For the guy in your life

Not joking, this was on a list of "10 things your guy would secretly love"... I don't know about you but I'd pay money to see the looks on guys faces around the world when they open this one up!

(Did you see the " 5 saving graces" line - LOL) and just in case you are not sure how this would be used... the directions

1. Peel off adhesive and stick Subtle Butt onto the inside of your underwear or pants, exactly where you think it goes.
2. Go for it, Let'er rip, Have at it, Cut loose, Break wind, Gas it up
3. When you're done wearing Subtle Butt, remove and discard. If any adhesive traces remain, use a damp cloth for removal.

Tips for Success:
You want all the gas to pass through Subtle Butt. So do what you need to do to ensure none sneaks around the edges. Subtle Butt can be applied to thongs by wrapping and securing it around the back.

Tis this season

So I've been a busy little Christmas elf the past few days/weeks... not sure if its been days or weeks but anyways. At some point earlier this month I got a call from "Miss Thing's" mommy. It went something like this,
Miss Thing's mommy: "Hi Mannie, we have a question... are you a sew-er?"
Me: "Umm, maybe...why?"
Miss Thing's mommy: " Well because Miss Thing apparently needs an angel costume for her school play next week and well, we saw the costume you made for Boy #1 and well..."
Me: (Laughing) " Ok, yes I can do an angel costume"
Miss Thing's mommy: " Oh thank goodness"
Miss Thing's mommy to Miss Thing: "Alyssa, Mannie's a sew-er!" to which Miss Thing promptly ran and told her daddy, "Daddy, Daddy Mannie's a sew-er!"

I think I've now sewed more costumes in the past couple of months than I have in the past 10 years! And of course, she was the cutest angel in the bunch.... especially when she was she shushing her sister and says "be quiet" during the performance!

Besides angel costumes there were Christmas boxes to pack and get sent off to Solider Man in Iraq. I even found a tree that would fit into one of the flat rate boxes....way too cute!
And then there were the annual Christmas cookies to bake which was a little more complicated due to the fact that apparently I broke my ring finger on my right hand at Boy#1's last football game... (I guess we got a bit too excited) and after of month of it hurting and bugging me, Neighbor snuck me into the OR for a quickie fluro-scan and happy day, its broken. So now I have to wear this lovely plastic splint thing on it, which falls off every time I get it wet and made it impossible to do my famous rolled gingerbread cookies, so we had to settle for other things. I did manage to do the chocolate Andes mint cookies.

Some cinnamon biscotti type cookies (Soldier man like cinnamon red hots). Off into a fancy red stocking they went, along with some Christmas lights, music and cinnamon pine cones. Happy Holidays to all the boys playing in the sandbox of Iraq!

November Wrap Up

Yes, I know, I know. It's no longer November but hey, this girl's been busy! That and the dark of winter wreaks havoc on my multiple personality disorder and I just want to hibernate! I mean really, didn't your mom make you go to bed when it was dark outside? Mine did, actually our mom made us go to bed at a specific time. I can still remember being a kid in Montana (so between the ages of 6 and 8) and sitting in my bed and listening to the other kids play outside in the summer with the sun still out. Isn't it funny how somethings you can remember/see in your mind years and years later? We lived in a single wide trailer in a trailer park with a dirt road (that was filled with families) back when living in a trailer was not considered "trashy". Sis Amy and I spent hours when we moved in digging for "carrots". Of course, there weren't any but the plants sure looked a lot like there should be carrots at the bottom. Alright enough of strolling down memory lane - onto current events!

November was a bitter sweet month, the fall leaves were gorgeous but it was the end of highschool football. The Tides season ended on a rather sad note, losing in the first round of the playoffs to a team we had been picked to beat. Some things just aren't meant to be I guess. The boys were so disappointed, Boy #1 especially as he has lived and breathed football for the past four years. The day after the season ended he said to me, "I was upset about losing but when I looked around the locker room at Lou, Jeff and Dalton and realized that we'd never play together again, that's when I really lost it". "Mom", he said, "this is the beginning of the end. Next we'll be graduating and life will never be this way again". Oh my mommy heart, do I love that kid! And yes, as adults we know there is life after high school but for them in this moment it is everything. So here's to you T - its been so fun watching you boys play!

