Starfish Acres

Catching up

2009-10-26T02:36:00.002-06:00

Seems like I am always trying to re-cap over here, so I'll remind you once again - friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter or read my political blog (OK, actually, that one won't keep you up-to-date on the fam, just on the political world....)

So - in the last couple of weeks Aaron has gotten engaged - last week, actually. The wedding is set for Dec 30 in the Mt. Timp LDS temple close to our home. In a week's time, they have managed to find a dress, get someone to do flowers, get the fabric for table covers, have me get fabric for dresses/vests/bow ties, schedule the temple, book a church for the reception, interview DJ's, pick a photographer, and look at invitation possibilities. I remember how much planning went into ours almost 25 years ago - and now I wish I had enjoyed the ride a lot more....no one else even remembers or cares what we did at our reception - I should have focused on what *I* wanted instead of doing it the same way everyone else did.....They are taking that advice to heart. Should be lovely.

The blogging thing has really taken off for me. In fact, a post I did the day Obama won the Peace Prize (the same day we dropped a bomb on the moon), got picked up by CNN. I was the first blog they linked to after their moon story for about 6 hours. I got 850 hits. Wow! Now, I'm back to my 100-200 hits/day, which for a local political blog that has only been around since February is not too bad. Nowhere near what well-known national blogs get, for sure....
I'm still surprised, I must admit, at how this has become my "brand". I'm not a lobbyist, a campaign manager or political junkie - I'm a blogger. (really, though, I am all those other things, including "political activist"). Even the kids introduce me as "Holly on the Hill". If people are involved in politics in Utah, they generally know who I am, from the precinct chair in Provo, to our mayor to the governor of the state. Lots of fun - takes lots of time, though, to stay on top of the avalanche of political news...

The family is doing well. School is 1/4 done for the year. Holy cow - that was fast. I've got sewing to do this week, but only about 5 new costumes this year. Cool. If we hadn't lost almost 20 years worth in the fire, I would barely have to sew at all....and when the Halloween sewing is done, I have wedding sewing to do. Lots and lots of wedding sewing to do.

Nafe ran cross-country in the state finals this week. His team took first and set a new record. :-) He came in 5th for his team, 21st overall, with a time of 16.23 on a 5K course. He and his team are headed to regionals in Arizona on November 21.

That's all that comes to mind at 3 in the morning. TTYL.

Getting married!!

2009-10-26T02:13:00.002-06:00

Our oldest is getting married! We've been asked multiple times if this is a "good thing" and if we like her. Yes, and we do, but that's immaterial. :-) He loves her AND they are getting married in the temple. We are thrilled!

For your viewing pleasure, here is the proposal video:

Preparedness Challenge, Oct 25

2009-10-26T01:54:00.003-06:00

1. Garden work: not this week, but we'll be "winterizing" soon

2. Preserve something: Got a bunch of frozen berries from the cannery.

3. Work on food storage: Stocked up on potatoes ($3 for 20 pounds), the frozen berries that I hope don't get ruined cause the freezer warms up, cereal for $1.25 a box

4. Other preparedness tasks: working on getting the storage room organized so we can clearly see how much we have of soap, deodorant, laundry detergent, etc. Not to be confused with the food storage room that is filled to over-flowing....

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Several, but none come to mind. Oops.

6. Financial preparedness: Still out of debt except the mortgage. Thinking of re-financing the home.

7. Work on local food systems: Grateful to have gotten boxes and boxes of free apples. Hoping for more, LOL.

8. Learn something new: Helping our son plan his wedding reminds me of planning our wedding - surprised I remember so much - and interesting what my take is 23 1/2 years later....

October already

2009-10-05T01:55:00.003-06:00

Here we are, already 5 days into October. There is some serious time-warp stuff going on in my head. I can not believe it!! Christmas stuff is already in the stores, the weather changed, the kids are already more than half-way through their first term, Halloween costumes in the planning, but I just am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that we are only 2 1/2 months from Christmas and 3 1/2 months from the start of the legislative session.

And btw, on the change in weather? That's an understatement. On Monday, it was 89 degrees for the high. On Wednesday, we had our first frost and the high was 40-ish - a 45 degree drop in 2 days, most of it in just one night...

Oh - I just realized I didn't update about Mira. She had her baby two weeks ago, little Emma Rose. She is a dolly! They are both staying with us another week or so to really help her recover from her C-Section, since it will be just the two of them once they go back to M's apartment. But, that's grandbaby #2 and I'm still close enough to adding babies that it's tempting to think about doing it "just once more". Not so much for Starfish Daddy....

I did a gazillion parent-teacher conferences this week. Taiza is funny - she has been in school 6 weeks now, skips off totally comfortably, chatters on about it once she home, but does not say one word while she is there. She is SOO shy. It's not really bothering her to go, but she just won't talk.....some of the kids are doing great (like Nonee - straight A's, 7th grade student body prez, wildly popular), most are doing ok and a couple are bombing, mostly because they refuse to do the work, not because they can't.

We are getting ready to go to DC in about a month. It will be me and the 3 kids that are in journalism. We're gonna have a lot of fun. :-) I'll sure miss the baby, though and am kinda worried about leaving her for a week, since she has really turned into a mama's girl. (Or still is, I guess). She still has lots of fussy times, though, and while I always think I'll be able to blog or otherwise work online while all the other kids are at school, her crying frequently precludes that. Poor baby....when she's happy, she's very happy, but when she's sad, she's almost inconsolable. Unless I go for a drive in the car - then she's happy.

Aaron is super-serious about his girlfriend. They are openly talking about marriage and her dad is flying up from Texas just to meet him. Her parents aren't thrilled - they want her to go on a mission and date more people (she's 20, Aaron is 22). I'm offended that someone would be less than thrilled with my awesome son. :-) (And I'm actually not joking.)

In the blogosphere, the more I take a stand politically as the conservative I am, the more I get "hit" by the liberal left. I have one commenter who likes to hit EVERY SINGLE POST and point out not only how crazy I am (if he only knew - ha!), but likes to say that my picture is unflattering, I'm smug, sanctimonious and fat. I finally had to put the comments on moderation and stop letting the personal attacks through. He calls it "freedom of speech" - I call it the right to not be abused. I might be a wing-nut, right-wing domestic terrorist extremist, but stop saying I'm ugly too. Just sayin'....

And speaking of politics - it's insanely busy and will only get more so! Oh my. Some days I regret my weakness for sleep - after all, I need 5 whole hours a night and it feels like such a waste of time. :-) Seriously, there is SO much happening, I literally can not keep up. One reason I am up doing the family update at 2:30 in the morning......I did tell one of my political friends that I thought summer was supposed to be the "down" time and I had not found that! He said that in the 8 years or so that he had been involved, it always had been - but not this year....the speed with which things are happening, the speed with which our country is being driven into the ground is truly breath-taking (but not in a good way).

We just had General Conference, which I'll post on separately, but it was awesome. Loved it - one of the most powerful ever, esp the Priesthood session and the Sunday afternoon session. I literally shouted "I was RIGHT!" when Elder Christofferson said that the "rules have changed" in economic, political and social arenas and that we can't look to the past to predict the future. I have been telling the hubster that for months - not only have the rules changed, but I think the entire game has changed.....nice to have some "validation" on an opinion/feeling that flies in the face of what the experts are saying (like "ride it out, we always recover", etc....)

So - have a great week!! Hope all our friends and family are well.

Preparedness Challenge, Oct 4

2009-10-05T01:53:00.000-06:00

1. Garden work: The garden is done - first frost hit this week. Harvested tomatoes and lots and lots of melons that we'll have to do something with this week.

2. Preserve something: Pear sauce, tons of salsa the week before last, more tomatoes.

3. Work on food storage: Added important stuff like cake mixes. :-)

4. Other preparedness tasks: Thought about actually putting together 72-hr kits. Didn't actually do it.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Several. Just did dumplings in pear puree - pretty good.

6. Financial preparedness: Wondering how much $$ to keep in savings and how much to turn into tangible goods.....listened to Elder Christofferson say in General Conference that the old "rules" no longer apply to economics and wondering what that means for the future....

7. Work on local food systems: Not specifically

8. Learn something new: I learned that when you take a stand, you get hammered for it. :-)

Preparedness Challenge, Sept 13

2009-09-14T00:02:00.002-06:00

1. Garden work:Starting to harvest - didn't plant a lot of variety, but have eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes and peppers. Need to weed...

2. Preserve something: My total for the week: 80 pints of jam, 9 qts of tomatoes from our garden, 60 qts of pears and 208 qts of peaches. Yes, the kids helped me....assembly lines can be a good thing.....(I would get two batches done during the day - once the kids got home from school, we'd quickly get 4 full canners going - cool.)

3. Work on food storage: yes, as mentioned in my "mid-week" posts - lots of sales worth stocking up on at the local grocery store. They are also starting their fall "case lot" sale this week. Not all the items on sale are the best price of the year, but some things definitely are. When I checked out with (seriously) 4 baskets full earlier in the week, the checker mentioned she is seeing a LOT of people coming in and really stocking up on food storage. Think people are feeling the way I have for a while? (Better have it!!)

4. Other preparedness tasks: Probably doing a refresher CERT course this week.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Yes - just tried a new recipe for pear cake tonight - it was yummy

6. Financial preparedness: Still outta debt....

7. Work on local food systems: That's where I got my peaches and pears.

8. Learn something new: Tomatoes do better with good support - staking, cages, etc. (Actually, I already knew that, but was reminded again this year.) Also, San Marzano Paste tomatoes don't produce nearly as well as Amish Paste....

9. Serve someone: Took dinner Friday night to some friends who have a new baby that is having feeding/growing issues.

Finding Hope

2009-09-11T07:02:00.001-06:00

A man describes his journey from the tragedy and trauma of 9/11 to hope, healing and renewal.

I will never forget.

Preparedness Challenge - mid-week

2009-09-10T10:19:00.002-06:00

1. Garden work:Starting to harvest - didn't plant a lot of variety, but have eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes and peppers. Need to weed...

2. Preserve something:Yup - heading into the heavy, heavy canning time - raspberry-jalepeno jam, "Rosy peach jam" (with bananas and maraschino cherries), peaches, pears, tomatoes.....

3. Work on food storage:Oh my heck, yeah. Available $, plus good sales equal tons (did I mention TONS) of stocking up. Got pasta, cereal, cake mixes, crackers, Hamburger Helper (for the kids to fix when we go out on date night), chicken and more. I can tell wheat prices have dropped....the sales are MUCH better this year on wheat-based products. If any of you have seen my food storage room, you'll be impressed when I tell you it's almost over-flowing - and we don't have most of the canning completed yet.

4. Other preparedness tasks:Emergency prep kits for the kids in school. Ordering fruit trees for fall planting.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation:A variety. Tried a no-bake cheesecake with shortbread crust. Pretty good, but not very "solid". Chicken enchiladas with zucchini in them. Bethlehem made up a dish that's pretty darn good - pasta sauce with fresh veggies, chicken, etc. I'm impressed.

6. Financial preparedness:We are now out of debt except our home. Trying to focus as much as possible on self-sufficiency.

7. Work on local food systems:Yup. Picked 23 pounds of raspberries at a local place, then came home and stayed up until 3 am processing them (turned 'em all into jam - freezer and jalepeno). Bought all my fruit from an orchard in my same town - peaches and pears.

8. Learn something new:Yes! I learned I better be diligent about labeling my jars! I did so much "creative" canning last year - new recipes, new combinations, etc - and for the most part, I did NOT label my jars. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! I have no idea what some things are, nor where I would find the recipe to duplicate if I wanted to again. Duh.

9. Serve someone:Family. :-)

September garden tips

2009-09-01T01:34:00.000-06:00

Can you believe the summer is gone, the kids are back in school and it's September already? Where does the time go? Before you know it, Christmas will be knocking on the door.

As the summer winds down to fall, it is time to clean up the garden and plan for next spring.
*Water trees and shrubs less, allowing them to harden off before winter sets in.
*Stop fertilizing your trees and flowering shrubs to allow this years growth to harden off before winter.
*Fall is a good time to select and plant trees and shrubs. Fall planting encourages good root development, allowing the plants to get established before spring. If weather is dry, provide water up until the ground freezes.
*Keep the ground cleared of plant debris and compost them – fallen leaves, spent annuals (including your garden plants), the last cuttings of your flowers, etc.
*Harvesting fruits and vegetables is the best part of growing them. As is often the case, you may have produced much more of certain type than your family can consume. Share the abundance of squash and tomatoes (now how did I know that's what you planted too much of?!) with friends and neighbors, and don't forget about our local food bank.
*Once the tops of onions have withered, the bulbs should be lifted and dried in a warm, dry, sunny location for about 10 days. Then they should be stored in a cool, dark, dry place.
*Some root crops, such as carrots, onions, and parsnips can be left in the ground and dug up as needed. Apply enough mulch to keep the ground from freezing, and the crop will be kept fresh until it is needed.
*After you have finished harvesting your summer vegetables, plant a cover crop of clovers, cow peas, soybeans, or vetches for the purpose of tilling under next spring. These nitrogen producing plants will provide good organic matter and food for your garden crops next year, as well as helping to control weeds over the winter.
*September is one of the best months of the entire year for seeding or sodding new lawns, or seeding to fill in bare patches.
*Fertilize your lawn as the weather starts to cool off.
*Aerate your lawn.
*One last effort at weeding will help to improve the appearance of your garden throughout the winter.

Look forward to next month for planting bulbs!

Women Who Know

2009-08-24T19:27:00.000-06:00

Aug 23

2009-08-23T23:56:00.002-06:00

Another week has flown by. Kids started back to school, except for Taiza, who starts kindergarten this week. Ammon has already lost his lunch box. With his name on it. Geez. What does he do with his stuff?! Katie has found new friends, plus kept the old, cause one is silver, the other one gold. Seriously, she had a seamless transition into jr high and this from someone who HATES change. But, she is emerging as a leader, doing well and proud of herself. Rightly so.

I went shopping with just Taiza and the baby on Friday. Big mistake. I had forgotten how hard it is to shop with a screaming baby and no big helpers....Taiza was a gem, as always. My arms still ache from holding the baby though and she really didn't stop until she was back in her car seat in the car....

I have totally neglected my blog this week...phooey. Hopefully tomorrow will be the great day of catch-up.
Oh, I gave up Mt. Dew for the most part 4 weeks ago. I have had 4 since then......mostly off of it....but, oh, how I miss it. (Which of course tells me it's an addiction. Dang it.)

