Brain Droppings

I have been trying to work up some interesting thoughts to blog about, but alas, I have been completely uninspired. Nevertheless, I vowed to write regularly so I am trying a new exercise. I am just going to begin writing whatever pops into my head and see where my rambling thoughts take me. I know it might appear I use this tactic often, but surprisingly my posts are usually at least halfway written in my brain before I put pen to “paper.” This one, not so much….

Spoon rests: I have spent some time contemplating whether I need one or not. I made soup for dinner tonight and after wiping the spot where I set my stirring spoon for about the tenth time I wondered if a spoon rest was the solution. Nope, I don’t believe it is. I believe I would just be cleaning the spoon rest for the tenth time rather than the stovetop. I don’t fancy the idea of a mucky little spoon-shaped dish any more than a mucky stovetop surface. My conclusion: A completely needless kitchen gadget. Makes me oh-so glad I put one in Brittany’s stocking a Christmas or two ago.
 
Lipton Diet Green Tea: My new addiction. Never been much of a tea drinker, tastes like dirty dishwater to me, or at least how I imagine dirty dishwater would taste. But upon giving up soda a month or two ago I needed a more bladder-friendly replacement since I really don’t enjoy drinking water much. Enter the LDGT. It is so delicious. It has improved my life, made me a happier person really. It is true that it really comes down to the small things….16.9 fluid oz. of joy!

Laundry: My sweet friend Rebecca recently posted on facebook that her two oldest girls, age 9 and 8 I believe, have become her laundry angels and have taken over the responsibility of the family’s laundry. Kudos to her, I am beyond impressed. Makes me wonder why I haven’t been able to teach my children, who are much older than Abigail and Grace, to take over this chore. I don’t believe I have really even succeeded in teaching all of them (no names mentioned) to do their own laundry, much less mine. Speaking of laundry….this morning Christian went to dig his work shorts out of the dryer and was more than a little traumatized that my bra had attached itself to the mesh lining of his shorts. It made quite the funny picture seeing him pull those shorts out and hold them up with my silver bra dangling underneath. He did not share my amusement. Perhaps the enticement of not having his clothes mingle with my dainties will be incentive enough for him to do his own laundering!

Hmmm, the inner workings of my mind apparently do not produce any real deep thoughts. Upon asking Jeff to proofread for typos he observed that these were just my little “mind droppings”, thus the title. By the way, that soup that mucked up my stovetop was really delicious.

The Moped

Our youngest son recently purchased a moped. He has a job now and relying on his parents and their untrustworthy cars was getting to be a hassle. He is sixteen, but by group decision (the group being Jeff and me) it was decided he wasn’t quite ready for the responsibility of operating a 2-ton vehicle amongst unsuspecting, innocent citizens. The moped is his chance to prove he is ready for said responsibility.

It has amazed and amused, and to be perfectly honest annoyed me in no small measure, to see the sense of power and freedom the moped has given him. I am old, but not old enough to forget the thrill of getting your driver’s license and offering to run every errand possible just to have a reason to get behind the wheel and hit the open road. What I don’t remember is becoming so instantly possessive of my vehicle that no family member could get within 10 feet of it without me having a panic attack. The first time he let me test it out he literally ran beside me for the first 100 feet trying to jump on the back of the bike so he could tutor me in the finer details of moped operation. Me, who has an unblemished driving record of almost 28 years (two deferred speeding tickets don’t really count!) To say I was more than a bit insulted would be stating it lightly.

