Simply Kneaded

What problem?

2010-02-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

I have a problem. I lack follow through. It's more like I have no attention span and I get bored easily. I obsess and dive into things 410%. Then it hits, I am bored and no longer interested. Sometimes (most of the time) I drive myself crazy. Other times I am totally awesome. Like when I made this:Do you see those peacocks. Wow! I was kinda proud of myself after that one. I wanted to keep it too but didn't. Buh bye.

I also made a couple knitting needle rolls and crayon rolls. It was a great learning expirience.

Then I made this ironing mat for someone. Genius idea, too bad I didn't think of it. I hope she likes it. It's so nerve racking sometimes.

Anyway, Alaska girl is coming in less than a week and will be staying for a month with the baby. I am excited to meet her.

Murphy's Law

2010-01-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

The man cub has been sick and throwing up. He doesn't throw up during the day only at 2 am. Sarge wears ear plugs and snorrs like no other. I think I mentioned this before but I used to call his cell phone and leave him messages of his snoring. He didn't appreciate that very much and it made me cackle with glee (on a side note I am embroidering a towel for him that says "I shave my pits with your razor" He will not laugh at that either but I will crack up!) I finally fell back asleep around 4. I was totally exhausted!

RRRRRIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!!! In my mind I am instantly angry. I think to myself, someone better be dead for my phone to be ringing.

Me in groggy voice: Hello

Some guy: Is Capt (insert my last name) there?

Me: He's sleeping, after all it is almost 4 am.

The guy: Oh, I'm so sorry Mrs. (insert my last name)

Me: Is it an emergency?

The guy: I need to talk to him

Me: (Shoving phone in Sarge's face) Do you hear that? (Sarge is snoring really loud)

The guy: yes

Me: Do you really want me to wake him up, after all he IS on vacation?

The guy: (in a sheepish voice) he is on vacation?

Me: yes, but I'll wake him up if you want

The guy: Oh God, I didn't know he was on vacation. I am soooo sorry. (almost distraught)

Me: ok

The guy: (very uneasy) good bye

Me: bye

I never did go back to sleep. My body began to protest the quick sleep awake cycle I was putting it through. I think I'm going to start wearing ear plugs too. Here's to hoping tonight is better...

Just say NO

2010-01-06T21:21:00.000-08:00

So I hear all these people talking about their New Year's Resolutions. I balk at the idea of making resolutions. If I want to make changes in my life I just do it, no matter what day or month it is. So there.

I participated in a doll quilt swap. This is the little beauty I received in my favorite 30's fabric. I LOVE when I participate in a swap and am thrilled with what I get. Sometimes I get stuff and because they don't know you what you receive is just not your thing. This is no the case with this quilt. Woohoo!!

I finally finished the stupid *&&%$$ quilt I sent out. This quilt haunted me for some reason. It's not that I struggled doing it I struggled getting my self to do. I had no drive. With that being said I love how it came out. I don't think the woman I sent this too has this type of style but I don't know her so.... It was hard to mail it away. I invested blood (literally, damn cutter), sweat (Sarge likes the heater way too much) a tears in this quilt.

I tried my hand at another little crafty encounter. I saw these and instantly wanted them for hair pretties. I love how they came out.

I have been signing up for more swaps to keep myself busy. I signed up for a swap called 100 Facts About Me. That was fun to come up with the 100 things. I'm trying to make a tote bag right now. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Happy New Years!

Big Bear

2009-12-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

Every year we take the kids up to the snow. It is quite the ordeal. Last year I didn't go and regretted it. It requires a million cords, a thousand technological devices and chargers galore!

Brace face and Tuller are amped up for the drive. Gotta stop and get breakfast burritos.

The man cub is cozy and entertained with multiple forms of electronic entertainment.

I have my crafty project.

And here it is.... snow.

A lot of it. A lot of fog and dangerous driving conditions. I'm scared so I'm not going to look at the road. I'll crochet a crooked scarf or shawl or what ever...

The infamous Snow Valley(duh)...

Only Big Bear has a bowling barn. That would not be cute anywhere else...

We finally arrive. Everyone out, let's play!!! or text..

Sarge and I are simpletons. We are amused by the same game the Principle (my Brother) and I play. The lets tape each other game. In retrospect we aren't very smart....

Tape the kids, that's what normal people do...

The cabins on the frozen lake. Beautiful (and cold).

Ut-oh. Here comes trouble...

Nothing good can come of this...

That was the part where I jump back in the car real quick before getting pelted with a snowball. Ohhhh the deviance!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Rewind

2009-12-28T23:18:00.000-08:00

Holy crap. I survived.

My cousins kid was picking her nose, I loved it. She didn't even care a little that we were all laughing at her. Awesome.

The father of the nose picker, my cousin, wrapped a super secret gift for our white elephant exchange. Wonder what it is. My Mom actually picked this gift because it was legitimately something she needed.

Sarge had fun making stupid faces at the baby who was born the same day as P-Diddy. Notice Ama and Aunt Mary laughing in the background. Sarge acted retarded and the baby would smile (so would all the adults). Good times.

The fire department had Santa deliver toys to all the kids. Cool idea. Why don't they go to the ghetto where the kids don't actually get gifts instead of my cousins neighborhood where the 16 year olds get cars for Christmas-- just a thought. Sarge said its because they will get mugged or caught up in a drive by. My answer was, then just drive through the ghetto, slow down a little and throw the stuff off and keep going.

My brother the principle and the customary, I'll film you while you film me tradition. Wonder if we will ever out grow that??

My neice got so excited from the Demi Lavato CDs I bought her. Look how genuinely excited she is when she opened it. That just made my day.

Christmas morning we opted for Denny's. I couldn't believe how empty the roads were. Wooooooow.

Fat Winner hung out and loved on me while the kids opened presents.

The end.

Ready, Set, Go!

2009-12-23T15:57:00.000-08:00

The stocking have been hung by the chimney with care (Tyler did it)

The large majority of sweets and treats have been baked. A box of homemade treats has even been sent to Alaska my daughter. I really miss her this time of year, she was my baking buddy. Tonight we will make gingerbread houses and sugar cookies.

Everything is wrapped and put under the tree. Now its time to relax and actually enjoy the holiday. No more running around, no more shelling out copious amounts of money. Now its time to enjoy my kids, love on my husband and enjoy the company of family and friends. Oh, and eat wayyyy too much.

I have been swapping on Craftster again. This week I received this tree of life pendant. I love it! So cute.

And because you all are my vertual friends I thought you should enjoy the perks of being real life friends. So here is the picture I used as out Christmas card this year. Tree girls mouth make me laugh so hard and the man cubs face was also too funny to me. Underneath the picture is my annual Christmas letter (altered for internet security). Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays and all that good stuff! I hope this letter finds everyone surviving the economy, happy and without the flu (we weren’t so lucky). We are alive and almost well and still very much enjoying country living on the Dirt Ranch in the middle of nowhere. It seems our quest of simple living and self sufficiency is still “what we do”. As we keep going about our daily lives we are still learning some powerful lessons along the way.

Sarge is now a watch commander in the ghetto of San *&&^$#. Here are some things I noticed he has learned this past year. First, there is nothing on the dirt ranch that can’t be fixed with chicken wire, duct tape and zip ties. Second, sometimes the people who are supposed to be protecting us from the stupid people are stupid themselves. What I have learned about his job is if you take your time getting to a shooting, everything is dead by the time you get there resulting in a less conflict but more paperwork (he would never say that, but I know).

I am FINALLY done with school and after 12 very long years I have my bachelors. I learned exactly why it is called a B.S. I also learned a few other random things through the year. If you step on a lego on your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night you will actually get a bruise on the arch of your foot and your child will repeat the colorful language you said while acquiring said bruise. No matter how careful I am, at some point I will track chicken crap on my beige carpet resulting in more colorful language. No matter how hard I try I cannot keep my turkeys from committing suicide in their 4 inch water dish when all they have to do to prevent drowning is stand up. While at work I learned that I cannot keep a strait face when an old lady with a New York accent tells me as I approach her home to “take my pants off and stay awhile”.

Tree Girl is now 13 and in 8^th grade. She has learned how to put the angel on top of the tree without using a step stool (she’s 5’10”). Next year I’m going to make her put up the lights without a ladder just for entertainment purposes. She has also learned that asking your parents geometry questions is totally useless because we just laugh at her. She actually took in 2 orphaned piglets and learned that they really stink and aren’t as fun as they looked in Charlotte’s Web.

Man Cub, our little Jedi warrior is 8 and in second grade. He is full of all kinds of chaos and fun. He has learned if he yells in the middle of Wal-Mart with a Star Wars helmet on because I won’t buy him legos “that is why Dad is number one and you are number two!” that everyone in the surrounding isles will laugh and I will continually tell him to go ask number one for lunch or to help him. He has also learned if he dumps 4,642 legos in a full bathtub the water will be freezing and it will take 2 hours before you can pick them all back up.

Between all these learning experiences we kept busy. We went to Catalina, on a cruise, to Knott’s, the aquarium, the zoo, museums, the snow, camping, Las Vegas and tons of other places I can’t remember. Alaska Daughter who was in the Army got married and had a baby (I’d like to hear what she learned this year). I learned being a 33 year old grandma isn’t so bad. Oldest son joined the Army and learned that they don’t always station you were they said they would. All in all it was a great year. Here’s to hoping your holiday season was everything you hoped for and more.

Happy Holidays,

The H Family

Happy Monday

2009-12-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

I got my package from my Craftster swap today in the mail. I love getting packages it's like opening presents when I was a kid. Above I got some snowman fabric, fabric gift tags, rudolph hair clip and lots of chocolatey goodness. I was in a swap recently and sent my box but never received a box in return. People are crappy sometimes. How can you take like that with a clear consious? My partner needs a spankin. I guess that's just the chance you take. Thanks Julia for sending me such crafty goodness.

On a side note, the man cub is sleeping in the middle of the day. That only means one thing-- he is sick. Poor man cub, I just wanna smooch on his yummy cheeks. Sometimes he lets me and other times it irritates him.

