Monthly Archives: March 2012
Peach State says: It’s One of Those Days…I Need More Coffee!
First things first…I thrive when I am busy…but there are days I would love to crawl under the covers and sleep for a few more days. It is not because I am tired or not feeling well…I just have to make a big decision on top of having a busy, errand running day! It’s One of Those Days…I Need More Coffee!
My To-Do list is not that complicated…it has the normal schedule of up in the morning, drink some coffee, get my son off to the bus, drink some coffee, get husband out the door to work, drink some coffee…well you know the routine! I will need to do a more thorough cleaning than usual today…best get started when they leave. It’s One of Those Days…I Need More Coffee!
My son has another doctor’s appointment today at 3:00. This is a good thing because I have been trying to get his medicine changed and you have to have a new appointment for this. The only opening was at the end of April so I got lucky! I will need to either have dinner just about ready or need to make a zappit dinner. Oh great! “What’s for dinner?” At 6:30 two dear friends are coming over…not to visit although it will be a time filled with laughter and fun. We sing together on a trio and have to get some songs ready for a civic event. One of my friends may come by early and have…you guessed it…coffee. “It will be in the form of a latte’!”
See…it is not that bad of a day…but!
A sweet friend of mine is getting married on Saturday at 11am. The wedding is about 2 hours north.
And a dear friend of the my family died and his funeral is Saturday at 12:30. The funeral is in my hometown about 2 hours south. I have know this friend since I was 17 years old…so a long…long..(okay you get the idea) time. My friend who is getting married I have know for about 10 years but have only been good friends for about 3 years. What to do?
I am really torn and know my family would rather I attend the funeral.
I was asked last night if I was going to the wedding and I said yes…then saw the funeral was pretty much at the same time and in the opposite direction. No way I could attend both services. I guess I will have to weigh the decision and do what any good person would do…drink more coffee and wait for certain key influences to wake up so I can seek their advice. “What do you think about that solution?”
My husband is almost ready to leave…I can hear his shoes clicking as he crosses the floor upstairs. My day is planned for me and I have a plate full of fun-filled hours of activity. Spring Break is next week and my 18 year old turn 19 on Easter…along with all of the singing and songs to be learned…but those stories and details will be saved till next week.
Yesterday I told you I would give out the recipe chosen for the cookbook!
The Hashbrown Casserole recipe was asked about. I do not think I will use this one in the cookbook but I will give it out now!
1 bag of frozen shredded hashbrowns
1 package of diced ham (of course you can cut up ham if you have some leftover)
1 bag of shredded cheese ( I use Sharp Cheddar but if there is another flavor you like…use it! Swiss is good but my boys like “the orange cheese” better!)
1 medium onion finely chopped
1/2 cup if butter or 1stick sliced
Brown ham in skillet and add onions…remove from heat
Layer the hashbrowns in the bottom of your greased dish and salt (like you are adding salt at the table…not to much! ) spread ham mixture over the hashbrowns. Sprinkle cheese over the ham and repeat the layers. (I usually have 2 layers of each ingredient)
Place the remaining cheese on top and add the slices of butter over the top.
Bake until hashbrowns are cooked and done.
I have found that I can save time using the microwave to cook the dish then add the final layer of cheese and brown in the oven.
Serve with a salad and bread of choice!
I am just about done with my cranberry oatmeal and will start my cleaning day in the kitchen.
It’s One of Those Days…I Need More Coffee “At least I know I can and will get a lot accomplished and won’t have much to do tomorrow. Have a great day!
Peach State
Peach State says: Cookbook Dilemma
The announcement was placed in the bulletin and I found my mind beginning to wander instantly. What recipes would I submit to this endeavor? My Cookbook Dilemma!
I have mentioned before…I love to cook! I have shared several recipes on my blog and gotten good feedback both in comments and in person. Should I include main courses or desserts or maybe one of each? Choices…choices! Maybe I will let my readers decide while I finish my coffee!
Choices:
Cajun Beans and Rice
Chicken Enchiladas
Hash brown Casserole
Shrimp and Peppers
BarBQue Chicken Salad
Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies
Lemon Blueberry Poundcake
Amazing Coconut Pie
Dump Cake
Well what do you think? Please let me know which dish has made your mouth water…which one would you want to see in a cookbook? I will get the recipes posted for the favorites tomorrow! Make sure you vote or at least comment on the ones you want to see!
