Simple Woman's Daybook

For today, February 9, 2009.

Outside my window...cold, dreary, black skies provide a constant drip of rain.

I am hearing...drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip...you get the idea.

I am thankful for...God's direction. If I listened to it more often I could avoid so much unnecessary junk. For example working VBS out of guilt instead of God leading me to = lots of ibuprofen.
On the other hand teaching Sunday school and D-now with the youth (where God led me to be) = blessing beyond imagination and seeing the beauty of God working before my eyes.
Hmm, which is better? I mentioned to Mark that I don't think I'll work VBS this year, I just don't feel that's where I need to be. My husband sarcastically replied, "Ya think?"

I am thinking...how much fun the marathon is going to be! I love a good goal and my family (Mark and Savannah) appreciates it when I find one that doesn't involve them (sorry mom. you didn't escape this one!) To be truthful, I didn't initiate this goal, it was my sister Dawn. We picked the marathon on a Friday due to her pressing the issue and set our training plan. Then two days later she announced she was (unexpectantly) pregnant and dropped out. Now Mandy is considering that as an option out of this adventure ;)

From the kitchen...homemade sourdough bread, scrambled eggs, and just a dab of homemade plum jelly was the dinner of choice tonight. I never make anything fancy or fun on Mondays. But, it was pretty tasty!

I am wearing...PJs. Once a week Savannah declares a PJ day and today was it. However, she changed gowns 3 times so it didn't lighten the laundry load.

I am hoping...the sun will come out tomorrow.

I am reading...Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace for a class Mark and I are taking, The Power of a Praying Woman for a bible study I am in and that's it. I got a book from the library a couple of weeks ago and never even cracked it open before taking it back today. Between the financial class, bible study, Sunday school lessons, and D-now lessons I have had no time for recreational reading! I do read Sleeping Beauty several times per week if that counts. It's Savannah's favorite book and we read a chapter before every nap and bedtime until we have read through the book. And then we start again. This has been going non-stop since Christmas.

I am creating...plans for finances, plans for MOPs, plans for our house, plans for a weekend away for Mark and I, and I am sure there is something else. Can anyone guess my hobby? Yup. I love to plan.

I am going...to join Savannah and Mark on the couch to watch Star Wars for the 200th time when I'm done with this. I blame Jadan, Marcia!

Around the house...jammies, Star Wars, all things organized and in place for the morning.

One of my favorite things...the spray emitted from peeling an orange. It's a delicate fine mist but it yields a strong rejuvenating fragrance. Oranges have been my favorite thing to eat after each training session. That and about 4,000 other calories! Man am I hungry all the time now! It's scary too. I'm building muscles like the Incredible Hulk. Not pretty.

A few plans for the rest of the week...MOPs tomorrow, Mandy, Mom, and I get up to 8 miles this week (plus all our regular miles!), bible study, Valentines banquet, Savannah and I are planning a special dinner for Mark (something involving homemade pasta and prosciutto I'm sure), Mark's 36th b-day, Lani's birthday party, and then all the regular stuff.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Here's to warmer thoughts, locations, and months.

Jost Van Dyke, The British Virgin Islands

May, 2004

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

As I have mentioned before I have had several requests for recipes and nutritional information and they are increasing in frequency every week. Procrastination has allowed me to avoid the decision of where to begin. But common sense says to begin at breakfast.

The following recipe works well as breakfast or a snack for both kids and adults. The chocolate and peanut butter flavors pair well with a banana, milk, and coffee. Who needs Wheaties? This is the breakfast of champions!

Breakfast Bars

2 ½ cups old fashioned quick oats
½ cup flax seed
¼ cup dark cocoa powder (preferably organic)
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup raw honey
1 – 2 tablepoons wheat germ
½ teaspoon spirulina (found at health food stores)
½-1 cup HOT water

Mix all ingredients and form them into patties for individual servings or put into a loaf pan and cut a slice as needed. If you make individual patties, they look nice (and taste great) with a 1/2 a pecan on top. I just put mine into a loaf pan a minute ago and topped it with chopped walnuts. Cover and store in the refrigerator. Warning: they don’t really taste good until they have cooled in the refrigerator.

My mom gave me this recipe and I ammended it a little. I would give credit to the original creator but I'm not sure who it is.

Moving on????

Last fall I had the realization that my child was growing up and moving on. She asks to go to school every day and is a bit disappointed when I remind her she only goes to school 2 days a week. As she moves on, so must I. My life has been focused around the home since her birth but what will my focus be as she moves into her school years? Where will my time be spent?

Well, there was no hesitation in my answer to the last question. My career!!!! I have been chomping at the bit to tackle my own goals. Oh, I'll always put family first but I'm great a multitasking ;)! And as Savannah matures, I have more free time that must be filled. It's not so much a paycheck I am looking forward to as it is the achievement. Call me shallow if you like but it's the truth. I love the idea of succeeding in my desired field and I feel I have waited my turn patiently. For the past several months I have been moving in this direction with all the excitement and anticipation of a second grader awaiting summer's arrival.

