Life's Accidental Journey

Friday, March 02, 2007

So Busy

Eileen was so sweet to ask about me. I know I've not been around. I couldn't really figure out what was going on and why I was feeling so busy (and a bit stressed about it) last night until DH and I sat down and realized that I've had over 15 hours of extra out of the house things to do this week.

I know 15 hours doesn't sound like a lot to those of you who work outside the home. But because I *don't* work outside the home, all of my hours are usually designated to different tasks. So I've had to basically find 15 hours of time this week. And unfortunately about half of that has come from the computer. :(

Hopefully, after the GirlScout cookie booth sales end this weekend, I'll be back as usual.

So much to say, as usual. So little time.

Love and miss you ALL.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Return to Normal

Our company is gone. It was a really nice visit.

I missed out on Frugal Friday this week, but hope to be back at it again next week.

I'm amazed at the amount of paperwork that can build up in just a few days.

Last night DH we made an impromptu trip to Sam's and I still have some things to organize in my pantry.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Probably Won't be Around Much

Our guest is due in the afternoon, so it may be the end of the week before I get the chance to make a proper post.

I hope everyone has a blessed week.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Extra To-Do List

If anyone is paying attention to my new to-do list over in the sidebar, you'll see that I've not been able to get everything done every day. You know this because the same thing shows up day after day.

I try to get it done. But sometimes other things come up. Sometimes nothing more than my girls needing some quality talk-time with Mama. Sometimes (like with the Pastor's meal) I'm hashing it out with DH, as he'll be the one eating with him and he's changing him mind all the time. ;)

I'd love to be able to strike it all out, but the reality of it is that I just can't do it all every day. Sometimes my ambition is bigger than my ability.

So it stays there until I get it done.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Whew!

Finally, a day at home! We have been literally out of the house most of the day from Sunday thru yesterday! And my house shows it. Ugh.

Yesterday was just one of those days that was so crazy that it was silly.

Julia had co-op at 10:45 so we had to be out of the house by 10:15. We took cupcakes to her class for Valentines so that was an extra step. Then I stopped by the grocery store to pick up the sale circular, then quickly home to homeschool my little one.

Before I could even get home, my cell is ringing. The other mom that I'm doing GirlScout cookies with this year just got back from Italy and we have all the minute' details to coordinate for the cookie pickup. So I finally get all that taken care of and I'm at home now, trying to get all of my homeschool stuff together for Jillian. I throw a load of laundry that I'd run before I left home in the dryer. And my phone rings. It's my oldest, she's *broken her drivers license.

Yes, broken.

And what should she do? So I hang up with her and after many phone calls find out what she should do, call her back and let her know. Then I have to dig out her birth certificate. I do, and she's off to get this taken care of. By now, it's past lunch time and I prepare lunch. We eat. Then I start to get the homeschooling stuff started with Jillian, and I get a phone call.

My oldest needs the *original* birth certificate. I had given her a copy. Which I found incredulous because she had her license, snapped neatly into two pieces. Easy to see who she was and all of her info. She had her SS card. She had her college ID. AND a copy of her birth certificate. And that wasn't good enough.

I digress.

So I look again through our stuff and sure enough, I find the original. I call her back and let her know. Now it's time to get the bread going for supper.

As soon as I get the bread going, oldest comes in and gets the paperwork. While she's talking, I start to get supper prepped. Then she leaves and the dryer dings. It's stuff I have to attend to right then (of course).

I give Jillian some reading to do and start to concentrate on the house. I have literally like an hour before I have to leave to pick up Julia. In that hour I unloaded the dishwasher (that I'd ran sometime in the middle of this chaos), load the dishwasher, do more laundry, shape the bread into rolls and bake them, get supper cooked, straighten the house, get all the food together that I have to take with me, and we hit the door.

We pick up Julia AND her two friends. I take them all to grab some fast food and then to the neighboring church where I take part of the homemade supper in for me and my friend. (My girls would have loved the homemade food, but her girls wouldn't have eaten it.)

We eat a quick supper and then she and I start setting up for the Valentine party.

Long story ... well ... still long, we get home around 8pm. I heat DH's supper and he eats. Then we change the sheets on the bed together and pretty much fall into it.

Hopefully, today will be a make-up day. And I can get all the stuff done that I didn't get the chance to do EVERY OTHER DAY THIS WEEK.

If my daughter can keep from breaking some other important, official document, that is.

*How the heck do you break a license? I mean really, have YOU ever broken your license? Me neither. She said she was holding it be each end in one hand and it just snapped.

Monday, February 12, 2007

I'm Such a Follower

:D

I've seen others put their "To-Do" list on their blogs, so I decided to give it a try as well.

Note that this is not all that I will do today. ;) I have my regular schedule that I follow each day of the week (which I fully intend to post at some point). This is the "extra" stuff that I need to get done today.

I normally have a list here (on sticky paper) of the extra things that need to be done on a given day (the routine things, I'm pretty familiar with and don't need a list anymore). This just makes me a bit more accountable with it posted I suppose!

Lent

Since Ash Wednesday is only 9 days away, I've been thinking about Lent a bit these last few days. Our church is having an Ash Wednesday service, and I really want to go, but I'm not sure we're gonna be able to make it. That is right in the middle of our company coming from out of town.

But whether we get to go or not, I want this time of year to be recognized. I think the girls are definitely old enough now to participate in a meaningful way.

I'd love your thought or ideas on how you observe Lent.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

My Church

My pastor is amazing to me. I thought for a while that it was only me feeling this way, but it's not. When we discuss the sermon after church with friends, I'm still, after a year, shocked. The man truly has a gift. It's not like anything that could come of this earth.

We all hear him differently. Every week. I hear something that strikes a nerve with me. DH hears something with just the vaguest difference that allows it to strike a nerve with him. Our friends ask, but didn't you hear XYZ? That strikes a nerve with them.

And the fact is, of course I heard what they heard. But my heart interpreted it for my own life. Just as everyone seems to be doing.

And he's so humble, that it's, ... well ... humbling.

I can't tell you what a blessing it is to have this man in our lives.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Frugal Friday (Finally!) Feed Your Family

The Pantry Principle

It's really simple. The best way to save on the food budget, while getting the products that you love, is to bulk buy when they are on sale. In order to do that successfully, you need a place to store these foods. I have 3 shelves (one is pictured below).

Each week I happen to pass the grocery store that I frequent on the day that the sales start (Wednesday here). I run in and grab a circular. I almost *never* deviate from this by buying anything at all that day, even though I'm there. I don't need to! I've got plenty of food at home. (If I didn't go by the store I would look up the sales online. Our store has their weekly sales paper online. I would not make a special trip.)

I bring the paper home and look up the sales. When I find things that I use that are on sale, I check my supply and see if I need any of that item and if so, how many I can reasonably buy and store.

Our store has "buy one get one free" (B1G1F) sales (frequently) on different products each week. I'm at the point now with the stockpile that I have at home, that I almost never pay over ½ price for many of the foods we eat.

