Leisurely morning

It snowed again last night. Of course, we didn't get much by our house, and it's almost melted already. Enough fell around the area, though, to give us a 2-hour school delay. What this means for my household is a leisurely morning snuggled on the couch eating Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch and watching the Disney channel. It's my husband's "weekend" so he's sleeping in, and even the animals have gone back to bed after their morning potty break.

I like snow days. :-)

Say it Ain't So!

It seems the originators of all things "boy-band" are making a comeback. Yes, I'm talking about New Kids on the Block. I honestly had to stop for a second to figure out if it was April Fools Day when I saw the article on the People.com website. Alas, it's true. You can read it for yourself here.

The very first concert I ever attended was New Kids on the Block. A group of us 5th grade girls got together and carpooled with my mom and another mom. We all dressed alike - cut-off rolled up denim shorts (acid washed, of course), over-sized t-shirts pulled over to one side at the bottom with a scrunchie, 2 different colors of scrunchie socks layered over our white keds. Oh, and of course our hair was in side ponytails with multiple colored scrunchies and enormous bangs. We took our spots waaaay up in the bleachers and added our own adolescent girl screams to the cacophony around us. The opening act was TERRIBLE and really inappropriate for the audience. Then, NKOTB arrived and the place went nuts. I can't even think about it right now without singing "oh oh oh oh oh, Hangin' Tough." Ahhhh, the memories.

But they should stay memories, don't ya think? These guys are old now! I'm not sure that it's in anybody's best interest to stage a comeback this late in the game! Are they going to try to appeal to teeny-bopper girls again, or will they target their moms this time? Either way, I'm very concerned about the whole operation. I'm not sure they can pull-off the hairstyles, various caps, and tight-rolled jeans that made them such icons the first time around. Well, Donnie can sport the bandanna, but it might be to cover baldness this time. Only time will tell . . .

Guess what I got today???

My very own Pioneer Woman calendar! It is full of beautiful photos from one woman's working cattle farm and I LOVE it. My mother-in-law sent it to me for my birthday and it just made my day all over again. If you would like your own, you can go to http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ and learn all about Ree and her family. Beware, you may wind up addicted like thousands of other daily visitors. :-) Her tales of her family and the ranch (plowing through life one calf nut at a time!) will have you in stitches.

Perspectives

This post is not for the squeamish.

Two nights ago, I was awakened at 4:23 a.m. to my daughter calling me. Her father had been gone to work for only about a half hour. I bolted out of bed and over to her room, where she asked me very calmly to please clean her bed because she threw up. In fact, she had thrown up "like three times", but hadn't bothered to actually wake up and let me know until the last time. Go ahead, use your imagination. There would be no wiping her down and changing the sheets. EVERYTHING had to come off the bed, and I had to put her in the bathtub so I could scrub the clumps out of her hair. It was HORRIBLE. Fortunately, we both got the giggles so that helped. After two rounds of Herbal Essence organic experiences, the chunks were gone but the odor lingered. I didn't want to torture her any more, so I gave up and decided we would start again in the morning. By this point, I was wide awake, so I got her back into bed with a sleeping bag, and called my husband at work and my mom in Georgia (at times like these you appreciate the time difference). I thought to myself THIS must positively be one of the absolute worst experiences of parenthood. There couldn't possibly be anything more miserable than scrubbing regurgitated chicken chunks out of your kid's hair at ridiculous hours of the morning. I whined and moaned to my mom that it just wasn't fair . . . she had never ONCE done this to her father.

