3 Word Wednesday ...can you believe it? LOL

Welcome to Three Word Wednesday. Each week, BONE will post three (or more) random words. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write something using all of those words. It can be a few lines, a story, a poem, anything. Bone'll also attempt to write something using the same three words.

Leave a comment if you participate. Many fun and interesting people might visit your blog.

This week's words are:
packed
cozy
anticipation

Sally knew this was coming. She and Harry had been together long enough for her to learn the routine. Every few years they got orders for a new location. It came with the job, the job Harry hated, but it provided quite nicely for them over all these years and so they accepted it.

Still Sally couldn't help the anticipation of what it would be like to move to a totaly different country. A country where the natives didn't speak english...but for the most part they would be on the base so it wasn't as if she had to learn a new language. And any encounters off the base property would be with natives who had learned some english...enough to get by and sell their products to the Americans with all the money. Money, isn't that what makes the world go round?

It took a lot of work to get all the necessary paperwork ready. Sally had to get a psychological evaluation and have her medical records checked before they would allow her to even go. She could only assume that they didn't want the expense of having to pack her up and send her home shortly after arriving.

Part of the snafus they ran into had to do with the fact that the position that Harry was taking was meant for someone going without a family (or solo). It seemed that no one in the office had ever figured out how to change the paperwork from an unaccompanied tour to an accompained (those are the military speak words for taking a new job without your family or with your family.) So they would get one part changed and then hit a new snag when the next part of the paperwork would still be for an unaccompanied tour. "Oh you won't be able to take that much of your belongings." "Oh that's right, this is now an accompanied tour...yeah your allowed this many pounds."

Speaking of the pounds, once all that was figured out their belongings had to be packed up. They sent packers to do the job. What a bunch of idiots! The moving company sent 3 packers...Sally thought they do this on purpose as they're are only two of them to keep an eye on the packers...so one gets to "run amock" with your belongings. She had to figure out which items should go to storage and which items should go with them. All the while making sure that they didn't take more than they were allowed. And also trying to make sure that her belongings were packed well enough that nothing would be broken.

Because of all the paperwork snafus Harry wasn't assigned living quarters until they arrived in country. So Sally and Harry had no idea when they were packing what furniture they should bring. They assumed that their quarters would be the ones the base had pictured on their website. So they had their items packed according to that. They were wrong but didn't know that yet.

Sally felt so weird watching her cozy home slowly reverting to the empty shell it had once been, like when they first bought it. Although it wasn't entirely the same as when they first bought it. Harry had put the shelf that Sally wanted up over the kitchen sink, that would be staying. There was also the storm door that they had put up together on the front door and all the window coverings that Sally had agonized over. The window coverings that Sally had cringed over when some stupid mother had let her toddler put his grubby hands all over when they were looking at the house they knew they had no intention of buying. Sally quickly learned that she wasn't cut out for tying to sell her house, it hurt too much to have someone be so critical of the place she had come to love.

Finally the time had come for them to leave. The house wasn't sold yet so they hired a realtor/shark who had a buyer for them before they even left the country...yeah, they had been taken, but at least the house was no longer a thing to worry about. As Harry and Sally drove their car to the nearest coast it began to snow...in June.

It's too much for me to handle!

I'm talking about my new microwave of course.

Did I mention that this microwave is 2 cubic feet? My old microwave was 1.4 cu...and I never had a problem with space...well except for that one dish. Hey, maybe I can get my 9X13 dish in there? I'll have to check that out.

This new microwave came with a turn table and a shelf. I was in awe and star struck when I bought it. Then I got it home and installed it and wondered "Just what in the world am I EVER going to cook that I need to use the rack for?" You see when cooking in the microwave when you cook multiple items they should all be about the same size and same cooking speed. If you cook something very wet with something dry...your wet item will get all the heat while your dry item will just look at you funny. So I ask again "When will I ever use the rack?" BEATS ME!

It came with directions on how to cook a roast or a chicken in there...but who in their right mind cooks meat in the microwave? You can't make it brown and everyone knows a microwave makes meats cook uneven.

I might use the rack for thanksgiving...I cook a lot of veggies then so maybe I can use the rack to get them all done at the same time...well the brocolli & corn. The greenbean casserole goes in the oven and it's mostly done already as you use canned greenbeans for it. I've tried using frozen for this and it just never works...I could pre-cook the greenbeans I suppose...but the canned are right there and easy. Maybe if I grow my own greenbeans again, I could use them.

I could possibly use the microwave to cook pumpkin...that would be a good use of it. If my garden produces a lot of pumpkin this year. Which by the way I still have a freezer full of pumpkin from last year. Didn't need so much pumpkin this year. hummm I should make some pumpkin dessert...it's good stuff.

There's one thing I don't like about my new microwave...and it's probably because my old microwave spoiled me...the light isn't as bright. The light under the microwave that shines down on my stove. I used to be able to turn it on and prepare the entire meal w/o using my kitchen lights...now it's like flipping on a nightlight. And to top it off, it comes with a nightlight feature that is even dimmer...what a waste.

The one with the interview...

I've seen this interview meme going around and really didn't know if I wanted to do it or not, but then Kailani did it and it didn't seem all that bad, so I asked her to interview me. I figured I could just not answer if it was too bad...right? Well it's not too bad, so here goes...

What do you feel is the greatest challenge and reward of being a mother? Hummm I guess the greatest challenge for me was "bucking they system" as to how to do this whole parenting thing. I learned early on that it was okay (with some) to follow my heart and do this parenting thing the way that felt best for me...but I kept running into folks who insisted that they knew how to do it better and that I was all wrong. I'm glad that I am stubborn enough to ignore them and do it my own way because it has been great. And the greatest reward is that I have a really great kid, despite my "screwing it up" by not following the advice of all those who said I was wrong.

What is your greatest hope for Darly's future? My greatest hope is that she grows up happy. I want her to have the freedom to pick whatever path she chooses. For me, my Mom wanted me to grow up to be sucessful and not be just a housewife...which left me feeling undecided about what I wanted to do with my life. It wasn't until I became a mom that I finally figured it all out and I want Darly to have the security to try as much as she wants to but to be happy with all her choices.

If you could meet one famous person, living or deceased, who would it be and why? I've always said that I wanted to meet my Great Great Grandmother. She lived to be over 100 and was still living when I was a kid, but we never took the trip to go & visit her until it was too late. She lived through quite a bit of changes in our world and I would love to hear her stories. Oh and it would be cool to confirm what she thought of my grandmother...My grandmother says that they got along great but my great cousin says that GG thought my grandmother was a gold digging slut. =o

If you became President, what is the first thing you'd change?
Well first I would have to change how you become President because someone screwed up big time! hee hee Actually the job of President of the US is not something I would ever want to take on. I don't have the time or personality to give the job justice.

Do you think kids should be forced to try new foods? HA HA! This is so funny because Darly is the world's WORST PICKY EATER! She didn't start out that way...she used to eat anything I put in front of her. But thanks to me not following my heart and listening to the stupid pediatrician that she needed more iron in her diet she doesn't trust me anymore with foods and wont eat anything that "tastes funny." Yesterday at the zoo we got her a hot dog (I tried to talk her into the corn dog instead!) and it didn't taste right...I think they cooked it with the sour kraut that it was sitting in so she wouldn't eat it. I offered to trade her my corn dog, but she was warry of it too. Thankfully she did eat a good dinner.

Latest breaking news...

The Microwave was installed Wednesday night. The only problem we had was that there is some duct work behind that wall and DH had to avoid that...the previous microwave was drilled right into it! After we negotiated that it went in pretty easily.

Darly helped too by standing on the kitchen counter and pulling the cord through the hole...afterward there were little black footy prints on my counter! I so hate white counter tops!

But it is in and it works! Tonight's dinner was so much easier to make. AHHHH!

Pictures to come... I need to dig through my files and see if there is one that might show the old microwave.

Here's the old microwave...well part of it. I didn't think to ever preserve it.

And here is the new one. You might notice that it sticks out a bit more than the old one did. I didn't realize until we got it in that I bought one that was 2 inches deeper. I was just awed by it's size...did I tell you that it is 2 cubic feet??? I'm now wondering just what I'm going to do with all that space. LOL!

I want my...I want my MTV...

"We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchens deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour tv’s"

Well yesterday my new microwave oven arrived. It looks great so far...it's sitting door side down on my kitchen's island. Still waiting to go up.

DH got home yesterday with the final part he needed to fix our sprinkler system. See somehow we didn't get all the water drained out of it and the pipe burst with all the freezing we had this winter. So he worked on that before we had dinner as he needed sunlight to work on it.

So after dinner we looked at the directions for the new microwave and decided to take down the old dead one. We got the screws undone and tried to tilt it forward, but this old microwave didn't attach to the wall the same way. I guess we should have looked at the directions to see that it had arms that slide into the unit. Oh well we did get it all down and we placed the old dead microwave in the cardboard box that the new one came in. It made a nice coffin. We carried it out to the curb in the rain. A nicer funeral it couldn't have asked for.

I just hope that the rain didn't weaken the cardboard box too much for when the trash men come to carry it away. That would be a mess if it falls in the street.

DH worked on getting the old brackets down and was reading the directions for putting up the new one. Of course it hangs totally different than the old one. He ended up quitting before we did anything to install the new one. So it is still sitting door side down on my island. Hogging tons of valuable kitchen real estate.

