Last Random Update...for August 2009

Can you even believe that it's been almost an entire week since I last posted?! I just know that you've been anxiously waiting for me to share all the excitement of my life. And, to show my appreciation, today I'm going to share a variety of completely random things. Actually, that's really not all that different than what I usually post....

First of all, thank you for all your concern over Lolly's future education. While the last preschool situation didn't work out, I'm hopeful that we've found her a good preschool for next year that won't require us to take out a second mortgage to pay. Let's all keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

This past weekend we went out of town for a mini-vacay. It was lovely. CG had to work in Logan on Friday so we tagged along with him and made a weekend of it. We relaxed, read, went swimming, built a fort, spun in chairs, went to lunch at The Bluebird, all the necessities when relaxing.
See....don't they look relaxed!
I'd show you the picture that CG took of me sleeping, but there is some definite double-chinnage happening and I do have some pride. Not a lot, but some.

Our garden is doing really well and what started out as orderly rows of seeds has now grown into a jumble of chaotic garden goodness. This is the most recent picture, but it's grown in quite a bit more since then. Even the garden is living up to our blog name.
Also, I did notice a distinct lack of "are you dead" comments. Where's the love, people?!

And finally, since it's been a while since I last shared a good embarrassing story, I've got one for you today. My neighbor called this afternoon to see if she could borrow some chili powder for a most likely fabulous dinner that she is making. I said of course and she told me she'd be over in a few minutes to get it. I saw this as a great opportunity to get dressed and brush out my hair. Don't ask....my Monday has just been a little rough, okay?! Normally you can see some of our front room rug, if not all of it, but today our front room is covered from one end to the other with toys, laundry baskets, a suitcase that hasn't been unpacked yet, a couple of pots for plants and a mini-trampoline covered in pillows and blankets. That's just the recognizable stuff. Use your imagination for the rest. I feel like it's my destiny to make others feel better about their housekeeping skills.

I'm not even to the really embarrassing part yet. It's coming. While she was here, we were discussing preschool. There is a Joy School group in our neighborhood and she was asking me if I wanted to be in it as well. While we were discussing it, a huge spider ran into the house and I was freaking out about it and was having a hard time focusing on the conversation. Yes, I know, I am much bigger than the spider, yada yada yada, but I'm still terrified of them. I kept one eye on it and was going to catch it in the cup once she left so that CG could get it when he got home, but when I wasn't looking it ran again and I don't know where it went. And, yes, I did freak out all over again when I realized that I didn't know where it was.

As for the Joy School, I told her I lacked the mental stability to do it. I have a feeling she believes me now.

Tip Tuesday-Already?

Is it really Tuesday? I seem to be losing track of my days. Well, I don't really have a tip to share with you today. But I do have this:
This is the Big Bird square for Lolly's quilt. That only leaves like 15 more embroidered squares left to do. We won't talk about the pieced squares, although there are less of those to complete. Any guesses on whether I'll get it done for her birthday this winter? Yeah, your guess is as good as mine.

In other exciting news, I am TOTALLY FREAKING OUT! Lolly was supposed to start preschool two weeks from today and we were very excited. Yesterday we found out that two of the cute boys that were supposed to be in her preschool class are now going to a different school. It turns out that the teacher, who was undecided about doing preschool again this year, did not call the other mom to let her know that she was definitely doing preschool this year like she called me. So, obviously, the other mom found another school to send her boys to. I would have done the same thing if I had been told that the teacher was undecided and she never let me know otherwise. Which leaves Lolly going to preschool with a set of twins that will barely be three years old by the time class starts. Not exactly conducive to helping her adjust to kindergarten next year. She might as well be hanging out here with Babs for free at that point. So, I'm frantically trying to find a good preschool for my Lolly that doesn't cost $200 a month. Wish me luck.

Facebook Etiquette Part II

This is all I got for today. Enjoy.

Recipe Swap Wednesday-Zucchini Bread

Today's recipe is for zucchini bread. It's a recipe that I got from my sister in law that I've altered a bit to make it a tiny bit healthier. Because I'm a health nut. It's not quite healthy enough to serve as a vegetable, but it's a yummy treat anyway. Especially during the season where zucchini is plentiful. Like right now. I've actually shredded our zucchini and put it in the freezer to make the recipe this winter.

