We were lucky enough to avoid a foot of snow, but we still got wintry weather. It started to sleet on Friday and we had a couple inches of snow on the ground on Saturday. It was really windy and it snowed on and of all day. We just stayed home. There was very little traffic on the four lane so we took that to mean that the roads weren't so hot.
Today the sun is out and the wind went down. this last batch of snow should melt quickly. Normally I love spring, but this one has been the worst one that I can remember. I thought I'd be using my clothesline regularly, watching Carly play at the park, and running on the trail a few times a week. This had better be the last of the snow. I can't believe I'm saying that the last weekend of April.
I'm finally feeling better. I was sick all last week. It started on Monday morning and by Tuesday I was feeling awful - stuffed up head, ears popping, sore throat, constant nose blowing. I finally had the opportunity to use the neti pot I bought last year. It certainly does a good job clearing out your nasal passages, but I did not enjoy the process of actually using it very much. I stayed home from school on Wednesday. Friday was probably the only day at school that I wasn't miserable.
On Tuesday I had a scheduled appointment with my doctor to check out a mole on my neck that had taken on a life of it's own in the past couple of weeks. If you were to go to the picture of Al Franken and me (and really everyone should take a second look at that one, just for good times) you'd see a red spot on my neck. I've had this for a couple of years and really should have had a dermatologist take a look at it a while back. About 3 weeks ago I casually scratched my neck and made it bleed - a lot. This red bump became very swollen and I continued to have problems with it bleeding when I'd towel off after a shower or somehow rub it against something. There is only one dermatologist on the Iron Range and I couldn't get in with him until August. My final straw came when I took off the lanyard with my school ID in the car and made it bleed like crazy - thankfully I have a stash of Dairy Queen napkins in the glove box. I went straight home and made an appointment with my regular doctor. I also started wearing a bandage on my neck.
I went in Tuesday and Dr. Rudberg said he it looked like blood vessels had pooled around the cut and he scheduled me to see one of the clinic surgeons the next day - the day that I had already decided to call in sick - so that worked out well. The surgeon gave me a prescription for an antibiotic since the site of the wound was infected. He was pretty quick to cut out the offending spot and I have four stitches that will come out on Monday. I don't think the scarring will be too bad. It looks like it is healing up well.
This is the 4th time I've had a spot removed and then stitched up. They'll test it at the lab as well. It won't be the last I do this either. I hate this. I regret using tanning beds during the 90s and I really regret laying out in the sun all of those years. On Friday the "Today's Special Value" at QVC was a self tanner kit from Bare Minerals that should last the entire summer. I bought it. I like having a tan in the summer, but it's going to be a fake one from now on. I hope my girls do not inherit my skin issues and I'm glad that I have always been good about using sunscreen on them. As long as they live in my house, they will never use tanning beds. I don't care if it's prom time. I will pay to have them get a good spray tan.
No big plans for today - laundry, maybe buy groceries. I have the movie "She's the Man" from Netflix, so I'll watch that - I've been told it's funny. I hope to see very little snow on the ground at the end of the day.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Signs of Spring
Paul dug out Ellen's old bike Saturday and even managed to find the training wheels for it. Carly took a 3+ hour nap yesterday afternoon, so she didn't get to try it out then. We took it out today and she did well. She was used to her smaller bike, so she had to get the feel for the bigger bike. I think I'm going to do it like we did with Ellen - put the bike in the back of the car and drive over to the bike path, so she can just ride without having to worry about traffic. I'm pretty sure Ellen did not master riding without training wheels until after kindergarten, so I don't expect we'll be taking the training wheels off this summer.
Paul is upstairs watching the Twins game. Ellen went to this game with her class as part of the DARE program. She was really excited to go. About 400 k ids from our area were going and sitting together. They left around 6:45 this morning. We now know that Ellen can get ready in less than 15 minutes when she really wants to go someplace. That doesn't happen on school mornings. They were grilling hot dogs before the game outside of the Metrodome. Then they were going to go onto the field to watch batting practice and to take part in a "parade" on the field. We've seen the cameras zoom into the Dare section - all of the kids were wearing their red shirts. We haven't seen any of the N-K kids. I regret not making a sign for her that said, "I DARE you to circle me, Bert!" I know she would have gotten on camera. I could have made one that rolled up and wouldn't have been a big deal to take with them. Oh well.
Paul was feeling rather nervous about sending her to downtown Mpls, but when the main chaperon is the chief of police you feel better about it. We sent her with a cell phone and she called us a couple of times - once while on the bus and another time when they were about to go onto the field - she was really excited about that part. We're really looking forward to hearing about her day. They just went into extra innings.
