It's the Fourth of July...isn't it a law that you have to eat potato salad? This recipe is tried and true - mom taught me to make it and she is the Pro From Dover (hi mom!).
Don't be fooled into thinking that that stuff in the deli case is actual potato salad. It's *something* with potatoes in it, sure. But it never tastes like potato salad.
There are no frills here, you probably already have everything you need for the basic salad already. All you have to do is put 'em together:

(for the "5 lb" version - No, I've not actually weighed it, just a figure of speech, but it IS huge)

8-9 medium sized potatoes
7 eggs, hard cooked
1/2 cup chopped dill pickle
1 1/2 c. Best Foods Mayonnaise
Tbls mustard (whatever you like)
Tbls horseradish (optional)
Salt
Pepper
Spike (or whatever all purpose seasoning works for you - it's optional. Mrs. Dash is really good)

Wash, but do not peel, the potatoes and put them into a large pot, make sure they are all submerged in the water with some room. After the pot starts boiling, it'll be between 20 and 30 minutes - after 20 start poking them to see if they're done. you don't want them too done or you'll have mashed potato salad. Under done - obvious blech. When they poke to your liking, drain them and set them somewhere to cool. You'll want them cool enough that they won't burn you're hands when you peel them, but not cold, otherwise peeling will suck.
Go ahead...peel them!

As you're peeling, cube them into a big pot and when they're all in there, salt them really, really well. REALLY well. Because over night, in the refrigerator, the potatoes will consume about half of what you put on them.

A note about the potato salad vessel: The bowl that is just big enough to hold your 5lb Potato Salad is not, I repeat NOT, big enough to mix the potato salad. See how good I am? I'm saving you pain. I use the huge pot that I boiled them in to mix it all together and make the transfer at the end.

Next, peel your eggs. And since I've been reading up on eggs and chickens that lay eggs, I'm going to throw this in: Don't be hatin' on the eggs that are hard to peel! Those are the fresh ones! Especially don't hate them if you buy non-organic eggs (at our house we call them the "scary eggs") because you have just reduced your chance of poisoning considerably! Yay you! Just suck it up and spend that extra time peeling the difficult ones.

Cut the eggs up into pretty small bits and throw them on top of the potatoes.

Next the pickle - chop and throw. At our house we like pretty good sized chunks, but I've also used dill relish for the job. User discretion is advised.

And that's it..the hard part is over. It wasn't even that hard, was it?
I'm going to confess that I don't actually measure anything from here on out. So if you think you want more of less of something, err on the side of less first, eh?

Now for the Mayo. Please, please, please, for the love of all that is good and right in the world, do not use Miracle Whip!!! It is disgusting and slimy and wrong. If you must have the *taste* of it, sub a Tbls of Balsamic Vinegar and a Tbls of honey in addition to the MAYONNAISE. Trust.

Also! Best. Foods. Mayonnaise. That is all you have to remember. Hellmann's to those of you on the East Coast. I swear to you I have tried everything else, and it's not as good. I've tried Kraft, Safeway, Hain, Spectrum, along with a host of others that my brain has chosen to block out. Nothing else will work. It has to be Best Foods.

Go ahead and add (it's okay, I trust you!) the mayo, mustard, horseradish, black pepper, all purpose seasoning of your choice and give your arm a good work out! Stir it all up! Make sure you get the ones that hide at the bottom. mmmmmm.......it's starting to look good! If it looks a little dry, add Mayo a little at a time until you get the consistency you like.

Transfer it to the Big Ass Bowl, reserving a small taste for yourself to check the salt. If it's just a wee bit too salty? You're golden. Smooth it out and if you like to be fancy, sprinkle some paprika over the top. Get the cover on that bowl and get it into the fridge.

You will be tempted by the potato salad before the next day. It will call you to; I just finished my own and it's in the refrigerator actually screaming at me right now. If the neighbors hadn't been setting off fireworks until 1am, I might worry about waking them. You will want to eat the potato salad and if you cave, know that you are in good company. I hardly ever make it to the next day before I have at least a teeny bowl. But the next day it will be soooo much better.

Plus you won't have to re-sprinkle the paprika to hide the evidence.

There have been a veritable butt-load of meme's on Facebook lately. And nearly all of them ask something about your name - what it is, what was it, what would you want it to be. Mostly inane questions. But it did get me to thinking: People take the naming of children very seriously. People take their own name very seriously. It's sort of strange how much significance we put on names. In different religions, naming something creates a particular shift in power one way or the other, depending on the name. As a society we seem to put a lot of stock in the social stigma of names (ever hear of someone named Bambi, or Cherry? What immediately comes to mind? How about Mildred?).

