whatever

saturday morning….
woke up at 6:30 and was on the road by 7:00.
lauren was with me and we picked up her friend.
we were on our way to the annual arts and crafts fair.
the sunrise was pink.
it was so pretty.
a few minutes later i said “was that lightening?”

12 minutes after this sunrise photo…

i had turned off the highway onto a side country road
going to meet my family at our friends’ house
(i was unaware this was the wrong country road)
it had now been raining hard about 5 minutes…on us
but almost 2 hours on this road…i didn’t know that.
i thought “hmmm…i thought this road was paved.”
then i lost control.
we were siding all over the road in the mud.
i said a bad word…we all screamed a lot…
we swerved some more….slid….screamed some more.
then came to a stop.
for good.
thankful not to be in the ditch
i was stuck…deep in the mud…in the pouring rain…
on the wrong road… with two 12 years olds…in my husband’s car.
his baby.
i wanted to cry…or throw up.
my cell phone doesn’t work in this area.
lauren’s friend had a phone….
the one time i was glad a 12 year old has a cell phone.
it got a signal…we called my friend’s home.
5 rings and the machine…”hello….hello….it’s megan…if you are home…pick up please….i am stuck in the mud….pick up please….if you are there…i am stuck here…we can’t get out”
my mom picked up and said she’d send someone.

our hero.
i have never been so happy to see him.
my good friend got out of his warm bed and came to rescue us.
he leaned in with that big smile “how are you ladies?!”
we were fine now that he was there.
i felt stupid…like a city girl all the way…a dumb one.

he got out a tarp and laid down on the ground…in the flood…
and got us hooked up to be towed by his truck.
it was slow going…lots of sliding….after moving a little bit he’d come back to the car and pull as much mud off the tires as he could…with his hands!

check out our tracks…
maybe next year i will enter the demo derby.
just not in an Acura.

he was so great.
adam…you rock.
you never lost your smile…
you were so kind…
you are the best.
if you asked me to come out in the rain…lay on the ground in the mud…and clean your tires…4 tiimes….i might have hung up and gone back to bed.
AND he came back later in the day and cleaned out the mud from the tires and got it driving smoothly again…i don’t think i could’ve faced craig with his car in that shape.
thank you for saving me.
thank you for answering your phone.
i am so grateful.
how can you do that with a smile?

the craft fair seemed so dull compared to that excitement.
but we went into town anyway in the rain…and 46 degree weather.
both my sister and i said “why are we here?”
but we did it… we gave it an hour and half.
look at all the goodies we found.

walking tacos

local fire department…

doggie hats with sunglasses for sale

seriously.

we were cold.
lorel bought that coat yesterday
and i wore her new sweater over my sweater.
our shoes and socks were dripping wet.
we went home and took a nap.

the sun came out.
we ended our crazy day in just the right way…
dinner with family and friends.

yummy, relaxed, comfortable, dry, surrounded by kansas beauty.
are her flowers gorgeous or what?
i bet they liked all that rain.

even though the day was totally crappy…
i am so glad i got to spend it with my sister.
we can laugh at all that stuff…what else is there?
just making another memory.
good stuff.

i am not trying to turn this into a food blog.
but there is some really good food that i just love to share.
my mom made this at our house once and we were hooked.
it’s good hot but i love it cold too…later in the day when it’s sitting there…taunting you…
we have never had left overs the next day.
it’s that yummy.
and it’s easy.
the recipe is on the side again.

get all your ingredients together…
do you have 6 eggs and 3 apples at the same time?
that is nearly impossible around here.
usually if i am making this i have recently been to the grocery store.
6 eggs?!

melt the butter and pour it into your 9 x 13 pan.
kind of looks gross right?
don’t think about that.

do you have one of these?
the apple peeler/corer/slicer…by pampered chef.
one of the best inventions ever.
it is fun to use…definitely worth the money…you’ll have it forever.
i put down paper towels where i am working so it’s very easy clean up.
just wrap up the peels and cores in the towels and toss it out.

