Evidence

Evidence
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Found this in Taylor's room this morning when I went in to wake him up.

How do you suppose he so neatly got the tops off all these cans?

PERHAPS WITH A CAN OPENER???

Disappearing and Reappearing

Yesterday I made goulash, a family favorite. It requires opening a can or two of tomatoes.

I searched high and low for the can opener. I pulled everything out of the drawer...which is no mean feat. That drawer is very very large and is the standard kitchen catch-all drawer.

Fleeting through my mind was that Mom and Dad had walked off with it.

Of course they wouldn't have done that.

I was so desperate that I called Mensa Boy. He's out of town.

"Have you seen the can opener?"

"No. It's not in the...."

"Of course not."

"Of course not."

(drives me crazy when he asks me if whatever I'm looking for isn't in the place it belongs...)

So after a minute or so of questioning (I thought perhaps he'd used it for a project a while back), We hung up. I got the opener from the camping box, finished supper.

After supper I did the dishes.

And dropped the carrot peeler back into the drawer.

Right on top of the can opener.

No one is fessing up.

Snotty

Mensa Boy is being very snotty.

He has a terrible cold and has blown his way through two boxes of kleenex. So there are little trash cans around that are totally full of used kleenex.

I feel bad for him. But I don't want to be around him!

The Great Big Vegetable Challenge

Many many thanks to my buddy Chris for sending me the link to this blog. It is fantastic!

The Great Big Vegetable Challenge

Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut has died. It's hard to imagine. The first thing that pops into my mind is a ratty paperback copy of "Breakfast of Champions."

His first novel was published in 1952 ("Player Piano") and his last in 1972 ("Timequake"). The only one I remember reading was "Breakfast" (1973). Just about anyone born between 1940 and now has undoubtably read at least one of his books.

The write-up in today's paper mentions "Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States."

How true.

"New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become."
Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

A Poem by Taylor

A book is a human
It can say anything
A book is a game
But you can never fail

A book is a friend
You can have a lot
A book is a feeling
It can make you feel different

A book is life
Anything can happen
A book is a human
It can say anything

Churchin' Around

Yesterday morning I hit the road at 6:30 to go to a sunrise service at the local state park.

It was 23-freakin'-degrees out, by the way. Cold even by my standards.

The service was in an ampitheatre in the woods at the park, so there was obviously not going to be any opportunity to get any actual sunrise shots. I stayed just a few minutes, shooting the pastor on stage with his microphone, all decked out in his "tobaggan" (stocking cap) and mittens, his wife wrapped in a huge coat, playing the keyboard.

I decided to run back up the road to my own church's sunrise service, held at our sister church. (the Dodge Gr. Caravan really cruises along smoothly at 85 mph)

The sissies had all wimped out and taken their service inside. Moreover, cars were parked in front of the lawn cross, so there was no chance of getting a decent photo of that with the sun coming up behind it.

So I decided to go further up the road to my favorite Lutheran church.

But on the way, I glanced over to the little Baptist Church and lo! There were a dozen hardy souls out in the backyard having a little service. Whipped in there and joined them, shooting away.

Their service ended around 7:15 so, declining their offer of a donut and coffee, I jumped back into Big Greenie and beat it up the highway to the Lutherans.

They were inside as well. By this time I was thoroughly chilled and feeling more charitable about sissies. I stopped in there and shot a few photos of the children doing a project.

Then went to our church in time for the dual-church breakfast. Shot some photos of that crowd and thawed out while rubbing elbows. And teasing the two preachers about being inside while the pentecostals and Baptists were gutting out the cold.

I was home by 8:15. It was a good morning. I got some decent shots I think, which I sent in to the paper. I hope they use some of them. But this is one time when I hardly care. I had a lot of fun, so it was well worth the effort.

Eagles

Check out this Eagle cam...if you have a high-speed internet connection. (thanks Julie!)

http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html

Mom and Dad arrived yesterday and will stay for the next two weeks at the local state park. We had a nice meal last night of cornish game hens, green beans and tomatoes (a Giada deLaurentiis recipe), and wild rice with cranberries and almonds. Topped it all off with chocolate chip cookies.

