In Lieu Of A Real Post

A brilliant remark from my dad earlier today.....

"Just because you're burning a candle doesn't mean you're holding a séance."

True, that. 

And on that note, it also doesn't mean you're Catholic.  It is what the intent of your heart makes it.  Just like with anything else you do or don't do. 

Good thing, too...cuz I burned one earlier today and the house still smells faintly yummy...and the only spirits I had to deal with over it were quite among the living ("What's that for, mom?  Can I touch it?") and not the dead, and I also didn't pray over it (well, unless you count, Dear Father, this child don't listen)!

Anyway, the turkey turned out fine, as did the stuffing, scalloped potatoes in the crockpot, and the biscuits....(made from scratch...I scratched them right out of the bag from the freezer). 

I have pictures, but will have to wait....been quite busy and it's totally time for bed. 

Later!

It's Wednesday

Day before Thanksgiving....and in about 7 minutes, it will BE thanksgiving....and I'm really tired.

But I wanted to blog just cause. And it's totally random cuz that's my brain right now. Sorry.

I joined Facebook....totally been dragging my feet on that...myspace was enough to keep up with, but I finally caved. So now I get to keep up with ANOTHER place. *sigh* Oh well.

Found out late yesterday evening/this morning that I get to cook Thanksgiving to take to the in-laws after all (original plans were just to stick around the house here and not do anything special)....so ran around today collecting all the things to cook the typical turkey dinner. Had I known ahead of time, I would have been more prepared, but as it is, there will be some cheatin' cookin' goin' on since I will have my hands full making my first attempt at cooking a turkey and I didn't have any time to make any of the other stuff ahead. *sigh* I'm not complaining.

Honestly, I think some days KC and I totally do a role-reversal....today was a great example. He was all Mr. Complaining and I was Mrs. Optimistic (TOTAL swap there). He lost the only car key (not the whole set of keys, just the car key just came off the keyring without him noticing) we had with us at Walmart and was freaking out about it and running around trying to retrace our steps through Walmart and I was the totally calm one (I'm sure the fact that "I" was not the party at fault -- for a change -- had NOTHING to do with my calmness) who walked back into Walmart to the Help Desk to ask if a single black Honda key had been turned in. It had. So I called KC from his mad search through the store to come back to the front because I had the key. Anyways....some days it's nice to be on the other side for a change of scenery...LOL.

Anywho....he's reading over my shoulder now so I'm going to hit publish and go to bed now.
*GRIN* LOVE YOU HONEY!

Later!

PS Happy Turkey Day, ya'll...keep your fingers crossed that it will be a happy turnout on my turkey fixin efforts tomorrow. Er. Today. LOL!

Almost Thanksgiving

And at our house, what I hear the most about it is...."after thanksgiving is KISSMAS, RIGHT, MOMMY??????"

Our daughter most definitely is her daddy's child.  K-man is more like me in that regard, Christmas is exciting, Christmas is fun, but it's not the only thing going on in his head before, during, and after Thanksgiving. 

And on the topic of my hubby....he blogged.  Controversially blogged.  Let me just put it this way, if you are not of the open-minded sort, I don't recommend you read his post.  (And if you go there without being open-minded, no hate mail, please, cuz I warned ya.)  Seriously, he's right and I'd have to agree on most of what he said. 

I say most because in my family, when I was growing up, Christmas was a few nice gifts and a fun season, but the highlight that sticks out in my mind was family.  Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa's next door, helping them decorate the tree, all the family from out of town coming in for the week, everyone being together....that was the big thrill of the season.  And I feel pretty strongly against bestowing a gi-normous amount of gifts upon the kids because I would rather it NOT be about "getting" things, but about giving in moderation.  And about being with family.  And about me not having to find places for a gazillion and one new toys in their already crowded toy space.  KC & I have found a pretty happy medium between our two extremely different backgrounds....on more than just this issue when it comes to our kids, but any-ka-who. 

I'm thankful for my hubby. 

I'm thankful for my hubby who isn't afraid to just tell it like it is. 

And I'm thankful for the true Church of God.  It's not a place.  It's not a doctrine (although God does have a lot to say about how we live...hello, He wrote a whole book on it).  It's me.  It's you, if Jesus lives in you.  It's a way of life, the way that God tells me personally to live, it's an individual walk. I'm thankful that I don't have to live by man-made rules in order to be part of God's church. 

And now I'm going to go work on the Sunday School newsletter. 

Later!   

Font Lovin'

Look at this!

It's a font from my handwriting.

