Tastes Like...

Yesterday I dusted off a chocolate chip cookie recipe that my family used a lot growing up and got busy making a mess in the kitchen with my kids.  When the dough was complete it was time for tasting, and then hoping that maybe there would be some left over for baking.  

The moment that dough hit my mouth it was like flashing back to my childhood.  I texted my sisters and told them "I just made ____ recipe.  Tastes like memories."  They agreed.

It got me thinking about how...

Donuts and chocolate milk taste like road trips.

Skittles and Sprite taste like holding my newborn after childbirth.

Pringles taste like Lake Powell.

Dutch Oven omelets taste like Moab.

Symphony chocolate bars and Coke taste like sitting in my college apartment watching ER and Friends.

Tiny Spicy Chicken tastes like roommates and laughter.

Spanky's Subs taste like post-college, post-mission reunions.

Muddy Buddy's taste like sisters and cousins laughing.

7-Layer bean tip tastes like Christmas Eve and Super Bowl Sunday.

There are so many more.  Really, it would appear that my taste buds function as my memory banks as well. 

Can't wait to taste what happens next!!

Sun, Sand and SUGAR!!

This past weekend we enjoyed a lovely family vacation with... you guessed it... family!  We went to sunny St. George with my side and stayed in my sister's next door neighbor's house.  It was awesome.  The backyard had sweet AstroTurf rather than grass, a trampoline, swing set, patio furniture and a sidewalk poured around the entire circumference of the yard, which was perfect for having the kiddos run laps. 

Highlights:

~ The annual "vehicular sacrifice" to the St. George travel gods was finally not me!! Dad's truck broke down just outside of Santaquin . Repairs attempted, tow truck called, motor home acquired to complete the trip.  Time left SLC - 3:30 p.m.  Time arrived in St. George - 1:00 a.m.  I'd feel worse if I wasn't so relieved that it wasn't ME!

~ Beautiful sand dunes, spectacular views, sunscreen mohawks on J-Bear, enjoying the "sunbrella", jeep races, hill climbs, using only the "finest" in bottled waters to pour over an overheated jeep engine. 

~ The Hubs unknowingly following my bro-in-law to his "port-a-potty".  Hubs saw Dave heading away on his 4-wheeler from the group and thought he'd follow him to what he figured must be a "cool new view".  Yep.  It definitely would have been.  Luckily Dave managed to loose his tail.  One has to question why Hubs didn't stop to wonder why no one else was going to see this cool new view.  Hmmm....

~ A DVD player that only played in black and white, making every movie a Classic Movie experience.

~ Maple flavored icing on homemade cinnamon rolls.  Mmmmm......

~ Card games, visiting, too many sweets, upset stomachs, exchanging of Immodium and Pepto, entering the bathroom warily.




~ Grilling kabobs, chicken artichoke sausages, downing pounds of carmel corn pops and making sandwiches "Norway".  (Shameless inside joke.  Sorry!)

~ Block towers built on the patio, pedicures, naps, novels.

I'm so glad we got to go.  Our only downer was that my other sister and her family - stationed in soggy Washington state - couldn't join us.  We missed them and.... well... we still had fun, but wished they could have come.

Happy Spring!



Shhh.... don't tell

I like to go through life thinking that my closet is relatively skeleton free.  My vices are obvious ones - baked goods, romance novels and sunny red rock parts of the state.  Nothing big, nothing dangerous or exciting.  Pretty run of the mill.

But, I was faced to force a truth today that made me feel equal parts naughty and ashamed. 

Here it is.  Be gentle.

I am in LOVE with the Veggie Tales "Christian" Kids tunes.

Oh man.  It's so embarasing!

I love to turn on my i-Pod in the kitchen during the morning cleaning frenzy and pump it up to such songs as:

I Am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N, Have A Little Talk with Jesus and Allelu Allelu.  (Only three of the 25 at my fingertips!)

Humiliating.

Even now, as I'm typing this, I'm singing along to their catchy tunes and feeling like I'm walking the line between blushing dork in her 30's and lighter carrying audience member.  (Does this mean I'm like a Veg-Head?)

But really, I dare you to listen and feel differently. 

(No, really, do listen....because my kids can't be the only other people who like this stuff!!!  And, besides, I'll need someone to go with then their show comes to town!)

What Happens Inside

Lately, I've been going through a phase where I feel like I live in this....

And I want to live in this....

When we moved into our current home we knew that it wasn't our "forever" home.  It was a means to get us to a good area with good schools and close to family.  But, we didn't count on the fact that we were going to really end up LOVING our schools and neighbors and being close to family.  All while stuck in this "temporary" home.

As I've watched house prices plummet and wished I could take advantage of the situation, I've lost a little sleep while scheming ways to sell our home and "move up" in our neighborhood to the much nicer homes just east of us.  It's not a reality.  Dang.  Sleep lost for nothing.

But then, this morning, while I was doing my hair and pondering - most my pondering happens in the bathroom because this it the only place I can claim temporary sanctuary - I had a light bulb moment. 

I share it with you.

It doesn't matter what your house looks like on the outside.  Just like people, it's what's on the inside that counts.  We may not have the nicest facade on our home.  Our yard may not be the Eden I wish it was. There's dog poo to be scooped, weeds to pick, cracks in the cement and candy wrappers in the bushes.

And, frankly, the inside decor of my home would make Oprah clap her hands together in dismay and offer me the services of an extreme makeover.

But, really, none of this matters.

