Surviving The Storm

Instead of hearing the sweet birds sing outside my window today I'm hearing a cacophony of chain saws, power tools and men's voices. There is a lot of cleanup being done after a fierce storm blew through on Wednesday night.

Wednesday was a long day for me, so I asked Keith if he would mind if we went out for dinner. Of course he's always up for mexican food, so off we went...never knowing a storm was on the way.

After dinner we were on our way to pick up a prescription when the storm wall hit us. He turned into a grocery store parking lot just in time for a light pole to snap and come down. He parked next to a store building, yelled get out and we ran over to hunker down. We stood and watched (and I prayed out loud the entire time) as 2 more light poles came down, trees were uprooted, a part of a roof flew by, the grocery cart corrals came undone and went flying and even the hard top of a pickup bed flew by!

The photo shows the light pole and tree down in front of the Starbucks that we go to. Doesn't look so scary when looking at a picture, but it was awful to not be home during this.

Coming home there was a power line not totally down, but leaning, so we went a different way. Fences and trees were down everywhere. The tree between our house and the neighbor snapped up high and landed on their roof. I sat with the mom playing with her two little ones to help calm them down and Keith went on the roof with the guy so they could check for damage. Their roof ok, but the limb too big too move without cutting it in pieces.

This storm has been on my mind a lot the last 2 days, especially since yesterday morning the entire area was hit with torrential rains again. Lots of street flooding in Dallas and high water rescues. A tree across the street got struck by lightning and it's the strangest thing - it didn't burn, but there is a burn mark all down the side of the tree. Later in the day there was door bell ringing and all the neighbors getting together and comparing stories.

It made me think of how we are hearing so many stories of people not relating to their neighbors like they used to. Honestly I won't argue that as I feel it is true. But somehow I am a little more comforted knowing that in times of trouble we all still turn to each other for help and assistance.

And that's a good thing.

"Carry each other's burdens, and this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" - Galatians 6:2

Cat Litter Cucumbers & Peppers and EASports Active

When my friend Dawn posted about her first cucumber I thought it was way cool. We have yet to actually harvest any tomatoes, but we're still having fun with it.

Then the lightbulb moment came - we still have a bunch of cat litter buckets, how about expanding the crop a bit?

Right now we have probably between 50 - 60 tomatoes total on the 4 plants (26 on the cherry tomato alone!), so we didn't need more tomatoes.

I bought a cucumber and a red bell pepper plant and we'll see how it goes. If nothing else we might be able to have a very nice salad.

And since tonight was Day 1 of the 30 Day Challenge on EASports Active, I think some nice salads would be a good thing. Speaking of which, the EASports Active is NOT a game like the WiiFit. This thing is way more serious exercise, especially for two old fogeys like us! We had a lot of fun with it though and my favorite feature is that two people can exercise at one time. Always more fun doing this sort of thing together.

Loni's Birthday

Running a few days late with this post, but the thoughts are no less sincere. We celebrated my daughter-in-law's birthday last weekend and of course that means a handmade card. This image is from Pink Cat Studio's Christmas Kitty stamp set, though with a few color changes there's nothing Christmas about it.

Good thing I made a card because Loni pulled the envelope out of her bag and said that it better be a handmade card! WHEW!

Miss B was a total Rockstar that evening! She really was in fine form and her girly giggles had surrounding tables in smiles.

We went to Uno's Pizza and Loni and I split a Spinoccoli pizza that had spinach, broccoli, chunky tomatoes and cheeses and there was some for her to take home even. Brooklyn had some of ours cut up on her plate, but then she would see a big piece of broccoli on my piece of pizza and ask for it. Of course grandma said yes, so I just started handing her my broccoli. And I'm thrilled that she's that crazy over a vegetable!

