Last night was parents night at WE's cross country meet. It was beautiful weather, the kids all ran great (except for Kyle, we'll get to that later) and there were 8 different schools there and a ton of kids. I had a harder time finding a parking space for that than I do for going to a Friday night football game. WE ran hard and broke his personal record by a minute and 10 seconds, which is pretty amazing. Another girl got the 9th all time high score in our schools history. It was a pretty great night. Then came the parents night part, where they announce the kids, then introduce their parents and call them up for their athlete to give them a flower. I got an orange carnation with a black ribbon tied around the stem, it looked a bit funeral, but black and orange are the school colors. Last year I bought some clearance Halloween stuff in November and told Angel #4 it was school gear - she didn't fall for it. WE's coach was getting all the kids parents names down so he could announce us and WE told him my name was Fluffy Bunny - thankfully, coach knew better and didn't announce me that way. Coach is on to WE's little tricks. A couple weeks ago, WE was trying to get out of having to practice by saying he had a concussion. He staggered around and kept calling the coach Coach Dad. Coach didn't fall for that one either. And talk about concussions, that's why Kyle couldn't run last night, he got a concussion during practice - horsing around and wrestling with the one of the guys. This is the second concussion in cross country this fall, the other kid got in a car accident on the way to practice. I almost think football would be a less dangerous sport. :p
I got about a dozen quarts of apple pie filling canned up today. I love canning food, it's a sick addiction. At least we've got something to eat after I give in to the addiction, which is more than you can say for a stamp collection or Precious Moments figurines.
Thanks Afton, I think WE and his girlfriend are a cute couple. He does good as a boyfriend, he drives her nuts, then does something sweet or romantic just in time to save his butt. It's a talent he learned from his father, I think.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
winter is creeping in
It was a gorgeous day today. I got most of the potatoes dug, just a short row left. I want to get it done while the weather is nice, because it sure isn't going to late. As much as I hated doing it, I turned the furnace on a couple days ago. Some people make it a personal challenge to see how far into fall/winter they can go before turning on the heat, but the way I look at it, this is my house, darn it, and I'm not going to freeze my butt off in it if I don't have to. A home is supposed to be a comfortable place, not someplace where you perform some bizarre freeze your hiney off challenge. My house has no business being 60 degrees inside and I"ll do whatever it takes to bump up the temps.
The leaves are also starting to change color and our first frost a week or so ago wiped out what was left in the garden. All that's left now is to hunker down and wait for the freeze to begin. Yuck
Jeanie, it wasn't so much all the Packer jerseys that surprised me as the surreal feeling I got as I wandered around the store noticing that everyone was dressed the same way. It was like Rod Serling was out buying some Sam's Choice cola and Great Choice mac n cheese or something.
Hubs finally comes home from Hawaii/Texas tonight. He left on Sept 7 with Angel #2 to drive to Texas, was home for one day - long enough to butcher chickens - then flew off to Hawaii with a side trip to do some business in Austin, TX on his way home. We haven't seen much of him lately, I hope I still recognize him when I get to the airport tonight. It'll be nice to have him back, he hasn't been to one of Angel #4's volley ball games yet this year and it's parents night on Thursday for cross country. It gets lonely being the only grown-up in the house sometimes. Though sometimes it may be a bit of a stretch calling him a grown-up, but that's why I love the guy.
The leaves are also starting to change color and our first frost a week or so ago wiped out what was left in the garden. All that's left now is to hunker down and wait for the freeze to begin. Yuck
Jeanie, it wasn't so much all the Packer jerseys that surprised me as the surreal feeling I got as I wandered around the store noticing that everyone was dressed the same way. It was like Rod Serling was out buying some Sam's Choice cola and Great Choice mac n cheese or something.
Hubs finally comes home from Hawaii/Texas tonight. He left on Sept 7 with Angel #2 to drive to Texas, was home for one day - long enough to butcher chickens - then flew off to Hawaii with a side trip to do some business in Austin, TX on his way home. We haven't seen much of him lately, I hope I still recognize him when I get to the airport tonight. It'll be nice to have him back, he hasn't been to one of Angel #4's volley ball games yet this year and it's parents night on Thursday for cross country. It gets lonely being the only grown-up in the house sometimes. Though sometimes it may be a bit of a stretch calling him a grown-up, but that's why I love the guy.
