in search of persimmon pulp

I know, I fell off the map again.  Life just seems to have a way of taking over my time these days.  Could I be getting myself too busy?  Nah… that’s why I’m looking to add to the things that take my time away!

After all, I’m already skipping lunch 2-3 days a week (I know… bad for me on so many levels) and I haven’t sewn much lately, but I’m sure I can find time to add in a(nother) part time job, right?

Yes, I’m looking for a part-time job.  There are bills to pay, Christmas is coming, and well, we just need a bit more money to make ends meet around these parts.

This is made all the more interesting by the fact that I am looking at retail jobs… but I have never worked retail.  Add to that the fact that I’m rather… er… introverted and large groups tend to exhaust me, and you can see why this is obviously the best choice for me.  Beggars can’t be choosers, right?

I was planning to head out on the job-hunt trail again today, but I seem to have awoken with a red, puffy & swollen eye for the 2nd day in a row.  The power of make=up helped to hide it for church yesterday, but I don’t think I should dare to do anything to it today.  The itching is getting somewhat maddening though.  What could have caused this?  Who knows.  Most likely a combination of stress, a new face soap, sensitive skin, and stress.  Yes, I added one of those twice.  It was with good reason.

BUT

I serve a God that is faithful in all things, and my life is in His very capable hands.  After all, our daughter wasn’t christened with Faith as part of her name for no reason!

Last week threw a couple of curve balls at us, and left us scrambling to figure out what to do about it.  What is th first step?  PRAY.  Then sit down and figure out what we can cut and what we need to add in to make life a little easier.  Then pray some more.  God will see us through this trial, just as He has through every other one we have been brought through, and we will come out stronger somehow.

All of this put Mr. Wonderful in a baking mood (yay!) so we do have chocolate-cinnamon dipped chocolate biscotti to help see us through.  It’s the little things, really.

Now I just have to get the house cleaned up before the worship team & choir meet here Wednesday afternoon.  ugh.  I already re-arranged the furniture and brought the piano upstairs (don’t worry, it’s just a keyboard!), now I’m just waiting for Mr. Wonderful to take one of the armchairs downstairs so it’s out of the way.  The girls are off of school tomorrow, so perhaps I can convince them to help… or at least to not make the mess worse!  Well, in between meetings anyway.

And on that happy note, I think I should go partake of one of the benefits of a man who can bake… although perhaps I should eat some lunch first.  Nah, where is the fun in that?

Nov. 4 is fast approaching, and the candidates are making their last-ditch efforts to get your vote.  Many states have opened up early voting to help ease the congestion at the polls, and mail in voting is in full swing.

Have you voted yet?

If not, I would like to toss a couple of thoughts out to you… in the interest of being informed.

1 - think of small business owners when you vote.  If these small business owners are taxed too much, they will go under, resulting in a loss of jobs for more and more people.  More people out of a job means more people losing their homes, means the banking industry will continue to fail, means that the gov’t will think they have to continue to step in to take care of them.

2 - think of military families whose husbands, wives, sons and daughters are serving oversees.  Who is going to take care of them the best?  Who will give the the support that they need to do their job to the best of their ability?  The better they can do their jobs, the sooner they can all come home.

3 - think of our children.  Our schools are becoming a battle ground for them between parents and special interest groups.  Yes, public school is still the only option for many families (unfortunately) and many of us have no idea what our kids are really being taught.  Unless we have the ability to be able to be there helping their teachers, we may never see some of the books that are being read to them, some of the groups that are brought in to talk to them.

4 - think of the thousands of unborn babies that are killed each day.  What was their potential?  One could have had the cure for cancer or AIDS in their yet-undeveloped brain.  America has become the country that sacrifices its young on the alter of self… “I am more important than anything else” has become our mantra.

5 - look at the voting records for each candidate on the ballot - both federal and state - and see how their voting lines up with what is spewing out of their mouths.  It doesn’t always on either side.

6 - keep in mind that our next president will have the power to bring about change - and both have promised to do so.  The question is this: which change is the best for our children’s futures?  Do we draw closer to a socialist run government?  Do we give up more of our rights because our government is exchanging them for more handouts?  9/11 came, and we volunteered up many of our freedoms - some that we still may not realize we gave up.  Who knows if we will ever get them back.

