Eliminated

I would like to begin this post by stating that I never did say I was an expert cake baker. As a matter of fact, I did say that I was a novice. So, please keep that in mind IF I post pictures of Juliet's birthday cake. Perhaps our camera will have a convenient "accident" before tomorrow. Suddenly icecream cake is starting to sound good. Really, if cake refuses to come out of a pan, aren't you somewhat limited? And if it decides to break in two, what's there to do? Really!!!! Cake-bakers, you no longer have a threat. I have eliminated myself today. Thank-you.

On Baking Cakes

The pressure is on! Can I deliver? Or will the challenge prove too great? It's Juliet's birthday on Sunday, party to be celebrated on Saturday, and I have to bake a cake! Has anyone noticed the new peer pressure that is now a part of being a mom and having birthday parties? It's the How-Creative-of-a-Cake-Can-You-Come-Up-With challenge! The old sheet cake covered with white icing and a few colorful sprinkles is now a part of a by-gone era. So what am I going to come up with? For about three seconds, I contemplated making a Winnie the Pooh cake since my sister has a cake pan in that shape. But then I thought about it. Really thought about it. Though the shape would be Pooh, by the time I had done slathering him with yellow icing, would it look like him? Most likely not. People would be wondering what kind of cake I had come up with. "Wow! She's going modern! A yellow blob cake!" So, no, no Winnie the Pooh. I went to the store and looked at the cake pans they had there. FIFTEEN dollars for a cake pan in the shape of a flower - that I would only use once because next year you can't use the same shape (it's in the rules). So what to do? My husband suggested I make an icecream cake - afterall, I am famous for them (she said with a trace of smugness). On the other hand, last year I did an icecream cake and I didn't have the common sense to write the "Happy Birthday, Juliet" inscription in a contrasting color to the icing. So you really couln't see what I wrote. I could simply change that, but after last years flop, I need to make up for it with something BIG. Something that will make everyone gasp at my astounding creativity. Thankfully, my sister Lora pulled through. She has a cake pan in the shape of a party hat (as you can see, she has been involved in these contests for a longer period than I have. I'm just a novice at this. She is an...expert). And so, expect a picture of a cake soon, so beautiful, it will make you recoil in horror when you recall the last cake you baked!
Disclaimer: No part of the above post was intended to cause any hurt feelings. I greatly admire cake bakers. Keep posting pictures of your cakes. It's just that you have... COMPETITION!

WHAT'S A WOMAN TO DO????????

