From What I Hear...

10 Random Thoughts

Lots of marbles have been rolling around in my head lately.  Hope I haven't lost any in the process.

1.  Spring in Budapest is transformative and summer is looking pretty darn wonderful.  It's awesome to open my windows in the evening and feel the cool crisp air filter through the house.  My garden burst to life in late March and now with summer practically here, I'm digging the idea of a pool.  I'm loving this 4 season thing.  Everyone should be doing this!
2.  Living in Europe has definitely boosted my score on Logo Quiz.

3.  Lincoln turned 12 in April, then he got the Priesthood and now he passes the sacrament and every week I'm reminded that he's not a little boy and it's still freaks me out.  On top of that, last week we went to the doctor for a checkup and Lincoln has gained 24 lbs and grown at least 3 inches since we moved here.  It's great 'cuz I have a few other things that require my mad worrier skillz.  (yes, skillz with a z.)

4.  I adore salsa.  Adam had a business trip to the states and he went armed with a list of US necessities, not the least of which came in a large Costco-sized plastic jar label El Paso.  The sheer awesomeness is without bounds.

5.  Having a maid is pretty darn perfect.  There's a lot of things that have gotten hard since moving here.  Laundry.  Finding tortillas or good BBQ sauce.  Laundry.  Avoiding pot holes.  Planning to get lost at least twice whereever you go.  Laundry.  But...having someone come clean my house 1 x week goes a long way to making up the difference.  She even does the ironing.  *Sigh*

6.  My guys can really rock a go-cart helmet.  And yes...they really sweat a lot in those things.

7.  David's school did an International Day.  I've been to these kind of things before, but for the first time since...well, ever...it was truly "international".  Every parent brought a dish or dessert from their home country and we had such a great time.

8.  Yesterday, while driving on a tiny side street, I had to stop for a huge cement truck to back into the driveway of a house.  The really super thing about it was he stopped, put the truck in park and got out with his front end still sticking out halfway across the street.  Plus, there was a car parked (1/2 on the street and 1/2 on the sidewalk) just opposite the truck.  It left a ity-bity teeny-weeny space for a car to pass through.  For a SmartCar it would have been snug but doable.  I drive a Honda CRV.  Not so doable.  I motioned for the driver to come back and move the truck but he ignored me.  By this time I had 4 cars behind me and they began to honk for me to get a move on.  So backing up was now out of the question.  I really didn't think I could make it, but the drivers behind me obviously thought I could.  I started to inch forward, heart palpitating.  I crawled at a snail's pace, adjusting as best as I could to manuever the tight space.  My side mirrors grazed the truck and car gently enough to turn them in without damaging them, but it still freaked me out.  I made it and came away feeling a weird sense of accomplishment.

9.  David makes a cute lion.  (Reminds me of "Little Lion Man")  I've never seen the attraction to the musical Cats but if they end up looking this adorable, maybe I could get on board.

10.  When Adam got home from the states, he brought us so many treats and surprises that it felt like Christmas.  I had to smile at Kyle though.  

Adam:  "I brought you guys a surprise.  You're gonna love it!"

Kyle:  "Did you pack our friends in there?"

Things don't matter nearly as much as people.  Especially, when they're your people.

 

My new "Normal"

My life right now is all about getting used to things that on my surface feels foreign, weird and somewhat scary, but in reality will probably be commonplace in a few months.  

For example, the cold.  Yes, I was raised in a similar climate, but I've lived that past 12 years on the surface of the sun, we call Houston, so by now my blood is so thin, 60 degrees feels cold.  The temps here in Budapest are consistently 4-6 degrees Celsius (or 39 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, with a brisk breeze, especially up on the hills of Buda.  I'm pretty sure I don't have enough warm clothing. The sad thing is, I really did stock up prior to our arrival.  Oh well.

