Small Town America!

This past weekend my family and I attended a harvest festival in the town my parents and sisters family live.   It coincides with the homecoming celebrations at the local high school.  Everyone in the town either takes part or watches the big parade down mainstreet.  The churches sell food and snacks, the local crafters sell handmade cuties that I usually buy.  You see old friends or meet new people that may become friends. 

People who don't live in small towns just don't understand the small town festivals and parades.  People who live in small towns can't imagine living in a town that doesn't have festivals and parades.  I love them.  I knew I loved my town when I attended three parades in three months the first three months we lived here.  It's so much fun to watch the kids run out and grab a piece of candy that a clown or the local queen or football player tossed out.  I also love watching my own kids as they march in the line or ride on the float.  They are becoming part of this town.  They are putting down real deep roots in a small town where everybody knows your name and your parents. 

It's a good life. It's good when people know who you are and where you go to church and are watching your every move.  Too many people have lost the 'otherness' of a society.  Too many people don't care what the neighbors think.  I want my neighbors to like my family and know that we live by certain principles and morals.  I want people to watch me and hold me to a high standard.  I want my friends and neighbors to call me when they see my kids step out of line.  Living in a small town is a good, good life.

Sunday Pot Roast

Yesterday, I cooked the traditional sunday dinner for the family.  Pot roast with potatoes and carrots.  I usually buy my roasts when they are on sale and then cook at least two when I cook. I put my potatoes and carrots on the bottom and then place the roasts on top.  I sprinkle onion soup and some beef boullion over.  Then I pour about two to three cups of hot water over.  I cover the potatoes and carrots.  I only cook enough potatoes and carrots for one meal or a little extra for a quick beef soup later in the week.  Since veggies don't freeze well, I just freeze the extra roast and gravy. 

Now, since I'm pretty frugal, I usually buy the cheap cut of roast that has to be cooked for an extremely long time.  My husband teases me but while we're eating like pigs he never complains!  I freeze that extra roast and gravy to add noodles later for beef and noodles.  This makes a very easy Sunday meal for later in the month. 

When we're all sitting down on Sunday after church talking and eating all the extra planning I do for those meals is well worth it!

My Baby Sister is 40!

I really don't know how this happened but my baby sister is turning 40 today!  Somehow she is now older than me because I'm only 39 and have been for a few years!  Turning 40 wasn't so bad.  I figured that once you got over 40, you can pretty much do whatever you want and people just pass it off as being old. 

No really, I've become aware that I am now more of a mentor to younger mothers than the young mother.  I've been there, I've seen it and they want my advice.  Sometimes it suprises me that anyone would want my advice because I don't feel old enough to be giving anybody advice!  But then I begin to think about the things that I've experienced, the joy, the heartbreak, the sadness, the high times.  I begin to realize that I've survived over forty years, I may actually have some tidbits of wisdom to share. 

Now this does not mean that I know it all.  I certainly do not.  Age has also given me the wisdom to look for mentors in other people, people who have experienced more than me, or have a special gift for discernment that I do not have.  I think that's why old people are percieved as wise.  They begin to realize that it's ok to ask for help when they need it and it's always ok to pause and think about it before answering or reacting. 

My grandpa used to say, 'It's easier to change a no to a yes, you can't take back a yes." As I've gotten older, I am learning how true his words were.  I use the word no more and don't feel guilty about it.  I feel that if an activity I'm asked to join in I carefully weigh it against how it will effect my family.  Sometimes, the answer is yes, but often, the answer is no.  If it will not help or have a positive effect on my family, I simple turn down the offer.  It may be a very worthwhile cause but I can't do everything and often I am so pulled that I can't get anything done.  Saying no, opens up time for my family to fill it with postive things. 

Getting older is not so bad.  Especially since I'm living to 100! 

Turkey Apple Paninis

Tonight I'm making sandwiches for dinner.  I make sandwiches a lot for dinner.  I've had people tell me they don't like homemade sandwiches.  When I press them, I find out they mean white bread, meat and mustard/mayo sandwiches! Yuck! I don't like those much either.  It has gotten very pricey for our family to even grab a sandwich out.  My son can eat a footlong of whatever and by the time you add drinks and chips, it's usually at least twenty dollars for a sandwich meal!  I can make steak at home for that!

