Carly....

Carly. My new horse. She is a Percheron. That meant nothing to me, either...until I saw one for myself. They are a draft horse. What's that, right! Well, let's call her a work horse. A carriage horse. Not quite a Clydsdale, but not far from it. She is dappled, white and grey...a real beauty. She stands about 18+ hands at her withers (shoulders) which makes her about 6 feet tall at her shoulder and according to Eric, add another two feet on for her head and she stands at her tallest point, about 8 feet tall. Her feet are the size of luncheon plates - literally. To put it all into perspective, a normal horses foot is the size of a tea cup saucer. So, with her proportion described, I will tell my story.

I have spent the better part of the last couple weeks trying to befriend Carly. At first I would just go out to the field and stand there with my hands behind my back (always with treats in my pockets) and wait for her to come to me. Let her smell me, size me up and then I would offer her a treat. If I reached to pet her she would back up...very timid. But as the days passed, she stayed a little longer each time, came a little quicker and spent more time looking at my eyes and resting her head on my head (it is quite a heavy head, but if she was willing to use me for a head rest, I was willing to let her). A few days ago when I reached out to pet her, she let me. As a matter of fact, she let me for more than 15 minutes before she began to back away. When I returned the next day, again after some time, I reached out to pet her and she again allowed me to. Now mind you, if you want to befriend a horse, you need three things...1) love 2) patience and 3) treats and lots of them. I reward her for coming to me. I reward her for looking when I call her name. I reward her for allowing me to pet her...and if she goes away and I call her AND she returns, she gets treats for that. Essentially she is associating me with kindness and treats. Both of which she needs.

Tonight, I went there and took her halter, which is the thing you put over their head to lead them around, and went out to the pasture. She came right to me....reward. I tried to get the halter on her and she turned away...no reward. She came back to me...reward. I tried again and she backed away...no reward. The third time I tried she allowed me to do it, but a problem that I hadn't considered arose. Her head is taller than I can reach at a full arm stretch so I couldn't get the thing OVER her big head. I pushed and shoved it back over her ears until it slipped into place....BIG rewards for her for that one! Then I led her out of the pasture for the first time (she has been out of the pasture, but never with me). We tied her on cross ties in the barn which was pretty funny in itself. She took up the entire barn...front to back and darn near side to side! More rewards. Now Buddy is in the stall in the barn so now, simply by virtue of my being there and having treats, each time Carly earned one, Buddy got one. Which made him so happy! I was grooming her. She has fungus on her right back leg which was bleeding so I treated that. I groomed her and honest to Betsy, I could not groom her mane or back so I had to get a step stool and stand on that to groom her. But the whole point of this blog was to describe what happened when we gave her treats...which apparently I hadn't noticed out at pasture ever before. She dreuls....BAD. I went out to my car to get a mane comb and when I got back to the barn it looked like someone threw up. I said to Raechyl, "Did Carly throw up?" (for any horse lover out there you see the idiotic question here!). Rae says "Mom, horses can't throw up". So I said, "Did someone else throw up?" Rae says, "No, it is Carly dreuling!"....NO WAY! It was like three PUDDLES of I swear, throw up! Yellowish, slimy, puddled and splattered like throw up. Carly did it! The owners son was there and Justin says, "Carly is girgitating"... I said, "Don't you mean, regirgitating?" He laughs and says, "No, I mean girgitating!"...I finally got it and laughed. Carly is like a Newfoundland dog. The bigger the breed of dog, the bigger the jowel and the bigger the jowel, the more they dreul. I guess the same holds true with horses. Man, Carly is a complete slob! It was unbelievable. So, now Raechyl and her friends will not give Carly treats. "No, thank you, Mrs. Thieringer" they say. As for me, ah, what's a little spit between horse and owner!

Until next time...

No Comprende' Englaeso'.....

Welcome to America. Not my usual start to my blog but I couldn't help but think that when I left the bagel store with my two children in tow. A week ago we stopped at a local bagel store that we love for a special treat before school. We walked in, like so many times before. "May I have a plain bagel with sausage, egg and cheese please...(and pointing to a muffin I ask) and what kind of muffin is that?" The gentleman behind the counter went and got a plain bagel and went to the back and repeated the order to the cook (I assume) and came back to the counter where me and my two children were standing. Again, pointing to the same muffin in the case, I say "Can you tell me what kind of muffin this is?" He looked quizzical. "Muffin...what kind is it?"...He went to the muffin case, picked up the muffin and walked away saying, "butter?"....

"No...I don't want that muffin. I want to know what kind it is"...at which point he went and put the muffin back and stared at me...I am thinking I need to try a different approach. OK. I point at that same muffin and say "Is it cinnamon and sugar?" at which point he says "AAAHHH" and goes back over to the bagels and pulled out a cinnamon and sugar bagel and says "butter?"...UGH. "NO" I replied. "I don't want a bagel. I'm not even sure I want a muffin anymore. Can you tell me what flavor this bagel is?" at which point he confesses, "No comprehende' englaeso". Oh, now I get it. He has absolutely no idea what I am saying. So I get smart and said "does that man on the grill speak english?" More funny faces. I point to the back where the cook is cooking and say "English?" He says "no". OK. Two men in the store. Neither one speaks english and of course, my language was French, not spanish. HHmmmm...need a different approach - as my italian dander is getting ruffled. I pointed at the muffin and said "FLAVOR" real slow because we all know that when you speak English to someone who doesn't speak the language, if you say it loud and slow, somehow they will get it. "No" was his reply. OK, I start pointing to everything one at a time that were clearly evident as to what they were. "Plain....(pointing to the plain bagel) - cinnamon (pointing to the cinnamon one)...chocolate (pointing to the chocolate muffin...cherry (pointing to the cherry muffin)" then once again I pointed to the mystery muffin and say shrug my shoulders as if to say "What is it"? He says "ah!" as he rushes off to the back. Now I am wondering what on earth he is doing. He comes back about two minutes later with literally a CASE of muffins in the box that they came in and points to the side that says "pumpkin" and he had the biggest smile ever! "Yes! Pumpkin!" "Thank You" I tell him as I try to figure out how to tell him I don't want a pumpkin muffin! He goes in the back again and comes out and I say "No thank you...just the bagel" pointing in the back. He smiled. The cook brings out the bagel and I get some drinks and a coffee and he rings me up and the total is $5.33 (whew - minimum $5 charge and I have NO money). I hand him a credit card at which point he got that sad, sullen look on his face AGAIN and shrugged his shoulders and says "cash?" "No, I don't have cash - I only have a credit card". I am, at this point, looking at the clock realizing that we are now late for school. "Change?" he asks? "No (I repeat) I only have a credit card" and he says "first day" and I take the credit card and take him by the hand over to the credit card machine and I say "I show you"...

I swipe the card and say "see?" then pointed to the green "yes" button and say "push, see?" and then I go to the register with him and point to the sale amount and walk back over to the credit card machine and push 5.33 and say "see?" then pointed to the green yes button and say "push, see?" and waited. The receipt printed and he let out a sigh of relief and says "Yes!, Thank YOU!" and I sign the receipt and show him how to open the drawer to put the receipt away and take care of the next customer who was standing there the whole time smiling.

We took our stuff and walked out..."Someone in there should be able to speak english" I announce to my kids. "Well, mommy, maybe he just got here" says Rae. "Rae, I think if I were in Italy and spoke NO Italian I would be hard pressed to get a job". I thought to myself...once again...you can't make this stuff up!

Until next time...

Dunkin Donuts - It ain't just donuts (oh, that's right - YES IT IS)

Today was a lovely day. Went to football and the game was cancelled (note to self - check email before going to game in the rain). Check. Dropped Adam off and saw my buddy Reggie for awhile and finally got that bagel I so craved this morning. Stayed home until about 4 pm when I read my emails and saw one from my friend, Heather, asking for a Halloween letter "E" for her son Elias (I make decorative letters for children's rooms and this is Elias' first Halloween so it is time for a festive "E"). So I decided to go out and get the supplies and get busy. I thought since it was so beautiful out I would stop on the way home, get some coffee and stop by the barn to see Buddy (my horse).

Went to craft store and bought supplies (and another "E" for Christmas!) and drove straight to Dunkin Donuts for coffee. I stood in line while two teen age boys ordered all sorts of stuff...but who cares - I'm happy. I'm gettin my coffee (whoo-hooo). My turn..."can I help you" the young man behind the counter asks. "Why yes, you can...I'll take a medium decaf black and another medium decaf light and sweet (that one was mine - the other my moms...she always says she likes her coffee like she likes her men - black and strong - lol)". "I'm sorry, ma'am (and don't you HATE when someone young calls you ma'am!) we don't have decaf". Now, I must say. This statement took me by surprise. I actually stood there for about 1 minute silent. Completely silent. And for all who know me, I can't remember the last time I was short on words. SILENT!..."No coffee?" I asked almost with a painful look on my face because this statement still was not registering. "No, ma'am...no decaf". At this point I realize he isn't kidding. He has NO DECAF. And if this boy calls me ma'am one more time I am going to leap over that counter and clock him! (side note - now you know why I was asking for decaf. I see the irony here with my agression toward this young man!).

