Home Sanctuary

Company Girl Coffee!

Company Girl Coffee is a new feature on Fridays that gives us a chance to stop in and visit each other's blogs.  The button is now "clickable" if you want to put it into your post...get the code (make sure you get ALL of it by scrolling) in my left sidebar.

If having people over to your house makes you break out in hives, have no fear.  With this mighty feature, we'll see only what you want us to see...no piles of laundry, no scattered toys, no children having melt-downs....just write a few sentences, maybe post a picture, and then invite us in by linking up below!

I would like for you to share something related to this last week's Small Things.  Did anything jog a memory or nudge you to get a task done?  Did you bake something from scratch?  Did a Small Thing inspire you to do something COMPLETELY different than the thing itself?  We'd love to know.

While you are enjoying your first virtual cup of coffee at my house today, I'll serve up some Chocolate Chip Banana Bread that I made yesterday.  I use a famous family recipe for the bread, but I add a handful of chocolate chips to the batter to make it incredibly delicious.  It never lasts long at our house:

Rachel Anne and Katherine's Banana Bread

1/2 c. shortening (I use buttah)

1 c. sugar

5 T. sour milk (the secret ingredient)

1 c. mashed bananas (about 3)

2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

Stir in about 1/3 c. of chocolate chips.

Bake at 350* for 60 min.

Makes 1 loaf, which disappears quickly.

Feel free to link up using the Mr. Linky if you are a blogger!  If you are a non-blogger but want to participate, leave a comment or email me and I will share it.  For more guidelines, read here.

Don't forget to double check your links to make sure they work!

Company Girls Coffee Participants

1. Alicia 2. Erin 3. Teresa 4. Mrs. H. 5. Lindsay 6. Rebecca

7. Forgetfulone 8. Cheryl 9. Stacy 10. Camille 11. Camille 12. Claudia

13. Jessica 14. carol 15. Joyce 16. cara 17. Mrs. Brownstone @ XBOX Wife 18. Melissa

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Back Door

Whenever I think of back doors, I think of one of my earliest childhood memories.

My sister, Katherine, had just been born, so I could only have been 2 1/2 years old.  My mother had made a long train trip from Mexico (where she and my dad were missionaries) to Nebraska, with two small children in tow to give birth in her parent's hometown.  It was the end of March and a late blizzard had just blown in.  We were anxiously awaiting the arrival of my father, when we heard a knock at the back door.

"Who could it be?" my grandma asked with a twinkle in her eye.  I was lifted up to see through the glass and into the enclosed back porch, but no one was there.

The knock came again.  I was puzzled.

Suddenly, my dad's head popped up from where he was crouching below the glass and I squealed with delight!  I can still remember him bursting through the door, smelling like cold, fresh snow, and squeezing me tight.  My dad was here! 

I cherish that memory.

Our goofy Barn House is situated so that we actually use our back door more than our front door.  It's confusing to delivery people and those who have never been to our house.  It's even confusing for US, and we have to clarify which door we are talking about.  We generally call the actual front door (which is used as the back door) "the Old Front Door," and we call the back door (which is used as the front door) the "Kitchen Door."  Then there's the "Way Back Door" in the back room, but that doesn't really help our confusion.

Paying attention to the Front Door area is easy.  It's a No Brainer.  It's where most guests get their first impression of your home and you can maintain a facade of orderliness for the first few feet into your house. 

The Back Door area is another story.  It's where the stuff of life happens!  It's often where the shoes, backpacks, econo-packages of toilet paper, trash waiting to be taken outside, pet food and yard toys often reside on a semi-permanent basis.  If you are lucky enough to have a back porch, the whole area can be the messy underbelly of a busy family's life.

Today's Small Thing is to pretend you are a Back Door Friend, coming to your own house for coffee.  Some of you will be hosting "Company Girl Coffee" tomorrow by linking up, and this will really get you in the mood.  What is the first thing you notice when you enter from the back?

Perhaps your Back Door area is pretty neat, but your door itself could use a wipe-down.  Maybe you need to cart some of the shoes to closets or move some of the excess sweaters to the family members' bedrooms.  Could you put away the items from Costco that sit there forever?  Maybe sweep up the dirt that's tracked in.  Move the junk mail and straighten the rug.