DH has promised that the new machine will be installed this evening. I'll keep you posted.

Oh and how have I been cooking without a microwave since the 23rd? It has been a challenge. See normally I make a dinner to have leftovers for a day or so afterward and heat the leftovers in my microwave. That doesn't work so well with no microwave. We had pizza when it first died. Then we had pre-cooked roasted chicken from the store...heated in my crock pot. But cooking veggies on the stove was interesting. Luckily they still put the directions for how to do that on the package. Reheating veggies stove top has been fun. Oh and try reheating mashed potatoes on the stovetop. I tried transfering them to another dish and popping them in the oven, but that dried them out.

I hope we have a microwave tonight. DH suggested that we just plug it in on the island and I may have to take him up on that. LOL!

Chinese Freeze Tag X 2

I’ve been tagged by Joan to come up with ten interesting habits or facts about me in a friendly game of Chinese Freeze Tag. So, ready or not, here they are!

1. If my feet are cold, then I am cold. If my feet are hot, then I am hot. So in the winter you'll see me with a few pairs of socks and slippers on and in the summer I soak my feet in cold water. I find it annoying.

2. When I'm cold, I like heavy blankets on me. I bought a blanket that is nice and heavy just for me in the winter. Love it.

3. I have to pee a lot. My friends all think it is funny how frequently I have to get up and go to the bathroom. As soon as we get to where we are going, I have to locate the bathroom...and I just went before we left the house.

4. When I'm cold, I have to pee more frequently. I was at this one girl's house and seriously had to go every 5 minutes. I had everyone in a fit of giggles.

5. I take it personally when someone is driving in a manner that I feel could endanger me or my family. Like a driver cuts me off in traffic.

6. Summer is my favorite time of year. I hate being cold.

7. When I was a kid I could touch my feet to the back of my head and as far as my nose. I could still do this in my early 20's but now, not so much as a regular back bend.

8. Speaking of back bends, they offered a class at Darly's gymnastics gym for Adults and I so wanted to take it, but they offered it when most kids are in school and I wouldn't have had any place for Darly to go while I was in class. I would soooo love to get back into shape enough to do what I used to do as a kid.

9. When I was pregnant with Darly my OB was shocked that I could still pull myself up off the table after an exam. I guess even pregnant I had really good abs. Even now they're still pretty strong, just covered in a layer of pudge.

10. I'm almost 5'3" tall but my lack of height isn't in my legs...they're 29" inseam which is considered "regular", my lack of height is in my torso. So I buy petit tops & dresses, but regular lenght pants. My brothers are all around 6 feet tall, so I've been saying that God gave my legs to my brothers but that isn't right as my legs are normal...he gave them my backbone. Oh well. I guess it's a good thing I'm this size as I'm a perfect size for DH who is also the smallest in his family.

Now how is this a X 2? Darly saw this and wanted to do it too. So the next 10 answers are hers...

1. She hearts cats. But we can't have one because we have one dog & two rabbits and DH won't let us have any more pets.

2. She likes lops. (the rabbits) She likes lops because they are normally friendlier than other breeds of rabbits. DH does not like lops as he feels they have broken ears. DH prefers wild rabbits.

3. She has no favorite flower.

4. Her current favorite color is blue. It used to be pink and that's the color of her bedroom. I'm not repainting her room.

5. She can not do oragami. I'm not sure why this bugs her.

6. She thinks our dog is a fuzzy doughNUT when she chases her tail.

7. She hates the "King of Queens" TV show...which DH likes very much and watches every day.

8. She can draw small pictures better than large ones. (her opinion here.)

9. She loves to read. And we need to go to the library to get her some more reading material as she is out.

10. Her 2nd favorite color is currently lavendar. (that's news to me!)

Well that's 10 from each of us... I could do DH too...but do you really care? Oh I could do the dog & rabbits too. LOL

I won't tag as this one requires 10 people and I stopped tagging a long time ago. Enjoy!

How I Roll

My blogging buddy Bone has been reminiscing about his past vehicles and it sounded like a good topic to me...so here it goes.

I have to first start off with wayyyyy before I ever got my driver's license.

When I was 14 or so I tried to drive my dad's truck in the back yard...we had a very big backyard and no one ever noticed, because I didn't get too far. It was a stick shift...more on that later.

So jump ahead to age 15 and I have a job babysitting the manager of our trailer park's kids in the evening. I have no idea where these folks were every evening, but they were paying pretty good cash for me to watch their kids. The driving part comes in where? Here... I would get off the bus from school and walk directly to the office, where they would give me the keys to the electric golf cart to drive over to their place and pick up their kid. That was so cool to be driving the golf cart!

Okay at 15 I was old enough to get my Learner's Permit. But my Mom didn't want me to have one because she didn't want her car insurance rates to go up. That sucks that your parent's insurance goes up even if you don't drive anything...but just because you could drive something. At any rate, I was 17 before I got my permit and that was because I signed up to take Driver's Ed at school and had to get a permit for that. I passed the class quite nicely.

At age 19 I move out into my first apartment. Still no car and still no real driver's license! At age 20 I was working for an Electric company in the mail room and part of my job was driving the company car to the post office to pick up our mail...still no driver's license, but no one really checked...I had to show them my license/permit to get the job to prove that I was a US citizen and they didn't check again to see if I could drive legally. good thing I never got into an accident or in trouble. LOL! Also lucky for me all these cars that I drove (a VAN too!) were automatic transmissions.

Somewhere in here the guy that I was living with comes home one day with a car for me. As it is pulling up to our apartment there is smoke billowing out from both front tires. I'm the daughter of a mechanic...I KNOW THIS IS NOT GOOD. Dumbdumb runs up all proud of himself and says "I bought you a car! How much do you think I paid for this car?" I roll my eyes and say "If you paid more than $1,000 you're a "explative" fool!" He of course was thoroughly ticked at me for the rest of the evening, because he had paid much more than $1K...in fact he had financed the darned thing and I got to pay for it. Oh by the way, the car is a STANDARD Transmission...no one has yet taught me how to drive one of these things!

I drove the car a bit, but never going any faster than 2nd gear. Still no license and I don't remember if we ever got the thing titled. We sunk more than $3,000 into the car trying to get it to run...brake calipers and universal joint...the brakes never did work right.

I eventually got smart and left Dumbdumb and the stupid car... I went to go live with my mother.

A friend of mine from work offers to let me borrow her car to get my first ever driver's license. I passed the test with flying colors.

One day my mom tells me that this girl at where she works is selling her old car for $800. It's a 75 Super Beetle. And she thinks I should buy it. I still don't know how to drive a standard. *sigh* I buy this car and find out it needs some work done on it. It stalls out every time you let up off the gas. I call up the mechanic and the part is only $8. Wow! so I arrange to get it fixed. Over $100 later the car still isn't any better...and we are moving farther away from where I work, so now I really need a car that I can drive. Bone just reminded me to tell you that I NEVER drove this car. I couldn't! It was a standard and I am yet standardly challenged.

A friend of mine from work drives me over to the Ford Dealership where she knows a guy. Thank Goodness! Finally I arrange to buy a 1990 Ford Tempo...but I'm trading in the Super Beetle on it. My friend offers to drive the Beetle to the dealership...she complains the entire way "How in the World did you expect to ever drive this thing?" I don't know...my mom wanted the darned car. She had dreams of me fixing it up to it's former glory.

A few weeks later I had to drive to my mom's job to get our house key because my little brother had locked my house key in the house after I specifically told him to not shut the door with the keys in the house! GAH! So we drive there and while I'm waiting for my mom to get the keys the girl who sold me the Beetle comes over and asks how I got there. She wondered if I was able to drive the Beetle all the way there...I told her "Nah, I traded that thing in on a new car!" LOL! She had sold me the car because she didn't want the dealer to junkyard the Beetle. Oh well.

So I had the Tempo for 10 years and it was a great car. It didn't give me any trouble really...but we decided to get something bigger when Darly came along. So we then got my Explorer...that I'm still driving. It's 13 years old now and still going great.


One of these days I want a Purple car. I have always wanted a purple car. DH says no way. But you know as soon as I can, I'm getting a purple car. Oh and my purple car won't be a Standard.

I'm Swapped!

Imagine a gymnasium full of young girls, milling about asking "Do you wanna swap?" That was kinda the middle part.

Let's back up a bit...

This is a Girl Scout thing.

First we were invited to the Swap by one of the troop in our Service Unit. The theme is "Let's go to the Beach!" So we bring beach themed swaps and dress in our going to the beach wear.

A swap is a small item that the girls make that they give away in exchange for something from the other girl.

So I was wracking my brain as to what to make...and I came up with Shrinky Dinks! They're extreemly versital. So Darly sat down and designed our beachy swaps. She came up with a palm tree, a star fish (or sea star for you scientific folks out there) and a beach ball. I traced the designs over and over onto the shrinky dink plastic stuff and we both colored them in...we also put our troop number on them and then popped them in the oven to shrink. Lots of fun! We were now ready to go.

We get to the gym tonight and there were tons and tons of girls there.

First the girls had activities to do...make a beach name tag for their lanyard, decorate sunglasses, get a tatoo (the sticker kind), make a picture holder, coloring sheets and then there were the games. I don't even know what kinds of games there were...lots.

