Laugh-out-loud funny for cat owners. (Thanks, Jason, for the link.)

My new obsession is creating summer desserts, namely ice cream. I made Chocolate from a mix last week, Peaches & Cream from scratch over the weekend, then Strawberry today. I, being a good Lawton child, would NEVER EVER buy a fruity ice cream from an ice cream store—the David Lawton clan has an undying love for all things chocolate—but I’ve discovered that homemade ice cream is entirely different and so far my peach and strawberry ice creams have been dee-licious. Mmm, mmm good.

Here’s my newest recipe, altered from this one at allrecipes.com:

Strawberry Ice Cream

1, 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
6.5 cups whole milk, divided
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pint strawberries

Blend and strain about half of the strawberries with 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup sugar, set aside. Chop/mash the rest of the berries (I like to use my Pampered Chef chopper) and add to blended strawberries.

Combine the rest of the milk, heavy cream, condensed milk and the rest of the sugar in a large pot and heat just to a boil (scald) on medium setting, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt. Cool mixture either on the stove or pour into ice cream can and refrigerate.

Once milk mixture has cooled (at least to room temperature), add strawberries and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Yield: one gallon

Ah, the potential pitfalls of mobility.

You know you’re an Extrovert when…

…you go next door (you know, where the party’s at) and within moments your body is reinvigorated and your spirit is renewed.

Just Read:

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris; The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Neffenegger

Still Reading:

The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman; And Then I Had Kids, Susan Alexander Yates; The Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler; Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi

Just Watched:

Meet the Fockers, Sideways

Still Watching:

Buffy and Angel

I am not a “multiple book reader” so it’s no surprise I haven’t finished the Jane Austen or Lolita books. The others I’m currently reading are for ongoing studies. The books in the just read category were purchased specifically for vacation and, though they engaged my interest, I did not love either one. Meet the Fockers gave me a laugh or two (I thought Barbara Streisand’s character was pretty funny) but overall was quite lame. Sideways received a far more favorable review from me. It was fairly depressing, painted with a broad stroke of realism (which gets gritty), but also ever so slightly redemptive. I enjoyed it.

And there you have it, another edition of “This Blog Isn’t Always about Livia.” Thank you for stopping by.

She’s been brainwashed! BRAINWASHED, I TELL YOU!!! I haven’t pulled out the ole finger-in-your-throat, “gag me” sign since sixth grade until I read this line, “Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase.”

Barf-o-rama.

If you are waiting my table in the South and you are older than me, you are more than welcome to call me sugar, hon, darlin’, or sweetheart.

If, however, you are a male in your early 20’s taking my order from behind the Wendy’s cash register in Platte City, Missouri, you are SO NOT ALLOWED to call me hon, twice. Understood?

I’m tucked away on some green berber carpet in a corner of a hotel room rightnow, lit only by the flourescent bathroom lights that spill onto my legs. All this in vain hopes that a particular 13 month-old chills out and passes gently into Dreamland despite the fact that she’s not in Kansas (or rather Nebraska) anymore.

She’s in St. Simons Island, Georgia. With her mother. And her Nana and Papa. Her uncles and aunt departed yesterday. Tomorrow her great uncle and great aunt, and second cousins, will head home as well.

Besides the regional differences, including all the “y’alls”, sweet tea and pecan pie, Livia is getting to experience the coastal life for the first time. Well, she’s not really “getting” to—she’s kind of being forced into it by her mama. I haven’t yet gotten her to choke down a piece of shrimp or crabcake, but I did insist that she hang out with me in the warm, shallow tide at the beach this afternoon. Wave after wave crested over my knees as she made pathetic “boo-boo” noises, never letting me forget the fact that she didn’t feel at all thrilled with the salty water. Like her dad, I think this one is happier on land where she can dig her little toes deep into the sand.

I’ve been thinking a lot about vacations, why we take them and how they tend to be a rare treat in my circles. I’d like to become one of those families who goes on holiday (see, I’m pretending to be European!) on a regular basis in order to regain rest and one’s senses. This entire vacation I’ve been wishing that I had a laptop of my own so I could spend some good time writing. I’ve never been the pencil and paper type of writer—they slow down my thoughts too much and I give up before I’ve captured anything worth capturing. Getting away from home, encountering new people, smelling new odors, eating new dishes, they all grant me a spark of creativity that sometimes goes missing from my day to day life.

Shoot. I just heard a wail from the munchkin. Sigh… Getting this kid to sleep in the same room as me has been interesting. I can’t wait until we’re at home again and I’m sharing a room with my gorgeous husband while she’s across the hall her own space. For now, though, I’ll continue to enjoy my brief time left on the island. More beach time, more shopping, more sleeping and reading. After all, isn’t that what vacation is for?

I need some tips on air travel with baby in tow. We’re headed to the beach in a little over a week and I’m mostly concerned with two things: fixing our umbrella stroller and finding a backpack to carry Livia in.

Our umbrella stroller works really well (yay for this $4 garage sale find), but the handles are too low to make it work comfortably for this 5’9″ mama. If anyone has a decent solution to this problem, preferably one that doesn’t involve duct tape, please let me know. Also, I like to use our Baby Bjorn for short distances (A&K, it’s been a great gift this past year, by the way) but I think a backpack would work better for this vacation. Again, any recommendations?

Finally, moms/dads/grandparents/nannies out there, feel free to offer advice on how to make travelling with baby a bit easier. We’ve done the roadtripping thing, but this is Livia’s first time flying the friendly skies.