POINTS: 40 for doing a little Back Door clean up.  It's going to feel great to walk in and not stumble over the stuff that always collects there!

Martha Stewart, Blog Diva

My daughter, Lauren, called excitedly to tell me that Martha, THE Martha, was doing a show all about BLOGGING!  She knew I wouldn't want to miss it.

She was right.  Martha Stewart had all things blog-worthy, interesting guests and blogging tips that were great for not only the novice blogger, but those who have been at it for awhile.

If you missed the show, find all the information here:

Let's Dispense with Formality

I don't know why, but I have "dispensers" on my mind.

Odd.  But sometimes words just pop into my head and I can't shake them.

Dispenser.  Dispense.  Dispensing.  Dispensation. Indispensable.

It's kinda fun to say, the way it rolls off your tongue.

I got to thinking about all the items that dispense things in our home, and was dazzled by the variety.

Paper towel dispenser

Toilet Paper dispenser

Soap dispenser

Diaper dispenser

Tissue dispenser

Ice dispenser

Water dispenser

Lotion dispenser

Air Fragrance dispenser
Wipe dispenser

Each doling out proper amounts of the dispensed thing, time after time, day after day.

If I were to guess, I'd say that the Toilet Paper Dispenser is the least appreciated, and perhaps the most underrated dealer of the whole lot.

Have you taken a look at your army of dispensers lately?  There they stand, ready to serve unselfishly and without personal glory or fame.  They are merely the supporting cast, presenting the true stars of the show for their moments in the limelight.

"Off with ye, now!  Ye wee squirts of liquid soap!  Don't be lookin' back!" (Said in Irish brogue)

Today's Small Thing is to look with fresh eyes at your own dispensers.  I noticed that my Toilet Paper guys are pretty spotted and dusty.  My ice dispenser has beverage droplet marks, from people who put the beverage in the cup FIRST, and then plopped the ice in.  Splat.

My soap dispensers, once clean due to a previous Small Thing, look a bit gooey.  My lotion dispenser is clogged.  I DID clean my fabric softener dispenser recently, for which I am proud.

Give your indispensable squad of doler-outers a quick wipe, or dust their trusty little shells.

POINTS:  30 for dispensing some elbow grease on the most overlooked, but important members of the household management team.

Can you think of other dispensers you might have? 

Why, I do believe I used the "dispense" word about 26 times in one post!  I can't get me enough!

All the Great Content, None of the Crabby Aftertaste

Heather, at Untraditional Home, left a comment that nudged me to mention something that I've been meaning to bring up for some time.

My Music Playlist.

She makes an excellent point about how annoying it can be to have the playlist reload EVERY time you open a page on my site, even the comments page.  And even if it doesn't bug YOU, it may cause the people around you to become crabby.  OUCH!

Not exactly the mood I'm trying to create here.

Rats. Unfortunately, Typepad does not open a separate "Comments" window, like Blogger's feature does, so not only does it take a long time for the Comment page to load, it also starts the music all over again, even if you hit "pause" on the original page.  So you get to hear the same song over and over....

I apologize.

I made a conscious decision to add a "song of the day" to my 2008 posts, even though music ranks as the #1 Annoying Feature for blogs and websites, according to everything I've read.  I've had fun with it, but I am very aware that not everyone finds it entertaining, especially those of you who read my blog while at the office, or if you have husbands nearby who are trying to work.  I do understand, and I may kill the tunes for next year, if only to be perceived as a classier blog.

Until then:

There is a very simple solution to this:  I suggest subscribing to my blog by Email.  You can click on the link over there in my right-hand column that says, "Subscribe by Email" and it will bring all this fabulous Home Sanctuary content right to your Inbox.  With no music attached.

All the great content, none of the crabby aftertaste.

Now, it still doesn't solve the problem of having to hear uninvited music when you want to leave a comment, because you will still have to go to my blog and then open up the "Comments" page to do that.  But, if you are so moved to want to tell me something, you could always email me privately and never have to set foot on my site again.  It's just an option to be aware of.

One last bit of Blog Business I'd like to mention, and today's Small Thing brings this to mind. 

It will be impossible for every one, every day, to do every small thing.  Please don't sweat it!

I may suggest that you clean your fireplace and you don't have one.  I might suggest that you flirt with your husband, and you are single.  Or play with your children, and you don't have any.  Or clean your baseboards and you have a bad back.  Baking something from scratch is one of those things that can be a real bummer if you can't do it because of health or diet issues.

Let me just encourage you to simply do what you can, when you can, as often as you can.  The Small Things are little suggestions, nudges if you will, to focus on the people you love by creating an atmosphere of kindness and joy.  How we make that happen is different from one home to the next. 

All of the Small Things are free, don't require much planning, and use things that are readily available.  But life is full of things we can't control, and even I can't do every Small Thing each day, despite my own best intentions.  Like you, I am just doing my best to juggle all the balls that keep getting thrown at me, while trying to live the kind of life that is purposeful and meaningful. 

So have fun with the Small Things, but realize that you are already doing a million Small Things each day to show your love and care for your families.  Give yourself a pat on the back, even on the days that you aren't able to participate for one reason or another. 

You're doing a great job!

Flour Power

On the heels of confessing my penchant for cutting housekeeping corners, I must also confess that I cut cooking corners as well.

Now, let it be known that I cook dinner almost every night of the week, but be it also known that I often pull out the "boxed" mixes and "prepared" foods to lighten the load of my servitude.

I like Rice-a-Roni, Noodles-N-Sauce, Prego Spaghetti sauce, Lawry's Taco Mix, Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice (with an added 1/2 cup of rice and 1 cup of water added to cut the spiciness and stretch the servings), Skillet Sensations, and the occasional frozen pizza, just to name a few.

And if I have to make a cake, I rely on the magic of Betty Crocker to make it work.

The other night, my "boys" got a hankering for chocolate cake and I wanted to delight them, so I promised I would make it while they were at hockey practice.

To my dismay, there were no cake mixes in my pantry.  I almost nixed the whole idea, except that my son's face was so radiant when I said I'd make one, that I decided to dig deeper into the pantry to pull out actual cake ingredients to create the promised delight.

It took oh, maybe 10 minutes longer than usual to get it mixed up.  I dirtied a few more utensils.

But, the result, oh the happy result of my chocolate-from-scratch cake was pure heaven.  I'd forgotten that "real" homemade cakes are denser and moister than their boxed distant cousins.  With a generous spread of almond butter cream frosting, we were in dessert nirvana.

In a moment of clarity, I realized that I've been seduced by the slickness of clever packaging and wowed by words like, "Just 3 easy steps!"  From there it's just a slippery slope to frozen TV dinners and Twinkies for dessert.  To think I came so close ....

Today's Small Thing is to bake something from scratch.

Now, don't go getting all up in my grill because you don't have time today.  I've already thought of that.  This is actually much easier than it sounds!  You have ONE WEEK to produce ONE BAKED item that does not require a boxed mix.

Let me help you out, here. 

• Do you have squishy bananas?  How about some banana bread!

• Cookies, any kind!

• Do you know how to roll out pie crust?  I don't.  But I might try.

• Brownies!  Surely, they can't be that hard to make.

• Low-fat anything!  You know you've been wanting to see if it's just as good as the high-fat variety.

• Bread....did you get a bread machine for your wedding?  Dig it out and impress your family.

• Waffles and Pancakes?  Yes, I think we should count them.

POINTS: 50, because this is a good one.  Baked things are always enjoyed at my house, and nothing celebrates motherhood like something fresh out of the oven!

This would be an EXCELLENT thing to blog about and then take pictures and share a recipe for Friday's Company Girl Coffee!

Cutting Corners

Did you have a chance to visit the girls who participated in Friday's Company Girl Coffee?  I got around to see everyone, except Anya.  I couldn't find her email address to let her know that the link didn't work.  Anya, email me and let's see if we can get a good link for you!  It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until the next one!  Check out Friday's post, click on the "Comments" link, and it will take you to the links for all who joined in.

