Sabbatical

I've always wanted to take a sabbatical because usually it involves traveling and doing exciting things.  So I am going to take one!  But just from blogging for a little while.  You'll be relieved to know that we will be back, I know that you were worried.  We are currently working on business plans and family plans and dinner plans.

In the meantime, I'm still raising money for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure!

Shocking, I know.

People ask what happens if you don't raise the full $2300.  Here's what happens: I have to pay the difference!  Really.  Nothing like the threat of having $700 deducted from your bank account to motivate you to beg for money.  So, here are the two ways you can help:

Make a donation here!  This is the easiest and most helpful way.
Visit Boonaroo's and order some Christmas presents!  Especially dishcloths. I have many, many dishcloths.

Thank you and see you upon our return!

32 days

I have 32 days to finish my Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure fundraising.  I'm sweatin' bullets over here!  Last year I was DONE with my fundraising by the middle of August but this year, as I've mentioned, I recruited my most generous donors to walk with me and it is coming down to the wire!

But with 32 days left, we can do this!  Last year I was so proud when I finished the walk but I was even more proud when I reached my $2300 fundraising goal.  I can walk 60 miles on my own, I mean, if I had too; but I cannot contribute $2300 on my own, not right now.  It took a lot of people standing with me to reach that goal and it's going to take a lot of people again.  We're over halfway there but there are a few (figurative) miles left.

My family has been touched by cancer, specifically breast cancer, so many times that I have a document on my computer titled "Family Cancer History" and it is a full 8.5x11 sheet of paper.  My family on my mom's side was the subject of a cancer research study at the University of Oklahoma.  It's like being famous except it sucks.

I do not want to give this document to my kids.  I don't want to add my mom's or my aunt's or my own name to the list.  I want to send it to the recycle bin and delete it forever, but I can't, not yet.

And that's why I walk.  I walk so I can delete that document.  Walking 60 miles shows solidarity, it shows strength, it shows sacrifice and commitment but without the funds for research and education, it's just a symbol.  It's a lovely symbol, but it's not going to have any lasting impact unless we back it up with financial commitment.

But you can help!  You can have a lasting impact on our world with a small gift!  And if you pass this along to your friends and family your impact will be even greater.  If you utilize your employer's matching gifts program for charitable donations, your gift could be multiplied!  Just click on any of the links in this post and you'll go to the page where you can donate.

Thank you for journeying with me!  I am confident that we can do this together.

Trend sitter

Not to be confused with a trend setter, a trend sitter is one who sees a trend, likes the trend, but then sits on it for a while to make sure it's sticking around before jumping on the bandwagon right before it goes out of style.

 That is me.  Hi.  It took me two years to embrace capris because I was CONVINCED they wouldn't stick around.  Oops.  And skinny jeans.  And boots.  Are you getting the idea?  Ballet flats however, well, I was all over that.  Remember in the 90s when every shoes you owned had a heel or a giant sole (I'm looking at you Doc Martin sandals).  Far thee well, ugly shoes, until you return on my children's feet and I say "that's what WE wore in high school!"

My current trend sitting involves the zigzag, um, chevron pattern.  Actually, I'm not really that behind, I did make this pillow earlier this year.  I painted the fabric and everything!

But now I am SO trendy because I painted these beauties.

Ooo....ahhhhh...  I know, right?  Gray, yellow, chevron...I'm like every Pinterest pin ever pinned but in real life!

These canvases were from a failed painting project.  They once held my attempt at painting "botanicals" but there was nothing botanical about them.  So they each got covered in white craft paint and sat in our "little living room" for two weeks because I dreaded the next part.

Taping.  I was going to have to tape our the pattern and I really didn't want to.  I get antsy pants when it comes to detail work and it makes me want to jump up and down and scream.  But I used the method and the pattern that I found here and, two reruns of 30 Rock later, they were taped.  And I didn't take pictures because that's kind of boring.
I lightened up my gray paint with some white and paint, paint, paint...they were done!  Now they hang next to the TV and look subtle and pretty. And making the rest of the wall look really bare.

Now, time for a BIG UPDATE.  The toilet paper roll mirror had a makeover.  See if you can tell.

Well, as you probably can't tell from the really dark picture, she got a new coat of paint!  We upgraded from Colonial Red to Apple Red.  Uh-huh, she's sassy now.  And she got another layer of rolls.  For humans this would be a horrible thing, but for a toilet paper roll mirror, it's spectacular!

Alright, I'm off to trend sit on my giant customized subway art with special meaning that only we understand and my yarn wreath.

Banana Pudding, Precious edition

Yesterday I posted that I successfully made my grandma's homemade banana pudding and several people asked for the recipe, so here it is!  We call my grandma Precious because that's what the oldest grandchild called her so that's her name.  But it's not actually her name.  Her name is Jeretta which gets a gold star for originality.  I won't tell you her middle name because it's just way to original and it would blow your mind.