Monday, September 24, 2012
The people of Walmart
I HOPE there's a Packer game tonight, otherwise, everyone at my local Walmart did one of those middle school things where they all planned on wearing the same thing on the same day. I noticed it as I was walking down the aisle and there were 2 women in packer jersey's coming at me, I turned my head to the left and there was another one, a right turn revealed 2 more. ACKK! I was surrounded by female Aaron Rogers'!!!! After that, I noticed that about every other person was wearing some sort of Packer gear, yep, definitely a conspiracy. FYI, I or anyone in my immediate family, don't own a single stitch of Green Bay Packer apparel and I don't think any of us plan to. It's not that we're anti-Packer, we're just not interested in the NFL in general.
WE had a great time at the homecoming dance. Due to a gastronomical conflict, he and his girlfriend didn't eat out together, they kind of did it in tandem. The tradition at their school for big school dances is that the kids from each grade go to the same place for dinner before the dance. Since it's a small school, that usually means only about 35 kids each grade. There's a bit of crossover for those who date out of their grade level, but for the most part, that's the way things go. Well, one Junior girl who likes to be in charge, made reservations someplace and told everyone that's where they were going. WE didn't really care where he ate, but doesn't really like the bossy take charge girl, so he announced on facebook that he wanted to eat at Taco Bell instead. Turns out a lot of other kids felt the same way and there was an out and out south of the border rebellion, like the Alamo...except it was in Wisconsin...and Davy Crockett wasn't there...and nobody died, but other than that, yeah. So bossy girl cancelled the dinner reservations, but refused to go to Taco Bell. So, she and others who didn't think it was a good idea to go dancing after chowing down on bean burritos, ate at Culver's instead...including WE's girlfriend. The two restaurants are right across the street from each other, so afterwards, everyone met up and headed to the dance together. And the good news is, because of the crappy weather, there wasn't a toiler paperer in sight on Friday or Saturday night, so my yard is pleasantly, toilet paper free.
WE had a great time at the homecoming dance. Due to a gastronomical conflict, he and his girlfriend didn't eat out together, they kind of did it in tandem. The tradition at their school for big school dances is that the kids from each grade go to the same place for dinner before the dance. Since it's a small school, that usually means only about 35 kids each grade. There's a bit of crossover for those who date out of their grade level, but for the most part, that's the way things go. Well, one Junior girl who likes to be in charge, made reservations someplace and told everyone that's where they were going. WE didn't really care where he ate, but doesn't really like the bossy take charge girl, so he announced on facebook that he wanted to eat at Taco Bell instead. Turns out a lot of other kids felt the same way and there was an out and out south of the border rebellion, like the Alamo...except it was in Wisconsin...and Davy Crockett wasn't there...and nobody died, but other than that, yeah. So bossy girl cancelled the dinner reservations, but refused to go to Taco Bell. So, she and others who didn't think it was a good idea to go dancing after chowing down on bean burritos, ate at Culver's instead...including WE's girlfriend. The two restaurants are right across the street from each other, so afterwards, everyone met up and headed to the dance together. And the good news is, because of the crappy weather, there wasn't a toiler paperer in sight on Friday or Saturday night, so my yard is pleasantly, toilet paper free.
Friday, September 21, 2012
my daughter, the druggie
Angel #2 started work yesterday. She's going to be working the night shift at a veterinary hospital, but at the moment, she's doing a couple different shifts to get the feel of things. She said it's a pretty big hospital with lots of employees. The only snag in the whole thing is she had to take a drug test and failed. Either she didn't study for it hard enough, or all the medication she was taking for the cold she has showed up in the test. She was a bit surprised to see that she tested positive for meth - but since cold medicine is one of the ingredients, I guess it makes sense. She said they're going to further test to it determine if it's the meds or street meth, though I hardly think someone on street meth is going to be ambitious enough to move all the way across the country and fill out a gazillion job applications in one week's time, so my money is on the Nyquil.
The TPers hit our house again last night. We got hit on Tuesday night, but there was such a strong wind all day Wednesday that all evidence was blown away. Last night, Angel #4 was ready the invasion and was hiding out on the back porch. She gave them a few minutes to do some decorating, then opened the door and yelled, "go get'em Diesel!" The dog shot out of the house then stood in the middle of the driveway for a few seconds, trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing, then he spotted the toilet paper wielding teenagers in the yard, let out a volley of barks and gave chase. There were kids running all over the place while Angel #4 rolled with laughter. She called the dog back in the house and Diesel got a hero's welcome for saving us from the perils of papering. I've got the feeling they'll be back in full force tonight after the football game to finish the job.
