Pappas fam

Answers to the Questions in Your Head...

2012-01-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

I know what you are thinking - "Wow, who is that gorgeous girl?" Well, that of course is my daughter Grace (and her lovely friend Allison). Grace is a little scary, because in addition to being beautiful, she is also really smart. Proof of this: she was accepted into Cal Poly in December; two days ago I found out that a record number of high school seniors applied to Poly this year - over 45,000 to be exact. So, even though I knew she was utterly qualified, it seems she is even more exceptional than we thought!
"Why are they dressed up like that?" They were headed to the Winter Formal.
"Where do you go to write these blog entries, anyway?" My favorite place to go is the amazing coffee house / used bookstore Kreuzberg Coffee and Books in SLO (I love the atmosphere, but, and I feel a little sad saying this, their coffee is way too strong for me). I wrote most of this one sitting outside the Atascadero Starbucks enjoying a small (excuse me...tall) coffee, also too strong for me, and using their free internet.
"Why don't you just stay at home and save the money and make your own coffee?" Sometimes I do. But sometimes I like to hang out at coffee houses and feel like a real writer. At Kreuzberg, they have portraits of poets and novelists all over the walls. It's a rather bohemian place (with a cool vibe, bad coffee and free internet).
You may also be wondering why this picture of a really cool-looking bedroom is up here? Not only is Grace beautiful, and smart, she is also really creative. This is her bedroom - for fun on vacations and weekends, she cleans, organizes, and redecorates it. She makes the coolest wall decorations out of canvases, paper and wire (I have told her she could sell them on Etsy.com. If you haven't browsed Etsy, it's pretty amazing). The walls were lime green a few weeks ago, and I was thinking to myself, "Wow, when Grace moves out, I should repaint this room a more neutral color. But I hate to paint. Ugh! How can I get out of painting this room? Who can I pay to come and paint this room?" and lo and behold, Grace asked if she could repaint the room over Christmas break. Hallelujah! It is now a modern, lovely gray color (gray is the new beige, in case you didn't know). I love it!
"What's Jamey been up to?" Poor Jamey is still in shock. We just got our first bill from Cal Poly. I suppose this is when dads know college is "real" - when they have to start forking out the money. When he gets over being stunned, he will go back to leading the ministry at Poly, fixing things like our cars, fences, and old doorknobs that are always breaking, and mountain biking as usual.

I hope that this has answered some of your pressing questions!

Max the Dog vs. The Skunk

2012-01-03T13:26:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! Jamey, Jason and I were in San Diego on New Year's Eve at the Winter Conference (except I went to sleep at about 10:30, because I am old and tired), and Grace was on an Inner-City LA Mission Trip with her youth group (they stay inside at midnight because of possible stray bullets from celebratory gunfire). So Max the Dog must have been lonely, and, to get back at me, last night he went looking for a friend. Yes, around 1:15 a.m., I was awakened by barks, rustling leaves, and the most unbelievably strong skunk odor of all time coming in through our closed bedroom windows. Let's just say that once that smell got up my nose, it seems there's no getting it out. I have been smelling skunk ever since - at this point going on 16 hours (I tried breathing through my shirt, and then I actually put lotion up my nose, but nothing works!). It didn't help that I opened the window to tell Max to stop the barking and go back to bed, therefore letting in even more of the odor. That was when I noticed that Max was out in the garden rolling around in the pile of dead leaves, coffee grounds, and horse droppings that are awaiting spring rototilling (when horse poop is preferable than the way you smell, that is just sad). That made me wonder what was rustling the leaves under the window - sure enough, my flashlight shone on the black and white culprit. How does one make a skunk leave the premises? My Annie Oakley reflex kicked in first, and I tried shooting it with the BB gun, thinking that if I could just make it sting a little, he would wander back down to the creek. Alas, the picket fence was in the way, and my BBs just bounced off, and I was afraid to use the light or get closer. Second idea - spray water on him. But unfortunately, Mr Skunk just so happened to be right by the spigot. Plus it was really cold out there. Option three - I put my head under a pillow and tried to go back to sleep. It worked, a few minutes at a time, and of course there was no skunk out there in the morning. Just a horribly embarrassed-looking dog. And a stench that all of our neighbors could smell.

How to get skunk smell out of a dog, his bed, and your house? The following things have all been done today: Open your five-pound bag of baking soda (I really have one - I use it for cleaning), shake it all over the dog (turning him from black to gray), and his bed, and in his doghouse, very liberally. Pour vinegar on dog (this was my favorite part, because it reacted with the baking soda and made him all foamy. And because he kept licking his nose, as if he thought it was a pickle). Wash the dog's bed, blanket and collar with a combination of detergent, more baking soda, lemon soap, vinegar, and bleach. Twice. Light the strongest candles you own and let them burn all day, and try not to think of how much money you just spent on that good-smelling candle that is now half-used. Leave dog bed and dog out in the sun, and thank God that is was sunny today. Pick up the 75-lb dog, because he knows what's coming and is hiding from you, and plop him into the washtub that you filled with water, baking soda, and Fabuloso (it is cleaner from Mexico - I am not sure what's in there, and I don't want to know since they don't have an EPA like ours. All I know is it is amazing!!). Scrub and scrub and scrub, and hold onto the dog when he tries to escape and shakes his skunkiness all over you. Give the dog the leftover fish from your fish taco dinner, since he has looked so forlorn and sad all day.

On tomorrow's agenda - wash the inside liner of the dog bed, since it still stinks, hose out the dog house, and thank God once again that you are having 70-degree weather in January as you open the windows to let fresh air into your smelly house.
Score: Skunk 1, Max the Dog 0

The Cattle Are Lowing....

2011-12-25T07:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Merry Christmas! It is still dark out this morning, and I am up before everyone else. Our animals are early risers and sadly I can't sleep in, even when I try.
We have been playing Christmas music for the past month ( I love it when I hear my kids humming and singing along with the likes of Tony Bennet or Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald. It just ups their coolness a little more). Whenever I hear the carol "Away In A Manger" it makes me giggle to myself, because at this time of year, at our house, we really do hear the cattle lowing. Not because we live in a barn, or own a cow (although, truth be told, I have looked up photos and info on miniature cows on the internet. Miniature donkeys too. They are adorable.) but because the ranch across the street is currently full of calves and mommies who tend to call out for each other at all hours at this time of year. I love hearing it in the background, even when a little calf is being very very persistent in it's search for mama. It's sweet.
We decorated the house the day after Thanksgiving and I noticed right off that one of my favorite Christmas items was missing. It's a big red book with "The Family Christmas Book" written in green on the cover. But it's way more than a book; it's my record of Christmases past, and the ways our family has been spectacularly blessed every year. On each page, since the year Grace was born, I have taped in a photo and that year's Christmas card, and there are several lines on which to record "How we celebrated the season" and "Events of the past year". In the Christmas story in the book of Luke, it mentions that "Mary kept all of these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19) - this book is where I 'keep all of these things'. Jason being born - it's in there. Our first trip to East Asia is recorded. Simple things like Grace starting dance class or Jason's first year in little league. The year we bought our house (a daily reminder to me of the grace and immense love of God for me). Our first summer project to El Salvador. Fantastic trips to Washington DC and Pennsylvania, Arizona, and a family reunion at the Grand Canyon. Answered prayer for our families. The births of cousins, and the way my kids have celebrated their birthdays every year of their lives. They are all in there, and without the book, there was a hole in my Christmas. I scoured the bookshelves and dug around in the attic to no avail.
Then, three days ago, one more spot came to mind, and lo and behold, there it was!! Last night I added this year's info and was once again reminded of how greatly we have been blessed. At this time of year it is especially good to 'ponder these things' in our hearts. Again, a Merry Merry Christmas to each and every one of us.

Things I've Learned This Month

2011-12-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

1. El Salvador has the best coffee in the world. Jamey and I made a four-day trip to visit our 5 students who are in San Salvador for the year. They are doing great (which made our visit wonderful and easy) and it was fun to go to some of our favorite places again, like Viva Espresso. I have seen coffee growing along the slopes of the volcano in El Sal...maybe it's the soil, or the climate, but whatever it is, I have never had a better cup of coffee (truth be told, I don't really know a lot about coffee. I just know that the worst coffee is the kind that comes from truck stops, and whatever brand they brew at my church, sadly). We brought back a couple of pounds for ourselves and I was really bummed when it was gone.

2. It might be harder to be a mom than an athlete during soccer tryouts. Jason tried out and made the JV soccer team at the high school. I tried my best not to worry...I knew he would be fine either way...I knew that only a few freshmen would be chosen...When I found myself awake at 4 in the morning, I tried to think about other things and go back to sleep. I told myself I was being absolutely ridiculous (that didn't really help). In the end, he made the team and is having fun and we are all enjoying watching the games no matter what the weather. And I feel much more rested.

3. Grace is amazing. I actually already knew this, but it is good to be reminded. In October, Grace applied for early admission to Cal Poly SLO, to major in psychology. She has wanted to attend Cal Poly since she was five years old. I wasn't worried about her being qualified - after all, she did great on her SATs, has way over a 4.0 GPA, and has done all kinds of volunteer work. But, working at Cal Poly as we do, I also know that about 45,000 other kids, many likewise qualified, also apply for admission every year and most don't get in. It feels a little arbitrary, but it is supposed to be 'fair'. Let me just mention that this was also partly responsible for my lack of sleep in October and November. But, 2 weeks ago, she got a letter in the mail that began, "Congratulations!..." and is now looking forward to being a freshman this coming fall. Yahoo!!

4. There actually are wild pigs in the neighborhood! I have heard the rumors. I know men who cross the road and go over "on the ranch" and hunt them. One of my friends (whose property actually is across the road and backs up to "the ranch", which is 14,000 acres - yes, it's a real ranch) had several of them come into her yard, fight with her dogs (the pigs won), and uproot/eat her iris bulbs (I should mention that she runs an iris farm at her home, so having the bulbs dug up and eaten is not good). But I have never seen any sign of one....until Jason came home from a friend's house and mentioned that there was one by the side of the road (it had had a run-in with a vehicle and this time, the pig lost). Then when I was at a neighbor's house, she mentioned that she actually knew the guys that had hit a 300-pound wild pig - gross! Of course, in true Garden Farms fashion, my first comment was, "His poor truck!!!" It was apparently totaled - so now we will be watching out for yet another critter on our country drives.

Update on Sandy

2011-12-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

Well, Sandy the Surfwagon has a new owner. A few weeks ago, over 1600 people (students, kids, grownups old and young) showed up for 90-minute shifts and over two days, they packaged over 200,000 meals - enough to feed 550 orphans for an entire year! And a few days afterwards, Jamey and Grace chose the winner of our Sandy giveaway at random - a Cal Poly student named Shawn. I didn't hear the conversation when Jamey called to tell her but I hope she enjoys the car! And I hope that she can come and get it soon, so I can park my car under the protection of the canvas pop-up garage. We had temperatures down in the low 20's this week, and for some unknown reason a previous owner of our house planted trees that drop 'things' constantly (berries, tiny flowers, leaves, pollen, little green things that stick and don't come off....) all around the driveway. On Thursday I left for SLO and noticed that there were tiny leaves frozen to the hood of the car. Festive! It looked like the car had been to a party, or in a parade. Which reminds me, the neighborhood Christmas Parade is today and we will not be driving Sandy down Walnut Avenue. Instead, I will be riding in the back of my neighbor's old yellow pickup truck with the other Farmgirls, all wearing our aprons. We will be collecting items (socks, gloves, granola bars) to send to troops overseas. And tomorrow we are learning to make tamales for Christmas Eve - I have been looking forward to that for months! I felt very smug about all of these good things we have been doing until I read a book this week called Kisses From Katie. It is the very true story of a girl who, at age 19, moved to Uganda to teach kindergarten, and subsequently has adopted 14 daughters and provides hundreds of children with meals, clothes, school supplies and tuition, and health care. She is 23 years old. Wow. That put me back in my place. I will just ride down the road, and continue working on my Christmas cards, and make tamales out of masa and chicken and pork. And sing Christmas carols in my head.

Funny How Things Work....

2011-10-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

Over the summer, Jamey and I had some time to read and think (this can be dangerous!) as we prepared for this school year. Jamey gives most of the talks at our weekly meetings for SLO Crusade, and he likes to work his way through a book or section of the Bible (for example, he has taught through the book of Romans - one of my favorites). It's a funny thing how, once you read or hear something, it keeps recurring until it seems to be a theme in your life. For years, my friend Jill and I would tell students that the secret to life is: "Read the Bible and do what it says" - they thought we were just being simple. We actually weren't. Our students have wanted for years to do something to aid orphans overseas. We read a book this summer called Radical by David Platt (a pastor in Alabama, whose church provided foster homes for all of the children on the waiting list in that county - taking care of hundreds of 'orphans') and he then spoke at our staff conference in Colorado. The theme of the book is basically: what if we actually do what the Bible says? (This is easier said than done, of course. I don't know about you, but I've read the Bible, and there is some crazy-sounding stuff in there!) Jamey decided that this year, he would teach through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' famous sermon in Matthew 5. This is one of the crazy sections. Still, we wanted to do some kind of project so that our students could tangibly help those in the most need. For a few years, we have been in touch with an organization called Feed My Starving Children, which provides meals for orphans and those in greatest need. Our kids were part of a group of children that packaged thousands of meals for overseas orphanages one summer. What we have here at Cal Poly is the manpower - a thousand people, more or less. What we don't have is the funding. A meal for an orphan costs about 23 cents (not bad!) but to get all of the supplies transported up to SLO and then back to LA, well, that takes more. Then Jamey got a call from a businessman in Paso Robles (just north of us). This man had some money to donate, but not the manpower. He was able to provide the money for 100,000 meals (each meal is a bag containing rice, soy protein, and other nutrients that can be cooked by simply adding boiling water to provide a porridge-like meal for 4 people). Our students still think bigger. They take the verse " God is able to do accomplish more than we might ask or think" seriously (that's Ephesians 3:20), so they have decided to raise money in order to make two-hundred thousand meals. 'Coincidentally', as this was being brainstormed, Jamey kept thinking to himself, "We have four cars." Sounds odd, but in our family, we have three drivers, and four cars. A surplus. And there are verses in the Bible (the book of John, for example) that say things like, "If you have two cloaks, share with the person who has none." Now, we generally like Sandy the Old Station Wagon (some of us more than others!), but Jamey got this idea in his head: that if we could sell tickets for a Surf Wagon Giveaway, we could raise a bit of money for the kits. It would be a great way to share with those who have none. And sometimes, we know that doing something impractical, even extravagant, is what God is telling us to do. So we are going to do it. We will be selling tickets at two SLO Farmers' Markets to raise money for the FMSC event, and we will be giving Sandy the Surf Wagon to one of the ticket holders. And it might seem crazy, but we have learned that when you feel like God wants you to do something, you should probably do it. It will make your heart happy.

If you would like to donate to the event, and possibly win a wonderful surf wagon, you can go to the web site "FMSC.org" and then move your cursor over the option "MobilePack" and scroll down the list to "Mobile Pack Events". You will see our event in the California section. You can then either donate or volunteer if you choose. Or you can click on the link on our slocrusade.com website. Anyone who donates at least 10 dollars is eligible to win Sandy. We are hoping that this will be covered by our local newspaper and tv station and we will keep you posted on how it goes!

5 Signs of Fall In the Neighborhood:

2011-09-18T00:40:00.000-07:00

5. A flock of turkeys will dart across the road in front of my car as I am driving down El Camino Real, speed limit 55 MPH (only once has someone in the family actually run over a turkey. Possums and squirrels are another story. It's slightly alarming the amount of road kill in this area).

4. Jamey and I, along with about 100 students, hand out 2500 freshman survival kits to incoming Cal Poly freshmen in about 3 hours. Whew! This year the kits included (besides a Bible, book, and dvd) a pair of really cool sunglasses, and it is great fun for us to see students wearing them all over town and campus.

3. I drive to Bakersfield and back (or Fresno...or Salinas...) on a Friday night to watch a high school football game, and because it ends after 9 p.m., we are forced to eat our dinner at some nasty fast food place (last night, though, I must admit that Grace and I thoroughly enjoyed our Taco Bell meal. I hope I never find out what is really inside a cheesy gordita crunch to make it taste so good).

2. Jason and I spend a Sunday afternoon simultaneously watching football on TV and baseball on the computer (he wears a Packers jersey, I wave my terrible towel).

1. The annual assault on our English walnut tree by every squirrel within a one-mile radius of our house begins. This year I am READY. About a month ago, Jamey walked in the front door with a long, thin box. "Long-stemmed roses?" some women might wonder. But myself, having this 'thing' for Annie Oakley, knew instantly what my husband was bringing me. My heart went pitter patter. "YESSSSSS! A new BB gun!!!!" Oh, it is beautiful! And, best of all, this one has a scope. With crosshairs! So, to all of those flea-laden walnut-stealing varmints, I say BRING IT ON!! My faithful sentry Max-the-dog and I are ready!

Zucchini Walnut Cake

2011-08-30T10:31:00.001-07:00

I have found one more great zucchini recipe - this one actually came from our local paper, the Tribune. It was a pleasant surprise....in general I don't have the highest opinion of this newspaper, although we continue to get it, because I like to know what is going on around here. I just often find things in there that make me wonder about the editors, and make me dislike spellcheck, and our dependence on it. On Sunday, there was an article about the abundance of critters in our local tidepools with the headline "Tidepools Teaming With Life". Ouch. And about a month ago, for example, a headline on the second page read "Opera to get Award" (I am not making this up!!). When I started reading the article, I quickly realized that Oprah Winfrey was getting the award, not an opera. That seems like the kind of thing that should be caught and fixed before it goes to print. Otherwise it makes snobby people like me think that the nice people at the paper are really, really dumb. And that might not be true.

Anyway, every summer the food section will print a few zucchini recipes - because using up the squash from the garden is apparently a state-wide pursuit ; and since our garden provides us with both zucchini and walnuts (it calls for pecans, but I have a walnut tree, so I always use walnuts), I decided to try it out (once again, baking it early in the morning to avoid heating up our tiny house in the summer!). It is delicious! Actually, I've decided that cream cheese frosting can make many things delicious, and it's on this cake, which is an added bonus.

