Holiday Celebrations Wordful/Wordless Wednesday

It was a kind of whirlwind weekend.  I keep thinking how fast the 4th came & went.  It never fails that time passes quicker each year that goes by.  It's kind of sick, not cool sick, sick sick.  Slow doooooowwwn.

The jello shots were a huge hit.  One of the couples that were at the party I went to Sunday had had their share of jello shots the night before and the jello shots lost their luster (I won't tell the story, funny as it is, because it isn't mine to tell.  Let's just say the wife couldn't find the bathroom in their house, but who needs one if you really have to pee!!  15 jello shots at the night's end will do that to you.).  After they had one - they were sold on them.  I found this website called My Science Project.  I was not going to make the shots (cause it was optional - it always is when you bring stuff to a party) but after I found the recipe, I had to.  If you get a chance to look around the website, do.  They have done lots of experimenting with the jello shots.  What flavors work best together & the like.

I'm not a food photographer & that will show, I also didn't do step by step pics cause I forgot.  But here are a few:

 Before the cream was leveled

 Adding the Berry Blue liquid for the one above & the one below

 The finished product.  How festive, no?

My recipe:

1 box each red raspberry & berry blue jello mix (3 oz. pkgs)

1 tub of cool whip

Either super mini-marshmallows (opt for the super minis) or cut some up (this is a real pain in the ass, let me tell you! But using water to douse the knife repeatedly & my fingers, it was doable)

My alcohol mixtures:

Raspberry - 1/4 c of Watermelon Pucker & 3/4 c of Raspberry vodka (can use pucker, too)

Berry Blue - 1/4 c of Lime Vodka & 3/4 c of Blue Curacao
50 pack of plastic shot cups
A popsicle stick

Boil 1 cup of water and dissolve the package of red raspberry jello in it.  Let the mixture cool to room temp.  Add the 1 cup mixture of alcohol to the room temp jello.  Pour into the shot cups, refrigerate for at least 90 minutes.  Once set, add cool whip using a popsicle stick.  Fill the cup to about 2/3, then level the cool whip as good as you can so no peaks will stick through the blue jello.  Return to the fridge. 

While the raspberry is setting in the fridge w/the cool whip, prepare the berry blue jello as you did the raspberry.  At room temp, add the 1 c of alcohol mixture.  Pull out the set cups & gently pour the berry blue mixture onto the tops.  I used a tablespoon measuring spoon, but a kitchen syringe might be a good idea.  Let the blue jello set until tacky (around 30 - 45 minutes or so) then add the cut up marshmallows.

50 shot cups were the perfect amount for this recipe.  I added a little bit extra Lime Vodka for the berry blue, maybe an extra 1/4 c, so the mixture was more like 1 1/4 c total.  & after reading the website I mentioned above, you can do that.  The jello's consistency did not alter a noticeable amount.  It was firm enough for the shots.

I didn't want to get drunk, so I didn't have 15 of them.  I did have a few & they are a different joy as far as jello shots go.  The cool whip makes them more like a dessert shot.

I said will never make them again, but it was kinda fun.  So I might.

Wait, there's more...

My kids this weekend:

She's way in the back, see her? Water wings 

& all.

 Pool bully!

He loves being in the pool.  I couldn't get him out.

 Smoke Bombs

 Smoke bombs!

 Sparklers!

 Sparklers!

A roman candle.  I got lucky with the shot.

  

This one looks like a flower.

Join everyone for Wordful/Wordless Wednesday

      

Writer's Workshop

Europe

Okay, Europe is not a country. I find it very difficult to pick just one country there. I was watching a movie last night & thinking that I should be living in London. Or somewhere in the English countryside. Of course, movies depict the landscapes of other countries beautifully. I don't think the editing makes the places look better, I believe that's how they look in the location the movie is shot. Location, location, location, right?