Team Captains Voted 1st team all Narrows League and Kitsap Sun's All West Team

18 career interceptions

On to turkey day... or "no furkey day" as Sis Amy says (Sis Amy is a vegetarian and so we were teasing the kids that we were having "tofurkey" for Thanksgiving... eww, even she's says, "no tofurkey... yuck!" Instead we made.... Pumpkin cake served with whip cream and homemade carmel sauce...delish

Homemade cranberry sauce - way better than canned and smelled divine!

Sauteed garlic green beans - no nasty green bean casserole for these girls

And of course, "libations"... Aptly named the "Nofurkey-tini!" Kirsh, vodka, tart cherry juice, pear brandy, fresh squeezed oj, a dash of aguave, a splash of lime... Mmm, they were quite yummy! (Nanna and Boy #2 got virgins!)

Family photo - Happy NO FURKEY DAY everyone!

Back porch view

This is the view from my back porch and bedroom - the picture doesn't quite do the colors justice but waking up has been a rather pretty site the last few weeks... correction waking up is a pretty sight on the 2 days a week when a) I am not up while it is still dark out and b) its not pouring rain! I was quite certain the other night, as the water was streaming over the gutters (which are now filled with said lovely leaves) and onto the deck (kind of like sleeping near a waterfall) that good ol' Noah and the Mrs. might be coming on by with their flood/disaster prep materials!

I am definitely not a fan of daylight savings time as it seems to me the only thing it changes is that I now go to work in the dark and come home in the dark...Hello, the dark is for sleeping and that just makes me want to hibernate. Never fear, I've already started on masses doses of vitamin D (while I dream about a vacation to a sunny, warm, tropical beach complete with a gorgeous cabana boy who is good at two things: total silence and making sure my margarita glass is never empty!) Since one cannot sleep all the time (ok, one could but people might think there is something wrong with you if you tell them that) I've spent a bit of time here and there doing....

Hats for troops - it is now growing a bit cooler in those sandy hell holes we insist on defending, so the need for "cool ties" has declined. Now we are knitting hats - all wool for ground troops because much of the "warfare" they encounter is Incindiary (Dictionary.com=An artillery shell that burns upon impact, usually stuffed with white phosphorous and anything made from acrylic fibers would melt to the solider (shudder, stomach did a major tumble when I read that in our Ships Project newsletter). While Iraq is not too cold yet, apparently it is quite chilly in the mountains of Afghanistan (yes, we are still fighting there - defending stretches of road while the terrorists simply run in and out of Pakistan saying ne'er-ne'er). Normally we put care labels on all our items so that the troops know how to take care of things and that its from the Ships Project group. However, the things that are being helo-dropped to the special forces groups in Afghanistan (and other places) are not to contain those labels due to concern that if the drop were to fall into hands other than ours that there may be some "not so nice" care packages sent in return. So I got a little creative/festive with my labels. I wrote hand wash, cold H2O - air dry on these fall leave decorations I have around the house and tied them to the hats~

Fall continues to bring out random food cravings. Last weekend it was French onion soup, twice baked potatoes and these chocolate sandwich cookies (recipe courtesy of the girls at Bread and Honey blog). Into my pot went about 5 sliced Walla Walla sweet onions. Along with some celery and other things I can't remember now (check Cook's.com for lots of easy recipes)

While that was cooking I mixed up the twice baked potatoes (Boy #1's fav) that I'd started earlier And finished up the cookies. Now the Bread & Honey girl's cookies look better than mine. My dough was very "sandy" in appearance. This is the first cookie recipe I've made where you didn't cream the butter and sugar first... might change that around next time. Anyways as always they were gone in a few days! I topped the soup with a thick slice a "No Knead Bread" from a few days before - and melted slices of provolone cheese over the top - all the boys tried it (that's a stretch for Boy #3 who only tried it after I told him it had sweet onions in it because he loves sweet onions but he picked out the bread - no soggy bread for him! On that one I tend to agree, no soggy bread for this girl either but in french onion soup one has to make an exception!)

Happy Halloween!

Its been a rather "bewitching" week. I'm quite certain that "possessions" are at an all time high this year! You just have to turn on the TV to see them... Oh, that's right... Nov. 4th is just a few days away. Ok, so maybe they're not at an all time high. And as for work, we'll let's just say that if I'd have dressed up today, I would have gone like her !

Normally I'm more into the "Wonder Woman" look but someone stole my invisible jet, I've worn out my magic lasso trying contain all the drama (male drama mind you, not female) and its making me a little cranky!

