blackbird

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Run for the Rocks

So today is a run to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs, it's a half-marathon (13.1) in my town. Hubs and my friend started running at the beginning of the summer. I know your first thought is, wow, what a ridiculous time to start when the weather was averaging around oh........10873742874 degrees.....but I never said they were smart— dedicated and driven- yes, smartest tacks on the board - no. Anyway,  they have been running and getting better so they got this whacky idea to run this race. They register and are official, they have a number, a tshirt & hat, and the all important goodie bag. All the trappings of a dedicated race participant.
Angel, Kim and Greg Pre-Race

I know you are thinking, I wonder why she (being me) doesn't run with them..... well the answer is simple- I. Don't. Run. end of story. I thought back and can't think of a single time I ran for "fun". While the other kids were playing tag and chase, I was content to hang upside down on the monkey bars and worry someone might accidentally see my pink flowered underpants. I do however remember a time of playing cops and robbers and running and putting my arm through a glass door, I have no other memories of running. OK, maybe one more.......when I was a teenager and we tp'd a house and the porch light came on mid roll.......but then that's it, no more.
Kim and Greg - 11 miles

Kim and Greg - about 12 miles
 
But back to hubs and his run. I think the tally was about 350 runners and they zigged and zagged all through town, he and his faithful running companion, Kim kept on pace and ran the entire way. I went to watch at a few different places along the way and took a few pictures (which I am much better at than running) and only found myself distracted once by a really pretty butterfly that was missing part of a wing. But fortunately they hollered at me and got my attention before they were completely past me and I managed to get a few pics taken of them.
Lovely butterfly at the last mile
Kim, Greg and Kerri Shroyer coming into Gowans for finish

All summer long he has been giving their stat numbers to me. I am not a numbers person and I'm sure my eyes just kinda glaze over as I nod dumbly at his reports. I sometimes feel as though  I am receiving the coordinates to some long buried treasure or something.....it was a 13.25 at 5.93.......what the heck? maybe this is a long kept secret of DB Cooper......anyway to me it is mumbo jumbo but to him it is the ends to a successful and pleasing, first time ever race. Good job Greg and Kim. (and to race veteran Angel)
Kim, Greg and Angel

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Fall Weather Time To Cook Again

The weather is cooling down and makes me want to get back in the kitchen and do some cooking. Yesterday I made Chili, ohhhhh, was it sooo good. We'll eat another bowl today and then send the rest back to Kansas City with Aaron. I also made a recipe I'd been dying to try. Pumpkin Muffins, a super easy recipe.

Pumpkin Muffins

1-yellow cake mix
1 can of pumpkin
1 can of cream cheese frosting
(and sprinkles if you are a sprinkle kind of person, and I am!!)
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. It's just that easy and they were quite tasty.
Pumpkin Muffins
Aaron is home for the weekend and loves Nutella (what's not to love?) so I decided to experiment with Nutella and found a great recipe at Megan's Cookin. A great little no-bake cookie, Nutella style. I had to modify the original recipe a bit because I didn't have quite enough oats (don't cha just hate that?) but they were still very yummy. I won't give you the adjusted one, just the original.

No-Bake Nutella Cookies

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 & 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup Nutella
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  1. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter, milk, sugar, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.Reduce heat and continue to boil for 3 minutes, still stirring.
  2. Remove from heat and add Vanilla.
  3. Add Nutella.
  4. Add oats and mix well.
  5. Drop quickly onto  waxed paper and allow cookies to cool and set.

No-bake Nutella Cookies
Then for lunch made some very tasty country style ribs. The key to moist, fall off the bone (if there was a bone) ribs is to cook them very slow and just put them on the grill to cook on the barbque sauce and give a slightly crispy exterior. And no doubt about it, they were good. The left-overs will go with Aaron. I know he'll at least have a few good meals. :)
Country Style Ribs

Friday, September 16, 2011

You Can't Scare Me I Have Sons

So, the phone call starts like this,
Me: Hello
Youngest son: Hi Mom, how do I get blood out of the passenger seat of my car?
 I don't flinch or even miss a beat,

Me: Do I need to be looking for an attorney?
Youngest son: No, there was a small accident in the studio, and it's not my blood.

He explains, it involved a hole saw, a piece of pipe and a kids hand, and I won't give you the gruesome details, but it sounds like everyone is going to live.

It got me to thinking about all the accidents, mishaps and near crisis' we have dealt with over the years. Mothers of active boys learn that almost everything heals and panic has no place in dealing with the issue at hand. Much in the same way a new mother learns that having spit up running down your shoulder will not kill you.

Between the two boys we had:
a mild concussion (falling out of a shopping cart)--btw-I was exonerated of fault
a broken arm (bicycle)
a huge goose egg to the forehead (line drive baseball)
a myriad of slicings on the leg (bicycle and hack saw)
a broken tooth (waterslide)
a broken knee cap (baseball)
a torn acl (basketball)
a torn acl (football)
and other minor injuries far too numerous to mention.