Several people in my family have changed their first names. It's no small feat. The family always rails against the name change and it seems that they take a personal affront to being asked to change their behavior. It's an emotional response to the biological way our brains learn. The idea of having to associate someone with a new name seems to create anxiety and mistrust. Unless it's a woman changing her name to that of her husband. Then it's perfectly normal! That really speaks to how our society is built.

I wonder how different our world would be if, when you showed up at work, someone could just come up to you and say, "Hey, today, would mind calling me Dave? I decided that Steve just didn't feel right today."

When I was about 5 I remember asking my dad and his wife to call me by my middle name, Elizabeth. I can't remember what precipitated the request - I suspect that it came after I met a family friend named Liz. Liz sounded exotic and dramatic. It didn't hurt that she had a personality to match and *also* was super nice to me. I wanted to be a Liz too! The request only lasted for a few hours. I think that my step mother may have called me by my middle name once or twice. I have a vivid memory of feeling very self conscious answering to that name. I blushed and tried to act normal, but it was clear after a couple of tries that it would take a lot to get used to being called by a new name.

Today I was thinking about what I would want to change my name to if I changed it and how it would feel to be called by a new name at this stage of life. Years ago, when I went to Alaska, I had toyed with the idea of telling people that my name was something totally different - not anything exotic or flashy, just new. I chickened out because I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off. I was sure that I would tell people the new name and they would call me out, and make me give up my real name and then think I was a whack job for lying in the first place!

Part of it is that I know that I have attached the way I think of myself to this name. It's like hiding under a blanket: if I used a different name, especially one that I chose for myself, wouldn't it be too revealing? People would know how I saw myself and it may seem pretentious or self important....wouldn't it?

I don't know - I have changed what I called important people in my life and it was only uncomfortable for a short while. After you say it out loud a few times, it doesn't seem as strange. Soon, it's like the other name wasn't ever even a proper fit! And I think maybe that is also part of what makes people so uncomfortable - that we can be so easily molded into our own vision of what we are. That we would force others to see us for what WE wanted and not what everyone else is comfortable with. The ultimate in self fulfillment!

How perfectly naughty!

Last night we had the first rain in over a month! And it really didn't rain all that much. I'll be surprised if our rain barrels are even half full. This is a complete switch from last year when we waited until JULY for summer to show up. Crazy weather!

I've been so happy about the hot weather - I'm getting tan again, we spend a lot of time outside. And my garden is doing really well. I'm so happy! I love to just go out and look at all the plants. We're thinking that next week we'll put in another plot for more tomatoes, squash and pumpkins. I might even try to grow a cantaloupe!

The chickens are now Pullets. Not babies anymore! They still peep though. Every once is a while, if one of them is surprised, you will get a sort of clucky sound - it's too much! I just love them. They are probably the most spoiled birds in the state. We are ridiculous - hand feeding them bugs and worms and picking them up to hold them and pet them every day. I know. What kind of farmer talks to the chickens?! *sigh* I guess these will be layers. We'll have to get others if we want to actually eat them.

Because of the lack of precipitation, our lawn is already mostly brown. I'm not a green grass sort of girl. Partly because I'm not real fond of mowing, but also for conservation of water. To tell the truth, with the cost of water in the Puget Sound, I'm not sure we could even afford to keep our grass green. No matter. I water what's important and let the rest die. It always comes back around October when it starts raining again.

My cousin Ria's boy Dafyyd is here visiting for the summer. He's been living in Texas with his daddy. It's been so nice to spend some time with him! He's 13, and even though he's a bit older than Nick, they've been having a pretty good time together. (Hi, Dafyyd!) Looking forward to some more outings with him and the rest of the family.

Around Nick's birthday, the grandma's all got together and decided to buy us a Wii. I've been pretty against video games in general (we got rid of our X-box when we left Wilmington in favor of a DS because I said we couldn't have BOTH - I'm such a stinker!). But I've really been enjoying how we all play the Wii together. It's the new family game night. And I have to admit, we'd really over played Monopoly. There are just so many times you can get excited over having Park Place and Boardwalk. We have Wii Fit, Wii Play and Wii Sports. Yesterday, Nick totally kicked my behind at tennis. I countered by taking him to school on the baseball game and then we boxed and bowled. My arm hurts! I keep telling Greg we should get Dance, dance revolution, but he just rolls his eyes at me. LOL You never know....he might be really good at it! And I think I've been getting much more exercise.

