Pickled Sun Tea...yum, my favorite!

Anyone who really knows me, knows that I like ice tea, UNSWEETENED! I really can't understand why people put sugar or any kind of artificial sweetener in the a perfect creation like Ice Tea. It doesn't need it. Honestly, gags me, just thinking about it. Ewwww! Anyway, I've been drinking a lot of sun tea lately. We finally ate the last pickle out of a HUGE industrial size jar of dill pickles. I washed that jar really well, filled it up with water, stuck a couple of tea bags in it, screwed the lid back on and stuck that sucker in a nice sunny spot in the back yard. Well, as soon as that tea was brewed, I stuck it in the fridge to cool and waited. Later,I took out one of "my" big glasses (I don't share my big glasses) and filled it up with ice, poured it full of tea, and grabbed a book. Well, from the very first gulp, it tasted strange, yet familiar. I sat there for a while and tried to figure out what that taste was and whether I liked it or not. I finally decided I did, but still wasn't sure what it was. I figured it was the type of tea I used. I hadn't really paid much attention to the brand. When I checked, I ruled that out because it was one I'd used before. It was a run of the mill tea, nothing special. Hmmm....then it came to me. I tasted dill pickles. I had washed the jar super well with hot water and soap but it still had a dill pickle taste. The crazy thing is that I decided I really like it. No, REALLY, I did, I liked it! I'm sure sooner or later, the taste will leave my little jar behind...but for now, I'm going to enjoy every sip of my Pickled Sun Tea-Unsweetened of course.

It's getting easier!

The girls and I were inspired to Tie Dye again. Actually, it was there idea. We did a Dye project last summer which consisted of socks, spaghetti undershirts, and t-shirts. They wore them a lot, especially the socks. Skippy was very fond of the socks, but only wears them in the colder months because they are pretty thick. This year we were inspired to make strappy beach cover ups, t-shirts and Sparky dyed one of her white denim skirts. It wasn't really white anymore...after 10 washings, I still couldn't get the dirty butt clean, even bleach didn't cut it. I don't know what she sat in or slid in, but it did a number on that skirt. The kid I bought was super easy to use...and you didn't have to leave the dye for 24 hours, just a mere 6-8 hours...so I was able to wash it out that evening.
I had forgotten what a mess it was to wash out all that extra dye bofore you can wash the clothes. Yikes what an ordeal. My fingers are still slightly blue/purple and that's after I took bleach directly to my skin. One of these days, I'll get a picture of the girls in their new creations. If I can get them to stand still long enough.

It's nice to be back!

I am really feeling happy about blogging again! REALLY, REALLY Happy! Life is good at the moment. Ah, who am I kidding...life is normally really GREAT! I'm sure most people wouldn't thing much of the life I live, but lucky for me, I've never cared what most people think. I do what makes me happy and if they don't like it, they can stick it in their kazoo and toot it.

The only draw back to not blogging for a long time...is the lack of comments I have. Basically none at the moment. That's fine, people will discover that I'm back and will start checking in again. I know it! I just have to be patient. Oh yeah, sure I could send out notice emails but I don't really want to. I figure they will come back in their own time. I'm not in a rush.

I just got a call from Skippy's camp to let me know that her bus gets back later today then they had announced. She is on a special trip otherwise she'd be done at noon. This means that Sparky and I have an extra half hour of freedom. That also means Sparky will get a little more one on one attention that she craves and Skippy won't be picking on her or interupting us when we are playing. Sparky can play for HOURS with playdough or her doll house...Skippy might last for 5 minutes, yeah I said MIGHT! She's been a basket case lately...she can't focus on anything for very long... boom, she's on to something else. We are working on that little issue but its a hard thing to do. I don't rush to do whatever is in her head at any given time. I make her clean up and wait until Sparky and I are done. It kills her but She has to get used to it. She can control herself at school, so if she can do it there, she can do it at home. Plus, she has been driving everyone nuts because she's "up your butt" (Her mom's phrase, not mine) all the time. It's true, she will follow you around and you can't move without stepping on her. She's like a puppy or a cat, always underfoot. I have a highter tolurance for it than her Mom but I get annoyed after several days of it as well. Maybe I'll take Sparky to the library to play on the computer for a while. That always works out well for us. I perch on a chair next to her, reading my book and when she needs help she taps my arm. We have to return books anyway, so we might as well write down our Summer Reading Program titles while we are at it.

