Evil Shop Vac

Both Paul and I acknowledge that we are getting seriously burned out on our building project. We are just ready to be done and moved in already! In lieu of this revelation, we agreed to find a contractor to paint all of our trim and doors. This way, the finish product will have a very smooth/high gloss look, and it will get done in a fraction of the time. (Because if we had tried to do it...well, I guarantee it would have pushed our move-in day back by almost another month!)

Our shop vac has been my regular companion the last couple days as we clean and prep for the painter to come in. After all that crazy pudding -which I am happy to relinquish my queenship over - and the sanding that ensued, we had quite a mess on our hands! Paul vacuumed a good part of the house, but the final rooms fell to me. He explained the method he established for thoroughly going over the individual rooms...suction along the bottom of the baseboards, change to the soft nozzle and go over all paintable surfaces, and finally vacuum the entire floor. No problem. I strapped on my dust mask (no more sinus infections for me, thank you very much) and got to work.

About half way through the first room, I grabbed the handle to reposition the shop vac and got shocked. It smarted, but it wasn't THAT bad, and I chalked it up to static building up from the friction when rolling across the floor. Back to work. A short while later, the thing shocked me again! I felt a little more irritated and gave myself a mental pep-talk to grab the plastic handle next time. Sure enough, next time I moved it, I grabbed the plastic handle and it worked like a charm. I congratulated myself on my cunning ability to outsmart the shop vac.

One room later, I was vacuuming along and came up a little short in reaching one corner. I gave the hose a tug, knowing the shop vac would follow. It did follow, straight into my bare calf and showed me its displeasure at being drug around with a wicked shock to my leg! ARG! It felt like I was bit! I tried to suck it up and keep working. When Paul came to check on me a short while later, I had been shocked a few more times, and my displeasure flowed out: "This stupid shop vac keeps shocking me! First I was shocked on the handle, but it keeps hitting my leg and shocking me! It feels like I'm getting bit!" I complain. Not the tiniest flicker of surprise shows on his face. He simply, rather matter or factly, responds, "Yeah. That's why I taped the handle...to help prevent that. Didn't you know I got it for free from my Dad's work? No one wanted it because they complained it shocked them." And then he walked away.

What a lovely bit of news...only too bad he didn't share it in advance! Then, maybe I would have been prepared to do battle with the evil shop vac.

Back In Business

If one were to travel north up the hill out of the heart of downtown Camas, they would most likely pass (unsuspectingly) one of the most iconic restaurants in town.
At first glance, Top Burger seems like an average, run of the mill burger joint. It is situated across from Crown Park and shares a parking lot with an inconsequential convenience store. Its appearance suggests a mom and pop operation with small dining room and handful of picnic tables outside. On first impression, there isn't much extraordinary about this establishment to make it stand out. Nothing, that is, but the line of cars in the drive-thru, the regular flow of customers, and the patrons found congregating around the picnic tables on a sunny day!

For our family, eating at Top Burger a few times a year has become part of the experience of living in Camas. The menu isn't conducive for health

conscious individuals, but every once in a while we indulge, because nothing beats one of their yummy shakes accompanied by a basketful of specially seasoned fries! Paul loves the blackberry shake, while I am partial to the hot fudge. Sometimes we mix it up with a deliciously unique shake that I've never found anywhere else...peanut butter marshmallow. (It makes me think of peanut butter fudge at Christmas, only blended and frosty!)

We splurged and went just this week, as a matter of fact; a treat made even more sweet by the fact that Top Burger recently reopened after being closed a couple months for renovations. Boy were those fries good!

Salute to Paul Newman

I salute you, Paul Newman. I salute you for your acting talents, your handsome good-looks, and your philanthropic efforts. But mostly I salute you for your salsa perfection!

