In the Garden

I really do have a love/hate relationship with Fall. I love the cool, crisp air and the changing colors. I HATE the fact that it is officially time for me to start wrapping up my garden for the winter. I have not had much of a chance to care for it since school started and I faced a MAJOR flood at the end of August, but I will still have a fairly good harvest to help get me through the winter.

My dreams of having a complete 3 season garden have been dashed. But that is the life of the gardener. You learn to handle these things in stride, thanking God for all of the good things that you were given and reminding yourself that the bad things really could have been much worse. My gardening season started in the spring with a horrible late frost that wiped out my strawberries and set back a good deal of my other seedlings. The Everbearing strawberries came back with a VERY modest crop in June and NOTHING in September. I really wasn't surprised. (As an aside, my hydrangeas did not bloom this year either. Late frosts are a nasty way to start a garden season.) My peas were set back a bit by the frost, but they bounced back eventually and gave me a nice harvest until my sworn enemy Powdery Mildew arrived in the summer and killed them. Ol' Powdery came back to visit my peas again this fall when we had a LONG string of hot and humid summer like days. :( My carrots were fantastic all 3 seasons. My freezer runneth over with bright orange coins of carrot goodness. My green peppers were tasty and plentiful. My Jalapenos were HOT but oh so fresh and tasty. It was a great year for my tomatoes until the flood of late August left them to sit in water that made most of the fruit just burst on the vine. This was the fist year that that ever happened to me. It was a learning experience. My beautiful tomatoes, once so plump and red, were just hanging from the plant like deflated balloons. Neat. The spinach and lettuce were GREAT! The broccoli was FANTASTIC. It grew all summer long but kept going to seed by the end of summer. I had to pull the spring plants and put in the fall to keep the harvest growing. This was the very first year that I have done cauliflower. I manged to successfully grow three heads of this finicky plant. It was truly the best cauliflower that I have ever eaten. I think that I have refined my technique enough to have more luck next year. My onions just grew and grew. Plenty to freeze and enjoy. And my cucumbers were incredible! I enjoyed mint all season long, and my fresh cilantro was the perfect finishing touch for my all organic salsa.

It was a challenging year. The odds were kinda stacked against gardeners in my area. Some of us won, and some of us lost. I won. It was not my best victory, but I loved every minute of it. (Well, not every minute. Have I mentioned how much I hate powdery mildew??) Now I have to pull the last of my harvest before the first frost and clean the garden so that it can sit and rest all winter long.

Any other gardeners out there? How was your season(s)?

New Colors for Fall

I changed my template in an attempt to create a more Autumn-like feel. Maybe some day I will be able to understand why I can grow an entire garden from seed but can't seem to figure out how to use a different template than the one that blogger provides! Or maybe I'll just stick with the gardening.

Peace and Love

For the record, I quite dislike the culture (and fashions!) of the 60's. Despite this fact, I am often called a "Flower Child" by folks who know me personally. Maybe it is my garden. Or maybe it is the fact that I always say "Peace and Love, man" when it comes to matters where folks tend to disagree the most. Especially religion, which is always a hot button topic! As a matter of fact, I always think of that old reliable saying that you should never discuss religion or politics in polite conversation. But I digress......

I have been feeling a bit sad as of late. It seems like some Christians (not all, of course. No hasty generalizations here...) have in many ways lost the basic ability to just get along with those who are supposed to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. I guess the main questions that I have about all of this are: If we, as Christians, fight against each other how on earth does this make us look to other people who may not be Christians or who may be struggling in their walk with the Lord? If we can't get along with each other, how does that make us look to the rest of the world? Are we REALLY living what Christ has taught us in the Bible that we share? What is more important: spreading what YOU believe is the word of the Lord or showing love and compassion to those whose personal beliefs may be different from your own?

I could go on. And on and on and on. But I think that you get the picture. Where is the peace and love? Where is the mercy and forgiveness? I would be interested to hear any readers (all two of you) thoughts on this. What is the greater sin: allowing someone to continue to live in what you may perceive as an error of thought or to treat a fellow human (or Christian) in a manner that could be considered unkind but justify it by saying that you are trying to "save" them? These are thoughts that just keep swimming around in my head.

Anyway, peace and love everyone! Have a nice weekend, too! :)

What a Day!

Well, our Roasary Garden has been blessed now and I have a rather exciting story to tell. I will try to keep it brief as I have very little time to blog and also because my head is still spinning. During his homily, the Bishop spoke of the Crucifix that he was wearing. It was given to him personally by (are you ready for this?) Pope John Paul II when the Bishop met him in Krakau, Poland in 2003. The Bishop mentioned that this crucifx would probably be considered a class III relic when Pope John Paul II becomes canonized. I had the honor and privilege of meeting the Bishop after he had finished the blessing of our Rosary Garden and I was actually allowed to hold the Crucifix. It was incredible. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of what holding a small piece of history in your hand is like. I cannot describe what is was like to touch something that was probably in the hands of a man who's gentle spirit and wisdom made me want to be a Catholic. My head is still spinning right now, so perhaps I will try to blog about it more when I have better clarity of thought. I am just too humbled and blown away right now to even think.

An Emergency Question

As some of my readers many know, I have been working on the Walking Rosary and the Rosary Garden at our parish. Our hard work is almost (but not quite) over and we are preparing to have a wonderful Mass on Tuesday to dedicate and bless our new garden. Here is where my question comes in: the Mass is to be presided over by the Bishop. My oldest daughter, who is a member of the Rosary Club, has been chosen to do the first reading and play a major part in the blessing ceremony. Since my family has been heavily involved in this project, I am going to assume (to be safe) that I may possibly meet the Bishop. This thought strikes fear into my heart because I have no idea how to conduct myself. If memory serves me, I believe one should address a Bishop as "Your Excellency" in a formal social situation. Does anyone else know if this is correct? Does anyone have any other tips for me so that I do not look like a socially inept buffoon? I am really worried about this and I will take any tips that anyone can offer. Thanks so much for your help! :)

Just for fun

Haven't had much time to blog as of late. I'm working on slowing down BEFORE I run out of gas. Yeah, we'll see how that goes.

But I have to throw this in just for fun:

You Are a Green Crayon

Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors.While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around.Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease.You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows! Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorcrayonareyouquiz/

I wish I could say that I am suprised that I am a green crayon, but I'm not. Must be the garden thing.

I'm working on a post to show my appreciation for a wonderful blog award given to me by Courtney, but I still have to try to figure out how to get the pretty graphic up on my blog. It's been a few weeks and I still haven't gotten it right, but hope springs eternal.

We are working frantically to have our walking Rosary up by October 9th when the Bishop is coming to our parish to bless it. We are currently working on making the stepping stones. Here is a pop quiz for you Catholic mums: We have completed 20 Hail Mary stones and 0 (yes, zero!!) Our Father stones. Who can guess how many more stones we have to make before October 8th in order to create an entire garden Rosary?? The first one to guess correctly wins a wonderful you tube video of me crying hysterically while I am shoving little mosaic tiles into mortar mix. (Just kidding, but it would be a great prize, huh??) You could say that I will be a bit busy for the next few days. Just a little.....

Have a great weekend, everyone!! :)

My Favorite "Binder"

Call it a "mother's helper", "Control Journal" a la FlyLady, "binder", or whatever you want. Sometimes a Mom just wants a special place to help her keep her affairs in order. This is my favorite binder template (and as a bonus, it is completely free to download and print!!): http://brocantehome.typepad.com/brocante_home/the-housekeepers-planner-.html

I wish for..........

Kid-sized bubble wrap. That would be perfect! You could just wrap them up before school or play and send them on their way. Then you wouldn't have to worry about broken bones or scraped elbows and such. But alas, no such thing exists and our children have to go out into the world unprotected to get their scrapes and broken bones no matter how much we poor mothers worry.

My oldest DD was running races yesterday on the play ground at school during recess. She tripped, somehow, fell onto her left arm and slid across the blacktop parking lot. Her arm came away from the incident with only a minor road rash, but her left clavicle wasn't so lucky. I was working in the school kitchen at the time, so the teacher on playground duty came up to the kitchen window (looking gravely serious, might I add) and said "Mrs KitKat, can you please come with me to the office." (Insert ominous music here....) After a slight joke on my part (The "Oh great, what did my kid do now?" kinda thing), I realised that it might be a tad serious. There in the office sat my beautiful little one just bawling like crazy and saying "I think I broke it Mommy! I want my Daddy! It hurts!!" My oldest DD can take a lot of pain without complaint. This was the kid who once told me "I think my ear hurts a little" when she had a double ear infection. The kid just doesn't cry, so I knew that we were probably in big trouble. I called my hubby and we decided that a trip to the ER might be a better choice than our local Quick Care, so I loaded her and my youngest DD into the car and off to the ER we went. (I pulled my youngest DD out for the rest of the day just in case I didn't make it back in time. It was the ER that we were going to, after all.) Hubby met us there right after we got out of X-Ray and just in time to listen to the doctor tell us about her fractured left clavicle that can't be put into a cast. So, my little girl has to walk around with a broken collar bone and her arm in a sling.

