From over the rainbow...

Title is a reference to Lysa's last comment on my rainbow pic. I have to say, the wind we had last weekend had me a little worried that I'd wake up in Kansas, or even worse, Barstow. That would be the WRONG side of the rainbow, that's for sure.

It's been a tough couple of weeks. Last week, a friend called and needed me to babysit for the day. Both of her kids, a toddler and a newborn, had had the 24 hour flu, and were now fine, but now she had it. Her hubby had to go to class and work. So, I went over and watched her kids for the day. They're easy, cute kids and that was fun. The next night I had a Stake Leadership meeting that I couldn't ditch (I'm the Stake Enrichment Counselor), even though I was feeling pretty marginal. I chalked it up to having spent the day with Meg's class on a field trip, and went to my meeting. I got home and within minutes it was apparent I'd caught the stomach bug. Yuck. I tried to avoid Sam and Meg, but by Monday morning, they both had it. So that's how we spent President's Day. Actually, I left them home throwing up while I went to the movies with Lysa. I asked Sam if that made me a bad mom, he said "no" at the same time that Meg said "yes". Oh well. Lysa doesn't get time without kids very often, so we celebrated by going to lunch, too. And, Sam and Meg were both still alive when I got home and feeling a bit better. I bought ginger ale for them on the way home, so I didn't feel so guilty. :0)

A couple of nights later, Sam and I were sitting in the front room when we heard a "ssssssss....pop...pop" from the kitchen. We went in there and could smell smoke, like from an electrical fire. As we were standing there wondering which appliance was freaking out, we heard it again. Of course, it couldn't be the toaster, it had to be the expensive appliance...the fridge...so, we unplugged it. I called an appliance service place the next morning and then spent the next few hours trying to figure out how to save all my frozen food and my just-purchased groceries. I ran up and down the stairs about a hundred times, moving stuff to the downstairs fridge (which is full of food supply stuff that doesn't necessarily have to be refrigerated, it just lasts longer that way). I moved some frozen stuff to the downstairs freezer and then went and bought about 20 lbs of dry ice to keep what was left in the freezer cold. It was a long day. When the appliance guy finally came today, he said that the compressor burned out and it would be a mere $750 to fix it. I think we're just going to go buy the fridge I really want anyway, it's only another $500. Doing our part to stimulate the economy. Sam says he'd rather stimulate the camera economy. But, I like having a refrigerator. And, he wasn't the one making all those trips downstairs.

I got Sam the coolest b-day present. I can tell you cuz he doesn't ever look at the blog. We were at Phil's Fish Market the other night. Yes, Phil's of Bobby Flay Cioppino ThrowDown fame. He's practically like our neighbor. Anyway, we can't afford to actually eat anything there except chowder, but we like to go there because they have live bluegrass music several nights during the week. We can run to the beach, watch the sun go down, go in and get chowder, onion rings and bluegrass for under $20. The Tuesday band is the best, and as we were listening to their incredible banjo player, Sam told me that he wished he'd never sold his banjo. I guess when they were dirt poor, living in Tucson, he had to sell his banjo. I've known Sam since college, and frankly, I don't remember him ever playing the banjo. Whatever. I looked on eBay, anything very nice was $300-$600. But, I scored on Craig's List. I got a practically-never-been-played banjo, with a really nice case for just $145!!! It's beau-ti-mous! He better play it, because we got a LOT of musical instruments in this house already that no one plays. In fact, he'll be shocked because every time he mentions buying a musical instrument of any type, I give him all kinds of grief. So, anyone taking any bets as to whether he actually remembers how to play it??? I'll take pics and post them later.

