Posted by missjunebug on Sunday July 4th, 2010
Photo by mjb2010
Happy Birthday USA!
missjunebug loves being an American junebug. And she really loves a Fourth of July Parade! This year she had to go no further than her own block to see one. The First Annual Presilla Tractor Parade on her very own street! What fun! Mr.JB was outside in their backyard, heard some patriotic music and looked over their fence to see a line of tractors decked out in sparkles and bangles and banners and flags heading up the hill! He ran in the house to tell missjunebug the good news. They changed into their patriotic t-shirts, grabbed their dog Spoonbug, put the roof down on the car, and made a dash around the block to catch the parade at the top of the hill! What followed was a wave fest, happy Fourth of July greetings, and an invitation to join the parade! Lucky junebugs! Of course, they wasted no time u-turning to take their place in the tractor line-up for the rest of the route!
missjunebug managed to take lots of pictures and say big hellos to her tractored-up west-end neighbors, some for the first time. The junebugs felt a part of the vast web of Fourth of July Parades taking place all across America to celebrate this great country. How lucky for them that one took place right on their own street!
Happy Fourth of July!
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Photo by mjb2010
Mr.JB Flips a U-ie to Join the Fun! Photo by mjb2010
Happy Fourth of July, America!! Photo by mjb2010
Posted by missjunebug on Saturday June 19th, 2010
Vintage Father's Day Present for Mr.JB from A Long Day Ago! Photo by mjb2010
ElderJB and TinyJB Agree! Photo by mjb2010
missjunebug wishes her Mr.JB the best Father’s Day ever because as the wise cup proclaims he is the best! She’s sure her Elder JB and TinyJB agree!
He will have to be patient for his big present though. It’s still on order: a beautiful chaise lounge for relaxing. He will need it after all that heinous weed-wacking. Sadly, the junebugs were red tagged by the local fire department and must continue to fight back those waist-high weeds with all they’ve got: weed wacker, clippers, mower, rakes, and pitchforks! Happily, the end is in sight and before long Mr.JB will be luxuriating in his 2010 model Tropitone comfy chaise lounge complete with wheels! Happy Father’s Day, Mr.JB.!! missjunebug hearts you BIG TIME.
What’s the bittersweet part of Father’s Day? It’s missjunebug’s first without her dear departed JBDad. She’s been making or sending Father’s Day cards to him for more that half a century. This year, sadly, she has been permanently relieved of that daughterly duty. She misses this love-filled ritual. But even more, she misses him. Just for the earthly record, Happy Father’s Day, JBDad! Love you forever.
Posted by missjunebug on Saturday May 29th, 2010
Flank Steak with missjunebug's Marvy Marinade! Photo by mjb2010
missjunebug and Mr.JB recently collaborated on a great send-off dinner for ElderJB. (We miss him tons already, but what a great visit!!) Flank steak, a relatively inexpensive cut of meat, can be dressed up to perfection with a good pounding and the right marinade. missjunebug suggests you find the right culinary tenderizing hammer and then slather the pounded-not-quite-to-a-pulp flank steak with this marinade. Throw it on the barbie (not the doll, please!) and grill until medium rare, about six minutes a side. Cook up some grilled veggies: mushrooms, yellow, red, orange, and green bell peppers–the more color, the better, and lots and lots of onions for the perfect side dish. Throw a baked potato on the plate and missjunebug assures you, you will have the best meal ever to serve to family and friends.
missjunebug’s Marvy Marinade
1 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Colman’s Mustard Powder (dry mustard)
A generous grind of black pepper (1/4 teaspoon-1/2 teaspoon)
A sprinkle of Kosher salt
A sprinkle of garlic powder
Whisk together all the ingredients in a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the flank steak. Be sure to mix in all the mustard. It will try to clump up in the liquid. Carefully place the meat in the dish and press it down so that the top is covered with the marinade. Flip the meat over and press down gently again so the marinade completely covers the meat. Place in the frig for up to 3 hours so the marinade can work its magic. Grill 6 minutes a side, slice on the bias, nice and thin and serve with grilled veggies and a big ole baked potato with all the toppings!
