Where Have I Been?

So I have been busy doing just about everything but blogging:

 Above is me at a 10K.  My cute mom showed up w/ a sign and water for all my friends. 

A few of my friends and I have decided to run a marathon.  We are on week 17/30 and I'm exhausted. I think all the training leading up to the marathon is almost as bad as actually running the 26.2 miles.  In case you forgot-I live in Texas and so it is like running in a sauna except with more humidity.

My husband has been in the Air Force for 9 years and is exploring other career opportunities all over the country.  This may be more exhausting than the marathon.  If you could live anywhere in the US-where would you pick and why? We are about ready to flip a coin.

We took a trip to Vermont for our anniversary.  It's beauty is poorly represented by the above pic, but I just didn't pull my camera out much.  The trip was great until our plane broke down at Laguardia and we got to sit there for about 10 hours.  It was ok since they gave us each a $6 meal voucher (I could almost buy a slice a pizza).  Then our flight was delayed and we had to taxi a taxi to JFK to make it home.  They did give us $25 in meal vouchers, which totally made up for the additional 4 hour weather delay.  We were in a similar situation a few years ago and were compensated w/ $400 travel vouchers each. No one likes spending hours and hours in an airport, but I thought that was fair.  Apparently, the max that Delta gives out is a whopping 9500 sky miles.  Hooray, if I am lucky, I may be able to buy 1/4th a ticket. Am I unreasonable, or is that pathetic?

Summer swim team is my favorite of all my kid's activities.  It's the only thing that all 3 of them do.  I spent at least 3 hours at practice each morning hanging out w/ the other swim moms (who are all amazing).  Every Monday night, we'd all hang out at the swim meet. So I got to spend at least 20 hours/week hanging out with my friends by the pool.

Guess why a kid under 16 shouldn't work?  Because they can't drive.  I spend a ton of time driving her to lifeguard and teach swim lessons.  

Those same marathon friends decided to do a cleanse and I signed up b/c I apparently will do any crazy thing my friends will.  I didn't fork out the $200 bucks for the supplements, but I followed the eating plan.  Basically, you eat twice as many vegetables as fruits and a 1/2 cup of either rice or lentils a day.  You can also drink protein shakes. I probably ate more fruit than I should have, but lost a few pounds and I am more aware of eating actual food instead of all the process junk that I usually reach for.  I will post some recipes I like later.

I also read a few books, that I'll tell you about later.

So what have you been up to?

What I'm Reading Wednesdays

I've been a little neglectful of the blog lately, and it is pretty much my kids fault.  They are just so much more work in the summer and have been really cutting into my soap opera watching and bon bon eating time.

Here's what I've been reading:


Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
So I'm still upset with her for her treatment of Jo's father in March-even though it won a Pulitzer, but I had to read it for book club.
This is billed as the story of a Native American that attends Harvard in the 1700's.  However, it is really more the story of a young girl that grew up with him and struggles with her lack of educational opportunities.  It is beautifully written and painstakingly researched, but it was very serious for my current state of mind.  I also had to read it in 2 days for bookclub, so I had to rush through it and it felt a little like a school assignment.  

Here's some quotes I loved:

"...we see this world, and our place in it through entirely different eyes." Page 39

" Does any woman ever count the grains of her harvest and say: Good enough? Or does one always think of what more one might have laid in, had the labor been harder, the ambition more vast, the choices more sage." page 256

"Ever happiness is a bright ray between shadows, every gaiety bracketed by grief.  THere is no birth tht does not recall death, no victory but brings to mind a defeat." 283

• “She was like a butterfly, full of color and vibrancy when she chose to open her wings, yet hardly visible when she closed them.”

Probably 5 stars, but I only got about 3 stars of enjoyment out of it.  


Age of Miracles by Karen Thomas Walker
The earth's rotation slows and the days grow longer and longer.  This wreaks havoc on the planet.
My friend Kammy's review is way better.
I liked the book (not as much as Kammy), but I was really unsatisfied with the ending.
3.5 stars


The Elite by Kiera Cass
After many wars, America re-emerges with a caste society.  Women are chosen from all over the country to go and live in palace and try and win the affections of the Crown Prince to become his bride (kinda like The Bachelor).  The palace is under constant threat of rebel attacks that want to get rid of the caste system. 

This is the second in the series and a perfect summer read.  
It's clean and fun, although I am tiring of the love triangle.
4 stars

Katherine by Anya Seton
This is my friend LeAnne's favorite books and it has been on my list for years.  It is the true love story of Katherine Swynford and the Duke of Lancaster.  Her brother-in-law was Geoffrey Chaucer and they are the ancestors of most of British royalty.
4 stars

So what have you been reading?

