Woes and Truimphs!

We are (allegedly) one week away from closing on both of our homes.
You know that means that I am insanely busy, right??
I mean more busy than I usually am.

We will be saying goodbye to this house which has served us well these last 14 years and in turn saying hello to our new home, and anticipating the blessing it will be for our family.
So, while I would love to be here typing away telling you tales of woe and triumph, I simply cannot; as time does not allow it.
And really, truth be told...my fickle artist brain doesn't allow it either.
You know how those artist types can be, blown by every little wind, unable to produce should the time and circumstance not be perfect for ultimate creativity.
Yeah, not much of that perfection has been available lately.

But I can't just leave you hanging out there with not even a tiny tale to keep you coming back.
I mean really, someday I truly will type the end of the wedding saga and I want there to be someone out there to read it.

So, here are a few tidbits of woe and triumph to keep you going until I can manage more.


My 6 year old daughter presented these envelopes with color coded love notes to my husband and I last week. Inside each envelope was a five dollar bill and some change.
This was the last of her fun money that she was sincerely, unselfishly giving to "help pay for the new house".
Yes, it made me cry. (triumph)

Friday was my remove the fish from the pond so I could relocate them day.
We have
cross that...
had 10 fish.
I could only find 9. My big glorious orange and white beauty was missing.
I assume it was eaten by some horrid creature.
Yes, it made me cry. (woe)

Okay it didn't really make me cry...but it did upset me. It was there earlier in the week. I should have known something was,
dare I use the word "fishy" here? Yes I think I will.
I should have known there was something fishy going on, when the other fish didn't come quickly to the surface to eat last week. Self preservation???

A friend of mine has a neighbor who is also moving and downsizing. She has a beautiful wood dining room table and chairs, (as well as an entertainment center) that she simply has no room for in her new home. She was searching for someone who would appreciate what a special thing they are and love them as she did. The Lord brought the two of us together. She had no idea I that I have been contently using a plastic covered 8 ft. folding table for some 12 years or so, and that I truly will appreciate having something so nice!
This totally made me cry!! (triumph)

Our other large fish got a little feisty in his temporary home and jumped out over the edge. You know what they say about a fish out of water...I can assure you it is true. (woe)

Thanks to the hard work of so many of my dear friends we have about 85% of this house packed and ready to move. It takes a true friend to come over and sort through your 14 years of accumulated dust covered treasures. (triumph)

Wow, look at the time, I gotta get!!

Here is something I want to keep in mind this week especially.

The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
Mmmmm, that is nice.
I like to be directed by someone who knows what they are doing, don't you??

Try something new

Hello blog readers!
It is a classic Monday full of laundry and other household duties which have fallen to the wayside during the course of a busy weekend.

Today I would like to introduce you to a few of my new kitchen friends. You may have met these happy helpers before, or you may be like me and need to make their acquaintance.
I have a buddy who is an outstanding cook (and all around wonder!) I found it interesting that she is the one who first introduced me to all three of these products over the course of the last few years!
I have so much to learn, and am glad to have friends with more experience to guide me along and to teach me new things!

So, here you have them!


Of course this is in no way a product endorsement or advertisement, this is just stuff I like to use.
Okay, got that out of the way.

I used all three of these things in what I am calling "3 bean chili" that I made yesterday.
I thought about sharing the recipe, but of course I was making it up on the fly and didn't measure a single thing. That makes for frustrating recipe writing!!
It was basically chili with three beans. Ha, ha, ha...helpful aren't I? I was determined to get some nutrition in my family and took the bean route.
I had left over black beans, a can of white kidney beans, and also a can of navy beans.
See... 3 beans.
I also used a can of tomato puree, (love that stuff) and the items found in the Product Highlight Section of my blog.
Don't go looking around for that particular section...I just made that up.
You can actually just keep reading below.
But it sounded cool right? Product Highlight Section...
Maybe you should just ignore my weirdness and keep reading.

Our first product highlight is Kitchen Basics Stock!


