The most amazing thing ever

This is seriously one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. This guy paints a scene using spray paint in LESS THAN A MINUTE. And the coolest thing: you're halfway through the minute before you realize that he's not just painting gibberish! Okay, well YOU will know less than halfway through now that I've told you...



Wasn't that AWESOME? Go ahead and watch it a dozen more times. I can attest to the fact that it will amaze you every single time.
.
Peggy

Never Use While Sleeping

So... I finally bought a straightening iron. Like a good bored girl, I read all the instructions and the page and a half of warnings.


Most of the warnings were the kind that are common sense (don't use with a damaged cord, don't let eyes or bare skin touch heated surfaces. I mean, really. Do we really need to be told not to touch the hot parts with our eyeballs?), or the kind I plan to ignore (appliance should never be left unattended when plugged in, SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS). But one baffled me. Zoom in. It's the one at the top.


That's right. It says Never use while sleeping.

Okay, call me ignorant, but I hadn't realized you COULD use it to straighten your hair while sleeping! I mean I've had dreams before where I thought I was getting ready for the day, but then I woke up to find out that I hadn't done ANYTHING.

But hold on. Some people can actually get ready for the day while they're sleeping?!

Dear Powers That Be,

I would like to add the Power To Get Ready While Still Sleeping to my wish list of super powers. Yep. Put it right there at number 137, right below Balancing My Checkbook Completely In My Brain. If you grant this super power to me, I solemnly swear that while I'm getting ready and still sleeping, I'll not use my new flat iron. I'll save that for when I'm awake.

Thank you for time and consideration.

Yours truly,
Peggy

Dang I hope the Powers That Be get to granting super power wishes soon! Because that one? Me want.

For My Fond of Fabric Friends

I was doing research for my other blog (a.k.a. looking up pictures of funky couches for a total fluff post (literally)), and came across this picture that totally made me think of all my fabric loving friends.

I have seen some amazing fabric combinations on equally amazing quilts. Combinations that blow my mind. Ones that I want to eat up with my eyes, rub on my cheeks, smell, then lick just to make sure I experienced it fully. (That's what I do when you aren't looking, btw. Dang! I just blew my cover! Now I'm going to have to be even more ninja-esque when I "fully experience" your future quilts.)

So to all my fond of fabric friends: What I wouldn't give to see this couch in each of your fabric combinations! No, seriously. You should all go out and make this couch. Then invite me over and kindly look the other way while I lick it.

Wherefore art thou, summer?

Summer is almost half-way over! Can you believe it?

I love summer. I really do. It's just... It's just... I don't feel like I've experienced it this year! I've been working on writing five blog posts a week, revising AGAIN, writing and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting my query letter and reading blog posts on writing. (And I'm not even kidding on the number of rewritings for my query letter. I think it may have even permanently damaged my brain.)

It kinda feels like my rear hasn't left this computer chair in a month.

So I want to hear what you've been up to this summer! What kind of summer things have you been doing? Maybe if I hear lots of summer things going on that we're not doing, it will kick my behind back over to the Have-Fun-In-Summer side of things.

Because oh do I want to love summer again. Help a girl out?

So I have this other blog...

Okay, so you all know I want to be a published author, right?

Instead of talking about getting to that point non-stop on this blog (even though I've been pretty much thinking about it non-stop for the last 3 1/2 years), I've decided to talk about it non-stop on another blog!

Well, I don't really talk about it non-stop. And it's not all about writing, either. Sometimes we eat cookies! Or I tell somewhat embarrassing stories. Anyway, if you want to come hang out with me there anytime... day or night... well, let's just say that it wouldn't make me sad.

Here's a handy little link that will take you there:

http://peggyeddleman.blogspot.com/

It looks kinda like this:


Gosh, it's been a long time coming. I'm a little excited about it.

Reason #561 why my kids rock my world

My phone has a cool app on it to record your voice, then choose options that will change your voice to be girly, manly, scary, or funny. My kids' favorite, though, is the option to play it backwards.

Cory, in particular, loves to say a phrase, play it backwards to hear how it sounds, then mimic it while recording. Then when he presses the Play It Backwards button, it says what he was meaning to say in the first place. Make sense?

