Things I Do to Make Things Better

The office was warm and inviting.

Soft lighting, soothing music.

It felt...expensive.

For those of you who are just checking in today, I had an Endodontist appointment to look over tooth #19. That's dental speak for the big molar on the bottom left that hurts when you eat.

The visit was short and I'll go back next week for the Big Drill.

The good news (cuz y'all know I like some Good News!) is that I don't have an infection, its merely a fractured tooth.

The bad news is that I still need a root canal.

But let's not talk of such things.

Let's talk about how to deal with stress, shall we?

For the sake of time, and because searching Common Ways People Deal With Stress on Google was depressing, I want to tell you how I handle stress.

On the other hand... let's keep things positive. I won't write about the ineffective ways I deal with stress such as worry, fret, over-exercise, hyperventilating, or (occasionally) crying like a baby when no one is around. I'll just assume you have your own variations on those themes.

Instead, I present Five Helpful (and highly effective) Therapies:

1. Medicinal Noodle Therapy -

Specifically Annie Chun noodle bowls (my faves are the Miso and Udon flavors). I have slurped a bowl every day for lunch more times than I am willing to admit this week.

2. Beneficial Baking -

Today's recipe of choice will be Pumpkin Bread and Peanut Butter cookies, both recipes from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I've borrowed this book so many times from the library that I recognize my own splattered cookie-dough stains in the margins. I should just go get my own copy...especially since no one knows when the need for Beneficial Baking will strike.

3. Curative Cleaning -

This picture, is supposed to show countertop's that "shine like the top of the Chrysler building." Nothing will smooth down my rough edges quicker than a clean, orderly, shiny, kitchen counter top.

4. Re-wearing Remedy- 

In the picture above is the pair of jeans I have now worn for three days in-a-row. Why? Because jeans fresh out of the dryer are not as comforting as jeans that are soft and broken-in. I assure you, they still look and smell great.

5. The Couch and Cover Corrective with a heaping dose of  Sugar is the Solution 

Technically, these are two solutions that can be used as separate therapies, but they work so beautifully together that it seems counteractive to list them otherwise....

This is my spot on the couch with one of my beloved quilts (I have several and hope to collect more.) Have I mentioned I having a great fondness for quilts? They remind me of Psalm 139:5.

Bunny Trail: I want to tell you that my mother gave that quilt to me, but the truth is that it "accidentally" ended up in our suitcase a few years back...those darn kids. I'll have to talk to them about that.)






I enjoy wrapping up, quilted-burrito style, and eating whatever type of sugar is on the coffee table. The jar to the right is usually filled with peanut m&m's, but during seasonal times I try to mix it up.

Just in case we might run out of "sugar in its purest form", I do have a back-up plan: Sugar in its buttery-caramel form. Amazingly enough, its good for you. It says "made with REAL milk" right on the package. 

So there you have it, Five Helpful (and highly effective) Therapies for relieving stress.

I feel better already.

Oh Happy Day!

I just got word that my sweet friend Charity had her baby very early this morning! I don't want to steal her moment by posting before she has a chance to post, but I'm sure her blog will be updated at some point soon, so be sure to go over and see the baby!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch we are neck deep in schoolwork. Which is satisfying, and also very much like daily knocking your head into a wall. Somedays, you go back see that wall multiple times...just because it feels so good.

Normally I manage to keep a positive spin on things, but I think I may have underestimated teaching both a teenager and a preteen at the same time. For I am out-numbered and apparently, I've lost all credibility and must be challenged on all sorts of reasoning.

I never did this as a preteen or a teenager...I never "knew it all"...I never had to be told fifty-bagillion times to do things...at least thats the way I remembered it. Plus, I didn't have the luxury of being educated at home...I had to walk to school up hill, in the desert, with the blistering heat without shoes...both ways!

My kids are also prone to exaggerating.

I think they get that from their Dad.

But I digress...

(But thank you for letting me vent)

Where was I?

Oh! Happy Day! That's where I was....

I have been happily crocheting while at soccer practice, and when I have 10 or 15 minutes in between coming and going...so i've finished a couple of projects.

You'd like to see them? 

Why I thought you'd never ask!

Here they are:

I made this shrug, and it didn't come out quite like I envisioned. It's a bit bulky and makes me feel, well, I won't go there...but maybe I won't be concerned about vanity when it gets cold outside. We'll see.