7 - America is still a superpower, though we have lost much of our former glory and respect.  These are tough economic times, yes.  We are all feeling the pinch of over-spending whether on a personal level or a governmental level.  Both candidates have pans to fix this, but if we as citizens can get back to the basics that made this country great, we will pull out of this.  WE have this power.  Every individual person in this country can play their part.  We don’t need the government to take care of us - that is not what our country was founded on.  It wasn’t “America the country iof I deserve it” but rather “America, the land of hope, promise and the possibility that if you work hard enough, anything is possible.”

Our grandparents and their grandparents understood that.  They understood the beauty of a hard day’s work, understood that hard work can enable you to do something more.  Our generation seems to think that everyone owes us something, that we deserve it just because.  We haven’t learned that we need to earn certain things.  I for one don’t want to trade my “inalienable rights” in so that the government can give away free money to people who haven’t paid into the system through hard work.

Part of the economic plan right now is to bail out the people who bought houses that they couldn’t afford, banking on the future.  Those people who have sub-prime loans that are folding are getting a bail out - my question is this: What about those of us who did it right?  Those of us who worked to get our credit where it needed to be, saved up and have an A-paper loan, possibly at the edge of what we can afford, but within our means?  Why aren’t WE getting any help?  They could buy some of us out, and we might be able to sell our homes for a profit and go out there and help the economy once again by doing it right.

This presidential election is arguably one of the most important elections our country has had in decades, and the world is watching.  The future of our country will be based on the decisions that we make as a collective body.  The man who becomes our next president will have the ability to guide the rudder of the most powerful country in the world, and it’s anyone’s guess where we may end up.  Some outcomes are more than a little frightening.

This election has been a very hard one for many voters - myself included.  I have spent many hours, nay DAYS, reading their stands on the issues, their voting records, and the special interest groups that are helping to support them.  I have approached this election with some fear, with a lot of prayer and a lot of soul searching.  I know which issues became the “make or breaks” for me, and who I have placed my vote for, do you?

I’m not typing this to tell you who to vote for - that is between you and your conscience.  Just keep in mind that if you don’t vote, you have no right to gripe when you don’t like who was elected.  All I am asking is that you make an informed decision.  Look at the issues that are important to the future of this great country, that are important to the future of our children, and base your vote on that.  The past is the past, and there is nothing that we can do to change that.  All we have is the here and now, and we are responsible for what we do with it.

Vote.  It’s your civic duty.  Make your voice heard.

I know, I’ve been away for a bit - so sorry! Between kids, illnesses and birthdays, life once again got a bit hectic.

Well, the Shmo turned 8 on Saturday, and we had a fun “Dolphin Birthday” complete with mystery fishing off of the deck. What is mystery fishing, you ask? Well, normally you would string a sheet up and cast over it and - of course - be thrilled by what you receive. I didn’t feel like dealing with the sheet, so we just cast clothespins tied to ribbon off of the deck. Yes, there were fish to be caught. Do you remember those little plastic encapsulated sponge shapes that you put into water? I found some in sea creature shapes - yay! They were a hit. So were the Dum-Dum pops.

Another fun thing that we did that was a bit unusual was bake her cupcakes in ice cream cones. I managed to get them to fit into a tiered cupcake holder, and they looked like swirly mint ice cream, but it didn’t melt! I found a DELICIOUS recipe for vanilla bean cupcakes over at bakespace.com and topped them with minty-green whipped cream cheese frosting. Oh yeah… it was good. We also had a huge Costco-sized pumpkin pie, and there was only one slice left!

All in all, the party was a success. All the kids had fun, went home with party goodies and full tummies. Shmo has been playing with her new goodies for 2 days, so much that I’m still not sure which is her favorite. I think it’s somewhere between the “How to draw horses and ponies” book and her new “Alexis” my generation doll. We also got the Big Brain Academy board game, which gets a rousing 8 thumbs up from our household. Very, very fun game!

