Last Day of the Decade

Told Dan I would post on here so he would know what we did today. He is a loyal reader.


Dan grouted the floor tile today. I suppose Saturday we will get the bathroom vanity and mirror. Getting closer.


Decided this morning we should make Alton Brown's coconut cake, which they have been bugging me to try. After announcing it, realized it needed several versions of coconut. We tried a local grocery but I knew I'd have to go over to Whole Foods, on the other side of the earth. We bought every coconut thing they had and came home and made it up. Funny thing is, my kids always stuck their noses up at coconut, until Alton Brown made it cool. It was very very good.


Made the roast, which turned out glorious. Best one I have every made. Just like a gorgeous prime rib at a steak place. But better. Lobster was perfect. Goooooood meal. And we will be eating beans the next month since we spent so much on that one meal. But what a meal.


The kids are so naive. I announced after dinner the kids all were coming with me to the grocery to get cream cheese for the cinnamon rolls tomorrow. When would I EVER bring all five of them to the grocery store when Dad is home? We got home and Dan handed out the Wii controls. That was our big gift for them. I went back and forth on whether we should get it or not. With all the squabbling and whining during the first 15 minutes, I was thinking it was a bad idea. They have bowling figured out now and they are all happy. Adam did complain there were no gutter guards.

Ok, now I had a chance to beat Dan up in boxing and got 229 in bowling. So, I am a Wii jock. Great.


Other than Lily being born, I did not love 2009. It was hard. I am tired. I look forward to 2010 being a much better year. Honestly, until a couple of days ago, it didn't dawn on me it was the end of a decade. Had three kids since 2000. Changed from a suburbanite to a country hick. Gained more weight than anyone ever should. Became a believer. Four of my kids became believers. Guess those are the major points of the decade.

In the next decade, I will probably have children leaving home. Will turn 50. Oh my. In January 2020, I will be 52 (the age my mother was when she died). Alec will be 24, Ian 21, Adam 18, Evan 16 and Miss Lil will be 10. Can't imagine.

Happy New Year.

Not Again!

My cell phone died. TRUST ME, you do not want the details. After the two phones I put through the washer earlier this year, I insured this one so it ONLY cost $50 for the one being delivered tomorrow. What a dork is I.

Dan grouted today--let Ian do part of it. Alec and Ad and I took a bunch of tarps to fortify the dog kennel that works as the goat pen. It is nice and warm and wind resistant for the two girls we have left. I am sure one is pregnant, the other one has to be. They spent months and months with bucks. They have to be. So hard to tell with goats. At some point we will build something permanent I suppose, but they are good for now.

Finally finished Dan's gift I will tell you about in a few days if you are interested. We are giving the kids the big gift tomorrow night and then we will open stuff Friday morning. I could use a few more days of 2009. I really hoped we'd be done with the house. Need to just get over it. We are close. Really close.

I think we will be ready to get back to school in a sane manner. I remember the first day back to school in January 2005. That was the morning I got Evan up and he collapsed on me. That was when we found out he was hypoglycemic. He hasn't had an issue for so long I can't even remember.

Tomorrow we will just clean up the upstairs and then have our big dinner celebration and big gift and I suppose these loonies will stay up until midnight.

Didn't I Just Wake Up?

Someone just asked me what is for dinner. Didn't I just get out of bed? Got up and cleaned up and then had to take off to go get Lily's shots. I broke them up so she doesn't get so many at once but that means she gets them every month. Goodness. She handled it well.

In the meantime, Dan and the boys went to the mall to buy me gifts. Love that. I took Lily to get our New Year's Eve roast and lobster. To make a long story short, the butcher told me it would cost $3 more per pound to get it cut to the large size I wanted. He wanted me to buy up several smaller ones. Told him I'd rather pay more and have what I wanted (right now Crazy Margie is not only gasping I was willing to pay three dollars more per pound for meat, she is shocked I would pay three dollars a pound for meat, period. Just kidding, Marg.) I have a huge roast in my freezer and two live lobsters. Going to try to make Yorkshire pudding to go with it and who knows what else. Alec is unwrapping the roast now, as we are going to try dry-aging it, like Alton Brown taught us to do.

Got home and decided to go down to Anderson to the Ulta store. They have those in Denver, but I haven't been in one is years. They sell make-up. Some high end and some low end. Lily was in love with the young little gal who helped me. She was so pretty, but she just had a TON of make-up on. Oh, to realize when you are that young and pretty, you don't need all that. Kind of sad.

THEN we went to the milk store. And home. And tired. And many hours later. Dan got all the wall tile done and will do the floor today. I have to grade school and, apparently, make dinner.

Just a note on cheese curds for FFN. I have found if you forget the milk on the stove and it gets twenty degrees hotter than it should, it still works well. I do that a lot. Also, I just tried again to make them with pasteurized milk. It failed again. I have made several successful batches with raw milk, and I am not sure if it is the pasteurized part or the homogenized part that messes it up.

Last Days

Of home remodeling. I hope. Dan is tiling the bathroom today. I am trying to wrap up some odds and ends. I am also working on Dan's New Year's gift down in the craft room. I biffed it up so badly yesterday I had to start over. Why did I bif? Because I was trying to do too many things at once. I am going to become the Anti-Multi-Tasker. I am so tired of having my mind stretched in so many directions. Dan does a lot of work around here, but it is so rare that he ever has to work AND look after Lily or work AND get dinner to the table on time. I am so used to getting interrupted while reading a book I have a hard time actually ready an entire chapter without stopping several times out of habit.

Anyhoo...I am also trying to help Lily poop. Hey, it's my blog and I'll talk about poop if I want to. Since starting solids last week, she is just popping out these hard, dry little things that look like goat or deer poop. And it is hard for her. I tried glycerin suppositories this morning. Wow, do those things ever work. She sure didn't like it, though. I gave her some pro-biotics in prune juice. Hopefully that will help. I have not dealt with this issue in a baby before. Help.

STILL have not actually canned the goat. Left it outside over night to let the fat rise and get solid. Now, I am boiling it and I need to wash the jars and then I can get it canned up.

Gettin' 'Er Done

Two goats have been put down. An old doe is simmering on the stove and will be canned eventually for stew. Oh my gracious sakes, it smells as good as life can ever smell right now. Wow. Hope it tastes that good.

Dan is putting a coat of paint on the bathroom walls and then they will finish the other three goats.

I have been working on the broth and working in our room. Do you own a million cords? This is a total pet peeve of mine--organization of all the little cords that every thing I own seems to come with. I have been putting them in baggies and writing what they are and then sticking them in a desk drawer. They drive me nuts but as soon as I toss one I end of needing it. Grrr.

Adam's mouth has been sore but he has been handling the turning of his expander well.

YO HO HO

No, that's what pirates say; Santa hohoho's. Got it.

MythBusters marathon is how we are spending most of our day. Super rainy and dreary down here.

Dan and I sat down and worked out the rest of our "vacation" days. I think we will start the New Year with a finished and clean house. Nobody else will care too much, but it will make my life happier.

Got Julia Child's autobiography. Actually, it is just about her time in France. I love a good biography. I honestly don't get the joy of fiction. I love to read about how people really live. Also got Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which all my people are enjoying. The kids are really into cooking lately so I am trying to pounce on the enthusiasm.

Twas the Day Before the Day We Don't Celebrate Anymore.

Took Ian to Lowe's this morning to get his a rug for his bedroom. The bed had been in the middle of the room but we moved stuff around so he has a big open space and it needed a rug. And 8 x 10 fit the open space perfectly. Got paint for the bathroom. Same color as the bedroom. This should be the last can of paint I have to buy. MAN! I bought a lot of paint for this house.

The shower is moving in our bathroom so Dan needed to drywall there and some other spots. There was this funny hole in the wall that went to the laundry room. It was really low and was hard to imagine it was a laundry chute type thing. There are several weird things in this house. Anyway, he closed that up on both sides. He thinks he will get the primer on tonight.

I am getting my haircut today. Found a new place in Clemson, which is considerably closer than the gal I used to go to in Greenville. She gave a good cut but she never talked to me! At all. She'd ask what I wanted and then do it in silence. As if!! No idea what I will have done to it today. Stay tuned.

It is 50 degrees here and sunny.