It sure makes for a funny looking shopping cart. This week (when I go on Monday) my cart will contain:

Red Seedless grapes, 1.29lb, regularly 2.99lb. I'll buy a couple of lbs.

Potatoes, 10 lbs for $5 (appr. 2.50 off)

Baby carrots, 2 lbs for $2.50 (.50 off)

Cabbage (not on sale)

Mayfield Ice Cream B1G1F, I'll buy 4, get 4 free (this is my family's favorite brand)

Bryan Deli Meat B1G1F, I'll buy one pack, get one free

Oscar Meyer Bologna B1G1F, I'll buy 2, get 2 free

Kellogg's Cereal, B1G1F, I'll buy several, depending on the price. I don't like paying over $1.50 a box for cereal. So whatever they have for around $3.

Duncan Heinz Brownie Mix, B1G1F, I have room for 6 or so boxes. I still have 2 left from the last sale.

Clorox Bleach, .50 off

And they have their 2L cokes on sale for .89, so I may buy a few of those as special treats (we *rarely* drink soda here)

(They also have lots of red meat on sale and even boneless, skinless chicken breasts (B1G1F), but I have lots of meat tucked away in my freezer from previous sales. )

Don't worry, we're not going to eat sandwich meat and ice cream all this week. There is *tons* of food in the house. This is just what I happen to need to stock up on this week from the sale paper and it should be well under $60 for all of it.

I'd love to hear how others save grocery money.

For more Frugal Fridays ideas visit Crystal's Blog

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

And Another Break

Things are coming along here. But you know how mussed up everything is when you're in the middle of moving things around and doing major cleaning? Well, that's where I'm at right now. It will get better though. And I can see some parts of it starting to shape up.

Thank goodness.

I just wanted to quickly touch on a point that's been on my mind all day. Yesterday I caught a piece of Dr. Phil. It was about these 3 couples who were on the verge of divorce. As you can imagine, there was lots of drama. These men were not very nice to say the least. The wives definitely had their issues as well. And when I saw the (bleeped out) cursing and yelling that went on within earshot of the children, I just cringed.

Anyway, there was this particular couple on there that I'm talking about in this post. The woman, a stripper by trade, was having an affair. The guy, by his own admission, didn't treat her well before he found out about the affair, and now he sees what he's about to lose and his attitude (he says) has changed.

So Dr. Phil was asking her how this affair made her feel. She said that she had no idea why she even did it. Dr. Phil isn't screaming or cursing of course, but he has this dead serious look on his face and he tells her that he's going to help them to build their marriage from the ground up, and then he looks her square in the eye and says that he wants this man to go. She agrees with him. And he said that he's not just wanting her to tell him that this man is gone. He wants the man to go. He is going to bring him in and she is to tell the man that he is gone. Period.

This young woman looks at him with tears in her eyes and says, "Yes Sir".

Now, time will tell how this plays out obviously, but it was amazing to me how easily he got her to at least, and with great respect, vocalize agreement with what he was saying. She absolutely listened to whom she perceived to be in authority.

She alone is responsible for her actions. But she seemed so willing to obey authority that I wonder if she's ever had any authority in her life. And it made me really sad for her.

She just seemed lost to me.

Like so many women in marriage today. Stumbling around with no idea how to behave or treat their spouse. No idea what marriage means. Almost like no idea of right and wrong.

And that is truly scary to me.

(And before it's pointed out, I *know* the men were even more the focus of this show. I'm simply talking about one subtle thing that I thought was screamingly telling.)

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

A Quick Cleaning Break

They had told me when I made this dentist appointment that it wouldn't take 10 minutes. And it literally didn't! I couldn't believe it. Who goes into the dentist for 8 minutes? So with all the time left over, I made a monster trip to Sam's which is right next door to my dentist.

Anyway, on my way home, I heard this song that reminded me of the conversation going on over at Stephanie's Blog.

My husband is a Mr. Command Man if ever there was one. And this song *really* reminds me of him.

You enjoy it while I get back to my maniacal cleaning. ;)

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DH told me last night that a friend of his is coming up from FL for a few days, in a couple of weeks. Our guest room is so *not* ready. (Who am I kidding? We don't really have a guest room. We have a room that we are trying to make look like a guest room when we have guests, and a formal living room when we don't. Wish us luck with that one.) So the next couple of weeks will be super busy here.

I was all set to start tackling the tasks, but then remembered that I have a dental appt. this morning. So they will have to wait until the afternoon at best.

And I also have all these blog posts floating around in my head. Hopefully they'll marinate there and become better once I can get them all out. 'Cause you know, if I had all the time in the world, I wouldn't have a thing I could think to post about.

Monday, February 05, 2007

You'd Think I'd Know Better

My kids are just *not* good at sleepovers. The somehow don't get the "sleep" part. At all. Now I understand staying up late and watching TV, eating a bit too much, but eventually you're supposed to sleep a little, right?

Friday night they went, after much agonizing on my part. I *know* it's not a good idea. I *know* it will ruin the whole weekend. But they want to go so badly. And I really don't allow them to do it often. Their older sister was in their corner. And when Dad spoke up that he thought I should maybe lighten up a little, it was settled.

And BOY, have we paid for it. They are *still* cranky. And lounging around. And just can't seem to feel rested enough to have any type of motivation.

And I'm keeping my "I told you so" attitude to myself. For the most part.

Oh, and the best part? We were informed that our girls were the *only* ones that didn't sleep a wink.

The only ones.

Makes a Mama proud I tell you.

UGH!

In other news, DH and I watched the Superbowl together yesterday! I made many snacks and it was a lot of fun! Being from TN we had to root for the Colts (Peyton Manning was from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville).

Off to get this day started!

Friday, February 02, 2007

In My Efforts to Get Things Done...

I've wanted to start doing "frugal Friday's", but it seems this isn't the week either.

This has been an absolutely insane week. Insane I tell you! DH has been busy literally from darkthirty in the morning until 10ish every single day. He even had things that had to get done on this past Sunday, and ended up busy 3/4 of the day!

And we all know that when our husbands are busy, usually the same goes for the wives. I've been up early with him (though not always as early as he is) and then trying to make things as easy on him as possible, while working my crazy schedule as well.

Last night we got more furniture moved. The furniture in the girls room was poor quality and old, old, old. A friend gave us some furniture they had no space for, and it happened to be perfect! I thought changing out the dressers and chests...how hard could it be?

The question is, how silly could *I* be?

It took us (all of us) about 5-6 hours (we stopped and ate in the middle, so I'm not sure exactly how long) to get it all done. And there is still things that have to be reorganized in their room. And there is still a desk that needs to be moved upstairs and some computer stuff, but other than that...we're done!

And it looks so lovely. I'm so grateful

We have a busy day today. Homeschool stuff and then the girls have a sleepover and we need to make some munchies for that.

