Think it’s too late to unfreeze your turkey? Think again!
Some tips for storing all those yummy Thanksgiving leftovers.
Black Friday secrets they don’t want you to know!
Nervous about cooking that turkey? Here are some turkey basics to get you through.
Ways to avoid common Turkey Day disasters.
How to make pan gravy.
Late additions:
How to carve that Thanksgiving turkey.
Sunday was such a beautiful day. We spent the morning outside – working in the garden planters and Mike envisioning where the RV that is coming to visit us for a few days will park.
I think I love Calendulas better than any other marigold variety. The petals remind me of feathers…
And is there anything sweeter than a little girl running at full tilt to her daddy with open arms?
Then it was time to go back inside and…paint the island! Everything but the countertop will (hopefully) be finished by LG’s birthday party and the countertop (if we’re really lucky) will be done by Christmas. Mike had a little help with the painting… (Read on …)
Lately we’ve taken to eating breakfast outside on the front porch since the weather has been so nice. Soon enough it will be too cold to do that, so we’re enjoying it while we can. This morning, Mike had to get to work early, so LG ate breakfast in the house while I got on the treadmill and then I closed the gate and let Melody and LG come out with me while I watered the plants in the front planters.
Melody was running around enjoying her freedom when all of a sudden she started barking like crazy at the fence next to the road. I looked up expecting to see the neighbor’s dog running around in their backyard or something like that. I did see something like that, but it wasn’t a dog. It was a coyote. A limping coyote running across the neighbor’s backyard. I called Melody (who bless her heart, came right away) and got her and LG in the house. The coyote wasn’t coming our way at all, but better safe than sorry. I then watched the coyote somehow get into the vacant house’s yard and keep heading north (away from us).
I called Mike on my cell (which I always take outside with me because you never know!) and told him what had happened while I finished watering. We have a fenced yard, so I had plenty of warning if the coyote or his friends decided to try and visit.
It’s not unusual to see coyotes around here, but it’s a little jarring to see them when you have your dog and your child running around your yard. I guess I’ll have to scope things out before I let them out from now on!
I was just reading an article about how children should address the adults in their lives – should they address them as Mr. or Mrs. or should they use their first names?
On one side of the argument was the father who grew up using the titles of respect and thinks that the kids should use them. On the other side was the mother who says titles are old fashioned and we live in a first name world.
As for me, I guess I fall somewhere in the middle – depends on the adult being addressed. I, personally, prefer to be called Karin. Mrs. LastName was saved for when I was in the classroom. Other than that, I would much rather be called by my first name by kids and adults.
When I was a kid, my grandparents on my dad’s side were Grandpa and Grandma LastName. On my mom’s side, my grandfather was “Poppy” and my grandmother (deceased by the time I came along) was “Nanny”. I did not really care for those names at all, but because I was the last grandchild, I was stuck with them.
So when LG came along, even though she wasn’t the first grandchild, I put my foot down. Even though her older cousin addresses Mike’s mom as “Nonny”*, I said she would be “Grandma” until LG was old enough to decide what she wanted to call her. And actually, my other sis-in-law wanted her to be “Grandma”, too, so generally she is “Grandma”, and since she is LG’s only living grandma, there is no need to distinguish between two grandmas.
Both of the Grandpas, however, choose to be Grandpa FirstName. It’s kind of funny to me, because I can’t in a million years imagine calling my grandfathers “Grandpa John” or “Grandpa Lloyd”, but it is a different world we live in now. When LG was first learning to talk, though, she only called Mike’s dad by his first name and left the Grandpa part off. Her Grandpa LOVED it and that was her special name for him. Now that she’s able to talk better, she calls him Grandpa FirstName.
As for friends, we’ve always let her call them by their first names, partly because it was a lot easier to get one first name out when she was learning to talk than it was to get Mr. or Mrs. LastName out. That’s quite a mouthful for a little person!
I do think, however, that as she begins to encounter people that are not “familiars”, we will be using the Mr. or Mrs. or Miss titles a little more often, even if it’s Mr. FirstName instead of Mr. LastName. As I said, I think how a child addresses an adult should depend on who the adult is, and, of course, what the adult in question prefers.
What about you? How do your children address adults?
*Disclaimer: I have nothing against other names for grandparents besides Grandma or Grandpa…it’s just not my style or taste for me or my kiddo – probably because I got made fun of in school for referring to my grandfather as “Poppy” after which I stopped referring to him as “Poppy” and just called him “my grandpa”.
