Ark Valley News - In the kitchen

In the kitchen
By Lisa Strunk
Last Updated: February 05, 2015

Naked and afraid in the neighborhood

If I were ever on a game show to find out how much I know about my kids and one of the questions was, "Which of your kids would be most likely to find a naked lady in the bushes?" I would, without hesitation, say Jer.

Guess who found a naked lady in the bushes behind our house last week? Jer. He was outside getting ready to jump on the trampoline before bedtime. He came in a few minutes later and said there was someone in the bushes at the church behind our house.

He said he thought it was a woman, and she was mumbling, but he couldn't understand her. I figured it was just someone out walking a dog. I went out back and even though it was dark, he pointed out movement in the bushes. I knew the person could hear us talking and they weren't responding. I told Jer to go inside and bring me the phone.

I called 911 and the operator told me to go inside until the police determined that the area was secure since there was obviously a person just a few yards from me on the phone with 911 and the person was moving around, but not showing themselves or responding.

Within a few minutes, the police showed up. I'm embarrassed to admit that the kids and I went into the garage and started watching out the garage window.

When the police started shining their flashlights, we could tell that it was a female, and we could tell the police were checking the area for something, but we didn't know what. Once we determined the person wasn't armed, the kids went out back so they could have a better view and they could hear what was going on. Eventually one of the officers came around to our front door and explained that the woman was nude. (Honestly, we couldn't tell that from our vantage point). I'm not sure exactly what was wrong. We were so stunned that we were joking around.

It didn't take me too long to feel bad. I'm not sure what was going on, but I think she needs prayers more than anything else. Thank goodness for Jer. It didn't get below freezing, but it would have been cold overnight.

That was more than enough excitement for us for the week. Thankfully, things have been much quieter around here. I think our boring old lives are just fine.

We watched the Super Bowl at one of Chris' high school friend's houses. Another one of his high school friends was in town from California for his grandfather's funeral and joined us for the game. I have to admit, we ended up talking all night. I don't know how much of the game any of us actually watched.

We had pizza and wings and a veggie tray with Wind and Willow Back at the Ranch dip I picked up at Anne's Attic. I should have made the veggie pizza from the recipe on the Wind and Willow website.

Cool Veggie Pizza

1 Wind and Willow dip mix

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 refrigerated pizza crust

2 cups chopped fresh vegetables

1 cup shredded cheese, optional

Bake the pizza crust according to package directions. Cool. Combine dip mix with sour cream and mayonnaise and spread on pizza crust. Top with your favorite vegetables and cheese if desired.

Lisa Strunk is co-owner of The Ark Valley News. Reach her at lisa@arkvalleynews.com.