A while ago I moved all the stuff out of the boys' room downstairs in the hideous dank pit. I'm going to patch the walls and put the trim around the windows and probably borrow a sprayer to paint the room since there are those stupid pipes running across the ceiling. About this same time I decided to paint my kitchen cabinets, since I've always sort of hated that they are brown. Why did I not just get white cabinets to begin with? Hard to say. So I did some painting and took some of my doors off to get them ready to be sanded. Then last week John had to drive the truck to Salt Lake to deliver our old bed to the lady who bought it, and it seemed like such a shame to have the truck so close to Ikea and not bring home the pieces to the wardrobe/armoire I'm putting in my bedroom--we're taking a Pax and making it look built in. Silk purse out of a sow's ear kind of thing. Exciting! So the wardrobe is installed minus the doors, and now we have to put on all the moulding. Basically I am doing all of the remodeling projects at once so our house can feel as frantic and out-of-sorts as possible for as long as possible. Once it's all done it's going to be great, maybe.
I ate an egg salad sandwich for breakfast this morning with some of our Easter eggs, and it was a treat. I love eggs. Do you guys do presents at Easter? We don't. I refuse to allow Easter to become the new Christmas. Too tired. However, I could watch the Funny Little Bunnies Disney cartoon a hundred million times and never grow tired of it. I discovered it at my aunt's house when I was a little girl, and I may have already watched it a hundred million times by now.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
see the care they take with the eggs they make
Posted by Layne at 10:43 PM 2 comments Links to this post
Thursday, March 28, 2013
we recommend that you are two people
So there's that. But there's also the fact that, as the primary song says, "Jesus says love everyone; treat them kindly too." So which doctrine takes precedence? Probably the treating people kindly one. And what about that whole "not ever" problem? Is sexuality an eternal characteristic of the spirit? Sometimes people are told that their burdens will be taken from them in the afterlife, but they consider their homosexuality to be not a burden, but a key component of their identity. What about that? I figure we stop worrying about it since it's really none of our beeswax, is it? Consenting adults of sound mind, blah blah blah. And I don't know that I think that sexuality is binary anyway. The Kinsey scale on the surface makes a good deal of sense to me, with people spread along the scale, with more people on the hetero side, but not all hanging out at the extreme end, for example.
I think DOMA is going to be struck down, and what reasoning they use for striking it is going to affect how they deal with Prop. 8, I think. For example, if they decide that DOMA was an overreach of federal power, then that would indicate that Prop. 8 has be repealed by the citizens of California. From my limited understanding of the situation that seems possible. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.
Anyway, there are my somewhat scattered thoughts about some of it. We're all on this crazy rock together and whatnot. Let me know if/when you want to talk about the weirdness of scouting.
Posted by Layne at 9:38 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: church stuff, navel gazing, society
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
day 11 of my australia trip
This day was absolutely jam-packed. We were given a number of recommendations in addition to the chocolate factory, so we had to use our time wisely. We got up and packed, then went down to the mill to check out of our cottage. The owner wanted to show us around the accommodations at the mill, and she yakked and yakked and was super weird and we were glad we had stayed at the cottage instead of the mill. She was pretty in love with the fact that she could pronounce some French words in a very pretentious and off-putting way, bless her heart.
Posted by Layne at 8:32 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, March 25, 2013
day 10 of my australia trip
Well, it was another perfect day, so I guess we better move to Tasmania, Deloraine to be specific. This morning we went to church. Our house is only a block or two from the church building, and it was a nice morning, so we walked.
As soon as we sat down we were greeted by the girl who seated us at the restaurant where we got the gelato last night. She introduced us to her mother and sister, and Jane, the mother, invited us over for lunch after church. Sacrament was nice, with some good talks, and we had good lessons in the other classes as well. We were trying to find a man for Elaine to marry so we could come to Tassie to visit, but so far no luck. We'll have to keep looking.
Posted by Layne at 9:35 PM 2 comments Links to this post
Thursday, March 21, 2013
put my thing down flip it and reverse it
Shall we talk about something trivial? Yes, let's.
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches: Why do people keep doing them wrong? I hate when people stand on principle and do the barest skiff of peanut butter and jam. If you really care about being healthy you're not eating a PBJ anyway, so don't be a jerk. Fill the sandwich.