When I make sandwiches at home, I make them like we get when we order out.  My son's friends think I'm the sandwich queen.  Pretty high praise for fourteen year old boys!  Well, tonight, since I'm hoping to transition to fall sometime soon even though it's still ninety degrees outside, I'm thinking apples.  Turkey apple paninis to be exact.  Slap a fancy name like panini on it and my family lines up to eat!

I don't have a panini maker.  I don't need another kitchen gadget that's difficult to clean and store.  I just use a heated up iron skillet that I've had over twenty years and bought it used at an auction.  Love that skillet, it's like using a nonstick pan.  I simply heat it over a seperate burner and slap it on top of the grilled sandwiches while I cook them.  The only thing my paninis don't have is grill stripes and that's ok because my daughter thinks they are burn stripes anyway!

Turkey Apple Panini
Makes 4 - 1 for each of us

split hoagie rolls - 4
apple butter
honey mustard
deli turkey
provolone or cheddar cheese
very thinly sliced apple, like a gala or fuji

On the bottom of the hoagie rolls, spread a mixture of apple butter and honey mustard to taste.  I don't like much, the rest of the family likes a lot.
On top of that, place the sliced turkey and then the apples and cheese.  Top with the top of the hoagie bun.
Melt a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet and grill the hoagies until brown.  Flip over and place a heated skillet on top or you can cook in a panini griller!

Serve with carrots and ranch dressing or if would ever get cold outside, tomato soup!  

Payday! Again!

I'm on someone's payroll again!  It feels lovely!  Although I'm only working part-time, it is exciting to open up my bank email on the first and the fifteenth each month and see a little more money going into the account.  It doesn't define me and we're not going to get rich by any means but it is exciting.  I've been very mindful not to say, 'now that I'm working, we can now buy.....'.  That's a quick way to undo all the frugality that I've established over the last year. 

We've always been frugal, my husband and I.   We're just not spenders.  We've always lived below our means and that is just fine with me.  I don't want to ever feel like I have to hold down a full-time job just so we can pay our bills.  It doesn't hurt that I don't especially like to shop and don't have a ginoreous(not sure that's a word) closet.  I look at my closet, it's full, I don't need anything new! Simple, isn't it!

A couple of years ago, I became absolutle certain that I could go the rest of my life and not buy any new clothes and die with clothes.  Well, maybe I'd have to replace underwear because for some reason, those wear out quicker than other stuff.  And maybe socks after a few years.  But for the most part, I have way too many clothes.  I decided that I'd only start replacing stuff when it was worn out.  Seems to be working.  I've only replaced a few tops and shoes in the last few years.  Saves plenty of money!

I got paid today and instead of rushing out to eat out or buy something new, I think I'll just sit here and smile.  Saving that money for a nice vacation this winter with the kids! Memories last a lot longer than a new pair of shoes!

Football, football, football.....

I like football.  I like to watch it, not play it.  I'd be the guy that turned tail and ran screaming in the other direction.  Definately could not play!  Since we are knee deep in football season, I thought I'd ramble a bit about my love of this lovely fall sport.

My husband, who is notoriously more cheap than me, I'm frugal, he's cheap.  He'll do without because he doesn't want to spend the money.  I'll save over here so I can spend over there.  I like to travel so my frugalistaness goes to traveling.  Anyway, my husband was talked into buying season football tickets this year to his alma mater, Oklahoma State.  I did the talking.  He got a raise and was feeling really good and I said, 'why don't you buy them this year?' He did in a moment of weakness. 

I didn't realize what a wonderful, great, loving wife I would be depicted as for talking him into buying tickets.  He was so over-excited last Saturday when we arrived on campus in time for the 'Walk'.  That's when the football team walks across campus to the stadium.  Then, we went to some friends to visit at their tailgate set-up.  All the way, he just kept saying, 'this is great!' over and over.  In fact, all week, he's been saying it.  I'm glad he had a good time. 