Easy Yummy Recipe...and a Rainbow

(Had to add this morning's view out my front windows...LOVE Sams wide angle lens)

Just thought I'd pass on this easy recipe that my friend gave me. We had it for dinner tonight and it was yummy. Takes about 10 minutes to get it all in the crockpot.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Stew

1 onion, chopped (I used a handful of dehydrated onions)
1 15 oz can black beans, undrained
1 15 oz can kidney beans, undrained (I used pintos, as I have kidney haters)
1 16 oz can corn, drained
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 14.5 oz cans Rotel tomatoes (see note)
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1-2 boneless chicken breasts (or a can of cooked chicken)

Mix everything together in the crockpot except the chicken. Lay it on top and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. 30 minutes before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to the slow cooker and cook another 30 mins.

I served it with shredded cheese and toasted corn tortilla strips. It makes about 6 servings if no one's a big eater, or 4 if you have hungry boys/teenagers.
I don't buy Rotel because they're usually more expensive than plain diced tomatoes. I used two cans of tomatoes and a can of chopped green chilis.

Jenny, I know you don't do chicken, but you could brown some hamburger and put it in, or a can of shredded roast beef, or any leftover meat. I don't recommend tuna, though. Yuck!

Slacker

Yep, when it comes to blogging lately, I'm a slacker. Mostly for lack of anything interesting to blog about. I'm sick AGAIN, although I think after three weeks, I'm finally on the upswing. Now Meg's sick. Hopefully I won't catch that, too. My doctor told me that stress is undermining my immune system. Tell me how you don't stress with the economy the way it is and primary breadwinner that hates his job??? Anyway, I've been waiting for GOOD news to blog about, but nothing really exciting so far.

Last weekend we photographed a blow-out party for the son of my Fijian friend, Selai. His name is Saimoni and he married a beautiful girl from Hawaii named Anu in the Oakland Temple. They had TWENTY bridesmaids and TWENTY groomsmen and about a dozen little flower girls and ring bearers (usher?). We were the official photographers, but I think every single one of the approx 500 polynesians had a camera, which made it very challenging. But, once again, Selai and her cousins, aunties, etc etc, threw an amazing wedding party the next day. She and her sister are former dancers at the Polynesian Cultural Center and they've passed on a love of polynesian culture to their family. They had Tahitian dances, Tongan dances, Hawaiian dances, Fijian dances. It was great. And once a dancer started, anyone was allowed to join in. Not too many people on the Tahitian dance, though, hardly anyone can do the Tahitian hip thing the way these little girls could. Very impressive!



This is the couple in their traditional Fijian costumes. This was a great party, and sitting there watching it all unfold, it was hard to believe it was fueled by nothing stronger than bottled water and imu pig. Saimoni is a wonderful guy, Anu is very sweet and I'm happy for them.



There are more pics on my facebook page...Fiji warriors, etc.

Someone should come visit and give us something to blog about. :0)

Not much to say...

Not much going on of any excitement, so this is just so I can see a new entry. And avoid my ever-growing to-do list.

Ward conferences have started. As a Stake leader I get to go to every one of them, although this year I don't have to speak. Yay for that! But, it does mean two on the same day sometimes...six hours of meetin's. It's amazing how tired you can get sitting for six hours. I do enjoy visiting the other wards though.

I had a birthday. It was fun, as long as I didn't think about the digits it represented. I'm now officially on the downhill side of my life. I hope I do a better job on this half. (or whatever I have left).

Mom Bailey is having surgery today to hopefully remove the cancer they discovered a couple of weeks ago. They think it's contained and hope to remove it all and not have to do chemo or radiation. She told us last time that we were there that she's fine, not concerned about dying and we should not worry about her. We had to explain to her that we could tell she was OK with it, we're not sure that any of her progeny are ready for her to go. Sam keeps telling her that he expects her to take care of him in his old age. We're going to Bakersfield this evening to see her and help out Mary, who is there taking care of her.

Meg and I are elbow deep in a project about King Tut. We're building a replica of his tomb. I'll post pics if/when we get it done. We were supposed to start working on it over Christmas break, but I put my foot down and said it was supposed to be a break, not homework time. So, now we're in a crunch. I guess I shouldn't have been so stubborn.