My bike is broken - part old used bike, part sitting in a moldy shed all winter with burning man playa all over it. The shifting mechanism broke right off the first time I tried to ride and we just haven't gotten it into the shop yet. Last year this time, we were biking at least 3 miles a day. I miss it! I've got to get it fixed soon.

*******************

So, I've reached the one year mark for the Puget Sound. I keep trying to compare it to when we moved to Wilmington. It's just not the same! Wilmington was so FAR from our family and friends - it was like completely starting over. Here, we see people a lot more often, but are far enough to make it feel mostly isolated. I haven't made a single friend here yet. A whole year! It did take at least a year before we had really good friends in Wilmington, but I think I was more out going there. I just don't have it in me to make friends that I might move away from again. For all my bitching about being on the east coast, I would gladly move back there to have my awesome network of peeps again. I miss it.

That said, the Puget Sound is absolutely beautiful. There is so much to see and do here. I am in love with the mountains, the water and the GREEN. When it rained last night, I just stood outside and smelled the green. Amazing. There isn't anything like it.

I am actually disappointed I'll have to wait for Grey Gardens.
I love Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. I hope they do the old girls justice. Do you think I'll be able to watch it on line?

I'm home now from a perfectly lovely trip to Colorado. I love to go visiting, but it's always nice to be home. Yesterday Greg and I decided how to proceed with the garden area. I'm going to start the seeds this weekend. I'm going to see if my Morning Glory seeds are still viable. I've had them for a few years...do seeds keep? We'll find out, I guess. I want to plant them all along the cyclone fence. This yard needs color.

Oh! And Greg has agreed to buy me the bird song identifier! YAY!

I'm reading an awesome book right now, recommended to me by my cousin Anj called, A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson. It is just fantastic. It totally makes me want to walk the Appalachian Trail. Or at least part of it. I guess we'll start with Mount Elinore and then work our way up. Heh. Inspiration!

I guess it's time to post again, eh? Sorry Livejournal! I've just been distracted lately. Damn Facebook....

So, lets see...sadly, not too much has changed. LOL I got to reconnect with a cousin that lives only a few miles away from me (hurray!) and that has been great. It's nice to have a girl to hang out with close by. Estrogen is a good thing. I'm still looking for a job. I have never been turned down for so many jobs! I tell you! I think I'm going to be forced into renewing my Hair license (which I should do anyway) and getting something part time. I think it would be a good thing. I hope I can find a good salon around to work at. Why, oh why, didn't I become a dentist??

Dentist, you say? Yes. Because that business is a total RACKET! (sorry Braden! I still think you're worth every penny!) But really! They charge CRAZY amounts of money. Crazy. I've been going through steps at the dental school to get a root canal and now a crown and I'll just say, Thank YOU for the dental students. *whew* Otherwise, I'd be gummin' it with the other 30 million Americans who are denied health care. *rant*

No, I won't rant on that today. I've been pretty down lately, what with all the ways our world is just fucked up. I go through those stages where I rant and rage about it for a month or two and finally I just have to throw my hands in the air and say, "I can only do so much! I can't fix everything the rest of you fuck ups keep FUCKING UP!!" and go on with life. So.

******************

Last week I made a White Crazy Cake and I had all this frosting left over from it and we're getting ready to leave for Colorado for ten days, so I was trying all week to think of ways to use it up. I also happen to have a lot of oatmeal, which I know I should be eating for breakfast with fruit and nuts....but what the hell.

In North Carolina, pretty much everywhere, you could buy either moon pies, or oatmeal cream pies, both of which were just a cookie with disgusting frosting type nastiness in the middle. Nick loved them, though. But I thought, I could makes some at home, we could take them on the airplane, even and they might even be good! So I did!

The first thing I needed was an oatmeal cookie recipe that made flat oatmeal cookies. This is not an easy task. I finally found it here:

Just combine the ingredients in the order given, roll the dough thin, cut it out in 2-inch rounds, and bake the cookies in a hot oven (375 °F is good) for about 7-8 minutes.

2 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cups white flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

No eggs! I used my kitchen aid mixer to do all the work, even. You roll out the dough, so it's as flat as you want, and there's not even very much sugar in there, so you won't feel too bad and slathering the insides of the two cookies with butter cream frosting.

