Serving delicious split pea soup for lunch. Overheard Cherry Pie say to Blueberry Pie, “I can’t believe mom’s serving us warmed up barf on a spoon.”
Watching the comet
13 MarThe DH makes sure that the kiddie pies truly get to experience this awesome world we live in.
Last night the kids and I went looking for comet Pan-STARRS in the western sky. The day had been partly cloudy, and I worried that we would miss this event. But at around 7:00 PM the skies looked clear. So we jumped into the van and headed to the kids’ grandparent’s house where there was an unobstructed view of the horizon. And they have a telescope too! So we set up the telescope and brought out a couple pairs of binoculars.
Slowly the thin sliver of the crescent moon emerged. It was magnificant! But we were waiting for something more elusive. Finally, the small smudge of light appeared. We quickly aimed the telescope toward the cosmic wonder. It was amazing to see. And I was just as excited for my children to witness the comet as I was.
The telescope provided a good view, but my favorite view was through…
View original post 84 more words
“Y” not?
13 MarThe DH and I made a tough decision, but a good one, I think. We suspended our Internet service at home.
Why?
#1 Yours truly was wasting too much time on pintrest and Facebook .
#2 Cutie Pie. Wanted to spend all day watching Dora on Amazon Prime.
#3. Our town just opened a new YMCA with pool and climbing wall and Zumba. The price of the monthly membership for a family is the same as what we were paying for internets.
After much debate we decided that we would be healthier and have more fun as a family if we canceled the internets and got a Y membership instead.
I can link up to free wifi a few places in town, so i’m pretty sure I will be able to keep up with the bog. Yay!
I went to Zumba this morning and had a great time. Yay for a change from my same old aerobics tapes! I jiggled my fat all over the place. And I talked 3 friends into going with me. Bwa hahahahahaha…..hahahahahaha…..
I feel thinner already.
The lost book of Ruth
8 MarAnd the mother said unto her children, “Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good.”
And the children cried unto their mother, “Mother we wish to eat like unto the Philistines the frosted tarts that pop.”
And the mother prepared an healthy breakfast with wheat and fruits from the vine.
But the children gnashed their teeth and cried,”Nay; but we will have a sugary cereal; that we also may be like all the other children, and that our lunches may be like the other children’s also, give us chips and twinkies and the carbonated sugar drinks.”
And the mother was wroth with her children and declared that the children should henceforth have nothing with which to eat.
And the children repented of their wickedness and ate with gratitude and rejoicing every food which proceeded forth from the kitchen.
Muddy Ditches
2 MarSo I was thinking about my drama and I remembered this incident from a few years ago. It made me chuckle to myself, so I thought I’d share:
Back then, my husband and I and 3 kids lived next door to my parents. I don’t consider it “out in the country” because we lived on a paved road, but it was 18 acres and on a well, not city water. So some of you all might consider that country.
I had just returned home from something breezy and fun.
My dad was knee deep in a muddy trench and water was spraying at him from a broken pipe like a fire hose.
The water finally slowed to a slow gush, and I walked closer. I forget what the exact problem was he had been trying to fix. In any case, there were 2 lines, a main trunk line bringing water from the well, and a spur line that was for just such a thing as adding a hydrant or adding a waterline to somewhere new. Not having been the one who laid the original lines, my dad called the man who did to double check which was the main and which was the spur line. The man told him backwards, so when dad cut what he thought was the spur, the geyser began. Now he had a whole new problem an addition to the one that had required digging the ditch in the first place.
So there dad was, up to his knees and elbows in mud, in a ditch he had dug, struggling against water spraying from a pipe that he, himself, had cut. He kind of leaned against the side of the ditch and looked over at me and said something like,
“I know Lehi tells us that there is opposition in all things. I have faith in that principle. I don’t need any more opposition to learn it.”
I think what he was trying to say was, “I think I’ve had enough opposition for today. I’d like to be done with opposition now.”
Sometimes when I have a particularly hard day, that memory of dad in the ditch will flash through my mind and I’ll smile to myself. And then I’ll remember how hard he always worked for our family, and that gives me the strength to cheerfully keep on keepin’ on.
****
2Nephi 2:11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one;
Karma double-crossed me, kicked me in the face, and stole my lunch money.
1 Mar
English: Vinita Hotel, in Vinita, Oklahoma (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So this morning I blissfully headed out the door to do a Mary Kay party. I left in plenty of time and I had everything ready.
The party was a bit farther than I usually go, but it was for a sweet little lady who is a great customer so I was happy to go. I got there just fine and my new iPhone bailed me out when I couldn’t find Pat’s house. I tried to call her, but I had entered her phone number wrong into my phone. Never fear, I used my Mary Kay app to log onto my website and find her correct number.
