Be Sure to Empty Your Pockets

Oopsie. I left a pen in the dirty clothes. Wait, let me clarify. The pen wasn’t mine and it wasn’t in my clothes. I just failed to extract it before I put my husband’s clothes in the wash. I think it actually faired the washer fairly well. The drier on the other hand is not so attractively white anymore and we won’t even discuss what the clothes look like.


Unfortunately this is not my first time washing something I shouldn’t, but somehow I am not encouraged to be any more careful. You would think that I would diligently check the pockets, but it is my firm belief that the person putting the clothes in the basket should do that. Doing laundry is mundane enough without having to add another step; and so I’m sure there will be more washed pens, rocks, receipts and wallets in my future. I can only hope that it will also mean a few spare dollars and quarters so I can repair the damage I’m doing.

If you’re wondering why the people putting the laundry don’t check their pockets, don’t waste your time. I think they believe in the laundry fairy.

No more toilet paper tubes

Have you heard?  Kimberly-Clark has announced that they will be removing toilet paper tubes from their toilet paper.  Technically, apparently they are called cores, but you know what I am talking about: the cardboard center of the toilet paper roll.

Apparently, toilet paper tubes, according to Kimberly-Clark's October 28th press release, toilet paper cores account for 160 million pounds of waste.  Of course my question is not why we are taking it out, but why didn't someone think of this earlier? And does this mean we are going to have less expensive toilet paper since this part is being removed?  And of course most importantly, how are we going to do all those Kindergarten crafts?

My next question is, when will someone be innovative enough to do the same thing with paper towel rolls?

Decorating Dilema

I keep looking in my kitchen nook thinking that I should put a small table there:

and then I swing my head 180 degrees and look at the kitchen counter.

 

Oh, no! The family does not need another place to dump things. I really must ask, "Why does a jacket belong on the kitchen counter?" Mind you I have a mud room with hooks for coats, there is another one not 10 feet farther, another set of hooks at the top of the cellar, and goodness forbid, they walk the 25 feet to the actual closet. What is it about empty flat spaces in a house that calls for people to fill it?  I think I'll leave the other corner to the animals.

Cons of Community Service

How you are raised can change your perception on life. I'm sure this statement doesn't surprise you, but I was surprised to see how pervasive it was the other day when the boys were discussing working with their Boy Scout troop to clean up garbage along the road. My biological son, who has been raised with a strong sense of community involvement, was excited to work on this project. He finds most things with the Boy Scouts fun and is fairly environmentally aware. My foster son, who has been bounced from house to house primarily in the city, thought the idea of getting together to pick up garbage to be the stupidest idea he had ever heard. He immediately associated it with being in trouble. You are only forced to clean up an area when a court mandates it. Fortunately, he relented, went, and had a grand time; but, his comments stuck. If he relates helping with court and consequences, who else does.

My family and I have always enjoyed helping others. We find that we receive far more than we give and I must admit, that we feel powerful when we do help. It is amazing how much one person can accomplish. So to think of community service as a negative was shocking to me, but certainly an interesting commentary on our society. I would be interested to see if others from his background feel the same. Certainly, the courts purpose is assigning community service is to repay what the guilty party took from society and also for them to see that their actions can have a positive impact. Perhaps though, what we are teaching is that community service is boring, troublesome, and something that it is to be left to people who misbehave. Hmmm! I don't think this is setting up a very positive association and may set the stage for complacency and future community inaction. I'm not sure what we should use as punishment for those who break the law and are being charged with community service, but maybe we better take a minute to discuss the message that we are sending when we do so.

Mystery Solved

DS has noticed that on many of our taller glasses a ring has shown up about ½ the way up the side of the glass. The line is actually etched into the glass. He noticed not in one glass in many. I somewhat dismissed it when he showed me at first, but then I noticed he was right. It wasn’t just on one glass but on many of the taller glasses. I wondered where such a ring could come from.

Today as I stood at the sink washing the dishes for the millionth time (the dishwasher doesn’t work in the new house). It suddenly all became very clear to me. My hand was pushed into the glass trying to get the dried on juice or milk or whatever out of the bottom. I swished right and left, trying to get the sponge down into all of the crevices. CLINK. I stopped dead. It was me. I was making the mark. It was just like all of those Encyclopedia Brown books that I read as a child. The answer was right in front of me. On my right hand, I wear a ring that was given to me by my mother that her aunt once gave her. My ring was etching the glass as I twisted the sponge on the bottom. The mystery was solved.

