All is quiet.
And then I saw the little thing that made my morning...
Thursday, March 25, 2010
My Rainy TGIF
Cement happen this morning while I slept. New beams installed to hold up the new addition upstairs.
And then production came to a halt because of the rain...
And then I saw the little thing that made my morning...
My herbs I planted a few days ago are already sprouting! Thing is, I got them all mixed up and didn't label them so it's either Basil,Parsley,or Cilantro-I guess it'll be a surprise!Thank you Mother Nature for brightening my rainy TGIF :)
And then I saw the little thing that made my morning...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Ketchup Time
Today is a day of many changes in our little world! As many of you may already know,I live in a small house with my boyfriend and his brother.Vern is my boyfriend and his brother's name is Del.
Vern is on the left,Del's the one with the saw
About 40 years ago..Del on the left with the paint brush and Vern on the right with a new coat of paint. You gotta love brothers!So cute!
Del is legally blind.This meaning that he has partial sight but not enough to drive or work a regular job. Del owns the house and we rent from him and take care of cooking,maintenance etc. The situation works well for us because the rent is cheap and we aren't burdened with the responsibility of home ownership. I enjoy living with 2 men most of the time. They eat pretty much anything I cook and take out the trash and I enjoy living in a house for the first time in many years. Oh the ability to paint and decorate can so easily be taken for granted!haha I have lived here for about 2 years (1 1/2 full time) and have put my womanly touch on the place. It's starting to look a little more colorful and clean!Ok so now I have you all caught up right?
Now we enter the first of I'm sure many blogs about THE REMODEL that is going to go on around here this summer. Del's room is the attic space that is roughly converted into a bedroom and closet. It's seems the roof is due for replacing so he figured he would take the opportunity to also add on some additional walking/living space upstairs. He is adding dormurs (sp?) with windows and extra square footage for a bedroom,closet,bathroom and sitting area.The addition will also extend off the back of the house and cover a new deck and our current back porch.So basically the entire top of the house is getting an extreme makeover!Vern and I's bedroom is downstairs so we will have a safe place to escape while things are torn apart upstairs. The question we are all starting to ask is..Where is Del going to sleep while all this is going on? In the tiny office? In the living room? At his Mom's?!LOL Ok there's no way that would happen but still we wonder..? I also forgot to mention that the GC doing the remodel is a friend of Del's and with his help Del will be doing a large part of the work to save money. Del works with his friend on remodels quite a bit but never has he done a remodel like this in his own home! Soo..I will try to keep the fridge stocked with sandwich supplies,vacuum as often as I can and keep the bathroom stocked with Lysol Disinfectant Wipes. Pray for me. :) Ok so now you are totally up to date...let me start over..
Today is a day of many changes in our little world! THE REMODEL begins. Utility lines are all marked with bright spray paint,the driveway looks like "Graffitiville". Dirt is already everywhere and there are holes so big I could lose Chipper in them and power tools growl and vibrate the pictures on the wall.I had the day off so I'd sneak out every now and then to see what progress had been made.I'd smoke while I watched them dig ...and dig ...and dig. Yuk,I hate digging. Digging makes my back hurt just thinking about it.I can't say I was affected much,I snuck away to my room and put some copper blond high lights in my hair while watching a series of shows on the Bravo channel that I'd rather not admit to watching hehe Girl time. Yummy,sparkly,goofy Girl time.My hair turned out a little lighter than I had planned but I left it-I few spunky bright high lights in my hair to make me smile at myself in the mirror all day. SOOO worth it,it's only hair right? My hair.That's a whole other blog....Back to today. The next big news came around 4pm. Vern was approved by insurance for his