My Life as Jane

Comfy?

2012-01-22T15:58:00.002-07:00

Today my husband was on one of his smoke breaks outside when he stuck his head in the door and said, "You might want to come take a look at Cupcake." (Cupcake is one of our goats). I got worried and thought maybe something was wrong. I quickly went to the kitchen window and realized it was a situation that didn't warrant any panic---maybe a camera though.

That's their feeding trough. It's made from an old tractor tire turned inside out and the blue barrel in the middle is filled with water. This keeps the feeder from getting moved around and is also supposed to keep the goats from getting into the feeder and soiling the food.

Gee, that works....

The Lost Art of Letter Writing...

2012-01-16T11:24:00.004-07:00

I ended up in a conversation on my son's page on Facebook yesterday--this is how it started, with my son's initial post:

"Why do people get all mad when people don't reply to a text? When people don't hear back from others when writing letters, they don't act the same way because they understand that it's a piece of paper traveling a distance and people are busy with life and whatnot. If i don't text you back it's because it's text. It's at my control to reply as I please. No alterior motives, no ignoring.. Cell phones have telephone functionality for a reason."

This prompted my reply:

"The art of letter writing is lost...I'm thinking of starting it up again."

I figured I'd catch some flack from my son about posting in one of his conversations and his friends would just virtually roll their eyes at me and move on. But there were some intriguing comments that were posted afterwards amongst other observations and commentary...

Collin: Mom, it never should have gotten lost.

Nancy (my sister): Jane, in our local school system, they have dropped cursive writing altogether. I understand that the world uses keyboards, etc. now, but this just seems unbelievable to me.

MacyShay: I can't remember how to write in cursive but I did take a coligraphy class (I think that's how its spelled) and it was so much fun but killed my hand! But I wish I knew cursive=(

Hearing these comments actually made me kind of sad. My son actually admitted to me that he didn't really remember cursive either. I had no idea! I guess I hadn't even thought of this consequence of an almost all computer generation. I thought back to when my son was in high school a couple of years ago and realized that most of the essays, reports and whatnot that he turned in to his teachers were always typed up on the computer and printed out.

So I have now made it my mission to start writing more letters. Not emailing...not typing on my computer & printing out...but actually putting pen to paper & thoughtfully writing out what I want to say. No "lol", "omg" or "wtf". It's time take back this lost art.

So friends & family, watch out! You may have a hand-written correspondence coming to a mailbox near you.

Sincerely yours,
Jane

Comfortable...

2012-01-07T16:12:00.001-07:00

So remember last week when I still hadn't gotten my Christmas tree taken down yet? Well today, after feeling icky all week, I finally started getting it all put away. I got the house decorations boxed up, took the ornaments and lights off the tree, then got so far as taking the very top of the Christmas tree off.

Then I got hungry.

I grabbed a bowl of my favorite Greek yogurt (remind me to tell you about it sometime), tossed a little granola on top, and settled onto the couch to eat. When I was finished I happened to glance over to the tree bag and this is what I saw:

That dog can be comfortable ANYWHERE...

So Much For Plans...

2012-01-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

It's 2012...Christmas has been over for a week now. Because I didn't get my Christmas tree up until a week before Christmas, I told myself I would allow keeping it up until New Year's Day. It was a great plan.

Yet here it stands.

My friend Donna & I had plans early New Year's morning to go check out the once a year sale at Dillards. We got up early and arrived right at 7 am. (Although when we arrived we found out it actually opened at 6 am--whoopsie!) It's the one time of the year that you can get 50% off everything that is already on sale and clearance. I just wanted to use this once a year chance to get some items I really needed at prices I could afford.

(FIVE bras and three pairs of undies for less than $40--enough said.)

Unfortunately, when I woke up yesterday morning, I wasn't feeling in top form. My throat was scratchy and my sinuses felt a little stuffy. By the time we had finished at Dillards I was definitely ready to head home. Donna, being the great friend she is, offered me some Benadryl to help me feel better and get some rest. So when I got home I took a Benadryl and settled in on the couch to kill some time. Four hours later I woke up. It was almost 6:00 pm and I was feeling groggy and still pretty crappy. That tree was not coming down.

So here I am on Monday morning, January 2nd, off from work and camped out on the couch again. My head is stuffed up, my throat is sore, and the tree is still there--as evidenced in the photo just taken with my phone above. An unlit, dark tree, looking kind of forlorn with a few ornaments lying on the ground underneath, knocked off from one of our dogs who insists on sleeping under it. If I feel better later today, I'll make a go at it. If not, I suppose it will wait until I feel more like myself.

Let's just hope it's not still up on Valentine's Day....

2012...

2011-12-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

I could wait until New Years Eve to say this...but it's on my mind so you get it now:

This was a very tough year. It's horrible to know that I'll always remember 2011 as the year we lost my nephew. Life will never be the same. Because of this...

I will not take life for granted. I will speak fiercely. I will get back in shape. I will remember that I deserve to be happy.

It was also a tough year financially. This year I want to learn to cut back and live more simply so when things go wrong like they do, I can "pull myself up by my bootstraps" and go on.

OH! Also I swear this is the year that I am finally not going to worry so much about what other people think of me.

...maybe....

Six Feet Under...

2011-10-29T17:19:00.000-06:00

I recently did a basic marathon through an HBO series on Netflix. It unfortunately wasn't on instant view, so I had to watch it disk by disk, waiting each time for the next to arrive in the mail.

Talk about impatience....

But the reason I bring this up is because I thought this was an excellent series. I'll be the first to admit--it's not for everybody. But if you can get past some of the stuff that may make you squeamish (whether it's watching a scene where a funeral worker shows an apprentice how to sew a dead woman's mouth shut, an opening scene in every episode where someone dies, or a slightly incestuous dream sequence), this is a great one to watch.

Here are some of the caveats:

There are a LOT of death scenes (at least one per episode)
The language is heavy on the salty side (plenty of "F-bombs" dropped each episode)
There are some pretty explicit sex scenes--both heterosexual and non-heterosexual
The humor in it is mostly on the dark side, so if you're not into that you probably won't like it

BUT...

If none of that bothers you, or you plan to just fast forward through some of it, then do yourself a favor and watch this series. As most people who read my blog know, my 23 year old nephew was killed in a work accident this past May. Believe it or not, my sister is the one who recommended this series to me. We both enjoy the same types of movies and tv shows and we share the same warped sense of humor. Both of us found this series oddly comforting, in light of the tragedy that our family went through. I won't say that there weren't some scenes where my eyes were watering, or I was even bawling outright. But this show enforces the fact that everyone grieves differently. Some people keep it inside, while others wail at the top of their lungs. This show lets us know that we're all human and as messed up as we think our lives may be, remember there are others who have gone through something equally (if not more) messed up. I think this has honestly opened my eyes more to the normalcy of death and the process of grieving.

Check out this trailer for season one:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3045261593/

If you've watched this series already, let me know what your thoughts are. If you haven't but are interested, watch it and then let me know what you think.

"Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends."

Buttercup Squash Anyone?

2011-10-15T17:29:00.001-06:00

If you are like me, you had never heard of Buttercup Squash before. You've probably heard of Butternut....but this is different. I got these seeds from my sister, who had gotten them from a family friend during Feast. I honestly can't remember which little Ziploc bag they came from--the one labeled Butternut Squash or the one labeled Acorn squash. Whichever one it was, it was apparently mislabeled.

So when the squash started growing and it didn't look like it was supposed to, it was kind of fun to try and figure out what I had. After much investigating and countless Google searches, I came upon Buttercup Squash.

Now that fall is here and the frost will be coming soon, I decided it was time to harvest the squash and try it out. Again, I wasn't sure what I should be doing so I did another Google search and found a simple way to cook & serve it. Here's what I did:

This is the squash--dark green & light green rind, pumpkin-shaped but smaller.

The Buttercup Squash often has a light silvery-green disk of rind on the blossom end. (I cut it before I thought of showing you this side of it, so I had to hold it back together to get the picture).

Cut the squash open lengthwise, through the stem. Beautiful orange flesh inside!

Scoop out the seeds & stringy "guts", just like you do when you're getting ready to carve a pumpkin, being careful to leave plenty of the edible flesh intact.

I cleaned off the seeds and set them out on waxed paper to dry out, since a few of my friends have expressed interest in having some of these seeds. (You know who you are!)

Pour about half a cup of water into a pan or casserole dish that has sides and put the squash halves in, cut side down. Cook for about 30 - 45 minutes (or until flesh is tender) at 375 degrees.

Notice how the rind darkens and becomes shiny after cooking...

The flesh is tender and moist after being cooked with the water, basically steaming it.

Scoop out the flesh, being careful not to go too deep & get the green rind.

For some great flavor, add some butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to taste.

(Sorry about the sideways picture. Not sure why it won't post right side up when I saved it that way).

Stir it all in and enjoy! I get a little exuberant with my stirring so my bowl is pretty messy. The taste is definitely like a squash, but mild and a little nutty. Similar to a sweet potato, but a little less sweet.

This is just one way to serve it, but it is delicious. Does anyone out there have any other suggestions for ways to cook and serve a Buttercup Squash?

The Witch is Back...

2011-10-15T16:53:00.002-06:00

Okay, I don't really think I'm a witch or anything....I was just referring to the new decor or my blog in honor of Halloween....and the title just kind of went from there.

So you've probably noticed it's been awhile since I've been here. As you can see from my last post, we had a devastating blow to our family back in May and honestly it's been a long time since things have felt normal. Heck, I don't know if they'll ever feel normal again... But as with all things, we go on.

So here I am again, putting down my thoughts and regaling you with the exciting adventures that are my life.

(Ha!)

Since the last time I was here, I started a new job. I am now working at a local community college. I am totally thrilled about this change, although I will miss the gang at Curtis Clean Sweep. This job is about three miles from my house so I'm saving a LOT in gas money! Plus there are a lot of great benefits, including discounted fees if I want to take any classes. I work with a great bunch of people and I already feel so welcome there and a part of the team.

We also added two more goats to our little goat family. With help from friends, we have named them Gingersnap and Buttercup. They're a hoot! Our mini herd is doing well and I hope to maybe breed some of the females next spring so we can get some milk and maybe I can learn to make some cheese, lotion, or other goat milk products.

Gingersnap & Buttercup on checking out their new surroundings, with Cupcake watching on.

Our garden was a success this year, although smaller than I've had in the past. It was sort of an experiment in how much I could grow in that space. It went well overall, but I think next year I will change up what I grow a little so I get more of the veggies I really like instead of an overabundance of squash. I'm also excited about the idea of heirloom vegetables that I can save seeds from each year when I find something I really like.

How was your summer?

Charles Edward Bevins III

2011-06-28T20:57:00.001-06:00

I tried to think of some creative title for this post, but realized it doesn't need one.

On May 1, 2011, my 23 year old nephew CJ was killed in a work accident.

There are so many things I've had on my mind since we lost CJ and I wanted so badly to say them here.
But every time I start a sentence I can't finish it.
I can't describe CJ well enough.
I can't express the pain our family has gone through.
I can't find the right words to say how sorry I am for his mother (my sister) & father, his sisters & brothers, his fiance, his son & daughter and all of the rest of our family who loved him so much.
I can't tell everyone how much this boy meant to me without sounding inadequate.

For now all I can do is post the video that was made by a friend of their family.

In Memory of CJ Bevins from Remember CJ on Vimeo.

CJ was laid to rest on a beautiful hillside on their family property. He will always be close to the family and they can visit with him anytime they want or just sit quietly and remember everything that was so wonderful about him.

In time I may be able to express the other things I want to say. But for now, this will have to suffice.

The Past Four Months...

2011-06-28T20:07:00.000-06:00

Where to begin? So much has happened since my last regular post back in February. I have a LOT to catch up on, so fair warning--this will be long.

Garden

If you've followed my blog or know me very well, you know that every year I try to grow a garden. This year instead of listening to my husband (sorry honey, I still love you) I decided to reign in the size of my garden. Years ago, my sister introduced me to the concept of "Square Foot Gardening". Over the years I've incorporated small hints of the SFG method into my gardens but have never done a full blown actual square foot garden. Since I also wanted to move the garden closer to the house this year to make gardening more enjoyable, I figured it would be a great time to go all out. I got some used wood from someone who was dismantling an old deck. I had my son bring in some gravel from my old house. I used the existing laundry line structures to make my vertical portions of the garden. I got some seeds passed along from my sister.

The result?

I am very pleased with how it turned out. I would have liked to have gotten an earlier start with more of the seeds my sister sent me, but due to unforseen circumstances my planting schedule started much later than anticipated and I ended up having to get several already started plants. But the point is that I got it planted & now I can enjoy working in it each day. Bring on the veggies!

New Additions

We have goats!

We got them primarily to try to keep our pasture down. As you can see from the second picture it's gotten a bit out of control. We were hoping the goats could do some serious damage to the grass & weeds--however we're quickly learning that having just two of them probably isn't going to cut it. Are we going to make the leap to goat herd farmers? You'll have to stay tuned to find out...

Back in February I made the decision that I wanted to run my first 5K. I saw an advertisement for a 5K race called "See Jane Run" and I figured that was the perfect one to try. I started off okay with my training, but again, due to unforseen circumstances, I lost about a month of training in May and at one point wasn't sure I still had the will to do the race.

But with less than a week to go before the race, my friends encouraged me to go ahead and try. I had to remind myself that I didn't have to run the whole race--I could walk if I needed to. And I needed to. I didn't turn in a great time and I found out halfway through the race that an old knee injury may keep me from being a true hard core runner. But I was happy that I finished the race and I had a great time with my friend Donna & her daughter Shelby.

(Photo taken with my phone...sorry about the bad quality)

I had intended to write about one more thing that happened recently but thinking about it now, it doesn't seem right to include it in this post. It really needs a post of its own and I need to be in the right state of mind to write about it. It may show up later tonight or sometime during the next few days. But it will be written, if anything, to help with the healing process. You'll be hearing from me soon.

Update Coming Soon!

2011-06-20T11:52:00.002-06:00

Yikes! Sorry about the little break in posting there, folks. (Ha! Like I have a big following or something, lol.) Just wanted to let you know I will be updating soon. This will include an update on this post earlier in the year: See Jane Run
Be back soon!

See Jane Run...

2011-02-26T08:07:00.001-07:00

I have a new goal for this year. (Well, for the first HALF of this year at least.) I am going to run a 5K. I know, I know...it's not a MARATHON. But for someone who has become as unfit as I have over the last year or two, this is a big deal to me.

The seed was planted for this when a cruising friend of mine (hi Brandi!) got herself off her couch and started training for a 5k. She did it through a website/application called Couch to 5K. I saw her posts that kept popping up on her Facebook page, following her progress. At the time, I thought, "Good for Brandi!" I knew she was trying to drop some weight and I thought it was a great goal for her. I was excited for her the day before Halloween when I saw her post her pictures from her first 5K.

Fast forward four months to me sitting in my living room on my couch, reading a book. For some reason in the middle of reading, I had a realization hit me. I am SOOOOO out of shape! Okay, I didn't just realize this. It's been creeping up on me for awhile now. (We all remember the muffin top? That should have been the first sign.) So when I thought about this last night, that weird little part of my brain that remembers stuff I didn't realize I remembered told me that there is a program out there to help a beginner like me get back in shape & have a goal to work towards. I did a search for the Couch to 5K program and started reading. This sounds really good! I got out my phone and did a Marketplace search for the Android application and found the free C25K Lite. (The more advanced version costs money but not only a couple of dollars--so if I don't like the free Lite version, I may decide to use the other one.)

While on the Couch to 5K web site, I noticed that you can do a search for 5Ks in your state. I put in Idaho and lo & behold the See Jane Run Women's Half Marathon/5K came up. Oh..My...God. It's actually called See Jane Run! How can I NOT do this? Even better, it's just two days before my 43rd birthday. What a great way to celebrate my birthday, by getting fit and feeling like I really accomplished something! (Not to mention the race ends with chocolate & champagne, lol!)

So there's a reason for me telling you all of this....I want to be held accountable. I figure the more people I tell about it, I can't slack off and not do it. People will hopefully ask me, "How's it going with your C25K program?" I am one of those people who is often driven by worrying about what other people think of me. If I know that people will think I'm a big fat quitter for not seeing this through, then telling everyone about it definitely helps. Progress updates will be posted to my Facebook page through the C25K application.

I hope I have a good sports bra....

Too Big For The Bed...

2011-02-22T08:43:00.001-07:00

My dog Zoe is a Dachshund/Border Collie mix. I know I posted a story about how she came to be part of our family at one point, but try as I might, I can't find that post! Grrrrrrrrr..... Oh well, I'll get over it. Basically she looks like a Standard Dachshund (larger sized than a Mini) but with slightly longer legs and shorter ears. Did I mention she looks like a sausage? She's a little...uh..."big boned" right now. Yeah, we're working on that. (We'll be taking lots of walks when the weather warms up).

So since she's a little on the "large" size, she tends to sometimes try to fit in places that aren't necessarily a perfect fit for her. Case in point:

I bought this bed for her when she was smaller...not only in size relative to her age, but also in size relative to her girth. I'm not sure why I've kept it--maybe it's like when we women save a pair of smaller jeans, determined that "someday" we'll fit back into them. I love how she's just kind of spilling out onto the floor, completely oblivious that we are snickering at her from across the room...

Or....maybe she isn't so oblivious....

Way to make it work, Zoe.

Strange Fact #1

2011-01-31T12:27:00.002-07:00

When I was a kid, I didn't like raisins because my sister told me they were monkey boogers.

Happy New Year....

2011-01-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine doesn't call his New Years resolutions "resolutions"...He calls them "intentions". I like that idea because we all know that we start off the new year with the best of intentions--they just don't always stick. So, with that being said, here are some of my intentions for this new year:

1. Eat healthier
My son has been a vegetarian for over a year now and I've honestly been inspired by him. I'm not saying I'm going to throw away all the beef in my garage freezer (I love steak way too much for that!) But in researching vegetarianism and learning to make vegetarian-friendly dishes for him I've discovered that I love a lot of the wonderful flavors in meatless meals. I realized how many tasty things you can do with vegetables besides just heating them and plopping them on your plate next to your meatloaf. So although I'm not planning on giving up meat, I definitely plan to add more vegetable-based dishes to my meals.

