wood smoke

Sammie, tonight, as we walked outside:

Mmmm!! It smells like....... like..... like someone is camping in their back yard.

After more sniffing and deep breathing of our neighbor's wood stove:

No, actually. It smells more like burning bananas.

hmm. Descriptive, that's for sure.

Pictures, anyone??

Oh, I should drag this out and make it last! Finally, some pictures to post on my blog, yay!! So many fun, beautiful pictures. Yep, these are from our weekend trip to San Francisco. Actually, to be honest, we weren't in a very "urban" mood. So, instead, we got a lot of this kind of action...



And it was lovely! All of it. I will add more pictures -- ones that actually include us -- in the next few days. And you will hear all about the Northern Cal coast, so exciting. For now, I'm so sleepy, folks. G'nite.

The good with the bad

Good: My parents came for a visit this week, and we had a great time together. Trent and Mel and their kids came too. We all went to dinner at Applebees (kids 99cent menu, again.) And Melissa even made cupcakes, yum!

Bad: I threw my back out the night before they came, at midnight. I literally crawled to bed, it was miserable. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through the next day. And I didn't get that laundry folded but instead had to sleep with it on the bed because I was in too much pain to even push it off the bed!!

Good: Thanks to my parents, and parents-in-law, the kids were well cared for. My mom and Samantha even folded that mountain of laundry and put it away! And, I was able to crawl into a chiropractor and get some relief.

Bad: One of the "reliefs" is a big, strong, heavy-duty elastic brace to wear. It looks and feels like a corset. Only, it doesn't go all the way up in front, like a corset does, so it squeezes all my lovely "extras" up to the top of my stomach and I get this huge bulge right above my belly button. Looks terrible.

Good: Might not look great, but that back brace does the job it was meant to do! When I have it on, the residual back pain (which I'll probably have for a week or so, according to the dr) stays pretty isolated to that one spot in the small of my back. Also, a side perk is that I am eating half as much when I wear it because I just don't feel hungry with my stomach all squeezed up like that. May be the new diet solution I've been looking for. ha!

Bad: When my parents were leaving today, there was a tiny wee bit of "tension" because my dad wanted to hurry home while my mom wanted to linger longer.

Good: Samantha set Grandpa straight in a private conversation where she told him he was "being silly" and "not acting the right way!" (hilarious, I think, to have a three-year-old doing a little experimental marriage counseling.)

Bad: I'm going to miss my kids this weekend, as they'll be staying with Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dale, and Mark and Dalana.

Good: I'm going to be with Brian, in San Francisco all weekend. yay!!

Bad: Wearing that back brace.

Good: On the beach? I hope!

Bad: Still no camera. (I've been looking, I promise!)

Good: We're going to borrow one. So, maybe you'll even see pictures in a future post. Just imagine....

Bye for now.

Happy November!

Stop me if I've mentioned before (I think I have, actually). Brian and I play this game where we race to see who's first to remember to wish each other a Happy November -- or whatever month it happens to be. He waited until 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning (or really late Halloween night) and got the honors this month. Just a fun little celebration of a new month. yay.

Anyway, so, we had a lovely Halloween, spent the evening gorging ourselves on chocolate and candy, like the rest of the nation. We did the NEW traditional "Trunk or Treat" at the church parking lot. Both kids made off with bundles of candy in a record time of 42 minutes flat. Then we came back home and did the OLD traditional "Trick or Treat" around the neighborhood. (But Sammie kept mixing it up and saying "trunk or treat" at each door. She actually thought we were ridiculous when we told her it's "TRICK or treat."... I guess old traditions are dying?)

Still no camera, and not a single picture of our darling trick-or-treaters. (or TRUNK or treaters?) But maybe I'll try to recreate the moments when we DO get a camera (which may be very soon, let's get excited!!) Even if no pictures are forthcoming, I'm sure you can imagine how adorable our little pumpkin Spencer was... black corduroy pants and a pumpkin jacket with stem hood.