after you have them peeled and sliced cut the apple in half.
i feel sad for you if you had to do all that by hand…
but proud too if you are that committed to this breakfast.
your family will be so happy and you can pat your self on the back.

put them in the pan on top of the melted butter.
it’s okay to sneak a few here and there as you are layering…
it’s the only healthy part of this dish.

now add all the other ingredients together except the flour.
once it’s combined well then slowly add the flour…
to keep from getting big flour lumps in the batter
they are a pain to get out.

now it looks like this frothy eggy liquid…
it’s very runny…like egg nog?
thicker then milk but not as thick as batter.

pour the entire bowl over the apples & butter.
go a little slow so your hard work of perfectly alined apples don’t fly out of order.
it will just all float together…a happy egg, apple and butter bath.
i bet that product would sell at bath & body works.
i would buy it.

take the brown sugar and sprinkle it on the top.
when my mom made this the recipe was for a tiny bit of brown sugar.
after a few times i have increased this alot.
“i have a bit of sweet tooth”

put it in your oven for 20 – 25 minutes.
this is a breakfast dish so usually during this time i pour a cup of coffee
read a magazine…
or get dressed out of my pajamas…

now when it’s done it will look golden and crispy and very puffed up.
you will take it out of your oven and you will have this thought
“wow..i am an amazing cook. look at this. it’s spectacular.”
and you are right.

then you will turn around to refill your coffee
and put your hot pads away
and check your favorite blogs…then you will see what happens
it goes totally flat…
so don’t worry.
you didn’t do anything wrong.
it just does that.
if someone reading this knows a way to keep it puffy…please fill us in.
it tastes so good you will forget about how perfectly pretty it looked before.

you can get really fancy and sprinkle powdered sugar on it.
then close your eyes and pretend you are at a bed & breakfast.

so the next time you have you bring a dish for bible study (like i did tuesday)
or have a relaxing saturday morning…
or your mother is coming to visit…
make this!
or make it for yourself and eat the whole pan…i won’t tell.

lots of projects i am feeling determined to get finished this week.
and to be honest…this list has been up for 2 weeks
and 2 things are crossed off now.

and by tonight…2 more at least will be crossed off.
i will show you all the goodies when they are all done.

last weekend…
craig’s dad came with a trailer full of toys for craig to play with.

they got the yard re-seeded
and whatever else they did.
craig was loving it.
he was drooling over that mower.
silly boys.

gerald showed scott how to use the leaf blower.
he and my nephew took turns with it.
he felt pretty grown up.

now we wait for the green to come back.

and did you know….
that we are the meanest parents in the world?
apparently we are.
according to this pretty girl.

this picture was just before her first dance on friday.
she had a wonderful time.
and i am happy about that.
i told my sister “this is a good week for her.”
that was last week.
nothing major…just us doing our job…
setting boundaries and rules that are for her best.
and her doing her job of not liking discipline and change…
and making sure we know it.
our line almost everyday around here “she’s sooo 12”
gotta love it.

i let this entire day go by without even noticing the date.
that is sad.
i wanted to share this video…
my mom sent it to me this summer.
it’s beautiful.
if you are anything like me you’ll need a bunch of kleenex.
(or your sleeve)

i just remember how scared i felt on september 11, 2001.
i was on my way to a doctor’s appointment when i heard it on the car radio.
it was regular radio that had become all news that morning.
they screamed live on air when the second plane hit.
my kids were at school…sean at a sitter.
i sat in the office waiting area all alone…very pregnant
listening on the secretary’s radio.
i started crying.
i called craig and told him i thought he should come home.
i felt afraid and alone.
i picked up my kids from school.
i thought “if they hit Chicago…or something close…how could i find my kids…i am so pregnant…i couldn’t get there…they’d be so scared”
it was the only thing i felt i had control over.
i watched the coverage until my heart was too sad to take any more.
so sad…
so wrong…

after our late walk the other night
my neighbor and i stood outside talking for a while
like we always do…
(that’s why i like walking with you girls-all the talking)
a frog hopped across the driveway.
the two of us were being so girly trying to catch it…
squealing and jumping.
well we got it.
it entertained annie the next afternoon.

