Boil, Bubble, Toil & Trouble

Today for #NationalFudgeDay we made two variations of fudge, a simple microwave peanut butter deal with only 3 ingredients, and then an old-fashioned chocolate variety, cooked on the stove that required a candy thermometer and way too much of my time. I figured, why not? I have a candy thermometer in the closet that I have had for 10-15 years that I haven't ever used. #NeverHaveIEver has become a theme with doing these National Days, somewhat. We've used them for learning and trying new things, it's led us into a few somewhat ridiculous undertakings such as smoking a brisket back on Otis' birthday, which we had never done, but #NationalBrisketDay fell on that day so why not? Life should be playful. That one didn't really turn out so well, though, but we learned a lot and most importantly we tried something new. We tried something new today in making fudge as well as using a tool that I had all the intentions of using in the past but didn't. Ironically, I intended it for candle making, all those years ago, but broke it in today with candy making. Luckily, the same tool can often be used for different jobs. We spent most of the time waiting, it seemed. There is so much waiting in fudge making, both varieties; even the easy kind needed to set up in the fridge 2 hours.

The fancy kind had several stages of waiting, though: wait for it to boil, then let it simmer and wait for it to heat up, then let it sit and wait for it to cool down; don't stir me now or I'll crystallize, waaaaaaa, now stir me or I won't set up right! Fudge is sure finicky. We mixed it up and Celie did the constant stirring part, but soon after we came to a boil, she bailed on me. She came back for the next stage, but I got stuck with the waiting while she went off to more interesting things. She came back around before it was all said and done, though. It was a process, but in the end, I'll be damned, we made fudge. Maybe Tom Petty was talking about fudge making when he said the waiting is the hardest part? #CelebrateEveryDay

The Power of a Smile

This has certainly been a powerful smile. Originally composed by Charlie Chaplin, for the film Modern Times in 1936, the words were later added nearly 20 years later by lyricists John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons, based on lines from the film. It's been covered by so many people through the years; how do you choose a version? Nat King Cole's was the first recorded with lyrics and is a classic. Judy Garland sings it like it was her own personal anthem, and I am sure it was in its own way. It was Michael Jackson's favorite song, as well, even played for his memorial. If I am remembering correctly, I believe I was told that it was my maternal grandmother's favorite as well? A person's favorite songs can sure tell you a lot about them. This song has certainly inspired many to smile through the hard times in all of its incarnations over the years.

#SmilePowerDay #CelebrateEveryDay

Chomp Goes the Weasel

Well, I dug a hole and buried a chicken, this morning. We lost 3 out of our smaller brood of 8, last night, the youngest gang of our flock. 5 of them are left, so we'll move them in with the bigger ones now, because it appears that Nettle, the rooster of the group, was one of them, sadly. We liked him. I couldn't even identify the poor bird I buried, pretty gruesome, and the two others were nowhere to be found. Signs of a weasel, I'd say? Ironically, we left 5 of that group in a big bush in the front yard last night, because they have been deciding to roost there and there were only the 3 in their coop. We were worried about the ones out in the bush, but figured they would most likely be okay, and we would work on training them into the big coop tomorrow, but ironically it was the 3 in the coop that got plucked off? So, we're lucky we left most of them roosting in the bush! Also, the irony is not lost on me that yesterday was #NationalPopGoesTheWeaselDay?! No. Kidding. So, we've been listening to variations of that song to boot. Celie said that's like killing someone because it's your birthday, which is fairly accurate. Of all the nerve! Life is ironic. #CelebrateEveryDay whether you want to or not, I reckon?

