Jury Duty - part 2

So a month or two ago, I received a letter telling me I had to fill out a form online to qualify for jury duty (with the threat of penalties or jail time if I didn't comply). I filled out the form and qualified - hooray for me. I received a nice yellow summons postcard for the first week of November. I did my civic duty by making sure I had a babysitter lined up each day and calling in after five each evening to see if I had to go to the court house the next day. I think it would be interesting to serve on a jury, but it would also be a hassle trying to find someone to watch my kids and do carpools and such. I was a little relieved when Friday rolled around and my number hadn't been selected. Ok, more than a little relieved. So you can imagine my shock, disbelief, and consternation at finding ANOTHER jury summons in my mailbox for next week. Yep, the week of Thanksgiving. I wonder if they just keep sending these things until they get you into the court room. If I do get lucky and have to go downtown to the court building, they will pay me very generously - $18.50 for the entire day. I can't wait.

Sour Cream, Anyone?

I promise - he was only out of my line of vision for two minutes. I had just got his breakfast for him, and then sat down to the computer. Next thing I know he's climbing into my lap and stinks. It was a smell I couldn't identify readily (sour cream isn't on my top ten list of reasons kids might smell). I asked him what smelled and he grabbed my hand and walked me over to this lovely site. He's taken the pint of sour cream out of the fridge, a large spoon out of the drawer and a canister of punch mix out of the cupboard. He then decided to fill the empty canister with the sour cream. I don't know why - he won't tell me. (He only has about 4 words and is generally a VERY quiet and stealthy kid).

At least this mess was easier to clean up than the one Anna got into with the punch canisters. I was in the hospital the day after Andrew was born. Bret came to pick me up and mentioned that Anna had made a little mess in the kitchen right before they left to come and get me. She had opened 8-10 of the crystal light like containers and mixed them up on the floor.



Andrew did do one cute thing this morning. When he got up and saw the snow he was so excited. He ran and got my camera, took off the lens cap, raised the flash and started trying to take pictures through the window. I turned on the camera and showed him where to push and he took about 15 pictures of the snow outside. He then turned the camera over to see the pictures he'd just taken. I better go, he just ran out of the kitchen and I'd rather not have another major mess today.

Yummy Recipes

I love fall. I've decided it's my favorite season. The leaves are so beautiful, it's the perfect temperature, and there are some great fall recipes out there. Here are a few I've tried lately.

This is our favorite sweet potato casserole recipe. I usually double the recipe, but keep the margarine at 1/2 cup, and put it in a 9x13 glass pan.





Pumpkin Bread

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teas. pumpkin pie spice (see below)
1 teas. baking soda
1 teas. baking powder
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup apple or orange juice

Mix together. Put into a sprayed (Pam) loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 min. Makes one loaf.

I didn't have any pumpkin pie spice so I looked online and found this recipe for it.

1. Measure 1 teaspoon of cinnamon into a small bowl or cup.
2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger.
3. Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice or ground cloves.
4. Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
5. Stir to blend.
6. Makes 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

(Note: There isn't any oil in the recipe so the texture of the bread may seem different, but it tasted great.)

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

• 3 pound(s) butternut squash (1 big one), peeled, seeded and diced into 1-inch cubes
• 2 medium onion(s), peeled and quartered
• 29 oz canned chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
• 1/4 cup(s) fat-free sour cream

• Combine squash, onion, and chicken broth and simmer for about 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
  
  
• Puree soup in blender- I used a hand held bamix type mixer. Add curry. Season to taste with salt and pepper; garnish with sour cream and scallions if desired.

I also found a recipe online that suggested nutmeg and cinnamon instead of curry, so I'm going to try that next time.

Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Cookie

• 1 spice cake mix
• 1/2 large size canned pumpkin
• 1/2 (12 ounce) bag mini chocolate chips

1. Mix the dry cake mix and the pumpkin together until moist.
2. Add the chocolate chips.
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

(I don't like spice cake so I used a white cake mix and it turned out great).

Stories in Hand Class

I thought some of you might be interested in this free online class from Jessica Sprague. I haven't taken a class from her before, but they look really good. This one will focus on a way to write and keep track of our stories/memories as they happen. Here's the information:

Disneyland

We're back! We had a wonderful time in California this past week. I would love to show you lots and lots of pictures, but I took over 700 photos, so you'll have to wait until the scrapbook comes out. :) Here are a few photos.

California Adventure

I just had to include this picture.

I could write pages and pages about the trip, but for now I'll sign off. I need to get back to the reality of laundry, cooking, cleaning, homework, and piano lessons. Hope you are all doing well!

On Our Way...

I have to do another post because I can't stand the site of that spider. I figure if I write a long enough post and add a picture or two, I won't have to look at it again.

First, check out my mom and dad's blog if you haven't yet. They went on a fun trip and wrote about it on their blog.



We are on our way to Disneyland tomorrow. Hooray! I'll write about it when we get back. Aaron shared a great website with me called RideMax. You plug in what day you'll be in the park and which rides you want to go on, and it plans out your day to minimize waiting in line. It uses data from years past to guess how busy the park will be. We are going to Disney for 3 days, the beach for one day, and I'm not sure what we'll do on Sunday.

Lovely Spiders

So here's a picture (from the internet) of the lovely spider I found in my laundry basket yesterday. The laundry basket with clean clothes in it that had been sitting on my bedroom floor for three days. (I know most of you out there probably put your laundry away as soon as it's finished, but I'm doing 9-10 loads of laundry a week people. I hardly get one weeks laundry done before it's Monday and time to start the next weeks.)


Back to the spider. I had just hung up a pair of pants and turned around to pick up the next pair and found a black widow on them. I'm usually ok with bugs, snakes, and creepy crawly things, but I draw the line at black widows in my house! I didn't want to squish it because it was HUGE so I took the chicken way out and caught it in a mason jar. Those spiders are so freaky looking. You just know they're evil by looking at them. I had the heebie jeebies for the next few minutes, so I called MeLynda. She has a great exterminator that she has come every fall so she called him and set up appointments for both of us.

The exterminator just came by and treated the inside and outside of the house. I've never had an exterminator before. I usually just deal with those unwanted creatures, but this is war.

Anna followed the man from room to room with a running commentary and tour of our house. I ran downstairs to move some more stuff away from the walls. As Dan came down stairs he informed me of some of the things Anna had told him. One conversation went like this, "My mom's name is Jody, but you can call her honey." He told Anna that he'd just stick with "Jody". Nice.