Jeanie, by the time we were done butchering, we were all so sick of chickens that I don't know when we'll even want to start eating them. I know it sounds disgusting, but we threw the necks and some other stuff right into the chicken pen for the layer chickens to polish off. Yeah, we've got cannibal chickens. I think from now on, instead of calling it the barn, I'll just call it the Donner Camp. To balance out their food pyramid, I'm also cleaning out the garden and throwing all the left over veggies out to them as well. There are probably thousands of people who would love a bushel of tomatoes, but since I don't know who they are, the chickens are getting them instead.
The TPers hit our house again last night. We got hit on Tuesday night, but there was such a strong wind all day Wednesday that all evidence was blown away. Last night, Angel #4 was ready the invasion and was hiding out on the back porch. She gave them a few minutes to do some decorating, then opened the door and yelled, "go get'em Diesel!" The dog shot out of the house then stood in the middle of the driveway for a few seconds, trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing, then he spotted the toilet paper wielding teenagers in the yard, let out a volley of barks and gave chase. There were kids running all over the place while Angel #4 rolled with laughter. She called the dog back in the house and Diesel got a hero's welcome for saving us from the perils of papering. I've got the feeling they'll be back in full force tonight after the football game to finish the job.
Jeanie, by the time we were done butchering, we were all so sick of chickens that I don't know when we'll even want to start eating them. I know it sounds disgusting, but we threw the necks and some other stuff right into the chicken pen for the layer chickens to polish off. Yeah, we've got cannibal chickens. I think from now on, instead of calling it the barn, I'll just call it the Donner Camp. To balance out their food pyramid, I'm also cleaning out the garden and throwing all the left over veggies out to them as well. There are probably thousands of people who would love a bushel of tomatoes, but since I don't know who they are, the chickens are getting them instead.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
cluck cluck clu-
Yep, they're gone. Woo-hoo. (I AM a blood-thirsty one, eh?) Due to a scheduling conflict (our friend was called in for some epic dumpster diving on Friday) we ended up butchering chickens on Saturday. It was a long day, to say the least. Our friend showed up about 6:15am, I made us all some breakfast, then the chopping and plucking began. By about 4 o'clock, we had all 48 chickens cleaned, bagged and in the freezer. Though I was a bit saddened, we also took care of wonky-legs. She was a nice chicken and all, but with 2 unworking legs, she was just scooting around on her belly and there was no way she was going to make it through the winter. She was kind of gross-looking and we decided we would just toss her instead of cleaning her and putting her with the rest of the gang in the deep freeze. Anyway, now that I've just got 20-some laying chickens left, chore time is much quicker, not only do they not eat as much, they're not nearly as messy as the broilers. Yesterday, I cleaned up the broiler chicken pen and hosed it down good, so my barn is all clean and sparkly.
WE got homecoming week off to a good start by going out TPing with his friends on Sunday night. Nothing like getting a good head start on the toilet paper distribution. They discovered it's more fun if you almost get caught, so when they're just about finished with their exterior decorating, one of the kids goes up and knocks on their victim's front door. One kid they called and asked him if he wanted to help them TP, when he said yes, they said then come on out and help us finish up, we're in your yard. Yeah, toilet papering is messy, but I guess there are so many worse things they could be doing that I'm not going to make a stink. Our house hasn't been hit yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
WE got homecoming week off to a good start by going out TPing with his friends on Sunday night. Nothing like getting a good head start on the toilet paper distribution. They discovered it's more fun if you almost get caught, so when they're just about finished with their exterior decorating, one of the kids goes up and knocks on their victim's front door. One kid they called and asked him if he wanted to help them TP, when he said yes, they said then come on out and help us finish up, we're in your yard. Yeah, toilet papering is messy, but I guess there are so many worse things they could be doing that I'm not going to make a stink. Our house hasn't been hit yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
Friday, September 14, 2012
waiting for the great chicken massacre
Our friend is coming over early this afternoon and hubs gets to the airport a little after 2pm, then we're going to start offing chickens. I'm sure great fun will be had by all.
Last night I went to Angel #4's volley ball game. She's had other games, but last night was the first home game and I'm just too lazy to go to away games. She did incredible and practically won the 2nd game single-handedly. She was serving and got about 10-12 points in a row with the other team making only about 1 or 2 returns the entire time. It was awesome. She was all smiles at the end of the game.