The incident of the hack saw and the bicycle still makes me laugh.
I'm down stairs and hear the front door, younger son (about 6yrs old) comes down the stairs to tell me the older one (about 9yrs old) needs me to come up, I, in my most exasperated voice tell him to go tell his brother to come to me. He obediently heads upstairs and soon is back down, no mom,  he needs you up there, he says. I, not wanting to stop what I was working on replied unless he was bleeding he needed to come to me. He waited for a minute or two then said, well yes, he is bleeding. I go running up the stairs to see him sitting there with a towel and yes, blood (but not on the carpet, YAY!) Seems he and his friend were going to build a fort, so they got a hack saw and while he was riding his bike holding the saw every time his leg went up and down he was sawing his leg....yes, evidently this was before he had been given custody of his brain .....anyway, after realizing he had some pretty significant cuts he and his buddy decided their vast boy scout first aid training could fix it. They could not. So back on their bikes, sans the saw, to our house. After a trip to the ER all was well again.

Although the ringing of the phone in the night still makes me break out in a cold sweat (they are now 21 and 24) and probably always will, I've learned not to panic, to think through to the logical solution and help them carry their broken bones to the emergency room.

I do think mothers of boys will collect jewels for their crowns similar to the way a scout collects badges, and mine is gonna be darn sparkly.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish

Ok, I've never really thought of myself as compulsive, but I'm starting to reassess my tendencies. Well, let me explain.......it all started with Pinterest - which I'm convinced is some level of hellish torture. It makes us desire things that up until we saw the picture, had no idea we even wanted. I say go experience and explore the wonders of  Pinterest but I must add I am in no way taking responsibility for the addict you might - ok, for sure- are going to become. I won't bother explaining it, just look it up and spend a few minutes or a few HUNDRED hours and you'll get the picture......heh, heh literally..   Anyway, I saw this really cool fish aquarium so my first thought was, of course, I can make that and probably better too.

Then I started looking around and decided, yes, I probably could but would have to take out a second mortgage to make it happen. Then this dialogue happened,
Me1: Oh, just suck it up
Me2: No, I can do this, I am talented and creative, and it would mean so much more if I made it.
Me1: But you can let your fingers do the walking plop down the $40.00 and call it done.
Me2: Ok
But then I look again.........WHAT!! out of stock, that means not only will I not have immediate gratification but prolonged and possibly never gratification. Oh the horror!

So back to trying to make one. I had this glass bowl thingy, oddly shaped -kind of like a child's spinning top (oh, youngsters.....look it up) and the base was too small and it tipped easily and it was a crackley glass so that wouldn't work, but it had this oh so cool top........what to do?.........I know, I'll break the glass and just use the base and top and put something better in between.

So the adventure begins. I break the glass bowl off, no problem, but then I realized that the bowl had been F26'd or gorilla glued or some dynamite withstanding source of sticktoittiveness and was perplexed. I know, i can put some sort of base stuff like styrofoam over the bottom and then the bowl........no.doesn't work. So i go to get a standard fish bowl type glass bowl and come home with one, perfect, fits well on the base, but the top doesn't fit exactly......well there it this fitting ring, I'll glue it on as an adapter ring......perfect........glue dries......looks like crap. Ok, plan B - I had an old candy jar which coincidently was the exact size of the base and the top, the heavens opened up and glory shown round. BUT.....what about the glass and glue residue.....hmmm problem.......but if I put decorative marbles all the way around the inside of the lip of the base it'll work, right? So I did. and it did work but was going to be unstable. So, if I put a decorative plate between the marbles and the glass it should work, right? yes, and it looks beeee-uu-ti-ful. Success!




Which would've been fine but, I really wanted a light in the bottom. SO..... I tootled my butt down to radio shack (after looking high and low in Hobby Lobby for a led night light type cord that plugged in) and sought assistance -after waiting for an older Amish gentleman looking for a CD player......no, I didn't ask- from the lone Radio Shack employee. He was nice enough and didn't question my motives, probably because of his previous customer, and helped me find an LED bulb, asssured me I could wire it myself without losing a hand and sent me skipping back home. In the meantime however, I asked my super duper tech guys their opinion and they suggested using an old adapter of some sort, not exceeding 5v and give it a whirl. I did and it was successful. No animals were harmed, no eyes were lost. Greg helped me drill holes which I am pretty sure I could have accomplished on my own but he wanted to help and who am I to deny that pleasure. We put the light up inside the base and VOILA! it's not bright enough. It probably would have worked had I not wanted a red plate but it did visually make a difference and the light with a clear plate was still too diffused to make an impression. I didn't feel I could go to  a stronger bulb because my new little friend Max did not seem like the hot tubbing type. So I put the light away for another project, which when needed and I won't be able to find it and will just buy another one.......but I digress.

So, I know what you are thinking, what did you do with the first bowl? Well, I'm glad you asked, since I could not just throw it away and it was darn ugly at this point, I did what any upstanding crafter unwilling to admit defeat would do - I got another fish for home. It's a blue one and he is quite lovely and that ugly bowl has got to be better than the little plastic butter tub-like container he was living in at the pet store.




So now you have the story of how Max, the red fish came to my office and how Frank, the blue fish, came to live at my house.