The driving.  Driving here is intimidating.  The roads, even the major ones, have very narrow lanes.  Parking is ridiculously tight and there is no sense of planning in the way the roads are laid out.  It's like a bowl of spaghetti got dropped on the ground and they used that as a plan for where to put the roads.  The drivers are very aggressive and will take any opportunity to get ahead.  The pedestrians are fearless and the motorcyclists seem to have a death wish.  Nearly everyone drives compact cars, which makes sense once you think about trying to navigate the tight roads and parking.  When parking, especially downtown, many drivers will turn in their side mirrors to avoid having them ripped off by a passing car.  That's how tight it is.  The scariest experience we've had so far was up in the hills of Buda, on what I thought was a small back alley with a steep incline and a hairpin turn at the bottom.  We were heading down and just at the bottom a bus turned around the bend heading up.  He was driving very fast to gain speed for the climb and I was sure we were gonna have a head-on.  Our real estate agent was driving (thank goodness) and he veered as far to the right, onto the sidewalk and as close to the wall of the alley as possible and even still it was by inches that the bus passed by our left.  I don't know that I'll ever get used to that!

The language.  Hungarian is very difficult to master.  The intonation and inflection is very specific, plus they have like 7 different possible sounds for the vowels.  I've only learned a few words, like Thank you, You're Welcome, Please, Good, Milk, Shop, Flower, Yes, No, Sorry, and Where is...  But the weirdest part is that even though I've said 'thank you' a whole lot and it comes pretty natural now, I still get corrected on my pronunciation.  I've also been told that because Hungarian is so difficult, native speakers are only used to hearing their language spoken by other native speakers, so their ear is not attuned to picking up mispronounced words, unlike English speakers.  Therefore, when a word is mispronounced, to them is sounds like gibberish, instead of the word spoken with an accent.  I don't know if I will ever become conversational, but I do hope to learn more than my current 11 word vocabulary.   One quick story about David and the language.  He met some boys at a little play center that were Hungarian.  He, nor the other boys, seemed bothered by the language barrier and played fine together.  After we left, Davie asked if he would again see the boy "who spoke Spanish really fast."  I told him that boy didn't speak Spanish, he spoke Hungarian.  David said "no, he spoke Spanish because I couldn't understand him."  I then realized that to David, Hungarians spoke English because in his world thus far, he'd met many Hungarians and they all spoke English, so every Hungarian must speak English.  A rude awakening is soon to follow, I am sure.

The food.  This is one that I'm still learning about.  Because I've been with my kids 24/7 since we've arrived, most of our selections of where to eat and what to eat have been about meeting their needs and we haven't been seeking a 'culinary adventure'.  That being said, the selection at both the restaurants and the grocery stores have been surprising.  First of all, I was shocked to find that pizza joints are everywhere, as well as many sushi and chinese restaurants, which I was told I would not find.  The pure Hungarian cooking involves a lot of pork and some fish and chicken, but rarely red meat.  They fry a lot of their meat and do many casserole type dishes with either noodles, potatoes or rice.  There are local grocery stores every few blocks or so, which are tiny by American standards, but serve the needs of those doing frequent shopping trips.  Then there are the grocery stores that are very comparable to American grocery stores, but these are fewer and farther between.  I was thrilled to see that these stores carry a variety of items and although it will take some getting used to, I'm feeling much more confident about shopping in general.  There are definitely gaps though.  No peanut butter or celery or canned pumpkin or cool whip or cake mixes or chips but from what I understand, I can get almost of those items at other specialty stores, if I'm willing to pay for it.  Otherwise, it's make do or do without.

Have to run, but hope this answers some of your questions. 

Kaput

It is done.  Over.  Finito.  

My youth.  

I am 35 and officially old.  I can't say as it bothers me, being old.  It's nice, even.  What does bother me though, is feeling frumpy and I've been feeling quite a lot of that lately.  Maybe it's that I can't wear heels. (The ankle just ain't what it used to be).  Or maybe it's that ten pounds I racked up sitting around on my tush trying to get well.  Or maybe it's my long, lank, drab hair.  

So, as newly elected mayor of Frumpytown, I needed to do something STAT.  I reluctantly restricted my diet to veggies and a few other things like veggies.  I dropped 8 pounds.  Yeah!  I forced myself into heeled boots for church.  Painful, but progress nonetheless.  Next, I hauled myself on into the salon for a shot of hair therapy.