On a lighter note, My friend Carla sent this to me today, so I'll share 'cuz it made me "cackle"

Two brooms were hanging in the closet and after a while they got to know each other so well, they decided to get married. One broom was, of course, the bride broom, the other the groom broom. The bride broom looked very beautiful in her white dress. The groom broom was handsome and suave in his tuxedo. The wedding was lovely. After the wedding, at the wedding dinner, the bride-broom leaned over and said to the groom-broom, 'I think I am going to have a little whisk broom!' 'IMPOSSIBLE !' said the groom broom. 'WE HAVEN'T EVEN SWEPT TOGETHER!'

Sounds to me like she's been sweeping around!!! Trick or Treat~

Weekend Warrior

Do you ever get to Sunday night and think, I'm exhausted! I need another weekend? Well, that's how this past week and weekend were here in our little corner of the world. The week went something like this:
Monday night - Soccer game boy #3
Tuesday - up at 4:00 a.m. to be at work by 5 for the go live of our hospital electronic medical record. Home around 6pm, something else happened but can't remember what and I fell into bed.
Wednesday- up early again, another soccer game for boy #3. Home cook 3 lbs of pasta for football team dinner on Thursday afternoon.
Thursday - work, run home, drop off boy #2 at field to watch girls soccer game. Run back home, change clothes, pick up boy#2 and drive to the football field for our Homecoming game (yes, weird... homecoming on a Thursday night) game was a blow out. Tides ahead 57 to 0 by half time. Final score 64 to 0 with everyone who was eligible to play getting to play.
Friday - work and then home. Drive to WalMart in Port Orchard to buy fabric to make costume for Boy #1 to wear to the homecoming dance on Saturday night.

For those who may not have the opportunity for this particular type of "adventure", let me share. When you walk in to WalMart on Friday night its like taking a trip to a whole other country - as in 3rd world trailer park country. I wandered around the store for a bit trying to see if I could put together a costume that would not require sewing (Homecoming theme was "Rome-coming" and Boy#1 wanted to go dressed as a Gladiator. Of course, the costume we found three weeks earlier while buying new football cleats wouldn't do). No such luck but I did find a t-shirt that said, "If the broom fits, ride it!" I was tempted but pumpkin orange isn't in my color palette. I tried not to stare at the multitude of families while I pondered, "how on earth did you find the time to have all those children in such a short period of time? And then it dawned on me - dad actually has two wives and they are sisters! How nice to have a family tree that goes straight up. Makes keeping track of things so much easier. Anyway, I digress. I did find a pattern and fabric (leather imprint vinyl). While waiting at the fabric cutting counter I was then treated to conversation that I can only describe as amazing. (Older woman doing the cutting -we had to repeat how much of each bolt of fabric we needed cut like three times. I know, she was just being thorough. Young girl/woman- old enough to apparently be married and joining the military but I'm quite certain not old enough to buy beer) were having the most fascinating discussion with "Joe" from the WalMart Oil change mart. Joe was complaining about how people just don't understand how hard their job is (while leaning on the fabric cutting counter in all his greasiness) and then explaining to Young Girl/Woman how he was going to help her get ready for boot camp including automatic weapons training. Then towards the end of my turn in line, Young Girl belches (and I do mean belch) to the mild chagrin of Older Woman who says, she always knows where to find Young Girl in the store. To which Young Girl responds, "Well I'm not going to hold it in and get a tummy ache!" Thankfully I only had to have three things cut and was able to leave before they shared any more with the lucky fabric crowd. On Saturday morning when Boy#1 arrived home and I showed him the pattern we had the following conversation:

T: "Do I get the cape too?"
Me: Yes

T: "YES! Sweet!"

I guess capes fall into the category of things that you are never to old for. Four and a half hours later and....

My gladiator!

Sunday began with a trip into Tacoma to pick up the rest of the tux for Boy#2 to wear to his musical concert on Tuesday night (apparently one was supposed to have brought at check with oneself to school on Friday - yeah, communication not so good on this one). I get to the store only to find they are CLOSED! I counted to ten and headed into Costco where I managed to spend several hundred dollars on food items (how does this happen?) then dashed home for Boy#3's fourth soccer game of the week. Back home and now, its time to cook (Sunday are my cooking days). First I threw all the fixings for a turkey noodle soup into a pot - Yum, perfect fall dinner food. Then I mixed up a double batch of Halloween M&M cookies (did you know that Halloween M&M's are like purple and orange and black and brown? Not the most appetizing look in a cookie). And then because I'd had a craving all week for it, I made two apple pies. I had picked up about 6 or 7 Honeycrisp apples from the fruit stand up the road, so I peeled and sliced them...

