Home Sanctuary

As requested, pictures of my non-Posh hair

It's a dismal realization to learn that I am a mere shadow in my family's photographic history.  In many photos, I am the fuzzy backround figure in a sharp image of my children mugging for the camera.  In others I am caught frantically trying to scoop up household debris before the snap of the shutter.  Too late!  There's my backside, bending over while the cute kids smile, unconcerned that their house will forever look like a war-ravaged zone in our albums.  Don't they care?

Apparently not.

Sure, I'm in the holiday pictures in front of the tree.  There are some with me cooking.  I've got some Mother's Day pictures in my bathrobe, eating breakfast in bed and looking like I just woke up.

But there are few, few pictures I would deem worthy enough to say, "Now THAT's a good one to put on my blog for anyone in the world to see, especially after I've criticized famous people's hair!

So I snuck into my daughter's bathroom to quietly take some self-portraits on a Good Hair day. The humidity level was just right, and the pouffy look (which can surprise any of us with its random appearance) was thankfully, not present. However, I learned the hard way just how difficult it is to get a good shot of one's head in the mirror, especially without one's teenage son around.

Here's one of the "better" ones I took:

Its really hard to get centered AND focused, obviously.

This one's not bad, but the flash is right in my face:

Cool effect!

I happened to find this out-of-focus (big surprise, there) shot of me filming my son's hockey game.

So, for both of you who wanted to see the 'do, that's all I got. That's gonna have to do you until after this year's "family-in-front-of-the-tree" shot.

PS Sorry for the music, but I couldn't resist. I'll take it down tomorrow......

The Secret Ingredient to a Gazillion Quick and Delicious Meals

OK, maybe not a "gazillion," but enough meals to make your family think you're an amazing magician in the kitchen! I love to impress my hungry, fork-stomping brood with my ability to whip up an impressive dinner in a matter of minutes.

I've already shared my Rotisserie-Chicken love affair with you. And now I spill the beans on my other paramour, the smoked sausage.

Simple, elegant, and good gracious! It's PRE-COOKED! Move over hot dogs, there's another chopped, pressed meat in town.

I like the Skinless variety because it's, well, skinless.

So get your apronon and try a few of my favorite ways to use this edible chameleon.

Sausage and Vegetable Medley

Start (pretty much any) meal preparation by sauteeing up some onions. Throw in some red or green peppers in for color. At this point, your family will be drooling in anticipation, because they can tell you're working on something good in there. While that is starting, slice up any other veggies laying around (you know you have some!) like zucchini, broccoli, carrots etc. and toss those in. Add sliced smoked sausage at the very end, and voila! A colorful, flavorful dish to serve over rice.

Variation: 1)
Serve the above next to couscous. I love couscous because it only takes 5 minutes.
Variation 2)
Serve over Ramen noodles (cook according to pkg, and then drain like spaghetti. Yum!)

Red Beans and Rice

You CAN make this from scratch, but why?

There are many mixes like this, but here's one brand I've used.

NOTE: I add 1/2 cup rice and 1 cup water to the mix so it's not too spicey. Add sliced sausage during the last 5 minutes and serve with chips and cheese.

Sausage and Pesto, with Pasta

Start up your onions and veggies, like in the first recipe. Add sliced sausage. Cook up some pasta (ziti, penne). Toss all together with prepared Pesto to taste. To this you can add feta cheese, slice olives, etc.
You might want to serve this on some nice china with crusty bread. It's so good your head will explode from all the compliments you'll receive.

Breakfast for Dinner

This is an actual monthly menu category. Sausage can be substituted for bacon or ground sausage patties, etc.

And the simplest of all meals:

Easy: sauteed onions and sausage, served on a toasted bun with melted provalone cheese.

Easier: microwaved sausage served on hot dog buns

Easiest: eat sausage directly from package, skip the bun. (Not recommended.)

For more recipe ideas, Eckrich has plenty. AND they have printable coupons! Go getcha some!