Newman's Own Black Bean & Corn Salsa. Mmmmmm. I love this salsa like I have never loved salsa before. Prior to stumbling upon this deliciousness in a jar, I merely tolerated salsa. I am not a big fan of tomatoes or cilantro, which presents a problem as those ingredients are key players in many traditional recipes. An innocent grocery store purchase in 2008 changed all of that, however! Now this product is a regular item on my grocery list.

I do enjoy it as a dip for tortilla chips, but it's uses don't stop there! I have put it on hamburgers...tasty. Inside a grilled cheese sandwich...livens it up. On scrambled eggs...watch out huevos rancheros! For enchiladas and quesadillas...yes. It is even satisfying on a simple piece of whole wheat toast (a healthier option than tortilla chips).

So I would eat it in my house...I would eat it with a mouse. I would eat it on a train...I would eat it in the rain. I would eat it here or there. I would eat it anywhere! I do so like black beans & corn, especially in salsa form :)

Thanks Paul Newman!

My Cup Runneth Over...Or Was It My Sink?

Everyone has seen, either in movie or comic strip, some variation of the classic childhood blunder of leaving the water on and flooding the house. Eloise is famous for flooding her hotel bathtub, and having a grand time in the process.

I had long held the belief that it was a fictional idea of some creative mind, and people thought it funny enough to recreate it in various circumstances. Silly me. I now believe the original idea was probably extracted from an actual event. Why the change of heart? Personal experience, last night, courtesy of my son!

It was 9 p.m. and we had spent a long day prepping for our kitchen countertop installation. I had just commented to my husband that our children had really been pretty good considering how distracted we were for the majority of the day. I left him with the tile saw buzzing, and went into our current house to put our cherubs to bed. I walk in with Jenna in my arms, take maybe three steps before I stop and comment, "It sounds like water is running". I glance at the closed bathroom door and my mommy warning bells go off. I set Jenna down and quickly proceeded into said bathroom. Sure enough, the water was running...it was running out of the overflowed sink, down the face of the vanity and all over the floor! I splashed over to the sink and find the drain clogged with grass. "Yep, that would do it," I think, chagrined. I turned off the water, unclogged the drain and began mopping up the floor. Then I happened to open a drawer in the vanity to discover the items within floating in about an inch of water. I spent the next 20 minutes in a flurry of activity...sopping up the floors and emptying the entire vanity while deciding what was now ruined and what could be dried and saved. Sometime in the midst of this, my son confesses with a small voice, "I may have forgotten to turn the water off." Hmm... MAY have??? I can't feel upset at him; I'm too busy averting catastrophe!

When all was said and done, not too much was lost. The bathroom was a little damp but not too bad considering. My optimistic side finds the silver lining by acknowledging the bathroom is now free of clutter and superfluous items, and I am thankful it happened in the old house and not the new! I just hope a lesson has been learned and that from now on all water in the house stays contained in its proper vessel!!!

Deja Vu

I experienced deja vu yesterday, only this time I am certain I have been here before....

Ahhh, the school field trip to Fort Vancouver. I accompanied my daughter's fourth grade class as they toured the old fort and learned about its history. We saw animal furs, watched the blacksmith make a nail, observed a horse plow in action, and explored the grounds. We enjoyed a picnic lunch out in the grass on a perfectly sunny afternoon.

I had to chuckle inwardly, though, because it was such a different experience going as a parent rather than a student! To watch the dynamics of all the classmates; boys and girls on the cusp of adolescence. The girls were giggly and the boys were showing off. They would pose for their parents' cameras, but hide in embarrassment from a friend trying to take their picture. Each of them wanting to be cool and play a key roll in the fun going on around them. They vied for the attention of their peers...and the best seats on the bus!

It was both a fun day and an eye opening day. Our daughter is growing up FAST! We are on the brink of some big changes, and I mentally shake my head in awe of how quickly we have arrived at this stage. So I give myself this objective: May we make as many good memories with our kids as possible, because the days pass quickly!

Don't Quit Your Day Job

One of the last times "Mamma Mia" came to Portland most of my family went to see it. All the women in the family enjoyed it, and the men came in about 50/50...50% enjoying it and 50% maintaining they went for their wife's sake :)

When it came out on the big screen we decided to give the men a break and make a ladies date to go watch it. However, all of us ladies have families and busy lives, so we never made it like we planned. We all vowed to wait and watch it together sometime on video.

We finally made good on our pledge a little more than a week ago. I wasn't sure what we were in for! It has been out a while, so of course I had heard lots of reviews and lots of opinions...especially on the singing talents of the cast. As I snuggled into my parents sectional I reminded myself to keep an open mind and not take it too seriously. After all, Mamma Mia is supposed to be silly fun with a new twist on some much beloved, catchy tunes; not an epic film contending for Oscar!

I won't go into a lengthy review of the film - I'm sure most of my blog followers have seen it so I will spare you from describing what you already know (and just in case you haven't, well I wouldn't want to spoil it for you!!) I will simply say that I found it to be a fun, colorful film. One that I wouldn't object to seeing again sometime. The young lovers were well cast. Meryl Streep seems an unusual choice for the lead at first, but she grows on you. Collin Firth is pretty stinkin' hilarious! However...(you had to know that was coming, right?) HOWEVER... Pierce Brosnan...oh my. I mean, yeah, he's Pierce Brosnan - modern day Cary Grant, former 007. He is charming and good looking. He is NOT a singer! Let me repeat NOT A SINGER. Painful? Would that the right word to describe his attempt? I don't know if that is strong enough. God bless the man, but he tries to pass monotone yelling off as singing in this film, and each time he sings it gets worse! My very sweet sister-in-law tried jumping to his rescue, commenting that she respected him for "just getting out and having fun, even when he knew he isn't great at it" and also saying, "Well...at least he seems on key." I love your supportive optimism, Andi! I, however, found myself speechless at his first attempt, and curled in a corner of the couch laughing so hard that I was crying by his last solo. What were the casting directors thinking???

This is becoming a lengthy posting, but I want to close by stating that overall I thought it was a fun film. Oh, and just a quick personal message to Mr. Brosnan: Don't quit your day job...Broadway will not be calling :)

Spiders On The Ceiling

I sat down at my computer to check email this morning and began to ponder what my next blog posting should be about. While I was waiting for Outlook to load, I leaned back in the chair to stretch, and froze. I began to chuckle because there on my ceiling, staring back at me in a mess of florescent legs, were two stretchy spiders...courtesy of one of my darling children :)I have been a mom for almost 10 years now...I should not be surprised to wake up and find spiders on my ceiling. After all, I have found many unexpected items over the years! A Dora figurine in the filing cabinet. Tupperware in the toaster. Stuffed animals in place of my shoes. Tonka trucks in the flower beds. More surprises than I can count have turned up in the washing machine from one of my lovely's pockets. Honestly, I have to say that I don't mind. Sometimes it's inconvenient when you can't find something you need, but mostly it is just part of the fun that goes along with having lively, imaginative children in our home. It makes life interesting. I believe I will miss it when they are grown.

Speaking of which...Ben just burst in to announce that we needed to have a conversation. "Dad and Mr. Charlie just threw me out of the new house window!" he accuses, but with a hint of little boy pleasure on his face.

I wonder...what will happen next???

Sleep Eater

Many of the Coulimore men have a genetic predisposition of falling asleep when they finally stop and sit down in the evening. They are hardworking men, so I suppose it is understandable that they would be sleepy when they are finally idle. My husband, Paul, has this trait. Try as he might, he only stays awake to watch his favorite t.v. shows about 50% of the time. I could probably apply the same percentage of wakefulness to movies watched after 8p.m. Once he fell asleep while watching a James Bond movie in the theater! (Of course, I have never let him off the hook for that one! I tease him about it at every opportunity!)

