Witchin in the Kitchen

I got to craving potato salad so I logged on to Pinterest (the only place you can find a recipe, the workout needed to burn off said recipe and a new outfit to reward yourself for working out all in one spot!) to find the perfect recipe. There were half a million recipes but the perfect one was nowhere to be found. So, I decided to wing it!! Last time I "winged" something, the dog wouldn't even eat it. 

You know it's bad when even the dog turns his nose up! However, this time my inner chefness came out and my potato salad was delish so here's the recipe: 

8 medium potatoes, peeled, cube and boiled

8 oz sour cream

1 cup mayo (give or take)

8 oz can olives, sliced

Small packet of bacon bits (NOT The nasty imitation stuff!)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt and pepper all to taste

Drain potatoes and allow to cool. Mix all ingredients together and try not to eat it all in one setting!!  

Sorry, no picture of this yummy creation because it is in mah belly!

Disclaimer: I truly threw this together on my own so if there is another recipe like this published, I have unintentionally copied you! 

Goodbye 20 Something

Today is the day I lay my 20's to rest. Most people take turning thirty hard, but I'm okay with it even though I didn't meet my goal of being in the best shape of my life by my 30th birthday!  I'm not mourning the loss of my 20's but looking forward to what my 30's bring. Here are some of the more notable moments of my 20's:

1. I had two perfectly beautiful children. 

They get their incredible good looks from me!

2. I worked for the same company the entire decade: FedEx. That's loyalty people! 

3.  Stayed married and in love with the same incredible man. 

He even cooks for me and he can multitask!  Yep, I found a man that can multitask!! Go me.

4. Opened a real estate business with the hubs...Capstone 27 Realty. 

5. I made some of the most amazing friendships a person could ask for. I'm talking friendships that last a lifetime regardless of the occasional hormone infused rant! 

6. Made too many memories to count, cried more tears than I care to remember, worried myself sick about decisions that didn't make a hill of beans, grew in my faith by leaps and bounds, embarrassed myself more times than I want to admit, laughed to the point of tears (which I'm sure contributed to my laugh lines!) and learned more about myself than I ever imagined. 

My 20's weren't spent the way most people spend their wild and young years but I'm proud of the last 10 years and hopeful for the next!!!

Happy Birthday Brother

Dear Brother Bear,

Today, you are 8 years old and when we sang Happy Birthday to you in the car this morning I got tears in my eyes because you are growing up so fast!  It won’t be long and you will be as tall as I am.  We had your birthday Saturday and all of your friends came and it was such a great party.  I am so proud of you.  You are such a handsome young man with a kind heart.  You and your sister couldn’t be any more different.  You are way more reserved than she is which means, you are sneakier!  You have done so well this year at your new school.  You have only got your name on the board a couple times and your grades are good.  Your teacher even said you are a joy to have in class!  You enjoy reading the Bible by yourself and listening to me read it to you.  You always say your prayers at night when we pray together as a family.  You are about to start basketball at the youth center and I cannot wait to watch you play.  You are really starting to like basketball which warms your dad’s athletic heart!  You are already talking about what kind of cell phone you want when we allow you to have one and you have even told us what kind of truck you want when you turn 16 (SLOW down bucko!).  I hope you enjoy your childhood and don’t try to grow up too fast.  It’s already going too fast for me.  Everyone told me when I was pregnant with you not to blink because I would miss something and they were right.  I have enjoyed watching you grow and change over the past 8 years and while it makes me sad that you are already 8, I know I will continue to enjoy watching you over the years to come!  Until then, here are some things that come to mind when I think about the years that have flow by:

·         You HATED the full size swing, but you loved the portable one.  I loved watching you sleep so peacefully in it. 

·         You pooped on Nana in Wal-Mart when you were just a few months old.  She hid in the bathroom with you while I went and bought her a new shirt.

·         When you were about 6 months old your dad decided to let you taste a lemon from his water.  You made the worst little sour face I had ever seen and your dad barely made it out of the restaurant alive!

·         The first time we took you on vacation was to Panama City Beach and you love the sand so much we couldn’t make you take a nap during the day!

·         Last year was the first year you played basketball.  I just loved watching you improve with every game.  You did push another boy down and admittedly, I laughed, but then explained why you can’t do that!