Other than birthday news, there isn’t too much going on. I’m trying to fight off a cold that doesn’t want to make me too sick, but doesn’t want to go anywhere either. Ugh. I guess I’m the lucky one - I have a few friends that have been knocked completely out of commission for days by it. Thankfully, that intensity doesn’t seem to visit me that often. No, I get sick for 6 weeks, but not sick enough to justify sleeping for a couple of days. Just “surface level” sick. Shmo keeps having a sore throat, but just at bedtime. She had strep, so when the sore throat came back, I had her tested again (yes, I was really popular!) but she doesn’t have it. I am suspecting that she sees it as a good way to get Mommy into her room for 30 minutes or so at bedtime. Nice.

In other news, our little Tink has had attitude issues lately. A complete lack of respect for authority. She was almost grounded from her sisters party - yes, it was that bad. At the ripe old age of 6 years and 7 months, she has decided that she can do whatever she wants to do. She decided to head down the road to a friends house, got grounded, did it again the 1st day she was free was grounded again… and again. THEN she decided that since she had a sore throat she could self medicate herself with a throat lozenge… and then refused to show me what was in her mouth. For 5 minutes. Yep, loss of privileges again. Any suggestions? Oy.

That’s been life around here! Sending kids to clean their rooms, getting on them to practice (oh, and one changed her instrument of choice - no more violin around here), and getting dinner on the table at a decent hour. Back to the day-to-day mundaneness of existence. Or, perhaps it’s just the head cold.

But hey, my house is clean! Well, at least it was…

I’m sharing a guest blogger today… ramblings of another sort. Enjoy!

Today was, practically, my last day in Utrecht. I headed out early again, like last Sunday, only this time “who needs a map?” At this point, I can get around pretty easily. I sat on the bench immediately under a statue of a girl riding a horse, did a little work, waiting for the coffee shop to open. Once it did, I nursed a cappuccino for an hour or so, read a book. Sat. Thought.

I went back to the Dom Kirk and found an open door that was closed to me last Sunday. What’s a curious boy to do?

I walked through it.

And a beautiful, secluded, quiet courtyard opened up to me. With the towering gothic structure of the cathedral watching over me, I explored the vaulted hallways (pic attached) surrounding the courtyard (pic attached), which had a small burbling fountain in the center and a very pleasant-smelling herb garden filling the area.

I stayed there for awhile and thought about how small I really am…

Wandering around, I came across a huge marathon, with the main streets closed to the public. A small band was there, with trumpets, drums, trombones, and a huge tuba. Each of the band members was wearing bright red overalls with blue t-shirts…and traditional Dutch wooden shoes. They were playing non-stop as the runners passed by, encouraging them with happy tunes and occasional cheers. Their rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” was kinda funny. Da, da da, good times never seemed so good.

I only had a couple Euros left in my pocket, and knowing I’d get hungry later, I wandered back through the alleys back to the Oudegracht and found a small pizza shop on the water that had a TV crew in front of it last Sunday - I’m hoping it was because it was sooo good and not because it had “health issues.” I spent the last of my cash on a beautiful, magnificent, decadently yummy salami calzone, with soft thick pastry and fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and salami. It was well worth it. That’s the end of my eating today.

And a few last parting shots of Amsterdam… just because I want to add them.

Almost makes you want to live there… beautiful.

I have been bad… I haven’t written in almost 2 weeks!

To update you… no, I didn’t win miss congeniality, but I did come in 2nd! My pre-crowning myself just didn’t do the trick, unfortunately!

The reason for my lack of bloggy-ness? Well, there are actually 2.

Reason 1 - Eric went to Europe for business. Yup, left the girls & I here to make due on our own. Such fun, I know. He gets to traipse around Amsterdam (albeit all alone) while I get to stay here and deal with reason number 2. But, at least he sent home some pictures… I guess that’s the benefit of letting him take my camera. It did put me in a bit of a bind though when I neede to take pics of new bags! C’est la vie… his came ot pretty good. Here are a couple.

I can’t be too upset with him though - he tried to get out of it, and managed to shorten the trip by 4 days. I just wish I was there with him!