Ok, I did talk him into the tickets. I did threaten the children not to complain as we were slepping all over the campus following dad around in the hot sun.  But here's the secret.....I enjoyed it almost as much as he did.  I like sitting out in the stands on a cool fall evening cheering and listening to the band.  I've already bought our family pass to our hometown's football team.  Football means fall and I like that just fine!  Just don't tell the hubby that I really enjoy it.  He thinks I'm the greatest wife ever right now and I don't want to spoil it!

When did it Change?

I was hanging out with a bunch of women recently and I overheard a couple talking about their bathrooms.  This is never a good thing, me eavesdropping on conversations, but alas, it happens often.  I have extreme hearing and I just can't help it!

Anyway, they were discussing their bathroom themes.  Themes!  When did bathrooms need a theme?  It's not a restaurant!  I remember my grandparents bathrooms.  Pink and green were the prevalent theme.  Maybe there were a few decorations on the wall, someone made in ceramics.  There was a little crocheted dog made out of a bar of soap.  I think that was for smell?  That or maybe if you were ever completely out of soap it was a rescue dog! 

There wasn't a hundred dollar shower curtain.  There wasn't an expensive rug on the floor.  There wasn't a two thousand dollar shower or jetted tub.  There also wasn't a theme!  It was a bathroom, plain and simple.  And you know what?  It worked! I have a feeling the rest of the world looks at us and laughs.  The are in on the joke!  Bathrooms are for doing your business, not for decorating to look like House Beautiful!

First Cool Weather!

Soup, soup, how I love soup! I seriously could eat soup everyday.  Now that I'm home during the day, I usually do eat soup once a day, either for lunch or dinner.  This last week, we finally had our first little brush with cool, fall weather.  It was soooo exciting because it was also the first football game for our town's high school.  I decided it would be a soup night!

My daughter and a friend were going to the game so I invited the family over to chow on soup and salad before the game.  I made a southwestern chicken and rice soup.  To be honest, it was a chance to use some leftovers as that is what I use soup for mostly, to repurpose leftovers into something I like to eat!  I had some chicken broth in the freezer that needed to be used, a couple of grilled chicken breasts and some leftover rice from a meal earlier in the week.  I dumped it all in, added a can of rotel, some frozen corn, spices and a can of Campbells Fiesta Cheese soup.  I love that stuff!  Adds just the right amount of cheesy flavor without overwhelming the entire dish.  I cooked it all in my big crockpot and served it with a green salad and homemade bread.  We ate until we couldn't move!  It was a good thing to send them off to a chilly football game.  Their stomachs filled with warm, homemade soup. 

I love fall!

Sushi Bowls

Ok, I'm first going to say, this is not gourmet food!  I never said I was a gourmet cook.  I've always said that went out the window when the kids were born.  So please don't email me and gripe that I have dumbed down sushi.  Remember, it has to be quick, easy and kind of healthy at my house!

That said, my family loves sushi.  My kids would eat it every night.  I can make it but it is a time consuming mess that takes up most of my afternoon.  I love to go out and eat sushi and my husband and I do it as often as we can.  I hate to pay for the entire family to go eat sushi because dropping sixty to one hundred dollars for a meal, just kills me.  I'm pretty frugal remember?

I woke up in the night thinking about ways to make eating sushi with the kids easier on mom.  I came up with the idea of a sushi bowl.  I know all the sushi chefs out there are impaling themselves on their sushi knives but large appetites call for desperate measures! 

Here's what I did:
I made my sushi rice and let it cool slightly.  I then mixed nori cut into small strips into the rice so it would be nice and soft.  While the sushi rice was cooling, I cut up crab, smoked salmon and rinsed and drained small salad shrimp.  I also diced carrots, avocados, cream cheese and cucumbers.  I put all of it in small bowls and sat them around the rice and nori mixture. 

We filled our bowls with rice/nori and then topped different areas with what we like in our sushi.  I had a california roll area, and several other ones I just made up!  I mixed my soy sauce and wasabi and just dumped it over all of it.  The rest of the family left theirs on the side and dipped each bite into the sauce. 

