TACO???

Ok. So lately things have been a little hectic. Probably no more than usual and I know not really any busier than anyone else, but it has still been hectic. True, I have still been a slacker when it comes to blogging and I really do promise to do better; however the problem is that when we start a new project, or work on something new it always turns into something bigger than it probably should be. The kids joke that that is just the Draper way-- "GO BIG OR GO HOME". However, lately when we start talking about doing something like a poster for Jr. Miss, or decorations for the Accadian Auction or MORP, or remodeling the kitchen, the question now is if the project is going to turn into a 'TACO'.....

Let me explain...
When Erin was in third grade she 'jokingly' said she wanted to be a taco for Halloween. "Wouldn't that be an awesome costume?" she says. "That would be kind of cool" I say in return. "Let me think about it and see what I can come up with".

So I thought about it.... I had learned to work with foam a couple of years earlier when we did a float for the 24th of July Parade so I figured I could put those skills to work on a costume.

Erin went to bed one night and when she woke up, she was a taco! Who would have thought?

Anyway, now when ever Suzie or I say there is some project or another coming up, the first thing that comes out of someones mouth is "TACO?"....

Dumb question... of course it is going to be a taco! I wouldn't have it any other way! And really, the family might complain a little but they wouldn't have it any other way either! GO BIG DRAPER'S OR GO HOME!

(I think that was the same year I made four foot round m&m costumes out of foam for Scott, Deni and several of Deni's friends... but that is another story!).

SLCAKER, SLACKER, SLACKER!

Neighborhood 'round the block' parade.

So I admit that I have been a slacker lately. I have had a lot of 'things an stuff' going on and have been a little distracted, but I have been having a lot of fun also! Fun things that I need to share, so I promise to get back on top of it and do a little posting.

We had a neighborhood parade and breakfast for the 4th of July and I decorated a ride for Erin and Samantha. It was cute and fun and patriot. One of my neighbors said to me "Well, we can always count on you to do something dramatic and bizarre". DRAMATIC AND BIZARRE? Seriously. I have been called a lot of things in life but never that...

I decorated a wheel barrow and pushed the 2nd Attendant to Miss Sandy around the block. What is so bizarre about that? It was fun.

Anyway, I promise to do better going forward! and HAPPY 4th of JULY!

IT IS TOTALLY BLACK AND WHITE...

Self portrait in Black and White.

So, I don't usually take my clothes to the laundry until I am desperate and have nothing to wear. Needless to say, when I finally go there is a LOT of laundry. I picked up my dry cleaning the other day and was putting it away when Erin came in to see what I was doing. She took a look at the bed and said "Umm... Dad, I think we need an intervention! You have a color problem". My first response was 'hello pot... this is kettle!' since Erin's closet looks very much like mine.

Personally, I don't see a problem here. I do have one light blue sweater and a gray one, there might even be a purple sweater in this stack, so I am not totally afraid of color. And seriously, I am not afraid of pattern either. Really, I am not...

See, there is some pattern in my wardrobe... There is some plaid, some tattersall and a little organic floral. There are even some stripes. I am not afraid of pattern!

WHAT??? Honestly, I don't have a problem here. Just like I don't have a problem with holidays, or even a problem with sugar cookies for that matter. Really, I don't have a problem.

So I also have twenty pair of black shoes... doesn't everyone?

The GREAT EASTER EGG HUNT 2011!

Still not Grandma and Grandpa but we are Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny for our nieces and nephews and it is so much fun! We filled almost 700 eggs with treats and money (like nickels, dimes and quarters) and had lots of other fun items hiding in the bushes. Bubbles, rubber duckies, pens and pencils...

IT WAS FREEZING! It was raining and cold! This was the latest Easter could be in the year and it still felt like an early March Easter.

New this year was the prize table. There was a metallic egg for each child with their name written on it hidden somewhere in the yard. When they found it they could turn in their egg for a prize at the table. It was just a lot of random spring toys for boys and girls. You know, like whiffle balls and bats, kites, sidewalk chalk, Frisbees, crowns, Slinky's, plastic gardening set. I think in the olden days everyone got gardening sets for Easter from the Easter Bunny. You know, a pail with a shovel, a hoe and a rake. We couldn't wait to get out and dig up the garden!

It was too cold to count out the loot outside so everyone piled into the family room to see what they found. Ryan, Abby, Chase, Emma and Morgan check it out.

Ethan with piles of eggs.

Minde saw our egg hunt on my blog last year and was jealous! She brought Riley and Chase from New York City for the egg-stravaganza!

Lisa,Addy, Hayes and Taylor sort it all out.

