Leftovers

Day one:  Turkey Sandwiches
Day Two:  Turkey Puffs
Day Three:  Turkey Soup with homemade noodles.
Day Four:  Turkey Pot Pie
Day Five:  Stuffing Strata
Day Six:  Turkey Enchiladas

I think we will proclaim tomorrow a turkey day of rest.

P.S.  Never take food photos at night.  The enchiladas taste a lot better than they look. :)

Busy Creating

It's been a day of creating,
and photographing
new things for my shop.

Did I tell you I'm moving from Etsy to Big Cartel?
I am.
I'll be selling jewelry kits and supplies on Etsy,
but all my handmade items are being relocated.
I'm excited about the change.
Hope you will be too.

P.S.  If you're wondering why I'm moving . . . most of the traffic that comes to my store from Etsy are people who want to create, buy supplies, and get ideas.   So, I'm going to sell supplies there, and put my hand made creations elsewhere -- for those who want to buy jewelry.

The Good Humor Man

Late afternoon on Saturday, Matt, Eden, Elphie and I were in the back yard frantically trying to finish projects before the sun went down.

Eden was on the slope pulling weeds with Elphie at his side, while Matt and I mixed cement.  We had just finished scraping the last bit of goo into an urn when the faint sound of music began in the distance.  The minute Matt heard it, he dropped the shovel and ran like a mad man for the front yard.

Eden and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes as if to say
There goes Pavlov's Dog.

Any time Matt hears the sound of the ice cream truck on approach, he drops what ever he is doing and heads for the street.  It's been going on for 18+ years now, and I still find it amusing.

On many occasions I've driven down the block to find the ice cream truck parked in front of my drive way -- with a line of kids under 8, and one man with a tiny dog on a leash.



As I've said before, Matt loves the ice cream, especially if comes from a musical truck covered in stickers.  Don't ask me why, I'm still trying to figure that out myself.

So on Saturday, as Matt made his way to the curb, I followed behind, camera in tow.

As I was snapping away, Matt said When you mock me on your blog, I hope you include the fact that you asked me to buy you a  Sunday Cone.

It was delicious by the way.

Did I mention that Matt is a good sport?

The Macy's Parade and other Random Thoughts about Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was good.
We did what we usually do when we stay home -
spent 7 hours in the kitchen cooking good food
and 15 minutes eating it.
Then I took a nap courtesy of carb overload induced fatigue.

A few hours later we ate turkey sandwiches
and watched boring television
because all of our favorite shows were on vacation too.
We had to settle for the anniversary show about the Macy's parade.
I have to confess, it was pretty interesting.
It left me thinking:

With the exception of the parts they show on the news, or TV commercials,
I've never seen the Macy's parade.  Why is that?


I'd love a job at the official MP workshop making moulds and designing the floats. 


How do they build all those huge balloons?
How do you get to be a person who helps pull the balloons?


What do all those marching band people, and float riders do when they have to go to the  bathroom? Are they so freezing cold that their worries of hypothermia make them forget about the urge to pee?
I bet steam would rise from their behind, if they had an accident.


I don't think I would ever get to ride on a float because I always have to go to the bathroom.
There would definitely be steam.
Bummer.


Next year instead of staying home and taking naps, I want to visit New York and go to the parade.
But, I will have to come up with a way to avoid Manhattan Black Friday,
which might be hard with two kids who are dying to shop that day.
I refuse to leave the house on BF.
Not worth it.

I did BF Manhattan in 1985 and it was terrifying.
I'm not kidding.
You basically go where the crowd wants to go,
I don't even remember seeing a building,
just a lot of coats, and people pushing.
I got pushed into Macy's
onto a moving escalator
but people weren't getting off.
There was no where to go.
Horrible.
Mass panic ensued
which involved a lot of screaming
and falling.

Plus the sales people that day were really rude.
One lady refused to let me look at a purse
locked in a display case.
She said, I'm not going to bother getting it out,
you can't afford it!!!
That was my only attempt at making a purchase.
I had to go back to Salt Lake City souvenir-less
which made me really mad.

A thank you to B. Braun for risking his life
 to take me to Manhanttan that day.
The carriage ride in Central Park was fun,
even if the rest of Black Friday was awful.

P.S. I forgive you New York sales lady, wherever you are.  Working retail on BF is stressful.  I know,  I worked at Nordstrom for 5 years.

