A super funny e-mail I got from the crazy cat lady...

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,Desperate.

DEAR DESPERATE,

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.) Also do not attempt to reinstall Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,
Tech Support.

Rocking Peeper

The Peep has been carrying around Slick's shuffle all day calling it her i-pod. Then this afternoon she remembered she has a Fisher Price Kid Tough MP3 player. She went on a scavenger hunt looking for it and found it with a dead battery in my night stand- stashed after some vacation suitcase unpack pre-party throw around, I am sure.

So she has been rocking to the tunes all evening in the car and at home and just a few minutes ago I went upstairs to see if she was indeed in her pajamas as I had requested no less than four times... to find her in her zebra gown from Christmas in Cowtown- her favorite- with her fisher price pink kid safe headphones on jamming with her Barbie guitar by the light of her artificial aquarium.

Rock out Peep!

Hppy Late Birthday

Last week was a special birthday around here- but I was so consumed with my own business I did not take the time to mention it- and I feel terrible!

Happy Birthday, Busia!!

We had a lovely dinner Sunday evening of cold cucumber soup with shrimp and avocado, hatch chili chips- if you have a Central Market within 100 miles of you, get some, NOW!

We had requested popovers, grilled flank steak with chipotle butter, grilled corn on the cob and green chili mac and cheese.

For desert we feasted on creme caramel and fresh peach pie with a side of homemade fudge.

All washed down with a vintage Pahlmeyer red and a tasty white.

Happy Birthday!!

Monday. Happy Monday!

My friend the crazy neighbor and I went to lunch today at the fancy luncheon place here in the Big City and since it is a Monday, the Peep was along too. The lunch experience caused her to ask for chicken juice for lunch... Consommé!!!

Happy List:
1. Kids who go fancy places
2. Kids who order the special desert of the day with changes
3. Chocolate Chip cookies
4. Kids who start back to school
5. Chef's Salmon Special
6. Popovers
7. Great parking
8. Football starting
9. blooming crepe myrtles
10. big birthdays

Monday... Rainy Monday!

Time for a happy list since I am not HOT HOT HOT...
1. white nectarines
2. headlights on the vacuum
3. hummingbird eggs
4. reclaiming ones self
5. strawberry cake
6. birthdays as adults
7. football season anticipation
8. believing in yourself
9. afternoon pick-me-ups
10. new pens and pencils

Was it a sign?

So this summer the Peeper's zoo school has been off on Wednesdays so that she can have a relaxing summer with her family and friends. Don't tell her- she has still been going to the regular preschool that she always goes to three days a week. She loves it and I hated to have her sit with me all the time getting all out of whack so she got to keep going all June and July and August. This week there is in service on Thursday and Friday- two days I need most for her to be in school- but thus is the life of a busy mom...??

Anyway- all of that to say that on Wednesdays this summer she has had the opportunity to have some different breakfasts than during the school year- things like chocolate chip waffles. Last week she asked for blueberry muffins. Always ready with a Betty Crocker Duncan Heinz whatever twice the blueberries mix and a teaspoon of almond extract, I made a batch. They were super tasty.

Thursday I was going to spend all day working on one of my volunteer jobs. I dropped the Peep at school and hit it back home, grabbed two of the day-old muffins and sat at the computer. Just as I sat down, someone called my cell phone I had forgotten in my purse in the kitchen and while I went to catch it, Putter ate one of the muffins.

I walked in to the office and she was licking the paper towel...

So I was wondering... is that a sign that I was supposed to only eat one muffin??

Sunny and not (quite) as hot

What a lovely week- it is sunny and warm- but only in the 90's... while I am certain it will get back to the 100's sooner than later, it has been nice to go outside and not be stifled by the heat immediately. The peep has ridden her bike this week "all the way to the gates of the college up the street" and last week all the way to Hill-Dog's 4 blocks over! Very fun!

