Thank you!

Recently, I was invited to speak at the local MOPS group about home organizing. I was a nervous wreck with anticipation of talking in front of the group but I survived. The women were very nice and thankful that I came. They even gave me a cute little rose plant. I just want to say thank you in return for having me there to speak. My kids had a blast in the sitting room and I enjoyed praying with a new group of moms. I hope I left the group with some organizing ideas and and not just an impression of "that crazy lady." Feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

I am not a Pickle Jar Wiper!

You know what a “Pickle Jar Wiper” is although you may not have thought of it in those terms before. I am describing a kind of person that is an anomaly to me. The kind I often want to be like but just never really can be. You know the type. Their houses are always immaculate and everything is in order and they always possess a sense of calm, even when kids enter their lives. They seem to live in a magic world of dustless order where things never get messy and certainly not sticky. They always wipe the bottom of their pickle jar before returning it to the refrigerator (so have I have coined them “Pickle Jar Wipers”) as well as the tops of their ketchups. Their good habits are too many to list and include always wiping their shoes on the doormat before entering the house. I am not a Pickle Jar Wiper. It just is not me even though I realize that people think this is the kind of person I am since I am so fond of organizing topics and other household workings. I think I enjoy organization because it is something I HAVE TO DO. (and rather enjoy), and not something that comes naturally. My house gets messy like any one else’s with three young kids. I have recently come to the realization that I have stopped having people over as often as I used to because I seem to have developed this reputation for having that perfectly orderly appearing house. It has been brought to my attention by my wise friend, Tracy, that my house ought to be messy because it means that I am spending time with my kids or doing something more valuable with my time than scrubbing my floors every day. This idea goes right along the same thought as my husband's who never wishes to have a perfectly maintained house. He says that is NOT how he plans to spend his free time once he has it and is retired. It is an impossible image to try to keep up as a Non-Pickle Jar Wiper. Now, it’s true, my spices are always in alpha order and my budget is balanced and I seem to have eliminated paper chaos from my life but my house gets messy and I need to start being ok with that. I hope my friends will be too. My good neighbor-friends who stop in regularly, already know about my frequently messy house but I just want to get it out there to all my friends so that I might feel better.

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

Waste Not Want Not

After I rearranged some cupboards I went to Church and listened to a homily where thankfulness was mentioned. Watching the school kids after Mass diligently hold out their pots to collect money for their annual “Souper Bowl” hunger charity, I have come to the conclusion that I MUST use my pantry items. These topics may seem unrelated but they aren’t. We are so fortunate with what we have that it would be a sin to let the food in our cupboards go to waste. My house is abundant with food at a time when people in our country and around the world struggle to feed their family. Not only do I bulk buy and freeze meals, I don’t always get to every new recipe on my menu. We usually luck out and have a couple extra leftover nights in the month but because I have done my once a month non-perishable shopping I end up with some extras. Thanks to my freezer inventory I am good about using what I have with regard to meat and other things that I freeze. I look at my freezer inventory as I make out my menu each month. I do not keep an inventory on my pantry items and such because it fluctuates too much and I can see what is there easily. However, for March I will jot down a list of the items in my pantry so that when I sit down at my computer to make out my menu I will either finally cook the entrees that I never got to that made me purchase the pantry items on my list or I will research a new recipe that uses up my pantry items. Hopefully this will be good on my grocery budget since I am $200 in the red due to Christmas festivities. I was $300 in the red but skimping in January got me $100 out of it but there is still a ways to go to break even. So, my promise to myself and my budget and my cupboards for March is to come up with a creative menu that will use up what I already have.

A trip to the Grocery Store CAN be enjoyable

I got the pleasure of running to the grocery the other day BY MYSELF. NO KIDS! As if that wasn’t good enough I happened to get a really sweet cashier. She asked me who the caramel lover in the house was when she saw that I was getting an entire 14 oz bag of caramels. I said, “who isn’t?” but then explained that I use them in a cereal bar recipe for my son’s lunches which is really just more like a candy/cookie recipe. She got my madness immediately and said that it was probably better than a lot of the packaged stuff sold in the store with a bunch of unpronounceable preservative ingredients and such. I thanked her for “getting” my madness. THEN, get this, THEN on top of all that when she got to my wine she says, “I know you said that you have kids and all but could I please see your license?” Oh My Goodness! YES YES YES! You may see my license! She said that I didn’t look that old when she saw that I was 34. I suppose 35 shouldn’t be feelin’ all that bad this year, huh?

Ok, my girlfriends are sick of hearing me say, “did I tell you that I got carded the other day?” so now you have to read about it. Ok, I’m done with the story . . . for a while anyway.