Last night happened to be one of those evenings, only with a funny twist. We had been channel surfing for a short while when I decided I wanted a cup of coffee. Since I was getting up, I asked him if he wanted anything from the kitchen. He replied that he'd like a slice of cake. I started the coffee and returned with a piece of cake, setting it on the table beside him. "Thanks, Babe," he says, but leaves the cake there, untouched. I didn't comment, but decided he must be waiting for some coffee to enjoy with it. A short while later, I look over and there he is, sound asleep on the couch, never so much as having nibbled on his cake. Brushing it off, I get my coffee, take possession of the remote and see what sort of girlie things are on.

A fair amount of time passes this way...it had to be a good half hour or forty-five minutes. Suddenly, without warning or obvious cause, Paul sits straight up (from a dead sleep, mind you) and immediately grabs his cake and begins shoveling bites in! Not a yawn or a stretch. No rubbing his eyes or looking around. Just straight from sleep to eating. I couldn't help but laugh out loud! He glances over me and mumbles around a mouth full of cake, "What?!?" He eats most of the cake in this fashion, then slouches back down and is back to sleep within minutes.

Maybe you had to be there...but it was so funny! My husband, the sleep-eater!

In The Details

I am enjoying an unexpected sunny afternoon, thankful that the weathermen were wrong about the rain today. I'm sure it's just a matter of time, but I have been out soaking up the sun, relishing the breeze, and feeling that each moment it remains dry is a gift!

I have been wandering around our property spending a little time looking at life through my lens :) (as my neighbor once kindly accused me of doing!) I set out looking at the big picture, but found myself sitting in the grass on the edge of our property examining some little flowers growing along the fence. I'm sure they are weeds by the world's standards, but I was captivated by them! So tiny, yet perfect. And the colors! Each miniature stem held three or more clustered flowers of light blue, pale yellow, or dark blue with bright red centers. (It is a shame we don't have large versions of these flowers to plant in our gardens and flower beds.) It made me think how God is a God of details. He created large marvels like the Grand Canyon, but He also took pleasure in adding beauty to the little pieces of creation; small and unexpected treasures to discover as we live day-to-day life.

Most days life is busy and it is a challenge just to fit in all the necessary activities. However, I hope that I am never so busy that I can't take a few moments, every now and then, to stop and discover a new, beautiful detail in life.

Waking Up With The Birds

It is a grand thing to be able to sleep in and wake up to a glorious spring morning... stretching luxuriously in bed at 8:40 a.m. (Hey! That's sleeping in for a mom of three!!), sun peeking around the curtains in our room, birds singing outside. You've got to relish these days as they don't happen very often!

I finally pried myself from bed, got our youngest dressed and at the table to eat breakfast. Our two older kids had already eaten, finishing one of the boxes of cereal, so I went to the laundry room where we keep a small "pantry" of extra food. I opened the door, walked in, screeched, ran back out and slammed the door. It wasn't birds singing outside that I had woken up to! It was a bird INSIDE! Yes...IN our laundry room, flapping furiously at the big window trying it's hardest to fly straight through the glass to freedom! Shocked, I turned to Emily and exclaimed, "There's a bird in there!" She came running over, and together we peered through a gap in the mini blinds to see the poor little green vested birdie sitting on the window sill. Emily offered to go out the front door, run around the house and open the back door to offer Mr. Green Vest a means of escape, but by this time I had recovered from the shock of his discovery and told her that I could go back in and open the door myself. Ducking low, I ventured back into the laundry room and opened the back door. He fluttered around bewildered only for a moment before he found his exit and soared out into the sunny, blue day.

I closed the door with a sigh of relief and turned to examine the laundry room. No other creatures, just a couple of parting 'gifts' from Greenie to clean up. What a start to the day! Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Waking up with the birds!"

