Mean People

AS side note that has nothing to do with the post.
This pic was taken October 2006 the first fall we lived in our house. It was on Pumpkin Patch day a tradition the kids and I have. Brian actually doesn't usually go with us....I think he likes it this way. If he doesn't come he doesn't have to fight with us over the size of our pumpkins. So it is a mommy day and I love it. And with October quickly approaching I can't wait to get pumpkins!

I am still exhausted however my exhaustion has turned to irritation and I am going to tell you why. First of all I have had it up to my eyeballs with mean people!!! Especially mean women. I have been dealing with the quote unquote mean girl since about 6th grade and its funny how as an adult you would think they have gotten over whatever kink they have however I think they just get meaner. And they are everywhere, and I have decided they should be shipped to an island where they can be mean to each other and leave the rest of us alone. Well that feels great to get off of my chest.

I look at my children play with other children at the park or school, I watch them interact with all types of kids from what seems to be all different backgrounds and all they care about is that they are both kids. The innocence is beautiful and refreshing and something to behold and treasure. When Elliot was about 2 he would introduce himself as Elliot William. So whenever we went to play somewhere he would pick the first kid he get a hold of and state very quickly, "Hi my name is Elliot William Jager. Will you be my friend?" It was precious! I am not sure when we loose this, but it stinks! Why can't we approach people like this as adults? Why can't we still give people the benefit doubt and/or realize that we are all made with different physical traits and gifts and abilities. This being for good reason so that we can all work together for God. I am not sure where this gets lost but it does. You know I have heard it it time and time again and I have said this same thing to my own kids, "Ignore them, shrug it off, find someone else to play with....." This advice is not really all that bad however I am not sure it is the solution either. And since I am tired and cranky and a bit sassy right now I am not rolling with punches all that well. So beware all those mean people out there I am no longer taking your stuff, I just simply will not stand for and it and in the next paragraph I will tell you what I am going to do. And when I do it you will be the irritated ones I am sure:)

I am going to BE KIND. You know the Jager's have had a motto since Elliot was able to steal toys from others and that is "Be Kind!" I think it is one that we can all use. I recently went to a Beth Moore Simulcast and she really took this home for me. She laid the idea of kindness out pretty clearly. I try to take this idea in my pocket everywhere I go and you know its pretty empowering. IT feels really good to be assertive and kind at the same time. It feels really good to to return peoples mean comments with truths and that is what I am going to keep on doing. I recently had a conversation with someone who was extremely rude to me right in my face and I ended the conversation by saying, "you know I am not sure we will ever agree but I can love you because we are both human." She turned around and walked away. This is what I will keep doing so brace yourself.

Oh and one more thing....Gossiping is a waste of your time if you are a gossiper because the person that is willing to listen to you is going to tell the person you are talking about what you say. And when the person that you are talking about hears what you have been saying about them they won't be happy. And then in turn you have created a giant mess that you will have to dig yourself out of because if they are like me they will make you very uncomfortable and ask you about why you felt that way in the first place and why you couldn't just confront them. I know this is a refresher for most of us from school however experiencing this in adulthood makes life seem like one big expensive high school and I am over it!

This being said I know longer want to hear whos brother is marrying who, or who was seen doing whatever they were doing, or who told whoever whatever they told them. If I need to know I will find out on my own. So please leave me out of any of these so called conversations they are a waste of not only my time but yours as well!!! And if you catch me doing this please confront me because I am trying very hard not to be a talker or a listener of gossip or heresay. Because being categorized among the mean girls is not something I have ever wanted to be!

There you go I have said what I needed to say....hopefully the next post will be light and fluffy because I am sure people are going to stop reading if all I do is make public service announcements:(

Quick Word On Something Gross

Statement.......Compostable Toilets are GROSS! I am all pro-hippie and pro-world and pro-sustainable living however if you live in the free world and have access and the ability to flush your stuff...do it! If you need to recycle to the umpteenth degree more power too you make a plastic wrap ball or something....but draw the line at your toilet.....do not get rid of your toilet.