I think that the 9 year old is handling her first broken bone better than her mother is. But that, my friends, is another story..............

And did I mention that she has been working really hard the past few weeks on her school play? That's why I have been a bit scarce in the posting department. She in our school's version of "Alice in Wonderland". They have been rehearsing everyday. And she's Alice. And the play is TOMORROW! AHHHHHH!!!!! I will have to let you know how this all works out because I am not really sure what is going to happen.

And she broke her clavicle on the day after her 9th birthday and the day before my 34th birthday. I told her that nine years ago she gave me the best birthday present that I ever got, and then yesterday she went and broke it. At least it made her smile and laugh. Then she told me not to make her laugh anymore because it hurts to laugh.

It certainly has been a long week. But yes, I can still laugh about it. :)

A comment that didn't make the cut

Over at My Blessed Home blog:

This is the exact, unedited comment that I submitted for approval. (ok, I admit that I did correct my spelling. I was tired when I typed it up last night and I didn't do a good job of proofreading. But I only changed the embarassing spelling errors.)
~
Jennifer, you have hit the nail on the head when you said that the "testimony" of Sister Charlotte (which I also have serious doubts about the truthfulness of) does not put forward one real argument against Roman Catholicism. In my humble opinion, both the "testimony" and the pagan symbols argument rely heavily on "emotional appeal" rather than on what most Protestants and Roman Catholics would consider serious theological issues. I attend a Catholic Church but was formerly a Lutheran. I NEVER heard anything like these arguments against the RC Church when I was a Lutheran. We did not attempt to villanize (sp?) Roman Catholics or the RC Church. The doctrine of Sola Scriptura provided enough of an argument. We just stuck with the theological facts and didn't need to make up additional stories to prove our point.
The use of such heavy handed and emotional tactics is what I believe makes the Roman Catholic readers of this blog so upset.
~
A definition of "emotional appeal" (from the University Writing Center of The University of Central Florida)

Emotional Appeal (pathos)
Not surprisingly, emotional appeals target the emotions of the reader to create some kind of connection with the writer. Since humans are in many ways emotional creatures, pathos can be a very powerful strategy in argument. For this same reason, however, emotional appeal is often misused...sometimes to intentionally mislead readers or to hide an argument that is weak in logical appeal. A lot of visual appeal is emotional in nature (think of advertisements, with their powerful imagery, colors, fonts, and symbols).

When done well, emotional appeals...
Reinforce logical arguments
Use diction and imagery to create a bond with the reader in a human way
Appeal to idealism, beauty, humor, nostalgia, or pity (or other emotions) in a balanced way
Are presented in a fair manner

When used improperly, emotional appeals...
Become a substitute for logic and reason (TV and magazine advertising often relies heavily on emotional rather than logical appeal)
Uses stereotypes to pit one group of people against another (propaganda and some political advertising does this)
Offers a simple, unthinking reaction to a complex problem
Takes advantage of emotions to manipulate (through fear, hate, pity, prejudice, embarrassment, lust, or other feelings) rather than convince credibly

Quite a Thinker!

I love MZEllen's blog. She's a smart, smart lady who really does get me thinking. She gave me a bit of a challenge to define the term "Gospel" in my earlier post about the readings at today's Mass. I left her this in response ~

"Ellen, that is a great question. And no, I do not take that as an attack. :) I guess that my personal definition of the "Gospel" comes mainly from my LCMS upbringing. I view it as the Greek definition of "good news" (of salvation) and from the four books of the New Testament that are traditionally considered "authoritative" in their stories of the life of Christ: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.Good question, and I think that I see the point that you are making. Other folks may have a different definition. I guess that mine is rather narrow."

Over on her blog, she has challenged us to give our definition of the term "Gospel" .I hope that you stop by and give her your thoughts. It really is a great question to ponder.

I Smell Fall!

There is no doubt about it, fall is in the air in my little neck of the woods. September is always a bittersweet month for me and my little patch o' the earth. I do so love fall crops. Spinach, lettuce, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, and pumpkins make me smile. But I also fell a sense of urgency. I know that fall can betray me. One early frost plus one ill prepared me can equal the loss of my entire fall crop. Right now I have to clean up my leftovers from summer and still try to squeeze out the best that fall can offer. It's a delicate balance. Sometimes I win and have a great fall crop. Sometimes I lose and have a bunch of icky wilty veggies that can only be eaten by my crazy Husky. I'm not sure if I am quite ready to leave summer behind and play the fall garden game. But it appears that I may not have any choice.

I'm off to plant some frost resistant spinach and check on my fall peas. :)

What I Heard at Mass Today

To me, one of the most maddening allegations against the Catholic Church is that they do not "preach the Gospel". I cannot even begin to tell you how wrong this is. I grew up loyally attending a Protestant church (LCMS to be exact) and I now attend Catholic Mass. I can see no difference in the amount of Bible readings between the two. Now some folks are going to attack both by saying that the LCMS is just a toned down version of Roman Catholicism. Well, that might be your opinion and you are certainly entitled to it. But I would just like to share all of today's Bible readings and then open the floor and allow you to tell me how little the Catholic Church uses the Bible during Mass.

(Please note that I am typing only part of the reading. I am listing all of the verses that were read aloud, though)

Readings for September 8-9, 2007: Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading - You sent your holy spirit from on high and thus were the paths of those on earth made straight. (Wisdom 9:13-18b).
Psalm - in every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge (Psalm 90).
Second Reading - I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary (Philemon 9-10, 12 - 17).
GOSPEL - Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? (Luke 14: 25-33).
~Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ~

Following the Gospel reading was the homily that was based on (prepare yourselves for a real shocker here!) the Gospel reading.

***If you would like to go ahead and attack the reading from the book of Wisdom please do some research first about why the Catholic Bible contains these books and the Protestant Bible does not. Research from jackchick.com, jesusislord.com, etc does not count and will be DELETED if left in a comment here. I will only accept research material that would be considered historically valid by reliable sources -i.e if you could use it in a college thesis paper then you can use it here. Anything less will be deleted immediately.***

Here is a list of the readings of the week:
Monday: Col 1:24 - 2:3: Lk 6:6-11
Tuesday: Col 2:6-15; Lk 6:12-19
Wednesday: Col 3:1-11; Lk 6:20-26
Thursday; Col 3:12-17; Lk 6 27-38
Friday: Nm 21:4b-9; Phil 2: 6-11; Jn 3:13-17
Saturday 1 Tm 1:15-17; Jn 19 25-27 or Lk 2:33-35
Sunday: Ex 32:7-11, 13-14; Ps 51; 1 Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32 [1-10]

As you can see, there are readings listed from both the OT and NT. There is a Gospel reading listed for every day of the week. Father Pete encourages us to study each reading at home before Mass so that we are fully prepared to participate.

I just can't understand why some people still believe that Catholics do not read the bible or hear the Word at Mass. Some folks go so far as to allege that they have attended Mass and have been saddened by the fact that Catholics did not bring their Bible and the Priest did not read the Word. I absolutely do not bring my Bible to Mass, it's true. I did not bring it to any LCMS services either. Both denominaitons provide copies of the readings for the day to all those in attendance. Since I try to study the readings before I go, the copy of the readings in the Missal is good enough for me.

I hope that this will help in some small way to clarify any misconceptions that one may have concerning the "lack of the Gospel" at Catholic Mass.

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Why do people lie?

For attention. Really, it all boils down to that point.

It is with great reluctance that give this blogger the attention that she craves, but I really have to say a few words on this post: http://www.myblessedhome.blogspot.com/. This former nun story is widely circulated on the internet. But a simple google search will also provide information like this: Sister Charlotte's Testimony Refuted.

PLEASE, stick to the facts when debating religion.

Anti-Catholicism

Disclaimer: First of all, please ignore my typos today. I really don't have time for much of a post, so I am typing as fast as my little fingers will go. Second, I just have to say that my blog is open to EVERYONE. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. I am not here to pick apart your beliefs or to tell you that you are wrong and I am right. Frankly, I don't claim to know exactly who is wrong and who is right in the vast world of theology. I simply have my beliefs that I have come by over the years through formal religious education, self study, and personal experiences and reflections. But if you are a human being, I consider you my "sister" or "brother" in this great big world and it is my prayer that we can all work together to make the rapidly shrinking world a better place for people of all faiths. If you happen to like what I say, great. If not, well, I still like you anyway. ;)

That being said, I do have a strong dislike for outright lies. If you are going to question or attack the faith of another religion please do try to skip all of the great exaggerations. If you are going to attack Roman Catholicism, please try to stick with the facts and not the fanciful imaginings of various authors throughout the years. And PLEASE skip the web sites hosted by non-Catholics if you ever want to fully understand what Catholicism really teaches. If you have never been surrounded by Catholic culture, you really have no idea what it is about EVEN if you think that you have studied it over the Internet or through "interviews" with various fallen away improperly Catechised (SP??) Catholics.

