Fittings

Yesterday we took the girls (and Jake) to Aveda for their fittings and to get Britney's hair cut.  I was going to take some photos of their outfits, but why ruin the surprise?  It's not your usual show, that's for sure!  I went down knowing Chan needed to get shoes to wear, but not knowing exactly what her dress looked like or what the designers thought the look should be, so I did not get any ahead of time.  Gina brought down a basket of shoes, I gave her a hard time about having so many pretty heels-I always see us as tomboys, *I* don't have any fru-fru shoes (other than my pink high-tops!). 

There was a general search for shoes among the students as well as some random bags of stuff they had in the work rooms, they came up with these 5 inch heels that made me gasp when I saw them.  Chan was game to try and they fit, so off we went to the catwalk to practice.  To my amazement, she got up and took off in them, not 100% right away, but after a couple of trips up and down the stage, she was not even looking uncomfortable.  By Sunday, she will be able to trot in them.

Again, the folks at Aveda were SO nice, during the fitting they offered to make any changes to the outfits that would make the girls feel more comfortable.  They let us giggle and have fun with the whole thing and then explained everything that would be going on during the event and what they would be doing, how it was set up and so on.  Afterward, there will be cake, which made the girls squeal and bounce (okay, nearly everything did, but the cake was extra squee-worthy).


When the instructor said the girls would be coming out on stage after the opening number, which was a guy and girl doing ballet, I said, "Hey Jake-that's you."  He went wide-eyed and dead pale.  I said, "What?  I told them you loved to dance, it'll be easy-it's just ballet."  He actually stammered a little.  Poor kid, we let him off the hook, but I have to say after thinking he was going to be dancing ballet with a stranger on stage in front of strangers, the idea of walking to the end and back suddenly seemed like it was not so bad!  His very minor case of nerves settled.

Working with Aveda has been such a positive experience for them, I can't say enough good things about the people there.  I can't wait till Sunday to see them all done up in their trashy outfits!  The dresses really ARE made of all recycled material and trash!  It should be a really fun show with loads of interesting designs.  There are only 30 models in the whole event, I loved how much creativity is going into the whole thing.  Britney is wearing a funky umbrella skirt with a LONG train and has a fauxhawk, which is ADORABLE on her.  Chan is wearing a long, flowy dress and her hair will be loose and finger-curled and elegant.   Jake is wearing...well, I am not giving it all away, but he WILL be covered in glitter.

Daddy no likey his 6' 1 baby girl!

My Wednesday Off

Today, I slept in until nearly 10, reveling in the rain and the cooler weather and the fact that I got so much taken care of yesterday.  My big plan was to read and watch Netflix and make something yummy for lunch and dinner and possibly make up a menu for next week so I can go grocery shopping at some point.  The rest of the week/weekend are in flux because I am waiting to hear back from Erin about when we need to be in B'ham and I need a new (well, 2 since it's the front) tires on the van because I managed to pick up a nail yesterday and upon repairing that, it was discovered my tires are worn badly on the inside, one much more than the other.  I JUST, back in January, got new (used) tires and an alignment 3 days later.  I won't buy new tires because no matter how often I get the van aligned, it still rubs that front passenger side down like a messy second grader's pencil eraser.

At 10:30, I was online looking at what Jake had discovered.  Our Netflix account was in Swedish now and it had a brand new name as the account owner.  (Johannes Melin, you are a shit.)  Anyway, I called because I had no idea what to click to make it be English again.  Turns out, Melin had given many friends gift codes, so they suggested I cancel the card associated with the account.  I got everything squared away with them, changed my password and called the bank.

Got that taken care of with no trouble at all, new card will be here in 5-7 days.  Fine.  Went to make some comfort food and on a low carb week that means one thing.  Bacon.  And when you are me and will not touch pork, it means turkey bacon.  I managed to burn an entire pack, the person who came with with 'thin and crispy' bacon should be shot.

I made another pack and that came out well, turned it into quiche, which the kids devoured, so I had to make another one, I ended making a total of 3, using a total of 30 (hormone free) eggs, an entire pack of turkey bacon, a 2 cup bag of 2% cheese, half an onion, some hummus and bean dip, a zucchini, the rest of the onion dip and I got TWO pieces of ONE KIND!!!  Ack.  Dang growing kids...

I decided to move some money over into our new bank (where I have a working debit card!) and realized, I had no idea what my 'member number' was.  I called and they can only mail it.  So I have to wait until Friday to do that.  I set that account up to have somewhere to put money that was earmarked for the house and for teeth, so it was not in the general account looking like we could spend more than we need to.  And it felt like it was just there saying, "Here is how we are going to pay for our daughter's oral surgery, please just take the balance, it will not be an issue to save it again!"

After the grab and run with the quiches, I came back in to look up some info on Netflix about a movie I was going to watch with Jake, to see the rating and such.  My account had been suspended.  I could reactivate it using a new debit card number and by paying for the full month right away.  I JUST paid for April/May 5 days ago.  That means I paid a full month for 5 days of service plus I have to wait until I have my new card before I can activate the account again, which means no Netflix until the end of next week and by the way, return those 3 dvds you JUST GOT TODAY within 72 hours or we will charge you for them.  Back on the phone, they SAY they are straightening it out.  We will see, I guess.

