18! 18! 18!

She's 18!

And very happy.

Otter's been birthday-ing all day long. She got up at her usual 5:30, then stood (im)patiently and waited for us to get to the dining room so she could open her gift from us. We gave her a digital camera. It was the main thing on her list, and she wasn't too surprised but she was happy about it. She took pictures of all her friends at school today, so I think it was a sucess.

Unlike last year's cake, this year's birthday cake was exactly what I ordered. In other words, I did NOT go to Wallyworld! I picked the cake up this morning and brought it home at lunch. And Bill actually managed to stay away from it, wow.

I picked Otter up at school, we came home for a few minutes and then went to meet Grandpa and Sweetie at the Hog Trough. We are all very stuffed, but it's really hard not to overdo it there. (The Hog Trough is what our Dad always called Golden Corral. For a good reason). We came home and had cake & ice cream - which was hard because we were all pretty full, but you have to have cake & ice cream on a birthday. You just have to.

Now, I'm going to take my overstuffed self to the couch. And if I can get the energy up after that meal, I'm going to crochet. And try to figure out just where the last 18 years went!

Marching Forward! And Books (Edited)

I know it's not the last day of March, but I probably won't have time to read tomorrow and I might not have time to blog, either. So the book list is today.

1. Lion Brand Yarn Vintage Styles for Today - More than 50 Patterns to Knit & Crochet. Well, there was one good pattern anyway!

2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nevada Rose. Boring!

3. Family Circle Easy Afghans, 50 Kint & Crochet Projects. Again, not much to hold my interest.

4. Crocheting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti. I don't know where she got the idea that this would be a good idea, it was a very badly written book and if I wasn't an experienced crocheter, I would probably not ever even attempt it after this book.

5. New Encyclopedia of Snakes by Christ Mattison. Well, it had good pictures. But the author very obviously knows very little about snakes!

6. Little House in the Big Woods. I ran out of books to read and it was a Saturday, so I hit my bookshelf.

7. Little House on the Prarie. See # 6.

8. Little House on the banks of Plum Creek. See # 6 & 7.

9. Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. When I finished 6, 7 & 8 it was still the same Saturday so I went back to my bookshelf. This one is always good.

10. Murder in the Heartland by M. William Phelps. This was a true-crime story. It wasn't as well done as Ann Rule, but it was good. A very sad story. But I felt like the author did a good job with it.

11. F5 by Mark Levine. About the April 1974 tornado outbreak.

12. Crime Beat by Michael Connely. This was a collection of articles & true crime stories. It was ok, good in some places and boring in others. But it was mostly new to me.

13. Extreme Weather by Christopher C. Burt. Interesting, I learned a few things.

14. Cooking Light, Chicken. I'm on the hunt for new recipes, but this book didn't have much that was interesting. It had some good recipes, but they weren't things I wanted to try.

15. The Main Street of America Cookbook, A culinary journey down Route 66 by Marian Clark. Interesting recipes, I'm actually not quite finished with this one.

16. Portraits of Guilt, the Woman Who Profiles the Faces of America's Deadliest Chriminals by Jeanne Boylan. I wasn't sure about this one at first, the title had too many words and that generally means a bad book. But it was actually good and I would recommend it.

17. Unsweetened By Jodie Sweetin. She was the middle child on the tv series Full House and she had the stereotypical experience of a child who grew up on tv - drugs and just about everything else. I don't feel like she was making an excuse like some of them do, but there was still an element of that.

18. Twist of Faith, the story of Anne Beiler - the founder of Aunt Anne's pretzels by Anne Beiler. I'm also still reading this one, but it looks like it will be a fast read. (Edit: I finished this book and it was still March! I'm not impressed. I feel like she is a woman who had some bad circumstances - the loss of a child. And she made some bad choices for her life as a result. But the book feels almost like she was just glossing over her mistakes and while not blaming anyone else, it's almost like she's not really sorry even though she professes to be).

Otter is pretty much over the bug she had, she went back to school this morning. She is still sneezy and has some congestion, but her throat isn't sore and she's not hoarse. She really did NOT want to be sick on her birthday. Having been there myself, I have to say that I agree with her - it's not fun!

The neighbor's fence is finished, at least our side. They started it yesterday and got it finished sometime this afternoon. I think they still need to do her other side, but all we were concerned with was our side. We're going to take the temporary fence down that we rigged up Sunday evening to keep poochies in, probably this evening.

Not much else to talk about tonight. I'm going to pick up a birthday cake in the morning on the way to work and probably bring it home at lunch. And the young adult in the house will open presents in the morning. We couldn't talk her into waiting until tomorrow evening, for some reason.

Maggie Monday

Hi! Hi! Hi! It's meeee, Maggie! Hi! Hi! Hi!

My Mommm and big brudder Frasier's Mommm are home with uss. I don't knoww why big brudder Frasier's Mommm is home but my Mommm stayeded in our bedd this day. My mommm is not in our beddd now, but she didn't put on herr normal day furr she still has on her sleeptime furr. Our peeples don't call it furr but it's stuff they put on to cover up. Our peeples don't gott much furr so I guess they get coldd because they have to put stuff on that covers up their legs and stuff. Doggies got 4 leggs, the peeples got 4 leggs but they only use 2 of them. The other 2 leggs are short and high up, so I guess they can't use them to walk like wee do. Poor peeples. But we don't say anything to themm about their 2 short leggs not being right, it would be rude and doggies don't like to be rude.

Anyway, I think my Mommm might be sickk. But I take gooood care of her. I stay right by her and keeep her warrmm. Warrmm is goood. I'm being a goood girl today, my Mommm neeeeds meee. I going back to my Mommm now. Woof.

Sunday Chicken Noodle Soup

Easy title today. Guess what we had for lunch! And it was even homemade. Which it usually is. And we also had wheat rolls with it. And snickerdoodles for dessert!