Note the glass of wine behind the cake in the photo. Wine is not part of the recipe, but I had just purchased a bottle and was trying it out (it's not very good - I suppose that's what happens when you get wine because the label has a cute picture of an old truck on it. But it's okay, now we have some cooking wine and a lovely bottle as well).

Recipe: Zucchini-pecan cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting

Adapted from Bon Appetit, August 2010

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1½ teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• ¾ cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)

• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1½ cups coarsely grated zucchini (about 8 ounces)

• ¾ cup chopped pecans (more for garnish, if desired)

For the frosting:

• 4 ounces cream cheese (do not use reduced-fat or fat-free), room temperature

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• ¾ cup powdered sugar

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, and coat it with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla, then fold in flour the mixture. Stir in the grated zucchini and pecans, and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean — the original recipe said this would take about 45 minutes, but my cake was done after 35 minutes, so keep an eye on it. Once the cake is done, let it cool completely in the pan on a rack. When it’s cool, turn the cake out onto a platter and carefully peel off the parchment paper.

4. To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, and mix until combined. Slather the frosting on the cake, and top with toasted pecans, if desired.

I will absolutely be making this one again.....after the heat wave is over.

Boys and Girls and School....

2011-08-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of school for the kiddos....Jason's first day of high school and Grace's first day of her LAST year of high school (there are 178 days until graduation - her count, not mine!). I know I've mentioned before that I really think, with all due respect to Gloria Steinem, that boys and girls are just vastly inherently different, and 'back-to-school' was more proof of this. Grace made a list of clothes and school supplies that she needed, and we went shopping a couple of times. She set her alarm for 5:30 a.m. yesterday to ensure enough time to get ready without rushing. When I asked Jason what clothes he needed for school, he replied, "None." Actually, I lie - he said at one point that he wanted a new wallet, and he and Jamey got one when they were in our local surf store. And when we made him go with us to Staples last week to get a binder, pencils, paper, etc, he chose his stuff, and when we were checking out, he said, "I really didn't have to come....I don't care what I get." He really hates shopping. His wake-up time yesterday was determined by asking Grace what time they would be leaving, and then counting backwards so that he could get up at the last possible minute. And I'm not sure, but I think he chose his clothes by simply grabbing whatever his hand touched first - fortunately good ol' Mom had done laundry.

So I took the above two photos as they were leaving the house. The first is a classic. I said, "Smile!", counted to three, Grace smiled (she is wearing her 'senior' shirt that she made - it's a tradition that all of the seniors wear these on the first day, to rub it in), and Jason made a face (note the wet hair - just out of the shower!). I made Jason smile for another, so in the second you can see Grace in the background, heading for the car. Again, a classic. How can they be so different and yet both be so cool? It is a wonder! I suppose the main thing is that they both had a good day and are looking forward to the year. And, Jamey and I got to enjoy another back-to-school celebration breakfast at the Cowgirl Cafe, of course.

Zucchini Pickles

2011-08-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

These zucchini pickles were SO EASY to make and they were very good to eat! Even though they are kept in a Ball Jar, fear not - there is no boiling of the lids or canning in the way that frightens me and keeps me from doing it regularly (although I am proud to say I have made some really good apricot and plum jam when we have a bumper crop on the trees).

The suggested method of eating them was to put them on some toasted wheat bread along with some goat cheese. I bought some herb-chevre spread from Happy Acres Farm (our local goat dairy....what can I say, we are extremely spoiled) and we had it on crackers and topped it with the pickles. Not to mention all of the pickles I just ate right out of the jar. Yum yum! I was even bold enough to pawn some off on one of my farmgirl friends, and her family liked them as well.

Here's the recipe - I used two pretty big zucchini from the garden and one jalapeno, also from the garden.

ZUCCHINI PICKLES

1 lb zucchini, thinly sliced

1 medium white onion, thinly sliced

3 shallots, thinly sliced

1 1/2 TB sea salt

1/4 cup fresh dill sprigs

1 small fresh red chili pepper, very thinly sliced

1/2 TB yellow mustard seeds

3/4 cup cider vinegar

3/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup natural cane sugar

Toss the zucchini, onion, shallots and salt in a colander and set it over a bowl to catch the liquid. Cover and refrigerate a couple of hours, tossing a couple of times along the way. Dry the veggies on a layer of paper towels or a dishcloth, then place in a 1-quart canning jar along with the dill, chili pepper and mustard seeds (I used a large jar and a small one to give a sample to my friends. You could also do a few smaller jars instead of one large jar if you want to).

Combine the sugar and vinegars in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil for a few minutes, then pour the liquid over the veggies and seal the jar. Let them cool a bit, then put them in the fridge.

The pickles will stay good for a week or so, kept in the fridge.

Enjoy!

When Life Gives You Zucchini, Make Some of These!

2011-07-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

The photo of Jason and a rather large zucchini shows what happens when you leave town for a few days. Inevitably, a huge squash will be waiting for you when you return home. (As an aside, I would just like to explain my son's hair by saying that at the time of this photo he had just gotten home from playing in two baseball games, and went immediately outside to start playing wiffle ball. And he is getting a trim today. And in the summer, teenage boys seem to think that jumping in the creek or ocean substitutes for a shower). In my quest to find great, creative uses for zucchini, I came across a great recipe for chocolate-zucchini cupcakes on the website "101cookbooks.com". Although I had to get up at 5:30 to bake them because it was so hot last weekend and we don't have air conditioning, it was worth it! Everyone who tasted them thought they were great, and they all got eaten. Here's the recipe as I made them:

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (seems like a lot but necessary bc of the cocoa)

1/4 cup melted butter

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I might try applesauce instead next time. The author used coconut oil.)

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups unbleached flour

1 cup cocoa (unsweetened)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (the recipe also calls for 1 tsp allspice, but I didn't add it to mine)

Preheat oven to 350 and line or grease muffin tins

In mixing bowl, mix brown sugar, butter and oil. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla, buttermilk, and zucchini.

Fold in chocolate chips (I saved some and sprinkled them on top).

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, then add to liquid ingredients until combined. Spoon batter into pans (I filled each tin almost to the top and got 16 cupcakes).

Bake for about 30 minutes - test with a toothpick and remove from oven when just done to keep moist. Cool them on a wire rack.

The recipe says you can frost them, which would be great and desserty....I however took some to a baseball game in the morning, so I left them unfrosted and muffin-like, which was just as good and seemed more a.m.-appropriate.

I will definitely be making these again!

This Week's Zucchini Dish

2011-06-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

The zucchini has started to come in from the garden, and in anticipation of the next 4 months of bounty, I spent an hour or so this spring looking up new zucchini recipes on line. I think I googled "creative zucchini recipes". This first one, pictured here, was not one of those (for some reason I feel like those recipes are too valuable to be used this early in the season, when we are not even sick of squash yet). It's not even a recipe, but I will explain what I did.

I cooked about 3/4 lb of pasta. This time, penne, but really, any kind is great. At the same time, I sauteed two zuchhinis in some olive oil, and towards the end, I threw in some garlic (lots of garlic. Jamey doesn't like garlic as much as I do, but he was out of town!). I drained the pasta and then tossed it into my big frying pan along with the zucchini. I put all of this into my big bowl and spooned in some ricotta cheese (see the blog entry from Tuesday, March 1 if you want to know how to make ricotta cheese - it's easy!). Lastly, I opened the back door and picked a handful of herbs to chop up and add. This time, it was chives and basil. Easy, easy easy! And really, really good.

The Good and Bad Of Living In Old Houses

2011-06-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

It's 7:30 a.m. and there is pounding on the roof that is seriously rattling our old windows. The work up there is right above Grace's room and is causing the chandelier in her ceiling to jingle. For a few years now, we've had a leak in our roof, along the front wall of the house - where the 'old porch' (which is now part of our living room) meets the 'new porch' (the one we sit on in the mornings and evenings and in between). Every year, with the first chance of rain, we would clean out the gutters and sweep the roof. And then wait to see if the fix that we had tried the winter before would work. But alas, the drip, drip, drip would begin, somewhere along that front line. SO frustrating! Finally, this year, we got the referral of a roofer from a trusted friend and they are on day three, the final day, of fixing the roof. Old houses have issues, but they also have character and charm, which is what you have to remember when you are about to bust out the checkbook and write a whopper to the roofing company. Over the past few weeks, Jamey has fixed a leaky pipe to the tub, the old screen door, and our dishwasher (also leaking). But the roof is just too tricky for us, thus the swallowing of the pride and hiring of the crew.

On day one, while the guys were removing old shingles and plywood, one of the crew brought me a page of a newspaper that they found. It seems the 'new porch' was added in 1951. We now know this because the builders used newspaper under the plywood. This page from the sports section of the LA Examiner on Sunday, June 16 is all that remains. Because we are a weird family, we all think this is the coolest thing we have seen for a while! Jason and I were particularly excited to see the picture of the baseball players in their uniforms, and the story about a pitcher named Holcombe who had a great game against the Boston Red Sox. On the other page is an ad from a store that was selling 'gowns' for $5.99 and some kind of corduroy fabric for a dollar a yard. Jason and I looked up the year 1951 in my "Baseball Chronicle" book (yes, I do own a year-by-year history of baseball, and yes, we do use it often. I told you we are a weird family!) In 1951, the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn and the Giants were still in New York. Joe DiMaggio retired at the end that season, and Micky Mantle was a rookie. The best player in the American League was Ted Williams, Roy Campanella was best in the NL, Willie Mays was rookie of the year, and Stan 'The Man' Musial won the batting title. Towards the end of the season, in the National League championship series, the Giants beat the Dodgers on a three-run walk-off homer by Bobby Thompson, known as 'the shot heard 'round the world', and "the Giants won the pennant! The Giants won the pennant!" What an amazing year - and what fun to think about all of that happening as a porch was being put up on the front of our little old house!

Bartering In The Neighborhood

2011-06-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

In the summertime, some children watch pets while friends are on vacation and get paid to do it. It makes a pretty great, relatively easy beginning job. My neighbor has 2 very large dogs and 3 miniature horses (it is vitally important that it is known that they are not ponies, but real miniature horses. There - now it is clear.). One of the miniature horses is a baby, making it therefore a miniature miniature horse. Last weekend, I fed the animals for them so that they could go to their granddaughter's dance recital down in Burbank (the big city). In true Garden Farms fashion, I did not accept any paper money for doing this (that would be a rip off, because it is so easy to feed these animals), but my neighbor needed to give me something. She often gives me fudge or chocolate cake or brownies for feeding the pets, which is ok (we are, oddly, not a big chocolate family), but this time she gave me a couple of really useful items, pictured here. A bag of lemons (they don't grow up here - it freezes in the winter) and a wheelbarrow full of horse droppings. GOLDEN! The lemons are inside, being used up slowly but surely. And the horse droppings are out in the corner of the garden, slowly decomposing. I would have put them in the compost pile, but Max the Dog kept eating them (what a disgusting creature!) so I had to put them where I could fence them off. Now that's a payment we can really use!

Goodbyes, Small and Large

2011-05-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

We have almost reached the end of year thirteen at Cal Poly, and as usual it is time to say goodbye to students, staff and interns who are moving forward to their own adventures. It's hard to imagine what life will be like without some of them, but then who would want to stay in college forever? Well, maybe Jamey and I would....that's why we like our jobs so much! (For example, last weekend I went to TWO Cal Poly baseball games - awesome!) All of the goodbyes, celebrations, and reminiscing have made me feel oddly sentimental and nostalgic.

To make it even more difficult on myself, I got seven boxes of 'stuff' from our homeschooling days down out of the attic to sort through yesterday. Friends of mine are writing a book about our little co-op, and needed some pictures of our projects and materials (plus, I admit it, we are old now, and can't just remember everything we did, so we needed to look through papers and workbooks to remember the names of publishing companies we used). My friend Sara and I had so much fun looking through the boxes and remembering what amazing things we were able to do. We visited museums, tidepools, deserts, and artists' studios. When the kids studied the moon, we did fun projects during the day, and then hung out on one family's trampoline for a couple of hours at night, gazing at the moon and talking to each other. When Grace learned about Egyptian history, she made cuneiform tablets out of clay and wrote her name in hieroglyphics. Jason was allowed to pick out his science topic every year, so we have amazing projects on insects, spiders, amphibians, reptiles, and the ocean. And don't even get me started on the art - most of it is actually framed and hanging in our house.

I ended up throwing away most of the 'busywork' items - math worksheets, grammar books, spelling lessons, etc., but kept the really good stuff - one box for each child. Later that night our family had fun glancing through the boxes and seeing how far the kids have come. I think my greatest desire was that I wanted my kids to learn how to think for themselves (you wouldn't believe how rare this actually is!) and to be creative, and I realized last night that they really have become those kind of people....but in a cool, socially normal kind of way.

Now a weird thing is happening to me - every time I walk past the garbage can outside, a little voice in my head says, "You are throwing away your kids' childhood!". I do not need that kind of guilt - or clutter, for that matter. I keep reminding myself that their childhood is still part of them, like a building block, and a foundation. And we will always have fantastic memories, great friends, a love of learning, a spinal column made out of wooden spools, and a variety of assorted items made out of Plastina modeling clay.

Frolicking

2011-05-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Oh, how we love our neighborhood! Although I often refer to many of them as "my hippie neighbors", and they would consider it a compliment, they are some of the most caring, generous, and interesting people we have ever known. Grace and I have often joked that she should have a patch on her cheer uniform that says, "Sponsored by Garden Farms" because of all the cookie dough they have purchased from our fundraising. One year the neighborhood raised thousands of dollars for a fellow neighbor who had a sudden aneurism and became disabled. They take meals (really good ones) to new moms and sick folks. We all go Christmas caroling at the local nursing home in December. If we ever need any kind of tool, or garden/home advice, it is given cheerfully and generously. We consider it a huge blessing to live here.

So, when we received an invitation in the mailbox, for an engagement/'May Day' celebration, I knew I had to go. Guests were encouraged to wear 'spring costumes' (thus the hats, hawaiian shirts, and one neighbor dressed as a tree that I saw. No kidding. I myself wore flip-flops and felt springy enough) and to bring musical instruments (thus the djembe drums from the 'drum circle' crowd). There was food. Organic of course. There were party favors - small fairy magnets and colored crystal rocks. There were songs. And of course, there was frolicking and dancing around the May Pole, which involved the intricate weaving of ribbons and some kind of song that sounded like a Native American chant, but in Celtic. This would be the point where we ducked out and headed home. ( Jamey made a joke about not looking back and becoming a pillar of salt.) But not before we congratulated our engaged neighbors, who are both very sweet, and who seem very happy.

Perhaps we will host a neighborhood Christmas party this year...a real one, with actual Christmas carols, and nativity scenes, and a birthday cake for Jesus.....just to balance it all out....

Boy and Girl

2011-04-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

Recently, Jason turned 14 and Grace turned 17. This made a lot of thoughts run through my mind, such as, "Oh my gosh, I must be so old now, but how can this be?"

It is so fun to watch both of them live their lives and grow up. We just love the people they are, and the people they are becoming. It's also quite entertaining to see how different they are. The above photo is but one example. It was taken along the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road on the way home from an overnight camping trip to Big Sur, which was how Grace wanted to celebrate her birthday (we took the family, four of Grace's friends, and Max the Dog, who was in heaven the entire time). Jason celebrated a couple of weeks ago by having some friends over and "microwaving stuff you're not supposed to microwave" (not in mine, in one we got at a thrift store for $5).

The boy in the photo hasn't showered in a couple of days, even though he played a baseball game. It's okay, though, because he is wearing a beanie. He also didn't bring his toothbrush on the camping trip "because it's only one night". He only takes serious photos for school and for sports, because if you do those wrong, you have to do re-takes, and one time is usually considered torture enough. Besides, why be normal if your sister is right there beside you smiling nicely? He might be happy because the previous night, the girls paid him 2 dollars to run around the campground waving a pink flag. So he has been loaded up with girl-attention and some money at this point.

The girl looks like an ad for camping. She has a knack for wearing cute outfits at the appropriate times. She plans out everything, down to the small details, and it works just about every time. Her camping dinner included tri tip, grilled veggies, grilled pineapple, a salad, grilled garlic bread, and smores for dessert - probably the best camping meal we've ever had. Even the weather cooperated. And there are 139 pictures in an album on Facebook to document the occasion. Really cute photos - even this one, which is possibly my favorite, because it is a classic example of what I love about my boy and my girl.

Good Bread!

2011-04-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

My 'Farmgirl' group was over a couple of weeks ago to learn about grains and bread-making. Everyone used my grain mill to grind some whole wheat flour (this must be done outside, or by my gracious and valiant husband, since it gives me instant allergies....plus it makes a lot of dust!), and we made homemade tortillas and a couple of loaves of my becoming-famous brown bread. I actually got this recipe from my friend Katie back in my homeschooling days, and I love it because it involves no yeast (therefore no waiting around for it to rise), and it is delicious. Oh, and when you are not sure if you will have 15 people or 20 people over for dinner, let's say, because, for example, you work with college students and no one ever rsvp's, easy loaves like these are a good filler! I made it last year for our annual St Patrick's Day dinner, and this year, one of our staff guys (who did rsvp, so bonus points for him!), sent me a text message that read, "No pressure, but are you making that brown bread again this year?" When I answered yes, he sent me another text that said, "YES!!!!" That pretty much made my day!

Here is the recipe in case you want to try. It is very easy, which is good, because I am, of course, very lazy.

BROWN BREAD

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 - 3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

2 cups buttermilk

optional ingredients: 1 cup raisins and/or 1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and mix the liquids in another bowl.

Stir liquids into the dry, until just-mixed. Add any optional ingredients.

Pour batter into a greased, floured loaf pan and bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes.

Remove from pan, and cool well before slicing.

Pappas family addition: When serving, spread with a really good amount of butter.

Enjoy!

Small Quick Updates...

