Things I Learned About While I Should have Been Napping

The caracal and how cats always land on their feet; they can twist their spines in two different directions at the same time (whoa!). I will have to remember the caracal when the kids are coming up with cool soccer team names.

The Battle of Messines.  That was sad and interesting and then sad again with the fiancée who lost her man in this battle.  She never married, lived to 100 and was buried with a picture of her fiancé in her hands.

Trench warfare and the design of the trenches to save soldiers from shellfire; a series of rectangular switchbacks, like the top of a castle wall. _|¯¯|__|¯¯|__|¯¯

Secret tunnel warfare in which miners were paid 3x more than the soldiers to dig tunnels under the enemy. The British "undermining" the German mines (packed with explosives) like the game Dig Dug.

Kartoffelstampfer. German stick grenades had handles like batons and were called potato mashers. They had an "idiot's guide" on the handle to indicate how long the fuse would last once lit (5 seconds).

I fell asleep during the nature segment and woke up in battle. Maybe I shouldn't nap with the TV on...

Gusto ko ‘to. Sarap nito.

* I like/want this. This is delicious/feels good. (tagalog)

Tahini Caramel Apples

LOBVE

Morgans 2016 from Nolita Morgan on Vimeo.

Spray for Change

  

Totality

We weren't in the Totality Path, so I thought I might step outside after lunch and catch the cute little eclipse shadows if possible, but that was about it. Scott, on the other hand, was really excited about traveling somewhere to be a part of the Total Eclipse, so, the whole family packed lightly with snacks and Gracie, and headed to somewhere in Missouri just after midnight on Monday morning. We had 3 locations to scout out for maximum viewing and we brought a couple of bags of sandwiches, water, ipods and our viewers.

When we got to the first location (which turned out to be THE location), it was just after sunrise and there were only 2 other people on the lake at the time. We practically had the place to ourselves and we were close to a playground and a bathroom. Score!

Good Morning from Binder Lake

Tacking and Jibing

Sailing takes me away to where I've always heard it could be 

Just a dream and the wind to carry me 

And soon I will be free

LifeSkillz

For the most recent session of LifeSkillz, we learned about finances. Not a lot, but enough for the kids to have a clue about what it takes to manage their money just a wee bit. The kids started off playing Monopoly. The girls seemed more into adhering to the rules and while David was more "creative" about where the bank or pot should go, based on his bad decisions.

Birthday Girl

 

Cucumber and Radish

For the past couple of months I have been wanting to try out a recipe I found (or rather it found its way into my mailbox) for Kimchi Meatballs. 

Ingredients for Yumminess

LifeSkillz

This summer on my RDOs, I decided to host play days (and a little learning) at our house for the elementary aged friends of David and Aubri.

Platanos Maduros

Purple Harvest

Refresher

One day last month when I got home from work, I went to make salad to go with our pasta dish (angel hair with alfredo sauce, tuna and peas) and I realized someone had eaten the rest of the grape tomatoes that I had planned to use for my Larry and Bob salad. The pasta dish was done and I had 3 cucumbers and no tomatoes so I needed a salad lifeline.

And so for the nth time, Deb saved me with an awesome recipe - this time for an obsessively good avocado-cucumber salad.

Burgoo, Bourbon and Bow Ties

This past weekend we celebrated the 143rd Run for the Roses in our back yard and it was a blast! Perfect weather for a backyard party and our friends really know how to derby it up!

That cool, refreshing drink!

Under the Big Top

Nailed It!

My Inspiration

What I ended up with....

Getting Derby Ready

Yardening

That Yaupon Holly transplant was a bad idea...

MIA

So I was in Miami for work last week...

The Chindi Project

On Good Friday I found a cute little papier-mâché Easter Bunny when I was returning some items back to the craft aisle at Target. I decided I would try to make my Chindi rag project come to fruition because I have not been lucky enough to find a papier-mâché reindeer at Christmastime for the past 3 Christmases, and I didn't want to wait another 7-8 months to do this project.

Saturday evening I got busy tearing t-shirts into strips, twisting them and then hot gluing them onto my bunny. I ran out of glue sticks when I got to her belly button.  I had Scott and Emi stop by 3 stores to no avail.  One CVS was out of business, another closed and Walgreens did not have glue sticks. It was too late to head to Walmart because we the Easter Bunny had to fill the buckets and hide the eggs before bed so we were stuck with this for the night.

Topless Bunny

Easterly

The kids did the normal dying of the eggs on Saturday.

Horsin' Around

So we're getting geared up to host our 3rd Kentucky Derby party (Burgoo, Bourbon and Bow Ties) and I'm collecting and consolidating my horses. My brother brought this painting back from my mom's house last Summer after I mentioned how much I liked it.  All the way from Florida! My brother must really like me! Three of the horses are beautiful, then the white horse face on the left is a bit scary and then there's Mr. Ed in the middle...

"Hey Guys! Whatcha doin'?"

Ruh Ruh Roker Face

Earlier this week, Emi and I participated in Rokerthon 2017! I wasn't sure what to expect from the description of the event, but I had friends there and also, AL! We got up way early, getting to the stadium before the 4:45 deadline, and the wind was whipping around already. The students were giving out breakfast burritos, water and Kind bars (yum!). We were ushered to a specific section to sit and await further instruction.

Sometime later, a guy came by and handed out Roker Faces. I ended up wearing mine like a turtle shell when I needed to put my hands in my pockets (or take a selfie).

Busy Girl

I'll Fly Away

(My work trip last week expressed in only pictures of food that I ate.)

Avocado Toast with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Pickled Onion, Hard Boiled Egg and Dressed Arugula

Will Work for Wine

...or chocolate!

Recently we went on a Valentine's wine tour in Oklahoma. The last time we went on such a trip was a long time ago and it was only a day trip. This was an overnight trip...

There were a little over 50 of us on the bus snacking and talking that Friday evening, looking forward to the first winery when we ended up without phone signal at the end of a dirt road during a full moon. Our driver, Don, had it under control but it was a little scary for a bit ... until the hosts showed up with wine, that is!

At Tres Suenos - the first winery of the trip

Goin' Back to Cali

Actually, I went and am back. I didn't do a whole lot this time outside of work meetings and work, but I did get out a little to enjoy some food outside of my hotel and the conference room, to see some beautiful inspirational things and to learn about Fullerton's rich history.

Between Two Posts

So between the last two blog posts, I was able to escape the cold, dreariness of Oklahoma in favor of the sunny, balminess of Florida.

One day, after the work was complete, we had a little time to explore so we went to the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine.

The moats were empty...

Curry Favor

I've been hearing that phrase a lot recently, maybe because of the excessive politicking going on in the world these days.

- ingratiate oneself with someone through obsequious (obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.) behavior.  e.g.  "a wimpish attempt to curry favor with the new bosses"

Nah, I think I'd rather have curry flavor!

How bow dah?

Cold Comfort

Tonight after a long, cold day with the whole family contained in our small home, something needed to give. So I made this: