A quick (read: not well composed or proofed) HELLO.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.  I don't really have my usual leisurely schedule this morning for making a fresh new and colorful post.  I really need to jump up and run to town(a bigger one) and do a little belated birthday shopping for Bleu for our dinner and a movie outing tomorrow night.  

Oh, I also need to pick up a bicycle (in an even farther town) that is getting purtied up for Jamey so we can pretend to be "The Outdoorbergs" again, before the flaming heat of summer sends us running back to our computer chairs;** comfortably donning our original names " The Sedentarybergs".  

Most importantly though, I need to check in on my dear young brother-in-law who is really suffering from a sudden illness of unknown origin.   He is in the hospital with a high fever and much pain with what seemed at first like a reaction to a spider bite(recluse), but has mimicked the Malaria he has had in the past.  My hubby's family spent many years in Papua New Guinea and are no strangers to tropical invaders.  The blood tests have gone to big cities everywhere for analysis and we are extremely anxious to get a diagnosis and a treatment plan that works.  I mention this more personal bit of info as a request for prayer for our brother.  I know I have many wonderful praying friends and relatives who might join me in lifting J up to the Lord. 

And I'll get on with my day leaving a picture or two from yesterdays goings on.  I had my niece and nephews all day yesterday and they are an eyeful of deliciousness sitting on the couch here together.  I got to pretend like a homeschooler(YES!) for a few hours while the boys did some bookwork and S.Q. played with playdough .

  Then my friend Jenna and her two little button noses came over in the afternoon(I have NO photos of this portion of the day-boo) so the cousins and I ran over and grabbed Dandy early from school to get our PLAY ON!  

AHHHHH!  The sweetness of children interacting together always gets me right here(pointing at heart).  Ok, enough sappy business and on with it! 

 The last picture is the homemade instrument Ratchet had to finish with his Dad last night to turn in this morn.  It's  some sort of Bongo/ Medicine bottle percussion combo.  I hope they remembered to replace the meds with other things or Ratch'll look like a pusher! Have a good weekend ALL!  XO

** Obviously, I have no idea how to use the semi-colon.  I just put it in when my sentences get super long.  Bahha!  Sorry.

Hey Dean! They're doing our gig!

Note to reader: Sorry about the word scramble.

I'll need tech support to fix it.

I first heard about this group on NPR's 

This American Life. 

I LOVE how they do these performances

right in the middle

of an unsuspecting crowd,

but the skits are harmless

and entertaining

without being disgusting and

gross (like those prankster shows-blech). 

I would eat up the part of

singing lemonade girl in this one!! WEEEEEE :D

Have a simply spontaneous day! xoxo Shan

A truly kinesthetic learner

I was just sitting at the dining table going over vocabulary homework with Ratchet, when I looked up from the paper and he's doing this.

I really have no idea how he sits in the classroom all day.  This kid is only semi still when he's building legos or playing video games.  He makes great grades and his teachers have no trouble with him, so who am I to question his methods?  Maybe I'll try this technique when I do my morning reading.  It might be good for the old sciatica.  And really what more would the neighbors want to see first thing on a Friday a.m.?  ;)

Todays special: Spicy Pony Head with curried beet root foam

Every Sunday for the past several months I've been skipping off to choir practice. Sound effect: {mi mI MI!!!!! squawk- cough cough}. That wraps up somewhere in the five-thirty zone and then usually chatting or walking the town with my bff, Bleu, immediately follows.

All that to say...I'm never really home on Sunday nights. And neither are the groceries. At this point in the week my oh so carefully chosen groceries have mostly been turned into other meals, consumed in a horrific binge or shunned for being "so yesterday".

So being the resourceful and food network watching husband that he is, Jamey tends to seize these moments like he's just been challenged. He takes on challenger Dullf Oodscraps time and time again and always ends up on top!

Let's Meet Iron Chef Jamey:

Now let's see what he's made with last weeks leavings...

