Home Sanctuary

Day Two of School, Mom gets an "F"

I like to think that I'm helping the Holy Spirit by providing good opportunities for my kids to develop fruit in their lives. Like Patience.

Yesterday, I was supposed to call up to the school to let my son G.T. (13) know that I would not be picking him up after school so he should take the bus.

Yeah, well. I forgot.

So he waited for me. And waited. And waited.

The buses left. The cars left. The teachers left. The lights turned off.

A full Hour and a Half later, I screeched to a halt in front of the school. I'd driven like a maniac from Ft. Worth to get there as fast as I could after the "Are you coming to get meeee???" phone call. I felt like a Loser-Mom.

Fortunately, by the time I got there, G.T. had worked through his frustration and was in pretty good spirits in spite of the long, lonely wait. He had a lovely chat with some nice lady in the office, who probably felt sorry for this poor kid whose mother forgot him.

(He also happens to be the only poor kid in 8th grade who doesn't have a cell phone. Horror of horrors, he had to ask to use the school phone to call. Several times. What kind of parents does he have, anyway?)

This is all probably going in his Permanent Record.

Today was Day Three, and it went off without a hitch. I'm hoping to redeem myself by NEVER FORGETTING ANOTHER THING IN MY LIFE.

Well, at least not one of my kids.

Back To School for Procrastinators

I knew I was in trouble the minute I saw the WalMart parking lot on Sunday afternoon. Apparently, the whole town decided to show up at the same time I did to get those last-minute packages of glue and paper for school. I had already been to Target, in the hopes that I could get what I needed AND grocery shop all in one stop, but their school supply shelves had been razed.

So I trudged on to WalMart, and although I had to wait for a cart, I was excited to find a pretty good supply of items from my list.

I started loading up.

Unfortunately, the school aisles were so crowded, I couldn't fit my cart down one of them.  Not a problem. I left it at the end of an aisle and dove back in without it.

S'cuze me, S'cuse me. Let me just reach in here....

Triumphantly clutching my colored pencils and spirals, I emerged from the feeding frenzy only to find that someone had STOLEN MY CART!

With all my stuff in it.

It was like it disappeared into thin air. Someone probably saw all my carefully selected items and thought, "WOW! A Personal Shopper has served up this full basket just for me! Thank You, Personal Shopper, I'll just be moving right along!"

So glad I could help.

Fuming, I decided to thumb my nose at WalMart and head over to Staples, where I found exactly what I needed and plenty of it.

Of course I still needed to stop at the grocery store to get food, but after three stores what's one more?

This morning we had muffins and orange juice for breakfast, I packed the PB&J sack lunch (just one sack this year, waaaah!), and I will bake up some chocolate chip cookies for our annual Post First Day of School Party. The milk is chilling even now.

I shoulda, coulda planned this first day a little better, but as we Procrastinators like to say,

All's Well that Ends Well.

My Front Porch Looking In

It's the weekend before school starts around here, and you know what that means:  a last minute scramble to organize ourselves, get haircuts and make sure we have ziplocks for sandwiches.  A look around will tell you that we have a ways to go before the schoolbus pulls up on Monday morning.

For some reason, I am struck with joy and hopefulness at the thought of getting back to a somewhat regular schedule.  Maybe it's just that I'm a little tired from the late nights that teenagers like to keep.  Even when all my kids were small, it seemed so much more difficult to get into bed at a decent time during the summer months.  They always seemed to bounce off the walls until the wee hours no matter what.

Some of you gals had your school supplies purchased WEEKS ago, and took advantage of the summer sales to get your kids outfitted for a new year.  I applaud you!  But that's not how it went around here.  I still need to make a stop at WalMart for a few last-minute items....like THE ENTIRE SCHOOL SUPPLY LIST.  I just know there won't be any 12 x 18 inch packages of Manilla paper left.  That's usually the first thing that runs out and since I am shopping this late in the game, I have little hope to find any, anywhere.  Maybe if I throw in an extra box of tissues no one will notice.