This week I noticed that my grocery store had their store brand for "Buy One Get One Free" and since they have a long refrigerator life, you can stock up on an extra package or two. Perfect for having on hand during the holiday rush of activities.

For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, go visit Shannon!

A man's idea of multi-tasking

My man, duck hunting AND reading his hockey play-book.

See how he can call in the ducks AND plan hockey plays at the same time?

I'm not much of a multi-tasker, so I'm thinking that's pretty good...for a man.

On medals, awards, and a rock named Stretch

My husband was frustrated with the amount of clutter and debris piled into our closets and drawers.  "Every single thing you open has a bunch of junk in it," he said, disgustedly. 

"I mean, just take a look at this drawer," he pulled open a drawer from a small desk in our bedroom.  In it was a jumble of old Christmas cards, pens, paper clips, spools of thread, movie ticket stubs, lone game pieces, Music Theory medals and paper awards. 

"And what the heck is something like THIS doing here?" he scooped it up and held it in his palm for me to see.  "Why do we have ROCKS in our drawers?"

I looked down at the smooth, striped stone in his hand.

"Oh, that's not a rock, that's Stretch!" I said, laughing.  "Elle found him when she was about 7 and named him Stretch because that's what he looks like.  He's very special."

Tom looked skeptical.  Just to prove my point, I told him to go show Em and ask her about it. 

I heard their voices from her bedroom. 

"Do you know anything about this?" his voice had softened by this time, and I could tell he was showing her the rock.

"STRETCH!" she exclaimed excitedly, the moment he opened his hand.  "Wherever did you find him??  I wondered where he was!"

I could hear Em tell her dad about how she and Elle used to love finding rocks.  Fat ones, sparkley ones, black ones, skinny ones.  But none were are as special as this guy.  He was flat, yet rounded and smooth.  He fit just perfectly in their little hands.  And with his stripes, he practically named himself!  Elle introduced him to me and then set him on the wooden kids' table that sat in our kitchen.

Stretch kicked around as a paper weight for quite some time.  For awhile he lived on the window sill above my kitchen sink, and then finally one day he became a member of the junk drawer club.  He made the move with us from city to country, having survived numerous rounds of cuts as we purged our belongings down to the essentials and important mementos.

It's really no surprise that he found himself in the company of the medals and awards.  I look at those tarnished trophies that celebrate our children's accomplishments, and I have to squint my eyes to recall the ceremonies in which they received them.  I can't even remember what most of the certificates were for.

But Stretch, I can remember Stretch. 

Holding him in my hand brings a flood of memories.  He was from a time of pure innocence, an era of my kids' childhood laughter and play.  There were birthday parties and Santa Claus, recess and make-believe.  The dress-up clothes were never put away neatly, the kids' table was awash with craft  supplies, and there was always some kind of drama with playmates going on.  It was such a messy, noisy and crazy time of life.  Who would have thought it would be over so soon?

But I look back now, and of all the things we've saved from those years, Stretch holds a certain place of reverence in my mind.  His simplicity, his quiet strength, his ability to keep secrets and his knowledge of all that's happened in this family make me treasure him all the more. 

When I see him, I envision my beautiful grown daughter as she was at age 7, sparkling with excitement over finding just the right rock. 

"See?" she said.  "Isn't he just perfect?"

Yes, he still is.

Add Some Company Girl Bling!

In lieu of Company Girl T-shirts, would you settle for some Blog Bling?

I am trying to get a link set up in my sidebar that you can copy so we can all have matching outfits, but I'm having trouble. Apparently, things I create in Photoshop on my Mac don't show up on PC's. I'll keep working on it, but in the meantime, this is a preview of what I'm trying to create.

That is, IF you can see it!

***UPDATE!***

If you can see it, you can copy and paste it! It can be like a little be-jeweled lapel pin for your sidebar if you want, or you can put it into a post to let your readers know about our little group of friends. The more, the merrier!

C'Mon! Be a Company Girl!

Ladies, ya'll have simply overwhelmed me with your response to my invitation to be Company Girls!

