Time warp

It's hard to believe that March 2008 is no more. I haven't been a friend to this space, but hope to be better in updating my posts. I'm currently working on that which screams the loudest, and this space doesn't say a word.

I read a blog yesterday and saw that you could donate to her Starbucks card, love that idea. Now, just how do I get that on here? HMMMM. Something to work toward. I'm going to be taking some pictures (not with my phone) of our recently renovated Children's Wing and let me just tell you it's astonishing how different it looks!

Today is my birthday, that's right April 1st of all days! So far so good, it's been good and folks have remembered. I think my clan is going to go out to eat tonight and that's always an adventure.

More later. Just stopped by to say hello, I'm still here. See you soon.

Iowa, no wonder it's corn country

Having finished my first trip to Sterling City with the sole purpose of meeting the family of my newly "engaged" beauty, Kendra and I had to plan a time for us to go to Missouri to meet "my family." This would not be nearly as traumatising since my family...well-- the recognized family, could all meet at one table in the back room of Olive Garden. Finding the time and shaking free from our lives in Oklahoma City was the problem. Kendra had met my Mom, smiled and said, "Hi...I'm Kendra nice to meet you." to my Dad who, full of profound wisdom and non-stop talking said, "Hi." And she had also met my Sister, although not officially.
Unannounced to me, since I"m completely and totally clueless when it comes to the advances of women, Kendra had a "crush" on me for quite some time. I just thought she was really nice...really, really nice. She had and has this electrifying smile that I would rather watch than any fireworks display because it's more sparkling. Her smile couple with her laugh are all it takes for the cares of this world to completely melt away and seem for an moment to not exist. I love to see her smile and I love to hear her laugh, it's two of my favorite things about living on this third rock from the sun. Many of our friends were getting married to the point that it seemed like every weekend we were getting an invitation to a wedding for someone we knew. That coupled with the fact that I worked for THE most beautiful Church of Christ in all of Oklahoma City meant a lot of wedding were planned there. To make extra money I would do custodial work (you usually got $3-500) for the weekend weddings and for two day work that wasn't half bad.
Kevin Billips and Chaney Luke were getting married at Mayfair and I was doing the custodial work. Sis had come down for a weekend and she was hanging out in the office while I was scraping the watermelon off the driveway. That's the down side to working college student weddings, their friends think it's funny to put watermelon rinds under the wheels. You see when you try to drive off--you don't and the tires just spin...and spin...and spit chunks of hot molten melon rind onto a concrete circle drive used my every elderly lady of the church...who would notice a melon rind riddled circle drive and go into orbit because the beautiful pristine Mayfair was marred--with a fresh melon scent. Kendra was hanging out, with Karen, in the office talking to my sister. After I was done and ready to leave I went into the office and chatted for a minute with Sis and Kendra and Karen and then Sis and I headed off. "That Kendra girl...do you know her." "Yeah, we're friends." "She's really, really nice and I think she likes you. You should ask her out." "Whatever, we are just friends she'd never go out with me I'm not athletic or jockey and she's a total athlete." "You should listen to your Sissy, she likes you--a lot." "Whatever! Let's just do eat and talk about something else." "OK...but she likes you" "SIS!" I really hate it when my sis is right.
My roommate, Jeff had asked his girlfriend, Sharon to be his bride to which she enthusiastically said, "YES!" and they had asked me to officiate the ceremony. This would be my very first ceremony to officiate. Not scraping melon rind of a circle drive---old hat! I had never paid attention to the words of a ceremony..too busy watching all the action of weddings. They are great places to gawk at folks. Sharon had told me she wanted something traditional, timeless, the trend was to be non-traditional and uber cool ( I blame it on the Young & Restless weddings). I had this book of weddings and such from like 1947 that I thought timeless. After all it's nearly 50 years old! That would work it had to work because I didn't have any other options.
