An instant potatoes day...

If you haven't heard of The Wailin Jennys I pity your life up to this point. They are often featured on A Prairie Home Companion (if you don't know what THAT is you are now dead to me...I guess if you never admit to it or remedy yourself right now by going to http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/ and educating yourself it may land you back in my good graces), one of my all-time favorite radio shows, and since the first time I heard them on there I was hooked. If I ever have a theme song composed (don't put it past me) I will commission them to write and perform it for me. (Although technically I already have a theme song..."OHHHH KETTIE...YOUR WAYS ARE THE BEST WAYSSSS.." that Seth Roush composed for me but if I ever need a NEW theme song this is my plan. Also, I have no idea what my current theme song means so it may be good to have one that makes sense.)
Today involved a 5 1/2 hour food safety class (day numero dos) and a 1 1/2 hour food safety test. From what others have told me I probably won't get my results until my AmeriCorp year is almost over so they will NEVER know if I fail it. HA! I'm pretty much an expert on cooking temperatures and how to cool down that 80 lbs of spaghetti sauce you made so feel free to call me if you ever need some food safety advice. Then again I may have failed the test so it may kill you...(that's a disclaimer).
Our cat is gone.

After being trapped in a cupboard for a few hours the other day and me thinking he had run away I decided it was time that he moved out. He was only here until he could get his act together and fly straight...actually he was the runt of his litter and needed a little TLC before he had to tough it out with big bad farm life...so we took him in and spoiled him (so much for getting his act together). Now he is back at the farm and I hope he makes it. We all miss the little guy. I think he was slightly insane (he fit right in!) and did some weird stuff but he fit in our little family and now he has flown the nest. Oh how they grow up! Edgar, here's to you, I hope you survive to be an old grumpy cat!
I'm a good cook but I can get distracted. Today to quickly fill my grumbling belly I decided to make instant mashed potatoes (DON'T YOU DARE JUDGE ME...WE ALL HAVE THOSE DAYS!) and I got distracted by the phone and lights and thoughts and I poured waaaaayyy too much of those instant potato flakes in...and I don't have any milk and so I messed them up royally. Bah-humbug. You know its been a weird day when you mess up dummy potatoes. (so I just looked up dummy potatoes on Google to make sure they weren't anything else and this popped up...The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band - "Mama's Fried Potatoes" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaP0PKptmQ4 ...worth a few seconds of your day!)
Okay. Go back to your lives now. Thanks for reading.

An Exaggeration

Reflection of the day

Mild confession. I hate tunnels. They always make me think of zombies and when I'm forced to stop in them I usually imagine green slime coming out of the the walls. Not to mention the reflectors on the sides make me feel like I'm in some sort of video game where I'm loosing terribly (which if you've ever seen me play video games that pretty much the norm). But anyhow back to the original thought: I hate tunnels and what makes them even worse is when a GIANT, fire-breathing (ok, so it wasn't actually breathing fire...just diesel smoke...still gross) semi-truck floors it into the tunnel and then gets stuck by your station wagon causing you to literally quake in fear. Read that again "quake in fear" (I'm gonna bold that in case you may miss it)!

Also, I promised myself I would ride the bus today but I got scared and chickened out. To make up for not riding the bus I climbed the rock wall (literally a rock wall...no we do not have one of those climbing walls with the plastic rocks in our backyard...we do have a clothes line but I can't imagine that its really all that interesting) and got to the top and looked around and it was the time of my life (OK another exaggeration...but what's a good story without some?). Actually it wasn't the time of my life (confession) but it was nice. I liked the rocks up there...they were very interesting. But when a ant grabbed onto my thumb with a surprisingly good grip for an ant I decided to go back down the hill to my home. Every girl has her limits and mine was a fierce ant called Charlie (I don't actually know his name and its probably something I can't pronounce anyways because it's in ant language which I do not happen to know).

Also, the cat has come up with a new game where he hides around a corner and then randomly leaps in my direction. I do not think he will become a fierce hunter but may have a shot at the cat Olympics. Does anyone want/need a pint size Olympic jumping cat? He is very, very cute and needs a home and on the smallish side (very small but fierce!).

