Are You in the Woods? You Should Be...

After March Madness, there's Morel Madness.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you're like me 7 years ago when P first mentioned "mushroom hunting."  My family had certainly never hunted mushrooms--we bought them in cartons from Kroger.  And at Kroger, if for some reason you can't find the mushrooms, you can just ask the 17 year-old stock kid to point you in the right direction.  In the woods, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.  And that's what makes it so much fun--that and the fact that they only grow for about a month during the year in Ohio.

There is definitely skill involved--they grow around certain trees, on banks that face a certain direction, etc.  I've learned that a good mushroom hunter doesn't wander around aimlessly in the woods.  And being that tonight was a "school night" P and I didn't waste any time--we went straight to our patches and this is what we found:

A beautiful grey sponge, don't you think?

Here's another grey just peeking through the leaves and growth.  See why they're hard to spot?

This is a black sponge and also my first mushroom of the year!  I would love to say I saw it from afar, but really, I almost stepped on it. 

Since mushrooms usually grow in patches, you always hunt in a circle around your initial find.  I found these two black sponges to the left of the mushroom in the last picture.  Can you find both of them?

Two-fer!  These are two horsetails that P found.  I have no idea how he saw these!

This was our bucket at the end of the night.  We were only there for about an hour, so we were pretty proud of our haul.  (Also because the season is still early and we were on public land.)

That pride lasted until we bumped into the mushroom hunting experts--P's dad and uncle.  This is his dad's bucket only.  Geesh.  That's a haul for a weeknight!

These are the mushrooms after they were cooked using cornmeal and salt.  Delicious!  Imagine only being able to eat one of your favorite foods once a year.  Tonight was a great night.  

Oh, and after the eating, Perry checked me for ticks.  And not in the Brad Paisley type of way--in the real "I probably have ticks on me" type of way.  I did--two, actually.  Hot tip--always wear a baseball cap in the woods--something I forgot tonight.  Eww--those little things got all up in my hair.  Off to shower!  

My Dentist is a Comedian

Seriously, I heard this one from my dentist during my check-up last week and thought I'd share it along with some new pictures.

Question: What kind of flower do you have on your face?

Answer: Tulips, of course. 

I Have a Heckler, I Have Collateral

Normally I would be kind of excited to have a heckler. It would mean that someone was emotionally interested enough to leave a post, even a nasty one. However, in this case, I'm not excited because my heckler is just my lame coworker. And let me tell you how lame he is: he stayed at work late to leave comments on my blog.

This collateral I speak of? Yes, it's straight-up blackmail. But I've been saving it for a REALLY long time, keeping it tucked away at someone's request. I'm kind of getting bored with my layout and a new PICTURE would spice things up a bit, don't you think?

Keep it up, buddy!

Mama's Gotta Brand New MAC!

P and I just got a previously owned eMAC courtesy of his parents--and I love it! The last time I used a Mac was in college when I worked for the school newspaper. I really loved all the features and the ease of use. For the past few months, I've been saving my pennies to buy a Mac Book, but at $1,200 I never pulled the trigger. Especially since I wanted a Mac mostly for its picture and video editing capabilities.

So now I have a Mac and I'll be able to do all sorts of fun things--as soon as I teach myself how to use the software! Coming soon: awesomeness.

One More Month

We've been getting Overton's magazines in the mail double-time lately. Naturally, I've been looking at all the fun stuff we can buy for this summer. My pick? The Cabana Islander, a party raft for 6 people that includes a floating cooler and swim platform. It also features a canopy, which makes it fun and practical. (As I've mentioned before, the sun and I don't get along. On a bad day, I can get a burn walking from my car to the front door. Ok, not really, but close.)

So what do you think of the CI:

I also dug up a short video of P barefooting. It's with my crappy camera, but it's still a cool video.

MILF Island: Why am I Not Watching 30 Rock?

Since I'm such a fan, or just a huge loser, I turned on the TV a half an hour early tonight in anticipation of the new The Office episode. So at 8:30 I landed on 30 Rock, which I've never watched before. The first thing I see? A mock reality show called "MILF Island." Hilarious. This could be a new favorite.

A Moment of Silence

It all started in 1996 when my parents bought a brand new Toyota Corolla, their first foreign-made car. It was quite a purchase considering the GMC conversion van and Pontiac stationwagon already sitting in our driveway. My parents had heard good things about Toyotas and decided to take the chance on a type of car we'd never had before.

We only had it a short time before my mom was hit by a public transit bus while making a left-hand turn onto the highway. The bus ran a red light and slammed into the Corolla on the left side, totalling the car. My mom, miraculously, walked away with a broken pinky finger. My dad, loyally, said he would always buy Toyotas because he was so impressed with how the Corolla took the impact of the bus and protected my mom. True to his word, they bought a 1997 Corolla to replace the totalled one and have since purchased two additional Toyotas.

About a year before I got married, my parents officially sold me the Corolla. I think it had about 80,000 miles on it. I buzzed around in that little car EVERYWHERE. P and I got married, and pretty soon the car had about 150,000 miles on it. But since it ran so great and we had it paid off, it didn't make sense to trade it in or buy a new car. We decided to keep it until it just quit running or needed a repair that was so expensive it wouldn't make sense to fix. So it ran and ran and ran. We were able to buy the boat because we had the Corolla.

About a month ago, at 248,000 miles, it was having brake problems and we thought "Ok, this is it. This is the end of the Corolla." But after inspection, all it needed was new front brakes and rotors. Which we could do for about $300 with P's uncle helping him. Since it was still running great and never gave us any major problems, it was an easy decision to repair it. 300,000 miles was in sight.

But Friday afternoon, the old Corolla was introduced to a Dodge Ram van from the backside. And as most meetings from the backside usually go, it was not a pleasant one. P was in the car when the van slammed into him and forced the Corolla into an SUV in front of him. He was monkey in the middle and the car took it bad. But P, like my mom, walked away with minor injuries. (Although I don't remember my mom finagling a sympathy trip to BW3 for wings.) Once again, the Toyota did a great job of protecting its passenger. And for that, I'm super thankful. Although I'm quite sure the Corolla is sitting in the body shop missing us like crazy.

So we've been sitting here tonight shopping online for cars. Our options? Another Corolla or an upgrade to the Camry. We've been tempted by Ford's recent Swap My Ride commercials, and Mazda's never ending Zoom-Zoom media blitz. But for us, it's come down to this: two totalled cars, two protected passengers. Now that's great marketing.