To which I then added: (double this if you are making 2 pies): 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 c. brown sugar, 2 tbsp. flour, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/8 tsp. ginger, 1/8 tsp. ground cloves (I didn't have allspice), juice of one lemon. I stirred this all up (Yummy, could have eaten just that right out of the bowl) and poured the apple mixture into a deep dish pie shell. And no, I did not make my own pie crust. I see no reason to go all the trouble when Marie C. does such a great job for less than $3. Then because I wanted a crumbly top I topped the pies with a generous amount of low-fat honey granola I had. Then I baked them at 425 for 10 minutes, turned down the heat to 350 and baked them for another 40 minutes and....

Lord have mercy! These had to be the world's best apple pies! Boy #1 ate an entire half all by himself. (one tip, if you use granola, I would hold off putting it on top until you turn the oven down to 350. Some of my bigger chunks got a little too brown at the 425 heat).

It just can't be

It just can't be - rather he just can't be. Son #1 turned 18 on October 9th. I started the week by going to the Hallmark store to secure the perfect card for the boy-turned man's 18th birthday. Between the corny "you're 18 " cards (which I'm fairly certain were just the you're "8" cards that they added a "1" to) and all the Son, its your birthday and blah, blah, blah dumb humor cards, I was feeling a little despondent. So I moved into the "E-mo" section (as the kids would say). That was a quick trip because Hallmark in all its gushy glory came raging down on me and in a matter of minutes I had tears in my eyes and had to flee the store before I embarrassed myself. I ended up spending 2 hours on Wednesday night making my own card (It took awhile because all my crafting stuff was still in boxes... that and I kept getting teary-eyed). Here was my final result

It says, " Love the boy you were... Love the man you are..."

Inside: Love having you for a son. I may not be able to hold you

in my arms like I did when you were small but I will always

be able to hold you in my heart.

It's just amazing that the baby on the left became the boy/man on the right... and lest you think it was all sniffles on my part, there was a bit of humor to the whole event. Before I went to bed on the 8th we had the following text exchange:

Me: In less than 4 hours you will be 18!

T: Ha Ha, thanks mom!

Me: Yea we can laugh now but 18 years ago you were 2 weeks overdue and I'd been in labor for 12 hours and wasn't thinking it was too funny. Except that the epidural made my right leg so numb it kept falling off the bed and I couldn't move it back!

T: Thanks for the essay on my birth. Me being late is where I get my procrastination from - ha!

Me: You're welcome, you know me always trying to help! I think its where you get your drive and determination... You worked hard to get here!

Moving Out, Moving In, Part II - aka the Ex-orcism

I know, I know! This moving thing is taking me forever - at least to blog about it! Everything is moved and last weekend I got nearly all of the boxes at the new house emptied and put away. Now for the garage, which is currently housing some rather large (and unattractive) left behind furniture items that are going bye-bye as soon as I can get someone with a truck and strong back to move them.

So I'm sure some of you are wondering about the "Ex-orcism" part... well, let's just say that I'm back living in the same house that shared with "past life" (which I moved out of 3 1/2 years ago. Past Life is not living here) In that time there are have been other shall we say "occupants" (see how nice I'm being). My initial thought was to buy the largest sage bush I could find and set fire to it in the living room... while I generally have some pretty great ideas, that was not probably the all- around best one. My good friends A & N came up with this little gem of an "Ex-orcism kit" (and I want you to know that it worked very nicely, especially the red stuff in the bottles... though I believe for the ex-orcism to remain effective one needs to "re-exorcise" on a regular basis!)For those who can't tell (and yes, I know the picture says 1/07 - Taylor's camera again!) The kit contained, Renuzit Super Odor Neutralizer (though I'm not quite sure there is a true neutralizer for the linger scent of 20 years worth of moth balls), some Febreeze spray, Glade scented oil candles in my favorite scent "Clean Linen" (why is something relating to laundry my fav? I have this laundry thing - but that's a whole other post) and then my new favorite scent "angel wings" for the little Glade warmer (I'm cracking up here - angel and exorism in the same thought!) and finally, two bottles of red wine, Smoking Loon and Mad Housewife~ This part borders on hysterical, especially if you know anything about the "spirits" I was exorcising... (one of them is the airline/scissors story for those who are joining us late in the program!)

