My Herb Garden

I love to cook with herbs.  It probably stems from my weird desire to eat grass when I was a kid, but I actually love that I can pick something from the garden and have it transform dinner in a matter of minutes.

A few years ago Jeff built me a nice little box to contain all my herbs, and it's been very useful.  Except I'm being evicted now, because Jeff is ready to put a playset for Luke where my herb garden has lived so nicely. 

So, this year the herbs went in pots.  And I'm pretty glad because of one particular herb:  MINT.  Have you ever planted mint?  It can get out of control!  The mint plant I planted three or four years ago has worked its way across the whole garden box, out of the box, and even out of the bed containing the box. We have mint in our yard!  And, in my opinion, mint is really only useful for making mojitos (If you have another use--or if you need some mint of your own--let me know!).  If I used all the mint I'd be so drunk!  Haha!



Basically, the mint started life as one very tiny plant in the middle of the box.  Every green bush in the box--and all those outside the box--and outside the bed--should be gone!





My "Pizza" pot.  There's basil, tomato, and peppers, all waiting to grow up big and be part of a yummy pizza or pasta dish.  Caprese salad = yummmmy!  (I actually have two "Pizza" pots, because if there was such a thing as a tomatotarian I'd be one--and I'd eat basil on the tomatoes just because I could!)

  

Mint's new home: a house with impenetrable walls.


 

I am very optimistic about this year's cilantro.  I've never been able to get cilantro to grow, and it's just about my favorite herb (avocado enchiladas, anyone?!?).  I've decided that if I could get this plant to grow to the same size as one of the bunches in the store I'll be happy (Even though I need about 10 bunches to recoup my losses...).



 

And the coolest container of all?!?  The "Scarborough Fair" pot!  Cheesy alert:  From the top, clockwise, actually are parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  Parsley's a no-brainer for pasta, sage is good for pumpkin sauce, rosemary is amazing on grilled corn, and I have no idea what to do with thyme.  But they are true loves of mine.  (J/K!)

Got any ideas for what I can do/cook with my herbs?  Let me know!



The Easter Bunny

***SPOILER ALERT***   (Not for the very youngest among us!)

Jeff's the treasurer for the family group at his work, and this year he's in charge of the children's Easter party.  It's at the Dallas Zoo this year, which we're really looking forward to.  Well, last night he brought home the Easter bunny costume, and he thought it would be cool to try on and surprise Luke.  So I kept Luke busy while he got ready, and then he called us out into the living room.

I must say, I don't think I've ever had a 6'1" tall bunny walking toward me in my own living room before, and it was just a little creepy.  Don't get me wrong; he was awesome at it.  He was cautious around Luke (whom I was holding very tightly).  He was friendly.  And he was very charming.

Luke's reaction was probably what I expected.  He's very, very curious, but he's also a bit cautious.  When he's in a new situation he normally thinks carefully about it at first, then he generally pulls back before he decides it's okay to get involved.  Of course with a big ol' bunny coming towards him in his own house he was a little more nervous and he was clinging to me a little more desperately.

I also had mixed emotions.  My first concern was Luke's reaction.  I didn't want to scar my kid's visual memory for the rest of his life.  And I didn't want to make it so I have to avoid costumed creatures for the next ten years.  (Because I really want to go to Disney World!)  But I have to admit that when I put myself in the moment and tried to imagine the Easter bunny (It was very easy to do!) actually being in my living room, it was all quite surreal. 

The EB used Luke's room as his staging area, and I was afraid Luke would never go back there ever again.  I was sort of afraid I would never go back in there again!  It reminded me of the time when my cousin Kelly and I were young and playing at the church while our grandmothers quilted with the other ladies; somehow we convinced ourselves there was something scary in the back Sunday School room, and it took us both months to be able to go back in there again. 

All in all, the Easter bunny visit was short-lived.  He retreated back into Luke's room and was gone before we knew it.  Just like magic!

The best thing for me was watching Jeff come back out to greet Luke.  Luke was very excited to see his daddy, and I couldn't help but think it would have been so wonderful if Jeff could have been holding Luke while the EB was in our living room.  Luke does so well in frightening situations with Jeff.  It's so amazing to see Jeff be Luke's daddy and comfort him from all the world's scary stuff. 
Before we went to bed I decided it was probably a good idea to show Luke (and myself...haha!) that the EB was really gone, so we walked from room to room checking each out and calling for the Easter bunny, who never answered us, and never appeared.  Luke looked a little sad, and I think he wished the EB could come back to play.

