Nothing in Common

A few years ago a young woman in our ward was overheard telling her mother, "Mom, is it really important to marry someone that has a lot in common with you? I mean, look at Brother and Sister Dyreng--they have nothing in common!"

I have thought about this statement for a while now.

It is true, that on the surface Scott and I seem to be very different. We definately would not have been friends in high school. But I've come up with a list of things that we have in common, and that if worse comes to worse might be the list that one day saves our marriage.

Things Scott and I have in common:
1. We both like black liquorice
2. We both play piano poorly (although I am getting better)
3. We both are handy with a sewing machine (although he is getting better)
4. hmmm.....

I'll have to think of more tomorrow.

Terro, my new best friend

Terro is not my new dog or my new neighbor....Terro is the most amazing ant killer in the world!




Let me give you some background:


I have had ants in my kitchen for the last ten months. They first came out from under the back door. Then we stopped them. Then they came from the window sill. We stopped them again. Then from the crack in the laundry room, then the crack at the bottom of the cupboars, then the crack on the counter and then IN my bread cupboard! By this time we are figuring out that we are not actually stopping them, but just detouring them. We tried all sorts of things: cinnamon, baby powerer, chili powder, clorox, window cleaner....I cleaned my kitchen spotless and was near obsessive-compulsive about crumbs and spills and STILL the ants came marching. Scott even bought some powerful pesticide to spray--I know I am insane--in my kitchen. And that seemed to work for a little while. But it wasn't long before they were back.


Then Scott found Terro.

Terro is this clear syrupy stuff that you squeeze on to pieces of cardboard and you put where the ants are coming out. It is like drugs. They love it. They drink and drink and drink and then they start running around in circles and dying by the hundreds. Happy day! The ones that do live take it back to their queen!

I like this photo a lot because there is even an ant at the top that was carrying an egg that stopped to take a bit of my poison. MMMWWWWHAHAHAHAHA!


I have not seen an ant in my kitchen for two weeks now.


I think I am going to name my next child Terro.

Granted, I'm sure the ants will probably come back some time, since I do live in North Carolina, but next time I know what to do. The best part of this product is that it is save to have in your home and does not harm people or pets.



And your welcome, Senoret Chemical Company for the free advertizing.

Would you care for a bat wing?

Recently I decided I wanted to learn to make jerky. I bought a big beef round roast, cut it in to thin strips and marinated it. Then I draped it over the oven racks in my oven.
My kids were horrified. "Mom, those look like bat wings!" They said.

Okay, so they don't look that appetizing in the oven, but this jerky was very good! I couldn't get my kids to try it, but Scott loved it. I got the recipe from a Jackson Hole cookbook. Here it is:

Jerky

3 1/2 pounds meat; beef, elk, moose, antelope, deer

1 c. soy sauce

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 T. Black pepper coarsely ground

1 tsp. liquid smoke

1 tsp. venegar

1/4 tsp. tabasco

1/2 tsp. chili pepper

Mix all ingredients except meat until well blended. Slice meat in 1/4 inch thick slices. Place meat in a very large zip lock bag with marinade mixture overnight refrigerated. The next morning pat meat slices dry with a paper towel. Lay meat on oven racks and bake at 150 for 8 to 10 hours (that is what the recipe said, but my oven's lowest setting was 175 and I actually only had to cook mine for 4 hours). A smoker can be used to cook jerky as well.

So if you don't know what to do with that left over moose rump in your freezer, this is a good way to use it up. Bon appettite!

My Husband Has More Shoes Than Your Husband

These are my husband's shoes.
I make fun of him because he has twice as many shoes as I have. He insists that each shoe has a specific purpose and that substitutions cannot be made. Example: he has a pair of road bike shoes (bet you didn't know there was such a thing) and a pair of mountain bike shoes. These are not interchangeable. Now why you need two different kinds of shoes for something when your feet don't even touch the ground is beyond me. There is some subtle difference in the way the laces are tied, I think. He also has tennis shoes (specifically for TENNIS, since they have white soles), running shoes, TRAIL running shoes, basketball shoes, and cleats. And those are just his shoes for sports. He also has THREE pair of church shoes: black, maroon and brown, so he always matches (and he does look great, I might add). Then to finish it off he has his flip flops (he says these don't count as shoes), crocks, water shoes and hiking boots.

That makes a grand total of 16.

How many shoes does YOUR husband have?