RTT: Hot Grapefruit And A Mystery House Guest

It's been so incredibly long since I've done the Random Tuesday thing. Good thing it's one of those things you really never forget. Kind of like how you can remember your phone number from childhood (Back when there was one phone number for an entire house full of people and the phone had a cord on it.) but often forget your current phone number. Wait, perhaps that's just me. 222-8896. ???-???? Anyhow, Random Tuesday Thoughts it is! Go visit Keely for the whole RTT line-up.

*For those of you paying attention, November was NaBloPoMo which plainly means National Blog Posting Month. I had pledged to post something (anything!) to my blog each day in the month of November, but as you can tell by the post count under the month of November in my sidebar, that didn't happen. FAIL. To be fair though, November was one hell of a sucky month. So much going on, and even when I did have time to post, I wasn't feeling it and usually ended up fooling around on Facebook instead of coming here to post such gems as:

I awoke to an asshole on a 4 wheeler tearing around the yard and his girlfriend peeking in the living room windows, making faces at Binny and Mae. No intruder, just Uncle B doing what Uncle B does best.

I should really be editing photos and cleaning my house, instead I'm off to buy a snow plow blade from some guy off of craigslist. The shit I do for family...

Binny requested an orange for snack, then spit it out claiming it was "too bony."

*Thanksgiving was fine. Not bad, not great, but fine. I cleaned, I cooked, I ate, I cleaned some more and everyone else pretty much just ate. Actually, the Gardener was quite helpful but still the majority of the work was mine. Not that I mind entirely. You do remember what Thanksgiving at my in-law's is like, right?

*I'm enjoying my first Hot Grapefruit of the season. Yumm! Hot grapefruit is basically just warmed grapefruit juice, but I always squeeze a fresh grapefruit for this special drink. I also add about a tablespoon of sugar to my warm cup of pulpy goodness to offset the tartness.

*After finishing up the heating project we were working on upstairs, we decided to finally finish off the last bedroom in the house for the Gardener and I. We spent the last 2 days clearing out the room (our current storage area) and painting the previously bare walls. Not a drop of paint has ever touched those walls in the 100 years this house has been standing, so we were extra careful to tape up all of the woodwork making sure not to slop it up full of paint splatter. Today, I will finish by removing all of the tape and giving all of the woodwork a good cleaning and hang some blinds in the windows. Then to move the contents of our bedroom up there. Oh boy. All in preparation for a very special house guest who will be arriving on Sunday and staying with us for 2 weeks. Any ideas who our guest will be? Here's a hint: I've been checking around to get the dates and times for all of the local BINGO games for something fun to do while he/she is here.

* Our puppy Flash is growing like a weed! Or maybe he's growing like a flash... or in a flash. We had him to the vet on Friday and he weighed in at a whopping 23 pounds at 12 weeks old. That means he has gained 13 pounds in only 4 weeks. I don't think he's even eaten that much food in the 4 weeks he's been here! A healthy rambunctious pup with an insatiable chewing habit. He seems to have a thing for socks and underwear. Doesn't matter if they are clean or dirty, he'll pull them right out of the laundry basket and shred them before we even notice he's left our sight. Little shit.

That's about it for me today now that my Hot Grapefruit is gone, but I'm seriously considering making another cup because it was THAT good.

RTT- Um... I have this rash

Tuesday again...

First off, I have to mention how great last weekend's photo shoot went! It was warm and sunny outside and the kids were having fun running around Grandma and Grandpa's house (and the sandbox, the hay field, Grandma's flower gardens, the barn). I believe the term buck wild would apply here. Not that the kids were naughty by any means, just that all of them (with the exception of the babies) were constantly moving so it was a little tricky to get them all together. Good thing there were enough adults around to keep the kids from bolting right as I raised my camera to my eye. The photos turned out great! By the way, anybody else want family photos done? The weather is beautiful and I'll make it as painless as possible and I promise that I won't ask you and your spouse to wear matching clothes. Pinky swear, even. I posted a bunch of the photos on my photo blog, take a look.

I have poison ivy. Or poison something. I noticed 4 big red spots on my neck over the weekend. Seriously, it looked like I had been attacked by a vampire. They didn't hurt or itch at first but by yesterday they were starting to itch like crazy. Not sure where I picked it up but I'm thinking it was either at the farm Friday night (hidden in a bale of hay) or some time on Saturday while I was crawling around in the grass and walking through the the hay field taking photos. No big deal though, I've had poison ivy enough times by now that I know what to do. I washed with some heavy duty soap and threw all of the clothing I had been wearing into the wash. I've been rubbing some anti-itch cream on it too, just for fun. Who doesn't love a good ointment?

We totally screwed ourselves when we decided to till up the garden over the weekend. Instead of breaking up the dirt into fine pieces, it's now mostly giant rock-hard chunks. Last night the Gardener used every piece of farm and garden equipment we own out there and there are still chunks. We didn't wait long enough after all that rain and created mud balls. Lovely.

Enough about me, my poison ivy and my mud balls. Stop by Keely's blog for the whole Random Tuesday line up.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Tuesday again, time to get all random with the Un-Mom...

Holy Moly, I had 4 (count 'em!) participants in yesterday's Garden Monday! Thanks, Sheila for sending everyone with a garden over here. It will be fun to see what we can all grow by the end of the season! I may not be planting anything outdoors yet, but some of my warmer climate Bloggy friends have already planted and even harvested a few garden goodies. Go check them out by following the links at the bottom of yesterday's post.

It's rainy and cold here today so the greenhouse cart is once again in the shed under the faux sunshine. Some days I feel that summer is never going to get here. Remind me of this when I complain about the heat and eventual lack of rain in a few months.