Moving Out, Moving In - Part 1

Ok, so I do realize that its been a rather long time since I last posted. To borrow Sis Amy's line... "I've been in a bit of a vortex." Actually, I think I might still be in said vortex but knowing how my life goes it could last awhile. And just so you all don't think that I actually have been just sitting in my "vortex" and doing nothing but eating bonbons and drinking Mad Housewife (its a wine) we'll start with a few of the things I did before Moving Out, Moving In and Moving On began:
September 7th - Neighbor's birthday (actually I think it might be the 6th but I thought it was the 7th or maybe it is the 7th and I got mixed up) anyway I was a day LATE! (the shame). Neighbor is a hard person to shop for because she has spent most of the past year fixing up her house and yard and so they are all cute and decorated now and so I was like Hmm, what do I get Neighbor? And then it struck me - Neighbor is going to be a mommy soon and every house needs a cookie jar! So I bought her a cookie jar and filled it with all our favorite cookie recipes. Then I wrapped it up to look like a cupcake (use your imagination a little people) I even found a card with dancing cupcakes on it!

Other things that I did before moving out came...

I took this,

Did this.... (Ack! Hide your eyes! Naked Zucchini!)

and made this!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread!

Yummy and Healthy!

I mean after all, it did come from a vegetable!

I also made sure our cookie jar was kept full along with doing a fabulous job packing(yea, didn't do so well with that one), clean the house we were moving in to... did ok with that however moving out seemed to be more difficult than I remembered. First off, it rained on moving day - OF COURSE! While I was not at all entertained I'm quite sure that God, my neighbors and any one else watching me haul all of my outdoor plants (and I had an entire 14 ft truck load) up the metal ramp of the moving truck in the pouring rain (with the cart weighing in at more than I do) had quite a show. For the most part I did refrain from large outbursts of curse words, though had I been able to find my witches hat and magic wand I would have put more than a hex on the weather man! So much for the 20+ days of above 70 degree weather - I think the only day it rained the entire month was on the day I moved.


We interupt this comedy show to bring you this important announcement: Ashton Sage Evershed arrived safely (though late despite big sister telling her mother, "She needs to hurry up and get here, I've been waiting very patiently for a long time!" Aren't they cute!

I got picked to paint this new little chickie's bedroom and it came out well if I do say so myself. Court, you'll have to send me a pic to post when its all decorated.

And lastly, poor Libby was rather undone by all the company that came to visit (her mom's family) the moving boxes and just general chaos. She decided that she no longer liked Bo-Bo's house and frequently I'd find her waiting on the porch for her mommy to come home!

Poor little orphan Libby! Well, I hate to leave you all hanging in suspense but Moving Out, Moving In and Moving On will have to be continued. The internet is in tortoise mode and its taking 3-4 minutes to upload a picture and given that my patience rapidly diminished after 9 pm I'm heading off to my bed which is all nice and warm thanks to my heated mattress pad! (What can I say, apparently Prince Charming has decided to take a trip or two or three around the world before coming to rescue me!)

Apparently I now teach kindergarten….

For those who don’t know, my “work” involves being the “den mom” (the only 2 word description I can think of ) for 25 physicians. My admin assistant (who is "BTW" the best AA ever!) and I are constantly amazed at how messy highly educated people can be. One of the perks of having our own office space is that it has its own bathroom. Everyone is fairly courteous about using “nice bathroom manners”… ie; if you have to do something stinky go to an outside bathroom, etc. At least there were good bathroom manners until late this spring when Dr. “P” joined the group. After his first week or so here I began noticing that the seat was always left in the upright position (no-no) and there were “sprinkles” around the bowl and sometimes on the floor (that’s just gross). So a little sign went up above the toilet which read, “ If you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie wipe the seatie and put the lid down when you are through or the females in the office will come after you!” (The boy:girl ratio of this group is about 75% boys but though us girls are the minority, personally I wouldn’t mess with any of us!) The sign was complete with a “bull’s eye-target type” picture as a reminder for those who are visual learners! Bathroom manners did improve (and they are always superb when Dr. “P” is not working) but unfortunately several weeks in a row of being off and apparently previously instilled bathroom knowledge floated away in the bath house visited by said doctor while in Hungary. So, now there is a new sign…

If you insist on waving your
“Flag” in the bathroom parade
Please wipe up after yourself!

Names withheld to protect the innocent but
if we have to keep wiping up after you
you will quickly lose your anonymity!

Somehow, this was not the type of “supervision” I imagined when I wrote my job description! And no, his name does not start with the letter “P” but I thought it was a pretty clever funny on my part!