We finally did some much-needed weeding on Saturday. We neglected it for so long and our yard is so big that we didn't even come close to getting. More fun after-school activities for the kids to look forward to.....but, we are harvesting zucchini and patty pan squash by the dozens!! Tomatoes are just starting to ripen, so there are enough to cook with, for sure.

Today, we went to the Oquirrh Mt temple dedication service. It was great. Very spiritual and very quiet. Very nice.

Looking forward to a very busy week. My race for legislative district chair concludes this week. Wish me luck!

Mid-August update

2009-08-17T00:19:00.003-06:00

Where does the time go?! I have been doing the baby-catching thing - or at least assisting. :-) 3 births of my own (as a midwife), 1 as a supervising midwife, 2 in the birth center as the RN, all in the last three weeks. Phew! I am only covering at the birth center while their regular staff are both off having their own babies, but it's a pretty busy month there.

Finally about done with back-to-school shopping, all but the art supplies. School fees this year for "free" public education topped $1100. Add in supplies, then clothes (mostly uniforms), new underwear, socks, shoes and backpacks and you have retailers singing "It's the most wonderful time of the year". I think we spent more in the last couple of weeks then we do at Christmas.....

Got up this morning and made the baby a jumper. That was fun. :-)

Big political news of the past week - Utah has a new governor. I went to the inauguration, took a bunch of pictures and blogged about it two different places - www.utahgop.wordpress.com and www.hollyonthehill.wordpress.com
Governor Herbert actually knows who I am. That's very cool.

Let's see - we are just getting into canning season. We've done pickles and have frozen a boatload of zucchini, but it just keeps a'comin'. Kinda like that old I Love Lucy episode in the chocolate factory - it just keeps coming. I need more recipes, for sure. I think this is the all-time most prolific year we have ever had for zucchini.
Tomatoes are ripening slowly - enough that we can use them here and there, but SOO many nice green ones on the vine. Oh, and peppers out the wazoo, too. Once the tomatoes start getting red, it'll be salsa everyday here....I also ordered 10 bushels of peaches and about the same in pears....We ran out of both this year.....

The big family news of the week is that Aaron has a girlfriend - Rachel. It's our first doubling-up on names, so we have big Rachel and little Rachel unless we can think of something nicer than big and little. (Old and young doesn't really work, either). He really, really likes her. In fact, he kissed her last night - first kiss of his lifetime - woot!

Nafe is being stupid and making incredibly dumb choices right now, doggone it. What is with these darn teens and them losing all brain cells. Hope he finds some again before he totally screws up his future. (No, it's nothing illegal or immoral - just downright stupid)

Josh's birthday is next Monday. He'll be 15. 10 days or so later is Hal's. He'll be 14. Then Nafe who will be 16 and then we're full-on into autumn.

And speaking of autumn, the weather here has had a decided fall tinge to it. Last weekend, then this weekend, a high around 70, rains and downright nippy at night. I love it. No color in the mountains yet - I checked carefully yesterday. Soon, though....

The other biggish family news is that school starts back this week. Twelve weeks off, gone, *snap* just like that. Nothing much accomplished, either, sigh.....Taiza is excited to start kindergarten. It's hard for me to have the days broken up like they are with kindergarten, but she'll have fun once she warms up. SHe's just so darn shy otherwise....

Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print!

Aug 2 update

2009-08-02T23:42:00.002-06:00

Another quick re-cap of the week:

Delivered a baby on July 24 (Friday), another one early, early Monday morning, another one Tuesday morning and still have one more than a week overdue. That's about 1/3 of my births for the year....all boys, by the way.

weather is in the low 90's - not bad for what is traditionally the hottest week of the year.
Harvesting zucchini and patty pan like CRAZY. Wow, did that stuff grow. The zucchini plants have got to be 2 1/2 feet tall, with leaves a foot across...getting our first tomatoes, too. Yum!

Canned green beans a couple weeks ago - the kids snapped two bushels worth in just a few hours...

more than 1/2 of the back-to-school shopping is done. yay, me! Expensive, but I remind myself that if they were not wearing uniforms, it'd be a whole lot more expensive....

Today is Nonee's birthday. She is 13, so we now have 8 teenagers, 6 of 'em at home. our food bill is high. :)

My goal for the upcoming week is to get my new computer purchased and set-up - woohoo!

Happy Independence Day

2009-07-06T01:22:00.003-06:00

As we stop and remember the founding of this great country, I am reminded of the small group of individuals willing to step up and make a difference. Meeting under "Liberty Trees", in private homes, in taverns and in churches, in communities criss-crossing the colonies, they discussed at length the "state of affairs" of their country. The "Spirit of Liberty" was ignited within their very souls and it became clear that they must act.

A number of people during that time were afraid- with good reason – to “take on” the greatest military power in the world. Others actually favored the crown, while still others were content to sit on the sidelines and watch to see how things played out, declaring themselves to be loyal patriots once the relatively small band of freedom fighters actually won. Mark Twain spoke the truth when he said "In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." Those early patriots knew that they risked their “lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor”. There was no guarantee that they would be successful – indeed, all odds were against them. Many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and their families paid a very high cost in their quest for freedom. Five signers were captured by the British. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. One lost his son serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 died during before the battle at Yorktown. Several lost their fortunes. Beyond those great men who were willing to sign their names on the dotted line, so to speak, were the many men, women and children willing to give their all for the chance to be free from tyranny and oppression.

During their day, those men we call our "Founding Fathers" were able to see the clear differences between the tyranny they lived under and the freedom they so fervently desired. I wonder if in our day we have that same clarity of vision. Thomas Paine said "The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes." Well-known author C.S.Lewis echoed those sentiments when he said: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

The Constitution is our standard. It has been raised. It may seem a bit beaten and tattered, but this divinely inspired form of government still remains, as George Washington said, "The standard to which the wise and honest can repair."It sometimes seems they have all but been forgotten by the citizens of our country. Fortunately, the light of liberty has not yet been extinguished. I have been lucky enough to meet and work with some real patriots - people who have not forgotten those standards and who know that "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." -- John Philpot Curran, 1790. Elie Weisel said "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." I am "out there" as a voice. Join me, won't you? I think I can safely promise that you will not be bored. :-)

Campaign results

2009-07-05T23:35:00.003-06:00

I was sure I had posted here - apparently not. Here's the summary from the weekend of our big election:

I have been running a campaign for a state-wide office - my first as full-blown campaign manager . In the reddest of the red states, being in leadership of the Republican party is a big deal. "My guy" ran for vice-chair - second-in-command of the party - against an incumbent, at a state-wide convention held in the incumbent's own county. I am happy to report that we won yesterday - woot! We ran our campaign on a shoestring - we couldn't even afford mailers or signs - and we did it with good, old-fashioned grassroots support and lots of hard work. Pretty exciting!!! Have I mentioned that I love politics?

Can you believe with all that was going on, I never even wrote about the campaign, or about the day of the convention? So - here goes...Starfish Daddy asked me a couple weeks before the end of the campaign how it came to be that M ended up as the candidate and I the campaign manager. I had to say that I did not know for sure. Kinda like starting labor - it's only looking back that you realize that's what was happening, right? By March, though, we pretty much knew and started going to county conventions all over the state - those were the first campaign events. It was awkward at first for me to speak for him, but I quickly got over that. I enjoy public speaking anyway, so it was fun. I always felt like a bit of an "imposter" as a campaign manager, since I have no formal "training". When I worked on Congressman Chaffetz' campaign, I was over one legislative district and some online stuff. Then, earlier this year, I helped co-manage a county-wide campaign (while I was already working on M's campaign) and that's all I had to go on - some on-the-job training and some great people I could call as needed. We held a bunch of meetings around the state, made personal phone calls and robo-calls, used Facebook, Twitter, a blog and a website, plus "official" campaign emails through the state party. I worked hours and hours and hours a day trying to coordinate everything, make calls, write, stay on top of the schedule and any online goings-on, work with the other volunteers and more. It really was fun - and seems like the perfect job for a busy mom who is used to juggling schedules and keeping many things running more or less smoothly. :-) I told Jason Chaffetz' campaign manager several times through the process that I had a whole new appreciation for the work they had done on last year's campaign. Even though our campaign was state-wide, it was a relatively small campaign compared to what Jason had to do. Anyway, as you can imagine, the hours just increased the closer we got to the election. Since M has a real job and a family, as do I, we had meetings at odd hours - 11 pm to 1 am was not uncommon, on the phone, in front of our computers. The last week of the campaign, 5 days before the convention where the vote would happen, dh says to me "So - is it going to lighten up for you at all this week?". Um, no. We had two more delegate meetings that week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, then M had business meetings on Thursday night and I spent the evening getting Jason's previous campaign manager to talk me through the last two days - by that day the "what-ifs" had hit.... Friday, the convention work started in earnest.

I was in charge of the table decor, the T-shirts, the candy, a printer (to make our own stickers - worked like a charm) and dozens of other little details. I had several volunteers to come and help - they knew it was gonna be work and it was. I took up 3 of the girls and Starfish Daddy picked up one more on his way up in the bus. Booth set-up was scheduled from 1 to 5 - I didn't even leave until probably 2:30 - I tried.....But - we got 'er done. M had gone at one and had the big sign hung at the back of the booth. I added the tablecloth and decorations. In the morning, we added a big flat-screen TV to play a video created just for the campaign. It's awesome, btw. Anyway, we got up there, we finished setting up, then checked into the hotel adjoining the convention center, then went to dinner while dh went and got the bus - we used it to display a ginormous sign outside the convention center. After dinner, we went and purchased the extra ink we would need and the labels we needed to print our own stickers. Then, there was a fund-raising "social" with about 150 people, pretty much either long-time party insiders or representatives of various campaigns. Lots of schmoozing and political networking, as might be expected. I love that kind of stuff. I talked to the Lt Gov/acting Gov, Gary Herbert while I was there. I have a friend who recommended I be Lieutenant Governor and I mentioned to Gary that I was so impressed that he would take the time to respond to that issue! There is no chance of him calling me, so for him to even address it showed some class. While I was doing my thing, dh and the girls went swimming. We all were happy campers.
After I headed back to the room, we started the printing, talked to M on the phone about his speech and about the campaign. Dh and I hit Wal-Mart at something like 12:30 am for some last minute things - and then we couldn't sleep. Finally about 2:30, dh and I managed to doze off, only to get up at 5:30. Ugh. So - up and at 'em we were, down finishing at the booth while Starfish Daddy worked on getting the sign on the bus. From the time registration opened at 7 until after the convention started at 10, it was absolutely non-stop traffic by the booth. M talked until he was hoarse - literally. I talked and talked and talked as well - and handed out stickers and shirts, answered questions, got water and anything else that was helpful. Convention started at 10, but M probably didn't even get in the main hall until 10:45 or later. Speeches started a little after 11 and the candidates for chair went first. As we got to the end, I went out to find the person who would be introducing M - Utah's Attorney General. (And ya gotta love texting - so handy!) I was SO stinkin' nervous! I swear I didn't really "hear" anyone else's speeches, even if I was right there, as I was so focused on M's. I recorded it and put it up on YouTube - it was good. M said it was his goal to make me cry with his speech. I didn't, though, until I found out the vote totals - he won with 52% of the vote - 75 votes more than the incumbent. It took literally hours to count the votes. In the middle of Congressman Chaffetz' speech, I was texted the results. I went back to find M at the back of the convention hall and told him that I knew - and I should have just told him then what the results were, but someone texted him and told him he won.....It was still at least another 20 minutes before they officially announced them. Very exciting, very fun. Lots of congratulations from lots of people. Chewing out by a couple of people. Welcome to the big time, LOL. The AG (who did the intro) hugged me and said "So how does it feel, boss lady?" I said it felt pretty good, especially considering it was my first campaign. He said "yeah, a state-wide race - you know, most people would start a little smaller than that...." Typical for me - start big. What's the appeal in running a city council race now? :-)

Now, three weeks later, it is starting to sink in. We have heard numerous times more details on how unlikely a win really was....we had powerful people working against us, who told Morgan to his face (after he won, even) that they had done EVERYTHING they could to ensure he would NOT win. And wouldn'tcha know it - it didn't work. The last time in incumbent in state party leadership was defeated was 18 years ago and it was not the chair or vice-chair, it was the secretary. The chair of the party stood up and said "We need a new secretary - please don't vote for the incumbent...". Almost 20 years...we haven't been able to find out if an incumbent chair or vice-chair has ever been defeated. So - kudos to us and I am glad I did not know those things when we were running. I knew we were the outsiders, but I had no idea how disadvantaged we really were.....And btw - even though we didn't pay for mailers, we did have flyers and while we didn't pay for yard signs, we did pay for T-shirts and people by the dozens wore them on the convention floor - walking advertisements. Our stickers were cool too.....

Ooh, my bad!

2009-06-07T22:55:00.004-06:00

No posts since mid-May? What's wrong with me?! Actually, you just need to follow my on Facebook, Twitter or my political blog.

So - let me re-cap, again.

I'll start with the biggest news. Our first grandbaby was born on Wednesday morning, June 3rd. It turns out that my great-grandmother was born at that day and 5 generations, the circle continues....Kimberly Anne was born after a 7-hour labor, with 30 minutes of pushing, to our daughter, Neener. I was lucky enough to be the midwife - very cool. From Neener's perspective, it was the hardest freaking thing she has ever done. :-) From a midwife's perspective, it was a smooth, "easy" birth, with nary a hiccup and from grandma's perspective, it was very fun to see that new grandbaby and I am just so proud of my daughter for claiming her birthing power - totally natural homebirth - woot! So - I am Grandma, my mother is a great-grandma but won't admit it and my grandmothers are both great-great grandmas now....We should do a picture...

On to other news - there is hardly anything different. My life revolves around politics, LOL. The campaign I am managing is over on Saturday. "My guy" is running against an incumbent, but from all indications is doing very well. It all comes down to a 3-minute speech on Saturday morning. Do you know how short 3 minutes is? Geez! We have worked hard and will continue to work hard this week and then it's up to the delegates going to the state convention. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.... (the pic is "my guy", btw - and a great guy he is....)

We have gotten our garden in - 200 tomato plants, 100 pepper plants (1/2 bells, 1/2 hot), various squash and melons, corn, potatoes and a few other things. The weather has been cool, which doesn't break my heart at all.

School ended for most of the kids the Friday before Memorial Day. I joked with a neighbor that I was looking forward to the landscape crew starting - the kids!

