Jet Crash In The Hudson

Yesterday, I was home with Josh at their apartment. Meredith was at work. I was doing the 'mom' thing there. You know--moms come to visit and nuture. It helps us relax, right? I was in the kitchen getting a drink of water, doing some laundry, waiting for Lisa to get there so we could clean and prime the patio set, and Josh's cell phone rang. It was Mike telling him about the crash in the Hudson. He ran to the tv and turned it on and we stood there, shocked, as we watched it unfold.

I cannot even begin to tell you the pit in my stomach I felt when it first happened. I had just flown USAir yesterday. It is not the airline I usually fly and there were some not so subtle differences. Not good or bad either way, but just different than what I was accustomed to. I was sitting in the back of the plane and it felt and sounded like an old bucket of bolts. In fact, that very thought crossed my mind as we took off. I made a conscious effort to take note of my surroundings and where the closest exit was--'just in case.' As we landed in Phoenix, we flew right over the waterway that looks like a large river and the thought crossed my mind: well, we could ditch there if the landing goes bad. And I wondered how easily my seat cushion would rip out and if I remembered how to blow up the yellow life vest. I can hold my breath and I can swim. Then I told myself I was borrowing trouble and how silly I was being. Everything would be fine. Funny, the things that come into your mind.

I kept thinking: I'm flying home on this airline too. I get a little nervous about things like that. Anyway, as this crash landing unfolded, I was in awe of the miracles that took place. You can't tell me that God was not involved in this one! I'll bet there were 155 people all praying the same prayer plus all those in the control tower, etc. This is what the crash looked like on impact, courtesy of a virtual simulation. Of course, the water would spray all over the windows. I can't imagine what those moments of blindness must have felt like.
A calm flight crew did just what they were trained to do and got everyone out. Can you just imagine what the passengers were thinking as they stood on those wings in the middle of 40* water and 18* air? How happy to be alive!

All the ferries came immediately to the rescue. What a blessing they were there!

Here is the poor 'bird' being tugged to the docks. I love seeing how everyone worked together so efficiently and quickly.

Captain C. Sullenberger. He goes by Sully. Good job to you and your co-pilot, J. Skiles, and all the flight attendants who did your jobs so well! Miracles and bravery are still around us today.

Mom's Birthday

These are the only 2 pictures I captured with my camera, so here is the 411:

This gorgeous and delicious cake was made by my mom's friend, Maribeth. Maribeth is suffering from Valley Fever right now. My mom and dad and Lisa take care of her and her family, checking in on them, bringing meals, running her to the ER, going to doctor's visits, etc. She was determined to be a part of the party, and was 'bent' on making the cake. So she would get up off the couch and beat in the eggs. Then go lay back down. Then after a while get up and do another step. It is a homemade (from scratch! haha) coconut/pecan cake. It was incredible. The best ingredient: LOVE!

Smoke from the candles! She got them all out in one breath. Pretty good, Miss 72 years old! Clint (Kristin's hubby) is congratulating her on that.

It was a great evening.

Love you, Mom!

SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

Kristin has all the pictures so far, so I'll have to get them from her. But I came to Phoenix to surprise my mom for her birthday today.

I flew in to Arizona on Wednesday afternoon. Lisa picked me up. We had to stop at Der Weinerschnitzel for a traditional 'dog', and then we were off to Josh and Meredith's. Mother had NO idea. We didn't even tell Dad! We had the nicest visit and then Mere came home from work. Auntie left for home, and Mere put dinner on. She made a delicious Taco Salad. I learned some new things from her recipe. I'll ask her to post it on her blog. We stayed up way later than we should have, especially since she had to be at work this morning by 7am and talked and talked and talked.

Lisa came by this morning after a job interview out this way, and Mere surprised us by bringing Raja (one of the children she nannies for) with her for the afternoon while Jai was in school. We took off for Home Depot to check out the spray paint.

