Sometimes I Surprise Myself

Once in a while I do something that is so not "me" that it makes me laugh out loud...

-Last night I went to spinning class. Ha ha, I never exercise! I laughed to myself all the way there. If Lacie hadn't said, "you're going" I probably wouldn't have done it. To sum up my experience, my bum hurts. It hurts in a different way than it has ever hurt before. But I'm totally going again next Tuesday.

-In March, I was a hostess for a contestant in the Miss Springville Pageant. I laughed so hard when I told my friend, yes, I would be a hostess. I was getting ready to say no in a nice way when a "yes" popped out.

Now, pageantry has always been something I scoffed at because deep inside I think it is scary. "I would never!!!" - I've said this more than once regarding pageants.



Well, as you can see, my girl Cathy totally won. She rocks on the piano. She is lovely and graceful and a freakin' genius. She didn't need help with her hair, makeup, wardrobe, etc. which is a good, good thing. (If you didn't know, I suffer in those areas.) So despite my lack of helpfulness, she was crowned Miss Springville/Mapleton for 2009-2010. I felt very proud.
You see that necklace she is wearing? I did clasp that for her. Even lovely freakin' geniuses need help clasping their necklaces when they are in a hurry.

-I'm really trying to think of another example of how I surprise myself. I got nothin'. That is really sad.

Chicken Cream Cheese Soup

My sister Natalie has a great recipe I'd like to share. I tried it at her house last week when I took my mom and my kids up to visit her. Nat fed us this soup and a great salad for lunch. Here is the soup recipe:

Chicken Cream Cheese Soup

1 lb. chicken
1 onion, diced
1-2 T. butter
2 cups sliced carrots
4-5 potatoes, diced small
1 c. milk
1/4 c. flour
8 oz. package cream cheese

1. Put chicken in pot and cover with water; boil until cooked. Take chicken out of water but keep the broth. When the chicken is cool, shred.
2. Saute onion in butter. Put onion in pot and add carrots and potatoes. Add 3-4 cups of broth or enough to cover vegetables. Add bouillon cubes or soup base for flavor. (I add 4 bouillon cubes.) Bring to a boil and simmer until veggies are tender.
3. Mix flour with milk and add to soup. Soften cream cheese in microwave then add to soup in little pieces and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper.

Note to Lacie B.: Make sure you change this recipe 10% so that it can be considered your own.

Food for Thought

I had a stellar garden last year. I took this gardening class and did about everything the fellow said to do. (That fertilizer stuff is awesome.) I was leaving bags of homegrown produce on neighbor's doorsteps in the middle of the night. I hope I wasn't a nuisance. But, really, it was out of control. I had so much fun growing my own food, that I am stepping up my efforts this year. I am now the proud owner of an orchard. (I have 2 apple and 2 peach trees. I plan to soon own a hardy almond tree.) I'm pruning and spraying and having a great time with it.

This leads me to ramble on food. I've been reading this book called "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. It is a very interesting book that has made me think differently about the food I tend to eat everyday.

These are my thoughts:

I need to eat more plants, especially the ones I grow myself.

I need to eat less processed food.

The typical Western diet is a relatively new thing, and our bodies are not adapted to all that sugar and white flour. No wonder just the thought of eating a glazed donut gives me a headache.


So if I can leave anything with you today it would be this- plant a row of peas. It is fun to do with your kids, and makes you feel healthy.

All of this healthy talking didn't keep me from asking Josh to bring me home a treat from the gas station convenience store. He left two minutes ago. I hope he either brings a Chic-o-stick or some Doritos. Have you ever eaten a Chic-o-stick? Dang.

Thanks to Jen

I'm sending out a big thank you to Jen Parcell who fixed my blog! What a terrific gal. I couldn't even get her to accept reward cookies for her good deed. Thank you for your time and expertise!

Thank you also to Tandy who offered to fix my blog, and to Cora who tried to fix it. I appreciate the support from you gals.

So I can't change my freakin' background

I'm having trouble with this blog. I follow the instructions and they don't seem to work. I hit SAVE and everything. Nobody wants to see an AUTUMN background when spring is just about ready to appear and bring us all joy unsurpassable.

This is why I haven't had the desire to post anything in months. I'm disheartened. If anyone would like to come over and personally change my background, I'll make that person cookies. Thank you.

And it's not even noon yet...

What a day I've had...

There are 16 days till Christmas, and fate has handed me

12 frustrated hours

11 freak outs

10 hundred toys to clean up

9 requests for food

8 outfit changes by Meg

7 trips to the bathroom for E-train

6 nasty diapers

5 minutes to write this post

4 more freak outs

3 chauffeur trips

2 tubby times

1 boy who stayed home from school

Ally's Letter

Ally recently wrote a letter in school to send to a serviceman for Christmas.



Dear Soldier,

I hope you like my note, the stocking I colored, the bookmark and everything else! How is it going down there? Thank you for all you do. You probably don't know me, but that's all right.

I am so grateful that you are fighting for our country!

Be careful and watch your back!

Do you like being in the war? You made a great choice to serve our country!
Merry Christmas and good luck.

Sincerely,
Allison