I love a house full of music. Tonight Ryker and I are watching a show about the top hits of the 70's. In the last hour I have said, "I remember dancing with my Mom to that song", and "I remember my Mom singing that song", countless times. As a child the radio was always on, and Mom was always singing. Unless she was behind the wheel, she was usually dancing as well. I specifically remember learning to do the Jitter Bug to Blackwater by the Doobie Brothers. All that music made for very happy days. The memory of it is very sweet.
I am glad that I married into a musical family. I've been in awe of Carl's guitar playing for years. When he had his band, our house was always rockin', it was awesome! I wish I had recordings of them. Now that Ryker plays, there is hardly a day without some sort of live music in our house. Most recently it's been the ukulele for Ryker.
I am what every musician needs - an appreciative audience.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
On the Road Again
Today was my first full day back on the road. Car troubles are resolved - Woo Hoo!!!!
It is a very disconcerting feeling to be without transportation. It feels akin to claustrophobia to me. I think the common element is the loss of control over your environment. Without transportation I feel trapped and limited, unable to respond to life in the usual manor. We lived for many years with only one car. It was fine then. But now, it doesn't work so well. We are all going in different directions at different times of the day and night. Life is quick and unpredictable.
I am so grateful have the Camero fully functional, licensed, etc. Without Carl I would still be stuck. He did all the fixing and replacing of broken parts. He did all the hard, dirty, crappy work. I just did a lot of standing in line and sitting in the waiting room at Goodyear. Thanks to Carl I have my freedom and sanity back!
It is a very disconcerting feeling to be without transportation. It feels akin to claustrophobia to me. I think the common element is the loss of control over your environment. Without transportation I feel trapped and limited, unable to respond to life in the usual manor. We lived for many years with only one car. It was fine then. But now, it doesn't work so well. We are all going in different directions at different times of the day and night. Life is quick and unpredictable.
I am so grateful have the Camero fully functional, licensed, etc. Without Carl I would still be stuck. He did all the fixing and replacing of broken parts. He did all the hard, dirty, crappy work. I just did a lot of standing in line and sitting in the waiting room at Goodyear. Thanks to Carl I have my freedom and sanity back!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Antique Frosting Recipes
My Grandma Teusink baked and cooked lots of yummy things. I have many fond memories of Grandma and food. I LOVE her canned tomato sauce/juice! Especially made into goulash. She grew those tomatoes, canned them, and than cooked them up with ground beef and noodles. I am afraid that I will never taste that again.
In an effort to rescue these memories and share them with future generations I have asked my Mom to scan all the recipes she has from Grandma. A few weeks ago a large envelope arrived with photo copies of many of these recipes. I love it that they are in Grandma's hand writing. I want to create a something with color scans of them so they are preserved in a digital format.
Today Quincie made a chocolate cake. She frosted it with Grandma's White Frosting. It tastes just like I remember - like fluffy marshmallow! It is a great frosting, and so easy. Grandma gives credit to Yvonne Domogalski for this recipe. I have transcribed the recipe exactly as it is on the hand written card.
White Frosting
In an effort to rescue these memories and share them with future generations I have asked my Mom to scan all the recipes she has from Grandma. A few weeks ago a large envelope arrived with photo copies of many of these recipes. I love it that they are in Grandma's hand writing. I want to create a something with color scans of them so they are preserved in a digital format.
Today Quincie made a chocolate cake. She frosted it with Grandma's White Frosting. It tastes just like I remember - like fluffy marshmallow! It is a great frosting, and so easy. Grandma gives credit to Yvonne Domogalski for this recipe. I have transcribed the recipe exactly as it is on the hand written card.
White Frosting
1 unbeaten egg white
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup boiling hot water
Mix well with electric mixer til stiff.
Makes a big batch.
(tastes like 7 minute frosting)
A couple weeks ago I made a yellow cake and frosted it with Grandma's chocolate frosting. It was so great! It made me feel like I was a kid again, sitting in Grandma's kitchen, licking a beater.
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup boiling hot water
Mix well with electric mixer til stiff.
Makes a big batch.
(tastes like 7 minute frosting)
One Minute Frosting
1 cup white sugar
1 stick oleo
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tablesp. cocoa
Put all ingredients together in pan, bring to boil. (stirring constantly). Boil over med. heat for one minute. Remove from heat - cool to lukewarm. Beat until stiff enough to spread.
I didn't have any "oleo" on hand, so I used real butter. It tasted great, but I think the texture would have been more like Grandma's if I had used oleo. The taste is very similar to fudge. Just awesome!
1 stick oleo
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tablesp. cocoa
Put all ingredients together in pan, bring to boil. (stirring constantly). Boil over med. heat for one minute. Remove from heat - cool to lukewarm. Beat until stiff enough to spread.
I didn't have any "oleo" on hand, so I used real butter. It tasted great, but I think the texture would have been more like Grandma's if I had used oleo. The taste is very similar to fudge. Just awesome!
Security
Since then several tools have been stolen from the back of Carl's truck while parked in our carport. One day last week, Ryker noticed a tool laying on the trash can, with the power cord stuck under something heavy in the back of the truck. This happened sometime between 6:30am and 11:00am in the middle of the week.
Chester is a great dog, and growing rapidly. He was 31 pounds last week, probably a few more by now. But.... he is not a guard dog. He is little, and cute and sleeps in a warm bed with Ryker all night. He might be a good guard dog one day, but in the meantime, all the good stuff is disappearing from our yard and Carl's truck.
