Projects with Pluhars

It seems like we've had some big projects in our household in the last couple of days. First,and most impressively, I got our deepfreeze defrosted and cleaned! In some people's houses, this would not be such a huge deal; my mother-in-law's, for example. Frost doesn't dare accumulate in her freezer...it's not allowed. So I'm including the before and after of our deepfreeze so you can appreciate what I'm talking about.

Maggie has been doing dishes everyday to earn her china tea set back. She had a wad of toys on the floor in her room and despite constant scolding, declined to pick them up. The final straw was when she told her mother, "It's okay, I'll get more." So my darling daughter is earning some of her favorite toys back with slave labor. She's on day four and I believe she has the idea. She feels like Cinderella

Today we worked on Valentines. I tried something new, with vintage images in frames, and it was fun! They are by no means professional, but I don't think my sweet friends and family will mind. Maggie came out while I was working on them and wanted to do valentines of her own, so we got her stuff out, too. By the time Angus joined us, we were elbow deep in hearts. He did some train valentines and growled off to the living room to break a gingerbread muffin in little teeny crumbs. So here are the fruits of our labor! PopPop wants to know when Valentine cookies are forthcoming. Maybe we will have to make a "trial" batch, to see if they will turn out.

Comment on my silliness

I think I may have fixed the comment form.

I'm going to go back to pen, paper and envelopes. Or send my articles to the Jordan Tribune. Don't you think EVERYONE in Garfield County wants to know about me cleaning my freezer and the angst over the purse?

I'm guessing everyone in Garfield County already does know....

I'b geddig a code..

So not only did I blow my blog to bits, I came down with the cold that Traci has been fighting for about 5 days. Talk about crummy luck! I'm sitting here, sipping on a vat of Market Spice Tea, trying to breathe, and hoping I finally repaired this silly page. That'll teach me to get all confident and artsy! I'm almost to the point of having someone create a template for me that would incorporate books, coffee, old maps, retro pictures, garden-y things, French stuff....maybe an antique-retro Parisian cafe' theme. With cows. I'm guessing that's why I haven't found anything that really suits my style! How does one incorporate ranch-y things with French things?

Moving on...I'm going to lay my soul bare...do you think you can take it? I've found myself, during the winter, becoming increasingly dissatisfied with my abode and the size of it. I feel like the kids and I are constantly all over each other and that it causes us to start chewing on one another, like too many lab rats in too small a cage! So each time I go to town, I get a "Dream Kitchens and Baths" magazine or "Floorplans for Fabulous Homes" and drooling my way through them. And instead of helping, it's making me more covetous of big houses! One recent day, after thumbing once again through the kitchens of my dreams and imagining what grand food I could prepare with 6 burners and a double oven, AND the manditory prep sink, I picked up an old Reader's Digest to throw away.

Now, I don't know about you, but if it's print, I read it. Even old stuff. Even shampoo, syrup and ammonia bottles. Where two or three letters are gathered, it's an opportunity to read. So instead of throwing the dang magazine away, like I had intended, I thumbed through it and accidentally(by God's hand) read an article about some women in an African village that had to gather fuel for their cooking fires everyday, and in doing so, were raped and beaten and their children harmed. A woman in the U.S. found out about them, somehow, and developed a simple solar powered cookstove for them to use. She found a company to design and manufacture them, and sponsors to pay for the stoves to get to the villages that needed them. The village women's lives were transformed, because they only went to get firewood about once a week, and had been able to cooperate with each other to protect one another. So much good!

I guess you know that I had a change of heart about my warm, safe little kitchen on the prairie, and a huge kick in the butt to start thinking of AND doing for others. I'm not sure what I can do; I'm still praying about that. I can tell you this: those magazines were donated to the library, and I'm treating my four burner propane stove a little more tenderly.

All the lessons I've learned this week include:

1. Don't fix a blog that isn't broke.

2. Faux giraffe purses really are worth $49.95, and oddly, go with everything.

3. Defrosting a deepfreeze will take all the backbone you have.

4. Good friends share everything; germs, danish, laughter, tears, and seeds.

5. If you ask a two year old what he's doing, and he responds with "Nofing, mama...", it's going to be somefing and you will need some of that deepfreeze backbone.

6. Little houses just mean you get to see more of the people you love. A LOT more.

7. There IS a world beyond the porch, and I need to invest more in it.

That's about all the philosophy I have for today. The tea is gone, and I hear somefing going on in the boy's bedroom.

I may have broken it beyond my abilities...

I really should call someone, right before I do something really stupid, and have them talk me down. Really.

I was all inspired by the new purse and decided my blog needed a facelift. Well, here's the thing: those with no surgical training, shouldn't go near a face, if you know what I mean. You'll notice my blog has a decidedly different look....but I broke it! I don't know how to get my list of friends to show up on the side, again. (I can see HALF of the title, hanging there, taunting me.) I don't know if I can add widgets....maybe part of this template is protecting morons like me from adding widgets, gadgets and midgets. At least something is protected from me!