The girls had lots of fun and were kept pretty busy. I was able to hold a decent conversation with my friend without getting interupted by my child at all.

Oh, while I'm mentioning this...we got a notice on Thursday that our girl scout troop financial report is due this Sunday! The co-Leader & I were in a panic as we had never seen any report before (I was pretty shocked...in LLL they tell you in the training about having to do the paperwork...in Girl Scouts we never got any kind of paperwork training at all.) Anyway our trusty treasurer had it all under control and was able to turn it in tonight! Yay! Give that woman a prize.

then the girls did the swapping and door prizes were awarded.

I was so glad when Darly said that she was ready to go home...we snuck out the back door because my feet were killing me in my silly flip flops that have beach shells on the straps. The toe part hurts!

I drove home barefoot...did you know that used to be illegal in Florida, but it's not anymore. And now I'm blogging this all for you when I would rather take a nap...see how good I am?

New Microwave on the way...

Yesterday I went shopping for a new Microwave. I found that getting one in the color that will match my kitchen was the most difficut part. The options were all pretty much the same for each brand.

So the first store I went to only had one in Bisque. It had a dent in the far back corner which would have been fine as it is the part that is hidden by the cabinet (remember this is an over the range microwave.) But it was a GE Spacemaker...the one I've read at least 10 bad reviews on...and to top it off a lady that I know (who just happens to also be named Renee) had her 2 year old model go out on her. So even though it was a really great deal, I wasn't going to take a chance on it. A good deal isn't such a good deal if you have to keep having it repaired.

Then I headed over to Lowes. There was only one bisque microwave on display, but when I went to ask if any of the others came in bisque there was no one to ask. It seemed that Lowes management had decided that time of day was perfect for all their appliance sales staff to be in a sales meeting. The lady I spoke to told them that they had 3 customers and it was a really dumb idea that they were all in that meeting. So they sent Jim out but instead of coming to help me, he went to talk to a couple (I guess a couple looks more likely to buy than a Mom and her daughter.) and I couldn't wait any longer...we had to go grocery shopping for some dinner that didn't require a microwave to cook it with!

After the grocery shopping and dropping Darly off at gymnastics class, I headed over to Home Depot. There I had two sales associates to help me and they had a sign on each microwave with it's price and what colors it came in. I found out from the sales associates that all the appliances over $297 would be 10% off today through Sunday and there was a rebate on the shipping to my house. They also had 3 different microwaves that came in bisque...two would be in the 10% off range. Of those 2 one was a GE Spacemaker...the other was a Maytag. So I wrote down the info and came home to do my research. No bad reviews on this one...it's 2 cubic feet of cooking space and 1150 watts. This was the biggest microwave in that price range. Hummm I'm now wondering why it was so cheap.

Oh well. I went back today and ordered one, it's due to be here next Tuesday and hopefully I'll be cooking with magnatrons by the following weekend.

Oh yeah, the guy at Home Depot showed me the bracket that gets used to hang the microwave on the wall and explained the installation process to me. I think that I could probably do it myself, if I could carry the thing! LOL DH & I shouldn't have any problems getting this thing in.

whining about the $$$

My computer has been on it's very last legs for a long time (we've already replaced the monitor.) And now it looks like the floppy drive is failing. "Please last til Christmas"

We have to go to Michigan this summer for my neice's wedding as Darly is a flower girl (and Darly would KILL us if we said no!) Luckily different part of the trip are already paid for... the flight wants their money up front and the one hotel took half their money already. Oh yeah, we need two different hotels because niece didn't want to get married in her hometown (they have a tradition in Frankenmuth of the entire town crashing your reception...weird germans!)

My Mom is whining that she never gets to see us and can't afford to come here (even though my brother & I have both offered to fly her out here) She is worried that her employer will fire her if she takes off from work and she's too sick & old to get a job somewhere else. So we need to try to go to FL in the fall to see her, "before she dies."

The car just finished eating over $1200 in brakes & new 4x4 hubs when we took it in for the deer damage...they were supposed to realign the front headlight.

And yesterday my Microwave kicked the bucket! I tried to cook some frozen veggies and it made a really weird noise, so I clicked it off immediately. Then just to be sure it wasn't working, I let it run a minute... YUP, the food was still ice cold and now the microwave smelled funny.

Luckily the replacement for the microwave will run us less than $300 and now I can have another appliance that matches... When we bought the house it came with black appliances but they took their frig. I don't like black, so I bought bisque (the new almond) and I got a new stove as I don't like gas and they hadn't cleaned theirs in a century it seemed. So we had 2 bisque appliances (frig & stove) and two black appliances (dishwasher & Microwave)...so now I can get a bisque microwave and then only have the black dishwasher...which they had just replaced before we bought the house, so that should be with us for a while. *sigh*

I'm really hoping the next trip to Vegas that DH has to take for work he wins some money. And this is really bad of me, but when DH went to Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina he got some AWESOME extra pay. I guess it is bad to hope for a natural disaster, huh?

Tonight is Co-op registration

The homeschooling group that I'm in has this nifty thing we call a Co-op. This is where I can offer to teach or coordinate a class, field trip or something of interest to the group and then I get to sign up for everyone else's class. It's a really fun way to get to do stuff like take advantage of group discounts or learn something fascinating.

We hold the Co-ops in 4 month chunks and the Summer Co-op's registration is tonight and starts on May 1st.

Our group has offered some really cool classes this time (they do every time!) it seems as if everyone tries to come up with something more exciting than last time. That trip to the Bass World was a Co-op class...who would have thought to have a field trip at a sporting goods store??? This is why I do the co-op, some of the things we get to do, I would have never thought of on my own.

Well, like I said...tonight is the registration. And I am the coordinator for the co-op so it means I'm in charge of making sure it runs smoothly. The hardest part will be that most of the folks get to register "early" because they offered more than one class and then 5 have to wait until 9pm to register. I don't really expect it to be a problem, but I do have to figure out the password system (even though I've been told how to do it, I lost the post where the directions were!)

So I'll be here tonight overseeing everything...It will be good, it will all be good. Right?

UPDATE: Classes offered *=we wanna do this class!

Hunt at the Zoo*
Archery*
Boot Camp - Drill & Marching (can't talk Darly into this one)
Frog Hunt
Lapbooking/Notebooking/Journaling show -for adults (I don't do this kinda stuff)
Cabrini Shrine (been there)
Playground games*
Rocky Mtn Seed company
Evening picnic at the park
Denver Zoo* (this is my class...yeah, easy to do!)
IMAX*
Tour Hiwan Museum*
Hike Meadow Castle Loop (can't, gone to wedding)
Butterfly Pavillion*
Co Springs Pioneer Museum
Grown Up book club*
Pipe Clearners gone crazy
Trail Hike & Picnic*
Chocolate Tasting*
Forensic Science Mystery!*
Beach Day (Darly at Girl Scout Camp)
Beach Day different beach*
Block Printing*
Spoon Puppets
Aquarium*
Beginner Dissection (Darly says ewwwwe!)
Mom's Night-Cultural Potluck (maybe)
Chinese Jumprope & Sprayground*
Fat City (I say No!)

Prayers & Good Thoughts Needed

I have this friend who is going through a really nasty divorce. Her soon to be EX is being a real pain...I think mostly because although he said he wanted the divorce he doesn't seem to really want it and is making my friend's life hell to try to get her to take him back because living with him is easier than trying to get rid of him.

They have a really beautiful bunch of kids and Social Services has been brought in and may take the kids away from both parents.

I know that God's Will is perfect and he has a plan for them. I am just hoping that more prayers for them will make it better sooner. So whatever you do, if you could do it for my friend's family, I would really appreciate it.

Oh and a prayer for me that I don't drive over there and run the EX over with my truck would be good too.

Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce recipe

Ingredients:

1lb ground meat
1 cap full Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning (or store brand version)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
2 small bay leaves
1 29 oz can of tomatoe sauce
1 14.5 oz can of stewed & diced tomatoes w/ italian seasoning (basil & onion & etc.)
1 6 oz can of tomatoe paste

Brown ground meat on the stove and drain off the fat...then dump it in the crockpot.

dump in the seasonings and the tomatoe products. Add a good shake of salt, 10 grinds of pepper & some sugar. Stir well. (sorry I was just dumping stuff in there yesterday!)

cover crock pot, set on warm and go on your field trip!

when you return 5 1/2 hours later to a house smelling yummy, crank up the crock pot to high and add about a cup of the pasta water.

For the veggie lovers... forget the ground meat and try adding your favorite veggies instead (w/o the browning!) I get this italian mix of frozen veggies that would work great it has zucchini, flat green beans & carrots...yum!

I'm too crazy for my own good!!!

Well I've gone and done it again. Over booked my day. I'm just too crazy.

This morning I've got an LLL meeting at 10am to 12.

Then at 2 we're doing a field trip...I don't know how long that is supposed to last, but we've gotta get out of there by 3:30 because

Gymnastics starts at 4:30 on the other side of town from there.

I've already decided to use our toll road to try to cut through most of the traffic...but there will be traffic to get to the toll road and from the toll road to gymnastics class.

I'm really hoping that we aren't late.

UPDATE: We made it!!!