Reason number 2 - M had strep throat. Ugh. Her throat was so bad that there was blood on the cotton swabs when they did the throat culture! Poor li’l shicken. She was feeling rather ucky all weekend, and earlier this week - even stayed home from school a couple of days.

So, are my excuses valid? I have one more if not… due to having said sick child underfoot - or rather, on my lap - I didn’t get much done in the way of sewing up bags to ship out, so I have been down in the dungeon office sewing like a mad woman! Well, down sewing and up here making homemade applesauce and fresh bread. Ah, the life of a modern homemaker. Actually, it’s usually not that bad of a gig… sick children aside! Here is a pic of one of the new bags… it converts from a messenger sling to a backpack. Pretty cool, no?

As Eric was touring about Europe, we didn’t make it to a recent wedding… thereby missing out on seeing family & friends that we rarely get to catch up with (bummer). Sorry we didn’t make it to the big kick-off shindig, but I’m sure our presence won’t be a deal breaker.

On a side note… are you aware that you can now register for your honeymoon? Who ever heard of such a thing! I thought that was the groom’s responsibility! While looking through the registry, I noticed that they had registered for drinks for 2 ($20), hiking up to Diamond head for 2 ($45), a honeymoon suite ($160 per night), kayaking for 2, dinner for 2… you get the idea. While I see that this is a great way for the groom to save some dough on his part of the nuptials, it just seems… odd… to me. I guess I’m just a traditionalist. Although I’m not sure which I view as worse… registering for your honeymoon, or adding an x-box and games and a slew of dvd’s to your wedding registry. What part of setting up a home is video games, movies and electronics? It’s the guy’s part, I realize, but it seems to me that video games can take away from the special one-on-one time that newlywed couples revel in. Oy… what is this world coming to?

Off my soap box now… mini-rant over. See, that one was shorter than most! I’m getting better, less angst-y or something. Or maybe I’m just tired due to lack of sleep.

The weather here can’t make up it’s mind… yesterday I had to pull out the extra, extra long scarf and a jacket b/c it was so stinkin’ cold and rainy, yet today is sunny, clear skies and lovely. I even turned on the heater last night! Yes, me, the lady who doesn’t let it get touched until around Thanksgiving actually turned on the heater before October. It was cold! The wet, seep into your bones kind of cold that we just aren’t used to having until around December or so… or perhaps it is just that it has remained in the 60’s with sunny skies until yesterday, and the cold just felt all the more colder because of it. Or perhaps I just need to go pull out the winter blankets for the beds. Oh, and stop sleeping with 2 little people who kick my covers off ALL NIGHT LONG… well, in between kicking ME. See? No sleep.

So, here I sit in my thick, warm Thorlo socks (with cold toes) and a fleece vest over my long-sleeved t-shirt sending out a short update on our lives here. Convincing myself that I need to go exchange the pirate stickers I purchased yesterday for do;phin ones, as li’l bit changed her mind (again!) on her birthday theme. This is not normal for her… she usually has them planned out 2 years in advance - and sticks to the original plan! This year has been odd… first she couldn’t decide, then she saw a picture of a mermaid doll cake & wanted that, then we broadened it to encompass all of Peter Pan, so she could have mermaids, pirates, Indians, and fairies. That sounded like it would be easier, but apparently you just can’t find ANYTHING related to Peter Pan except Fairies these days… and that just wouldn’t fly with that one. Oh no. Her sister likes fairies, so she just can’t. Seriously, she can’t. In her words, she “HATES FAIRIES!!!!!” NO emphasis added from me, in fact, I may have left some out.

So, last night she changed her mind to dolphins. I can deal with that. An undersea adventure. Kewl. So I am off to Michael’s again to get inspiration. I know… I’ll be breaking the compact for this one. In my defense I will be exchanging things, rather than purchasing new things. Does that save me at all? And it’s for an 8 year old drama queen’s birthday - that should make it fall under the “necessary” heading! How about if everything I get is actually on sale? Clearanced out? Headed for the garbage bin? Yes, I’m justifying… but I don’t care at this point. I’m tired, remember? Ha, ha, ha.

