It's My 500th Post

Wow! All that means is that over the past 3 years, I've had quite a bit of nothing to share about my typical, boring life. Lots of bloggers out there like to do a give away to celebrate blogging milestones, but I don't have corporate sponsors who give me free stuff to giveaway, so there will not be a random drawing for some prize that you may or may not want but entered the drawing anyway because it was free. I am going to give something to every reader and blog-stalker though... a recipe!

I found this recipe in the most recent Costco Connection magazine. It appealed to me because it was a crock-pot recipe, meat-free, easy to make, and cheap! Really, I think you can make the soup for less than $1.50 total (and it feeds 4!). I made the recipe for dinner last night. It took maybe 5 minutes to prepare, if I diced the vegetables really, r-e-a-l-l-y slowly, then 8 hours in the crock-pot, then, yum! This recipe is really yummy (even Jonathan thought it smelled good, but he still wouldn't try it) and it makes me excited for fall... it's fall food and I'm sure it's going to taste even better when it's cool and crisp outside instead of 85 degrees! Here's the recipe...

French Lentil Rice Soup
6 Cups Broth
1 Cup Lentils (picked over and rinsed)
3 Tbsp uncooked Rice
2 Carrots, peeled and finely diced
2 stalks Celery, finely diced
1 small Onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp. minced Garlic
1 tsp. dried Thyme
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp ground Pepper
1/4 C Sour Cream (optional)
1/4 C chopped Parsley (optional)

Dump everything except for the sour cream and parsley in a crock-pot and stir it up. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Remove 1 1/2 C soup from pot and puree it. Dump it back into the crock-pot and stir it together. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with sour cream and parsley, if desired (we didn't). Eat.

Simple and really good. The lentils and rice are fluid suckers so have extra broth on hand to add to the soup so it's "soupy" the way you like it instead of more like a side dish (or leave it thick and serve it as a side dish). Last night when I put the leftovers in the refrigerator, the soup was still "soupy", but the lentils and rice continued to absorb the fluid and by lunchtime today, it was thick again (but still so good).

So happy 500th blog post to me and enjoy the recipe!

I Miss My Banana Seat

My first bike was a classic from the 70's. It was an All-Pro sold at K-mart. It had chopper handlebars with plastic streamers extending from the ends. It was white in the front and blended into a light blue in the back. I had a yellow plastic basket on the front. It had a small, what Dan calls, sissy bar in the back. It had a kickstand and a chain guard. But best of all, it had a silver sparkly banana seat. It looked a lot like this bike (but my wheels weren't that cool and my "sissy bar" was much shorter). Lately I've been missing that banana seat. I think if I had a banana seat on my bike, then bike riding would be much more comfortable and enjoyable. My bike seat kills my, as Dan calls them, "sit-bones". I have an expensive, snooty seat that is designed specifically for women, but it still does not "fit" my anatomy right. Today, about 6 miles into my ride up Provo Canyon, my "sit-bones" started to hurt. I still had 5 mandatory miles to go because I'd just barely turned around. My seat puts too much pressure on the "sit bones" part of my body and it hurts, and not just while I'm riding, but it hurts for days afterward. I need my old banana seat. Not only would it make my bike look retro-cool, but I really think it would make all the difference in the world as far as comfort is concerned.

Also, for some reason, while I was riding today, my toes on my right foot kept going numb. Weird. I think that was because my foot was too far forward on the pedal and that was putting funny pressure on my toes and causing them to go numb. I guess it's time to put my "big girl pedals" back on my bike (clipless pedals) and find my cycling shoes and learn how to clip in-and-out again.