In the midst of my planning and list-making, I just had to stop and enjoy the moment.  Elle (20), Robert (son in law), and Em (19) all came over to spend the night and it's been great.  Elle, Em and G.T. are watching the final episode of LOST--a fitting way to round out the summer.  As I walk from the office, and through the breezeway to open the glass door, I can see them huddled on the couch around the laptop screen, just waiting for the cliffhanger ending of the show.

Man, that's cute!

We've come a long way from the sippy cups and "shoes on wrong" but my view from the front porch looking in is still the same.  I love seeing those kids, mostly grown now, and remembering all the good times we've had together.  I love to see them goof around and even bug each other (until it gets on my nerves) and just be kids.  The world outside can be so harsh and complicated, but in here, its really pretty simple.

We're a family.

Oh, you KNOW we have our days.  The ones where it's hard to get along and life knocks the stuffing out of us.  But do you know what I mean?  When you see things like those heads squished together and their bodies all flopped over each other and their tan summer skin and their ice cream bowls all over the place, you just gotta love it.

It's a great view.

Get-Real Menu Planning for Busy Families

There are many elaborate menu plans I see that I just know won't work for my family. They include things like "Roasted Leg of Lamb with Braised Asparagus and Cherries Flambe for Dessert."

Riiiiight.

I've found that I can easily come up with a month's worth of dinner ideas out of stuff I already know how to make.

First, I start by brain-storming. I list broad categories of dinners, like: Italian, Crock-Pot, Grilled, Mexican, LEFTOVERS (yes, it's a category), PAPER PLATE MEALS (you gotta get real), Gourmet (I'm putting this in for you "Foodies"), Soup N Sandwich, Breakfast for Dinner, etc.

Then, I think of as many meals as can that fit under each category.

Italian: Spaghetti, pizza, manicotti, baked ziti, stuffed shells from Sam's, etc.

Crock Pot: Pot Roast, Barbeque Chicken, Beef Stew, Italian Chicken

Go ahead! Take out some paper and try it. I'll bet you can come up with a BUNCH!

Each Category really only needs 4 items because.....

Then, I look at our Family Calendar. I start plugging in the standing activities we have that affect our dinner times. For example: for many years, we had piano lessons twice a week from 5:30-6:30, which meant that we either had to eat early OR late. On Wednesday nights, we have church. Sports might be on another night. I take a blank calendar page and write these activities across the top. I put in my work/volunteer schedule: On Thursdays I work all day at Junior's school after I've served at the homeless shelter.....(cough)

Then, I take a blank calendar page, and working across the week, I start assigning the broad categories to days of the week.

On Piano nights, I assigned Crock Pot Night, and Sandwich Night--both are quick and easy with little clean-up required.

On Sports Nights, I might do Drive Through Night (Oh, didn't I tell you? That's also a category! I just like to plan it in, rather that use it willy-nilly)

On Monday nights, we are all home together so I plan a nice, sit-down meal. Gourmet perhaps?

On Saturday nights, I might do Breakfast for Dinner, because you never know who is actually going to be home: waffles are always a hit.

I actually found that I could come up with TWO MONTHS worth of dinner ideas by doing it this way. And even when I don't stick to the menu plan, just having it posted up on the refrigerator helps jog my memory when I'm in a pinch, which it often. It also helps me remember to thaw things out ahead of time and start early enough in the day so I don't have mutiny on my hands when 6:30 rolls around and the troops are starving. Voila, Dinner is Served.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Our Sweet Em

Today, 19 year old Em packed up her stuff and headed back to college. She has been home all summer (except for her mission trip to Moscow) and we have loved having her here again. We already said our tearful goodbyes last year when she left for the first time, so this year should be easier, right?

I wish.

I choked back the tears all day yesterday, knowing it was our last full day together. The summer went by so fast and it was so full we didn't get to do many of the fun things we had hoped to do. Em was our "Home Girl." She kept 13-year-old G.T. occupied, and ran errands, did housework and pitched in so Tom and I were able to work through the load we'd bitten off. I don't know what we would have done without her.

She even ended up working all through the night on our job site on her birthday, and never complained. That's just the kind of girl she is.

