Seven Things, Somewhat Random

Charming Ouiz at Chez Quiz snuck up when I wasn't looking and tagged me for a Seven Random Things Meme! I did one not too long ago, but these are really fun, so I don't mind at all being tagged to do it again!

Except, I'm disobeying the rules a little bit...

Here are the rules:

1. When tagged place the name and URL on your blog.
2. Post rules on your blog.
3. Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Name 7 of your favorite blogs.
5. Send an email/comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.

Here are my seven random things. They're not exactly random, and they're more along the lines of nonimportant quirky little things that happened during a somewhat important time in my life:

1) My husband and I will be one year into our "Next Twenty" years of marital bliss this Friday, the 2nd of May, but we're so booked with unexpected and prior engagements, that we likely won't see each other until next week. But, at this time of our life, we're ok with that. We're holding out for the big kids to be back from school, so they can babysit and give us a good long weekend away sometime the first of June. Good things come to those who wait.

2) Ours was the first wedding after quite a long time in our small chapel twenty-one years ago. We had no wedding planner, no caterer, and no money. We were not practiced in the art of weddings at that time. Nobody remembered, for instance, that my veil was supposed to be flipped over my face before the wedding march. So, I marched out there, brazenly bare-faced. It was a sign of things to come.

3) My Mom picked my dress, my bridesmaids' dresses, the flowers, everything. It's a good thing she didn't mind, because I so did not care about any of it. All I wanted was that handsome, pale young man at the front of the church. Didn't care how it all came about. Just wanted him.

4) We were supposed to borrow a good friend's jeep to drive the few blocks from the chapel to my parents' house for the reception. It just tickled us to think of my veil flying behind us in the open air jeep. Unfortunately, that was not a memory we were destined to have. It rained. Buckets. (Which is good luck, isn't it? At least that's what everyone was saying at the time...)

5) Since it rained, the "overflow" of guests into the yard and patio at my parents' house, had nowhere to flow over. Every person we ever knew was packed into my parents' house. Elderly parishoners mingled with frat brothers, my little brothers and sisters played under the table with bridesmaids. Our parish priest rubbed elbows with our newspaper friends. It was insanely crowded and muggy. And the DJ didn't show up. But I have never been to a more purely fun reception in my life.

6) Our wedding day coincided with the 113th running of the Kentucky Derby and I desperately wanted to see the race, thinking that the winner would hold some kind of deep significance, it being our wedding day and all. But, I managed to miss it because I had a wide hoop skirt, under my victorian-style wedding dress, and due to the raucous pressing crowds, I was trapped on the stairs for most of the afternoon. It didn't occur to me until later that all I had to do was take off the silly hoop and loop up the back of the skirt. Duh! (Though I heard the roar of the crowd downstairs near the tv at the end of the race, I don't know, to this day, what horse won. I should google that!)

7) When it came time to cut the cake (which was the center of much amusement throughout the reception because the bride-and-groom topper insisted on leaning drunkenly to one side regardless of how many helpful guests shoved them up straight...) Anyway.... You know that part where you take the cake and offer the first bite, each to one another? You know how it is the custom in some uncouth circles to smash that first bite into the face of the newly assigned "better half"?

Well, I didn't. And he did.

But, my wonderful father-in-law (to whom I shall remain forever indebted) protested that he didn't get a good picture of my first attempt, and gave me another opportunity. (Isn't he truly wonderful?) So I got my groom the second time around.

And then I got him again last year on our twentieth anniversary... So much for couth.


Anyone serving any cake this year??
Now my seven favorite bloggers! How 'bout Cathy, Bia, Wendy, Kaila, Joann, Nicole, Matilda, and Laura.

Where I got to go this past weekend...

Sights from the almost-four-day mini chick-vacation I got to take with my sista, Nina! Pics from Ouray (top) and the road to Yankee Boy Basin (though we didn't go all the way up due to the road conditions and our lack of a 4-wheel drive), including a shot of the ice park, where the crazy climbers risk life and limb, then 'round about through the countryside surrounding beautiful Paonia, Colorado and over McClure Pass, back to Carbondale.

And here are a couple of our stops along the way, below:

Tea at Miss Donna's Tea Room in Montrose.

Stayed at my in-law's just-sold ('sniff'), beautiful home on the golf course

in Montrose.

Brunch Sunday morning with son, Paul, and his charming and beautiful

girlfriend, Nicole, at Gigi Ann's Marketplace ~ way cool place to eat.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for letting me go! Thanks to my sista for suggesting the trip!

