Soccer Mom

Here is the headline from the front page of the sports section in our paper today:

And boy, oh boy, was that game COLD!

So  J's soccer team will play for the Western PA Championship toward the end of this week, and will automatically advance to the PA Championship playoffs, which start early next week.  This is the first time EVER that the soccer team from our school has made it this far, so we are all understandably proud of these girls.

But...the soccer season continues for another couple of weeks...AND I ended up with a giant bag of smelly soccer balls in the back of my car for the day!

By the way, this is my 1000th post.  Who knew I had this much to say?

Pumpkins

Despite all the soccer craziness that has been disrupting our lives for the past several weeks (J's team won their section, got a first round bye in the championships, won their quarterfinal game neatly, and are headed to semifinals tomorrow), we managed to fit in a few moments for carving pumpkins on Friday afternoon.  Our friend, C, came out to join us, and the girls even created a Halloween channel on Pandora, which featured "Monster Mash."

Afterwards, L went to the Halloween dance at the Middle School, and the rest of us watched "The Sixth Sense."

The Jack-O-Lanterns turned out great!



 

They look good in the dark too.

L even carved a tiny face on the back of hers - kinda like
a cheerful Voldemort!

 

Yesterday was a cold and rainy day.  I took the opportunity to roast the pumpkin seeds.  My favorite way to do them is with the classic "Chex Mix" seasonings:

 

"Chex Mix" Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- 5 T salted butter, melted
- 2 T Worcestershire sauce
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/2 t garlic salt
- 1/2 t onion salt
- 2 cups pumpkin seeds

Dry the pumpkins seeds, spread out on a cookie sheet, in a 250* oven for about an hour, stirring occasionally.  Mix all seasonings with butter then toss well with pumpkin seeds.  Spread on cookie sheet and continue to roast for another 45-60 min, stirring every 15 min.  Cool and enjoy!

In my attempt to prove that Pumpkin Spice Lattes actually contain no pumpkin, I happened across a recipe for such that I actually really liked.  (Yes, it does contain a small amount of pumpkin!)

 

PSL - makes 2 servings
- 2 c milk
- 2 T pumpkin puree
- 2 T sugar
- 1 T vanilla
- 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 c strong black coffee

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over med heat, and whisk until hot.  Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream and a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

In the midst of all this Fall Fun, we had another tire incident on Wednesday!  One of the van tires blew on the way to school/work and looked like a splatted pumpkin.  Luckily it happened just past our driveway, so JP was able to return, reload everyone in the Subaru, and head out again.  Another lucky break came when I remembered the used van tire in the barn, so once my dad was able to help me take off the flat, I was able to drive to the tire shop on the "donut" and get it changed out.  Whew!

 

I hope you all are enjoying Halloween-ish-ness!

Taters

I dug my potatoes on Saturday, and was very pleased with the harvest this year - the best one yet!

It beats last year's harvest by a mile.  Actually, just this one spud beats last year's harvest!

I weighed them all, and got almost 48 pounds worth of really nice looking taters.

I'm pleased.

Tire-d

I am SOOO thrilled that we just started a 4 day weekend, thanks to Teacher In-Service at the schools, and JP thinking ahead to take the days off work.  We all need a bit of a break - J & L, especially J, have had a lot of late nights lately.  Yesterday, J was at school from 7:30 AM to 9:30 PM due to various activities.

Yesterday I spent 7 hours standing in the gym at the middle school, shouting over a bunch of tweens about density, mass, volume, and "excited molecules."  I volunteered, with a bunch of other moms, to help out some folks from the local Science Center who brought an assembly and hands on experiments to the school.  It was fun, but it wore me out! 

Another thing that makes me tired is that even though the regular soccer season is over next week, our ladies are awesome enough to make it to the WPIAL playoffs - and I have no idea what that means, except that this 2 practice a day thing with the play and soccer is going to continue for some unknown period of time. 

I'm also tired of things that break, and I'm tired of spending time at the repair shop.  I don't think it's a good thing when the manager of Quick Lane knows me on a first name basis.

Both tires on JP's mower blew out 2 weeks ago, so I was in charge of obtaining new ones. 

Just a few days later, the low tire pressure light went on in my car, and I found this in a rear tire (new in February, and which of course couldn't be repaired):

 

Last week I took one of the trucks for inspection.  It didn't pass because they say it needs 4 new tires.  I think we've driven it less than 200 miles in the past year, and don't plan to increase use of it any time soon.  This is also the one that I just had the windshield replaced on it because it wouldn't pass due to a chip in it.  Ugh.

