January 29, 2009

Today was another chauffeur day, taking folks to tutoring, and art lessons, shopping and getting Ron to/from work. This evening I taught a cooking lesson at the church. I shared my version of "California-Mexican" with the ladies. There was a huge turn-out with about 20 women there. I felt a little strange showing accomplished cooks how to do tacos, corn chips and mexican flan, but they seemed to enjoy it.

The weather was very pleasant most of the day, staying at or near freezing for the most part.

January 27, 2009

Kaili is modeling the sun bonnet I managed to complete for her today. I really like the pattern and may have to make a few more of them before I put the machine away. Of course that is AFTER I get the other "Trek" and baby quilt sewing stuff completed.

It was the last day of skating with school for the kids today, so they all went this time.

It has warmed up considerably, and almost reached freezing today.

January 26, 2008

Today I had so many great things planned. . .my plans got changed for me by a computer glitch. It seems one of the kids chose to add some unnecessary stuff to their computer, and it got all messed up. I missed the whole day untangling the mess that was made, but this particular young person lost a whole bunch of schoolwork. Too bad the warnings about submitting finished work immediately went unheeded!!!

Hopefully, I will be able to get some of MY list accomplished tomorrow.

Just FYI, it was about 15-18 degrees F when I walked Kaili to and from math tutoring this morning. Did you know that your nose hairs freeze at that temperature?

January 24, 2009

Today was semi-productive. We got the house clean in preparation for the "meeting that wasn't" this evening. We had invited about 8-10 people over, but the only one to show was Linda (she had come as moral support). We had a nice visit with her instead. AH well, eventually the others will hear enough about Mona Vie and the beneficial health effects to at least give it a chance.

While we were at the grocery store today, I just about had kittens when I saw the price of refried beans. They cost nearly 3X the amount I am used to paying in California. For me, they are almost a daily staple in my diet. I usually buy several cases when I am in the states and bring them home, but the kids have been helping me eat them and my shelves are getting bare now. I ended-up buying some dry beans and cooking a batch for the fridge today.

It was around 18 degrees F today. . .a little colder with wind chill.

January 23, 2008

Today Ron worked half a shift and I went over school progress with the kids after "busting" Dax taking a nap and Elizabeth reading the book she bought yesterday. She is reading a really good non-fiction book, and I am glad she enjoys them, but she has work that needs to be completed first.

I did a Wii fit work-out, then dug up some fabric and found a pattern on the internet for a sun bonnet. I now have the pattern drawn "life-size" and cut out so I can make a bonnet and apron for Kaili to wear on the pioneer trek this summer. I also looked around for baby quilt ideas for the new one that is due in June.

Tonight Ron and I joined our Friday night movie partners for a viewing of "Grand Torino". It was not quite what I was expecting, but it was excellent.

Ron and I will be hosting a business meeting at our house tomorrow night. . . It is a little scary and exciting all at the same time.

January 22, 2008

Today was a chauffeur day for me. First Kaili was taken to mathe tutoring on the way to delivering Ron to work. Then, back home to pick-up the girls for delivery to their art lessons while I ran a couple of errands. I was going to swing by for a quick visit to a friend in the hospital, but I couldn't find parking in the vicinity, so I started reading "Inkheart" instead. After art lessons it was time for a quick lunch then on to attend a "young peoples concert" that featured Taiko drums. It was quite good. After the performance, it was time to pick up Ron, swing by the bookstore, gas station etc on the way home...WHEW!

The weather has gotten a bit cooler again as of late, just below freezing or there abouts. . .

January 20, 2009

There has been even less sleep around here lately than usual. The day after Ellie's Bd party, the boys had a party to go to and Ron and I joined Jim and Linda for movie night. We saw "Paul Blart, Mall Cop". It was even better than I expected, and there really wasn't anything in it that I wouldn't want the kids to see. It will be joining our movie collection when it comes out on DVD.

Sunday night Ron and I drove to Kelowna and back for a business meeting which kept us out 'till just after mid-night. It was a very good meeting and the speaker was very good.

Yesterday, we went to a friend's place for dinner, it was very good, but the kids were up later than normal again. Kaili was already starting to feel the effects of too little sleep yesterday. Today was skating with the school and tonight was church activities for all the kids, so they are up a little later than normal AGAIN! Maybe things will start to get back to a more normal state tomorrow.

I was really heartened by the tone and timbre of President Obama's speech today. They have already changed the White-house website. It seems like they are soliciting more input from the citizenry than in past administrations.

That's all for now. . .

January 16, 2009

Today was the big "sleep-over" party. There are 9 girls in the back watching a movie right now and the noise level has finally settled to a dull roar. That is after they made individual pizzas on english muffins for dinner, ate ice cream cake, played a few games on the Wii, and ate a pile of popcorn.

The dogs have been relegated to our bedroom for most of the evening because a couple of the girls are intimidated by their size and eagerness for attention.

The carnations in the back-right are from her brothers, who brought them to her this morning. (What sweet brothers she has!) Isis has escaped the confines of the bedroom and wants to know what the fuss is all about.

I had a very nice visit from the relief society this morning, it felt good to just "chat". I also managed to cut the boys' hair today. It WAS a pretty relaxed day, topped by frantic girl noise!

Jan 15, 2009

After a late start, I finally got a few things done today. Exciting stuff like laundry, making chorizo & eggs for lunch, a walk with Ron to the store for groceries, finishing Elizabeth's party cake and a bunch of other little odds and ends.

This cake is layers of chocolate cookie, mint/chip ice cream, whipped cream, more chocolate cookie, vanilla/chocolate ice cream, more whipped cream, then marshmallow "popcorn" all wrapped in a fondant "bag". I am REALLY pleased with how it worked out.

Tomorrow will be the invasion of girls, then the holiday season will finally be over at our house for a while.