2011-04-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

1. Jason turned 14 on Sunday, and to celebrate, he and 5 friends microwaved "things you're not supposed to microwave", including a light bulb, cd, and a whole egg (we bought a $5 thrift store microwave for the occasion, and did it all outside. The light bulb was colorful and amazing, kind of like a Pink Floyd concert, or so I'm told)

2. Grace got her SAT results back and CRANKED, just like we figured! What a smarty-pants. Now she's running for Senior Class President. I stand in amazement of her almost every day....

3. We got three small chicks, to replace the 5 older hens that retired to a large acreage in Los Osos, down by the beach. The new ones are Barred Rocks, which means they will be the black and white kind pictured above when they grow up. For the moment they are spending the cold nights in a box in our living room, under our desk light, pecking the cardboard and waking me up several times each night.

4. Jamey spoke at a men's retreat up in the redwoods, north of San Fran, and took Jason and his friend Deven. They had a spectacular time and found yet another fantastic bbq restaurant.

5. Baseball season started!!! To celebrate, I signed up for MLB Audio on my computer so I can listen to games while I am working. Also, Jason's Babe Ruth League games have started and he is on the Angels this year. So far the team is 3-0 and he is batting .500. Show off.

6. Today I filled up the truck with gas and the final amount was $85.69. It's so awful I took a photo (on my cell phone, which I haven't yet learned to transfer to this blog). I may have gotten a little teary.

7. My Farm Girls group met at my house and we ground wheat into flour and made bread from scratch. I learned that kneading the dough takes approximately 10-15 minutes by hand, and about 60 seconds in a cuisinart. Guess which one I will be using from now on?

8. Jamey and I helped to process applications for staff, stint (one-year overseas missions), and internships, for students who are hoping to work for Campus Crusade in our region next year. We had about 165 students apply!! That's a huge increase from last year.

9. Because of all of the winter rain, the oaks and pines around us are so loaded with pollen that they are yellow. Pollen coats our cars, porch, and front walk with yellow dust. SO, I am currently running on the treadmill inside the gym, where my nose is assaulted not by pollen, but by "After Shave Man", the guy who wears way too much cologne.

10. We got a new, cool gopher trap and caught our first gopher! And so it begins.....

Spring On The Central Coast

2011-03-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Subtitled:

"Why we love it here so much", or -

"Why you should come and visit us", or -

"Another reason I consider myself a very spoiled person"

Did I mention that as I took this photo it was about 65 degrees and the air smelled salty and clean?

Or that I took this photo when I was on a hike at Montana de Oro State Park?

Did you know that they have a great campground there? And a beautiful old ranger station? And about a million raccoons?

Well, 'great campground' to us means no noise, no frills (i.e. toilets that flush, sinks, etc), but a nice flat spot and a big fire pit (we are rather into fire).

Just thought I would send out an invitation to come to our neck of the woods (or rub it in, depending on your viewpoint).

It's Spring!

2011-03-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

My neighbor's pasture has once again become my favorite place, because of the baby lambs that are currently being born. And now that I have refilled my allergy medicine, I can once again run (or walk!) past them every day. There are still turkeys and deer wandering around the fields, but the sheep are by far my favorites. The babies are SO cute. They actually frolic - there aren't many creatures that do. Sometimes they butt heads for fun, and sometimes they run amok. I am easily entertained.

One of the reasons I love the lambs is because of a book I read, Phillip Keller's A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23. Keller really was a shepherd, and describes the incredible difficulties of keeping sheep. What a pain! Sheep apparently are scared of just about everything, and can't eat or drink well unless they are calm and relaxed (thus the need for green pastures and still waters). They will, though, eat stuff that kills them, and will run off of cliffs if so led. Yep, sounds like us. No wonder God has to be a Good Shepherd - and what an unending job! So as I hang out in my own green pastures (our yard, a baseball field, the rolling hills that are that crazy green color), I find myself being extra grateful for my Shepherd and His amazing and patient care of us all.

More Farmgirl Adventures

2011-03-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

We had our 'farmgirl' meeting yesterday, at farmgirl Sally's house, which is out among the oaks, and beautiful. The winter rains have made everything that crazy bright green color that I try to capture every year on film, to no avail. And Sally has a front porch swing that looks out over the landscape, which made me want to just bring a book and park there for a while. But we had to head inside, because we learned to make ricotta cheese yesterday. I thought it would be complex and stinky, but discovered that it is extremely easy, much to my joy. And it doesn't smell at all, because the cheese doesn't sit around. The whole process took about 20 minutes - I am not kidding! And it involved only milk (or half and half, or cream), lemon juice or vinegar, and salt. In fact, it was so easy that I made up another batch when I got home and we ate it for dinner with some pasta (I put the 'recipe' below). It is always exciting for me and my self-esteem to find out that I can indeed do something that previously seemed scary or intimidating. And if a dairy product is involved, well, then, all the better!

However, that was not even the most exciting part of the meeting - we got news that one of our farmgirls could not attend because she (this is so awesome....) got run down by a bull and actually tumbled down a hill and cracked a rib. This is possibly the 'farmiest' thing that's ever happened to someone in our group. And it wasn't even her bull...there is a rancher named Chet (how's that for a cowboy name?) who owns 700 acres that back up to everyone's property, and a few of his cattle broke through the fence and entered her yard, and she was simply trying to shoo them out. All I could say was, "Wow!"

Well - here's the pasta recipe that we happily ate last night for dinner:

3/4 lb whole wheat penne, cooked

2 cups grilled chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces and warmed through

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1/4 cup torn fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

Toss all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and let sit in a warm oven until warmed through

To make homemade ricotta cheese:

We used 'recipes' and directions that we got online at allrecipes.com and epicurious.com

Ricotta cheese is also referred to sometimes as 'Farmers Cheese'

Some Women Buy Shoes....

2011-02-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

I had a book on the waiting list at the local library and got a call that it had come in. The book is I Am Hutterite, by Mary-Ann Kirkby. A friend recommended it to me because I enjoy reading memoirs, particularly of people who have had interesting spiritual experiences. Besides, the cover says that it is both 'riveting' and 'fascinating'. Those words, to me, especially coming with the recommendation of a friend I trust, are like the words '75% off sale!' in a shoe store for some other women. I cannot resist, even if I don't need another book to read.

When I went inside to get the book, I was compelled to walk down a couple of aisles just to browse. And the photo above is what happened after that - 3 mysteries, the hilarious sequel to A Girl Named Zippy, a memoir about a couple who bought a farmhouse in France, a book about a girl in China....

Clearly I have a problem.

Simplicity

2011-02-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

One of the things that Jamey likes to do with our staff and interns is a weekly 'development' time, where we can discuss a skill or concept in-depth, and perhaps do some reading and / or thinking together. It is my turn to lead the discussion this time, and the topic is 'simplicity'. Basically, the goal is that, when you can view your things as gifts and blessings, you can be more content with what you have, and don't need to strive for more 'stuff'. The old, "do you own your possessions, or do they possess you?" question. The discipline of simplicity can be applied to not only material things, but also time and tasks. I think that my being in charge of this topic is, in literary terms, what I would call "ironic". I have posted a photo of our attic as proof, and to 1) keep me humble, and 2) illustrate my lack of expertise in the area of keeping things simple. Ahem.

I have taken the opportunity to re-read a couple of my favorite books: Richard Foster's Freedom Of Simplicity and Margin by Richard Swenson. Swenson's book is really good, but also ironic because, at the end of the final chapter, it contains a list of at least 50 things that you can do to simplify your life. Am I the only person who snickers about that?

And now, I must stop typing and go clean out my closet....

I Gave Birth to a Cheesehead

2011-02-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

The Packers are playing the Steelers tomorrow in the Super Bowl (in case you've been in a cave for the past 2 weeks).

Jason is a huge Packers fan, and I, his mom, am a life-long Steeler fan.

Our house is divided (except that I will be ok no matter what the outcome, because I love Aaron Rodgers).

We will be wearing among us: a Mean Joe Greene jersey, a Greg Jennings jersey, a terrible towel, and an authentic Green Bay Packer cheesehead.

Our Super Bowl Sunday fine dining will include a variety of Utz chips and Tastykakes, sent from Philadelphia by my cousin, who braved a large snowstorm to get to the UPS store.

How much Super Bowl coverage can one family watch? Much to Jamey's chagrin, we are at about 100 hours and counting....I'll let you know on Monday, when I'm watching the recap....or on Tuesday, when I'm watching the parade.

It Happened At Night -

2011-01-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

Finally it happened at our house. When I went out to feed Sadie the Cat and Max the Dog at about 5:45 a.m., I saw the toilet paper hanging from our trees (the photo on the right is the view from the porch out towards the front gate. The other photo is what our house normally looks like). It was a beautiful job - in fact, with all of the trees around, I've often thought that our house would be the perfect candidate for an epic teepee. But, of course, Max the Dog lives out there, and would surely alert us of any hanky-panky, since he lives to bark at joggers, UPS men, and all kinds of critters. As I gazed at the strands, which had gotten moist from the night's fog and had then semi-frozen in place, I could imagine the perpetrators' glee as they realized they were in teepee wonderland.

....Have I mentioned that we have a dog? Yep - and a big, black, scary-looking one at that. And, he barks. A lot. But not that night. The dog that knows when someone is driving down the street with a dog in their car, and lets us know about it, chose to stay inside his doghouse, on the front porch, and sleep, instead of letting us know that our house was being strewn with paper (four days later, and after one rainstorm, there are still pieces of it twenty feet up in the tree tops). My first emotion that morning wasn't anger, but was extreme disappointment in my dog. What was he thinking? What was he doing? What had he eaten earlier that night to put him in some kind of apparent food coma? Shame, shame, shame.

We wondered who could have done it, but not for long - at 7a.m. Jason got the news that it was two junior high girls from down the street (why was this not a surprise?). That made me feel just the tiniest bit better - at least Max the Dog hadn't ignored a car or vehicle pulling up in front. Ironically, as I am typing this, that dog is barking at a group of cyclists heading down the road. What a dog!

We've Been Just a Little Bit Busy....

2011-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's almost February! We have gone from one event to the next in 2011. Jason finished up his soccer season by playing on the all-star team and being the leading goal-scorer, and has moved on to basketball season. Grace has been cheering at high school basketball games, and over the weekend went to the Winter Formal, which she also helped plan and decorate. Jamey has been keeping cars running, trying to keep the roof from leaking - again, cutting and trimming the yard (we are having spring-like weather and the poor plants are confused), and doing his 'regular job' down at Cal Poly. And as for me, well, I've been doing stuff too. I decided to read a book along with Grace (it's an assignment for her Honors English class) and it took me two weeks to finish. The book is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (over ONE THOUSAND pages!), and while it was very interesting, I'm glad I'm finished, because while I was in the middle of it, my library called to tell me that the book I had placed on hold had come in. That book is Novella Carpenter's Farm City, about her adventures in urban farming - much more up my alley (and a mere 269 pages). She talks about raising chickens and turkeys, recycling, hippies, growing tomatoes.....hmmm, familiar!

Along the same lines, I've been to two 'Wild-At-Heart Farmgirl' meetings this month. I even recruited my sweet friend Heather to join. She is a true farm girl at heart - just look at the amazing cards she made me for Christmas! (top photo) And, last summer, she and her family moved to a new house not-really-but-kind-of-so they could have a place for chickens, and now she has four laying hens. This past Monday, we went to Theresa's house in Grover Beach, walked down the street to the monarch butterfly grove (they winter there, about 20,000 of them, from all over) and then learned to make yo-yo's. Not the Duncan, walk-the-dog yoyo, but the grandma's quilt-type yoyos. It was quite a victory for me, because it required sewing and I don't sew. Fortunately, that is not a required skill to join the farm girls. We made heart-shaped Valentine pins (see above photo), but also got ideas for canning lids, greeting cards, Christmas ornaments, and all kinds of yoyo things. And I have to say, I may not know how to sew, but I did pick out some pretty cool fabric! And now I have something else to do in all of my nonexistent free time!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-27T06:19:00.000-08:00

I know that Christmas is over but I thought I'd share a few photos from ours...as you can see from the picture of our Christmas tree, we again got way more presents than we need or deserve. I generally spend much of the holidays feeling 'overly-blessed', even spoiled, by all of the gifts, cards, food options, and family members I have. This is magnified even more when we spend time in other countries, like we did this past summer.

Then there are my kids....like Grace in the photo of us in our Christmas finery (it rained a lot this year so we opted for the stylish black). I read the Christmas story from Luke many times in December, but always, always, when I get to the part in Luke 1 subtitled 'Mary's song', where she calls herself the most blessed of all women, I inevitably think, "Well, maybe, for back then, but she didn't have my family," for I do consider myself the most blessed mom of them all. Over this Christmas break, Grace is going on a mission trip to help homeless people in LA. And as a Christmas gift to his sister, Jason gave a donation to FeedMyStarvingChildren.com that will feed 75 kids in Africa a warm, nutritious meal. I know that getting to be the mom of Jesus was an amazing, unique blessing, but I'm just saying, I wouldn't trade this family for anything, and I think they're pretty hard to beat!

To keep me humble, I've added a photo of one final Christmas tradition - the annual burning of the wrapping paper in our barrel. Jamey noticed the white-trashiness of it, especially since you can see the trailer and canvas garage in the background. It started as a chance to keep the recycling bin from overflowing, and when the kids discovered that foil paper 'makes pretty colors', it stayed as an annual event. Like I said, it keeps me humble....

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas, and, like me, you have had a chance to reflect on your blessings - I'm sure there are some, and it's good to count them as we head into the new year.

Neighborhood Birds

2010-12-16T12:55:00.000-08:00

Lately we've had ducks wintering in our creek, and a flock of wild turkeys (probably about 30 total) hanging out in our neighbor's field in the early morning hours. I love seeing them when I take Jason to school. Yesterday I took Max The Dog down to see them, and he did absolutely nothing. Not even a sniff or a double-take. Pretty disappointing. Lazy, lazy dog! Although it was hard to see in the fog, I did notice that one turkey didn't quite look the same as the others. The tail was longer. It was confusing, until I realized that it wasn't a turkey at all! It seems my neighbor's peacock had crossed the street to hang out with some birds more his size (he normally lives in a yard with all chickens, and mostly bantams at that!). Later on, when the turkeys had gone back over to the pasture where they spend their afternoons, I saw that the peacock was back in his own yard, strutting around like the big man he is. And this morning, he was in the field again, an honorary member of the flock, hangin' with his turkey friends. It made me smile - I was happy for him. Maybe they swap stories about their different lives. Maybe he likes to show the ladies his fancy tail. Maybe he just enjoys being around large birds for a change. I don't know why I find all of this so entertaining....maybe it's from reading all of those "Mother West Wind" books when I was little.

Our Thankful List

2010-11-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

On this cold, beautiful Thanksgiving, it's a good thing to make a list of all of the things we are thankful for. Actually, it's good to do this any day of the year....

10. Every day when I drive to Cal Poly, or to the store, or to the high school, or anywhere, I drive past trees and scenes like the one pictured above. Amazing!

9. My neighbors, this year, have shared walnuts, fruit and vegetables, books, knowledge about making feta cheese, tree-trimming skills, and gardening hours with each other, among other things. Most recently, they purchased about 500 dollars worth of cookie dough from Grace for a cheerleading fundraiser. They are generous and cool.

8. This summer we got to travel to El Salvador, which is a beautiful place, and meet some of the sweetest, kindest people in the world, and whom we now count as friends. And Jamey and I are heading back next week for another quick visit.

7. For dinner today, we got to choose from dozens and dozens of options and combinations (yams with pecans, or yams with marshmallows? green salad, or green beans?), causing us to be thankful for the plentiful food that we enjoy.

6. My parents are here to visit, and Jamey's parents are with his sister (they will come here for Christmas) - what a blessing to celebrate holidays with all of the grandparents!

5. It rained over the weekend.....and our roof didn't leak!

4. Found at Ross this month: 6 Johnson Brothers "His Majesty" turkey plates for $2.50 each. What a deal!

3. My brother made his second trip down from Portland this year to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. He is definitely a crowd favorite!

2. Our kids amaze us every day with their character, intelligence, humor, insight, and abilities. We are their biggest fans and can't believe how awesome they are.

1. While making this list, I realized that I could make it 100 times longer and still have things for which to be thankful (there, I made it grammatically correct that time). There seems to be no end to our blessings!

And for all of these things and so much more, we are very, very thankful!

NUTS!!

2010-11-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

The walnuts have started raining down upon us, which means that it truly now is fall. We are having a bumper crop this year in the neighborhood. My amazing neighbor Monica has 5 acres of walnuts and you wouldn't even believe how many 10-gallon buckets she has harvested, given away, etc. People are actually coming from all around just to pick up all of the walnuts in her yard. Three varieties, and here's how much I know: one kind is "round", one kind is "very small", and the third kind looks a lot like a small brain. In our back yard we have one wonderful English walnut tree. It's the one right out the back door...the one that Max and I guard with vigor all year for these moments (see Pappas Clan vs Squirrels on 8/15/08 for that story). As soon as the nights drop down to about freezing, the walnuts begin dropping, and each morning I go out and collect them. The first couple of days, I could hold them in my hands, but for the past week I've had to use a 4-gallon bucket, or the large basket pictured above, because there are so many. My master gardener neighbors tell me that we are getting so many walnuts because it was so rainy last winter, but I have been pretending to be Annie Oakley since I was a child, so I like to think that some of our bumper crop is because of my sharp-shooting abilities with the squirrels.

The walnuts must then be shelled, which, I have discovered, is a good thing to do while you are watching Steelers games on television, and stored, which I do in 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bags, of which I am currently on my fifth. Wow, it is a good year for nuts!

Here are some of the things I do with walnuts:

Roast them with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon to use in salads, pumpkin bread, cinnamon bread, all kinds of bread, muffins, or to eat by the handful.

Pasta with roasted broccoli and walnuts (recipe from realsimple.com - note: any magazine called "Real Simple" is my kind of magazine!)

Make candied walnuts to give away as Christmas gifts (there's a good recipe at allrecipes.com)

At our house, walnuts can also be used as tiny dog treats, and as a treat that can lure 5 unruly chickens back into the coop - the girls will come running from all over the yard if they hear me cracking a walnut shell. That's how we entertain ourselves in the neighborhood.

