More Zaniness

mOre ZaNy pIctures for yOur vIewing pLeaSure!

yOu'RE weLCome!!

Morel Madness, or What Happens When Kids Fight Too Much on Christmas Vacation

Ok, so the kids had a big fight yesterday, involving a movie, pushing/shoving, and an axe. Don't ask, because I don't really want to reveal the gory (no, not literally!) details. Suffice it to say that Matt and I enjoyed a lovely dinner pas de deux. And, through the gift from a friend, dinner included some morel mushrooms. If you haven't had these, they are the best tasting mushroom evaaaaahhhhh AND they bring out MJ's mad cooking skills.

Morels, soaking in salt brine.

MJ, grilling in the shed.

Ribeye on the grill.

Black and gold and venison steaks waiting their turn.

Roast garlic parmesan potatoes. Ignore the non-self-cleaning oven in the background.

Steak dinner for two. With no kids in sight.*

*No children were harmed in the making of this blog post. They were relegated to their rooms to eat their dinners.

Oh, how I love you, Stuffed French Toast

So, with not so much cooperation from SD cards, computers, and email, and with thanks to Picasa web albums, here is a delayed post on Mamie's....

The kids and I finally convinced MJ to give our favorite breakfast haunt a try. On Christmas Eve's Eve, we set out for Martinsburg, to visit Mamie's.

Mamie's Cafe and Bakery is named in honor of the owner's grandmother, Mamie Teeter, who worked owned the Teeter Hotel and Restaurant. The Hotel used to sit on the lot adjacent to the current location of the restaurant and bakery, and a mural painted on the side of the building pays homage to the original, much as the baked goods inside are a tribute to Karen Wyland's grandmother.

Central PA favorites include monkey bread log, gobs, pies and home-made doughnuts. Breakfast is a real treat, especially if you choose to have fresh ground and brewed coffee and an Almond Joy doughnut.

On this occasion (and many others) I had my favorite - French toast, stuffed with sweetened cream cheese, topped with strawberries, pineapple and blueberries. Nom nom!

MJ is a skeptic, and not likely to take our word for yumminess until he experiences it for himself. He was surprised by the baked goods, lavishly displayed as you walk in the door, interested in the menu, and weirded out by picking out his own coffee cup and getting his own ice water. Also by the fact that I told him that the motto of the day is "Eat and Get the Hell Out" because the tables fill up quickly, and other people are waiting to taste the goodness, too.

He ordered "The Big One". He got it. 3 eggs, 2 pancakes, bacon, sausage, rye toast and no skimping on portions. He's now a believer.

Both plates are his.

Ethan got his favorite, a half-order of chocolate chip pancakes. A half-order is IN order, because of the size of the pancakes. When a tween-age boy can only eat two, you know they're big.

Meg got the special:

Reindeer Pancakes with Bacon Antlers! So cute.

Make a trip out - you will not be disappointed!

Like Mamie's on facebook - click here.

#@)(%*$@ CORDS!

ok i might start CAPSLOCKING ALL OVER THE EFFING PLACE because I cannot get pictures from my camera to my computer, nor from my phone to my computer, NOR FROM MY COMPUTER TO THIS BLOG because of a sneaky hate spiral of cord mating in my junk drawer.

I took a picture of this greatest of suburban nature's spectacles, but you won't be able to share in my joy because a tiny but apparently omg important piece of metal fell out of my camera USB port, and because my phone has decided that I don't actually mean it when I attach pictures to an email. Conveniently, I have a cord that you can attach the smart stupid phone to the computer, which would be good, SINCE THERE ARE 574 PICTURES IN THERE THAT WOULD BE NICE TO SHARE WITH OTHERS.

However, the cord to the computer is lost, I can only assume, as I took all 900 cords OUT of the junk drawer, separated them from groping each other, labeled them and put them into separate Ziploc Bags, including one labeled ??? that has a phone cord to a phone I don't use, and two AC adapters for somethings that I will need them for as soon as I GladBag them. Please, PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one taunted by wires and plugs.

sincerely,

ME

P.S. :

here is a picture of the cords copulating, obtained only by uploading a single shot to facebook, downloading from there, and re-uploading to blogger. UGH.

Disney Brings You Animal Butts

Thank you, Disney World, for allowing me to pretend I'm actually on an African safari, without all the, you know, danger and stuff.

Thank you as well for allowing me to have multiple animal butts in my scrapbook of Disney memories.

At least I didn't have to photoshop any poops out.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...at Disney!

On our annual Disney Thanksgiving celebration, we were accompanied by new victims: Grammy and Pappy!

Don't be fooled by those innocent faces of angelic grandchildren below.

Ethan and Meghan led their grandparents on a merry chase through 5 theme parks in 7 days. They were game for all kinds of shenanigans, such as thrill rides, 3d movies, and a Hawaii luau that was a balmy 42 degrees.

Grammy declined to ride Test Track a second time, though.

Shut the Door

I want to work for this company, just so I can have business cards with this logo:

There are lots of hinies that need hiding. Especially mine.

Some people don't remember to shut the bathroom door, ever.

I could use Hiny Hiders in my own house.

The Freaky Greeks, Part 2

Millie is not sure about the Freaky Greeks...

o hai! nize to meet you - i am beepsie. dey call me Millheim Belle when i iz bad.

somethink wrong with dis friend, i think.

anybody know how to spell stalker? i iz freaking out with dis creep staring at me

mom!! iz he followin us? his hooman is HOOGE!

September 11th

Meghan drew this in church this morning. She was born on September 17th of that same year. She has never known a world without September 11th.

posted from Bloggeroid

The Statuary Necropolis or The Freaky Greeks, Part 1

We live in a small town that used to be a stop on the Pennsylvania canal. When I first moved here, I wondered why there was such a concentration of antique shops; it's not particularly picturesque, but there are are at least 5 plus an antiques mall/flea market on our 10 block long main drag. At some point, and I have no APA citations to support this, I read that our town was a stop for unloading all the canal boats before the goods headed up the mountains by rail. Hence, the remnants of this confluence are the little shops that remain. At one of our three stoplights, there is a antiques business that specializes in all kinds of statuary. While they usually have a good assortment of eagles, lions, and bare butts*, it is their newest acquisition that stunned us when it showed up.

He is HUGE. Part of me is awed every time we drive by, and the other part of me giggles. Who the heck is going to put this in their yard? Seriously. I hope some museum buys it or some small town for their historical society yard. For now, we are enjoying him. I had to take a picture before someone buys him, which pretty much guarantees he'll be looking in our bathroom window from a block away for the foreseeable future.

While I was there, I found some other interesting characters:

Who doesn't want Aslan living in their 'hood?

I don't know why I'm cuddling a fish.

Don't look behind you, but that idiot is still throwing fish at us.

No, it's MY turtle!

Herp de derp!

Have a drink, dear. Oh, you're falling down the hill? My bad.

Sister, would you care to dance?

Why, yes, Sister, I would love to!

Humph. Dancing is fine for some people.

Tee hee, we can't dance! We are weird cat/sphinx/Victorian lady people!!

Foie gras, anyone?

Hmmmm....no comment!

Why, yes, they ARE adorable....wait, what are they again?

Don't ask me again! Didn't you hear me? Nevermore!

Okay, so that last one was pretty pathetic, but I'm overwhelmed by the awesomeness of these statues. As Ethan said, "Those Greeks, Mom, they were pretty freaky."

*Gratuitous butt shot: