500 Posts and Giveaway

Link

The Drama Queen has been after me all month to do something special for my 500th post. And for the life of me, I can't think of anything special to write.  I thought about trying to write 500 random facts about my life, but that task seemed totally insurmountable. Then I thought maybe I could just write 50 and that would work. But then I remembered how hard it was to just come up with 11 for that blog award my awesome friends gave me.


So I'm going to do another Tupperware giveaway. It will be a surprise package worth $50.0 (notice I left off that second zero so it looks like 500?) and the rules are easy. Just leave me a comment with your favorite number between 1 and 500. I have already written mine down and if yours is the same, you win! If not, the number closest will win.

Summon all your psychic powers and good luck!


Drama Queen just surprised me with this cute little Pueblo figurine.  It's a mother telling a story to her twelve (yes, twelve!) children as they climb all over her and each other.  (Not that that ever happens around here..)  The figure has a little tag on it that talks about how central story-telling was in the Pueblo culture.  Story-telling has always been part of our family but we've all noticed how much more we've started to remember as we sit down to share. 

That's just one of the things I love about blogging.

(Contest ends at midnight, June 21.) Oh, hey, extra entry if you pass along the Dog Walker's wish for an audience with the President. Tweet it, Facebook it, or post it on your blog...just let me know and then pick a second number. (You can't blame me for trying...)

New Year's Giveaway!

A couple of weeks ago I was asked if I would like to host a giveaway for My Memories Suite. The kind folks over there offered me a free copy of their software as well as a copy to give to one of my fantastic readers for my honest opinion of their product. I'm not very good with software as a general rule, so I quickly assigned Teach to try it out for me. She loves scrapbooking and her Cricut is one of her best friends.

After downloading the software, it took her an hour or so to create these amazing pages! She tells me the program is so easy that even I could do it...and that's really saying something. My normal mode of scrapbooking is to slap a picture on a colored sheet of paper with a couple of tape rolls and maybe write a few words with a marker...or maybe not depending on how big of a hurry I am in. It has not really been a task I enjoy, it is just something I feel compelled to do (that's one of the reasons I started my blog). Well, this program might just change my mind. Aren't these pictures fun?

The Giveaway starts today, January 2, 2012, and ends 11:59 PM on January 15, 2012. All you have to do is visit www.MyMemories.com and then leave a comment on this post telling me one of their products you could use for your own scrapbooking. For a second chance, tell me you are a follower and/or tweet this giveaway. And you know what? My Memories even has their own BLOG! You can visit it at http://blog.mymemories.com/

If you decide to follow them, I will throw in one more entry for you. Just make sure you let me know when you do any of these things. Maximum of five entries.

If you just can't wait to try this software, I have a deal for you. I have my OWN coupon code! That means you can enter it when you order and get $10 off. Here you go:  STMMMS3111.



One of my New Year's Resolutions is to try to get my scrapbooking (and my thighs!) in a little better shape. I'm afraid I'm several years behind now. Baby Doll has about 3 pages in her book...I guess I should be grateful that she actually has a book!

The Artichoke Box

Aloe, Key Chain (Teach) and Squeeg

I have some pretty amazing kids! Did I tell you that before? See that cute girl in the middle? That's Teach and the other two are her very best friends. They have been close since elementary school and even though they are all attending different universities, they still find time to do stuff together. Squeeg and Aloe both have blogs of their own. I love this post from Squeeg because it has some cute pics of their day at Daybreak Lake. Anyway, one of their latest adventures is writing a novel together. They are doing it in blog form, one chapter at a time, but they are just a bit disappointed with their readership. So I want to share Chapter One with you and if you like it (and I hope you do!), you can find about 12 more chapters at:

http://theartichokebox.blogspot.com/

Chapter One: The Train Station
There was a little brown paper bag sitting on the white plastic seat.

Nobody noticed it. Except a 10-year-old girl named McKenna.

The paper bag had permanent creases in it like someone had gripped it ferociously for a good length of time. It was sitting on a train station seat in Paris, France. McKenna had traveled there with her parents and was waiting for her train to the airport to take her home to the United States.

McKenna's parents were bickering about carry-on luggage while McKenna stared at the brown paper bag beside her. What could be inside? she wondered.

She started guessing in her mind. Someone forgot their lunch... It's a piece of jewelry for a man's wife that he disguised in a simple bag... Maybe it's a bomb...

Her last thought startled her. Ever since she could remember, she had seen terrorism on the news. Whether actual terrorism or presumed terrorism, it was a constant threat to her society.

