This site will look much better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

..

And so we wrap up another successful, both food-wise and family-wise Thanksgiving Holiday. UltraMom, pro that she is, handled a 20-person sit-down Thanksgiving dinner with great dash and aplomb………….well, okay, maybe I had a “little help from my friends.”
The holiday began for UltraDad and I a week ago when UltraJimbo arrived. I do not realize just how much I miss that kid til I’ve had him back again for a few days. There is always a bit of adjustment at first. Jim seems to be under the mistaken impression that my greatest joy in life is laundry. “Got something for ya, Mom,” he cheerfully calls out, lugging in a monstrous bulging laundry-bag. Later I hear him telling sister and cousins about my laundry-obsession. “It was like drugs to her. She would come in my room, searching under stuff, in my bed, all around the corners of the room for dirty clothes.” Hmph. Blessed with a healthy sense of self, Jim also believes it will give me the greatest of pleasure to cook him his favorite meals. Well, that part is true enough.
Several days into his week-long stay, I decided to tackle the often-requested biscuits & gravy. The store only had link-sausages, but after cooking I chopped them into tiny bits to more closely resemble the ground pork sausage more traditionally used with this dish. Now for the biscuits. Usually I open one of those cans; you know, where you pull the paper off and the can pops open, always causing me to jump, even though I know its coming. Or make the recipe from the Bisquick box. But I wanted these to be really good and special. Jim suggested I call Uncle Chuck, who, according to him, makes excellent biscuits. “I do NOT need to call Uncle Chuck,” I said grumpily. “I can make biscuits.” Of course you know where this is going. The biscuits were quite terrible, probably mostly because I left out the baking powder, one of the key ingredients. Later I did ask Uncle Chuck for his biscuit recipe. “I usually just use Bisquick,” he told me.
Wednesday night nearly everyone arrived: Chuck and Joy, Billie and Patty & Patty’s daughter Kayce, Nicki, Chad & Denali, Mike, Chenoa & Chester, and Heather. I met everyone at Chin’s the local Chinese restaurant after work that night. Everyone except UltraDad, that is, who had to work all night. On Thanksgiving, more arrived. Billie & Brandi with their niece Kiana and nephew Dalton, Kathy and Kay. Of course Pat was around too. Most of the guests had motel rooms in Carlin, but Nicki & Chad stayed with Pat, while my kids stayed at our house.
I got up early to get the turkey in the oven. Everything was going fine, when I suddenly realized that UltraDad was late getting home from work. In the end, he was one and one half hours late. In the meantime, I had sent out search parties to make sure his car was still in the parking lot, which it was. It had snowed that night, and that always causes some problems. There had been a wreck blocking the road. And he had forgotten to plug his cell phone in the night before, so he couldn’t let us know. Poor guy.
As the turkey was cooking, and when there was somehow a break in must-see television football, we found time for the second annual touch football game to be played, this year, at the Carlin City Park. Heather and Brandi were team captains. Brandi won the toss and loyally selected her husband…….just kidding. She picked Jim, and Heather picked up Billie. Brandi also ended up with Mike, and Nicki, Heather with Chad and Uncle Bill. In the first five minutes of the game, Brandi had to take her niece Kiana back to my house to answer a call of nature, so UltraMom had to fill in. The strategy of both teams mainly consisted of passing the ball to Jim, though only one of the teams was actually doing this on purpose. UltraMom distinguished herself by catching several passes thrown by super-athlete Mike. The first time, I was so surprised I threw it right back at him! Once I ran for it, but didn’t get too far. My main challenge, as it turned out, was remembering what team I was on, and more than once I had to be directed back to my own team’s side. All too soon Brandi subbed back in. My team really wanted me to stay in, but someone had to create cinematic proof that we had actually played, and noone else really knows how to work my camera. But I had given the team a healthy lead, and the outcome of the game was never really in question. Also, we had Jim. We won the trophy, supplied by Billie A. Uncle Bill didn’t do too badly for an old guy, though he kept blaming his tendency to slide around on his sandal-like footwear. Chad, who had recently had his thumb’s tendons reattached, played pretty well too, but when he fumbled, I dubbed him “Thumbs,” which seemed apt. Heather, Nicki and Brandi all acquitted themselves admirably.