And because I'm gettin' things done, here is a picture of the Christmas picture (I snapped a digital image of the 35mm Christmas picture that we sent out with our cards, excuse the poor quality) that I never blogged. Better late than never, right?

(We have another dog, but he's old and cantankerous and wasn't in the mood.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Snow in Tennessee!!!

Okay, I know it's not a huge deal to most of you, but it's a *big deal* for us to get some snow. They were calling for snow last night, but it wasn't supposed to start until around 3am. So my youngest set her alarm (I'm not kidding) and was up before 6! My middle daughter slept with her nightgown turned inside out (??) for (snow) luck? And this is what we see well before the sun was up!

Just the first thing I snapped from my covered porch.

This is something you don't see often, a pool surrounded by snow!

A close-up of snow on the railing to show how much we got!

There is a plant under all that. That little blob in the middle? It was green yesterday.

Our magnolia tree. I brightened this picture. It was made when it was still pretty dark.

My poor strawberries.

My youngest who played on the deck for at least 30 minutes first thing this morning. She was so excited! To tell the truth we all were!

Sunday, January 28, 2007

God's Will

The preacher talked on Sunday about God's will. And I'm not talking about what God wants us to do. Not that kind of will. I'm talking about the kind of will that is read by the executioner of your estate.

Have you ever been to the reading of a will? I have not. But it was so interesting to hear the stories of different people who had. They didn't know if they would be in the will. They didn't know what they would be left, if anything. And some people simply refused to go, maybe for fear of being humiliated.

You may never be called to the reading of a will in this lifetime. But we can guarantee that we will be called to the reading of Jesus will. And we are promised *everything*, beyond what we can hope.

Have you ever thought that Jesus left you *everything* in his will? And how sad to think of someone now showing up to claim it.

Is Your Glass Half Full?

Did anyone watch 20/20 Friday night? It was about childhood poverty in America. And particularly in the town of Camden, NJ.

Now, I'm no where close to New Jersey. I'm in southern TN, just on the northern tip of GA. So it's not like this was in my backyard.

I know that we all know in our logical minds that there are poor in our country. But something about this particular program touched me in a way that I can't seem to get out of my heart and mind.

I've watched programs before about the poor. And I've always felt God trying to tell me something when I've seen them. I'm still not sure what God has been whispering to me, but I do know that my interest in those less fortunate has grown over the years.

There was a little boy on the program. They showed him hungry. Hungry! Can we really imagine? Can we imagine what his mother felt? Her *child* was hungry, and she had nothing...nothing... to feed him. And he was in clothing that was entirely too big for him (and grateful for the clothing!). He was homeless and they showed the family preacher taking them to different houses that the church was trying to help them get into. And the excitement overwhelmed this little guys face as he looked around these places that would, most likely, scare the pants off of any of us. The places were pretty awful. Dirty. And the child's face shown with hope at each one. And each one was denied him for various reasons.

He ended up in a single room with nothing but a bare bulb, and he was all smiles from ear to ear.

How many of us, given so incredibly much more, smile when we look at our homes and lives? How many of us literally beam when we look at our blessing every day? How many of us go to bed having eaten just a little too much to snuggle down in our fresh sheet and down comforters? How many of us have the luxury of not wearing a coat in our house in the winter because we have lovely heat with no more work than a touch of a button? How many of us thank God for our blessings when we turn the shower on and hot water comes out? Or we push a button and our garage opens so that we can park our *cars* in more of shelter than a lot of God's *children* have at night?

I turned the TV off and felt true shame for every *want* I've ever had. And then I looked around me and noticed my abundance. Really noticed it.

And my heart has been so full ever since.

My glass is more than half full. My cup truly does runneth over.

Sharon wrote a beautiful post on contentment. I urge you to read her post and see if God speaks to you as He has to me.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

My Very First Meme

Since both Eileen AND Sharon did this, did I really have a choice?

Aprons - Y/N? If Y, what does your favorite look like?

Absolutely YES! I love aprons. I suppose it reminds me of my Great Grandmother who raised me. She always wore an apron. I only have one. It's bright red and I needed a pocket so I sewed a dishcloth onto the front of it. Yes, I really did.

Baking - Favorite thing to bake

I really like to bake, but my favorite right now would probably be the nutritionally void, feather lite, white rolls that always makes the family come running.

Clothesline - Y/N?

If an inside clothes drying rack counts, then yes.

Donuts - Have you ever made them?

When I was a little girl, maybe 12 or so, I was making doughnuts and had poured the oil into a metal container. While cleaning up, I picked up the container before the oil had a chance to cool and it burned my fingerprints off for a long time. So, short answer, yes. But not since then.

Every day - One homemaking thing you do everyday

Dishes

Freezer - Do you have a separate deep freeze?

Yes, a small one.

Garbage Disposal - Y/N?

Yes. Love it.

Handbook - What is your favorite homemaking source?

Home Comforts : The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson. I've never seen a more thorough book. Ever.

Ironing - Love it or hate it? Or hate it but love the results?

Don't love it. Don't hate it. Only iron what is necessary. I air dry most of our clothing and shape it when it's drying.

Junk drawer - Y/N? Where is it?

Of course, in the kitchen, just like everyone else. ;)

Kitchen - Color and decorating scheme

I don't really do decorating schemes in my home, but the majority of the room is oak and stainless.

Love - What is your favorite part of homemaking?

Knowing that I have blessed my husband and family.

Mop - Y/N?

Yes.

Nylons - Wash by hand or in the washing machine?

Machine

Oven - Do you use the window or open the oven to check?

I *try* to use the window. But I usually end up peeking inside.

Pizza - What do you put on yours?

I'm not picky. DH loves tons of meat and the girls like cheese. I can do either (or both!)

Quiet - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?

I like to sit with a cup of tea and read the bible. Sometimes I'll read new blogs! Or do a meme. ;) Quiet moments don't come too often yet.

Recipe card box - Y/N? What does it look like?

No card box. I have a HUGE folder. I definitely need a new system. It takes me forever to find anything.

Style of house - What style is your house?

A 1980's tri-level.

Tablecloths and napkins - Y/N?

No cloth on the table. But cloth napkins, yes.

Under the kitchen sink - Organized or toxic wasteland?

Reasonably organized.

Vacuum - How many times per week?

I try to vacuum the den several times a week. The rest of the house, at least once a week.

Wash - How many loads of laundry do you do per week?

10-15

X’s - Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?

Only if there are things out of the ordinary that need to be done.

Yard - Y/N? Who does what?

Oh yeah, love the yard. We garden a little. DH and I are in the planning stages of planting more fruit trees and berry bushes. DH usually mows. Though I did it for years. I don't mind it a bit. He cares for the pool.

Zzz’s - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?

Loading any last items into the dishwasher and running it.

If you're reading this and haven't done it yet, consider yourself tagged! Please leave a comment so I can come read yours!