I woke up on time this morning to get ready for my LLL meeting. I had 2 hours to get to the field trip after the meeting. But it ran about 30 min over. I get home and decide that we need an hour to get to the field trip. So I now have just 30 min to get ready.
I wanna make spaghetti sauce in the crock pot and get some lunch. I had Darly getting me ingredients while I cooked...it would have been faster to get them myself as I had to repeat what I wanted 3 times. But she helped and I was cooking my lunch too. Got the sauce going, burned my mouth on the lunch and we were out the door. I decided since we were late to take our toll road. We got there with a few minutes to spare.
Our field trip was to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. This place was HUGE and pretty amazing. At first I was wondering why we were taking a field trip to a Sporting goods store. But once we got there I understood. The link there shows you what we saw. When you first come in there is the huge fireplace with all the stuffed sheep. The kids were in awe of all of it...horns, sheep, bears. Then we went to the fish tank...its the waterfall picture. In this tank they have a ton of trout and other large fish...including Bubba a catfish who likes to dine on his tankmates. I'm not sure why or how, but we also ended up with a tour of the kitchen in the restaurant. The kids were not impressed. LOL but the manager enjoyed showing it to us...except for two kids acting up in the seafood thawing frig. This place also has a Starbucks that gives out free samples...I didn't get a freebee so I went and ordered one using a gift card that I had. Some of the other parents were teasing me that my drink was bigger than theirs...I said I "knew people."
Darly was bummed because they didn't open up the climbing wall until it was time for us (darly & me) to leave to get her to gymnastics. I was very worried about traffic on the one interstate as it is always terrible...at least every other time I've taken it. This time it was fine and we had plenty of time to get to the gym.

We came home to a house smelling of spaghetti sauce and dinner was done as soon as the angel hair pasta was cooked. Yummy!

"That's Where the Party's At"

Newsboys - Wherever We Go
From the album Go

Wherever we go, bluebirds sing
And the flowers bloom
And the grass gets green
It’s a curious thing
But it’s just our thing

Wherever we go, the bees behave
In the treetops, squirrels smile and wave
It’s a curious thing
And it’s humbling

Where we go, little glow-worms glow
Little roadrunners run ahead
Gonna tell their friends
Little mice, little men
Get ‘em all excited
All invited

Chorus:
Hands up
Holler back here
Let’s throw this party in gear
We brought the welcome mat
Wherever we go, that’s where the party’s at
Hands up
Holler back now
We don’t claim any know-how
We’re giving God all that
Wherever we go, that’s where the party’s at

Wherever we go, the dumb get wise
And the crime rates drop
And the markets rise
It’s a curious thing
But it’s just our thing

Bullies make nice, crooks repent
And the ozone layer shows improvement
It’s a curious thing
And it’s humbling

Wherever we’re led
All the Living Dead
Wanna leave their Zombie Mob
It’s a touching scene when they all come clean
God help us, we just love our job

Chorus

Here's how the party went...

Girls arrive
Girls play
Girls eat pizza
Girls play
Girls eat cake
Girls play
Girls decided to get ready for bed...have to move couch for more room in family room for "sleeping"
Girls decide to watch movie for 5 minutes then more play
I hide in the office with DH
Darly comes in crying because she doesn't like their game. I suggest she change the game...she vetos that and has a better idea.
Girls play some more
Girls finally go to sleep at 12:30 ish...I went to bed at 1am
I hear girls on stairs at 9:30am
I get up
I offer pancakes for breakfast...they want waffles
I get waffle iron all ready and make the batter...they now want pancakes. They ate waffles!
Girls play
Girls beg for more time and I allow it as I haven't really done anything but cook
Girls play
Parents come get them...
The door is barely shut when Darly asks DH to play with her. Still waiting for a nap.

Please Excuse the Crazy Lady in the corner

Oh April is so not the time to be me. Everything seems to hit the fan now and I am so stressed.

I have probably mentioned all of this before

Time & Talent sheets at Church are all done. Yay.

Easter is done. Yay

Darly's homeschool paperwork and testing is done. Yay

Still on the burner makeing me crazy:

LLL collecting Financial Reports & Leader Dues. The deadline is this Sunday...so I'm expecting a very full mailbox here soon and a bunch of whiney emails too. I've already gotten one.

Homeschool Coop. That's going relatively smoothy...except for me forgetting to put one line on the form and as it turns out the folks affected by it don't care. Gotta love homeschool moms...they're so easy going! And my co-Leaders are helping me out lots...and I'm smart enough to let them.

Darly's birthday party. I didn't get the invites out until Monday and as you can see by my ticker it's coming up fast!!! I still haven't heard any RSVPs yet. I'm so stressed that this isn't going to happen. I guess worse case is that we reschedule fo another weekend and hope for the best. We got some really cute stuff for the goodie bags though. Darly is having a Movie Star theme (as in the girls are the movie stars...not that we're doing any worshiping of those current strung out starlettes.)

So if I seem a bit more looney than usual...just ignore me. I'll be better in May, I hope.

Soft Pretzel Recipe

The actual recipe is double this...but my mixer won't hold that much. But the Germans in my family mix this by hand...I don't have those arms. (I married into this family...I'm of British decent.)

2 cups milk (or beer)
1/2 cup shortening or canola oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 packs dry yeast (I buy it in a jar so I can just measure out the teaspoons full instead) It's 3 1/4 teaspoons.
1/8 cup warm water (follow package instructions for blooming yeast)
about 6 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Browning solution: 1 tablespoon lye & 1 qt hot water
Kosher Salt

Scald milk, add sugar and shortening. (for beer just dissolve the sugar and use the oil) Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the cooled* milk (or beer) stir in about 4 cups of flour to which salt and baking powder have been mixed. Add remaining flour gradually while kneading.
Place in a greased or oiled bowl, cover with a wet towel and let rise to double.

Shape into pretzels... to make the traditional pretzel shape...roll dough into a long snake, then form into a U shape. cross the ends twice and then fold over to the bottom of the loop. Any shape works...the kids have a blast making anything their imaginations come up with.

Let rise until light. Depending on the temp of your room it should take about the same amount of time as it did to rise the first time. We normally place a clean bed sheet on the dining room table and put the pretzels between the sheets. Space heaters to warm up the room are a big help.

dip the pretzels into the browning solution...WARNING! This is pretty corrosive, so protect your stove and counter tops with foil and don't let the kids do this part. You're just getting the pretzels wet.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with Kosher Salt.**

Bake @ 550 until brown. (my oven only goes up to 500, but it works just fine.)

If you want non-salted pretzels, leave off the salt and then use melted butter or margarine to put a sugar topping on after they are baked. (the sugar just burns off in the oven. And it doesn't taste good.)

About the lye. Yup this is the same stuff that is poison...typically used for cleaning out pipes or sewer systems. However, the pretzels don't take very much of the solution on and this is the exact same stuff that all pretzel makers use... they'll just call it Sodium Hydroxide. You may have to go to a Hardware store to get this and in some cases they'll want to know what you are using it for...I've been advised to tell them that you are using it to clean out your pipes. So far I haven't had to buy it myself as MIL has a container that she has had for years...a little goes a long way.

If the lye freaks you out too much, you can also brush the pretzels with egg whites before baking. I hear it works but doesn't give quite the same results.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
notes:
*you do want to make sure your milk has cooled down as it can kill your yeast and then your dough won't rise properly.

**by the way, the lye will totally mess up your cookie sheets and lining them with foil just doesn't work. So use your old cookie sheets and then have them for your pretzel making cookies sheets for life and get yourself a new set for making cookies.

Happy Easter everyone!

I do wish for you all a very happy and blessed Easter. Sorry this is late...I've been busy enjoying it.

I started off the morning to a 7am wake up call from Darly who was all excited to see that the Easter Bunny had come! DH & I were not at all ready to get up so we teased Darly. "come take a nap with us." "oh I don't think the Easter Bunny really came, it's too early." etc... That lasted all of 5 minutes and then we got up. Darly wondered why DH had a t-shirt next to the bed already...he told her it was because he knew she would wake him up early.

She hunted for eggs for 45 minutes before I went back upstairs to take a shower. And then we all got ready for Church.

Oh! I should point out that it's freezing out and we had snow...not a little but a good 2 inches of it on the ground outside.

Darly & I decided that we would wear our Easter dresses anyway, because otherwise what was the use of getting them. So we put sweaters on over them...it actually turned out to be a good idea as the packed Church was warm...we could slip out of our sweater and be the right temperature.

At Church it was crowded of course but extra because the Youth Group has a Pancake breakfast...oh how good the Church smelled when we got there!!!!!!!! Warm syrup and sausage...yummy! But we didn't have any. *pout*

We picked out our seats and got all settled...and we got to watch the Children's choir practice for their part in today's service. It was pretty cute.

The Church service was very nice. Even with all the people there. I don't know why but it always amazes me how many people show up for Christmas and Easter. Although I was very pleased to see that many of the "new" faces I saw today were actually family of regular members.

After Church I decided that the syrup smell was too great and I pulled out our waffle iron. I don't know why, but my first two stuck to the iron. They were still very tasty as I had bits of them while baking them. hee hee And the two that didn't stick were very good too. I had mine with cherry jelly...I know you're thinking, what happened to the syrup? I was over it by the first bite of cherries! YUM!

