Tuesday, June 08, 2010

true facts

1. Very few things make me actually laugh out loud and call Brian over to the laptop. But THIS LOLCAT is the best thing I've seen all day. All week, even. Joshilyn Jackson has far and away the funniest blog on television, and if you aren't reading it, you're missing the chance to laugh at your computer screen a few times a week.

2. Brian and Asher are watching construction equipment ("Look! There's a Massey Furgeson!") on Youtube right now. The things we do for our kids.

3. What happens to a very-nearly two-year-old who wakes up at 5:30 a.m., swims all morning, takes a ten-minute nap on his Grandma's lap (then refuses to sleep the rest of the afternoon), then spends the afternoon at a new playground? He falls asleep - black feet, wet diaper, and all - in the car at 6:30 p.m. So be it. We'll bathe him in the morning, because if there was ever a kid who needed to just go to bed, it was Silas this afternoon.

4. I asked Silas what he wanted for his birthday. "Cake," he said. "What else?" "Cake."

You know, he really doesn't get cake very often, because non-dairy cakes are hard to come by. So cake he wants, cake he'll get. Anybody have a nondairy recipe for good frosting? Cake I can pull off, but icing is trickier. Can't use soy either, because I'm allergic to soy, and I'm going to need to eat a piece of birthday cake with my little boy.

5. This particular first trimester feels as though I've been in a car for eight hours. All the time. Not debilitatingly nauseous, and not (praise Jesus) throwing up, but it wouldn't take much for either to be true. I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin', is all. Still, I'm not miserable, and just look at what is on the other side of my discomfort. I mean, really... Isn't he beautiful? Asher's Buddy has been a big brother for exactly one week. Such a sweet time for his family. Chaotic, to be sure, but also sweet.

It is a fact that I am equal parts thrilled, overwhelmed, and exhausted just thinking about it.

6. It is also a fact that Gallup found my city to be the fattest in America. The good news for me is, I can always find an empty elliptical machine at the Y, and local produce is still DIRT CHEAP here (much cheaper than the grocery store), because it is not yet chic to shop at the farmer's market. Brian and I were just talking about that this morning. Peaches are in season, and there is nothing - nothing, NOTHING - better in the wide world than our locally grown peaches. My family ate five? six? of them this morning with our bacon and yogurt and toast. So so good. We're also planning to go to a u-pick for blueberries and blackberries next week. I have a feeling the actual experience - imagine me, sun beating down, feeling moderately queasy, commanded with the task of keeping my children from the very real possibility of getting bitten by snakes or baking to a crisp - will not be all that glamorous, but the resulting gallons of fresh blueberries will be worth it.

7. My uncle's car spontaneously combusted at my parents' house at 3 a.m. the other night. It took the fire department nearly fifteen minutes to get to my parents' house (as well it should, because they live at the far edge of nowhere, friends), so picture my dad in the driveway in the dead of night, spraying the water hose on flaming gasoline as it gushed toward the house, hoping to keep the flames off the house until help arrived. File that away under, "I couldn't make this stuff up."

8. Another true fact - some friends of ours have four boys under six years old. The wife has been sick this past week. Her husband texted Brian yesterday to say, "Dude, I'm exhausted keeping up with these kids. We are all lazy asses compared to our wives."

Doesn't that make you smile?

With that, I'm off. Happy Tuesday, all.

6 comments:

Jason said...

where do yall go to pick fresh berries ?

Valerie said...

Hi Stephanie- seven minute frosting is dairy-free (and delicious). The Smitten Kitchen recipe is pretty similar to the recipe I have. It's not buttercream, but it's really good.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/02/homemade-devil-dog-ding-dong-or-hostess-cake/

Stephanie said...

Hey Valerie, I've actually heard a lot about that frosting recently. Do you know how it holds up in the heat?

Valerie said...

I can't remember if I've ever had it outside, but my grandmother used to make it in south Alabama in the summertime with no air conditioning, so I think it's probably okay.

I would think it would hold up at least as well as or better than buttercream, since there's no butter to melt, and its cooked. I wouldn't leave it out in the sun all day or anything, but for a little while I'm guessing it should be fine.

Lisa said...

Ah, yes, it never fails to baffle me how quickly the male members of the family wear out after watching kids that the female members chase after ALL DAY.

Missy said...

Weirdest thing I have youtubed for my son? "Boar hunting."

Best way to get Ike to stop whining? "baby laughing"

Best way to make me start crying?
"Ethiopia adopt"