Now I'm off to go learn to knit, the second class Sarge bought me for Christmas. Hopefully I can do it better than crochet-- or straighter than crochet.

My Life in Pictures

2009-12-12T23:20:00.000-08:00

Contain your excitement. I have been up to no good, knee deep in Nyquil, up to my ears in tissues, over my head in Halls. I rarely get sick. When I do get sick, I still do my thing, just do it sick. Not this time.

Tree girl and I have spent the last 3 or 4 days walking around like zombies, sitting comatose on the couch, covered with ankies (blankets) watching bad TV. It's storming pretty bad outside too. One more reason to stay in.

When we stay in too long we get creative. Above next to my snot rags (I know, I'm gross) you will see a homemade light sabre. The man cub unrolled my wrapping paper just for the cardboard sword. To make this even better he shoved a bottle of Advil PM in the roll. Now it makes noise which is sooooo much more fun. My ears are plugged, carry on son!

Rain or shine I did go to my crochet class Sarge got me for Christmas (love that guy!). So I have been crocheting my crooked fuzzy scarf. I just love it because its crooked and its my first, beside the 4 dishclothes I crocheted to figure out how the whole thing works. I think I like this!

We have begun to call Winner the wiener dog "Fat Winner in a very New York mobster kind of voice. So at any given time you will hear someone say "Yo Fat Winner, yous gunna go break that punk Jazzy's knee caps for disrespecting the fam-i-ly. The whole family has come on board and Sarge often starts his dialog with the yous stutter. I might just have to record so chit chat in the kitchen for everyone's entertainment. She looks pretty mean huh?

Rut Row.

2009-12-08T10:57:00.001-08:00

Oh rain, you screwed everything up. You left ruts everywhere! Budda doesn't seem to mind, but I do.

You and your delinquent friend Wind knocked over my trees. You guys together are bad news!

I know you will be back tomorrow, I refuse to come out and play. Like Sarge would say, just to make the man cub mad "I fart in your general direction". (I don't really mean that, please leave the rest of my trees alone and take it easy with the ruts, I hate getting alignments).

Lookie what I did!

2009-12-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Oh lookie what I did! I pulled my head out and got it done. BTW tree girl put the angel on without standing on anything. Next year I'll have her hang the lights without a ladder.

Here is one of my favorite ornaments. The little ambulance with a wreath on the back. It's just so Debbie.

The man cub was decorating the tree and for some reason he put all the ornaments on backwards. Um, why? I like it, I feel the same way, so I'm leaving it.

It has been raining all day and the power was out for 8 hours. The dirt franch has turned in to the mud franch and NO ONE is happy about it except for the ducks who played in the rain all day. I tried to call the electric company but my cell phone wouldn't work. So I drove down the hill in the pouring rain to the AT&T store so they could fix my phone so I could report my power outage. Totally irritating.

I leave you with this. Peyton, AKA P-Diddy, is dreaming about seeing her Grandma (me!). Isn't she so little? Sarge calls her the troll baby and teases my daughter that she belongs under a bridge. He started that before he ever saw her picture so he's just being a brat. I can't wait to smooch on them cheeks!

Dear Santa,

2009-12-05T06:27:00.001-08:00

Dear Santa,
I am writing to see if you may be available to help me in my current predicament. I am trying to be festive but it's not working out too well. Since Thanksgiving I have gone from singing in a taunting child-like way "We're gunna put the tree up" to almost screaming "When am I going to have a free minute to put up the f^%*&ing fake piece of crap tree that I am just going to have to take back down in 3 weeks!". Ok I didn't really drop the F bomb cause my parrot like off spring are usually around when I am having this melt down but I thought it and that's just as bad!

I have tried to force festiveness by listening to my new Andrea Bocelli CD 400 bazillion times-- even allowing the man cub to put number 3 on repeat for an hour at a time (I hate that song now! and BTW Santa Clause is not coming to town unless he :clears throat: SHE gets some Prozac soon!). I am just not feeling it. I feel overwhelmed. Like there is a ton to do and only one of me. How can I put up a tree if I can't fit it in my family room because my quilting stuff is everywhere? ADD people should be excluded from Christmas responsibilities, there are just too many shiny things. It should be covered by the Americans With Disabilities act.

So Santa, I am going to go put on my big girl panties and just do it (means I have to wear my Nike's to get it done). I guarantee I will say bad words and get all kinds of flustered while my kids fight over ornaments and end up beating on each other. It will be worth it in the end right?

So I will go spend more money than my cheap ass will ever be comfortable with because I want everyone to enjoy themselves and feel the love. I am far from lavish, trust me. I asked my kids what they got for Christmas last year and they remembered the Wii but nothing else so that tells me they don't need all that other stuff. HA! I love when my clinical studies confirm I can spend less without my kids needing therapy (at least over Christmas trauma, there is plenty of other issues they can work on).

But Santa if I pull this whole thing off like I do every year I think I deserve some credit. Maybe some new kicks. I have been eyeballing a new pair of Nike Shoxs.

Oh and on a side note, the man cub told me he thinks it's creepy that you can see him when he's in the bath tub and he would like some privacy. He also asked me if you can see him when he gets naked to use the restroom (not his exact words) and if you can hear him singing while he is naked on the toilet? The thought of that is disturbing to him. I find it hilarious with a hint of disturbing that he can't have a movement without being totally naked singing Toby Keith songs at the top of his lungs. My favorite is when he sings "I love this bar" (my 8 year old sings bar songs, I AM Mother of the Year). Anyway, thought you should know my kid spends time thinking of this stuff so be careful what you put out there in your Christmas songs.

Hopefully I'll be festive and get some motivation soon.

Debbie

WHY!?!

2009-12-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

Why is there a ramen noodle in my bathtub? I can't figure out at all how it happened. I don't think I want to. But what I do what to know is....

why did the chocolate dipped spoons I made turn white? It's so sad and they were so pretty.

The State of our Union

2009-11-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

It's 7:47 right now. Here is my house in all its glory at 7:22 (only because blogger is sooo slow to upload my pictures). My daughter is trying to sleep to late and is asking me to drive her down the hill to school so she can sleep "a little bit longer". Nope because I am such a mean mom.

I have been making my kids eat at the bar because I have completely taken over the dinning room table to make junk. I really wish I was more organized. BUT I am that person that thrives on chaos. I think that's a disorder. That's just how I roll.

It's cold and has been raining. I have been enjoying fires until yesterday when the fire alarms started going off. Not just one. Fire alarms are like dogs-- they all have to make noise. All together now! Anyone know how to keep the smoke in the chimney? I might be mildly retarded.

Jazz is so angry with me for making her wear ugly sweaters that she won't look at me. Really, I called her and kissed at her and she acted like the captain of the cheer squad. Bitch. Just for that I am going to buy the orange striped sweater I saw at Walmart last week.

I scored this chandelier this week. I don't know how I am going to redo it. I have left it in the green room and I peak at it every once in a while looking for inspiration. It has little shades that clip onto each individual light bulb. Eaaak! It's cute.

Out with the old....

In with the new...

And saving the best for last....

This is the gargantuant pile of laundry that I will be doing today. Thank God the man cub decided to cause a tsunami in the tub and got this huge pile of clothes all wet. Now I HAVE to do laundry . Which leads me to the picture that made me laugh out loud....

Poor Sarge had no clean towels so he had to dry off with a hand towel. Bwahahahaha!

Fabric birds

2009-11-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

I found a tute on these little guys on the web a few weeks ago and completely fell in love. They are hand sewn with little seed beads for eyes. They can be set out for decoration or used as ornaments.

I will be attaching ribbon and using them on my tree this year.

Being the toile junkie I am I love the ones made from the toile fabric. I will be making more soon and you can bet there will be more toile ones. BTW that is chicken toile (squeal!!!).

Crafting is like crack.

2009-11-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

I have had a very crafty week. I have sewn quilt blocks and beyond. Above is the gumdrop wreath I made for my craftster partner. I love how it came out! I sprayed it with glitter and thought about keeping it myself, like I do most items (selfish, I know!)

The SEQUIN BULB. That took me 4 hours to make. There are over 800 sequins nailed into that bulb. Believe it or not this was the most time consuming thing I made all week. I did decopauge, button wreaths, candy cane reindeer, chocolate dipped spoons for stiring hot drinks and cinnamon ornaments that are making my house smell sooooo yummy.

The cinnamon ornaments look so much better with glitter glue on them. I let them sit and dry for a few days trying to decide if they needed something more. I even bought my partner a few little goodies from Knott's Berry Farm. Snoopy is not really my thing but I love simple kid stuff.

Off to the post office to send off my box! I also made little fabric birds which I will show off soon. Have a Happy Thanksgiving all!

Crafting anyone?

2009-11-21T18:44:00.001-08:00

Being the old lady that I am deep, deep down I have been doing quilt block swaps galore! It gives me something to do and it keeps me focused on something. It's much funner than cleaning. Did I ever mention I hate cleaning. Yup, hate it. I would rather go from a pap smear appointment straight to the dentist instead of cleaning the house. For the record I do it, just hate it. So the above picture is a chicken block swap from my quilting board. I wish I had an old lady that lived next door to quilt with me.

I swapped with individual people off the board as well. I am asking for pink and brown blocks for a quilt I have in the back of my head. I hope it comes out like I imagined.

Now this picture is from the secret santa swap on my chicken forum. Now I was trying to gauge the recipient and this is what came to me. Now some people would look at this stuff and turn their nose up but I think she really enjoyed it-- which made me happy!! Yaa! My favorite thing out of all this stuff is the little hot pad made from a paper pieced Christmas tree block. I filled it with cinnamon so it smells yummy when you put a hot dish on it.

I heard someone talk about Craftster the other day. I am now a total craftster junkie. I am officially addicted. I am participating in a "(Holiday) Once You Pop Swap" where the sender packages up a bunch of crafty yummy-ness in a Pringles can, decorates the can and sends the crafty can to their partner. It's kind of hard because I don't know much about my partner. It's very different from the chicken swap, that's for sure. Off to look around for some more ideas!

