The Ox in the Mire

I unexpectedly started my period yesterday with not a single tampon in the house.

I mean really?!

While Lauren was searching the house for Easter eggs, I'm searching for tampons. She was a lot more successful than me.

A while back I bought 3 mega boxes from Sam's Club. I mean those dang things are expensive, so I thought that I'd stock up. I forgot that I'm not the only one using them these days. We go through them pretty quickly. I had to say a quick "thank you" in my head to my mom for all the boxes she must have bought raising three girls.

So what to do? My dear friend that I borrow things from is in church. I figure I could go search her house, but that may be overstepping the bounds of friendship. Not only is it Sunday, but it's also Easter, so the grocery store isn't open. One of the perils of living in SJ is a lack of shopping options. I'm dreading the thought of searching Circle K for a box. Luckily, the Dollar General is open.

As I'm walking in, I'm considering the "Ox in the Mire" story, and figure this one fits the bill. But then there is that nagging embarrassment of "just" buying a box of tampons. My heck, I'm thirty-five years old, it is probably time to get over that one. But not today. So I also purchase Pepsi, chips and chocolate (plus the tampons). As if that's disguising the issue! I also figure that throws me complete out of the "ox in the mire" umbrella and right under the "sinner" one.

To be perfectly honest I'm always under the "sinner" umbrella when it comes to not shopping on Sunday. But I really had been trying to do better.

Sooooooooooo

To make a really pointless and long story even longer, here is a little bit of trivia that I learned. If you buy the Kotex brand, it even has a box top for education.

So I'm also giving a little back to the schools. By shopping on Sunday.

Easter Bunny S'mores

I can't claim an ounce of credit for these-but they are really cute. And they are one of the few things I've made that actually looks like the picture. I'm giving these to my visiting teaching ladies. (I am the WORST visiting teacher, but I decided to try to turn the corner. . .)

INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

1. Reduce 1 sleeve graham crackers to crumbs.
2. Layer 2/3 of the crumbs in a 1 quart jar.
3. Place 8 marshmallow bunny peeps standing up, facing out around the inside of the jar.
4. Press them up against the glass, but don't squash them.
5. Carefully spoon remaining crumbs in the center of the jar to support the bunnies, pressing down to keep it snug.
6. On top of this pour 1-1/4 cup Easter M&M's.
7. Spoon 1/3 cup brown sugar into center of M&M's, gently pressing with a spoon.
My changes: I did M&M's first, then Peeps, then put combined brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs in baggie. I didn't like how the crumbs made a mess in the jar.

Attach a gift tag giving the following instructions:

1. Empty the jar contents into a bowl. Snip the bunnies into bits with kitchen sheers or cut up with a knife. Return the bunny bits to the mixture. Mix well.
2. Melt 1/2 cup butter; add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing well. Pat into a greased 9" square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.
(Makes 9 to 12 bars.)

*Option - leave bunnies whole; combine remaining ingredients and place the bunnies on top; then bake as directed.

*This gift jar may be created to suit any holiday for which marshmallow candies are available.

The girls and I also tried them out to see what they tasted like...they are cuter than they taste (in my opinion) but they are so cute. . .

I got the idea from this blog. It is full of cool stuff.
http://creativeholidaygiftideas.blogspot.com/

Test Anxiety

Last night I dreamt that I was back back in high school, competing in the academic decathalon again. As we pulled into the competition parking lot, a lady met us and told us we had to get to our interviews "on the double". When we arrived she clucked her tongue and said, "Most people make it in 12-18 seconds, your 30 seconds is pretty weak." During the interview, the lady kept asking me crazy questions like "What did you see in Customs while you were in the airport?" and "Which of these items would be best as an engagement present?" Huh?!? Then one of our team memebers left the testing area resulting in the warning that our scores would be invalid if that happened again. The next insult came when I saw our program of study. . .among the items were pig terminology and advanced mathematics!?! The final straw was when I realized that I did not have a speech prepared. Not only that, but I knew there was no way I could get up and wing it. All the while, I'm thinking, Risa is going to kill me.

Luckily, my alarm rang right then.

My first thought was, "What in the world? Where did that come from?"

My second thought was, "Oh yeah, AIMS testing starts today!"

I guess even the teachers get nervous.

My Lucky Day

Whooohooooo!

I didn't draw out for any hunts this year! Every year, Ryan puts me in for a hunt or two in hopes that I will share his love of the sport.

It hasn't worked. . .

Bless his heart, I do try. But really, hiking around in camo just doesn't do it for me. Truth be told, I think that girls who hunt are pretty dang tough. I'd love to be one of them. But I just don't have it. I have no problem camping. Short hikes are OK. But I just don't have the attention span for hour upon hour of fruitless searching and hunting.

The whole processes of hunting and scouting and hiking and looking and walking and stalking are deeply satisfying to Ryan. Actually killing something is just icing on the cake. Me, I'm lazy. I just want to shoot something big, get my picture taken with it and head back into Arby's by lunchtime. Yeah, I kinda have a rough time with fishing too.

So, this year I have hit the jackpot. I get brownie points for letting him put me in for hunts, but "dang" I guess I just won't be able to hunt this year. "Shucks".

As a bonus, Ryan, Cade and Syd all got elk hunts. Lauren and I are just going to plan a trip to Disneyland...

Route 66

On Tuesday, the girls and I took a little trip up to Flagstaff. As we were driving, I gave them a brief history lesson on Route 66. That was all great, as long as we were speeding our way toward shopping. But when we actually stopped to see some of those sights. . . well. . .then history wasn't quite as useful. Notice the teenager's face to see who wasn't too happy about the detours.

How many times have I seen the Jackrabbit "Here it Is!" signs? And not once have I stopped to see "IT". Well, here "IT" is!

These ruins have always fascinated me. The area is named "Two Guns". I've driven the road between SJ and Flagstaff hundreds of times since we moved to St. Johns when I was four. I used to make up stories of how these things came to be. It wasn't until a couple years ago that I read the story behind them. Originally, there was little trading post there, but soon after, it was leased by a man (somewhat of an eccentric man) who built a long stone building that he called a fort. In actuality it was a wild animal zoo. When I was young and saw the writing "Mountain Lions", I thought it may have been like the Lions' Club Meeting house or something. But no, it actually housed mountain lions, as well as other wild animals. He also built some "ancient" Indian Pueblos, among other structures. It was pretty cool, but we didn't stay long, as I was outnumbered by the the non-interested crowd.



I didn't force the La Posada Hotel, Twin Arrows, or the Wigwam Motel on the girls this time. I figured we could save some of the excitement for the next time . . .

Spring Break

Thank goodness I got a sunburn on Saturday. . .
Napped on Sunday. . .
Cleaned on Monday. . .
Shopped on Tuesday. . .
Did a little yardwork on Wednesday. .


Because

THIS is what Thursday looks like. . .

Back it on up

Looking back on the past few weeks. . .

On St. Patrick's Day (OK, to be technical-the day before St. Paddy's) my mom hosted her annual Irish meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage.

She also makes a ham for those of us who have lost our Irish eating heritage somewhere amongst the tacos and tamales. (my family).


She also creates a treasure hunt with a pot of gold treasure for the kids. I should say the "little kids". Cade and Syd and even Ryan didn't get home from their practices until dark, so they were left out of the fun.

This year featured the kissing of the "Blarney Stone". After seeing the back bend Lauren and Hayes had to do in order to accomplish this, all the adults declined the opportunity.