I was at an event this week and needed to use the facilities. I opened the door to the compostable toilet with the lid open.....gross. I will not go on any further...but gross!

And by the way toilet lid closing is a pet peeve of mine feel free to practice this as well. No one wants to be welcomed by the toilet!

Consider this a public service announcement.......................

I have deemed this specific toilet the Compostable Crapper.....sorry for the PG 13 post but I couldn't resist. Obviously I am still scarred.

The Great Catering Take-Over

These last two weeks of September will be the death of me I am sure of it. And in case you don't want to read a bit of complaining about this fact feel free to skip this post because I am beyond exhausted and in need of a space where I can vent.

It started with Monday. I have agreed to work Mondays because....well both kids are at school and if I work my bum off I can do Monday and Tuesdays work on Monday which means we just need to find someone to deliver the food on Tuesday which is much easier than finding someone who can actually cook:)

So I did that this week...then we cooked for a"harvest party" on Wednesday...it was for a certain denominational group that I find intriguing. My mind is still reeling over this particular job, however it was a drop and go meal so peace be with them....I dropped the food and ran as quickly as possible to the safety of my volvo wagon and drove as quickly as I could go home:)

Thursday was a small intimate dinner for 30 at the Purple Space in Bellingham. The Purple Space is actually a wine "club" so to speak...it is a bit exclusive and you can only have parties their if you are a member. So that being said the party went amazing the party theme was the NW meets Paris so naturally they wanted French food. I made coq au vin....this is my kind of food and it was beautiful, lovely, and delicious. However in the process I slit open my pinky without realizing and bled allover $20 a pound mushrooms...once again I am not sure my hands will survive this job and bleeding all over expensive fungus is not fun. But back to the party Thursday gets "better". The decorations were orange gerbs and wait for it......metallic orca balloons. I have learned the more money you have the stranger your taste in decorations are. The end of the evening went perfectly we got the box truck loaded up and all the staff had left (this is where things get interesting). So its very dark in fact barely any lights and although I had pulled in just fine, pulling out of that driveway was difficult to say the least with a huge box truck. So I think I have cleared the fence when I hear it rattle a bit. Oh man................... So I decide it is probably best for me to find a parking lot somewhere to pull my enormous box truck into to check out the damage. I am expecting scrapes yet what I find is a hole in the side of our truck....a hole people at the end of a 14 hour day. Really, your kidding right.....nope.......there is a hole and at that moment I feel as if I might throw up. Turns out upon returning to the scene of the crime I did not actually hit the fence. There was a large bolt sticking out from the fence that no one would have seen and it skinned my truck in one area like a tuna can:) Oh happy day. And I should put emphasis on the word was because when I found the bolt, it was laying on the ground with the piece of my truck still wrapped around it. So after freaking out I went to Walgreens and patched the hole with some white duct tape and went on my way. Still not sure about the fixing of the hole, but my dad has a guy of course;)

As if this week has not been enough I have to go into work this morning and prep my heart out for a crazy job we are doing on Sunday. It is for the Elders of the tribal community. Not sure how all of these wonderful people find us but they do. And on Sunday we will be riding done in our newly air conditioned big box truck to serve 200 of them:) The menu is heavy appetizers..which means they want a meal without having to sit. So today we made 210 deviled eggs ( not your run of the mill potluck style ones, they are filled with salmon 3 variations actually), salmon skewers and expensive mushroom crostini, we also made 200+ crab cakes. IT should be an easy event (can't believe I said this out loud.

Next week is a ball park themed party for people that want artisan hot dog buns ( we actually know a guy that makes these believe it or not he also make pretzels), and Dino Rossi is coming to town on Thursday I will be making him truffles. And on Saturday we will be catering a wedding in our neck of the woods Angry Blueberry style.

Grace and I went for Pedicures tonight to celebrate some girly time, and I loved every stinkin minute of it. I let her choose which color I needed for my toes.....I am happy to report they are a neon shade of purple. She also decided we should have Subway for dinner afterwards. During diner she said, don't you just love girly time, with tears in my eyes I replied, more than you know my love!