She's Alive...

2009-11-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

So does life ever just kick your ass? Yes, I said ass. The last month has been interesting to say the least. I had to come to terms with the fact that I will have to go off the medication that could help us have a baby. That was a hard pill to swallow. It just made me way too sick. Then I had to wrap my brain around the reality of all of it. It took me a long time to process the whole situation. I had to almost mourn the whole having a baby thing. So be it. It just wasn't meant to be. So I spent most of the last month in the above position with Winner. Winner (previously known as Wiener until the kids started saying things like "I can't wait to get home and play with the Weiner while onlookers looked at us with disgust"). Sarge thought he should take pictures of me while I looked like I had been hit by a Mack truck, nice. Most of the medication is out of my system now. It's nice to wake up without a migraine and not run to vomit. Ahhhh, life is good.

So what has been my first project you ask? Paper piecing mini quilt blocks. OOOOOOhhhhhhh, so fun and addicting. I signed up for some swaps to get my booty moving again. It's fun and cheers me up to get little packages in the mail. I am thinking I need to keep the little Christmas blocks for myself. They are so cute, I can't stand it!

And as everyone knows, I looooove chickens. So when I won a sentsy tart burner and tart I went straight for the chicken one. I loooove it so much. The tart is so sent intensive. I hate nothing more than when my tart loses scent quickly. I won this from Susan. Thanks so much Susan and if anyone is interested in buying any scentsy items, check out her blog and visit her store.

Have you ever just had someone enter your life at just the right time. When you needed a friendly face or email? I have had 2 people in the last month really reach out to me. Thank you both, you have been such a blessing. A little hello how are you means the world sometimes. I wish I could hug you.

Remember my experiment with the two little house plants? Yup, I'll be posting pics soon. You will be surprised, or will you?

I'm Sick

2009-10-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

Shoot me please.

Busy busy

2009-10-15T21:02:00.001-07:00

I am sewing like a mad woman, trying to keep up with my goal. So far so good, one top behind but I can make that up. Still can't believe I'm a Grandma. With her being in Alaska, it doesn't seem real. It will come with time...

Happy Birthday

2009-10-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

Megan in a trashcan. Tree girl being tree like.

OK, big ole breaking news!!! My daughter Megan gave birth to Peyton yesterday at 7:30 am. Baby is 6 pounds 3 oz. She was born 11 days early, almost throwing off her Dad's attempt to make it home from Iraq on time. He called my daughter from Salt Lake City and found out she was in the hospital in labor. He made it to Alaska 6 hours before she was born. Whew! That was close. He will have 2 weeks R&R and he will head back to Iraq for the rest of his tour. On a side note, all three pregnant people I know had their babies yesterday. Very odd. I have not seen pictures yet nor have I talked to Megan. Can't wait.

Still going strong on the quilting. These are the blocks are what I'm working on today. Very fall-ish which is cool because today is rainy. When it's rainy I need comfort food like meatball soup. Souper (lame I know) easy to make and very easy to eat! Also, use turkey meatballs, you heart will thank you.

Roses and Raspberries

2009-10-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

My newspaper does this cool thing called the Roses and Raspberry Awards. It's simple if you are very cool you get a rose, if you are lame you get a raspberry. Not those yummy mouth watering raspberries, the one that babies do to you showering you in copious amounts of spit. Today I feel the need to do my own set of awards.

I always like to hear the good news first. My 2 winners of the rose awards go to the following:

Blue and Ashley Markham- In July Byrd and Melanie Billings were murdered in their Florida home during a well planned home invasion robbery. Byrd and Melanie had put their wealth to good use adopting and caring for nine special needs children with every challenge from Autism, to fetal alcohol syndrome to Down's Syndrome. After their tragic murder, their adult daughter Ashley and her husband Blue put their life on hold and fulfilled a promise made to her parents to always make sure the kids are taken care of and not put into foster care or group homes. Bravo Blue and Ashley, for having the courage to step up to the plate and take on this huge responsibility. You deserve more than a rose...

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty- You guys rock!!! I love these people. They have created a program aimed at showing the world beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. They have workshops for young girls working on body image and a line of commercials showing real women with real bodies. This all came to my attention again this week when a commercial came on with women singing a tune about how some woman's noses wrinkle, some women have freckles and some women even have wide set eyes. It was all sung to the childrens tune I remember all to well from my Barney days-- Do Your Ears Hang Low. So, thank you Dove for showing real women of all shapes and sizes on your commercials, our poor children (women too!) have enough body image issues.

Honorable Mention: I would like to give Kate from the used to be John and Kate plus 8 a rose too. I know people often say she is mean and controlling. I'm not getting into that. I just want to say you are awesome for not abandoning your children. You are right there taking care of them everyday. You could be out there partying, spending the family finances on lavish dinners but you girlfriend are there being the Mom those kids need. You are rad.

Tomorrow I will do the raspberry (loooooser) awards. I have them all picked out and am ready to go off on those lacking brain cells. Anyone else who needs to be added to the list? Of course there is... I'm open to suggestions.

On the whole Project Peyton thing, I did it. I made a quilt top with the left over fabric from the quilt I made this week. BTW this morning on my way to work I was thinking to myself "Hmmm, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!!!". I'm a total impulse chick. I blogged about it to force myself to follow through. I lost my card reader so I will post pics as soon as I find it. Errrr.

Project Peyton

2009-10-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have been a bit trying, resulting in a crabby Debbie. As I was following to tow truck to the mechanic I couldn't help but think to myself, "Get a grip Debbie!". You are so blessed. So what if you stepped in dog crap and tracked it all over your beige carpet. So what if you left your broken cell phone to charge in the car that has to be left on in order to charge, all night and more than killed the battery. I'm not kidding when I said more than killed the battery. Could not be jumped or charged. Oooops. Silly me.

This morning I was reading this post on Susan's blog and she talked about supporting our troops. The up coming birth of my Granddaughter Peyton has inspired me to really push myself, to do something special for all the Megans (my daughter) and Peytons in the world. I was thinking about training for a 5K and decided I was going to do this instead. I am not a fast quilter. I have only finished less than 8 quilts in my life but between wanting to really support our military and my need for self reflection I am going to challenge myself to make 30 quilt tops in 30 days. When I quilt it's almost therapeutic. I find myself reflecting on my life, my family, the kind of person I want to be. I have not been spending the time I need to stay centered. When I quilt I often sing to myself because I feel at peace. It's almost like lent, Debbie style.

I hate to admit this too-- I often loose interest in things and quit. I WILL not do this on this project, I promise all 2 of my readers. I will stick with this job, just like our military does everyday.

So my idea is I will have my son-in-law who is in Iraq ask the people in his company if they would like me to send their KIDS or WIFE a quilt from them for Christmas. I would like to have them write a note to the recipient so that I can attach the note to the back, like a label. So hopefully On Christmas these women (even husbands too) and children will have a special quilt from their deployed loved one. That simple. I really hope I can pull this off.

Being the worry-ier I am, my first thought is "crazy lady, you can't afford to do this". But I can. Why you ask? Faith. It never matters what is happening, God always provides for me. My car payment is due in three days and I have no money? I make a sale and bam! I have my car payment and enough for groceries. I promise you every single time I am in a jam and I have no idea how I am going to pull something off, the answer always appears. It has happened no less than 10 times in the last year. Sooooo, I am going on blind faith and it WILL ALL WORK OUT. I have a fabric stash that is just taking up space so I am sitting pretty.

I am so excited to start this. Tomorrow, day one. GO ahead, tell me I'm crazy... it's ok!

Call to the Dr.'s office

2009-10-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

Nurse: Good morning, Dr. D's office.

Sarge: Hi, can I please speak with Dr. D's nurse?

Nurse: Yes, How can I help you?

Sarge: My wife if going to stab herself in the ear with a pencil.

Nurse: Ok (confused) Why is that?

Sarge: Because she has had a migraine for 4 days and she is waiting for you guys to refill her prescription and no one is doing it.

Nurse: Can you hold on one second?

Sarge: I don't think you understand, I really like my pencils.... and if she kills her self with a pencil I'm bringing my children down to your office to be raised by your staff.

Nurse: I will call it in right now.

He got my prescription filled in less than 10 minutes. I was getting the run around for 3 days.

Happy Monday!

2009-10-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

I don't mind Monday, I think I actually like Monday. When I came home Sunday morning after a 24 hour shift that turned into 28 hour shift I was late because I got slammed all night and got stuck in a different county. Sleep was much needed. When I was driving home trying to keep myself awake the man cub called me and said "Mom, there is flour all over the pantry. The whole big container spilled everywhere and I didn't do it."

About a year and a half ago the man cub called me at work and said "Mom the house is flooded and Dad is mad". One of the kids turned on the bathtub and then left to go into town. To this day no one will admit it, but I know, I'm a Mom. Since then I have a whole different perspective. There maybe a layer of flour all over the pantry and half the kitchen but at least the house didn't flood ruining my crafting supplies and taking 5 months to repair. I'm going to go happily clean up the flour then move on to the rest of the house which has a mess in every room. I keep walking around wondering where I should start. Please tell me I am not the only one who does that.

PS. I want to personally thank the man cub for armor-all-ing the garage floor so that when I walk in (in my socks) I could fall flat on my back. Once I caught my breath I said every bad word I could think of and still couldn't get myself up off the floor. It's karma I tell you-- a few weeks ago I was angry at my boss who made me detail his ambulance so I armor-alled the petals and the vinyl seats he sits on and I heard he slid off at some point. I died laughing of course. Payback's a bitch.

Estate sale finds

2009-10-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I scored at the estate sales this morning. I rarely go to estate sales but I always have a blast when I do. I try not to "junk up" my house which tends to happen if I go to these sales too often so I go out about twice a year. If anyone is into canning you know these old green Ball canning jars are a find. I also wanted to make apple sauce this year but didn't have a sieve or a mill.

I also have a thing for all things tractor and wrought iron. We are in the process of redecorating tree girls room. We are painting the room powder pink with stripes and all the furniture is black or black wrought iron. She has a thing for skeleton keys, so these were a great find.

