N ~ Noodles

I love noodles. LOVE noodles. I could probably eat pasta everyday and not get bored. Think about the almost infinite combinations:

Shape of pasta (fettuccine, angel hair, shells, corkscrew, bow-tie...)

Ingredients of pasta (whole wheat, potato, organic, gluten-free, rice, those awesome Japanese noodles that when you add the dry brick to screaming hot oil in a frying pan, they explode into a nest-style mess of pasta)

Sauce! I'm not even going to begin to list these. I'm good with anything that has garlic and DOES NOT have an olive of any style anywhere near it. My pasta is an olive-free zone, just like the peanut thing on airplanes.

Add-ins chicken, sausage, beef, shrimp, tofu... The choices limited only by the strength of your imagination (or how many cookbooks you have read) (Yes, I read cookbooks. For pleasure. But that will have to be another post. P ~ Pleasure Reading?)

I've had many delectably scrumptious pasta meals, but there's one that stands out from all the others. I've never enjoyed a pasta dinner as much as the one The Engineer and I had late one November night, 1994.

We were living in our 1925 Old Town bungalow at that time, and as I've mentioned before, it was a steal, needed work, and was quite small. One of our major projects was remodeling the kitchen. The Pepto-Bismal pink kitchen. With the Pepto-Bismal pink rolling dishwasher. With asbestos-laced ancient linoleum. I know, we're picky. But we think color does matter, as do cancer-causing components. The Engineer had estimated a week or two. Fortunately, after nine years of dating and two of marriage, I knew that time estimates from The Engineer are rarely accurate, and a week becomes a summer, a weekend a year, and in the case of the kitchen, a month became five.

At first, I thought it was awesome. No cooking or dishes to worry about. Chances to try new restaurants. I'm a foodie, and thought that I would NEVER get tired of going out. But his was also before I learned to cook, before I was even remotely interested in cooking and I actually did get tired of going out.

So one evening, kitchen not yet done, but done enough for cooking, we decided to inaugurate our beautiful new digs by making pasta. From scratch. Using our newest kitchen gadget, the Pasta Queen. Though I didn't know how to nor like cooking, The Engineer always has. He's a great cook. Can you see why I wasn't motivated to learn? I had no need.

Cooking together that night with light-hearted banter and some a splurged on expensive wine, was quite a celebration. As we sat down to enjoy our fettuccine with garlicky parmesan sauce, we were content.

I've told this story to my boys, both of whom are into cooking, and Jake's comment still cracks me up. “So you'd been waiting and waiting for the kitchen to be done and then you make macaroni and cheese? I don't get it.” Yes, Jacob, I guess you could call it Mac-n-Cheese. Perhaps you need to learn some marketing techniques ;-) It was a great meal.

AZ Challenge for the month of April. Button and navigation in side-bar. Thank you for taking this journey with me.

M ~ Maybe I'm Cheating

Maybe...it's cheating. But this IS a post. You're at my blog, reading what I wrote. That's pretty much the definition, right? It's what I'm going with today, anyway because I'm out of time. We're leaving for our camping trip in about an hour and a half. I'm almost done packing, but I also send to push “send” and “print” on my taxes, go to the bank, and post something. Oh, and figure out how to do the auto-post for tomorrow, when we will be off-grid...

I solemnly promise that next week, the posts will be real. However, I did forewarn you that the topics would be random and think you'll agree I've already kept that promise ;-)

I hope you have a fantastic weekend as well! I'm looking forward to some good writing time, all the better to provide more interesting reading for you next week.

Thanks for bearing with me!

AZ Challenge for the month of April. Button and navigation in sidebar. 

L ~ Life is a Highway

Life is a Highway...I wanna ride it, all night long...

I've long been a fan of kids' movies. I guess it started with all the babysitting I did as a teenager (starting at 50 cents an hour...)when I'd watch those movies with the kids I was entertaining. Back at our house, TV was strictly monitored to two hours a week. I know, right? HOW did we survive??? So at home, I didn't use my precious time on kids' movies. I saved it for Charlie's Angels, Love Boat, and Fantasy Island. (Why my mother censored The Brady Bunch and let us loose on Aaron Spellling shows still baffles me...) (I love you Mom!)

I've enjoyed many movies with my boys as they have been growing up. Not just Pixar's amazing advances in animation and story-telling, but all the good old classic Disney movies, you know the ones where they actually drew each picture. That still boggles me, the work involved. And they didn't give it up that long ago, really. My neighbors, husband and wife, were both Disney animators. He's a cartoonist, and one of his best know pieces is the scene from Tarzan where the young Tarzan swims with the elephants. Apparently bubbles are hard to do right. She was a colorist, yet she poo-poo'd her talent, calling it “paint-by-number-with-a-mouse.” Yeah well, that's her mouse click up there making Jane's dress yellow.

