Just The Two of Us

Optimism

RW has spent some time this evening catching up on old (yes, that's old and old) friends on Facebook.  Deciding he wished to see a picture of one of those friends, he headed over to our library room to dig out his yearbooks.  Finding the one he was looking for, he flipped it open:

"..A whole bunch of dead people in this book."

"Wow, Babe... that's a happy thought", I replied, staring at him, slightly bewildered.

"Yeah well, wait until you get old and you can look at all your dead friends too."

Such optimism, I'm not sure how to handle all the happiness!  And by the way, by his comment one would think that he's 92 or something.  Really?

Doggin' It

It's Monday.  That means it's Pinterest Monday.  The day where I  extol the praises of actually doing some Pinterest projects, not just "pinning" them in a sort of "this is a great idea and someday I think this would be fabulous to do with the kids" sort of way.  Because before you know it, those kids will be 28 years old and may just be no longer interested in the cool hot dogs you can make for them.  Trust me.  It could  will happen.

In fact, I was front and center to this weird "the kids actually grow-up phenomenon" this past weekend.  The same day that I did the project below, I also made a ginger-bread house with The Kids.  Last time I checked, all four of those children were participants in the Rent-A-Kid program.  All four love the ginger-bread house every year.  Ok, they have loved it the years we've actually done it, which to be honest, isn't every one of them.  But they remind me every year that it's time -  we need to build that house.  And so this year I was on top of it.  I brought it over.  

We started honing our decorating skills, but it didn't take me too long to see that we were missing some one.  Quaid, who is now seven (I'm sorry?  Who gave him permission to grow up?  Huh?  I was.not.consulted.) decided that being in the other room with his daddy and RW was certainly way cooler than making a ginger-bread house with us.  Well then.  I'm just warning you.. it will happen to you too.

Back to Pinterest (seeing as it is, actually, Pinterest Monday).  I saw the way cool idea (I know, it's not proper sentence structure) of making hot dogs with spaghetti running through them.  Just to be clear, I didn't think this would be way cool for RDub and myself, but for The Kids. [cough].  I brought all the gear over to their house.  "All the gear" sounds a bit overwhelming.  "Gear" consisted only of hot dogs and spaghetti.  Oh, and some buns in case they wanted them.  I made sure The Kids were busy elsewhere, and I covertly started making my magical hot dogs.

I know.  Cool, right?  I threaded the noodles through and dropped them into a pot of boiling water.  And then after that I stood there and told Karen what a fab meal I made the night before, but seeing as that isn't relevant to this conversation, I'll skip to the final product:

Thinking I was oh-so-clever, I cornered 6-yr-old Ava and asked her how the noodles got in the middle of the hot dog.

She excitedly and matter-of-factly said, "OH! You take the noodles when they're stiff?  And poke them through the hot dog?  And them cook them.  That's how you do that."

So much for putting one over on her. 

So thus completes another Pinterest idea project.  And as for Quaid?  I'm guessing I need to come up with some cooler stuff to do.  Because clearly, the ginger-bread house didn't really cut it for him.   Growing up is for the dogs.

2012, Here We Come!

Well.  Here we are again.  January 1st.  Where did that year go?  I believe that sufficient time has passed in order for me to bear discussing last year's resolutions.  Do you remember?  If you don't, refer to this.  I'll have you know that it has taken me a full 13 months to get over the 2 or 3 hours of perfection.  

Granted, these weren't actually my resolutions, per say.  It was an experiment in perfection to let you, my loyal blog readers, know what was worth making resolutions about and what you should just take one moment at a time.  It was a painful, painful few moments of my life.  Which brings us to this year.  2012.  The year in which the Vikings will win more games than they lose (hope springs eternal).  A year in which my friends will send me copious amounts of electronic communications letting me know how much they adore me. (snort.  eye roll.)   A year in which my rather large family will all positively beg us to move closer (hahaha.  right.)  A year in which my dear RW will shower me with his love and affection (ok - that one is likely.  I married well.).  Yes, that year.  2012.  It's here.

I know I may disappoint some, but I don't really have any resolutions for you today.  My friend Stacie and I were discussing resolutions this week, and we both agreed that one can change any day.  This may be a shock to some, but you really don't have to wait until January 1st to do something different.  In my life, today looks a lot like yesterday.  That may have something to do with the fact that the Vikings lost again today, but anyway.. you catch my drift.

So, so long, 2011.  You were a decent year.  You were fairly good to RW and myself.  In 2011 we vacationed with both sides of our families.  We took a few trips.  We saw a nephew that we hold dear get married to his perfect mate.  We rejoiced with another special nephew when he passed the bar, and laughed in awe and not a little bit of admiration at a sweet niece who had the privilege (?) of giving birth to her son in a gas station parking lot (I'm not sure she's laughing about that.) We laughed with friends.  We cried with friends. We loved on our families. We grew closer to God and to each other.  We had jobs.  We watched a parent go through something very difficult, and learned from another parent how to deal with it.  I got to see a friend I hadn't seen in 24 years (hi Kevin!).  I got to spend a couple of days with another dear friend who lives in Africa.  We made some new friends.  We cherished the old ones.  We did life, together. And for that, I'm so grateful.