Beach Club here I come!

I love the beach, the beach likes me too...but the SUN that shines at the beach, well...it has it out for me. I am fair skinned. I have to face that fact. I burn easily, and I may not look burnt when I leave the beach but give me a few hours after I leave...whew, I start looking like a lobster. The last time I went to the beach with the girls, I spent most of my time in the shade of the cabana which is nowhere near the reflextion of the ocean or the pool. I was coated several times with sunblock too, that's a given. Their Grandma was trying to get me to sit next to her in the sun. I told her I couldn't, I'd fry and she said to put on a little sunblock, I'd be OK. I told her very nicely that there was no way I was going to sit in the direct sunlight. She thought I was a little nutty but she went along with it. I took the girls to the playground for a little bit and discovered they had a nice shady area for me and then we went to the pool for a half an hour. There wasn't any shade at the pool but I had put on a fresh coat of sunblock and half the time I sat with a towel over my shoulders and arms. Their Grandma really thought I was out of my friggin mind. Well, the following day when she stopped by to visit, she UNDERSTOOD why I was so insistent that I stay out of the sun. She was confused at first because she left the beach just before we did...and I looked fine then. I explained that I often have a delayed reaction and that a few hours after I'm home and showered, the red comes out in full force. I can not worship the sun. It's really kind of a sad thing, because I love to be outside, especially around water...which is the kiss of death. I think the only people that enjoyed my sunburn were the girls...they loved squeezing my burnt arms. They are really lucky that I allowed them to live. Anyway, I would love to take a little trip down to the beach later this week...bring some ice tea and a barrel of 70+ sunblock and sit in the shade of the cabana while the girls run around and play in the sand. It's been hot here and its always cooler at the beach. Cross your fingers for me...I don't want to look like a lobster again.

It's SUMMER!

Whew, its hot out there right now! I'd take the girls to the park but it's to hot to run around out there. It wouldn't bother Skippy a bit, but Sparky would be exhausted. Plus, she is just getting over some mysterious illness that kept her home from camp all last week. Half sinus infection, half virus...it wasn't a fun week for either of us.
It's not even a good day to paint on the sidewalk or driveway. I'm afraid we'd melt into a pile of goo that kind of matches our Crayola sidewalk paint...which I gave Sparky for her Pre-school graduation. It was a big hit. I know my Rue loved it too...she's got great taste in fun stuff.
I guess we will just have to hang out inside for a while...but that will drive us all crazy. When it cools off a bit we will venture outside and run off some of that excess energy. If I don't let them run off some of that extra steam...all my pictures of them will be goofy, full of oddball pictures. I'm just afraid their faces will stick like that one of these days. I keep warning them but they really don't care. Not now...but just wait until they can't get a date for prom. Note Sparky above and Skippy below. Need I say more?!

Ugh!

I was called for Jury Duty again. This time it wasn't County it was for Federal. You know what that means? It means I had to call in everyday for two weeks in case I was called in for the next day. So every evening at 5PM, I picked up the phone, called the 800 number, listened to the recording and entered the correct numbers when prompted. For two weeks I couldn't make any plans for the week because who knew when or if I'd be called. I find this kind of thing stressful. Luckily the weekend between my two weeks was the 4th of July weekend. I'm sure they were not bulking up their case loads and that a lot of judges were taking off for long weekends. Works for me. Oh sure, if I would have had to report, I would have. I would have done my duty and basically whatever I had to do....whether I liked it or not. The girls loved it when I called in to see if I had to serve. Skippy made me put it on speaker phone so she could listen too. When I didn't have to report the next day, they'd jump around and cheer. I guess its good to know that they want to keep me around.

Whatcha reading?

