I call Claire over to tell her something. Then I tell her I forgot what I wanted to say.

Claire tells me, "when I forget what I was going to say, I say 'I love you' instead."

What a good idea, Claire!

Day 5. We've already done a picnic outside (day 2), a little bit of swimming (day 2, with daddy since I don't have a suit that fits my enormous pregnant belly), a trip to the EcoTarium with friends (day 3), time with Grandma (sometimes babysitting, sometimes going out for food), and lots of outside time ( Read more... )

Pastor Mike has been preaching through Ruth recently, and it's really great - there's so much in there when you stop and take the time to research it.

My favorite quote from last week, regarding Boaz as a picture of Christ:

"By Nature God is a Redeemer
and by choice He is a kinsman."

In my slow-but-steady quest to eat and cook "real food", sauce packets were one of the first things to go. At first I just didn't make tacos or Hamburger Helper anymore... and I eventually found a good, easy mac & cheese recipe. But I missed the ease of these start-from-raw-hamburger skillet meals.

Well, food blogs to the rescue!

Dad's ( Read more... )

1. Only plant ONE marigold plant, or plant multiples with the express purpose of digging the rest up as seedlings and planting them elsewhere around the yard. The three that are in the veg. garden this year are now crowding out the basil and the carrots ( Read more... )

So, for anyone who hasn't heard me gushing about this already: For the first time in my life, I have a vegetable & herb garden. Using the square foot method (more or less) in a 4x4 raised box.

The good so far:

• enough lettuce for salads several times a week. I especially like the "Ithaca" type - curly and crunchy
• mint and chives going like ( Read more... )

Last night, I watched Sitting Pretty, the original "Mr. Belvedere", with nightskyre. It started as a curiosity, since I am mildly familiar with the Mr. Belvedere TV series from the 1980s, and I like some classic films. I figured we would watch part of it, find a stopping point, and go to bed ( Read more... )

For posterity's sake, before my newspaper clipping disintegrates. According to the newspaper clipping, this is originally from the 1997 cookbook "Desperation Dinners!" I've been making this for about 2 years, and it's always a hit ( Read more... )

For electronic posterity... since I've been making this recipe long enough that I'm on my second hand-written copy (I don't even remember if the original recipe was in a book or online ( Read more... )

Had a friend ask me to re-schedule something tomorrow for later in the day so he could make sure he had time to vote. Later realized this is his first chance to vote (he's 18). Hooray for representative democracy! I will celebrate by once again voting for my local reps and for a presidential candidate with no chance of winning ( Read more... )