I've still got a ways to go on the weight thing and my ankle isn't up for Manolo Blahniks yet, but I'm very happy with my hair.  This was my inspiration, but I wasn't ready to go that short.

So, here is me after the cut.  My dear friend, Linda, made me this key lime pie for my birthday and it was DE-LISH.  I allowed myself 1 piece and it was worth every single calorie.
My hair is shorter in the back than in the front but you can't really see from this angle.  I really like it.  It's so easy.  I highlighted this time, too, but plan to do a low-light next cut.   

Therefore, I happily resign as acting Mayor of Frumpytown.  Happy birthday to me.

 

The excitement of a 4-year old on his birthday

Have you ever seen a happier boy?    

David was over the moon about his birthday this year.  Who knew turning four could be so exciting? 
We did birthday presents and cake and then headed out to Kung Fu Panda 2, which was very cute and I’d definitely recommend it.  Very good, especially for a sequel.  (In my experience, sequels can be real snoozers).   Dave had a great time and loved every second of his big day.  I think his only disappointment was that it didn’t last longer.

 

My favorite 9-year old

Two weeks ago we celebrated Kyle's 9th birthday.  

As you can see, he's pretty thrilled about his birthday in general.  His birthday menu included pancakes with ice cream for breakfast and pizza with no breadsticks (to stick it to Lincoln) for lunch. 
His present requests included a Pirates of the Caribbean lego set and a video game, both of which occupied his attention for the space of several days.  With school out, he and his brothers have spent some serious time reacquainting themselves with the Wii.  For his birthday activity, Kyle wanted nothing more than to go swimming and play Wii as a family.  

We sure are happy this guy is in our family.  He keeps us in stitches and is constantly a source of smiles.  More than either of the other boys, Kyle wears his emotions on his sleeve.  He is sincere, kind-hearted, enthusiastic and fun-loving.  In these past few months, with my gimpy leg, he has really stepped up to the plate and helped out.  He’s growing into an awesome young man.  We love you, Kyle! 

End of School (aka: SUMMER)

It's not exactly a news flash, but school is out in the Wariner House.  This year was particularly poignant for Lincoln, as the school's end marks his final moments of elementary school and the beginning of something bigger (and in my case at least, something scarier).  

Here is Lincoln at his 5th Grade Awards ceremony and graduation.    

Lincoln made the A&B Honor Roll all year long and was awarded the Citizenship award.  We are so proud of his accomplishments.  His dyslexia and dsygraphia hasn't made it easy, but over the years, Lincoln has stuck with it and made significant improvements.  Every single teacher Lincoln has ever had, even as early as Kindergarten has voiced nearly the same message:  "Lincoln is a brilliant boy.  He's going places." So I guess, regardless of how Jr High seems to me, I shouldn't worry too much.  Lincoln will manage to find his stride.  

I should keep the following statement in mind:

Trust me, keeping that in mind is way harder than it should be.  

Either way though, it's summer.  Time to enjoy life.  Worries can wait.  (They are quite good at waiting and take great pleasure in jumping you when you least expect it.  Darn things)

So, on to summer.  Is there anything that says summer more than a goggles on a 4-year old? When the boys aren't in the pool, their shooting each other with nerf guns, playing the legos, doing puzzles or games and of course, the spending inordinate amount of time on electronics.
And when our toys aren't cool enough, we simply invite over friends and suddenly our toys have a whole new appeal. And summer wouldn't be complete without food.  We made a Costco run last week and I came home with all sorts of new exciting things.  But I did have two additional helper and they did an amazing job loading the cart.  (btw:  I find that there is a great need for a sarcasm font)Hope your summer is going well.

Thanksgiving 2010

This year, we were lucky enough to have visitors.  My sister and her two beautiful little girls came for a week.  

Unfortunately my sister's husband had a work commitment and couldn't make it.  But let me tell you, it was his loss.  We had a blast (I mean that literally--more on that later).  We enjoys lots of good company and good food (C'mon, admit it.  Good food is the main reason Thanksgiving exists).  

