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...

Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls--yum!

I am in the middle of a baking spree here at Casa Crazylife. Cute man and I signed up to take cookies to sell at our high school wrestling invitational tomorrow so I am making many dozens.

While waiting for the butter and eggs to come to room temperature, I was perusing some of my favorite blogs, checking out the links they provided, and I found a recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls from Amanda's Cookin'. We LOVE pumpkin here at Casa Crazylife (and cinnamon rolls) so this is a match made in Heaven! I was going to do a step by step tutorial, but forgot...so here is the stage I'm at right now. All the dough ingredients have been mixed together (I love my KitchenAid 6 qt mixing bowl and mixer--my mom in law spoils me!). I am waiting for the dough to rise. I will report back on how these turn out and provide the recipe link.

Once they are done, there is a caramel icing that gets drizzled on them. Good grief! They sound good just talking about them! A little later I am going to make a cherry eggnog quick bread that I have been eyeing for quite some time. It is an easy recipe and looks like it will freeze well. As you can tell, I am in a baking mood. I am trying a lot of different recipes out so I can decide on some new ones for Christmas morning brunch. I also found an awesome recipe for pudding pie surprise at The Beehive Cottage. I love this recipe. I've had it several times in the past, but this is the first time I've found a recipe for it so you know I HAD to print it out for later next week!

Rain, Sleet and Snow

That's what today has looked like as far as weather. I hate to admit it, but as I get older, the cold weather is getting much harder for me to bear. I end up wanting to stay in the house and venture out only when I have to.



The cold didn't stop me from getting out and doing a little shopping though. I was on a conquest for card making supplies so that I can make Christmas cards tomorrow while the boys are in school. When they come home, I am going to have them help with some of cards. I'll do all the embossing and any messy work, then turn it over to them.





One thing that is clear to me is the fact that I need to get an organized area to keep all my craft supplies in one place. I know I have some really pretty Christmas stamps, but I can't find them at the moment. I do have a half a dozen that will get me through this season, but I really would have liked to have had the other ones too. I'll continue the hunt in the morning. I used to rubber stamp a lot but then stopped for some reason. I had forgotten how fun rubber stamping is. I definitely intend to rubber stamp and emboss cards for other occasions too.





We went to my mom and dad in law's house for Thanksgiving. The boys got to do some shooting with their Grandpa and I was able to see our adorable niece and nephew who were down with my sister in law from Texas. The kids get cuter every year!





The game plan tomorrow is to bake pumpkin bread, knit a bit and clean house. The cleaning house part definitely needs to happen above the other activities. With kids and the menagerie of animals that we have, I have to keep up or it gets out of control pretty darn fast! I can put a batch of pumpkin bread in the oven and get a little cleaning done at the same time. I might even get around to pulling out my "Artisian bread in 5 minutes" book and making a batch of dough to go in the fridge for the upcoming weeks. Homemade pizza is on the menu plan this week and it would be nice to have the dough sitting in the fridge and waiting for me. With the cold weather coming up, baking is one thing I do a lot of. Having the oven on warms the kitchen, plus something good gets made, so it is a win/win situation.

The blip above was written on Sunday and I waited to post since it sounded so blah to me. It still sounds BLAH, but I thought I'd post anyway and add a little for today (Monday)..so here it is:

I REALLY should stay off the holiday recipe sight for Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I subscribe to their email feed and today they had a couple leftover turkey recipes that caught my attention. The recipe for turkey tortilla soup really sounds good. That got printed, but the turkey nachos sounded so good that I am abandoning the planned meal for tonight in favor of this one. Turkey, sour cream, salsa, nacho chips--what's not to like? Gotta LOVE this sight!!! However, once I finished there, I noticed a "food gifts" section. Slippery slope that it was-- I fell right in. My printer will never be the same. Let's see...easy chocolate shortbread, chocolate raisin and oatmeal cookie gift mix, soft honey nougat (YUM!!!), buttermilk pralines, hazelnut mocha sauce,honey and macadamia nut fudge, mocha truffle tartlets, cherry and golden raisin bread..and those are just the ones I printed. I might have to quiz everyone on my gift list to see whether their blood sugar can take a "12 days of sugar" blitz for the Epiphany!

No Rest for the weary!

This past week, I lost my mind and apparently forgot that it has been a while since we've had youngsters in the house.

So when I went to Stillwater to pick my 2 year old great nephew up to spend a week with us, I also accepted his Mom's request(begging) that I take my 5 month old great niece.

See where this is going?

Having Auralius is not that hard--but my niece didn't tell me that Anna was both teething and in the middle of being treated for an ear infection, so let me tell you---that was definitely interesting.