When we left the restaurant and walked the few blocks to our car, Grandpa was carrying B. Lynne' and I were walking right behind them and just thought it darling to watch Brooklyn with her little arm around her grandpa's neck. And every now and then she would run her fingers in his hair. She really is a Baapaw's girl. :)

Flat Tires, Cereal On The Go and Root Beer Floats

What we have here is a flat tire. Flatter than a pancake when seen in real life. And in a way it was kind of fitting and funny. I had one of those days at work where everything I touched did NOT turn to gold! Not a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day", just couldn't seem to get it together. So when I felt the truck acting funny shortly after leaving work I was pleased to see a gas station convenience store combo and pulled in. Walked around the truck and there it was. Bless Keith's heart, he didn't miss a beat when I called to tell him and before I knew he was pulling up to help me out. My beloved white knight. :)

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On a brighter note, last night was Bible study of a sort. Our leader had a brilliant idea for us to meet at a local yum-o restaurant and just have a fellowship time instead of going over our homework. This really was such a good idea and we had a great evening. During Bible study time you tend to get very deep and emotional and tell some of your most personal thoughts, so it's rather nice to know the ladies that hold your secrets in the palm of their hands.

That aside, it was fun! We went to a latin restaurant and the menu was quite extensive. I narrowed my choice down to two and since one of them was marked with the heart smart symbol I decided to go with it. Oh so good and one of the side items was sliced grilled sweet potatoes. I love a good baked sweet potato, but I've not ever had them grilled before. Might be a foodie experiment in the making.



Since I went straight to the restaurant from work I had a little time to kill. Fortunately for me there is a Container Store right there...oh be still my heart!

One of my "score!" purchases was this E-Z Freezer Cereal On The Go container. I've had a pink one for several years and used to use it for my morning break at work. Keith recently decided to try it for his morning break and never once complained about the hot pink color. Unfortunately the freezer goo is starting to leak, so I was happy to finally find another one.

It's really a clever contraption - the bottom part twists off and you freeze it overnight. In the morning fill it with milk, fill the top part with raisin bran and there's a spoon that tucks into the very top. Believe it or not it keeps the milk cold enough that there are little ice crystals throughout.

And with that I'm headed to bed. Hopefully everybody remembered to go to Sonic tonight for the free root beer float. We did - after working out first, naturally. ;)

Good times..............

Crayon Tote Bag

This is the little tote bag that I made when I went on retreat. I bought the pattern online, but I can't find it right now - I'll edit this post when I find the pattern information.

Anyway, it's just the right size for a little girl to carry her coloring books and crayons. When I saw the idea I just fell in love with it as it seems so practical to grab this tote when you're on your way to a restaurant or on a car trip or something. Keeps things all together that way.

It's also the very first time I've ever done any meandering quilting. Step one of the pattern is to make the 'quilt sandwich' and do the all over quilting, then put the tote bag together.

I made this for B's 2nd birthday, which is in July. Now look below:

This is Brooklyn Sunday night carrying her new tote bag! We all went out to eat for Loni's birthday (more on that in another post) and it just seemed like the perfect time to give this to her.

And you know, all a girl really needs is her crayon tote bag and sippy cup and she is ready for just about anything.

Good times...........

Rotini with Spinach and Asiago Cheese

Last Friday night was Bunco and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! There is something about getting together with girlfriends that just makes for a great evening. And I just happened to be at the head table and won the final round - the one that counted!

Our potluck theme this month was italian food and with it being summer I didn't want to pull out the usual lasagna recipes and such. I turned to Food Network because I figured Giada wouldn't let me down - and she didn't.

I made a large bowl of Rotini with Spinach and Asiago Cheese, though you might notice that the actual recipe says Fusilli instead of Rotini. But...I wasn't positive how to pronounce fusilli, so I bought rotini instead - LOL! It came out perfect for a hot summer night and I breathed a sigh of relief to see the other ladies eating it (why do we worry about that stuff so much? But who wants to come home with a full dish???).

Keith and I tasted it before it left the house - naturally - and we both really liked it. I still have enough of the cheeses to do another batch, so we'll be having it for dinner on Thursday. The only thing I will do differently is that we bought some italian sausage at the meat market and I'll grill that, slice it and stir in the pasta. Makes it more of a manly main dish that way. ;)

ROTINI WITH SPINACH AND ASIAGO CHEESE

Ingredients
1 pound pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (9 ounce) bag of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup (about 3.5 ounces) asiago cheese, grated
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until tender, but still firm. Cook about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, warm olive oil in a large, heavy skillet (really large!) over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and tomatoes and cook until the spinach starts to wilt, about 2 more minuates. Add the cooked pasta and tossed. Stir in the cheeses, salt, pepper and cooking liquid (I didn't need to add the cooking liquid to mine) and stir to combine.