Crabby Cook

Crabby Cakes from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

Here Comes The Sun

After what has seemed like an exxxxxx-tended winter, a warm sun filled the back yard. I discovered the trampoline that we gave Charlie for his fourth birthday also makes a delightful backyard nap pad. It wasn't long before a certain little princess joined me for a sunshine snuggle...

News

I just can't take it anymore.

I can't bear to watch the news. I've prided myself on being an aware person. I've always enjoyed the routine of the daily newscast. Since moving to Wyoming, I've awakened to the NPR broadcast each morning. As I rolled around town, I'd listen for the top of the hour id. That routine provided a dual purpose that stemmed from my college radio station days; I could tell the time and catch the latest news from around the U.S. I'd turn on the national broadcast and could often catch both CBS and NBC broadcast due to a half hour stagger on the schedule. I would often be up until the 10 pm local broadcast from the big city across the border to the north and would marvel at the rotating door of just-out-of-college broadcast journalism newbies that would be honing their newly graduated skills. I would often flip the channel to the PBS station and catch the BBC broadcast if the local news wasn't exciting enough. Over the last eight years I would steel myself in preparation for the language gaffe that was regularly broadcast by the last Chief Executive. I know those days are over and I'm grateful. But...

But I just can't watch the news right now. I find myself going through my daily online routine... Salon.com, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, SF Gate and I just have to stop. Much like the Rocky Mountain News, which ceases publication after this Friday, I'm out of business. I just can't do it right now. I'm depressed and the news is even more depressing than I am. I don't have a mutual fund, a 401K, or anything beyond a pile of bills and an inconsistent work situation. I do have a corner lot with a little house that has family in it, a college education, some volition... but now I'm wondering if that is enough.

And, according to the news... it's not. So, I'm clicking off for a while. Call me an ostrich, that's fine. I would say "bawk... bawk" but I'm not sure what sound a ostrich even makes. I still have faith. I still have hope. But I just need a little distance.

Lenten Concert Series 2009

Blindfolded Cookery

I don't know what it is about being tired and cold and hungry, but it makes for some interesting lunch.

On today's menu... mystery soup. It was kind of like cooking with a blindfold on, reaching into the 'fridge and turning on the gas.

A couple of days ago I browned a package of sirloin tips with garlic, diced red pepper and a little olive oil. I would have added some onion, but I couldn't remember where I last saw the onion that I bought last week. I put the nice smelling mixture in the crock pot with a cup of turkey stock I'd made and froze a couple of weeks ago and a cup of cooked barley. I found about a cup of browned Italian sausage from Sunday's pizza making and tossed that it as well. I set the whole concoction on low for a few hours and put it in the 'fridge overnight. And then I forgot it.

So, this morning, I was up at 5 to teach and, instead of being hungry at noon, I started feel a might peckish. It's not quite lunch time now but my feet are frozen and I'm even hungrier. Back to the 'fridge I went, grabbing the barley-beef-pepper soup, some beef stock, a can of tomato sauce, a can of Ro*Tel tomatoes and peppers, and what is left of the chicken chimichanga with rice from my birthday dinner last Monday. In the soup pot it has all went and now it is simmering on the stove, awaiting a topping of shredded cheese and crunched tortilla chips.

I'm not sure what exactly to call it because "Unfreeze My Feet Soup" just doesn't roll off the tongue. But, it is quite good and I have enough for company...

Recipe

As I was trying to take a nap yesterday afternoon I was lamenting that I had no plans for dinner. I guess the wheels in my brain started turning because while listening to BeauSoleil on Prairie Home Companion, I came up with the following recipe.

