Goodbye House. . . .

You finally sold on Monday...

Hopefully your new owners will take good care of you. . .

....and enjoy all of the fancy shmancy upgrades you have . . .

....and your beautiful drapes, curtains and other fine linens my talented mother in law and G-mother in law made for you. . .

....And the sponge painting we labored over for 2 days on 20 foot scaffolding (okay I was there...even if I wasn't a driving force...I HELPED!). . .

....and the gorgeous knotty alder doors Ryan installed to make you even more beautiful

...and the view of the mountains (hills). . .

....and the cute splash pool that Mccall peed in...I mean swam in. . .

...and the HUMONGOUS water spider that Wendy and her kiddos found jumping across the pool on one of our last days of ownership. . .

Good times......

http://www.topscottsdalevacationrentals.com/condos_detail.php?ref=13

http://www.obeo.com/Public/Viewer/Default.aspx?ID=331026

(PLEASE NOTE:I am afraid to save pics on my computer for fear of taking away any last chance of finding some of my old pics on there...so until that hope is gone I am only putting the link that shows the house).

I was feeling especially lazy and was thinking about running/exercising, etc. . . so instead I decided to see what I could find about my has been days as a former runner in high school. It was almost as fullfilling as logging some real miles...almost. I only found these two stories but at least it is something.
Wow, I think I broke a sweat.


BBBNorthshore sweeps 7-4A cross country meet
By Butch Badon / The News Banner / November 14, 1996Published on Monday, April 17, 2006 4:22 PM CDT

Northshore Panther cross country stars Nick Van Geffen and Debbie Hansen have two things in common - asthma and winning.Both won their respective races Wednesday at John Slidell Park in Slidell as Northshore High School swept the boys and girls titles in the District 7-4A Cross Country meet."I'm happy with the performances, they were excellent, excellent, excellent," said Panther Coach Pat Doyle. Doyle said the key was his 4th and 5th runners on both teams were winners. "My 4th and 5th runners beat their 4th and 5th runners, that was big," Doyle said.
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Nick Van Geffen of Northshre finished first overall in the boys three-mile run with a time of 15:37. Team mate Bill Price finished a close third with the time of 15:47. He was nosed out at the finish line by Jimmy Wiggins of St. Paul. Wiggins' time was 15:45.Van Geffen said he was not bothered by asthma at all Wednesday. "It was totally out of me, the weather was not cold and I went in with a positive attitude," he said.He said he was pushed by Price and that helped. "Bill and I push each other," Van Geffen said. Price said he was not satisfied with his performance. "You can never be satisfied until a win, but I am not unhappy with the overall results," Price said.Northshore placed first with 26 points, St. Paul second with 29 points and Hammond came in third with 79 points.Hansen's asthma problems this year have been bothersome, but not Wednesday. Hansen turned in a sparkling two-mile time of 12:46.She nosed out team mate Julie Schumacher, whose time was 12:57. Heidi Heidingsfelder of St. Scholastica finished third with a time of 13:08.Hansen also has had a knee injury for much of the year. However, Wednesday was her day. "I have not been happy with my times this year because of the asthma and knee, but today it wasn't cold. Today was a really good running day," Hansen said.Hansen also had some kind words for third-place finisher Heidingsfelder. "She didn't know the course too well and that accounts for her finish," Hansen said.Heidingsfelder and Hansen have beaten each other this year and a real battle was expected. It was shaping up that way as the two were neck-and-neck about 200 yards from the finish. But Heidysfelder ran out of gas and stopped momentarily and walked for about 40 yards.As she was passed by Schumacher, Heidingsfelder picked up the pace with a trot to the finish line."I have never run this course before and we arrived too late to get acquainted with it before the race. Along the backside I got off course and had to run to make up some ground," Heidysfelder said.Despite losing time to the course, Heidingsfelder's time was her best effort of the year. Though despondent, she is confident she will do much better at the state tournament.Northshore's team score was 27. St. Scholastica Academy finished second with 39 and Salmen finished third with 63 points.

