Back From Iowa

Not a very clear picture, but trust me, these were SOOO good. Probably not a single bit of nutrition in these but they contain the Southern trinity (FLOUR, SUGAR, FAT) so you know they've gotta be good!

I kept seeing these at various bakeries so I think they are a regional thing. They are basically fried doughnut crescent with an outrageous pastry icing inside and hit with a dusting of powdered sugar. One of these and you were done!! I only had one this trip since that seemed to be all I could handle without needing an insulin adjustment at the hospital--and I'm not even diabetic...

While in Iowa, the boys and I headed down the street to West Branch,Iowa-- birthplace of Herbert Hoover and the sight of his presidential library. It was really pretty interesting. There is a small section of the town that was preserved that contains his birth home. Above is a picture of his birth home. Probably no more than a couple hundred feet of living space at the most!!

There is a statue of Isis on the grounds of the presidential museum that was presented to President Hoover by the children of Belgium for his relief and humanitarian efforts. We toured the museum and came away with a whole new perspective of President Hoover. He is often the scapegoat of the Depression era. But in reality, he had been warning of the fall long before it happened and nobody listened. There was a short film of some of the European citizens that were children at the time of the war that detailed how thankful they were to get "Hoover Rolls" and food in general after starving for so long.

There was also a traveling exhibit about Abraham Linclon at the presidential library so we got to see it too. Very interesting..

We got back to Kansas on Wednesday, but after driving that many hours, I have been pretty much down for the count. Instead of driving straight from my son's house in Iowa back to Haysville, I did a little detour to pick up a rigid heddle loom from a wonderful lady in Lawrence, Kansas, so the trip back home was extended a bit. More on that detour in a future post.

We spent a lot of the time in Iowa running around Iowa City/Coralville and Cedar Rapids. Of course I had to hit the Half Price books in Cedar Rapids since they seem to always have the best stash of knitting books. I hit gold again. I found copies of "Creative Weaving" AND " Creative Spinning" for $7 each, 2 WONDERFUL Jo Sharp pattern books for $7 (they are normally $27 each according to the publishers price, so I was really happy) and a couple other goodies. While I didn't stop at the Half Price Books in Clive, Iowa and Overland Park, KS like I usually do, I did make a stop at the Penzy's Spice store in Clive to pick up a couple of their cooking magazines and some spices. It gave Jeremy and I an opportunity to get out of the car to stretch our legs and take a mental break from the road.

We also spent an hour walking around Bass Pro Shops. Next time we are going to sidetrack to Cabella's also since the boys love both places. Since Kansas City is only 3 hours from us, we might have to ride up there sometime to just check them out. I bought a Garmin GPS for this trip and it was a life saver. There were only a couple quirks to it, but these can be dealt with since overall it was a really accurate tool.

This season promises to have a lot of travel and learning opportunities for our family.

Giggles

Don't you just hate all those commercials for "male assistance" drugs that you get hammered with when trying to simply watch a little TV? Well tonight that's just what happened, but...

One of my teenage sons was watching TV with me when one of those commercials came on. The obligatory disclaimer that states "seek medical attention for an erection lasting longer that 36 hours"came on.. Teenage son got quiet then said "How do you break that one to your doctor?"

Of course I just about fell out of my chair laughing....kiddo got up and went to his room to watch TV.

I'm probably going to have to leave it up to his father to have "THE TALK". There aren't enough therapists in this town to cover him if it's left up to me!

LOL!

Later note to the above: Son has corrected my post information--apparently the ad says "for erections lasting longer than 4 hours..."That makes sense to me.

If anything is still "functioning" after 36 hours, that means the county medical examiner is examining you--for "rigomortus"..

I guess that's pretty important...

Busy-ness

March and April are shaping up to be really busy months here at Casa Crazylife.

What is going on? Well, here is the brief shakedown:

1.Lace knitting:
Lace knitting classes are being taught at Twist this month and next, so I jumped in and enrolled in all three (Lace I,II and III).

