Apparently I have too much time

Because I am posting again...
So a few things I learned today:
My dad won't read my blog until I have kids. That's okay. I'm okay with that.
If you are ancient Egyptian, a schawabti will clean up after you and run your errands in the afterlife.
Ramses was a king among pharaohs. He was also a tireless master of self promotion.
That is all I learned today.

Here in Idaho on spring break, I have been
a) cooking/baking
b) getting lots of sleep
c) blogging, apparently
d) saying hi to my goats

a. I have made lots of stuff. Some winners, some not. I like experimenting and trying new recipes, but I realized that I never build a cooking repertoire of things I am good at because I rarely do anything twice. Here are a few things I tried so far this week:
chocolate puddle cookies
basil chicken in coconut curry sauce
old fashioned prune cake - use more spices than it calls for or make sure you are using spices that your mom didn't inherit from her mother who bought them thirty years ago. And please oil your pan well. Thank you.
balsamic mushrooms - these were my favorite. And the easiest by far. Figures.
strawberry frozen yogurt - yummy!
among other things

We had our next door neighbor over tonight for dinner. She is from Lebanon and she is lovely. She has always been a wonderful neighbor. And she said, as she was leaving "Say hello to your lovely husband. He is so good looking." I know, I know.

I think the best meal I have eaten so far was made by my sister Jessie and her husband Scott. Among other delicious things, it included shrimp bruschetta, grilled vegetables, and individual little molten chocolate cakes to die for.

Mmm... chocolate puddle cookies. Very puddly. My mom thinks they look they look like dog poop. And she should know. She picked a bunch of it up off the yard today.

Idaho is beautiful. My parents have such a good view.

Some other views at my house:

This is the bathroom my dad single handedly redid. It is very impressive. Here is another picture.

Then there are some pictures around my house. They will help you understand me better.

Now you can see why I had a troubled childhood.

I like this one.

Troubled child.

If only I could still take baths outside.

This is me the night I sold my first lamb Lana at the 4-H fair. I was heartbroken to have to sell her, but my parents let me get a puppy that night. Her name was Coco. She was a great dog until she was run over. 

Ernie was a great dog. Was I winking at the cameraman or was the sun in my eyes?

I love this painting of my grandpa.

Finally, the goats. I love my goats. They are old as far as goats go. I mean, these are the same goats I showed  when I was in high school! They did really well then, but now they are old maids. They have a scruffy winter coat too, but they are still cute. Two neat things about goats are their rectangle pupils and their goatees.

Mayzie lou.

Awesome goatee.

Scruffy.

Good scratch!

And some movies:





Finally, for your consideration:

If you can't read it, the side of the bus says Cheez Nibblers make better lovers.

I miss you, good lookin'!

Hair - it's hairy.

Most of us don't think about it too much, except to wash it in the shower and do something with it in the morning. We don't think about what it would be like to experience life without it, and how that would change our perception of ourselves and others' perceptions of us. 

My mom's first chemo was 2.5 weeks ago and her hair has been coming out for the past few days. This morning, she bravely let me shave her hair off and now she is going beautifully bald (wig included). For many people, losing hair is the hardest part of chemo, and I have learned a lot from how my mom is handling this. In a word, bravely. In another word, faithfully. Hair grows back, just like the sun rises every morning. We just have to wait patiently, learn from the "educational experiences" (my mom likes this phrase better than "trials") we have been blessed with in the meantime, and have faith.

Here's to a beautiful mane of hair in the future and not missing it too much in the meantime! (Or even coming to love not having to deal with it!)  

Things I love: Inka edition

Inka. The very word makes my heart palpitate. Inka has been my constant companion during the cold winter months when I have to wear 50 pounds of clothing inside my house to keep from freezing. Let me introduce you.

Blog readers, Inka:

So I know it says Cafix and not Inka. Inka is the name it is sold as in Poland. In the states, if you can find it, it is sold as Cafix, which makes no sense. Cafix makes me think of a caffeine fix but Inka has neither caffeine nor fix. It has four ingredients: chicory, roasted barley, beetroot, and rye. And it is the perfect drink to have hot on a cold winter day. I am obsessed with it. I drink it way too much. If interested, here is how I recommend drinking it:

First you will need a mug. This one is larger than average. But before I begin, I want to point something out.

May it rest in peace. Anyway, fill the mug up to about here with water:

Microwave 90 seconds. Add about 1 tablespoon Inka and fill it up to here with milk:

Microwave 60 seconds. Add sugar to taste (I always use 1:1 Inka to sugar but some more sugar will put some zip in your zipper). Enjoy! By the way, Inka didn't pay me for this post, but if they wanted to, I totally wouldn't be opposed to it.

Inka has some mystical abilities too. Note:

 What does this look like to you? That's what I thought:

A ghost with one arm coming out of his stomach and a shark fin. This is probably telling my future. And Kiki, I don't have a stylet and I only have blue. Sorry. And then, after I added sugar:

Do you see it?

Another ghost, a wailing, flailing ghost. I don't think it is good news for me. Then I took a sip. 

I drank his butt:

This might be good news for my future. Okaaaaay.

Other news this week. Remember that salt shaker. Yeah. Thanks Lola.

We (Alex) started some seeds inside.

Outside, watering:

I like the one without the flash.

And finally, I was very helpful during said seed planting:

And apparently, disgruntled. Or confused. Or angry. Can anyone help me figure out the expression on my face? Thanks.

Typical week

What I did this week:


I joined the American Rabbit Breeder's Association. 

I made a cake: banana upside down cake. It was simply delicious. Banana + chocolate + cake is a good combination, and it is low fat to boot! 

I made a trip to Walgreens at 2 am. 

I mopped the floor. For the first time in... never mind. 

I got to see my nieces and nephew. They are too cute. I would kidnap them if I thought I could get away with it. 

I got my husband to finally finish working on the skylights. They have been in not very good shape ever since we have been here, and Alex actually said that he found a place where there was a hole right through to the roof. No leaks, thanks to flashing, but still not very comforting. Anyway, that hole is gone now and our skylights look much better, thanks to my handy hubby.

He looks good in a baseball cap. 

I learned some very important things in class. For instance, the difference between the Great White and the Large White. 

And I filmed Lucy. She is still working on this trick.

What I came home to

Alternate titles: Why dogs are good preparation for children
Lola, aka Barfhead
Why short dogs are better dogs than tall dogs
The difference between vomit and regurgitation
Why we've gone through two rolls of paper towels in as many days
Why you shouldn't leave things out on the counter when you leave if you have a long legged dog
Why we are out a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread
What not to do if you don't want your dog to vomit all evening

So, anyway, this is what I came home to on Thursday:

I know it kind of looks like an asteroid, but it is actually the innermost goodness of a loaf of homemade bread that had inadvertently been left out on the counter. When I got home, it was actually sitting here, next to my main suspect, Lola:

I made the mistake of cleaning up before photographing the crime scene, but I do have a picture of this:

Proof!

This was the second day I came home to a surprise, and the day before it was a mostly empty jar of peanut butter that had been mostly full when we left.

Both nights, Lola barfed all night long. Sorry, regurgitated. It was fun. And you should have seen her patty the next day!

Now we have learned our lesson and as a fool proof guide to save ourselves and Lola from our own forgetfulness:

It is on the door going out to the garage. I am guessing it will stay there until we move. Heck, I will probably take it with us in four years to wherever we go and put it on the door there too.

Other exciting news this week: it finally got above freezing. In fact, it was so warm that I caught a picture of a wild gazelle sunning in our backyard:

Oh, sorry, that was Lucy. She kind of looks dead, doesn't she?