This is what is left of our 4" Carniverous Ass. . .
a.k.a. The pitcher plant. If you look closely, the pitchers are loaded with insects. We have had at least 3 nights well below zero and the pitcher plant still looks great. The venus flytrap has gone dormant, however. We were going to try to take the dormant roots out and store in the garage until spring and try to get it growing again. The problem is that it won't die! It has 13 pitchers and has taken over the whole terrarium.

Olivia was a vampire in a prom dress for Halloween. She and her girlfriend went out together without us this year. Her costume was complete with lee press-on nails and plastic teeth and fake blood. Emmerson was Dubya and Augie was "SuperAugie" for the 3rd year in a row. Costume won't fit next year. Emmerson received a lot of boo's and hisses except for one old duffer down the street, who shook his hand! LOL Political masks were $35-$50 bucks this year, which would have tripled the cost of the costume. Instead of saying "trick-or-treat" Emm announced,"Hello, fellow Americans . . . the stock market's in the crapper". Luckily, he made it home safely.

This is Emmerson and Augie over the labor day weekend, riding golf carts with the cousins at Aunt Nancy & Uncle Dave's house. They love going to Nancy & Daves to ride golf carts, and one lawn mower, all over their huge lot and trailer park. On the right, cousin Joel pulls his best friend's son with the mower.

Top 10 List of Funny Stuff From Augie:

We were having a family discussion last week about some of the great one-liners that come from "the man". Here are a few we aren't too embarassed to share:

1. "Get out of my room, and take that fart with you."

2. "Emmerson . . . You're a Democrat!"

3. "He's a hillbilly, but he's an O.K. hillbilly . . ."

4. "Mom, you're the family. Dad is the parents. They're the kids."

5. "We need signs on all the bathrooms in the house to avoid gender confusion."

6. "If America is a free country, why can't I have an orange slushie?"

7. "I want a bloodhound." (He hates our bassett hound and other dogs, generally)

8. "Get your mouth slober off my drink."

9. "Mom, you need to fill up your tea drink." (after drinking my cup dry)

10. "THIS IS MY INSIDE VOICE!" "I DON'T HAVE A STADIUM VOICE."

11."Dad, HELP! The toilet . . . it's leaking from the top!"

Carnivorous Ass . . .

This is Emmer's second life-long wish. The first one only cost $20 bucks (he wanted to eat a pizza at the top of a parking deck at Purdue Univ). This one was a few more dollars, but well worth the investment. Emmerson has a new hobby for the last 2 years of raising Venus Flytrap. We went to Lowe's and found a small tray of Carnivorous plants. We went to the checkout and scanned the tag and looked at what was on the screen: "4" boxed carnivorous ass . . " Assorted was abbreviated.

We went to Crap-Mart for potting soil and a fish bowl. Then found a much bigger fishbowl at the petstore across the street. Emm couldn't wait till morning, he covered the table in newspaper and had John help him build his terrarium with river rock, spaghnum moss, sand, soil and activated charcoal. His first flytrap died after a few months, which we didn't realize until later that it wasn't dead -- just going into it's dormant cycle! LOL They turn brown at the end of the summer and you must clip the foliage and remove the tubor and store it in a dry place over the winter. Much like calla lillies or other landscaping plants. Once spring starts, you are supposed to get out the hybernating tuber and repot and start over. We didn't have success reviving his second. However, while out shopping for the third flytrap's supplies, we found a Purple Pitcher Plant. Emm has been searching for it for a while. They have a whole section of flytraps and carnivorous plants at lowes in the house plant section. These are perfect plants for people who can't stop loving their plants to death. Flytraps thrive on overwatering, lots of sun, heat and humidity! Now we can't wait until we discover an unsuspecting fly in the house.

Thank Goodness it's Over!

This is the end of Spring Break. Emmer had been up 48 hours from Sunday thru Monday night. His buddy who came over went straight to the golf course for 9 holes! They had two days off and then an overnighter at Walter's house. Emm came home and wanted to start reading a book, John is holding "The Subtle Knife" to the right. Both Emm and Augie fell asleep instantly. They were ready to go back to school on Tuesday. As soon as I get it cleaned up, I will take pictures of the new paint job in my room. I started a new job this week and also decided it was time to paint. What was I thinking?

Bombdoggie!