2.Iowa travel plans:
Spring break is right around the corner, so I am planning to hit the highway and go to Iowa again. I probably won't be heading that direction for another couple months since April is going to be crazy busy also. We will be running around Iowa City more. Last time I was there, we drove through Iowa City and I was smitten with the energy of the city. It is a college town, so the vibe is very young and full of energy.

Love it!

The university is among the best in the nation for writing, so there are a lot of bookstores and activities going on at all times.

3. More lace knitting, travel and weaving class:
April will include more of the lace knitting classes and a trip to Lawrence, Kansas the second weekend so that I can take the rigid heddle weaving class offered at The Yarn Barn. While we're there, hubby and I fully intend to completely pig out on Indian food. India Palace has an awesome buffet! We go every time we are in Lawrence.

4. Overseas travel!!!
At some point in April, I am taking an overseas trip with a friend that loves to travel. With the rate we are going to get for airfare, it would be crazy NOT to go. We are discussing either Italy (she wants to wander around the Coliseum, I'd love to go to Vatican City and tour it, or go to an art museum), Greece, Amsterdam (I REALLY want to see the Van Gogh museum), New Zealand, or a couple different spots. We are keeping it loose so we can see what destination has the best options right before we book. Amsterdam sounds like it would be the easiest to cover in the limited amount of time that we have....I'll know in the next couple weeks, I guess. I am pretty excited about it though.

5. We are getting a couple chickens.
Yep, I said chickens. We can only have a small number here in our city limits, so I will have probably 4 or 5. These will be for fresh eggs and as pets. I had a pet chicken when we moved to Kansas and I really enjoyed her. As silly as this sounds, she had a very lively personality. I'll be getting everything in place before we actually get the girls, so it will be after I get back from overseas. This will also prevent cute man from having to take care of chicks while I'm gone. He's a great guy, but I figure asking him to chicken sit might tip the scale. Once they are older and in a coop, they take less monitoring, but chicks require a lot of tending. I am looking forward to having fresh eggs, although it will be at least 6 months-possibly longer-- before the chickens are at laying age. That will give me time to tame them and make them pets. Luckily I have found someone who wants to split an order of chicks (that will be the subject of tomorrow's post-the story highlights what a small world it is), so I can pull out/pay for a few and we share shipping. It's a win-win for everyone!

6. Gardens, built and planted:

I am planning raised beds this year to help with the condition of the soil and to cut out some of the digging. I am going to raise lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes (of course!) and a couple different kinds of melons. At some point I might pick up seed potatoes at the farm store, but I'm not sure when. I saw someone who planted them in bags of soil by sitting the plastic 50 lb bags upright, cutting drainage in the bags, cutting the top and putting their plant in that. Supposedly it is a great way to grow melons too. I'll report back as I try this. It can't hurt to give it a go. I am also planting squash and some other things that are notorious for beetle issues. That's where I'm hoping the chickens help out...we don't kill tomato worms though, because they are the larva for the Sphinx moth. When we homeschooled the boys, we had a garden. One day we found what we thought was tomato worm eating the tomato plants. Instead of killing it, we did some research and found out that the worm we had was a tobacco worm (they look similar, but the spikes at the end of their tails are certain colors) and that the huge moths that come from these are actually in decline and are quite beautiful. so we had one plant dedicated as a safe haven and a relocation place for these creatures.

So there you have it. BUSY but exciting!!

Amber Alert--please look

Amber Alert issued for missing girl

Kansas City police are investigating the death of a 27-year-old woman and the disappearance of her 4-year-old daughter.Officers were called about 9:15 a.m. Friday to a home on the city's east side where the woman's body had been found. Police say they are treating the death as a possible homicide. They say the woman's daughter, Allyson Corales, is missing from the home. An Amber Alert has been issued for the child. The family vehicle, a red Kia Sportage with a Missouri license plate, also is missing. Anyone with information about Allyson is asked to call the TIPS hotline at 816-474-8477.

news link: http://news.kfdi.com/News/Story/tabid/5154/story/30545/Default.aspx

Riddle Me This....

Q: What do you call the little sports car that weaves in and out of traffic, cutting other drivers off at a REALLY FAST rate of speed?

A: Cop Jerky

'cause when a cop catches that little twit, he is going to chew his salty little hide!

