My Mom's 50th Birthday Today...sort of

My mom was born Feb 29 1960.  She was born on Leap Year, therefore she only gets a "real" birthday every four years.  The years of the Summer Olympics she gets to celebrate on a February 29th.

Here she is as the little baby in the christmas photo.

Moms are just great.  Maybe it's not like this for everyone, but it seems to me your mom has the biggest influence on your life out of any other person.  That freaks me out now that I am a mom, but I'm glad for many reasons I ended up with Sheila as my mom.  She's not perfect, but I feel like she was perfect in all the important areas for being my mom.

What's weird is now as an adult how many times I stop and realize I am just like my mother.  From phrases I'll use, to ways I handle frustration, to having too many projects to handle and just thinking and planning more.

It's been really great living with my parents for now almost two years.  My mom works now that she's an empty nester, well except for us moochers.  It's been surprising to me that even as an adult with my own busy life to live, I have to admit I don't like my mom being gone all day at work.  It's weird to be in the house even though I live there too, and not have her there.  I guess it makes me realize that it's a blessing and a privilege to be a stay at home mom and I hope I'll always have that opportunity, and good reason to remember not to complain or think I hate my life when there's no better place to be...even if I'm just mindlessly cleaning up messes one after another all day.

Anyway, it has been great to have my Mom around all the time these two years and to have the friendship and share all our interests.  But for some reason there's always a comfort in having your mom around I think, and it'll be sad to move.  I never thought I'd be sad to move out of my parent's house.
When I was 18 and moved out to college, my mom called me every day for weeks and I was so annoyed.  I was really surprised how much she missed me, she had 2 kids at home still and I was kind of a wretch, which is why Herschel rejoiced and told me he'd been counting down for years until I'd finally leave.  But I guess it's different for moms...they miss even their wretched daughters.

I think when I leave the house this second time, it will be me calling every day and my Mom being annoying and thinking "Get a grip!"  

here she is with my older 2 siblings the early 80s

Mannequins Strike Again!

This was the title to the email a friend, Lacey sent me.  I saw it and knew it would be great.  She is awesome, and sent me this photo from Ohio of a great display.

THings I love about it:

That SNUGGIE is the highlight, so important they even show you the box.

I half love and half hate the Snuggie.  Maybe if I ever had the chance to use one it would push me to make a solid opinion one way or the other.

The armless upper torso man on the floor.  Reminds me of the black knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail...Ohio State style,

Oh how I love me a creepy mannequin display!

by the way, this was Jessica, NOT Rhett, he was signed in & I was too lazy to sign out and sign myself in.

Ginger Lemon Cream Pie

I had made gingerbread cookies last week, and today there were 5 or 6 cookies left, but they were too hard to eat.  Beyond even being ginger snaps.  But I couldn't throw them away and thought they'd make a yummy crust.  I had a cheesecake recipe that used a ginger snap crust.  But then I remembered these cookies I see by the bread at Costco.  Carr's Ginger Lemon cookies.  I always want to buy them but never had, so I thought of lemon and ginger.

But I didn't want the lemon to be tangy like using real lemon juice and having any hint of sour.  I was thinking of sweet lemon flavor and thought of Erin Walker's lemon ice cream recipe.  I wanted to make a pie out of that ice cream flavor.

I think it worked out pretty good.  I felt like I was eating the Walker ice cream in pie form.

Slightly spicy ginger crust with creamy, smooth, lemon filling.

Top it with real whipped cream and it would be divine.

We only had Cool Whip.

Lemon Cream Pie with Ginger Snap Crust

CRUST:

ginger snap cookies

     (6 homemade, probably 10-12 store bought)

      enough to make 1 1/2 c. crumbs

2-3 T butter,  melted

Crush cookies into fine crumbs, or I just threw them in the food processor.

Dump your crumbs in pie tin/ plate.  Drizzle melted butter over crumbs, press in butter with fork, and form to bottom and sides of pan.

Freeze.

PIE FILLING:

1 T milk

1/3 c. cornstarch

3 egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c. sugar

2 1/2 c. milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp lemon oil OR 1 tsp lemon extract (I was out of extract, thus resorted to oil, which is mainly for candy I think, but it worked)

1 T butter

 

In medium saucepan combine the 1 T milk, cornstarch, yolks, salt, and sugar.  Whisk until it's a smooth paste.  Add the 2 1/2 c. milk.  Whisk until it's a smooth liquid.  Stirring constantly, cook on medium heat until filling thickens to pudding like consistency.  I test it by scooping a glob with the whisk, and it should somewhat stay in the whisk.  If it runs right out, keep cooking.  Basically until it's like pudding. 

