Mini Golf at last!

We joined my sister's family and went mini-golfing for a belated birthday celebration for DN. I must say the adults were successful in thoroughly embarrassing the kids. It felt good to laugh and be laughed at!

I took a few snaps but its always a challenge to juggle your camera, the camera bag, your club, your ball, the score card, the pencil DH will later steal, and your son's jackets.



I thought this statue was too creepy sad for a mini-golf place. Isn't it something you'd place in your garden for babies gone to heaven?

This shot is for my mom. When she wants you to smile for pictures she'll always say, "Give me your best BS smile!" I'm not sure she understands what "BS" stands.

DH noticed the Eiffel tower was painted as a rainbow. Hmmm...as in Gay 'Paree'?




Where's the ball?






Are we fishing or playing mini-golf?









Sorry to tell you this DH, but you're never getting your ball out of the windmill.









How many times do you think this hippo's had humans picking his teeth?

The Ant War continues....

Scene 3:

After her victory in the kitchen counter battle and her areal assault over the ant home base, our heroine was feeling pretty confident she was winning the war.

She tranquilly opens the dishwasher door to begin loading her family's supper dishes.

CUE PSYCHO MUSIC

ZOOM in on the thousands of ants, turning the white insides of her dishwasher a dark shade of brown.

Our heroine grabs the bottle of Simple Green and begin spraying madly as the ants race for cover. She takes out most of the army and then launches her final attack.

Closing the dishwasher door the ants have no idea of their pending doom. Our heroine pushes the buttons and the hot sprays begin, washing the remaining ants to their death.

Teeth

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Horror

DH & I watched a very demented movie last night!! I only recommend watching it if you're in a man hating mood and want to see a man's worst nightmare come true.

The main character, "Dawn", (that was a bonus), is an abstinate teen girl waiting for marriage. What she doesn't know is she's been born with a mutation thanks to the fact her family lives near a toxic power plant. She's date raped and well, her mutation turns out to have a benefit. No one will mess with her twice.

The gore factor is huge! If you are a guy, you will be truly horrified.

I'm giving the movie 3 stars because the director took this film where others wouldn't dare! No surprise male critics have rated it low. Hmm.... wonder why?

Friday's report

I have no idea how the interview went. If nothing else comes of it, at least it made me buy these pretty shoes! (Yes there are a black pair hiding underneath as well! Payless has those great deals!)  I'm thinking of them as my ruby slippers, and hopefully I clicked my heals enough times before I went into that interview! "There's no place like working near home...there's no place like working near home..."

I had scheduled an appointment, but the manager of the new hotel was hosting two days of open call type interviews. I was somewhere around candidate 50. I know I'm more than qualified, but with so many in the playing field, I'm worried. My hair is gray and thinning. I'm overweight. I don't have a hotel management degree.

On the positive, I did point out the advantages of my age- maturity, patience, flexibility, experience, the ability to work with minimal supervision. I also threw in there I live close enough to walk to the hotel. I'm going to write a great thank you letter follow up and hope for the best. Its in God's hands.

The ants have invaded. Every summer they usually do look for water in the bathrooms, but this year they were in the kitchen!! Outside, I used up the last of the "black market" Diazon right on any ant nest I could find. (My dad still had some of the banned, good stuff.)  Inside I discovered Simple Green kills ants!!

I love Simple Green! Its a better alternative to toxic cleaners. I buy a gallon jug at the hardware store for about $10. Its mega concentrated so it lasts me over a year. I started spraying the ants just to wipe them up and discovered the ones I didn't wipe up quickly had died. So I sprayed a line of Simple Green around the perimeter of our kitchen and this morning I noticed the swarm was down to a few stragglers. I know this was just the first battle though. The war's not won yet.

I have to vow to stop reading and listening to news! It just depresses me. Stock Market plunge, oil prices surge, gas may go to $7 a gallon... This morning I found myself wondering, will we be a 3rd world country soon? Or will the government step in and before you know it, we're headed towards... I don't know...Communism?  That system of government historical has failed as well. I think the answer is we're not prepared to play on the global playground.

I realize I can't let all this garbage worry me. I have to focus on what's in front of me right now on my little plate.

I'm going to focus on taking better care of myself today, drinking lots of water, getting back on my Wii, and taking time to play with my boys. Its Friday Fun Day/Night after all! Maybe we'll go for a swim too.

Hope you have a great Friday Fun day too and a great weekend! Peace!

Thursday 13- Thoughts racing through my head before my interview!

13 Thoughts racing through my head before my interview!

1. I have an interview in an hour, and I'm feeling more nervous than confident.

2. Desperation doesn't help.

3. My van has no air conditioning.

4. I hope I don't look sweaty.

5. I hope I don't stink!

6. My closet has no business attire left.

7. I have no clue how to dress. I asked my sons, ages 12 & 9 what I should wear to this interview. They have a better fashion sense than me?!! I'm in trouble!!

8. My arms are covered with mosquito bites. What will my interviewer think?

9. My hands are still a light shade of purple from the Mulberries.  Do you think they'll notice in the interview?

10. I just want to crawl under the covers and watch LMN movies all day.

11. Where's the chocolate?

12. Maybe I'm PMSing?

13. Timing is everything.

 I should just relax, be myself and remember I'll end up where God wants me to be. I did see more ads in the paper for my area.

Check back with you later to let you know how it went!

Seven Song Music Meme

I got this meme from Suey's Blog. Here's the idea: “List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.”

1. Change- Blind Melon As I first came to consciousness this morning, this was the song in my head. Thank you Blind Melon! Its a great way to start the day.



2. Wii Fit Advanced step - I think I've been doing too much of this. I can't get his ear worm out of my head.

3. Down In Flames- Mindy Smith The lyrics to this song mention how life's little things can get you down but sometimes life's little things also can bring you back up.

4. Happy Birthday! Its Cindy's birthday today. Pay her blog a visit and sing with me!

5. Give A Little Bit- I prefer the Goo Goo Dolls version to the Supertramp original. It seems to rock a little more.  I always play this song to pick me up. It reminds me to not dwell on my problems but to focus on how I can share my love with others.

6. Vaseline- Stone Temple Pilots  DH is trying to get tickets and take me on a road trip date night!

7. Wet Sand- Red Hot Chili Peppers  This song always gets to me. Why must we fight over religion? Why can't we all agree the bottom line is LOVE ONE ANOTHER?

Purple feet time again....

The Mulberries are starting to ripen. When you walk barefoot in the corner of our yard, it stains your feet a fun shade of purple. I picked over a pound today from the branches that get the most sun. In a few days, much more will be ready to pick.

The birds love them too. When DS12 & I were out picking today they were chirping warnings because we were in their tree. My neighbor doesn't like Mulberry trees because the birds eat and then poop purple stains on the patio furniture. I say let the birds eat them. I'd rather have to wipe down my patio furniture and be able to view wildlife in my yard.

We actually have new Mulberry trees growing next to the house because I wasn't on top of weed control. (Thank you birds!) Now they resemble bushes and DH likes them so they're staying put. I'm hoping I can prune them to keep them from getting too large.

We don't spray the tree so I know the fruit is pesticide free. Soaking the berries in water takes care of any bugs. Maybe I'll try jam this year if we get enough. I'm off to Google Mulberry recipes!

Sweet Sunday.....

Letterboxing yesterday was great. I needed a good long hike. My body couldn't help but relax because it was exhausted from hiking for almost 4 hours. It was more proof to me that exercise is a requirement in daily living. As stressed out as I was, every fiber in my body could chillax last night.

Yumi seems to be doing much better, but I've done more research that makes me believe the food the vet recommended may not be the best choice. I'm thinking of moving Yumi to a wet food, meat only diet even though she seems to prefer dry kibble. Check out this web site for cat food info. Its very eye opening.

I'm suppose to be cleaning because we've invited friends over. Instead I took a nap. I'm thinking our friends can over look a little dust.

DS12 has a better looking blog than I do. He's getting ready to hook up a web cam I didn't even know we had so he can do video responses. I'll have to have him teach me! I hoping having his own blog gives him another outlet for writing.

I have an interview this Thursday! A new small hotel is opening up in our town, and if I could find a position there, I could walk to work! The problem is, I believe the positions are all full time. My first priority is being available to help my children home school. I'm going to try and sell the manager on the idea of job sharing and see how it goes.

Well, its time to make tortillas for tonight's supper.

Babble for Friday...

I'm trying to take a deep breath and relax today. I just don't handle stress very well.

Work is becoming less fun. Oh what the heck, my boss will never read this. She's too busy. We are down two managers now so basically the pool owner is trying to oversee everything. Problem is, she has 3 other companies she is trying to run. I'm witnessing problems with staff and problems with guests, but there's only so much I am authorized to take care of. Its frustrating for me to see problems I can't solve. Everyone is getting grumpy and that doesn't make for a fun, happy work environment.