Grocery shopping used to be somewhat enjoyable. To be honest, let's say it was enjoyable the first month of marriage. (I think most "chores" are kind of fun the first month of marriage because everything is new and exciting). After some time, it just became another chore. I don't mind it now but it isn't something that I look forward to. But every Monday me and Jules drive off to Shoprite, and shop for an hour or so. I used to go at night but now Jules likes going with me - especially since they always have cheese to sample there. It is the little treat I look forward to... I remember when Mike and I were first married Mike used to come with me. That quickly ended since I couldn't handle having him place random impulse purchases in our cart. According to Mike, if something is on sale, there is something wrong with it. "Why else is it on sale? They are just trying to get rid of it. It's no good." Well, after going into cardiac arrest everytime we went grocery shopping I BANNED him from coming with me. Every once in awhile he offers to do the grocery shopping for me and I haven't taken him up on it yet. Anyway, I have a real dilemma when I go grocery shopping lately. To go organic or to not go organic, that is the question! When money is tight, I skip the whole organic thing and tell myself that all this organic stuff is a load of hooey. According to my Cooking Light magazine, there are no known nutritional advantages to using organic products. So, I recite facts along those line and feel better. See? No one is going to make a fool of me! Ha! This organic stuff is all a BIG hoax. Then the next month rolls around and I start to remember that book I heard about that states that chickens are fed all sorts of strange food just to make them really big and that there legs can barely hold them up because they are not proportioned correctly (so they have big breasts (okay, this sounds weird but I can't get around it) - that's what American's eat. Off on another sub-topic here, aren't chicken thighs way better than chicken breasts? I can't figure out what the deal is with everyone liking white meat). And that sends shivers down my spine (that chicken can barely walk because their ...fronts are so heavy). Off the shelf come the cage-free eggs. This ought to be a little healthier, I tell myself. And then I remember someone telling me that cage free eggs really mean that the chicken farmers just have to have an opening in the barn so the chickens can go walk around and scratch in the dirt outside. Except that hardly any of them do that! They stay in the barn. Sigh. So what's a woman to do? And what in the world is the difference between cage-free and organic eggs? And what about milk? Do they really pump cows with all kinds of stuff so that they produce more milk? Are all those hormones dangerous? But organic milk smells funny, says the city girl (me). This is when I really do believe that ignorance is bliss. Okay, one last argument on the other side: So, let's say all of this artificial stuff isn't the best for you, but it's not terrible. Aren't we living longer than we ever did? (I am not getting into the whole ethical treatment of animals here. Maybe another time. I don't know (and probably don't want to) enough about it). And then I hear about people who say you should shop at your local farmer's market (are there any where I live???). For me, that would mean another shopping trip - and I don't want to! The best way for me to save money is to STAY OUT OF THE STORES! So one less place to go to would be beneficial. For example, diapers are cheaper at Walmart, but whenever I go there, I can't leave that place without spending at least fifty bucks (all necessary purchases, of course). I think I managed to spend under fifty dollars ONE time, and I was so excited, I did a cartwheel in the parking lot. Okay, slight exxageration there. Anyway, there's my rant of the week. Off to go grocery shopping! :)

Itchy Fingers

I think Juliet is carrying on the impatient streak that I have. Today I bought her her very first Thomas the Tank Engine train with a simple set of tracks that take the train around in a small circle. I planned on saving them for her birthday, but she saw me put the train set into my cart at Walmart, so that ended that idea for she instantly wanted to hold it. As I drove home, all I heard was a little girl repeating over and over, "Open, Open." Once home, I opened the box and set it up for a very excited little girl. I put Thomas on the track, turned him on, and let him race around the track. Every time Thomas came to Jules side of the table, she simply could not resist "helping Thomas along" with her little itchy hands. This resulted, without fail, in dislodging him off the track and having me put him back on. This happened again and again... I suppose in her mind, he needed her help!

Gardening with Bare Hands!

There's dirt under my fingernails and that means I have been gardening! Every time I go out to putter around in the garden I tell myself that THIS TIME I AM GOING TO WEAR GARDENING GLOVES! It's hard to get the dirt off of my fingers if I don't put them on. No matter how hard I scrub them, the dirt in the lines of my skin won't leave. According to my mom, the only way to get rid of it is to soak your hands in water. I ain't the bubble bath type of person (I've tried it numerous times only to be disappointed in how boring it actually is - to me the whole bubble bath idea sounds nicer than it actually is. All I do is get hot and bothered, and then I try to read a book while relaxing but then you get the pages wet when you turn them, because OOPS, you put your hand in the water), and I certainly would not have the patience to soak my hands in a pail. I think I would last two minutes before calling it a day. I have a very impatient streak in me that some of my sisters also have (you know who you are). For instance, I can never paint my fingernails because I never wait long enough for them to dry. NEVER. Every time I paint them, I tell myself that I will wait at least ten minutes before actually touching something...but then I'll see the comb on the floor, and I'll think: "I'll just pick this up VERY carefully." Yeah, right!) So now I've given up on having nicely painted fingernails and instead I opt for painting my toes (in the summer cause that's when people see them). You can actually walk around with freshly painted toe nails without ruining them so that's why my toe nails usually are painted in the summer. Anyway, don't you think they look much nicer with say, a nice peach or rosy pink hue? Otherwise I think toes are kind of ... nasty. Just my opinion. But back to the dirty hands. I simply can't seem to garden with gloves on. I don't know what it is. I think it's harder to plant flowers with gloves on, so off they go, and I plant with my bare hands. Another thing that really is bothering me is I planted an azalea bush last year and it's flowers are of a peachy-orange color. It's bothering me because it won't match my other color scheme. My house looks great with purple and pink flowers and now I have this azalea bush that is the wrong color. My husband would probably say I'm nuts for even thinking such a thing but does anyone else plant flowers that are a particular color that go with their house? This only goes for the front of my house. In the back of my house I have a perennial garden, and I basically plant any flower, any color. It's kind of fun.

