Ten years ago today, I was a clueless woman. I was ecstatically, finally pregnant (not quite six months), my job was moderately stressful but involved lots of fun things, and I was planning. The nursery, staying home with my child, dinner, all of those important things. I really thought I had the world by the tail.
It's a funny thing. I can see now that it was a process, of God teaching me that I'm not in control and my life is more than safe in His hands, but at the time, I just didn't get it.
We had a hard time conceiving a child. As in, it just wasn't working for us, and we were going through all of the lovely, humiliating, letting-people-in-your-private-business stuff that is infertility testing and treatment. A process that, I'm well aware, can take even longer for some people, but for us it took about two years.
I struggled. Life had always happened on my timetable, and this just wasn't working out that way. I pleaded with God, I begged for direction, I tried to make bargains, and then. Finally. After much struggling and trying to do it my way. I really gave it to Him. I got on my face and told Him that I could even live with a 'no', if that was His answer. I just was at the end of my rope, unable to live with the uncertainty and living month-to-month that we were doing.
And then it happened. I took the eleven millionth pregnancy test of my life (I have a condition that makes the normal, oh-I'm-late indicators happen on a regular basis), and it was actually positive. So I made the Hawkeye go to the store with me to get another. Also positive. I was really sure that it was a mistake. But it wasn't. God had said yes. He had been waiting for me to learn my lesson and finally give Him total control over the whole thing.
So. I was pregnant. I went into full-control-freak mode on the pregnancy. The doctor says no caffeine? Okay. More fruits and vegetables? Check. Lots of milk? Got it. I think if the doctor had said I couldn't breathe the air, I would have found a way to have done that, too. I never really had morning sickness (made up for that with younger son), and I really felt pretty good. All systems go. I had it all handled.
And then God got my attention again. To be continued . . .
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Happy Earth Day!
Although I'm not a vegetarian or otherwise wholeheartedly committed to the green earth movement, I do believe in being a wise steward of resources. As a result, we recycle in the Volunteer Peach household and try to reuse and conserve what we can. An increasingly difficult task with the boys who love playing in the water whenever they turn it on. So, here are some of the things we have adopted:
1. Recycling -- the Hawkeye bought three identical kitchen trash cans, which now live under our breakfast bar. They house paper, cardboard and plastic. Try this for a week -- you will be amazed how much packaging you throw away! We also recycle aluminum as we have it, which is rare, because we're mostly water drinkers here - our refrigerator has a built-in filter, so we drink tap water.
2. Water -- I have a kitchen timer in the boys' bathroom, and they have to set it every time they take a shower. This originally came about when I figured out they just sat down in the shower and waited for the hot water to run out! They get between 5-7 minutes in the shower. I also do my best not to run the dishwasher or wash clothes unless it is a full load.
3. Gas! -- this is more for frugality than anything else, but the Hawkeye is making many more trips on the way home from work (saving me at least 30 miles roundtrip) to pick up things. He is also looking into carpooling for his 35-mile one-way commute.
So, nothing really earth-shattering, but it makes me feel like we are better stewards, which the Lord expects of us. We're planting a garden this year and looking at purchasing some produce from the farm up the road, which also participates in a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program. The Hawkeye would like to get chickens and maybe a cow, but not so much for me!
1. Recycling -- the Hawkeye bought three identical kitchen trash cans, which now live under our breakfast bar. They house paper, cardboard and plastic. Try this for a week -- you will be amazed how much packaging you throw away! We also recycle aluminum as we have it, which is rare, because we're mostly water drinkers here - our refrigerator has a built-in filter, so we drink tap water.
2. Water -- I have a kitchen timer in the boys' bathroom, and they have to set it every time they take a shower. This originally came about when I figured out they just sat down in the shower and waited for the hot water to run out! They get between 5-7 minutes in the shower. I also do my best not to run the dishwasher or wash clothes unless it is a full load.
3. Gas! -- this is more for frugality than anything else, but the Hawkeye is making many more trips on the way home from work (saving me at least 30 miles roundtrip) to pick up things. He is also looking into carpooling for his 35-mile one-way commute.
So, nothing really earth-shattering, but it makes me feel like we are better stewards, which the Lord expects of us. We're planting a garden this year and looking at purchasing some produce from the farm up the road, which also participates in a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program. The Hawkeye would like to get chickens and maybe a cow, but not so much for me!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Cub Scouts and Camping
Friday afternoon saw us setting out for a weekend of camping. After the massive deluge and occasional rumble of thunder was over, which meant it would be cold this weekend.
