Living on the Edge

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Gang!

Be Careful What You Post!

Well I just got a phone call from my mom.  They just had a rolling earthquake and if you read my last post this morning...you'll know why I have goosebumps right now!!!

It was just a roller, no damage, not even a drop of wine sloshed from their evening glass of wine!  But I guess there is one more stage left to living through earthquakes.  Apparently when you reach a certain age earthquakes don't bother you any more. 

Or maybe it was the evening glass of wine!  Not sure, but if we start having large and frequent quakes around here, maybe I'll start drinking wine.  Oh, wait, it just came to me why California produces so much wine...the earthquakes! LOL!

Earthquakes in Spokane?

So when we moved here two years ago, we not only were happy to move away from the coastal weather pattern, but also from one other thing...earthquakes! 

My family moved from Southern Florida (hurricane alley) to Northern California when I was a kid.  I remember my first earthquake.  I thought it was pretty cool.  It was fun to feel the ground melt away and then thrust back under foot again.  It was also fun watching the reaction that my mother had ever time there was the mere hint of the ground lurching.  It could be a mere 2.0, just enough to get the dining room light swinging and she was diving for the closest doorway, yelling at all of us to do the same! 

It became a bit of a family joke (sorry mom!), but we would take turns from time to time, when things were just too mellow around the house, pushing ever so gently on the dining room light, just enough to get it to swing a bit.  Then we'd say "what was that?"  and watch mom head for the doorway.  Yeah, we were rotten kids, but hey, dad did it too!

As I got a bit older and took science classes in high school and college, I realized what an awesome power it was that was moving the earth under my feet.  The lack of control was a little more unnerving for me then.  It also didn't help to have lived through the 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake in Santa Cruz.  Talk about a wild ride!  I was living less than 20 miles from the epicenter.  It was so strong that I literally could not stand during the quake!  I was close enough to feel both the P and the S waves...sorry, I had geology majors for roommates in college...that means the rolling waves of energy and the shaking waves of energy.  Living through a big one means living through all the aftershocks as well.  It's much nicer to just have one isolated quake hit and be done with them.  Not knowing when the next aftershock will hit definitely cuts into the sleep one can get.

As a grown-up, I've never gotten to the "running to the doorway" stage, though moving away from windows is an instinct at this point.  As a parent and homeowner, I still have a sense of awe.  But responsibility for others definitely takes away any and all enjoyment from the earthquakes.  Way too many things to worry about; the children, the pets--(how much water can slosh out of the fish tank anyway), your husband at work (has a telephone pole or large redwood dropped on his patrol car?), the house--(was that crack there before?), the mortgage we are still paying off and would like to keep paying off while living IN a house that is still standing (Thanks Alan and Gary for building such a strong home in Eureka!), and then of course knowing that if something did happen to the house because of the earthquake we would lose everything because insurance companies in California won't insure for earthquake damage. Don't ask me how they get away with that!

So now we are living in Spokane, knowing that earthquakes can hit anywhere in the world, but knowing that we're pretty unlikely to have a big one here.  Big sigh of earthquaker relief. 

Well my happy little earthquake bubble burst on Sunday.  One of the headlines in the paper and on the news last night was about how this area is due for a big earthquake!  And if anything larger than a 4.0 hits, it would be as devastating as a 6.0 in California!  Oh great!

I think we'll just pitch a tent in the backyard, away from all the pine trees, and call that home! 

Trashy Halloween Costumes?

When the girls were trying to decide what to be for Halloween, they were looking through the numerous catalogs that landed in our mail box this time of year.  In looking at them I noticed the pages turned down to mark their interests.

So one evening I sat down with the magazines and started looking at what was available for their age/size.  At first the price was what caught my eye.  Expensive for something so cheaply slapped together.

Then I looked closely at the costumes.  Oh my heavens!  Not only was there very little to the outfits, but the theme was the same....trashy little hooker outfits.  Actually, the hookers walking the streets wear more!  No wonder people think that Halloween is the devil's holiday if this is the costumes the kids are expected to wear.  Can't we make things a bit more wholesome? 

I'm just curious who comes up with these costume ideas?  Are they from the states or from oversees.  The other thing I've noticed is that the costumes have been the same for the past 3 or 4 years.  Has anyone else noticed this?

Here's the link to an article from Newsweek: 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/62474?GT1=10450

So, diplomatically explaining the cost was a bit much for our pocket book right now, I asked them to go through all their old outfits and I'd add or delete to those for them.  I figured if nothing else, there'd be more to them.  They did really well.  Q was Wednesday from the Addams family and CC was a 60's hippy.  I'll post pictures of them after Halloween.

Pumpkin Pudding Cake

Here's another recipe for those of you that like pumpkin.  I got it from one of the schools I subbed for last week.  They were raving about it.  It was really easy to make.  Give it a try if you aren't counting calories this time of year.

1 large can Pumpkin

1 cup sugar

1 can evaporated milk

3 eggs

2tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 box yellow cake mix

chopped nuts (optional)

Whip cream

Mix ingredients (pumpkin through the salt) together.  Pour into a 9 x 13 greased pan.  Sprinkle one box of Yellow Cake Mix over the pumpkin mixture.  If you want, you can sprinkle chopped nuts over cake layer.  Grate one cube margarine over the top of the cake mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Better if served warm with whip cream on top.  You can also serve cooled with whip cream as well.