Maybe it was her duty to discover what was inside that paper bag. She reached her hand over to the bag, ignoring her parents' new argument about which of them should get a window or an aisle seat on the train.

She pulled at the rolled up paper bag a bit then stopped, having second thoughts about if she should be doing this at all. What if the owner came back and just really wanted her lost sandwich?

But suddenly, a boy of about 12 appeared in front of her. He immediately snatched the paper bag from her and held it close to his chest. McKenna glanced at her parents but they hadn't noticed.

"Did you look inside?" The boy inquired with a bitter tone.

"N-No," McKenna stuttered, not expecting the boy's hostility.

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"You did, didn't you?" he said, taking her stuttered response as confirmation of his worst fear.

"I really didn't!" McKenna stood now and was pleased to find that she and the boy were roughly the same height. She stood up straighter and asked defiantly, "So what is in that bag?"

The boy jerked his head around and glanced at a man leaning nonchalantly by a soda machine with a newspaper on the other side of the train tracks. The man was staring openly at McKenna and this boy.

"I have to hurry," he said simply. "I shouldn't be talking to you."

A confused look crossed McKenna's face. "But wait, can't you just tell me what's inside?" she asked desperately.

The boy looked pained, clearly wanting to appease her but knowing he couldn't. "It's just something. I can't tell you." Then he started off toward the man leaning against the soda machine.

The cogs in McKenna's head started whirring as he walked away and she couldn't help but blurt out, "Is it a bomb?"

The boy whipped around and strode back over to her quickly. "This is not a bomb. I told you I cannot tell you what it is. This is important and this discussion is over."

But before the boy could run away from her again, he stopped to stare deeply into her eyes. McKenna saw a pleading look, one of desperation, in his dark brown eyes. But what could McKenna do to help him?

Then, as quickly as he had arrived, he backed away from her and turned, then swiftly loped across the station platform. Both he and the man disappeared into a new crowd of people walking into the station.

McKenna couldn't stand it. She had to know where they were going.

"Mom, Dad, bathroom before the train comes!" she yelled over her shoulder as she sprinted away.

She heard her mother yell behind her, "McKenna!!" She knew she'd be in trouble by the time she got back to her parents. But she couldn't care about that now. Glimpsing the boy's white t-shirt out near the taxi station, she dashed out the door toward him.

Once outside, she whipped her head from side to side. Then she pinpointed the two climbing into a taxi.

"Wait!" she cried. She ran in their direction and the boy saw her right as he was getting inside the taxi. That same pained look crossed his face as he saw her coming. However, he hurriedly slipped in, pulled the door shut and the taxi peeled out from the side of the road before she could get to them.

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McKenna gasped for air by the curb, not knowing exactly what she'd just witnessed. But as she stood with her hands on her knees, watching the cab disappear, she knew that it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Guest Blogger - Drama Queen "Writing and Writing"

Me

Teach and I work at the same Smith's grocery store. We work in different departments though, some days all I see of my little sis are when she’s leaving the house in the mornings or when I’m clocking in at night. Today was one of those days. So when I got home from work, I was glad to get to see her. She even got a little finger-wave as we passed: Teach to make toast with fresh apricot jam - me to borrow Mom’s computer.

Now, here’s a secret to Drama Queen: I’m one of those crazy collaborative writing people who lurks around rpgs and once churned out a good 40,000 words in a given month even when I was working part-time and attending college more than full-time. One of the things about being back home is that I’ve had to cut down on my writing time by a lot. There’s just way too much to do around here! (And babysitting isn’t nearly so conducive to multi-tasking as procrastinating homework is. Go figure.)

All my Build A Bears

I love writing fiction. I can talk your ear off about my fifty-some-odd characters for hours given the opportunity. (Ask Prima Donna or Princess. Even Scout, for that matter, when she asks the wrong question about my build-a-bear collection…) Mom doesn’t understand it. She thinks I should put that effort into a journal or a blog. She’s probably right...but it’s hard to resist the call of Ancient Egypt and magic and stories of impossible odds and true love conquering all!

But back to tonight...before I step onto my soapbox. (I am the Drama Queen, after all.)

So as I was eagerly logging into my google doc account (on Mom’s computer since I was listening for the canner’s timer to ring), Teach wandered in with her yummy-looking toast and gestures that it’s her turn. “What?” I asked, playing dumb.

“I need to do the pictures for Mom’s blog.”

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“Can it wait fifteen minutes? My friend’s only gonna be online for that long...”

“Why not do it on your own computer?”