Camping is really not on my list of favorite things. When I was pregnant with younger son, I mentioned emphatically to my husband that I would no longer be sleeping on the ground, and if he wanted to continue camping as a family, it would be in a camper. So we bought a pop-up camper. We really enjoyed that camper, but after the second time it was damaged in a windstorm while parked at our house, we decided to part with it. We moved to this house shortly before that, and all the males at my house have been content for two years to camp out in the yard. Which meant that I got to sleep in my bed.
However. Since I have two sons who are now Cub Scouts, I knew I couldn't hold out against the camping forever. I've gone to campouts for the day and gone home, which was working for me. Not so much for my boys. So, the Hawkeye bought me a camping cot (oh, that is the way to go), and I agreed to go camping at our district family campout.
It was 38 degrees when we all woke up Sunday morning. I still haven't really gotten warm. It was muddy and windy. And damp. And drizzling as we packed up to go home.
However. I really had fun! The boys were experiencing the full-court-press of outdoor activity-laden excitement. They ran, they yelled, they played in a fort, a castle, and an indian village, they poked in the campfire, they shot off air-powered pop bottle rockets, they played parachute games and noodle hockey. They played football and pirates. And I loved watching them, participating with them, and visiting with the other parents (the Hawkeye says he is proud. I was the only mom there).
It's a funny thing about scouting. It's really family-oriented, unlike sports. Most of the people are nice, considerate and helpful, and trying to teach their sons to be the same way (again, unlike many of the sports teams we have seen).
So, am I a camper now? Not a backpacker, for sure. That cot is pretty heavy. However, we did go buy me a new sleeping bag when we got home yesterday. It has a memory foam liner. I think that's maybe princess-style camping.
Camping is really not on my list of favorite things. When I was pregnant with younger son, I mentioned emphatically to my husband that I would no longer be sleeping on the ground, and if he wanted to continue camping as a family, it would be in a camper. So we bought a pop-up camper. We really enjoyed that camper, but after the second time it was damaged in a windstorm while parked at our house, we decided to part with it. We moved to this house shortly before that, and all the males at my house have been content for two years to camp out in the yard. Which meant that I got to sleep in my bed.
However. Since I have two sons who are now Cub Scouts, I knew I couldn't hold out against the camping forever. I've gone to campouts for the day and gone home, which was working for me. Not so much for my boys. So, the Hawkeye bought me a camping cot (oh, that is the way to go), and I agreed to go camping at our district family campout.
It was 38 degrees when we all woke up Sunday morning. I still haven't really gotten warm. It was muddy and windy. And damp. And drizzling as we packed up to go home.
However. I really had fun! The boys were experiencing the full-court-press of outdoor activity-laden excitement. They ran, they yelled, they played in a fort, a castle, and an indian village, they poked in the campfire, they shot off air-powered pop bottle rockets, they played parachute games and noodle hockey. They played football and pirates. And I loved watching them, participating with them, and visiting with the other parents (the Hawkeye says he is proud. I was the only mom there).
It's a funny thing about scouting. It's really family-oriented, unlike sports. Most of the people are nice, considerate and helpful, and trying to teach their sons to be the same way (again, unlike many of the sports teams we have seen).
So, am I a camper now? Not a backpacker, for sure. That cot is pretty heavy. However, we did go buy me a new sleeping bag when we got home yesterday. It has a memory foam liner. I think that's maybe princess-style camping.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Books I read reluctantly, but then really enjoyed
I was mulling over this topic last night. I am a voracious reader, meaning I'm always reading a book in the van for the car rider line, one by the bed for the occasional evening chapter or two, one in the living room that I'm serious about reading, and usually at least one Bible study. And all of these books have back-ups for when they are finished -- I really don't want to be caught without reading material.
So, I was chuckling to myself about some of the books I read only because I thought I should, or someone I care about insisted, or some other reason that made me reluctant to pick them up, and then I became pleasantly caught up in the story. So, here they are:
1. The Lord of the Rings series, and anything Tolkien, including The Hobbit. I think this dates to my high school days. I had a group of friends who were obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons, and who also loved Tolkien. Although they were friends and all, I thought the D&D obsession was kind of weird. Also, a subset of these people built small pipe bombs on the weekends for fun, which they dropped from one of those remote-control airplane models in someone's field. That was really weird. So, it was guilt by association.
However, after the first movie was made, the Hawkeye bought me the trilogy in book form. Given that I generally enjoy science fiction and fantasy, I finally read it. At first I was intrigued, then finally I gave in and was caught up in the story, to the point of reading the appendices and The Hobbit. I loved it. I had to see the movies. I loved them. You would think I'd have learned my lesson.
