Things making my head spin

1. I keep thinking it's January 5th because we went out of town for an extra week and I can't catch up with the calendar.

2. I'm up to here with adverbs, but they're still talking about them in my son's language arts book, so I gotta go with the flow.

3. Because of headspin #1, I am behind in my goals for the New Year.

4. I can't make myself care about my goals for the New Year (which mainly focus on organization and --- big surprise --- losing weight).

5. It's only January 15th and I'm ready for spring.

6. I still have a pumpkin on my front porch. A pumpkin. From Halloween. I didn't even realize it until I pulled into the driveway this afternoon.

7. Last day for Spring Baseball sign up for my son is Saturday. As in Jan. 17th.

8. That means baseball practice starts in 2 weeks and life becomes a little more complicated.

9. I'm craving a sandwich with fresh garden tomatoes and mayonnaise on white bread.

10. The farmer's market in Acworth does not open until June.

Tact

Sometimes I wish I had little cards that I could carry around with the definition of the word tact on them. Some people just don't know what it means and I think they could benefit from the knowledge.

**It's kind of funny that I am writing this because I can be the queen of foot in mouth disease, but I have never made the following faux pas**

This has happened to me twice, which is why it bugs me twice as much. The first time a great uncle said it to me at some family get-together. This second time it happened at my aunt's funeral. The offender was someone with whom my family went to church.

Me: It's good to see you. Thanks for coming.

Offender: How are you? Where are you living now?

Me: Acworth, GA. It's near Atlanta.

Offender: Oh. I was in Atlanta once. {Here's where I start to cringe, cause I can really tell what's coming} I was there at a conference.

Me: What kind of conference? {Trying to head off the inevitable, knowing this guy has zero tact}

Offender: Just blah, blah, blah...{Can't remember what he said. I wasn't listening. Here comes the why you gotta tick me off? part} Atlanta's not my cup of tea.

This is what I don't understand. Why would you tell someone who chooses to live in a certain area that you don't like the area in which they have chosen to live? I have the same problem with people who tell me what I order at a restaurant is disgusting. I'm not going to offer you some of my food and I'm not inviting you to visit me, so I don't need to know your opinion about every single detail of my life.

I wanted to say that to him, but it was definitely not the time or place. I just wish he would have realized that.

It'll probably be another 15 years or so before I see the guy again. I will have my comeback ready by then!

I've been away

My family might have been a bit weird, but my dad, his two sisters, and all their related kin got together at my grandma's every single Christmas as I was growing up. We spent Christmas Eves together and got together on Christmas Day. We spent Thanksgivings together and a lot of other holidays.

We were a close bunch.

It never exactly changed. To this day Christmas Eve finds us at my grandma's house eating and opening a few gifts. Christmas Days have changed. As the kids have gotten married, we tend to go to the in-laws for Christmas Day. But Christmas Eve remains remarkably the same.

This Christmas we had planned to stay home in Georgia. Last Christmas my father-in-law passed away on Dec. 27th. It was a hard Christmas last year, so we wanted to spend a quiet Christmas at home. But plans change. My aunt was diagnosed with cancer in early December and my dad told me it might be her last Christmas. I knew we had to make the trip back home.

We spent a week at Christmas in WV with family. I spent most of my time staying with my grandma (who is 89 and also in ill health) while other family members traveled back and forth to Charlottesville, VA to be with my aunt. She was in the hospital for a few days before traveling back home and dying in hospice care on Jan. 3rd. Her funeral was last Tuesday and my son and I spent last week with family while we all said our goodbyes to my aunt.

She was an amazing woman. She was the Deputy Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Labor at the time of her death. She was always very work oriented, being promoted to a leadership position at every job she ever had in a short period of time. She was focused and committed. She was a hard worker and many people will remember her as someone who didn't suffer fools gladly.

But she was something else too. Underneath the fire, she was very caring. She would give anything to help a family member or friend. She was too generous for her own good and never really understood how much she was loved.

On a cold, rainy day last Tuesday in Beckley, WV, around 200 people gathered to bid my aunt farewell. Many of those mourners made the trek to the little cemetary in Sophia to say goodbye as she was buried. Family, friends, and co-workers all shared some time to talk about what a great person my aunt was.