Last night, I got a giant slap of reality and everything was put into perspective. While reading our local newspaper online, I saw an obituary for a 3-year-old little girl. I opened the full text, and it was accompanied by two pictures of a bouncing, vibrant blonde-haired blue-eyed dimpled little angel grinning from ear to ear. Her face didn't match her setting . . . she was sitting in a hospital bed connected to tubes and wires, with a giant scar running up and down her whole little torso. She was born with a congenital heart defect and spent the last 6 months of her life in a hospital bed. But she looked so happy!! She was quite literally bouncing on the bed. She had no idea of her mortality, she was just living in the moment. I sat and cried for this little girl and her family, and I felt teeny-tiny for feeling sorry for myself because I had to clean my own little girl up when I would rather be asleep. I will gladly take care of my baby, and thank God I have the chance to do it. And I will take a lesson from little Madeline and quit worrying about minor inconveniences and what might happen down the road, and I will try my very best to live in the moment.

God bless Madeline and her family.

Okay, okay

My mother-in-law thinks rabbits are a little creepy. Being the most influential person in her son's life, this passed right along to him. He's really not crazy about the angora idea. He thinks they'll just be messy and attract bears and cougars and other not-so-friendly critters. There's a slight possibility that this is an idea that sounds much lovelier in a romantic novel than in reality. So, maybe I will not raise bunnies . . . or maybe I will. Who knows? I do know that I would like to help injured animals, so maybe I will STILL be the crazy animal lady in the woods. :-)

Some daydreams

Several years ago, I read a book by one of my favorite authors. It was set in New England and one of the main characters raised angora rabbits and sold their wool. The idea intrigued me, and I've found myself researching it here and there since then. There are not a lot of angora breeders in the country, and there seems to be a concentration of them in the northwest and in New England. In fact, there are quite a few in Oregon, which doesn't surprise me . . . there are congregations of folks in Oregon who like to do everything all natural, so raising their own wool source to spin into cozy garments is right up their alley.

Today I've been exploring this idea again. I've learned about German and silken angoras. There are also English angoras, but they require much more grooming for less product, and are generally more difficult to take care of. The giant angoras are supposedly the easiest to groom, not to mention the fact that they are adorable! People either raise them to show or to groom for wool, and I've read that the grooming is quite therapeutic for the human and the bunny. The set-up is really pretty simple, and you can actually turn a profit pretty quickly, because there is a big demand for angora wool.

I think, when I move to my cabin in the woods, this will be my livelihood. I would like to visit some of the breeders nearby and learn some more. Lucky for me, I have a hubby who can build the set-up for me, so all I need is to get some bunnies. Heaven knows they can reproduce just fine, so it shouldn't take much to get started. And LOOK at these guys . . . how could they not make me smile? In a few years if you're looking for me, I'll be the crazy rabbit lady in the woods.

How to bathe a cat

Leave her alone in the bathroom with your seven-year-old while she takes a bath after telling her that cats don't like to get wet.

Embarrassing story (signs of old age?)

Today I was in the midst of my showering and dressing routine. I had brought all of my clothes into the bathroom before bathing, including undergarments which I routinely forget (not forget to wear, just forget to bring in the bathroom). The only item missing was my shirt, because I had to do the important task of "ironing" - throwing it in the dryer for a few minutes. I got completely dressed, minus the shirt, and threw on a robe while I waited for it to de-wrinkle. When it was finished, I grabbed it, walked back to the bathroom and looked around in exasperation for my bra. I couldn't find it ANYWHERE! I checked the obvious places, then my exasperation led me to completely ridiculous places. I checked the kitchen counters. I looked by the computer. I made my way back to the bathroom, and then I realized . . .

Oh, yeah, I'm wearing it.

So sad.

Dessert

I really love cupcakes. They are cute, easy, fun to decorate, and they are YUMMY! For my birthday, I had yellow cake mix with chocolate icing. Add some sprinkles and creative lettering with white icing, and it's magic in a box. Naturally, every girl needs a tiara on her birthday, too. (In case you can't read the cupcakes, they say "I'm not 30 yet.")

OH!

