Should it look like a swamp?

What should I make for dinner? This is my daily question to myself on my drive home. In the 45 minutes it takes for me to get home... my ideas consist of boxed pasta, chicken nuggets, and french toast. I ask MotoRider what he wants and his answer is always the same "I don't know". This leaves me with staring blankly in the cupboards for what boxed meal I should make tonight. I finally decided that chicken nuggets just won't cut it anymore, so I call Kristin in complete despair. She always seems to be making something exotic for dinner. (In my eyes, Stir Fry is exotic.)

Last night I called her on my way home for help. I told her it needs to be easy and with ingredients that I have heard of. Her suggestion is Chicken Parmesan. So, now it is time for me to go shopping. Thank goodness for cell phones or I would have been searching all night for tonights meal. She takes me through the store ingredient by ingredient until I have everything. I did need some help with side dishes too. "and...you will need something green she tells me." I guess I didn't realize dinner had to come in a variety of colors. How about corn? I reply... I know it is not green, but it is a vegetable. The one ingredient I was a little nervous about was the fresh parsley. (How do you cut this up? This is a big deal... I better call MotoRider to make sure he will be home in time for dinner. It is not every day that I cut up fresh parsley for dinner.) To be honest I was almost tempted to just use the parsley from the spice rack.

Now it is time for me to make this exotic meal. With Kristin on the phone coaching me through the preparation and I am feeling confident and excited to be making something that doesn't have the directions listed on the box. I have most the ingredients mixed together and it is now time to melt the butter. I put it in the microwave and frequently check on the melting process. As I am stirring the mixture I question the look of what I am making. I ask Kristin if it is suppose to look like a swamp, she ignores the question and just assumes I am doing everything right. So, the next step is to coat the chicken in the butter... the swamp mixture doesn't look like it can be coated and that is when Kristin's light bulb comes on... I have made a huge error in the recipe. I guess I missed the statement... "in a separate bowl... melt the butter." Good thing I have enough ingredients to try this again. This time Kristin questions my every move. I think I need a cook book with step by step pictures... This should confirm if I am doing it correctly.

In the end MotoRider and I enjoyed a wonderful meal that was not made from a box. Next week... I am making a Roast.

My Favorite Neighbor Under One

I haven't written for over a week. What is wrong with me? It is not like I am busy and don't have time. I guess we could call it writers block. Life has been pretty quiet in our small town. So I thought you would enjoy a cute picture of our favorite neighbor.

I will title the picture as this: What adults do to capture the moment in a picture?

This is Neighbor Hailey in Nate's lunch cooler. How come kids love playing with everything but their toys?

Missing Kitty

First, I would like to thank ArmyMan for letting FriendlyKitty experience the great outdoors. Okay, maybe thanking him is not exactly what I mean. Last night I got home and was greeted by CrazyPuppy and MotoRider. I went about my normal routine of going through the mail, doing the dishes, and just picking up. Than I realized that FriendlyKitty had not yet greeted my homecoming. I found this odd for the fact that FriendlyKitty does not like to isolate himself from us. Anyway, I started searching the house and calling for him. Nothing, no meows or running from downstairs to come and see me. So, I thought... what if he got outside? I asked MotoRider if he had seen FriendlyKitty and if he might have gotten outside. MotoRider thought... wait... I accidently left the door to the garage open. Now I am convinced my little kitty is outside all alone. My first thought is how am I going to find him. I go downstairs and start getting my shoes on when I look out the front door and their is FriendlyKitty walking up the sidewalk. He didn't seem scared. He looked at me like "Hi, I am home!"

You thought my story was over, but no.... There is a part II. Today I get home from work and go and get CrazyPuppy out of the kennel. When I get back in the garage I hear FriendlyKitty meowing... Not the "Hi, pay attention to me.. meow". It is the I am stuck and I want out meow. I run inside and start looking around... Nothing!!! So, I go outside and I still hear him. I walk around to the back of the house and their is FriendlyKitty scared to death hiding in the Hostas. Um... I was the last to leave the house... How did he get out? That I will never know.

To summarize... Don't let your Uncle treat your animals like their rule the house. This can only cause you stress and fear in the future. I guess when I told ArmyMan that FriendlyKitty is an indoor cat he must not have understood me. They must have a different definition for Indoor Cat in Florida.

