now I'm here...

It's been a crazy few weeks, and there is much upcoming crazyness!  I have been traveling for work - to New Jersey.  It was quite fun!  I didn't manage to take any photos, but some of my friends did, and I'll see if I can find any good ones to post for you.  This is just a short blog to say hello, I'm alive, and will be gone again for a spell. I will be traveling out west for a week, so look forward to photos and tales from that journey!

of stuff and things.

September is upon us (and nearly gone).  Holy Crap!  I don't think I like this fact.  But, there is nothing I can do to slow time, so I guess I'll just have to deal.  I had a GREAT summer at the ranch - awesome staff, awesome campers, awesome horses.  :)  It's summers like this that make me want to work here forever!  

Anyway,  as I walked to the mailbox today, I saw several squirrels scampering about, searching for food (generally acorns around here), and it reminded me of several things, but mostly that I love food.  :)  I've had some fun lately in my tiny kitchen:

First, we had a German counselor this summer, and she LOVES potatoes.  She made us some Bratkartoffeln one day, and they were soooooo good!  I decided to try to make some, so, not having internet at my house, I made up a recipe.  They turned out awesome, and when I looked them up online later, I was actually very close!

I added a dollop of sour cream, and ate WAY too much!  If you're going to make them, I suggest slightly smaller chunks of potato...

Mom & Dad have started growing heirloom tomatoes, and gave me a few.

I decided that I needed to make something, and settled on Marinara sauce.  I have no recipe for it, so I made it up.

The green tomatoes (yes, they're ripe.  I don't know the variety, but they're the ones that are green with yellow stripes) made the sauce look a bit sickly, but it was tasty!  I also baked some Italian Herb Bread that day.

I decided that the two must meet, so I whipped out the George Foreman Grill for some nummy grilled cheese sandwiches - with sharp cheddar cheese.

 When all of the ingredients were compiled, it was exquisite!

(See what I mean about the way it looked?  But trust me, it was heaven!)

sad, sad day.

I just learned that Jack Horkheimer has died.  I used to watch Stargazer all the time on PBS.  

I will miss it. 

"Keep Looking Up!"

Dalmatians

We had a crew of about 70 1st-5th grade students here on Saturday.  Talk about busy!  They got here around 11 and left at 4.  We had a meal, played games, did a Bible study, sang songs, and had a craft project.  I was in charge of the craft - we made ShrinkyDink bookmarks.  I learned many things: 

1. Young children CAN use permanent markers without making a HUGE mess (I only had to clean a few spots off the tables).
2. Convection ovens are awesome, but will cause the ShrinkyDink to fly around because of the fan.
3. ShrinkyDinks curl alarmingly, but will mostly flatten out again
4. Stacking another layer of parchment paper and then another cookie sheet on top of the ShrinkyDinks will work and does keep them from ending up horribly mauled by the convection oven fan

Needless to say, I have now perfected the method of ShrinkyDink production in the camp kitchen.  Things I never knew I needed to know.  :)

When all was said and done, we went out to eat with the summer staff who had come up to volunteer.  One of my favorite parts of my job is the people I meet and get to work with.  Most of them are funny, smart, goofy nerds.  Much like my friends (you all know you are!).  I like them.  I can't wait for summer!

Lately, I've been falling asleep to NPR.  It's usually during 'World Cafe.'  I heard a song the other night that I vaguely remember thinking that I should look up, and then someone posted this link on Facebook today.  The song I had listened to was Josh Ritter's Change of Time.  I've been listening to the whole album, and have decided that yes, indeed, I should buy it.  Someday.  When I have money.  

There have been may things added to that list (the I should buy it. Someday. When I have money. list).  I've started trying to keep track of these things with a list in the small notebook I try to carry around with me.  I actually title the list (cuz I'm a nerd).  It's called 'If wishes were horses...'  Yup.  :)

Planning

I had a lot more to add to the last post, but it seemed to be getting fairly long.  Anyway, I'm just glad that it no longer looks like this on the Lake:

All of the ice is now off, and hopefully it will be warming up quite a bit so I can get some good kayaking in before I move to the Ranch for the summer.  :D

It's been crazy the last month here - we have all of the staff hired for the Ranch, and the Lake is almost done hiring (but we could really use a few more male counselors), so there's a million paperwork things to get done, not to mention program planning for the summer and even setting up the schedule for next summer.  I'm working on getting all of the resource people I need together for staff training as well.  