I'm making spaghetti tonight using a recipe from Oprah magazine from a few years ago. I used to make it often and haven't made it in a few years. I had to call Nancy to get the directions since I didn't have the original recipe or have it written down on a card. Thanks, Nancy! We also bought the ingredients to make fish tacos with mango salsa. I had fish tacos at a restaurant on Sanibel a couple years ago and they were really good. A recipe was in the Hibbing paper today, so that prompted us to finally try making them at home. I'll let you know how they turn out.
Not much else to report here. The sun finally came out!
Paul is upstairs watching the Twins game. Ellen went to this game with her class as part of the DARE program. She was really excited to go. About 400 k ids from our area were going and sitting together. They left around 6:45 this morning. We now know that Ellen can get ready in less than 15 minutes when she really wants to go someplace. That doesn't happen on school mornings. They were grilling hot dogs before the game outside of the Metrodome. Then they were going to go onto the field to watch batting practice and to take part in a "parade" on the field. We've seen the cameras zoom into the Dare section - all of the kids were wearing their red shirts. We haven't seen any of the N-K kids. I regret not making a sign for her that said, "I DARE you to circle me, Bert!" I know she would have gotten on camera. I could have made one that rolled up and wouldn't have been a big deal to take with them. Oh well.
Paul was feeling rather nervous about sending her to downtown Mpls, but when the main chaperon is the chief of police you feel better about it. We sent her with a cell phone and she called us a couple of times - once while on the bus and another time when they were about to go onto the field - she was really excited about that part. We're really looking forward to hearing about her day. They just went into extra innings.
I'm making spaghetti tonight using a recipe from Oprah magazine from a few years ago. I used to make it often and haven't made it in a few years. I had to call Nancy to get the directions since I didn't have the original recipe or have it written down on a card. Thanks, Nancy! We also bought the ingredients to make fish tacos with mango salsa. I had fish tacos at a restaurant on Sanibel a couple years ago and they were really good. A recipe was in the Hibbing paper today, so that prompted us to finally try making them at home. I'll let you know how they turn out.
Not much else to report here. The sun finally came out!
eta - The Twins won!
My Early Earth Day Post
Earlier this year I bought a few grocery bags from my local grocery store and loved them. Unfortunately one was ruined when a handle slipped from my hand and a jar of spaghetti sauce broke in the bag. I was down to three - which is not enough when I fill up the cart. I asked at customer service if they planned to get more and they said they had placed another order and they'd be in soon.
Today we went shopping and they had new bags in stock. These are even better than the previous ones. They still have the insert at the bottom that supports the bottom - a lot of bags don't have that. But these fold up easily and snap shut so that they take up very little space. I bought 5 of them today and plan to keep a few in my car and three in Paul's truck for when he buys groceries. Before he said he wouldn't use them even though he liked using mine, but he didn't want a bunch of bags in the back seat of his truck. When he saw how they folded up he said he'd take them. I'm kind of tempted to buy some to give to people. I think people would buy them and use them when they see just how much better they are than a plastic or paper bag.
I also started using my clothesline this weekend. I hung out jeans and sheets yesterday. Today I have rest of the laundry out there. Hopefully we'll have some warm, breezy weekends this spring so that I can really take advantage of the clothesline.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The snow is melting!
The sky is sunny and there is little wind today. We're supposed to get some higher temps this week, so I do think the snow will go quickly. We didn't have school on Friday - no one in the area did. This storm didn't have large amounts of snow, but we had really high winds and white out conditions. The storm started to let up around noon on Friday.
We didn't do too much with our days off - surfed the internet, watched tv - Paul and Ellen are into the Star Wars movies on Spike tv. I did some work around the house and did a couple of Turbo Jam dvds. Yesterday we did a major grocery shopping trip and a trip to the bottle shop to get some beer - we've been out for far too long. We also put Carly's hair in hot rollers. She refused to pose for pictures. I love seeing her with a head full of curlers.
No big plans for today. I'd love to do a Target run, but I'm trying really hard not to shop for entertainment and that is all it would be. I have the movie "No Reservations" from Netflix and plan to watch it. I also started to read the book about boy soldiers in Africa that I borrowed from Nancy. I can't think of the title, but no one would ever consider it to be a light read. I'll read more from it today.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
We didn't do too much with our days off - surfed the internet, watched tv - Paul and Ellen are into the Star Wars movies on Spike tv. I did some work around the house and did a couple of Turbo Jam dvds. Yesterday we did a major grocery shopping trip and a trip to the bottle shop to get some beer - we've been out for far too long. We also put Carly's hair in hot rollers. She refused to pose for pictures. I love seeing her with a head full of curlers.