Here's a picture of a couple batches of rolls.  Don't they just look yummy!

The kids played great together.   We did crafts, decorated the Christmas tree, fried a turkey for Thanksgiving and then topped it all off with a rocket blast.

The highlight for me was hanging out with my sister and getting reconnected to her life and the amazing and talented person she has become.  

She's a great mom and her kids were a joy to be around.  We feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to share Thanksgiving with the Strawn family.      

Adam's birthday celebrations

You may be asking yourself why I posted this picture as a representation of Adam's birthday.  Well, due to my complete failure to document the passing of one more year of Adam's life, this is all that I've got.  It looks kinda sad and lonely, huh?  I do apologize but that's what happens when I'm left as both the event planner and camera man.  

Adam's birthday is actually today, Veteran's day, but we celebrated early due to his work schedule.  And this lonely cupcake is all that remains. 

After dinner out, we came home to the aforementioned cupcakes.  I visited a local cupcake shop and picked out a variety of yummy treats.  The boys fought over the Andes Mint and Peanut butter cup.  The Tuxedo, Red Velvet and Key Lime cupcakes were also gobbled up in no time but the PINK cupcake sat and sat like an awkward 5th grader during the picking of teams.  But not to worry; by the next morning this little beauty of Strawberry sweetness morphed into the hottest commodity in the whole house.  Everyone was after it's sugary goodness.  Just proves that being picked last is sometimes it's own reward.

So anyway, Adam is now one year older and wiser too.  I don't want to publicly air the greatness of the man I married, lest you all be jealous and Adam would be embarrassed beyond belief, so I will just say that I have never once regretted marrying him and that's coming from someone who has buyers remorse over socks.   

I love you, Adam.  Enjoy your day!

Air Conditioning is a must...and desserts, too.

It is so hot here.  Yesterday, was 99 degrees with a heat index of 107.  Yes, one hundred and seven horrible degrees.  Today is more of the same and tomorrow is purported to be 101 degrees with an index of 110 flippin' degrees.  Why, oh why, do I live here?  

I am obsessed with watering my potted plants and begging my roses to hang on for just a few short (I say short, but I mean miserably long) months till the weather becomes habitable again. 

  We leave the house only when it means water activity and even that is becoming un-fun.  So, I've been doing a lot of baking.  Ironic, huh?  I guess unbearable heat causes my comfort-food reflex to kick into over-drive.  This will be my recipe today:  Raspberry Creme Pie from Pioneer Woman.  The pictures were just so divine.  I must have. 

 Ingredients

• 25 whole Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• 1 cup (generous) Raspberries
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 2 containers (6 Ounce Each) Raspberry Yogurt
• 1 package (3.4 Ounce) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• Extra Raspberries For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

To make the crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crust cookies in a food processor (or smash in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin). Stir in melted butter until all combined. Pour into a regular pie pan and press crumbs all over the pan and up the sides. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes—just long enough for it to set. Cool crust completely.

Place raspberries on a plate or in an empty pan. Smash them with a fork, then sprinkle on 3 tablespoons of sugar. Stir together and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine raspberry yogurt with the instant vanilla pudding mix (just the powder itself.) Beat on low until combined, about 1 minute. Pour in heavy cream and whip on low for 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Turn mixer on medium-high speed and beat for two minutes, or until mixture is thick.

Turn off mixer, then fold in raspberries until just combined. Pour into cooled pie pan and spread evenly. Freeze for two hours, or until very firm. Cut into slices and top each slice with cookie crumbs, dollops of whipped cream, and extra raspberries. Keep in freezer, allowing time to thaw before serving.

San Antonio Getaway

This fall, Adam and I will celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary.  We'd discussed getting a sitter for a couple days and doing something in the San Antonio or New Braunfels area, which is about 2.5 hours away.  The only problem with this plan was that our long-time babysitter just graduated and will be heading off to college in the fall, thereby leaving us sitter-less once August rolls around.  What's up with that?!  