Oh, and I used butter instead of shortening (because I don't believe in baking with shortening, unless it's pie crust - if you used the shortening and subbed soy milk, they could easily be vegan) and it worked just fine, but I'm not sure you could call it "healthy" (as the author states) with two sticks of butter in 30 cookies. What do we care?!! Home made oatmeal cream pies!!

(for my butter cream, I followed the recipe on the C&H powdered sugar bag and used Grand Marnier instead of vanilla)

Noooooow it looks like February out there - 40 something, rainy, gray skies. Ahhhhh..!
As long as it doesn't snow again, I'm good. Really. I'm just so ready to garden! And it has to quit freezing if I'm going to do that. So.

Went to the University of Washington Dental School yesterday to get evaluated and to get started on my root canal. Yay. My mouth is sore. I got back next Monday to have it finished up. I'll be so happy to have it finished. To anyone who is dreading dental work I say this: go to your local dental school. It may take longer than a private practice dentist, but you will get great, personal care for a *fraction* of the cost. Seriously. My root canal is costing me $290. Total. Can you even believe it??? We are still paying for the root canal that Greg got in 2000!

While I was in Seattle getting poked and prodded, Greg and Nick set up our two rain barrels! Greg installed the spigots last week, but we needed platforms to set them on under the gutter drains. Our neighbors had a shed fall down in the snow storm and they gave Greg the go-ahead to take any wood from the pile that he wanted (yay! recycling!) so he and Nick built two stands and now those barrels are nearly full! I think we're going to need more barrels - a couple just for run off from these first two! We get a lot of rain. I'll take pictures....of the barrels, not the rain.

So today, I'm all about taking pain killers. I'm such a wimp! I may make it to the library.
Another Fat Tuesday, down the tube!

I really do feel like I should have a baby by now. I mean, I've pretty much pulled up all the roots and and started from scratch on EVERYTHING, so why not?? meh.

I have applied for so many jobs, it's ridiculous. And I haven't even gotten calls back from the ones I was *afraid* I would get (Subway, Fredmeyer, et al). Really pathetic.

Okay, so lets try for the good news, shall we?

1. We got a cord of wood and stacked it. Just in time, too - we used up the last of the first load just last night. We got a super sweet deal, too - someone local. Yay us!

2. The snow is almost completely melted! Almost.

3. I made a kick ASS beef barley stew today.

4. I've nearly finished my current knitting project and I'm really happy with it! Pictures forthcoming.

5. We have been getting so many birds in the yard lately! The robins are the best...they come in, like, 50 at a time and search for worms. It's so great to watch them. I know I'm a total geek for saying so - who cares! There's a new bird I've see out there the last couple of days, too - about the same size as the robins, but all black and gold, with a gold stripe on his face. I've misplaced my bird book, so I can't look him up - doh! All the birds make me think spring should be here soon, though.

6. I am DYING to get a garden going! I can't wait. It's going to be so great! I'm growing salad this year - lettuce, tomatoes (beefsteak and cherry),radishes, carrots and onion. Plus beans, potatoes, squash, and pumpkins (later, obviously). The artichokes may come back, but I don't have any plans to plant more. I also have a bunch of herbs to plant. *squee* I got this great book called "You Grow Girl". Lots of awesome tips in there. It's getting me in the MOOD.

So, now I'm looking forward to a massage in Portland in the next couple of weeks. And spring. It cannot come too soon!

I decided to browse some clothing sites today just for fun. Summer is coming, after all! Eventually....

What is up with Torrid?? As a fat chick who went through the 80's as a fat chick, I am here to testify that the 80's were not fat-chick friendly!! They were not good to us, people! Plus? Why do they think fat chicks are more likely to wear 80's knock offs than any other person? Just curious. I do like Torrid, don't get me wrong. And I was looking through the clearance items. I will hope that the frilly skirts, leg warmers, zipper-ankle jeans, off the shoulder shirts and patent stilettos are there because everyone else thought the same thing I do, which is, are you crazy?! I wouldn't put that on my body if you PAID me to. It's for the best, really. Because nobody really *wants* to see me wearing it, either.

The problem with most clothing sites is that I get suckered into wanting things that I know I will not wear. Skirts, for example, look terrible on me. But when I see them on these sites? I want them.