2. Get more exercise
Yeah, I know....this is one that everyone says they're going to do. But I am in the middle of an honest-to-goodness freak out about what has happened to my body lately. After years of never having much fat on my body, even when I was pregnant with my son, I am now dealing with the "muffin top" syndrome...and the reality that I am collecting fat around my middle like a hungry squirrel storing up nuts for winter. My Wii Fit game is gathering dust on a shelf and the last time I laced up my walking shoes was several months ago (although I try to attribute this last phenomenon to the colder winter months.) Maybe it has something to do with the days in my early twenties when I worked at a health club and taught aerobics three times a day (after riding my bike to work), but I have always kind of prided myself on being physically fit. I can honestly say that this is the most un-fit I've been in all of my adult life. This must change. I guess it will kind of go hand in hand with intention number one. If anyone out there who happens to be in close proximity to Nampa is looking for a walking partner, let me know! (It's so much easier to stick to these things when you have someone else who wants to do the same thing and can hold you accountable.)

3. Be more self-confident
I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way in my life I started caring way too much about what other people think about me. And I started second guessing myself a lot. I'm sure it was somewhere around those awkward years during junior high school when I overheard the boys at school talking about me...("too bad about her face")...Or maybe it was when I was a single mother and was so worried about making the wrong decisions, afraid that I would permanently ruin my son's life. Possibly sometime during my first marriage when my overweight husband used put-downs as a protection mechanism to lash out at others before they could do damage to him.
Regardless of when it happened, I know I need to change this. I need to be proud of who I am. I need to remember that I am very knowledgeable when it comes to what I've learned on my jobs over the years. I need to realize that even if I make a "wrong" decision about something, it can usually be fixed. If I have to ask someone about something I don't know, it's not because I'm stupid but because I'm most likely dealing with something new. I am woman, hear me roar! Ha ha....(Okay, now I need to get that old early 80's Enjoli commercial out of my head....we all remember that one, don't we?)

4. Learn something new
I want to learn how to knit. I guess technically this wouldn't be something new because my mother taught me how to knit back when I was 16 years old. I attempted to knit a scarf for a guy I knew who road a motorcycle (for some reason my 16 year old mind thought that a man on a motorcycle needed a scarf). I think I was a little bit ADD back then because I got tired of it quickly and it ended up being only about two and a half feet long. I remember giving it to him and he just kind of tied it around his neck like a giant bow tie. But now that I'm older, knitting seems like a great way to pass the time when I don't have a book to read. It also seems like it would be very relaxing, once I get the hang of it again. So be forewarned friends and family--next Christmas you may all be getting hand knitted hats, scarves & tea cozies!

Happy New Year!

HP Printer Giveaway!

2010-12-23T08:30:00.001-07:00

As some of you know, I am a HUGE fan of Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. (See link to her blog in my blog list...)
Well through December 31st she's doing a giveaway contest for a free HP Printer! Check it out here:
Pioneer Woman's HP Printer Giveaway
Now, if you don't want to enter because you want to give me a better chance to win it, then that's okay. ;) Seriously though, good luck to all who enter!

Homesick...

2010-12-22T22:26:00.002-07:00

I've been going along just fine lately--working, getting ready for Christmas, keeping up with friends on Facebook---but suddenly tonight, as I was sitting here by myself in the living room it hit me...I miss my family. I've been living in Idaho for over 14 years now and everyone feels so far away. I see others around me who have family close by, some even still living with their families. Our family is spread so far and wide throughout the U.S. and it would be impossible to be close to them all the time.
In some cultures, families live together from birth until death. The old take care of the young and eventually the young take care of the old. Meals are taken together, hardships are worked through together and celebrations are rejoiced together. It's tough to do that from thousands of miles away.
I know I've missed a lot of moments with my family. I can't turn back the clock and stop everyone from living their lives and moving on. But I would give anything to snuggle with my sister in my dad's big easy chair again, her in her soft cotton nightgown and me in my warm Winnie the Pooh pajamas. To watch my brother practicing with his cheerleading squad in our backyard, in awe of how grown up he seemed. To drive my dad's '84 Camaro for the first time on a lonely highway through Utah, just the two of us on a four state road trip. To learn how to two-step with my mother in our living room, the two of us laughing at stumbling over our own feet.
We all move on and make our own lives. I just wish we all could have made them a little closer together...

My Own Sponge-Worthy Episode...

2010-12-17T20:43:00.004-07:00

Any Seinfeld fans out there? We all remember the "sponge-worthy" episode, right? Elaine's favorite birth control, the Today sponge gets taken off the market.

ELAINE: Well, Kramer was right. My friend Kim told me the sponge is off the market.
JERRY: So what are you gonna do?
ELAINE: I'll tell you what I'm gonna do - I'm gonna do a hard-target search. Of every drug store, general store, health store and grocery store in a 25-block radius.

This episode always made me laugh every time I saw it. It cracked me up how crazed Elaine got about trying to find her sponges.....until I experienced a similar situation today.

(Warning to any men reading this blog....this is where I talk about "girly stuff". Avert your eyes if talk about periods & tampons make you queasy).....

So today I was already in a cranky mood because I'm on my period and feeling crampy & bloated. I was down to my last tampon and had to make an emergency run to Albertsons near my work at lunch. I wandered down the feminine hygiene aisle until I came to a very conspicuous empty space in the shelves. This is when I noticed that the tags on the shelf under this empty space said "O.B." on them. Um......that's my brand.....this is weird. So I corralled an employee (female of course) over to the empty space and said, "Can you tell me if you have any of these in the back?" To which she replied, "We don't keep anything in the back. We've had a lot of women asking about those, but we haven't got them at any of the stores. There must be a problem with our warehouse."

Great.....

So I thanked her and went back to work, crossing my fingers (and legs), hoping to avoid any embarassing situation. Luckily I made it through the rest of the afternoon and after work I stopped by Walmart to pick up a box. Walmart didn't even have an empty space, there was no sign of them whatsoever on the shelves. This is when I started to get nervous.

After staring like a deer in the headlights at the non-existence of the very thing I needed, I got my cell phone out and did a search for the O.B. company. I called their 800 number and this is how the conversation went:

ME: "Is there some kind of problem with the O.B. tampons? I can't seem to find them anywhere."
OPERATOR: "Yes, I apologize, but there is an issue with them and they have stopped production while they're working on it."
ME: "Stopped production??!! But this is the only brand I use! Are they going to start making them again?!"
OPERATOR: "After working on the issue, they were able to correct it in all but the Ultra absorbtion product, so they expect to bring back all absorptions except that one....byyyyyyyy......spring."
ME: .............."Excuse me......did you say SPRING??"
OPERATOR: "Yes."
ME: "Are you SERIOUS?! What am I supposed to do until spring?!!"
OPERATOR: "I apologize for any incovenience...and to be honest, because the O.B. product is fairly unique to other brands we really don't have a substitution to recommend to you at this time."
ME: "............................."
OPERATOR: "Ma'am, are you still there?"
ME: "Um.....yes....but what am I going to do?"
OPERATOR: "I'm sorry, I really don't know what to tell you. You can try doing a search online to see who might still be carrying some of the product. I understand that women tend to be very loyal to their brand. One woman who called said that she saw a box on Ebay selling for $105.00.....and it had bids. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"
ME: "no."

I left Walmart and immediately called one of my friends and went on a rant....

ME: "OHMYGOD, they've discontinued my freaking tampons!"
FRIEND: "Can't you use something else?"
ME: "I've used the same brand since I was 14! They aren't bringing them back until spring! I don't know what I'm going to do....holy crap, I'm going to have to revert back to the Little House on the Prairie days and call in sick for a week every 28 days because I'll be just lying in bed bleeding out, not taking any visitors. I'm going to have to roll up rags & twigs."
FRIEND: "Just go look at the smaller, less frequented stores. Maybe you'll find some there."
This was about the time reason started sinking in....

(Thanks Merlinda, for giving me a verbal face slap to calm me down...)

I drove to a small independently owned grocery store and almost did a Snoopy dance when I walked down the feminine hygiene aisle and found several boxes on the shelf. I immediately thought back to Elaine and her Today sponges...

PHARMACIST: Can I help you?
ELAINE (with little hope): Yeah, do you have any Today sponges? I know they're off the market, but...
PHARMACIST: Actually, we have a case left.
ELAINE (excited): A case! A case of sponges? I mean, uh...a case. Huh. Uh...how many come in a case?
PHARMACIST: Sixty.
ELAINE: Sixty?! Uh...well, I'll take three.
PHARMACIST: Three.
ELAINE: Make it ten.
PHARMACIST: Ten?
ELAINE: Twenty sponges should be plenty.
PHARMACIST: Did you say twenty?
ELAINE: Yeah, twenty-five sponges is just fine.
PHARMACIST: Right. So, you're set with twenty-five.
ELAINE: Yeah. Just give me the whole case and I'll be on my way.

Okay, so I didn't buy a case of O.B. tampons (mainly because they didn't have a case)...but I did buy the only two large boxes of my prefered size and a couple of boxes of another size too, just in case. I brought my small armful to the cashier and tried not to feel too self conscious as I set them on the conveyor belt. I didn't want to come off as some crazed woman preparing for period armageddon. When she started ringing them up I said, "I feel the need to explain that the company has stopped production on these until spring."

The cashier just looked at me and kept ringing them up.....Yeah, I'm pretty sure she thought I was a loon....

Under Construction....

2010-11-18T20:51:00.001-07:00

My blog is currently under construction....or maybe it would be re-construction. Anyway, I'm sorting through some things and will start up again fresh soon. Or depending on my mood, I may just start a whole new blog. If that happens, I'll be sure to post a link so all of my readers (all two of you) can find me. :-)

This Time For Real...

2010-10-11T12:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, so things didn't take off like I'd hoped after my last post... But here I am, a month later, this time honestly renewed, refreshed & ready for changes! (This last phrase will look familiar to those of you who are my friends on Facebook.)

My son & I just got back from a trip on Saturday that had been about three years in the making. On our last cruise in 2007 we had heard about the new ship Oasis that Royal Caribbean was working on. When we heard about it, my son said, "That would be a great ship to sail on!" I realized that it was supposed to come out the same year my son graduated high school so a plan was put in place to take the cruise as a graduation celebration.

Well, life happened and between the divorce, remarriage and economy troubles we almost didn't end up going. But thanks to some wonderful friends & family we were able to make it. I had meant to discuss the trip before I left but in all the chaos of life that just didn't happen. But now we're back and I can say the trip was awesome! (Yes, I use that word a lot...it's the Southern California girl in me coming out...) The best part about the trip and cruise was that my son & I really got to connect on a new level. He is now officially an adult and we had some great conversations along the way that I probably wouldn't have had with him a couple of years ago. There just seems to be more of an "openness" to our discussions now--probably because he feels that now as an adult he can't "get in trouble" for saying the wrong things. Who knows. Anyway, after we got home, before I went to sleep, he came in and thanked me for taking him on the trip and said it was so worth it. That was the cherry on top of the sundae for me.

So, now back to life. You know, being away from the rest of your family (i.e. husband) for ten days can give both of you time to think and reflect on things. Sometimes unfortunately we have to get to a place that seems like there's no hope to realize just how much there is. I think it did both of us a lot of good and without going into major personal detail about our life lately, we are both feeling refreshed and ready for changes. Changes for the good, like taking control of our out-of-control house, trying to get some of our bills paid off, and looking into eventually moving into our own house. Not to mention making more time for ourselves and making sure we take the time to slow down and appreciate each other.

Life is good.

Renewed...

2010-09-08T20:41:00.000-06:00

Other than my Ebay announcement, I really haven't blogged in awhile. I hate to sound so cliche and say, "I've just been so busy!" but it really is true. I'm trying hard to get my house organized (a fantastic feat for me, in case you don't know me well) and also I am now a mere THREE weeks away from a trip that's been in the planning works for about three YEARS now. (I will expound more on this trip in the weeks to come, trust me...) Every day I've said to myself, "I really need to get back into my blog" and then nothing happened.

But then today I read a post on one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman, called "10 Important Things I've Learned About Blogging". It really gave me that kick in the ass that I needed to get back on track. I think in the past I worried too much about not having specific things to blog about. But Ree's article reminded me that I need to just let go and have fun with it.

So.......let the fun begin!

Who Loves Makeup Bags/Totes?

2010-09-06T18:18:00.000-06:00

Just a quick heads up...
I was cleaning out some boxes this weekend and found a whole bag full of Clinique makeup bags/totes. I don't use much makeup as it is, so I can't see keeping all of them when someone else can get good use out of them. So I've listed them on Ebay and if you're interested you can find them here:
McFaddensFarm on Ebay

So if you decide to give it a go, happy bidding! :-)

P.S. Yes, I'm aware that it has been a REALLY long time since I've posted here. I vow I will get back to posting regularly. We're still getting ready (and trying to earn spending money) for my son's graduation cruise coming up on 9/30. I will be posting updates on our lives and my usual general observations on the world soon...

Corn Chip Feet

2010-07-18T22:54:00.001-06:00

My dog's feet smell like corn chips....I like to smell them....

Is that wrong?

Groupon...This is Cool!

2010-07-07T11:30:00.002-06:00

Have any of my tens of readers out there heard of Groupon? It's a web site/application that offers discounts/coupons for local businesses in your area. I signed up for it a month or so ago, but originally it said it still wasn't in Boise yet. This is because they have to have a large enough group of people sign up in one area to start off with to make sure that they can offer the discounts.

Well apparently enough people signed up because I started getting a Deal of the Day email last week. I'm sure there will be plenty of them that I'm not interested in...but it's great when there's one that I really like. Already I've found one that I'm interested in and want to try. (30 day exercise boot camp, normally $149 on Groupon for $39. I may try this to get in shape before my upcoming cruise in October.) You can check out the Groupon web site to find out more info about how it works and what the deals are in your area.

And with Groupon you can also refer friends and get credits towards future deals. Here's how it works: If someone joins Groupon within 72 hours after clicking your link, they'll notify you within 24 hours of their first purchase and automatically add $10 Groupon Bucks to your account. You can refer as many people as you like. Even if you don't click on my link and sign up, it's still worth it to check it out. You never know if you'll find a deal you like!

18 Years....

2010-06-26T10:30:00.001-06:00

Today is my son's 18th birthday. Back on this day in 1992 I never would have thought about this day coming. All I could see was the precious little bundle in my arms and really couldn't think about anything past that.

He always marched to the beat of his own drum, even from an early age. What a rebel!

But I always knew that he was going places....

And he's never been afraid to try new things and embrace it with everything he had, even if it meant trying something people might think is weird...

He's always had a unique sense of humor....I think he gets that from me. He has the ability to make me laugh even when I don't want to...

I've always been amazed at his ability to fall asleep pretty much anywhere/any way....

When it comes to his love of music, he's worked hard at it and never stops learning...

He's had many friends over the years, some that have come and gone, some that have been there since kindergarten...

(These were kids he went to a home daycare with when he was around 2 years old. The two boys on the left, believe it or not are the grandsons of Frankie Avalon. I wonder what they're up to these days? The girl on the right reconnected with Collin awhile back on Myspace...technology is wonderful.)

Life with him is always an adventure...

And as I look back I realize it was all of these crazy little things in his life that shaped him into the respectable young man he is today....

Uh, yeah........

Happy 18th Birthday Collin! I love you more than barbecued potato chips.

This Year's Garden....

2010-06-22T18:03:00.002-06:00

This year has been a strange one in regards to our garden. The weather didn't allow us to get things done until a lot later than usual. Plus I took a totally different approach this year (especially since I knew that I was the one who would be doing 99% of the work this time around) and made sort of a modified raised bed/square foot garden plan. Honestly.....I pretty much made it up as I went along. After seeing how my neighbors did their garden with a similar raised/sunken path design, I adopted that for mine. Then when I planted I still tried to follow the basic guidelines of square foot gardening. I'm not doing as many of the vining plant vertically like they do in square foot gardening, but I'm still using the spacing as a guideline. I was thrilled to get ahold of some straw bales for free (thank you Craigslist!) to help keep weeds & mud down to a minimum. Now that some of the seeds I planted are actually sprouting, I plan to mulch a little heavier with the straw. So here's where I'm at right now:

The closest rows (the skinnier ones) are my corn rows. (Heh...corn rows....) I just got those planted (yes, I know I'm frightfully late, but at least I got them in) and I plan to companion plant the beans next to the corn once it gets about a foot or two high. My poor little cherry tomatoes are in the first wide row after that--they suffered quite a bit when we had bad winds the day I planted them. Also in that row is bell peppers and a few watermelon plants at the end of the row that I plan to let meander through the rest of the plants on that row. Oh and on the opposite end of that, where the wire fencing is, I planted peas.

Look! They're just starting to sprout!

Beyond that is the row with egg plant, zucchini and cucumbers, which are also just emerging from the soil. See, there they are!

Then in the last regular row I have my Big Boy tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and a few honey dew melons at the end (which, like the watermelon, will be allowed to wander through the other plants.) The raised beds in the railroad ties so far have onions, carrots & lettuce. I had also intended to plant garlic and herbs but have been a little preoccupied with the rest of the garden. Hopefully I'll get around to it soon.

Oh, see what I'm doing there? That's new this year too. I'm trying not to stress too hard about being all formal about the garden. If I get it planted, good for me! If I don't, I'll be sure to plan better next year. This year is all about experimenting and learning what works best for me. And trying not to be too worried about everything perfectly in it's place.

I still haven't given up the tape measure though....gotta use that when I space my seeds. Sorry, can't let go of that one...

Baby steps....

Jewelry & Watches...

2010-06-20T11:02:00.002-06:00

As previously posted, I have been selling some stuff that I don't wear/use any more on EBay. Here's the skinny on what's going on: I had booked a trip for my son & I for his graduation several years ago and figured I'd save up until it was time for final payment. Well, the time for final payment is in just a few weeks and due to the crash of the economy last year and my husband being laid off several times over the last year, our savings had to be used for bills, groceries, etc. We've been planning/looking forward to this trip for several years now so I hate to cancel--especially since the air fare is non-refundable. So I figure I might as well get rid of the stuff I don't wear/use anymore and try to get some money for the trip in the process.