1. I have never enjoyed working with a group of people more than I do the Sunday night choir at our church. Yes, we have our moments when we get frustrated with each other, but most of the time we laugh. I am blessed.
2. If you haven’t seen The Holiday yet, I highly recommend it. I bought it on a whim a few weeks ago at Target and finally got around to watching it last night and I loved it! I finally understand what people see in Jude Law. Very sweet romantic comedy with a holiday theme running through it.
If I get enough extra Thanksgiving links, I’ll do a special Surfer post on Tuesday or Wednesday, so keep your eyes opened!
Everybody Needs Gadgets
Someday, not just Wizards will have a cool clock like the Weasleys do in Harry Potter!
Food! Glorious Food!
The secret to really great mashed potatoes.
I’m totally making these sweet potatoes.
15 appetizers to keep the hungry guests at bay until dinner time. ;)
Creative Stuff
A really cool candle holder.
How to shoot in direct sunlight.
10 things to make with your craft scraps.
Happy Holidays
How to score the best shopping deals online.
My daughter loved her board books. And by that, I mean she loved to gnaw on them. These board books solve that problem.
10 handmade holiday ornaments.
Write a letter from Santa for your kids.
A pumpkin pie martini sounds quite interesting.
Thanksgiving myths unwrapped.
Holiday tipping advice.
Cute little Thanksgiving cupcakes.
Here’s your very own Thanksgiving cheat sheet.
Black Friday deals for 2007.
25 ways to get ahead for the holiday season.
Techno Geekery
Create a flickr photobook on your blog or website. (Although I couldn’t get it to work for me. Maybe you will have more luck.)
Ever wanted to design your own font?
Would you like your own personal assistant? Hire Sandy!
Life Is a Highway
How to care for your American flag.
12 retirement strategies for women.
Some awesome tips to help improve your spelling skills.
How to email a stranger.
25 ways to remove sticker adhesive.
I love Little House on the Prairie. I’m not entirely convinced it will make a good musical, but it will be interesting to see if it’s successful!
How to study less by learning things once.
How to retrieve something dropped down the drain without a wrench or a plumber.
Cold and flu prevention.
Good Ideas
10 uses for coffee filters.
Ever wonder how the sizes of cans translate to measurements? Here is a helpful list of equivalents.
Design and print out your very own disposable personal organizer. So cool! Thank you Theresa!
How to help your kids detach from old toys.
This is a great idea for expectant parents!
Laughter Is the Best Medicine
I did not watch all of these, so I cannot vouch for their cleanliness, but they are supposed to be the funniest web videos of 2007!
Weekly Features
Pretty recipe of the week (that I am totally going to make)
It’s still November, so I have to come up with something to post today, but it’s been rather quiet the last couple of days. Well, not totally, but I am not going to talk about all that has been going on. Suffice it to say that some good things are brewing in HeartSongs land (no not pregnant), and I’ll tell you more when I can.
I did actually get the invitations for LG’s birthday party done today, so they’ll go in the mail Monday (or be personally delivered tomorrow).
That weekend is going to be crazy, but I’m not about to ignore her birthday, especially since she’s finally actually telling me that she’s going to be “free years old!”. Two weeks from tomorrow people. My baby will be three years old two weeks from tomorrow. Wow.
Okay, other than that I have little to say, so I’ll leave you with a couple of questions…answer if you wish!
1. Is anyone watching “Moonlight” on CBS Friday nights? It’s about vampires, and while I’m not really much of a horror/vampire kinda girl, I am LOVING this show. It gets a little gory at times and slightly scary, but I can handle it because I know it’s not based in reality. Fantasy horror I can usually handle as long as it’s not too gory. Horror that could actually happen I cannot deal with. The lead actor (Alex O’Loughlin), by the way, is a hunkity hunk hunk. I think I have a thing for Australian actors. ;)
2. Has anyone read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon? I read the first few books when they came out way back when and got my friends hooked on them, but I haven’t read the last couple of books. I have them, just haven’t read them. I think as soon as I finish the books I’ve got in my stack (if I ever find time to actually read again), I’m going to dig them out and reread the early ones and finally read the later ones. She is apparently going to have the 7th book in the series out late next year.
Okay, I’ve fulfilled my duty to post today. But if something exciting happens, I’ll post again!
Reminiscences on our time with a local church teen choir…getting them written down so I don’t forget.
I thought I was done. I really did, but Laura’s comment on the last post mentioned an event that must be recorded for posterity, and besides, it will end the series on a funny note rather than a sad one.