Thankful - Part 2

I am thankful for many things.
I keep a running list in a blank book I picked up about 25 years ago,
so I can remember my blessings
on days when I'm not feeling so thankful.

I haven't written in the book lately,
but I need to
so I can remember
the Thankfuls of 2011, like:

A husband who carried my luggage up and down hundreds of subway stairs while we traveled through France.

The smiling face of a beautiful daughter who knows how to do hard things, like making fire with two sticks.

A son who shares my sense of humor, and is passionate about horses.

Friends old and new who inspire me, and make me laugh.

The chance to view incredible paintings up close in the Musee d'Orsay

Candy corn in October and November

Blue Lily and the Go Pro gang who taught me how to use my camera.

Scrapbook weekends with my buddies.

Public toilets that don't cost money to use.

Craft Weekend.

Pandora.

Good books by a fireplace, and hot chocolate.

Cool phone apps.

Dinner at Sundance with college friends.

Chocolate Eclaires in French bakeries.

A road trip to Utah with Eden and friends.

Normal results on a mammogram.

Hires with Shauna.

Kind neighbors who fix my car, take in my trash cans, and give Eden rides to the ranch.

Bible Study on Thursdays.

Surviving two ski weekends without serious injury.

Thankful

November is a good month.
There are great deals at the grocery store.
It's cold so I can wear sweaters 24-7,
and wellies when it rains.
The kids are out of school for a week so we can hang out together by the fire
and watch lots of movies.
We get to eat turkey sandwiches for a week straight.

November gets me thinking about things for which I am grateful.
I'm sure that's the case for most people.
I'm glad about that because sometimes,
 it's easy to get caught up in thinking about what I lack
rather than what I have.

This year when asked What are you grateful for?
I'm going to put a little more thought into my answer,
which means I need to do a little pondering in advance.

I'm visiting my closet, and counting the number of hangers that have something on them,
the number of cans in my kitchen cupboards,
and the medicine in my bathroom,
the list of people who touch my life on a regular basis -- including the teller at the bank,
and the doctor who gave me a host of shots last week.

I'm going outside to view the flags
at the homes of my neighbors,
who have a family member deployed.

Then I'm going to watch the sun go down
and stare at the stars,
with my family,
while we sip hot chocolate.

Thank you Thanksgiving,
for the yearly reminder.
I have so, so much.
And I am truly grateful.

P.S.  I still have Halloween decorations hanging from my front eaves.  {Heavy sigh.}

Physical

October is the month that I schedule all of my annual checkups.
I try to do it before the big rush hits.
This year I procrastinated.

Now I have a week is full of appointments and tests.
Right before Thanksgiving.
That was a bad idea.
But I need to get it done before the year ends.
So I'm on my way.

I hate them, don't you?
But it's worth it in the end (no pun intended).
It's a blessing to catch problems early.
And for that, I'm grateful.

Fungi

I went outside this afternoon to take out the trash and discovered something new.
Claire was with me, and she called out

Hey, look at the grass!

It was covered with mushrooms.
Toad stools the size of pancakes!

There are so many and they appeared overnight.
It's never happened before.

Never!

How did they get here?
Did it have something to do with the rainstorm on Saturday?

I wish they weren't poisonous
It would be so much fun to pick them all
and make mushroom soup.

Instead I took this picture.

I love Gnomes, don't you?

P.S.  If you have little ones who like fairies or cars, The Gnome Mobile, an old Disney movie is a must.  A little hokey in this age of technology, but one of my favorites as a kid.

Jamming

I have a new assignment at church -- music director at girl's camp next summer.
It's a little ironic, that I keep getting music assignments
when I don't read music.
You may recall that a few years ago, I was the choir director
I had no idea what I was doing then,
and I still don't.

I've been thinking that it would be fun to have accompaniment
as we sing around the campfire with 300 girls,
so I'm forming a band.
Not a rock band,
a campfire band,
with guitars, ukeleles, tambourines,and a wash board.
It's going to be fun playing under the stars
with all those voices singing in harmony.

I can hardly wait.

But for now, I need to recuit a few band members.
So I bought pink ukeleles as an enticement.
It worked much faster than I had anticipated.
When Haley and Claire saw them, they were all in.

Saturday we had our first group lesson at the local music store.
We joined 4 boys under the age of 10 and jammed,
sort of.

I think we are going to like playing ukes.