I really and truly thought I might have 5 or 6 people along for the "Sanctuary is in the Small Things" adventure.  And just look how many of you have chimed in to create everyday sanctuaries for your families!  It tells me that there is a much bigger circle of friends than I ever thought possible and it just warms my heart. (sniff!)

If you are new to Home Sanctuary, I want to welcome you and make it a little easier to figure out what the Small Things "challenges" are all about.  I can hear you saying, "I thought I heard something about points and prizes....."

Here's what you need to know so you can start participating!

How do I become a Company Girl? 

Simply sign up for the newsletter. Then, stop in each day (or subscribe via RSS) to see what the Small Thing of the day is.  If you want to be added to the blog roll, you'll have to do that separately, in an email to me until I can figure out a better way to do it.

Why Become a Company Girl?

The short answer is:  just because we like each other's company and everything is better with a friend along.

Can non-bloggers join? 

Of Course!  About half of the Company Girls are non-bloggers.  Feel free to participate with your comments and emails!

What are Small Things? 

Read here and here to find out! 

Do I need any special supplies? 

Here's a short list that will help you get things done easily.  From time to time, I will let you know if there is something else you might need to participate.

How do you keep score? 

You are on an honor system to add the points you earn with each Small Thing you do.  There is a tally sheet pdf  in the "welcome" post at the top of the blog to make it easier to keep track of your points.

What happens if I miss some days? 

Don't worry, you can catch up during the month.  I will try and add enough ways to get points that you don't have to stress out over it!

Can I get my kids to help? 

Absolutely, YES!  Families should share ownership in creating their own special refuge.  There's no better team than the home team!

What are the prizes? 

You know I can't tell you EVERYTHING!  Let's just say I've been given some awesome things that I will roll out.  You'll want to stay tuned!

What if I can't do a Small Thing on the day it's assigned but I can the next day?  Can I still get points?

No points, sorry.  For now, you can just enjoy that warm feeling that you did a small, but important thing for your sanctuary.  Better late than never!  (Part of MY problem is procrastinating in doing those little things and I'd hate for anyone else to succumb to my nemesis.)

On a final note, the Small Things I am sharing are literally things off of my own "To Do" list.  Like your lives, my life is a juggling act.  I will try and answer emails and update the Company Girls list as best I can in a timely manner, but as I said, I THOUGHT I'd only have a handful of new friends!  You've blessed me immeasurably with your excitement and your hearts for creating home sanctuaries.  I know God will "establish the work of our hands" as we commit this year to Him! 

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Rachel Anne

My Man, my own Mr. Darcy

I was trying to clean up my little music playlist over there on my sidebar, checking to see which of the links were working and which ones weren't. My man, Tom was sitting at a nearby table, working on a project.

"I think I'm just going to eliminate this one," I said out loud, and hit the button to play the theme from "Pride and Prejudice." It was at the bottom of the list and I've never given it top billing. I thought it seemed a little out of place on my blog, even though there is still plenty of real-life pride and prejudice that happens at my home sanctuary.

As the opening piano notes began to play I heard my hockey-coaching, duck-hunting, football-loving, he-man husband say quietly (and with a British accent, no less)

"You have bewitched me, body ahnd soul."

I spun around to face him.

"WHAT did you say?" I asked. He'd hardly even looked up from his task.

"You heard me." he looked up and smiled at me.

Then he gave me his best Mr. Darcy look and repeated straight into my eyes,

"You have bewitched me, body ahnd soul."

Oh man. Any guy who can tote a gun, haul stuff in the back of a truck and quote Jane Austen is a real find.

I'm keeping him!

Didn't Work for Me Wednesday

The agony of losing my WFMW post TWICE is more than I can bear today.  I had put together a helpful post entitled:

The Secret Ingredient to a Gazillion Quick and Delicious Meals

I even included about 8 recipes using my secret weapon in the war against family starvation.  You KNOW that takes some time! 

So I get up this morning to publish my "Draft" only to find that it does not exist.