Panthers set sights on state meet
Slidell Sentry-News / November 21, 1996
NATCHITOCHES - After sweeping the District 7-4A cross country meet, the Northshore Panthers will set their sights on state.Northshore's girls and boys team won the District 7-4A meet held at John Slidell Park last week.
Today, they'll be running on the campus of Northwestern State University in the 1996 State Farm/LHSAA Boys and Girls State Cross Country Championship Meet.The state meet gets underway at 10 a.m.Here's the schedule:10 a.m. - Division V (Class 1A) girls.10:30 a.m. - Division VI (Class B-C) girls.11:00 a.m. - Division V (Class 1A) boys.11:30 a.m. - Division VI (Class B-C) boys.12:00 noon - Division III (Class 3A) girls.12:30 p.m. - Division IV (Class 2A) girls.1 p.m. - Division III (Class 3A) boys.1:30 p.m. - Division IV (Class 2A) boys.2 p.m. - Division I (Class 5A) girls.2:30 p.m. - Division II (Class 4A) girls.3 p.m. - Division I (Class 5A) boys.3:30 p.m. - Division II (Class 4A) boys.Behind Nick Van Geffen and Bill Price, the Panthers won the boys district meet in a close finish over St. Paul's. The Panthers won by three points.Debbie Hansen and Julie Schumacher finished 1-2 in the girls District 7-4A meet to lead the Lady Panthers.The Slidell High boys finished second to Ponchatoula in the District 6-5A meet.Beau Veazey, J.J. Martinez and Jason Thomas will lead the Tigers' chances at state.Mathias Truempler, who set a new school record in the District 10-3A meet, will be Pearl River's best chance at state. Truempler turned in a 16:50 effort for the Rebels in the 10-3A meet.Amy Gill was the top Lady Rebel finisher.

i thank you God for most this amazing...
E.E. Cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

. . . . Even when I have a bad week there is still MUCH to be grateful for . . . .

*** These pictures were some of the only "stock photos" left on my computer after I accidentally restored it's factory settings. ****

The Picky Eater. . .