Perhaps a week ago or so Christian rode to a neighboring town 10 or so miles away to hang out with a friend. I donned my mom hat with a handful of pertinent questions before his departure. Was his phone fully charged? Did he have a water bottle? Did he have plenty of gas? All were answered in the affirmative. 15-20 minutes later I received a phone call from him informing me that he had made it about halfway but believed he was running low on gas and had pulled into the one gas station on his route. Problem…he had no money, would I please drive over and fill him up. Remember: moped purchase was made to make life easier for all of us. Due to the before mentioned undependable car I was unable to do so, however after a bit of brainstorming and trying to figure out how to remedy this situation we realized I could possibly give my debit card information over the phone should the clerk allow it. After negotiating the deal, he filled his tank….all $.88 it would hold. I’m glad to see him demonstrating a cautious side, it is not his nature, but needless to say he panicked a bit too quickly and was nowhere near running out of gas. I don’t remember ever spending such a small amount on gas. My sister and I once had to scrape change off the floor of the car to put $1.06 in our tank so we could get home, the difference was that afforded us over a gallon of gas back then.

Another lesson learned AMP (after moped purchase) was that driving a moped in no way, shape or form makes you look cool. About a week after the purchase Brittany and I decided we would ride tandem into town and fill the tank for Christian. Mayhem ensued, a gas pump was almost taken out, and a curb was almost accidentally jumped. Suffice it to say, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne had nothing on us, we were definitely dumb and dumber looking for certain!

The moped has also heightened my natural tendency to worry. When Christian leaves for work I mentally ride along with him and anxiously await the required confirmation text that he made it safely. If it is delayed by more than a few minutes I am picturing him lying on the side of the road wounded and wondering where his mother is. I must admit it has been easier having his freedom restricted to where and when we could transport him. I'm not quite ready for my last little baby chick to fly away.

Alas, despite my reservations, I must conclude by giving kudos to my son. He has made some progress in proving himself ready for the responsibility of driving. Look out world, Christian might be behind the wheel sooner than we thought!

Pinterest Recipe Project: Post #1

One of my favorite wedding gifts was a cookbook given to me by my sister-in-law Lorri. The title: Six Ingredients or Less. It was right up my alley. What could beat the delicious 5-ingredient Tamale Casserole (canned tamales, salsa, corn chips, cheese and sour cream) for ease and tastiness? Perhaps only the 4-Ingredient Vegetable Soup (tomato juice, Veg-all, salt and pepper)…delicious!

With so much extra time on my hands presently, I have been trying to flex my culinary muscles and have been endeavoring to make delicious meals for my family. I am not naturally a creative cook but with my new addiction to Pinterest, I have meal inspiration aplenty! I can happily report that with only one epic failure (the Best Pork Chops You’ll Ever Taste…well they are not!) amidst a plethora of successes, it is a worthwhile endeavor indeed. I have many more to try, but here are just a few of my “two-thumbs up” creations:

Peanut Butter S’more Bars – delicious! A few more ingredients than I usually attempt, but well worth the effort. I did a recipe and a half, because of course I didn’t think an 8x8” pan would be enough for my power-eating family. But suffice it to say, they are very, very rich and a small portion is all one needs.

Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake – this one made my son-in-law nervous, but even he admitted it was quite tasty. Who among us has not experienced the summer dilemma of what to do with the never-ending supply of zucchini? Well, this was certainly an easy cheesy solution for a handful of them.

New Orleans Red Beans and Rice – June Cleaver surely knew what andouille sausage is, but Grandma Jody did not. I must say however, a nice Hillshire Farms Polska Kielbasa worked just fine. My husband loved this dish, it’s got quite a kick. It will definitely be added to the regular rotation.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars – my daughter requested these for her birthday. They were amazing! Definitely worthy of their role as a birthday tribute. Again, a few more ingredients than usual, but pretty manageable nonetheless. One bit of advice worth noting: if you don’t own a mixer or a whisk for the cheesecake layer it can be quite a trick achieving the smooth texture you might desire. It was still perfectly tasty even with a few lumps. Next on my to-do list…add a few more kitchen gadgets to my pitiful stock.

Pizza Balls – made this one as an appetizer for a birthday party. Next time I will make one small change and use the smaller size biscuits. They were really yummy but a little high on the bread to cheese/pepperoni ratio. Really easy too which always ups my enjoyment of the cooking process.

