Thoughts from the edge...

I know... everyone has been wondering where on earth I am... wondering if I fell off the edge of the world... 

The truth?

I fell off the edge of the world.

It was an amazingly long way down...

but then I'm pretty short, so anything over 6 feet might be considered "amazingly long"

I had a lot of thinking time during the fall...

I thought about really deep and important things.

again, "deep" is relative for someone my height.

Speaking of relative...

ManOfTheHouse's family reunion

My family reunion

oh... Okay... so THAT's what I was doing...

which is slightly like falling off the edge of the earth - but with lots of people to catch you on the way down...

These uber talented boys made this all by themselves...

Seriously... we didn't have fringe laying around the house, so one of those crafty boys sewed yarn onto ribbon and made it himself.

This was sewn and painted here at my very own house... yes, the house that is looking decidedly cluttered in the background.


and I'll always have proof... in the light blue radiating lines which are duplicated on VeggieTeen's bedroom carpet.

I'm trying to be okay with that.

Summer Time Joys... ermmm... yeah well, you take what you can get.

My youngest daughter JUST came into the world telling me she didn't want Cheerios for breakfast.

I was ready for the complaint - the one about how I only bought ONE kind of cereal and she's BORED with Cheerios and can't we just PLEASE buy something that comes with a prize... just once? (for the record, the Cheerio boxes had books on them)

but she surprised me... she doesn't want to eat up the Cheerios because...

"I want to make a new recipe with them - to share with the World!"

Somehow I think she knew I was sitting here debating what to write about today.

When you're 7 "popularity" extends to your mother's blog...

and that ends around...  8?

Summer is killing me... the kids want every day to be lemonade stands and swimming pools.

Okay, not quite true, some of the kids want every day to be Playstation and Wii.

The budget wants every day to consist of... well, meals made from scratch and sock puppet shows put on by mom.  Good thing we have a large supply of mismatched socks.  My imagination is failing me though... I think a goodly portion of the sock characters are named Stinky, Smelly, Holey, and my all time favorite "Fun Gus"...

I want every day to be naps and delivered meals... partly because my foot is killing me

Oooh, let's add "pedicure" to that list of things I want to do this summer.  and "get a tan!"

And yes - the foot is just fine - apparently I overdid it with my domestic canning day - I've been making up for it by ringing a bell and having them bring me bon-bons while I take pictures of my foot... (Note, I don't actually know what a bon-bon is... but a part of me thinks it must include chocolate... which my long time readers know I don't eat... no, I haven't sustained a head injury as well)

Today?  Today we're shoveling rocks, buying paint, putting said paint on the walls, driving kids to band rehearsal, driving other kids to help out at the cannery (maybe even helping there myself... that remains to be seen), delivering some ridiculous letters to a few businesses (no, I didn't read said letters... I didn't say I CARED about the fundraiser, I only said I'd help), and at some point in there... I think I'll probably kill a few minutes (or hours) kicking around my computer trying to read your blogs finally. 

Oh, and dinner... really, why must we eat EVERY day?  I think that I'd enjoy food a lot more if #1 - it had no calories, #2 - it didn't make such a mess in my kitchen, #3 - I didn't have to actually THINK of something to make. #4 - my kids would eat.


Speaking of eating... the youngest?  Her lofty ambitions for a new worldwide recipe of friendship, happiness and joy have been abandoned... and I'm finishing this up to a chorus of "What is there to EAT????"

back to reality.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday - a favorite sound...

VeggieTeen's idea of a day at the park...

I just might have married ManOfTheHouse because he played guitar... I'm sure there were other reasons, but this is a family blog. Specifically HIS family :)



and yes, I DO realize it's not Wednesday... silly Monday holidays are messin' me up...

The only thing "domestic" about me is that I live in a house...

Moms are all about support - and my mom was great at this - as a teenager she walked me through making new recipes and would call to check on my progress if she feared my ambition had been a little too lofty for the day.

