Magical Crock Pot Chicken

Okay, look, I am LITERALLY blogging this so that I can share it easily. I'm not going all food blogger on you. Though I will still ALWAYS take pictures of my food at Chuy's. Y'all just need to get over that one.

So, magical isn't what you would normally associate with crock pot chicken but that is why I am sharing it. This is sort of one of those, "I saw a recipe, tweaked it a little and got THIS!!"

It is crazy easy AND you'll get to boast that you can make gravy. Win-win-win! Wait...I think I added an extra win in there......

Recipe:

frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can use breasts but why?)

red potatoes quartered

carrots (baby peeled are totally acceptable)

minced garlic

2 packets (or one box) Lipton herb seasoning (found by the onion soup mix)

1 can chicken broth

3-4 tablespoons butter

4-5 tablespoons flour

Directions:

- Lay your potatoes on the bottom, then a solid layer of carrots.

- Sprinkle garlic and herb packet over the veggies.  

- Lay your chicken on top of it all. You should have enough potatoes and carrots to get the chicken about 1 inch from the top. Go ahead and put as many thighs as you can, since you can't mash frozen chicken you'll end up with enough breathing room. Unless they were frozen in a mashed together format. THEN you'll need to leave a little room to separate them later.

- Sprinkle some more garlic and the last herb packet over the chicken.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5.

MAGIC: Now you could eat this as is and I'm sure it is lovely. But you want it to be magical. SO, get yourself a skillet and some butter.

- Melt the butter in your skillet and then sprinkle about a tablespoon of flour in it. 

- Whisk it till incorporated. 

- Add another 2 or 3 tablespoons (one at a time) to your butter until it gets clumpy and sort of irritating.

- Now add about 1/4 cup of the liquids from the crock pot. Please don't try to take out the fats and be all weird. Just enjoy your flippin' gravy!

- Whisk that fluid until incorporated and continue adding fluids (1/4 of a cup at a time) until you have velvety gravy. You'll think you've ruined it at some point but at long as you go slow and steady, always whisking, you'll do awesome. Make it a little more watery than you really want it to be because it will thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. And really, DO taste it! You'll be glad you did.

- Let it stay on heat, whisking lazily but constantly, until the pre-simmer point. Which is medium bubbles starting to make their way to the surface.

Eats the precious and be in awe of yourself, because you are The Kitchen Master!

Return of the ...uh.... Blogger

Huh, almost a year since my last post. Ima call that a record and BE PROUD!
So, I'm coming back to this here blog, because the life changes have been SO big that I need an outlet and a way for my loved ones to keep up with us. Mostly my mom, who just moved 1851 miles away. That's ridiculously far, by the way.
I don't do good with recaps on my life so, you get a bullet list. I'm good at those.

- Moved back to our house.

- Started a visual effects company.

- Dustin's mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer, stage 3b, and begins treatment.
- Dustin left to work on Mickey Matson, in Michigan, for 5 weeks.

- I went to Fantastic Fest (BY MYSELF!!!) for 10 days in Austin.

- Mickey Matson took over our lives and we attempted to figure out how to be a family, run a business, homeschool and also have fun.

- Dustin and I went to LA for 10 days, for Mickey Matson stuff.

- Dustin's mom has more cancer and starts more intense treatments.

- I broke my toe.

- We all had birthdays. It was.....intense.....

- We took the kids on their first flight, to Michigan, for the premiere of Mickey Matson.

- My brother Nick got married.

-We got cats.

- My parents moved to Washington state.

- I've fallen in love with making movies.

Busy suddenly feels like an understatement!

I'm coming Home

I'm coming Home
Tell the world I'm coming Home

I've got this song rolling around in my head, today, for obvious reasons. It is making me really thinky (the smoke alarms went off twice) and I feel I the need to get it out of my brain. An explanation for me and for anyone who cares.

Our decision to leave our Home was probably the hardest we've ever made. And I am glad we did! Our time in San Antonio has been epic. And not like, "OMG this hot dog is EPIC!!" but like, for real. Off the chart experiences that will define our family, forever.

In the leaving of our Home we had to harden ourselves a bit. Detach from the dream that was. Release it and allow it for others. So we came to the point where our new dream was so huge, so EPIC, so incredible!!! that we didn't want to return. Because we feared the loss of this new dream.

But still, we left a lot.

And it was really hard. And a part of us was always remembering, always longing for Home.