I still have some items left, some that are a little "higher end", like jewelry & watches. If anyone is interested in the following, please contact me at jmcfadden9580 (at) msn (dot) com with the item in the subject line so I know what it's about. Or comment here with your contact email & I'll get ahold of you. The asking prices are what I'd like to get but I will consider REASONABLE offers. Thanks!

Lia Sophia "Antique" Necklace - $25.00

"Antique" looking necklace, very cute! This one is no longer available through Lia Sophia so I don't have the details on it. But you can check out the Lia Sophia website to read more about their jewelry.
Necklace adjusts to different lengths by hooking clasp onto different points in the chain. Excellent condition--only worn a few times. Looks great with something casual or classy!

14K White Gold Adjustable Box Chain - $100.00

This beautiful necklace can adjust from 16" to 20" so it is very versatile to have in your jewelry collection. Necklace adjusts on a slide (see picture above) and has a sturdy clasp. Wear it alone or with a beautiful pendant hanging on it. This one is in excellent condition--no kinks, no bends--and looks like new! It retails for $219.99 and you can find more information about it on the Kay Jeweler site.

Citizen Eco-Drive Watches:
Eco-Drive watches are equipped with a special titanium lithium-ion secondary battery that is charged by a solar cell located behind the dial. Light passes through the covering crystal & dial to reach the solar cell. Charge the battery just be setting the watch in natural light. Just keep the watch exposed to light of any kind to keep charged. If kept in the dark it will eventually go into "hibernation mode". Just re-expose to natural light to charge & it will start right back up again. You never have to buy another battery!

Citizen Eco-Drive "Petite Palidoro" Watch - $150.00

Beautiful all stainless steel gold tone watch with Swarovski Crystal accents. Water resistant. Sturdy deployment clasp with push button. Comes in original Citizen storage box.
This watch is sized to my wrist but the original extra links are included. I only wore this watch a few times for special occasions. Excellent condition.
It retails at $315.00 and you can find more info on the Citizen Palidoro web page.

Citizen Eco-Drive EW9142-61D Watch & Bracelet Set - $175.00

Beautiful all stainless steel gold tone watch & matching bracelet, both with Swarovski Crystal accents.
Watch is water resistant. Sturdy deployment clasp with push button. Lovely Mother of Pearl dial face.
Bracelet matches watch with similar band pattern. Sturdy jewelry clasp.
Set comes in original Citizen storage box which is a beautiful lined cherry-tone wooden box.
The watch is sized to my wrist but the original extra links are included. Bracelet is original size. I only wore this set a couple of times for special occasions. Excellent condition.

This set is no longer available through Citizen but originally retailed at $335.00.

Citizen Eco-Drive "Lucca" Watch w/Diamond Accents - $200.00

Beautiful all stainless steel two-tone (silver/gold) watch with 28 diamond accents.
Watch is water resistant. Sturdy deployment clasp with push button. Lovely Mother of Pearl dial face with date window. Hour, minute & second hand. Cabochon crown.
Watch comes in original Citizen storage box.
The watch is sized to my wrist but the original extra links are included. Great condition, only a couple of small minor surface scratches on the crystal. These are not noticeable unless you turn the watch "just right" in the light.

Retails for $425.00 and more information can be found at the Citizen Lucca web site.

I use Paypal, unless you're local and want to just pay cash. If you're not local, you will pay shipping and I'll just add it to the Paypal invoice. (I won't charge any extra, just the exact cost of shipping.) So contact me as soon as possible through the email listed above and I'll send you an invoice through Paypal or we'll work out the details if you're local. No spam, please!

It's Just a Cartoon....It's Just a Cartoon.....It's Just a...Pass the Tissues!!

2010-06-19T20:07:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is my birthday and my son thought it would be fun tonight to go and see the new Toy Story 3 movie--just the two of us. I thought it was a great idea and was glad my son had thought of it. We had seen the original Toy Story movie together when he was only three years old, then later Toy Story 2 when he was seven. I never stopped to think of the irony of it (or the emotional ramifications) of seeing this movie until we were at the theater.

My son turned to me as we were walking into the theater and said "This movie came out when I was just a little kid, then we saw the second one when I was a little older and now we're going to see the last one just when my childhood is ending. How weird is that?"

Yeah....how weird is that?........(gulp)

I knew I was in trouble when the movie had barely started and there were flashbacks into Andy's life of him playing with his toys as a little boy. As I was watching that, it dawned on me that I had seen my own son playing like that with his Woody and Buzz Lightyear toys as a child. (Yes, he also wrote his name in permanent marker on the bottom of each of their boots and he still has those toys.) As my eyes started to well up with tears I knew this viewing with my son was going to be different than other movies we'd seen recently.

Thankfully the movie (I won't go into detail for those of you who haven't seen it yet) doesn't spend a lot of time dwelling on the part of Andy going off to college and leaving his toys (and childhood) behind, or I probably wouldn't have made it through the movie. It's mostly about the adventure of the toys themselves. But near the end, when there was a scene of his mother walking into his empty room right before he left for college, I pretty much almost lost it.

I can't tell you (seriously, I'm sitting here trying to think of the right words to describe this) just how special (ugh, not the right word!) it was to be able to see this movie with my son, only a few weeks after he graduated high school and one week before his eighteenth birthday. It may sound silly, but I honestly won't ever forget sharing that little moment in time with him. When the movie ended and the credits started rolling, the two of us just sat there kind of taking it all in. (I even caught my son rubbing his eyes a little.) I'm sure from my son's point of view it was more about it being a sentimental ending to a movie. To me though, it was the sentimental end to an era in my son's life.

I Miss You Grandma...

2010-06-10T21:31:00.003-06:00

On June 10, 1912 my grandmother Ina Mae Cowley was born. Later in her adult life she became Ina Mae Graves and eventually Ina Mae Pommaz, which is the name I grew up knowing her by. We lost her in February of 1996, just four months shy of her 84th birthday. It wasn't until she was gone that I realized how much I had lost when she passed away. It always seems like we realize in retrospect just how much someone had an influence on our life. If she was still with us, she would have turned 98 today.

I don't know a lot about her life as a child. But I have a wonderful little photo album that belonged to her that I like to imagine gives me a little glimpse into her life as a young woman. It's filled with old black & white photos of her friends, family members and of course her. Some of the photos don't have have captions or explanations and I like to make up stories in my head about the men in the stiff suits and big cowboy hats...or the girl standing with her back to the camera all alone with the old car in the background.

But I don't have to make up stories about my memories of her--Like being a small child and playing out in the backyard of her house with my sister, with the hum & rattle of her rock tumbler running in the garage. Or looking through the large encyclopedias she had, trying to figure out all of the riddles & optical illusions.

The place I have the most memories about though is the mobile home she lived in for years in Long Beach. (The same mobile home I rode my bicycle to when I was only about 7 years old and got mad at my sister who was babysitting me. This little trip took me all the way from our house near Studebaker & Atherton to her mobile home park off Lyons Drive, just past the Edison plant!) I remember sitting at a table in her "goody room" (the extra room in her mobile home that was filled with every kind of craft notion you could imagine), while she patiently showed me how to thread beads on a wire to make a bracelet. This room was a treasure trove for a little girl. It's where I learned about Christmas card ornaments, Mod Podge and turquoise & bone jewelry. I also remember the fascinating knick-knacks in her living room like her Kewpie Doll collection and the interesting things her son (my Uncle David) sent to her from Australia & New Zealand. I remember the stacks of romance paperback books she had in her bedroom. And as a teenager, I remember the times that I had cramps so bad they would make me sick to my stomach. My grandmother would come get me at school, since my mom was working, and take me to her mobile home. She would take me to her bedroom and put me in her bed, propped up with pillows so I could watch the Twilight Zone & Little House on the Prairie reruns. She would always bring a hot water bottle in and lay it on my abdomen and make me tea.

It's looking back on memories like these, as an adult, that remind me what a wonderful person she was and how much I probably under-appreciated her when I was younger. I'm happy that I got to have her in my life for as long as I did, especially since my Grandmother Heinrich on my dad's side passed away when I was only one year old. I'm glad I get to have my memories of her. I've been thinking of her today and just wanted to do something to show how much she meant to me.

Happy Birthday Grandma...I miss you....

And The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down...

2010-06-04T11:03:00.001-06:00

We are having a miserably wet, rainy day today...this is one of many rainy days we've had over the last month or so. Where's summer? Anyway, as I've been sitting here all morning, listening to the rain pattering outside my window, all I could think of was this:

Hope it's a little more dry where you're at today....

Memorial Day...

2010-05-31T11:59:00.001-06:00

Today is Memorial Day...I think that over the years people have equated Memorial Day with picnics, taking the boat out to the lake, camping and the "official start of summer". Although it was originally established on May 30th, it was later (in 1968) moved to the last Monday of the month of May to ensure a three day weekend. This is probably one of the reasons people look at it as more of a "fun weekend" holiday. But I don't want to lose sight of the real reason for the holiday.

My family has a lot of ties to the military:

My Grandfather Heinrich joined the U.S. Navy when he met some American sailors on the U.S.S. Brooklyn on tour in China. At the time he was playing in the German Holly Symphony Orchestra, on a Lloyd Lines ocean liner which was docked next to the Naval gunboat in China. He left everything behind in East Germany, including his parents, brothers & sisters and accepted the American sailors' invitation to join with them and continue their tour. He served during the Boxer Rebellion the Philippines Insurrection and WWI.
My Grandfather Graves was a Navy Seabee and served during the duration of WWII. The Seabees built bases, bridges, roadways & airstrips during war times.
My grandmother Pommaz was one of the women referred to as a "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II, working in the factories and at Douglas Aircraft to help out in the absence of the men who went off to war. (I know this isn't technically military but I count it as helping out during war time.)
My father joined what was then known as the Army Air Corps (later separated out as the Air Force, it's own branch) right at the end of high school and went over seas to England & Germany at the end of World War II.
My mother's brother, my Uncle Frank served in the Army, enlisting after high school around 1953.
My mother's cousin Arland served in the Korean War as a soldier in the Army.
My sister's husband Chuck served several terms in the Marine Corps and then later served for one term in the Army.
My ex sister-in-law Karen (my brother's ex-wife) served in the Navy. (Thanks again for the Navy boondock boots in high school!) ;)
My step-brother Matt has served for 24 years in the Air Force. He's been to Iraq at least two times that I know of. I think he's retiring soon.
My sister's daughter is now currently serving in the Army National Guard.

A few family members tried to serve in the military but for various reasons weren't able to:

My mother's other brother, my Uncle David ("Fred") enlisted but was sent home after just a few days because of his heart.
My father's brother Carl tried to enlist in the Army but was turned down because of a punctured ear drum. Undeterred, he then also tried to enlist in the Navy AND the Marine Corps but was turned down by both because of the same thing.

Their hearts were in it but their bodies wouldn't let them...

I couldn't be more proud of all of these family members that have done their part over the years to protect and serve our country. Luckily none of these family members were lost during war time or any training. I know may others out there aren't as fortunate. Let's not forget those who gave their lives for our country.

Happy Memorial Day.

We Have Protection...

2010-05-30T18:31:00.001-06:00

Well we didn't get anything planted today, but mainly because we spent most of the day getting things "ready". As I mentioned in the previous post, we got our raised beds in earlier today. After getting a couple of the rows tilled and mapping out where we wanted to put some things, we realized that all of our work is going to be for nothing if anything gets into the garden. (Like our dogs.) So we broke out the post pounder and the t-posts and let my step son get some exercise. (He's going to have noodle arms when he wakes up tomorrow morning!) He got 15 posts pounded into the ground to make up our fence. I arranged a couple of the posts closer together to be our "entrance" and then we got the fencing. (This is when I thank my work for "donating" the fencing and posts to me...all I have to do is bring in some veggies this summer! I love bartering!) It's not necessarily pretty, but it's functional. It will keep out the dogs and maybe even the neighbor's horse if he wanders into our front pasture and doesn't go running full force towards the fence. It works for what we want it to do...

Let The Gardening Begin!

2010-05-30T14:29:00.001-06:00

Okay, we are WAY behind this year on getting our garden done. However, this may not be a bad thing considering just last weekend we had two nights that dipped down to freezing and our neighbor has had to replant their garden twice this spring. But because I didn't anticipate us planting this late, my seedlings are practically full grown plants! I'm almost expecting to come out some morning and find a little green tomato hanging off the plant. Ha ha!

Unfortunately, like I mentioned about last weekend, the weather has not been cooperative lately. Add to that the fact that we had to prepare for graduation with my oldest son, my husband just started a new job and my son just started a new job... It just hasn't been in the cards for us.

So I was really excited when today the weather looked good, my husband was here, our youngest son was here and no one felt sick, injured, etc. We got out there a little late in the day but within the first hour we already had finished our first garden project--the raised beds.

It's only one small part of the garden, but I feel so much better knowing it's done. I couldn't lift those heavy railroad ties all by myself so having the guys get it done for me was a relief. This is where I'm going to grow my "root vegetables" and other veggies that do well in raised beds--carrots, onions, garlic and lettuce. Tomorrow while my husband is out shooting with some friends, I'll get all of these settled into their beds.

Next stop--tomatoes, peppers and potato towers!!

Auctions Ending Saturday!

2010-05-28T16:00:00.001-06:00

Just a heads up, my latest auctions on Ebay end Saturday, 5/29. Only a couple of things but they're two of the cutest pairs of shoes (I think) that I own. Check them out here:
Current Ebay Auctions

Time To Close The Chapter On School Days...

2010-05-22T22:15:00.001-06:00

This was September 2, 1997.

It was my son's first day of kindergarten.

I love the Green Eggs & Ham shirt. And look at those little legs! He was missing his front tooth because it had been knocked out when he was two years old when he fell on the sidewalk outside our apartment in Camarillo, California. I'm not sure what specific thing he has in his hand but I know it was what was left of his breakfast. (He's always been a slow eater...)

I felt like posting this today because yesterday was my son's LAST day of school. His last school day of 12th grade. His graduation ceremony is this coming Friday night. We've been through so much during the years between these two days.

A year ago I thought we'd never be close again. It's personal and I don't want to post his private issues here for everyone to see. But I can say that I'm so glad that we've managed to grow close again. He's still my "little boy" and I'm sure he always will be to me. Even though he's already grown into a wonderful young man.

It's strange to look at this picture and realize it's the same person as in the first picture. Even though he's my own son and I've watched him grow up the last 13 years, I still don't connect the two pictures. I'm sure it will get even harder when I have a wedding picture to connect or a picture of him with his own child.

But....those things are in the future. For now, I can look at this new picture and remind myself that this is not only the end to one chapter, but the beginning of a new one.

I can't wait to see how it goes...

"Wait Here Honey, Mommy Has To Pee...."

2010-05-20T19:46:00.001-06:00

When I was out this evening with my husband at our local JC Penney, I ducked into the restroom for a moment and was immediately perplexed by something I saw....

I'm glad no one else was there because I must have looked like an idiot, standing there staring at this little seat attached to the wall. It's positioned right next to (and below) the Koala baby changing station.

Okay, obviously it's for a very small child. It even has instructions for the "proper use":

But what I want to know is....why? Are you supposed to strap your kid onto the wall to keep your hands free so you can go pee? Is this in case you have twins, so you can strap one kid down while you're changing the other one and then switch?

My son is turning 18 next month so it's been quite a while since I had to worry about such things as where to put my child while I'm using a public restroom. (Insert some ridiculous statement here like, "Back in my day we just strapped our kid to our back and carried him around everywhere--shopping, working, gardening...We didn't have all of these fancy new-fangled gadgets to help lessen the load.") So someone help me out here....what is this for? Am I missing the obvious? Am I just not up-to-date on all of the latest child rearing practices? Please....enlighten me....

I'm Back...And With a Recommendation...

2010-05-17T12:04:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I wasn't feeling well and apart from a day of bad horror movies on Lifetime I spent some time watching movies. Then since today is my day off and I'm all alone (good time to see movies that no one else in the family wants to watch) I decided to watch one that was recommended to me through Netflix the other day. It was a movie from 2005 called Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School, rated PG-13 (for "mature situations and language".) This is the product description for this movie on Amazon:
"FRANK KEANE IS A BAKER BY TRADE BUT NOW A MAN CONSUMED BY HIS WIFE'S DEATH. WHEN FATE INTERVENES, HE PULLS OVER TO HELP A STRANGER IN A CAR WRECK, A MAN NEAR DEATH WHO URGENTLY DISCLOSES A PLANNED REUNION, A MEETING WITH A LOST CHILDHOOD LOVE AT A SCHOOL FOR BALLROOM DANCE."
It may not sound interesting but it was a cute movie and one that I was glad I took the time to watch. I was surprised at all of the stars that kept popping up in the movie, right down to the very last 5 minutes--John Goodman, Marisa Tomei, Sean Astin, Robert Carlyle (Full Monty!), Camryn Manheim, Donnie Wahlberg, Mary Steenburgen, Miguel Sandoval (Medium), Danny Devito, Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), David Paymer, Adam Arkin (Chicago Hope, Sons of Anarchy)...you get the idea. It was only 1 hour & 45 minutes long so even if you don't like it you won't have wasted much time. It's listed as a drama, but there is humor in there too. Let me know what you think if you watch it!

Spring Cleaning...

2010-05-11T11:33:00.000-06:00

Okay, not really...I hate cleaning, lol. What I'm really saying is that I am putting my blog on a short (hopefully) hiatus while I get some things in order. I hope to be back soon, blogging stronger than ever. Hopefully I don't lose all my readers (all 5 of you) in the meantime...

It's Ebay Time Again!

2010-05-03T13:21:00.000-06:00

It's that time again! More Ebay listings going up today. Pampered Chef, shoes & some beautiful Citizen Eco-Drive watches. Still trying to fund that trip for my son's graduation....

