Southern By Grace

Big? Small? Somewhere In between?

Okay, so he isn't something "small" exactly...

Half??

Something big...? THIS is one big-ass punkin! The sign said it weighed over 700 pounds!

posted by Gracie @ 4/28/2006 10:37:00 PM 0 comments

A lovely day was enjoyed by all

Son#2 has been asking me for some time to teach him how to cook. I've said many times, "Sure hon, but not now." If you're a parent, you know how that goes. It's just easier to whip something up than to have to stop in the middle and give directions or wait patiently while they figure out their own rhythm to stirring and whisking. Well, about 2 months ago, I got a BRILLIANT idea! Since I homeschool him, and know a several other homeschooling parents, and I know how hard it is to squeeze in those "elective" type courses, I thought I'd offer my services once a week to any who wanted to learn. Then I caught my head. I have ONE oven/stove. I am ONE cook in MY kitchen. I am in no way set up to be teaching a bunch of kids who don't know how to cook! So I revised my plan, called ONE friend and offered it to her oldest daughter. I can handle two cooking novices. I can divide recipes so they each do a smaller batch and I generally have 2 (or more) of the baking type dishes. I made a minimal investment in an additional set of measuring spoons and cups, whisk, cutting board, etc and we have been having "home ec" for a month and a ha'f now. It's great. They love it. And they're learning how to cook! How cool is that? It's been fun for me, too. I'm not an all star chef or anything, but through the years I've collected a good number of cookbooks and I have the power of the internet at my fingertips. I am invincible when it comes to ideas and menu planning. And I took 6 years of home ec coming up through Jr. High and Highschool...and I KEPT GREAT NOTE CARDS. I amazed myself at how everything just fell into place when it came to planning this thing. They're learning "how to" cook as well as all about "what to" cook. We have great discussions on nutrition and the science of cooking as well. It's just a bunch of fun! And the neat thing is the benefits. In my opinon, it's more than just being able to eat our great food...it's seeing their sense of accomplishment and pride when they've successfully completed a dish. My son is so proud of himself and loves to "lord it over" his older brother when it comes to doling out the goodies he's created. I even got a hug from "not-my-daughter" at the end of the day--and she's not a demonstrative child. All in all it was a great day! Now I'm pooped. LOL OBOY! I had all these plans to take great pictures of the pies we made (cuz they turned out so beautifully) but when I went into the kitchen to set up the picture, I discovered MY CHILDREN had been there before me! So you get pictures of GREAT pies...ha'f eaten. Well, I hear they tasted as good as they looked. *wink* The one on the left is a Chocolate IceBox Pie and the one on the right is Sour Cream Apple. (PS: the green in the apple pie dish is not part of the pie--it's the decoration on the bottom of the dish!)Not-my-daughter took her blueberry home before I got a pic, too. So much for "best laid plans..."

Happy Trails~

(I think i really need to do something about my lighting...everything looks dark except where the flash is...and it's definitely NOT dark in here!)\

(PSS: Did I mention they made their own pie crusts??)

(PSSS: No idea what happened to my font in the middle of this post. On my computer it gets huge...and I can't change it! Argh. Must've been that "I'm invincible" comment...The internet demons are attacking me!)

posted by Gracie @ 4/28/2006 04:14:00 PM 0 comments

Blonde Moments

I am soooooo notta blonde!! BUT...with that said, I am evidently having some serious blonde moments today. I spent over an hour this morning trying to figure out how to get rid of those "link thingies" that automatically come with this format. Well, I finally figured it out. Then I started making the rounds through the blogs I've been frequenting lately. At this site, there is a list of links a mile long! At another site, I saw a link for "blogrolling" so I clicked on the link, signed up for the service, followed ALL the directions and tried to get a page linked on my page--and I did succeed in getting a link put there, but does it DO anything???? nope. nada. nyet. nothing. AND I WAS SO INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATED BY THIS I COULDN'T THINK STRAIGHT. So I went out and played in my flowers. (Well, maybe calling them flowers is a bit of a stretch, but they will be one day!) These are daylilies and spider lilies that my sister-in-law gave me. They're finally starting to "green up" a bit...still haven't decided what to put in the front section of the bed. I'm taking my time choosing the annuals I want to plant...something with nice color and needs little attention. LOL Actually, I repotted several plants and hosed off the patio and scrubbed it with the broom, and rearranged the furniture... We had a HUGE (and when I say huge, I mean TREMENDOUS) rain storm night before last and it's created mud where there was nice, packed earth before. (Of course my lil guy has discovered every inch of the nice, new mud *eye roll*) We'd been in the midst of a drought, but I'm pretty sure after the rain we got and if we get what they're predicting, we'll be nearing the "all clear" for washing cars and watering grass. So, after finishing up outside and fixing lunch, I sat back down to try to figure out what I'm doing wrong; but I just can't. So I'm feeling pretty darn dumb at this point. I'm not stupid. I can usually figure things out on my own, but for whatever reason, I'm missing something here!! I'm not going to make myself nuts over it though. Anyone who peruses my page will simply have to make do with the "plain jane" look until I figure it out (sometime this century!!). LOL I'm teaching my home ec class tomorrow, so I really don't have time to mess with it today anyway. I need to go thumb through my books and decide what we're going to do... I'll add one more pic--of my lil herb garden. :) Sage Cilantro Dill Oregano Sweet Basil Thyme (chives and mint are in another spot) Happy Trails~

