Monthly Archives: November 2011

National Blog Posting Month, Social Media

An interview with the lady with the bottomless purse

Technically, I’ve known Jeni of Peace and Carrots for something like 10 years. We lived in the same town and went to church together while Rockford was in graduate school, but I didn’t actually get to know her until we’d both moved away. And then we started hanging out together on the internet. Yay internet!

Jeni has two sweet kiddos, she homeschools, and she used to live in Alaska. Where she had a horrible, horrible job that she claims to have enjoyed. Read on to find out more about that …

How did your grandparents meet?

My grandparents (my dad’s parents) met in school in SE Ohio. They were high school sweethearts. He gave her a ring. She gave it back. He gave it to her again, and she decided to keep it. They’ve been together 59 years, and have three children, eight grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren. My mom has parents, too, but we are estranged from them for various reasons; if I told the story you’d think it came out of a V.C. Andrews book.
What’s in your purse right now?

Oh, dear. Let’s see:

  • Emergency ponytail holder.
  • Blistex Intensive Hand Cream.
  • Phone.
  • Small notebook and eraseable pen.
  • Burt’s Bee’s lip shimmer (watermelon).
  • Two gas receipts.
  • A note from Wendy that reads: “Dear Mom, Mom loves me. Mom loves David. Mom loves Dad. I love you. Love, Wendy.”
  • A crumpled paper chain craft from Wendy’s Sunday Bible class.
  • Wallet.
  • A turquoise polka dot hair ribbon.
  • Pink Post-It notes.
  • Keys.
  • Aveeno Anti-Itch cream and purse-sized Cutter Insect Repellent – both leftovers from summer (I can take those out now).
  • Chocolate mint cocoa lip balm.
  • CoverGirl Outlast lip balm.
  • Emery board.
  • Half a pack of Orbit SweetMint.
  • A pair of dangly earrings.
  • A purple inkpen.
  • A mechanical pencil.
  • Warm Vanilla Sugar antibacterial gel (Bath & Body Works).
  • Brown Sugar Vanilla body cream (Bodycology).
  • Small pair of Fiskars kid scissors.
  • Small black velvet hairbow.
  • Emergency feminine supplies.
  • Small bottle of ibuprofen.

    That’s what is in my purse today, an average Thursday. Many times my purse holds even more stuff, including but not limited to crayons, Matchbox cars, my Kindle, granola bars, baby wipes, and tissues. It depends what our plans for the day include. Church or gymnastics? You better believe that thing is loaded.

    • What was your first job? How old were you, and how long did you work there? Did you like it?

    My first job, other than babysitting, was at a grooming/boarding kennel in Anchorage, Alaska. I fed and walked dogs that were staying there, and also took care of the 80+ resident cats. I worked there for several months, and one of my main jobs was chiseling dog poop out of the snow with a hoe. For real. I also learned how to clean the outside of windows when it is below freezing outside, and how much fun it is to sort 40-lb bags of dog food in an unheated trailer, especially when your boots are wet. All in all, I DID enjoy the job. It was hard work and I was sad to see it come to an end. I quit when a coworker blamed something on me and my boss cut my hours from 16/wk to 4/wk without even talking to me about it.
    What is the worst advice you’ve ever been given?

    The worst advice I’ve ever been given is “follow your heart.” Really? I don’t know about the average person, but my heart is awfully fickle and undependable. It wants chocolate chip cookies with the same intensity that it wants to end world hunger. It can’t seem to make a decision and stick to it for more than a few days. I think we SHOULD pay attention to our feelings and what is important to us, but relying on the heart as a guide seems like a recipe for a dangerous, tumultuous life. It makes more sense to follow the spirit, the intellect, and above all, to follow God’s leading.
    Who was president when you graduated high school?

    Bill Clinton. But I’m pretty sure you already knew that.
    Family matters, National Blog Posting Month

    It’s whining time!

    1 Comment

    I’ve taken two Excedrin Migraine pills this morning, and so far they’ve proven themselves worthless. As such, here are my favorite spam comments of the last week or so:

  • “Have you considered applying to be a magazine writer? Very nice spelling!”
  • “After study a some of the blog posts on your internet site now, and I truly like your path of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and you will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you consider.”
  • “I permit myself to share this on facebook , thanks”

    And now I will go huddle under the covers in the dark.

    (Oh, no I won’t. But I will wish that I could.)

    • Mighty List, National Blog Posting Month

    How to make Butterfingers. Or Notterfingers. Or possibly Butterfauxngers.

    3 Comments

    Butterfingers play a starring role in one of my earliest memories: My dad came home from work, I ran to greet him in the kitchen, he scooped me up and pulled a Butterfinger from the inside pocket of his denim jacket. That’s probably one of the reasons it’s my favorite candy bar. And also I really like the way the unearthly orange stuff within kind of crackles and bursts when you bite into it. It’s not a candy bar for those who have an aversion to crumbs. It is, however, a candy bar for those who believe in deliciousness.

    Is it any surprise that “Make Butterfingers” hopped onto my Mighty List minutes after I saw Plain Chicken’s recipe for them? No, no it is not.

    What is a surprise is that it took me so long to notice that I had all three ingredients that the recipe requires on hand. Yeah, that’s right: All three ingredients. Candy corn, peanut butter and chocolate. This recipe really couldn’t be easier.

    First, you melt some candy corn in the microwave. The Plain Chicken recipe says you need a pound, but I didn’t have a pound left from Halloween. This is the best use I’ve ever found for the stuff, but apparently someone in my household feels otherwise. The candy corn supplies were pretty low.

    Once the candy corn is melted, stir in some peanut butter. Again, the recipe called for a pound. I just used equal parts melted candy corn + PB. You’ll need to some strength and fast hands to stir them together, because the candy corn starts to harden again pretty quickly.

    Once the candy corn and peanut butter are well blended, you pour the mixture into a parchment-lined pan. Then you walk away and ignore it for awhile. Which is for the best, because right now it looks like something you don’t want to eat.

    After waiting a little while (an hour, maybe? I don’t remember), I flipped the mixture out onto a cutting board and sliced it into not-terribly-huge bars. Then I melted some Wilton chocolate Candy Melts and coated them. I think chocolate chips would work, too, but I had the Wilton stuff leftover from making Pete’s birthday cake.

    The bars look delightfully flaky in the middle, but in fact they are not so crumbly. They’re much chewier than a “real” Butterfinger. They taste good, but I missed the crispity-crunchity texture. Rockford and the kids loved them. (Although Rockford did mourn the candy corn. Weirdo.)