Otter's possibly trying to come down with a cold. Maybe allergy, but I can't tell yet and neither can she. But her lungs are not involved - yet - and we hope that they won't be. So, chicken noodle soup today. She ate two bowls of it, she was a hungry girl. Bill's not a soup fan, but he does like this one. Which is a good thing, because there are two containers of it in the freezer now, which will be in his lunch very soon. He also likes my beef/vegetable soup, although he insists is stew and not soup. (He's wrong about that, but he likes it and is usually first in line for it when I make it).

I went to an estate sale this afternoon. It was advertised on Craigslist and the listing said that they had Fenton glass. Which is usually a good clue that it's overpriced. And it was. But I still enjoyed getting out for a while, I found 2 necklaces and a bracelet for Otter so it wasn't a total bust. But they were very proud of the Fenton. Too proud for me!

I remembered to take my shawl with me to church this morning. And I'm glad, because I needed it though most of the service. It worked perfectly, I was afraid it might be a little long but it was just the right size. It's very warm, and it's going to get regular use.

I'm not positive, but I think that I ran into myself from about 30 years in the future in Wallyworld just now. Buying yarn, of course. That was my first clue. Second clue: she crochets. She does lots of crochet, judging from the conversation. And she prefers variegated colors, 3rd clue. 4th clue: her favorite variegated color is also mine. 5th clue: she has run out of people to make things for and is now making lap blankets to donate to nursing homes - which I have been considering for a while. 6th clue: She has a huge stash of yarn and some of it is pretty old, which is what she was trying to match today. 7th clue: her poor husband, standing there while she filled the basket up with yarn - I've seen the same long-suffering expression on Bill's face many times! And it always involves me and the yarn department. :)

The dogsters are doing much better about not being in the kitchen when we're cooking. It took Maggie a few times of being sent back to the living room, but she seems to be getting the idea. Frasier being Frasier, it only took telling him once or twice and he caught on. Maggie, well let's just say she's not the sharpest tool in the shed and leave it at that. She's been spending a lot of time at Otter's feet today, that dog is very devoted to her person. Which is a good thing!

I've finally found plants for the whiskey barrel. I wanted mums but this is not the time of year for them, they are more fall plants. So I looked around the plants section when we were at Lowe's earlier today and found Gerbera Daisy plants, which Otter loves. I bought 4, they may get a little big for the whiskey barrel but that's where they are going. They are annuals, so I'll probably still wind up putting mums in there in the fall. But for now, they will be fine. I got yellow, red and peachy blooms. And some type of smaller reddish flower for the strawberry pot, I forget the name of it. They probably won't get planted until at least tomorrow.

Time to get back to my laundry (ugh!) and also I need to wake Otter up, she wanted to take a nap but didn't want to sleep too long. She's been asleep about an hour, if I don't wake her up soon she probably won't sleep tonight. So, I'm going to go wake her up. But I'm nicer than Bill is - when he wakes her up, it usually involves threats of ice water!

Frasier Friday

Frasier here. My little sisterr Maggie is asleepin somewherres so it's just mee todayy.

We luvs our peeples, but our peeples are not being niiice to uss. Dey are not lettingg usss in the fooods rooom. Our fooods get put in that rooom and wee can bee dere for our fooods. Butt dey are not lettingg uss in the fooods rooom when dey are making the peeples fooods.

My mommm saided dat it's cause Maggie kept getting stepted on. My mommm saided shee has somethin called a badd neee. I dun't know what neee is, but my Mommm said it's badd so I dun't want wun. I'm a gooood boy. But Daddd said that my Mommm didn't need to step on Maggie and fall. But if my Mommm falls, she'll be on the flooor wit mee and I like it when Mommm gets on flooor wit mee.

I do think it's funny when Maggie gets stepted on. Maggie is a brrat. I'm Frasier, I'm special. I don't get stepted on, I get behind my Mommm and lean on her so she knows I'm dere. I have to keep her safe. Mommm said I have a new name sometimeses, she said I should bee called Underfoot. And Maggie should get a new name, herr new name should be Intheway.

But dey still won't lett mee in the fooods room and I don't think dat's fair. I'm Frasier!

Cake!

This post is for one reason. To reassure Otter that I, her loving mother, did NOT order her one of these when I ordered her birthday cake today.

Just in case you are wondering what in the world that picture is, go to cakewrecks. It's linked on the side.

I didn't order one.

But I really, REALLY wanted to.

Otter's Turn

We have a guest blogger today. Her name is Otter. She is going to share some of her wisdom with you. Aren't you lucky? :)

Take it away, Otter!

Hello, my loyal *Not* readers! Downal wyth Bluddy Behg Hid! For those of you not versed in Outlandish, that means Down with the Bloody Big head. Bloody Big Head meaning The Red Queen, Iracebeth. And if you have no idea of what I speak, then it's high time you get your rear in gear and go see the new movie Alice in Wonderland!

I recently saw this movie, and was absolutely floored by it. Other reviewers were acting as if it were horrible, but I have my doubts to their credibility. So ignore them. The movie is wonderful. For those who have not seen it, I will be sure to tag spoilers for you (as I hate when people don't do that).

The movie opens thirteen years after the events of the books published by Lewis Carrol, and Alice is now a young woman. She and her mother are attending a party held by Lord and Lady Ascot, but all is not as it appears. (Spoiler!) As it turns out, Lord Ascot's son, Hamish, is going to propose to her in front of everyone, and this is their engagement party! Gasp! Alice is shocked (Not really) by this turn of events, and while trying to figure a way around this (She really dislikes Hamish), she spys a white rabbit in a waistcoat. She follows him, and finds herself falling into a rabbit hole!

Now, the real adventure starts. As it turns out, (Spoiler!) She is the one whom is to slay the monstrous Jabberwocky, as fortold in the Oraculum. Now if only she herself could belive it...