In case you are still wondering what (or who) I am talking about, please read this: http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/2007/09/roman-catholicism-and-paganism.html . The blog entry titled "Roman Catholicism and Paganism" is just filled with inaccuracies and some really nasty lies. (Does anyone really still not understand that the upside down cross in that picture is the Cross of St. Peter, the rock upon which the Roman Catholic Church was built? I was taught in grade school that the inverted St. Peter's cross was a symbol that was stolen, if you will, by Satanism over the years. It is a common practice in Satanism to take the sacred and make it profane. But do you honestly think that if the Roman Catholic Church had any real connection with Satanism it would be so bold as to advertise it for all of its faithful and the rest of the world to see?) I do not have time to go through and point out all of the faulty parallels that Candy has drawn between Roman Catholicism and Paganism. Fortunately, Visits to Candyland is back up and Elena has taken the time to explain what the symbols that Candy mentions in her article REALLY mean. Thank you, Elena.

I must say again, I like to keep my blog open to people of all faiths. If you are going to comment on this because I have offended you, please be nice. :) I truly do try to understand and respect the beliefs of the people that I meet. I just can't stand it when people LIE about what another group of people believe without taking the time to do legitimate research.

Yikes! I'm out of time for the day. I hope that everyone has a wonderful day and weekend!

Seek knowledge, but do it with love and honesty! :)
~KitKat


Updated to add:

I found this link kind of interesting ~ Bent Cross. Please let me know what you think.

Kick Me

Remember those "Kick Me" signs from grade school?? You know, the ones that some poor unfortunate young kid had stuck on their back for half of the day while every other kid in school laughed at them until a kind soul finally removed it for them. Well, I think that the adult equivalent of those embarrassing grammar school signs is the "Pick Me" sign. Only this time, it is visible to everyone EXCEPT you and it causes people to ask you to volunteer for various jobs in the school that no one else wants to do. And I am absolutely convinced that I have one of these "Pick Me" signs stuck somewhere on my body because I have so far been asked to become the Room Parent Chair person (insert scary music here!!) and co-chair for our St. Patrick's Day Meal and Late Night Catechism show (insert more scary music here!!!). I know that there is more to come. I can feel people staring at me while they are planning what they can hit me up for next. They know about my inability to say "NO". If you ever wanted a perfectly good reason to home school, avoiding all of the "volunteering" business at private school is a REALLY good one. Trust me, I know. :)

40 days and 40 nights

Well, not quite, but we did have a very loooong stretch of rain and lots of flooding in our little area of the midwest. Things are finally returning to normal after all of the flooding last week. I have to say, with a very grateful and humble heart, that our house stayed high and dry while our neighbors weren't so lucky. The only thing that flooded in our yard was my poor poor garden. I have lots to clean up out there and I may have lost a great deal of my fall harvest. But at least everything else is fine in our house. I am DEFINITELY not complaining. I know many folks who were just not as lucky as we were.

Wherefore art thou

Lady RFH?? :(

I miss you! If you still have my email address, you can drop me a line if you would like. I hope that all is well.

I guess that I wasn't kidding

when I said that I was busy. Ugh!! But it has been a productive busy, so I will not complain about it at all. My kiddos started school this week, so I have been busy running them back and forth. I have also started training for my new position as Doris the Lunch Lady.....whoops, I mean Lunch Room Facilitator (??!!??) at school. (Yes, that really is the official politically correct term for my position. Yes, it confuses me too so I can't imagine how all of the kids feel!) I have just have to say that at this moment in my life I feel so very blessed. How many people can say that they have a crucifix on display (or any other sort of religious object for that matter!) in the room where they are working? We have a beautiful crucifix hanging right there in the kitchen. Talk about a pleasant working environment!! I have the blessing of having work hours that are flexible and compatible with my children's needs. I ended up making more per hour than I thought that I would. I got the surprise of a lifetime when I was told that I would also receive a tuition discount just because of my employment. Blessings abound and I am so humbled when I think about the many good things that have been happening to me. As I mentioned before, it has been a good busy. :)

On another note, I have found the ultimate Christmas album! (Please note heavy sarcasm.) I must own this, despite the fact that it makes me seem both old and insane. Monster Ballads Xmas will be playing in our house this holiday season, even if hubby and I have to wait until after the kiddos are asleep to listen to it. I have to purchase it just for the laughs and inspite of the fact that the word 'xmas' really gets under my skin. Just a warning: don't click on the link if kiddos are in the room. The website has been known to have some questionable language on it every now and then. The 'comments' section is the worst. And please forgive me for my musical taste............... :)

I'm still here.....

Just busy. Everything in the garden is coming in at once, and I also have to put my transplants in the ground. I planted my second round of fall harvest carrots yesterday. I have also frozen 10 completely full quart bags of carrots and eight completely full quart bags of broccoli. Today I am working on making more sauce out of my tomatoes.

Add this to the fact that we have to fully replace our bay window and we have got lots of stuff going on this week. Our big bay window failed over this past winter. The seals broke and now we have so much condensation between the panes that it just drips down all the time. It's horrible, so we are going to have to get it fixed before winter. I don't even want to talk about how much it is going to cost. It's a big window and that equals big bucks. Sigh. We have to fix it, so I guess that I'm just going to try to be happy that I get a pretty new window out of the deal. Unfortunately, I am very practical. I am happier when my old things keep working than I am when I get new things. Guess that I am crazy that way.

Ahhhhhh, the joys of home ownership!

You know that you have reached a new level

of Maturity (a.k.a. oldness) when you do not attend a big free summer concert event like this year's OzzFest because you have Other Things To Do. Grown up things, like work. We had tickets and pretty good seats even though they were free. But we couldn't go because my DH had to attend various meetings all day long yesterday with people like his Area President and such. Folks who are pretty high up there on the list of People Who Are Very Important in the company that hubby works for. There was NO WAY that he could sneak out early or take a personal day. So Ozzfest had to take a back seat to making a living and advancing DH's career. Maybe it's better that way. At our age we probably seem so out of it to most of the kids there that we are either the pathetic old geezers reliving our Glory Days (Party On Wayne!!) or we are the narcs. Since when did your 30s become so old?

But hey, Ozzy's in his 50's and still rockin'. I guess there is hope.

My favorite BBQ Sauce

In the area of the country where we live, a good BBQ entree just HAS to have sauce. I don't mean to downplay my southern friends with their wonderful rubs and slow cooking. That style BBQ is also incredibly tasty! I just love a good sauce to slather on everything from ribs to boneless, skinless chicken breasts while they are slow cooking on the grill. I can't help it, it's the Midwest Girl in me. I'm not a big fan of bottled sauces but I will use them in a pinch. I prefer to keep all of the ingredients that I need on hand for this tasty, easy to make BBQ sauce. My family loves it!!

KitKat Crew's Favorite BBQ Sauce:

1/2 cup Ketchup
1/3 cup cider vinegar (definitely not white vinegar!!)
1/4 cup molasses
3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard (My preference is Grey Poupon (sp?) Country Style Dijon, but feel free to use your fave.)
1 teaspoon hot sauce (I use Tabasco brand, and more of it. We like heat.)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 garlic gloves - minced (I use 4 because we love garlic)

Simmer all of the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, apx. 5 - 7 minutes.

Baste your lovely grilled items with lots of sauce during the last 5 minutes or so. The sugar will burn if you put it on too soon. I always season my meat before grilling with salt, pepper, and my favorite BBQ rubs.

This sauce also makes a great topping for a pulled pork BBQ Sandwich. Yummy!

Unused sauce that you have not dipped your basting brush into can be stored in your refrigerator for about a week. But we rarely have any left.

~
It is supposed to be hot and sunny here this weekend, so we plan on swimming and grilling all weekend long. :) Hope that you all have a great weekend!

Following The Path

I have always had an unshakable faith in God. I know that sounds proud or perhaps boastful, but I really don't mean it that way. I feel so strongly about this because there have been so many times in my life where I have truly felt God's hand guiding me. This has happened so often that it has become impossible for me to ever doubt his existence for one split second. It's both strange and comforting to me. To put the scope of my belief into words and explain all of the reasons why I believe in God would require much too long of a post. So, let's just say that I believe and I simply have no time to listen to atheistic arguments. A faith free life may work for some folks, but it just doesn't cut it for me.

Sometimes in my life, the reasons for choosing a certain path have been so clear that I could not deny what I needed to do. Other times, my head was fighting what I knew in my heart to be the correct choice so I had to decide on faith alone. I have been presented with another choice recently, one that my head is fighting but I am going to again follow where I feel that God is leading me because it just feels so right. I have been given the opportunity to work part time for the lunch program at my children's school. It is VERY part time, approximately 10 hours a week and only 2 days. Gas and grocery prices have been placing such a burden on our budget. I have cut and stretched as much as I know how, but we still feel the pinch.The apx 4 hrs a day that I would be working would never interfere with being there for my children because it would be while they are in school. When school is out I would be off work, so no childcare issues would pop up. I would be off all summer, Christmas and Easter Break, and on those miscellaneous days off that pop up during the school year. It really is just too perfect to pass up. It's just a little bit of extra money for us at a time when it would really help, but without all of the common dual income stresses that we desperately try to avoid. It is truly an answer to the silent prayer that I have been saying over the last few months as gas and food prices have kept going up and money has stayed the same. In a perfect world, I would not have to think about these things but the world just isn't even close to perfect. God has presented me with an option that will help get us back on track without it being too painful. He is so good!

