What I Learned July

Calendulas come in different colors from orange.  I had no idea.  No I am on a mission to get a different color.

Tomato Basil Rice Cakes

I saw this on Becky Higgins Instagram. Pair this with laughing cow cheese and this is really delish.

Plastic Trumpets

Yes, there is such a thing as Plastic Trumpets.  This type is called a ptrumpet. I have a trumpet player at home.

What I Learned May

I haven't done one of these for a while.  I thought I would give it my best shot. I am linking up with Chatting at the Sky.  Check out what other people learned this month.

FRUGAL FAIL - HOMEMADE HOT TUB COVER

Our hot tub cover failed.  So we found a relative cheap option to make .  It was a roll-up cover made with tarps and sticks.  It just couldn't hold up to our torrential down pours.  It wasn't stiff enough.  It was a bummer.  The good news the biggest cost was time not material. So, it is back to the drawing board.

ABLE ACCOUNTS

Able accounts are tax-advantaged saving accounts for individuals with disabilities and their families. ABLE accounts allow individuals with disabilities to save for future disability related expenses without the assets counting against their federal and state benefits asset limits aka SSI.  The state I live in Washington plans on launching their version of an ABLE account late this summer. The ABLE Resource Center is a good source for more information.

EVERYTHING ON A STICK IS BETTER

We made meatball subs on a stick and they were a hit. The recipe can be found on Cookies & Cups. I substituted pizza dough for the bread portion.

JUNE 27TH

Yes that is the LAST DAY of school for the YEAR. So, we had 11 snow days and have to make up 8 of them. That brings our end date to June 27th.

What I Learned March

I haven't done one of these in a while so I decided to give it a go.

1. RICHARD SIMMONS MISSING?

I have been listening to the podcast Missing Richard Simmons.  I learned how over the top Richard was.  I also have come to the conclusion based on podcast that Richard is not being held against his will.  He simply had something traumatic happen to him and he became a recluse.  Richard doesn't sound like the type of guy who does goodbyes well and it was just easier for him to hide away.  This is 6 episodes and I thought well done. Give it a listen.

2. DAFFODILS

That daffodils excrete a toxic ooze after being cut so don't put fresh cut daffodils directly in water or they won't last. Instead let them sit cut outside of water for a few hours before placing in a vase.

Photo of Nonna's Daffodils
Photo by Nonna

3. BRAIDED SESAME SEMOLINA BREAD

I have been making this braided sesame semolina bread and it is so good and makes two huge loaves. I have been using my stand mixer to mix up.  It was a bit much for my bread maker.  I thought I had a picture but I don't.  You will have to trust me on this one. I buy my semolina and sesame seeds in WINCO's bulk bins. I had an INCIDENT with the sesame seeds at WINCO and I made quite the mess in the bulk bins.  They pour out fast.  Learn from me people.

4. ICE CUBE TRAY BOBBIN STORAGE

Ok, this is so genius.  I wish I had thought it up myself. I literally organized all my bobbin mess in 10 minutes 

Notes of a Mediocre Homemaker - What I learned Oct

PRE-WRITING 

Pre writing or at least having your 31 day series mapped out really is less stressful. I started the month with a good 50% of my posts pre-written. I would say the ideal should be 75%. I hit the mid way point and struggled a bit even though I had things to write about.

Check out my entire Series - Notes of a Mediocre Homemaker

I am linking up with  Write 31 Days.

EBAY AND PLANTS

Did you realize you can buy plants off of eBay - like African violets and Christmas cactus. GAME CHANGER. I am always disappointed by grocery store houseplants and sometimes also disappointed by Home Depot and Lowes selection as well.  No I just need to convince my husband I REALLY REALLY need some more plants.

BOTTLE FLIPPING IS A THING

I had no idea this was a craze.  For you not in the know, it is where kids flip half full plastic bottles and they land upright.  I confirmed this was a craze with my middle schooler.

What I Learned September

PAPERWORK IS A KILLER

I have been filling out paperwork for my son. It is actually government paperwork at that . I have almost lost my mind.  I was going to post one of my snarky responses that I SO wanted to put on the form.  My son said it was INAPPROPRIATE.  I don't want to fax anything, I don't want to write in tiny letters in tiny boxes, I just don't want to. Nor do I want to think about doing any of those things. It reminds me of the quote from the movie, Say Anything.

I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that. - Say Anything

BINGE THINKING aka Ruminating

Another saying that could be used instead of ruminating.  Don't think too hard about it. See paperwork is a killer.