My poor laptop. It’s in such disrepair it lives in a corner of the basement with a separate monitor that glows pink no matter how much I jiggle the connecting cable. “It takes fifteen minutes to boot up.   ...I’ll do the pictures…” It was an offer Teach was not passing up. She retired happily with her delicious apricot jam toast. ...Can you tell I’m hungry? But nothing was standing in the way of the opportunity to finally write out the brilliant idea I had for a new story!

Scout, Curly, and Baby Doll

….It’s surprising how quickly fifteen minutes - or even thirty - can disappear. Mom and Dad got home from the store. My friend had to log off in order to get enough sleep before her orientation program tomorrow. Even the Dog Walker and Baby Doll stopped giggling at youtube videos and crawled towards sleep. I guess it is about 1:00 AM now... As Dog Walker headed off with Baby Doll, I heard him ask Mom what the blog would be about tomorrow. I offered to write one. Actually, I’d intended this to be a quick “P.I. Look at the Day of a Mother of Twelve”....but it’s a lot harder to write a blog than it is to describe some fantastical landscape. And like any good plot twist, I’ve found my thoughts wandering in completely different directions than I’d intended.

Momma

I’ve always known Momma was amazing. She was the one to kiss the owies and - like magic - they were better. She was the one to read me stories about far away places and exciting worlds. And when it’s been a really, really, terrible, no-good, very bad day...a true-love-hug from her conquers all. I learned the passion to write from my Mom, and though I’m probably as bad as Dad in teasing her about this blog, in truth I’m really proud of her. ...And maybe just a teeny bit jealous of how good she is at it. I read every single post. Some days I even go back and read the old ones. My mom has the amazing ability to take a simple, silly event in our family’s day, and show how it’s just one little patch on our crazy quilt (I’d say thread in the weave, but we’re a little too chaotic for that!) It just makes me more determined that as awesome as today was, tomorrow will be even cooler, and the day after that. And the day after that. Clear until Happily Ever After.

I hope you liked the post, Mumsy. Thanks for the cake!

Hugs, Kisses, and Good Night Wishes.
Your Drama Queen

Does Anybody Care?

***If you are looking for my normally happy self, please skip today’s post. Maybe I’ve been reading a little too much of Shell’s Pour My Heart Out stuff…well, see what you think.***

I don’t know why I’m suffering from Writer’s Block this week. I generally have plenty to say. Teach just came in from hanging out with her friends and asked if I wanted pics put on my post yet. When I told her I was having issues, she said, “Don’t write one. Nobody will care anyway!” Just shoot me now. Is this really true? Am I really only writing this for myself?

Once upon a time I thought I would grow up and become a mom and a famous writer. That’s because when I was in third grade, I wrote a 9-page story that impressed my teacher so much that I knew this writing thing was a piece of cake. I majored in English and eventually got my MA in Literature. What could be more perfect? My thesis was published in a nice hard-bound book and as a bonus I had a paper published in a scholarly magazine put out by BYU.

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I just knew I was ready to take the world by storm and become the JK Rowling of my generation. So I wrote a few short pieces, some children’s books, a magazine article or two. The problem was, nobody was buying. I finally sold a story about my grandmother to the Friend, a children’s magazine put out by the LDS church. I was so excited to see it published. Every month I looked from cover to cover, hoping to see my name in print. After about five years, I stopped looking. Clearly my story had been put on a shelf somewhere and even though I received a check for a couple hundred bucks, it was never going to be published.

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Frustrated, I decided that maybe it was the genre. I switched to youth fiction and completed my first novel. I even paid an agent this time! I was sure that everything would finally go my way. After two years, I gave up and released my agent. Maybe writing wasn’t really my destiny after all.

Slowly the dreams slipped away as I immersed myself in motherhood. Every once in a while I would take a chance on a contest, just to prove to myself that I still loved writing. I had a piece published in the Deseret News and another one in a Chicken Soup book. As far as I can tell, no one except my family ever read either one of them.

Now I’m trying yet another genre. Blogging has been my friend from Day 1. You have been my friend. Everyone has been so kind to me, so supportive. I love the blogging world because no one is judging me (at least not that I see) and almost everybody is polite and friendly. I hope I’m not just writing for myself…Teach, you’ve got to be wrong. Please, somebody tell me she is wrong.

Food for Thought: Hawaiian Sandwich

I think I’ve told you before that we allow the kids to choose what they would like to eat for dinner on their birthdays. Yesterday was Teach’s birthday, but I knew weeks ago what she would choose. Her very favorite meal is what we call a Hawaiian Sandwich.

