Night Driving (plus a little pointless trivia)

Yeah, so.... I just need to write a prologue to copy and paste into each post which is written far too long after the previous one. In short, it's been a crazy...what? Month? I've had things to write about (namely Thanksgiving and then maybe something about Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day) but obviously didn't care enough to bother, and now those topics just aren't that relevant or whatever.

Well, now I'm back. Though I don't really have anything to write about, it's Friday, which is one of only two days a week which I originally designated to be blogging days.

Old habits die hard.

I guess I do have a little to write about. We're all getting into the Christmas mood around here. I've made lots of molasses crinkles and snickerdoodles. Mom made another batch of hot chocolate and has supplies for chex mix, peanut brittle, peanut butter fudge, and other holiday traditions. We're all making good progress with our Christmas shopping. Mom even found reindeer antlers and a red nose to put on her car, like she's been wanting to do for years. Then she saw the elf ears on someone else's car and wanted those. Right.

She and Heather decided the reindeer/car is Francine, ol' Rudolph's daughter. Didn't ask, don't care to. This led to Mom saying, "Wait. Francine's a girl, but she has antlers."

I reminded her about the reindeer we saw last year (or the year before?) at the city gardens: both male and female have antlers.

This led to a little research on my part, and I discovered something interesting:

Reindeer and caribou are the only...deer-like creatures (they have some strange Latin name for their family or species that starts with a "c", I think) where both the male and female have antlers. For reindeer, at least, both male and female get their antlers in the summer. However, male reindeer lose theirs in mid-November/early-December, and female keep theirs until spring when their young are born. Thus, if we all want to stick to the image of Santa's sleigh being pulled by antlered deer, and we don't want to resort to the excuse that it's all magic, Santa's reindeer are all female. (I always suspected Vixen and Dancer at least were female, so this is easier for me to swallow.)

And tada! That topic blends right into the main topic of the evening! Just cuz I'm that awesome.

Our family was invited to a birthday party tonight for our science teacher. You know, the totally awesome one? She's the only reason I survived chemistry. She likes chocolate and movie quotes and Jeopardy games in class. She helped with my graduation party (and she's one of few people to whom I've managed to give "thank you" notes for said party...). She's just too cool for words. Someday, she needs to write a biography, even if she can't publish it. And then she needs to write textbooks. And then play on Jeopardy.

Anyway! In the end, it was only us girls who ended up going. In my car, which means I have the right to drive. I almost forfeited the right. Why? Because it meant driving at night down country roads.

I've driven at night before, but usually with a parent in the car, unless it's 10 minutes across the city. I've driven those country roads before, but usually with a parent and always in daylight. I'm struggling with a few driving phobias, including lane-changes in downtown traffic, and night driving along deer-infested roads is high on the list.

Deep breath. At least it isn't snowing. (We got some snow last week and flurries earlier this week, but all that's left is a little mush and ice in the shady places.) Snow driving is another phobia of mine. I've yet to do it, and it's another reason I appreciate my old boat of a Chevy over Heather's sports car. Mom made sure I had instructions (though I had a hard time picturing just what she was talking about) and reminded me (or threatened) to text when we left home, when we got to the party, when we left the party, and when we got home.

We left at 6, giving us just enough time to get to the party when it started, if I drove the speedlimit. It actually didn't go too badly. Heather acted as co-pilot, offering her knowledge of the area, because neither of us was crystal clear on where we were headed or what we were looking for. We managed, and I never had to slam on my breaks to turn onto the right road. Yay!

Another perk in my car is honest-to-goodness brights. Mom's car's brights are about as bright and the normal light setting and no one would know the difference. Mine actually showed me beyond both shoulders on the road.

So there I was, maintaining a steady 55 MPH down roads lined with Michigan ditches and across bridges (cringe). I confirmed an earlier suspicion that I pull a little to the right, especially when I'm on a bridge and a semi with very bright lights is passing on the other side of the road. We made good time, arriving just a tad late to the party (and I think they started early).

There weren't many kids there (just one guy and girl Heather's and my age and all their younger siblings). I knew some of the people from church. The rest were total strangers, though some insisted they recognized me. I ate finger food and sipped punch and marveled at how my upbeat, crazy science teacher could be hosting such an almost solemn affair. Here I was thinking there'd be karaoke or something.

We sat around for a little over an hour. Heather avoiding the chocolate for some reason and kept saying weird things I'm not aloud to repeat. In the end, our teacher's daughters invited Allenna to spend the night, so it was just Heather and I on the way home.