The wedding was in DesMoines, Iowa. Kendra and I planned to drive up there since we were both good friends with Jeff and Sharon. I'd never been to DesMoines, had a vague idea how to get there and figured that a whole entire state couldn't' be that hard to find. Needless to say I made it as far as Kansas City before getting ridiculously lost! It was in Kansas City that I encountered my first gas station where the attendant was encased in Plexiglas. I was wishing I had a plexiglas case because that part of town was scary. "Sir.." "You must be lost. What are you doing here?" "We are looking for DesMoines do you know where it is?" "Iowa." "Ok...where's Iowa?" The attendant told me how to get back to, "my side of town" and on to I-35 which took me straight North to Iowa. It was a little over two hours. I think all total it was like six hours of driving one way, not too bad.
Iowa is an odd state. It's been 13 years since I've been there, but it's a funky state. The city of DesMoines (the capital building is beautiful incidentally) has a lot of highways running through it and you exit these highways to the side streets. The odd thing is you exit left and each of these exits have stop lights! What's up with an exit ramp having a stop light? I still don't' get that. Of all the things I remember about that trip, driving wise--that was it!
We found our hotel got settled in[STOP! Kendra and I each had our own room.] and began to meet people we would never meet again...all of Jeff and Sharon's family. Jeff's Mom, Dad, and sister were in town and hosting the rehearsal dinner. The wedding was that night and we all went off to the church. This church was typical church of Christ, but built on a hill and quaint. It smelled like it had been shut up for twenty years...all musty and old. The auditorium sat about 150. I had never conducted a ceremony before and was totally winging it. We practiced the walking in and seating and such, all as planned. When everyone felt comfortable about the ceremony we went to the basement for the rehearsal dinner.
Jeff's parents wanted to bring a little Texas to Iowa (they were from Houston) and so they had decorated the tables in Texas. Jeff's sister brought all of her cowboy boots that she had worn through the years and thought it would be cute to use them as centerpieces! These old, worn, dirty boots were on top of a table I was supposed use for food! In the boot were plastic bluebonnets and some other flowers. I just looked at Kendra and rolled my eyes. We could not believe dirty boots. Kendra leaned over to me and said, "Look they brought a little Texas terd with them." That was all it took for me to lose it! The boots had crap on them! Turns out barbecue joints in Iowa have no clue about doing Texas style barbecue. Amazingly they do Iowa style barbecue. Never heard of Iowa style barbecue? There's a reason.
After the dinner we went to a casino to gamble and part all night. Kendra and I were less than impressed and spent our allotment of "crazy cash" and went back to the hotel to get some rest. We were whopped and had a gut full of family we didn't know.
The next day the mood was decidedly tense. Everyone was nervous and on edge. Weddings do that to people, they get all keyed up. There is really no reason to be keyed up at a wedding because as long as they say, "I do" it's a success. Just don't catch anything on fire! One of the lines of the ceremony which I was using from a nearly fifty year old, timeless and traditional wedding book, went something like this, "Jeff...do you take Sharon...in forward and reverse blah, blah, blah." I didn't go into the words of the ceremony at the rehearsal because I thought it more important to get who was going to stand where. Seemed like a good plan to me.