It needs some tweaking, for sure, because apparently I didn't write my letters in the right spot on the template every time, but it's totally cool.  And it was free.  I heard about it in the SIH class.

Want to try?  Go to yourfonts.com and follow the directions.  Way fun.

Now let's see if the font actually publishes into blogger like it is here in LiveWriter. 

*EDIT: It only shows up if you have the font installed.  BUMMER. Well, take my word for it, it's cool.  Go try it for yourself and see what I mean.

SIH (Self): Peaceful, Perfect

I love quiet.  As in, no chatter, not having to carry on a conversation, not having to decide what to say, just quiet.  My husband says I'm unsocial, and there are times when this particular introverted personality trait is more of a hindrance than a blessing, but it is true that I am a sucker for alone time. 

So much so, that if I were to describe a perfect and peaceful moment in time, I would set it away from the crowds.  It would be a mild day, maybe just cool enough to need a cozy  blanket.  I envision a covered porch with a gorgeous view, possibly even a log cabin tucked high up in the mountains in the middle of fall leaf season, with a comfortable, cushioned, wooden swing and a large glass of lemonade (or Dr. Pepper, if you want the complete truth) on an end table within arm's reach.   Fresh, warm brownies would be a nice effect, as would a warm gentle breeze and some soft and easy Norah Jones music floating from inside.  The finishing touch would be a book (of the romantical kind, of course), something you could disappear inside for hours...with occasional breaks to enjoy the view, another sip of lemonade (or Dr. Pepper), or to just pause and relax in the peace and quiet. 

My kind of moment.

 

Interestingly enough, after I wrote all that, I googled images of porch swing and found the above image, it was connected to a page advertising a cabin rental...ahem.  So...there it is...how much more perfect can it get?  All I'd need is for the season to be right, a couple of blankets and pillows, the good Doctor (Pepper), the brownies, cooperating weather, the music and a book.  *sigh*  I'm going to go to sleep now so that I can REALLY dream.  LOL.

More On Stories In Hand

A very brief summary of some of the things that have been talked about in the class.....with a few of my thoughts and notes intermingled.

"This class is really not about writing, or about scrap booking, but about the gathering process. About the remembering process. About collecting the experiences, big and small, that have shaped us and made us who we are. The stories worth telling."  -Jessica Sprague

The sections of the "story sparks" are broken down into three different sections: Roots, Family, and Self, with the Family section including a subsection for specific family members or pets.

Assignment 1 was from the Roots section.  Finished that assignment.

Assignment 2 was from the Family section.

Assignment 3 was from the Self section.

The challenge on each assignment is to read through the target section of sparks and jot down memories that pop up and then choose one of them and write the story in detail.  After you write the story, you're supposed to read over the following questions and then go back through and make any adjustments to the writing. 

• What year was this? How old was I?
• Where exactly were we, and what were we doing?
• Who else was there?
• What do I remember about how I felt? The mood in the air?
• What else (context) was going on in the world or in my family at the time?
• Why did we do this thing?
• What else can I remember about what my life was like at this time?
• What is the strongest single thing I can remember about this?

And the last thing is to refine, remove any un-necessary pieces of the story, and accessorize as needed. 

Now.  At the moment, I'm two assignments behind. 

None of the family sparks really jumped out at me because they are more about the right now and I talk about the right now all the time on this blog.  There were some on the dating and marriage that I could go back and pull some memories out, but it just isn't hittin' me right about now. 

The other thing is that there is supposed to be a surprise tomorrow and you need to have the Self assignment done.  So I should do it.  But I'm REALLY not into writing about myself at the moment because frankly I really don't want to delve into the answers to some of those questions about myself (for instance, right now, I don't really know how to answer the "why I think I was born into this world" question). 

And others I could answer, but I am not sure I have it in me to form my answer into a well written piece.  A great example of this one would be the "How long can you go without a bath or brushing your teeth? What are your ideas about cleanliness?" spark.  I could quite easily answer that, but to answer in a way that would be worth reading?  Not feeling it right now.

You know that whole "statute of limitations" thing?  I get the feeling that this may be why I feel more comfortable digging up memories from my childhood as opposed to talking about "What thought is constantly pressing for attention today?"  Because...well, it's been longer than ten years on most of my childhood memories, and anything I felt or said or did probably doesn't have the power to make my life miserable today.  How I feel today or what specifically is on my mind, on the other hand, could get me in heaps of trouble. 

But because I'm just ornery like that, I guess I'll start a new post and take a stab at one of the self questions anyways.  Back to the drawing board (or sparks pages) to try to find an easy, non-life-altering one.  LOL.

