I've Blown a Circuit

It has been so long since I have blogged and so much has happened in my life to which not much is remotely the same as it used to be except for these interminably long college classes.

First of all I am living with my father, in Arkansas, since I came here to take care of my mother.  She passed on in September and I AM STILL HERE. Also, I am engulfed in my immediate family, not 4000 miles away laughing at all the drama.  I am here in the middle of it all.

This post is about family and the things you may find out when living in close proximity.

My sister's kids LOVE parmigiana cheese, Lays potato chips and Krispy Creme doughnuts. If they didn't then this would be another story altogether. You see, as a health food nut, my sister has relabeled some of her own grunge food creations as commonplace food items that most normal people eat everyday.  Take parmigiana cheese.  She has created something to cleanse your insides and fortify your liver with foods such as this ground mixture of organic seed, lecithin flakes, a dehydrated fruit powder, and a soaked enzyme activated nut all precisely combined with some Israeli sea salt that *RESEMBLES* parmigiana cheese.

I have learned why my 8 yr old neice (I will call foodie3) eats an entire jar parmigiana at one sitting!  Last summer, at her friends house, after tasting spaghetti with store bought parmigiana she became an addict.  It's true, indeed.    SHE was so freaked out and amazed at her friends' mom's cooking (store bought commercially created junk food), that she consumes large amounts at one sitting.

The next food was potato chips.   My sister bakes potatoes at a low temperature not to mess too much with the enzymeage and then scoops out the interior.  What is left over is is a potato skin to which she dehydrates and adds a dab of olive oil and spice.  These are given out as "potato chips" to munch on throughout the day......the kiddos have always loved them until,  Papa (their Grandfather) introduced them to LAYS (and not to mention Krispy Creme Doughnuts).  No longer do they crave the gummy chewy, lifeless dehydrated potato skins.  The question I have is, will they love her later for keeping their blood sugars healthy, creating longevity and their minds flourishing with a lack of chemically treated foodstuffs or will they despise her for the tricks of motherhood played upon them?  Who is to say?  It is all very funny....UNTIL

Until I heard about the TREE. Here's the deal.  Most all of the family is taking grandpa's RV with a tonage of grandkids to HER house for the whole Christmas break.  We have been making plans about travel, food, games, stockings......you can just imagine all the prep to transporting 10+ to an alternate location for a 2 week holiday vacation. I called last night.  I asked her what kind of tree they had, real or fake.

This is how part of the conversation went (I left out the screaming part and ranting and 2 hours of phone calls to my other siblings):

me: I'm so excited that we drew names.....
her: yah, this will be fun even though we kept papa's name out
me: where are you putting the tree and is it real? (I know she lives 1 mile from a doug fir farm)
her: tree?
me: yah, Christmas TREE?  For Santa to put presents under??
her: I don't have that....
me: WHAT???
her: I have loads of banana trees and they are bearing bananas now, that would be fun
me: (blowing a brain fuse) YOU MEAN YOU INVITED ALL OF US DOWN FOR CHRISTMAS AND SANTA WILL NOT BE COMING!!!!
her: I have never had a tree......haven't thought about it
me: I CANNOT COME TO YOUR HOUSE WITHOUT A TREE, ALL MY KIDS BELIEVE IN SANTA AND THIS WOULD RUIN IT!!! (more ranting and yelling and eventually I had to hang up and rethink the whole vacation)

Now it started all coming clear in my head....no wonder they don't ever wrap or open up their presents until sometime in January or possibly February, they are not on out commercially created holiday calendar system!!!! Of course, my kids go to public school and my sisters kids are homeschoolers!! Why didn't I see this coming!! I mean I used to be a homeschooling mom too, but never, NEVER have I ever denied the children of their TREE!

Of course now all my plans are really changing....we get to shop for a tree, ornaments, and everything to make my sister's house in the south super, uber commercially and sentimentally holly jolly Christmas like!

After all the ranting last night I decided I should just blog about this.

Since I am officially back in the blogosphere

Merry Christmas ALL!

That's Entertainment

I made it to the lower 48! (After leaving behind 4 bags from my rooftop carrier, unloading half the contents of my personal suitcase and taking out half the groceries in the ice chest...my little Volvo was sitting ON THE TIRES ... .RELOAD!!)  Back in the States is like being on another planet especially after driving through St. Louis in rush hour! It is difficult to describe my near 5000 miles of driving, anyway,  I am going to prioritize some stuff in my life now since I am NOT in school, NOT working for the summer, and ONLY taking care of the underage children in my life. I found a post from my Spring pre-finals, and thought I would post before I really get back into the blogosphere.

Written earlier:
Life has been mostly mother reports or weather reports. Life is so busy, or is it? Are there people out there NOT running themselves ragged with kids, activities, scouts, medical issues, vehicle upkeep, your job, his job, the older kid jobs, school, homework that never EVER gets finished, animals, and did I mention potty training?