Ebay Listings

Happy Shopping!! :-)

Dream House

2010-04-25T17:31:00.002-06:00

Today my husband was working a landscape job in Star. He realized as he was getting near the end of the day that he needed a couple more bags of paver base. I ran to Lowe's for him and had to use my Garmin GPS to figure out how to get to the job without going far out of my way. At one point I was sure that my Garmin was getting me lost. But I figured it would get me there eventually and just went along for the ride.

I've learned that sometimes when you're just going along not knowing where you are, you see interesting things....I found this house. It was empty, weather beaten and run down. But when I saw it I almost stopped in the middle of the road. It tugged at my heartstrings. But I had to get the materials to my husband so I went on my way. However, on the way home, I made sure I drove past it again and this time, with no traffic around me, I DID stop in the middle of the road. I was able to snap a quick picture with my cell phone. Of course, the picture doesn't really do it justice. Maybe this is the point when I need to explain that I have a love for old farm houses. Whether they're still in great shape or dilapidated, I still love them. (A part of me probably even loves the old run down ones more.) If I had an unlimited supply of money, I would find just the right one and restore it to it's original splendor. I think this one would be perfect for restoration....

What's In A Name?

2010-04-25T10:45:00.003-06:00

I thought maybe I had talked about it here, but I can't find a post about it...it must have been just on Facebook. But here's the scoop...I am wanting to start up a roadside produce stand. We live right on a busy main road and it would be an ideal location to just go ahead and set up a little stand where I can sell our garden produce after work during the week and throughout the day on weekends. I have this wonderful vision of it being something that I can eventually make a web site for and even link it to my Twitter account so customers can follow me and I can post what veggies we're selling that day. I still have a lot to figure out and plan but here's my main dilemma right now:

I need a name.

I plan to only grow organic so I thought of having something in the name like "bare" or "naked" and it would get attention, lol. I didn't see a website out there already with a name like "naked veggies" or "bare veggies" but when I tried to look up the domain they're already taken. I also thought of having a name that includes MY name in it. The one I wanted most was "Plain Jane Produce" or something along those lines. But of course, there's a web site out there called plainjaneproduce already that is actually a branch of Chiquita. Damn it. Then there's the idea of using our last name so the other day I thought it was cute to use "Baker's Acres". Um....would you believe there's a camp site in New Jersey of all places with that name?? I'm starting to feel a little discouraged.

So here's where I need your help. I'm open to ideas...I had joked around in the past about having a watermelon & cantaloupe stand and naming it "Jane's Melons" but I really want it to be about ALL the produce. I plan to have veggies, some fruit (the melons) and eventually if my chicken idea takes off, maybe some eggs. That's why I like the "produce" idea a lot. I don't know if my tiny little plot can really be called a "farm". Are there legal ramifications to calling yourself a farm? Hmmmm... I might have to look into that. Anyway, does anyone out there have some good suggestions? I'm not saying I'll get big enough that I'll end up marketing to grocery chains or anything, but I'd like to keep it open to be able to have a web site, a Twitter account, maybe come up with my own logo....
Let's hear your ideas!

You Are What You Eat....

2010-04-24T08:12:00.009-06:00

I have made an executive decision at our house and I want to get some chickens. I know it seems like this is the "in" thing to do lately but that's not why I'm doing it. I've been thinking about it for a couple of years now and finally decided that despite what the rest of my family thinks about it, I want to do it.

My sister has been giving me a lot of very good information about current food practices (Take the time to watch Food Inc. it will open your eyes) and I just don't want to depend on the giant food conglomerates for our main sources of food (eggs, beef, chicken, pork, etc.). We already have a freezer full of beef that came from a steer that our neighbor gave us. This was a steer who was raised on grass, roaming our pasture and eating freely. Not loaded with hormones, not given a bunch of chemicals, just allowed to consume all the pasture grass it wanted (hay during winter). The only "chemicals" it was given were vaccinations when it was born. We were able to see it every day and know where it came from and what it was eating. After doing this once and liking the beef we got from it, I am determined to continue to raise our own beef from now on. (Or at least get the beef from a trusted friend if we're not able to do it ourselves, if we have to move at some point & don't have the room.)

But, I digress....back to my chickens. When we moved into this house it came with some standing structures out in the pasture along the south side of our property. There is what we call the "tack barn" which is really just a small one room building that the original owner used for a woodshop. Then there are two "shelter" type structures that were apparently used for livestock, llamas, horses, etc. at some point. One is larger and we used it last year for the pig pen. The other is smaller and we haven't used it for anything since we've been here. But after looking at it, I've decided it would make a great chicken coop.The structure in the upper right corner of the picture is what I'd like to enclose on the front with chicken wire and make a door on the right side so we can get in & out. With just a few chickens we can have a regular supply of eggs and if we get a few more we can also have some for butchering too. (Although I have to admit I don't think I can manage the butchering on my own, even just for the chickens.) Plus if we get our garden fenced in this year, I can let them roam around the garden & eat the unwanted bugs.
If I'm able to start this endeavor, I'll be sure to keep you apprised of the progress. Oh...and I'll also let you know how it goes when we decide to get the goats too...

Ladies, this is awesome--Men, you may want to step away for a moment...

2010-04-18T22:46:00.003-06:00

Ladies, today we're going to talk about your period. Yes, that awful monthly visitor that we all hate. I am the first to admit that I am one of those women who is horrible about remembering when it's due, having supplies on hand, etc. But when I upgraded my phone at the beginning of the year I found an application that I think is totally awesome! (Yes, that's the Southern California beach girl coming out in me...I said totally awesome...)

It's called "My Days" and this little application has really been helpful to me. In this application you can click on a specific date on the calendar and add "Start Period" or "End Period". You can even take it a step further and add "Had Sex" or "Took Pill" if you need to keep track of these things (or if you just want to remind your husband that no, it has NOT been WEEKS since the last time you had sex.) ;) Once you add in your first period cycle, it then calculates when all of your future periods will be. It also tells you when your are in "high fertility" days and when you are ovulating. This can be handy for those of you who might be trying to get pregnant. Or if you're like me, when to NOT get pregnant.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, for me) this is only available for the Android-based phones--not iPhone or Windows based. But if you have an Android-based phone I would highly recommend looking into this application. If you don't, hopefully your phone has a similar application available.

Oh...and did I mention this is FREE? Yay for free!

Just Call Me Madam....

2010-04-17T16:30:00.002-06:00

So to try to supplement our current income, I've been trying to find a job I can do in the evenings. Preferably something that doesn't take too much time away from my family and is interesting enough that I'm not bored out of my mind. I just had an interview today at Mystique Dining in Boise and to quote the woman I talked to there, "We like you!" (Thank you to my junior high school Glee teacher, Mr. Dublin for casting me in various parts in musicals so I would be prepared for this later in life...ha ha.)
Technically I don't know if I'm what they call "hired" yet...at this point I'm "auditioning". I will only work one or two nights a week to start off so they can see if I'm a good fit with everyone else and to see if I like it. My official title is "Hostess", which is not the typical hostess you think of at a restaurant. I do not stand by the front counter and seat people as they come in. Instead, the people who come in are guests to "my" dinner party. They're announced by butlers and seated at a table that holds 18. I welcome them to the evening, let them know what will be in store for them and then proceed to "mingle" and help out the butlers throughout the night. (Announcing courses, helping fill drinks, making sure the guests feel like it's all about them...)
Did I mention I'll be wearing a Victorian dress the whole time?

Ebay Listings

2010-04-03T15:21:00.004-06:00

Every once in awhile I go through my closet & the house and see if there are things I can get rid of that I don't use, wear, need, etc. Lately it's been about shoes.
I've had a bad habit in the past of buying a pair of shoes because they look really cute in the store. Then I get them home & wear them maybe once or twice and then they sit in the box in my closet not getting any use. By listing them on Ebay, someone else who would appreciate them more can buy them for less than they would from the store.

So if anyone out there is interested, I'll be listing several things over the next few days or weeks. You can find my listings here:
http://shop.ebay.com/mcfaddensfarm/m.html?_dmd=1

Pass the info along if you know of anyone else who might be interested...I won't give anyone a guilt trip by telling them that the proceeds from these bids will go towards my son's graduation present trip... ;)
Let the bidding begin! :)

What Were They Thinking??!!

2010-04-03T11:55:00.006-06:00

This is the last year my son is a "child"...he turns 18 this summer. Every year I have done up an Easter basket for him, using the same basket (with stuffed bunny attached) that my parents bought for him when he was 9 months old. (Call me a sentimental old fool...) So I decided to go all out and make him a basket full of all of his favorites from over the years. A trip the local Walmart was necessary.

As I was walking down the Easter aisle at Walmart, I happened upon something that made me do a double-take.

Behold....the sugar cookie lollipop with the pornographic monkey (squirrel??):

Who's brilliant idea was it to decorate these cookies this way?? What is that supposed to be?? I showed a picture of it to my husband and he said, "Maybe it's a flashlight, honey." Yeah...because monkeys carrying flashlights just screams Easter... I could see maybe a mushroom...but again, why a random mushroom in front of a monkey for Easter? Oh, and not all of them had such a large...er...mushroom cap on them. (Maybe these were the Gentile monkeys?) I'm sure there was some original concept behind these (maybe it IS a squirrel and that's his nut. Heh.) But either the machine that made these was set incorrectly or the people who did these by hand were giggling to themselves while they decorated.

The really funny thing about it (as if x-rated monkeys on children's Easter cookies was not funny enough), was that there were several other styles of these cookies. All of the other boxes had about 1/2 of ONE box left. This style? FIVE boxes. So I know I'm not the only one who saw these and thought they looked like they should be sold at the local adult shop instead of the Easter aisle at Walmart. I can just see the parents, seeing them and picking one up to put in the cart saying, "Oh, what cute a little monke.......oh.......OH!" And then quickly putting it back on the shelf and scurrying away.

Someone at quality control needs to be fired....

Sweet Tea....for Grown Ups

2010-03-27T20:16:00.004-06:00

In my old age (ha ha) I'm trying to be more adventurous when it comes to food & drink. More recently, I've wanted to learn a lot more about wine. I've never really been a beer drinker (can't stand the taste of the stuff) so wine seems the other obvious option.

When I was in my early 20's, the only thing I knew about wine was what I learned drinking White Zinfandel with my room mates. (That was back when I thought spaghetti consisted of spaghetti noodles & a jar of spaghetti sauce...) As I've gotten older, especially more recently, I've tried to expand my experience with wines. Thanks to my sister I even found a red wine that I liked. I'm also surprisingly impressed with the knowledge my niece possesses about wines & pairings. Of course, she does own a restaurant and is married to a master chef. That could have something to do with it. Lately I've discovered that at World Market you can try all kinds of different wines from around the world, a lot of them at pretty decent prices. It's a good way to try new things without breaking your budget.

So the other day when I walked into my local World Market, a display right near the front of the store caught my eye. I zeroed in on the words "Sweet Tea" because I am a tea drinker--a sweet tea drinker. I'm talking the sweeter the better...Southern style, so sweet you can feel your tongue curl. (Okay, maybe not THAT sweet, but I do like mine pretty strong!) Imagine my surprise when I looked closer at the display and discovered it was actually a wine! Olde Savannah Sweet Tea. I paid my $6.98 (on sale!) and brought my new found purchase home.

Tonight seemed like a good night to try it--no kids at home and I'm in a relaxed mood. So I pulled out my favorite rabbit ears (wine opener people.....just a wine opener) and got a wine glass out of the cupboard. It was only then that I realized that this bottle has a screw-off cap. Okay, no big deal--I've had some good wines before with screw-off caps. Heck, I've even had some good wines out of a box.

When I poured it into the glass, it was a little odd. Only because it is in fact the color of sweet tea. I could see that in the bottle, but when it was actually sitting in the glass it hits home. It's hard to pick up a glass that looks like it has whiskey in it and expect to taste wine. Another thing--it has a distinct smell. This is a problem for me because I am big on smell. Of all my senses, my smell is probably strongest. I can't be around people with strong perfume and can smell b.o. a mile away. I don't know how to describe the smell--some reviews I've read say that it smells like perfume. I can't say I'd wear it. Maybe it's more like a cologne. I don't know, but it has a distinct smell.

So the time for tasting was here. I don't know what I was expecting....maybe sweet tea? Again, I'm having a hard time describing it. Doesn't exactly taste like wine...doesn't exactly taste like sweet tea...definitely had an aftertaste. Maybe something a little medicinal? I can't say it hated though. I also couldn't say that I loved it. I don't know if I'll finish the bottle. I've read it should be served very chilled, over ice, with a slice of lemon. Well I did have it chilled, although I didn't put it over ice and didn't happen to have a lemon handy. Maybe next time I'll try it that way and see if my opinion changes. If you're feeling adventurous, maybe you'll want to try it for yourself.

One last thing I thought was funny....it's made in California. I really thought it would have been from Georgia with a name like "Olde Savannah", or at least some other southern state...

Muffin Top

2010-03-25T20:05:00.003-06:00

I'm going through a thing....I'm kind of freaking out.....I have......a muffin top. For the first time in my life (other than when I was pregnant) I am feeling very jiggly and out of shape. It's frustrating really, because by all standards, I'm not overweight. I even looked at the charts to make sure and for my height and bone structure I'm really very normal. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad that I look like a 41 year old--I have curves and I've learned to appreciate them. But there's this doughy part around the middle, just above my jeans (and a little bit tucked into my jeans) that's got me stressed out. I'm embarrassed to wear snug-fitting sweaters & t-shirts and I have a strong urge to constantly fold my arms in front of my stomach when I'm sitting down.
So how do I get rid of this blob around my middle without losing the rest of it? I don't want to have jugular-slicing clavicles or bruise-inducing hip bones...I just want the tone back while keeping the curves above & below. What's the best way to do this? Suggestions? Routines? I'm all ears....

The Honest Scrap Award

2010-03-04T14:52:00.008-07:00

As noted in the comments in my previous post, I've been awarded THE HONEST SCRAP award from a great blogger at Mom Vs. The Boys. (She's one of our "neighbors up north", from that country above us that I won't name right now because I'm still cheesed that they beat us for the gold medal in hockey....but I won't hold that against her.) ;)

From what I understand, the award is “for bloggers who put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul." Being that I'm still pretty new to blogging and don't do that great of a job keeping up with it sometimes, I admit that I got a secret little thrill knowing that someone out there liked my blog enough to refer to it as a blog that falls into this category. Part of this "award" is that I am suppose to list 10 honest, random and interesting things about myself. If you're still here when I get to 10, I give you kudos.* If you're still here when I get to 10 and you like what you've read, subscribe to or follow my blog. ;)

I am a procrastinator...it's probably where my son gets it.
My dog is fat. I started her on a green bean diet yesterday. I feel incredibly guilty about it.
I am going to miss watching my son play hockey when this season is over. :(
I'm afraid of being dead. Not dying itself...just the being dead part. (I know, it doesn't make sense.)
Clowns & porcelain dolls freak me out. If it's a porcelain doll dressed like a clown? That's the motherlode...
Having to commute to work on the freeway this past year has made me a cranky driver. (My old work drive was 15 minutes down one country road.)
Sometimes I laugh at things that are completely inappropriate.
I want to open up a roadside organic fruit & vegetable stand and sell the produce from our garden.
I wish I had never let my cosmetology license lapse when I moved to another state.
I love boots.

Okay, now that you've got a big 'ol heaping spoonful of my honesty, I get to pass this award on to seven bloggers that I admire. I will also post links to their blogs here so that others can bask in their blogging goodness:

Mom Vs. The Boys - I have to mention this one first, because she is the one who awarded me with my Honest Crap Award. Thank you! :)
Living the Life - This is one of my nieces. She is incredibly crafty and creative and a great mom!
Pioneer Woman- OMG, this is my absolute favorite blog in the world! I aspire to be as good a blogger as Ree. I know she has no clue who I am but I wanted to list her because she serves up honesty with a side of country fries.
Cake Wrecks - Again, this is someone who most likely isn't aware I'm even alive, but this blog makes me laugh every day and she has the guts to point out the hysterical mistakes.
The Sassy Carmudgeon-The honest humor & some of the language in this one may not be for everyone. But man, I love her sass!

Yikes....I need to read more blogs. Or maybe more of my friends need to write blogs. I loved a blog that one of my cruise friends used to write, The Traveler's Soliloquy. I think that's what it was called...he stopped writing it awhile ago so I can't remember exactly. But I loved those posts! Okay friends, this is a request--send me the links to your blogs!

Well there you have it. When I win a Bloggers Choice Award (like both #3 & #4 have done), I'll remember all the little people. Um....wait....I don't mean little people. Not like the Roloff family or anything....just those who "knew me when" and read my blog when it was dorky. ;)

*Kudos: [koo-dohz] -noun- honor, glory, acclaim. Not the candy bar....I don't have enough money to buy everyone who reads my blog a candy bar. (Heh! Yeah, all 5 of you....)

Why Is Putting Thoughts Down So Hard?

2010-02-27T17:31:00.003-07:00

I don't know why I can't seem to put any thoughts down to my blog lately. Not that there's nothing going on in my life. There is one thing in particular that just came to fruition this afternoon but I can't talk about it yet. It involves some plans for my son after graduation but I don't want to share it publicly yet until I discuss it with him....and I just got a call from him that his day on the mountain snowboarding went longer than planned. (His ride up & back is with a friend who works there so he had to wait until his lessons were done for the day.) So..... until I can talk directly to my son about these plans, I'll keep them to myself. More to come later on that...

The Mystery Glove

2010-02-14T10:05:00.003-07:00

Last night after Collin's hockey game and following late dinner out, we came home and found the above pictured item on our floor. It was originally wadded up more into an unrecognizable shape and we had to pull it all apart to finally decipher what it actually was--a chewed up glove. The part on the right that is still intact appears to be the lining portion of the glove and the chewed up part is what probably covered it. There are fragments of leather, probably from a leather palm and a tag that advertises "Thinsulate lining". One (or more if it started as a game of tug-o-war) of the dogs obviously decided it smelled good and was working on it while we were out of the house.

