Friday Kite Flight

Ross had Friday off because he worked both days last weekend.  We decided to go to the local school fields (since school was also off) and fly a couple of kites.

Ross tried to fly my batwing-looking kite.  That didn't go so well. Apparently needs a tail.  Then I flew our Imp kite for a while.  I had to keep my elbows in close to my body to keep my shoulders from getting yanked.

It took a while to set up the orange kite that my dad left us to play with.  It is 10 feet across.  I got quite the shoulder work out lifting it above my head over and over until it finally inflated and Ross got it flying.  That kite was pulling Ross all over the place.  He got a unique work out and says he is sore all over now.  At one point he decided to sit down.  I ran over and sat down behind him to hold him down. Didn't work.  The kite started to drag both of us!

We packed up the kites and headed to look at a house.  Not a good fit.  We might check out another one today.

Here is Ross flying the orange kite.
Friday was much more fun and much less stressful than the kite festival.

Bailey--No Sale.

So every year we sell all our Hametz (foods that aren't kosher for Passover) to a friend.  Along with all the flour, crackers, cereal, and booze, we sell Bailey's food and Bailey.  Bailey is now on grain-free food, so we don't have to sell her food, or her. Bailey is not for sale!

Isn't she a cutie in that cutie box?

I Wish...

Borrowing from Nicole here.
I wish....

1. People wouldn't text/talk and drive.  It makes me nervous.  It makes me angry.  On Tuesday I saw a near wreck, afterward the driver was still staring at his phone. Grr.  And despite what some ya-hoo said on The Daily Show a while back--it isn't legal in Texas.
2. I could be paid to play Bejeweled.
3. Matzoh tasted better.  At least matzoh balls are yummy.
4. We could find a house.
5. Shoes never caused blisters.
6. We could take a 2 week+ vacation to Greece/Italy this year.
7. My shoulders--everyone's shoulders--were magically healed.
8. I was really, really good at something.
9. People wouldn't litter.
10. Teleportation was real.

Roll Over and Catch (Penny Roll)

I've always wanted to try this trick--the penny roll.  Caught it twice last night.  There is a harder version that I tried, but didn't have luck with.  Not sure what I'll work on next week.  My shoulders were very sore last night.  I need to work on my swing, but I'm not sure my shoulders can handle that.

I Miss...

Half our stuff is in storage.  We have lived without it for 6 months, so sometimes I wonder if we need any of it.  I do miss some things:

1. My ice cream maker(s).  A couple of times I have wanted to make ice cream, but I can't.
2. My books.  Sometimes I want to look something up, but I don't have any of my books with me.
3. My Passover plate.  Last year it came too late to use it.  This year Passover is early, and the plate is in storage.
4. My picture frames--the stuff that hangs on the walls.  We don't have totally barren walls here, but I miss my paintings, pictures, drawings.  Right now I'm especially missing one of my colored pencil drawings.  I want to do another art project based on it, but I don't have it as a reference, and I can't remember exactly what it looks like.  The original watercolor is also in storage.  Also, I miss seeing the Duomo every day.

It is kind of sad.  That's all I can think of right now.  I can't even remember what all is in storage.  I suppose that just goes to prove we could live with a lot less stuff.

Check out Bailey!

Check out Bailey on this interactive cat map and add your own cat!

Warning--the site can be pretty slow.  Be patient and click on the cat face that pops up in the center when it finally does load.

Mint Honeycomb

I decided to make mint cake, finally bought the mint at the Asian market, because that's where it is cheapest, and then kinda forgot to make the cake.

On Thursday night I declared I needed cake and whipped up a double batch of mint cake.  I cooked it at 325 for 45 minutes.  I think it turned out better than it does in a bunt pan.  This cake shows off the honeycomb pan really well.

The honeycomb is disappearing quickly and there are only a few hexes left.

Pullover Shoot--Done!

Last Summer when faced with the decision between learning the swing or pullover shoot I chose the swing.  I didn't want to get discouraged.  I knew that the pullover was going to take me a while to get--so I kept putting it off.  I finally tried it on our flyerversary.  Then I went to class again this past Sunday.  My main problem was getting the bar positioned in the right place.  Daniel said he'd catch me--even though I hadn't really had a successful practice trick.  Well, the second catch try and he caught me!  My legs started to dip a bit, but I'm calling it a win.  I thought it was going to take 5 classes. Pullover shoot--check.  Never doing that again.  Next time I'm thinking of trying the penny roll or toes off.  I need to work on my swing, but I'm scared that I'll hurt my shoulder.

