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A Great Day for Soup

Winter is finally upon us. Even if we haven’t gotten to the winter solstice yet, it’s been cold and wet (mostly rain). Great soup weather!

I’ve made soup each weekend. And this time, I had help.

As I have reported here previously, our oldest grandson, Gaige, is a wrestler. Wrestling is not like soccer or baseball where you show up, play a game and are done. It is played in tournaments and can be an all-day thing. I don’t know who that is more torturous for, Amy, since she has to keep track of a very energetic 2.5 year-old in a gym full of people, or Joey and Brianna, who need to occupy themselves while their brother is off doing the Hulk Hogan thing.

So, knowing there was a tournament scheduled for Sunday, Hubby and I offered to keep Brianna and Joey.

It is quite a different dynamic with two kids here instead of three. Or, to be more precise, only one of the older kids. Brianna and Gaige tend to bicker a lot, like any brother and sister. It drives me crazy. My old brain can only take so much noise and chaos. They tend to run (literally) through the house chasing each other, too, which also drives me crazy.

Anyway… we had a very nice and relatively quiet visit with the grandkids this past weekend.

Joey just LOVES all of the emergency equipment we have here. It is all battery-operated with flashing lights and sirens. I have my parents to thank for saving all of the stuff, which was Eric’s when he was little. That means most of the stuff has been around for 17+ years!

Amy said that as soon as Joey heard he was coming here, he was saying “Pop and G firetruck. Firetruck at Pop and G’s. Etc.”

We keep the emergency equipment with the other toys in our formal living room, which we call the library (it has also has bookshelves full of books). You can see some of the books in the background of this picture, which Brianna insisted I take to show that she and Pop finished this USA puzzle.

At one point on Saturday evening, Pop told Joey they had to put all of the trucks back into the “firehouse.” What he meant was, before you (Joey) go to bed we need to put all of these trucks away.

Well the next day, while Joey was eating lunch, I said something to Brianna like, “You can leave that in the library when you leave.” And Joey said, “Not library G, the firehouse.” He’ll remember that, too. So from now on, we’ll be referring to that room as “the firehouse” when the kids are here.

He really does love those trucks.

He loves this ride-on train, too. All the grandkids do. It also belonged to Eric, who was on it all of the time. Who knew that it would get so much mileage?

As a quick aside… is there anything cuter than a little boy in red, flannel pajamas? Flannel pajamas, period?

Sunday was soup day. As you can see, Brianna helped me make a big pot of beef vegetable soup. The pot you see above ended up being too small, so halfway through the process, we had to switch to a larger pot.

She was really enjoying helping me. It’s not often that she gets to be the center of attention. It’s hard being the big sister/oldest kid all of the time.

She was telling me how “so not fun” it is playing hide and seek with Joey. First, he only counts to about two before he starts looking, so she has to hide FAST. Then, when he does find her, he decides that was a pretty good hiding spot, so that’s where he’ll hide for the rest of the game.

Pop must have overheard this conversation. When it was Brianna’s turn to be the seeker, once she started to look, walking slowly and taking the high road to find him, Pop ran and grabbed Joey without her knowing it and plopped him in the recliner. She was quite surprised when he wasn’t in the spot where she expected him to be. We all had a pretty good laugh when she finally saw him sitting in the chair, smiling away!

She really did make a pretty good helper. See how full the pot is? And we still have more stuff to add!

While Brianna and I were cooking, Pop and Joey were looking at family photos. Something else the boy loves to do. A couple of times, when he saw me in a picture, he’d get all excited and say, “That’s G! Look, there you are, G! Pop, there’s G!” It was very cute.

Joey really is the smilingest 2-year-old I’ve ever encountered.

After we got the soup transferred to a larger pot, and Brianna got dressed, the soup-making continued.

While Brianna and I continued to cook, Pop and Joey watched A Bug’s Life and ate some snacks.

In this shot, she’s adding the diced cabbage, which she had cut up by herself (mostly). I would have taken pictures of that, but she was using a chef’s knife as long as her arm. So I figured I’d be better off paying very close attention to that. I mean, documenting this stuff is important, but so is keeping all of her digits and limbs intact.

Joey was quite engrossed in the movie. Shortly after this was taken, we fed him lunch and put him down for a nap.

By then, the soup was finished, so that’s what Brianna and I ate for lunch.