We always tell Em, "You are a Jewel." Sweet and unselfish, but no wallflower. She is funny and silly, yet serious and deeply spiritual. With her incredible tumble of red hair and her blue-green eyes, she just simply shines. From the inside out. She has a heart that loves Jesus, and a passion to follow Him forever.

One of Em's best qualities is her determination. From the time she was little, when she'd set her mind on something, you could be sure she would accomplish it. We used to chuckle when her piano teacher would help her select a new piece to learn. She would inevitably pick the piece the teacher told her was "too difficult" for her level.

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" was Em's attitude. And she'd learn it perfectly.

I didn't watch the old Explorer go down our dusty driveway as she left with her Daddy. We said, "No tears, we'll get to see each other later this week. College is only an hour away!" I busied myself with cleaning and tried not to look at her empty room.

It's only when I think about the wondrous gift that she is, and how she has grown into such a beautiful young woman, and how much I will miss getting to see her every day that I feel the tears come.

I guess this is how it is supposed to be when you say good bye to your kids. When they are little, you spend so much time wishing they would just grow up. Then suddenly they are packing up their stuff and waving, and you wonder where the time went. Hey, wait! I didn't mean for it to go that fast.

Oh, we have been so blessed. Through my sniffles, I am grateful.

More Apronons

One of my Company Girls, Grace, gave me this link to Shannon's (Rocks in my Dryer) giveaway of a perfectly darling Apronon.

I think we should all sign up for one, right now. Connie, at Smockity Frocks is a very talented lady and you can order one if you don't win the giveaway.

What's an Apronon?

When we were little, my sister, Katherine, used to ask our Mom,

"What's an Apronon??"

She couldn't figure out what Mom meant when she would say, as she began to prepare dinner, "I need to get my apron on."

As a result, we still call aprons, "Apronons."

When my girls and I make cookies or lefse, someone goes looking for the apronons, which are hanging on a nail in the pantry. When I am cleaning up a messy kitchen with greasy slop, I reach for an apronon. And I always wear an apronon when making spaghetti, so it won't splatter onto my clothes. The men in our family even put on apronons when they carve the turkey at Thanksgiving, or clean up the holiday dishes.

I like wearing apronons. I only have a few of them, but they serve me well. Mine are the kind tie around your neck and back, and are made of sturdy material. My sister has a darling collection of kitschy apronons, and has used them for decoration in her kitchen. It looks great!

You know, when I tie my apronon I feel a kind of connection to my Mom and Grandmothers, who always wore their apronons not just for cooking, but for cleaning as well. Generations past also had housecoats, or housedresses: loose comfortable dresses that women wore while they did their household chores. They weren't nearly as attractive as the apronons, they were more like apronon's Ugly Cousins.

You can buy some super cute apronons these days, and I highly recommend going out and purchasing one or two. Mine are the practical kind, made for barbequing and tough enough that a man won't feel awkward wearing them. I do like my man to feel at home in an apronon.

But I think I'm going to upgrade my apronons to something a little more feminine, something June Cleaver would wear. I'm still inspired to take my business here at home seriously enough to invest in what I need to feel professional.

Professional AND cute. Look at this one I found at wrapables.com:

Apronons are just the thing.

Creative Meals To Make With a Rotisserie Chicken

I said we rarely eat out, but I never said I make all my meals entirely from scratch!

Enter: the Rotisserie Chicken.

On Tuesdays, Albertsons has these on sale for 3.99 each. But mostly I'm in a hurry on the Other Days, and have to pay full price. It doesn't really matter, because I can still feed my family for a lot less than if we drove through McDonald's.

First, pull off a leg and nibble on it while you decide what to do with the rest of the chicken. Take the chicken off the bone and pull it apart or cut it up into chunks. Hmmm. How about......

1. Sauteed Vegetable Medley, served with chicken, over rice.
Lightly saute onions and whatever veg you have on hand. While that is sizzling, make a pot of rice. Add chicken bits to the veggies just before serving to heat through, and serve it over the rice.

2. Chicken fajitas
Saute up some onions and peppers, then add chicken right at the end. Let everyone build their own fajita, with grated cheese, beans, lettuce, sour cream, salsa. Don't forget the chips. This is a good one to serve with cut up fruit.

3. Pasta with Chicken and Vegetable Pesto (Delish!)
Lightly saute vegetables in olive oil. I like onions, red peppers, zucchini, broccoli and carrots. It just takes a little bit of each kind to make a lot. Add the chicken at the end.

Meanwhile, boil ziti or mostaccioli pasta (or whatever you have). Mix the pasta in with the vegetables and add several tablespoons of Pesto to mix in also.

You can add some goodies like feta cheese and black olives to this just before serving. Tastes like it came from a restaurant!

4. Chicken Salad

Every one has their favorite way to make chicken salad, so I won't do a recipe here. Sometimes, I put scoops of chicken salad inside buns and wrap in foil and heat in the oven. It's like a Hot Pocket, except it tastes good.

5. Chicken/Vegetable Soup

My Mom is the queen of soup making. Even a small amount of leftover rotisserie chicken can make a delicious soup, and we especially love it in the fall and winter. All you do is put some water and/or canned chicken broth in a pot and get it slowly boiling. Start digging through your vegetable drawer, and cut up whatever you have on hand and throw it in, along with the chicken. It's the onions and the garlic that make everything taste good, so use plenty. I usually add boullion cubes to boost the flavor. Thicken it at the end and serve it up with crusty bread.

6. White Chicken Chili

I use the recipe on the back of Bush's Northern Beans. The recipe used to be on the back of the Navy Bean can, but now they went and changed it. I'm waaay over my 500 word "limit" so I'll post the link to the recipe here.

You can always just eat the chicken right off the bone, which is what we do quite often. Paper plates optional.

How about you? Share your Rotisserie Chicken ideas with me, so the rest of us Company Girls can get inspired!

Easy, 2 Ingredient Chicken

I've noticed that my Food/Meal Planning Category is very sparse.  That's because I do little or no planning these days, not like I used to when all five of us sat down to the table every night.

What I do try to do is have ingredients on hand that I can throw together to make a meal quickly.  So even though we are rushed and disorganized at times, we rarely have to eat out, and don't need to rely on the Pizza Man for sustenance.  I'll talk about the importance of a well-enough-stocked pantry sometime soon.

Here's what we had for dinner last night.  Don't scoff.

4 Individually Frozen chicken breasts, still frozen

1/2 cup of barbeque sauce

(OK, I added some onions to this....just because I like onions.)

Toss in Crock Pot for about 6 hours, or until chicken can be shredded.  Serve on buns (with extra bbq sauce) with baked beans, chips and watermelon.

Hey, it's easy and made enough for leftovers, which I love. (One less meal to plan.)

In the midst of chaos... a runaway donkey, the sheriff's department and a wedding.

Needless to say, last week was a crazy week.  My home bore little resemblance to the Sanctuary I long for, but I've told myself, "Eh, what's one week?"  Maybe the kids will never remember it.

Too bad they are past the forgetting-about-things age.  Now they are into the reminding-me-about-things age.  ("Mom, remember that time you told us to shut up?")

Anyway, that's not my point today.  And it was only one time.  Let it go.

Last week, we installed artwork and graphics at a large, well-known ministry.  It seemed like one really long day, because it started on Saturday (July 30) and ended on Saturday, August 5 at 5 am, with very little sleep all week.  Tom pulled 3 all-nighters and I miraculously pulled one myself.  I usually can't go without sleep but adrenaline must have kicked in.  The installation was complicated and time-consuming...but in the end, it looks great.  As soon as I get the photos downloaded, I will post them.

The project location is an hour-plus drive from our house.  So in between building frames, printing last-minute art pieces and designing things on the computer, the trips to Ft. Worth seemed endless.  Rob and Elle, fresh off their mission trip to Russia, jumped in and started working right away.  We gave them one good night's sleep at their own apartment and then hauled them to our house for the installation-marathon.  Em kept G.T. from going absolutely crazy by downloading and watching Season 3 of LOST with him on her laptop.  It was kinda funny to see their two heads scrunched together, occasionally talking about "the hatch" and "the Others."  What?? And we ate a lot of quesadillas.