No big plans for today. I'd love to do a Target run, but I'm trying really hard not to shop for entertainment and that is all it would be. I have the movie "No Reservations" from Netflix and plan to watch it. I also started to read the book about boy soldiers in Africa that I borrowed from Nancy. I can't think of the title, but no one would ever consider it to be a light read. I'll read more from it today.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Tried a new recipe yesterday
I got this recipe from a blog done by the winner of the Pillsbury Bake-Off a couple years ago. She's the one who made a chicken & stuffing dinner using frozen waffle sticks. This recipe made 22 cookies and used items that I had on hand - very easy. I didn't follow the directions to a T. I mixed all of the sugars and wet items, then mixed in all the dry ingredients before adding the chocolate. I didn't have the peanut butter cups so I cut up one of the 5000 candy bars we got from Skippy.
One Bowl Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Cookies
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup all purpose or white whole wheat flour (95 grams)
15 miniature peanut butter cups, frozen and chopped or 3-4 oz milk chocolate
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and both sugars. You can use an electric mixer, but I used a spoon. Beat in the peanut butter, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Beat vigorously and thoroughly to distribute baking soda and salt, scraping sides as you go, then add the egg and beat just until it is mixed in. Add the flour and stir, do not beat, until it is absorbed, then mix in the cups.
Using a small cookie scoop (2 tsp) or a rounded teaspoon, drop dough onto two ungreased cookie sheets, 10-12 cookies to a sheet. Flatten tops slightly. Bake on center rack, one sheet at a time for 12 minutes or until cookies appear set.
Makes 20-24 cookies
Paul really liked them and we have few left today.
One Bowl Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Cookies
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup all purpose or white whole wheat flour (95 grams)
15 miniature peanut butter cups, frozen and chopped or 3-4 oz milk chocolate
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and both sugars. You can use an electric mixer, but I used a spoon. Beat in the peanut butter, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Beat vigorously and thoroughly to distribute baking soda and salt, scraping sides as you go, then add the egg and beat just until it is mixed in. Add the flour and stir, do not beat, until it is absorbed, then mix in the cups.
Using a small cookie scoop (2 tsp) or a rounded teaspoon, drop dough onto two ungreased cookie sheets, 10-12 cookies to a sheet. Flatten tops slightly. Bake on center rack, one sheet at a time for 12 minutes or until cookies appear set.
Makes 20-24 cookies
Paul really liked them and we have few left today.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Enough!
We woke up to several more inches of snow on the ground this morning. We know that nearby towns got over 20 inches of snow in this storm, so we are right in that category. All of the schools on the Iron Range are closed for the day. What's crazy is that a town about 30 miles south of us only got 2 inches - they were only 2 hours late. I really should have got out to take pictures before Paul plowed snow, because when the driveway and streets are cleared it doesn't look all that bad. When you view the above photos I think it is important to remind you that on Saturday we had no snow.
Hopefully this will melt quickly.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
No school, April 7th
We just got the call for Nashwauk-Keewatin. Paul is expecting his call any time now. I went to a Duluth News site and saw that most schools in our area have cancelled for tommorow. This is my first April snow day. Crazy.
Almond Toffee Popcorn
I finally decided to try a recipe that I've had for quite a while. I bought some of this at a bake sale last year and really liked it.
Almond Toffee Popcorn
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup popping corn (I used more and thought it turned out fine)
Pop corn in small of oil, do not salt. In heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter, corn syrup, water, and almonds. Cook over moderate heat to 280 degrees F on a candy thermometer - this took a little while. Add the vanilla extract. Stir well and pour over the popped corn, coat as thoroughly as possible.
It really impressed Carly when I popped popcorn on the stovetop. She had no idea you could do that. I used Orville Reddenbacher popcorn & oil and that stuff pops up really well. I made extra so she could eat some plain popcorn.
Notice the pretty blue bowl - a gift from Laurie's thrift shop that actually came from Kris's house. There is another bowl that goes with it. They look nice sitting on my navy counter top.
Almond Toffee Popcorn
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup popping corn (I used more and thought it turned out fine)
Pop corn in small of oil, do not salt. In heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter, corn syrup, water, and almonds. Cook over moderate heat to 280 degrees F on a candy thermometer - this took a little while. Add the vanilla extract. Stir well and pour over the popped corn, coat as thoroughly as possible.