After brunch (and Lilly got a waffle too!) I was going to bake pretzles, but we didn't have all the ingredients. Bummer. We'll go shopping tomorrow so we can make them soon. DH was bummed as he wanted to roll some too. Oh well, eating is just as much fun. Hummm...maybe I should clean up the house a bunch and invite my nephew/godchild over to roll pretzles too. Oh wait! I've got a birthday party to plan here...I wonder if I can talk Darly into pretzle party? hummm

The rest of my day was spent reading and blogging. Dh & Darly were watching the Masters and they fell asleep on the recliner. I tried to get pictures, but my camera makes a chime noise when you turn it on...I think I can turn that off some how...gotta read that book.

All in all a very nice holiday. Dh has to go back to his real job tomorrow (he spent last week in Vegas teaching a class...tough life!)

Happy Easter!

Guilt trip mom

no, not me...well at least not today. hee hee

this time the culprit was my own dear mother.

See she called me yesterday to ask about Darly's birthday present and then starts to get whiney about our summer vacation plans.

you regular readers are well aware that we are going to see my neice get married so that Darly can be the flowergirl. (by the way: neice sent us a dress...I'll post pictures soon!) That's gonna take a huge chunk of money for the trip as they don't give away airline fares or hotel rooms. The flights were $329 each...the hotel rooms are $65, $79 & $67. Don't tell me how I could have gotten it cheaper...it's too late now.

She starts this junk about how she never gets to see her granddaughter. I should have said back to her that I know that my brother has offered to fly her out here and let her stay at his place...and I would do the same, but of course she would say that she can't afford to take off from work. According to her the place she works from won't allow her to take any vacation time...and she worries that if she tries they would just fire her and she can't get a job anywhere else because she's too old (60) and sick.

So instead of telling her off, I tell her that I'll talk to DH about it and see if we can manage anything...and DH says we might be able to go since Southwest has cheap fares all the time.

Then we were talking about my oldest brother and his wife and that turned into she doesn't understand why they hardly ever visit (they live about an hour appart) and they never call. Maybe I should tell her that they don't visit because the kids get bored at her house and they don't call because they don't wanna hear her whine about her life...more on this later! But they don't communicate with me either.

So she says that she knows that she wasn't the greatest mother, she made mistakes...but that all her kids turned out very well in spite of that. She's very proud that all of us have at least an Associate's Degree on our own. AND THEN she starts nagging me to finish my Bachelor's! I told her that right now I just don't have the time (I didn't say, that I don't have the will either) to finish it. I don't currently have any need of a degree. She says that I might want to get a job when Darly is out on her own. I'm doing lots of work now with no degree (of course no pay either...but that's okay by me.) And she wants me to finish my degree before she dies. :eyeroll: And then she starts talking about how sick she is and the medication that she's taking for the Osteoporosis causes Lymphomia and she might have that now. My brother warned me that she starts talking about her impending death when she talks to him... I'll have to compare notes.

In another part of the conversation which goes all over the place, it's amazing that I can even keep it somewhat straight she says to me that she wants me to tell her when she's done something wrong. Ummm yeah, any idea how hard it is to tell your mom anything, much less that she's screwed up?

Oh and we never wished each other a Happy Easter. LOL

Not EVEN GOING THERE!...

Apparently this has taking some time to reach me...and probably with good reason. But there's this movement to stop folks from complaining. LOL!

No complaints for 21 days

Are ya kidding me?! No complaining for 21 days
One brave correspondent pledges to stop kvetching for three weeks
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK
By George Lewis
NBC News correspondent
TODAY
Updated: 7:43 a.m. MT March 6, 2007

KANSAS CITY, MO. - We all complain, right? It’s just human nature. But a few
months ago, the pastor of a Kansas City church told the people in his
congregation he wanted them to break that habit.

“The one thing we can
agree on,” said the Reverend Will Bowen of Christ Church Unity, “is there’s too
much complaining.”

He said churchgoers were griping mainly about trivial
things, such as the choice of hymns at the Sunday service or the informal dress
code at the church’s Saturday night worship.

And so he asked his flock
to take a pledge: to swear off complaining, criticizing, gossiping or using
sarcasm for 21 days. The Rev. Bowen said the inspiration for the no-complaints
campaign came to him while taking a shower. And now, the idea has begun to
spread far beyond middle America.

People who join in are issued little
purple bracelets as a reminder of their pledge. If they catch themselves
complaining, they’re supposed to take off the bracelet, switch it to the
opposite wrist and start counting the days from scratch.

And now that
the church has been written up in several publications, the campaign has
mushroomed. On Saturdays, volunteers crowd the church basement filling orders
for the no-complaints bracelets, 126,000 so far. read the rest here.

Well as those of you who know me know...that ain't gonna happen here. Shoot I even admit to complaining (which I call gritching) in my blog title. I'm here to download. I probably complain 21 times a day or more. Life is tough, and griping about it makes me feel better. So sorry folks, I'm not even gonna try. And as far as I know there's no "Thou Shalt Not Complain" in the Bible, so I think I'm safe. hee hee

Darly loves to be blog fodder...

today after a day at the zoo Darly & I decided to do a bit of shopping. I picked out a skirt, top & swim suit to try on... a two piece swim suit.

Darly goes with me to try them on. I try on the swim suit first as I have to get the most undressed for it. I get the bottoms on and we were both like "ewwwe!" at the almost plumbers crack going on in the back.

Then I try on the top and Darly says that I "have a female's plumber's crack going on in the front!" She was talking about the amount of cleavage showing.

Needless to say, I did not buy the swim suit. I did get a nice skirt though.

Let the WHINING begin!

I mailed out my LLL invoices today and sent an email letting them know that they're coming.

Now I'll be inudated with calls & emails asking "Do I have to pay this?"..."Didn't I just pay dues?," etc...

And I'll have to tell them yet again that like it CLEARLY says on the invoice this is different than the dues they just paid to LLLI. And yes they have to pay it.

I've written an article about this, I send out emails and I send out the bill. I don't really know what more I can do to make it clear to these people. *sigh*

Perhaps after all my blogging about this, A miracle will happen and NO ONE will complain and they'll all happily pay their invoice without question.

YEAH RIGHT! I'm not holding my breath either!

UPDATE #1: Got my first email today, but it wasn't so bad. It was just asking for her bill to be sent to her treasurer...the same treasurer who didn't respond to the 3 email requests to get the invoice sent directly to her and the same treasurer who didn't pay the hotel for our last conference on time so now they want a deposit from us to be there again...yeah that one.

very busy...

Who tried to say it was "Spring Break" around here??? I didn't get any break.

Of course March/April is the busy time of year for everything that I'm involved with.

At Church I've been entering our Time and Talent sheets. I've mentioned this before. It's where they give us a list of all the jobs that need to be done around the Church and we put checks by the stuff we're willing to do. Well someone has to compile those sheets into a list that can actually be used...that someone is me. (yeah, two other ladies work on it too...but it's mostly me!) We finally got it all done today.

Then there's LLL end of fiscal year stuff. I finally got my invoices printed the other day and am now hoping that the Groups will say that I don't have to mail them out because they'll take an email copy...hoping to save the postage. So they sit in a mess on my desk. It's so nice to find out who all moved and didn't tell us or who wants to retire now instead of paying dues. But so far everyone who has answered my emails is all set to send in the paperwork. Yay. It's just those who haven't answered me that I worry about.

But I've been having fun with my homeschooling group stuff. I'm getting ready to start up another coop. And except for a bunch of deleted files...it's all been going fine. Luckily we managed to each save enough stuff that we weren't too messed up at all.

Now for the fun with my car. I had my car in the shop last month because DH finally got it away from me long enough to get the damage from him hitting the deer last mother's day fixed. While it was there they found out that the car needed new breaks and the funny sound we were hearing was that the 4x4 was not disengaging.(that must have been eating a lot of gas all summer long!!!) So they replaced the 4x4 and the breaks.
Well it finally gets warm enough to crack the windows while driving and I notice the car is making a weird ticking noise from the front tires. At first I wondered if it was even my car...but then I realized it had to be me. So we take the car in and tell them it's making a noise on Tuesday. They kept the car all day and couldn't hear the noise. So they come to get me to point out the noise. And I couldn't hear it! I was so shocked. but as I'm driving the guy back to the shop I finally hear the noise. We couldn't hear it because of all the wind. So he lets me take the car home as it was closing time at the shop. I take it back in Wednesday. It turns out the problem was that when they replaced my brake pads in Feb, they didn't put any hold down springs on the pads. So the pads were floating in the callipers. That was causing the ticking noise. My invoice reads that the previous pads didn't have any springs on them (can you say CYA?) I ask the guy if there was any damage and he says no...but I find that hard to believe. I'm gonna surf the net to see if I can prove him wrong...since I'm not willing to climb under my car to look for myself.

Ka-Ka-Ka-COLD!

After a week of what seemed like spring here (I saw folks in shorts and I even wore short sleves a few times!)...we had a cold snap on Friday. And actually Friday started off being kind of a nice day with a little bit of a chill

But it eventually started raining and it got colder. But everything was fine in our nice cozy house...or so it seemed.

It was at dinner that I mentioned that I was feeling cold. I thought that it was just the cold front and I said something to that fact. Dh said that he felt cold too. So I got up and looked at our thermostat because sometimes for no known reason it decideds that what we really want our house set at in the winter is 68 degrees when we normally keep it at 73.