So, quite often (and this is reason #560 why my kids rock my world) Cory will record "Mom, you're awesome." Guess what it says when you play it backwards? "Mmm, I'm sorry, mom." I am not even kidding. Isn't that the coolest thing ever? (So then he records "Mmm, I'm sorry, mom," and gets "Mom, you're awesome.")

SO, on to reason #561:

Now, when any of my kids do something worth apologizing for, they always say, knowing I know the hidden meaning, "Mmm, I'm sorry, mom."

Who says flattery doesn't give an apology much more kick? Definitely not me. I'll take it that way ANY DAY.

Teacher Appreciation Doors-- Because late is better than never, right?

I was looking through blog posts the other day, and noticed that I had three years worth of teacher appreciation doors here. It was weighing pretty heavily on my conscience to get up the fourth year's, because what am I going to do next year when I need ideas if I don't?! I wasn't able to get pictures of all of them, which makes me really sad. Between not being there at a pivotal time, and having a camera malfunction, I realized that I don't have some pictures of some REALLY great ones that I loved. And dang if there weren't some awesome doors this year! Is it just me, or did everyone (but me) just really step it up? Behold the awesomeness:











Note to self: Steal Sherry Platt's idea for a 3D awning over the doorway! Isn't that just the coolest thing ever?

7 Things

I got a blog award from the incomparable Marie Criddle, whose blog posts are guaranteed to make you chuckle, snort, giggle, laugh out loud, or just go Wow. If there's a piece of life advice I want to make sure to impart, it's REMEMBER HER NAME. Seriously. Her book writing is even better than her blog writing. Someday, you'll be shopping, see a display of her books, buy one, read it, and then bake me cookies to thank me for making sure you remembered her name.

Of course, like all great things, the award COMES WITH A PRICE. I know, right? The price is to tell 7 things about yourself. And lets face it. Coming up with seven things is actually much harder than it seems! Here goes my attempt...

1. I LOVE jalapenos. Put them in anything, and I'm sure to love it more. I love the taste, I love the smell, and I definitely love the look. How can you not love something that pretty?

Except for smoothies. Jalapenos and smoothies don't mix.
2. I think that meerkats are the coolest animals EVER. I wish a family of them would move to my backyard and poke their heads up to look around every morning.


How can you not love an animal that looks like this when it's tuckered?


3. I've never seen the Oprah show. I kinda sorta had it on my list of things to do (down there a ways where things get less concrete), and I figured that some day I'd get to it. I just got word that YESTERDAY WAS HER LAST SHOW! Can you believe it? I kinda thought she was a lifer. Now I'll never cross everything on my list off. Sniff, sniff.


4. I like light. Scratch that. I LOVE light. If I didn't have 80 mile deep roots right here, or have a deep loathing of packing and unpacking and hanging out in frostbitten weather, I'd move to Alaska every summer when they have over NINETEEN HOURS of sunlight a day. Can you even imagine the beauty of the sun rising at 4:20 am, and not setting until 11:40 pm? Holy bliss.

Downside of loving light: having to put up with my kids giving me grief ALL THE TIME for leaving every light in the house on. I swear they're relentless.


5. Of course I don't want 24 hour sunlight, because then I'd miss one of my other favorite things. The way a sunset looks when trees are in front of it, completely black. It's a thing of beauty. Almost makes the mess and hassle of camping worth it. I once painted my bedroom as an all-wall mural showing dark trees in front of a sunset.


6. My limbs aren't fully attached. All four of them. Sorta like they were tied on with a rope, and the rope is fraying to varying degrees, depending on the limb. If I lived in medieval times and oh, I don't know... left every candle in the castle burning all day long even though sunlight was coming through the slits in the stone and it angered the king and he ordered me quartered, it wouldn't take four of his best horses. He could probably use bunnies or something.



7. Okay, so my shoulders could use a little surgery. HOWEVER, my irrational fear of creepy, crawly spiders is not my number one phobia. It's number four. Let's just say that numbers 1-3 are completely preyed upon by the mere thoughts of surgery.

So there you go. Skipping surgery = WAY better than getting surgery. Words to live by.

Whew! Now that's done I am passing on this fabulous award to a couple of bloggers that I love.

First, Kristine, who blogs pure happiness. Not only is she a very awesome sister/bff, but an incredibly awesome mom. So if you happen to know of a teenager who has found herself expecting and not quite ready to be a mom herself, by all means, send her Kristine's way! The world will be a happier place because of it.

