The Butt Sisters!

Appearing by popular demand, it's the BUTT SISTERS! From the left, its Baby Butt, Happy to be from Iowa Butt, and Cheesecake Maven Butt. The good Welsh genes weren't lost in our family pool and we're proud of it! Hey, we can all sing too! Bountiful Butts Unite! I would suggest playing the 45 song two blogs below and viewing this at the same time for the full, multi-sensory experience. (A 'huge' thanks to my eldest son for capturing this historical photo for all time. When he was about 2 1/2 years old, he was riding his tricycle to the park. Happy to be from Iowa and I were pushing our babies in strollers on the sidewalk ahead of him when he broke out into song in that flamboyant toddler way with, "Pick it up-2-3-4- Pick it up-2-3-4- It's a pachyderm parade, da-da da- da-da-da da!" from the Jungle Book. If you are familiar with that movie, you know the scene and can appreciate the humor in that moment! We did and we laugh about it to this day.)

Another version of Butt Boogie!

WARNING: If men with small hands bother you, DO NOT watch this video! I repeat, DO NOT watch this video!

Get ready, "Sisters J" butt photo coming your way soon!

Bertha Butt Boogie!

Okay, remember this song from our childhood? This is the song I think of when I view the "Sisters J" butt photo (to be posted soon by popular demand!)

Proof - W's an idiot (like we need proof)

In Harper's Magazine January 2008 issue is this little article about one of W's favorite paintings, one he calls A Charge To Keep. Read the article . . . what an idiot and how very apropos.

25 years later . . .

I was 19 years old 25 years ago, there were many, many things I could not have imagined, but here are the five you've asked for Melinda June and Happy to be from Iowa:

1) That my sisters and I would all morph into variations of the same being, a strange combo of Tom and Jean, some of us one more than the other, but all short and round.

2) That I would meet my life partner at the age of 20 while working for the Iowa D.O.T. and then I would get married at the age of 21, just six months after meeting him! His mom was about my age when we got married, whoa!

3) That we would have three children while he was still in grad school, and that we'd eat ramen noodles for so long!

4) That we would live in Alabama for any period of time! (spent 4 wonderful years there!)

5) That we would be raising our children in the same hometown and the same house as my own childhood, and that the house still would not be finished!

Okay, a few more . . .

I never imagined my body could change this much in just 25 years. I've somehow misplaced my waistline and can't seem to find it again no matter how hard I try, although it could have just reappeared on my butt, with exponential growth during its journey there.

That I'd be driving a minivan for this long, going on 12 years now! Three vans later!

That I would have a daughter that was the spittin' image of me as a young girl

That three of the four of us would be living in the same town!

And most of all, I NEVER would have imagined that Americans would be apathetic enough to freely give away so much of our freedom to an administration as corrupt as the Bush gang. IMPEACH NOW!

Get yer boogie on!

What a fun-filled day! I took the kids skiing from around 11:00 - 5:30, great snow, great fun! Got back home around 7:15, then headed downtown with hubby to hear one of our friends in his new band, The Benefits. WOW! They've really got some MOJO workin'! They played an eclectic set ranging from Frank Zappa (Willie the Pimp) to Don Maclean (Starry Night) to Jimmy Reeves, Buddy Holly, and some of their own with one number called The Outta Town Shuffle - by Kyrl Henderson (www.kyrl.com) - EXCELLENT! I actually got up off my chair and joined some other women for a few dances, very scary - I sweat enough these days just sittin' and tappin' a toe! I hope they play locally again soon, they were great entertainment!

I spoke too soon

Just as I hit the "publish post" button for my squash soup entry and spoke of the perfect Saturday it was shaping up to be, our black lab, Lily, vomited all over the carpet right behind my desk chair. If you are a dog owner, you know the strong gurgle sound announcing the event. If you are not a dog owner, you don't want to. Apparently, she ate too much roadkill from the looks of the remains sitting in a warm fresh pile behind me. Pet ownership, it's a love/hate relationship. She's now barking indignantly at me through the back door, demanding that I let her back inside. Not until the guys get back home! :)

Savory Squash Soup

It's a milder cold day here in Iowa, up to 20F. Compared to the last few days, that's downright balmy! The guys are out deer hunting, Warren Miller film marathon is on the TV in the kitchen, new powdery snowfall all over the ground, and squash soup is simmering on the stovetop . . . a perfect Saturday so far!

ENJOY!

Recipe makes about 2 quarts
3 ¾ lbs. butternut squash
1 ¾ lbs. acorn squash
6 TBSP unsalted butter
1 (4 ounce) white onion, finely diced
½ t kosher salt
1/8 t fresh ground white pepper
¼ t ground nutmeg
¼ t ground ginger
¼ t ground cardamom
4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock, heated
½ cup crème fraiche
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 cup brown sugar (opt)

Roasted Red Pepper Coulis also a good garnish!
2 red bell peppers
¼ cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. cut each squash in half and discard seeds
3. brush cut sides with 2 T of the melted butter, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg
4. arrange the squash cut side down in a roasting pan and bake until tender, approx. 1 hour
5. allow to cool until squash can be safely handled, then scoop out insides of squash
6. puree the flesh in a food processor, reserve. This should be about 4 cups pureed squash.
7. in medium stockpot, melt remaining 4 T butter, sauté onion, don’t allow it to brown.
8. add squash and cook over low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally. Don’t allow to bubble up.
9. Season with salt/pepper/ginger/cardamom
10. pour in stock and bring to a boil, over low heat, stirring often.
11. cook about 20 minutes
12. add the cream fraiche and rosemary sprig, warm through, remove rosemary and adjust seasonings to taste.
13. roast the pepper over flame on stove, cool and remove skins.
14. remove core and seeds and chop coarsely.
15. in food processor, puree the peppers, adding chicken stock until thick sauce consistency is attained.
16. season with salt and pepper, strain and pour into plastic squeeze bottle, serve soup with swirls of the roasted red pepper coulis.