We had some excitement about Mikey's mission - Elder Russell M Nelson and his wife, the mission president and his wife and the area president and his wife were all attacked in the home of Mikey's mission president by 4 armed assailants. The mission president's wife got a broken elbow, Elder Nelson was kicked in the face and chest, I understand, and there were scrapes and bruises, but it could have been a lot worse. The Nelson's did the mission conference as scheduled and the missionaries were totally pumped up.

More random tidbits - I met Josh Romney last night - son of Mitt Romney - nice guy. I also met Kirk Jowers, head of the Hinckley Institute of Politics. He told me he had heard about me - and my blog - several times from Jason C and others...Jason (aka Congressman Chaffetz) also plugged my blog two different times last night at a gathering at his home. I have a YouTube copy of one of them that I'll have up on the other blog.
Three of the girls went to girls camp this week - we missed them terribly! One came screaming into camp saying she had seen a bear, so one of the guys went to investigate. It was a moose. She sure had everyone riled up, though, LOL.

Well, there you have it - the update from Starfish Acres. (Well, Acre....)

Flower pics

2009-05-17T15:40:00.008-06:00

Tiny little flowers....even tinier ones getting ready to bloom (look underneath). These are mini dianthus. The ones underneath are "Elfin Thyme".

Another teenager!

2009-05-04T01:05:00.008-06:00

Our May Day baby turned 13 this year! She's the first of 3 to enter teenage-dom this year, and is teenager #6 in our house. She is also "betwixt and between". She's wearing make-up and starting to think about growing up - and her #1 request was for an Ariel baby doll that crawls. Sweet girl. Until our 2007 adoption, hers was the hardest. So worth it, though - she's a gem.

In addition to her Ariel baby, she got soda, V-8, gum, beef jerky, one outfit, hot chocolate powder, flip-flops and ankle socks. Her dinner was stroganoff, homemade bread, cheesy cauliflower, Jell-O, and veggies, with "Better-than-you-know-what" cake and cookies and cream ice cream.

My oldest is getting old!

2009-05-03T23:59:00.008-06:00

Mr. Blacksmith is getting old!! He just turned 22 on Thursday - I can't believe it! He has not cut his hair since last July. Goofball. It fits well, however, with his summer job of doing Pioneer re-enactment at This is the Place state park. Things are easier as they get older, although they certainly are not cheaper. He got linen-blend fabrics and a promise from me to sew Viking re-enactment outfits, as well as a couple of "homespun" shirts for the pioneer era. He also got books (his choosing) and a book on CD about Joseph Smith. His birthday dinner: hamburgers, pink stuff, baked beans, French fries, triple-chocolate cake and homemade ice cream.

Rural county conventions

2009-05-03T23:01:00.012-06:00

Our county is the second largest in the state - we had over 800 delegates show up last week (Salt Lake county - the largest - had only 400-something). I've been going around the state to help with and speak for Morgan Philpot, candidate for state Republican party vice-chair. I've taken some of the girls with me on Mommy-daughter dates. Lots of driving - pretty fun. Here are some pictures of some of those conventions.

Baby pics

2009-05-03T22:37:00.007-06:00

OK, so she's almost two, but she'll get to be our baby forever. :-)

Yearly flower pics

2009-05-03T21:56:00.013-06:00

These teeny little things smell HEAVENLY!!

More birthdays!

2009-05-03T10:21:00.007-06:00

On April 20, Kerry turned 11. It's hard to believe he is that old. He just got his Arrow of Light, too. He is one who has been quite delayed and when tested 6 years ago, then again 3 years ago, his IQ tested in the 70's. This year, he averaged out above 90, with one area scoring 112. Silly boy no longer qualifies for the self-contained classroom he's been in and he will be transitioning to the neighborhood charter school most of the kids go to, with special ed assistance. And to think - we are just such bad parents kids just can't possibly do well in our home.....(that would be a shout-out to immigration, thank you very much).

Anyway, he got a Star Wars Lego set, candy, pop, hot Cheetos, squirt guns, and a Frisbee.

County GOP Convention

2009-04-27T01:27:00.008-06:00

Yesterday was the Utah County Republican party convention. I had several things going - I was there to help Morgan Philpot with his campaign for Utah Republican party vice-chair, to support and cheer for Lynn Taylor, running for county party treasurer, and for whom I acted as a campaign advisor, my own race to get on the state central committee and a party platform amendment that I had proposed, specifically about parents having the right to choose their family size and including adoptive parents in the right to have a family.

After a meager 2 hours of sleep, I got up at 4 am to get ready and load up. By 5, I and two of the girls - Kadee and Becca - were ready to go. We stopped at Wal-Mart to buy rope and cinder blocks, then made it to the Jr High in Orem where the convention was held by 6 am. We were not the first ones there.....

We set up and had the first delegates coming in by 6:30. Our first meeting was at 7, for all candidates, followed by a central committee meeting at 7:30 where my platform amendment was adopted, to a Senate district meeting at 8, a House district meeting at 8:40 (where my political blog was plugged by my Rep) and finally, the general session at 9:30.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz rocked the house, with standing ovations at the beginning and end of his remarks, plus plenty of applause in-between. He was greeted with cheers and loud applause as he began with “Welcome, fellow terrorists!” Obviously popular and well-liked, he talked about his recent visit to Iraq and Afghanistan, the out-of-control spending in DC and affirmed to the approving crowd that “We will not support a president who goes around the world to apologize for our being the economic and military superpower”. His speech stood in stark contrast to Senator Bob Bennett’s and Senator Orrin Hatch’s, both of whom received the barest of applause. Senator Bennett said he could stand and be a cheerleader - or he could tell the truth (basically, the same speech as Friday night). He then said the crowd had already had the cheerleading (from Congressman Chaffetz), so now he was going to tell the truth. Senator Hatch spent his time talking about the bad things that can happen when someone runs more conservative than a moderate Republican Senator and warned against throwing the election to the Democrats by supporting a young, conservative “hot shot”. Hmmm. Running for re-election by offending the conservative block of the second-largest county in the state....is that wise?

At the end of the day, my friend Lynn won by the biggest margin of any candidate, my platform amendement was approved, then ratified by the entire body and I came in 26th out of 52 - but only 20 got on. Morgan's race goes until mid-June....

Tax Day Tea Party

2009-04-27T00:39:00.007-06:00

Me with Representative Chris Herrod, Rep Ken Sumsion and Rep Carl Wimmer, as well as Carl's brother in law

On April 15th, I joined hundreds of other people to stand in the slush and snow to let our voices be heard in calling for fiscal discipline back in DC.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff

Easter sewing

2009-04-27T00:32:00.002-06:00

I stayed up all night sewing the night before Easter. From 10:30 pm Saturday night to 11:30 am Sunday morning, I finished 2 dresses and four skirts. I'm a nut job, I know..... (Yes, one daughter is out of this picture - she was sicker than a dog!)

Taiza's birthday

2009-04-26T23:41:00.011-06:00

Our little Ethiopian princess turned 5 on Easter Sunday. Mostly because she wanted pizza and rootbeer floats, we did her birthday stuff on Saturday.
We started by having our friends, the English's, come over for dinner and an indoor Easter egg "hunt" (the weather was too nasty to do it outdoors).

Beti's birthday

2009-04-20T00:47:00.009-06:00

Poor Beti - her birthday was the same day Hope died. That is actually the third birthday we have that another child has died on. Taiza #1 died on Roman's birthday and baby Aimee died on Mikey's 3rd birthday, many years ago.

Anyway, we still did all the family stuff with her - just more subdued. She got pop, hot Cheetos, a hot pink soccer ball and her own make-up because she is 12 now....one more out of Primary. Wow. Anyway, Kadee did the cake....

Sad, sad news

2009-04-05T22:55:00.001-06:00

Our daughter, Hope Esther, died last night in an African orphanage. Her blood is on the heads of those who prevented her from coming home to her family who loves her and prayed for her (and the other two) every day for the last two years. Her adoption was legally finalized 2 years and 3 days ago.....

Our Congressman

2009-04-05T15:54:00.004-06:00

Me and my friend, the Congressman. He's doing a bang-up job, IMO and I am simply delighted that he and and I are actually good enough friends that I can text, call, Facebook message or tweet and he'll answer. Sometimes he picks up the phone and calls me too....nice to have an ear......

Edible dioramas

2009-04-05T15:26:00.006-06:00

The 6th-graders all did edible dioramas of World War I scenes. Rivers, rocks (candy) and well, blood (jam). Researching them reminded me of how brutal war can be. One battle lost almost as many men in 4 days as the entire time we've been in Iraq and almost none of them were even recognizable. Again, just brutal.

Sewing for Oz

2009-04-05T13:12:00.008-06:00

I sewed a sepia-toned Dorothy dress for Kansas, the blue dress for Oz, the Munchin Mayor and Glinda.....

Monday, March 23

2009-03-23T09:52:00.002-06:00

Our week was so stinking busy. I had to sew this week for the kids' school play, the Wizard of Oz. Monday and Tuesday, I made the second "Dorothy" dress. Wednesday and Thursday, I made a dress and fancy jacket for the munchkin mayor and Friday into Saturday I made Glinda the good witch. I finished about 3 pm Saturday and still feel relieved that I am done....Phew! Pictures forth-coming. Oh, and none of our kids is actually in the play, although Nonee is on stage crew.

Bella (our kitty) is very pregnant. I expect her kittens any day now. Maybe after this litter, we'll actually get her fixed. The babies are just so cute I couldn't resist one more time.

A, our daughter, is also looking very pregnant, but has 3 more months to go. She's cranky almost all the time.

Our oldest had spring break last week and spent it reading, blacksmithing and oh yeah - getting a job. :-) He just got a full-time job working at "This Is The Place" state park. He will spend 1/2 of his time blacksmithing and the other 1/2 just general interpreting. He'll be getting $8/hr and is just happy as a clam.

We went to the Draper temple dedication tonight - we, meaning Dad and I, Aaron, Hal and Joshie - over at our stake center. It was piped in, like when we went to the Nauvoo temple dedication. It was very nice. I need to get back on track to go once a week. I just could not keep up during the session, although I did manage to go twice in 6 weeks.

The weather was absolutely beautiful last week - upper 60's to mid-70's. I have daffodils up and blooming all over. Tonight and this morning, it's snowing. Go figure.

Looking forward to getting back in the saddle as far as this blog and "normal" life. On my political blog, I made 100 posts in 45 days....that's where I spent my time.

Such a slacker

2009-03-02T05:03:00.002-07:00

Not really - just working in another area. I created a political blog at the beginning of the legislative session. My first post was 4 weeks ago today and I have made a total of 63 posts. Crazy. I got picked up by a couple of sites that link to political blogs and am getting over 100 hits a day right now. That doesn't make me a "big" blog, but I am definitely on the radar. Basically what I am doing with it is a summary of what is going on in Utah's legislature - bills being debated, humor, talk at caucus meetings - that kind of stuff.

Anyway, here's a run-down:

Starfish Daddy: still working and enjoying it
our blacksmith: going to school, not working, likes to hibernate in his room. I think he should get out more
Mikey: only one more week in the MTC and then off to Africa
Neener: 5 1/2 months pregnant, living at home and nannying for me while I'm at the Capitol
Ashay: trying out for track this week. The coach expects him to set a new state record during his track "career".
Joshie: doing great
Hal: not so great - flunking math and English mostly because he just doesn't turn in assinments. Of course, tanking on a couple of tests didn't help either.
Kadee: 2 months away from being a teenager - what can I say?
Romie: OK. He's in 6th grade and had an 8th grader want to show him porn on the cell phone. . . . it didn't happen, but still . . .
Nonee: wildly popular, almost straight A's. SHe is really funny, too
Beti: doing fine
Carrot-top: likewise fine
Tommy: working hard on his reading and trying to remember not to chatter so much in class.
Becca: good
Ammie: good
Luisa: has had a hard time with school lately - not with doing the work, with actually going. Morning melt-downs screaming "I hate school". Haven't yet discovered what lies behind that. . .
Taiza: great - turning 5 in just 6 weeks and is excited for kindergarten in the fall
Baby Angel: good, but she's sick with a bad cold right now and is pretty miserable.

African "babies". Two of them are turning 2 this month (the other one turned 2 in January). Have heard through our Congressman's office that they have made a decision that they will be running by their legal counsel. that tells me they are going to deny and are hoping they have a reason that will "stand up" on appeal. Fine. Just deny and get it over with so we can appeal and get the case out of their office. It has now been 9 1/2 months since we applied.

We've also had quite a bit of illness this winter - even I got sick, which rarely happens. Colds and flu. Yuck.

The weather is feeling spring-like right now and it's lovely.

I'm sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night and looking forward to the 3rd week in March when I can sleep as much as I want. :)

Oh, and our chickens have started laying again (they don't lay during the winter months). The last 3 or 4 days we've gotten about 18 a day. :)

Now you're updated. I'll get pics posted as I can.

Baptism day

2009-02-08T18:38:00.006-07:00

Our sweet Luisa was baptized last Saturday, January 31. I'm not sure I've ever seen any of my 8-year olds as excited as she was. Nervous too, but very, very excited to be baptized and confirmed. We are on the "late" schedule now, so she and Daddy did not have to be there until 11 am, while the rest of us made it by 11:30. We had two little talks, then our ward was dismissed to go first - and she was the only one in our ward, so we had the room to ourselves. She is SUCH a joy. I am so glad she is in our family. At the same time, I can hardly believe she is getting so grown-up!

Preparedness Challenge, Feb 1

2009-02-01T18:43:00.001-07:00

1. Garden work: Read a couple of chapters in a garden book. Gave some gardening advice. ;)

2. Preserve something: Live-blogging memories.

3. Work on food storage: No

4. Other preparedness tasks: no.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Hmm. I don't think so.

6. Financial preparedness: Still keeping food budget REALLY low. Even passed up some good deals for food storage to keep finances in line.

7. Work on local food systems: No.

8. Learn something new: No, but was reminded how much I love politics. I know, I know – it's weird. :)

9. Serve someone: Family, midwives and other folks living in Utah.

Preparedness Challenge, Jan 21

2009-02-01T18:38:00.001-07:00

1. Garden work: looked at more garden catalogs. Didn't order anything yet.

2. Preserve something: Well, I'm doing some live-blogging for Utah's legislative session, so I guess I'm preserving my thoughts on the session for posterity.

3. Work on food storage: Worked on living out of our food storage. :) It's going well!

4. Other preparedness tasks: Got everything back onto my new storage shelves. Saw how much fabric I had, all in one place. For pete's sake – I could clothe our entire family for the next 5 years and still have a good stash.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Homemade mac and cheese. This time, I made it with a white sauce as a base, rather than just adding cheese to the macaroni. Like it better this way.

