The Man of Steel

And no I'm not talking about my husband ;D

I'm talking about the new movie in the theaters. It was Father's Day on Sunday and my hubby picked this show to see as a family. So we loaded up the Expedition and drove to Century 16 to watch the handsome young man fly around in his cape and spandex. Not a bad way to spend a day ;D

It was pretty good, maybe a little long in the fight scenes. I mean after all you can't hurt those aliens (yeah Superman was one of 'em) you never think of him as an alien...but he is. Not the typical little green man with the bubble-head that you think of but still an alien. Who else would run around town in that outfit? Only someone from out of town would have no idea how out of fashion that is. . . but then again I'm not complaining.

The only part of the movie that really bugged me was when Amy Adams went on the military mission...come on! She's a reporter. Why would she be the one to put the chip in the ship...?

It made no sense to me. If they would have had a little scene where she said, "Superman's father taught me how to do it and there's no time to teach anyone else. You'll have to take me along." Then MAYBE it would have been okay. But no, they take Amy on a critical mission to save the planet and yes...she's the only one who can do it... now that's worse than thinking that no one can recognize Clark Kent from Superman because he slips on a pair of glasses!

But all-in-all it was a fun show, with popcorn and candy! The whole Shabang! Great afternoon.

Like a Turtle

We're finally making some progress...or maybe I should say my hubby is. He started this project about a year and a half ago. Maybe some of you remember the beginning.

We had a room upstairs that was all odd angles and corners. And the ceiling was sort of low. Now, my son is 6'5" so it isn't as bad as this looks but it still was only a 7 foot ceiling. So one day my husband started looking around.

And he thought, there's a lot of room up there. So, he tore it out and then he moved on to the walls.

And this was in November. Here in Portland, Oregon, it's cold and WET in November. So, I wasn't so upset until he tore off the roof. Yep, you heard me right, the roof. I came home from work and found the walls gone and even the roof.

Luckily, this happened to be a sunny day - rare in Portland. But I knew the rains were coming. So I insisted that they hurry and get the walls and roof back on...call me demanding.

So my hubby stayed working on it until well after dark.

He didn't take long to get the walls back up and the roof back on, with help from Luke, Bo and Per and Jacob and . . . yep, even me.

But then progress slowed to about the pace of a turtle, thanks in part to Minecraft, which is the adult cyber-version of Legos.  My husband was hooked. He spent more than a few hours mining for gold, rubies and best of all Diamonds.

In between bouts with his pick, he got the French Doors in.

And some new windows installed.

But he got a little sidetracked. First building benches to wrap around the back deck. First he had to design them and then frame them.

Then he had to build them.

And when that was done

He wanted to replace a couple of boards of flooring. But this house is 123 years old. So he had to make his own tongue and groove flooring out of old boards he'd pulled out of the walls.

Finally, with some help from Bo, Per, Jake and Luke, Lars got the insulation in.

Then all the walls got put back together.

Now he's "mudding" and "taping" the room and then...

Hopefully we'll get to paint the walls.

Then there's the balcony to build, the floor to refinish, the trim to put on...it's a neverending story

Chia Power

Have you heard of Chia? And I'm not talking about the pet. I'm talking about the latest and greatest new super food or at least that's what everyone is telling me.

It's high in fiber, high in protein, low in fat and calories with omega-3 EFAs.

Supposedly it was a staple for the Aztecs and Mayans and when my sister started eating it for breakfast, she lost five pounds in one week. No kidding. She put it in almond milk and let it sit over night in the fridge so it could expand. The next morning she ate a bowl and was full until lunchtime. It's kind of like a thin porridge but it tastes petty bland. When she had me try it I put a bunch of cinnamon and nutmeg on it so it would taste "okay" to me.

The only problem for me, was I had to keep running for the bathroom...seriously. I told my sis I could not eat that every day. I'm not sure if it was just all that fiber or if it wasn't reacting well with my body but I'm telling you, if I ate that stuff everyday I would definitely lose a few pounds...maybe more but I'd probably be dehydrated too.

