Welcome To Our Tar Pit- Jump On In!

Last Saturday we took the winter cover off of the pool.

To my horror, this is what the water looked like:

It's a dirty mess. You can't even see to the bottom of the steps. Sea monsters and tube worms could be living in there!

Never in the last 16 years has the pool looked like this after the winter. Brian thinks one of the sides might have caved in. That would be...not so good. Bruce has the filters running, but I just don't know. I'll keep you posted, but in the mean time I hope Gus doesn't fall in- we'd never find him!

Beta Gamma Sigma

 Last week Brian was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. It was a Mommy Moment.

The ceremony was held on the top floor of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. Brian has spend a whole lot of time in this building during the last few years!

Here's his Huntsman pose:

The view was pretty nice from 9 floors up.

We listened to a fairly pointless speaker, the candidates took their oath and picked up their certificates and graduation ropes, then we ate treats. I was surprised to see all of the BGS swag:

 Maybe I should track down one of these owls for Brian. He just might like that! Proud of you, bud!!

Sunday Saying

Cat/Dog

Gus is one of those cats who acts a lot like a dog. He sleeps a lot like a dog too:

Gus has to be in the middle of the action and he'll follow Bruce around the backyard for hours. If I ball up a piece of paper he'll get get all excited waiting for me to throw it for him to chase- just like a dog.  He hates car rides, though. Too bad Bruce loves to take him for rides around the neighborhood in the Jeep. Wanna go for a Jeep ride, Gus?

I guess not.

Sausage Manicotti

Here's a yummy, easy recipe I tried the other day. It's a lot like lasagna, but just a bit different.

Sausage Manicotti- 7 servings
1 pound pork sausage
2 c. (16 oz) cottage cheese
1 (8 oz) pkg. manicotti shells
1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce
2 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese

In a large bowl, combine sausage and cottage cheese. (I just used my hands and squeezed it all together. It was cold and my hands froze!)  Stuff into manicotti shells- I found clean hands worked well for this. Place in a greased 13x9 inch pan. Top with spaghetti sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Photo Tutorial!

Here's that appealing combo of sausage and cottage cheese:

The filled shells are ready to be covered with the spaghetti sauce. I had some extra filling that I just tucked in where I could.

A Notebook For Notes

Stake Conference is coming up this weekend and wanted to make a new covered notebook to take notes in.

Did you know that Walmart has a scrapbook isle? I picked up this paper in package that included 6 coordinating sheets and some extra matching strips of paper for $1.00. Can't beat that. I stretched myself figuring out how to use my new and updated Word program to make the framed monogram. Stretching hurts!

I'm liking this color combination right now- black, gray, and bright green!

Cute Monogrammed Charger Wraps

You know those projects you see on Pinterest and you think, "That's really cute! I want to do that." Then you pin it and it sits there for who knows how long and you forget about it. Yeah. I do that a lot. But occasionally I fight my way up through the other priorities that keep me from doing those cute little things and actually get a fun project done. Here's one I did the other day:

 My iPad charger seems to disappear from time to time. Does yours? Now I've labeled it with my initials. That'll keep it where it belongs- I hope!

Follow this link to download the easy template. It's a {free} download- all you need is full sheets of label paper. The directions show you how to change the monogram to your own and print it on the label paper. Quick and easy!

The whole page prints with lots of cute colors and styles- I'll be using these for other cute projects.

They have iPhone charger covers too- here's the link. I made some for the girls- come and get 'em, you two!

Not Quite A Doilie

You know those fancy lace doilies that little old ladies put on their chairs? I don't use those. I have a Gus.

Barnacles and Birds

We had a little time to kill on the way to the airport, so we stopped at a protected estuary in Long Beach. There were lots of bird watchers there and it was a nice stroll over the swamps.

We joined the watchers of birds- there were lots of feathered friends see.

The tide was low and barnacles abounded.

Bruce was mostly preoccupied with all of the oil drilling going on in the area. He was really wishing he had an oil well of his own. I lived in California as a kid and he wanted to know why my family didn't buy an oil well then. Well, we did have those drums of oil buried in the backyard... I'm sure that's a HAZMAT site by now.

Sunday Saying

The Woody

As we were checking out, this Woody was sparked in front of the hotel. So cool! I couldn't resist taking a few pictures.

Dude.

 The beach beckoned.

Huntington Beach is the quintessential surfer town, but not in a retro way. In a everything's new, high-end, pricey way. We avoided the beach paintball tournament and stuck with the water and sand.

Green Growing Things

Flowers are never as pretty as when you're seeing them after a long, cold winter!

 But, fish are always ugly.