On top of that, I will also be studying for a CDL so I can drive the camp bus.  

So much to do, so little time...

Summer Dawning

:)  There was a glorious thunderstorm last night!  I stood outside on my back stoop (after I gave up watching Castle as it pixelated every time the wind blew or lightening struck) and watched the storm blow through.  There wasn't much rain, and the wind was just right so I could stand outside and not get wet.  The frogs were croaking all around.  It was awesome!  I love thunderstorm season!  I can't wait to get out to the Ranch and watch them roll in over the miles.  

Anywho, *pause to check last few posts* here are the photos I promised a while back.  I don't have any photos of it before I started painting, but you'll see...

You can see the lovely 'wood' grain of the original color in these first photos:

The next photos are 'in process' and the old pulls (top) and the new ones (bottom).

And finally: the finished product!  :)

I am very happy with this little project, maybe it will even inspire me to work on the pile of other projects.

hey there fruity lips...

Apricot.  *mwah*   That is the shade of my new tinted lip balm.  In an attempt to 'be more professional,' I have started wearing makeup.  This is not something I am used to.  At all.  For those of you who've known me since high school and prior, you can probably count on one hand the number of times you have seen me wearing makeup.  Anyway, it's happened:  I'm growing up. (ish)  When I go out into the community and recruit staff and talk to potential campers, I will now look like an adult.  Scary.  Please tell me if I look funny when you see me, though, as I really don't know what I'm doing with makeup, and am therefore highly self-conscious about it.  Thank You. That is all.

The Products of Pi Day

Yes, I know that today is the Ides of March, but yesterday was Pi Day, and I feel that that is just as important.  Anyway, once upon a time, I was attending a meeting for work in the city where my sister and Aethelflaed live, and I met my boss after a class in the town 40 miles South of here, so we parked my car in an obliging church parking lot and carpooled the rest of the way.  Fast forward 48 VERY exhausted hours and 150 miles (one way) later, and we'd left my car in said parking lot.  Sigh.  We also had a group coming in this weekend, and it was midnight by the time we'd gotten this far, so we decided that it might just be easier to fetch the car later.  It was a great weekend, and I got to hang out with a 10 year old the whole time.  We played a lot of fun games, including one called Mau Mau, which is basically a German version of Uno.  (Both of the kid's parents are German, complete with Ze Accent).  I hadn't played that game since high school German class, so I was very excited!  

Anyway, after everyone from the retreat had left, I hitched a ride with the boss down to my car, and since I was in 'town' anyway, I went shopping. There were a few things is needed, but I mostly wandered around the mall for a while.  This mall is kinda awesome in the fact that there are not too many stores, but there is always something going on.  This weekend, they had a craft fair thingy.  There were booths up and down the length of the mall (there's only length, no width - it's a small mall) filled with hand-crafted items for sale.  Always fun to look at!  I took several business cards, as I have very little disposable income at the moment, but it was great fun talking to everyone and looking through some really neat things. 

I managed to not buy too much - I spent the most on groceries, but I also went to Menards and got the stuff to give my dresser a face lift.  I will post photos later, but I got this dresser from my mom.  She knew that I have been looking for a dresser or some sort of shelf or something, and so when she saw this one, in good shape for only $15, she bought it for me.  It's not the best looking piece of furniture that I've ever seen, but, as I already said, it's in good condition, so I decided to make it work.   I bought a quart of paint and new drawer pulls, and when I got home last night I started sanding and painting.  I had a brief moment of annoyance when I tried out the new drawer pulls and the screws were WAY too long, but it worked out to just use the old screws, so life is good.  I have one coat of paint on each of the drawers, and on one side of the dresser, and I'll be painting again tonight when I get home.  I even unintentionally managed to make the paint color and hardware match the color of the fabric and upholstery tacks that I used to re-do my headboard.  :)  Yay for me being awesome and not even knowing it!