The party was fine-I sold what I sell on average–even though 2 of the guests refused to try the product because they were not going to remove their makeup. This always surprises me, though it happens occasionally. I talked a little bit too much and left a little late, but all was well. Here’s where things started to go downhill.
Since my trip required getting on the Oklahoma Turnpike, I headed towards the Vinita toll booth. It wasn’t labeled very well and I wasn’t sure if I should pay toll or take a ticket (and pay later.) I opted for take a ticket because that is how it had worked when I came from the opposite direction. As soon as I was through the booth, and past the point of no return, I could see that my ticket was for the wrong direction. It was for west and I wanted to go east. Right on the ticket is says something like, “It is unlawful to take this ticket and travel in a different direction than stated.” I panicked. I did not want to be unlawful. FIGHT OR FLIGHT! FIGHT OR FLIGHT! I went west even though I was already late and even though I knew it was the wrong direction because I didn’t want to be unlawful. It cost me 20 minutes and $3.25 in toll fees to go down to riggin’ friggin’ Big Cabin and turn around. I imagined telling the whole thing to my dad and how he would laugh and ask, “What are you such a silly goose for?” The worst thing is it was all so deja vu, like, I’m pretty sure that I have done this very same thing before. Next time, Vinita, I’m traveling east no matter what. Get a better sign.
Now an hour late instead of half an hour late, I continue to the Baby-sitter’s and pick up the girls. I really hate being late to the babysitter’s. It makes me feel so flaky and bad mom and unreliable.
I let the DH know that I will be late home and make one last Mary Kay delivery before heading home. Now I’ve been on the road for more than 2 hours and I’m tired. Not sleepy tired, just that numb “I can’t believe I’m still in this stupid car when I just want to be home” tired. So I’m just on auto-pilot, thinking about home and what I’m going to cook for dinner, when suddenly I see those beautiful red & blue flashing lights in my rear view mirror. Yep, that’s right, I’ve totally missed the 30 MPH sign and since my auto-pilot default is 45, I’m in trouble.
Don’t worry, I did not miss the irony of getting pulled over for speeding when I already ruined my afternoon in an attempt to avoid being “unlawful.” The thing is I wasn’t trying to speed. I just wasn’t paying attention because I was so done.
Is it just me, or are police officers getting really young these days? Mine was wearing a jacket that was too big for him and a mustache that was WAY too big for him. After he decided to give me a ticket, he went into this schpeal about how my signing it was not an admission of guilt, just and acknowledgement that I had received it. I asked him if I could just pay it and not go to court, which he said I could. Then he repeated the whole schpeal about how my signing it was not an admission of guilt, just and acknowledgement that I had received it, and then get this, he said in this very wheedle-whiny unsure voice, “So…will you sign it?” I’m not sure what he expected me to do instead. Flip out and scream at him in front of my 4-year-old? Wake up the baby? Maybe the way I was just sitting there with my hands in my lap and staring straight ahead all defeated made him think I was about to go psyco.
When I got home, the big kids had done their chores and the DH was washing dishes. Ah Home, sweet Home.
Then as I unpacked my Mary Kay bags, I discovered I had lost one of the sales slips from the party. Not only does that mean I don’t have the lady’s information and can’t get paid, it also means her bank card information is where? Still at Pat’s house? Blowing down the Oklahoma Turnpike? There was that bit where my car window got tired of going up and down at toll booths and just stayed stuck down for awhile…..Oh the humiliation of having to call her and tell her I’ve gone and lost her card number who knows where. How to avoid that in the future? I bet my iPhone has an app. Curses for not thinking of that sooner.
Oh I just want to curl up in a ball and eat a bunch of chocolate. Wait…already did that and am 500 calories over my limit for the day. Super.
I think the best part about being married is that at the end of a day like today, I can go home and get a good hug and know that somebody still thinks I’m great, even if I’m an idiot.
And I’ll tell him about that speeding ticket tomorrow, first thing, I swear. It’s just that when I took a breath to tell him, I felt like I might start crying and so I stopped…
22
Feb
Sometimes I post on other people’s blogs because I can.
White Chocolate Hot Cocoa
20 Feb
Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention.
Well, this morning was so chilly, I wanted to make cocoa for the kids to warm them up. But I realized that I had used up the last of the cocoa powder **TRAVESTY**
used it up last night making these amazing brownies. ** WORTH IT** .