Flicks that entertain my brain:

The Emerald Forest
First of all it took me three sittings to watch it all. Without the fast forward button, I just couldn't have endured it. Every parents nightmare is losing your kid, maybe in the ex-burbs, at a nascar race, or like me, even in my own house.  This movie is about an engineer who loses his young son to the jungle while on a family picnic in South America.  The only clue he has  is a yellow and black feather that comes from an "invisible" people.

It seems like the entire inspiration for the cartoon "Fern Gully" or James Cameron's epic "Avatar." Civilization (and technology that we are so addicted to), is the ultimate evil in this movie, and encroaches upon the life giving green forest. I am Girl Scout Green, therefore, I am easily mesmerized by the lack of technology, no cell phones, and the primitive instincts of the clan tribes that dwell deep in the forest not to mention the ease and lack or need of modern clothing. I kinda want to lie naked now with my mate only clothed in leaves and flowers in a tropical climate possibly the same wardrobe as Eve before "The Fall of Mankind", you know when we were ALL vegetarians.

Unknown 
A great edge of your seat movie, at least for me.
Raising Hope
My absolute high-light of the week that brings laughs to the entire family, which can be also be embarrassing at times.
Speed Racer
You might need to dull your screen color settings for this one.


Movies I want to see:
Black Swan (I love Natalie Portman and ballet)
The Kings Speech
Tron (for the kid in me)
Despicable Me (same reason)
The Social Network
The Blind Side
Gulliver's Travels

Things are going great....I have a few posts in mind....but midterms are killing me and I am 2 labs behind.  Oh my little laboratory awaits me!

I am sooo happy mother is doing well, when she went in to her appointment on Friday, everyone was shocked at her wonderful appearance.  They asked her how she felt, she replied, "How do I look?  My hair is fixed and my lipstick is on!!"

Some of the nurses were so shocked that they told her when she was recovering from the two surgeries last month, they thought she would definitely be a donor (and they really told her that).  I am not sure I could reveal that to a patient, shocking!

Yippee!  So very glad! Can't wait to get back to the lower 48 and see my mommy!!

So appreciative of the prayers.

Thanks all!

Mother got home last night about 10pm.  All is well, Bonnie is staying until she feels better and can get about easier.  Mother is still adjusting to the pain.

So glad to have her home!

It has been good to have your prayers.

Another problem was found with my mother.  More scar tissue has been blocking vital working parts and is the reason for not being able to digest food yet along with certain narcotics for pain.  The latest CT scan revealed the problem and the doctors are working on a plan to fix it.

Bonnie tells me that there are many many people taking good care of mom at the hospital.  They are in every hour so it is hard to rest. Bonnie is relentless as well as dad and refuse to leave mom.  Bonnie sleeps near every night in the chair in mom's hospital room.  Thank goodness that dad and Bonnie can be right there with her through this time of recovery.

Keep praying!  Fonda made it to mom and dad's to take care of the place while they are away.

mothers update

After the second surgery the pathology report that came out is very good.  No more cancer cells.  However, she is still in recovery.  Adjusting to a regular diet has been difficult and an infection has set in.
The good news is that she has no fever.

Keep her in your prayers.  She is not leaving the hospital anytime real soon.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Today in the Aftermath of Whiteout

This is my car after yesterday.  Yes we are  snowed in.  It took us 

all day to get up the nerve to go outside, you see my husband sold

 the plow that goes in front of his truck.   

this is the front deck

most of the snow fell off the barn, we had to shovel a path,

 my washing machines are out there ya know

Before 

after

me in my comfy clothes and bogg boots making trails

Isaiah jumped in the deep end

backyard paths to the boiler

this is an Alaskan hangover

it would be so great to time the fall of that snow

 right when sam walks under the eave

snow much snow

squirt went out and played til the wind picked up again

all the vehicles, well most, there are two other trucks

on the property, a car in the garage and a snowmachine

but we can't find it in the snow

pathway to the laundry room

pathway to the green house

we found the snowmachine and no, it doesn't create snow 

for ski slopes, it is what people in the lower 48 call

snowmobiles.  No one uses that terminology here.

this is the good side of my car, the wind blew hard 

this is a path that the renter took to the road, and 

left the shovel there practically in the road

my grill, won't be using it today

the purpose of this picture was to view

the trampoline, I actually tried to zoom in on it

I guess I could take any picture, that is all white

and say, "that's a picture of our trampoline in a snowstorm"

two guys acting dumb and got stuck, they tried to ramp a 

bunch of fluffy snow onto the back yard, but there

is a 3.5 foot keystone wall there, nice try

finally got it unstuck and drove right through the 

entry area to my courtyard squeezing by the wall

of samistan and over my snow hidden stone bonfire pit

a good friend came over to help clear the way, 

then we helped with his driveway

this is the luckiest guy in the universe

my precious ones

sink picture, this is very very important, Lynn will know

but if you want to know, follow this sink link