My Sneaky Husband

Well, I'm going on four years of marriage this summer and I still am learning new things about the ole' hubby. It was only recently that my husband confessed to something that I believed for a good eight years or so - before he told me the truth. It was Valentine's Day, our fist Valentines as a dating couple. I know not everyone celebrates it, but I figured at the time that we had been going out for, let's see, two months or so, so I bought Mike a teddy bear and a mug. Now that I think about it, those presents seem rather...silly. But hey, I bought them for him because what else do you buy a man for Valentine's Day when you are dating? Anyway, I gave the presents to Mike and he thanked me then said he had to go to his car to get my gift. He came back in with a black hat in hand and gave it to me because "I know how cold these Canadian winters are". (I was living in Canada at the time). The hat was a perfect fit and I proudly wore it the rest of the winter. So a couple months ago, Mike confessed to me that after I had given him his gift, he felt bad because he HADN'T BOUGHT ANYTHING FOR ME! So what would someone like Mike do? He pretended he had bought something, decided to rummage in the car and see what he could come up with while I waited inside. Lo and behold, his sister had just bought him a winter hat that was a little small on him, so I became the recipient. What I cannot fathom is how he manage to NOT tell me after all these years! Nevermind that everytime I saw a picture of me wearing the hat I would get a serious case of the warm fuzzies ("Oh, the sweet days of young love"). I wouldn't have cared about not getting a gift from him - after all, isn't he gift enough? Okay, okay, that's buttering up, I know; couldn't resist. Yup, my husband can be very sneaky!

Is it reality?

I've just finished breezing through one of my magazines, Better Homes and Gardens. I do enjoy getting it in the mail because I like to get decorating ideas and I love the beautiful flower gardens. There are some things that annoy me, however. First of all, I think what is pictured in the magazine is a far cry from reality. Have you ever noticed that practically every room has a fresh bouquet of flowers in it? It sounds romantic - you stroll outside into your perennial garden with a pair of scissors in hand and you artfully arrange one bouquet after another...(No matter that you have 10 rooms to fill with fresh flowers). You carefully place the bouquet in a highly visible spot and make sure it fits with the color scheme. Here is what I think really happens: The photographer who plans on taking pictures of the newly renovated home as well as the interior decorator who is going along for the ride stop at the florist and buy large quantities of fresh flowers (the florist wishes everyday there were photo shoots taken in town). The interiour designer fusses for an hour or two until she has placed the flowers in the most advantageous spot. The house now looks perfect. Secondly, how do they get these houses so clean and organized? You know there is a closet full of JUNK just bursting at the seams somewhere in the house! The couple who own the house hired cleaners the day before the shoot and they have taken the kids to a hotel to stay the night so the house remains spotless. Then, in the early morning, it's time to get their hair and make up done and the perfect casual ensemble must be put on with elegant ease. TADAA! We now have the effortless look in place! Now all that needs to be done, is to have the children sit at the table in their newly renovated crafting room, pull out a sheet of blank paper and start creating a masterpiece. There! The perfect family in the perfect house. And for their good behaviour, Mom and Dad (if there is one), take the kids out for a treat for posing so casually for the picture ("It really doesn't look like we planned this weeks in advance, does it?!"). I suppose it wouldn't do to have an upside down house pictured in a magazine, but when I look at some of the pictures, I can't possible imagine a kid or two living in such a house (especially with all those glass vases filled with fresh flowers perched on end tables)! See, told you I have a serious cynical streak in me.