 

Remove from heat. Add the vanilla, lemon and butter.  Whisk a minute or so to help it cool down.  Grab your crust and pour filling over crust.  Smooth it over and cover with plastic wrap, pushing it down right on the pie without air bubbles to prevent "pudding skin". 

That always reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George tries to invent Pudding Skin Singles.

 

Refrigerate for a few hours to set.

Serve with whipped cream, or if you're lame like me.."whipped topping"

 

**In a hurry: Microwave in glass bowl 1 min at at time, stirring between, as it begins to thicken at all, cut cook intervals to 30 seconds so you don't make it too thick.  

What up...

We've been enjoying the Olympics every night.  We were glad that Evan guy won the gold for Men's Figure Skating, my dad can't remember his name and so we all call him "Snake Man".

We turn in our final rank list for the residency match this week.  Getting closer to knowing where we will live for the next 3 years!

We wish we knew now, mainly because depending on where we go will determine whether we will seek to purchase a house.  We have always rented, or I guess mooched as we currently are.  So we would like to take advantage of the New Home Buyer government perk...but you have to close on your house by April 30, and that would scarcely give us a month, so not very likely we'll get to use it.

February has seemed twice as long as January to me for some reason. 

Sugar Cookie

I am a sugar cookie snob.

Maybe it's because I'm not the biggest fan of frosting.  I hate it when a sugar cookie is basically a flavorless cracker for frosting. 
I want FLAVOR IN THE COOKIE!

I'm also really critical of cookie texture.  I like soft cookies.  Once again, not a cracker.  To me, a sugar cookie should be soft and chewy, if you fold it in half, it should bend then break, not snap. Melt in your mouth rather than crunch.

So if you are nodding in agreement to this point, there's a good chance you may like to try my mom's sugar cookie recipe.  I think people have varied expectations for sugar cookies, so I give you what I like out of a sugar cookie, so you can know if this cookie may be to your liking.  My mom played with different amounts of cream cheese, sour cream, and butter base to get the right balance for these cookies to have both flavor and texture.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE on to recipe

BIKES

Little boys need little bikes to ride around the house.

That is what my mother-in-law taught me. 

Daddy Rhett got his little three-wheeler for his 3rd birthday in the 1980s, and Grandma C got little Rhett an awesome Radio Flyer bike for Christmas this year.

He really cruises around and it's been great for cold winter days.  Also, it's light weight I have taken it places...like Tuesday night to the church when I was in charge of a young women's activity.  He cruised all around the halls and had fun, not climbing up my heels the whole time.

I should find out where my mother-in-law found it.  It's been an awesome toy.

I can't believe this kid is almost 2!

Interviews Are OVER

Colorado State Monument Park just out of Grand Junction

I'm sure you're sick of my lame teenage stories.

So here's an update on us now.

This last week we finished the last interview for residency.  Rhett is going into Family Medicine and interviewed at 11 programs.  I went to every interview. 

They were all n either Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, so only 2 were air travel, which is why I was able to attend every one.  Also thanks to our amazing moms who are super-grandmas and watched RJ for all of them.

So now they're finished, which I am glad.  It was quite fun to have so many weekends and dinners with my husband and no kids.  But the meeting tons of new people, hospital tours, arranging babysitting, and the rest kind of got exhausting toward the end.  I am grateful Rhett arranged so I could go, and I feel like this decision is definitely a team effort, so it's been nice.

But now we have to rank them all for the approaching match.

CAREER RECAP:

Undergrad

Medical School: 4 years (he'll graduate this April)

Residency: 3 years for Family Medicine

Fellowship: 1 year

(Rhett is seriously considering rural training fellowships which are a new, growing concept in family medicine)

So for residency, you put your program rank list in, and the programs rank the students, and the computer makes the assignments.  So it is a job, but it is assigned.  Rhett didn't apply to any osteopathic (D.O) residencies, and is only ranking in the allopathic (M.D.) match.

So we will find out where we are going March 18th. 

At least we know we'll be in the west!  We both learned we detest the midwest climate and are pleased we have so many options in the western half of the U.S!

So we are excited to start residency, and not be students anymore, and actually have a paycheck!  I'm sure a kill-joy will comment and tell me residency is worse and not something to be excited for, but they can only work 80 hours a week...so let's look on the bright side Debbie Downer!

Also, some fam/ friends may be interested in our settling down plans after all of this.

So around 2014 when we hope to settle down and get into his career, you will probably find us in a rural town.  Rural being population of 5000 or less.

That's right: SMALL TOWN. 

I never thought I'd live in a tiny rural town, but it's been an interesting path to where that is our plan, and to my utter surprise, I look forward to it.

Rhett wants to be in a small town that is relatively isolated from larger health care facilities.  Out on the range cowboying it up doing full scope medicine--being the pediatrician, ER, obstetrician, internal medicine, sports medicine, some general surgery, and everything else he could do before referring patients to a larger city.  A cowboy doctor.  The other day he was talking about his dream of having his clinic attached to the hospital, and our house next door.  So he'd never have to drive anywhere.  I thought, yes, then I can just send our kids next door to the hospital when they drive me crazy and you can handle them.  Small towns don't take HIPPA seriously do they????

Today they finished their surgeries earlier, and he had time to come home for lunch before heading back to clinic (he's on an ortho rotation).  We were eating lunch and he said that he's glad he'll be practicing in a small town so he'll be at home for lunch every day. 

So it will be interesting where life takes us, these next few months, and in the years to come.

I should start beginning to pack things like Christmas decorations, winter clothes we won't wear before we move, etc. 

But I probably won't until we are closer to moving.

Me and my dad are already pouting about the thought of us moving out...which is another thing I thought I'd never be doing either.  I'll be sad to move out of my parent's house, it's actually been such a great two years for all of us. (I'm speaking for Rhett)

after the Grand Junction interview, we stopped so Rhett could change out of his suit for the 4 hour drive home.  I changed into my pajamas.  He told me my outfit wouldn't look very good for our national park pictures we were going to take on the way home.  I laughed.  He asked how long I'd had these pajama pants.  Over 10 years.  Almost vintage.  So here it is.

Not too bad.  I think this will be on our 2010 Christmas card.

I UPDATED THE POST EDITING TO THE NEWER VERSION, AND WHERE THE CRAP IS SPELL CHECK NOW BLOGGER? So sorry if I have spelling errors.

Attempted Murder

You read that title correctly.  I have attempted murder.  Obviously I'm not in prison and my attempt was merely an attempt and not successful...although if it had been successful I would have got off on "crime of passion".

The following is actually a paper I wrote my Senior year in AP Language.  Mrs. Rawlings was a paper writing nazi.  I would think my papers would be so great, flawless, but always came back with red marks all over.  That woman really taught you well...maybe not me.  Don't judge my writing or anything.  Well this paper was autobiographical and I thought my wit and unique experience would get me an A.  I mean she'd been issuing this assignment since my parents went to AF High and had anyone been able to write about their attempted murder?  No. Please! This is Utah County.  I knew she'd love it...just like the scene in The Christmas Story where the A+++++'s just went clear around the room. 
Reality: I don't even think it got a B+.  But don't let that deter from reading it, Mrs. Rawlings had super high standards, and I think her class ruined more than one students' perfect 4.0 record.  And by the way, Mrs. Rawlings was probably one of the best teachers I've ever had.

Every family has one.  You know--the sibling no one gets along with. Whether older or younger, this person fights with everyone.  Every conflict involves this particular sibling.  I was this dreaded member in my family, and make things a lot more exciting. 

Each person in my family is very talented.  I think my older brother's most developed talent is teasing me.  Our personalities created constant bickering.  Most of the time we'd just use words as our weapons, but sometimes I got a little out of control and was forced to go beyond mere language.  You know what I'm suggesting--death.  Murder. Killing!  I was raised in an extremely religious home, so I knew all about Moses and the Ten Commandments.  The rules about lying, stealing, coveting (whatever that means), and all the other things you weren't supposed to do.  I knew it was a sin to kill, and even worse--I knew where sinners go.

It was Sunday afternoon when I decided to become a "sinner".  Not just an ordinary sinner, but a really "wicked sinner," which we'd discussed earlier that day in church.  The family was being herded into the living room for the dreaded Family Home Evening where we'd begin by talking about church and end by fighting.  I was the only one still lingering outside the French doors that afternoon, delaying my entrapment.

Looking across the kitchen, I had a perfect view of the maroon Lazy-boy in the corner in which my nemesis perched.  He was thirteen, six feet tall, broad shouldered and ugly as sin.  His beady, pig eyes squinted at me through that fuzzy hair, which looked like rat fur.  The cold-sore infested lip curled into a smile, revealing a mouth full of shiny metal.  His tongue licked across his braces, and I could tell he was thirsty for torment.

"Hey! We're trying to start.  Get that scrawny body of yours in here." he called.  I glared at him, thinking how much I hated that jerk.  "I don't have to do what you tell me to.  You're not my mom!"  I snipped.  Seeing that the kindling had been lit, James added a few more logs to the fire.