But here's the weird part--no one in our house recognizes the glove. I only have two pairs of black gloves and I was wearing one of them at the hockey game. Besides, my other pair isn't made from these materials. My husband didn't recognize it and when I quizzed the boys through text messages (they were currently out on Collin's Great Flower Hunt for Valentine's Day) they didn't lay claim to it either. And after looking around the house I don't see a match for it either. (Don't gloves usually come in pairs??)

My mind has gone wild with all kinds of crazy theories...Perhaps while we were gone a nasty burglar tried to break in through an unnoticeable window and the dogs scared him off after snatching one of his gloves off his hand. Should I have the police put out an APB for a burglar sporting one glove? Hmmmmm, not likely since there are no signs of break-in anywhere.

More than likely it is just a forgotten glove stashed somewhere that only the dogs and their keen noses could find it and root it out to use as their chew toy. I'm sure someone in the house will remember it when they need it....

It's Lonely Here....

2010-01-16T17:09:00.005-07:00

Really? I have only one follower? And I don't even know who the heck they are......
......and why doesn't someone post a comment once in awhile? Huh?

The Best Intentions....

2010-01-01T08:33:00.003-07:00

A friend of mine (hi Scott!) posted something in his Facebook notes last night about New Years resolutions. He said he was going to call them "intentions" instead of resolutions because resolutions are so easy to break. I like that idea. Thinking back, when have I ever really kept a resolution and then not felt guilty when I slipped up? Who needs the pressure?

My friend Scott asked if you've ever felt like you were treading water while holding a medicine ball above your head. He said, "2010 is not about getting organized, saving money, losing weight or any of that trite. 2010 is about getting out of the pool, digging in my heels and pushing that damn medicine ball towards tomorrow."
Seriously...when I read that it just hit straight to my heart. After the crappy year we've had, I have to believe that all I can do is point towards the future and start walking. Or....crawling. ....Maybe just dragging that medicine ball along, stopping to rest every feet or so.

But I guess first I've got to find my way to the side of the pool so I can get out...

A Plain Jane's Helpful Tips for Surviving a Bad Economy--Tip #1

2009-12-31T08:35:00.004-07:00

Looking back at this past year, it was pretty rough. As I mentioned in my previous post, with the economy going as badly as it did, we had to learn new habits and do things differently than we ever had to before in order to keep afloat. This got me thinking--I bet if I thought hard enough and got creative, I could come up with some really great ideas for saving money (or at least not spending too much money) during these hard times.....

Tip #1: Don't Buy Windshield Wiper Fluid!
Here in Idaho, during the winter months your car can get extremely dirty. Melted snow mixed with sand put down on the roadways can coat your car and make you look like you've been out off-roading in the desert.
Yesterday as I was driving home from work the late afternoon sun was glaring onto my windshield and making it hard to see with all of the grime that had built up from the morning drive to work. I pulled on the lever to spray windshield wiper fluid & get the wipers in motion....
All I got was a whining noise and dry wipers smearing the dirt across the windshield.
Oh great....
As I was hurdling along the freeway, trying to squint through the hazy glass, I noticed that the snow had melted and the cars were all kicking up copious amounts of fresh water off their back tires. An idea started forming. I looked around and quickly found the biggest jacked-up 4x4 truck on the freeway and jockeyed for position behind it.
(Now this is where it gets tricky...) To pull this off correctly, you need to get close enough to receive the spray from the donor vehicle in front of you without getting close enough to be considered tailgating or put yourself in danger. As soon as the spray hit my windshield I immediately threw the wiper lever into high gear, greedily swiping the water back & forth across the glass. Success!! A sparkly clean windshield and clear vision!
Obviously this won't work all the time--it can only work when there is rain or melted snow on the freeway or roadways. But in a pinch and with the right conditions, you could cut back on your windshield fluid use by at least half!

You can thank me later...

Can It Really Be Six Months Away?

2009-12-27T12:01:00.005-07:00

I took this picture at the end of the evening on Christmas. A boy....his dog.....Christmas tree lights twinkling in the background...makes me a little sad.
I know, strange reaction to such a sweet holiday-spirit type picture. But what makes me a little sad is realizing this is the last time I'll be seeing this Christmas-y scene with my son as a "child". Six months from now he'll be turning 18. That big, magical number that says "that's not your child anymore...now he's a man." (Or at least considered an "adult". I think it takes more than an age to make a man, although I don't doubt my son will seize the opportunity with gusto and prove himself worthy of the title in no time.)
At this point, we're fretting about grades and panicking about whether that cap & gown we ordered for him will actually be used at the end of May. Not that he's not a bright kid....in fact, he's very bright and extremely intelligent. It's just that he picks & chooses what he wants to act intelligently about. Such as a lot of teenagers do. I've recently heard him rattle off information about economics, spending & investing with remarkable knowledge. But ask him the answer to one of his geometry problems and you get a blank stare. He can pick up any music beat after hearing just a few bars, tapping them out on whatever surface is available. But ask him if he turned in his government class assignment and you get a shrug. We opened up his first checking account for him at our credit union as a Christmas gift and I was intrigued to watch him studiously reading over the terms and conditions of the account Christmas morning after opening the box.
If we can just get through these next five months of school okay, then I have no problem seeing him striking out as a new adult. But I can still admit that it will make me a little sad. Because it means he won't be my little boy any more....

Collin showing off his dog, shortly after getting him from the Humane Society.

Cleaning House--New Links!

2009-12-24T11:18:00.003-07:00

It's been awhile....a lot has been going on. Those of you who are close to me know what we've been dealing with for the past several months. My husband had difficulty finding a job when he first moved out here and although he found one in the spring, the work was on & off and he was laid off a couple of times. Because of the work not being steady, he was ineligible for unemployment. Now this latest time he was laid off for the whole winter. He looked for other work and just recently was hired on at a place that makes Bike Lids. During this whole thing, my own hours at work had been dropped down to 4 days a week and still have not gone back to full time. I know, it sounds like a sob story...but it's our story and it's been a rough year.

So.....I'm cleaning house and getting rid of stuff I no longer need/use. I'll be either listing stuff here in the blog itself or putting them in the new links I have on the right side of the page. (Go ahead...check them out!) If you're local and interested in any of these things, just contact me either here or through the listings and we can see about meeting up somewhere so you can buy them. If you're not local and are interested, please still contact me (again through here or the listings) and we can see about making arrangements of some kind. I have Paypal so you can always pay that way & pay for it to be mailed to you.

I'm not trying to turn my blog into some kind of money maker...I still plan on getting off my mental butt and getting back to posting my stories, updates & thoughts. But in times like these, when we're all doing a little worse for wear, we do what we have to do to get the bills caught up. If I have no use for these things, why not let someone else buy them who can get good use out of them, right? Right.

Thanks for listening.

Zucchini Ghost....

2009-11-01T12:23:00.012-07:00

About a month ago, when my garden was starting to die down, I pulled a large overgrown zucchini from it and set it aside. I didn't throw it away, didn't cut it open & cook it, just let it sit. I had a plan for that zucchini....

Years ago I remember seeing an article in a magazine about zucchini ghosts at Halloween. Basically you carve an over-sized zucchini like you would a pumpkin. Well yesterday came & went and I managed to forget all about my zucchini ghost, despite the fact that the zucchini had been sitting on our counter for weeks. (Maybe that's why? I got used to it sitting there and treated it like part of the furniture...)

So this morning as I was cleaning the kitchen, I saw that zucchini sitting there and recalled my forgotten plans. Rather than just toss the poor vegetable, I pulled out the pumpkin carving kit and got to work. (A day late, but better late than never, right?)

First I cut off the "bottom" of the zucchini--the bigger end.

Then I use a long handled spoon to start scooping out the insides, just like a pumpkin.

This is my arm up to almost the elbow in the zucchini....I wonder if this is what it's like to help birth a cow? Ick.....

Here's what it should like like when you get it all cleaned out. You don't want to set fire to your zucchini ghost when you're done...

I started carving the eyes into the zucchini with the cutting tool from the pumpkin carving kit.

The eyes after they've been carved.

Here's the finished zucchini ghost! Light your tealight candle and place the zucchini over it....

And there's your zucchini ghost! I'm imagining a whole porch full of these. :)

I Hate Traffic...

2009-09-03T17:32:00.003-06:00

At my old job, I had a wonderful fifteen to twenty minute drive to and from the office every day. I left my house, drove down the street, turned and drove the rest of the way down that one road. It was a road that went past lots of pastures, farms, corn, cows, horses, sheep, goats....you get the picture. Every day I saw the same houses, same herds of cattle, same little ponies growing up into horses. It was awesome and I did it for nine years.

But now I have a new job. I've been there for a little over seven months and the drive is killing me. On a good day it takes about half an hour. On a bad day....well, I think it once took me an hour and a half to get to work. I'm driving the southern Idaho version of the L.A. freeways. Okay, I admit it's only one freeway and a connector. But still, we have traffic jams, accidents, motorcycle cops and all the same things that make big city freeways suck. Now add to this the fact that our freeway has had construction going on for I don't know how many months now. Not a good combination.

I am normally a pretty passive driver, if I am in a nice passive environment like my sweet little road into my old work. (Worst I had to deal with was a farmer on a slow tractor or someone slid off the road in the snow.) But put me in this bumper to bumper defensive driving nightmare and I don't do so well. Today was just one example of the daily incidents I have to endure...

I had just gotten off the connector onto the regular freeway and got into the fast lane to get past the slow merging folks. I was going along at a good clip. Not speeding, mind you, just a healthy 70 in a 65--nothing to sniff at. I was at least going faster than the lane next to me, which is the whole idea of the fast lane. Soon I saw a fast approaching car zoom up behind me and start riding my bumper. Since I was already going faster than the lane next to me and was not only doing the speed limit, but going over it, I decided to stay put. Immediately the woman driving starting flailing her arms around, smacking her palm on the steering wheel and throwing her hands up in the universal gesture for "what the heck?" Although my lip reading isn't it's best, I'm pretty sure "heck" doesn't start with an F.

This continued on for a little bit, with her continuing to ride my bumper, all the while flailing about like she was about to take off into flight. At her first opportunity she darted out from behind me into the lane to our right and started maneuvering around like an Indy 500 driver jockeying for position. I continued on in my lane while watching her jump from lane to lane, gaining a few precious car lengths ahead of me but never making it back to the fast lane. This was about the time the lane she was in slowed down considerably because of the construction-induced merging further up the freeway. Since I drive this route at least five days out of every week, I knew this would be happening, hence the reason I stayed in my fast lane.

Now as I said before, I am a pretty passive driver. I try not to give in to road rage or the silly games that people play on the road to piss other drivers off. So I handled the situation with grace and class......okay.....maybe not. But I did feel a deep satisfaction down in my gut as I grinned from ear to ear and gave her a happy wave as I sailed right past her crawling car in the other lane.

Storing Up For Winter....

2009-08-30T09:39:00.012-06:00

I think that all of us have come to realize that times are not what they used to be. Jobs are more scarce, the economy is crap and prices on things like fresh produce will probably go up this winter when they're not readily in season. This is one of the reasons we decided to plant our garden. Unfortunately it hasn't gone as well as we had hoped, with our corn getting corn smut (I swear it's real, I didn't make it up!), our tomatoes getting blossom end rot and a recent infestation of squash bugs. So although I'm working on saving the tomatoes, zucchini and pumpkin and they may be salvageable, the corn is dead. (That scene in Oklahoma keeps rolling over in my mind...."Poor Jud is deeeeeeaaaaaaad..." Only I hear it as "Our corn is dead." I'm weird that way.)

That's all the more reason why I wanted to start freezing as much of the fresh vegetables as possible. I tried to think of how I would use them and froze them accordingly. For instance, the zucchini I would primarily use in zucchini bread (I'd love at Christmas-time to be able to give beautifully wrapped loaves of yummy zucchini bread to friends). And carrots would either be shredded and used in said zucchini bread or sliced up & put into stews or simmered all day in a crock pot with a roast. Mmmmmmmmmm.....

So that's why I spent several hours yesterday harvesting (sounds so much better than "picking"), washing, peeling, slicing, blanching and freezing carrots. You should see my orange-tinted finger nails... But the end result was worth it. Fourteen cups of sliced carrots and two cups of small whole baby carrots tucked away into our freezer, waiting to be pulled out and cooked on a cold winter day or any other time between now and next summer. Then after the carrots, just for good measure I did the same thing (minus the peeling & slicing of course) to the green beans I had picked from the garden. It was a small amount of green beans, just enough for a side dish with one meal--my husband commented, "That's not going to get us very far." But this was just one harvesting. Green beans grow constantly and as you pick the mature ones, they continually reproduce. So each time I harvest a new batch I'll prepare it & pop it in the freezer.

Here's a little tip, thanks to my mom. (Hi Mom!) A couple of weeks ago I had spent the good part of an afternoon shredding zucchini and carrots for that zucchini bread I was talking about. I knew I was going to be using it zucchini bread and would need to measure out one cup of each for the mix. Not knowing if zucchini & carrots could be frozen together, I called my mom and asked her. She suggested freezing the shredded vegetables in muffin tins (did you know they measure exactly 1/2 cup each?) and then popping those into freezer bags. What an awesome idea! And it worked great! (Thanks Mom!)

I can't help but feel a little smug over knowing I've got things stored away in my freezer so that any time I need a side dish or an addition to a stew I can just pull it out and use it. I keep thinking of all the trips to the grocery store when I can skip past the produce section, knowing I have my own private little produce section waiting at home in my freezer. Things haven't gotten bad enough (yet) in our world that this is an absolute necessity. I can only imagine back in the pioneer days when food harvested during the summer and fall had to sustain a whole family throughout winter. I can imagine long hours out in the fields (no tiny gardens for the pioneers!) in fall, looking for those last remnants of the veggies that are going to nourish your family when you're snowed in and can't get to town. (Sorry, I appear to be channeling my inner Laura Ingalls....) But there is definite satisfaction in knowing we will save money during these tough times by storing up our own food. And just wait until we get our pork and beef in the freezer...I'll be over the moon. :)

Pickles!!

2009-08-09T09:42:00.014-06:00

A couple of weekends ago I picked cucumbers and ended up with about 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket. Only one thing can be done when you end up with that much....start pickling! I claimed a whole day to be "The Great Pickle Day" and planned to spend all day working on it. My mother had sent me a bread & butter pickle recipe and I couldn't wait to use it. Here's a basic run down of how it went...

First of course, I washed all of the cucumbers & set them out on a rack to dry. The recipe calls for about 6 pounds of cucumbers.

When the cucumbers were dry, I sliced them up. (The recipe was called "cross-cut pickle slices" so I went with that. And I've only ever eaten bread & butter pickles in slices so I wanted to go with something I knew.) But you could slice them however you wanted, or I'm sure if they were very tiny you could pickle them whole.

Next I sliced up enough onions to make 1 1/2 cups and peeled 2 large garlic cloves. Those went into the pot with the sliced cucumbers.

Then I added 1/3 cup of pickling salt & mixed it all together to coat all of the cucumbers. The recipe then calls for covering this mixture with approximately 2 trays of cubed or crushed ice and letting it sit for 3 hours. When the 3 hours was over, I removed the remaining ice, drained the pot and took out the 2 garlic cloves.

Before I started with the next step of preparing the pickles, I wanted to start heating my pint jars. This can be done in a water bath, but since I already had a lot of stuff happening on top of my stove, I went with a recommendation I got from our local extension office. I put the jars on a cookie sheet and heated them in a 180 degree oven. I had already sanitized the jars & lids in the dishwasher so this was an acceptable way to get the jars heated without getting them wet again and taking up more space on top of my stove. DON'T leave out this step though, however you decide to do it!! If the jars are not heated before you put the hot pickle mixture in, they can crack or shatter.

So then I got back to my cucumbers...it was time to add the flavor! I combined 4 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of Turmeric, 1 1/2 teaspoons of celery seed, 2 tablespoons of mustard seed and 3 cups of white vinegar. This was heated just to boiling and then I added the cucumber slices & onion to the pot and heated for about 5 minutes.

This hot pickle mixture was then ladled into the hot pint jars, one at at time, keeping the other jars in the oven until I was ready to use the next one to ensure they were kept hot. I loosely packed the hot pickles into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch of room on top. (Again, a very important step. Headspace must be left at the top of each jar--and each type of recipe has it's own measurement--to make sure it will seal properly in the end.) After wiping the tops to remove any liquid and removing air bubbles (oops, another important step--remove the air bubbles!! DO IT!!), put a lid and ring on each jar and seal tightly.

Next, each jar was set into the hot water bath for 5 minutes. (The time is not started until the water starts boiling again after all jars are in the water.) Here's another important part--the jars must have 1 - 2 inches of water above them for them to process properly and get a good seal.

When the jars are done processing, wipe them down to remove any residue and remove the jars to a cooling rack.

This was where my paranoia set in...I tightened any loose rings and stood there staring at my jars, wondering if they were processed right. What if I didn't do it right and anyone who eats them gets terribly sick? How do I know if they processed properly?
I was in the middle of processing my 7th jar of pickles (my canning pot only holds 6) when I heard it. A soft little metallic-like "pop" from the direction of my pickle jars. I quickly turned my head, like I thought I would catch something actually happening. No, nothing going on over there. I went back to processing that last jar when I heard it again..."pop"....This time I decided to investigate a little further and went to check out my jars. What if they were cracking or something? That's when I noticed two of the lids were just slightly different in appearance than the others. (Yes, "One of these things is not like the other" from Sesame Street actually sang it's way through my head for a moment.)
I went to my computer, logging in to the wealth of information on the internet, searching for a hint of what was going on. Aha! Remember that "headspace" I mentioned earlier? This was the reason for it! When the pickles start to cool, it forms a vacuum seal which causes the lid to pull down & flatten, hence the "pop" I was hearing. I was so excited to know I had done it right and wasn't going to kill my family with botulism.

After your jars have cooled for about 24 hours, you can test the seal. (The canning book I have doesn't recommend testing a seal until at least 24 hours after just to be safe but I've heard other say they test them sooner.)
"The best method for testing a seal is to press the center of the lid to determine if it is concave; then remove the band and gently try to life the lid off with your fingertips. If the center does not flex up and down and you cannot lift the lid off, the lid has a good vacuum seal."

