You know you're a neat freak when...

...your idea of a fun weekend is helping your Dad clean out the garage.

This past weekend I went down to Dad's and we tackled the garage. He had done a good bit of prep work on it, but I'm not sure he was really ready to take the ultimate cleaning mantra seriously: Less is more.

I've become a real fan of the Zen organizing method of eliminate, simplify, organize. This works well for me in so many areas of my life, but I know it can be kinda harsh for people who aren't as fastidious. We went through boxes, bins and bags, piles and heaps, drawers and shelves. Everything was evaluated, then only what was useful was dusted off and given a new home. I'm pretty sure there were a few times when even my mild-mannered Dad wanted to shout "No, I haven't used it in the past year, I don't know when I'll use it in the future. I want to keep it just because, okay?"

But when all was said and done, he now has a very tidy and spacious garage where he, wonder of wonders, can actually park his car!

The Craigslist Curb Alert heap-o-stuff that lined the driveway was pretty impressive. What was even more impressive was how much of that stuff was picked up by the next day! This picture is actually just the stuff that could be reused. There ended up being a whole other pile of garbage to haul out to the curb Sunday night.

Warning: Politcally Charged Issue Below

I have to admit, I have not closely followed this hub-bub about the "Mosque" at Ground Zero. I've heard snippets about it on the radio and read blurbs in the newspaper. But I just don't see what the big deal is. I can't make the jump from a few extremist using planes as weapons of mass destruction to all Muslims being the monsters under our country's bed. Olbermann put it way better than I could, but even before I saw this clip, I thought to myself "In trying to block this cultural center, aren't we becoming exactly the enemy that we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan?"

(Oh, and in case Dad is reading this, you know I don't have TV, so I'm not even sure who this Olbermann guy is: Right or Left, Republican or Democrat I have no idea. I don't pick teams, I pick logic, and his argument makes sense to me)

P.S. Thanks to Alana for bringing this clip.

Housekeeping, Hats and Hugs

Last weekend I decided to revive a habit that I developed when I was living in Pawcatuck: comb through all my belongings and cull out things that I don't want, need or enjoy. I don't shop much, but it seems like Stuff just makes its way into my house. I'm not exactly sure where this attitude came from, but I find that having a lot of Stuff brings me a lot of stress. I see the books sitting unread on the shelf and feel anxious. I see the kitchen supplies that I literally have not touched since I unpacked them and feel anxious. In just a quick sweep of the apartment I found 6 canvas tote bags worth of Stuff to donate! Stuff is denoted with a capital "S" and italics because in my mind it takes on its own personality and becomes almost like a presence in my life... an unwelcome, annoying presence. Like someone microwaving fish in the kitchen at work. As opposed to just regular stuff that sits around and minds its own business.


I toyed with the idea of purging the craft room, but decided that I should wait until after I finished all my holiday crafting. Whatever is left after December is fair game for the chopping block...


A few more hats have found their way off my needles. The red hat came out a bit larger than expected, mainly because I didn't knit a swatch and just guessed about how many stitches to cast on. I'm thinking I may try to felt it a bit, just to resize it.

In an attempt to be spontaneous, I made this striped hat with random bits of pink yarn. The biggest challenge for me was not falling into the habit of changing colors every third row. When it comes to crafting, and various other parts of my life, randomness is a forced behavior for me. I tend to lean towards structure and organization (shocker, I know).

The blue rolled-brim hat was super quick to knit since there was no carrying over of multiple colors. But I didn't read the directions very carefully (I was supposed to use a smaller needle for the rolled part) so the brim is a bit looser than it should be. Still, I think if I iron it a little it should keep its form alright.

On Tuesday my super-hero of a friend, John, stopped by on his way to his new post in Hawaii. He rocked Navy dive school and is now off to work with the Navy Seals. When I first met John, 15 years ago at Camden County High School, he was a scrawny theatre freak with long hair. I never would have pegged him as going into the military, but it seems to suit him well. Harley was excited to have a guy in the house, but showed amazing restraint. I've worked with her to train her to keep her paws on the floor and off of humans, so John had to really coax her into giving him some sugar.

Care Package #35: Crunchy Bars

I have been trying to find a crunchy granola bar recipe. Something with the texture of a Nature Valley granola bar. This one comes the closest so far, but I think if I make it a wee bit thinner (spread it out in a larger baking sheet) than it might just fit the bill...

Kinda Crunchy Bars

3.5 TBS peanut butter
6 TBS honey
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS brown sugar
3.5 C old fashioned oats
.3 C dried cranberries
.3 C slivered almonds
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9" x 13" baking pan with parchment paper, leaving two ends long. Warm the peanut butter, honey, vanilla and brown sugar in a pan until the peanut butter has thinned. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Slowly pour the melted mixture over the dry ingredients, stirring well to make sure everything gets coated. Press the mixture into the pan, using the long ends of the parchment paper. Bake for about 25 minutes, remove from oven and let cool, then cut into bars.

Brian has been super busy with the next round of medical training classes. Hopefully being busy will make the last part of the deployment fly by for him!

Care Package #34: Chocolate Almond Oaty Bars

I decided to get a little creative this week, and sorta wing it on a new bar recipe. They turned out okay, but a little dense.

Chocolate Almond Oaty Bars

4 C old fashioned oats

1 C wheat germ

1 C wheat flour

1 C white flour

1 C brown sugar

.5 C cocoa

2 eggs

.5 C applesauce

.5 C vegetable oil

4 tsp vanilla

.25 C water

1.5 C slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9" x 13" pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients (except almonds). Mix the wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in wet mixture. Mix well, add almonds and spread into the pan, patting well.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars before they cool completely.

I realized that I have several of the larger APO boxes that I hadn't used yet. So on top of the bars, I also sent along Pop-Tarts, Nature Valley Granola Bars, and Pudding Packs. I mean, who wouldn't want puddin'?

Emotions

I know it has been a while since I've written about anything besides crafting and baking. What can I say, I've been really busy crafting and baking!

I had an awesome visit with sister last weekend. We totally vegged out and watched hours of NCIS. I knit the whole time and managed to finish two hats and start a third (but since this post is not about crafting, you're just going to have to wait for pictures). As all relationships are wont to do over time, Joy and I have had our share of highs and lows. I would like to think that we're starting to recover from the latest rocky patch and are now feeling more like sisters again. This makes me really happy and really really grateful. My sister is my oldest friend: I've known her all my life. When we're on the outs, I feel deep down inside like I'm missing something. Most of my earliest memories are of things that we did together (like sledding, summer vacations, swimming at Hopeville Pond) or to each other (playing Fireworks (seriously, don't ask), giving each other hair cuts, and other more embarrassing things that I'll hold on to until I need some serious blackmail). So the fact that we were able to spend almost two whole days laughing, talking, teasing, joking and, most importantly, not fighting or instigating, is awesome.

So that was last weekend. This weekend, one of my dearest and closest friends is coming to visit before he gets shipped off to his new station in Hawaii. John and I met at Camden County High School in 1995, but didn't really get close until we both went to Piedmont College. College was a great time in general, but specifically because of all the wonderful friendships that I made there. I didn't know it at the time, but these are people who have loved and supported me in so many different ways over the years. John is the kind of guy who will give you the shirt off his back without you even having to ask, or drop everything to be by your side when you lose a loved one. I'm not the least bit surprise that he's succeeding so well in the Navy. He went into the very challenging Dive Program and kept up with guys 10+ years younger than himself. I'm so proud of him and know that he is going to do outstanding in this new career. But I'm also really sad because he's going to be so far away. Luckily, I know that distance alone would never be enough for him to fall out of my life. Plus, now I have a really great excuse to go visit Hawaii!