On Thursday night, I was up late in our office (converted garage).  At 12:45 am, I hear two vehicles pull up:  one complete with flashing lights on top.  Two big guys in uniforms get out (starched shirts stretched taut around their middles, just what you'd expect), along with another guy in a truck.

"Ma'am.  Sheriff's Department." They flash a badge.  "You own a donkey?"

We had noticed that Flash was missing the day before, but just didn't have time to track him down.  I actually checked the sky for circling buzzards, thinking maybe his carcass was laying out there in the pasture, and when I didn't see any, I just kept movin' on.  Hey, I had a lot to do.

"Well, this gentleman says that your donkey has gotten in with his female horse, and uh.  Ma'am, he says ya'll are gonna have a baby MULE on your hands."

At this point, the man in the truck stumbles over, and says "Yeah, yore donkey here got up into my corral where I was keepin' her away from my stallions and by the time I got over to them, they was layin' down smokin' a cigarette.  The deed had been done."

The sheriff guys turn to me and say, "Are you going to pick him up tonight, or are you going to get him in the morning?"

Tonight?? Are you kidding?

I tell them I will get him in the morning and fix the gate where he got out.  I choose right then and there not to tell Tom about this event (he's pulling the all-nighter) until after this is all over.

So the next day, (Friday) I'm at A-1 Feed Store, getting the largest halter available ("whatcha got, a Belgian work horse?"  No, just a small donkey with an freakishly enormous head) and some sweet feed to lure him home.  My glamorous friend, Priscilla, happens to call just then to ask if we'd found Flash yet.  She had been over the day he went missing.  I launch into the tale, and before I'm even finished, she says, "I'LL BE RIGHT OVER."

So she comes over and we locate Donkey Boy over on the neighbor's property.  He looks pretty rough, like his lady love gave him a hard time.  In the next pen is the girl in question:  a cute little mare, very leggy.  We could see why she caught our long-eared friend's attention, but you just can't respect a floozy that's THAT easy.

Getting the halter on Flash was the simple part.  Pulling him home was another story.  Let's just say that if a donkey don't want to go, he ain't goin' nowhere.  We tried pulling, pushing, using a stick, hand feeding him, shaking the bucket of feed.  He'd take a few steps and then plant his legs and just stand there.  There we were, pulling with all our might, sweating and coaxing. We laughed so hard! The ridiculousness of trying to budge a lovesick donkey home on a hot, sticky Texas day in a back woods pasture was just too much!  I just hope Priscilla gets some good sermon illustrations from this, because we must have been a sight. 

Finally, Priscilla says, "Look, Flash follows us like a dog any other time.  Why don't we just walk away from him and see if he starts moving?"  So we turned and walked away, and sure enough!  He picked up his goofy hooves and started plodding after us. 

I guess he didn't mind coming along, just as long as it was his own idea.

With Flash safely home, (looking oddly smug), it was time to turn my attention back to finishing up our project.  It took us until 5 am Saturday morning, but we did it.  We got a little bit of sleep, then packed up for a trip to Austin, Texas for our nephew's wedding that night.

The wedding was a long, Catholic affair, for which we Protestants were not prepared.  ("Do we go up for Communion, or not??  When do we kneel, and when do we say the "Ah-mens?")  But the standing and the sitting, and the standing and the sitting helped keep us awake, particularly Tom, who was the most sleep-deprived. 

The reception was fun, especially for all the cousins, who tore up the dance floor.  When a conga line formed, my sister, Katherine, and I noted that the only people in the conga line were OUR children, whooping it up like seasoned partiers.  Yes, folks, those are all ours.

And except for having to move from one hotel room to another in the middle of the night, due to an unacceptable level of toxic tub epoxy fumes, we slept very well.  We got some great family photos and made a fun memory.

All in all, it was a good week.