Now that I was familiar with my route, I was able to relax a little more. (And by "relax", I mean be less uptight and likely to freak out but rather calm and focused.) Heather and I sang along to Christmas music and kept our eyes peeled for deer. We didn't see a one of 'em. Wonder of wonders.

Taking the Adventures as They Come

Our parents raised us to be fairly self-sufficient. We've always done chores, worked for most of our spending money, knew how to entertain ourselves, and learned through living. Life was the fieldtrip, especially right after the big move 9 years ago.

It's because of this fact, I believe, that I survived yesterday.

The "singles" group at church (AKA "College and Career", AKA everyone out of highschool who isn't married) recently started a Bible study at our youth pastor's house. There's always good food (homemade, not pizza!), and it's normal for some of us girls (young women?) to be called upon to help prepare it.

Sunday night, I was asked to bring potato soup, because our youth pastor's wife was going to be out of town. I was also told that if I managed to make contact with the youth pastor, he'd give me some money for supplies.

Finally, around 10:30 the next morning, I got ahold of him. He was nearby and told me to come meet him. When I did, I received not only a credit card, but also a list of things he needed for the Sr. High Bible study (he teaches that first and then comes to his house for the singles') and instructions to call one of the youth workers, who recently had surgery and needed some things picked up.

And then Mom needed me to drop off a newspaper. Downtown.

I've never driven downtown unaided. Since my driving test, I've been terrified with the idea. One-way streets. *shudder*

And then I completely shocked myself by successfully angle parking, delivering the paper, and getting out of the parking space and headed toward Wal-Mart, all while going the correct direction on the maze of one-way streets. Score! And also completely nerve-wracking.

The library was on the way, so of course I had to make a quick stop. My sister has been waiting for a certain book to become available. Like always, it wasn't there.

Then Wal-Mart. This where that whole "learning through living" bit comes in. Whenever Mom had the chance, she was teaching us how to do the seemingly little things of every day life, like shopping. And while I was hunting for the things my youth pastor needed, I was calling his wife and the youth worker for their lists (his wife had a few more things I needed to get for last night), and then calling back when I translated "Velveeta shells and cheese" as "Sullivan" something-or-other. Don't ask. This is why I prefer face-to-face.

But I emerged victorious. And got out of that parking lot alive. Then I had to hunt down the youth worker's appartment. I've been there at least three times, when she's had some of us over, but I always forget where it is. I couldn't use my phone's GPS because I was spelling the name of the street wrong. So I called her back again and finally found her. After going 15 MPH down every nearby street trying to see building numbers.

Then a quick stop at the church to drop off the Sr. High Bible study supplies, and home at last to make the soup.

I've only made it once. It's one of those recipes where we have a general idea of ingredients, but mostly we just throw it all together until it tastes good, trusting our instincts about measurements. Maybe one day I'll take the trouble to write some of these recipes down for future reference.

The first time I made it, it wasn't thick enough (and my whole family likes their soup thick). This time, however, I suceeded. I'll be honest: it was one of the best parts of my day. And everyone seemed to enjoy it, which was nice.

Bible study itself is a whole other story I'd rather not go into....

Cheesecake. That's about it.

Cream cheesey desserts are amazing. Not going to lie.

Why do I say that, you ask?

Because I had to blog about something and, at the moment, that's what's on my mind.

"Let me 'splain. No, there's too much. Let me sum up!"

There's a marriage seminar going on at our church this weekend, and I was called upon to make some desserts for tomorrow. A while ago I accidentally deleted my upwards-of-100-bookmarks for recipes, and....

That's not summing up.

In short, I went on a hunt for easy but delicious recipes to offer, and the end results were cheesecake cupcakes and cheesecake squares. I would have done brownie tartlets, but I couldn't find a recipe. I was also going to do scones, because I personally love them, but decided it didn't really work and I had enough with the other two recipes.

I told my youth pastor's wife (who had recruited my help in the first place) what my plans were, and she was very pleased to hear about the cheesecake. Which just confirms that first statement at the beginning of this ridiculous post.

I'm in one of those food moods. I don't know how most of this dessert will make it to the church tomorrow....

If I had a job (and I'm hoping that might be soon, because I have an application to fill out) I plan to use some of my new earned money to experiment with and try new recipes.

Now that I think about it, I might just make the scones anyway, so I can have them with some tea and feel totally British.

See? This is what happens when I have nothing whatsoever to blog about. Lesson learned: keep to the plan or everything fails, or at least results in personal embarrassment.

