Q & A Session, February 2009, Part 3

Wow, three Q & A sessions in one month .... I must be running out of things to say otherwise.

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Shara says: Your post makes me wish I did scrapbook. I have never tried.

I suffer from guilt re: the hundreds of photos I have of my family that seem to be scattered across the universe. I would love to learn- is it something that a klutz can learn?

Shara, I would highly recommend you find a local scrapbook store, or Hobby Lobby or Michaels, that offers a beginner’s scrapbook course. Go, and see if you like it before investing tons of money in supplies. I can promise you, though, if you *do* wind up enjoying it, that it’s an addictive hobby …. I have recently begun to invest more of my time and energy in finding places to crop, and new friends to crop with, and must say I feel happier than I have in a long time. While I’m not necessarily accomplishing huge sums of creative work, at least I feel the mess atop my scrapbooking table is no longer mocking me like it has ever since we moved here. And I'm getting little bits done here and there, and making a dent in the pile. Plus, you know, chocolate is usually involved, so it’s a win-win.

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One of my best friends in the whole world, Kim, comments: I hope you know how much you were missed this year. It is ok though, since we will be doing this well into our 90's, every year! I am guessing this means once again the W's miss the x-mas lay out with their untimely Valentines cards (that oh. yeah. I should really be starting!). You really need to get a bit further behind...like two more weeks behind!

Kimmy, you silly girl. You know darn good and well that I save a spot for the infamous “W” Valentine picture-card …… no Escoe Christmas layout is complete without your handsome clan included!! Miss you!

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Lisa L. asks: ...oooh..and the food you describe sounds yummy! A crockpot of meatballs....could you post the recipe?

Lisa, I’ll have you know I am a graduate of //insert fancy name// Culinary School and my meatball crockpot recipe is highly technical, extremely scientific, researched by the most talented chefs anywhere, balancing a cacophony of the freshest ingredients, made with loving care by my highly skilled hands ….. (you’re not falling for any of this, are you?) The recipe is so easy I’m embarrassed: One bag frozen meatballs (you didn’t think I made those things from scratch, did you?) in crockpot. Dump over that one bottle chili sauce and one container grape jelly. Heat on low for 3 – 4 hours. The end. Shamefully simple, but good! Another way I like to make them, more for dinner as opposed to appetizer, is to use (yep, you guessed it) a bag of frozen meatballs, and include in the crockpot two cans cream of mushroom soup, a box of onion soup mix, and enough milk to keep it moist. Serve over rice or noodles.

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Dixie asks: It's a good thing you like that school! Do any of the teachers have kids of their own?

Dixie, tons! I would say there are more teachers there *with* children attending than teachers without. One of Kendrie’s best friend’s mom was Kellen’s 4th grade teacher, and she has three or four other teacher's kids in her grade … Kellen has five or six in his grade as well. When you add in not only the teachers, but the para-professionals, specialists, and other school employees, the number just gets larger. Personally, I think it makes for a wonderful environment, where more adults are vested in getting to know more kids, because we see one another socially, and outside of school in sports and other activities as well. Of course, it can also make things awkward, when your son’s friend’s dad is your nephew’s basketball coach and the principal, and he calls you into his office, and you assume it’s because one of your fabulous children MUST BE getting an award for their fabulousness, but it’s actually because they are being suspended. (not that I would know anything about that, ahem, thank goodness THAT’S over.)

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Marey says: Snow-day shmo-day...the only day we got off school was for the 1989 earthquake...and the teachers still had to come to work!

Marey, I can top that. Blaine and I lived in Minot, North Dakota, for four years. That means we suffered, endured, barely lived through four winters there, only a few miles from the Canadian border. Did they close schools for the 10-feet snow drifts we had every year? No. Did they close schools for the blizzard-like conditions? No. Did they close schools because of the roads? No. Did they close schools for the bracingly low temperatures? No. The entire time we lived there, they closed school one time, for one day --- because the wind chills had reached 100 degrees BELOW ZERO and they were worried the kids standing outside at the bus stops would get frostbite.

Now, having moved to Oklahoma, I whine when the temperature is below fifty. Clearly I am turning into a wimp in my old age. But in all honesty, the reason they usually close the schools here is not the snow, but the ice on the roads. I think they assume it is safer for the buses and cars *not* to be out driving when everything is so slick. We don't have any kind of road crews to work on the streets, so it typically stays icy until noon-ish, when the temps rise and it melts .... then each evening the temps fall and it ices over again. Normal vicious circle around here after a winter storm!

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Lori asks: I love to read your blog- oh - i am going on a cruise to Alaska in June with my mom - Ya got any advise??

Lori, yes. E-mail me privately at kristieokc@cox.net I've got TONS to tell you; too much to bore everyone here.

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Urban Blonde says: When you mentioned cat and anti freeze and missing in the same post I have to wonder... If cats get sick they will often wander off to a quiet place. Check all the bushes, sheds etc. Good Luck!

Believe me, I worried too when I first realized I was leaking anti-freeze. Hey, I’ve read “Perfect Match” by Jodi Picoult and knew exactly what could happen! But Blaine cleaned up the puddle immediately, and it had been almost two weeks from that point that Blackie had disappeared, so I knew we were in the clear. Whew, I’m long-removed from my days of putting up house-hold cleaning products and locking cabinet doors to keep my kids safe …. Never thought I’d have to worry about a stupid stray cat in my garage!

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My new scrapbooking buddy (even if she doesn't eat as much chocolate as I do) Alisa, whose kids also go to the same school, asks:

are you saying any of this in jest?
just a tiny bit?
if I could type small I would- and I would say that I really like the dress up days and the projects with the kids- and then hope you don't hate me-
the kids do most of it themselves and its fun when they want to do it, not so fun when they don't-
last week many tears were shed over #2's project but it all worked out in the end.

Alisa, I’m about 95% in jest. The other 5% is just amazed by the fact it never seems to end! Thank goodness we *can* recycle some costumes …. Kellen’s book character this year (Tom Sawyer) is going to look **coincidentally** very similar to his Oklahoma Land Rush Day character from last year. And Kendrie wants to dress up like Jigsaw Jones from “The Case of the Missing Hamster”, so pretty much a sweatshirt, ball cap, and notebook is all I have to manage. Brayden was in the Talent Show last Friday but thank goodness didn’t need a costume. So I think after the Book Character Day all I have to worry about is Brayden’s dress for the Spring Banquet. Other than that, we just *might* be in the clear for a while. But yeah, 95% in jest ---- deep down, I don’t mind so much.

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Ginny asks: Going thru the drive-thru the other night, they asked if I wanted to buy a sticker for $10. This sticker would give UNLIMITED Route 44 drinks for an entire year for only 99cents each. UNLIMITED...you can order twenty at a time, every day of the year if you want. I nearly passed out. Summer and the Sonic slush go hand in hand in my house. My next thought was you. lol Did you already know about this wonderful sticker? If not, I had to give a heads up!

Ginny – "GET OUT!!!" (GASP! SHOCK!! OUTRAGE!!!!) How come we don’t have this here??? I would buy one and have it permanently stitched to my forehead! Oh my gosh, do we have this here and I just don't know??? Steve --- STEVE!! Are you listening???? You have this power ----- please get us these cards locally! Like, yesterday! (although, actually, I would be one of the customers who totally abused it and used it every single day, probably more than once, and maybe it's not such a savvy financial decision for you, after all.)