So tomorrow I am taking a day of rest and running a food booth for school. I will also be loving up on my little family and hopefully sharing pot roast because it is pot roast kind of weather outside.

So heres the official Angry Blueberry sign out hoping you have a weekend full of Good Food, Good Friends, and Good Times!

Apple Sauce Making With That Grace

Once again my cute pics can not be uploaded. But I will tell you what Grace and I did today. Our daddy left this morning to go to Portland for two days, we are sad:( However this mama and her best girl, that Grace, love to make applesauce. Our daddy panics a bit by the time the 4th box of apples comes through the front door, so we decided to take advantage of his absence and sneak the first 25 pounds in. It was a fabulous day, that Grace used a peeler for the first time. Which means her domesticness was used and so was mine and this makes us both very happy. You see my girl is a domestic goddess in the making. I love this, she loves this. The truth is I needed a Grace day and that is what I got it was fabulous. Her being in kindergarten is not all fun and games you know because I miss That Grace!

Well back to the applesauce....I love making applesauce, I love the smell, I love the monotony of the peeling, I even love the way my hands get sticky and I especially loved how mine and That Graces hair smelled like apples at the end of the day. I love wearing my apron (I collect them you know) I love that That Grace wore one as well and told me even though it was baggyish on her it looked very gorgeous.....I love this girl...did I say this yet? So we made an abundance of applesauce, delivered some to the neighbors, made a pie and even made dinner with homemadeish (I doctored some jarred organic sauce that I love) spaghetti sauce, which increased the wonderful aroma in my house ten fold.

Now I will go to bed and probably not sleep to well because when the hubs is gone I sleep fairly terrible. But I will go to bed feeling wonderful because I got to do all of the things I love today. All the things I feel I was made for.

Oh and Bible Study starts tomorrow. Can't wait, it will be wonderful!

Cuts Like a Knife

Before you think I am going to give my rendition of a popular late 80's song...think again.

In my line of work one (this one being me) tends to cut themselves quite a bit, burning one's arms and fingers also seems to be a common pastime. And commonly with the finger cutting it cuts pretty deep and when this happens it actually hurts. Once this summer I ran my pointer finger down the side of a freshly (meaning that day, and our knife guys name is Elmer, just a side note) sharpened cleaver, it practically went down to the bone. It was horrible and scarring in more ways then one. It took me a few weeks to be able to look at this knife without gagging and a few weeks more to even touch it, and I need this knife people it chops herbs like butter and cuts through big hunks of meat in no time at all. I know what you are thinking what an interesting blog post. Wait though I promise there is good thought built in here somewhere. So I was thinking about this I was standing at my station chopping away the other day gazing at my knife magnet, glaring at the cleaver (who did nothing to me). I was pondering why this is...why I can't just go over pick up that knife and pledge to remember that it is sharp, that in all reality I will get cut again but I will be fine.

As soon as that thought came, I thought about how this can be applied to my life all around. Now I must admit I am a wall builder....people rarely hurt me twice. It is not a quality that I love about myself, it is one that I have been working on for some time but it is also a trait that has probably developed over the last 28 years of my life. Once I get hurt I it takes a while for me to get over it, as you all know I am a thinker, a ponderer and wonderer. It takes me a long time to process bad situations, conflict and what not. And some times during the processing I actually make things harder, more difficult, more awkward for those around me. Just like avoiding the cleaver, it would be much better to grab that cleaver again so that my basil can be perfectly chiffed in a timely manner instead of being bruised and battered by my chefs knife. The basil stands as a perfect example of mine or the person I am in conflict with heart. And that time I take to process builds up as a scar and sometimes festers. Its gross. I need to change this.

I would normally say I am a quick forgiver however I am reluctant to trust again right away. But maybe the two really go hand in hand. I think this a way that God is working in me right now, I know he gave me the knife illustration because I know He is with me everywhere I go.

Regardless I am going to be working on this trust bit, I am going to be praying for the trust bit. And I am totally using that cleaver again tomorrow!