Everyone was dragged out from a busy day, so they pretty much left right after giving the dog a bath. I teased Mom about us just being a dog-washing depot for them. They give that dog a bath first thing every time they get here.

Mensa Boy and Taylor painted Taylor's room yesterday. It's a very shocking blue. Kind of a post-it note blue, actually. Today they will do a second coat and then they've been talking about going on a hike.

Mom and I need to find something for me to wear. I have no spring/summer clothes that fit. So I should get started and Easter seems like a logical time.

OH YEAH...AND! How much screwier is "American Idol" going to get? Gina Glocksen is gone now?

Concern/Unconcern

A new medication I'm taking lists "lack of concern" as a potential side effect.

Apparently a "lack of concern" is considered to be a more serious side effect, because you are supposed to contact your doctor immediately if you are experiencing it.

hmmmmm

[Do I need to spell out my snarky comment on that? Or Kristen, would you like to?]

Gotta Look Good

readytomow
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Here is Mensa Boy, "getting ready to mow the lawn."

It was 1:30 in the afternoon.

Amazing what you can come up with to do when you should be mowing the lawn...

Something for Everyone, it Seems

Last night I was lying on my bed, reading a book, drinking water. I asked Taylor if he would kindly get me a straw.

He came back a few minutes later, poked a nice little red-and-white number into my cup and chuckled.

"Thank you. What?" I asked.

"The box of straws says 'Sanitary, disposable and FUN.'" He said.

A Rare Personal Account

I tend not to get too insanely personal on my blog, but here you go.

Today was a no good, very bad day. Up to a point.

I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 9:15 a.m.

At least, I had on my calendar that the appointment was at that time. I planned for it for two weeks. I had my notes all written down, my list of prescriptions, and I was prepared to go in there and launch a full-scale assault on this thing I've lately been calling MenoMania.

I arrived at the clinic 10 minutes before the appointment time. When I checked in, I could see the receptionist was concerned.

They did not have my appointment in the system.

I stood there in stunned silence for a moment. I was afraid to speak. I had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth.

"We'll figure out something," she said. "I'll find some time today when you can get in. What are you here for?"

When I told her I was there for menopause issues...well...you can imagine the expression on her face.

I held it all together long enough to hear their apologies and agree to come back at 2:30.

I went home and stayed there. Watching TV and staring at the walls. By around noon I started to feel a bit better.

I went back at 2:30 and locked my keys in the car in the clinic parking lot.

"How did the appointment go?" You may be asking.

Fine. He's a very very good doctor. Validated my feelings and suspicions, did some medication adjustments, and I came out of there feeling like I have a new plan.

And when I got out of the appointment, my keys were laying there on the counter. Thank you, dear Kristen, for driving half-way across town with Mensa Boy's keys to get mine out of my car.

As I was saying good-bye to the doctor, he said "By the way...locking your keys in the car? Classic menopause!"

Community Policing

We have a campus resource officer from the sheriff's department at our high school. He actually covers all three of the schools, but his primary office is at the high school.

Today I realized that the scope of his job is much more than handling assaults and traffic issues.

Today he was spray-painting the school rock.

He's covered one side of the rock with orange paint and then sprayed "buckle up" on it.

I didn't see him do the deed. I saw him walking away from it after he'd completed it. I stopped and said "Boy. I wish I'd gotten a photo of that for the paper."

He said he does that periodically, to cover up less-than-uplifting messages that get painted on there from time to time.

Dumb Yankee

Every once in a while I say something that shows that I'm still not completely "with" this southern life.

The other day I said "I like it when the birds come back."

HUH?

The Pizza Alarms

The smoke detectors in our house are kind of getting to be the bane of our existence.

There is one right around the corner from the stove and any little thing makes it go off. Browning chops, a big spill on the stove top. Even cleaning the oven.

And they are hard to get off. Once the first one detects smoke, all of them start in. That's 10 detectors going.