As we went to sleep I asked Luke if he wanted the EB to come back, and he nodded his head to say yes.  Now I guess we'll see how he does when Easter comes.  As sweet as Jeff was, I'm glad he'll be on this side of the EB costume when we go to the zoo. 

Oh, and in the quick visit I didn't get a picture, but I thought I'd include the picture we took last year at the children's party (Yep--same costume!).  Happy Easter, everyone!

Today's Surprise!

Luke and I were playing in the living room earlier this evening, when he disappeared into our bedroom.  I didn't think anything of it, because he has free range of the house.  Then I heard the toilet flush.  Two things entered my mind:  1) He could be filling the toilet with TP, and I would soon walk in to find an overflowing mess, or 2) He could just be practicing flushing, since I had recently made him flush his cheese snacks after he dropped them on the floor (Even though I...uh hum...just mopped the floor very, very thoroughly last night.). 

What happened next caught me off guard.  He ran back into the living room, and I said, "Did you just flush the toilet?!?" To which he replied, "Pee pee."  I hadn't heard him utter the word with such gusto before, so I followed him into the bathroom.  (And I knew it was safe, because he was wearing a diaper, and he can't get up onto his training seat by himself.)

Seizing the moment, I instantaneously tossed the training seat on the toilet seat and ripped off his pants and diapers.  Of course, not much happened right away, but I was a bit hopeful, since he had taken the initiative. 

He sat there playing with toilet paper, until I took it away.  I went to turn on the bathtub and hide the TP, and when I turned around I saw the door shut to the tiny room with the potty.  I opened the door, and, sure enough, there was a little bit of wetness on the seat.  I figured he had just stuck his hand down in the toilet. 

Apparently I was wrong!  He seemed very excited, and, when I got him down and moved the seat there was, indeed, a yellowish tint to the water.  We both jumped up and down and shared supreme excitement for the next few minutes. 

So that's how it happened.  Way to go Luke!!!

Makeup Alley -- Best Site. Ever! (For Women AND Men!)

I'm not even sure how I came across it, but I'm about to make it my new homepage. :-)

It's called Makeup Alley, and it is just amazing.  People log on and give reviews of their favorite cosmetics and beauty products--everything from the most wallet-conscious stuff to the high-end, stuff-I-can't-afford stuff. 

Nail polish? Lipstick? Hair color? Skincare? Men's Fragrance? This site has reviews it ALL!  Oh, and there's even an option to swap makeup with other people.  Weird?  Maybe!

The last time I checked, the website touted "1,837,826 reviews of 119,368 products." And I really like that the reviews are thoughtful reviews by real people. 

So check it out.  Indulge yourself!  You will thank me!

Oh, and if you're still reading, I'm going to include my favorite review so far.  This girl cracks me up!

Review of Revlon Frost & Glow Highlighting Kit by she25

I highlighted my hair for the first time ever last night using this product. My hair is long, natural red, and layered, about to the middle of my back. My boyfriend had agreed to help me do that back, so I strapped on the cap and went to town. I knew I didn't want it all over, so I only pulled hair through the black holes. The hook sucked, but I wasn't sure if it was the cheap hook, or that I had put the cap on so tight I was choking myself. As I was pulling hair out I wasn't sure if I was pulling too much hair through. I had to pull hair through each hole about three times to get what i thought was enough. It went fine until I got to the top of my head. I had the cap on soo tight that I could barely catch any hair! After an hour of this (seriously, it takes forever if you have long hair) I only had the front done and went to ask my pitch hitter to start on the back of my head. He was dead asleep and I was becoming claustrophobic with that thing on my head. I called my cousin, and asked her to finish it for me. She agreed, and I slipped a hoodie on and I was out, praying I didn't get pulled over while looking like the Tales from the Crypt monster. She quickly calmed my nerves by telling me that I had the right amount of hair through the holes. She started pulling hair through, and it was a nightmare once she got to the back. Long hair and these caps just do not work. Every piece was tangled. I finally untied the death cap and we had to comb out my hair underneath, which still did little good. Okay, after 3 hours of pulling, and cursing, my hair was out. She took it out of every black hole on the entire cap. I took a glance in the mirror and had a moment of panic when the back looked FULL of hair and it looked like there was barely any out of the top. She assured it would be fine, and began slathering my hair with the grindy mixture. Half way through she says "uh oh" which is always so nice to hear when you are getting your hair done, and informed me we did not have enough dye. I should have known this, I wasn't even thinking, so I tossed a $20 and the old box at her husband and told him to make it fast. The old dye set on my head for about 15 min before he got back. It was all over, just thin, and not saturated at all. She threw the second batch on my head, covered it with the platic thing, and we were good to go. The crappy thing about this is trying to seperate your hair under the cap, from the dye. I wrapped a towel around it but was still nervous stuff was getting on it. After about 20-25 minutes I looked in the mirror (for the 20th time) and notcied it looked super blonde. I rinsed my hair in a big sink, and pulled the cap off with great ease. I was beyond shocked because I knew what kind of rats nest lived under there from all of the pulling and tangling. I wrapped my head in a crap towel and headed for the shower. I did have an ["oh &^%!"] moment when I took the towel off and saw platinum streaks in my hair, but after shampoo & conditioner I saw it wasnt so dramatic. My hair def wasn't silky soft anymore, which I expected, I combed it out and blow dried it and was seriously surprised at the results. I thought for sure it would be jacked up. It was not only even, it was a blonde honey color. It of course had a golden tint to it, because of my previously red hair. It lightened my hair nicely, and the streaks are visible. For some reason the hair at the top in the middle of my hair is a bit blonder, but i think it's just becuase that is where the dye was first put, and was on the longest. I wish you could upload before and after pics on here. I think this has to be a fool proof highlighting kit. I thought for sure the cap wasn't tight enough, I didn't have enough hair through, I had too much hair through, not enough dye, on too long....and it turned out great. I can't say i would have left it on any longer, or any shorter. I would say that if you don't want the entire thing highlighted (which will dramatically lighten your hair) don't do the back section of the cap. Even all my hair underneath that I left out is full of highlights. I would also say that if you have long hair, you better have at least 4 hours to do this from start to finish. The only reason I said I wouldn't be buying this product again, is because it was too much of a hassle to get my long hair through. In fact my cousin told me about 20 times she wanted to just stab me in the head with the comb because she was so sick of every piece being tangled. Make sure the person you have help you has a lot of patience. :) This product rocked, and I would suggest it to anyone.

Changes (in TC)



Trees are blooming where a perfectly good house once stood--signs of progress in our small town



"They" are widening the roads here in The Colony.  Our four-lane state FM is about to get wider, and we're very excited about it (even though we're not excited about the construction-related traffic). 

But it's been kind of weird.  We've lived here for eight years now, and we've already seen quite a few changes.  But this change is big.  The city/state (not sure which) has been purchasing up a lot of land to use for the development, and that means buildings are disappearing left and right (literally, on the left and right side of the road). 

I saw the absolute weirdest change last year one day on my way to school when a giant bulldozer reached up and took a chunk out of a perfectly good house.  I saw the first chunk removed, and it looked partly like a movie and partly like a children's game.  I may have had my camera with me, but the only thing I could think to do while I was driving was grab my phone and call Jeff excitedly, because I knew he'd think it was cool and want to hear a play-by-play. 

I'd say about 15 buildings have been removed.  It's been surreal.

On the one hand, we've got this progress that we absolutely need.  On the other hand, the buildings destroyed (mostly homes and gas stations, but one bank, too) belonged to people and were either their livelihoods or the place where they made their lives.  That's kind of sad.

So yesterday something really caught my eye.  Where the houses were removed, the landscaping was kept.  I'm not sure if the trees (planted with love, if they are like the trees in our yard) are going to be relocated or removed at a later date.  But yesterday, where a house once stood, the Bradford Pear tree was in full bloom.  I thought about the significance of it all...

The house made by man was gone, but the tree--God's sign for growth--remained.  It was serenely lonely and beautifully majestic, all at once. 

It will be interesting to see the rest of the project unfold....



Signs of progress in TC



Dissertation Update: White Flag (the NASCAR kind)

Okay, so I was lying awake during the night, about to reenter the "panic" mode on my dissertation (which I seem to be entering a lot lately, given that my original 70-page proposal is now serving as drawing paper for my 15-month old, I'm paying course fees until I finish the darn degree, my ten-year limit for finishing the degree is a lot closer now than it was six years ago when I started, and with all the play dates, story times, diaper changes, and laundry loads I seem to have completely lost site of the fact that I've completed a bachelor's, master's, and 5/6 of a doctoral degree), and I realized that I don't have my assignment sheet. 

