4H County Fair-2013 Edition

The N-boy and I went to the 4H County Fair last weekend, which definitely felt like it was part of one last "huzzah for the midwest" act since we're moving to California. Although the N-boy assures me that California will also have agriculture and animals and 4H. Still, the county fair feels VERY midwestern to me.

This year we were smart and planned ahead by looking online at the fair schedule to make sure we'd see everything we wanted to. We've learned from past years that you can't go the first day, because the animals aren't there. And you can't go the last day because the animals aren't there. Since clearly the animals are on of the main highlights for us, this was an important lesson to learn (and it only took us four years!).

This duck made me smile. He looks like Mozart to me. 

Please tell me you've seen this video. Pretty sure we need a goat if only to do this in our spare time. 

We get a little overly competitive about ski ball. We tied this year, each winning laffy taffy on exactly one round. And losing on the every other round. 

 Twist ice cream cones are my absolute favorite summer treat. Let's not talk about what is going on with my medusa-like hair in this picture. It was windy.

Goodbye, 4H Fair. 

Tea time.

The N-boy and I have a tea problem. We drink it pretty much every night, especially when it's cold outside. The problem isn't the tea drinking, but more of the chaos of our tea cupboard (yes we have a whole shelf dedicated to tea and hot chocolate. I think the moment of truth came with the N-boy opened the door and boxes fell on his head.

His solution to the problem was to toss some stuff that was REALLY old and to put a moratorium on buying more tea until we reduce the stash. My solution was to take some of it to work to drink there, since I need to stop drinking so much Starbucks. And because I'm not a fan of the tea in Keurig in the office kitchen. And so we can then buy more tea.

I think this little guy appeared in my stocking last year. Under the duck is a mesh tea strainer, and then it sits in the little blue cup when your tea has steeped.

It's super cute. And I get a kick out of back from the kitchen with a duck floating in my cup. And I'm drinking yummy tea instead of Starbucks. Ok well there's still been some Starbucks. But it's a start, yes? 

Weekend Recap.

Craft show, with the N-boy in tow. He's such a good sport. 

I finished the test of a revised pattern for a heart shaped bowl (I really want to call this pattern "Heart Shaped Box" but i'm also pretty sure that the Momcat wouldn't get the reference. Daddo would, however, so maybe it's worth a shot?) Let's just say that this pattern is without a doubt my arch nemesis. This is my THIRD attempt at making this blankity blank heart bowl and I finally got it to work. The pattern is significantly more complicated than the other shapes I've worked on, and the pattern needed some serious tweaking for us more novice crafters. At last, however, victory is mine! 

The N-boy purchased Russian food from a somewhat questionable van in a definitely questionable car repair shop. However, the then turned said purchase into these Сырники (sirniki). Basically pan fried farmer's cheese with jelly on top. Yum. Sketchy groceries for the win. 

We decorated for Christmas. More on that later-Christmas decorations definitely deserve a post unto themselves in my book. Let's just say that one of my new goals in life is to have an ENTIRE tree decorated only with flamingo ornaments. Yes, I'm serious. I do have flamingo Christmas lights already in my office, so I'm well on my way. The N-boy was less than impressed by this life goal.  

We escaped the football games on TV and went to a coffee shop to work for a while. The N-boy worked on his dissertation (ok well I assume he was working on his dissertation. Sometimes I don't ask too many questions because then he wafts poetic about cholera in provincial Russia while I'm trying to consume a tasty beverage). Is it weird that I think the foam on cappuccinos taste like the crispy part on a perfectly toasted marshmallow?  Pretty sure that must be a weird thing. 

 And that was our weekend!

Happy December.

Oh December. I'm pretty happy you're here. For the most part. Not that part that realized I turned 30 in exactly 70 days. But since I am a huge fan of Christmas cookies and eggnog, we'll give that a pass for the moment.

Today was a busy day with my one and only craft fair for the season. It wasn't great. Luckly the N-boy came along with me and we talked a lot about what kind of venue (if any) is right for the kind of thing that the Momcat and I are focusing on. Don't worry, Momcat, lots of notes and ideas to discuss with you!