AAAARGH!!!!!!

The day is moving on and I must be on my way to work in a hilltop mansion, far from my world of iffy septic systems and pot-holey driveways.  So I will hang my head and sing today's sad song of defeat,

"Man of Constant Sorrow."

Maybe I'll have better luck next week.

Living a Life without Regrets

Everyone wants to live a life without regrets, but very few actually do it. When we were younger, "living without regrets" was a phrase we seemed to use much more often than we do now. I wonder why that is.

When our kids were born, we didn't want to regret how we raised them so I stayed home and devoted myself to motherhood the best I knew how. I certainly don't regret that. I don't regret being silly with them or letting them play in mud puddles or letting them dress up the cat. I also don't regret spanking them or trying to teach them manners. Lord knows they needed both.

During Tom's last year of college, we had a business opportunity and a choice to make: postpone his final semester of college to start a business or finish the degree on time and lose the opportunity. We didn't want to regret not taking a chance, so we took the business opportunity. Now that 20 years have passed, the business is long gone and he still has one semester left of college. Part of me feels a little regretful that we didn't let the opportunity wait while he finished that degree.

It's hard to know WHAT you'll regret years from now. Back then, we certainly couldn't see the pain and misery that business would bring us. But we also couldn't see how God used it to break us, humble us, and ultimately strengthen us. We just did the best we could with what we had, and sometimes that brings some regret along with it.

I think I've come to realize that a person who truly lives without any regrets is not the kind of person I want to be. Having no regrets means that you think you did everything right. That every decision you ever made was perfect and that if you had it to do over again, you'd do it exactly the same way.

And who of us can really say that? I regret that I didn't stand up for my daughter, Elle, like I should have when an adult said some horribly untrue things about her. I regret that I didn't write more letters to my grandparents, and that I popped pimples as a teenager.

Having regret is not always a bad thing. Many regrets go far deeper than popping pimples. When we hurt someone, we should regret it. We should regret immoral decisions. We should regret self-destructive behavior. Regret should make us take stock of ourselves and our actions. It should lead us to repentance and then to resolve. Without regret, there is no reason to change.

I'm really glad we've set out to live a life without regrets. It has helped forge the way we parent, the way we work and the things we believe. It helps chart our course through the tricky waters we often navigate. But just as important as purposefully living regret-free lives is, admitting that there will always be some regrets along the way may be just as important.

Acknowledging our regrets makes us vulnerable and imperfect. It makes us admit that we are not always the master of our own destiny, the controller of our universe. Regret helps us admit mistakes. It gives us empathy for others, and a common bond in another's struggles. It keeps us humble, and that's kind of how I think we are supposed to be. We don't have it all figured out.

Maybe that's why we talk about it less these days. We're still just trying to do it.

Why I'll never have Victoria Beckham's hair, just in case you were wondering

I have a thing about good hair. I've mentioned it here and here. In a perfect world, I would have Posh Spice's hairstyle. It's cute, it's bold, and it's expensive. Those are three words aren't often in the same sentence as "Rachel Anne...."

But I will never have "Posh Hair."

I have two main problems to contend with. First, I have a birthmark at the nape of my neck that would show with a style like that. Not that I'm ashamed of it, but it is a consideration.

Second, my husband thinks that the Posh style makes women's heads look like large, misshapen melons. And there's my biggest obstacle right there. I hadn't really noticed the similarity until he pointed it out, followed with the words, "Man, that's ugly."

My heart sank. Birthmark or no birthmark, wouldn't it be great to walk into a room with hair that makes everyone turn and look? To know that people just want a glimpse of the back of your head to see how it's cut? My dreams went up in smoke.

So I've compromised. It's gotten a little shorter (after all, I AM over 40) and it kind of has the basic shape of Posh's hair, except without all that glamour. I guess I really don't want the paparazzi following me to WalMart.

But I carry my hairdresser's card with me JUST IN CASE someone stops me on the street and asks, "WHO does your hair?"

Then I will smile demurely and say, "want to see the back?"