Although it was not traditional sushi by any means, it seemed to pass the sushi test from the kids!  They loved it and loved making each persons unique to their own tastes.  Both kids voted to have this recipe again.  My daughter wants it once a week.  Probably not going to happen but it may be a once a month treat!

September Menu Planning

I sat down and started my September menu planning.  Yes, I know, it's already September.  Well, with school starting, a new job, home schooling, dance and piano lessons starting, I've been a bit busy!

I'm beginning to transition out of summer foods and into fall dishes.  More pork and apples, less salads.  More pancake nights, less sandwiches. I even put chili and stew on the menu in late September ! We are eating the last of the Oklahoma peaches and are savoring each one.  I found a great sandwich recipe for ham peach panini.  I found it in the All You magazine.  I don't have a panini press and am not planning to purchase one.  What I have is a non-stick skillet and a cast iron skillet.  It works just fine.

Ham-Peach Panini

Bread, I've used regular sandwich or bagette; One section for each person
Sliced ham
Thinly sliced peaches, I don't peel them
honey mustard- the recipe called for dijon but I don't care for dijon.
Peach/Apricot jam or butter
cheddar cheese

On the bottom bread, spread the mustard and jam.  I go easy on the mustard and heavy on the jam.   Place sliced peaches on each bottom bread then cover with ham and cheese.  Top with the other piece of bread.  Grill in a little butter until browned then flip over and place the iron skillet on top to smash it down. 

So good, even my picky daughter ate it!

Lightning!

Last night, we finally had some rain!  It was so enjoyable, we all gathered on the back porch and sat and watched the lightning show and watched as the rain moved in.  Lightning used to scare me when I was a kid but my mom would sit on our front porch with me and watch the storm move across the sky. 

Powerful is the word I would use for lightning.  These big, bright streaks across the sky brought with it welcome relief from the intense heat and drought we were having.  Such excitement!  Living on the edge of the great prarie, I often wonder what it was like two hundred years ago when lightning came bringing rain but also the threat of fire.  Fire was good because it burned off the old, dead grass so new, fresh grass would grow and bring the buffalo.  You'd maybe lose your home to fire but you'd also probably have fresh meat.

For now, I'm just content to watch God's light show in the sky and marvel at it's awesomeness!

Tired of Gardening and Canning

I'm tired of gardening and canning. I'm ready for a freeze but now it's time to pull up a bunch of stuff and plant veggies for fall!  If I don't, I'll be sad in a month because I'll have to start buying lettuce from the grocery store instead of my own. 

Maybe, I'll just plant a little.  I don't want to feel sad.....Gotta go, I've got work to do!

Now's the time when I savor the last of everything.  I'm still getting okra to fry and a few cukes and tomatoes and eggplants but almost everything else is giving up from our august heat. 

I'll pull out all the dead stuff and plant in it's place a few more cukes, a fall tomato that I've been babying in a pot through this heat (I grow cherries for fall) and lots of greens.  It does make me happy to be picking stuff in november here in Oklahoma!

Naked Ladies in my Yard....

Since we had some rain last week, I now have naked ladies springing up all over my yard!  Now that I've got your attention, some of you may call them suprise lilies.  Those of you who worry what other people think, probably call them that.  That or you didn't have a grandma who called them that because she liked saying it I think! Naked ladies, suprise lilies...you say tomato, I say luscious round red orbs of deliciousness! ha! Calling them naked ladies sounds like some exotic flower.  Well, they kind of are!

One day my husband called me from work and asked me if I knew what naked ladies were.  When I said yes, he then put me on speaker phone for all the ladies in the breakroom.  They had apparently been discussing them and my husband put his two cents in.  They didn't believe he knew what they were and I was there to settle a friendly bet!

These are those plants that you see about now in Oklahoma springing up all over old homestead places and old homes in town.  They don't ever really look like anyone planted them because usually they were planted so long ago that the flowerbed or fence or whatever they were planted beside is long gone.  In the spring, they send up green long leaves that just sit there in the sun soaking up those rays.  Not long around Memorial Day, they just die and everyone forgets they were ever there.  Until now.  When we finally get a good soaking rain about the end of August, they put up a stalk and on that stalk is a cluster of light pink lilies that smell heavenly!  They are so unlike plants of August that it's a relief to see them. 

