Pancakes and Snapdragons

When we were growing up, we used to be so excited when my mother would cook us up a big 'ol batch of pancakes. Not in the mornings however, but for supper! Now, as a mom, that's what I do. It has completely become my "cop out" meal. That's my go-to meal when I either don't have much time to cook or when I'm feeling lazy. It's also super cheap. If you're trying to stretch out your grocery budget, this is a great recipe to do it with. Not necessarily nutritious, but tasty!

Here's my Mom's recipe with my modification:

1 egg
1 cup flour (I use self-rising for a fluffier pancake and since I like my batter a bit thicker I add a 1/2 cup more)
1 cup milk

Mix all together in a med. bowl with a whisk til blended. Spray a frying pan or griddle with cooking spray and Heat on Med-High. Once the pan is hot, spoon or ladle onto the pan. The amount is up to you, depends on the size you like your cakes. Let it sit for a minute or so. You should see holes popping up all over the pancake. When you do, flip it over with a spatula. When both sides are a nice golden brown, you're done. Pop that puppy on a plate and smear with butter and syrup!


Here's a pic of some pretty snapdragons from my MIL's gorgeous garden. I swear she and my FIL have green thumbs that rival the jolly green giant's. One day I'll get a shot of their garden that they ripped out their whole front yard to plant. (We thought they were nuts at the time, we were wrong.)

Mr. Testosterone Reader

Well, I've discovered that it is possible to repeat mistakes without trying. : sigh : But, at least the silly socks will match up at the cuff.

******

In other news, at my eldest's school, they have a Principal's Reading Club. Obviously, this promotes reading. There is a reading contest that is sponsored by Scholastic. At the beginning of the year a rumor began floating around that the grand prize winner would get a Nintendo DS. So my kindergartner, being the nintendo fanatic that he is, decided to become competitive. The testosterone kicked in and he decided he wanted to WIN that thing. The kids have to read a book off the approved list, then take a quick 10 question multiple choice test to receive their points. I'm not sure, but I think only the top reader in each grade gets a prize and that is a gift certificate to Toys R' Us. Well, let me tell ya, Mr. Testosterone reader is in FIRST PLACE. Not just in Kindergarten, but over the whole freakin' school!

Now, I've tried very hard not to be one of the Scary Moms. I have encouraged him, but not pushed or demanded that he get his reading done each night. (I don't want him committing suicide later on because his parents expected perfection 24/7) He has done this all on his own. The cool thing is what this has done for his literacy. If the principal only knew. This kid is reading on a high 2nd grade/ low third grade level. He's in KINDERGARTEN for pete's sake! Chapter books. wow.

Mr. Testosterone Reader in Action! (He was very annoyed with me for interrupting his reading to snap a pic.)

The first sock is finished!

Woohoo! I finished the first sock! It's far from perfect, but I'm proud of myself anyway. It actually looks like a sock. Yeah me! Now, on to the second sock! Did ya like all the exclamation points? Today, their my specialty.

Now ya wanna hear about the huge mistake I made at the toe of the sock? I finished up the toe with the kitchener stitch and was patting myself on the back, when I noticed something a little wonky. I wish I had taken a picture of it, you would have laughed and laughed. It seems the finished seam was perpendicular to the toes! (Catch the homophones in the last sentence?) Not sure how I did it, but it took forever to fix. So, I spent my afternoon frogging and correcting.

the corrected sock

Cat day!

Today is cat day. It seems our household has acquired a porch kitty. She showed up a couple of weeks ago and never went away. I made the stupid mistake of giving her some food cause I felt sorry for her and she took up roost. Pros: No more mole infestation in the yard. They make awesome cat toys that fly up high in the sky and bounce when they land. cruel, I know, but true. My hubby had to go out and lay one to rest this morning at around 6:45ish. He was not happy. She's also camouflaged. She lays in the leaves and mulch and blends right in. Cons: one more mouth to feed. May end up with many mouths to feed. Think we need to find her a new home. Here's a couple of pics of her. Check out the first lucky shot. I caught her with her tongue hanging out.

mleh! so there!

Can't see me, I'm blending in with the concrete.

This is Tiger, our blockhead. He hates for you to mess with him. Loves to be petted, not messed with. I'm not sure what he was on last night, but he let me pile blocks all down his back and then on top of his head!

I feel so humiliated - look what she did to me!

On the knitting front, I'm almost done with the first sock! Updates to come.

Vent day

Today is Vent day. Yesterday I was so furious that I cried. Yes, I am one of those. If I am so ticked that I'm crying, watch out. The crying only makes me more mad.

It seems that I've gotten caught up in some politics within the theater troupe that I'm in. I'm not going to go into everything that has lead up to this point, but I finally became a victim of it. I was the last man standing, so to speak, in a small group of friends that have been driven out, one after the other, from the theater group. I've been a fixture in the troupe now for about four years. I have always had either a lead part or at least a small part in every production. Never have I been relegated to the background scenery. I have always done more than my fair share of the work involved in putting on a production. As a matter of fact, I've worked my behind off for these people. But yesterday was not a good day.

Today I am merely angry and resentful. I feel like i've been slapped. You see, not only is this a community theater group, but it's also church based. These are, or were, my so-called friends, people that I go to church with, was in choir with, in sunday school with, etc. These are supposed to be people who are christians and act with christian ethics and morals.

I've had jobs where I ran head-on into politics and at least there I saw it coming, could read the writing on the wall. But this blind sided me. It really did. I've become a victim of the clique.