One Of These Pumpkins Is Not Like The Others...

2010-11-03T11:26:00.001-07:00

These are most of the pumpkins that we got out of the garden this year. There's another one that stayed on the back deck because it is very heavy, and I was too lazy to pick it up and move it. And there's another one out in the garden that looks like a rectangle, and is a little gooey on one side. Too unattractive for the front porch, alas. Of this bunch, the pumpkin on the far right is about the size of Jason's basketball, so we have some nice big ones this year. And the one on the far left, well, it actually isn't even a pumpkin. One of my neighbors gave us all what she thought were baby butternut squash plants. But to my dismay, when the squash started growing, they turned out to be 'gold ball squash' - they don't store well, and they basically taste just like zucchini when they are cooked, and we had a million zucchini, so this was about the last kind of squash we wanted.

Now, according to the UC Davis web site (which is where we go for 99 percent of our agriculture questions), a gold ball squash should be picked when it is 'the size of a baseball'. But since we were tired of squash, we decided to see just how big one of these bad boys would get. So we left it for a couple of months past its prime, and, tada! A giant, slightly lopsided, pumpkin-y looking yellow squash!

End Of Tomato Season

2010-10-26T14:32:00.001-07:00

Finally it has begun to freeze at night, which has turned my tomatoes black on the vines. But not before I went out for one final harvest and picked about 40 pounds of tomatoes. Thanks goodness I discovered Ball 'freezer jars' at the hardware store while I was in there browsing (I could browse in the hardware store a really long time - there is something wrong with me!). It made my final tomato-keeping adventure so easy I wish I had started doing it in the spring! All I did was cut the stems off of the tomatoes, squeeze out most of the seeds (my gardener neighbor says too many seeds make the sauce bitter or sour) and toss them into the blender. Then, when it was full, I turned it on, and in a few seconds I had a blender full of tomato sauce - ta da! There is even a fill line in these jars so that you don't over-fill and have an explosion in your freezer (this may or may not have happened once before in my freezer). A few minutes of labeling, then a couple of trips up and down the basement stairs, and there they are, waiting to be used this winter in pasta sauce and soup! It made me feel so farmerish. But in a modern, easy way, which is perfect for me, since I am very lazy and consider actual farming to be way too much work.

A Difference Between Boys and Girls

2010-10-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

This summer, Grace took 600 pictures while we were in El Salvador. When she went to Hume Lake, she took almost 300. One day, just to pass the time with friends, she took over 50. Most of her pictures are great - in fact, I am using many of them in my scrapbook of our summer (no, I do not scrapbook - I am ordering online from shutterfly. Real scrapbooking is way too much pressure for me and I cannot handle the stress).

Now Jason, on the other hand, went on a mission trip with his youth group a couple of weeks ago. They went down to Santa Maria, played soccer with kids, put on a carnival (he was the 'bounce house monitor' - that's like putting a compulsive eater in charge of snacks, if you ask me, but no one did), did some clean-up work, put on a drama, and had a huge carne asada taco meal. I know these things because he told me about them. When I asked. I did send a camera along with him. I thought it would be fun to see everything that they did - a story in photos. So when he got back, I took the camera and looked through the pictures. There were 10 photos - like the one below. All in this room. I am told it's the room where the boys slept. And this is a picture of one of the giant pillow fights they had, which were apparently a whole lot of fun, because I looked on Facebook at some other kids' photos, and they looked like this, too. Yep - blurry pillow fight pictures. In their defense, Jason told me they weren't really allowed to bring cameras to the work part.

I just think it's very cute and interesting that my boy and girl are so different. And I am amazed at how great they both are!

Brilliant!

2010-10-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

The following essay was written by Grace in her Honors English class. From time to time the teacher will give them a prompt (this one was on competition in school as discussed in the book Overachievers) and have them write a response. This is one of my favorites - because not only does it show me that Grace knows how to write well, but I really really like the way she thinks! Enjoy:

"Personally, I don't feel like the competition at AHS is as extreme as the cases described in the book. But, after reading this, I'm starting to wonder if I just need to wake up and see the real world. I think academic competition is healthy as a means of inspiration or to encourage students to do their best, but when competition begins to encourage immorality I think it's time for a change. In my opinion, the problem is that students' values have changed, not their morals. Most students know that things like cheating and lying are wrong; that's a moral almost any student will agree with. The problem, however, is that many people, not just high schoolers, value success above morality. So although it goes against their morals to do these things, what's more important to them are grades, college, and eventually a good job. Deeper than that, though, I think what feeds the growing desires of students for good grades is materialism as a means of satisfaction. Because we now live in a world where, from a young age, children are fed the idea that money and happiness go hand in hand, students feel as though they need good grades to go to a good college to get a good job that makes a lot of money. They do these things because they believe it will ultimately lead to happiness. Morality's value is lowered, making cheating a logical step in the path towards satisfaction.

The idea behind academic competition isn't the problem, nor is it unhealthy. Competition can encourage diligence and self-motivation. The problem is that increased materialism is causing students to justify immoral behaviors by saying that such actions are necessary components in one's journey to success. Success meaning lots of money, not a clean conscience, honest heart, and true joy, that is."

Observations From My Second Half Marathon

2010-10-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

I ran my second City-To-The-Sea Half Marathon this past weekend. Here are some things I observed:

1. It is much better to run with a friend than to run alone (eternal thanks to my great friend Jennifer, who trained and ran along with me, and drove us to the starting line in her shiny red Mustang)

2. Not all really old people are very slow

3. When you feel like you need new running shoes, you should probably get them, instead of trying to save money by just getting gel insoles (5 blisters taught me this - 3 on one toe)

4. "Whammy" by the B52s sets a great running pace

5. Energy 'Gu' tastes horrible and doesn't seem to work very well, although the jury is still out on that one

6. When you find yourself behind a really large, sweaty man, it's a good thing to pass him no matter how much it makes your legs burn

7. Running a half marathon must be a little like having a baby - afterwards, you just remember the good parts, and not the pain or the fact that there were way more hills than you remember from the first time

8. Girls should run in pink as much as possible - it will make you feel cute even if you are sweaty and stinky

9. The best parts of any race are 1) the finish line, and 2) carbo-loading on butternut squash ravioli the night before

10. Being able to run along orchards, farms, and an ocean view is amazing and might just make you want to do it again

Friday Nights

2010-10-04T11:53:00.001-07:00

As in many small towns, Friday night here means high school football. I may not have a son on the team, but because of Grace, I have been able to go to most all of the games for the past three years (home and away). I am rather obsessed with football and am so glad I can go to watch the games. I'm not the only non-football parent who goes - we often have more fans than the home team at our away games. One family even drives a motorhome full of fans to all of the games. But in order to not seem like such a stalker, I usually take along one, two, three, or more of Grace's friends, which is fantastic, because I love them. Pictured above with us are Berenice (or 'Bear'), who is originally from Canada and speaks fluent French with her parents (it is beautiful), and Shelly, who was actually the very first person Grace met in public school - they were next to each other in 7th grade PE. It took Shelly's family four years to build their house out towards Creston; not because they were slow, but because that's how difficult our county makes it for people to build new houses. But when they moved in, they had a fantastic housewarming party complete with a rattlesnake that had curled up beside the patio and was quickly killed, skinned, and thrown on the grill. I am not kidding - it was one of the most impressive things I have seen in a long time!

I'd like to keep 'blogging', but I have to go put on my orange and gray (never thought I'd wear that combo!) and head out to tonight's game (taking three girls with me tonight). Go greyhounds!

Why We Love Our Jobs....

2010-09-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

This picture reminds me of why we love our jobs after 22 years. Over 900 students from Cal Poly and Cuesta Community College have packed Mountainbrook Church for the past 2 Tuesday nights to come to the weekly meeting of Campus Crusade. The thing that I think is fantastic is not the number. What is so cool is that there are so many of these students who are having an amazing impact on their friends and others. For example, last Tuesday I saw sweet Kaitlyn. Last spring I got to sit down and have lunch with her (at my very favorite deli in SLO - and there are a lot to choose from - Lincoln Deli) and talk to her as she was applying to go on a summer mission trip. Now, our family's trip to El Salvador was work....lots of prep work ahead of the trip, putting things in order, etc, but I feel like ours was pretty cushy compared to what Kaitlyn did. She spent 4 weeks in the inner city of Seattle, sometimes working with homeless people and people with drug problems, sometimes working with kids, and - this is my favorite part - doing ministry in a women's prison (this was her favorite part, too). They showed a video called Magdalena (about the life of Mary Magdalen) to the inmates and then had discussion groups afterwards.

What is so amazing to me is that Kaitlyn is just one of about 100 students who did stuff like this all over the world this past summer. And many of the rest, who 'just went home', or 'just went to summer school', or 'just worked' made an impact on their families, friends, and others. Every student in this photo has an interesting and unique story, and special abilities and gifts, and it is our privilege to be able to work with them, and hopefully challenge and inspire them, and help them to grow. And that, in a nutshell, is but one reason why we really really love our jobs.

My Favorite Road

2010-09-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite running road. It goes behind our house, on the other side of the creek. I run past fields and oaks, cows, horses, sheep, goats, llamas, pigs, and an awesome donkey named Jack. I've been training for a half-marathon with Running Buddy Jennifer so we've been all over the roads and bridle trails back here. It sure beats the new treadmills at the gym, which have tv screens instead of fans in them (some people prefer this), which in turn makes it difficult for me when 'Overly-Sweaty Guy' or 'Too-Much-Aftershave Guy' end up on the treadmill next to me. Yuck! I've actually met Jennifer at the gym at 5 a.m. twice now to avoid them. For some reason, it's much easier to run 8 miles out here than 4 miles in the steamy treadmill room. I even prefer the smell of cows and horses to the smell of bad after shave. And every time I go, I am reminded of how incredibly blessed we are to live here, where we can run on roads like this just about whenever we want. Even after dark, if we do end up getting the headlamps we are thinking of buying. Until one of us gets sprayed by a skunk....then that will be the end of that.

Saucy

2010-09-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

I went into the garden to pick 'a few' squash and tomatoes, and I discovered the mother-lode of ripe red tomatoes (67, to be exact). The squash and pumpkins got hurriedly shoved onto the basement shelves (I will deal with them later). Since I had the morning at home, I decided to make tomato sauce. I already have about 12 cups of roasted tomatoes in the freezer, and tomato sauce is pretty easy. My foodie friend asked me to tell her how I do it, so I told her, but she thought it sounded 'too easy'. I explained that if it was complex, I wouldn't be doing it.....but here are the steps:

1. Wash the tomatoes and cut off the tops

2. Give them a good squeeze to get out some of the juice and seeds, then toss them into the blender

3. When the blender is full, grind them up. I use the "sauce" setting. Probably anything is fine - I suspect all of those settings are pretty much the same, and that all of the labels ('puree', 'smoothie', 'baby food') are just a marketing gimmick. Does this make me a cynic? Or just really smart?

4. Pour the tomatoes into a large pot and add garlic, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, maybe a little sugar...whatever spices you like.

5. Here's the 'trickiest' part - simmer until it's thick. The juicier the tomatoes the longer it will take. Mine simmered for about 2 hours today. I just stir and check every so often. And taste. But I don't taste until it's been cooking for a while, because otherwise it just tastes like tomatoes, and I myself don't really like that.

6. At this point, I let it cool and store it - some will go into the fridge, because we will be eating it over spaghetti squash tomorrow. The rest I separate, in 1-cup portions, into individual ziploc sandwich bags, in the freezer. I lay them flat and freeze them and then put them in larger freezer bags. Then, when I need a cup or a can of tomatoes for some recipe this winter, I can just thaw and use. Easy as pie! Hey, I have some of those in the freezer, too....

apple time!

2010-08-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

I love apple season. It signifies the coming of fall, and all the wonderful things that come with it: mainly, baseball playoffs, football, and baking. My weekends are now full of Jason's soccer games (exciting to watch) and high school football games (I am so glad Grace is a cheerleader because otherwise I would have no reason at all to go to those....) and my weekdays are full of Cal Poly students, driving kids around (mainly Jason, now that Grace can drive herself!), and trying to reap the bounty of our garden and orchard before it goes bad (also there is quite a squirrel war going on this year, but Max-the-dog and I are doing quite well, thanks to the new ammo my dad bought me, so I won't mention it, lest any of my hippie neighbors happen to read this). This year, it just so happens that the tomatoes are very late, and the apples are early, so they are all ripening right now. Our apple tree is only about 8 feet or so tall, but God bless it, it has produced about 100 or so apples (I'm not sure what variety....I was told golden delicious, but they start dropping when they are still green. As with many of the plants here, it may have been mislabeled when we moved in). I went out the other day to pick "a few" and came in with a full basket (it's like the miracle of the loaves and fishes). Fortunately for me, my sweet mother-in-law is visiting, so she stood at my kitchen counter this morning and peeled and cut apples while I put them into an apple crisp (which we will eat tonight) and two apple pies, which I am freezing for later (I might add that she is also fixing us linguine with clam sauce tonight for dinner. What a great visit this is turning out to be!). Then she escaped somehow and went shopping with my father-in-law. She doesn't know it yet, but I just went outside and picked a whole new basketful!! Ha! I see apple sauce, apple-cinnamon bread, apple dumplings, and apple butter in the future. This is a huge improvement over last year, when we got zero, thanks to those nasty squirrels, who, in one night, went out into the orchard and ate exactly half of every apple hanging on the tree. I think they did it to taunt me. Dirty buggers!

Anyway, apple prep is a relaxing, mindless task that can be done - while watching football! Maybe that's why I like apples so much....

Jason's Best Beach Day Ever

2010-08-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hey look! I am learning how to put videos on the blog! I thought I would share this video from yesterday, when I took Jason and four friends to Pismo Beach for one final glorious beach day before the start of school on Monday. They sat in the sun, they boogie-boarded, they skim-boarded, they went to the candy arcade, they quoted songs and movie lines and made me laugh. And then they decided that they would try to catch a seagull.....

Garden Surprises

2010-08-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

I came home from El Salvador to a neatly-trimmed front yard, thanks to Mom. The garden, however, is being its typical unruly self. Every year the same thing happens - I plant in the spring and the tiny seedlings look so far apart that I think they will have plenty of room to spread out. But then the pumpkins and squash go crazy, and this year the tomatoes have joined them. It makes every trip out there like a little treasure hunt - you never quite know what you will find. The Very Large Pumpkin is easy because it is already turning orange (it will soon have to go into the basement, although I don't know how, since I can't carry it). There are two other pumpkins - one in the middle of my tomatillos, and one over by the cantaloupes (these are at opposite ends of the garden, mind you). And there is a white pumpkin out there somewhere. I saw it once. The vines at this point are beginning to poke out of the fence and head into the orchard. Mixed in with the pumpkins are spaghetti squash (I planted yellow ones, but am getting an equal number of yellow and white ones. No one knows why. One of my hippie neighbors suggested mischevious garden fairies, and I know she was being serious) and what I thought were butternut squash. Turns out they are pattypans. My neighbor made a mistake on her labeling. I found out because I lifted a leaf over by the fence and found a yellow pattypan squash the size of a soccer ball, which caused my friend Heather, who was with me at the time, to laugh until she cried (this is my same friend who got me to run the half marathon - see the Sept 14, 2008 blog entry). I may have simultaneously yelled, "What the?" We cut it in half to positively identify it as a squash and laughed at the size. We are still talking about it - wish I had taken a picture of it. Anyway, there's the garden update for now - in between getting everything ready for the start of school, trying to get to the beach a couple more times, and general house/car/animal upkeep, I head out to the garden every couple of days just to see what surprise is waiting for me next!

Home - Part 2

2010-08-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

We are home! Well, three of us are. Grace, Jason and I came home on Wednesday (Jamey and our students are remaining in El Salvador until the 23rd). After a five-hour flight, customs at LAX, and a four-hour drive north (with only a quick stop at the In-N-Out Burger in Westwood), we pulled into our driveway at about 1 a.m. on Thursday. We are realizing that there are many things to be thankful for about where we live:

1. My parents were our housesitters, so we came home to happy animals, a clean house, a stocked refrigerator, and a trimmed yard.

2. The air here is so fresh and clean! After two big smoggy cities, it seemed like we had arrived at a campsite or something. It really does smell great.

3. It was 72 degrees here today. That was the high. In August. I realize that in a few days it could be up in the high 90's, but today we enjoyed the cool breeze with the windows open.

4. Trader Joe's and other grocery stores - especially the abundance of fresh produce and healthy choices.

5. At night, because we don't have streetlights, there are SO many stars! I notice this often, but we did miss all of the stars when we were gone. The view is particularly amazing from Grace's new hammock, which is now in the backyard.

6. We all have great friends - some we are very sad to leave behind in El Salvador, and some we are so happy to see again.

above photos: our last evening in El Sal, and our first freeway view of LA when we passed over the 405 during our landing at LAX

Home

2010-08-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

From the smiles on these faces, you might think we were at a school or a playground. But on Tuesday and Thursday our team went to a state-run orphanage in San Salvador to paint, clean, wash windows, make lunch, and generally love on these children. Grace spent her time coloring and playing on the trampoline with the little girls, and Jason played basketball and soccer with some of the boys. It was amazing to me how sweet and joyful the kids seemed, even though they come from horrible circumstances. Rosa, the little girl on the right in the picture with me, was worried that I didn't have lunch as she offered me part of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I explained that we would eat our lunch later, and then she asked me if I have brothers or sisters. It turns out she has one brother, just like me. Her brother is sixteen and has moved back home with her mom, to get a job and earn some money (not all of the kids here are totally without parents - some just aren't able or willing to care for them). She misses him and loves it when he comes to visit. But she told me that she doesn't really know her mom at all - she has never been to visit. Some of the babies we held were found abandoned, and don't have names. Many of the older girls are already mothers, even though they are 13 or 14 years old. Their families have expelled them, and they had nowhere else to go.