Making a little bit of extra money for my family is nothing new to me. Since my oldest DD was born almost 9 years ago I have had little ventures here and there to help increase cash flow. I have babysat, written a food review column for our local paper, and worked for the before and after care program at my DD's previous school. Each one seemed to magically fit into our lifestyle at that time (with the exception of the before and after care job). This is just another example of how things just seem to work out with a little faith and a little patience. It's been a difficult decision for me but I feel like I again have to follow the path that I am being led down.

SLUGS!

I have found that nothing attracts slugs to my garden quite like my delicious everbearing strawberries as soon as they begin to ripen. Now it's time to go open "KitKat's Bar" in the strawberry patch so that I still have some hope of having a great harvest. It has truly been a slug's delight here lately: stiffling humidity, lots of rain and soaking wet soil, and strawberries that are just starting to ripen. Now I just need to give those slugs some beer in little cups that I sink into the soil so that they have something else to think about besides those lovely strawberries. They love the beer so much that they just drown themselves in it. I guess I should be sad that they fall into the cup and die, but it's really hard to mourn something that will take a bite out of every single strawberry in the patch. That's my job....... :)

Harvest Time!

First of all, Thanks so much to everyone who left me a nice "Feel Better" message. :) I am feeling better now. I went a very long stretch of time without having frequent migraines that good 'ol Advil Migraine wouldn't relieve. It appears that my luck has run out as I have had several in the past few months. I am going to start taking feverfew again (I used to take it, but I quit for many years), and I think that I am going to add the herbs that Lady of the RFH mentioned, too. I used to know someone who practiced acupressure massage, and that REALLY worked for me. But alas, I have moved away from the area where he lived so I think that I am going to pick up a book about the subject and learn how to work on myself.

Moving on to a happier subject: It's Harvest Time!! Well, it's Summer harvest time for some of my veggies. Last night I pulled 10 carrots from the garden and had enough for our meal PLUS two half full quart bags of carrots to freeze for the winter. And I still have about 60 more carrots to pull. I don't know what Vessey's does to their seeds, but I have never had such big (actually HUGE) carrots. I have to really work to get those monster carrots out of the ground!

My DH found some metal border fencing on clearance at Target. He used this to cover the space between the fence around our yard and the ground in some areas where the fence and the ground didn't meet up very well. This was where we believed that our little intruder was entering the yard from. We used to have some plastic fencing there, but our intruder could just push that right over and still get through. This metal fence seems to finally be doing the trick. I haven't had any tomato raids in the last few days. And I am finally getting some ripe tomatoes back on the very pathetic looking vines. The intruder may have worked over the plants and made them look quite nasty, but they are still producing fruit. I planted the Big Tom variety that I ordered from Vessey's and they have proven to be quite strong and very delicious. Definitely a keeper variety. Thy also make a great spaghetti sauce. That's what we had for dinner on Saturday. I hoping for enough fresh tomatoes that I can make a big batch of sauce and freeze it for the winter.

I have some onions, jalapenos, and cilantro coming in as well, so I am going to be busy making fresh Salsa once the jalapenos are fully mature. I also have some green peppers that are busy growing. Hopefully those will be ready soon. I'm looking forward to some stuffed green peppers for dinner. I am also going to freeze some so that I have them for winter.

My cauliflower has had a rough year. It started out too hot in the spring, so the heads didn't mature correctly. I am hoping that fall is much kinder to my cauliflower. It's hard to grow cauliflower, but it is SO worth it when you succeed. My broccoli is side shooting like crazy, so I am hoping to be able to freeze enough to last all winter. The cucumbers that I ordered from Vesseys are growing like crazy. We are eating tons of cucumber salad. (3 peeled & sliced cucumbers, 1 sliced onion, 1 cup of white vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, & 3/4 cup water. Mix together. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste. I also add some fresh parsley if I feel like it. Refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Yummy!)

Needless to say, I am going to be busy in the garden over the next few days. I need to tidy up and weed, plant more carrots for fall, plant more onions, make room for the pumpkins, and start to put up my harvest for the winter. If I am scarce for a day or so, that is why. :)

Hope that everyone has a GREAT week!!

Ouch!

I have a relentless migraine today, so no bloggy time for me. :(

AND

I also have a garter snake, which I just found out about the hard way. I don't like snakes much, but he's good for the garden so I guess he stays. I'm having a rough morning in the garden.

My fortress didn't work.......

and apparently WHATEVER it is thinks that it really likes tomatoes but actually does not. I say this because it pulled off, bit into, and discarded every tomato that had a chance of turning red during this very hot but perfect for tomato ripening week that we are having. Oh the PAIN!! Those toms were prize winners. At least that is what my hubby told me. ;) And my Father, the tomato grower extraordinaire who I learned everything about growing tomatoes from, is coming out to visit this weekend. My original plan was to present him with some pretty red tomatoes to take home since he, at age 71, does not garden like he used to but still loves a good tomato. And he's picky. Now I just get to present him with green tomatoes and broken, yes broken, tomato plants. Apparently my garden visitor is nimble enough to jump a 3 ft fence, finicky enough to have to try EVERY tomato in order to find the perfect one, and a bit of a man handler. (Now I'm thinking it's a racoon.)

Mr. Whatever you are, if you are going to steal my tomatoes please at least leave the plant alone so that I can grow more. Be gentle, please! You are just breaking my little heart. And I am leaving the dog outside ALL NIGHT long this time.......

At least I got rid of the powdery mildew. Sigh.

No More Mrs. Nice Gal!

I had a BEAUTIFUL tomato on my plant yesterday. It just needed a day to reach peak ripeness, so I left it there with the intention of picking it this morning. I went to my garden this morning and discovered that my lovely tomato had been cruelly ripped off the vine, bitten into and discarded by something. My guess is either racoon or opossum. Either way, I am off to my garden to strengthen the fencing around my veggies.

No more free lunch, Mr. Whatever You Are! You have been plundering my garden for long enough. You are now officially on my list! I have a husky, and I'm not afraid to use her. (Actually, I am afraid to use her. But I sound really scary, don't I?)

A Quick Post

Is it just me, or is this summer just flying by?? I swear that we have been so busy every weekend. Today my kiddos went to a birthday party while I played "hostess" at church to the folks who were getting their pictures taken for our new directory. Tomorrow we go to church and then over check up on Grandma. (Who is going over to one of her friends condo tonight to play cards, by the way. Hear that sound?? Yep, it's me beating my head against the wall. But I guess that you should enjoy every moment of your life, even at age 87 when you just had a stroke a week ago.............Sigh.)

I lost some of my spring peas to powdery mildew. That is my garden scourge. So, I am just going to hurry outside rightnow, cut down all of the rest of my little peas, put down some fresh peat moss, and plant my peas for fall. In case anyone does any gardening, don't pull up peas when they are dead. Cut them down at ground level and leave the roots. Legume roots are nitrogen rich, so they add nutrients to the soil. :) That's my garden tip of the day!

Have a great weekend!

A fun tag and a Grandma Update:

I have been tagged by Lady RFH for a "Random Things about Me" list. But before I get into that, I just have to tell everyone that Grandma actually got to go home from the hospital yesterday. :) She seems to have suffered some damage to her facial muscles, but the CAT scans are not showing any other signs of damage. She's still a bit physically weak, but she should improve slightly over the coming weeks. She has an appointment with her doctor next week, and that is when they should let us know if she needs any physical therapy, etc. I guess that any lingering damage takes some time to show up. I'd like to send out a big thanks to everyone who said a prayer for her. She was very fortunate that there was not more damage.

And without any further delay ~

Random (and perhaps boring) things about ME:

1. My favorite candy bar is NOT a KitKat bar, although I do enjoy them a lot. I'd have to go with Snickers or Payday if I had to pick a favorite candy bar.

2. My favorite color is GREEN, and my hubby hates green. It does make decorating the house a bit of a compromise. But at least my garden is green, so I win there. ;)

3. Most of my friends have switched their music preference to Country, but I just can't let the whole Metal/Rock chick thing go. I can listen to all types of music, but when I am left to my own preferences I always go back to the rock. It's in my blood and I am pathetic.

4. But I do have a soft spot for Country. I was raised on it. If I had to pick some favorite current artists, I would have to go with Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and Toby Keith. In the "Old School" category, I have a secret love of all things Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn.

5. Falling under the rock chick category: I have always wanted to do a cartwheel across two Jaguars while wearing a white dress. (Ladies of a certain age KNOW where I got that idea from.) ;) But at this point in my life, it's just not worth the hospital bills.

6. I studied to become a psychologist in college. I was going to change the world and help people. I never got my degree because I got married and then became pregnant with my oldest DD shortly after our wedding.