But you know, we were betting on the probability not the possibility that we could have both dreams. And funny, we Solomons don't seem to live in the world of the impossible.

So here we are, two dreams smashing into each other with awesome power and speed. And a little trepidation. This is huge. Can we do TWO major dreams?

So, if you ask if I am so happy to be back and I seem unsure, now you know. When Dustin says he will miss the "culture" of San Antonio, he is saying he will miss the simplicity of just one dream (okay, AND the culture). And we might complain that the store is, once again, 25 minutes away and a Walmart.

But it doesn't matter.

Because I'm coming Home.

The Examiner can Examine THIS!

So, while poking around on Monster, I found a "job opportunity" involving writing for a website. They had an opening for Girl Gamer. Ooooh, pretty! So, I applied, got accepted and wrote my first article on the always lovable ToonTown. The first one had to be approved and I waited with bated breath but shouldn't have worried. My reviewer sent an email straight away saying I was published, good job and get another one out there in a couple of days.

Sweet!

Article number two was destined to be a review on Rift, thanks to a freebie, weekend shindig mmorpg.com was handing out. That game is, well, not my favorite. It is a great game but just so much like WoW that I don't really see the need on a personal level. I wrote the article, posted it and went about my day.

A few hours later I get an email telling me that my article isn't locally relevant. Um, yeah..... Games are really hard to make locally relevant since they are, you know NOT. This means I will be dropped as a contributer if I don't make my content local enough.

I don't really know how the heck this is supposed to happen. Maybe something like: "So, I was playing LoTR online in SAN ANTONIO TEXAS..." Does that count? Probably not.

Bah. I really was getting into the whole thing, too! Mostly I think I will just tell them I am heading out and why. It seems very silly for them to have a local examiner for something that is so very not local. Like, at all. Or at least for San Antonio. Maybe if I lived in LA and I could be all, "So I was hanging out at this rad Blizzard party...."

I DID look at other websites to see about writing for them. You know, real gaming sites. But none are hiring currently and I'm not sure I am nerdy enough for them. I AM SO INTIMIDATED RIGHT NOW!!!

Rollin' with my Homie

This weekend, Dustin and I split up with the kids and had dates with them. This isn't unusual but definitely special! Dustin and Jesse were going to spend the night at Dustin's parents' house and then play golf Saturday morning. Jesse was getting to drive the golf cart. This meant that I needed to bring my A-game to my date with Brea. We were competing with a GOLF CART, people!

I think we do some fun dates but I try to keep them low key. Case in point:

This was our last date. Coffee lovers will recognize this drink. It would be the hot chocolate from Seattle's Best. They put a chocolate stick in the perfect cloud of whipped cream! My kids think this is just short of heaven.

But what I mean is, this is the sort of thing we do. We go out, talk to each other, eat foods or go to places the kids like. Usually they like awesome things like Seattle's Best or ice cream. But my Brea had been recently talking about going to a restaurant (Chuy's but I think only because that is the restaurant in our family) and being dressed up.

She was particularly looking forward to people seeing how pretty she looked and commenting on it. Not to her, mind you. She hates to be told she is cute. But she wanted to hear the people talk about how pretty she looks TO EACH OTHER.

I will give you a moment to allow this all to sink in. Took me about 2 days.

I'm no dummy. I took the massive hints and started my planning.

We went to a "fancy restaurant" called Crumpets. The reviews all glowed with the fanciness of the place. They serve pate, y'all! (not that we ate it, cuz liver is so not my thing)

Part of the date was the getting ready process, done Girl Style. We bathed, painted our nails, curled our hair, put on make-up and fancy dresses, all while listening to music that made us dance and not hold still even when our mother had a hot curling iron uncomfortably close to our skull. IT WAS FUN!!!

The restaurant met our expectations, in that: 1) Everyone thought Brea was pretty but were far too fancy to tell her so to her face, 2) The food was served all fancy like, 3) We had a very good time.

We ate artichoke hearts stuffed with goat cheese and topped with toasted almonds. We shared a lovely green salad, but the server also was ridiculously kind to Brea and brought her a huge fruit cup. It was beautiful and she was openly delighted. We shared trout almondine, veggies and garlic toasts. And for dessert, a lemon chiffon cake with loads of strawberries.

The best part was the talking. I know each family is unique and one of the things I have found very different about my kids is that they talk to me. ALL. THE. TIME. But very often, it is real conversation. Okay, sure, it can be a conversation about nail polish or why people don't ride horses anymore but I have definitely had more difficult conversations before. With adults.

