Saturday, March 03, 2007

The Saga of My Lights....

When I went to pick up the boys from paint balling....Marty looked at my fuses. He thought I needed a head light bulb or something too...but found three fuses completely missing from the van. I can only guess that this happened when the shop wired the van for the trailer.....he gave me a list of fuses to buy. I left and did contemplate going to the auto shop. I think it would have made it to the top of the list around Wed. next week. I've gotten used to driving without lights now....the dome lights can be very helpful in such conditions and I really only drive at night about once a week - Tuesday night - which is why it would have been at the top of the list on Wednesday.

I deposited the boys and went to get Arielle. I then dropped Arielle off to play with Ashley and got sucked in by "friendly vibes" and sat a good hour or so talking with Tricia. When I got home I discovered that Marty had dropped of fuses.
Here's the van's fuse box....
Here's De'Etta messing with the van's fuse box...
and I believe I now have lights....

Completely Crunchy

I've done it. I've surpassed all the "crunchies" the boys know. I'm now carrying my own cooler filled with "clean" snacks. I am determined, at this time in my life, to eat some sort of great produce and/or lean protein every few hours. I feel so MUCH better now that I'm keeping my blood sugar stead (go figure LOL)....but this is difficult when you are out....and so I substitute with Recees Peanut Butter cup...you know "carbs and protein". ::snort:: One great idea I got from that Eat Clean book that Heather loaned me was to take a cooler with me. Jared says I've now gone completely over to the dark side.

This is my cooler....

Yes, I can hear Mike now. "You won't catch ME carrying that." I know. ::chortle:: THAT is the point. This is MY cooler and I'm betting that NO ONE will be carrying FISH from the stream to the camp in THIS cooler!!!! ::snort:: No, I'm really not bitter...I have a cooler fetish and was actually happy to find my cooler still smelled like AK salmon. ::smirk::
WHY all the photos????? I feel guilty for being to busy to take photos all week. I'm sure the girls and Mike will be brought to the very heart of our home by seeing photos of our appliances and my new butter bell. ::snort::

Proverbs 31 woman and I....

She had her servants to look after and I have mine.

In this corner: Servant Number One - the 2 qt crock - busily cooking away chick peas (garbanzo beans) to be added to salads for extra fiber and protein, and to make hummus. This appliance joined our household one winter day in AK - the "day after Christmas sale" - $5.

In this corner: Servant Number Two - the trusty ole rice steamer. This is a FRIVOLOUS appliance but one I use a LOT. I wanted one when I noted that all my favorite Chinese restaurants had them. One day our BX in MT had one mis-marked. I carried it to the manager to let her know that it was mis-marked and to find the correct price. She was in a SNIT and insisted that the marked price was correct....she wouldn't listen to me...so I bought it at the mis-marked price...paying 1/4 of the retail price for the thing. Today, it contentedly steamed up 8 cups of rice for dinner and to be used for lunches and stir fries throughout the week.
And finally: the oldest servant in our home - Servant Number Three - my workhorse - 6 qt Rival Crockpot. This poor crock pot has served me for over 23 years. The handle is melted. I think one of our movers stepped on it this last move because the plastic top has several long cracks running through it. I suspect it no longer cooks efficiently because of the cracks...but I'd like to find a new one of the same size and shape so I'd have two crocks for pot. Though the electric part of this one works....maybe I simply need a new lid for this one. Yes, I have a very hard time replacing anything that still has a semblance of life left in it. Oh, I know, it's not one of the cool colors...but nothing says late 70's/early 80's like harvest autumn orange. Here it heats up last week's BBQ beef. I must have doubled the honey because it was very sweet. Jamin mentioned it would make the base of a nice sweet and sour...so I added pineapple and served it over rice tonight. ::snort::

Two New Purchases

Sometime during this week and friend and I went out to lunch. Then we went shopping. I had been looking for a butter bell and the local kitchen speciality store called to say that theirs were in. This is NOT a butter bell...it's a norpor or is that nopro ::snort:: for less than 1/2 the price of a butter bell. I wanted some of the really cool designs but I wanted to be sure I liked this before I forked over money. So....on the left....darling honey jar; not sure it will work but I'm trying to find something less messy than a quart jar of honey. On the right...butter bell. You put water in the bottom of the crock, softened butter in the top....

and you have cool, fresh, spreadable butter when you want it...without the mess of a butter dish.

Two Full Days

Friday
Speech. Produce pick up. Sort produce. Produce delivery. Healthy Weight Loss class. Arielle and Nolan's Drama class. Cy worked. Pink Panther.

Saturday
The Brady Bunch (what did *I* ever see in this show - the littles love it?????). Curves. Paintball. Birthday party. Football. Car repairs. Shopping.

More details?
The boys were excited today to meet up with Mandy's husband, Marty, and son, Matt, for a few rousing rounds of paintball. The base has a great course (if you like wallowing in cockle burs and that sort of play). The price is right. Today there were quite a few trainees (active duty) and so they had a challenge...and fun.

Arielle attended a birthday party today. Emma's Spa...what fun. I love what Deja and family did for Emma's birthday. Instead of presents for Emma, everyone brought items to be donated to the children's oncology clinic where her young cousin is a patient. Did I say that I really LOVE this idea? We plan to borrow it.