Last week I auditioned for the Cultural Affairs Department's production of "Steel Magnolias." It has been years since I've done theatre and I thought it would be a fun distraction for the remainder of Brian's deployment. I've been trying really hard not to start counting the days until Brian comes home. Really, it's easy to not count the days, because I still don't have an expected DATE, but I have started estimating the weeks! Sometimes the Universe has a very gentle hand when it reminds us of our limits. I was only slightly surprised to feel relief when I got the email that I was not cast in this show. I mean, really, what was I thinking?! I am already non-stop busy from 6AM to 10PM almost every day of the week! How did I think I'd be able to fit in 12 hours/week of rehearsal on top of everything else without having at least a minor breakdown? Still, it was fun to audition again...

Dad is doing outstanding on his Seminary classes. He just wrapped up another session and will be coming to visit over Labor Day weekend before he jumps back into another series of classes. I am so proud of the work that he's doing to reach his goal! It really goes to show that it's never too late to chase a dream.

On a final note, I've been thinking a lot about the stuff that I have in my apartment. Anyone who has visited knows that I'm far from being a pack rat. But as I was dusting last week I realized that I have several books that I either have not read or have no plans of reading again. That got me to looking around and I saw in various places, things that I just don't use. I did a lot of purging before this move, so I guess I assumed that whatever I brought with me was stuff that I really wanted/needed. I'm starting to realize that may not be true. This weekend I plan on doing my semi-annual Goodwill scavenger hunt: trolling through all the shelves, closets, boxes and bins to pull out things that I don't want to maintain anymore. I think that I may even look at donating some of my craft supplies. But we'll see... baby steps.

The Mad Hatter strikes again!

There is something so rewarding about being able to start and finish a knitting project within just a few days. I think that's why I'm hooked on hats at the moment.


I really love this simple, striped pattern. Switching colors every two rows keeps it from getting too boring and shows progress quickly. I'm sure there will be more color combinations coming soon...

This hat was a pattern I found on Ravelry and thought "That's really cute. I could totally make that!" So I did!
I think I'll play around with a few more brimmed hats. They just add a little extra umph to what would be an otherwise rather boring hat. And I just love the way cables look. Not that I think I'm ready to make a cable knit sweater or anything. Like I said, I'll stick with hats for a while!

I have another hat in the works, but I don't want to spoil it by giving you a peek. Trust me, it will be done very soon!

Care Package #33: Berry Tropical Fruity Bars

I decided to try another variation on the totally awesome Oasis Fruit Bar recipe. This snack is so good that I have to wrap it up as soon as it cools so that I don't keep nibbling and end up eating the whole thing!

Batter Mixture:
1/2 C brown sugar
3 TBS butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix all ingredients together well with a hand mixer.

In a separate bowl, add a total of 3 C dried fruit and 2.5 C chopped nuts with 1 TBS whole wheat flour (the flour keeps the fruits from sticking together). For this batch, I went with a tropical-berry flavor: mango, pineapple, papaya, cranberry, blueberry and fig. For nuts I used slivered almonds and chopped walnuts.

Mix the batter with the fruits and nuts, press into a 9" x 13" pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 325 for 35 minutes. Allow to cool, cut into bars and wrap for shipping.

Care Package #32: Whole Food Bars

I have been wanting to try this recipe for months, but I kept forgetting to soak the almonds the night before. Well, I finally remembered and I love the way these bars turn out! The other nice thing, especially considering the heat wave we've been having, is that they are made in the food dehydrator instead of the oven.

Whole Food Granola Bars

2 C raw almonds
1 C applesauce
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1.5 C water
1.5 C dried figs
.5 C dried cranberries
.5 C chopped prunes
.5 C raisins
.5 C chopped walnuts
.5 C whole wheat flour
5 C old fashioned oats
honey or molasses for sweetener

Soak almonds in water for at least 6 hours. Remove almonds skins and drain water. In a blender combine almonds, applesauce, cinnamon and water. Thoroughly process the mixture then pour into a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix. Plop 1/4C of dough onto parchment-lined dehydrator trays. Flatten to about 1/2inch thick and shape into bars. Dry until bars are hard, allow to cool, then package.

You can use any combination of dried fruits or nuts that you'd prefer. I'm going to try this one again, but replace the applesauce with mashed bananas (and maybe even another batch with peanut butter!). Enjoy!