Christmas Cookie baking, 2010

Yeah, so I'm a year late on this. I've been meaning to post it, but life has happened.

So, this is from LAST year before our nephew could crawl or walk. BIG difference from this year, where he was running around the house! :)


I'll share photos from this year's installment of cooke baking SOON! :)

"Sniff that tail"

We've always known the dog likes to sniff the cat's tail, but of course the kitty wants no part of that. Well, over the summer Erik learned that if he lets the kitty outside, she is so focused on going out, that the dog could practically lick her and she wouldn't care. Kitty wants out, and nothing else matters. Of course, sometimes he isn't nice and doesn't let her out. Just lets the dog get a good sniff.




Evidence of a tail fetish.


Every once in awhile we'll see them this close. Which is as close as they will ever get in a peaceful manner.

BAK videos

I dropped her off early, so took some videos. :)

2011 Rain barrel update

I think these videos are from April .... but with the busy April/May I had .... blogging just went away.

SO, I know rain has been elusive around here (I'm actually irrigating our garden from the tap!), but thought I'd share. This year it took less than 15 minutes to set the barrels up and they were rolling!

Bailey and "her" kids

As I mentioned earlier, we adopted Bailey from a family. With 3 kids.

Sometimes I suspect she's bored with us old, married people.

We know her family and keep in touch, and Bailey was invited out for a playdate. It was a BIG hit with all parties involved. :)

She LOVES to swim, so she had a heck of a good time in the pond. I'm hoping at "bark in the park" time (last day of swimming, bring your dog) that Bailey will be able to go and not have a meltdown from the excitement of seeing dozens of other dogs. We'll see.


I honestly think she would have stayed in the pond ALL afternoon if we'd have let her.

Theodore + Bailey II

Theodore is a BIG fan of Bailey, if you can't tell from this photo!


Bailey also happens to be a big fan of kids in general. Sometimes she has a hard time controlling her excitement (impulse control issues), but she does fairly well.

When Theodore was eating dinner, a portion of it ended up on the floor. "We're going to have to get out the vacuum," Robin said. "Nope," I responded, "we've got a dog."

Bailey was sitting by my seat, but she saw morsels start to fall from the table like manna from heaven. And she started to whine and squeal. You would have thought I had a T-bone dangled in front of her nose, not some peas and pork chop bits across the room on the floor. Geez.


This is from Dinner #2. Just Theodore and I. You'll notice how interested Bailey is in what Theo's doing.

Bailey + Popcorn = 4 Ever

We don't allow Bailey much table food. But we eat a lot of popcorn around here, and it's a special treat for her.

Recently, Erik taught her to catch it in her mouth.

She's gotten pretty good at it. We visited "her" kids (the family who we adopted her from) and they were impressed at her ability. GOOD trick to show kids. After awhile I had to tell them she was full ... because they would have fed her popcorn all afternoon. At most, she gets 4-6 pieces once or twice a week.

Swim time! :) pt. 2

OOOOK. As Robin wrote on her blog, we had company over the weekend. Good times were had by all.

I have some photos + videos to share. Actually, I'll break them into 2 posts. Sound good?

First the videos, because they're super cute :)




I think at the point we have kids, I'll want a video camera or something with video that has a higher quality than my little camera has. But for now this is OK (love you, Theo! Not a reflection on my affection, I promise!)


He's got a toofer coming in .... so of course he liked gnawing on the noodle. Pssst, kid, that isn't ours!






I kept switching back and forth from the "automatic" setting on the camera (the 2 above), which used a flash, to the "manual" setting w/o a flash (below). With a flash, kids are more prone to know you're taking their picture. Sans flash, you're more likely to capture them "just being kids" .... but in a low light situation, it's not always a pretty end photo. Sigh, what to do?


Unfortunately, the lifeguards at the Y here in town won't let us go down the big slide together :( but we'll just have to go back to the big city for that!

We "bobbed" and went under water. He did fairly well with that. And even better this time at floating on his back with some assistance (side note: my first job was as a lifeguard, teaching swim lessons. Probably one of my most favorite jobs. Ever.)


I've never seen such wrinkled feet after the pool. (TIP: used macro feature on camera to get this).


After bath time.