So I go and look and it says the hold temp for the house is 70? But when you go to bump it up it says that it is set for 73. Hummmm something is WRONG here. I monkey around with it but it doesn't seem to help any.

DH monkeys around with it and doesn't get it to do anything more than I did, so he goes to the basement and starts looking and poking around down there. Ut oh! Things are not looking good.

So he calls one of the guys he works with who does the HVAC where they work. The guy offers to come over, but DH is hoping to avoid spending any money...so he asks if he can be talked through what to check. The guy talks him through and they realize that the gas valve is not working. But if DH bangs on it (or at least that's what it sounds like he is doing) then the furnace will kick on...so DH thinks it is all good. He then hogs the computer to find out how much a new gas valve is gonna cost us. not looking good.

DH gets the furnace to run again before bedtime, but the house is not at 73. I tell Darly to put on warm PJs and we turn on our heated mattress pads (LOVE THOSE THINGS! THE BEST MONEY I EVER SPENT!!!!!!) DH tried to run the furnace again at 2am but it had finally given up the ghost. I slept fine with my heated mattress pad, and so did Darly. DH didn't get to sleep.

Saturday morning I got up at 7:30ish and asked DH if I should run the oven's self cleaner to try to heat the house some since all we had were the fire place and one space heater. He said go ahead. So I'm huddling by the stove with my coffee. LOL

DH calls his friend up and he can't come over until after noon. I'm fine with that as I've got on 3 layers of clothes and a blanket...no worries. The oven was still going.

We were talking about staying at MIL's if it didn't get fixed soon. They guy showed up and we needed a new gas valve & a new ignitor. He got us all runnning in time for dinner.

DH whined that it picked a fine time to break. I was very greatful that it chose a weekend when it only dropped to the low 30s instead of during Christmas when it went to below zero.

We're warm now.

Guess what!

They're here!

Today on our way home we stopped by Wally world and they were in.

Darly loves them (as seen in the above photo!) She was shocked at how well she can see now...as well as I can.

Dh tried them on when he got home and it made him see better...which means it's time for him to go see the eye doc...his lasik is not as good as it was. *sigh*

As you can see in the picture, Darly put the fingernail stickers on the lenses. And she's so happy.

Oh, here's the real photo. The one above was just being silly.

Not much to report...

We're still waiting for Darly's glasses to arrive...she thinks they'll be here today. We'll see.

She's still asleep and it's about 11am. She promised me that she would take her assessment test today. I hope that she doesn't plan to sleep through it. She'll be in for a sad suprise, cuz we can stay up until 3am taking this thing if necessary.

Tuesday we went ice skating. Wonderful rink and we had a good time. I had to holler at a few of the kids that came with us. Their mothers were not out on the ice and they were in the center of the rink chipping the ice with their skates! I guess their moms didn't make them read the RULES before they got on the ice. *sigh*

Yesterday I begain working on a time and talent assessment for our Church. The Church hands out a list of jobs, and the members mark which ones they are willing to do; then someone (me) gets to enter them into the computer. They had the first set of these last week when I was working, but they mentioned that some jobs were left off and they wanted to have everyone redo the lists. So we were asked last week to not enter the info until this week. But I guess they figured out that the members wouldn't do that for them...so instead they gave out the exact same list so more folks could fill them out. So the office manager & I are both annoyed as we could have started filling in this info last week and gotten a jump on this. Anyway...the council is now saying that they want the report back on this already. WHAT??? Luckily the office manager says that we can have all the time we need to get it into the system.

So yesterday we printed out the list of jobs the computer has entered. Of course it does not match the list that the members filled out. So I took the list home to try to match up the jobs. I emailed the list back to the office manager. I hope that I can get over to the Church today to work on it again. I would like to get this done asap.

I should wake Darly up to take her test if I ever want to get this done.

Kukka is Innocent!

I've heard the terrible news of Kukka-Maria getting arrested in connection with the recalled dog & cat food case. I'm here to say that Kukka is definately Innocent. She did not do this in any way and she does not hate dogs.

I mean...how could she?

Lilly is wearing the lovely designs of Darly in a ribbon tutu. The ribbons are attached to high quality elastic and fabric ribbons have been glued to the ends of the ribbons.

Can you help?

Greetings From The Live Monarch Foundation

Spring is Finally in the air for most of North America... unless it is still snowing outside your window. We have spent this long winter preparing for the return of millions of Monarchs on their migration North. This winter weather has been crazy, with far too many temperature reversals and frosts. Our field agents across America have reported that again milkweed is in very short supply along much of the 3,000 mile annual Monarch migration route from Mexico to Canada.

This year more than any in recent memory will be a challenge for the migrating Monarchs as their only food plant Milkweed, will not be growing or mature by the time they need to lay their eggs and continue their journey. It is critical that all who can help grow milkweed start as soon as possible and get your friends and neighbors involved too.

Please visit our newly improved site for your Free seeds and to sign up for our partner program that pays you to help us spread the word about helping Nature and the Monarchs. You can choose to keep 10% for your efforts or extend a 10% discount to anyone you choose. This program has been designed as a fast, free, simple tool for teachers and enthusiasts to raise needed funds for their ongoing educational programs.

Thank you for your assistance;
LMF Staff
www.liveMonarch.com

Check our site navigation links for new pages and new products that you may have never seen. Our Milkweed plants are perfect get yours before we run out.

This email is a free service from The Live monarch Foundation.Please help us reach others whom may benefit from our onlineeducational materials. Please assist us to create naturalrefuges for the Monarch Butterfly and other animals that have lost natural habitats. Spread the word and visit our site for Free Garden Seeds, living Milkweed Plants and all the life stages of the Monarch Butterfly.

One Seed Can Change The World...We Need You To Plant It.

Update: Carmen mentioned watching the metamorphosis. One of the wonderful Librarians at our local branch found two monarch catapillars and brought them into the library. I got to watch when one "went into" it's crysalis... that was kinda freaky. We missed when they came back out though. But we have bought the Painted Lady catapillars and done the entire cycle twice...so we got to see eggs - butterfly. BTW: painted lady catapillars are small enough to crawl through the mesh on those butterfly gardens and will crawl off everywhere in your house.

Eye Eye part 2 - Questions answered.

Traveling Chica said...
I hate the Glaucoma test. :( And it hates me! I've worn glasses since I was eight, contacts since I was 12, and I'm still horrible at it. hoping that she doesn't have to do it too often. On my side of the family the prescription doesn't change very quickly...Nana wore the same prescription from her teens until she was 40. But DH's family has the weaker eyes.
7:03 PM
Kukka-Maria said...
Ok...now we need a pic of the super-model in her new specs! We're still waiting to get the glasses. Wallyworld sends them out to a lab. Pictures coming... I promise.
7:36 PM
Sean said...
she dealing with glasses okay? i know i hated it, felt like the dealth knell to my social life in jr. high, but wasn't as bad as i thought... She had a hard time with the idea at first. She thought that people wouldn't recognize her. But since her script is just for her distance, she doesn't have to wear them full time. We'll have to get her a nice purse to carry them in
11:13 PM
Kailani said...
I'm very near-sighted. In fact, without my contacts I think I may be legally blind. :-)I hope Darly adjusts well to her glasses. I would think it's a tough thing to deal with. I know I wouldn't have liked it when I was younger. I've told her that she can get contacts and even lasics when she is older, but she's picked out a really cute pair of frames...she may just like wearing them
1:06 AM
mar said...
Let's see her new glasses! I have been far sighted all my life but waited until I needed reading glasses to get a pair...Now I got new reading glasses (getting stronger, lol) but the doctor got the left eye with the right eye mixed up for the far vision so I wasn't getting used to the new glasses...it was on my TT this week... as soon as we get them
2:38 AM
mar said...
got mixed-up myself: I am slightly nearsighted!
2:42 AM
Uisce said...
is that the puff of air thing? I hate going to the eye doctor. I remember my first pair of glasses -- 7th or 8th grade, that's how long ago, and GLASS they were -- very heavy. the next pair was plastic but the case they gave me actually scratched them. my parents never complained, but they didn't need that kind of hassle. it was like the puff of air thing, but this test they put a device on her eye. I don't know which is worse.
6:29 AM
Carmen said...
I'm an eye doctor's worst nightmare, too. My eyes are so sensitive, to light, to that test, etc.We want to see the new glasses. I bet she looks super cool and super smart in them. poor kiddo they put dye in her eyes too. But they didn't dialate her eyes...thank goodness.
7:10 AM
Lynn said...
My friends 9 year old daughter just got glasses (she's also near-sighted). The nine year old wasn't too sure if she liked them until I remarked that the glasses made her look older...suddenly she stood up taller and had a great big smile on her face...my guess is that Darly will look older too! She does look very cute in her new frames. I don't know if it makes her look older yet or not.

We also bought some finger nail stickers for her to decorate her glasses with. I've done this with my sunglasses and they stick very well and look really cute.

Eye eye!

Yesterday I finally broke down and called our health insurance company to see what kind of vision coverage we have. I wasn't entirely sure our plan even covered vision anymore because they used to send us a separate card and now they don't. So I was quite pleased to see that they do still cover vision...but they do not cover the glasses. figures!

So after that I found that the eye doctors that are within 5 miles of me are all at the same practice, but if I want to go farther I can go to a bunch more. But the appointment was for Darly...so I let her decide. I looked up the website for the office that is closest to us and she liked the picture of the doctors there...so that's where I called.

