages laying on the front porch when we got home from The Market and when they saw that one was for Joe they got ALL excited, "Mama, there's a package for us! It says 'Joe' but I just know it's for us!" The other one was for our friend Chris but that just confused them. Unfortunately for the kids, I haven't bid on or won any auctions in the last week so I knew it wasn't for us. "Sweetie, I haven't won anything so it's not full of Pokemon cards or action figures or Playmobil. It really IS for Daddy." They had the saddest looks on their faces after that.
They don't realize how much Pokemon stuff I have stashed away.

no go on the park but yes on tea

Both kids vetoed the park after lunch. So I made a BIG pot of tea (chamomile, mint, cold remedy, decaf green plus some loose hibiscus and fresh mint) and they drank that all afternoon as iced tea and one more big glass warm for dessert after dinner.
I might be in for a flood in the bed for the second night in a row.
Time to disburse the Pokemon cards for the night and put the kids to bed.
See ya!

Don't feel like it

I don't feel like posting today. Wait, I'm posting this so that doesn't mean anything.
The kids are feeling a bit ill from VBS this last week and aren't sure if they want to go to the park. WHAT!? I don't want to miss 2 weeks in a row!
They HAVE to get out of the house and into an UNSTRUCTURED atmosphere SOON! Forget what they want, after lunch we are going no matter what they say or whine about!
I'm off to make a ham & cheese sandwich for Giselle and fruit-milk for Paul (probably a quesadilla too).

Biscuits

We sure do love us some biscuits 'round here, Biscuit Brothers that is!

We had the 2 boys over for dinner tonight - tamales and pork loin as usual and a repeat of the seafood scampi pasta. I think I'm gonna have some of the leftover Costa Rican melon right now!

long day

I mowed the lawn while the kids were at VBS
I put away all of Joe's laundry (don't ask about mine)
I watched a movie
I vacuumed the house
I made breakfast, lunch and dinner
I got signatures from the neighbors for an important letter
I spent 4 hours at city hall fighting to preserve the integrity of our neighborhood for the next 25 years.
And now I'm going to bed

Pictures of the Kitchen

As promised, here are pictures of the kitchen as it currently looks.



Here is the new, black and brushed stainless steel, happy couple: Mr Krups and Mrs Oster secluded in their corner by the sink.


Here is the kids' white stove with their white mixer and play food and my old pots.


The white Samsung refrigerator with the broken switch in the LED readout.


The Kenmore white ceramic-top, 5 burner (two of them multi-sized) stove and 7-cubic-foot oven with a viewing window. Note the white ceramic storage canisters between the stove and fridge.


And the Maytag white dish washer located below the white Sunbeam mixer. Can you see the adorable white butter keeper hiding behind the mixer? It's too hot in my kitchen for me to use it during the summertime but I LOVE having it around in the fall and winter.

Some day, all of those small appliances will be covered by matching white (?) covers. Some day.

More Pictures - food

Here is a shot of the chicken casserole after it was all assembled.


Here's a closeup showing the mini-lasagna noodles, peas, carrots and chuncks of fajita chicken.


Always remember to write instructions on the outside of the package so they know how to reheat it. And a list of ingredients is helpful in case of food issues.


Here's the finished lasagna. Sliced mozzarella on top.


And the directions for reheating it. Since I put a layer of plastic wrap on top of the lasagna so the tomato sauce wouldn't eat through the aluminum foil, I was sure to put a reminder about THAT on the foil - "Remove plastic wrap BEFORE reheating in the oven!"

pictures

Here is most of our Best of the West family: Geronimo, Josie West, Janice West and Jane West. Princess Wilflower was asleep in the bedroom with her horse at the time of the picture.



On windy days we prefer to fly our own parachute! Actually it's our parasail and Joe just sold it. It's one of those ones that you pull with a boat and since we don't have a boat anymore it's kind of silly for us to keep it.

Words of wisdom

The kids started another week of VBS today and once again I reminded Giselle of one of the most important rules of life:
The best way to make a friend is to BE a friend!

