Red 'n' Pink

K: Same toys different day!
(She is actually supposed to be the red and pink subject.)

J: Neopets, Kacheek and Lupe.


A: Lava Lamp and Pinewood Derby Winners.



My favorite $3 garage sale purse with matching pink key fob and my favorite pink coffee mug.

Green Tuesdee

For those of you wondering what the heck I am doing with all these photos, I am participating in Color Week at the invitation of Liane. You take a picture featuring a different color for each day of the week.

Monday - Yellow
Tuesday - Green
Wednesday - Red or Pink
Thursday - Blue
Friday - Black or White

Following are our amateur attempts. The kids are really enjoying it. K even made a contribution today. Here they are...

J: A favorite photo of her and one her best friends, Ella.

A: Self-explanatory.

K: A view from her level in her world.

My own: I love green!

The End.

Yeller

Here are the color contributions from our corner of the world.

Good thing for color week because I almost forgot my bathroom was even yellow.

A's collection of yellow stuff in his room.

J's impression of yellow lampshade.

Got Water?

Recently I have been on a big water drinking kick and have been spotted sporting this gargantuan insulated mug of high quality H2O nearly everywhere I go. It's size alone invites comments aplenty from passersby, but so do the enlightening facts plastered all over the outside. In addition to those which can be seen in the photo, here are a few others:

* Warning: Water is energizing and refreshing. It may give you the urge to get off the couch. (Ya think? It gives me the urge to find the nearest bathroom quick fast in a hurry.)

* You should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. (Yeah, 8 glasses if you weigh 128 lbs...CHA!)

* A mere two percent drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math problems, and difficulty focusing. (Wow, that's usually when I run out for a coffee which actually causes further dehydration. And all this time I thought I had ADD.)

* Water regulates the temperature of the human body, carries oxygen to cells, cushions joints, protects organs and tissues, and removes waste.

So that's that.

Darn UPS

One day last week, upon returning home from work, I was delighted to discover I had received a package. A decent sized and somewhat heavy rectangular box of a package. Interesting. I wasn't even expecting anything. But upon closer examination, I realized I didn't so much recognize the return address from Diane in California. And an even closer look revealed that it was not even addressed to ME, but rather to a person who had a not-so-very-similar name. Like if you added a letter and crossed the L's in my name. Yes, Jeanette J. And the street address was not even close to mine other than that both streets began with an M. The original address had been crossed out and a new label printed and placed next to it with my name and address. When I peeled back the label, I saw someone with 1st grader-ish looking handwriting had written "Don't live here, try Janelle J. at..."

I was SO irritated with the dadgum USPS. They are notoriously lazy and sloppy, and lack an eye for accuracy and detail at our local office. It is almost frightening, if not infuriating.

After nearly a week of looking at it on the counter and preparing my return speech, I finally made it to the post office to give them what FOR!

When I entered, nobody was at the counter. I could hear them diligently working just out of sight. The door made its gong sound alerting them to my presence, but not one of them stopped what they were doing to greet me, much less HELP me. I quickly revised my original speech to include the most recent offenses as I waited and waited and my fury grew with each passing second.

As I stood ready to attack, I just happened to look down and see at the bottom of the label...guess what...a UPS logo...and oh, what is this?...a UPS Ground Tracking #?..nowhere on the box did it even say USPS.

My package and I quickly, quietly, and HUMBLY exited the building without incident.

But now what the heck do I do with it?

I feel like Tom Hanks in Castaway. Maybe I should take a trip to California to return it to the sender in person. I think I'll take it to the local UPS store today.

Now THAT thar is more interesting than meatloaf.

A Meatloaf Kind of a Day

Yeah, you pretty much know it is time to consider retiring your blog when all you can think to post after over a week of nothingness is your favorite meatloaf recipe. Wild times at the J house. But it is so yummy, if you are of the meatloaf persuasion, that is.

So here she is...

Best-Ever Meatloaf

2 eggs
2/3 c. milk
3 slices bread, torn in pieces
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. carrot, grated
1 c. cheddar or Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 T. fresh or 1 t. dried parsley
1 t. basil
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 1/2 lbs. ground beast

Topping:
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. dry mustard

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. In large bowl beat eggs. Add milk and bread; let stand until liquid is absorbed.
3. Stir in onion, carrots, cheese, and seasonings. Add beef; mix well (using hands to mix).
4. In shallow baking pan shape mixture into loaf. Bake 45 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, combine topping ingredients. Spoon some over meatloaf. Bake 30 minutes longer, occasionally adding topping. Let stand 10 minutes befor serving. Serves 6.

And lest I be accused of plagiarism, this recipe was taken from Beyond Macaroni and Cheese edited by Mary Beth Lagerborg and Karen J. Parks.

A New Post for the Heckler Among Us

If you give a Mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan dinner for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She will look for her cookbook (101 Things to Make with a Pound of Hamburger).
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring.
Her four year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee on Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.

And chances are......
If she has a cup of coffee......
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Imagine my horror...

So I took the van into the dealership this morning. The highest setting on the heating/AC blower wasn't working. We also were in need of new tires all the way around and I decided to do it today while I was already giving up a morning to take it in.

The dealership isn't the most conveniently located, but I am willing to drive quite out of my way to be accommodated by this delightful service department. Cliff and Steve should win an award for their outstanding ability to take care of their customers while taking so DANG much of their money, and still having them leave with smiles on their faces. They usually make special arrangements for "courtesy transportation" for me and roll out the red carpet for the kids: donuts, popcorn, soda...one day they even gave us some birthday cake of one of the employees. Today was no exception. After checking in and getting situated in the kid-friendly waiting area equipped with playhouse and television, I found myself an interesting read in the latest issue of People magazine. Cliff had brought me a couple of price quotes and had me OK a couple things. A short while later as I was returning from the restroom, I could see him approaching me with a very concerned look on his face. He discreetly slipped me this note...