Does anyone know how to edit HTML? Would you coach me? Can this blog be saved? Are there 12 Step programs for people who blog too much? "Hello, I'm Mary, and I'm a blogaholic. I just deleted crucial html and wacked the widgets...I'm having withdrawels. Somebody intervene, please!"

CUPS of sanity

Look what came in the mail from the Grand-cup in Idaho! (I think she loves us. I know she loves us, because there was chocolate in the package.)

The two youngest attendees, Cupcakes, in their weekly snuggle.

Just so you get the idea of how completely huge Madame Serengeti is, and what different personalities Traci and Mary are....this is a major photo, since Traci had sincere reservations about coming that close to a handbag this wild.

This week, CUPS nearly didn't get thrown together. Traci had been in Billings the day before, Anne had been buried in pork paperwork and potential problems, and Mary had worn herself to a frizzle worrying about whether her bag would make it to the house. (You see what drama we have, what issues we face every week. Don't whine to us about your stacks of bills, health problems or bad manicure; we have REAL concerns. Will Traci make it to Costco? Will Anne know what form the producer needs for slaughter? Will the faux giraffe be a gaffe? Nailbiters, I tell you.)

And when we did finally meet, it was more like a meeting of MUGS (Mothers Under General Stress). We intended to make more valentines with the fun supplies, and not eat so much. We actually ate most of the danish Traci brought from Costco (she DID make it) and talked and drank coffee with whipping cream that we didn't actually take the time to whip. But it was good and relaxing, and so sweet to be with loving friends that accept each other and laugh at foibles in each other's lives.

Next week CUPS goes on the road, for a visit to a Grand-cup who promises to make us a scrumptious dessert and show us a good time. (This dessert had better not be made with Splenda or skim milk, I tell you. Wednesdays are for the good stuff!)

So, would that make us travel MUGS?

The moment you've all been waiting for!

It's HERE!!!

I'm pleased to announce the arrival of Madame Serengeti, the wildly (roll your eyes) controversial purse! Okay, the word "purse" doesn't begin to describe this bag. When I told you it was a BIG HONKING PURSE, that was an accurate accounting. If I decide to suddenly hop a plane to Paris, this is the only luggage I'll need. I can carry a romantic dinner for 4, with dessert and beverages. If we want to get into a theme park without counting my two year old son, we'll sock him in Madame Serengeti and no one will be the wiser. I've been afforded tremendous opportunity with this valise!

I'll take a picture tomorrow, at CUPS, so you get the full effect; although I'm not sure any camera can truly capture the spirit of Madame Serengeti.....

(My wardrobe is looking a bit drab, now. Do you suppose they make Nutra-Lix sweatshirts that go with faux giraffe?)

Bobby Burns Night 2009

Bagpipes thrill me. They are wild instruments that defy description, and inspire strong memories and feelings in those who have the privilege of hearing them. It is my personal opinion that in order to truly appreciate them, you should hear them outside with hills all around to echo back the song and the wind to carry it for miles. When I hear them inside, they seem trapped....still beautiful, but constrained.

Once a year, we have the privilege of hearing the best bagpipes and drums in the country play in celebration of Robert Burn's birthday. For three hours, the gym of the community college in Miles City, filled with around 800 people, rocks with traditional Scottish music and dance. This is a 101 year old celebration and if you ever get the chance to attend, don't miss it!

This is a picture of our friend Scott Glasscock, playing for some of the dancers. He's the head piper and deservedly so. We didn't know for the longest time that in the Caledonian world, he has acheived sort of rock star status and is asked to sign autographs and have photos taken with starry eyed fans! And this year, I noticed a difference in the stockings that the pipers wear. I asked Traci, his wife, about this and she said puffy socks are all in fashion right now. Who knew?!! So if you encounter a bagpiper, wandering around with flat socks, you might want to let him know that all the cool Caledonians are wearing puffy socks. It's all the rage.

My husband is Czech/Bohemian and can't keep a beat to save his life, and I'm Irish Norwegian, so we are sort of Scot wannabes, I guess. Scott and Traci graciously allow us to sit at their table anyway and never say a word about our lack of clan tartans. This year I tried to take pictures but was completely stymied by the poor light and constant motion! The result was that all the pictures have complete movement and soft edges, and oddly captures the feel of the evening. I was hoping for crisp, professional images and instead got really dreamy, active ones that make you feel like you forgot your glasses!

There's really no way of blogging this to do it justice, so I'm going to add a couple more pictures and call it good. Hope you enjoy them, and if you're ever in the Miles City area the end of January next year, hunt us up and we'll try to get you in to Burns. And if you buy Scott a Guinness, maybe he'll sign your puffy socks.