I was driving on I235 today and saw an idiot almost run multiple drivers off the road and himself to boot. OK, if he had ended up in the ditch it would have been no great loss. Just don't take an innocent person along!

It really made me realize that you can be the most careful driver in the world and all it takes is some little twit to wreck your world. DRIVE NICE PEOPLE!!

OK, I'm done with the Mom lecture. You can roll your eyes now...

Can't Sleep At Night --another good Lisa Lavie song

She really has an amazing voice, just had to share another one of her videos...

Invisible Rope 2

50% chance my car is bigger than their invisible rope....Think I could swerve and hit one so that I'd miss the invisible boulder in the road?

To be truthful, even if they did have a rope, I'd make sure they realized "reality is the best teacher".....

More Fiber in My Diet

Look at the guy above and below.

Now look at this one:

And this one....

Can you spot the sheep?

Hmmmm...Had to look again?

Soooo--do you suppose that if I got the "dog" in the second picture that my neighbors would believe it was a sheep dog? While I'm sure I would have to explain the weird "bark" and the fact that it doesn't chase cats,pant, ram it's head in your crotch as a greeting or play ball, I'm thinkin' I could get away with having one of these beauties in my back yard.

What do you think?

Hubby already nixed the "it's not a llama, it's a spitting dog with a neck issue" scenario, so Larry the llama is out.

But I think this one might just work.....

Back From Iowa

Last Friday I did the 9 hour (one way) trek to visit my son in Iowa.

I am slowly surrendering to the fact that no matter what time I actually plan to leave, it's my destiny to hit downtown Kansas City sometime smack dab in the middle of either the morning rush hour or the evening rush hour. And I must say,their rush hour is NOTHING like the rush hour we experience in our city! On the way to Iowa, I though I had it timed to hit downtown Kansas City at 7 a.m.--my imagined "before rush hour" time.

Guess what?

I am apparently in harmony with at least a quarter of a million people who have the same delusion. Brilliant minds think alike? At least that's what I was thinking while coming to a complete standstill on I-35... Ok, in reality I was thinking "HOLY CRAP!!!" and "What the 'ell did I get my self into". Oh, and morning rush hour seems to be the time to meet the "Imperialist drivers". You know, the ones that want to conquer the same space you occupy as well as their lane...

A couple other thoughts came to mind too, but I'll spare you those.

However, as you can see, I lived to tell the tale. I think I've come to the conclusion that every hour is rush hour there, just some hours are worse. On the way back I hit downtown at 6:30p.m. and (no surprise) same story--except no lane conquerers this time thankfully. I'm sure eventually I will just get used to it and it won't phase me. HOPE..HOPE>>HOPE>> HOPE. This is the point where my relatives in Baltimore, Maryland would laugh and call me a wuss...

The trip to Iowa was beautiful this time. No mutant fog, no ice and no silly business on the roads. While I was there, I got to visit Muscatine, Coralville, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.

Love them all.

Apparently at the turn the century, Muscatine was the nation's leading producer of clam shell buttons. The clams were pulled from the Mississippi River that literally runs on the doorstep of the downtown. Every so often, I'm told the mighty Mississippi River throws a temper tantrum and tries to annex the land, which wreaks all kinds of havoc for the downtown, I'm sure.

Muscatine is full of HUGE Victorian homes, which I take as a testament to the once prosperous nature of the town. A lot of the homes have been lovingly restored, but there are also a lot of large homes begging for someone to take them and restored them to their former glory. I'll post a couple pictures in my next post. Since I love architecture and history, I was totally enraptured with this town. They have a really cute downtown with lots of historic buildings also. I had my oldest son with me, so you can guess how thrilled he was when I told him we were going to visit a yarn shop...Actually he was a good sport. Like my husband, the men in my family know resistance is futile when it comes to my yarn conquests. Any whining just makes the whole process longer.

MUCH longer.