Well, to be honest, we are happy for Shalysse and wish her the best but hate to see a perfectly good babysitter leave us behind.  We have taken steps and are currently grooming a few sitters to take her place, although they aren't quite ready for the overnight responsibility.  Hence, the early anniversary trip now.  

We headed off to San Antonio on Thursday and checked into the Valencia, right on the Riverwalk.

  
 We ate a lot of great food (a bit more than I should have according to the scale) but my favorite, surprisingly was the breakfast meal we had at Citrus (the restaurant in the hotel).  We also watched two different movies, the first being, "Knight and Day" with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

  
 It was just okay.  I think I expected it to be really funny and it wasn't––much more of an action/romance than an action/comedy.  

The other movie was "Date Night" with Steve Carell and Tina Fey.  
I laughed pretty hard during this movie and maybe it was the subject matter, but I thought the emotional message was so much more relateable...despite the fact that the scenario is totally unbelievable.

We also floated the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, which is about 30 minutes away from San Antonio.  We chose the four hour float, got into our tubes (with bottoms) and floated away, feeling as free as a couple of thirty-something, childless adults really can.  The first two hours of the float was a good mixture of relaxing sections interspersed with some blood-pumping rapids.  A note here for anyone considering a similar float:  a tube with a bottom is a necessity.  You'll stay plenty wet but your bum will thank you.  After about three hours, Adam and I were ready to be done but the river had another idea.  We hit a really sluggish part of the river...very slow and meandering.  We felt like we were barely moving, mostly because we were barely moving.  We started paddling, but it was a slow haul.  It was about then that I realized that my legs were getting pretty hot...and red.  I want to say right now that I did put on sunblock, the 45 SPF, super-duper, waterproof kind.  Well, clearly I need classes on how to put on that spray sunblock because my legs are candy cane stripes of bright red and my usual albatross white.   Good times.  Adam faired slightly better with only a few areas missed by the spray of the sunscreen.  

Despite the sunburn, Adam and I had a great time.  As we were preparing to check out, I got the urge to call the sitter to say that we were staying one more day, but I resisted the impulse.  Regardless of my own desire to hog Adam all to myself, David, Kyle and Lincoln deserved to have some time with him, so we headed home, well-fed, well-rested and in my case, well-cooked.

Small town meet big city

My parents, residents of a small town in Idaho (population 1,771) came to visit our humble abode here in Houston (population 2.2 million).  On our way home from the airport, my dad muttered, "It's a good thing you're driving.  We'd get squashed driving here!"

That being said, I hope they had a good time.  They arrived Friday and we let them settle in as I made Chicken Capri, with pasta, green beans and bruchetta. 

The next morning after some yummy 'Good Morning Muffins', we headed out for Galveston, where we watched a short film about the pirate, Jean Lafitte and his short residence on Galveston Island.  Then we toured the Elissa, a working sailing vessel from the 1800's.  
The boys even got to help set one of the 20 sails, while aboard.   
Finally, we toured the Bishop's Palace.  (Man, the guy had a lot of money)
 On our way home, we stopped for an early dinner at Pappadeaux's for some cajun seafood.  Oy vey, we were full!

The next afternoon, after church we had Kyle's baptism.  He was so thrilled and I know it meant a lot to him to have his grandparents be there on this day.
 

Am I Pioneer Woman's Bizarro Twin?

For a while now, I have been hearing about "The Pioneer Woman" and her website, but for some reason I didn't make time to look her up.  About a month ago, I finally wandered over to her site and was graciously rewarded for my tiny effort by an amazing site, which includes sections on Cooking, Photography, Homeschooling and Gardening, not to mention her Confessions of a Pioneer Woman Section.  I am enjoying it way more than I should.  

Anyway, during my perusal of the site, I realized this woman and I had a strange connection––let me explain, before you think I'm stalking this poor lady––which I kind of am. 