A Procrastination Project

Well, I finally got around to it.  And in retrospect, it was a procrastination project in more ways than just one.  First though...take a gander at the before and after shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't you just LOVE before and after shots?  I do.  It makes me want to go find another project to do, although I'd be hard pressed to find another in such drastic need.     

Anyway, as I was saying, I did not realize how much of a study in procrastination this desk had become until I emptied it completely, wiped it down, and tried to reorganize the stuff to put back. 

See, this desk used to be in use in the office, which is now Munchkin's bedroom.  Of course, when we put all the kid stuff in, mommy and daddy stuff had to go away, so henceforth, the office stuff was packed up and now resides in two neat semi-neat stacks in the garage.  That is an excellent excuse reason not to file, let me tell ya.  I digress.  Back to the story.  The desk was stuck in the garage, empty, to sit until the time comes when we have a room in which to put it (at this rate, it will be our next house, I'm sure).  The desk is currently un-usable, due to the garage being neither heated, nor air-conditioned, and let's face it...paying bills is unpleasant enough, without sweating it or chilling your fingers to the bone while doing it. 

And that whole paragraph there was just to say that the desk was emptied of all the things that belong on it.  Right.  Okay. Just making sure you're with me here. 

WHAT IS ALL THAT STUFF ON IT THEN?

Well, let me put it this way, as I started organizing the things that I raked off the desk, and putting things away in their proper homes, there wasn't much to put back on the desk, because, hel-LO...all the desk things are still packed away! 

So basically, the desk was full of things that I was PROCRASTINATING about putting away. 

This picture on the right was the pile of things to put away inside.  Yikes.

And for the things that are still on the desk, yes, the majority of those things belong there, I went through some of the packed away office stuff and pulled out some of the things that I have found myself needing (you know, like that office variety hole punch now that I've finished punching the million and one holes for the stories in hand book and have a sore hand to prove it). 

Fun, fun, fun. 

I never did find the stapler though.  Humph. 

I should have taken pictures of the area surrounding the desk, as my efforts to clean the desk sorta bled over into the nearby messes.  Strangely enough, most of the nearby messes were also "procrastination piles."  Ahh...the joys of putting things off...*sigh*

SIH - The Banana Seat Bike

When I was a kid, I loved riding bikes. Some of my favorite bike riding memories were on an old banana seat bike. I don't remember where it came from (except I don't think it was new when I got it) or the exact year I got it, but I do remember spending many hours on that seat.

One of my favorite parts was the "cycle appeal." I could and did pretend it was my Harley. And just like a motorcycle, when the need arose, you could find a passenger riding on the back half of that banana seat. It was much harder to lean into the curves when you had a friend on back, though.

Countless days you would find us riding around the circle, occasionally it would be me pretending to be a cop and chasing down the bad guys (aka: my brother), but more often than not, he was the cop and had a never ending supply of imaginary tickets to give me for speeding. (Little did I know how true to life THAT little bit of playacting would turn out...thank goodness, not lately though -- knock on wood.)

During the time I had this bike, we lived next door to my grandparents and the shared gravel drive made a loop past both houses. The drive, appropriately branded "the circle" by family members was fairly large (at least in my memory) and had bushes and trees in the middle that were perfect for trying to dodge those pretend cops. One of the bushes in particular, I remember, we used as a drive thru bank, pulling off the "road" (driveway) up to the bush on our bikes to "make a deposit" before pulling our bike back onto the "road."

I learned the skid on that bike, which was especially fun on gravel. If you leaned just right as you were coming to the part of the drive that had several layers of gravel on it, and slammed on that pedal brake, you could skid sideways and spray gravel for several yards before continuing on your way. And with a lot of practice, it was eventually accomplished without a wipe-out between the sideways skid and the continuing on your way. Another favorite maneuver was flying down the hill and jumping the gully in front of grandma's. Those smaller bikes were lighter and you could catch some major air with those babies.

I must have been somewhere between 7 and 8 when I first got that bike and I remember even after I "graduated" up to a grownup bike, I would still occasionally pull that rattletrap out for a ride. I don't know what ever happened to it after I finally outgrew it for good, but it will always remain a fond childhood memory.

Oh to be able to return to the days when life was all about playing, the speeding tickets were imaginary, and there was always sufficient (albeit imaginary) funds for withdrawals....

Stories In Hand

So I'm taking this free class at JessicaSprague.com and I'm having a blast...

Except, so far, I am procrastinating about actually WRITING down the stories that I've "sparked."