So, I shall bring this post to a close… the day is reaching it’s middle, and I am still sitting here rather than being out there somewhere getting things done. I need to go & get back so I can get more bags made! I have a new wallet style on the agenda today… we’ll see how it all comes together!

Have a fabulous weekend! I hear it’s supposed to be sunny here… I guess that means I have to mow the grass…

Well, I obviously didn’t feel the need to post daily for too long! Last week was terribly busy and I just didn’t make it back.

We started having our weekly staff meetings last week (never been in on those before) and I spent much of the week getting everything organized for worship. We filed all of the charts, added a few new songs to the mix, and got new bins to file everything in. Then came the finding of music, pulling the charts, making sure there were enough for everyone (I was a couple short - oops!) and mentally preparing myself. Actually, most of that was Tuesday. Big day now, Tuesday…

Then there was the making of new buttons (like them?) that was just for fun… and learning how this new program that I found for organizing the flow of worship on Sundays and scheduling people, etc. Well, I think I’ll be learning that for a while! It’s very cool though. Very cool indeed.

How is it that my days are busier with the girls at school than they were with them home? I just don’t get it. There is much sewing to do, emails to check & return, updates to make, drawings to hold, flowers to make… the list goes on and on. And I haven’t even mentioned the housework side of life! How is life so full of busy-ness?

Friday was Tami’s birthday, so we headed down there to help her celebrate. As luck would have it (or was it Murphy’s Law) as I went to grab her present (that had been put together last week) I couldn’t find half of it! This is just not right! So, I took what I could find, and I will have to get the rest to her another time. Grrrrrr.

Saturday was fun though. The kids had a great time playing outside with their cousins, and although there was the scare over Pepper eating a toy golf ball (turns out he just munched on it thankfully!) all in all it was a good time. G-man even figured out how to drive the jeep! It took him a time or two of someone showing him how to change the gear from forward to reverse, but he eventually got it & will now be tearing up Grandma’s nice, pretty grass. Sorry Mom! He even too his little sis for a couple of rides… but he’s just not ready to let her drive!

Oh, and I read my first Anne Rice book last week. Overall, an enjoyable read… although I could have done without some of the detail in… er… certain scenes. I really don’t need to know what color certain parts of anatomy are! I have some, I know what they look like, I don’t need a description! Other than those parts - and the main character being attracted to both men & women - it was a good read. Not something for the under 18 age group… we don’t need to add any fuel to those hormonal fires! Oh, it was Blackwood Farm for those wondering.

Now I want to read Twilight even more.

The girls & I partied last night & had pizza, soda & watched Penelope. Cute movie, good message. M was a little freaked afterwards over the sketch that was put in the paper and the imaginings of one of the characters, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. Just know that if you have a kid that will easily get nightmares, there are a couple of scary images. Once again, I was left impressed by the acting of James McAvoy. Christina Ricci was also fabulous.

And the preview for Twilight makes me really want to read it before it comes out!

I’m on the waiting list at the library for Twilight… number 650 or so in line. Perhaps in 3 years it will be available! I guess I will have to look at alternate venues. I was hoping that my outright telling that I wanted it would be enough…

“Honey, twilight is just $8.95 at target. That’s what I want for my birthday.”

“what is twilight?”

“a book about a human & vampire falling in love. the movie comes out in december. I really want to read it. Ther is a series of 4 books, but I just want the first for now.”

not a blatant enough hint? Or was it just that I didn’t give him the chance to stop by the store to get it. Or the fact that we are broke. I can’t go buy it… that would violate the terms of the compact that I joined. I must admit that the temptation is quite high to drive to Target and get it though.

Then, of course, there are the questions of whether I really should be reading vampire stories so much… now that I am on staff at church. Drinking of blood a definite no-no. High levels of sexuality are a big part of the vampiric legend. But all the same there is something very alluring about the mythos of the vampire, vampyr, however you choose to spell it. Dracula, Draco… whatever you want to name it. Yes, I was an avid Buffy fan - I have the soundtrack from “Once More With Feeling” and think that Spike should win Buffy’s heart because a) angel gets evil and b) spike actually pursued the regaining of his soul to try to win her. The truly heartless creature sought out a heart to fully feel the depth of his love for her.  Proof that love will conquer all - good will win out over evil.