And, don't forget to take out the bay leaves before serving. :-)

My birthday dinner

Mmmmmm. Shrimp etouffee'. :-)

For my birthday, we had another couple over for dinner and I decided to tackle this recipe for the first time. The husband also really likes to cook, so the two of us started chopping while his wife and my husband enjoyed the h'ordeuvres (I refuse to look it up but I'm sure I spelled it wrong!). The meal turned out UNBELIEVABLE! Here's the recipe, it actually came attached to the creole seasoning I purchased recently at a yummy organic/whole foods store.

1/2 stick of salted butter

3 tblsp olive oil (or more if you like)

about 1/4 cup of flour

2 to 3 cups of good vegetable stock

one bell pepper, chopped (I used yellow)

one large onion chopped

1/2 to 1 cup chopped celery

2 tblsp (or more if you like a little kick) of your favorite creole seasoning

1 or 2 bay leaves

a little lemon juice

2 tblsp of chopped parsley, if you like

2 lbs. rock shrimp, or your favorite kind

Heat the vegetable stock in a small pot over medium heat. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and butter, then whisk in the flour to make a rue. Let this simmer a little while to get the flour nice and browned . . . it should look about like peanut butter in the bottom of your pot.

Stir in the chopped veggies and stir them around until they are soft. Add the creole seasoning now, too. (You may have to add a little of the stock at this point to keep things from burning.)

Once the veggies are as soft as you like, add the rest of your stock. Remember it will continue to thicken as it cooks, so make it pretty soupy. Add the bay leaves as well. Let this all simmer (and make your whole house smell like heaven) for a little while so all the flavors mix together well and things thicken up just a tiny bit.

In the last 5 minutes or so of cooking, add the shrimp and a little lemon juice. Let the shrimp cook just until they're pink and done. You DON'T want to overcook them, because they will get a little tough. Go ahead and throw some parsley in there if you like, too. I thought it made it look prettier. :-)

NOW, serve this up on top of some white rice. I like jasmine basmati rice, myself, but you can use whatever you like. Have some bread handy for sopping it up, or you and your guests might end up licking the bowl.

Stay tuned for dessert!

The night before my birthday

On Sunday night, we were headed to bed. My husband said "I'm going to bed", and off he went. I said "me, too", then put a few dishes in the kitchen, took the dogs out one last time, made sure all the animals had water, went to the bathroom, and finally started heading up the stairs. He, of course, was snuggled tightly in the bed snoring already at this point.

But waitaminute!!! I realized half-way up that I had not seen our kitten in quite a while. I checked the usual spots (Haleigh's bed, dining room chairs, back of the couch) and I called her. No answer. I called her some more, pulled all the covers off Haleigh (carefully without waking her) to make sure she wasn't smothering the poor thing. I tried rattling the food bag, to no avail. Now, this is not a cat who hides. She likes her people, and she typically comes right out, or "chirps" to let me know where she is when I'm looking for her. I started to panic, and I realized that it was very likely she snuck out the door when I took the dogs out much earlier in the evening.

I raced into my bedroom, shook my husband (who was, quite literally, snoozing like a baby) and uttered the dreaded words "The kitty is GONE!", the last syllable choked out by the tears welling up. Bless that man's heart, he got up and came downstairs to help me look. We checked the basement, rattled the food bog some more, then we went outside. We proceeded to walk up and down our block calling her. Some kind and very drunk individuals offered their assistance by informing us they had just had a little cat run across the street in front of them, so we followed the lead. We only trespassed a teeny bit.

After a half hour or so outside, we met back up in front of our house. It was 11:30 at night, and it was COLD, and I was distraught. Suddenly, in the stillness, there it was . . . a tiny little 'mew'. Matt said "there she is!" But where? Where? We heard her, but we couldn't see her! Until Matt walked to the front door to peer in the glass . . . . she was sitting inside looking up at him like he was crazy.

I have no idea where the cat was hiding. I found a tell-tale fluff of cat hair in one of my kid's dresser drawers, but I'm not jumping to conclusions. All I know is . . . she was the only one getting any sleep!