In teaching, especially in my Pre-AP classes, I always gave my students an assignment sheet detailing the expectations for the essay they were about to write.  They had all the details of the expectations for the assignment, and they were to refer to it throughout their writing.  My advisor gave me an especially helpful assignment sheet when I was writing my 40-page qualifying paper. 

And just why couldn't I write myself my own assignment sheet?  After all, the dissertation is such a personal assignment that I'm really the only one who can make the assignment sheet, anyway.  Oh, and I must add that in many ways the assignment sheet--especially those written for my developing high school writers--is a sort of scaffolding; the instructor outlines his/her expectations in a way that gives the student a very clear message on which way to take the paper.  And since my attempts at an outline have left me completely overwhelmed, why not start with an assignment sheet?

So I sat down here to try to create one.  I was well on my way when I decided to go back and format the paper.  Whenever I created handouts for my students I made it my signature to include the title in a catchy font and a graphic to help guide the visual learners.  After trying every font in my expanded list of fonts (and declining my own offer to find and download a font especially for this purpose--I'm a procrastinator, remember...), I settled on one that was more academic--hallowed halls of academia, that is--and less frilly (I wanted to send the message to myself of how important the task is.).  I then set out to find my graphic. 

Liking the clip art of the ladder stacked against the tall pile of books with the diploma on top, and thinking I could put a "You are Here" arrow at the second-to-last rung to show how far I had come--and how little I had to go, really--I decided I would edit the clip art to make it all more in harmony with the school colors (UNT's colors are white and green.).  After all that, I didn't like the way the art looked on the assignment sheet.

Then I decided I just needed a flag.  You know, the kind that is waved in a car race when the drivers start their last lap.  Like NASCAR.  Except I don't know the first thing about NASCAR.  So like any other procrastinating writer, I went to Google.  And I learned the most interesting, troubling thing.  The flag for the last lap is white.  White?  Like "We surrender!" white???  No way.  Who thought up that???

Anyway, at that point I decided I was tired of looking at the assignment sheet, decided to save it, and figured I'd come back to it next time to add some more scaffolding for myself and maybe find the world's best white flag clip art. 

I am excited that I got a few points down on paper.  That is, after all, the goal.  Just 110,000 more words or so, and I should have a finished paper.  I'm really annoyed about this white flag thing, though. 

Brought to you by...the letter "E"

This morning Luke and I were cleaning up the guest bathroom, and, as always, I pointed to the monogrammed towel hanging up and spelled out the letters L-U-K-E and said "Luke."  I make the effort as often as possible, because I figure with a last name like Schwertner we'd better get a running leap on learning his names.

I continued cleaning, and Luke continued playing.  Then, a couple minutes later he pointed to the "E" and said, "E!"  I did a double-take.  "WHAT?!  Did you just say 'E'?"  He said it again.  Three or four more times he pointed to the "E" and told me the name of the letter. The more excited I got, the more he did it, and then he started to realize what he was doing, and he got excited, too. 

Immediately the English teacher in me started thinking, "Yes! we can read Charles Dickens!  And Mark Twain! He gets it!"  I remembered being a kid and having my own mom teach me the letters.  I was cautiously very excited.

Of course, any good teacher knows that true learning is only present when transfer occurs. So, to see if Luke really knew his letter "E" I took him to the kitchen and got out the plastic fridge magnet letters to see if he could find the "E" in a different situation. We had so much fun taking the letters off and putting them back on the fridge. I never did find the "E" though, probably because it was lost months ago when I thought Luke could benefit from seeing his named spelled out everywhere. Haha!

Undaunted, a few hours later I wrote his name, pointed to it, and asked him which letter was the "E". He looked at me like I was crazy. Not willing to give up, I took him back to the bathroom, put him in front of the towel, and asked him to find the "E". Guess what! He did it! He found the "E" again! So true learning hasn't occurred--yet--but at least Luke can find an "E" if he's ever in a tight spot--as long as he's in our guest bathroom. :)

French Roast

Since I'm so far behind on watching the Oscar films, I thought I'd go back and check out the short films from last year's Oscars.  I love that so many of them are on Youtube. 

I am in love with this one.  It's called French Roast, and I think it is sweet, funny, artistic, thoughtful, and very clever.  And, it says so much about the human condition, which makes it a winner in my book, even though it didn't win the Oscar.

Here it is.  Check it out!