Daily Chat Showing 4,451-4,500 of 13,123

[Brenda]

Yep, love it as well. :) The applesauce cake sounds yummy Kathy.

[Joy]

I didn't know "no worries" was an Australian expression - good to know. I like it too! :)

[[deleted user]]

Good afternoon everyone! I'm a little late today. We're getting everything ready for the two Japanese students we will be hosting this week.

The Iowa weather has been too bizarre -- 50's yesterday and 80 today. And more rain. :( My husband is heading off to LA in another hour; he can take the rain with him.

Have a great day! :)

[Paula]

No Christine today?? Is she off battling evil forces again?

And now... all I can think of is Hayes' bread. Sounds scrumptious!

I have a few online friends from the south, and they are all just super sweet. I also have a co-worker from the south, and I agree - she has a way of saying "Bless her heart..." that makes it sound so endearing. She once said about someone, "Bless heart, she just isn't real smart, is she?" And the way she said it made you want to hug the other girl and say "No, she really isn't" and then have a group hug and a cup of tea.

If I had even hinted at someone else's lack of intelligence I would have just sounded plain ol' mean!

[Ronyell]

Kathy wrote: "Hayes, your bread sounds delicious! At the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning, I bought an applesauce cake with raisins and caramel icing. Can you say yummmmmmmmmmm! I gave most of it to my dau..."

Mmmm... your applesauce cake sounds really great Kathy!!

[[deleted user]]

I'm here, Paula! I've had a bad day so I have kept my grumpy attitude to myself. But, did you see??? The Bears play the Packers on Monday Night football next week. I have my face-to-face bookclub, but I am assuming that the host will reschedule it. At least I hope she will.

Tomorrow I plan to be more chatty and less crabby. See ya' then!

[Paula]

Sorry to hear that, Christine :(

I mean, both about the grumpy day and about a bookclub being scheduled during such an important football event?! Who knew the Bears and Packers would both be 2-0 going into that game?! I have to work until 7pm and have a one-hour commute, so am trying to finagle my way into getting off early so I'm home by kickoff!!

Hope tomorrow is a better day for you!

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Paula. It was just one of those up-on-the-wrong-side kind of days...typical Monday.

[Lance]

Just discovered something which sounds disgusting, but tastes fantastic. A South African friend offered me a monkey gland pizza. When I asked what that was, fearing the worst, he told me that it was simply a pizza with his favourite toppings, but covered in monkey gland sauce. Sounds even worse!

Well, it is a delicious sauce that they apply to their braai (barbeque). And here is the recipe for monkey gland sauce.

[[deleted user]]

Good morning everyone! I'm going to try and be productive this morning so that I can sneak in some reading this afternoon. What is everyone up to?

[Brenda]

I just finished the weeding on the other side of the door, so at least they look even now. Now I am gonna reward myself with some reading.

[[deleted user]]

Oh....I should get back outside and finish my yard work in the back. Ugh.

[[deleted user]]

Lance wrote: "Just discovered something which sounds disgusting, but tastes fantastic. A South African friend offered me a monkey gland pizza. When I asked what that was, fearing the worst, he told me that it wa..."

And why do they call it Monkey Gland Sauce? Like Coca-cola, once upon a time it had the dreaded ingredient? Sounds pretty good with the chutney, actually. (My dad used to make BBQ sauce with maple syrup.) Yummy!

Hi Christine, feeling better today? Uggy overcast day here today, so I'm catching up on the reading.

[[deleted user]]

Lance wrote: "Just discovered something which sounds disgusting, but tastes fantastic. A South African friend offered me a monkey gland pizza. When I asked what that was, fearing the worst, he told me that it wa..."

haha! You had me going for a minute there, Lance! I bet Hayes is right about the name, too. :p

[[deleted user]]

Be happy anyone who can get outside today. It's raining and hailing here, with thunder and lightning, just the weather to welcome the group from Japan!

