Tuesday, March 31, 2009

O.K. We're Clean,Now Can We Have That Treat?

Well one chore down, one hundred more to go! Although I don't consider bathing the dogs to be a chore,it's too much fun! We are now flea and tick free for another month. Roxy(left) is our little orphan girl that found us last summer. She was skin and bones when we found her and it just broke my heart to turn her away. We already had one dog, Ruby(right)who believes she is descended from ancient Chinese royalty. Which she is! And we have five cats. But despite my droning on and on that we would never have any more pets and I'm the one that takes care of all of them, Kate and I took her to the vet for a check up. While we were there Kate asked "Does this mean we are keeping her?" And I said "yes". I have not once regretted it!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Busy,Busy,Busy

I've been so busy lately.Don't have much time to blog. My son is turning 31 this coming Saturday. My daughter is being confirmed this Sunday after which we will all come back to my house for lunch and celebration of both! It seems the older I get the slower I get including my thought process. Time seems to sneak up on me until I think "You know I think I need to start preparing for this!" So I have been busy,busy, busy. Today I am making new curtains for two rooms. My dogs both need a bath,it's flea drop time. Kate needs a hair cut and then wants me to highlight it for her. My husbands clothes need to be ironed. Kate wants a new blouse for Confirmation. Have to do my nails. Get a few hours of work done at church.Take care of baby Jack Thursday. Cook,clean,laundry,nap,dishes,pay bills,buy cards,buy presents,eat,sleep and be merry! Lord help me!

Friday, March 27, 2009

No Crying Involved!


Here is the recipe and photo of the lovely "Angel Lush" cake.









Here is the photo of the ingredients of the lovely "Angel Lush" cake.









And here is the photo of the end result of the lovely "Angel Lush" cake. Not as pretty as the professional but it was very good and took about ten minutes to make. I did the strawberries a little differently. I sliced and layered them instead of leaving them whole.







And finally here is the photo of me NOT CRYING! The moral of this story is to never stop experimenting and always have faith in yourself!





































Tuesday, March 24, 2009

I'm Back!

Sorry about the pause. My husband, Jake, finished reading "The Shack" last week and said that I should read it. I used to be a big reader but then I learned to crochet! That filled any sitting time I had over the years. As the years have passed and arthritis and carpel tunnel have made themselves at home in my hands, I am limited to crochet to about ten minutes at a time. So sad. I miss it terribly. Now I must tell you that I also have a difficult time sitting. Period. So I took up reading again so that my body could catch a break.
I am about half way through "The Shack" and I have even started reading in bed last night which I haven't done in a very long time with the exception of "The Bible" and "Concordia The Lutheran Confessions". My husband almost quit reading "The Shack" right after the great sadness was explained. He said he started to search the book to make sure it was fiction. Poor baby, You know what they say "The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall"! Anyway he said that I would like it and so far it is very good.
Tomorrow is another Lenten dinner at church. And I guess I haven't learned my lesson because once again I am experimenting! I am going to make an "Angel Lush" cake. How appropriate for church, don't ya think! My daughter-in-law made this one year for my birthday and it was soooo good. There is no baking in this one so I will say a prayer that it turns out better than the orange cake.Although that was very,very good. Just looked like crap!! Tomorrow I will post a picture of the cake or me crying!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Pause

Don't bother me now I'm reading "The Shack". Tuesday or Wednesday is when I'll be Back!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Babies And Weddings

It was a busy week. It was my week to babysit my beautiful grandson Jack. He is 9 months old. As you can see in this picture, he really likes being held by his grandma. So much so that grandma can't put baby Jack down. Baby Jack just screams his little head off when grandma try's to put baby Jack anywhere but in her arms. Grandmas arms are all tired and shaky! Now I know what your thinking. Just put him down ,let him cry and eventually he'll stop. Actually the real problem is the only time I get to see him is when his mom leaves so I'm not a very good association for him. When school lets out we'll have more time to drive back and forth to visit and that should solve the problem. In the mean time baby Jack sure has learned quickly how to play his grandma! Although there still is no better feeling then having him fall asleep in my arms. So grandma will live with the tired and shaky arms for awhile. After all it won't be to long before he won't want to be held anymore.