Seriously #2

Ok, I think there is something very wrong with the alignment of the planets. Yesterday there was the "cat laxative" thing and then today....


Frozen Meat 20+ lbs (Spanaway)
Date: 2008-08-27, 3:48PM PDT
I was cleaning out the freezer today and decided to get rid of the meat I know we won't eat. Most of it is at least two years old and from the Butcher Boys, there is one package of pork chops that I had split up so it's in a freezer bag. Not sure of the condition of the meat, whether or not you would want to eat it but it would make excellent dog food. I just don't have the time to cook it all up. I just took it out of the freezer and will put it on the porch if it's not gone in a couple of hours I will toss it in the garbage.


Seriously there are people out there who take the time to clean out their freezer, put it on the porch and then go post an ad on line letting people know its theirs for the taking?! I'm half tempted to respond and ask if anyone came and got it! I mean I drive around all the time looking for "old meat on a porch" I can bring home and cook for the dog! While I am well aware that dogs eat some nasty, gnarly things its usually not because their owners put it in their bowls! (BTW - Bo Bo says, "Shanks but no Shanks" Libby-Libby and I prefer zucchini bread and flank steak!) I think I may take a break from the "Free Freezer" shopping!


So its rather amazing that its August and even more that August is almost over especially with the weather which I can only describe in expletives (that happens when I don't get a sufficient amount of vitamin D). Its hard to believe that "Football Friday" is only 7 days away! (I am kinda excited, though not too excited because it means that Tanner will be 18 in 4 weeks... sniffle, sniffle) I'm breathing easy tonight because the program is done, the banners ordered and the website up (http://www.tidesfootball.com/). Apparently there was a reporter at practice today so the stage is being set!


I did do a few creative things this month (besides paint walls and clean bathrooms - yuck!) I made a baby hat for "My Alyssa's" (whose picture is at the top of the blog) soon to be arriving baby sister (I know the photo says 1/1/07 - it was Taylor's camera and I couldn't figure out how to fix it).

Grew some amazing lilies that defied the laws of the garden - 6 feet tall and more blossoms than I could believe (and they were in a pot!)

Took all three of my boys school clothes shopping - which I will never do again! In the space of less than 2 hours they nearly made me crazy with the constant comments about what one or the other liked or bought... OMG its a good thing I didn't have a sharp object or piece of rope in my purse (I think the malls should offer complimentary alcoholic beverages to parents accompanied by children between the ages of 13 and 18 instead of $ off coupons!)

Seriously?

Ok, so I know that I haven't updated this in a long time and I really do have stuff to add but I've spent so much of the last few weeks working on the high school football game program that by the time I get around to blogging I'm sort of computered-out. Was on craig's list tonight though looking for a spare fridge (we're moving) and found this and it made me go huh? I don't think it would occur to me to look on craig's list for this one!

Cat Laxative (Lakewood)
Date: 2008-08-24, 4:12PM PDT
For all of you cat lovers, are you tired of furballs? Here is the solution! 2 tubes of cat laxative.

Unbelievable!

Yesterday was an epic day. I took past life's mother to the airport and put her on a non-stop flight to "Balt-ti-more". She moved from there to Gig Harbor about 2 1/2 years ago (following the death of her husband) and has been mad she came since the day she got here. (Actually I think she's been mad since birth) I wish that I could say that she is just a sweet, slightly demented little old lady but I can't. She's the complete other end of the spectrum (except that she is little). So I took the day off, got up while everyone in my house was still sleeping, put on my best happy face and off we went. She has very limited mobility and so going through security with the wheelchair, etc was a bit more time consuming. Of course she had to be padded down and searched because her cane set off the metal detector. As I'm waiting for her the TSA boy (I swear he couldn't have been more than 14) asked if he could send her purse through x-ray a 2nd time. "Do you have scissors in this purse he asks?" When I asked her and her response was "yes" I'm thinking that she had her little cuticle scissors (the ones she's always cutting on her fingers with) in there. So the "boy" starts very carefully feeling around in her purse. (Thank goodness the guy had gloves on because the woman has more garbage in her purse than my recycling bin does. It is full of papers and coupons and a half a dozen pencil stubs that are 20 years old. She writes everything down on the backs of old envelopes, bills, etc. ) Anyway after a brief search he pulls out these!