Most of the Football Players

Dinner went off without a hitch. My turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes & gravy and cranberry sauce were superb, if I do say so myself. Pat’s fruit salad, dips, and sweet potatoes were divine. Joy’s relish tray, complete with veggies, olives, pickles and cheese stuffed celery made good nibbling ammunition. And of course Patty’s rolls, pies, and pumpkin roll were outstanding. We were a trifle short on chairs and such, but made it work with the modern miracles of couch and TV trays. Afterwards while most of the women worked on the dishes, I went over my Japan wedding speech with nephews Billie and Mike and over travel tips with niece Nicki.
The day was rounded out with several rousing games of Catch Phrase, an early Christmas gift from Bill and Patty. I was surprised when I opened their gift to not see any sign of the giggle ball. Side note: History of the Giggle Ball: Several years ago, I included this jolly soft green ball, sporting a grinning face and striped stocking cap, in Bill and Patty’s holiday basket. The ball, when caught with sufficient force, emits an annoying series of giggles. Bill was delighted and lost no opportunity to include “Giggly” in numerous pranks and games. Patty first hid the ball from Bill, and then gave it back to us hidden in our Christmas gift. And so the tradition began. But now I was puzzled. Did I have it last after all, and had just forgotten where it was?
My team handily won the Catch Phrase game, and we received a trophy, which looked suspiciously like the touch football trophy turned around the other way. As we were playing, the lights sometimes flickered. It always turned out to be Mike & Chenoa’s dog, Chester, moving around behind the couch and moving the electrical lamp cord. Soon, we were all yelling at Chester in unison each time the lights began to strobe. Everyone agreed, however, that the highlight of the game was Aunt Joy’s “Got my haircut, its my birthday” rap, complete with dance moves.

Cousins & Cousin-in-laws

The older folks

Friday morning saw Billie & Patty, Chuck & Joy, Nicki & Chad, Kayce and Heather on the road back home. But the others we had for one more day. Uncle Billie & Aunt Brandi had promised Dalton and Kiana a trip to the movies to see “Happy Feet” if they were good, and truly I have seldom seen such easily entertained children. I was the only adult from our party, other than the required Aunt & Uncle, to come along to the movie, and I had several very good naps, interspersed with scenes of singing and dancing penguins. From the kids’ standpoint I think the movie was a success, as both Kiana and Dalton left the theater with happy, dancing feet of their own. John and Jim opted to view, instead, “Deja Vu”, which they both pronounced excellent entertainment.
At the Cranium game that evening, the boys got all the easy questions and lucky rolls of the dice. I mean, come on………they had things like “The Lone Ranger” and “Michael Jackson” to act out, while we girls had ‘quadruple bypass” and “evolution”. Yeah, they won, and got the trophy, which, for some reason, looked very familiar.
Murphy and Rowdy had great fun with all the cousin dogs: Chester, the Westie, Denali, the lab and Henry, the puppy. But, whenever it all got too exciting, and there was too much barking going on, as soon as Rowdy was taken out of the mix, it all quieted down. Rowdy kind of keeps things stirred up, but he has a charming new trick, so I think I’ll keep him, at least til the novelty wears off. When you lean down a bit and pat your lap, Rowdy will leap into your arms, and he’s getting better at it all the time. On the other hand, he has barely learned to sit, while Murphy can sit, lie down, roll over, “sleep”, sit up, stay and jump.
Saturday morning early everyone else was gone, except Jim, who was leaving after lunch. John, Jim and Pat played a dice game, while I pulled out leftovers for our dinner. Imagine my surprise to find a can of foil-topped dog food with a striped hat protruding from the corner. Curses. The Giggle Ball strikes again.
Now everyone is gone, but this year there’s no letdown. You see, in just a couple of days, Heather and I are heading to Japan, so our adventures are only just beginning. Stay tuned.