Patriotic Painted Pillow

How's that for alliteration?

 

I made some pillows a few years ago, but the scorching Texas sun bleached the blue one.  

The painted one, held up much better so I decided to paint a blue one.  

Remember these? I ripped off the birds of one -it was looking a little rough after 2 years.

I cut out a bunch of stars out of freezer paper and ironed them randomly on the pillow.

Finally, I covered the top with navy craft paint and removed the stars. Easy Peasy and pretty much free!

Fresh Mint Brownies-2 Ways

I put have some fresh mint growing in my garden, but I don't do very much with it.  I thought I would try and make some brownies out of it:

#1
3/4 cup butter
A few sprigs of mint
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp bkg pwdr
1/2 tsp salt

Melt butter and let mint leaves.  Let mint soak in butter on low for about 5 minutes. Add rest of ingredients and bake in greased pan at 350 for 40 minutes.

The mint flavor was very subtle.

#2

Make brownies, except leave out the mint.  Bake in mini-muffin tins at 350 for 8-9 minutes.

Allow to cool.

Southern Living's Cream Cheese Frosting

8oz soften cream cheese

1/2 cup butter softened

16 oz powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Add sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

And a dollop of frosting to each brownie bite and garnish with chopped fresh mint.

Enjoyment of the brownies seemed to be divided along gender lines. The girls in my house loved both brownies.  The boys hated them and acted like I was ruining perfectly good brownies by topping them with salad.  

What I'm Reading Wednesdays

I love summer, because instead of trying to get each kid to their separate activities, all of them do summer swim team.  I wisely spaced them just far enough apart that I can be there for all 3 hours of practice.  

Normally, I am a little anti-social at my kid's practices. I'd rather read a book than make friends with the other parents.  However, about a dozen of my friend's kids are on the same swim team, so I spend the time gabbing instead of reading.  

This week I read Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare.  It is the final book in a trilogy about a group that fights demons and demonized automatons in Victorian England. I like these books more than a woman my age should. 4/5 stars

I also read Milo 2.0 by Debra Driza.  It is about a girl that discovers she is really an android created by the military. It was fine, but the first in a series and I don't know if it is good enough to read the entire thing. 2.5/5 stars

It seems like no one can write a book, everyone has to write series these days.  I think that at the beginning of every series, the author should write a few pages of plot and character summaries of previous books so I can remember what the heck happened. Am I the only one?

Best book you've read this month?

Patriotic Pillow

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the birth of one of the most wonderful women on the planet. She's done many amazing things, but mostly I love her for being my husband's mother-no easy job.  

To honor all of the contributions she's made to the planet, I made her a pillow (didn't quite seem enough to me either, but it's all I could come up with).

I was inspired by this cute little printable over at  infarrantlycretive.net.   I really like her multi-colored buttons, but I don't have her fancy tool and had gold buttons on hand.

Did you know if you iron a piece of freezer paper on the back of some muslin, you can run it through your regular printer?  

 I think linen looks more expensive than muslin, but it was too heavy and wouldn't stay stuck to the freezer paper.

For attempt #2, I actually used packing tape on the edges to secure it, but it made even a bigger smeary mess, so  I went with muslin. I think that if I stuck one of those page sized labels it might work, I'll keep you posted if I ever do it.

I cut some red fabric into 3 inch strips and then blue into 1 and a 1/2 inch strips.  

Then I used some embroidery floss to sew a button on top of each note.  

I sewed the pillow using my tutorial here. 

I made some patriotic pillows a few years ago, but they have not faired well under the hot Texas sun, and so I am going to make me one too.


Happy Birthday Mom!

Nana Belle Apron

I have mentioned before that I used to get to plan a monthly activity for ladies at church. Due to recent staffing changes, I now teach 8 year olds, but I had already worked on June's activity. We were going to do a "Princess Academy" theme with mini-classes from a Fairy Godmother (make-up tips), Princess Tiana (healthy cooking), and Belle (how to get the most out of her favorite book-the scriptures).  My Mom teaches a religion class and is a bit of a character, so I thought she'd be perfect for Belle.  

She said she'd only do it, if I made her some sort of a costume (I told you she was a character)  and that it needed to be the blue outfit, because "yellow is not my color". I was inspired by these fun Disney Princess aprons here .  Here's what I came up with:

Front

 Back

 She was horrified to be photograph from the rear-so props for bravery Mom:)

Aren't moms just the best?

I have a step-by-step tutorial that I will eventually blog about.

Quick poll question: Who's your favorite princess?