DIY Taco Bell Mexican Pizza – I was so excited when I found this recipe. It is by far my favorite Taco Bell item. I substituted corn tortillas for the flour ones called for in the recipe, because of course, this was what was in my refrigerator. They were really good, an improvement on the original even. And a final plus, I was able to make them with ground turkey and fat-free refried beans, which I know seems almost pointless when you are talking fried tortillas and lots of cheese, but it certainly shaved off a few needless calories and allowed me to pat myself on the back for my attempt at healthy cooking.

This about sums it up thus far, although I plan to continue my quest. Stay tuned for Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad, Balsamic & Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower, Carrot & Zucchini Bars, and Bourbon Chicken…or whatever else strikes my fancy between now and then.

June's Summer Hiatus

I have recently embarked on a new season of my life. After working full-time as an administrative assistant/paralegal in the prosecutor’s office for the past five years I decided I was ready for a change. It seemed my life had been pared down to work, eating, television and sleeping. Of course my family was intricately woven into the eating and television parts, but I had lost my former self…the one who had hobbies, liked to read, and could converse on subjects beyond motions to dismiss and the Bachelorette. Where had she gone? Now suffice it to say, I have never really been super exciting and interesting, but I was at least a bit clever and somewhat interesting. It was time to find me again….

So I quit my job and with my husband’s full support am taking a summer hiatus, at the end of which I will begin the daunting task of finding another job (let me just mention here, I HATE job interviews, thus I am choosing to live in denial and pretend that day won’t arrive in the blink of an eye.) In order to make the most of my time, I have made a list of a few things I wish to accomplish. Some were goals from the onset; others have sprung up as I have had time to evaluate what has been lacking in my life.

1.    Read more/Write more: I think these go hand in hand. I have felt my vocabulary begin to slide as A. I reside in Indiana, not the hotbed of grammatical precision, nor words of more than 2 syllables. And B. I am too tired to read more than a paragraph before I doze off at night, and I am a firm believer that reading is the key to a broad vocabulary. I love to write, but it is difficult to do when you feel comatose at the end of the day and it is so much easier to push a button on the remote control and let someone provide the witty dialog. This is not my first time committing to writing more, but I hope it will be my first success!

2.    Spend time with my granddaughter: She is growing up at an alarming rate and I don’t want to miss it. I absolutely love the age she is at right now and want to capture as many memories as possible. Who knows how many years I have left that I will actually remember all the cute things she does…

3.    Etiquette lessons: This is one of those goals that cropped up as I took the time to evaluate. It became quite clear to me at a recent birthday party that there have been a few holes in the rearing of our youngest child. As I watched him heap no less than 2 dozen meatballs on his plate, eat them with his fingers and finish off with a loud belch, it hit me. Yes, a few things have slipped through the cracks while I’ve been busy.

4.    Domestic organization: We recently moved so I feel like I’m starting with a clean slate. My house is about as clean and organized as it has ever been. It gives me a spring in my step! I am devising ways to keep it this way, which means I am having to limit what pinterest ideas I can be inspired by.

5.    Establish an exercise routine: I add this purely out of obligation. My current routine is sporadic at best. It is determined by my ability to talk myself out of exercising in a way that makes me feel like I am being responsible and self-sacrificing by cutting it out. I am remarkably good at this. I would like to get into a routine this summer and stick to it. I aim to begin next week….

6.    Redevelop my hobbies: I used to love to scrapbook and now I have the perfect little subject to fill all sorts of albums. I no longer have the patience to drag out boxes of supplies and cover my kitchen table with crafty clutter, but I think I’d like to try my hand at some digital scrapbooking. I have dabbled in it a tiny bit, but I think it’s time to jump in with both feet and really figure it out. Any suggestions for software and other handy tools would be much appreciated.

So there you have it…my summer in a nutshell. Hopefully a couple months from now I will be a more-well rounded (yet toned and fit) June. And here’s hoping that my youngest child will be filling his plate appropriately, using a napkin and at the very least saying “excuse me” after he burps!

