25 Random Things About Me

I got tagged for this a couple of times in facebook, but instead of typing it out there, I decided I'd just blog it and then link it over there.

1. I have an itch to move far far away. And buy a really big house so that all our friends can come visit frequently.
2. I like reading PostSecret because every now and then I'll see a secret that could have been mine...only I have never sent one in.
3. This blog is as close to making my secrets public as it will ever get.
4. Number one is one of my darkest secrets. Don't tell, okay?
5. I remember when I was a kid, we used to sleep out in the popup camper in the backyard. My favorite part was sleeping out there when it was raining because you could hear it like you were actually in the rain but you were all cozy and dry.
6. If I ever got time to do all the projects I have supplies for, I could make a fortune at a craft fair. LOL!
7. I despise paper piles. It irritates the fire out of me to have to go through a pile of junk mail that has accumulated over a couple of days. But it irritates me worse to see it sitting there.
8. I love our house. I just wish it was bigger.
9. Oh, about number one? Lest anyone think that I'm giving my husband terrible ideas, I caught that itch from him! But shhhh...that's a secret, too.
10. I can count on one hand (maybe even three fingers) the number of Dr Peppers that I have had this year. It's getting easier to say "no" but I still feel addicted.
11. I like trying new recipes.
12. I like watching football but only if the Buckeyes are playing.
13. I LOVE rollercoasters. But not wooden ones. They rattle my teeth.
14. People amaze me. And that's not necessarily a good thing.
15. I've never been to the circus.
16. Tomorrow, #15 will no longer be true.
17. People who have nothing nice to say about anyone should keep their mouth shut. Sometimes I fall into this category.
18. I am currently aggravated that my daughter is enrolled in a More @ Four/ Preschool program and for the last month, her entire class has been merged with the four year old daycare room, since her teacher quit. This wasn't aggravating until it has become evident that the daycare is not disturbed about the fact that the children who need the preschool to prepare them for kindergarden are just basically in daycare now. I don't need a sitter, I need her to be in SCHOOL.
19. Next aggravating thing is that there are no other openings anywhere nearby to move her to a preschool program that ISN'T just daycare.
20. Third aggravating thing is that in order to transfer her, the director of the current program has to sign her approval. For some reason, I get the feeling that this director will not be savvy with that.
21. I love scrapbooking but at this point I have so many pictures that I will never catch up. I probably have more pictures from the last 4 years than my mom has of my entire childhood. Ahhh...the wonders of the digital age. Or should that be the CURSE?
22. My hubby rocks. We have fairly regular date nights. I know. I'm lucky.
23. I want to go on a cruise. I figure if we can go to Las Vegas and find fun that isn't wicked and evil, we can go anywhere. LOL!
24. My fat cat is laying on my arms. He keeps hitting the laptop mouse with his foot and my screen keeps minimizing. This is extremely irritating. But he's warm. So I'm not moving him.
25. Some days I miss having a paying job even though I'm very thankful to be able to stay home and take care of the family.

Sheesh. It was tough to come up with random facts I haven't used before. And I probably have used a couple of those before. OH WELL.

Off to get REAL work done now!

FYI: Recipe Box

Items that I've tried in the menus and liked, have been added to the first sidebar over there, right under Past Insanity for anyone who may be interested.  This will be easier than trying to dig through the weekly menus to find a specific recipe. 

Also, weekly menus now have their own label in case anyone does need to find a recipe that I didn't add to my recipe box.  ;-) 

I will continue to add the recipes that our family enjoys to my recipe box as we find new ones. 

Living On Borrowed...Mice?

But I guess it's better than living on borrowed time though, which is the original phrase and means living past the time one should have died.  Then again, we just never known when we narrowly missed death or should have died, so perhaps more of us ARE living on borrowed time than we realize.  ;-)  Anyways, I think my poor mouse was probably living on borrowed time and it was just finally time to pay up.  And now I'm using a borrowed mice (thank you, hubby).  I wonder how many more times I can throw the word "borrow" into this paragraph??  Nah, I'll just stop there before I borrow trouble. 

So I did work on a digital layout today.  I still need to do one more to fulfil the guest creative team position requirements and the spot was for December/January, and since January is almost over, I will probably work on that tonight.  I really should do more of this creating pages stuff on a more regular basis so that maybe someday when I get all these pages that I'm doing printed, I will feel like I'm much closer to being caught up on the family books.  *SIGH*  Don't even want to think about how far behind those are. 

I need to hop off here and get busy.  I actually had to take a break from the post anyways because we had a visit from K-man's new GAL, but she's gone now and the kids are in bed and now I need to work on doing the Menu post (because not having that this week has really killed me...I didn't realize how much of a help that was!!!).  And then when that's done, I need to do some more work in Photoshop and upload all that so that that obligation is finished. 

