Saturday, December 27, 2008

Leaves!!

(This post was started on Dec 7, but saved to the draft file when something more pressing came up. Now I'm back, to add pictures and post a fall blog on the day after Christmas. Better late then never...?)

As a kid I thought the most fun you could ever have was jumping into a pile of leaves. This fall, as I watched the leaves fall around my yard, I tried to imagine what half an acre worth of leaves would look like in one pile. Wow! I went and bought two more rakes, and told the kids the plan.

(Click on the pictures to see them enlarged.)












Gus had a blast jumping into the leaves.



Before:


After:











The kids with their friend Dillon.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Me Facts

Here's how it works. Change the items to bold that you have done in your life.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Does 6th grade band count?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (my husband did, co-owned with his brother, does that count?)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House?
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved some one's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Potato Cheese Soup

This is my family's absolute favorite. I don't make it that often, it's almost like a special occasion meal, for cold days. So good.

6-8 potatoes, peeled and diced
2-3 carrots, sliced
2-3 celery stalks
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 can (10 oz) cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups milk
bacon bits (or 4 bacon strips, fried and crumbled)
salt & pepper

Place potatoes, carrots, celery and onion in a large kettle; cover with water. Cook until tender.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and soup. Stir well. Add milk, salt, pepper. Add mixture to vegetables. Heat thoroughly. For a thicker soup, drain vegetables before adding cream cheese mixture. Yield 10-12 servings.

Now for my touches. The original recipe said to put the bacon in the pot. You can if you want, but we always have bacon bits on the table, and put them and a slice of kraft cheese, and stir it in. Also i usually put more carrots and celery then it says. And i never drain the water.

I usually let the soup simmer for a long time, at least an hour. Its easy, and kids love it and it warms you up.

Benji

Two weeks ago, Cameron was assigned a project on Benjamin Franklin. A poster board telling facts, and a costume. Two nights ago, Cameron mentions this project. He's very good at that, sometimes I get notice the morning of. So here I am, learning all about good ole Benji. I knew about the kite and the key, but digging deeper he turns out to be a pretty interesting guy. I found this excerpt from his autobiography, and it made me stop and think. I thought I'd share it.



Virtue

Franklin sought to cultivate his character by a plan of thirteen virtues, which he developed at age 20 (in 1726) and continued to practice in some form for the rest of his life. His autobiography lists his thirteen virtues as:

"TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."
"SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
"ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."
"RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."
"FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."
"INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."
"SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."
"JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."
"MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."
"CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."
"TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."
"CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."
"HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates."

Franklin didn't try to work on them all at once. Instead, he would work on one and only one each week "leaving all others to their ordinary chance". While Franklin didn't live completely by his virtues and by his own admission, he fell short of them many times, he believed the attempt made him a better man contributing greatly to his success and happiness, which is why in his autobiography, he devoted more pages to this plan than to any other single point; in his autobiography Franklin wrote, "I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit."

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Feeling the Love

Since I've been nagged to update my blog, I guess I will. ;)

I'm sitting here watching the cowboy game with Ivan, my dog snoring at my feet, the boys clean, with full bellies and getting ready for bed. All feels right with the world right now. I love when I can feel at peace like this, it's pretty rare that I'm not growing ulcers, worrying about everything. I might seem cool on the outside, but I've always got thoughts in the back of my mind, tapping me on the shoulder.

Ivan was on call this weekend, but he only had to go out once, for a few hours. Some weekends he doesn't have to go at all, others he's out starting on friday night sometimes, and we don't see him all weekend. You never know. He has to stay kind of close to home, too, when a unit goes down he has an hour to get home, get his work truck, and be there. And his jobsites are scattered all around. It's frustrating sometimes, but we knew this is how it would be when he went into this field of work. It's not too bad usually.

Saturday morning Ivan left, the kids and I just hung out, I did laundry. Joyous laundry! A few weeks ago, my washer died. We paid big bucks for this stupid washer, it had some great features and I loved it, but it had problems from the beginning. Ad it repaired over and over, always something different. When my 3 year maintenance plan ran out, they wouldn't even let me renew because they had so many problems with this one washer. There was even a lawsuit, but it didn't include my state. As much as I've wished this machine out of my life, I didn't really mean it. So I go to craigslist. I've used that site numerous times with success, never had a bad experience. I find a washer that they guy said was pretty new, less then a year old. We talk to him on the phone, he says it's like new and a good washer, blah blah. Ivan asks for directions (he lives in FtWorth, kind of far) and the guy even offers to load them up and meet us halfway. That's cool, what a nice guy. By that evening when Ivan got home to hook it up, I had a pile of dirty clothes waiting, and my mouth was practically watering. (I'd been washing some clothes at my sister-in-law's house, but only what was absolutely necessary, the rest was taking over my bathroom.) Turn it on, try to run a cycle, and something is wrong. Ivan calls the guy, he says he had just used the washer, it was working perfectly, and asked ivan if he could look at it and see what's wrong, and if it's not an easy fix, he'll "make it right." Ivan takes some stuff apart, and discovers the water pump is bad. This cannot be happening. Turns out that was the last time we'd talk to our buddy Rick, he never answered again. Ugh. We spend $50 more, and buy a water pump online, because no one had it in stock, and wait another agonizing week for it to get here. I've never been so happy to do a mundane chore. Something needs to be clean for tomorrow? I can do that! Weee! Never take your washer for granted! :)

And that's where I stopped typing and fell asleep watching the Survivor Finale. lol. I will finish this tomorrow. :)