Last Drop of Summer

Robert and I have been having a great time squeezing out our last drop of summer. Actually, we haven't been squeezing that hard for summer fun. We've just been laying around enjoying NOT planning a wedding and NOT having homework! So, in contrast to our relaxation, we had a blast this weekend!

The daycare where I worked was closed all week, and Robert took off Thursday AND Friday, so we were beside ourselves with the endless possibilities for fun.
On Friday we went to see the new GI Joe movie - which will be our last non-dollar-theater movie viewing for a while. It was lots of fun in the cheesey swashbuckling hero, scary villain kind of way. Plus we love action movies.

***Note: I do NOT approve this movie for children. The beginning is really scary (I covered my eyes) and lots of people die in various ways. The deaths aren't gory, but the inject-and-mutate-your-face scenes would probably be disturbing for kids.***

Just in case you wanted to know. :D

On Saturday, we threw together a trip to Martin Lake State Park. I've really been wanting to go (that's where I was going to take the Waxlers if it hadn't've rained) since I went there in February with my floor (D1) and our brother floor (Quad 3) for a Valentine's Day picnic.
This time is was hot-but-not-too-hot beautiful weather, and the water was swim-worthy.

PS. I didn't take this picture, so there weren't actually wild flowers this time, but it was still very pretty and not overcrowded!

We took Echo and Daisy for their first water experience. I certainly wish we owned a camera to capture it! Robert threw the tennis ball increasingly farther into the water and Echo and Daisy kept up! The lake was nice squishy mud (not "Keep your shoes on so you don't get cut with mystery items!"), and got deeper very gradually. I really have to take families with little kids there! Daisy (pointer puppy) didn't hesitate to start swimming when the water quickly got to deep for her to wade or leap over it. Echo was determined not to swim if he didn't absolutely have to. When it got to deep to run, he would bound over the water and looked absurd. If he still couldn't reach the tennis ball, he would look back at us like, "Does this look like fun to you?"

It was a truly wonderful day, and it felt like pure summer. We didn't even stay too long because it's only 40 minutes away. We could actually go back during the semester! HA!

I'll save Sunday's events for my post after school starts. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

It might be time for school to start if...

You can't help but drift towards the fresh and brightly colored school supplies.
Anyone else craving bouquets of newly sharpened pencils?

The most exciting thing that happened today was receiving your new drivers license (Rebecca Whiting, thankyouverymuch) and your new student parking sticker (Commuter).

You got spit up on every day this week. And we wonder why I wear flip-flops? Because they can be cleaned in the sink at work.

You cleaned up throw up today AND you got peed on. Kind of. Also daycare. Need I say more?



I really do love my job, honest. But I have a nasty cough (which mysteriously matches one of the 9 mo. olds), which makes the 3rd time I've been sick since I got married. And judging by the list above, I'm really ready to be taking 18 hours of college courses. Whether or not you choose to remind me of that in a month is up to your discretion. :)

So, not much EXCITING or amusing has been going on in my life lately, but hopefully (like say, after August 24) I will have plenty of collegiate anecdotes to share. Just as long as my professors don't find out about my blog!

Ta ta for now!
Becca


Oh yah, a word...
witzelsucht - a feeble attempt at humour
capernoited - slightly intoxicated or tipsy

Find other unusual words here.

Vegetable Beef Stew

Hello Everybody!

Lissa asked me for the soup recipe that I made on Friday night, and I'd been wanting to share it to the rest of you anyway. AND it's gluten free, unless I missed something really obvious.

According to the cookbook: "Hearty Hamburger Stew," but I call it "Vegetable Beef Stew" because that's more self explanatory.

1/4 lb. ground beef
1/4 c. onion
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 16 oz. can (diced) tomatoes
2 1/2 c. water
2 small carrots, diced
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1/4 c. green pepper, chopped
1/4 c. uncooked rice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Brown hamburger in a large skillet.
Stir in [everything else].
Simmer, covered, for about 25 min., or until vegetables and rice are tender.

Isn't that great? It's a lot of chopping, but once you dump it all in, you can walk away. It really drives me nuts when recipes have you putting in another ingredient every 5 or 10 minutes. Once, I made this potato soup with chicken where you had to make a white sauce (which is several steps), while cooking the chicken and vegetables (which I put in one pot. How big do they think my stove is anyway?) and then add it all together to cook, then later add the cheese. *Sigh* Too much work. In fact, today I tried a new recipe for potato soup that was a good chop-it-up, dump-it-in-the crockpot, ready-when-you-get-home-from-work recipe. AND it involved 2 cans of potato soup (+ real potatoes), instead of persnickety white sauce.

Well I am utterly blithering. I really am enjoying learning to cook though. I'm actually gaining the confidence to exchange ingredients for what I have, or for stuff I prefer to use up first. The other day I actually just looked at several different recipes and just made something up! It tasted good, but I always forget that I do not like baked chicken & rice in crockpot because the result is rice that is pretty much the consistency of rice pudding. Not okay.
Robert loved it though; he'll eat anything with rice. (Yay MKs!)

Okay, I wanna go find a book to read until Robert finishes the book I want to read next (Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card). Unfortunately, he still has 300+ pages left, and since I just read Ender's Game, nothing else can satisfy me but more Orson Scott Card.


Word of the Day?
What do you call the body of words/thought that one blithers? For example, ("I was blithering") "That paragraph is all blither." Or maybe blather? "Blithness" just sound like business with a serious lisp. hehehhehe.