I love naked ladies (he, he) because I know that the end of summer is almost here.  The next thing that will appear are the chrysanthemums but they aren't a suprise.  I can see them setting the buds so they will be here in a few weeks.

Here's a little southern speak lesson if you aren't from around here:  Do you know that naked can actually be pronounced two ways?  My husband, who has lived here most of his life, didn't either.  This is actually my own rendition but here goes....two pronunciations of naked.

       Naked- naked, without clothes - this is the one you know about. Example, Adam and Eve were naked in the garden.
       Naked - necked pronounced in two syllables, neck-ade; this is without clothes doing something you should not be doing.  Example; Bobby and JohnnySue was neck-ade in the woods!

My little lesson on southern speak for today!

Hope you smiled a little today!

AHHH!

School started last week.  For all of us!  Since I'm starting a new job, I'm training everyday for about four hours online.  It's hectic at our house!  I told my husband that I feel like I'm in a big building with no windows and all the hallways and doors look the same.  I can't find my way around or back where I started again.  That's what I feel like training in the computer school!  I'm sure it will get better, everyday I'm beginning to remember more and more but it sure is difficult at first learning a new system!

My kids are fareing better than I am in their prospective schools.  Both seem to enjoy what they are doing and are learning the ropes of getting around much better than old mom.  This week, we have open house for our daughter's school and next week, a phone call conference with my son's teacher.  We seem to be settling into a routine pretty quickly.  I'm ready to get there!

Yesterday, a cold front moved through Oklahoma bringing us some much needed relief from the hundred degree days! This morning when I stepped outside, it was pretty chilly!  Today will only be about eighty-five so some people will be wearing sweaters! My daughter actually did.  She says it's because the school is pretty cold in some rooms but I think she just was wanting to wear some new fall clothes....

I'm resorting to easy options for dinners these next two weeks.  Quick things that I can make ahead in the afternoon and get out fast before we rush off to whatever event is on my kids calendar.  Tonight, it's asian chicken salad.  I've made it before and posted the recipe.  The grilled chicken is in the fridge thawing and I can just throw it all together and serve it in big bowls so clean-up is also a breeze.  Which is a good thing because my kids have youth group at six tonight about the same time my husband gets home from work.  Afterwards, they have a swim party until nine. 

Next week, starts dance for the daughter and Oklahoma State football games for all of us! Bring on fall! I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready!

Charlie, my little green snake

Ok, ok, I tend to name almost anything that lives in my yard or I own.  Hence, my van, Suzi Q who gets treated like a member of the family and Sarah, the wild turkey (she is a bird, not a drink!).  Actually, my neighbor named her, we're quite a bit a like.  I also have a green snake named Charlie.

Now, you know that I don't like snakes by now if you've read any of my posts.  I am terrified of them because they are just so sneaky and since I'm usually wandering around not paying attention to anything, the snake seems to jump out of nowhere and startle me out of my wits.

Except Charlie.  I kind of like Charlie.  He's been here for at least five years and he lives over in the east side in a flowerbed.  He likes irises because that is usually where I see him.  The first few years, I swear he would try to scare me.  I would be up to my eyebrows weeding the irises and suddenly, there he would be, staring at me eyeball to eyeball.  I think one reason that I don't like snakes is that they don't have eyelashes.  Staring into an eye that is naked is kind of weird.  If God had given snakes eyelashes, they would seem so much sweeter.  Take a snake and put big cow eyes on it and suddenly, that old snake becomes cuddly. 

Since Charlie is only about a foot long and bright green, I've simply grown accustomed to him.  I expect to see him draped over the iris leaves.  I think he knew that, so he's moved to the lilac beds to keep me on my toes!  I was watering tonight and almost reached in to pull a bright green weed when it suddenly moved.  I imagined that Charlie yelled out 'Gotcha!'  It's good to have friends in the yard!

I survived!