Pumpkin Pie

Isn't that a pretty Pumpkin Pie?

I'm not taking credit for this pie.  My husband loves it, but I didn't make it. Actually I most likely wasn't even in the house when it was baked.  I absolutely cannot stand the smell of pumpkin!  I don't know why, but that's just my one and only idiosyncrasy.  My mom makes an awesome pumpkin pie!  That's probably why my husband married me!

The trick to good pumpkin pie is all the spices.  Here's what mom blends together for it:

1c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp alspice

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 1/2 c pumpkin

1 2/3 c evaporated milk

2 eggs

mix it all together and put it into a pastry pie shell (it can be from scratch or one of the premade ones from the store).  Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for another 35 minutes.

Animal Parts part 1

We spend a lot of times in zoos because our kids just LOVE animals. They are 9 and 11 and chose a trip to Yellowstone over a trip to Disneyland! What does that tell you...other than I raised them right!!

Little do they know that since they were little, I've been whispering in their ears while they slept... "Disneyland stinks" Disneyland is gross" Disneyland is boring".  The subliminal training must have worked!  I've got to start a new approach...."helping mom clean the house is cool", "folding laundry is fun", "picking up dog poop in the yard is a blast"....

Anyway, they've been to three zoos this year: Hogle in Salt Lake City, the Oakland Zoo and Woodland Zoo in Seattle.  The last one, in Seattle, was our absolute favorite.  I think it probably ranks at the top of the list of all zoos we've visited so far.

Animals are cool.  When I taught first grade, I always used animal pictures to get the kids to write with descriptions.  They have texture, color, temperature, voice...just see what I mean:

 

Well the pictures didn't all come out with the clarity I had hoped....but I didn't have time to mess with them too much.  But you get the gist!

Halloween Decorations

So I take time to check out other blogs from time to time.  I came across one with a great name:  Nerd Bucket 

It's the featured blog this week on SpokaneMama.com.  I found that to be a great place to find fun blogs.  I'm always looking for ideas and inspiration.

Check out the artwork on Nerd Bucket.  If she doesn't illustrate children's books, she should!  Great stuff!

This is the picture she posted yesterday!  I guess it's been floating around the internet.  Thought I'd help it a bit!  Would you put this in your front yard?

Fun Finds While Noodling

So do you need a daily bit of inspiration?  Are you always looking for a perfect quote to start your day?  I've found a great site that sends me a bit of food for thought each day.

www.forbetterlife.org

Here's the quote they sent me yesterday: 

“ We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box. ”

- Robert Fulghum (b.1937)
author, pastor

I think I've met at least one of each of these crayons before!!  It was the perfect saying to find on a day when I was heading off to sub in a first grade classroom!

www.simpleweather.com

SimpleWeather.com is an easy-to-use, no nonsense weather site. They give you exactly what you're looking for: the weather. No portals, maps, crazy geo stuff, travel forecasts, or endless advertisements. SimpleWeather is designed to be extremely helpful and fast. Their goal is to provide you the weather as easily and quickly as possible. They keep it, well, simple!

National Geographic

Are you tired of collecting endless issues of National Geographic?  We had a subscription for a year, but I just couldn't part with any of them.  it was addicting.  I was afraid to throw them away, but I was more afraid of having the house turn into piles and piles of yellow bordered magazines with naked aborigines in them.  One more thing to have to store, one more thing to have to dust, one more thing to have to pile and repile.  I don't know about you, but I already have enough piles going around this house!  So we bravely threw away all the renewal notices!

But I just found their website  www.nationalgeographic.com

I can finally enjoy the magazine without the fear of my house turning into the library's periodical section!

 

Washington Trivia part 1

Have you ever moved?  Living in a new place is full of challenges, but once you get settled, it's time to start investigating your new surroundings.  Now we've done some travelling around the area. We even took a trip up to Canada...because it was there...but I found a couple fun little books at the library the other afternoon while I was waiting for soccer practice to finish up.

The first book is called: "You Know You're in Washington When..." authored by Sharon Wootton and Maggie Savage.

Here are just the first 10 interesting bits of trivia I discovered about this NorthWestern state we now call home:

1. Washington is home to the only Kite Museum in North America. (bet you were wondering about this one!)
2. Washington is home to about 70% of all glaciers in the mainland U.S.
3. Jeff Bazos founded Amazon.com in a Bellevue, Washington garage. (bet he's moved out of the garage by now!)
4. Washington state grows 57% of all U.S. cherries.
5. Washington was the 42nd state and it's the only state to be named after a U.S. president.
6. In 1892, women voted for the state flower, the Coastal Rhododendron. (Ironic because they still didn't have the right to vote for important things like a president!)
7. Jimi Hendrix was born and is buried in Washington.
8. Washington state yields almost 60% of U.S. apples (of which all 12 billion are picked by hand!!)
9. As a teenager, John Nordstrom co-founded Nordstroms in 1901.  It was a Seattle shoe company back then. They were even know for legendary customer service back then as well!!
10. The Nordstrom family brought the Seahawks football team to Seattle. (They may be regretting that of late)

Well, that's probably all the excitement your little hearts can handle for one day.  Have a great Monday!