One of the joys of living in an old house is getting to deal with old pipes and rusty vents and rotting wood. It's a real blast.  We've had a leak from the upstairs shower into our laundry room, which we ingeniously solved by placing a garbage can on top of the dryer to catch the drips.  And there was another leak, which was taking place behind one of the walls.  We couldn't see it, but we noticed water on the floor, seeping out from under the baseboard.

And then, as mysteriously as the "silent" leak appeared, it disappeared.  No more water on the floor. We said, "Huh!" and moved on, hopeful that it had been a figment of our imagination.

Imagine my surprise the other morning when I discovered THIS:

and THIS:

Yes, MUSHROOMS!  Growing in the corner of my pantry.  And fuzzy mold all along the bottom.

Just taking an wild guess here, but I'm thinking that there's moisture behind that wall.

This was truly. the. grossest. corner I've ever had to clean, ever.

I tell you this little story so that when you read Today's Small Thing, you will likely say, "Pshaw!  Easy!" Because you likely don't have any mushrooms growing in the corners of your house.

Yes, Today's Small Thing is to pay attention to some corners.  Since I normally clean in a hurry, I tend to cut corners when it comes to housekeeping.  I vacuum the traffic areas and wipe down work surfaces, but just hitting the high spots can come back to haunt you.  Like a bad memory.

Cobwebs can form overnight, literally.  Dust can settle behind furniture.  Play-Doh can become petrified nuggets of childhood recklessness and Lego pieces can go missing for years.  Let's not even mention what pets might secretly do in corners.

I'm not suggesting that you clean EVERY corner of your house.  Although, if you ignored the big messes and just did the corners, it might feel exhilarating.  Somebody try it and let us know how it feels!  Pick one room of the house and check out your corner situation.  Get rid of the cobwebs, wipe them clean, or vacuum them out.  That's IT!  Done.

POINTS:  40 points for cleaning the corners in ONE room.  Check countertop corners, ceiling corners and floor corners.

It DOES feel good!  

Or is it the mushrooms that are making me feel so fine? 

Coffee's On! Come on in.

Girls, this is YOUR chance to share with each other, over a virtual cup of coffee, the things that are happening at your homes!

Each Friday, I will post this Company Girl Coffee meme, so that you can link up and we can all indulge in some linky love.  It's my hope that you'll be inspired to take the Home Sanctuary challenges one step further and invite us in to help you celebrate your efforts!  Woo Hoo!

Since this is our inaugural meme, I'd like to open it up to you so that you can link to any post, past or present, about any Small Thing or Sanctuary endeavor that you've ever done.  That means that you can pull a post out of your archives to share, or you can write up a new one....it's up to you!

To participate, just click on the "Mr. Linky" below, and add your name and the link to your post.  You can put the Company Girl Coffee logo on your blog post by either right-clicking it, or by using the code in my sidebar.  (I hope the sidebar logo works....fingers crossed).  If you can't get the logo to work, just use a hyperlink to link back to Home Sanctuary.  The link back to me will help YOUR readers find the other Coffee Girls and will encourage them to join in.

For further guidelines, read yesterday's post.

Most of all, have fun!  This blog has become my daily joy to write, and I am so excited to get 'round to visit you all!  As most of you know, my own internet time is limited and so I don't get out much.  Just write my post, check my email and get crackin on the day.  So this will be a wonderful way for you to get me and all the other girls over to see you!

Jump in!

Company Girls Coffee Participants

1. Cheryl 2. Dori 3. Heather 4. Luanne 5. Marian 6. Kelly Rae 7. Alicia 8. megsgarden

9. Samantha 10. Sallie 11. Joyce 12. Anya 13. Melissa 14. Stacy 15. Forgetfulone 16. carol

17. Camille 18. Mrs. Brownstone @ XBOX Wife (oldie but goodie!) 19. tallulahjoy 20. Erin 21. Donna Scott 22. Esthermay

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Don't be Silly?

It's really silly for a 44-year old mom with a leaky bladder to run and do cartwheels in the grass.

But sometimes I've just gotta do it.

It's SUPER silly to eat ice cream in the middle of the day, for no reason at all, with no company over or anything.

But sometimes I do that, too.

It's unbelievably silly walk outside in the rain and get soaking wet and ruin my hair.