Okay, I have to give you a bit of background for this one. We were not only working with the teen choir during most of those years, but also another church that was affiliated with a local Catholic high school (not the one we work with now). And on Easter morning one year, we had to do manage to be two places at once. Well, not exactly, but Mike and I were basically two ships passing in the night. We did Easter Vigil on Saturday night at the high school chapel, then Mike did a band gig, then I got up at some godawful hour of the morning and did Sunrise Service with the teen choir and our other pianist, then came home and went back to bed and Mike got up a little later and did Easter morning service at the high school chapel. Yeah. Fun stuff! But that’s not the main story.
The teen choir got stuck doing the Sunrise Service because no one else wanted to do it. And trust me, that is a true statement. I think it was 6 am. Outside in the courtyard of the church. Chilly. Early. Half asleep. In all our Easter finery.
Mike wasn’t there, so it was up to me and the pianist to try and make things work. And it did work pretty well for the most part. That is until the pianist and the flutist started playing two different songs. Which wouldn’t have been totally horrible except for the fact that one of them was in A and one was in Ab. If you’re not a musician, you may not know how bad that is. But if you know anything about music at all, you’ll know it was not pretty. Not one bit. The pianist stopped playing the intro and the flutist kept going so it did stop sounding like a dying cow, and we did get back on track, but oh. my. gosh. I was standing up in the choir singing with the kids and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop the trainwreck. But, it did right itself eventually. I will never forget that moment. The sinking feeling in my stomach. The look of terror on the pianist’s face. All the kids turning to look at me to see what to do. All I could do was shrug and wait for them to fix it. Which they did. And looking back on it now, it’s pretty darn funny really. And a story that we relate often when we talk about big music booboos. Mike wasn’t even THERE and he still tells the story…lol! Ah, the joys of live music!
Okay, I think I’m really done now. Unless I remember something else. You just never know. ;)
If you know me really well, you know that I graduated from Arizona State University. And I’m darn proud of it. And I, therefore, bleed maroon and gold. And if you know anything about interstate college rivalry, you know that our biggest rival is that school down in the southern part of the state. And you know that I don’t really like to see them win (especially in football).
However, tonight they are playing Oregon, with whom ASU is tied in the Pac-10 standings. Oregon – the only team to beat my beloved Sun Devils this year. Oregon – who must lose one more game for the Devils to get back into 1st place in the standings and back on the inside track to the Rose Bowl, and a tiny eensy weensy chance at the National Championship Game. Of course, ASU still has to win out to do that, but they have some control of their destiny there. Oregon HAS to lose at least one more game for them go be the winner of the conference and they have NO control over that.
While it is true that if Oregon wins out, they might go to the National Championship Game and ASU will still go to the Rose Bowl, I don’t really want them to back into that bowl berth.
And I know that even though that team down south would be happy to upset the #2 team in the nation, it’s got to really irk them that it would help ASU. So both schools will have to suffer a little tonight for the good of the cause.
Therefore, it is with great pain and heartburn that I have to say, just for tonight, just this once….
Ouch. May Danny White forgive me.
Updated to add: The Wildcats upset #2 Oregon 34-24. And now I will be rooting for my Devils!!!!
Reminiscences on our time with a local church teen choir…getting them written down so I don’t forget.
I’ve sort of been dreading writing this chapter because it was a really emotional time for us. And it brings back some painful memories. But, that which does not kill us makes us stronger right?
The choir was chugging along – even though most of what we might call the “core” of the choir had graduated high school and gone off to college here, there and everywhere. But they came back and joined us when they were in town, and new kids joined and kept the choir going.
Then one day it all came crashing down around us. In a way that still makes me angry – not so much for us, but for the way the kids were treated. Mike was called to the church for a meeting with the pastor (and I use that term loosely because I still don’t think he was very pastoral during this situation). At this meeting, he was given the letter that the pastor had mailed out to the choir members that day. And it basically said that he thanked Mike and Karin for their years of service, but that he had hired a music director for the parish. In other words, we were fired. Oh wait. We weren’t actually fired. We could stay and “work with him” if we were inclined to do so. Um yeah. Stay and work with someone else in charge of our baby that we had so carefully nurtured and loved and raised? Not going to happen.