But, for the next few days, I plan to just put those things on the back burner and try to relax.  It looks like rain, which would be lovely as well.

Falling

Last weekend, it really began looking like Fall.  The leaves are coming down.  We've had an "Indian Summer" of sorts, with temperatures in the 80's...so really it's been warmer recently than all of August was!  Just yesterday, it dropped back into the 70's outside, and I've had the windows open to gather in all the fresh air!

 Not only leaves are falling from the trees, the nuts (black walnut, hickory & acorns) have been dropping as well.  The ones in the chicken yard are the size of lemons!  It's a wonder none of the hens have been conked on the head.

Actually, maybe they were - they were acting really goofy last week.  I washed the cover for my futon, and hung it on the highest clothes line, which comes very close to the chicken yard.  Apparently when I pulled it up there, it freaked them out - they squawked and ran and flew to the other side of the yard.  About a dozen of them must have flown out, because for the next couple of hours, we saw chickens happily grazing in our yard, and we had to flush several of them out of the woods.

I finished staining the entire tree house.  JP had to put me up in the bucket of the tractor to reach the highest parts.  That wasn't exactly fun since I'm quite afraid of heights!  It looks much better now, especially since I cleaned the inside really well too, and even scrubbed the decks, which were growing some mildew.

This week has been excessively busy.  J landed a part in the winter play, so she has had play practice AND soccer practice after school.  She also had 2 home games this week.  I estimate that I spent over 4 hours just driving to and from the HS to pick her up or take her to something.  I also spent 5 hours at soccer games, 2 hours in Library meetings, and about 8 hours cleaning.

Today the Sears repairmen were out again to look at my oven.  This was the 6th time, but they FINALLY found the problem - a short in something located in the bottom oven that actually controls the top one!  Of course they had to order another part, so they will be back in 2 weeks.  Sheesh.

After they left, I was able to sow grass seed out by the driveway where my dad cleared a bunch of brush, and also harvest my squash.  I only planted 5 plants, and this is what I got:

38 Butternut, and 12 Acorn Squashes!

This afternoon, I took a leisurely drive out in the country to the apple orchard that I like to use because they don't spray.  I bought 2 1/2 bushels of apples for my mother and I to make applesauce.  It was a lovely outing.

Now I am sitting at the computer, getting ready to pay the bills, and the only thing falling at the moment is me - falling asleep.  I am so grateful for a weekend in which there are no soccer games!

Enjoy your Fall, everyone!

Mystery Poo

Every couple of days, I find a lone turd in front of my garage.

It's not the dogs or cats, or the random cattle that meander through here from time to time.

My best guess has been either a raccoon or an opossum.  According to my book, Mammal Tracks & Sign, by Mark Elbroch, opossum scat is "rarely encountered in the field," and consequently there are no accompanying pictures.  The photo of raccoon poo, however, looks similar to the mystery turd, and is within the size range listed.  The book warns, however, that "raccoon scats can carry the parasitic roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis, which can be fatal in humans."

So it would appear that we have terrorist raccoons prowling in front of our garage on a regular basis.  Wonderful.

It makes as much sense as the chip that suddenly appeared in the pickup windshield this summer.  I have confirmed this afternoon that it will NOT pass inspection without repairs/replacement, so the windshield company will be getting more of our business it seems.

By the way,  L got up early yesterday, finished her homework before school, and was even keeled and fairly polite for most of the afternoon.  It was a Wednesday Miracle!

I am off to pick up the girls from school.  J has another game tonight and needs the extra time for homework.

Gahhhhh!

So, school activities are moving along at quite a breath-taking pace.

J is becoming Miss Joiner, and so far has joined:  the Debate Club, the Green Team (school recycling), and the Spanish Club, and is planning to try out for the winter play - auditions are Monday.  In the meantime, she continues with soccer practice for 8 hours/week, and is having more and more games - 3 this week alone!

L is having a hard time adjusting to Middle School homework, which I remember being an issue with J back in the day.  She is so overly particular about her work anyway, that it takes her longer than most.  She is also frustrated that she isn't able to play soccer, but I'm not sure how she would fit it in!

Tonight I am just overwhelmed by it all.  I have used about 2/3 of a tank of gas in the past 24 hours, just picking girls up from 2 different schools, taking L to voice lessons, J to meet the soccer bus for a game, and then driving to said game, and taking her to and from practice tonight.  L had a full on melt down tonight because she didn't get her homework done before bedtime (spent the first 2 hours or so this afternoon goofing off or refusing to get serious about it) and went to bed late, kicking and screaming.  She wants us to wake her early to finish it.

I see tomorrow going down the tubes already.