Baby Jack with grandma, not overly happy with me!










Congratulations Brittany and Nick !!


Yesterday was wedding day. My husband and I have watched Brittany (one of our church members) grow up and seeing her get married yesterday was very emotional for us. I have a soft spot in my heart for her as she reminds me so much of my older daughter,Ginny, when she was growing up. Ginny has moved to another state and I only get to see her about once a year. I miss her terribly and when ever I see Brittany I am always reminded of Ginny. They are both very warm hearted and sweet. Brittany's whole family are the nicest people I have ever met and we are blessed to know them. The wedding itself was beautiful and as usual our pastor had the perfect words. I'm sure it was special for him as well since he baptized Brittany as a baby.

This picture is of me and Shelly who is Brittany's grandma and one of my dearest friends. Shelly and I plan alot of the activities at our church. It's a fun job and somebodies got to do it!!!











My handsome husband,Jake and I. The wedding was romantic for us as well. He mentioned mid ceremony about renewing our vows this December for our twentieth anniversary!

Note: I wanted to get a picture of our 14 year old,Kate on this day, but she was in one of her dark moods. She did however mention that she was happy that she got to see Brittany's wedding.

The End

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patricks Day!


Just a quick entry this morning. Today is the day I go to my daughters school to meet with teachers to pick out classes for high school this fall. How exciting! I told my Katie that I was going to wear this hat to the meeting. Needless to say it didn't go over to well. She tried to grab it off of my head but I was to fast for her HA! I crocheted this hat some years ago. Don't even remember how long ago. Anyway I said "Whats wrong with it,your sister used to want to borrow it for St. Patricks day all the time?" To which she replied, " Yea well she's old, she's almost thirty.". Sorry Ginny. But have a fun day anyway!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Childish Excitement

Childish excitement is something I rarely feel anymore. I don't know if it's just part of getting older,as I suspect it is. Or if it's just me. I am however well known in my family for breaking out in hysterical fits of laughter.Usually at a very inopportune time and always over something meaningless and stupid. It can be just a word said a certain way or only a silly thought in my mind.I've been in public when these fits have come over me and it can be very embarrassing.It is something I have learned to live with as have my husband and children.My husband thinks it's because I am extremely happy. And you know, I don't really care how it looks because it feels terrific!
In spite of these temporary moments of insanity I do not often feel childish excitement. What I mean by this is how I would feel as a young girl when my great grandmother would drive up and down big hills in Indiana and I would get butterflies in my stomach. That kind of excitement. Or when I would be on a roller coaster ride. A little scary but again butterflies. I think as you get older you have just experienced so many things that it gets more and more difficult to feel that excitement. Don't get me wrong, I still look forward to a lot of things but not often do I feel butterflies anymore. It has been a long time.
This weekend my youngest daughter Katie had her first practice for her confirmation on April 5th. There were two other teens practicing with her. I am our church secretary so I am usually in my office during their weekly Saturday class. This was the first time that they actually went to the sanctuary to practice. As I saw them , Pastor included walking past my office I knew what they were going to do. Perfect opportunity to be the fly on the wall! So here I am in church of all places,sneaking,rather quickly behind them. I waited of coarse until they were out of sight. I watch t.v. All those detective shows I watched as I was growing up were going to pay off ! First I was going to try and skulk in one of the sanctuary openings but I very quickly realized it was too risky. I could be spotted by my daughter. Not a good idea. AH HA the cry room sits right next to the sanctuary with a large picture window, partially closed vertical blinds and baby the mic and speakers were on!! I'm a spy! This to me was exciting. Now I know it seems to simple to some. but to me watching my daughter practice and do so well, not only did I have butterflies in my tummy but a tear in my eye as well.
They finished quicker then I thought so I had to run down the hall and back into my office before I was spotted. It was fun. It was childish excitement.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Orange Cake Debacle