I had forgotten all the little things involved with kids, like ear splitting crying from a teething child, the stubbornness of a two year old and the fun of trying to get everyone in the car to pick my older kids up from school. Holy Smokes! Now I know why you should have kids when you are younger!

So here is a little of what I wanted to get accomplished this past week:

1. Do a once a month cooking session to stock the freezer.

2. Shop for a compact freezer unit to keep from overloading the refrigerator freezer.

3. Finish the shop hat for Twist and the shop scarf for The Newton Beadery.

4. Get Christmas card supplies in one spot and make Christmas cards.

5. Clean house.

This is what I got accomplished:

NOTHING

Yep, not a darn thing, except the priceless hands on experience that my sons had with the reality of having kids.

You know the experiment some schools do where they have the kids carry around a doll or an egg for a week and pretend to experience the reality of a baby?

I think that is a lame experience.

After listening to a teething kid scream at decibels that could shatter glass and knock pictures off the wall, my boys have firmly proclaimed they are serious about not having children. Actually in the middle of one of Anna's voice lessons, one of my boys declared he would remain celibate for life...LOL.

And that was even before she blew the back end out of her diaper with poo.

Did I mention the diaper was not manly enough to handle the job so some of it escaped?

Yep, I thought I was going to lose two teenagers right there!

Let me tell you, if the screaming didn't do it, the diaper sealed the deal.

Priceless.

Kids...

Today I had a meeting at the high school to review one of the twins school progress. It went very well.

I was sitting in the high school office thinking "Wow, my last batch of babies are in high school". I have to admit, it did make me a little sad. Those who know me know that I totally love being a Mom. Sitting there, I started thinking about some "Mom memories", some of them funny, others were a little exasperating. But then, that's what raising kids is all about. Just when you think you have the answers, God decides to shake it up a bit. For example:

Before I had kids, I always said "MY kid will NEVER scream in the grocery store". God took note of that one obviously, because I got humbled BIG TIME. When my oldest son was about 3 years old, he decided to throw a REALLY big hissy in the grocery store, but he didn't stop there. We were standing in the middle of the personal hygiene aisle of the grocery store when a college boy(who obviously didn't want to be on THAT aisle) came walking by with his girlfriend. My son promptly and tightly attached himself to that poor guy's leg and started screaming DADDY to the top of his lungs. Yep, it was a golden moment.The look on the guys face was almost as priceless as his girlfriend's face--even after I:

A. told her that I honestly have never met her boyfriend....
and
B. Offered to send my son home with them-just in case they thought they MIGHT want kids..they declined. Go figure.

Before I had kids, I always thought that there was a perfectly good reason for any incident. So how did one of the twins end up with stitches in his head after playing croquet with his twin brother? Isn't the idea of that game to move the balls with the mallet still AT GROUND LEVEL ?

But having kids also gives you absolutely golden moments of humor. Like the time we were going through "What sound does this animal make" with the twins.

Me: Jeremy, what sound does a cow make?
Jeremy: Moo.

Me: What sound does a dog make?
J: Woof

and so on, until:

Me: What sound does a kitty cat make?
Jeremy : (sticks out his fingers like claws) HISSSSSSSSSSS!

Well alrighty then...

Giggles

Happy Halloween (HINT: Watch the chair!!)

More Yoga

OK, the last two pics in the Caleb yoga saga...

Right after this, he looked up and saw the crazy lady with the camera.

But just look at the concentration on that face!

Future Yoga Master alert

Shelly's son, Caleb, was feeling a little under the weather this morning, so she had him at Twist. It's always fun to have Caleb and Ainsley around, but today was particularly amusing. While playing his game, Caleb was completely engaged in the moment. As a result, he struck several very interesting yoga poses. I have to say, I had forgotten that the human body could contort in these positions. He definitely has a future as a yoga master....


...Or a chiropractor.

This would be the "T pose"--as in totally absorbed.

I know somewhere, there is a chiropractor going "WHOA"!

OK, this one just hurts to look at.

That one makes me go "WHOA!!"

Can you me imagine explaining that to the paramedics if I tried that? Actually, let's get real. I can't even START to get in that position. That would entail the whole "being able to grab the ankles from behind thing" which I can tell you for sure: I do not have it goin' on in that arena. I have a motto that I try to follow :

Never do anything that you can't clearly explain to a paramedic or police officer.

If I tried anything like the poses above, let's face it: There would be NO GOOD EXPLANATIONS.

There are a couple more that I'll post tonight. Blogger is being stingy with photo space.

Wilde Weekend !

Sorry for the blurry picture! I was having problems actually holding the camera still while she talked. Here she is talking about the book and the fact that all the models in the book are actually friends of hers, not professional models. She shared a wonderful story about one of the models who is a Harley riding ethnic drumming woman! Loved the stories! If you have a chance to hear Gina speak or take one of her workshops, DO IT! I drove 3 hours each way to see her and I have to say, I think it was worth every second!