I need to go pack a lunch so I'm energized for 20 K-1st graders tomorrow. I'm going to teach them how to wash their hands and then scramble eggs. In that order.

I'm going to start keeping a tally of how many days my car stays intact and not in-need of repair (like how they have those ____number of days this place has been accident free in restaurants/etc...) SO:

0 number of days since Fit Phineas (my vehicle) has been fit Reason: Rear driver's side door panel fell partially off today.

And those dear readers are my imperfect reflections on the day.

Maybe I am crazy.

Today I checked something off my bucket list: -Stop all inbound traffic on 376 East (toward Pittsburgh) during rush hour. Yes, you read that right. I blew a tire out on the far lane of the highway today and it took 3 Pendot trucks, one cop, one AAA man, a nice old man and a waitress at a diner named Bob's, my housemate Bekah and a very nice man at Flynn's Tire to get me back on the road. They actually blocked all three lanes of traffic for me so I could get to the median. People were honking their horns and I just waved. Good morning Pittsburgh! Check list of things that have gone wrong on my car since purchasing it 4 weeks ago: 1. Radiator blew 2. Battery fried 3. Ford Taurus sign fell off 4. Tire blew 5. Break light bulb smoldered I literally started laughing my head off in the waiting room of the tire store at the craziness at it all. The man that was sitting there waiting as well simply ignored me...he must of thought I was a lunatic worth avoiding at all cost. And then I had a pretty good day. I felt great all day. Especially when my supervisor came up to me and offered me a juice box made from pureed veggies. He said I needed to try it because they might order it for inventory and didn't want it to be funky tasting. Myself and my juice connoisseur coworker approved it. The building secretary gave me chocolate covered pretzels, score. Also, I got to witness this conversation between my supervisor and the other AmeriCorp guy: AmeriCorp Guy: "How come every time I pick up my phone its on speaker" Supervisory: "Let me call you from my line and we will figure it out" (Calls other line) AmeriCorp Guy: "See its on speaker!" Supervisor: "You have to pick up the phone to hear the other person through the receiver." I cracked up. No one else did. I did a lot of one single sided laughing today. Maybe I am a lunatic.

"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." -Mark Twain

There is just something that I just love about a cold Sunday afternoon, a fuzzy blanket and a host of new folk music on Folk Alley. (http://www.folkalley.com/music/freshcuts/) Currently the song "Police Dog Blues" is playing by Hugh Laurie who happens to be the guy that plays Gregory House on the TV show House. I love little things like that. So in that same vein of thought here are some other things I love in no particular order: 1. Big, beautiful crashing thunderstorms on a warm August night. 2. My three sister's updates on life (pictures, emails, cards, and phone calls). They are simply amazing girls. I'm continually amazed that I get to be their big sister. 3. Warm coffee and Popsicles in the mornings (or to be honest with you anytime!). 4. Cards, notes, messages sent by pigeons or smoke signals, texts, Facebook messages/comments and writing in the sand from friends. I'm a lover of the written word and those words are 10 times sweeter when sent from friends. 5. Bright colors and earth tones. (Ironic, isn't?) 6. Cool finds at flea markets, thrift stores and others people's homes... 7. I adore thin, precise, black pens with dark ink. 8. Quiet mornings. (But I hate waking up for them!) 9. Dresses that cinch at the waist that can be dressed up or dressed down. 10. Design blogs, design books, other peoples art, murals downtown, bits of junk remade, creative uses for everyday objects... 11. Pictures of friends and family 12. Pearls and diamonds (no need to be real!) 13. Giving a good gift 14. The smell and glow of candles burning 15. Lists! (Anyone ever heard of the book Lists to Live By ? If you're a "lister" you need a copy...or head over to a http://www.esquire.com/blogs/lists/ a blog of lists!) 16. Polka dots and Polka dancing 17. Books...enough said. 18. Dance parties! 19. Talking to cashiers at Wal-Mart 20. This big, beautiful, messy, chaotic world that I'm livin' in! I think that is enough for one afternoon's endeavors. I'm off to plug in my electric blanket...I've missed that guy!