but possibly the best batch of grape jelly I've made to date! It's just after approximately 3.5 hours of sleep at 6 something in the morning I haven't the mental capability to attempt a more creative, better (ha!) photo.
Rick's mum has a grapevine in her backyard that grows these really juicy plump grapes and she gave me a bag full of them. I don't know if she did it intentionally but the weight of the grapes were 3.5 lbs--exactly what I needed for the jelly recipe.
I made the jelly early yesterday morning, mostly before the kids got up and ladled it into these very wide, squat jars that I thought I'd try out. I'll be using this style again because it cuts down on the amount of jars that need processing which is a good thing in my book. Processing one batch of even these jars kicked up the house temperature by several degrees. <--not a good thing!
Other than the jelly and a few tiny things around the house, I didn't really get too much work around the house done. I abandoned the housework for: walking with Catharine, lunch with Missy, printing and packing up a few query packages to some agents (thanks again Cathy for letting me use your printer for those 4 pages when my printer wimped out!), and the post office trip of FORTY MINUTES. Yes, that's right....40 minutes. The clerks at this office are so friendly and recognize and talk with any repeat customers. A very endearing and annoying thing. I spent the first 35 minutes shifting my weight from foot to foot, shooting harried glances at the clock on the wall and glaring at the people holding up the line because they were talking. Then, when it was my turn I went up to the counter and held up the line talking to Barb and answering her questions about Maia starting kindergarten. Next time, I'll have to keep my evil glares to myself because I'm obviously no better!
Maia dance class has finally moved to Tuesday. I'm still going to have to try to feel out traffic patterns because I goofed yesterday. All day, I was sure her class was 4:30-5:30. After school, I made the kids a snack and put dinner together in one easy dish for Rick to pop in the oven for me when he got home so dinner would be ready at a reasonable time when we all got home. As I was putzing around, arranging the vegetables and taking my good old time, I looked over at the schedule for dance and realized that her class was from 4-5! And not 4:30-5:30! We had 25 minutes to get there (normally a 30 min trip with traffic) and I dumped everything in the dish willy nilly and we flew out the door.
We made it with 25 minutes to spare. Turns out I had looked at Monday and not Tuesday on the schedule. Ugh! Anyways, once class got started, Tristyn and I walked over to a local grocery store for a few things. On the way over he asked "Mummy, why do ladies shake their butt when they walk?" and then he mimicked how women walk (how he sees it!). I had a very hard time not laughing out loud at both the question and the um...butt shaking. I also couldn't come up with a good answer right away so I teased him a little bit while I thought of something to say and his poor little face got pink! I embarrassed him! That was the second time I've seen him be embarrassed ever. It's strange how some emotions aren't felt until one is older.
It's also not often that I get to spend much one-on-one time with Tristyn. But this was the second time this week and I definitely need to make more time (thwart Maia and her shadowing ways) to do so. I think it's good for both of us plus Tristyn says the funniest things sometimes. Okay, well funny to me, his mum. We were in Office Depot on Sunday and walked down the tape aisle.
t--"Mummy, do you need tape?'
m--"I ALWAYS need tape. You and Maia go through tape like there's no tomorrow."
t--"Then you need to get the motherload!" --hefts huge multi-pack of tape over his head, which alarms me that he's about to drop it on his head--
m--"No, no, I don't want the motherload!" -- pull it out of his hands and put it back--
t--"Why not? It's perfect because you are a mother."
m--"Yes, it would be perfect for me because I use tape like a normal person. But we are talking about Maia."
t--"Yeah, I guess we need the Maiaload then and I don't see that here."
