A Game of Tag?

Hey All! I got "tagged" by Bethany Roberts! This sounds very interesting... Okay, here it goes!

Here's the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random and some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Note: I'm changing this to just tagging 3 other people.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

All right, here we go. This will be potentially interesting!!!

1) I was born with deep blue eyes, and my eye color didn't change to brown until I was 3.

2) I have been known to sing in my sleep

3) The summer I was 12, I read over 100 books

4) The most bread I have made in a single day was 12 loaves

5) I am one of three children and the baby of the family

6) I look like my great-grandma on my mother's side

7) I accidentally swallowed 3 bugs in one summer

Hope you had fun with this post! Now I am going to tag Joanna, The Shoemaker's, and Laelann!

A Guest Post From Gracie...

Hi my name is Gracie. You probably never ever met me before. I hope you have a wonderful day! I had so much fun with my Grandma and my Aunt B and my brother. And I got to see my Grandpa. I love him so much. (and my Grandma and my aunt B and my mom and my dad and Sylvia.) I like to visit my friends all the time; it is so much fun. And I like to visit my Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt B.

I tried to put pictures on, but the computer is not working now.

Love, Gracie


Note from Brooke: Gracie and Jace are my sister's children. They came to visit at our house for the day on Saturday. It was quite fun!)

MEMORY LOSS - Part One of a Two Part Series

Tip of the Week: If you have aging parents, you might want to check into memory loss supplements.

Okay, from these pictures, you can ascertain that my parents are not necessarily ancient, I must admit. But, they are advanced enough in age to really need myself and my older brother and sister's memory. Mom, my sister Leigha and niece Gracie, and I are planning on attending the wedding ceremony of Joe Hageman and Kelly Fagerness tomorrow afternoon. So of course, this past week has been spent discussing such interesting details as: "What are we wearing?", "What time should we leave", and most importantly, "Oops! We forgot to get them a present!! What should we get??" Decisions, decisions... and through it all, poor mother has confusedly asked:"Wedding?? What wedding?" To which I constantly remind her that we're going to Joe and Kelly's wedding. This is followed up by, "What time? Oh, I can't remember where I put the invitation!" Just tonight mom was talking to Leigha on the 'phone and Leigha said something about seeing us tomorrow; to which mom replied, "Tomorrow?? What are we doing tomorrow?"

As you can see from this interesting soliloquy, we have good times at our house. With fairness, and all due respect, my mother does remember a remarkable amount of things. It is just these rare times that give us cause to wonder...

And, along the lines of fairness, I will be posting a short story on my father as soon as material is provided. Which shouldn't take long, and that's the truth. ;o)

~Farewell, I am off to get my beauty sleep for the wedding..

Disclaimer: This was not meant in any way, to hurt or wound the feelings of the involved parties thus described. My own family understands, and will know that no cruelty was meant. Be a good sport, and know the same.

A Caucus, and A Tea Party

Saturday was a jolly day. We went to the Mason County Republican Caucus, and afterwards some dear friends of ours, the Shoemaker's, came over for tea. What a delightful time! Elizabeth and I dressed up in crazy outfits, and everyone spoke with an english accent. The accent was actually fairly easy to keep up for the duration of the tea party. ;o) We all ended up staying together until 6:45 PM!! I must admit, that Elizabeth and I dashed up stairs, and came down attired to play in the snow though. Henceforth the late hour at which we parted. ;o) High tea truly is better than low tea. There is more to do. Have you ever tried eating a croissant sandwich elegantly?? How about eating a cookie with a fork? DO NOT attempt the latter, as you will inevitably wind up with your cookie on the floor in several pieces. ;o)

Aerial view of the tea table
Close-up of the tea table
Mrs. Shoe, Booey, Me & Mother
Me, Elizabeth
Mrs. Shoemaker, & Mother

That's all folks! Come again soon...

Life is... A bed of roses!

I have to admit that maybe I am a bit obsessed with my future. I mean, I spend way too much time thinking and planning what I am going to do. Pretty much wasting precious moments that could be better invested in the here and now. And in all my plannings, I find myself fearful of what lies ahead. "Well, what if God plans something for me that I won't like?? Where am I going to go to college? I want to travel, but how would that ever be possible? What if God wants me to marry someone that I think is ugly and weird? How am I ever going to publish my books?" Sad things like that consume me. No need to feel pity, I am just a hopeless creature. Don't worry, I am seeking a psychologist for this problem. Just kidding!! It was a joke!! Okay, but seriously, one of my besetting sins is not trusting God with my future. It can be so hard!! Sometimes I feel like God is teasing me, and has a really good sense of humor. Other times It seems that I am just waiting, and God is feeding me tidbits, but witholding the big picture. So, when I found this poem today, I really liked it. It just fits. You know, Anonyomous is a very sensible and wise person...read and be amazed:

The Rosebud

by Anonymous

It is only a tiny rosebud,

A flower of God's design;

But I cannot unfold the petals

With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers

Is not known to such as I,

The flower God opens so sweetly,

In my hands would fade and die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,

This flower of God's design;

Then how can I have wisdom

To unfold this life of mine?

So I'll trust Him for His leading,

Each moment of every day;

And I'll look to Him for guidance,

Each step of the pilgrim way.

For the pathway that lies before me,

My heavenly Father knows;

I'll trust Him to unfold the moments

Just as He unfolds the rose.

Winter Writing...

It's a cold winter evening in January. My well proportioned cat is asleep on the couch, and my father is asleep upstairs. Today was a sunshiny day. My dear mother is sweeping the floor, and I am going to work on my book. Yes! It's called "Spring Will Not Forget", and it promises to be a most interesting work of fiction. Soo... I am off to the wonderful world of imagination. Maybe sometimes I will post excerpts from this most worthy of literary works...

Cream Pie...Part Two

It was told unto me that blogging etiquette requires a recipe accompanying pictures of eatables. So, for thee, Mrs. Edgren, thou mayest enjoy this humble recipe.

Dark Chocolate Cream Pie

Recipe taken from Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

1 Baked Pastry Shell (recipe following)

4 eggs divided

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

2 1/2 cups milk or half-in-half

a little under one cup of chocolate chips

1 tbsp. butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 pint whipping cream

<>Prepare Baked Pastry Shell. Separate egg yolks from whites. Discard whites.

<>For filling, in a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in milk or half-in-half. Add chocolate chips right after mild is stirred in. Cook and STIR over medium heat until thickened and bubbly; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Slightly beat egg yolks, and gradually stir in 1 cup of hot filling into yolks. Add egg yolk mixture to filling in saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Keep filling warm.

<>Whip whipping cream until quite stiff, adding enough powdered sugar to sweeten.

<>Pour warm filling into Baked Pastry Shell. Cool, until room temperature. (If you are in a hurry, put pie in freezer to chill faster) Spread whipping cream over chilled filling. If desired, you can grate some chocolate chips over the top. ;o)

Baked Pastry Shell:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup shortening (I used half butter, half shortening)

4 t0 5 tablespoons cold water

O In a medium sized bowl stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-size.

O Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water at a time over the flour mixture; gently toss with a fork, just until moistened.

O To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin. Unroll pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin. Unroll pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate without stretching it.

O Trim pastry to 1 1/2 inches beyond edge of pie plate. Fold pastry under. Crimp edge as desired.