Afterward, we worked together sewing a holiday outfit for Klondike (her dog).

I would have made Hubby take pictures of us sewing, but he was napping, too!

This grandparent stuff is tiring. Wonderful, but tiring.

We are both looking forward to doing it again. Soon.

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Hubby is My Hero

It’s been a while since I talked about how wonderful my Hubby is.

In fact, I can’t remember the last time I did that. I always think he’s awesome, I just don’t Blog about it too much. I mean, that’s sort of like bragging, right?

Anyway… this morning I’m thinking of Hubby a lot. Why? Well, I’ll tell you. Regular readers will remember my All Good Things Must End post from the other day, where I revealed that my supply of Hazelnut and Vanilla Bean Seattle’s Best coffee had been completely depleted. The stuff is just not easy to find around here.

Well, while I was away on Friday/Saturday doing my 5k thing, which I still need to talk about, guess what Hubby did?

He went and found me some Hazelnut and Vanilla Bean Seattle’s Best! Woo hoo! I am drinking a cup of hazelnut as I write this, thinking about my Hubby and how nice he is to me, so figured I should share that sentiment with the world.

I love you, Hubby! The coffee is just what I needed to start my day.

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Our Distracting Visit to DC

Hubby and I took Thursday off from work so we could drop Shannon off at Dulles Airport. She had to be at the airport at 7:30 AM, which meant we had a whole day to kill. We could either go home and be sad all day or find some interesting distraction. Opting for the latter, we headed into Washington, DC.

After taking about 3 pictures, I realized my camera battery was almost dead. Not only did I not have a back-up, the car-charger was at home in my camera bag.

It was still pretty early at that point. Way too early for retail stores to be open. So we went ahead and walked around the Tidal Basin for a close-up look at the Jefferson Memorial, which is yet another national icon I’d never actually seen despite living like 45 minutes away.

After poking around there for a bit, we headed to Alexandria in hopes of finding a cheap battery charger. (I mentioned the trip to Alexandria on my blog yesterday.)

We saw this cool little ranger vehicle on our way back to the car. I guess if you have to be a Park Ranger in DC, the least you could expect, or hope for, is a cool little vehicle to drive.

After returning from Virginia, we visited the World War II Memorial, which Hubby hadn’t seen yet. I saw it on my last trip to DC.



This wall of stars, which is part of the WWII Memorial, is known as The Freedom Wall. It’s comprised of 4,048 gold stars. Each gold star represents one hundred American service personnel who died in the war (or remain missing). The 405,399 American dead and missing from the Second World War are second only to the loss of more than 620,000 Americans during our Civil War.

From there, we headed toward the Capitol and Library of Congress, which were planned stops. We figured we’d just stop and see things as we walked, should the urge strike us.

There was lots of activity on and around the National Mall. Preparations were under way for the Solar Decathlon. It was sort of annoying, really, having all those moving trucks and construction equipment and people around. But we made the best of it.

We would have gone to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which is really a very moving (as in emotional) tribute to the people who fought there. But we’d already had enough emotion for the day, thank you very much. Same goes for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, which I really want to see someday.

We saw some cool buildings along the way…

This a the Smithsonian Castle Building. I have to remember to go back there and visit the gardens. We were going to, but were starving and decided to look for a meal instead.

Right beside the castle was the Arts and Industries Building, which is closed for renovation.

I can’t imagine what sort of stuff one would see inside such a building, but the outside of the building is very cool.

I consulted the Smithsonian brochure I’d picked up inside the Castle to determine where we should eat. Hubby and I both wanted to see the National Museum of the America Indian. Hubby joked that maybe they had a restaurant serving Indian tacos on fry bread. As luck would have it, they actually did.

Unfortunately, while the taste was okay, the fry bread was rubbery and the meal was way overpriced. But then, we were in DC in a museum, a double whammy as far as inflated costs goes.

The museum was nice–the building is amazing–but it was a bit more historical/educational than we’d anticipated. Not to mention depressing. Knowing what the white man did to the Indians depresses me, especially since Hubby and I have seen, many times, how poorly the Indians in this country live.

I did enjoy quite a bit of the art, though. Like the painting above and these masks…

Hubby just doesn’t understand art, I guess.

Though I think he was just trying to make me laugh. He did.

After that, it was off to the Capitol and Library of Congress.

I just love the Great Hall at the Library of Congress, as evidenced by all of the pics below.