2. Jane Austen. I don't really know why I was reluctant to pick up Austen's books. I have always enjoyed historical fiction, particularly if it has well-drawn characters. However, I never read an Austen novel until a few years ago. Perhaps it has to do with being a journalism major instead of an English major. There's a lot of 'must-read' classics that I have never read, although one semester in college, I had to read the entire New York Times every day. That takes a long time, people. A really long time.
However, once I did pick up Austen, I was embarrassed that it took me so long. The characters! The plots! The heroines! The scenery! What an idiot I was, to have missed it for as long as I did.
3. Conan Doyle. I like mysteries, but Sherlock Holmes wasn't ever even midly interesting to me. However, thanks to Laurie King's Mary Russell series, (which projects Holmes, later in life, acquiring a female partner) I picked them up, and lots of references I've read elsewhere made more sense. It's a bit like reading Edith Hamilton's Mythology in order to understand references in classical poetry -- no one in America needs to know all of those myths to get by just fine in life, but when you are familiar with them, many of the things you read acquire a new dimension. And you feel like less of an idiot. Or maybe that's just me.
4. The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara. I don't care for war books, or really anything that is considered 'important,' which is code for 'you will cry buckets and be depressed when you finish this book' to me. I'm shallow, I guess -- happy endings for me, thankyouverymuch. I only picked up this book for my PaPa, who was a Civil War fanatic. As in he was from South Carolina, was a member of the Sons of the Confederacy, and went to the Citadel fanatic. I thought he hung the moon, and therefore read all of his civil war books as a preteen/teenager, including Shelby Foote and lots of other authors. So, I picked this one up remembering him. Amazingly, I found it fascinating, and I can't put my finger on why I did. The people were very real and the setting was well-described, I think. As a result of this experience, I've picked up some others here and there and enjoyed them, including Band of Brothers, which was a compelling, powerful story (yes, I know about the author's unfortunate plagiarism issues), and Unknown Soldiers: the Story of the Missing in the First World War, which was disturbing but I couldn't put it down.
So, there you go. This list could be even longer, but these are definitely some biggies. Maybe having this here will remind me in the future to branch out a little more. Happy reading!
So, I was chuckling to myself about some of the books I read only because I thought I should, or someone I care about insisted, or some other reason that made me reluctant to pick them up, and then I became pleasantly caught up in the story. So, here they are:
1. The Lord of the Rings series, and anything Tolkien, including The Hobbit. I think this dates to my high school days. I had a group of friends who were obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons, and who also loved Tolkien. Although they were friends and all, I thought the D&D obsession was kind of weird. Also, a subset of these people built small pipe bombs on the weekends for fun, which they dropped from one of those remote-control airplane models in someone's field. That was really weird. So, it was guilt by association.
However, after the first movie was made, the Hawkeye bought me the trilogy in book form. Given that I generally enjoy science fiction and fantasy, I finally read it. At first I was intrigued, then finally I gave in and was caught up in the story, to the point of reading the appendices and The Hobbit. I loved it. I had to see the movies. I loved them. You would think I'd have learned my lesson.
2. Jane Austen. I don't really know why I was reluctant to pick up Austen's books. I have always enjoyed historical fiction, particularly if it has well-drawn characters. However, I never read an Austen novel until a few years ago. Perhaps it has to do with being a journalism major instead of an English major. There's a lot of 'must-read' classics that I have never read, although one semester in college, I had to read the entire New York Times every day. That takes a long time, people. A really long time.
However, once I did pick up Austen, I was embarrassed that it took me so long. The characters! The plots! The heroines! The scenery! What an idiot I was, to have missed it for as long as I did.
3. Conan Doyle. I like mysteries, but Sherlock Holmes wasn't ever even midly interesting to me. However, thanks to Laurie King's Mary Russell series, (which projects Holmes, later in life, acquiring a female partner) I picked them up, and lots of references I've read elsewhere made more sense. It's a bit like reading Edith Hamilton's Mythology in order to understand references in classical poetry -- no one in America needs to know all of those myths to get by just fine in life, but when you are familiar with them, many of the things you read acquire a new dimension. And you feel like less of an idiot. Or maybe that's just me.
4. The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara. I don't care for war books, or really anything that is considered 'important,' which is code for 'you will cry buckets and be depressed when you finish this book' to me. I'm shallow, I guess -- happy endings for me, thankyouverymuch. I only picked up this book for my PaPa, who was a Civil War fanatic. As in he was from South Carolina, was a member of the Sons of the Confederacy, and went to the Citadel fanatic. I thought he hung the moon, and therefore read all of his civil war books as a preteen/teenager, including Shelby Foote and lots of other authors. So, I picked this one up remembering him. Amazingly, I found it fascinating, and I can't put my finger on why I did. The people were very real and the setting was well-described, I think. As a result of this experience, I've picked up some others here and there and enjoyed them, including Band of Brothers, which was a compelling, powerful story (yes, I know about the author's unfortunate plagiarism issues), and Unknown Soldiers: the Story of the Missing in the First World War, which was disturbing but I couldn't put it down.