:)

Harry Potter 7.2!!!!

OK, so I may or may not spend all day on YouTube watching clips in preparation for the midnight opening of HP 7.2. That's right, the conclusion of the Harry Potter movie series.

I know I have a lot of very conservative friends who visit me here. If you're not into the whole Harry series, I respect that. Just don't hate on me for my excitement (please?).

Over the last few months, I've kept my eye on the trailers, and the "final" one .... is by far the best.


I'm pretty sure Erik will be glad this all ends tonight, because when I see one of these, I literally stand on my seat and emit an obscenely high pitched squeal. The dog's attention is rapt every time. ;)

Things I'm looking forward to in this movie:

1) Escape from Gringott's. I've seen a few previews and clips, and I think it's gonna stinkin' rock.
2) Battle between Bellatrix + Mrs. Weasley. It was one of my favorite parts of the book ... and I'm ready.
3) The conclusion with Snape. For anyone who hasn't read these, I won't spoil.

I have one tiny concern, however ... there's a clip in many of the previews where Harry and the Big V jump over a big cliff together ... I'm hoping that's part of a dream/nightmare sequence, because I might be disappointed if it's not. We'll see.

Erik and I were talking .... and I think starting at #5 I started attending midnight showings. I've been to 2 here in Salina and I'm ready for tonight's! :) Due to lack of time/mental energy, I probably won't be decking out in costume ... I'm usually in the land of Nod at the witching hour, so I'll likely go to bed early, then drag my bag of bones out of bed about 10:30 to go get in line.

See you on the other side! :)

Theodore + Bailey

My sis, bro-in-law and nephew came to see us over the weekend. Robin was excited for Theodore to play with Bailey. Theo's a bit bigger and can better fend for himself against the beast that is our "puppy."


"We're plaaaayin' ... leave us alone."


Bailey did a good job of not running off with Theodore's toys.


Sometimes, I'm not sure if Theodore knew what to think of Bailey. Not that I can blame him!


Bailey got a bit frisky. She doesn't quite realize Theodore is a fraction of her size.


Fortunately, Theodore sits up well, and didn't do any toppling over.

How the morning starts around here

I admit, there is a perk or two to having a dog (but not more than that!) ;)

We taught her to get the morning paper.



The paper fetching was a combined effort. I started her fetching it from across the room. Erik started her on the porch. Go team!

Speaking of "go team!" .... Erik was poking through online videos, and thinks teaching Bailey to get a beer is a pretty good trick.


I'm not sure it'll be anytime soon, but we'll see. Evidently this is a popular trick, because searching for "dog getting a beer" videos yields more results than I would have imagined.

Rain barrel update (again)

Ok, so the barrels. Gotta love 'em. Here's a video. The first clip is from before I figured out the overflow. There is a brief sunny dividing image, then it will show the ones with a completed overflow. I haven't 100% got the overflows complete. I have the east barrels done, but not the west. I'll be ready for Spring 2011!

Enjoy:

Basil = pesto

Basil on the left, peppers on the right.

BEFORE:


AFTER:



My pesto recipe:
A BUNCH of basil from my garden, washed and patted dry
A few cloves of garlic
Sprinkle of salt
1/2 to 1 cup of almonds, crushed (i put them in a plastic bag and swat them with the rolling pin to smash them)
olive oil

Take all of the ingredients, dump into your food processor. Note, a blender will work, but has to work much harder than a food processor. Blend until smooth. You will probably have to add olive oil as it blends.

An option is to add some parmesan cheese.

You can top pasta with this, and stir in chicken and it's yummy tasty! :)

When we're done with it, if we have extra, I like to put the extra in ice cube trays and freeze it. Then put it into a bag so I can use the ice tray. If I'm in a hurry, I can grab a cube or two or three and use it as an individual serving. Just warm in the microwave. :)

A quick video of why I looooove my food processor! :)

Iconic move

When Erik and I were in Hays last month, we had dinner at one of the local watering holes. And we ran into a former colleague of mine (names will be omitted to protect the innocent.).

We were told we were in town on the exact same day the presses were being torn out/outside.

So of course we had to go see them.

(For those of you who don't know, the Hays paper is now printed in Salina, and so they have no more need of the presses ... so the presses migrated to Salina).