With the moving out of the baby and toddler years comes the leaving behind of other things. One such thing is MOPs (mother's of preschoolers, a national organization with a local chapter here in our little town). I have served on steering team with much joy and reward for the past three years. I've met some of my best friends, learned many lessons, and grown as a leader through this organization. But this year I was not feeling God calling me back to serve another year. Moving on and leaving it behind.

I did however decide to attend an area MOPs leadership meeting a couple of weeks ago in hopes of getting more speaking engagements. MOPs has provided me an outlet to speak on non-nutrition related topics (ahhh, so refreshing not to get asked about carbs for once!). I printed up a short bio and list of my most requested topics (even nutrition ones) with the plan of distributing them to other MOPs leaders. Groups are always looking for new speakers and I was happy as a rose in the sunshine to provide my services!

The day of the meeting I was 15 minutes late due to an accident on the highway. Embarrassed that they had already started, I quietly took my spot. I sat my bag down, looked up at the speaker. She spoke one sentence and I knew. I am suppose to be coordinator of MOPs next year. No career, no moving on. God wants me here.

For those of you who don't know about this organization, the position of coordinator is a big job and there have been many years we have had trouble finding someone to fill those shoes. It's a big commitment. But surprisingly there was no sensation of loss over my postponed dreams. Only peace.

I wish God worked like this every time. I didn't pray about this over months wondering which path to chose, He was literally steering me in another direction. And in an instance He let me in on His plan and gave me peace over His decision. If you knew how badly I desire a career you would know the depths of that statement. I have goosebumps right now as I type.

So, because I don't "need" (a.k.a. I don't have 30 diapers to change per day) MOPs anymore it puts me in the perfect position to minister to those who do. But really, let's face it. I would have missed that fellowship. I "need" the organization just as much as the mom with a one, two, and three-year-old, just in a different way.

Now, here we go!

Retro Wednesday

Yesterday on the way to school Savannah asked, "Momma, will I always have you?"

"Well, I still have my Momma. Remember, Grandma is my Momma. I just don't live with her anymore now that I am an adult, " I replied.

In a sweet voice she assured me, "Momma, I will always want to live with you. Even when I'm grown."

I'll be sure to send her the link to this post when she is 18!

Savannah's first birthday. Dallas, TX

2006

Today before lunch Savannah threw her arms around my neck and gave me a genuine, heart felt bear hug and then said, "Momma, I like you more than a tornado!"

I have no idea where that came from but I'm pretty sure it translates as, "Momma, I love you a bunch!"

My Most Economical Recipe

Several people have asked for budget friendly recipes. Well here it is, the recipe that saves me the most money. We are talking big bucks people. And the best part is that the recipe is user friendly, budget friendly, earth friendly...it's so friendly that one of these days it's actually going to stand up and say "howdy" to me :)


Make Your Own All Natural Laundry Detergent

In 15 minutes you can save money and live greener by making your own natural laundry detergent. It only cost .79 cents to make 5 gallons!!!

Ingredients:
3.1 oz bar all natural soap (I use castilles. You can find it at target and other stores.)
1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
½ cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
Water

Tools:
5 gallon container
Knife
Pot large enough to hold 5 cups water
Long stirring stick or spoon (I use a yard stick)

Instructions:
Shave the soap into small strips and place in the pot with 5 cups of water. Bring water just to a boil and stir until soap is completely melted. Pour 3 gallons of warm water into the 5 gallon container and stir in soapy water until well mixed. Then add ½ cup of washing soda and 1 cup Borax, stir until dissolved.
Let it sit overnight and it will gel. It will be lumpy and watery.
Use 1/2 cup per laundry load. For high efficiency machines, break up lumps. This recipe should yield 110 loads of laundry for .79 cents!



Yup. I make my own laundry detergent. And it's less daunting than it seems! I promise. I hope you go out on a limb and try it for yourself.

Retro Wednesday

I thought this really captured the spirit of my husband.

Colorado, summer 2000

The dinner table at my grandmother's house.

Hope you laugh today!

As I promised...

I vaguely remember saying this morning, "Don't worry. I'll post the recipe on my blog for you later today," about 10 hours ago to a group of people. Now, I cannot remember what recipe that was. Sometimes (OK, more often than not) I have diarrhea of the mouth and word flow freely off my lips with little observation or control from myself.

I think the recipe in question is the popcorn I made for our MOPs meeting this morning. Please correct me if I am wrong and I will post the desired recipe. As for my mouth, I will turn on my brain next time I choose to use it!

Trail Mix Popcorn

Coming soon...more recipes!