I looked straight into his lovely blue eyes and said, quite firmly, "this IS Dunkin Donuts, right?!". Now I know what you are all thinking. There went my Chirstian witness. Me with my Jesus necklace on and my fish on the car pulling in listening to worship music and I am about to leap over the counter because I think this is just a cruel joke. I'm not sure which is more cruel. The fact that they had no decaf or the fact that he continues to call me ma'am! "Yes ma'am (there he went again with that ma'am thing), it is and I am sorry, but we don't have decaf" at which point I proceed to the LARGE shelving system RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME that is LOADED with "DECAF" Dunkin Donuts Coffee! I point to it and say "I think you do have decaf. There is an entire wall of it here". This poor guy was wanting to die at this point and says "I only work here" and pointed to the gentleman standing there doing NOTHING. He says "no, we don't have decaf". I looked at my watch....yup...4 pm - NOT AM....looked at the wall of coffee and read CAREFULLY DECAF....nope, not losing my mind. I looked at the older man and said, "But you DO have decaf. You have about 50 bags here.". He comes out from behind the counter and bends over to look real close - as if it were going to morph into something magically. He reads "DECAF" I am sure of it because it said DECAF!. He stands up and says, "no, we don't".

Now you could NOT imagine what went through my mind at this point. The theme song from the Twilight Zone started playing and I went straight into orbit. Right to Pluto. Didn't stop to pass go, didn't collect $200 either. I said, "You have GOT to be kidding me, right (I am thinking this HAS to be Candid Camera and begin looking around for a hidden camera). There is an ENTIRE wall of coffee that says DECAF - unless I have lost my mind and it really doesn't say decaf at all". He looks up right at me and says "Oh, we can't use this. It's 'different'"....

WHAT IN THE @)($*@)($*)@(*$ DOES THAT MEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's different! (Now know that I am screaming this next line as I type it) IT'S DUNKIN DONUTS DECAF COFFEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This poor guy. The young guy behind the counter looked at me and tilted his head as if to say, "hey lady, I get it...really I do. It makes no sense to me either", but said nothing. This older man said to me "you can call to complain if you want" at which point I just started laughing at the incredible insanity of it all and said, "why would I do that. You don't have decaf....though there is a wall of it....you tell me it's different, though it looks the same to me and you won't take the bag and make a pot of decaf! - what's the point". Now with NOT a sympathetic bone in his body he looks at me and says (sit down...) "there is another Dunkin Donuts a few miles down the road". I just HAD to say it....I could NOT help myself. I wanted to shut up...really I did. I wanted to say nothing, but I just couldn't. "Do you think THEY have coffee???!!!" and walked out.

And like the feind I am, I drove 4 miles and went to the other dunkin donuts where they actually had decaf...whew. Got my fix but came home bewildered and HAD to blog this one. I swear I don't make this stuff up, really I don't.

Until next time...

It must run in the family...

For those of you who don't know, I have a sister who lives in California....the land of "fruits" and "nuts". That is a WHOLE other blog. I rarely talk to her, but lately have caught up and I have realized one scary thing....the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. Holy smokes, Batman...talking to her is like talking to myself...literally. We sound and look NOTHING alike, but she is a true blonde as well. Not on the outside...we are both brunettes. But on the inside, we are truly both blonde. After our last chat, I actually thought, if this is even possible, that she just may be blonder than me! Did I just say that? Is it possible that anyone could be blonder than me? Yup. I think it is. SHE, I repeat, SHE HAS TO BE blonder than me. She just has to be. Well, something just occurred to me. She used to say "Arrie, you got all the brains and I got all the hormones". I believe that is true. I won't comment on the hormone part, but I will go so far as to say that I actually think I got all the brains....isn't that a scary thought! ME with all the brains. That isn't saying much given all the blogs I have shared about myself. With that said...

We were chatting the other night. We were trying to figure out a way to fly her out for my mom's 85th birthday, but we just can't swing it because she is scheduled for surgery on October 23rd and the party is Oct 10th. A Saturday from 12-4. And (believe it or not) she has a doctor appointment on SATURDAY, OCT 10 at noon. That hardly seems possible but it is true. She has the ONLY doctor in all of California that works on Saturdays. OK. That is totally unrelated information except that the surgery is on her ankle, which she broke over a year ago. She broke it walking UP stairs. Yes, you read that correctly....walking UP stairs. Is it me or is that near impossible? Nope, not for Terri. For Terri, NOTHING is impossible.

So, she had her surgery and was at a friend's house recovering. Needless to say, it was a massive break and they had to put all sorts of pins and rods in her ankle so she had a script of some heavy duty pain meds when she got home and like a good girl, she took them faithfully. The first day she was all sorts of "dizzy" (and I use the term loosely) from the pain meds and had a horribly hard time walking on the crutches. She was describing it to me as I laughed out loud at the visual. She said she would get up on the crutches to walk and she would wobble to one side or the other, depending on the moment. She would try to walk across the room and wobble to the right and was nearly walking in to walls and falling over to one side or the other. The first day was bad and she thought "Man, I need to stop taking that medicine. I am completely SO looped that I can't even walk". But the thought of that was not a reality as the pain was so bad. Her description of the walking was hysterical. I kept picturing her walking, starting in the middle of the room and by the time she made 7 steps whe was stuck in one corner or the other, trying to figure out 1) how she got there and 2) how she would get back! She went on to tell me that this went on for two days.

After the second day, and no help from her friend Phoenix, she had a talk with herself and decided she just HAD to do something. She couldn't go on like this because she was going to inevitable add a broken hip or head to the list of the broken ankle. Phoenix thought the whole thing was pretty hysterical, laughing out of control each time she attempted the walking. But Terri is a trooper and was NOT about to quit. She just kept on keeping on. As each attempt to walk went on, Phoenix's laughter became more uncontrolled to the point where she actually wondered if it were HE who was taking the drugs. It was at this point that she finally made a firm decision and announced to Phoenix, "I CANNOT take those drugs anymore. I cannot walk. I hobble from one side to the other, I cannot walk a straight line and I am falling into walls and cannot figure out why other than it MUST be the drugs." And that is when Phoenix fessed up...

"Terri", he says, "I lowered one of your crutches a notch". At this point I nearly peed my pants laughing out loud SO darn hard that I woke up Adam. Apparently HE has quite a warped sense of humor (just like me). That is something I would do. Every time she took the crutches, depending on which arm pit the shorter one ended up under, she would wobble to one side or the other and Phoenix let this go on for two days before he fessed up. I nearly died. My kind of man!

Now, I can go on and on about her complete lack of any brains or sense here, but I won't. I will just suffice it to say that I am pretty sure I (emphasis on the "I") would have figured out something was wrong with the crutches right away, as blonde as I am, I am just SURE I would have checked the crutches. Now, I don't check the car to make sure Adam is in it, and I don't check the calendar to see that school starts, but I am SURE I would have checked that darn crutch.

Until next time...

I PLEDGE to never do that again!

Thursday is cleaning day. We have a service that we have used for over 15 years. It is a polish lady's service and NO ONE (Except the owner, Grace) speaks any english). It used to be a great service, but then something changed. The Euro buck began to beat out the American buck and as the old addage goes, "It's hard to get good help these days".

So, now we have Irene. I swear no one ever taught her how to clean. It amazes me sometimes at the things that I find. I am biding my time until we move and then we will finally let go of the cleaning service and I will begin to clean again. The reason we first ended up with a cleaning service is because, just like everything else in my life, I am WAY overboard with cleaning...breaking out toothbrushes to clean grout and bleaching everything in sight and YES, all this weekly. NO ONE cleans like I clean (ask Eric!). Now for me, I did not think cleaning needed to be taught, but apparently it does. A few things I have had to teach Irene is NOT to act like the vacuum is made of concrete and the house funiture also out of concrete. She broke my electrolux vacuum SO many times that I finally refused to pay to fix it another time and now she brings her own vacuum. Also, she apparently thinks that no dust or dirt can gather anywhere something is...for instance, she doesn't move ANYTHING on counters or floors....dust bunnies ran rampant in our home until I "taught" her how to move things and actually see that, yes Irene, dirt DOES get under things. And apparently there are no lint traps in dryers in Poland. She nearly burned out my new dryer. I showed her that the blinking light on the top of the dryer that says "CLEAN LINT TRAP" means "CLEAN LINT TRAP". I can go on and on, but I won't. I just needed to lay the ground work for what was to come.

So, Thursday Adam is home from school sick (yes, third week of school and already out a day!). So, we spent the day at home - a RARE happening for me. Chaco, my parrot, HATES the vacuum and when she uses it, he screams. For those of you who have never been privy to a screaming parrot is resembles the sound of a train running right through your head. So I jumped up to go to his perch and grab his beak (to let him know this is UNacceptable) and I, with bare feet, slipped and fell flat on my butt. "What was that" I thought. In my head I am thinking "Walk much!". I attributed it to haste and blonde and got up, grabbed his beak and sat back down. About a half an hour later the same thing happened and once again, I jumped up to get Chaco and a second time I wiped out, only this time doing some damage. I WAY hurt my back (which had JUST started healing from about 3 months of CONSTANT pain), right shoulder and right leg. I couldn't even get up to grab Chaco's beak. Once I got up and brushed myself off, I walk straight to Irene.