We arrived to see the above sight.

Total shocker to me.


Some paper stuck to the rolls.


A closer up detail of it.


Serial number.


A detail of the press surface. It was dirty, dirty, dirty. I am not sure what the stuff was ... if it is fine bits of paper. Not sure ....


Inside, this is what we were greeted with.


Close up of one of the presses.


One of the ink holders. Ink well? I thought the wells were beneath the press, but let's call it an ink well here. :)


It looks like it took some serious work to get the presses out of their cement footings.


Sheesh!


The specific brand of the press.


The final tally of papers run. From the last press run.


I'm guessing the calendar on the left shows the last day the presses ran in Hays? And on the right, the other printing jobs usually done by the Hays Daily.


Check out these bolts. Sheesh!


It's so crazy to see the room empty. Devoid of the presses.


I suspect the photo on the right is from when everyone printed American flags post 9-11. Or what was left of the flag from the press.


Serious. Wreckage.


A video of my final walk-through of the pressroom.


Now, the presses have a new home. Closer to my own home.


Another view.


Final photo.

I've yet to see the presses in their new home, but I'll get around to it one day.

Deacon Jeremy's First Blessing

After Deacon Jeremy's ordination, we had a little social gathering at my parents' house .... and the big D gave his blessing.

Hang in there for Fr. Ben's comment at the end. It's priceless!

THE Jars, pt. 2

Remember a few weeks ago when we transformed our pantry? The pantry provides a great spot to put all of my glorious jars.

Here is what Erik has to say about the jars:

Life in a comedy sketch

Sometimes, I wonder if I grew up in a bad comedy sketch. Last week, I was talking with my parents, and the conversation turned very confusing. Confusing as in I was saying one thing, but dad was hearing and repeating another. Sheesh. Eventually, I made a sarcastic "Who's on First?" comment, and the conversation went downhill from there. ;)

It's been YEARS since I've seen the skit, so last night, I looked it up. My mom, brother-in-law and I had a good, long laugh.

So, if you need a laugh, or even little giggle:



And more evidence that I might be living in a bad comedy skit: Mom came in from walking this morning

Mom: "It's so lovely outside. It's 60 degrees, the birds are singing ...."
Dad: "What about the turtles?"

Don't try to think about it or see the sense or logic. Just join me in a good eye roll or groan. ;)

How to cut a pineapple

Since moving to Salina, I've tried all sorts of interesting culinary adventures. This week, I saw whole pineapples on sale at the store. Hmmm .... why not, I figured. But then I got home and had NO CLUE how to cut the darn thing.

Thank goodness for YouTube!


Fortunately, I picked a rip pineapple from the start!

But I really would have liked some tips on how to set a pineapple UPSIDE DOWN in the fridge .... because it was no easy task.

Independence — The Carousel

The carousel!!!!! It's a whopping nickel to ride. Fabulous. :) Evidently the people who donated it to the city stipulated that it stay a nickel to ride forever and EVER. Nice, eh?


Erik shunned the horses. He opted for a seated ride.


Check out the horses.


The horses were evidently painted (actually, re-painted) by a local painter. Just a little detail.


For those of you who care .... here are the hours.


They didn't turn the lights on for us .... and Erik tried to get a free ride out of that. SHEESH!


And this was the concert in the park ... no photos, just video to share.

Know what? This is a really random fact, but I lived in Indy for 2+ years and know what? I NEVER attended one of these. Seems rather odd. Like, I should have photographed it at some point. But no. I never did.

Glad there's something new I could experience while I was there. :)

AAAAAAAND, this concludes my posts on our trip to Independence, Kansas. Phew!

Independence — Swimming Pool

Another James pic!


Oh yeah ... Erik and I have been hitting aquatic parks around the state ... and Independence was one of them. Especially for the slide.

Erik didn't like the slide too much. Said it threw him around too much.

I like it OK.


James gave those floating lilly pads a run for their money!



Then, Erik bet James on the pads. He told him if James could go on them w/o using the rope, Erik would get him a Sno Cone. Nice.


James is a clever little fella.


Eventually something got bet (I don't remember) and Erik lost .... and had to go down the toilet bowl slide (again).


James was jubilant.