Recently a letter was sent home from Mae's teacher requesting parent helpers to go along on the field trip to the zoo next month. Since I don't work, other than the dairy farm cow shit fest twice a week, I volunteered. A few days later a letter was sent home from Binny's teacher with all of the info for the parent-child kindergarten picnic, on the same day! Fuck! Luckily (or not, depending on how you look at it) the Gardener is still laid off from work so perhaps he can go to one or the other. Just stinks that they scheduled it all on the same day.

I never knew that there were so many people born in the month of May! Seriously, Binny has been invited to 3 birthday parties in the last month and we're having one here at the house for her in a few weeks. And what the hell is up with goodie bags? Seriously, after each party she comes home with a bag full of candy and cheap plastic, made in China throw away crap toys. I know it's all about the kids and kids love candy and brightly colored plastic toys but I can't bring myself to go to all that trouble just for high fructose corn syrup and the possibility of lead based paint. Without being one of those moms that only allows all natural ingredients and buys all of her kids toys from handcrafters on Etsy, what's a parent to do? Any suggestions?

Enough complaining for me today. See what this rain and cloudy weather does to me? Be sure to stop by Keely's blog for the whole Random Tuesday line up.

Random Tuesday

Real quick, while the Gardener is reading another chapter of Little House On The Prairie to the girls, I think I'll sneak in a couple random thoughts.

I spent the afternoon pulling 4 (5 gallon) buckets full of weeds from the asparagus, strawberries and the new flower bed we put in a few weeks ago. Weeding in between the tiny asparagus and strawberry plants is a total pain but I think it really makes a difference, plus it looks so good now!

Last night as the Gardener and I were getting ready for bed we somehow ended up in a conversation about ponies and then in what I can assume was a moment of brain deadness from being so exhausted (it must have been 8:30 or so... perhaps even 9:00) I convinced myself that ponies were just young horses. Then I tried to explain it all to the Gardener but I totally lost it and started laughing when the whole colt equals foal equals pony conversation came about. Then it was time for bed. I guess that's what fresh air and sunshine does to me...

There was more action in the Squeak last week but I didn't have a chance to blog about it. The local Christians took out a 3 page ad titled Stealth Jihad. It was an article that ran in American Legion magazine. Basically it was a scare tactic, full of false info (for the last time, we are not at war against Muslims!) and half truths and all kinds of criticism against our current president. There was also another ad that I thought was interesting as a follow up to the previous week's ad about Allah and Islam being the Anti-Christ. Let met be clear, I am not siding with Islam or do I think that religious based extremism is in any way acceptable by saying this local group should be able to worship wherever they please as long as they are within the limits of the law, nor am I trying to bash Christianity. I am happy being a skeptical heathen and think that if people want to practice Islam or Christianity or anything else, they should be able to do so as long as they aren't infringing on the rights of others while doing so. Scaring local residents with words like terrorism and Jihad in my mind isn't a very neighborly thing to do.

That's it for me. Be sure to stop by Keely's blog for the whole Random Tuesday line up.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Tuesday again, time to get all random with the Un-Mom...

Anyone participate in Boobquake yesterday? I wore a tank top in support of the silly day (which isn't much different than most days for me or is it very revealing anyway, but immodesty is immodesty right?) although I didn't leave the house except for when I ran out to get eggs but even then, I threw on a sweatshirt before leaving because it was cold and windy outside. (If you're scratching your head and didn't happen to see this on any blogs or on Facebook, it's worth a click here for an explanation and here for the results.)

Spring is being stubborn.

Yesterday I chased 2 loads of CLEAN laundry across our gravel driveway after they escaped the grip of the many carefully placed clothespins on the clothesline. Once, the basket full of clean clothes even blew away from at my feet. Ridiculous wind! At least it's not coming from the direction of the pig farm across the road.Tomorrow Mae has appointment with her immunologist (just a check up) down at Children's Hospital. We decided to make a day of it and go to the Art Museum while we're in the city since I recently won 2 tickets from the local public radio station! Mae also wants to use the book store gift card she won last week. Gift cards and free tickets are even more fun to use when money is tight!

Money may be tight but I seriously needed a haircut, so I finally gave in today and went in for a trim. It's not much different than before, just past my shoulders and a few layers but cleaned up and not so "fried" looking. That's at least how the hair stylist described my hair pre-cut.

I'm getting better at taking photos of myself in the mirror. At least they are pretty much in focus. I have a friend who can get a perfect shot every time by holding the camera out in front of herself. It's a talent really.

That's it for me today. Be sure to stop by Keely's blog for the whole Random Tuesday line up.

RTT- Short And Sweet

Again I'm cheating and writing this Monday night. 2nd shift still. Dinner was chicken noodle soup. The shitty kind from the can, which also happens to be Binny's favorite. I wasn't feeling the power to fight over yet another meal today so I caved and now she's full and happy and sleeping. I call it a win.

Mae came home from school early today. Not feeling well. She laid in the recliner most of the day. I gave her some Tylenol and put her to bed. Tonight would also be the first night in many that she hasn't come down with the complaint of not being tired. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

Speaking of tomorrow and bringing... we're expecting snow! Not Snowpocalypse snow, but maybe enough to close school and give us more time to make Valentine cards. The girls' class Valentine's Day parties are this Friday and we haven't even thought about making Valentine cards yet.

My Mother-in-law lost over 65 pounds and wrote her weight loss story to share with all of the Internet! Although being overweight has never been an issue for me (almost the opposite, in fact), I know many people do struggle with their weight and I'm so happy for them when they finally get a grasp on it. Bravo, Linda!