It was a difficult and wonderful day at the same time. Later on, when I was talking to Layo, the director of Campus Crusade for Latin America, he explained to me why it is so important for us to visit places like this, and to take the Vida Estudiantil students (about 5 went this day) with us. In El Salvador, as in many countries, there is a huge gap between the wealthiest and the poorest citizens. The students who attend Matias University come from the top 3 percent of the population, and are the children of the richest and most powerful people in the country. Most of them have lived very sheltered lives, so it is a great thing, Layo said, for them to go out and paint schools in poor villages, and to serve orphans at the state orphanage. He explained that in the future, these students will be the leaders of El Salvador in politics, the arts, business, and medicine. And he wants them to remember these days and these people. As they go out with our students, they are growing in compassion along with us, and that is a very good thing.

After the morning, we sat around the pool at the hotel and let students talk about what they had experienced. And Jamey shared a verse from the Bible - Matthew 9:36 - which says, "When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." We are growing in our compassion for people, and are seeing a country full of people who God loves.

First Day At Matias

2010-07-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of the new term at Matias, and the Vida Estudiantil students had a table up, giving away candy and fliers, and getting contact information from interested new students. We brought a World Cup soccer ball and t-shirt and a designer purse from the states to be given away as raffle prizes at the first VE meeting on Thursday (at noon). We also put together 100 freshman survival kits to hand out; each contains candy, a flier, and a DVD of World Cup players giving their testimonies. It was fun and encouraging to watch the US students, who are brave but speak almost no Spanish, and the VE students, who speak Spanish but are not always brave, team up to meet and converse with the new students. There are a lot of students who want more information about English Club, Vida Estudiantil, or a relationship with God, and our hope is that when we leave in a few short weeks, the VE students will have the confidence and training to just run with the ministry.

One joy for our family has been hanging out with the wonderful Avendano family. Manuel and Ceci are on staff with Campus Crusade and have two fun boys, Geovanny (a VE student at Universitad Evangelical), and Andres, who is in the fifth grade. Jason has been able to hang out at Andres' school a couple of times and play soccer with all of the kids, and on Friday Andres hung out with us all day at our hotel (it's a cool place to hang out, because of the pool, jacuzzi, game room, and proximity to McDonalds). Manuel has been our driver, tour guide and translator, and Ceci is just basically amazing! I for one would love to host them in SLO for a change. How fun that would be!

We will be on campus the rest of this week and will round out the week by taking a group of kids from an orphanage to see 'Toy Story Three' in Spanish on Saturday morning. And we are still thinking ourselves hugely blessed to be here...

The Fun Stuff

2010-07-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

We have been working hard on campus, but since classes at Matias University begin on Monday, we have had quite a bit of time up front to do some sightseeing and exploring around this beautiful country. On Wednesday, we went to the beach (Punta Roca, for all of you surfers out there), where Jason finally found a coconut tree to mess with, and Grace found a sweet little parrot friend. The sand is black here, since it's volcanic, and on our way we drove past mango trees, starfruit trees, and a rhododendron tree at least 30 feet tall (I have a rhododendron outside of my house, off the porch. It is 3 feet tall at the most - a shrub. I will blame my soil.)

Today we went to "El Boqueron" (meaning 'wide gap') National Park to see the San Salvador volcano, pictured above. Grace said it was like driving through a post card. I felt like I was on a movie set. Someone mentioned 'Jurassic Park'. Unbelievable plants, colors, bugs, birds, and then we got to the crater and were able to hike along the rim a little and look down in (it hasn't erupted since 1917, and there was no steam coming out, or rumbling, so we felt perfectly safe). The jungle here is gorgeous. On the way back down, we stopped for yet another great meal at a coffee plantation. Jamey and I decided to go native and order some typical Salvadorean fare of pupusas, yuca (it actually is a yucca root, but looks and tastes like big thick french fries), and plantains that were filled with beans and cheese, with horchata to drink. YUM.

Tomorrow we will be attending the Union Church here (an English-speaking church, where a lot of missionary families and embassy personnel go), and then we are off and running early Monday morning. We will be on both Matias campuses handing out some freshman survival kits (consisting of a soccer dvd, a flyer about Vida Estudiantil, and candy of course), raffling off a world cup soccer ball (boys) and a designer purse (girls), and just continuing to meet and talk to students. We will be helping the student leaders at Matias (about 10 or so) with their weekly meeting, and just talking to them and encouraging them, and our US students will be running a couple of weekly English clubs. In between, we will continue to explore, and enjoy, and eat, and generally feel very blessed that we get to spend our time in this amazing place!

10 new things we are learning about el salvador

2010-07-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

1. When an elevator says "holds 10", it means 10. Try to put in, say, 13 students, 1 intern, 1 mom and 1 daughter, for example, and you will get stuck!

2. When a minivan (called a "micro" here) says it's a 10-passenger van, now that is just a suggestion. You can stuff up to 14 or so people in one of these.

3. To young Salvadorean girls, Jason Pappas in a baseball hat and sunglasses bears a striking resemblance to teen pop sensation Justin Bieber (see picture above). This could possibly be the highlight of his trip.

4. Barbecued rabbit might just be better than barbecued beef at some food festivals.

5. It is possible to find bread, juice, and peanut butter without 'ickies' (i.e. chemicals) in El Salvador, much to the delight of Grace Pappas.

6. When you run on a treadmill and impress yourself with the distance, it is good to remember that it may just be because the treadmill is calibrated in kilometers, not miles.

7. The jungle in El Salvador is amazing and beautiful (see picture above), even when wet from an afternoon thundershower.

8. Coke zero is everywhere.

9. Washing machines are not (we are spoiled).

10. The people of El Salvador are some of the most friendly, patient, and helpful people on the entire planet.

Buenos Dias de El Salvador

2010-07-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

Hello from El Salvador! We arrived at 7:30 yesterday morning, checked into our hotel, and enjoyed our first day in the city of San Salvador, capped off with a traditional dinner of pupusas. If you aren't familiar with them, imagine a very thick corn tortilla with something in the middle, like melted cheese, beans, pork, or squash (my favorite....perhaps a new use for all of those extra zucchinis?) Today we had our students learning about the culture, as taught by Manuel, Ceci, Janet, and Selegna, the San Salvador staff team, along with Brandon, a Cal Poly alum and current stinter here. We walked to the closest Pizza Hut for dinner tonight and ran back in a downpour - evenings here remind me of the monsoon season in Arizona, when there is a quick, crazy thunderstorm about every night. Jason, Grace and Jamey headed up to the 11th-floor game room, gym and jacuzzi (I think Jason is boxing some of the boys on the Wii) while I am sitting in the lobby, writing, 'facebooking', checking email, and watching the Padres take the lead over the Diamondbacks in the fourth inning thanks to my very generous husband and MLB.com. Tomorrow being Saturday, we will be touring the countryside, going to one of the smaller villages that has a wonderful food market and arts and crafts fair every weekend. I will have my camera in hand! The above photo is one that we took at lunch today on the balcony of Shaw's restaurant (and purveyor of delicious-looking chocolate creations). Sunday we will go to church with Manuel, Ceci and family, and then we will begin going to campus on Monday. Every one of us (22 total) is doing quite well so far. Our beds are comfy, the food is wonderful and plentiful, and the people are super friendly and helpful. I will do my best to keep everyone posted on our progress and adventures over the next three weeks....hasta luego for now! Y muy buenos noches...

And We're Off!

2010-07-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that because of our work with Campus Crusade, we do quite a bit of traveling during the summer. This year is no different - we are heading to El Salvador tomorrow (after a brief stopover in Orange County). Jason, Grace and I will be gone for three weeks, and Jamey and the students (16 of them) will be there for 6 weeks. We will be helping to run the campus ministry at Matias University in San Salvador, with some relief work and some sightseeing thrown in as well. It is both exciting and hard for our kids to leave home in the summers; fortunately this year's trip is after Hume Lake and the end of baseball season, but before cheer camp and the start of soccer season. And although I love to travel, it is always a huge stress to find a housesitter to care for 1 aging dog, 2 fighting cats, 6 hens, multiple fruit trees, a garden, and an old house (where anything could break at almost any moment). This year my parents are greatly blessing us by staying at our house while we're gone. I am praying that their time will be relaxing and uneventful, except for my dad catching 'the big one' - a halibut, we're hoping. And if he can bag a few rodents with the bb gun, well, that would great, too.

If you think of us, or of Cal Poly, or of El Salvador, please say a quick prayer for our health, our safety, and our project in general. Thank you! It is my intention to update the blog a couple of times (the up-side of needing to stay in a safe place is that it is a nice hotel with internet), maybe with a photo or two if I can handle the technology, so I will try to keep you all posted. Here's to another adventure for the Pappas family! Hasta luego.....

First Fruits

2010-06-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

We are happily harvesting the first plums and apricots off of our trees. It's been a crazy and drama-filled couple of weeks. In the past fourteen days we have:

Been to Tucson and back to get a dream car from Grandpa (Grace and Jamey; a 76 vw bug)

Discovered that there is no way we can register the car in California, even after hours on the phone and internet, exploring all possible scenarios (Jamey) and mourned the loss (all of us)

Been beaned in the arm for the first time in a baseball game (Jason - approx. speed 80 mph)

Had wisdom teeth removed (Grace) and subsequently watched 7 movies

Been to LA and back in a day to get a part for the old station wagon (Jamey)

Gotten 2 squirrels, 3 mice, and 1 big fat ground squirrel in the ongoing war against critters (Gretchen and Jamey and Max the dog)

Been in yet another fight with the black mystery feline (Sadie the cat)

Alas, died (Jemima the chicken. Rest in peace.)

The garden and orchard provide a few moments of escape from 'life', but to really get away, we are heading for our favorite spot in Big Sur tomorrow for a couple of days. If you have never been, you should google it and just look at the pictures. Amazing. Keep an eye out for Sand Dollar State Beach and Plasket Creek Campground.....that's where we will be!

The Greek Festival

2010-06-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Jamey and I went to the San Luis Obispo Greek Festival downtown on Sunday. It is put on by the only Greek Orthodox church in the county, whose sweet pastor called us once to invite us to their Easter service because our last name is Pappas. I felt a little guilty explaining to him that we actually attend a different church, and that I'm not even Greek. We saw families with yiayias (grandmas). We watched about 10 little children do some Greek dancing, then some grownups try as well. We counted the times we heard non-Greek people yell, "Opa!!" There were booths selling gyros, souvlaki, and "Got Ouzo?" t-shirts. And then we came to the Greek pastry booth, which had an amazing selection of every kind of treat that can be made from phyllo. Jamey was searching for something his Greek grandma made when he was little....and we found something very close, pictured above. They are called loukoumathes and they are quite delicious - kind of like donut holes. The whole family liked them and I'm personally hoping they never ask me to make them, because I've discovered that most Greek dishes are very time-consuming and involved, and I myself am quite lazy. One time I actually made kourabiethes (small almond cookies shaped just so and rolled in powdered sugar). Never again. You can buy the things in town at the Mediterranean restaurant and market! We will just consider these little gems a once-a-year treat. If you ever have the chance to go to a Greek festival, you should do it. Go hungry, and be ready to tap your feet to the music.

This Is Not My Zucchini Plant

2010-06-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year again - our garden is in and most things are growing. It looks like once again we will have a bumper crop of pumpkins, butternut squash, anaheim peppers and cantaloupe, some romaine lettuce, tomatillos and tomatoes, and a few runty ears of corn. That's not counting the oodles of apricots, plums, and peaches that we are trying to keep our old adversaries the squirrels away from (note: Grace ran down her first squirrel in the road yesterday. They simply cannot be avoided. I don't want her to try to veer away from them and accidentally hit a tree or mailbox, so I told her I will give her a dollar every time she hits one. Am I a bad mother?).

And of course, that neighborhood favorite, the zucchini (see the blog entry from June 18, 2008). This year I am going to do my best to keep track of how many zucchinis we get off the plant. We will be eating the first 4 tonight, probably grilled, since we are having our first heat wave this weekend and I don't want to use the stove or oven.

I found this picture on the internet of the world's biggest zucchini plant, and doesn't it just put us all in our places! Here we were in Garden Farms thinking we cornered the market on growing large zucchinis. Wow. I guess that shows us!

Zucchini season means that our neighborhood farmer's market is starting up soon. I wish you could all come to that - it's a cultural experience for all! All kinds of goodies will start showing up - but no zucchini....everyone knows better than that!

Hooray for Baseball Season

2010-05-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Recently my cousin Brett commented, "You know baseball, in our family, has always run through our veins". And it's true, particularly for me and this boy here. He is the smallest one on his team (note the uniform number '1'), and plays with at least one boy who shaves, and one who is 6'2" and 185 pounds, but is batting over .400 so far, with 10 sacrifices and 12 rbis. Moral of this story? I have no idea. I just know it brings me joy to go and watch these games and watch my son throw down a bunt that catches the other team completely off guard, or somehow manage to whack a liner into the outfield. Awesome!

Vroom Vroom!

2010-05-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well, today is a glorious day for us. Particularly for Grace Pappas, age 16, and for me, her mom and former chauffer. That's right, Grace Ann got her driver's license today! First of all, I would like to applaud the stoic older man whose job it is to take kids out on their driver's tests. Whatever he gets paid, let me tell you, it is not enough. Second, for all of you who are wondering if I am scared, anxious, etc: Of course I am! Feel free to pray for us whenever you think of it. But I am mostly excited because in my head I am imagining conversations such as the following:

Grace: "Mom, we're out of chocolate soy milk!" (yes, I'm so sorry, my dairy-farming family, my daughter prefers soy milk. I swear I did not teach her this!)

Me: "Here's some money - go get some!!"

Or -

Grace: "Hey Mom, it's time for me to go to cheer practice!"

Me: "Here are the keys. Drop your brother off at the baseball field on your way, please."

I am really looking forward to not driving to the movie theater, to the Pismo Beach outlets, and especially to Forever 21. Now I will have more time to go to the places I like. Mainly, home, Farm Supply, and Miner's Hardware and Garden. A glorious day, indeed!

Speaking Of Survivors...

2010-04-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

I took my trusty canine buddy Max for a walk down to the corner yesterday to check on the progress of the beaver dam. These beavers have kind of become the mascots of Garden Farms, and since the creek became a raging torrent back in January, neighbors have been checking on them from time to time. Updates even show up often in our neighborhood blog (gardenfarms.blogspot.com). After the 'big storm', sadly, two beavers were found dead - one down by the church and one back behind the Robertsons' house - and we were afraid there were no more. But then, my neighbor (the one who lives 'off the grid' with the wood-burning hot tub) found some telltale chewed sticks and stumps, and there was much rejoicing. I personally think that folks around here relate to the beavers because they are a) unusual, b) stubborn and c) slightly out of place (I'm talking about the beavers!). So here on the bottom is a photo of our great survivors. We are currently hoping for a baby beaver or two. I'll keep you posted!

While I was at it, I took a picture of another survivor - the ancient sycamore that's been growing beside the creek for as long as there are any records (there are photos downtown at the historical society of Garden Farms in 1918, and this tree is in them). It is gnarled, bumpy, and scary to small children (again, I'm referring to the tree and not any of my neighbors), but its recent claim to fame is that after the earthquake of 2004, a bear wandered down the creek, ate two of my neighbor's geese, then climbed up into this tree and took a nap. It's a Garden Farms version of Goldilocks!

New In The Yard

2010-04-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

The clematis - a beautiful flower with a terrible name. We have two blooming with two more buds, which is amazing because this vine got trampled by the dog when it was tiny, and almost froze away this winter. Which means that it is the best kind of plant to have in our yard - a survivor.

I Joined The Club

2010-04-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

For years I have enjoyed reading a magazine called "Mary Jane's Farm", which talks about things like gardening, sewing, camping, outdoor cooking (and bathing, which I would never ever do). Snarky Jamey sometimes refers to it as my 'hippie commie magazine' (I like to remind him that the early Christians also had communist leanings, if you think about it, although their motivation was quite different). One day I was chatting with my neighbor and she mentioned a 'farmgirl sisterhood' she had started, and I recognized the term from Mary Jane's mag and asked her about it. Turns out there are several women who gather at her house every other Monday to do 'farmgirl' stuff (although I think if any actual farmgirls knew about all this, they would just laugh in our faces). They made aprons, created an all-organic lunch of soup, salad and bread that they made mostly from their gardens, started a beehive, and have hiked all over the county to view wildflowers. I, being a farmgirl wannabee, have been to two of these meetings. I helped to weed a neighbor's garden, and, along with about 10 other ladies, I helped to make this beautiful soap. Out of goat's milk and lye. Lye is nasty - it is difficult to find and purchase (you have to convince the pharmacist you are not making meth, apparently), it really stinks, and it burns the skin instantly, so we had to wear goggles and gloves (for more lovely photos and goings-on, you can check out the blog at wildatheartfarmgirls.blogspot.com). I learned that it is MUCH easier to buy soap at the store. I really appreciate soap manufacturers, in fact. Then, I went to the store and bought myself an apron. Our next meeting is on Monday and I'll let you know what we do or don't do next!

Benefits of A Rainy Winter

2010-03-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

It was a very rainy winter. One week in February this year, we got almost 12 inches of rain. My favorite running route is still closed off because of standing water. Our old house has leaked in two different places. The floor just inside the back door was constantly muddy. The creek was way up and the dog was bored.

But as you can see from the above photo (from our local NBC website, ksby.com) we are currently enjoying the benefits of all that water. We've never seen such flowers - from the bulbs and blossoms in our own yard to the wildflowers in abundance on the hills. I have at this very moment 22 tulips and 10 irises in various vases around the house. Amazing!!

All of this means: it's gardening season!! Planted so far: onions, artichokes. We will keep you posted.....

The Feast

2010-03-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

It started out several years ago, when the first day of the NCAA basketball tourney coincided with Saint Patrick's Day. Since our whole staff team (of 5) was going to be at my house watching the games anyway, I thought I'd just make some corned beef and cabbage for dinner. When else could we eat such a thing? The next year, I added colcannon, a potato dish, and an apple crisp for dessert. Later on, I decided it would also be fun to try to speak in an Irish brogue for the whole day. Which brings us to this year's St Patty's Day feast at our house.....now for a crowd of 24 (our staff, interns, our kids, and 'significant others'). Menu: Brown bread, Irish cheddar, pickles, corned beef and cabbage with mustard-cream sauce, Irish stew, colcannon, and Irish cream cheesecake for dessert. Here's how my Tuesday (the 16th) and Wednesday (17th) went.....