6. Financial preparedness: Stop shopping at JoAnn's fabric. Seriously. Trying to dig out of the hole we got into starting last August. Food budget remains around $100/week.

7. Work on local food systems: No.

8. Learn something new: I re-learned that I have a tendency to take on projects for a future date that all happen to come due the same time. Darn me. I'll get them all done though.

9. Serve someone: Family and helping my friend when her babe was in the hospital.

Another adoption update

2009-02-01T18:36:00.001-07:00

So, no shocker here, but we have not heard about our approvals. Our Congressman's office called Friday and was told they still haven't heard anything from overseas. Someone is lying . . . . but, we have a plan. The office will start making international calls this week.

quickie announcement

2009-01-26T21:21:00.002-07:00

We have (had) pics to post of various things, including a birthday and the big MTC drop-off day, but someone deleted all the pics off the camera. SO - we are looking for a good disk recovery program, then all have all these great pictures to go with all the great stories. :)

My goings-on

2009-01-26T21:14:00.002-07:00

I am fully immersed in politics right now - and I love it! Seriously up to my eyeballs in it. In fact, right now as I type, I'm sitting on the 3rd floor of the Capitol building saying Hi to people who walk by that need to see me, LOL. (OK, I'm home now . . . )

So - our weekend was like this: Friday evening instead of going out for a date, we had some political friends come over - M and his family. I've known M since I first got on the Hill in what, 2002? He was a legislator then. I met his wife for the first time last week. They are very nice. They came over and we talked politics and religion for 2 or 3 hours. That was fun. :) He will likely run for state vice-chair this year. I'll help him and of course hope he wins.

Saturday morning, I went to a Chamber of Commerce meeting with legislators. They hold them every Saturday morning during the session, at 7:30 am. I sat with D, a friend I met campaigning this summer and a guy thinking of running for Senate. Anyway, he sat there asking my political opinion! I also saw some other legislators and asked their opinion of me running for vice-chair of the county Republican party. One was non-committal, as always, and another was very enthusiastic. :) That was nice. In fact, I started testing the waters last week. Reception has been very positive. :) So - I'm gonna do it. Oooh, nervous!

At home, we've had some illness - Kadee has been throwing up all day. Bummer. A has had a headache and has been really moody and cranky for several days. I think it's because of her boyfriend but she says she is crying because her head hurts. Right. She came home from her last date/sleepover with him with a bruise on her face. First she told us a story that he "bumped" her with his elbow. Then she admitted it was a hickey and when she said to him that it was not cool, he said his only regret was that he didn't make it darker. Great guy, that guy. I can only hope she'll place the baby for adoption when he/she is born in June.

Now that we have the storage room shelves done, we are getting the Christmas stuff put away. It's not anywhere near my "record" of . . . drumroll please . . . July. (That was in our Orem house.)

Let's see - I've been thinking about the scriptures about having eyes to see (or not see, as the scripture goes). It struck me that it's not just "seeing" that the church is true, but it's "seeing", for example, that not all is well in Zion. It's seeing that one cannot have a business life separate from one's church life. Some are blind and can not see and think that anything goes in business and they'll be a good Mormon on Sunday, but it's not that way.

Well, that's my little bit of insight. :)

Have a great day today.

Overheard

2009-01-22T22:07:00.001-07:00

Kadee: Mom, why do we an an ability cord?
Mom, rolling her eyes: It's an UMBILICAL cord.

Great job teaching your kids the facts of life, midwife mom.

Another update

2009-01-21T10:44:00.002-07:00

I am SOO tired - the baby (now 19 months) is having a bad stretch of not sleeping. But anyway. . .
With the information I received from our Congressman's office yesterday, of course I fired off an email to my friend and contact overseas. She sent me one short email that said "Hang on - I have heard something - I'll get back to you". I was worried it was bad, but it was GOOD!
About 1:30 am our time she emailed me back and said that the Embassy has already been asking questions. They were told in no uncertain terms that the country in question has NO PROBLEMS with me or with our adoptions and that if any problems exist, it was between us and the US government. Even better, the person they talked to told them that if they (the US) thought there was a problem with us, they should not have approved us in the first place, rather than approve us, then try to pull those approvals. She emphasized again that there was NO PROBLEM on their side.
The battle could still be far from over, but for the first time in MANY months, we have seen movement in the right direction and *I* have hope. I don't want to - it's too early - but I do have hope that we might be getting to the end. Starfish Daddy did remark that if Chris Cannon had done his job 2 years ago, we would have/could have had the same kind of response and it could have resolved then. He didn't. I can't go back and change things, but I can celebrate that at least for today, we have some positive news. Yippee!!

Top 10 Garden Goals

2009-01-20T17:54:00.001-07:00

Ten Things I Want To Do in the Garden This Year

1.Plants lots and lots of SunGold tomatoes.
2.Plant early in the year – we're always late, it seems.
3.Keep good records! I, um, lost the record book from last year. I think I'll go to something like “google docs” this year, so I can access them from anywhere.
4.Get our asparagus in (finally).
5.Plant root crops this year – carrots, beets, turnips and some radishes.
6.Try planting a cover crop in fall.
7.Get the berries in.
8.Get a light and timer into the chicken coop
9.Use lots of “yummy” manure – yummy to the plants, anyway.
10.Get our drip irrigation system going.

Preparedness Challenge, Jan 15

2009-01-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

1. Garden work: Starting to plan our seed-starting adventures in the next 2 to 4 weeks. Woohoo!

2. Preserve something: No, but I did get 2 more canning books, including one on winning blue ribbons at the fair. :)

3. Work on food storage: Still living on our food storage – have spent $120 on food this week.

4. Other preparedness tasks: List-making for my Top 10 priorities in garden work, preparedness work, etc.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Tried a new peach chicken-curry Crockpot recipe. Yum. Made M&M cookies instead of chocolate chip – they turned out great!

6. Financial preparedness: Again, trying to cut spending to the bone to get out of debt. Still paying extra on the mortgage.

7. Work on local food systems: No.

8. Learn something new: Not new, I guess, but am reminded again how much I love being involved in politics (when I don't hate it – it's either one or the other, no middle ground) and how much I love being a midwife. I am still trying to decide which one of those will win the tipping point for my time – more on politics, or more on midwifery . . . . right now, politics is winning.

9. Serve someone: The midwifery and birthing community of Utah by continuing to fight to preserve their birthing rights and freedoms.

Preparedness Challenge, Jan 8

2009-01-20T14:22:00.002-07:00

1. Garden work: No, but staring to think about it more

2. Preserve something: Not this week – got son into the MTC.

3. Work on food storage: I worked on living off our food storage. Not 100%, but our food expenses for the week were less than $100.

4. Other preparedness tasks:

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Tried several this week, including homemade English muffins.

6. Financial preparedness: See food storage – trying to seriously reduce spending.

7. Work on local food systems: Yes, if by local you mean my own food storage room.

8. Learn something new: I learned that the government passed a law that will immediately put all “cottage” industries making items for kids right out of business – no more mamas sewing cloth diapers, slings, embroidered clothes, etc. Used clothing still questionable, as they are not apparently required to be tested, but would still be held liable to the lead standards that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has decided are appropriate. $100,000 fine and jail time for each infraction. It had me stomping mad for days . . . . we have lost our freedoms as Americans . . .

9. Serve someone: Helped watch my friends kids while her baby is in the hospital.

Preparedness Challenge, Jan 1

2009-01-20T14:19:00.001-07:00

1. Garden work: Not really, unless you count putting garden catalogs in a stack.

2. Preserve something: Hmm. Preserved family memories by driving 2200 miles in less than a week so my pre-missionary son could visit with his grandparents (all 4) before he left for 2 years.

3. Work on food storage: Purchased fresh food at a Missouri food auction. Will can the sweet potatoes I got for $2/bushel.

4. Other preparedness tasks: Prepared a missionary to go live in a third-world country for two years. I know (kind of) what that means . . . ack! DH built shelves for our storage room, which will make it much easier and much nicer to get to our “stuff”.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: I actually got the week off from cooking! Amazing . . .

6. Financial preparedness: Ummmm. Sure would like to be all the way out of debt.

7. Work on local food systems: Missouri's local food systems! Loved, loved, loved going to the food auction run by Amish and Mennonite farmers.

8. Learn something new: I learned I could probably feed my family on $500 a month if we moved to Missouri and shopped at the food auction religiously. I also learned more info about the status of midwives in Missouri. I also found some lovely land!

9. Serve someone: My son. My parents and sil, when I donated produce to them. :)

Adoption update

2009-01-20T13:28:00.003-07:00

Here's the update: I had to wait until after Jan 6 and my new Congressman was sworn in. As soon as he was, his office started working on our case. The first thing they did was read the 50+ pages of documentation I had given to him back in November. ("So glad you got elected - here's my issue", hand-delivered to his home and given to his wife).

Then, last week his office person assigned to our case had me come talk to her for an hour. She then called immigration (this was Friday) and asked to speak to the guy over our case. He wasn't available. She called again today and spoke to his supervisor who told my friend that Officer S was still working on our case and in fact had just requested additional information from the US Embassy overseas - on Friday. Would that have been before or after the congressional phone call? What he's asking is for the US Embassy to "investigate" whether we still have valid adoptions, which means to me he's telling them to hurry and get them overturned. We'll see . . .

The "nice lady" said they had just had some negative information about us come from the Embassy overseas, so she just didn't know if we even had valid adoptions anymore. Whatever. Interesting that in all their complaints to and about us, they never mentioned negative information from overseas, although of course we knew the Embassy was in cahoots with them from the beginning. The Congressman's office person asked if they could overturn the adoptions and I said "Of course". All they need to do is pay a judge to say so.

Supposedly we will hear in 2 weeks. . . . Keep us in your prayers. If they do overturn the adoptions, we're done. Although maybe I'll adopt from another country. . . . .

Top Ten Garden Lessons

2009-01-02T08:14:00.002-07:00

Top Ten Garden Tips I Learned This Year:

1: Manure makes plants VERY happy.
2: We don't like yellow summer squash as much as zucchini, so we don't need to grow much of it.
3: Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are to die for – no need to grow any other kind. They also dehydrate very nicely.
4: Amish Paste tomatoes are bigger, fleshier and tastier than Romas.
5: We really shouldn't order trees unless the ground is already ready.
6: Keeping up with the weeding early in the summer means much less weeding at the end of the summer. We did pretty well!
7: We don't need 500 mini-pumkins.
8: Paste tomatoes do NOT keep off the vine. Purple-y Russian ones and solid yellow ones do. And those solid yellow ones were sold at the grocery store after the first frost for $7.99/pound.
9: I should keep our garden notes on something like Google docs so I can find them again.
10: We use a lot of water in the summer in the desert. (OK, I already knew that)
11: One more thing - winter squash needs to be hardened off "officially" or it won't keep. Hoping it happens spontaneously doesn't guarantee it will.

Preparedness Challenge, Jan 2

2009-01-02T07:44:00.001-07:00

1. Garden work: Nothing this week besides thinking about it.

2. Preserve something: Memories. :) We made a quick trip from Utah to Missouri so that Michael could visit with his grandparents one last time before his mission.

3. Work on food storage: Stocked up on chocolate at the after-Christmas sales. I think I'm going to “can” them before we eat them all.

4. Other preparedness tasks: Got 12 100-hr candles after we had a 15 minute power outage and stumbled around for a light source.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation: Not this week. I've been a lazy bum and loving it.

6. Financial preparedness: Starting a two-month experiment to see if I can cut most or all discretionary spending – including groceries – so we can pay off the credit card debt that snuck back up on us.

7. Work on local food systems: No

8. Learn something new: I learned that I can make an 1100 mile trip in about 15 hours of driving time if I'm not driving the bus and we take SHORT pit-stops.

9. Serve someone: Michael, by taking this trip. My client who had a baby by waiting to leave until she had given birth. :-)

Our 2008 family newsletter

2009-01-02T00:01:00.013-07:00

Happy New Year! I can unabashedly tell you that I did not even plan to send a “Christmas” letter, but planned on a New Year's letter all along. Really!
It's true! 2008 concludes a pretty good year for our family, especially compared to the 3 or 4 previous years from H-E-double-hockey sticks. Since I know it's hard to keep up with all our comings and goings without a road map of some kind, here's said road map: At home, today, we have the Dad - 47, me, the mom - 44, our resident blacksmith - 21, Mikey - 19, dd#2 -18, Ashay - 16, Joshie – 14, Hal – 13, Kadey – 12, Romie – 12, Nonee – 12, Betty – 11, Carrot – 10, Tommy – 8, Becca – 8, Hammie – 8, Luisa – 7, Taiza – 4 and Angel – 1. Away from home we have dd#1 – 20, living in Salt Lake, B – 16, living in a residential treatment center, and Faith, Hope and Charity, all age 1 and all still stuck by our own government's refusal to issue visas.

January: Lots of cold, lots of snow. Starfish Mama returned to the Utah legislature again as a “citizen lobbyist” (that means on my own dime) and was surprised to have to fight ANOTHER bill restricting midwifery practice down to basically nothing. She swears it is the last time she'll be surprised. Tommy turned 8 and was baptized shortly afterwards, Luisa turned 7, Hope turned 1 and dd #2 turned 18. We seriously discuss moving all of us overseas to live with our girls for two years (different visa process if you do that). We are serious enough about it that we get EVERYONE a US passport – ka-ching, ka-ching!

February: Lots of cold, lots of snow. Becca turns 8 and is baptized on March 1. I spend tons of time on “the Hill” and even drive to Idaho to testify about midwives in front of their legislature. We eat pink mashed potatoes, pink Jell-O and pink rolls on Valentine's Day. DD#2 moves out to go live with friends and “be free” from rules. You know, rules like don't drink, don't hang out with drug dealers, those kinds of onerous ones.

March: Starfish Daddy and I fly half-way around the world to visit the girls. It was a short trip with some good stuff and some frustrating stuff. It becomes obvious, however, that moving there for 2 years would be more problematic than we had hoped. Finish up our trip away by spending 5 days in Washington DC. We should get away together more often. Our kidlets at home were taken care of by some good friends of ours who said it was “fun” and that they'd “love to do it again”. Crazy people. (Takes one to know one – ha!) Faith and Charity turn 1. Starfish Mama makes sure she gets back in time for her neighborhood caucus and gets re-elected chair of her voting precinct. She loves all that crazy political stuff. :-) It's also a sad time when her grandfather – newly moved to Utah – passes away. More snow. We get sick of shoveling global warming off our driveway.