It really impressed Carly when I popped popcorn on the stovetop. She had no idea you could do that. I used Orville Reddenbacher popcorn & oil and that stuff pops up really well. I made extra so she could eat some plain popcorn.
Notice the pretty blue bowl - a gift from Laurie's thrift shop that actually came from Kris's house. There is another bowl that goes with it. They look nice sitting on my navy counter top.
Postcards for Obama
Since it is an election year there is no way I can avoid political talk on my blog since Paul and I are both incredibly interested in presidential politics. We are very pro-Obama in this house. We are not anti-Hillary or anti-McCain, so I won't be ripping on them here if you happen to be a visiting Republican or Hillary fan. If you don't like it, like me anyway. It won't be that often.
Yesterday morning I was browsing through Barack Obama's website. He has a very impressive website if you haven't visited it. You can check for events in your state and there are all sorts of groups that have formed on his site. In the events section for MN, I saw that a woman from Virginia, MN is hosting a "Postcards for Obama" event. You don't have to go anywhere, you can do it at home. You buy regional postcards and write a pro-Obama note on the postcard. You put stamps on the postcards, place them in a larger envelope, and then mail them off to a Women for Obama group that addresses them to voters in upcoming primary states. Ellen, Carly, and I went to Walmart yesterday and picked up 20 Minnesota postcards. Ellen and I have been working on getting the notes written. We only have a few more left to do and we'll get them in the mail tomorrow.
Paul kind of shook his head on this one, but I really like it. I am someone who is moved by the person who makes their own political sign to display in their yard. I like political activism that is done by a regular person more than a $100,000 ad that runs during Wheel of Fortune. Plus I liked that this was something that Ellen could help with, and Carly helped with picking out the postcards. I like to think that the person who receives the postcard will think it's nice to connect with a voter from Minnesota. It's a little more personal. I certainly don't expect that it will get someone to change the way they planned to vote, but I know that I was heavily persuaded by the 3 different women who called from Iowa in the days leading up to Super Tuesday.
The next political post will probably be when I get a new tee shirt.
It's just not funny.
We have about a foot of snow on the ground and it continues to snow. Yesterday we had temps in the upper 40s. We took Carly over to the park a couple different times to play. Paul and I both went out for runs - good for Paul for starting again! We ran errands in the morning. All day long the sky was blue and it was just a great spring day. We were really thinking that the weather channel had to be wrong when they said we'd get up to 6 inches overnight with another 6 today. Well, they were wrong in that we got even more snow overnight.
Today will be an inside day. Ellen and Carly are playing Guitar Hero right now. Paul is watching "Meet the Press." Ellen and I will finish a little grassroots politics project that we began yesterday. I might have to find a cooking project to work on. Paul says he has to go to Super One today, so I could have him pick up a few things. Yesterday I made almond toffee popcorn and it turned out quite well. It's a pretty simple recipe, so maybe I'll post it here. I'll take some pictures and add couple more posts to the blog.
Today will be an inside day. Ellen and Carly are playing Guitar Hero right now. Paul is watching "Meet the Press." Ellen and I will finish a little grassroots politics project that we began yesterday. I might have to find a cooking project to work on. Paul says he has to go to Super One today, so I could have him pick up a few things. Yesterday I made almond toffee popcorn and it turned out quite well. It's a pretty simple recipe, so maybe I'll post it here. I'll take some pictures and add couple more posts to the blog.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Things you find in a big box
My aunt bought a big box of vintage aprons at an auction not too long ago. Laurie knew that I had been picking up some old aprons here and there last summer. Laurie was looking through the box and and spotted this calendar apron from 1967 - the year I was born. She gave Kris a couple bucks for the apron and it arrived at our house yesterday. I'm very pleased with it! I washed & pressed it and had Ellen take my picture in it today. The skull & cross-bones tee is not a good piece to wear with this apron, but those are things you notice after the picture has been taken.
Thanks, Laurie!
Into the Wild
My latest Netflix recommendation. What a great movie. I read the book a few years ago and really liked it. I thought this movie truly captured the essence of Chris McCandless - a nice young man, but also a knucklehead. I liked him, but he did a lot of things that bothered me. It's one of those movies that you think about for a few days.
If you liked that book and movie, I recommend that you read another Jon Krakauer book - "Into Thin Air." I put "Into Thin Air" in my top five list of books. I could not put it down and I talked about it to the point that Paul told me to "Quit saying Sherpa!"