So has anyone else tried the "Chia Pet Breakfast"? That's what my sis and I are calling it.

Spamwich

Here it is! A giant SPAMwich.

It was similar to a hotdog. Highly processed, a lot of salt but not bad tasting. The only problem I had with the SPAM was the texture. It was soft and mushy . . . sort of. More like the texture of tofu than meat. But it honestly wasn't bad inside the sandwich, with lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles piled on top.

We cooked it in the cast iron pan, just like Mom used to do. And it wasn't so pretty but it wasn't bad either. Kind of like a square hamburger patty.

We sliced it thinly and just fried it up. It could have been spiced up a little too, if we had thought about it (but no more salt--that was already in strong supply). We were more curious about it's true taste. So, I took a big bite of the sandwich and was pleasantly surprised. It was pretty good.

Then, I had to take a bite of the SPAM without all the condiments and veggies to find out for sure. And all alone, I didn't like the texture so much because when I took a bite and tasted it inside the sandwich, I didn't even notice the soft texture. I don't think I would buy it again because it's so high in sodium but I won't think so badly of it either. Kind of like a chili dog sort of night: quick, easy and inexpensive but not so very healthy.

So how bout you? Any foods from your childhood that you'd like to taste again?

SPAM

And I'm not talking about the unwanted email . . . well, maybe I am. SPAM was something I loved as a kid. I remember Mom frying Spam in the cast iron griddle and I would snack on it before she even got it into a sandwich. Of course growing up in a house with nine kids, I loved any food...well, except for liver and split pea soup. I wasn't very picky. If I would have been, I would have been hungry, more often.

I was telling my son how I haven't eaten Spam in over 40 years and the next night guess what I found on the kitchen table?

Yep, a can of Spam. My son said he'd make dinner with it. So tonight we'll be having Spam sandwiches.

Of course this innocuous meat was first introduced in 1937 by the Hormel company to help feed folks during World War II. And in 2007 the seven billionth can of Spam was sold.

Some people make fun of it as being a mystery meat source, ubiquitous and unknown, just like those strange emails that you find in your inbox every morning.  Yep, that's exactly where the name for those unwanted literary missives comes from: SPAM.

So, after tonight I'll be able to tell you what I think of Spam, cause to be honest I can't remember what the stuff tastes like.

I know it has a s gelatinous glaze, or aspic, that covers the meat. This gooey glaze forms from the cooling of meat stock. So, I'm pretty sure you'd want to eat the stuff before tasting it. But I'll let you know what I think of it now...nearly 40 years later. But, like I said, I used to love the stuff.

 

Rose Festival now City Fair

It used to be The Portland Rose Festival and you never had to pay to enter, the only money you used to have to shell out was for the rides or food. That's all changed.

I don't know when the name changed and I'm not sure I like it. But I do like seeing the rides and bright lights every June and all the activities are so much fun. Nighttime parades and fireworks, milk carton boat race, Saturday morning is the Grand Floral Parade and Junior Rose Festival parade, not to mention the Starlight Run, and so many other great family activities during June.

It's a great month filled with lots of fun thanks to the festival.

Charcoal

Have you ever burnt a piece of toast, a slab of meat out on the grill, or even a marshmallow over a flame?

I have. And Mom always used to tell me that charcoal is good for you. Well, I told my son the same thing and he said, "No it's not. It can even cause cancer." So I thought I would look it up and find out who was right and who was wrong.

Well, according to Natural Health Restored Charcoal is good for you.

"Activated charcoal is an excellent natural remedy that goes as far back as recorded history. It is so effective that it definitely deserves a prominent place in your medicine cabinet.
Charcoal is safe and harmless. It will do you no harm, even if you eat lots of it. It is officially recognized as an antidote. The FDA gives it their stamp of approval as a safe and effective remedy for acute toxic poisoning.