Now, I debated how I would put into words our communication style as I wanted it to be as it is in person, but I am not sure I can do that. I will do my best. Remember, she speaks NO english. "Irene" I say...."huh" was her reply. And I start....pointing at the floor with a mopping motion I say (loud and slow because doesn't this help people who don't speak our language understand better?) "F-L-O-O-R????" She says "Ah" and grabs the swiffer mop and shows it to me. So, I point at the sheet of cloth on it and start making a squirting motion like I am putting something on it and say "W-A-T-E-R????" She says "NO". HHHHMMMM.....now that's bizarre cause the floor was so slippery I nearly killed myself. So, I take her by the arm and go to Chaco's perch and point to the floor and proceed to take my right leg out from under myself and lean back, like I was falling and throw my arms up in the air and say "B-A-N-G" and point to the floor. She says "AH" and takes ME by the arm and goes back into the kitchen where she was and reaches into her bucket of cleaning supplies and pulls out PLEDGE! A CAN OF PLEDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder I almost killed myself. This crazy lady put furniture POLISH on my wood floor. Now I can go off right here with another story about the irony of POLISH (wood polish) and POLISH (nationality) but I won't.

"NNNNNNOOOOOO" I say VERY CLEARLY to her. "N-E-V-E-R" I say as I show her how slippery the floor was. "Sorry" was her response so apparently she learned that one early on. OK, so I get on my hands and knees and begin scrubbing the newly refinished wood floors with ANYTHING that will take away the shine.

The next day I found out that Adam also fell twice and the second time hurt his back (can see a swollen vertibrae) in the same spot, only he had socks on so I would imagine his wipe out was a bit faster, perhaps a bit more comical covering a greater distance than my flat out fall. When I told Eric what happened he told me to lose the cleaning lady. I will...as soon as we move, so Lord, please bring a buyer for this house so we don't kill ourselves before we get to enjoy the new kitchen and back yard in the new house!

Until next time....

Home Alone

I was just browsing thru Facebook and I saw a cartoon picture of the character Dory from Nemo. Remember her? The one that spoke whale and couldn't remember from one minute to another? Well, that's me. I AM DORY!

Today started just like any other Sunday. Everyone gets up, makes our beds and heads for the shower. No one wanting to be last cause much of the time, there is precious little hot water by that time. And today, it was me. But that's ok. I had plenty of hot water. I was in the bathroom getting ready and Rae walked in and told me that she and her father were going to leave early for church to stop for a bagel. I was NO WHERE NEAR ready so we decided to take two seperate cars, which we sometimes do. She told me to take Adam but I told her to take Adam with her because he, too, might want a bagel. "OK, mom" she said and walked out.

I continued to finish getting ready. Went downstairs to finish off the coffee and got my stuff together and headed for the front door. Mina was waiting there to lock the door behind me. I put on some worship and praise music and off I went. Got to church a tad early to find Raechyl and Eric standing in the foyer with some friends chatting, checking out all the mission information our church had out on display. We started talking and laughing and Eric looks at me and says, "Where's Adam?"...uuuhhh...."Uh, isn't he with you?" I replied. "No, isn't he with you?" he retorts. Now by this time, our friends had a look of horror on their faces realizing a bit before us that we had left Adam home alone. Now, so I don't go getting myself arrested, he wasn't actually ALONE, technically. He was with my 85 year old blind and deaf mother in a wheelchair...may as well be home alone. I looked at Eric and said, "I told Rae to take him with you guys...". He looked at Rae and says, "Rae, I told you to tell mommy to take him". Rae...well she just sat there looking at both of us knowing that somehow she got in the middle. Our friends were like, "You left him home alone!!!???". I am not sure if there was more shock or humor in it all for them...but I will go out on a limb and guess it was shock!

We explained that Mina was home with him, but neither of us had phones with us and by this time, church was just about to start. So we just went upstairs, chuckling the whole way up. We sit on the pew in front and Eric smiles at me as he leans over and says "classic case of miscommunication here, huh!".

So, after service was over, I went home and found Adam dressed for church, safe and sound. So, here I sit, telling the world of another one of my "mother" stories. I can add this to my repretoire of things like Adam missing his first day of school and showing up up an hour late the second day....leaving Rae at her aunts house but remembering the dog...forgetting Rae's lunch multiple times before she finally fessed up that she was starving from no lunches...shall I go on? No, I think that is enough for one day. I am ever so thankful for a Lord that picks up my slack faithfully and who has a great enough sense of humor to entrust me to tend to 2 of his own little ones. I am pretty sure I keep Him laughing as He patiently teaches me things that must come naturally to SOMEONE out there. As for me...what comes naturally is art, horses, writing...not mothering. But they are nearly 13 and 7 and still alive and well...no thanks to me at times!

Until next time...

The Barn

Who knew that hooking up with a friend from childhood could be so much fun! Through Facebook I have reunited with some people from my "block" where I grew up. Sue is one of those people. She is a year older than my sister, making her four years older than me, but once you pass 40, the age difference becomes mute. 40, 50, 60 - same difference...who cares! And as it turns out, Sue and I have much in common. Some things I will leave you to ponder about, and others I will share. Like our love of horses and farms. Neither of us grew up with either, but somehow God instilled a love of both in Sue and me. We also have in common the love of our Savior Jesus Christ, and that bond is enough to unite complete strangers. So, we decided some time ago that one day I would pick her up and we would spend the day at the barn, where I keep my horse, Buddy. Today was that day.

We arranged all the details and this morning, Raechyl, Adam and I get in the car and headed to Sue's house to pick her up. She was walking to the car and Rae said "Wow, she is really pretty", and she is. Just striking blue eyes, and a wonderful smile. I had spent a little time wondering if it would be weird seeing her again, or would we get along, or should I be nervous and decided this morning, it was all in the hands of God. And thank You, God, that You DID keep it all in Your hands today...turned out we needed it. She got in the car, we hugged and it was yak, yak, yak the whole way to the barn. Just as if we had seen each other yesterday. I dropped Adam off at his aunts house and the girls headed over to the barn. Raechyl decided she needed to ride today to get some extra practice in so she took Buddy and tacked him up. Normally when I go to the barn on a Sunday it is to groom and love on Buddy....NEVER to ride, so I think that having Rae with us made Sue excited because she knew that meant getting some riding in. She owned a horse many moons ago, but hadn't ridden in like 15 years. Oh, and by the way, Sue (much like me) rides western, NOT ENGLISH. For those of you who aren't horse saavy, western saddles are the ones cowboys use with the big horn in front to hold on to, and English is this little sleek leather thing that resembles a mini saddle with NOTHING to hold on to...Yup, you guessed it. Rae rides English. So, she got her English tack and away we went...right to the ring. Rae warmed him up and Sue and I grew more excited with anticipation waiting our turns. I got on first to see if he was a bit nutty or mellow and for me, he was fine. Then, it was Sue's turn.

She hopped on and away she went. Right to a trot and boy did she look good. She had the post down, had the correct diagonals and just looked like she belonged on Buddy. She did a couple of laps then came in for a change. Rae got back on him and did a little jumping and riding then came back. I asked Sue if she wanted to ride again and she said of course and on again she went.

Only THIS time, she was going to show Rae how to gallop (the near fastest pace before an all out run). And, off she goes. I had her camera. My job was to take a picture of the gallop so she could see how great she looked. And before I could say go, she was off. Buddy took off like a horse out of the gate and Sue was over him, riding like the jockey in the Kentucky Derby. The only problem was that Sue is no jockey and Buddy is no racer and we were in a circular ring, which makes a full ahead gallop a bit more tedious because instead of a track straighaway, she had NO time before the turn came and do I really need to go on from here? You already know where I am going with this.

Rae says, "Mommy, she is going WAY too fast and Buddy is flying....Mommy, Uh Oh, he is nearing the turn...Oh NO! Mommy, she's off!" Now, I have to paint this picture for you. I have this little phone camera in my hand and I am still figuring out how to get a closer view of Sue on the horse, only half paying attention to Sue and Buddy...thinking I had plenty of time before she would break into a full out bolt. But, Sue had a different idea. She was going to show Rae how to gallop. She NEVER said she would show Rae how to stay on a horse WHILE they were gallopping, she only said she would show Rae how to gallop. By the time it all happened, less than 30 seconds had passed and I look up and Sue is in a mud puddle....literally. It has rained stead and hard for the last two days, so you do the math. Barn, ring, dirt, rain, horses loosening up all the ground...yup, mud and lots of it. She got up with both thumbs up yelling, "That was GREAT!". She was covered in mud. All I could think about was whether or not she was alive. She is a NUT! I was SURE she broke SOMETHING. There was NO way that she could not have been hurt. I'm telling you, she DUMPED right off that horse and Buddy never missed a step. He just kept running like lightning and headed right for the gate where Rae was and she yelled, "Whoa, boy" and he stopped...huffing and puffing from the whole ordeal. Now, of course I still can't work that stupid little camera and missed the entire thing, but asked Sue to stay where she was (posed) until I could figure it out and while I was doing that, she was spitting out dirt, rocks and mud from her mouth. I looked up after taking a shot or two and was now close enough to her to actually SEE her and I nearly fell out laughing. She was COVERED in mud....COVERED. Not a little, but COVERED. The helmet was covered, her clothes were covered and her body was covered. It was hysterical.

Once I was assured she was fine, we walked Buddy out and went to give Buddy a bath, but before we could do that, we needed to give Sue a bath. So, we hooked her up on cross ties at the wash station and hosed her off best we could. I took the hose to clean the helmet and honest to Pete, there was more mud IN the helmet than ON the helmet. She was such a great sport. Oh, she also lost three earrings in the ordeal. Not exactly sure how that happened, but I would guess that if we go to the mud puddle that she "hung her hat in" and called home, we just might find them.