I will be very grateful for any assistance in solving my Cookbook Dilemma!
Peach State
Peach State says: What About The Classics?
Some of the dearest memories, I have from school, are the shelves of books that lined the wall of the classroom under the windows. There were collections of biographies and a large collection of the Classics. You know the ones… Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth…the list could go on! Now days the typical classroom does not have this large reading treasure trove instead they have Diary of a Wimpy Kid and every book written about a mouse and his motorcycle. What About the Classics?
This has been a burning question recently. My youngest continues to ask me if I have read certain books. I love to read and he knows this…but the titles are books that have been written in the past 10-12 years and well…I don’t read baby books! I have tried to explain to him the fact that these books were not written when I was little. When I was his age I was reading The Classics! I start telling him about the wonderful and exciting adventures I had while reading them and the dreams that came from these great books. I told him…Journey to the Center of the Earth is one of my favorites and the dreams I had…”Oh, I saw that movie! You got to watch DVDs in school?”.
After he got over the shock that we did not have DVDs when I was in school I told him these books were written before there was television. Then he tore into a discussion about no television.
My question is: If these children are not encouraged to read these great masterpieces then how will they find their adventurous spirit? How will they find the passion to question the extraordinary and use their imaginations? What About the Classics?
The relationships formed and alliances made between characters as they were forced to make life and death decisions gave us hope. Hope that if they could find a way in a tough situation we could find a way. The times I escaped to Oz with all it colorful creatures and fantastic scenery…the unique plant life in the middle Earth that stood high above the characters…wonderful memories that filled my childhood.
How big can your imagination grow in a book with 50 pages…where the only dilemma is limited to one day at school! Our children have lost the desire to explore and fight giant octopi or build a raft and sail the Mississippi, or find the buried treasure while fighting pirates? Do they realize the joys they have missed not learning to fly with Peter Pan?
Before I could read these fantastic works of art my mother introduced a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson to me when I had the chicken pox. It was called “The Land of Counterpane“
When I was sick and lay a-bed
I had two pillows at my head
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.
And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.
I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of Counterpane.
What child could not dream with a poem like this as a foundation. I read it to my older boys and the battles the army men would have with the Teenage Mutant Turtles was truly Epic! The reading assignments given to our children today are not using these treasures. Very few of the assignments call for biographical reading. How do we learn about the great men and women who shaped our world? There is no way to understand where we came from if they don’t read about these great people and their lives.
I will just keep trying to introduce my youngest to this world from home…I can’t wait for him to have an adventure while reading one of these Classics!
As for me…I will step off my Soap Box…sip on my coffee and fall back into Victorian England. Time for some Jane Austen! What? Don’t you like to dream? Have a great day…and enjoy that lovely cup of coffee!
Peach State
Peach State says: After a Very Long Day
It had been a very long morning of practices that ended after 1:00. I had gotten home to find my check had come and rushed off to the bank. My youngest and I spent the rest of the day getting the espresso beans ground, a stop at the Nail Salon, then off to the grocery store. We were finishing up at the store when he saw the Muppet Movie was on display for sale. I have to confess, I LOVE the Muppets. We paid for the groceries and darted over to the RedBox. I found the movie and pulled up a promo code off my phone and got the movie. We headed home and put the groceries away and the two us prepared for the movie After a Very Long Day.
What a delight! There were old favorites I could sing along with mixed in with the new songs. The story was very cute. Just as the movie reached the end, in true romantic fashion, there it was. My song filled the screen and the room. “Mahna Mahna”! My 18 year old had watched a little of the movie and said he would bet me I would cry during the movie….and I did! I love this song and sang along through the smiling tears. I called a friend of mine and told her she had to get the movie…just for this song… “I know what she will be doing this week!”
After dinner…bedtime for the youngest…the Blind Side came on. Another of my favorites! I sat back and watched while I waited for my husband to come downstairs. The other boys were not home sooo the TV remote was mine! When my husband finally came down he said “Oh…I have seen this before!” He does not like to watch things more than once…”If that is the case…why does his watch the news channels…all day?” (insert a chuckle)
The next thing I knew he was involved in the movie…we watched the entire movie with interruptions and paused TiVo. I did not nap as usual and when the movie ended it was 11:40. Well worth it!