But sometimes the rain just calls me to it and I can't help it.

And it's ridiculously silly to stay up way past my bedtime to watch a chick movie all by myself.

Well, I haven't actually done that one yet, but it's on my list.

Yeah, I've got a list going, titled:  Silly Things To Do.

I've done a bunch of silly things in my life: made goofy faces with children, had indoor picnics, played make-believe games with my kids, worn my husband's shirt out in public, worn dangley earrings on days when no one will see me......things that don't make sense, but just make me feel good to do them.

I've always thought that if you can't be silly at home, then really, what's the point?  Silliness is something we often try to rid our children of, but it's the very thing that makes them endearing. Makes them sparkle!  Oh, I know there is a "time and a place," but sometimes we forget that the BEST time and place to be silly is with the people we love, in the place we call home.

Today's Small Thing is to do something silly!  You might really shake things up at your house if you actually lighten up for a moment and dance with a broom or stick a spoon to your nose.  Your kids might think you fell off the deep end if you start acting like a baboon or try and race them in the backyard.  Your man might fall over if you suggest getting up close and personal in the middle of the day, but hey!  It's a chance you ought to take!

Make your Home Sanctuary a fun place to be, not just an organized one.  You're running a home, not a jail, so be a little silly and enjoy yourself! Create an atmosphere of joy...a few minutes will be like a breath of fresh air.

POINTS: 30 for such silliness

BONUS POINTS:  20 for linking up for "Company Girl Coffee" this weekend!  You could post about some silly thing you're doing today or link to something else, but we wanna come and visit you!

Coffee's On with the Company Girls

Or, Get More Company Girl Traffic To Your Blog!

We all love visitors to our blogs.  I simply adore reading comments and "getting to know" my online friends!  So I'd like to invite you to join an easy meme as a way to enrich our Company Girl identity and get to know each other better.

And best of all, it will help you build traffic to your blog.  If you are a new blogger, this will be an fun way to get started in the blogworld.

Many of you participate in memes regularly and they can be a great way to generate some traffic and be involved with fun activities on the "interweb."  Laura at OrgJunkie has a great one on Mondays, and of course, there is Shannon's Works for Me Wednesday, which is awesome.

This will be really simple.  Each Friday, I will post a Coffee's On! meme that will use the following guidelines.

1.  Your link should be to a blog post about a Small Thing activity or inspiration from the recent week, unless I specify another topic. (I'm keeping the door open for last-minute creativity!)

2.  Your link must be family-friendly and in keeping with the spirit of Home Sanctuary.

3.  You need to link back to Home Sanctuary in your post.  I'll try and get the logo code ready so you can use it on your blog as well!

4.  You will have all weekend to add your link to the "Mr. Linky."  That way we can visit over the weekend at our leisure. 

So let's talk about things you might post about.  Think of it like you're putting on a pot of coffee and inviting some friends over to your cute blog pad.  We're wearing our sweats, and have just dropped by to chat for a few minutes.  This is your chance to share with your Company Girls something that you've done to help create your own sanctuary, like....

• Pictures!  Everyone loves photos.

• Write!  Tell us what you did to accomplish a Small Thing during the week.

• Inspire!  Show how you are inspired to create sanctuary for your family.

• Share!  Let us peek into your life and see what you enjoy, what you care about and what your goals are.

• Take a Tangent!  Sometimes a Small Thing will nudge you into thinking about or doing something completely different.  Just share how a Small Thing took you in a new direction, even if it's not the Small Thing itself.

• Invite your friends!  Let your friends know about our easy meme and then let's see what happens.  This is not a competition to be a "successful" meme, this is just an opportunity to have some fun.

Inviting a friend over for coffee is so much less stressful than throwing a dinner party or a fancy brunch.  All you need to do is put out the invitation in the form of a link in Friday's Coffee's On! post, and then just relax and enjoy the company. 

I look forward to visiting tomorrow, and I'll get the coffee started!

P.S. I am still trying to figure out a good way for our non-blogger Company Girls to participate.  You can always leave a comment in the comment section (rather than a link) while I work on solving it. Maybe facebook or some other social media would work?