I have been following Glenda's blog and have been admiring her embroidery work. I even bought the supplies needed to begin embroidering at Joann's yesterday. When I saw this I wanted it so I can use it for a reference while I learn, also because its a cute little table cloth.

My last find was a lap desk. I will paint this black and put it in Tree girls room. She sits on her bed and does her homework. I always try to get her to do her homework at the table but she won't listen and it's not worth fighting over.

Remember in High school when your classmates elected each other Best Dresses or most likely to succeed? Well, being the goofy women we are my best friend and I were picking out out out "favs". The very used underwear of sale was voted most disgusting.

The Hank Williams, Jr. bobblehead was my personal favorite. We voted him "most likely to be picked up in a tornado at the trailer park and later found in the Walmart parking lot"

What? It totally could happen.

Feelin' Crafty

2009-10-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

It's finally cooling down here on the face of the sun. Did I ever mention I live on the face of the sun? It's true, I do. So at 6 am when I take the man cub to the bus stop it has been down right cold and you can smell fall in the air. Fall is by far my favorite time of the year. So this morning, I read Pamela's blog. She is very crafty, I looove crafty people! I loved her idea so I stole it, shamelessly.

It's like a Halloween advent calendar. The best part it is it was nearly free to make. I used a piece of cardboard from a box I got at Costco this morning and stopped by Joann and picked up a couple of pieces of scrap booking pages and yarn. A bag of candy and I was in business! Peanut butter cup anyone?

Bayyyybee

2009-09-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

My 19 year old daughter is having a baby. I am not happy about the circumstances and it hurts me to the core that she has given up her hopes and dreams by getting pregnant, on purpose. She was not raised like that but she is her own person, responsible for her own descisions. This parenting racket is not easy.

So I put off making this baby a quilt because I was angry and hurt. I finally decided I was going to spend a few days really processing the whole thing. So I did. I made her baby, who is going to be named Peyton, a quilt out of bright colors like my daughter likes. Three days later, I feel better. I feel at ease that I did the best job I could with her for the 6 years we raised her. I taught her as much as I could about how to live life as a good person and to have respect for yourself. That was all I could do, the rest is free will. I have let go and told myself, there is nothing I could have done. She made a choice and I need to accept it.

So baby Peyton, I will love you and be the best 33 year old Grandma ever. I will be kind to my daughter and let her live her life and learn things on her on. I might even buy you every super fun but totally annoying toy they make, because I am just that kinda chick!

Funny....

2009-09-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

"Take your pants off and stay awhile" -My 92 year old patient last night.

Git on outta here...

2009-09-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to mail these quilt blocks off. Then I can brush off my hands and get myself into another mess. That's just how I roll. One woman requested pink for a quilt she is making for her granddaughter. She gets this:

Another lady when asked what she would like said surprise me. I bet this will surprise her. I have never made a wonky log cabin before. I hope she doesn't get upset with me for making such a non-traditional block.

Lastly, my other swap partner is making a fall themed quilt so I tried my hand at these maple leaf blocks. I was surprised how quickly they are put together.

The flip side of sending out all these blocks, I have received. I love that part, I'm not going to lie. I got this little number in the mail yesterday:

I plan to make pot holder like pads for the hot dished I put on the dining room table. I love Friday's. I'm off to the post office and to the orthodontist! Have a great day!

Christmas Block Swap

2009-09-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

I, being the type of person who likes to throw myself into stressful situations signed up for a Christmas quilt block swap on my favorite chicken site, Backyard Chickens. Most of the women are doing detailed embellished applique blocks. I quickly realized after I signed up I was playing with the big dogs! These women do amazing work. I have only appliqued a few things in my life so instead of sending them a pathetic applique block I opted for a regular stocking block.

The next problem was it was a 7.5 inch block. I have never made a 7.5 inch block and none of the patterns I found that I could do were for 7.5 inch blocks. Aggghhhhh!!! Can you say way over my head? Calm down Debbie, use your brain and get yourself together.

A few days ago I remembered reading a post by Angie at Home Grown where she designed her own block with graph paper. Heeeey, I can do that. I expected to have to make some small changes but I knew I could do it.

The only change I had to make was to trim a 1/4 inch off the top off the stocking.

Considering the panic I had over this I am quite happy with the result.

This is a test

2009-09-23T04:45:00.001-07:00

I don't have a good track record, in fact if my victims were people I would be doing life in prison right now. I don't have a green thumb, I would be grateful for a brown thumb but, mine is black. I have a longing deep down to have a garden, to have plants around the the dirt franch but I am scared. So I came up with this. For $4 I bought two house plants. These little guys are gunna wish the old lady in the muumuu bought them instead of me, the black thumb.

If I can keep these alive for any amount of time there is hope. Things aren't looking good though. See the leaves on the bottom of the pictures? I did that. I kilt (kilt is a hillbilly word we use at the franch) those leaves and that is only the beginning. Maybe if I talk to them, or play Bach for them, they will have a will to live (unlike my Turkies).

I'm still holding out hope, not a lot of hope though. To be continued...

This sucks

2009-09-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

I now know how those guys who were convicted of rape and spend years in jail, then are cleared my DNA evidence feel (Ok, it's not that extreme). They know in their heart they are innocent but no one believes them. I got a call Monday morning from my ingrate of a manager asking me if I scraped our brand new ambulance along the retaining wall.

Um, no. Not even close. But because I didn't wash my spotless ambulance and inspect all of it, I am to blame. The crews that used it before us said they didn't do it and the crew that used it afterward did not report it, so in my managers little mind it was me. If I hit a wall, I would either feel it or hear it. I did not do it. They don't believe me. It's a horrible feeling.

Gone Country

2009-09-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

My friend Angie over at one of my favorite blogs, Home Grown has asked us her loyal readers (I am so loyal I almost feel the need for medication when she goes a couple days without posting) why we went country. Bahahaha! It's so funny how my life has changed since my teen years. I don't know why it makes me laugh so much, maybe because it's so extreme. Have you ever seen one of those Beverly Hills 90210 or OC shows about the people who live in coastal southern California? Well, that's how I was raised. The wealth (not necessarily in my family) the status and how you looked were the only important things in life. The pressure to be beautiful, have name brand clothes and to drive a nice car were overwhelming, even in High School. I was miserable. I remember longing for my Mom while she was at work. I would cry because I missed her while she was gone. She was a very nurturing, kind, patient woman who was always my safe person. Both my parents grow up poor, so they like most people felt it was important to give their children what they never had. I would have given up the big house in a heartbeat to have my Mom home when I came home from school.

When I had brace face as a 19 year old I was very torn between the pressure to provide for her and wanting to make something of myself and my desire to not be dependent on government aid. I was a single parent and knew it was all up to me to take care of her. As expected many people gave up on my being anything when I had her. I had to prove them wrong. I went to school during the week and worked as a bartender or cocktail waitress on Friday and Saturday nights while she was asleep. I lived with my parents who took a very involved role in raising her with me. She thought she had two moms for the longest time. I met Sarge when she was still in diapers and he has been there for her ever since.

The man cub came a long a year after we were married. School was almost done but put on hold because when I went in for my ultrasound the measurements of his head were conducive with Downs Syndrome and the fluid on his kidneys and brain were very obvious to the naked eye on the screen. I was devastated. They told me everything from there could be a miracle and he could survive to he could die shortly after birth and everything in between. He could need a shunt, a kidney transplant then came the abortion talk. Sarge and I would hear nothing of it. Not an option for us. So I as hooked up to monitors every other day, I felt horrible and I was depressed. We stuck it out, and he was born and came through the ordeal ok. No Down's, no brain or kidney problems. I just tell myself that massive melon holds all the answers. He is the next Steven Spielburg, his imagination is amazing. The only thing he has had to deal with is asthma and really bad allergies. He hates the nebulizer but takes meds without any problems. We do just fine.

When the man cub started school I went to EMT school and finally found my calling in life. I wanted to be a nurse. I thought about it back in the high school but then got distracted with having babies. Once I was on that ambulance dealing with patients I felt content that I had found my calling. I would go to nursing school, make great money, be financially independent. Life would be wonderful. I went back to school to finish my bachelors and do my nursing prerequisites. I hit it hard. Taking 5 classes at a time and pooring my heart and soul into my school work. I was finally calm enough and could focus. I have a tendency to be a very black and white, all or nothing kind of person. I was all school. Sarge was slowly becoming angry that I was gone all the time and the kids were acting up and my house was not functioning. I was determined and I was not going to give up on my dreams. My marriage was falling apart. My kids were acting out. Life was a mess.

One day the man cub looked at me and said I wish I had a mom that was around more. Thinking back to when I was a kid I fell apart. I bawled my eyes out. I cried for days. I was sitting in microbiology, the class from hell and my teacher said if you aren't focused you aren't going to make it through this class. If you don't get the totally involved concept you aren't going to make it. If you can't spend everyday reading this book and doing the work, you need to leave now. Those two sentences (the man cubs and the teachers) collided in my head cause an amazing chain reaction. I picked up my stuff and left, walked out of the class half way through the semester while everyone looked at me shocked. It was a class some tried years to get into, you begged and stood against the wall for weeks hoping someone would drop to get into this class and I just walked out. I cried the whole way home. I cried because I felt like I was giving up on my dream, I cried because I felt so guilty for neglecting my family. I cried for all the times I missed because I was gone. I cried for 3 days. I sat across the dining room table and had a conversation with Sarge for the first time in 2 years. I apologized to my kids and my family for not being there for them. Luckily I only had a few minor requirements to finish my BS.

So now, here I am. My priorities are my family and creating a happy healthy home for my kids and my husband. I don't have the big job, we don't have a lot of money but I know exactly how many pairs of clean underwear are in the man cubs drawer and I know that Brace face got a D on her Geometry test which made her cry. I know that Sarge will eat at the table with us if I make food that doesn't upset his delicate stomach. I know all this because I am home. Since I have been home and in tuned to my family I have quit clothes shopping weekly, I have taken the texting and Internet off my phone and I have adjusted to having less and needing less. In reality I have much more.

