It's Not Complicated

It has been awhile since I've blogged. I can't think of any excuses that are clever or true. I wish I had been making fudge 3 times but that excuse has been taken. Speaking of fudge...isn't a "fudge recipe" an oxymoron? Fudge, by the very definition, isn't it suppose to be bent and changed...you know ...fudged. (See the fudge maker here.)While I loved your blog Dan you would have gotten extra bonus points for sending samples and not just a delicious picture.

But I digress. From what topic I haven't decided yet.

Since video chatting with family last Saturday, something Nancy said has stuck with me..."don't kill yourself trying to slow down," at least that is what I heard. Our lives are busy and can be stressful but enjoy the moment. I tell my daughters not to wish their lives away by looking too far into the future. Whoa...we're getting a little cheesy.

Speaking of cheesy...Cindy and I had the privilege of fixing lunch at the Matt Talbot soup Kitchen today. We work with a team a few times a year there and December is always our turn to cook. Cindy makes the best "monster" cookies each year and we made Sloppy Joes and macaroni and cheese from scratch. We practiced making the  mac and cheese using 3 types of cheese here at home a number of times before today - to get the proportions right. A little tip...mac and cheese serving 5 is a little different than mac and cheese serving 150. Try melting 30lbs of cheese on the stove top in some milk and cream. The sloppy joes and 40lbs of hamburger went well though. The kitchen has this giant skillet that makes cooking fun...another oxymoron for some, I know. Cindy did the conversions...how much is 30 tbsp. of minced onion anyway? (Side note to Dan...no trying it 3 times today to get it right....)

We got a Christmas tree the week before Thanksgiving. Kind of early, I know, but 1) the trees were out there, and better in our house being watered than sitting at Home Depot in their parking lot and not being watered.  2) We went to S.D. for a wonderful Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad and family and wanted to get a tree before we left. The tree was drinking almost 12 cups of water over-nite before we left for S.D.  I had these thoughts of rigging some mechanism to water the tree while we were gone...I didn't follow through. Tree dry when we got home...tree not drinking now...needles falling off if you look at them too closely. We don't normally decorate our tree until Christmas Eve...but I did an emergency decoration of the tree when we got home to keep from touching it later. Good idea.

Our new favorite saying is "It's not complicated". Have you seen the AT&T commercial with the guy around the table with a bunch of kids? The commercials are cute but the tag line "It's not complicated" is pretty true, from a common sense point of view. Say something true...then add..."It's not complicated."

Love one another.  It's not complicated.

Make fudge until you get it right.  It's not complicated.

Listen to your wife.  It's not complicated.

Get a Christmas tree before Thanksgiving...but don't stop watering it. It's not complicated.

Mac and Cheese from scratch for 150...wait...that is complicated!

Enjoy...just don't touch.

Cindy and I are keeping you all in our prayers. Have a wonderful Advent and a Blessed Christmas.

Let it Snow...Let it Snow...or Just Let the Leaves Fall

I didn't say where to let it snow. Our family in the Hills have had over 1/2 the annual snow fall average so far this season all before November. We are just shutting off the sprinklers outside and starting to winterize the house and yard. And raking and raking and raking the leaves. Cindy and I sat this morning watching the wind blow the leaves up and down our street and from one yard to the next. Share and share alike is what I say. The large oak tree beside our house has been dropping the acorns on our roof, between the gusting winds and the squirrels, it sounds like hail.


 

Our deck has become a 'Hard Hat' area.

 

No two leaves are exactly alike...at least not in the last 14 bags I've collected.
 

It has been a very pretty Fall season around here.



I had a cord of wood delivered yesterday...so now I feel like winter may come. The price included delivery and dumping it onto my driveway...stacking not included. So that was my workout last nite.

We are part way there.



Now all I need is two aspirin and a massage. 

I know the season has changed when it's time to start cooking a "practice turkey". At least that is what I like to call any turkeys we cook before Thanksgiving. Cindy likes turkey...once in awhile. I think she could do with out the practice turkey (or turkeys) before having it again at Thanksgiving. But she surprised me yesterday when she got home from getting groceries. She could hardly contain herself when she let me know SHE bought the first turkey of the season. Now I know she really loves me. The funny thing is she can't help being so proud of herself that she actually thought of buying a turkey before I brought up the idea. About 10 times last nite she looked at me with this huge grin and said "I bought you a turkey!" Yes dear...I'm very proud of you...kind of like tying your shoes by yourself ...or riding a bike for the first time. I think she wanted a trophy and a parade. I'm pretty sure I heard her say to herself this morning "I bought him a turkey". It was a big deal...now how do I tell Cindy that this is just one of many practice turkeys of the season?

 

 

Practice...practice...practice is what I say.