MOVING OTHER PEOPLE STUFF IS WAY BETTER THAN MOVING YOUR OWN STUFF

I helped my sister move.  I have decided that it is way less stressful to move other people's stuff.  It did want to make me want to purge some of my stuff.

YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO PLAY TRUCKS AND CARS

I am back to doing before school care.  This year I am taking care of a 1st grader who is totally into trucks and cars.  I still know how to play that. Drawing your own car play mat on kraft paper is cheap and fun. Our driving map even has a Loch Ness Monster.

EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS CAN BE ENTERTAINING



My young charge I have in the morning has requested to watch this more times than I can count.  Mr DeMaio is pretty entertaining and educational.

What I Learned July

SINGLE PARENTING

My husband was gone about 4 weeks between June and July.  I don't enjoy parenting alone.  It is HARD even though my kids are teenagers.  I found myself frequently at the end of my rope and my kids behaved pretty decently.  Parenting is WORK and two male teenagers equal gross. I love them though.

BOOMER PHELPS

Did you know Michael Phelps, Olympic swimmer, has a baby and he has his own Instagram account(@boomerrphelps)? You so got to check it out.  It is so sweet.

MONTANA HAS 130 LICENSE PLATE OPTIONS

We were on a road trip to Montana and were playing the license plate game.  Anyone else play the license plate game on road trips? I noticed that Montana has a lot of license plates. Evidently, they have about  130 different choices. 

HYDRANGEAS

photo by AB

Thanks to the Princess of Quite A LOT I have noticed Hydrangeas everywhere. She has been noticing all the different colors and experimenting with watering her mother's hydrangeas with different things. Love this article - 13 Facts about Hydrangeas.

What I Learned June

THE DAYS ARE LONG. THE YEARS ARE SHORT

My oldest graduated. There are no words. If you have followed my blog my son has had some significant challenges at school and despite all of that he walked across the stage with his peers and with honors.  It was AWESOME. IT was a VICTORY of sorts.

VICTORY

pic by TT

digital stamp Ali Edwards

CUY ASADO

My dear friend got to visit Ecuador and she brought me back a lovely apron with a recipe for Cuy Asado - roasted guinea pig.  (Yes, I am an apron chick.)   Evidently, roasted guinea pig is a special dish in Ecuador. My friend did not sample cuy asado but did get to sample a lot of local dishes. There was also a really good Expedition Unknown episode "Incan King's Mummy"that showed the Guinea pigs as well.

WATTAMELON ROLL

My youngest and I discovered this ice cream novelty/cake.  I though the chocolate chip seeds would be strange but strangely good. The rind is lemon sorbet and the watermelon part is watermelon ice cream. Anyone else try this?

GOLDILOCKS WEATHER

Evidently, the last week we have been having Goldilocks weather, "Just Right". It has been in the mid 70's and sunny. Here in the Pacific Northwest that is considered near perfect. I had never heard this term for weather before but it cracks me up.

What I Learned in May

What I Learned in May

HERB ROBERT IS A DIRTY WORD

This nasty weed has totally tried to conquer my lawn. It is EVERYWHERE.  I just want to go around everywhere and tell everybody I have a Class B noxious weed. That sounds super scary. More details about Herb Robert. Luckily this is an easy weed to pull.

I AM THE SWEDISH CHEF



I have decided my baking style is completely the Muppets Swedish Chef.  I make the best mess EVER!

CHANGING LIFE INSURANCE

Have you ever changed Life Insurance?  Holy cow, those people don't want to let your money go.  We have literally gotten 8 letters from one company that we are making a GRAVE mistake.  See how I worked grave into a life insurance conversation.  Guess what 8 letters later, we are still changing our life insurance. But seriously, they make it seem like we are making the worst mistake of our life. I literally makes me wonder how hard it would be to get your money once you loved one passed.

I am linking up with Chatting at the Sky for What I Learned in May

What I Learned April

SOURDOUGH

I took a short class on sourdough.  We were given sourdough starter so I decided to give it a go. Making sourdough bread had been on my bucket list for a while. More details here of the whole sourdough experience

DIVING INTO THE DEEP END

My son is getting ready to graduate from High School .  There is a lot of madness surrounding that and adding to that is my son's special circumstances.  IT is a recipe for chaos. As my son transitions from high school to the community transition program, I am learning a lot about what the deep end might look for my kid.  I won't lie I am scared to death for him.  It keeps me up at night.  I have done more advocating this past month than I have done in a long time.  (calls, emails, MEETINGS) 

NO LONGER A DYE VIRGIN!