We also drew pictures on a small, fancy pad of paper with glittery pens. And read poetry. So what if the poetry was Shel Silverstein, IT STILL RHYMES.

I think it must have been a roaring success because when she woke me up Saturday morning, she said, "Can we go to the fancy restaurant for breakfast?!"

To which I replied, "Sorry kid. Mommy only has one fancy dress and now they've seen it. We're going to have to find ourselves a new restaurant!"

Winter Wonderland...?

I had a realization while in the shower this morning. Am I the only one who gets her best ideas and thoughts in the bathroom? I often say, 'Let me go to the bathroom and think about it." And I return after a time, with an answer.

ANYWAY. So I was thinking about how I am all flumpy lately. That would be a family term to describe the way I drag myself around the house without any true direction. I am uninterested in cooking. Even food itself doesn't hold the allure it usually does. Getting house work done is more than a chore and all I want to do is read, game and drink copious amounts of coffee that my husband says is too much and I should stop drinking so much therefore I am on coffee consumption restriction regime. Yeah, that is not the coffee talking BECAUSE I HAVEN'T HAD ANY TODAY!!

Okay, I'm really not unhappy with Dustin about the coffee thing. Truly, we were spending too much money on coffee and my espresso machine just isn't creating the kind of espresso I want to drink. So, here I am.

But the coffee isn't the point, since it was just a very wonderful and fulfilling distraction that brought me simple joy with its scent and flavor. What? Who are we talking about? AGAIN, not coffee. I am trying to talk about my winter blues. Because I think that is what they are.

I hate the cold. And I get cold really easily. Ask my sister-in-law who insists on pointing out EVERY TIME I AM COLD WHEN SHE IS NOT. The number of times this has happed is best described as often.

Okay, again off topic, sorry.

Yeah, I think Winter and I just don't get along. That happens sometimes, right? I mean, when Spring comes around I will be filled with the desire to make fantastic foods with the produce available. Summer brings water adventures and sweet tea. Fall is the best time for tromping around in the great outdoors. But Winter? All I get is holidays. And, for the record, the other seasons ALSO give holidays. Just sayin'.

So, I have this knowledge that I am one of THOSE people. The kind that pretty much just shuts down when it gets cold and the sun's rays weaken. How do I fix it? I mean, for now I will just wait the very few weeks until Spring comes dancing in. But for the future?

Blah. This is starting to feel like work. Forget it! I'm off to find some coffee and read my book.

The Place I Am

This picture seems to capture the basics of what is going on in our neck of the, um, subdivision.

Since kids grow like weeds, they get a new wardrobe every season (lucky!). While shopping, we came across Jesse's hat. He was smitten at first glance and I was feeling impracticable (as later evidenced in my buying sparkly silver shoes for Brea). We also found some super cheap doggie sweaters for our pup, Trillian. Who is small enough to dress in sweaters, cuddle and move anywhere you want without her being able to exert an opinion. Yay! Fun AND easy!

And Brea? Well, she recently outgrew her car seat and now travels in a booster seat. The first thing she did for her inaugural drive was to watch the traffic out the back windows. She had never been able to see that far back while moving and found it fascinating.

I am amazed every day how grown up my kids are becoming. Jesse is mature, responsible, brilliant and dang funny. While Brea is ever the happy, non-stop ball of curiosity who cries during the sad parts of movies.

And I have lots of grey hairs. I don't know if they are related...

Perspective

A few weeks ago Dustin and the kids were desperate for a trip to the river. I was feeling not-so-hot, so I went but just rested in the shade of a nearby tree. However, from my vintage point I could see most of the people coming, going and playing.

I was humbled. Greatly. San Antonio has very strong family values (influenced by a 60% Hispanic population). Plus, they take full advantage of their cultural and natural destinations. This means that a society who appreciates the fuller figure is consistently flooding the water destinations. Of which there are many.

I was raised like a true white girl. I am ashamed of my cellulite, to the point of being willing to forgo amazing adventures with my family. I will cover my hips and thighs with shorts, skirts and towels all in the name of vanity. But these ladies? These ladies who are (by white girl definition) fat, they just have fun. Sure, they choose swimwear that is suitable for their stature but otherwise, THEY DON'T CARE.

Wow.