Charcoal is a cleansing agent that is able to adsorb toxic gases, liquid toxic wastes, germs, and heavy metals.

When it passes through your digestive system, it carries these toxins with it. That prevents you from absorbing them into your blood stream.

Adsorption is different from absorption.

With absorption, something is attached into something else. An example would be some water that is sucked up by a paper towel. The water goes into the paper towel.

With adsorption, something is attached onto, instead of into. Charcoal attaches or binds things onto itself. It does not absorb them.

Activated charcoal is not the same as regular charcoal. It is a lot more powerful than regular charcoal.

Regular charcoal is made by burning wood in a controlled environment.

To activate charcoal, steam or air at a high temperature is used to oxidize it. This process makes the charcoal develop lots and lots of tiny pores. These tiny holes are what make activated charcoal able to adsorb so much more than regular charcoal can."

So I was feeling pretty vindicated but then I read further.

The same site said: "Burnt toast and other burned or charred foods are NOT charcoal. Unlike charcoal, burned foods still have their proteins, carbohydrates, mineral salts, and fats present. These charred nutrients can damage your body. They can even cause cancer! Charred foods are not a natural remedy."

So it seems we were both right...sort of.

Still, I'm not sure that eating burnt toast could cause cancer. It seems a little strange to me...I guess more research is in order.

What do you think?

Columbia Christening

My hubby and I went to see the christening of Gunderson's new barge the Columbia. I'd never seen a boat really being christened. I mean, yes, of course on t.v. but not when I was standing right next to the boat/barge. This was interesting.

When the champagne hit the boat, it exploded.

Home built Benches

My husband loves to build things. He's built me chairs, this arbors, benches, tables and stools and now with our renewing of our wedding vows coming up in two weeks (to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary) he's  built wrap around benches on our deck, so people will have a place to sit.

It only took him a couple days. Here's how they ended up.

I'm thinking these are much nicer than renting chairs. And it sure is nice to have such a handy guy around the house ;D

Homemade Spaghetti

My daughter got me a pasta machine, which is something I've been wanting for a while.

So I made some dough, which was four eggs, 3 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of water.

Then I rolled out the dough.

Then I fed the dough through the machine to thin it out.

Then I fed the dough through the knives to chop it into spaghetti

It made six servings of pasta (well more like five in my family)

No more time...

I've got to sign up...or the price goes up...and it's funny how much $10 can influence my decision. I've been going back and forth on which event I want to do at the Pacific Crest this year.

I'm thinking a half-marathon, or maybe a 10k or maybe even a duo with my hubby...

My sis and niece are doing the 10k so it would be fun to run with them...but...

I don't know. And the price goes up tonight so I have to decide...and quick

We'll see, decisions, decisions, decisions

Fatkini

Plus-Size Two-Piece 'Fatkini' Flies Off Store Shelves | Video - ABC News

I think this is cool. Women feeling comfortable with who they are.

What do you say?

Boys and their Toys

I always thought when my kids grew up they'd box up their old toys and put away childish things.

Not so.

The boys might have grown up but their toys just got bigger.

And I'm not talking about boats and cars, nope I'm talking about helicopters. No. Not real - pilot driven - helicopters. I'm talking remote control beauties.

My son went out the other day and bought three of them...yes that is a "boat"load of money that went into those toys. But he's saying he's going to use them to create a little art...filming with them.

And if he does, I'll think it's pretty cool but until then it's just boys with their toys.

How 'bout you - do you have any childhood toys that have moved with you into adulthood?

Cake-n-Bake Challenge

It was so much fun. Having family and friends over with some really great food.

We do this once a month. Have a cooking challenge where we all get together to eat, talk and vote on the "best" for the month.

We even have a little trophy and ribbons :D What better way to spend a day - than food, family and friends.