UltraMom

My “boys”

In less than two weeks, I will be leaving for Japan. But before that, I will host a big Thanksgiving dinner at my house. Most of my energy is going towards that at the moment. Also, lots of greatly enjoyed energy going into spending time with UltraJimbo, who arrived yesterday. I have been doing a little shopping and a little planning, but mostly I have been panicking. Anyone got some good travel tips for me on what I should bring, what to expect on the plane ride, and anything I should know, or that would make my trip easier or more enjoyable?
Yours, UltraMom

Moving is never fun, especially when you drag it out for over a year, as we have done. When I first moved to Nevada, I could not emotionally let go of the place in Idaho where I had lived for 3 decades. Heck, it took me about 8 months after he went to Nevada to take this new job to decide maybe it was time for me to up and join him. What if his new job didn’t work out and we wanted to go back to Howe? It’s funny how far making two mortgage payments for a year can go towards the diminishing of sentiment towards a house, however much you have loved it in the past. So, UltraMom, being the decisive and quick acting person you all know and love decided, one year after moving to Nevada, to hold a giant Moving Sale and, well, move on.
I thought I had done pretty well at planning ahead. Ads ran in the local paper for two weeks leading up to the sale proclaiming “Big Moving Sale in Howe! Lots of books, games and household items. Some furniture, farm and irrigation supplies.” I also asked a couple of friends to put up posters. And, perhaps most importantly, I arranged with my very understanding boss to take a few days off work so I could actually be there.
The sale was scheduled for the weekend, so I planned to arrive the Wednesday before. I had a lot of work to do. I had an appointment for the car in Elko at 7 AM that morning, so that, I thinks to myself, should ensure that I get an early start on my way to Idaho.
That wasn’t quite the way it went down. Since I wasn’t going home, I brought my “boys’ along, so after dropping off the car, I left on foot, equipped with gloves, hat, sunglasses and two dogs on leashes to walk the streets until such time as I should receive that call on my cell: “Your car is ready.”
I was very glad I had the hat and gloves, a little less glad I had the two poodles. There are not that many places in Elko where dogs are permitted, much less welcome. When I could no longer feel my fingers, I stopped in at another auto repair shop and sat down in their waiting room. I felt slightly silly and guilty both at the same time as I sheepishly turned down their offer of help and admitted that I had just come in to warm up. I did NOT admit that my car was being serviced at a different place!
Finally my cell phone rang, but it was not good news. “The rebuilt axle I got in is not the right one for your car. I can order another one, but not til next week.”……and so on. The upshot was I told them to go ahead and put a new one in, but another ½ hour later I got a call that the new one wasn’t right either. I would have to bring the car back next week, but there was no reason the car shouldn’t be just fine for a road trip. So, we walked back, collected the car, and were on our way by about 1 P.M. Not the early start I had been envisioning for my 6 hour drive, but, as usual, my “boys” were model travelers and we made the trip without incidence.

I left this post for about 3 days and have just returned to it, and I am amazed at my ability to string out a story, embellishing every little detail, no matter how boring, and running off on a tangent at every turn. This may be why I get bored writing about an event before I finish……….uh……..writing about it. So, today, you are going to see a new, concise UltraMom. If you are reading this out loud, be sure to read faster now.

I had arrived several days before the start of the “Sale” because I knew I had lots of work to do. Thursday morning, Bro-in-law Chuck and Bro & Sis-in-law Billie & Patty arrived to help me “clean out” the farm sheds. We pulled out rusty chains, trucking load-straps, plow parts, irrigation risers and pump oil. They set aside anything they might have a use for and we hauled the rest back to the house and attractively arranged it on the lawn to entice buyers. I could NOT have done it without them. I am also very fortunate to have several very good friends. My friend Sharon, whom I used to work with at First Security Bank (now Wells Fargo), came out Thursday afternoon and pitched right in vacuuming and cleaning as I sorted. Sharon and her husband Earl are also surrogate Grandparents to UltraJimbo. He stayed at their home many times when coming home late from a Jr High Basketball game, and tries to stop and see them when he is in the area. I was amazed when Sharon informed me she had recently celebrated her 70th birthday. What a woman! Later that night, another great friend, Debbie B, whom I used to lead Weightwatchers with in Arco, came by with Nathan, Rachel and Amy, three of my all-time favorite kids to help get stuff ready for viewing and selling.
Heather was supposed to come out, but had a very bad cold. I was distraught, but late Friday morning she called and said she was coming out after all and had just left Pocatello. She arrived 5 minutes later. This was a trick I had seen several times from her brothers, and it never failed to amuse and exasperate me all at the same time. I was inordinately glad to see her.
THE SALE
Saturday morning: a few folks stopped by, but for the most part it was pretty quiet. Finally I just started calling people and generated a few more sales that way. Chuck was invaluable help with pricing the farm stuff and answering questions.
Sunday, the second day of the sale was pretty much dead, and if anyone had showed up that evening they could have made the deal of a lifetime. Still so much stuff………..it was clear…..I WOULD BE BACK!

Two weeks later: UtraDad and I go back to hold Moving Sale Part II. In spite of my advance advertising, this goes much worse that Part I, and we finally start loading stuff up for the dump. Juliet, who runs the dump, keeps setting out our junk, so we tell her to just come by and get our stuff if she wants it. She does, so I get rid of a lot of stuff that way; stuff that is really too good to throw away, but that noone else seems to want. Juliet is a worker, and she volunteers herself and husband Dee to help transfer stuff from the house to the log cabin, where we will store it for the winter. John has put a new door on the cabin with a good lock on it. We will rent the house out for the winter to the daughter of a friend. She has three small children, and the locked door will keep them out of the cabin, and we will not have to rent a storage unit, for now at least. Most of the boxes belong to UltraJohnny and UltraJimbo, but there is a fair amount of stuff that belongs to us as well.
Patty loans me her carpet cleaner, and I am so impressed by it that I purchase one for myself as soon as I get back to Nevada. The “cat room” is especially problematic, but I go over it three times with the Carpet Machine and spray on a good half bottle of “Fabreze” and the smell seems much improved.
UDad has spent much of Saturday standing about talking to neighbors who stop by, including Lynn Haight, who was born the same year as Grandpa McDonald and was one of his closest friends. Later Udad makes time to visit another close friend, Raymond. He can’t understand why he is so exhausted; I tell him standing around talking like that is sometimes more tiring than actual work.
Home at last from his ‘visiting’, he pitches right in doing whatever I tell him. I tell him to scrub down the kitchen cupboards, one of my least favorite jobs. I don’t think he especially likes it either, but he does it well and without complaint. The couch is gone, so he goes to bed on the floor and I finish cleaning carpets and mopping floors. Monday morning we finish transferring the rest of our worldly goods to the car and log cabin. I am amazed at what UDad has been able to fit into the car, and chagrinned at the prospect of dealing with it once back in Nevada. We leave right on schedule, and as a reward we stop in Arco for breakfast.
So, there you have it: a semi-short, sort of to the point, narrative of UltraMom’s Sale. Next time, read faster.

UltraMom

Halloween went pretty much as I had planned with a few minor variations. UltraDad’s work schedule has changed; he now goes to work an hour earlier, so this necessitates an earlier wake-up. It will be nice to have him home an hour earlier as well, but there is somehow something obscene about getting up at 4:30 A.M. I don’t think my eyes are fully open until long after UDad hugs me goodbye and bravely goes out to face his 14 hour day, despite having given him breakfast and packing his lunch.
The sun comes out after a bit, and it seems so warm I decide to take my “boys” on a bike ride. I had had them in the bike basket together only one other time, but, being a fair, nondiscriminatory parent, I hate the idea of leaving one home. In retrospect, that may have been safer for all concerned. Murphy, who is supposed to be the big brother dog here, is alternately lunging about, crowding Rowdy into a corner of the carrier and climbing partially out pretending that he intends to jump. Plus, once I start riding, I find it isn’t all that warm out after all. My hands are feezing. Stopping once to rearrange and cram Murphy back inside, we ride to the City Park and stop at our favorite section, the Little League Football Field. This is a mostly-fenced in grassy area, and usually we are the only ones there. When it is occupied, even if only by caretakers mowing the lawn, I always feel a bit grumpy and (irrationally, I know) as if someone is trespassing on MY property. Today all is as it should be, and I park the bike near an entrance and unclip and extricate the dogs from their confinement. In the field I can allow them to run unleashed as I walk around the perimeter. They generally romp about in my vacinity, tackling each other and checking out all the unfamiliar smells. We also practice our “Come” command, and I find if I squat and hold my arms out in a welcoming gesture they are usually quick to run into them for praise and hugs. The ride back home goes a bit better as “we” are a bit more settled, though Rowdy does take a brief turn at trying to climb over the edge. My bike basket is actually a specially made nylon box that attaches to my handlebars. There is a clip to attach to your pet’s collar to insure that, indeed, he cannot jump, and handy pockets on the outside for leash, waterbottle and included raincover. With two dogs, I tie their leashes onto the frame giving them, hopefully, room to move around, but not room enough to leap out. I have sometimes wondered if this is very safe; if one didjump out, he would be left dangling from the basket, probably causing me to wreck the bike and kill us all, but I think the fact that they know they are tethered theoretically discourages this type of rash behavior
Back home again I put a pork roast in the crockpot for dinner (a large part of my day seems to revolve around food, either planning, preparing or cleaning up after!) and plan my costume for the day.
This is actually less a costume, and more an excuse to dress down for Weight Watchers. As mentioned before, I decide to go with a “Survivor” motiff, trying to emulate some of the participants who do wear clothes. I end up with white jeans, a white nylon undershirt with my tie-dyed blue shirt on top, beaded necklace with huge beaded earrings and a blue scarf (or ‘buff’) tied over my head.
Of course I also wear this ensemble to work at the prison, as I leave directly from there for my WW meeting. Noone remarks on my slightly strange attire until a bit later, and in a way I could not have anticipated. Joe was having a problem with the new Vellux blanket he had recently purchased and I walk down the wing to his “house” to take a look. When I get back to the store, I found that my blue head scarf had caused an amused buzz. “The guys want to know if you are now gang affiliatedr,” Travis informed me. It seems that the blue I was wearing was a color associated with the “Crips” or the “Southsiders.” “No gangs,” I say shaking my head. “Just clueless.”
It is a slow day at the store, as most of the inmates are inbetween pay cycles, so I have time to catch up on a little paperwork. At home I had not had time to carve my pumpkin, so had bring it along. At my request, Travis soon has the plain little pumpkin transformed into a happily grinning jack-o-lantern. I place a small, scented candle inside, and we turn the lights off for a few moments to enjoy the effect.
Ricky informs me that, as usual, there is a new type of illness circulating around the camp. Ever since catching double pneumonia years earlier, Ricky has been especially suseptible to viruses and has only recently recovered from the last bad bug going around. “I’m trying to spend a lot of time away from my cube,” he tells me. “Everyone there is sick. I hope we can get flu shots soon.” I hope so too. I get one every year, and have received this year’s a couple of weeks ago at a Health Fair. I really think they help.
At WeightWatchers that night, I have three member stay for the meeting. I had anticipated a low turnout, but had hoped for a few more than this! But we have a nice, informal discussion on Holiday “potholes” looming up ahead that can cause “detours” and “flat tires”. Such a clever analagy, don’t you think?
Arriving back home, I find my candy bowl still full to the brim. Either no trick or treaters had come, or they had scorned my little suckers. Great.
It is nice to have UDad home so early, but he seems even more exhausted than usual. My day, it seems has been nothing compared to his.
Fist of all, the busdriver had somehow not been informed of the change in schedule and had not arrived to take him and the others to work. When they finally do get them there, UDad is assigned to a truck at the South Area (he usually works in the North Area), but the van they were going to use to transport him has a flat tire. No tools are in the van to replace the tire, so they have to round up all that, and after waiting for maintenance for a while, he and his boss end up replacing the tire themselves. About lunchtime, he is called in to train on the “Simulator” for the newest, biggest trucks. Sounds like he got an amazinly high score, considering the terrain simulated was from the unfamiliar-to-him South Area. Finally he gets to eat his lunch in the truck while completing the rest of his work day. A stressful sounding day.
Well, November is here. In a few days, UltraDad and UltraMom head back to Idaho for one more round of Moving Sale/clearing out junk. In less than two weeks, UltraMom heads to Twin Falls for the big annual WeightWatcher Innovation Meeting. In about three weeks, everyone will be in UltraMom’s home for a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner, and in less than a month UMom and Heather will be heading for Japan and the social event of the season, Bob and Tomoko’s wedding. So why am I sitting here writing a post? Because I’ve got stuff to do, what’s why!
UltraMom