Person of Interest?

So, I have had several people make the comment that I don't post very often anymore. To which I relpy, "I don't have a camera"! And, they say, "Just write about what's going on in your life". Although that seems a bit boring to me, especially sans pictures, I will give it a try. So, you tell me, is my life interesting enough to write about?

Last Simpson family gathering, I was assigned to bring the rolls. No big deal, right? Well, I'm not good at making rolls; I can make bread I can make biscuits. But, why make a bunch of little tiny breads when you can just make one big loaf in half of the time and just serve that? So I made rolls and I burned half of them. In addition, I didn't let them rise long enough. Not many people ate the rolls and the few that did probably didn't enjoy it. So, what a surprise when I was assigned to bring rolls again to the Mother's Day dinner. I was told that I was being given a chance to redeem myself and could try and try again until I brought yummy rolls. Well, I determined that I would bring the best rolls ever to a Simpson family function. Yesterday I called and got the famous refrigertor roll recipe that my family loves. I made the dough ahead of time, doubled it (to feed the masses at the Simpsons') and put it in the fridge. Well, a few hours later, I opened the fridge to find that the dough had overflowed and basically exploded over everything on the top shelf. Frustration number one. I took the dough that had been recovered out of the fridge today after church, turned it out onto the counter and found that it was the consistency of chocolate pudding. Frustration number two. I added flour and managed to plop portions of dough onto four cookie sheets. I then covered it with saran wrap while it rose. Well, just a few minutes ago I came down to put the rolls in the oven. I pulled the saran wrap off, which was stuck to all of the dough, pulled some of the dough off of the top of each roll, and watched in horror as they all deflated to a lump of chocolate pudding on the cookie sheets. Oh well. I'm cooking them anyway and I will take them with my chin held high. My other thought? Let them eat cake.

I asked Cletus to build our kids a sandbox for our new house in our new backyard so that we could be one of those fun houses where all children want to come and play. So, he built them a great sandbox. It's huge: 8x8! As I started calling around to find a place to buy sand, I realized that this was going to get expensive quick! My highest quote was $288 and my lowest was $174 (including delivery). I figured that is what we would pay for sand, so I almost forged ahead and ordered 2 yards of sand from the cheapest place. Then, I rememebered a little voice in my head (called Cletus) who suggested that we call a concrete company and ask them since they have sand to make the concrete. I called and they quoted me only $30! Hooray! I drove over there and they loaded up the back of our pickup about twice as much as it should have been loaded. As I went to pay, the guys there said, "Ah, don't worry about it. You can just have the sand. We have kids too. It's alright". I was quite pleasantly surprised. As I drove away, I realized that Kate and I looked quite disheveled since we had left early in the morning. I was pretty much wearing pajamas and flip-flops and Kate definitely had pajamas on, hair in the face, and was eating a banana. I wondered whether they thought ... "oh, there is a poor single mom, who just wants to give her neglected kids a place to play in the sand ... let's just give it to her for free". Whatever their motivations, I was grateful and a little embarrassed. I got home and shoveled almost a ton of sand out of the pickup by myself! It has turned out to be great sand. The only strange things we've found in it have been a rusty hanger and a turtle skull.


Other potentially interesting things:
Cletus, Hayden, and I got to go up in an airplane flown by a member of our ward. He flew out of the Franklin County Airport, took us up for about an hour, did a "rollercoaster move" that left me screaming with eyes closed, and then brought us safely back. It was quite a fun time.

I painted our downstairs bathroom Friday night while Cletus and Hayden were at the Raleigh Stake Father and Son

I got a Japanese Maple tree for Mother's Day.

Kate now has a repertoire of about 10 words of which "mama" is still not included.

I killed another black widow. Single handed.

10 comments:

Angie (Drowns) Kelly said...

Now you know why I take posting breaks! I loved it. I can just picture you and Kate picking up the sand! Ha....Rhodes rolls are much easier Alice. You just buy them in the frozen section and let them rise while you are at church! They aren't quite as good as chocolate pudding, but close ;-D. I get the creepy crawlies every time you write about BlackWidow spiders...ewe...

Unknown said...

hehehe. Very fun reading, I could picture what the pictures would look like in my head. So...do you think you'll have to bring rolls again next time? hehehe I like Sister Schuberts (in the frozen section in the circular tins) and decided she must be a compassionate Mormon lady. You don't even have to let these rise. :)

Crystal and Brad Barger said...

Your life is very interesting! Those rolls were GREAT; I had 2. I heard others stating they were good as well. I am sure Kate & Hayden love the sand to play in!

Mary said...

I'm glad I finally got to hear the end of your sand story. Also, a rusty hanger and a turtle skull? That's really weird. You make me laugh -- I like to hear about what's going on with you even without pictures.

jstarritt said...

don't you love how mama is never one of the first words a child can say:) FYI --Pillsbury makes great rolls...

Anonymous said...

seriously, where are these black widows coming from???? that's crazy!!! Since you are the painting master you must come help me paint!! It amazes me that you do all your painting when cletus is gone. I can't do anything without John's help.

chris said...

great post!!! i love the pictures of the kids (and cletus)(and you), but you write an interesting blog. i went back to that roll recipe and i realized i had left out a step!! mea culpa! should i call sister simpson. should i write you a note next time you're assigned to bring rolls. a doctor's note?
luvya, preshiatecha

Suebee said...

I can't even remember now where I caught your blog from, but who needs pictures, your life sounds great even without pictures. Your side pictures are very cute though.
Susan Forsgren

Unknown said...

you killed a spider, I remember how much you hate that. Great job.

Rich said...

hahaha - Alice, you are a riot.

Love the rolls story and the casual - oh yeah - just found a turtle skull in the playbox.

Post a Comment