Jeff, the groomsmen and I all walked into a song and stood there, this was after all of the family had been sat. Jeff's sister was one of the bride's maids and they were all in. The Maid of Honor was going to walk in to a song, Sung by Jeff's sister, then Sharon was going to enter. The song Jeff's sister sang sounded like the National Anthem at a baseball game! So much so that when she was through singing all of the groomsmen said, "Play ball!" It was met with mixed reviews. I just stood there smiling. As Sharon rounded the corner she was a vision--all brides are beautiful on their wedding day. Sharon was so nervous, she was crying the whole way down the aisle. Jeff had a, "what have I gotten myself into" look on his face. As she stood there sobbing, holding her Dad's arm I asked who was giving her away and such. Then Jeff took her arm and she stood with him. Jeff was a joker and rarely took things seriously, "Sharon...pull my finger." That one comment took her from crying to laughing. Laughing uncontrollably. She managed to get herself under control until I launched the forward and reverse torpedo at her and she lost it. I vowed never to use that line again. It was really bad, really, really bad. I've since adapted a pretty good ceremony that I like to use.
The wedding reception was in the foyer of the church. The 100 plus guests didn't fit into the foyer very well. The cake, from the local grocery store, was just barely placed on the table and the gal from the bakery was still touching up the boo boo's when we all walked in to the foyer. The long tables were covered in white cloth with sheer white tuleing. The cake topper was a Precious Moments Bride and Groom. There was the typical nuts, pillow mints, cheese cube tray, veggies with the dip (not in a pretty bowl, but in the container it came in) typical wedding punch...but this...this I've never seen in my life! I have yet to see this either. Where you would typically see a grooms cake there was...a huge punch bowl full of Gardetto's Mix. Kendra and I both just stood there in awe. "Is that trial mix? For a groom's cake?" "I think so, honey." "We are not doing that at our wedding." "Ya think?" We couldn't wait to get back home.
The drive home we talked about our wedding and how we wanted it to be, mostly about how we didn't' want it to be. We set the date on the way and got more and more excited about our wedding. WE HAD A DATE! It was actually going to happen and be a reality. It was really fun planning our wedding. We decided to stop in Missouri and spend the night with my Dad and Peggy (they had only been married a year) to meet the family and then head back to OKC on Sunday afternoon.
Dad and Peggy had just built and moved in to a beautiful house in the country. It was a great house. We got to Dad's about 11:30, he had been in bed for a good three hours by the time we got there. I knew we would be late because the wedding would go long and the drive was long. I asked Dad not so set the alarm, but he didn't listen. "Just use the code." I had no experience using an alarm pad and didn't really know how to work the dang thing. As Kendra and I stood in the hall trying to punch numers--BLAM!...BLAM!....BLAM! The alarm went off. My Dad busted out of the bedroom in nothing but his underwear, "What are you doing." "Hey Dad, just trying to get this thing to shut off." He turned off the alarm and went back to bed. Kendra was frozen! She had gazed into Medusa's eyes and was frozen. Actually the sight of her future father-in-law in nothing but his underwear had the same power as Medusa.
This was our first trip to Joplin since the engagement. So Kendra spent the whole day Sunday with her hand extended. She never stopped smiling. I'm surprised she didn't get a cramp in her cheeks from smiling. My Grandmother came to the house for lunch after church. "Grandma, this is Kendra Rushing. She and I are engaged and planning to be married in March." "Mrs. Spoon, I'm Kendra it's nice to meet you." "Uh-huh." That's all my Grandmother said, "Uh-huh." Meaner than mean, my Grandma is, but I still love her. "What's wrong with your Grandma?" "Nobody knows...nobody knows." My sister overheard us, "she's a mean ol'witch, that's what's wrong with her. See the wart." There's no love lost between my sister and my Grandma. She actually did have a war on her head! We still laugh about that. It's since been removed, but for our entire childhood and up until about six years ago was there.
Having met both sides of the family, warts and all! We still decided to get married and build our own life together. I was looking forward to the next several months and more foreword to my new life. A life not lived in loneliness. I had been lonely everyday of my life up until Kendra and I fell in love. Just knowing we were together, and planning to get married, the thought of having someone who wanted to be with me, and enjoyed my company, laughed at my ridiculous humor, and loved me--Me was just more than I could take. I didn't know how all this married stuff would work out, but I knew it would be OK because I had that smile!

