TO pay a bill

1. Open bill.
2. Notice extra charges. Decide to call for clarification.
3. Put on desk.
4. Shuffle around on desk for a week.
5. Open bill folder to find past bills with notations.
6. Notice that bill folder contains 5 years worth of old, unneeded bills.
7. Sort out old unneeded bills.
8. Shred bills until shredder jams.
9. Empty shredder. Spill shred papers on floor.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 until finished.
11. Call phone company. 
12. Wait on hold.
13. Start paying another bill while on hold.
14. Talk to phone company about confusing numbers including credits, misapplication of the credits, late fees resulting from misapplication of credits, etc. 
15. Repeat steps 12-14 until new balance is received.
16. Pay bill. 
17. Refile bills
18. Total time spent--1 hour?

This is why I never get ahead!

Rebecca's way of keeping a secret.

When I ask Rebecca to wrap a present for our friend Becky, but to keep it a secret, this was what she did:

1) "Becky, I have a secret for you, but I'm not telling you what it is!"
2) Planning to wrap the present uninterrupted: "Becky, don't go downstairs for awhile, OK?"
3) Walking past Becky with the present: "This is just a box I'm holding. This box that I'm holding really close...it's not special."

Rebecca's bedtime regret

"I never get the dream I want."

A new drinking method

Dump the milk out of the sippy cup onto the high chair tray, then slurp it up like a cat.

Quick Single Pan Brownies

Quick single-pan brownie recipe.

4 oz (1 stick) butter
2/3 C 100% chocolate mass (5-5 1/2 oz, of Chocoa chocolate liquor buttons).
4/3 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t salt
2/3 C flour
1 t vanilla (I enjoy Nielsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Paste)


Melt butter & chocolate together. Add sugar & salt, mix.
Add eggs, mix. Add flour, mix lightly. Add vanilla.
Pour into an 8x8 square pan lined with foil.

Cook: 350 for 24 minutes @350.

Mixing the eggs, sugar, salt together in a mixer tends to generate the "crispy" top, where the one-pan technique does not.

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Other Recipes

4 oz butter (1 stick)
7 oz bittersweet chocolate (or about 5.5 oz unsweetened chocolate + 1/3 C sugar)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla


Melt butter and chocolate over a bain-marie. Water should be hot but not boiling. while this starts to melt, Combine eggs, salt, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Stir well together. Go back to the chocolate & butter. when chocolate and butter chunks are small, take off bain-marie and stir until melted all the way. You want the mixture warm, not really hot when you mix into the egg mixture.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and stir until fully incorporated. Whisk or sift the flour and add to all the other ingredients and fold in with a rubber spatula until fully mixed.

Bake for 20-24 minutes at 325 F until done.

A six-year-old's formula for a mood changer

When we read about grumpy Mr. Grumps in Lyle the Crocodile, I asked Rebecca what he could do to cheer up. I'm thinking about prayer, service, walks outside, focusing on gratitude. This was her answer: "He should go to Pump It Up."