I came home and DH reported Yumi threw up. Plus there's no poop in the litter box yet. I thought she was doing better, but apparently we aren't out of the woods yet. This is weighing very heavy on my heart.

I pass a sign on my way to work each night that has inspirational messages posted. "Sunshine all the time, makes a desert."  Right now I just feel like sticking out my tongue at that sign. I want Yumi to be better, and I want a job that helps with the bills and brings me joy. Is that too much to ask for? I think not. The desert can be a beautiful place and believe me, I know how to make shade!

Today I'm baking cookies. I can't eat them. I have to bring them to a Letterbox event tomorrow. I'm really hoping it doesn't rain. I need to get out into the woods to de-stress. Its been too long.

DS12 has decided to try blogging. I guess he won't be known as anonymous DS12 much longer. I know blogging is an educational exercise. When you have to teach something to others, (sharing through writing), you have to really know and understand what "it" is you're writing about.

I did ask DS12 to practice his typing with our Garfield typing software. The pure unschooler he is, he said to me, "Why should I when I can type just fine using my method? I know Dad has to look at the keys, and I've seen you make typing errors. I'm doing fine with my own way." Yup. I need to back off! I will forever be "deschooling" myself so I can be an unschooler.

DH types with only his pointer fingers. For a computer design engineer, I can't see how this is possible, but he tells me he mostly uses the mouse. His company actually worked on a mouse you wear on your head. Someday typing itself may become obsolete.

Well, I better get moving. Hope you have a great weekend!

another granola recipe

I had been buying Copp's Organic French Vanilla Granola but at $3.29 a pound, I needed to find a way to make this at home. Here's our super easy recipe. It came out tasting really good, and the ingredient list doesn't get any simpler!


1/4 C honey
2 T oil
1 t vanilla
2 C oatmeal, (old fashioned oats)
handful of chopped almonds

-preheat oven to 250F

- Whisk together the honey, oil and vanilla. Stir in oats and almonds and spread on a cookie sheet. (Hopefully yours is in better shape than mine.)

-Bake for 30 minutes

*Our honey had solidified over the winter, so I had to melt it in the microwave first. Everything mixed together much better that way.

Yumi update...

She has gone 24 hours without vomiting! Yeah!!

We brought her home yesterday afternoon. She had a good rest and started acting like herself. She was acting very hungry, trying to get into what food she could. We were instructed to only give her a spoonful of Nutri-Cal. Its a brown goo, like hairball medicine. Its packed with calories though. A 10 pound cat can survive on only 3 spoonfuls a day.

By morning she hadn't thrown up so we could give her real food. She ate a spoonful of Hill's Prescription Diet z/d Low Allergen dry pellets.

She also was a trooper when I had to give her a Prednisone pill. The first try she spit it out but on the second attempt, I got it far enough back on her tongue she swallowed it.

We were worried she hadn't used her litter box at all last night. We completely replaced the Feline Pine with Wheat Scoop. After breakfast we caught her getting ready to go where she shouldn't so DS12 rushed her into the Wheat scoop box where she was successful! I'm sure she's wondering where the Feline Pine went and what is this new stuff?

This is probably way too much you didn't want to know about our cat!!

We don't know why Yumi is sick, and it was difficult to chose how to treat her. We went with the steroid treatment and hopefully she won't need surgery. If she does need surgery, we're in trouble because of the steroids in her system.  So far though, I'm pleased with how she's been doing these past 24 hours.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts for Yumi. I know I'm a wimp, but I get easily stressed when my fur child or children are sick.

Emergency Trip to the Vet this morning....

Yumi Update:

The vet never called back yesterday to give us the results of the worm test. I called this morning and was told the test was negative for worms. The doctor would call us back as soon as she was out of her appointment.

Meanwhile, I checked the litter box and cleaned it. She peed and pooped last night so things must still be moving through. Yumi can't resist a clean litter box though so she jumped right in. I watched her do her business and to my horror a goopy mess of blood followed her poop. I scooped it up and the phone rang. It was our vet. I told her what just happened and she told us to bring Yumi in immediately.

They take her back for x-rays. While waiting for the results, I'm in the lobby when a lady comes in to pick up the body of her kitty! She told me their 4 year old cat was an indoor cat but had gotten out and was hit by something. Her pelvis was shattered. The cat belonged to her 12 year old daughter. I watched the vet tech carry out the box and help the woman to her car. Then I lost it.

I sobbed like a baby in the lobby, worried about Yumi and feeling for that poor family who is burying their fur baby as I type this.