April: Yes, there is more snow. Our cat has kittens. Mikey graduates from UVU with his Associate's degree and gets 2 scholarships to finish the rest. Yes, he's 18. Woohoo! Starfish Daddy and Starfish Mama celebrate 22 years of married life, Betty turns 11, Taiza turns 4, Carrot turns 10 and our blacksmith turns 21 off on his mission in England. The three fifth-graders participate in a big “Hope of America” program. Mama goes to the Utah County Republican party convention and helps get her state rep re-elected.

May: Kadey turns 12 and leaves Primary. She wakes up to snow on the ground on her birthday. That makes 9 straight months with snow – enough already!! Starfish Mama gets all fired up about a candidate running for Congress – Jason Chaffetz. She wears his shirt at the state convention, where he almost gets 60% of the vote, which would have meant no primary. Instead, he is forced into a primary with a 12-yr incumbent and i get (very) involved with my first campaign ever. I hook the family into helping as well and everyone gets a good dose of politics. Mama also spends a couple of days driving round-trip to Logan (110 miles one way) to take a master food preserver refresher course. We also have a new homestudy done and re-apply with USCIS to get new “pre-approvals” to get the girls. We start our garden after a cold, wet spring.

June: Our family's life is dominated by campaigning. We walk in parades, put up signs (EVERYWHERE!), hand out and hang up door-hanger thingies, make phone calls, be part of an online response team – you name it, we probably did it. The kids thought it was very cool to meet Jason's kids (our kids' ages – not hard to do with a family our size). Michael heads to his first (and last) EFY. Angel turns 1, her adoption is finalized and her neurosurgeon is delighted with her progress. Romie turned 12 and left Primary, Hammie turns 8, but waits until big brother gets off his mission to get baptized. The funnest day of the month was day of the Republican primary when “our guy” won with almost 60% of the vote. We were all down at the poll-watching party, with plenty of nerves, excitement and a good dose of rowdiness mixed in. We all claim him, now. Nonee was fairly outraged that none of the other kids in her fifth grade class even knew who was running.

July: We spent the Fourth of July with the same friends that watched our kids in March. (They have 7 kids at home, by the way). We started early in the morning with watching the hot air balloons, then we went to the American Fork Rec Center and hung out at the pool all day. We have a barbecue and head down to watch the fireworks outside the “Stadium of Fire”. We get home late, late at night. Fun! B turns 16. Our big event of the month is our blacksmith coming home from his mission! We are all super-excited, of course, and have fun getting signs ready, tying yellow ribbons in all our trees and making a treat gift bag. At the airport, we wait for what felt like forever and finally see some missionaries start trickling out. Nope, not that one – too short. Not that one, not that one, not that one. Finally, this really tall, really skinny missionary comes through the door and his mom has to READ HIS NAMETAG to know it was him!!! Talk about changes . . . We are so proud of him. (That was the last time he shaved or cut his hair this year, by the way . . . )Mikey gets a job at Macey's grocery store to earn money for his mission. At the end of the month, Mama and kids (minus Mikey) go to Missouri to do some campaigning for a state candidate out there. We walk unfamiliar neighborhoods and listen to “The Work and the Glory” on Cd – three books, around 900 pages each. That's about 45 CDs. We get notified that our homestudy is “insufficient” to prove that we are adequate parents.

August: The Missouri primaries are held and sadly, our person did not win. I hope she'll run again. Starfish Daddy flies out and meets us in St. Louis, then we drive to Nauvoo. The kids who are 12 and older do baptisms in the Nauvoo temple. We watch the Nauvoo pageant – my favorite church pageant ever and do some fun things around town. The next day, we drive back into Missouri and go and stay with our friends. We set up tents by their pond and camp out. It is lovely as the hot, hot weather finally changed and nights are cool and comfortable. We look at land while we are out there, but nothing “speaks” to us. Nonee turns 12 and also leaves Primary. That's 3 baptisms and three Primary advancements in one year. After we get back home, we have a fun (but short) visit with an online friend of Mama's – also mom to a large adoptive family – that we enjoy meeting “in real life” for the first time. Then we gather a bunch of stuff together and enter it into the Utah County fair. All of the canned goods we enter win blue ribbons, as do Nonee's snickerdoodles and most of our garden produce. It was fun! The garden goes gang-busters and we start canning. Gotta love what loads of manure does for a garden. Joshie turns 14. Kids go back to school. Our cat has ANOTHER litter of kittens. We file our response with USCIS – 150 additional pages. Think that will be adequate?

September: Mikey submits his mission papers, approximately 95 days before his 19th birthday. Two weeks later, he gets his call to the Mozambique Maputo mission (that's in Africa, speaking Portuguese). Starfish Mama cans and cans and cans like a crazy woman. Some of the new things she tries this year are: Black Forest Preserves (chocolate-cherry jam), carrot cake jam, pear mincemeat, blushing peach jam (with bananas in it – yum!), summer salsa and plum sauce. She does all the regulars as well. She, Starfish Daddy and a handful of kids fit in a quick trip to Washington and Oregon and come back with about 3600 pounds of apples and about 2000 pounds of potatoes. Phew! Hal turns 13. We all go to a special Family Home Evening at the Family History Center. Mama tells Starfish Daddy's boss's boss that we want to move to Missouri. Shortly thereafter, the economy tanks, decimating the 401K. So much for that idea. Romie breaks his arm after skidding on his bike and hitting the ground.

October: The LDS church announces a temple in Clay county, Missouri – wowzers! Starfish Mama cries and cries 'cause they're not out there yet. She has a much-needed surgery. She also sews about a dozen Halloween costumes and does some more canning. Ashay turns 16 (wow!) Campaigning picks up before the general election. DD#2 announces that Mama and Daddy will become grandparents in the early summer. No, you did not miss a wedding announcement. Our family hosts a Halloween party and attend a couple more. Mama starts an online BYU class, trying to finish the last 30 credits she needs to have a Bachelor's. Mikey takes out his endowments.

November: Starfish Daddy turns 47. That's pushing 50. Unbelievable. “Our guy”, Jason Chaffetz, wins his election with some 72% of the vote. Angel is sealed to the family. We pass Lizzie's 20th birthday. She celebrates in heaven and we remember her here. Our friends with 13 kids come for Thanksgiving dinner, along with my brother's family. We feed 35, no problem. Mama, our blacksmith, Nonee, Romie and DD#2 hit the Black Friday sale at Jo-Ann's fabric and buy some 45 BOLTS of flannel. If you get cold, come here. We'll fix you up with warm jammies. And food from our overflowing food storage room. We have enough and to share. :-) I did it for you . . . Starfish mama's parents move to Missouri – they beat her there. How did that happen?!

December: The elves come fill the stockings on time – a miracle! (Our advent calendar is a set of 24 little stockings that the elves fill Nov 30, with one piece of candy per child per day, up til Christmas Eve.) Starfish mama sews. And sews. And sews some more. Final tally: 23 pairs of pajama pants, 13 pj tops, with 3 more partially assembled, 2 nightgowns and 6 very cute Christmas skirts. Mikey turns 19 and gets mission presents. He gets more mission stuff for Christmas. Lucky him! Mama turns 44 and spends her birthday doing all the temple work for her deceased daughter, Elizabeth. She cries. A lot. Christmas comes. It's smaller than previous years, but everyone is happy and no one cries. Four months pass since we submit our “response” to USCIS. Still no word. Mama thinks about putting a ticker on her blog, just for fun. She figures out how to put one on her Facebook page. We're at 7 months, 3 weeks.

We end the year with new friends, new knowledge, stronger testimonies and increased faith. Here's to 2009!

Sewing frenzy - I mean fun

2009-01-01T23:04:00.008-07:00

I had this great plan that I'd be done "early" this year. Whatever. Then, my plan was that I would sew on the 22nd and 23rd but not have to sew on the 24th. Again - whatever. (Rolling my eyes). I sewed like a crazy woman up to 5 minutes before we opened the pj's on Christmas Eve. My grand total was 23 pairs of pj pants, 12 tops with 3 more partially assembled, 2 nightgowns and 6 skirts. All in about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks time. Note to self: START EARLIER! Now for some pics of the pj's . . . .

Cleaning Poem

2009-01-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

In my inbox today . . .

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess.
He asked if I'd been 'computering',
And I had to answer 'yes.'

He told me to get off my fanny
And tidy up the house.
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my work..
I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops I found
A real absorbing site.
That I got SO way into it.
I was into it all night.<>

Nothing's changed except my mouse
It's very, very shiny.
I guess my house will stay a mess...
While I sit here on my hiney.

Starfish mama's birthday

2009-01-01T22:26:00.003-07:00

So 5 days after Mikey's birthday, I celebrated mine. I'm 44 years old. I don't feel old, but I've some weird experiences lately, like seeing celebrities who are obviously "older" and then finding out they are my age, or seeing "older" parents with young kids and realizing that's me. . . At 44, I'm not only in my "mid-forties", but I've got to start claiming "middle-aged". Weird, I tell ya.

The morning I spent sewing, then getting my nails done - my treat to myself. The afternoon I spent at the dentist's office with ALL the kiddos. Bless that man - both he and our family doc will schedule an afternoon and just see everyone at once. SOOO much better than taking them in 3 or 4 at a time. Anyway, once we got home from that, I changed and met Starfish Daddy and headed to the temple to do Lizzie's ordinance work. You see, we did not know we could. Sure, she lived past 8 years old, but was not accountable in this life, which led us to believe that - like all innocent children who die before age 8 - she would not need temple work done. However, in dh's job doing software engineering for the LDS church's family history dept, he was looking around on our own family tree one day a couple months ago and saw a space for ordinance work for Lizzie. He asked a couple people, including the sealer for baby Angel and they all reassured him that yes, it could - and should - be done. He printed off the card for me and off we went.

I knew it would be emotional for me, since I teared up just THINKING about it and I was right. I SOBBED in the baptismal font so loudly it was echoing. Embarrassing, but I couldn't stop it. Of course, it didn't help AT ALL that Starfish Daddy started crying too, during the baptism, then the confirmation. Same thing when I did her initiatory ordinances. By the time the endowment session started, however, the waterworks had dried up and I made it through the session just fine. My good friend Monica joined me, as did our two oldest boys. I so appreciated that.

I did not feel her there, see her or otherwise "connect", but I know she knows how much I love her and how happy I was to do her work for her. Now she just needs to find some nice (deceased) man up there and they'll be set. :-) My new goal for the baby is for her to live to her 8th birthday. Eight is great, eight is great . . .

After our 4 hours at the temple, we went home and I was treated to birthday gifts from the fam. Coupons for a clean house, shelves up in our storage room (yippee!!) and a gift basket of yummy cheeses and Lindor truffle balls. Mmm. What a great family I have.

Mikey's birthday pics

2009-01-01T22:11:00.006-07:00

And just 'cause she's so stinking cute, one of baby Angel

Mikey's birthday

2009-01-01T19:36:00.002-07:00

So - Michael turned 19 on Saturday, December 13. As he gets ready to leave for two years, I can't help but reflect on his life - and his birth story. After Lizzie's birth and the ache of discovering I was now the mother of a special needs child, my immediate reaction was that I had to have another baby right away. (I have since discovered that there are two common responses after an "unexpected outcome" - have another baby RIGHT away or NEVER, EVER want to have another baby.) As I said, my response was the first - I had not thought of what I would do if I lost that baby, or if I had another special needs child. The truth is - it could have very well have destroyed me, but God was merciful and let me experience multiple losses slowly. (Oh, I crack myself up - it's been really hard to do it that way too.)

So - I got pregnant very quickly. Michael was due 13 1/2 months after Lizzie was born. At 12 weeks along, I miscarried a twin, but since I hadn't known I was carrying twins and because I did have a live baby, well, it was OK. Weird, but OK. I had a backache from about 8 weeks along - I don't think my back recovered from carrying Lizzie. At 28 weeks, I was put on bedrest - not for contractions, but because my cervix was softening. (Now I know that was/is totally normal for me.) I about went bonkers - and I didn't really stay on bedrest, either. When Relief Society sisters would come to help me out, I'd make sure I'd clean and do laundry before they came. Yeah. Starfish Daddy thought that was pretty dumb too.
Anyway . . . I had understood my doctor to say that I could get off bedrest at 35 weeks. He later said it was 37, but it was too late by then. The day I hit 35 weeks I was up and moving. Three days labor, I went to the hospital with regular contractions, but they petered out over the course of the night. They told me that "of course" they couldn't start up anything because I was still 4 1/2 weeks from my due date, so they sent me home. Now here comes the part that I've never shared publicly. Before I went home, I slipped an amniohook into my bag. Yes, that's the long crochet-hook-thingie to break water. Someday I should send that hospital $1.20 to reimburse them. In my head I was thinking: "The contractions have proven to me that I'm ready - they were a sign, so it's OK." Blame placenta brain.

I went home, took a nap, then got in the tub and - are you ready for this? - broke my own water with that "borrowed" amniohook. No, it was not easy. No, I wouldn't do it again. Yes, I would freak out if any of my midwifery clients thought they might want to try that! But, I did it, got dressed, showed up at the hospital and told them my water had broken. I wasn't having any contractions, so they asked if I would like to wait for labor to start, or if I wanted Pitocin. I chose Pit, since I knew it did NOT actually break spontaneously . . . what a dork I am. 2 1/2 hours later, I was holding my 6 pound 13 ounce preemie. (No my dates weren't wrong - imagine how big he would have been if I had gone full-term!) He did not have one second of trouble from coming early and I got to not be pregnant for my 25th birthday 5 days later and for Christmas one week after that. What a story . . .

Michael has the same personality now as he did then - calm, easy-going, cheerful, fun to be around. He still has to have an answer for everything. When he was 5 or 6, the answer was "magic". Now, it's "science" or "God", but he has to have an answer to all "why" questions. . . (yes, he still has some learnin' to do). He is such a good worker and SO gregarious. I hate making small talk - it's painful for me (less so since I got involved in small-talking/schmoozing politicians, but still . . . ) but he has a true gift of gab - and truly a gift for making people feel like they really ARE interesting and that he is just so happy to have a chance to talk to them. One reason his work liked him so much is because of his friendliness, sales went through the roof when he was handing out samples. He frequently sold out whatever it was he was sampling - and even corporate noticed. I'm very proud of him. He'll thrive in Africa because of his easy-going personality and ability to roll with the punches. I love you, my son-that-is-now-a-man. Go get 'em.

