thoughts from the deep recesses

My new blog at Memory Box is up and running... Go here and click on Paper Amour. That's me! Yay for getting paid to make stuff and blog about it!

You know those expensive little packets of dried onion soup mix that are such a great addition to so many recipes? Here. You can now make your own! Homemade Onion Soup Mix Ingredients: 3/4 cup dried minced onion 1/3 cup beef bouillon (powdered) 4 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp crushed celery seed 1/4 tsp sugar Directions: Mix ingredients together then store in an airtight container. Use 2 TBS per 1 cup boiling water. Recipe makes approximately 1 cup dried onion soup mix. 5 Tablespoons is equivalent to 1 package store bought mix. I'm so ALL over this.

Like Quiznos subs? Go here for a coupon for a free one! Like Jack in the Box tacos? Go here ! (Two free tacos Tuesday, February 24th only.) (I used to live on Jack in the Box tacos.) Speaking of Quiznos and Jack in the Box, I got hired by Weight Watcher's last week - first to be a receptionist, then 24 hours later, to be a leader! I've got oodles of paper work to fill out and a training in Portland in early April. Come May, I'll be leading my own meeting! Savannah's been fighting laryngitis this week - she was home from school yesterday and has been running a low fever for a few days. Hope none of the rest of us catch it. We've been so healthy so far this winter. ***knock on wood*** Watch here for the addition of 'Paper Amour'. It's my new gig designing and blogging for Memory Box - a wonderful rubber stamp and paper company out of Seattle. My blog should be up and running in the next couple of days. So yes, when you add Weight Watchers and Memory Box ...

So in Spokane, everyone starts feeling a little crazy come mid-February. It's still really cold outside. And in most cases, there's still tons of snow on the ground. And everyone gets a little stir crazy. So yesterday, in an effort to get out of the house and have some family time, we went on a taste testing extravaganza of local Spokane cheeseburgers. First we went to Dairy Queen. Single cheeseburger - mustard and ketchup only please. Then Sonic. Dicks, Jack in the Box, and D'Lish. We ended at D'Lish because it's in the downtown mall and there would be someplace warm to sit and eat. I cut the burgers into five equal pieces. Then we tasted. And commented. And discussed the subtle nuances of hamburger preparation and condiment distribution. The verdict? The best cheeseburger in Spokane can be found at Sonic. (By a long shot.) The worst? Dairy Queen. Can you say cardboard? (Then we came home and spent the afternoon playing with Wii fit, which we had bought before we ...

So the other day we were talking about belly buttons, Savannah, Ethan and I. About the shape of ours. Savannah is the only one in the family that doesn't have an innie. Hers is sort of a modified outie. It's quite cute. But different for sure from the rest of us. (Although I can honestly say that in 16 years of marriage, I've never really studied Asia's and I'm not altogether sure what his looks like...) But I digress. So we were showing our belly buttons to each other. And when E. lifted up his shirt, I was mortified to see a deep dark cavern full of ...stuff . Grey. Fuzzy. Lint. And lots of it. It was almost time for school, so we couldn't do anything about it right then. But I promised him that he would be taking a nice long bath that night. And cleaning out the nether regions of that nasty, scary belly button. He immediately complained "But I don't like touching in there! It feels funny!" "I know it does. But that's just gross . You...

Play the eyeballing game .

I'm simply crazy busy. The blog is always on the back of my mind... "must post about E.'s belly button fuzz" or "take pictures of my pretty birthday cards and flowers to share" or "must show everyone the snow that refuses to melt..." and yet time just hasn't allowed. Today I am running from one thing to the next - from having kids dropped off here at 7:50 to hang out with my kids until it's time to leave for school because their mom had an early meeting to jetting over to the school to work on the newsletter for a few minutes to driving Ethan up to the north side for an orthodontist appointment then back to the school for a PTG meeting... it's just nuts. And of course, there are always class projects looming - and another design opportunity I've been given that I'm excited to tell you about that's requiring quite a bit of time right now - and actual teaching and working . And it's not even spring. Come spring, I will be...

I am now forty years old. Or at least by the time I push the publish button, I will be... 9:38 p.m. was the official time, I was reminded today by my dear mom. So forty....  Feels quite a bit older than 39. Older than I thought it would feel. Although it's just a day older than yesterday. And ten years from fifty. But let's not think about that right now. I had a lovely weekend, beginning with a surprise party thrown by Asia at our dear friends, Asher and Mia's house. I was surrounded by loads of lovely friends and had sweet gifts and lots of laughter. I was frankly blown away by the fact that Asia managed to plan the whole thing - including decorations, catering (yes, he paid to feed about 30 people. I told him that was the sweetest thing he'd ever done...) and I never suspected a thing. He pulled it off with style. I was honored. Yesterday at work I was again celebrated by the lovely women I've been teaching for the last five years. And today, I opened the present...

I just finished putting Sweet and Sour Pot Roast in the crock pot. Can't wait until I can begin to smell it - this one's a keeper. SO yummy. Barely slept a wink last night. Finally got up at 2:30 to take some MidNite . Didn't help a bit. Got up around 4:00 and watched an old DVR'd episode of Grey's Anatomy... fell asleep on the couch for a bit, but I'm positively rummy today. The kids got themselves off to school while I laid on the couch trying to stay awake. Good kids. Kyler got his hair cut over the weekend. Shorter than it's been in years. Somehow, less hair makes his head look bigger. Explain that one... Bible study tomorrow. I've been meeting since last fall with a sweet group of ladies from church every two weeks. We're the 'old' ladies at church, meaning we're past 30. SO many young people go to our church, we all felt the need to have a group we could meet with that would understand our unique set of struggles and triumphs we sh...

I love CHA for the inspiration. So much creativity - everywhere you look. It always makes me want to come home and create! These were just a few of my favorites. Some things we ordered - some things I'm hoping to duplicate - some things I just can't believe someone took the time to do... so cool.