>Good reasons to postpons a rummage sale

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>We had in mind a June sale. Garage sale, tag sale, whatever your region calls it: in our neck of the woods we call it a rummage sale. With La Petite moving home for a while, we have no storage space, and our basement is overloaded. It’s time for another major purge. However… when I brought up to Chuck that this might not be the best time for a sale, he was easily convinced.

10. June is incredibly full. End of school, graduations, graduation parties, and more.
9. Amigo has a week of camp, including a drop-off and pick-up that need to get scheduled.
8. July is not a good month for sales locally. June and August tend to be better.
7. August is the month from you-know-where for Chuck’s work schedule.
6. Our remodeling isn’t done. The house is trashed. Truly appears trashed.
5. I still don’t have a working washer and dryer (see #6). It’s laundromat for the wash, and my old dryer after that.
4. If we wait a year, we’ll have more preparation time next spring – with no remodeling project taking our attention.
3. If we wait a year, La Petite will have a better idea how much she’ll really need of her apartment furniture, dishes, and other collections. We (she) can sell the rest.
2. If we wait a year, Amigo will have a better idea where he’s going with his life and (you guessed it) what he’ll need.
1. I’m tired. I’m simply too exhausted to prepare and staff and clean up a sale.

That’s it! Ten good reasons to wait a year. Now I just hope I can maneuver my way around the crowded basement until it happens!

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>Remodeling the old Homestead: when the trivial becomes overwhelming

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Coping has its limits. Sometimes, too much happens and something has to blow. What was the proverbial straw that broke our camel’s back? There are many; you choose.
The dust upstairs was so bad that we couldn’t sleep in our room. Chuck slept on the couch in the den, and I slept on La Petite’s futon, dragged into the living room. Why did we drag it out? Because I snore.

I was feeling under the weather (due to lost sleep perhaps?) with a bad summer cold, achiness, and all-over lousiness. I couldn’t find the Neti Pot because we have two bathrooms’ junk crowded into one vanity and medicine cabinet.
Chuck was feeling ill because of the dust. He took to wearing a surgical mask around the house to limit the amount of dust he inhaled. It did make a difference; he got better.

La Petite, after she finally moved back into her bedroom, couldn’t find anything. She emptied the laundry baskets and suitcases, put all of her clothing in her closet and dresser, and then nothing was where she thought it was.

Amigo tripped on a door and injured his right big toe. I think he caught it on the doorknob or the latch.

Huh? What? He tripped on a door? The doorknob or latch? That doesn’t make sense. Doorknobs and toes?

No, nothing makes sense right now unless you have it in context. All three bunnies live with us. Krumpet lives in Amigo’s room, Buttercup in the living room, and Sadie in the den. The den doesn’t have a door. The entrance is too large for a gate or standard door – at least a standard door in the standard position.

I hear you. “Ah, now it makes sense, Daisy. Why didn’t you start with that picture?” Honestly? I couldn’t find the camera. It was mixed up in the graduation party invitations. Does that make sense? No, don’t answer that.
We will love the results. However, we are so, so ready for this project to be done, done, done! I don’t know how much longer our collective sense of humor will drag us through.

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>Boycott BP – or not?

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>Should I boycott BP on the basis of the massive disaster in the Gulf of Mexico?

It’s harder than it sounds. I’ve had a BP credit card for years – decades, really. It’s a great convenience to travel with a gas card. I know where the BP stations are along my usual routes, including the drive to and from La Petite’s college town. Pay at the pump, use the rest rooms, and then get back on the road quickly and efficiently.

But now that BP is responsible for a terrible environmental disaster, should I cut up this card, cancel the account, and then shop for gas elsewhere? Or not?

I’m leaning toward not. It’s not about convenience; I can use my MasterCard or my Visa at any gas station or pay cash, too. In fact, this decision is less about me and more about impact. Boycotts are all about economic impact: hitting a company in its wallet, where it hurts the most.

If I decide to boycott BP stations in my town and my state, the company itself won’t even feel a blip on its dollar sign radar. The people who would suffer from a boycott would be the franchisees, those who own the local and regional stations and convenience stores. Those local people suffer when the economy worsens. Any resentment I harbor toward BP is not with local station owners. I don’t want them to suffer.

It’s not the locals who caused this massive disaster and let it grow, failing to cap the flow at every turn. It’s not the station owners who found themselves scrambling to find solutions after the fact rather than planning ahead and installing real, functional solutions to their rigs in case of emergencies.

It’s not the locals who failed, who lost my trust.

A personal boycott will not hit the people at the top. They won’t even feel a tickle. In fact, even a nationwide boycott by concerned environmentalists wouldn’t have a significant impact on the decision-makers at BP.

If my goal is to make an impact, I would do better to lower my dependence on oil over all. It’s time to drive less and use fewer petroleum products such as plastics. If I’m planning a long trip, I can offset my fuel use by leaving the car in the garage for several days in advance. I can consider a hybrid or electric vehicle when we replace Chuck’s Saturn or my minivan. I can walk, use a bicycle, or take public transportation. My personal impact will still be small, but the inspiration could spread.

What do you think, readers? How can you lower your petroleum use, cutting your contribution to our society’s oil dependence? How can I?

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>Grilling Season! Chilled Potato Salad and SuperBurgers

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>Chilled Potato Salad

1-1/2 lb. new potatoes, quartered or red salad potatoes, diced
1/2 cup Miracle Whip Dressing
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
3 green onions, sliced

Cook potatoes in boiling water 15 to 18 min. or just until potatoes are tender; drain. Rinse with cold water until cooled; drain well.
Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Add potatoes; mix lightly. Salt and pepper to taste.
Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.

Serve with Super Burgers or other delicious main dish cooked on the grill, of course!

Chuck makes a dynamite German potato salad. I thought I’d attempt the American standard on my own instead of making a visit to the deli. Kraft Kitchens called this Pack-a-Punch Potato Salad. Honestly, I found it a bit bland. Any suggestions?

Super Burgers? Since you asked, each cook in the family makes them slightly differently. Basically, my Super Burgers are 1 1/2 lb. ground chuck, 1 egg, 2-3 Tablespoons bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, and about 1 Tablespoon McCormick’s Grill Mates. I like their Montreal Steak flavor. Whisk egg, bread crumbs, W. sauce, and spices together. Add ground chuck and mix thoroughly. Form into hamburger patties. Cook over hot coals! This formula makes a tasty burger that can still take any toppings desired, including but not limited to BBQ sauce or cheese.

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>Smartboards and Smart Love of Learning

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>I entered this blog tour with a touch of envy. I’ve sample the joys of interactive boards in other classrooms and I am registered for training before the next school year starts. I don’t have one in my elementary classroom – yet – but I do have access to an interactive board in another location down the hall.

Currently, I have an oldfashioned chalkboard and overhead projector in my room. I share a media cart (laptop and projector) with the other teachers in my unit. My fourth grade students have grown up with technology; they consider a computer as natural as a telephone. Many even have their own cell phones, email accounts, and even Facebook pages. Maybe they’ll friend the Smart Love of Learning page! If you’re not on Facebook, you can find the Smart Love of Learning here.

A Smart Board does much more than provide a writing surface. In fact, it takes the computer and projector several steps farther, incorporating technological options into the projecting surface. This video on YouTube showcases the Smart board’s potential for fun. In addition to its use as a teaching tool, my school also uses the technology in staff meetings to project everything from test statistics to crisis intervention plans to inspirational videos.

MomCentral asked its bloggers to talk about the best teacher ever. I’m biased, of course; I’d like to think I’m the best teacher ever! If you talk to the student who drew the picture below, I think she’d agree. Maybe I’ll keep a small chalkboard around just for kids like her.

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Smart Love of Learning and Smart Technologies. I did not recieve a Smart Board to facilitate the review, but I did receive an Amazon gift certificate to thank me for my time. I can, however, enter the contest on Smart Love of Learning’s web site with prizes including (you guessed it!) a classroom Smart Board. PTA moms and other advocates, pay attention! Click on the apple, enter the relevant information, and you could win one for your child’s teacher.

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>Mother’s Cookies: the circus kind

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Do these cookies bring back memories?

No? Then you were a deprived child. They’re Mother’s Cookies, the circus kind, with pink and white frosting and sprinkles. The company is expanding into the Kansas City market, so they asked MomCentral for a little help generating excitement for their brand. Of course I said I’d help!

These cookies are a little sweeter than standard shortbread animal cookies, but they’re still mild enough to eat a handful as a snack without overdoing the sugar. Young kids like them with milk. I like mine with coffee. My teenager likes his with Mountain Dew and a computer. Well, he didn’t eat the computer.


If Mother’s Cookies aren’t in your market yet, you can find them at Amazon. You won’t find them at my house until we go shopping again; the two bags provided for the review went quickly. I’m finishing the last of the batch right now – for breakfast. Shh; it’s okay. I’ll have a grapefruit later.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Mother’s Cookies and received two bags of cookies and a $20 Amazon gift certificate to facilitate my review. Good timing; I can put it towards an order for Father’s Day. Chuck hinted about a train book….

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>Moving on — home.

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>I’m overloaded with end-of-year paperwork and (wild) behavior at my school.
Amigo graduated last night; pictures and stories soon, I promise.
Those are my excuses for reposting a piece originally posted on MidCentury Modern Moms. Enjoy!

While La Petite was graduating, Chuck was packing things in boxes and loading the minivan. He filled most of the minivan, and then he piled the two bunnies in their cages on top of the boxes, directed Amigo into the front seat, and headed home.

Meanwhile, I headed back to the hotel down the street, settled in for the night with my everpresent schoolwork, and let La Petite and her roommate figure out the rest of the packing process before they went out to party.

When I arrived in the morning, Egg McMuffins and coffee in hand, the apartment was looking better. Emptier, at least. It was time, after three years of living, to say goodbye.

Goodbye, three-color bathroom! Mint green toilet base, gold-kinda tub, and color-that-shall-be-unnamed floor. We’ll never see another one like it – or so we hope.

Goodbye, empty living room with wild duck lights!

And if you’re wondering where everything is now…

…that which did not go home in the minivan or land in the dumpster is here in the Saturn.

Chuck used the term “packing with a shoehorn” and it wasn’t too far off. Every inch had something in it.

Trust me, the trunk was full, too.

Now it’s all home. As soon as the remodeling is done, we’ll move all of it back into La Petite’s room. for now, it’s shoehorned into the basement… piled on the baby grand piano…piled under the piano…

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>The new garden is in! Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

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>Chuck put in a few blueberry bushes! I hope we get to the berries before the birds do.

Meanwhile, I put in the tomatoes and peppers and a little broccoli.


Meanwhile, I turned to the side and realized that in our attentiveness to the new plot, we had neglected the old.


Chuck repurposed the old fence boards (see below left) to be a walkway in the new plot.

Meanwhile, I raked out as many of the maple helicopter seedlings as I could. Maples are lovely, but geez! They really overdo this reproduction business.
Finally, I planted beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, and squash.
Whew! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it’ll be time to put away all the clean laundry – but that’s another post.

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