I like jeans...boot cut looks good on my frame. Skinny jeans look awful on me.
I like the idea of the high heel shoe, but not the reality of them.
I wish I liked wearing skirts more, but I hate having my thighs rub together. Yuck!
I want clothing that is comfortable and fits well without it looking like it came out of my mother's closet. Not that my mom isn't a great dresser...but she is about 20 years older than me! Unfortunately, I'm reaching the age where it can not look like it came from the teenager next door, either. Goddammit.

This is why I don't shop for clothing very often. I often think I should have lived in Alaska all my life so that I could just bundle up with sweaters and long pants forever and ever.

In the 90's I went through a phase of wearing jean shorts with different color tights all the time. I really liked it, and it would make me happy, but people would think I was a total freak. I would be that crazy old lady who dresses like she's still 21. Mmmmmm.....*grumble* Maybe I *AM* that crazy old lady! LOL
*sigh*
Okay, so clothing shopping another day.

Also, I'm waiting for a load of wood to be delivered and am irked because not only has it not shown up, but it's raining AND I just watched one of our neighbors get a huge load of wood delivered. Hmph.

Also, I need to buy a nice sachet...preferably jasmine. Where does one get such things? I live in the sticks....hey in Wilmington I would have known exactly where to go! I may resort to something that Fred Meyer sells. I'm starting to remember why I always loathed shopping at Fred Meyer. How quickly the fairy tale fades...

I want a massage. By someone who's really good at it. Not just someone who does it by the book. Someone intuitive and gentle. I used to know a guy who did Reiki and it totally rocked my world. I doubt I can find anyone who does that around here.

Monday I have a dentist appointment with a young feller named Braden at the Dental School in Seattle. Hoo hoo! Braden seems to think that a root canal is one of the easiest procedures and that I have nothing to worry about. I'm rooting for you, Braden! (ha...get it? Rootin'? I crack me up!)

I'm officially completely and totally addicted to facebook. This is why I resisted for so long!! Don't you see?! I'm helpless in the face of virtual visiting. Helpless, I tell you.

That is all for now. I'm going to go brood over a poptart and a cup of tea.

Sunday we decided that we needed to get outside and get some exercise. We found a pretty good trail in Gig Harbor last week, but by the time we got moving, it was a little late (that trail is some 5 miles long or so), so I looked up walking trails in Port Orchard. We found a great little bit of land called Banner Forest - approximately 635 acres of forest trails for people, dogs, horses and bikes. Nice! When we got there, there were tiny little snow flakes falling and it snowed steadily harder as we walked for about an hour or so. The woods were really beautiful anyway, but in the snow, it was just awesome. By the time we got back to the car, there was about an inch on the ground. I don't know why we didn't think to put the chains on THEN - I guess we were feeling optimistic about the way home - we just didn't think it would stick!

Banner Forest in the east (sort of) of Port Orchard and if you know anything about the Puget Sound you know how hilly it is here. heh. We had to travel back down Sedgewick to get home, where there are three HUGE hills to go up and down. The first one wasn't too bad, I was a tad nervous when the car wouldn't stop (skidding!) but there was no other traffic to contend with so we made it just fine. I approached the crest of the second hill more cautiously, and as we came over the top we saw probably 10 vehicles struggling, in various stages of bedlam - two stopped in the middle of the road, two in ditches on either side of the road, several at the intersection waiting to meet their peril. I, not having chains on my car, was unable to stop. I slowed to a crawl and managed to get the car into first gear at least and then basically prayed for people to stay out of my way. One stupid man actually RAN across the road in front of me on foot, initiating a string of profanity that I'm not proud of and also prompting Greg to tell me (pretty calmly, considering the situation), "You are forgetting Rule Number One!! Don't Panic!!". I got around the craziness in the gully and got about halfway back up the hill where we pulled over in a driveway to put on our chains. Ha! Better late than never! I also put Greg into the driver's seat - we were all better off, really.

With the chains on we didn't have any trouble, of course. We had been planning on stopping at Lowes on the way home to get an extension for our generator anyway, and about 25 feet from the parking lot and one of the chains broke. We rolled right into Lowe's, and bought a chain repair kit along with our other stuff and made it home in the blizzard. It is REALLY coming down - probably two inches by the time we got home!