That was over a week ago and this weekend I opened one of the jars and tried some bread and butter pickles. Wow, they're really good! My son tried them and agreed, which really means something since teenagers are some of the pickiest eaters on the planet...

They're Always Our Babies...

2009-08-04T17:06:00.005-06:00

Our kids--even when they're grown & too big to hold and don't hardly fit on the couch or the bed--are always our babies.....especially when they're sleeping. No matter what they do when they're awake, or how crazy they drive us, it seems that when they're lying there sleeping (just like when they're babies) they look so innocent & sweet. You want to sit down & cuddle them (even know you KNOW that would never be allowed if they were awake.) I wonder if I'll still be feeling this way when HE'S 41 and I'm 65......Does that ever go away?

August Already? Time for an Update!!

2009-08-01T08:48:00.016-06:00

Well, August is upon us today and with the beginning of a new month the guilt sets in that I haven't been keeping up on my blog again. I may have to do like my niece Jenna and do a long update post to get you all (and by "all" I mean those 2 or 3 readers out there) updated...

PIGS

As of today's date, we are down to one pig, Brillo.

Collin & Trevor did an awesome job at the Canyon County Fair. Collin's pig Wallace won 4th in his class for Market and Trevor's pig Spunky got 2nd in his class for Market. The next day was Showmanship, which judges the kids on how well they show their pigs and how much control they have over them. Neither one of them placed in that part of it...we discovered just how unpredictable & stubborn pigs can be.

Overall though they were great and it was good to see them really pitching in and helping out their other club members when it came time for things like cleaning pens, feeding & watering and washing the pigs.

The morning of the first day of the fair, when we were loading up the pigs, the boys reiterated (as they had done for months previously) how much they hated the pigs and they didn't ever want to do this again. However, by the end of the first day at the fair, Collin was already talking about his plans for next year. It's amazing how just being at the fair and participating in the events can really encourage them to keep doing it. They made some good friends (or became better friends with the ones they already met through 4H) and had a great time hanging around with the rest of their club members during off hours at the fair.

GARDEN

Mixed feelings about the garden...on one hand some of it is growing by leaps & bounds. On the other hand, we're having trouble with other parts of it. We had a very hot spell the last couple of weeks and although we've done our best to keep it sufficiently watered, the corn seems to be drying out. Also some of the cucumber plants have gotten some kind of wilt or something. But I'm hoping to keep it from spreading to the rest of them. Of course, the zucchini is growing wild and we can hardly keep up with keeping all of it picked. Some of those little suckers hide under the big leaves and we don't find them until they've grown to monster zucchini proportion. I'm thrilled that our watermelon is doing well...the other night my husband counted all of the watermelon fruit currently growing and there are 22. Yes....22. We're keeping a close watch on the pumpkin patch, hoping to see the small pumpkins start swelling & ripening in time for Halloween. We have about 2 1/2 months until people will want pumpkins for the Halloween season.

Some people have asked us why we planted such a big garden...after all, there are only four of us in our family and the boys don't eat much in the way of some of the vegetables we're growing. But my husband and I decided before we planted the garden that we wanted to have enough to share. We want to share with our friends who have all helped us in their own ways over the past year. And whatever we have in abundance after we have shared with our friends we plan on sharing with a local food bank.

When I was a single mom, back when my son was just a toddler, we belonged to a church that had a food bank program. As a single mom, I was asked if I wanted to participate and I'm so glad I said yes. I would take Collin with me to the food bank and we would walk through the room with our grocery bags, picking out the fresh veggies & fruits (along with canned & boxed goods) that came from local farmers in the Camarillo area. This is my way of giving back what was given to my son & I when we needed it most. I only hope that I can help others as much as they helped us.

Evolution of a Garden...

2009-07-07T20:12:00.011-06:00

Tonight when I went out for my nightly perusal of our garden, I was amazed at how much it has changed in just over a month or so. The plants are seeming to explode in size overnight. Some of our rows didn't grow as we had planned--either the birds got the seeds or, well...all I can think of is that the birds got the seeds. But I'm still happy at how the rows have turned out for the most part.

I was going to just post a current picture but I think it's much more of a visual effect if I start at the beginning...

This is the garden on 5/18/09. We had just gotten done with some major planting of seeds. Pretty much all dirt with nothing even thinking of sprouting yet.

This is our garden on 6/7/09, just one month ago today. The corn was coming along, the cucumbers & beans were sprouting, but there was still a LOT of dirt.

Forward to 6/26/09 and things are definitely looking different! My son Collin built a "fence" for me for the cucumbers and everything is really taking off.

And here we are today! First photo is standing in the middle looking left. Second photo is looking right. Corn is above knee-high, most of the tomato plants are in cages, the broccoli is FINALLY starting to form in the middle, zucchini is going nuts and watermelon is sprawling out. (There's more than that growing but you get the idea...)

Every day I'm excited to go out into the garden and see what else I find growing. I'm finding vegetables peeking out from under leaves and vines everywhere. Sometimes I find something that looks like it's been growing for awhile and I like to think it hid there for awhile just to surprise me when I least expect it.
I'll keep you posted...

That's a Lot of Bacon!

2009-06-12T08:07:00.005-06:00

Remember this post back in March? Those three cute little piggies we got for the boys to raise for 4H? Just for reference, here they were back in the beginning of April:

Well they've grown just a little...Here is a picture I took just about a week or so ago:

We haven't been able to weigh them and I'm so bad at guessing things like weights and measurements that I'm not going to even attempt to say how big they are. All I know is they pack a lot of power behind them if you get in the way of their food.

Speaking of weighing them, we made an attempt several weeks ago to do this. We were supposed to load up the pigs and take them to a butcher to have them weighed. The whole 4H group showed up but to our dismay the butcher didn't make it so no one could get in to get them weighed. This was unfortunate because it was a very hot day and we don't have an actual livestock trailer.

Whenever we have to transport the pigs, we have to use Randy's cargo trailer. We tried our best to make the pigs comfortable (pigs don't do well in heat at ALL) by opening the vent on top of the trailer and buying several blocks of ice to keep inside the trailer with them to keep them as cooled down as possible.

After the failed attempt at weigh in, Randy & the boys arrived back at home and Randy backed the trailer up to the pig pen area. We opened up the back doors of the trailer and this was the first thing we saw:

I love how he had his butt propped up on the ice block. It did kind of scare us though because he wouldn't move at all and Randy had to kind of shove him out the trailer and he basically just fell on the ground and didn't move at first. We thought for sure we had killed him. But after a short moment he got up on his feet and ran into the pen, so all was well.

Actually, looking at this picture now, it is an even better example of how big the pigs have gotten because you can see Randy's legs in the background for comparison and can see that the pigs body lays across more than half (probably about 3/4) of the trailer width. I told you they were getting big....

Tis the Season.....

2009-06-07T18:20:00.005-06:00

...for planting & growing!

This morning I started off "prettying up the place". Randy had volunteered for security detail at a speaking engagement a couple of weeks ago and at the end of the night they gave him a bunch of the plants they had used to decorate. Yesterday I remembered that Randy had brought a large planting pot with him when he moved out here so we got some potting soil and first thing today I got it planted with some of those plants we had. When I was done we still had quite a few left so I decided to put them out in the front flower beds to add some color. I believe that in this zone these plants are considered annuals so they won't come back next year--but for now they add a nice splash to the beds and our front porch. The colors are all red, white and blue so when Fourth of July comes around we'll look very patriotic, lol.

Our garden is really finally taking off, after a few false starts. But I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out. You can't really tell in this picture but almost everything is up & growing. The five rows on the right are all corn which is growing the fastest. Throughout the rest of the garden is garlic, spinach, peppers, broccoli, green beans, cucumbers, watermelon, zucchini, carrots, leaf lettuce and iceberg lettuce. (I may be forgetting something...) We ended up not having enough room for the pumpkins so we had to spend today tilling 4 more rows for them. (You can see Randy starting that to the left of the garden in the picture.) We managed to get them all planted before the rain started this afternoon. The rain we've gotten lately has been a great help because it's cut back on the watering we've had to do this week. I'll keep you all updated on the garden progress as time goes by...

And It Just Keeps Coming...

2009-05-15T07:57:00.003-06:00

Have you ever been woken up at 4:45 a.m. by someone pounding on your door & ringing the doorbell? It's not fun. That happened to us this morning and when my husband went to check on who it was, there was a cop standing at our door. That's enough to give anyone a heart attack in the wee hours of the morning.
It turns out someone's horses got loose (two of them) and the police assumed that since we had a pasture with an open gate, they belonged to us. The truth is no, we don't own any horses (which we told the policeman) and we only keep the gate open because my husband parks his truck behind the house. But even after we told the officer that they weren't ours, they just said, "Well we put them in your pasture and secured your gate. You'll probably be getting a call from someone later." Then he promptly left. Um......they're NOT our horses!
So later this morning, once the sun had come up, we made the unfortunate discovery that these horses had trampled through our garden. Yeah, the one I'm having trouble with anyway. Those few precious tomato & pepper plants that survived have now been trampled under horse hooves. Really? Is there anything else fate would like to do to our garden?

On an up-note, we got a call from our neighbor last night--the neighbor who we've been getting the pig feed from and who arranged for us to get these pigs. He said that if we sell the pigs now, we'd lose our shirts so he made a deal with us. He is going to supply us with our pig feed at no cost for now and then when the pigs are sold and we receive our checks, we can pay him back for the feed then. I'm so glad we have nice neighbors! I think people are really pulling through & rallying with their neighbors during these tough times. Like bringing over tamales for no reason like our next door neighbors did the other night or what Hobie is doing by working with us so we can keep the pigs. This is why I love where we live.

How Does Your Garden Grow?....(not so well actually.)

2009-05-14T17:34:00.003-06:00

Okay I don't know how my sister does it... She has had a really awesome garden for years now and from what I understand they're expanding and planting even more gardens. They plan to sell a lot of what they grow at their local farmer's market in West Virginia. I've done small gardens before but have usually bought plants & planted them directly to the garden. This year I wanted to save money so we bought all seeds and I started some of them indoors to give them a head start. This past weekend we transplanted all of the plants grown indoors. But soon after we planted them we had a late frost warning two nights in a row. I ran to the store and got some plastic cups to put over them for protection and just today took them off to see how they did. Yeah...not so great. I lost all but 2 or 3 of my pepper plants and only about 1/5 of our tomato plants made it. Oh and the onions I planted also didn't make it either. It's SO disappointing because now we have to start over from scratch. It's already the middle of May and my huge garden hardly has anything in it. I honestly feel like giving up. We wanted so badly to have a big garden so we could give back to friends & the community (through a local foodbank) and now it looks like we may not even have enough just for us!

Then to make matters worse, today my husband made the decision to start looking for someone to buy our pigs. These were the pigs we bought at the urging of a friend so the boys could do a 4H project and sell them for profit at the end. The problem is you don't see any of the profit until the end of summer. It's only May and we've already spent about $250 per pig (including purchase cost, food, etc.) You see these are "show pigs" so we've been told we can't just feed them slop. If we could, we'd be doing okay. But these pigs have to be fed grain and believe me they eat a LOT. The problem is that with me only working 4 days a week now and Randy still not being able to find a job, how are we supposed to feed pigs with expensive feed?

I don't know, it's just incredibly frustrating to have everything falling apart like this. No garden, no pigs, no jobs.... I've been trying so hard lately to think of something I can do for extra money right now. I mentioned before about the talents of my mom & sister. I watch shows where people have started their own businesses with just their God given talents. I just feel like I don't have anything I can do that is worth making extra money. It's kind of depressing actually. This is supposed to be the start of a "better life" for me and instead with all of the economy problems and things that keep happening, it just seems like things are getting worse instead. I'm sure my ex will call it karma or something. If anyone has any good suggestions, I'd love to hear them...

It's Mother's Day...

2009-05-10T08:26:00.005-06:00

As usual, it's been way too long since I wrote anything on here. As I'm sitting here at my computer this morning, with some quiet time of reflection to myself, (Randy is asleep, Collin is at his dad's as usual and Trevor stayed the night at a friend's) I felt inspired to write some things down. (I'll warn you, this may be more of a "serious" post today...)

My mom:
As I look back over the years, I can't help but compare my life to my mom's. In fact, my ex-husband, in one of his moments of nastiness, tried to "insult" me by saying that I was "just like my mom" and had "followed her path". He said it because I decided to divorce him right around the time Collin was 15 years old. My own mother divorced my father when I was just a few months from turning 15. So I suppose some people may agree with him and say I'm following my mother's pattern. When I think of him saying that, I smile. I mean it's not like I said, "Hey this is the time my mom divorced my dad, it's high time I got cracking and got in step with the plan!" Things just happen in life, that's all.
But the reason I smile is because I think my mom is a very strong woman and has been through a lot in her life. I WISH I was more like my mom. She says what she wants and doesn't worry about what other people think, like I do. She is so incredibly talented too. She makes the most beautiful quilts. The other day I got out a book she had given me on quilting and tried to read through it. But to my brain it was like reading a foreign magazine. And the fact that quilting is so math-oriented is way too much for my non-mathematical mind. When I was growing up she was always trying something new... She sewed, made cakes, painted, gardened, made leaded glass creations and even learned how to do body work on a 1966 Mustang (my first car)! I've tried to learn different things too, but the difference with my mom is she was good at everything she did. She'd learn something and then attack it with full gusto. I try new things and when they don't turn out right I just give up, the failed attempts either thrown away or tucked away in some closet somewhere out of sight.
All I can hope is that someday I'll find my niche like my mom and be even more like her. A talented, smart, strong woman.

On being a mom:
It's kind of tough to write on Mother's Day when my own son isn't living at home right now. I won't go into the personal details because they're just too...well...personal. But those of you who are close to me know about it so I don't need to explain. The toughest part in this is that you try so hard to always do the right thing and even when you do what you believe is right others don't see it the same as you. Everyone keeps telling me that he will get over it eventually and as an adult will most likely look back and realize I had good reasons for everything I have done. But right now it's difficult to sit back and be patient and wait for that time. I spent time yesterday with some friends, one of them who is currently a single parent of a 4 year old boy. Watching the interaction between them brought back SO many memories of times together with Collin and I'll admit it was a little hard. I want that boy back who thinks the world of me; who wants to be around me all the time; who shares private jokes with me that only the two of us get. I guess for now I'd settle for him just wanting to be live here again...

Whew, okay...let's shake that off now and get a little humor back into this thing!

Here is a link to a great entry the other day on Cake Wrecks: Multiple Choices for Mom
(The cakes my mom made were WAY better than that) ;)

Sharing the Love....

2009-03-31T08:36:00.004-06:00

My niece Jenna had this posted in her blog and I was lucky number three in her comments. I decided to do this for two reasons:

#1 No one hardly ever comments on my blog. (sniff, sniff)

#2 I'm not especially talented but it sounded like something fun to do.

So here goes...

The first three people to leave a comment will receive a hand made gift by me. There is a catch however, you must do the same thing on your blog. Come on everyone lets spread some love!

Disclaimer: I have never claimed to be talented, so please don't expect an extravagantly hand made gift...might just be something simple. But it's made with love. :)

Is it Spring Yet??

2009-03-28T17:26:00.005-06:00

According to the calendar it's spring... According to the weather it's not. Regardless of that, we are pushing forward and trying to do "spring-like things" around here. It just feels natural to be tilling, trimming, planting, feeding... All of those things that need to be done to start all kinds of new plant/animal life.

The boys are starting a new project--a 4H project to be exact. They are raising pigs! This is completely new for all of is, so it's a learning experience all around. But with the help from our neighbor, Hobie, who does this every year, I'm sure we'll do just fine. Randy built a great pen for them out in the existing stalls and brought in some straw to make them comfortable. I'll keep you posted as things progress...

Another thing we're working on is a garden. My sister is a total inspiration to me because of the big beautiful garden she has out on her farm in West Virginia. I've always loved gardens and thankfully Randy loves them just as much as I do. So much in fact that he's planning a HUGE garden for us this year. He and Trevor have been out there tilling for weeks now, going over and over it to make the ground nice & soft. They're getting very close to the end of it and I can't wait until we get to start planting! Randy wanted to do a really big garden so that whatever we don't use, we can give to friends and one of the local food banks.

P.S.A. of the Day...

2009-03-13T08:11:00.001-06:00

When one tries to put others down by saying spiteful things about them to their friends, it only makes one look like a real ass and shows others one's true colors.

You know who you are.....

"Free" Weekend...

2009-02-22T15:27:00.005-07:00

In light of the recent economy, I've been trying to come up with ways to have fun without spending a lot of money. So this weekend I tried to have a relatively "free" weekend. Here's what I managed for free:

Saturday

I had offered to record the work at my job on Saturday because the owner, who usually does it, was out of town. It only took me about 10 - 15 minutes but I was being paid an hour of overtime...so it was kind of like free pay for part of my time...
I stopped by the dealership where I bought my car and picked up my free car wash coupon. You can pick one up every Saturday and it's good for the week. I went and got my car washed.
The place that has the car wash offered me a free bag of popcorn when I went in to turn my coupon in. Free snack! (Which was good because I hadn't had breakfast & my stomach was starting to growl a little.)
Went to the mall because I had a coupon for a free Victoria's Secret lotion through Deal Seeking Mom. It's a pretty damn awesome website, if you've never checked it out. Sure, it was only a 1 oz. sample of lotion, but just knowing you walked out of Victoria's Secret with something for free can make you feel pretty smug.
I swung by R.C. Willey to check out what they had there because I got a $50 gift card in the mail a little while ago as part of a rebate program for the washer & dryer I had bought. I didn't find anything that I just had to have (for $50 or less) that would have been free because of the gift card. But they were doing some promotion where if you turned on your phone's bluetooth capability to discovery mode you would get a message about a special. I tried it and was offered either golf balls or a pink umbrella. I'm not a golfer so I opted for the pink umbrella. It was actually a very large one that looked pretty sturdy. Randy said I definitely won't get lost in a crowd with it. :)
I stopped by the car dealer a second time because I had forgotten to ask about a problem with my car. I had the oil changed previously by someone other than the dealer & they couldn't get my little "service" light to reset. The guy in the service department said they don't normally reset those unless you get your car serviced there. But he said he would do it "this time". Okay, not a big deal, but sort of a free service, right?
On the way home I stopped by the library because really what is a library but a place to get free books? Granted, you don't get to keep them, but still being able to read a newly released book without paying an ungodly amount for it is pretty cool.
Stopped at the McDonald's before finally coming home because Collin had gotten a large soda that had a coupon on it for a free Redbox rental. Used the code, picked out the movie the boys wanted to see & drove home, content with myself for getting a free movie. Take that Netflix!

