So yesterday I cooked...

I started a new blog, if anyone is interested, with favorite recipes or new ones that I have tried. So far I only have a few recipes but I will try to add more soon. Feel free to make requests or leave comments. :)

Check it out: http://soyesicook.blogspot.com

Trips and Falls

Last night I was lying in bed and I started thinking about funny stories involving me tripping or falling. What started out as one or two incidents turned into a good-sized list of memorable trips or falls. So here is my top 10 list:

1. Tripping over Lisa because we were wearing nightgowns.
When I was seven, my sister Lisa and I both had on nightgowns that we got for Christmas or something. We were running down the narrow hall to our rooms to go to bed.  Lisa was in front and stepped on the hem of her nightgown and fell.  The light was off and I was running close behind her so instead of stopping, all I could do was try to hurdle her.  It doesn't work so well in a dress.  We both were down and laughing.

2. Falling off footboard of bed because arms and legs were pulled inside shirt.
 When I was little, when it was cold I would pull my arms and sometimes my legs up into my oversized nightshirts. One time I was sitting on the inch-wide footboard of a bed and I was cold so I pulled my arms and legs in. A minute later, I tipped over (away from the bed) and my arms and legs were stuck inside my shirt so I couldn't catch myself. Now that is a real cannonball!

3. Flipping out of hammock.
When I was about 13, Andrew (brother) and Nate(cousin) and I were playing with our big hammock in the back yard. I don't quite remember what we were trying to do, but I had the hammock bunched up and was sitting on it while they pushed me really high. I think the idea was to jump off like on a regular swing. The problem with the plan is that unlike a regular swing, you only have the seat to grab onto and not higher handles to make sure you don't flip off backwards during the back swing. Completely unexpecting, I flipped over, managed to keep a hold on the hammock and was dragged along the grass all sprawled out. Turns out a lot of people were watching from inside the house at the moment.

4. Wearing a tall box and playing Marco Polo or Blind Man's Bluff.
 We were playing a game in the 2nd Apt. and it involved the person who is It wearing a long skinny box over them that reached down to about mid calf. Then it was a game of blind and armless Blind Man's Bluff or Marco Polo. When I was It I went to 'sit' on the couch, not realizing that I was turned 90 degrees. Thinking I was leaning back onto the couch, I ended up falling straight to the ground. It was a shock.

5. Repeatedly getting tripped while pacing the kitchen and rehearsing for a speech.
 I was attempting to practice a presentation I had to give in 5th or 6th grade and I was walking circles around the kitchen table and island. Andrew was bothering me and watching basketball in there and tripped me while I was passing him by simply sticking out his foot. Being very focused, I got right back up (with probably only a tongue-out or a glare) and continued practicing and pacing. The very next time around, he tripped me in the very same exact way and I fell again.

6. Big black garbage can falling on me and trapping me under it.
When I was about 15 or 16 I was raking up some of the millions of small pine needles in the front yard. I put a lot of them into the black garbage can and was ready to roll the can back to the backyard. It was heavy and off-balance and I fell and it fell too, trapping my legs underneath it. I tried squirming, lifting, anything, but I stuck tight. I yelled 'Help! Help!' until a man I didn't know came running over from the neighbor's house. He lifted the garbage can on me and freed me. Thank you nice man!

7. Getting pushed off the bunk bed when not expecting it.
I think it was Jessica who pushed me off. A few of us kids were up on the top bunk and all of a sudden I was under the desk. Accidental? Maybe. Completely unexpected? Definitely.

8. Rolling off the car hood accidentally.
I was helping set up a drink station for Top of Utah Marathon with the P City Youth Council and we got set up and were waiting for runners. It was cold so I sat on the hood of my car across the street in the sun. One second I was happily soaking up the rays and the next I was trying not to eat the dirt from the road shoulder. I still don't know what happened but I rolled off that hood onto the ground very fast. P.S. Everyone laughed.

9. Tripping and being tripped while going up the stairs.
A classic move in my family. To this day it is dangerous to walk up the stairs directly in front of a sibling for fear of having your ankles grabbed.

10. Almost falling out of the fort tree.
Getting a little desperate for a #10 here, this is only an almost fall. Only because I managed to hold onto a precarious tree branch and dangle there. It wasn't that dire of a situation because there was another branch I could climb onto but it's amazing how hard laughing makes the simplest of things. Anyways, eventually I got safely to the other branch.

Honorable Mention:

Kindergarten Concussion There was a pull-up bar that everyone stood in line to take turns jumping to from another part of the playground equipment. I was good at this but this time my hands slipped and I fell straight onto my back and was dazed for a good while.

Tripper on Tramp Another recurring classic. Whether it is 3 people or 15 people, tripping and being tripped makes for a fun trampoline game.

Good times, good times. Thanks for remembering with me.

The Return of Orville Burnenbacher

Apparently Jeran has been holding out on me. Hiding his candle under a bushel. Withholding his secret talent.

I have long known that Jeran has claimed to be able to make popcorn in a pan on the stove, which is something I had never seen done (seems strange in retrospect). So the other day, he finally demonstrated his mad popcorn popping skills.

Pan + oil + heat + kernels + lid = Amazement! and Popcorn!

(As an aside, my reaction seeing this was just like when I learned that you can make syrup instead of buying it or the first time I ground up wheat! Wow!)