7. If I were to go back to college, it would NOT be for psychology. I no longer believe that the discipline of psychology is beneficial to society as a whole. Don't get me wrong, there are LOTS of wonderful people in the field of psychology who do many great things to help people on an individual level. Without these dedicated professionals, many people would be left to suffer with the effects of mental illnesses like depression, etc. But I also believe that the idea that we are somehow slaves to our genetic programming and abnormal impulses has done society as a whole much more harm than good. Certain aspects of psychology have become part of the liberal agenda, and I cannot participate in something that I don't believe in. OK, I am stepping off of my soapbox now...........

8. My mom and many of my relatives on her side of the family suffer from depression, other types of mental illnesses, and thyroid disease. That is the reason why I wanted to pursue a degree in psychology.

9. I have been a stay-at-home Mom for 9 years and I no longer know what I want to be when I grow up. ;) But I do dream of working as a home health care worker for the elderly if/when I need to return to the work force. I guess that I have a strong need to take care of people.

10. Sometimes I think that I want another baby, but sometimes I think that I am just too old now (even though I'm really not that old). So I'm leaving it up to God.

11. I have never travelled outside of the United States. That's going to change.

This post is officially too long now, so I am going to get back to cleaning my house. Hope that everyone has a wonderful day.

I'm Back!

Our family enjoyed some wonderful vacation time with my DH. We had a long list of home improvement goals that we swore we would accomplish, but we didn't finish a thing. Oh well, I have plenty of time to try to get stuff done before the kiddos start school again. Better start typing up that To-Do list. :)

Switching gears, we ended our 10 day vacation time with my hubby by going to visit his Grandma. Grandma is in her upper 80s and lost Grandpa to cancer a little over 18 months ago (after almost 65 years of marriage), so she lives alone in a nice condo close to my hubby's mother. Long story short, after we arrived at her condo we quickly discovered that she had suffered a stroke sometime over the weekend. Based on the info that we gathered from her and her neighbor, we think that she woke up on Friday morning with the symptoms. But she didn't tell us or my hubby's mom until we arrived on Sunday. :( DH's mom talked to her on the phone several times between Fri and Sun, but she didn't say anything. Hubby talked to her on Saturday, but she didn't say anything. Her neighbor tried to get her to go to the hospital, but she wouldn't go. But she went shopping, got her hair done, and went to church. UGH!!!! We finally convinced her to go to the hospital. She's still there and they are running tests to try to find out the extent of the damage and whether or not she has a clogged artery. So, if you wouldn't mind offering up some extra prayers it would be greatly appreciated. I think that she has become lonely (even though she refuses to move in with any of us) and scared since Grandpa has passed and she just doesn't know how to take care of herself anymore. It just breaks my heart.

To my dear Lady RFH: I have been having some email trouble and I think that I somehow lost the email that you sent me. I am working to recover it (hopefully!) and email you back. I'm so sorry ~ I didn't want you to think that I forgot about you or was ignoring you. :( Blogger almost didn't let me log in today. It said that my email didn't exist. It's some weirdo problem that I can't figure out. If I can't get it , I'm going to make hubby take a look at it. ;)

Well, that's all that I have time for today. Hope that everyone had a great weekend. I'm off to catch up on reading some blogs, etc.

UPDATE: It's about noon here and I just found out that Grandma's carotid artery is fine. God is so good!

Moving on....

I just wanted to let everyone know that I probably will be a bit scarce next week. My beloved hubby actually gets to take some vacation time next week, and I really plan to enjoy this extra time with him. I'm going to be spending today and tomorrow preparing to be able to take it easy on the home front. So I am getting off of the computer RIGHT NOW.

Thanks to everyone who has been so kind to me! :)

I Just Have to Say This

about THIS. She has in the past encouraged a reader to leave Chick Tracts around such as "Why is Mary Crying" and she is studying a book about the history of the Bible promoted by the Chick website. (I don't believe that you will be able to find the post about leaving tracts because I think that she removed links to her archives.) From the little that I have been able to read (only because I just can't stomach it) by Jack Chick and his other promoted authors on the Chick website, I got the impression that Ms. Brauer gets a great deal of her ideas from Chick publications and from other various websites and publications that are inspired by this kind of mindset. THAT is the reason why I included the link about Jack Chick in my post, not because I thought that her link led readers to the website or anywhere similar. She seems to be refuting my impression about the origin of her convictions, so I guess I will leave it at that.

I STILL don't get the Muslim Messiah thing. But a kind reader told me that Jack Chick says that the Catholic Church founded Islam to draw more people away from Christianity. Maybe that is what she means.

I rarely believe EVERYTHING that is presented to me by the media. I usually find the news to be very biased, especially against anything to do with Christianity. (And I am including the RC Church in this statement!) The Papal decree was not presented in its entirety by the conventional news media. The media only gave the public a small snippet of what the document actually says and, in my humble opinion, picked only the parts that would upset non-Roman Catholics the most. Christianity is at its weakest when it is fighting amongst itself. Please read this: What the Vatican Really Said to get the whole story. You may not agree with what the document says, but at least you will have the complete story.

At least Ms. Brauer seems to have something against all Protestant denominations, too. I guess that I can't win either way. ;)

And my comment didn't make the cut. It got twisted instead. Sigh.

I'm going to let this go now

because it certainly won't get me anywhere. But I am going to put this comment up here just in case it doesn't get published. Or in case it gets twisted if it does get published.

This is my my Response to a comment left on yesterday's post on Keeping the Home web page. I sent this in today. Let's see if it makes the cut. Hmmm.... Do you smell that? It's gasoline. And I am the crazy girl who just dumped it on the open flame. Why do I do this to myself??

----------------------------

Patty ~ I asked Candy a question without being mean and responded on my blog because Candy has a reputation for only allowing certain comments to be published. You asked why people who disagree come back. I can't answer for others, but I come back because I think that people can say whatever they want without the use of slanderous propaganda such as Chick Publications. I was raised as a Protestant and I have NEVER encountered anything like this until I started using the Internet. The nastiness that is shown in the name of love to whole group of fellow Christians just blows me away. Of course, I know that many folks don't think that Roman Catholics are Christians so I guess that makes it OK to lie about them and what they believe. ?

Candy's bible knowledge is very strong. I disagree with her interpretation of many things, but she is free to believe what she wants and I will not argue with her. She is my sister in Christ. It is the use of inflammatory literature apart from the Bible that I question her on. Please do not misunderstand that. You can make your point without using little comic books and web sites that are viewed by many people as controversial at best.

Have a wonderful day!
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I'm letting this go. Really, I am. I just had to say my peace. Can't we all just get along? Peace and love, man, peace and love. We are never going to get anywhere if we keep fighting each other. It's so sad really. Christians could make such a difference in this world, but we look so silly when we do this to each other. We look especially silly when we use such inflammatory rhetoric to blast each other. It just saddens me and sickens me all at the same time. (Sigh)

Updated to add: Oops! I didn't let it go. See above post.

I. CAN'T. TAKE. IT. ANYMORE.

Please, Dear Readers, forgive me for what I am about to do. My patience has finally reached it's limit and I have a very low tolerance for complete ignorance. (See definiton 2) But, really, WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS and exactly who does this little girl think she is?????:
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From Keeping the Home website

(***My comments are in italics ~ KitKat***)

Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Roman Catholic or Christian?

The new Pope (Vicar of Christ - the Greek roots of 'vicar' is "anti", AKA Greek Vicar of Christ = antichrist) proclaimed the other day that you are saved ONLY by being a member of the Roman Catholic church. Of course, anyone who has read his or her Bible knows that that is not true. (**** Ok, before I even thought of converting to Catholicism I was taught by PROTESTANT Pastors that the word Vicar means one who acts in place of Christ. And not to be understood by the exact definition, because of course there can NEVER be another Christ on Earth. But this word refers to a person commited to serve the Lord. Also, I was taught that the meaning of the word Vicar in this context comes from the Latin root. Am I WRONG in this understanding??? ****) (*** Updated to add: What is the point that you are trying to make if you KNOW that the Latin root means "substitute"? I think that you are stretching a bit.***)

To learn how to receive true salvation, click here.(*** I refuse to go anywhere with JACK CHICK. Please forgive my Wikipedia link. It was the best that I could find on short notice.***)

Although not admitting it, this pope is leaning closer and closer to pre-Vatican 2. This is great news for many high-ranking Satanists, because part of their advancing in the religion of Satan is to become a pre-Vatican 2 priest. One ex-Satanist in his book "Lucifer Dethroned," even claimed that when he was leading the Eucharist in his pre-Vatican 2 church, the wine really did turn into blood. This was great for him, because at the time, he drank real blood daily. (***WHAT??!!?? Where in the world does she get this stuff?***)

In other news - did you know that the Muslim messiah is supposed to reign for 7 years? Coincidence? Hmmm... (**What exactly are you saying here? Are you trying to imply that the POPE is somehow the Muslim Messiah? Or something else? I don't understand your logic. To say that we have different world views is an understatement.***)

I truly believe we are the generation of the fig tree. If we indeed are, then most of us will be witnessing "the end." The signs of the fig tree are lining up like perfect little ducks in a row.

