New Foods List for 2010 ~ Starting the year out with more good food

Swiss chard is now included in our meal plans.  One day I spent the morning in my pajamas, sipping coffee, and watching Food Network.  I actually have a journal specifically for recipes I see and would like to try.  I am usually a fan of certain chefs, however this time, watched a different one.

I made Saucy Salmon and served it with couscous and my family raved about it.  In fact, my husband starting packing up two servings and actually drove it over to his nephew's house.  He wanted his nephew and his wife to try it.  I wasn't even finished with mine when he was doing this either.  That tells you how much he liked it.  He devoured it.

I made the recipe exactly as the recipe stated, however I did not use the whole dried chili peppers.  I could not find them at our local grocery store.  I'm sure that when I do find them, and make the recipe again, it will taste even better.  The swiss chard was very tasty with the flavors this recipe used.  In fact, the only swiss chard I could find was actually organic.

Although I have actually eaten couscous while in Africa (many moons ago), my family had not.  This was also something different for meal time. 

Saucy Salmon

Day 11 ~ The Bible in 90 Days Challenge

I've been able to stay right on track with this challenge.  In fact, because I am seen reading my Bible often, I've actually stirred up conversation with the kids.  They have not only asked me questions, but have participated in conversation about my current reading.

My 8 year-old daughter is reading her Bible every day I do.  She often sits right next to me if it is not a school day.  Yesterday I asked her about reading the Bible and she said, "Some of it's boring, some of it's interesting, and some of it I don't understand."

Writing Goals ~ Resources

If you are thinking of writing out new goals for this new year, these resources might be useful.  I've already printed out pages for the kids to write their own goals on.  It's fun!

Personal Goal Worksheet (pdf)


Creative Goal setting Worksheets 


Christians in Recovery Worksheet for Achieving Goals 

 Goal Setting for Kids

Learning from Old Magazines

I just read an article that gave tips on twenty things to do with 20 minutes.  If you are interested in learning some new words and their meanings, they suggest you visit www.FreeRice.com and for every answer you get right, they donate rice.  Check it out for yourself.

Naughty Kitty and a Poster

The naughty cat award goes to my 10 year-old daughter's cat - Jasper.  Just before the kids arrived home, on their first day back to school, I heard a loud bang from upstairs.  When they arrived home I mentioned that they might want to check it out.

Groans followed my comments and they slowly made their way up the stairs.  A few minutes later my 13 year-old stood at the bottom of the stairs.  She was holding her Twilight poster and groaning.  That little booger not only ripped the poster from her slanted ceiling, but put holes it in with his claws.  I guess he didn't like the poster, or he was looking for attention.

Now I'm on the hunt for a replacement poster.  I'm guessing she'll have to put the poster a bit higher or somewhere else.  He's the same cat who likes to chew up rolls of toilet paper, and cardboard boxes.

The "Ding Dong" award goes to my husband.  He bought the chickens a new heat lamp and now he can't find it.  He had it in his hands and was multitasking outside.  Now it is no where to be found.  I checked the other barns, the garage, the vehicles, and the chicken barn.  Nothing.  Good grief.  Poor chickens.  I'm sure their freezing their pa-toots off.  They are sitting two to a roost to stay warm right now.  I better look for that lamp again today or I'll have frozen eggs.

The creative dog award goes to my 13 year-old's dog - Jesse.  He wanted to play this morning and kept bringing me his toy.  He does that when he knows everyone is going to school.  When I didn't play with him, another one of our dogs (black lab/german shepard) decided she would play with him.  However, he wanted to part of sharing his toy.  He placed it into an open backpack that was hanging on the back of  a kitchen chair to hide it from her!  How funny!  He definitely gets an award this morning.

Life would be so boring without our animals.

School Starting and Messy House

It is amazing how fast the kids use school as an excuse to not pick up after themselves.  What will they ever do with they get a money paying job?  But then again, they see their father use his work as an excuse for everything too.  I'm a stay-at-home mom so it is assumed I have all day in the world to do the "dirty" work.  I'm so stressed today with having so many demands, I'm not sure how spring semester will go for me.  The idea is to learn, get a degree, get a job, and make money.  Lots of it.  But I'm wondering if it will ever happen now.

With demands outside of the home, and all of the demands within our home, it feels like I have no support for myself.  I spent the entire day yesterday with a meeting related to extended family, a ton of phone calls related to caring for my own home, a ton of laundry (I am not stretching the truth on this either), cleaning a flooded utility room, running errands regarding my own home........................basically the day ended and I had no time for writing whatsoever.  It doesn't mean it's the end of writing.  It just means I need family support and I'm not getting any of it.  It sure makes me feel worthless, abused and taken advantage of.

Yesterday, I did however, complete day 5 of reading the Bible in 90 days.  I read it in between stoking the firewood, desperately trying to get a fire started again.  With everyone leaving the house for school and work, not one person touched the wood burner, thus the fire went completely out.  With all of my responsibilities, demands and expectations, I never did get the fire going until almost 4pm.

I often wonder if I had an office to leave to every day, if the family would not put so many expectations on me.  I so often feel that the things I do, to keep the budget as low as possible, mean nothing to anyone but me.

I line dry my clothes all summer.  I never use the dryer.  This winter I have a retractable line, and two wooden racks to dry clothes to avoid the dryer as much as possible.  I use the library, and cannot remember the last time I bought an actual book.  I rotate the same two purses, and have not bought one for over a year or more.  My slippers have a huge hole in the toe.  I tried to buy myself a new pair yesterday but the only thing I could find was $8.00 or more and the $8 ones were white!  So I am still wearing my falling apart slippers.  I am the care taker of the wood burner and corn burner during the day, and pile on the clothes to avoid using the very expensive electric heat.  I make sure we have extra gallons of water, so that when the pipes freeze we have water for us, the pets and the chickens.  But.....does anyone care?  Nope.

I wonder if I am the only writer Mom, with more than five kids, who goes through this.  Some days I do not feel worthy of calling myself a writer, not having published a novel or an article in a well known magazine.

It all comes down to money.  If you have it, life is great.  If you don't life is miserable.  Especially kids feel this way.  When they can't have what they want, or even what they need.  It all comes down to money.  Whether my husband or kids will admit to it or not, it really boils down to money.  And they detest you for it. 

Day 4 of Read the Bible in 90 days

I have made it to day 4.  It is a lot of reading, but considering it is winter (and snowing right now) there is bound to be time for it.  Even though we are cleaning up before everyone starts school tomorrow, there is still time.

I am a little depressed that we cannot rearrange our front room furniture.  It always creates a "new" look and feeling.  This old house is lucky to have a cable and the only one keeps us from moving the television.  Then there is the wood burning stove that takes of an entire corner, and that too cannot be moved.  It's going to be a battle to find a "new" look.  Maybe a few throw pillows and something new on the wall?  One way or another we will find a way to create a nice look.

My SCRAP blog needs new ideas, so if you are a reader, and have a new idea please post a note over there.  Your name will be added to the craft or activity.  Some day, I will get the chance to open the SCRAP store I've always wanted.   I've always been a crafty person, and for several years looked for ways to recycle items into art or gifts or activities.  I see I have lost a follower on that blog already.  I'm not sure if it's due to the lack of updates or if they were a writer looking for article ideas.  Either way, that blog is on the list of to-do's this week.