PATAPSCO

Recently, we took the youth to Patapsco State Park to float the river.

The past month has been so dry (it is SO STRANGE to refer to Maryland as dry, but it has been!) that there wasn't much water to float in.

Honestly, it was all good, except for the freezy water and over sized rocks that assaulted our bums.

I'd probably do it again next year, and that's saying something considering my attitude prior to the actual river floating experience...sometimes I'm crabby, ok.

The bishop took photos of everyone, and today he informed me that I'm fun to photograph on account of my overly expressive face.

Based on these photos, we can all agree that he is absolutely right has no idea what he is talking about.

I Might Be Crazy

I often think I might be crazy, and sometimes I provide myself with proof...

Tonight, I purposely decided to wait until everyone had gone to bed before I started to make the Spiced Apple Carrot Cake that I'm planning to take to lunch tomorrow. I thought it would be so nice to spend some quiet time in my kitchen alone, listening to the new Mindy Gledhill album that I just downloaded with the itunes gift card I got for Christmas (thanks mom!), and scooping flour out of my new kitchen canisters (because that never gets old).

After Jesse went to bed and I sat talking with him until he fell asleep, because sometimes the only time we have, just us, together, I walked downstairs to get started. It hit me that I wouldn't be able to use the food processor to grate apples and carrots -too noisy- and therefore, wouldn't be making a midnight cake after all. Bummer.

Immediately upon realizing that the cake would not be baked this fateful night, I decide to stay up super late anyway, doing nothing at all. It wasn't really a conscious decision...just one Nothing lead to another Nothing, and then I'd spent two hours doing Absolutely Nothing...

Don't worry, I finally decided to go to bed when my eyes drooped for a moment and I started envisioning crickets playing maracas instead of rubbing their legs together.

Do you Bake Much?

The following account is the riveting story of two new friends and the batch of brownies that sealed their friendship...

One day, my new friend Melissa was having a tough time. She was having such a terrible day that she petitioned the Facebook world for some brownies, or cookies, or ice cream. ANYTHING.

You know you've been there. 

Anyhow...

Because I'm such a great friend (which none of you would know because I never call or write, and I don't live close enough to bring you brownies on your bad days, but thankfully you like me anyway), I whipped up some brownies from my favorite recipe and called her up...

(which is a whole story in and of itself about mixed up contact info in my cell phone, and me thinking that I was talking to Melissa's husband, and how could he not know where she was on a Sunday evening, and why did he not know her phone number...Don't worry, it was the bishop. This did nothing to placate my phone aversion...)

...So when I finally dialed the ACTUAL Melissa and got permission to bring said brownies to her home, I thought all was well.

 When I got to her house, she dove right into the brownies and I gabbed for a few minutes before taking a bite of mine.

My first bite was...off. 

The second bite was...strange.

The third bite was TERRIBLE, and prompted me to ask, 

"Do these brownies taste ok to you?"

To which Melissa only replied,

"Do you bake much?"

Which was the one liner that made us both laugh.

Her official diagnosis: The oil had gone rancid. Grossy-gross!

And bless her! She fully intended to choke the whole thing down if I hadn't noticed.

The brownies went into the garbage where they belonged, and we proceeded to talk well into the night about everything and anything that struck our fancy. 

It's so nice to know people who will like me in spite my baking skills...and phone skills...and letter writing skills...

My Favorite Brownies:

Fake Betty Crocker Brownies from Fake-It Frugal

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients. Add any desired add-ins for personaliztion...I'm all about adding a handful of dark chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes in a 9"x9" baking dish. 

I love this recipe because it's as easy as using a mix, but it uses ingredients that I already have in my pantry, and it makes a much small batch than the mix does. If all that measuring and putting ingredients puts you off...make mixes using only the dry ingredients. Fill a few ziploc bags at a time and keep them in your pantry for up to six months.  

The Story of Jesse's Life: High School Mixes

Do you remember back before Ipods when people created playlist after playlist and burned them onto blank CD's?

We all did it. And so did Jesse.

Today I saw one of them, and the title made me laugh. 

A lot.

I wish I could tell you what sorts of songs Jesse felt would be well represented by using this as a title for his cd, but I'm not a huge fan of Jesse's music (there's a four year gap between us and a lot can change in the music world in four years), so I didn't bother to listen.

Moral of the story: Be selective about what you write with permanent marker and then save forever...one day, years later, your wife may post it on the interweb because it is funny.

Andre, {not} Our Chocolate Friend - a silly story

So, you may or may not know that Andre came to visit us for the month of July and it was so fun!

Andre is technically my cousin, but he has lived with my parents for a couple of years, so he sort of feels like a brother. He's also about 15 years younger than me, so he sort of feels like a nephew. So I guess he's my cousinbrothernephew and I really, really, REALLY like him.  We all do.

One morning while he was here, Oliver saw him walking in the hallway upstairs and said in a voice that full of wonder and amazement, as though he had never noticed before,

"Oh MOM! Andre is SO BROWN all over!"

I didn't really know what to say, so I just agreed with him,

"Yes, he is brown."

Then Oliver followed up with this perfect line of hilariosity:

"He looks like chocolate. He is my chocolate friend!" 

While I thought it was hilarious, Andre did not love being Oliver's chocolate friend. I teased him a little bit about it and he was very perturbed.

"That's RACIST!"

He told me.

I told him that it certainly was not racist, because racism comes from hatred, and we love him, and don't hate anyone. He agreed that maybe it wasn't racist, but still was not a fan. And it certainly is not politically correct, so we stopped.

Sometimes It's the Little Things

Guys!

Guess what!

I got up this morning (THIS MORNING) and took a shower. Usually, shower doesn't happen until nap time.

Then, after I showered, I styled my hair (blow dried AND straightened). Usually, my hair goes into a bun on the back of my head. On Sunday, it goes into a nicer bun on the back of my head.

Then, after I showered and styled my hair, I put on makeup (on my WHOLE face). Usually, I only put on mascara and eyeliner. And that's only if I'm planning to see people I know. If I'm just planning a trip to the store or the mall, I don't wear any.

Yikes, right?

Then I took Oliver to his first day of sort-of-preschool (which he LOVED) and took myself to the mall to buy Oliver some socks. The socks were so cheap (80 cents), and I felt so good that I decided to buy myself a shirt. It is blue with sparkly sequin polka dots, and it was on sale. I plan to wear it this fall with jeans and boots (yes mom, I will wear a blue shirt with denim pants...I've come a long way!)

And you know what, I felt pretty great.

I guess you sort of forget how nice it feels to get yourself prepared for the day when you're busy trying to just get through it in one piece, and make sure that the little boy's pee pee makes it to the big boy potty more often than not, and other equally remarkably stressful yet mundane things

YIKES, right?

Maybe I'll do it all again tomorrow!