In all, he was a good sport and we actually found yarn colors he liked at Crazy Cirl yarn shop for a pair of handknit socks. My oldest likes art, so he does appreciate the value of handwork. When the kids were young, I made sure they got their hands in a variety of arts and crafts so that they could have an outlet for self expression. Brandon really enjoys creating. While I was there I bought him supplies to make a mask for his wall and he created a really neat work of art that hangs in his dining area. I am planning to paint some Japanese Kanji paintings for his walls to bring with me on my next trip in March. He has a really cute apartment above one of the businesses in his little town that is perfect for one person. It made me happy to see that he is settled and has a safe place to live.

I think that is the hard part about parenting.

I know some people are able to just let them fly the nest and not give it a second thought, but I find that hard. I always worry that he has enough to eat (he does) and warm clothes (he does) and is safe (he is). That's just a Mom thing I guess. I think the hardest think about being a Mom is learning to step back and let them fly on their own. You want to be able to soften the blows and make life easy, but the reality is that if they don't figure out the hard landings by themselves, they can't grow and become adults.

It doesn't make it easier on me, but I'm working on that.

I made a pie!

Blogger decided to print these reverse order, so...

I MADE A PIE--completely from scratch, crust and filling! I've never made a pie crust from scratch, so I was really not sure what the heck I was doing, but the crust turned out really flaky and the whole pie is pretty darn tasty if I don't say so myself!

Pay no attention to the weird golden glow--I think our lights made the camera a little jaundiced. The first picture is closer to the real thing. Although the gold does make it look nice...Since I was attempting a lattice crust and the dough was not cooperating, I basically salvaged what I could by cutting the dough into squares and lining the sides, then used some of the strips that didn't fall apart on the top. The strips that fell apart were shredded into little pieces and put on the top of the pie. I kind of like the way it came out.

I can honestly say that I am going to make some more pies in the upcoming months so I can perfect the pie crust thing.

Last month I bought a bag of mixed blueberries. blackberries and raspberries that I had intended to use in smoothies. However the berries were so painfully tart that there was no way to use them without having to sugar down the smoothie, so the bag has been sitting in the freezer. I really hate the thought of not using these berries, so when I found a cookbook at the thrift store that was full of old style recipes from a restaurant in Ohio, I bought it with the hopes of using the pie crust recipe and the pie filling recipes. This book also has recipes for all kinds of stuff like homemade noodles, breads, etc. Lots of home cooking! I am REALLY glad I picked this up! The berry filling was great. There wasn't an overload of sugar in the recipe so my pie filling tastes sweet, but there is still a little tang from the tart berries.

I have to say, I'm pretty darn happy I was able to use up the berries and not waste them and the results were pretty great for my first pie!

Actual Knitting Content...

OK-- so this blog started out as a knitting blog--then morphed into an anything blog with very little knitting content. So today I decided to get back to the roots and show you my latest project. Notice I didn't say my ONLY project..That would infer that I have the ability to work on one project at a time and only move on to the next one when one is finished. Ummm, that's so never going to happen. I've made peace with that. I'm just not a monogamous knitter.

ANYWAY...the project above is a garter rib sock for my cute man that I pulled from "Sensational Socks". I've had this book for a long time and decided it is time that I actually knit something out of it. I like that you can take almost any needle and make a sock based on your gauge, not have to play around to get the gauge the pattern insists on. The markers are there to mark every 10 rows--a trick I learned from Cindy.

It is a totally customizable pattern book--it even lets you customize whether you are using 4 or 5 dpns, 2 circs etc. If you use magic loop, the patterns are easily adapted for that too. I am using Patons Kroy sock yarn and I really like the way it feels and the rich color that you get for the price. This will be perfect for my cute man. I do want to do a solid colored sock in this patten also. As much as I love the texture of the sock and the subtle way the colors play into the pattern, I want to do cute man a sock in some grey alpaca that I have in my stash with this same pattern so that the pattern actually is able to be the star of the show. I can tell more socks from this book are going to follow.

After I make a significant dent in my UFO's, which is a goal for the next 3 months, I want to start a vest from "Folk Vests". I've never done a vest before so I thought this would be a good book to start with since the patterns range from fairly easy to "WHOA! THAT'S ADVANCED!"There is a cabled vest inspired by Ireland in this book that is calling my name. I think Cindy and I are going to do a knit along on one of the vests from this book. Since I love cables and don't really seem to get the chance to do them all that often, the Ireland vest might be just the ticket.