Day Off

I had the day off yesterday (first time in 7 years) so I just layed around in bed and did not much of anything except sleep. I didn't check other blogs and didn't post to this one. I went back to work at 8:30 pm after the kids went to bed so that I could finish up the laundry that I started on Saturday.
And I ate the rest of the blueberry grunt.

quotes I like right now

"I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends." — Nancie J. Carmody

"Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day." — Anonymous

"What flatterers say, try to make true." — German Proverb

"At every party there are two kinds of people — those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other." — Ann Landers

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet." — James Oppenheim

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." — Lin Yutang

"Forgo your anger for a moment and save yourself a hundred days of trouble." — Chinese proverb

"You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving." — Anonymous

"If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?" — Dogen

"One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it." — Sidney Howard

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." — Victor Frankl

"Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead." — Mac McCleary

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live." — Flora Whittemore

"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit." — Aristotle

"To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever." — Henry Drummond

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." — Henry David Thoreau

Happy Independence Day

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. ....
... that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton


Now go out and find a copy of 1776 and watch it, because you should do that every year on this day! "The eagle inside belongs to us!"

food delivery

I made a lasagna casserole and a chicken casserole. I took after pictures but no during, one of these days I'm going to remember to take the during pictures. I also brought them some frozen tortellini and ravioli, 2 jars of my homemade pasta sauce from Nov 2007, some orange and red bell peppers and some cucumbers from the market, and a half pint of the blueberries.

On the way home we stopped and bought some fireworks - sparklers and snakes and chickens. Giselle had a good point that tomorrow night they'll be worn out from the park and the pool and watching the City fireworks so we should do some of ours tonight. We did a package of snakes when we got home. I guess that we'll do one of the chickens tonight before bed.

food update

Yesterday I took the half case of ugly heirloom tomatoes (pink brandywine, Kellogg's breakfast, pineapple and yellow brandywine) that Edgar gave me at the market and finally made sauce with them. Actually, I made paste with them. Canning that was a new adventure. It was thicker than the usual sauce I can so the air bubbles rose differently in the jars and they all didn't make a seal on the first go around. Then I took a quarter cup out of each jar, making it 7 1-pint jars instead of 6, and tried again with success. Well, success with all but one that refused to hold a seal, even when I stuck it into the fridge to cool. So that's the one that Paul ate half of for lunch today and we used the rest of it at dinner on top of our mushroom ravioli.

Well the kids had ravioli, I had 3 cucumbers and a serving of our dessert - fresh organic strawberries and blueberries with fresh whisked cream. I got the strawberries and blueberries at HEB this afternoon - the blueberries were on sale for $2.99 for a half pint (Organic from Cleveland, TX) so I bought 18 of them. I think I'm going to make the Blueberry Grunt recipe that I saw in my latest issue of Cook's Country with some of them for the Forth of July.

Oh, while the tomatoes were cooking down yesterday the kids and I made meringues. Wow, were they ever easy and they sure disappeared FAST! We were all amazed that just 2 egg whites, some cream of tarter, some vanilla and some mint and 1/2 cup of sugar could make 24 cookies. Once I got the whites all whisked up it looked much more substantial and the kids said that I could do all the whisking from now on. We really liked the touch of mint that I added; they tasted like roasted mint marshmallows. I'm sure that I'll be whisking those up again real soon!

And the wine DID come from HEB and I got 6 more bottles of it today - it'll be my gift wine to take to other people's houses for the summer.

And I got the rest of the fixins to make two casseroles for my friend with the newborn baby (#3) so I'll be making those tomorrow. And then I get to go SEE THE NEW BABY while I deliver the food!

And the new blender worked GREAT yesterday; I'm pleased with it so far.

Good Wine!!

I'm finishing off a bottle of wine that we opened last week at the Big Dinner and, WOW!, it's a good wine! It's a 2006 Vouvray from Barton & Guestier made from Chenin Blanc grapes in France. See, in France a wine is referred to primarily by where it's grown, not primarily by the grapes used to make the wine. Yep, the French are like that.
I got this for $7.99 at HEB a few weeks ago or else at Sam's Club, I don't really recall which but I'm going to look through my receipts and find out because I want MORE of this. It's an excellent summer wine. The back of the bottle says "A lovely wine with floral notes, peach and pear flavors and a refreshing finish. As an aperitif or with cheeses and light desserts." But honestly, it was good with the scampi pasta last week and it's good with my raw orange bell peppers and dip.

So, be advised that this is a good wine and try to find some for yourself.