I painted a black triangle on his nose, and two above his eyes, so he looked like a little jack-o-lantern. Truth be told, he acted more like a grizzly bear, he was so grumpy! At the church party, he double-fisted two suckers, and that sort of kept him from crying that Mom was holding his basket of candy. Then, the first two houses we went to for trick-or-treating, he went barging right into our neighbors' living rooms, and kicked a big fit when I dragged him out of their houses. He was stroller bound for the rest of the neighborhood, and whined about it a lot.

Samantha was a VERY happy little barbie fairy princess butterfly. She lost her wings half way through the night, and just decided to be Cinderella after that. She was really good at saying thank-you, and loved all the "cute" comments about her costume. Our next door neighbor, Mrs J, is in her 80s. She was especially excited to see Sammie, and made a big fuss over both kids, which we all loved. (What parent doesn't enjoy the doting grandparent figure?)

We had an "after" party at our house, with Mark and Dalana's family, Reed and Alysa's fam, and another cousin, Amber, with her kids. Fun to see all the kids' costumes, and get a chance to visit while Brian was home. I made caramel corn and fudge, which my stomach is still not appreciating. ug. Between the rest of the group, we also had pumpkin pie, hot cider punch, cookies and cake -- not to mention the heaps of candy from all the trick-or-treating! whew!

Good times. After living in London, I still feel like I'm warming up to the Halloween holiday. It's just not a big deal over there. But I'm liking it more, I decided. Only, now what do we do with soooo much candy? My kids really don't need it, and I, of course, have resolved to be good once again (while my stomach is still recovering!)

And on to November. Is anyone else appreciating the riddance of daylight savings?! I certainly AM!!! I know, I know, it gets dark so early now, which is not fun. But it also is LIGHT again in the mornings, and the sun is actually UP before 8 a.m. That's worth appreciating, in my book. Plus, we got that extra hour Sunday morning, which we used to full advantage, lazily sleeping until... well, I don't remember, but it was lovely. Hats off to the new time zone!

Bye for now. And Happy November to you! (I got you this month! ha!)

Things you won't see...

.... Because we still don't have a camera.

-- all the wonderful leaves around here. I know y'all have your own pictures, but I sooo have been wanting to walk off into the woods with a camera. It's been so perfectly fallish here.

-- Sam and Spence helping Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dale pick up all the walnuts from their yard yesterday. They were soooo cute in little old hats and gloves Grandma found for them -- sitting in the wheelbarrow on top of all the leaves. It was perfect lighting, too. But the wind was bad for pictures so I guess I'll have to be content.

-- Spencer's four eye teeth FINALLY all cut through (you know, the sharp vampire-looking corner teeth?) He's been cutting them one at a time since August, poor buddy! Actually, he might not let me get a picture of those anyway, but I'd be trying, of course.

-- Sammie's cute halloween costume... She's a "Barbie fairy butterfly princess." or something like that? She wore it to preschool today and looks adorable. It's really just another new princess dress that she is in love with. Maybe next year we'll have moved on to cowgirl or bride or something?

-- Spencer's cute pumpkin suit. Actually, he may continue wearing it, because it's just a darling little jack-o-lantern jacket with a stem hood. So cute.

-- Those stinkin' cute kitchen valances. I still just ADORE them every time I go into our kitchen. Someday they'll have their own blog feature, but not yet.

--My haircut... been chin length since the end of August, right after our last camera "walked away." The haircut is actually growing out now, to the "awkward" almost-shoulder-length stage. But it was cute. I don't think a single picture was taken while it was in the cute phase though. Oh well. It can be cut again, right?

-- The spick-and-span cleaner-than-ever condition of ALL our bathrooms at this moment. It's a most rewarding feeling to walk in and just KNOW the bathroom is so clean. But yeah, maybe I wouldn't be posting pictures of that. Guess that's just a news item for you.