Tuesday, March 16 - 6 a.m.: set out 48-oz brick of cream cheese to soften, dig giant crab-cooking pot and spring-form pan out of cellar.

6:05 - wash dust and cobwebs off of pot and pan

9 a.m. - prepare first two loaves of Irish brown bread for baking

10:30 - prepare next two loaves for baking, consider eating half of a loaf for lunch but resist

noon - boil 25 potatoes, cook chopped kale and onion for colcannon

12:30 - shove baking dish full of colcannon into fridge (rearranging things to find space)

1p.m. - begin making first of two Irish cream cheesecakes, which require the aforementioned brick of cream cheese, the spring-form pan, and three stages (crust, filling, topping) of mixing and baking. Quickly realize why I haven't made this cheesecake in 14 years (Christmas of '96!). Consider putting some Bailey's Irish Cream in my iced coffee, but chicken out, since I have to pick up 5 kids from school in two hours. Also, I don't really drink Bailey's Irish Cream...

10 p.m. - get last cheesecake out of oven, cool, cover, cram into over-crowded fridge

Wednesday, March 17 - 5:30 a.m.: get bag of produce out of cellar where it was being stored since there was no more room in fridge; secretly rejoice that there are no signs of mice getting into it

6 a.m.- chop 3 onions; cook with 3 lb beef for Irish Guiness stew; begin stew in crock pot

9-11 a.m. - clean house, shower, find green T-shirt and earrings, listen to Chieftans station on Pandora

11 a.m. - chop turnips, carrots, parsnips; add to stew

1 p.m. - start simmering 3 corned beef roasts in giant crab pot on stove

4 p.m. - add cabbage to corned beef, put colcannon in oven, get drinks ready in big tub, get dishes and silverware out (including awesome festive napkins I bought last year after St Pat's Day)

5 p.m. - enjoy the party, the music by the Chieftans, watching Kevin and Jenn's red-haired daughter Abby run around my yard chasing chickens, and trying to master an Irish brogue. Give large helpings of cheesecake to the people who drove my kids home from their youth groups so we didn't have to leave the party

9 p.m. - 10:30 - do most of the clean up (Jamey helped. A LOT), take out several bags of garbage, start dishwasher, store leftovers, eat one last piece of cheesecake, consider making cheesecake more often

Thursday at 4 p.m. - put away last of the dishes, clean sink with bleach because Irish food seems greasy, enjoy a delicious piece of cheesecake with kids, collapse on couch to watch some basketball games, start thinking about next year's feast!

I have been asked why I do this? Why don't I make it a potluck? Truly, I have no idea, except that I like doing it once a year (twice....I also do a staff Christmas dinner). If this is still a conundrum for you, read a short story called "Babette's Feast" by Isak Dinesen (it was made into a movie years ago. In Danish. I actually made Jamey watch it once). It's about a French woman who washes up on a Scandinavian shore after a shipwreck and is cared for by the townspeople. Then she wins the lottery and uses the money to make them all a grand French feast in appreciation. All of the money. They, being stoic, strict Puritan-types, don't get it. I don't really, either, except that I really love feeding the people I like a good meal. Once or twice a year. Or four times, if you count the annual Super Bowl Party and Memorial Day Barbecue, too....

Green Eggs....and Chicken

2010-03-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Oh, the dilemma: we were all mentally prepared to place an ad offering "seven retired non-laying hens, free" on Craig's List, since we hadn't seen an egg since about July (I had to start buying them at the grocery store again....unacceptable!). We had toyed with the idea of butchering them ourselves (messy, gross, and I'm not going to pluck the things) but were warned that old chickens are way too tough to cook any other way except 'boiling the dickens out of them', as one of my neighbors suggested. Then, just when we were ready to go online and type up the add, I found the above beautiful greeny-blue egg in the box. I have found several since then. Actually, someone has been laying enough for our family (8 or so per week) so we are granting the girls a temporary stay of execution.

I guess this means I will not yet be getting a miniature cow or donkey that I've had my eye on....

News Briefs From The Homestead

2010-02-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

I thought I would take a couple of photos that show what happens when I walk out the back door. The chickens come waddling from all corners of the yard in hopes of some scraps (if I don't bring them anything, they hop up on the picnic table and look for leftover cat food....greedy little things!), the cat comes running to me because he loves me so (okay, maybe it's because he's hoping for some food, too), and Max the dog, well, he is just always looking for a good belly-scratching.

In other news, we gave Jason's room a thorough cleaning this week. We gave clothes and toys to Goodwill, shoes to Haiti, and about a million gum wrappers and a pound of dirt and pretzel crumbs to the garbage can. And if you have ever felt like an inadequate housekeeper, what I am about to tell you will be amazing for your self-esteem. I decided to clean out the top two shelves of Jason's closet, so I could put more stuff up there and get it out from under the bed. Because our house is old and quirky, Jason's closet is narrow and deep, so getting to the shelves involves maneuvering a chair in there, and then holding onto a wooden rod with one hand while using a long yardstick (or broom handle...or arrow) to pull stuff out from the depths. And because I am short, I can't always see what I am bringing out until it falls on my head. First I pulled out some blocks, old matchbox cars, and a bin of dried-up play-doh. But then, I retrieved the object in the very back after much effort. And it was...(this is really embarrassing) a package of pull-ups (yes, the diaper kind). Have I mentioned that Jason is almost THIRTEEN? Wow. Glad those are gone! That could be humiliating if found by someone's junior high buddies.

Last news item - Grace is away this weekend on a mission trip with her youth group. They are in Fresno, and when you are done snickering, let me tell you that Fresno is one tough city. There are some very gnarly parts of town, and that's where the 40-plus kids are. Now I am getting a glimpse of what it's like for the parents of our Cal Poly students when we go off to exotic places like El Salvador and East Asia (and San Diego, and Colorado....). It is a new way of 'trusting God with my kids'. Grace took our camera with her, so some photos are coming shortly, I am sure....

Enjoy the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day and we will be in touch soon with the latest from our little acre!

Christmas Trees and Bonfires....

2010-01-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

We got home last weekend from San Diego, where we spent a few great days at Campus Crusade's Winter Conference. It's a whole lot of fun for us all. Lots of students, time with dear staff friends, an adjacent amazing mall (complete with after-Christmas sales! Would you believe there's no mall in the entire county of San Luis Obispo? It's true), a pool and jacuzzi for all of the junior-high-aged boys, warm-water surf - oh, the endless delights!

The down side of going away for a week right after Christmas is losing all of that time to slowly put away the decorations at your leisure. Instead, we arrived home on the evening of January 1st to a crispy tree and some droopy red ribbons on the picket fence (it rained while we were gone). Every year it's the same dilemma - what to do with that tree? In the past, we've taken it in to be made into mulch (have I mentioned that our neighborhood is somewhat insanely environmentally conscious?), and the other option, of which I am a little bit ashamed, but not really: cutting it into bits and shoving it into the green waste garbage can (do NOT tell our neighbors!). This year, however, I discovered a fabulous option number three.

I happened to be standing looking out onto the street when I saw my neighbor's son drive past with a pickup truck full of old Christmas trees, which he took into his yard. Later that day (I'm not exaggerating here - it was the same day) I was driving past the back of their property, and saw the trunks and a few spindly branches left of those same trees. "Wow, that's fantastic!" I thought, and wondered what had stripped those trees so quickly? Turns out it was 6 goats having themselves a delicious post-holiday treat. So immediately we volunteered our tree to be goat chow, which made everyone happy.

Another neighbor of mine disposed of his tree in more dramatic fashion: with a burn pile to beat all burn piles. I'm not kidding when I say that many people around here look forward to burn days with a glee that makes me a little bit uncomfortable. Country boys like to play with fire, I suppose. It gets very dry here in the summer and fall, you see, so we must await the winter rains and the all-clear from the sheriff before we can light up those piles of trimmings, leaves and brush. Anyway, the smoke from this fire could be seen and smelled for miles (all the way up at the junior high downtown). On our way down the road, coming home from school, I wondered whose barn was on fire. But no worries - as we passed by (trying not to let the 20-foot flames blind me or melt the paint on the side of my truck) we could see a happy young boy standing beside his proud papa (complete with beer can in hand) watching the bonfire. This was right before I drove into the giant cloud of smoke. It was impressive - in fact (I'm not making this up), the pile was still smoldering and spewing out smoke at least 24 hours later. Now THAT'S a fire. We ourselves are a little more demure with our fires - we only have a burn barrel (yes, that's correct. In addition to a chicken coop, a trailer, and an old station wagon, there's also a barrel in my yard. Stop humming that Hank Williams Jr song). We only use it occasionally for excess cardboard, last year's schoolwork, and our Christmas wrapping paper (it's quite a show - foil wrap makes awesome colors). And possibly a very small amount of styrofoam and/or plastic packaging may or may not have been thrown in just to see what would happen....do NOT tell our neighbors!

Thoughts While Making Dumplings

2009-12-21T15:43:00.000-08:00

I recently made 27 apple dumplings. And soon I'll be making about a dozen more. It was my opportunity to put on some Christmas music (thank you Pandora.com) and do some good menial tasks in silence. Delightful! Almost as good as the morning I drove from our house down to Cambria along my very favorite country road (Santa Rosa Creek Rd) to get some chocolate sauce and other gift items to send back east. The dumplings remind me of my grandma and great-grandma, and maybe that's why I love making them. Also, they cannot be rushed. It is slow work making the dumplings - peeling, coring, filling, then wrapping and baking. It makes me slow down and gives me time to think. And did I mention the quiet? Except for the music, of course - side note: when you choose "Chieftans Holiday" music as your Pandora.com station, you get some great Celtic-style Christmas songs and, occasionally, a hilarious holiday Irish drinking song thrown in (there's one that tells the story of an Irish man who couldn't make it the whole way home on Christmas Eve and had to sleep in a church and woke up during midnight mass, for example). My other favorite thing about making dumplings is that there's not really a recipe. When I asked my grandma for one, she didn't know it, and just started making them, saying, "Well, you just do this, and then add some of this, and then do this, and then sprinkle on some of this...." so I gathered the info on my own, frantically writing down what I saw her doing. And they turn out all right! Just like having your own personal apple pie, and even better with ice cream. The taste of Christmas, to me.

In the slowed-down-ness of Christmas vacation, we are also finding time to play games and watch some of our favorite holiday classics ("Home Alone", "A Christmas Story"), and to enjoy some things that only happen around Christmas, like the Garden Farms Holiday Parade (truly a sight to behold!). Last year, Jamey got to dress up like Santa and lead the way. This year we got to dress up Sandy the '62 Rambler and drive her in the parade. I have to admit, the car was pretty cute with all of the decorations that Grace and her friend Shelly put on. There was also an assortment of old trucks, tractors, wagons, a wheelbarrow or two, a couple of horses, and a Porsche that I didn't even know my neighbor owned (what a show-off!). The parade started at one end of Walnut Avenue and proceeded all the way through the neighborhood to our neighbors' garage (which looks like an actual garage from the outside, but has couches, a wood stove, and a beer tap - probably for home brew - on the inside) for grilled sausage and tri-tip, because in Garden Farms, we're always on the lookout for a reason to enjoy some barbecued tri-tip!

Later that evening Jason and I went down to SLO for the annual Christmas carol sing-along at our church, which I love. If you are not yet in the Christmas spirit, try reading the verses of O Holy Night (2 is my favorite) or What Child Is This? I secretly sing these two songs to myself when impatient or greedy people in cars or stores make me forget momentarily what Christmas is really about.

In the words of Tiny Tim (the Dickens character - not the odd 60's singer), "God bless us, everyone!"

Hope you all have a wonderful, meaningful, peaceful Christmas!

Giving Thanks

2009-11-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I've been thinking about "the Thankfulness Game", an activity I used to do with my kids when they were younger, but also something I do by myself whenever I find myself complaining too much (that means "often"). It's really good for us to reflect on all the things we can be thankful for - big, small, important, silly. A friend of mine just found out that her breast cancer is in remission (big!). Grace made it through the whole football season without a knee injury. Jason just got a "10 out of 9" on a math test (extra credit). Jamey and I had a wonderful, safe trip to El Salvador and back to visit our students, and my mom and dad were able (and willing) to come and be cooks and chauffers for the kids. This morning, about 15 ladies and I filled 60 boxes with food for needy families in our community, and there was enough food leftover for 10 more boxes. Jamey finally was able to get rid of the mole in the yard (yes, all of that damage was caused by one tiny rodent - impressive!). Grace has been driving around town for four weeks without incident. All kinds of things to make me grateful! And once you start playing the game, there's no end to the things you can come up with. We are sometimes so good at it that we can turn negatives into positives. No walnuts on the tree this year? At least I can buy a bag of them - already shelled, roasted and chopped, for my convenience. My son can't name one single thing he wants for Christmas? I am thankful he's not greedy! The house is really cold? Hey, no problem - we now have our choice of using the heater or the wood stove. The clear coat is coming off of our old Camry in a very unattractive pattern? Awesome! I really never worry about a tiny scratch on it - or that it might get stolen, for that matter. A recipe for stuffed acorn squash was deemed "gross" by the family? Woo hoo! No overeating for me! Perhaps my favorite: I found several gray hairs the other day , but I am thankful because my blonde hair makes them less noticeable, and because the gray ones are much thicker than the otherwise baby-fine blondies. See how good this can make you feel? Amazing! You might want to start keeping a list for yourself. It can make you feel humble and good, and grateful. And remind us all of why we celebrate Thanksgiving. Have a wonderful one!!

Fall and the joys & ironies of owning a dog

2009-10-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

Orange is for fall, and finally on October 1 it began to cool off here. One morning it got all the way down to 34 degrees! So just when I got my more finicky plants over the heat, it has almost started to freeze at night. We even turn the heater on in the mornings. Now that's cold.

Crisp fall mornings are my favorite time to go out for a run, but lately I've been running alone, because of a knee injury to my faithful canine running buddy, Max (in fact, Jason is the only person in our family who hasn't blown out a knee, but watch out - basketball season is just around the corner!). We have given him the nickname "Limpy" (except when he trees a squirrel, or when the UPS man drives down the street; then we call him "Barky") and it makes me feel so guilty to watch his sad face in the mornings when I leave that I have taken to driving the kids to school, then parking somewhere, then running, then driving home. Or having Jamey drive me somewhere and then drop me off so I can run home. Horrible!

We are waiting for Max's knee to 'calcify' and kind of heal itself where the cartilege has been torn. I know this because I saw the xray. Dog xrays on Max are quite a production, because the vet has to put him under to do it, and then he acts loopy from the anesthesia for a while. Oh, and it costs us $220, which is why we tried to put this one off for a while, but the injury (alas) did not "heal over time".

So, as the vet explained, our options are: 1) A $1700 surgery (no), 2) a $3000 surgery (never), or 3) keeping Max as comfortable as possible while his knee heals itself, for free (bingo!). To help, I actually purchased, on-line, a large bottle of "Roast Beef Flavored Canine Buffered Aspirin" (gross). The vet told me (with a perfectly straight face) to inspect Max's droppings (I can't believe how much of my life involves other creatures' poop in some way or other) for blood, which would mean the aspirin is too hard on his stomach. This is the ironic part. I'm pretty sure that Max's original injury came from maneuvering his way into and out of the compost pile that I no longer have, so that he could eat our rotten old food. And this is the dog that I had to train not to eat horse poop while we are out on a walk. This is the dog who once found a fried chicken leg by the side of the road and ate the whole thing. And, as his grand finale, over the summer, he ate an entire beef rib bone. Crunched up and swallowed the whole thing (I was pretty sure that night that I would be taking him to the vet, but no! Not even a little discomfort). Oh the irony of that nasty tank of a stomach being taken down by a small aspirin.

So I'm left to run past the turkeys, deer, and cows on my own, while Max spends his days recuperating in the sun, keeping guard over the yard, and happily licking chicken poop off the back porch.

Echoes Of Gardeners Past....

2009-08-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

I could have sworn last week that I heard my grandfather's voice coming out of my own mouth. We were getting ready to grill some hamburgers and I grabbed a tomato from the garden and began to slice it. Now, if you've ever seen or enjoyed a home-grown tomato, you will know exactly where I'm coming from. But the sight of the insides of it just about brought tears to my eyes. Red all the way through, not too hard or chalky, not too soft or mushy. It was perfect. It was kind of a tiny affirmation to me that I am living my life right. Yes, I am doing my part to tend the earth, and to be a good steward (it sounds melodramatic and silly when I write it out, but I think things like this sometimes. I'm a little absurd this way.)

And then, as my son watched on, I uttered a phrase that I distinctly remember my grandfather saying time and time again, and that I suspect is said perhaps more than any other during the summer. I pointed to the plate and said, "Now, THAT"S a tomato!!" Jason, of course, rolled his eyes. He and Grace have way more important things to do than listen to me gush about tomatoes, or peppers, or pumpkins, or plums. Oh well.

For all of you gardeners, I have a hilarious book to recommend. It's by William Alexander and it's called (and here it's frustrating because I don't know how to make it underline, so I'll just put the title in quotes - I know it's not grammatically correct), "The $64 Tomato". My favorite chapter was the one on deer and other garden enemies. As Jamey and I battle moles in our yard, I can definitely relate. A great read at the end of the summer. Now I'm off to go check on the tomatoes.....

Corona as Currency In Garden Farms...