This movie's visuals are absolutely stunning. The 3-D effects alone can be worth the cost of the ticket. It's not much of an In-your-face stuff-jumping-out-at-you 3-D, but a more subtle, you-are-in-this-world kind of 3-D. Beautiful. The animations for say, the Cheshire Cat (His name is Chessur) vanishing are marvelously done.

What really nails this movie is the intense amouth of detail put into it. (Spoiler!) For example, when Tarrant (Mad Hatter) goes off his nut, his eyes turn yellow and he suddenly adopts a Scottish accent. Spooky. There are simply too many little details in this movie to catch it all in one go.

That is not to say that it is without its own issues. Some plot lines are a bit rushed, and some are a tad confusing. While most of the characters are wonderfully designed, The White Queen (Mirana), looks a tad unbalanced with her white hair and dress contrasting on her unbleached eyebrows and dark plum lipstick. Some characters that had a somewhat important role in the books are in there, but have no speaking parts and simply exist to fill space in crowd scenes.

But overall, I would say it's a very good movie. Prepare to laugh, cry, fall in love, be wowed beyond comprehension, and most importantly, have a wonderous time.

Sunday Snow Ice Cream

No, we didn't make it this time. We should have put a bowl out yesterday to catch it, but nobody thought about it. The snow is still coming down (it's just after 10:00 a.m.) but I don't think it's supposed to snow all day.

This will probably be a long post, which will be updated numerous times.

We just got the car cleaned off, there isn't much ice with the snow although what has been on the ground since yesterday froze up a little bit overnight. The street looks ok, although I'm sure that there are spots where the roads will be icy.

Otter's birthday party is today, if we had not bought the tickets in advance we would postpone. But we did buy the ticket for the movie early and they can only be used today, and since the roads are not as bad as they could be, we're going to go ahead with her party plans. We'll leave in a couple of hours, which will be a lot earlier than planned, and go pick up the girls. Then when we get to the theater, I'll decide if I'm coming back home or spending a couple of hours in the Target across the street. I'm not sure how much traffic there will be, quite a few churches in the area are closed today because of the weather.

-------------------------------

It's now 2:00. We got the girls a little early, and it was a very full car. The roads were good, just slushy in spots and the traffic was light. I dropped off my flock of chattering birds about a hour before the movie, they were heading for the games as I was walking out the door. I walked them in to check what time the movie was over, and I also carried a bunch of coats & hats out with me. It is pretty cold, the wind is brutal. I nearly froze just walking to the car.

I stopped at Wallyworld to get something Bill needed, and the parking lot was very slushy. I had on my tennis shoes, my leather boots don't have much grip surface so even though they are very warm I don't use them often in winter weather. My tennis shoes got soaked and so did my socks. I walked around Wallyworld in wet, cold shoes & socks. Since it's not slick icy, I'll probably put my boots on when I go get the girls in a little over an hour. Then I'll take the chattering flock to Cici's.

Speaking of chattering flocks, the back yard is full of birds. I never actually got my bird feeders filled (it just did not occur to me Friday evening), so I've been tossing seed out there for them. There are a lot of starlings (vermin!), 2 different kinds of sparrows, chickadees, cardinals (several of each gender) and one very large woodpecker. We've had woodpeckers before, usually the smaller ones. This one was very big and is probably the one we hear in the neighborhood. I have very seldom seen them on the ground like that, he was eating seed with the rest of the birds. But he didn't stay on the ground for long, he was up on the tree and hammering away the last time I saw him.

---------------------

5:45 now! I picked the girls up at the theater, and they were very happy. They loved the movie, and Otter was clearly enjoying her birthday party. I took them to Cici's for pizza and they had a good time there as well. We drove everyone home after that, and Otter now says that she is very tired but that she had a good day and really enjoyed her party. That's what we wanted, for her to have a good time with her friends.

While I was home between theater runs, I did manage to get some laundry done and a little crochet accomplished on Otter's pillow cover. I put some more on Bill's blanket yesterday, it was a good day to work on a blanket because I could crochet and it was keeping me warm at the same time.

The roads are pretty much cleared, there are a (very) few spots that are wet and might be frozen again in the morning, but it's going to be much warmer next week so the snow won't be on the ground much longer. It will probably start to melt tomorrow. This is probably the last we'll see of it until next winter, but I have to admit that I enjoyed this late & unexpected snow. I'm glad it hit on a weekend, when we didn't have to go anywhere and were able to spend the day in front of the fireplace. Today wasn't that bad, the car cleared off easily and the roads were decent. But yesterday was really nice, I much prefer when winter weather coincides with a weekend so I don't have to attempt to get out and go to work!

I posted an entry on the craft blog, it's previous crochet projects. I have several things in the works now that will be posted, when I'm finished - or in the case of Bill's blanket, when I've gotten more done on it because it's a work-in-progress for a long time.

Movie review: Otter had never seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind. So we watched it yesterday. She enjoyed it, which we thought she would. And now, she understands references to it from other sources such as tv shows like Futurama and the movie Monsters Vs. Aliens. It is still one of my favorite movies, after all the aliens did use Music to communicate!

The First Day of Spring

We've pretty much been in front of this all day long. We're very glad that we have it and that we got it fixed last year.

This was taken about 9:00 this morning. It was just starting to come down. The white dashes in front of the chair are snowflakes. They were fast and furious!

This was probably around 9:00 as well. The larger spots on the deck are actual snowflakes that fell - they were huge.

This was just a couple of hours later. This is the back fence, and the gas meter. It's getting deep!

We think we got around 7". It's been coming down all day.

The first day of Spring. Low 30's and snow. Welcome to Oklahoma!

Beautiful Friday

It was lovely today, just really nice. Warm - low 70's. Slightly breezy, but very nice. We enjoyed it while we could, because tomorrow is supposed to be about as opposite as is possible.