I finished our taxes and filed them. Our refund should be here in a week and then maybe, just maybe I'll convince my husband to go out and buy some new clothes. There are only so many times I can effectively spot treat the same greasy sweatshirt, and don't even get me started on those hole-y jeans. I'm thinking $200 cash at Fleet Farm should outfit him pretty well, as long as he doesn't wander into the tractor parts section...

That's it for me. Be sure Click to over to Keely's blog for the whole Random Tuesday line-up.

Random Tuesday Photos

Tuesday again.

It snowed today. About 3 inches of the fluffy stuff arrived last night and this morning. Couldn't have come on a better day either. Binny was given an activity calendar from school with a different activity to do each day. I think it's Healthy Choices Month or something like that. It just so happened that today's activity was to shovel the driveway. The Gardener and I waited until she got home from school to start cleaning up. After shoveling, Binny and went sledding down the mound (septic system) and I pulled her all around the yard. The snow was still gently falling yet it was warm enough that Binny's fingers didn't even get cold in her wet mittens.
I have also noticed that the days are getting considerably longer. Oh! and did anyone catch that beautiful full moon over the weekend? Friday night just as the sun went down it was glowing like a giant pumpkin in the eastern sky. I love stuff like that! Meteor showers too. Every August right around our wedding anniversary is the big summer meteor shower. I love to lay in the grass and watch the sky. Oh Summer, I can't wait!I'm starting to think about garden plans for this Summer too. Before the ground froze, the Gardener plowed up the garden and pretty much the rest of our front yard. The garden will be twice as big this year. In addition to having more space for MORE vegetables, we want to make sure to leave enough space between rows (especially the tomatoes) to be able to get the rototiller through to clean out weeds and keep the ground worked. I also am thinking about starting many of my own veggie plants from seed in our basement. My mother-in-law does it every year with her annual flowers and gets great results, but it would be a first for me. We have the stuff for the lights and a table but I still need to buy all of the seed trays and seeds. If anyone has any tips for me or plant suggestions, I would appreciate it!

Uncle T came to dinner over the weekend. He was ice fishing not too far from our house so he stopped by afterward for enchiladas and UNO. I wouldn't let him leave without the three of them sitting still for a photo, although they really didn't sit still. It was also an opportunity to try out my new camera toy... I wish I had the money for an external flash, but I don't and the built-in flash on my camera creates such terrible shadows, so lately my indoor photos haven't been so hot. Using just room light with my 50 mm/f1.8 lens, the photos come out grainy and even blurry if there is a lot of movement. I found a great compromise for only 25 dollars. I bought a Light Scoop from Amazon with a mirror inside that reflects the light of the built-in flash up to bounce off the ceiling for a more natural look. Amazing I tell you! It's not perfect for all indoor applications but it works great in our house. I have a whole Wardrobe Wednesday post of photos using the Light Scoop ready for tomorrow!And with that, I need to run and figure out what to make for dinner! Be sure Click to over to Keely's blog for the whole Random Tuesday line-up.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Okay, so I'm cheating by writing this Monday night; something I never do. Pre-posting is just way too organized for me. I'm more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of blogger, but not today. With the Gardener working odd shifts, my blogging has taken a backseat to my household duties. For now, nights are my new mornings, at least until the apple cart gets dumped again. By the way, how young is too young to operate the stove and use the sharp knives?

Oh well, let's get on with it already, it's Random Monday Tuesday Thoughts.

Lets get the crappy news out of the way first... Grandpa Conrad is in the hospital again. Same pesky congestive heart failure but this time it appears to be less severe. Hopefully he'll be able to go home tomorrow after the fluid drains off of his lungs and heart. Today in the ER the cardiologist told them that the next time he starts to feel the fluid build up, to call the office and he'll just order the correcting meds without having to make a trip to the ER. Good news I guess but still at 92 I wonder how many more of these he can take.

Our snow has melted away! The last week or so has been unseasonably warm but the rain over the weekend was the real killer. The once beautiful winter scene is long gone and now dog poo and empty beer bottles (thanks Highway motorists!) have become the new scenery. I'm hoping that the snow will return soon to cover up the impurities, but so far it's just flurries.

Binny has a new found love for Avocados. She always tolerated them in salads and on taco night but now she makes a special request of half an Avocado with a sprinkling of salt for lunch. Gives me an excuse to split one, without wasting an entire half.

I have become a Facebook junkie. I used to pick on my husband for nosing around the site and posting silly little personal blurbs but now I find myself taking time out of my day to complain about careless grocery baggers and playing the silly quizzes.

A few weeks ago I mentioned how Costco didn't have my brand of dishwasher detergent and I had to buy the inferior brand... well I should have left them at the store and hand washed my dirty dishes. The tablets I bought left a nasty film on ALL of my dishes and now I have 95 (0f 100) tablets left that I refuse to use. So much for getting a deal. If anyone nearby (I refuse to spend more money on those damn things by shipping them) uses Electrasol Finish with jet dry power ball, and wants them, let me know. Come and get 'em. They don't work for me and my unbelievably hard water.

Wow, this laundry list of crap sounds pretty dull. Hopefully the rest of the Tuesday bunch has more interesting random thoughts. Click over to Keely's blog for the whole line-up.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Tuesday again, time to get all random with the Un-Mom...

First off, I'm feeling better! The sinus infection is much improved but the eye thing is taking it's sweet time to heal so it may even be longer in these damn glasses. I don't think the eye is any worse, just taking a while to heal from whatever is bugging it. I mostly only notice it at night when I'm tired and it feels super dry so I squirt in an eye drop and all is better temporarily. I have decided that I'm not going back to the doctor though. If anything I'll make an appointment with an eye doc but seeing the doc at the clinic isn't going to do me any good. For now I'll wait it out.