(By the way, that recipe is the first one I’ve ever made that had the same fudgey consistency as brownies from a mix. Usually homemade brownies are too cakey. I highly recommend )
So how to make Hot Cocoa without cocoa? Why not try to make white chocolate hot cocoa?
It turned out fabulous–tasted like melted cookies & cream bars. Actually, that was a little too rich for breakfast, so I’ll use more water and less mix next time. Here’s my delicious recipe:
White Chocolate Hot Cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups nondairy creamer (I used french vanilla flavored creamer)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
4-6 cups hot water (I used the 4 cups this morning and like I said, too rich for breakfast)
Stirred all together.
If you want to make this as a mix to have in the cupboard, just leave out the vanilla
When you are ready to have your cocoa, stir 1/2 cup of the mix plus 1 cup hot water and 1/4 tsp vanilla. voila!
**I hope you noticed that the secret to making good homemade Hot Cocoa mix of any flavor us to use nondairy creamer instead of powdered milk.
I think this would make really fun Halloween breakfast (You know, because little ghosts can only eat white food.)
When I was little, my mom would tell me the story of what happened to little ghosts if they ate food that wasn’t white. If you don’t know that story, here it is:
(Makes a great flannel board story for pre-school)
The Chocolate Chip Ghost
Once upon a time, there lived five little ghosts. One day the Mama Ghost went to the refrigerator to find some food for her little ghosts. Do you know what kind of foods that
a ghost has to eat? Yes, they have to eat white food. What kinds of food could they eat? Vanilla ice cream, cottage cheese and what else? What could they drink? Yes, they
could drink milk. Well, there wasn’t any white food in the house and Mama Ghost needed to go to the grocery store to get food for her five little ghosts. Before she left, she told the little ghosts not to eat or drink anything that was NOT white. She told them that something dreadful would happen if they did.
After Mama Ghost left, the first little ghost was so thirsty that he went looking for something to drink. He found a small glass of grape juice in the refrigerator. He thought, “Just one little sip won’t hurt!” Well, what do you suppose happened? YES, he turned purple! The other little ghosts looked at him and said, “Mama told us that something dreadful
would happen and she was right!” The littleghost didn’t want his Mama to see him all purple, so he ran upstairs and hid in the toy box.
The second ghost got so hungry that he went looking for something to eat. He found a carrot in the refrigerator and thought just one bit won’t hurt! So he took one teeny, tiny
little bite and what do you suppose happened? He turned orange! The other little ghosts looked at him and said: “Mama told us that something dreadful would happen and she was right.” The little ghost didn’t want his Mama to see him all orange, so he ran upstairs and hid in the closet.
The third little got so hungry, and he looked for something in the refrigerator for something to eat. He found some spinach and what do you suppose happened? He turned green! The other ghosts looked at him and said: “Mama told us that something dreadful would happen and she was right.” The little ghost did not want his Mama to see him all green so he ran upstairs and hid under the bed.
The fourth little ghost became so hungry,and he looked in the refrigerator for something to eat. He found a bowl of strawberries and thought just a taste won’t hurt. So, he took one teeny bite of a strawberry and what do you suppose happened? He turned red! The other ghost looked at him and said: “Mama told us that something dreadful would happen and she was right!” The little ghost didn’t want his Mama to see him all red so he ran upstairs and hid behind the door!
The fifth little ghost said, “I’m so hungry, but I will not do what my brothers did. I’ll look in the freezer and see if there is maybe just a little vanilla ice cream. When he
looked in the freezer there was some ice cream and it was almost vanilla. It was white with little brown pieces of chocolate in it. So, the ghost said: “This shouldn’t hurt me–
those little pieces of chocolate are so tiny.” He ate one spoonful and became a chocolate chip ghost! He certainly didn’t want his Mama to see him all spotted. So, he ran upstairs and hid in the bathtub!
When Mama Ghost came home, she knew something was wrong when she didn’t see her little ghosts. She went upstairs to look for her children.
She found the first (purple) ghost in the toy box.
She found the second (orange) little ghost in the closet.
The third little ghost(green) was under the bed.
And the fourth little ghost(red) was behind the door!
And the fifth little ghost(chocolate chip) was in the bathtub!
When she found all of them, she said: “Little Ghosts! I told you that something dreadful would happen and it did!” Whatever can we do to get you white again
for Halloween?” She called the ghost doctor and this is what he told her to do: “Keep all of the little ghosts in bed for five days and give them nothing but vanilla ice cream and
milk. They should be okay and ready for Halloween!”
So, that is what she did and by Halloween night, the five little ghosts were all white again and ready to go out haunting and spooking and shouting
BOOOOOOO! And, they never ate anything that wasn’t white again!
Marvelous Pigs in Satin 