That is Augie's name for her. She did it again! Olivia finally threw our her halloween candy in February. Who saves Halloween candy until Valentines day? Anyway, after the first two episodes of candy theivery, Olivia tossed her slobbery Easter candy in her trash can. I think our problem is that I ran out of can dog food and started a new job this week. Blossy is out-of-sorts. We went to Emmerson's 8th grade recognition ceremony and out to dinner. John and I were putting our bedroom back together after painting for 6 days and I realized Blossom was quiet and not in the room anymore. I went down the hallway and found her like this, looking up at me as if she knew what she did was wrong. She hung her head low and gave us a very reproachful look. Olivia was very mad -- for about 2 minutes. Blossom's adventure was not without reprocussion, however. All night her tummy was gurgling and groaning. And it's too rainy to walk it off this morning.

Carl Sandburg - "Our National Poet".

At least that is what one famous writer calls him. I am ashamed to say that I lived my whole childhood in Illinois, just 40 miles from Carl Sandburg's birthplace of Galesburg IL and never read any of his poetry. I have even visited Carl Sandburg College. After reading "The Brain that Changes Itself", I have been reading Augie poetry at bedtime -- puts him right out. Then I got a few books for myself. I never realized how cool Carl Sandburg was, for being a poet with no serious mental illness:

Bricklayer Love, by Carl Sandburg

I thought of killing myself because I am only a bricklayer and you a
woman who loves the man who runs a drug store.

I don't care like I used to; I lay bricks straighter than I used to and I sing
slower handling the trowel afternoons.

When the sun is in my eyes and the ladders are shaky and the mortar
boards go wrong, I think of you.

This made me laugh out lout, read it twice to my family. Sad, you just want to tell this fella to move on and find a nice "honky-tonk" gal or something. sheesh! Clearly not his best work, we all have bad days.

Circles of Doors, by Carl Sandburg -- (my favorite)

I love him, I love him, ran the patter of her lips
And she formed his name on her tongue and sang
And she sent him word she loved him so much,
So much, and death was nothing; work, art, home,
All was nothing if her love for him was not first
Of all; the patter ofher lips ran, I love him,
I love him; and he knew the dors that opened
Into doors and more doors, no end of doors,
And full-length mirrors doubling and tripling
The apparitions of doors; circling corridors of
Looking-glasses and doors, some with knobs, some
With no knobs, some opening slow to a heavy push,
And some jumping open at a touch and a hello.
And he knew if he so wished he could follow her
Swift running through circles of doors, hearing
Sometimes her whisper, I love him, I love him
And sometimes only a high chaser of laughter
Somewhere five or ten doors ahead or five or ten
Doors behind, or chittering h-st, h-st, h-st, among corners
Of the tall full-length dusty looking-glasses.
I love, I love, I love, she sang short and quick in
High thin beaten soprano and he knew the meanings,
The high chaser of laughter, the doors on doors
And the looking-glasses, the room to room hunt,
The ends opening into new ends always.

I like it because it's not so obscure that I can't understand it. There are poems about Neponset IL, Joliet, IL, Keokuk, IA and other small towns in Illinois and Chicago; many places I've lived or visited. I only wish I had read Carl Sandburg earlier! These came from "The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg Revised and Expanded Edition".

What I am looking for now is audio book of poetry. I'm sure all this would sound better if read by someone who knew how to read poetry aloud. I usually read shel Silverstein to the kids at night half tired and trip up a lot of the lines. Some of Shel's poems freaks Augie (and me too) out!

Bunicula!

Here is our annual n'hood Easter Egg hunt. Emmerson was the Easter Bunny, making naughty comments all the way to the park! Emmerson is a very "politically minded" 14 year old! His little brother had a difficult time not calling him Emmerson. Later, we came home and Emmerson got his Darth Vader Voice Changer out and put it under the bun bun's head! Made another YouTube video with Augie.

Hunt went well, despite the 40 degree temp and wind. Augie won one of the door prizes and we went home for hot cocoa and tea! We are very much looking forward to spring. We keep getting a taste of it for a day or so and then back to chilly and windy.

Spring Break is over -- what a long, miserable week. Kids were ready to go back on Tuesday. I had a job interview, while trying to work from home. Blossom got into Olivia's candy stash and ate her fill (thankfully she couldn't get into the M&Ms, she just licked the paper rendering them indeible). We came home from the grocery store to find her lying on the kitchen floor, starburst wrappers stuck to her belly, skittles in her ears. Olivia ran up to her bedroom and 5 minutes later yells: "BLOSSOM, darnit girl!" We had to take her for a walk, like trying to sober up a friend who has had too much to drink!