Do as the Bible says - "watch and pray." Not "be ignorant and feed the flesh while there's still time." How do you know what to watch for? If you don't have an inkling, then you need to get your nose out of the TV guide or the latest fiction, and get it into the KJV Bible. This is serious stuff. How's your spirit doing?
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My spirit is doing just fine, Thanks for asking. But I wonder about yours, dear fellow blogger. Why do you do this? What are you getting from it? There are so many other things in this world to worry about! There are so many other things in this nation to worry about! I really just don't understand. Why???

Update: If you are interested, please read the article by Elena at My Domestic Church to find out What The Vatican Really Said Yesterday.

My Great Husky Huntress

Life with a Husky can be full of surprises. For example, I've been surprised to discover that she loves tomatoes (both red and green) and can pick them off the vine without ripping up the plant. I have been surprised when I went to the back door to call her inside, only to discover that there was no doggie there. Then I was surprised to find a large hole dug out under our fence. I was even more surprised to find her in the yard the very next morning just when we thought that we would never see her again. She can dig out and IN. Who would have thought! And, boy, our neighbor was sure surprised when he saw the size of the hole on HIS side of the fence. I'm still trying to make it up to him.

I've been surprised to see my beloved doggie running up to me while I was outside talking to my neighbors. Huh, I thought that I left her inside the house so that she wouldn't dig under the fence to come find us. Just when I thought that I had the doggie equivalent of Houdini, I was surprised to discover that she had jumped out of the living room bay window (right through the screen!?!) that I had left open because there was a nice breeze. Ah, surprises!!

But all of those things happened a little over a year ago. She has been SOOOO good this year. No digging out, no getting overly worried when we leave, etc. Just a good, gentle, loving, obedient dog. But she still knows how to keep me on my toes! This morning I was opening the windows upstairs when I looked down into my backyard and saw my beautiful, majestic Husky looking up at me and *SOMETHING ELSE* laying on the ground next to her. Something else that was furry and not moving. Could it be a bunny? No, that was my husky gift last week. This little present had a long tail and sharp claws. Oh goody! An opossum. Just what I always wanted! So I yelled out the window for my dainty doggie to GET AWAY from the dead opossum and I went outside to confirm my suspicion. Yep. It was definitely an opossum. And it was nice and stiff too, so she probably caught it for me last night. Now I had to be a big girl and pick it up all by myself so that the girls could go outside and play later. Great. My lovely husky had picked a day that my hubby left for work extra early and would be home late to leave me this lovely gift. I try to be loving to all of God's creatures, but I am really not a big fan of opossums. Or dead things. YUK! So I scooped it up into a few plastic grocery store bags and began the long trek across my yard and around the house to the garbage bins. It's not really a long trek. We have a small suburban yard. But it sure FELT long as I was carrying a dead opossum in a plastic bag while saying "Ew Ew Ew!" over and over again. My faithful Husky was following me the whole way, looking at me as though she just didn't understand why I didn't love the gift that she left for me. After all, I told her to guard the garden. She was just being a good girl. I knew that something had been marauding my garden, and I was guessing by the teeth and claw marks in some discarded tomatoes that it was an opossum. And now my loyal and faithful companion has probably solved my garden dilemma. Good Dog!?!

Like I said, life with a Husky is full of surprises.

I am so proud!

I konw that pride comes before the fall, so I guess that I should watch myself. :) But the walking Rosary around the grotto in front of our Church is coming together and it looks SO BEAUTIFUL! And the flowers that I (with help from the RE Director) planted are doing so well! I have to admit, I was so worried that they would die. (I guess that I had performance anxiety or something since our wonderful RE dir. made such a big deal about me planting them since I love to garden. I said many prayers over those flowers while I was planting them!) We are going to finish the stepping stones over the summer and hopefully have them set in place before October (the month of the Rosary). If we accomplish all of these things, the Bishop (!!!) will come and bless the walking Rosary in October. I am honored to play a part in creating something that will hopefully last for many, many years. :)

I'm going to try to post some pics once we have it completed. I guess some before and after pics may have been fun, but I didn't think of that until right now.

My Summer "Top 10"

Summer has been in full swing here in the Midwest, and all of this heat made me start to think about the things that I love about summer. I know that everyone is just waiting on edge to hear my deep thoughts about the season (please note heavy sarcasm here), so I took the time to make up a "top ten" list.

Top ten things that I LOVE about summer (in no particular order):

10. The ease of summer dressing around the house. Nothing says "Relax" like shorts and flip flops or sundresses.

9. Swimming in the pool with the kids on hot summer afternoons.

8. Swimming in the pool with my hubby on hot summer nights after we put the kids in bed.

7. Lightning bugs, fireflies, or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods.

6. Lemonade, preferably with a shot of Absolute Peach. Am I a bad girl?

5. Watching my hubby grill our dinner. He looks so manly around fire. ;)

4. Iced Tea.

3. Long, sunny, hot days followed by warm nights and campfires. S'mores, anyone.?.

2. Ponytails.

1. My garden, of course.

And, just for the sake of balance, here is my other top ten list ~

Top Ten things that I HATE about summer (in no particular order):

10. Me, in a bathing suit

9. Repeat sentence above 9 more times.

Well, there you go! :-) Does anyone else have anything that they love about summer? I'm in a summer mood, can you tell?

I've been tagged! :)

Courtney and Anita tagged me for this wonderful Meme:

Five things that I dig about Jesus

Here are the Rules:
Those tagged will share 5 things they "dig" about Jesus.
Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers.
Those tagged will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them.

I'm going to agree with Courtney about changing the word "dig" to "love" because it suits me a bit better.

So here we go...............

5 Things I Love about Jesus:

1. He loves me despite the fact that I am truly a poor miserable sinner.
2. He loves mankind so much that he was willing to suffer and die for us.
3. I find it incredibly touching that he loved his mother so much that he made sure that she would be cared for after he was gone from this earth WHILE he was suffering and dying on the cross.
2. His ability to show his humanity makes me feel a bit less unworthy. He hung around with a wide variety of people here on earth, too, so I am ever hopeful that I would have been able to hang around him had I been alive at that time. Could you just imagine being able to see him on earth??
1. Those times in my life when I felt that I was unable to carry on were the times when he would pick me up, dust me off, and lovingly carry my soul until I found the strength that I needed to continue on. He is truly my strength and refuge.

Both Courtney and Anita gave so much better answers than I did, so be sure to check them out.

I am horrible at tagging people, and the few that I would tag I am sure have already been. So I am going to say that I would be honored if you would do this Meme, and leave me a comment letting me know that you have. ;)

I think that this is a perfect post to share one of my favorite quotes:

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ in me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me.
Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left,
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit,
Christ where I arise.

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me;
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me.
Christ in every eye that sees me;
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Salvation is of the Lord; salvation is of Christ.
May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

~ The Breastplate of St. Patrick

A sad confession......

I'm not as young as I used to be. There, I said it. I keep trying to deny it, even though I the mirror tries to tell me that I am not in my 20's anymore. I can ignore what is in the mirror, but there is no ignoring what my body is telling me.

There was a time in my life when I could go out, stay up until all hours of the night, and then go to work the next morning. Yeah, I was a bit tired, but I could still make it through the day and be somewhat productive. Um, NOT ANYMORE. If I stay up until, let's say, 3:00 AM talking to my cousin and her husband like I did when they came over for a visit on Saturday I am completely useless the next day. We're talking useless as in sleeping on the couch until 11:00 am and ordering pizza for dinner.

Please remind me to never do that again. EVER.

Quick Post and Parsleyworms

I am very blessed to have a hubby who gets to work from home sometimes. He has been able to do a lot of his work from home for the past few weeks or so. I'm not complaining, but it does limit the amount of time that I can get on the computer because he needs the computer for work. So that is one of the many reasons why I have been short on posting time lately. Today is also one of those days that my DH is working from home, so I have to hurry to get this post up. Please ignore any errors in spelling or grammar. :)

I also would like to say a big THANK YOU to all the folks who left me "Get Well" messages and prayers. I am feeling so much better now, and your kindness really helped speed that along!

I was pretty excited this morning when I was able to harvest 3 heads of broccoli! I have 7 more that are still developing and 1 that is working on getting a side shoot after I cut off the main head a few days ago. I also have 2 heads of cauliflower that are blanching and a few more that are starting to form small heads. I should be able to blanch them in about a week, and they will be ready for harvest about 2 weeks or so after that.

My girlies are really looking forward to the annual arrival of the Parsley worms on our carrots. The tops are just about big enough to attract them. As I have mentioned before, I try to control garden pests by natural methods. But I rarely try to control the Parsley worms. They only feed on the tops of my carrots and once they are done feeding they turn into BEAUTIFUL black swallowtail butterflies. Since I try to attract as many butterflies into my yard as possible, I personally feel that it would be a crime against nature to destroy these creatures. Instead, we have learned to live in harmony with them. I allow them to eat my carrot tops. They don't destroy them and we don't use the tops for food anyway. They reward us for sharing by producing a spectacular butterfly show when they emerge from their cocoons. It is a win-win solution for all of us, even though my carrot tops are less than impressive when the parsley worms are finished feeding. I even allow the girls to keep one worm each, feed and care for it, and watch it go through all of it's stages in a butterfly keeper. We release them once they have hatched and dried their wings. They get to learn about butterflies AND about trying to garden in sync with nature rather than against it. :)

Well, I am off to do yard work and prepare for the 4th of July. We may (or may not) have a small gathering. I want to be prepared either way. Have a great day!!