Happy New Year to you all!  Thanks for being such great readers.  I'm looking forward to a fun year, blog included.  And those resolutions?  Yeah.  Don't bother setting yourself up for failure.  Take it from the expert.  Cheers.

 

I've Been A Little Sparse Lately...

... on time, that is.  Life has gotten just a smidge crazy here in these parts over the past couple of weeks.  Enjoy the "holiday" week and I'll meet you back here in the new year.  And by the new year, I don't mean July.  I'm good with January 1st, just in time to discuss last year's resolutions.

See you then.  In the meantime you may want to go to the gym to work off all that food you've eaten this past week.  Oh wait, nevermind.  I was talking to me.

Merry Christmas...

...to ME!

Have no fear, the Buick is still here.  My car with 213,000 miles has now been absconded by RW for the sole reason of the heated seats. Well, that and it's not a manual like his Honda.  Can't say that I blame him, as heated seats were a non-negotiable for me in my our new car.  It's somewhat of a necessity here in the winter wonderland of MN.  Yes, notice the 6 feet of snow. So very glad we purchased that snow blower last month.  What would we ever have done without it?

So, you may ask... what will we be doing with the Honda, since RW appears to now be driving the Park Avenue?  Why, we keep it, of course.  At least according to RDub.  I have different opinions, but I'm not exactly in a position to argue on this one, am I, with the new car and all.  So lucky us.  If you count the Goldwing, we now own 5(!) vehicles.  And insure every last one of them.  There are 2 of us.  Do the math.  Can you see my slight angst about the non-necessity of this particular situation?  But again.  Not really going to complain.

I'm happy - I have a new car.  RW's happy, as he figures he now has no need to do any Christmas shopping.  I'd call that a win-win.

 

One of the Things I Love Best

Winning.

Naughty and Nice

I just have to say it to get it off my chest, as perhaps I'll start to feel better.  Or generate some empathy from someone.  Neither is particularly likely, but I'm going for it anyway.  Are you ready?  Ok, here goes.  Our dog has been particularly naughty lately.

Shocking, I know.  Surely ZeketheFreakRatTerrier is just the most well-behaved dog ever, right?  Ha.  I look at people in confused disbelief whenever I hear what an obedient dog we have.  I suppose it must be similar to my friends who leave their kids in our care, only to be slightly suspicious of our honesty when we inform them that they were perfect angels.  I'm guessing that dogs, like children, know when to put on the halos. ZeketheFreakRatTerrier knows when to take it off, as well.

Don't believe me?  Let me give you some examples, and you can judge for yourself.

Last week at my mom and dad's house, Zeke acted like he wanted to climb onto "Grandpa's" lap, which my dad positively loves.  However, it was all a guise.  He was using him to get to his spritz Christmas cookies, sitting on a plate next to my dad, looking positively scrumptious.  ZeketheFreakRatTerrier knows perfectly well that this is not acceptable behavior.  He actually glanced in my direction to see if I was watching him, and then started inching closer and closer to those cookies, keeping an eye on me the whole time.  Lovely.

Then we have the little issue of our yard.  Our yard does not live up to ZeketheFreakRatTerrier's standards. He prefers the neighbors yard.  Or really, any yard that is not ours.  We thought we had fixed that little problem with an electric fence, and it did work for quite some time, but this past week we kept finding him beyond the range of the fence.  Last night was pretty much the last straw, as I went outside to find him not only outside the range of his fence, but actually inside our neighbor's fenced yard.  Again, lovely.

As it turns out, ZeketheFreakRatTerrier was getting shocked, he just didn't care.  I took it upon myself to tighten up his shock collar and also crank up the degree of "shock" that he was receiving.  I'm happy to report that he is back on his very best behavior.

I think ZeketheFreakRatTerrier understands when he's gone a little too far, because he'll take it upon himself to do something to get himself back into my good graces.  A few nights ago I was sitting at the computer in our library.  Zeke's dog bed is just through the door in the dining room, perhaps 6 feet from where the computer is, and within sight.

Now, Zeke really prefers to be in the same room.  He's a pack dog, and we're his pack.  He didn't appreciate being in the dining room when I was in the library.  Don't get me wrong, he is not confined there - he could have walked over any time he wanted and plopped down at my feet. However, he prefers to sleep on his dog bed.  This presented a dilema for poor ZeketheFreakRatTerrier.  He wished to be with me, yet he also wanted his creature comforts.  So he took it upon himself to solve this little problem on his own.