Scott helps Garret while Cyd helps Ethan. Probably more sugar than one kid should have in a year. However, I am the Easter Bunny. I can spoil them all I want and then just send them home with their parents to deal with the sugar high! Hop, hop, hop.

Any thing the kids did not want to take home went into the recycling bag. I think they know that if I take the eggs home I will augment them with more next year and fill them all up! I think that is why the egg count goes up so much each year! That, and the fact that I can never remember how many eggs I have so I always buy more just to be safe...

I think I hopped one too many times! I was tired and needed a little bunny nap before I could get back on my feet!

Thanks to Mark and Gainell for their hospitality and for sharing their grand kids with us. The 'things and stuff' that make life worthwhile are focused around traditions and the people who are important to us, that is what makes our Easter egg hunt such a fun tradition!

ON THE FRINGE

It is always fun when someone I know makes it to the 'BIG TIME' with things and stuff they are doing.

My friend, Courtney Walker, has her first young adult book coming out in October this year. It is a paranormal story of a girl named Claire who is struggling to deal the murder of her childhood crush, Daniel. A near death experience mysteriously reconnects her with Daniel and they wonder if the experience will keep her trapped on the fringe forever.

The reviews I have read so far have been really good. You can check out an interview Courtney did this week at the following blog site:

http://blackfingernailreviews.blogspot.com/
(that's black finger nail reviews)

You can pre-order Courtney's book from Amazon for delivery in October. I have already ordered my copy, you should all order one also!

CINCO DE MAYO!

I just got back from New Mexico but the conference this year was at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort just outside of Albuquerque so I did not make it to Santa Fe for my traditional "Huevos" at the Plaza Cafe. Because I missed my traditional Cinco meal I decided that I needed to take some-'things' and stuff into my own hands and have our own Cinco De Mayo party this year. Actually we did it on Sunday so it was more like Uno De Mayo, but the thought was there!

For those who don't know, Cinco De Mayo means the Fifth of May and it commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It started out as a Mexican holiday but it has become a traditional celebration all over America also.

For our celebration we served up steak and chicken fajitas on the grill, fresh tortillas, mexican rice, a green salad, 'cowboy caviar' and VIRGIN Raspberry 'Sangre" Margaritas. YUM!

I am not sure where the name 'cowboy caviar' came from but it is one of our favorite summer snacks. Sometimes it is even considered dinner. It is so good and really easy to make.

RECIPE: COWBOY CAVIAR
I start with a container of fresh salsa or pico de gallo from the produce department. Some people spend a ton of time chopping tomatoes, onions and peppers but it is so much easier to just buy it already chopped. I like 'Condies' brand the best but any fresh salsa will do. Add two cans of black beans (drained and rinsed), a can of corn or a package of frozen corn (I like white corn better than yellow) and two or three chopped avocados. When all of the ingredients are in a bowl, add a package of Good Seasons Italian dressing mix, a little olive oil and some apple cider vinegar. Stir it all up and serve it with tortilla chips. I like to use the 'Lays Baked Tortilla Scoops' because they cut the calories a little and taste just as good... and the scoops make the dip easy to eat. Fresh and delicious!

Colorful chicken fajitas cooking on the grill outside... Soooo TASTY and you can buy them marinated and ready to grill in the meat department at Dan's. We also did steak fajitas. So good!

Cheers and a toast for good family fun and traditions with our virgin raspberry margaritas! No one wanted to be in the picture (everyone was in 'lounge' wear) so I just cut off their arms.

If you want to make our Raspberry Margaritas the recipe is SO easy!

STRAWBERRY MARGARITAS
Put half a can of Welch's White Grape Raspberry Juice Concentrate and a bunch of ice in a blender. Add some diet Sprite or 7-up and grind it up. Add some more soda and grind it some more until you get it to the consistency. I like it only slightly slushy. Just be careful to only add the soda a little at a time so it doesn't foam all over. Messy!

I did the flowers but I gave Samantha the assignment of draping the table and hanging the lights; I think she did a masterful job!

PREP-ING FOR THE 2011 GREAT EASTER EGG HUNT

Easter is just around the corner and the 'things and stuff' necessary are piling up getting ready for the big event! The candy and prizes have been purchased, the eggs just need to be filled!! Mr. and Mrs. EASTER BUNNY have their hats and are ready to hide some eggs!

Let the festivities begin!

CHOCOLATE TUFTED GOODNESS!

When you think about all the 'things and stuff' in life, could there be anything better than chocolate? I really think not! When these brownies came out of the oven I thought they were beautiful! Really... almost like a tufted matelasse' silk fabric. Jut as an FYI, Matelasse is an embossed compound fabric woven on a dobby or Jacquard loom.

The secret? Betty Crocker red box brownies and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Follow the recipe on the box. After you pour the batter in the pan, press in unwrapped peanut butter cups in any pattern you desire. I don't really think you can put in too many peanut butter cups! Bake as directed.

A hot brownie and a big class of cold milk. So, so good!

FUN IN THE SUN!

Suzie had meetings in Orlando this week so Erin and I tagged along just for fun. The conference was at Disney but the Swan Hotel messed up our reservation so we had to stay over at the Gaylord Palms Resort. Sad for us...NOT! Luxury resort at conference prices. It was really a great little get-a-way. Laying in the sun, hanging out, eating and playing!

Erin and I spent one day at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. It was so much fun! We rode our favorite roller coaster, The HULK, four times and obviously it was a kick! We also rode Dueling Dragons twice, Jurassic Park and then The Amazing Spiderman. Then, just for fun, we rode Dudley Do-Rights Buzz Saw Rapids and got soaked! That ride is like Splash Mountain on steroids!

It was so much fun just to spend a little time with Erin away from all the crazy stuff at home. We really had a great time. I love her lots!

JUNIOR PROM TRADITIONS

Wow! Time really flies when your days are filled with 'things and stuff'. but often time goes faster than it should! It seems like yesterday that Deni was going to Prom, then Erin... now my baby who is really, OBVIOUSLY, not a baby at all!

A tradition I have had with all of my girls is that I give them pearls on their prom. They may not wear them to the dance but it is something that, hopefully, they will cherish and remember.

Sami and McKay

Could they look better? I think not.....

STUNNING!

THE WRECKING BALL COMETH, seriously!

The time has come... the kitchen is tired. "THINGS AND STUFF" have to change!

The kitchen is the first room we did when we moved in seventeen years ago. The room has been well used and honestly, loved. It has entertained guests, hosted parties and played a part in hundreds of family memories; but all good things must come to an end.

Time to say good bye to the old and hello to a whole load of work,
starting with a bunch of demolition!!

Actually, the demolition is the fun part! It is the putting it back together that is hard, especially when it is a design as you go project... kind of typical for us. We won't be sure what it is going to look like until it is finished.

This is the progress so far this week. I will keep you posted as we go forward. The plumber is coming tomorrow to push the drains and water supplies up into the floor joists since we removed the drop ceiling. Then I will be looking for someone to hang some sheet rock and do a little mudding and patching! Any suggestions?

Start date: 28 March 2011. I am not sure that I dare venture a guess when it will be done...

MY FAVORITE "THINGS" (& stuff) #4

COURAGE, CONFIDENCE, CHARACTER

It is that time of year again... Girl Scout Cookie Time! They are for sale on every corner, in grocery store lobbies and door-to-door!

Did you know that the first Girl Scout Cookies were sold in 1917 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. In 1922 the Girl Scout Magazine suggested cookie sales as a fun-raiser and provided recipes for those cookies. In 1933, the Girl Scouts in Philadelphia organized the first official bake sale,selling homemade cookies. In 1936 the national organization began licensing commercial bakers to produce the cookies. Because of shortages of flour, sugar and butter during World War II customers were limited to two boxes per person. That would be terrible... we have to buy more than two boxes just to get everyone's favorite flavors. And face it- you can't just by one box of each flavor anyway; you have to buy enough to hide them in a variety of places so they last more than a day or two! Besides it is for good cause, right?

Girl Scouts is a leadership development organization for girls where young women discover their potential and take action in their communities. The Girl Scout Cookie program promotes financial skills such as goal setting, decision-making, customer service and money management. Proceeds from sales go to support our local Girl Scouts.

For more info visit www.girlscouts.org.

RUN SAMI, RUN! (and jump!)

So, we were having Sunday dinner a few weeks ago and Samantha announced that she was going out for the track team. "Really", we all said. Cool. "What event are you going to do?" we asked. She said, "I am going to do the hurdles!". Wow. OK. Go for it Sami. Samantha has never been afraid to go after new "things and stuff"and she usually succeeds at everything she tries.

Getting ready for her very first event, the 100 meter hurdles.

Ready, set, GO!

Running the 100 meter dash.

Not that I am bragging (but I am... after all it is my blog, I can do what I want).
Anyway, she did great!

1st in her heat and 3rd overall in the 300 meter hurdles.

5th overall in the 100 meter hurdles.

3rd overall in the 4x1 relay.

11th in the 100 meter dash (and she had never run that one).

GO BENGALS!

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER!!

So, I have always said that you shouldn't eat any-'thing' bigger than your head, but sometimes you have to try!

Tonight we had dinner at a new restaurant in Sandy called "The BLACK BEAR DINER". It is on the corner of 9400 South and Highland Drive in the old Village Inn building. It has been there a couple of months but it is jumping all the time. We decided to give it a shot and it is really good! Good old fashion 'comfort' food. They serve breakfast all day plus they have a large variety of other options. Mashed potatoes, country gravy and biscuits, vegetables swimming in butter. Are you getting the idea? Not healthy but awfully good! I would even say it could give Ruth's a run and it is much more convenient. Huge portions and reasonably priced and way more food than anyone can eat....

Check it out if you are hungry... It is worth it!

TANGO

I was looking for 'things and stuff' on YOUTUBE and I came across this video. It turns out the dancers are both instructors at Ballroom Utah. Chelsea Erickson and Corey Lundell.
They are both, obviously, great dancers and great teachers.

The Tango is quickly becoming my favorite dance. The moves are big and it can be quite dramatic, even sensual... and really fun! Remember the closing scene in "True Lies" when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis do the Tango while Tom Arnold is trying to get their attention and get them back on the spy job at hand? They are not very good but they are so serious, it makes me laugh. I love that movie. Anyway, the Tango is great.

Seriously, come check it out!

Video by ISIL HESSICK
Music by Zade

REVISITING AN OLD FAVORITE!

Do you ever have a craving for 'things and stuff' from your past? Something that is so decadently delicious, and bad for you, that you have to have it? Something that you can't let anyone see you eat because you are humiliated by your weakness? Something you sneak in the house in a brown paper bag and hide in the back of the freezer until just the right time? Maybe like the middle of the night, in the dark, wrapped up in a blanket watching 'Bram Stokers Dracula'? Eating with a big spoon? Are you starting to get the idea?

Ben and Jerry's 'PHISH FOOD'! Chocolate ice cream with ribbons of caramel and marshmallow swimming with fish shaped fudge chunks. I would say divine if I used that word... kind of like awesome. The problem is the fact that there are four servings in a pint but a pint LOOKS like one serving. Once you start there is no stopping and before you know it you have consumed four servings and six hundred calories. However, I don't see that as a problem, do you? I thought not.

WHAT DANCE DO YOU DO AT MARDI GRAS?

Ok, so our house is suddenly close to empty... Deni and Nick moved out, Erin is hardly home, Scott is on a mission and Sami is so busy we hardly see her. We have become almost empty nester's really fast! So, Suzie and I decided if we were going to be on our own we should start doing some "things and stuff" that we have talked about doing for years... like learn to dance! Seriously! The question was where to start.

Our friends the Cannon's, who are getting ready for a wedding, invited us to their dance class at Willow Creek Country Club and we had a riot. Turns out their instructor is Martin Skupinski who is the owner of Ballroom Utah Dance Studio. He is a great teacher and makes the whole process a lot of fun.

So, after a couple of weeks at the Country Club Martin said we should come to his studio for his Friday Night Dance Party. Why not? It turns out that every Friday night he opens his studio for open dancing from eight until ten o'clock. It is only five dollars a person and I was amazed the first time we went. Ballroom Utah is a beautiful studio with a great wood dance floor and it doubles as a gallery for Salt Lake artist Pamela Nielsen. She does amazing, large scale contemporary art and the studio is a perfect place to appreciate its beauty.

Any way, back to the dancing. They teach a wide variety of dance styles as well as offering several class and lesson options. On Friday nights Martin and his staff are there during the party to help with technique, teach some new steps and to just keep the party going. It really is great fun and it is our new Friday night date.

Last Friday night we celebrated Mardi Gras and Martin taught the Samba in honor of Carnival. After he taught the basics, with everyone in masks, he lead the parade around the studio as if we were really at Mardi Gras, beads and all (kidding, no beads). It was a kick!

Suzie and I in the masks we picked up in New Orleans at the Mardi Gras party.
We are in front of one of Pam Nielsen's pieces.

Suzie with studio owner Martin Skupinski.

If you want to try something new and fun, check out Ballroom Utah. The studio is located at 3030 South Main Street in Salt Lake and you can call 801-916-4716 for information or go to their website at ballroomutah.com.

We are thinking about going to the group Salsa lessons on Wednesday nights at nine also. It is only ten bucks a person and Salsa dancing is 'hot' (clever, huh?). Come and go with us-- more people make the party even more fun!

Let's go BALLROOM!