Wow folks, I've never seen a meatless musing quite as well plated as this one. It looks like he's toasted and seasoned some end-o-the bag bread, stacking it into some sort of log home that has been furnished with a grilled sweet potato. Fabulous! And is that what's left of the zucchini julienned and topped with a fully strung string cheese? "I think it is Shan." Who was that? Anyway, great use of the weeks neglected vegetables here Chef!

Now on to the next weeks challenge: Slightly different fridge and pantry, same lacking of interesting supplies. Let's see what he's done....

Yes!! He's beaten Dulf Oods once again with this colorful and dynamic bit of cookery! I see we have some grilled chicken fanned out here with a decorative spray of hickory barbecue sauce. Way to give a nod at the young Western judge in the room! And here's some sort of tomato sauce chutney atop a nice nest of plain white rice. Good one hiding that fiber free staple under a more complexly hued fare. Add to that a fresh veggie melange and I believe we've got a seventh well rounded dinner for the week! Nice work!

cue: applause (up and fade again)

And now, I will leave you with a link to a little fine dining skit that caught me off guard one day and gave me quite the belly laugh. Enjoy.

Spicy Pony Head

A Somewhat true and truly long tale about myself

I haven't been particularly inspired to write anything lately but I'm about to leave my computer for a long weekend and I DID want to give a tiny bit of an advertisement for the local playhouse in town. 

 

Last Saturday, Ratchetboy and I went to the Sager Creek Arts Center to see a dear young friend of ours make her acting debut in a play called " The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood".  It was REALLY entertaining!  I can highly recommend this youth production!!  Not only is one of the fawning ladies perfectly fetching, but the whole play is actually quite lol funny!

Ahhhh, the Sager Creek Arts Center.  

 There's something about that place that can really bring out the "Big Shan" in me!

 The second I walk in that door I AM CONFIDENCE!  I am a public relations specialist.  I am a  Resident Thespian workin' that lobby like a one woman show!  I have no idea why this happens but it's magical :D.

Probably because I  myself have performed on that very stage as a Dog, a Prop director, a Russian man, a Can-can dancer, and a Quilter!  And it was all BAD! Well, some of the shows were Ok (in a 'Waiting for Guffman' kinda way).  And I was particularly good as a Russian man!    It's not anywhere close to Broadway (well, actually it's quite close to a street called Broadway but you know what I mean.) It IS however The Thee-ah-tah, and a place where I can be...well a dog and other stuff like.. er...Hmmm.  That's where the magic part comes in I guess! 

   A few weeks ago the job announcement of Executive Director of The Sager Creek Arts Center, MY Arts Center(coo), came across my e-mail and I became momentarily lost in all the new and clever ways I was going to run that place!  I had fresh ideas for funding and recruiting local interest groups including our towns large population of  home schoolers!  I WAS ON FIRE FOR THIS POSITION!!  I was yelling "Can I get an Amen!" to myself in the shower as I thought out all the possibilities.  I even raced downtown and asked the ladies there about the opening Big Shan style while they looked at me sideways and handed me the same job description I had already received, and gave a casual request for a resume'. 

 A couple days later when I was jotting down notes for my cover letter, I realized "Wait a minute! You don't want a job during the Summer!  Sure, the kids are in school NOW but soon very soon they will be home all 30 of those hours you are mentally committing to and you don't even WANT a job right now. For that matter, when have you ever run a business before in your life? Done a spreadsheet?  You don't really even understand the concept of a budget!!  Just because you could play the part of an Executive Director in a bad local production of  'The Theatre Company' doesn't mean you could actually do it!" DOH! 

 Delusions of Grandeur or just too much time on my hands?  Both? Ok, yes. I'm stickin' with my "magic of the stage" theory on this one. 

 

 

For the most part in real life I tend to go the shy and quiet route avoiding as much "hands on" time with strangers as possible.  I have been known to do things like NOT go to hairstylists if they work alone and rely on ME for conversation throughout the appointment.  Sometimes I won't even brave the grocery store in my town that provides the service of carrying one's bags 40 paces to the car because of the silent pressure to mention the weather or the heaviness of my food  to the young sacker walking my bags out to the car.  Who could possibly stress about this?  I'm a little bit of a paradox that way.