Ladybugs:The Ugly Truth Revealed

I have always had an affinity for ladybugs. They are cute. They are polka-dotted. They always have a friendly smile on their face. What is not to love? Well let me tell you...

We now live rurally. I know I previously claimed to live rurally, but we now officially live rurally, as in "the roads ain't paved" rurally (did I mention we live rurally?) I don't know what causes ladybugs to thrive, but whatever it is, we have it here. They crawl across the floor, they walk across the table, they join you in the shower, and I have even sighted one crawling across my husband's arm as he slept. They gather on windowsills in droves where they inconveniently die, leaving behind dozens of dried up little ladybug carcasses daily

My romantic notions about the ladybug have been dashed. I now understand why my son-in-law was opposed to all ladybug nursery decor. Why he thought it ridiculous that we dressed his daughter up as a ladybug for her first Halloween. They are pesky, disgusting little creatures that mask their misdeeds behind a facade of red polky-dotty cuteness. My childhood memories of the delight I felt upon finding one and letting it crawl over my fingers and hands have been replaced by the joy I feel every time I suck one of their lifeless little corpses up with my vacuum cleaner!

Just Call Me Grandma June

My New Year’s Resolution (well in addition to my old standby’s…losing weight and exercising regularly) was to write more. Being that it is late February, I decided I should probably get on that. I thought my blog could use a bit of a makeover however, so being that I am one of the most obnoxious grandma’s I know….allow me to introduce my newly renovated blog…”Call me Grandma June”. My hope is that if I follow through and keep up with my postings, it will return to it’s former glory of twelve faithful readers!

Now, being the multi-faceted person that I am…I have layers, I wear a lot of hats. For instance, I have my “Reality TV Junkie June” hat. And then there is “Gym Rat June”…okay that’s really not one of my hats, but I do occasionally workout and I like to talk about it. And don’t forget “Peri-Menopausal June!” She will definitely have a few things to say. So never fear, this won’t be a one-note blog, there is something for all. That being said, my grandma hat is my favorite one, so it’s my jumping off point.

I am told that as a young child, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my first answer was, “A neighborhood.” I tried that path, but thankfully after losing a great deal of weight I am quite sure I was misguided. My second answer was, “A grandma!”

Being a grandma is, well…it is simply wonderful. I can’t possibly imagine someone enjoying it more than I do. I am now a well-seasoned grandma of just over 18 months. You might say I’m obsessed. You would be correct. I have tried to work on this, but alas, I am shamelessly, unapologetically, and madly in love with my granddaughter.

I think one of the reasons I love being a grandma so excessively is that I am really good at it. Those of you who know me well, know that self-confidence is not one of my strong points. Being a parent is already a complete recipe for guilt and self-doubt. Being a very young parent as I was, is even more so. There are so many moments I wish I could do differently. I had my first child at age 20. I look at the 20-year-olds I know (now granted, I do work in the prosecution end of the legal system, so perhaps my perspective is slightly jaded) and think they are SO unprepared for parenthood. While I would like to claim I was an unusually mature young woman at that age, it would be a lie. I loved my children dearly, but I made so many mistakes. I was far too immature to appreciate and cherish the gift I was given. I was self-centered and at times resented the fact that I was so rarely able to put myself first.

Being a grandma has given me the spectacular gift of a do-over of sorts. I cherish every minute of reading “Lily’s Fairy Tea Party” for the hundredth time. I don’t mind at all watching Tangled three times a day. I no longer try to bribe anyone within a five-mile radius to change a diaper. I never tippy-toe around for fear I might disrupt naptime a few minutes early. In fact, sometimes I stalk her room until she wakes up. I have wished so many times to be able to revisit those days when my children were young. To spend an afternoon playing with them and enjoying the happy chaos. That desire has enabled me to enjoy every moment I am able to spend with Savannah. Old age seems to bring about an awareness of how quickly time goes by. It causes you to realize that those perfectly happy moments are fleeting and you have to snatch them up and cherish them.

To sum it up…if I’d know how great being a grandma was, I would have done it first!