All of these countries are just a stones throw from one another - how is that not awesome? My brother has been to Europe a couple of times & he said they are so close together it's almost like driving from town to town in any state in the US. I'm sure that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I get what he's saying. If I had to choose a place to begin my journey - I would choose Italy.

The Boot

Most of Europe has a ton of places to visit in each country, landmarks, historical attractions, dining experiences, etc. Something about Italy, though, just makes me want to go there & soak up the culture, the scenery, the absolute beauty of the place. The wonders to see, too!! The Roman Colosseum - wow - I want to go there & feel the brutal history of that place. I imagine the spirits of it still angry & full of fight. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.


And Venice!! The water canals of streets, the amazing architecture that is centuries old! The romantic fountains and colorful shorelines, and I'm sure there are several rustic cafes all over every city in Italy; oh and who can forget the Tuscan Countryside.





If I ever make it to Europe, I hope I have at least a year to do everything I want to do there and that may not even be enough time. Maybe in another life? Maybe before I die...I will know when it happens.

This is my project for Mama Kat's

Writer's Workshop

My one and only Summer Camp

3.) Share a Summer Camp memory.

I honestly don't remember how old I was. I want to say I was 11, or maybe 12, but I think 11. We were still living on 56th place. We moved to 83rd Dr the summer before I turned 13.

We'd never been to a summer camp before. My older brother & I were made to do this. My parents thought it would be a good idea to keep us busy during at least one of the summer months. I dreaded it - absolutely, categorically dreaded it. I did not want to get up early in the morning. I did not want to be bossed around by people I didn't know. I did not want to be told what I had to do all day long. To me, it felt like I was going to outdoor school. No more school - that's why it's called summer "break".

I remember being dropped off the first morning to be picked up by the bus and wanting to cry. I was so pissed! I can imagine the sour look on my face, standing there in stupid 80s shorts & tube socks up to my knees with colored stripes on them.

I want to be able to relay the many fun things we did in our Summer Camp. I can't do that because I don't remember most of it. I remember the Adams county fairgrounds & the "rocket" we got to play on; and the drive that felt like a near lifetime it took to get there on the hot, steamy bus. I remember Rotella Park before I knew it was Rotella Park. (83rd Dr. was close to Rotella Park & that place holds many a memory for me once we moved there).

I remember the warm, soggy sandwiches & the banana tasting oreos or chips ahoy from being in the same box/bag with the banana. Sometimes even the sandwich tasted like banana. I remember water that was never cold enough & koolaid that was watered down by ice that melted too fast.

I remember the first girl I ever knew that shared my name. Alexis. Everyone called her Alex & I remember wishing that I could be called Alex. If people call me that now, I cringe. I just don't find it as appealing as I once did, but it's also because I am Lex or Lexie (only by old family & friends, no peers call me Lexie - not too fond of it as an adult).

I remember the smells of the fresh mowed grass and the fishy smell of the sprinkler systems at most of the parks we went to. I remember my first real kiss with a tall dark haired boy. No, I don't remember his name. I do remember how he looked. Dark, almost black hair cut in the short "bowl" haircut of the time. He was older than I was. He was a head & shoulders taller than I was. He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans. There was a group of us & we were playing games we shouldn't have been playing (so much for supervision...) like Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle - in the middle of a hot afternoon. We were in some kind of tent. Out of the view of most everyone. I don't remember what prompted the kiss, I just remember the kiss. His lips were soft & dry. I felt something in my gut stir & spread up though my shoulders and my head felt light, the stirring swept down my arms & my legs. It was so blissful & then his lips parted. I felt something warm & moist glide over my own lips. I was stunned, but shockingly amused. I giggled & it was done. I looked at his face, smiling & he smiled back. It was like he knew my secret - that was my first real kiss.

This was near the end of our time at camp & it was a day camp. They didn't have anything planned for us besides hanging out at the park. I'm thinking the tent was for shade. As I'm typing this, I think this may have been the very last day of camp. What a memory to take away from it. I'm smiling on the inside. ;)

What haunts me?

