Moving out

[Somehow this didn't get posted when I wrote it. I wrote this right after I got back from helping my mom close down her house in June 2011. She left her home two years ago in September to come live with my family.]

Going back to a house you left suddenly two years ago is like entering a time warp.

Ice cream in the freezer will start to mold sometime during that two years.

Tight windows reduce dust on furniture to nearly nothing.

Going through 50 years of accumulation is hard, even if your parent was good about getting rid of things.

Having dear old friends help is INVALUABLE. Couldn't have done it all in only 2.5 days without them.

A two-day car trip without the radio leaves lots of time for contemplation and chat.

Getting everything unpacked from the car as quickly as possible makes recovery easier.

I'm so glad it's over and so glad my brothers are handling the estate sale.

I hope my mom recovers from the ordeal

My friend Leigh writes her blog entries like this and I decided to give it a try today.

Juuuust posting this picture again . . . .

Have you seen this picture before? Isn't it a pretty car? What do you think the chances are that it would be hit twice in two weeks' time?

I was shopping at the grocery store when I heard the dreaded overhead call for the owner of a Chrysler 300 and . . . a silver Honda. The store clerk walked out to the parking lot with me to show me my car parked right where it I left it, with a Chrysler 300 backed into it.

No driver.

It looked like the car had rolled into mine from the other side of the parking lane. We waited.

No driver.

The clerk reached into the car and got some paperwork that had the owner's name. They paged him by name.

No driver.

The clerk went to some other stores in the strip mall and they paged him.

No driver.

Finally another clerk called the police to report it and notify a tow truck. It took awhile for the police to arrive (I should have voted for that extra 0.5 cent tax for local services, shouldn't I?) and still no driver.

The police officer pushed the offending car away to see what damage had been done and my car had a small dent in the right rear bumper. He took my information and gave me the insurance card he took from the other car's glove box.

At that point I was given the nod to head back into the store to finish shopping. Too late for dinner tonight. When I came out the car was gone. I don't know if the driver returned or if it was towed.

I can't decide if I think the car rolled on its own or if the driver hit me and then ran away. The car was in nice condition and very clean, so that points toward the car's rolling into me by itself. But where was the driver for so long??

Oh, and I had my bumper replaced ONE WEEK AGO.

Meal Plan Sunday

Father's Day dessert: Ice cream cake
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday:Chicken BLT Taco Salad
Wednesday: Healthified Bacon, Cheese and Tomato Strata

Thursday:

Friday: Pizza

"Mormon Mocha"

Observant Mormons don't drink coffee, so I've never tried any of the fancy coffee drinks. However, we DO drink drinks in a mug that taste something like coffee, such as Pero and Postum.

Today I came across this recipe:

Ice Blended Mocha

1/2 cup strong coffee
1 cup crushed ice
1/2 cup half and half
2-3 tablespoons chocolate syrup

Mix in bowl of blender until smooth and frothy. 1 serving.

Here is the website with the recipe.

I thought it looked delicious on this hot Spring day so I changed it up a bit and made:

Mormon Mocha

1/2 cup strong Pero
1 cup crushed ice
1/2 cup whole milk (that's what I have on hand)
2-3 tablespoons chocolate syrup

It was delicious!

This picture is from the recipe page:

We're on foot these days

Last Saturday I had my first "fender bender," although I'm happy to report I didn't actually bend my fender, just scraped up and gouged the heavy plastic cover over it. A pick up truck and I were both backing out of herring-bone parking slots and bumped into each other. Low speed, no injuries, and no damage to the pick up truck. It was such a surprise and amazing what a horrible sound two cars colliding makes.


I got online with my insurance company as soon as I got home and reported the incident and set up an appointment to have my car looked at. I know all this online reporting saves the insurance company time and money, but to be honest, it was easier for me to report things that way as well.

Monday I brought my car in, got the estimate ($789) and made an appointment to return on Wednesday when they got the part in. I was surprised to find out they had to have my car for THREE days to install a plastic bumper cover! Silly me, the cover comes UNpainted and they have to color-match the paint, paint it, let it dry, then install it. Three days.

I figured three days without a car wasn't going to be convenient any time, so I might as well just get it done.

But what about swimming lessons that started this week? The lessons are at a public pool about a mile from home, so the girls and I have been hoofing it to the lessons. The girls have had a good attitude and our walks through the neighborhood have been really pleasant. They enjoy the walks home with wet bathing suits and wet hair in the warm weather.

This is the first time I've had all three girls in lessons at the SAME TIME!! Two years ago I had two in a morning class and one at night. Last year the lessons were contiguous so at least I only had to go to the pool once. This year the two different classes are held at the same time. I've already read A Tale Of Despereaux and I think today I'll finish the current issue of Time magazine. I've been waiting for this.

Oh, why have I been using stock photos? My camera focus is acting up and we are currently out of batteries for any of the cameras. The rechargables don't work and we have only one AA battery left. So no, that isn't my child in the photo above, although she is cute enough to be mine. :-)

Unexpected perk of technology

Tonight two men from Church came over for their monthly visit with my family. One of them asked if I had Skype on my iTouch. I said I didn't, but I did on my computer. He had it on his iPhone and wanted to try it out. We very successfully completed a video call to each other--sitting about 20 feet away from each other!
While he and I made our call to each other, dh downloaded Skype to his iPad. Then he tried calling me. Because his iPad doesn't have a camera, I couldn't see him, but he could see me. I was really surprised to see my face almost full size on his iPad! On my computer my friend had been only about 4"x6".
Then dh had a sharp idea; he handed his iPad to the other visitor, who is an elderly man with limited vision. The man's face lit up and he told dh that was the first time he had "seen" me and I was prettier than he expected. Gotta love that man, LOL. Once we had that idea, the first visitor used his phone to call dh, then we took turns holding the iPhone up to our faces so our elderly friend could see our faces for the first time. He was pretty delighted and so were we.

Cool, huh?

Camp Laffalotta Week 1 Princesses

My girls practically begged to have Camp Laffalotta again this year. I thought maybe they'd rather just float through the summer, but I must have made it fun enough for them last year that they remembered the activities. I was surprised they remembered the different themes we did as well.

So this week's theme is princesses. We read a traditional story about a Mayan princess and a nonfiction story about Princess Diana. One of their activities was to create a play, make costumes, and perform it for dh, my mom, and me. Here they are--what play is it?

If you guessed The Little Mermaid, you would be correct. S on the left is Ursula, wearing dark colors, then C as Ariel, then E as Prince Eric.

This shot is Ariel sitting on a rock in chains waiting for Prince Eric:


The adults were given chairs just outside the patio door and for some unknown reason, the girls insisted this chair be placed right in front of us. We kept trying to move it so we could see the dramatic action happening but they told us it was important. They never touched it at all!! I took this picture to show our actual view. Funny, huh?

Dh said he felt stressed by taking time to watch the play because he was in the middle of a project to repair our cooling system. However, he's such a good father than he just told himself to sit, relax, cool off, and enjoy the show. I didn't even detect any angst, although he told me about it later.

Here is the final bow: