Camping Aftermath

We spent weeks planning and preparing for relatives visiting and the party for Barley's baptism. These preparations included:

• Cleaning both cars inside and out (amazing what detritus accumulates in the backseat with kids aboard)
• De-cobwebbing our living room's high ceiling
• Having hottub serviced in the backyard, though we didn't end up using it
• Cleaning patio furniture--and of course it was too hot to sit outside that weekend
• Patching and repainting the holes in the wall in the hallway
• Replacing ALL the burned out lightbulbs in the house--there were 5 different varieties of fluorescent bulbs!
• Drafting underage labor into clearing the toyroom floor for cousins to camp out
• Hanging falsely advertised wire rod for curtains in the TV room for privacy
• Attempting to acquire curtains for above rod (failed)
• Clearing all the horizontal surfaces in the house which were covered with papers and junk
• Scheduling cleaners to do final clean and sanitize makeover on house the day before guests arrive
• Stuffing anything left on the floor of the living room or TV room in a box, to be shoved in the front office or the garage, hoping like heck we'll be able to find stuff later (remote control? what remote control?)
  

Now, a scant week after our baptismal guests have departed, our house looks like a camping goods store upchucked all over it. (We went up to Mount Madonna County Park this last weekend with the Cub Scouts)

There are sleeping bags unrolled in the living room (to dry out); mountains of laundry in the garage; tent, rainfly and tarp set up in the backyard (where the sprinklers re-soaked them this morning); and the kitchen and dining room tables are piled high with the necessary tools of cooking and surviving in the wild....

AND we are going camping AGAIN before Labor Day! At least this second place has flush toilets, and it is less likely to rain. Did I mention our new church is also organizing a camping trip in September? We told the boys NO WAY.

The Best Guests

It has been almost a week since I posted--we have been really busy around here! I'll blog more about the weekend's activities....um...soon, I'm sure.

In the meantime, I just want to point out that I have discovered there are 2 types of guests who come to visit:

The first type are FRIENDS: lovely people who contribute to the meal; bringing salad, pasta, and gifts. Close friends who love us and remind us by their very presence why we love them so much. It was great to see them and share our big event.

The other type are...FAMILY. And apparently these also come in two types:

The GOOD Type: They bake soda bread, and scones, and share BBQ recipes involving foil, diced potatoes, and onions. They sneak into the kitchen when I am not looking and make it look clean and inviting, so the next meal is that much easier. They help with whatever task is needed, when the 8-arms I was issued as a mother are still not enough to feed the 18 people celebrating the day with us. As my brother always quipped to me growing up, "You're not a guest--you're family!" (Usually followed by, "Get it yourself, Sis!" I'm pretty sure he was just teasing...)

The OTHER Type of Family, we won't speak of, other than to pity them and the poor decisions they have made for their lives.

Fortunately, we were very blessed to have the Good Type of Family come and stay with us. It was like having my very own secret dish-washing fairies! Who knew they lived in Oregon and New York too? That blows the whole Left Coast theory my nephew keeps talking about!

My favorite use for a Wii remote

I live in a house full of video game players. I think they consider themselves "Gamers", and they range in age from 7 to 40-something. When I am feeling grumpy about all the screens blaring around the house, however, the word "addicted" crosses my mind, and sometimes my lips.

Now, I know not all video games rot your brain out. There is some research that indicates that some gameplaying time, spent in the more challenging, multi-layered problem-solving types of games do actually develop some critical thinking and reasoning skills. But I suspect the amount of video-gaming that goes on in this house is more than is required to gain those benefits.

As much as I was concerned about the entrance of the Wii in the house, I would support the arrival of Wii fitness, as there is potential to get us moving. The few occasions when I have been persuaded to play Wii Tennis or Bowling have been fun. And sweaty. Sweaty fun--I like that.

As a woman of many interests, though, I have lots (and lots and lots) of hobbies. They mostly include fabric or fiber, but also some electronics as I write and explore other blogs and even venture into social networking. There are so many other things I have to do, and so much that I want to do, that I can always come up with 10 better things to do than play a video game. Give me a choice between video games and reading a good book, and I will tell you--the book wins.

