Burning the Candle at Both Ends

I'm having a better week

Last week I posted that my oven was on the fritz and I had strong doubts we would be smelling the enticing aroma of the stuffed turkey roasting  made from a family recipe that I grew up with. I was happily surprised today when after eight days of waiting, the serviceman arrived and ingeniously managed to get the thing working! We're not out of the woods yet since a part must be ordered, but I can smell the oatmeal chocolate cookies I attempted to bake last Monday right now . I froze the cookie dough because after one day in the fridge, I noticed it was disappearing .  We are cookie dough eaters here, not in excess, but never has any one in our family suffered from sickness due to cookie dough poisoning. Although, at the rate it was vanishing, I didn't want to test our limits.

So, it looks like all will go as planned this Thursday. The menu is large; hopefully the appetites will be as well. We are being joined by Mary Ellen and Dave and all their beautiful children, as we await the completion of their even Bonnier Blue House!

Simple Woman's Daybook

 

 

(Read the other daybook entries at  The Simple Woman )

FOR TODAY November 24, 2008

 Outside My Window...   a bit of sun with warmer temperatures than we’ve had. I can see lots of wood stacked from a day of chopping on Saturday. It is a beautiful sight!

I am thinking...  Christmas is sooner than I think and I am not close to being ready!

I am thankful for... my homeschool group

From the kitchen… daughter’s fiancé has been threatening to make us something he calls Spicy Chicken Muffins??????

I am wearing...  favorite jeans, teal long-sleeve t-shirt, comfy shoes

I am creating... Advent activities and lessons

I am going...  basketball practice tonight

I am reading... studying a bit about fasting and fresh juices

I am hoping... for temperatures to be comfortable enough to go outside and clean the windows

I am hearing... Christmas music from my PC

Around the house...  must finish seasonal clothing switch for the boys.  Girls are done.

One of my favorite things... planning and celebrating holidays with family and friends

A Few Plans for The Rest of the Week: shopping for the feast, cooking at a friend’s house since it looks like I won’t have my oven repaired in time,   time with hubby who has Thursday and Friday off! Hooray!

Here is picture thought I am sharing... some of the gang visiting family over the weekend

Christmas GiveAway

Mary Ellen's Christmas blog O NIght Divine is having a contest. Visit the blog and post a comment between today and tomrrow and you will have a chance to win one of two copies of Advent: A Season of Joy and Preparation faith folder from Lapbooks for Catholics .  That's all. So easy even a child could do it. Look, I just did it, too!

 By posting about it on my blog, I will get two chances to win. In today's economy, you can't beat that! So check it out and take a chance... you never know!

Friday Craft Day

My new favorite blog to visit  is the Crafty Crow  . I find it completely addicting... from the perspective of someone born with very little artistic talent. The projects on this site are simply made using materials which I usually have around the house, or are easily found in the local craft store. Today we tried the pretty seasonal plaques made from plaster of paris and bits of nature we collected around the yard.   We added some brown paint to the plaster mix in place of some of the water to give them a more natural feel and also kept the more natural look by not smoothing out the plaster once we put it into our pans.  I once saw the small pie pans we used in the dollar store in packs of four for $1 and bought a bunch, not knowing what I would ever use them for... but it was $2 well-spent as they have come in handy both in the kitchen and the craft room! Here are a few pictures of the project.  If you link over to the Crafty Crow, you will surely find at least half a dozen crafts you can do easily which also look great on display! Have fun!

 

 

I'm having a week...

On Friday night I decided that with all the cooking in the upcoming holiday season I should clean the oven. When we expanded our kitchen over three years ago we went all out on the oven . With a large family and lots of entertaining besides, we thought it a worthwhile investment.  The self-cleaning oven worked fine Friday night.. I wiped it out Saturday morning and then we went away for the weekend. It wasn't until Monday afternoon, when I went to pop a tray of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in, it died. Instead of something yummy baking, all I smelled was something electrical burning in the stovetop. Not good. I shut off the breaker  and fought back tears. Thanksgiving is a bit more than a week away and this is the second time my oven has pooped out on me since April! Last time it took about three weeks to fix.  Looks like a stovetop Thanksgiving here. I can use the burners, but not the oven. Fried turkey, anyone?

To add insult to injury, the oil burner seems to be coughing its last breath. We don't use it for heat, since we installed our woodstove, but a hot shower would be nice. So far it is still working, but it is definitely making some strange sounds! Repairman to evaluate the situation in the morning.

Oh, and let's not forget, I can tend to be very clumsy.  To prove this to the doubters, I decided to completely miss the last step tonight while carrying down a load of laundry.  I broke the fall with my left hand which was stopped by the doorjam at the bottom of the stairs... thereby jamming my finger and wrist into my shoulder. OUCH!  Nothing is broken, but I suspect tomorrow won't be a good day for me. I forgot to mention.. I am a lefty.

Well, it is Wednesday night and thankfully , this week is half over. Hopefully  things will take a turn for the better tomorrow. I am counting on it! I have a coupon for a free turkey which I plan on cashing in tomorrow morning, so that should start the day off on a good note, right?  It's all uphill from there.

Daybook November 17, 2008

                                                  

(Read the other daybook entries at    The Simple Woman's Daybook )

FOR TODAY    Monday, November 17, 2008

 Outside My Window... a crisp, beautiful fall day is beginning. 

I am thinking... of  ideas for meals this week

I am thankful for... time spent at a family celebration Saturday night

From the kitchen… asparagus soup later today. Breaded pork chops and pierogies for dinner

I am wearing... that favorite blue flannel robe and pj’s again

I am creating...  Christmas lists

I am going... to enjoy the last few moments of solitude this morning!