I think supreming is the best way to eat grapefruit. It's a time-sucking pain and no mistake, but it's the only way I can glut out on grapefruit like I want. I want my mouth FULL of grapefruit, and you can't get a mouthful when you cut it in half! And those refrigerated cups of sections and juice are an abomination that taste like poison. Supreming: do it.
I could save a bunch of money by building my own armoire for my bedroom if only I had the very expensive tools that are necessary to do the job.
Have you been telling yourself you're a good parent? Well, unless your kids know where their grandparents were raised, you're blowing it. The NYT says so. You should probably start telling your kids some boring stories about what you wore to the first day of kindergarten, or how your mom smashed plums all over her neighbor's sidewalk. Do we have a strong family narrative? I think so. I hope so. I think our family definitely has a personality--is that good too? Probably depends on what that personality is.
I just got done reading The White Plague, and that combined with the general state of our world is a REAL DOWNER. Just sayin'.
Posted by Layne at 3:31 PM 5 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
day 9 of my australia trip
Eye hath not seen nor ear heard the mind-boggling awesomeness of this day. Wait until I tell you; you will plotz.
Posted by Layne at 9:10 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Monday, March 18, 2013
day 8 of my australia trip
We went to the Taronga Zoo yesterday. It's a pretty cool zoo, very big, and they have some animals I haven't seen elsewhere. Tree kangaroos are apparently a thing that exists, and I guess I should probably have one.
Posted by Layne at 7:59 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, March 15, 2013
you know how his arm normally bends like this?
I flew a little too close to the sun yesterday, and have the backache to prove it. But we made a mess of pies, and I do mean mess. You should see my kitchen. It looks like a garbage truck ate a hoarder in the baking aisle and then burst.
I could not resist the allure of the mini pie, and bought some of those cheap aluminum ones to tide me over until I can find/afford some glass ones. I made a double batch of dough and divided it up into portions so each person could do their own crust and filling. Grant did banana cream, as I knew he would, Emmett did chocolate chess, Ike did strawberry cream (which was literally just cut up strawberries and whipped cream on top--he would not listen to reason and include any vanilla filling), Willa did banana cream, John did apple, and I did lemon meringue. They were the cutest pies ever, so precious you would probably weep and gibber at the sight of them. I should have taken pictures to share with you, but I was so exhausted I could barely stand. Because remember I also made shepherd's pie which, I'll say it, was fabulous, and a big apple pie for Grant to take to his math class. I did a lattice top for it, which I realize is not traditional, but I made one for the first time last week and am drunk with the power of the lattice.
Now I can experiment with more uncommon flavors and not feel torn about losing a pie slot to something that might be a disappointment. You don't want to blow pie day. The mini pie plates have opened so many doors for me. It's a door, and I went through it! It kindled in me an unquenchable fire for permanent mini pie plates, and they will be mine. When I went to San Francisco Jennifer and I saw some mini bamboo steamers that were just like the ones I carry my pies in now, and I almost bought them then, because can you IMAGINE how cute a MINI PIE in a MINI STEAMER BASKET would be? I can't handle the glory of it.
Posted by Layne at 11:11 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Thursday, March 14, 2013
pi(e) day 2013
Okay, I have to know: is anybody making pies today? Which ones? I think I'll make shepherd's pie for dinner, with a rosti top instead of mashed potatoes, because the rosti is a better fit texturally. If I get an uncharacteristic burst of afternoon energy I might try to tackle empanadas, but I don't see that happening. I guess I could do quiche, but John is not a fan. For dessert I think I'll make two pies--Emmett really wants chocolate chess, and I'm tempted to indulge him because it's the only pie he'll eat because he's broken inside. For the other one I know Grant would want banana cream, but then that's two really sweet, rich pies, and I want something brighter like lemon or apple. What to do? It is a conundrum, to be sure. I wish I had a whole bunch of small pie plates, so everybody could make their own pie . . . that would be the coolest.
Posted by Layne at 7:48 AM 5 comments Links to this post
Labels: food
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
day 7 of my australia trip
He is one today, although technically he isn't really one yet, because he was born in the States, and it's still yesterday there. I guess we're teaching him to lie about his age already.
UPDATE: That cake was really something. Moist, delicious, all that jazz, but there were six sticks of butter in the frosting alone. We cut tiny little slivers of it, and not a single one of us could finish a slice. Too rich. It was very surprising, coming from Martha. You'd think she would have been more subtle. Claire and Elaine and I all agreed that we could see how with even tiny adjustments you could really improve the edibility of the cake.