Kristin and Clint gave them their old mesh patio set--a round table and 4 chairs--when they got their new one. All it needs is a good washing and some spray paint and it will last them for many years. We found a beautiful walnut brown with a bit of texture in it. I didn't realize how inexpensive spray paint is. (Maybe that's why taggers use it...) Anyway, Mere went back to pick up Jai from school and Lisa and I got to washing and priming. It looks amazing just with the primer!

Off to Lisa's for dinner. Mere met us there and so did Kristin and Clint. The original plan was for Dad and Craig and Lisa to have dinner at 3 Margaritas, a local mexican restaurant by their neighborhood. That would be completely natural as they go there a lot. Then I would walk in with Josh and Meredith. Well, at church on Sunday, Lisa presented 'the plan' to Dad, who told her No, he already had plans for her birthday. Who knew? Haha! They were going to use some gift cards and go to the movies and see Australia, and then to the Olive Garden (which they love) for birthday dinner.

So as soon as Lisa got home from church, she called and said, "We have to scrap that and come up with a Plan B." She decided that she would have them come over for cake when they were done with dinner. It worked perfectly.

We had a great chicken alfredo dinner at Lisa's, and then were sitting at the dining room table. Lisa locked the front door on purpose so they couldn't just walk in like usual. When she went to answer the door, I switched seats with Kristin so my back was to the door. They came in. My Dad even walked over to the table right next to me and set the cake down that their friend Marybeth had made for my mom, and didn't even see me! Suddenly my mom started waving her arms and said, "What!? What!? Cindy???!!!" I got up to hug her and she was crying. They were both stunned for quite a while.

I had called her in the early afternoon from Josh and Mere's on my cell phone to wish her a Happy Birthday. I had to go in their closet because the tv was on, Lisa was there too, Rajah was cooing and talking while Mere was playing with him. She had NO clue. She asked what I was doing. I told her 'cleaning', which wasn't a total fib, because I was helping Mere with laundry! Putting Christmas decorations away, which I had done right up until I flew out. Haha!

Lisa is hosting a party Saturday night for a few of their friends. It will be a lot of fun!

So:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MUTTI--

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!

It's Wednesday, and I have lots to tell, but not until tomorrow! Where in the world is Cindy????? Stay tuned!

Finally!

I got all the Christmas tree decorations put away. I finally figured out why I was so ornery about getting it done: This is the 3rd year that I have had to separate them. Every year my kids get ornaments from their grandparents and others. With 3 weddings over the last 3 Christmases, I've separated them out to give to the kids for their own trees. I had to do this for Natalie this year. So now her box is done and ready to give so she can use it next year to decorate. It just takes more time, that's all and I wasn't ready to set it aside to do. Now it's all wrapped up safely and ready to go up in the garage. I'll have Mike help me since Duff's back is finally on the mend and I don't want it to get tweaked!

Gosh, my dining room table looks beautiful!

I need to remember to get some new ornaments starting next fall. My supply is down by half, now! Someone please remind me come October, okay?

CROCK POT APPLESAUCE

CROCK POT APPLESAUCE

10 lg. cooking apples, peeled, cored & sliced or cut in chunks1/2 c. water1 tsp. cinnamon1/2 to 1 c. sugar
Put all ingredients into crockpot. Should be about 3/4 full. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours (high 3 to 4 hours).

Did You Catch It?

24, that is! Well, it was worth the wait. I'm so glad Tony is 'good' after all. Duff called it at the end of the Sunday night episode. He said that Tony was undercover. Glad he was right. I'm kind of missing CTU, but I guess they had worn that one out and needed to move on to the FBI. I like agent Walker, don't like her 'boss' (maybe boyfriend), like Janis, don't like Sean Hillinger. Like the President and her husband, don't like the husband's SService agent. Wasn't he involved in the son's death? Glad to see Bill Buchanan back, but where is his wife? Is she still in the White House? Hurray for Chloe with dark hair now, but where is Morris, and didn't she have a baby? Where is the baby? What ever happened to Audrey? Did she ever recover?