Newsprint Nails

My mom showed me an article a while back about different manicure ideas.  One of the ideas was to transfer newsprint from a newspaper using alcohol.  The words come out backwards (mirrored).  I thought that transferring Chinese characters would make the mirror-thing less noticeable.  I picked up a free Chinese newspaper at the Asian market and gave it a try.  I transferred the newsprint by swiping my nail with alcohol and then pressing on a piece of newspaper.  Then I carefully peeled it off, leaving behind the newsprint and some paper too.  I'm not sure I used the best technique.  Maybe I should dip the paper in alcohol or something.  After each nail I put on a layer of topcoat.  Next time I need to use a different nail polish.  Something more white.  And matte.

Horse Riding Lesson

Yesterday we went and had a horseback riding lesson.  An actual lesson.  Not a trail ride where you just get on the horse and walk around.  I hadn't been on a horse since 2001!  I learned a lot.  I got to bridle the horse, which is something I'd never even seen done before. Ross rode Western and I rode English.  The English saddle is unnerving.  I felt like I could fall off at any moment.  The trot was a bit painful at first.  I was bouncing all over the place.  My horse was a bit stubborn (like me).  He kind of had a mind of his own.  He would stop, or break into a gallop, or whatever.  Ross got to practice with some barrels and I got to try jumping.  The video shows how most of the jumps went--the horse just walked over the wood.  That was half my fault cause I kept pulling back on the reins as we approached the jump.  It was insanely hard to kick the horse and steer and bend over all at once.  I did get one really good jump.  I flew up off the saddle and came back down on the front edge of the saddle with my pubic bone. What's really hurting today though is by sits bones.

After our lesson we learned how to take off the saddles and brushed down our sweaty horses.  We gave them baby carrots as treats and led them back to the pasture.  We also got to meet some other horses.  The two year old horses had really soft noses and lips. One of them kept trying to bite Ross.

This isn't a great photo.  I have a bruise from who knows what.  I think I somehow got it at trapeze--I have a matching one on the other leg.  The pink kiss is from the stirrup straps pinching me.  That was the only thing I really didn't like.  Jennifer, the instructor said I could wear half-chaps next time.  Next time I'll really try to get some more stills and video--we are going on Easter Sunday.

G & G Float

Inspired by Wife of a Dairyman I decided to have a Guinness float for dessert the other night.  I threw a Guinness in the fridge and put ice cream on the shopping list.  H-E-B is replacing their freezer cases, so they didn't have ice cream.  Well, what else could we do besides go to Amy's?  Lucky me they had a pint of Guinness ice cream in the case. I brought it home and made myself a G & G float.  No chocolate sauce, no whipped cream, just straight G & G.  It was bitter at first, but as soon as the ice cream started to melt it was yummy.

Pizza Burgers

This week I decided to make pizza burgers. I wasn't sure Ross would like the idea or think it was wrong.  He liked the idea.  The burgers ended up being open-faced.  I tried to make them as pizza as possible.

Pizza Burgers
ground turkey (20 oz.)
turkey pepperoni
shredded cheese
oregano
basil
black pepper
pizza seasoning
mushrooms
pizza sauce
provolone cheese
pizza dough

For the actual burger I mixed 85/15 ground turkey, shredded pizza blend cheese, julienned pepperoni slices, pizza seasoning, oregano, and basil.  I made the mixture into 6 patties and cooked them on the stove.  I sliced and sauteed the mushrooms.  I made a full batch of pizza dough.  I added oregano, basil, black pepper, and pizza seasoning to the dough.  It smelled really good.  I was able to make 5 mini pizza crusts out of 1/3 of the dough.  I probably could have made 6 though.  I think I cooked them--with the pizza sauce on--for about 15 minutes.  I assembled the burgers and served them with oven fries.

Thinking back I could have made the mini pizza crusts without the sauce on top, then sliced them in half so the burger would have a top and a bottom. But I kind of like the open face burger.  It's more like a pizza.

What?

My mom says "po-po."  Yeah, when referring to the police. She talks about calling the po-po or seeing the po-po.  It cracks me up every time I hear her say it. Po-Po.