So whether your Fall consists of snow, leaves or 80 degree weather...be sure to practice what you love the most...and go ahead and throw yourself a parade.

 

I'm goin' to Carolina in My Mind

 

 

 

Cindy and I went to see Dene' and Tyler at Belmont Abbey in North Carolina and had a wonderful trip. They were our tour guides for a week of travel around the state.  We saw vineyards, orchards, mountains, turnip greens and boiled peanuts. We didn't get to the coast but that leaves us something to see for our next trip. We did drive through the town of Pinehurst where the US Open Men's and Women's golf tournaments will be played in 2014, in case you where wondering. Here is a photo log of our trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for flying Southwest.

 

We decided that North Carolina has the most trees we have ever seen, and the most clouds.

Welcome to Belmont Abbey College.

Beautiful church on campus.

 

 

 

 

An amazing adoration chapel at which we were able to spend time at for prayer, with glass walls and a gorgeous view .

 

 

 

 

We were able to visit Cindy's brother John (center) and had an impromptu visit with a local North Carolinian (far right) to pick pears, grapes and black walnuts along the way. 

Visit with Uncle Bill (Cindy's mom's brother), Daniel, Chris and Jessica.

 

Visit with Cousin Larry and Nancy.

 

Visit with Uta over lunch at Carlie's Southern Food buffet.

We hiked Crowders Mountain. The city of Charlotte is in the distance. Oh look...another cloudy day. 

The hike was a little over 5 miles round trip.  The stairs at the summit reminded me of Frodo and Sam's climb up the stairs!

Frannie got to come on the hike.

The gang.
 

We visited a vineyard and tasted the local brew of  muscadine  wine



Our tour guides.



This is the US Olympic Kayak Training Center just outside Charlotte. A man-made river that water is continuously pumped through to create rapids. The US National team was training the day we visited...pretty cool place.

Another day we drove the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway in the north western part of the state...part of the
Appalachian Mountains.

Yes, it was cloudy, but the views were gorgeous.



The colors were almost peak at this elevation.



A very cool Mount Mitchell.



Tyler and I hiked up to the observation deck while the ladies stayed down below and drank hot chocolate.

The cloud cover broke just enough to capture this picture from on top of the Mountain.

Dene' wanted to go to an orchard so we picked one that made hot apple cider and apple donuts...good choice.

We did buy some local apples...a lot of local apples!



 Southern delicacies.

And what do you do with 40lbs of apples?

  

Cut-slice-chop-cook

  

 

Apple sauce.

And a delicious pie!

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Tyler and Dene' and look forward to our next visit. And wherever the Lord leads them next, we hope they are up for toting us around.

 

Good night.

In Training

A large part of Cindy's job has to do with Safety and Compliance. This is both a good thing and a challenge for me. It has made me more aware of safety issues in my own job...the compliance thing is a little harder to grasp. In Cindy's job they have a lot of regulations that they follow and no straying outside the lines allowed. My job...if some tape and a folded piece of paper behind a clutch will make a copier run better then by all means do it. So Cindy has been trained recently to 'Train the Trainer'. This means she trains people to go out and train other people. So being the faithful husband I am (are you reading this Cindy?) I got to be the test subject and give a training on making a paper airplane while Cindy critiqued  my training/presentation. I passed with flying colors.

How hard can this 'Train the Trainer' be anyway?

So for an encore I decided to fix the flickering light in our kitchen. Just a little tap of the broom handle on the cover should do the trick. And CRASH! The cover came down (thankfully missed me) and shattered on the floor. I would have made-up a great story for Cindy...earthquake or something but she heard it crash and came to investigate...another part of her job.




So if you think this is a standard size light cover...think again.

Speaking of CRASH...my tree is getting serious about the 'dropping the branches' game. This branch/limb was actually hung up in the tree and I had thoughts of climbing an extension ladder and using my chainsaw-on-a-stick. I don't know where these thoughts come from. But I could reach part of the limb from the ground so I spent the better part of an hour yanking-twisting-turning-twirling...and that was just me. Finally the limb gave up and came crashing down. I got smacked by a branch in the process and have a welt on the side of my face. At first I thought it would make me look tough after this manly job...then I remembered I am married to a Safety and Compliance person. Did I follow standard protocol or have the right tools for the job? Did I wear the proper safety gear or have a spotter? Was I trained and qualified for this job?





Bad tree...bad tree.

 

                                   So I think I will stick to paper airplanes...or maybe not.

 

 

 

 Check out the true "Train the Trainer" with Dene'.

 

 

 

 

 

It's not a Beautiful Day

We made a quick trip to Denver this last weekend to see the kids, grand kids and the wonderful new house with all the boxes. No...we did not have to sleep on boxes at the Cranes bed and breakfast. We did get some quality visit time in and having Sherry and Dave stop by Saturday was a treat. I was woefully lacking in picture taking (of the house and Ash and Alex...not the boys) but Cindy did get Sherry and Michael then Dave and both boys on the I-pad.