This month it was CAKE. And I love cake. But then I love ice cream and candy and...well I love sweets.

Anyway, here are the entries:

This photo really doesn't do them justice. I am going to need to take a photography class. I just never capture the "full" impact. Like the winning entry on the left, it was a cascading tower of flowers. Each flower so intricate and delicate...unbelievable. And the cake with the strawberry gelee in the front, it was surrounded with pretty pink flowers. Yeah, it seems that the theme was strawberries but that was just great minds thinking alike...I guess.

Or Steve's chocolate ganache, filled with banana pudding...there just aren't words to describe them all . . . other than yumilicious!

I guess I didn't get the strawberry theme memo tho' - I went for Memorial Day Theme with Lady Liberty.

My son was a little - maybe a lot - disappointed that I used fondant. It never tastes as good as whipped cream and fruit...it's true. But it's like being a kid again and playing with PlayDoh, it's so much fun I just can't resist.

Here's how I did her:

I made a Barbie cake - yeah kind of cheating - the doll part wasn't edible. But it's for fun. I had to spray paint her green...and she's rubber-at least her arms and face (the body's plastic) and paint doesn't stick very well to rubber. So I had to sand her a little to make her (more) tacky ;D and then I stepped outside and sprayed away. I stuck her in a styrofoam cup so the paint wouldn't get on anything. Then I put her on a paper plate, because she was dripping.

I glued a little crown on her head and even did two just to see how they'd turn out.

I went with the dark green girl. Kind of looking like Elphaba :D

After I had the doll done, I started frosting the cake base for the fondant to adhere to.

 Then all that was left was the fondant, which I rolled out and tried to fit to the form. For the base, I stamped bricks into some marzipan (to add a good taste and a different texture) then I stamped water into blue fondant (because we all know Lady Liberty stands in on an island in the middle of water...right?)
and I made some little blue balls to cover the bottom. I had to pipe a bit around Lady Liberty and the base because they didn't fit perfectly. I also added a couple of fondant flowers to fill in some gaps and Wah-Lah, I was done.

I put a sparkler in her scepter and lit the little firework to send showers of sparks all over the table.

But the best part of the day wasn't even the cake...it was seeing family and friends.

I really tried to get a picture of Caroline and Sasha curled up kissing but (like I said) I'm not the best photographer in the world, maybe I'm even the worst. But here they are together. :D

Movie Review Monday - The Great Gatsby

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD wrote The Great Gatsby in 1925. The setting is the fictional town of West Egg during the summer of 1922, on Long Island.

It's a story about Jay Gatsby and his opulent lifestyle and love of Daisy Buchanan.

Fitzgerald was inspired by parties where he saw extravagance and decadence. It took him two years to write the story and the first year the book was out, it was considered a flop. It only sold 20,000 copies (not really a flop) but Fitzgerald considered himself a failure.

It wasn't until the book became a standard in school curriculum that there was a resurgence with his writing. Today the book is a contender for "The Great American Novel" and a classic that is redone in plays and movies. 

Woofing

My son and I were talking about a friend of his who went to Sweden and then to Turkey to work on a farm...he called it "woofing".

I'd never heard the expression before. At first I thought he was saying roofing. But he sneered at me, in that way that sons sneer at you when they think you're one of those daft old folks. Then he explained it to me.

The program initially started as as "Working Weekends on Organic Farms" but grew and grew. Today Woofing is a world wide movement to help organic farms grow and prosper and the name now means World wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

Thought for Thursday - Queries

Query Letters are difficult to deal with. They are beasts actually. Scary, intimidating creatures that can take the wind out of a rhinoceros' snort. Yeah, that frightening to some writers. And why?

It's just a short little paragraph or three. Where you can tell someone about your story. I try to think of it as a chance to sit down and blab with a good friend (okay I wish) but that's the way I approach queries. I think of what I'd say to a friend to get them to read the story. I don't even have to think of the story as mine.