I think that declarative statement speaks for myself.  I got tired of referring to my gray hairs as glitter. My friend and cohort Mrs Epi gave me a non permanent dye job.  She did a terrific job. No one noticed but I felt a lot better.

Linking up with Chatting Up with the Sky

What I learned in March

FOUND THE IVY HEART

This ivy heart is in Bellingham, Washington  near the waterfront. I kept seeing it on social media so I decided to seek it out.

LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN OVER 45 AGE GROUP

I learned that when I turn age 45 unintentional accidents are no longer the leading cause of death in my age group.  I don't know if that is reassuring or not because Malignant Neoplasms becomes the leading cause of death - GOOD TIMES  CDC Data on the Leading Causes of Death by Age Group.

I LOVE PODCASTS

I was TOTALLY late to the Podcast party. I started to listen to the first season of Serial and I am addicted. I totally binged listened. Anyone else do that? Oh by the way it is totally relaxing to color doing these things. Any one have some podcasts to recommend?

Interesting link - Why Listening to Podcasts Helps Improve Kids Reading

TRANSITION FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO REAL WORLD

Passport from Transition Fair

I spent a lot of time this month on transition activities for my High School Senior who has autism. I attended the transition fair put on by the Arc and got my son official ID. Some of the journey can be found here - part 1, part 2

I am linking up with Chatting with the Sky

What I Learned February

Local Mystery
Who knew we had a local mystery in our little town?  The charming statue pictured below was found abandoned in a yard.  The police are looking for the owners of this large bronze statue of a boy they have nick named Huck Finn.  Details here.

Bronze Boy - Ferndale PD photo

Robo Lawn Motors



Yes, they have robotic lawn mowers that mow the lawn. That is AWESOME.  I have been training the boys to do the lawn but how great would it be to have that thing set to mow on a schedule and not have to nag. Of course, this is extremely pricey and kid labor is cheap but painful. IS IT TOO EARLY TO THINK ABOUT MOWING THE LAWN?

Chip and JoAnn Gaines are writing a BOOK

I want them to adopt me.  I love their show and I can't wait to read the book when it comes out. Fun Facts about Chip and JoAnn. Read what they are up to lately - Life Lately

QUOTE KNOCKING AROUND IN MY BRAIN

I am linking up with Chatting With the Sky - What I learned February

What I learned in January

I am linking up with Chatting at the Sky - What I learned Linky

Getting Pooped on by a Bird is LUCKY

I guess the odds of winning the lottery and getting pooped on are the same.  Well I got pooped on by a seagull so I guess I need to buy that lottery ticket. Unfortunately it happened the day after the power ball drawing. That is my story and I am sticking to it. Fortunately, it was mainly on my jacket and luckily I wasn't wearing my nice wool jacket.

Stencil's Make Cool Shadow's

I broke out my stencils to make my homemade valentine's.  My hometown is Loveland, Colorado.  I don't live there anymore but I still re-mail from Loveland.  IT IS NOT TO LATE TO RE-MAIL- February 6th is the cutoff for out of state valentine's to be re-mailed from the City of Love - Loveland, CO.

What Worked for Me in 2015

I tried to jot down what was successful for me in 2015. Things that worked for me and what inspired me and the things I learned. I am Linking up with Chatting at the Sky - What I learned last Year

Picture taken during walk at Hovander Park

Walking is my exercise choice. HOWEVER I do my best walking with my friends.  Walking is way better with company. I use a fit bit and I think it is a good motivator. Walking is a bit exercise and a bit therapy for me.

Blog wise my most read posts were my Book reviews aka What I Read linky at Modern Mrs Darcy. I plan on continuing to READ lots and lots of books and give my little book reports

Interesting T-shirt found at Value Village

My biggest three series on my blog were Diary of a Mediocre Homemaker, T-shirts with a Message, and Linky Love.  I plan on continuing those series.

Post it To Do List from Life as Mom - I used this system the entire year with some minor adjustments. It basically kept me on track.

Keep Going on Adventures  - Big and Small

*ET Highway
* Hedge Maze
* Dropping a Friend off at College aka cougar calves
* Colorado
* lots of geocaching adventures

What I Learned November

WHAT I LEARNED IN NOVEMBER

Oh ,I learned so much this month.  I am linking up with Chatting with the Sky

1.Einstein was a Bad Ass (sorry for the swear) according to my 17 year old.

Anyone watch the show "The Secrets of Einstein's Brain" on the history channel?  Did you know the pathologist that did his autopsy stole his brain? It was really fascinating show about Einstein.  I didn't know that just in one year he published 4 theories including the Theory of Relativity. They call 1905, Einstein's Miracle Year.