[[deleted user]]

Jeannette wrote: "...just the weather to welcome the group from Japan!"

Oh! Poor things. When are they arriving? Bathroom all ready?

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Yikes, could there be a worse name for that sauce? The ingredients do sound good though.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Jeannette, I can't wait to hear about your first impressions of the girls!

[[deleted user]]

Jeannette wrote: "Be happy anyone who can get outside today. It's raining and hailing here, with thunder and lightning, just the weather to welcome the group from Japan!"

I'm so excited to hear about this when you have time!

[[deleted user]]

Bathroom is really clean -- better than I usually do for my own weekly cleaning! (What does this say about my standards? hmmm)

The girls will be gone during the day, so I'll be able to post about this adventure. Thursday we are going along on a trip to a living history farm; I hope this rain goes away!

[Ronyell]

Jeannette wrote: "Bathroom is really clean -- better than I usually do for my own weekly cleaning! (What does this say about my standards? hmmm)

The girls will be gone during the day, so I'll be able to post about ..."

You are going to a living history farm? That's great Jeannette!! Where is the history farm at?

[[deleted user]]

Des Moines has the aptly named Living History Farms. They have an 1850 Pioneer homestead, a 1900 farm, and an 1875 town, all recreated in authentic detail. They do dress for the period, but they do not stay in the period. You can talk to them about what it was like back then without having to pretend to know the lingo. I visited a living history farm where they never got out of character and it got annoying after a while.

But, I digress. LHF is very nicely done. A tractor-pulled tram takes you to the woods where you walk through a 1700 Ioway Indian camp before walking to the other two farms. The tram takes you back to the town. I love the homes in town, decorated in period furnishings.

[[deleted user]]

The girls are here and they are very nice. Unfortunately, their knowledge of English is rather weak, so we are hobbling things together as best we can. The one girl loves all of the typical teen things: manga, anime, pop music. The older girl is more reserved, so we don't have a good idea what she likes. They are very polite, very helpful and tidy. I think we might go to the butterfly house later today.

[[deleted user]]

That sounds fun, Jeannette! How is your weather at the moment? I think we have today what you had yesterday.

I already got my UPS delivery today and have Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Yay!

Dixie is at her puppy spa appointment (haha) so the house is so quiet.

[[deleted user]]

Yay for new books!

It is grey and drizzly but the t-storms moved out. It was just nasty yesterday.

Scratch the butterfly house -- they close at 4:30. Ames is such a podunk town, imo. The gardens are open a little later in the summer, but they close early the rest of the year. Not very helpful if you want to go after work!

[Lance]

Why do they call it monkey gland sauce?

I asked my friend in Capetown and this is his reply:

I don’t know the exact origin…but the sauce is a concoction of lumps and bits and looks a bit like guts.

Do you know? I think that somebody could write an entire novel based around the origins of monkey gland sauce!

[[deleted user]]

The girls had a busy day at the middle school and now all 3 girls are in the kitchen folding origami. I think they find it relaxing. :)

[[deleted user]]

Origami gives me nightmares...I'm horrible at it. More power to them for liking it, haha!

[[deleted user]]

Yeah, it's another thing I am not very good at, either. It was a fun hour for the three of them. The girls are starting to run out of steam.

[Ronyell]

Jeannette wrote: "Des Moines has the aptly named Living History Farms. They have an 1850 Pioneer homestead, a 1900 farm, and an 1875 town, all recreated in authentic detail. They do dress for the period, but they ..."

That sounds really impressive Jeannette!! I'll have to go to one of those farms pretty soon!

[Ronyell]

Christine wrote: "Origami gives me nightmares...I'm horrible at it. More power to them for liking it, haha!"

I never learned how to do origami, but I really want to learn!

[Brenda]

Me too, it always looks really nice but difficult for me to do.

[[deleted user]]

Good early early morning (at least it is here). I was reading Catching Fire last night so I stayed up later than I should have. I know I have a few things going on today, but I'm too groggy to remember what they are...yikes!