This is my 11th year of homeschooling. I'm pretty fortunate to live in a place that (now) is moderately tolerant of us homeschooling families. Years ago, when I first started homeschooling Jessica, it wasn't so easy. Curriculum was hard to find. I'm not saying "good curriculum was hard to find". I'm saying "curriculum was hard to find". It was there, but certainly not like it is now.

And the extracurricular activities? Forget about it. There was almost nothing. And that was hard on a child that had been in both private and public schools through 3rd grade. She really did miss having kids her age around.

The younger two have no idea what it was like back then. They have this tremendous support system. They have been in a YMCA homeschool program for over 6 years. Lots of the same children are there that started with them. They are also in a GirlScout troop that has several homeschooled kids. They are in a brand new youth group formed at our brand new Church. They started this incredible co-op this year. The teachers are unbelievable. And lets not forget all the new "strangers" they've gotten to meet there.

I love homeschooling. I love that I get to spend the majority of time with my girls. I love that I know their friend and their friends parents. And I love that I can trust what they're learning, even when they're not learning with me.

It seems that kids that are homeschooled get to be kids longer. As a generalization, they're kinder in nature. They seem to value home and family in a way that is, unfortunately, not so common anymore. They seem perhaps more vulnerable to me, because they've not had to deal with many things that children have to deal with in school settings. Their hide hasn't had to "thicken up" so to speak.

Which brings me to the point of this ramble.

As the girls get older, they do more things with their friend or groups (like GirlScouts, youth, etc). I have 2 daughters, almost 3 years apart, that I still run around (and one that runs herself around :)) so I can't possibly be with both of them on every outing they have. And I'm finding, especially with the older one (and her older homeschooled friends), that she's asked to "prove" herself maybe a little more than other (not homeschooled) children. Nothing harsh, don't misunderstand. But it's like there are adults "out in the world" that seem to want to push these girls a little harder.

I have a friend, a homeschooling mom, who adores her children (like we all do). And she seems to think that this isn't a bad thing. She says that her children need that conflict from positions of authority to learn conflict resolution. They they need to learn to deal with someone who might be in a bad mood, or grumpy, or maybe just doesn't particularly like them for whatever reason.

I just couldn't disagree with her more.

There are some downsides to homeschooling for the children. There is no prom. There is no lunch line. There is no school bus. There is no football games.

At the same time, there is no bullying, or cutting in the lunch line. No unfair grades because the teacher was in a bad mood, and there should be no adult in a position of authority asking more of my 12 year old simply because we homeschool. She should not have to prove herself beyond the scope of what's she doing at that moment, or beyond other children whose parents choose to school outside the home.

I *like* that my 12 year old has "thin skin". I like that she's not world hardened.

Isn't there plenty of time for that once they are adults? I'd love to hear any thoughts on this (even if you *gasp* don't agree with me!)

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Quick Thoughts

Reading the heartfelt comments from my last post has got my head just swimming with thoughts. I wish I had time today to hash out these thought into a coherent post, but, of course, I don't. Julia has co-op in just a little bit. We have youth this afternoon. Girlscout cookies are due today and **I'm** one of two "cookie moms", and our OWN cookie sheets are not yet done. I promised Mike I'd find a place for some things I'd left out in the bathroom *today*...and it's my precious Jessica's 20th birthday (and I don't yet have her gift).

Chaos reigns today.

:D

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Was it Always Like This?

Julia, my 12 year old, is in a GirlScout Cadette group. Jillian, my 9 year old is in a Junior GirlScout group. They both meet at a neighboring church, together and at the same time, but in different rooms of course.

Julia's troop had an outing yesterday at the Service Center. Downtown. Not at all close to the church. So the leader graciously drove them, knowing that many of us had to be at the church with younger siblings.

We met early to drop Julia off and then Jillian and I went out to dinner. Pretty nice. And then came back for her meeting.

A couple of the moms had asked me if I could hang out at the church after the Junior meeting with their girls until the Cadettes got back from their downtown outing.

No big deal.

But the moms *kept* asking me if I was sure. Did I really not mind? Did I feel safe? Finally I got a clue and asked what was going on. Seems that the church parking lot has been a place of crime lately. That people have been breaking into cars and stealing whatever. With the last happening in broad daylight!

I did notice that they've been locking the doors more lately, but didn't really think anything of it.

After the Junior meeting was over, and the parents started slowly leaving, I started to feel weird. So I took the extra girls and we sat in the van. With the doors locked. And the van running. We were there for over 30 minutes waiting on the Cadettes to get back. It was fine. There was a basketball game going on very close and people were out.

But what on earth? Shouldn't we feel safe in a church? I know I'm being naive. I know it doesn't work like that anymore. People who are looking to do criminal behavior won't limit it for reverence of God's house more than likely. But something feels awfully wrong to me about having to scoop up little girls and watch your every step *AT CHURCH*.

I just don't remember things being this way when I was a girl.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Is There a Tired Bug?

Seriously.

Yesterday was so weird. I'd slept well the night before. Nothing unusual (well, my *life* is sometimes "unusual", but you know) going on. But when I got up yesterday I was *so* tired. I had my coffee and still couldn't get going. Well, I got going, but I didn't *feel* like going.

We got to church and I could barely concentrate. We came straight back home and I sat on the couch pretty much all day with a heating blanket. We watched a movie with the girls, but still. I. Sat. All. Day. Mike even took the girls to youth *alone* and picked them up.

That is so not like me. I was so fatigued.

I was asleep before 11 and slept all night long. We'll see how today goes.

Totally on another subject, on Saturday there was an Education Expo downtown. I went with a couple of girlfriends and a few of the kids. It's always interesting to me, being a homeschooler, how the schools market themselves. It's interesting to see how many people are at each booth.

I'm still in a bit of sticker shock at the prices of the private schools. I have a daughter in *college* that doesn't cost as much as many of these private schools cost. I don't see how the average family can afford it. Not if you have more than one child especially.

We left there and one of the girlfriends and I went shopping. Another oddity in my life. I rarely "go shopping". And even more rarely with a girlfriend. But the kids wanted to hang out for a while and she needed to take something back to the mall, so we decided to lunch there.

It just so happened that the mall was having a 75-90% off sale. No, the 90% is not a typo.

I like to think of myself as fairly frugal. I once got a letter published in the Tightwad Gazette after all! : D But my friend has me outdone. She's amazing. We hit the stores like mad women. And got some amazing deals.

Probably my best deal was those really nice, thick, BIG, Christmas bags, originally $7 for...you guessed it... 70 cents! And some smaller but equally nice ones for 30 cents.

We ended up with these HUGE bags full of bargains that we had to eventually take to the van because it was too much to carry around and we truly didn't spend much at all. I don't think I spend over $35.00 the whole day combined and that was with lunch and coffee!

And we were there for 5, yes five, hours.

Our girls are sure troopers.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Snacks I Feel Good (or at least better) About

I definitely have my own ideas about food and nutrition. I would like to say that we eat only organic and whole foods, but that would be a lie. :) We do, however, try to eat as healthy as I can possibly make time to do.

