Lil' Projects.

 

Grady-Goo did this while I made this...

Know what it is?

A Garter...for a wedding my sister is in.

Then The Goo got into the baby powder while I was turning this bench

into this.

This bench (and chair, yet to be completed) were sitting out front of a foreclosed house down the street from us. Truth be told, I thought about "magic-ing" it away in the middle of the night but as it turned out I knew the agent who eventually listed the abandoned house for sale and when I contacted her with my intention to give the set a new life, she was happy to have me drag it off. I am sitting comfortably here in this space as I type this post, enjoying my backyard...I love it. (Thanks for the fabric Angela!)

Out Of The Rut.

Desperate to get out of a dinner rut and anxious to cycle in some fancier fare, I turned to my cooking guru, Everyday Food Magazine. I am challenging myself to cook a new recipe every night for 2 weeks and hopefully find some great recipes everyone here at The Honey Hut can enjoy. So far this is what we have had for dinner.

Aunt Colleen's Tacos.

Balsamic steak with garlic zucchini.

 

Small-Mouth Bass with lemon and garlic butter over summer squash.

The Little Girls caught this fish Saturday morning. It was so fresh and felt good to eat what they provided...my little Hunter/Gatherers...

This recipe I made up based on this similar one.

Massaged Kale Salad and Mashed-Potato Souffle. Recipe from Country Living Magazine.

Massaged-Kale salad sounds strange and not worth trying. This couldn't be further than the truth. This salad is so delicious and it must be amazingly healthy for you too. All three of My Littles gobbled it up, even Ivy who is intensely picky. Recipe here.

Oh.

This is the moment I finally sat on the couch yesterday, I had just put My Littles to bed and I snuggled up next to Tim. One of Tim's best qualities is his demeanor: he is rarely hot-headed. It takes a lot for him to get upset, he generally is on a slow burn for days until he either gives up on being angry or rants. When I sat next to him on the couch he was slow burning but picking up speed, aiming at detonation. He had me laughing because it is so out of character for him to plow toward combustion. You witnessed a blogged explosion.

 

 I have been taking a break from The Honey Hut, seeking some privacy and quieting my thoughts. Tim's sneaky post spurred my interest today in sharing a few things on my mind.

 

This morning while running I witnessed the sunrise, saw not a single person, smelled the first whiffs of Autumn and saw a white dove on the power lines.

 

I was rearranging our living room earlier this week and had an epiphany. For the first time ever, I did not arrange the chairs and sofa facing the TV (see this post). Instead the furniture is placed to encourage conversation and enjoy viewing sunsets. I wonder what percentage of Americans arrange furniture to better view the TV? The most comfortable space in our homes is the place we detach from what brings us the most joy in our lives...our family. Hmm...

 

It didn't take a Hoarders show to push me into my latest obsession...de-cluttering, just this article.

I know my sights are set high (5 people living in a smallish house with very little closet space/lack of organizational space, me and my emotional attachment to sentimental objects and constant rearranging/redecorating, not being the daughter of Martha Stewart, etc.), but I am determined to live "lighter" and try, try, TRY to de-clutter.

 

fin.

Guest Post: Tim.

Hi All, my beautiful wife has asked me several times to guest blog and I always deny. Well, tonight she left the computer on and logged in to Blogger so I decided to go on a little rant. It was after a particularly rough day at soccer practice for our daughter where I observed idiot after idiot after idiot parading around the sidelines. I also had a five hour energy today and possibly a little too much alcohol this evening. All in all, the perfect storm. Here we go:

We all have those friends in our lives, those friends that are complete idiots! Complete and total nincompoops! Sometimes they are friends and sometimes they are just acquaintances and sometimes they are family, but we all have them. Complete idiots! You know the ones I am talking about don't you? They are the ones talking on their cell phones in restaurants like they are so important. "Oh, I'm so important I better take this call right now or the whole world might explode!" Or Mr. ipad guy, this fucking idiot who walks around in public with his stupid fucking ipad "researching shit" or "taking pictures" with a camera the size of his head. Hey guess what jackass, they make cameras a lot smaller than that these days. Idiot!!! If you ever have an ipad in public other than the airport or an airplane you should be water boarded!

Idiots!

Then there are those friends who think they are something they are not. They think they are so funny or so smart or so prestigious or so attractive. The funniest thing about these people is they are actually anything but what they think they are. The "swanky" person is usually some wanker that was raised middle class and now thinks they are hot shit and have risen above those lowly middle class folks. The "attractive" one is typically alright looking, but with one major flaw, like a pizza face or a huge ass. The confident ones usually have no right to be so confident. The "funny" one is usually a
fricking moron who no one gets their jokes and everyone sympathy laughs at. The "smart" one is usually just pathetic and someone you just feel sorry for!

Why do these people exist? I have no idea but my life would be much more boring without them. I seem to be surrounded by COMPLETE FUCKING MORONS!!!!! Everywhere I go I see people that just make me shake my head and be more thankful for the loved ones in my life that don't fit this bill. There are probably people that will read this blog and think "wow, I'm glad I'm not one of those people he is describing." Let me tell you, there is probably a 50/50 chance you are one of those
people. If you think you are not, you probably are. That is just how you people think. Stupid dip shits! The ones that actually take a moment to self reflect and think about this, trust me, you are probably not as described above.

There are a few people I cherish in my life and sane, level headed, down to earth, normal, self-deprecating, real are some words to describe those. Only about 20% of the people I know fit this description. The other 80%? Refer to the four paragraphs above. I sometimes wonder if I am this person described above to other people. Maybe people look at me and think I think I am hot shit. If so, oh well. Fuck em'! They are probably just complete and total fucking idiots anyways!

Sincerely,

Grumpy ol' man!

P.S. This will teach you not to forget to log out when you are done! Ha!

1st Day Of 1st.

Yesterday was Savannah's first day of 1st grade.

She was very excited all morning but then nervous and tentative once on campus.

But then her best girlfriend Gracie showed up and guess what?...They are in the same class! (There are 3 classes of 1st graders, they get mixed around each year based on teacher requests. Thank you Mrs. Reeves for seeing these two stay together!)

Savannah at her OWN desk.

I was a mess all day. I missed her gentle spirit and I couldn't find anything (she has fantastic recall). I got to the bus stop way too early and blinked back the tears at how small she seemed stepping off that big bus. 

It took all the self control I could muster not to ask a million questions about her day. She has to have her space, time to think and someone to wait patiently until she is ready to spill hmm...just like her Dad. It turns out her day was swell.

Jack.

While we were away on vacation, my nephew Jackson broke his femur. Poor little buddy. He slipped on the floor, twisted to get out of a leg-caught-between-a-table-and-chair situation and the bone just broke. I cringe each time I think about how much pain he must have been in as well as the emotional trauma Jared and Jenny surely experienced seeing their sweet boy in agony. God bless the paramedic who gave Thomas' smoke stack a splint on the ambulance drive to the hospital.

(Jared built this table, Jenny found the perfect chair. A great setup.)

The cast starts just under his armpits, both legs are casted with a bar at shin-level to keep his legs from moving. We were all just sick to our stomachs to be so far away and unable to help with Hank or try to cheer Jack up. When Jared called from the hospital, I wanted to jump back in the car and drive the 11 hours home. But you know, there never was a sweeter natured boy than Jackson. And when we did first see him on Sunday, he was his normal cheerful self. Unable to get up and play, but happy to share his table with The Little Girls.

Little Moments In Park City/The End.

Goo.

Monkey Mountain

The cafe at Sundance.

Watching the rain.

As we ate birthday cupcakes.

Appreciating art on my run.

Loved this Miner's Hospital turned Community Center in the City Park.

Main Street.

5.

Today Ivy Jane turns 5. We celebrated her birthday a little early in Park City by riding the Alpine Slides with The Marsh's and seeing a concert/having a pizza picnic at The Canyons.

The ride up the lift at Park City Mountain from the high desert valley floor to the aspen covered mountaintops was breathtaking. The crisp, fresh and spicy smell along the way put a dizzy smile on our faces.

Kristi, Reese, Ivy and I.

Ready for take off.

EEEEEeeeeee!

At the concert/picnic, Ivy opened her gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

They knew just what she wanted.

Kristi (pictured with Ivy and a random little) made cupcakes (she makes the best!) and right before we were about to sing to Ivy, the sky turned black, the temperature dropped 5 degrees and it promptly poured. The band stopped mid-song and we two hundred people scattered for cover. We found refuge under the eaves of a realty office, not glamorous but the excitement only added to the charm of the day.

This is going to be a hard birthday to forget.

Happy 5th Birthday my little Red.