-- Me in San Fran next weekend. Okay, maybe we'll get a camera by then because I just can't STAND the thought of not getting some picts of the Bay and the trolley cars and the Redwoods, etc. oh, and Brian, of course. :)

Good night, all.

vegetables are nasty

This one is for Randilicious.

I ate collard greens tonight.

For the first time. Ever.

They came from a can labelled "Southern Style Collard Greens -- with onions, garlic, and savory broth."

They were nasty. Disgusting. Despicable.

I felt like a kid at school again, reliving that one day in fifth grade when the principle made me eat every last green bean and I gagged because they were saltless, overcooked, gushy, cold green beans.

Okay, so the collard greens weren't cold or saltless, but they were green. And gross. And I ate a full 3/4 cup of them to set a good example for my children. Of course, after tasting the first bite, I did not even put ANY collard greens on either of their plates. They don't even KNOW how they should be thanking me. The leftovers (from a can the size of Libbys pumpkin pie filling) are still on the stove and will be until morning at which time they will find their way to the disposal because, who wants food that sat out all night, right?

Vegetables ARE nasty, Rand. At least collard greens.

Things I thought in the night

Yes, I tossed and turned last night, and couldn't sleep for a few hours. That gets frustrating because now I need a nap today and will probably have trouble sleeping again tonight. Oh well. It's because I have a cold, so I plan to take it easy today. Anyway, here are some of the random thoughts that "kept me awake?" or maybe I just thought them because I was already not sleeping?

-- Why, in a brand new house with granite countertops, did we end up with the most BASIC heat and cooling system? Why isn't there a single "auto-timing" button? And why can't they design systems that can be controlled room by room? Keep dreaming.

-- Why do I think someone is playing the piano every time the train goes by at 3 a.m.? Or, is that someone playing?? (get up to check, one more time.)

-- And why does that train sound soooo loud when I know it's nearly 2 miles away!?? Isn't it? Or maybe there's one that's a lot closer that I just don't know about.

-- I wonder if we have any sudafed, and if it would just keep me awake longer? and how do you spell pseudophed anyway?

-- I wonder if it's still too early to call people in London?

-- Were our library books due today? Or was that email notice for tomorrow?

-- If I could have any snack right now, what would I want? Maybe some smoked gouda cheese on garlic toast or something I couldn't actually produce from my own fridge even if I wanted to.

-- If it's this cold and windy tomorrow, I'm going to have to insist that Samantha wear her cute pullover turtleneck sweater to preschool. She won't like that, I'm sure. Why did she get so picky about clothes? And why does she always want to wear dresses now? And why does she ruin every pair of tights after one or two wearings?

-- That's where all our extra money goes -- to buy Samantha new tights. And Spencer's diapers, of course. Will he ever stop pooing first thing in the morning?

-- If I had to move away from here, where else would I want to live? Where would Brian want to live? What kind of work would he really, really, like to do? Should I wake him up and ask him? I'm not sleeping, no reason why he should be, huh?

-- I wonder if Wade will come for Thanksgiving. That would be so fun to have him around, even if he's off gaming with friends a lot.

-- Is it raining out there, or is that just the wind? or the train?

-- I need to do laundry. Again!? Already?! I need to remember to wash that huge pile of wash clothes in my bathroom, I keep forgetting those, and we're almost completely out.

-- That is so crazy that Marissa has hard evidence that the new toilet paper rolls are SHORTER than the old ones. Did I comment on her blog? I need to. Better have a look again tomorrow.

-- Also need to get working on my writing projects. Maybe I should just get up now and write? Ug. It's too cold. Maybe I should try to stop thinking and sleep.

Yeah. Pretty much random nothingness, as you would suspect.

In other news, we went to my cousin's wedding in Rexburg last week. It was gorgeous. I was especially excited to see his older sister, who's my age, who lives in Minnesota. Haven't seen her in six or seven years. Also, it's just always nice to see the fam.

