Cabin Treats: Shrimp Pupu

I have written down the three recipes that I made to take to the cabin last weekend. All three went over well and disappeared in a hurry…here is the first one:

It sounds like a weird combination, one that I would never choose, but there is something about this dish that people love…I never bring home leftovers…there aren’t any.

Shrimp Pupu

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 dash curry powder, to taste (I used more, but added in small amounts to keep from overdoing it, I might have approached a teaspoon.)
• 1 dash Tabasco sauce, to taste (I hate Tabasco sauce, so I always use a sprinkle of cayenne instead)
• 1 can shrimp, drained (used medium deveined, and roughly chopped them)
• 3 eggs, hardboiled, chopped
• 4 green onions, sliced

Spread cream cheese mixed with curry and “Tabasco” in a serving dish. Layer the remaining ingredients in order, cover and chill. Serve with your favorite crackers.

Moving Day

Starr has gathered her piles of junk and made new piles, leaving remnants of the old…what I mean is…this is a mess! I am sure that it will work itself out, but in the meantime I am trying not to stress over it.

It is cool today, better for moving than normal August heat. However, it is raining, wet, for three days wet. Lovely. Starr’s room is on the third floor…so I am looking forward to unorganized chaos, rain soaked clothes, and lugging stuff repeatedly up flights of stairs…fun!

Here are a couple recent videos of Priscilla Ahn from la Blogothèque. I have previously posted another version of the first video, but I love it so much I can’t skip it today. There are four videos and I was going to choose just two, but I couldn’t decide….

Cruel Summer

It started yesterday with Starr’s diary. No. I didn’t delve further into her memories, but I was reminded of one of the videos the girls took with my camera. I don’t have a video camera…so the quality stinks…but it is real.

They were having a sleepover, this was summer of 2005 so they would have been 16 years old. They are in  Starr’s bedroom. I have watched this video again and again…damn it, I miss those innocent days.

I miss her.

Always Friends

Tropicana, originally uploaded by Walkinonsunshine.

I was cleaning this afternoon during a lovely thunderstorm. I’ve had a stack of books in my way ever since I brought them home from my mother’s…first part of June? I decided that it was finally time to make room on my bookshelves for these new additions instead of just getting frustrated that they were in my way.

On the bookshelf, in MY office, I found Starr’s journal/diary from a couple years ago. At first I didn’t know what it was, so I glanced through it to see and make a decision about where it belonged (I wasn’t reading it…she shares almost everything with me anyway) and this entry popped out at me:

Sunny-

I called you tonight crying cause I felt horrible about life. You made me feel better for sure, but really you just said that we will always be friends.

Instant tears. Knowing that you have a friend can often be what gets you through. So sad that always didn’t last very long on this earth.

I doubt that Starr ever showed Sunny that little note, but I have no doubt that they both knew and shared with each other just how much they were loved.


That kind of friendship is hard to find.

Acting Silly at Michaels

She may be in college, but we still had some back to school shopping to do this week before she moves into the sorority house on Saturday. 
  

I can’t believe that summer is almost over….I am going to miss having her around!

Wednesday Mix

She’s Right Here

Sunny, Skye and Starr on a Mission trip, summer 2005

Starr told me a while back that I’ve been too emotional on this blog, that it was sad to read…so I have been trying really hard to be real, yet not whiny and complainy. This was my last sobbing (I was sobbing while writing) post, since then I have been consciously trying to be less depressing. While not always possible, I try.

This doesn’t mean that we are fine, that things are smooth, that we don’t miss Sunny like crazy and worry about and love her family constantly. Nope. It doesn’t mean that, and I am sure that I will continue to share this pain here, as it is a huge part of our existence…and sharing it is also a part of our/my healing.

Positively, Skye and Starr have been working incredibly hard on their charitable foundation that honors Sunny, the things that she cared about, and her inspiring dedication to service, and are in the middle of planning an upcoming 1st Annual 5k and Benefit Concert to raise money for MAPS Adopton and Humanitarian Aid, and Children’s Safe Drinking Water. They have put a lot of heart into this effort…they want it to grow and become a big deal!

I am impressed by their efforts. I think all of us are a little surprised by the shear amount of things to do and consider for an event like this. The learning curve is enormous…but worth it.

These girls rock my world! ….all three of them.

A Poke in the Eye

Starr poked herself in the eye with her laptop the other night. She was facebooking (coincidence?) when the cat startled her and *boink* the left corner of the screen went right into her open right eye.

Screaming, with her had over her eye, she was terrified that she had poked her eye out with her MacBook, while at the same time uncontrollably laughing hysterically at the silliness of the accident. I was concerned but also laughing, because I saw the whole thing and it was hysterical. I am such a bad  mom…trying to comfort her, trying, and failing, to stop laughing.

Afraid to remove her hand from her eye, she wondered if she could make eye patches cool. Stylin’…people would start wearing them as fashion accessories. She could design a whole line of them…make a fortune.

Fortunately, as she bravely spread her fingers and peaked out, she found that her eye survived the assault…she could see. Her eye was red, but otherwise seemingly fine.

Whew.

Eye patch designs quickly forgotten.

Back From the Cabin and In Need of Rest

Our retreat was a success: Nine women, no children, lots of wine, tequila, and food. Late nights, a flat tire, food, movie watching, henna tattoos, star watching, a long walk along the creek, thunderstorms, silly laughter, openness, tears, and sharing.

Did I mention food? We shared and ate loads of homemade…some garden grown, some hand milked…delicious creations.

I am glad that I decided to go, I feel blessed by the friends that I have in this group, and it was great getting to know each of them in a much more personal way.

Every So Often…