Screamer

Yes, I am talking about Miles. Miles is a screamer and I don't do well with screamers. Yes, I am aware that when he screams, he is communicating his dissatisfaction with some aspect of his life, but he is so loud, and he screams forever (okay, not forever, but he has screamed for a couple of hours straight). On Sunday, he made it known that he did not want to be in church. For the second time now, I've had someone comment to me something along the lines of "your kid is really bothering everyone". Like I didn't know that; but where do you go in a church with an out-of-control-tantrum-throwing-2-year-old that won't disturb anyone ? And yes, that really was the second time I've been told that Miles is ruining the services for someone (besides myself). On Monday, Miles had a fit when it was time to leave Jonathan's band exhibition. He wanted to run along a path that went around Mountain View's football stadium. I wouldn't let him. He let me and everyone within a 100-yard radius know that I was messing up his plans. He screamed from the field to the car, for the 11 minute (or 4.5 mile) drive home, into the house, and until he was belly button deep in the bathtub. Today he screamed for a good half hour because I carried his bowl full of toys downstairs for him. I know he is attempting to communicate using the only means he knows (since his English is limited), but it is driving me (and I'm sure the whole neighborhood) crazy. Today it was a good thing that Miles was in the basement screaming and I was upstairs and at the other end of the house. I feel like this is a battle of wills, but the terms of the battle of wills are out of my hands and that it has been set up that I will lose. Miles holds all the power during his scream sessions. Seriously, he's pushing me over the edge with his screaming. He needs to learn to express himself differently and soon.

I Love Caller ID

Today I got a phone call and before answering the phone I checked the Caller ID. No joke... this is what it said... Yes, that's right, I got a call from "Phone Scam". Phone Scam!!! Love it! I screened that call. Amy reverse-looked-up the number and, sure enough, it is a phone scam with the number registered to someplace in Ohio. The scammer is one of those companies that claims to have your credit card account information and can lower your interest rate if you provide them with your whole credit card number because they only have the first 4 digits. One person who reported his/her experience with this phone number/company said the the sales rep just needed to confirm the person's last name... the sales rep had a completely wrong name. When the call recipient told the rep that the name was wrong, the rep hung up the phone. Thanks, Qwest, for the "Phone Scam" warning.

All Is Safely Gathered In

...well, almost. The end of the gardening season is fast approaching. Many of the plants in our garden look tired. They are falling over. They are yellowing. Their production has been greatly reduced. The beans and the peas are essentially "done". Several of the pea vines are dessicated and brown. The bush beans have flopped over. The green peppers have been a flop this year. All summer long they stayed in a stunted growth state, but now, at the end of the season, are tall and healthy. I harvested 2 peppers yesterday, but they are so small. That may be the theme of our garden this year... small. All the edibles have been small. Nolan planted watermelon. We got 3 fruits, but they were all so small. like the Santa melons they sell in the stores. We planted pumpkins, and we have a huge harvest (I think there will be 17!), but most of the pumpkins are small. We planted a 100+ pound variety and have 2 on the vine, but there is no way they are going to be anywhere near 100 pounds. We planted a jack-o-lantern variety of pumpkin. Some grew to a nice tall-and-skinny size that can be carved, but others look more like sugar pumpkins. The pumpkin vines have really thrived and taken over the entire garden and a big section of the rock wall in the back. We planted lots of tomatoes. The slicing tomatoes must have come diseased because all 6 of the plants started to grow and then dried up and died. We planted cherry tomatoes. 2 of the plants have done great, but a third produced the tiniest tomatoes I've ever seen. Here is one of the larger tomatoes from the "tiny tomato" plant compared to a smaller regular cherry tomato. Funny! We've had a prolific crop of banana peppers. But for the past few weeks, the peppers have become odd. One plant is producing mushy peppers that we just throw out. It must be sick. The other plants are producing mutant colored peppers- purple streaked! I'm the only one who will eat them. Anyway, I'm glad we don't have to depend on our garden for a real source of food. It didn't dothat well and there's no way it produced enough food to feed 5 people. I'd like to expand the garden next year and add more organic material to the dirt. Plans are fine, but this growing season is not quite done yet... I'm watching the frost report so we can finish harvesting the last of the crop before fall sets in.

