Want a shrimp, Dad?

Sorry Bruce - I couldn't resist. Love you! Wish you were here!

1st Sergeant's Tissue

It was bound to happen. I am actually surprised that it took so long. Emmarsyn got into the 1st sergeant's tissue. 1st sergeant's tissue being the name marines give to toilet paper used in the place of actual tissues. My dad left this roll on an end table in the living room so it was really just a matter of time. I was in the kitchen and she was being a little too quiet. Of course from my point of view, a partial roll of toilet paper is a small price to pay for getting to fix dinner without interruptions.

Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Interesting perspective on the lives of Muslim women and some of the issues that they face. I feel like the author did a good job of delineating between mainstream Islam and Islamic extremism.


View all my reviews.

Frog in the Filter

Every time we go to Florida, we lift up the pool's filter cover and lo and behold there is a frog. Here is a shot of this year's frog after its release back into the wild.

We have arrived!

I decided a few weeks ago to take my three children to Pensacola, Florida to visit my dad. You do the math - 1 adult, 2 preschoolers, 1 toddler, 3 airplanes, 12 hours and 4 missing pieces of baggage. Yep that's right - the answer is 1 giant headache.

We set out for the airport at 5:30am. The flight to Denver was a breeze. The flight to Atlanta wasn't too bad. Emmarsyn screamed for about 5 minutes as we descended. A sympathetic flight attendant came and talked to her. She relaxed both of us and Emmarsyn fell asleep. I looked over at the boys and they were drifting off too. So for about 30 minutes on the way into Atlanta, I enjoyed my flight. The flight to Pensacola - now that was a different story. After a long wait on the runway we finally took off into storms kicked up by Hurricane Dolly. Fortunately for our luggage, it was on another plane with a pilot that had the sense to return to Atlanta. Lucky luggage. However, that left me with very little with which to accommodate my three children on our first night in Pensacola. After getting a loner car seat and a promise from Delta to have our luggage within the next 12 hours, we were off. We made a brief stop at Walmart for diapers and headed to grandpa's house. After a restless night getting kicked by Emmarsyn (her bed was of course one of the lost pieces of luggage), a day of thunderstorms that is mostly a blur, and 800 mg of Advil, I finally got a good night's sleep Wednesday and the headache went away.

So I consider today to be the first day of our vacation. We started with a little shopping, spent a few hours in the pool, played with some new Star Wars toys, and had a nice birthday dinner complete with cake and ice cream for grandpa. All the kids (and the birthday boy) have gone to bed and I am blogging and watching the Food Network. Who could ask for more?

Serenity Lost

It was lost long before he had even found it. By the time he knew it was gone, there was nothing to do but mourn its demise.

"It" was Firefly. A short-lived sci-fi series (with a western twist) that aired on FOX in 2002. Only 11 of the 14 produced episodes were aired before it was canceled. After it was canceled there was such an outpouring of fan support, that a movie, Serenity, was made to essentially bring closure to the story. Bruce saw the movie first. He liked it so much (ask him about the sounds of spaceships traveling through space) he did what all computer geeks would do and came home and looked it up on IMDB or maybe Wikipedia (probably both). Imagine his joy when he found that there had been a whole (well not quite whole) series about these characters and their stories. So he got the Firefly DVDs at the library and watched them at work during lunch. Now imagine his sorrow when he determined that this is probably the best science fiction series ever made and it never came to fruition. Recently, Bruce checked out the DVDs again to watch them with me. It was also like rubbing salt into a wound that just won't heal. I'd catch him looking up all kinds of info about the show on-line. He started reading the spin-off comic books and listening to the soundtrack.

If you know Bruce at all, you know that he doesn't get worked up over much. He is a fairly quiet, content, mostly non-emotive kind of guy. There is a lot going on inside - but that is where he keeps it most of the time. Given all this, I practically get giddy when Bruce is passionate enough about something that it becomes obvious to the general public (mainly me). It doesn't happen often, but once in a blue moon something like Firefly comes along.

So along with millions of other fans (including myself), Bruce has been left to wonder what could have been...but for now, for him I leave this advice - "When you can't walk, you crawl, and when you can't do that, you find someone to carry you."

Check out Firefly on Wikipedia

Bag Meals

I tend to get excited about weird things. Often rather mundane things. Today it is the concept of "bag meals". The idea is to find a recipe that consists of mostly non-perishable items, pre-measure them if possible, and put them all in a bag. When you need a quick meal, add one or two perishable items and voila, you have a complete dinner at a moment's notice. In Relief Society, volunteers were asked to taste test a "bag meal". As Spencer says, "Mom loves free things", so I was all over that. We tested out a beef stroganof recipe. While the dish left much to be desired, I loved the concept. Since the stroganof wasn't going to happen again, I set out on a search for a new recipe. I found one with just a few ingredients that were - as a bonus - really cheap! Tomato,Beef & Noodle Skillet Dinner - very simple but actually quite tasty even to me and I am not a huge fan of ground beef dishes. On days like today when we were running errands until about 5pm, it saved us from the temptation of picking up fast food. We got home, put the boys in the tub and I had dinner on the table before they were finished flooding the bathroom.

So here it is. If anybody has other recipes that can be adapted to the bag theory, please feel free to share.

Tomato, Beef & Noodle Skillet Dinner
Serves 4
Bag Contents:
2 14 ½ ounce cans stewed tomatoes
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (Can add more to stretch the meal a bit.)
¼ cup dry chopped onion
1 t salt
1 t chili powder
1 t garlic powder
¼ t ground pepper
¼ t sugar
(I add a dash or two of curry powder and ginger as well.)