But don’t focus on that. Focus on what I said a few sentences back. Mike was given a letter to read that had been mailed to the choir members that day. So, the “pastor” had sent a letter to teenagers to tell them that their choir directors (whom I believe they loved) were not going to be their choir directors anymore. A letter. An effing letter. (Bitter still? Not really – only when I think about it.) It’s bad enough to treat adults that way. But kids? If I’d been in that meeting, I’d probably still be in jail. Ugh.
Anyway, Mike came home and had to tell me the news. I honestly don’t know what he went through on the drive home, but I can’t imagine it was very pleasant, because we were both devastated. But there was NO. WAY. we were going to let the kids find out that way if we could help it. So, we called each and every one of them so we could tell them the news personally. We didn’t get to talk to all of them before they read the letter, but we sure tried our best.
I think the thing that sticks out in my mind more than anything that night was me sitting at our piano just banging and banging on it – not playing – just banging – a cacophony of sound – the sound of my anger – and sobbing and sobbing as though my heart was breaking – because it was. And I remember Bob (the dog) coming up to me amidst all that crying and piano banging and nuzzling up to me trying to make me feel better. And that still makes me cry to this day, thinking about that sweet dog trying to comfort me.
So, there it was. The end of an era. We still had a few weeks, and the final mass to do. I know there were a lot of people there. I know the pastor didn’t dare show his face. Actually, I tend to think that the associate pastor, Fr. L, asked to do that mass (we still exchange Christmas cards with him even after all these years – such a wonderful lovely man and truly pastoral). I don’t remember who all was singing with us to be honest. But I do remember singing The Lord’s Prayer that Mike had written one last time at that church, at that mass, with our kids, and barely making it through without crying.
After we left, the new music director came in – and the choir that we so lovingly built died – for all intents and purposes. He was not really a choir director. He was a solo artist. I know that at least some of the kids sang with him for awhile, but they weren’t the main focus anymore – he was – and so it withered away.
We moved on and found a new church home – the place where we still are today. And life went on.
I learned a few things, though. One, no one is irreplaceable. Two, things do happen for a reason – I can’t imagine my life without the people that are in it now. And three – memories can never be taken away from you.
So, to Laura and B* and all the kids that made up that wonderful beautiful choir, thanks for sharing your lives with us for those few years. It helped shape who we are today. We will always love you guys. Always.
Yesterday LG finally decided that she wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party. I found the party stuff in a catalog, but I want to look around town to see if it’s available here before I order it, because that usually tends to be more expensive. And plus, I can wait longer so I know how much stuff to get and don’t have to overbuy.
So this morning at breakfast, I told Mike that we were going to go looking for party stuff today, but not actually buy it – just see if we could get it so I’d know whether or not to order online, since that needs to be done pretty soon since the birthday party is in 2 1/2 weeks.
He has a church staff meeting this morning and I need him to go to the bank before I go grocery shopping. So before he left he was talking about when he was going to go to the bank and asked if I could wait til later today. I told him I wasn’t going to the store today (meaning, of course, the grocery store). He was happy to hear that because it meant he didn’t have to rush to the bank between the meeting and the staff lunch. He got ready and left.
LG and I were sitting on the couch reading a book and I looked up and saw my car driving off. The only car we have with a car seat. The only car I ever drive (because his truck scares the crap out of me). I drop the book, grab the phone and the following conversation ensues:
K: Did you just take my car???
M: Yes, you said you weren’t going to the store.
K: I said I wasn’t going to the grocery store. I told you we were going to look for party stuff today.
M: Oh. *sigh* Turning around.
K: Thank you.
We hung up and a few minutes later he came back in with a sheepish look on his face, got his truck keys and left again.
Men. lol!
Reminiscences on our time with a local church teen choir…getting them written down so I don’t forget.
This is going to be a short one, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the “graffiti”. I think I mentioned in the first post that our drummer used to write all over her drums and her music, but she was not the only one. ALL the kids wrote all over their music. And drew goofy pictures. And just generally made their music look like high school students notebooks with all the doodling and notes.
It was actually quite entertaining and Mike and I laughed ourselves silly reading it some weeks. And before we left the choir, we did make a graffiti page with some of the best catch phrases and drawings of the lot. We looked all through our music files and elsewhere trying to find it so that I could scan it and post it here, but we had no luck. I’m sure it’s somewhere, but not where we could find it on short notice. I’m really sad about that, too, because it was really funny stuff. Oh well.
Tomorrow night should be the conclusion of Flashback Week. Thanks for your indulgence!