1-800-222-1222

That phone number should be on our speed dial. It's the Utah Poison Control Center. We never had to call poison control for Jonathan or Nolan, but we've called them twice for Miles so far. The first time was about a year ago when Miles had "Goo Gone" in his mouth. Obvious nothing bad resulted from that incident. Sunday afternoon I found Miles taking a swing from a bottle of fluoride rinse, but didn't call poison control for that. We called Poison Control on Sunday night because Miles had an opened tube of tire-patch adhesive in his mouth. Dan was fixing a flat and got distracted and left the open tube on a table where Miles found it and was sucking on it. Yuck. Fortunately, the "bad" stuff in tire-patch adhesive isn't really bad for the GI tract... it's bad for the lungs, and since Miles was eating it, rather than inhaling it, it wasn't really harmful. It was scary for me though.

More Lacrosse

Nolan had a great lacrosse weekend. He played midi (think halfback in soccer) instead of attack (think forward) so he got lots of action! He played so aggressively, yet so clean; he's not a cheap-shot taker. His team still got annihilated (twice, because they had a double-header), but he scored 3 goals!

Taking the face-off

Setting up a shot (he's #6)

Goal! (Click on the picture to enlarge it... you can see the ball in the net)

Heading down the field while cradling the ball

He's a pesky defender too! Two-hands together on the stick makes the stick a legal defensive weapon!

Nolan!

Miles thinks the best part about lacrosse games is the playground!

Peaches!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It's peach season and this year, they are cheap! Yesterday I bought 18 pounds of peaches for .25 per pound, and I plan on going back for more today! Peaches are a free food at our house- eat as many as you like whenever you'd like. Tonight we're having peach crisp (to celebrate our second mortgage refinance in 6 months). I may make some peach freezer jam. I'm going to freeze peach slices too. Yesterday I ate a peach that was so perfectly ripe. I had to lean over the sink so the juice would dribble all over me. Each bite I took filled in with juice. It was heavenly! Ripe peach season has got to be one of my favorite weeks (or 2) of the year!

THS Marching Band Field Show

The Timpanogos High School Marching Band had an exhibition show last night. Here they are performing their field show "War and Peace".



Nolan decided to show his support for Jonathan's band and painted his face in the THS school colors.

Raspberries

Here's today's breakfast.
I absolutely love raspberries. They are my favorite fruit, with nectarines coming in at a close second place. Unfortunately, raspberries are so expensive and come in such small containers that I don't eat them very often. However, my neighbors have raspberries. They grown them along the fence line. The canes flop through the fence, and some grow over the fence. Last summer they told us that anything that crosses the fence line is ours to eat! Last night I went and harvested breakfast. Thanks, Baadsgaards! Looking at the picture, you might think that the berries aren't ripe and are gong to be incredibly sour. These are funny raspberries... they never turn very red! I guess they are anemic, but who cares... they are so yummy! I hear the berries calling me from the kitchen. It's breakfast time!

Found a New Food He Likes

Yesterday Miles ate a purple and a brown marker! He was much neater with the brown one. I only know he ate that one because I found the marker minus the tip. At least I now know what to do with the dried up markers!

Father and Son Morning Time

Miles sleep schedule is so unpredictable. Yesterday he refused to take a nap and went to bed at 10:30 p.m. Yes, he was grumpy last night, so no, he hasn't outgrown his nap; he just refused to take one. This morning Miles woke up around 5 a.m. and realized that Dan was getting ready for work. He got out of bed and had some bonding time with his dad. He dumped out a container of toys and started watching Monsters Inc while Dan ate his breakfast on the floor next to Miles. After about 30 minutes, Dan had to leave and Miles decided he was ready to go back to bed, so Dan went to work and Miles came and got in bed with me and went back to sleep until 8:30. While I would prefer that he sleep straight through the night, I think it's sweet that Miles got to have some special time with Dan.

Grocery Deals of the Week

Today I paid $2.99 for the T.P. (notice, it's Charmin, so all you whiners who hate my TP because it's not soft enough, come over and be pampered). I paid .67 for the fruit snacks (they have to be primary colored or Miles won't eat them), and .16 for the cereal (Dan loves Cinnamon Toast Crunch; it's like candy for him). I also paid .99 for tampons, but erase that from your memory if that is TMI for you!