WE's girlfriend was thrilled with his homecoming invite, told all her friends and now he's pretty much the coolest boy in school...at least according to the girls. Mission accomplished.
Afton, when I initially lost the Mouli, I told Kathy about it. She didn't have an actual Mouli, but when she came up from Basement 13, she offered me three (3!) different kinds of hand operated graters she had down there. I didn't take any of them. Not only was I hoping my Mouli would show up, I also try not to express any needs or wants in front of Kathy because she would give you the shirt off her back if you wanted it. We've also learned not to compliment her on anything - Angel #4 told her she liked a vase she had sitting on a table and Kathy told her she could have it if she wanted. Kathy is a one of a kind. She also offered to help butcher chickens today, but I like her too much to put her through that.
Last night I went to Angel #4's volley ball game. She's had other games, but last night was the first home game and I'm just too lazy to go to away games. She did incredible and practically won the 2nd game single-handedly. She was serving and got about 10-12 points in a row with the other team making only about 1 or 2 returns the entire time. It was awesome. She was all smiles at the end of the game.
WE's girlfriend was thrilled with his homecoming invite, told all her friends and now he's pretty much the coolest boy in school...at least according to the girls. Mission accomplished.
Afton, when I initially lost the Mouli, I told Kathy about it. She didn't have an actual Mouli, but when she came up from Basement 13, she offered me three (3!) different kinds of hand operated graters she had down there. I didn't take any of them. Not only was I hoping my Mouli would show up, I also try not to express any needs or wants in front of Kathy because she would give you the shirt off her back if you wanted it. We've also learned not to compliment her on anything - Angel #4 told her she liked a vase she had sitting on a table and Kathy told her she could have it if she wanted. Kathy is a one of a kind. She also offered to help butcher chickens today, but I like her too much to put her through that.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
the kid oozes romance
So, high school homecoming is next weekend. WE hasn't asked his girlfriend to the dance yet, though it's a foregone conclusion that they're going there together. Yesterday, he asked how late the flower shop in town was open, I said I wasn't sure, but mentioned that I did notice that they were advertising a homecoming flower preview. He said he wasn't looking for homecoming flowers, he wanted a single rose, his plan was to tie a scroll on it asking his girlfriend if she'd go to the dance with him. Wow, he came up with that all by himself. We didn't have time to deal with flowers as we were heading out the door to go to Bible study, but after the study, I asked the lady of the house if she had any long stemmed flowers WE could use for the homecoming invite. Of course she did. Kathy has everything. If you mention you're looking for a particular item, she disappears down into her basement and 2 minutes later, she pops up with the exact thing you're looking for. I've never been in her basement, but I imagine it looks like Warehouse 13, she may even have one of those ziplines to get from one end of the place to the other. (talk about Warehouse 13, what the heck is with Micah's hair? It looks like she's trying to grow dreadlocks or something). Anyway, Kathy grabs a scissors and flashlight and heads out to the garden and gets 3 different kinds of flowers for WE. I'm not sure what his exact plans are, but he got the scroll tied to the flower and pulled some petals off a rose to scatter around as well, I think he was going to set it up on her desk in chemistry class, which they have together. And, to keep things real so they didn't get over the top mushy, WE put his own wacky touch to the proceedings, the note on the scroll said: Will you go to the homecoming dance with me? Circle yes or no.
No girl can resist an invitation like that, imo. lol
Hubs and Angel #2 are cruising around Texas. Presently, they in north Austin and #2 has decided that that's the area she likes the best. She's handed out resumes and filled out apps in Houston, San Antonio and now the Austin area. I'm kind of rooting for the Austin area as well since that's where hubs goes a couple times a year and it would be nice to have her nearby so he could see more of her, heck, I would even go along with him if that was the case. She's gotten a couple calls from places in Houston for interviews though, so who knows where she'll end up.
No girl can resist an invitation like that, imo. lol
Hubs and Angel #2 are cruising around Texas. Presently, they in north Austin and #2 has decided that that's the area she likes the best. She's handed out resumes and filled out apps in Houston, San Antonio and now the Austin area. I'm kind of rooting for the Austin area as well since that's where hubs goes a couple times a year and it would be nice to have her nearby so he could see more of her, heck, I would even go along with him if that was the case. She's gotten a couple calls from places in Houston for interviews though, so who knows where she'll end up.
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