I read a lot. No, not just magazines and blogs. I read real books. I know, shocking, isn't it. Well, I read and I enjoy it. Sometimes I'll grab some fluff that I fly through at the speed of light. That's just a guilty pleasure. You know, its the kind of thing you are embarrassed to admit to...like watching Jersey Shore. Don't judge me! If I don't watch it, I'll never know what everyone is talking about the next day.
Anyway, I have been on a book bender. The last six books I finished..in the last month are as follows:

In paper back:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
and Annie Barrows
On my Kindle:
Bossypants by Tina Fey
My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler
Dead Reckoning: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel by Charlaine Harris

Loved all the paper back books...especially the Shaffer/Barrows book. Not what I expected and yet I didn't want it to end. It only took me two days to knock it off too. The Pettigrew book was a joy. It made me chuckle and I may have known where it was going, but not how it was going to get me there. As for the American Wife novel...it made me cry and that isn't always an easy thing to do, but it was early in the book and that was enough to grab me.

Now my Kindle reads are another story. Two of the books I read because My boss read them and we share our Kindle account, so I get them too. I was let down by the Tina Fey book. I did get a few good laughs but most of it was just so-so. Maybe I was expecting more than should have been, but that's life. The Handler book was another one that I didn't pick...but I have to admit, I was laughing out loud a LOT. It's got a little of that smutty sense of humor that I enjoy. OK, a lot of that kind of humor...to the point that I thought I might have known her. The Harris book, well, I've read all the others so I HAD to read the newest one as well. I also watch the True Blood series on TV...which is barely like the books. I can't say I loved the latest book, but I'll still read the next one. Yeah, pathetic.

My next three books are as follows:

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
Favorite Wife: Escape from Polygamy by Susan Ray Schmidt
A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire (book one) by George R.R. Martin

I'm enjoying the Webster book...but can't wait to get to A Game of Thrones. The current 3 are all on my Kindle, which means I will finish in no time at all. For some reason, I read much quicker on the Kindle. I'm not complaining...its just a bit of a mystery to me.

Anyone read anything outstanding lately? I'd love suggestions. I am going to be home soon and I need to stock up before I end up zooming through my book and then I am forced to pick through my Mom's book shelves. She's got a lot of books but not much of anything that I really go for. We just have different taste in stories, that's all. Although, I did like the last book of hers that I read. It was One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus I really liked it. Give it a shot!

Sparky and Skippy ride again! The girls have been very serious lately. Very, very serious...about driving me out of my friggin' mind before the summer is over. They have been full of gumption lately. I guess its a good thing and any other time I'd be fine with it...but I really, REALLY need my vacation. In their defense, I always feel a little like this when I have a vacation sneaking up on me. It can't get here quickly enough. I personally think it's just me going through Rue and Phin withdrawals. Better yet, maybe its just a matter of me wanting to sit in one spot with a good book and a cold ice tea without someone one yelling, "NETTER!" at the top of their lungs...only to ask me what I'm doing. You'd think there was an emergency the way they yell my name. That seems to be their favorite question..."What are you doing?" I go in the bathroom and they ask, "What are you doing?"
...Uh, cooking dinner, what are you doing?"
"Noooo, you are not cooking dinner!"
"I'm not?
"No!!!"
"What am I doing then?"
"You are going to the bathroom but I don't know if you are pooping or if you have to pee."
"If you know what I am doing, then why did you ask me what I was doing?"
"I don't know."
"OK then! What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"Why don't you go do something?"
"No, I'm just going to wait for you."

I open the door and at some point the other girlie has silently joined in waiting, sitting in front of the bathroom door. This must be an exciting thing to do. I don't get it. I'm sure if I was in there for a few hours, they'd get bored and go away. Then again...knowing those two...maybe not.


Oh, the weekends are not off limits either.