Frustrating Fun in the Heart of the Home

 Well, I decided against celebrating #AxeThrowingDay and #ForkliftSafetyDay today with the kids, but hey, there's always next year, right? So, instead we made some cookies together. Yesterday, we missed #NationalPeanutButterCookieDay so we tackled that one retroactively today on what was, incidentally, #NationalKitchenKlutzesDay! The kids all helped make the cookies, mostly Jasper and Celie, while we listened to Bluey: The Album. Good times. Cooking with them is frustrating fun, which is somewhat like a positive threat, or eustress, as I have discovered it to be called...it keeps you on your game. Jasper loves using the mixer and will get a little wild, but he's generally a good helper. He helped roll the cookies into balls and did the crisscross pattern with the fork. Celie helped to measure out all the ingredients. Yesterday, she actually made all of us scrambled eggs for breakfast, but being the junior kitchen klutz that she is, she had egg all over the counter, and dropped the ramekins into the mixing bowl twice, but pushed on through the inevitable mishaps. It's pretty much how you learn, making a mess of things. She made tuna salad this morning and it was all over. She's a klutz-in-training. I'm the senior kitchen klutz; I wasted our last stick of butter the other day. Thinking Jasper had put sugar into a measuring cup, I beat it into the butter, and here it was salt. Thing is, I looked right at him when he was playing with the salt beforehand, so I should have known? "This is the worst icing, ever!" Celie said when she tried it, and I was confused because I hadn't tasted it, until I'd realized what I did. Oops. A little salty, much? We're just clumsy learners, I reckon; haste makes waste, but practice makes perfect. #CelebrateEveryDay

Choosing to Make Life Beautiful

Celie will often reiterate the question nonchalantly to me, almost as a conversation starter: "Mom, what is the meaning of life?" It has become my standard answer to reply: "Life is whatever you make it." Life has no meaning; we give it meaning. It's not in the hand you're dealt, but in how you play your hand, I guess you could say. You decide what everything means, that's what makes life beautiful. 

#MakingLifeBeautifulDay #CelebrateEveryDay

Playing Games with Your Inner Child

Today for #NationalChildrensDay we mostly just tried not to be jerks, but truth be told, it was hard. We had things to do, so we couldn't do anything eventful. It was honestly a pretty challenging day, and there's no pausing the shitshow; things go awry here, often, but that's par for this course. Children test us and force us to grow up alongside them. It's ironic, isn't it? Are they a cursed blessing or a blessed curse? I jest, they are absolutely a blessing, but they push every single button you have and even install a few more on you for free. Sometimes, we're the ones who need the time outs. I've learned that it's mostly because they trigger us where we need it and try to engage with our inner child. Children are from another world. They don't quite live in this reality, but we sure try like hell to keep them here and make them follow our rules. If your inner child is in exile, it's pretty hard to play with any of these critters because it's all they do. Play and pretend. "Ain't nobody got time for that, I'm over here working and being real!" "Oh, yeah? What if I told you that you're just pretending too and it's silly?" If you aren't comfortable allowing your inner child to come out and play, it can be a drag to parent. We spend our lives slowly covering up this precious, inquisitive, and playful inner being that we are born as with all of these layers of rules for this reality and how it supposedly works proper. We'd be better off taking some lessons from kids: Be present; live now. I have learned more so far from my children than I ever imagined possible. Here's to all of the children out there, inside as well as out. #CelebrateEveryDay

Back in the Day of Black Cows

Today, Papa Bear ripped out our kitchen window and made an even bigger hole in the wall to put in a larger one. It was the LAST original window in this place that was here when we moved in almost 20 years ago. Being the kitchen window, it's especially exciting for me; I can't wait to wake up in the morning to it. He has changed out every other window in this place, and has framed in quite a few new ones himself, as well, so this was a milestone of sorts. We celebrated afterwards with root beer floats, because it's #BlackCowDay and apparently, we like cold sweets 'round here? The Black Cow, as it was originally known, was invented in August of 1893 by a man named Frank J. Wisner of Cripple Creek, Colorado using Myers Avenue Red Root Beer. That was 26 whole years before this A&W even came around in 1919, the same year my Pap was born! Meanwhile, breakfast cereal was only invented 30 years before the Black Cow, which is crazy to think! Things were harder, yet so much simpler, back then. There were only so many options and you had to make everything from scratch. Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. They lived on the bare necessities, and that's why they invented things, because they were needed. We have much different needs today and so many more ways to have them met. Imagine, back in the day, ol' Frank looked up at the full moon over Cow Mountain and thought it looked like a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream, and then he had the idea to put some root beer on it, and nobody else had done that yet, as far as he knew, all those years ago. Far out. So, tomorrow morning I'll be gazing out of the kitchen window down into the woods, musing: "Where does the time go?" #CelebrateEveryDay