Delicious Sides: Grilled Veggies and Baked Potato Piled High! Photo by mjb2010
Flank Steak: Up Close and Delicious! Photo by mjb2010
Posted by missjunebug on Thursday May 20th, 2010
missjunebug has just a few more Commencement photos to share:
Joyce Center Transformed into Holy Place! Photo by mjb2010
Holy People Process In! Photo by mjb2010
Lots of Holy People Preside Over the Commencement Mass! Photo by mjb2010
Commencement in the ND Stadium! A First in Many, Many Years! Photo by mjb2010
Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News Rocked the Commencement Address! Photo by mjb2010
TinyJB Designed This Commencement Brochure! Go TinyJB! Photo by mjb2010
Congratulations, Indeed!!! Photo by mjb2010
Posted by missjunebug on Wednesday May 12th, 2010
Shenanigans Guaranteed by TinyJB at Home and at ND! Photo by mjb2010
Whew! That was a fast four years!
This is a pretty big milestone weekend for missjunebug and her family. TinyJB will be donning a cap and gown and making his way through the pomp and circumstance of graduation from the University of Notre Dame du Lac with a BS degree in Chemical Engineering. missjunebug and Mr.JB and ElderJB could not be prouder of all that TinyJB has learned and achieved in his four years with the Fighting Irish. And as he said himself recently: He’s “Out on a strong note,” making Dean’s List his last semester in one of the toughest disciplines Notre Dame offers. missjunebug is so puffed up with pride she almost popped off her little wings!
missjunebug wonders where did all the time go but she’s pretty sure she knows: Away. It just goes away. mjb doesn’t want to get all maudlin but time is a funny thing, isn’t it? Seriously, it felt like just yesterday that missjunebug and Mr.JB were traveling to ND to get TinyJB set up at his new home on campus, the renowned Keenan Hall.
And it was just yesterday that mjb and Mr.JB were talking to TinyJB about some complications in his job search that require a degree as well as a degree of finesse to figure out. More than one possibility, but timing is tricky. No doubt TinyJB will work through the tough choices he faces. No doubt things will work out for the best.
No doubt grace moments await. And blessings will abound.
Congratulations, Tiny JB! You did it!
A Mantle of Memories for missjunebug and TinyJB Photo by mjb2010
mjb Can't Leave Out Touchdown Jesus! Photo by mjb2010
Posted by missjunebug on Saturday May 8th, 2010
Tiny Hands! Great Heart! Thanks TinyJB! Photo by mjb2010
missjunebug wants to wish every mother the very best day this Mother’s Day! She plans to spend her morning having Mother’s Day breakfast at her favorite breakfast cafe Pete’s Breakfast House in Ventura. Search this blog for her review of Pete’s done a while back if you haven’t been to Pete’s yourself for the best waffles and side of bacon ever.
She’s pretty sure the topic of conversation she will have with Mr.JB after they talk about how great the food is, is how blessed she is to have the two most wonderful sons on the planet, ElderJB and TinyJB. She’d change that little poem of TinyJB’s to say Father in heaven/Whose love is divine/Thanks for the love/Of sons like mine.
missjunebug wanted to share with all her readers, especially the mothers, this very lovely homage to motherhood created by her TinyJB when he was, well, tiny! A long day ago (as ElderJB used to say) some very resourceful Sunday school teacher at her dear HTLC helped TinyJB make this wall hanging as a Mother’s Day present. missjunebug has this very special and crafty memento hanging in her laundry room to cheer her while she does that most motherly of chores, the weekly laundry.
On this special day she also remembers her own dear mother, the lovely JBMarie who taught her so much about motherhood and loved missjunebug and her JBbro with the best kind of love there is: unconditional.
To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day!
missjunebug recommends that you continue to love with the love that knows no bounds or conditions: the love of a mother for her child.
Posted by missjunebug on Monday March 8th, 2010
missjunebug wants to celebrate today! Twenty-eight years ago ElderJB was born! What a baby! Plump! Smiley! Easy! Just altogether happy to be on the planet. And what a kid ElderJB turned out to be. Adventurous! Interested! Intelligent! Kind! Athletic! Ambitious! Inquisitive! Sweet! Preposterous! Impossible to wake up in the morning!
As an adult? missjunebug could not be more proud of her G-Town grad, Returned Peace Corps volunteer (Cameroon: Extreme Nord!), and country director of the awesome oneacrefund.org in Rwanda putting Farmers First! And he’s tied with TinyJB for the best son a mom could have!
Celebrate, ElderJB, like it’s March 8, 2010!!!! It’s your day!
Posted by missjunebug on Saturday December 26th, 2009
missjunebug's Christmas Loot! Photo by mjb2009
missjunebug is happy to report that she got everything she wanted for Christmas…and more! A gorgeous Jennifer Miller bracelet a lá Hoda Kotb from Santa, a new pair of UGGS from TinyJB, a delightful, funny, interesting and sweet x 10 phone call with Rwandan-based Elder JB, and some funny little gadgets from Mr.JB (carabiner flashlight! extra camera battery! Chinese watercolor brushes!).