Now, Sue wasn't mad at Buddy. She meerly "zigged when she should have zagged". And of course, Buddy wasn't mad at Sue. We spent a few more hours there grooming Buddy and laughing and just "mucking" around before we called it a day. I am pretty sure Sue will be feeling it in the morning, and I am also pretty sure that she won't get on the next time and give a kick to go, and I am also pretty sure that she WILL do it again as somehow she had a blast in it all. Sue is the daredevil. I am the scared-E-cat. Sue likes speed. I like caution. Sue laughs when it hurts. I cry. Sue will get on again. I would hang up my saddle and never ride again. You couldn't find two more different people. But we still have that love of horses in common and because we do, we will be back at the barn again. Maybe she will go a little slower, maybe I will go a little faster. Who knows. All I know is I still haven't told you all the things we have in common and I bet you forgot about it until now. So, you go back to pondering that. I'll go back to wrapping this up.

In the end, we had a great day. She lived. I shared. We ALL laughed and had a great time, and as for Buddy. Well let's say that Buddy got his day at the spa. He got his belly filled up on fresh grazing and tons of treats and got his stall all covered with new shavings and was a happy camper when we left. Full belly....fresh bedding and water....groomed....loved.....Buddy has it all. And as for Sue, well she HAD it all but lost half of it in a mud puddle and is now recovering nicely in the comfort of her own home. I am off to bed now. So....

until next time....

More stories at the Seitz expense (sorry Al)

OK, so way too much time has passed. Our house is on the market and we have an accepted offer sitting on some bankers desk on a short sale with half the rest of the western hemisphere. If I hadn't had a nervous breakdown, I would have had the fore thought to take pictures of the mess that preceeded the glory of a scaled down, purged, cleaned house. So, because I chose a breakdown instead, all I have to write about is our friends in Kansas City, and there is plenty I can write about. It is just choosing which story I will share that is the problem.

Alyson and I drove to the old train station in Kansas City together with the three girls and Ben. Adam and Eric followed. Well, actually, truth be told, we followed Eric because Alyson thought the station was in a direction that would have us leaving the state of Kansas. OK, so we women are a bit directionally challenged. If that were our only problem we would be fine, but as it turned out, it wasn't. We pulled up at the station. Lilly and Derek stayed behind because Lilly had not been feeling well the night before and they just wanted to give her some down time and make sure she was feeling better and they were going to drive seperately and meet us a bit later. We all pulled into the parking lot of the "old" train station (I wish I could remember the name of it) and Alyson informed us that it used to be a train station but that trains no longer use it...only to have Eric inform her (the native) that trains DO use it and oh, btw, there goes one! We got out with kids in tow and began walking toward the cat walk across the tracks that DO get used. Alyson was telling me about a dream she had when lo and behold! A little 4 year old came running across the parking lot yelling that we forgot him. Who you ask? Ben. Yup. That's right. We left Ben in the car and had NO idea that we did so. Eric, in his infinite wisdom, and by this point, having one laugh after another at Alyson's expense, chimed in..."Al, Derek had a dream that he had a son when he got home today. He also had a dream that you have two sets of keys in your purse and that he cannot come meet us today because of it". Alyson just burst out in laughter KNOWING she had done it AGAIN (as it turns out - this wasn't her first offense of taking all the keys and leaving Derek in the lurch). OK, so Alyson doesn't know how to get to Kansas City, and she cannot count kids efficiently, and has a thing for car keys. But the best was yet to come.

When we went to sign in and get tickets for an exhibit, they asked us if we were from Kansas City, Missouri and Alyson answered yes. Just to be corrected by Cara, an eleven year old, that "Mom, we live in Kansas, not Missouri". The day got better and better, but because I am about to pee my pants (again) laughing as I write, I will save the rest for another time...

Like when Alyson gave a hamster CPR...or when Derek fell on (and killed) the cat....or when Alyson and I left Kansas and drove an hour into Missouri before she realized that "there was no place like home" and Missouri wasn't it...

Al, you are such a good sport. Thank you for allowing me to share these stories (and embellish when necessary). I can do it with a good heart knowing that I have already told the readers about my bads like missing the first day of school, driving through my garage door and more.

Until next time....

WAY too much time has passed...

Way too much time has passed since I have even considered blogging. We have gone and returned from Kansas City LONG ago. Since then we are packing up to move...all of about 1.5 miles. Beats our last record of about 4 miles. Yup, we Thieringer's don't like to go too far from home. Chester is our next (and had BETTER be our last) resting place. A place to hang our hat and call home. And by the time we get there, we may only have ONE hat - not a thousand. It is amazing what you can accumulate through the years. I blame the children. All that paperwork I saved for them. If they would just NOT go to school and NOT make stuff and NOT earn awards and the like, we would not have to downsize so much - darn kids! In truth, 3/4 of it is mine. Longaberger baskets - literally hundreds. Now down to about 30. Shoes...well suffice it to say I still have about 70 pair in my closet and about 70 pair in storage cause I had to "hide" stuff...that and bags. Those are my weaknesses. My clothes are reasonable. Two closets. One for spring/summer and one for fall/winter. I cannot imagine what poor old Eric is going to do when we move. He may have to hang his clothes in the garage. That closet is only big enough for some of my stuff which means again....overload to spare bedroom closet. In truth, I have been unburdened by the excess. We are donating it all to a World Vision garage sale...and of course a portion to our local church. We are blessed to be able to do it. That and my friends get to have a hay day going through whatever they may want. Many bags and baskets have flown out the door.

I am heading off to bed and felt like I should share at least one good story from Kansas City. We had traveled by car with the Seitz' oldest daughter, Caroline...known to us as Cara. We finally got to downtown Kansas City and we were elated to be at our destination after two days of driving. We were checking into a great hotel, the one Alyson won for us, and me and the kids were in the lobby hanging out and chilling. Eric walks in with ooey gooey gum on his hands and keys and looked directly into the eyes of our two lovely children and said (quite sternly), "Who spit the gum out of the window!"...Raechyl quickly jumped right in with "Not me" and Adam followed suit. Then Cara looked down, sat queitly for a moment and said rather meekly, "Uh, I did. But Mr. Thieringer, I spit it out the window, honest I did". At which point Eric said, "Yes, Cara you did and it landed directly on the Thuley Rack key hole which is why I have gum on my hands and keys"...."Uh, I am sorry Mr. Thieringer". I said to Cara, "Honey, it is OK but that is why you NEVER spit gum out ANYWHERE. Wrap it up and THEN throw it away". Eric went right up to the room and of course, we were ALL bright enough to stay right where we were. He came back about a half hour later with ONE clean key to unload the car and start our vacation.

That was our first day and suffice it to say there were many more laughs to come. Like when Alyson and I left the family early to go home and cook dinner. We were at a water park. Well, suffice it to say we covered two states before we got home. Kansas AND Missouri. That will come later. But thanks to those Seitz', we had the best vacation we have ever had. We miss you guys and thanks for a billion laughs!

Until next time...

Kansas City Here We Come...right back where we started from...

I am so blessed to have such great friends...some of which decided to leave we Yankees in NJ and move to Kansas City of all places. They thought they would just leave and be rid of we yankees, but we yankees are pretty stubborn and we aren't that easy to get rid of. So what do we do? Follow them right out to Kansas City. We just go where they are. And that is our plan. To stalk the Seitz'. They aren't getting rid of us that easily.

So, on August 8, we leave for Kansas City. So, I get an email from Allyson today. And it says this (and I will quote directly), "OK, I have a confession to make. I made an entry into a Kansas City contest in your name for you and your family for free tickets while you're here for your visit. And guess what? You won!"...You have to understand Allyson and Derek. They both have what I believe to be the BEST senses of humor of ANY couple I have EVER met....EVER. And I know some pretty funny couples. I read on. What she did was wrote a song about our trip to Kansas City and apparently the place loved it. I will write the lyrics then I will write the sponsor's response to "us" (really Allyson) about the entry. The song goes like this (and remember, it MUST be sung to the tune Oh Suzannah)...

THE WEATHERS HOT
THE DRIVE IS LONG
TORNADOS IN THE SKY,
BUT WE PROMISED OUR GOOD FRIENDS WE'D COME
TO KANSAS BY AND BY.

SO WE DROVE ALL DAY
WE DROVE ALL NIGHT
TILL WE'RE PULLING OUT OUR HAIR.
THE KIDS ALL ASK 'ARE WE THERE YET' AND WHAT WE'LL DO WHEN WE ARE THERE!

KC SUMMER ADVENTURE! ALL OUR HOPES RIDE ON YOU
TO SEE THE SEITZ (sights) AND HAVE SOME FUN
BEFORE OUR TRIP IS THROUGH.

WE'VE HEARD THAT UNION STATIONS GREAT
SCIENCE CITY CAN'T BE BEAT.
WHEN WE HEAR WE MIGHT SEE NARNIA WE CAN'T STAY IN OUR SEATS.

WE'D LOVE TO SEE A SUMMER SHOW
AT THEATRE IN THE PARK
AND AFTERWARDS TO REST OUR HEADS
AT CROWN CENTER AFTER DARK.

KC SUMMER ADVENTURE! ALL OUR HOPES RIDE ON YOU
TOO SEE THE SEITZ (sights) AND HAVE SOME FUN
BEFORE OUR TRIP IS THROUGH.

