Zak and I have been working on Dave Ramsey's Baby Step Three (create a 3-6 month emergency fund in liquid assets) for a couple of months now and each time we almost reach our goal, something seems to go wrong that sets us back another month. In April it was a car repair to the tune of $800. Already May has required new tires ($500) so I was hoping that Murphy and his Law would leave us alone for awhile . But to our dismay, last week we started hearing a clunking sound in the car every time we made a sharp turn.
We feared the worst, especially after Zak Googled "weird clunking noise." Google always seems to give the worst case scenario. After deciding to take it to the shop, Zak tinkered around underneath for awhile trying to figure out how to explain the sound to the mechanic and checking to see if he could spot something amiss. He kept throwing out possibilities, all of them sounding expensive.
After fixing another minor issue, he decided to drive the car around the block to listen to the clunking and maybe isolate the broken area. As he was pulling out of the garage, Storey was standing in the doorway and suddenly started yelling something about a potato stuck in the car. She was pointing to the front grill and shouting that she wanted to get the potato out. Zak parked and we went to investigate. A very large rock that had somehow lodged itself in a small space between the engine and the bumper. And it looked very much like a big baked potato. I sat in the driver's seat while Zak rolled the rock back and forth a few times and we quickly realized that the potato rock was the culprit. Thankfully a very cheap fix. Storey to the rescue.
We thanked her several times for being so observant, but since praise is her currency, she constantly reminded us all evening about the rock and how she saved the day so we could tell her over and over how amazing she was. She even got an extra sticker on her goal chart (10 stickers = $1 to spend at the dollar store. Children are so easily pleased). And now we can go back to our goal of the emergency fund without another interruption.
That clunking sound is me, knocking on wood.
Monday, May 13, 2013
It was the rock.
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Why I will never buy a Health Rider.
I once worked with a client that would exercise on a Health Rider in the nude. I use the term "exercise" very loosely here. Mostly the Health Rider served as a glorified chair. Either way, it was disturbing. Some afternoons I would open her apartment door to find her in the living room, relaxing on the Health Rider, completely nekkid, shouting at Wheel of Fortune. Other days, she would be getting in her 30 minutes of cardio (buck) while singing "Genie in a Bottle" at the top of her lungs. Images forever seared in my memory. During the day, she dragged that Health Rider around to various rooms. Sometimes I'd find her on it in her bedroom. Once in the kitchen (that night I could not bring myself to sit at the table and eat my dinner). You just never knew when you were going to turn the corner and get an eyeful. I'd always encourage her to add clothes to the equation, but my suggestions were mostly ignored.
Every once in awhile, I come across a Health Rider in a Goodwill. I make a wide berth around it. Who knows what people have been doing on that thing.
*From 1999-2001, I was staff for assisted living (adults with disabilities that lived semi-independently).
Thursday, May 02, 2013
The Best Trip Ever: Part Four
The guys started out our third day with a little game called "Count the Women Wearing Workout Clothes to Disney." For some reason they found it fascinating that so many vacationers chose to wear Spandex to the parks. Fortunately (unfortunately?) they got to about 50 in the first couple of hours and decided it was too much effort. Their point was made: a large percentage of people prefer to look like they just came from the gym. Though the irony of the clothing choices and the fact that most of them were eating large pretzels filled with cream cheese or turkey legs the size of a small country was not lost on me.
While they spent their time counting, I was doing something exponentially more productive---figuring out how Storey was going to see the princesses without a complete meltdown from her big brother. Once again this year I turned to Guest Services for a solution. I explained our situation and asked if there was a place inside the park that we could just "run into" one of the princesses in a more informal setting. Because Disney is incredible, they went one step beyond my request, had us escorted out to the princess meet and greet, stopped the entire line, and had Storey walk through, meeting several princesses along the way. So fantastic. If only every company had customer service like Disney.
It's not hard to guess which princess is Storey's favorite. So much pink everywhere!!!
The cast member that helped us out with the princesses also asked Jakson what he liked best at Disneyland. He told her the Buzz Lightyear ride. So she gave us a pass to go to the front of the line. She also gave us some tips to get higher scores on Buzz and on Toy Story Mania. So, of course, we rode those two rides next. And bragged to each other about our shooting skills.
These guys are very serious about winning.
Speaking of favorites, at breakfast we had gone around the table and each picked two rides that we wanted to go on for our final day. It's a time honored Disney tradition to do this the last day of the trip. Then we filled in the gaps with rides we hadn't been on yet (there were very few) like the Jungle Cruise.
Kiefer: Space Mountain, Tower of Terror
Megan: Splash Mountain, Toy Story Mania
Zak: Radiator Springs
Storey: Pirates of the Caribbean, Ariel
Beth: Toy Story Mania, Buzz Lightyear
Jakson: Toy Story Mania, Buzz Lightyear
Storey agreed to ride Splash Mountain again as long as she didn't ride in the front. No one else from our group wanted to suffer Storey's earlier fate either, but some random lady decided to take one for the team. She got soaked.
We rounded out the afternoon with a couple of character meet and greets. Jakson suddenly decided that since it was the last day, he wanted to meet some of them. We just never know what to expect.
Sadly, in the late afternoon, Megan and Kiefer had to leave us to drive back to Vegas for work the next day. Bust. But we didn't shed any tears because we knew that two days later, we would be seeing them again in Phoenix!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Seven.
Jakson's Birthday Adventure Weekend
Jakson has been wanting to tour the Blue Blue Creamery in Brenham since he read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last year, so we decided to "plan it up" (as the kids would say) revolving around the tour.