shoulder surgery! I have never been this happy for someone I love to have surgery? Vern has a build up of arthritis in his shoulder that the Dr is going to remove.He can finally have some relief from the shoulder pain that he has suffered for the last 10 years or more!Yay! BUT-this also means he is going to be unable to work for about 2 months and probably in a lot of new pain! Vern is fortunate enough to have a good job that will pay him well while he is off so he is lucky not to have the financial stress BUT he is a very hard working man and you know what they say...it's hard to keep a good man down! Thanks to pharmaceuticals I will be able to keep him sedated for awhile (haha) but after that..I'm not too sure. The smoker and THE REMODEL should also help to keep him from going completely stir crazy. Poor guy,I will take good care of him :) Alright so are you keeping track here? A house remodel and a boyfriend in repair!Wow,it's going to be a busy summer,I pray the God gives me the patience and compassion of Mother Theresa :)
BUT wait.... the day wasn't over yet! Tonight I also called my parents and guess what?! My Dad is giving us his boat! We had talked about it before but this time he was very serious! This isn't some fancy canoe either,it's a fishing boat with a jet engine!(This is required to fish UPstream in a river) We can have it he just wants to be able to use it when he comes to go fishing in Sekiu " Take it or I'm going to sell it! No sense in having a boat I don't use and letting it go to waste!" he said. What did I say? "Thanks for the boat Dad!" without hesitation! There I go,adding yet another task or ten to the pile- picking the boat up in Idaho and bringing it here. Storing it until we can adjust this river boat for the Straits Of Juan De Fuca. Pulling it out to Sekiu this fall for the annual fishing trip. But still,I am so thankful! So thankful to have parents that can give us a boat! Vern and I have so much to talk about tomorrow...and so much planning to do.Perhaps we can escape all the aches and pains and craziness mentioned above as we float around the local lakes this summer..in our new boat :)
Del is legally blind.This meaning that he has partial sight but not enough to drive or work a regular job. Del owns the house and we rent from him and take care of cooking,maintenance etc. The situation works well for us because the rent is cheap and we aren't burdened with the responsibility of home ownership. I enjoy living with 2 men most of the time. They eat pretty much anything I cook and take out the trash and I enjoy living in a house for the first time in many years. Oh the ability to paint and decorate can so easily be taken for granted!haha I have lived here for about 2 years (1 1/2 full time) and have put my womanly touch on the place. It's starting to look a little more colorful and clean!Ok so now I have you all caught up right?
Now we enter the first of I'm sure many blogs about THE REMODEL that is going to go on around here this summer. Del's room is the attic space that is roughly converted into a bedroom and closet. It's seems the roof is due for replacing so he figured he would take the opportunity to also add on some additional walking/living space upstairs. He is adding dormurs (sp?) with windows and extra square footage for a bedroom,closet,bathroom and sitting area.The addition will also extend off the back of the house and cover a new deck and our current back porch.So basically the entire top of the house is getting an extreme makeover!Vern and I's bedroom is downstairs so we will have a safe place to escape while things are torn apart upstairs. The question we are all starting to ask is..Where is Del going to sleep while all this is going on? In the tiny office? In the living room? At his Mom's?!LOL Ok there's no way that would happen but still we wonder..? I also forgot to mention that the GC doing the remodel is a friend of Del's and with his help Del will be doing a large part of the work to save money. Del works with his friend on remodels quite a bit but never has he done a remodel like this in his own home! Soo..I will try to keep the fridge stocked with sandwich supplies,vacuum as often as I can and keep the bathroom stocked with Lysol Disinfectant Wipes. Pray for me. :) Ok so now you are totally up to date...let me start over..