Now if this wasn't funny enough, I opened the response from the committee who ran the contest. I must add that when I opened these emails I was sitting in the waiting room of the dentist waiting for Raechyl to come out. I read the first one which made me laugh so hard, then when I opened the second one and read about singing it, I was howling. I laughed so long and so hard tears were streaming down my face (I just couldn't help it) and another mother in the waiting room started laughing with me. Laughter is contagious you know. Well, here is the response:

Congratulations! You are the winners of the KC Summer Adventure contest! Thank you so much for your wonderful entry. You had everyone singing along. As the winner you will recieve (a list of quite nice things including an overnight stay at an upscale hotel and tickets to a Narnia exhibition and much more)...but the part that really made me howl was this post script:

ps - We would love to do a quick video of you singing your entry while in Kansas City! Would you be up for it?

How do you say no? Eric promptly picked up the phone and said to Derek, "Lest you forget we sit in the front row at church to avoid anyone hearing Arrie sing"...the conversation went downhill from there. Raechyl has absolutely boycotted singing. ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT have anything to do with it, or us for that matter. Adam (the overachiever) is worried that he won't be able to memorize the words in time. We called the gal that ran the contest and said we would do it if our friends from Kansas City could do it with us. Her response? "Of course, we would love it if they joined you". I need to add just a few notes here. First of all, Eric and I decided we are old if we are no longer afraid someone will see us or are no longer able to be embarrassed. Secondly, our friend Derek looks JUST like Norman Gentle from last season's American Idol. We are rather sure this whole thing will be gererously shared with friends and hence make it to Facebook, Youtube and whatever other applications they can find to air our dirty laundry. But hey, who cares. Allyson was determined to win us some fun things to do, Raechyl is determined to pretend she doesn't know us, Adam will lip sync if he has to, I will sing as loud as I can and as enthusiastically as I can and Eric will sing his bass like no one else, and those Seitz...well let's just say they are BOTH muscially gifted, play all kinds of instruments and both have beautiful singing voices....maybe I should lip sync and they should carry us in this videa. Who cares. In the end, we are seeing the Seitz (sights) in Kansas City, getting to drive the two days with their precious daughter, Caroline, who we haven't seen in quite some time (we are bringing her back home from a whirlwind tour of the east coast alone) and we are going to be gone two weeks touring the US on our way back.

Again, we are so blessed to have friends like ours.

Until next time...

Weathering the Storm...

OK. I have weathered MANY storms in my life and in the end, this one will be no different. However, this storm (unfortunately) is, on one hand, not new to me...but on the other hand, so new I HATE it. You must be wondering what I am talking about. Let me clear it all up for you.

The storm that is all too familiar to me is the one where my electronics crap out. It doesn't matter if it is a phone, a calculator, my computer, my DSLR or 35mm camera....they just have things that happen. Yes, sometimes it is me who causes the storm. But other times, like with my Nikon D80 right now, they just simply crap out. I went to take pictures one day and the camera displayed an error. I took out the handy dandy user manual and did what it told me to do in order that the camera be reset. Nothing. Read on. Of course, the manual said "if this does not correct the problem, please contact a certified Nikon repair representative to have the camera repaired"...UGH. This was three weeks ago...camera still out for repair (wondering what this might cost since the camera body alone was a thousand dollars when I got it). It has also been the computer...might I be so bold as to add NEW computer. It has had problems since it's hookup at Christmas. I finally got rid of the wireless set up with mouse and keyboard because I was sick and tired of them deciding to "not recognize" each other and having to reboot my system. No problem - the fix...wires. However, that isn't the end of it. My computer, for the last two months, will periodically not allow me to log onto the Net. It has gotten worse. In the beginning it would sometimes not allow it, but eventually allow me on. Now it is consistent. It usually takes three attempt to get on the internet, but if, on the third attempt, I don't get on, my system locks up in cyber space and I have to reboot. But I found the fix (which I will try in the next week and hopefully won't have to blog about). I am going to restore the system to a date back in January to get rid of whatever has gotten in here...and YES for anyone who is thinking "why doesn't she just run virus/firewall protection"...I DO!!!! As if this isn't enough with the computer, I go to load Photoshop 7.0 professional yesterday and find that it isn't compatible with Vista...($500 program)...take Photoshop Elements (consumer version - only $100 program) and it isn't compatible with Vista...dare I go on to list the other scrapping and digital programs I have sitting next to me that are NOT ABLE TO BE LOADED ON THIS PIECE OF %$$#@#$$ COMPUTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...Boy did I get off track here. This blog isn't even about the computer...back to basics. That's right - my electronics crapping out on their own. Well this particular storm was DEFINATELY user error, much to my shame. But in order for it to have a full impact on the reader, I need to go back just about a year to preface this story with one thing that happened...

I got my first blackberry a couple of years ago (actually almost 4 I believe) and knowing my track record with electronics, I advised Eric to insure it..."We aren't spending $5 a month to insure the phone". OK. It was cool. I finally was able to get rid of my paper phone books and consolidate everything to one place. I got to explore the new phone and figure it all out and had a blast spending the entire 2 weeks to do it. It was about 3 weeks in when I had the phone plugged into a charger on the kitchen countertop to charge overnight. In the middle of the night some noise woke me up and I told Eric it sounded like something hit or fell into Willie's water dish (Willie was our dog at the time). "No, you are out of your mind - go back to sleep". Hhhmmm I thought. He was probably right. That was ridiculous - Willie was with me in my room. What could possibly have fallen into the water dish. The next morning Eric was downstairs in his office working. I came into the office and asked him to turn around. At which point he saw me holding up the not quite a month old Blackberry phone dripping with water..."Honey, something DID fall into the dog's water bowl last night - it WAS MY PHONE!". Apparently I had it set on vibrate and every time I got an email, the phone vibrated its way across the kitchen counter and dropped right into the water bowl. Now if you know my kitchen you would calculate that the chances of this happening are slim to none due to the infinite counter space I have, but honest to Pete, it really happened. That was my first lesson in several things...First, I'm always right and I am convinced someday Eric will just admit it. Second, electronic devices NEVER survive a complete soaking and should ALWAYS be insured when placed in my hands and Third, read the manual first or don't throw away your paper trail once you think you are done. I went to the Verizon store, told them what happened, spent ANOTHER $500. I asked them to copy one phone to the other (what do I know) and they told me they couldn't cause the "Sim" card was spent...BUT, they advised, IF I had 'synced' the device to my computer, all I have to do is plug the new phone into the computer and it will copy for me...."Sync?" I asked. "What does that mean". Well, I can now tell you what SYNC means cause it literally took about 2 months to resurrect all my old phone numbers and addresses. So, Eric said he would have his tech guy do something to my phone so it would automatically back up to his system at work...or something like that. All I know is that it never happened again and I didn't need to worry if it did cause Eric fixed the problem....or did he....

So, fast forward to last Friday. Now, I am on my third blackberry. I had (notice the past tense there) a Blackberry Curve. Loved it. Well, Friday I was getting out of my car with a few things in my hands and saw the hydrangea bushes with beautiful blooms on them and decided that they would look lovely in my kitchen, so I pitstopped at the garage to get scissors to cut some. I went and did my thing and sure enough they did look lovely. However, Friday night it POURED like I have never seen it pour. I went to leave Saturday and realized my phone was not where I usually leave it and I just figured I left it in the car. On my way to the car, I went to check on the hydrangea bushes, wondering what the storm had done to them and lo and behold, right on the bench in the garden was my Blackberry Curve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently I laid it down when I started to cut the blooms and forgot it....UGH! So, once again, I walked into Eric's office with yet another blackberry dripping with water and he turned around and said something like "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me.......(at which point I stopped listening)". I told him not to worry cause he insured this one. We both agreed the last time that we just need to insure things with me. "No, R, I didn't insure it" he advises me....Now this happens ALL THE TIME with us. Evidently I have conversations with some alien that just looks like Eric because I am SURE we agreed to insure phones the next time around. But I guess it wasn't really Eric I was talking to because he looks like a deer staring at headlights right about now. "Ok, well, we will have to suck up the cost, but at least we can recover all the stuff in it because it automatically backs up to your LAN network at work". Now if I thought he was looking lost and stupid before, you have NO idea what he looks like at this point. Almost like I was the alien. "R, I don't know what you are talking about". "Eric, I am absolutely sure you did this. You had the phone for two days and Tony did something to it to have it back up automatically. Remember, you assigned me an email address at ARS so my AOL account goes thru your company to back up???!!!" At this point, I am ready to reach across the desk and throttle him. Man oh man. I swear. ALL THE TIME this happens. It is like I make stuff up, or maybe I dream it, but it seems that I am the only one who remembers conversations that we have. "No, R. I don't think that is possible". So, in a last ditch effort to remain planted on earth and not orbit right into space, I turned around, walked out and said "I'm off to the verizon store". I get there and he was wrong, it WAS insured but I decided to upgrade for $50 to the Blackberry storm....touchscreen everything.

We have finally come full circle. I HATE THE BB STORM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HATE IT. It is like it is possessed or something. It has a mind of it's own. At times, it just does random, odd things...like keyboard not showing up when you need it, or camera firing up in the middle of me texting someone, or odd sounds starting and stopping in the middle of phone calls. SO, suffice it to say, I am NOT WEATHERING THE STORM. Nor did my Blackberry weather the storm. But like I said in the beginning, this too shall pass.

Until next time...
(oh by the way, Eric's tech guy is in today (he lives in TX) for some work and Eric took the bb storm to him to try to see if, in fact, he did set it up to back up automatically....from now on, I think I will take matters into my own hands and just sync to my computer)

Smart Alec...

"Honey, don't run over anything or into anything while I am gone". "Very funny" I answered as Eric walked out the door to go to D.C.