I had the STRANGEST dream last night. If anyone out there interprets dreams, give this one a shot:

Apparently there was an air show scheduled to be in Wichita (there is one at McConnel Air force base every year, so that's not unusual) and there was a stealth jet practicing OVER OUR HOUSE. In the dream, I complained to my hubby about how low the plane was flying and he quoted the regs on how low they can fly and that they couldn't possibly be flying that low. I described what the pilot looked like and what he was wearing and that he was skimming just above our fence between our house and the neighbors (and it seems I was the only one in the neighborhood alarmed about this--again, this is a strange dream). About that time I hear a boom, look up in the sky at a ball of smoke and guess what? The plane slides nose first--gracefully might I add for such a honking huge piece of metal--right through our backyard, knocking down the fence. OK--so I'm not crazy about the current fence--that part might be a no brainer...And the kicker is that hubby is completely unfazed. OK, maybe this part doesn't surprise me--it takes a LOT to make my husband freak out--me, not much...I run upstairs to call 911-- and can't get through. Seems I kept dialing 119, not 911. Oh, and did I mention the guy pilot in the dream morphs into a girl pilot dressed in jeans and a t-shirt? I know the air force has casual day, but I'm quite sure jeans and a t-shirt are not part of the accepted dress code when flying a stealth.

Again--WTF? Other than the fact that the just fence is destroyed in the dream (YEAH), the fact is that this dream was just too weird on SOOOO many levels! Have you ever seen a stealth? When my oldest was young, we went to the OKC airshow and they had a stealth on display. IT will not fit neatly beside my house and the neighbors without ripping up both houses. Actually it would have completely taken out both houses to say the least!

I guess I could dissect the dream and try to figure it out, but maybe I should just mark it down to having a bowl of spicy chili before bed. I did wake up pissed off though, which is kind of humorous.

So I've shared knitting and strange dreams --- what more can I add.

How about a cute picture of an exceptionally spoiled blonde dachsund? That'd be our Sugar Baby, trying her hardest to relax amid all the chaos.

It's so hard to be a Princess..

Well, Isn't THAT Special!

I had been sitting at the computer several minutes thinking how blissful my life was, and then....

Out of the blue, one of the cats walked to the landing at the top of the stairs, looked at me, puked on the carpet, AND THEN WALKED AWAY.

Yep, WALKED AWAY.

Didn't even offer to clean up.

That's just typical life here at Casa Crazylife, home of the "binge and purge" feline sanctuary. I am detecting a serious respect issue with these little four legged creatures. I was going to title this post "How to Gain the Respect and Admiration of Your Cats", but apparently I have a little more work to do in that area.

Guess what I get to do now? I know, you're soooo jealous!

Isn't it great what some people share in their blogs?!

More Iowa Pictures

The buildings in the downtown where my oldest lives are so flippin' cute! There are several stores in the downtown, but there are many empty store fronts. I can't even tell you how cute this place is. Several of the buildings have dates on them from the late 1800's, so this town has been around for a while.

My son did say a gallery and gelato place is moving in, so that will be a nice addition. This town would be just right for an artist colony, like Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Actually, downtown Newton Kansas has a lot of the old buildings like this and the downtown is full of really neat shops that people actually shop at. I hope this happens for his little town too.

There is so much charm and the residents are pretty friendly. It is definitely a gem waiting to be revived.

I love the bump out windows on the building above. It is right next to the old bank building in the picture below.

I want to buy this building.

Wouldn't it make a cute shop of some sort? According to the sale ad in the paper, the walls are marble and it has quite a bit of space inside. This town needs a yarn shop...I wonder if Shelly (Twist) or Julie (The Newton Beadery) want to open up a second shop? Really the 9 hour commute would not be THAT bad.....

Above is the one screen movie theatre in downtown. We didn't take in a movie while we were there, but I'll have to see what is playing next time I'm in town.

Another shot from the corner of my son's street. As you can see, he literally lives steps from downtown.