Today is a day of many changes in our little world! THE REMODEL begins. Utility lines are all marked with bright spray paint,the driveway looks like "Graffitiville". Dirt is already everywhere and there are holes so big I could lose Chipper in them and power tools growl and vibrate the pictures on the wall.I had the day off so I'd sneak out every now and then to see what progress had been made.I'd smoke while I watched them dig ...and dig ...and dig. Yuk,I hate digging. Digging makes my back hurt just thinking about it.I can't say I was affected much,I snuck away to my room and put some copper blond high lights in my hair while watching a series of shows on the Bravo channel that I'd rather not admit to watching hehe Girl time. Yummy,sparkly,goofy Girl time.My hair turned out a little lighter than I had planned but I left it-I few spunky bright high lights in my hair to make me smile at myself in the mirror all day. SOOO worth it,it's only hair right? My hair.That's a whole other blog....Back to today. The next big news came around 4pm. Vern was approved by insurance for his shoulder surgery! I have never been this happy for someone I love to have surgery? Vern has a build up of arthritis in his shoulder that the Dr is going to remove.He can finally have some relief from the shoulder pain that he has suffered for the last 10 years or more!Yay! BUT-this also means he is going to be unable to work for about 2 months and probably in a lot of new pain! Vern is fortunate enough to have a good job that will pay him well while he is off so he is lucky not to have the financial stress BUT he is a very hard working man and you know what they say...it's hard to keep a good man down! Thanks to pharmaceuticals I will be able to keep him sedated for awhile (haha) but after that..I'm not too sure. The smoker and THE REMODEL should also help to keep him from going completely stir crazy. Poor guy,I will take good care of him :) Alright so are you keeping track here? A house remodel and a boyfriend in repair!Wow,it's going to be a busy summer,I pray the God gives me the patience and compassion of Mother Theresa :)
BUT wait.... the day wasn't over yet! Tonight I also called my parents and guess what?! My Dad is giving us his boat! We had talked about it before but this time he was very serious! This isn't some fancy canoe either,it's a fishing boat with a jet engine!(This is required to fish UPstream in a river) We can have it he just wants to be able to use it when he comes to go fishing in Sekiu " Take it or I'm going to sell it! No sense in having a boat I don't use and letting it go to waste!" he said. What did I say? "Thanks for the boat Dad!" without hesitation! There I go,adding yet another task or ten to the pile- picking the boat up in Idaho and bringing it here. Storing it until we can adjust this river boat for the Straits Of Juan De Fuca. Pulling it out to Sekiu this fall for the annual fishing trip. But still,I am so thankful! So thankful to have parents that can give us a boat! Vern and I have so much to talk about tomorrow...and so much planning to do.Perhaps we can escape all the aches and pains and craziness mentioned above as we float around the local lakes this summer..in our new boat :)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Food Porn Part 2
It was awesome to have Friday and Saturday off this week,the weather was beautiful! After a struggle with the flu Vern was feeling well enough to put his new smoker grill to the test. He put on an 8 lb pork shoulder at 9:45 am and let it smoke low and slow all day....
Here's what it looked like after 5 hours-
And here's what it looked like after 8 1/2 hours-
Hours of apple wood smokin and getting sprayed with apple juice caramelize to make a brown glaze on the out side...it's really hard to wait!
So in the meanwhile I whip up some macaroni and cheese to smoke too-
Here it is getting "happy" in the smoker...oh heavens,I feel the food sinning starting to happen....
As soon as the pork is done it has to sit all bundled up in foil for an hour..I hope the noodles and I can wait until then :)
Here's what it looked like after 5 hours-
And here's what it looked like after 8 1/2 hours-
Hours of apple wood smokin and getting sprayed with apple juice caramelize to make a brown glaze on the out side...it's really hard to wait!
So in the meanwhile I whip up some macaroni and cheese to smoke too-
As soon as the pork is done it has to sit all bundled up in foil for an hour..I hope the noodles and I can wait until then :)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A Little Advice On Life
I suspect you will be surprised at how well you're doing already.
01. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
02. Memorize your favorite poem.
04. When you say, "I love you", mean it.
05. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.
06. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
07. Believe in love at first sight.
08. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
16. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
23. Spend some time alone.
24. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
26. Read more books and watch less TV.
28. Trust in God but lock your car.
29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.
30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
31. Read between the lines.
32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
34. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
36. Mind your own business.
37. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss.
38. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.
41. Learn the rules, then break some.
42. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.
43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
44. Remember that your character is your destiny.
45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
01. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
02. Memorize your favorite poem.
03. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.
04. When you say, "I love you", mean it.
05. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.
06. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
07. Believe in love at first sight.
08. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
09. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Call your mom often.
16. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
23. Spend some time alone.
24. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
26. Read more books and watch less TV.
27. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
28. Trust in God but lock your car.
29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.
30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
31. Read between the lines.
32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
33. Be gentle with the earth.
34. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
36. Mind your own business.
37. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss.
38. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
39. If you make or have a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.
41. Learn the rules, then break some.
42. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.
43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
44. Remember that your character is your destiny.
45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
One "Step" At A Time
What is a stepmother?
A step below or a step above?
Someone for you to (sometimes) love?
Someone to share your laughter and tears?
Or do you grow quiet when she comes near?
*****
What is a stepmother?
A step above or a step below?
Someone to teach you and help you to grow?
Is she a mystery to you, or someone you know?
Are you true with your feelings, or are they for show?
*****
I'm a stepmother, so let me define
What a stepmother is, at least in my mind
A stepmother cares for her family and home
And loves her step kids like they were her own
She fixes their meals, treats a cold, ties a shoe
Anything that a kid's real mom would do
*****
A stepmother consoles you when you feel sad
And hands out a punishment if you are bad
She'll tuck you in bed and read you a story
And yet, it's the real mom that gets all the glory
*****
A stepmother hides the tears that she cries
When mother's day comes and then just slips by
With no card, and no hug, though she really feels sad
She won't let you see it, won't let you feel bad
*****
She feels like an outsider but tries to fit in
If you're playing a game with her, she'll let you win
She makes sure your birthday is one special day
And when hers is forgotten, she'll just look away
*****
When your teen years come, life gets much tougher
With a stepmother these years, for her, are much rougher
You may say or do something that injures her feelings
Please keep in mind that she hurts while she's healing
*****
Your stepmother has done the best she could do
And no matter your age, she'll always love you
For her birthday, the best present to get her
Is the most precious of all, that you didn't forget her
I see myself like this....
But it seems some people see me like this
Oh the joys of being a Step Mom!
Monday, March 15, 2010
The transition has begun folks. The time is near.
The clocks have been set and the sun sits idle in the sky just a little bit longer.
It's taking over me,I swear I can smell it in the air.
Are you ready for it?
Oh yah,I'm talkin' bout SPRING!!!!!
I enjoyed my last Friday and Saturday shifts for awhile last week. I won't miss those hectic days at the shop! Sunday was a sunny beautiful day so Vern and I decided to head out and do some shopping. Until this weekend I had no idea that Vern had NEVER been to IKEA! Can you believe it? I almost couldn't! Of course I set out to fix that and we headed there first. I think we were in and out of there in a little over 30 minutes!And yes we actually bought stuff! "Follow the blue arrows" I kept saying...He learned his lesson once when we short cut and nearly missed the kitchen stuff (that's like the best part right?!) We really weren't there to buy much,mostly taking a mental inventory of all the things we need and all the things we want as we try to make ourselves comfortable here living at Del's for a few more years. 3 adults and one small dog are a tight fit in our little old house. We need all the IKEA space savers we can get!So we wizzed through,checked ourselves out and we were off to Cash&Carry. For those of you who haven't been to Cash &Carry,it's a restaurant,coffee shop,catering supply type store. Vern likes to buy meat in large quantities and hand cut and package it at home.It also saves us a lot of money! (We had to stock up our freezer with meat for the new smoker!) This is also where we buy the ingredients for our homemade espresso drinks! It saves me quite a bit of money every week :) Then we headed home to enjoy the rest of the sunny afternoon. These cute birds were playing in a puddle nearby and so I got as close as I could....
Looked like it was bath time!
Last but not least I bring you some more food porn....
Remember the pork loin? I diced a few slices up real small and then added my chicken fried rice leftovers from lunch and rolled them in the pre-made egg rolls wraps I bought for less than $2. I followed the instructions on the package and they were really easy to roll.
Then off to the deep fryer for 3-5 minutes!
