You know you've made it when you've been moulded in miniature plastic.-Cate Blanchett

So I was buying wine. You're shocked because I never drink, I know, I know. So there was this paper thingy on one of the bottles.

I was looking at the blank side and thought, "Ya know what this looks like?"

So.........

And then I got silly with the picture of Fiona on my desk.

Which of coarse led to more silliness at home.

Baby Fiona as a Troika (Which is apparently the proper name for those little wooden nesting dolls)

Vladi as a Troika

One of my nieces as a Troika (hope her parents don't mind)

Me as a Troika

It is ridiculous how much fun I was having doing this. I'm totally going to start carrying this thing around making Troikas of all the people I meet....'cept I'm totally lazy so maybe not.

Cheese - milk's leap toward immortality. -Clifton Paul Fadiman

Just as a general rule I don't eat cheese products that have not been refrigerated but I really don't want cheese products that don't require refrigeration. (Shudder)

 

The sea is nothing but a library of all the tears in history.-Lemony Snicket

I had to buy pepper spray. 

Don't worry I'm not being stalked or any thing. I'm starting to jog again and we have coyotes in the neighborhood.

Any how this post isn't about wild dogs, or fitness, or personal security.

I just wanted to let you know I may have found my new motto.

As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.-The Bible *

Imagined conversation at Lowes headquarters when they we're planing the one near our house.

Boardroom guy #1: Okay now for the most important decision we have to make today. What kind of plants should we put in the parking lot?

Boardroom guy #2: How about some sort of ice plant?

Boardroom Guy #1: No that's been done.

Boardroom guy #2: Daises or Rosemary?

Boardroom guy #1: No no no. You see those everywhere. I want this parking lot to be something people talk about. I want them to remember this parking lot.

Silence while they all contemplate the weirdest thing they could possibly suggest for a parking lot.

Boardroom guy #3: (Hesitantly) Pomegranates?

Boardroom guy #1: YES! That's it, Pomegranates! It's brilliant. Why can't you have ideas like that boardroom guy #2? Daises Pfft!



Okay weird little side note here. Every single quote I found about Pomegranates was from the Bible. Apparently a popular fruit in biblical times as well as a trendy one now. 



An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have.-Andy Warhol

Dave: What'd you get in the mail?

Me: Oh! I don't know I didn't open the package yet. Probably it's just....

Dave: Oh! That stuff?

Me: Yeah. At least I didn't order anything else.

And this is actually what the packing label said when I opened the box.

Anything your heart desires will come to you.- When you wish upon a star

Alright so here's what's been going on. The week after Thanksgiving we went to Disneyland with P & A and their two kids. I had about a million post ideas that I completely forgot in the ensuing craziness, which I'll tell you about in a minute. But here's the short version...

 Disneyland was fun. It's Disneyland what did you expect? Fiona rode the roller coasters and had a blast but for some reason is now afraid of the people dressed up as characters. If you ever get the chance to go to Disney (land or world) at Christmas time I recommend it.

 And here's the most important part. My SIL bought us all hats (okay just the kids and me) and I wore them all day. I was unaware until we got home that there was photographic proof of this but ya know what, I don't care. I'm just a big ol' kid when I'm there. FYI they are Kermit ears though you can't tell from this picture.

Okay so then we came home and I was expecting to settle in to my routine and get all the Christmas stuff done when BAM. I get notification that I have no more unemployment benefits. This did not turn out to be the case but I spent the last couple weeks in a perpetual state of anxiety unsure if we could afford a tree or to buy any more gifts.

This week I found out yes I still have benefits at least for a while. There are two jobs I'm in the process of interviewing for and it looks like I have a good chance at getting offered one or both of them (fingers crossed).  And Wednesday was Fiona's 4th birthday.

So now I can breathe and I'm finally getting excited about Christmas. Fiona and I just baked pumpkin cranberry muffins, next up is gingerbread, then those peanut butter ones with the Hershey's kiss on top. Tomorrow will be chocolate chip cookies and Dave's making a pecan pie. I'll make the pumpkin pie on Sunday morning and Dave's making dinner and of coarse there will be gifts and wine and all the usual holiday trappings.

I hope everyone has had as nice a week as I have. And I hope you have a great holiday (whatever kind you celebrate). If you're in Sacramento, come on over and have some cookies or muffins or eggnog.

Oh you better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is comming to town.-Santa Claus is coming to town

Okay last weak was.....

See what happened....

I'll tell ya about it latter, honest, but every thing's okay now.

Christmas is still on.

Now I am obsessed with collecting Platypus paraphernalia.-Trevor Dunn

I ran out of books to read (again) so I started re reading and found a Taco bell club card from the Taco bell on the base when I worked at the bank. 