Yumi's x-rays didn't show an obstruction, but I was ready to approve surgery to save her. The vet changed her mind when she looked at Yumi's morning mess. The blood wasn't the typical streaking blood you see due to bowel obstructions.

She doesn't know what is going on, but she doesn't want to rush into surgery. We are trying medications first. They have given her a medicine to stop the vomiting and then they are trying a steroid for inflammation. If she keeps the medicine down, she can come home this afternoon.

The vet wants me to change her litter and get rid of the Feline Pine. She's worried the pine oil has toxins Yumi is allergic to. We've used the stuff for years. Why this would be happening now, I don't know, but I'll pick up some Wheat Scoop this afternoon.

I'm really praying Yumi gets through this and we can keep the cost under $500. I know some people pay whatever it takes but we can't.  My poor coworker had to put down his puppy after he ate sticks which punctured his intestines. He didn't have the money for surgery. 

I know things happen and you do the best you can for your pets. It doesn't make me a bad owner if I don't choose to spend thousands. I have human children that I need to provide for as well.

Thanks for your prayers and kind thoughts for Yumi. We'll keep you posted.

Poor Yumi

We're waiting for the vet to call. I'm trying not to worry but I am. I can't afford the multiple x-rays they want to do if the worm test comes back negative. The alternative is to give her a laxative and see if she did indeed swallow something she shouldn't have, she may be able to push it out.

I'm really wishing we had hard floors. I'm trying my best to Spot Shot the carpet, but I can tell its going to need a steam cleaning when all of this over.

Killing time Babbling on my Blog

I'm waiting my Wii Fit turn. The laundry is washing and drying, and I've got Soup blasting out from my windows. Thought I'd kill some time here if you don't mind.

Yumi is still not feeling well. I limited her to water only last night and this morning first thing I gave her hairball meds. She ate a few bits of dry food, and then proceeded to puke in DS9's bed. The bedroom doors are all now closed. Except for the vomiting she isn't acting sick. She still wants to play, jump up on the counters, escape out the door, beg for Pounce treats....I'm debating as to when I should call the vet.

I started to type up a budget. Its painful, but I know it has to be done. I find myself praying away the financial stress on a regular basis, and I know the Heavenly Father's watching me to see if I'm learning and growing from this.

We're in a supper rut. I hate cooking because its too much pressure to make an affordable, healthy meal my entire family will eat. If we could live on baked goods alone, we'd be set. Plus I'm a vegetarian at heart, living with carnivores. They ask for burgers and I know making them at home is healthier and cheaper than eating out, but the thought of raw meat in my hands makes my stomach turn over. Playing short order cook is getting old.

I think I'm going to try and put away a few paychecks and splurge on a nice hotel room when DH takes me to see Blind Melon. I had a dream I was waiting for DH to join me in a nice hotel suite, but people from work kept showing up at the door. At one point in the dream the hotel staff asked if I didn't mind sharing my room with another lady because they had overbooked the hotel. I finally screamed, "NO! I'M WAITING FOR MY HUSBAND!" I think my subconscious is saying I need time alone with him.

I'm think in a past life I was separated from those I love. This is why in this life I relish spending as much time with them as possible.

Oooohhh! St Andrew's Fall! I have to go turn it up and sing with Shannon. I love this song!

Then I'm going to go and kick DS12 off the Wii or I'll never get my turn.

See ya later gators.....

See ya soon macaroons...

Happy Father's Day!

We are blessed to have such a great man in our lives. I offered to make him breakfast in bed, but he decided he wanted sausage biscuits from Mickey Ds.

After we gave him his presents, (cologne and the 1st season of 90210 on DVD- I'm not kidding. Its what he asked for..), we helped him mow our lawn and our neighbors. Another down side to all the rain we've had. The grass is growing like crazy.

We went to see Ironman in a real movie theatre. We couldn't actually remember the last time we had seen a movie in a theatre. DH deserved real movie theatre popcorn. It was a new theatre for us and it was a real treat because they had do it yourself popcorn and soda refills on any size! You walked up to the popcorn machine and it came out fountain drink style. Endless, falling down, yellowy good popcorn! The machine also had do it yourself butter goo!

Ironman was really enjoyable too! I would definitely recommend seeing it. I can't wait for the sequel!

We stopped after the movie to gawk at the swollen, flooded Rock River. I'm not sure if it was because they were trying to swim upstream or perhaps they were catching bugs, but the fish were jumping straight up and out. Note to self- keep the camera with you always!

We came home to "bad for you" brownies. I used real eggs, real oil and lots of fudge frosting. I'll have to make sure DH brings them to his work tomorrow or I'll pick at them all day.