"Cat Nap"

Small miracles

My daughter likes salad. Hooray! She requests it "without any vegetables" and I'm happy to oblige. See, I like everything under the sun in my salad - carrots, cucumbers, onion, tomato, olives, etc. - but she would prefer simply greens, croutons, and ranch dressing or a nice viniagrette. I'm happy giving her the "plain" salad because I have my own secret - 50% lovely mixed greens and 50% baby spinach. I feel so smart and savvy when serving this to my child who gags if she sees me add cooked spinach to a pasta dish. The only veggies I can convince her to eat on any regular basis are green beans and baby carrots, so this is truly a small miracle.

If I could just figure a way to puree squash into peanut butter . . .

A perfect end to 2007

On New Year's Eve, my family and I headed to Mt. Rainier. If you haven't ever been, you should seriously consider it. We stopped and picked up a few sleds because none of us have ever sledded before, and prepared ourselves for some fun in the snow. This was our drive toward the park entrance:

The picture is a little deceiving because of all the shade trees - it was a PERFECT, beautiful, sunny day. When we got there, we could only go up the road part of the way, because they were still plowing the road to Paradise (it's really called that!) where the sledding area is. We all parked to wait, and the doggies needed a potty break. Check out the wall of snow behind the cars. That's how deep the snow is, and God bless the plows! They basically made a tunnel for all the cars to get through.

I have to say, I have never in my life seen snow like this. Here, on the lower part of the mountain, there were about 8 feet of snow. About 1 1/2 feet of it had fallen just the night before, so it was pristine and powdery. This also made it quite difficult to walk in. Here's Haleigh following her Daddy on a trail, or what we assumed was a trail. :-) He had to haul her out once when she sank up to her waist!

Finally, the plowing was complete and we were allowed to move along. THIS is what we were greeted with . . . almost 11 feet of immaculate pure white snow. I'm thinking of sending these next two pics in for visitor brocures!

Here's my little snowbunny.

Here's Haleigh's first sledding attempt. It was really difficult on such soft snow, but after the "chute" was packed down by several sledding trips, it got better . . . and much faster.

This is me going down the "chute." I was screaming like a maniac.

Matt didn't sled due to a recent back injury, but he thoroughly enjoyed himself laughing at us.
Naturally, in all this snow, snow angels had to be made:

And at the end of this perfect day, we rested long enough for a picture on the way back down to the truck. You can see the top of the mountain behind us. It was a winter wonderland, and I'm so glad we got to experience it!

"Joy" to share

My mother-in-law has decided to post on her blog something that has brought her joy every day. I think this is a GREAT idea. She has already found her joy today, but I just want to give her a bonus, and share something that brings me joy. My daughter made this picture quite a while back, and it has been hanging on our refrigerator. It makes me smile, without fail, every single time I see it. I'm sharing it, just because. Joy is contagious, after all. :-)

Did you notice?

I finally figured out how to make my font bigger, so you don't have to put on your granny glasses to read it! It was causing me stress. :-)

I'm a sucker

for tragic, melodramatic, bittersweet, all-consuming, heart-wrenching love stories. You see, tonight I have insomnia again . . . but what luck! Gone With the Wind is on. I have probably seen this movie over thirty times, and that is a very conservative estimate. I can honestly tell you, the emotional journey I take throughout the 4-plus hours of cinematic magic never decreases. Ahhhhh, Rhett and Scarlett. I wanted to BE Scarlett O'Hara after seeing this movie the first time. The passion! The angst! The determination! Oh, yes, and the charm and beauty.

There is a moment, when Rhett and Bonnie arrive home after their extended Europe vacation, and Mammy and Scarlett go running to meet them. Bonnie runs in first, and Mammy and Scarlett smother her with hugs and kisses, squealing like little children themselves. Then, Rhett walks in, and Scarlett looks at him. The camera closes in on her face, she looks like a little girl. Her face lights up with joy at seeing him walk in the door, and she looks so hopeful and expectant. When he stiffly bows at the bottom of the stairs - not the greeting she was hoping for - her face falls, her lip quivers just slightly. Then, in true Scarlett style, it transforms to bitter resolve. Vivien Leigh should have been awarded an oscar for those few seconds alone. Her face is perfection.

