Calzones

This is in honor of Dinah. When I lived with her, I remember her making calzones all the time, and I was so impressed! I thought she was such a good chef!

One of Mike's favorite things that I make is homemade pizza, so I've gotten pretty good at making that. The other day I was trying to plan my menu, and I remembered Dinah's calzones. I took my recipe for pizza, tweaked it a little, and voila!

(They tasted pretty yummy, too!)

Crack Attack

All right. I debated on whether or not posting this was going to offend someone. I'm sorry if it does. However, Mike keeps bugging me to do it (he's just proud because he was the one who snapped the pictures), and I decided that enough people in my family would get a laugh out of it, so I decided to do it. I hope I don't offend anyone!

The other day, we had an appointment set up with our power company to update our meter. They wanted to put in some new digital thing that would allow them to read it from the street rather than from inside the garage. So the guy shows up and knocks on the front door. We talk to him for a little bit and tell him to go right into the garage. He turns around and BAM!

I turned to Mike and said, "Did I just see what I thought I saw?!" He said, "Yeah!" Then he promptly ran to get the camera and snapped a few pictures so I could share this lovely experience with you.

(This is a reconnaissance photo taken through the blinds.)

Sigh. And I thought it was just supposed to be plumbers...

The Knife.

(See why it has a capital letter and a period at the end?)

So the story behind this lovely beauty is as follows: At the end of last school year, I was packing up my entire classroom. As I was doing that, Emily called with some questions about the class play I always do. I ended up giving her some tips and saying that she could borrow some of my costumes if she wanted to try a play I had done a few years ago. I dutifully packed the costumes and mailed them to Emily. (You know, they ask at the post office if you have anything dangerous in there, and of course I said no...)

So Emily got my package, and a few days later she called to ask me a question about it. Then she's like, "So what's with the knife?" And I'm like, "I have no idea what you're talking about it." It turns out this lovely beauty was somehow in the bottom of the box! I think it was because I had packed the costumes in a random box that was hanging around the school waiting for teachers who needed it to pack, and it must have somehow been in there!

Anyway, Emily sent it back with the costumes, where I showed it to Mike and asked what to do with it. Believe it or not, he actually likes this knife! He kept it and uses it! Sigh. What do you do with THAT thing???

ACT Prep

Some of you know that I work at Sylvan. One of the programs I teach is an ACT math/science prep class. Normally I can explain the math quite well, but for some reason I came across a problem tonight that I couldn't solve right away! (Now that I've figured it out, it's really not that hard, but for some reason it stumped me.) It bugged me enough that I had to copy it and bring it home, where I worked it out and made Mike show me another way to solve it.

So, here's your big chance. I'm going to put the problem here. Post your answer and how you got that solution, and I'll come back with my explanation later! The only rule is be honest - try to work it out BEFORE you look at the comments section for everyone else's ideas! (Eric B., you are banned from posting until at least 5 other people have taken a shot. Otherwise, everyone else will just look at your answer.)

Here's the problem: "In a downhill ski race, Margo posted a time of 2 minutes and 24 seconds for a course 1.2 miles long. About how many miles per hour did she average for the race?"

Have fun!

De-Cluttered!

Is it just me, or do you also have those piles of clutter? You know, the stack of papers on a desk or counter here, the old mail or magazines you haven't read yet, a stack of receipts to put in your checkbook, and various other things that you know you need to sort through, but you just don't have the time right now?

Yeah, I hope so, because I don't want to be the only one!

And okay, don't start thinking I'm a major slob, because I'm not. Generally our house is very clean. But I do have a few corners of miscellaneous junk... or at least, I DID!

Starting this weekend and finishing tonight, I went through quite a few piles, including some school stuff I've been intending to sort since LAST school year and never got to, and I can now officially say I am de-cluttered! I have put everything where it goes, and for one small moment, my house is in perfect order! Whew! Doesn't it feel good to de-clutter?!

Fall Adventures

I had 2 new fall adventures yesterday.

First, several of my friends have posted about going to farmer's markets, but I had never been to one before. I was on my way to the grocrey store when I passed our farmer's market. I decided to swing in and check it out! I got some potatoes (yukon gold - yummy!), a zucchini (for bread, of course!), and sweet corn. Mmmm... although I thought everything was supposed to be cheaper than the store? The prices were just about comparable. Oh, well, it was still fun.

My second fall adventure was the Fort Dodge Fall Fest. I didn't even realize it was going on, but my boss at Sylvan mentioned something about it as I was leaving work. It was a beautiful day and the festival wasn't too far from our house, so I decided to drag Mike to it. And... well... Okay, so it's not that great. There were several bouncy castles that are lots of fun for little kids, and not so great for childless adults. There were quite a few food stands, but we didn't bring any money, so there goes that. There was a show with antique cars... for all of you who know how much I love those! The Cat in the Hat was there... again, great for people with kids, but... There were also several stalls selling crafts. You know how much Mike loves crafts! So basically, we just wandered around for about 20 minutes and left. (Although we managed to run into 7 people I knew in only those 20 minutes! You can tell we've been here for a while now!) So much for the Fall Fest, but I'm still glad we went. At least we tried something new!

Hymn 73

I just finished choir practice, and I LOVE the hymn we are singing! It's hymn 73, which I had never heard before, but I love it! The notes are great, every part is fun, and the words are wonderful! You can hear it here if you don't already know it - just type 73 in the search engine. Did any of you already know this song? Has anyone sung it in choir before? What do you think of the song?