The Courtship of Kendra Rushing Part Deux

Have you ever looked back over the chapters of your life and asked yourself, "how did I ever get here?" That's exactly how I feel now as I am reflecting our Kendra's and my 12th anniversary. How did I get her to say yes? I really don't know what I did or didn't do to get her to say yes--if for sure wasn't drugs--FOR SURE!
I knew Kendra was the girl for me (even though she was the only girl I ever dated--except for one ill-fated failed attempt at a date) and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and no one else. She was the girl for me. I don't really remember us shopping around for rings as we were getting more and more serious in our relationship. We spent every possible minute together and really couldn't think of doing anything else, but just hang out. She came over to my condo for dinner at least three times a week and after dinner we would listen to a Vince Gill CD on my boom box and just be together.
Through our limited conversations about rings and such IF we were to get married, I had a pretty good idea about what kind of ring she wanted. I wanted to pick the ring out for her on my own since it was my symbol to her of my pledge to her for our union. I landed on wanting to purchase the ring set from Bailey Banks and Biddle which is the place I had purchased my first gift of jewelry. I really liked that store and especially the guy that worked there named Doc. Doc was a straight talking New Yorker who didn't cut any punches and was free to tell me how every other Jewelry store in the mall was "*%$^%&$" DELUXE. Of course I believed him. I found this pear shaped diamond engagement ring which was set into a ring guard. The ring guard had 1/2 carats of baguette diamonds which gave the total diamond weight of the ring 1 carat. It wasn't too big, she didn't want something gaudy, and it wasn't too plain, it was just like my gal--simple, beautiful, timeless, and elegant. I had one credit card with enough credit to buy the ring. $5,500 was a lot of money to spend on the ring, but she was going to wear it her whole life and I wanted it to be nice. I really wanted to spend more, but just couldn't.
With the ring in hand I had to hide it until the big day of..."the question!" Most guys I know use the top drawer of their dresser for hiding valuables. It just so happens to be my underwear drawer and my safe! I stashed the ring into the very back corner under my shorts and felt safe in knowing she would never find it there. That brings us to the big controversy of our relationship. Since this is my blog and I'm the one typing I'm going to tell my version of what I think happened and you must believe me you simply must. It's true, exact, non-fiction, real time accounting from my mind which is like a steel colander!
Kendra was coming over to my condo and cleaning up my place and doing laundry to help me out and I think to show me how awesome she would be as my wife, taking care of me as any madly in love wife would do fer her man. I was loving it, the clothes on my floor around my full hamper would magically be removed and placed back in the drawer or closet clean and I wasn't doing a thing about it! That was awesome!
Kendra's and my friend, Karen, was a stick tight and hung out with Kendra all the time. She was also one of the people who kept pushing us to date and "hook up." Karen was a hoot and we did have a good time when we were together. Well...Karen was constantly asking us when we were going to get married. "For Pete's sake Karen we just started dating!" "[please read with a heavy west Texas drawl]Karen...he's not gonna ask me to marry him this soon...it took him three months to kiss me." That was true, what they both didn't know was I had a ring in my underwear drawer and was waiting for just the right time to pop the question.
What I didn't know is that Karen and Kendra were tearing my house apart looking for a ring. A ring which they say was happened upon as Kendra was putting away my clothes. A ring which they spun around in a circle screaming over when they found it. A ring which they did tell me they knew was in my underwear drawer until a year after we were married. Women are tricky. I contend, and hold to being a fact. That this CSI search was going on all the time. The neatly folded and stacked pile of underwear which hid the ring was underwear I didn't wear so It would never have to be disrupted or disturbed. I contend that there was mashing and poking going on in ALL of my drawers in search of the ring.
I wanted the big day...the big question to be a special time and a special occasion. Something memorable and meaningful that we would both love to tell our friends. That's where the problem comes in--I hate and can't keep presents in stow for more than a month because I would implode. The big question came on a night after Vince Gill had finished singing to us and she was about to go home, the part I hated--going home. She was about to go, we were saying goodbye and talking about our plans for tomorrow when, "wait right there. I'll be right back." "Where are you going?" "Hang on!" I ran into my room (it was three steps into my room from the living room) opened the safe and retrieved the box. Opened the lid and got onto my knees. As I crawled into the living room on my knees Kendra just looked at me with that look that I still get today, "What in the sam hill are you doing!" "Kendra...before you leave I just want you to know that I love you more than anything. I can't really imagine how I could live my life without you because I love you so much." "Awww...I love you to." "Well...hang on....Kendra I was wondering if you would be willing to spend the rest of your life with me as my wife?" That's when the ring was presented (which she knew was in the safe). She's not a very good shock faker, "Of course...oh I love it....it's beautiful." Needless to say, we didn't say goodbye for little bit longer. She kept looking at her finger and staring at that ring.
Next stop...Des Moines, Iowa

Weekend Round up

Things have been kind of busy lately which has kept me from visiting this little space in cyberworld. There is a lot going on right now which is all anticipation of things to come. I kind of like living in the time of execution, that time when you are gearing up for and getting ready for something to happen. Kendra and I are getting ready for the JBF sale which starts next week. This sale is something else. You take the baby and kid things that you no longer need, outgrown, doubles, etc. and have an opportunity to sell it at above garage sale prices. We usually make out fairly well at these sales and have a lot of stuff to get rid of. Kendra has been working on getting the clothes entered in to the computer and last night we sorted the cards, which will go on the clothes to identify whose item it is. We will also be working the sale in addition to having our items for sale. It's a hectic two weeks, but we like it.
I made a casserole last night to take to a family who just had a baby. This thing is GOOD! I'll make it again, soon and post the process--you'll want to make it. It's a basic chicken and rice casserole, but you use sherry and chicken broth for the liquid in making the rice, rotisserie chicken, and then for the topping...crushed fried onions and crackers!!! It's so good. I could have eaten the whole thing, but resisted. I was really starving because I hadn't eaten a lot all day.