The story of a kindergartener and a second grader.

That's right I am a mature mom now...what? Oh man I can't believe I am the mother of two school aged children. I have worked so hard for the last seven years to prepare them for the great big world of school and social awareness:) and the day has come that they are both in the great big world of school. Now I guess I can't be so dramatic...no one has ever described Ebenezer as big, it is smaller by design after all:)

So the morning was interesting. I got up at early...and I might add for those of you who don't know I am not a morning person...however school mornings are important. I like everyone to be able to leave the house in the morning with happy hearts and full bellies with a healthy lunch in hand and this is no job for weenies. Now Grace has always been along for the ride on school mornings but she does not need to be ready for the day by any means, basically food has been her only requirement in the past. Well this does not ring true anymore and let me tell you she went through three outfits this morning before she found the perfect one. This is hilarious to me. People say I am in for trouble with this one...believe me I know. She has always been opinionated and thats ok with me as long as she is polite and respectful about it:) So back to the morning...we had a warm breakfast...in the new dining room...I made lunches we had showers, got dressed, put our shoes on and we were out the door with 6 dozen cookies and 2 dozen muffins because I remembered that as Eagle Booster president you provide refreshments for convocation. This whole time it actually seemed fairly natural to get two ready and out the door. Until we got to the Green Barn. When Elliot started kindergarten we made it tradition to pray for him from the Green Barn until the parking lot at school. It has been a fabulous tradition and I encourage anyone who drives their little ones to school to do it. It makes any stressful morning better..I have used as a time to ask God for forgiveness for me for being impatient with my kids- which was so humbling the first time but Elliot actually thanked me for asking for forgiveness which made me cry...I will blog more about this topic later- I also pray for each kid and bless their day. So here we are in the car, I thanked God for our morning for our good nights rest and the sun in the sky and then I prayed for Elliot thanking God for him and his school and praying for his teacher as well and then naturally it was Grace's turn because, well I was dropping her off too. What I am dropping her off too? Insert big lump in my throat, wavering voice and tears flowing down my cheeks here. But we got through it and Grace received her blessing and God received His glory. And the tears subsided and we rolled into school like rock stars with Jesus in our hearts and God on the brain. Because, as I have said before, Ebenezer Christian School is the happiest place on earth!

So enough of the sap....I am sure a lot of you have skipped ahead to see my beautiful children. This year I let them pick out their own first day of school outfits, it saved on drama and increased the cheerfulness. So here it is ENJOY!

Pictures Finally...Summer Wrap Up

My card reader is the one with the attitude and Brian says I need a new one. At least I know what the problem is now. So my handy dandy tech savvy hubby uploaded all my photos onto his fancy droid and put them unto my computer....amazing is all I have to say.

Anyway here is the summer wrap up. Enjoy.


Grace and her favorite Daddy...thats what she tells him, I think its sweet!


My two crazy monkeys.


We call her brother the frog whisperer because he can tame frogs. He has been trying to train her to do the same for the last couple of summers but she shrieked everytime she touched them. This was the summer I guess...she even kissed it. I guess she had to test the prince theory. Can't blame a girl for trying.


My hard working little man. He is going to make a some girl really happy someday. Someday a long time from now that is.

Well thats it now you have seen it...was it exciting? Whats that you asked? Oh is the new room done? Why yes it is and two days before Brians self set deadline. You want to see it?


These are my favorite decoration in my entire house right now. I know some awful person donated them to the second chance after their lovely grandmother made them for them. Shame on you. But lucky me I love them and the best part was they were...wait for it...49 cents each. Yep thats right I decorated a wall for $3 smackers.


Window view.


Wall view. That picture did not cast .49 cents but I really fell in love with it so..well that's that.


I pretty much love my new room and am also pretty much sure that my fiestaware has ever felt more at home. It has a room that it matches and that is just fabulous.

So there you have it for real. My husband and many others have worked a tireless amount hours on our house projects this summer. And I will be having each and every one of you over for a big "the house is finally done...for now" party.