Today has been quite productive...I managed to get with KC and get the pile of papers in the TO DO pile all neatly wrapped up and ready to mail out and all the bills paid and ready to be finished by dropping them at the PO on my errands tomorrow.  So now if I get the menu post done and figure out what I need to buy for the rest of this week, that will complete the errand readiness.  *GRIN* 

Well, better get on with it.  Later!

Menu Plan Monday

You know, there is actually a pretty popular regular meme of folks who do this...I really should just link up with them b/c this is definitely something I am going to try to do regularly now that I have realized how much easier it is to sit down and plan out the week's meals.  Maybe I'll get a chance to do that next week. 

On to this week: 1/26-1/30

• Monday: Freezer Dinner Raid (pizza, chicken fries, and pepperoni poppers)
• Tuesday: Garlic Lime Chicken with a side of Macaroni
• Wednesday: Pizza Calzones (note to self: need pizza sauce, pizza dough)
• Thursday: Frozen Mesquite Chicken Pieces (to use up more freezer stuff before it gets old) and uh....I think there is some Whole wheat Spaghetti in the pantry that I should use up.  So Chicken and S'getti.  (note to self: get a loaf of bread to make fresh garlic toast)
• Friday: TaDa...Chicken's on sale this week so I think I'm going to experiment with this Chicken & Corn in the Crockpot recipe...and maybe use whatever's left of the fresh garlic toast from Thursday
• Saturday: leftovers (if I make an extra bit of chicken in the crockpot on Friday, then I can shred it and leave it in the sauce and that will make excellent sandwiches for Saturday)

Eventually I'll get all this old food used up.  By making the menus, I sure feel like I have a better grip on using it to make decent meals that don't feel like you're just trying to use up old food.  LoL!

Dead Mouse

Well, last night my computer wouldn't turn on.  KC finally figured out that if he removed the battery and just plugged it in (which that part is a given), it turned on just fine.  Not sure what the deal is but I guess I need to replace the battery. 

But then tonight my mouse died.  I think the cats must have gotten to it.  I'm sure it had nothing at ALL to do with the fact that it went crashing to the floor at least a gazillion times in its lifetime thanks to it's KLUTZY owner.  NOTHING. To do with that at all.  It must have been the cats.  Cuz it's deader'n a doornail. Good bye mouse.  Rest in peace.  It has been a miserable evening already without you. 

I keep grabbing for it.  And it's not there.  Which makes me irritated and in a little fit of temper (forgive me, Lord), I keep smacking my empty mousepad.  So sue me.  I'm sure you've never honked at anyone in traffic who wasn't driving to suit you either, right? 

All that to say that until I have a mouse, you can pretty much nix the idea of trip photos because I am not EVEN about to navigate Photoshop with this diddly little laptop mouse, not even just to resize for web format.  Not going there.

However, I will put this on here for your viewing pleasure....and maybe you'll even chuckle like I did. 

 

Heh. Maybe not.  Oh well. 

Anyways.  It does break up the post so it's not just a bunch of words.  And it was already in the computer, I didn't have to find it or copy it or edit the picture or anything.  LOL. 

On that note, I haven't pulled together the menu yet and without my handy dandy mouse, I am really not up to all the clicking and copy/pasting that is required to link recipes and things, so this week may not have a linkable menu (when I get around to posting it).  However I can tell you that tonight was Freezer Food night.  Yeah.  Such a health-conscious day at the Always house.  A pizza, chicken fries, and pepperoni poppers.  The grease is oozing out my pores...well, the part of the grease that isn't clogging up my arteries.  But hey, ya only live once.  Better to die happy, right?  (I'm so kidding...come on.)

Well, I can't think of anything else to say that won't get me in trouble...I've probably already said enough.  These days it seems like I can't say anything without stirring somebody up.  Oh well.  

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing” 

Me?  I'd rather live.  And let live.  Being nothing, doing nothing, and saying nothing is just no fun.  *grin*  (Oh and I think that Aristotle dude said that...or at least that quote is credited to him anyway)

Have a wonderful day!

Monday Messages: Busy Edition

Dear Headache that lasted all night and part of today:
Thank you for going away.  It took you long enough!
Sincerely,
Me

Dear ToDo List,
Don't count on getting finished today.  You were much too long for this girl to tackle all in one day.  Something about taking a weekend trip with two kids makes catching up a difficult task.
Sincerely,
The Housekeeper

Dear Morgs,
Do your homework.  Before next Monday. LOVE YOU!
Your Darling Math Tutor

Dear Google Reader,
Sheesh....I don't check you for three days and everybody posts.  What's up with that?  No really, I like that. I just have to have a little time to catch up. 
Honestly,
Addicted

Dear Atlanta,
Great trip this weekend....thanks! 
Sincerely,
The Travelers

Dear Blog,
Pictures/update from trip along with the weekly menu post and any thing else I might be forgetting will follow in the next couple of days.  Something was wrong with my computer last night so I couldn't do anything then, today has been too busy, and tonight we have a meeting at the church and who knows how long that will take.  So....I'll get back on top of things very soon.  I HOPE.
Sincerely,

A Munchkin Point Of View

Scenes from her camera

                           

Lots of blurry trees and skies

       

                      Her stripey tights

                                               

                                                          Half of Mommy's head

                

     An interesting shot that I'm sure could NEVER be replicated

                             

          And I'm thinking this one would be captioned: "Warped Mawmaw"  

What To Say

My husband is using Jedi Force powers on the cat.  In the Darth Vader voice.  About his potty habits.  The cat's, I mean. 

Sheesh...I have really scattered thoughts tonight.  In case you couldn't tell by my opening thought.  Bwahaha.  The hubby, he's gonna get me for that one.

Uh I was all healthy today and actually exercised AND ran the juicer and drank almost straight fresh carrot juice.  *gick*  I'm still not up for straight carrots and this was nearly straight. 

Oh well.  Supper was good.  I tried the Crockpot Enchiladas again tonight with beef instead of chicken....they were better and KC and the kids (well, with the exception of K-man...who ya never can tell) liked them again.  I think next time I'll try flour instead of corn tortillas and see if that changes the flavor cuz I'm still not crazy about it.

Yah, anyways.  I'm gonna hop off here...I posted...mission accomplished.  LOL!

And Life Goes On

So this was the extent of our "snowstorm" and was just barely enough to make the yard look gorgeous.  You know...it hid all the bare spots in the grass for a few hours.  LOL. And it looked pretty on the trees. 

I guess it was good though since I had to go out to take the Munchkin to the doctor yesterday for her cough and it would have been a little harder to do that if the roads had been icky. 

Ah well.  It was enough snow that they canceled the foster parent meeting that we were supposed to go to, which meant that we got to have Tuesday night's meal on Tuesday night after all.  I'm not really sure that it was necessary to cancel that meeting, but whatever. 

So one last picture of our backyard with the HUGE amount of snow piled up....LOL.  This is the curse (or maybe blessing) of living in NC...ya get a little snow but not enough to make ya sick of it.  And I can't help but be thankful that it's not colder than what it is....I have seen some bloggers talking about their local weather and I think I would DIE if it were -20 here.  Just running the kids to school in the morning when it's 15 degrees outside is enough to make me want to move farther south. 

Yeah anyway.  So last night's supper (Pepperoni Cheese Ravioli) was awesome.  It really wasn't anything different about the ravioli or how it was cooked, but it was basically all in the homemade sauce and it was killer.  Reminded me of some of the Red Lobster's cream sauces.  Some of the reviews were kinda so-so about it, but everyone in my family loved it.

This one is going in the recipe box for future uses.

Anyways, that is about it, I guess.  I was looking at my posts for this month and...my goodness...this is day 21 and I have 22 posts in this month already.  It must be all those Mondays when I posted multiple posts to make up for lost time.  *grin* 

Well...speaking of time, it's time to get a move on...this is church night so I need to get the K-man from school and start getting all of us ready.  So...later!

Forgiven, Forgotten, Forever

In response to my earlier post, the question was posed: What if they're not sorry, how far does forgiveness go?

I already had some thoughts in that direction and even had a few scattered notes in a saved draft along those lines, although I had no intentions of posting them. However, after reading the comments to that post, I think a follow up would be good.

Again, I'm not targeting any specific comment (other than the question mentioned above) and I have no specific situations in mind. I think this is something that we all (myself included) need to work on and on a daily basis. (There's your heads up, so if you need to jump out here, this is your chance...LOL!)

for⋅give (verb, -gave, -giv⋅en, -giv⋅ing)

1. to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, etc.); absolve.
2. to give up all claim on account of; remit (a debt, obligation, etc.).
3. to grant pardon to (a person).
4. to cease to feel resentment against: to forgive one's enemies.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Also, from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.: To cease to feel resentment against, on account of wrong committed; to give up claim to requital from or retribution upon (an offender); to absolve; to pardon; (read full definition here)

Whew. That's pretty tough. "Forgive" is a word we take so lightly. So when you truly forgive someone, that requires a "letting go" of it and to no longer demand that they be punished or receive retribution for their acts.

Now. What if they're not sorry? That gets a little tougher. You could paint many scenarios here; your child is killed by a drunk driver, you're a victim of a hate crime, a family member abuses you or someone you love, your boss steals the credit for one of your projects -- the list of offenses, ranging from petty to very serious, that could occur is endless. And the offender is not sorry about it. Then what?

What comes to my mind is Jesus' relationship with Judas...

John 13:10-12

10Jesus saith to him (Simon Peter), He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

11For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

12So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

Jesus did not refuse to have fellowship with Judas even though Jesus KNEW he would be betrayed by Judas. Jesus forgave him when Judas wasn't even seeking forgiveness...how do I know? Because it says that Jesus washed THEIR (meaning not just Simon Peter's) feet and loved Judas the same as all the rest of his disciples, even going so far as to DIE for them. And all the while, knowing that Judas would be the one turning him in for 30 pieces of silver.

Not only that, but knowing that Judas was going on to hang himself instead of coming back to Christ and asking for forgiveness. That is in Matthew 27:3-5 and in the verses following that, it appears that Judas killed himself while Jesus was yet alive, so to say that maybe he didn't come back and ask forgiveness because Jesus was already dead won't work.

Also, in Luke 23:34, when Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," it seems like "they" weren't even aware that they were doing anything for which they needed to repent, yet Jesus was willing that God should forgive them.

But how do you know they are sorry or not, do they have to come to you and ask forgiveness in order to be repentant?

Another thought that came to mind was Saul/Paul, who did many evil things in the name of religion, and "wronged" many in the body of Christ (Acts 26:11). When God showed him the error of his ways and called him to follow in TRUTH, he changed into the Apostle that God wanted him to be (Acts 9:11-17). However, I don't find any place in the Bible where God required of Paul to seek out everyone that he had wronged or the families of those he persecuted and killed before God could use him to win others. I have no doubt he was repentant, and I'm sure that if anytime he may have been presented with the opportunity to ask forgiveness or make things right, he would have, but it is obvious that it couldn't have been a requirement to seek out and ask forgiveness of ALL those who he had wronged or God wouldn't have been able to immediately begin to use him.

Acts 9:20-22

20And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.

21But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?

22But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.

So should the body of Christ have rejected him because he had "wrongs" that had not been "righted?" I guess I just feel like that's God's call, and I honestly don't see how we, as Christians, can do anything else except leave it to God and hold no grudges. That's easy to say, but much harder to live.

In that light, how is refusing to have fellowship because someone didn't come back and say they were sorry for whatever the offense was and you felt they should have, or withholding forgiveness because the person isn't repentant (or maybe they are repentant and you don't know it, or maybe they didn't do anything wrong in God's eyes, just yours, or who knows what the case could be) but how is that showing Christ in our lives? Not only that, but I have found that the reward of forgiving far greater outweighs the hurt feelings and grudges and I, for one, don't want to wait for them to be repentant in order to gain my reward...what if they never are?

Forgiven: the blood covers all of our sins;

Forgotten: He will never remember again;

Forever and always and endlessly: they’re cast in the depths of the sea

They’re forgiven, forgotten, forever, amen

Our sins are gone, He can’t remember them

There’s no need to beg His forgiveness again and again

Cause our sins are forgiven, forgotten, forever, amen

- Forgiven, Forgotten, Forever, Amen (Mike Bowling Group)

When God forgives us, it's forgotten. As humans, we obviously have a harder time forgetting when someone does us wrong, but shouldn't that be our aim?

I'm not saying it's easy. I can't even say that I get it right all the time, but with God's help, I can say it's what I'm striving for.

And for a little moment of humor, God's got the right idea about the forgetting part...it's much easier to forgive someone when you forget why you had a grudge in the first place. LOL!!

Monday Messages: A Random Edition

To My Readers,

Thank you for stopping by and many thanks for the thoughtful comments.  Based on some of the comments, I think a follow up to my Judged post may be brewing, but I'm still pondering it, and with me not being one to swim in the deep stuff very often here on the blog, it is taking some serious pondering.  So....if you're not up for it, I'll try to warn you before I dive in so you can click away real fast.  *smiles* 

Also, it seems that I've been a busy little poster today, so in case you missed them, see Where Do I Start?, On The Menu This Week, and the follow up on the Menu Post: Garlic Lime Chicken.

Love,

Dear Precipitation,

You are more than welcome to keep right on coming, but forgive me for my doubt, I just don't expect much out of you.

Sincerely,

The One Taking Pictures of .5 inches of Snow

 

Dear South,

Sheesh.  You can still get out and drive in a couple of inches of snow.  They're not predicting a foot or anything, barely a couple of inches (IF THAT) so everybody and their brother (who might also be their husband...ya never know round these here parts...LOL) does NOT need to go to the grocery store.  Just sayin.

Sincerely,

Really, I Was Already PLANNING To Buy Bread And Milk

 

Dear Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,

Why can Goofy the dog talk, but Pluto the dog can't?  That's....GOOFY.

Sincerely,

Confused (EM) (OH) (YEW) (ES) (EE)

 

Dear Children,

Please, oh please, GO TO SLEEP.  And sleep all night.  WITHOUT hacking out your lungs.  For ALL our sakes. 

Sincerely,

Mother Goose

 

Dear January,

The cold and flu season that seems to follow you out of December just makes me....uh....SICK.  Although I'm not sick right now.  Except sick of sickness.  The kids being sick, that is. Yeah.  Please do your thing already and then send April, May, & June along. Thanks.