On the Sunday night episode, we were watching the scene in the Oval office of the new president, and Duff, Christine, and I all sat up straight and pointed to the tv at the same time! Did you catch it!? The president's furniture is the same fabric that is in our living room on the chair and a-half and throw pillows, and on the dining room chairs!!! Well, well, well, thank you Jasmine for suggesting it to me. How flattering that we have white house worthy furniture!

I'm sure the 'madame president' picked it out herself!

My Family's Favorite Lasagne

We had this for dinner last night. It's my family's favorite recipe for lasagne. When I was first married, we had a potluck study dinner at our house and Gina brought this lasagne. Duff loved it so much I asked for the recipe. I was almost a little disappointed when she gave me the recipe--it was so easy for such a tasty dish and came verbatum from the BH&G red and white checkered cookbook from the 70's when I got married. So with only two small variations from the original, here is our recipe: Lasagne

1 pound hamburger plus 2 mild italian sausages

1 tsp. jarred chopped garlic

1 tablespoon basil leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1-pound can diced tomatoes

1 12 oz.(or 2 6 oz.) cans tomato paste

1 12 oz. tomato paste can of water

12-16 lasagne noodles

2 eggs

3 cups lowfat cottage cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated

Remove sausage meat from casing and brown with the hamburger. Spoon off any extra fat.

Add the next six (6) ingredients (garlic, basil, salt, tomatoes, tomato paste, water) and stir well to combine. Simmer, covered about 15 minutes. Stir often.

Cook noodles in boiling water according to package directions. Drain. I do not rinse them because that adds too much excess liquid to the overall dish.

Beat eggs, add remaining ingredients except mozzarella cheese.

Layer half the noodles in a 9X13 sprayed baking dish. (2 noodles each in 3 rows across the lengh of the pan.)

Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture equally down each of the 3 rows.

Add half the mozzarella cheese, and then half the meat sauce mixture.

REPEAT.

Bake at 375* about 30-45 minutes. OR assemble early and refrigerate and then bake for 45-60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8-10

New Schedule

We had our new church schedule today. 1-4pm. I kind of like this one. You still have your whole evening, but you get the whole morning to boot! It is great for sleep-in teenagers. We didn't start until 2pm today because of ward conference. The messages were very straightforward and timely. President Brennan gave a great one in RS and did Sister Bitter. She is amazing.

The complete sacredness of being a woman. I always thrill when I hear that message. I have never felt oppressed and I love being female. Duff has always been really good about giving me wings to fly and discover and develope new things for myself. Will we guard and protect and nourish the home and family? Or are we getting lax or tired? Good things to ponder and evaluate. It has often been tongue-in-cheek that the men are the theologians and the women the Christians. We need a balance. Women need to also be well schooled in the scriptures and doctrine and men more nurturing, compassionate.

Get our houses in order. The bishop used a talk from President Hinckley from 10 years ago, in 1998 citing the then current economic times and gave very specific counsel for the future and here we find ourselves at that place. We've had 10 years and where are we? Have we followed the prophet? Now more than ever before we need to have our finances and preparedness taken care of and in proper order. In the future, we will also need a deep supply of spiritual preparedness too.

(Lasagne for dinner. Mike and Adrianne brought the garlic bread. Can you believe the Cardinals won? The AZ family are pretty excited! Especially Uncle Craig who has tickets to the game next week! We had a good visit with the Koelliker's.)

Can It Be?

Where did the time go? Christine went to her first stake dance last night. Stake dances here are cool. She looked really cute. She had a good time. She and Sarah B. met in the parking lot and went in together. Rachel (Sarah's mom) and I remininsced about when they were born a month apart. Two cheesey moms watching their not so little girls going to their first dance parked in cars next to each other with the windows rolled down going over all the growing up milestones. She was happy when she got in the car for the ride home. This is my 5th child. It doesn't feel any different than the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. Ah---seasons of parenting!

