OK, so it's time to start blogging again... folks I never thought even gave it a glance have asked when I'm going to start again - who knew?! I'm feeling a bit rusty at this so we might get off to a rough start but hang in there... I'll get the hang of it soon.

I attended my first festival as a vendor this past weekend! What a hoot! And I made some bucks too. I make reusable lunch bags from 100% natural cotton and iron on catchy "green" phrases and images and it turns out people are willing to pay for them!

I'm plotting my strategy for the next event. I learned what sold, what didn't, got some good ideas from other vendors, need a better tent (I had to tie onto my neighbor's concrete block to keep from blowing away - and it was SO obvious my tent came from Dollar General), need a sign, etc.

The chirens are good. Holly and Jack are now sharing a bedroom together. They are like peas and carrots! It is such a HOOT to listen to the monitor after we've tucked them in. They giggle like little hyenas for a good 30 minutes each night. Holly will tell Jack stories - mostly about a princess named Holly and Jack will occasionally sing songs from his favorite movie of all times, Annie. He'll yell out, "Whomorrow, whomorrow, I LOVE YA whomorrow, you're only da day AWAYYYYYYYYYYAYYYYY!!!!!" Flipping cracks me up every time.

Jeff and I say he talks like a drunk German. If you hand him something or help him out he'll grunt, "TANKS, MAMA" except is sounds more like TONKS. If Jeff points something out, Jack will say, "WHAT, DADDY? WHAT?" Except he does it in a way that you're pretty sure he's ready to kick someones ass. Get your best drunk German friend over and ask him to read this paragraph and you'll get the humor.

Holly is 100% little girl right now. I noticed yesterday that she had on a pink tutu, a crown, three bracelets, a ring and clip-on earrings tromping around the backyard. Now, she is MY child so of course she wasn't wearing shoes and her hair was a mess but she gets the rest right down to a tee.

She is all about wanting to go to school. I had to get her a book bag, which she puts on every morning to ride to daycare with. She walks in and hangs it on a hook on the wall and dutifully grabs it up each day when it's time to go home. The last time I looked in there I found two pair of pink sunglasses, a bag of Cheerios, some stickers she must have swiped from Maddi and a plastic phone. She is ready - not sure what for, but she is ready.

My BFF, Jennifer, came to visit from Washington a few weeks ago. Jennifer I an were thick and thieves our school years until her dad plucked her up and moved her to California one summer - breaking my heart in the process. It was fantastic to see her again and took all of about 2 minutes to fall back into the comfy place that true friendship can take you. She emailed me from the airport on her way back home and when I still hadn't responded this morning, I got this ecard. You can't put a price tag on good friends and great senses of humor. This ecard website is hilarious, by the way. Check it out http://www.someecards.com/.

Well, this is about all I can think of right now and really should be moving on to Ryder stuff. I'll leave you with my latest favorite recipe. After looking for a recipe for the seasoning mixture used on rotisserie deli chicken, I compiled this one from the ones I thought sounded about right. It's wicked good - try it out!

ROTISSERIE-STYLE CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS
4 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 onions, quartered
2 small chickens


DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Remove and discard giblets from chicken. Rinse chicken cavity, and pat dry with paper towel. Rub each chicken inside and out with spice mixture. Place 1 onion into the cavity of each chicken. Place chickens in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours. Place chickens in a roasting pan. Bake uncovered at 250 degrees for 5 hours. Baste with the pan juices once an hour. Let the chickens stand for 10 minutes before carving.