Good riddence June!

The entire month of June has pretty much sucked. I'm tempted to say that the entire month has been overall shitty, but this is a family blog. (wait . . . ) To say that I'm excited to change the calendar to July tomorrow would be an understatement. I cannot wait. (even if I do hate the hot weather)

Today was another bad day. As I was driving home, I couldn't help but to wallow in my self-pity. I won't bore anyone with details, but one thing after another just rained down on me from crap heaven. I even got called pregnant today by some jerk in the office (of course I'm not, and I made sure he knew that I'm not). As I was recalling the events of the day, and generally feeling sorry for myself, the DJ on the radio announced a contest. He was giving away a gift certificate to the 13th caller.

Normally I don't ever call into radio stations, but today I gave it a shot. I needed something good to happen. So, I dialed the number. It was busy.

I dialed again. Same result.

I tried one more time. It rang!!

"They must have already given the prize away," I thought to myself.

But then, amazingly, the DJ answered the phone.

"You're caller 12! Better luck next time!" he shouted at me in his cheesy, DJ voice.

AH. I was so close, but still so far away. Maybe I'll try to win another one in July.

Why we don't give Brynlee sugar before bed

Please ignore my messy house:

Am I the only one?

Am I just being over protective, or does this scare the crap out of anyone else?

White trash weekend

Lest anyone be offended, let me first clarify that I am placing the "WT" moniker upon myself. And it does fit - let me tell you how well:


Last Saturday night, as a family we went to the Bluffdale Town Days demolition derby. Now, if you've never been to a demolition derby, you really should go. Where else can you eat all the deep fried junk food that you can fit in your beer belly, all while watching cars from the 1970s and 80s crash into each other. It really is entertainment that cannot be beat.

Can't you tell by the look of pure joy on our faces?Ok, here's a more joyous face:
We actually had lots of fun. The girls would pick their favorite car, and then cheer for it throughout the entire heat. The best heat, was the final, when there were two #6 cars. The girls even had the kids around us chanting "Num-ber SIX! Num-ber SIX!" And wouldn't you know it? First and second place went to both #6 cars. Amazing.

After the heats, the cars that couldn't drive on their own (most of them) would be hauled out by tow trucks. This is my favorite: the short bus. How fitting.
One of the best crashes of the night. This car actually drove up on the jersey barrier, and cracked the poor thing up.
This was the best crash of the night. The poor green car rolled on its side, and I think it actually came back in a later heat.

Actually.
What up B?

(can you see the smeared deep-fried Kit-Kat on her face? and are you now asking yourself what in the *&^$ is a deep-fried Kit-Kat? Don't knock it till you try it)

Is my calendar on the wrong month?

I'm pretty sure its June 10. At least that is what the calendar said today. But pretty much only the calendar knows that is what today is. Mother Nature must have missed the memo.

Driving home from work today, the car told me outside temperature was only 56 degrees (yes, Fahrenheit). And when I got home, I saw this:
and this:
and this:
Piles of snow?

Actually, no. Piles of HAIL! A good 2 hours after the storm had passed. Believe it or not, we are luckier than the neighborhood just west of us, where several homes flooded. The worst damage we had, were my poor baby delphinium that had just sprouted from seed. I'm afraid they didn't make it. Nor did my peonies. Good thing I have this to remind me of how beautiful they were:

The perfect pancake

I am a lover of pancakes. One may even call me a pancake connoisseur. My love began with my grandpa. He and my grandma used to own a bed and breakfast - a beautiful Victorian mansion on a Civil War battlefield. It was a wonderful place to visit as a child. I have such fond memories of spending time there, but my favorite memory is of my grandfather's breakfasts. He would always have the best bacon and lots of fresh fruit - and if I got lucky, he'd make his famous blueberry pancakes.

I think I've spent a lifetime (or at least 30-some years of one) trying to perfect my pancake recipe. I know I'll never make one quite like his, but I think I've got my own version down pretty well. It takes just the right combination of buttermilk mixture added to buckwheat. Then, I put lots of butter down in the pan before I add the batter (no one said these were low fat). And it has to have fat blueberries (I've had the best luck with frozen berries actually).

Oh, and my pancakes (unlike grandpa's, as he was always cooking for a crowd) has to be the size of a pan:
With lots of fresh berries on top:
Add some whipped cream:
Delicious!
So, who's coming for breakfast?

My peonies

Last fall, I was browsing the clearance nursery stock. I came across a sickly, half dead peony plant for only $1. Not one to pass up a bargain, I purchased it. I'll be honest - I wasn't expecting much. But, I figured that I could gamble a dollar. I knew just where I was going to plant it - in the vacant spot adjacent to my garage. I brought it home, and immediately got to planting.

This spring, I was overjoyed to see the succulent sprouts emerging. I checked it every day, just waiting for buds to appear. One day after work, I noticed four small buds that had emerged. A few days later, there were ants crawling all over the buds - the tell-tale sign that the blossoms will open any day.

Today after work, I was finally rewarded: 2 gorgeous blossoms bigger than my hand, so heavy that the stalks bent over. And I could smell them half-way across my yard.

I just have one problem: how exactly do you pronounce peony? Is it pea-oh-knee or pee-a-nee?