Dishes in the Sink

Well, I just spent a lovely two days down at the shore at my in-laws place. It improved my disposition amazingly. And, believe it or not, when I came home, the house looked okay. Is there anything worse than going on vacation and leaving the house a mess? I remember on one of our vacations I left dirty dishes on the counter. I thought about them more than once while on vacation - how lame is that? And then to come home and see that Mike's aunt (who was watering our plants while we were gone) had GONE AND WASHED THEM FOR ME! But I haven't come to expect that every time I go on vacation and now I TRY to leave the house in a semi-presentable state. In fact that is why I am sitting at the computer right now instead of racing around the house trying to make it presentable. There is nothing worse than coming home slightly tired from the drive to see an upside down house. You are guaranteed to yell at the kids and grumble at your husband. But not today! I arrived home and it's looking not too bad. Life is good.

My Magical Rubber Boots

There is something about gardening that cheers a person up. Last year Mike and I started a little vegetable garden. Mike thought it would be "fun" (his words, not mine). Do I know a thing about vegetable gardening? Nope, I don't. I can't give you advice on soil quality, when to plant, how to get the most growth, etc. Here is my method of gardening: Go to the greenhouse, purchase some random veggies that look interesting, shove em' in the dirt, and hope for the best. (Oh, yes, I do know you have to water your garden). It's actually quite rewarding. Lately I have been seen in my garden hoeing. It is tremendously satisfying. I get my rubber boots on (something magical happens when I put my rubber boots on - suddenly I am transformed from housewife extraordinaire to a rugged, weathered, country bumpkin), head on to the shed and get my hoe. As I make my trek across our yard, I lay the hoe on my shoulders and picture myself as a hardworking farmer's wife. Then I start hoeing like crazy. Weeds fly through the air and after half an hour, I gaze with satisfaction at the freshly turned dirt. Then I roll up my sleeves and check to see if I have any newly-made muscles. You might catch me running dirt through my fingers with a contemplative look on my face - that's just an act though. Then I picture the massive rewards that await me. I imagine how long my vegetable garden would be able to sustain our family. With my record, probably not more than a week. Last year I planted a bunch of different kinds of peppers - with success! When I was ready to cook a meal and didn't have a veggie, I would make my way to the garden, hope something was ripe, and tadaa - a fresh pepper or two. Throw some olive oil, a little salt and pepper on em' and toss them on the grill beside the steak. It made a lovely accompiament to steak in particular. I thought about canning, but first of all, I didn't have a big enough harvest for that, and secondly, once I read about having to boil jars and having to do so at certain temperatures, I was completely turned off from it. Maybe this year. But I don't think so. So if you want to feel a "little closer to the earth" (if that doesn't sound to hokey to you), by all means, start a little vegetable garden. The rewards are ENDLESS!

Moodiness is for the BIRDS!

It seems that whenever you silently congratulate yourself on conquering a sin, it seems to rear its ugly head and bites you...HARD! The other day in woman's bible study, someone mentioned self-pity and I silently congratulated myself in not having a problem with it. (Whenever you find yourself doing this, WATCH OUT!!!) I did not have any! I had a wonderful life! I was happy! Well, yesterday I BATHED myself in self-pity. I have this whole week off and I had been looking forward to a full week with no school or other obligations. Monday morning arrived and I felt cranky and discontented. Staying at home and cleaning was no fun. Juliet was cranky which didn't help my mood. Mike has been working late quite a bit. Juliet has not been eating very well. There was nothing fun to do. The list goes on. All my troubles escalated (in my mind) so when Mike came home, I was cold and distant. When he was friendly in return, I read my mental list of injuries against myself and remained cold and distant. I carried it on all through the night and even managed to go to sleep clothed in my cold and distant persona. The scary thing is, I had just read an article that afternoon on this topic - how carrying grudges, doing the old cold shoulder thing was sinful, etc. I had heartily agreed (mentally) that this was wrong and that I wasn't going to fall into the same trap. Well, when the night rolled around, I remembered what I read and promptly IGNORED it. I knew I should pray about my cranky mood but I didn't want to because then I would have to confess that I was in the wrong! Anyway around two in the morning when Mike rolled into bed and woke me, I finally forgave him for...well, I actually forgot about my little mental list of injuries and asked him to forgive me! So it's all patched up now but what a pain in the butt I can be! Sometimes I wish I was a simple guy - as long as fed, healthy (very important), has a gal, he's happy! This moody stuff is for the birds.