I'm waiting impatiently for all of our tax filing papers. I still haven't purchased the 2009 computer tax program (waiting for a coupon) but we also haven't received ANY of our W2s yet. *tap, tap, tap* We're hoping for a decent sized refund to help pay off some pesky hospital bills from when Mae was sick last spring and I'm still planning to get back out to Arizona to visit my grandparents one more time this winter, possibly for their 60 wedding anniversary party. (I haven't told them yet, so if anyone reading this knows my grandparents, please don't tell them. I want it to be a surprise.)

My computer contracted a virus. That was fun! The other night, the Gardener tried to do a search and when he clicked on the results link he was redirected to an ad site. Tried again and same thing yet a different site. We thought it was just a Yahoo thing because Google worked fine. Weird huh? Then yesterday I tried to search for a recipe on Google and the same thing happened. Hmmm? Eventually, after searching then copying and pasting the links right into the url box, I discovered that we had the Google Redirect Virus. We downloaded a spyware removal tool and that fixed the problem but it had me sweating for a few hours minutes until it was resolved. I always get nervous using those free download Internet programs that claim to solve all of your computer problems. The entire time the thing was running I kept thinking that all of a sudden an animated joker face was going to pop up on the screen laughing at me with the words "YOU'RE FUCKED" beneath it. Lucky for me that wasn't the case, at least not this time.

My favorite sitcom (well second of course to The Cosby show) The King of Queens is back in reruns 5 nights a week. For a while it was either reruns of Friends *yawn* or that awful Deal or No Deal hosted by the forever annoying Howie Mandel. So happy to have Doug, Carrie and Arthur back!

That's it for me today. Click over to Keely's blog for more randomness.

RTT- Costco Fail

Tuesday again. Time for an update.

• Our Christmas tree is finally down but even after vacuuming the living room TWICE, I'm still finding pine needles (with my feet!) all over the house.

• The Gardener spent 3 hours Friday morning cleaning up all of the snow that fell then drifted around the buildings. This was the drift I was referring to when I said that the snow was waist deep. Okay fine, I'm short but still!

• I gained 7 pounds over the Holidays and now I hate to admit it but I'm putting myself on a diet. I know it sounds crazy that a 105 pound woman would put herself on a diet, but seriously my clothes are starting to not fit so well, so yeah, time to say NO to that extra cookie (or 5) a day and walk my butt out to the mailbox instead of waiting for a trip out of the house to pick up the mail with the car. Nothing crazy, just cutting out unhealthy snacks and moving a little more until I can fit back into my jeans. The last month or so has been a season of indulgence for me. With all of the snacks and meals out when I was in Arizona and 3 weeks of family get-togethers and parties (with eggnog!), I feel a little bulgy... and not in a good way. My plan for the next few weeks is just to make sure that I think about the kinds of foods that I'm putting in my mouth. I'll still probably have a cookie here and there, just stop at one. I think it will do us all some good to get back in to a routine of healthy eating. This also may be my half-assed attempt at a New Year's resolution. We'll see...

• Binny and Mae started swimming lessons last Saturday. Mae is convinced that she can swim all by herself but frequently sinks like a stone and the instructor quickly scoops her up out of the water. Binny is still not loving the part where her face gets wet, but she puts up with it and even held her head under the water for 5 seconds. Mae did it for a whole 32 seconds but Mae is so darn competitive that this doesn't surprise me in the least.
  

• I learned that vinegar is no substitute for dishwasher detergent. It works great in the dishwasher to sterilize canning jars but not so great for an entire meal's worth of dirty, crusty dishes. I ran out of tablets Saturday and figured that some vinegar would do the trick along with the heavy wash cycle. Not only was the vinegar ineffective but there were food bits stuck over all of the dishes so I had to actually hand wash *gasp* our dinner dishes. Monday morning I promptly made a list and went to Costco along with a coupon for my brand of dishwasher soap but they sold out their entire stock over the weekend! I bought some inferior other tablets to substitute until I can get the good stuff. I hope to try again before my coupon expires. Why does it seem that every task I take on takes at a minimum 2 days to accomplish? Much like this blog post....

That's it for me today. Click over to Keely's blog for more randomness.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Alright, time for an update. I feel like I haven't blogged in a bazillion years but I guess that's what family togetherness feels like... damn near an eternity. Holiday get-togethers and birthdays have sucked up every spare minute of our time in the last few weeks. The kids have been bouncing off the walls since sometime early last week, it's been way too cold to send them outside to hurl themselves down the snow drifts in our yard and our DVD player is on the fritz. That means my children have been doing one of two things from the time they open their eyes until they pass out way after their normal bedtimes. Either A- Fighting, or B- playing with their new toys which include a really loud horn for Mae's bike, 2 plastic recorders (yes, one for each) a keyboard, and a pogo stick. Thank you Grandmas for giving my kids the most annoying and dangerous gifts ever. I'll remember this the next time my kids decide to make a home made craft for you. I see lots of glitter in your future. You know, glitter is the gift that keeps on giving.

So as much as I love my children and really I do, it was nice to know that they would be going back to school yesterday. They were both super cranky after school yesterday and I had them both in bed by 8:00 last night. I was shooting for 7:30 but it didn't happen. The Gardener is working odd hours this week so I'm doing the dinner and bedtime routine solo.

