Congratulations, Taylors!

We are still awaiting photos of baby Alva Taylor, born early this morning to Sarah and Sean, but I have it from a very unbiased great-grandmother that he is "exceptionally cute." Weighing in at 10 lbs. 2 oz. he is certainly "exceptionally big!" We are leaving early tomorrow morning to spend some time in St. George with Sean, Sarah, Ashton and baby Alva and I promise there will be photos when I return.

On a related note, Emily and Eric's baby, Ellie, will be born while we are in Utah. Emily is scheduled to be induced on Friday, Nov. 2. Look for pictures and info on Ellie when I return. In the meantime, I am encouraging a little contest to guess her birth weight. Any takers?

Tag--I'm It! (Again)

Apparently there are endless variations of the game of tag in blogdom. Liza has recently been tagged by Emily Matson and has, in turn, tagged me. The problem with being tagged is that I am supposed to pass it along to six other bloggers. This is indeed a problem. I don't have any friends with blogs. I have Liza, Emily and Jake who have blogs, but Emily Matson got to them first. Except maybe for Jake. I also have my sister-in-law, Laura, who has a blog which she hasn't updated since August. So I'm not sure she's real involved in blogging these days. Sigh...I'll play along, but it looks like the burden for passing along this little chain letter will fall squarely on Jake.

So, I am supposed to list six things that you don't know about me. Here goes...

1. I am really vain about my hair. This is ironic since I don't have great hair, I'm not good at doing my hair, and I refuse to pay more than the going Supercuts rate for a haircut. If I took all of the money that I spent on hairspray (insuring that my hair won't move throughout the day) I could probably justify a pricier cut.

2. I hate semi trucks. It terrifies me to be driving along next to one and I nearly hyperventilate if I become sandwiched between two trucks on the freeway.

3. I am named for my mother's cousin who was Miss Universe about a hundred years ago.

4. When I was in my thirties I became addicted to Harlequin Romances. Not the nasty ones--just the slightly titillating ones (21 year old governess is trapped in a snowstorm with her 36 year old widowed employer in a cozy cabin...OR an unmarried playboy of 40 must be married in order to inherit his uncle's fortune and so enters into a fake marriage with his virtuous young secretary...You get the idea, right?) My friend Lucille Lovstedt and I would go to the library together and each check out a big stack, then trade them back and forth. We could easily go through a dozen a week. I have no idea how I managed this while raising five kids. I'm sorry if I neglected you.

5. I hate spiders. Not in the "I'm really scared of them and hate seeing them" kind of way but in the "How dare you come into my house" kind of way. I have no problem smashing them with my bare hands. I have killed black widows in this manner. The secret is being fast.

6. I love the crispy fish tacos from Del Taco. They are an almost perfect food. When Dad (Bill) is out of town they are my staple diet.

Okay, Jake...I pass the baton to you!

Man of the Century

Yesterday, Carl achieved something that I am fairly sure none of the rest of us will ever duplicate. To quote him, "It was the hardest thing I've ever done." In fact, he described it as "hellacious." (Should a high councilman be saying that word?) He rode in the Kern Wheelmen's annual "Spooktacular Century Ride." Apparently, a century bike ride is one that is at least 100 miles long. This one was 102 miles, to the top of Breckenridge Mountain and back. The course included 10,000 feet in elevation climbs. (Breckenridge Mountain is not 10,000 feet high as I thought when I first heard this. The 10,000 feet is accounted for by adding up all of the ups and downs.) Not only did he ride a bike over 100 miles, he did it in a 40 mph wind, with drizzling rain and 40 degree cold! This particular ride is ranked in the top ten most difficult century rides in the country. More than half of those who started the race failed to finish. But not our Carl!!! He not only finished the race, but came home, showered, and went to work at the Norris Elementary School Carnival. He's my hero, and I'm proud to be his ghost blogger!

Crisis Averted

As many of you know, Bill (Dad to most of you) is a man of regular habits and tastes. Most of his preferences are pretty hard-wired. He will only wear skinny, solid black ties. He will only wear long-sleeved oxford shirts from J.C. Penneys. (Although he has evolved from wearing only solid blue or white shirts to wearing an occasional red or blue stripe in the same fabric.) He will only wear khaki-colored Dockers or black jeans. He will only wear black athletic socks and he will only wear black, leather walking shoes (preferably Rockports). On Saturdays he goes nuts. That is the day when he wears a polo shirt and sandals.

His personal-care requirements are no less regimented. He has a very complicated system for rotating bath soap when it gets to be a certain size. He always uses the same brands of toothpaste, body powder, deodorant and shaving soap. He is very concerned with having "back ups" at all times. He is very diligent about informing me when his supplies are getting low. "I'm down to just three powders. I've only got two more deodorants!"

About three months ago he started giving me daily reports on how much longer his Burt's Bees shaving soap was going to last. As each soap lasts at least two years, I hadn't been real committed to keeping up a supply of "back-ups." I started a casual search for refills. I checked Von's, Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreen's and Rite-Aid. I started to get a little concerned when I couldn't find Burt's Bee's shaving soap anywhere. All the while, the daily bulletins continued; "I think I'm down to about two months. Maybe ten weeks if I'm careful."

