"Bouquet's of freshly sharpened pencils..."

10 points to the first person who can name the movie the title of this post comes from.


I have not decided what the prize for the first person to 100 points is...but just go with it.


I was at a local pharmacy this weekend and they had summer gear on clearance to make room for school supplies. 


I was almost giddy!


I love it when the school supplies come out.  The smell of the crisp, clean paper.........the pencils in a rainbow of colors....... the endless supply of organizational containers and locker gear.  


 (Sigh!)


Remember when you did not have all of these fancy choices?  Pencils were yellow with red erasers, notebooks came in 5 colors.....red, blue, yellow, black, and  green.  Folders came in the same color choices.

Crayons came in an 8 pack. They still come that way and thank goodness they are washable.  


Other wise my living room chair would have a large orange streak across the seat and the dining room table would be accented with purple.


Remember when Trapper Keepers came out?    Oh, the glory of the zipper pockets and the 3 rings binder and the pouches all encased in some awesome vinyl 80's inspired design that closed with Velcro.   


Those were the days!   


I am sure the teachers loved them too.   The beginning of every class listening to the sound of the Velcro ripping open and the zippers and the pop of the rings.  Of course this was never just the beginning of class this happened the entire day.  Someone was always getting back into the pocket or opening and closing the Velcro cover. 


What about the backpacks?  That was a big thing for a while,  having the most awesome bag to lug around your 25lbs of books and other stuff.  Stuff that may not have been necessary, but hey you never knew when you were gonna need your Lipsmackers in every flavor possible.  Then someone thought,  "Hey lets put wheels on the bags", making it necessary to shove more into the bag since you did not have to carry it.


 Genius.  


Now there is an endless array of colors, shapes and sizes.  How does one choose?

While I have no plans to return to school in the near future, I still like going and checking out the new, must have supplies.  It is true that some day I may come to hate, loathe and despise back to school shopping when I must do it for my own children. But for now, I will bask in the glory of the back to school section.

Lone Star State of Mind

As far as family reunions go, my family seems pretty darn good at them. Any side you go to is amazing, eventful......sometimes a little unorthodox..... but hey, they are family and they have to love us right?  There are usually at least two reunions held over the 4th of July. Of course they are always on opposite ends of the country so we have to choose which one we will go to.  This year we chose to head down to Texas.

 I had never been to Texas save the airport in Dallas.  That doesn't count.  I consider airports like Switzerland......neutral territory.  You can't say you have been somewhere until you have walked down the street and smelled the city......or feedlot....or sea air....depending on where you go.  Texas is big country so this is a long post.

I was voted the "Unofficial Secretary of the Board of Trustees" for the reunion this year.  I have been working on a news letter  and decided to use some of that for my post.

Another awesome B-L family reunion has come and gone.  This years’ gathering was held at the home of D, J, and D. B. in Canyon, TX.   The festivities were held from June 30^Th to July 4^Th, though most of the people headed home on the 3^rd. Here is a little history.....

When L B passed away in 1995(?) and everyone got together to remember his life, the subject of getting together under better circumstances came up.   So the following year (1996?) the first reunion was held.  Since no one was seriously injured that first go round, they thought it would be fun to do it again...and again…and again...and so on.  So here we are in 2011 trying to get a little organized and keep the tradition alive. The following is a synopsis of the weekend.

 People began arriving in Texas on Thursday June 30^Th.  The horseshoe pits were put together and the old rivalries surfaced.   The crew stayed up late throwing shoes and enjoying each-others company…..and a few choice beverages.  My crew drove all night to get down there.  We were making good time until Dad got picked up while trying to pass someone who apparently did not know what cruise control was.  Luckily the officer was feeling generous and only gave him a warning.

Friday July 1^st brought the early arrival of more kin and the mission to find them a bed to flop into was priority.  Once everyone was some-what rested the baking began. D, M, L, H, and I spent the day baking.  Aside from the first batch of rolls that some-one, names are not important…… D and H…..forgot to put yeast in the dough, everything turned out fabulous. To their credit, the rolls were still delicious and were all eaten by the end of lunch.

Something happens when these women get together and the flour flies.  It’s a thing of beauty. Big golden rolls, sweet monkey bread, and cinnamon rolls that almost make you cry.  These however were eaten so quickly their efforts were almost futile........... delicious, but futile.

 As the day progressed the murder marbles were dug out, the ladder golf balls were thrown, the dice were rolled, and the shoes were tossed.  Occasionally we lost a few who could not resist the temptations of the beautiful surroundings and adventured into the canyon.  They always managed to find their way back about “bean time”, led home by the grumblings in their bellies.

Saturday July 2^nd started off with a bang, somewhat literally,  as the bread dough burst out of the bowl.  More baking ensued and a breakfast of French toast was prepared.  Peter,Carter some other cousins, and I got lost going to the Amarillo Zoo.  It was OK though, it provided ample napping time for the little ones and they were ready to run around and see the animals at the zoo.   J said they were doing some renovations and updating the facilities to make the zoo a better attraction.  They still have some work ahead of them but it was a very nice zoo.   It is a perfect size for little kids.  Not so big that they get tired before they see everything.

Back at the house the festivities were in full swing.  The kitchen was brimming with bodies making salads for the big meal of the day.   Outside the sun was sweltering, but the shoes were still flying.  People were pairing off and practicing for the annual horseshoe tournament. In all, there were around 14 teams.  R made 3 wooden horseshoes for the prizes.