Smiles

"If you chance to meet a frown,
Do not let it stay.

Quickly turn it upside down,

And smile that frown away!

No one likes a frowning face,

Change it for a smile!

Make the world a better place

By smiling all the while."

When I was a little girl, I LOVED this song! My auntie Dolene taught it to me and my mom would sing it at home whenever one of us kids got 'grumpy'.

I knew I had a lot to do today. I was feeling 'grumpy'. When I got up, this song popped into my head. I thought, "...hmmm. Smile....". It worked! I got Christine to the Lacrosse fields to see Maddy's game, to the very deserted mall for one errand, home, church to do some vt stuff on the computer in the clerk's office, grocery store, clean up the house, make dinner, play Nertz, got Christine to the dance, got her home from the dance.

While in the grocery store, I saw a friend. She said, "Gosh, you're so happy about grocery shopping!" I didn't even realize I was smiling away! (We had been complaining about rising prices.)

'Thank you' to the little jingle from Primary!

( When I got home from the market, Mike and Adrianne were here! I love it when they just pop in and come over! Mike and Duff watched the games, and then we played some rousing games of Nertz! Adrianne was the winner! I brought up the 'rear'. No matter--it's such a fun card game. Adrianne made a peach cobbler after dinner and it was so good.)

Washing Machine

In 2001 my mom gave all of us girls for our birthdays this book by Linda Cobb titled: Talking Dirty Laundry with the Queen of Clean. She is on many of the Arizona morning shows and home shows. A little about Linda Cobb: she was a newspaper columnist in Michigan where she owned a cleaning and disaster restoration business dealing with the aftermath of fires and floods. So her books are full of tips for cleaning just about everything. She has another book called Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean that is about other household cleaning.

But right now I am following her lead and cleaning my washing machine. I should probably do it more often, according to her, but I do do it twice a year--January and June. I am going to quote her because she says it best and you can get a feel for how the book is written:

"How difficult can it be? You add water and detergent, drop in the clothes, select the cycle and walk away. When you come back the clothes are clean. Okay...but have you ever considered how clean your washing machine is after all that hard water and all those dirty clothes?
"Your washer needs some TLC from time to time, especially if you have hard water in your area. So if the clothes seem dull and gray, maybe you don't need that new and improved detergent. Maybe all you need to do is clean the washing machine. Here's the easiest way I know. "Fill the washer with hot water. Add 1 quart of chlorine bleach (no detergent, please). Run the washer through the longest wash cycle. When the washer is still wet--this should be immediately after the bleach cycle--add 1 quart of white vinegar and run the washer through the same hot cycle again. This will clean out soap scum and mineral deposits from the spin basket and also from the hoses. If you live in an area with hard water you really need to do this every 3 months--otherwise every six months will do. You'll be amazed at the difference it will make."

Wah-lah! Pretty nice, huh? I usually run it through a warm rinse after, but that is my own addition to the cleaning process. Sometimes you might need to take a rag/sponge and get some of the harder/stubborn places (if you occasionally get a ring around the top), but do this while the washer is filled with the vinegar cycle so the bleach doesn't stain any of your clothes.

Don't forget to clean the fabric softener dispenser and the bleach dispenser. Did you know that you should clean the fabric softener dispenser every 4-6 weeks? This keeps it working well and prevents it from leaving softener stains on clothes. ("Liquid softener can leave blue spots on clothes; marks from dryer sheets can look lik small grease patches.)

TO DO:

Warm 1 cup of white vinegar in the microwave and pour it into the dispenser just like you would for the softener. "Make sure you use warm vinegar and make sure you do this when the washer is empty. Large pieces of sticky fabric softener will occasionally be flushed out during cleaning, and they could adhere to clothes. Not a pretty sight."

I'm telling you--this really does work!
It takes about an hour total. Fill and go, set your timer for when the cycle should finish, and start the next step. It'll be done before you know it.