Now my history is a bit spotty when it comes to cars...especially the Honda I drive. I am not sure why, but I have hit a multitude of things since the day I bought it. I will list a few for your reading pleasure, then get on with the story.
1) a brick wall the fourth day I owned the car
2) Our white aluminum fence WAY more than once
3) animals galore
4) curbs (personally, I think they put curbs in just to tick people like me off)
5) my garage door - let me clarify that...I drove THROUGH the garage door
6) 3 cars on Route 80 (at the same time)
...you get the picture...

The day before Eric left for Washington, I was leaving to take the kids to camp. I hadn't even left my street when a rabbit ran out in front of me, and without even a moment to have a thought, BAM. Creamed him. I looked in my rear view mirror just in time to see his foot kick a little and his little white cotton tail flapping in the wind as he was plastered to the road. UGH. "What was that, Mommy?" I hear from the back seat..."Nothing, Adam, nothing". "Mommy, tell me. What was it". "Honey, it was a rabbit and I couldn't keep from hitting it, I'm sorry". Adam retorts, "Mom, you killed another rabbit!". "Adam, the last rabbit was not my fault, Lance killed that rabbit. I just drove him to the vet where he had the heart attack. I didn't kill him, he was scared to death" (but that's a whole other story). "Adam, don't worry about it. It is part of life.". Silence...I go to drop Raechyl off at the barn first, then go to basketball camp for Adam. I decided to stay and chat with my girlfriend. They have a turn around in their driveway and her car was in it. I parked really close to her to allow other cars dropping off kids to have room to park. I stayed the day. When it was time to leave, Adam and I get in the car and we pull out to leave and I hear "ssccrraappee" of metal to metal...

"Mom, that can't be good". "No, Adam, it isn't". So I carefully back up...."ssccrraappee" again. "Mom, you did it again". "Adam, I had to back away from the car. What was I supposed to do". He says "Are you going to get out and look at it". "No, Adam, you get out". "I'm not getting out. You did it, YOU get out". "OK, I will get out." I looked and because I was so close to her car, when I went to go around her car, my right back quarter panel hit her back fender....HOLY CRAP! It was a huge dent. I mean huge. Like the corner of the back fender collapsed. Adam gets out. "Oh man, mommy! Look at that thing". "OK, Adam, I see it. Don't make me nervous." "What are you going to do?"..."I'm gonna call Mrs. Pridmore"....who happened to still be in her driveway by her house. I yell "Hey Lynn, Come here". She starts walking toward me and says laughing "What did you hit my car?!"....."uuhh, yes I did". She was only kidding but much to her surprise, I DID hit her car. The long and short of it is a thousand dollars later, three days without my car because I insisted she drive my car while hers was being fixed and a few more dents/scratches on my car later, we are all happy campers.

Oh, except for me that is. Because now I have to listen to my family make jokes AGAIN every chance they get about me hitting things..."Honey, don't run over anything or into anything while I am away"...."Mommy, watch out, you might hit the fence"...."Mommy, did you just run over that cat"...."Mommy, are you sure you should be driving"....and so it goes. This is my life, but it is MY life and I love it. I am so blessed.

Until next time...

More Mom of the Year

I thought that I might actually take a vote at the end of the year to see if I would deserve "Mom of the Year" award. I am guessing I just might. What cracks me up is that I am so willing to tell anyone these things that might read this blog. Hopefully all know me and know I do love my children and DO care for them...honestly I do. It is just that sometimes I forget a thing here or there....like lunch...

Rae and Adam go to a private school and there is no cafeteria. They can order hot lunch but it is a month in advance so if you don't buy it, you can't decide at the last minute that you want something. Unfortunately, you go hungry. We do buy hot lunches because, even though the kids don't like EVERY lunch, we all know that - given the past - it is the better of all other options...like no lunch at all.

With all that said, Rae used to not like the Wednesday lunch. So, 4 days a week I paid for lunch in advance for both children, but on Wednesdays Rae took a lunch because she didn't like the lunch on Wednesdays...but only Rae. Now, almost all Wednesdays I did remember to send her to school with a lunch, but apparently a few times I forgot...this is how it went.

I picked her up from school one day and we walked in the house and she said, "Can I have Ramen Noodles?". "No, we are having dinner in 2 hours". "Please mommy, I am really hungry"..."Rae, look, you are being disrespectful by talking back. No is no. You may not have Ramen noodles. Have a piece of fruit to hold you over till dinner". "But mommy, I am not trying to be disrespectful, but I am RREEAALLLLYY hungry". By now, I am thinking two things. First, it is totally NOT like her to persist like this. She is totally compliant and we never have problems with her (that would be Adam's job - we are in for big trouble with him - no doubt. But that is another blog). Second, I am thinking she is NEVER this hungry when she gets home from school and she is near in tears, almost begging for food. So I say to her, "Rae, is everything allright? This isn't like you. Are you feeling ok?"....at which point she fesses up..."Mom, I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to hurt your feelings. You forgot my lunch again today. (again??!! That apparently is indicative that I forgot before!!!) This is the third time you forgot to give me a lunch on Wednesdays. The first two times it was ok because I wasn't that hungry when I got home from school because my friends shared their lunches with me. But today, I have had nothing to eat since breakfast and I am beginning to feel sick. I am really starving. I am sorry mommy, can I please have Ramen Noodles?"

UGH...

In a desperate attempt to make it all up to her, I offered whatever she wanted to eat. I told her she should have called me. She told me she didn't want to "bother" the office or me...it was really OK that she didn't have a lunch. I told her it really was NOT OK for her to not have a lunch. I asked her why she didn't call me today when she knew she would have nothing to eat all day. She told me she didn't want to hurt my feelings by letting me know I forgot to feed her.

Welp...that said it all. OK, I have forgotten school, I have forgotten camp, I have forgotten to being the kid to the doctor and show up without them, but in looking back for some things to blog about I remember that I DID forget to feed my kid as well. Now, mind you, this is NOT something I am proud of, but can look back at it and laugh now.

I am truly blessed with a daughter who is gentle, kind and has a gigantic heart for people. She didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings...(which scares me a little cause she HAS let herself be talked into something she shouldn't have done because when she tried to abstain, her friends said they would be mad if she didn't, so she did...she was way younger, but it can be a bad thing as well). But in this case, it showed me and continues to be a reminder of how blessed I am with my family.

Now, Adam on the other hand...I am blessed by him as well in more ways than I can say, but there is NO doubt, I am in for some trouble with that boy...

Until next time...

The Sights...Seitz???

"Hey, R, Let's go see the sights in Kansas City". "Why Kansas City?" Eric replies, "Because that's where the sights are". "Eric, there are plenty of sights somewhere closer I am sure". Eric, rather perplexed, replies "R, the sights are in Kansas City and I just want to go there". Now, at this point, I am hearing the infamous "Who's on first" play with Abbott and Costello. So, once again, I try to get him to understand that we don't have to drive half way across the country to see sights..."Eric, really. I understand you want to see the sights in Kansas City, but I am thinking we should probably stay closer to home, maybe upstate New York". At this point, he is rather insistant. "R, look. I know you don't want to drive half way across the country, but if we are going to see the sights, that is where we have to go". OK, in my head I am thinking this man is either drinking or has completely lost his head. I am trying to be patient but at this point I feel like I am talking to a wall. So, with a little more insistance, I say, "Eric, I am sure there are plenty of sights to see right here. I don't think we have to drive to Kansas City to see sights. I am not even sure there are any sights worth seeing in Kansas City..." at which point he starts laughing. Now, mind you, I find NOTHING funny here at all. My husband is trying to convince me to drive half way across the country with two children (and if you know the way Eric drives, you would know I will be in the back seat with sunglasses on and my ipod in my ears because I don't want to see my death coming). I ask, "What is so funny". He replies, "R, I don't mean see the sights, as in things to see, I mean see the Seitz, as in Derek, Allyson, Cara, Paige, Ben and Lily...friends of ours that moved to Kansas City two years ago.

So, On August 8, we are leaving to drive half way across the country to see the Seitz!

Until next time...

Living in a Blonde Moment....UGH

OK. Now I have humiliated myself at my church by forgetting Adam's first day of preschool then showing up for the second day an hour late. I have humiliated myself at my kids school showing up to substitute and forgetting where I need to be and when...also throwing away a students sandwhich by accident and countless others I am sure. I have humiliated myself with my friends by tripping while I was texting and falling flat on my face. I have humiliated myself at home so many times I cannot even begin to list them all, but I truly thought the doctors office would always be my safe haven. For heaven's sake, there is no place left but there. With that said...

Last night I check the calendar to make sure I have to fast for blood work today. Yup. 10 am appointment for simple fasting blood work - no biggie. OK, note on the coffee pot - NO COFFEE FOR ARRIE (my love of a husband makes coffee in the morning and brings me a cup in bed when he wakes up before me). Told my mom to remind me not to eat or drink anything this morning. Now, for any coffee lovers out there, I need not say this, but in the event someone on this earth doesn't drink coffee, I will advise them that a coffee drinker (lover) not allowed to have her coffee in the morning is a recipe for disaster even if all else goes well. OK, no coffee, no food. Now, not sure about you, but I want to eat in the morning...nothing big, but something. Anything. Not this morning...nothing for me. OK, I'll live.