Since being home I have really focused on living off less. I raise chickens because they are simple and I feed my family with the eggs and we watch them and enjoy that they are simple creatures who make us laugh. I quilt because it's my way for showing my children I love them and I want to keep them warm. It also makes me work with my hands and lets me be creative. I can because I want my children to eat food that is not bathing in high fructose corn syrup. I make our laundry detergent because it is one thing I can do to keep our expenses down, and keep me home. I dream of a garden, of goats and of a raspberry patch and it will all come in time. I have a lot of reading to, I wasn't born into country-ness! In reality I have gone country to give my family the very best.

PS. I apologize for the novel this post has become :)

This is WAR!!

2009-09-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

We have a problem. These little boogers are infesting the franch. They are biting my dogs, living in the chicken pen and all together just making me angry. I have tried boiling water.

What to do? I know it's not smart but I keep spraying them with the hose just so I don't have to look at them but I came back and there they are. I have tried DE to no avail. Hmmm, time to google "annoying creepy mean little suckers who are trying to take over the franch".

On a parental side note do you ever have those weeks where you wonder how ridiculous it can get? The hot headed, high strung little man cub keeps getting angry and in his frustration (almost bratty-ness) he spills large quantities of sticky drinks. For the love of all things holy, stop already!!!! I have cleaned up grape juice, orange kool-aid, COKE and lemonade all in the last few days. No matter how much I wipe my shoes are sticking to the floor. My mop is begging for mercy and to top it off since I have been typing this I now have 32 oz of coke on my kitchen floor. The joys of motherhood. Errr.

The end...and the begining

2009-09-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Everytime I get done canning a bunch of stuff I swear I'm never going to can again. It's not that I hate it it is just a ton of work. I finished the pears and peaches today which is why I am still in my PJs at 6 pm. It's so pretty, the counter full of jars. I am always glad I do it. I just read about some bread you bake in the canning jar and just put the lid on as soon as you get it out of the oven and it seals and is yummmmmy. That's my new little project one day next week I think.

Lookie what I got in the mail today. I bet you'll never guess what's in the box...

Not a new book, or purse or kitchen gadget. Not the butter bell I have been talking about for 3 months. Nope!

Hatching eggs. Maran hatching eggs. They produce chocolate colored eggs that are just beautiful and HUGE!

The egg on the left is one of the big ones I collect from my flock. I would consider it a x-large egg. The Maran egg is considered gynormous (to me at least).

These babies will be headed for the incubator tonight and our three week wait will begin. There are 6 eggs, which have lower than normal hatch rates because they are shipped and bounced around. My concern is I don't want any singletons. Can't have just one baby chick he will be lonely and sad.

Then I will have to go get a bunch of friends for it and Sarge will get mad at me.

Good luck little chickies!

Bust a move-- Indian style

2009-09-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

I was gone most of today. It was horrible. Luckily I had some nut buckets with me to entertain me. You know those kids with killer imaginations that just have no idea the whole store is watching their jedi battle? Yup, that's my kid. Everyone seems to enjoy him and they all smile, so I let him.

So there is this new farmers market by my house. There were about 10 booths, 2 of them were produce. The others weren't very farmers market-ish. So the people there had their produce marked to rediculous prices. 2 tomatoes for $1.50. 2 peaches for a $1.50. I just couldn't believe the prices. Would you pay those prices? Am I horribly cheap?

They had a bunch of Indian dancers there which was pretty cool. They did different styles of dance and had different costumes, ones from local Indians and a separate group from the north.

For some reason this little girl who looked about 3 was fascinating to me. She rocked with the music and stood there so calm and patiently. My kids would have never behaved like that at that age.

She was stinky cute and she always looked concerned. When she saw me taking her picture she wasn't shy, she never looked away. I told Sarge I wanted one of those and he said no. Even when I pointed out her gargantuant chubby cheeks he still said no.

So tomorrow I will finish canning the peaches and pears and hopefully not come down off the hill until I go to work Saturday.

Shhhh!

2009-09-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Don't tell anyone but I kind of miss working. Yes, I have lost my mind. Where else can you get paid to act like this:

I finished my training today. I go back to work Saturday for a 24 hour shift then I'll think back to this post and wonder what the heck I was thinking.

Cinnamon Rolls #78

2009-09-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Number 78 on my list of things I want to do in my lifetime is learn how to make cinnamon rolls. You know the ones that make your eyeballs roll into the back of your head? So today while I should have had my face in that big ole binder, or when I should have been canning the 40 pounds of fruit on my dinning room table I made cinnamon rolls instead.

I don't have any experience with yeast so I was a bit concerned when the dough didn't double in size like it said it would. Even with my yeast concern, they turned out yummmmmy. I was so into them after I iced them, we all started eating them and I didn't take a picture. The man cub tried to eat 3. Like I wouldn't notice. HA!

I have made a bit of a list of what I want to do to be more self-sufficient and I have decided I want to hold off talking about it until I can really go into depth about my ideas.

Tomorrow I will spend most of my day in training for work. Last time I did training the young punks I work with strapped me down to a backboard and propped me up against the wall upside down until I told them they were my Daddy. Wish me luck!

So embarrassing

2009-09-15T09:31:00.001-07:00

I want a do over. When I woke up this morning to my little mop-of-a-dog curled up in my neck like she often does I started talking to her and kissed her like I do a lot of mornings. When I opened my eyes I realized her head was on the other end. It can only go up from here, right?

Monday, Monday

2009-09-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

So I have been off work for almost a month because all of my certifications expired and I am not allowed to work in the county until I take a big long stupid class and do a bunch of expensive time consuming things. So today I went and got the binder for my 24 hours of continuing education. Boring.

Hundreds of boring pages, yuck. There aren't even any pictures in the big ole binder (sigh).

On a very exciting note, got my Ball Blue Book in the mail today. It was like Christmas! I have a ton of peaches and pears to can within the next day or they will start to rot.

Do you see these black charcoal briquettes that were supposed to be my lunch. This is what happens when you are peacefully making some yummy grilled cheese and you notice a coyote by your chicken pen. I thought coyotes are supposed to be nocturnal-- Go to bed!

And I will leave you with this. The person in the truck ahead of me today is memorializing their dog that has been dead since 2004 on the back of their car. Why do people do this? Since when have our cars become rolling tombstones? Unless my dog did my dishes and made me millions in the stock market, you don't get the whole back window of my truck!

Tomorrow I want to outline some of my goals to become more self-sufficient.

I need simplicity

2009-09-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it, I am a total type A personality. I get all worked up, freak out, spaz out and cry when life is tough. That's just what I do. Life has been testing me a bit lately and today I struggled. The only comfort I could think of was to go be product in my kitchen. I peeled apples for a very long time and thought through things and physically wore myself out because I needed to. I even cried, I felt much better afterward. It's funny to me how being productive is therapeutic.

I have come to the conclusion. I need simplicity, hence the title of my blog. Life is much more tolerable and enjoyable when I am doing what I feel is the basic things in life-- cooking for my family, sewing things that make my home more homey and most of all being here for my kids and Sarge. No money from a high status job can compare.

I'm right where I need to be, in the kitchen letting the man cub give him self a reverse mohawk. He looks like a middle aged balding man.

Down the street from our house a few miles is a street I have always wanted to turn down. On the corner is a skeleton of a little mud hut. It just fascinates me. I always say I'm going to stop and take a picture but never do.... until yesterday. I turned down that road and found this fabulous barn. OMG I want it! I looooove barns and to have such a work of art by my house is amazing.

This washtub was right out in front of the mud hut skeleton. I always say I'm going to steal it because I love it so much. I also say I'm going to steal the balsamic vinegar from Macaroni Grill but I never do. I thought maybe the tub was cemented in but its not. Even better, the bottom is rusted out. It would be a disservice to remove the tub, even though I looooove it. It belongs there. It tells part of the story.

I wish this little mud hut could talk. We live by a lot of Indian reservations. I wonder if this was made by Indians. I wonder how old is it? It just blows my mind. I love the weeds that grow out of the top.

So there you go, now you know what fascinates me. I let my mind wander when I drive past this house. Sarge never even thinks twice about it. I'm still thinking about it when we get to town.

Is there anything in your area that fascinates you this much? Maybe something simplistic like an old mud hut?

I Remember

2009-09-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

Let me stop and tell you a little story. Thinking back to September 11th, I like most Americans can remember that day like it was yesterday. I was prego with the man cub (horrible pregnancy) and I woke up at 10:00 with 43 messages on my answering machine. I knew something was wrong. It was one of those days I will never forget. I'm going to put a little spin on this story, take it in a different direction. You see, Sarge had 3 kids from a previous marriage. Less than a year later I went from one having one kid to having 5 very kneedy children.

I had no idea how to raise these kids who had come from a bad place. Life was hard for them, the hoarded food, they were mean and beat on each other and you can tell no one had invested the time to teach them right from wrong. But we adjusted. We were poor, we were tired and we were at a loss on how to help these kids grow up to be functional. They were a victim of their parents divorce. No Dad around and a Mom who couldn't be bothered.

But look, some how we all made it. They have grown up to protect this country. To give back. To put their life in danger for the good of mankind. Sometimes I look at them and these pictures and it blows my mind that they pulled themselves together. I am so proud of these kids.

So today while I think back and remember those who lost their lives so tragically both in the twin towers and the pentagon I am also going to take a moment and remember those who have lost their lives in this war and those who are still giving.

Chicken TV

2009-09-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

We always joke around here that the dogs watch Chicken TV. It's true watching the chickens is very entertaining. My favorite is watching them play keep away (includes running chickens which is way funny). It's so damn funny, I have to be careful not to pee myself. So on days I'm feeling wild I throw all the left over noodles from the horrible spaghetti dinner from the night before AND I throw a few of the mini cupcakes in there because even chickens need dessert. See the little yellow cupcakes?

Chickens talking to each other: Everyone grab a noodle and RUN!

And because chickens are super smart they will walk past a huge pile of noodles just to chase another chicken running away with a noodle.

One more reason I think my chickens are retarded. They are fighting over the crunchy noodles while there is a delectable cupcake sitting there. Who raised you chickens? MY chickens would have gone strait for the cupcake. Pfft!

Thats my girl, a little slow but better than never...

Uggh, carb overload. Mandatory naptime.

Mom please can I just have one chicken dinner?

To the stupid tomato plant, Thanks for finally cooperating, now that the season is almost over!!!!

Child Squatter

2009-09-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

Someone call the law! There is a squatter amongst us! Maybe I should just rename tree girl/Brace Face and start calling her pig pen. Never to her face of course, don't want to damage her delicate psyche. Who raised this child? Must be some thing genetic from his side. On a positive note, in the picture above you can see if you ever need a cup or some trash, maybe to light the fireplace on a nippy winters eve, just go to her dresser and wallah! Where are all the clothes that belong in those drawers you ask? Where else? The floor.

I don't know about you but I always smuggle fruit by the foot into my bedroom and eat in bed then throw the wrappers between the bed and the wall. I say smuggle because we do not eat in our rooms in this house, unless your Mom is at her quilt guild meeting or cleaning the bathroom.
And below!!!!

My phone!!! I have been looking for that phone for weeks. Errrr!

Fritos anyone?

I'll leave you with this thought. Above are my tart burners, affectionately called turd burners in our house. Why would you crumble up the little metal wrapper for the tea light and throw it back in there? Why?

Well Pig Pen, my cute, sloppy borderline disgusting child, your squatting days are over. Hope you didn't have any plans when you got home from school today...

It's a north east wind...

2009-09-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the majority of my day (the child free part) sitting in the DMV. I had to renew my drivers license and much to my surprise I found out I had to test for my Ambulance drivers license. I was not expecting that. I was convinced I would not pass, but I ended up missing only 3 (Yaaa!). Back to my complaining, I was in the DMV for 3 hours and 12 minutes to be exact and every single last person who sat down next to me had issues. I hope I don't sound mean and nasty here but OMG every stinky (BO and those who have bad mouth odor) chain smoker in the city came and sat next to me. I kid you not there was an obese woman (I have serious sympathy for people with weight issues, I have fought my own weight off and on) who had not bathed in a long time in a t-shirt with a hole in her shirt right on her breast who was sitting next to me when all the sudden I realized I can see her skin through that hole so she is wearing no bra. Nice. My complaint is when these smelly people sit down, they were touching me. PERSONAL SPACE people! My license was expired, I had to stay. It really, really brought out the worst in me. I was a bit road-ragey on my way home. I'm ashamed.

So while I was driving up the hill to go eat after my stay at the DMV, I passed a house that was just sold. It was a forecloser in bad shape. Blows my mind how much it was sold for! Well the new owner had a huge dump truck full of brush and the roof of a gazebo. I slammed on my brakes as soon as I saw the weather vain in the dump truck. Now keep in mind in California you don't just talk to stangers much. It's quite sad. I kept driving. Then I decided to gets some guts. I turned around because I have wanted a weather vain FOR-EVER! What's the worst that could happen, he could say no. I can handle that. I walked up to the guy who was about to leave and asked if he would sell me the weather vane for $10, which was all the money I had on me. He reluctantly agreed. He was a pretty nice guy, but one of those guys who would never just give you something. I had to leave and come back which made me uneasy. When I returned he had left it against the fence like he said he would. It was a beautiful sight. Now this is an old weather vane. There are coats and coats of paint on it, which make it all the more charming to me. I have admired weather vanes for years but its one of those things you just don't go spend the money on. I was so excited, I'm excited just writing about it.

Makes up for the stinky, butt numbing, life long wait at the DMV. (Happy dance)

Laborless Day

2009-09-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

I know this is a little nutty but everytime I watch the TV show Horders, I turn it off after and have an insane desire to go clean stuff in fear I may become that 78 year old woman with 87 cats and one place to sit in the whole entire ammonia filled house. So I walk into our closet and look over at Sarge's 8 inches of space I have left him (hahaha laughing out loud because it's soooo true) and what happen to catch my eye? I have a little story for you. Three Christmases ago a certain strapping man told his baking fool of a wife that he looooved her fudge. Thriving on his compliment she decided to make him his own batch of her super special fudge in his own little container where little fingers could not get to the tiny morsels. I guess he didn't like it THAT much. Pssh. By the way, that fudge used to be brown, now it's white washed. Can I get anyone some fudge? Maybe I'll give away to the people I don't like for Christmas and smile and act like nothing is wrong. That would be so Debbie.

On a side note no chicken owner likes to wake up and find this on her back porch. Sniff, sniff I am so sorry chickin-licken that you felt life was not worth living. I don't know how to handle this younger generation and their feelings of despair. None of my older girls ever jumped to their death? This younger generation is just reckless. I need Dr. Phil for my chickens!

Doesn't feel like Sunday

2009-09-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

So this in the first quilt I ever made. I have a list of everything I want to learn, do or experience before I die. I had a bucket list before it was cool-- before the movie. So one day I looked at the list and decided it was time to learn how to make a quilt. So I called the nearest quilt shop and signed up for the beginning quilting class. Of course, I brought Ama along. Above is the final product of the 8 week class. It's all Laura Ashley "Old Lady" florals that I love. Ama never finished hers. It was a burden to her, a monkey on her back, a nagging feeling that her life was incomplete. So today while she is here visiting, we broke out the half finished quilt and completed 3 more blocks. Hopefully when she goes home tomorrow she will have her version of my finished quilt done.

So one by one we covered all of my Laura Asley-ish blocks with her burgundy and green earthy toned blocks. It is coming together nicely and its so much more fun to have help. The attic windows is my favorite block.

I think it will be pretty when it's done. Ama is in the process of buying a new house, all on her own. That's so awesome! How amazing would it be to find your independence at her age and buy a house. I am so proud of her. This is the perfect house warming gift to herself.

On a side note, the itty bitty egg in the picture had an itty bitty yolk. So cute!

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-09-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today I am 33. Last year I swore I was 33 for a good 6 months so in reality I will be telling people I'm 33 for a year and a half. Here are 33 tidbits of randomness in celebration of this momentousness day.

In all of my 33 years I have never made a real pie. I have put together a store bought pie crust and filled it with glazed fresh fruit. I want to learn to make an apple pie, like with a real crust, not from Marie Calendars. The real deal.
I watch either Law Enforcement shows or medical shows.
I am very insecure about my cooking abilities. I have issues with doubting myself and I am concerned that people are not going to like what I have made.
I was raised in Orange County, yes the O.C., home of all things materialistic and fake. I decided in my mind when I had children that I was going to live differently and raise my kids in a more simplistic, homey environment and buy their clothes at Target. It was a good decision.
I recently just learned to make real mashed potatoes.
I bought myself a pressure canner for my birthday and made tomato soup yesterday.
I dream of having a garden but I am concerned that living in the god-awful desert in the boonies will leave me victim to dead and eaten plants.
I enjoy a mocha frappacinno every morning.
I smoked for too long and now I am scared. I haven't smoked for about 2 years, I am done this time.
I will become a 33 year old Grandmother this year and I have mixed feelings about it (step daughter).
I often struggle with the idea that people are much more organized than I and are better at keeping house than I.
Pumpkin candles make me very happy.
It hurts my feelings that my daughter doesn't tell me Happy Birthday.
My parents got divorced a few years ago and I was surprised how much it affected me, being an adult and out of the house. I am still morning the loss of the family I had.
This year I finally graduated college. It was my biggest accomplishment (besides my kids) I have ever made. It took me 12 years.
Even though its usually all bills, getting the mail is still fun.
Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year.
My all time favorite TV shows are Judging Amy and Joan of Arcadia.
The job I have now, as an EMT is the only job I have had for a substantial amount of time. I have been there 4 years.
I was thinking about how to make a quilt block when I woke up this morning.
I still want my Mom sometimes when life is tough.
Clean sheets are a little thing that makes me happy.
I get way excited when Country Living comes.
I live in jeans.
I always mean to wear earrings but I rarely do.
My room is always messy.
I am horribly addicted to Coke. I give myself 1 a day.
I am so grateful for my family and struggle with trying to get my children to appreciate family.
I am very cheap, I sometimes spend way too much time thinking about finances.
I want a hand gun but Sarge says he's afraid I'll shoot him and laughs. I wonder if he really feels that way?
I dream of seeing New York in the fall. Not NYC but upstate.
I want to write out my goals this week.
This has taken me over an hour to write.

TGIF

2009-09-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

The man cub had a long week. It's tough adjusting to getting up at 6 am to catch a bus at 6:24. Poor kid was knocked out right after dinner at 7 pm. I keep trying to wake him up but he's done, so I let him be.

On the very best chicken site ever, Back Yard Chickens I have entered a Christmas Quilt block exchange. I bought this fabric with Sarge a couple days ago. Hopefully, it will end up turning out beautiful! It's pretty intimidating because all of these women seem to be much more experienced quilters than I.

I also made some tomato soup. I canned it in my brand new super-duper pressure canner. Wha-hoo! It makes me so happy to be able to can anything. I ordered the Ball Blue Book of Canning so maybe I'll be getting better at all this canning stuff. I got a fabulous sense of accomplishment watching my kids eat the peaches I just canned. They loved them!

Here are the eggs I collected today. The tiny one on the right is proof that someone is starting to lay. YAAA! I have 50 plus chickens and only get bout 4 eggs a day because most of them are still little. The little "fart eggs" as they are called are novelty around here. The man cub loves them and announces that the little one is his.

For now I am out of work. That's right, my certifications expired and I can't work until I get a new county license, a medical exam, a new drivers license, do 24 hours of continuing education and get my skills signed off. Kind of sucks. We got a $501 Edison bill from running the A/C. That's what we get for living on the face of the sun. It's a conspiracy!

Tomorrow is a big day in Debbieland! Can you guess?

Fighting the Circle of Life.