We had an appointment this morning at 10:30am...kinda early for Darly, but I didn't let the doctor's office know that.

Last night at dinner, DH gave Darly a pep-talk and let her know everything that would happen. I really couldn't do that for her as I still have 20/20 vision.

We got to the doctor's office a bit early because I had a few questions and we looked at their frames...oh my gosh! They were so expensive!!!

The exam went really well. Darly did very well...she remembered all her dad's instructions.

I saw the machine they use for testing for glacoma and I almost said something about it to Darly but I decided not to. Good thing. My dear little girl is just like me with that darned thing. LOL after they did her first eye she wouldn't put her head back in like she was supposed to and she had to try like 10 times to get the test to work. I think it took like 20 times for the guy to get my second eye the last time I did that. The doctor was able to finally get the second reading though.

Yes my little girl is near-sited. Just like her dad, grandmother, grandfather & nana (all aunts & uncles too.) My father & I are the only ones with 20/20 vision in the entire family. My vision and one other thing are the only good things that I inherited from my father. har har

So after the doctor's visit we took her prescription to our local Wallyworld and found a great pair of frames at less than 1/2 of what the Doctor's office was charging. We found a pair that had the spring loaded hinges and got the polycarbonate lenses (they're supposed to be the good kind). I started looking at sun protection but the sales guy there didn't have much for kids. He suggested that we get a pair of cheap sunglasses that she can just wear over her glasses...and that's what we'll do as it's a cheap option...hello... we already have a pair that she can wear. har har they won't be pretty but they'll work just fine.

I should go now...it's TNO tonight and DH promised to be home soon. bye

3WW #2 for me

Welcome to Three Word Wednesday.

Each week, Bone will post three (or more) random words. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write something using all of those words. It can be a few lines, a story, a poem, anything. This is a writing exercise. It doesn't have to be perfect. The idea is to let your mind wander and write what it will. I'll also attempt to write something using the same three words.

Leave a comment if you participate.

This week's words are:
Hoarse
Bended
Downtown

Jim was so excited! He was finally going to his very first ever football game. Dad had finally thought that he was old enough to go. YIPPEE!!! He just couldn't wait. But wait he had to do because the game wouldn't be for another month. darn it!

The week past slowly with Jim getting more and more excited...and finally the game day came. They loaded up the car and headed for the train station...it was silly to drive to the game and pay a fortune for downtown parking when you could ride the train and get dropped off right next to the stadium. Unfortunately, everyone else it seemed had the same idea...so the trains would be crowded.
"hurry, hurry!" Jim thought as they made their way to the station.

Finally they got to the train ticket machine. Dad started putting his bills into the machine to buy their tickets and all went well except for that one stupid bill. Jim couldn't believe that the machine wasn't accepting the bill...yeah, sure it was bended in ways only a 2 year old could imagine...but it was still money. "TAKE THE BILL!" Jim was thinking...and finally it did. "Whoa!" Jim thought. "Maybe I have some kind of power here."

They boarded the train with a lot of other people and made their way to the stadium. It was fun riding the train...also another first for Jim. Dad reminded Jim to hold onto his hand when they were getting close to the stadium...this was NO place to get lost. But Jim didn't get lost and they made it to the game on time.

Jim watched the game with all the enthusiasm of all of his Uncles in one room. Yes, he was screaming his little heart out. He screamed so much that he made himself hoarse. Poor little guy. He didn't have any voice left for when his team won the game. But he could still waive his flags with all his might.

By the time Jim & his dad made it home they were both very tired and a mess. It seems that stadium food tastes better when worn on your clothes. Mom just sighed.

The movie is never as good as the book!

I bought a copy of "The Wedding Date" by Elizabeth Young. It was originally published as "Asking for Trouble", they changed the name when the movie came out. I read and thoroughly enjoyed it...so I decided that I should watch the movie.

So since I'm cheap, I put the movie on hold at my library. I finally got it on Monday...came home and immediately put it in my DVD player...well after I cleaned the thing. I don't know what these people do to the DVDs they check out from my library...most look as if children are allowed to lick them, perhaps the dog. This one looked like someone rubbed their runny nose over it. BLECH!

I got my first clue that the movie would be different even before I checked it out because the book takes place entirely in ENGLAND and the main character in the movie is Deborah Messing (clearly AMERICAN). And my second clue was that in the book the main character's name is Sophy and in the movie, her name has been changed to Kat. All the names in the movie were changed...(to protect the innocent?)

To cover the entire American/English thing...they've given Kat a different background. Kat and her mother moved to England after her mother married an English man when Kat was very young. They didn't explain why Kat had moved back to America, but it's a good guess that she did so after she was dumped by her fiance. Which is why in the movie Kat hires an escort (Nick) for the wedding.

In the book Sophy hires an escort because she has been lying to her family about the existence of a man in her life, mostly because her mother is trying to keep up appearances with the neighbor. We don't find out that the ex-boyfriend (they weren't engaged in the book) is attending the wedding until Sophy and Dominic/Josh arrive for the wedding.

I just looked at some of the reviews of the movie on Amazon.com... (in the movie link above) where people didn't see any chemistry between Kat & Nick and couldn't figure out where it was that they fell in love. In the book it's pretty obvious as Sophy clearly states over and over that she "fancies the pants" off of Josh.

Okay, I'm gonna stop spoiling the book, because if you would like to read it...leave me a comment. I'll use a random drawing to choose who I mail the book to. Sorry I don't have the movie as I just returned it to the Library.

Amazing dog tricks

Since that last post was so boring and my brain is a little more awake now...I've got a better post for you.

When we got Lilly from the shelter, we knew there were some things that we wanted her to know. There were other things we figured out later that we wanted to teach her. But whenever we have our friends come over they're amazed at "how smart" my dog is.

The first thing we taught Lilly was that she is not allowed to go into the Living room/Dining room area at all. That was just an area that we didn't want invaded with Dog hair. So before she came home from the shelter (we had to wait until she was spade) we put up baby gates in the doorways to those two rooms. Soon after she arrived we figured out that she shouldn't go upstairs either...this was just too much house for her to deal with and she would sneak up there and pee. So we had another gate at the bottom of the stairs. The gates stayed up for about a year. They probably could have come down sooner but it wasn't until we had guests come over for dinner that DH suggested that we take them down to see what Lilly would do and sure enough she knew that wasn't her part of the house. Even with my nephew calling her she didn't go upstairs. We now have a fun game with Lilly where we will be in the Living room/Dining room and will run back and forth between their doors for her to chase us...she has to run further because there's some rooms in her way.

Next I had to teach her to not be at the bottom of the stairs when we came down because she would be all in our feet looking for attention and that was a dangerous tripping hazard. So I taught her to back up and sit in the Family room until we came to her. She still argues (makes moaning/growly sounds) when I tell her to do this, but I insist every time I come downstairs and if she's not sitting in the family room I won't pet her when I get to her...I just walk past her. Dogs don't like to be ignored.

Lilly has taken basic dog obedience class and she seemed to know everything. She still learns very fast ...for a treat. The obedience instructor suggested that we should do agility training. I didn't see how I could fit that into our life and now I'm even busier. If I ever find some time, I'll take her to another basic class to work harder on the "drop it" and not pulling on the leash as those are two lessons she didn't quite get.

Oh another good trick is that Lilly stays in her bedroom when we are not here and at night. Her bedroom is really my laundry room. I learned with a previous dog that it's less expensive to keep the dog in a small room or crate when you're gone. So Lilly has always gone into the laundry room since we first brought her home. "Crate" training is so awesome. Dogs by nature like to be in a den and the laundry room fits the bill for her. She has her blankets and the new bed I made her for Christmas in there along with her food & water dish. She'll even go in there to nap when she's in need of a nap. And when we're about to go somewhere we give her food in there so she's happy to see us leave. "Oh you're putting on your shoes and coat...that means I get food! Yippee! Food food food food!"

Speaking of leaving and food... Darly & I are about to leave. So Lilly will be getting fed in just a few minutes.

not much to say...

After such a busy week, it was nice to have a "boring" weekend. I finished reading a book. I turned in the final cookie sales paperwork and we finally put away our Christmas lights.

The reason the lights weren't put away earlier was that it was too cold to be outside long enough to untangle them. The day I took them down, I just tossed them in a pile in the garage before I froze to death.

Where in the world have I been???

Wow, it's been a busy up at (an early time for me) every morning kind of week.

Monday was calm...so calm, I don't even remember what it was we did that day. Well, except for Gymnastics class...that I remember.

Tuesday we went to the Button Tour. This was kinda neat. First we saw a room where they showcase a lot of the buttons they carry and were told about the history of the company. The link sums up the the history for you. They do not make any buttons there (bummer!) they buy the buttons from manufacturers here and overseas and then package them to go to stores.

For those of you who sew and are annoyed (like I am) by buying buttons on those stupid cards with weird numbers of buttons on them... This company puts the buttons on the cards...either with the metal staples or by hand depending on the kind of button. The buttons come to them in a bag, they go through the bag to make sure all of them are in good shape and are uniform in size...then they package them and store them. Then they process the orders and ship them out.

We got to see their special scale that weighs the buttons and estimates how many buttons there are. A person counts out 100, then weighs them...then he puts the rest on the scale and the computer figures out how many there are total. very neat! He also gave the kids cookies.