This comes in several varieties including chicken (in a gorgeous school bus yellow box), and vegetable (in a fantastic kelly green box). Oh, color how it invades my life!!
It is a staple on my grocery list. I mainly get the chicken stock, but have found that there are times when beef stock is a necessity! I am not a Martha-make your own stock kind of gal. Not that I am opposed to that kind of behavior, I just don't have time or energy in my life for that right now.
This stock is excellent right out of the box. I really like the fact that it doesn't have any crazy weird stuff in it too.
Like what you ask? Well, MSG for one thing.
Autolyzed yeast extract for another...actually that is a type of MSG. Look it up!
I stay away from that stuff cause it makes me feel bad.
I am a feel good kind of gal.

Next up, Wondra Quick Mixing Flour!

I am in theory, opposed to enriched and bleached flour and go out of my way to not use it in my baking where it is the main ingredient in a recipe. However, I do make an exception for this Wondra Flour. I had no idea this was even on the planet until just a few months ago.
This is an outright tragedy for a girl who believes gravy to be a food group.
It is light and airy and fine. It is to flour what powdered sugar is to sugar.
It doesn't clump and glump when you are trying to whisk it in to make something thicker!
If you make gravy or sauces at all, it is a must have kitchen companion!
Yesterday I knew I would want my soup to have a little thickness so I simply added this in to cook with my ground beef a bit after it had browned. When the stock went in, it thickened up nicely!

Last thing to introduce today...
Ancho Chili Pepper


YUM!!! This has a slightly sweeter, milder flavor than classic chili powder.
You know how you get in a rut of just buying the same old ingredients. That is me, I bet that is you too. We know what works and we stick with it.
What a travesty!
What a devastation to all those other miraculous flavors out there waiting to be discovered.
This chili pepper when into my 3 bean chili yesterday too! It was the star of the dish, giving a subtle spiciness and terrific chili taste. Oh YUM!!

To finish my 3 bean chili off I added some corn tortillas cut up in small pieces.
It was a hit and everyone said it should be added to the "hey, you should fix this again" list.

I hope you are getting out there and trying new things....maybe this short list will inspire you to do just that today.
Have a great week!

Dollars for dirt

In an effort to make our old back yard agreeable to the new person buying this home we are filling in our fish pond with dirt.
Well, we are taking the fish out first and transporting them (somehow) to the new home. I have grand plans on this matter, all of them involve me doing a lot of screaming and jumping around as I try unsuccessfully to transfer the fish to the bucket.

Fish make me very squeamish.

Moving fish out of water freaks me out pretty badly.

Fish flopping in the grass...well that makes me jump around and scream because there is NO WAY I am gonna reach out and actually touch the fish to save it, but I desperately hate seeing it writhing around in agony like a fish out of water. Okay, it is a fish out of water but there truly is not better word substitute for getting you to picture that atrocity.

So, it should be interesting.
10 fish with their destiny in my hands.
Maybe you should be praying about this in advance.

Anyway this isn't about fish, it is about dirt.

I set out to find cheap dirt yesterday, phone in hand, fingers ready for dialing. I am a frugal gal, and pretty close to broke as well so when it comes to spending money on dirt....well that just fights with my inner thriftiness.

Here is how the phone calls went...

ME: "Hello, do you deliver dirt?"

THEM: "What kind of dirt?"

ME: "Uhhhhh.... cheap dirt??"

silence

more silence

ME: "I am just filling in a hole, it doesn't have to be special dirt."

THEM: "Do you want topsoil?"

ME: "I dunno, is it cheap?"

THEM: "Well it is $22.00 a yard, how many yards do you need?"

ME: (thinking.... that is cheap????) "Uhhhhhh my husband says we need 3 yards."
Hopefully cluing them in that I personally don't know anything about dirt, but am just the dirt liaison while my husband is at work.

THEM: clicking the adding machine keys
click click click..
"Okay, lets see... 3 yards of dirt" click click click "times 22.00, unless you wanted the blah blah blah dirt, it is $24.00 a yard"
I say blah blah blah because for me, and my long life of experiences there is just dirt, and cheap dirt is the only kind on my mind.

ME: "No thank you, I will just take the first dirt you spoke about."

THEM: still key clicking, "We have a delivery minimum of 4 yards, is that going to be okay?"

ME: "Uhhhhh, well I need the dirt so, yeah, I suppose that will have to be okay."