she put it in her bike back pack.
then she took him for a ride.

he wasn’t interested in a free ride.
after a little more play we let him go back in the garden.
i am sure he had never been so relieved.

when i opened iPhoto this morning
i found this.

i believe this is Nick Jonas from “the jonas brothers” (a band)
based on the 2 minute research i just did through google.
lauren downloaded their their album 2 weeks ago.
i am guessing he is the new heart throb for tween girls.
and of the 3 jonas brothers i would agree that he is the cutest…
least product in his hair and least girly looking clothes.
i saw a picture of one brother kicking his leg way up high.
i am glad she isn’t in love with that one…
it looked a little feminine.
i don’t know their music but it just can’t be as good as my tween love…

the new kids.
it was real love.
(i either sound very young right now or very old depending on who’s reading this)
i went to their concert in kansas city.
i think i was in 7th grade?
we were in the very very back of the concert stadium.
we had binoculars we were so far back.
they came out in sequined blazers each in a different color…like a rainbow
wow…it rocked.
we screamed like crazy.
it really was so cool for a 12 year old.
we were always wishing we could be the girl in the video they sang to.
i dreamt of becoming mrs. jordan knight.
he’s the one bending over in the white jeans…
and nothing is hotter than a pair of white jeans – am i right ladies?
ha ha ha

if you notice…nick jonas looks almost like one of the new kids.
just like everything we wore is coming back in fashion again…
leggings under our skirts, side pony tails, leg warmers…
maybe the new kids are coming back.
a girl can dream right?

enjoy.

oh poor baby.
she is not in any pain but she is terrified.
annie had her cardiologist appointment today.
she was born with a heart murmur.
it is not life threatening and does not affect her at all really.
except when we go to these appointments and she has a panic attack.

all he is doing is listening with a stethoscope.
that’s all.
no one has hurt her in any way.
it looks like she is being tortured.

it is always dramatic with annie.
i took my camera because i wanted a picture of her getting her EKG.
they put 10 of these little snap stickers on her chest
and then hook up little cables to the snaps.
she seriously looks like a science project or that she is about to be jump started.
it doesn’t hurt at all and it’s fast.
but it invades her personal space and that’s bad.
so i didn’t get pictures…because we had to all work to get her to lay still & be calm.
i was sweating like crazy.
i have talked with her about going to the heart doctor for a week.
i thought if i prepped her enough she wouldn’t be scared.
it didn’t work.

her heart is the same…no change.
she is healthy though and that’s what matters.
it’s a common defect to have.
i was very worried when she was born but now i am ok…99% of the time.

we went to starbucks afterwards…for my nerves.
i was ordering my pumpkin spice latte
and annie interupts loudly to tell the coffee girl “I GO-ED TO DA HEART DOCTOR!!”
stranger anxiety apparently gone now. ???

then we stopped by and surprised my grandma.

this is my 89 year old grandma’s exercise ball.
she uses it.
she is amazing.
she takes exercises classes!
she volunteers…she gardens….she goes to the theater…she is so busy.
today she was telling me how she wishes she ate healthier foods.
she showed me her new healhty juice she saw on a “get healthy” Oprah.
it was yummy…blueberry pomagranite.

i just love her so much.
she is so kind and generous.
she is happy and content.
she is smart.
i love spending time with her.
she reads my blog.
oh yeah…she emails and is online…how cool is that?
she printed out my pumpkin cake recipe.
but it’s not healthy.

and on a completely unrelated subject…
i cleaned the fish tank 2 days ago
as of today…all 6 fish are dead.
gee – do you think i had something to do with that?
whoops.
i think my sponge had anti-bacterial stuff in it.