We used to be able to get them to shut off by waving a towel under the kitchen one and maybe opening a couple of windows. But now that doesn't seem to have much effect most of the time. I've had them going for up to 40 minutes.

And I cook to relax.

Now this morning at 5:45 a.m. the one in the office here is chirping. We change the batteries (they are hard-wired but have battery backups) twice a year, but we still end up with detectors chirping for low battery power. The sound echoes in the house so a lot of times you really have to work hard to figure out which one it is. One night we chased around in the middle of the night for some time looking for the chirper, only to discover it was a CO detector.

I can see why people disconnect them. It's a dumb thing to do but you are tortured less that way.

His Scary Sponsor

I mighta accidentally scared a typing student today.

Sort of on accident. I actually wanted to shake him up a bit.

Our middle school typing classes are doing a "Type for Life" service learning project. They set goals for increasing their words-per-minute scores by March 30. They gathered pledges for the American Cancer Society.

I wanted to sponsor my best friend's daughter, but she never asked me and today I found out she's already made her goal anyway.

So I was at the typing class this morning, listening to a breast cancer survivor tell the kids about her battle and about cancer in general and about the American Cancer Survivor. (I'm writing a story about their project)

At the end of the class, the speaker brought out purple rubber "4 the fight" bracelets. She asked who had made their goal. Gave them bracelets. Then she asked who had sponsors and were working toward their goals. Gave those kids bracelets.

A kid named Tyler was just sitting there. Tall, sharp-looking guy.

She asked him if he had even one sponsor. "No ma'am," he said.
"But you have a goal, right?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am," he answered.

She gave him a bracelet.

I passed a note over to him. "I'll sponsor you for $20 if you make your goal." And I signed my name and put my email address on there.

After class he thanked me. I told him he'd better reach his goal or I'd dog him til he was dead.

"Yes ma'am," he said.

I saw him a few minutes later and he said "Y' know, I made my goal, but the teacher raised it on me."

"Well, good! Because I don't want to sponsor some slacker who sets their goals too low," I replied.

"No ma'am."

I could be the scariest sponsor for a charity he's ever had.

Fiesta!

fiesta
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

This is why I like to have Mensa Boy label boxes for me.

On Saturday my parents arrived and brought with them the two new placesettings I'd bought on my fiesta-buying junket to RedWing in February.

The addition of the new place settings necessitated the removal of two other settings.

It was not a hard choice to make. I'd moved the apricot and white dishes to the bottom of the stacks and told the kids that, when they set the table, I expect my place to NOT have the apricot. It just looked...vomitous.

29707!

Voting for the Worst

Mensa Boy reminded me last night that there is a conspiracy underfoot with American Idol:

Vote for the Worst

I don't know if they really work, but SOMETHING is keeping Sanjaya "milquetoast" Malakar alive on American Idol.

My Preciousssssss

The story has to be what? Maybe 350 words? About a missing cat.

Yep. Page 3A of The Lancaster News has a story about a missing cat.

It "showed up missing," a phrase that never ceases to crack me up. Do I need to explain why?

I feel badly for the 90-year-old woman whose cat is missing, but I'm pretty skeptical that someone would enter the home and carry her away, as the owner asserts. "I think somebody opened the door, came in, put her in their jacket and walked away with her."

Huh.

There's no mention that the owner is missing anything else. No TVs, jewelry, crocheted toilet paper covers....just an orange tabby cat.

In other local news, I hear there is a group that wants to pay to paint the new Indian Land water tower. The water tower, which was a subject of much controversy when our school board decided to sell an acre of land right besmack in front of the main entrance to the school, will be set right on the corner of Doby Bridge and Highway 521. This group from Lancaster would like to offer to beautify the tower by paying to have it painted.

What would they paint on it, you ask?

Something to point visitors to Lancaster, of course. Something to encourage them to drive 20 miles south to shop at Wal-Mart and Eckerds in Lancaster rather than 7 miles north to Carolina Place Mall, Target, Barnes & Noble, Harris Teeter...I could go on.

But my readers are not stooopid...