"Mom will make you....even though no one wants you here," he said rocking back and forth in the stained armchair.  I clenched my teeth as the anger surged through me.  The fire was burning steadily now, and James continued his game.

The disgusting zit-covered face turned in my mom's direction, but she was too busy changing the baby's diaper to notice the contention building beyond the French doors.  "Mom...Don't you think the orphanage will take Jessica back now that we don't want her?  She's really skinny and won't take up much room.  They'll just have to replace all their mirrors after her ugly face breaks all of them."

James had thrown gasoline on the fire. I snapped.

At that moment I was so mad the only solution was that James must die. "I hate him so much! The only thing to do is kill him! I don't care if I do go to H-E-doublehockeysticks!" I thought, sprinting across the room and leaping right into Goliath's lap, grabbing his neck with both hands.  "DIE!" I shrieked, squeezing as hard as I could, putting all my strength into it.  The rage gave my 65 pounds power I'd never had before.  The giant was choking for breath! 

A roar of laughter erupted from his throat, which was right beneath my death grip.  He wasn't choking his last breaths; he was laughing!  I gripped harder, digging my thumbnails into the premature Adam's apple.  I began shoving his head violently into the back of the chair--maybe a combination of choking and shoving would at the very least cause some permanent brain damage!  But the laughter just got louder.  "Why...won't...you...die!"  I screamed between head thumps.  Suddenly Goliath hit my shoulder.  The huge hand swatted me off like a fly, tearing me from victory.

As penance for my outburst, I was assigned to say the opening prayer.  I began a short, simple prayer to my God, but I could feel the coals of hatred still glowing within me.  Opening my eyes and squinting from under my bowed head, I saw that jerk smiling at me.  What made it worse was it wasn't a ha-ha-I-got-you-in-trouble smile, but a sincere you-make-life-interesting smile.  Oh how I hated him.

We actually became friends in adulthood.  This was our sister's wedding.  I was a Senior, probably around the time I wrote that paper actually.  You can see his acne cleared up... and I put on weight.

We made Christmas gifts for people with iron on letters.  Mine said "sweet sassy molassey" James' said "jump & choke" from a sketch on old school Conan.

So I guess it was probably a good thing my grip strength was pretty meager back then and he survived.

We Voted...

...and the best high school dance scene in a movie is:

A TIE!

GREASE

AND

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

I was kind of surprised It's A Wonderful Life had such a strong standing.  I love old movies, so I was glad to see it held it's own.

I mentioned it may be worth the while of voters if they put in their favorite, and so the voting pool was actually a sneaky secret giveaway!

Random.org selected comment 15 to win! Kind of crazy it chose the last number: (1-15)

Comment 15 and winner is:
Sarah!

She wins THIS

VOTE NOW

We've collaborated all the different movies we can think of...I'm sure we missed a few. But remember, you're not voting for which is the best movie...

JUST THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL DANCE SCENE

Grease

Footloose

Better Off Dead

Carrie

Napoleon Dynamite

She's All That

10 Things I Hate About You

Back To the Future

Clueless

To Sir With Love

Can't Buy Me Love

16 Candles

Never Been Kissed

Pretty in Pink

Twilight

It's a Wonderful Life

Swing Kids
Meet Me In St. Louis
500 Days of Summer

leave a comment with your vote...it may end up being worth your while

Lemon Drop Cookies

In case you never made these when I posted about them 2 years ago, here's another reminder.  I made a batch yesterday and I love them!  Here's the link to Katherine's recipe.  The only changes I make when I bake these--I only use 2 eggs, because I buy eggs from Costco and they are x-large.  Also, lately I haven't been crushing the candy in the food processor, just pounding it in the package with a marble rolling pin.  I would always over crush in the food processor, so I'd have lemon drop dust rather than small hunks.  That is what makes these cookies.  The lemon drop chunks melt when they bake, so when you eat them you have little crunchy goodies sprinkled through the soft lemony cookie.
Is your mouth watering yet? GO make them!  May seem like more work than most cookies, but save time by using a cookie scoop rather than rolling them in balls.

One Nation Under God

You can see the video of the artist and his story of this painting HERE.

"The Constitution of this government was written by men who accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind.  Men and women who live in America, "the land of Zion," have a responsibility greater than that yet borne by any other people.  Theirs is the duty, the obligation to preserve not only the Constitution of the land but also the Christian principles from which sprang the immortal document."
                                   -David O. McKay, former President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints given in 1942 during WWII in a General Conference.  (CR Report Oct. 1942, p 70)