CarpeAcum

Chicken for Dinner

I made this a week or so ago, and I want to blog it so that I have a record somewhere!

Two nights of meals, easy style.

Chicken Italiano, for those addicted to dairy

4 Chicken half-breasts (about 2 pounds), cut up into slices or chunks

1 packet Italian dressing mix

1 cup water

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Mix the water and the dressing mix in the dressing bottle and shake. Pour over the chicen breasts in the crockpot. Cook for 3-5 hours (or so). Add the cans of soup and heat through. Serve over rice.

This would be great with mushrooms added in. The original recipe calls for 1 can of soup and 8 oz cream cheese. It's fantastic, but too much milk for the dairy-allergic Beard.

The next day, heat 6 cups of chicken broth, add the leftovers of chicken (if any) and some vegetables--about 1 pound of frozen something. Make a recipe of homemade noodles or dumplings, and you've got another meal.

I'm not dead yet!

So. . .

I signed on to bloglines the other day and a post popped up from a blog that I used to read regularly. She hadn't posted in a looooong time, so I was excited to see her post show up. I was thinking about how long she had gone without posting and when I went to check the last post date, it was in July. That *was* a long time ago! Wow! Oh. Almost exactly as long as it has been since I posted. Oops.

Well, I'm not dead yet, as they say in Monty Python. I went to a party last night where the festivities opened with a Quest for the Holy Grail. We all got in our cars and drove around our little burg looking for clues. After we gathered the clues we could get from the cars, we ended up at QFC (local grocery store) where there was a clue posted on the community bulliten board that sent us to the library downtown. In the history section, there was a book with a clue that sent us to the school where the hostess teaches (they have llamas!). From there, we went to behind the ice rink, and then to an alehouse owned by one of the guests of the party. At the ale house, The Beard had to say to the bartender, "I'm on a grail quest," and she gave him a glass with the last clue, leading to the party house. All in all, it was great fun. It was my friend's 40th birthday, and we presented her with two shrubberies (rhodedendrons), not too large, not too expensive--two, so she can plant them with a multilevel effect and have a path between (go review Monty Python and the Holy Grailif this makes no sense. Ni!).

I also attended a Girl Scout event this weekend, during which I nearly finished the second of two Fuzzy Feet. I was already down to the toe decreases on the first one, but I hadn't brought my dpns with me, so I placed the stitches on a stitch holder (an obliging paperclip, now unusable--except as a stitch holder), measured off 12 yards of yarn to complete the toe, broke the yarn and cast on for the second sock. I have about 1-2" left to the toe decreases on the second sock. Then I can felt them and wear them this winter. Yay!

The family and I also attended New Moon on its opening weekend. Click the link if you've been living under a rock for the past week. I think the movie, its stars, its clips, its ads and its hype have been all over all the media this week. Even if you don't care that it's out, you can't avoid hearing about it. And I have a 12 YO daughter. We all 3 read all the books (yes, The Beard, a librarian and an adult male, made it through all 4 books--the things we do for our daughter!), and so we all went to the movie together. It was fun and visually beautiful, but I can't imagine how you would enjoy it if you hadn't read the books, which explains the reviewers reactions. One reviewer said he didn't like it, but it wasn't made for him. It was made for his 16 YO daughter, who, he reported, called it "hardcore legit." He assumed that was good. I think he's right. I know I enjoyed it, but I probably won't see it again until it comes out in DVD.

In other news, I went to fall sewing retreat and spent the ENTIRE weekend working on a bed quilt cover for Punkin. On returning home, satisfied that it was nearly complete, I totally changed the size and concept of the quilt, and now need to make 18 more squares. And a comforter. How do these projects grow with their own momentum? Maybe it's just the way I do it. Na ja. I spent a couple hours in my sewing room last week, and cleaned up the floor (Fala can find her way to the heat register now) and set up another 20 or so flannel squares and the strips of fabric to make the quilt squares. Maybe this week, between turkeys and pumpkin pies, I'll make a couple of them.

I had an interview (the first in about 15 years!) to be a substitute teacher in our district. I haven't heard back from them, but I expect to. There was nothing weird in the interview questions.

I'm sure there are other highlights of the past few months, but I'm going to have to skip them or add them in as they occur to me. Right now I have to go start on laundry and dishes, the never-ending scourge.

I'm back!

Harry Potter at Midnight

It is nearly 3:30 a.m. where I sit. We just got back from seeing the newest Harry Potter film at the midnight show. It was very fun. We got there nearly an hour early and still had to sit pretty close to the screen. I'm pretty sure that Punkin was the youngest person there. There was a big group of HS-young college age kids sitting in front of us. It makes sense--Daniel Radcliffe is 20. When the first Harry Potter movie came out, 20 YOs were 11, like Harry Potter. They're just following along the timeline. I was surprised not to see lots of kids Punkin's age, but maybe they were in a different theater. There were 6 theaters showing the movie at 12:01 tonight.

I was happy that I hadn't re-read the book recently. Movies are less disappointing when you're not comparing them with the books. I enjoyed the movie as a movie, and wasn't able to compare it to the book, because I had forgotten so much about it. I was surprised by some of the plot, and some of it came back to me.

All in all, I'm glad that we went tonight--it was fun and different, and Punkin and I can sleep in in the morning! The Beard is going to have to coast through his half day. He napped in the afternoon, even though he is not a napper, so he should be fine.

Now I'm going to bed. It really is tomorrow. In about 5 minutes, the stupid early birds are going to start in.

Ketchup?

I think the world has passed me by and I'm in a whirl of trying to catch up. Normally, just trying to keep up is a challenge, but right now I'm so far behind that keeping up sounds like bliss.

First there was the dance show which consumed our lives for about 3 weeks in June. Then there was a lovely slower week when we attempted to get through the end of school (made it!). Then Punkin and I tripped off to scout camp for a week (missing the last 1/2 day of school). Then I was home for 3 days, doing laundry and cleaning and shopping and whatnot, then off to Prosser to visit Shelley for a week (hi, Shelley! Thanks again!) and finish up some sewing. Which I did. Sew, I mean. Pictures later.

Now I've been home for two days (I had to think about that--what day is it?!?), I've barely started laundry, my sewing stuff is in the entry way, and I just can't quite get my bearings <g>. Today's goal is to put away the sewing stuff and maybe clean some things. Get buttons for the two shirts I made for The Beard; set up the sewing studio to complete quilt squares for Punkin's new bedcover. Take pictures and record things so I can remember what I have accomplished in the past two months.

What day is it? Catch up day! Catch Up Day 1.0.

My New Favorite Blog

The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee

If you can even stand cats a little bit, you must go and see these kittens.

Catch Up Bullets

I don't think I've done a bullet post before, but I think I'll try one now. Brain dump bullet post.

1. Now I'm sure I haven't done a bullet post before. I had to figure out how to do the bullets.
2. April 21--the dryer broke (sigh). I called in the dryer repair guy. In cleaning up the laundry room for his arrival, I bent the fingers of my right hand back, causing some great pain and creative language. Punkin was thankfully at school.
3. May 21--I went to see the doc. The hand still hurt. She gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and told me not to play the piano or type (!?!).

4. I tried to learn to mouse with my left hand. That helped the pain more than anything. I think that holding my middle finger up while I mouse was the worst thing I was doing.

5. The doc commented on my "flexion" (or some similar term)--my fingers bend backwards. She said that that might have made the injury worse, since on a Normal Person, the tendons would have refused to bend as far as mine did. It has been a life-long struggle to make my fingers round on the piano, since they bend back so easily. It turns out that there is just nothing positive about the whole "flexion" issue.

6. My fingers still hurt. The NSAID that she prescribed is one that The Beard had a horrible reaction to (Really. Horrible.), so I've been afraid to try taking it.

7. We have 6 dance shows this weekend. Punkin is in 5 and I am tap dancing in 2 of them. Yay.

8. We had 6 dance show rehearsals last weekend. All of us are completely trashed, even The Beard, who didn't dance. None of us can remember what day it is.

9. Punkin turned 12.

10. The weekend before her birthday, she had 4 friends over for a sleepover party. It started right after a school dance. The 5 of them had a great time deciding who liked whom, and who had looked at whom, who ate more pizza (I love that about this age--no concerns about eating issues yet), and all the stuff that goes with a middle school "dance."

11. No one actually danced.

12. Of the 5 girls, either 3 or 4 of them had on the same shirt for the party that they had worn for pictures before school started. I'm not sure what that means, but it was funny. I collected up ASB cards so they wouldn't get lost, and we noticed the shirt thing.

13. Punkin keeps her ASB card in her binder, so having it out gave her the opportunity to lose it. I tried to minimize this opportunity for all the girls, then I almost forgot to give them back on Saturday morning.

14. I keep typing ASG instead of ASB. Where's my brain?

15. When the girls got home from the dance, we had a pile of chocolate chip cookies with candles on them.They ate the whole pile of cookies--about 3 each. Again, no eating issues here.     

16. They were hungry. I should have made a couple pizzas or something.

17. The next morning, we made a dozen scrambled eggs, 1.5 pounds of bacon (40 slices!) and a double recipe of pancakes. Growing girls. None of them are growing the wrong way; they are all growing UP. The shortest one is 5'5", and they're all 12. Yike.

18. I had to get in that bacon thing. I was amazed.

19. Orange is the new pink at our house. Punkin is all about all things orange. Here is the birthday giftage:     

20. Punkin went camping with another family over Memorial Day weekend, and learned to shoot a gun. Well, she shot a gun, I'm not sure there was much learning. She came home with a trashed out Pepsi can, very proud.          

21. The pictures are really funny. Too bad I can't share them here (I'm still commited to not showing Punkin's face or name on the internet). There was a BB rifle, and she didn't steady it against her shoulder. I hope she never tries to fire a real rifle like that.

22. Our family doesn't own guns. We decided that having her learn with someone who knew what he was doing was probably a good idea. The other family asked about it and were very open with us.