He said he wrote it because he didn't know if it would upset the children to hear it. How very thoughtful of him to concerned about the children. I love Cliff.

The thing is I already knew we had a mouse problem back in the winter and suspected there was a nest, but I never could find it. One Sunday in January on our way home from church I happened to notice some randomly placed M&Ms on the floor between Jeff's seat and mine. I thought it was odd since I knew we hadn't eaten any in the van in quite some time. Upon further investigation I found another and another and another which led me to a bag of leftover goodies from A's Christmas gingerbread making project. Assuming the bag had just inadvertently been left open, I picked it up to re-seal it and all of the remaining treats fell out through a carefully chewed hole in the bottom of the bag.

When we got home I thoroughly scoured the van for evidence of any furry, chewing friends who might be lurking about. And evidence I did find...everywhere...turds, shredded paper and grocery bags and wrappers, and remnants of the green indoor/outdoor carpet we had on our landing in the garage...from the glovebox to the storage compartment in the back underneath the seats.

I spent an hour and a half that afternoon cleaning the van and then had Jeff set a couple of traps. The next morning the bait had been snatched and no "mouses" had been trapped. Determined to face my fears and reclaim my van as my own, I set off for the grocery store to buy several "sticky" traps. I strategically placed them all around the van, specifically targeting the areas I imagined I might like to travel if I were a mouse trapped in a van. I checked them every hour on the hour throughout the day and was no less disappointed each time I found nothing again...untilllll...about 2pm I went out and lifted up J's carseat to see a tiny, but verrrry scaaaaary nonetheless, brown mouse frantically trying to scurry away with the trap in tow. Only one foot and his tail were trapped.

What happened next is but a blur, but summoning all of my girly-scared-to-death-of-mice courage, I quick as a cat donned my rubber kitchen gloves and grabbed two plastic grocery bags. I placed my gloved hand inside one of the bags and used it as an extra protective barrier to pick up the mouse and place it inside the other bag, and then tied it up snugly. With my 5 year old daughter looking on, and cheering me on I might add, I placed it behind my van tire and backed over it. And then pulled forward it again, of course, just for good measure. Yup, it was dead. And then I put it in the trash. My heart was racing as if I had just escaped being EATEN by a mouse and my legs were still like Jell-O hours later.

Just call me Braveheart.

I enjoyed a cool ride home on my cool new wheels today knowing they were gone for good...until next winter...

(Stay tuned for a prequel to this mouse tale to be entitled "Mouse in the House".)

No Forks!

So I didn't stick a fork in my eye after all.

And I don't HATE Annie. I was just so stinkin' sick of hearing it in the background as K, J, and I all had simultaneous meltdowns that afternoon. It would have taken waaaaaaay too much energy to explain it right at that moment (though it would have made a killer blog post) so I punched Annie instead. I am sorry, Annie. I am sorry, Daddy Warbucks. We love you, Miss Hannigan!

Later that same afternoon I flopped down on my bed utterly exhausted for approximately 47 seconds of a nap before I was notified that K was "cooling her hair down" with toilet water. Good times! I was really reaching for the fork by that time.

We had VBS last week, FIESTA: Where Kids are FIRED UP about Jesus! It was a great curriculum. This was my second year as the Station Leader for Chadder's Desert Drive-In Theater which meant I had a new crew of 15-40 kids coming in my theater every 20 minutes for 2 hours. I would show a short segment of the feature presentation and then TRY to facilitate small group discussion while emphasizing/illustrating the Bible Point of the day and not forgetting to scream "VIVA!" and throw my arms up in a V every time I either said it or heard it spoken. Yeeeeah...it was pretty challenging, but I much prefer that role to being solely resposible for one group of 5-10 and escorting them throughout their day's activities. I had a couple great helpers and some super kids.

I really did enjoy it. Imagine, joy in serving Jesus? Joy in serving...others? How very foreign...who knew? And when else can you Cha-Cha and Mambo at church? And when else can you answer such deep spiritual questions as, "Mrs. Janelle, if I attached a message to God to this balloon and let it go, do you think He would answer me?" Umm, yeah...no, no I do not. And when else can you be in the middle of such RICH interaction with so many interesting little characters? Another tender soul brought to my attention his suspicion that I had worn the same shorts the day before. While another boy cautioned me that wearing flip-flops everyday was probably not in the best interest of my feet..."because you have ALL that WEIGHT on them with no support for your back." God bless. And yet another boy attempted to give me a detailed explanation for why his medical condition prohibited him from "tip toe-ing" after I had instructed him to do so. It was good fun!

Friday afternoon after the Fiesta festivities had concluded, we left for one of my favorite destinations anywhere and that would be our friend's parents' cabin about 3 hours "up north" of these here parts. It is not so much a cabin, but more of a nice 4 bedroom house in the middle of 340 heavily wooded acres complete with 3 new four-wheelers, two full sized for adults and one mini for the kids, and seemingly endless winding and hilly trails to explore. The house has running water, is powered by a generator, and is equipped with most modern conveniences except for central air. It even has its own satellite for improved cell phone reception. We stayed 2 nights with our friends and their 3 children, and another couple and their 3 children. So yes, that made 6 adults and 9 children under one roof. Surprisingly, it was very peaceful with not so much as a single squabble to settle all weekend. We did a lot of trail riding, ate lots of good food, and learned how to play a new game. The kids and I won't go back again till next summer, but Jeff will hunt there a couple weekends this fall. (See new photos on Webshots.)

Loud or Quiet?

No, really, I think I'd prefer the Quiet Township Cemetery
if given the choice, but thanks for asking.