I am reading... cookbooks to get ideas for my crockpot

I am hoping... we get outside for a nice nature walk or two this week

I am hearing...  nothing but the clicking of the keyboard, if that can be believed!

Around the house... anyone who hasn’t left for the day is still asleep

One of my favorite things... seeing my children blossom and do things that stretch them out of their comfort level

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: basketball, Thanksgiving food planning and shopping, a visit from Katie’s fiancé,  ballet, Hannah and friends going to see the Wizard of Oz at a community theatre and then have a tea party with Dorothy afterward,  a visit to family in NJ so they can meet the fiancé!

Here is picture thought I am sharing... I had to share a picture of the beautiful birthday cake From the birthday party we went to on Saturday.  It was scrumptious to look at and also to eat! The whipped cream topping was actually flavored with walnut. Very interesting! The other picture refers back to “one of my favorite things”. My thirteen year old is normally very shy, but with the support of her two cousins, gave a toast to the guest of honor Saturday night. She spoke beautifully and was so sincere. Even if I wasn’t her mom, I would have to say she captured the hearts of everyone in the room!  I was very proud (can you tell?).  At her age, I never would have been able to stand in front of a room of fifty adults I barely knew and do that. Bravo, Becky!

 

A laugh at my own expense

This morning after driving Dan to the train at 7:15 I decided to do my grocery shopping early since the forecast is for rain later today.  Functioning on only one cup of coffee does not find me at my peak in the A.M.  Here is the conversation I had with the checkout girl (those of you with large families and teens or young adults living home will get this)

Me:  (looking at my receipt) Wow. I've really been able to lower my grocery bill by shopping on a weekly basis and watching for sales.

Cashier:  Yes. I see you did really well.

Me: I know. I am feeding six kids and two boyfriends.

Cashier:(raising her eyebrow and looking me over ) You foxy thing! No wonder you have six kids!

Me:  My daughters' boyfirends, not mine!

Yes, keeping the checkout girls of America laughing. Just another service I provide.

I just have to say...

 I was very disappointed over the results of last week's election. I haven't really been able to get exicted over the new leadership in our country. Being mere humans, on the one hand we want to be "right". That is... when the policies of this new administration fail we can fell smug in the knowledge that we did not aid in putting them in power. See, we were right! On the other hand, if they do fail, we all suffer, don't we? No matter who we cast our vote for on November 4. That is certainly NOT something any of us want to see happen. Many people in our country are suffering already. Some more than others.  

That being said... this is my problem to deal with and I have to reach a certain level of acceptance that for some reason, God allowed this to happen and He certainly knows better than I what good will come out of it all.  I think that I need to come to a place where I respect the office, if not the man in it (to quote a wise friend  who recently said this to me). I need to become a more active participant in our government... that is contacting my representatives when need be, helping out when needed and staying in tune with the issues so I can speak intelligently on them. (confession: I haven't watched the news since election night, and even then I turned it off at nine!) I have added daily prayer for our leadership to my list...with God all things are possible; yes, even the change of hearts for so many in our new administration who place such small worth on innocent human life.

The election has overshadowed the topics of conversation on many blogs. On a few, that conversation got a bit ugly.  WhIle I completely agree with healthy debate,after all this is one of the founding principles of our nation, I look at my blog as a window into my home. When someone visits, it is as if I have invited you to my kitchen table for a cup of coffee ( and I make the BEST coffee!). I would expect nothing less than conversation that you would say to my face, over coffee at my table, when visiting my blog.When I started keeping my blog, my purpose was to to document the activities in our homeschool, to share recipes and household information, and to share how we live out our faith in our domestic church. I need to get back to those basics once again so this can become a more enjoyable pasttime.

In the coming days and weeks... expect more recipes, crafts, and homey stuff. I am getting back to  basics!

Oh and God Bless this great country and may he grace President-elect Obama with His gift of wisdom in leading our nation! 

 

(Read the other daybook entries at The Simple Woman )

November 10, 2008

        

 Outside My Window... the last of the leaves on the tree outside my kitchen window are clinging on for dear life. They are still blazing with the bright orange and yellow colors of autumn which I love.

I am thinking...of holiday planning

I am thankful ... my dearest friends  are safely home in their bigger, yet not complete home.

From the kitchen… the aroma of my coffee perking is beginning to fill the air.

I am wearing... blue flannel robe

I am creating... a honey-do list for hubby’s day off tomorrow.  Sorry, Dan!

I am going... no place special today.

I am reading... My new issue of Mater et Magistra magazine for some inspiration.

I am hoping...for some weather which allows us to be outside this week.

I am hearing...someone is in the shower.

Around the house... still pretty quiet

One of my favorite things… Sunday dinner with friends and family

A Few Plans for The Rest of the Week:  basketball; ballet; science class; attending an interactive theater production with the littles tomorrow evening.

Here is picture thought I am sharing.

                                                      

Wedding Picture Wednesday

   

 

 

Just a few pictures to recap my niece's wedding this past Saturday.  Hannah and Thomas both recovered sufficiently from their earlier health issues to enjoy the day. I was a bit stressed trying to remember the treatments Hannah needed on the nebulizer. As you can see from the picture of her dancing with Dad, she had a great time in spite of it! The bride looked radiant (although this Aunt would have liked those bare shoulders covered in church!) and the groom couldn't wipe that big handsome grin off his face for the entire day. I couldn't resist posting the picture of the flower girl with the Halloween spider ring!

  Much fun and family joy was the order of the day!