23. Camping at this particular site included something called the "Pee Tree." It was *that* kind of camping.

24. Our calendar has been such that The Beard calls me nearly every day to find out what's on the calendar for the day. Even with only one child, our scheduling has become a finely honed system.

25. Piano lessons are winding down for the year. In fact, I don't have any today (and neither does Punkin!), and I only have 3 tomorrow. Then they're complete for the year.

26. I think I'll stop here. Maybe I'll bullet some more later as things occur to me. This is much easier than trying to organize!

12 Years. . .

Exactly 12 years ago, I was lying in a delivery room, holding my newborn daughter. The epidural had not yet worn off, and the shock and wonder hadn't either. It was late at night, which meant that we couldn't make too many phone calls. Punkin arrived 3 weeks early (we joke that it is the last time she was early for anything!), and I had already had one false alarm, so we didn't call people to tell them I was in labor until I was really in labor, and then it was too late to call. So the phone calls were a complete surprise to everyone. I called my mom last, because she was in Kenya, and I knew that she would be awake. We, the new and terrified parents, were certainly not going to go to sleep any time soon. I still remember the lame little squished sandwich they gave me at 11:00 p.m. I had not eaten anything for 12 hours, while simultaneously performing the most rigorous work I had ever done in my life. I used to laugh at my SIL's request for dinner after labor, but no more! And I really wanted more than a squished sandwich, but that is what there was.

Fast forward 12 years, and Punkin is a beautiful young woman, unsure and confident at the same time. Tall for her age (or any age: she's already taller than 3 of the adult women in our family), poised, smart and fun to be around, with a fierce sense of humor, she is growing into a wonderful woman I am proud to know and prouder to have had some influence on.

Happy 12th, Punkin! I love you.

XXOO  --Mom

Dolls

I finished my 6 dolls and got them to our ASG liaison who got them to the Honduras. Here are the 83 dolls before she stuffed them into a box to go in the mail:

 

If you feel like playing "Where's Waldo," you can correlate the fabrics from my last post with the six dolls in this picture. Or you can just wait until I get around to uploading the pictures of my dolls from the camera. (Punkin helped to arrange these for the picture.)

Now for the details, before I forget. I used Punkin's knitting machine to knit some acryl-ICK yarn, some brown, some black. Then I soaked it in a bowl, squished out the water and threw it in the dryer with some towels or something. Then it sat for a few days. I'm sure that's integral to the procedure.

For the boys: I cut a strip of cardboard that was twice as wide as I wanted the hair to be long (Why, yes, that is an Orville Redenbacher popcorn box from Costco--why do you ask?). Then I wrapped the hair gently around the cardboard and zigzagged down the middle of it. Then I cut it at each wrap. It was a little unruly, but I sewed this strip onto the top of the head by hand. I like how it turned out.

For the girls: I used my 11 x 17 rotary cutting mat and gently wrapped the hair around the shorter way. Then I cut it only once. This should make hair that's 20" or so long. I grabbed a generous hank of it and braided it, fastening it off with some sort of matching ribbon. Then I sewed it to the top of the head by hand. On at least 1 or 2 of them ( I think all 3--picture as proof), I used some of the leftover hair from the boys to make bangs for the girls. Cute!

Someone else had used brown corduroy for the back of the head. Sweet idea! It looked really good, like there was hair, but without having to make it.

I enjoyed the creativity of making the dolls, and the idea that I had nearly all the makings in my home was cool, but disturbing. I was glad to be able to put stuff together that I already had, but was taken aback when I realized that making 6 dolls had not made a dent in my considerable holdings. In fact, I may have ended up with more than I started with, because I finished off a bag of stuffing and had to buy another! Anyway, a good project that got me into the sewing room, and benefited someone else.

Pictures to come. And now they're here!

My Own Private Sewing Retreat

I am missing the ASG Spring Retreat this weekend. I am so bummed. But I promised myself I would sew here at home, and I have gotten a little bit done. I also have new high scores on a couple of games, but that's no one's fault but my own.

I volunteered to make a few dolls for a friend's daughter to take to the Honduras. They hand out the dolls to the kids there, so the more dolls the merrier. She created a .pdf file of the pattern and posted it on our ASG website, so I got the pictures, patterns and instructions from there. I sew, I sing, and I can do page layout on the computer, but I do NOT draw, so The Beard drew faces for me.

 

Three boys and three girls. I cut out bodies and scarves from scraps of fabric that I had lying around (seriously: lying around in my sewing room--clean up!)

There are all the pieces. And here's the first finished one (except for the hair):

Cute, no?

I found that I'm not liking the stuffing process, so I'm going to sandwich it in between other sewing activities. I should still have them all done by tomorrow. Yay!

More dolls and more sewing later.

Number Bracelets

Do you ever find an internet link that you think is really cool, but you're afraid that you'll forget where it is when you want it?

No? Well, I do. All the time.

Someone posted this link to a Girl Scout list that I'm on, and I think it looks really cool, but I can't spend time on it right now. So I'm going to post it for myself so I can find it later! Hey, it's my blog, and I can blog about boring math games if I want to.

Number Bracelets Game