Peanut Butter and Jelly is the Way to Go!

     In the previous Blog, I mentioned that, with all the kids' activities (baseball season, specifically), things have been pretty crazy around the household.


     To try and keep things together, on the weekends, I sit down with Lexi's colored pens and markers and create a graph detailing what's for dinner every night, what's for snack after school, and who needs to be where and at what time.
     Guess what? It is nearly impossible for me to think up dinners that are halfway healthy, budget friendly and quick to make, when put on the spot.
     This past weekend, I pulled out some cookbooks that I used to swear by. Either the recipes were unappetizing, or, my kids wouldn't touch it if I paid them, or, they heavily featured cream of whatever soups.
     Mentally I was already planning a yard sale with most of my cookbook collection.
     Anyhow, Coming up with a menu a week in advance made me realize that I need more imagination, and, to branch out a little. I will start next week.
     This week, I made up my graph, figured out who was where and when, which helps with what needs to be easy for the kids, or cooked ahead of time around my work schedule, and then added ingredients to the list as I went. It literally took me two days of playing with it this weekend, in and around everything else.
    
     With the Maple Fest this past weekend and kids scattered all over with obligations to Maple Fest/Talent Show/Boy Scouts etc. we crammed grocery shopping in after Sunday school with all but Joe in tow. Where I immediately spent double my usual grocery budget. I handed over my bank card in resignation after cringing over the total and resolved to figure out a less expensive way to feed the kids somewhat healthy without needing to remortgage the house. Everyone would be happy if we just existed on PB&J, truthfully.
     This system is a work in progress.


     While on the subject of Sunday School, yesterday was the last official school day before the end of year party next week. I began to write on the whiteboard, things we had learned over the year. I highlighted several things, and even wrote things the kids had done both in and out of Sunday School, so they could see that we did make progress, and that we did learn stuff.
    
     "See, Kids? We did good stuff this year! We talked about kindness and empathy and compassion and helping people and being a good example and we talked about Saints and all sorts of things! We made a blanket for the girl in the Kindergarten Class, when she was in the hospital after a car accident, and made cards for the nursing home. You all donated clothes, baked cookies for the nursing home, helped out with fund raisers! You all did wonderfully! Can anyone think of anything else?"


     Up went the hand of "That One"...


     "Yes? What can you add?"


     "Not to give out your "V Card" till after you're married, and, beating people is bad."


     *Thunk* went my head against the white board. "Alright. I'll take it. Thank  you for your input."


     On the way in that morning, the head of Sunday School pulled me aside.


     "Moriah, I have a proposition for you."


     "It is entirely too early in the morning to be propositioned."


     "Ha. Ha. I want you to teach the next oldest class next year. You're a nurse. You would be perfect for 'Theology of the Body"! I think you really should teach it."


     "Ummmmm. Wellll. Ummmmmm. Can I get back to you on this?"


Here's the thing. I hate that class. I hate the curriculum. If it wasn't a teeth gritting necessity for Confirmation, I probably wouldn't send my kids to it. It's a diocese wide thing, and we just have to deal with the program. No. I DON'T want to teach it. I just need to figure out a way to tell the head of the program that. Before she approaches Bearded Man, and he agrees for me. (You know. Like last time.)


     Back to Maple Fest weekend in Franklinville. The book sale went smoothly. The old ladies waited nicely, and headed right back to the Harlequin section of the book sale. My girls, after watching in fascination, whispered to me urgently that the old ladies had apps on their smart phones and were scanning the books. I think a lot of them collect them. Someday, their estate is going to have to clear things out, and they will have to deal with thousands of Harlequin books. And then all their frienemies will be hovering around with their scanners, to snap up whichever books they don't already have.
    The kids and I scored piles and piles of books, and staggered home with three boxes full of them. It was a very successful book sale.
    
     For a quick recap: Three of the kids marched in the parade. Joe changed out of his parade baseball jersey and into his Boy Scout shirt, and sold (14 different flavors!) of sausage sticks, Kaila helped out with the Strawberry Shortcake booth for 9th graders AND was a contestant in the "Franklinville's Got Talent" show - where she took third place, Lexi and Bearded Man had garbage duty, which is the 6th grade obligation every year, and, I chased George around the Festival until we were both exhausted.


     After the Maple Fest, I looked at Joe's fairly new sneakers, and noticed they were falling off his feet in tatters. "Joe! What the heck happened to your shoes??!!!"