2009-09-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

It's true. When you have farm animals, you are supposed to have a certain amount of distance from them. They are not pets. At this house we aren't very good at that. One day a few months back one of our dogs, committed a heinous act. He worked his way into the chicken pen and killed a bunch of my girls. When I went in to survey the damage one of the ducks was just sitting on the ground awake and shaking. Poor baby. I scooped him up and took him in the house. When Brace Face saw what happened she bawled. She cried, she sobbed. She told me how it was just so sad to her. So being the Mom that I am, I took the duck to the vet who took the above x-ray. The duck had a broken leg.

Like any good vet, she made a duck cast. She said to keep it on for 8 weeks and keep it dry. Um, it's a duck, dry is not in their vocabulary. So we brought a baby pool into the house and filled it with dry bedding. The duck hung out in house for 2 very long months. By the time it was time to take off the cast, the duck was missing a lot of feathers and had no color left in his feathers. I don't know if it was a result of the season or lack of sunlight but it was odd.

I am so happy to report the duck-duck has a slight limp but is overall recovered. He would stumble at first and still does occasionally but overall he is doing well and seems happy. His colors have come back, more vibrant than ever. See, sometimes there are happy endings with farm animals....

On the other hand we had to change "Thanksgiving" the turkey's name to "Wednesday". On Wednesday the turkey decided life was just too much and he had nothing more to live for. So he jumped-- into the dog pen. Guess we are having ham for Thanksgiving! BTW the dogs, thought it was great! Errrr.

It's HOT!

2009-09-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

You know it's hot when your chicken pants....

Your dog pants,
and your child isn't wearing any (pants).

Peach salsa...yum. Five jars of this stuff is being stashed in my laundry room.
That was my fabulous day.

Call me the Queen

2009-08-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today I diced my body weight in fruit. So I decided to try my hand at Apple Butter. I have never even had apple butter before. I don't even know how to eat apple butter. I just know it is apple and cinnamon and that was enough to convince me. I made crockpot apple butter. Once again my house smelled glorious. Puts the Walmart Apples and Cinnamon liquid potpourri to shame.

So this is almost the end result. I mashed it up and then canned it. I taste tested it. Not bad. Don't know what I'll do with it but, ok. It's in the canner now.

I also made the most yummy strawberry lemonade concentrate. These are pint jars. I was dreaming of popping one of these bad boys open come January and adding 2 pints of water to it and being in Winter heaven. I had to think fast of something to do with the big ole container of strawberries that were about to rot in my fridge.
This is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving freaks me out a little. The problem is Thanksgiving is not afraid of anything. Thanksgiving pokes her or his head through the fence and pecks my Rottweiler. Thanksgiving isn't real bright. Thanksgiving might become Labor Day if it doesn't quit pecking the big mean dog.
I thought I would rap tonight up with an action shot. When Sarge comes home after along day of work, the man cub, his number one fan always gets so excited! Daddy, can we play swords? Even though Sarge has been at work for 13 hours and got up at 4 he sits there and defends himself from jabs and kicks and hurls insults at the man cub. "Come fight me Jedi Scum!" he yells at the man cub who chuckles and runs at Sarge full force. I offer to be Queen Ami dali or what ever her name is because she has rad clothes, but no one listens.

Looking for Inspiration

2009-08-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

The heat is unbearable and I have nothing more to live for. I'm tired of always producing, I need some pampering, some "me" time. I swear that is what is going through the minds of my chickens. This is all the eggs we got this week. My chickens need a motivational speaker, some prayer, maybe even some depression medication. I have 10 girls who lay, this is depressing. Pass the medication.

On a very happy note, my insane addiction continues! Juner, brought me two bags of home grown grapes. Beautiful! I let the kids gorge on them for a few days then for the first time ever, I juiced grapes, the old fashion way, with cheesecloth. No fancy juicer for this chick!

They look like the pretty, dark berries the show on the Welch's commercials. Oh man, they are tasty!

I put them in that fancy shmancy food processor and chopped them all up, I was amazed how dark the juice is. The aroma was wonderful.

Here is what the juice looked like. Such a pretty color and very tasty.

It ended up making some seriously beautiful deep dark purple jelly. Hopefully the man cub will appreciate grape jelly like he does raspberry jam.

Above I would like to show you the largest haul I have had from my tomatoes plants to date. What am I going to do with this many tomatoes? I just decided to give them to the chickens. They looooove tomatoes. They thanked me.

This is what happens when its 107 degrees and the school bus is over heating so the driver turns on the heater. Poor baby. Sarge put him right by the A/C vent to try to cool him off. Fall where are you? I love you, I need you back!

Legal Huffing

2009-08-27T22:21:00.000-07:00

I married the best man ever. He bought me 25 pounds of sugar because I'm a canning fien. I need an intervention. He feeds my addiction, making him an enabler. Sarge, welcome to my sick obsession that will be nuts for a while then I'll forget all about it, because I am the most ADD woman ever.

Remember all those oranges? Five of those bad boys made me 8 jars of this scrumdidleyishous (yup, I murdered that one)sticky mess of yummyness. The smell of this is simply divine! I just keep my face in the pot and take it all in. It's like a white trash facial.

I remember my Dad eating Smuckers orange marmelade on his toast every morning. It smelled yummy but for some reason I never remember eating it. Maybe I was just into huffing then too.

So pretty I just have to keep looking at it. The raspberry kool aid jam didn't set, errr. So I re-cooked it and all is well. I'm not doing that one again. I will make a ton more marmalade though, just so I can huff the fumes.

On a side note-- at Walmart this evening I was buying Brace Face some school supplies and she was unable to purchase Washable Crayola Markers. Must be over 18. They are washable for Pete's Sake, tag all you want with the crayolas, stay away from the spray paint! Ha, imagine getting carded for crayola markers?

What a lame day

2009-08-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

My day in bullet points:

Got up at the butt crack of dawn to get kids to school. Know I know why I was so excited to have them out in the first place. In retrospect, not worth it to sleep in. Hopefully my sleep schedule will adjust sometime soon.
Sarge yelled at me to come outside (which gets on my nerves really bad) and I get a splinter the size of a two by four in the tender skin on the bottom of my foot. 12 hours later and it still hurts. Good news, got the splinter out and it was enough wood to heat the house this evening (I'm trying to have a sense of humor). I was having horrible flash back of my wedding when the bartender spent an hour pulling a 4x4 of wood out of my foot while I cried and all my guests left.
Made 2 more batches of jam with the raspberries I had left. It was a new recipe, kool-aid jam. Half the fruit and a package of kool-aid and water for the other half. I'm not convinced, yet.
Taco Tuesday got rave reviews.
I caught another mouse in my bedroom which really freaks me out. That's 2 so far this week. They must be on steroids because they were huge, OMG! Then I had to rant about how someone in this house was going to get the hantavirus or I'm going to get a nervous tick because mice are gross! I know I live in the country but they are dirty little creatures. I threw the mouse to the chickens and watched them play keep away for well over an hour. Chicken TV, nothing beats it.
I took a 2.5 hour nap because I feel like someone is cutting my uterus out with a spoon.
Found a library book I forgot to return. Ooops! I blame the kids, its always their fault.

Tomorrow will be better, I feel it.

I have been paroled!

2009-08-24T19:34:00.001-07:00

That's right, my sentence is over-- the kids are officially back in school, hal⋅le⋅lu⋅jah! It's written like that because I had to get the correct spelling off dictionary.com and after I cut and pasted I thought it looked cool. HALLELUJAH is an understatement! I felt like walking in the man cub's class room and jumping on the little desks and shaking my booty in the oddest happy dance ever. My children are soooo going to need therapy! Here is the man cub's first day of school picture. I can't believe my baby is in 2nd grade (sob, siff).

He cracked me up! I turned the camera to take a vertical picture and he thought he needed to turn too. Funny kid! And yes, I did let him eat Cool Ranch Doritos for breakfast. I was trying to convince him to eat anything, something!

Brace face is not a morning person. I had to drive the man cub down the hill to walk him to his class so he would know what is going on so I didn't get to see Brace Face all ready for her first day so I took this instead. She didn't like me taking her picture much while she still had eye boogers. Notice that quilt, it was my first.

After the kids were gone Jazz and I resumed our regular scheduled programming. She had to find her morning sun, such a diva, and I had to sit on the couch like a zombie. I love that dog so much it hurts. I often in my demon voice say to people "Tell her she's pretty!" She gets lots of compliments that way. She likes when people tell her she's pretty.

Juner, Brace faces "other Dad" brought me a bunch of firewood and 2 bags of oranges. What a nice guy. He cut his thumb off a while back and hasn't been working so we have come to a wonderful agreement where we help each other out. He brings me oranges, grapes and firewood. I give share my turkeys, give him jam and be very understanding when money is tight. Win, win! I'm thinking hard about weather I want to juice them and can the juice or if I want to attempt marmalade again. Last time, my marmalade, which takes forever to make, never set. Errrr. Hate that.

Breaking news: After 3 months I have finally finished the picture wall. My "picture hanging block" is over. For the life of me I could not make this wall look decent. My couch was pulled out and only the pictures on the right were hung. I would work on it and then get frustrated and walk away in true ADD fashion. Now I need to straighten them all out and tack the corners down with picture mounting tape. Can I get a woohoo?

Lastly, I leave you with this thought. I could single handedly solve the whole lack of trees, save the rain forest problem. How you ask? Take the copy machines away from the school districts! My kids bring home so much paper! I must have signed 20 papers tonight, so ridiculous. The she have an email system and do the world a favor. I'm no tree hugger, Im just saying...

Happy Birthday Sarge.

2009-08-23T09:46:00.001-07:00

Today is the Sarges birthday. Yup, the old guy is..... hmmm, how old is he? 42! Oh my goodness! I remember thinking that was sooo old. I have once again become my mother (sigh). I am kind of sad that I am not at home celebrating with him. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love this man? It blows my mind how we have made it through such a rough time. We made it. I thought we were over, but you and I sarge, we beat the odds. I love your guts. I love how you allow me to be the ADD woman that I am. I love that you are funny and witty and charming. I love that you never complain about my clothes on the floor. I love how you and I can just look at each other and know. Muah! Happy Birthday! I'll make it up to you tomorrow.