I sat there watching them enjoy their families, food and nature and I was humbled. How much have I been missing in life because I thought everyone was looking at me? How often will my husband and children have to tell me I am beautiful and perfect to them, before I believe them? How long do I have to wait to have fun, too?

So, today we went to the same river. I wore just my tankini. I played with my family and had some pretty awesome adventures. And I stopped worrying about my butt. Finally.

The Ants Go Marching One by One

Every time I walk into the bathroom it is a little surprising. You see, there are hundreds of dead bodies in my bathtub. The clean up alone is killer! (ba-dump)

Seriously, a few weeks ago we had our house diagnosed with acrobat ants. And the bug person came out to take care of them. Now, I don't know why they are called "Acrobat Ants" but I am unimpressed. They seem to be a one trick pony and their trick consists of a pilgrimage to my bathroom to die. Oh sure, I find the occasional living one on the wall, sink or my arm but mostly they are dead. Tiny corpses in the bathtub, shower or on the floor. I can't even figure out WHERE a lot of them are coming from! Maybe that is the real trick?

Regardless, CARCASSES EVERYWHERE.

The Happy Place I Live

I am going to pretend that the lapse of writing these past (many) months didn't happen. Instead, I am going push through and continue. Especially since I still think in blog posts. It is a lot more rewarding to get those thoughts down than allow them to meander through the brain while you are supposed to be sleeping.

So, yes, I am saying I hope my sleep improves. But I digress.

Big changes in brief:
- Husband got an opportunity to be the digital guru/assistant director for a movie. A REAL MOVIE.
- We moved to San Antonio, TX.
- My parents moved into our "old" house.
- I gave my cat to my best friend.
- I drink more Starbucks coffee.

Currently, Dustin is out of town scouting locations (HE'S MAKING A MOVIE!!!!!!) in Michigan. He will return tomorrow but in the mean time, I had the opportunity to watch a "girly" movie I have been wanting to see for some time: Julie and Julia.

Since moving, I have been less than enthusiastic about cooking. My new kitchen is.......smaller. By like, half, at least. I have done a lot of complaining but that kitchen is still smaller. It seems it doesn't want to change it's selfish ways. Regardless, I watched this movie tonight and thought about how lovely it would be to know how to make a truly good beurre blanc (white butter sauce). I had one once, in New York, that would make you weep with wonder. I must make this. Also, a life goal is to make amazing chicken. AMAZING. The kind people sigh over. And bread. I am terrified of bread but I yearn to create crusty bits of heaven.

So, okay it is a movie, but it is supposed to depict this woman's life. She lived with a tiny kitchen and she boned a duck in her living room. So, surely I can figure out a simple butter sauce, chicken and bread, right? I mean, I have SO MUCH TIME and access to amazing ingredients, now that we have moved.

No, I don't want to go through Julia Child's French cook book. Though, I would like to have it for reference and to make some of the items. But I also love Indian food. Mexican food. Greek food. And the ever popular Food food.

I just wonder if I give myself the opportunity, could I be a truly gifted cook? I am not so much a baker (though, I love baked goods!) but cooking comes naturally and I crave the hand crafted meal. Even better if I made it myself.

Anyway, these are just late night thoughts. Wanted to get them out so I could, you know, sleep.

Bacon and Felines

For anyone who follows my Twitter or Facebook updates, you are well aware of my recent obsession with bacon. If you didn't, well, um, now you know! So, about a year ago I realized I actually LIKE bacon! Before I really couldn't stand it. Often it is limp and chewy or over cooked and crunchy. I discovered baking the bacon (400 degrees, 9-10 minutes) and the joy that is crisp bacon. Neither limp nor crunchy. Also, I love the crispy, fatty bacon. Do not judge.

The bacon is perfectly paired with a lovely almond latte. Something I can make for myself at home with my handy "Barista" machine I got while still working at Starbucks. (sorry for the bad pic) I have been getting into the groove of using my machine more lately but only for myself. Because, to be honest, making more than one hot latte is kind of a pain in the butt!


Also, remember that mouse update I gave a few weeks ago? Uh, yeah......


Hopefully we got THAT problem taken care of! This is Jones. She came to us a few weeks ago. My Uncle Steve was running on the dirt roads by my grandma's house and passed a shoe box with her inside. Now I know I have mentioned we live in the boon-docks (about 5 minutes from Gram's house) and I should be used to animal dumping. But I never am. She was so tiny, maybe 4 weeks old, dehydrated and famished. So after some discussion with Dustin (including pleading, begging and bargaining) I got a kitten.