It's almost back to school time so I must send you to HillDog Teaches- I am sure she will be back up and running with wonderful stories about her kiddos. She was in her classroom yesterday for the first time since summer started to discover that the whole school had been painted... un-planned and unorganized. The painters tore off all of the bulletin boards and dropped them in the middle of the rooms of every teacher. Everyone is scrambling to remake and rehang EVERYTHING. The Peep and I are going up to help this morning...

Time for happiness:

1. Opportunity knocking

2. fields of corn

3. fresh pencils

4. comfy chairs

5. clean floors

6. running a corporation

7. neighbors

8. gravy

9. sweet tea

10. old friends

P.S. Hi Theresa :)

Happy List

Been missing the happiness. Glad to take the time to add it back to life...

1. Mild Wisconsin Cheddar
2. product for your hair
3. cheeseburgers and wavy fries
4. movie popcorn
5. poppy seed dressing
6. parasol tables
7. stamps from a machine at the post office
8. dates with your spouse
9. spelling sherbet correctly
10. warm peach crisp

So Slick made Peach Crisp this week and it was SOOOOO good. I love hot peaches with vanilla ice cream. Here's the recipe form Food and Wine July 2008

ACTIVE TIME: 30 MIN TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 40 MIN SERVES: 12
ingredients
TOPPING
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
FILLING
3 pounds peaches
1/4 cup cornstarch
Ice cream, for serving (optional)
directions
make the topping: In a food processor, combine the flour, sugars, oats, butter and salt and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

make the filling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the peaches and blanch for 1 minute to loosen their skins. Transfer the peaches to a large rimmed baking sheet. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and cut the peaches into 1/2-inch dice.

Transfer the peaches to a large bowl and sprinkle with the cornstarch. Toss well to coat and let stand for a few minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325°.

Butter and sugar twelve 5-ounce ramekins and arrange them on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Spoon the peaches into the ramekins and sprinkle with the topping.

Bake the crisps for about 1 hour, until the filling is bubbling. Remove the ramekins from the oven and increase the temperature to 400°. Bake the crisps on the upper rack for about 8 minutes, until the topping is browned. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream, if desired.

Right- like you won't add ice cream if given the option... seriously...

SUMMER FUN!

Swim lessons from the cute college students near our house were FUN. The peeper had a great time and has aquired a little bit of a tan line!

Here is our bathing beauty-

Waiting to see...

Slick is still here in the Big City.

He canceled his flight arrangements per the “instructions” this morning after being up much of the night worrying about it.

He still could be called at any time to go to the northeast until the contract is signed between the Big Bad Broadband Company and the Union… now we will be in a wait to see mode for who knows how long.

Thought you’d like to know…

CRAZY DOG!

Putter Rooskey likes Dwayne the Mailman.

Maybe a little too much.

We have a walking mailman and a slot in our front door for the mail. We used to have a tacky gold colored rusty mailbox on the wall beside of our front door but I did not like it and finally took it down after we lived here about a year.

EVERY DAY Putter waits for Dwayne. She gets up form one of her 25 naps of the day to sit in the front window waiting for him to appear. She runs to the door and "helps bring in the mail" by grabbing it, barking and running into the game room next door to the front door because the windows look out onto the front yard and she can show Dwayne how helpful she is.

Or something like that.

One day I was in the front yard when Dwayne happened by and just took the mail from him. I mentioned how excited Putter gets when he comes and that she likes to run around with the mail in her mouth all over the downstairs spreading it like Easter eggs for us to find. He said, "Yeah, I have five or six aggressive dogs on my route." AGGRESSIVE?

My sweet tri-colored-slightly overweight-though-not-as-much-as-she-was-since-we have-been-feeding-her-diet-dog-food-for-three-years-beagle??

OK, there was about 18 months when she did not like the crazy neighbors much- but I think she is mostly over that now that the Cooking Momma knows where the treat jar is in the pantry...