The snow is all but gone now (I think what's left is actually from the big snow over Christmas, actually). Last night there was a wind advisory - it was like a monsoon outside! Now the wind seems to have died down, but the rain continues. I like the snow - at least you can go out walking in the snow. Course, I doubt the rain is going to stop my crazy husband from going out to Banner Forest today with the GPS. We found a map of it on line and it's primarily a mountain biking area, and all the trails (there are at least a hundred different ones) have all these funny names like Wired Brain, Tunnel Vision and Sorceress Hollow, as well as some that sound like they should be avoided, such as Oh Crap, Bent Peddle, and Pulverizer. I would even be up for taking the bikes out there (Nick would love it!) but not in the pouring down rain. Today, I feel like putting in a book on CD and doing some knitting - I have a project that is WAY overdue for a birthday that I HAVE to finish. And then I'll vow never to try another lace patter again, ever. Hmph.

Well, that's what they call it in the northers parts of the world - when the snow starts to melt and the frozen ground, well, breaks up.

Anyhoo - we got enough snow (about a foot total) that there is still plenty of it on the ground, even though it's beenn above freezing and raining on and off for the last three days. Our area is in a condition RED flood warning all day today, although I have a hard time picturing a flood here - We are pretty much at the top of a hill! Maybe down right ON the water, I guess. The snow is now very, very wet - it's really just 7 or 8 inches of slush at this point - and the road in front of our house has these huge ruts. Greg drove into work last night and said that our neighborhood is pretty much the only one left to be plowed between here and Hwy 16. He even called WDOT and asked when they were sending a plow down and the woman who answered said, "Ya, we were just talking about you guys last night! Every time we drive by there it looks like a mess!". Well, at least they noticed! :smack If they don't get to plowing it any time soon, it'll be fine with me because some of the best entertainment I've had in the last three days was watching all manner of vehicles getting stuck turning the corner of the intersection right in front of our house! Jeeps, SUVs, small cars - all of 'em get stuck!! There were two women out there yesterday - they were stuck for so long, I actually started feeling bad about standing inside and laughing at them - this is so funny...the one young girl hopped out and was alternately trying to dig under the front wheels and then push the car - and her pants were SO LOW we could see all the way to Ass-crack-astan. I don't think I've ever seen Nick laugh that hard - ever. It was hilarious. After I wiped my eyes and got myself together, I started suiting up to go out and either help them get unstuck, or at least try to persuade this girl to pull up her pants so that the children wouldn't have to see her goodies. DO IT FOR THE CHILDREN!! Greg was trying to convince me to take my camera out and tell her, "I was blogging about this, but I didn't think anyone would believe me without the pictures!". :laugh By the time I got myself all dressed to go out and help, the neighbor had gone out and unstuck them. Now that's neighborly. Or he was just tired of staring at her ass crack, too. :smack

I'm pretty sure we are out of danger of falling limbs and losing power. Greg got home last night without even putting on the chains. I am feeling a little bit cabin-feverish. I think we are going to head into town on Sunday and do some after- holiday shopping. Greg's mom will be here late on the 30th and then we'll be having some fun! Yay! I can't wait!

In completely different news: Fuck you, DHL!!!
Yes, DHL, who was supposed to delivery my stuff (calendars I made using flickr and Qoop for the family) BEFORE Christmas has been delayed since the 17th!! THE 17TH!! For cryin' a tear. Everyone else - USPS, Fed Ex, UPS - has been in our neighborhood delivering. Not DHL! What, they don't know how to throw chains onto their friggin' trucks????
Yesterday, FINALLY, the tracking said that the package had been put on a truck and was scheduled for delivery. 10 days late, mind you. Did I get the package? NO! And you know what the tracking says this morning??? "Delivery Failed, no one home".
*RAGE*
I was home ALL FREAKIN DAY you assholes!!!! ALL. DAY. I didn't see one god damn DHL truck either. If I had, I would have forced him to stop at my house whether he liked it or not and explain to me WHY it is that they are the only ones who can't seem to keep up with the system in this town. Seriously.

Okay, I'm done ranting about DHL now. I'm just so appalled at their service. And, it's Saturday so the office is closed, otherwise I would have taken it out on some poor phone jockey.
*sigh*

I hope everyone had a great holiday. The new year is right around the corner and no matter how the media tries to cast doubt, I am optimistic for the future.
Cheers!

Living 3000 miles from any family for almost 3 years, we got used to either spending most of the holidays at home, just the three of us, or only having one family member at a time come to visit. My family typically does something and I have a lot of family, it turns out. But we decided that just because we're in the pacific northwest again, doesn't mean we have to start back at driving around for three days trying to catch everyone's holiday extravaganza.

"Home!" we said unanimously, is where we will be for the holidays.
"If they want to see us, they'll come here.".

And so they shall!

