AHHHH!

Don't you hate it when an article of clothing you only kind of like leaks dye onto a pair of pants your daughter absolutely loves?! I feel horrible because it is totally MY fault!! I was in a hurry yesterday and put some wet clothes in the hamper "temporarily" and found this today:


I've bleached it to death and this is the best I can do.


I'm just so mad I had to tell somebody about it.

I'm Turning into My Mother!

That is a common phrase spoken in our modern world. The only thing I don't understand is why people act as if that's a bad thing. I'd love to turn into my mother. My mom is amazing. And every year about this time I remember just how amazing she is.

I have vivid memories from my childhood of the sights, sounds and often the stickiness associated with the end of the summer. We had a huge garden and my mom was (and still is) a master at canning--tomatoes, peaches, pears, applesauce, pickles--you name it, she could do it all. I remember how hot the kitchen got on those days, the sound of bottles rattling in the pressure cooker, the feel of the squishy peach peels as they magically slipped off the blanched fruit. But mostly I remember my mom and the countless hours she spent in front of the sink filling the bottles in her labor of love.

Last year I planted only tomato plants in my garden so by late summer I had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. After a few weeks of eating all things tomato, I realized there was no way we could eat them all fresh and I decided I really needed to learn how to can--not just to save my tomatoes, but to be a faithful latter-day-saint. I had a fairly good foundation of knowledge on the subject from what I had learned as a kid and what I didn't know I was able to find on the internet. I bought jars and lids, dug my biggest pot out of the back of the cupboard and set out to have an uplifting, provident, faith-promoting afternoon.

Unfortunately none of those things happened. My experience was less than uplifting--more problematic than providential. I realized the learning curve on this particular skill was steeper for me than I imagined it would be. I think the only real lesson I learned was that canning makes me curse.

I did manage to produce four little pint jars of tomatoes--two of which are still sitting in my basement because I just can't bring myself to open them when I think about the pains I took to make them.

So as I approach a new harvest season, I find myself thinking about my mom and the never ending patience and persistence she's able to employ to fill her storeroom shelves. I'm determined to give it another try this year. Most of my tomatoes are still green but my one little cucumber plant is doing quite well so yesterday I made this:


And who knows, maybe after a little more practice I'll have more in common with my mom than just the same slender fingers.

At least I hope so.

Ten Recent Observations

1. There is no such thing as a "quick trip" to Costco.

2. Even the most mildly humid summer afternoon in the mid-west is still way too humid for this Utah girl (although I do like how soft it makes my skin).

3. There is something disturbing about a self-flushing toilet that does its job with such vigor that your feet get wet.

4. Every unpleasant experience in life is made better if you have Gilmore Girls playing in the background--even getting your teeth drilled at the dentist.

5. Shoe shopping solo is a delight. Shoe shopping with three kids the week before school starts is torture.

6. It seems that not all people own full length mirrors, because if they did I'm certain they would not go out in public wearing what they do. Yikes!

7. You can sometimes find long lost friends just by "google-ing" them.

8. You can't buy love and homegrown tomatoes.

9. It is possible to drink too much Dr. Pepper. (who knew?!)

10. You know your marriage is in a good place if you can spend fourteen straight days with your husband on a stressful business trip and you not only still like him, but you love him even more.