Getting Better and Catching Up.

So who takes care of Mom when she is sick? In my house, the answer is usually Dad. But what happens when Dad is still sick, has pink eye, and has to work? Yep, we were pretty much a wreck for a few days. The kiddos tried to help, but they can only do so much so lots of stuff just didn't get done. I have a house to clean, laundry to fold, errands to run. You get the picture. So that's what I have to focus on today.

On the garden front, my high yield Dual peas have provided me with two good sized bags of peas for my freezer. And they aren't finished yet!! My tomato plants are almost five feet tall (??!!??!!) and really aren't showing any sign of slowing down but are still carrying green tomatoes. It's time to harvest my lettuce and try out Moey's salad. And the broccoli and cauliflower are doing very well despite my dire predictions of heat damage. Have I ever mentioned that I am really loving the seeds that I got from Vessey's. Canada must know something that Burpee doesn't. :-)

Well, I am off to a busy day. Hope that you have a great one!

Another one bites the dust

I'm sick. Despite my most valiant efforts, I fell ill with the same nasty cold/flu whatever thing that my hubby brought home from work. So, I haven't really been doing much of anything. I did have a fun adventure over the weekend during a brief period of time where I foolishly assumed that I was getting over this thing. But I'm going to have to tell that story later. Right now I am going to bed.

And Moey, I am going to try that salad, I promise!! I just didn't feel much like cooking. Hopefully I will whip it up tomorrow before my lettuce bolts. :)

Have a wonderful day!!

Peas may I have some more!

Here's something that you may not know about me: we have a beautiful Siberian Husky. She's going to be 3 years old this August. She's VERY submissive, so much so that it makes me wonder if she was mistreated before we got her. (We did not buy her from a pet store or a breeder. We got her from a Siberian Husky rescue center just after she turned 1.) We have had our fair share of adventures with her! When we first got her, she would dig out under the fence and go for a LONG run. We thought that we had really lost her the first time that she did that. Imagine our surprise when my hubby looked out in the back yard the next morning and found her laying there in "her spot", muddy and REALLY SMELLY. One other time that she got out our neighbor found her sleeping in our driveway at 5:00 am, muddy and REALLY smelly again. But aside from that slightly annoying digging habit, she is a really great dog. She's great with the kids, she's huggable and lovable, and people who don't know anything about Husky's think that she is really wolfy scary looking. (She's really a big lovable goof, but she has this wolfy mask on her face that could look a bit intimidating.)

Anyway, this dog still surprises me after two years of having her. Last night Hubby and I picked some of our pea crop. I took our bounty inside and began prepping them for dinner and freezing. It has been obvious since the very first month that we have had this crazy dog that she LOVES vegetables and fruit. (I found this out the hard way. I couldn't figure out what was happening to all of my tomatoes the first year that we got her. I saw her playing with a green ball one day, but I didn't remember buying her a green ball. It suddenly dawned on me that she was stealing my tomatoes. But that is another story....) Doggie was standing around me as I was trying to prep my peas, so hubby tossed her an empty pea pod. We figured that she would just spit it out but she ate it. And she wanted another! And another and another. So I finally have a use for all of those empty pea pods that I have been throwing away. Who would have thought......

The pea pods that this doggie loved so much carried a very nice variety of peas called Dual that I ordered from Vessey's, a Canadian seed company. I have been so happy with these peas! They are not super sweet, but they have a pleasantly sweet pea taste with a super high yield, consistent double podding habit, and lots of peas per pod (10-14 to be exact). Great for small spaces like mine! I am going to try to plant these again in the fall, but it is only an experiment because these do have a longer growing time at approximately 65 days. My fall growing season is unpredictable at best, so I am taking a big risk. But I'm crazy like that! :)

Well, I'm off to finish cleaning. It's a nice rainy day today, so I should be able to get lots done without being tempted to go outside and putter in the garden. My spring crops are just about ready for harvest, and I seem to think that going out and staring at them will make them be ready sooner. Something like a watched pot and boiling......

Have a great day!! :-)

Sicko

My beloved DH has been down for two days with a nasty case of, um, something. We're not quite sure what it is (because he won't go to the doctor ;-) LOL!), but it has made him miserable and he is usually pretty tough. It started with a sore throat and stuffy nose, then it upgraded to include a cough, body aches, and fever. Is it the flu, strep, ??? Who knows, but I am going to super clean today (as he is actually returning to the land of the living and has gone to work) and take my trusty can of Lysol around to every room in the house.

On the bright side, it is cool enough here today that I have shut off the a/c. It looks like my broccoli survived the string of 90 degree temps, and my peas sustained only minor heat damage. I rely on my garden to not only provide fresh healthy, organic food but also to help me save money. Last year I was able to freeze enough peas, carrots, and broccoli at the end of the fall season to last me until late December. It really did help my grocery budget to not have to buy a ton of veggies. I intend to try to put up a post about how I was able to do this organically (which saves not only your health but also your pocketbook!!) and in a small space, but I'm not able to get to it quite yet. :-(

Anyway, I am off to de-sickie my house and get it clean for this weekend. Wish me luck, I am way behind on my cleaning and I have to get this done by Saturday!

Have a great day!!

Awwww rats!

The only thing that you can predict about the weather in the Midwest is it's unpredictability. I took a big gamble in the garden this year. I planted cauliflower as a spring crop when it does better as a fall crop in this part of the country. I planted my peas on time but we have had an incredibly hot spring, so they are not finished yet. It is 94 degrees here today, and I SWEAR that my spring crops are giving me dirty looks as they are sitting there in my garden wilting from the heat. My cauliflower will be lucky now if it produces heads, and pea growth and yield goes way down in temps over 70 degrees. My broccoli heads that are almost (but not quite) ready are getting sun scorched, and I swear that I can hear my lettuce screaming. Gotta love gardening. :-(

But my summer tomato plants look so beautiful. They just love this heat.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of those great dads out there! My DH is such a wonderful dad that he makes my heart sing. And I'm in my 30's and still a Daddy's girl. :-)

On a slightly different note, this article about how Military Dads often watch their kids grow up in pictures really got to me. I know lots of military folks both personally and in the blogosphere. My heart goes out to those Dads who are away from their families today because they are serving our country.

8 Things meme

Chrissy tagged me for this meme. Here are the rules:

Each player lists eight facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags eight people and posts their names, then goes over to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to go read your blog.

1. I have naturally blonde hair and green(ish) eyes. My hair used to be such a wonderful light blonde color that people thought that I dyed it. It has, of course, lost it's brilliance with age and pregnancy. But it sure was fun while it lasted. :-)

2. I found out that I had skin cancer (melanoma) right before my 30th birthday. Always wear sunscreen and cover up in the sun, ESPECIALLY if you are a natural blonde with light eyes and freckles. (That's it for the public service announcements, I promise!)

3. I also found out that I have Hashimoto's disease a few months before my 30th birthday. If this is what 30 means, I can't wait to see what 40 has in store for me! LOL!!

4. I am recovering from a nasty Pepsi addiction. I gave it up for Lent this year, and it has been a struggle to stay away. But let's hear it for my new addiction: iced tea with no sugar.

5. I am a secret "metal head". (Just in case I lost anyone, I love music that falls into the category of rock, metal, etc. None of the nordic death metal or anything like that. Just the fun rocking stuff.) Shocked?? Me too. I figured that I would grow out of it, but my musical taste has stayed pretty much the same ever since I was able to pick my own music.

6. I met my husband when I was 14 years old. We dated for a bit after I turned 15 and then broke up. For eight years. It's a long story, maybe I'll tell it later.

7. I always thought that I was a city girl, but the older that I get the more that I understand the country life. I want land so that I can grow more veggies.

8. I've never had a professional manicure, but that's going to change soon.


Well, there you go. Hope you all still like me! I know that most people have already done this, so I tag whoever would like to do this and hasn't done it yet.

Have a great weekend and a Happy Father's Day!

20/20

Hindsight, as they always say, is 20/20. In that spirit, I am breaking a personal rule and removing my post about a comment that I left to another blogger that wasn't published. (I try not to remove posts because I try to make sure that I always type something that I am willing to leave up. But, alas, I am not perfect and things happen. Sigh.) I just don't want to be accused of trying to start anything, as it has already been implied............

Forgive me please. I really wasn't trying to incite. :-(

Rolling Away, Part Deux

May was a crazy month! The worst part was that my youngest DD's 6th birthday fell on the exact same day that she graduated from kindergarten. (Yep, I cried BIG TEARS on that day. Two big events in one day is just too much for one emotional Mommy!) With everything that was happening in May, I had to move her birthday party to this month. Mommy & Daddy guilt made us tell her that she could have a small party at a location of her choice. Guess what she picked. She had so much fun at her last roller skating event that she picked the Roller Rink. Yay?!? As a Mom of my word, I am busy planning a fun filled roller skating event for little folks who can barely get around without wheels on their feet, let alone with. What was I thinking?