BeauSoleil Stuffed Prairie Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 sour cream
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 -2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh spinach, julienned
1 glass white wine
1/2 thinly sliced onion
1/2 large sweet potato, grated
2 tablespoons olive oil

Using a meat tenderizer, pound boneless breasts flat as the prairie. Mix next five ingredients. Spread a thin coating of the cream cheese mixture on the chicken breast, roll up breast and place in a baking pan that has been buttered. Lay rolls of chicken breasts side by side in pan. Pour glass of white wine. Pour half over chicken breasts. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Reserve other half of wine for sipping while chicken bakes. Toss onions and sweet potatoes with olive oil. Top chicken with onion & potato mixture. Cover dish and bake in a 375° oven for 40 minutes or until chicken is firm and juices run clear. Remove chicken from oven and allow to sit 5-10 minutes. Lift each rolled & stuffed breast onto the plate and slice to reveal a beautiful sunrise...

40

So, that day has finally arrived. I knew it would get here. I've tried to decide if I should prepare myself for it, or if I should just ignore it. Normally, I'd give myself plenty of opportunities to fixate, to mull, to obsess. Lately, though, it's been too hectic in my world; children in school, birthday cakes to bake, laundry to fold, and the general day and night routines. I continued to think I would have plenty of time to prepare, to focus my thoughts and get my over-stimulated brain in the right place. But it didn't happen and here came the day with no noticeable preparation.

I'm now 40.

What? When? Well, officially on February 16. How did this happen? I just don't know.

There was a time, and there shouldn't be offense taken by anyone reading this, when I was little that 40 was, well, OLD. It was even older than "grown up" or "mature". I'm not sure where that notion came from, but it may have to do with my family. My father was an "older" father. In reality he was 45 when I was born in 1969. On each of his birthdays, from the time I knew to ask, I'd say "Dad, how old are you now?" His reply would always be "thirty-nine" and I always believed him. I never figured he was a fibber or that his age wasn't what he said it was. Thirty-nine seemed like a reasonable number to me and, though it was older than most of my classmates' fathers, it was just fine by me.

But now, here I am. I am exiting the age that my dad always claimed to be and embarking on a new decade. I'm dragging along my small children and husband along for the ride.

Chock Full of Sweethearts

Happy Valentine's Day from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

What I've Learned From THIS Four Year Old

Today, my little Charlie is four.

He was lifted into the world during a record-breaking delivery day in Billings, Montana, during a snowstorm. No one could come to see him in the hospital except for his grandmother, father and mother, due to a Whooping Cough, Influenza and RSV outbreak.

He was nearly three times the size of his sister, being born at 6 pounds, 10 ounces.

He has the names of Scott's father (Charles, though only known as Buzz) and my father's middle name, Ragnvald. We should have immediately started calling him "Rags" or stuck with "Buster". When I ask him if he's still my baby he says "No, I'm CHARLIE".

Since he's had hair, it's been shocking, Billy-Idol-white. Why do boys always get this do when I have to pay for that color?

His Nemo swim trunks are size 12 months. This is the fourth year he's been wearing them.

He now hollers at the barking Psychopoodle "Awwwwww, SHUTH UPpppp" in a perfection imitation of Sylvester.

His patron saints are Goofy, Mickey, and Donald.

He loves his strider bike. He looks for all the bumps to bump da bump de bump.

He had his first visit to the dentist last Wednesday and attempted to abscond with all the equipment. He especially liked the water spouter-thingy.

His willfulness is astounding. I haven't heard him say "my way or the highway" yet, but I know he's thinking it.

He calls his sister "Ta-Ta". She calls him "CharrrrReeee".

He's not a vegetarian. He might be considered a green beantarian, a peanut buttertarian, a sausagetarian, frutarian or a fromagatarian. He also love pistachios.

He can hear the train coming 5 minutes before anyone else can. He also turns down the music when his dad turns it up. I am waiting to see if he can predict earthquakes like his grandfather Jon Justad. I think we may have a sound engineer in our future.

He now can operate his own "geee-mote".

He loves the cats in our house. He seems to be without opinion about the dog when it's not barking.

He wears custom-knitted delights from his grandmother and his friend Zipper.

He has names for all his pants, including Diego, Mickey, Bob the Bilker, Mater and Apple pants.