The next image is from the main reading hall. Something I need to go back and check out further.


The level of detail in all of the paintings, mosaics and ornamental marble inside is amazing. The detail on the outside of the building is also quite impressive.


I’ll leave you with this last shot of the Capitol. Hubby is the one who first noticed the sun streaming through the clouds.

I hope you enjoyed our visit.

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How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You?

One of my regular blog reads, which I have mentioned here previously, is PassiveAggressiveNotes.com. I found one of the items posted yesterday to be particularly funny…

Who hasn’t seen examples of stuff like this?

In the aftermath of the little giggle this picture prompted, I got to thinking about passive-aggressive notes that could be found at my house.

I bet you’re thinking, “Uh oh. Now she’s going to bash her poor ole still-recovering Hubby.” But I’m not. He’s Superhubby, remember? He also happens to be an engineer. I could say he’s anal, but that sounds too negative. The fact is, he just likes orderliness. He likes things to be in their proper place. Which is not a bad thing. Otherwise, our house might be subject of a Hoarders episode on A&E.

You know what they say about opposites attracting? I am not orderly. I’m clean, mind you, I’m just not as driven to distraction by clutter or things being out of place. (If Hubby had a blog, he could post all kinds of crazy stuff about me.)

My Hubby is subtly passive-aggressive, i.e., he doesn’t leave notes, he leaves hints. We’ve been married for almost 17 years now, so I am pretty good at recognizing the hints.

I’ll pretend I’m Hubby and give you a couple of examples. But, BUT, before I do, I will be the first one to admit that he is right. His way is best. Order is better. My brain just doesn’t work like his does.

Here’s an example of the place I get hints most frequently. Especially when it’s Hubby’s week to make dinner.

Notice how cluttered the kitchen island is? That’s the workspace he likes to use when making dinner.

Here’s what the hint would look like…

That little brown cabinet at bottom left houses the trashcan. All of the stuff that was on the counter is now on top of or near said trashcan. Which means, “Keep the crap from cluttering the kitchen counter or I’ll throw it away.”

See? He’s right. The counter is much nicer when it is clutter-free. I just can’t put stuff in its place promptly. I do it in stages. It is not a conscious thing. I am not trying to push him over the edge, I swear.

Here’s an example of the second-most-frequent hint…

This shows the sinks in our bathroom. My sink is on the left. Hubby’s is on the right. That big white thing in the middle is Hubby’s. It’s no accident that his largest item is in the middle. It signifies the middle. Notice my hairbrush well to the right of the middle. My cuticle trimmers and hairspray are also slightly to the right (it gets much worse, but it is still early in the week). While you’re looking, take note of the red comb to the far right. That’s Hubby’s comb.

If I hadn’t just done this for the photo example, Hubby would’ve done it later today or tomorrow morning at the latest. My hairspray is nowhere to be seen, the cuticle trimmers are shoved under my sink bowl, the hairbrush has been moved to the middle, and his red comb has been inserted in my brush as if to say, “Um, Honey? Your stuff is on MY side again!” Red is certainly an appropriate color for the comb when used in this manner. I wonder if that was intentional?

Again, Hubby is right. It looks much neater this way. I’m being honest here. I did not set out to bash Hubby. That’s why I keep saying, “HE IS RIGHT.” I really just wanted to point out that he’s rubbing off on others, including the dog. Which dog? Why Belle, of course. Meg’s a bit wackier. (More like me, some might say.)

Belle and Meg both have Gentle Leader Easy Walk Harnesses. They wear these when we’re driving so we can fasten them in to prevent them from bouncing around the vehicle like crazy dogs, covering all the windows with dog snot and/or bounding out the second the door is opened.

We’re not really crazy about the Gentle Leader harnesses and reverted to using CeCe’s old harness on Belle. But then, last week, it mysteriously broke. So this past weekend, Belle wore the Gentle Leader harness again.

Here’s what it looked like when we got home…

That’s when we realized the old harness had not “broken.” All this time we thought Belle was just being a good little passenger, she’d been quietly working away at gnawing through the harness. That was apparently her way of saying, “I don’t like this stinking harness.” (Meg, on the other hand, would’ve said, “I don’t like this f@*#ing harness.”)

Yes, it took a while to get to the point of this post. But you had to have the whole picture. Besides, through poking fun at Hubby I have created a public admission to being a disorganized mess.