The town bakery is on this block. We went there each morning we were in town. Their glazed doughnuts put Krispy Kreme to shame. I have to admit, I had several different kinds of their doughnuts while I was there...and they were all delicious. I love places like this.

We also went into a gift/card shop "Daisy's On the Square" that was a great place to shop, and the town thrift store. I love independently owned stores. They just seem to have more heart and personality.

I have more pictures of the downtown to post since it does extend several blocks, but blogger might throw a tantrum if I put them all in at once.

On the way back to Iowa after Christmas, we did encounter some rain outside of Des Moines, which was really not that big of a deal--until the fog set in. This was no ordinary fog. I can honestly say I have never seen fog this dense! It was probably the scariest drive I have ever done. It was dark and I could only drive by following the white line in the road directly in front of the headlight. I could not see more than one car length. The really bad thing is that the semi trucks were barrelling down the highway and people were following behind them, using their lights as a guide. Pretty darn dangerous. That's a recipe for a hellacious pile up. We ended up navigating our way off the highway and found a Super 8 motel that was gracious enough to let us stay even though we had my son's cat with us. There was a hotel at the top of the interstate ramp, but you literally could not see through the fog to find their entrance. Super 8 had a well lit one, so that is where we went. I was in near tears by the time I walked in the lobby. It was that nerve wracking! By the next morning the fog had cleared and I was surprised at how much was in that area that we could not see the night before. The car was covered in ice, but after a little bit, we got it melted and went on our way. Luckily the road crews had been out early and the roads were clear. Let me tell you, I really don't want to repeat that experience again!!

I'm looking forward to going back and exploring the area around my son's town, but I'm thinking late Spring and Summer are good times to go. I did not realize he is as close to the Illinois border..We went to the Wal-Mart in Muscatine, Iowa--literally right on the Missisippi River. Apparently Muscatine used to lead the nation in pearl button production at the beginning of the century. Button production caesed in the late 1960's. I am going to have to explore the downtown when I go back. There is a yarn store in downtown that sounds awesome!! When I'm there again, it won't be snowing and icing, which is more friendly to exploring.

Plus I will have a GPS.

Anyone who has driven long distances with me knows that I need one...badly.

Pictures From Iowa

Just look at the details on this Victorian house. The boys and I walked around my son's new hometown this weekend snapping photos of the wonderful houses they have there. The amazing thing is that the ones you will see over the next couple days are just a smidgen of the houses like this that are all over the little town. It is so amazing! I'm sure the residents are used to people snapping pictures of their homes, but if not, the police surely got a report of some lady taking pictures all over town. For the most part I snapped from across the street so as not to really freak the owners out. The next couple posts will be house related, then I'll move on to the downtown.

The house above is right across the street from my son, AND it is for sale for around $144,000. I took quite a few pictures of this house, but unfortunately my camera did not capture the paint colors or accents. It's really a pretty house! However, hubby quashed the 9 hour commute to work...Darn!

Another confection. I must have held the camera at a slight angle since most of my pictures look a little tilted. Trust me, they are not sitting at this odd angle...I was. But then everyone who knows me knows I am slightly off center.

I can understand why my son fell in love with this town! It is cute and the people are friendly. It is about 40 minutes to Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, or Muscatine. There are yarn shops in Muscatine and Cedar Rapids, but I didn't get to explore them this time. Instead, the boys and I did a massive book buying tour of the Half Price Books stores from Kansas to Iowa. I found some completely outrageous finds in both jewelry and knitting books. I will take a picture of some of the stash and post later after my 2 yr old nephew is laying down for his nap. We have him for a couple weeks, so I am learning to do what needs to be done when he is napping. It has been a while since the boys were babies. I don't have both my niece's babies, just the 2 year old. Having both the 2 yr old and the 5 month old was just too much for this old lady. And this way, Auralius gets individual attention.

Speaking of Auralius, he just disappeared up the stairs, so I'd better go chase him.

In the next post, I'll tell you about the adventure we had getting to Iowa and why we had to stay at a hotel 90 miles from my son's home because of fog...It was "interesting" to say the least!