I think back to the last time I told a friend she just HAD to read a book. Then I think about the things I thought were memorable or what made the story worth reading. That's what I share in a query. And maybe a little bit about me and a little bit about my friend (the agent I'm trying to entice into reading more).

Yeah, I never blab just about me, that wouldn't be polite. Okay, well almost never. Sometimes I get carried away and just jump right into my story. But isn't that what you might do with a friend, if you're talking about an exciting story that she just HAS to read?

When you share enthusiasm, it catches on...or at least that's what I'm hoping for.

So happy querying...and don't be so bothered by the beast.

Word for Wednesday

Play along...

Do you know what the word means?

Don't peek and take a guess...

then scroll down to find the answer...

WORD: EVINCE

Do you know the word?

Maybe not?

Scroll down

Meaning

To demonstrate clearly 

The Unbreakable Rules of Marketing

Cathey Armillas was one of the guest speakers at the conference this past weekend. And she was fantastic.

I really enjoyed her energy, excitement and tips, hints and tricks for branding. I think anyone would gain more than a morsel of information by hearing her speak.

I don't know if it's because she's also a soccer player but I'd say she kicked this presentation into the outfield.

And the energy was more than contagious.

She's an awe...mazing marketing specialist.

So, if you ever get a chance to see her speak...or even simply listen to her speak, I'd recommend it.

SCBWI Spring Conference

WOW! What a weekend.  That's about all I can say after a weekend of eating, reading, writing and being surrounded by inspirational speakers.

If I can encourage anyone to attend one of these conferences, I want to do it. You'll definitely get more than your money's worth.

Random Acts of Senseless Violence

Okay, it's time for another bookclub book. And, NO, I didn't pick this one. Has anyone out there read
Random Acts of Senseless Violence? I'm hoping to start it on Sunday. It sounds good, a little rich girl goes through a terrifying transformation. That does sound like my kind of story.

Lola Hart is writing her life in her diary. She is a little rich girl, cushioned from the horrors that lurk in the New York streets. But Lola is about to undergo the same transformation as her city. This book charts Lola's journey from middle-class affluence to a life of violence.

We'll see. I liked the last story, which wasn't a book I would have picked. That's the good thing about book clubs. They make you step outside your comfort zone and try new things...read new books, new genres.

So, that's what I'll be reading...how 'bout you?

Adding Bling

I'm getting ready for the SCBWI Wagons Ho event this weekend by getting out my western gear.

I've got my cowgirl hat

But it's a little plain. "Sew" I pulled out some ribbon, some rhinestones, and my all purpose glue gun.

Then I started gluing those sparkles to my hat.

Here's how it came out.

And after the conference, I can pull off the ribbon and be back to the plain old me.

Hair style #3

So I thought I'd try another hairstyle for my renewing of my vows ceremony.

I really wanted to have some braids. So here's how it came out.

I'm going to try a couple with my hair down because that's the way my husband really likes my hair but I want to have a braid or two incorporated in the style, even if it's only a headband braid...see the one on the counter? Maybe something like that.

Doggie Dash

Saturday was the Doggie Dash. It's a fun dog run to help raise money for the Oregon Humane Society.

My sister, niece, husband and I did the run.  The run starts at 9:00 a.m. and then walkers start at 9:45 a.m.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

DIY Tee-shirt Remake

For Mother's Day my daughter gave me a tee shirt to match my new little car. Unfortunately I don't like collars up around my neck "sew" I worked it over into something I would want to wear. Here's how I did it.

I used a file folder for a straight edge and drew a "V" neck line on the tee-shirt.

Then I cut the collar off and put some cotton binding down on the edge.

I sewed the binding on the V.  I love how it says "Oregon" on the license plate and has a peace sign for an emblem.

Then I put some elastic in the arms and Wah-Lah a new shirt entirely.

Now, this is something I'll wear when I'm cruising around town in my beetle.