>Blog Blast with a Cause

>iBakeSale is a unique new fundraising option for people who shop online. It’s simple; sign up, designate a charity or nonprofit group, and then shop. When you’re shopping your favorite online merchants, go through iBakeSale in order to funnel funds their way.

I’ve become a regular online shopper, and for safety’s sake I tend to stick to vendors and merchants I know. This list of links appeals to be because it includes well-known names such as Lands’ End. Linens and Things. Delia’s (a favorite of my college-age daughter). NFL Pro Shop, too (as if I needed more Green Bay Packer clothing!).The list goes on and on, and in fact can be intimidating in its length, so I prefer to click on “Select Category” and get a more focused display.

Now, here’s the fund-raising part. Click on “Select an Organization” to direct your donations to a meaningful source. I chose the Wisconsin Lions Foundation in Rosholt, Wisconsin because my blind son spends a very happy week at Lions Camp every summer and our local Lions have been very generous whenever we’ve asked for assistance. (They make great buffalo burgers at Octoberfest, too, but that’s a matter of personal taste. Yum.)

Here goes. To join iBakeSale, click here. Create an account, and then choose a group for your donations. I’d love it if you’d choose the Wisconsin Lions Foundation, but I hope you’ll look for other groups that are close to your heart. You can sign up a new organization, such as your children’s school PTA, as well. Go for it, folks; sign up before you start your Christmas shopping!

Please note: There is a prize involved for the blogger who gets the most sign-ups by August 7. My readership is small, so I’m not expecting to win. The only benefit for me would be to see people sign up to send a bit of their shopping money toward a good cause. I do not earn money through this post.

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>Hello, my name is Minerva

>I am a loyal and dedicated Harry Potter fan. I’ve pre-ordered and pre-paid my copy of The Deathly Hallows and pre-ordered a Braille copy for Amigo. Meanwhile, I reread the first six, and once again cried over Dumbledore. How could Snape..?!…never mind.

Some day soon I’ll see the movie for The Order of the Phoenix. I was nervous about seeing the first movie because I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to the book. Now I thoroughly enjoy the movies, even as I insist that the books are better. They are. Really.

As I read, I see myself as Professor McGonagall. She’s definitely a kindred spirit. She’s a leader, one who knows what’s right, and calmly deals with many big issues. With the Weasley family in her house, particularly Fred and George, I’m sometimes amazed at how calm she can be! When I saw the first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, my first glimpse of McGonagall was a mild shock. “No, that can’t be her. She’s much too, well, old. She’s supposed to be me!” Several years later, now I can watch the movies and say, it’s okay. I can only hope to age as well. Can I wear a nifty green hat like hers? And where’s my wand?

So it was no surprise when I took a sorting quiz and found myself in Gryffindor. Behave yourselves in the common room, Fred and George, I’m on my way!

i'm in gryffindor!

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Reduce, reuse, and recycle: the chair project

Take two white molded plastic chairs, dirty and grungy beyond description.
Scrub chairs to remove dirt.
Coat with plastic primer to make sure paint will stick.
Paint selected portions of chairs (or have your daughter do it).
Let paint dry completely.

Attach removable rummage sale stickers to chair in random pattern. Paint chairs thoroughly with main color. Let dry. When chairs are dry, carefully remove stickers.


The result: the formerly old and junky chair becomes a simple polka-dotted accent piece for the deck. Bring out the cappuccino!

There’s a table to match, but I don’t have the heart to take it away from the bunny just yet.

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>More on the first apartment…

>The carpet is plain and indestructible.
The bathroom is, well, unique.
Did I mention the lights?


The lights all have longlasting energy efficient bulbs. They stick out of the fixtures because the fixtures are old (it’s a college apartment!). The light fixtures themselves are decorated with — mallard ducks. Why? I’m sure we’ll never know. Maybe the owners or builders got a good deal on a large flock, er, quantity of these.

I just hope the wildlife on the overhead lights is not an indication of the wild life yet to come between these well-worn walls.

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>Funday Sunday

>

Here’s where we were last Sunday.
Amigo was all decked out and ready for the game with his armband radio, Little League cap, and personal cooling device, a.k.a. cheap fan on lanyard around neck. I bought three of those little fans because of the (hot, hot) forecast. In the meantime, while we waited for the gates to open, we listened to the band and danced…

…and looked for trains.

