Yesterday's weather was so good that we forgot about the laundry monster taking over our basement and headed to the zoo. It was a lot of fun. Afterward we stopped by our favorite Mexican restaurant, Arcelia's. Oh holy chips and salsa, it was good!

PS: I've made some changes to the sun dress, no more trim under the bodice, the skirt finally goes all the way around, darts around the waist for a slimmer fit and a small bow at the back of the neck. Remaining: sew skirt on, add zipper and hem.

So-so sewing

This is sundress that I'm currently cursing (I mean, making). It's no where near finished. The skirt and waist trim aren't sewn on. The neck strap is hard to see but it's a halter style. Mostly because the patterns measurement of 40" is much different that my measurement of 40". There is a 6" gap in the back of the skirt. Good thing I have plenty of fabric left!

This is my rainy day skirt, hence the umbrellas. I didn't make the shirt, just an old black T-shirt I had laying around.

This is my Hawaiian blues skirt. Palm trees and dolphins, aaaah. So not me, but much cooler than denim shorts on a 100 degree day. Again, the T-shirt is an oldie but a goody from the closet floor.

Aaahhh, I'm melting!

Another triple digit day. Have I mentioned that the Jeep is out of freon? No AC means sweat for me. Luckily, other than dropping off a prescription and taking Gryffin to Day Out, I have no other driving to do.

Butcher, Baker, Ice Cream Maker

That is me today. Gryffin is 'helping' me make chocolate ice cream and peanut butter cookie sandwiches. Later I have to take all the meat I bought at Satan's (aka Sam's Wholesale) and vacuum seal it into smaller portions to freeze.

Garden Update:
TONS of Mexican Midgets (grape tomatoes) turning red, two huge Hungarian Hearts (Roma's) growing and more sprouting, bunches of cucumbers getting bigger and the last of our lettuce needs to be harvested. Plus, I have to take out the giganto broccoli that has taken out our green beans and remove the strawberry plants that are no longer producing.

Super weekend!

Metropolis, Il.

Just waiting around to save the day.

Gryffin meets 'the real' Superman.

Even the Caped Crusader showed up.

We had an awesome time at the Superman Fest. Gryffin got to meet a lot of Superhero's and ate a corndog the size of his leg. Before we left we filled up on Dippin' Dots and everyone but Gryffin regretted it.

Store bought potato salad, sort of

Last night I was going to fix some sweet potato fries to go with our pork burgers but didn't feel like: A. heating up the house or B. waiting for them to cook. Mike mentioned getting some potato salad from the market so off I went on my merry little adventure down the alley.
Hmmm, lets see, the Market's potato salad for $3 for a quarter pound of $1.30 for 1 lb of their baby baked potatoes from yesterday. I opted for the leftover potatoes and the idea of making my own potato salad, which silly as it may seem I have never done before.
But I will certainly be doing it again:

1 lb cold baked potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
3 T Miracle Whip
1 T yellow mustard
1/2 red pepper, chopped small
1/2 yellow pepper, chopped small
2 large green onions, sliced thin
good shake of salt
even better shake of pepper
1 tsp of celery seed

Mix until combine and fight over!

More rain...

I don't know if this rain is good or bad. It's nice to get a break from the heat but yesterday it was so cold my nails turned blue and the tips of my fingers numb. Not to mention the fact that my tomato plants are now 5 foot tall. I have to get out to the back 4.0 and do a little farming. Cut back the 'maters so more nutrients will actually go to producing 'maters, weave the cucumber plants into the chain link fence so they don't overtake the yard, harvest lettuce and broccoli and remove the broccoli plants that actually went to seed. Then I get to deliver said lettuce harvest around the neighborhood because well, there's TOO much!
After Mike brought home the Fair Shares food yesterday the inside of our fridge turned green, leafy and packed. We received garlic shoots, which I'm really excited to use. When garlic grows it sends up pretty green shoots that look a lot like green onions. The farmer cuts these back to encourage larger garlic cloves. The shoots have a mild garlic flavor and are used like green onions.
What I'm not excited about is the mustard greens. I'm sorry but any green that you have to cook until its limp and lost all nutritional value I can't do. Unless any of you have a great recipe for it that you would like to share?

Up, up and a weep

Yesterday we took Gryffin to see the new Pixar flick, Up. It was Gryffin's first movie at a theater so we opted for the 3D version. We purchased our tickets and took Gryffin inside. His first words were, "Whoa, cool!" He and I went to look at the 'money wasters', aka video games, while Mike got the popcorn and drinks. Then it was time to pick out our seats. It was a good thing we got there early, by the time it was lights out the joint was packed. Gryffin, along with Mike and I, sat mezmerized by the movie. Not only is the new 3D technology amazing, the movie itself was awesome. Don't tell anyone, but Mike and I actually shed a tear or two. It was a wonderful, magical first expirience for not only Gryffin, but our family. We will definitely be seeing more movies together, but at $50 for the three of us I may have to get a job in order to pay for them. It was worth every penny though.