Day Two

Day two started out with a bang, quite literally.  I got the kids to bed, tucked myself into my too-big bed and promptly fell asleep to the sound of the wind whipping around my house, whistling through my windows and banging the front porch swing against the house.  Since I am an Olympic-caliber sleeper, it didn't bother me much.  Remember, I slept though a tornado once.
My dear daughter doesn't have the sleep-stamina that I have and woke me up from a dead sleep about 1:00 with terror in her voice.  She wanted to know if I had heard that loud noise.  Um, obviously, "No."
"It was so loud it shook" her bed.
Nope, didn't hear a thing.
But, since I am a single parent for the next ten days, I got up to investigate.  (Note to self, be more grateful for the times that JJ does this.)  I looked out the window and noticed that the garbage can had been blown over.  Obviously that must have been the noise.
As much as I wanted to leave the stupid thing where it was, I put on my sweatshirt and shoes and trudged down the driveway and dragged the garbage can and recycling bin back into the garage.  Did I mention that the wind was gusting to 50 mph, it was after 1:00 am and I was only half-awake?
I got back in the house and Boo was still a little shaken.  She wasn't convinced that the garbage can had made the noise that had shaken her bed.  She asked if I had checked the mailbox. (The reason that our mailbox is on a temporary stand is a long story, but no, I hadn't checked the mailbox.)  And of course, she was right.  The wind had blown the mailbox right over.  The mailbox that is (was) solidly attached to some 4x4 posts.  The heavy heavy mailbox and temporary stand.
I left it where it was.
I didn't need it being blown over and shaking her bed again. 



I got up this morning, stood it up and tied it to the porch railing.  I couldn't find the bungee cords, or I would have used them.  I think that bungee-corded mailboxes that are barely attached to temporary posts just scream "high class" don't you?

My twine looks less solid and more like a spider web, but it didn't fall over again, so we'll call that a victory for Shannon. Yay me!
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  And I am grateful for that.

Day One

This crappy rainy weather is doing nothing to improve my mood.  Took Jables to the airport today for the first of 10 flights he has in the next 11 days:  home, Chicago, Tokyo, Manila, Cebu, back to Manila, Beijing, Dalian, Tokyo, Chicago, home.

Yes, I was bummed.  I actually like him.  And I don’t mean the typical, “I love you but I don’t like you.”  I like him and I hate being away from him.  (Gag, barf, puke, I know.)  I was a little weepy as I pulled away, which was super-helpful as I drove through the steady rain.  I was nearly home when I got a call from a strange number.  I decided I had better answer it and it was Jables.  He had left his phone in my car.  I think he just wanted another kiss.  ;)

I got to turn around and drive back to the airport.  Yay!  I gave Jables his phone, got another kiss and drove home where I managed to accomplish these things: 

1.        Made the kids a warm and nutritious breakfast of toaster waffles and Flintstones chewables.

2.       Took a nap.

3.       Dragged the kids to the grocery store and bought them a nutritious meal of Wal-Mart popcorn chicken and potato wedges.  It was a throw-back to the old days when I used to bribe them with that meal.

4.       Put the groceries away.

5.       Took another nap (There was a cat on my lap.  It was mandatory.)

6.       Shuffled the kids to and from their practices.

7.       Spent 30 minutes on the treadmill.

8.       Made a real dinner:  spaghetti, homemade meatballs and salad.  (Actual green food.) 

9.       Watched part of the Grammy’s and had some ice cream with Magic Shell. 

10.   Cleaned up the kitchen and edited some photos.

11.   Bored you with this post.

I think that today was an all-around victory.  Even KJ fell prey to the cat-napping monster. 

Boo was able to resist and get some crocheting done. She wins for most productive day.

 

Buckeyes!

This one is going to be a quickie.  I just have a few minutes, but this is another recipe worth sharing!
This is yet another treat that I remember fondly from childhood when we would go back to Pennsylvania for Christmas.  Cookies and candies are such a part of celebrations there...but I digress...as usual.

Buckeyes:
Step one:
1/4 pound butter
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 1/2 C. peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
(and a whole lotta love, to quote my friend Tim)

*combine the above (I use my bare hands) and roll into large-marble-sized balls.  Chill 8 hours.


After the balls have chilled, stick a toothpick into each ball.  Then carefully melt the following in a small saucepan:
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 oz. parrafin wax.

Dip the balls in the chocolate/wax mixture and place on waxed paper to cool/solidify.



Then you eat.

I usually AT LEAST double the recipe.  Once, I quadrupled it, but step one was nearly my undoing.

My Soapbox.

Here's what I have learned from Facebook.

1.  No matter which candidate you support, you are either stark, raving mad or a genius.
2.  Each candidate is brilliant or has the IQ of a garden slug.
3.  Each candidate is looking out for your best interests.  Or he intends to ruin the American Dream.

