Looks like tar, smells like tar

Chalkboard paint on one wall of the bedroom.

Phase III. This stuff goes on like tar! It is black, thick, gooey, messy and sticky. Not to mention stinky. As I fell asleep last night I could taste it in my mouth. My daughter started and she asked me to help. I finished the first coat. Our mistake was using a paintbrush. For the second coat which I applied in under five minutes today was applied with a roller. Good grief.

I met family for dinner at Red Lobster last evening with black paint under my fingernails. I tried as hard as I could to get it all out. I didn't want to smell like turpentine so I applied my new bath and body lotion that smells like Gardenia lily. Very nice.

Today when I ran out to get the paint roller I noticed the Radio Shack in the plaza next to the store was closing. Everything was 70-90% off. Well, some women go weak in the knees at a clothing sale or a shoe sale. Me - electronics. I browsed the entire store - twice! I didn't want to miss anything. It was pretty much picked over but I managed to get some stuff for like $3.00 each. It was like an electronics yard sale. I wanted to call my nephew to see if he needed anything but I didn't know if his cell phone would work for free while he was in Canada. He is up there for training - again. Two weeks this time, that is why he is there through the week-end.

Hey, I just realized that I have two nephews and a niece out of the country. One in Canada for work training, two in Spain for school. The new jet set is growing up fast. Yet another nephew (you know I have six) is having his bachelor party in Canada in September. I didn't get the details as to why, but - wow! What is up in Canada? I may not want to know the answer to that one.

This is the second child for my eldest sister to get married. The last one was fantastic. My niece was married on Halloween. She has the most awesome pastor. Most would hesitate to participate in any kind of festivity event on that date, but he was a trooper. As was his family. They didn't dress up in costumes for the reception, but half of the crowd didn't either. You know I did.

This wedding is coming up fast, and since it is on September 9th, it is going to have an Ohio Buckeyes' theme to it. I guess there is a big game that day? I wouldn't have a clue. My one sister is turning 50 that day. What a break! I wish a family member would get married when I turn 50 so I would have a ready-made party with all my family and friends attending. All the alcohol and food and I wouldn't have to pay a dime! Not sure how they are handling the drinks at this wedding. My sister did an open bar all night for my niece. I think they are still paying off that tab. LOL! Good grief! Right before the bar closed my nephew (it was HER son) called everybody in to drink shots. I couldn't even imagine the bar bill.

I have been asked to make buckeyes for the wedding. The little peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. I love them, but they are a pain to make. I guess somebody told the bride to be that I make pretty good ones. She wants each plate to have five buckeyes each. She is inviting 100 people. 500 buckeyes? Am I crazy? I told her I would do it, or I would try. My first concern was for storage. I don't have an extra freezer. My one sister told me to store them in my basement. It is dark and cool down there. They would be fine. Okay, storage is no longer a problem. How about time? I may take the week before her wedding off for vacation. At least a few days to do that. I don't want them to be too old before the wedding.

I may never look at another buckeye again. Some people make them with rice krispies inside, but I like the creamy smooth peanut butter for mine. I have yet another sister that makes great peanut butter fudge (like Mom used to make), but she will add the crunchy peanut butter into
the mix and I hate nuts in my fudge. I yell at her every time. She just smiles and says "I didn't put that much in !" Oooh, she makes me so mad! LOL. She really gets to me when she dips the wooden spoon that she is stirring the fudge with back into the peanut butter jar to scoop out more peanut butter. Then fudge dries into the peanut butter and the next time you have a peanut butter sandwich there is this crystallized sugary stuff in it. She did that when she lived with my Mom! Talk about mad. I wanted to hit her over the head with the wooden spoon.

My Mom made the smoothest creamiest peanut butter fudge. It had like a shiny buttery look on top that just melted in your mouth. She used the "soft-ball stage" to test when it was done.

The soft-ball part is for testing to see if the stuff is cooked enough, a bit of the mix is dropped into a cup of cold water, if it makes a ball, it's done.

We would wait patiently until she was done with the big pan and then she would hand us five big tablespoons and we would pass that pan around in a circle and scrape all of the fudge that had stuck to the sides and shove it in our mouths with the spoons. I was in heaven. I passed on the chocolate fudge. Too grainy for me. (I say five because by the time I was old enough to remember things my three oldest siblings were pretty much moved out and on their own).

Sigh. I am trying to learn more about the current events that I am reading in the paper. Today I am reading about Hezbollah. Who they are, what they are, what they stand for. Depressing, but I want to know. I need to know. What a mess.