What matters is that I kiss and hug my kids a million times a day.  I tell them I think they are funny/smart/witty/interesting and glad they are mine.  I "goose" The Hubs, create memories, and love the quiet moments when we wash dishes together and catch up on our day.  The dog snuggles in any lap he can find.  Sure, we fight, we have tears, doors are slammed and stairs are stomped up. 

But, we love.

So, I guess all that really matters is that I make my house a haven for my family. 

And I can do that even without million dollar chandeliers lighting my way.

This past Friday Ms. Els came storming through the front door yelling "Mooooooommmmm!!!!" in a less than happy tone. 

I quickly went up the stairs to the front entry to see what on earth the problem was.  There she stood, all 4 feet something inches of her fuming mad.  She turned around and pointed viciously at her butt while saying, "Look at this!"

And look I did. The girl was caked from the waist of her jacket down to the ankles of her pants with black mud.  Chunks of the black glop were sliding off and landing on the tile.

She spun back around before I could formulate a reply and said, "I called you TWO TIMES to come give me a change of pants.  TWO TIMES!"

I finally gathered my wits and asked her when this had happened.  I felt horrible at the thought of her spending the entire school day in those pants.

"On the way home."  Was her reply.

Now I'm feeling a little less guilty because she obviously made it home okay and in my mind no real harm was done.  Although, I will say that she was walking like a knee-less person because her pants had stiffened up.  I do believe some had gotten down her pants as well.  He he he.

But we weren't done.

"Seriously, Mom, I called here twice and you didn't answer the phone!"

"Ms. Els, I haven't left the house all day.  I can't imagine I missed the call, but I'm sorry if I did."  I go into the kitchen, pick up our phone and begin scrolling through caller id.  No phone calls from the school.  "Ms. Els, there are no calls here from the school, what number did you dial?"

Now, you have to understand that when Ms. Els is in a tither she gestures wildly while making her point.  Sure enough she lifts her hand in the air as though she's punching the numbers into the world's biggest phone and says each of the numbers once while stabbing in the air "8...0...1...2...." and so forth.

I'm stumped.  She's got our home phone number down, but no calls came through.  "Did our answering machine pick up?" I keep investigating.

"No!"  She growls.  "But some lady did.  I don't know who she was, but.....

Hold onto your seats folks...

"She said 'This number cannot be completed as dialed'!  TWICE!"

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!  Oh man.  Good times.  Good times.

I tried to explain that that lady is a computer recording and she had somehow dialed wrong.  But she wasn't responding well to my giggling and ended up stripping down and stomping away to change her clothes.

Poor kid.  What's a girl to do when her pants are messy and some stranger keeps blocking her attempts to reach her Mom?  I'd probably be mad too!

The Ragamuffin Hypocrisy

It recently, and rather humiliatingly, came to my attention that my little Cadie Lu has taken it upon herself to critique other people.  Adults.  More particularly, the two other moms that do preschool carpool with me.

Apparently my dear Cadie Lu, upon entering their cars in the morning, has been offering up her thoughts on varied subjects such as:  Their timeliness in picking her up, the cleanliness of their car, perhaps even music choices. 

One of the moms told me that Cadie Lu actually said, "Um, your car is disgusting.  You should clean it out."  I G-A-S-P-E-D and begged her to tell me that it was untrue.  But she insisted that the word disgusting had been used.  And, that mom proceeded to go home and clean out her car.  Seriously!

Then, when she picked Cadie Lu and crew up later that day, Cadie gave her a thumbs up for her efforts and told her "This is better!  Your car looks amazing!"

None of this poor victim-mom's family noticed that the car had been clean, nor mentioned that it had been dirty in the first place.  But, Cadie Lu, intrepid hypocrite that she is, noticed and informed.

How delightful.

Here is the best part of this entire tale.  Cadie Lu Hadley is the very epitome of ragamuffin.  My family and I are constantly laughing about her disheveled look. 

Cadie Lu was born with a cowlick that won't succumb to gel, hairspray or shellac.  Her upper lip isn't lined with normal skin, rather with skin that sucks all color out of the food she is eating, giving her a permanent "mustache" despite my scrubbing.   Her pants are never all the way pulled up.  She spends her life showing crack like a plumber. 

Her shoes are always on the wrong feet.  Her coat sleeves are permanently stained in rainbow colors that have no distinguishable origin.  Her bed is in constant disarray.  She has horrible morning breath.

And this little ragamuffin is going around telling other people to get their acts together.

Life definitely isn't fair, but with Cadie Lu by your side, it will never be mediocre!!

An Adventurous Life

Recently the Hubs made the mistake of casually mentioning that one of the things that he found attractive about me when we met and were dating was that I lived a fairly adventurous life. 

It got me to pondering, then feeling nostalgic, and now moping. 

I WAS adventurous.  I had a very adventurous youth.  My brother and I spent countless hours riding anything we could find in the mountains behind our home from horses to ATV's.  I went boating, camping, skiing, to friend's cabins, jeeping, repelling, exploring Indian ruins and just about anything else you can think of... all while still in junior high and high school. 

College life held still more new adventures (which I cannot put in print).  And when Steve and I met the fun only increased now that I had a partner in crime to share it all with.  It was a fun and full life.

Things have come to a screeching halt. 

You know how some people cry at Hallmark card commercials?  I cry when I see a jeep video or the snow fall totals at the ski resorts.  I'm all sorts of sentimental about nature.

But then, while washing the dishes tonight I accidentally dropped a spoon in some soapy water and before I even knew what was coming at me I got some soap in my eye.  It burned like the fires of Hades.

So see, maybe my life isn't so dull after all.........  right?.....anybody?.....