But I digress.

And my fingers are getting sore.

I decided yesterday that I should gain at least a rudimentary knowledge of the guitar if I am to be leading worship. How is it that so many people play this instrument of left hand torture? OW! I know, you build up calluses over time… but what do you do until those get built up? Between having to chop off my nails and having fingers that are crying out in pain, I’m having second thoughts about this decision. Honestly. Third thoughts even.

But I know that it is important.

It’s also the reason that I broke down and bought a new cord for the keyboard… and actually sat down to re-learn to play the darn thing. The right hand remembers… I wonder if the left ever actually learned. I was pleasantly surprised at how much came back - and how quickly. I almost think that I can play better (right handed) then when I was actually practicing so much in college. The left hand, however, has some catching up to do, and I will not be playing for an audience larger than E & the girls for a long while - if ever. I still have to get past the whole “the piano is my nemesis” mental block that I created 12 years ago. It was that dang test. Grrrrr.

Personally, I think I am much better at the keyboard that I am currently playing the keys on… and my left hand is quite proficient at it! Words flow across the page so effortlessly… well, other than the typos that you don’t get to see! But, that’s not terribly useful in leading a worship team. All I have at this point is my voice and God. It’s the God part that makes it all work - I certainly have nothing to offer! Each week I have to place it entirely into His hands and trust that it will come across to the team and the congregation in the way that He wants it to… for practice, for church, for putting together the song list, for everything.

it is hard to do that.

but i am learning… slowly.

I know it’s a streatch, but Matt 6:33 seems like it can apply:
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all of these things will be added unto you.”

I know that it is talking about the fact that God will provide for our physical needs, but I think it goes beyond that. He will provide for our EVERY need - physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, whatever we have a need for, He is there to provide. We just need to seek Him and His will for our lives. We need to wait on Him, read and re-read His love letter to us, His Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth…

We are all created to be worshipers. That is why we were created - to worship our Creator. Everyone worships something, we are given the freedom of choice as to what that something will be. God could have created an army of drones that will bow down & pay homage to Him… but then he wouldn’t be worshiped. True worship has to come from the heart. It cannot be forced.

Worship and love are so similar in that way - it has to be freely given from the heart. It comes out of a choice, out of a relationship, and out of a desire. You cannot force someone to love you - in fact, if you tried to do that, the very opposite would happen. You also cannot make them love you simply by loving them - if that were the case, there would be no divorce, all children would clove their parents, and every human being ever created would be sitting at the feet of Jesus. God loves us - every one of us. Whether or not you love Him back, He loves you. He sent His Son to die a torturous death to prove that love He has for you. When He looks at His children, He looks at us through the filter of Jesus - thankfully! Without that filter, I would never have a chance.

These are things that I often forget to remember. They are always there in the back of my mind, but I don’t always remember the truth that they shine out. God loves me. He created me for a purpose. He gave me certain gifts and talents fo prepare me for the destiny that He created me for. Does he need me? No. Is he allowing me to take part in His plan? Absolutely. He loves me enough to let me be a part of His plan. To let me be a part of pointing people to Him, to help them in their worship of Him.

this is humbling. and it should be!

Why has the God of the universe allowed me - called me - to be a part of His plan? I can’t say. But He has, and I am so thankful. He has put me where I am to do what He has called me to do. I know that I am not worthy. I know that I am not up to the task! But with His power I can do it. Through Him I can do anything that He calls me to do. Even lead a congregation to the foot of His throne, where I can have the privilege of being among the first to fall facedown in worship of the the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the creator of everything.

Thank you God for this privilege. Thank you for calling me. Thank you for equipping me to do Your will.

Thank you for the reminder…

wow, after all of the posting last week, I am starting to feel the need to post EVERY DAY… this is not normal!

To explain the title, Friday was my birthday. I got my hair cut. I renewed my license. We had a little shindig on Saturday (little… ha!) and a lovely day on Sunday.

On Friday I took the girls out to donuts for breakfast & dropped them at school. I came home, posted a bit about the peninsula, went down & got a hair cut. No, I really got a hair cut. It’s shorter than it has been since 7th grade. I will post a picture one of these days. Hopefully before it grown back out to a length that I know how to do something with. And yes, I can now attest that I have curly hair.

