Tumbleweed Gulch

Remember our Little Red Riding Hood post from last year? Well, we had such fun telling that story that we started talking back in August of this year about what we could do this year for a Halloween present for Kayli and our families. But we just couldn't think of a good story that the three of us could tell the way we were able to tell Little Red Riding Hood. So I went to the fabric store to browse patterns for inspiration and saw a pattern for a little shepherdess costume complete with lacy pantaloons that I decided would be perfect for Clara and it finally sparked an idea of what we could do as a family for a Halloween theme and what sort of present we could make for Kayli and our families this year.

So without further ado, here is our Halloween project for 2012 - a silent-era style movie (although be sure you have your volume on as there is appropriate music to enhance the drama) we have titled "Tumbleweed Gulch".  We hope you enjoy!

Cup o' Joe

Tonight Paul told me a story about this past week at work involving coffee that I thought deserved to be mentioned on the blog and which inspired this post.  Paul and a co-worker are good buddies and apparently prank each other on occasion.  This co-worker also happens to know that as a practicing Mormon Paul does not drink coffee because they have discussed this finer point of our religion.  So apparently a few days ago Paul was getting himself a cup of water from the breakroom when he suddenly thought, "hey, it would be nice of me to make a cup of coffee for my buddy and take it to him."  So he poured a cup of coffee (he can't remember if he used the decaf, regular, or strong option) and then added this and that (he said he dumped in some raw sugar and then some kind of creamer and whatever other stuff was sitting there) and took it to his friend.

The friend was immediately suspicious when Paul said "I brought you a cup of coffee!  I made it for you!"  The friend's first question was "what did you do to it?"  Paul explained that he didn't put anything bad in it and so the friend took a sip and exclaimed "this is awful!"  Bahaha - I am sure it is so much funnier hearing Paul tell this story in person because I was seriously cracking up. 

The second story I have involving coffee is from when I was a summer associate at my law firm during my 2L summer of law school.  As the only Mormon out of 27 summer associates, I naturally got some questions at social events about my religion, principally dealing with why I wasn't drinking alcohol.  Inevitably coffee would come up as another "banned" substance for a practicing Mormon.  One person asked whether there were any Starbucks in Utah and I deadpanned, "Oh sure.  But they aren't allowed to sell coffee.  Just hot chocolate."  Everybody, and I mean everybody, gasped and totally bought it until I couldn't help but laugh about the joke. 

My third coffee story is from when I was a senior in high school working my first job as a waitress at a Mexican restaurant in a small town in Nebraska.  I was still pretty new on the job and had not even an inkling about coffee terminology so when I asked a customer what he wanted to drink and he asked for "coffee, black" I responded, "sorry, but we only have regular or decaf".  That man laughed and laughed and told me to go ask another waitress what he meant.  I remember the other waitresses looking at me like I was from outer space when I explained the conversation to them.  It was one of the more embarassing moments of my life. 

In which I fret over possibly accidentally ingesting marijuana...

I know I've mentioned before on the blog that Paul and I have a favorite ice cream place in Santa Cruz called Marianne's.  The texture and flavor of their ice creams are amazing and they have lots of options to choose from.  I pretty much always try a couple of random samples like "Lavender" or "Heath Bar" or "Lychee" and then ask for a kid's double on a cake cone with a scoop of raspberry swirl and fudge brownie.  I've noticed before that the fudge brownie is officially named "Alice B. Toklas Fudge Brownie (with walnuts)" but I have always ignored the Ms. Toklas part and waived her off as Marianne's granny or biddy aunt or something. 

Except today I looked her up on my iPhone while we were driving home and it turns out that according to Wikipedia, Alice Babette Toklas was the San Francisco-born lover of the novelist Gertrude Stein and is famous in her own right for publishing a cookbook with a recipe for "hashish fudge" and her name was later attributed to a number of "cannabis concoctions" including marijuana brownies. 

Awesome. 

I debated whether to continue eating my Alice B. Toklas Fudge Brownie ice cream and conferred with Paul whether Marianne's could actually get away with selling a chocolate ice cream with marijuana-laced brownie chunks.  I"ve had it multiple times before and have never noticed any strange effects.  On the one hand, there is no warning on the menu and kids order that flavor so surely it can't have drugs in it, right?  On the other hand, Marianne's is in Santa Cruz after all. 

In the end, I continued eating the ice cream and cone, but I felt guilty about it.  Next time I may have to switch to Rocky Road or Butter Pecan.  Or stick to my New Year's Resolution about laying off the sweets.

Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time, there was a darling little girl who was thoughtful and kind.  She was loved by all who met her.

The child's mother was excessively fond of her and her grandmother doted on her still more.  Granny made the pretty girl a cape with a red satin hood that the little girl loved to wear everywhere she went.  She wore the cape so often that the people of the village took to calling her Little Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother said:  "Come Little Red Riding Hood, your Granny is ill and I have prepared a basket with soup and good things to make her well.  You must take it to her at her cottage in the woods."

Little Red Riding Hood was a sweet and dutiful daughter and said she would deliver the basket and stay with her grandmother until she was well again.

Her mother placed the little girl's cape around her shoulders

and tied its ribbon at her neck.

"Be sure not to dawdle in the woods," her mother cautioned, "and do not stray from the path or talk with strangers."

"Do not worry Mother," said Little Red Riding Hood, "I will run all the way to Granny's house without stopping."

Her mother gave her a hug

and a kiss

and then Little Red Riding Hood set off on her way to Granny's cottage.

Full of good intentions, the little girl made her way through the woods.

But soon she forgot her mother's wise words and began to pick berries and flowers along the path.

Soon Little Red Riding Hood heard a sound.

A big grey wolf came out of the forest.

"Where are you going?" he asked with a greedy look.

Forgetting her mother's advice not to talk to strangers, the little girl answered that she was on her way to Granny's cottage with a basket of good things to make her well again.

The wolf was a wicked creature and he decided then and there that he would eat the little girl's grandmother for dinner and that the little girl in the red hood would be his dessert. 

"Then I shall detain you no longer," the wolf said with a crafty grin.  "Please carry my best wishes to your Granny for her good health."

With that, the wolf slunk back into the woods and took a shorter route to Granny's cottage, arriving before Little Red Riding Hood.  The wolf knocked on the door:

tap, tap.

"Who is there?' called Granny from within.

"It is I, your darling granddaughter," the wolf replied in a counterfeit voice.  "I have brought you a basket of good things to make you well."

Granny, who was in bed with a cold, cried out, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up."

The wolf pulled the bobbin, the door opened, and he immediately fell upon the good woman.  He tied her up and stuffed her in the closet to save for his supper.  The wolf then dressed in one of Granny's nightgowns and climbed into Granny's bed to wait.

Soon there was a knock on the door:

tap, tap.

"Who is there?" called the Wolf, mimicking Granny's voice.

Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the voice of the wolf, was at first afraid.  But remembering her Granny's cold, answered:  "It is I, your granddaughter.  I have brought you a basket of good things to make you well."

"Pull the bobbin and the latch will go up," the false granny called out.

Little Red Riding Hood pulled the bobbin and the door swung open.

"Come closer," said the wolf in a gravelly voice.  Little Red Riding Hood did as she was beckoned and climbed onto the bed to be closer to a Granny who did not look quite the same as the little girl remembered.

"Granny, what big ears you have!" Little Red Riding Hood said.

"All the better to hear you with my dear," said the wolf, smiling.

"Granny, what big eyes you have!" continued Little Red Riding Hood.

"All the better to see you with, my dear," replied the wolf.

"Granny, what big teeth you have!" cried Little Red Riding Hood, her eyes wide with surprise.

"All the better to eat you with my dear!" the wolf growled.

"Oh no!" she shrieked.  "Help!"

Nearby, a passing woodcutter heard the little girl's cries and immediately crashed through the door of the cottage only to see the wolf chasing a child in a bright red cape.

Taking his axe, the woodcutter caught the wolf by the tail and threw him out of the cottage.  The wolf was so scared that he ran off and was never seen or heard of in those woods again.

The handsome woodcutter heard a muffled thumping sound coming from the closet and opened it to find Granny.  He cut the ropes binding her using his axe and Little Red Riding Hood and her Granny were joyfully reunited.

They thanked the woodcutter for his kindness and bravery, and they all lived happily ever after.

The End.