A lot has happened in 8 years!  So much that I can’t list everything because there’s just not enough time or room in this one post.  I just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday and let you know how truly blessed dad and I are to have a son like you!  I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Give

So, I gave the bum at Wal-Mart $10 yesterday.  Hubs and I decided we need to crack back down and stop eating out so much so I decided that I would get a cheap meal off the famous $1 menu at Mickey Dees.  As I’m pulling in I see him there on the corner by the stop light and I think, eh, I don’t have any cash anyway.  I’m off the hook.  I pulled into McDonald’s and ordered my side salad and daily double which by the way was atrocious.  The lettuce was slimy but that’s neither here nor there.  As I am pulling out, I see him again.  And I again justify not giving him any money because I don’t have any.  I even double checked to see if I had just a dollar that I didn’t know about and no, nothing.  Suddenly, my heart just broke for him.  The thought did cross my mind that this guy could be a professional bum and make more money begging than I do working an honest job but that thought was quickly replaced with a command.  “Go to the ATM, get $10 and give unselfishly to this man who has been reduced to begging at the Wal-Mart street corner.”  It was clear and I knew immediately who was speaking to me.  I mulled it over in my mind as I was driving to the ATM.  What if he buys drugs with it?  What if he is a fraud?  What if he was a father who begs by himself to save his wife and kids from the embarrassment?  What if he had a good job and lost it like so many?  What if, what if….?  The directive was clear and it was so strong that I couldn’t deny it.  I worried about how I would give him the money.  After all, he was standing on the wrong side so the driver would have to hand the money across the car and out the passenger window.  I wondered if I would have time to ask him his name.  I didn’t.  I pulled up to him, rolled down the window and he reached in and grabbed the money.  This was his reply, “Thanks, dude, God bless you.”  Dude?   Really?  I guess I was driving my husband’s truck which is a “man truck”.  It was liberating.  I just knew I had passed “the test”.  I prayed all the way back to work that he would spend the money on food or some other need and not drugs or smokes.  I prayed for his well being and that he would find a job so that he could get off that corner.  I could worry about whether or not I just contributed to the meth trade in this area, but I choose not to.  I know I was a blessing to that man and when I looked at him, I realized, I’m not better, just blessed enough to have a great job.  It’s not my place to judge, just to love unselfishly just like my Father loves me. 

Change of Plans

We were going to squeeze in one last camping trip in "Stubby" (our tiny 15ft camper) before winterizing him for the season, but it looks like this is the forcast...


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Soooo, instead we may hanging out at home!  We will probably flip on the tube Saturday to to call the pigs.



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Maybe, they can put their game faces (they seemed to have been missing during the Lousiana Monroe game) on and BEAT BAMA! We may also have some good friends over to grill.  There is always fun to be had where friends and food are involved!

Speaking of camping though, I think we are going to try some cold weather camping this year.  We are going to buy a tent for cold weather, build a fire pit down by the creek and try it out.  I envision a smoldering fire, roasted marshmallows and smores, hiking, riding the four wheelers and snuggling down deep in the covers for the night.  In reality, we will probably be bundled up so thick our arms will stick straight out like that kid on The Christmas Story!  If nothing else, I'm sure a good story will come from it which will undoubtedly end up here. 

Midweek Recharge

Last night was midweek service at church.  Babes worked until after 11pm Tues night and was exhausted and after a long day at work I wasn't particularly feeling it either, but we had committed to greeting so we went.  And how glad I am that we went!  Isn't it amazing that we will sacrifice major blessing in our lives for any old excuse?  It was "first Wednesday" last night so all four us of went into the service as a family and the preacher taught on Miracles.  I am a note taker so of course I was jotting as fast as I could jot.  I looked over and Brother Bear was doing the same thing!  He was copying my notes onto his paper.  He sat there and soaked in the entire service.  At the end there was a normal tithe taken and then any loose change or bills went to our Mercy Mall.  Brother had found a penny earlier and had it in his pocket and he could not wait for that bucket to come by so he could give the only money he had on him to this great cause.  I mean he was on the edge of his seat making sure that bucket didn't pass him up!  I can't tell you how swelled with pride I was but at the same time I realized, he's watching me.  He's hungry and I'm so glad we are in a church that feeds his young faith but me and Babes need to continue to feed it at home.  I thought, wow, that's the kind of faith I want.  The kind where I'm not afraid to put my last penny in that white bucket as it passes by me!  Of course I need to brag on SisterLu too.  She's not one to sit still, but she was quiet as a mouse during the entire service and only waived at the preacher one time! 

