Raking

meisajDaily Life

Our leaves finally fell off last weekend.  It’s pretty late in the season for that but I got out in the front yard for a couple hours yesterday to take and do some yard work.

Most frustrating was getting our hoses off the outdoor spigots.  We maybe left them on last winter.  But some elbow grease, actual grease (WD-40), and wrenches I got them off.

Raking was another matter.  We have a leaf blower, but if there is some sort of leaf blower technique or strategy, I don’t know it.  Probably doesn’t help that we have a nice wind swell being at the end of the cul-de-sac.

So I hand raked a lot.  And listened to music.

Started with some Jessica Lea Mayfield, then some Angel Olsen and finished with some Jets to Brazil.  All throwbacks to one degree or another.  But kept me moving

Which I needed.

Baking

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I’ve baked a few things lately I’m pretty happy with

Started with Cheddar Jalapeno Bread.  Which I’ve made before but lately it’s come out flat (still tasty though). 

Came out near perfect this time.  So good even Edith enjoyed it – as long as I removed the jalapeno chunks.  But the flavor and juice from the jalapeno was still there and she ate it.

Sam and I, with a little help from Edith smashed this in a day.

Yesterday Sam had a craving for walnut brownies.  I was already using the oven for a Rice and Chicken bake for dinner (sooooo good).

I found a random recipe online as Sam assured me just dumping walnuts into a brownie recipe wouldn’t work.  But I found an easy one and threw it in the toaster oven/air fryer and it came out great as well. 

Also made apple chips Monday in our dehydrator.  Which disappeared quickly.

Pretty happy so far.  Not every week has time for baking and cooking, but I’ve fit it in this week.

There’s a cheese and apple bread recipe in one of our cook books I want to try soon… maybe today.

Fangs?

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Marceline got some plastic vampire fangs from a friend at school.  It immediately changed her Halloween costume from a Ladybug, which she wore to school that day to being a vampire when we Trick or Treated a few hours later

She’s been wearing them on and off since Halloween.  It wasn’t until I picked them up while cleaning that I saw something off about them.

This was a full week after Halloween.  I’m just baffled.  How hard is it to make vampire fangs?

If fangs are supposed to be canine teeth, how do you screw up how many teeth are in between? 

Why is there one prominent middle tooth?

Why are there five teeth between the canines on the upper jaw, and three teeth between the canines on lower jaw?

Maybe I’m ignorant and just don’t know of some random creature who has a teeth structure like this.

Or maybe these are just very very badly designed vampire fangs.

Harry Potter

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A few weeks ago Sam and Marceline reAd Harry Potter together and we watched the first movie. 

Last week Marceline started the first Harry Potter novel on her own as a reread.  She finished it two nights and immediately jumped into the second. 

I forget how fun reading can be sometimes, or how much fun it is when you are young.  I get up early most mornings and try to spend 30 minutes or so reading with my first coffee to start my day. 

It’s not a chore… But almost routine now.  I enjoy it… A lot .. but it’s definitely not the same joy that Marceline is displaying.

That’s kind of funny

My own Coaster

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Sam and I bought some cork coasters for our house a few years ago from IKEA.  The girls have broken more than a few of them as they’ve become playthings over time.

But in the late winter earlier this year Edith grabbed one to draw on.  It’s become my favorite for obvious reasons and I hide it on my desk so it can both be found and used by me, but also so that it doesn’t mix in with their toys like so many other coasters have.

I put the title on and dated it but the rest is her fantastic drawings from back when she was just 3 years old.

I think I’ll try to hold onto it for a long while.

Coin Pocket

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I wear jeans pretty much daily.  I’m a stay-at-home dad so they fit what my days require of me.

Every day, in the little coin pocket, or watch pocket, I keep three coins with me.  Have for years now.  Doesn’t feel the same without them.

One is a 1979 Susan B. Anthony One Dollar Coin.  When I was principal of Summit Academy Lorain a handful of these came through our school.  And every chance I got I replaced them with a dollar bill so I could keep some. I have several in my sock drawer, but this one has been my pocket coin for years now.

The second is a 1979 quarter.  No reason other than it’s a quarter from the year I was born. Same for the dollar coin.  For years I’ve kept it alongside the Susan B. Anthony.

The third one has only ridden with me for a few months, but it’s a Bicentennial Quarter.  My dad always instilled in us that these were special coins. So when I got one as change a few months ago I added it to my collection.

They feel.. lucky maybe.  I always liked being both in 1979… Being able to say I was born in the 70’s instead of 80’s.  Technically I had a while decade of experience that they didn’t.

Yes I know it doesn’t work that way, but it was fun to say when we were growing up