 I guess it's the off off broadway small talk combining with shyness that really makes me nervous.  I can come across as uber-confident in a crowd, a crowded theatre perhaps. But separate me from the pack and I'm a wounded wildebeest gimping along with all of my achilles heals gleaming, well exposed in the sun.  And let me tell you that can be pretty eye catching in a parking lot. 

 Once I get past that initial level of interaction with people in person I tend to do a little better with the chit chat.  At this point in our aquaintence,  I would definitely let you do my hair.  But, don't expect to be invited over for dinner (especially if you know nothing about hair and I'm recovering from our last get together)  because I would still feel like I need to at least somewhat impress you with my house and/or culinary offerings.

  And since I prefer self deprecating to impressing any day of the week,  I'll simply say I'm just not woman enough to entertain well at this juncture in our friendship. 

If however you have hung around long enough to get to know the girl I've often referred to as "Big Shan" a.k.a. "The Shan", or if I met you at the Arts Center,  you may not be able to remember that there is a shy bone in my body and you may even begin at this point to wish there was, or at least wish for  a quieter one.  "Just one, Biggie Shans? Can you please just tone the amp back down to 10 this one time?"  I hear ya. 

Oh dear, I've gotten terribly sidetracked and  started yet another counseling session with myself when that was clearly not the purpose of this post.  I DO apologize.  

  

So, this weekend, run don't walk good townfolken!  And take YOUR kids to see a fun version of Robin Hood. It plays Friday and Saturday night @ 7:00 and has a matinee at 2:00 on Sunday.  I promise not to be there!!! 

Two days in a week

What have I done promising more pictures?  Do I realize this blogging business eats into the time I have reserved for cleaning under my appliances.  Yes, of course I do.  And so without further ado, I give you GIRLS GONE....OUT 

Here we are at Noodles Wednesday night just before we lost control of our bladders.

         From left: Tabitha, Trish, Me, Shelley, Joy

But then, something always happens between the salad and main course that sends us into pack mentality hysterics on these GNO's. My face is best kept behind the camera at this point.   

And here was our attempt at "Sexy" which is really more "aloof, cute, angry and fresh from collagen injections".  Too bad the "sexy seamstress" was off camera for this one.

All of these pictures were stolen from Tally's blog which were taken from Tab's email which  naturally came from Tab's camera because Shan forgot to charge her battery! So, thanks girls for making this memory possible!  Great ham slapping the pavement fun all around!! YEAHHHH!!! 

The following evening this happened....

Ratchet did a kick-ninja routine at his school talent show  with his bo staff and some techno music that was way to dangerous to categorize. 

The teacher apologetically put him in the "dance" category but that never kept a serious performer down.  Ratchet Gene Kelley'd his way into 3rd place!!! HA! :D  

We didn't even know he'd won something until the next day because they forgot to announce his name at the show.  For some reason that made winning a trophy even more exciting.  WEEEE!  WAY TO GO DUDE!  

Easter Recap '08

We had a lovely Easter weekend with my parents and Ma/Gigi.

I forget how much the dogs enjoy a good grandparent lap or chest as well. Any time one or two of our visitors sat down they would immediately be adorned with a dog tie or belt.  Spoilt  to the rot they are.

We did a bit of a hunt in the backyard though it was a little chilly to linger.

                                          

And Ratchet got to keep celebrating his birthday by building several new Lego sets that came with our visitors :D.

We also had Jamey's parents over for lunch after church but I guess I was too busy eating to bother photographing that portion of our day. I need to get better about photos and videos while these kids are still young so I'll have something to show them someday!(Or myself when I want to reminisce over their sweetie tiny faces.)

And finally, I'll leave you with the "silly" version of the top picture even though neither is particularly un-silly, considering Dandy was flapping his broken basket handle out the whole time my mom tried to get a still shot.  You can rarely take any of us very seriously I'm afraid. 

Tune in next time for some GIRLS GONE...OUT photos from our trip to Noodles last night and possibly a shot of Ratchet twirling the fire out of his Bo staff in tonight's school talent show.  Pins and needles all around I know!!! teehee :D