Holy Sh*t! I stood there for a minute with my mouth hanging open and then I started laughing. "Ma, what are these doing in your purse? You can't take these things on the airplane!" Which made her even madder than having to remove her shoes. Her mouth then produced a long string of profanities and yelling about the GD airlines and how the hell was she supposed to open her suitcase when she got to Balt-ti-more?! I'm thinking, what the hell... are you cutting your clothes out of your suitcase?! The poor TSA guy was trying very hard to be nice and told her that she could take her scissors but she'd have to put them in her bag and then check the bag. Otherwise she'd have to leave the scissors here. This information produced another string of cursing (actually yelling and cursing are fairly normal occurrences in the course of any conversation with her) and so I quickly decided that the scissors were staying - there was no way I was going all the way back out to the ticket counter to check her bag! On our way to the gate she was cursing and muttering and then yelled out "GD country, they ought to drop a bomb on the whole damn place!" That's it, I thought. Next thing we'll have homeland security crawling all over us! So in my quiet but-you-are-trying-my-patience-mother-to-a-2-year-old voice I told her she had to either shut up or I was going to leave her right in the middle of the terminal and she'd have to figure out how to get to the plane by herself! I prayed all the way home that the passengers in the seats next to her would be deaf, blind and mute - at least for the duration of the flight. Either that or her flight would give complimentary valium with her peanuts!

On to other unbelievable things... the "sedum surprise" continues. However, now I think its doing its "Elvis has left the building (pot)" impersonation. It's like the plant is saying, "Man, it is just too crowded in here with ya'll. All this pushing and fightin' for root space, I'm outta here!"

And finally, apparently there is a new species of "frog" that has decided to make my yard its new habitat....

Yea, I know totally gross but Neighbor and I had quite a laugh about it... actually it was more like ROTGLOAO... what can I say except that this is just one more piece of evidence showing the genetic differences between males and females and certainly the genetic mutations of teenage boys!

Sunny Sunday

Ah Sundays! This summer I decided that I would spend summer Sundays doing only those things that I really wanted to do - no yard work (unless I wanted) no laundry (ok, with 3 teenage boys that's not a reality but I pretend). This Sunday was a gorgeous one and I started it out by making this:

It is a Loganberry Lemon Tart. Yesterday Neighbor brought me three little baskets of very yummy loganberries from the local fruit stand. After eating nearly a whole basket all by myself I decide that I needed to make something with the rest! While I did publish the link for the recipe I found that the cooking times were far too short (I baked mine 3 times longer than stated and it still needed to have cooked longer). Also it was a bit too sweet for my taste and the amount of lemon somewhat overpowered the Loganberries but all in all everyone seemed to enjoy it.

My animals are enjoying the summer weather as well, especially the cats who lounge around the front steps like they were living in a palace.

I also spent time together putting together a "how does my garden grow" mini scrapbook for a friend who moved to Florida last summer, who gifted me with many of her plants... one of which is the namesake for this blog. Add to my day several hours of sitting in the sun and reading, chatting with Friend Amy in Portland and sharing dinner al fresco courtesy of Neighbor it was a very nice Sunday.

Sedum Suprise, Sailing and Sunshine

Last week my pot of sedum apparently got a wild hair (or something) and burst forth with this!

And it like happened overnight! I wasn’t really sure how else to classify this new “growth” on my sedum plant… except to say that it is definitely a first for this pot of plants (which I have had for several years) and well…..SURPRISE was the only word that I could think of! (Actually I can think of few other words to describe this newest development but my mom reads this, as do my kids and I didn’t want to give them any new vocab words!).


Besides the “SURPRISE” I was lucky enough to go sailing last week. Co-worker Lori was nice enough to share her boat and expertise with a few of us (as sailing is definitely not one of my expertises). We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and a nice wind, combined with good conversation and delish snacks (wild smoked salmon, yummy cheese, organic rainier cherries) it was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.



The only downer was I somehow managed to drop/flip my digital camera into my drink (what are the odds) when I pull on one of the ropes as we were doing something “sailing”… needless to say submersion Mango Seltzer is not good for one’s camera. Lucky for me the card with the photos survived so at least I can share those!
The whole weekend was HOT and SUNNY (two of my favorite words) so Neighbor and I were very happy. Puppies sitting ends today – yeah, as Bo says that he is ready to have Libby to himself…
he says he’s not much into the commune living!

Puppies, Flowers and Sewing... Oh my!

