Monday Musings

Good Monday Musings!  I will just post a little brief one today.  I checked my "notes" page on my phone and haven't written anything down since I last blogged.  Must be that there's nothing in my brain worth sharing.

Well this happened this morning.  As he handed over the paperwork for his temporary drivers license I kept thinking that it wasn't very long ago we were eagerly awaiting his birth.  It wasn't that long ago that he was saying 'oh oh mommy' in the quietest tone from another room.  That meant he had dumped a bin of flour, pulled out all the toilet paper, or tipped over a plant and there was dirt all over the carpeting.  

Life with all these teenagers is fraught with emotions.  I feel like I'm staring at the emojis some days.  I am seeing happy, really happy, sad, angry, distraught, sick, and loving within minutes of each other.  And enough about me!  Heh...  

I just saw this on my camera roll.  The other night I was trying to get one of our daughters out of my bedroom so I could go to bed.  Another of the daughters captured it for the ages.  Apparently she didn't want to leave. 

Please stop running out to your mailbox every time the postal worker comes.  I don't think we will be getting holiday cards out this year.  I figure we've sent them each year for the past umpteen years and your bulletin board is full enough.  So if you want to see us this year, look at last years picture and squint a bit.  And then imagine that we look a year older (and hopefully wiser) and the MYP are an inch or - in some cases five inches taller.  Thank you for your understanding.  Next year one of our MYP will be getting her senior pictures (gasp!).  I am hoping we could get a few family shots then as well.

So this week ahead will be full days of family, friends, food, and fellowship.  My side of the family will all be together with the exception of two who are called to be elsewhere.  I loved this quote because it kind of sums up my feelings this year.  

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and will stop by next Monday to Muse a bit before the New Year rolls around!  

Monday Musings

Hello there!  About four different times in the past week, I was about to Muse and then got way-laid somehow.  I'll try to keep this brief and interesting and encouraging and funny if that's even possible.  I noticed on my stats that last month there were over 3,075 page views.  That makes me amazed and humbled and surprised all at the same time.  Thanks for following our journey through this wonderful experience called life!

A painter-lady just came with her lackey helper.  She told "Corey", "this is Linda.  It will smell amazing here pretty soon because she's a good cook.".  I'm tempted to go burn something on the stove and see how "Corey" reacts.  Heh.  I marvel how Lisi acts like they both are her best friends in the world and this will be the best day ever... and the cat slinks to the basement to be sure he's safe from danger.

Not everyone feels that way about my culinary expertise.   As one of the MYP ran into the house after school the other day she yelled, "it smells like vomit in here!  What is that terrible smell?".  Um that is what will soon be your supper.  Apparently Parmesan cheese and puke can come across the same way with the olfactory senses.

I must admit I'm not an electrician.  We got new light fixtures for a bathroom.  I "Youtubed" it and had 145% confidence I could do it.  I pulled down the old ones, ate some humble pie, and called a talented friend that showed up in a moment's notice.

We were at the mall on Saturday.  Crazy I know.  But the people watching was fantastic.  I did feel thankful for something.  I was thankful that my parents didn't force me to sit on Santa's lap.  Children are taught all the year long about stranger danger.  Yet, parents plop their children to sit on this old, hairy strangers lap before a crowd and bright lights and then told to smile.  Almost all of the kids I observed were screaming their heads off.  Smart children I say.

I did tell the Chairman that I sure would love to have little kids around again.  I look at the little 3-8 year old kids and remember how fun they were.  One of our smart-mouthed teenagers overheard this and said, "why?  so you wouldn't fail the second time around?"  (On a side note I must say I really am enjoying these teenage years too.)

I was at my local Aldi a couple days ago.  So was "Jim" (I like to put names in quotes for some reason.)  Anyway, "Jim" had a battle axe of a wife and both were in their mid-60's.  She was the most passive-aggressive lady I've ever witnessed.  "Jim, go pick out a pizza.  It doesn't matter which kind." So "Jim" goes and picks out a pizza and brings it to their cart.  "Why did you pick out that kind?"  A couple aisles over.  "Jim" tries to pick out something and was once again berated.  Poor "Jim".  He didn't look happy and I'm certain "Mrs. Jim" wasn't happy inside either for the way she treated him.

We are having record-warm days here in Dairyland and it is making a lot of us cranky.  We have had a couple days of rain.  If the temps dropped about 30 degrees this would have been 12" on the ski hill.  Instead we are squishing worms when we walk in the dark of night.  Ick.  I'm ready to move north.  And please, don't call me crazy.

I don't understand addictions.  But I think I came close yesterday.  I made that caramel puff corn.  If you don't know what it is, look it up.  It is horrible in a very delicious sort of way.  It is like "Lays" potato chips only multiply that by 1,000.  You can't eat just one or two or a handful.  They are horribly addicting and you want more.  So please don't look up the recipe and make it. Your thighs and your arteries will thank you.

A nice guy we know had a dream and made it come to reality.  He's converted a truck in to an adorable coffee shop on wheels and invited us all to come taste and see before he left for the sunny south.  Oh to be young and full of dreams!  He's going to do well.  I just know he will.

this man has been my elder for 21 years and I witnessed him having his very first cup of coffee

 Our nice guy had a successful hunt and now is successfully cooking us a meal nearly once/week.