If you can't see that BOTH sides are slinging propaganda and twisting words then you are delusional.

There.  I said it.

I have tried so hard to stay out of this, but I am so freaking tired of it.  Stop feeding the divisiveness with your mindless re-posting of other people's opinions and think for yourselves, people.  Those cute little pictures with snarky little sayings aren't encouraging real dialogue.  They aren't changing anyone's mind.  All they are doing is making YOU feel better about yourself because you feel like you are posting something clever and witty.  And you feel like you belong.

Shut off Facebook.  Shut off FOX and MSNBC and CNN.  Read.  Think.  Form your own opinions.  Stop allowing other people to tell you what you should think.

Trust yourself to be smart enough to think about the issues that are important to you.  And stop judging people who have different opinions.  We all have had different life experiences.  I found this article fascinating...especially the part that we need BOTH types (liberal and conservative) for society to function.

But I am sure that I am in the minority and I am what is wrong with America.

Flour never goes bad, does it?

I've been sick all week and I woke up this morning all ready to be productive.  Well, honestly, I was supposed to go golfing, but it was cold and crappy out, so I decided being productive was a decent alternative.  Also, I have a sitter coming over tonight and I didn't want to scare the poor girl off with the state of my house.

I had some bananas on the counter that were well-beyond edible and I decided that I should make some banana chocolate chip muffins.  They are yummy, my kids will eat them and they make me feel less like a failure for once again NOT eating the bananas.  I have such good intentions, I really do.

I went to the cupboard and got out the sugar and realized I had no flour. 

Never fear!  I knew there was an old bag in the back of the pantry.  And by "in the back," I mean, top shelf, can-barely-reach-it-even-when-standing-on-a-stool.  I climbed up on the stool and reached way up there with my stubby little arms and pulled down the barely-used bag of flour.  I swear, it weighed twenty pounds.  Ok, maybe only ten. 

I took the binder clip off of it and took a look at the expiration date.

Better if used by 05APR09.

Hmmmm.  Better?  As in "Better safe than sorry?" I tossed it.  All ten pounds of it.  I sure hope that garbage bag is as strong at the commercials say it is.

I climbed back up on that stool to see if there was another bag of flour up there.  And of course there was.  I wouldn't be me if I didn't have multiple, almost-used-up bags of all kinds of stuff sitting around.

Check the expiration date:

Better if used by 17May10.

At least it was a year younger than the first bag I dug up.  And there was probably only a cup of flour in the bag, so it wasn't nearly as wasteful.

After that second bag of flour, I just started tossing stuff. I figured if I had years-old flour, most of the other things on that shelf were probably past their expiration date too.  It was kind of cathartic throwing away bottles of sno-cone syrup that I had been squirreling away for the "next" summer. Looking at the flour evidence that "next" summer was probably 2008.

And then I discovered one last, mostly empty, sack of flour.  And I looked at the expiration date.

Better if used by 25Aug04.

Seriously?  My brain shut down for a minute. Wait.  What year is this?  2012.  This expired in 2004.  A little quick math tells me that was oh, approximately EIGHT years ago.  And if it expired eight years ago (still struggling with this) I must have bought it like ten years ago.  That sack of flour is as old as my daughter.

Conclusion:  I should clean out my pantry more often.  

By the way, I am a little ticked off that those Box Tops expired. I bet the school could have used them six years ago.

  

Evil Genius

Chester. Allegedly a short-haired boy kitten. Turned out to be a long-haired girl kitten. Named for the brilliant cat from the Bunnicula series.

  Look at her. She doesn't look like the sharpest pencil in the box, does she? Maybe only playing with 48 cards. Elevator's not making it to the top floor. You get the idea. We routinely catch her with her tongue hanging out. I look at that face and I think how sweet she is. And how dumb she is. And my heart swells and I just want to hug her and love her and call her my own.

And then 5:30 am comes along and she shows her true colors.

I am a sleeper. I love and cherish my sleep. If I wake up one minute before my alarm goes off, I am completely irritate. I don't get up a single minute before I have to. My love of sleep is part of the reason I only had two kids. Call me a quitter, but it's the truth.

Chester thinks that she should eat at 5:30 am. I think that's bull(you-know-what.) I can normally sleep through anything. I slept through a tornado once.  It went down our street and knocked down the tree in our front yard.  But I can't sleep through my iPad being knocked off of my nightstand.

It all started a few months ago. She would come in and gently paw the plastic bag in the garbage can, making that annoying crinkly sound. I got the better of her. The garbage can now sits on top of my tall dresser. Score one for Shannon. A few days later, I heard her next to me, making this flopping noise that I could not identify. I did NOT want to open my eyes, because once she sees the whites of my eyes, it's game over. I finally figured out that she was picking up the corner of the area rug and letting it flap back down on the hardwood floor. And looking at me expectantly. I'm not sure if she is smart enough to be proud of herself, but that furry little face sure looked smug. 