THEM: "Alrighty then, that is $88.00 plus a delivery charge of $25.00"
(or $35.00 or $45.00 depending on the place I spoke with) "bringing your total" click click,
"to $113.00, or $123.00, or 133.00." "Plus tax"

And they all said it as though it was the best deal out there!
They were genuinely proud to offer cheap dirt at low prices!!

ME: mouth wide open and aghast at the price of cheap dirt
"Well, thanks so much. I am still shopping around. I will get back to you."

Heavy sigh!

Idea.....

I decided we didn't need cheap dirt, we need free dirt.
As I was perusing Facebook yesterday a person came to mind who might possibly have some dirt.

So, I sent her a Facebook message.
(cause people don't actually use the phone to call people any more unless they are hunting for dirt).
I asked "Hey, do you have some random dirt laying around, or do you know of a good dirt guy?" I admit this is not worded eloquently.
But don't judge, I had just spoken to 8 proud dirt owners and was feeling like a lousy liaison.
She said "I don't really know how much 3 yards of dirt is, but we have lots of dirt. Come on over and get some, its free if you wanna haul it."

The dirt liaison then did a little dirt dance around the room! Woohoo free dirt. I placed the phone back in its cradle and dusted off my hands. My work was done.

Boy, I sure am glad I get to shop for a new fridge!
That is more in my comfort zone.

Have a great day...I plan to.

I find my poor little brain jumping around from thought to thought with little discipline for staying with one for very long.
Again, it is the unsettled nature of my life right now.
Just for fun, I thought I would type out a few for you.
It might be boring,
or insightful.
But, hey no one is forcing you to be here reading...most of you come of your own free will.

I have three books on my dresser. One I have finished reading, one I have started reading, and the other I am rereading. I just can't put any of them away! Why you ask? It is a very silly reason and has nothing to do with my naturally cluttered nature.
They all are beautifully designed in a red and black and white theme. This is visual delicacy, and I like to continually savor it.

My daughter left her tiny little string of pearls in my room. It reminds me that one day she will be a lady and that I am her constant example in that.


How now brown cow. Uhhhh, yeah...not sure where that came from but I was thinking it.

I still have two loads of laundry left. Guess I should have started sooner or worked later yesterday. So, Tuesday is now laundry day too.

I lopped off the bottoms of the last batch of asparagus that I steamed for dinner guests the other day and put them in a baggie in the freezer. I wonder if I will make something wonderful with that before the move or if it will get wasted. Some asparagus soup would be lovely.

I used to think cell phones were asinine, now I feel a teensy bit lost without mine.

I don't appreciate it when I order a fine steak at a restaurant, ask for it to be cooked medium well only to have the waiter sneer at me. I like it how I like it, ya know!! I have found the guys that cook at the Japanese steak houses are the worst about this.

Coffee is my friend. I think all of my buddies understand this and won't be offended at the level to which I hold this liquid wonder. I cannot get by without my buddies though!!

My thirteen year old hugged me today before he left for school, right there in front of his friend. I am feeling kinda weepy about that.

My middle son hates to go to school. I genuinely wish I could rescue him from this daily perceived torture. I know though that sending him is a better gift than allowing him to stay home. Maybe one day he will understand that too.

Having mini cadbury eggs in a bowl on my desk is not wisdom at its finest. I even chose a bowl with a lid, but that hasn't swayed me. Chocolate is my friend too!

My husband ranks right up there with coffee and chocolate. He is my friend.

I shouldn't have packed the envelopes yet.

I have had to return to my blog to retrieve 2 recipes within the last week...yup, packed the cookbooks too!

There is this man (whom I adore) who acts as a father to me. He reads this blog because he loves me. It certainly isn't because it is interesting subject matter or relevant to his life. Can I just say that touches me to the core! Everyone needs a Dad like that.


I am feeling a bit melancholy, can you tell. I think the moving out of this house where all my babies started their lives thing is creeping up on me.

Is anyone still with me? It matters not...

Off to have a day filled with wonder!

Kindness is sweeter than chocolate

Whoa, now. That kind of title would tend to get me riled up. I mean I believe in kindness and all but...
I have to admit, there is not much better to my personal sweet palate than deliciously smooth dark chocolate. I just love it! And it is good for you...you know this right!?! Really the two simply should not be lumped into the same category but for this occasion I will let it ride.

