Wishing and Hoping

With a little help from my friends, our family is heading north at first light tomorrow, wishing and hoping to still find some snow to play in and covering a hill to sled down.

Our children have never seen snow. I know. Pull your jaws up off the floor, Pittsburghers. It's just that once you leave the cold and snow and ice and freezing rain you don't go looking for it again. And if you do, it's four hours away. And it might be gone or all "played in" already because there's a whole valley full of people with snow-seeking children who try to time it just right, too. 

However, our kids really want to see it, and since they're eleven and eight already it's high time we give it to them. Or at least try to. So after a day of rounding up sleds and snow pants and coats and the ever elusive boots for Matthew that I scored only an hour ago, we are ready for a snowy adventure. Holy moly! That's a lot of stuff for a day trip, isn't it?

Here's to a good snow day tomorrow. If we don't get one, we'll have to find another way to explore Flagstaff in the cold, which wouldn't be so bad. It will still be more of a winter wonderland than what they've seen around here. At the very least, it will be one more day Matthew gets out of having to get a haircut. One thing's for sure after looking at a guestroom full of snow gear; we will be warm.

Of Course!

I'm ending 2014 with a bonus blog because I saw this story yesterday and I'm still laughing about it. Universe!

Thanks to Google, my phone sends me news that might interest me, I assume based on my web searches. So mostly it's stories about Taylor Swift, the Beatles, recipes, weather forecasts, Justin Guitar, and Bryan Adams. When BA showed up in my news notifications yesterday evening, I'm sure you can imagine my surprise and delight at viewing this photo.

It's Bryan Adams in a vintage Airstream on Boxing Day. Of course it is! Why wouldn't my two biggest infatuations comingle?

Thanks for that, Google. I owe ya one.

The Smarter Choice

The holidays are nearly over. It's almost time to take down the tree and the treats are close to being gone. Thank goodness on both counts! The tree looks nice and the room will look empty without it, but for some reason I'm sick of seeing it this year. Maybe it's because half the lights don't work and we never bothered to fix it. But I thought I was so over perfectionism. Doesn't matter. Tomorrow it's gone.

We're also slowly working our way through the treats from friends, family, and neighbors. I appreciate their thoughtfulness. I do. It's just that I can't stay away from it. I normally don't eat lots of cookies and candy because I don't usually buy those things, but I am eating them now because they're there. They're almost all gone and I will rejoice and be glad not to look at them anymore, too.

In the meantime, I've come up with an alternative inspired by a friend. I sometimes make homemade Lara bars with dates and nuts and spices, but it's a huge ordeal with the food processor. However, when we went biking/hiking with friends earlier this week she told me she sometimes stuffs dates with almonds. Now why didn't I think of that?

So today I pulled out my dates and almonds from Costco and got those guys together!

Now when I reach for something I ought to make the smart choice, right?

Right! I believe I can and I will. Happy New Year to you and good luck with your own resolutions, whatever they may be.

Linked In

I registered with LinkedIn just now. Every once in a while I get an email telling me someone wants to connect with me on LinkedIn. Or maybe they register and it sends the email to all their contacts. Either way, seeing as I wasn't working outside of our home, I reasoned I had no business (Ha! Get it!?) being on a networking site for professionals. After spending about twenty minutes figuring out how to register, I'm certain I still don't belong.

But I'm there now! Mostly because I can't figure out how to remove my account and Brian's not home. I'm a substitute teacher in real estate. Uh huh. That's what it says and I am unable to correct it. The way I see it, Brian cannot get home fast enough to fix this.

Hike, Interrupted

Brian and the kids met up with his buddy and family yesterday for a mountain biking adventure. I'm not too comfortable and not at all steady on a bike in the mountains so I tagged along in the car and then went on a hike by myself when we arrived. I was looking forward to a good climb to get my heart pumping and some pretty views. I got both along the Wind Cave Trail in Usery.

I also ran into my archenemy. Not really, but if I had one of those he would be it.

Not even a half mile into my hike, I came around a bend and saw two men. I know that guy went through my head and before I knew it my mouth was saying, "Are you John Huppenthal?" (He's the, thankfully, former Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Arizona.) I am not a fan, along with many other people, and believe he was doing his best to dismantle the public education system in our state. 

John Huppenthal: Yes, I am. And you are?

Me: Oh I'm just a parent in Chandler.  (Just a parent? Come on, Sara! Way to make him feel like he's so much more important that you.)

I carried on walking as he spouted out awards our school district has won and how fantastic our superintendent is. Yawn. I already knew that, John. Oddly enough, this isn't the first time I've run into him around town. The other time, I really told him what I thought of him and his politics, and I think I surprised my father-in-law who stumbled upon our conversation at a children's train park. I feel this man let our students down in a lot of ways and as an elected official he should know that people are unhappy with his work, or at least that I was.

Yesterday, I could have said something snarky but I didn't. He's no longer in charge of anything so there's nothing I need to say to him anymore. He was stopped there, still talking, but I hiked on and called back, "Yes. It's a strong district. It doesn't matter how many choices there are. I wouldn't send my kids anywhere else."

It was so satisfying. 

It's a Miracle!

That is what Matthew exclaimed as the four of us sat down to dinner last night. After working in the kitchen with Brian for an hour and forty minutes, a noodle stir-fry dinner was finally on the table. Though I joked about it yesterday, I was proud of both of them for taking on the project and committing to it. Or maybe they realized that if they didn't go through with it, there'd be nothing to eat. Either way, it was a good job done, and I think they both are now grateful that someone else plans and prepares dinner for them every night. So thank you for that, cub scouts!

A Kitchen Experiment

Brian and Matthew are cooking dinner. In order to earn a cub scout badge, Matthew has to plan and fix a complete dinner, set the table, and serve it to us. When I asked Matthew what he wanted to make he wasn't sure, so I tried to encourage him.


Me: Well what do I make that you like?

Matt:  Nothing.

Me: Okaaaaay. What would you like to learn how to make?

Matt: Orange chicken!

Me: Well, that sounds difficult and I don't know how to make that.

Brian: I can find a recipe.

Me: Great! You kids have fun.

They soon learned that orange chicken done the way Matthew wanted it (the Panda Express way, of course) was a little too complicated, so they settled on a spicy shrimp noodle bowl instead. I was really looking forward to not having to cook tonight, but Brian has come to ask me a question nearly every two minutes for the last twenty. Geez oh man. At this rate, my Mild: Lost to Found on the Wind Cave Trail blog will never get written!

What is a clove of garlic? The big thing or just a section of it?
How many of these Udon noodles should we cook?
Do you just cut this garlic into little pieces?
How do I thaw this shrimp?
Do we have garlic salt? Use garlic powder. I see onion powder. Keep looking.
Do we have cornstarch? In the pantry.
Three quarter cups of brown sugar seems like a lot of sugar. Is that right?
What temperature do I cook these shrimp on?
It says three carrots. I used twelve baby ones. Is that enough?

Sigh. Sometimes it really is easier to do it yourself. This should be interesting, at least, but I also hope it's tasty. Thankfully, cleaning up is part of the badge because they seem to be using every tool and bowl in my kitchen.