On MLK day, we went to San Francisco to attempt (again) to go to the SF Academy of Sciences museum. I've NEVER seen Golden Gate park that crowded...bumper to bumper traffic, no where to park. Ugh! We gave up and went to HaightAshbury and had great Thai food whilst we watched the odd/strange/weird people go by. We'll try the museum on some random day of the week sometime.

OK, I'm gonna go down and beg for a haircut. (I forgot to make an appointment with the only stylist within 40 miles who speaks English.)

Baby Jesse

We're in Bakersfield to see Mom Bailey, and we got to go see the newest Bailey; Jesse Timothy Waite. This baby, that his parents waited 15-ish years for, is such a miracle and is absolutely beautiful. We'll post more on the Facebook site after we get home and Sam gets them edited.

Hmm...what the?

For some reason, yesterday's post didn't show up on anyone's list until this morning...now that a bunch of other people have posted and kicked it back to the bottom of the list. SO, this is a test to see if that happens again. And take a peek at Meg's new haircut (below on yesterday's post) if you didn't see it on my Facebook page already....

Off to SJ with Sam to eat at the famous Apple, Inc. cafeteria. (Srsly, gize, they have a wood fired pizza bar, staffed by italians..)

Meg's New Do

We went yesterday and got Meg's long hair whacked off again. It was just too long for her to deal with herself and I was hating it as she hollered at me when I tried to comb it. This is her third time donating to Locks of Love. A friend in the ward, who is a stylist, did it at home on her day off. She really did a good job and it's very cute. Meghan is thrilled with it.

Here's a "before" pic, taken last week at Jade Cove:


This one is right after, with a cute "twisty" style that the stylist put in:


This is this morning, when Meg combed and styled this little flip herself with a blowdryer brush (YES!):

Adventures...

So, I have a 12 year old that can't ride a bike. Part of it is that we've always lived where it was difficult to find a place to teach her. It's still kind of a pain, we live at the top of a hill, not conducive to safe bike-learning. So, we decided it was well past time and took her to the CSU-Monterey Bay baseball field (w/fakarooni astroturf) to try and teach her.

First Sam ran along side..


Then Ryan took a turn...


Then Sue took her turn...


Then Sam took another turn...


Finally, she solos....catch the intent look of concentration there...


So, now Sam is dead.


Yesterday, we drove up to the redwoods to look for banana slugs. Sue had "poo-poo-ed" their existence once when she was here a couple of years ago. And, she had heard that if you see one, you're supposed to kiss it. She thought it was for luck or something (but we looked it up...it's just a "guts" thing). Ry found her several, but she only kissed one. She was careful to put a boatload of lipstick on first, so that her actual lips wouldn't actually touch it. But, here's the proof:

Our Christmas break...so far.

Sam came home a few weeks ago and told me he had good news and bad news. I opted for the bad news first: Apple closes down between 12/24 and 1/05. (He's a contractor, that means no paycheck for those days). I asked him what the good news was: Apple closes down between 12/24 and 1/05.

It's been lovely, though. We're doing stuff that is low-key, low-cost, and, as much as possible, outdoors. Sam doesn't deal with the short days well, so any extra sunshine lifts his spirits considerably. We had a solstice celebration at Phil's Fish Market on the 22nd. We read up on solstice traditions around the world, and decided that anything really weird and "out there" would probably be appropriate. But, we just ate clam chowder and listened to bluegrass. We're working on our weird, out-there tradition for next year.

We had a birthday brunch on Meg's birthday with our friends the Filceks, the Kirks and Wendy & Jim (Meg's extra auntie/grandma). We ate too much, and played some silly games. We made awesome coconut cupcakes(from scratch, mind you) for her birthday cake.



Christmas was pretty low key, and we decided it was our best ever. We had decided to stick to a pretty limited budget this year. And, it was our year to stay here for Christmas. Mom and the Waites were going to come up for Christmas dinner, but weren't able to, so it was just us. We got up at 9-ish, and emptied our stockings. Then we ate Christmas waffles and watched the First Presidency broadcast that we had saved. We opened our presents (doesn't take long with only three people and about 4 gifts each).