My husband and I in a moment of pure insanity took our two kids and two of their friends to Branson, Missouri over the weekend to go to Silver Dollar City.  If you've never been to SDC or as the locals call it, Steal Your Dollar City, you're missing out.  This is the only theme park my husband can be talked into that is within a two days drive.  He liked Disney World but who can run over there in a weekend?

Silver Dollar City is like an old town set in the 1800's.  It is clean, shady and full of people that love their jobs and love people.  It is a Christian based theme park that is not overt in it's Christianity but you know that morals and values are important to the people who own and run the park.  It has lots of rides for all ages but it also has music and variety shows and arts and crafts buildings.  My husband calls it arts and crap but that's not what they carry.  They have local artisians doing painting, metalwork, woodwork, pottery and other real crafts.  It's interesting to go and watch these artists make beautiful objects and speak directly to them. 

We took four kids and set them free in Silver Dollar City for the day.  This is the first year that they have been able to go off on their own.  Of course, all four had their cell phones with them so they could call at any minute but it still was a little unnerving to let them out of my sight!  The kids had a ball, riding rides until they were sick and buying the snacks and drinks that they wanted not what I thought they should have.  When they wandered off my husband turned to me and said, 'they really are growing up aren't they?' We hadn't been alone in Silver Dollar City since we had traveled there twenty-two years ago on our honeymoon! Sure hasn't seemed like that long ago!

The kids survived, we survived and I think we all had a good time.  We only had to stop once on the way home to break up a fist fight in the back of Suzy Q.  Our own lovely adorable children were punching away on each other so my husband had to remove them from the vehicle and have a 'little talk' to the two of them.  We were all tired from having too much fun in the sun and were a bit cranky at that time. 

But we survived! I had a friend once that would say of any experience that you'd either have a good time or a great story, I think we have both from this trip!

Flip flop!

No, I'm not talking about those sandals I love so much this time of year.  I call them thongs and it embarasses my kids to death!  We had an entire discussion one night at the dinner table about what is a thong?  It is something that slides between two things!  My take on the Webster defination.  It's not my fault this generation has completely given that simple word a very graphic meaning! 

I remember when I first started teaching high school in Oklahoma in 2002.  This was the very height of thong wearing season.  Almost every girl in the school wore those awful underwear and it was also right in the middle of those hideous low slung jeans that looked good on almost no one!  Imagine for one moment what my computer typing class looked like to me since I only saw the backs of people and no one would ever push their chair up to the computer.  I loudly explained one day that if I saw another slot I was going to put a penny in it, just as the principal walked into my room.  Just as quickly, he turned and walked out!  He always teased me that observing for me was 'unique' because he never quite knew what we'd be discussing that day!

My flip flop is actually that I will be working this fall after all.  I had come to terms with God that if He wanted me to stay home, He wouldn't give me a job.  I had a peace that staying home was fine.  God had provided extra income and our stress level as a family was greatly reduced since I was home all day. I got a job offer this week from the virtual school my son is attending.  I'll be working part-time teaching their high school sciences.  This job will allow me to be home all day, help my son when he needs it and supervise all his work, pick up/drop off my daughter; pretty much everything I was doing as a full-time stay-at-home mom except for a few hours a day I'll be teaching!  God was in control all along.  He just needed me to stop running around like a chicken with her head cut off and let him lead.  I have seen a chicken with it's head cut off, more than one actually, and it's really a funny but grotesque sight!  I'm sure I looked just like that too! No direction, no plan, just run, run, run! 

I'll keep you posted this fall on how this is working!

First Day of School!

This is it! The first day of school! So exciting, new school for the daughter, new program for the son.  Finally getting back to a schedule for me!  I took pictures by the flowerbed that I've always do.  It is amazing how much bigger both of the kids have grown and the how the flowerbed has changed over the years. 

Different hairstyles, different styles of clothes, bigger and bigger shoes!  It's always amazing what outfits my kids choose for the first day of school.  My daughter, who is in her own right a self-proclaimed fashionista, makes her choice weeks in advance and changes it every other day until the night before.  She wants to show everybody how nice she can dress.  My son, who would still be letting me choose his clothes if I would, simply reaches into his closet or floor for something that would pass for clean. 

