Slice of LIfe

My kids are obsessed with the nature explosion that exists on our property. Calling it “property” makes it sound like we live on a lush estate, which we totally don’t, but we do have a big front yard, a woodsy bluff in the back, and a nature preserve across the street.

Whenever I send them outside to play I’m bombarded with requests to come see the bunny/spider/chipmunk they’ve found. Honestly, it’s getting a little old, mostly because these things all look the same. If you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. So the other day when they asked me to come see the “mystery animal” they found in the driveway, I figured it could finally be vaguely interesting. They know all about deer, turtles, and birds, so I couldn’t even make a guess as to what it might be.

When I got there I was surprised to find that it really WAS a mystery. There was this coiled lump of something in the driveway that could have possibly been a snack at one point but was obviously not living. I chose to try lift it up with a stick, which just made it look more gross and almost made me gag. I told the kids to find their dad so we could figure this darn mystery out. After a bit of deliberating, we decided it was the intestines of some wild animal, just plopped in the middle of our driveway. It was weird because there wasn’t any blood or carcass around or anything. Just some intestines chilling out, getting some sun. The whole pile was maybe the size of a hamburger. Any guesses on solving the mystery? What kind of animal it came from or what kind of animal would just leave it laying around?

The county fair was last weekend and it was HOT. I love warm weather, so you know if I’m saying it’s too hot then it really is. Jeron was out of town so my mom helped me take the kids. We saw lots of hot animals, played some rather difficult games, and rode a few of the tamer looking rides. My favorite purchase was a bag of mini donuts, covered in cinnamon and sugar. Those hot little babies are the best!

Speaking of food, I feel like I’ve been eating all of it. I’m pretty active during the day on top of trying to grow a human inside me, so I don’t really feel like it’s a problem, but I want to know what your favorite snacks are! I’m currently loving granny smith apples with peanut butter, the chips and salsa from this post, and Greek yogurt with chocolate chips and granola. The other night I was so hungry after coming home from a long walk that I ate most of those things. Yikes.

As I mentioned Jeron was out of town for a few days, which generally leaves me with nothing to do but watch movies and Netflix shows that are marginally good at best. I hate to “waste” something good without him seeing it too. So I watched the movies Begin Again (not great) and American Sniper (it was ok but the ending was very abrupt and felt like they left out an important part of the story). I also watched the first episode of The Returned on Netflix, which was waaaay creepier than I anticipated. It was also pretty good, which makes me a little sorry I watched it because now I need to wait for Jeron to catch up so we can watch the rest of it. It also has subtitles, which is mildly annoying mostly because it’s hard to snack and read at the same time (sheesh). Together we’ve still been doing True Detective, which I barely understand week to week, and we started binging on Nurse Jackie. So far I’m enjoying it but her life choices are infuriating. We also watched the movie Creep, which was, well, creepy. Get out of my dreams, Peach Fuzz.

What have you been up to? What are you snacking on? What could have left intestines in our driveway?? These are important food blog questions. Come back next week if you’re just in this relationship for the mocktails!