We watched "Gone Baby Gone" last week and liked it. They certainly said the F-word a lot, but it was an interesting story. "The Nanny Diaries" was not good at all. Good book, bad movie.
How am I doing Ellen? That's three posts and I'm not done yet.
If you liked that book and movie, I recommend that you read another Jon Krakauer book - "Into Thin Air." I put "Into Thin Air" in my top five list of books. I could not put it down and I talked about it to the point that Paul told me to "Quit saying Sherpa!"
We watched "Gone Baby Gone" last week and liked it. They certainly said the F-word a lot, but it was an interesting story. "The Nanny Diaries" was not good at all. Good book, bad movie.
How am I doing Ellen? That's three posts and I'm not done yet.
But I haven't been a total slacker.
Last week the bike trail that leads to Hibbing became free of snow. That means I can run on it and I have been as of last Thursday. It's so much better than running the streets in town. I went out this afternoon and probably went a little over four miles. I have my one race to run this summer on the 4th of July and I should be ready for it.
I've also been doing Turbo Jam - perhaps you've seen the infomercial? Totally worth the money. It's cardio kickboxing and it's actually fun - a great workout. I think I told you about my other infomercial fitness product in the early days of my blog - the Transfirmer - also worth the money.
I've also been doing Turbo Jam - perhaps you've seen the infomercial? Totally worth the money. It's cardio kickboxing and it's actually fun - a great workout. I think I told you about my other infomercial fitness product in the early days of my blog - the Transfirmer - also worth the money.
I have been a slacker.
Ellen got after me for not posting on my blog, so I'll add a few new ones today.
Last week was kind of a depressing week and I just didn't feel much like posting. When I first started my blog I posted a recipe from Lolly - the cook at our ECFE class. Her daughter, Jill, is one of the ECFE teachers and we've had a two year Thursday night relationship with Jill. We are big fans of Jill and this year we enjoyed getting to know her mom. The night before Easter, Lolly died. On Easter she didn't show up for the family dinner. She didn't answer her phone. They sent someone over to the house and they found her at the bottom of her stairs. They were going to do an autopsy to determine the cause of death. But since she did nothing to break her fall, they suspect something very sudden happened. What makes it even worse is that Jill's dad died suddenly of a heart attack last fall. Jill's only 27. She has a younger brother and they're having a hard time with all of this. I went to the visitation for Lolly last week and it was really sad. I hope they'll be OK. And then Mom called about our neighbor from back home, Margaret, dying and it was a depressing week.
On a brighter ECFE class note - Stacy, one of the moms, had her twins last week. She had two little girls named Maija and Alexis. They were 6 pounds, 6 ounces and 7 pounds, 7 ounces. I guess they are all doing well. I was happy to hear that she would be bringing home two good size newborns. For a baby gift I picked up a big pack of diapers, a box of wipes, and a refill. They have two little girls already, so I figured they were in good shape for baby clothes. I'll give her a call later this week and see if she is up for a quick visit. Ellen wants to go with and Carly said that she doesn't like babies when I mentioned the twins. I don't know where that one came from.
Last week was kind of a depressing week and I just didn't feel much like posting. When I first started my blog I posted a recipe from Lolly - the cook at our ECFE class. Her daughter, Jill, is one of the ECFE teachers and we've had a two year Thursday night relationship with Jill. We are big fans of Jill and this year we enjoyed getting to know her mom. The night before Easter, Lolly died. On Easter she didn't show up for the family dinner. She didn't answer her phone. They sent someone over to the house and they found her at the bottom of her stairs. They were going to do an autopsy to determine the cause of death. But since she did nothing to break her fall, they suspect something very sudden happened. What makes it even worse is that Jill's dad died suddenly of a heart attack last fall. Jill's only 27. She has a younger brother and they're having a hard time with all of this. I went to the visitation for Lolly last week and it was really sad. I hope they'll be OK. And then Mom called about our neighbor from back home, Margaret, dying and it was a depressing week.
On a brighter ECFE class note - Stacy, one of the moms, had her twins last week. She had two little girls named Maija and Alexis. They were 6 pounds, 6 ounces and 7 pounds, 7 ounces. I guess they are all doing well. I was happy to hear that she would be bringing home two good size newborns. For a baby gift I picked up a big pack of diapers, a box of wipes, and a refill. They have two little girls already, so I figured they were in good shape for baby clothes. I'll give her a call later this week and see if she is up for a quick visit. Ellen wants to go with and Carly said that she doesn't like babies when I mentioned the twins. I don't know where that one came from.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)