First I'd like to thank Marcy and Ginny for your kind comments. Thank You! Now about that orange cake recipe. I should have known better. I've done it before with disastrous results. I am not by any means a gambler of any kind. But I did anyway. I experimented with a new recipe on a crowd of people. Silly me what the heck was I thinking?
I should have known that a recipe that calls for the rinds and juice of three oranges was going to be a gamble for me. I DO NOT like making anything without exact measurements. A little of this and a handful of that has never worked well for me. I had red flags going up in my head but apparently I was color blind yesterday!
I followed the recipe exactly. Well as exactly as I could when it didn't state how much orange juice to use for each section. After all, in my defense, each orange has a different amount of juice in it. We're talking about mother nature here people! The two layered cake came out of the oven looking great. At that point I still had high hopes. Next came the filling. Whipped cream, coconut, powdered sugar,orange peel rinds and orange juice. Sounds good. Looked scary. To thin. Added a little more powdered sugar.Getting to sweet. Put in fridge for awhile,maybe it will thicken in there.
Meanwhile after greasing and flouring cake pans a hundred times before, this cake is not coming out of the pans. In walks "Mighty Mouse". Remember "Here I Come To Save The Day"? My husband was able to get them out but not without cracking one. By now I'm thinking "I know I have some xanax around here somewhere." I just went for it .I put the filling between the layers. Looked awful! Made the frosting,again with the orange juice. Poured it over the cake according to the directions. This cake looks so pitiful, I almost feel sorry for it. Is it normal to feel sorry for an inanimate object? Mighty Mouse enters again to stick toothpicks in the cracked side to keep it from sliding off the rest of the cake. I am laughing now. This is starting to become funny. Quickly we put it in the fridge.
Now I am two hours away from Lenten dinner and only have one dessert. This will not fly in a Lutheran church. What will I do? I still need to bathe and beautify myself. In walks Mighty Mouse once again to save the day. He asks "Do we have any cocoa?". I could not remember because that's how much I love baking . It turned out that we did and my sweet husband being sick and on his birthday made from scratch a delicious and pretty chocolate cake with homemade chocolate frosting. How cool is that? The dinner and desserts were a big success. A good time was had by all.
The orange cake? Well as it turned out, as ugly as it was, it really was delicious. We kept it at home and it will not go to waste.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Oh How I Love To Cook! Not..

It was a day filled with cooking for me. And oh how I hate to cook. I do however consider myself to be a fairly good one. Or so I've been told.Since the Lenten season is upon us it is my week to cook dinner for our congregation. A number of our commitees take this task on from year to year. And so being the good little christian that I am,I volunteered. I started at 6:00 a.m. this morning cooking bacon for my home made sloppy joes. There you go, I gave away my secret ingredient! I cooked about 30 pieces. Chopped four green peppers and three onions. Cooked up 15 lbs. of ground beef and the rest your not getting out of me. However if you are my daughter, and you know who you are,I will send you the recipe. After almost six hours I was done with the sloppy joes. Next project. Cook chicken and brocolli for homemade hot pockets for dinner tonight. Thats no secret. Just cook and chop three boneless skinless chicken breast, add chopped brocolli and ranch dressing. Mix together. On A large baking sheet, flatten four Grands biscuits. Spoon mixture on top, add more dressing if you like. Top that with sliced cheese of your choice. Flatten four more Grands biscuits and put on top. Fold and pinch edges to seal. Brush with egg white that has been blended with a little water. Sprinkle with parmesean cheese and bake at 425 till golden brown. Delicious!! You can fill with anything you like and just be creative. Serve with a salad,very impressive. After dinner I shall start on my first dessert for tomorrow nights dinner. Chocolate pudding dessert. You've probably had it. Pecan crust topped with chocolate ,vanillla puddings mixed with cream cheese and layered with cool whip and more nuts. You know, lots of fat. I think that will be the end of my cooking for the night.I do have a sick teen at home so maybe not. Tomorrow I will make an orange coconut cake for the dinner as well. I hope two desserts will be enough! Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Cookie Season

