Can we fix it? No, we can't

An update on my mixer story. I took the mixer apart on Friday. Immediately I noticed that the gear housing was cracked, but I knew that wasn't the cause of the problem--just a result of something else freaking out inside of the housing. I unscrewed 4 screws, lifted the housing, and saw a big, black sludgey, slimey mess, with some gear shapes visible through the goo. I turned the mixer on and saw that all the gears were working well except for the top one. Upon investigation online, it appeared that it would be $100 to replace all the parts that might be wrong. I called KitchenAid, and for $100 I could have them take a look at it and figure out was was wrong, and then it would be above and beyond that to have it actually fixed.

My dryer fix was no big deal. Other than wiping away a few years worth of dust and lint, it was a very easy and clean fix. This, on the other hand it difficult. It could be something as simple as a $5 pin that broke (I found a small bit of what looks like it used to be the end of the pin while fishing in the black abyss of gear grease), or it could be the whole post and gear assembly stripped out. And then there's the $45 gear housing that needs replaced. To tell you the truth, the gear grease scares me.

So at this point, I'm ready to cut off the cord, give it to Savanna to use in her kitchen, and buy this beautiful black model on amazon.com. My old was gave me 4 good years. I expected more, but I really did use it a ton, so I don't think it's worth sinking $150-$200 into a 4-year-old mixer, when I can get a new one for $300.

I'm going through mixer withdrawals. While the kids like brownies and 'no-bake' cookies, they are hankering for some real cookies. And they had their first-ever taste of mashed potatoes from a box last Sunday, because I have no idea how to mash potatoes without a mixer. I'm too attention-deficit to mash by hand, anyway. I went to take some treats to a friend of mine whose husband is home on hospice care, and I couldn't take the usual chocolate chip cookie standby. I resorted to caramel corn. Yes, it was delicious, but not my signature treat.

Anyway, I'm awaiting word from our accountant to see what our taxes look like for 2007. Hopefully we don't owe too much so I can get this mixer soon.

Loser Mom

I had a "first" last week that was really humiliating. Sometimes I wonder if people think I am like "The Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe" with so many children not knowing what to do. I actually get a lot of really, really crusty, mean looks when I have all the kids with me out and about. And I've heard all the idiotic jokes about family size, unwanted helpful suggestions, and social commentary I can handle. But I did something last week that would have been worthy of people's scorn.

I was giving Zachary his haircut. Keep in mind with 5 boys, I have given literally hundreds of haircuts over the years. They've always been good. I've never really messed up. It had been more than 6 weeks since his last one, so he was particularly fluffy. Zachary didn't want to sit still for this haircut, so Mark was assisting me. He got my other clippers out, plugged them in and was turning them on and off to let Zachary see that they were nothing to be afraid of. I was zooming through the haircut, and had just finished the back and ears, and was ready to move on to the top. I turned off the clippers, swapped the blade guard out for the longer 3/8" guard, and was ready to move on to the top of Zack's fuzzy head. Only my clippers didn't turn on. I turned them back off, removed the guard, and banged them a little on the counter, figuring his long hair had jammed the blade. That usually works. This time it didn't. I blew in them, brushed out all the hair I could, and still no action.

At this point I had the thought that the 2 clippers on one electrical outlet may have been a little much. Sure enough, on the other side of the kitchen I saw that the GFI switch had been tripped, so I pushed the rest button, returned to my clippers, and they turned on. Zachary was getting restless, so I jumped right back in to his haircut with a nice big swoop down the middle of his head. Mark's eyes suddenly got very serious.

Here's the problem: I had forgotten to replace the blade guard, and now my sweet little son was bald down to his scalp with a reverse-mohawk! My stomach churned. I had to make a quick decision. Which option would make me look less white-trash? To continue the haircut leaving a bald stripe on Zack's head, or to buzz it all down to 1/8" inch and start from scratch?

I opted for the short-all-over look. Fortunately Zachary's hair grows incredibly fast, and after only 10 days into his new look, you can't tell what happened. But for the first few days none of us could look at him without laughing out loud. It is sad to say, but he looked like a chemo baby, because what hair he had is completely white, so he looked totally bald. He didn't mind, though. The only time he knew something was wrong was when we went outside the next day to get in the car to go to church. He put his hand up on his head and said,"COLD!"

Brown eyes hypnotize

Boy, oh, boy. I cannot resist these brown eyes. I'm pretty much a sucker for brown eyes. And doens't Jake look good in his new glasses?

Catastrophe!

This is my mixer. I use it every day. I love it. However, I killed it last week. I taught a cookie-making class on Wednesday in my kitchen. The mixer worked very nicely. Then Wednesday night I thought I would get a head start on my Valentine sugar cookies for the next day. So I made the dough and put it in the fridge. Thursday morning I baked the cookies, and they were very wrong. I realized that while I had made the dough with 1 1/2 times the ingredients, I had only used a regular amount of flour. So I had to throw them in the trash and start all over again. I made the dough, paying close attention to my multiplication this time. It was perfect. And then on the last spin after the last addition of flour, something bad happened. The motor was whirring, but the mixer was not mixing. I had stripped out a gear!

I was relieved that the dough was at least mixed. I proceded to roll and cut out 100 cookies. I baked them. They were perfect. And then I realized, "I cannot make frosting!" Not only did I need frosting for my cookies, but also I needed it as a first grade class was awaiting my frosting to proceed with their Valentines Day party. I thought that for the first time in my life I would have to buy canned frosting. But then I had an idea.