We went to Jimmy's Egg for lunch. When we go to Jimmy's I always get: Pigs in Blanket, I think I've tried their biscuits and gravy once. Biscuits and gravy are one of my all time favorite breakfast foods to eat. I was comforted when we sat down and the table smelled like bleach. I am border line phobic when it comes to restaurants and "catching something." I worry especially at these places because the waitresses...who bring your food out and handle your beverages is also the same person who just finished busing the table next to you and didn't stop to wash their hands. That just grosses me out. The waitress who took care of us was not on her best game because she sat a piping hot cup of coffee right in front of Teensy. It was a refill and she sat it down, Kendra didn't notice (I think I was buttering toast for the boys--they were in rare form) and Teensy grabbed the cup spilling it all over her legs. Kendra felt horrible, Teensy was screaming and the waitress was just standing there with a very dazed and confused look on her face. We didn't say anything to her and just took care of our baby. She's fine now, her legs were a little red, but not bad. I was keyed up to say the least and couldn't enjoy my food. Once we were finished terrorizing the joint, we headed home to get ready for a baby shower.

We usually don't' take our children to baby showers, one of us usually go and the other stays home. Since our kids really like Nichole, whose due soon, we decided to take them. Emma was good, still recovering from her coffee exfoliation. Titus was really well behaved (he's been taught his whole life how to handle showers and things of that nature at church) but Chubber's was on a tear. He is a very busy two-year old and not afraid to be as loud as feels like he needs to be to get his point across. Fortunately for us he liked the punch. It was one of those ice cream 7-up punches. I usually don't' like them and feel like they are a cop out for doing up some really good punch, but this was good. He had a permanent milk mustache on his lip. He also liked the cake and that kept him occupied for most of the time. Once the cake was finished and his third glass of punch was drunk he started to get, "twoish." Three cups on a folding table (the card table type) that are 1/8 to 1/4 full can still make a huge mess when the table it turned over...onto a purse...and mom's shoe. It was a commotion and a mess and my blood pressure just kept on rising.
After church we had a Chili cook off to attend. I'm not a big chili fan, and usually get my fill in the early part of winter. One pot of chili is all I need to get my fill for the year. I just wasn't interested in shopping around the room for chili. Titus loved the bowl he had. Levi found someone who kept giving him cornbread. He had no plans to eat it, I think he was going to keep taking it as long as it was being handed out. There was one station that had Three-way. What's three way? It's spaghetti covered in chili then topped with cheese and onion. Pretty good, but something you need to grow up on to really love. By the time we got home it was bath and bed time. I had the casserole to make so I did that and cleaned the kitchen.
I did get a chance to go to Target with Teensy on Saturday to buy the groceries I needed for the casseroles. I really, really love going to Target. I love stopping in at the Starbucks, and then strolling through the store sipping my coffee. It's very relaxing and I just love it. I had to pick up some deodorant while I was there and was met with some shocking and unsettling discoveries. They didn't have my deodorant! This is the kind of stuff that really get my apple cart all upset. It takes me years to find a deodorant I like. I use Anti-Persperant/Deodorant. I have always like the Sure...Arrid...Ban powder scents. I don't like heavy looming funky fragrances just too loud for me. I do like a scent though I can't explain why I just know I do. There wasn't a powder scent to same my life! So I had to go through the whole process of new deodorant hunting. It's so grueling. All of the brands that you would associate with men purchasing: Speed Stick, Right Guard (you get the picture) have all of these really odd and bizarre names. None of the names indicate what something is going to smell like, rather it identifies some type of bold and daring adventure. Mountain Peak...Arctic Blast...Fresh Burst just to name a few left me standing at the deodorant aisle in a stupor. I just wish I could get Ban A/D Powder Fresh that's all I need nothing more. Oh well, this won't the be last time I have to go on a search for new products.

Welcome...Tooth Fairy

Last Thursday was a milestone day in our family--Titus lost his first tooth! Of course it is not your typical process, which I've come to accept that atypical IS our typical, because we did not have a clue his tooth was loose. That's right...no clue! We all got up and went through our normal frantic push to get everyone out the door all in as good a mood as possible, and when we got to school it wasn't five minutes that I got a call to come back to the preschool office. I wasn't expecting to hear that my son was goign to lose a tooth, didn't even cross my mind. Kendra met me in the hall, "Titus has something to show you." Great...what's happened. Did he sharpie on the wall? Did he build "somefing" that destroyed something else? What coudl it be. Then I saw his face. It was the face of a child who is beaming--bursting with pride. I could tell this was big..a big deal to my boy. He slowly walked up grinning like a chesire cat and said, "my tooth is loose!" "Your tooth is loose? Which one?" He showed me and what do you know is was not only loose it was wiggly! How did we miss a wiggly tooth?