The Silence has been Broken

The quiet week has ended. I pick up dd in just a few more hours. My father and I have a bet going whether the chatter will begin as soon as I pick her up or if she will be so tired that she will just konk-off in the car. I’m betting she chats most of the way, but she has already surprised me by calling me multiple times this week. I figured that she would wave goodbye and I would hear from her again when she needed to be picked up. The calls were all good ones (not like the notes I once sent from camp begging to be picked up). She sounded like she was having fun and just wanted to share.

Last night she surprised us with a third call for the day to tell us that our minister’s eldest daughter’s boyfriend had proposed during dinner. While proposing in a restaurant with 75 of your future father-in-law’s congregation after a week of working in the hot sticky state of KY may seem odd to some, it holds special meaning to them as this trip several years ago is where they started dating. The extra special part of this match is the closeness of the in-laws. Both his and her parents have been friends since our minister first came to town 20 years ago.
I can’t wait to hear what other stories DD has to share. Silence while appreciated occasionally is very lonely. DD brings a life to our family that feels lost when she is gone. We all have our blessings and hers is a palpable life that fills the house energy. I’m going to try to remember this blessing the next time she is driving me absolutely crazy.

Speaking of blessings, here are a few more that I thought of yesterday as I raked the yard:

1. The fact that the lawn mower was fixed and that maybe the neighbors no longer wondered what low lifes moved in next to them.
2. The wheelbarrow, a left over when my brother-in-law down sized, was a great time saver. It may have a little rust showing, but it still carried all the grass.
3. A blue sky (although I have to admit that about half way through I did make a small prayer for rain to give me an excuse to stop)
4. A cool breeze
5. A strong and capable son, who mowed and thereby cut my work in half
6. A DH who, despite his bad back, got the mower working

Capitalism is alive and well in America

Lately there has been a lot of press regarding the death of capitalism. I, however, want to reassure you that it is alive and well in our household. Our riding lawn mower has not yet made the travel north and so we must make due with a push mower. 1 acre does not seem like much on a plot plan, but when you are pushing a mower it is a lot of land. So despite the fact that we do not normally give allowance, a price was set for mowing the lawn, $20.00. DS has now done it three times and accumulated $60.00. DD began to think that she was getting the short end of the arrangement. “If I mow, will you pay me?” “Absolutely, if you want to get paid, you and DS can rotate and we’ll pay accordingly.” DD is not one who normally signs up for extra chores and often does work that she needs to do grudgingly, so this enthusiasm was out of character. I can guarantee you that this interest was not due to the smell of fresh cut grass or the time she spent out under the beautiful sky, her decision was 100% motivated by cold hard cash – capitalism at its best.

Natural Artworks

Sometime when you do your chores, you find little moments of grace. DS is fighting a nasty cold so I did his chores today. As I brought the compost up to the compost pile, I found this tree:






Isn't it beautiful.

Here are a couple other art pieces that God made to decorate my yard.




I got to see them up close as I got to leaf blow for the first time in my life. When we ran out of gas, I finished the old fashioned way with a rake and a tarp. Man, can leaves be heavy. Sadly, tonight you would not even that I worked on the yard. Ok, my muscles know, but people looking at my yard would not.

Freezing Corn

Amidst the sadness yesterday of putting our dear James to sleep, my husband decided that to take my mind off it, we could freeze corn. Although it seems a little crazy, I think to some degree he was correct, especially since everyone pitched in to help. We blanched, cleaned off, and bagged a bushel of corn in about an hour. It is amazing what many hands can accomplish.
While I can can, I find freezing so much easier. I couldn’t immediately remember the amount of time needed for cooking, so I quickly googled freezing corn and found this website with the basic instructions.



As I said, the great thing was that the whole crew helped out. The kids husked. DH boiled and cooled the corn. Then I cut it and bagged it. As you see in the picture, DS also kicked by marking the baggies when I ran out. The environmentalist that he is, he also took charge of bringing the cobs out to the compost. I hate to admit that since we have put the house on the market, we have stopped composting, but since this project had so much organic waste, DS insisted that bring composting back.

Instead of canned corn this winter, we will have fresh, tasty, local corn. DH inquires at our local corn stand if they have any leftover corn. They will often sell extras at the end of the day for a substantially less than the regular price. Corn stands only sell at their stand fresh same day product. They have no use to end of the day or day old product, except to feed the animals or to fill their own kitchens. So DH bought the bushel for $16.00. We were able to make up 15 bags to freeze. Four ears, plus or minus, in each which probably is like 2 large cans or 3 small cans of corn (cans of corn range from .89 cents to $1.29 in the store, you can probably get it cheaper in bulk, or with coupons and sales). Plus we ate a little along the way. So each bag costs about $1.06. So on top of everything else, we have saved a little bit of money too.