Zucchini Bread
3 eggs (you could use egg substitute to make this completely fat free)
1.5 cups sugar
2 cups raw, shredded zucchini
1 cup applesauce
1.5 cups wheat flour
1.5 cups white flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients. Beat lightly until mixed. Bake in two prepared loaf pans at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes. If you choose to make muffins instead, bake for about 25 minutes.
Enjoy it while it lasts! Because it will go quickly!

***Sorry there are no pictures. I have a loaf to take a picture of, but I can't find my battery charger for my camera. Because I'm so organized and everything. sigh***

Tip Tuesday-Secret to My Success Part 29

Lately we've been playing rhyming games with Lolly to help her out with...I don't know exactly. But on PBS it says to play rhyming games with your kids because it helps them to get ready to read and write. What can I say, I do what PBS tells me to. Anyway, we often do it after dinner (at the table) so the whole family can get in on the rhyming action. Here's a little example to share with you....

Me: How about words that rhyme with "two"!
Lolly: Froo!
Me: Honey, that does sound the same, but froo is not actually a word. Good try though!
Lolly: Sure it's a word....like when you go froo something.
Me:......

Isn't It Ironic?!

Cash for Clunkers. Love it or hate it, it's something to consider. CG's car has seen better days and we were toying with the idea of trading it in for the Cash for Clunkers extravaganza that's been going on. Our only hesitation is that we're not fond of buying brand new cars. Yes, we're weird. We know. Carrying on....

I had previously thought that any car made in the last 25 years, as long as it was running, qualified. But, thanks to Wikihow, I found out that that is not the case. They had a link that would take us to the government website where you could enter your car information and it would let you know if you qualified.

So, I clicked on over to see if CG's car would qualify. I should mention that it's a 1996. 13 years old. And did it qualify? Nope. Gets too good of gas mileage. Which is nice. But I must admit I was a bit surprised. On the bright side, it did make the decision to trade it in very easy.

Out of curiosity, I decided to check our other car....our Mormon Assault Vehicle that we bought last summer. That we love and have no intention of replacing any time soon. And guess what?! It qualifies. But we're not trading that in either. I love my van.

But WAIT! It gets even better! On Saturday I headed out to the Utah College of Massage Therapy (in CG's car) to get a much needed massage because that headache I had a week and a half ago? Still not all the way gone. Annoying. It was lovely. Except for my disturbing inability to relax my neck muscles. No really. I COULD NOT relax them. It was kind of embarrassing. Even when he pushed on the pressure points that kind of force them to relax, it still didn't happen.

Anyway.....I got my massage, headed home and collected the family for our trip to the library and the grocery store. On my way back out the door I noticed something.
Let's take a closer look, shall we?
Yep, that would be the side of our "non-clunker". Totally bashed in. Without a note taking responsibility to be found.

Accidents happen. It's part of life. But it bothers me that they just left. It bothers me even more that I was parked behind the "Staff Only" parking so there's a pretty good possibility that whoever did it, works there. We just may have to take a little trip this week to do some investigating and see if we can find a white car with blue damage. I'm so annoyed.

A little toooooo ironic!

***So, who has that song stuck in their head now?! You're welcome.***

Friday Favorite-Celebrations

Last night we celebrated. CG had done a little something at work and we both felt like it was worth celebrating. Now where, you might ask, would a chaotic family such as ours go to celebrate such a grown up occasion?!

An Anonymous Pizza Playland, of course! Because we're mature.
Mmmmm......a dinner I didn't have to cook......

Here's my Strong Man!
Me and My Girls!
Lolly posing on the slide
Babs behind bars
Yep, we know how to have fun! Here's to Celebrating!

Happy Friday Everyone! Enjoy your weekend!

Walgreens

As you may or may not know/care, I've been using coupons for a few years now. I enjoy it and am fascinated by how people can buy $300 of groceries for $1. Now, I'm not that good, but I have been trying to make the most of my coupons. I'll write more about the why's and what's at a later exciting date. Today, I present my first purchase made with the coupon guru's guidance. Here are the spoils of my first war. It was more of a skirmish than a war, but I was still excited.

Total Paid: $19.87
Total Saved: $21.57

Now, I realize that I paid more than a dollar for this, but I was very excited. And when you realize that each package of Pull Ups costs $10.57 at Walmart, you realize how good a deal it was. Had I just gone to Walmart and bought only the Pull Ups, I would have spent more....even with the coupons. The baby wipes were only $.49! And the toilet cleaner was only $.75 each!