     "I do not know."


     "How long have they been like that?"

    "Approximately 2 weeks."


      "Alright. Let's go get you new shoes."


     At the shoe store and subsequent measuring, it was determined that my 10 year old now wears a men's size 8.5, and we headed to the men's sneaker section. Joe tried on a few pairs. Frowning at most of them, he announced "These make me feel vulnerable."


     "Vulnerable. Of course they do, Joseph. How about these ones?"


     "They LOOK nice, but, I think they will make me feel vulnerable, too."


     "How about we try them on and see."


     "I like how they feel. I like how they look...."


     "AND they are twenty dollars cheaper than that other pair....."


     "...But, I just feel very vulnerable in them."


     "Can you explain in a little more detail WHY shoes make you feel vulnerable? What, specifically are you looking for, that would make you feel confident?"


     "I need to know that, if I need to lean back, I will not slip. If I have to duck, they will hold me in one place without falling over. If someone attacks me, I need good grip. If the earth cracks under me, I need thick soles and the ability to move fast without worrying about my shoes. If I need to climb mountains, I need a good pair of shoes. All these other ones have flimsy soles. I need the shoes with the good thick soles, so I can be confident I am safe in any situation."


     "Well, I suppose you shouldn't need to waste your time worrying over your personal safety, if you don't have the right shoes. Get the ones that don't make you vulnerable, kiddo. Always good to be prepared."


   My child can now handle absolutely any situation thrown at him, including attack, earthquakes and mountain climbing.



     That is the extent of the current craziness of our household. I think I need to have a dreaded yard sale, to offload most of my cook book collection and thin out my massive book collection. I am running out of shelves to store them. I need to think about that more, first.
     Till next time!

27 Minutes

     It's been awhile! Let's see what I can cram on here in 27 minutes (exactly the amount of time I have for this Blog today)


     When we last caught up, the bathroom was a Tiffany Blue nightmare. That one little gallon of paint ended up becoming the need to add recessed lights and a new fan for the bathroom. It was noted that one of the new lights was installed, (by my direction, after being hauled out of a dead sleep and dragged down the stairs to determine the location of the lights) over the toilet, completely without really thinking it through. Which now gives it a delightful spotlight. It now literally looks as if the toilet is on display. When you turn on the bathroom lights now, and gaze at the toilet, all that is missing is the sound of angels singing. But, the colors look great now, so, there's that....




     While we were overhauling the bathroom (And, the above paragraph simplified that miserable process greatly...) I decided on a whim at the Home Depot paint counter, that, we should probably rearrange the kitchen. You know. Just move that cupboard over there, and those cupboards here. And, while we are at it, there is a great light on clearance, so, we should probably grab that. Hey, since we're here, those peel and stick floor tiles that some brilliant person decided would make splendid counter tops, absolutely cannot stay...
    So. The kitchen was painted, the cupboards moved around, the counters re-tiled, and a new light and range hood installed.
     Also, this all happened only 2 weeks before a projected visit from my out of town cousin and her sons. Not BECAUSE of their visit, but, because of a gallon of paint bought for the bathroom. And the resulting lighting mess. Most of which can be directly traced back to one electrician who was apparently hired to do work in the bathroom shortly before we bought the house. I am not saying that he is a terrible electrician. But I am saying that, I will not be at all surprised if his house ever sustained damage from an electrical fire. Anyhow, one idea became many ideas, and our entire house was completely torn apart last minute just because of one gallon of Tiffany Blue paint. The bathroom is now referred to as "The Tiffany Room"


     Currently, we are in the midst of baseball season. This tends to be our busiest time of the year. Between baseball, Scouts, and all the other millions of things that all seem to take place between April and June, life will be insanity until school lets out this year. I suppose that once you accept that, it's easier to deal with. Therefore, weekly menus are created and posted on the weekend, and, getting dinners into everyone and getting everyone where they need to be is marginally easier. The crazy home and work schedules have a considerable amount to do with the neglect of this Blog.