2.On a sadder note, we lost a dear friend to a heart attack.

This special friend basically launched my husband's career. I realized how much of our memories of San Diego are tied to him.  He introduced us to so much of My husband wrote down many of the stories about him for his kids. This friend taught my kids to call their dad's uniform a pickle suit. He will be so missed. RIP in peace Mike

3.A flock of Herons

I was eating my birthday breakfast at a local restaurant that overlooks the bay in Blaine, WA and we watched a group of Heron's hanging out.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  There were about 20 Herons and the number kept growing as we sat there. Did you know when breeding herons gather in colonies they are called heronries?

What I Learned October

1. Do you know the difference between Flotsam and Jetsam? 
My husband I had a whole discussion about these two words.

Flotsam- wreckage from a ship found floating
Jetsam- goods cast overboard

These two words are also discussed in our County Reads Book - A Tale for the Time Being (my review)

2. The Beach is good for the Soul
We live relative close to the beach but we rarely go there.  We have been making more of an effort to go to the beach.  Just a few pics of our adventures.

Large Beach Fort made of driftwood

Bench made with Driftwood

3. I learned I could write A LOT.

I did some writing for an application for my son for services.  He taught me to use Google Documents. I finished my 31 Day series - Diary of a Mediocre Homemaker.  Lastly, I wrote a letter to the editor to support a candidate for mayor.  I have never felt moved to do that before.The letter was in response to a particularly nasty letter from a fellow veteran.  Below is my imperfect letter.

In a letter to the editor October 12, Jon Mutchler was unfairly characterized as unpatriotic. I am veteran and I don’t feel that serving your country has to happen on a battlefield. Nor do you need to be a police officer or first responder to understand the issues of public safety. I have been Jon’s neighbor for over 10 years and Jon is nothing but patriotic . By the nature of his profession, Jon has frequently responded to those on their worst day and in crisis. Jon Mutchler has served the Ferndale community as a Pastor for 30 years and recently as a City Council member for 6 years. Jon Mutchler has raised 7 kids in the community of Ferndale. He is serious about serving the community and has dedicated a lot of time and effort into making Ferndale a great place to live. Please elect Jon Mutchler the next mayor of Ferndale.

Liked this life hack - 8 Amazing Things Will Happen When You Write Everyday.

**** I am linking up with Chatting with the Sky "What I learned October"

What I learned September

 I am linking up with Chatting at the Sky's "What I Learned " linky

1.) 95 Young Looks Pretty Good.
Pappy celebrated his 95th Birthday.  He is the young man in the lower right corner.  Pappy is a WWII Vet, too

2.)  I Can Write with a Deadline

I learned I still have enough material to write another 31 days.I have learned from the past that I do best if most of my series is pre-written.  I don't write well under pressure. This is really an intense experience. My 31 Day Series is going to be called Diary of a Mediocre Homemaker. This goes live Oct 1st.

Some of my previous 31 day series have been - 31 Days to a Better Office Space ,31 days of Little Things, 31 Days of Adventure, You Might Be Homemaker  

I think my favorite so far has been the 31 Days of Adventure. 

3.) Words Bouncing Around My Brain

This is Beth Moore Tweet kept bouncing around my brain for the later part of September. I have a number of things on my plate that are causing me dread.  I too have learned that dread drains energy and can leave you paralyzed.  Unfortunately these are things I have to do so I am learning to push forward.

What I learned August

Life is Fleeting. 

It is surprising how hard it is to find pictures of the Mom's in our playgroup
These are just a few of the Mom's
Believe this at the Zoo

I learned a mom from a playgroup I belong to with my first born (now 17) passed away.  I am heartbroken for her family. She was too young. She was too alive. I can honestly say she lived the length and breathe of her life. This Mom had a huge vibrant personality and she will be missed by so many.

Old Town Seattle
Most of Playgroup minus some of the girls

I had lost touch with many of those Moms in playgroup including this mom that passed away. These were the first Mommy friends I had.  We were all first time Mom's.  I learned so much from all these ladies. I didn't realize until the news of my friends death reached me how rare of gift that playgroup was and all the mom's were. I learned my first lessons of mothering from these mom's.  Their fingerprints are all over my mothering. We spent many hours in each other's houses, the zoo, the parks. There is something so bonding when you are going through the same stage of life. We all had very different styles of mothering and child raising yet we were pretty supportive of each other's choices. That is unique and rare. I feel privileged to know these Mom's.

One of my Favorite Playgroup Photos
My son is in the tan hat

*** I am linkng up with Chatting at the Sky