And I'm having a hard time using the handy dandy little binder we printed and put together because the binder rings I used when I put the binder together are too small.  And our stinky local Stuff-mart doesn't have a larger size. 

So.  I need to find some larger binder rings so that the book will actually OPEN instead of just looking pretty. And I need to get writing already.  I plan to use the blog for the writing, and just tag them for this class...I'm not sure how it's gonna go, or when I'm gonna get around to writing, but wish me luck. 

And if she ever offers this free class again, I highly recommend it!

More Cookin'

Trying out a new recipe...Baked Ravioli. Decided to do a spin on the usual throwing of the frozen ravioli in a pot of boiling water and bake it instead.

This recipe had high reviews, and it was pretty basic, so we'll see how it turns out.

Baked Ravioli

• 1 jar (26 to 28 ounces) tomato pasta sauce (any variety)
• 1 package (25 to 27 1/2 ounces) frozen cheese-filled ravioli
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1.Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of rectangular baking dish 13x9x2-inches, with cooking spray.

2. Spread 3/4 cup of the pasta sauce in baking dish. Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in single layer over sauce; top with half of the remaining pasta sauce and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers once, starting with ravioli. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered 15 to 20 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot in center. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Do-Ahead -- To make this super-easy recipe ahead of time, layer the ingredients in the baking dish, cover tightly with foil and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Bake as directed.

My alterations: I didn't have any shredded cheese, or anything other than cheddar that could be shredded to use, so I used sliced provolone instead. Baking it in the oval pampered chef stone casserole, so I wasn't sure if it would be okay to grease it or not, so I may have a mess on my hands after the fact. Hopefully it will be yummy though.

*EDITED TO ADD: Smashing success!!!!  Highly recommend this one...easy and delish! 

*Wince* *Moan*

That whole feeling better thing is not all its cracked up to be. I woke up this morning just as achy as ever and ended up going back to bed instead of getting ready for church.

I finally did get up to get a shower and get dressed cuz the hubby said I am not allowed to miss Choir Practice this afternoon and he wanted me to fix lunch here since I was home, so I threw some meatballs in the crockpot and I'm ready to go for this afternoon, so now I'm going to go pop another couple of advil and take another snooze on the couch.

I am sooo tired of being sick. *sigh*

On the bright side, I have only missed like one day of posting this week....that's a miracle for me!

*edited to add: Awww...my sweet hubby helped clean up after dinner AND put the kids down for a nap without me even asking. What a sweetie.*

A Perfectly Good Saturday

Where did it go?  *sigh*

Oh yeah.  I spent most of it laying around on the couch.  Again.  How long does this flu stuff last anyway?

But.  No whining. 

I spent most of the afternoon surfing the internet researching handmade gift ideas for the holidays.

And uploading a few pictures that I never did pull off my camera....guess it's been about a month.  YIKES . 

Here's one that I had to put on the password protected pictures.

And here are the others....

Went to see M's band competition last month....he's the snare drummer on the end in the first picture and in the front of the line on the second picture.  That was pretty fun since we were otherwise kid-less...it was kinda like a date for me and the hubby.  Haha.

Then here's that project I was talking about...the magnetic calendar and altered dry erase board that I bought for $.50 and hung up for my calendar/to do list in my kitchen.  I like how it turned out.

Next we have last night's cpr/first aid class at DSS...CV & MV took it with us here in town so she was operating the camera here.  The instructor decided KC should be the human demo dummy (as opposed to the plastic versions that he also brought to class) and made him get up on the table and then made me be the first to practice using an AED.....it was only a test model, so it didn't actually SHOCK him.  LOL.  It was pretty funny.  He left after the cpr part b/c he had already taken first aid, but the older couple that the instructor used to demonstrate appropriate choking technique was HILARIOUS!!!  He was the one "choking" and she was trying to get her arms around him and told him to "suck it in" and he was like, "I CAN'T, I'm 'CHOKING'" and she said, hey, "be quiet, you can't talk, remember?"  They were TOO funny! 

And last of all, but certainly not least....I slaved in the kitchen popped open the can of dough and stuck them in the oven to make these today.

And then I iced them. 

And then the woman saw that the tree chocolate covered cinnamon twist was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree sweet to be desired to make one wise fat, she took of the fruit food thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.**  

And then they had another.  And I went and sat down.  And then I got up and took a picture of this exact one.  And then I ate it.  And it was good, too. 

The end. 

**this has been a twisted Faith-spin from the book of Genesis chapter 3.

Have a lovely evening.