I just had to share. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

Random Update August Edition

Thanks for all the support and cyber love you guys gave me about the whole migraine thing. I'm feeling quite a bit better now and just have a small headache left over. I spent all of Thursday in bed since CG was able to come home. On Friday, I spent most of the day in bed, occasionally getting up to find the girls something processed to eat that would require little effort on my part. Also, it had to be tasty to those on clean-up duty.....Dexter. He's a good dog. My girls were angels and that made it much easier. Saturday......I did laundry. Woo, my life is exciting.

On Friday night we took a family trip to our local Kids Clinic for Lolly. Friday morning she had woken up with this:
We thought it was a new bug bite and so I kept an eye on it because I'm paranoid about things like that. By the afternoon, she also had this:
Now, here's where it gets interesting. She had gotten "mosquito bites" in those same three places while we were at Bear Lake a couple of weeks ago. When I saw the bite on her arm, I thought it was a coincidence. But when she got them on her face as well, I figured that the odds of her getting 3 bites in the exact same 3 places were pretty slim. I was worried that they were infected although they had been previously gone.

Off we headed to the Kids Clinic. The doctor thought it was odd that it had take 2 weeks to show up, but figured she was probably having an allergic reaction. Benadryl was prescribed and I'm happy to report that Benadryl does have the desired effect on Lolly and made her sleepy. I have a sneaking suspicion that Babs will take after her Mama and it will have the opposite effect should it ever be needed. Lolly is doing better now and the "target spots" have all but gone away.

In current Babs news, she can now put on her own shoes. By herself. It's kinda nice. Also, yesterday she wore her first big girl pony tail!
It was a big day for all of us. Babs was especially proud.
Sorry all my pictures are a bit blurry. I seem to be a bit blurry these days....

A Story Worth Telling

Many many moons ago, I went with my sister to the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. It was the mid-90's....yes that many years ago. It was an experience unlike any other. I had never been to a storytelling festival and it exceeded what little expectation that I had. Going to a storytelling festival is not like going to story time at the library. The talented storytellers somehow weave a magical web around you, mesmerizing you, bringing you into the story so that you are no longer just a mere spectator, but part of the story. Before you know it, you will find yourself smiling when the character smiles, laughing when they laugh and tearing up whenever they meet defeat or sadness. You are no longer just someone sitting in a tent listening to a story, but you are there and can see each thing with such clarity it is like one of your own memories.

One of the Storytellers that was the most memorable for me was a cowboy poet. Sadly, I can't remember his name, but his talent lives on in my memory. He was funny and charming and just as you would expect a cowboy poet to be. Ever since that time, I've always had a special place in my heart for cowboy poetry. Although, honestly, there's not much out there.

Fast forward a few years.......to 2001. I was freshly graduated from college with my interior design degree held firmly in my hand and nothing to do with it yet. Now, here is where it gets a little cliche, but it's a good story so keep on reading. The singles ward I was attending announced a family home evening activity.......a reading by an authentic cowboy poet! It was to be held in the back yard of the "internet anonymous" family. I didn't really know them all that well, but I was so excited to go see a cowboy poet, I put aside my insecurities and went. By myself. I was on time, which in Mormon Standard Time translates to early and the party had not yet begun. And I couldn't help but notice how beautiful this backyard was. Being the ever-polite Lady that I am, I complimented the hostess on her beautiful yard and she informed me that it was not her, but her son CG (she used his real name though) who was responsible.

The poetry reading began shortly after that, and although I can't remember the name of this cowboy poet either, I can honestly say that it was truly, truly awful. It's probably a good thing I can't remember his name....wouldn't want to slander some innocent, if untalented, poet's reputation. Afterwards, I went out of my way to compliment CG on the beautiful yard and the rest is....history. Short story even shorter, we began dating and were married a wee 7 months later. So, you can see why cowboy poetry still holds a special place in my heart because, otherwise, I probably would not have been there that night and it might have been a whole 9 months before CG and I ended up getting married!

Fast forward, again, to June 2009. I received an invitation to a blogger party that was going to be hosted by Cherish Bound and The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival! It was catered by Blue Lemon, which was super yummy. I highly recommend them because I don't like seafood and they made crab cakes that were so delicious I actually ate one! And loved it!

