Thursday, September 30

Say hello to dum-dum


Say hello to Bronco.  We call him Dum-Dum (Think "Dum-dum want gum-gum" from Night at the Museum) with all the affection he deserves.  This is his favorite past-time.  Drinking water from the hose, or chasing water from the hose, or just letting you spray him with the hose.  He is almost 10 months old, and seriously the best behaved and most mild-mannered dog we have ever had.  He does have a few bad habits like slobbering on anyone and everyone he meets.  Sorry Jana, I still feel bad about his terrible sliming of you.  He also loves chewing on plastic bottles and we let him until he decided that ANY bottle belonged to him, even the ones with stuff still inside that are sitting on the counter.  Let's just say, he has made a few messes and so for now, plastic bottles are off limits.  But mostly we love him.  And it is nice to have someone greet you with unconditional love every day.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could all love each other like dogs love us.  We wouldn't look at the color of skin, or position in society, or any other superficial quality that humans are so apt to consider and use as judgement.  They are just happy to be pet on the head, taken on a walk and sprayed with a hose every now and then.

Wednesday, September 29

Much Ado about Nothing

No, really.  There really hasn't been anything notable worth talking about.  But, I'll get you caught up on all our over the weekend activities.

First, I rearranged the furniture in my house.  Haven't done it for a while and it was feeling a little stale, so it was time for a change.  Remember I told you that I inherited some furniture from my grandparents when they moved North?  Well, one of the pieces is a table from Mexico.  Love it.  Didn't really have a place for it, so I found one.  And it turns out that it turned out pretty cool.  See...

So, it contains the funny little goat tooth statue man that Andy and I got in Puerto Rico, and the pictures from our trip are right above.  It is like an 'Ode to Puerto Rico wall.  Plus, it is right by my dining room, so when it is time for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I can clear everything off for a buffet.  Looks nice and practical, right up my alley!

Also did a little painting in my guest bedroom, sold my old king size bed to make room for my grandparent's cherry furniture.  A whole matching set.  I don't really have matching furniture anywhere.  It is all hand-me-downs, or I bought just one cuz that is all I could afford, or goodwill finds.  I can't show you pictures until it is COMPLETELY done, but here is a little hint... I had to make it fun and whimsical, because honestly I need a little fun and whimsy in my heart now-a-days. So, just a little peek.


Also, had a lovely time cleaning the pool.  Just couldn't get rid of the cloudiness, so I said, "Enough is Enough!'  Or something to that effect.  And we proceeded to drain, scrub, pour chlorine all over, scrub some more.  Andy fell and cussed, and then cussed some more.  And then we, or I should say Andy, finished.  But not before the girls climbed to the bottom of the pool.  


I'm sure more happened than that, but I just can't seem to remember right now.  Later tonight, I'll say, "Oh, I should have told them about yada, yada, yada."  But I guess you'll never know!

Friday, September 17

The Gate to Papa's


Nogales, Arizona
Where I was born and lived for the first 2 years of my life.
Where both sets of my grandparents lived.
Where I spent every Christmas as a child and some of my summers.
Where my Grandma Betty taught me to drive on the back roads when I was 12.
My Grandma Betty died when I was 13.
My paternal grandparents died many years ago. 
My Papa Don and his wife have now decided to move north to an assisted living home.
It's time.
She is getting up in years.
My Papa has Alzheimer's.

So, over Labor Day Weekend, my mom and dad, brother and his family, and the girls and I, went to Nogales for the very last time.  No one in my family lives there anymore.  That is a sad thing to have to say.   Not because it is a place I miss or want to go back to.  But, because I went knowing that because my grandpa is moving too far away for an affordable or easy-to-take trip, this would be the last time I would see him.  His Alzheimer's has taken most of him away, over the last year especially.  He didn't even know who I was this time.  He didn't know his grandchildren.  So, I guess I saw him for the last time a long time ago.  But, one last time, I was able to hug him, tell him I loved him and say good-bye.

Monday, September 13

Fried Okra

More about food.  I don't know why.  Maybe I am just super hungry lately.  I don't know.  But, after the whole summer growing, my okra finally produced.  Here's the thing about okra.  People either love it or hate it.  To be honest, I never even ate Okra until I met my husband and he took me to his hometown in Colorado.  We ate fried okra.  And I loved it.  Andy loves it.  My kids love it.  And so I had to plant some. It is a little tricky.  If you don't pick it when it is still tender than you can't really make fried okra.  It needs to be young and tender.



Yummy!  A little cornmeal to make 'em crispity-crunchety!  Delicious!  And then to top dinner off, my Aunt Donnabelle's homemade chocolate pudding.  So yummy when the skin forms on the top as it is cooling.  The secret to delicious chocolate pudding, cinnamon and vanilla!


Enough about food for a while.  But, if anyone has a recipe that I can use for tough, old okra, let me know!

Friday, September 10

The "Sugar Bomb"

My little Abby just loves to bake.  Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, muffins.  If it has sugar in it, she likes to bake it.  She wants to own a bakery one day.  Right now, the name is "Sugar Bomb".

Here are her latest creations.  She worked very hard last Thursday and Friday.  We baked 4 dozen cupcakes last Thursday and then iced them all on Friday for a friend's birthday.  Vanilla with Italian Butter Cream Frosting and Coconut and Fresh Strawberry with Cream Cheese Frosting.  She does most of the work, measuring, egg breaking, lemon-zesting, mixing, stirring, scooping and of course icing.