My mom and Grandma invited themselves up for the holiday, and Greg also wanted to invite his grandma and uncle (the only two family members he has in this area - MIL is coming for new years! Yay!) and my favorite cousin and man will hopefully grace us with their presence(s). So you see, without even TRYING I have a full house for Thanksgiving. It pleases me to have people come over and eat the food that I made. It gives me lots of excuse to make a couple extra dishes that I've been wanting to try out, too. When it's just the three of us, I have to be careful not to cook too much, because I *hate* throwing away food. It makes me grouchy. This way, if there is stuff leftover that only I will eat, I can send it home with someone else! haha!

The menu:

Turkey (of course)
Mashed potatoes

Whiskey Glazed Carrots
Country Green Beans (as an alternative to green bean casserole) and
Creamy Herbed potatoes (from Pioneer Woman
(that woman is so awesome - I could just kiss her right on the lips)

Stuffing (made with Great Harvest's stuffing bread, with plenty left over for sandwiches the next day.
Cranberry sauce, which I'm making from scratch this year. Just, you know, because I can.
Butternut squash
Mandarin Orange jello thingy (grandma calles it "ambrosia", but I have no idea what it is. it's a great alternative to the traditional jello salad, though)
Dinner rolls
Gravy (of course - LOTs of gravy)

Mmmmmmmm!

The grandma's are bringing pie, so I'm off the hook there but I think I'm going to have to start cooking about three days ahead of time! LOL Not that I mind at all. A lot of the stuff I can make ahead of time and just heat up the day of.

Also I have to clean up my house. Not bad this time around. Vacuuming and dusting and clearing off flat surfaces will do. Yesterday we hung up a bunch of pictures that I've been putting off hanging. We unpacked the snow globes and got out a bunch of candle holders. We are setting up the dining room table in the living room, due to space issues, and I want to have LOTS of candles in there to light it up. I have to buy four more plates (thrift shopping, yay!) - I found a Fiesta Ware plate at the thrift store the other day for $.25! Woot! I love mismatched dinnerware. I need a table cloth and a couple more candles. And I need to go food shopping. One week and counting!

WOOHOO! I'm so happy with the outcome of this election. For the first time in a long time I'm hopeful instead of resigned.

Obama's victory speech made me cry. McCain's speech was very satisfying. It was interesting to hear the crowd during each - McCain's supporters were quick to boo any mention of Obama - even being hushed by McCain at one point. I didn't hear any booing in the Obama crowd - everyone was too happy to even think of it!

Hurray for us!!!

Well, that's not really true, but I know the drill....the first year or so after you move, you're just damn isolated. I mean, our family is 3+ hours away, which isn't too bad, but when it comes to making any kind of spontaneous plans...I'm pretty much on my own. Tomorrow I'm thinking of getting outside to take some photos of the beautiful fall colors and maybe trying to see if I can scare up and old cemetery to take some good Halloween shots in. Question: do you take an 8 year old to a cemetery 5 days before Halloween? What if it's a bright sunny day, does that make it any better? Hmmmm....

I was expecting to really feel a huge let down after coming home from Wilmington, because I knew I'd be really missing all my friends from there. And it's true, I do, but I also sort of feel like my brain is in denial. I think I managed to convince myself while I was there for two weeks that I was living there again, and now part of my consciousness is unwilling to accept the fact that I live HERE now. This is not at all what it felt like when we moved TO Wilmington, mind you. That was just sheer, raw, pain and loneliness. Which obviously abated completely when we made such awesome friends.

Of course in the midst of this weird denial is the fact that I love where I am. I am so happy to be in the NW in the Autumn. It's so amazingly beautiful here. Bittersweet.

Tomorrow's Menu (for lack of anything better to post):

Breakfast: my son's new favorite? Tea and Toast. Ah yes, he's his mama's boy, alright! I finally got him drinking tea. Of course now that's all he wants, pretty much all day long. I can't complain - it's so much better for him than soda or even juice. Toast made from home made sourdough - tomorrow morning I'm making up a fresh batch: 1 regular sourdough french and 1 sourdough rye. Yum!

Lunch (which is usually more like dinner for us): Simple nave bean soup (beans, carrots, onion, veggie broth, maybe a little bacon) I've got the beans soaking now. And then salad. I don't know if Nick will eat the soup or not. I've morning star veggie corn dogs and "chickin" strips for him if he doesn't. He'll eat chicken soup and I think he used to like Campbell's Bean and Bacon soup (don't all kids eat that?). Here's hoping.

