Thursday, May 31, 2012

25 years

Well, my goodness.

I was going through my old photos
to find a particular pic that I wanted to show you...
and I found this gem:


It's been 25 years since I graduated
from high school.
Which is completely impossible.
Impossible, I say!

I am still very much a teenager.
I am.
With some grumpy peri-menopausal attitude
thrown in there.

Which really isn't much different than
the attitude of a grumpy hormonal teenage girl.

So,
there ya go.

I haven't changed one single bit.




And doesn't my future husband look
dashing!



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

hosting orphans

Hey, friends!

You should go check out
to see what she and her husband are up to.

It's so great!

They are hosting two orphans from Latvia
for the summer!

Isn't that so cool?!

AND learn more about this great program.

I think it sounds like a really great option
for MANY people to help orphans.

macy's jewelry!

Macy has made some lovely
pieces of jewelry that she has for sale
on her blog!

coconut oil (cont'd)

I am so sorry to have left you
hanging about the coconut oil.

How very naughty of me.

Here's the scoop:



I use it on towel-dried hair...
AND
just before I flat-iron it.

I have naturally curly-frizzy hair,
so this works well for ME.

It WILL make your hair oily if you use
too much.
And if you have very fine hair...it may
not be the best option for you.
Although it would be a great deep conditioner
that you could treat your hair with,
then wash out.

And no, I wouldn't think this would
be so great on most Asian hair.
But definitely on Asian skin!
I use it on my littles' skin because they tend to
get awfully ashy, especially in the winter.

Where to get it:
I bought mine through
(If you use my link, scroll down
to Coconut Oil Refined- 1 gallon)

I'm sure there are many other places
to get it, I just don't know where.
Besides health food stores, of course,
but that would be pricey, I'm guessing.
And I have also bought the kind for baking at Walmart.
The gallon jug I bought online was $32,
and I *think* I got free shipping on it,
but I really can't remember.
A gallon will last a long, long time since
I use it so sparingly.


That's about all I know about it, guys!


It works great for me,
I hope it does for you, too!

Monday, May 28, 2012

i should run a restaurant

Hello, friends!

How is your week going?

Mine is good.
Pretty good.

But having the kids all home for summer
break is nearly killing me.
(We are only a week into it)
(Lord, have mercy)

I get up early to get my biggest boys/men off to work.
They need a hearty breakfast
and lunch-to-go.
Then the next group gets up for breakfast.
Then we start all over at lunchtime.
Then dinnertime.

Plus everything else there is to do!

How do we women keep up at this pace?

It's crazy-crazy.

I really should run a restaurant.
At least I'd get paid.


Anyway, I have nothing to share with you
except all that whining.

Oh and I wanted to show you a pic of
a field of wheat down the road from us that
is at its peak!


I suppose the photo doesn't do it justice.
Trust me, it's so golden and lovely.
It makes me so happy.
And we've got fields and fields all over that
look like this.
Very Bible-belt Americana.
I love it.




Well, I don't have the energy for one
more single thing.

OH...except to tell you that Isaiah woke
up at 11:30 PM last night,
came to my side of the bed
(where I was sweetly sound asleep, thank you very much)
and said,
"Mama, I'm up early!"

Ummm, kid...until it hits the A.M., it's not early.
I don't know what it is.
Ridiculous, that's what it is.

Thankfully he went right back to bed.





Ok, that's all.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

coconut oil {my story}



At the ripe old age of 19 (or 20) I
got a job at a bank,
in the bookkeeping department.
Which is hilarious to me now,
being that I hate all things administrative.
And I'm ridiculously disorganized.


Anyway,
I worked with a gal named Sylvia who was
from Georgia.

She had a pretty thick southern accent.
It was not unusual for her to ask
me to go deliver some paperwork to the
lawn department.

"The lawn department??"
I would ask.


"NO, the lawn department."

I was so confused.
(Which was typical)

The LOAN department.
Got it.

And she mentioned before that she needed to
get her earl changed.

Earl?



(This was long before the Dixie Chick's song,
Earl Must Die, so I wasn't too concerned that
Earl might be in her trunk,
needing to be changed.)

Is anyone still reading this?

All that to say,
I wanted to talk to you about
my new-found love.

Coconut earl.

I mean, oil.