Well, I blogged. Now I should probably go make that dessert....

The Beginning of the Holiday Season

I have an excuse for not getting back sooner: exhaustion. Up until Saturday, the week was normal. Church, co-op, a lazy day on Friday.

On Saturday, Mom and us girls headed out for a drive, just because. We headed up toward the Amish stores. On the way, we drove by a sporting goods store, and I commented that they sometimes had puppies. Mom (yes, I blame her) suggested we stop by to see if there were any puppies at the moment.

By now most of you know how the story ends. We saw yellow labs and some sort of Dachshund/chihuahua mix and something else I can't remember before we came to the truck where the lab/Aussie mixes were.

$40 for an 8-week-old, 1/4 Australian shepherd and 3/4 black lab puppy. For the last couple of months I've considered asking for a dog (even did at one point), especially now that I actually have some money. Suddenly, I was calling Dad and telling him to check out the message Mom had sent him: a picture of each of us girls with a fluffy black dog in our arms. And then he was okaying me to get one.

10 minutes later, as we drove away, me holding a puppy, I wondered, "Did I really just do that?"

Out of the four girls there, I couldn't pick one. Mom suggested I put my hand in the truck and call them over and take the first one that came. Only one came. The others kept playing and ignored me. That was easy.

Naming her was not so easy. It took a lot of time, but we eventually settled on Sasha.

It took about two days for reality to finally set in. Now that it has, I still wonder what on earth I've done. The first night, I started out with Sasha in a box in my room, but she wouldn't stop whining and it was late, so I let her sleep on my bed. She didn't stay still all night, and I got maybe two hours of sleep, between that and routes.

Sunday night she whined all night and I honestly didn't get a wink of sleep. By last night I was literally ready to cry I was so tired. We did everything we could to keep Sasha awake for the first few hours leading up to bedtime so she doesn't turn nocturnal. Then I pulled her box over to my bedside and keep a newspaper nearby. 20 minutes of getting a rap on the nose every time she made a noise made her quiet, and she went to sleep.

Ah, sleep.

(Seriously, on Sunday night we had our afterglow, and lack of sleep had put me in a very strange mood. Totally embarrassing.)

Now that I can think clearly, things are looking a little better.

Mom and Dad are convinced that by the time we get through her puppy stage, Hershey as a puppy will look like a field trip. She bites everything (even the shoes on your feet), she gets into everything, she picks on Hershey, she chases the cat.... The Aussie in her blood comes through in her intelligence. I'll be honest, how quickly she picks up on things compared to Hershey shocks me. We were living with a dog of slightly-less-than-average intelligence, and now we have one with high intelligence, as well as a saucy attitude. I'm scared.

So life hasn't really been boring, but I haven't done much else besides get a puppy. I made more laundry soap yesterday and managed to make an apple pie without Mom's help. I need to make another one today, because the last one is already gone.

Speaking of apples, I've become addicted to them lately. Mom got some a while ago from an orchard, and we've collected some here and there from paper route customers. But even with the three or four types of untreated apples from customers, I've found that only one doesn't give me any reaction at all. So I eat one or two a day now. I'd forgotten how good they were!

I can't think of anything else that's happened. Life progresses pretty normally.

As usual, I had something to share a few days ago but didn't, and now I've forgotten it. I suppose I'll try to come back in the next few days. I'll try to have pictures of my puppy ready to share by then. She hardly sits still long enough to get a decent picture.

Wait. I remember what it was! Last Tuesday Mom and I took most of the day to cook up a bunch of the apples we've collected. We finally turned on the Christmas music (normally we start in August, but not this year) and set to work. Mostly apple sauce and apple butter, but it helped me get into the holiday spirit. The perpetually gray skies and successive rainy days hasn't helped.

Now I'm suddenly remembering my week. My brain still isn't functioning at 100% capacity, if you couldn't tell.

During our drive on Saturday, after we got Sasha, Heather and I both got our first driving lessons. We start Driver's Ed in November (scary!). It wasn't too bad, though I was so nervous and tense that my shoulder got sore.

Also, last night, I saw northern lights for the second time in my life (that I can remember). Someday I might go someplace where they're bright and clear, but even here they're beautiful. There was a large patch of red and ribbons of white in a clear sky full of stars. Amazing.

So this week has been super crazy, and also a bit of a learning week for me.

A Day in the Life: Thursday

It's Friday now, but it was too late to post this last night when I finished it.

