Hopeful Thoughts

My house was in desperate need of clean floors.  Sweeping is not my favorite thing to do, but the dust bunnies were beginning to take over, so it had to be done.

So, I pulled out my “duster broom thingy” and the little duster pads and set to work.  After pushing the dirt around with THREE of the pads, I still had to go back with my regular broom and dustpan to finish the job.  As I clipped the third pad in place, I thought, “what a waste of time and money!”

I don’t have to stop in the middle of what I’m doing to replace part of my broom.  I don’t have to go back over what I’ve already done with another tool after I’ve used my broom.  I don’t have to buy refill pads for my broom.  I’m not creating  MORE trash in the cleaning process by throwing away those silly pads when I use my broom.

SO WHY DON’T I JUST USE MY BROOM!!!!!!

After much fighting with technology (and waiting patiently on my husband’s CRAZY schedule), I FINALLY have pictures to post of our future bundle!

I went for a very early sonogram just after we found out because I wasn’t quite sure how far along we were.  So, when we first saw the little darling at only 7 weeks, baby looked like this:

At only 7 mm long, this creature hardly looks like a human child.  Not to mention, half of the little blob you see is actually something called the “yolk sack.”

It was hard to believe that merely 9 weeks later, we saw this:

Now, I’m one of those people who can’t see features in these things to save my life, but I can see my baby’s face, hands, shoulder, little legs … what a cutie all curled up with his head in his hands!!!  My little darling!  I saw the little feet kicking, and the little hands waving, and even the little body squirming away from the pressure of the sonogram thingy.  (Sorry, I don’t know what the probe is actually called!)  It’s so hard to believe that the little marshmallow from week 7 is now an actual baby shape!  In fact, the only thing I didn’t see was the little bottom end that would tell us whether baby is a he or a she.  That information was sealed up in an envelope, if you recall from my last post.

Our little darling even has a brain!  (Although this is not my favorite shot of baby’s face!)

Mommy is changing, too.  We tried last week to get a picture while I was all dressed up, but the lighting was bad and we ran out of time.  So, I snapped this shot just to give you an idea.  I need my husband to look photogenic, so no face in this one!!  This is actually the end of Week 17.

Oh, and if you are dying to know what we found in the envelope, here’s the result:

If you haven’t heard the news, Ryan and I are expecting out first baby in August.

If you already knew that, then you’ve probably also heard about my “antibodies”.  Back when they did the blood work at my first pre-natal visit, my midwife discovered an antibody in my blood.  After poking me a second time, it was identified as “Anti m”.  This was about a month ago.  I was told to make an appointment with a specialist in Ft. Worth, but couldn’t get in to see him for another month.

In the meantime, my mother, my PA friend from high school, and I were all online looking for information about this thing that might threaten our unborn baby.  There wasn’t really a great deal of information to be found.  The best that we could tell was that, as long as the levels were low, it would most likely be no problem.  However, there were cases noted where the baby had to have a blood transfusion at delivery.

Today I finally had my appointment with the specialist.  After a lengthy sonogram, I know a bit more about what is going on.  The levels of antibody were so low that it’s not even active at normal body temperature.  In addition, it’s a large antibody that rarely is able to cross the placenta anyway.  Not to mention, our little baby has above average blood circulation, which is another great sign!

So, for all of you who were praying, thanks so much!  I will have to get blood drawn twice more to check the levels to make sure they are staying down, so we can keep praying for that, but Dr. T doesn’t expect to ever have to see me again!  WOOHOO!

Now, if only I can resist the temptation to open the stapled envelope in my purse that holds the answer to yet another question?????

Today I went to a business networking meeting.

I was invited by a friend of mine, who I trust totally.  However, I was still quite a bit wary of showing up to a meeting at 8:00 in the morning with a bunch of strangers.  Quite honestly, I might have never agreed if we weren’t meeting at one of my favorite breakfast spots!

Now, I’m sold.