Fun Contest!!

Anita over at Ask a Lutheran is having a great contest for an Amazon.com gift certificate. All you have to do is make a post on your blog about which book is your favorite and why (be sure to link her blog). Then leave her a comment letting her know that you are participating. Easy and fun!!


Well, I'd have to say that my favorite book of all time has to be (brace yourselves!): "The Stand" by Stephen King. Yeah, not really classic literature, I know. But I do soooo love the Good against Evil theme that was woven throughout the entire long novel. I loved the whole "End of the World as we know it" vibe, too. I guess I'm just a simple girl.


To save my literary soul, I must add that Jane Eyre is my favorite classic novel. I so enjoy the dark love story.

If I were the lucky one to win this contest, I would not buy either one of those books. Instead, I would buy my oldest DD a book called "How to Draw Anything" that she has had her heart set on since she saw it at Barnes & Noble. She's quite the little artist, and I just love to see her smile. :-)

Thanks for the contest, Anita!!

Personal Policies Meme

Erika from The Happy Catholic Family has tagged me for this fun "Personal Policies" Meme. I just hope that my few precious readers don't think that I am a real head case after they read this. :-)

Well, here goes:

1. I ALWAYS vacuum first, then dust.

2. When I clean the kitchen, I always start with the dirty dishes and then clean the sink when I am finished with the dishes. (Thanks, Flylady!)

3. I always sit on the left side of church and about 3/4 of the way towards the back of the church when we go to Mass. It drives my kids crazy because they want to sit WAY up front, but that makes me feel like everyone is looking at me. Crazy, I know.

4. I always park in the first open space that I find when I pull into the parking lot at a store. But I always park in the same row at each store, just in different spaces in those specific rows. (I tend to always go to the same stores, too. Can you tell??) I hate driving around looking for a parking space. And, let's face it, I could use every little bit of exercise that I can get even if it is simply walking all the way across a parking lot. Plus, this way I don't forget where I parked ~ because I would. Really.

5. I always start shopping in the produce section at the grocery store. Even if I don't need produce. Force of habit.

6. I have a very specific way that I fold clothes. It drives me batty if they are folded any other way. When my hubby helps me out by folding clothes, I can't look at how he does it or else I will go crazy. His way is not any worse than mine, it's just different. So I never say anything when he helps out. But you can bet that my girlies are learning to fold clothes the way that I do. :-)

7. I try to never make a left hand turn at a busy intersection without a traffic light. I get very anxious when I get a line of cars behind me while I am waiting to turn. I will take specific routes to avoid this situation in areas that I am familiar with. And if I do accidently find myself in a situation where I am stuck trying to make that left, I will turn right and then turn around later when I find a place with a trafic light.

That's all that I can think of for now. I'm going to break the rules and say that if you would like to do this meme, please feel free. You can leave a comment with a link letting me know that you did it if you would like to. :-)

Have a great day everyone!!

Updating my blogroll

I'm updating my blogroll, and I noticed that some of my links don't really go anywhere now. If you have moved your blog and would like me to still link to you, please let me know. I will happily fix my link to you. (PrairieFlower, are you there?? I miss you!) :-)

Our Summer Project

One of my favorite activities during the past school year was helping out with the school's Rosary Club. My 8 yr old DD just LOVED making rosaries, and I was sad that she would possibly have to wait until next fall to continue this lovely hobby. Imagine my excitement when I heard a commercial on Relevant Radio for the Our Lady Rosary Makers website: www.olrm.org. (Look! I made a link!! I am so happy!) Anyway, at this wonderful site you can order specially priced beads for making missionary rosaries. You can also order beautiful parts for making gift rosaries and tools that are helpful in making your rosaries. (Although for the knots I just use broken umbrella parts.) My DD is SO excited that she can spend all summer making more rosaries, and we can add them to our Rosary Club shipment in the fall.

We are still working on the walking Rosary around the grotto in front of our church. It was QUITE a project! But it will be beautiful when it is finished. I will try to post pictures once we are done.

If anyone ever wants to make missionary Rosaries, I can honestly tell you that it is a fun and fulfilling hobby. The knots are quite easy once you learn how, and I would be happy to explain it to anyone who was interested. (As best as I can, of course. It is one of those things that is easier to learn in person but you can learn how with written instructions.)

I'm off to finish my housework and start dinner. Have a wonderful day!! :-)

School's Out!

I am amazed that I seem to be as excited about summer break as my kids are. I had to fight the urge to drive out of the school parking lot on Friday playing the same song the we used to listen to every last day of school when I was a teenager. Ok, everyone sing with me: "School's out for summer! School's out forever!!" Is my age showing? I'll grow up now. :-)

The month of May was so incredibly busy for us! I have to catch up on all of my housework, and I won't even begin to talk about my poor garden yet. We opened the pool, but it is not fit to swim in yet. So much to do, and finally so much time to do it in!

I plan to do more blogging this week, but I have to spend most of the next few days just catching up with myself. I hope that eveyone has a great week! :-)

Still Going Crazy........

I am doing a countdown until June 1 at 10:00 am. That is officially the LAST DAY of school. I love the school year, but the end of the year is so busy. School picnics, school parties, gift money collecting, gift shopping, first communion, kindergarten graduation, my dd's birthday party, other birthday parties. My head has been spinning! I might be a bit scarce until after that magical date, but I will try to post whenever I get a chance. Until then, I hope that everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! :-)

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by Courtney over at ZuZu's Perch! :-) (I know that I should really put a link up to her blog in this post, but I'm not sure how to do that yet. I'm blushing with embarassment! LOL! But if you want to check out Courtney's wonderful blog, I have her listed in my blogroll.)

Literary Meme
How it works:

1. Grab the book closest to you
2. Open it to page 161
3. Find the fifth full sentence
4. Post the text of the sentence to your blog
5. Don't search around for the coolest book you have, use the one that is really next to you.
6. Tag five people to do this meme.

The book on the top of my pile at my desk is: (Now don't laugh at me! LOL!) Grandma Putt's Old-Time Vinegar, Garlic, Baking Soda, and 101 More Problem Solvers by Jerry Baker.

Here's the fifth sentence on page 161:

"Rub the paste into the stain, wait 30 minutes, and launder as usual" (In reference to how to remove a rust stain from fabric with salt and vinegar.)

Yep, that's some heavy reading. :-) I think that I am going to start keeping some great novels by my computer rather than my home and garden reference books. Ha Ha!

I tag:
Brandy
Moey
Ask a Lutheran

And I'll think of two more in a little bit!

I'm Still Here!

Really, I am! :-) It's just been really crazy around here with the end of school (I can't believe I just wrote that. It has gone by so quickly!) AND my loving hubby has been working from home for the past two weeks. That's great, but I get no computer time because he uses the computer for work. But he's back to work tomorrow, so I might be able to start my organic gardening posts. But now I have been tagged for a literary MeMe, so I have to go caught up on that. Have a great day, everyone! :-)

Just for fun

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Northeast
The South
The Midland
Philadelphia
North Central
The West
Boston
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have">What American accent do you have? http://www.gotoquiz.com/">Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Busy Busy!

The weekend just flew by! We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day for our dd's First Communion. It was just beautiful. She was chosen to read the responsorial psalm, so I was one PROUD momma!! :-) When she stood in front of everyone to read (and it was a full church, standing room only) she read so clearly and she just looked SO BIG. I almost cried. She was just so happy about the whole event, though, that it was hard for me to be too sad about my first little baby girl growing big so quickly.

On another note.......
I think that I am going to focus this week on organic gardening. It is a subject that I am very interested in, and I hope that I have a little bit of useful knowledge to share. LOL!!

So, to kick things off I have a wonderful garden essay passed on to us from our church's very own Fr. Pete:

Caring For Your Garden In The Spring Of Faith

Spring is just around the corner, so here are some ideas for your garden.

Plant three rows of PEAS:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul

Plant four rows of SQUASH:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness

Plant four rows of LETTUCE:
Lettuce be faithful
Letuce be kind
Lettuce be patient
Lettuce really love one another

No garden is complete without TURNIPS:
Turnip for meetings
Turnip for service
Turnip to help one another

To conclude our garden, we must have THYME:
Thyme for each other
Thyme for family
Thyme for friends
Thyme for God

Water freely with PATIENCE and cultivate with LOVE.


Thanks, Fr. Pete!! I love my Sunday bulletin. :-)

Not much time

I might go missing for a bit, until next Monday. Saturday is my DD8's First Communion, and we are planning a swirl of activities revolving around this event. It will be good to enjoy the company of family and friends, but it will certainly be busy. :-) I need to go make sure the house is clean, the food is ready, and that everyone has something nice to wear. I actually have a few posts rolling around in my head, but I won't be able to do anything great until the middle of next week.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week! I'm off to go crazy. LOL!! :-)