She has figured out how to make noise in any way she can. She paws at the closet door. There's a shoebox under my bed that she has started eating. If you don't think listening to a cat chew on cardboard (smack, smack) at 5:30 am is annoying, I would be happy to let you cat-sit Chester for a while. Barrettes and bobby pins are a favorite. They make a fun little tinkling noise when they hit the hardwood floor. My glasses make an ever bigger noise when she knocks them off.

Locking her out of the bedroom helps, but then she just goes in and annoys the kids.  I have too much mommy-guilt to let that happen.

The morning that I thought I might kill her was the morning she knocked the iPad off the nightstand. I chased her down the stairs, muttering incoherent threats. She hasn't done that again, but I only think that is because I keep it farther from the edge.

  It hasn't kept her from trying to eat it, though.

Don't Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Both of my kids played travel ball this summer.  Keebles' softball season began the last weekend in March.  KJ's last baseball tournament ended July 15th.  In between there, we had 120+ games between the two of them and not a single free weekend.  Don't get me wrong.  I am not complaining.  I know what I signed up for.  I am just laying out the facts here.  And one of the facts is that is was face-meltingly hot Memorial Day Weekend and just got worse as the summer wore on.

JJ took this week off for some much-needed rest from work.  We decided that since we hadn't taken a family vacation this summer, we would take the kids to a baseball game this week.  Yay!  Family Fun! Now, granted, JJ had ulterior motives.  He's a Dodgers fan, and it's a heck of a lot cheaper for the four of us to drive to St. Louis or Chicago than to fly to L.A., and the Dodgers were in St. Louis playing the Cardinals this week.  

My children are die-hard Cubs fans.  For those of you who don't live in Central Illinois, the Cubs-Cards rivalry is nearly as tragic as the Civil War.  My children were not happy about going to Busch Stadium, but after we spun it as "A Cool Trip To a Major League Ball Park," and "It's Autograph Night" and "Make This Sacrifice For Your Dad," they decided it would be fun.

So, the stars aligned and KJ's baseball camp got done an hour early. JJ bought a bucket of baseballs for autographs. We had plenty of time to get down there for autograph night.  The trip down was great...good conversation, giggles, snacks, and lots of water.  No traffic.  We parked right in front of Busch Stadium.  And we opened the car doors and the heat hit us like a blast furnace.

What have we done?

Now, I will say that I LOVE the fact that Busch Stadium will let you take in a small soft-sided cooler filled with water bottles.  THANK GOD I knew that ahead of time.  It was a life saver.  We stood and waited to get into the stadium for 15-20 minutes, sweating, all the while, I was trying to convince the 2 K's that this was good fun.  We got into the stadium and one of the ushers directed us to where the autographs were being signed.  The line went up and up and up the ramp.  We just kept climbing, trying to find the end of the line.  We got near the top and found another, shorter line for two different autographs.  Score!  Those poor suckers in that long line were never going to get autographs in the 30-minute time slot.

And so began the waiting game.

At first we were in the shade.  But is was still hotter than Hades.  Tempers were short.  Keebles was contemplating using her baseball as a weapon against her brother.

Once the line got moving, moods improved.  Except for when you ended up in the sun.  And contemplated jumping over the edge because there was no escaping the heat.

We kept watching the clock, knowing the autograph signing ended at 6:30.  KJ kept announcing: 20 minutes left.  13 minutes left.  4 minutes left.  With two minutes left, we were so close.  I stepped out of line to take pictures. 

And then, the "handlers" shut it down at 6:30.  My kids were four from the front of the line.  FOUR.  1, 2, 3, 4.  They now have one more reason to hate the Cardinals.  (On a side note, the one player that was giving autographs did get picked off at first base.  It made the 2 K's feel a little better.)

So, we trudged up to our seats, and sat in the sun.  Dear God, why must the sun always be out?

Keebles and I kept a close eye on the temperature.  

It had dropped to a refreshing 92 by the time we left the game at 10:00.

The one thing that could have saved the evening was Dippin' Dots.  But KJ was too hot and cranky to wait in the three-mile-long Dippin' Dot line.  So, we sat through 10 innings of a good ball game with two cranky, sweaty, sticky kids.  (Not that JJ and I weren't sweaty and sticky ourselves.)  We left after the 10th because we still had a two-and-a-half hour drive to get home.

I wish I could say it was all better because the Dodgers won, but they didn't.  Cardinals pulled it off in 12 innings.  And that just made my kids even crankier.

We'll look back on this and laugh someday, right?