Our tree is still up but at this point it's more of a fire hazard than a festive Holiday decoration.
I'm hoping to take it down today and reclaim my living room but I will miss the glow. Actually it was the Gardener's idea to take it down today. This morning just after the kids left for school he said, "You want to take the tree down this morning? I'll help." now he's taking a nap on the sofa.

The Catholics pissed me off yet again. This time they messed with my Soap Opera. Yeah that's right, yesterday the local TV station decided to air the installation of the area's new Archbishop instead of my trashy daytime favorite, Days Of Our Lives. The nerve I tell you.

That's about it for me today. Click over to Keely's blog for more randomness.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Random Tuesday Thoughts time again, head on over to the Un-Mom for the rest of the links.

I somehow managed to make it through Thanksgiving and a trip to Arizona with a great sum of my time spent in a Hospital or hospital-like places without getting sick, but NOW all of a sudden my body is choosing to revolt on me just 3 days before Christmas. Sweet! I spent all day yesterday trying to fight off this damn cold with major doses of vitamin C and Zicam swabs until one of my FB (FaceBook) friends informed me that the Zicam swabs were pulled from the market due to people losing their sense of smell. Lovely. I switched over to the rapid melt tabs instead but they taste awful and the directions clearly say not to chew or swallow and also not to eat or drink anything for 15 minutes. Does licking my own butt to get the taste out of my mouth count? Yuck! In spite of my best efforts to zap my cold right away, I think I am now beyond the let's wait and see if this passes stage. I woke this morning at 2:30 with my usual illness-induced insomnia (combined with a sore throat and a stuffy nose) but at least it gave me some quiet time to blog in peace. I'm hoping that this is one of those quick bugs that will be gone in a few days. Christmas is no fun sick!

Grandpa Conrad went home yesterday! After a week in the hospital and 3 weeks in rehab, he is finally back home with Grandma Dee and doing well. How's that for a Christmas gift?

The other night as we were setting up Monopoly, Binny said, "I want to be the garbage can!" Huh? Oh, you mean the thimble.

Thursday night is our big Holiday party here and of course I'm no where near ready. I still have cleaning to do, groceries to buy, presents to wrap, cookie gift boxes to assemble and decorations to hang.

My Holiday cards finally arrived! This year I decided to make my own card using Photoshop and decided to go bigger than usual and chose 5X7 cards. I figured I could save myself some money by not ordering the pre-made photo cards and just pay for prints and use my own envelopes. Then I realized that 5x7 prints cost quite a bit more than 4x6 prints, like a dollar- fifty more! After that expensive realization, I did a quick Google search and found a site that prints 5x7s for 12 cents a piece, plus they give new customers 50 free! My cards ended up costing me just $12 even with the $10 charge for shipping and handling. The quality was exactly as I had hoped and way better than Walgreens.

If you missed out on my cookie and peaches giveaway last week, you have another chance to win some home made cookies. Not from me Silly, didn't you see the list of things I have to do yet before Thursday? Another giveaway or infecting my blog readers is not on the list (Secret Mom Thoughts, your cookies are safe as I packed and shipped them before I started my sneeze fest.) but my bloggy friend Wild Child is hosting a cookie giveaway on her blog, Naked Opinions. She is offering up a tinful of the most beautiful Springerle cookies I have ever seen. In all honesty I have never actually seen a Springerle cookie other than in the Martha Stewart cookie issue a few years back but I just assumed they were way too much work to make so I never even considered making them myself. Perhaps next year a day of cookie baking with friends sharing our favorite recipes would be in order. What do you think Wild Child? With you and your Springerle molds and me and my double boiler we could really crank out the Holiday treats. Anyhow, hop on over to Wild Child's blog and sign up for her giveaway!

That's it for me today. I'm off to blow my nose and clean bathrooms...

Don't forget to drop by the Un-Mom for more Randomness.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

*tap, tap, tap* Is this thing on? Oh, there you are. I didn't seeing you past the big pile of laundry, the still not up yet Holiday decorations, snow pants, boots and dripping wet hats and gloves. It's looking like a good day for randomness, so let's get started...

First off, I'm home... and cold! I arrived back home Saturday evening (without my wool coat) and noticed that in the week I was hanging out with seniors in Arizona, the weather here took a serious turn to the frozen side. I heard rumors that it snowed last week, but by Saturday most of that light dusting of snow had disappeared. I always look forward to the first snowfall for the pure beauty of it all... and the opportunity to take about a thousand unusable photos of the girls for our Holiday card. It snowed again yesterday and a few inches at that! I did take my camera outside to try and get a photo for our card but I wasn't completely satisfied with the results. Plus all bundled up like that may not be the best way to show off my kids once a year for the few remaining family and friends that don't read this little blog of mine. And after the chaos that Mae's Thanks for the well wishes, I'm all better now card caused, this Holiday card (Christmas card, X-mas card, seasonal greeting, whatever you want to call it.) of mine is stressing me the hell out. I'm sure I have many photos on my computer that would be just fine but still I keep trying to get that one elusive shot of happiness and sisterly love.Not it?

Perhaps today and tomorrow's snow dumping (of 10-12 inches!) will get the creative juices flowing, or at least make a pile of snow big enough for my children to ride down in a sled.

I did however manage to take a photo for my Grandparents Christmas card although my Grandpa was more focused on standing and remaining standing without the help of a mobility device, so he didn't smile. Oh well, didn't stop me and Grandma Dee from ordering a pile of photo cards the night before I left. Don't they look all Christmassy in red?
Grandpa's still doing great at the rehab. He's getting stronger every day and continuing to play his keyboard for all of his visitors and nurses.