Finally!

Introducing . . . Jasmin the kitty! Jasmin came to our home on December 14th. Haleigh and I picked her out at the humane society a few days before that, but she had to have some surgery before we could take her. The 14th was the day after my own surgery, so she and I pretty much snuggled in the bed for most of her first day here. She is settling in well, and gets along great with the dogs (well, great for dogs and cats).

Animals just intrigue me. For some reason, this kitty wants to drink out of Sam's (our big doggy) waterbowl even though we keep fresh water for her always. His bowl is bigger than her! It disturbs him so much that now he has started drinking out of Ozzy's (our bulldog) bowl. He doesn't bother her when she goes after his, he just stands there watching her and makes little whiney noises at me like "MOM, aren't you going to DO something?"

Anyway, here she is. This is a big change for our home, because we've not had a cat since before Haleigh was born. My husband is not terribly fond of them, but he surprised us with the decision to get one this year. Never underestimate the power of a father's love for his little girl! :-) I'm crazy about the kitty, too, but it has been so sweet to watch her cuddle with Haleigh and sleep in her bed every night!

*yawn*

I have an insomnia problem. Every now and then it just hits me, and I spend at least one night wide awake. I've learned not to fight it any more. Last night was one of those nights, and today I'm experiencing the irritating part . . . mid-afternoon sleepiness. I want so badly to take a nap, but if I do, I'll never get to sleep tonight! I think I better get up and move around!

Birthday Girly-Girl

My daughter was born the day after Christmas. The biggest inconvenience we've noticed with this particular birthdate is that it is difficult, if not darn near impossible, to plan a "real" birthday party. Her birthdays have mostly been family get-togethers, or a special outing. THIS year, however, she really wanted to have a party and invite her friends. We discussed several options, including a gymnastics party, and iceskating party, and a gathering at a particular migraine-inducing major playland chain that recently opened in our hometown. In the end, she chose this - a princess tea party. My little girl is still a little girl, after all. :-) There were five guests, and we gave each of them a make-up kit and gobs of costume jewelry. The tea house (yes! a real tea house!) provided hot pink feather boas and tiars for each girl. They sipped strawberry tea from dainty little white cups, and the held their pinkies out! It was oh-so-grown up and still so little-girly all at the same time. It was just perfect, and I'm so glad my little princess enjoyed it. Here she is getting ready for her guests:


And here are the girls in the height of their make-over moments.



And after it was all over, I made Haleigh pose by one of the adorable light posts outside the adorable building. Even IT was pink!



Hooray for little girls that just like to have fun. :-)

Happy New Year!

It's that time again . . . out with the old, in with the new. Some folks are recovering from a night of crazy parties. Others are thinking about resolutions and how they want this year to be different from the last. Personally, I'm reflecting on how FAST this last year went by. It was full of many changes . . . my husband's first year in his new job, leaving my own job, taking a cross-country road trip with my daughter (and seeing some really cool things!), and starting college again. Oh, and having surgery for the very first time ever (I'm so glad that's over!).

Most of all, at this very moment, I'm thinking about my most FAVORITE New Year's Day tradition. As my hubby watches football . . . lots and lots of neverending football . . . I will have a ham slowly cooking in the oven. The glorious aroma will waft throughout the house, and I will use some of the ham drippings in the pot of black-eyed peas simmering on the stove-top. There will also be turnips and cornbread, rice to layer the peas on, and chopped onion to sprinkle on top of that. YUM! Southern tradition says the more peas you eat, the more luck you have in the new year. Likewise, the more turnips you eat, the more money you will have. I don't know if that's true, but it sounds like a good excuse to me to get stuffed!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!