Celebrity Visits

So far this week has been a week of celebrity visits.  On Sunday night I dreamt about Sherlock Holmes.  I stole his backpack and left him mine.  I was trying to stay ahead of him.  When he caught up to me I tried to convince him to sleep with me.  I told him it would only be sex because I knew he'd never love me the way he loved Irene Adler.  I don't think I was able to convince him that a romp would be good for him.

Last night I ran into Kevin Bacon, who was a teacher.  He called a girl up to the front of the class to check her oral hygiene (by kissing her) and see if her kissing had improved.  I walked out of the room.

Odd visits.  I'm not a huge fan of either of these two guys, and actually, I don't find either one attractive.

One Year Flyerversary

Sunday marked one year since our first trapeze experience.  We decided to have a flyerversary party.  We invited some friends, made cupcakes, and all had fun on the trapeze.  I've been taking it easy for the last two months because of a shoulder injury.  This was my second time back on the trapeze bar and it was fun.  I'm finally working on a trick I've been avoiding for the last 6 months.  It's going to take me a while to master this one.  I'm trying to figure out how I can practice balancing on the bar before I go back.

Everyone seemed to have fun. I'm glad we all got together and I'm glad that Jay was there to cheer us all on.

Alex seemed super pumped to get up on the trapeze.  He did a great job.

Ruthie was super flexible and light.  Daniel pulled her right off the bar.

This week Ross caught his bat trick.  I haven't done that trick yet.

This is me attempting the pullover shoot.  I kept flopping over the bar.  At one point Sarah told me to squeeze my butt as hard as I could--while I was standing on the board.  I squeezed so hard I got a cramp!  In the end I did a back end straddle and finally got caught.  It wasn't pretty, but I can finally check that one off my list.

I don't have videos of Richard or Monica.  If they send them to me I'll post them.  Richard was a natural.  He was so excited he somehow kicked the bar on his backflip dismount! It seemed like everyone had fun.  It is amazing how far I've come in one year (and 30 classes).  I just bought a 10 class pass, so hopefully I'll be even better next flyerversary.

I wish I'd taken photos of the cupcakes.  I made the strawberry-lime and some vanilla-almond.  And of course I took some milk--the Horizon individual packs.  Nothing like some (organic) milk to go with your cupcake!

Cast Iron Tea Pot

I've been using this cast iron teapot regularly lately.  I like it, but it does dribble if I overfill it.

Chair Project

One of the few things that I wanted from Susan's house was her corner chair.  We brought it back from El Paso last Thanksgiving, and I promptly took it apart.  I bought some supplies to redo the chair, but we had trouble finding the kind of material we wanted for the upholstery.  Last month we finally found some good choices at Calico Corners. The chair is finally done and we can use it now--which was the entire point of redoing it.

The original seat had burlap straps that had disintegrated into dust.

The padding was straw!

These are 3 of the covers that I peeled off the seat.  There was also a black one and a floral one.

This is the original frame and coils.

This is the same frame.  I filled the holes with wood filler.  I put screws in the corners.  I put on cotton straps.

I tied the original coils together and then tacked them to the frame.

I compressed the coils with zip ties.

 This is what the frame looked like without the pillow and upholstery.

 This is now what the underside of the seat.  Well, that's what it looked like before I cut the zip ties.

And this is what the chair looks like now.

Surprisingly Bailey hasn't taken over the chair.  This may be due to her trying twice to jump on it when there was nothing there except a pile of quilts and she fell through.

Kite Festival

My parents were here this weekend and we went to the kite festival downtown.  Wow.  We stood in line for about 45 minutes to get the shuttle downtown.  Zilker Park was crowded!

People everywhere and kites filling the sky.  I tried to fly one of my kites, but it was so crowded, and the winds were too much for it.

 We moved to a different area of the park and flew our parafoils for a little while.

Ross's kite is the big white and purple one.  My dad is in blue out in the distance.

After we flew kites we decided to check out the vendors.  I like fresh lemonade, and Ross likes funnels cakes.  Problem?  Lines.  The lines were so long to get anything to eat or drink.  I said forget it.  We decided to leave, and the line for the shuttle looked 2 hours long!  We all agreed to walk the 2.6 miles back to the car.  We stopped off at Shady Grove for some lunch and then hoofed it back up to 15th and Colorado.  I slept like a baby after all that walking!