9:30...gotta leave before I am late (I have blogged about that, too). I take a nice drive 35 minutes away to my doctor, making sure to stop at Dunkin Donuts to get the coffee so when I get back in my car after the appointment, it is there waiting for me. Arrive at the doctor. Walk in...(staff:) "Hi Arrie - no Adam?". (me:) "No, I left him at home with Mina". (staff:) "Isn't he coming today"? (me:) "no". (staff:) "He is supposed to get a physical today with fasting blood work". (me, still so sure of myself that I didn't even stop to think!:) "no, he's on Friday. I am today". (staff - now snickering at me:) "No, R. Today is definitely him and YOU are on Friday". (me - now any one of you would probably know to stop there, but not me - nope - I just kept going:) "Are you sure? I am sure he was Friday and I am today". (staff:) "No, we're pretty sure he was today...but we'll check"...at which point I thought, hhhmmm, maybe I should check. So, I take out my phone, check my calendar and sure enough...Adam today - ME FRIDAY! Oh, for the love of Pete! So, with my tail between my legs (and the staff at this point laughing out loud - I am SO glad I know them all personally) I ask meekly, "Well, since I fasted since last night and Adam is home eating breakfast, can you do my blood work today and I'll bring Adam in on Friday?". Which would have been fine IF THE DOCTOR WERE GOING TO BE IN ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are booked until October with physicals, so they made the exception for the sad little blonde girl who should be taken out to pasture and shot and told me to bring him in in two weeks on a day they don't do physicals. UGH.

Now, I have to face the doctor, who came in smiling and said, "So, R...how's everything?". Now, mind you I see this doc and his staff every other week due to health issues, so we are like family, but it was THE ONLY place I haven't humiliated myself at....UNTIL TODAY.

"OK, Dr. Stack...very funny. I know I blew it. My calendar is even correct. The only thing wrong is ME. I feel physically great, strong and with plenty of energy, however, this brain thing...." We all had a good laugh and I did get my blood drawn. I did get my coffee when I got in the car and I did get a reminder as I walked out to bring Adam the next time. Well, I think there is no where left for me to let people think I might actually not be a blonde. No matter what color my roots are, inside me is screaming BLONDE, BLONDE, BLONDE!

Until next time...

Passwords...

I was going to blog about Adam, but since it took me, literally, 28 minutes to figure out which email address and which password combination I used, I no longer have time to do that. I hate this. Just when I think I got it, one of the sites requires something different....like all numbers, or alpha/number combo, or a minimum of 12 digits (now, I can barely remember my kids names, much less a 12 digit password). I thought I was being smart and writing them down, but in my infinite wisdom, I forgot to write website/user name correlations. So, I have all these passwords written down so I can access them quickly, but then have to guess at which one goes with which website. Then, a frequented site, like Facebook, will add something like a user name. That happened when I sold things on Ebay. Once upon a time, it was your email address, which was good for me because I could always find myself. Then, they decided it was too public and they made email addresses private. So we had to choose a user name, which I never did. So, they assigned one to me. There is NO way I could even remember it, so that was the end of my Ebay days.

OK, now, I logged on to Blogger with my name and checked the box that says "remember me" and hopefully that will solve the problem.

Until next time...

Family Cheerleader...

I went to a friend's house yesterday for lunch. I told Karen that I haven't blogged in such a long time and that as I lay in bed thinking, I just couldn't come up with anything worth blogging about. Nothing remotely funny has happened to me of late. Now I am not sure that it is a bad thing...sometime no news is good news, but I did want to blog. So, just like any good friend would, Karen gave me something to blog about...

As we were sitting at the table outside eating, Karen brought out a roll of paper towels. We used the last one while we were eating and John, he is 4 (and a RIOT), took the empty roll and put it to his mouth as if it were a bull horn and yelled "I am the cheerleader of the family"...and laughed. I was not sure what that was all about and when I asked, he said that daddy does that. And sometimes, he adds, Daddy takes a toilet paper roll and puts it to his mouth and yells that he is the "Mini Cheerleader" of the family. Karen began laughing so hard tears were rolling down her sweet cheeks. At that point, she explained...

Our husbands are called to be family leaders both spiritually and otherwise. But with Karen and me home all day with our children, we tend to be those leaders for our children...but then who leads us? Karen said that she was telling her husband, Steve, that he needed to be the spiritual leader in their home. He agreed and said he was. They decided to ask their children. They went around the room to 3 of their 4 children (if "Ephan" could talk, I am guessing his answer would be the same). "OK, who is the spiritual leader in our home, Grace?"..."Mommy"..."Luke?"..."Mommy"..."John?"..."Mommy"...hhhhmmmm....sounds like mommy is. So, Steve decided to make it known to his family that HE is the spiritual leader in their home. And in a last ditch effort to convince him that he was, he picked up an empty paper towel roll, held it to his mouth and yelled "I am the spiritual leader of the family". He apparently even takes the toilet paper ones and yells thru them, "I am the mini spiritual leader of the family". Well to precious John, it sounds like "I am the cheerleader of the family" and that is what he says. Now, to have watched this take place was just hysterical. Karen was laughing so hard she was crying, I was literally howling and John was thinking we were both nuts!

So, there you have it. Steve THINKS he is the SPIRITUAL LEADER of the family, but in reality, his children see him as the CHEERLEADER of the family. Well, Steve, at least they love you enough to let you run around the house yelling through toilet paper tubes and papertowel tubes and still have respect for you - LOL! I would give absolutely ANYTHING to be a fly on the wall in this home. I am thinking I would NEVER be short on something to blog with the DeBeus'.

Thank you, my friend, for allowing me the privelege of sharing this wonderful child story with the world! Until next time...(and it just may be another DeBeus story...)

That darn dog!

And this is what I opened the door to see two days ago.

My dog, Lance, is a black Chow Chow. By all human standards a good dog. He had a tough life which included many years on the streets of Newark killing to eat. So, it is in his, shall we say, blood. I knew that when I adopted him. However, he is amazing with kids and people - quite opposite from a typical Chow who is very dominant and possessive and protective of their people and homes. Not Lance. He just kills "things" when he gets out. Needless to say, we don't let him out without a leash. However, in his old age, he has become like Houdini escaping from this house. I love what my mother calls it when he bolts out the door. She says he runs out of here like a "ruptured duck". That could be a whole other blog but suffice it to say, Eric and I have never seen a ruptured duck run, but I will take her word for it.

So, two days ago the children and I were leaving to go to school and out that door he went - like a "ruptured duck"...the only problem with that is the only thing ruptured in the end was a deer - AGAIN. Now Lance is fat and he is old. Chows average life span is 8-10 years. Lance will be 11 this November. I am absolutely convinced that we will have the oldest Chow on record. With my luck, he will live to be 18! However, Lance isn't too fat or too old or too slow for that matter to not catch a deer!

When he runs, he runs and doesn't come home for awhile. When he does come home, he lays around the front steps but when someone opens the door to let him in, he runs away again. This goes on all day. So the last time when I opened the door to let him in, he turned around and looked at me and started wagging his tail...like he was proud of himself, happy, something. Not like him at all. I walked down one stair wondering why he hadn't run and then I saw it. A deer leg...chewed off and left there as a prize. Almost like the murderer who keeps something from the kill as a trophy. When I saw it, I shot "the look" at Lance, at which point, he bolted like duck that was running for his life. I walked back in the house, slammed the door, and lost my head. "That =+%$#@#@ DOG! He @#%^$%# did it again! He killed another deer and left the @##@ leg on the stoop!". Oh man, I blew a gasket! So, what was I supposed to do with this leg on my stoop? Well, of course, what any other wife would do. I picked it up by the hoof, carried it to Eric's work bench outside in the garage and left it there for him to figure out what to do with it.

Now, as far as I was concerned, Lance was going to spend the night out there in the rain until the blood was washed clean from his furry fat head! But Eric, being WAY more compassionate than I am, let him in and washed him off himself. No way! Not me! With all that said, it has been three days since this happened. Today is Thursday and tomorrow is garbage day. The deer leg is still on the work bench in the garage smelling quite ripe I might add. I am hoping it makes it to the woods or at least the garbage can tomorrow. Before we know it, the vulchers will be breaking into our garage to eat the decaying carcass!

Until next time...

I day in the life...

"Bye honey, is there anything I can do for you while you are away?". Eric said no and walked away. Before leaving, he turned around and said, "as a matter of fact, you can. You can weed whack, edge and if you want, mow the lawn". OK I thought. I love power tools. After receiving instructions on how to work the thing he left. I go outside, find it, read the instructions on the side of the whacker (which was Eric's instructions to me..."Just read the instructions on the weed whacker"). Pretty simple. Push the air button 10 times, move the choke to full throttle, pull the pull start three times. Move the throttle to half speed and pull the pull start until it starts. About 4 pulls and I have power....COOL. Put on ear protection and off I go. Took a few minutes to figure out exactly how to "edge". If you are not careful, you can pull up chunks of grass...I know. And if you get too close to the ground or tip it certain ways you can also pull up chunks of grass. I figured that out, too. It was like a divit in golf. But, once we were past the 7 divits, I got the hang of it and it was really fun. This, I have to tell you. is no ordinary whacker. High power, heavy and gas - which is another thing...gas or gas and oil? I'll get there in a minute.

I whacked the sidewalk and edged it. I did under the playset and edged that, too. I did along the rock wall and was about to the side of the house when it ran out of gas. I go to the garage and start looking around. I see a little thing on the whacker that had a gas symbol and a drop symbol and I figured it is gas and oil mixture. But we have three red gas cans and one blue one. I start with blue...definitely kerosene. Next...empty. Next, think it smells like gas and the last I really wasn't sure so I used that one. After pouring 1 gallon on the driveway, the little tank was full. I pushed the air button 10 times, put the throttle full, pull three times, move throttle to half, pull a few more times and viola - we have power...