No matter the weather, Otter's party is happening on Sunday. We've already alerted the girls that we might be picking them up early, since they are all pretty close to the house. The theater is not really far away, but it's the farthest we'll have to drive. So, given the options if the weather is bad we will aim for early. That way, we have plenty of time. Also, if the roads are not good, I'll probably go to Target which is next door to the theater, and stay there until the movie is through. Then I'll pick the girls up and take them to Cici's for pizza. But there is no telling at the moment, the forecast is (depending on which station we watch) anywhere from snow starting early tomorrow morning and continuing all day to starting tomorrow afternoon and continuing all night to starting tomorrow night and continuing all Sunday. But it's probably going to be gone fast, the roads & ground are pretty warm.

I'm kind of sore today, I told Bill I feel like I got beat up. Falling can do that to you. I might have a little bruise on my arm, but the scrapes are all much better. I'm just very sore on my left side, which is where I took the impact. I took motrin last night and a couple of times today. I might take a muscle relaxer tonight, or maybe I'll just have a glass or two of wine.

Not much else going on around my house, our Friday evening chores are done and now it's time to start relaxing!

Oklahoma Weather and a Few Other Things

First: Tomorrow is the last day of winter. The forecasted temperature? 71 degrees.

Saturday is the first day of spring. The forecasted temperature? Low 30's. And possibly with snow.

I have an expression I use. Frequently, in fact. When one or the other of my bad knees decide I should be going a different direction than I want to, then I refer to it as my knee mutiny. Sometimes it's not so bad, I might turn slightly away from the direction I'm actually trying to walk. It doesn't happen all the time, it's just that when it does I notice it. Sometimes, I really notice it. Like tonight.

Tonight, my left knee added a new element to the game. I was stepping over the dog block in the garage - the block is a low piece of wood to keep them from wandering around in the rest of the garage. Frasier can get over it, but Maggie can't quite. We've gotten on him a couple of times and he doesn't go over it too often. I was attempting to step over it and my left knee decided that no, it didn't really want to bend enough to allow me to raise my foot enough to clear the block. My foot caught on the top of it, I managed to get my foot over it and was able to catch the side of my shelf frame with my right hand so that I landed on parts of me other than my head. I wound up with one leg on one side of the block, and the other leg more or less on top of the block. Both knees were twisted when I fell. I am pretty scraped up on my left ankle in the front, my left knee and I have a small scraped spot on my left arm about mid-way between my wrist and elbow. Both arms are a little sore, but not too bad. However, the same can not be said about my knees. Nothing is broken, I don't think I've even sprained. But it's going to put a definite kink in my crochet plans for a couple of days. Not Happy!

I washed everything and hit it with peroxide. Which didn't sting, but it was awfully cold! And then Maggie kept following me around, sniffing. I don't think she likes the smell of peroxide. She should be used to it, as many times as we have to douse Bill with it!

I'm thinking that mutiny doesn't even begin to describe what my knees did to me this evening. I need to come up with another phrase. Any suggestions?

(Besides knee surgery, that is.)

It's finally Yard Sale Season! There was one in the neighborhood. I didn't find anything, but Otter found a necklace. I was just glad to see one, it's been a while!

The next door neighbor came over a while ago. She wanted to tell us that she's having her fence replaced. She's just getting bids now, but it will be sometime in the very near future. She said that she'll have them start with our side. She will let us know when it will be, so we can keep the pooches from wandering the neighborhood. I figure that we'll probably leave them in the garage but blocked where they can't get out. Then I'll come home at lunch and take them for a short walk to take care of nature's calls. It should take a few days, and then there will be less worry of her dogs breaking through again.

Bill just came in, he was in his favorite pajamas. He was griping because his pockets weren't cooperating with him. He couldn't get the pockets to go back inside, they were sticking out. Then he realized that he was the problem, not the pockets - he had his pj bottoms on inside out!

The Hollywood Video in our area is closing. We've made several trips there to buy movies, we hit it again tonight for what will probably be the last time. They were playing a very annoying dvd on the in-store tv: PeeWee's Playhouse. It was annoying when it was on originally, way back when. It's even more annoying now! I have the theme song stuck in my head. Really getting tired of hearing it.

Last day of Otter's spring break tomorrow. She's going to work with me, for what may well be the last time. She'll be 18 in a couple of weeks.

Sigh.

Going Green

Froggy, this picture is just for you.

Don't forget to wear your green today!

Tuesday

We've started a new blog!

(Like I really need something else to occupy my time.)

This blog is my main one and will continue to be. But I decided I needed to seperate out some of the craft related stuff so we decided we needed another blog just for that.

http://ottermomcrafts.blogspot.com/

More later, I've been working on a crochet project and I'm nearly through.

Marvelous Monday!

Otter had her annual lung recheck this morning. The doctor was very impressed with her progress, he told her to keep doing what she's doing and said that he'd see her in a year. Which is the best scenario possible. Her pulmonary function test was very good, her peak flow reading was very high and all indications are that asthma is behaving - and hopefully, will keep behaving.

After work, we went by to see Miss Dorothy. Otter hadn't seen her for a few weeks. Miss Dorothy is doing so well that it's hard to believe that she was so desperately injured & sick just under a year ago. She walks as well as, if not better than, she did before she broke her hip. And her other health issues that were discovered as a result of the hospitalization have cleared up. As usual, I had to practically drag Otter out the door when it was time to leave. She'd have liked to stay and I think that Miss Dorothy would have let her!

I had to bribe her with a trip to the book store to get her to leave.

I'm pretty tired tonight. I didn't sleep too well last night for some reason. Bill didn't sleep too well, either. Of course, his reason might have something to do with the fact that I was restless - he claims that he was awakened by my hand landing on his face. But I'm denying responsibility. After all, if I was asleep it shouldn't count!