A Few Snapshots

I thought I would put a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Here is a picture of MotoRider and CrazyPuppy. This was taken this spring.

CrazyPuppy is a lot bigger now. He loves playing catch in the yard, but is a little nervous when MotoRider brings out the pit bike in the backyard. Did I mention that we have mock pit bike track in the back yard. MotoRider has created a nice track that encompasses the backyard. A few weeks ago one of neighbors came over and told us that they enjoyed watching Motorider race around the yard. They have even voted on where he will most likely crash. We surely don't need another trip to Waconia. I would like to add that I am working on my own pit bike skills. I am trying to master a wheely, and I have yet to complish this task. I am fairly confident that Motorider will one day teach me this ultimate trick.

The ArmyMan is Gone but Not Forgotten

I thought all of you would like to hear about how life was at our house during ArmyMan's Visit. This is the second year that ArmyMan (my uncle) has come to live with us during the summer months. ArmyMan normally resides in Florida, but escapes to MN in the summer to escape Florida's heat. I will just comment on a few wonderful aspects that ArmyMan brings to our household.

1. ArmyMan idolizes FriendlyKitty. I have included a picture of FriendlyKitty to give you a visual. ArmyMan thinks that FriendlyKitty should have full reign in the house. All the training that Motorider and I have done is now down the drain. FriendlyKitty now thinks he can freely roam the counters in the kitchen, go outside on the deck (previously an indoor cat, he now meows to go outside), and sleeps with us at night. When ArmyMan was here, I would scold FriendlyKitty and ArmyMan would run over and pick up FriendlyKitty and say "It's Okay!" So, now we are starting from scratch on training Thomas.

2. The Honda - ArmyMan has taken ownership of my Grandmothers car. It is 1997 Honda Civic. You would think this car was a Ferrari on the way ArmyMan treats it. He has stated that he is unable to help my relatives if he can't keep his car in their garage. (So, they need to keep one of their own cars in the driveway, so the civic can stay in the garage away from the weather.) ArmyMan has also found the sweet spot for gas mileage in this car. ArmyMan could be found driving on Interstate 94 where the speed limit is 70 mph but only traveling at a pace of 55 mph because that is the speed he gets the best gas mileage. (The time I save by driving the speed limit is worth more than the money I would save in gas mileage.) Now, that ArmyMan is driving back to Florida (in his 1969 Impala convertible - I wonder what kind of gas mileage that gets?????) his precious Civic is sitting in our garage.

3. Last but not least. ArmyMan offered to paint the entire basement. The only problem... Motorider and I did not have much say on the color. What??? Who's house is this? That is what I thought. In the end the basement was painted in a color not completely agreed upon.

On a side note... ArmyMan is a unique character. I have learned to accept ArmyMan for who he is and all his strange actions and behaviors. It doesn't bother me that he has re-arranged our garage 4 times (um, I wonder where he put that?), only uses plastic silverware, plates, and cups,(Fewer dishes for me to wash) or sits at the kitchen table clipping newspaper articles for everyone he knows. I do have to apologize that I don't have a picture of ArmyMan. I do hope that you are still able to visualize him through these stories.

"Hi Weirdo"

Wow, I can't believe that summer is coming to an end. This weekend MotoRider and I went to Mora for a weekend of family events. MotoRider's grandparents celebrated 60 years of marriage.

Some of you may know that MotoRider has a niece that is 19 months old. She is able to copy any word that you tell her to say. This being said, she can be persuaded to say just about anything. Her saying for the weekend was "Hi Weirdo!". Of course this only was said when coached by your grandpa (Motoriders dad) with one exception. All the guys were golfing (including grandpa) and it was just Hailey (Motorider's Niece), Mandi, Mel (Motorider's sisters) and myself. So, we were sitting around the kitchen table and Hailey looks right at me and says "Hi, Weirdo!" The three of us look around and amazed that she said this without coaching. After a few more minutes Hailey decides that this is funny and tells me over and over that I am a weirdo.

When everyone comes home, Motoriders is thrilled that he is not the only one that Hailey calls Weirdo. I am told that children only say the truth because they have not learned to lie. So, I guess the truth is out and I am officially a WEIRDO.

I have included a picture of Hailey and myself so you have a visual of the entire situation.