But, now... Back to work! There's a pile of laundry next to the washing machine, honest-to-goodness, up to my waist! Schoolwork to do, errands to run, weeds to pull, trips to plan... My goodness, May is shaping up to be a busy month!!

Purses

I've got purses on the mind right now. Actually, I'm feeling very self consciousness about my winter bag, and am in the market for the summer. But, I haven't found quite The One yet. In a flurry on the way out the other night, I grabbed my old denim purse, for a last minute desperate change-over in the car on the way out to dinner. Not great, but it worked in a pinch. Better than the dark brown leather one, anyway.

My husband just rolls his eyes. He does not understand this at all. To wit:

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do have last year's summer purse, hon. But, it's a little worse for wear. and... Yes I have the little green one from two summers ago, too... but... No, none of them will do. I need a new one. It can come out of the grocery money. Don't worry. The kids like to have Ramen noodles every day for lunch..."

Men could never understand how important it is to a woman to have the right purse. All they've got are pockets, and that seems to make them hapy. How could they know?

Ah, the joys of the perfect purse! Having just the right spaces to store my particular essentials. Big enough to hold everything, but not so big that things are hard to find. Neutral enough to work with all my clothes and shoes, but not so neutral that it's boring. Functional enough to be a "mommy bag," but cool enough that it doesn't look frumpy.

I know it's out there. I'm on the hunt.

In the meantime, since it's so much on my mind, I jotted out a meme all about purses. This is not trivial, either, mind you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A girl's purse tells a lot about her! You could put together my whole life story from the contents of my purse. The following meme may tell a little about you, too. To play along, replace my answers with yours and send this out as a meme to as many girlfriends as you think would enjoy it. Remember to link and notify if you're blogging. If you don't want to "do" a meme, you can just scroll through for your own personal journey of discovery ~ and you can leave whatever answers stand out for you in the comments below. I'd love to know I'm not alone in my purse-fancy!

1. Do you frequently switch between several purses? (Diaper bags are their own categorie, Moms!) How many purses are in your rotation right now? I have one main bag, but do switch out occasionally, say, for instance, if I need something smaller or want to match a pair of shoes.

2. What kind of purse do you usually carry? Is it huge and slouchy, small and trim, or somewhere in between? Do you go for colorful and quirky or neutral and conventional? Used to be huge and slouchy, now more medium sized, and usually neutral tones of browns or tans ~ or denim.

3. Do you call it a purse? Or a Pocketbook, Handbag, Bag, or ?? I call it a purse, but I always thought it was funny that my Baltimore grandmother called it a "pockabook."

4. How old is the oldest purse you own? Probably ten years old. I don't use it any more, but can't make myself get rid of it. It was a really good bag... Such good memories...

5. When did you buy your last purse? Describe it! Right after Christmas I got a white hobo purse with a bold pattern of black curli-kew flowers on it. I really like it, but it doesn't go with most things.

6. What is the most you ever spent on a purse? Maybe $20. No Prada for me!

7. How many pockets, divisions, or pouches are in your everyday purse? Can you tell without looking? The denim purse I'm using now has... at least seven.

8. Have you ever purposely hit someone with your purse? Undoubtedly!

9. How badly would someone be hurt, if you really wholloped 'em with it?

a) ow.
b) OW!

c) Silence... because it laid the offendee clean out on the floor.

Definitely "c" ~ It's heavy!

10. Without looking guess how many of the following items your purse contains (You don't need to identify, but you can if you want to):

*makeup items (including nail care): 2 (face powder and a fingernail file.)

*hair care items: 3 (a brush, ponytail holder, and barette)

*pens and/or pencils: 5 or 6

*books/notebooks/address books/mail: At least 5

*items relating to your kids: 2 or 3 at the moment, including a baggie full of wet wipes and a miniature teddy bear book.

*items belonging to your husband or boyfriend: 1 ( checkbook to hubby's account)

*food: 2 (an emergency granola bar and some mints)

*medicines (including tissue): 3 (Tylenol, vitamins, tissue)

*church related items: about 8 (my missal, a children's missal, at least 2 rosaries, 3 chapel veils and a stack of miscellaneous holy cards)

*glasses/sunglasses: 1 pair sunglasses

*category to be named by you: lots of balled up kleenex and loose change

Now, Spring Cleaning Time!

