Forest of the Plains

Let's just say that I wasn't surprised when our legislators decided to leave the minimum wage where it has been, but to give themselves a raise. Honestly, have you tried to live on $5.15 an hour? (I know our legislators haven't.) Even working 40 hours per week at $5.15 AND social service supports, that is not enough to live on, especially if you have a family to support.

I stumbled upon a site from the US Department of Labor. It has interesting information about minimum wage laws in the United States. I didn't realize how different the states are on this issue.

Recently John and I made some homemade ice cream. This turned out to be quite a hassle. I had mixed up the ingredients, put it into the metal container, and put that into the fridge until we were ready. About 30 minutes later I opened the fridge to find that the container leaked. Luckily 1) it was a slow leak and 2) we have "spill proof" shelves that actually kept the leak on one shelf.

I did a little bit (under 5 minutes) of cranking the White Mountain ice cream maker, but John did most of it. Watching John was hard work! Mmmm... There are few things as good as homemade ice cream!


Simple Ice Cream Mix

1 qt whole milk or half & half
1 c sugar
1 T vanilla

Mix together, make sure there are no leaks, freeze, and enjoy!

Terah's additions:
1. Sometimes I do 1 qt whole milk, 1 pt half & half, and 1 pt cream; then increase the sugar to two cups. This actually makes the calories disappear.
2. You can do different flavors with different oils instead of the vanilla. When I do this, I also add a little food coloring because it seems like non-vanilla ice cream should not be white.

I was listening to a story on the radio yesterday about trends in women changing their surname after marriage. I learned that the environment I grew up in is the minority - 80% of women take their husband's last name. I must know every women who makes up the remaining 20%!

I know women who change to their husband's last name.

I know women who simply keep their maiden name.

I know women who have been married for 20 years and suddenly stop using their husband's surname, and go back to their maiden name.

I know women and men who combine their two last names to come up with one unique name.

I know women and men who hyphenate their last names, making one really long name.

I know women and men who keep their last names, but add the other's last name as a second middle name.

I know women and men who keep their own names, but hyphonate both as their kids' last names or use the mother's maiden name as the kid's middle name.

When I got married, I really thought about what to do. I liked being a Yoder, but I knew from experience that it could get complicated when there are two last names in a family. Ultimately I made a compromise: I took my maiden name as a second middle name. I very rarely use all four names, but it makes me feel better that I'm still a Yoder.

The older I get, and the more times that I have to spell out T-E-R-A-H (pause to let it digest, then a deep breath) G-O-E-R-Z-E-N, the more I miss being a Yoder. "Terah" and "Goerzen" scare people, but they're usually okay with "Yoder". I can see myself being one of those women who suddenly changes back to their maiden name after 20 years of marriage, which is probably the most confusing of all the options!

On Thursday John took me out for dinner. I choose to go to Olive Garden because I really like their salad. John tried to talk me into a local non-chain restaurant called Sweet Basil, but I really wanted Olive Garden's salad, so that's where we went. We both ended up with meals that we weren't excited about, but at least the company was good! I probably should have choosen Sweet Basil.

On Friday – The Birthday Day – I knew I'd have to clean the house, but planned to go to Hesston's newest dining establishment for a yummy coffee break. I ran out of time for that, but I'm sure I'll make it up to myself this week.

I did, however, get to confront two men who drove down our ¼ mile lane and entered the garage like they owned the place. I'm not sure if they were casing it out for a robbery or what. They didn't even apologize, saying that they thought the property was vacant. As if that were a good enough reason to trespass!

We met friends for dinner in Newton, then went home and crashed. It's been a long week!

On Saturday we got to participate in a mega work day at our house. Luckily we got some help, or we wouldn't have accomplished nearly as much. Although tons of boxes were packed and loaded into the pod, the pod still looks pretty empty. (I guess that's good and bad...) It's also amazing how much larger some of the spaces in our house looks without boxes sitting everywhere!

For dinner we had a family birthday party. There was lots of good food and some nice presents, too. I got to supervise the making of homemade ice cream, and it turned out wonderfully!

I think that's about all that happened. Now I just need to take a shopping trip to Wichita so that I can use the gift certificates that I got!

And, thanks again to all the bloggers for your kind birthday words!

Thanks to everyone for your cards, emails, and comments!

This will be my first "adult" birthday. In other words, I can't just watch TV all day and watch the world go by. Sadly, I do actually have to do some real life tasks. And, not only did I plan two birthday meals, but I'm hosting one of them. It doesn't seem right to plan your own party, but on the plus side, I did get to pre-approve the menu!

It's strange to think about how much my life will change over the next year. But, don't worry, I'm sure that I'll still be opinionated, a strong supporter of chocolate and caffeine, and a picky eater!

I have always enjoyed my birthday. Usually about May 9 I start an official countdown. During my birthday week I do “extra” things for myself – like visit a coffee shop several times. On my birthday I take the day off work and sleep in, go shopping, and eat sugary foods.

The year I turned 25, I started not looking forward to my birthday as much. That year it seemed like every person I knew (along with some I didn't) felt obligated to make comments about my being a quarter of a century old. I had never had a single issue with my age until being laughed at so much. So many people made fun of my age that year, that I didn't even want to mention my birthday when I turned 26.

I would like to point out that in most social circles it is considered extremely very overly rude to ask a woman her age, let alone laugh at it. I don't mind telling people how old I am, I just mind being teased about it.

Periodically people still make fun of how old I am. Sometimes people also laugh about the difference in age between John and me. I also hear people making fun of others' ages. And I notice that usually people are laughed at for being old, not for being young.

I don't think that age is something to laugh about. Ever.

A couple of weeks ago, my age was laughed at again. Although I am looking forward to my 29th birthday tomorrow, I am also dreading the inevitable comments. I can just hear all the wisecracks about me being close to 30.

So please, do us both a favor, and remember something your mother probably told you: If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Only three more days until my birthday!

Last week John gave me an early birthday present – extra spending money for our Boston trip. I spent most of the money on kitchen stuff, and also made my first ever stop at a Godiva store. After the purchases I happily showed John the exciting things he got me. He seemed to like it all, and especially enjoyed that I bought him something from Godiva, too.

Two days later, while on the train returning to Kansas, John asked again what I had bought at the Williams-Sonoma store. I rattled off the list, mentioning that I had also spent my birthday money on good chocolate for him. Why did John want the reminder? Because he was planning to confiscate my presents when we got home, wrap them, and make me wait until my birthday to open them!

After John left for work this morning, I put my presents away. If he finds them, he can wrap them up for Friday. But I will have no part of a birthday present quarantine.

Today my pasty white legs made their summer debut. During a normal summer I rarely wear shorts because I'm usually in air conditioning and am cold. Not so this summer!

A cute, tall, never-had-a-bad-hair-day, college-age girl gave me a very snotty look. I'm not sure what part of me she disapproved of. I felt very trendy while wearing my new stretch ringspun shorts with bling pocket. Hmmm... Maybe she had trouble with my worn out sandals that I bought seven years ago and are really comfy?

So I got some ice cream and enjoyed imagining the snotty girl being pregnant someday and struggling to find clothes that fit (let alone clothes that are cute and trendy). I must say that I enjoyed my frozen treat!