He decided that his little 10 lb dog body should be able to move the bed into the room, and he gave it his best shot:

However when it became stuck in the door frame, he must have realized his limitations and gave up.  Or, he decided that he was now officially in the same room as myself and called it good.  Either way he momentarily made me forget how irritated I was with him.  I may have even laughed.

So yes, while ZeketheFreakRatTerrier is very naughty, he is on occasion, pretty nice as well.  I suppose he can stay for awhile longer.

 

Sweet Success?

This week's Pinterest project comes from my "Rent-a-Kid" ideas Pinterest board.  Candied popcorn.  It's colorful.  It's sweet.  It's fun, right?

Well the kids (and again, by "the kids" I mean Karen's kids, in case anyone gets confused and wonders how RW and I suddenly produced progeny of our own after all these years) thought this idea sounded just grand when I informed them that we were going to make special popcorn.  Colorful popcorn. 

I arrived at their home, ingredients in tow.  They weren't that terribly difficult to carry, as the ingredients consisted only of sweetened condensed milk and a few flavors of jello.  We pulled out the air popper and started popping.

Meanwhile back at the stove...

I'm fairly certain we stirred about 10 minutes longer than necessary, only because there were 3 colors and 3 kids old enough to stir.  Apparently they have yet to figure out that standing at a hot stove stirring something for 15 minutes is about as exciting as watching a tree grow.  Not that I'm complaining.  I fully realize that as the kids grow I shall have to up my game a bit.  But for now, stirring pots of funky colors is just about the best thing ever.

We poured the colors over the popped popcorn and popped it in the oven.  I know.  It's a lot of popping.

And then we waited.  And we (this time the "we" refers to Karen and I. Just trying to confuse you) also endured endless questions from the kids.  "Is it done yet?"  "How much longer?"  "Deb, can we eat it yet?"  Eventually the oven timer beeped.  Now a very dedicated and selfless person would have jumped up and immediately whisked themselves over to remove said popcorn from the oven and present it to excited children.  Just so we are clear, apparently I am not that person.  After Karen and I finished our game (Monopoly cards, for the intensely curious), I sauntered over and took a look:

Well, it did live up to it's promise of being "colorful".  It was also sticky.  This is the part when "evil Deb" secretly laughs at her best friend, seeing as they are her kids and therefore by default, her mess.  Ok, not really.  I'm not that mean.  Usually.

The kids gathered up with their popcorn bowls, excitement oozing from their every pore.  We dished up and they headed back upstairs for their Friday night movie.  A few minutes later, Jentzen appeared back downstairs, bowl in hand.

"It's too sticky,"  he practically whispered, his five-year-old eyes averted.  "It doesn't taste like popcorn."

Karen told him to put in a bag of microwave popcorn for himself.

He did, and then ran back upstairs, non-sticky, regular popcorn in tow.  Then, in a chain-reaction sort of way, the other 3 kids tip-toed down the stairs one at a time, also looking for regular popcorn that was, apparently, easier to eat.

So I have to tell myself, sometimes it's about the journey, not the end result, right?  At any rate, I'm pretty sure we all had fun even if they didn't eat it.  After all, they did get to stir.  Sweet.

 

Exciting Times

Siblings

Aid For An Old-Style Phone

I know, I know.  I'm fairly certain that I had designated Monday's to be Pinterest day, and here it is, Tuesday.  Just getting going and already a day late.  This unfortunate tardiness was the fault of Mike and Herb (who I naturally wish to call "Erb" until I, once every 5 minutes, have to explain to myself that he is a guy, not a leaf of basil).  Mike and Erb Herb are the 2 gentleman who were whipping our rears at 500 last night during the monthly card club game, which takes place in the basement of a local catholic church.  

Never mind that RW and I are the 2nd youngest pair in this card club (Karen and her sister have us beat in that category).  But think about it.  If RDub is 56, I am 40, and we are among the youngest there... oh - and we still get beat just about every month.  I guess we don't yet have the... lifetime experience... of our competitors.

So here we are, on Tuesday, for Monday's Pinterest project.  Got all that, or are you as confused as I am?  This weeks project was this.  I thought, even though I'm not terribly practiced in the whole "crafty-do-it-yourself" arena, that I could probably give it a shot.

My phone-charger-holder-thingie started it's long and smooth-but-not-greasy life as a Lubriderm lotion bottle:

I know how impressed you must be at the fabulous lighting in that picture.  Yup, photography is just so my thing.  Ha.

I took a little bit of time to cut out the shape, but let's face it, not quite enough time, as mine ended up a bit kitty-wonkus.  Don't bother looking that one up in the dictionary, I am pretty sure it's not there.

After it was cut out/up (whatever!), I hauled out some card stock and Mod Podge and went to work.  Mr. Lubriderm bottle was reborn, and my (retro) phone went from frying on top of the radiator...:

to charging like a civilized phone:

Again, the lighting.  I know.  And those shadows are so artfully composed, don't you think?

All in all, a relatively successful Pinterest week, don't you think?