Isn't he cute?!

I'm back, folks! Sorry for the long absence... I felt like I haven't had much blog-worthy to say. Plus, life has caught up with me again.

This is for my friend Lynne. She was worried that I didn't have any pictures of Mike on Facebook. I'm still with the guy! Here he is! Isn't he cute?!

Sweet Tooth Treats

Okay, I admit it. Mike and I both have a fairly big sweet tooth. I try not to eat a ton of junk, but it's hard because we like treats so much!


Anyway, I just wanted to share some pictures of some yummy food I've made this week.




These are cookies I made for a BBQ Mike and I went to on Labor Day. I think Kennan was the biggest fan! (He's my friend's son.) I must be Mom's daughter because I really enjoyed decorating them.



These cookies are a new recipe I tried tonight - white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. VERY. YUMMY! I had to make Mike eat the burnt ones first (well, they weren't really burnt, but I cooked them on a regular pan (not Pampered Chef), so they turned out more brown around the bottom and not as pretty) so I could take a picture of the good ones. Now we'll have to pace ourselves and not eat all of these pretty ones tonight! :)

Embarassing Moment!

Before I share this moment with you, you have to understand something about my husband. Mike is a tie snob. He has an incredibly picky standard of what's acceptable and what's not, and frankly, he thinks that most of corporate America - scratch that, most of the world - is sadly lacking in taste. He has flat out told me that I am never allowed to buy him a tie because he doesn't think I could find one he would like. If we're ever in a store with ties, I'll look with him, but I've only found 1 or 2 that he thinks are acceptable. The rest of the ones I suggest he wrinkles his nose at and says no. (That's part of why I picked this particular tie for the graphic. Besides being a tie for the Man of Steel, it's also a tie that Mike would HATE!)

Now that you understand Mike, I can share this funny moment. :)

We were at the mall in Ames today. I went over to Claire's while Mike stayed in Younker's (a girl's gotta look at her earrings!). When I was done, I went back to Younker's, where Mike was in the tie section. I joined him over there and was looking at all the ties with him. However, I kept my mouth shut. By now I know better than to offer suggestions to him!

Just behind Mike was a couple (probably about our age). I don't think he could see them. The girl (lady? woman? what do you call someone my age?) had a tie in her hand and walked over to a stack of shirts to check the tie against a color. Now they're standing kind of behind me. They are talking quietly to each other, but Mike isn't paying any attention to them. He has his head down looking at ties.

All the sudden, the girl says (kind of loudly) to the guy, "Hey, these ties are even on clearance!" Without looking up, Mike responds (loudly), "There's a reason they're on clearance, you know." I throw him a startled look, begging him with my eyes to be quiet, but he finishes with, "They're all ugly!"

I look at him, absolutely mortified, go grab his arm, and kind of rush him away from the tie section. He's looking at me like, "What?!" I hiss, "They heard you!" Then it finally begins to dawn on Mike. He thought I was the one who said the ties were on clearance! He thought he was telling me that they were ugly, not some complete stranger across the tie section!

For about 30 seconds, he didn't even believe me when I said that I wasn't the one who said the ties were on clearance. He finally decided to believe me, and he was duly embarassed. (That's a feat! Mike does not embarass easily!) We laughed about it the entire way home! The poor tie-picking strangers - I hope they weren't scarred for life!

Mike's been tagged!

Emily tagged Mike on her blog, but he doesn't even have his own blog, and I know he wouldn't do anything on my blog even if paid him! (This is a different tag than the one I just got - this tag is just to post 6 insignificant facts about yourself.) So I'll do his 6 random facts for him.

1. He only shaves about 2 times a week.
2. When his back is sore, he likes me to roll it with a rolling pin.
3. He has an extensive music collection - much larger than many of the Blakes!
4. He loves movies. Any and all - he'll even watch my girlie ones with me.
5. He drinks out of very large cups. Anything else he calls a sacrament cup.
6. His belly button lint is always dark blue, no matter what color shirt and pants he had on. (Very strange...)

I love this guy!!!

I've Been Tagged

I was tagged by Lisa (my sister).

The rules: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

3 joys: Mike, Teaching, my Young Women

3 fears: wasps, especially if they are in my house (!!), offending someone without even knowing it, not being good enough

3 goals: get more food storage going, have kids, get my pictures labeled and caught up

3 current obsessions/collections: the Twilight series, scrapbooking/making cards, being the best teacher I can be

3 facts about myself: I hate doing laundry, summer is my new favorite season, I love riding my bike

The 5 people I tagged: Audrey, Teresa, Lisa (not my sister who tagged me), Tanya, Jennifer

Remember?

Those of you who grew up on Woodhaven Court probably won't remember this, but for those of you who grew up on Sinclair with me: Do you remember playing with these cicada shells all the time? We would hook them to our shirts, or put them in the red wagon and crush them to powder, or just have competitions to see who could find the most. Do you remember?

Well, last Saturday I was at our ward ice cream social when the gal I was talking with looked up and noticed that the tree above us was covered in cicada shells. For old times sake, I picked one up and hooked it to Mike's shirt. However, they are a lot more disgusting to me now. Gross! I can't believe we really played with those!

I was curious how they get there, so when I went home I googled it. I found this awesome site showing how they emerge. Warning: don't follow this link if you have a weak stomach! http://www.mindspring.com/~dallison/cicada.htm

Does anyone else have fond memories of playing with those things? Is anyone grossed out now??? (Yeah, me, too.)