My poor Yumi is throwing up today. This morning I noticed pieces of rubber band. I have no idea where she found it. Now its just yellow, chewed up food. Her food is normally brown so I'm worried. I'm keeping her off of solids for the night and just giving her water.

Did I just segway from brownies to cat puke? Sorry about that!!! EWW!!!!

I'm very tired. I was yesterday too. It could be my allergies. I didn't do my Wii Fit today, but I did lawn mowing. That should count right? DH was on the riding mower, but I used the push mower to do the trim work. Maybe I got too much sun?

I'm off to change into jammies and put my feet up. Maybe I'll try one cup of Sleepytime tea to seal the deal! Goodnight!

Burying the body......

I wanted to take a before shot of one of the garden beds we'll be working for our neighbor this summer. Afterwards I looked at this shot and thought with the tarp, it looks like we're up to no good! LOL!

Our neighbor has 4 plots this size plus the square you see the boys dumping the manure on. They worked very well together mixing 4 bags, and I got a kick out of how polite they were asking J, "May we please use your hose to wash the manure off of us?"

They planted sugar baby watermelons. We'll see if there is enough time to grow them. They probably should have been planted several weeks ago.
This afternoon I'll help transplant J's tomatoes. I really like these rectangle garden beds. They are the perfect size to crawl around. After my season of garden apprenticing, I'll have to try garden beds like this in our yard.

I'm off to the nursery to pick up petunias on sale. I have to fill the deck boxes out back with some color.

Experimental brownies, batch #1

I am my mother's daughter. I'm trying to make a guilt free brownie from scratch not a box. This didn't quite make the mark, but they're not inedible. It does have chocolate in it after all. I will say only people who like prunes would like these. Next time I'm trying non-fat yogurt.

Low Fat Experimental Brownies -batch #1

3/4 C of prune butter
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 T vanilla
12 T of cocoa powder
1 C flour
handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F

- Mix the prune butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add cocoa powder and flour and mix until combined. Spray a 13X9 pan with non-stick spray and spread the brownie batter out evenly. Throw a handful of chocolate chips on top because my mom says everything tastes better with candy on top. Bake for 35 minutes.

Prune Butter

Prune Butter can be used as a fat substitute when baking. Its easy to make and adds nutrition to your treats!



In a food processor mix a heaping cup of prunes, aka Dried Plums, with 5-6 Tablespoons of water or fruit juice. Process into a paste which can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks.

We're safe.

Another crazy night in Wisconsin. I was at work for most of it. It was chaotic. Our weather alert radio kept going off with tornado, flash flood, and thunderstorm alarms. I'd tried to listen to where exactly the tornadoes were, but Tanner the owner's dog was barking like crazy, the phone was ringing off the hook, "are you still having lessons," and guests were trying to register for Summer semester. It was the last night of Spring semester as well so everyone had report card questions. I was too busy to be scared I'd blow away.

Thankfully I made it home. The road I travel was under water. I was one of the last vehicles to make it across before they closed the road. Unfortunately, my co-worker couldn't make it home and was planning to stay with relatives. Many roads are closed and flooded over. This morning they are advising people not to travel and our major interstates 94 & 90 are closed down.

Our Mallard's baseball game was rained out. Instead the boys were home alone during the tornado warnings. I debated whether they should ride in to work with me and have DH pick them up there, but the pool I work at has no basement. Traveling in a car isn't the safest option either. I figured the safest place is our home. It has basement area without windows.

When they heard the sirens, they acted exactly as we had practiced. They went into the basement and followed our tornado action plan. (We discovered we need a telephone list in our emergency kit.) The tornado actually was in the next town over. Thankfully we have no damage.

Today if we can get a break in the rain, we are going to get our green thumbs dirty. Our neighbor started her plants indoors, but now her health is prohibiting her from working in her garden. We have to weed the beds and then transplant her veggie plants. I'm sure the ground is moist enough this will be easy work.

I'll probably bake a few pans of brownies for Dad's day weekend. They are always better after having aged a day. We like a fudgie brownie with chocolate frosting, and they're better if the frosting can dry out a bit. I'll bake up our regular recipe, but I also want to try a new fat free version which uses prune butter. Sounds bad, but I'm not going to knock it until I try it.

Well, I better go and burn off some pre-brownie calories on my Wii Fit. There has got to be subliminal messages in that game! It always makes me feel fantastic, and I can't go a day without it!

Wishing Well - Blind Melon

The brand new video from Blind Melon "For My Friends" in-stores now! Can you see me in the crowd?!