Coconut oil.

I originally ordered this online
to use for cooking.
I had never used it before and
wanted to give it a try.

Sadly enough,
when it arrived, I read the fine print that
said it wasn't for consumption.

So it sat and sat as I mourned.

Then my friend Mary, who is half Korean
and has no accent,
told me that coconut earl (or as she says it, oil)
is fabulous for black hair.
So she bought some from me for her little
Ethiopian babies.


Months went by before it dawned on me
that I could use it in MY hair.

I love it when my dimly lit bulb,
gets just a little brighter.

It works great.
I love it so much!

It's not a miracle humidity shield...
but it's really better than any other product
I've ever used.
It smooths frizzy hair like nothing else.

Remember, I'm a professional.
You can trust me.

I've tried a gazillion things in my 20+ years
of doing hair.



It's a big solid glob that melts at your touch.
It's so cooperative that way.

And it's fabulous for your skin, too.



So, my advice to you is,
go buy some coconut earl.

You will thank me.

Oil.

Coconut oil.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

my thursday {bored children, bread & polish hens}



How's your Thursday going, friends?

Today is our first full day of summer break
to stay home.
All day.
All day long, we stayed home.
Which is all fine and good for me,
cause I loves me some home.
But, the vibe I'm getting from the rest of the crowd,
it's very boring.

Good.
That means I'm doing my job well.

We'll venture out tomorrow.

I made some dee-lish multi-grain bread today.
Mercy, does freshly baked bread ever smell glorious.

The taste is pretty amazing, too.


In case you wanna try it at your home:

Makes three lovely loaves!

6 cups freshly milled wheat
3 cups freshly milled: rye, millet, spelt, barley, oat groats
1/4 cup (approximately) freshly ground golden and brown flax seed
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (or more:)
3 tsp. sea salt
3 cups warm water
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 Tbl. yeast
4 1/2 Tbls. melted butter (not too warm!)

*Of course you can use any blend
of grain you want for your flour.
Just make sure it's a total of 9 cups.
I usually soak six cups of it in warm water
with 3 Tbl. vinegar.

I'm too lazy to write out all the directions.
If you're a seasoned bread baker, you know the drill.
Just mix everything up as usual,
knead and let rise as you would any bread recipe.
Top with egg wash, freshly rolled oats and
semi-ground flax seed.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.


If you need detailed instructions, shoot me an email
and I'll try to do that for you!


***

Oh, Wanda.


I had told all of you earlier
of Wanda's untimely demise,
then corrected myself that it wasn't
in fact Wanda and Dorothy,
but Leonard and Hal, who perished
on that dreadful day at the hands
of the other roosters.
(They do have hands, you know.
Where do you think they get
chicken fingers?)
Anyway,
not sure any of that made a lick of sense.
But the real deal is,
Wanda and Dorothy are alive and well.

Take a look.

Wanda is looking especially elegant today,
wouldn't you say?
(And yes, the roosters next to
her are who stole her lover away).
I do hope you're keeping up
with this poultry soap opera.


And look.
She and Dorothy got red highlights.
They are obviously moving on with their lives,
sans Leonard and Hal.
Good for them.

I really can't decide this these
are the ugliest or most adorable creatures
I've ever laid eyes on.

I just don't know.
But they do make me smile.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

tires rotated {excitement}

This is an emergency post.

My friend Shelley has harassed me endlessly
about putting something new on my
blog instead of that blasted mouse/snake photo.
She is over-the-top freaked out by it.
And will be in therapy for years to come.
My apologies, Shelley.

So, in order to help your recovery,
I will post something new.
Though I have nothing new to stay, really.
Although I do need to tell you about my
discovery of using coconut oil on my hair.
I'll save that for another day...
but you'll want to tune in for that.

Oh, you DO want to tune in.

So today I had a fabulous visit with my friend, Mary.
She's a peach, let me tell you.
Our littles have such fun together!

Then I got to go get my tires rotated.
ALL BY MYSELF.
I mean, I didn't rotate my tires, you sillies.
I took them to get rotated, by myself.
Golly, that has a nice ring to it.


Look at how elated I was!

Notice, no one in the back seat.
It's Mama's lucky day!


And that's all I have for you today.
Boring, I know.


This one's for you, Shelley.