Always....Dispensing Cough Medicine

Garlic Lime Chicken

Man alive...this stuff ROCKS!!!  WOW.

So I was asked where the recipe was for this one, but since it was one that was given to me by my friend, Susan, I wasn't able to link it in my menu, and I didn't have time to type it out when I was making the menu, so here we go.

Garlic Lime Chicken

• 1 tsp each: salt, pepper, garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp each: paprika, cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp each: onion powder, thyme
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp each: olive oil, butter
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 4 tbsp lime juice

In a bowl, mix together spices.  Evenly sprinkle mixture on both sides of chicken breasts. In a skillet, heat butter and olive oil over med/high heat.  Saute chicken until golden brown on each side.  Remove chicken, add lime juice and broth to pan.  Cook until sauce has reduced slightly, add chicken back, to thoroughly coat, and serve.  (for spicy chicken, use 3x the amount of each spice listed) 

My variations were: I used onion flakes because I had no onion powder, and I also had no thyme, so I substituted oregano (I think).  Mine turned out the spicier version since I made the full recipe of all the ingredients except the chicken.  I also only used 3 chicken breasts and they were frozen, but I think next time I make this, I might make sure they are thawed and possibly even partially cooked b/c I ended up sticking them in the oven for a few minutes in the middle of the process because they weren't cooked all the way through.  So the turnout was probably browner than it should have been because I was trying to get the chicken to cook all the way through.  LOL.  Oh well.  The taste was HEAVENLY...KC said it was awesome so this one is another one to keep in the recipe box for future menus.  This one is highly recommended!  Thanks, Susan!!!

On The Menu This Week

This week is a use up what I've got in the pantry week....

• Monday: Garlic Lime Chicken with a side of Mac & Cheese and salad (note to self: need salad)
• Tuesday: Pepperoni Cheese Ravioli (note to self: need 8oz can tomato sauce)
• Wednesday: sandwiches or eat out (church night)
• Thursday: Slow Cooker Enchiladas (note to self: this time try beef and need the beef, cream soups, & mexican cheese)
• Friday: Crock Pot Ranch Chicken with a side of frozen corn (note to self: need cream soups)

Saturday will be the flex day again...if we end up not eating one of the weekday meals, Saturday will pick it up.

So.  Now I'm off to get these few items to go with what I have for this week's dinners, along with the staples of milk and bread, and then to pick up the K-man and get tonight's supper started.  Later, mater!

Where Do I Start?

Why do I still feel like I have way too much catching up to do??? LOL. Why am I full of questions today??? Haha.

Anyways, I guess I'll just start with an update from last weeks menu items.

Speaking of last weeks menu, this is Monday, so I guess that will be a separate post for this week's menu since it seemed to work well last week. I liked having it planned out so I didn't have to think about it.

So Friday was supposed to be Beefy Taco Joes...we ended up skipping it on Friday and had sandwiches and soup instead, because we took the kids out to the local indoor playground and didn't want to have a full scale meal that night. Which worked out well since we had company on Saturday night so I moved the full scale meal to that night instead.

So I made them on Saturday. KC liked the beef stuff, just wasn't crazy about it being on the bread. I thought the bread was the best part, but next time I make it, I'll probably serve his part on chips instead of bread. I also added taco seasoning to the beef mixture when I was cooking it although it didn't call for it. It made it taste more like tacos and less like sloppy joes, which I liked.

They were DEFINITELY sloppy though, and KC gave them the new name that cracked us all up and by which I shall henceforth refer to them. These SLOPPY JOSE'S were extremely quick and easy and most definitely will have a place on future menus. *GRIN*

In other news, Munchkin's closet racks are installed now, but the organization of it is still a work in progress. I have to go get some baskets to organize her stuff in and in the meantime it still looks kinda rough, so I'm not doing an after picture just yet. *grin* Next closet that shall receive a makeover with the leftover closet pieces from the kits from our closet and munchkin's, will be the coat closet in the hall....I am REALLY looking forward to having a low bar in there for the kids to be able to reach it to hang their own coats up. *GRIN*

This was the weekend of haircuts, too. Well, "trims" would probably be more accurate. I trimmed Munchkin's bangs again (they were growing out because they had gotten so thick it was taking up too much of her hair and the old layer of bangs was not quite chin length) but this time I trimmed a much thinner layer than they used to be and she looks really cute. She is a bit of a ham when it comes to pictures though...in case you couldn't tell. HAHA. At least she is cooperative...K-man is impossible to get a good pic of. LOL.

Then this weekend, K-man had an ear infection and I had to take him to the doctor, so while we were out I decided to take me and him into the chop shop and get both of us taken care of at the same time. He was good as gold while they trimmed him up and when he finished and was watching as they finished mine, he kept telling me, "Be STILL, mommy." "Don't move, stay still." "Good job, mommy." ROFL. Anyways, his hair was a little uneven so I spiked it up until it grows out a bit. He was adorable. Can't post any pics of his face on here, but here's a pic that kinda shows his hair and I just blurred out his face.