When our lesson was over
we went to Rosas, our favorite Mexican restaurant
for fish burritos and carne asada nachos.

It was a good Saturday in spite of the pouring rain.

Who would have thought that a church assignment,
and pink ukuleles
would give a mother and a teenage daughter
a chance to bond.

Nothing

Do you ever have days where you've got nothing to say?
That's me today.
I've got nothing.

Shocking,
I know.

I guess that means I better get busy and make food for the football game tonight.

Multi-tasking

We had dentist appointments today.
Not something we look forward to
At. All.

Eden and Claire weren't too happy about leaving math to visit the dentist.
That tells you how much they dread it.

But that's only because they forgot about our new dentist --
Dr. Huston.
He's awesome.

His office is located above a Subway sandwich shop,
so we smell bread baking as we sit in the waiting room.
Much better than the smell of fluoride and teeth being drilled.

Best of all, in every exam room
there's a TV screen by the chair,
and on the ceiling,
so patients can watch movies while they get a cavity filled.

I love it.
No more awkward conversations as I try to talk to the hygienist,
while her hand is in my mouth.

No more panic as I hear the sound of dental tools.
I didn't even have to frantically grip on the arm rests today
because I was too busy watching  Up.

Movies and the dentist,
so nice to kill two birds with one stone.
Three if you count lunch at Subway.

Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?

Now if we could only get gynecologists on board . . .

P.S. at 3:30 - I just now noticed I wore two different flip-flops to the dentist!  I have no idea how that happened!  I blame Claire -- the shoe thief.

Saturday

Saturday, Matt and I did something we haven't done in a long time.
We drove to Orange County and went to the OC Swap Meet.
I think the last time we were there,
we were pushing a stroller with two crying kids.

The Swap has changed a bit,
or so it seems.
Most of the tents with As Seen on TV products have been replaced
with Hookas, car dealers and beachcomber bicycles.
Matt stared at the new Fiats, while I admired a yellow beachcomber.
I want one in the worst way.
I can just imagine it parked outside of my dream beach house.

But in the real world, I know I would never use it.
I can't see myself beach combing on the Redhawk loop.
What would I do when I got to the hilly part?
I'd have to call someone for a ride home.

We didn't buy anything today except produce.
Kind of a bummer when you drive all that way.

But on the bright side,
look what $10.00 buys you at the Swap.

Can you believe it!
I was thrilled to get such a deal --
even though I used a whole tank of gas,
and sat on the 91 freeway for 2 hours,
which made the $10.00 produce more like $80.00.

We made up for it by going to lunch at Fashion Island.
I haven't been there in a long time either.
Things have changed there too.
It seems like the new thing to do at F.I. is
parade your pet.

EVERYONE, execept us, had a dog with them.
There were canines all over the place.
It felt like a dog park, more than a mall.

Shopping and dogs don't mix if you ask me.
I don't want to step on a Yorkie
while I'm looking through the Anthropologie sale rack,
or dog poop either.
That would ruin the whole Anthro experience.

Ironically, when I got home,
I made Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad,
which doesn't call for any of the vegetables I bought.

How dumb was that?
I was craving tabbouleh though, so what could I do?
Have you given quinoa a try yet?
Don't let this picture dissuade you,
it's surprisingly good.

I'll use the Swap vegetables today.
I want to make a grilled egg plant dish I saw on the cover of a cookbook I saw at Amy's house.
That's adventurous for me, just so you know.
I'm a comfort food girl,
but sometimes I branch out.
My kids hate it when that happens.
Wish me luck.

Pay Dirt

It's a rainy day here in Temecula.
Amy and I planned to go to the salvage yard today,
but we had to change our plans.
We went to the indoor antique mall instead -- junk haven.

When I go on a junk hunt, I'm usually looking for something in particular.
Today it was vintage glass jars -- for candle making,
and an old butter crock to hold my collection of kitchen spatulas.

I struck out on both accounts,
but I hit pay dirt when I came to a few other things
on my list --  Stuff I Want to Make Someday.

Boxes of vintage Christmas ornaments for $7.00 each.  Such a deal.

I'm using them to make a wreath.  I saw one last year in a boutique selling for $120.00.

Vintage yard sticks for $2.00.

I want to make a table top out of them, for my family room.

and maybe jewelry holder with the left overs.

I also found this little cup.

