Madison's Future

Found this in some stuff I was cleaning out...

I'm pretty sure this was from kindergarten.  We had a good laugh about Brazil.  Madison said that was because whenever we would do the Santa Tracker website he would always be near the big Jesus Statue in Brazil!!

Austin's Apartment

Rather than moving into the dorms at school this semester, Austin thought living in one of the school's apartments would be a better option for him with less drama.  I was seriously worried about his ability to live in this kind of environment, especially when I hadn't actually seen the apartment but I agreed.  It was pretty inexpensive and maybe it would get him out of the drama scene that was so bad his first semester there.

I had to do a mid-week business trip to Kalamazoo which wasn't far from his school so we agreed to meet after classes at his apartment and go to dinner after.  Then I had an idea and sent him the following text messages:

I was cracking up - the "Art" I'm referring to is the apartment manager. I never planned on staying there.  LOL!  And boy am I glad - the beds are these boxes with vinyl mattresses.  Of course, MY kid had told me they were queen size beds so he doesn't have a mattress pad to fit them.  not that he would use it.....  Here he has two beds pushed together.  This is a THREE bedroom apartment with two beds in each room but he's in here alone.  The whole apartment is his.

I was shocked that the majority of his clothes are actually IN the dresser and some are folded.

This amused me.  This tiny table with only three chairs for an apartment that could sleep six.  

Typical apartment kitchen.

No dishwasher.  His friend told me he washed all the dishes for Austin before I got there.

Two of Austin's friends.  I had met the girl on the left last semester and she is his "sister".  The boy on the right (not her boyfriend) is a nice kid from Livonia.

The other half of the living room.  I think that is the smallest door mat/rug I have ever seen!!

Austin told me he had a surprise for me when I got there.  Can you tell what it is?

Yup.  He got his ears pierced.  He thought I would be mad but I wasn't at all.  The odds of him actually keeping earrings in and cleaned for 6 weeks are fairly low.  I got him some peroxide to keep them clean when we stopped at the store after dinner.....

Now and Then

Found a packet of photos taken about 10 - 11 years ago and was flipping out at how young we all looked!  I think this is seriously one of the best pictures of me I ever remember.

 Mom and Dad from that same year compared to now.  Dad doesn't look all that much different but Mom is quite a bit thinner.

And OMG has Austin changed!  This boy has my heart and soul always.

Semi-home Made Pot Stickers

I love pot stickers but since moving, I'm not close to any really good Asian markets that sell them freshly made so I've been stuck with the frozen versions.  They are okay but....

I came across this "bowl" thing in the produce section of the grocery store.  Hmmmm.  Maybe?

I cooked it according to the directions but left out the rice.  After letting it cool a bit, I dropped spoonfuls onto fresh Won Ton wrappers.

I was experimenting a bit with the shape.  The four sided shapes seemed to hold better than the triangles.

My intention was to be able to cook these in the Instant Pot for fast and easy.  I cooked the first batch that way and wasn't happy with them.  Tough and chewy.  Although I do think the cooking directions I followed allowed for way too much time.  Maybe less time would have worked but batch two I cooked the usual way with oil and water in a fry pan.  MUCH better.

I didn't take a picture because I had froze the leftovers as a "blob" so on defrosting, my cute little folds didn't hold so the result looked more like stir fry than pot sticker!!  But they tasted good and the few that still held some sort of shape were awesome.

Random Horse Related Bits and Spurs

Madison and I have been getting to ride together quite a bit lately and I love it so much!  She gets Vince from Maggie's barn next door and I put Mata Hari to work.  We have a nice little system  down so we finish everything up at the same time going home happy and tired with ponies tucked in for the night.

Other nights we trade in our breaches for dress up clothes and go see a show - this one was "Cabaret".  

We've been cleaning out the "horse room" in the basement of the Whitmore Lake house since it's listed for sale.  We have found so many things we no longer need including this collection of western spurs.  And this wasn't all of them...

Even when we have to ride inside, I never tire of this view over Mata Hari's ears.

Sometimes we look out and find her Perchy Cross boyfriend looking back at us!

I took this picture to send to Madison one morning.  I was dressed in a skirt suit wearing these fancy tights and had to stop at Maggie's barn to pick up a poop sample to drop off at the vet's on the way to Lansing.  So there I was, in the blowing rain, wearing my muck boots with my suit to go fetch a ball of poop.  The things we do for our horses.....

Crazy Cat Lady?

I might very well be turning into a crazy cat lady.  

This plant was on the windowsill just over the tub in the first picture.  Dang cat knocked it into the tub and I just stood there taking pictures amused by the whole thing.

Coming down to investigate his damage.

Perhaps muddling over how it got down there?

Checking it over carefully.

Because this happened just before I was leaving for work, I only picked up the plant and put it back before I left.  I came home to dirt tracked all over the bathroom and the plant back in the tub.  Grrr.  I guess the bathroom door needs to stay closed if I have any hope of keeping those plants where they are now.

Blown Away

Some mornings when I get into work and the sun is rising over the Detroit River, I am just totally blown away by Mother Nature's ability to paint the sky.  I can't even begin to describe how much more beautiful this was in person than it is in the photo...