Sunday

Decided that despite the slight drop in temperature from the day before and the wind blowing, I would take Randy & Trevor to the M.K. Nature Center because they'd never been before. This is a pretty awesome place to visit and doesn't cost anything to get in (although there is a place at the counter inside the learning center where you can make a donation if you want to.) Lots of fish, ducks, pretty scenery and even a beaver (although we didn't see him in person, but we did see his handiwork around the are with the fallen trees.)
After a brief trip over to Powell's Sweet Shoppe (okay, TOTALLY not free because we bought some candy, but damn, that place has the most awesome array of candy EVER), we decided to stop & get some late lunch at Friday's. Semi-free because I had a coupon that I got through email for a "buy one get one free entree". So not completely free, but still feels good knowing we didn't pay full price for all the food.

So that's my "free weekend" in a nutshell. I'm sure some people have had much more frugal weekends or got more stuff for free, but I've been kind of inspired by the Deal Seeking Moms website and I'm determined to do more/get more free stuff. Here's to frugality! :)

I'm baaaaack....

2009-02-08T09:10:00.008-07:00

Well, I didn't have as much time for blogging here during my wedding planning as I though. Damn, that crap takes up a lot of time (not to mention sucking the life out of you!) But now I'm back and hope to blog more often again. I wanted to post some pictures, although a lot of my friends who read this also check out my Facebook or Myspace pages and have seen some of these already. But for any of you random people out there who even care what some of my wedding moments looked like, these are for you:

Me getting ready in the upstairs room at Mona Lisa

Me all ready, getting ready to go downstairs to ceremony

Amanda & me outside upstairs room at Mona Lisa
Collin walking me into ceremony

During the ceremony, not sure which part
The kiss...you can't see it in this picture, but Trevor & Collin were bumping knuckles when we kissed

The Peen Park

2009-01-02T17:16:00.002-07:00

In my links, I have a list of other blogs & web sites that I frequent. One of my favorites is the web site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Today when I checked the site there was a story that had me giggling like a 12 year old school girl. Behold, the Peen Park in South Korea. Make sure you click on the link to the Flickr pages that have all the pictures of the park. You'll thank me later.... I can't help but think this would be the most awesome place to take pictures. (I base this on the silly pictures my cruising friends and I have taken around the various ships and islands we've visited.) Now we just have to find a cruise to South Korea...

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.....

2008-12-24T11:08:00.008-07:00

These last couple of weeks we've had snow off & on. I could be wrong, but I want to say that in my 12 years of living here in Idaho, this is the most snowfall (with snow sticking around for awhile) that I've seen in awhile. Yeah, it makes for crappy driving conditions now & then, but when you're at home, with the fireplace blazing and the front curtains open, it's awesome! I checked Weatherbug and it looks like we can count on more, too. Woo hoo!

On another note, I had forgotten to write about our great Christmas Tree cutting trip. This was the first time I've ever cut down a Christmas Tree. The boys thought it sounded like a great idea so after we bought our $10 tag at the Department of Forestry, we took a drive up to Idaho City. After getting to town we checked with some locals on suggestions for where to go. We went up the road a couple of miles to a forestry road and after a few stops finally found "the tree".

Zach and Randy took turns chopping (they wanted to do it the old fashioned way with an axe--no chainsaws for us!) and got it down pretty quickly.

We hauled it back to the truck, drove it home & later cut it down to size to fit our ceiling. Note to others wanting to try this: "Wild" Christmas trees tend to carry most of their bushiness from the branches way at the bottom. So when you cut down to size, the tree looks a lot different than originally thought. But that's okay, we still love our tree because we made the trip to get it ourselves.

The Dress...Sort of...

2008-12-15T12:00:00.007-07:00

Tonight after work I have my "final fitting" on my dress. I can't remember... Did I tell you about the dress? For someone who is doing more of a "budgeted wedding", I can say it is a dream come true. It's really a long story that I won't get into, involving going to a couple of bridal shops and making the mistake of trying on beautiful dresses before looking at the price tags. "Excuse me miss...do you have anything for a lot less that doesn't look like a 7th grade home-ec project?" Behold the sale rack. Some of the stuff on that rack (which was not even as wide as my arms expanded, by the way) was pretty scary. But one dress kept catching my eye, even though it was white.

You see, I thought that the bridal police would come hunt me down if I tried on anything in white. "Ma'am...I'm sorry....You are neither virginal nor chaste, so we'll have to ask you to remove that dress and come with us." It's my second wedding and I thought it was a MAJOR faux pas to wear white. But I'm finding out from a lot of different sources that nowadays the color of the dress really doesn't matter, whether it's your first, second, or fifth wedding. (Okay, I really don't know anyone who has been married five times but that just sounded good...) In fact, they say that wearing a white dress can represent a "fresh start" or "new beginning". So after trying it on I realized I really could picture myself wearing that on my wedding day. The great thing about the dress? It was clearanced out & marked down to $99. Woo hoo! I've seen "Say Yes to the Dress" and let me tell you I feel like that was a major score. No $7,000 dress for me, thanks!
Obviously I don't want to share pictures of the dress itself, since there's the remote chance Randy may decide to read my blog sometime between now & the wedding.

Plus since some of you who are reading this are invited to the wedding, I don't want to spoil that first look. I want my guests to be surprised too, not just Randy.

So I've decided to do a little "teaser" for you all. Just a few random shots of bits & pieces of my dress for your viewing pleasure. (And if you can figure out what my dress looks like from this little snippets, then you're a wedding dress savant...at least in my eyes.)

Wedding Web Sites

2008-12-11T09:47:00.010-07:00

After I posted yesterday, I looked at it again and decided I really liked that little graphic at the bottom. I think maybe I should use that in all future wedding posts...kind of as a "warning" that the post is wedding related. That way, for those of you who aren't into the wedding thing can skip past and look for something non-wedding related. Yeah, like I'll post anything non-wedding related anytime soon... (smirk) Too late! You're all in my evil wedding-related clutches now! Mwuhahahahahaahahahahahaaaaaaaa.......

Okay, that sounded a lot more dramatic (and evil) in my head.

It may seem a little strange that a 40 year old woman on her second marriage is getting so into the whole wedding planning thing. I blame it on the internet. Yes, the internet. Do you know how many wedding related web sites there are out there? Especially ones with message boards where you can talk to other brides-to-be and get opinions, advice, suggestions....snark. It sucks you in, I swear.

One of the more popular things these days is DIY. Yes, as in "Do It Yourself". I'll admit I bought my wedding invitations at a craft store and printed them myself, then spent a whole night meticulously peeling & sticking little adhesive dots & aligning ribbon. But some of these brides are SERIOUS DIY'ers. They make their own aisle runners, place cards, card boxes, veils, hair pieces, invitations, favors, candle holders, bouquets, centerpieces...you get the idea. It all sounds very inspiring, but do I have the time (not to mention the energy) to do all of this? And boy, do some of these girls make you feel guilty if you aren't doing all of the extra little details. It can drive a person crazy. My favorite quote is from one of the ladies over on the "Second Weddings" board on The Knot:

"And every day there's a new post in which Suzy Homemaker bride is DIY'ing her hand monogrammed napkin rings made from all the movie tickets she and her fiance have ever seen together with the couples' reviews of the movies typed, laminated and tucked inside with gold plated embossed signature logos on them!!!"

And the acronyms? FI, FMIL, RD, BM, MOH, GM, WC, STD... (Anyone care to guess what all of those mean? Go ahead, I dare you. Leave your guesses in the comments.) Do you know how frightening it was to go on a wedding web site and see all of these women posting messages about whether or not they should do STD's??! Yikes!

What I'm learning mostly is this....it's our wedding. If we choose to thumb our noses at tradition and have our wedding in a really cool restaurant instead of a 100 year old cathedral church or at the hottest country club, so be it. If I think sunflowers would look awesome at a wedding, regardless of the fact that it will be winter and 31 degrees outside, who cares? What?!! I'm not having a Maid of Honor and he's not having a Best Man?? And we're not having an exactly matching number of bridesmaids and groomsmen?? Pfffffft! Another great quote from one of the gals on the "Second Weddings" board, and kind of a motto for everyone there: "Do what makes your heart happy." Yeah....my heart is pretty damn happy....

We interrupt your normally scheduled program...

2008-12-10T10:10:00.006-07:00

Yes, it's been awhile...I think I blogged enough during that 30 day thing to make up for the rest of the year, lol. But the real reason I haven't blogged lately is because I've been pretty busy. Changes abound in our household! Here's the latest update...most of you know all of this already, but I'm just putting it all out there to get everyone up to speed. If you have to ask, you probably don't know me that well:

Randy is now living in Idaho. He made it out here in November with his oldest son Zach in tow, who wanted to "start over" away from the lifestyle he had gotten used to out in North Carolina. His younger son, Trevor, was living with Collin & I already so he could start school at the beginning of the year and not have to transfer to a new school in the middle of the semester. So now our household consists of myself, Randy, Collin (16), Zach (18), Trevor (15), my two dogs Rowdy & Zoe, and Randy's dog Roxie. Oh...and let's not forget the cow.... So my life has been busy getting everyone all settled in, rearranging rooms, making room for everyone's storage, getting used to new routines, etc.

(Trevor, Zach & Randy on the night Randy & Zach arrived)

Another reason my life has been busy lately is because now that Randy is out here, we've decided to get married. People will have their opinions, and I say let them have them. I'm 40 years old, I know what I want out of life, and I'm done playing dating games. Actually that pretty much goes for both of us...except that Randy is 39, not 40. (He's quick to remind me, lol.) We're both very happy, our kids are happy (or as happy as teenagers can be) and everyone gets along (for now.) Sure, with 3 boys in the house between the ages of 15 & 18 there's going to be testosterone overload now & then. I'm learning to deal with it. We've made sure we keep the lines of communication open and not let things fester. We plan to have "family meetings" on a regular basis (once a week of possible, maybe twice a month more realistically) so everyone can air out their opinions, etc. and we can get everyone's schedules coordinated.("The boys" relaxing out on a fence in the pasture)

All this brings me to a warning...if you don't want to hear the mad ravings of a 40 year old bride-to-be who is planning a wedding that's rapidly approaching and dealing with venues, officiants, florists, bakers, family, teenagers and a fiance....you might want to turn this channel off for awhile. Because this is pretty much going to turn into the wedding channel for the next couple of months. Don't get me wrong--I'm no Bridezilla...but having to plan something like this can make any sane person a little temporary insane. I welcome opinions, suggestions, help, etc. and would love to hear from anyone who wants to chime in on any of my wedding subjects.
You've been warned...

The Relay Begins...

2008-11-12T13:21:00.002-07:00

From the official 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games website:

"On 12 November 2008, the Special Olympics Flame of Hope will be lit in Athens, Greece to commence a three-month journey across five continents to delivering hope, courage and inspiration to Special Olympics athletes worldwide.

The flame will stop in 10 cities around the world and transported more than 60,000 kilometers (37,000 miles) by DHL, the Official Transporter of the Flame of Hope for the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. At each stop the Flame will be carried by teams of law enforcement personnel, Special Olympic athletes and volunteers.

On 28 January 2009 the Flame of Hope will reach Idaho, USA, and begin the Final Leg of the Global Law Enforcement Torch Run. It will reach Boise, Idaho on 7 February 2009 and be used to light the Cauldron to mark the official beginning of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games."

People may think I'm weird, but I am so proud that Idaho is hosting these world games. Boise and the surrounding area will be host to approximately 2,800 athletes, coaches & delegates from 100 countries. Yeah, it's not the regular Olympics, but these athletes train just as hard, if not harder, just to play in these games.

It's kind of soft spot in my heart because when I was young (I think around 10 or so) my mother signed up herself, me and my sister to volunteer with the Special Olympics being held at that time in Long Beach. I don't remember if it was regional games or what, but it was pretty big. During the opening ceremonies, when we were marching around the Millikan High School track with the athletes, the excitement was contagious. I remember an athlete who was probably high school age and the two of us talked the entire time we were marching around that track, about cartoons. At my age, I thought it was the coolest thing that this older person knew SO much about cartoons, lol. I also remember how loud everyone clapped & cheered when the races/competitions were over. It didn't matter if an athlete was a winner or the last one to cross the finish line--everyone clapped just as loudly for every one of them.

To this day, I'm glad my mom signed us up for that. It taught me humility and tolerance. When other kids at school made fun of kids who were mentally challenged, I didn't join in. Because I had seen these athletes and knew they were awesome competitors in everything they did & put forth more effort than a lot of people I knew.

Let the relay begin!!

Possibly one of the cutest tattoos EVER!!

2008-10-14T13:15:00.002-06:00

I ran across this on the Cute Overload blog and almost "squeeeed" out loud when I saw it! Brought back memories of being a kid and the anticipation building as I neared the end of a dot-to-dot puzzle. Guessing all along what it was and usually being right when I finished, lol. The really good ones kept you guessing though...

Did you NOT see the big door in the mirror??

2008-10-09T14:24:00.002-06:00

Alas, my poor Scarlett has had her first mishap...and it wasn't even with me behind the wheel! My darling son (said in a sickeningly sweet way to try to override the urge to choke the living daylights out of him) borrowed my car last night so that he & Trevor could get out of the house for a little while and give me some down time to watch a movie & relax.
I had just sat down in the living room when I heard an odd thud noise from the garage. I knew it couldn't be good. I rushed out to the garage to see Collin looking very surprised and the garage door partway open. He pulled forward as I opened the garage door. When I made my way to the back of my car, (Collin saying the entire time "I swear it had opened!") I saw a lot of white paint from the garage on the back of the car right around the handle to open the back upper hatch. I immediately unleashed a tirade on my son and asked how he could manage to back into the garage door. He tried to explain that it was totally an accident (DUH) and that he swore the door was open. He said he was looking in the rear view mirror when he backed out. I yelled at him, "Didn't you see the big garage door looming in the mirror when you looked in it??!!" He claims he didn't. (I'm actually wondering if he was looking in one of the side mirrors and from that lower vantage point the door looked open.)
He's actually lucky that I didn't take a really good look at it until this morning after I got to work and it was light outside. Because underneath that paint (and probably scratches) was a nice sized dent. Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh!!!!

You can tell where the dent is by the way the reflection of the ground looks like there's a big hill behind me. That should be a straight line. Anyone know a good body shop guy? A cheap one?

And speaking of cows....

2008-09-30T15:04:00.002-06:00

This is the epitome of crazy...

Woman in Cincinnati, Ohio arrested in cow suit. No, seriously. And what do they mean "It is not clear why the woman was wearing the costume." Find out, damnit! Isn't that their job? To find out these things and report back to us?

Something even my son (who beatboxes) can get into...

2008-09-26T13:46:00.003-06:00

Damn...so close to the end of the month, yet I just can't keep it up. There are some days when you just don't feel like it. Like when you've had a couple of stress-filled days in a row, involving stolen iPods, the county Sheriff & stupid teenagers. (sigh)

So to cleanse our pallet, here is something I happened upon totally be accident while surfing through Youtube. It is the day for Friday Videos, after all!

In my opinion, this is pretty damn cool. Something I've never seen before. If you search Youtube, you'll find other songs he's done, such as Sesame Street and the Inspector Gadget theme. One of my favorites believe it or not happens to be the Peter & the Wolf theme, simply because it reminds me of my dad. When I was little my dad had this huge collection of records. Yes, big vinyl records that played on his "hi fi" stereo in his den. If we were really good, he would let us sit quietly in his den and listen to some of them. He had a lot of Broadway musicals & classical music, along with some of the old big bands. I remember sitting and listening to Peter & the Wolf and closing my eyes, trying to identify all of the characters in the story through their specific music. Here's Greg Patillo's version if you want to give it a listen:

P.S. He also has a version of Flight of the Bumblebee that is pretty cool too. I don't know how he does it without passing out!

Finally!!

2008-09-23T21:49:00.003-06:00

I just realized that I never updated you (probably all two of you who are reading this) about what happened with my phone. I went in to Verizon and ended up explaining the whole spiel to one of the sales guys there. He said he had never seen a charger pull out the charging slot before. Lucky me! I'm the first! He went & got yet ANOTHER replacement phone and proceeded to get it set up. During this process, the manager came over (the one who helped me originally) and started apologizing about all of the trouble I've been having. He took over & got the phone all set up and tested all of the things that had gone wrong previously to make sure this one would work. He also told me that if ANYTHING else goes wrong to come in and they will do whatever it takes to "take care of me". So now I have a phone that works and a charger that works and all is right with the world.

And remind me never to eat at this place...

2008-09-22T14:51:00.001-06:00

more the engrish!

Um.....ew.

Star Spangled...never mind.

2008-09-22T14:44:00.003-06:00

(Hopefully you can hear this over my not-so-muffled giggles here at my desk....)

And yes, I could have saved this for my Friday videos...but for some reason it perked up my Monday. Sadistic, I know. But still funny.

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled program...

2008-09-21T20:38:00.001-06:00

Raging headache...feel like I'm gonna puke...be back tomorrow....

In this day and age??