On Friday night I drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma to see the owner of Alchemy yarns give a talk at Loops yarn shop. Warning: This is where I am going to sound like a fiber freak...suck it up and get ready:

Holy Smokes! It was flippin' fabulous!!

Both going to Loops and getting to meet Gina Wilde. I was afraid I wouldn't get to Loops in time for the presentation since I've never really timed how long it would take me to get there, so I left early. I won't admit to HOW EARLY, but I walked into Loops at 3:45 for the 5:30 presentation. You do the math...

It did give me plenty of time to talk to Shelly (the owner), her great staff and the other customers that were there knitting. I found several really great patterns (hint: the single copies of the patterns are in the room with the long table--I didn't realize this until Shelly showed me--they have a huge inventory of patterns!!!) and probably touched every single skein of yarn in that store! I did get the pattern for a really great looking 3 way wrap that Loops designed. I bought one ball of the suggested yarn and will have to go back later when I am actually ready to knit the pattern. It is a Karabella yarn, which I haven't seen anywhere else. It really provides a nice drape and sheen to the finished wrap, so I will pick up more when I actually cast on. I have a mohair shawl on the needles right now, along with a hat , so I really am trying to make myself get these done BEFORE I move on to the next project...I digress...Shelly has designers come to the shop and give presentations often. Get on her mailing list so you can be notified when she has one of these events. That's exactly how I found out about Gina. She has had several other designers such as Louisa Harding. When she sends out the emails it is first come- first serve, so you have to email immediately if you want a spot.

For those of you unfamiliar with Alchemy yarns, the designer and owner is Gina Wilde. The minute she came in the door, I knew every mile of the drive to and from Wichita was going to be worth it! She talked about how the company was started, about the yarns themselves and her dyeing process. Alchemy yarns is a higher price point yarn--I now realize the reason for this. Gina and her small staff hand paint and dye EVERY skein that is sent out. There are no machines.The yarns are steamed in large steamers outside to set the dyes. I was amazed at the amount of labor that goes into these yarns. So when you buy Alchemy yarns, you really are getting an original piece of art to work with. There were several shop models at Loops in the yarns and some shop samples from Gina's book Shibori Knits, which I highly recommend. Gina explained the process of felting and the accidental felting that brought about this book. I got to talk a bit to Gina and her husband--both of them are very warm and interesting people. Gina is a cancer survivor, so she does get my admiration on that point too. I know, I'm babbling--get the book and buy Alchemy yarns! For those of you in the Central Kansas area who are unable to get to Oklahoma to buy Alchemy, Julie at the Newton Beadery is going to be carrying the Alchemy yarns. Either way, it is fabulous yarn that is worth every cent. One of my favorite yarns looks like raffia in the skein. When I fisrt touched it, I thought "meh..". However once you work with it, the fibers soften up. Once it is washed and blocked, it is sinful!! I am going back to Loops to pick up some of this for a shawl next time I'm in Tulsa.

While in Tulsa, I got to stop by Whole Foods and do a little shopping. I would LOVE to have a Whole Foods in Wichita. I love their store brand (365 brand) and buy a ton of stuff when I am in Kansas City or Tulsa, where the only close Whole Food chains are.However, that said, it might not be the best thing for our Mom and Pop natural food stores, so I will be satisfied to make it a destination when I'm in KC or T town. Hubby and I lived in Tulsa for a while (the twins were born there) and I love going back to visit. There really is something magical about Tulsa. It is a very sophisticated and cosmopolitan town, but the people are very warm and friendly.

I had forgotten how narrow some portions of Lewis, Utica and Peoria street were though.

I used to run up and down Peoria when we lived there and the narrowness didn't phase me. It did catch me off guard this time. Mainly because the SUV in the other lane kept trying to migrate over into my lane.

Frequently.

If you have to take up 4 inches of the lane next to you in order to just drive a straight line, maybe you should try driving something smaller. I'm sure your insurance company would be thankful. I was thankful I was in the Neon. If I had been in my mini van, he would have run right into me. I was polite, I didn't give him any "visual suggestions" after the 4th time he almost hit me. If I hadn't been in a long line of traffic, I would have slowed down to get away from the side of him, or sped up to get in front of him. I must say, I had also forgotten how congested some of the areas can get in Tulsa. That said, it really is a magical place.

I probably should go. As I am typing this, two of my dogs disappeared upstairs. One just came to the landing and is watching me. Something tells me he is the lookout and I am NOT going to be amused at the delinquent canine activity going on upstairs as I sit here and type.

Click on both Loops links. One is to the blog and the other is the official store sight. Great info on both.