The cookies are here! The cookies are here! Yes it is that time of year again. Girl scout cookie season. I must admit that I went a little crazy this year. My granddaughter became a Brownie Scout last year and this was her first year selling cookies. Grandma certainly did her part in helping her earn her cookie patch. I spent way more than I should have with financial times being what they are. I bought thirteen boxes which I had ordered before I went back on my diet. In my defense, only four of the boxes are mine. The rest go to my husband and daughter. Neither of which really need them either. One of the new ones this year are "Dulce de Leche". And they are absolutely delicious! I had thought about hiding them but I would know where they are so that is a dumb idea. I could give them away. A new way to make friends perhaps? I could sit and eat them all in one shot and just get it over with. Or I could just be a really good girl and limit myself to two or three cookies a day. Oh that sounds impossible. My will power isn't that infallible. Maybe I should have a cookie while I give the situation some thought. What would you do?

Sunday, March 1, 2009

An Evening Alone?

Or so I thought. In actuality once you become a parent you can never be alone again. I'm sure there are many people that have produced children and for whatever reason were able to detach themselves from parenthood. I am not their judge. But I am my childrens' parent. This by no means makes me superior, just tired. This paragraph is my disclaimer.
Tonight I had the rare opportunity for an evening alone. A little background. I have been a mom for almost thirty-one years. I went from my parents home to my first husbands as I am sure many other women of my generation have done as well. I know I am not alone in this. There have been times in the past thirty-one years that I have been alone all night, but until recently it was only for hospital stays which don't count.Ask any mom if you don't believe me. My first actual experience with being alone was two years ago when my second husband took my twelve year old daughter with him to work. My husband is a truck driver so I had a whole week to myself. He was happy because he was going to have company and she was happy to be able to see some of the country. I was happy yet a little scared to be alone. What would I do? Then all of a sudden a voice said to me " Don't be stupid,Your going to do whatever you want,whenever you want,wherever you want and your going to like it!" So I did. I spent the entire week watching movies, eating and sleeping whenever I felt like it. And it was wonderful. Oh sure I had a couple of moments when I started to feel lonely but I dismissed them as quickly as they came and went back to enjoying not having a time schedule to adhere to. Something totally foreign to me since the day I first gave birth. It was a week I could truly enjoy because I knew my daughter was safe with her dad.
Tonight my girl went to spend the night at her friends house. Or so I thought. I dropped her off.She has spent the night there before.I went to the video store and rented two movies. You know the kind of movies your husband wouldn't want to watch with you because there might be tears involved? So here I am watching"The Women" thinking, just as it's about to end, that it's about time to go lay in bed , stretch out and relax. The phone rings. It's my daughter. She is at a church youth group. Which I knew about. And here's the dialog. "mom after we eat out we want to spend the night at church o.k." On my end there is silence as my brain is trying to sort out what the heck she is talking about. "I thought you two weren't going to eat out because neither of you had any money?" Which I would have given her had she told me before we got to their house and I could have stopped at the bank. "Beckys mom gave us money." I say "Where are you going to eat out at?" She says "We are going to eat at church." My brain says why do they need money to eat at church and why would she say they were going to eat out? So I shift to another question."Is the sleepover going to be a lock in? Who is in charge? Where exactly is the church located? You know what, I think I'll just come and pick you up." Can't they just stick to the plan? Her reply was "Never mind we'll just spend the night at Beckys house." We have kept in contact since the call and I could hear that she is having a good time. I did explain in a text that who, what, where and when is not to much to ask and any good parent would need to know. And the teenage life begins again. This will be my third time going through it and yes parents have to suffer through it too. They say the third times a charm. God I hope they're right. I am getting so tired. I hope she shows me some mercy!
So as I am waiting for her call to let me know they are back at her friends house safely, I remember. When you are a parent you never really have a night alone.