Still no camera. Bye for today.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

It's fall, the leaves are changing, the pumpkins are orange and plentiful. I'd post pictures of all those things, but still no camera. Hence, the lack of bloggering lately. Sorry! It's true, I shouldn't have to have pictures to write on my blog. But they sure make things more interesting. Without pictures, what can I tell you today?

Well, you probably won't be as excited as I am, but I'll announce that my kitchen valances arrived this week, and I hung them up last night! They are.... PERFECT! I LOVE them. I haven't experienced this much domestic satisfaction in... how long? maybe ever? Ah, but at this point, wouldn't a picture of those darling little curtains just give you a reason to share my excitement?! I know! I NEED a camera.

Another something to tell... I cut Spencer's hair this week with the clippers. It was getting really long on top, and while I loved the 'baby' look it gave him, it started to be very unmanageable. So, he got a real boy hair cut. And he looks so much older to me. He still does all his cute little one-year-old baby boy things, but because he's so tall, it kinda looks like he's a bigger kid, doing those 'baby' things. Oh well, I do like the hair cut -- even though he screamed and hated the buzzer. The end result is good. (again, just think how much you'd enjoy a cute little picture of the boy and his cut. sigh)

I took the kids to a pumpkin patch play date with some of the other kids from church this week. It was so much fun picking out our own pumpkins. A couple in our ward offered a big garden plot to anyone who wanted to grow fresh produce this year. The last of the crop is a HUGE row of hundreds of pumpkins, and we were allowed to take as many as we wanted. Fun! Now we have a porch full of orange pumpkins, and I'm thinking of all the pumpkiny goodness of seasons past.

If you're a long time follower here, you'll remember me writing about the good ol' days of PUMPKINFEST (always capitalized). When I lived in Boston, back my single days, one of my awesome roommates, Randi, was positively obsessed with this time of year. (positively, as in, obsessed in a very good way.) PUMPKINFEST was really Randi's thing... a huge party where everyone invited was supposed to bring something "pumpkin" to share.

I confess, I am new to the love of pumpkin, and I owe this love to PUMPKINFEST. Where else would you find all different ways of experiencing that delicious vegetable in so many delectable ways? We had pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin rolls (those goodies with cream cheese filling, oh yes!), roasted pumpkin, spiced pumpkin seeds, pumpkin soup, and of course, pumpkin pie. Wow! What a versatile vegetable. Let's hear it for the pumpkin! And for Randilicious, for introducing me so kindly.

I've often thought it would be fun to throw my own PUMPKINFEST. Maybe I'd even make it a lowercase pumpkinfest, so as not to disrespect the REAL PUMPKINFEST. But really, it wouldn't be the same as, would it? I know it wouldn't. So, instead, I honor PUMPKINFEST by writing about it and telling people about it every year.

This year, I'm posting my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. I fell in love with it in London one Thanksgiving when a friend served it for our little American feast. Fresh pumpkin and honey. Good combo.

Enjoy!

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

(doesn't come with a crust recipe, so just use your own favorite crust)

1 medium sugar pumpkin

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

(I sometimes use 2-3 teaspoons of "pumpkin pie spice" instead of cinnamon and ginger, works just great)

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup honey, warmed slightly

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Cut pumpkin in half, and remove seeds. Lightly oil the cut surface. Place cut side down on a jelly roll pan lined with foil and lightly oiled. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender. (I prefer it mashed, for a chunkier texture. Puree makes it more like canned pumpkin.)

In large bowl, blend together 2 cups pumpkin, spices, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, honey, milk, and cream. Mix egg mixture in with pumpkin. (Don’t overbeat, or you’ll lose the texture. I'd say to beat by hand, rather than with a mixer, for a dense, rich texture.) Pour filling into pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees F ( 205 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge of pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Best served with real whipping cream on top, mixed up with a bit of honey.