Mr. Wonderful (and he is!) came home from work early, met us at Boston’s for dinner, and we came home and relaxed. My brother-in-law came up from Spanaway, and we watched Escape From New York. Well, they actually watched it, I was making spaghetti for 40 people. Yes, a HUGE stock pot, a costco-sized container of mild Italian sausage, and lots of tomato-y goodness! (Did I actually just say tomato-y goodness? Must be the age).

Saturday morning the gents got up bright and early and headed up to climb Mt. Pilchuck. The girls & I slept in a bit… so nice! We got up and started getting the house ready for the shindig. They didn’t much want to clean, but do they ever have a choice? That is why we have kids after all - isn’t it?

Tami & Mom H. arrived with the mini-kiddos around 12, and by then we were busily working away to get everything cleaned up, put away, and the Marinara Primavera put together. They took M with them to the outlet mall when the guys returned, and Jason laid down with li’l bit for her nap… and his! A kept the G-man in line while Mr. Wonderful & I cleaned. Oy, my house sounds like a mess! In my defense, we were re-arranging furniture, so the vacuum was making repeated appearances.

The shindig was a rousing success. I got a big basket of veggies - all home-grown and delicious - a pair of beautiful knit silver earrings, 2 beautiful tea cups for the collection, gift cards, books, chocolate (yay!), flowers and a private concert by our budding violinist in residence.

Oh yeah, and an obnoxious cake.

Thanks again Youly. I now have a new nickname…

Oy vey and uff-dah all rolled into one.

Here’s the culprit in all of her glory:

Oh yes, the menu:

a salad of mixed baby greens, spring vegetables, goat cheese and cranberries
fruit salad
Mediterranean green tomatoes
garlic herb bread (thank you Brian!)
sourdough rolls
mini-penne
five-cheese tortellini
primavera marinara
sausage marinara

fruit cake… not quite what you are thinking, this one is GOOD!

Did I mention that they sang “Happy Birthday Hot Mama!”??????? I’m never going to live this one down. Ever.

At least the cake tasted delicious! Whipped cream frosting, fresh fruit, thinly sliced melon and strawberries in between the layers, all wrapped up in more whipped cream frosting. And I actually had 3 pieces left! Yay for me!

Saturday was a good day… family & friends around, good food, great fellowship. I feel loved. Truly loved.

Sunday was also a good day. Well, once the worship set ended anyway. It bombed (my fault - totally!). Let’s just say that in this instance, the third time isn’t necessarily a charm. But…

After church E & M got their hairs cut, we came home and had baked spaghetti and garlic bread (yes, there was leftover sauce - yes, they ate the rest of MY bread!!! grrrrrrr…) and everyone headed out. Tami was headed to the fair to work her shift at the Pampered Chef booth, and Jason was going to spend some time with his family. We found out that his Grandpa passed away around midnight Sunday morning. Added a bittersweet note, to be sure.

We met up with Culprit Most Wanted #1 and her wonderful garlic bread-baking hubby, dropped the little people off at his parents to play, and I finally got the present I had been waiting for.

chocolate

Theo chocolates is a chocolate maker located here in Seattle. Not re-melter, they actually make it from beans to the amazingly delicious finished product. Organic, fair-trade beans, no junk added, just good, pure chocolate. Well, chocolate and a little bit of sugar.

My favorite? The Madagascar.

Flavors I recommend:

• bread and chocolate
• chai tea
• hazelnut crunch
• nib brittle - oh yeah, this is the BEST!

The Confections are also very good. Might I recommend Basil? Yes, a basil truffle. It is so good. The Earl Grey Tea is also good, as is the burnt sugar.

I was on a chocolate high. A Theobroma Cacao high. Yes, it truly is the food of the gods. Created by God, loved by the masses.