I did manage to get a little crochet time in when we got home. I have a project I'm working on that I'm getting closer to being finished with, but I'm not quite there yet. Not too long, though. I might get a little more done on it this evening.

Froggy, please send me Mom's apple pie recipe! I don't have it. I thought I did, but somehow I missed it when I was collecting her recipes.

And now I'm off to surf the 'net for a little while. Then I'll probably crochet. Big surprise, I know.

Sunday M & M's

It was fairly easy to find this picture.

Very easy, in fact. The M & M's were sitting on my kitchen counter! Now, they are in the freezer. Although there are not quite as many as there were when I took the picture! It was 5 1/4 pounds. Now, it's probably closer to 5 pounds but that still means that we've eaten a lot of them!

(We have a plastic container which we keep chocolate in, it is stored in the freezer. Bill's idea was to fill it up with M &M's).

I'm pretty sure that I will not have bluebonnets in the whiskey barrel this year. :( They came up at the wrong time of the year (December!) and froze before they could get to the blooming stage. So, no seeds were dropped. I've been checking daily, since there was still a chance (slim to none) but there haven't been any. Lowe's hasn't had them the last couple of years. We went to Lowe's this afternoon with Bill and we looked at their plants while we were there. They don't have much yet, it's still a little early. So, for the moment, the whiskey barrel just has weeds. I have mums in the front of the house, but I'm thinking about yanking them out as they are really too big for the spot I have them in. I might plant bluebonnet seeds in that spot next fall (worth a try anyway although I've never had much luck with growing them from seeds). In the meantime, I have pretty much decided that I still want mums. Just in a different place. Like the whiskey barrel. Mums are pretty hard to kill, they don't require much care and are very easy to grow. I just haven't seen any plants yet, but like I said - it's still early. I think I want a different color mum this time. I had white ones at my house in Texas, Dad got them for me - they had been on the stage when the Pope was in SA and he always joked about how they were blessed. I had lavenderish ones at our old house, and the ones I have here are rust colored. Anybody got any suggestions? (Besides A & M maroon!). I have always loved mums and I still do, I'm just ready for a change in color.

I bought several packets of morning glory seeds, in various colors. The ones that we have always had are a georgeous blue color and we just love them. But I want a little variety in them. The blue ones haven't started coming up yet, but they will soon enough. We are going to continue installing trellis pieces on the privacy fence in back, we got some up last year and the morning glory vines covered them up in no time. The idea is to have trellis all along the fence, it will be covered with vines and will look like the fence is just green plants with flowers. It was really pretty last year.

Otter is thinking she wants to do some container gardening this year. We've grown herbs in pots before and had pretty good luck, she might go that route. Or she might grow peppers. We've had strawberries before and they are fun, but we didn't have very good luck with them last year so we probably will not have them this year.

The tulips look great, there are more than we thought and a couple of them have buds already. They were such a wonderful surprise! And the iris plants are doing very well in the back yard. They never died down from last year, so I was never able to dig up any to move, but that's fine with me. And probably fine with Otter, I don't think she enjoys the process of digging up and replanting irises!

Spring Break this week. Otter has her annual lung recheck at the allergist's tomorrow. I don't anticipate any problems, she's been doing really well. But she has to go get checked each year and also have what is known as a pulmonary function test - Froggy, you are probaby familiar with that one. It's not fun. But it's necessary.

I'm having difficulty breathing myself at the moment. But it's because of a certain very large & furry dog that is sleeping on the floor beside me! Not sure what he ate, but it was probably pretty bad because he stinks! Think maybe I'll go find one of the face masks Bill uses when he's working in the garage with the chemicals he used on one of his projects. Or maybe I'll just open a window and hang Frasier's behind out of it!

Springing Forward

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour tonight.

I personally don't think it's necessary to have the time changes anymore. Arizona doesn't, and they seem to do fine.

But since we still have to do it, I'm going to set all my clocks up before bedtime tonight.

I'll still spend the next few days trying to adjust! I dislike the spring change the most, the fall change is easier but still not really necessary.

Friday, March 12

Today would have been Mom's birthday.

Mom loved her family, she loved to cook and she loved to take care of us. One of her favorite foods was apple pie. So Froggy and I decided that we needed to have apple pie today. Froggy makes hers from scratch. I prefer to buy mine pre-made, so I have a Mrs. Smith's in the oven. And a carton of vanilla ice cream in the freezer, since as Bill says it's illegal to have pie without ice cream. (Froggy, email me Mom's recipe for apple pie and I'll put it on the cooking blog.)

Since Otter's not a big pie fan, she's just going to have the ice cream part of the equation. But it will still be in Mom's memory. One of Mom's other favorites was to make homemade ice cream. Like the pie, mine came from the store. We do make it in the cuisenart (sp?) from time to time, but I wanted enough to have over the next couple of days so I bought it.

Mom also liked to make peach cobbler. Her recipe is on my cooking blog. She loved peaches, she preferred fresh ones to canned. She would buy them in Fredericksburg, TEXAS, which is the peach capital of the world. She would make various things with fresh peaches and she would also freeze them. Her peach cobbler was out of this world. I've made it myself a few times, but it's just not the same. She could make a meal out of the most different batch of leftovers possible, and it would be delicious.

Mom taught us to love animals. Some of my earliest and fondest memories involve the zoo. Dad brought me turtles, but Mom is where I first learned to love animals.

Mom also taught us to sit on the floor or ground. Even today, I'd prefer to sit on the floor as opposed to a chair. Although we didn't know it at the time, it's a Cherokee habit. If you are sitting on the floor (or preferably, the ground), you are touching something that the Creator made and that makes you physically closer to the Creator. Same thing applies to going barefoot, because after all, if your feet are touching the earth then you are touching something made by the Creator. Although Otter and I both have a shoe fetish, we still love to go barefoot. I think all of us do, and a lot of my childhood memories involve having bare feet.