I'm curled up in my bed on a Saturday morning and they whisper through the door, "What are you doing?" while looking in the key hole.
They whisper because if they get caught bothering me, they'll get yelled at by their parents.
Most of the time I ignore them, if I can, but when you have goofballs parked outside your bedroom door, spying through the key hole, its a little hard to ignore. You hear them whispering...
"I can see her lamp."
"Let me look!" followed by rapid movement, sort of like you might hear if someone is chasing a mouse in the house with a broom.
"I can see her foot sticking out of the covers."
"She's reading a book!"
"LET ME SEE!"
"Oh yeah! I see her!"
"I know she's awake because she wouldn't be holding the book up if she were sleeping."
I lower my book and look at the key hole, half expecting their eye balls to be bulging through the hole. Then I hear a squeal of joy and laughter as the one that has their head plastered against my door, forgets herself and screams, "She's not asleep, she's looking at me!"
That is followed by a lot of pushing, shoving and a lot of yelling.
"Move! Let me see! It's my turn now!" It's about that time that you hear an adult yell at them to get away from my door and to leave me alone. Then you hear the girls running down the hall yelling, " Bye Netter!"

They are also obsessed with undergarments and body parts. All kids go through this but its dangerous around here. I can't bend over without one of them smacking me on the ass. I don't like it. I wouldn't be that thrilled if George Clooney was the one smacking me so its not like I have a double standard or anything.
The other day, they were sitting in the island in the kitchen. I'm leaning on the island with my fore arms resting on the top, just chatting with them. Then I notice that Skippy's eyes are huge and she's got some crazy person smile plastered across her face. At first I thought a stranger had offered her candy, but that couldn't be it...there were no strangers in our kitchen. Then I follow her line of sight and realize that the little pervert is looking down my shirt and is checking out what little bit of cleavage I have. I decide not to make a big deal out of it so I straighten up and move a little bit so she can't look down my shirt. She then leans over to her Sister and whispers that I have a black bra on. A fit of giggles follows. Ugh. Oh wait, it gets better. Heaven forbid I may have to go to the bathroom in public! If I do, I try to only go when they are going as well...then I have to be quick because they will rush out and try peeking in the crack in the door. I've had the "personal space" talk and the "private area" talk so many times that I probably talk about it in my sleep. It's getting old. Even when they are sick, I'm not safe. This last week, Sparky was ill. She'd been running fevers and had ear and throat pain...no strep, no ear infection but she did have a terrible sinus infection. It really hit her hard and she basically wanted to cuddle all day. So, we took Skippy to camp and Sparky and I took it easy. Well she wanted to sit on my lap and cuddle up against me while she watched a show. This didn't bother me, I had a book I could read. She kept scooting around and it was driving me nuts and it wasn't that comfy for me. Finally, I ask her what she's doing. She said she was trying to get comfy and she wanted to use my booby as a pillow. She looked up at me and smiled...the first smile of the day. I shook my head, rolled my eyes and she started to giggle. She wasn't very happy when I told her I'd get her a real pillow and not a body part.

Like I said...I need a vacation!

I'm going to get a piece of electrical tape to stick over that darn key hole. That should drive them nuts for a while.

Art from the heart...

I love art...everyone knows that. I like to be creative and I especially love it when kids create refrigerator masterpieces. I love it even more when people actually SNAIL MAIL them to me. UmmmHummm (insert throat clearing sound here)...Mrs Russell didn't send me the mail she was supposed to send me. She did scan it however and posted it to her daughters website. Luckily I discovered it and copied it, pasted it...and wallah! It now graces my blog. The blog I'm actually blogging on again. Crazy, huh. Anyway, I want to send a big THANK YOU to Meredith Russell for her lovely artwork, that her Mother never sent me. In Tami's defense, she is turning 40 soon...and some of us don't handle the aging process well. First the memory starts to slip then the next thing you know, they are wearing Depends Undergarments and strolling up the street in slippers and a rob while muttering about where they put their glass of Elk Creek Water. (Only people from Nebraska will get that E.C.W reference.) Speaking of which...I'm demanding that someone mix up a huge batch of that nectar of the GODS when I'm home on my vacation. HINT, HINT...and perhaps if they do that, I'll forgive their sucky mailing skills.