On a side note to my loyal readers; I simply cannot write the last of my wedding story yet, my heart is not in it...and it really needs to be to come across well. I am unsettled in my life, which makes me unsettled in my brain, which makes me an unsettled writer. So, I will go the easy route and at least have some form of self expression out on the table.
All the hubbub of regular life, with a bit of moving madness jumbled in has provided me a story to relate to you.

I have no problem being a spontaneous kind of gal. I am good at last minute plans and going with the flow. That said, I am also an avid planner about some things. When packing for a picnic for instance, I'd be sure to walk through every step of the process in my mind so as to not be lacking in anything needed for a lovely picnic experience.
What if you want to have watermelon, but you bring no knife to cut it. What if you want a sandwich but bring no mustard? What if you have plates but not napkins? The possibilities for a disastrous picnic are many, and I personally like to conquer them all.
So....when I found myself throwing some stuff in the cooler bag yesterday as I was running out the door, I knew I was in for disaster..but what can you do? There was simply no time to plan it out in great detail.

We decided to meet some people at the park for a little picnic and fellowship. I arrived with my hastily packed cooler bag...and my children.
Let's see, I didn't pack..
plates,
napkins,
chips,
pickles (doesn't everyone bring a jar of pickles to a picnic??),
a trash bag,
or
duh duh dunnnnnnnn
DESSERT!!!
You simply must have dessert on a picnic.
It seals the deal, makes it official, speaks of all things good in the world!!!

It was my intention to make some yummy dark chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, but alas I was once again kicked out of my house for some sort of inspection and was therefore empty handed on the dessert front.

I asked around to my fellow picnickers. Wait, is picnickers a real word?? Hmmm... strange, oh well lets go with it for the sake of the story okay?
I asked around to my fellow picnickers..."Did you bring any dessert?"
I asked everyone ...sure to include all within earshot.
Then I got more specific...
"Did any of you bring any chocolate chip cookies?"
Seriously who doesn't bring chocolate chip cookies to a picnic?
Well, these picnickers did not!! I was aghast!!

One family had those awful sugar cookies with the yellow icing piled high then sprinkled with the little colorful polka dots. Blech!!!! They are so fun to look at but, I have no desire to waste the calories on the dreadful things. No offense, but those things are nasty!!
The other family had brought freshly baked cookies from Subway. They specifically chose them because they were fresh from the oven, normally a good choice, right!?
However, much to my chagrin...they were also a sugar cookie. I did suffer through a bite of one of these, with great dismay. I really, really just wanted my dark chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and there simply was no substitute for my weary soul.

This particular park is nestled between a shopping center and some very nice condos. So, you often see people walking home with their shopping bags filled with their purchases. This lovely evening was no exception. I saw a gentleman walking leisurely with his four small bags, two in each hand.
I wondered in my mind...hmmmm maybe he has dark chocolate chip oatmeal cookies in his shopping bags??
Then I questioned out loud...."I wonder if he has any chocolate in his shopping bags" (Intimating that even a stranger knows that you are supposed to have chocolate available at all times to a crazy woman weary from the trials of moving. )
This made my fellow picnickers laugh as I had already hounded all of them several times for this very treat.
While I am sometimes a shy and reserved person...when it comes to food, I tend to forget my boundaries. I suggested that I was going to ask this fellow H.E.B. shopper if he had any chocolate in his bags. (HEB is a grocery store chain which I do also shop at, may even go today!)
My other picnicking friends kind of laughed this off, but I was a woman on a mission and found myself speaking before I could stop the words from coming off my tongue.

I shouted in a friendly manner, "You wouldn't happen to have any chocolate in those bags would ya?" He slowed, looking around to be sure I was actually speaking to him, then stopped, looked down at his shopping bags seemingly taking a mental inventory. He made some sort of internal decision because he then started walking toward us while reaching awkwardly into his bag.
He confidently said "No, I don't have chocolate, but I do have something better!"

