What's For Dinner?

Wish I'd Done That: Plan meals out for a week or two. That way, you will have all ingredients on hand, and there won't be that mad scramble to think of what to make. You could make a whole month's worth, and keep repeating it over and over. Stock your pantry with items you always use: pasta, rice, canned tomatoes, soup base, potatoes, etc. Meals will be a cinch!


On that note: What's for dinner at your house?


We're having a great stir fry. In my quest for better health, I'm using different veggies. Tonight, I'm adding zucchini to the mix, along with the traditional broccoli, carrots, onions, etc. Rather that the rice, I'm serving mine over spaghetti squash.

If you haven't tried this, I really recommend it. Slice the squash in half from stem to end, place face down in a microwaveable dish, add a bit of water, and micro 10 minutes on high.

Take it out, and remove the seeds. The rest of the squash can be pulled into spaghetti strings by using a fork run through the pulp.

Amazing, and really good!

The squash is also great served with grated Parmesan with chives or chopped green onions.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Wish I'd Done That: From my friend, Dana - store old books in plastic tubs with lids. She'd stored some in cardboard. You guessed it: a flood, and she lost all her precious books!

Ace has come through once again! For 3 years (I know!) I've wanted molding in my kitchen/dining. We just never got around to it. I finally decided to hire someone, since I didn't want to nag. I had really about decided to change the whole paint and everything, when Ace mentioned something about molding. He said, do you want it for your birthday? Sort of unconventional, I know, but I really love it!

It really finishes off the space - I went back and touched up the glaze on the walls, and now I just love the way it turned out!


Laura did the Scripture for me years ago; I scraped the popcorn ceiling last spring and refinished the ceiling with paint and glaze. (no, she won't do it ever again - I guess I scared her)
The foolish man asked if we were done now (with home improvements), and I just laughed!
Who ever heard of anything like that?
Now, we move to the bathrooms and master bedroom with all that molding. He said it wasn't hard!........

Growing Things

Wish I'd Done That: Ace and I always measured our kids on their birthdays. We had a really cute growth chart with Scripture that we put on the back of the kids' bathroom door. When they got taller, we moved the measurements to the kitchen door frame. If we ever move from this place, I'm taking the door trim with me!

For Christmas, one of my favorites is this herb garden. LA knows how I love to use fresh herbs, so she gave me this:

The set included seeds for: lemon basil (yum!), Italian parsley and marjoram. I'm excited to watch the herbs grow. It's so cold and brown outside, it's great to have something green and growing on the inside.

The real challenge will be keeping them alive until harvest time. I'll post periodic pics to see how things are growing.

Thanks, kid!

Remember to pray for our country and our new president. He will needs the prayers of God's people.

Collections

Wish I'd Done That: In today's world, child safety is a grave concern. When your little ones are 4 or so, teach them a "password". This helps when you have someone new pick them up from pre-school, church, or wherever. Unless the new person knows the "password" your child should not go with them. This is handy, and can be presented in such a way your child won't be scared, just cautious. Obviously, if it's Grandma, they don't need the password; you get the idea.


I love to go to garage sales, auctions, antique and junk stores. I've found lots of great things, and I loved doing it with my parents.

One of the things I love most is cobalt enamelware. You can find enamelware in lots of colors: yellow, green, grey, etc., but my favorite is cobalt.

My dad gave me the coffee pot, and I bought the cup and saucer. Later, Mom gave me the other saucer. We had so much fun together digging around for our treasures. Dad found the coffee pot in some junk place, and Mom said he was so excited to find one for me for such a great deal. He loved to bargain and talk to everyone he met during our outings.

I don't remember where I found either of these pieces, but I love the different mottling on them. Great!

The pot on the left that's upside down came from my grandmother. She didn't collect anything, she just had it lying around, and I wanted it! She probably used it for washing dishes, or something. Anyway, it's special since it came from her.

Grandma was a real hoot. I don't think she was even 5 foot tall, but she could cook like something you've never seen. Jana says she turned the heat up and cooked everything on high. She had 10 kids - one every 2 years. She made the very best noodles I've ever tasted! Gosh.......She always had a German chocolate cake on her kitchen table, too.! Wow!

I move my stuff around all the time, but I always keep this group out, because it reminds me of great times with Mom & Dad and my Grandma Headrick.

Love Life

Wish I'd Done That: As you are gathering all that stuff to take to Goodwill, put some of the stuff on the kitchen table and let them be creative. Use the old paper napkins, leftover craft feathers and other project "orphans" and let the kids go crazy. Good for their creative skills, and it's less you've got to haul away. Display their creations for a week, then out they go, too!

I Love My Life
1. All my needs are met
2. Personal freedom
3. Freedom to worship
4. Great family
5. Great friends
6. Great church family
7. Fairly close to my extended family
8. Kids are healthy, happy
9. Husband healthy, happy
10. My Redeemer loves me!

Laundry List

Wish I'd Done That: I've been cleaning cabinets, closets and drawers. You're supposed to get organized in January, right? I throw lots out, but the remainder I take down to Goodwill. Someone might get some use from that stuff; I just don't need it anymore. It is freeing to cart stuff away. If that's true, why does buying more give me such a buzz sometimes? Hmmmm....
.

10 Things Wrong with Keeping House

1. Cleaning toilets

2. Dusting window blinds

3. Cleaning baseboards

4. Ironing (unless there's a good old movie on TV)

5. Doing taxes/accounting stuff for LauraSartin.com

6. Changing seasons of clothes from upstairs to down

7. Doing dishes

8. Going to Wal-Mart

9. Washing windows

10. Cleaning bathrooms

Agony and Ecstasy

Wish I'd Done That: For a great cold-weather activity, my friend Priscilla says to wait for a REALLY cold day - 0 degrees or below. Get a glass of water, go outside and throw the water into the air. She says the water crackles and freezes. Try it! Your kids will love it. Just stand them at the back door - you won't even have to get them all bundled up!

I hope you all remember last week's big TU football bowl game win over then-ranked Ball State, because today, I must report on a sad loss.
TU hadn't beaten Memphis, a conference foe, in 7 tries. Last night, we played them at home on ESPN2. We were behind the entire game, but in spite of some bad luck, missed calls and 22 turnovers, we had a chance to win.
Our best guy, Ben Uzoh, went to the free throw line with 4.5 seconds left. He shot 2, made both, and TU went ahead.
Memphis took the ball down and shot over our 7 foot Jamaican dream, Jerome Jordan, and the ball went in as the buzzer sounded.
So sad! Memphis hadn't lost a conference game in forever (44 wins in a row), and we thought we finally had them.
Oh, well!
Very exciting, but disappointing.
Ace & I have season tickets in the same seats as last year. I'm going to have to move next year, because we've got some doozies who sit behind us. They have nothing but negative things to say about our kids - I don't know why they come.
As a parent of an athlete, I know how deeply these kids want to win; they are trying their hardest to do their best. Sometimes, that doesn't happen. I'm so tempted to ask these so-called "fans" if they've ever played a college basketball game, or any sport, for that matter.
It's a great lesson for me to always be positive: someone is always listening!