Binny's chin is getting better too. The blue whiskers will come out on Friday! Looks like she won't have much of a scar either but even if she does, oh well. It seems that almost everyone* has a story of an injury requiring stitches from childhood, including the guy I sat next to on my flight home Saturday. I don't usually get into airplane small talk but this conversation took place on the curb outside the baggage claim area as we were both waiting for our rides, so technically not airplane small talk, but next closest thing. Anyhow, he asked about my family and I told him that while I was gone last week, Binny split her chin open on the side of the bathtub. He says "Oh I did that too when I was a kid." Of course to continue the small talk, I asked him about it. Reluctantly he told me that it happened when he was 5. Right after he finished peeing into the toilet, his mom helped him pull up his pants and apparently didn't know her own strength because she pulled his legs right out from under him and in turn he smashed his chin on the porcelain toilet bowl, requiring stitches. After that painful picture I'm starting to think that this whole thing is just a rite of passage and if this ends up being the worst of it, we're pretty lucky.


*Leave me a comment about the time you damn near cut your middle finger off with a steak knife while trying to open one of those SAFE-T suckers minutes before your parents were ready to leave for an evening out... babysitter already at the house! What, that didn't happen to you? Perhaps that was just me. Either way I'd love to hear your stitches story.

And don't forget to stop by the Un-Mom for all of the other randomness that's wandering around in Blogland today.

RTT- Screw You Swine Flu

Well it's Tuesday again and the best way to get everything out there is to pull out the Un Mom's Random Tuesday Thoughts badge and get to it.

Shall we?

After weeks and weeks of impatient waiting, there was finally an H1N1 flu clinic in our area. My friend, (not the doctor's office or the school where the girls were supposed to receive the vaccine) called to tell me that she just took her kids to a flu clinic at a local fire department and had them vaccinated. She also said there was NO waiting and I should take the girls. (thanks for the heads up, T!) It was on an evening that I had to work but I left instructions with the Gardener to have both girls vaccinated and none of that nasal spray stuff, even for Binny no matter how much she complains and cries about getting the shot. And did Binny cry! She had herself so worked up that the Gardener had to hold her down for her 3 seconds of pain. Her arm was sore for about a day but she's fine now and even posing for the camera. It was of course no big deal for Mae who has been a little pin cushion lately. I do feel relieved now that they both have been vaccinated and I hope that everyone else who wants to have their kids vaccinated will be able to do so very soon. Mae was a special circumstances case but even if she weren't I would want them both to be vaccinated...

And finally... *drum-roll please.*

The Gardener's new toy tractor.

As you can see it's not new at all, rather old, noisy and a little rusty but it's what he wanted, something he could tinker with. It obviously needs a little work and some fresh paint, but it actually runs, so that's a start right?

Have a great Tuesday and don't forget to drop by the UnMom for more Random Tuesday thoughts!

Half Off Hookas. Random Enough?

Well it's Tuesday again and the best way to get everything out there is to pull out the Un Mom's Random Tuesday Thoughts badge and get to it.

Shall we?

Last week I mentioned that there was a school referendum on the ballot here. It failed miserably. The vote was something like 1200 against and 600 for. The number of people who voted against the new swimming pool was even higher. Hopefully the school board will do some more educating before sending voters back to the polls. If they had their act together they should have done this last year during the presidential election to entice more voters. The turnout for this school referendum was wimpy at best. But yet again, no one asked me.

The Gardener broke his thumb. Smashed it with a hammer at work. He only decided to go to the doctor because it happened at work and wanted it all to be on the up and up. The doc. took an x-ray then burned a hole through his thumbnail to drain off... you know what, I think I'll spare the rest of the details. He's much better though.

I saw this sign last Sunday when we were walking from the restaurant to our car. I was just happy that I had my camera in my purse.

I changed my blog! I have been wanting to make the photos on my blog larger but until now I haven't been able to figure it out. I have learned a ton of computer stuff since I started blogging over a year ago but I still have a lot to learn. I'm still a 2 column blogger but thanks to Shady Lady, this blog post and minima stretch, I now at least have the bigger photos.

This was an indoor photo I took of my brother. I didn't care for the color version but I love it in black and white.

Have a great Tuesday and don't forget to drop by the UnMom for more Random Tuesday thoughts!

RTT- Vote Today!

Well it must be Tuesday again. I see Random Tuesday Thoughts posts starting to fill my Google reader. Stop by the UnMom to catch up on all of the randomness.

As for me... we made it through Halloween but now we have 2 giant bags of candy sitting on the kitchen counter. I'm hoping to do something about that very soon. Freckle posted on Facebook that the Candy Fairy stopped by their house the night of Halloween, took her kids' candy and left them each a small toy. And her kids loved the idea! So, I'm thinking that after 3 days of my kids stuffing their faces with various forms of high fructose corn syrup, the Candy Fairy may stop by today while the kids are at school and drop off a small, inedible treat and sneak off with what's left of their candy.And let's face it, after wax lips, the rest is just plain old candy.

Mae had an appointment with her pediatrician yesterday. It was just her annual physical that was due in September but I wanted to wait until all of the tests came back and we had a chance to talk with the Immunologist again. Mae's pediatrician checked her out from head to toe and said that she looked very healthy. The minor ear infection she was treated for 2 weeks ago had cleared up, blood pressure was normal, and she passed the informal doctor office eye test. Doc sounded very pleased with the findings of Mae's immune work-up and went over all of the specifics with me again. Her big concern right now is the nasty H1N1 virus. There were no H1N1 vaccines at the clinic but she did say that the schools would be vaccinating kids as soon as more vaccine becomes available and of course encouraged me to have both girls vaccinated if they don't catch it first. She said that she'd be very surprised if one or both of the girls didn't come down with it in the next week or two.

