Schmuckleberries!

Last weekend Greg and I had a mini-vacay up at Schweitzer mountain with some super fun and adventurous friends...

Things on our "to do" list for the weekend: 

• go hiking, aka climb to the top of Schweitzer mountain (as we did, and it only took us 6 hours since we were also picking berries all the way to the top)
• ride the lift back down the mountain (check!)  it was gorgeous and there was a wedding in progress at the very top
• pick huckleberries (and how!)
• eat huckleberries  (can you say huckleberry pancakes and huckleberries on top of cream cheese icing on zucchini cake?)
• have a picnic on the mountain (breathtaking and delicious, WAY better than eating inside, anywhere!)
• relax, at night only! 
• laugh A LOT, many times laughing AT me, see below

I'm happy to say that we managed to do everything on our list and then some! 

A particular highlight for me was a little seemingly innocent conversation I had with Emma.  Here's the setting=> On Friday night we stopped at Arby's in Sandpoint, where the boys all ordered huckleberry shakes.  While chatting with the manager of Arby's, we learned that they received their huckleberry supply from a local picker, he charged between $30-40 per gallon.  Emma has been saving her money for the past 6 months to purchase her very own iPod Touch.  She has worked very hard to earn this money, including rubbing feet, stacking wood, saving birthday money, weeding and various other "jobs" around her home.  When Emma heard that huckleberries cost $30-40/gallon, a little lightbulb went off in her brain!  Both Saturday and Sunday we all spent some time picking mountain huckleberries.  At random times, Emma would ask how many "dollars" worth of huckleberries she had picked.  After we finished picking the last of our huckleberry crops, as we were walking down the mountain toward the condo, Emma and I enjoyed some chit-chat.  It went something like this...
Emma:   "How much do you think I should charge for a half-gallon of my huckleberries?"
Naive me:  "Well, maybe you start by telling me what you think is a fair price, then I'll tell you my opinion."
Emma:  "I was thinking between $20-25 dollars is fair."
Stupid me: "If you average it out, that equals $22.50."
Emma:  "That sounds perfect.  Thank you so much, Matalie!"
Dumb-ass me:  "Did I just BUY your huckleberries??"
Emma:  "Yes, and thank you so, so much!"  "I love you."
Jessi:  "Not to make you feel badly, but you just outbid me by $7.50.  Earlier I offered Emma $15 for the huckleberries."
Silly ho me:  "I'm a dumb-ass."  
Everyone, but me:  Unbridled fanatic laughter.

If you know Emma Thompson, you also know that one never messes with his/her commitments to her.  So, when we got back to Spokane that evening, Emma gently reminded me that I owed her money for the huckleberries I had redeemed from her.  She even reminded her mom, Jessi, to text me her credit union account number so I could DIRECT DEPOSIT her cash!  You bet I did too :).  Love her!!!

Today, Emma and I had a play date to bake a huckleberry crisp.  We will share the crisp with her family, the Byrds and my family, since it's my turn to make dinner for the Dinna Club.  She's a champ and made the crisp by herself, with very little help from me.  YUM!