So ..... we are now a 2 dog family. On Friday we were talking about solutions to this problem. Ryker started looking on Craigslist for dogs needing a new home. We found Kai(that name is under review. We are leaning towards Charlie or Clyde), an 18 month old lab/pit bull mix. He was living in a studio apartment in Waikiki and needed to find a new home. He is a great dog!
He loves Carl's truck! He has slept there the last few nights and is happy as can be. Right now he can roam around, but is sitting happily in the back of the truck.Last night I slept well. I feel very safe with him right out side the door. I don't think anything else will go missing, except maybe the arm of the next idiot that sticks his hand in the back of Carl's truck!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Kimberly is calling
I drove by Kimberly's house again today. I didn't realize where I was until I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I didn't mean to go down that street, certainly wasn't ready for that just yet. It was the traffic, and old habits, that took me there. I just can't stand to sit at a red light. Dang my impatience! It's always causing me grief. Today was no different.
The empty green chair was sitting there, slightly rocking in the breeze. The gently movement is what first caught my eye. The way the light was coming through the leaves of the willow tree, and the slight rocking of the chair, it's as if she were there, like old times, rocking and laughing, long blond hair flowing like the delicate branches of the tree. The tinkling of the wind chimes could have been her laughter .....
"What kind of idiot are you?" screamed the lady behind me as her horn so rudely tossed me from my pleasant dream back to the harsh reality of loneliness. "The dumbest sort there is Ma'am", I replied. Boy, isn't that the truth! Dumb for turning down this street, dumb for leaving the office right at 5pm, dumb for letting her go, dumb for so many, many things. This traffic mishap was the least of my recent stupidity.
--
I have started, and shared, a few fictional stories. It has been months since I have felt like writing, and I wasn't sure if I would ever finish them. I know I want to write stories, but I thought maybe these first ideas and characters were duds and that I should start over someday, with new ideas. Lately I keep thinking about them. It sounds weird, and a bit cliche, but it's like the characters are my friends. I care about them and want to work out their stories. I want to know what happens to Kimberly as she figures out the mystery of the dead Kirby guy. Since I am the one that invented the quandary, I need to figure out how the rest of the story unfolds.
I keep thinking about that house, the one with the red bricks and concrete. I see the green chair on the porch, and the people laughing and talking. I can feel the texture of the concrete, and the imprint it leaves on my hands from sitting there. There is a story there. I started it months ago, and posted it as "Cracks in the Concrete". What I wrote above sort of describes another one of the scenes in my mind. It needs more work, but I want to write as the thoughts come, rather than waiting for them to be perfect. This new hobby is certainly a work in progress.
To answer Tif's question, I think that maybe my entire brain was missing in action as it flopped from left to right, or something like that.
The empty green chair was sitting there, slightly rocking in the breeze. The gently movement is what first caught my eye. The way the light was coming through the leaves of the willow tree, and the slight rocking of the chair, it's as if she were there, like old times, rocking and laughing, long blond hair flowing like the delicate branches of the tree. The tinkling of the wind chimes could have been her laughter .....
"What kind of idiot are you?" screamed the lady behind me as her horn so rudely tossed me from my pleasant dream back to the harsh reality of loneliness. "The dumbest sort there is Ma'am", I replied. Boy, isn't that the truth! Dumb for turning down this street, dumb for leaving the office right at 5pm, dumb for letting her go, dumb for so many, many things. This traffic mishap was the least of my recent stupidity.
--
I have started, and shared, a few fictional stories. It has been months since I have felt like writing, and I wasn't sure if I would ever finish them. I know I want to write stories, but I thought maybe these first ideas and characters were duds and that I should start over someday, with new ideas. Lately I keep thinking about them. It sounds weird, and a bit cliche, but it's like the characters are my friends. I care about them and want to work out their stories. I want to know what happens to Kimberly as she figures out the mystery of the dead Kirby guy. Since I am the one that invented the quandary, I need to figure out how the rest of the story unfolds.
I keep thinking about that house, the one with the red bricks and concrete. I see the green chair on the porch, and the people laughing and talking. I can feel the texture of the concrete, and the imprint it leaves on my hands from sitting there. There is a story there. I started it months ago, and posted it as "Cracks in the Concrete". What I wrote above sort of describes another one of the scenes in my mind. It needs more work, but I want to write as the thoughts come, rather than waiting for them to be perfect. This new hobby is certainly a work in progress.
To answer Tif's question, I think that maybe my entire brain was missing in action as it flopped from left to right, or something like that.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Brain Hemisphere
A friend sent me a brain hemisphere quiz yesterday. You might have seen it, the one with the dancer spinning. There is some controversy regarding the accuracy of this particular test. Intrigued, I googled the subject and took a few more tests, all with the same result. Apparently, my quest for a more scientific test also indicates my left brain dominance.
Here is a quick test. Fold your hands together, with your fingers interlaced. Which thumb is on top? According to some experts, if your right thumb is on top, you are predominately right brained, and vice versa. For a quiz that requires you to think, click on the link at the very bottom of this post.
So, what does it mean to be a left brain dominate person? It means that I make lists, am pretty good at solving problems using logic, and you should ask someone else to draw you a pretty picture. All things that I knew before getting dizzy, or taking any quiz.
Here is a quick test. Fold your hands together, with your fingers interlaced. Which thumb is on top? According to some experts, if your right thumb is on top, you are predominately right brained, and vice versa. For a quiz that requires you to think, click on the link at the very bottom of this post.
So, what does it mean to be a left brain dominate person? It means that I make lists, am pretty good at solving problems using logic, and you should ask someone else to draw you a pretty picture. All things that I knew before getting dizzy, or taking any quiz.
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