One of my favorite movies of the last decade (I've been a mom for 14 years) is Cars. I was just blown away with the world they created where cars were the people, and the world was turned on edge to accommodate this idea. For me, it just worked. Then of course, there was the catchy sound track. My boys have enjoyed it as well. I think at one point we probably had Lightning McQueen in at least ten incarnations, from towels to bathing suits, toy CARS, lunch boxes, and crocs. Yes, they made Lightning McQueen crocs. Ok, knock-off crocs. But with the front part of him as the toe! What's cooler than that?

But lately I've been wondering about the whole marketing machine we've created. It scares me a little to think of the influence the entertainment world has on our lives. You only need to go to the toy aisle at a Walmart of Target to know which movie is about to be released. The shelves will be filled with every conceivable tie-in toy available just in time for the movie's release. Then we go to the fast-food toys. They are also strategically timed to coincide with the young child's latest obsession. “Mom, let's go to McDonald's cuz they have Lightning McQueen keepsake cups!” And off we go. I mean, if we're going to harm our kids anyway with fast food, why not get ½ hour's worth of free entertainment at the same time?

All these have come to my attention lately as I'm continuing my de-cluttering journey with FlyLady. What was once a must-have is now, “Just a stupid McDonald's toy, Mom.” Yeah, that would be all fine and good. Toss it. But then we have The Engineer. Mr. Ebay. “But isn't someone collecting those (Bionicles, Dalmations, Beanie Babies...)? Maybe we could sell these. Sigh. It's an uphill battle. But I've got the soundtrack.

“I wanna ride it, all night long...”

AZ Challenge for the month of April.  Button and navigation in the sidebar.

K ~ Keepsake, Handmade

Keepsakes. I'd love to keep almost everything since I'm a sentimental girl, and a hell of a pack-rat. Let me tell you, the combination of those can be a major strain on your square footprint. However, I have been slowly and surely working on that...shall we say...ISSUE...for a while now. I thought I'd share with you my progress.

It all starts with, “You can't make something hand-made for everyone.  Maybe you should give away all those, 'But it would be great if I were making a...'" Maybe, someone else can make the..., and that resulting transaction blesses everyone involved.

One of my dear friends moved away from our small, Colorado town to Michigan. It's been a complete blessing to me that this latest technology of facebook has kept us in touch and close over the last many years. I was dragged to fb kicking and screaming...but now have even conscripted several others to come over to the dark side...  And I have begun to appreciate what great tools we have available to us as we seek to follow our dreams.  I want to share “Momma's Hands” newest dream with you.  

I'd never heard of Etsy, but my bloggie friend  PJ  introduced me to many wonderful artisans. (And for the record, I'm eagerly awaiting my personalized, sterling silver, stacking rings.) It was fun to see that my Michigan friend was jumping in head first, and I could at least say, “Oh, Etsy. Yup. Heard of it.”

Lori of “Momma's Hands” is a master crochet artist. She's the mother of five, a homeschooling-mama and pastor's wife all rolled into one fun package of outgoing charm. I encourage you to take the time to visit her Etsy shop. Her work is exquisite, and in my opinion, completely under-priced.  

I bought this gorgeous set for the daughter of a dear friend.   Ok.  Not this exact set...cuz I got it first! But it was this pattern, in my fave turquoise. I do think YellowBoy would approve of this version, though ;-)

This one reminds me of camo, all the rage with teens these days.  Might as well start them early ;-)

Cranberry is a great color, especially on her darling daughter

I love scarves, and this one is just so fun.  I'd never heard of the circle scarf concept before!

In today's fast-paced, disposable society, I find great comfort in the old-fashioned, hand-made, pass-on-to-the-next-generation, crafts of our great-grandmothers.  So if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my knitting.  After all, this  baby whose blanket I'm still working on was born 2 1/2 weeks early and his blanket still needs two weeks of work.

So I encourage you to get out there and browse, check out Lori's shop and others. Handmade doesn't have to go by the wayside in today's technology age. Technology just gives us the means to connect with others who are doing the wonderful tradition of handmade. Happy shopping!

AZ Challenge for April.  Buttons and navigation in side-bar

J ~ Just in Time

When I started this challenge, I pledged to blog every day in April except Sunday. I never promised these posts would be thought provoking, entertaining, or significant. I promised they would exist. It is in that spirit that I submit the following.

I finished my taxes today! So Best and I went out for happy hour and free chips and salsa. (I left the boys for “PE” at the rec center.)

Then The Engineer and I took The Boss and The Advocate (his parents) out for her 75^th birthday dinner. I had my first blueberry martini and an amazing gorgonzola/spinach/bacon wrapped swordfish.

I did not write today. I am now going to bed pleasantly buzzed and with the relief of just having to push “send” and “print” at TurboTax tomorrow. I feel like it's been a good day. Hope yours was also.

AZ Challenge for April. Button and navigation in sidebar.

I ~ I'm SO Excited!

I'm so excited! We do have some fun plans in place for the beginning of our summer, but this weekend we will take our first camping trip of the season! It comes at a very good time. I need some serenity right now, and my favorite place to get it is in nature, away from all the modern hassles, that though they make life convenient, don't make life necessarily peaceful.

