Lame Times

Before I begin... This is why my mom is cool. She has a plasma car parking in the play room. Ha!Thank goodness for the semi-boring stuff I save for days or weeks that are a little lame (that would be now). I've been busy, but mostly with hectic and boring stuff relating to work. Well, boring to you, not me. Things are going to change by the end of the month with work, but much, much more on that later.

A few weeks ago, I was perusing the "almost rotten" shelf in the farmer's market I shop at. I found a GIANT box of bananas for $2.50 and a box of peaches for $4.00. Seriously, that's cheap. Almost every single banana was used. Most of them weren't even ready for banana bread. I gave some to my neighbors, we ate some and then I peeled and froze all the rest for baking and smoothies.I was going to can some of the peaches, but realizing I didn't have much time, I just peeled, sliced and put them in bags to freeze for smoothies, ice cream or whatever I feel needs fresh peaches. I got three gallon bags of bananas and 8 quart bags of peaches. Not too shabby for $6.50.

The next day, my mom called and told me she got me a box of Utah peaches. It wasn't supposed to come until the following week, but I bought it anyway. Had I known every other person within a 20 mile radius was canning that weekend, I wouldn't have accepted the box. I went to five different Wal Marts to get jars and they were all out. And not just out of jars. Out of everything having anything to do with canning. I went home frustrated and hating Wal Mart more than ever. I did however, make some observations of Wal Mart: 1.) Regardless of the affluence of the surrounding area, Wal Marts are trashy. 2.) At some point on the walk from the car to the store or back to the car, there is ALWAYS a foul smell, usually resembling sewer. And 3.) The majority of the shoppers are always the same type of people (I'll stop right there...).

Back to the peaches. I asked my mom how to can them (I've only seen her do it once and it was about 15 years ago). She told me how she does it and the last instruction was "Then you leave the jars on your counter for a week so you can admire your hard work." That Saturday (the 20th), my mom helped me can my peaches. I only had enough for 12 jars, which I had purchased several weeks ago. Which made me 2 hour Wal Mart scavenger hunt the night before even more annoying. But, I had fun visiting with my mother and learning how to can peaches. I am just afraid of how long it would take if I didn't have another person helping me. I didn't order more peaches because I didn't know if I'd be able to find the jars. Maybe in a few weeks... If not, we'll just have to ration our peaches until next year. And for now, my peaches still sit on my counter. Not because I haven't had adequate time to admire, but because if I'm not running around like I'm crazy, I am sitting and relaxing and trying to play with Clara. My pretty peaches.

So back to this lame week and my babblings. I was working most of Monday. Poor little Clara got dragged all around and locked in an office with me at KS. Lucky for her, the girls there love her so she gets to hang out with them some of the time. And of course they spoil her. Then yesterday was a little overwhelming. Lots of things were going on with work and my family. Life is just so full sometimes. But Roccy listened to me whine and even volunteered to go to lunch with me because I needed to have something to keep my mind away from reality. She's quite the neighbor. Last night we went to the Temple and Kathryn watched Clara. Clara squealed with delight when she saw her house. Thanks Kathryn for being happy to watch all three of those crazy girls by yourself. I really needed to go to the Temple. Hopefully when we live right by you I can return the favor.

This morning I had a meeting in North Phoenix. It was only an hour and fifteen minutes or so, but with travel, I was away for three hours. Roccy (yup, same cool Roccy that saved the day on Tuesday too) watched Clara for me. So basically, I feel like I've paid no attention to Clara this whole week. I hate feeling like I'm too busy to have fun with Clara. And now I'm just ignoring her while I type this. Just kidding. She's napping. But when she wakes up, it will be time for Scouts. Does it seem to bother her?
Nope. She's still sweet and she's still happy. Tomorrow morning we're scheduled to do play with cousins and I know Saturday will be relaxing ALL day. And we're halfway there, trudging along. Happy day.