I first heard this recipe about the time she was born. I was teaching writing classes at Columbia College. One of the assignments was to write a process paper and most people chose to give me a recipe story. I had never heard of King's Hawaiian Bread at the time, but I was excited to try this amazingly different sandwich. We have modified the recipe slightly over the years to suit our own tastes. We also have to make two of them now just to feed everyone although you could easily feed eight people with one.

Last year was the first year I had trouble finding the bread. I went to our local grocery store on the morning of Teach’s birthday, but could only find the roll version of the bread. After the third grocery store, I started to panic. I had already purchased all the meat, cheese, and veggies, so I didn’t want to change the menu. I finally got on the King Hawaiian website and called the company. They were so nice! They had one of their service people call around the valley and locate the bread for me. Then they APOLOGIZED for the inconvenience and sent me a bunch of free coupons!

This year I got smart and made phone calls first. I easily located it at the second place. I highly recommend giving this sandwich a try. Even if you are not an avocado fan, the spread really is the best part. I have kids that won’t even give an avocado a second look unless it’s in this sandwich. Enjoy!


Hawaiian Sandwich

1 round loaf of Hawaiian Sandwich bread
½ pound thinly sliced turkey
½ pound thinly sliced roast beef
½ pound thinly sliced ham
½ pound sliced provolone
½ pound sliced cheddar cheese
1 ripe tomato, sliced
2 avocados
½ cup Miracle Whip
lettuce leaves
cracked black pepper
mustard (if desired)

Tip the sandwich roll on its side and slice it into four slices like you would a bagel.

 Turn your oven on to broil. Place the bottom of the bread directly on the rack and toast for approximately 45 seconds. Watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn. It doesn’t take long.

Remove from the oven and cover with cheddar and ham slices. 

Toast the second layer of bread the same way, then cover with the roast beef and a little mustard.

Cover with a layer of provolone cheese.

Toast the third layer of bread. Cover it with turkey, (a little more cheese if you are a cheese lover) and the lettuce and tomatoes.

Add a little black pepper to the tomatoes.

Peel and smash the avocados and then stir them into the Miracle Whip. 

Cover the bottom of the top layer of bread with the avocado mixture. 

When the sandwich is totally assembled, place it on a cutting board and cut into wedges to serve. Serve immediately.

My sweetie loves the avocado mixture so much he likes to put a little on every layer. The nicest part of this sandwich is that you can change it a little here and a little there until it is perfect for your family.

**Editor's Note: While I was adding photos to the post photobucket has crashed. I will upload more step-by-step photos in an edit tomorrow. If you feel unsure about the process please return later to view more photos. Thanks for your patience.  All thoughts and opinions on this recipe are Sandy's own.  She is not being paid or reimbursed by any company mentioned above in any way.

The Royal Britches Have Lost Their Stitches...

For those of you unfamiliar with the Utah landscape, the Key Bank tower was one of the tallest office buildings in downtown Salt Lake City. It sat on top of Crossroads Mall although both of them were torn down several years ago. My sweetie used to work for a small engineering firm headquartered in the Key Bank Tower. That was convenient for things like Christmas shopping or grabbing a quick bite to eat in the food court. It was just such an occasion when my sweetie ventured down the elevator.

It was mid December and he was hoping to pick up a few Christmas surprises. After a quick bite to eat, he wandered through several stores looking for just the right gift. He finally scored with a pair of black leather gloves and a beautiful silk scarf. Pleased with his purchases, he hopped back on the elevator and returned to his office. He walked casually down the hall and was stopped halfway to his office by his boss. “Maybe you’d better take off early today,” his boss suggested. Looking a bit stunned, my sweetie responded, “Well, I’ve got a lot of work to do and I already took a long lunch.” His boss chuckled, “Seriously, I think you’d better head home.” Now puzzled, my sweetie offered the inevitable, “Why?” His boss grinned again, “You have an huge rip in the seat of your pants.”

Flash forward about ten years later…my girls had pestered me into joining the Utah League of Writers because they were offering youth membership for practically nothing. It seemed harmless enough and something good for them to add to scholarship applications as they got a little older. The League sponsored a writing contest every year and the girls were excited to enter. They convinced me to put something together too. We were thrilled when we received notice that someone had won a prize and we were all invited to the reception at a downtown hotel.