 There was a light rain shower in the middle of the tournament, but that did not hinder the play.  Dad and M took first place for the second year in a row, winning the highly coveted, largest wooden horseshoe, which my Dad proceeded to wear around his neck the rest of the day.   Second place went to S and L and winning third place by a coin toss were R and T.   In the evening before the steak dinner we gathered in the yard for a family picture.   We ate a wonderful steak dinner with a vast array of salads.  The festivities went on well into the night with ladder golf, marbles, and beverages.

Sunday over mugs of coffee we held our annual "Board of Trustees" meeting.  The board consists of anyone who shows up and states their ideas or opinions. Plans hashed out and meeting adjourned we all got ready for church and finished packing things up.  after church we loaded up the car and went to lunch.

There is a certain beauty to Texas. 

 If you win I believe you get a t-shirt, the glory of saying you did it, and get to skip out on the $180+ bill.  I believe Adam beat it.......if you search for video the guy next to him looks like he is not going to make it much longer without hurling.  Anyway we wanted to eat lunch there.  No there would be no 72oz steak for any of us.  The food was pretty tasty, the atmosphere was.....rustic. 

As we were getting ready to leave a young man stepped up to the challenge.  I took his picture and wished him luck.

 I checked the website and I do not think he was successful.  It is a lot of food!

Carter did an awesome job for such a long road trip.  We rolled into home about 1 am and flopped into our beds shortly after.  Carter thankfully slept the rest of the night.  It was another great reunion spent with some of the best people I know.   Thank you to everyone for coming.  Thank you also to D, J, and D for the use of your beautiful home and your gracious hospitality. 

Channeling Puck

Fair warning........this post is about food. 

Peter and I  do not claim to be master chefs or gourmet cooks.  But I must say this weekend we were channeling Puck..... and Batali....... and Deen...... and Yang.

Friday night we made to pretty darn good (if you ask me) chili cheese dogs.  No this is not gourmet, but when you are hungry and it sounds good to you  a stalk of celery can be a feast. 

Saturday for lunch we made pizza.  Not  like you order from Pizza Hut or Valentino's.  The real thing......... thin  crust, real tomatoes crushed and seasoned just right, fresh basil, and real mozzarella cheese (the one that comes as a ball not pre-shredded). 

Great googley moogleies (name that show guys)  it was delicious!  

We made 2 different pizzas and the second had the addition of some fresh grated Parmesan and sharp provolone.  ( Someone commented on Facebook on an earlier post  that reveals the level of my obsession with the salty goodness of Parmesan cheese. Candi I still do that.  Ha Ha!)  

When Carter was old enough to start eating meat I looked for easy to gum choices for him.  My cousin suggested frozen meat balls, you take a couple out pop em in the microwave and viola you got a kid portion ready in minutes and easy on the toofers.  So I bought a small bag to try. After Carter turned his nose up to the greasy mass of who knows what kind of meat, I tried a bite myself.  It was so gross!  We looked at the package and the 6 meatball serving size had 20 grams of fat!  No joke...20 grams!   

So I set out on the journey to make and freeze my own.  The first batch turned our great.  I added spinach to them for extra iron.   We just finished them off about a week ago so it was time to make some more.  So while Peter did yard work I whipped up another batch.   I tweaked the recipe a little this time adding a little more seasoning and an extra egg.  I baked them up and they are fantastic!  Yes...... a few were consumed before they made it to the freezer bag.       

After they were done baking I took Carter outside and we attempted to start to clean the car out.  We were unsuccessful because he wanted to go for a walk....we ride really Mommy walked and he rode on his trike that I pushed.

Peter decided to Cook Chinese food on Saturday night.  As usually it was wonderful.  Stir fried chicken and veggies and garlic stems with pork.  Yu huh huh uuummmy!  I love love love that my hubby cooks.  I love my hubby!

On Sunday morning we debated on what to have for breakfast. We made the wise decision to make omelets.  Smoked Gouda, peppered roasted turkey, fresh chives, and roasted red pepper(on mine only).  Wow!   I recently discovered the delectable roasted red pepper and it's many uses.  Again..... Thank You Ree thepioneerwoman for your fabulous recipes and inspirations!   The omelet may have sounded rich but it was perfect.  I was able to go to church and not feel like a balloon. It was great!

With the leftover chicken from the Chinese food we boiled up some stock and made homemade chicken and noodles for lunch.  Always a favorite at our house. 

I managed to finally get the car cleaned out.  I found some sort of science experiment under the driver seat involving a piece of bread and what I suspect was once peanut butter in a sealed container.  I honestly don't remember when or how this arrived in our car.  I was a little scared of it....I should have thrown the whole thing out, but I didn't, I cleaned the container.  I may regret that decision later.  

We ate left overs for dinner.  Good choice since we had no room left in the fridge.  Carter and I took a walk after we ate.  I got his shoes on him and took down the gate and Tai went sprinting down the steps in front of us.  Carter watched him, then turned around and went to get the leash and collar......almost resigned to the fact that Tai was going.  Totally unprompted by myself or Peter.  I was amazed!  Of course, there is not a day that goes by that he doesn't amaze me.   We managed to get a good walk in and make it home before the storms hit.  

Another great weekend!  

I think I  need a salad.