Egg Breaking
Lemon-Zesting
Icing
And here are her finished cupcakes, just as yummy as they look!




Oh, and here is what we got to eat as leftovers, made in her special heart shaped molds.

And this is what happens when she is done baking...

Wednesday, September 8

My Poor Husband

This is the slop I make him eat on a day to day basis.


Looks delicious, right?  This is why it is so terrible.  

This pasta dish is one of my favorites to prepare.  Super Easy.  Their is no recipe.  Just whatever I want to add.  The only constant is olive oil and garlic.  So, Andy can never expect the same thing twice.  Sometimes there is a lot of garlic, sometimes there is a little.  Occasionally I add dried cayenne pepper from my garden, but not always.  The fresh veggies are always different.  This time I added zucchini and onion and sauteed until it was nice and caramelized.  Sometimes I add artichokes, but not tonight.  Other times I put in fresh chopped tomatoes, but this time I added fire roasted tomatoes from a can.  Almost always I add diced olives, the only time I don't is when I don't have any in the pantry.  And usually, we put parmesan cheese on top, but every once in a while I use Feta Cheese instead.

Always different, but always delicious.  Oh, why do I torture him so!

Wednesday, September 1

Getting a Little Snookie

So, it all started around 5:45 this morning, which for the record is way too early.  But before I tell you what happened today, I have to tell you what happened about 6 weeks ago...

It was a normal weekend, nothing much special.  My friend Wendy and I traded kids.  She took Abby for a sleepover with her daughter Carli, and I took her daughter,Lauren for a sleepover with Amy.  Everyone ate, watched movies, stayed up late, got up late and it was time for the trade-back.  So, we take Lauren home and, as is customary, Amy has to visit the pet snake, Snookie.  On this particular day, however, Snookie is not in her home!  She has escaped!  The girls look all over the rooms, upstairs, downstairs, wherever a snake might hide.  (Where is that exactly?)  No snake to be found.  They even checked the rat cage to make sure the rat was still alive.  He was, thank goodness!  But, we eventually had to give up on the search and come home.  

Fast forward to last Saturday.  Abby went over to Carli's for another sleepover.  Amy stayed home. Still no sign of Snookie.  We are all pretty sure, Snookie is gone forever.

Now, back to this morning, 5:45, remember?  Way to early for normal human beings.  Andy is up, letting out the dogs, eating breakfast, getting ready to leave for work.  He is usually pretty quiet since the girls and I are still sleeping.  But not this morning.  This morning he is talking to who knows what, and laughing and blabbering on and on about something.  He finally calls up to me to come down.  And guess what I find when I come down...



Now, clearly this is NOT snake that was in our house this morning.  But, my camera was not the first thing on my mind this morning.  It is important to know that Andy HATES snakes.  Not a little.  A LOT!  Even if we are watching T.V. and a snake makes an appearance on the screen, he will change the channel.  My husband may be big and strong and tough, but he DOES NOT LIKE snakes.

Anyway, I say to him, "That looks like Lauren's snake."  Now, how the heck would a snake that looks exactly like Lauren's snake that just happens to have been missing for the last 6 weeks turn up in our entryway?  I have no idea.  I have never seen a snake in our yard.  Never even happened to come upon a snake in nature.  And now I have a snake in my house, that just happens to look exactly like Snookie.

Weird.

Only because this is funny, I will tell you our conversation.

Me - "Well, pick up the snake and put it in a box."

Andy - "I AM NOT PICKING UP THAT SNAKE."

Me - "Well, of course get some gloves and pick up the snake and put it in a box.'

Andy - "I AM NOT PICKING UP THAT SNAKE."

Me- "Oh brother, that snake is more afraid of you than you are of it."

Andy - "I AM NOT PICKING UP THAT SNAKE."

Special note:  Notice I never volunteered to pick up the snake and put it in the box.  With or without gloves.  That is what husbands are for.  Dirty jobs, heavy lifting, reaching things on the top shelf, opening the pickle jar, and picking up snakes.  That is why we get married.

So, with shovel and broom in hand, Andy eventually scoops up the snake and puts him in the box.  The snake clearly was not happy with the way he was handled, but Andy says he should be happy to still be alive at this point.

The box is now taped together, but I am a little wary of how much of an escape artist this snake is and so  after Andy has left for work, I check to make sure that the snake is still in the box.  And then, I put the box in a bucket.  Just in case.

I call Wendy and ask her what she thinks the possibility of Snookie ending up in our house is.  We can't really believe it.  But, it doesn't make sense for this snake to pop up out of nowhere, especially when it looks just like the missing snake.  Wendy and Lauren came over after school today, and Lauren is sure that it is Snookie!  Thank goodness!  The snake has found its loving owner.

So, what happened?

Scenario 1 - 6 weeks ago, Snookie is a stow away in Lauren's backpack when she comes for her sleepover, and loves our home so much, it decides to stay.

Scenario 2 - Snookie gets out in the middle of the night and sneaks into Abby's backpack and comes home with Abby the next morning.  Now, the snake is stuck here whether it likes it or not.

Either way, I have had a snake hiding out in my house for the last 6 weeks!  Yikes!

Scenario 3 - The snake has been roaming around Wendy's house for the last six weeks and when Abby spent the night this weekend, it decided to make a run for it by hitching a ride with Abby.  It was just checking out its new digs this morning, when it was interrupted by a big, mean giant and his dumb slobbering dog.

I like the last one best.  It means I only had a snake living under the same roof for 3 days.  Still, Yikes!

Goodbye, Snookie!  So glad you are home!