The weather was cool (around freezing), but fairly nice today.

Jan 14. . Elizabeth's BD

Today was basically spent getting this cake put together for Elizabeth's birthday. She is crazy about High School Musical, so I used it for the theme. The cake was made with a "funfetti" mix, that I poured lemon juice over after baking. The center layer was a lemon custard, and the "icing" is whipped cream and fondant. I will be using the remaining fondant on her "party cake" for Friday evening. That cake will be ice cream, and I got a start on it today too.

Fortunately, the dinner request was very simple; biscuits and beef-barley soup. After dinner and gifts we watched the original High School Musical as a family (there was just a little grumbling from the males in the group)

I guess that's it for now. . .

Picture Perfect- Disorder

I didn't have to go too far, or look to hard to find "disorder".

To see what this is about go here~ http://fotofriday.multiply.com/journal

Jan 13-14, 2009

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!! She is 11 today.

Yesterday was spent running errands with the whole family. The 4 kids all went skating with the school for almost 2 hours in the afternoon. We quickly dropped the groceries by the house then delivered the kids to their church activities for the evening. While at the church Ron worked on some genealogy stuff and I watched the fashion show put on by the young women (Kaili).

We had a nice surprise yesterday evening, too. We had been unsuccessfully trying off-and-on over the last year to reconnect with Ron's oldest, Sean, and his family. Apparently the same thing had been happening on their side. After a few missed attempts, I think that each thought the other didn't want contact any more. . .ANYWAY, the air seems to be cleared again. We got some new pictures and found out there is another little one expected in June-Yeah! I guess I had better add a baby quilt to my to-do list.

Shamelessly copied from an email. . .

Here is a bit of email "wisdom" I received today. I thought it would be good to share with everyone here. . .

Law of the Garbage Truck

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!
The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so... love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

Jan 9, 2009

Today was my 47th birthday, and I had a very nice one. The boys stopped on their way home from seminary and bought these roses for me. The girls made some nice cards and beaded jewelery for me. We also got two packages from Mona Vie today, one with our "star pins" and a certificate congratulating us on our advancement. It is amazing how much those little things can affect your attitude. The second package contained our new business cards and a couple of other things we ordered for the business. Ron was at work all day, so I finished the suggested reading for my course tomorrow. When Ron got home he brought me a wet tile saw. . .YES!!!!! Now I can really start doin' some stuff around here.

We went out to a pricey, but nice place for dinner with Jim & Linda and the kids tonight. J & L brought me some nice smelling bath salts, soaps etc. (I have to take Linda's word that it is cherry blossom scent, as all the writing is all Japanese!)

That's it for tonight, I actually have to get up and get moving fairly early tomorrow.

Jan 8, 2009

These icicles were on the lilac just two days ago. They are now gone and it has been raining buckets today (intermittent). There are several major highways closed due to mudslides and avalanches both to the East and the West of here.

Ron and I managed to clear out one of the many bursting closets today and we have quite a large box for donation and a couple of others for recycling and trash. We have several more "rats-nests" to clear out of here in the coming weeks.

I also managed to do about 1/2 of the reading I am supposed to do for my class this week-end. It seems strange to be taking a basic first aid course after having been an EMT for so long and working as a Telemetry tech. Ah well, protocols change and some are VERY different here than what I am used to. A first aider is even allowed to suggest and administer some medications here. . .A HUGE no-no as an EMT in California.

Picture Perfect- Cold

The sleek ice curtain

frozen, flowing, crystal

a special beauty

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P I C T U R E P E R F E C T

This is Week 1 of our Competition

Heather is your host

and the theme this week is

C O L D

The Rules

The theme will be posted on Wednesday, so you have three days to submit a picture with that theme in mind, after which the Top Ten Pictures will be selected by our panel of admins and posted up in a poll on Saturday morning (PST). The poll will run for 24hours and the winner will be announced on Sunday morning!

* Only ONE picture please and it should be YOURS and not lifted off the internet. If it has been taken by a friend or member of family please mention that fact, this will eliminate you from the competition portion of Picture Perfect only and is not considered plagiarism in any form

* No slide shows and no automatic music on the page

* Size matters. Please post a reasonably sized picture, so much impact is lost if the pic is too big or too small

* Open your page to everyone so that we all have access to your photo

**Entries will be judged on: Clarity, Theme appropriate subject matter, Size of picture posted, the picture must have been taken by You

* You only get One Vote and you have to BE A CONTACT to vote, this is the only way we can avoid multiple votes by one person.

Come back and leave a link at http://fotofriday.multiply.com/journal/item/172/Picture_Perfects_Ten_of_the_Best_2009_Competition_Cold_
so that everyone can go to your blog and see your pic.

By all means mention your camera and lens used, and if the picture has been altered or enhanced in anyway!

Out of the box thinking is encouraged!!

Good Luck, and have fun out there!!

..ooOoo..

Jan 5, 2009

We're working on getting into a routine again. With me basically at home for the semester, I hope to get some stuff cleaned-out, pared-down and organized. It would really be nice if I could manage to pull off a few repairs and upgrades around the ole' homestead too.

The priorities will be on "helping" the kids to get back on track with their schoolwork, better fulfilling Church responsibilities and helping Ron with our business.

I am enrolled in a first aid course for the week end, and will begin volunteering for St. John's Ambulance at the course conclusion. I have missed volunteering in the community since I have moved here, so this should be an easy way for me to contribute.

If your wondering about the photo. . .We stop at Dairy Queen for treats on occasion. On our way home from the island last week, we made just such a stop. As we were leaving, I ordered two "kids" ice cream cups for our dogs. This is the first time I remember anyone ever customizing the ice cream in this way. Yes, the dogs seemed to appreciate their treats just as much as they usually do.