Monday, July 30, 2012

Checking in...

We're still trying to regroup over here. Since I last checked in, my husband has been to another funeral in the family and on yet another business trip. His schedule has also changed from leaving in the middle of the night and being home in the afternoons, to working evenings. Our daily routine is resettling.

We're still here and still managing to keep our heads above water. I'm not blogging, but I'll be podcasting this week. We're going to hit the Book of Revelations again.

Tune in here Wednesday, August 1, 6 p.m. Eastern. 

P.S. I got bit by a spider last week. My adrenaline is still pumping, but no limbs have rotted off, so we're still good here. See you Wednesday.

Terribly sorry, m'am. I thought you were someone edible.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

7 Quick Takes Sunday (Better Late Than Never)



1 Small Town Life
Statue of Local Hero and Airport Namesake, Rick Husband

We had an early morning adventure yesterday taking my husband to the airport. Our Daddy works there so everyone on staff knows our kids and it was so early we were the only people in the entire section other than airport employees, so this was a fairly "safe" adventure of negotiating the escalators. We all wound up in the same place eventually, but at one point, I had one child at the bottom of the escalator, one on the escalator, and three descending the adjacent stairway. My husband called me to laugh about the fact that he'd heard all about it prior to boarding his flight. News travels fast in a small town airport!

Shabby Apple, Modcloth, and other retailers some of my friends just love (but can't afford) are running discounts through Betty Beguiles. Head on over to get the coupon codes and some awesome end of season savings!

3 Models of Grief
My grandmother in February. My friend in April. Andy's sister in June. His grandmother just this week. Almost every family goes through those times when the losses seem to come in like the tide. When the latest call stopped me in my tracks, my kids alerted to the tone of my voice and clustered around silently to comfort me as I tried to comfort my mother-in-law. How do we know how to do this? How do we find the words when words won't do? Comforting another seems like an impossible task, yet how necessary it is to try.

Because of all this, the grieving process has been front and center around here lately, and as a family we stumbled across some new information we'd like to share. I'm sure everyone has heard of the stages of grief. Come to find out, those stages actually observed and documented the stages the dying person went through. It was applied only anecdotally to the family members grieving the loss. So, those documented stages of grief that we all know like the back of our hand may be undergoing some revisions soon. Here's the link to the article I stumbled across. It is calling for a new grief model. You just might find it interesting.

4 *Cough Hack*
We have all succumbed to a summer cold around here. Two days ago my son used his iPad to complain "Sick and Tired" on his Proloque2go app. I passed it off as a fluke. Today, when the other four came down with swollen glands, sniffles, and sneezes, he flashed me his patented "I told you so!" smirk. The little smarty pants!


5

I came across this and loved it. You may see this one again as it has generated plenty of pondering. Had to share it!

6 How It Is Supposed to Work
1. God
2. Spouse
3. Kids
4. Me

Looks simple enough, doesn't it? Sensible. Regardless of what my good intentions are I keep slipping up to the number one slot. I don't know how I keep managing to wind up there. I just seem to reset to the pre-Galileo I'm-at-the-center-of-the-Universe-self-esteeming mindset. Then, if that's not bad enough, I'm missing a whole class of people: my neighbor. The "Love Thy Neighbor" thing has to fit in there somewhere, doesn't it? I haven't even begun to add them to my "Supposed to Do" list!


My actual list looks more like this...

1. Me
2. Me
3. Why are you bugging me?
4. Oh, whoops.
5. Confession.
6. Repeat.


Why do I seem to continually get this whole Christian Life thing wrong? Le sigh.

7 Prayer Request
Please pray for the repose of the souls of my sister-in-law Catherine and my husband's grandmother Julia and all who love and miss them. Thank you so much.




_____________



Jennifer Fulwiler
Thanks to Jennifer Fulwiler, a fellow Texan, for hosting
7 Quick Takes Friday 


Thursday, July 12, 2012

Strawberry Ricotta Pancakes

Our family is fixing to switch gears in a few weeks. My husband's work schedule is changing, so he will be home for breakfast!

I've never cared for cereal personally and I have my doubts about its nutritional value (any food you have to "enrich" is suspect), but I'd fallen into the habit of allowing the kids to eat cereal as I rushed around getting my morning chores done. Now that breakfast is going to include a man who loves family meals, it's time to get excited about breakfast foods.

No more cereal!

I am currently trying out recipes. My plan is to preview enough recipes for about two weeks worth of relatively easy and delicious options that everyone likes. I'm hoping that when it comes time to switch the routine, I will have the recipes already on "automatic," so that I can think less about cooking while dealing with the chaos that ensues with any change in family routine.

What is working out for me right now is to whip up the breakfast in the quiet between the children's bedtimes and mine, then pop it into the fridge, so that all that I need to do in the morning is the actual baking or grilling. So far so good.

I'd appreciate any tips from breakfast aficionados for making this transition smooth for us!

Meanwhile, I simply had to share this recipe. My kids were asked for input on the recipe choices after my husband and I had each picked out 10 to 15 likely options. (If you haven't guessed, food is a serious matter in our family.) My oldest son, John, on hearing a description of the recipe we were going to base our recipe upon suggested adding strawberries into the mix. I don't even like pancakes, but these were awesome! We topped ours with honey, but next time I'm going to try a homemade strawberry syrup.

I made my lemon ricotta while I waited for my coffee to brew (cutting the recipe down to 1 quart of milk and 2 to 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice), but you can purchase ricotta or make it the night before. Prepping as much as possible the night before, including mixing and refrigerating the batter, saves you from adding a hefty cleanup to the morning routine.

John's Strawberry Ricotta Pancakes

3 large eggs
1 handful frozen or fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth. Pour the batter onto a lightly greased, preheated griddle in 4 inch circles. Do not walk away! The bottoms will brown quickly, so keep an eye out. Flip when the bottoms are a golden brown.

For a gluten free version, I simply made a batch of Pamela's Products baking mix pancakes according to directions, substituting goat milk for the water and adding the strawberries and 2 Tbs of sugar. Be sure to make your gluten free version of a dish first if you are making both types. This will save you from having to meticulously wash your blender halfway through your prep!