A Simple Woman's Daybook

For today... March 19, 2010

Outside my window... the sun is shining. The Japanese Fringe and Carolina Jasmine are in full bloom, and the backyard is full of wildflowers. The Redbud actually has some blooms on it this year, however tiny. The dogs are napping on one of the picnic tables.

I am thinking... about my Dad. He passed away 6 months ago today, and I still miss him more than words can express. There were so many things I wanted to tell him, and so much for me still to learn from him. I know I am harboring too much anger about his sudden death, but I can't seem to get completely past it just yet.

I am thankful for... my family, the hopes and dreams of tomorrow, the changing of seasons-both physically and of the heart.

I am wearing... a t-shirt that is now much too large, jeans, and houseshoes. (which I should do something about because my feet are freezing)

I am going... to do standard household junk today: laundry, dishes, cooking. I may get out in the sun again today and work on weeding the flower beds some more.

I am reading... I Wasn't Ready To Say Goodbye. This is supposed to somehow help me with my grieving process, but I am having a hard time with it. Also re-reading Twilight for the 7th time--its simplicity is soothing and helps me relax.

On my mind... Easter plans, Kobey's birthday, CJ's bouts of 'teenager-ness', Michael's lack of overtime hours at work, gardening, health, my Dad, and the billions of items on my To Do List.

From the learning room... working on St Patrick's Day lapbook with Kobey. Maybe this will be the one that we actually finish! (maybe not)

From the kitchen... wanting to try tweaking Mom's homemade roll recipe by making it healthier. I hate to mess with perfection, but I also hate to not eat those rolls anymore!

Around the house... needing to get back into Spring Cleaning mode and get out the Easter decorations.

One of my favorite things... warm, sunny days with cool breezes.

A few plans for the rest of the week... helping Mom with her yard this weekend, setting up a bed for my tomatoes, delegating menu items for Easter dinner.

From my picture journal...

Kobey-isms

The other day, Kobey said:

"When I grow up, do I get kids?"

I told him that he could possibly have them.

He then asked me if I liked taking care of him.

I told him that I loved it!

He then said, "Well, I don't want babies. I would rather have kids my age."

:)

Down On The Beach

Sunday afternoon we found ourselves sitting around the front yard, staring off into space in a stupor of boredom. It was well after 3 in the afternoon, and none of us felt like doing much of anything. My oldest son suggested going to the beach, so we all piled into the car and headed for the shore. The trip was far from boring, as the landscape between home and the beach still bears the scars of Hurricane Ike, which devastated the area in September of last year. We marveled at flood debris 8 - 9 feet up in trees as we got nearer to our destination.
The highway we traveled on runs perpendicular to the shore until you get right to the beach; then you make a 90-degree turn to follow the peninsula down to the ferry to go to Galveston Island. About 2 miles before our turn, we crested a small hill and were staring straight at the Gulf of Mexico. In previous years, there had been a "barrier" constructed between the actual beach and the highway. It was tall enough to completely impede your view of the beach, and consisted of sand and various native flora. Imagine our surprise to see that the barrier was nowhere to be seen, having been leveled by the hurricane.


The shore itself has become so badly eroded that huge areas of clay are now visible where the sand once was.

It was a huge eye-opener to go down there, and it makes me wonder what the future will hold for the peninsula.

Ranch Salad Dressing

1/2 c mayonnaise
3 T buttermilk
1 T chp fresh chives
1 T chp fresh parsley
1 t white wine vinegar
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t celery seeds
1/4 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1 lg clove garlic, minced

Whisk all ingredients together.

Family Happenings

A lot to catch up on, as always.

My 14 year old son came to stay with us (after a guilt trip via Mommy about changing plans without letting people know *cough*) the weekend of March 27. We ended up going to the fair on Saturday, although I had mentally boycotted it since they moved it to spring (on account of fall being hurricane season and all). It was actually kinda fun. I had sworn that I would never go to the fair again since it had switched locations (and now seasons, grrr), but I was outnumbered. Everyone enjoyed themselves.
Sunday, we went and visited with my grandparents on Mom's side of the family. My grandmother had been asking me to get oldest son over there to visit, so we took advantage of the fact that he was with us. We intended just to drop by for a little bit, but they were expecting company later and Granny was having problems with cooking Chicken Tetrazzini, so I did it for her. We didn't stay to eat, as it wasn't our intention. I hope the meal turned out okay, I had never made it before!

Monday, youngest son and I headed to our local Boy Scout office and I signed him up for Cub Scouts. I have not had any luck finding a homeschool group around here that isn't deeply seated in religious activity (which just isn't our cup of tea), and I didn't want to join one under the guise of being incredibly religious because I don't agree with lying. The point is that I felt that youngest son needed interaction with other children on a regular basis, so we decided scouts was a good idea. (maybe this will get some of my family members off my back about "lack of socialization") Friday we went to the first den meeting. Youngest son was a little shy at first, but he joined right in when he received our "okay".