Anywho, sorry...I didn't get any pictures of my trim...but then my hair didn't change any, just a little trim to get the ends healthy again, so it looks the same.

I think that's it for now....I know there is other stuff I could post about but I have to get going...need to get the laundry caught up, the house needs cleaning, got to plan the week's menu and then run get groceries, the munchkin is home today (school's out for 3 days) so I have to get her lunch and nap in there somewhere....anyways...busy day. See ya...for now. =)

FYI: For those of you who don't use google reader to keep you up to date on current blog posts, I just wanted to give you a heads up that Brother's Keeper has been updated and the family could use all the encouragement and prayers you could send their way right now.

And Now...

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

What a relief. I'm much more comfortable when I can joke around. But sometimes ya just gotta be serious. Wouldn't want people to think I wasn't capable of that when the need arises. LOL.

Anywho, not a whole lot going on these days. Supper last night was the Slow Cooked Enchiladas and I used two cans of chicken instead of ground beef and KC l.o.v.e.d. it. It was good, but I kinda had the same feeling about it that KC had about the Potato Soup. LOL. I can eat it and it's good but it's not the bomb. Oh well. It was easy and it smelled heavenly, so that's two points in it's favor. Haha.

And hey, did that picture up there flip you out or what? Check these out.

There's me being drawn in chalk.

There's baby M up on a billboard...and ain't that just ADORABLE???

And last of all, there is Mormie. Isn't that just wild?

Check out Photofunia (you'll have to ignore the foreign language). It's hilarious....some of them are funny and some look silly but some look for real and if you click on the picture, it will let you upload your photo and put it in it. I think it's hysterical!

Oh and one more thing that is hysterical? I tore apart Munchkin's closet so that we could install one of the closet systems in there. Right about the time I was puttying the holes back up (yeah I know...ME...PUTTYING....I rock....LOL...kidding)...anyways, so right about then it hit me that I forgot to take a before picture of the closet before I started. DUH. So all you're gonna get is an after shot of that one. And it's not done yet, so you'll have to wait. LOL.

I gots to go get the kidlets from school now, so have a peachy afternoon!

Judged

Okay, so I know I don't get real deep here very often...I don't usually need to, but I think this is one of those times. I feel like a quote from the intro of Lemony Snicket's (A Series of Unfortunate Events) would be quite appropriate here:

Lemony Snicket: [the Littlest Elf has just come to an abrupt halt] I'm sorry to say that this is not the movie you will be watching. The movie you are about to see is extremely unpleasant. If you wish to see a film about a happy little elf, I'm sure there is still plenty of seating in theatre number two.

So anyways, wow, with that said, I'm really not sure what to say. I've seen a lot of posting here recently about a *body (or bodies) of people* and while I'm sure it's nothing personal against me, as one who is still a part of *one of the bodies* I can't help feeling as if I'm seen as "guilty by association."

I'm not going to try to vindicate myself or the *body of people,* and I seriously hesitated about even saying anything at all for fear of someone thinking I was doing it in retaliation (which I am not), however, after giving it much thought and prayer, I will say this:

Let's imagine there is a person who works in a plant that manufactures gasoline. So this person goes to work and puts their whole heart into their job, doing their best to make sure that the gasoline is produced as efficiently and properly as possible.

One day the person finds a problem with the way the gasoline is being produced, and changes it to try to solve the problem. In the process, (right, wrong, or indifferent) their supervisor becomes angry with them and gives them a demotion. The person is not fired, they may continue to remain employed if they desire, yet they choose to leave the company entirely. (Again, right, wrong, or indifferent).

Time goes on and problems which may or may not have been the cause of the person's issues inevitably come to a head, resulting in a change of management.

Now, based on this scenario, let's imagine the choices this person can make at this point. (And I also say that on the flip side, this could also be applied to the coworkers feelings about the person who chose to leave the company and the choices THEY could make)

Should the person:

• Continue to carry hard feelings toward this company (or the individual who left) based on interactions with a person or persons who are no longer there?
• Lump all their previous coworkers (or anyone who leaves) into the same category as the supervisor (or the one that left) regardless of their involvement in the situation?
• Refuse to buy any kind of gas because you were hurt by an individual in a company who manufactured it?
• Say that there is no possible way that the gasoline at that company can be of any good to anyone based on the problem they found in the gas production when they were there?
• Instead of revisiting the situation to find out if it has changed, continue to go on judging the company (or the individual who left) based on past experience, and even turning others away from the company (or the individual) in the process.

OR...choose to let it go, forgive...and move on.

The scripture that came to my mind was Luke 6:37, particularly the last part of that verse, "forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." Then I read that whole chapter and it is all good, but this segment stuck out to me, mainly because it's Jesus talking and I'll take what He said over anybody else.