One of my most special memories of Mom is being baptised with her. I have a very early memory of being baptised in the Methodist Church, I remember the water being sprinkled on my head but not much else about it. But when I was about Otter's age, we had started attending the Baptist Church on a regular basis - we'd attended it off & on already. Dad was baptised first, then I think Froggy was next. That left Mom and I. We both decided at the same time, on the same day and in the same service in fact, that it was time and what we wanted/needed to do. So we were baptised in the same ceremony, she was first and then it was my turn. It made a very special moment even more special and it is a memory I will treasure forever.

I don't mean to leave Toadles out, but he was already out of the house and in the Navy by the time my memories start. Toadles, email me if you have anything you want me to mention - Froggy, you too.

One of Mom's major joys was her grandchildren. I remember how excited she was when JediMom came along. JediMom was her first one and she was overjoyed. So was Dad, I'm not leaving him out, but this is about Mom. Each of her grandchildren was special to her and she was crazy about all of them. I think she would be very happy that there is another generation, JediMom's precious children. She loved children and they loved her just as much, total strangers would let her hold their children. She was just a natural!

Today is also what we are calling the dog's birthday. Maggie was Otter's birthday present 4 years ago, we got her right before the 12th and Otter decided that Maggie's birthday would be the same as her Grammy's. Frasier joined the family on January 1 of the same year, so we've had him a couple of months longer than Maggie, but we decided Frasier's day would be the same. We don't celebrate dog birthdays or have parties for them. (They get treats later on this evening.) With Mom's love of animals, we think it's appropriate to remember the dogs today.

One more personal note: Mom was very happy that Otter was born in March since it was the same month as her birthday. Otter was actuall due mid-April, but she must have known that it was better to be born in the same month as her Grammy because she certain listened when Mom told me that I should have her in March!

Kind of Boring Mid Week Stuff

It's been a quiet week. So I haven't blogged much. But I'm enjoying this quiet week. Boring can be good sometimes!

I haven't crocheted too much this week. I had intented to spend several hours yesterday afternoon/evening at it, but my back was bothering me after I unloaded a trunkload of groceries. Maybe this evening, I have a project I'm working on.

Today was nice, it was a little cool and breezy but the sun was out most of the day. I finally got some outside time in! I let the dogsters out in the back yard and then when Otter got home from school, we stayed out there with them for a while. We had discussed a bike ride or walking the dogs, but there is "something" in the air and we are both having mild allergy symptoms. So we decided to stay in the back yard so we could go inside when we needed to. The dogs had plenty of time to run around like headless chickens, which they did, and then Maggie Moo found a mole that had apparently been killed by one of them a while ago. It was totally flat. She was thinking about rolling on it, I could tell. So I tossed it over the back fence and then she went on to other things. Fraiser was very interested in the compost pile, which is mostly leaves & limbs at this point with a little ash from the last time I cleaned the fireplace. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a rodent (or several) living in it.

Otter's birthday celebration plans are firmed up. She's going to take a few of her friends to see the new Alice in Wonderland movie and then they are going to get pizza. I might have mentioned this before, so it may be a rerun. Whatever! Anyway, she is about to have a conniption fit (as Mom used to say) because she hasn't gotten to see the movie yet and everybody keeps trying to tell her about it.

Her actual birthday will be dinner with family, at the Hog Trough. (Golden Corral for those who are not related to my Dad!).

Tacos for dinner tonight! And refried beans. And Spanish Rice. Not Nuclear rice, I bought bagged rice - actually, it's called Mexican Rice. The difference between Mexican and Spanish in the brand I happened to grab is that Spanish has pasta with the rice. And also MSG, which I try to avoid (which is hard, it's in many things and has many names) because it is a migraine trigger for me. The Mexican rice is pasta-free but that's not a problem for us - although pasta does not belong in rice! Also, I'm making Whack-a-Mole to go with it.

And that's the extent of the excitement around my house tonight. We're just so exciting, I can't stand it! :)

One More Thing to Think About...

is not asking what happened to Spring! It was spring on Sunday, then yesterday I wanted to know where Spring went because it was cool and rainy. I should have known better. Better than to complain that it wasn't Spring anymore. Because suddenly it was. In another part of the state, nowhere near us, but Spring suddenly hit. With a twisty vengance. No loss of life at least, but several houses were destroyed or damaged. It's a little early for tornados, but March is technically considered the beginning of Tornado Season. I think it was an F2. There might have been more than one, I'm not sure.

So, I'll try not to complain (too much) about the weather. For a while. Probably not a long while!

Today was odd. It was pretty cool this morning, then it was warm and sunny, then it was cool & cloudy again. Tomorrow it may be rainy.

Otter had night school today. I took the poochsters with me when I went to get her. A few minutes before I needed to leave, I asked Maggie Moo if she wanted to go for a ride. At the word "ride", she came alive! I went to the other room to tell Billyboy that the dog and I were leaving, and when I got back to the living room they were both sitting patiently at the door to the closet where their leashes are kept. After having to just about lasso them both - to get them still long enough to leash up - we headed out the door and they both went to the car and sat down. I think they've figured out the word Ride! They were quite happy, especially when Frasier seemed to recognize landmarks and he knew that we were going to get Otter. Maggie Moo was crazed by the time her person got to the car, the beagle was hanging out the window and whining. And her back end was wiggling so hard that I honestly think she would have fallen over, if the window frame had not been there to hold her up. Then Otter could hardly get in the car because Maggie was so happy to see her. And Otter had to ride squished around a beagle because the beagle wanted to be as close to her Mom as she possibly could be! Frasier was happy to see Otter, then he did what he usually does - he likes to lie down on the back seat and just chill.

Just like he's doing now, on the floor between Otter's chair and mine. And he'll be snoring in a matter of seconds.