One day in particular the phone rang just as I finished hurling a large plastic bowl full of what was supposed to be Cream Puffs out into the front yard.

My mother, being supportive, covered the phone receiver before whispering to a co-worker "My daughter is as domestic as a rock".

I may be domestic as a rock but my hearing is super-human.

the thing is... she was right...

Alas, I cannot spend the rest of my life avoiding all things having to do with crafts, food, and decor... because then what would I blog about?

So, when asked by my friend if I wanted to learn a new skill I jumped at the chance.

"Jumped" in this case meaning that I stomped down my hesitancy to be an adult and trudged up the hill to her house.  The house with the overladen apricot trees...

ahhh... the apricots were quickly dispatched - into JARS nonetheless!  (okay, so a few went into my mouth... but just a few...)

and then when those jars were full we mashed up a bunch more... (mashed the apricots, not the jars...)

and put that goop into MORE jars!

and then some nonsense about boiling the jars for X amount of minutes even though the stupid flame on the camp chef didn't want to cooperate...

and a mere 7 hours later magically the kitchen counter is filled with these:

You know what I learned?

I learned to never, never NEVER complain about the price of Smuckers.  Next time I have to buy another jar of Jelly/Jam/Preserves - I am going to do so with a smile on my face... because somewhere, someone slaved over a hot stove to make this possible for me!  But until then, I'm going to eat my toast spread with Apricot jam.   ( yes, I do know they have big factories and all that... but that just ruins my happy little illusions...)

You know what else?

Every. Single. One. of those jars sealed.  I think that's a miracle or something.

Being Buoyed by that kitchen success I took on the task of fancy cupcakes...  not fancy decor (after the wedding cake last month I can't claim stupidity in that area) but fancy flavors...

We love our local cupcakery (it is TOO a word) and I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we have a frequent shoppers card there...  I wanted to try my hand at something flavored and got to give it a go when I got a request for a "get well" cupcake for the neighbor...

Pink Lemonade Deliciousness...
(yes, another Pinterest inspiration for those of you who claim I'm a Pinterest addict - but I tweaked the recipe... mostly because I didn't have vanilla pudding or frozen pink lemonade in the house)

and I didn't let it stop there - the girls wanted new headbands for the parade?

Ta-dah!!!!

and the little one wanted fancy invitations for a sleepover?

okay... so I actually made her do those herself...

I don't want to strain myself!



Shhh... don't tell my mom - she's going to think the rock has softened to the point where I'll cook when she visits.... psssshhh!

Happy 4th (a slightly serious take...)

I pledge allegiance
to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands
One Nation under God
Indivisible
With Liberty and Justice for all.

 Sometimes it just has to be said.  All of it.  When these words were finally changed for the last time Pres. Eisenhower referred to God as "our most powerful resource"  (1954)  I love that...

Enjoy your holiday - however you choose to celebrate - and may those who are far from family serving their country know of our gratitude and support.

Taboo Blog Topics.

Apparently the world is flat.

I know this because I recently fell off the edge.

I know - you wondered what happened to me, well, there you have it, "there be monsters" and all that jazz... I can't confirm or deny the existence of elephants and a hugo-mongous turtle holding it all up, my last pair of contacts got ripped and it's hard to tell the difference between elephants and my laundry pile.

Turns out it's kind of a long way down at the edge, but not entirely impossible to claw your way back up.

Good to know.

If you want a BETTER excuse than that you're welcome to invent one.  Until then, I'm sticking with my flat world theory.

And don't believe anyone who tells you that it's because I'm busy...

They're a bunch of liars...  whose brains are obviously mush from all the museum meetings, youth conferences, sewing, PTA meetings, laundry, field trips, nutrition classes, shopping, planning meetings, church classes, eye appointments, dance classes, scouts, youth group, cooking, cleaning, oil changes, hair appointments, helping people move, and trying to just read a darn book before the deadline they've had to do.

Those kind of people just can't be trusted.