The girl who will only eat chicken nuggets found a new food that she enjoys.... Edamame!! She enjoyed dinner at a Sushi joint (she is not sophisticated enough for the spicy tuna roll...just give it time...I will make her a fan yet!) but she LOVED the shrimp fried rice and the deliciously salted Soy beans.... MMMMMMmmmm! She is also pretty handy with the chop sticks. Maybe watching Kung Fu Panda so many times taught her something?

~~~ Dame Family Assembly ~~~

McCall ID, July 2008

Some of the highlights in photos from my camera phone

*** I love my Little Fish! ***

She has turned into such a little swimmer this summer. The only prob is that mom wants to sit poolside with a book (don't worry . . . I am paying close attention!!) and Little wants me to be in with her so she can play pretend with me.





I typically get to be "Mommy Ursala" and she is "Baby Mermaid" or "McCall Ariel Mermaid" and in her rendition I always have to take her "mermaid clothes" and we go back and forth taking them off and putting them back on. She also loves to rescue her "babies", which are typically floating leaves or flowers, and put them to bed.





Another favorite pool pretend is making food- her specialties being fried rice (which we made after swimming one day) and noodles (that obsession courtesy of Kung Fu Panda). It is adorable to see her playing pretend even when I get dragged into it. And of course I have passed the cannonball legacy down to her. One of these days she will figure out how to grab her knees and do it and not just scream "Cannonball"!





You will notice the knocked over cactus in the pics and video...that was courtesy of Monsoon 08 at our AZ house!

What a funny Little munchkin I have . . .

First, she picks out this dress to wear today and won't be persuaded to wear anything but this....pretty sassy for a Thursday, I must say.

Then she decides to wear these shoes and helps herself again. Wrong feet, wrong toes...how is that even comfortable....? Atta girl though...start a new trend.

Tonight she was asking me where she got her bum bum and I told her Heavenly Father and also mommy and daddy. That probably confused her. I am not prepared to answer a child intelligently.

The discussion progressed as I was trying to explain that her bum was special and for her only and that is why we call it part of our"privates" b/c we are n't supposed to show it to everyone (I know...that is the pot calling the kettle black... but I am a changed woman...no more mooning . . . post baby butt) . She then said"Like my boobies--- do you want to see them?".

I don't know how to get through to a 2 1/2 year old.

This is when the ol instruction manual would come in handy.

McCall got dressed down to watch Barney. Apparently in order to have the most viewing pleasure she needs to be sprawled out in the buff on Mommys bed, surrounded by carebears, eating popcorn.

This is the life.

I wish I was 2.

So.... as Little and I were unloading groceries from the car (okay . . . that isn't a true statement...I had about 8 bags and was screaming for McCall to get out of the car before everything defrosted...she wasn't exactly "helping") she told me that she wanted to watch Little Mermaid and eat popcorn. When we got into the house I told her that if she ate a hot dog she could do that... and I went out to get the next load. . . .

As I am cramming as many bags as possible on my arms Little comes walking out of the house pretty somberly. She comes up to me and says "I am afraid of the light". Hmmm, okay?..... "What?", I ask ...she says again "I am afraid of the light". I just assume that she was trying to go to the bathroom and had a hard time finding the switch (this is a weekly occurrence and is usually onset by a looming bedtime and stalling tactics), so I say "You are afraid of the dark?" She says "I am afraid of the blue light".

I figure she is jibber jabbering as two year olds do and continue in with my bags before I lose all circulation. Immediately as I step into the house I smell the smoke. I do a mental checklist of what it could be... (I don't iron..so that's not it, I don't curl my hair, so that's not it...what could it be?!) and as I get closer to the kitchen I realize that she has started the microwave... the same microwave that was housing the metal pan of delicious peanut butter brownies I was hiding from her. ARGH!!!!!!!

NOOOOOOooooOOOOOoooOOOOooooooooooo!!!!

So looking over the crime scene this is what I surmise: In the 1-3 minutes I was back and forth from the car she took a bag of popcorn, intent on helping herself since mommy was occupied and had set restrictions on her popcorn consumption.... climbed up on top of the counter, covered the length of the countertops, scooted across the stove and hit a few buttons on the microwave in her attempt to get it open (plus she really likes to hit buttons) ((I am assuming she couldn't get the door open as there was no bag of popcorn inside it)). I am also assuming the "blue light" to which she was referring was probably the fireball that happened right after the tin foil and metal pan interacted with the microwaves..... There is a 3 inch scorch mark across the back of the microwave and burn marks all over the pan and burn holes thru the foil.

The brownies are goners.

*sob*

Smoke damage.

Little....I am so glad you were not hurt in a microwave explosion...but did you have to kill the brownies?!!! I wonder what the insurance company would say if I filed a claim for them?... Don't worry....I did make her eat a hotdog and we had a little "discussion" about not climbing on the counters and playing with the microwave. I have to give her props though for being so independent. The girl wanted some popcorn.

The poor brownies...they never saw it coming.

***** R.I.P *****

Peanut Butter Brownies with hidden chocolate chip cookie deliciousness.

6/6/08-6/7/08

You will be missed (but not by my thighs and mom belly).

Another recipe email I sent out. . . BLONDIES . . . McCall thinks that they are named after her hair...we make Brownies a lot and I told her we were making blondies instead and she said "Like my hair". Fair enough.

Also a "Little" baking side note... those of you who witnessed can attest that it was adorable....I let Little help me bake and cook whenever it isn't too much of a hassle.....so last week up in McCall, ID the Dame sister-in-laws were in the kitchen and Cristi let my McCall help out with the cupcakes she was making. She handed me the eggs so that I could crack and Little could mix them and while I was cracking the first one Little decided to help out with two of them and cracked them both- one handed- no less!!! She got just a few egg shells in (probably the same amount I did on my first one handed attempt)...but she was eager to do it and try something new. Keeping your kids involved does make a difference and gets them excited about trying new things. Plus I am hoping I am grooming a little baker so that I have lots of baked goods in my future :)


BLONDIES WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Preheat over to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan with butter.
Yield- 2 dozen bars
Start to finish: 4 mins prep, plus approx 20-30 mins baking time and 20 minutes cooling.

2 Sticks butter (1 cup)
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips (I use milk choc....insert whatever floats your boat here...semi, toffee, peanut butter, cranberries and white chocolate....)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional..I opted out this time)