She is pretty amazing. She only had a few small accidents within the first week but now is fully litter box trained. The first night she was here, she began forging relationships with each of us, including Jesse and Brea. And, undoubtedly, I am "Mommy". She tests my limits, respects my authority most and comes to me when she needs a good cuddle or nap. Also, I am the main feeder/waterer/litter scooper. So, you know, I do all the mommy things.

However, 9:30 at night seems to be her bewitching hour and man-oh-man is that cat CRAZY. Biting, clawing, racing around, growling and generally being wild. Dustin thinks it is great fun, when we aren't watching a movie!

And to answer to unspoken question: Her name is Jones because we have an Alien theme. Ripley is our dog (the heroine of the movie) and Jones is her cat. Ripley and Jones are the only ones that survive at the end of the movie. For those who think I am crazy to name my female cat something sort of masculine, take heart. We normally call her Jonesie.

Wook at da Widdle Bay-beeeeeeeee!

This is a lame-o post but I could not help myself!!! Please just enjoy:


I see you, holding up your finger to see how small it really is. Don't worry, we all did that!

Good News!

Aside from the fact that today is a Saturday, I don't have ANY PLANS WHATSOEVER and Dustin can't mow the lawn because the lawn mower is out of comission for the time, today is a good day because we don't have a mouse in this house anymore! w00t!

We tried traps in the laundry room (the entry point) but, infuriatingly, I think the little bugger found shelter in the house and stopped using his old haunt. I did a daily clean up of poos found and discovered that with predictable rodent regularity he hit up the base of the trashcan. So we set a trap there and had wild success!

Okay, maybe not wild because that would entail a whole mouse family, found in one trap, each holding a fifty dollar bill in his dead little jaw. So we had good success.

I really hate the mouse in the house conundrum. You don't know what is safe and you feel like everything is dirty. When I discovered that two nights in a row it came by my side of the bed, I felt betrayed by the safety of my bedroom.

And then there is the guilt with setting the trap. You hope there is no suffering but feel that some justice is necessary. Plus, what if one explodes? I mean I know that is something right out of an Urban Legend but what if??

We are taking measures to keep this from happening again but (in my opinion) the best measure would be a good cat. Won't you join me in convincing Dustin of the same? Please?

The right tools

Perhaps this would have been a better approach when returning to my blog? Regardless, good fun had by all! An Ad Lib style lazy blog post generator!

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Holy Blog Of Doom, Batman! I just had a cup of tea and realised I have not updated this since they invented sliced bread... You would not believe the fairy dust I have to clean up. Stupid Global Warming!

I am lost in a sea of pseudo-olde-english while setting fire to people wearing Crocs, being distracted by the shiny, just generally being Snow White to anyone unfortunate to cross my path, my day seems to be a litany of stuff and giggles from the second I am woken by murderous Teletubbies to reef break. I am avoiding recapture. life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

I swear on the bones of my ancestors I will make more of an effort to blog more often until the nice men in the white coats come back. Well, I'll try. This is for my ever faithful, devoted public..

3 Months of Guilt

I haven't posted in almost 3 months. That is a lot of needless guilt! The worst is that I THINK in blog posts! "OMG!! This would be so funny as a post! I could start out with the IV story and lead into the soup! HAHAHAHAHA!"

And then I don't do a single thing.

This is sort of an apology but mostly me just coming back. Proving to myself that I am not lazy.

So, right now there is a mouse in my house. See, the kids went off to Texas for two glorious weeks, visiting Dustin's parents. Then we traveled to Austin, Friday, to get them and visit some friends.

I should say, that in the two week time frame the house was not disrupted in any way. Meaning, I was gone a lot and when we were home we were in the main living area or our bedroom. We were never in the spare room, front bathroom or kids' bedroom.

After being gone almost 48 hours, I was using my bathroom when I discovered a trail of mouse droppings. I think God has a sense of humor when it comes to rodents. I mean, they leave a poo every six inches and a pile whenever they eat. You ALWAYS know where they have been, when they were particularly interested in something and when they were running scared (poos are further apart).

I am a notorious rodent lover but I have to tell you, that when I woke this morning with poos next to my bed I was sincerely unhappy. Deeply and profoundly unhappy. And the traps set in the laundry room had not been successful. So tonight? More traps. IN MY BEDROOM. I will not allow this rodent to mock me as I sleep!