It turned out, Johannes had changed the debit card into to HIS debit card (Johannes Melin, you are an idiot) and so I cancelled mine for NO REASON.  

I decided to take a bath.  I decided to reuse the rose hips we had made into tea the night before instead of just throwing them away.  I dumped them in the bath and got the hot water going, hopped in and sat back.  Started itching and then feeling shooting pains.  It turns out, rose hip seeds, which pop out when the fruit is hot, have tiny barbs on them.  They itch and poke and 2 hours later, even after rinsing off, then showering with soap and then using a towel to rub every inch of my skin, I feel like I have been rolling naked in pink insulation.

Nia is limping again, this time it's not rabbiting, it's full on 'will NOT put my foot on the floor'.  Same rear leg, I have looked it over and over and I can't see anything wrong.  I thought yesterday that maybe she had been stung, but she would not still limp today.  The last time, she limped 2 days and was back to normal.  I need to get her to the vet, I guess.  UGH

But, Matt is home safely, Mr. Holmes thinks he has located 2 good used tires and is giving me a good deal on both if they will fit.  They are a little taller than what's on there and my concern is that with the camper on, it will rub the tire well.  So not all is doom and gloom and bad news.  Just, an interesting day off around here...

Teens and Wildflowers!

don't mix.

We did a wildflower walk (seeing a pattern of some kind?) for Earth Day.  It turned out to be my favorite of the year.  The kids came and went like a wave of noise through the woods and it ended up being just Deb and myself joined later by Gina who roamed around looking at flowers.  Deb knows lots of flowers, she filled in my gaps and I filled in hers and there were still a few things neither of us knew.  But I do feel like I learned more new stuff walking with her for 20 minutes than I have looking through my wildflower books this year.

Wild Azalea

Dwarf Fothergilla

Ginger

Bush honeysuckle

Abutilon
Chinese Lantern

Anise
(a-neece)

Wood Sorrel

Solomon's seal

Trailing Trillium

Dwarf iris

Oxeye daisy

What was up with the lighting?  I dunno.  I must have had it set for in the shade.  I did not notice how funky the colors were on this one pic until I got home.

Bloodroot sans flower

Wild hyacinth

Rue Anemone

Buckeye

Mahonia
Oregon Grape

Herb Walk

wild strawberry

 I really have wondered about what to say about this experience.  I decided to stick with the facts and leave out my own speculation, as much as I can, since...it's me.  And my blog and my experience.

We arrived at the herb walk and split into groups, one for adults and one for younger kids.  We just had Chan, so we went on the adult hike.  I mean walk, we barely went a tenth of a mile.

The leader was one half of a 2 person herbal operation that grows, packages and sells herbs to be used medicinally, specifically by midwives.  Their website makes it seem as though they know all about all the local herbs and I was very excited to go on the walk and learn more about the wildflowers and wild edibles in our neck of the woods!

Dandelion

Daisy Fleabane

 Once we got going, it became very clear the leader was nervous and she admitted she did not want to be there. As we walked through the garden area, she relied solely on the signs to tell what plant we were looking at.  She would say vaguely 'this plant can be used herbally and medicinally'.  When pressed as to what part of the plant, or if it was a tea or tincture, she was never clear.  She was also non-committal on exactly WHAT a given plant did.  She commented more than once that the plants 'looked different in her garden'.

She had no idea trillium bloomed in white or that wild azalea bloomed orange.  She did not know what larkspur, fleabane, or a few other very common wildflowers were.  I could not tell if she just really did not know what parts of what plants could be used (for example, she said, 'one of the trilliums, the Sweet Betsy kind, can be used to induce labor.  I don't know what part or which one it is here, but the rest are poisonous')  or if she was out of her element and just blanking.

Greek Valerian

Little Sweet Betsy
http://www.altnature.com/gallery/Trilliums.htm

Wild Geranium

Phlox

May Apple

Columbine

Ragwort

Jack in the pulpit

Celandine Poppy, post bloom

Yellow wood sorrel

False Solomon's Seal

  About this point, Chandler had switched from making notes to writing desperate pleas to me about how many things the woman had identified as 'wild geranium', we both counted 3 totally different plants when we compared notes later.  She wrote, "I have not learned a thing, I don't think she knows what she's doing."  So, we peeled off from the group and left before the donation jar went around.  The suggested donation was $20 each, if I had paid that beforehand, I would have been LIVID.

It's fine to not know plants or to get them incorrect, as I have before and will again, but I don't sell my knowledge for others to learn from or package and sell anything for medical use.   It's a hobby for me, though I do strive to learn when I can and be as correct as possible when id'ing flowers.

Lunch!
We have gotten on a crustless quiche kick, we have had various types of 'egg pie' for 4 out of the past 8 meals!

I mix 10 eggs, about a half cup of cheese and then toss in veggies and meat and pour it in a greased pan and bake for about 20 minutes at 375. To check for doneness, just jiggle it.

We have had it with spinach, turkey, flax seed, onion, garlic, turkey bacon and probably other things I can't recall

hop clover

Matt moving a turtle on across the road

Crimson clover

It's so green so suddenly.  I love the spring, even with the pollen crud and lingering headaches and the constant sniffles.  That life renews is so magical to me, each year the awakening is a gift, one that I will never ever be tired of pouring over and enjoying.