A Fun Project

I just finished a rather fun project. My mother died when I was 20 years old. There have been many times when I wish I would have written down some of the recipes she made for us. Some of them I have in my head, like her meatloaf and her ice tea (though now days that is way too sweet for me). I still wish I had her potato salad recipe. I can't seem to duplicate it.

Anyway, I have an old cookbook of hers. It is falling apart (literally in three parts) and many pages are missing. It doesn't have its cover, so I can't even look for a copy anywhere. As I glanced through this cookbook, discovering old recipes that I remember helping Mom to make I decided I should try and find a way to preserve some of them. I picked four that I remember best. I had my husband scan them into the computer. Then I shared them, through email, with my brothers and sisters (and nephews too). I even sent them to my own children. I don't know if anyone will ever make these recipes, but I think it is nice to have a piece of family history.

Here are the recipes my husband scanned for me.

Accidental Successes

Aren't accidental successes the best?

A week or two ago my daughter decided to pull all of her hygiene stuff into one bathroom -- the bathroom she and her brother share. This meant the stuff that was on the counter of the master bathroom and on my vanity all got moved to the hall bathroom. Essentially she took the second half of that counter and turned it into her vanity. The problem was that she bought a chair into that space so she could sit down to straighten her hair, etc. It fit nicely there, however, under that side of the counter is where I used to keep their pop-up hamper. We tried it there a week, which meant that the kids have to pull out the chair to put their dirty clothes in. Well, considering they barely put their dirty clothes into it when there wasn't a chair blocking it (though the dirty clothes often ended up near the hamper)I was sure this wouldn't work. But I really wanted my daughter to have her own place to put on make-up, do her hair, etc.

Well, the first week I came in to get the laundry basket and it was as usual. Most of the clothes were shoved under the counter, near -- not in -- the pop-up hamper. This week I decided to move it. I put it against the wall, near the towel rack. I was sure this wouldn't work either, since my son uses forearm crutches and needs space to maneuver around the bathroom and in and out of the shower. Much to my surprise, when I went into their bathroom this morning to get their dirty clothes, ALL the dirty clothes were in the pop-up hamper. Since they didn't have to go under the counter, I think it worked much better. My daughter's theory (and it's probably accurate) was that my son throws his clothes from the shower chair and it is easier to make a basket where it is now. LOL. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm chalking it up as an Accidental Success and I'm quite happy about it.

Cleaning ...

My daughter has been asking for some time now if my husband and me would help her clean her room -- mainly her closet. You see, it had become a storage unit and was quite impossible to get into. This Saturday we agreed to help her. We started at 2:30 and were not done until 5:30. We emptied her closet completely, packing up many Rubbermaid bins. My husband carried those bins down to the basement, making frequent trips. While we were in her room we also cleaned under her bed, under her two dressers, and under her futon. By time we were done, we were exhausted.

It wasn't until today, Sunday, that we realized we had used many muscles we hadn't in quite some time and overworked others we use daily. Both my husband and I are very tired and sore today. But it was worth it. My daughter is very happy. As I told a friend, we did the "hidden" clutter, now she gets to do the surface clutter. She was very overwhelmed by the closet, but now that it is done she is motivated to keep moving on.

Surprise Breakfast and More

I had a wonderful opportunity to go out to breakfast with my husband on Saturday. You see, I have developed tendinitis is my shoulder (I'm going to physical therapy and am doing much better!). I had some errands to run on Saturday, one of which was to go to BJs and pick up some water bottles for our cooler. They are heavy. Another one was to stop at Petsmart and get a giant bag of dog food. Since I knew my husband was going to the Credit Union on Saturday (both stores are in the same shopping center), I called him at work on Friday and asked him if I could go along and if he would help me with the heavy stuff I had to buy. He agreed. A few hours later when we talked again he asked if I wanted to go out to breakfast first. Great idea! We went to La Madeleine's and it was so yummy.

We both got the custom omelet. My husband got spinach, mushroom, and ham. I got my usual: sausage, onion, and cheddar. And they come with a fresh, hot croissant.
We ended our date breakfast by sharing a bowl of Strawberry Romanoffe, one of their signature dishes.


Then we went to the Credit Union, Petsmart, and BJs, as planned. We got quite a lot done. And the day wasn't over yet ....