I'm a Winner!

It's official, I'm a winner! I love a contest where simply completing the task makes you a winner; it may be the only kind of competition at which I can excel. Who cares about quality? It's quantity that matters at NaNoWriMo.

Jello

Claire really wanted to make some orange jello, as in Jello brand gelatin, and I really wanted her to stop bugging me, so I explained rationally that there was no point making jello because we wouldn't even be able to eat it right away since it had to be in the fridge for a long time before you eat it, etc. etc. So she ran over to the fridge, opened the door, and stuck the box of Jello in. She looked really proud of herself.

NaNoWriMo

I've discovered that it's really hard to write 1666 words per day for a month. That's 50,000 words in 30 days if you're wondering. Why would I do such a thing? Madeleine's English class is doing NaNoWriMo this month as an assignment, so I decided it would be fun to do it too. It's actually hard and stressful and crazy, but it's fun at the same time. They have excellent pep talks from real writers (the published kind); it's almost worth doing this just to have an e-mail from Jasper Fforde show up in my mailbox. I might even do it again next year, even though I truly believe that the majority of what I'm writing is crap. According to the pros, writing crap is good practice.

Carter's a Kindergartener

He can't tell us what he does there, he can only tell us that he loves it. Carter was primed and ready to go on the first day of kindergarten. The snack was selected, the bag was packed, we were waiting in the driveway in plenty of time. He was so eager to get on the bus that I had to remind him to stop and turn around for his picture. How patient do you have to be to drive a bus? I could never do it.
When he got home, everyone wanted to know what he did at kindergarten, and every time we asked he said the same thing: It's a secret. When I tried again, hoping for some details, he once again told me it was a secret, but this time he paused and added: "...but I love it."

Carter's a boy who likes his secrets, but as long as he's thrilled to get on the bus every day, that's okay with me.

Claire's a Party Animal

For weeks, Claire talked about her three-year-old party, about her friends, her cake, and of course, her presents. The day finally arrived and it was everything she'd hoped it would be. Thank goodness for Malcolm and his willingness to play with a bunch of little kids. They were completely incapable of playing a game, at least not the way most people play them, and during musical pillows she thought the point was to end up on her own pillow every time, even if someone else was already on it and there were plenty of other pillows that were completely open.
She got the green cake she'd been asking for - very low maintenance for me - and she thought all of her presents were fabulous. It took days to recover - for both of us. Now we're counting down to Carter's big O-5.

Giant Sugar Cookies

This is a fantastic recipe I got from Everyday Food magazine, a great source for recipes and available at your local library. Well, my local library. It's also a great little giftie, put one or two in a cellophane bag and tie it with a ribbon.
I use a muffin scoop to make the big cookies and a single batch makes about twelve. You can use a regular cookie scoop, just cook them for around ten minutes.

Giant Sugar Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream
Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy,, 2-4 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat well to combine. Add half the flour with the baking powder, salt, and baking soda, followed by the sour cream, then remaining flour. Mix just until smooth. Drop mounds of dough, about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 4 inches apart onto baking sheets; sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 until edges of cookies are just firm and tops are barely beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Shoe Shopping

In the media, shoe shopping is portrayed as a highly desirable activity, filled with wonder and delight. True, it is better than clothes shopping, but only because shoes don't usually make my feet look fat.
Of course, no one has yet made a documentary of shoe shopping with Madeleine and Malcolm to shatter the popular positive image that shoe shopping maintains. It's not all their fault; I've never been a fan of shoe salespeople. I've encountered a good one now and again, but in general they fall into one of two categories: overly helpful, or impossible to find. We had the former today, and Madeleine was so annoyed that she composed this poem in the car on the way home.

There was an annoying sales clerk
Whose helpful manner just made her a jerk.
Her guidance I couldn't refuse
As she insisted on finding me shoes.
No matter how hard I did pray
She simply would not go away.
She must have committed a crime
She talked for such a long time.
After she left (for she had to breathe)
My hatred of shoe shopping inside of me seethed.
I dreamt that she had been lynched
Then sadly awoke when pinched.

Recipe of the Week

This is my favorite blueberry pie recipe. I've been eating it for years, and now that I've finally learned to make pie crust (after years of failure) I can make it without having my mommy around to help me. I'll include the crust recipe as well; it's from the Crisco can, but I think it's the higher fat Canadian version.

Blueberry Pie

4 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour (4 if frozen)
dash of salt
optional: ½ tsp cinnamon (I put it in)
Fill pie shell, sprinkle with 1-2 tsp lemon juice, dot with 1 tbsp butter. Add top crust. Bake at 400 F for 35-40 minutes.

Pie Crust (makes 1 double-crust pie)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup Crisco shortening
4 tbsp ice water
Combine flour, salt, and shortening with pastry cutter. Add ice water. I like to chill it in the fridge for an hour or two before I roll it out, and I roll it between sheets of waxed paper.

Recipe of the Week

As I sit here eating my lunch of leftovers, I've been inspired as to what my next Recipe of the Week should be. Plus, I told Shauna I'd give her the recipe. It's a great summer salad and it's easy to fool your kids into thinking the spinach is lettuce.

Spinach & Rice Salad

1 cup uncooked rice
½ cup bottled Italian salad dressing
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
2 cups fresh spinach, cut into thin strips
½ cup sliced celery
½ cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup crumbled crisp bacon

Cook rice according to package directions. Transfer to bowl. Cool slightly. Combine dressing, soy sauce and sugar. Stir into warm rice. Cover and chill. Fold in remaining ingredients before serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Recipe of the Week

Okay, so I've decided that I need to add a new element to my blog, something of interest, something that will actually encourage me to get on and post now and then. So here's the beginning of "The Recipe of the Week." I made Banana Bars this week and every time I give some away the recipients say they love them. They might be making up these favorable comments just to be polite, I can't be sure, but here's the recipe for anyone who wants it.
Oh, and this may or may not be posted weekly. Just being realistic.