     Probably the busiest of the kids, is Joe. Joe is juggling baseball, Boy Scouts and a twice weekly after school Mine Craft Club that is apparently all educational. Joe is on the go nearly every day. It has not, however, stopped his constant questions my favorite recently being "Mom. Does Nitrogen turn into liquid nitrogen at absolute zero?" I handed him my phone and told him to look it up. I still don't know the answer to that question.
     Joe's most recent obsession has been all things astronomy. This has entailed Joe and I taking night time star gazing trips - the most recent with a new friend of his. I remarked upon it on Facebook, and, a friend of mine messaged me that her husband is an astronomer, and he and his astronomer friend would be delighted to have Joe up for an evening of star gazing. We went up last night, and, it was an amazing experience. Using my phone, he took several moon pictures through the telescope. I am delighted that I am using the best one as my computer wallpaper at work. My patients seem to like the picture, too.


     This up coming weekend is the Annual Maple Festival in Franklinville. Anyone who has read this blog for any sort of longevity will know that the highlight of the Maple Fest for me is the Maple Fest book sale.
     I actually mentioned it this morning to the Bearded Man.

     "Do you know what?"


     "What?"


     "I was at the library recently and some ladies brought a bunch of books in for the book sale. They offered to put them in the book sale piles, but, the volunteer at the front desk told them to leave the books with her. She said they go thru them first, and sometimes keep the good ones!!!!"


     "Hmmmm." (with absolutely no interest)


     "I was all outraged, until I thought that, if I was a volunteer, I would probably jump at the chance with completely no moral or ethical qualms about it. So, I suppose I can't be outraged anymore. Besides, I am not sure if they keep them for themselves, or the library."


     "Mmmhmmm" (Still no interest.)


     Anyhow, I figure with all the working out I have been doing lately, I should be okay when the initial rush of elderly line cutting ladies at opening of the library doors happens. It's a yearly thing. They show  up last minute and then hip check their way to the front of the line, pushing and shoving and tumbling through the doors with purses and elbows swinging. Where they then proceed to stop at the first table and block all access to any of the books. It's a yearly challenge.


     The Sunday School Year is winding down. We have two more days left. One of learning, and one for the End of Year Party. This past weekend, I asked the kids to write on the white board something they had learned this year. Because, I am nearly certain the only reason they show up is because their parents make them, and, we always provide a snack. Anyhow, even the one kid who argues everything wrote something nice on the board.
     There is always "One", however. And, sure enough, one of my students wrote "I am not going to heaven by any means" followed by "It's a trap"
     Well. Four out of five ain't bad, I suppose. There isn't a Sunday that goes by that I don't feel guilty and completely unworthy of teaching that class. Every single lesson I teach, there is the glaring reality staring back at me that: I certainly don't practice what I preach sometimes, and, someone who is so terribly sure of their spot in hell should probably not be trying to help others to heaven. Ah well. We do our best. Since I am pretty certain the kids retain nearly nothing I teach them, I don't think I am creating too much damage.


     With the nicer Spring weather lately, comes the neighborhood coming alive again. I never know how many kids will be tumbling around my lawn day by day. A new kid recently moved in only 2 doors away. We have only seen his mother once, briefly, but, I told her that it's useless to resist the crowd of kids. They will play between the five houses in a row that are full of kids whether we like it or not, so, she may as well get used to it.
     I recently made chocolate chip cookies... before I knew it, there was a line of children at my front door for cookies. It was not unlike Halloween. I didn't even know some of them. Apparently as kids were stepping off the porch, they were telling kids who were walking by after school that "That lady there has cookies!"
    This is the worst time of year for poor Buster the dog. My anxiety ridden nanny dog hates the nice weather. When his kids are outside, and the potentially murderous other kids are all over. And the tumbling and running, and chaos. There are the evil people walking by and the possibility for mayhem and torture everywhere the poor dog looks. There are dogs in the yard behind us that might be threatening. There is the dog in the yard next to ours who might break free of his lead and figure out how to hop the fence and kill his precious children at any given time. There is the most evil of all creatures - the mail lady - who apparently looks as if she could snap and kill us all at any moment. There are the other dogs being walked, who look shifty as all get out, the rotten killer squirrel in the tree in the back yard, and those terrible birds are just not to be trusted. Buster likes the winter time. The kids are inside. All potential murderers are outside. The kids are all in one general area, and he can relax. During the nice weather, the poor dog must run from window to window, or along the perimeters of the back yard barking viciously at anything that looks suspicious (everything). It is a rough time for him. It is also a rough time for those of us that must listen to the constant frantic barking of my dog who, if her were in human form, would benefit from a nice daily dose of Xanax. He just cannot deal with this .


     That is pretty much the excitement around my household. I am sure there is probably so much more, but, it will have to wait for the next Blog. Hopefully I can get them out more frequently!