Anyway, for part of this promotion we were each given the opportunity to make a book through Cherish Bound. We could make the book about whatever we want to. They have so many options...designer books that only require you to put in the pictures and the rest is taken care of, landscape coffee table style books, and many other options. Really, it would be perfect for a significant birthday or anniversary, baby's first year, special family vacations, family reunions, genealogies, etc. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere and didn't make it up, but I'm at a loss at to where that would be. Sorry if I stole that from you and couldn't properly link!

It seemed only obvious to make a book of our fairytale's beginning. And this is what I got in the mail just a couple of weeks later. The rainbow glitter heart is covering up the "internet anonymous" information....it's not actually part of the book.

Hardbound in all it's beauty, it's a book that our girls will always have to look at. They will get to see what their parents were like and some highlights of their wedding. The wonderful thing about this book is that, because it's durable, it can be taken out anytime to be looked through by tiny little hands. That's a bit harder to do with actual wedding albums. This will be a true heirloom that my girls can grow up looking at whenever they want.

We also get to attend The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival that takes place September 3-5.
I am SO excited! There will be fun events that we can take our kids to, like learning out to play the washboard and bedtime stories, and hopefully there will be a few events that we will be getting a babysitter for! But, never fear, you will be hearing ALL about that when we go. There will probably also be a lot of pictures involved as well.

Seriously, how lucky am I?!

Friday Favorite-Dark Rooms

The migraine started yesterday. It all started with a rousing worship of the porcelain gods and then went down hill from there. Luckily, CG's boss is amazing and totally understanding of his need to come home early to take care of me and the girls. Bless her.

That's all I got for today. Happy Friday. I'm going to go lay down now.....

CG's Birthday Cake

Chocolate Cake
1 boxed cake mix
1 small box of instant chocolate pudding
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
3/4 cup water
Chocolate Chips

Mix ingredients together and bake according to cake mix directions.

Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 cups powdered sugar
4-8 Tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix ingredients well. Add more milk as needed.

**Note: If you forget to add the butter and instead add more milk because the frosting is too thick, it will make the frosting run off the cake and pool on the side rendering the cake too ugly to take a picture of. At least that's what I hear. *ahem*

All This New Fangled Technology

I'm just all about being a techno-geek. Or at least trying to look like I know what I'm doing. I have a huge announcement......I'm now on Twitter. I did it. I'm a Tweeter. If you'd like to tweet with me, as soon as I actually figure it all out, I'm Ladyof PC.

Also, I'm now on Facebook. The real me has been on for a while, but now the blog me will be there as well. It was being difficult. Still is. But my name on Facebook is Lady Perpetual-Chaos. Apparently Facebook is offended by the word "of" and would not allow me to use it in any form.

Surely this makes me super cool, right?! I mean, I don't have any followers or friends, but I'm still super cool. Yep, I can just feel my coolness.......

Perfect Timing

Friday night I went to the Summer Social Retreat '09 at Soldiers Lodge in Midway and the timing could not have been more perfect, as was evident in my last post. It was hosted by the lovely April from Sweet Life in the Valley. It was her first event and she did an amazing job.

I didn't take many pictures because I was too busy, well, talking. I mean "networking". Anyway, I did happen to get a picture of the beautiful view from the lodge.
They provided a super yummy dinner that included shredded roast beef seasoned with Shirly J's seasoning. Too bad I don't live closer to Orem (that's where their store is) because it was fabulous! There was also some wild drinking to go along with the networking.
And there was cake. Did I mention the cake?! Oh my gosh, it was fabulous! It was provided by The Chocolate bakery. There was so many yummy desserts that I should dedicate the 5 pounds I probably gained on Friday to The Chocolate Lady!
April gave away some of her favorite things and totally gave Oprah a run for her money. Included were some lip potions from Yes To Carrots, some body butter from NuSkin, face potions from Skin RX, some essential oils from doTERRA and lots of other fun things. I personally won tickets to Charlotte's Web at the Noorda Children's Theater to take my family to. Yay! I'm so excited!
I had an amazing time and one of the best parts was getting to meet new people. It's amazing to me how much all of these women know! I learn something new every time I got to any kind of blog event and I'm so glad that I'm lucky enough to be invited. Thanks April!