(22)Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. (23)Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. (24)But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. (25)Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. (26)Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. (27)But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, (28)Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. (29)And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. (30)Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. (31)And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. (32)For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. (33)And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. (34)And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. (35)But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. (36)Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. (37)Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: (38)Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. (Luke 6:22-38)

Forgiveness is something we ALL need to work on. We're all human, we all mess up, sometimes God expects more out of us than He does others. Who are we to tell God that He should expect more out of others, or that He's expecting too much out of us?

For myself, God wants me to forgive. To forgive without worrying about whether or not the other person asked for it, to forgive without wondering if the other person "deserves" it (really, NONE of us "deserve" forgiveness). To forgive without waiting for God to reign down fire and brimstone on them like we sometimes think He should. Is that hard sometimes? You better believe it. But is it worth it? To be able to go up to anyone and hug them and tell them you love them and MEAN it? Regardless of past history. Regardless of whether or not they even LIKE you? Yeah, it's worth it.

People may have hard feelings against me and even for writing this post, but I just want you to know, I sincerely love you anyway. Nothing I have written here is said with any malice or spite or even to point fingers. Just to say that no matter how you feel about me or how you feel about what I say or think or if you choose to label me based on where I go to church...

I choose to forgive. I choose to respect your stand and your beliefs (even if I disagree). And I love you regardless of whether or not the feeling is mutual.

And if I have, in any way, ever hurt anyone, all I can ask is that the same forgiveness be extended to me.

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. (Luke 6:31)

Headaches...

...are NOOOO fun.

Maybe I'll post more later when I can think straight again.

Another Day

How do they just disappear so rapidly? Seems like I just woke up.

Today was full of fun stuff though. This morning I went to a friend at church's house and took pictures of her not quite three week old baby. I asked her on Sunday if she would let me do it for practice because I haven't gotten to do any that little yet, and she was totally fine with it (YAY!!). It was fun...he is sooo tiny and adorable. And I got a few shots that I was happy with (and hopefully she'll like them, too). A few of my favorite edits are posted on the photography blog.

After I did that, I had to run some errands in town and picked up groceries for the rest of this week's menu and then came back home to do the picture edits. Then of course, it was time to pick up the kids from school and while they were playing this afternoon, I worked on another project.

I just have to tell ya...I'm REALLY good at taking "before" pictures.....only I get to it sometime in the "middle" of the project.

That being said, here's the "before" shots of today's project:
Then another little sidenote that this project was actually started last night... and this actually WAS the TRUE "before" shot when I started today. LOL.

In case you can't tell by the pictures, this project was cleaning out my spice cabinet. That little round thing that is empty, is a revolving spice rack and all those white canisters sitting on the stove snap into it. This was a wedding gift to us seven (YES, SEVEN) years ago. When we were in our first house, I filled the jars with what I figured were "standard" spices and stuck it on the counter. Only one problem. I never cooked back in those days. For one, it was just the two of us, and two, those were the days when I was still capable of burning water...microwave dinners were my specialty (and really, who uses oregano on a microwave dinner?).

SOOO. Several years passed. We moved. Spice rack moved to that shelf where you see it now. Same spices in it. I finally started cooking occasional REAL food but nothin' fancy and still rarely used spices. Then we had kids and I started staying home and cooking much more regularly. But when I tried to use the spices in it, it was like trying to chip rocks out of those jars. I thought. Hum. Maybe the spice jars are just not airtight and moisture got in there somehow. So I went and bought the spice I needed and stuffed it in the cabinet as best I could fit it.

That scenario happened several times (as evidenced by the above picture of all the fresh spices sitting in front of the empty and freshly washed containers...).

Finally I decided to clean out the cabinet. But when I got in there and found some jars and seasonings in the very back of the cabinet that were still in the bottles and had expiration dates of 2005, I put it all together and realized that the problem with those spices in the rack were that they were OLD. There were two canisters that were frequently used and refilled a couple times but all the rest had been in there since the original filling (in 2002). Yikes.

I'm sure there could be some kind of marriage application here...like don't let the spice in your marriage get old, or don't think that the spice you put in your marriage at the beginning doesn't need to be freshened up every now and then....or SOMETHING, but I'm not up for wading that deep right now. LOL!!!

Anyhow, so in my grocery shopping today, I went and picked up the spices that I didn't already have to refill the empty canisters and then set to work filling them. I had another reason for completing this project this afternoon (I needed the stovetop to cook supper). LOL!

So anyways, there is the "after" picture and I have to tell ya, this is MUCH better than the (true) "before" picture. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Let's see, there was one more thing....OH YES.

Supper. Tonight was potato soup. I actually remembered to take a picture before I ate it. KC (an avid soup HATER...and I DO mean hater) actually had seconds, and while I'm pretty sure it won't hit his favorite meal list, he said it was good. Actually, he said it tasted like mashed potatoes, but whatever.