"We are going to have an activity and pull it Dad. I'm going to tie a string to it then tie the other end to the door and SLAM it!" Ms. Patti, his teacher quickly put the kibosh on that. I knew that this tooth would consume him and this tooth would get no relief--sure enough by lunch the tooth was gone. There was one minor emergency when Titus was showing off his tooth and dropped it on the flloor-losing it...for the second time! His entire class and our custodian were crawling on the ground looking for the lost tooth which was found. His tooth is itty bitty, so it was hard to find.

I had just under six hours to figure out how the Tooth Fairy would visit our house. Since we are going to be dealing with some 60 teeth I didn't want to start some precident I wasn't prepared to repeat SIXTY times! I've heard of some folks who sprinkle glitter on the pillow and window seal of their child's room to show the fairy has come and gone--great idea! I didn't have glitter. Being a Children's Minister I've come to hate glitter because children+glitter=Diasaster! I have a $500 Wool Suit with a permanent glitter mark on the pants leg because some snivler slammed into my leg with glue covered glitter. I'm not goign to get on my soap box, which will be hard to do--resist...resist...resist. I think I'm over it. I also wanted to buy gold $1 coins and put a gold coin under his pillow--didn't make it to the bank. I may still go the coin route, I really like that idea. I can do that 59 times!

In the end, I took the path of least investment...a dollar bill under the pillow and a tooth in my underwear drawer with the pacifier that was Titus' favorite "passie." I'll keep that first tooth forever and it will be in my underwear drawer right along side the other precious things. Any of you who wonder where Dad's stash precious things..check the underwear drawer first you are sure to find a treasure trove!

The next tooth is loose, but not wiggly loose so we have some warning that it's on it's way out. His first tooth to come out was the lower Central incisor, and other central incisor is the one loose now. These were his first teeth in, do you loose teeth in order of their "eruption?" I read a dentist website that said teeth erupt! Doesn't that sound harsh and painful--Eruptions! Our pediatrician in Fort Wroth, "Dr. Ghee" said teeth itch when they are...erupting. I thought that was interesting..how does one come to know that teeth itch? Was there someone who actually remembered getting their first teeth in and saying, "boy those suckers were itching like crazy! I couldn't wait for them to erupt!" Just how to doctors come up with this stuff?

We've had the hardest time getting Titus into a routine of brushing his teeth in the morning and at bedtime, jsut a battle. I've off handedly told him that the tooth fairy pays more for clean, brushed teeth, than she does for dirty unbrushed teeth. Maybe that will work. When he gets up in the morning he has some stanky breath, it's oppressive to say the least. It smells like something has literally died in his mouth. Any hints on helping us get through this milestone woudl be apprecaited.

Don't worry, there aren't 59 more, "We've lost another tooth!" posts coming your way. I will for sure post on Levi's first tooth and Teensy's first tooth but those will be several years away..so there's time.

Super Bowl

I just found out, or realized, this morning that the Super Bowl is on Sunday. I'm not the biggest football fan because I have no idea about the game, could care less about the teams or who is what or where, sports just don't make sense. I've tried to get into football and other sports but they just don't make sense to me. I'm much more into competitive cooking competitions (where's that super bowl? It would be a much better named event for sure!).

When I was in college I attened a Super Bowl party which was the most boring party I've ever attened in my life. Since I was on a Christian School campus we could not ignore the fact taht we were going to skip worship to watch football, so we had a devotional replete with communion for thsoe who didn't go in the AM. It was really, really boring. I've also hosted Super Bowl parties for youth kids and young families, but never watched the game, snacking and chatting was much more fun to me. There are some who really, really get into this whole football thing--it's ridiculous to me.

However I do realize this is a good time to have a party and eat a lot of great food. I have fallen head over heels, super craving, for this Corn dip that I ate copius amounts of at a Christmas party in December (good time to have a Christmas party, huh?). It's super easy to whip up, you can make it a day ahead, and when the party's over and everyone is gone you can stand over your sink and eat the rest of the dip with a spoon before cleaning the bowl. You have my permission.

I'm trying to incorporate more pictues into this blog, but I am never with a camera. However I do have a camera on my phone, and I'm never without my phone so these picture are courtesy of my camera phone. I hope they aren't too devastating to look at, but at least you get the general idea.