Big Green Egg is here!

This is our St Paddy's day dinner. It's a little overdone. We just got a big green egg and we love it. So much easier to control the temp than a smoker. This got done in 4 hrs at 250. I had the vents almost closed. We're learning. Chickens turned out great. We put two big chickens on together and smoked them in 90 minutes. They were so juicy and the skin was not charred to oblivion. I think we're doing a pork roast next.

New Tea Cake!

I just rec'd a new order of tea from Hou De Asian Arts, an internet tea seller I've never ordered from. I bought my first Pu Ehr tea cake. I was very surprised at how big it is! Now I need to decide what to do with it. I wasn't very impressed with the flavor, so maybe it needs to age. Or maybe I'll try it again tomorrow and it will tast much differently. . .

http://www.houdeasianart.com/

New Face!

Emmerson got his braces on Monday! They're a little tight, but he's slowly getting used to them. Practiced his horn yesterday afterschool with no problem. I don't think Augie has noticed just yet!

I just bought a really great book that I highly recommend, even though I am only on chapter 3. "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge MD. It's very fascinating and tough to put down. Doidge follows a number of neuroscience researchers who are pioneers in the field of neuroplasticity (the ability of your brain to adapt and change the way it's mapped). Years ago, scientists believe that there was a map of our brain that corresponded to sight, hearing, each body part, etc. Which explains why stroke victims have trouble speaking and using one side of the body. However, neuroscientists now believe the brain can "remap" itself and pick up activities that were associated with another part of your brain. I can hardly wait to finish it.

1.0 is 14!

I am not going to cry about how old I am though! When I was 8, I came home from school to find my mother curled up in the fetal position in the living room. I thought something horrible had happened, thermal nuclear proliferation perhaps. "No", she says to me. "You can't possibly understand . . . Mommy is an old lady now . . . Mommy just turned 30" So, right then, I vowed never to get upset over my age. It's better to save your negative emotions for something important you can control but failed to . . . like loosing a big battle in Guitar Hero!

John got me Guitar Hero for Valentine's Day this year. Along with a lovely boquet of flowers. I bought him a new sourdough starter and some green M&Ms, since moving killed the old starter. I have played GH a grand total of 5 times and now the boys are fighting it out in the living room. We have the TV hooked up through the stereo receiver, which makes a big difference.

World Traveler Quilt

I can't believe I sent this to it's new home before taking a decent picture of it. The other picture, with me, is so blurry you can't see what each block is. This is a "World Traveler" quilt made for my MIL, who is being treated for cancer and having a difficult time with side effects from radation treatment. Kids all helped along with dad. It has blocks of gold coins, pictures from different locations, wine bottles, stamps, maps, etc. . . Anyway, there were leftover squares, so Olivia made a lap size for herself. And, being that there were still more squares left, I made another lap size for John's aunt & uncle who recently celebrated their 30 anniversary with a whirlwind trip all over europe. Fortunately, my family is poor and doesn't have the cash to travel because I am out of world traveler fabric. Next time I'll check the camera before mailing off another quilt to a new home. I am getting an abundance of ripped jeans again. I think it's time for a denim jean quilt again. My other problem is that I was entered, somehow through no fault of my own, in a dresden quilt show. So I absolutely have to get the dresden profesionally quilted! No more excuses.

Solo & Ensamble Update

Both Mannin kids take gold rating in solo & ensamble at Avon, IN contest. Olivia on Flute and Emmerson on his new French Horn. Both were thrilled and look forward to the Young Artist Solo competition on Tuesday of this week. Both middle school students will compete for two $400 scholarships to band camp over the summer. It's rather sad that they have the competition for scholarships. They should award the scholarships to econimically disadvantaged children who are serious about their music. Most of the kids in the competition last year were assisted by private tutors. If you can afford a private teacher, you could cough up the $400 for a week of summer band camp. Unless you're going to interlochen arts academy. I couldn't even find the tuition schedule on heir website.

UPDATE: Emmerson won 8th grade Young Artist Solo Competition last week. He was awarded a $400 scholarship to the summer music program camp of his choice. He is excited about going to camp and Olivia is already planning a girls overnighter when he is gone.

New Teapot!