We pulled them out of school/preschool early and headed up to Brenham. Thank goodness for DVD players and ear phones. It wasn't a very long car trip, but currently the kids' favorite thing to do in the car is fight. Loudly. Avoiding that any way possible is ideal.
The factory tour was great fun and we actually learned a lot of interesting things. Of course, everyone enjoyed the bowl of Blue Bell at the end. True to form, Jakson inhaled his with a few pauses to moan about a brain freeze (though that didn't deter him from eating quickly), and then stuck his spoon in everyone else's bowl. Storey noticed that he was getting more ice cream and tried to eat hers fast too, but ended up with a headache (she actually feels pain, unlike Jak) and proceeded to give everyone else in the surrounding area a headache by screaming at the top of her lungs about it. One of these days she realize that she's just not built the same way as Jakson.
He could not be bothered to pause from his ice cream eating to look at the camera for a picture.
After the tour, we had lunch at the Brenham airport. There is a great little diner there and the kids were very entertained by the airplanes coming and going. It was recommended by a couple of friends and I'm so glad because it was a great lunch spot.
All along the drive we saw beautiful wildflowers. It was the worst time of day for lighting, but I wanted pictures, so we stopped along the country road out to the diner and sat the kids amongst the bluebonnets. I figured since they are now Texans, we ought to do Texan things.
After our fun in the bluebonnets, we headed up to Austin where we had a hotel for the night. Along the way we stopped at our favorite store, the Goodwill Clearance Center. Jakson lovingly refers to it as the "trash store." That place is crazy. And awesome. It's fun to just people watch, but we dug through bins and came away with some great stuff, including a brand new Scattergories game.
We got into Austin pretty late, so just had dinner and then went to bed. Zak and I are always excited to stay in a hotel because they have cable! We usually end up watching Storage Wars. We are so lame.
Saturday's highlight was the Nature Center at Zilker Park. This past summer, Zak had a business trip in Austin and the rest of us tagged along, which is when we originally discovered the center. It's free (which I love), has a dinosaur dig area, streams, and a zoo-like setup. All of the animals were rescued for one reason or another. Some were abadoned pets, some injured, etc.
After several hours of exploring, wading, and digging, we piled back into the car to head home with a small detour for lunch/dinner/linner at Torchy's Tacos. Jakson gave the weekend two thumbs up and is currently brainstorming destinations for his next birthday adventure. Maybe I will be able to convince them to forgo parties after all.....
Saturday, April 06, 2013
The Best Trip Ever: Part Three
Friday, March 29, 2013
First Big School Project
Assignment: Create a diorama that represents the season "summer."
My favorite part: Harry Potter and friends AND pets. Those magical Brits love celebrating Independence Day.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Freezer Meal Fun
Once every four months or so, I host a freezer meal activity where we make meals for the ladies in our congregation who have fallen on hard times, have long term health issues, have just had a baby, etc. Meals are a huge way to serve (everyone needs to eat, right!??!) and freezer meals are a great way to provide storeable food that can be used at their discretion.
I've done freezer meal actvities in a variety of wards (congregations) and a variety of ways, but this is the tried and true method I feel works best. It's great for a larger or smaller group (I never know how many people will attend until they actually show up) and doesn't take a ton of time to execute.
Cost: I spend around $65-$75 for 14-15 meals. This includes everything: the pepper, salt, each spice, etc. It would be a lot less expensive if you were doing this at home with your husband/family because many of the ingredients you most likely already have on hand and don't have to buy specifically for making freezer meals.
Time: Plan 1-2 hours, depending on how many people attend and how much time you spend chatting. If you are just doing this at home in the evening with your husband, plan on 2-3 hours for about 14 meals.
Set up: I have trays that I use for art activities at home that are perfect for setting up meal ingredients. I arrange everything, along with the recipe so that it's easy to find and easy to put together. I already have the bags labeled and on the trays as well. When people begin to arrive, I grab out the meat and put it next to each station so that it hasn't just been sitting out. If there is more than one meal that needs a particular ingredient, I divide it up in sandwich bags (spices) or small tupperwares (ex. olive oil) and add that to the tray as well.
Storing meals: All of the meals I use can be stored flat in Ziplock bags. I double bag all of them to prevent freezer burn. On the outside of the outside bag (got that??), I tape the label for that meal. It includes the name of the meal and instructions once it is pulled out of the freezer. (Example: Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes). This way when I give it to someone who will be having a baby soon, etc, she knows what to do with it.
Be sure to squish/suck as much air out of the bags as possible before sealing. This also helps prevent freezer burn and makes them more flat for storing. One trick I use is to seal the bag almost all the way, insert a straw into the opening, and literally suck all of the air out. I swear it works as well as one of those pricey vacuum sealers.
Recipes: All of the recipes I use for this activity are "no cook" recipes. Meaning, everything is raw when it goes into the freezer and is cooked afterward. This makes the prep time super quick. The only exception is that we cook up 3 lbs of ground beef, seasoned for tacos. Pair that with taco shells and you've got a nice, easy, giftable meal as well. Once the beef has cooked and cooled, we put 1.5 lbs in each freezer bag to make it family sized. The rest of the recipes can be viewed and downloaded here: Freezer Meal Recipes.
These are great to do for your own freezer as well. Then on the nights when you are tempted to just eat out, you have something easy to pull out of the freezer and eat!
An Easter ham.
Storey is such a ham. She definitely gets that from Zak. I literally never do anything but plain smile in pictures, while Zak can't help but pull a face.
I was selected to test a pattern for Heidi and Finn last week and thought it would be perfect for Storey's Easter dress. It was super easy (only took about 1.5 hours from start to hem) and turned out adorable. I'm excited to make more of them. And it has just enough sleeve to be called modest without me actually having to cut out another piece to add a sleeve. Love that.
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