Liam is getting bigger by the day...I guess he's suppose to.

Michael and Thomas hat.

Saturday morning on the way to the kitchen for breakfast Michael turned to me and said "it's not a beautiful day"...trying to suppress my laughter I asked him why? No answer. Then later we were on the front porch playing and out of the blue Michael says again "it's not a beautiful day...it's a beauty."

So the explanation I finally got from Ashley was this...it came about from watching a Veggie Tales show talking about things we might not consider beautiful but they still have beauty because God made them. Great message...just a little strange interruption from a 2 1/2 year old. So Michael has been going around saying "it's not a beautiful day...it's beauty".

We may be able to act like a 2 year old sometimes but thinking like one is a little tougher.

Story time.

Double story time.

Sunday Michael definitely got up on the wrong side of the bed. He came down stairs grumbling and whining about something. So I read him a story before breakfast. Then in my great wisdom I said  "let's go to the dinning room in slow motion" and off I went with my best impression of a turtle. Michael lost it and crumpled to the floor in sobs. I thought I had stepped on his toe or something. I love the way Ashley and Alex handle these situations by asking Michael to "use your words." Michael said through his sobs that he didn't want to go slow. At breakfast I traded some Cheerios for a piece of Michael's banana to give Liam (complicated I know)...again Michael broke into sobs. I resisted the comment "it's not a beautiful day, is it Michael?"

We survived the morning by going to Mass and seeing "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" (Michaels account")

 

Liam can pull himself up to a standing position...so can Michael.

 

It's not a beautiful day.



It is a beautiful day.

 

             Don't let Michael know you are going to have a beautiful day...it's a beauty.

 

Training Wheels Are Dangerous

I was out working on my lawn mower yesterday when I heard this crash on the sidewalk. I looked up and saw this little guy picking himself up off  the ground and getting back on his bike...he kind of looked my way and I heard him say "I meant to do that." (See what Dene' meant to do in Belmont.) Then much to my surprise he tried to make another U-turn and CRASH. Down he went again. This time no 'I meant to do that' and suppressing a few tears he got his bike turned around before getting back on and headed back up the sidewalk. He had training wheels on his bike and training wheels are dangerous. Training wheels might be OK when you're going straight down the road (sidewalk) but if you need to make a turn...and eventually you will need to make a turn...they don't work so well. To maintain your balance you need to lean into the turn and what do training wheels do? They keep you from leaning and if you turn too fast...CRASH.

Sometimes a mistake can turn out to be a 'I meant to do that' moment. When we were in South Dakota last month Mom made banana bread and boy was that good. We all raved about it and asked her what recipe  she uses...just her recipe in the family cook book. Well we all use that one and our banana bread doesn't taste that good. Finally Mom let us in on her secret and admitted she mistakenly used almond extract instead of vanilla.

So that has been my "Oh, I meant to do that" banana recipe from now on...and yes it is good!

So when life throws you some twists and turns and you find yourself crashing...be sure to take off the training wheels and get back on the bike. And have yourself some banana bread with almond extract for a change...you will be glad you "meant to do that."

This Blog is for the Birds

"Big Year" can mean a lot of things...making popcorn every other nite  or seeing a super moon or meeting that goal ( place it here)...being married to the one you love is a "Big Year" but I'm talking about Birding! Sherry gave me the book "Big Year" to read and ding-ding-ding it was great! To summarize a "big year' is how many different species  of birds you can see in 1 year. It can be just your town or state but the book was based on a North American big year. See what Dene' is reading. (I'm sure it's deeper than birds...I should take lessons from her.)

The book goes into some detail of the history of birding and talks about a number people who have done a "big year" over the years. Those doing a big year may travel/fly thousands of miles and be gone 250 days total doing it. There are places and times you have to be to see certain birds and it's not unusual for them to travel  halfway across the states to see 1 bird if it is rare. At the time the book was written I think only 10 people where in the 700 (species) club. It does focus on 3 birders who where trying to break the big year record and the competition that followed. There was a movie made staring Steve Martin that followed the book well enough...but for the hard core birders read the book.

Since reading the book...twice and buying the movie ( good but not as good as the book surprise-surprise) I have been birding each weekend. I haven't found any rare birds but have enjoyed the time spent in our Lord's great out doors. My life list is 27 (life list is number of species seen so far...not just in one year). The big year record is 733 and that is in just one year. There is some work left for me.

Here are a few pictures of the birds I have seen. Some are injured and are in captivity (rule is they have to be alive-wild-and free) so I have not included them in my count for the big year.

 

 

 

 

 

This one is not alive or wild or free but is "rare" so I included him anyway.



Happy Birding.