Meg got new clothes (since she's growing like a weed), a book on Egypt, a couple of 1000-pc jigsaw puzzles and a rock tumbler.



Sam got a new filter for his camera, some photo software that he wanted, a photo book that I made of our honeymoon, an electric knife and Monkey Pants (pj's that Meg made him).



I got a new faucet for my kitchen (yay!), a calendar and a "Families, a journey to forever" plaque from Meggie (she made the plaque in Activity Days and it's perfect for the family photo wall we haven't put up yet...but we will), and a cool stove top popcorn popper so I don't have to keep scrubbing burned-on popcorn out of my favorite pot. No pics of me are allowed before noon, so there.

We sat around in our jammies and did puzzles, played with new software, ate leftovers from the birthday brunch, etc. We had some friends who called and wanted us to go to the movie with them, but we were enjoying being lazy and didn't wanna get dressed. Other friends called late in the afternoon, wanting us to come help them eat Mexican food. Yum. They said "come as you are", so we did. (We did shower first, yuck...but we wore jammies/sweats over). It was lovely to get a Christmas tamale, something I miss when I don't go to AZ for Christmas.

We decided that for the rest of Sam's time off, regardless of what else we do, we are going to hit a beach every day. This is prime beachcombing time. We picked up almost a dozen whole sand dollars the day after Christmas down the street at Moss Landing.



Yesterday we went to Jade Cove, south of Big Sur, in search of jade. Meg found a couple of tiny pieces, but mostly we got some cool pictures.



Today, we'll hit Del Rey Oaks beach on the way home from church. We are so blessed to live here, we're spoiled and we know it.

Merry Christmas!!!

Birthday Girl!

Today is Meg's 12th birthday. Hard to believe. We're having a couple of families over for a family brunch birthday party in a couple of hours, so I still gots lots to do. I'm gonna steal Anna's post idea and tell you TWELVE things I love about my little "Meggie Punkin Angel Pie" (as Sam calls her).

1. She still skips down the hall. (She's only "too cool" for some things, I expect a year in YW will change that)

2. She has a funny little sense of humor and makes us laugh.

3. She wants to know EVERYTHING. Her favorite vacation activity is a museum.

4. She really wants to do the right thing. And gets very frustrated with herself when she doesn't.

5. She's still big on family. Her multitude of aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents are her favorite people to hang with.

6. She's very sweet with little kids. She's not quite ready for babysitting yet, but she a big help when friends come over with their little ones.

7. She likes to cook and makes us pancakes for breakfast.

8. She goes around the house singing. She says she "can't" sing, but thats a bunch of baloney.

9. She loves to run. Her sedentary parents hope she doesn't outgrow that one. She needs to have an outlet for her massive sweet tooth.

10. She's very creative and artistic. She got tapped by the YW pres a few months ago to make 30 origami frogs for a YW lesson on not kissing frogs.

11. She's very compassionate and wants to help people who need help.

12. She's STILL very much a kid, which I love. I'm in no hurry for her to grow up any faster.

Ok, now for the pictures:

Good news and bad news...

Good news: I got the funnest (and funniest) Christmas card ever yesterday. You guys make our day. You seriously need to have a blog-a-cation at our house. But, probably not until I stock up on inhalers. I have a feeling I'd be laughing myself into asthma fairly regularly while you were here.

Bad news: Meg came home with an outline for a social studies project that she's supposed to be working on over Christmas break! Isn't Christmas "break" supposed to be a BREAK!! Instead we'll be researching a paper on ancient Egypt and making a 3D sarcophogus (if you can believe that....Meg got to pick from several things and that's what she picked...geez). I had to sign the paper saying that I knew she had the assignment, but I added a note that I was signing but WASN'T HAPPY about it. She's only in 6th grade, for pete's sake and how are you supposed to plan family time when she has to do homework!!!!!! OK, I'm not over it, but I'll shut up now.