Thursday, May 19, 2016

Why I don't cook too often......

One activity that has really declined with 1-fewer kids in the house and 2- graduate school- is my dinner planning and cooking skills.  As since my "bar" as a cook was already very low, that is a scary thought for the three people who still live in the house with me.  I think I have only about 10 regular meals I cook any more and those don't happen that often. Sometimes it boggles my mind to think that I use to cook meals every day for 7 people including the shopping and planning.  How did I do that because I can't seem to make it happen too much any more?

However I had the chance to make dinner for a friend and her family after a surgery which always means good food for the home crowd too.  After it was all done and delivered this was my kitchen--I pointed out to Gary that this is the reason I don't cook real meals.  It makes too big of a mess.


It was worth it--now and then!  Chicken Dressing Casserole, steamed vegetables, green salad, and cupcakes with ice cream for dessert.

I still really don't understand people who say that they love cooking!  I totally missed out on that gene or talent and I really hope that there is no cooking required in the eternities.

Austen's quilt

I don't necessarily consider myself a procrastinator--I am busy enough that I try to plan to get things done in an orderly and timely manner so that life isn't so stressful for me.  However, deadlines are also useful for me because that same busyness can prevent me from getting done some of the more "optional" or  "creative" things I want to do.  Such is the story of Austen's quilt.

This is actually is 2015 Christmas present.  Austen had commented once that no one had ever made him a quilt before and Tosha mentioned that he love to use her "Cars" quilt that I made for her years ago so I decided to make him a quilt for Christmas.  I spend a few months in the fall looking for the right fabric and actually ordered some of it off the internet (of course the main one I wanted ended up being discontinued so I got my money back instead of the cute fabric I wanted) and the hunt continued.  However with Christmas and school and UDSF and etc.  I didn't get it done....then I decided that I couldn't mail it anyway.  I didn't want to risk losing it in the mail to Japan so I decided I would take it when I went at the end of April.............well, immediately that project and the fabric went to the end of the line in my "to-do" list.  


And then mid-April arrives and my cute project was still sitting on the shelf.  Crunch time!

And for someone who doesn't like to sew, I love making quilts---easy ones only, of course.  It was so relaxing and fun to take the fabric and cut it into blocks and to watch it come together.  It was the perfect balance to the busy time of school and other things going on.

There are cars and airplanes for my Airman son-in-law:




Tosha's quilt was tied so I wanted them to match.  However after I
got to Okinawa, I realized her quilt was bigger and tied in black not red.  Oh well, Austen loves it (at least so he says.  He is a good son-in-law!).
(Now I can imagine that my other children and in-laws will be wondering about their own quilts, because I haven't made quilts for all of them yet.  Don't worry---I have plans for all of you--my favorite people in the world!)


The 50's Sock Hop

They had a Sock Hop at school.  Jena figured out her outfit on her own by rummaging through our costume box.  I love it when kids can do this type of stuff themselves.  I am not that great at it.


One of the teachers sent me this picture which
they took prior to the dance.
Jena reported that it was a very fun dance and good treats.

And back to Pack Meeting day....

A lot has happened over the past month since I last wrote in the blog.  I know you are all waiting on "pins and needles" to know what has been going on at the Hall's house since the last Pack meeting. Luckily I have some pictures to help ME remember and record for history.  I feel like I need to remind people from time to time that you really don't have to read all of this stuff.  I am recording for family history--for my kids and grandchildren to know about our daily lives in 2016 or whenever.  I share with my extended family and friends as a "lazy way" to keep in contact and to let you know that we love you and are so glad to have connections with all of you.

Overall summary:
Gary:  He is busy with retirement life which is turning out to be quite a busy life style for him.  I thought it won't be much different from when he was working, since he has worked at home for 15 years or so.  However it is so much better!  Not only does he help me with some of my errands and running Ben and Jena here and there, he is so excited about his time he can spent working on family history and doing temple work.  I can't think of two more worthwhile ways to spend your time once you are retired.  At this very minute, he is picking up the Pack awards for the boys while he is waiting for his brother-in-law Allan to finish at the dentist.  He has always been my right hand "man" but he is more helpful than ever....good thing because I am probably less helpful!

Jessica, Elessia, and Liam:  Liam is mastering walking and is quite proud of himself.  They have had some house guests for a while which is fun but also stressful.  One of their house guests needed some surgery which was done in Salt Lake (they are from Colorado) so they will be here a couple of weeks as he recovers.After living down the street from work about 5 minutes, Jessica's office moved from Magna to Sandy which means she now has a 30 minute commute at 5:30 in the morning. She is adjusting and still claims she likes her 6-3 schedule with DCFS.

Scott, Chantel, and Scarlett:  The big news from them is that Scott recently started a job with IHC (InterMountain Health Care).  It isn't the job he wants but it gets his foot finally into a job in health care which he has been working towards for awhile.  They are very supportive of his desire to move up into more management positions so he is excited about the future.  Meanwhile he still needs to work a few shifts at Red Lobster every week to keep the same salary base but he also will get benefits. Yay.  Chantel has started a personal fitness business and was able to quit working at Ogden Regional Hospital at the end of April.  So she is now home more and Scott is home less---the joys of early career life!

Ben:  Ben is excited about spring and planting and caring for the garden.  He spent a week in the hospital at the end of April and they finally got him off of one medication which we haven't liked from the start.  Not wild about the new medication either but at least he doesn't need constant reassurance that he is okay--day and night.

Tosha, Austen, and Niki:  They are great.  More about them in the other posts about my trip to Japan.

Jena:  She is 7 months into her mission and still loving it.  One of her friends from the Walnut Grove Ward just started her Church Service mission last month so now they go together to mission activities and events.  Fun times.  Her first year of STEPS is just about to end.  She loves her teachers and her friends, but I am not thrilled with her programming.  Hopefully that will improve next year.

Jena spent one Saturday afternoon in  April with Kaitlyn and Kinli swimming and then going out to dinner at the Food Court.  Gary and I used the time to go to a movie and then went to the same court to eat dinner so we would be there on time to get Jena.

They saw us eating but they headed away from us to sit and eat.  I did grab these pictures when we were getting ready to go.

From our table
Jena is growing up.

Me:  I finished the fifth of 9 semesters of my MSW and also completed my internship with DCSF before I left on my trip.  It was busy but it was great to finish up and then hop on a plane for Japan. Of course the house and yard had many things not done that I had hoped to get done, but No Worries...they were all there waiting for me when I got back.

Have a great day.