It's awfully easy to open a bag of chips. And there are some pretty healthful things you can scoop up with a chip. Spinach dip comes immediately to mind. But I dislike giving my family chips for a variety of reasons.

So I'd always heard that it's super easy to just toast some tortilla's. Brush them with a bit of oil (we use olive oil) and then sprinkle them with whatever you like. Garlic Salt. Spicy seasoning (my family's favorite). Or just good old chunky sea salt. Even fresh ground pepper is *wonderful* with the olive oil.

Anyway, I decided to give it a try.

I didn't think to make pictures when I first started. But here is both a whole wheat tortilla and some regular (very cheap at Sam's) ones. Sliced in a big pile, into 8 chips.

Spread out on a pan. I then brush them with olive oil and then seasonings. I've heard that a spritzer is much better, faster and easier than a brush to get the oil evenly divided. Be careful to not put too much oil, it only takes a little.

These are baked at 350F for approximately 10 minutes. Just watch them as they brown pretty quickly. You just want the edges to start to brown.

They cool quickly and they they're ready to eat!

I also made some whole with melted butter and cinnamon sugar for the girls. When they came out, I drizzled them with honey. I wish I had a picture of them scarfing them up.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Calendar

I used to use a pocketbook calendar exclusively. But as the girls got older, I found that they were asking about this or that activity and I was having to pull out the calendar several times a day.

Mike suggest that I get a couple of write-on-wipe-off calendars for the refrigerator.

This has simplified life so much. You can't really tell the size of them in the picture but I'd guess they are about 11"X14". Not teeny. And I keep track of so *much* with these. Even down to changing the central air filter and checking the plants for water.

I still keep my pocketbook calendar to note things when I'm out, but I transfer it to the refrigerator calendar when I get home.

When this month is over, I'll erase the January board, move February to the top and then fill in March on the old January board.

I spend approximately 5-10 minutes a month on this. It really helps to keep my family organized.

Week's Total

This weeks food total seems to be about $63.50. Since last weeks was $66.00, I'd say that's pretty much on course. So my plan is to work on the food budget some and then, hopefully, repost in a few months with different (read: better) results.

Tuesday's Meals

Breakfast: eggs, meat
$2.00

Lunch: various
$2.00

Dinner:
Baked potatoes with butter, cheese and sour cream, leftover pork chops, leftover slaw (for the family...I had a bologna sandwich. :)
$.75

Total:
$4.75

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Monday Meals

Breakfast: eggs, meat
$2.00

Lunch:Fruit, cheese, peanutbutter
$1.50

Dinner:
Thin sliced pork chops, marinated in a dark, spicy sauce, grilled. Homemade coleslaw. Creamed corn. Banana pudding.
$16.25

Total:
$19.75

Monday, January 15, 2007

Beautiful Sunday Sermon

Rom 14:1
¶
Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, [but] not to doubtful disputations.

Rom 14:2
For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

Rom 14:3
Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

Rom 14:4
Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Rom 14:5
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

Rom 14:6
He that regardeth the day, regardeth [it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

Rom 14:7
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

Rom 14:8
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

Rom 14:9
For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

Rom 14:10
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Rom 14:11
For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Rom 14:12
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Rom 14:13
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in [his] brother's way.

Rom 14:14
¶
I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that [there is] nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him [it is] unclean.

I've talked with Mike about this many times, but never knew the scripture. If something feels wrong for me to do (or not do) then it's wrong for *me* to do or not do.
Please understand that I'm not talking about rationalization here. I don't think I get to say that I feel it's wrong to watch the ballgame. ; ) Or that it felt "wrong" for me to clean that day. I'm talking about real heartfelt convictions. I believe they are there for a reason.
And I don't believe that my convictions have to be your convictions. I believe that something can be wrong for me, and not wrong for you. I'm not sure why this is, but I believe it.
Our preacher talked on this yesterday. About the stumbling blocks we, sometimes even unknowingly, try to put in others paths. How we judge them. Or how the only "right" way is our way.
It really made me think.
When I stand before God am I going to be worried about what music my neighbor listened to? Or about the guy who cut me off in traffic? Am I going to be thinking about others sins and transgressions?
Not likely.
I worry for those that think their way is the only way. That they have the secret key for everyone. Those that think they have it figured out for everybody else.
We all have to find our own way. And if we're doing it to the glory of God, then I believe that we are on the right path.
I welcome anyone that feels differently to give scripture backing for their thoughts.

Saturday Meals

I promise not to do this forever. Maybe one more week and then try to do it once a season to see if the bill changes in different seasons? Also, breakfast and lunch rarely change. If we eat something particularly fascinating, I'll post it...otherwise just a dollar amount.

Breakfast:eggs, meat
$2.00

Lunch:fruit, peanutbutter
$2.00

Dinner:
Meatloaf sandwiches (leftover meatloaf and bread)
Homemade tortilla chips with bean dip (Christmas gift) with cheese and sour cream.
Huge, green, garlic stuffed olives
$1.50

Total:
$5.50

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Saturday's Meals

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with onions, peppers and chunked sausage, cooked in olive oil and butter
$2.00

Lunch:
I was at the store and had a health bar, the girls picked at leftovers.
$.50

Supper:
Meatloaf (leftover) sandwiches made on homemade rolls, chips.
$1.00

Total:
$3.50

Saturday, January 13, 2007

What's it Worth?

Food for last week? $66.00

A full tank of gas for my van? $35.00

A husband that brings flowers home for absolutely no reason what-so-ever?

Priceless.

There are somethings money can't buy.

Ain't that the truth.

:D

(ETA - And yes, that is my back door standing wide open on Jan.13th in southern TN. It was in the lower **70's** today. Amazing.)

Friday's Food

I almost forgot to document today!

Breakfast:
Eggs with all the trimmings, bacon
$2.00

Lunch:
Hotdogs with slaw (leftover)
$0

Dinner:
Meatloaf with onions, peppers and tons of those breadcrumbs from the other day ; )
Sauteed cabbage
Rice cooked in chicken broth and butter
Chocolate Pie
$10.00

Total:
$12.00

Friday, January 12, 2007

Updated Blogger

I finally broke down and updated blogger. Yeah, I've heard the horror stories. But I figured it would have to be done eventually. And since I'm trying to learn my way around here, I figured it would be better to learn in the new format.

Time will tell if it was prudent.

I'm slowly adding links to my sidebar. It's working here, but I realize that doesn't mean it's working to anyone reading. So if you happen to run across one that doesn't link, would you please let me know?

Thursday's Meals

Breakfast:
We *all* had something different yesterday. Fruit, cereal, hot cereal, etc.
$2.00

Lunch:
Homemade guacamole with tortillas
$4.50

Dinner:
Grilled hotdogs on homemade hotdog buns with chopped onions and homemade coleslaw
Guacamole with homemade tortilla chips
$6.50

Total: $13.00

Thursday, January 11, 2007

I'm Getting Carried Away, I Know

I'm busy out of the house on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. So Thursday and Friday I typically work in my home. Housework, working with the girls on various homeschool projects, cooking, etc.