The waiting room was full of masked children coughing and wheezing waiting to see a doctor. We had to use a separate "well visit" entrance to the office itself and around every turn was a hand sanitizing station. Pretty much, I'm almost certain that we were exposed to many cases of the nasty flu yesterday but so far no signs of illness yet. *crossing my fingers* Mae's doc did say though that if Mae does come down with H1N1, she should come back to the office in request of tamilflu because of her immune defect. She also asked if I wanted Mae to have the seasonal flu shot while we were there. Of course I agreed and Mae was vaccinated for the seasonal flu (just like every other year). I called last week about the shots and was told that they didn't have any and while waiting to check in at the reception desk I heard one of the receptionists tell another parent that there were no H1N1 or seasonal flu vaccines available. I guess they must be trying to keep some around for the more at-risk kids. After all Binny isn't eligible for either tamiflu or the short supply seasonal flu shot.

In more illness related news, the school is handing out small bottles of hand sanitizer to each student and encouraging them to use it. As much as I think hand washing is important to staying healthy, I think that the hype over hand sanitizer is a little extreme. Even at the doctor's office (we've been in several lately), I see health care workers use a squirt of that stuff instead of actually washing their hands. Yeah it may kill some of the germs but it doesn't actually clean your hands the way good old soap and water does. So around here with each mention from the girls that they need a squirt, I have been gently steering them to the sink instead.


I plan to vote today. There aren't any big races around here on the ballot today but there is a school referendum that has caused some commotion in our school district. The district wants to build a new middle school and a new swimming pool to replace the old pool that is in need of some major TLC. There are always people who refuse to vote for anything that could raise their property taxes (by $164 annually for a house worth $100,000) but I did see many yard signs supporting the referendum while we were out trick or treating. I also read some wimpy opposing arguments in the Squeak saying that during a recession is not a good time to be spending money on our schools. I couldn't disagree more. With all of the federal incentives and the ability to negotiate low prices with contractors that are just hoping for new projects to come up in order to keep themselves in business, this sounds like a great time. I also happen to have 2 children that will be going to middle school in the next few years and use the swimming pool for swimming lessons... and a husband who is trying to stay employed as a construction electrician. Call me selfish but I think that this project is worth the 164 bucks.

That's it for me today. Have a good one!

RTT: Halloween

Tuesday already? Time to get all random with the UnMom.

First off, as much as our family loves the television show America's Funniest Home Videos, the new weeknight time slot of 9:30 pm is just too late to be busting a gut as Grandmas on roller skates bust themselves up. Seriously, I laugh so hard that after the first half hour I have to get out of bed to pee. No matter how many times I've seen it, a baseball bat to the groin or baby puking up all over an unsuspecting adult cracks me up every time.

Over the weekend we finally gave in to the girls constant begging and carved pumpkins for Halloween. For the first time we tried one of those pumpkin carving kits. Binny and Mae transferred the patterns onto the pumpkins and the Gardener and I did the sawing.
Also over the weekend I started working on Halloween costumes for the girls. They both decided several weeks ago what they were going to dress as but I needed to get myself motivated to actually assemble the costumes. Binny's only took one afternoon to cut, sew, and glue but Mae's was a bit more tricky. I finally started working on it last night but soon became frustrated and handed it all over to the Gardener who then went upstairs and worked his magic on the sewing machine (after I threaded it with the correct color). About 20 minutes later he came down with a start which hopefully I will be able to finish today as Mae's school Halloween party is tomorrow. Yikes! I'm not revealing quite yet what the girls costumes are mostly because my Mom called the other day and started hounding asking me and since I like to mess with her once in a while, I told her she had to wait until Halloween. So I promise I'll post photos on Saturday, but for now it's a secret.

That's it for today, I still have to shower and make a quick run to the grocery store before Binny gets home from school.

Oh, one more thing. Mae aced her very first spelling test! We went over the words again and again and I knew she would do well, but seeing that perfect paper with a Halloween sticker on top made my heart smile. The Gardener and I were both so proud of her. Go Mae!

RTT- High On Easy Off

Well it's Tuesday and the best way to get everything out there is to pull out the Un Mom's Random Tuesday Thoughts badge and get to it.

Shall we?

After three years of dealing with an oven door that doesn't completely seal, I decided to call sit on hold for 20 minutes with the extended warranty people and request that a service person come out and fixes it. After I scheduled the appointment I took one look at the oven and was overcome with a feeling of Holy shit, I can't let someone work on this filthy thing. So I rolled up my sleeves, put on a pair of kitchen gloves and huffed Easy Off for an hour and a half. I'm still not sure what bubbled over and was crusted on the bottom, but it was a real bitch to scrub off. This was a long time coming and I knew that a good cleaning was in order because every time I would heat the oven above 350, the smoke detector would alarm. My kids have mastered the art of waving a dish towel at the blaring thing though.

While still high on oven cleaner I decided to keep the cleaning going and vac'd and scrubbed the floors until Binny arrived home from school. I don't know about anyone else but a clean house makes me happy. Maybe if I did it a little more often... Or if the house could stay that way longer.