Funny Pictures of Jules

Just found these the other day:

Jules Dancing

Roast Chicken w/ Balsamic Bell Peppers

First of all, you should only make this recipe if you like red peppers. Also, I used only red bell peppers (since the yellow ones were so expensive). Lastly, I recommend investing in a GOOD (as in expensive) bottle of balsamic vinegar. It makes a big difference and you can also use it when you make a Capri salad (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and a dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar). Just my opinion. Oh, and I left the fennel out because I am not a fan of it. Hope you like it.
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed (I kept these out)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I use chicken cutlets)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
cooking spray
2 cups thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 cup thinly sliced yellow bell pepper
1/c cup thinly sliced shallots (about 1 large)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Combine 1/2 teaspoon salt, fennel seeds, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder, and oregano. Brush chicken with 1 1/2 teaspoons oil; sprinkle spice rub over chicken. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan. Add chicken; cook 3 min. or until browned. Turn chicken over; cook 1 minute. Arrange chicken in an 11 x 7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450 for ten minutes or until done.
3. Heat remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, shallots, and rosemary; saute 3 minutes. Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Stir in vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve bell pepper mixture over chicken.
Yields: 3-4 servings.
P.S. To make the side of asparagus, simply break off the woody stems. Place them evenly on a baking pan trying not to have them overlap. Drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil over them and liberally sprinkle salt and pepper. Bake at 450 for about 20-30 minutes (depending on how you like them. I do them for a long time cause Mike likes his veggies on the mushy-side).

Sounds in the Night

The other night, I heard a strange noise in the middle of the night...around three or four in the morning. It sounded like somebody was crinkling paper into a ball. I promptly poked Mike in the back and told him to go investigate. A sigh ensued, and Mike sleepily crept out of bed. As I saw him leave the room, I wasn't much convinced that any robber would be frightened of a half-clothed, barely awake man with NOTHING in his hands! ( I, at least, would grab something! Even a textbook - remember, Dor?) It turned out there was nothing around. I hate it when I hear noises at night. When I lived in our old house I once heard a noise at night while Mike was gone. I was scared out of my wits but I knew I HAD to do something because Juliet was peacefully sleeping in the other room. I grabbed the knife that lay hidden underneath my nightstand beside my bed and stealthily crept to our bedroom door. With a loud "HUUUAAAAAAH" or something like that, I dramatically leaped out from behind the door and with a flourish, brandished my knife. The only problem was, that as I leaped through the air, I was fumbling with the blade which simply wouldn't open (it was a knife where you have to flip the blade up). I was extremely grateful when there was nothing to be seen, and I stood there in the hallway somewhat foolishly for the next couple of minutes, my heart racing. I was SO GLAD Mike wasn't around to see my exhibition. When I told Mike about it later, he promptly confiscated my knife, much to my dismay. He told me I would probably end up stabbing him some night thinking he was a robber. With my out-of-control imagination, he was probably right on track.

Backpedaling Like Ninety

Well, didn't I tell you I would start backpedling like ninety about twittering if I found somebody I know who twitters? Okay, so here goes: it can be useful and doesn't mean you are full of yourself if you regularly twitter. There. But just like anything else (blogging, facebook, and other social networking sites), there are dangers. Okay, got that out of the way. And maybe I'll learn to keep my poorly researched opinions to myself next time.

No Accident

Well, seeing I just posted a post on death below, I "just happened" to go to sermon audio afterward, and "just happened" to listen to the latest puritan podcast titled "No Accident" which is related to the topic I wrote on and is worth listening to!