It's late in the day and I still need to clean a few things but I've got several things done today.

Today I have:

Worked with the girls on homeschool
Worked with the girls on cleaning their room
Done the bills
Made homemade (grated cabbage, carrots and all) coleslaw
Made homemade hotdog buns
Made homemade guacamole (we had some ripe avocados that needed to be used)
Made homemade tortilla chips (using healthy tortillas spiced and then baked) to go with the guacamole
Made homemade breadcrumbs

Does anyone NOT make their own breadcrumbs anymore?

When bread gets too old/stale for us to eat I pop the pieces in the freezer. When I have a bag full, I pull out the food processor (this time I already had it out for the coleslaw and decided to go ahead and grind the bread and then make the guacamole).

Old stale and still frozen bread

I break it in half or so and then put 4-5 pieces at a time in my food processor. I use the grinding blade.

After literally just a minute I have a processor full of breadcrumbs!

And after doing this a few times, I have a huge ziplock bag full of nice breadcrumbs waiting to be used in meatloaf or tuna patties or any of a number of my staple recipes that require breadcrumbs.

I store these in the freezer and just get out what I need as I'm making meals for my family. It doesn't add a cent to my food bill and these can be spiced however I want them so I like the versatility.

Doodie Plops

Beth asked if the cookies I mentioned yesterday were no bake. They absolutely are!

They are quick, easy and frugal (notice I did NOT mention healthy anywhere in that). They are also made with ingredients that I usually have on hand. Which is always a plus. These can also be made without cocoa and the peanut butter plops (as we call them) are delicious in their own right.

; )

You must have all the ingredients measured out beforehand. Down to having the waxed paper ready to go. You simply will not have time to do this otherwise.

Doodie Plops

2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (I know) of butter
3 Tablespoons of cocoa powder

Mix all together in a large pot over medium high heat. Stir until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Remove stirring instrument and allow mixture to hard boil for exactly two minutes. Set a timer. Trust me.

At exactly the two minute mark, pull the pot off the heat. Working *very* quickly as this will set up super fast, add:

1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter

Mix (quickly, again, trust me here) until peanut butter is almost totally dissolved. This should take no more than 10-15 seconds. Then quickly dump in:

3 cups oatmeal

Stir as fast as possible. As soon as it looks mostly mixed (again, not more than 10-15 seconds) "plop" these out on waxed paper.

They should be ready to eat in just a few minutes.

If you want something prettier, you can always pour them into a pan and then slice them like cookie bars.

After writing this out, it sounds complicated and finicky. It's really not. It's super quick and easy and I can usually get this made for my family in under 10 minutes, including clean-up time. Don't let all of my "warnings" scare you. This is definitely worth learning to do.

Wednedsay Meals

Breakfast:
Eggs with peppers, onions and garlic cooked in olive oil and butter, bacon
$2.00

Lunch:
Me-flax cereal
Girls-Apples, peanut butter, cheese and crackers
$2.75

Dinner:
Girls-leftover stir fry chicken dish wrapped in a tortilla
Mike and I-leftover pork dish from the night before
$.25 (for the tortillas)

Total: $5.00

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Water in my Trunk?

It's a good thing! Really.

I'm a HUGE believer in drinking water. So much so that I tend to have appr. 40oz *before* even a cup of coffee in the morning. I'd heard years ago that that sluggish feeling that people had in the morning could be related to dehydration. Made sense to me. So the first thing I do, while my coffee is brewing, is take my vitamins with *lots* of water. I have this huge plastic glass that I use and I know it's appr. 40oz. I try to drink it all before the coffee is done.

I digress.

When I'm out of the house for a large part of the day it's way too easy to run through a drive-tru and pick up a diet this or that. How often do we order water when we go somewhere? Not enough here.

So a while back I found the flats of bottled water at Sam's. They're less than $4 for 24 bottles. Think how much you'd pay at a convenience store.

And it's what we do now when we are out and need a drink.

Just remember that when people find out, everyone will be asking for bottles of water!

Last Weeks Total

Last week's food total seems to be about $66.00.

Please realize that I do tend to round the numbers a little. Everything isn't going to come out exactly at the quarter dollar mark, but for simplicity purposes that's how I add it.

Our grocery bill is significantly higher than $66 a week. Of course we purchase other things in our grocery cart (toilet paper, soap, razors, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc). We also purchase some things to drink which I haven't mentioned or added in to our grocery list here. Coffee, teas, frozen juices, bottled water (that I keep stored in my van - more on that in the next post), and sometimes things like V8 juice or small bottles of Gatorade as treats. We'll also buy Slimfast drinks at Sams. I don't drink them but sometimes the girls or Mike will if there isn't time for a proper meal.

I've also not mentioned dessert. And my children have it several times a week. Ice cream or I'll make a cake or brownies or these *fabulous* cookies that are super simple, quick and easy. We call them "Doodie Plops".

I'm also not figuring in snacks. And we do snack here. If supper is going to be late. Or if someone is just hungry for some reason. We keep nuts, cheese, olives, pickles, fruit, Mike's trail mix, etc. And I'm sure that adds significantly to some days budget.

Tuesday's Meals

Breakfast:
Girls- cereal, milk and fruit
Me-Health drink
Mike- His trail mixture and fresh fruit
$3.25

Lunch:
Girls at a homeschool function
Cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese, cheese cubes
Me- Hot flax cereal
$2.00

Dinner:
shredded bbq pork with turnip greens, bean medley and baked sweet potato chips with cinnamon sugar sprinkle.
$11.00

Total: 16.25

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Monday Menu

Breakfast:
Steel cut oatmeal with butter and turbinado sugar
Me-hot flax cereal with butter
$0.50 (the oatmeal was leftover)

Lunch:
Jillian has co-op on Mondays and Julia is here on her own pretty much working. I tend to run errands. It's a hodgepodge.
Chicken noodle soup (thermos), cheese, crackers, apples - peanutbutter
Me-healthy drink
$1.25

Dinner:
Onions, peppers, broccoli and (leftover frozen) chicken sauteed in olive oil with homemade chicken rice.
$2.50

Total $4.25

Monday, January 08, 2007

Sunday's Meals

Breakfast:
Eggs with all the trimmings, bacon
$2.00

Lunch:
Family had a big bowl of steel cut oatmeal (it was rainly and cool and that's what they wanted) with turbinado sugar and lots of butter. (I make this up in a big pot, and make enough for a week or so at a time because it takes about 30-40 minutes to cook it. I'll count the total on the day I make it and then the other days will be $0)
I had my hot flax cereal.
$3.00

Dinner:
Prime Rib slices pan seared in olive oil, cabbage cooked in olive oil and butter, burgundy mushrooms and green olives stuffed with garlic.
The girls had taco's at youth.
$16.50

Total:
$21.50

Sunday, January 07, 2007

New Years Thoughts

I suppose I'm one of the odd ones. I tend to make resolutions. And I tend to keep them. I look at it like a promise to myself. And I like keeping promises to myself.

