Gadgets

I borrowed a Pampered Chef apple corer/slicer gadget from a co-worker to make the apple crisp. We have one of those but I had no idea where it was and since we still have a couple boxes labeled 'miscellaneous kitchen' up in the rafters of the garage, I figure now was not the time to go through all that to look for it. So I borrowed one.

I bolted it to the table because our kitchen has no 'pull-out' cutting boards. Perhaps we were too far past the design phase to ask for them - so we make do. J. helped me set it up....and we tried our first apple, which ended up going from a 4-5 inch round circumference to 2-3 inches - the 'peeling' blade cut into the 'meat' of the apple and wasted a bunch.

As we were trying to figure out if we were doing anything wrong in the set up of the 'gadget', J. calmly says 'well, let me go get ours'. I thought he was referring to a(nother) gadget that I think we have - also from Pampered Chef - that cores apples - a tube-like thing that you push down on top of the apple and it removes the core in one swoop. But no - he was talking about OUR Pampered Chef corer/slicer gadget! Still in the box it came in, WITH directions (which was the key thing). I exclaimed 'where did you find that?' He replied 'it's been above the washer in the laundry room'. Right...sure...that makes sense. Storing it above the place where we wash clothes!!?? My bad. No wonder we couldn't find it. Thank goodness he's the laundry king and saw it one day when he was tinkering around in the laundry room (which he does quite often 'cuz there's 10 loads of laundry every week and he does them all - bless his heart!).

We quickly realized, upon perusing the directions, that we were in fact setting it up correctly - I had purchased some small granny smith apples at the grocery store for tartness (Fuji's are very sweet) and they worked on the contraption PERFECTLY. So I peeled and sliced all of those and J. hand-peeled and sliced some Fuji's and we mixed them all together and it came out PERFECT! It was really good - the boys were sad there were no leftovers and I hadn't let them 'test' it for me because I was worried there wouldn't be enough. There was just the right amount so that worked out fine.

On other notes:

H. is missing a field trip tomorrow because he has a 'below C' average in one of his classes - it's below a C by .74%. Upon first hearing this, our reaction was 'oh come on! Give the kid a break'. But upon perusing the grade book online, it quickly became clear that there was PLENTY of room for the kid to find that ONE POINT he needed to get up to a "C". He has a 'homework' grade that would be in the range of "H" (if "F" is failing) - so you get the picture. Lack of effort is what killed that field trip - not an overly-zealous teacher. So he's going to attend school tomorrow and for the classes that others are on the field trip for, he will attend the support room and work on 'worksheets'. He's disappointed and so are we - but for different reasons.

B. got transferred to another SaveMart on the north side of town - we're not sure what prompted this switch. He was never 'told' - and only noticed when he checked his schedule for this week (starting today) and it had a different store number noted. He asked the store manager and he advised that yes, in fact, 'you have been transferred - they need clerks and we have plenty'. I'm sure there's more to the story that we don't know about - and I am concerned about that. I'm reasonably sure B. is not getting 'along' with his manager [not the store manager - B. likes him and it seems to be mutual] and therefore, she decided to move him out of the store. But he seems fine about it - happy even. He does strongly dislike his manager and has had many 'issues' - including having worked some time that should have been paid at a higher rate only that never happened. Just one thing after another - so I don't think he minds too much that he's going to be at another store. And as long as he's fine with it, so am I.

Also, B.'s band has a 'gig' - an actual 'gig'. AND they aren't the 'opening' band - they have other bands opening FOR THEM. Wow! We are going to buy a bunch of tickets and offering them to friends in town who will hopefully go....

Our front lawn got 'forked' on Friday night - J. caught them in the act, so he found a 1/2 full giant box of plastic forks scattered on the lawn/driveway that they dropped as they were making their get away. It was irritating but so much 'better' than the toilet paper alternative. We're not sure why H. got 'forked' - he's grounded at the moment given our realization that he has an "H" for the homework component of his grade in at least one class (I can't bring myself to look at the rest of the grades yet - possibly tonight, after dinner, with my 'Sunday evening glass of wine' in hand). So they may have been irritated at him not being able to go 'out' on Friday.

I am working at home this weekend - which you'd think would be a good thing. I have my work laptop and various reports, papers, etc. on the dining room table. And the kids gave me no end of grief yesterday about my request to please not watch TV in the family room. There's no door for me to shut in the dining room - it's the best place to work when I have a lot of 'stuff' that I need to have at hand - and room to spread out. It really pissed me off and kind of 'hurt' my feelings to hear them complain loudly all day 'why is she working in the dining room'...'why can't she work in the study'....I had a couple moments when I was ready to pack up and go to a 5 star hotel (which means I would have to drive an hour away since we only have 'motels' in town)...or ready to march over to these complaining kids and remind them that my income pays for 50% of this house; my income is what makes owning this house possible; my income is needed to support them and our household. Damn kids. It pissed me off.

Today, I'm going to just go into my office for the majority of the day - which I would have done anyway. I can't do file uploads into the State school reporting software from home - and I can't print reports from home. So going in was always part of the equation today - but it still sticks in my craw that I feel that is the 'better' option. Save myself the headache and heartache of listening to them complain bitterly about not being able to watch TV downstairs.

Time to get dressed and run a couple quick errands - including stopping at SB for iced tea to get me through the long 'work day'.