It was a bunch of people just like me who are simply trying to get their name out to make a business work.  There were people there who need what I can do, and there are people there who can do what I need done.  Not to mention, all those people know other people who might need me, too!  Those 25 strangers open doors to hundreds of people I would never meet on my own.  It’s such a simple concept, but how many of us are willing to sit down with a group of strangers and find out what they do?

I also have new motivation.  They collected business cards from everyone at the meeting.  Well, I didn’t have any business cards. I had to write my information down on the back of my friend’s old cards!  How embarrassing!  So, I sat down this afternoon and ordered some.  When I go back in two weeks, Hope 4 Math will have a more professional look.  I don’t know why it’s taken me 9 months to get that easy task done!

So, if you’re trying to get more business contacts and haven’t tried a networking group before, jump in!  I’m so glad I did!

Well, I can’t really say that I’ve been “busy”.  I can’t even really say that I have been lazy.  It’s probably best to say that I’ve been too preoccupied to blog in recent weeks.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we discovered this:As you can imagine, this has taken up a great deal of my thoughts and attention.  We weren’t exactly surprised.  We’ve been married over 6 years and were anticipating the possibility.  We just figured it would take a little longer to happen.  As I am posting this, I am in my 14th week, and Baby is due to arrive in early August.

Speaking of babies, right after Christmas, I boarded a plane for Michigan to go meet this little guy.

This is my new little nephew who was born December 17th.  My intentions were to get there before he popped out on his December 28th due date, but obviously he had other plans!

I spent three weeks with little Jeremiah, his two big sisters, and his momma and daddy.  I also was able to see my Mom, Dad, and the dog.  It was a relaxing visit, which was nice since I was several weeks pregnant and smack in the middle of the sleepy phase.    We celebrated Christmas together.  All the boys got hats and the girls got hats with scarves.

Sweet Abigail!

Imaginative Jocelyn

Abby models the hat I made for Mom.

I’ve been home since January 16th.  I can’t really say that I’ve done much since.  I’m trying to work towards being more productive as opposed to sitting on the couch feeling tired and pregnant.  I keep thinking my energy is supposed to come back.  I thought that was a benefit of second trimester, but mine has been slow to return.  Perhaps one day soon.  Until then, I will try to be better about catching up.

This is our first year of marriage to live in a house.  Our apartment was so small that we could only put up a little 4 foot tree, and it was always in some awkward place and in the way.  Not to mention, no one could enjoy it but us.  We hardly ever had people over simply because our space was so cramped.

This year we have room for a full size tree!  I went to Target and bought a 7 foot artificial Cashmere Pine.  It’s placed right in front of the window so, not only us and our guests can enjoy it, but also those driving by can see the glow in our window!I picked our ornaments to match our pretty new curtains, and Ryan helped me pick out the tree skirt to coordinate as well.  We spent a lot of time searching for the perfect topper.  I wanted silver wire and lights.  We found lights, and we found silver wire, but we couldn’t find the two together, so I settled for just silver and we moved on to search for the perfect wreath to hang over our fireplace.   We found it at Michael’s, who also turned out to have our perfect tree topper!  Now I have to return one, but our tree is perfect!

It was a special treat this year to have Ryan’s Mom and Grandmother join us for Thanksgiving dinner.  They hung around on Friday long enough to help us string the lights and hang the ornaments.  Thanks!

Oh, and did I mention we were distracted on our shopping trip by a little something to use year round?

This post goes out to all the young women who loved her mother’s and grandmother’s cooking, but was always frustrated when no one could pass down an actual recipe.  I’m here to encourage you that you CAN recreate your favorite dishes with just a list of ingredients.  It takes time, planning, patience, and lots of taste testing, but it can be done.

Here’s the list my mom gave me:

One 3 lb whole chicken (pre-cooked either in a crock pot or pressure cooker, then freeze with its stock)

2-2.5 lbs chuck roast (also pre-cooked and frozen in it’s own stock)

“Maybe” 2 gallons worth of canned whole tomatoes (this goes in pot first with the frozen meat)

ketchup

sugar

water

red and black pepper

potatoes (also cooked, but not frozen)

frozen butter beans

frozen corn

Here’s what I did:

I started by pre-cooking my meats in the crock pot early in the week.  I only used about a pound of beef roast and a small fryer chicken.  I began putting the soup together at about 9:30 AM.  The frozen meat went into the stock pot with 3 24 ounce cans of tomatoes.  I couldn’t find whole tomatoes at my store, so I bought some diced and some crushed.  While the stock melted away in the big pot, I boiled my potatoes (about 3 pounds).

At this point, I began adding seasonings.  I added salt, black pepper, red pepper, and 4 tablespoons of sugar.  I don’t actually know how much salt and pepper I added.  Once it was hot, I started tasting it, and I added more of whatever was needed.  My mom always used dried whole hot red peppers.  She would add them whole and just make sure not to eat them later!  I didn’t have any whole one, but I did have some that used to be whole.  Years in my pantry left them in pretty rough shape, so I sent them through the food processor and whirled them to fine bits and mixed in the whole bit.  It was probably 2-3 teaspoons.  But, once again, taste.  My pepper was old, so I’m sure it had lost a lot of spice.  Cayenne would have worked fine as well, but since I had this, I used it!

About this time, my potatoes were done, so I drained and peeled them and added them to the pot.  I wasn’t worried about chunks, because this soup cooks so long that they completely break done anyway.

The soup was getting pretty hot at this point, so, while the butter beans cooked, I started tasting it.  Since it wasn’t acidic enough, I added the last can of tomatoes and started adding catsup.  I wound up using an entire medium size bottle by the time all was said and done.  It still wasn’t quite right, so I went through my pantry and fridge for any other tomato products I might have.  I found an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce and some tomato paste.  I added the sauce and about 3 tablespoons of the paste.  I also ended up added another 2 TBs of sugar.

At some point I decided I didn’t have enough potatoes, so I cooked and added 2 more large ones.  Since I added these late in cooking, I ended up with a few more chunks.  I like this effect, so it was a good thing.

I cooked two bags of frozen butter beans (on the stove top) and two of frozen corn (in the microwave).  I didn’t realize how long the butter beans would take, or I would have cooked them a lot sooner.  When they were done, I mashed them in the cooking liquid and added the whole thing to the pot.  The corn can be added at any time, but I added it at the very end because I was sharing stew with a friend who is allergic to corn.  So, I got the flavor I wanted, scooped out her portion, and then added the corn.  I cooked it for another 30 minutes or so after adding the corn so the cooking liquid cook cook off a bit.  It’s important to use the cooking liquids so you don’t lose all that flavor!

You may notice that, even though it’s in the list, I never actually added any clean water.  Water added has to cook out, so I only added cooking liquid from the veggies.  This saves some time.  I finally had everything off the stove and into freezer containers by 2:30.  Total time: 5 hours (not including the pre-cooking).

If I was going to do it again, I would have added one more bag of butter beans, but leave them whole for a bit more texture.

All in all, this stew was a success.

Good luck turning your lists into dishes!!

I know, I know!  I haven’t posted in WEEKS!  Sorry for those of you that were worried I had completely forgotten about blog land.  I’ve been busy!  I’m subbing 2-3 days per week, working hard on Christmas presents, spending lots of time in the kitchen, and continuing to finish up details on the decor in the house.

Here’s a sneak peek of all the craft projects that I have been doing.  Better pictures will have to wait until after Christmas when the gifts have been given!

I’ve also been working on a pair of socks for myself.  I have one down and one to go!