Catching up

2008-12-31T15:02:00.002-07:00

I put everything on hold on this blog while I sewed, sewed, sewed. So - get ready for the scoop on the last couple of weeks!

Pics

2008-12-22T07:36:00.007-07:00

So much to write, so little time (until this weekend, at least). So, hoping that a picture is really worth 1000 words, here is what we've been up to:

The girls in their new Christmas skirts. I sewed 4 on Friday, 2 on Saturday and 1 early Sunday morning before church!

Taiza and her little snowman

After shoveling

Preparedness Challenge, Dec 17

2008-12-17T04:31:00.001-07:00

I've been so busy sewing and politicking that I just haven't been filling these out. Shame, shame, shame on me!! So – my answers apply to the last month and not just the last week. New Year's goal: 52 Preparedness Challenge posts . . . .

1. Garden work. We (meaning the kids while I “supervised” aka gave them marching orders) stripped the garden bare of all plant stuff. We got bags and bags of leaves from fellow free-cyclers who so kindly raked and bagged them for us. We put them on the garden and I realized once again how big it really is, and yet too small for us . . . go figure. We'll rent a shredder (sometime) and run all the plant leftovers through it and put it all back on the garden. It's still a sadness and annoyance to me that after our house fire both our (very expensive) tiller and (moderately expensive) shredder were stolen. . . .
Oh, and we are already getting lots of garden catalogs - fun!

2. Preserve something. Pumpkin, with many more to go, but they'll have to wait until after Christmas.

3. Work on food storage. Hit lots of sales. :) We had a new grocery super-store open up near us. We got over 100 boxes of cereal for $1/box – probably more like 200 boxes. Got a year's supply of cream cheese Thanksgiving week, a year's supply of cranberry sauce and a ton of instant potatoes and Hamburger Helper. Let me explain the last two. :) Starfish Daddy needs lunches and the boxes of potatoes were on sale for $1. Each one is good for 2 lunches. In addition, the boxes of garlic mashed potatoes had coupons on them for free Hamburger Helper if you bought three boxes of any variety of mashed potatoes. We ended up with about 100 boxes of potatoes and 30 boxes of Hamburger Helper. I don't like the stuff, but it's great for the kids to fix when we head out on a date. :)

4. Other preparedness tasks. I'm busy making sure everyone has new, warm, flannel jammies for winter.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation. Several different ones.

6. Financial preparedness. Sigh. Not doing great in this dept.

7. Work on local food systems. No.

8: Learn something new. I've re-learned I can do OK on 5-6 hours of sleep a night, but 3 to 4 is killing me.

9: Serve someone: My family, what with sewing and other Christmas preparations.

Stock up on vanilla!

2008-12-12T09:15:00.002-07:00

Madagascar, which supplies a good amount of our "real" vanilla has been hit hard by an incurable vanilla fungus. About 80% of their crop has been affected. Stock up now. You have been warned :)
The story is here, if you want to read about it in a more "official" place than my blog.

PJ update

2008-12-11T13:22:00.003-07:00

I don't have much time, between a cranky baby and the sewing that needs to be done, but I thought I'd give a quick update on what I got done yesterday. I couldn't get to cutting out pj's until about 2 or so. In 3+ hours, I cut out 6 jammie tops, 7 bottoms and 2 nightgowns. In the next couple of hours, I sewed straight seams and just kept the line going. I ended up with a string of seamed material 22 yards long. I thought I'd get to do a bunch today but the baby had other plans for me - she was up at 1 and no, I have not gone back to bed. I did finish one top and pair of pants between 3 and 5 am. Sigh. Good thing I am mostly OK to work in spurts!

Ours forever

2008-12-10T06:59:00.007-07:00

Feeling like a total dweeb because I forgot to blog about Angel's sealing! What a dork I am.

So, the evening of November 11, we all headed over to the Mt Timpanogos temple. We now have 2 endowed children (cool) who were able to stay and help in the waiting room with the other kids while we did the necessary paperwork and went upstairs. While we waited in the sealing room, the sealer told us he had 14 children and thought he had a big family. He does! He also told us they have 100 grandchildren - that's about how many I thought we'd have - maybe it will be more (note to self: Never start any grandkid traditions I can't do for 100+ people.)

So, they brought the kids in and no one did anything embarrassing (LOL). My mom was able to hold Angel's hand on ours and not only did she not fuss a bit, she looked heavenward and grinned. It was that that brought me to tears - the veil is so thin for her. She is SO like Lizzie that way - we know they were and are watching angels when they do that.

After the sealing, we went outside for pictures, up close to the temple since it was dark and cold. I sure love my kids. I am so glad that we CAN be together forever.

Remembering Lizzie

2008-12-09T18:56:00.001-07:00

We just passed the third anniversary of Lizzie's death. It was almost everything I could have hoped for. The only thing I would have wanted different was for her to die in my arms. Instead she chose (and I'm sure she really did) to go when she was on the couch by herself, after a week of being on the doorstep - and with me with her almost every second. It was one of the most spiritual weeks of my life. We were absolutely engulfed by the Spirit.
Anyway, I had time to make a lovely winter princess dress - white, sparkly and trimmed in fur. Starfish Daddy made her casket - it was beautiful. It was lined in white satin, with "Families Are Forever" machine-embroidered on the lid and with all the kids handprints embroidered in red, all the way around the inside. We wanted to send her off surrounded by loving hands.
Of course, I dressed her and we curled her hair ourselves. I even attended a birth - a long, hard VBAC birth - the week between her death and her funeral. Amazing how God works that out . . .
We had her viewing in our home. She had sparkles in her hair and red rose petals sprinkled over her. We had Christmas lights outside and decorations inside and were glad to welcome friends and family into our home.
After her funeral, instead of leaving right away, we had a "receiving line", to greet people who did not have a chance to say hello before the funeral. We went to the cemetery and stayed to watch her be buried. We blew almost-frozen bubbles - the high that day was about 20 degrees.
We miss her, but we do know she's happy. This coming week - on my birthday - I will go to the temple and do all of her ordinance work for her. We did not know it could be done - dh found out about a month ago. I am excited for her and nervous for me - it makes me emotional just thinking about it.

Three years goes by so fast . . .

Puttering

2008-12-09T14:10:00.002-07:00

Yup - that's me. I'm just puttering when I should be working steadily! (Actually, I do keep working - it's just that I don't keep working on one project for very long before I'm off to something else. Here is some of what I've been puttering around on over the last couple of weeks:
*most Christmas shopping is done - woohoo!
*some wrapping is done
*the trees are up and decorated
*the house is decorated. It looks nice too, if I do say so myself
*the lights are up outside
*the yard is clean and ready for snow - waiting . . . waiting . . . still waiting
*I have 2 sets of jammies sewn
*worked on my BYU class and got an A on my first assignment
*made homemade French onion soup - the onions cooked for 4 hours!
*cooked a variety of other meals
*cooked 3 turkeys (2 on Thanksgiving, one the Sunday after)
*gone to court for B
*delivered a baby, with one more due any day
*thought about making homemade caramels - have all the ingredients but so far not the time
*held a cranky baby - repeat multiple times each day (that's how I'm blogging right now - she's on my lap)
*3 midwife meetings and a political meeting
*lots of politically-related emails. :)
*wondered how long USCIS can go without answering us - it's been over 100 days since I filed our response and a whopping 7 months since our initial application
*business paperwork
*fixed our huge love-sac thing by sewing the zipper closed (if you have kids, you'll know why this is necessary)
*watched Twilight
*re-watched all 5 Harry Potter movies while sewing
*taught Kadee how to sew pillow cases
*watched her sew 20 of them!
*sent off all requisite visa paperwork for the missionary-to-be
*wondered if a trip to Africa will happen in 2009
*laundry (but I suppose that's a given)
*re-braided the princess' hair
*started re-reading the Twilight series

OK - the baby's off my lap - time to get back to work!

Tips for Holiday Eating

2008-12-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact,if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving chocolate balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can - And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it! Have one for me . Have two! It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards!

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips: Start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO!! What a ride!"

Interesting tidbit re: Embassy in Zambia

2008-12-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/219158/122764414096.htm

JFON: A FAMILY REUNITED

*Mali Mwando and her adopted son, refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, were seeking asylum in the US. Mwando was separated from her husband for eight long years. Her husband, a Justice for Our Neighbors' (JFON) client, helped file petitions on his families' behalf.

The Vice Consul at the US Embassy in Zambia repeatedly rejected the family's asylee petitions claiming that Mwando had engaged in human trafficking and suspected that her son's adoption certificate and even her marriage certificate were not authentic. She was told that her husband would re-marry and that she would never enter the US.

JFON Attorney Thomas Mills worked with an attorney in DRC to authenticate all of her documents, discovering in the process many contradictions. After submitting a 70-page rebuttal, approved documents were sent to the Vice Consul and the Mwanda family was finally reunited.

Support the JFON ministry that provides much-needed free legal services and helps families reunite. Give to Justice for Our Neighbors, UMCOR Advance #901285.

*Name has been changed.

Elder Maxwell talk

2008-12-01T06:56:00.001-07:00

Watch this talk by Elder Maxwell from 30 years ago. We DO have prophets in the land.

Thanksgiving Day pictures

2008-11-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

Overheard

2008-11-30T14:19:00.004-07:00

We were watching a movie this weekend and Taiza asked me the following:

Taiza: Are black people bad?
Me: No. Some white people are bad and some white people are good. Some black people are bad and some black people are good. Are you good?
Taiza: Yes
Me: See? Is Ashay good?
Taiza: (Hestitation, then drawn-out answer) Yeeeess. But sometimes he makes bad choices to me.

I couldn't keep a straight face . . . .

Overheard

2008-11-30T14:11:00.002-07:00

Nonee: Ooh - fun! We're having gigolos for dinner!
Me: No, we're having Jell-O JIGGLERS for dinner . . .

This is the same one who asked me why I cooked with cocaine and wondered about someone executed at the grocery store . . .

Cranberry-Chip Cookies

2008-11-30T13:25:00.003-07:00

We LOVE these cookies! You can use fresh or frozen cranberries but pat the frozen cranberries dry after chopping and don't overmix. Also, pick through your fresh cranberries carefully - I discard any squishy ones, even if they still look whole because one rotten cranberry will spoil your whole batch. Believe me.

1 C white sugar
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C butter, softened
1/4 C milk
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 egg
3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 C coarsely chopped cranberries
1 C chopped pistachios
1 C chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375. Mix sugars and butter. Stir in milk, orange juice and egg. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Carefully stir in cranberries, nuts and chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfulls about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. About 5 1/2 dozen. Oh, and you can't double this one in a regular Kitchen-Aid - it's too much for it.

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

It started early - like midnight. Silly baby decided to get up and play from 12:30 am until oh, about 6 am. Made for a cranky start to my morning, since I only slept from 6 to 7:30. Then came the cooking, more cooking, and more cooking. Ashay washed dishes and dishes and more dishes. (Our last dishwasher broke down a couple weeks ago. The first one broke down months and months ago.) Anyway, I bet we washed the Kitchen-Aid mixing bowl at least a dozen times before the day was done.

We fit in a visit to B early in the morning. He's struggling with respect issues and is on behavioral level 1 (out of 5 possible). He basically has zero privileges, has to wear a shirt and tie, and has no choice in his menu - chicken noodle soup for dinner. Every dinner. Bummer for him.

So - around 1, guests started arriving. My brother, his wife and their 2 kids and some friends of ours with a dozen kids. We all got to snack on veggie trays (with olives!) while the meal finished. We aimed for 3, but ended up eating about 3:40. The food was great, everyone enjoyed chatting (the noise level was pretty high, I must admit) and in less than 30 minutes, it was all over. Then I spent an hour washing dishes . . .

After all that, I was just too tired to keep standing! So, I plopped on the couch and looked at the Black Friday ads. Unfortunately, I ended up with a really bad headache . . . it was still a nice day - I just wish I'd had some sleep!

Oh, and in case you're wondering, here are some of our totals:

*2 22-pound turkeys
*8 large boxes of Jell-O
*128 homemade rolls (the equivalent of 8 loaves of bread)
*9 pounds of yams
*25 pounds of potatoes
*8 cans of green beans
*8 cans of cranberry sauce
*8 sticks of butter used for cooking
*only 4 cups of cream, LOL

I never have room for dessert. Friday morning breakfast . . . .

Random things about me, part two

2008-11-27T08:04:00.003-07:00

*If money were no object, I'd buy an embroidery machine to play with. $6000+

*I was on a school gymnastics team in France.

*I was a cheerleader in 7th grade in the US - the only one from my elementary school to make the team.

*I also got mono that year . . .

*I was propositioned for the first time (that I recognized) at age 11. When I was 14, my 35 yo bus driver asked me to come home with him to give him "private English lessons". Naive as I was, I still recognized that he wanted more than English lessons.

*I spoke French like a native, back in the day. Completely fluent, no accent. Now I cringe when I hear myself. Dang.

*I can wiggle my ears.

*I lived in Virginia when they desegregated the schools and my best friend was bussed across town.

*I have written articles that have been published in a newspaper and several magazines. I've also had a number of articles either written about me or that quote me. I've even been on TV, both locally and nationally.

*Many male TV reporters wear more make-up than I do, on a good make-up day.

*I was in a BYU ward with Kenneth Cope.

*A congressman knows my name. :)

*I love, love, love baby shoes. To the point that the Princess has more shoes than I do and has all of her life, pretty much. (At least a dozen pair at a time . . . but I think I'm slowing down . . .)

*People with disabilities - especially children - used to terrify me. I knew God would never send me a child with disabilities, 'cause I knew I couldn't handle it.

*I've been to a leprosy hospital.

*I've driven past the fistula hospital in Ethiopia.

*I got giardia in Ethiopia. Now THAT was fun. Not.

*I've been followed by the mafia in Russia (and probably other places as well).

*I have no idea how much a normal-sized family eats for a normal meal. :)

*I can't knit, crochet, tat, or weave. I can, however, cross-stitch and sew.

*I hate jig-saw puzzles. They both frustrate and bore me.

*I have NO eye-hand coordination. It's an ADD thing. Seriously.

*One of my favorite movies is Amazing Grace. I love the anti-slavery message, but also the other message - the political game has been the same for hundreds of years.

*I don't like it when people think I'm a saint and/or crazy. I'm neither, actually.

*I've carried almost $10,000 in cash on my person. Gotta love the early days of international adoption . . . (OK, early days in Eastern Europe at least.)

*I've climbed all 600+ steps to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

*I've spent time exploring Paris with my son, but not my hubby.