K-man wasn't a fan (he might be tomorrow though...ya just never know with him) but Munchkin had seconds.

Personally, I thought it was every bit as good as Fatz loaded potato soup. And yes, those are bacon bits on top. It was awesome. I have to say though, I followed the linked recipe VERY loosely. Mostly because I was trying to use up some potatoes in the pantry that were beginning to look like they should be planted in the ground because their root system was outgrowing the bag. But anyways, I ended up with 8 good sized potatoes instead of 5. Which isn't quite doubling the recipe...so I just kinda guessed at the amounts for the other ingredients since it wasn't quite double. And I didn't have any steak seasoning, so I used worchestershire sauce, and I also left out the carrots and celery because I was running out of time. I'm not sure if that was quite the right thing to do, but ooooh well. It turned out yummy and that was the main thing. I also have enough leftovers for lunch the next couple of days. Wahoo!

Well....again...it is VERY late. So I'm off. I might actually be off in time to go to bed with (meaning "at the same time as") my husband tonight. *GRIN*

Night!

A Little More Update

Okay...I'm finally back.  The kids are in bed and it is my usual blogging time (which could also be called "really late"). 

Seriously this is my favorite time of day.  Kids are so much more enjoyable when they're sleeping.  They don't fight, they don't do things to drive you up the wall, you know...you can pretend for a little while that they're angelic beings.  LOL.  I'm sure God probably feels the same way about me when I'm sleeping, too.  Haha.

Anyways, back at that update thing.

Here is our original closet. Well, kind of original, this is after KC removed the closet racks that were designed by evil pawns and puttied the holes up (the heater was his big plan to create his own sauna and sweat off a few pounds while he was working to make the putty dry faster)

Once the putty dried, he put a nice fresh coat of light grey/brown paint over the original antique white and while the heater was hard at work drying the paint, the cat decided it would be fun to go in the closet and get high on the fumes.

We know this because he apparently laid up against the wall where the particles collected when KC sanded the putty and Jango spent the rest of the evening looking quite "skunk-like."  If he had gotten his stripes on straight, I would REALLY have had a heart attack when I saw him moseying from room to room (especially after our skunk in the garage episodes).

Then you have the main reason we were up so late...because we couldn't get to our bed until we got the closet back in order.  LOL!

And now....how bout them "AFTER" shots?

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Cuz I was certainly ready to get to the point of the project where I could take them. 

OH WAIT.

First I have to show you my "on the job injury" (but no workers comp here...LOL!!)

Please excuse my hands...I need to carry lotion 24/7 obviously. 

Anyways, see the white line about 1/4 of the way down into the bed of my nail?  That's how far the nail bent back.  And I don't even know how I did it b/c I was just snapping the shelf locks in that hold the shelves from coming off the racks.

Well, hopefully that didn't hurt you to look at it as much as it hurt me when it happened.  And I'm pretty sure you won't feel the painful throbbing for three straight days either.  LOL!

NOW.  Are you ready for the after shots?

I thought so.  You've been ready, right?  HAH.

     

And all I can say is GO RUBBERMAID CLOSET SYSTEMS.  These babies are screwed in the studs....every last one of them.  THIRTY-TWO 2.5 inch screws.  Pop out at 3 am again, will ya.  I don't THINK so!!

Okay.  That's all for the closet project.  I am having a SERIOUS chocolate fit right now (which is highly unusual for me) but I will have to take care of this.  I'll be back before you get to the next paragraph (LOL).

See? I told you I'd beat ya back.  And MMMM...chocolate always tastes best when you are craving it really bad.

Well, that pretty much sums up the updating except for Sunday.  Sunday was (of course) church, and afterward was a carry-in dinner in honor of Sis Celestine (affectionately known to most of the congregation as "Nanny") who turned 90.  Can you imagine???  NINETY YEARS? 

I can't even fathom it. 

Any-ka-who, she is the sweetest lady and she is still driving herself to church on Sunday mornings.  I can't even imagine driving when I'm 90.  But she does good.

And these pictures just make me smile because this is just the kind of lady she is... genuine and full of joy. 

Of course, she was talking to Bro. K here, so ya never know, she might have been laughing for many other reasons...LOL (just teasing).

Well, that was pretty much the day.  We just hung out at the church all day instead of burning gas to drive back home just to turn around and come back, so that was the afternoon.  Oh and the service Sunday night was really good.  I don't really feel like elaborating on that at this particular moment, except that God is good and to say that His Spirit wasn't real and working there would be...well, I just can't say that.  I have erased like 10 sentences here, but maybe someday I'll post what I'm thinking right now.  Anyways.  Not today.  Don't feel like stirring the pot. 

Plus...KC's gone to bed on me already (AGAIN) so I'm gonna hit the sack. 

Later!

PS Monday's meal went off without a hitch and will definitely be on the list of recipes to repeat.  Super easy and super yummy.  Yay!