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>Choose your own adventure — if you dare

>

Sometimes you can choose your own adventure. Sometimes those adventures just land on your doorstep — or your driveway.
Let’s work backwards. My daughter walked in the house one evening and announced calmly, with only a hint of a sheepish grin, “Mom, I owe you a new citronella candle.” What?! My cute blue bucket with polka dots, filled with citronella wax, recently purchased at Target to ward off nasty mosquitoes when I want to be outside? How could it already be used up?
It was Independence Day, July 4th, the one day out of the year that kids of all ages in the U.S. are encouraged to watch fireworks and even play with some of their own. My teenage daughter had a few friends over to do sparklers. As they finished with each sparkler, they looked for a safe place to put it. “Oh, let’s put them in here! We can set the bucket on the driveway, away from trees and grass and other things that burn.” These honor students (yes, talented and gifted students with outrageously high ACT scores) forgot one thing: candle wax is flammable.
Scene 1: Still-hot sparklers act as wicks, starting the bucket of wax on fire.


Scene 2: Husband runs in house for fire extinguisher. La Petite shouts, “No, dad, wait! I want to take a picture!”

Scene 3: After she takes her picture, he puts out the fire. (Note: he didn’t stop for shoes.)

Parenting: it’s not just a job, it’s an adventure.
(Thanks to La Petite for the photos — and the memories.)

This post was entered in Scribbit’s Write-Away Contest for July.

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>I am…I think. Wait — strike that, reverse it.

>

Perhaps to offset the seriousness of being labeled a Pundit Blogger, I took this quiz. Rerun? Well, the character description fits, but I can’t quite see myself riding on the back of my mom’s bike anymore. I should be chauffering her in my bicycle, really. I could get a pedicab like this. Ready Mom?

Which Peanuts Character are You?

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>Tasty Tuesday from the backyard garden

>Remember this dream? I didn’t make a meatloaf recently, but I did bake a rhubarb cake. We had so much fresh rhubarb I decided I had to bake, despite the hot weather. I cut up extra rhubarb and froze it: snack size zipper bags hold 1 cup each. Perfect.

Fresh Rhubarb Cake
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped rhubarb, frozen or fresh
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Optional: powdered sugar frosting for drizzle,
whipped topping, or vanilla ice cream

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 13 by 9 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream the margarine/butter and 1 cup of the sugar. Add the egg; beat well. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Add one third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well. Beat in half the buttermilk. Add another third of the flour, then the rest of the buttermilk, ending with the flour. Stir in the rhubarb.
Spread in the prepared baking pan. Combine the remaining cup of sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake test done with a toothpick or skewer.
Optional: Drizzle with powdered sugar frosting or other dessert sauce of your choice. My family likes this cake served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side. They even eat this for breakfast. Yes, I allow it. Nutritionally, it beats the heck out of a toaster pastry or donut! Did I mention it’s great with coffee?
Leftover cake lasts longer if refrigerated. It tastes great microwaved for a few seconds.

Thanks to Betty Rohde of the Super so fat, low fat, no fat cookbook. This recipe is adapted from hers. If you bake it the low-fat way, it has only 0.5 fat gram per serving.

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>The first apartment

>

La Petite and her roommate are getting into an on-campus apartment this year. Yesterday we loaded a batch of dishes, pots and pans, and other miscellaneous along with Amigo, me, and two bunnies for a preliminary visit to the new “place”.
Yes, pets are allowed. Peanut and Sadie will live at school with her. We thought we’d give them a preview of their new home, as well as some practice in taking car rides. The bunnies passed the test with flying fur — I mean flying colors.
And speaking of colors! The apartment is a feast for the eyes… if you have a strong stomach. The carpeting is your basic neutral, indestructible, indoor-outdoor type in a dark gray. Just the thing, really, to camouflage spilled Mt. Dew or Ramen noodles. The only color comes from the bright red kitchen chairs. Then (are you ready?) the brave visitors might enter (drum roll) the bathroom. Check out the floor, if you dare.

Then get a close-up of the toilet. Yes, it’s two colors. The bowl and tank are a pastel mint green, and the seat/lid have been replaced recently — in white.

And speaking of colors, what is this color? Does it have a name? It’s not goldenrod, it’s not avocado, but I really don’t know what to call it. But next to that floor, does it really matter?

Ah, yes. It’s really a decent apartment for two college girls. I’m just not sure how La Petite’s navy blue towels and her roommate’s hot pink will coordinate with the bathroom decor. But heck, nothing else matches, either. It’s the kind of apartment that creates memories — before the kids even move in.

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