Otter was very happy to get home, because our Girl Scout cookies were delivered while I was gone to pick her up. And, miracle of miracles, Bill didn't eat any of them!

What Happened to Spring?

It was here yesterday. Now, it's gone. I don't know where it went, but it better get back here PRONTO.

It's been raining most of the day. I think it actually started last night or early this morning. It's cooler than yesterday, not really cold but just cool enough to need a jacket. And a hood, since there is water falling from the sky.

Sigh.

Otter goes to school through Wednesday of this week, then she's off until Monday the 22nd. Spring Break also means that Bill will have a day off, I think it's Friday of next week. And he has some comp time he needs to take, so he may be off this coming Friday as well. Otter was complaining about having to go back to the Real World today. But I told her that I don't feel a bit sorry for her - she only had 3 days this week anyway!

And since she has something Big coming up at the end of this month, I feel even less sorry for her!

Sunday Potato Chips

I don't eat potato chips very often, too much fat in them, but I had some today at lunch. When I do eat them, they are generally the baked kind which are ok but just not the same! Today, I had the Real Thing - Lays! But not too many. And certainly not nearly as much as I wanted!

Anyway. This is what I've been up to lately:

A close-up of the stitches. It's chunky weight yarn, which means that it's slightly larger than "regular" yarn.

Otter was holding it in her lap for me to take the picture. It's folded several times.





That's my hair you see on the top of the picture.

And here's a more complete shot. I finally finished my wrap/shawl! It's pretty long, but it's the right size for what I wanted. This is some of the more expensive yarn I bought a few weeks back. The yarn for this was actually in the clearance bin and I was afraid that I might not have enough, since the pattern I followed was for a different (smaller) size than I made and I didn't know exactly how much I would need. I did have enough, but not much to spare. I made this with the intention of taking it to Church, since it's cold in the sanctuary no matter the time of the year. I usually take a jacket with me - and so do a lot of other people, mostly women. I could have used it this morning, but even though I finished the crochet part of it yesterday I still had a few finishing touches. So when we got home, I got busy and got all the little "tails" (loose ends) woven into it and now it's ready. So, next Sunday I'm taking it to church with me! I made it long so that I can also cover my legs with it if I need to. At least it will cover my legs a little. It's 30 rows wide. The yarn is very soft and I think I'm going to like it. It was a fun project to make and I really enjoyed it. It took me a while to make it, but that was because I didn't work on it as often as I would have liked to. But, it's done and now I can go on to some other projects. I have a couple of them already, one is started and one is not quite but will be soon.

And, by the way, I figured out how much yarn I used for the shawl. Nearly a mile. Not kidding, it's really nearly a mile's worth of yarn!

In the above picture, I'm standing in front of Otter's desk. That's her Pirates calender on the wall and behind me you can just see the corner of a Pachinko machine. That's the machine Bill gave me, it's attached to the wall in front of the closet. The closet doesn't show up in the picture, but there are shelves on each side and one half is my side - and it's nearly all crafting/sewing/crochet supplies!

Along with finishing up my shawl, I've also cleaned the fireplace and put my decorative touches back in front of it. My churns & crocks. Which is just about a 100% guarantee that we'll get 2' of snow next week! According to the forecasts, winter weather is pretty much over. We'll see. (I'll still need my shawl at Church, however!) And I'm also doing laundry. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike doing laundry? (Yeah, many times I know). Also, I just saw an ice-cream truck in the neighborhood so I think that I'm probably not the only one who thinks winter is over!

I've also got a crock pot full of soup going in the kitchen, I started it before we left for Church this morning. And the bread machine is happily doing it's thing. Homemade soup & bread for dinner tonight! The kitchen smells so good, it's going to be hard to wait until dinner time. We had lunch already, but just the smell of the bread and the soup is making me hungry.

I have a rather large & furry dog parked on the floor next to my chair as I type this. He has been keeping me company quite often when I sit down at my desk. Sometimes. he has company in the form of a fat beagle. But today it's just Frasier. I think Maggie Moo is probably up in the middle of Otter's bed, that's where she generally is when I don't know where she's gotten to.

Movie review: Zombieland. Don't bother. Just don't bother. We rented it for Otter (it was her turn yesterday) knowing that it was rated R and would have some violence/gore. We try to be careful regarding which R rated movies she/we see. This one was supposed to be a "funny" zombie movie and the gore was supposed to be unrealistic - however, after less than 3 minutes into the movie we turned it off. It was a situation of where all three of us said almost at the same time that this was not what we thought. We usually don't even go out after sunset on Sabbath, but this time we did. To return the dvd. It was that bad. Since it was Otter's turn to pick the movie and her first choice didn't work out, she decided on the first Pirates of the Carribean movie. So she got her Johnny Depp fix, and it was sort of about zombies - anybody that's seen it will understand what I mean by that.

Yes, we realize that Otter will be 18 in just a few weeks. And she'll be able to see a lot of movies that we have not allowed her to see. But we have a guideline for our Saturday movie and it has to be somewhat family friendly. No excessive violence, a limited amount of gore is ok depending on the story although fantasy gore is usually not realistic and usually is ok although sometimes it can be too much, language needs to be low on the amount of profanity and nudity is only allowed if it's extremely small and not sexual - as in the scene in the first Terminator movie when the Terminator is walking around and there is a brief shot of his behind would be allowed but not much more than that.

I don't think I'm ready to have an 18 year old! I know that Bill isn't. But then, I don't know if any parent ever is. Particularly fathers when it's their daughters. I know that up to the day my Dad died, he considered me and Froggy to be his little girls. And that was fine, that's the way it's supposed to be. But it's not easy on the Dads when their girls grow up. Probably not easy on them when it's their sons, or easy on the mom, but I only have the frame of reference of one child and daughter at that. But Otter is pretty well grounded. She has the best support base we could give her, now it's up to her to find her wings and fly. And we think she will fly high. I'm sure she'll have a few learning experiences along the way, that's part of it after all. But we all have to have those times and learn from them. Otherwise, we don't grow and that's not good. We're very proud of the young woman Otter has become.

But in my mind, she's still the two-year-0ld in a blue dress standing in the kitchen & smiling for the camera!

Woof Woof. Baroo!!!

Fraiser here. I gott to do this fasst, my bratty little sister thinks she should get a turn. She's ok for a sister, but I'm smarter and better looking. Also, I smell better. My momm says I stink. I think that means I smell goooood. I like the way I smell. I share it with my momm and dadd and Maggie's momm all the time.

Wait a minite Maggie! It's still my turnn. Stop biting my leg! Grrrrr!

OK, OK, you can talk now. But I'm still smarter and better looking. I'm a gooood boy, I'm Fraiser.

Hi! Hi! Hi! It's meee, Maggie!

My bigg brrotherr Frasier is so mean sometimeses. He didn't want to sharre thiss wiff mee. But I bited his leggss until he sharredd.

My Momm said that my beffday is coming up sooon. I don't know how many days but it's not this day. I like beffdays. I get extra treats on my beffday. Momm's Momm said that it's a special day, shee said it's the twelff day but I don't think I'm going to be twelff. But the funnest part is that my bigg brrotherr Frasier has the same beffday now! I don't know how his beffday gott changeded, but my momm's momm said that we will have the same beffday day now. So I guess my big brrotherr Frasier will get treats the same day.

I haf to go now. My bigg brrotherr Frasier said he'll groom my ears for me. I like to get my ears groomeded. He's the bestest bigg brrotherr!

TEXAS

March 2, 1836.

There is some question about the actual date, some people think that Texas indpendence should be celebrated on March 6 - the day we all Remember the Alamo. But we are of the camp that believes it should be observed on the 2nd - the day Independence was declared. Here's an interesting article from the San Antonio newspaper. It has many other things besides the discussion of the date, it's a kind of a long article but worth reading.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/special_reports/History_in_the_remaking.html

Even though there are many places in the State where battles happened, people sacrificed their lives for Freedom no matter where they were. Goliad. San Antonio. The Alamo is the most well-known symbol, but it's not the only one. However, being an Alamo City child myself, the Alamo is the symbol that means the most to me. It is and always will be a sacred place. Many people don't realize that the Alamo is in fact a church - but it's sacred to us for another reason.

I have heard our story called a part of American history. But it really isn't. Yes, Texas is a part of America now. But our story pre-dates our joining (by choice, not by being conquered). And the Texas story is just that - Texas' story. It's not an American story. I just get mildly riled up about it being called American history - some of us are actually enraged to hear that. Yes, we are American and very proud of it. But we are Texan, too and in many people's minds and hearts we are Texan first. Probably most of us feel that way, in fact. (For the non-Texan: riled up is another way of saying we get angry.)

Out of all my Texas related postings, this one is still my favorite:

http://ottermomramblings.blogspot.com/2009/03/texas-march-2-1836.html

I can't think of anything else to say, beyond what I've already said:

TEXAS BORN, TEXAS BRED, I'LL BE TEXAN 'TILL I'M DEAD.

Kinda Boring Monday Stuff

I think it's trying to be winter again today. It was supposed to be in the high 40's. I don't know what the temperature was, but I don't think it got past the mid-40's. It was windy and kind of cold. Have I mentioned how ready I am for spring? (Just not spring storms). Well, it's nearly here.

Froggy, I have a question. When did you learn to crochet? I know you knit now and when/how you started. But I know that you did crochet some in the past and a few years ago you mentioned you and KN#3 attempting it. I'm wondering when you learned. I learned in 6th grade and taught Mom. I know she taught JediMom, although I don't know if JediMom actually did much of it beyond learning to chain. I did attempt to teach Otter several years ago, but she just wasn't into it. She did try, she just didn't like it. Which is fine, we all have different gifts. Otter can draw really well, I can barely make stick figures. But I do love to crochet. And I'll probably be working on it some this evening.

Bill's working tonight. He hasn't had to handle the sound for a school board meeting in years. But he is tonight, the regular guy had today off so it's Billyboy's turn. So dinner is what we call F & F (Hungry? Want dinner? Then Fix it & Find out what it is.) I had a can of nearly fat-free ravioli. It wasn't a gourmet meal! I don't think Otter's quite gotten to the point of actually wanting dinner yet. But I never had lunch today, I was running errands and never took the time to actually eat so I was starving pretty much as soon as I got home today. When I talked to Bill just now, he said he had stopped and got a corndog but that he'd really like it if I put a sandwich in the fridge for him. I don't think the corndog had much nutritional value to it!

Otter has finally figured out what she wants to do for her birthday. She's going to invite some of her friends to the Alice in Wonderland movie that is about to open. I think I'll just drop them at the theater this time, I don't necessarily want to see this particular movie but might later - it's got Johnny Depp in it, so I think it's a safe bet to say that the dvd will become part of Otter's collection the second it comes out! After the movie, I'll pick them all up and take them to Cici's Pizza buffet. I might stay for that part of it! Bill might not, he doesn't think he can handle a bunch of teenage girls all at once and still maintain some sanity. Not that he has much, but he'd like to hang on to what sanity he does have. :) Otter's movie/dinner "party" will probably be mid-March, right after Spring Break. Then on her actual birthday, we'll probably do the family dinner like we usually do. She still hasn't figured out what she wants for her birthday in terms of a gift, so it might not actually happen until after her birthday - she's having difficulty deciding what to ask for since some things (like a car) are simply not going to happen. She'll figure it out, eventually. Maybe we'll just put a bow on Maggie Moo and call it good. Oh that's right, Maggie was her birthday present 4 years ago. So I guess we had better come up with another idea.

OK, I've wasted enough time for one evening. Crochet awaits!