On Death

Okay, here comes the warning. This is, perhaps, a strange post. But then again, maybe I am strange. Here is my question for you. Do you ever think about what you would do if your spouse were to die? (There, I managed to use the "die" word instead of "pass away." In our culture where we like to sugar-coat everything, it is even hard for me to use the word "die" because it is so ...hmmmm... I don't know what the word is. Permanent? Concrete? Final? Which defines death pretty much.) Anyway, let me hasten on to explain that I am not talking about WISHING that your spouse dies - that is totally different. I just wonder what I'd do if Mike were to die. Where would I go? What job would I take? I was thinking about that earlier today and then I quickly thought - "Don't be so morbid, Nic!!!" And yeah, if I did think about it ALL the time, that would be morbid. But I don't. Why is it suddenly so terrible to think about death - whether you think about dieing yourself, or someone close to you? Mike has told me in the past that if he were to die, I would find a nice Canadian boy who wears socks with his sandals in a jiffy (Mike has vivid memories of Canadian's coming down to visit for the long weekend, and this is what he always mentions - socks w/ sandals. I don't know why). And I have given him permission to marry again if I were to die... on two conditions which I won't mention here. In a life where there are no guarantees, is it strange to think about something that WILL eventually happen to you or your spouse (barring Christ's return)?
I haven't even started talking about wills and the like. But I'll leave that for another time. Well, to be honest, I know NOTHING about wills so I'll leave it to a wiser person.

Lord, Thank You for the Blessings!

When I look at my life, I see so many good things! When I read the newspaper (or news sites) I see God's sustaining hand - keeping me and my family free from harm. And I am blessed! When I see the magazines with their glossy covers of the perfect home and the perfect accessories and see my sometimes messy house - the windows covered in hand prints, the dirt on the kitchen floor - I am blessed! It isn't a perfect life by any means, but it is a life filled with GRACE. What could be better?

All of my parents grandkids

After running around all day, the kids are all a little on the grubby side...

Mike took a picture of us trying to get all the kids organized.

Easter Weekend

Easter Weekend

Well, I promised pictures so here they are!

Spring Ramblings and Techno-phobias

Who has time to blog when the weather is absolutely gorgeous? I am LOVING it! Jules is outside every day, sitting in a pile of mulch and dirt and poking it with a twig with great satisfaction. She's an absolute disaster but, hey, who cares! I am so glad I bought six tank tops with matching shorts from Walmart for Jules last summer ($1.00 each)! She is already using them and since they were only a dollar each, I don't care if they get filthy. Anyway, I had a fabulous weekend with the family. Dor and John were down for the weekend as well as Vince and Petra (who stayed at Lora's house). On Saturday we went to Van Saun Park (it was FREE day - we didn't know it was until we got there - our dutch instinct must have been pulling us toward it). Juliet and all the kids had a ton of fun on the train and on the merry-go-round. I can't wait till Mike downloads all the pictures (yeah, haven't quite figured that out yet. I know how to download onto my computer, but I don't know how to delete them off of the camera. It doesn't help that we have THREE cameras and they all work a little differently. Isn't that a good excuse? Anyway, I'm too nervous to delete them because I know I'll do something wrong and Mike will be saying the next time he picks up the camera, "What did you DO to the camera???" And then I will feel like I'm ten years old again and getting a lecture from my dad. So I'll just let him do it. Have I ever told you that I have this thing called techno-phobia? When someone first mentioned the word "blog" to me in a conversation, I remember feeling a slight sinking feeling in my stomach for I had no idea what a blog was and had absolutely no interest! When someone explained it to me, I had no idea what they were talking about and it was only recently that I checked out my sister's blog and knew what it was all about. But if I am blogging, there is hope for other technophobics. Hey, I even get the gist of what twittering is about. Which, in my opinion, is the silliest waste of time and a big ego booster for whoever is twittering. Honestly, do I really want to know what you ate for dinner and where you are every hour? Sure hope no one I know twitters or next blog you will see me backpeddaling like ninety.