I'm writing this from my new phone! I feel so special.
Anyway, I decided a while ago while contemplating this new blog that I should have certain topics for posts. For example, I've done a few "What I Do" posts about my different hobbies. One of the topics I wanted to try is "A Day in My Life", where I record the events of one whole day. Boring, you think? I'm having fun! (Yeah, I tried the whole swype thing and didn't look back. You were right, Dad.)
So. My day.
I new phone has an option on the alarm clock where I can limit the number of times I can hit snooze or eliminate the option altogether. For my 6:45 alarm for Thursdays, I removed the snooze.Turns out that I didn't really need it anyway, however, because I woke five minutes before it went off.
Pp been struggling with a head cold that has moved into my chest and brought a cough with it. I woke with a groan. Get dressed, eat, play, with my phone, take the dog out, and away we go.
I had missed church last night. They'd had a birthday party, and though they hadn't returned everything to normal, how they'd left it was better in my opinion. We set up tables, and I sat down to do my devotions and writing. I got a call from one of the moms explaining why they wouldn't be here today. She spouted off a lost of instructions and whatnot. At the end, I said, "You do know you're talking to Amber, right?"
She laughed and said she thought I was Mom.
So I returned to this. Heather told me to stop texting. When I informed her I was blogging, she looked at me funny.
The day progressed without incident. Until physical science, I didn't do much. In science, we did two experiments, one of them with fire. 'Twas fun. I couldn't think of any movie references to link to class, so no candy for me. (Mrs. Johnson gives everyone a small piece of candy whenever someone quotes or refers to a science-related movie, because she's just that awesome.)
After that, I ate some yogurt and someone gave me some KFC mac 'n' cheese because it was "too cheesy" for them. Soon, Mom and Dad, who had been working at the church all morning, were ready to go. We dropped Dad off at home, I got changed, and then routes.
Like the past two Thursdays, I bagged everything because it looked like rain, but out didn't until we were done.
We stopped to get the mail, then got the girls and headed home. I didn't do much for a while. Per usual, Jess and Colin came by for a couple of hours just to hang out. Mom made salsa, I made apple crisp, and we sat down to watch a movie.

That is not the recommended way to prepare rice...

Anyone who knows me fairly well knows I have a poor memory. Perhaps it's more than that, but to make things simple I say it's memory problems. (Also, one of life's ironies: needing to remember to take memory enhancing vitamins. Just saying.)

It might be forgetting to turn of the sprinkler for the garden or misplacing my phone (the most popular). It's not uncommon to see me suddenly jump up, muttering to myself, and dart away, or to hear me pound down the stairs shouting my dismay. (Of course, the latter could be because I just dropped my phone off the roof...)

Today it was rice. I have a bad enough habit with food as it is. I'm almost deaf to timers, and if I get distracted with some interesting book or movie or the like, I zone out everything, even the horrid smell of something burning, which is why it's best I don't leave the kitchen while food is on.

Rice should be easy. Put it in water, boil it, then cover and simmer for a good half hour or more. What's so difficult about that?

Right.

Mom called and asked me to make up a bunch for her, so I pulled out our largest pot and put in 5 or 6 cups of rice and set it on high to boil. Then I wandered away to finish a movie. I got distracted browsing barnesandnoble.com and accessories for books. I didn't take much notice for the burning smell arising from the kitchen. It wasn't until Allenna made a comment that it all came rushing back to me, and the jump-up-and-dart-away-mumbling routine began.

I know what terrible things can happen if rice is left on the heat too long, and I had given the whole huge batch up for lost before I reached the stove. But no! Maybe it wasn't as long as I'd thought. Sure, it was smoking and stinking up the whole kitchen, but the rice wasn't dry yet.

I grabbed the pot and pulled it off the burner, then flicked the switch to turn off the burner itself. Upon further examination I discovered that the only burnt rice was at the bottom. Pretty much all of it was almost perfectly cooked. Yeah! Not too dry, not mushy. Talk about miracles.

Is it weird that I then became weak with relief? I'll be honest, actually forgetting things is only half of what bothers me. What really gets to me are those horrid disapproving looks from the people who witness my memory blunders: shaking heads and severely angled brows and mouths that convey hopelessness better than a single word could. You'd think that alone would perk up my memory.

Now I'm coughing back the stench of burnt rice and laughing at myself. I'm also wondering if enough of this blunders will ever teach me. Or maybe it's time to buck up and down a couple Omega-3 tablets a day. I would prefer fish, but I'd probably burn it half the time....