Get your purse, dump it out, and see how close you came! Record that next to your original guess, if you like. Or just take the opportunity to get your purse nice and clean and organized!

PS: Wallet? Yeah, I have a wallet in there, too! I could do a meme just about junk that's in my wallet!

PPS: None of the purses pictured is mine, but I'd take any one of them (except for maybe that wild orange Prada one.)

Well, now, here's a shocker...

You've Changed 12% in 10 Years

You've Changed 12% in 10 Years

You've hardly changed in ten years, from your lifestyle to those very retro clothes. And unless you were really ahead of your time, you probably need to acquaint yourself with the modern world!

How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

This is not a fair thing to glean from the questions asked, though, I gotta say! My clothes are only somewhat retro.

And, frankly, I'm acquainted with and not impressed much with the modern world.

My 1998 - 2008

Things Different: Live with a few different people (5 added children), have a cell phone, use the internet. Good changes, I think.

Things the Same: Same wonderful husband, same house, same basic politics, no piercings or tattoos, same hair dye... Why would I want to change any of that?

Does this make me stagnant, though? Maybe I oughta get a tattoo.

H/T: Laura

The Pirate Cave

I'll have you know we just completely filled our dumpster full of trash from our cellar. The long-dreaded task is completed. The cellar is clean. If you're looking for great northern white beans, you can find them now. If it's nasal decongestion you want, easy. If you're interested in VHS tapes, they're all neatly displayed on racks. There's even a rug on the floor down there awaiting the bowflex-type exercise thing my husband is intent on getting. And a TV to watch motivational tapes while he bowflexes.

I have to admit that putting a rug and other such fru-frah down there is really lipstick on a pig, though, because our cellar is just that. A cellar. An old dug-out ~ half finished with concrete, but a root cellar, nonethless. It doesn't dignify the word "basement."

We call it the pirate cave.

The original root cellar was probably dug in the early days of the house (which is almost 100 years old). Then, in the seventies, someone built an addition over the cellar and dug a tunnel connecting it to an access door in the main part of the house. Lots of fun for imaginative children. Kind of creepy if you don't care much for eight-legged visitors. And, with dirt walls half way up, there's not much we can do to make it look, um, posh.

But, then, we wouldn't know what to do with posh. It'd probably embarass us.

It's a nice pirate's cave, though. When we go down after canned food, it feels like retrieving booty.

"She wanted canned corn, ye say?"

I've got some pictures of the real thing here, but they're not going to impress you ~ unless you're a member of my family and know what it looked like before we cleaned. It was an astounding mess down there. When we moved, everything that was questionable was thrown down-cellar, you see... And, well, it's taken me this long to get the ~ oomph? ~ to clean it all up.

Yeah, it was shameful.

But I wanted to show that you really can get on top of even the most dreaded jobs, if you just tackle 'em ~ and keep at it until you're done. Trust me ~ if I can clean our cellar in one looooong day with only the help of the under-ten crowd, and live to laugh about it, anybody can do anything.

One cellar down, two garages and one barn to go!

Actually a RECOVERING Pack Rat, if you please!

You're a Pack Rat in Training

You know those crazy old people with a ton of video tapes and cats? Well, you're training to be one. Time to do some spring cleaning. Even if it isn't spring!

Are You a Pack Rat?

Good Morning!

Theresa and Cathy's Easy Bread Sticks

(Baked by Theresa and Cathy, written ~ and typed out ~ by Theresa. Pictures taken by Mommy.)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of warm water
1 packet of yeast
2 TBS of olive oil
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of salt
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 egg or 2-3 TBS butter
Poppy Seeds, Sesame seeds, or garlic salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pour the warm water into a bowl. Then put one packet of yeast in with the water and stir until desolved.

2.Now add sugar, salt, olive oil, and flour. Then stir until the flour is all mixed in (about 20 stirs).

3. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes.

4. After that you knead it with your knuckles about 20 times and form it into a ball.

5. Spray an 11" x 14" cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

6. Press the dough into a 10" x 10" square on the pan.

7. Cut the dough into strips about 1" across. You can twist them if you want to.

8. Without stretching, it separate the dough so that none of the strips are touching. Then crack an egg into a bowl, add about a tablespoon of water, and beat it up. Brush it onto the strips with a pastry brush or anything that will serve for a brush.



9. Sprinkle with garlic salt, poppy seeds or sesame seeds. (We used a grinder with sea salt, garlic and parsley in it)



10. Then put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Serve with a nice bowl of chicken soup!