Supper? Well, we eat late at Chez Smith, so if there is food at night it's usually some sort of cheese plate with fruit or something like that. Nothing too heavy. Unless you count bacon.

Flying across country with an 8 year old - check! And oh so much easier than with a 2 year old. Good lord, yes!
Partying with friends for 14 days straight - check!
Wedding - check!
Sleep........SLEEP????
Oh...nay nay!! There is no sleep when you're trying to visit with 100 different people who all have different schedules! Sleep is not an option! Sleep is for sissies!! You can sleep when your DEAD!!

I am still trying to recover from my "vacation", but in a good way. Today I did all the dishes, knitted a mitten, did school work with my kid, who, I might add, is brilliant, and watched Shipping News again. I love that film. Makes me want to go to where ever it was that they filmed it. Greg made me dinner (delicious steak salad with a baked potato on the side) and then Nick and I made pumpkin spice muffins for dessert! Nick watched Monsters Inc (Halloween movies this week) whilst I tried to figure out how to knit and argyle pattern (so frustrating!!) and then I read him a chapter of the Half Blood Prince and put him to bed. I'm thinking sleep is not too far off on my schedule here. Tomorrow, I'm heading into Gig Harbor to find Indian Curry. Port Townsend may be nice, but ethnically diverse, it is not. We are in The Sticks. Damn, it's even worse than Wilmington! LOL At least Wilmington had a Fresh Market!!
Trader Joe's where art thou?!

I'm reading a book of essays called Roar Softly And Carry Great Lipstick. One of the writers notes that "the sunlight in September makes me feel wistful and sad". I heartily agree.

It's beautiful here right now. The sun is shining and it is warm. The grass is green again due to the few weeks of rain and the firs and cedars and pines smell amazing. There are so many different kinds of birds in our backyard I can hardly keep track - crows, crested jays, nuthatch, thrashers, chickadees, sparrows, robins - to name a few. I haven't seen the bunnies or the squirrels lately, though. They must be out nut gathering.

I'm actively looking for a job, if only through the holidays. Anything will do, actually. I'm not picky. Being economically productive for our household may improve my mood in general.

I've been baking bread and have successfully made my first sourdough start. Tomorrow evening I'm going to try it out and see if it works. Thursday Nick and I head to Canby and Saturday we head to Wilmington. I guess I should pack at some point, eh?

I had a horrible dream last night about Nick leaving and going to live with another family member. I was packing up things for him and trying to give him things that he could remember me by, things that would make sure he wouldn't forget me, but nothing I found seemed adequate. Woke up feeling despondent with an underlying sense of panic. Disturbing, to say the least.

I've got the crud. Sore throat, sore ears, coughing up nasty thing, fever - pretty much the works.
Gads.
Just kill me now, please.

Burning Man was crazy/amazing again, as always. Monday and Saturday we endured wild sand storms, but Tues - Fri were gorgeous (relatively speaking, of course). The storms tend to separate the burners from the tourists, I've found. It's a good thing, if a bit trying at times. We had the benefit of camping with great people who were in the perfect mindset. We all just plugged right along. The nights were wild and we had some really awesome adventures.

I will post more, and photos, but it literally took me more than a week to catch up on sleep (I'm getting old, you know) and then I took off for a family camping weekend on the Oregon Coast. I've only been home for a couple of days now. My favorite cousin is here with me, though, which is nice. It gives me all kinds of reason to justify packing the day with fun activities. Today we picked 13 pounds of blackberries and are furiously trying to think up ways to use them up. I think we're going to have to make jam. I can't imagine that we will ever consume that much pie! Not even us, no. The first pie will be out of the oven in about 20 minutes...it smells divine. *slobber* We even have Tillamook Vanilla Bean icey cream to go with it. Now that's livin', peeps!

Just over 3 weeks until my trip to Wilmington! Yay! I can't wait to see all my friends there! I'm so excited! Two whole weeks! They should be good and sick of us by the end of that trip, eh? Ha!

We finally got our Driver's Licenses which meant we were cleared to get *fanfare* library cards!!
Woo! It really comes in handy with the home schooling and also - Free Movies! And music! And I've been catching up on my reading, even. *snort* They have an extensive collection of knitting books which I will avail myself of this winter, as well. Sah-weet!

My body is exhausted. I can't seem to sleep enough! I feel like I'm ready to hibernate or something, but the weather is just too nice! It's going to be 70ish and sunny here for the next 10 days! I'm so happy.