Posted by Layne at 8:14 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
day 6 of my australia trip
We got up nice and early to go meet Elaine at the airport, and when we got there we saw that the flight had been delayed by 45 minutes, so Claire drove around with the kids while I waited for the plane. When Elaine got there we drove back to the apartment, then Elaine and I went shopping. I took her to the store where I'd bought my ivory high-heeled oxfords the day before, and she bought two very cute pairs of flats. Then we went to the kitchen store and I bought the knife I'd been eyeing. We took our purchases back to the apartment and set out for the city. Elaine and I took public transit on our own, without even Claire along to help guide us, and we CRUSHED IT. We tramped all over looking for a place to buy Grant's present, then we started for the garden and got pide along the way, which is like if a calzone had a baby with a gyro. Tasty. We walked through St. Mary's cathedral on our way to the garden, which was stunning. No pictures of that, because A: I didn't have my camera, and B: not allowed. The stained glass was gorgeous. Then we went to the botanical gardens.
After that we started toward our bus stop, took a wrong turn, backtracked, then walked past the bus stop because we were led astray by a well-meaning but confused local, eventually got on the right bus and ruled the public transit once again. Then we came home and ate grilled sausages, and Claire made pavlova for dessert. I could eat a hundred of pavlova. We also had to open one of the candy bars and start eating it, because it was in the window and got kind of melty. Sorry, kids. Basically I walked a jillion miles today, so I guess I can do what I want.
Posted by Layne at 11:38 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, March 10, 2013
sometimes it's just crazy in there
By the way, all my bees are dead. I opened up the hive the other day when I was out doing yard work (it was still a little too cold to be comfortable working outside, but I can't be cooped up in the house one second longer, I'm sure you understand) and there were all my bees in an inert, crunchy pile on the floor of the hive. Why do bees hate us so much? They didn't even drink any of the sugar syrup I made for them, which was way before it got super cold. Are they too stupid to live, or is my yard so distasteful they'd rather die than live here? There are fruit trees and flowers and indigenous plants and dandelions in abundance, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME BEES? What rotten luck. This is two years in a row, if anybody's counting. Shall I try again? I'm not sure what your advice is, but I think I will try again. I'm sure it will only take three or four more hivefuls of dead bees before I have a breakthrough.
John and I took Grant to The Hobbit last night, and I enjoyed it and didn't really mind the creative license that was taken with the story. It was a romp, if a bit heavy-handed with the use of slow-mo. I hope the Necromancer is happy with himself, now that he's unleashed the Witch King of Angmar. Gosh, don't people ever get tired of unwittingly releasing evil into the world? Did we learn nothing from Pandora?
Hazel and Sally are back, hooray! We had to schlep through a sea of steer effluent to get to Hazel, which made me count my blessings that we didn't get that Charolais steer we were wanting last fall. Steers are a real problem. It's poop on a whole different scale from what I'm used to. Hazel and Sally are a little bit suspicious of me since they've been gone so long, so yesterday I went out there and sat in the pen by them until they came up to me and let me pet them, and I think we're going to be just fine. I have to say, I did a really good job of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse with Sally. She could have been a real stinker, and was certainly headed that way, but I muscled through it and spent hour upon hour with her, and she is quite a good little girl now. Constant vigilance! Or something.
Posted by Layne at 10:34 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: gi
Friday, March 8, 2013
I'd like to publicly dedicate the performance of this song to my brother
A couple of things:
The Smothers Brothers are so funny, and I feel bad that I've spent this much of my life not knowing that. Our new outfit (that's what people around here call motor vehicles sometimes) has satellite radio, and of course I'm on the comedy station like flies on a gutwagon, and have had the opportunity to hear an Andy Griffith bit, the wonderful Brian Regan, and I've now discovered the Smothers Brothers. I love them. I laughed so hard the first time I heard their "Streets of Laredo" bit.
I got an email from the America's Test Kitchen people, and those fools think I'm going to make their banana bread recipe that calls for a banana juice reduction. For crying out loud. Whose life is so empty that they need to be adding an extraneous reduction step to what is basically a mix and dump recipe? Can we just agree that the Braddock Tavern recipe from the comment section of that one post over on Tipsy Baker (scroll down--the commenter is Sarah Policastro, whom I don't know but am forever indebted to) is the best and get on with our lives? I don't think it can be improved upon, I really don't. It's so moist and custardy, with the perfect amount of banana flavor. With or without chocolate chips, it is wonderful. Make it.
