On Blabbering (or Blabbering on)

When Safety Man thinks I use too many words to make my point he will, sometimes, tell me that I'm blabbering. He says it jokingly, but I think it's insulting. Today, however, I'm embracing the word and will be blabbering on about whatever comes to mind.

This is Joe.

 

Tomorrow is Joe's 17th birthday. 17 is so old for a kid!  Boys, back in the day, joined armies at 17. Alone they ventured west, immigrated across oceans and marched out into the harsh world to conquer and became men. Joe will not be doing any of that - yet - but he is prepping for the SAT, tweaking his resume and filling out applications to get a job. Every Saturday he's up before dawn to head off to the mountain to snowboard. The kid is growing up like all children do. He'll be out of the house and college bound in less than two freakin' years. We all know how fast that'll go. Pretty soon the past will be one big parental blur. I find myself staring at him now, even trying to hang out with him, attempting to soak him all up before he leaves. He hates this and thinks I'm weird.

This is Lily.

Lily's social life could be the envy of any celebrity party girl. There's gymnastics, birthday party's, weekend sleepovers with a huge posse of girls, football and basketball games, cheer leading tryouts, track and school. She needs her own personal secretary. Oh wait..... Her personal secretary can't imagine what it will be like when she's 16. Well, I can imagine it. It just scares the Hell out of me.  When she gets her license and sits behind the wheel I may never see her again. Poof. Here one minute, gone the next. For now, however, she's safely (s)trapped in the car with me while I chauffeur her to and from her too numerous activities, giving me plenty of time to catch up and debrief. So I don't complain about the drives (usually). I love them (usually). And her.(usually)

This is Kicks.

I love my dog. He's perfect, as I've said before. Because of this affection, I've made a major dietary change for him. For the past 10 years, he has gotten a lot of indulgent treats from my kitchen. He has dined on prime rib bones left over from Christmas, bacon and sausage grease from breakfast, left over steak from dinner...you get the idea. He LOVES us fat. But I recently read that fat is very bad for dogs. It poisons their pancreas. Oopses. After learning this, I went for a walk with a friend who coincidentally volunteered that her dog died after they gave her some fatty chicken skin, like they had for years. Too much fat said their vet. No more fat for my pooch! Poor Kick's doesn't understand the deprivation. He's sad and confused. Substituting chicken jerky dog treats in lieu of bacon grease slathered all over his dog food is far from his expectations. Not the same nosh at all. But alas, I want him to be around for many years to come so I'm cracking down and standing strong in my resolve to be a better pet owner. (Now I wonder what all that bacon is doing to my pancreas?....)

This is Granola
 

I've been making granola lately since my friend, Lori gave me a jar of her homemade stuff at Christmas. It's easy to do and very delicious, even healthy. Here's the recipe. Lily can't live without it.

Preheat oven to 300°. Combine 1 large beaten egg white, 3 cups old-fashioned oats, 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (such as almonds, pistachios, pecans, or walnuts), 1 1/2 cups coconut shavings, 1/2 cup agave syrup, 1/4 cup olive oil or warmed coconut oil, 1/4 cup sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon in a large bowl; toss to combine. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake granola, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and dry, 40-45 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet (it will crisp as it cools).

Mix in 1 cup dried cherries or cranberries. DO AHEAD: Granola can be made 2 weeks ahead. Store airtight at room temperature

This is today.

 

 

It's gray today like it often is this time of year but travelling back and forth into town I've been appreciating the cold beauty. I took these pictures on my way to pick up the kids from school.

It's not this:

 

 

But it ain't this either:

 

It's just gray.

 

 

Blog Note:

 

Last year I did quarterly family updates because it was an efficient way of spreading the abundant family news. But this year, so far, no one is pregnant, there are no weddings planned and only Ben is graduating this spring. I don't see a lot of other big news down the pike so I'm suspending the quarter synopsis's until needed. 

 

That is all the blabbering I can do for now. I'm off to deliver the kids to Gymnastics & SAT prep class then I'm watching Downton Abbey with my sister.
Cheerio!