And Taffy, who is funny, sweet, uber friendly, has an awesome blog with tons of great stuff, and writes about ALIENS. I know! How cool is that?

So the seven things. Yeah, I was just kidding. They're WAY easy to come up with. No, really-- it is! You should try it to see for yourselves...

:)

Spelunking with the best of them

Cory's school teacher is very outdoorsy. As a reward for good behavior and good grades all year, he invited 9 or so kids to join him on a caving adventure. Lance, along with a couple other brave parents, drove the kids to a cave almost two hours away.


Then they had to find it! See that little hole in the ground?


Yeah, THAT little hole? That's the cave entrance!


They had to bend and twist and shimmy their way in. If Cory had somehow talked me into going, there would have been no bending, twisting, nor shimmying. I look at a PICTURE of that hole and I start to hyperventilate and look for escape routes.


Apparently, the inside of the cave was quite roomy. As in, there were lots of rooms. And tunnels. And more tunnels. And parts where you had to LAY ON THE GROUND and squish into. [full body shiver]


And, much to Cory's delight, lots of places to hide and scare your classmates. Or to turn off your flashlight and then scream that something has a hold of your legs and is dragging you down into the depths of the cave, never to be seen or heard from again.


And, plenty of chances to get covered in mud. Good thing there was a lake nearby to go Wash-Our-Clothes-While-We're-Still-Wearing-Them in.


I'd like to say, Thank You Mr. K, for taking my child on an adventure that his parents would have NEVER chosen to do on their own, nor will choose to do again in the future. [If only because it's hard to do a full body shiver while hyperventilating and panicking and running for your life and screaming, especially over such uneven ground.]

Mufalletta, aka The Best Sandwich Ever

This blog does not in any way aspire to be a recipe blog. Why should it, when there are people like Tammy and The Pioneer Woman in the world?

But, I love you all. And because I love you, I wouldn't do you the disservice of not posting this recipe. Because it is the sandwich that will CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

It's called Muffaletta. Let's all go on over to Dictionary.com. Or I will so you don't have to, and I'll post the results:

muf·fu·let·ta

[muhf-uh-let-uh]

–noun

a thick, round sandwich similar to a hero, typically containing ham, salami, and cheeses and topped with an olive salad, a specialty of New Orleans.

When that definition says "similar to a hero," it means "similar to a hero in the way that a superhero is similar to a hero."

Best thing is? You'll eat this sandwich, and your stomach will still be thanking you hours later. For some reason, stomachs love them as much as taste buds do.


Muffaletta

Olive Salad

¾ cup green olives with pimentos, drained

¼ cup Kalamata olives

¼ cup giardiniera (Italian pickled vegetables, found in the grocery store by the olives), drained

4 pepperoncini

½ clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1½ teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves

1½ teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1½ teaspoons chopped fresh basil leaves

black pepper

Sandwich

1 (9- to 10-inch) round loaf bread (I love it with Italian bread, but I'd bet sourdough is great, too)

4 oz. sliced Swiss cheese

4 oz. sliced ham
4 oz. sliced Provolone cheese

4 oz. sliced Genoa salami

1. To make the olive salad, chop the olives, giardiniera, pepperoncini, pickled onions, and garlic. Put it all in a bowl and add the olive oil, oregano, parsley, basil, and black pepper, then stir. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (it helps the flavors to mingle, :) but if you don't plan ahead enough to wait four hours, it can be done right then) and up to 2 days.

2. Cut the bread in half like a hamburger bun, butter, and broil in the oven until well toasted. (Or you can get a pre-sliced round loaf if you prefer less height on your sandwich. Still toast one side, and put the toasted side on the inside of the sandwich.) Spread the top half with the olive salad. Layer the meats and cheeses on the bottom half. Put the two halves together (good luck with this part!) and serve cold.

You can eat it right then (because, really. Why would you want to wait?), or you can refrigerate it for several hours or overnight. The contents of the olive salad soak into the bread and make it even better over time. I'm not even kidding. You could probably keep it in the fridge longer than a day and it would taste pretty darn heavenly, but I've never tested that theory. Because seriously? How could you leave it there that long?