2009-08-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, we cut down about 15 trees in our backyard. Yes, 15. These trees are called "trees of heaven" by arborists, but we consider that to be a huge irony since they basically spring up quickly and then, when they reach about 10 feet in height, simply die and stand there looking hideous in the yard. They are more like giant weeds on steroids. So "Charlie The Tree Guy" (it's his real name) came and cut them down, but because 1) I am a cheap miser, and 2) Jamey loves his tools, we thought we would do the rest by ourselves. It saved us money and Jamey got to wield the chain saw, so it was all good, until it came time to actually move all of the debris off the property. Too much stuff to move one truckload at a time! Enter our neighbor, "Mike The Dump Truck Guy" (yep, that's his real name too, and yes, my neighbor has a dump truck. Full-sized and everything) who agreed to come down and take away the offending branches to the dump. His price? A case of Corona. No kidding! We thought at the time that this was rather an anomaly, a one-time occurrence, but apparently Corona is worth more than I would have thought, because it was the price of another service this summer. This one involved Jamey's beach-wagon, Sandy, and a part that he needed to have something done to (I can't even begin to explain it. I just know 'she' had to go up on the racks for a couple of days.) I guess a case of Corona will buy you some car parts and service or a dump truck. You might try it on your own mechanic the next time you need some work done!

Besides Corona, which I would prefer never to drink or buy, there are other items that are frequently bartered in the neighborhood. One of the favorites is eggs, which can be traded for homemade bread, jars of jam, or pretty much anything from the farmers' market. Of course surplus produce is always handy to trade - tomatoes for walnuts, persimmons for apples, etc. Except the dreaded zucchini, which is like old pennies in the neighborhood currency. Everyone has too much of it (the annual zucchini game is on - see June 18, 2008 blog entry).

Note - Sandy the beach wagon was having work done to prepare her for her debut in the famous 'El Camino Cruise Night' next Friday. This is an annual Atascadero event where some people with really nice cars, some people with really old cars, some people with really unique cars, and some people who probably have spent way too much real money on Corona, drive their vehicles up and down El Camino Real, while other people sit and watch, ooh and aah, occasionally snicker, and smell lots of carburetor fumes. I will be in a chair along the route, hopefully with camera in hand, ready to snap some pictures of the big event. And in my other hand, probably an icy cold coke zero. Or perhaps an A & W root beer float. But definitely not a Corona.

Pappas Clan vs Mickey, Minnie, and friends

2009-07-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

Let me start with some background...as you may know (see July 15, 2008 - "The Cat's Big Adventure"), Hunter the cat got whipped by a crazed raccoon and will no longer enter/patrol/chase mice out of our detached garage. In addition, our chicken coop, containing a huge 40-lb container of delicious poultry lay pellets, is attached to the back of said garage. And, most recently, cat number 2, the unfriendly but astute-hunting "Oreo", disappeared and was never seen again (it happens in our neighborhood). So, when a pair of field mice apparently entered the garage a couple of months ago, they obviously found a wonderful cat-free home, with abundant food, soft bedding (car rags, beach towels, wet suits) and fun things to scamper over (paint cans, camping supplies). And the humans on the property were quite oblivious. Enter one Jamey Pappas, a few weeks ago, to get some old car rags. This is where the story gets pretty gross. For when he pulled them off the shelf, several hundred (thousand, perhaps?) mouse droppings scattered all over the garage floor. It seems that Mickey and Minnie can have an awful lot of babies in a really short amount of time.

One of the worst jobs in the entire world, I've discovered, is "mouse exterminating". Ironically, I collected mice as a little girl...who knew? Sticky traps are so far my weapon of choice, although removing them involves donning rubber gloves, a bandana around the mouth and nose (can you say, "hanta virus"?), and poking the trap with a long-handled tool that also doubles as a weed-picker in its other life. But it seems the mouse army is getting smarter - I have had several traps just up and disappear. I'm imagining a group of mice, all working together to push the thing under the wall or big shelf, or even down into the creek. Lately everyone has been helping out with a different job. Grace's job is "scream". Max's job is "catch mouse and toss it about before eating it" (he has 2 so far). Jamey and Jason have (with a little too much excitement, perhaps) taken to heading outside late at night with headlamps and a bb gun. They have also bagged 2 beady-eyed vermin. Sadie the kitten (our latest addition - still too small to be outside all the time, and not-yet-spayed) is a "hunter-in-training". She has the killer instinct, but because of the hawks' nest in the sycamore tree out back, she is honing her skills on flies and moths that get inside the house.

I kind of like it that the big event on my weekly planner is "visit hardware store, browse rodent removal section and ask advice of older clerks". Keeps me from being 'uppity'. And if it's not the mice in the garage, it's the birds trying to eat our plums and grapes.....always something out here in the neighborhood!

Fun Things That Happened This Year...

2009-05-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

Top photo - Jamey got to surf in El Salvador with some of our

Cal Poly students over Spring Break

Second photo - It snowed....A LOT...one morning in February at our house

Third - Jason and Gretchen got to go to an Oakland A's game - and they won!

Bottom photo - Gracey up on top, cheering the AHS Greyhounds into the 4th quarter

Happy Anniversary!

2009-05-24T20:45:00.001-07:00

So next week, Jamey and I are heading to San Francisco to celebrate our anniversary. We do this almost every year, because it is our favorite city. It has many things that we both like - fog and eclectic coffee houses for me, antique electric rail cars and raw seafood cups for Jamey. Really old-fashioned hardware stores, architectural antique centers, amazing Chinese food, NO DRIVING (I seem to have taken up a semi-permanent residence in my truck, for all of the hours I spend in it. Safe and efficient public transportation ROCKS!!), staying in a nice hotel so I can watch ESPN in bed....Hooray! I can't wait!

Jamey and I have now been married for 20 years. Unbelievable! I didn't think I was old enough to have been married for that long. Last night we went to our first wedding of the season (when you work with college students, you go to a lot of weddings) - it was at a winery in Paso Robles; very beautiful setting, wonderful ceremony, great couple, awesome dinner (bbq tri-tip, of course - what else on the Central Coast?). And as Jamey and I listened to the couple and their friends, and chatted with our friends at our table, we realized.....well, what we realized is that we were such immature babies when we got married! We both remember feeling so mature at the time (I was almost 23, so I was no child bride, or anything), but looking back, we realize what children we were. Doing 'life' together makes you grow up, I suppose.

Now we have a child in Drivers' Ed (I for one cannot WAIT until she can drive herself to all of the places she needs to go) and a child eagerly awaiting his promotion into junior high. And Jamey and I still like hanging out with each other! Wow. When I think about my marriage, the same thought runs through my mind that runs through it when I think about my kids, my friends, my family, and my home, and that is: "God has been really, really, really nice to me!"

The Good, The Bad, and the Really Ugly

2009-05-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

At our house, we are being reminded lately that life is fragile, mostly but not always wonderful, sometimes difficult, and occasionally downright stinky. Some good things have happened - Grace made the varsity cheer team, Jason and I went to an Oakland A's game (and they won), our yard looks beautiful and slightly unruly, and we had an alumni event over the weekend that allowed us to see and catch up with many former students and friends. The chickens are laying eggs again, and Max actually caught 3 gophers and laid them in the grass where we would be sure to see, much to Jamey's delight.

But, as we know but don't always really have to think about, life isn't all good - it is also difficult. A friend left a note for his wife explaining why we was leaving her (and his two absolutely beautiful children. A note. Coward. But that's another story....). An amazing boy who graduated from Atascadero High School last year recently died of leukemia. Sad. Hard. But at the same time, our very wise daughter noted, "We are bummed because we miss him, but it's hard not to be happy for him, too" (he had been battling leukemia on and off for 12 years, since age 7). He was a pretty spectacular human being and it was humbling to be around him (check out abcchurch.org and click on "Clayton McDonald" for more information about his life). On a very much smaller and way less important scale, there are always worries about Grace's knee, Max's limp, when our cars will need major fixing (Camry - 250,000 miles and still going strong....), Jason's little league team's hitting slump, my allergies, etc.

Of course, right before all of these difficult things happened, I was working on a Bible study and ran across the phrase "If _________happens, God is still God." We were supposed to fill in the blank with the worst things we could think of. The point is, and I have to remind myself every day, that God is always God, even when things stink, and even when I don't see Him at work. He always listens and hears, always loves, and is always at work, even (perhaps most of all) quietly behind the scenes. This is what we need to remember when life is less-than-beautiful.

Baseball, Barbie, and Random Thoughts

2009-03-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

The following conversation actually took place one night at our house:

News Anchor: "These are some of the stories we will be covering tonight on the news - First, a woman has a tantrum over an order of McNuggets. Second, a middle school student starts an anti-cussing club. And third, could it be the perfect bra?"

Jason Pappas: "Those are the stories they're going to have on the news?"

Gretchen Pappas (thinking, 'This is why I don't watch the news"): "Yep."

Jason Pappas (pumping fist): "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"

Allergy concoction update: My allergies are starting to bother me at night - the vinegar/honey mixture either a)has not kicked in yet, or b)is completely worthless, so I'm starting to take my medicine, which semi-works. But when you are a little league team mom, scorekeeper, and snack-bar worker, you have to be outside, so you do what you can.

Speaking of little league, my self esteem took a major hit last week at a scrimmage game when I showed up wearing jeans, Ugg boots, and one of Jamey's giant sweatshirts (my goal was comfort - I had felt really sick earlier that day. Plus it gets really cold at the field in the late afternoons). Then a mom from the other team showed up. She looks like Barbie. Really. She is just beautiful, and she is a really sweet person to boot, so you can't even dislike her. She's really nice to everyone. She was wearing a very fashionable coat-dress and high-heeled black boots. I would take a picture so you could see how annoying it is to be in the same stands with someone so cute, but that might be considered stalking, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It was okay until I heard one of Jason's teammates say, "Hey, is that ______'s mom?" and the 11- and 12-year old boys stopped to gawk at her. I just gave myself the little self-esteem pep talk that I give my students: "Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me..." I'm actually doing fine, even though Jason told me recently that my Steelers' jersey makes me look fat. He's probably just jealous because he doesn't have one.

"Sandy" update: Jamey velcro-ed the little hula girl to the dash and has been driving 'her' around town. Yesterday while he was parking downtown, an older man said to him, "Nice Rambler. She purrs." Oh, happy day!

Countdown to Grace getting her driver's permit: about 7 months. I mention this because she has emphatically vowed that she will NOT be driving Sandy.

Signs Of Spring

2009-02-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

Today I began cleaning and re-arranging the front porch. Swept off the last of the dead winter leaves and put some budding cherry branches in a big old milk bottle full of water. Hung up the hammock (for a day, anyway....chance of rain tomorrow) and took the tarp off of my grandma's old glider. The dog and cat are happily lying in the sun and the chickens are pecking away in the gravel driveway (they've started laying eggs again....safe from roasting for another year! And yes, I would eat my own chickens. Quite happily). While I was trimming the branches, I heard several bees in the flowers, and this is a great thing, because we are having a honeybee shortage, apparently. They've actually been advertising for people to 'host' hives on their property (no way....our yard is not big enough!) to try and build up the local bee population. I will do my part by purchasing some local honey at the farm stand I drive past almost every day. This year I am going to try fighting my horrible seasonal allergies (alas, I am allergic to tree pollen and I live in the oak capitol of California on Walnut Street, which is off of Pine Street....not good) with a daily dose of local honey (for the pollen) and organic cider vinegar (sounds gross, but I am determined). I got the recipe from "Mary Jane's Farm" magazine, one of my favorites, even though my kids refer to it as 'that hippie magazine'. Hey, nothing else has worked well so far, so I figured I'll give it a try.

Jamey has finished work on the Rambler and is currently driving it around, causing quite a stir in town - people pull up beside him at stop lights and give him thumbs up, or peace signs, or ask, "What is that?" If I can figure out how to, I'll put some pictures here for you all to gaze upon on admiration. It really does look great. For a 1962 station wagon.

Jamey is my current hero, though. He knows the way to his wife's heart - for Valentine's Day I got a Mean Joe Greene jersey. The classic black one. Yes, it's big, and Jason told me that it does, in fact, make me look fat, but I don't care and I will be wearing it quite a bit come September.

After Valentine's Day is Saint Patrick's Day, one of our family's favorites, and everyone knows that always comes with NCAA March Madness, so it seems that Spring really is almost here! Hooray - even this rain-lover is happy to see the sun and the flowers coming up!

Dumb Dog At The Beach

2009-01-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is MLK Day and a holiday from school and work. You might think, it being JANUARY and all, that it's too cold to go to the beach, but alas, it was 80 degrees down there today, so that's where we are all headed in the morning. Jamey is taking kids, friends, skimboards and surfboards to Pismo where the sand is soft and there are snack bars and restrooms. I am taking myself, my running gear, and my dog to Cayucos. A friend of mine is - no joke - turning 80, and for her birthday she is going paragliding off the Cayucos cliffs, and some of us are going to go watch, take pictures, and pray. Just so there's never any question...when I turn 80, a nice baseball or football game would be great (with me as spectator, not participant).

Now I know that some of you live in cold places (20 degrees in Pittsburgh today. That's a high. Farenheit.) So lest you be jealous of our warmth, let me tell you that it is not always a delight to take the dog to the beach. The first time we took Max, we didn't think to bring along fresh water for him, poor guy, so of course he gulped and gulped quite a bit of salt water. When we left the beach, we all hopped into the car (yes, all of us in the camry, wet dog included) and began the drive up the windy road to Atascadero. About 2 minutes into the trip, I heard what I thought was Jason spilling water all over the back seat. Actually, it was Max throwing up about a gallon of salt water and, amazingly, over 40 apricot pits (yes, we counted). It seems he had been eating apricots off of the ground in our back yard for a few days. So probably in an ironic way, the salt-water-induced vomiting actually helped his digestive system (you never know, though....that dog once ate my compost pile with no ill effect). I thought that was a bad smell, but it was nothing compared to 'dead seal.'

It just so happens that we live in an area where there are harbor seals, sea lions, and elephant seals. And of course, from time to time, one of them dies and washes up onto the beach. On a normal beach, this is a bummer, but on a dog beach, it's extra-extra-gross. No one knows why, but apparently it is impossible for any canine to walk past a rotting seal carcass without rolling in it (who knew?). Max is no exception. Mmmmmm, you haven't experienced all that life has to offer until you've driven 20 miles on a windy road in an un-air-conditioned car (these things never seem to happen when we drive our truck) with a putrid-smelling dog. The other night one of our 'family discussion questions' was, "What is your least favorite odor?" This is mine by a mile. Once it makes its way into your nasal passages, it doesn't leave. It's like it's a dreadful living creature all its own. I feel sick just writing about it. Yuck!

So, see? Those of you living where it is freezing cold can indeed feel blessed. These kinds of things don't happen in the snow.

Happy Christmas To All....

2008-12-25T06:42:00.000-08:00

We are having a blustery and wet Christmas morning (I have beaten everyone else up, as usual). I guess it won't be a white Christmas - there was a slight chance. Our weather has been so nice, and mild, up to this point, that my plants and animals were confused. Our apricot tree had buds on it - in November, mind you - and we still were getting zucchini, basil, and tomatoes from the garden up until a week ago (I know, I know, it's a blessing, but really, nobody wants to eat that much zucchini). And one of the chickens actually started molting (she looks horrible - very comical and entertaining for the rest of us).

As I sit here and wait for the pitter patter of feet (no longer little, for I wear the smallest shoes of all of us now), I will perhaps listen to some of my favorite Christmas songs, since I am the first one to the CD player. Bear in mind, I have extremely eclectic tastes in music. I noticed this year that although I love these songs more than all others, I can't actually sing them, because they put a lump in my throat. I think I'm a sucker for deep lyrics and originality of sound. First, I love "What Child Is This" (even though I have a vague memory of being forced at about age 5 to sing it with my parents up in front of the whole church - I'm sure that was worth the price of admission!), especially verses 2 and 3, and my favorite version is by Roberta Flack from the "My Christmas" CD. I admit that the first time I heard it, I thought, "Oh my, what has she done to this song?", but now I just love it, maybe because those meaningful lyrics are easy to hear and understand. I also love the second verse of 'O, Holy Night' : "Truly he taught us to love one another. His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease." I'm teary just writing the words! But my very very favorite Christmas song is an obscure song that is never played on the radio. In fact, it is the lone 'mellow' song on a punk rock Christmas CD called "Happy Christmas, volume 2" (I was shocked to discover there was more than one!). The song is called 'Peace Child' by The Normals. It is a kind of re-writing of 'O Come, O Come, Emanuel'. It talks about "the kingdom that cradles the broken" and everyone being invited to the dance, because "heaven is full of us peasants". Yes, I torture my family with these songs every December (and sometimes beyond). Can you imagine the delight if I could learn to play them myself on the piano or guitar? Why, I could play them all year....hmmm....not a bad idea. Maybe I should go now.

Well, although it looks like our Christmas will be wet, we will still spend it enjoying each other, and thinking about all of our amazing family and friends. Really, I am related to some extraordinary people, and have some very cool friends. So if you are reading this to keep up with the Pappas Family, have a WONDERFUL Christmas. I suppose I'll go put some music on.....

Smart Dumb Dog

2008-12-10T06:50:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong - I love my dog. Max is big and black and loud, and he scares strangers who come to the house (Perfect! No salespeople ever come through the gate). He is my running buddy - he's gone with me rain, shine, cold, hot, 2 miles, 5 miles. When my neighbors' goats escaped the yard and began wandering down the road, Max rounded them up and herded them back - apparently by instinct (I never taught him that!). One day at the beach, he got in front of a pit-bullish-type dog that was heading for Jason. We adopted this dog from the pound, and I consider it one of the best deals ever. He doesn't chew or dig up the yard, or require professional grooming, and he doesn't even poop in the grass (and we have a lot of grass!) - he always goes in the dirt way back by the fence. He has been trained with relative ease to 'sit', 'shake hands', to leave the cat and chickens alone (the fact that he doesn't go after the chickens is quite major in Garden Farms, where it seems like everyone's dog has eaten one of everyone else's chickens), and most recently, Jason taught Max to lie down as if dead when one points at him and says, "Bang!" He keeps critters out of the yard and has caught several squirrels and gophers (this is why Jamey likes him).

So it was confusing the other Sunday when Jason and I got home and there was a dog-head-sized hole in the picket fence. And Max was sitting on the other side of it. Our guess is that he panicked when he heard some distant gunshots (hey, it happens in my neighborhood...). Perhaps the most puzzling thing, though, is that there is actually an opening in the fence about a foot to the right of where the dog went through. It would be like me, leaving my room by going through a wall (using my head!) instead of the doorway just to the right. So we stood and looked dumbfounded at the hole, wondering how a dog so smart could do such an utterly dumb thing, wishing that one person had been home to see it happening.