The Artist

Miles loves markers and he loves to draw. He loves the brown marker best. Today he discovered a new canvas!

Fall Lacrosse

Nolan is playing on a traveling lacrosse team this fall. He's on the PG Thunder. They had their first game last Saturday and it really didn't go very well. Nolan plays attackman and isn't allowed to cross the center field line. The other team basically dominated the game and the ball rarely crossed the center field line to the other team's backfield, so Nolan spent most of the game standing around like this... This week, the PG Thunder has a double-header and hopefully the games will be more exciting for Nolan.

Only in My Dreams

Someday, I aspire to drive this...

re: My Post on Civility

Today I read in the paper about some idiot in Kentucky who shot and killed his wife and step-daughter because he didn't like the way his eggs were prepared for his breakfast. Then, because his wife ran to the neighbors' house for help, he shot and killed 3 neighbors before turning the gun on himself. All this was over EGGS! See what I meant? Society is really messed up...

My New "Mom Attitude"

I feel like I'm missing out a whole area of my boys' lives. They love the outdoors. I'm fine with it, especially if I'm inside! They love to bike, climb mountains, ski, etc. I love to hear about their adventures, but I rarely participate in their adventures because I don't know that I can. I haven't been physically active for several years so I figure I can't keep pace with the boys so I stay home. I decided I didn't like my attitude. I want, when they come to me and say "let's go climb Timp", to be able to say,"okay, let's go!" Right now, I really don't think that's a possibility, but I am changing things! For the past 2 weeks, I've made a point of getting at least 30 minutes of exercise, 5 days a week. Sometimes I walk; sometimes it's the elliptical; once it's been the treadmill (ugh!); and yesterday I went for a bike ride.

I haven't ridden my bike in at least 3 years. The 4 boys regularly ride from our house to Provo Canyon and up to Vivian Park. Yesterday I decided to go with them and figured that if I couldn't make it up the hills to the house, then I would proudly declare myself a wimp and walk my bike home. Going to Provo Canyon was fun. I think I could almost coast there! Dan and I stopped at one of the parks to let Miles play and throw rocks in the river while J and Nols rode to Vivian Park. Coming home was harder, but I made it! I rode up all the hills. I went on a successful bike ride with my family and had a good time doing it!

Society as I See It

ci·vil·i·ty (sĭ-vĭlˈĭ-tē) noun: Courteous behavior; politeness

re·spect (ri spekt′) noun: a feeling of high regard, honor, or esteem

What has happened to humankind in the past 20 years? It really seems that civility and respect are antiquated terms. Today's society seems to be extraordinarily self-serving. Twenty years ago, "agree to disagree" was the status quo; today, the status quo is "I am right". Standard Joe and Simple Jane are resorting to violence more and more often as the way to deal with conflict. In today's paper there was an article about a "lady" who got into an argument with her co-workers. The "lady" was escorted from the workplace. She went to her car, got a gun, reentered the workplace and killed, execution style, 2 co-workers. Nice way to settle and argument. Gun violence used to be reserved for gangs and thugs. Now, it's an all-too-common method of conflict resolution. I don't understand it. Locally, a few months ago, a mother got involved in her daughter's spat with another teenager. The mother went and Photoshopped together a pornographic image of the other teenager and plastered the image all over the girl's school. That's a great way to teach your child how to deal with conflict. "Talking it out" is become a rare form of conflict management and knee-jerk reaction is becoming mainstream. Society needs to find a way to reintroduce civility and respect for all. I don't have any ideas how this could be done other than making the human population watch reruns of Barney and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Is the increase in "violence as a means of conflict resolution" due to network and cable television programming? It is due to violent video games? Is it due to the easy access to guns? I don't know, but the trend in violence is alarming.