Which brings me to my favorite use for a Wii remote. With the silicon jacket on (the one that minimizes brain damage if you whack your neighbor while playing Wii tennis), the Wii remote is the perfect size and weight to hold my paperback book open while I am reading and knitting. Now, THAT's handy!

I want to marry my thermal cooker

We have been testing a new kitchen device. A thermal cooker has joined the family, and a most welcome addition it is! My friend VI has been singing its praises for a while, so I finally took the plunge and got one for myself. These things are not cheap (and from what I read on the Amazon reviews, the cheap ones may not be that good).

What IS a thermal cooker, anyway, you ask? It is a cross between an Asian style rice cooker (the big fat round ones), and, I dunno, a thermos? Here's a link that decribes it well. I bought the 6-liter Tiger for myself, and the 4.77 for a single friend.

Ever since it arrived, we've been brainstorming ideas on how to use it, and we have already tried 2:

Corn on the cob: Boiled for 2 minutes, popped into the thermal cooker for 4 hours, and served nice and hot. Came out a bit on the mushy side, and I was actually surprised that the Betty Crocker instructions (yes, my cooking is that basic, that I have to look up how to boil corn!) actually say boil for 2 minutes, and let sit in hot water for 8-10 minutes more. So, maybe not the ideal recipe.

Beef Stew: Used my regular crockpot beef stew recipe, and added an additional cup of water as I was paranoid it might not be enough for the initial boiling. Boiled in the inner pot for 10 minutes, turned off heat, and popped the whole thing with lid into the Tiger for, hmmm, 9 hours. Meat was tender, fully cooked, and everything was soft. The carrots were a little firmer than they are coming out of the crockpot.

Now, part of the reason we are so excited about this, is that we love to go camping in the summer, but hot dogs and hamburgers gets a little old. We are always looking for ways to prep food ahead and cook something more interesting. We love our crockpot, but umm, no electricity while camping? And who wants to be stuck at the campsite babysitting beef stew for 5 hours? Besides, that would take a lot of fuel!

With this new thermal cooker, you have to cook for 15-20 minutes to get the thing going first (that is one downfall vs. crockpots--no babysitting at the start, just dump it in and forget about it). However, after the initial babysitting, you are done. The outer thermal casing retains the initial heat, and keeps it cooking while you go off and play. Nice. And not having to time the hot food perfectly is convenient too.

Other recipes soon to be tested: Pork & Sauerkraut, Zatarains jambalaya, and Korean Beef & Beansprout stew. Looking forward to it--YUM!

Crazy Tuesdays

Got a lot of work done today. Or a fair amount. Or tried my best, anyway. Barley tried to sneak into my office on his belly again. When I am working from home, once he arrives from school, he always tries to sneak up on me while I am on the phone or computer. Sometimes he just gives me a silent sneaky kiss on the cheek (don't tell the people on the conference call that I just kissed you, Mommy...), and sometimes he just grins up at me from the floor like a lumpy mischievous rug.

Teddy had his usual crazy Tuesday, with a bare hour to eat snack and get homework done (or avoid it anyhow) before it was time to go to Lego Robotics (WAY cool, btw), and then a scant 30 minutes to get home from that, eat his fast food dinner, change into his uniform, and answer the door when the cub scouts arrive. Bedtime once they leave. Phew. And the kid's still in elementary school! We've cut back on other activities, so only Tuesdays are insane like this.

Then the kitchen faucet died today. Luckily it gave up the ghost AFTER I had finished excavating all the dirty dishes from the weekend. The plumber arrived quickly, turned off the water before we emptied the county reservoir, and installed the shiny new fixture. Went pretty smoothly overall.

Oh, and btw, there is a recorder concert at school tomorrow morning! Thank heavens for an understanding manager with young children of her own. And web conferencing and high-speed internet at home. I couldn't do all this and stay employed otherwise! And staying employed is very, very important to my lifestyle.