SOMETHING BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE...UUUHHHHHH....boy did he have my attention!
What could possibly be better than chocolate nestled down in his fantastic plastic shopping bag?
I waited.
He dug around.
I saw him begin to withdraw a box. A box...of what...I could hardly bear it!!!
I waited.
He then commented "Yes, here you go, better than chocolate!"

I for one, was shocked and amazed that he even chose to stop and give my friendly holler a notice, let alone pull something from his sack to share.
He counted our little group and assured himself that yes, there were enough in the box for everyone to have a treat and handed the light blue box over with a huge smile.
We were awestruck and thanked him profusely for his kindness, all of us beaming up smiles at him from our positions on the picnic blanket. (ok, fine it was actually a few beach towels I had called to tell my oldest son to bring when my buddy picked him up. The picnic blanket is thrown over the loveseat which is thrown in the garage to make our little house seem more spacious.)

We finally turned the box over to find that he had given us a box of orange flavored lite popsicles.
Baahhhhh ha ha ha ha ha... He must be crazy to think that that is better than chocolate!!
The taste of the popsicle surely wasn't comparable to the deep rich chocolate flavor explosion I was craving, but his generosity was palpable! He sincerely gave up something he thought would be a treat to complete and total strangers and walked away smiling!
That really touched me, on a day I needed touching!

Just thought I would share that with you!

PS...as the rest of the group was walking to another portion of the park, I popped into a little grocery store and bought a chocolate bar. A dark chocolate bar.
I must admit I contemplated hiding in a dark corner and consuming all of it before anyone could catch me, but I remembered I was an adult, rejoined the group, and broke off generous hunks of it to share. Aren't you proud of me!!

The issue of trust

I have found myself in a constant state of unease these past few days.

You see, we are waiting for our inspection report to come in on this home which we have lived in for 14 years.
What is it about this house which we have lived with, which will be a detriment to the next owners?
I don't really care to go into all of that specifically...what I want to talk about is living like you mean it.
Actually, that is not quite it.
I think I live like I mean it...(trusting in God that is).
It is getting my twisted in knots stomach, and racing heart to agree. It is shutting down the worry so that I can sleep through the night.
I decided just moments ago that I have been living as though I am stuck in a war zone and prepping for battle.
This is so far from reality it almost makes me laugh at myself.

There is no battle going on right now, except that in my own spiritual life to really trust in Gods timing. Which I suppose is an important war, but has me in no imminent danger.
Don't we all have our own neat little time schedule of just how everything should happen, and what would be just right for us.

God is the master planner. We have example after example of His amazing timing skills and yet we tend to not trust that He is doing that very thing for those of us who love Him too.

I mean seriously...he orchestrated little Joseph getting all the way to Egypt so that years and years later he could send Moses along to help set them free. And in that he sought to teach them so many things about how great He is and what a mighty hand He has for His people.

Do you believe He is doing the same for you.
More importantly...do you find your stomach and heart agreeing.
Today is the day for me to whip mine into shape.
Today is the day I surrender to God's timing on my moving issue.
If you are struggling in some way with the Masters timing, I understand...but lets give Him a chance to work His magic...okay???

When we move

When we move
I will miss the heavy blooms of this glorious wisteria.


My husband brought it home for me one day out of the clear blue.


He knew it's beauty would thrill me year after year...


...and it has.

I don't rightly recall the year he gave it to me.
But here it is in the year 2005.

I at least thought about taking a photo every year, but am pretty sure I got sidetracked a bit and missed a few opportunities.

Like the year 2006.
Hmmm, no telling if I took one or not that year.
Probably one of those years I just walked past the back door gazing out enjoying it while thinking....I need to go take a picture of that.

Ahhh, here we go here got one taken in 2007.


and its annual picture in 2008, looking kinda rough!
I think this must have been right at the beginning of the flowers opening.
I should have waited a week.
Then I probably would have forgotten.

We were busy building a fort in our back yard last spring.

So, the wisteria got ignored a bit in favor of my cutie kids hammering away with their cutie daddy!
But, see...it is there to the right, if you look closely.

Yes, this is one of those things I will miss when we move.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Sigh.
I think I am in an exhausted stupor.
Maybe I should just go now.
Yeah, I am gonna go.
I totally need more energy to get through a good funny wedding blog. Cross your fingers on that, but please don't be holding your breath.