Perfect for holding a little feather tree,
or pouring a candle.

Trash Talk

Driving home from the post office today,
a black Toyota zoomed past me,
just as I turned onto the Redhawk loop.
As it did, the driver threw a drink out the window,
cup and all.
It was a half finished venti frappachino from Starbucks.

Frappachino hit my car.

I can't even think of a word to describe how I felt right then.
It wasn't anger,
more like shock mixed with a little sad -- shad.

I couldn't believe that one of my neighbors could really be that disrespectful,
tossing garbage on the ground when they were a few yards from home.

Why did he do it?

With the exception of my kids, who drop candy and food wrappers all over the house,
I haven't seen anyone litter in the longest time.
Years and years.

I felt like performing a Citizen's Arrest,
but I didn't.

Instead, I honked my horn for a good 3 seconds,
as the Toyota pulled into a gated community and disappeared.
I wanted the driver to know that in spite of feeling shad,
I found his littering offensive.

It got me thinking.
Am I teaching my children to honor the Earth,
and our home?

If they think it's ok to disrespect the house,
they too might throw trash out a car window
when no one is watching.

Next time I see my kids drop a wrapper on the ground,
we may have to spend an evening
picking up trash at the Sports Park.

Inspired by ... Linky Party No.5

My neighbor Amy and I took a stroll through Anthropologie last week.
Love that store.
I could live there and feel at home.

Amy was looking for a shower curtain,
and I was on the hunt for my favorite candle --
a green vintage jar with the Volcano scent.
They were out,
which made me sad.
But it lead to an idea.

I'm making candles today,
using vintage treasures as containers.
I'm giving them out as Christmas gifts,
and selling some at a boutique next month.

The hard part is trying to figure out a scent that isn't offensive.
Me, I don't like flowery scents, I like fruity.
Is fruity ok?
Or should I use chocolate chip cookie dough, or pumpkin pie?

Such a delimma.

Before I start,
I need to go hunting for more jars.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Now it's your turn, share what you've been creating.

Four Words

Four words to describe today:

Ironic.

Right after I posted about getting bombarded by telemarketers,
they found my cell phone number.
Two texts, and one call
all within a 60 minute period.
How did that happen?
So buggy!!!

Adorable.

Elphie got a hair cut.
And a new sweater.
I love her to pieces when she looks like this.
Even when she barks too much.

Shameful.

Make that Shame. Full.
My studio is out of control.
Which means I will should stop posting
and start cleaning.
Hate cleaning do you?

Windy.

I love it when a warm wind makes flags  and falling leaves dance.
Fall weather is the best.

Stop the Madness

Well, it finally happened.
I was pushed over the edge
on Halloween night.

It wasn't the incessant door knocking
by large groups of teenagers looking for candy.
Although I did think it bad form to knock
when the house was pitch black.
Isn't that the universal sign for
"We Are Out of Candy?"
In case you think I sound like a party-pooper, 
I was cleaned out in three door dings.
Forty kids within the span of 20 minutes.
Poof, it was gone.

Anywhoo,
The madness I'm referring to began with telemarketers.
Six calls on Halloween night.
Are they kidding -- Halloween night?

Then when all the trick-or-treat hoopla settled down,
and the streets were quiet,
I snuck out to the  mailbox.
As usual, it was packed full of junk.
I had to yank on it to get it all out of the box.
I flipped through it all just in case
there was a nice note,
or money,
or an invitation.
Nothing but junk.

I made my way back home and in the process,
slipped on a discarded gooey piece of candy,
a cast-off from someone who dislikes DOTS.
I don't like them either. 
Hence the reason I handed them out this year.

I'm so sick of it -- not the Dots -- the junk and the phone calls.

This morning as I was coming down from the Halloween sugar high
I felt motivated to do something about it.
So I spent a hour online hunting for names and numbers to stop the madness.
And I'm sharing just in case you are sick of it too.

To get rid of sales calls:
Go here and enter the phone numbers you want to block, including your cell phone.

To get rid of junk mail:
Go here and enter your information.

To prevent credit companies from sharing your information with banks and insurance companies -- who then solicit via telephone, mail, and email, go here, and fill out the form.  You have to mail it via snail mail, but I think it's worth it.

I'm hoping that in 30 days my house is quieter,
and the waste in my recycle bin is reduced by half.

Going Green on Halloween.
Hey, that rhymes.