Pokemon with PokeMOM

Have you been introduced to the Pokemon nation? DS loves all things Pokemon. He collects cards and plays it online. He begs for later and later bedtimes so that he can see Pokemon shows and movies.

Each character has a name. They are all very strange: Mantyke, Croagunk, Skorupi, Hippopotas. And then some “evolve” into more advanced characters:

Munchlax - - -Snorlax
Gible - - -Gabite - - -Garchomp
Happiny - - - Chansey - - -Blissey
Mime Jr. - - -Mr. Mime
Bonsly - - -Sudowoodo

It is more complicated than I can possibly understand. Some are rare. Each character has HP (health), attack, defense, special attack, special defense, speed. You can even find out their height and weight, type and ability. All this information tells you how they combat each other. I could not explain this if I tried, but it got me thinking that there may be pokemon in my very own home. I know that I have seen a DOGUSHAIRIUS, who can evolve into a UNNYBUSTY if not battle quickly enough and maybe into a TUMBYEEDS. They are very, very dangerous and multiply easily. They can only be combated by SUCKELETROSIS or OOBROOM. I’ve also seen a UNA OKSOC evolve to a NAUDRYL and to its most fearsome form MONTS Y MONTS.

Sometimes it seems there is only one super rare POKEMOM that can save us all. She does have the ability to have babies that can assist her in the battles, but sometimes the hatchlings cause the evolution of the evil that she battles. Without these tiny BABIBS, the evil ones can be kept in control, but with them sometimes the dangers spiral and grow beyond reason.

I think I am really getting this game down.

Well, I think I better throw my Pokeball, “NOCHELEEP SI!” If I’m lucky he’ll get the kids ready for bed and tucked in. He’ll gain such power from his battle that he’ll evolve to WALKI CANINI to walk the dogs and then in his final evolution OUTOUSE LOCSED. He’ll spin his way through the house finishing up the chores so that PokeMOM can retire to her Pokeball.

If this inspires you, let me know about any PokeMOM villains that you encounter in your home.

Waiting for my husband

I feel like a giddy teenager. My husband and son have been away for a week and I can’t wait for them to get home. It has certainly been a quiet week – just dd and me (and the dogs and the cat). I haven’t gone grocery shopping, barely cooked a meal. I think maybe I’ve done one load of wash and only taken out one bag of garbage. How can two people make such a difference to a household? You would think I would be happy with the peace. It has been a very productive week for my writing, but I miss the chaos.

Ohhhhh – He just called. They are on the road and will be back sooner than expected. Of course that also means that I have to roust up some dinner. And there will be piles of laundry. The garbage can will overflow. Noise will bellow through our windows . . .and I will be infinitely happy.

After, 16 years of marriage and 21 years of being together, he still rings my bell. We used to dream about rocking together on the front porch of our log cabin. That dream seems to be closer to a reality than ever before.

What to Cook

Sometimes I wish Rosie from the Jetsons really existed or the food transporters in Star Trek. Every night, I hear, “what is for dinner?”. These cries, I swear, start before they have barely downed their lunch. My husband is no better, sometimes he asks before he even leaves for work. Now I would love to be the preplanned Stepford wife who knows what we are eating for the next month and sometimes I do have it down, but some nights - - -aghhhhh! I don’t know and frankly (don’t tell anyone) I don’t care. I’ll be happy with a bit of cheese or a baked potato. I don’t want to think of a whole meal.

It seems like I am thinking about food 24 hours a day. If I’m not thinking of meal planning, I am thinking about shopping. What are we short on? And then I have to think of the extra things like, pies for church, coffee hour, cookies for meetings. No wonder dieting is so difficult. I think that my family thinks that I have a chip in my brain devoted just to meal preparation. I do enjoy looking through cooking magazines. I can’t really stomach cooking shows – maybe because I’m jealous. But I do like trying new things - - -maybe that is part of my problem. If every Wednesday was Prince Spaghetti day, I would know what I was having, but instead I like to mix it up and end up wishing I did not have to cook at all.

Oh, well, the microwave is beeping . . .I have to go make dinner. Maybe I’ll be more inspired tomorrow.

How do you plan your meals? Do you recommend any great websites or cookbooks?