Here's what you'll need for the dip:

15oz can of Mexi-Corn (some places call it fiesta corn)

15oz can of White Corn (shoepeg corn)

4 oz can of Green Chilies

1/2 cup chopped green onions (I used about 4 stalks of green oninon)

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1/2 cup Mayonnaise (the real stuff)

1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt

1 teaspoon Garlic Salt

1 Tablespoon Fresh Cracked Pepper

Open the two cans of corn and pour into a colander to drain. Place the two cans of corn along with the green chilies in a large bowl. I like to use a spoonula (it's a spatula and spoon combination which I love) to stir the ingredients together. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Give it a taste and adjust to your liking, you may want to add more Lawry's or more garlic, or more pepper, or more of everything. The flavors will get somewhat intesified as it sets, so keep that in mind.

This will seem kind of runny at first, but once it sets a little, you'll see it becomes thicker. I haven't used frozen Mexi-corn, but think it woudl be better with thawed frozen corn, both kinds. This is good, but it might be better. I love how this tastes so I haven't played around with the recipe. I can imagine that adding jalapenos instead of green chilies woudl be good, or the frozen corn, thawed. You could try what you like. If you can't find the mexi-corn, I would suggest you add good yellow corn, and 1/2 cup of finly chopped red bell pepper.

Iusually garnish with a few green onions and some more cheese. Cover it tightly with Saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator to cool overnight or at least two hours. Serve with Frito's Scoops.

The Frito's Scoops make this dip really come out. I put a dollop in each one and just pop it in my mouth. I've also tried this with crackers (I found some new Pretzel crackers from Keebler--good!) and Pretzel crisps. I forgot to garnish this dip with the green onion, but you can see how pretty it is. We got that Tulip bowl in Kendra's and my wedding shower. I've loved this bowl since I saw it. I think it's Mikasa. It's super heavy and thick which has helped it not chip. The oval shape is interesting. It's a good vessel for this dip. Of course, you know I can't make this dip and place it in any other container. This IS the corn dip bowl. I'm kind of weird like that. I just had this on Tuesday, but I'm getting a totatl craving for this stuff. Resist, my tongue is still raw from eating so much of the salty chips. Feel the burn and have more CHIPS!

You will love this dip, give it a shot.

Twisted Sister

My sister and I are great friends...now. There are times that I will call her and say, "what's going on?" because I know that there is something brewing or recently exploded. We are connected and bonded, ready to do whatever either of us need no matter the sacrifice. She's the first person I call in a crisis because I know she'll move heaven and earth to fix it, and she to me as well. It's a great, beautiful, wonderful relationship for which I'm very thankful.

There was a time when my sister despised the air that I breathed and would torture me relentlessly. She was twisted let me tell you. I'll give you just a few, brief glimpses into my sister's twistedness:

• She convinced me to eat a root, once. Straight from the ground dirt still attached. I was five and believed she would pay the $10 if I did it. Wrong!
• Our septic tank once backed up and made this really fowl smelling little sludge pond. She convinced me to walk through it for...you guessed it $10. Wrong! No money. NOTE: Do not run into the house onto the freshly polished wooden floor your mother just spent two hours polishing with feet covered in feces. It makes for one mad momma!
• When I was seven, I was washing my hair in the sink (which was a usual custom because I could avoid a bath if my hair was clean) and she drew a smiley face...on my butt cheeks..with a permanent marker! It was NOT funny (but is now). She then gave me a barbecue bristle brush to clean it off! What's worse than permanent marker on your rump? Raw skin from a metal brush exfoliating the first two dermal layers off.

It actually wasn't until she left home that we began to bond, or begin to like each other. When Sis was pregnant with Kirstie, my sister was put to bed for the last six or seven months of her term because her body was trying to abort Kirstie. I basically moved in with her and cooked her meals, did her laundry, ironed Doug's shirts, babysat her kids so she wouldn't lose the income, I was her. I did it without a moments hesitation and would do it all over again if I knew there was a need.

As kids, Sis and I were left alone the better part of a day. Mom and Dad both worked and would leave and the butt crack of dawn to get to their jobs. Sis and I would be on our own to get ourselves ready and to school. Summer's meant that we were home alone all day from us up until around 3:30 when Dad got home. Mom got home around 5:00, which became later and later as she was promoted to higher positions in the hospital. There was a couple of years where we went to baby sitter's, but...I'll just have to post about the evil baby sitter's--you won't believe it.