And the debate among us continues: is he smart? Or is he truly a dumb, dumb dog?

The Mouse In The Kitchen

2008-10-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year here on the central coast....the time when it begins to freeze at night (finally that zucchini plant is starting to die off). The walnuts begin falling, along with leaves (it's so uncanny, but the leaves seem to fall right into the rain gutters!). And of course, that means that the critters are looking for warm places to hang out. Mainly, inside our house. The kitchen in particular, which makes sense, because there are delicious things there (bread, nuts, the compost bucket, yum yum). I know there's been a mouse in the kitchen - I have seen the evidence. He or she has left me a present in one of my cabinets, if you know what I mean.

When I was little, I used to collect mice (cute little stuffed mice, ceramic ones, etc). Clearly there was something very wrong with me. Now that I'm older I am also wiser. I know that mice are plague- and hanta-virus-carrying rodents, with ugly pointy teeth and creepy eyes. They give me the willies. And they need to stay OUT of my house.

My tactic - I put sticky traps everywhere. And, because one of my uncles made fun of me for not using 'real' mousetraps, I got a couple of those, too. But the mouse must be either smart or lucky, because I haven't caught it yet. This is where having pets comes in handy though. Last week I did find a small carcass out in the yard. I don't know if it was a cat or a dog that got it, but that animal is my hero!

I'm keeping the traps out in case any mouse relatives decide to explore the inside world, and I will be keeping score in this latest 'game' that is on at our house (FYI we will be getting buckets of walnuts this year, so my team definitely won the squirrel war!).

Some Thoughts On The Half-Marathon...

2008-10-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it! On October 12, along with almost 800 other people, I ran 13.1 miles from downtown SLO to Shell Beach. My goals were to run the entire way, and to finish in under 2 1/2 hours, and I did both! I got some souveniers - a t-shirt, a great breakfast afterwards at the Seaside Cafe (courtesy of Jamey), and tendinitis in my right foot (it's almost better).

The first thing I noticed (not new knowledge) is that I am extremely quick to compare myself to everyone around me (I've talked to so many college girls over the years, and this seems to be an almost universal female condition. I had kind of thought I had grown out of it). For example, Jamey dropped me off at the starting line about 30 minutes before the race began, and I sat there for about a half an hour thinking things like, "Wow, she's wearing a really cool wicking shirt. I probably won't beat her," and, "Wow, she shouldn't be wearing shorts with all of that cellulite. I bet I can beat her." This just shows what I know....I came in just ahead of the woman wearing the wicking shirt and well behind cellulite-woman.

At about mile 5, we went under the freeway and right at the side of the course was the biggest snake skin I've ever seen just laying there beside the road! It was all I could do not to bend down and pick it up and take it along with me - must be a residual instinct from my days as homeschooler extraordinaire. It was a treasure. But fortunately I realized how bizarre I would have looked running 8 miles carrying a snake skin, or with it draped around my neck, and I just passed it by (I seriously thought about having Jamey drive back past it on the way home, but by then I was tired).

Here's the funny thing that happened (well, I was amused, anyway). When I run I listen to my ipod shuffle. I never know what song is going to come on next, so it makes it more fun for me. My very favorite song, "24" by Switchfoot, came on at mile 11, so I listened to it three times in a row. But then I thought I should let it move on, and finish to a different song. So I kind of wondered what kind of song would come on to appropriately guide me to the finish line. And it was...."I'm Not Alright" by Sanctus Real. Classic! Because at mile 12 1/2, I pretty much wasn't alright.

Overall, I had a great time training for the race, and besides my foot starting to really hurt at about mile 10, I had fun running. It's good to know I can do it (and if I can do it, I'm pretty sure anyone else can, too. Except Max, the dog. He can't go more than 6 miles).

Next year I am going to see if Jamey and I can make it a date. Then we can ice our old feet together - how romantic!

On Running And Being 42

2008-09-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

I am currently 'training' for a half-marathon. I put training in quotes because I'm not a very serious runner, and I haven't yet signed up for the race. My friend Heather recruited me, then weasled out of it (it's not actually her fault. She had girly surgery. She's the least apt-to-quit person I know.) As I was running/thinking, it occurred to me that running at age 42 is way different than running at age 17 (the last time I trained for a race - my senior year in high school).

*When I was in high school, we wanted cute boys to see us running, so we ran past the baseball team when they were practicing. Now, I purposefully wake up at 6 a.m. and run on back roads (we're talking dirt, gravel, and bridle paths) so that no one sees me, particularly cute boys. Once, Jason's baseball coach (nice enough, but not a cute boy) passed and recognized me while I was out running on 'the ranch' - it was horrifying.

*At 17, I only liked running with other people - friends, teammates, aforementioned cute boys. What fun would it be if it wasn't also a social activity? At 42, the only running partner I ever take along is my faithful buddy Max. And my i-pod, the best running accessory ever. I can go at my own pace ("slow"), listen to my own music, run where I want and for how long I want, and it's rather peaceful. Except when Max chases something (gophers, my neighbor's goats....).

*When I ran in high school, my knee often hurt. Now, my physical pain is not just limited to my knee (I do have to say, my knee pain is probably far less frequent now than it was in high school). It could be my right shoulder (which is pretty much wrecked from years of volleyball and backyard passing to one Jason Pappas), which is not actually caused by running, but from occasionally having to yank the dog away from something like a cat, garbage, or a dead animal. Or it could be sciatic, which plagued me for almost a year whenever I would run, and which I affectionately refer to as 'my left butt', because that's where it hurts. It could be an ankle that gets a good twist on the bridle path, or an arch, or my arthritic big toe (just like Shaq!!). There's just no end to the things that could hurt (thankfully they don't all hurt at the same time. In fact, I hesitate to say it lest I jinx myself, but I've been amazingly pain-free lately). It makes running at 42 a big adventure!

*Since I did my high-school training in Arizona (desert), after school (inferno temperatures), I never saw any kind of wildlife, besides an occasional lizard. But living where we do, and running in the early morning is like running in a zoo! You never know what you'll come across. I've seen the following animals - some on a daily basis: dogs, cats, chickens, goats, horses, donkeys, cows, deer, llamas, sheep of all varieties, turkeys wild and tame (one poor fellow always gobbles at me from a back yard play structure. I don't think I'll be seeing him any more after Thanksgiving), gophers, a red fox (I've seen two - both were gorgeous), snakes, bunnies, mice, owls, hawks, a bald eagle (I have a photo to prove it) and of course, squirrels. Now for those of you who know about the 'war' with squirrels going in our back yard, I have to tell you that it was a really good week for my team. Jason and I bagged one flea-laden varmint each (with assists from the dog), and Max actually chased and caught a squirrel on one of our runs. It made the mistake of trying to run along a post and rail fence (causing it to be off-balance and wobbly), and its tail hung down just within reach of Max, who had fun tossing it up in the air several times after catching it and before proudly bringing it over to me (for my part, I stood there looking around to see if any PETA-types were watching, and lamely said, "Drop it. Leave it." over and over.) The only down side is that I will now have to inspect the dog's behind for the next several days for any signs of tapeworm (This is my life. This is what I do.).

*One more big difference. Now that I am 42, and possibly because I had two babies, I keep in my pocket a little bit of toilet paper, 'just in case' (I've never had to use it - always made it back in time....as far as you know). Back in high school, I remember making fun of my friend Beth because she ran a 10K and the last mile or so was done with wet shorts (we were relentless - she was an exceptionally good sport). So I guess I deserve it (my hubris again), especially since I recently laughed at a 40-or-so friend of mine who confided to me that she actually wet her pants a little when reading my blog. Serves me right I suppose.

Pappas Clan Vs Squirrels

2008-08-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

So the gophers in the garden are no longer a big deal....they aren't really bothering the tomatoes or pumpkins or zucchini, and the cantaloupe has already been picked safely (and eaten. It was good!!). Now is the time of the year when my attention must be turned to the English walnut tree out the back door. For the third year in a row, the thing is LOADED with walnuts, and because I am both greedy and cheap, I like to harvest as many walnuts as possible and give them away (usually roasted with cinnamon and sugar) at Christmas time. The nuts begin dropping sometime in October. The problem is, the squirrels know and love this tree, so they come out en force to try to steal the nuts before they drop to the ground - last week, actually, which seems awfully early to me, but then again, I don't know how the squirrels' sense of timing works. So it is yet another war between my team (which includes me, my trusty dog Max, Jason, who just likes to shoot things, and our BB gun) and the varmints (in this case, squirrels). For those of you who are under the illusion that squirrels are cute, sweet, puffy-tailed little critters, let me just explain that here in Garden Farms, squirrels are flea-laden, horrible-underbite-with-jaggy-teeth, fruit-stealing, disease-carrying rodents and are to be treated accordingly. Here is how the battle is waged:

1. Squirrels send a representative to test our defenses by sneaking into the walnut tree and, if possible, chewing on the shell of a nut.

2. Max, our faithful sentry, sends out the alarm, which otherwise would just sound like really annoying persistent barking (high-pitched, too).

3. Jason or I respond with "Ooooo, there's a squirrel in the tree!" and run for the BB gun (first person there gets to shoot).

4. Many things can and do happen at this point. Sometimes the mere presence of all of us will send the wimpy squirrel scurrying off to the next yard. But sometimes the varmints will freeze, thinking that they become invisible when they do this. Then the fun really begins for our team .

Okay, let me just say here that my goal is truly not to kill the squirrels. It's messy. And when they drop into the yard, the dog gets them, and more than once he has gotten tapeworms from the fleas (yes, squirrels really are that gross). So my objective is to get them to leave the property and never come back. I prefer to send them off with a little reminder in the butt (a shiny round metal reminder, if you know what I mean), so our rule for firing the gun is "Aim for the tail". They are fluffy and make excellent targets. And it usually works! Except when we have to leave the house....then the dog is stuck by himself without the ability to fire the gun. I sometimes imagine a little army of squirrels hiding out by the creek with a lookout saying, "Okay, boys, they're gone!" at which point several come brazenly over the fence, climb the tree and eat nuts to their hearts' content, all the while taunting the dog. I've returned to the house and seen the evidence of this - mainly nut shells all over the cement. And an embarrassed-looking Max. But that's just one battle, and the war for walnuts has just begun.....

How We Are Doing On Our Summer 'To Do' List...

2008-08-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

Here are Jamey and Grace working on the Rambler.....aaah, what a great bonding experience. This project is going well because a) it is about an hour's work away from the paint job, and b) we bought a canvas 'garage' for it so it can be zipped inside and completely hidden from view (not quite as white-trashy. Hooray!).

And, a highlight of my summer, here we are at Camden Yards for the Orioles-Blue Jays game (which the O's actually won!!!). That brings J's and my summer total to 3 baseball games and one more major-league park (that total is now 7) with the possibility of an A's game and a Dodger game yet to come. Woo hoo!

The gophers are staying away from the cantelope, which is great (Neighbor Chuck's got eaten, unfortunately. He went to pick them and discovered that they were hollow - the little boogers tunneled up underneath and ate out the inside!). We ate the first last night and picked another 'cute little cantelope' this morning. And we are starting to get some really good tomatoes. As a bonus, I asked my Aunt Virginia how she cans hers when we were back east and she explained the process to me, so hopefully I'll get some tomatoes canned to use later this fall.

No new grass planted yet, but we have an excellent reason - we haven't been home enough to water it (the new seed must be watered a few times a day). So this project will get started after we get back from beach camping next week. And then we will have a great wiffle-ball field / soccer field / football field in the backyard. Hooray!

Guess where we went?

2008-08-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we made a stop outside the US Capitol building on our way around Washington DC. Despite the heat and humidity, we managed to log about 5 miles as we went from cool site to cool site. Favorites: National Archives (Declaration of Independence), the war memorials around the Mall, and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. And Monticello (in Virginia - we drove).

And below you can see the plethora of delicious food that was my family reunion (I might add, this is just the salads....the meat wasn't yet present, and desserts were on a different table). We had family members from age 83 down to 18 months (about 60 total) playing volleyball, cards, croquet, target shooting (Jason is quite a marksman with a shotgun and a water balloon launcher!), exchanging facebook and cell phone info (that would be Grace's crowd), and telling great stories. My aunt even arranged for each family unit to have their own color T shirt (ours are jade green, as you can see from Jason's modeling). All 8 of my mom's siblings were together and it was wonderful in every way. Wish we could host the next one - everyone would go home with a big zucchini!

2008-08-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Things to be thankful for today:

I got to take my dog for a 3-mile run this morning

Most of my legs didn't hurt afterwards

Our house is clean

....especially our claw-foot tub ('Kaboom' is good stuff!)

Jamey fixed all of the dents in a bumper today -

the body work on the Rambler is almost done

We ate some great yellow tomatoes from our garden

....with zucchini, of course

Jason went to the Mid-State Fair today

We still have some pie from Jamey's birthday

Grace and Jamey went to the drive-in

I got the Klingenbergs to take a zucchini

A nice cold Coke Zero

I got to stay home and watch baseball!!!

Even though it was hot inside today, it will get into the 50's here tonight

We have great friends and neighbors

The Cat's Big Adventure

2008-07-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

Howdy - my name is Hunter and I live in the Pappas' garage. I'm an orange tabby cat and yes, I really was born in a barn. My favorite pastimes are sleeping, dozing, napping, lying in the sun, and sometimes catching moles, which I stash behind the stack of surfboards in the garage. A couple of weeks ago I rumbled with a raccoon over the cat food (no longer stored in the garage) and got a, well, we'll call it an "owie" back towards my tail on the right side. No matter how much I licked that thing, it would not come off, and believe me, I tried and tried. Now, I like Gretchen okay - she feeds me most every morning - so I was all right with her putting peroxide on my hind end and smearing my owie with Neosporin ointment (which I promptly licked right off), but I reached my limit when she put me into that crate and took me to the vet. How humiliating - I got my behind shaved and was shackled with a 'collar' and was forced to stay inside the Pappas' prison....I mean, house. It was okay during the day. I actually enjoy napping on the couch. But at night? Trapped inside? That's where I draw the line. But I sure got them back - I yowled and yowled all night long (I can be both loud and persistent!) and peed right on the floor in the kitchen (more than once!). After one more day of being inside, I thought I heard Gretchen muttering something about "not caring if that cat lives or dies" and sweet freedom was mine! Ah, I am back outside on patrol (when I'm awake) and my owie is finally all better. It's great to be a cat.

SUMMER IS FOR SURFING!

2008-07-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

When it's hot at our house, it's usually nice at the beach. Here are Grace and Jason enjoying a good surf and delighting their dad's heart as they do it.

Slightly Hot

2008-07-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not complaining, but we sure picked a hot week to start re-doing our back yard! On Wednesday it hit 103 here in Garden Farms, and we hit a record 91 inside the house. Why didn't we get a/c along with the heater we got last year? Oh yeah...because we're cheap. Well, it serves us right. I think we're also very spoiled. We spent the hottest afternoon at the movies (Jason and I saw "Get Smart" - funny. Eleven-year-old boy funny.) and came back and ate dinner in the air-conditioned trailer (or 'guest house' for those of you who might come and visit). The next day, Jason and two of his friends and I spent the whole day at the water park. Notice that Jamey wasn't in on any of the fun - that's because he was here working through the heat of the day and into the nights. What a stud! Somebody buy that man a beer and take him surfing! And even though I did hose down Max the dog when it hit the 100 mark, all of the animals are fine and the garden is actually doing great! Yes, we had zucchini for dinner tonight. And we are eating plums like crazy. Soon we will be in cucumber and tomato mode (can you say Greek salad? or gazpacho?). And you should see the pumpkins we are growing - by October they might be as big as VW bugs. So all in all, we have it good. And today the temp topped out at a mere 86 (and the wind blew the smoke from the fires away). Life is very nice in the summer after all.

The Zucchini Game is ON

2008-06-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up at 6 a.m. and baked a cake (because we don't have a/c, all summer indoor cooking must be done at crazy hours). A chocolate-zucchini cake. Yes, zucchini. If you have it in your garden, then you know what I'm talking about. I don't know why it is so prolific here - maybe it's the sandy soil, or the perfect balance of sun and shade. I suspect that it's just one of those vegetables that you simply can't kill (like radishes - which we picked last week. Hundreds. Not bad with a mixture of chili oil, rice vinegar, and brown sugar as a dressing). Jack's magic beans must have been zucchini seeds - he just threw them out the window and see what happened?

On Monday evening we received our first bag of zucchini from our neighbor, Chuck. It had a great assortment of a few regular green zucchini, a round zucchini, and a yellow zucchini. In the Garden Farms Zucchini Game, we have been tagged, and we are IT. We now have to either use up the zucchini (thus the cake experiment) or pass it on to someone else (there's a running joke in the neighborhood that if you are seen leaving your house during the summer, you will find a bag of zucchini on your porch when you get home. It actually happens.).

But AHA! I have an advantage (besides all of the creative recipes I have stockpiled over the winter....) in the form of 8 voracious hens who will eat just about anything I put in the coop; especially nice, juicy squash. So when the humans at our house can't stomach any more zucchini in any form or fashion, I can just cut it up and give it to my plump, feathered garbage disposals. That means, in the Zucchini Game, we win!

Glorious Summer

2008-06-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Summer is here - and best of all, we've already completed our tenth annual family camping trip to Plaskett Creek. 90's at home, foggy and 60's at Sanddollar State Beach (with good surfing). In true Jamey Pappas style, we pulled into our camp spot and discovered that there were about 8 Cal Poly Crusade alums camping around us in various places. The man can't go anywhere without meeting someone he knows. Activities: laying out (Grace), surfing and mountain biking (Jamey), reading (Gretchen), skimboarding (Jason), grilling the best tri-tip (Jamey), cooking spaghetti in a frying pan because we forgot the pot (Gretchen), walking the dog (Grace), making and playing in fires (Jason), rolling in dirt (Max the dog), playing Yahtzee (everyone). We also busted out the spooky campfire story book and read about 'Red Man' and other creepy things.

Back at home now, we are filling the hours with work and play, glad for the time away from our 'other jobs'.