Of course, I did put him to work. You don't just get to sit at my pretty table without hauling boxes and praising my wares to strangers. (Somehow that sounds indecent...I swear it wasn't).

I did let him out for a short break where he ventured out to find the super secret Russian market that appears in Elkhart one Saturday a month. In the bay of a car repair shop. By people who drive a van full of Russian food from New Jersey to Indiana. The sketchiness of this adventure was possibly the highlight of his week.

The N-boy returned with some of his favorite Russian foods including these yummy desserts which are similar to cheesecake bites. And are amazing. I LOVED these when I lived in Russia and was super pumped to eat one.

On the way back from a rather long day we hit the grocery store before returning to the house where we promptly crashed on fluffy furniture. Chinese comfort food take out for dinner, and then the N-boy fell asleep on the couch with CatCat.

I thought this picture was hilarious, but apparently the whole time he was sleeping (or trying to sleep) it was an epic battle with the cat about who got to occupy more space on the couch. CatCat has a tendency to win these battles with her pointy claws.

Tomorrow we're planning on decorating the house for Christmas. I haven't been feeling very festive, so I'm hoping that a day full of festivity-however forced-will help get me into the holiday spirit.

Weekend fun and games.

The N-boy and I had a pretty quiet weekend, following a rather stressful end to the work week.  I love working with students, but sometimes it can be hard. 

Saturday we saw Skyfall, drank a lot of coffee, and watched college football. Let's just throw in a Go Irish! for good luck here. I cannot believe that they're undefeated and ranked number 1. It's absolute craziness.

On Sunday we took pictures of the N-boy with the awesome steel frame bike he received from Grandpa for his birthday. This bike had been hanging in Grandpa's garage for years. He moved into an independent living facility this summer, and the Momcat found the bike when she was helping to clean out the house. N-boy loves his newest bike (this would be bike number four for those keeping count at home), and we wanted to let Grandpa know that.

I also worked on some English paper piecing for a project (more on that project coming Wednesday!)

And we baked sourdough rolls to take to Thanksgiving. Don't worry; we checked and made sure they weren't poisonous before we packed them up. ;)

Our biggest adventure of the weekend was the eviction of an opossum who had taken up residence in the garage. I'd heard something rustling around in the garage earlier this week and had actually called the N-boy on my phone from the garage to come take a look. We couldn't find anything then, but the next day something had gotten into the birdseed and made a mess. The N-boy thought it was just a squirrel or a chipmunk so he blocked the crack under the side door and cleaned up the bird seed. Then today he went out to rake leaves and when he grabbed the big canvas leaf bag found Mr. Possum inside hissing irritably at having been disturbed from his slumber. 

Animal removal is definitely not thing we learned in grad school. We called my parents to see if they had any suggestions (their ideas were leaving the door open so he'd come out, calling animal patrol and something involving dry ice-I didn't ask for details on this last one). Finally we just used a long pole to loop through the bag handles and pull the whole thing outside, shutting the garage door behind it. We went inside to give the poor little guy some space to get out, but a couple of hours later it was obvious that he had no intent of leaving his comfy nest. The N-boy (carefully) used the pole to move the bag into the backyard and gently pushed the bag over until the opossum crawled out. Hopefully this is the last animal adventure we'll have for a while. 

Have you ever had to conduct any animal evictions? 

Halloween.

Ok, so I'm clearly a little behind on posting since I'm just now getting to Halloween. But instead of viewing this as a failure let's just think of it as a way to keep the festiveness going on a little longer. Of course that also means we've crashed head first into Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I think a little extra cheer might be good for me right now since the winter blahs have hit me early this year. 

The N-boy and I headed to St. Louis again this year for his brother and sister-in-law's annual Halloween bash. Halloween is their favorite holiday and their parties always promise to be a festive occasion. This year was obviously the best year ever since it was the first year with the cutest baby niece on the planet. In a spider costume. 

Second cutest costume (after aforementioned spider-baby of course) was my Robin Hood outfit. Which, when posed on the HOOD of my car makes for an even more clever costume. Too bad I didn't think of that until afterwards. But now it makes me look smart AND festive! 

The N-boy donned a festive hat. And a plate of creepy gummy sushi. 