The truth.

2009-08-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

Because no one reads this I feel like I have the freedom to just gush my thoughts and all the things you would never tell anyone. Like how the man cub mouths off to me and stomps away and someone says "Where did the little man with horns go?" I have thought to myself "I dunno, theres more where he came from". Ama heard me say that under my breath one day and said "Wow, that's pretty cold". I hang my head in shame.

Anyhoo, I am far from a perfect Mother, I know. But my kids mean the world to me. I feel so blessed to have them. Right before I graduated (yaaaaa!!!) I had a very long talk with the new and improved Sarge and we talked about how it was so hard on everyone to have me gone all the time. He was angry and nasty to the kids because he was upset with me. I was angry and upset because home was so miserable and definitely not conducive to me getting the perfect grades I desired. Wedecided together that I would no pursue my nursing degree right now. We agreed if I wanted to go to nursing school I could do it in about 8 years when he retires. I had to quit trying to make an impossible situation work. So after thinking things through for a while I conjured up enough nerve to tell Sarge (he has 3 kids from his previous lapse in judgement, I have one from my previous lapse in judgement and we have one together) that I have wanted to have another baby for some time. I watch my kids everyday, not just watch them like don't kill yourself watch them. I watch them like Oh my goodness, they aren't little anymore, they are so grown up. And then it happens. My heart aches, I mean it hurts and I get sad. So when I told the Sarge I wanted more his first reaction was "Are you trying to kill me?". I understand that. I knew he would say that. So I told him I accept that and I'll leave it alone. I was not about to make him do something he didn't want to do. Then much to my surprise he came to me a few days later and said "Convince me." My reaction was um, no. If you don't want more I completely understand. He said "Convince me". I had a little bit of hope but I couldn't get too excited. One day in Game Stop by the mall, he looked at me and said "Yes." My knees went weak and my heart raced. The best part was I didn't force him, surprise him, or manipulate him. He came up with that yes, all on his own. I love the Sarge, he loves me too.

So here we are, we have been trying for 3 months and I have been on fertility meds for 2 months because I do not ovulate on my own. My thyroid sucks and that doesn't help either. Have I mentioned these meds make me insanely crazy? Hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain (which makes me more moody), crying. It's down right crazy. So this is the last month I am taking it, period. So every morning I pee on my little stick and weight for the little computer to tell me weather or not to seduce the Sarge. I used to obsess now I have have learned to let go. If God wants me to have a little set of lungs he will give me a little + sign. *Deep Breath* Letting go is not my strong point. Did I mention my heart is still aching?

Ok, enough of that! Last night when we met Ama for dinner I saw a roman soldier (centurions is what Sarge calls them) walk by the window of the restaurant. What the heck? So I gawked at him and thought he was just some freak. Nope, I stand corrected. He is a freaky man that dresses up like a roman soldier and makes balloon animals for kids. I was praying to God he wants the "Trojan man" and wasn't going to hand out condoms. I'm just saying.

On a another note of random weirdness I was driving home last night and in the middle of no where (I live in nowhere, I swear) I saw these two folding chairs set up n the side of the road. What were people just walking by and decided to set up some chairs and have a seat with a glass of sweet tea? I'm baffled.

To prove to you that California is indeed super ugly and to prove how far we live from any town here is a picture of behind the chairs. Notice how green it is and the lush trees, NOT. One day.

But I wasn't finished

2009-08-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

This morning when I posted I was not finished talking yet. We had appointments to keep so I threw what I had up and left. So tree girl, who is tree girl because she is just about 5'10" and just turned 13 a few weeks ago. I call her tree girl because I am hoping she will be tall enough to prune my trees in going to have when we move. Now, I must call her brace face. She is so cute, smiling through the pain. I remember braces and spacers and all the insanity in created within me. I used to think about how to make it stop, rip them off with pliers, bite inanimate objects and hope it would make them break off. I remember trying to pry mine off with a pencil, no luck just broke the pencil and when the orthodontist asked me what happened to the bent up wires, I would innocently lift my arms and say "I dunno?". Luckily my orthodontist was so old he walked around with an AED already attached because he was going to drop dead any second.

On a much happier note, I recently finished my first irish chain quilt. Yyyyaaaa! I started this thing on a whim when the man cub was in kindergarten. It was for his teacher which I loved. I still had those delusional day dreams where I actually finished my projects in a reasonable amount of time, So one day I just grabbed the fabric I had the most of and started cutting, no pattern. For having no pattern I am pretty happy that it turned out as well as it did.

The next part, quilting it, is the part I hate the most. I don't know how to stipple and I don't want to send it out to be quilted and spend $125 to quilt it. I stitch the ditch which has worked for me in the past. I have stippled before but it wasn't that impressive. It's s skill I need to refine. I'll show the end result, if I ever finish it.

The above picture is my Aunt Mary (on the right) and my Mom, AKA Ama. Everyone calls her Ama even my BFF and the Sarge, so feel free to call her Ama as well. I thought you (funny, because no one reads this) all should know who Ama is. Ama is taking Brace Face, AKA tree girl for the weekend and taking her to see Phantom of the Opera. Im so jealous I want to stomp tree girl, who is like a foot taller than me, and yell "AMA Take me instead!!". But I won't because tree girl and Ama are tight and I should just let that be because it really is a blessing. On a side note, no fighting for the rest of the weekend!!! WooHoo!!! Remember that is only a huge deal because I just survived 2.5 months off of school in which the goal of my spawn was to see who could irritate, annoy, pester, insult each other more. Off to meet Ama at Rosa's Cantina in Old Town. If you haven't been to Rosa's you have not experienced the best Mexican food in So. Cal. Yuuuummmmmmmy.

Random Ramblings....

2009-08-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Be still my beating heart! This is the cutest little dog! I just want to lick her cheeks and eat her whole! I have one minor problem though, I have been calling her wiener. Yes, wiener. My kids even call her "wiener" or "the wiener". Wiener needs a name but I have nothing, nada, zilch.

You say just call her wiener no big deal. This is what the man cub said in a huge group of people while we were getting on the boat to come back from Catalina, "I can't wait to get home and play with the wiener". I instantly turned red and got dagger eyes from the Sarge. Sarge then told me you need to name that dog, while giving me the "you are so retarded" look.

So yesterday was a stay-at-home-and-get-something-done-day. I made jam and cooked some yummy stuff while talking with my BFF. The man cub rode the quad. Do you see where we live? We live in dirt. YUCK! It is so gross and so ugly. I dream of trees and green which is NOT in California.

Made a yummy turkey and I am going to try my hand at turkey pot-pies. Ummmmm, and I am debating between a big pot pie casserole or individual ones. I need to find a recipe for individual pot pies

I even made breakfast hotpockets. The kids devour them. AND it uses up our ton of eggs we get from the chickens. Hopefully I'll get it together enough to have these on hand so that when we are doing our morning rush the kids can just grab them and go. I HATE when my kids refuse to eat breakfast!

This is what is inside! Sausage, eggs and cheese all in a crescent roll. I use a can of crescent rolls and it makes 4. The can is more than I like to spend, need to find a good recipe for dough.

So today we are off to get our $800 bus passes. I can not get over $800 bus passes! Who can afford that.? I think the person who decided that needs an ass kickin. Then tree girl has a orthodontist appointment to get her spacers. Poor baby I remember the pain of having spacers. She has a radiant smile. Then tonight we are meeting Ama for dinner and she is taking Tree girl to see Phantom of the Opera. A weekend of no fighting, I just might pee myself.

I have no self-control

2009-08-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help myself. It was almost like those little morsels of flavor explosion where calling me, beckoning me to come turn them into half of the ultimate PB&J. I HAD to make a batch before I went to bed. The man cub had a blast mashing them.

I finally found a canning set of tools to help save me from the many burns I incur while canning. These little tools make such a huge difference! I hate when my lids stick together, I have been known to seriously curse a lid up one side and down another when I can't get it out of the boiling water or they are stuck together.

I have decided I will not be go generous with my jam this year. My stash only lasted 5 months last year and when my man cub discovered we were out, he looked up at me with those big blues eyes and looked heartbroken. Yes, heartbroken over my jam. That is true satisfaction, making good food for my kids and knowing they love it.

On a side note I will be trying to figure out a way to make my jars of jam more visually appealing. I still need to label them but I have more to make today. Note to self, buy bigger pots. I was unsure if they would seal because my boiling water bath was not boiling hard enough. When those lids started snapping down, it was music to my ears.

How do you know you made jam you ask? That would be the mess I make while making it. Am I the only one whose kitchen looks like a bomb went off after the jam session?

Farewell Summer...

2009-08-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today we did our annual end of summer trip to Oak Glen, nestled up in the mountains, to pick raspberries. It's tradition, it has to be done. We have been doing it for years and every year about 20 minutes in I think, "Hmmm, kinda hot why am I doing this?". Because it's a process Debbie. But it is a hot process and very time consuming. The end result will be so worth it and the kids enjoy the first 10 minutes, so its all good! So $64 dollars and some sack lunches we had a blast and the jam will be to die for-- so good you can eat it with a spoon right in the station after your Sgt. hands it to you (hee, hee...yes it happened).

There were berries galore! Berries for days and they were so yummmmy. One for my mouth, one for the bucket, one for my mouth, one for the bucket. Took my first hay ride ever from the little store to the raspberry patch.

As you can see I tend to get a bit involved and like to sit down as I'm frying in the sun doing manual labor. It just seemed more enjoyable to sit on the ground and pick from there. You can see the berries that hide under the leaves so much better when you are looking up at them.

It is taking all my willpower right now not to go in the kitchen and start making jam. But Im tired and have been trying to ready myself for when the kids go back to school next Monday. I have decided one dinner is done and the kitchen is cleaned up I should allow myself to rest between 8 and whenever I go to bed. I'm aiming for 10:30 but we all know how that goes. My body does its best work between 8 and 12 so I am trying to recondition myself.

Best thing to do after picking berries for a couple hours? Cool off in a sprinkler of course! This is what summer is all about!