I am puppy sitting, and it is almost like having 4 year old quadruplets! Neighbor went to Kansas for the 4th of July so Libby (aka head bread thief) is on our doggie "to do list" and then... well, let's just say that a past life decided to go on vacation 5 days early so we added 2 more to the playgroup! Thank goodness the weather has been such that they could all be outside and that the one major difference between puppies and preschoolers is you can put puppies in "jail" and no one thinks you're being mean (or if they do they can't tell you!) and they don't mind sleeping in the garage in their crates!

Puppies in Prison

Several weeks ago I got this idea to be charitably creative or creatively charitable, I'm not sure which of the two it is. The idea can from a conversation with my friend John (who is currently serving in Iraq) and his comment that it was 112 degrees there now! Imagine, 112 degrees + body armour + camo + riding around in a Stryker.... I'm thinking it feels a little like my no knead bread in my pasta pot in a 425 degree oven. Anyway, I'd remembered seeing a pattern for "neck coolers" on the Ships Project website. Neck coolers are basically a fabric tube that you make pockets in and fill with water absorbing crystals. The "tubes"are then soaked in water and you tie them around your neck or head to keep you cool (or cooler if that is possible in 112 degree heat). The pattern recommends purchasing these crystal things from a company called Watersorb.

So I went on line and for less than $20 ordered a 2 lb bag - thinking this should be enough to make 10 or so... HA! Had I been a little smarter and read the pattern before ordering I would have figured out that it only takes 1 tsp of crystals to make 1 neck cooler. Any guesses as to how many you can make from a 2 lb bag? I'm not sure but I think maybe enough for half the soliders in Iraq!

In this picture there is a 1/4 of a tsp of dry crystals on the left and the same amount after adding about 1/2 cup or more of water and waiting 20 minutes. They are better than the "grow your own dinosaur/man/dog" things we used to get out of the gumball machines! (Miss G - I'm thinking a big pot of this stuff would make for good "brains" in your haunted house at school).

So I sewed 12 or so and sent them to Solider John and then I sewed another 12 or so and sent them on to the Ships Project (who is looking for donations). Then I looked at my 2 lb bag (which didn't look like I'd made any sort of a dent in it) and donated about 1 1/2 pounds to a local church group who is making them for charity...leaving me with a ziploc bag full of enough crystals I'm sure I could make at least 50 more!

Flowers, flowers, I do love flowers! And the hot weather at the beginning of the week made everything sort of burst into bloom and the cool weather of the past few days has kept their blossoms big and beautiful!

Vacation Ahhh

I've been on vacation all week and it has been very wonderful (or as someone we know says WON-der-Full!) Its been a week of much ado about nothing, with the much ado part being about absorbing as many rays of sunshine as I can. The weather hasn't cooperated that well towards the end of the week (go figure) and so I've been more confined to the house- of which the yard is somewhat relieved since I usually justify spending time in the sun by working in the yard and yard work this week has involved power tools! Let's just say that the plants in the yard would run if they could when Neighbor and I fire up the power tools. Last year we went a little crazy with the hedger and weed eater... no hedger for me this year but I'm definitely into the weed eater... I've found that it gives you a rather nice rush of testosterone, curious as that is definitely not something that is lacking around my house!


I also tried my hand at making "No Knead Bread" which I found on Angry Chicken blog... thanks! I made my first loaf and baked it in a pasta pot (since I didn't have a Dutch Oven) and if I do say so, it came out beautifully! Of course it was met with an appropriate amount of eye rolling by the male species that inhabit my living space but just like many other miracles, there were only a few crumbs left by bedtime. It was so easy I decided to try it again the next night, this time mixing in fresh rosemary and garlic. Into the pasta pot and out popped wonderful loaf of rustic bread that tasted as good as it smelled. Neighbor and I stood at the kitchen counter and ate a slice still warm, with butter melting through the holes. Then we went outside to check on the plants and the garden. I returned to find the bread MISSING! I called up to the males, "Do you have my bread?" To which the reply was, "Ah, No" and then I see the Dog curled up in the corner attempting to make his large self invisible. I called Neighbor on the phone to say, "We've been Breadnapped, and I think the dogs probably don't need to eat dinner tonight!" Neighbor's dog Libby is a professional kitchen counter thief, with the ability to steal things (chicken breasts, sandwiches) in the blink of an eye. Bo (aka Dog), whom I've no doubt shared in the consumption of the bread, is not nearly that clever or daring (typical male) and only attempts counter thievery when no one is home and generally leaves the tell-tale wrapper in a very conspicuous place.