Miles and Natalie

Last night, we went to Dan's parents' house for a "cook-out". The term "cook-out" always makes me smile... that's Bona-talk for a BBQ! David's family was there, Dan's parents were there, and we were there. David's oldest daughter, Emily, was there with her family. She & her hubby have 2 kids... their son is 3.5 years old, and their daughter, Natalie, was born in January. During dinner, Natalie was playing in her playpen so her mommy and daddy could eat. Miles kept going over to the playpen to peek at Natalie and her toys. I was nervous that he would either try to climb in the playpen or throw a rock at Natalie. After I finished eating, I went over to see Natalie. She was starting to fuss, so I picked her up. Miles came over to see what was going on. I thought he was going to have one of his possessive mommy-moments and scream when he saw that I had Natalie. Cautiously, I knelt down so Miles could see Natalie. He wanted to give her loves! He gently gave her a "noggin". I stood up. He wanted to see Natalie again. I knelt back down. This time he leaned in and gave Natalie a kiss. He's quit giving me kisses, so I was jealous. I stood back up. He wanted more Natalie! I knelt down again, and this time, Miles stretched out his arms and gave Natalie a hug. It was so sweet to see Miles being sweet. Usually when I see him with other kids, he's being very defensive of his territory. Last night, he was simply adorable!

Red

Red is my favorite color. I love the rich, true red. Red was the first crayon I always wore down in the box. I've always had several red shirts. I have 2 red sweatshirts and 2 pairs of red shoes. I have a red purse. I have red chairs in my bedroom and I had a red wall in my PG house (okay, it wasn't primary red, but it still was red). I love red paper. I love red markers. I love my red spatulas. I love red. Years and years ago (about 21 years ago), I was in Macy's. I don't remember what I was looking for, but I ended up in the dress department looking at the clearance rack. Many ladies search for the perfect black dress, but not me, I've always been on a quest for the prefect red dress. That day, I found the red dress. It was Crayola Crayon Red. I remember it had big shoulder pads and it buttoned all the way down the front; it was a straight cut. I loved the dress at first sight. Then I looked at the price tag. On clearance, the dress was still over $100. There was no way I could buy a $100+ dress as a teenager (and I still don't pay that much for clothes). Knowing there was no way I was going to buy the dress, I never tried it on, but I knew it was the perfect dress. 21-ish years later, I have never owned a red dress. I still look for "that dress", however, today, "that dress" won't have big shoulder pads!

Been Crafty Lately

About a year ago, I found a picture online of a crayon holder that I thought was really cute/cool/functional. I decided I wanted to copy it. Miles' birthday is next month and I wanted to make the crayon holders for him to give to his nursery "friends". I didn't have a pattern, so I created my own, based on trial and error! I got it right on the third try! Here's the crayon holder all rolled up... Here it is ready to be used! Silly sideways pictures! I like it! I think it turned out fun! I've made 14 of them!!!

New Hat!

We love Miles' new hat! We love how he squishes his nose with it!

Tantrums!

Miles is the tantrum master! This is one of yesterday's tantrums. He was having a fit because I wouldn't let him have any more gum. His mouth was so full of partially chewed gum that he couldn't even chew what was in his mouth. I'm such a mean mommy!

Oh Dan, What Have You Done?

The porch made it on the "Fix-it" list even before we moved in. It's a tiled porch that has been subjected to Utah winters and to water/roofing issues that were never completely fixed by the previous owner(s). The tiles have been popping off since before we bought the house. Last weekend, Dan decided to start chiseling out the tiles. He found that the previous owner's way of repairing the porch was to slap another layer of tile on top of the original layer rather than actually getting to the root of the problem and solving it from there. We found standing water underneath the original tile layer.

Today Dan decided to rent a hammer-chisel and get serious about the tile demolition. I just went out and this is what I found. Here is Dan's toy. Here is the current status of the porch. I don't know what he is doing/accomplishing other than making a huge mess. He is chipping out all the damaged cement as well as 2 layers of tile/grout and tile cement. I'm wondering if we're going to have stairs at the rate he is going. He assures me that he has a plan. He just went out and bought a really long drill bit and is drilling holes down into the porch. Then he plans to use a saw to cut through something. I hate do-it-yourself projects that evolve as they go. Well, at least we have a back door!