He got so panicky that he initiated his own Internet search. That's when we discovered (to our horror) that Burt had discontinued manufacture of his shaving soap. We received the news initially from Amy, the proprietress of a small "earth-friendly" co-op in Vermont. (We confirmed the news on the Burt's Bees website, of course.) Amy, sensing some urgency in our e-mails assured us that she had a local crafts person who made a very similar product that she could recommend. Bill acted like she had tried to substitute Ivory dish soap.

Our fruitless Internet search continued...then, about two weeks ago, we heard again from Amy. She had somehow wrangled a small shipment of discontinued items from Burt, including...several shaving soaps!!!! I called Bill in Pleasanton. He did the math, and we placed our order. Math, you say? Yes--he first had to figure out the lifespan of a single Burt's Bees shaving soap, then multiply that figure by his expected lifespan. He also had to account for the fact that he plans to quit shaving when he turns eighty. In the end, he ordered twelve.

Our shipment arrived three days ago. Once again, all is well in Mudville. He double-bagged (in zip-locks) each individual soap so that it will remain fresh over the course of the next quarter century (or so.) And he would like his children to know that if his shaving soaps outlast him, they are your inheritance. (To be divided equally among you.)

Chillin' at The Marketplace

This weekend was Via Arte at The Marketplace. It is an annual salute to an Italian tradition. Artists from all over the area sign up for 7' x 7' squares which are marked off in the parking lot. The artists do original works or recreations of famous masterpieces in oil pastels. On Saturday the crowds watch the artists work and on Sunday the art is on display before being washed off the pavement on Monday. During both days there is live music, face painting, clowns, balloon animals, food, dancing, etc. Very fun and festive.

On Saturday, Bill , Newton and I went over to watch Clare (and her sous chef, Emily P.) work on Clare's piece. Then we walked over to China Bistro for lunch where Newton gathered many admirers. We listened to a live jazz band and watched a group of very large women from a "body appreciation" group do a belly-dancing exhibition in very sparkly, tiny outfits. I could not get close enough to take a photo. You will have to let your imaginations run wild.

Sunday evening, after a VERY long day in Wasco we made it back by The Marketplace to check out Clare's finished work just before night fell. We think she is very talented and her art students at Stockdale High are very lucky to have her for a teacher!

Conference Day Dinner

I fed our elders after the second session of conference today. I think it was very brave of me to try a new recipe on guests, but I did and it was quite a success. I got the recipe from Taste of Home magazine which usually has good stuff. This would actually make a very nice Thanksgiving dinner for a couple or small family:

Roast Turkey and Vegetables

Combine in a large zip lock bag the following:

1/4 C. olive oil

1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary

2 ts fennel seed

3 cloves garlic, minced

16 oz. fresh baby carrots

2 large onions, cut in eighths

8-10 small red potatoes, cut in half

Shake well to coat vegetables.

Place a 6-7 lb. bone-in turkey breast in a shallow roasting pan. Rub with 1 Tbsp. olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Arrange vegetables around the turkey. Bake, uncovered, for about 3 hours at 325 degrees. Baste every half hour with canned chicken broth. I covered the pan with foil the last 30 minutes so the bird wouldn't get too brown. Let stand 10 minutes before carving. Serves six.

I served the turkey slices and veggies with a Caesar salad and cornmeal muffins. I added dried cranberries (Craizins) to the muffin batter before spooning it into the muffin tins and baked them as usual. They were a BIG hit!

Both Emily and Liza have pumpkin dessert recipes on their blogs currently, so you have two tasty options for finishing your turkey dinner in true Fall fashion. Bon Appetit!

And The Winners Are...

I decided that I had maxxed out my fan base about three days ago, so there was no need to draw my PIF out any longer. Winners have been chosen and they are:

Eliza Clement
Emily White
Tam Woolsey

Tam--Please e-mail me with your address. (I think I know the other two!)
I appreciate all the fun comments and invite everyone to continue "lurking."

What I Do

I never know what to say when people ask me what I do. I'm always tempted to say, "Not much." If I still had kids at home I could tell people that I'm a stay-at-home mom, with all the carpooling, science projects, room mothering, etc. that that job entails. But since Clare moved out (five years ago?) I can't legitimately make that claim. True, I do have Bill, Newton and Oso to take care of but they really aren't that much work. Heck, I don't even clean my own house! My church assignment involves playing the organ for sacrament meetings and the piano for Primary and smiling in a vague kind of way when people try to make me understand Spanish.

Maybe this is why I have become so sewing-obsessed. I have to have something to say when people ask me what I do. Recently I tallied up the sewing projects I've done in the last six months. Here's the list:

9 matching shirts for the grandkids to wear to Disneyland

3 crib-sized rag quilts

2 hand-smocked blessing outfits

4 baby gowns

1 hand-smocked baby dress

2 crib sets with bumpers, quilt and dust ruffle

1 ottoman cover

6 baby buntings

8 Halloween costumes

30 pairs of wool felt baby booties

1 CTR cape

AND.......

3 appliqued wool felt purses

The last items on the list are the prizes I am giving to the winners of my PIF. I call them "essentials" bags because they just hold the essentials, with a pocket on the back for a cell phone. They have long cords for carrying over your shoulder or across your chest and they close with a snap. Here are photos of the front and back views.

I hope the winners enjoy their prizes. If not, I would be happy to sew them something else. It's what I do.