Perhaps I will have happy news of death and dismemberment tomorrow! One can only hope...

Save Mar

Well, I have a little Do Goodery for anyone who is interested! Dustin works with a guy named Mar. He is from the Philippians, went to school here in Arkansas and worked in New York (I am told) before returning to AR and joining the RockFish team. But now, America is not going to renew his work visa! This makes us all sad and we want to help!
You can:
1) Electronically sign a petition. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/SaveMar/

2) Write to your senators/representatives requesting they hand over the goods! ....I mean visa.

3) SHARE!! With everyone you know. Even the grouchy ones! Because a grouchy voice is still a voice!

I will keep you all posted!

Edit:
Mar's website is up and running. He has a video and I am proud to say, most of the footage is at MY house! That is right, that gorgeous scenery is mine!

A story of blog-love

Something I have figured out is that as a blogger, I follow other's blogs. Often for inspiration but always because I am interested in the subject. Cupcakes Take the Cake is one of those blogs that I watch for both inspiration and because it is so, way cool. Cupcakes made in every shape, style and flavor AND they have addresses to the best bakeries in America. I am planning a trip to NYC based off of a blog about tiny cupcakes. For realz.

Recently, Stacie (one of the ladies that does the cupcake leg work) did a sliced strawberry throw down. She was looking to see what preserves sliced strawberries best. However, she was frustrated because she couldn't find a product called Fruit Fresh to really round out her throw down.

And this is where I come in. See, here in Walmart-ville, Walmarts maybe create Fruit Fresh as a by-product to stealing our souls. Or they just carry it. Whatever. My great-grandma used it for as long as I can remember and it just seemed like a staple thing fruit lovers had access to. I thought it was a crime that Stacie couldn't find this helpful fruit sprinkle and so I sent an email and an offer. And she accepted my offer and now SHE HAS FRUIT FRESH! Yay!

Perhaps I am more excited because I had the opportunity to reach out and touch someone I have always respected from afar. And I hope to not make her regret giving me her email. But I can't make any promises. I might have a crush.

Going Upper (middle) Class

We recently did the whole birthday hoopla. And with that, Dustin's parents came to visit. And with them came a boat.

This isn't one of those fancy-pants boats that you show off to your friends while your butler brings you another martini. No, this is one of those boats that you get because you love water and can't afford one. And your in-laws really don't want it hanging around, anyway.

It is actually in good condition. The most work will be clean up. A thick layer of Texas dirt covers everything. But it runs and they gave us paraphernalia like skis and a tube. So, COOL!

It should be noted that, if I were okay with it, Dustin might sleep on the boat. He loves it so much. The weather has done very little more than rain in the last few days and he is just terribly distraught about the lack of TLC the boat has received.

And then I come along and say things like, "Oooooh, we are going to need to get some cup holders." And I see him die a little.

Probably shouldn't mention how I feel about getting a first aid kit, huh?

The Throes of Death...by Embarrassment

I live in an area with a LOT of old people. And I love old people. Though not so much driving behind them because I am usually late. But today, they killed me.

My in-laws were here for the weekend and we had a really good time but I am pooped! They left this morning, I made pancakes and decreed it Pajama Day. So now, about 4 in the afternoon, an elderly couple comes to my door (up a 1/3 mile long driveway) to tell me the buzzards are eating the cow food in the field (that is not mine) in front of my house. I am in pajamas and they do not seem to approve. Also, my dog managed to chew up something white into teeny, tiny pieces all over my grass. The woman looked at me, looked at all the pieces and literally SHOOK HER HEAD. "Women these days" you could hear her thinking.

Yes, I have been shamed into dressing. And also getting off the computer. But not before sharing. Because that is how I roll.

Ripley's Find

This is my dog Ripley.

I haven't told you much about her because that is life. But she is an entertaining mutt and we plan to keep her around for the long haul.

Ripley has this lovely (read: life threatening) habit of bringing things up on our front deck. Small children have been know to comment on the condition of our deck ("Messy!"). She clutters it with sticks, rocks and most importantly odd/gross items. It is these in the last category that I will exploit. With regularity, is the hope.

This week, we found something unidentifiable. At first I thought it was going to be part of an animal (say a grottee chewed up ear) but upon investigation, I discovered that it is probably a piece of plastic something-or-rather from a recent burn Dustin did. Regardless, it looks questionable.

Be grateful it isn't the rotted armadillo foot. That thing was straight from a horror movie!