• This week in HeartSongs preschool, we are talking about emotions. Yesterday it was “happy”. There are several books out there based on “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, by the way. Today we talked about being mad. And we read Where the Wild Things Are, which happens to be one of my favorite books ever. We are also making “feeling pillows” each day which depict whatever emotion we are talking about. LG loves this activity. I told her that when she’s mad, she can talk to her mad pillow instead of yelling and throwing a tantrum. We’ll see if it works…lol!
• We have started talking up Christmas and visiting Santa Claus and telling him what she wants for Christmas. Her 2nd Christmas, when she was 1 year old, she sat on Santa’s lap with no problem at all. Last year, when she was 2 years old, I had to sit with her. No makeup and all. This year, she says she’s going to sit on his lap all by herself. We’ll see. I’ve already told Mike he’s coming with us this year. She is really enjoying all the toy catalogs that are coming (JCPenney’s and Target and that other store I refuse to go to unless I have to).
• Can someone who lives here please explain to me why there are no bakeries on our side of town? (I mean bakeries that are just bakeries and not part of a bigger store.) There are bakeries all over the Valley, but not in our part of town. I wonder why? I really want a cupcake bakery that doesn’t take me an hour to get to. *sigh*
• Why do these local companies (air conditioning and carpet cleaning for instance) keep calling me even though I’m on the do not call list? It really irritates me. If I need a/c service or my carpets cleaned (if I actually had carpeting), I will find someone to do it. I don’t need someone to call me trying to drum up business. And they’re not supposed to be calling! I always tell them I’m on the do not call list, and I get one of two responses: 1) they apologize and tell me they will take me off the list and not call again or 2) they hang up on me. Just a waste of time if you ask me.
• As soon as I post this, I will turn in my 2nd to last assignment for my class. The last assignment I haven’t done yet, but I will have to get it done this week or next as my class ends a week from Saturday. I still think there’s too much work for 1 credit hour, but it’s been good to stretch my brain a bit. And it’s nice to find out that most of the things they want you to do for English language learners are things that I already did in my classroom when I was teaching. This class will give me a provisional endorsement on my certificate, and I’ll have to take another class to get a full endorsement. I won’t be taking that class until sometime next year, but if necessary, I could teach with a provisional endorsement anyway.
• Way back when (before I started teaching and well before I had a child), I believed I would get a postgraduate degree at some point. I sort of left that idea behind while I was busy working and even more so after I became a mother, but I think I’ve already mentioned that I was thinking about going back to work after LG starts school in a few years. Depending on our financial situation, I think I might go back to school and work on those postgraduate degrees. We shall see.
Reminiscences on our time with a local church teen choir…getting them written down so I don’t forget.
One of the staples of a youth group program at a church (at least in Arizona) is the trip to the California amusement parks. We were lucky enough to go as chaperones one year and got to stay in the designated “hospitality room”. Which meant that our room was the “hangout room”.
Things I remember about the trip…several of the kids hanging out in our room, Mike falling asleep and not waking up until the kids all were leaving, because it got quiet. In other words, he slept through all the loud raucous giggling and talking and silliness and woke up when it stopped. Go figure.
Going to Universal Studios for the first time and seeing the Backdraft exhibit. My dad was a firefighter when I was growing up and it was a powerful experience for me.
And Sea World. What do I remember about Sea World? Well, I remember yelling “Becky” across the Shamu stadium to get each other’s attention. And the “ooh oohs”. It’s hard to explain the “ooh oohs” in writing. You have to hear them. Suffice it to say they were loud and when you heard them, you knew they belonged to someone you knew.
It was a lot of fun. Not much sleep, but we were young and we could handle it. Even sleeping on a bus. ;)
It’s the month of thankfulness, so I’m going to try and post some reasons I’m thankful as often as I can for the rest of this month…
LG and I went to Michael’s this morning since they are having an awesome Veteran’s Day sale. I bought a few things (and used my 50% off coupon from the paper yesterday – yay!) and we were trying to cross the drive in front of the store to get back to our car. A car (finally) stopped for us and as I raised my hand to say thank you, my bag broke and all my stuff fell all over the the street. My other hand was of course holding onto LG’s hand, but I had to let go in order to pick up my stuff, so I told her “stand there and do not move” as I scurried to grab my things so as not to hold up traffic for too long.
A family had crossed the drive ahead of me, and the dad turned back and helped me pick my things up. LG stayed put as I had told her to, the cars didn’t honk at me, and we got across the street with all our purchases and both of us in one piece.
For the kindness of strangers, I am grateful.
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