Yesterday, my daughter was still agonizing over which jeans to wear, looked at my son and said, 'you're lucky you're doing homeschool this year, you don't have to choose what to wear on the first day of school!'  My son, never one to miss an opportunity to be sarcastic to his sister, I think he got that from dad...never from me, said, 'I never chose what I was going to wear to the first day of school when I went to school! I just grabbed whatever!'  She audibly gasped in horror.  To think that he didn't even plan his wardrobe!

Hopefully, she'll have a great day! We went and got the schedule well in advance and took a tour of the school.  She already has many friends that will be there to help her and she even got to meet a few of her teachers.  I dropped her off this morning with a smile and a wave and DID NOT walk her in! I have great faith that she'll do well.  Middle school is tough but my daughter is better than most!

Needing Rain and Armadillos!

We really, really, really need rain right now in Oklahoma! Did I mention we really need rain! Oh we do!  I am so tired of dragging around hoses and setting up and taking down watering systems.  The birds are so very happy when I set up the sprinkling system around the yard so they can get a much needed bath.  It hasn't helped that the average temperature for the past fifteen or so days has been over 100 degrees!
Yesterday, we finally got that good soaking that we have so desperately needed and boy I am glad!  Now I won't have to water for a few days at least.

My hummingbirds are not faring well either.  It seems they are in the middle of congregating here in Oklahoma until they leave in October or so.  They are draining my two feeders about every other day.  I usually don't have that many hummingbirds, I have about six normally.  Today, I counted between twelve and fifteen.  Those poor little guys are hot, tired and drinking up a storm!

Last night, as I was making my rounds in the garden, I had quite a start.  My big, black german shephard, Kate, and I heard a snort in the woods behind the garden.  We had apparently spooked a deer and it was giving us a warning not to come any closer!  Suddenly, my dog, who had been poking around in the gourds looking for bugs was standing in front of me guarding me from the snorting!  I started to calmly talk to the unseen deer and it eventually snorted off deeper into the woods.  Kate was really excited that she had scared that mean, old deer away from her mistress!

As I picked tomatoes and okra, I noticed that my garden had been visited by a pesky armadillo! This creature had dug up my eggplant, my baby swiss chard and several peppers!  Luckily, it was cooler today, only  91d egrees, I think the plants survived.  I rewatered them and spoke quite firmly to my dear dog, Kate about guarding the garden all the time, not just when I was in it!  Time will tell if she really heard me or if she was just looking at me with those big, brown eyes!

Growing up....

This sunday was promotion sunday at our church.  My daughter was especially excited about this because it marked her first sunday as a youth!  This had several meanings for her; she got to start going to the youth building for sunday school and she no longer was expected to sit near a parent, either us or another one during church but she was expected to sit with the youth group.  She has been planning this moment all summer!

Promotion sunday is not such a big deal in the adult departments.  We really don't move, the class just reclassifies itself as an older one and we keep going.  Occasionally, a couple will 'move' on to an older class but most of us just keep going, and going, and going to the same class.  When we first started going to this church about eleven years ago, we went to a young married class.  We were between the ages of 25-35 so we fit right in.  We are still classified as a new married class but most of us have youth and some even have college kids!  We all laugh that we are the oldest young married class in the history of Baptist churches! 

Growing up means different things to different people at different stages of life.  To my daughter, growing up means sitting apart from us at church.  To each of us though, it means more responsibilities and higher expectations.  Sitting apart from your parents means you have to take it upon yourself to not talk, pass notes and generally act like a kids.  To an adult, growing up means getting a job and making grown-up decisions about your life; where to live, who to marry, etc. 

I think back to when I was a new youth.  I was so excited to pull away from my parents and become someone different.  Now, looking back, I see that I've pretty much come full circle.  I pulled away, but like a  june bug on a string, I circled around and am now back in the same spot that I left my parents years ago.  Except this time, I am the one standing still while my own children are pulling away.  Makes me look at my own parents with new eyes.  Eyes that have new appreciation for what they have done......