Add:
½ lb ground beef (The original recipe called for 1lb.)

Cook and drain macaroni. Sautee ground beef with dried onion. Add tomatoes and seasonings. (I use a potato masher to crush the tomatoes as the kids - and I - do better with fewer "chunks".) Stir and cook until bubbly. Stir in macaroni and serve. (Additional ingredients such as fresh or frozen vegetables and cheese may be added to taste.)

Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches

Ultimate Cheapskates Road Map to True Riches, The: A Practical Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less by Jeff Yeager

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Great and simple philosophy about how to hold on to your money. Definitely made me rethink my spending habits and actually change them. Would have given it 5 stars, but the author has a fairly dirty mind and it came through a bit too much. Nothing too bad - it just got old after a while.


View all my reviews.

The Poisonwood Bible

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Loved it! It was one of those books that required my husband to take over for most of a Sunday so I could just finish it and get back to my real life. I became quite attached to the principle characters/narrators. Even the self-absorbed Rachel was endearing until she got old enough that she should have known better. The multiple points of view on race, religion, sisterhood, motherhood, love, and just surviving were fascinating. The character development was wonderful. The overwhelming beauty of Africa was well juxtaposed with the daily hardships and horror endured by the people at the hands of the land and those that ruled it. I was satisfied with the ending but am left with a craving to learn more about the Congo and its history.


View all my reviews.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
I'm sorry. I couldn't do it. I wanted to. My problem was with the writing style. The way "Death" narrated just wasn't for me. I really didn't enjoy the "colors" of everything and the liberty that was taken with phrases and words. I think of it like this - I love Yoda, but I'm not sure I could read an entire book authored by him. Given that, the overwhelmingly positive reviews of this novel do have me intrigued. I plan to try it again some time and just plow through it until I am hooked. I am assured by many that it would happen. So until then, it will remain on my "did-not-finish" shelf.


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I Pledge Allegiance...

Since summer began the boys and I have been doing "preschool" at home several days a week. We start each session by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance - complete with a homemade flag consisting of a bamboo pole and a print out from the web. Spencer learned the Pledge in "real" preschool last year and Matthew has learned it by heart remarkably quickly. They follow it up with a little song called "Flag of America". Not many things are cuter than a 3-year old reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, so here is my tribute to our great nation and the 4th of July....


Matthew saying the Pledge of Allegiance

Google Calendar

Last week I made a little discovery that has really helped with my family's scheduling difficulties. Google Calendar - it is easy to use and perhaps even more important - easy to share. I spent an evening inputting all of my family's potential summertime activities - storytimes, concerts, movies, festivals, etc. My husband has also set up a Google Calendar with his scheduled conference calls and a other known obligations. The dates and times are there, the locations are there. Now here is the genius part - with just a couple of mouse clicks, we shared our calendars. A couple of clicks and all of our plans and appointments are visible to both of us. This could save a marriage (not that ours is in need of saving - at least not today). Husbands rejoice - these simple mouse clicks - and the small chore of actually remembering to check your wife's Google Calendar - can turn you into the most attentive, tuned in, and caring guy around. I guarantee that if Bruce calls after I have slogged my way through the Summer Movie Club and the Bookworm Story Time with my three preschoolers in tow and asks me how the kids enjoyed the Bee Movie and story time festivities - he will be well rewarded. Thanks Google - from both of us!

Digital Scrapbook Memories

If you know me, you know that if I love a company or product or find a great deal, I will tell everyone. I am a long time Swiffer fanatic - the combo of a Swiffer Vacuum and a Swiffer Wet Jet changed my life, I sold 10 of my friends on an amazing deal at Gold's Gym, and I would recommend the Click N' Kids phonics program to anyone who has a child learning to read. That being said, I am pretty selective on my product endorsements (a fact surely lamented by a myriad of companies). However, in the world of digital scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbook Memories is a company that I can really get behind.

Please indulge a brief digression...
Back in the old days, when we walked to school in the snow - uphill both ways - and actually used paper products, paper cutters, and (I shudder to recall it) glue sticks to document our lives, I was always disappointed with the so called customer service grudgingly dolled out at those antiquated brick and mortar scrapbook stores. Sure they had "Crop Nights" when my friends and I could pay for the privilege of sitting in their store and buying their products. They would even let me pay for classes that would teach me to use more and more of their products that I would then buy. Anyone with a customer service background and a little marketing savvy would have seen a great opportunity to gain customers and revenue by offering free in store "cropping" and free classes to showcase new products.

Perhaps these practices have changed, but alas, I will never know. I have found a better world. A world that largely consists of my camera, my laptop, PSE 5, the Costco Photo Center, and some wonderful digital scrapbooking companies.

In my opinion, Digital Scrapbook Memories is the flagship company in the world of digital scrapbooking. Their marketing strategy is to impart to customers the knowledge and techniques requisite for success. They offer free live classes across the country as well as free virtual web based classes. Their website is chock full of useful tips, great forums, project ideas, and templates. There is a real sense of community in their forums and the veterans are amazingly supportive of us newcomers. This is a company that has my support and allegiance not just because of their great products, but because of the many methods they are using to build and maintain a customer base.

Torch Relay

Digital Scrapbook Memories is holding a "Torch Relay" contest. The idea is to see how far and wide this torch can be passed in the next month. There will be some great prizes if you are into digital scrapbooking - and if you are not, DSM is a great place to get started.

www.digitalscrapbookingmemories.com

Check it out!