[Brenda]

I guess that means Catching Fire was pretty good then if it kept you up. I am gonna start it here pretty soon too.

[[deleted user]]

I'm really enjoying these, Brenda. It's a definite change of pace for me.

[Kristi]

I actually have the next 2 days off from work. I wish I could say that I'm going to get lots of reading done, but alas, it's not to be.

I have a very long list of things to accomplish for the family/desk/house, in order to clear my schedule for the next 2 weeks of increased amount of hours at work. And (sigh) that means I won't get a lot of reading done in those 2 weeks either.

I will get back to eventually though.

[[deleted user]]

Interesting problem for me this morning....What does one do when one's autistic son desperately wants to participate in all spirit week days, but is faced with crazy hair day and happens to have issues with his head/hair if they aren't a certain way? I'm trying to convince him that it's fine to skip this particular day, but he is tormenting himself. If he decides to do something with his hair then I expect that he won't be able to focus all day because he won't be comfortable in his skin.

Remind me why I stopped homeschooling again?

[Brenda]

okay i am gonna grasp at straws here. Would it help to say spirit is what you feel in your heart and it doesn't need to be on your head today? or something to that effect.
Kristi have you considered listening to an audiobook while completely the house work? I've picked up some children books for my son not to long but have some fun short stories and listen to them myself while doing my work.

[[deleted user]]

He decided to just enjoy looking at everyone else's hair. Thanks, Brenda. :)

[Kathy]

I seem to be rather busy this week, so I won't try to catch up on all the postings. Just a few commments. Jeannette, it sounds like you are having a great experience, as well as your daughter. Christine, I loved Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Great series. Christine, glad the hair situation got resolved. I am going to busy the next two days cleaning house, long overdue, as my granddaughters are coming this weekend, the oldest to spend the night Saturday, and the baby to spend the afternoon Sunday. The Pumpkin Festival is going on, so that will be a great activity. I'll try to check in tomorrow again. Have a great afternoon everyone!

[[deleted user]]

I love Pumpkin Festivals! Have fun!

[[deleted user]]

My daughter is in squeee-heaven: The girls just came downstairs dressed in their Yukata (summer kimono)! They will wear them tomorrow to the farewell party.

They are supposed to be sleeping!! It is so nice that they feel comfortable here with us. :)

[[deleted user]]

What a cool experience this must be for your daughter! Of course they are comfortable with you, because you are fabulous.

[Brenda]

You must have a comfy home! Sounds like you are having a nice visit and making some nice memories for the girls.

[Kathy]

Jeannette, what a great mom you are to have the girls and provide an unforgettable experience for them and your daughter!

[[deleted user]]

Geez, now I'm blushing!

We spent all day yesterday touring Des Moines with the girls, and I think the free time to interact broke the ice for everyone. We took them out for pizza last night and they got steak on their pizza! They ate the rest for breakfast this morning. lol

Tonight is the farewell party for the group and they spend all day Saturday with us. We are so enjoying this visit! :)

[Manybooks]

Hmm, pizza for breakfast. Something, that I started doing at university (and it has to be cold, or at least lukewarm) and still like to eat (much more than a traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon etc.).

I'm glad the girls had fun together, Jeannette. Will your daughter now be going to Japan as well?

[[deleted user]]

My daughter is a senior in high school and this program is for middle schoolers. It is possible that she could travel next year with our kids. She does plan to study abroad in Japan at some point, maybe in her sophomore year at the University.

Pizza and Pepsi first thing in the morning -- that's a traditional university meal! :)

[Manybooks]

They should have a program like that for high school students as well. It would especially be beneficial for those students like your daughter, who are considering studying abroad.

[[deleted user]]

They do have study abroad trips at the high school, but we home school, so it wasn't something we were able to be involved with. I think the high school kids go for about a month to Germany or France. Since my daughter goes to Germany on a regular basis, she has quite a bit of traveling experience already.