It was a good day with some not so good things thrown in…but that will be for another day. I headed for bed After a Very Long Day!
Have a wonderful day!
Peach State
Peach State says: Solitary Reflections
This week has been a blur of movement and activity. Things have been accomplished and others have been added to the growing stack for this next week. Oh the joys of motherhood! For the first time, in my life as a mother, I find that my schedule does not revolve around the boys! WOW! When did this happen? They come and go as they respond to my well wishes for the day. I smile and proceed with my day…the ever present chores…conversations with friends…planning of dinner.
The head count for dinner seems to float between 3-5 instead of the original 6 mouths to feed. Thinking and reacting on my feet with a “shoot from the hip” mentality! Solitary Reflections!
I have been gone several nights, myself, this week. Of course this is due to our Easter Musical practices. Today is the last practice…what will I do next week? “Trio practices!” One of the trios that I am on has been asked to sing at a type of civic meeting. They meet throughout the month and would like to have music as a part of their meetings. This means the learning of new music and practices to organize. But that is next week and I don’t need to worry about that right now. My life is a consistent symphony, of sorts, with dramatic emotional transitions. I find contentment in my small corner of the world.
My grandmother celebrated another birthday yesterday and some members of the family will gather with her today. I wish I could have been able to attend…I did not know about it in time to try and make arrangements. But I do have practice today! I will miss spending this special day with my grandmother. She is in her mid-nineties and may not even know I am not there. I still miss her! She is one of my greatest inspirations and examples in my life. Her grace and wisdom overflowed into my life and for this I will be eternally thankful. I find myself thinking of her as statements and movements surface through me. The simple pleasures in life…beauty in the garden…love of the beach…walking…picnics… We are really alike in so many ways! I miss our talks and time together!
This next week begins a flurry of review for my youngest. They are getting ready for the series of standardized tests. I put him in a Saturday program to assist in this preparation. The school promptly cancelled one session because of two county-wide required furlough days for teachers. They got Thursday and Friday off and did not want to come back for a 3 hour session on Saturday. Can you really blame them? My son will not be able to attend today’s session because I cannot guarantee the availability of a ride home at the needed time. Sooo…he goes with me!
I was used to taking the boys with me to my extra practices. It was our way of life. It was the way I was raised and what I was used to! I guess I am thankful for the extra practices for the main fact that it gets me out of the house. I find myself a home-body of sorts. Not by choice but by necessity. I have accepted this flaw in my life and even embrace it from time to time. I have been invited to participate in group functions and had to turn them down for several reasons. No one to watch our youngest, economic deficiencies, and the wishes of my husband. I guess I am a unique and complicated person! Everyone else finds a way and seems to do whatever they want to do! They gather at peoples houses and share meals or go out together. I am never invited to those activities. “I resolve to do for my family and be there even when not needed.” Now that is a mouth full!
I have been able to see the change in seasons in dramatic ways this week. If you have watched the news our state reached record high levels in pollen counts this week. With pollen comes new growth…blooms of color and explosions of green fill the landscape. We had some rain which washed some of the yellow haze away…but another burst of spring followed the rain. The fluffy white blossoms have blown away in the breezes, creating a flurry of petals. Green leaves appeared as the trees begin to take on their full refreshed appearance.
It has been a good week all in all. I count myself blessed and look forward to what this next week will bring. You know…grocery shopping, loading and unloading of the groceries, normal daily activities with an assortment of daily challenges to overcome. I am ready! “Are you?”
I look forward to sharing the funny and humorous parts of my life this next week. For now I will close and start getting ready for practice. I will drink in the morning…what I have left of it…as I finish my coffee. I should text a friend of mine to pick up a coffee for me as he goes thought he drive thru at Starbucks. “He owes me!” I will get to see my dearest of friends and spend the good part of the morning with them and most of the day tomorrow. What a way to spend the weekend!
What are your plans for the weekend? Did you have a fulfilling week? Take a moment and consider your Solitary Reflections!
Peach State