Monday, May 21, 2012

little white mouse

Oh my word.

The little kids talked me into taking them
to the pet store today.
I didn't want to go, but I figured
it would buy some time
with not taking them to the zoo.

But you can imagine how horrified I was
when I saw this:


Do you see that poor little white mouse in the corner
of that snake cage?

I nearly crawled out of my skin in sheer horror.

And the snake even went back to the corner and
sniffed around the mouse a bit.
Just to taunt it, I'm certain.
The poor little thing was shaking in its little pink boots.

I was shocked and devastated.


Don't explain to me the circle of life.
I do know how the story goes.

I live on a mini-farm, after all.
Living things constantly come and go around here.

It's just terrifying to see it play out
in a retail establishment.

I retold the whole story at the dinner table tonight.
No one seemed as disturbed as me.

Is nothing shocking anymore?

It's a travesty!



The End.



Don't be surprised if I suddenly announce
that I am adopting a little white mouse.

Except that I despise mice.


Let's just forget we ever had this conversation.

I'm ready to move on with my life.

Good bye.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

chemistry notes

So school is out on Tuesday.
Oh, happy day.

Nick's chemistry teacher is letting the class
use notes on their final.
Well, as many notes as they can fit
onto a 3x5 card.

And this kid took full advantage of it.



Front and back.
In a hand-written font that I can't imagine
how one could read, much less, WRITE.

I offered for him to take my reading glasses.
Or a microscope.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

the pool of opportunities

So, Isaiah got some new goggles today.
For swimming.
And other recreational things.

He was rather fascinated by them.
And he didn't seem the least bit phased by the fact
that...
he couldn't really, you know, see out of them.
They were fogged up.
And one eye, as you can clearly see,
was pretty much clinched shut.
But, who needs eyesight?
It's way overrated.
Why let anything hold you back?
Why not enjoy life and its blessings,
despite the limitations?

Why?


I've never met a more easy-going person
than this Isaiah-man.

He is...very refreshing.
In a very unique way.


Let's all just put on the goggles of life
and dive into the pool of opportunities, shall we?

Whatever that means.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

salisbury steak {and glitter & stickers}


Oh my.

I am such a blogger slacker.


Slacker!!

And I can't think of one single thing to write
about that would intrigue in the least.

So, I will tell you what we're having for dinner:

Salisbury steak
Mashed potatoes & gravy
Corn
Salad w/ hard boiled eggs,
cheddar cheese & the works.



Here's my Salisbury steak recipe,
because I know someone will ask:

(I have to double this, of course)
1 lb. ground beef
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup saltine crackers (about 4 crackers)
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbls. milk
1 Tbls. prepared horseradish
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Mix altogether & make into patties.
Fry in pan....remove from pan, make gravy.
(if you must know, I use powdered gravy. There, I said it.)
(I am not Martha Stewart. Did you know that?)
Add patties back into gravy in pan, simmer.
Serve.
It's way good.
So good.

Anyway,
my life is churning away with cooking for these people in
my home.
They refuse to stop eating.

Darn the madness!

I do hope your life is wonderfully productive as well.
And full of glitter and stickers.


Our families appreciate us greatly, I'm sure of it.


God bless us all.







Monday, May 14, 2012

cheap quantity

Do you ever just feel like you're in an awful funk?
Oh man.
That's how I've been feeling lately.
Argh.
I hate that!

I have too much to do to be weighed down
by such crud.

Pray for me, would you?

In the mean time, I'll put on my sassy pants
and press on.


Completely unrelated to the above,
I need some suggestions.

My kids love, LOVE, to draw, color, cut out shapes, etc. etc.

We go through copy paper like toilet paper.
And let me tell you,
we go through a lot of toilet paper.
Hence the septic tank blockage.
Don't get me started on that again.

Anyway,
I'm on the hunt for a big roll of white paper.
I remember my mom buying one when we were kids
and we used it and used it and used it.
I don't know that we ever got to the end of it,
despite our immense creative use.
Oh golly, were we ever creative!

So,
tell me your ideas!

I need CHEAP.
And I need QUANTITY.

I know I can count on you.
Y'all are wonderful.

Thank you for being you.






**I have no idea why my font changes suddenly,
mid-post.
It drives me so crazy!
Just ignore it.
Thank you.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...