*I've seen real third-world suffering up close and personal and have twinges of guilt for living in a home that could house at least 100 orphans in Africa . . . .

*Besides my family, my favorite part about coming back to the US after being away is Sonic ice, Mexican food and high-speed Internet.

*I have more pictures than I have wall space in my home. And I have a lot of wall space.

*I have two extra turkeys I don't know what to do with, since all 3 deep-freezes and all 3 fridge freezers are full to the brim.

*I'm going to be a grandma in June. No, there has been no wedding.

*Homemade ice cream is worth the stomach cramps and diarrhea.

*I had 5 in diapers at my peak.

*I washed a mouse in the washing machine . . .

*I'm allergic to all animals that don't live in water, yet we have 2 rabbits, 3 cats and about 40 chickens because they're good for the kids . . .

*I haven't had any cola products at all for over 30 years.

*I do the Dew, however. (But I've been able to really cut back since my surgery. Cool)

*I get 5 hours of sleep on a good night. Lately, it's been enough (almost).

*I have thousands of dollars of scrapbook supplies sitting unused . . . Someday . . .

*I have enough tablecloths, kitchen curtains and decor to change our look 9 times a year.

*Our table is 8 feet wide and 12 feet long. (It's actually 4 normal tables pushed together.)

*My favorite color is pink, preferably hot pink, and has been my entire life.

*My earliest memory was when I was around 16 months old.

*I really don't like pie.

*I don't like to cry and don't do it often.

*I used to be a blonde in college. :)

Random things about me, part one

2008-11-27T01:09:00.002-07:00

Inspired by my friend Monica, I thought I'd post a random assortment of facts about me. Let me know what surprised you, made you laugh or shake your head . . .

*I met Princess Grace and Cary Grant at the palace in Monaco

*I never finished high school. I "dropped out" and went to college, where I graduated with a degree in nursing at age 19.

*I've had training in and sometimes certified in: childbirth ed (through ICEA and Hypnobirthing), doula work (through DONA), doula instructor, 40-hours on becoming a lactation consultant, infant massage instructor, professional midwifery, master gardener, master food preserver, fetal heart rate monitoring, neonatal resuscitation, parenting attachment-disordered children (multiple trainings, actually). (And I'm an RN) See a pattern here?

*I took childbirth educator training from Penny Simkin in Seattle.

*I was an adjunct professor at BYU for several years.

*I am a morning person.

*I pull more all-nighters now than I ever did in college.

*I have ADD (no, really!?)

*I've had an blood iron count in the transfusion range for the last 30 years. It's finally starting to rise after a hysterectomy in October.

*I collect dolls from all over the world. The first doll in my collection was from Vietnam and was given to me by my Dad who flew reconnaissance during the war.

*I'm an Air Force brat.

*I have two brothers that went to the Air Force Academy. Both are now in the reserves. One flew an F-15 Strike Eagle in the early days of the Iraqi war.

*My first boyfriend was French. (I was living there at the time.)

*Real French bread will make Americans' gums bleed.

*I love dark chocolate until it gets so dark it sets your teeth on edge.

*Russian chocolate has got to be the worst in the world.

*I've been on an airplane with chickens as carry-ons.

*I love to sew, but avoid zippers whenever I can because I don't feel like I've ever quite mastered them.

*I love to cook and try several new recipes every month - sometimes every week.

*I have been to 28 countries (unless I forgot some), including at least one that no longer exists.

*I have kids from 8 countries.

*I love to read, especially last-days LDS fiction. Sometimes I even read junky romances . . . .

*I was terribly shy and unsure of myself when I married my husband. Oh, how times have changed!

*I've been married (to the same man) for over 1/2 my life.

*I had a mission call to Quebec Canada, French speaking, humanitarian mission. However, 4 months between call and reporting date proved to be about 2 months too long.

*My first date with Starfish Daddy was to Burger King. The day I got my mission call.

*I worked full-time graveyards while dating Starfish Daddy and for the first couple of years we were married.

*I've been in 3 roll-over accidents.

*I used to be an avid skier and even went spring-skiing in a swimsuit and snow pants.

*I rarely do it, but I love fake nails. They make me feel sexy. ;)

*I'm allergic to milk and most milk products. Bummer. It took me until last year, at age 42, to figure that out.

*We have over 3000 books and probably at least 1/3 that amount in videos/DVD's . . .

*I am the oldest of 6. I used to wash out poopy diapers in the toilet for my mom. Oh the joys. Even then, I tried cloth diapers myself on child #7. I lasted about 2 months.

Jumpers for my little girls

2008-11-27T01:00:00.006-07:00

I spent yesterday sewing matching-but-opposite jumpers for my little girls. I changed the pattern, then forgot to change the instructions and ended up picking out about 8 seams in the first one. Dang! I usually only those kind of mistakes when I'm really tired. The second one went smoothly. Here are a couple of pics:

Not the greatest picture of the baby, but I wanted to share her smile and laugh with you!

Happy 20th birthday

2008-11-26T23:55:00.002-07:00

Today is my daughter Elizabeth's 20th birthday. 20 years since I had a C-Section. 20 years since I first learned that children with disabilities would be a part of my life. 20 years since I started on my first walk with grief and 20 years since I have known the joy of parenting a few very special kids - kids for whom the veil never closes, who see and coo to angels. She literally changed our family forever. Without her, we would likely have never adopted and certainly not many kids with "issues", be they physical, mental, emotional or merely that they were "older" and had a "past". She marked the path and led the way . . . . we owe her a debt of gratitude. I'm sure she is busy and happy on the other side of the veil but I hope that now and again she peeks in on us - especially baby Angel, who is like Elizabeth part deux (except I can enjoy her more because I did not have to grieve over her disabilities . . . )

20 years seems like a lifetime ago . . . . I am a very different person now than I was then and having Elizabeth was a HUGE turning point in our lives - turning, shaping, refining - it was huge. I'm happy for her that she can run free and is no longer constrained, but I do miss her. She was and is and always will be my baby.

Dreams

2008-11-26T23:49:00.003-07:00

I don't remember many dreams, but this week I dreamt of our girls in Africa. I took a 15 minute cat nap and woke up with tears on my cheeks because I was crying in my dream. Phooey. I dreamed that there were tons of people around me and between me and the girls and I just could not get anyone to pay attention to me. I was grabbing my new Congressman and sobbing trying to get him to listen - he was, but then I woke up before there was any resolution. They've been on my mind a lot lately . . . . It's been 90 days today since we submitted 150 pages in response to the USCIS letter claiming we did not provide enough information on how we could care for them. . .

Bit o' braggin'

2008-11-24T12:22:00.002-07:00

I just got back from the dentist where they did the prepwork for a new crown. I did it au naturale! The dental assistant was pretty skeptical before we started. When we were done, she said she had NEVER seen anyone able to do that without being numb. Both she and the dentist said regular fillings would be a piece of cake. Woohoo! Thanks to my friend Suzanne who gave me the nerve to try. It really wasn't bad - nuthin' like birthin' a baby!

End-of-week summary

2008-11-23T13:46:00.002-07:00

Too long no post (actually, I do post - I just got myself addicted to Facebook - it's so cool!)
Here's a brief summary of this week's "got done" list. No comment on the things still left on the "to do" list.
*visited B on Monday night
*FHE
*team meeting Monday morning, also for B. Consensus is he will move towards independent living, not returning home.
*About 1/2 dozen political meetings
*Interim day on the Hill
*Two babies - one I delivered at her home as her midwife, another one at the birth center where I work as a nurse
*Finished 4 lessons on my BYU class
*sewed a Pilgrim skirt and apron in about an hour before volunteering at a Thanksgiving feast
*helped my parents pack
*be flabbergasted that Thanksgiving is THIS WEEK
*put up Christmas lights
*spent several nights without sleep due to my baby and other people's babies

Hmm - I can't think of anything else!!

Chaffetz on the national news

2008-11-20T12:25:00.001-07:00

Quintessential Jason Chaffetz - a true fiscal conservative. :)

Apple Pumpkin Soup

2008-11-09T20:03:00.003-07:00

We tried this tonight - it's really yummy!!

1 large onion, chopped
1/2 pound of bacon, chopped
2 C cooked pumpkin
1 cup water
2 cups apple cider
4 cubes chicken bouillon
1 apple, chopped and unpeeled
dash of liquid smoke
1 tsp salt (might want more)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 TBSP crystallized ginger, chopped

Sauté onion and bacon lightly in large pot. Add pumpkin, water, apple cider, chicken bouillon, apple, liquid smoke, salt, pepper, and crystallized ginger to the pot. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Stir frequently. Blend to thicken in blender-size batches.

Updated Mama pic

2008-11-09T19:51:00.001-07:00

Starfish Daddy took this picture this evening. It turned out. :)

Party night!

2008-11-09T18:50:00.008-07:00

Friday night, we had a volunteer party for the Chaffetz campaign. We got to hear Jason and see him laughing and joking (although his jokes about cats aren't all that funny - ha!) He got a nice photo collage of campaign pics and one of his favorite quotes. Connie handed out gifts to all the other campaign staff - funny ones. :)

Just as fun, we got to visit with other people who have been involved. Some of them I had never met IRL (in real life). Some I only knew by their online "code-name". It was fun to talk politics with other folks who are looking for their next project as well and to keep our connections going. Everyone is still fired up - I'll bet that wane for some, but happily, it won't for others. My next project just might be registering as a lobbyist . . . we'll see. I need my partner to say yes (I don't mean starfish daddy - he thinks I'd do great and is all for it. I mean my on-the-hill partner in crime - law - whatever.)

By the end of the night, Jason starting signing campaign signs for people to take home as souvenirs (hmm - I wonder if any are on Ebay yet . . . ) I have - seriously - enough for each bedroom in our home to have two or three. We have seven bedrooms. Apparently, we just started a new decorating trend - red, white and Chaffetz. All of our T-shirts are signed by him as well - we'll just hang them on the wall like the famous person he is. My guess is that Nonee will be the first to request a real change in room decor. She's in the "princess" room which was cute when she was 8 or 9, but now she's 12+. She had TWO signs autographed - one by the Chaffetz family and one by Jason and the campaign team. She'd die if she knew I'm telling you that the first time Jason shook her hand at a parade, she squealed and told me she would never wash her hand again. Good thing she doesn't read my blog. She genuinely likes the Chaffetz' daughter that is the same age and wishes they could "hang out". She is also remarkably politically aware. She "gets it". In fact, she is the child that was just shocked and dismayed that her schoolmates weren't aware that "primary" didn't mean church, that the Cannon got fired and that they didn't know who was running against Jason in the general election. She and a couple other kids have friends who have made them promise to invite them if we walk in any more parades. See - politics is addicting. Jason said one of his campaign staff was on "political crack" - I get it. :)

(The parade picture is from this summer - the other ones are from Friday.)

2008-11-09T17:35:00.002-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do. I think the pictures I just posted over the last couple of day show you what I have been up to.

I have a lot of feelings about politics, the state of our country, campaigns, my religion. I am totally serious that it has been a pleasure and an honor to be involved in a campaign for a good man. And I know that people reading my blog will disagree. I'm telling you - he i a good man.

I learned a lot about the negative side to politics and to many, it seems it doesn't necessarily matter what your religion is or what you say your ethics are – all bets are off when it comes to politics. I'm sure – SURE – that some people involved in nastiness in Utah campaigns are active in their church and consider themselves good, honorable people who are honest and upright. And yet they are willing to flat-out lie (not just “spin”). People can't stay on the issues but get personal in their nastiness.

I have had days where I have been SURE that I will never run for office because of how hard-hitting some people – and some media – are on a personal level. It's one thing that I have so admired about Jason – he has taken the hits, man, and he has STILL been able to stand strong and immoveable. My tendency would be to fall all over myself trying to make sure people understood that what they were SAYING I meant, wasn't actually what I meant – or wasn't what I said, even. Nope – he didn't do it. When the opposition started a “whisper campaign”, he just let them whisper – it never got traction and it was not for lack of trying. (And until earlier this year, I didn't know what a "whisper campaign" was.) I also have to say that the races for our state representative – Craig Frank – stayed clean and on-topic. Neither side engaged in personal attacks, which was nice. Most state races – not all – seemed to be that way.

One of the articles in Wednesday's paper said this about Jason:

Like the president-elect whose policies he so much despises, Jason Chaffetz started his campaign run nearly two years ago, crushed a well-financed, establishment primary opponent and then breezed through a general election.

Jason TOTALLY won the ground game, he motivated hundreds and hundreds of people to volunteer. He got donations from over 1000 individuals (none of his opponents had more than a handful of individual donors). He worked HARD and he went from announcing his candidacy to a “crowd” of fewer than two dozen, a “4%” chance of winning, the newbie who could easily be dismissed to a surprise front runner at the state convention, then on to "shock and awe" at the primary and is now our state's newest Congressman. Obama did the same thing with the ground game and showed how powerful that getting individuals to get engaged, to buy in and to commit to your campaign can make amazing things happen. I absolutely disagree with Obama's policies but I have to hand it to him – he energized this country in a way no one has for many a-year. In fact, many of the folks out voting Republican this year were out because of Obama!! They knew they didn't want him and moved their keisters to get to the polls.

This campaign has totally cemented my commitment to conservative political involvement. I can't say I've had any "big" spiritual experiences, but I have had lots of small spriritual experiences. It surprises me sometimes to feel the Spirit in a political arena. I guess that makes them all the more special. The state of our nation right now, the very clear signs of the times, the strong urges I have had to REALLY beef up our food storage, the way Prop 8 went down in California and the fallout afterwards . . . . Believe it or not, there are lots of things I can't do or don't want to do. But I can and want to "do" politics. I want to make a difference. I don't know what's next. I hope I will know when it comes along. :) May God bless America.

Election night

2008-11-08T08:33:00.006-07:00

I've mentioned before that this has been my first time to really help with a campaign, so election day was more interesting/important than ever. I early-voted, almost two weeks before election day, so I had plenty of time to "be available". The kids and I went and did a "honk and wave" with our friend Brad on the 4 corners by University Mall in Orem. Not as many honks as or as much enthusiasm as in June, but lots of smiles and waves. Only a couple flip-offs and one old guy who rolled down the window and said "vote for Cannon!" Um, OK. Cannon got his name OFF the ballot in June . . .