Her death was unexpected. We thought something could be done to buy her more time. I think she deserved a better ending, but, as Christians, we leave all of that in the hands of our Lord. I know she's in a happier, pain-free place. That knowledge makes her death easier to take, but in no way makes it easy.

Bye, Fran. I love you.

Husband meme

I don't often do memes, but this one I got from Julie really intrigued me! I love to talk about my hubby!

HUSBAND MEME

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV: what is on the screen? Sports or sci-fi stuff.

2. You’re out to eat. What kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch

3. What is one food he doesn’t like? Any and all seafood. Seriously.  I've gotten him to go to Red Lobster once in 16 years! He will never go again.

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? We haven't been in a bar for about 17 years, but he would order Sweet tea or Coke anywhere we go.

5. Where did he go to high school? Richwood High School, Richwood, WV

6. What size shoe does he wear? 11

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Electronic stuff and tools (that's seriously my answer too, Julie!)

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Ham and cheese with Miracle Whip! Sadly, we are a divided househould.  I like mayonnaise. Sometimes, it's tough. :)

9. What would the Husband eat every day if he could? Anything that I cook homemade. He's the son of a farmer's wife and is used to meat and potatoes. Homemade biscuits too.

10. What is his favorite cereal? Honeynut Cheerios

11. What would he never wear? denim shorts

12. What is his favorite sports team? GO WVU!

13. Who is his best friend? Me!

14. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? Hmmm. I don't know. Like Mary Poppins, I am practically perfect in every way! :)

15. How many states has he lived in? 2 -- WV and GA

16. What is his heritage? German, I think. Webster County, WV for sure.  :)

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind? Yellow cake with chocolate icing. His favorite.

18. Did he play sports in high school? No, but he wishes he had. He played intramurals in college.

19. What could he spend hours doing? Watching TV. It's my hard working man's down time.

If anyone else joins in, let me know! Thanks, Julie, for the fun little meme!

Simplified laundry -- Works for Me Wednesday!

I have a small family (just my husband, me, and our son), but laundry still piles up around here like 20 people live in this house. And when my son plays baseball in the spring and fall --- well, laundry seems to take over.

Or it used to until I began a very simplified version of laundry duty.

I purchased three hampers. One for the bathroom we all use, one for mine and my husband's bedroom, and one for my son's room. These are just plastic hampers from Walmart that were maybe $8 each. I also have two laundry baskets.

My family is super casual. We're homeschoolers and my husband's office is casual, so we don't purchase many clothes that aren't just normal wash and wear. My husband has suits. I have certain things or dress pants that I don't want put in the washer, but 98% of our clothing is easily sorted into 2 categories. Everybody in my house knows my system and everyone (including my 11 year old son) knows how to use the washer and dryer. Well, my husband pretends not to know, but he really does know. ;)

Here's my simplified laundry division:

1) Towels, socks, underthings: These items are washed on hot and color bleach is always added to this load, along with detergent and softener.

2) Clothes: I don't sort by color. All of our clothes are washed on cold with detergent and softener and sometimes I add color bleach.

There is another couple of smaller categories. All my son's baseball stuff is washed together. I usually spray the stains with stain remover. It's all washed on cold, with detergent only. No softener in this load.

My dishtowels are washed separately in hot water with bleach. I am usually the one to wash this load.

When I have hampers overflowing, my son brings them all downstairs and I sort. I put all the towels, etc. in one hamper and all the clothes in another. We have a small basket that is the perfect size for what fits in my washer. So I can just fill that basket with whatever load I am washing and it's the perfect amount of items. I use that small basket for my son's benefit. I can tell him to wash a load of clothes or towels and he can fill that small basket up with the items and know that's just the right amount to put in the washer. He knows what temperature to use, how much detergent, softener, or bleach. Everything is washed on a normal setting. My towels, etc., are dried on regular setting. My clothes are dried on medium.

So 98% of my laundry is done in this way. It has made laundry so much easier and I have never had any trouble with the way laundry turns out. Just this past weekend, I was going to bed a bit early because I was tired. My son and husband were staying up to watch a movie and I remembered we had no clean towels for the next day. I was able to just ask my son to wash some towels and he took care of it. No problem.