It was a good trip, and a fun weekend.  There's a new radio station in the area that plays oldies, which is a nice change from ten million country stations or three pop stations.  I listened to this song on the way back from my shopping/car retrieving expedition.  I'd never really listened to the lyrics until then, and it kinda made me giggle.  

live long and prosper, Mr. Nimoy

did't realize that Spock was also a singer. see: http://www.last.fm/music/Leonard+Nimoy

his version of 'if i had a hammer' is... well, interesting.

it's creepery outside

you know those movies? the ones that are supposed to be scary/disturbing? where the whole landscape is stark and it's not really light outside, but not really dark, and there's fog everywhere and the only noise you can hear - other than the footsteps of the main character waling down the deserted road - is the caw caw caw of a murder of crows somewhere in the distance (you can't actually see them). that was my walk to work this morning. kinda cool, kinda creepy.

in other news, i'm dying for some girlscout cookies. i don't know any girl scouts in the area, so i didn't get to order any, but i could devour a whole box of caramel delights right now. maybe it's a good thing i don't have any...

'is there anybody going to listen to my story'

i love this song... it's been playing in my head for a few hours now. the beatles make me smile - so many awesome songs.



anyway, this weekend has been a blur (yes, i do know it's only friday). we have a group of quilters in from thurs-sun, and today, there were almost 160 kids plus 40 adults here for a 'winter fun day' for the local school. helping that many people get set up with/retun and get the next person set up with cross country skis is exhausting. i am ready to fall asleep on my feet. i'm very glad that we don't have to do this every day (or even every weekend).

speaking of weekends, i am ready for them to start existing again. i've been travelling for the past month, and so my days are all confuzzled. next weekend, i may have off, and i may make a quick escape somewhere, but i don't know where and i don't know when, and i may just stay home and work on stuff that needs to be done. we'll see. i will be taking bribes (;

dear Pandy and Ace...

...keep your spam off my blog! i don't mind people stopping by and reading and commenting on my posts, but seriously, i do not look kindly upon those who just fill my comment section with crap in order to get people to look at their 'blog.' not cool. i always get really excited to see that someone has left me a comment (yes, i am that sad, pathetic person with a tiny social life), and you dash all of my hopes. grrr.

GC_little_batman_valentine

GC_little_batman_valentine,
originally uploaded by PopKulture.

insomnia

i gots it.

good time to catch up on shows, i guess.

no wonder!

i admit. i'm addicted.

let me back up a few steps...

now that i live where i do (aka even more the middle of nowhere than ever before), and now that tv has converted to digital signal (whose stupid idea was that anyway?), i can only watch 3 stations 'over the air.' all three of them happen to be pbs. this is not my issue - i love pbs! my issue is that, even when the signal strength indicator says that i have a significant signal, i can't rely on any of the stations to work properly. at least with analog, i could put up with a little fuzz in the picture, but now, it's all or nothing (most frequently, nothing). but i digress...

the point is, i don't get any network tv. this doesn't bother me too much, there were only a few shows i tried to watch: house, grey's anatomy, and pushing daisies. and now that daisies is cancelled (stooooopid abc!), there were only two shows for me to catch up on when i had time. through this process, i have become a great fan of hulu. it seemed to have fewer problems than either the abc or fox viewer, so life was good.

then, i was introduced to firefly. this is awesomeness incarnate! i know it's been around for many many moons, but i hadn't seen it (for a variety of reasons [stooooopid fox], but there's another huge digression...). through this, i fell in love with nathan fillion. even if he is canadian. ;) i watched a few other things that he's done - worth mentioning are dr. horrible's singalong blog, and waitress.

then, abc introduced a new show. starring mr. fillion. castle has quickly become one of the 'i must check on hulu to see if there's a new episode posted' shows. i know, i know, it's totally predictable, and it's full of clichés, but i love it anyway, and you can't stop me.

anyway, with that as background, i talked to aethelflaed the other night (i think it was when she called me to make sure that i hadn't been killed or injured in a car accident that took place near where i live), and we chatted for a few moments and the she said something like, "i gotta go - i'm watching castle and it's really good!"

i just finished watching the latest episode, and now i understand. holy crap! it was awesome!

if anybody wants to know what all the fuss is about, i do now own the first season on dvd, and would be willing to loan them out (as soon as my boss is done borrowing them). oh, and i also now own the complete firefly as well... hooray for christmas!!!

Words words words words

as may have been mentioned before, i'm a word geek. thus, i found this quite interesting:

http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/