But she knows what you must be thinking. What about the nutcrackers? Did she score more? missjunebug is happy to report that Mr.JB/Santa has moved on to new Christmas decorating territory with the addition of a gold-lamé, white-furred Santa and a wine-red brocade and white lace Angel with a face, well, like an angel!
After a present-opening frenzy, the junebug family knoshed on Waffle-House style Cheesey eggs, Jimmy Dean sausage, and leftover rum cake. What a feast! Then Mr.JB headed outside to trim palm trees with his nifty new 14-foot chain-powered saw/pruner given to him by TinyJB! Wow that thing can cut up some tree! Meanwhile, TinyJB read through his new beer-making library of books (3 in all!) and missjunebug slipped into her UGGS, bagged up her loot, and began working on the evening meal (Spiral-cut ham, green bean casserole and fab pineapple stuffing).
Later in the afternoon, Mr.JB busted out his new blue-ray DVD of Quentin Tarentino’s masterpiece Inglourious Basterds, cooked up some popcorn, and gathered the junebugs to settle into the Men’s Club to watch one of the best revenge stories ever! Somehow it seemed like perfect Christmas viewing material, Jesus being a Jew and all.
After a savory Christmas dinner, Mr.JB continued reading the Uganda novel with the word eclipse in the title that ElderJB gave him for the big 6-0 while TinyJB and missjunebug duked it out over Trivial Pursuit. Sadly, missjunebug was not a winner as TinyJB edged past her with the sixth and final pie piece on a lame question: What was taken in John Godey’s novel The Taking of Pelham One Two Three? Thanks to the recent remake with John Travolta, TinyJB had no trouble coming up with “a subway train.” Puhleeze.
What a family! What a celebration! What a Christmas!
Posted by missjunebug on Wednesday December 23rd, 2009
This one speaks for itself! Photo by mjb2009
missjunebug hopes these images cheer you during the Holiday Season!
Go Santa Go! Photo by mjb2009
Wide-eyed Santa glistens! Photo by mjb2009
One of mjb's all time favs! Photo by mjb2009
A Sparkly Orange Orb! Photo by mjb2009
A Beary Merry Christmas! Photo by mjb2009
Merry Christmas! Happy Baking! Wonderful Wrapping! And Unwrapping! Delicious Eating! Thoughtful Praying! Exuberant Praising! Sincere Thanking!
Blessings to you and your family from missjunebug, Mr.JB, ElderJB, and TinyJB!
Posted by missjunebug on Friday December 4th, 2009
Nutcrackers Vying for Mantle Space! Photo by mjb2009
It started out pretty innocently. Mr.JB began giving nutcrackers to missjunebug about 30 years ago give or take a few years. Year after year missjunebug would gleefully open up the beribboned rectangular boxes from “Santa” and delight in what she found inside.
Nutcrackers of every description: stalwart soldier, aproned baker, flouncy flamenco dancer, twig-broomed snowman, bun-coiffed teacher, golfer, skier, gold-trimmed Pharoah, London Beefeater, milk-bottle clutching dairy cow (missjunebug’s current fav), piano-playing musician, caroler, wise man, leiderhosen-clad beer drinker, betooled toymaker, and a whole army of red and white clad Santas complete with toy-filled Santa bags. missjunebug is sure you get the idea.
She’s got a crap-ton of nutcrackers!
Every year she turns on the Sounds of the Season on her cable tv and to the croony voice of Bing Crosby singing White Christmas, she shleps down to her Christmas closet and unpacks and unwraps each and every one of these nutcrackers and places them in pretty much the same locations as she did the year before, except of course she has to find space for the new ones Mr.JB gave her the previous year! It’s a little like fighting for shelf space in the cereal aisle of the supermarket! There’s a finite supply of it and these insistent nutcrackers want to be at optimal eye level. They’re a pushy bunch.
missjunebug has a feeling this collection has gone terribly wrong. It reminds her of the origin of the nutcracker fascination, that part of the Nutcracker ballet when little Clara dreams of giant nutcrackers come to life. A little creepy if you ask missjunebug! Which brings her to the question at hand: When is a collection done?
missjunebug will continue to ponder this question as she squeezes out a little more prime mantle space for the latest nutcracker model in her collection.
She can hardly wait to see what Mr.JB (aka “Santa”) has in store for her this year!
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