As I lounge on my new couch savoring my first cup of coffee of the morning at 11:00 AM, I am convicted by reading all the Facebook posts from my friends who rose much earlier than I did this morning.
Statements are made like “It’s a Monday” and “How can I become a morning person?” and “Time to start another work week.” And what am I doing????
Sipping coffee at 11:00 AM from this mug:  (Since I’ve been too busy to blog lately, here’s a quick version of the Coffee Cup Chronicles!  This mug was given to me by my college friend and suite mate, Elaine.  She was quite influential in my decision to be baptized as an adult who’d only been sprinkled as a baby. )

Don’t get mad at me because I’m home on a Monday morning and you are not.  I, too, fight a weekly battle with the Mondays. Some weeks I walk out the door at 8 AM to a sub job and some weeks I ease into it at more like 10, but each new week is a chance to try again to get it right.

When I was employed full time, I did what I had to do in the time I had to do it, otherwise it wouldn’t get done.  ”Tomorrow” simply wasn’t an option, because it was full of other things to be done.  Now that I pick my schedule, I find myself saying “I’ll do that later” far too often.  It’s a horrible thing to have to say about myself, but, truth be told, I get LAZY!!!!

I’m hoping to get better about utilizing my time instead of letting it slip away.  But, in the meantime, I just want all my working friends to know that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Well, I’ve been back from Argentina for almost three weeks now.  I really thought life was going to slow down and settle into a routine once I returned home, but that hasn’t been the case.

I arrived home on a Sunday.  Tuesday I was scheduled to fill out my paperwork to into the Substitute teacher system in my district.  I planned to spend the rest of the week working on the house and getting re-acclimated to the US.  I figured I’d start subbing the following week about 2-3 days per week and work on building up my tutoring business.

However, the plane landed, and I hit the ground RUNNING.

The day I returned home, there was a big party in our back yard.  An older couple that attended our church is serving as missionaries in Tennessee.  They are in a very poor area and have lost a great deal of financial support since the economy crashed, so our housemates organized a fund raiser to help them out.  We all had a great time and it was a lot of fun.

This little corner of the patio was the perfect space to function as a stage. Our back yard is AWESOME!

Monday morning I got up around 9:00 and noticed a missed phone call with the prefix of the school I just resigned from.  There was no message, but I just knew they wanted me to sub.  I didn’t call back.  My house was still a wreck since I didn’t have much time to unpack before I left the country.

I spent the whole day unpacking and organizing the house.  I worked so hard that I haven’t had to do very much with any of the main living areas since then.  The living room is pretty much how we want it (especially since our new couch arrived TODAY!)  Not to mention, my HUGE kitchen is in working order with all my stuff put away and EASILY accessible.

Tuesday, I received another call from the school.  This time I returned it, and, sure enough, they wanted me to come in as soon as possible because it was a math teacher who was out.  I explained that I had to fill out my paperwork that afternoon and Wednesday would be the soonest I could start if the sub office would even let me begin that quickly.

Tuesday should have been an easy day, but when I got into my car, it wouldn’t start.  My neighbor and I hypothesized that it was the battery.  She took me to buy a new one.  I also managed to get rides to the district’s Central Office and the BTCL that night.  Late that evening, Ryan learned how to install a car battery. Luckily, that was the fix!  Yeah for my awesome husband!!!

Wednesday at 8:00 AM, I headed up to the school to sub all day, and then I had tutoring immediately after until 6:30.

It turns out that the teacher is VERY sick.  After 3 weeks, he is still in the hospital and not expected to be released for at least two more weeks.  Thankfully, there is another Math certified sub in the district, and she and I will be able to split the days, but it still winds up being a much more demanding sub job than I expected when I decided to sub.  Because I worked in that department, I am expected to teach as much as possible.  The teachers there are working hard to provide copies and plans, so all I have to do is show up, but I am working the entire time I am there, including grading papers.  The difference is, I don’t take them home.

I am praying that he will get well and take his classes back soon.  I’ve spent a total of 9 days there so far. Coming up, I will be teaching 4 days next week and at least 2 the following.  There’s even been the murmurings of “what ifs” and would I be willing to come back.

Where’s the routine in that???