That Hubby of mine is very patient when it comes to my foibles. A lesser man would have just given up and divorced me by now!

UPDATE on yesterday’s post… Klondike, my grand-dog, was the culprit. I suspected as much. He spent the day here with Amy, who was sick. She called today to fess up and apologize. But, like I told her, the point I was trying to make was not that the poop was left in my yard. I mean, I wasn’t thrilled, especially after sticking my finger in it, but that’s not the moral of my post. The moral was supposed to be, don’t let stupid stuff like poop get you all worked up. There are more important things in life, like your sick spouse, on which you should focus.

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Hopefully, Today is Better

Yesterday didn’t start off so well.

I think I got up on the wrong side of the bed. Either that or it really isn’t irrational to get extremely pissed off after accidentally sticking your finger in a large, squishy pile of dog poo. It wasn’t the act itself that set me off as much as knowing the poo, one of three piles found in my backyard, didn’t belong to either of my dogs. Getting poo on my hand when cleaning up after my own dogs is bad enough…

I was in the middle of writing a post to express my frustration, ranting about people not cleaning up after their dogs when Hubby showed up. He’d left work early because he was very dizzy (to the point that he could not walk straight), nauseous and vomiting. It was scary.

To make a long story short, after a visit to our favorite doctor, we found out he has vertigo, also known as labyrinthitis. Basically, it’s an inflammation of the inner ear that screws up your balance. Lucky for him, it wasn’t severe.

Worrying about my sick Hubby prior to the diagnosis sort of put things in perspective. My anger over the foreign, squishy poo was the least of my worries. My Superhubby was ill!

I promptly made an appointment with the doctor. While we waited for the designated time to roll around, Hubby laid down on the sofa. He wasn’t even completely settled when Belle joined him.

Isn’t she is just the cutest little dog? Her Daddy wasn’t feeling well and she wanted to make him better. She may be a killer, but she’s also quite the little snuggle bunny.

Belle wasn’t the only concerned one.

Meg wanted to help make Dad feel better, too.

Our kids say we spoil our dogs. We don’t agree. Of course we love our dogs. Who wouldn’t when they do stuff like this? But they’re not spoiled. They’re just well taken care of.

Dealing with poo on a daily basis may be gross, but it’s worth it. (The reason I have to be diligent about cleaning up poo is even grosser; if I don’t, Meg will!)

When’s the last time a kid cuddled up with you like this to make you feel better?

As an aside, in case you’re wondering if Hubby knew I was taking these pics, the answer is yes. Did he know I’d post them on my blog for the whole world to see? Of course! Hubby’s quite the good sport about providing material for my blog. Just another one of the many reasons why I love him.

As another aside, while I’m pretty sure he’ll be sort of touched by this post, he’ll be the first to point out that I started and coincidentally ended it by talking about poop.

Oh well. He’ll still love me back. I think…

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Something is Just WRONG With This Logic

After doing my jog/walk thing yesterday, today was supposed to be a day of rest. The book says, no matter how tempting (yeah, right!), don’t over train. Not that I was tempted to do another jog/walk today. My legs were actually a bit sore, which surprised me after all the walking I’ve been doing. (As an aside, an old friend, Val, made my day today by admitting she struggles to run for 5 minutes, too. Woo hoo! I am not alone in this big, mean world.)

Back to today… after dinner, I asked Hubby if he wanted to go for a walk. “It’s my break day,” I told him. “I don’t even have to walk fast. I’m just going to do a leisurely stroll.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I just don’t feel like sitting around,” I replied.

So he thought about it. Then he said, “Nah, I don’t feel like walking. How about if we throw the bikes (bicycles, not motorcycles) into the truck and go over to the trail?”

I agreed. Before I knew it, we were rolling along the BWI Bike Trail. It’s a loop. I’d sort of envisioned us riding for a little while then turning around and going back. But, it being a loop, if you get halfway, it’s sort of dumb to turn around when finishing the loop would be about the same distance.

It’s a hilly loop though, which goes all the way around BWI Airport. And it is twelve and a half miles long. Did you get that? Twelve and a half hilly miles.

I’m not sure why Hubby chose that over a short leisurely stroll, but it was actually fun. The weather was perfect, too. Cloudy, breezy and in the lower 70s to high 60s.

We’ll have to do that again. Once I’m able to move my legs, that is.