posted by Gracie @ 4/27/2006 11:43:00 AM 1 comments

Music -n- Me

• Bridge Over Troubled Waters by Simon and Garfunkel brings me instantly back to my grandparent's home. I can see myself sitting in the front parlor listening to my aunt's album on the stereo over and over while spinning in that old brown horsehair chair that left red itchy splotches on my legs. It always (and still does) mellow me out.
• The Eagles Hotel California brings me back to riding around aimlessly in my brother's white Datsun truck on a Sunday afternoon.
• Drops of Jupiter by Train reminds me of my friend Pam and the incredible time we had in Sac and SF that summer of 2002.
• George Jones' He Stopped Loving Her Today always makes me think of my daddy...
• Everything I Do by Bryan Adams will always remind me of the incredible, intense love I felt for my firstborn child.
• Anytime I hear Specialist by Interpol, I remember being at their concert at Stubbs in Austin...meeting Paul Banks, and how Angelina spotted him and took off so fast to go talk to him that I had to run to catch up with her! And oh yes...Them playing the song and his making eye contact! *wink* And I remember how totally exhausted we were driving back from Austin that night! Oy!

So many thoughts just swirling around my head right now as I've scrolled back through time in my head... I can almost hear the pages of the album of my life fluttering as I flip. But it's time to start the day and there won't be any time to linger over the memories.

Take a moment today and turn the pages of your memory album. Ponder the good and the bad and reflect about how you got to where you are...and be thankful for every one.

Thanks for letting me ramble--not that you had a choice!

Happy Trails~

San Francisco Bay

May 2002

posted by Gracie @ 4/26/2006 06:48:00 AM 1 comments

Ow.

Even as a child I knew I had a pretty high pain tolerance. I never really felt "hurt"--even when I was bleeding or had broken something. When I broke my arm in 7th grade (I fell well getting up to couple's skate with the absolutely dreamiest guy I'd had a crush on for months), I looked at my very deformed arm (looked like a roller coaster) and thought, "Oh, I sprained it." It kinda hurt, but not really that badly. I didn't start crying until the lady at the concession's stand exclaimed (in her deep Cajun accent), "Ma! You done broke that, cher!" That was enough to tip me over the edge. I started bawling. When I was in labor for 20.5 hours giving natural (read: without drugs) birth to my oldest child and the doctor exclaimed, "Wow! I don't know how you're still doing this! Your contractions are off the chart!", I began to get a hint that maybe, somehow I wasn't exactly like "other people." LOL She (my doctor) STILL comments about my labor and delivery to this day. Every year when I go for my visit, she has some comment. In fact, when I had my hysterectomy last year and was discharged a full day before I "had" to go home, she just laughed and said she "knew I wouldn't be in there long." Unfortunately, headaches aren't like other pain. And I have the headache from hell right now. I could be a headache commercial. I have it all worked out in my head:

"A small frown crosses Mom's face as she stands at the kitchen sink having just finished cleaning counter tops. She dries her hand on a towel and reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose while she closes her eyes. She runs her hand across her forehead and brushes the hair off her face. she continues her business for a minute then decides to take (insert lame-o drug ad here). She opens the bottle, pours a couple of tablets into her hand, sighs, and drinks the medication down with (random bottled water pitch here). While drinking several more swallows, her eyes close. She opens them only to realize her headache is still with her...(fast-forward several hours)

Supper is almost finished. The normally happy family is sitting quietly around the dinner table; all are glancing concernedly towards Mom. Camera pans in Mom's direction and the audience is astonished to discover that there is a devil,with pitchfork, dancing a jig (in flames) on Mom's head while she sits back (oblivious to the dancing devil) with her eyes closed simply wishing that the "headache from hell" (say it with a deep, echoing male voice) would dissapate. At that point, a band of twinkling faeries flitter in and sprinkle dust upon the devil who shivers and quakes with fear while melting, melting, melting (like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz) into oblivion, when in actuality, dear, darling Husband hands Mom the bottle of (insert VERY EFFECTIVE and seemingly non-existent drug here).

The ad ends with a smiling, laughing Mom and family talking effusively around the kitchen table."

posted by Gracie @ 4/25/2006 09:59:00 PM 0 comments

And so it begins...

I've been reading and "thumbing" through posts on different blogs for some time now. Occasionally I leave an anonymous comment, but more often than not, I'm simply a lurker. I have so many things that get all cluttered up in my head that I just need to write them down, so I too have decided to enter the world of blogging. I was never any good at keeping a diary or journal, so we'll just see how long it takes me to forget about this. LOL This will be a conglomeration of things--thoughts and ideas, rants and insane moments, proud mama notes and crackpot jokes...basically whatever comes to mind. At the moment, I need to throw some food at the natives...they're starting to eye each other a bit too hungrily... Happy Trails~

posted by Gracie @ 4/25/2006 05:31:00 PM 0 comments