On Tuesday morning, the baby woke me up at 2:45 and that was it for the rest of theday. I woke up with a headache, too. It was a long day - I juiced and canned the last of our tomatoes, but really, there wasn't much I could do to keep myself away from the computer and checking updates . . . I planned on going to the Republican poll-watching party, but I couldn't leave until just before 8 pm. Even with snow on the road, I made it up to the Grand America hotel about 8:40 pm - before they had announced the results. As expected, Obama won the presidency, Huntsman won re-election as governor and Jason Chaffetz - "my guy" - won with the largest percentage of the vote of any of the 3 congressional seats. He got 66% - more than Bishop or Matheson, even. Anyway, on his victory walk from the back of the room to the podium he was shaking hands and stopped to hug me and tell me thanks, personally. Cool. The longer I have been involved in politics and the older I get, the more I realize how conservative I am and how much I appreciate someone who will speak up for those values without softening those values for political expediency. Anyway - it was a good night. We got home after 1:30 in the morning and I stayed up online another hour. It's now Sunday and I still have that same headache - imagine. Surely it's not related to the national election results . . .

Other misc Halloween shots

2008-11-08T08:06:00.012-07:00

Yussir!

He wanted to wear a kilt, so this one is authentically pleated, pinned and draped by big brother out of one long 4 yard piece of fabric.

Sweet little witch. Made the dress.

She wanted to be a 50's girl . . .

Men in Black. Or Secret Service - he put a coil from of plastic from his ear to his collar - looked very cool.

Peter Pan. Made this one too. . . .

Obi-Wan Kenobi

The real queen and her ladies in waiting

The Princess and the Captain. He was a good one too!

That's all, folks!

The Scooby-Doo crew

2008-11-08T07:54:00.006-07:00

A very authentic Shaggy. You just can't tell he's the same one who just off his mission, can you? At the ward party, one little boy was sure he WAS Shaggy.

Scooby

Fred and the Mystery Machine

Daphne

Velma

More ward party pics

2008-11-08T07:42:00.007-07:00

I love this picture!

The general atop his noble steed. I made this outfit out of warm material - it doubles as jammies.

She's just so stinkin' cute.

A Roman soldier. I finished the tunic 1/2 hour before the party.

Isn't she pretty? I made this complete costume in less than a day, the day of the party.

Ward Halloween party

2008-11-08T07:22:00.011-07:00

Ramses and Cleopatra (our neighbor)

Ramses. I made this one without a "real" pattern last spring.

"Fred"

Mama princess and young princess (I'm not fancy enough to be a queen - maybe next year, LOL). I made my dress this year. And I haven't been blonde since college, LOL.

The princess. I made that dress for her older sister about 6 years ago.

Cute pic of the baby

Thus would be Kadee's work - she thinks throwbacks to the 60's are cool.

More Halloween party pics

2008-11-08T07:13:00.008-07:00

Halloween party

2008-11-08T07:05:00.007-07:00

Jell-O with gummy worms - yum yum.

Aloha Chili

2008-11-06T06:09:00.002-07:00

An adaptation of a recipe I found - we like it! It's one of the new recipes we have tried in the last couple of weeks.

2 pounds ground beef
4 onions, chopped
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans pork and beans, undrained
2 cans (20 oz. size) can pineapple chunks, undrained
1 qt tomato sauce
1 qt tomatoes
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 C chili powder - adjust to taste

Directions:

In a large pan, brown beef and onion; drain fat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Preparedness Challenge, November 5

2008-11-05T05:52:00.001-07:00

1. Garden work. Actually, we did do a couple things. We finished harvesting all of our winter squash – spaghetti squash, butternut squash and pumpkin. Still haven't pulled everything out, though. The chickens happily free-range through the garden area and the compost pile (which is huge, with all the canning stuff we've been dumping out there).

2. Preserve something. Believe it or not, I still had tomatoes to do. I finished the last big pot of tomato sauce yesterday – election day.

3. Work on food storage. Asked the bigger boys to clean the food storage room. :)

4. Other preparedness tasks. Hmm. Well, one of the costumes I sewed doubles as nice warm jammies . . .

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation. Still trying lots of different apple recipes. We're down to just 3 boxes left (started with over 70 – most have been sold or given away) and still need to do apple pie filling.

6. Financial preparedness. Nothing changed

7. Work on local food systems. No

8: Learn something new. I learned LOTS about tomatoes! I learned that when you pick them green, you really should listen to the advice to store them in single layers. I just didn't have room to do that with SO many tomatoes! I learned that green Amish paste tomatoes turn to disgusting slime the quickest. We lost ALL of our paste tomatoes – and they were so nice when we picked them, too. I learned that some store REALLY well. We have some purplish Russian tomatoes – we hardly lost any of those. They were quite lovely, even if they look a little weird to my eyes. I learned that as tomatoes go bad, different varieties smell bad in different ways. Some are just “regular” bad and some are “outhouse-in-the-summer” bad. Ewww! I also learned chickens don't care how they smell.
I learned more about politics and campaigning, too. :)

9: Serve someone: My family – sewing, sewing, sewing and more sewing. With some canning thrown in for good measure and a couple political campaigns as well.

Midwife pumpkin carving

2008-10-29T22:26:00.003-06:00

You do know how babies are born, right? You are forewarned . . . . (Yes, I did carve these, yes the "baby" is straight OP (posterior) - you wouldn't have known it was a baby otherwise!!)

Mousie, mousie

2008-10-28T08:39:00.002-06:00

I went to put a load of towels into the washer. As I scooped a big handful out of the laundry bag, a little mousie jumped up at me! Ick! I picked up the laundry bag and kept shaking it to keep the mouse from jumping out on me and hollered for somebody to go get Bella, our mama kitty. At first she did not know why we wanted her to stick her head in with stinky laundry - but then she saw the mouse and that was that. She's a good mouser and I appreciate that. :) She teaches her babies, too. We just gave away her second litter on Saturday - they were all gone in less than 1/2 hour.

Just thought you might want to know. . . .

Yummy pumpkin waffles!

2008-10-25T08:38:00.001-06:00

These are absolute FAVORITES of ours! Great for a cool fall or winter morning.

Pumpkin Waffles
2 C flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp coriander (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 C milk
1 C pumpkin
3/4 C butter, melted
1 Tbsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients and set aside (I never do this actually - I just mix it all in). Separate eggs and beat yolks slightly. Add milk, pumpkin, melted butter and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold egg whites into pumpkin mixture. Bake in waffle iron and serve with buttermilk syrup - yummy!

Buttermilk Syrup (make this before you start the waffles)

1 stick butter
1 C sugar
1/2 C buttermilk
1 tsp corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Bring first four ingredients to boil in an extra-large pan (really! You'll need it!) Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Mixture will fizz to twice its height. Let set, stirring occasionally, until fizz is gone (takes longer than you think!).

I voted!

2008-10-25T08:08:00.002-06:00

And can I say, it's CRAZY out there!! I waited in line for 45+ minutes and they told me that was the shortest wait time all week. When they opened the doors yesterday at 3 pm, they already had a line an hour and a half long. Wow! I think that may be the best part of this L-O-O-O-N-G election cycle - really getting people energized and out to vote. I may not like the results, but I do appreciate that many, many people are letting their voices be heard.

So much better!

2008-10-23T12:34:00.002-06:00

I had surgery 2 weeks ago today. I felt OK, but had a lot of burning pain on one side as things started healing. This last weekend, I really felt cruddy and ended up in the hospital for about 8 hours to make sure that there wasn't a problem. Monday, I read and worked on the computer all day - and took 2 naps! Tuesday I woke up and felt great! Still felt great yesterday and even better today. I think I can safely say that I have recovered. Awesome. Looking forward to more good days ahead and seeing what projects I can get done. I've been sewing and doing political stuff . . . . Less than two weeks and the politics will be done for oh, a couple of months at least and the sewing will be for Christmas instead of Halloween. Fun, fun, fun!

Overheard

2008-10-23T12:19:00.002-06:00

So we picked all those tomatoes, right? Well, we had to do something with them, so after dh got home from work and the kids were home from school, we started. We got 63 jars done in one evening. Part way through the evening, dh says:

"This is hard work! I don't know how you can do it all day."

Way to earn brownie points, honey. :) And it's all day, every day for SO many days. . .

Preparedness Challenge, October 20

2008-10-20T20:18:00.002-06:00

1. Garden work. Not this week, but last week we had our first frost, down into the 20's for about 4 days. On Saturday the 11th, we spent HOURS picking some 800+ pounds of tomatoes, plus a variety of other garden produce. (And that would be 3 days after I had surgery.)

2. Preserve something. Tomatoes - 85 quarts, plus a bunch more ripening. Apple juice.

3. Work on food storage. Nothing more than that.

4. Other preparedness tasks. Let's see - nope, can't remember any.

5. Try a new recipe or a new variation. The kids tried several new recipes as they cooked this week.

6. Financial preparedness. nothing different

7. Work on local food systems.

8: Learn something new. Taking it easy. I failed miserably.

9: Serve someone Just my fam.

Newspaper article on canning

2008-10-20T14:56:00.000-06:00

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/285032/17/

Sunday, 19 October 2008
'People are not letting their jars go for anything'
Caleb Warnock - DAILY HERALD

The global economic crisis appears to be spiking interest in canning and preserving in Utah Valley, driving people to ask their neighbors for garden excess and causing a shortage of canning supplies.
"People are not letting their jars go for anything," said Hope McCumber of Lehi, who started canning for the first time this year, and has been stymied by a lack of jars. "They are impossible to find in the stores this year. One day last week I called 21 grocery stores in Utah Valley asking for quart jars."

Unused canning jars were once the bane of Utah Valley yard sales, with owners sometimes finding it hard to even give the empty jars away. Today, that has all changed, said Holly Richardson of Pleasant Grove, a certified master food preserver with the Utah County Extension Service.

No one is offering jars this year, she said.

"I have seen fewer available on Freecyle [a local Web site that allows people to give unwanted items to neighbors], fewer at garage sales, fewer in the thrift stores and while anecdotal, it certainly seems as if there are more people trying their hand at canning this year than ever before," Richardson said.

"I've turned into a canning and preserving freak-show this year," said Samantha Walker of Lehi. "There are no more jars left in the store -- just checked at Albertsons again today. The lady two people ahead of me in line got the last two quart jar boxes. ... Ultimately, I want to be able to cut back on our grocery bill this winter."¬

Some canners say the economy has sparked the food preserving interest in more people.

"Yes, this heightened interest in canning this year was motivated by the economy," said Karen Dupaix, a Lehi mother of seven who moved this year, leaving behind a garden and fruit trees, prompting her to use the local Freecycle group to find fruit to can.

"I have had absolutely no response to my three requests for fruit to can," she said. "Maybe one effect of the declining economy is that folks don't want to share their produce as much."

Amber Lowell of Provo said she took up canning this year for the first time, asking her mother in Pleasant Grove, who had not canned in several years, to teach her.

"We feel it is wise to have a lot of food storage for tough times," Lowell said. "I am newly married and we are canning because it is good food storage and because it is cheaper than purchasing canned goods. ... I do know that no stores have jars left, and we have been looking for people giving or selling jars. We need more and we have had no luck finding any, which makes us think more people are canning."

In an interview on Friday, Stephanie Shih, national spokeswoman for Ball Jars, said the Utah Valley spike is not isolated. Nationally, demand for Ball food preserving products has spiked 30 percent this year, and customers as far as New York have had trouble finding jars as demand grows. Sales of large Ball jars have jumped nearly 40 percent, and sales of Ball plastic freezer containers have doubled.

A recent survey of 1,800 people by the company found "that more than 70 percent of respondents intend to preserve more foods this year in an effort to save money on weekly groceries," she said.

A spokeswoman for Associated Foods confirmed that local business in canning supplies has been brisk, with jars especially in high demand.

McCumber said for her family the whole operation has been about financial security. McCumber has cancer and is unable to afford health insurance. Having never canned before, in the past month, under the tutelage of a friend, she has put up an impressive store, surrounding the living room stereo and filling part of a bookcase with pickles, tomatoes, salsa, purple and white grape juice, peaches, pear sauce, myriad jams, plum juice, "and next week I'm doing apple pie filling."

Best of all, using Freecycle, McCumber said she has not paid for a single fruit or vegetable, though she has had to travel around north Utah County to pick fruit.

The enterprise has paid off in surprising ways. McCumber was able to use some of her canned goods and freezer jams to barter for a very reduced price on bulk beef and chicken, and has filled a freezer with 400 pounds of meat. Between dozens of jars of canned goods, a freezer full of frozen fruits and vegetables, and another freezer full of meat, she feels more confident that should her health take a turn for the worse, her husband and children will have food to eat.

The family's budget is very tight, she said. There is very little room for financial error, or unexpected expenses. Canning food is security.

Walker said canning is helping her family toward a goal of being debt free.

"There is nothing like the satisfaction of knowing exactly what ingredients and what quality of produce went into your sealed jars, then getting to look at them all neatly lined up in the pantry," said Walker.¬ "We are also trying to be prudent with our budget this year and actively knocking out our debt."¬

Walker said so far she has put up 42 quarts of tomatoes, 20 two-cup bags of homemade spaghetti sauce for the freezer, another 20 bags of frozen homemade tomato soup, 24 4-oz. jars of chili sauce, a dozen jars of salsa, pickles, green bean salad, plum jam, plum chutney, and two dozen half-pints of jalapeÃ±o jelly -- "which will make excellent low-cost Christmas gifts.¬ Have you ever had jalapeÃ±o jelly on crackers with cheese?¬ If not, you are missing out on one of the finer things in life."¬

"I thought I was done," she continued, "but then I went to the Thanksgiving Point farmers market and I got two boxes of peaches.¬ I did two batches of vanilla cinnamon peach jam, then froze a dozen bags of sugared peaches. ... I have plans to (serve) beans once a week, and use tomato-based sauces at least once a week -- after all, I have 42 quarts to go through until next summer."

Her family will also eat elk this winter, she said.

Richardson said she has been canning because "I certainly believe in being prepared and not relying on 'them' to help me when times are tough, be it the government, my neighbors, my church, etc.¬ Food prices have skyrocketed and canning, along with gardening, is a way for us to save on our food bill, not to mention how good things taste."

To that end, Richardson said she now has a storeroom stocked with canned food, "and over the winter will can meat and beans.¬ Don't be scared by canning.¬ It's fun, it's easy, although time-consuming, and it's a great family work project.¬ Start with jams -- they're pretty forgiving and darn good.¬ Follow USDA guidelines to stay safe.¬ Can with friends and family -- it really lightens the work load.¬ Don't be bashful -- take pictures of your hard work and share them. Enjoy the fruits of your labors all winter. It is so worth it."