OPTIONAL: I added ¼ cup brown sugar to the soup. We also garnished our soup with about ¼ cup crumbled cooked spicy Italian sausage. The next night, we added dollops of pesto to the soup. We also tried it with Harissa sauce/honey mixture drizzled into each bowl instead of making the red pepper coulis. ENJOY!

Incredible Installation - A MUST SEE!

Running the Numbers - An American Self-Portrait by ~chris jordan, Seattle, 2007
This link has got to be shared, and shared, and shared! We need to change how we live in this country - THIS ART INSTALLATION - CLICK HERE is simply incredible and scary and should make all of us change our lives more drastically than ever before. Thanks for showing it to me Happy to Be From Iowa!

Bomber Hat Weather!

On my sister's blog this morning she said in every corner of MN there's a bomber hat to be found. Yep, same in IA! This is my son a few years ago donning his. Stay warm everyone! Local radio just announced it has now warmed up to -17, ooooh! But this is what makes us all Midwesterners, and all just a little bit crazy! (I'm still not sick of winter, I LOVE WINTER!)

No kidding, my nephew did it!

My sister called late in the afternoon with this news, "Rex did it. He put his tongue on a traffic sign post at the library on the way to the car today. " My sister Ruth, his mom, turned around just in time to see it stretch a bit before giving way to his panicked pull away. She called me from home wondering what the heck to feed the poor guy with a new big, red, open sore on the end of his tongue; milkshakes? oatmeal? crushed bananas? I guess at this point, whatever you can get down him. I'm so glad his aunties weren't there to see it happen, that is just too sad. (But he'll never be tempted to lick a sub-zero metal post again! So glad we no longer have to worry about the metal runners on the wooden sleds!)

This little guy is a real trooper though, he'll be fine. He's one of the toughest kids I've ever known. Long story. Just trust me, he's tough. (Okay, just one part of the story is that he weighed only 1.7 lbs at birth. His head was the size of a tennis ball, and his legs were the width and length of my first finger. He's now a creative, wonderful, bright, fun, energetic rascal of a six-year-old!)

It is so cold today that . . .

The local radio station just announced that "ladies cards at the Elk's Lodge" has been cancelled today due to the cold. Now, when you start cancelling card clubs in Iowa, you KNOW its gotta be real #@^#%@$#^@ cold outside! On the flip side, my too cool for hat and mittens teenager just headed up to the bus stop in a light fleece jacket, wet hair, and his hands in his front pockets. If he were younger, the school would be calling me to let me know what a deadbeat parent I must be for not dressing my little darling for this frigid, freeze-your-boogers-in-place winter weather. But some biological shift must happen between about 5th and 6th grade. Fifth graders still wear hat and mittens (they've already shed the uncool Ralphy snowpants/boots thing), but not those very, very cool 7th and 8th graders. They must let that hair flow free, uninhibited by bulky dime store polyester blends in raucous colors. No! They must let that neck be free and feel the wind (windchill today -15) not to be choked in a oh-so-old-school scarf of multi colors, and show that new shirt with the cool logo on it, hey, it might look good with frostbite just above the collar. But we love 'em! We love them, and we send them to school with a kiss and hug and a full belly (on the good days, Carnation Instant Breakfast on others), and we know they will weather this storm called teen years, we all did. Not gracefully, but we did it.

Just added another STAR TO MY CROWN!

Okay, you can sing it as you read this entry sis. Just returned from the 5th grade orchestra/band concert at which they played over THIRTY short variations of songs we all know and love to hate. I could have left after the orchestral performances of said variations, but like the extreme martyrs we all become as parents of grade schoolers, I couldn't bring myself to walk out on band kids. So, 90 minutes later and trying to pull ourselves out of the crowded seating (my legs were even cramped and I've got an inseam of about 22!) we congratulated all our children on a great performance and boosted their self esteem enough to get them to stick with it until spring. So yes, all the parents in attendance tonight earned a star in their crown and they won't have to wonder, "will there be any stars, any stars in my crown?"

Feeling better every minute!

Now that I've gotten some protein in my body (a bowl of plain chicken broth with an egg dropped in it for the protein part) and my first cup of joe since Saturday morning, I'm feeling much better. Just wiped down all the door handles with bleach, changed out the toothbrushes, laundered the sheets, and put the straight-jacket back in the closet. That should hold us for about, oh, . . . a day. Let's do the math - three kids in school, multiply by 100 kids per grade for a new total of 300, multiply by number of people in average family for new total of 1200, mulitply by number of times no one washes their hands but still goes grocery shopping and touches the handles of all those grocery carts or phones or bathroom doorknobs equals, well, a number larger than I can imagine or have room to print here. Well, you get the picture, we'll be seeing colds and flu here again soon at this rate. Wishing you all a very happy, healthy 2008!

First official blog entry for this slacker mom!

Okay, so this is my first official blog. For several weeks now my blog has just been a big black hole in internet space, I've finally gotten around to playing with it. All it took was a bout of the worst case of the flu I've ever had in my life. So today, instead of doing work of any kind, I'm taking a day of rest and blogging and eating a little more than bananas and applesauce. My daughter has a 5th grade orchestra concert tonight so I must rally by then and shower by 6:30. I'll sneak in the back door and sit way up in the balcony section hoping not to be seen, I'll look like death on a cracker. My skin hasn't seen daylight since Saturday afternoon and my bones are like rubber. Wish me luck!