I love this pudding.  Well, my dad loves this pudding and I love that he loves it.  In elementary school I wrote a story about one Thanksgiving when little Bobby (my dad) showed up for Thanksgiving and there was no banana pudding.  It was a tragedy, as you can tell.  Never mind that Precious is my dad's mother-in-law so her banana pudding was NEVER at my dad's childhood Thanksgivings.  S loves it too and he was the one who requested it.

I didn't take any pictures (we were too busy eating) but let me assure you, my presentation was immaculate.  I dished it into individual servings in antique goblets.  I'm not exaggerating, that is actually how we partook of the pudding.  Here, this is the goblet.

Here are two versions of the original recipe.  You will notice some inconsistencies in the first one.  You might also notice that when you try to add flour to the milk mixture, it clumps up miserably and you have to start over.  Precious says she mixes the flour and sugar together before adding it to the warm milk, this might solve the problem.  I solved the problem by making a roux with the butter and flour and then adding the milk which seemed to work out just fine.  So, the second version is how I made the pudding this time along with my mom's recollections of how she watched her mom make the pudding.  Next time I'll try the flour/sugar blending method.  Also, Precious always doubles this recipe to have enough for more than four people.


PRECIOUS'S BANANA PUDDING - Original Recipe

6 Tbsp butter or margarine
2/3 c. flour (or a cornstarch/water mixture for thickening)
3 c. milk
2/3 c. sugar
3 eggs, separated, beat egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
3 bananas, sliced
Nilla Wafers

*This isn't in the recipe but you have to keep stirring all the time so the milk won't get filmy and the bottom won't get burned!*

Use a nonstick skillet (large) or pot.  Heat milk.  Blend sugar and flour and add to milk, stirring to blend.  Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring with a spatula or whisk.  Pour some of the warm milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks, then cook altogether 2 more minutes.  Add vanilla and 1 tbsp. of butter.

PRECIOUS'S BANANA PUDDING - What I actually did

(same ingredients)

Melt 5 tbsp. of butter in a nonstick skillet or pot.  Mix in flour, it will ball up in clumps.  Add milk and stir with a whisk until all of the flour mixture has dissolved.  Stir until milk is heated and add sugar.  Cook over low heat, stirring until thickened.  Slowly stir in at least 1/2 c. of the warm milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks and then slowly add the eggs, stirring constantly (this keeps the eggs from scrambling when you add them to the warm pudding).  Stir and cook for 2 minutes.  Add vanilla and the remaining tbsp. of butter.  Stir until blended.  Remove from heat.  Create a cool bath in a large pan or the sink and place pot in the cool water.  Stir while pudding cools to maintain consistency.  Once pudding has cooled, mix in the banana slices.  Layer pudding and Nilla Wafers in a large bowl or individual serving cups and refrigerator until cold.

Enjoy!

From Mission Amy KR

A video.  Say Something Nice.



From WBEZ Chicago this is "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" 

No, that's not right, but for some reason I couldn't stop myself!  I'll try that again...

From WBEZ Chicago, it's a great video originally posted on Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Mission Amy KR blog.

Didn't understand the "Wait, Wait" reference?  Allow me to introduce you to my friend, Peter Sagal.

Facebook guilt

I suffer from the all-pervasive Facebook envy.  You know, where everybody's life looks perfect and it feels like yours is falling apart and you scream "WHY GOD?  WHY!?" and then go take a nap.

But I also have Facebook guilt.  My brother writes "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" on the walls of all his "friends" on their birthdays.  Everyday.  Or he used to, I cannot say with certainty that he still does.  I do not do this.  Part of it is my woefully lacking self-esteem that has emerged over the past few months and making me more like Eeyore than I care to admit, as in "they probably don't care if I wish them happy birthday anyway."  (I'm working on this, really.)  I also do not comment on every birth, every engagement, every marriage, every job promotion, every new house, or every vaguely sad post.  I see people who do and I think, you don't know that person any more than I do and yet you feel compelled to comment?  And then I feel guilty.

Should I comment?  Should I "like"?  Am I compelled to be emotionally invested in the goings-on of your daily life simply because I once knew you 10 years ago?  I don't have the energy!  And if it weren't for the internet, I probably wouldn't even be thinking about you!  But still, the Facebook guilt, it lingers.

So I've taken to "hiding" the people about whom I do not really care.  I mean, I care in the general way that I care about humanity, but I'm not going to get in a tizzy over your every move.  I like to think that I'm looking out for my emotional resources and creating healthy barriers in my interactions with my social network but, really, I'm just avoiding the guilt.  Potayto, potahto.

Grand Opening: Boonaroo's!

It's a slow start, but it's a start...Boonaroo's is now open on Etsy!  With three whole listings!

To maximize the profits for Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure and the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, each item only has one listing for now but all are available for custom orders. 

So, there you go.  I finally did it.