It was Sunday best, so we put on our fanciest duds and headed out. The hotel was nice but comfortable and the reception was set up in one of the largest conference rooms. We arrived a little early and wandered around. They had a small pond in front with ducks and geese. We watched them out the window for several minutes and then I left the gathering with Bossy to find a restroom. As we were making our way back up the hall, my sweetie was still standing at the window watching the ducks with the Drama Queen. That’s when I noticed the huge rip in the backside of his slacks. I glanced at my watch. It was time to enter the conference room and given the circumstances, I couldn’t see any way to solve this problem.

I whispered to Bossy, “See Dad’s pants?” She snickered under her breath. “We have to walk close behind him at all times so no one can see that rip,” I breathed in her ear. She looked at me incredulously, “You aren’t going to tell him?” I glanced back to where they were standing, totally oblivious to the disaster. “Can we do anything about it?” I asked. She thought for a moment. “No…” she said. “Then what’s the point of getting him all upset about it?” I asked. She shrugged. So between the two of us, we “tailed” him for the rest of the evening. I think we did a pretty good job, at least I didn’t see anyone laughing or pointing. A couple of hours later with prizes in hand, we strolled out of the hotel and headed for our car. My sweetie put his arms around both daughters. “Hey, let’s swing by the grocery store and grab some ice cream!” he suggested. “Ummm…I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said. “Why not?” he asked. He squeezed their shoulders a little, “I’m just so proud of them!” he enthused. It was time to ‘fess up. “Well, you have a little rip in your pants…”

Eat Mor Chikin

I know you were all looking forward to the rest of my dog story, but it will have to wait for a couple of days. I want to tell you about something fun that happened to us yesterday. My kids like to enter contests (you know, like my doctor story contest that ends tomorrow), particularly writing or art contests. So our local Chick Fil A sponsored a writing contest. It was open to grades K – 6 and the rules were pretty loose, you just had to write a story about the Chick Fil A cow. The prize was 52 free kid’s meals! And since we love Chick Fil A, that sounded like a pretty fun prize. 

So Crafty and Sport got right on that (ok, not really, it took some poking and prodding from their mom), but eventually they came up with some amazing stories. I ran them out to the Chick Fil A a couple of hours before the deadline. Then last Saturday we received an e-mail informing us that Crafty’s entry had been chosen as a Finalist. So we were invited to come to Chick Fil A for an awards ceremony and two of us could have a free dinner. We arrived at the restaurant about 10 minutes early and placed our order. I brought a bunch of us along to cheer her on so I had to buy dinner for everyone else. (Thank goodness for coupons! There were ten of us and I paid just over $16.00 and that even included drinks.) I was glad we were there early because by the time we got our order the place was packed. 

Anyway, after everyone was seated, the kids were called up five at a time in four different categories. Then they were invited to read their entries. Did I every mention that Crafty is shy and quiet? It became evident rather quickly that she was expected to read her entry out loud to this room full of people. She fidgeted in her seat. "Mom, you can read the story for me," she suggested. Some of the Kindergartners had their parents do their readings. "No," I said firmly. "You are perfectly capable of reading your story all by yourself." She shifted uncomfortably. "Dad?" He shook his head. "How about Princess?" I asked with a grin. Now the only person more shy and quiet in a crowd than Crafty is Princess who shook her head vigorously at the very thought of standing up in front of all of those people by herself. She is my girl who at 14 still cries when I make her go to a door to sell Girl Scout cookies. Finally the third/fourth grade category finalists were announced. 

Nervous Girl by ~themedusa

We sent Crafty to the front of the room by herself. She was fourth in line so she had to stand there while three other kids read their entries. When it was her turn at the microphone the lady in charge handed her entry to her and smiled at her expectantly. In fact, the whole room was waiting rather impatiently for her to begin. We had already sat through 13 stories and we were all ready for them to announce the winners so we could go home. Even the Chick Fil A cow mascot had gotten bored and walked out. 

 Crafty put her hand over the mike. "I don’t want to read it," she whispered. The room breathed a sigh of relief. One less story to listen to.  The lady took the mike back. She smiled her benevolent smile and glanced around the room. Obviously she wasn’t feeling our collective relief. "OK if I read it?" she asked Crafty sweetly. Crafty turned a little red around the ears and nodded her head slowly. She had one line in there about stapling the bad guys mouths shut. Hmmmm….. 

It took another half-hour for all the kids to read their entries. Sadly, Crafty wasn’t the grand prize winner, but she did get some fun prizes…a chapstick, bumper sticker, magnets, a pen, and a tiny stuffed cow. Oh yeah, and 2 free kids meals. Looks like we’ll be going back soon! (Eat mor chikin!)

Register with Chick Fil A for access to contests.