Jeran made a batch of very perfect stove popcorn with fewer kernels left than microwave popcorn usually has and none of it was burnt. He flavored it with some butter-flavored salt and it was pretty darn good. I think we'll make those yummy popcorn balls some time now.

As for the name, Jeran says "Orville Burnenbacher" is a funny nickname he once had but he definitely didn't live up to the Burnenbacher part this time!

Thanks for the demonstration and popcorn, Jeran!

Go Diego Go!

For a while, Diego has been exhibiting signs of urinary tract problems (If you don't want to know, don't read on). In the last few months, we have cleaned up a few wet spots and wet things when he decided the litter box didn't seem near enough. His discomfort has come and gone over the last few months so we have just been keeping an eye on the situation.

On Saturday, Diego was acting moody and really uncomfortable. That night he seemed to be in more pain than usual and meowed plaintively a lot during the night. The next morning we got to clean up more wet spots but this time add blood and vomit to the urine. We took him to the vet and he seems to be doing a little better now. He is on medicine and seems to be recovering. Unfortunately, he will probably have to be on a special diet for about the rest of his life. The vet gave us special food that will help him and he won't touch it so far so that should be interesting.

The poor guy has been banished to the kitchen until he starts using the litter box again and stops bleeding. Hopefully it won't be long before we get the goofy old Diego back! He was up and moving about for the first time this afternoon. Go Diego go!

Other thoughts:

• All that practice I had over the years getting cats to swallow pills really paid off.
• I am pretty good at guessing average healthy weights of different dog breeds.
• I hope Jeran was joking about making Diego walk on a cat treadmill.
• It is tough to decide what dollar value you place on your pet's life.

Thanksgiving

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving weekend. We went to Atlanta to see Kara and Sam. It was a lot of fun. Some of the highlights:

• I went running with Jessica
• Jeran won Masterpeice without even playing
• Jeran discovered the thrill of Airsoft
• We got to work in the yard/garden, which I sometimes really miss
• I got to eat lots of pickles and cheese (Yumm!)
• We ate and ate and ate and it was super good food
• We made a fancy and delicious drink (with pomegranate, lime, and orange juice ice cubes)
• It was so fun to see family and share the holiday
• Had a very successful shopping expedition
• I love remote controlled overhead lights

It was a blast! I love my family! Here are some pictures:

A lovely Thanksgiving dinner

Napping after dinner

Our pretty, yummy drink

Jessica's flower arrangement

State Fair

Photo is from Georgia National Fair - unfortunately I forgot my camera (again!)

We went to the North Carolina State Fair for the first time this year. It was a crazy place with hundreds of game stands where you can try to win life size stuffed dogs and inflatable baseball bats. There were also tons of food stands - everything from sausages to hush puppies to snow cones to cotton candy to almost every fried thing you could imagine. Some of the more popular fried items this year were the deep-fried Snickers and Reeses, but also available were deep-fried Ho-Hos, deep-fried pecan pie, deep-fried mac n' cheese, deep-fried cheeseburgers, deep-fried pickles, and the newest addition, deep-fried butter. The blood is curdling in my veins just thinking about the massive amounts of oil that must have been used at the fair this year. It was my goal to try a deep-fried pickle and it was mighty tasty. I liked it a lot.

We watched a BMX bike show. It was pretty amazing but very loud and gave us headaches near the end. They did some awesome stunts on those little bikes - from back and front flips to 360s and 720s and even more stuff that I don't know the names for.

Somewhat surprisingly, I was really eager to see all the farm animals. At the fair, I made sure that we didn't miss any of the key animal buildings. Inside each, I took deep breaths and marveled at how comfortable the smell was and how much it made me think of home and Cache Valley. I loved seeing the long rows of cows - down this row, all the nice honey and tan colored cows, here, the black and spotted cows. I loved the miniature donkeys and the prize winning steers, the silly goats and the neatly-shorn sheep.

Actually, I was shocked how much I enjoyed the entire atmosphere - the animals, the smell, the Wranglers and boots. Who knew I would feel so comfortable around all that! I think my thanks must go to many places: the county fair, Emily, having horses and goats, being around animals at other times, going to school next to a dairy, just growing up in Cache Valley, etc. I suppose this means I am a country girl at heart and never really acknowledged it.

Anyways, we had a great time at the fair. It is always fun to go out and do something different.

Green Corn

So yesterday, I was playing through some old piano music and trying to get Jeran, who was sitting at the computer near me, to sing along. He, of course, refused and I, of course, called "Join in!" when starting every single song I thought he might know.

I came across the old classic She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain. I played the first line then interjected, "Green Corn!" as I always do before the next line. Jeran about fell out of his seat.

"What did you say?! Green Corn?! What are you talking about? You are supposed to say 'Choo-choo'."

"'Choo-choo?' No one says 'choo-choo'. Everyone says 'Green Corn'."

We then got into a short debate about why we would say either thing. Jeran argued that the song is about the railroad tracks being built and the train coming along, which is technically correct.

I argued that my entire family sings "Green Corn" because during one family road trip, we had that old brown song book and we were singing this song and I hollered, "Green Corn" because that was the next song in the book. From that time forward, we all sang "Green Corn!" in all the pauses of She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain.

So who was right? Jeran, obviously. But he will never hear me say anything there but "Green Corn".