It's simple things. Eat better. Grow in my relationship with God. Take the time to make each of my children feel as important to me as they truly are.

I've read many "un" resolutions this year. Things that people are not going to do. I think that's great too. I think that's probably harder to do. I'm almost scared to say things that I'm not going to do.

On my accidental journey I've found that so many times when I say that I'll never do this or that, it's exactly what I end up doing. Either because I'm put in a situation that I feel I have no choice. Or there is temptation there to do it where it was never there before. Or perhaps it's just God's way of showing me who is in charge.

I admire those that say they "won't" and then they "don't".

When I was in my 20's and even into my early 30's I thought I had it pretty much figured out. ; ) I was living my life in such a way that I would have no regret. Or so I thought. I used to boast to people that each decision I made, I did it was serious thought to that decision and that I made the best choice at the time with the information I had. And I believed this.

How ridiculous.

Not that I did anything that smacks of blatant disregard for anyone's wellbeing. But some of the decisions I made were purely out of self interest. Or laziness. And I do feel regret. And shame.

But, as my preacher pointed out today, to wallow in that is another form of sin. It's not honoring God to continue to look back and let that be the controlling factors in my life.

I fall down but I get back up again. I brush myself off, knowing that I'm forgiven and that I simply (ha) have to learn to forgive myself.

So I won't say I "won't" do any specific thing. Not yet.

But with God's help, I will say that I will try to get there.

Saturday's Menu

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with 2 kinds of peppers, onions and garlic with olive oil and butter, bacon
$2.00

Lunch:
Fresh fruit and nuts
$3.00

Supper:
The girls ordered pizza (pineapple cheese) and Mike and I went out to dinner because we had errands to run and because it was my birthday. : ) We brought home chocolate cherry ice cream (which is the only part I'm counting toward the grocery budget and it was buy-one-get-one free)
$2.50

Total:
$7.50

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Friday's Meals

Breakfast:
hot flax cereal for me
boxed cereal for the girls
hubby had this incredible fruit and nut mixture he make (I need to make a picture of that too)
$4.00

Lunch:
Out of house, we used our Christmas gift cards at the mall
(just to document, Jill had a slice of cheese pizza, Julia had Chinese chicken and I had a healthy drink)
$0

Dinner:
Pork slices pan friend in olive oil with onions and peppers, topped with Parmesan and cheddar cheese
Huge green garlic stuffed olives
Fresh avocado slices
The rest of the family had leftover rice dish as well
$3.25

Total:$7.25

Friday, January 05, 2007

Thursday's Meals

Just to document.

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with onions, peppers and jalapenos cooked in lots of olive oil and real butter, bacon
$2.00

Lunch:
Me-hot flax cereal
Others-Apples, cheese and peanut butter
$1.75

Dinner:
A rice and pasta dish that I threw together to go with leftovers.
$1.00

Total: $4.75

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Thursday Things

There are some things I'd like to keep track of here.

I've always been a little proud of my ability to budget. Particularly grocery budget. I happen to really like to cook and we eat a diet that I consider extremely healthy. It's *not* what many others think of as healthy.

We tend to eat very few carbohydrates. And the ones we eat are whole grain. We eat as much protein as we desire. And we eat as much fat as we want too. But only certain kinds of course.

I do not think that "good" fat is "bad" for you. I think that sugar is bad for you. Pretty much any kind.

Where did I get all these weird notions?

Well, I started off with a nutrition class. ; ) Then I looked at a diabetic diet (a good friend of mine has insulin dependent diabetes). Then it was mostly trial and error. Things that worked for me and my family in the area of weight control (something I've struggled with my whole life), blood sugar, mood swings, ability to concentrate, and then of course the "major" things like blood pressure and cholesterol, iron levels, etc.

Whew.

And let me just say that we are *far* from perfect. We have sweets here sometimes. We eat the "bad" stuff around the holidays like fudge, cake, cookies, etc. We eat fast food sometimes. But overall we try to eat healthy.

A typical food day generally looks something like this:

Breakfast:
steel cut oatmeal
or
scrambled eggs with garlic, onions and peppers cooked in olive oil and butter with either bacon, sausage, or meat that was left-over from the last nights supper
or
an "instant" hot flax cereal (for morning that we have no time)

Lunch:
Leftovers from last nights supper
or
tuna or chicken "salad" with raw vegetables
or
apples and peanut butter
or
canned soup

Supper:
some type of meat and vegetables (most often cooked in the crockpot in the winter or on the grill in the summer)

Snacks are usually cheese cubes, olives (preferably with garlic), a homemade fruit smoothie, frozen juice pops, a piece of fruit, a spoon of peanut butter (the real kind), etc.

Nothing spectacular I know. But it seems that the grocery budget has gotten bigger and bigger. And it's time to scale it down if possible while still following our convictions on nutrition. And I fully realize that it may not be possible to do that.

But I hope to have the fortitude to bore you to insanity with first, what we've eaten the day before. And then to be disciplined enough to do a grocery menu a couple of weeks in advance (to be followed loosely).

So. Yesterday.

Breakfast:
eggs with onions, peppers, garlic in olive oil and butter with bacon.

Lunch:
hot flax cereal for me and ham and dressing for everyone else (leftover)

Supper:
We ate out last night at a little Thai restaurant that we've been wanting to get to. The girls were at a youth function.

Total: $4.50
(Not including the meal out or the leftovers. With the leftovers, I will count the whole meal in it's entirely the day it's made. Subsequent days will be $0.)

Anyone else want to share a typical day's menu?

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Wednesday Wisdom

I don't really have time for a proper post today. I slept in for the second day in a row. I'd not slept well for several nights and then the last 2 night I've fallen into such a deep sleep that I can't seem to get up before 9:30!

I awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. My wonderful husband had made breakfast for everyone (including my lazy self) and had the girls started on a pretty deep cleaning of the downstairs.

Tell me I'm not a lucky wife.

I'm not really sure where this blog should go. What direction it should be heading. I've been here for several months now, and I've met some really precious women. I've said it before, but it seems like most of the Christian moms that post here are so *young*. And I happen to think that's great. But I can't seem to find where I belong among them. It's hard *for me* (not that it should be for you) to feel like a peer to women that are my daughters age.

And it's not that I don't admire and respect them. I really do. I suppose I'm just in a different season of my life. Yes, I still have what I consider to be young (9 is my youngest) children. And I homeschool. And I stay at home. But I also have a daughter who will be 20 this month. And I'll be 41 in 3 days.

Somehow it seems to matter. I'm not sure why.

Wow. Where did that ramble come from?

Anyway, I like the rhythm of blogs. So for now (or at least today ; ) Wednesday is going to be Wednesday Wisdom. I've got lots of things I'd like to share. Things I think about as I go about my day. But they never seem to gel together in a way that is working for me. So the wisdom can be anything from a household tip to something profound that I've learned in my 21+ years of marriage.