 I've always had the habit of using anything at hand as a bookmark and then leaving it in the book when I'm done. There's a scene in Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers where they have to go through the books of a character who has this same habit to find a clue as to why the victim was killed. I know nothing in my books is important but I started wondering what else I'd find in there so I decided to do some bookshelf archeology.

Here's what I found:

Hundreds of post it's and sticky flags (I didn't pull them out, wasn't worth the bother)
two blank pieces of paper, one lined one unlined
A receipt from Kaiser from 2004 (I had to get my ear cleaned out in case you wondered)
An add for a Coca-Colla themed toy train for under your Christmas tree
A pizza receipt
A Safeway receipt for a Nestle Crunch, a lime, a bottle of Stoli, and a bottle of cosmo mix from 1999
A pay stub from 2001
A receipt from getting my 1st car towed in 1998
A phone message slip from when I was a receptionist 10 or so years ago
A piece of note paper with a puppy on it and 62663 written on it (I have no clue what it means)
Another receipt from Kaiser. I'm not sure what it was for but on the back are the name, phone number, and licence plate of the guy who rear ended me two cars ago (approximately 13-14 years)
A note scheduling an anointment to meet our wedding photographer
A blank receipt from the music store I worked in with my friend Kali's phone number on it
A receipt from a book store
A post it with an old co-workers email address
A post it with another old co-workers phone number
A post it with 6851 written on it (again no clue)
A post it with three dollar signs drawn on it
Some notes for a temp job I had 13 years ago
A letter I wrote to my friend Nugget 11/13/98 but apparently never mailed in an envelope with an Enterprise rent a car post it stuck to it
Bookmarks from 5 different book stores
A return slip my teachers had to sign when I came back to school after being sick in March 1990 (which would make me a Freshman and is easily the oldest thing I found)
A business card from the place my Mom used to work 7 years ago
A business card for Spanish lessons (not sure where I got that)
A Gambit bookmark
A frog bookmark
A tiny little envelope containing 1 half of the combination to the vault from the bank I worked at (I'm at a complete loss as to why I would have had that but since we had to change it about twice a month I'm guessing it must have been out of date before I had a chance to deal with it properly)

Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?-Homer Simpson

Monday morning Fiona and I went to return some camera equipment Dave had rented for the wedding on Saturday. Unfortunately we arrived 10 minutes before the store opened. So we were forced to go to the donut shop next door. FORCED I SAY!

The child-soul is an ever-bubbling fountain in the world of humanity.-Friedrich Froebel

We we're wandering around old town and saw a fountian. Dave and I both had a few pennies so we let Fiona make some wishes. I happen to know her wish came true because with each and every penny she said "I wish I could have that sucker" and pointed at the one I was holding for her while she made the wishes.

Tonight the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch.-It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Guess what I'm doing today?

I'd been meaning to mention our pumpkins for a while but it went from "Look at the cute little tiny plants" to "Wow they are growing crazy fast" to "We have a pumpkin" to "There are so many I keep loosing count" to "I'd better harvest some of these" way to fast for me to keep up.

So we've reached the point where I ask, "Who wants pie?"

Take my heart and please don't break it.-L.O.V.E Nat King Cole

Happy Anniversary Dave

You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. -John Wooden

Back when I was 3 or 4 and my Mom was pregnant with my little brother she used to take me to a public pool several times a week. The last time we went there the locker we were using was broken in to and my Mom's purse stolen. I didn't really understand the situation though I knew she was upset. As we walked back to our car I saw something that I thought would cheer her up, "Look Mommy it's me!" and pointed at the picture of myself laying in the gutter. She started crying and gathering up the photos discarded by the thief and strewn in the gutter. I didn't understand at the time she was crying because she was happy to get the photos back. Unfortunately the one picture she never found was one taken of my Dad at his college graduation, she's continued to lament it's loss for 30+ years.

About 15 years ago my wallet was stolen from the back room of the place I worked. Actually I told most of that story here. There was only about $3o in it and my credit card company reversed the fraudulent charges and at this point I'm even over the feeling of violation but what still gives me a pang of regret is the pictures I was never able to replace.

I just found Ifoundyourcamera.net and think it's a great idea. I know how crummy it feels to loose pictures that mean something to you. They have a pretty good success rate (not quite 10%). I looked through the whole site but didn't recognise anyone but it was still kinda fascinating. It's interesting seeing so many pictures of happy strangers on vacation, celebrating birthdays/hollidays, and holding new babies. It's worth checking out.

I'm just - I'm kind of flabbergasted when you say things like that. It's weird.-Pineapple Express

Pineapples we're 2 for $5 so I did what I had to.....studies on a pineapple.















Oh wait...I didn't take that last one.

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.-Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Saturday we went and picked strawberries.



We'd never done this before. Surprisingly a white skirt is not the best choice ever for doing agricultural labor (I know I was shocked too) but I expect I'll be able to get the stain out.