Puddy Queen

Imagine, if you will, an entire house worth of trim. We are talking 20+ door openings...each door having a jam and two sides to trim. Windows in every room of the house. Baseboards. Closets. Now combine with that a nail-gun happy husband. If one nail holds it on, two will do an even better job, right?!? Uh-huh. Right. Sounds good to the man with the pneumatic power tool. Not quite the same story for the lady that gets to follow behind and fill each of those holes, sand them down and refill. All I can say is thank goodness for the power palm sander!

Henceforth, I declare myself Queen of Puddy! May I rule in patience and precision...and may I fill all the holes before I turn old and gray :)

Love You, Hardy

Is That Blueberry Yogurt On Your Chin???

Grocery shopping is not high on a kid's list of favorite past-times. However, if you have kids, you know that any grocery shopping trip can be immediately redeemed for said child if there are "tasters" involved. ('Tasters' is the name our family has given to the free samples of food periodically offered at the supermarket and Costco.)

Ben, Jenna, and I were on just such a trip to the grocery store this week. The kids were being troopers, but were eagerly anticipating my announcement that we had all the items on our list and could checkout. We were coming out of one isle, preparing to round the end cap and enter the next isle, when salvation in the form of a folding table and little plastic cup-fulls of two kinds of cereal appeared before our eyes. Ben gleefully calls out "Taster!" and turns to me, eyes imploring. I nod my head in the affirmative and suggest he tries the one on the left as it looked more kid friendly... it was something with cinnamon in the title, so you knew it should be a winner. He happily grabs his little plastic piece of heaven and begins crunching away on the cereal. It didn't take long for him to finish, but the bonus in this situation is that even when the cereal is gone, then one has a little cup to play with and occupy his or her time. It can become a hat, a monocle, a suction cup, a hockey puck...anything the imagination can conceive!

It wasn't too long before we were able to checkout and leave. We had just one more errand on our list. When we arrived at our destination, I noticed Ben's face was dirty. "Strange," I thought. "We had lunch before we left home, but I swore I washed his face off. That looks like blueberry yogurt on his chin!" I brushed the thought aside; our last errand was with family and I knew they wouldn't care if I showed up with a messy child. I made a mental note to wash his face when we got home.

Back at home that afternoon, Ben was snuggling me and he laid his head on my lap. There, looking back at me was the unexplained stain on his chin. I wiped at it. It wasn't food. "What in the world?" I thought as I leaned in to take a closer look. Then, in a flash or clarity, I knew. Of course! The vision of my son in the supermarket, showing off his ability to suction the taster cup to his mouth...it was a taster cup hickey! I chuckled and congratulated myself for solving the mystery.

What's the moral of my story??? Tasters are great, and by all means, use your imaginations and think of ways to have fun with the cup when the snack is gone...but remember the taster cup hickey and opt to use it as a hat or monocle instead!

Mmmm...Coffee

It's all Paul's fault. I love coffee and I only have him to blame! Back when we were dating he introduced me to coffee with two heaping spoonfuls of sugar and generous amounts of cream. It started out as a social thing, drinking coffee on occasion when we were out - most memorably on our way home from skiing. Back then there wasn't a Starbucks on every corner so we would drink our coffee from very gourmet places...like Shari's. (Ha! It's amazing I grew to like coffee at all!)

Once we were married, I started making coffee for him in the mornings, and would have a cup myself every once in a while. Eventually it progressed from having an a.m. cup of joe every once in a while to having one everyday. Which brings me to the present...

Hi. My name is Laura and I am a coffeeholic. (Hi Laura) I am addicted to coffee. I crumble if they don't have my freshly roasted coffee from Costco. My patronage to Starbucks helps keep their company afloat in these troubling economic times. I will drink coffee morning, noon, or night. I will drink coffee out socially or alone in my home. Oh coffee, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change (coffee is part of my every day routine), the courage to change the things I can (banning cheep, bitter generic coffee) and the wisdom to know the difference (Shari's is no longer acceptable!!). Yep, I'm Laura and I'm a coffeeholic. (Thanks Laura)