The Trip Back To Normal

I was reminded the other day that my blog was suffering from cobwebs.  This is true.  The blog has become a place of squalor and dank dark corners.  It was the pretty new dress that now sits in the back of the closet untouched.

Another friend pointed out the positive, "Hey, at least you know you have readers that pay attention."

Until this afternoon I hadn't had a trigger event.  A trigger event (I made that up) is when something happens and I feel compelled to write a post. 

Basically this summer was the worst summer in recorded history for us.  There's others that will dispute this and say it was actually the best summer they'd ever had.  Experiences are relative.

At this house we spent the first 4 weeks battling a stomach virus which would not go away.  It would pretend to go away and then sneak back in during the night.  Kind of like that one relative that always out stays their welcome.  After that we had a couple weeks reprieve and then Jace came down with pneumonia.  It was bad enough that the doctor wanted him to go check into the local hospital.  Being a man chicken he refused.  He was then forced to endure MY nursing.  He hates that.  It means he will get well by my sheer force of will power.  That and I make him take his medicine on time, not at any-ole-time like he would do.

There you have it.  We were worn down by plagues and disappointment.  We didn't get to enjoy any summer vacation plans or swimming lessons. ( Believe me, if your kid has a tummy virus, you won't enroll them in swimming lessons.)  By the last week of summer we were begging to be released from all this torment.  We prayed daily that somehow school would start earlier and we would feel like things had changed. 

Finally the day arrived.  The first day of school!  Rowan showed her excitement by getting up at midnight and putting her clothes on to make sure she wasn't late.  We are now into week two of school.  She loves it.  I love it, too.  We are enjoying our time away from each other since we spent the summer in quarantine.  This year has brought something new.  It's all day school.  It feels a little odd.  I felt myself wondering, "what am I supposed to do with all this time?" 

I have found an answer to that question.  Get other women with that same dazed look to do things together.  It's brilliant.  I have found one woman who enjoys going to see movies and her husband doesn't go to movies.  I have another friend who likes to try different places to eat.  Another friend likes to go to farms and yarn shops.  Another friend is giddy with delight that she can do something with someone her own age.  Really, you should see her face when we talk about meeting.  Big grin, sparkly eyes, and giggling.  The list goes on but suffice to say I have become very busy and actually need a planner to keep track of all the activities.

Today, though, really let me know that we are out of summer and back into a regular routine.  We are in fall.  Rowan came home today and I looked at her.  I asked, "Didn't you wear that dress to school yesterday?"  She replied, "Yes, but I like it so much I wanted to wear it again."  Uh huh.  (Her Father let her wear it)

Things are back to normal.

Avocado Ice Cream

In case you've become weary of the old standby flavors of ice cream, I thought I would share a recipe I found for Avocado Ice Cream.  You can get this recipe and other ice cream recipes from the June-July issue of MaryJanes Farm.

MaryJane's Avocado Ice Cream
Prep Time: 15 minutes       Makes: 3 cups

1 large avocado, peeled and diced
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1.  Combine avocado, half-and-half, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a blender.  Puree until completely smooth.
2.  Pour mixture into a 2-quart baking dish.
3.  Cover and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.  (Can be transferred to an air-tight container and kept in a freezer for up to one month.)
4.  Before serving, let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Use an ice-cream or watermelon scoop to serve.  Top with fresh fruit or mango salsa.

This tastes mostly like lemon sherbet.   And if you're wondering about pairing it with watermelon like the picture, DO IT.  It tastes amazing! 

Old Folks Didn't Have the "Green Thing"

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store.

The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.

So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building.

They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind.

They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.

Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a

handkerchief, not a screen the size of the state of Montana .

In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water.

They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.

And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

~Author Unknown~

Intermission

No, the Rapture didn't take me.  According to a poll taken, most people were too busy to be raptured.  I was one of them. 

In fact, I was so busy I wasn't able to blog.  Or read other blogs (guilty look.) 

I'm getting to the end of the remodel and I've decided to let half the garden go.  I had to sit down and make a list of things I wanted to do and things I wanted done.  Both of those lists are so long that they can't possibly fit into my little list of time available.  I hacked and chopped projects off my list that were requiring lots of time but no results, like 50% of the garden. 

I have a little more catching up to do.  I'm working on some business logo changes and all the behind the scenes stuff it involves.  I'm also working on SOOO many other things filing my nails and I'm looking forward to finding some time to write about them.

Thanks for your patience.  The above picture is my new logo without the business name.  Because a business named Intermission might be silly.

All Raptured Up

I know it's been awhile since my last post.  Nothing has really compelled me to blog.  Until...word broke out on the Facebook about Rapture 2011. 

This got me thinking.  What is the proper etiquette for such an event?

Sara is wondering if she needs to clean her floors.  Now I'm wondering if I should do that, too.  What else am I missing?

• Do I leave out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk the night before?

• If I'm not chosen, do I get coal in my stocking?

• What's the right Rapture outfit?

• Are there any Rapture sales going on at the mall? 

• Did Kate and Will get married before the Rapture on purpose?

• I want to go to this craft show on Saturday and it doesn't end till 7 p.m. but the Rapture is supposed to happen at 6 p.m.

• Is it 6 p.m. Eastern time or Pacific?  Because if it's Eastern then I can stay for the whole craft show. 

• If it's Eastern time, is it fair for people in California to have a heads up warning?

• Should I have a pinata at my Rapture party?