Alright I've got to admit something here. Since I was old enough to say "cheese" I have never been totally natural if there was a camera around. I like to have my picture taken. I like to see pictures of myself. I am all kinds of vain and a complete ham. I can't help it, if I see a camera I WILL pose. Which is why these pics are kinda great. I honestly didn't know Dave was taking pictures. They are totally and completely candid, and also kinda sweet.





When we were done we had about 200 pounds of strawberries.



So naturally we needed a cake and some whip cream. Dave culinary genius that he is, made an angel food cake from scratch. He told Fiona it was a Mothers day cake which I guess confused her because she kept trying to sing me Happy Birthday.



Sunday I got flowers, a balloon and this card.





Which apparently Fiona insisted was the one she wanted. It's so very not me that it makes Dave and I both giggle uncontrollably so I think it was a good call on Fiona's part.

Dave decided to make jelly out of our gazillion strawberries. I made the labels.





Then he cleaned the kitchen and took Fiona swimming.

I also got to have this conversation:

Me: Well yes she's a Mama if she has babies.

Fiona: Ooooh...I was a baby.

Me: Yes you were. You are what made me a Mama.

Fiona: Ooooh (thoughtful pause). You're welcome!

It was a nice weekend. Hope you all had a great Mother's day too.

Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.-W.C. Fields

We bought this nifty wine bottle cork holder when we went wine tasting a couple months ago. I just thought it was kinda cool and it matches a small wine rack we have in the kitchen.

The only problem is every time I put a cork in there I feel like I'm putting it in cork jail. And what did the poor corks ever do to me?

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.-Scott Adams

$0.99 Sidewalk chalk and a puddle=Kinda cool art work

Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing

A little bit of home decor. I tried about a million times to post the pics I took when we first moved in but for some reason Blogger will not publish them not even one at a time. It's too bad because I was fairly proud of my book case. Oh well. Any how here's something else I've been doing. Vintage bottles. I started with this candle my cousin gave me for Christmas. It smells really great but the label was tres tacky, looked like that kind of greeting card that makes me gag. Also as a general rule I don't like jar candles, too country clutter for me. I got the idea and the label from a post on EPBOT saying close to the same things I just wrote about jar candles. It was super duper easy. I printed the label stained it with tea bags and glued it on with a glue stick. I've got these three little windows in the dining room that would be perfect for displaying something so I started recycling interesting bottles as I used things up. I avoided wine bottles even though we have plenty of them because no mater what the label says they still look like wine bottles.

I got the labels all for free on line. I've got a whole bunch more I'll use as I acquire interesting bottles. I did buy a couple of these for $0.99 at Michael's. I used coffee grounds or tea bags to stain each label. I'm thinking of trying watter colors too but haven't bought any yet.

Here's a closer look at some of them.

And here's my favorite one (also the first one I did). It used to be an olive oil bottle but now it's Genuine Miracle Elixir yay!

I'm working on another project that I am super excited about but it's a surprise. On a related note I know it's a bit early but if you decide to throw a Halloween party this year can I come? I'm going to have a great costume.

*No room again. The quote was Voltaire.

My idea of rebooting is kicking somebody in the butt twice.-Annon

Dave took Fiona to a local...I guess you'd call it a theme park but all the rides are for little kids. While they were there Dave sent me to below picture.The Re line of the email said, "Fiona asked me to take a picture of her butt."

Dude, what is wrong with our child?

Happy Birthday David!

Last week ended badly. Due to everyone in the house having the stomach flu, probably still being contagious, and a general feeling of not being in the mood due to some very sad news we called off the plans to go out tonight to celebrate Dave (and his twin brothers) birthday.

However the day should not pass unacknowledged. So my lovely assistant and I performed a culinary experiment.
Fiona was in charge of sprinkles. Admire her even distribution.

They did NOT come out the way I intended. However.....

Cool hu?

Happy birthday Dave. Love ya!

Edit:

Becky asked how I did this and I started to respond but then it got too long for a comment so I'm moving the explanation here.

They were supposed to be stripped. I saw some very vague instructions on line a couple weeks ago but either they weren't very complete or I didn't understand because that's not what I got. However as they did come out pretty cool here's what I did.

I used Vanilla cake mix but I'm sure any white or yellow cake mix will work. I separated it in to ramekins and added food coloring. The one pictured was just regular red, yellow, green, blue but I also made some using neon food coloring, we haven't bitten in to any of these yet so I can't report on how they look (if it's extra cool I'll upload a pic). Then I just layered the different colors in to the cupcake papers. What happened is it sort of erupted and came out tie dye, oddly the blue was actually on top but wound up in the middle after cooking.

Do me a favor if any of you try this out email me a picture or link(email info on the contact me page) 'cause I'd love to see how they came out. I'm wondering if I could get a cool swirly effect like marble cake.