Melt the butter and pour in the brown sugar. Stir well. Add the baking powder, salt and vanilla, stirring until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour, again stirring until it is well mixed.
Crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat them then add to batter and stir with a spoon until they are completely incorporated. Stir in choc chips.

Spread the batter in pan. It will be stiff and sticky. You may have to spread it to the edges ...but don't worry about getting it exactly even as the batter will spread as it bakes.
Bake until the top begins to get golder brown and the blondies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan...about 20-30 mins (It seems like mine took longer in the oven I used... so keep your eyes on them..I had to put mine back in). Do not overbake. COOL for at least 20 minutes. They will set up better. Cut into small squares and store in an airtight container or cover well with plastic wrap. These bars freeze well and improve in flavor after the first day.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO CARE. . . .(if you don't... I suggest not reading the following...if you do..I suggest not reading it as well).
Dietary info
Per blondie: 216 calories (41 % from fat), 10 g fat (6 g saturated), 38 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 31 g carbs, 1 g dietary fiber, 59 mg sodium.

Cheers to the Greatest Show on Earth!

Okay. . .so was I :)

It was a pretty good show and Little was amazed the entire time....

And the guy riding the motorcycle on the trapeze. . . balancing on top of the seat while a lady hangs upside down underneath him.......

say what?!

And the Mini Horses . . .

And the Tigers....

We saw the elephants on Parade!!!

Little and I went to the Circus this weekend....

I just emailed these recipes to friends....so thought I would post here for anyone looking for some yum new recipes.... Enjoy!

My friend Sue and I did a mini dinner party with some gal pals recently and these three things were what we paired with a salad and it made a great spread. Hope you try something different and go outside your comfort zone...I don't think you will be disappointed! All these recipes are from one of my faves, Sam the Cooking Guy (http://www.thecookingguy.com/ ). If you don't have his recipe book, "Just a Bunch of Recipes", you need to get it right away (Another shout out to my bro, Josh, and Dana for getting us the insider info on the free book and meet and greet with Sam). It's got yummy, easy stuff and it is funny as all get out. What more can you ask for?!


So...for you people out there who Love shrimp I think you are going to like this recipe. Even if you don't... try it anyway... It is simple, flavorful, delicious and impressive. I saw it on his show and was craving it forever and then finally looked up the recipe and since then I've been hooked! I love it b/c you can make it with frozen shrimp and it is still delightful. I've had it with fresh but have recently found frozen shrimp on sale at Fry's (In the frozen seafood section) so I've been stocking up!
PLUS...another unexpected bonus... Little LOVES it. This is crazy b/c this girl barely eats anything but chicken nuggets and cheerios...she will even eat it with the peel on...no joke.

Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Makes 6 appetizer servings (or meal for 4ish)
Put this in front of your friends - they won't believe it! You can say "Yeah, I made it - I mean I made that!" No one has to know it took about 5 minutes in the kitchen but you.
Ingredients
1/2 tablespoon Kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 pound shrimp, raw shell-on & de-veined – 31/40’s are the prefect size
2 large cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/2 inch fresh ginger,minced
1 bunch green onions, cut into 2 inch lengths
Steps
Mix salt & pepper in small bowl and set aside
Turn on the fan above your stove and heat a wok or pan until really really hot and smoking and then add the oil
Wait until it smokes even more
Don't get freaked out by the smoke
Add garlic, ginger, green onion and the shrimp
Stir often so all is mixed and shrimp are fully cooked – which should not take more than a couple minutes, then add the salt & pepper
Stir fry quickly to coat shrimp in the salt and pepper mixture – serve
Prepare yourself for the compliments to come



Artichokes And Dippy Goodness
It's easy to forget about these prickly, goofy-looking things in the supermarket. But they're so good you shouldn't - they make a great appetizer. Sometimes we have them right with the rest of our dinner. Don't forget about the artichoke hearts after...
Ingredients
3 artichokes (my family almost eats 1 each)
1 1/2 lemons
1 cup mayo
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (The tubed stuff will work if you have to).
1 clove garlic
1 stick of butter (Stop your crying, you won't eat all the butter yourself)
Steps
Cut the stem and about 1 inch off the top of each artichoke
Cut the point off each leaf
Place artichokes in large pan with water about halfway up each choke
Squeeze 1 lemon over chokes in pan
Bring to a boil, turn down and simmer covered for about 45 minutes (Artichokes are done when you pull a leaf off and it comes easily)
Remove from water, cool & serve with all three dipping sauces - yes all three
Dip 1 - Melt butter in small pot - so simple, so right
Dip 2 - Mix half the mayo with curry powder and mix well
Dip 3 - Mix other half of mayo with basil, garlic and juice from half of a lemon
*** Deb's note.... okay this is kinda funny... I have had this twice but someone else mixed it up for me both times while I was prepping other food....and both times they just mixed all the dip ingredients together and it was DELICIOUS... so up until I pulled this recipe off his website, then consulted my cookbook I realized that he does them as 3 separate dips...either way you do it, I am sure it is yum...but I don't know if I will actually do it right...will probably just continue to make it mixed all together.....SOoooOOoooo good ( you notice I did not put good FOR you...).


Tomato, Onion & Goat Cheese Pie
This is no quiche - not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just a wonderful collection of simple ingredients that you'll love. My teenager had friends over one day when I was making this and they all ate it. All of it. Here's what they said: Nick: "Sam at the top of his game." John: "It was a loped out dank piece of pie." Dean: "It was a gnarly chill pie." Josh: "It's a creeped out danky piece of dank cheese pie." You can see how moved they were. Maybe you should try it for yourself.
Ingredients
3 large red onions, sliced thin
3-4 large ripe tomatoes, in 1/4 inch slices
6 ounces crumbled goat cheese with herbs
1-9 inch unbaked pie crust
Olive oil
Steps
Saute onions in olive oil until softened, season with salt & pepper
Place pie crust in pie plate, and fill with onions
Cover with sliced tomatoes in a nice pattern
Sprinkle cheese crumbles over the top
Bake at 350 until edges become brown
Remove from oven and slice into wedges
** Please make this "pie" ... it is yum and different and impressive. It just works...I don't know why, but I tend not to question things that are yum for no reason.

So the video below is of Little doing a mini rendition of her favorite Sean Kingston song "Beautiful Girl". She started singing this one out of the blue (well not completely out of the blue...I am sure she heard it in the car at some point)... and it stuck. I downloaded the remix for her and when we are in the car she will throw a fit and we will listen to the song 15 times in a row. Her Auntie Koren downloaded the Disney rendition which says "In denial" instead of "suicidal"... but it hasn't quite stuck yet.