One thing, though. I think it's a small thing. No one in the family likes to fold clothes except for me. Seriously, folding clothes is kind of therapeutic to me, so I fold everything. My son and husband put it all away. I don't like putting things away, so it works out great.

Simplified laundry -- it works for me!

Quick cupcakes

My son had a friend over to play last Friday and it turned into a sleepover. I didn't have any snacky fun stuff for my son and his friend to eat, so I quickly made up a batch of cupcakes using this yellow cake recipe from Allrecipes.com. I used a store brought chocolate frosting that I had in my cabinet.

I've used the recipe for yellow cake several times. It is really delicious. The orange juice gives it a great flavor. There is a lot of sugar in the recipe, but, if you're eating cupcakes, you're not really counting calories, right? I've thought about cutting back on some sugar or using a sugar/Splenda combo, but I never have. My husband and son wouldn't like it too much if I changed the recipe because they love the taste of the cupcakes.

Besides the taste, what I love about the recipe is how quick and easy it is. I rarely buy store bought cake mixes, but I always have all-purpose flour, baking powder, and all the other ingredients for this cake in my cupboards. Grabbing the ingredients and mixing them up takes a matter of five minutes or so.

I was kind of lucky to have store bought frosting in the cabinet. I bought it to frost some vanilla cookies for Christmas that I hadn't made yet. I used to just make up a chocolate frosting with cocoa powder, but the taste was never quite right. The store bought frosting really tastes good on the cupcakes and makes the work that much easier. I've resolved to stock up on chocolate frosting from the store, because it's not that expensive and just makes the process faster.

This cake recipe is easy and simple and the flavor beats out any store-bought cake mix. With this recipe, I made 12 cupcakes and a 9 inch square cake. I made it on Friday and by Sunday night it was all gone!

Baked goods are not safe in this house!

A friendly letter to my Senator

Dear Saxby Chambliss,

Now that the election is FINALLY over and now that you have FINALLY been re-elected after the Dec. 2nd run-off election, I feel like I can tell you some things.

#1 - All the phone calls that I have been getting for the past four weeks from you, the Republican Party, and other Republican muckety mucks have been really annoying. Most have been recordings, but some have been real live people. I felt bad about hanging up on them. Truthfully, I just stopped answering the phone whenever my caller ID read VA or DC or GOP. I'm sorry about that, but I had to take a stand against it. We've been averaging a couple of calls a day from you guys. Of course, that strategy came back to bite me on Tuesday (the day of the run-off election) when I got a call from Sarah Palin. I didn't answer the call because I looked at the caller ID. So I missed her call. I did keep her message though. I just like to listen to it sometimes.

#2 - My mailbox has been over-run with tons of mailings from you too. I'm glad it's over now. Please don't even send me a Christmas card this year. We need some distance for a while.

#3 - I voted for you four years ago and I *would* have voted for you this past Tuesday, but I didn't vote. Now, don't get upset. It wasn't a passive-aggressive thing because of the phone calls and mailings. We had a stomach bug going around our house. Frankly, I didn't think it was a good idea to risk a trip in the car to my polling place. I'm sorry about that. But you had a decided victory, so let's just move on.

#4 - Okay. Don't get upset, but your last TV commercial with your family before the campaign was a little unsettling. Your lovely wife, Julianne, was with you. I love her name, by the way. If I had a little girl, I would definitely consider naming her Julianne. It's maybe the most beautiful name I have ever heard. But, I digress. Your ad with your cute little grandchildren...why do they call you Big Daddy? Is it a Southern thing? If so, that's fine and all, but sometimes I still hear their angelic voices saying "Vote for our Big Daddy." That's just creepy. Can they call you Grandpa or something in the next ad? Is that okay?

I'm glad I've gotten all this off my chest. It makes me feel better. I'm glad you won the election. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I know you'll do your best for our country. Tell your wife I love her name. Tell your grandkids they are precious. (I called my grandpa "Pop" and my other grandpa "Pepaw". I'm just saying.)

Oh, and could you ask Sarah Palin to call me again? Have her call from an Alaska number, so I know it's her, and I will answer the phone. I think she and I could be friends. I would love to visit Alaska. I could babysit her kids. I've never eaten moose before.

Okay. Bye.