This pic is a little blurry. I thought about asking the kids to stop studying to take my picture, but then decided that might be bad form.

I also had a couple of custom orders for hats, which I am 50% finished (although this pic is a couple days old so these aren't quite done.)

All right, my pre-algebra student is here and wants the computer to do his math (of all things!)

I hope you have a great day!

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

I'm feeling content today. I thought I should write it down, so two hours from now when I stub my toe and my outlook gets shaky, I can come back and remember...

1. Electricity. Our power was out for about 56 minutes today. I am truly a spoiled modern woman who enjoys (far to much) her spoiled modern ways.

2. Spelling: The kids are learning to spell words like distinguishing, relinquishing, and embellishment today. I don't know why I like spelling so much this year. I think its a sickness.

3. Homemade Chicken Soup with Rice: I love it so much I've eaten it three times this week.

4. Maurice Sendaks- Chicken Soup with Rice: If you haven't read this book in awhile, go get it off your shelf and read it again. My favorite month is November.

5. Aprons: I have a love of aprons. I've made one or two (or twenty), but its time for a new pattern. Especially since a lovely gal won an apron giveaway this summer and I have yet to make it. (Lauren, I haven't forgotten)

6. Quilts: I have never made a quilt, but I own several made by my mother and grandmother. I have had this pattern downloaded for at least a year. My mom had given me some Mary Engelbreit fabric years ago that I really wanted to use.

So, on Friday I began to cut a bunch of odd shaped scraps.

This is what those scraps look like today:

She's not the prettiest of little quilt tops, but she's my first, so I love her all the same.

7. My Man: He's exceedingly good to me. Oh, and he's handsome too.

8. Wednesday Night Date Night: I look forward to this evening every week. This week we plan to dine on spaghetti and french bread while sipping Zinfandel, right at our own kitchen table.

9. Memories: A couple weekends ago our family spent some time in a huge antique shop. I wasn't sure wether to be amused, or irritated that these old-school Hardee's cups were in an antique shop, since, you know, I had these cups in my day.

 I tried like crazy to find the original Yosemite Sam cup. The Mister had one as a kid but it was tragically broken. Someday....

10. Tween-agers: The Boy will be twelve by the end of the week. The Girl seems to literally be growing inches in the night.

There are some tween-age attitudes things I could live without, but I do love this older-but-not-too-old stage.  I had a crazy (but very "real") dream last night that I was pregnant. I woke up feeling grateful that it was just a dream. I do love a baby, but I'm grateful for this part of life too.

Now, tell me, what makes you happy?

It Happened Last Night...

...the event all desert dwellers wait for.

A strange phenomena happens here when the temperatures never gets below 100, and land is especially parched.

Desert dwellers begin to dream of rain and moisture. Relief. We talk about it. Dream about it. Live for it.

It happened last night. After the sun had set, and the evening darker than usual.

The big clouds came that billow and tease. Often it's so dry that you can see rain falling but it evaporates before it hits the ground, teasing us with the delicious smell that comes from moisture in the desert. Not last night.

We watched the lightening as a little squall rolled in from south. It's a show I have never seen else where. Lightening that doesn't just strike from sky to ground, but plays in the clouds like children on sugar.

The wind started to kick up with a cool, comforting, feel.

We piled in the car and got some ice cream. Then we went to our local park, where the kids ran around as if they had never been outside.

The Boy, who is a country boy at heart, ran around with his hands in the air, catching large droplets of water on his face and saying, "I'm actually COLD! I'm actually COLD!"

The Girl got back into the car. Lightening, even when it still far away can be scary when you're eight.  I know, I remember.

On the other side of the park stand the baseball fields, lit up by giant flood lights. The rain, began to fall heavily on that side of the park. We could see the rain drops shining under the lights. We remained dry.

The Mister said, "Here it comes."

And two minutes later, it was raining on us. 

And then...

...then we just sat there in the car and watch the wonder of monsoon. 

The beauty of water in the desert.

Y'all, it made me happy. Which is saying something, cuz I'm already a pretty happy girl.

What makes you happy today?

Because I provided water in the desert, 

   rivers through the sun-baked earth,

Isaiah 43:20 (MSG)