 I found this in a magazine at their house. I really REALLY want this! Hint hint family members who keep asking what I want for Christmas. 

Winter blahs.

The winter blahs have hit me early this year. I'm not sure what the deal is. It's not that cold, the weather hasn't been awful (although it is supposedly going to snow next week). It's been dark, but no darker than usual for this time of year.

Blech. I hate feeling this way.

The N-boy and I kicked it old school last night with a comfort food dinner of Kraft Mac n Cheese. Yes, name brand even. Growing up this was one of the meals that Daddo would make for me and BabyBrother when he was left in charge of our feeding for a night. One time he tried to substitute store brand for the tried and true Kraft and was called out on the first bite. I like think this means BabyBrother and I have exceptional and epicurean taste buds. But it probably just means we ate too much boxed mac and cheese.

N'stagram Friday

Oh happy Friday. Work has gone from homicidal crazy busy to ridiculously slow. I'm having a hard time making that transition, as I do every year. Especially because this is the time of year we do housekeeping things for our files and it sometimes makes me want to scream. 

On that note, here are three N'stagram pictures from the N-boy: 

New bike-rescued from Grandpa's garage. It's all steel and quite festive.

Catcat. Looking thoughtful. 

We saw this sign on the way to pick apples last weekend. Pretty sure the N-boy would have pulled over and stopped the car to get a picture if we hadn't been at a stoplight. 

Birthday weekend.

It was a busy weekend at our house; the N-boy had a birthday on Saturday and then the parentals stopped by for a short visit on their way back to Nebraska after visiting my grandpa in Ohio.

The N-boy decided he didn't want anything super crazy for his birthday this year, so instead we spent the day doing fun things together. First up was a trip to Garwood Orchards to pick apples! 

We went with Fujis, since they're good for both eating and baking. 

It should be noted that for once we showed GREAT restraint with the picking of the apples. We've gone apple picking several times now, and we (well maybe just I) have a tendency to get super excited about the actual picking process, but forget that we need to actually use all of the apples we pick. 

Not even a full 1/2 bushel! 

Birthday apple cider was also acquired.

On the way back home we were both a little hungry and stopped in downtown LaPorte to try and find something to eat. We turned a corner and walked right into this:

This slightly random fair went on for blocks and included food, vendor tents, classic cars and a cute little train that drove up and down the street for the kiddos. I did attempt to convince the N-boy that the fair was a celebration in honor of his birth. He didn't seem to fall for that. 

But he did accept a birthday bratwurst.  

I crashed on the couch with the cats when we arrived back at the house, getting a couple of hours of rest and reading in before the parents arrived and took us out to dinner. It was a good day, and I think overall a great birthday weekend for the N-boy!

Festive for Friday-N'stagram #2

It's been a busy week. I've had work events three nights this week and although we're no longer working at a break neck speed in the office, we've still been much busier than I expected. So blogging fail. Oh well. Next week is a new week.

But thank goodness today is Friday. 

Here are three pictures the N-boy took this week for happy N'stagram day!

The N-boy and CatCat.

Friday the cat.

Train.

Festive for Friday-N'stagram

Three photos brought to you by the letter "N." 

Balloon glow.

Watermelon love.

Baby and her bottle.

(long) Weekend Recap.

Wow. What a crazy-busy-festive long weekend we had. I kept forgetting that today was a holiday, and kept being pleasantly surprised when I remembered that I didn't have to get up and go to work this morning! Here are a few of the adventures the N-boy and I got up to this weekend! 

Saturday.

The N-boy decided that carrying a 22 pound watermelon home from the Farmer's Market was a good idea. 

A very hot and humid run outside. 

Bike ride to the library.

Brother in law, Sister in law in law and cutest baby on the planet arrive. 

Baby demands FroYo.

We break open the Maker's Mark that I hand dipped in Kentucky last fall. 

Sunday.

Marshall County Blueberry Festival. 

Lemon Shake Up.

Happy baby.

Balloon glow.

Monday.

Morning baby time before they headed home.

Unpictured from today: buying cat litter, doing laundry and collapsing on the couch to catch up on the interwebs.

Hope everyone is having a festive labor day!