A Long and Crazy Week

The week started with the trek to Chico, moving furniture for Nikki and Cody, my oldest son and my only daughter, who have decided to support each other and share an apartment as they both finish up their BA degrees over the next two years. My little truck looks pretty loaded down, and even being an old cowgirl didn't keep me from a lot of nervousness over the knots holding those mattresses in place. We arrived at the hottest part of the afternoon, and had to cart all that stuff up to a second story apartment where the air conditioning hadn't been turned on in days....


Apartment 128 is the new address!

I crowded a five-day workweek into four following a day of moving on Monday, and started my duties as the Director of the Good Years Childrens and Families Center. On top of it, my co-worker Robin's tiny daughter was very sick, and she had to be out for portions of the entire week. Laurie and I made out the best we could, and also cleaned, straightened, and went through files, trying to get me up to speed. I did most of the bookkeeping by calling my DD Nikki, who has served as Head Teacher and Office Manager for the past year, and asking for technical assistance with QuickBooks; my own private help desk! She is a gem, and I sure must have done something right raising her. She managed to remain calm through my moments of chaos and frustration, and has even promised to coach me through the first payroll next week.

Friday afternoon was spent getting ready for my DH's final event as "Grand Poobah" with his fraternal organization, the Clampers. Although much of their planning and event work is done by committee, and members have assigned functions to play, he has had to bear the brunt of making sure everything goes well at several major events throughout the year, and was happy to hand over the duties to the next guy at their annual meeting today.


Friday night brought a great group of friends together for the ECV chapter's annual Board dinner, honoring all the volunteers. Here are my two buddies, Debbie and Charlie. We have had a lot of fun together in the past few years, and the great ladies are how I manage when the obligations on my DH get in the way of family life.


Glenn listens to a well-deserved tribute delivered by our dinner host Friday night.

I also cranked out two quarts of blackberry ice cream Friday afternoon for the Native Daughters' 3rd Annual Ice Cream Social, on behalf of the Clamper ladies... we were the defending "champ-women" having gotten the most votes last year, and although I felt tired and uninspired, at least had ready access to fresh blackberries outside the door of our little school.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. lemon extract

Pour into the ice cream tub of your ice cream maker, and churn following manufacturer's directions, adding 1 cup of blackberries in the last 5-10 minutes of churning. This will keep the blackberries holding their shape, while still distributed evenly throughout.

Jaci, all dressed up in her Widder finery for our Saturday morning "tea", which preceded the ice cream social. This tradition has been going on for about 20 years, with Lady D taking the hostess duties over this year. There are usually about 50 ladies turning up to socialize and catch up on events over the past year. Then, the group marches into the main part of town, singing "Oh, When the Saints Come Marching In", in honor of the loving roles they all play in allowing their menfolk to make fools of themselves in a drinking fraternity each year!

I skipped the marching this year, and raced over to the Ice Cream Social to get our table set up in time.... each entry picks a theme and decorates in support of the unusual ice creams churned up.


 

Here, Nancy dishes up a sample of our "Black Widow Blackberry". My pet tarantula sits on the table, adding to the ambiance.

Suzie's theme was Hawaiian, and she created two unusual ice creams, a very popular Spice, and a virtually untouched Chile.


 


 

Ends up that Mary, on the right here, beat me out by a few votes... her table featured a very popular Butterscotch Banana and a well-loved Blueberry. Sharon, on the left, featured Plum and Mango Ginger. I am allergic to milk and declined tasting any of these offerings, but did learn that the Mango Ginger was a bit much for most people. We all had a great time, and raised quite a bit of money for our charity.

I can foresee that working long hours is going to seriously cut into my knitting time! I am continuing my involvement with the crafts co-op, even though that isn't where I am selling my knitting. At least each shift I work is a guaranteed knitting jag.... On the knitting front, I did get a quickie scarf made up for the co-op shop, out of Skacel Panda, a chenille (I am getting sick of that stuff though!), and a second one started out of Crystal Palace Kid Mohair, which will be the subject of tomorrow's Product Review of the week.