• What's the perfect Rapture gift for that person who has everything?

Maybe you've picked up on my sarcasm and that just maybe I don't believe this will be happening.  I have a few reasons why I believe to not believe.

• The remodel isn't done yet.  If I do get Raptured up I'll be in serious insurance hell for not finishing it.

• I'm scheduled to work the following day and I don't get that lucky to think I'll be getting out of going to work.  If any of my coworkers get the Rapture I'm gonna be so mad because it'll leave more work for me.

• I don't think there's enough Prozac in existence for dealing with millions of people disappearing.  

So if the Rapture does come then I hope you enjoyed this last post and it was nice knowing you.  If it doesn't come then we'll move on to some captivating posts about gardening.

Pondering...

Lately I haven't been blogging.  The season of Spring brings many, many activities, and especially so this year. 

Instead of blogging I've been living vicariously through all of your blogs.  Some of you are very serious writers and some of you have a natural talent for letting words flow, especially if it's something funny.  Some of you are complete freaks.  That's what I like about the blogging world.  Too many times we can get in a rut with our thinking but the blog world opens the eyes and shows the big picture.  And how not to take life so seriously.

Since we had our vacation it's been a struggle to get back into the swing of things.  I'm reticent to do exactly that.  It feels like I'm losing my grasp on nature.  On vacation it wasn't about being inside, it was all about being outside in the woods, the sun, the snow.  Once home it's all about getting things done in the house.  Waking up for school, doing the dishes, doing the laundry, making beds, back to real jobs, back to hobby businesses.  There's less and less time spent outside. 

I'm mourning this loss.  I sit outside and read under trees until the sounds of lawnmowers drown out the sounds of birds and the dog shepherding the cat for the millionth time today.

We've planted the garden but it doesn't seem to be doing as well as last years.  Maybe our heart isn't in it as much.  We did figure out that we need to keep planting something every week.  I started more seedlings yesterday.  Jace planted more rows of corn and microgreens.  I planted peppers, cilantro, and basil.  The tomatoes are "waking up" and starting to stretch upwards.  One plant already has a baby tomato.  If things keep growing it looks like we'll have a nice crop of watermelon and canteloupe.

On the inside of the house we have the kitchen/masterbath remodel in progress.  We (I) am moving things to other rooms, consolidating, throwing things out.  It looks like we have an official start date for the last week of April.  We know the contractor and he has this great business practice of starting a job and working on it till it's actually completely finished before starting a job for someone else.  This makes him very sought after.  Of course I'll have some pics for you to see when we're getting underway and the finished work. 

So that's about it for now.  We're getting by, although reluctantly.  Time keeps marching forward.  Summer will be here and it'll be time for swimming lessons and harvesting. 

Yosemite National Park

The other week we skipped town and went on vacation.  This was no small secret.  I managed to keep it quiet for 7 months.  Because as we all know my blog caters to the more criminal element.  I knew you'd all be dying to break into my house knowing I was gone.  In the end this could have actually helped...

I came up with clever plans to save money.  We shared the car ride with a friend and her daughter who also wanted to explore out West.  We only thought about finding an orphanage a few times to drop off the yammering chatterbox in the back seat who wanted to know, "are we there yet?"

We stayed in a budget hotel.  I had joined their hotel club discount program and reserved the room 7 months in advance.  We shared the hotel with a friendly bunch from some logging company.  By friendly, I mean they would all open their room doors any time any noise or other door happened to open.  We figured they were thinking some bombshell model was just strolling the halls hoping to find some guy from a logging company she could shack up with on first sight.  We played tricks on them by opening our door just to see how many of them would open their door.  Then we would shut our door and laugh hysterically, because we're grownups. 

Rowan really enjoyed getting to see "big snow."  We took her to ski one day.  She was very frustrated, but determined.  She whined and complained and didn't listen to the ski teacher.  Somehow she made progress and by the end of the day she was zooming at 1 mph with a smile as big as Texas.  I, on the other hand, had mastered the bunny slope and made the stupid mistake to go down the "more difficult" trail.  I made it down...eventually.   My friend learned how to snowboard but couldn't turn.  They are henceforth to be known as the Bullet for their straight-shot-speed-of-light technique down the slope. 

This was the only bear we saw, thankfully.  

We spent a lot of time hiking.  Pictures truly can't capture the rare beauty.  A picture can't grasp all the sounds and smells that surround you in that moment.

Pictures can tell a story.  Like the one about a 5 year old who was whining and had to be carried part of the way.  She was our bear repellant, but she really did so well.  One day she hiked 5 miles.  And she slept like a rock!  

One day out hiking around, this cute little kitty came out of the woods, silently.  We never heard a thing.  One minute it wasn't there and the next it was right in front of us.  Rowan had to be held back as she insisted she wanted to pet the "nice kitty."  I was nervously trying to take a picture and figuring out what I would do in case it attacked us.  In the end, it never even looked at us.  It was hunting after something else.  It slowly stalked and disappeared back into the woods, never making a sound.

We came home and have since learned that the park was hit by a horrendous snow storm and the whole place was shut down. 

We also came home to a flooded kitchen and master bathroom.  So if you guys had broken in maybe you could've turned off the water coming out of the pipe under the kitchen sink.  My time is now spent dealing with this inconvenience.  In the next few weeks months, we'll be having a quarter of the house gutted from floor to ceiling and replaced.

But my mind and my heart are still here...