"I’m a ranch wife, mother of four, moderately-agoraphobic (self-diagnosed) middle child who grew up on the seventh fairway of a golf course in a corporate town. I attended college in Los Angeles and wore black pumps to work every day. I ate sushi and treated myself to pedicures on a semi-regular basis.  Then, on a brief trip to my hometown, I met and fell in love with a rugged cattle rancher. Now I live in the middle of nowhere on a working cattle ranch. My days are spent wrangling children, chipping dried manure from boots, washing jeans, and frying calf nuts. I have no idea how I got here…but you know what? I love it. Don’t tell anyone."  

So, that's Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman.  I have decided that I'm something of her "bizarro" self--the opposite, yet the same.  Whereas, she grew up a "city girl", I grew up in a tiny town in Idaho, a daughter of a farmer. 
(My grandfather circa 1920)

I spent my days playing across the acres my family farmed, hanging clothes out to dry, digging holes in the dirt and chasing kittens around our yard.  Then, I went to college, met my husband and somehow, I now live in the 4th largest city in the U.S., whereas, she lives in the middle of nowhere.  She probably imagined her life to be much like mine is now, and I imagined a life much like hers.  The remarkable thing is that she seems pretty happy about it and so am I.

Still, there are some things that are intimidating about my life.  I wished I learned how to decorate a cake, my home, myself, and do the shopping, clean my house and wear a big fat smile like I knew just what I was doing.  But, instead I learned, how to work hard, grow a garden, be self-reliant and even herd a little cattle. ("Just wave your arms," my dad would say.  "They're more scared of you than you are of them."  Yeah, right).  
(Despite popular belief, Idahoan Farmers grow more than potatoes.  Here is just one crop grown on my brothers' farm) 

Growing up, I knew everyone––my neighbors were my cousins and grandparents.  The kids I went to kindergarten with were the exact same kids I graduated high school with twelve year later.  My third grade teacher taught every single one of my nine siblings.  Now, I live on a street when I know only three of my neighbors––a family from India, a single gay man and another woman from Louisana, who plays bunko once a week, and talks about all things southern.  Despite my lack of experience with this kind of life, I love it.  

And this is how Ree and I are the same:  We gave up what we know, for a life with the one we love.

Ree Drummond met her husband and after their first date, they were basically never apart.  Ten days into the relationship, he told her he loved her and two weeks later they were engaged.  I can understand this.  Adam and I met and ten days later, we were engaged.  The end of life as I knew it.

So, here's what I am trying to learn from Ree, my bizarro twin, and her jaunt into all things rural. Ree seems to have a complete lack of fear.  Okay, correction––she sometimes gets intimated, but she overcomes.  If she wants to learn something, she'll just dive in, regardless of failure looming just overhead.  Here's just one example, in her own words about her experience with photography.  "Four years ago, cameras scared me...but I slowly taught myself the ropes."
(This is just one of Ree's photos on her great photography section.)  

I've known a few people like Ree––Tracy, you're one of them––and I immediately want to be around them. These type of people inspire me to get over myself and try something new. I struggle sometimes with wanting to stay in my comfort zone but her site inspires me to get off my tush and start plowing a new field.
(Can you guess what my 'new field' might be?) 

Now a question for you.  What makes you want to get up and try something new?

Panko is what again?

I'd never heard of Panko until I started watching the Iron Chef.  I don't fool myself into thinking that I'd some kind of great cook.  I know better.  So, I was a little intimidated by anything that looked like breadcrumbs, but was so fancy that it had to have a different name.  I overcame and here's the results:

 Italian baked shrimp

2 tsp. Olive Oil

2 garlic cloves minced

2 tsp. Butter, cubed

1/3 C Panko

1/4 C Parmesan Cheese

2 tsp. Parsley

1 lb.  Large Shrimp, shelled and deveined

1.  Preheat oven for 400.  Coat baking sheet with non-stick spray.  Heat oil in skillet over medium heat, add garlic and cook for 20-30 seconds (do not brown).  Remove from heat and stir in butter until it melts; set aside.

2.  Combine breadcrumbs, cheese & parsley.  Set aside.

3.  Pat shrimp dry.  Dip into butter mixture, then coat in panko mixture.  Place on baking sheet.

4.  Bake 8-12 minutes or until opaque.  Serve with marinara for dipping.