Sis was convinced that she was my boss and could order me to do whatever she said. For the most part I didn't resist, but every now and then I would find my back bone and stand up to her. It always resulted in physical violence and a lot of pain inflicted upon me, but I felt it was worth it to prove a point. Mom and Dad were kept oblivious to our..."ways" because we didn't want to go back to the sitter's--evil sitters.

Most of the time, however, we were able to co-habitate together. Our Summer days went something like this:

7:30: Me up and ready to begin my TV watching. Grab the gallon of milk, bowl, spoon, and Honey nut Cheerios's. Plop down on the back jack. Incidentally, this is a back jack. Ours was rust red, we had two. You could use them as you see in the photo, as a floor chair, or flip them over and lay on them, my choice. I could lay on that back jack, have my hands free to eat cereal, and watch TV--slothful bliss. My back jack was disgusting from the milk drips, sloths don't care about milk drips.

9:00: Sis up, joins the TV and cereal brigade.

11:00: Still watching TV, cereal up and lunch made. WTBS is given up because the great old sit-coms have been replaced by the movie that even siding companies would not air. It was time for our soaps anyway. ABC all the way: Ryan's Hope, All My Children (lunch happens during commercial breaks), One Life to Live, General Hospital, then the Edge of Night.

3:15: SCRAMBLE!!! Dad's home in 15 minutes and we have to look like we did something other than watch TV all day on our keesters.

Dad was a creature of habit. He pulled into the drive, picked up the paper, got the mail, came in to set his lunch pail on the counter in the kitchen, "hey kids...what did you do all day? Looks like you just got started.", sit in the recliner and read the paper to page two which is where he would fall asleep until around 5 when would get up and get dinner started. That's how it was my entire life, you could set your watch by it. Friday's were a little different because he would go by the bank and cash his check, that bought us a good twenty or thirty extra minutes.

One particular school day, Sis and I had one of our famous encounters. It was report card day and she wanted to see my report card. "No, you can't see it." "William...give me your report card, I'm your boss." "YOU ARE NOT MY BOSS AND YOU CANNOT SEE MY REPORT CARD!" I was a not so good student through grade school and intermediate, when I started a regular hygiene routine in the 7th grade, my grades improved dramatically as well. This back and forth yelling eventually led to a head lock situation. Sis had ME in the head lock. "I'm not letting you go until you admit I'm your boss!" The report card was now dead in the water because it had become a I'm your boss and going to prove it battle. "You aren't my boss, let me go!" This went on for a good five or ten minutes (I don't recommend a head lock for longer than five minutes as it gets really uncomfortable). I managed to wrestle my way into my room. That was my domain, I knew where everything was and it disgusted my sister to be in my room.

We fell on my bed, me still in the head lock her still insisting she was my boss. We were reaching the 15 minute mark with the whole head lock thing when I hit the wall-I was done. I grabbed a Bic pen from my desk and held it to her throat. "I hate you, you are the bottom of the scum barrel. If you don't' let me go I'm going to stab you. I hate you." "I hate you too, creepy little jerk. Don't ever--EVER ask me for another thing as long as you live. JERK!" With that she released me and left me to my room. I never admitted she was my boss. Dad finally got home and felt the tension, "what's going on?" "William is a jerk, a low life scum bag (they come in a barrel you know) and I hate him. We've been fighting." "He's the only brother you'll ever have, I wouldn't start hating him now." I was still in my room...feeling very, very, very remorseful that I had used such violent language and threatened my sister's life with a cheap pen. Dad went outside to smoke and tinker which left us to our selves.

I couldn't' take it. I walked out of my room just as my sister was walking down the hall. We both burst into tears and began to cry. "I don't hate you, sis. I love you. I'm sorry I threatened to kill you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." "I don't hate you either, bubba, I love you too." We cried and hugged, those arms which had just minutes before held me in a much more violent fashion had now become arms of security and comfort. I still need those hugs to this day. I still need to feel those arms around me because everything is ok when I get a hug from sis.

I've wished a thousand times that "times" were different, but the actuality of it is I wish it were all the same. If I had one minute different there's not telling how my present would have changed and I like where I am and who I am. I especially like the bond I have with my Sis. We are close and we take up for each other and forgive each other before we even have to. That's what siblings should do because we have to stick together. I'd like to think that I would stay connected with her even if our relationship was challenged beyond it's breaking point, because I love her and know that, she's the only sister I'll ever have. She's the only sister I'd ever want. Twisted, yes. Stubborn, yes. Mischievous, yes. My boss, NO WAY!