But Have They Starved?

     Evidently, someone alerted my Mother in Law about my last Blog. Because, within a few hours of posting it: she called Bearded Man from her hospital bed, to tell him she has a recipe for spaghetti sauce that uses 28 ingredients. Bless you, Mole.
    
     While listening to Bearded Man's excitement over more of his Mama's unbeatable cooking, all I could think was: Joe's wife will never ever have this issue. Ever. She will be delighted  to be regaled with his tales of childhood near starvation, due to my cooking.
     I am not a gourmet cook, by any means, but, I'm pretty good, I think, by normal standards. Nobody HAS died, even after years of threatening to.

     To date: I have finished canning grape jam, and ended up with 20 pints of it. (the math here includes that this homemade goodness consists of exactly 42 cups of sugar and 28 cups of grapes. Eat up, kids.) Unfortunately, my kids only like Smucker's strawberry preserves. Nothing more, nothing less. I now have shelves of apple, peach and grape preserves and jam, and not a strawberry among them. So, now, I will have no chemicals, no preservatives, and no cavities, because no one will eat any of it. Problem solved.

     The household has been pretty intense lately. Poor George has caught every single bug that being exposed to the public school system during surgery recovery can throw at him. As I type this, he is at home from school - again - with yet another fever/headache/vomiting/lethargy bug. Which is probably something of a relief to the people at school who have to deal with his morning hysterics. I spent most of the weekend with him in my lap, sleeping. Also at home, are Kaila and Joe with a less horrible version of the bug.
   The fact that the household in general seems to hate everything that isn't ordered on the other end of the phone, (which is rare) alleviates the guilt that I plan to make chili for dinner tonight. The ill of the household may eat the oyster crackers. They wouldn't have eaten it even if they were all healthy.

     This past weekend, I decided to look at upgrading my vehicle. It still GOES, but, it has issues. As in: the ABS system does not work, the 4X4 doesn't work, the left side back door doesn't work, the speedometer doesn't work... anyhow, I thought I would just look, to see what's out there. I test drove a few things, looked at another few things, went to a few different dealerships, and decided there wasn't anything out there that I like better than my current vehicle, right now. Bearded Man is convinced I need a minivan. The dealers are convinced I need a minivan. Bearded Man has convinced the kids, that I need a minivan. Pretty much, I am the only person unconvinced that I need (want) a minivan. So, I decided to wait till spring.

    This past weekend, the kids and I took the dogs to our church for the blessing of the animals. I figure our little dears need as much as they can get. And if the Good Lord could just bless Buster the dog with permanent laryngitis, that would be great. Anyhow, we, and lots of other people, took the dogs to church. Which Turbo thought was the most amazing fun awesome thing EVER, as every person and dog in the whole wide world is a best friend, until proven otherwise. Buster is not so easily convinced, and as far as he's concerned, everyone is a mortal enemy, until proven otherwise. Blessing/Exorcism, potato/potahtoe. Anyhow, there is this really nice lady at our church, who LOVES to take pictures, and hang them up on a special board, as you walk in. Every single month, without fail, this person manages to take the most dreadful pictures of me that I ever thought possible, and posts them on her board. The DMV and their (probably specialty training in "DREADFUL PICTURES 101") have NOTHING on this nice lady at my church.
     Sure enough. In less than 24 hours, my kids, my dogs, and myself, were once again, posted on the church picture board. Every time I walk past it, all I can think is "It's a sin to be vain. This is a test. I will not care...... *whimper* OMG, it's even worse this month than LAST month!" Anyhow. The dogs are blessed, and I continue to be vain enough to shudder every time I walk past the church picture board. Honestly, this lady is the nicest person in the entire world, too. I am so going to hell.

     Before I go: Heads up to anyone living in or around Franklinville. Joe needs to sell popcorn for Cub Scouts. His goal is to sell $4,000. in popcorn, so he can earn himself a Tablet. You have been warned.