 Our nice girl headed on her first maiden voyage to visit her cousin for a couple days.  I may or may not have stalked her on "Find Friends" until she arrived safely.

 Even Santa needs a potty break.  He was just returning here.

 The other night two of our MYP were missing.  However, two other MYP wanted to come.  It's a good thing we really like all these MYP (many young people).

I didn't keep this brief and for that, I'm sorry.  Happy new week to you!

Monday Musings

See?  I still can Muse on a Monday!  I promise not to be outrageous or controversial.  Since I last had my fingers tickle the keyboard, I've been sick (insert a collective 'ahhh too bad!').  It was just a 24-hour bug of the room spinning when I would open my eyes and in turn feeling quite nauseous.  There's a couple silver linings in being ill.  One.  You really value feeling good once the sickies have past.  Like you feel like jumping over the moon even if you're not a cow.  I was in such a happy mood the next day.  Also, if you have children, you can see what they actually can accomplish without you involved.  I had supper kind of lined up and the MYP finished it all off and put it on the table.  Nice.

There's been a lot of icky news in the world lately.  It seems the older I get, the less I'm tuned in to what's happening out there.  And do you know the result of that?  I feel better.  There's so much to distress.  To discourage.  To pull at the heartstrings.  And there is very, very little I can do to change the outcome for less-privileged people.  But there is one thing I can do.  I can tend to the needs of the ones closest to me and make a difference there.  So that's what I'll keep doing.

Speaking of which.  I've once again struggled with my job.  No, I don't have a paying job.  And that's my struggle.  I sometimes wonder how to react when people say, 'oh, you don't work?'.  Um.  No.  Not at all.  Thanks for asking.  But I started to think about what I do here for not working.  Here goes:  cook, baker, launderer, house cleaner, chauffeur, physiologist, nurse, referee, interior designer, plumber, electrician, general handy(wo)man, pet caregiver, accountant, clothes shopper... I'll quit since you get the point.  No, I'm not trying to justify my unemployment.  I am glad to see that I have job security and love the benefits.

So Lisi celebrated birthday number 8 recently!  After she ate and did her business, I had her come in and pose for a picture.  She is such a goof.  All I did is grab my reading glasses and took a picture. She would have sat there for 20 minutes like that if I asked her to.

She had a very rough day on her birthday.  She laid on my legs and relaxed on her dog bed and got a can of wet beef/cheese/bacon dog food for her supper.  I think she would have lapped it up if the can said, 'garbage scraps'.

There was also another birthday.  Our friend Mr. Chicken Farmer turned 50!  They've been dear friends of ours for 21 years.  If Mr. Chicken Farmer only had one dime left in his pocket, he'd give it to you.  That's the kind of guy he is.  I'm glad for good friends.

Well my Musing brain is empty (no shock!).  So until next time!

Tuesday Musings

I could title this "Tuesday Talk", but I still like Musings.  And musing.

I would have blogged yesterday, but the day got away from me.  Then when I was thinking I could sit down and let the fingers do the talking, the internet went down.  It wasn't just us.  It was a full-blown outage in the area.  Someone said it was due to Cyber Monday.  But the MYP panicked.  It's amazing how reliant they are for the internet for on-line homework.

I'm in the middle of a wallpaper removal project.  No job is as frustrating and oddly satisfying as peeling wallpaper.  It helps if you don't like the wallpaper you are pulling down.  It keeps you motivated.  I "Googled" ways to remove it and the best one I found was with a half/half mixture of fabric softener and water sprayed on.  It's working and I smell "downy fresh".  Ha.  The wallpaper installer must have had a wry sense of humor.  It was super, super hard to remove the paper behind the toilet due to extra paste.  But please.  If you are every planning to sell your home in the future, do the next homeowners a favor and not install wallpaper.

Speaking of home projects.  Our furnace was hesitant to turn on this week.  I was thinking I'd have to install a new thermostat, but I took ours apart and cleaned contact point and voila!  It works again.

I have to cook venison.  Actually, son #1 says he'd like to do the cooking.  I have no problems cooking chicken, beef, pork, turkey, salmon,  shrimp, or what-not.  Venison?  Not one lick of experience.

So the cat nearly got skinned alive this week.  Not by another animal, but by the Chairman.  He likes Simba.  He'll even stop to scritch him under the chin when he walks by.  But the cat walks on our vehicles in the garage.  And it has tested every fiber of his patience.  We just ordered a little 'shocking mat' that seems to take care of the issue.  If you see our cat with curly hair, you might want to let me know to turn the power down a level on the 'shocking mat'.

And in case you think it's all raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens around here... I'll just tell you about the other night.  We had a lovely Sunday and that evening two of the MYP said they'd come walking with me.  It started out nice.  We were admiring some of the neighbors holiday lights.  Then an accusation happened.  It was retaliated.  Things got heated and soon both were in tears and I was chewing them both out for rotten behavior.  It was one of those precious moments parents don't remember once their children all move out of the house.  I probably will too.  But it was almost laughable how fast it turned from a very good experience to very bad.

Well this is enough for now.  I would like to say I'm half-way done on the paper peeling project before the family returns home.

Hope your week is going well!

these two...

I know I'm biased, but they are so cute together

fresh wheat delivery means...

it smells delicious in here

looks fun doesn't it?