2008-09-20T22:02:00.003-06:00

Hockey season has officially begun--Collin played his first game tonight. They lost, but they played hard. Their poor goalie was playing with a pulled tricep muscle and they eventually had to switch him out for the goalie who will be playing for the varsity team & didn't have his goalie leg pads with him. All in all though, after the kids spend the first half of the game learning to gel with each other, they played a hard game.
But unfortunately, tonight's blog is about something else that happened in the game. At one point, Collin's stick got hung up on a player on the other team. Collin tried to get his stick free but the kid clamped his arm down onto it and refused to give it up. So of course the referee saw this and called a penalty on Collin for hooking. (And yes, I know sometimes the kids really do hook but I knew this wasn't really hooking this time. The other player was blatantly holding onto it while Collin tried to get it free.) As Collin went past the kid on the way to the penalty box, he reached out and thumped the kid in the back of the head. I was surprised by this, because Collin isn't usually a violent player. But after the game, when Collin explained what happened, I understood why he did it. Apparently, as Collin skated past, the kid on the other team called Collin the "N" word. When I heard this I was furious. Are you serious??? This isn't 1962. We're not in some podunk backwoods southern town. Who are this kid's parents? What do they teach him? I spoke with Collin's coach after the game and he told me that Collin told him about it and he spoke to the other team's coach. He assured me that the coach took care of the situation and gave the kid a stern talking to. But I'm still floored by it. I'm just proud that after Collin thumped this kid he just skated away and didn't let it escalate. He did the right thing. Too bad the other kid didn't.

I just want a damn phone that works!!...(oh, and Arrrrrrgh)

2008-09-19T08:18:00.003-06:00

Okay....I think I just need to resign myself to the fact that I'm not going to remember to do this EVERY day. But I think only missing one day here & there isn't so bad.

Let me tell you about my week involving my phone. (Warning...this is gonna be long.)
Last week on Friday my phone stopped pairing with my bluetooth earpiece. (It may not sound like a big deal, but when you're in a long distance relationship and the majority of your contact with your someone special is over the phone, it's nice to have your phone working properly. It's also nice to have a bluetooth earpiece so you can go about your daily business around the house like cooking & stuff so you can have a 2 - 3 hour phone call and still get things done.) I called Verizon and did a few tests and they determined it was the phone that had the problem, not the earpiece. They ordered me a new phone to replace mine, but of course my phone had just passed the warranty date last month so I had to pay $50. Oh well, better than paying full price for a new phone.
Since they were sending it Fed Ex I had to wait until Tuesday to get it. Unfortunately, of course they tried to deliver it while I was at work so when I got home there was a note on my door saying I could sign the paper and have them leave it there the next day (which isn't a good idea because I live on a major road and my front porch is in plain view) or I could come get it that night at 6:00. Even though the only Fed Ex pick up location was 25 minutes away in Boise, I decided that was the best option. (Little did I know...) I arrived right around 6:00 and when the guy at the counter (who had the personality of a dead fish) scanned my door tag, he said it "wasn't back yet" and to come back in 15 minutes. So I went out to my car & waited 15 minutes. When I came back in, he scanned it again and again told me it wasn't there yet. I moved aside and this time stood in the office and waited. About 10 minutes later he asked to scan my tag again (don't they save that info the first time??) and said wait just a minute I'm going to go look in back. He was gone for 20 minutes. Seriously. At 6:45 he came back out and said "It's not here. I don't know where it is." Um....excuse me?? So I said, "You've lost it?" He said, "No, it's misplaced." So I said, "Which is the same thing as lost." To which he replied, "Yes, it's lost." (insert angry face here) He said that if they found it they would deliver it the next day. Oh yeah, that's what I want...so I can go through all of this again! So the manager came out to talk to me. I noticed she seemed a little perturbed when I told her that her counter guy admitted that they lost my package. However, while we were talking about what they were going to do to fix this situation, another woman came out from the back and said she had found it by going through the boxes one by one. So finally, around 7:00 I got my phone and went back home.
But wait, there's more! After arriving at home I eagerly opened the package and went through the directions to get it all set up. Things were looking good until I opened my phone up and saw that every time I pushed any button the screen would double up, making it nearly impossible to read what was on the screen. (Really fun when you're trying to send a text.) Also the front screen was intermittently going dark, even when buttons were pressed. Crap. At least it worked for a basic phone call and it paired up with my bluetooth earpiece so I made do with it for the rest of the night.
Wednesday after work I picked up the boys and headed to Verizon (my son was having problems with his phone also--same model, surprise--so I wanted to get his taken care of too.) Of course by the time I got there they were very busy so I had to type my name into a queue and wait to be called. When I got to the counter I explained the situation to the guy (luckily I had the manager so he was very competent and helpful) so he replaced my phone for me again. He also took care of my son's phone, ordering him a new one because they didn't carry his color in the store, and also didn't charge me for his replacement since I was having so much trouble. Before I left I told him that also my charger had been acting up, turning off & on while charging. He said that maybe it was my old phone so to try it with the new phone and if it still didn't work to bring it in and they'd replace it. So that night after getting my new phone set up and making sure it worked properly, I plugged in the charger before I went to bed. It did the same thing it did with my old phone. Okay, I have to take another trip out to Verizon tomorrow...
Thursday...after work...Verizon store...Luckily this time they weren't very busy and I just walked in & told them what I needed and they replaced it for me. Easy peasy. When it was time for bed last night, I was excited that I was finally going to have a phone that worked AND a charger that worked. I plugged the charger into the wall, plugged it into the phone and....nothing. Not charging. I pushed it in a little further and it kind of flashed the charging symbol for a second then stopped again. I moved the cord around a little bit to see if it helped but nothing I did would get it to charge. Crap. I knew I was going to have to take yet ANOTHER trip to the Verizon store on Friday. So I unplugged the charger from the wall, pulled it out of the phone and...wait a second...that doesn't look right...holy crap, the charger pulled out the whole charging slot from the phone!!! (insert another angry face here) Great, so the charger just broke the brand new phone. This is getting ridiculous.
Needless to say, I had a hard time falling asleep last night and woke up feeling tired & cranky. Today after work I get to drive over to Verizon again (did I mention it's a good 15 minutes from my house which equals gas that I'm wasting driving 30 minutes round trip for four days in a row??) Someone is going to fix all of this. I will fill you in later on how it went. But I have a feeling I'm NOT going to be in a good mood.

Oh yeah...and today is "National Talk Like a Pirate Day". Arrrrrrgh.

Soda bath

2008-09-17T21:19:00.004-06:00

Do you ever have one of those weeks when nothing is going right and just when you think "Okay it only has to go up from here" then something else happens? Yeah...it's one of those weeks.
Today after work I had to run some errands but needed Collin to go with me because we're having trouble with his phone. (That in itself is another story for another time...) So Collin, Trevor & I loaded up into the car and went to Verizon. After conducting our business there, we were hungry and wanted to pick up something quick at Wendy's. Things went well at the drive thru, the girl at the window said "If I could give you free stuff I would just because of your hair."
But as we pulled away from Wendy's & got barely a scant block or two away, tragedy struck. They had put all three of our drinks into one of those flimsy cardboard drink trays. I was trying to extract them from the tray and put them in my car's cupholders when the tray tipped. One soda flipped completely upside down and poured down the side of my seat, all over the door and the floor. When I went to try to stop that one from falling, the one I had in my other hand dumped sideways on me and I got about half of a cold Mountain Dew in my lap. Of course, no amount of cheap Wendy's napkins are going to take care of this, so after I apologetically let an expletive fly, I told Collin to get us home as quickly as possible. So I had a very cold, very wet ride home, sitting in a big puddle of what really looked like pee since it was yellow Mountain Dew.

By the time we got home most of it had soaked into the seat and I was soaked through to my underwear. I got out of the car and quickly headed into the house so the neighbors wouldn't think I had peed myself. I waddled into the bathroom, took my shoes & socks off, stripped the soaked jeans & underwear off and took a shower from the waist down. After finally getting adequately cleaned off I went back to the kitchen to eat my now lukewarm burger & fries.
Is it Friday yet??

Random thoughts......and cake.

2008-09-16T13:27:00.005-06:00

Crap...I did it again. Missed yesterday. This is really harder than it looks. Especially on busy days when I have to drive to the far side of Boise to take my son to hockey practice since his truck broke down. :( Since I don't have a lot to talk about, just some random updates today...

I had to break down and make a doctor appointment for my shoulder for next week. My shoulder has been giving me problems off & on for a very long time now and more recently it's just in constant pain. Both my mom and my dad had to have surgery on their shoulders because of rotator cuff problems so it makes me nervous. Kind of like having both decks stacked against you. I've put it off for way too long, but you know it's time to see the doctor when it hurts to get dressed in the morning. I'm sure I'll keep you posted on how that all goes.

Last night I had a very nice ending to my day via a heart to heart talk with my son. He is the one who initiated the conversation and it I won't go into details because that conversation was between him & I and I don't want to be blathering on about it all over the internet. But the best part about the WHOLE conversation was at the end. He had been lying down on his bed during our talk and when I stopped talking at one point I just looked at him and asked if he had anything else he wanted to talk about. He sat up in his bed & scooted close to me and said, "No you can just give me a hug now." Then he wrapped his arms around me and gave me the tightest, longest hug I've had from him in ages. (And the first one initiated by him in I don't know how long.) I told him that I love him and he said, "I know...I love you too." Just a few words, but they were some of the best I've heard in a long time.

I've been thinking lately about making cakes. No, seriously. When I was little my mom took a class through the local Parks & Recreation program and learned how to make cakes. My memory is a little foggy, but I seem to recall her making cakes for people, probably to make a little extra money on the side. She made wedding cakes, birthday cakes and even an entire fleet of little ladybug cakes (There's a picture somewhere of all of them sitting on a long table in our garage.) With that in mind, the other day I ran across the show "Amazing Wedding Cakes" on WE this weekend. (I actually sat through 2 whole episodes!)

Some of these (actually most if not all of these) cakes rock!! For some reason my absolute favorite (shown in the video above) was the Birch tree cake made by the Cakegirls. If I could make cakes like that I'd quit my day job.

Stop the ride, I want to get off!!

2008-09-13T21:43:00.002-06:00

I'm signing on just long enough to beg off tonight... Having some problems tonight with my BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) and am just typing this quickly before I fall off my chair. I'll be back tomorrow...

James Bond

2008-09-12T09:38:00.006-06:00

So I don't usually get all that excited about new movies coming out, but for some reason when I saw this trailer today I thought, "I really have to see that movie when it comes out." I'll admit there were some Bond movies in the past that I thought were good. And trust me, as an adult female I am in the party of "there's something pretty damn sexy about James Bond"...(I'll even admit that when I set up my Garmin Nuvi navigator, I changed the voice from that annoying woman to a guy with an English accent. It's like having Bond right there in the car with me, LOL!) I will say though that I don't think all of the Bonds were sexy. My opinion? Sean Connery was NOT a good looking man when he was younger. But he did age well, I've got to give that to him. I'm not usually one of those "hot for older guys" kind of women but Sean can eat crackers in my bed any day. I know that some people don't like the newest Bond...maybe because he looks "different" than the other five (wait, six?) who have played it in the past. If memory serves me correctly, Daniel Craig is more fair-headed than his Bond predecessors. But maybe that's what makes him more appealing. Or, maybe it's just because other than Pierce Brosnan, the others had those awful 60's/70's/80's hairstyles that just automatically turn me off. (The old hairstylist in me comes out on this opinion, I think...)

So chime in--who has been your favorite Bond and why?

Guys & farts

2008-09-11T21:22:00.002-06:00

Short but simple...why do guys (doesn't matter what age) get such joy out of farts? The other night I had to endure my 16 year old son and my boyfriend's 15 year old son farting on each other & laughing hysterically every time they did it. Sigh....

Code Red Alert!! Code Red Alert!!!

2008-09-10T11:47:00.002-06:00

Okay, I felt bad about missing yesterday (AND Sunday--I still can't figure that one out!) so when I ran across a particular website just now I knew I HAD to post it here.

PMSBuddy
Yes, it's a real web site. Their tag line is "Saving relationships, one month at a time." I suppose some women would get all uppity about this and freak out. But personally I think it's hilarious!
It reminds me of when I worked at First State Bank of the Oaks in Thousand Oaks, CA back in the early 90's. We had an Operations Manager who quite frankly scared the crap out of some of us. I remember one day coming in and my co-worker saying "It's a red day!" After seeing my bewildered look, she explained to me that she and some of the other girls kept track of our Operations Manager's cycles on their calendars so they knew when to tread lightly. Who knew someone would take that idea and run with it? If the man in my life wants to sign up, more power to him! Maybe then he'll know when to stock up on chocolate. :)

NASKCO Bots

2008-09-10T08:15:00.006-06:00

Okay....I realize I missed yesterday, and I feel like a slacker about that, but my mind was a little unfocused yesterday/last night because someone I care about very much is having surgery this morning. But what's really weird looking back at my posts is that I don't have one for Sunday. Huh?? I could swear I wrote one but for the life of me I don't remember what it was about. Very strange...

So, on to a real blog post...
Yesterday was pretty busy after work. After I had to run to the store to replenish my empty refrigerator & pantry, my son had a parent meeting at school for his Robotics group. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the FIRST robotics competition, but my son got involved for the first time last year and he had a blast! Here is a link to the FIRST website:
FIRST Robotics Competition

He's doing it again this year and I'm wondering how he's going to pull it off with both hockey & a part time job. Their team is pretty awesome, in my opinion. They are a combination of the three main Nampa high schools: Nampa High School, Skyview High School and Columbia High School. (That's where they came up with the team name - it's the first two letters of each school.) Here is their web site:
NASKCO Bots

Collin is standing just behind and to the right of the robot, with the thumbs up. He was the driver of the robot last year and is planning to be the driver again this year. (They chose Collin as the driver because of his extensive experience with building & driving RC cars and his ability to drive the robot without running it into a wall.)

This is a great opportunity for these kids, as they learned last year. Their team won the Rookie Inspiration Award because the organizers were impressed how the three rival high schools came together to form a team of kids who worked so well together. This experience counts as internships for these kids also and at the parent meeting last night they announced that starting this year they will actually be able to letter in Robotics. The time they put in is absolutely amazing. They work on this Monday through Friday from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. and on Saturday from 9:00 am until...well...whenever. There have been many nights when they didn't quit until after midnight. Then in late February/early March they travel to Oregon for 4 days for the competition.

A lot of local business (and not so local) have sponsored this team and made donations for parts, resources and fund raising. (Our local Dominoes has donated pizzas & soda to be given away by raffle at all of the home football games at each school. The winner & their friends get to sit on the sidelines of the game on two couches with five pizzas and two 2-liter bottles of soda.) If by chance any of you reading this would love to help out the team in some way, whether it be a monetary donation (big or small, every bit helps!!) or other resources donated, please contact me and I can give you details.

I'm sure I'll be keeping you all posted on what happens with this great team over the next 6 months or so.

Jon & Kate Plus 8

2008-09-08T20:30:00.004-06:00

PLEASE, please, please tell me I'm not the only one who gets hooked into watching this show... I'll be scrolling through the channels and see that it's on and I'll say to myself, "Oh, I'll just watch a few minutes." An hour later (or even more if God forbid they're doing a marathon) I'm still rooted to the couch. Maybe it's because I only had one child and so these parents to me are kind of "super parents" in my mind. Or maybe I watch and am relieved when I see them do something that makes them more "human". All I know is that they're doing an awesome job with all 8 of those kids. If it was me, I probably would have crumbled by now and the filming crew would have found me curled up in the fetal position under the kitchen table.

Sometimes I hate video games...

2008-09-06T19:41:00.002-06:00

The brain is not functioning tonight...the boys are playing their new Mercenaries 2 game with the surround sound hooked up. Can you say loud? My living room sounds like a war zone.
On a good note, I finally got my hair trimmed & colored today and I dare say it looks pretty damn good. I always forget how good the color looks when it's fresh until I actually do it. Tonight I got lazy and put it into two braids. It actually looks really cute. I was going to take a picture and post it but for some crazy reason whenever I take a picture I look way older and worn out in the picture than I think I look in person. Or maybe I'm just in denial.

Friday videos...I can do this...

2008-09-05T08:33:00.002-06:00

I've noticed a pattern with some of the blogs I read....Friday videos. It's gotten to the point when I open up my blog list on Friday mornings and start going through them, the anticipation grows as I wonder what hilarity I will be viewing before my weekend. So if they can do it, why can't I? Of course, the hard part is not just posting something that I saw on someone else's blog. I need to find something funny or interesting that is something that hopefully my readers (all 2 of you) haven't seen. I think it's easier for those other blogs though because they have tons of readers that are constantly sending them stuff. As for me...I have maybe a handful of you. And I hardly get any comments, feedback, or suggestions. So what say you? Do you have any funny videos to pass along? Maybe a favorite of yours? Or something you just stumbled upon while skimming through Youtube the other day?
In the meantime, I will post a favorite of mine that most of you have probably seen, but still cracks me up every time (and even comes with an important message):

Families

2008-09-04T20:54:00.003-06:00

I was thinking about it tonight and I really have to say I'm blessed when it comes to my family. So many people out there have families that they are ashamed of, embarrassed of, want to get away from. But my family is something I'm very proud of.
When I was growing up of course, I'm sure there were moments when I rolled my eyes when I had friends over and my mom or dad said something that I thought was "uncool". Or times when I thought my big sister was so mean because she wouldn't let me borrow one of her cute tops.
But as an adult, I can't help but look back and remember the good moments in between those other times. Like standing in the livingroom with my mom while she tried to teach me to two-step & I tried to teach her to "shake her booty". Or when my dad & I took a 4 state road trip, just the two of us, and he let me drive his new 1984 Camaro. And I can't forget how proud I was when my sister had me stand up next to her as her maid of honor at her wedding when I was only 14 years old.
Then at the times in my life when I needed them most, even when I didn't ask for their help, they were there. When I gave birth to my son it was my dad who picked Collin & me up from the hospital the next morning and took us home. And my mother came out from Texas to help me out those first couple of weeks when I was totally clueless. My sister gave me so much encouragement over the phone when I talked to her, giving me tips that she learned years before me.
I don't talk much about my brother, but that's only because he has chosen to remove himself from our lives. But even though he won't answer emails, I hope that he reads them and knows that I love him. He's still my brother, no matter what.
I hope that my family knows how much I love them and appreciate them every day. I'd like to think that they're proud of me too.