Next we got to see the Museum which holds the button collection of the founder. She has a crown made of buttons and several button bracelets. Very cool to see all the different kinds of buttons, including some very expensive hand painted buttons.

At the end of the tour they have a gift shop of sorts where they sell their discontinued buttons...for a HUGE discount. If I ever need buttons for sewing, I'm going there first...they're not on the cards either. he he

Wednesday we went to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to see two IMAX movies. First we got to see Dolphins. This was our favorite. After the movie we had lunch together and chatted a lot while the kids had fun watching coins go down the funnel. Then we split up because Darly wanted to see the Benjamin Franklin exhibit and the other kids wanted to see the Hall of Life. Then it was time for our second movie Africa the Serengeti which wasn't quite as interesting to us as the first one. I kept thinking... "Lion King" during the show. LOL! After the movie we split up again as now Darly wanted to see the Hall of Life and the other kids wanted to see the Ben Franklin. too funny. I was very suprised at how not busy the museum was...normally it is very crowded in there. We'll have to go back (we have a membership) to finish seeing the Ben Franklin exhibit as we were kinda rushed and the kid friendly parts were very busy. I don't know how but one of the volunteers there got Darly to actually interact...amazing. LOL

And then today we went to the Mizel Museum for their Rites of Passage presentation. A two-hour multicultural teaching experience that addresses universal life cycle events throughout the world, experiences of birth, coming of age and marriage. There are six cases representing cultures from Asia, African American, Jewish, Hispanic and more! These interactive activitiesare designed to accommodate both younger and older children and include costumes to try on and objects to inspect. There is also an art project at the end of the class representing one of the studied cultures. It was very cool to see how many cultures that seem so different have very similar rites of passage... like very similar birth rituals (the babies are all given a taste of honey or something sweet to ensure a sweet life) and death rituals (similar death shrouds). On the way home I talked to Darly about how our own rituals are similar...and similar to eachother in that a baby shower, bridal shower and graduation all have gifts to prepare for the next step. The craft that the kids made were paper chinese lanterns.

Tonight I still have to run out and get some info on Girl Scout camping for Darly and may have to pop in to Teacher's Night Out too. But tomorrow looks like it will be a day of rest...YAY.

Conversation with the child...

Darly: Why cant I have a blog? Drunken cats have a blog! (thanks KUKKA!)... I wonder if drunken cats like dunkin doughnuts? he he he

She likes to be blog fodder lately

follow up: DH & I really can not see any good that can come of Darly getting her own blog. Not that we see that blogging is bad (of course I'm not saying that) it's just that there are too many weirdos out there and I have no idea what kind of things she would post and what they would attract. She is more than welcome to guest blog on my blog any time she wishes, I like the creative outlet it gives...I just want to be able to keep an eye on it for her.

And Darly & I both know that Kukka isn't really drunk...she just plays that on her blog. I don't allow Darly to read Kukka's blog most of the time, but we both thought that the picture of her "being drunk" was very cute. She didn't see the post that went with it.

better stuff

I was looking through a back issue of Good Housekeeping and found the following...

www.paperbackswap.com

www.bookmooch.com

Both are places for swapping your old books. What a neat idea. Now I've gotta clean out my junk and find some books to swap. The're here...just gotta find them.

Is the end in site?

Don't hold your breath!

First the snow. It seems that we may have seen the last of the white stuff. Well according to the weather folks... however, the latest commercial for one news chanel here kinda proves that we never know. I hope this link connects to the ad...it's very funny. okay that first link didn't work well...try this. www.9news.com then click on the graphic in the top left corner that says "Tired of the Snow?" that should bring up the commercial.

But I was reminded yesterday that March is usually our snowiest month. I so hope that is wrong for this year. But I also have to remember that our worst blizzard ever (well since I've lived here) was in March. We had snow drifted up to 5 feet in front of our garage. And of course the snow plows can and plowed us back in as soon as we had gotten ourselves out. But that's the thing with snow...even if you are able to shovel yourself out, most everyone else isn't out yet so there is nothing to do once you get out. It's just the feeling of freedom that you are no longer trapped, even if you have no where to go.

I also have to whine and complain about something else though. I don't know when it will ever end because it seems that the other parties involved are not letting it end. I really just don't understand why either. It was their decision to leave with no notice leaving us in the lurch to pick up and do their work. We did so thinking that this would be an amicable split. I fully expected to even send people their way. But they have decided that burning bridges and trying to make us fall is more important. It appears that they will not be happy until we are no longer here... (I'm talking the death of a group, not people). It's so sad when supposed friends stab you in the back and sit there turning the knife to make sure you're dead.

What really gets me about this is how one of the two used to talk about how other groups similar to ours have had major schisms and never recovered, but how ours had been so strong. It makes me think that this person was planning just how to destroy our group for a very long time. This person also used to talk about how she so detested sophomoric behavior in adults...and yet this is exactally what she and her cohort are doing.

For what? I just don't understand what it was that we did that could cause such vindictive behavior. All we've ever done was to expect that they follow the same set of guidelines that everyone else does. They seem to think that they should be exempt because they did all this work for us, and that they should also be allowed to continue to twist the knife.

What the don't seem to realize is that the group is much stronger than just those they are trying to hurt. This group would go on even if we stepped down. So in the end we will not step down, we will take their abuse and continue on.

I am SO SICK OF SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday we got hit again with more snow. And I am so sick of it. When is summer coming?

For most of the day it wasn't too bad...the snow wasn't sticking to the roads. But after the sun went behind the mountains the water on the streets began to freeze... LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!

Darly has gymnastics at 4:30. I get to the gym by 4pm because parking there is a nightmare. And this building is the major cause of my snow stress. Let me see if I can describe the logistical nightmare of this place to you. Or maybe I should make a drawing. Hummm... let me see if I can make that work.

Okay I made a drawing. To actually read it you may have to click on it and see if it gives you a larger version. The very sloppy arrows represent the very steep grade that you have to drive on. I don't know the angle...I just know that if it is snowing and you don't have 4x4 you are not going to make it up.

The little tiny lines in front of the building represent parallel parking in front of the building. There is also supposed to be room for two cars to pass eachother in front of the building...but it's very tight and scares me to death...I've been known to have my tires rub the sidewalk. Also notice that very tight turn once you turn into the parking lot in front of the driving school/dance shop...a white knuckler! even when it's dry.

So yesterday after class I'm taking my time so that hopefully no one is on the hill and I can get out without hitting anyone. Because while I fear wrecking my car...I fear wrecking my car into someone else's car even worse! I know that I should have put my car in 4x4, but since we just had it replaced I wasn't 100% sure I knew how to do it properly and I didn't want to have it only partially engaged and ruin yet another set of 4x4 hubs.

Well it seemed that while not many people had come on time for the 5:30 class they were still coming...just late. So the road & drive never cleared out completely. Most people were just driving up the street and parking on the street instead of trying to get into the parking lot. One person (someone I knew but she didn't recognize me) decided to park right across from where the parking lot entrance is...I call this the chute, because if it's snowy you're going to get thrown out of the parking lot like a chute. So in my efforts to not use my 4x4 and not hit her van, I slowly inched down the hill riding my breaks the entire time. This worked for about 1/2 the way down...then my car began to slide down the hill with the back end heading in the direction that I wanted to go (toward the main road!)

So after my car stopped, I tried to go forward. Not gonna happen. I tried reverse...no luck either. So I then proceded to try to put my car in 4x4. I followed the directions, but I had assumed that when I turned the "Locking 4x4 hubs" that they would actually LOCK and the knob would turn all the way to lock. It didn't. This led me to believe that I had done something wrong and that they were not locked. So at that point one of the coaches at the gym was out there trying to help me and he tried turning the hubs. He couldn't get them to move to the lock position. Freaking out because I was blocking traffic and totally stuck, I called my house to see if DH was home. I left a message of me screaming at him to come get us. Which was totally stupid because his car doesn't even have 4x4. But I was paniced at the time.

Since I had no other option, I tried putting the car in gear to see if it worked. I tried reverse...my thinking was that I should try to back down the rest of the hill into the main road and then go forward, hopefully in the direction that I wanted. I hit the curb and there was a road sign behind that. Bummer. I put the car in drive and it went forward!!!! I was in shock. I was able to drive up this hill and turn my car around up the street...going in the direction that I wanted to go. YAY!

I'm sure the two coaches who were out there to help thought that I'm a total idiot. Frankly I don't care. I'll go appologize for freaking out on them on Monday...if it's not snowing. BTW: the one coach fell down the hill and slid all the way into my car's tire. I fell on my butt right before that.

So I'm up the street from the gym, near the building that won't let us park there and more people are trying to get up the hill and getting stuck. After waiting forever it was clear enough for me to drive past them and get onto the main road. We made it the rest of the way home with no problems.

I handed my cell phone to Darly to call home and tell DH that he didn't have to come to get us. Still no answer.

By the time we got home, DH was in the driveway shoveling it so I could pull the car into the garage. He is such a sweet guy. He shovels my entire side of the driveway but only shovels two paths for his tires. I guess he knows that I'll never hit those paths!

He never got the messages because I errased them...he's bummed because he wanted to tease me for freaking out.

I told him I want to move to someplace warmer. He agreed. He had a tough time getting home too.