My mixer has a friend. It is a 14-cup Cuisinart food processor. They are neighbors on counter. I use the Cuisinart a lot. When I saw the Cuisinart on the counter, I remembered that it had come with a "dough blade" which I had never used. I dug in the cupboards and found it. I put all of the frosting ingredients in the Cuisinart, and VOILA! I had perfect frosting. I frosted the cookies and made another batch for the first graders. Who knew my food processor was so versatile?

My next project is to take my mixer apart and see if I can order a part to fix it. I fixed the dryer, why should a little old mixer be any trouble?

Random

If anyone ever is wondering what the word RANDOM means, you can step for 2 minutes into my door and you will see.

First of all it is my furniture. We have been waiting until the student loans were paid off (last fall) and then to get our 2006 taxes paid off (last month) before buying any real furniture. We got a couch from my Grandma which is very comfortable and pretty, but all around it I have a random assortment of chairs. Hopefully this summer we can get more of a theme going on.

Second, it is the kids. Who knows what Savanna will be wearing. It is usually some colorful outfit, made up of different textures, seasons and colors. Savanna never wears matching socks. She picks 2 socks that complement her outfit, but never the same. It saves me time, so I don't complain--I just dump all of her socks into a shoebox in her drawer without having to match them up. Nothing goes as well with her inventive outfits as her pink sparkly shoes. They match everything!

Another favorite random thing is the costume boxes downstairs. The kids play in costumes almost every day. Above is a picture I snapped the other day of them after they had come upstairs. When we moved here six years ago, the boy next door was over playing once. He came running upstairs (he was 3). "Jill, Jill!!!! The kids are playing with the costumes!" He thought they were in big trouble. I just said, "Find something you want to wear, " and I sent him back downstairs. Apparently costumes are only for Halloween at his house.

The other random thing you will find here is which room is clean. I have my housekeeping divided into days. Not all of the house is clean on the same day. If you want to see my kitchen clean, come on Tuesday. If you want a clean toilet seat, Wednesday is your best bet. And make sure your dirty clothes are in the laundry chute Monday morning, or it could be another week until you see them.

Dill-Onion Dip

I've had a few people ask me for this recipe the past few weeks, so I thought I'd put it on here. I LOVE THIS DIP! It is fantastic with Wheat Thins, and really good with veggies. I made this for a wedding that I did the food for last May, and it was a big hit. If you have a Cuisinart, that's the easiest way to make this dip. If not.....Happy Chopping!

1 1/3 c mayo
1 1/3 c sour cream
1 bunch parsley
2 TBSP red onion
1 can olives
2 tsp Seasoning Salt
1 TBSP Dill Weed (or seed)

Place parsley and red onion in food processor, and pulse until they are finely chopped. Add all of the other ingredients and pulse until olives are minced. Chill and serve.

Irony

Here's a little tid-bit I just learned. And it is the ultimate example of irony.

Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr on March 30, 1981. I was in 3rd grade, and I remember the day very vividly. The bullet lodged in Reagan's lung, 1/2 inch from his heart. It was a miracle (at least I think so--many of you probably don't) that he survived. We all know that stuff. Here's the crazy part of the story that I just learned recently.

John Hinckley was not a great shot. He took 6 shots at Reagan, and accidentally hit 3 other people. 1 bullet missed everything, and 2 bullets hit the limo Reagan was heading toward. The final bullet which hit Reagan had actually first hit the bullet-proof limo, and then ricocheted into Ronald Reagan. So the bullet-proof car meant to protect his life actually nearly ended it.

I just finished all my bookkeeping to get our tax stuff to our accountant. It KILLS me to see so much of what we worked so hard for re-distributed by the government. Perhaps that's why I'm missing Reagan so much these last few days.

My hero

Politics aside, you have to love this story:

Ronald Reagan's most challenging test came on the day he was shot. He wrote in his diary of struggling for breath and of praying. "I realized that I couldn't ask for God's help while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed-up young man who shot me," he wrote. "Isn't that the meaning of the lost sheep? We are all God's children, and therefore equally loved by Him. So I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold."

Bleak House

I read this book last fall, and I must say it was my favorite book ever. Well, maybe tied with To Kill A Mockingbird. Charles Dickens is a master, weaving many seemingly unrelated plotlines into one big, fat, smash-bang, holy-cow, I-didn't-see-that-coming climax. And the falling action and resolution of Bleak House are by far the best love story in all of literature. Seriously--it kicks Pride and Prejudice's butt.

I then went onto our county library's website to reserve the DVD which Masterpiece Theater had shown a couple of years ago. We never watch TV, so I had no idea that this movie existed, but I was very excited to see it. As my luck would have it, the first two times it came up my turn to check it out, I was out of town and missed my chance. But last week I finally got my turn. I watched a couple of episodes every day (it is 7 1/2 hours total). I was not disappointed.

I think this version of Bleak House was very loyal to the book. A few minor storylines were necessarily left out, but the characters were, except for one, exactly as I had pictured them in my mind. The actress who played Esther was quite good as far as playing the character, but physically, she was just plain weird-looking. I mean I didn't want a Barbie doll in the role, but she is just not what I had pictured at all. I still LOVED the movie, though.

I don't understand why BBC chooses such.....unusual-looking girls for their main roles. The male protagonists are always very handsome, and the female lead roles are sort of strange looking.

Anyway, if anyone is looking for a good suspense, murder-mystery, romance, detective story, I highly recommend Bleak House. The book is huge, but worth every page.