And that's when it happened. Like a bad dream. The pull start rope thing wouldn't go back in and it stalled. It was like it got stuck. I couldn't pull start again because it was stuck in the out position with the rope/string thing hanging down. OK, I debated taking it to the shop to have someone fix it, but thought surely I can rewind the thing. I found the right screwdriver with the little star end, unscrew everything to take off the cap to the pull start housing. Still couldn't get that white casing to wind. I tried winding the rope around manually but you couldn't because there was no space to get it in, tried winding left and right and it was dead stuck...wouldn't budge. Oh, I see one more screw right in the middle of the white thing that the rope pull start winds around so I figured that must come off, then I can wind it up and call it a day. I unscrew it and that is when it happened. Like a slinky that was bound in a 2" box when you open the top, it sprang off with such force that it actually scared me and I screamed. Apparently there is a wire spring (like 10 feet long - honest it was) that is between that little white thing that holds the rope for the pull start and the whacker...it must serve some purpose cause it was there. The entire end of the whacker sprang into pieces...crud! CRUD! What am I going to tell Eric? I am going to be permanently banned from power tools! So, I figure if I can rewind the metal and pop it back together, it will be fine, but let me tell you one thing...If you even have 1.5 hours to kill, get a thin piece of metal (like stripping) and make sure it is AT LEAST 10 feet long, then try to wind it into a final circle of about 2" in diameter! I give up. So I call Eric...

"Hi honey, how was your flight?". "Good, what's up?". "Er, how much do you think it costs for a new, gas powered weed whacker?"...I heard some noise at which point I stopped listening. When I leave here, I am stopping at Home Depot. I think they will know the price and it will be audible words that I can understand.

Until next time...

Late, as usual...

Try as I might, I am NEVER on time. And I don't ever mean to be late. I really feel like that is like saying someone else's time isn't as important as yours. How can someone wake up at 4:30 in the morning and be late to school more times than not and school doesn't start till 8:30? When you figure it out, let me know so we can be on time to school.

Yesterday, I picked up 4 kids at school (my two and my friends two) and one stayed at school for a soccer program for an hour. I was going to take the two girls to the barn to ride, come back to school and pick up Ethan and go back to the barn, get the girls and go home with the 5 kids. That was my plan, anyway.

We get to the barn and Morgan (my friend's daughter) forgot her insulin bag at school, now for the record, being a TypeI diabetic and not having an insulin bag is NOT good. I always have glucose in my car just in case her blood sugar gets really low and I gave her them and told her I would be right back with her bag and brother. This was 3:30. I went right back to the school to pick Ethan up at 4 and saw a friend...need I say any more. Ethan continued to play soccer of course and I yakked and yakked and yakked some more. I actually stood in the pouring rain, two 7 year old kids in my car still cause I was "just picking Ethan and getting Morgan's insulin bag" and I guess I lost track of time. The next thing I know Adam gets out of the car, walks across the parking lot and asked me if we could go now. A side note: I had put a movie on when I got out of the car. I called Ethan, got the bag and said goodbye and got in the car (soaking wet I might add) and realized when I got in that the movie was over..."that cannot be good" I thought and looked at the clock. It was 5 pm! Now, this wouldn't be the end of the world normally but Ethan had a baseball game and had to leave at 5:30 (and of course it was NOT raining in Chester where he lives) and still have to pick up the girls at the barn...HOLY COW!!! I have the insulin bag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I race to the barn and Morgan is eating candy canes which means she crashed with the sugar which is VERY dangerous and I have the bag. So I scramble to get the girls and quick call Kristen, my girlfriend. I am in a complete and total panic at this point that now, because of my being late, their family has to race around and poor Morgan needs to get this blood thing figured out and Ethan has a game....Kristen answers the phone, "Hello?". "Hi, Kristen...It's me. I am SO sorry that it is almost 5:30 and your kids are not home (now I want you to read this as fast as you can because no matter how fast you read it, I was saying it faster!)...I am at the barn and I am leaving now. Get their dinner ready, get Ethan's clothes, and when I get to your house, I will slow down enough that when I throw your kids out, they won't get hurt too badly". Kristen is so kind and funny. She is like, "No big one - I was hoping the game would be cancelled but it seems to be raining everywhere but here, but take your time...no big one". So, now this is what I pictured in my head (though it didn't really happen and as it turned out, the game had been cancelled by the time I got to her house, but this is what played in my head like a movie)...

I slow the car down, open the door, have the kids jump out. They are rolling, but get up pretty quickly and dust themselves off and run into the house. Kristen is waiting at the front door with food in her hand and she proceeds to shove it into Ethan and Sydney and Morgan's mouth as she throws baseball clothes at Ethan, the whole time yelling..."Come on, Come on...we gotta go...." and so the kids hurry toward the back door and into the garage. Poor Ethan has food coming out of his mouth, Morgan is grabbing what she needs on the way out and Sydney is just trying to keep up. As Ethan races to the car drooling, he has one cleat on and the other in his hand and he is jumping on one foot to the car because it is raining and he doesn't want to get his foot wet. He is hopping, one cleat on and the other in his hand, he is drooling and his baseball shirt is on only one arm and head and the other arm is being used to try to maneuver his cleat on the foot in the air. They hop in the car, baseball equipment falling out of the doors as they quick get in and Kristen goes to start the car and the battery is dead. They come running out after me (because the above happened in less than 1 minute 25 seconds) and they are screaming...I turn around to see what was wrong and find out Kristens car is dead. I cannot jump start it because it is in the garage and I can't get my car in the other side because the other side is storage. Plan B...the kids stumble out of her car, go to get in my car and Kristen gets in the front seat and we realize that I am one car seat short...UGH. At that very moment, her cell phone rings and it is the coach telling her the game was cancelled...

I tell you, there is a party going on in my head. Until next time...

Cooking...just not for me

I tell ya, this cooking thing just isn't for me. Now you know it is bad when you go to your doctor and see your friend there who says that she cracks up when she sees me posting something about cooking on facebook. She told me in the 20 years I have been with Eric that I have NEVER cooked, and while that isn't completely true, it is largely true. So, holding true to my character, my mouth engaged before my brain had a chance to think. Hate when that happens. I did that once in church (OK, I've done it tons of times, but this one particular time in church...) someone who I didn't know came up to me and asked me if I knew someone who could watch her seven year old son while she worked. She went thru this whole story about being newly divorced and having to work two jobs and needing someone to pick up her son at school on Tuesdays and keep him till like 7 and before my brain had a chance to engage, my mouth shouted, "I will do it"..."what!!!" I thought...I am telling you, I stood there staring into space for about a minute absolutely stunned at what my mouth had just done. I mean, I don't even know this lady...I know NOTHING about her son - nothing! My mind was screaming at my mouth and at this point, my mouth was very sorry for what it had done. At about that time, her son walked up to her, threw a paper airplane at her and said "Here idiot"...OMG! This is the kid my mouth just volunteered to watch? At that very moment, I explained that I have rules in my house and he had to obey my rules. I did watch him for almost a year. He did spend much of his time on the couch in time out, but I did see this lost little boy come out of his shell and become a very nice boy...However, with that said...

Yesterday, my mouth engaged (once again) before my brain could stop it or my hand could make it to my mouth to shut it up. I volunteered to make dinners and meals for a friend of mine who is battling cancer and just got home. Now those of you who know me, know that cooking is not my thing. As a matter of fact, when I open my pantry door, I resemble a deer caught staring into headlights. I usually decide it is data overload and shut the door and walk away. That is my daily attempt at dinner. Oh, she is a vegetarian, did I mention that? I don't even know how to cook normal food! Now I love this friend, but cleaning her house, mowing her lawn, planting, weeding, painting a portrait would be more my speed. Meals! What was I thinking? I know, you are dying to say I wasn't thinking, which brings this full circle.

I did manage to cook a few things (that I watched my cambodian friend make)...this is Victoria, "Arrie (roll your r's), all you do is chop, chop, chop...dum, dum, dum"...now I was a bit offended at that remark. Even me! Now it is ok for me to make fun of myself, but not Vic. I looked at her and said, "Did you just call me dumb?" She said, "No, dum, dum, dum"..."Vic, did you just call me dumb again?". She laughed and slowed down her broken speech to say, "No, dummmmpppp, dummmmpppp, dummmmpppp" - into the boiling water she meant. Chop the stuff on the counter and dump it into a pot. The other things I found recipes for. One was "Quinoa alfredo"...good luck finding quinoa. I have no idea what it is but knew it was some sort of a grain, so I bought couscous instead. Never tasted that...it even had brussell sprouts in it. Who on earth eats those things? Anyway, I have to add one little final note:

Heather (my friend) has a PhD in nutrition, is an author of several healthy cookbooks, is a fantastic cook and can make some greens from the front lawn taste like something from a 5 star restaurant. She is a darn doctor of food - what on earth am I doing cooking for the doctor of food! She was very kind in telling me the buritos were great (how can you mess up putting beans on a multi grain wrap and adding cheese?) but interestingly enough, never mentioned the brussell sprout thing nor the barley hazlenut salad thing...not too sure that was a hit, either. But, in the end, Heather does not have to worry about food. I am sure she has eaten worse things in putting together recipes for publication and I know her husband and children were thankful just to have mom home again.

Next time, I am sticking to killing bugs and setting lawns on fire!

Until next time...