Good coffee and Great Friends to you and yours!

Merry Christmas

Can you believe tomorrow is Christmas?

Me neither.

Did you get everything done on your TO DO list?

Me neither.

However, I'm alright with that. I didn't get all the baking done that I wanted, but I am waiting for a cheesecake to come out of the oven that is destined for Stillwater tomorrow after we pick up the rental car. We are planning to have Christmas breakfast here in Kansas, then head to Oklahoma in the evening. Friday morning bright and early I am driving oldest son back to Iowa. I rented from Dollar car rental this time. I did call the customer service to add days to the rental and got really good service. I was very happy with the professional attitude. I figure we'll have some wiggle room built in just in case the weather gets really bad and we have to stay a day longer.

I am planning to spend the weekend in his little town, so I'll get pictures of all the wonderful Victorian homes there. The town has hundreds of them and an absolutely adorable downtown. I intend to hit the quilt shop while I'm there. On the way to my son's little town, we are planning to stop in Des Moines and hit the Half-Price bookstore chain there. I go to this used bookstore chain in Kansas City every time I go. LOVE THEM! However, stopping in Des Moines depends on what the weather is doing.

At this point the kids and I are planning to leave at 6 a.m Friday. This way we avoid rush hour in Kansas City. I got to Kansas City last time right in the middle of rush hour. While I didn't have any trouble, it was a bit unnerving. I haven't seen anything like that before--let's just say I am motivated to work my arrival time not to coincide with rush hour.

Before we head off to Stillwater tomorrow, we are making a big batch of homemade instant hot cocoa mix for everyone.

Homemade Hot Cocoa

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa

3/4 cup powdered non-dairy creamer

1 dash salt

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and blend well. Store in a tightly covered container.

For a single serving:

Combine 1/4 cup cocoa mix and 3/4 cup boiling water in a cup or mug. Stir to blend. Add marshmallows to hot cocoa if desired. And we all desire marshmallows don't we?!

I add a little more mix to my cup, but that's just me...I hope you enjoy this easy recipe.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Cinnamon Pecans Recipe

I make these for gifts every year so I thought I'd share with you:

1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 cups pecan halves
2 Tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients except pecans. Place over medium heat, stirring until all sugar is dissolved. Add pecans and continue to cook-stirring until pecans are completely sugared with no syrup left in the saucepan. Spread on waxed paper and let cool.

These are really GOOD!!!

New Note to the Thrifty Car rental story

I decided to blog about my experience that I had when I turned the car in today since I think it adds a positive angle to my last post. As mad as I was when I talked to customer service, I try to present positive points when they arise to anything I blast. I won't remove the first post since it is valid for that day, but there is another part to the story.

I was pretty darn mad about the experience I got after calling customer service for Thrifty the other night-if you couldn't tell. However, when I checked the car in a day early at 4:40 p.m, I had to let you know that I was really pleased and surprised with the agent at the counter. I really wish I had retained her name since she really made me think that I might consider Thrifty again at some point. I talked with her about the problems I had with not getting the GPS and the "customer service" issues. After she and I talked, I thought "That is a person who needs to do the customer service training for Thrifty". She completely walked through all the complaints I had and didn't interrupt at any point, or play down the issues I brought up. She explained why the GPS reservation did not transfer, laughed about the GPS story and basically delivered superior customer service. Since I turned the car in a day early, the discount I got for weekend rates would not apply. After we talked, I was OK with that since I understood why and that it was not a "penalty" as the customer service rep had barked at me when I called them Thursday. As I said, I entered the building with a not too positive background and left thinking "OK, I may just give them a second chance". I may have to hunt down her name--Thrifty needs this girl. They should give her kudos for turning things around.

As I said, I try to be fair when something changes. Since I blogged about the REALLY bad experience, I wanted to add the REALLY good experience.

Crappy service from Thrifty Car Rental

I am preparing to go to Iowa tomorrow to pick my son up, so I thought I'd rent a car from Thrifty car rental. I rented a compact and decided that I needed the GPS system just to help me navigate.