As Binny bounded off the school bus yesterday she told me of a surprise that was in her backpack. Not hand turkey time yet (a Thanksgiving thing) but it was even better. I took out the surprise, read 2 pages and put it away so that we could all enjoy it as a family after dinner. The children in Binny's Kindergarten class are learning their addresses and phone numbers and as a fun project, the teacher had the children draw a picture of their homes and explain how to get home from school. The teacher then typed out what the kids said and attached the directions to the drawings then bound it all together in a folder to take turns going home with each student. The Gardener and I could not make it through the entire book without laughing so hard that I thought we were going to lose consciousness. The adorableness of it all was too much. So much in fact that I immediately typed out all of the directions and because I'm sure I'm not the only one who will find this completely cute and hysterical, here they are:

"Go around the circle. Turn at the next turn. Go straight. Then there is another turn. Go straight. Turn onto Elm Court. Look for the tan-ish brown house at the end."

"Go straight. Take a sharp bend into the road. Go straight and turn again. Look for 266 Washington Lane."

"Turn, then turn again. Than go into the country. Turn by a blue house, then drive a little to the brown house."

"When there is a turn don’t turn, go straight. Turn at the stop sign and it is next to a stop sign."

"Go close by Jack’s house. Go straight and you’ll find a gray house, that’s mine. Oh yeah, make sure you see a dog.

Drive to Town. Look for a white house but DON’T go to that one, Go to the next white house."

"Go straight that way. It is a white house on a black road."

"You go straight then turn. Go to the gray house and turn again. Turn down another road and in the middle there is a gray house."

"You go into Town where you see the brown house with the pool, trampoline, and dogs Ginger & Drake, that’s my house. If you see Emma’s house mine is right across the street."

"Go straight. Turn, then turn again the other way. Go straight. Skip a little bit of houses. Look for a blue house with a gray car in the garage."

"Look for the Smith’s house, then look for the yellow house and pull in the driveway."

"I live in Town."

I changed all of the names for anonymity. Not mine, the children.

Tomorrow is Mae's follow-up appointment with the immunologist down at Children's hospital. I talked with the nurse practitioner last week about Mae's test results and the idea so far is that Mae has an immune complement disorder, meaning that a very specific part of her immune system is out of whack. She said that there isn't too much to be done about such a diagnosis other than keep an eye out for any infection that should arise. I guess we'll find out more tomorrow when we see the doc.

That's about all the randomness in me today. Have a great day!

RTT- can't. stop. canning.

Well it's Tuesday and the best way to get everything out there is to pull out the Un Mom's Random Tuesday Thoughts badge and get to it.

Shall we?

Well, my car broke down AGAIN. Last Thursday Binny and I made a quick egg run and found ourselves stranded at the Egg lady's house. The car was fine when I left home, started right up but when I went to start it to come back home, the gauges went nuts flopping all over the place and making terrifying clicking sounds. I called the Gardener and before he even arrived the egg lady's husband took a look and determined that the battery was not dead but broken and leaking acid all over the engine compartment. The Gardener and the other guy were able to rig it enough for me to drive the 3 miles back to our house, then the Gardener went and bought a new battery. Not as bad as it could have been, but still another 80 bucks.

My dad and younger brother came over for lunch Saturday to celebrate my Dad's b-day. I served Pork chops, green beans from the garden and my family's favorite... Popovers. I was promptly given the stink eye as I tried to season the pork chops with salt, pepper and a sprinkling of fresh sage. My dad likes his food very plain, and will send anything back in a restaurant that comes out with any type of sauce on it. Of course I only sprinkled salt and pepper on his and he loved it. My brother who is normally a vegetarian even ate a pork chop and practically licked the the serving tray after mentioned that it was local pork. What is it with men and a good piece of meat?

The garden is officially done. Over the weekend temperatures dipped well below freezing and killed off the what was left of my pepper plants and flowers. It will really hit me when I have to start buying produce from the grocery store again, especially tomatoes. Nothing beats a fresh homegrown tomato! The garden may be done but I'm still coming up with things to can. My father-in-law gave me a huge bucket full of grapes and a big bag full of apples. I spent all day yesterday cooking, straining, pressing and canning the grapes to make 6 quarts of grape juice and 3 big sheets of dried grape fruit leather. (Fruit leather is similar to a fruit roll-up but leather actually contains only REAL FRUIT and NO high fructose corn syrup) It was a lot of work but the juice and the leather are delicious. Today I will try to tackle all of the apples. Since I already have lots of applesauce, I think I'm going to make jars of apple pie filling or apple butter, I can't decide. Or spiced apple rings... Too many choices!

Finally, my blog friend Sheila from Ma Vie Folle (My Crazy Life) awarded me with the Over The Top blog award. How sweet is that? Sheila cracks me up on a daily basis. If you haven't already, go check out her blog, it's so worth it. Now for the award rules.

Answer the survey below…you can only use one word answers!

Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers!

Where is your cell phone? pocket

Your hair? wild

Your mother? Minnesota

Your father? no sage

Your favorite food? cheese

Your dream last night? no

Your favorite drink? grapefruitini

Your dream/goal? healthy kids

What room are you in? kitchen!!!

Your hobby? food

Your Fear? scary stuff

Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

Where were you last night? sofa

Something that you aren’t? tall

Muffins? pumpkin

Wish list item? food processor

Where did you grow up? North Dakota and Wisconsin

Last thing you did? eat

What are you wearing? sweats

Your TV? off

Your pets? clean!

Friends? love

Your life? full

Your mood? happy

Missing someone? always

Vehicle? don't ask

Something you’re not wearing? bra

Your favorite store? Costco

Your favorite color? green

When was the last time you laughed? yesterday

Last time you cried? May

Your best friend? loyal

One place that I go to over and over? supermarket

One person who emails me regularly? Grandma N

Favorite place to eat? Artcafe

Now to pass this award on to 6 other bloggers. Riot Kitty, Secret Mom Thoughts, Kelly, Sidhe, Joe, and Wild Child. Congrats all, because I really do think that all of your blogs are over the top!