This is a Tokoname teapot from Japan. It's a type of stoneware from a specific region/kiln. This came from o-cha.com. I am having the problem that regular tea in bags doesn't taste as good as loose leaf tea. However, the small, plastic infuser I bought to brew tea at work is absorbing flavors from other kinds of tea! Yuk! I have been drinking Pu Ehr (pooooor) tea, which is very good for your digestion. It does, however, have a very strong flavor some don't care for. It also has imparted it's flavor in the plastic infuser. I tried brewing green tea after a couple days of drinking pu ehr and I nearly gagged! I had to air out my infuser for a few days because my Houjicha picked up whatever was already in the infuser. A lot of serious tea drinkers collect teapots for each kind of tea they drink. I have seen pictures of collections of 15-30 different kinds of Tokoname, tea bowls, cups, gaiwan and yixing. I have seen yixing for upwards of $500 - which I am not in the market for. I'm just not sure that I want that much "stuff" and I know I don't have the real estate on the kitchen counter to accomodate it! However, over time, the yixing (especialy) and tokoname will absorb the flavors of the one type of tea brewed in them and it is said that after a number of years you can just put hot water into a yixing and make tea with no leaves! How cool.

Tomato Phyllo Pizza

We also repotted some Aloe plants on New Year's Eve.

This is also known as "The Frances Pizza" at our house because it was given to me by a woman named Frances.

seven 17- by 12-inch sheets of phyllo, stacked between 2 sheets of wax paper and covered with a damp kitchen towel.
7 Tbsp butter, melted and kept warm (we add 2 cloves of crushed garlic to this - optional)
7 Tbsp fresh grated parmesan cheese (Parmigiana Reggiano is best!)
1 cup coarsely grated mozzarella (1/4 lb, but who measures)
1 very thinly sliced onion (we use red onion, have used green onion bulbs)
2 bls tomatos (about 5) cut into 1/4" thickness - I use roma, recipe calls for regular.
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled - I use fresh from the produce section
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 tsp dry

Brush baking sheet lightly with some of the butter/garlic mix. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on the butter and brush lightly w/more butter! Sprinkle that with Parmesan cheese. Cover that with a new sheet of phyllo and pat flat and repeat the butter/parmesan process until you have 7 layers.

When you get to the top layer sliced tomatos and onions onto the phyllo, add cheese and herbs. Then salt and pepper to taste. Finally, sprinkle with a couple tsp parmesan cheese over the whole pizza.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges and cheese are golden to your taste. This serves 8-10 as a first course.

Shibata notes:
one pkg phyllo makes about 2 recipes.
we like more cheese: used about 2Xs mozz. and the fresh stuff from the deli works best if you can slice thin or grate.
You can also add dry or fresh basil if you like.
Ideas from the 8-31-03 New York Times Magazine: add goat, feta, Stilton cheeses and Calamata olives. (feta and Calamatas were awesome when we added)
Mannins also added prosciutto and pancetta sliced hams. Pancetta is salty enough that you don't need to add extra to this recipe.

Will add picture later. Kids took it off the memory stick.

New Year's Day

Augie as Guitar Hero. Emm's buddy brought over his Guitar Hero for PS2 on NYD. Tyler is pretty good at it after several days practice. Emmerson got kicked off stage. Augie just likes wearing Emmerson's wig and holding he guitar. I'm ready to go out and buy it. Has some good old classics in addition to Slipknot, 3 days grace, Disturbed, and others.

Our New Year's Dinner was Tomato Phillo Pizza, which I will publish later. We also had ice cream drinks until 12:15, at which time Augie gave us a lecture for staying up too late. Then he passed out. New Year's Day we enjoyed pizza soup and cleaned our house. Today i am back to work and John is keeping the kids one more day. Happy New Year to all!

Finishing Christmas Presents

December didn't go as we'd planned. So I am finishing Christmas (actually New Year's) cards and a few gifts while I have some time off from work for the Holidays. These are gifts for music teachers. I filled them with Starbucks gift cards and some tissues with music printed on them. The lining of the bags are sheet music. When the weather has been nice, we have been driving up to North Suburban IL to take Grandma Mannin dinner. She is still recovering from surgery the second week of December. Olivia and I decided to make her a quilt, although she doesn't need anymore stuff in her house (do any of us, really). I still haven't quilted the Dresden I made before I got sick.

We also had our cousin Spencer over for several days between Christmas and New Year's Day. John and the kids went to the Indiana State Museum and went to the IMax theater to watch "The Polar Express" (Augie's favorite movie) in 3-D. Then they spent an hour in the Lego exhibit before being thrown out of the museum. We also took the kids to Cheeseburger in Paradise, where Spencer enjoyed the macaroni & cheese plate off the Little Parakeet Menu.