Falling out of love - will I? I sometimes secretly think this is all a farce. Married so long & I still feel those butterflies when I look at him - not every hour, but mostly once a day. He is comfort, pain; laughter, frustration; best friend, frenemy; lover & fighter all rolled into one. No one understands him like I do & no one understands me like he does. He truly is the only one who can make me see truth. Here comes the but - what if the kids grow up & things change so drastically that we no longer want to be? I keep hearing stories of couples married for so many years & then - bada-boom! It's over. I envision old age with him.

My children without me - I have had too many people die around me lately. I feel too young to be experiencing so much death. The ones who've died are 56, 40, & 37 years old. I knew 2 of them very well and 1 through someone else. When things like this happen, it frightens me - deeply. I don't want my kids to grow up without a mom. Especially my 2 youngest. I am so close to all of them (almost), but thinking of my younger 2 growing up without me in their life terrifies me - sometimes in a debilitating way when I'm trying to go to sleep. I try to shake the thoughts from my mind & they don't want to easily leave.

Success - so elusive. Well, it depends on how one might calculate success. I feel like my marriage is successful (so far, ups & downs & all), I feel like my kids will grow up to appreciate the way I brought them up. One just never knows the result until the test is over. They may want to set up the pyre & burn me at the stake, I dunno. For those things, I feel semi secure about the successes.

I keep trying new things & failing to follow through. This could fall into the category of this week's #3 writing prompt. Describe a flaw that seems to be in your genes. Inconsistency - in my genes. Can that be genetic? I tried blog design, it worked for a little while. I tried jewelry, it worked for a little while. I tried Tupperware & it worked for a little while. I tried Walmart & that didn't work at all. Ha! All of these things (with the exception of Walmart - unless you count grocery shopping) I still do - sometimes. I have a party scheduled for the end of the month. From there, my network will grow (wishful, positive thinking). I have someone looking for a blog design when I'm out of the design loop for well over a year, but I think I can. I have 2 charm bracelets for a jewelry client to pick up (and I haven't heard from her), plus an order from my Artfire account shipping out with the mail. I want to go back to school, for the last 2 years. I'm still not registered, but I did complete my FAFSA for the last 2 years. Writing, writing, writing. I don't do it nearly as much as I want to. It's another one of those things I keep trying & stopping.

Failure - see above. Do I want to do all of these things? ABSO-freakin'-LUTELY! (except for Walmart, unless you count grocery shopping) Why oh why do I remain so inconsistent?
Someone please slap me into action - about once every 3 months. I can't seem to do it myself. School - I wanna, sooooo bad! I can't bring myself to go back & learn that I really don't know much. I like to think that I am smart, but maybe that's the wool over my eyes. Kidding aside, I am so inconsistent I don't trust that I will FINISH, thus leading to failure.

P.S. This is not a pity party, I just want to figure myself out. What better way to do it than in front of an audience. Albeit an audience of one, but that's more than me.

Writer's Workshop

I have participated before in Mama Kat's workshop. It's been a loooong time.

So, this week I contemplated a couple options. Writing about my mom - probably not a good idea, since she reads my blog. I'd hate to hurt her feelings by putting down what I feel I do better than she did. When she reads this, she'll understand. I appreciate she did the best she could and that's what matters most. I love her very much.

I also thought about big trouble. I couldn't pick just one big thing, further proving why my mom did the best she could. I was in trouble quite often.

I decided to go with a photo story of the beach. We live about 30 minutes from the Indiana Dunes Nat'l lake shore, Lake Michigan. We go there a few times every summer. I'm not much of a water person, but my kids LOVE the water. This particular visit, I had just gotten a new camera. It was in 2008. I can't find the power cord for my Ext HD, so I took these from my facebook account. They are my favorite pictures from that day. They are some of my favorite pictures of all time.