Mmm...deep fried goodness :P
Am I making you hungry yet?
And finally the end result...the best egg rolls I have ever had!
It's so fun to play with food! These were a success and we'll be adding egg roll wraps to our regular grocery list. It's great way to use up leftovers and I'd like to also try them with cream cheese inside too. Perhaps I should put off canceling the gym membership....looks like we are going to be needing it more than ever!
The clocks have been set and the sun sits idle in the sky just a little bit longer.
It's taking over me,I swear I can smell it in the air.
Are you ready for it?
Oh yah,I'm talkin' bout SPRING!!!!!
I enjoyed my last Friday and Saturday shifts for awhile last week. I won't miss those hectic days at the shop! Sunday was a sunny beautiful day so Vern and I decided to head out and do some shopping. Until this weekend I had no idea that Vern had NEVER been to IKEA! Can you believe it? I almost couldn't! Of course I set out to fix that and we headed there first. I think we were in and out of there in a little over 30 minutes!And yes we actually bought stuff! "Follow the blue arrows" I kept saying...He learned his lesson once when we short cut and nearly missed the kitchen stuff (that's like the best part right?!) We really weren't there to buy much,mostly taking a mental inventory of all the things we need and all the things we want as we try to make ourselves comfortable here living at Del's for a few more years. 3 adults and one small dog are a tight fit in our little old house. We need all the IKEA space savers we can get!So we wizzed through,checked ourselves out and we were off to Cash&Carry. For those of you who haven't been to Cash &Carry,it's a restaurant,coffee shop,catering supply type store. Vern likes to buy meat in large quantities and hand cut and package it at home.It also saves us a lot of money! (We had to stock up our freezer with meat for the new smoker!) This is also where we buy the ingredients for our homemade espresso drinks! It saves me quite a bit of money every week :) Then we headed home to enjoy the rest of the sunny afternoon. These cute birds were playing in a puddle nearby and so I got as close as I could....
Last but not least I bring you some more food porn....
Remember the pork loin? I diced a few slices up real small and then added my chicken fried rice leftovers from lunch and rolled them in the pre-made egg rolls wraps I bought for less than $2. I followed the instructions on the package and they were really easy to roll.
And finally the end result...the best egg rolls I have ever had!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Field Trip
I did something today I have wanted to do for a long time. I applied for my Concealed Weapons Permit. This particular errand was like a grown-up field trip to the police station! I have been smart or... maybe lucky enough to avoid becoming familiar with the station, so I admit it was a bit eye opening. After a simple form and $55.25 you are sent downstairs to the finger print machine. I also must add that I had Vern with me and his father was the local police chief for 18 years. His father was a very well known and respected man and that became even more obvious as we walked the halls of the station. His father was in so many of the photos on the walls,very cool :) Vern looks so much like his Dad...So back to my permit-we head downstairs to the finger print machine. We wait at the counter as our officer escort prepares the machine. On a dry erase board in front of us is a chart containing the 20ish people currently visiting our local jail. It states their name,offense and possible time serving. Wow? Although it seemed nosey..I quickly scanned the list to see if I just might recognize a name or two...nope.Then my curiosity had to know what criminals in our small town were doing these days..but it was the typical stuff-DUI,assault,probation violation bla bla .He was finally ready to take my fingerprints. He wet my fingers and squished them onto a glass lens and wa la- my fingerprints appeared on the computer screen!I seemed to be the only one impressed with this process!?Sooo, I think this means that now is not the time to start a criminal career,I am in the system!haha We headed back upstairs and Vern finished my tour down his father's memory lane,who knew going to the police station could be so fun?They will be calling me in a week or so and I can go pick up my permit..well I assume I will pass the background check?!?! haha I don't plan on packing a gun,I just want to exercise my gun rights while I still have them. The permit is also a way for me to show that I intend to own and use a gun legally and responsibly. I just hope I am never put in a position to have to use it,only the position I am in now of protecting myself in case I do. :)
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