We (being dh and myself) are happy with the den he is in. The pack, however, is another story. We met the cubmaster and I told her that we did not yet have ds's uniform. She said not to worry about it, that they were unconcerned with uniforms. This made a bad impression right off the bat, because the uniform is a huge part of scouts. There seems to be very little organization to the pack, and from what I have seen, they schedule events on the same days at council events, which is never a good idea. It looks like dh and I might have to get our feet wet, again. Time will tell, I suppose!

Busy Bee

Today was a busy one (so why am I still awake???) I made another Hummingbird Cake, bread dough for Pigs in a Blanket, Lavender Iced Tea, and Banana Pineapple Popsicles. Not sure yet how the pops turned out, they weren't frozen when I last looked at them. I used the leftover crushed pineapple and a ripe banana for them.

I spent the past couple of days without the use of my cell phone (though I didn't realize it for a bit). I had noticed that my poor old Razr wasn't holding a battery charge too long these days, and then it wouldn't keep service bars, even when I was at home.

I looked at it Wednesday afternoon and it had absolutely no bars. I waited it out, thinking maybe there was a service outage in the area or something, because it wouldn't even work when I walked around outside. I emailed my carrier Thursday evening and they responded by telling me that it was likely because of some sort of obstruction; i.e.; walls, etc. (you have to be totally anal when corresponding with phone companies and not leave anything at all to the imagination).

So I waited til Michael got home from work and used his phone (different provider--all bars lit up) and called my carrier. After trying to sell me a $250 network extender, to which I replied was ridiculous and that I shouldn't have to purchase one when I had no issues before!, the lady I spoke to said that I needed to upgrade my phone. As she was rattling along, she casually mentioned that, given the age of my phone (3 years), that it was probably pointless to try the basic troubleshooting steps that they would usually use like updating my roaming capabilities (which I had done less then 2 weeks ago) or removing the battery for 60 seconds then reinstalling it.

Then, as an afterthought, she asked if I wanted her to walk me through those steps.
I said yes, of course, because I don't want to part with my phone just yet if I don't have to. And at that point I was still unsure if getting another phone would solve my issue... Anyway, she had me try to update my roaming, which I couldn't since I had no bars to dial out with.

So I popped the battery out for 60 seconds, then put it back in. VOILA! There were my bars!! I went ahead and updated my roaming, again, because she informed me that it is good to do that as often as possible. I thanked her for her help and have had full bars ever since. It's almost like having a new phone, except I didn't have to redo my contacts or music!

I have also been keeping myself busy the last several days signing up for free samples, survey sites, etc., online. I came across a few good ones that I will post about later (the hour is finally catching up to me and my eyelids are getting heavy).

So for now, I am off to sleep. I would read first to relax, but the only book I have right now is The Sound and The Fury and I have to say... I might have an easier time comprehending a stereo manual written in German. That is yet another rant for another day. Good night!

The past few days...

Yesterday was my grandmother's 70th birthday. Everyone pitched in for a potluck dinner at my grandparents' house last night, and I made her a Hummingbird Cake. We were careful to avoid any meat products, as they are Catholic and can't have meat on Fridays during Lent. As we got our plates and sat down to eat, I realized that EVERY SINGLE DISH HAD CHEESE IN IT. We ended up with a hodge-podge of cheese pizza, cheese enchiladas, Mexican layer dip, cheese dip, and refried beans with cheese. Even the cake had cream cheese frosting. We are all cheese fanatics, obviously, and probably wouldn't have minded sitting down to a block of sharp cheddar for dinner!
I wish I could find my camera (it's around here somewhere!) because I really wanted a picture of that cake to post with the recipe. I will definitely be making it again though, so maybe a photo will show up around here eventually. Anyway, the recipe is here. I had a larger can of pineapple than is called for, so I spread that between the layers, sandwiched between the frosting so the cake wouldn't get soggy. I also toasted the pecans before I pressed them onto the frosted cake. I got rave reviews and recipe requests. One thing I might do different next time is to mash the banana. The recipe calls for "chopped banana", but you only get a bite every now and then that way. Otherwise, it was fantastic!

Tonight for supper, I made Crockpot Chicken in Creamy Chive Sauce, which is almost identical to another recipe I have tried before. I doubled the ingredients for the sauce and added some steamed broccoli and cauliflower at the end of cooking to add some veggies. We ate it over macaroni. There was enough left over to make a lunch for Michael to bring to work Monday, and to freeze for another meal. I don't know yet how it will hold up to being frozen and reheated, so we will see...

The ham I made was okay, but it was so fatty that it disgusted us all. I cut away the leaner looking pieces for dinner, and some more for navy beans the next night, and the rest got discarded. I felt horrible for throwing away all that "meat", but ugh, it was icky. Even Michael, who will eat most anything meat-wise, said it was too fatty. I took a little consolation in that it was a gift from his employer at Christmas, so at least nothing was paid out of pocket for it. If we get one again next year, I will pass it on to the more die-hard ham fans in my family!