Attention ALL Facebook Users in the World

Facebook is not a place for self-promotion, self-pity, laundry airing, spouse bashing, etc. Remember, posting a status is optional, and when you choose to post your status, you are inviting people into your life and they may just share an opinion with you that may annoy you, but you asked for it since you posted whatever it was you had to share. Please keep your whiny, childish rants off Facebook and put them in your own private journal. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Thanks for doing your part to keep Facebook a place I like to visit.

Relationships

Yesterday I was having a pity party for myself. Somehow, I got thinking about how I have not maintained contact with of my grade school/high school/hometown friends. Then I started thinking about how few people from PG I keep in touch with (and we lived there for 12 years and only moved a year ago). I thought about the relationships I've had that have ended because they weren't easy to maintain/mutually beneficial. I thought about the people who I stopped sending Christmas cards to because they never returned the greeting or they moved and never bothered to send a forwarding address. I started wondering WHAT IS MY PROBLEM? Am I toxic? Am I demanding? Do I not value people? Then I flipped the question... What is their problem? Are they the toxic one? Are they demanding? Do they not value me? I've been left to conclude that not all relationships are going to be life-long. As a matter of fact, most relationships have a purpose, and when that purpose is fulfilled, we outgrown those relationships is the search for "something more". Does that sound cynical? Not everyone grows at the same pace, so when I am the one left behind, I feel bad; but how many times have I been the one to leave another behind. I'm reminded of a relationship I had back in the U of U days. I really liked Becky. I never truly felt that she valued me as much as I valued her. We hung out with our kids at the playground. We occasionally visited each other in our homes. I moved. She moved. End of story. I'm okay with that. Looking back, our only real connection was we both were married to students and had babies the same age. I'm grateful to have known Becky and look back at our relationship with happy memories. I need to remember the good instead dwelling on the "what happened" when relationships dry up. I need to value the relationships I have.

One of My Quirks

Another confession... I have to be the first to read the newspaper or I won't read it. Okay, sometimes I will read it after it's been used, but rarely. I like the newspaper to be straight, crisp, and flat when I read it. I like the sections to be laying one on top of each other in order, and I read them in order. Once the paper has been read, the pages get "fluffed" and they don't lay flat or straight. I really hate getting the paper "second-handed" especially when the previous reader didn't follow the creases and created his/her own folds and the paper is now bumpy. So for the sake of peace in the home, I (usually) get the paper first. Odd, I know, but it's one of my quirks that makes me... me!

Cooking Adventures

I was in one of the "kitchen adventures" moods yesterday and I wanted to experiment with brownies. I love brownies. I love plain, rich, dark brownies; but yesterday, I wanted something more. I started playing around with new combinations. Now, while the end results weren't disasters, I don't plan on making the again. The first creation was a brownie base (from scratch, new recipe, and not recommended) with toffee and pretzel topping. Really, the topping is yummy; the brownie part wasn't. Brownie creation #2 was made from a mix. I made the brownie layer as directed, then frosted the brownies with vanilla frosting and sprinkled peanuts on top. Then I melted chocolate and peanut butter together and threw in some Rice Crispies and poured that over the peanuts. They taste okay, but fall apart easily. I really don't think they are worth the hassle. I think I'll stick with Bona's brownie recipe.

The Amazing Human Body

Yesterday, Miles and I were out for a walk. I was pushing Miles in his stroller all over the neighborhood... up hills, and hanging onto the stroller for dear life as we went down hills and gravity tried to take over. As I was pushing hard up the second to last hill, I started to pay attention to my body. I was reminded how amazing our bodies are and that the nervous system, in itself, is a total miracle. How my body knew I was pushing hard uphill, I don't know; but I was amazed and stunned to realize how fast my body knew to make adjustments for the stresses I was subjecting it to. It's amazing. I didn't have to do anything, other than walk up a hill, for my body to increase my heart and respiration rates so that my body wouldn't suffer and shut down because of my activity; and it makes these compensations nearly instantly. Amazing.