So, I already said the lesson was on miracles and how to see God's miracles in your life.  The pastor asked this question: "What is your disability?  What keeps me from getting well?"  The verses we studied were John 5:1-10 where Jesus tells the invalid to "GET UP!"  Why am I not getting up and doing what God is leading me to do?  I want to experience the miracles that Jesus has in store for me and I know the areas of my life that keep me from doing that.  I know I feed those areas with the same excuses that almost prevented me from receiving the blessing that this Wednesday night service was.  Here is what I will be working on:

1.  Patience with my children - God chose me to be Brother Bear and SisterLu's mother and I can't think of anything else I would rather do, but I have got to learn how to parent the way my Father parent's me.
2.  Self control - particularly in the area of eating.  This doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is to me.  I eat for fun, not for life which is okay sometimes, but not all the time.  Just because I WANT a BigMac vs the ham sandwich I brought doesn't mean I should run out and get it.
3.  Priorities - I can pray all day about a deeper relationship with God, but it's just not going to happen unless I prioritize a quiet time with Him.  Reading a few verses before I go to sleep isn't cutting it.  He's right there waiting for me to make the first move.   

There are other areas, but I'm going to stop at three because I think these three will result in major growth for me.  Next Wednesday starts the adult classes in conjunction with the children's classes and I am so excited and expectant to apply those lessons to my life.

Morning Go Round

This is how my mornings go:

6AM – alarm goes off and Babes fumbles around until snooze button is found or alarm falls off nightstand…whichever comes first

6:04AM – dog begins whining and barking desperately on my side of the bed to let me know that if I don’t drag my lazy rear out of bed and open the front door for him, it is all over for the carpet!

6:05AM – crawl back in bed for two more minutes

6:09AM – alarm goes off again after being “snoozed” the first go round…I lay in bed and think, why do I torture myself like this??

6:10AM – get out of bed a second time and schlep to the kitchen to fill Crock pot with tonight’s supper…at least I won’t have to cook tonight!

6:30AM – put on outfit number 1…nope muffin tops hanging over the pants just aren’t attractive…bring on outfit number 2..we have a winner!  Leave outfit number 1 wadded up on the bed instead of hanging it back up.

6:45AM – drag kids out of bed and tell them over and over to get dressed, put on their shoes and brush their teeth

7AM – brush Sister Lu’s hair and put in pig tails as requested…she looks so ornery with pigtails and I love it!!

7:15AM – mad dash to the car because we have got to get Brother Bear to school in time to get breakfast…kids get distracted half a dozen times on the way down the sidewalk to the car and I can feel my blood pressure rising!

7:17AM – “JUST GET IN YOUR CAR SEAT AND HELP YOUR BROTHER STRAP YOU IN; WE ARE LATE!!”…and there it is…the mother I pray every day not to be shows up right on time…every time…never fails…the feeling of failure sets in and I think to myself, “I always said I would never yell at my kids when I had them because I remember what that feels like…easier said than done.”

In my opinion, this is one of my biggest failures as a parent.  I lack patience and that translates into me yelling.  It is my prayer that I can change this.  In the meantime, I won’t let my failures define me.  I will learn from them and try to correct them!  I may be a yeller but I don’t want to raise yellers.

7:35AM – drop Brother Bear off and tell him I love him and to have a good day…he’s way too cool to kiss mom in the drop off line so I don’t push it.

7:40AM – drop Sister Lu off at PreK and hug and kiss her and tell her I love her.  She not too cool to kiss me and I enjoy it now because I know the day will come when she is too cool for me too!

8:10AM – I bust through the doors at work and head straight for my desk only to see my manager standing there chatting with someone.  Busted!  10 minutes late.  Rather than acknowledge my lateness I just go about my business like I was on time and head straight for the coffee pot!  This is going to be a great day!! 

There is a lot that happens in the first two hours that my eyes are open and I try to take in every last second because I know that one day I will wish I had to rush around and get two sleepy eyed kiddos ready for school.  I know I am blessed beyond anything I could ever deserve!