Enjoy your Friday!
Posted by Layne at 9:25 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, March 7, 2013
day 5 of my australia trip
Yesterday I wanted to explore Claire's neighborhood, so that's what I did. I wandered all around and looked in all the cute stores. There is a tiny little chocolate shop that makes beautiful chocolates, which I know Elaine will also want to visit. I went to a froufy kitchen store that was a lot like Sur la Table and was sorely tempted to buy a big eight-inch Shun cook's knife that was on sale because they had sold some of the other pieces in the block. I went to a linen store and a shoe store where they had a number of Chelsea boots, but none that were quite right for my purposes. I went to a couple of bookstores and got a book about a cow dog that (spoiler alert) ends sadly. Then I went to the grocery store and wandered up and down the aisles, marveling. I bought a goodly amount of candy for the kids, much Cadbury chocolate, proper Cadbury chocolate, made by Cadbury and not outsourced to Hershey, as I have heard Cadbury is in the U.S., which explains why I can no longer eat the Cadbury creme egg. It makes my teeth hurt. I bought some licorice all-sorts, which I have always regarded with suspicion, because they seem like they'd be all fruity, and I don't want them to be fruity. But they were so very, very good. They looked like stripey little petits fours, and I ate too many of them, which wasn't bad, because I don't get sick on licorice like I do on other sweets.
Then I met up with Claire, who was coming home from the library. We went to the kebab place near the bus stop and got Doner kebabs so I could be friends with dad, who ate them all the time on his mission. Then we all had naps. When I woke up I went out wandering some more. The grocery store across the street is muy caro (that means expensive), and they have mounds and mounds of wonderful cheeses. I bought presents for almost everybody but Grant, and then we came home. We walked home through the neighborhood, and there are a couple of crazy, huge trees that look like their roots are above the ground. They look like Augra from The Dark Crystal (again with that movie) and they're all full of what look like and probably are funnel web spiders DANGER and there is a sign that warns of attacking magpies that will swoop down and try to peck your eyes out.
Posted by Layne at 9:17 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, March 4, 2013
some of the men, not me, are wondering
Are you ever at the grocery store buying stuff, and as you're selecting some grocery item you know deep inside that you're going to end up not using it, then throwing it out after it rots? I do that all the time. Mostly with produce, because it goes bad the fastest. Not too long before I left for Australia I bought some yellow squash and bell peppers for something I was going to make, and as I was putting them in the bag a little voice inside me went, "Not a chance." But I bought them anyway, and last night I threw them away because they were covered in furry black mold. It's neat being able to tell the future. I won't cheapen my gift by doing it for money, though, so don't even ask.
I'm beginning to wonder if my basement will ever be anything other than a dank pit. My glimmer of hope is fading, fading. I know some people who actually took a jackhammer and busted their cement basement floor out, dug down a foot or two, and then put a new floor in. That sounds time-consuming, irritating, and expensive. But at the end, you can stand all the way up in the basement, which seems like a good thing.
I made pavlova for dessert last night and tonight, because I didn't get to eat nearly enough of it in Australia. I think I'm good for a while now, because I feel like the pavlova is bursting out of my stomach back up my esophagus. Oops, too much.
I had to get a filling today. This is how you know that I am selfless, because everybody knows that once you have kids your teeth go to crap, and yet I still had children, FOUR of them, and sure enough, now my teeth are falling apart. Have I told you about my tooth complex? I have beautiful teeth, I'll say it plain and simple, and one of the hurdles I had to get over when I was dating John was the fact that he had multiple fillings. I felt like I was compromising my perfect dental integrity. I have overweening regard for my teeth. And now I'm one of the porcelain-filled plebes, BOO.
Where do you think is the best place to get patterned, ivory-colored stockings? This is a sincere question.
Posted by Layne at 10:08 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, March 3, 2013
oops, I left out a bunch of day 2 of my australia trip
This was a really long email home, and when I copied it over I missed a bunch of it. So, here's the rest of day 2.
Posted by Layne at 8:55 PM 0 comments Links to this post