A little later I will post about the Central Kansas yarn shop hop, which I went on with Cindy on Sunday. Since I was originally supposed to be in Tulsa all weekend, I hadn't planned on going. We didn't hit all the shops, but I'll report on the ones that we did. The two we didn't visit are on my list to go to in the next month.

How To Discourage People from Asking for a RIDE

Excuse #1 : I'd love to give you a ride, but the last time someone sat in the back, they disappeared.
#2: Gosh--looks like I'm plumb full on my load capacity. Besides, the rats might get a little jealous.
#3. If I give you a ride, we'll have to cuddle up real close. AWW Heck, you can just sit on my lap...



I guess that's one way to get rid of the "new car" smell. Nothing beats "new car"smell like "old decay". Yummmmmm.


Holy Smokes people! This must be kin to the van person I posted a little while back.

This one was in Newton, and since it was parked right next to me, I had to get a shot. Obviously this is someone who doesn't just ride with the windows down. And what would happen if your car broke down and had to be worked on? It would take a week before you could get to the seats--if they haven't decayed.

I am at a loss to explain this phenomenon. I seem to finding these cars pretty frequently lately. Since all the stuff is trash like empty bags and containers, I'm pretty sure these are not people living in their cars.


What do you think?

Boys and Mud

In the past couple days, we have received a pretty fair amount of rain in my little town. Enough to make any patch of ground into on soggy mud puddle. So this is the scene that met my eyes yesterday as I was pulling into the football practice field.

Boys+mud= bleach.

A LOT OF BLEACH. And that didn't even get it all out. So right now, I am basting the practice pants in Spray and Wash.

Notice in these pictures that the uniforms are supposed to be WHITE. The fact that some of the uniforms are completely BROWN is not because of a shadow, or any other light trick. Those boys are completely covered in MUD. Let me say it again:

MUD...COMPLETELY COVERED.

And did I mention they don't pop in the showers before they get in the car? They do change out of their top gear and usually their pants, but they are still caked in MUD. Luckily that is not my kid in the picture above. I was watching for my son's number and couldn't find it, which was making me pretty nervous since I couldn't see the numbers on the most mud encrusted players.

My poor car interior. Last week one of the kids had a bleeding knuckle after practice and yes, I now have some of that on my seat too. Hopefully I never have to have CSI comb my car....This weekend I am going to Sam's and buying another gallon of Spray and Wash!!

That said, they did have an awful lot of fun sliding around in the mud. All the boys came off the field muddy, sweaty, tired AND GRINNING FROM EAR TO EAR.

Boys....gotta love 'em.

Things to be done.....or not

Today has been misty and rainy.



Figures.



I had called the contractor about starting our deck remodel. I really think I should go to Atlanta for a weekend so they catch up on their rainfall deficit. I have the power to invoke a monsoon simply by planning a major outside renovation. ARGGG....



So instead, I spent most of the day being productive. Ok--that's not true at all. I was lazy and didn't get a darn thing done. However, once I pick up one of the boys from school, I am planning to come home and get caught up. I'll let you know how that goes...

Apparently not all of us were being lazy today.

I opened the patio door and almost ran (face first) into this web. I'm sure the spider constructed it last night after the last dog was let in since there were no screams from someone with a web on their face...I give the owner of this web credit for being resourceful. The web would have caught a large number of the bugs that fly into the patio door towards the light that is cast from inside. I REALLY don't like spiders, but I will have a truce if they are outside. I like the spiders OUTSIDE because they keep the bugs in check in my gardens and on my plants. I do not kill them if they are outside (except black widows and brown recluses--we do not want them breeding since they tend to try to come inside), but if they are inside--they are suddenly rendered one dimensional with the aid of a shoe or any other flat heavy object (no books please!!). So for now the web will stay.

It does have a certain kind of artistry to it...as long as the owner stays out of sight...

This weekend I got to try my hand at monoprinting. I take a drawing class at the Wichita Center for the Arts on Saturdays and I have really enjoyed the fact that the instructor tries to give us hands on experience with a variety of materials. I think we are trying pastels next weekend, which I am looking forward to. Monoprinting is something that I think I can actually find a space to do--it doesn't take a ton of materials and the space can be as big or as small as I want. It isn't a technique that allows for a huge amount of fine detail, but I am finding that I actually like the impressionistic style that is typical of monoprints. I tend to put a lot of detail in my drawings and this forces me to make decisions about how to render the image in a way that is going to convey the feeling I want with the minimum amount of detail...The prints we did in class were in black and white, but you can introduce colors as you see fit, which is what I am going to be doing. I'll post the picture of the print this week. Be nice, it is my first attempt at printing so it is not perfect....

Natalie Grant - I Will Not Be Moved - Official Music Video

I really like this song, so I thought I'd share it with you.