They offer tours of the factory daily. You get to taste all of the bars. You get to see it being made. You get to taste test all of the flavored bars. You see the machines that process the beans. You get to taste the chocolate. Did I mention that you get to eat chocolate for free? Really GOOD chocolate? Dark chocolate that has a fruity flavor? And it’s free? Well, the tour is $5 per person… about the cost of one bar. OK, a little under the cost of one bar. And you get to eat chocolate. Really, really good chocolate. Get a proper chocolate buzz. I could go on forever… but I think you are getting the idea.

Then Ms. Youly directed us down below UW to the water… and fed us. Isn’t she sweet! Almost makes up for the cake. Almost. I have to admit, the fish tacos were some of the best I’ve had. Agua Verde - a little hole-in-the-wall taco shop down on the water by the kayak rental place… just down the street from the police station & Recycled Cycles. Find it… it’s worth it.

Then we drove up through the U District & Capitol Hill by way of the Arboretum. Beautiful.

Then we went & picked up the munchkins, dropped into Target to get a drawing pad, and came home.

I woke up this morning, fixed breakfast & packed lunches, sent the kiddos off to school. Checked my email for the first time since Friday, noon-ish and had 1057 unread messages. That kept me busy for a few hours. I shipped out a couple of bags, grabbed a bite of leftover pizza, had a truffle, picked up books at the library and met the girls at the bus.

The birthday weekend is over, but it was a good one.

Viva la 32… it looks to be a good year.

Wish you were here…

Well, the good news is that I got the garlic etc bread baked & it turned out delicious!  The pumpkin cookies became cookie crumbles by the end of the weekend, and I didn’t make it to the brownies (unfortunately).  But don’t be too sad, the quinoa salad was a hit!

The camping trip was a success!  We ended up getting the picnic area at the campground because the group site had been double booked - translation, we got a large, grassy meadow to pitch tents on instead of sand & gravel & dirt.  Yippee!

There was a TON of fabulous food - something to please every palate - and the fellowship was just as wonderful.  We got to introduce some old friends to some new friends (although neither of our pastors & their families were able to make it, unfortunately) and the kids thoroughly enjoyed playing in the river & the lake we hiked in to.  All in all it was a lovely weekend!

And if Collette ever offers to fix you biscuits & gravy, be there early!  The woman has the “gravy touch”!  Yes, ia twinge of jealousy here… I just can’t seem to get sausage gravy right.  In retrospect, this is a good thing, or else I would have substantially more “body clutter” hanging around!  Yes, I love biscuits & sausage gravy.

The smores were great, the canasta matches were brutally fun, and the kids had a blast walking the dogs and chasing each other around the meadow & in the water.  If you missed it, you truly missed out!  Next time perhaps… but I can’t guarantee fresh baked dinner rolls and blueberry cobbler will make their appearance.

I just hope the canasta cards recover from the dampness…

There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh baked bread… there is just something wholesome and timeless about it. Add into that lovely scent the smell of roasted garlic and caramelized onions and you will know what my house smells like tonight.

It is amazing.

Once the garlic begins to dissapate I will be adding the uniquely delicious scents of dark chocolate brownies and pumpkin muffins… yes, home is a very good place to be right now!

Why all of the mouthwatering scents? Why all of the baking? Well, we are heading out to help feed a mini multitude of friends!

We are embarking on the largest camping trip in the history of our family… we usually take one, maybe two families with us, but this time it seemed to take on a life of its own.

Let’s just say it this way… we have a group site reserved. It holds up to 7 families… 50 people… and we have other sites reserved as well

So, back to the baking… I think I may just run out of flour again! I have a loaf of White Sandwich Bread, Wheat Sandwich Bread (the white with 1 cup of whole wheat flour substituted & maple syrup instead of honey… I ran out of that!), Sunday Dinner Rolls from What Geeks Eat (yes, go there, it’s AMAZING!!!), and a modified recipe for an Italian garlic, onion, herb bread (thus far I have added the garlic… we’ll see what else I do!). That’s the breads… after we slog through baking those, we will begin the Dark Chocolate Brownies (without the cherries this time - I ran out!) and Pumpkin Cookies/Scones. Yes, the house will be smelling good for a while. I hope the kitty enjoys it!

I just had to share while I am waiting for a batch of dough to rise… it was smelling too good not to!

Have a good one…