When I got to the rental stall they told me the car I was renting did not have cruise control. I upgraded and ASSUMED the cost would include the GPS since I asked for it to be included in the first place. I realized on the way home that there was no GPS. Crap! I'm going to Iowa-I need a GPS. When I called Thrifty, guess what--the cost of the upgrade (to get something BASIC on a vehicle like CRUISE CONTROL) did not include the cost of the GPS..but of course for an additional reaming, I can drive BACK to the airport and pick one up FOR AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

Um...NO.

Oh, and if I return the car early, there is a $15 penalty. Well, let's just ream it in a little deeper. Yep. Got to LOVE this BAD experience.

Not only am I NOT renting from them again, their crappy customer service has definitely made me want to warn everyone I know not to rent from them to save them from this type of experience!

I never got this kind of service from Avis or Dollar. That is who I should have gone with. My fault for not going with a proven winner. After all, who did I think they were? Avis?!

One funny tidbit--the second woman that I talked to interrupted me while I was speaking to let me know that Thrifty does NOT use GPS--they use the Garmin system..Hmm--apparently there is not a translation for GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM in their neck of the globe. Can anyone guess what GPS stands for? Hint-it's not a brand name like Garmin, but don't tell her--she was pretty proud of herself.

Snow...

I know it's DECEMBER...I know this is KANSAS...But that doesn't mean I was ready for it!

Neither was our contractor. The ladder that you see at the corner of the picture is his. It rests against the skeleton of our deck. Darn! I was hoping we'd get it completed before any snow hit. Mind you, a couple days ago it was 60+ degrees. I didn't even have a jacket on when I was at the yarn shop on Sunday....But it IS December and this IS Kansas...

I stayed in the house the whole day today except when I had to go pick one of the boys up after school. Let me tell you, there are people who can't drive ON A GOOD day that were out trying to drive in this junk. Surprisingly, the high school parking lot, which is usually just plain craziness, was moving very slowly and carefully. It was a pleasant surprise since I was a geared up to witness multiple accidents.

The accidents and idiots that I witnessed today were adult drivers that should have known better.

Hubby knows that I am not particularly confident in driving in these conditions and was an angel by picking the other son up from wrestling practice so I wouldn't have to venture out again. One little detail I had forgotten was to get gas on Sunday, or even Monday so I would not have to be standing out in the wind and pelting snow. But since I neglected to plan ahead, guess what I was doing in 20 degree weather? Yep! Getting gas. That won't happen again, I promise! I'll make sure to send hubby to gas the car up...only kidding.

I have been feeling pretty under the weather for the past couple weeks, so I actually spent most of the day sleeping. I put a brisket in the crockpot before I went to bed, so this evening when hubby and son walked in the door I was able to have a hot dinner waiting on them with very little effort on my part.

I LOVE my crockpot.

This weekend I am going to make a couple crockpot stews so that we can freeze portions for dinner and extras so cute man has something to take to work with him. Part of our economizing this season is that we are trying to cut down significantly on eating out and concentrate more on cooking at home. Apparently in this economy, a lot of people are doing exactly the same thing. A report on CNN last week said that as the economy continues to fall, people who normally have never seen the inside of their kitchens are opting to learn to cook meals at home. Sales of cookbooks are skyrocketing along with cooking sets that are being bought by people who don't usually cook and are having to stock their kitchen. I tend to be really bad about eating lunches out, so I have been making a little more of an effort to lower that. One day a week, I sit down with the grocery store ads for the week and make a menu based on what's on sale and what we have in the fridge. I am looking at buying a chest freezer in January so that I can start taking one day to do "once a month cooking". This will eliminate the "What's for dinner" brain freeze I sometimes get. Menu planning helps, but on days when what is on the menu doesn't sound good, having extra meals on hand would be great!

Have you tried any once a month cooking? How did it work out for you. I have done sessions at Simple Suppers and Super Suppers here in town and really enjoyed the fact you don't have to clean up, but the cost is what keeps me from doing it a lot. I bought a couple once a month cooking books and plan to work from them so we can save a little extra.

Goldfish Funeral

not that a kid dropping the F-bomb is funny, but I couldn't help laugh...