He used to call his grandmother "PeePaw" but now calls her "Gramma".

He can operate a mouse.

He has made our family complete.

Toffee

A friend asked me for a recipe today and so I took it as an opportunity to try something new. I put together a recipe card, with a photo of a batch of the toffee that I made this afternoon. I turned the InDesign file into a PDF and then lobbed it back to being a Jpeg so that I could post it here and on Facebook. I then reworked it and just exported it as a Jpeg for upload directly to the blog. All for a dinky little candy recipe...

I'm feeling a little too geeky right now, so I guess I'll go fold some laundry...

Birthday Slippers

birthday slippers, originally uploaded by Scott & Justine fromWyo.

Three out of four people in this house were tired of hearing me complain about my cold feet this week.

These ruby slippers were an early 40th birthday present.

There's no place like home...

Freestyle Sewing

So, I'm stuck in the house.

The sun is out a little, but it is still not terribly pleasant outside. I found a scrap of fleece and unearthed the sewing machine for a little engineering/freestyle designing.

I tried to duplicate/modify the design on a freebie balaclava we've had around the house for awhile. I used one of Charlie washable markers to sketch out the design on the fleece, minus one piece and this is what I came up with...







It's not perfect or windproof, but it was free, is keeping my neck warm right now and occupied a half hour of my otherwise ho-hum day.

brrrrr.... & grrrr....

Today's complaints:

My back hurts...
I just had to help dig my car out of the driveway after a big, icy drift developed overnight.

My front hurts...
See above complaint.

I just poured the last hot cup of coffee.
We are out of half and half.

Yesterday it was 18 below zero. Today it's 22 above.
There is just no consistency in this world.

And, in the amount of time I've taken to write this, my cheeks have started to thaw and they STING!

I wonder who is hiring in Hawaii?

Similar Minds

Okay, obviously First Lady Michelle Obama and I were of the same mind when it came to color selection for Inauguration Day. And, we were probably getting dressed at the same time, as she dressed in a gorgeous Isabel Toledo ensemble and I put on my shirt from Target at 4:30 MST this morning.

Coincidence?

No, just two women ready to spend the day glowing...

A Lovely Day For An Inauguration

I am not there in person, but I'm parked in front the television. Our flag is flying and a beautiful day awaits the beginning of a new era.

We took this photo first thing this morning, after I got back from working early this morning, teaching English in Korea, explaining to my student the process and promise of the Inauguration today. It was probably 16 degrees when I was hanging the flag from the ladder that I later used as a tripod/quadpod. The forecast today is for a clear day with a high of forty-four degrees, obviously to correspond with the Inauguration of the Forty-fourth President.

To all this I say...only and thankfully in America.

Ramblings On A Congressional Vote

I used to think -- in fact I used to know -- that most everyone in public service was there due to credentials and experience. From a young age I had convinced myself that the person elected to public office knew things -- important things -- that either I didn’t know due to my own lack of intelligence or lack of experience. Now, based on the past 8 years and most recently the last couple of days, I know that I was wrong. Just because someone has been elected to something doesn’t mean that they are in possession of more knowledge, experience or common sense than I have and that is a disappointing realization with which to grapple.

Since the November election, I’ve spent some time reflecting on the last eight years and what I find to be a rough and uncomfortable era. I’m happy it is passing. I am glad to know that I won’t have to await the broadcast of national news with trepidation. I spent the last many years ready for the squirm that would come when I would hear the latest dreadful gaffe by an elected official who’d obviously forgotten how to speak English. Was it inability or just blatant disregarded for our language’s rules, much like the rules of fair play and help for the common man that were also disregarded? I am not so foolish as to think that the president-elect’s language won’t be picked apart for “-isms” but I look forward to an era of eloquence in speech that I have sorely missed.

A recent experience did snap me out of my dreamy stupor of what is to be when the Oath of Office is administered. The vote on the SCHIP legislation came to the House of Representatives and the Wyoming representative, who certainly did not go into office with any mandate, voted against it. She replaces a painfully ineffectual representative who barely hung onto her seat in the last election go-round and the freshman representative is now at odds with the majority. She took the opportunity to vote against legislation that would help thousands of children receive state-funded health coverage as well as reauthorizing the program for the many that are currently covered. She referred to it, on our neighboring state’s 10 o’clock news as “another entitlement program hijacked by the Democrats”. Nice. Not only is this newbie representative slamming the existing program that has proved so beneficial to so many, including my children, but she is equating other elected officials with... terrorists? Nice, again. Great entrance into the circles of power and a beautiful effort on her part to propagate the climate of fear that has been the hallmark of the departing administration. I guess she is remembering that the expansion was vetoed twice by Bush and is continuing the policies of the departing power that is willing to send billions of dollars to failing industry, not require culpability in the lavishly compensated executives, but say that expanding the health insurance of children provided by the states is too much of a financial burden. The conservative Representative of the state to our north voted in FAVOR of SCHIP. Do his constituents know that he’s now being equated with hijackers? Maybe there was a need to wrestle this to the forefront of the session and not give the lame duck Chief Executive an opportunity to jackhammer the bill again. In the Representative from Wyoming’s depiction, insuring children against illness and injury, so that they can become productive, tax-paying citizens is another "entitlement" ripe for derision, but looking out for the interests of mineral producers and privatizing Social Security is of far more importance than our children's well-being. I know what drives the economy of Wyoming, I know what her priorities appear to be, but there comes a time and an opportunity to take care and help one’s own state and those most in need of the benefits of coverage. Could there be better way to do this than reauthorize and expand a program that will help the young of Wyoming become the productive workforce that will continue to benefit this state? If the Representative has a better solution, she is not shouting it loud enough to advocate for the young of this state.

I could proceed to quote studies about the benefits of early wellness intervention and the ability for a family to know they can have medical access before a small problem or illness snowballs into an expensive, uninsured visit to the emergency room that might leave them bankrupt or worse, uninsurable. I would think that a candidate and, now Representative, who counted on the support of the pro-life voters would understand that health care and support of the young doesn’t end with the avoidance of abortion and a live birth. I’ll spare you the quotation of studies and statistics, but I will mention the logic of a good friend, a priest in this community, who called the Wyoming Representative in DC to recommend her vote in support of the bill by saying she had seen, in the schools, in the lives of her neighbors and friends, the benefit of health coverage for those young children that are most in need; those healthy children will become healthy and productive members of society. I would think that all are deserving of that opportunity to thrive and should not be scolded for being too much of a burden.

The good news is that SCHIP was reauthorized and expanded. With broad bipartisan support, the House of Representatives approved the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), H.R. 2, by a vote of 289 to 139. This is an exciting first step toward ensuring that states have the resources and authority they need to enroll millions of low income pregnant women and children in comprehensive, affordable health coverage. If there is ever a worthy “entitlement” it is certainly the health of this state's children. With the reauthorization and expansion of the program, I do hope that our new administration will see clear of those that come to the halls of power bearing grudges and looking narrowly at the future. And I certainly hope that those in Wyoming will make their hopes and requirements for the future known to the new Representative in Wyoming so that we don’t have two more years of special interest focus without a bat of the eye to those most in need. I would encourage you, no matter where you may live, to call your Senators and insist that they vote an enthusiastic YES to reauthorize the SCHIP program.

Feeling Nordic

Feeling Nordic, originally uploaded by Scott & Justine fromWyo.

With all this snow around, I'm feeling kinda Nordic today...

Banzai!

Banzai!, originally uploaded by Scott & Justine fromWyo.

There were no classes for Charlie and Augusta today, so we went to Homesteader Park for some sledding on a sunny but snowy day.

Charlie's New Train

Charlie's New Train from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

Where's Charlie

For those of you that wonder what we do on those days when it's ZERO DEGREES, this one is for you...



Where Is Charlie? from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.