We camp with our 1968 Forester camping trailer. It's 21' feet long, sleeps six, has a shower, toilet, and sink in the bathroom, and a three-burner stove with oven, and another sink in the kitchen section. We adore our camper. Originally, The Engineer and two of his hunting buddies bought it dirt cheap. I'm talking real dirt, it was a steal, accomplished by The Salesman, with cash in hand. Of the three of them, it was perfect that he did the negotiating. I don't think the The Rocket Scientist or my Engineer would even have dared to offer less than half of what they were asking. Which they promptly took.

The initial intent was to have a shell for them to duck into while hunting. None of the systems (electrical, plumbing, heat) were in good condition. Various repair scenarios were discussed, and the final decision was that if one of the families felt like putting time, money, and considerable effort into repairs, they would do so with no expectation of those expenses to be shared by the other two families. Can you feel the trouble brewing?

The Engineer and I both grew up camping. Hard-core tent camping. Rain, shine, sleet, hail, snow, we experienced them all. We had dreamed of being able to offer our boys that same childhood pleasure, and were prepared to do it in a tent. Which we did for the first seven years of parenthood. We hadn't seen it possible to afford a camper until it was almost time for them to go off to college, though. When given the chance to have a camper already, we were elated. We repaired.

The Engineer redid the plumbing, the electricity, the undercarriage (which we discovered was hanging on by a few nails, and had to be reinforced not to mention reconfigured to allow for the new grey water and black water tanks,) the ceiling, and he also put a bunk over the dining table to add sleeping for two more small campers, or one more large hunter. (The dining table collapses into a queen size bed, and sofa opposite the kitchen counter pulls out to make a full bed.)

That summer we camped a lot. One of the other families took it for one overnight trip. It went hunting. Words were exchanged about the camper. Let's just say that The Engineer's hunting buddies since that trip do not include The Rocket Scientist, nor The Salesman. We bought them out, and became sole owners of the treasure. Thankfully, their friendship has mended over the years, but it did take a while.

Come Friday morning, the boys and I will head to the hills, Rocky Mountain National Park's Moraine Park campground, to stake our claim on a spot. (No reservations are accepted until the season officially starts on May 25.) Once The Engineer gets off work, he'll hook up the camper to our new tow vehicle and come join us. Speaking of tow vehicle...up until this year, we've had to borrow the truck from Swissie. Though sturdy and reliable, our ancient Volvos don't have the towing capacity needed to pull this rig. We've been saving and hunting a good long while, and last fall, we found the perfect solution. We bought a used, 15 passenger van with removable bench seats. It's basically a full ton (or whatever they call it...) pick-up chassis with a van on top. And it's perfect. You see, it used to belong to the Colorado Department of Corrections. If you look on the doors, you can see the faint outline of where the sticker used to be. It goes well with the bullet hole in the oldest Volvo :-) 

(Click on picture to enlarge)

AZ Challenge in April. Navigation in side-bar.

H ~ Here's Where I Am

We're at the end of the first week of the AZ Challenge, and I feel like it would be good to step back and assess what's happened so far. I realize that I failed to follow through on my Fact of Fiction answer, and for that I apologize. Thanks, faithful follower H of Little Sealed Packages for reminding me. So without further ado...

#3 is a lie. I CANNOT WHISTLE, nor sing. The Engineer, who has almost perfect pitch and went quite far in his pursuit of music with a prestigious symphony and his tuba (see music in my search gadget and you'll catch that AND our courtship... high school sweethearts...) will be glad to vouch for my non-abilities in these two areas. But what I think is worse than lacking those abilities is that after 14 years of pursuing music in it's choir, handbell, and multi-instrument ways, I'm oh so painfully aware that I lack those abilities. I'm NOT done deaf. I cringe when I hear myself sing.

Trust me on this one. I know it doesn't make sense. I can tune most instruments. As in tell you what to do to tune your instrument. The mechanics of said instrument might not be familiar, but I do know when the pitch is wrong. “You're sharp. You're flat. You're still flat.” You'd think (I mean, wouldn't you?) that if I could hear that I am, like I can hear it in others, off tone, that surely I could CORRECT what is off. After all, I can say to the clarinet next to me, “Pull it out a bit, you're sharp.” I just can't seem to do that with my voice. So yes, if you guessed #3, you were right. Next time you're in CO, I owe you a drink.

I'd like to take this time to thank all of you who have hopped on as followers, and all the new readers who have left supportive comments. THANK YOU. It means a lot to me that you take the time to leave a footprint before you go. I know that each of us has a different protocol for celebrating new visitors and new readers. I so appreciate you taking the time to let me know you were here. I've have had a great time visiting so many of you and am excited to have new blogs to follow, as well as several more in my list yet to visit.

Here's to three more weeks of joining together in this challenge!  Buttons and navigation in my sidebar.