Banana Bars

1 stick margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 ½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
1 tsp soda
2 ¼ cups flour
2/3 container sour cream (about 11 ounces)
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes in a jelly roll pan.
Top with cream cheese frosting – 1 stick butter, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla and 2 cups icing sugar

Totally Fab Hotel

I really loved our hotel in Waikiki, it was an Embassy Suites and since they were out of one bedroom suites, they gave us a two bedroom. Meaning also two bathroom. I've decided that a bathroom with two sinks just doesn't cut it, I want my own bathroom at home now too.
We had a fantastic view, both from our room (Diamond Head in the background) and from the balconies at either end of the hall. Unfortunately, due to my paralyzing fear of heights, I couldn't actually go onto the balcony, and had to leave the room when Jeff did. I was sure he was going over.

Married to a Chicken

An actual conversation I just had with Madeleine. It was a result of her reading her vocab sentences to me; her goal is always to make her teacher laugh.

Madeleine: Is the Easter Bunny a boy or a girl?
Me: A boy.
Madeleine: He must be married to a chicken.

My Mental Health Retreat

This month I left the kids in Jeff's capable hands and went off on what is now referred to as my Mental Health Retreat (yes, the capitalization is necessary). I went to my sister Deanna's in Oklahoma and then to see the Timothys in Phoenix. I'm happy to report that the trip was long enough to cause me to miss my family and I was happy to come home. These pictures are from the Desert Botanical Garden, where they also had an exhibit by the glass sculpture artist Chihuly.

Field Trip

Madeleine was kind of enough to invite me on her drama club's field trip to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was a lot of fun but absolutely freezing! And at the risk of sounding old, it took me two days to recover.

25 Random Things About Me

I know, I know, everyone out there is just begging for more exciting facts about me. I recently got tagged by a couple of people doing these lists, and surprised myself by getting into it. I loved reading about my friends, so here are my 25 random things.
If you're not my friend on Facebook yet, you should be.

1. I love my office. I love having my own space in my house with a door on it - now I just need to take my mother's advice and put a lock on it.

2. I love my computer, I thought I couldn't love a computer as much as my old PowerBook, but the iMac is awesome.

3. I used to wish that I could figure out how to read and walk at the same time, so I could read more often.

4. I'm sad when I finish a really good book because I don't want it to be over.

5. I broke my arm at the growing point when I was four and had to have it pinned together. My parents waited until I was fully grown to tell me that they weren't sure if it was going to grow - I'm glad they waited to tell me that. (Anyone who has been to a baptism where my dad gives a talk on the Holy Ghost knows this story well - I told him to warn me next time so I can buff up my scar before showing it off.)

6. I've spent my whole life not knowing what I want to be when I grow up. I still don't feel like an adult.

7. I had to go to speech therapy for a few years when I was little - no one could understand me except for my immediate family. I am still paranoid about it.

8. I love to bake, but I think most people know that. I just hate to clean up.

9. I spent my life getting out of gym class. I have probably attended fewer gym classes than anyone I know. I now like going to the Y, partly for the endorphins and partly for the babysitting.

10. I like to work on the house, but only if I have good instructions. I have a Home Depot how-to book that I consult. I especially like to paint.

11. I find that I go mental if I don't have a certain amount of time to myself. Suffice it to say, I am mental fairly often.

12. Last winter I hiked out onto the ice to visit my brother's ice fishing hut. It was actually much cozier than I thought it would be.

13. I don't mind cleaning toilets but I hate dusting.

14. I didn't learn to drive until I was 20. I didn't see the point.

15. I have naturally straight teeth.

16. I just learned to whistle a few years ago. I tried all my life, never gave up, and look where it got me! I'm now a mediocre whistler!

17. It also took me about 20 years to learn to make decent pie crust. Of course, I wasn't practicing the entire time, but still.

18. I'm Canadian. Born in Etobicoke, Ontario, lived in Bramalea and Barrie as well. I'm a resident alien here, and in case you're wondering, I have no interest in becoming an American citizen. People like to ask about that. Before you get offended, it's nothing personal, just not willing to turn my back on my birth country.

19. I love Pearls Before Swine. The comic strip. It's the best. I'd like to become Rat someday, he's my role model. Oh, and I love Dilbert and Foxtrot too.

20. I have a dent in my left cheek. On my face, that is. Everyone thinks it's a dimple, but I got it from twirling until I got dizzy and falling into the corner of an end table. (I think I'd better add that I was a small child at the time.)

21. I love Chinese food. And blueberry pie, but it has to be with little blueberries, not the big ones.

22. I love chocolate, and I have produced a child who is largely indifferent to it. That would be Madeleine.

23. I like names with double vowels, hence Madeleine and Claire.

24. I'm a closet Battlestar Galactica fan - but I guess I'm not in the closet anymore. I also love Dwight Schrute; of course, he loves Battlestar Galactica too.

25. I've always wanted to be a writer. I spent most of my life being too chicken to try it, but I've recently discovered that it doesn't matter if what I write is ever published, or even if it's never read by anyone but me. I started writing in earnest this last fall and I love doing it. The process alone is reward enough. Of course, making money at it would be totally great too...