Yours to take or leave as you wish.

Todays Wednesday Wisdom is certainly the former.

Does anyone not know the absolute easiest way to clean a microwave? When I clean the kitchen I run a few inches of very hot tap water in the sink and then pour in a couple drops of dish soap. I use this to clean everything in the kitchen. When I work my way around to the microwave, I put the very damp cloth inside the microwave and turn in on for 22 seconds (your microwave may vary). Leave it closed for about 5 minutes to let the steam come off the cloth and get the inside of the microwave all moist and steamy. Also this allows the cloth to cool enough to handle.

Please be careful as this cloth can get *very* hot.

Most anything in the microwave can then be simply wiped out. Depending on how long someone has left the fried spinach in the microwave without a cover and blown bits of spinach to the ceiling of the microwave and ignored it for 4 days as they continued to warm their tea and various other holiday goodies...you may have to repeat the above process a couple of times.

But it certainly is, in my opinion, the easiest way to clean a microwave. AND...no harsh chemicals to inhale.

That's my wisdom for today. Profound huh? ; )

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Lovely

It was such a nice Christmas. The only thing I didn't get do that I really wish I had was to make lots of pictures. I had the camera back, so I really have no excuse. We did video it for the most part though. We slept in until 7:30 which is *wonderful*. No more 4am Christmas mornings! The girls were all happy with their gifts. They got these new cell phones that they have absolutely not let out of their hands. It's pretty sweet.

I got a heated blanket! I'm in love. I tend to always be cold and I drift off like a baby when I'm warm. So this is a perfect gift for me. I also got candles and many gift cards. So lots of shopping in my future! Mike also always renews my B&N member card. I love that.

My aunt got me this little chocolate pot that melts chocolate for you. Now this would be a lovely gift by itself, BUT it's funny too. I used to make molded chocolates for Christmas for everyone. Boxes and boxes of chocolates. With all different kinds of homemade fillings. It would take 2-3 full days and the kitchen would look like a disaster area. But it was so beautiful and *so* good (if I do say so myself). This is the 3rd year that I've not done it. It has to be done not more than a few days from when you want to give it (so very close to Christmas) and that is such a hard time to commit that kind of time to a project. So the chocolate pot was a subtle hint. LOL Well, that and then asking me flat out where the chocolate was this year. I suppose I'll have to find some way to do it next year. And I love the chocolate pot.

We took the tree down yesterday. It's early I know. But late for us. We usually do it on the 26th. We've been known to do it on the 25th before. I like to get my house back in order. So we got all the Christmas stuff put up for another year. Or 10 months at least. ; ) And I cleaned for an hour or so. I plan to do some more cleaning today. And do a little grocery shopping.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

And So It Begins

We've already had our little Christmas get-together with part of my family. That was this past Tuesday.

Today we go to the in-laws. I was up early making a cake. I made some slaw last night. I think I have everything done. LOL I hope so anyway.

Tomorrow morning is church, of course. Then it's Christmas Eve with my great-aunt.

Lots to bake and do and even groceries still left to buy. It's going to be a busy few day.

And I'm so looking forward to it.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Today

Today is my 21st wedding anniversary.

Where have the years gone? They slip through your fingers like water.

In honor of this day I'm going to list 21 things that I love about my husband.

1. He's smart.
2. He's the sexiest man I've ever met.
3. He has an incredible sense of humor. He "gets" me. I "get" him.
4. He has a huge heart, though he tries to hide it at times.
5. He has the best work ethic of anyone I've ever known.
6. He's determined.
7. He's persistent.
8. He is fierce with his love for our girls.
9. He loves dogs.
10.He loves Christ.
11. Though he probably gets scared, you'd never know it.
12. He never seems to mind handling any bug that happens into our life.
13. He's enthusiastic.
14. He loves my cooking.
15. He warms my side of the bed at night before I come to bed.
16. He always has words of encouragement.
17. He has a calm, soothing presence.
18. His arms. Always have loved them.
19. He roots for the underdog.
20.He won't lie.
21. He listens.

The list could go on, but in keeping with the theme, I'll stop there.

I'll just say that after all these years, he says he still feels like I'm too good to be true. That he's waiting for the other shoe to fall. And I happen to feel exactly the same way about him.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Looking Up

Well, it looks like things are looking up around here. The girls are better (and we've not gotten it yet). They're still coughing this deep chest cough, but they *feel* good now and that's a good thing. Plus the fevers are all gone.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

AND...my camera came back in the mail today! There may be Christmas pictures after all!

I took some pic's of our gingerbread house that Jillian and I made while she was feeling poorly with my digital camera. I'll try to post that later. Though the quality will be poor.

Julia has an overnight tonight, and we have to get a birthday gift for the little girl. We also have 3 other last minute gifts to get and some dog treats for their stockings (I know, we're insane).

Normally, I would feel a bit stressed to have to do this so close to Christmas, but today I just feel so blessed that we're all able to get it done. Perspective is everything.

Note to self: Write about our Christmas party with my family.

Friday, December 15, 2006

This Week

The girls finished their co-op school this week (and Jessica finished her college exams), just in time to get sick. : (

Jillian came down with some type of fever/sore throat thing on Wednesday and is *still* not feeling well. She's been in bed since then and I know when she's in bed, she's not feeling well. Plus, the fever is still there when she's off Tylenol for more than a day. And I would just try to let the fever run it's course. I'm a big believer in the body healing itself. But unfortunately, my girls are like me and get sick (tummy sick) with *everything*. Including a fever. So....in order to keep fluid in them, Tylenol it is.

So about 5am Julia got up with a fever too.

They're both so disappointed because they had the pretty rare sleepover tonight that it looks like they'll have to miss.

Hopefully this will all be gone before long.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Just Another Manic Monday

It's shaping up to be a busy week. Well, its not really "shaping up" to be a busy week, it's *been* a busy week on the calendar for some time now. This week we have something to do outside the house *every* *single* *day* (and many days two different things-including one overnight) until late Saturday.

And then everything abruptly stops for the Christmas weeks. Well, we have our anniversary next week. And a Christmas party with my mom. And the girls and I were invited to the beach for a couple of days at the beginning of next week (that I seriously doubt we'll do, it's just too close to the holiday). And it's my oldest daughters boyfriends birthday.

Nevermind. It's going to be busy right up until Christmas it looks like.

Better get this day going.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Update

Well, BestBuy can't fix the camera. : ( BUT...the part this is messed up has been recalled so Sony will fix it for free! Yay!

But it will no doubt be after Christmas before we get it to them and they get it back to us. After we get it back from BestBuy of course.

I have a 35mm that I can use, but I never realized how SPOILED I am with my digital. I will surely appreciate it more now.

Another lesson learned.

GirlScout cookie meeting tonight for me. Julia has a party for her Spanish class tonight as well. Better go make the cookies!

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