So, there you go. This list could be even longer, but these are definitely some biggies. Maybe having this here will remind me in the future to branch out a little more. Happy reading!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Spring is here, so my sinus cavities tell me
The Volunteer Peach household had a lovely visit with my family this weekend - which means five adults and five kids in a three-bedroom house. Family togetherness - there's nothing like it!
Every Spring when my mother comes, she raves and raves about how green it is here. The greenness is due to what I affectionately call (especially after last summer's drought) the monsoon season. We normally receive so much rain here in the spring that we temporarily become a mushroom haven, all over the yard. As soon as the grass dries from the last rain, an amazing roar is heard -- simultaneous cranking of every lawnmower in the vicinity, as people sprint to cut their yards before the next shower.
I really love spring, all the new leaves and blooming flowers and trees and, actually, the rain. The main reason I love the rain is that it washes lots of pollen out of the air. Because my allergies are so bad that even Allegra, Flonase and Advair doesn't completely keep them at bay. So, generally, I enjoy spring through glass. It's kind of like a terrarium in reverse -- all the beautiful stuff is outside, and I'm in -- the house, the car, that kind of thing.
So, given those facts, what on earth would make me decide to go camping with my two Cub Scouts this coming weekend? Insanity, I tell you -- it's brought on by all those pregnancy hormones, and apparently never wears off. I wonder if it's possible to whip up an Allegra/Zyrtec/Claritin cocktail?
Every Spring when my mother comes, she raves and raves about how green it is here. The greenness is due to what I affectionately call (especially after last summer's drought) the monsoon season. We normally receive so much rain here in the spring that we temporarily become a mushroom haven, all over the yard. As soon as the grass dries from the last rain, an amazing roar is heard -- simultaneous cranking of every lawnmower in the vicinity, as people sprint to cut their yards before the next shower.
I really love spring, all the new leaves and blooming flowers and trees and, actually, the rain. The main reason I love the rain is that it washes lots of pollen out of the air. Because my allergies are so bad that even Allegra, Flonase and Advair doesn't completely keep them at bay. So, generally, I enjoy spring through glass. It's kind of like a terrarium in reverse -- all the beautiful stuff is outside, and I'm in -- the house, the car, that kind of thing.
So, given those facts, what on earth would make me decide to go camping with my two Cub Scouts this coming weekend? Insanity, I tell you -- it's brought on by all those pregnancy hormones, and apparently never wears off. I wonder if it's possible to whip up an Allegra/Zyrtec/Claritin cocktail?
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Peacefulness
.....is when everyone is finally not sick and at work and school. Leaving me to enjoy quiet cleaning of the house to eliminate the sick germs before my family comes to see me this weekend. Wait a minute, enjoy is not the right word. Tolerate, maybe. Grit my teeth and do it anyway, likely. Oh, no, I've got it --- postpone and procrastinate would be the truth. So......peacefulness is when I'm here by myself, not doing what I should be doing, and blogging about it instead! Hmmmm, maybe I should be working on that self-discipline thing more often . . . .
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
This year, I'm on a biscuit quest
It's hard to even be able to hold your head up as a Southern cook when you can't make biscuits. And I can't. I make such horrible hockey-puck-like biscuits that the Hawkeye kindly told me in our first year of marriage how much he loved those biscuits that came in the can. Ya'll. Biscuits in a can are meant for things like monkey bread and wrapping around cocktail smokies. But my poor husband, for almost fifteen years, has been stuck with them.
However. I am determined that this is the year I learn to make real, bona-fide buttermilk biscuits. So I've been trying recipes, even one that was in our old church cookbook (church cookbooks are the best when you are a Baptist - all of those ladies cook!) that had yeast. They weren't it -- they tasted too much like rolls -- although the Hawkeye did like them, the boys did not.
So, this is the best recipe that I've come across - bonus points because it uses oil instead of shortening (the Hawkeye needs to watch his cholesterol)!
2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 - 1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 tsp baking soda
Mix oil and buttermilk; add to dry ingredients. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
To the best of my knowledge so far, part of my problem has been that I rolled out my biscuits too thinly and didn't have a real biscuit cutter. Also, I mixed them too much. Really, the secret seems to be in just barely combining the ingredients, kneading a couple of times on a floured surface, and roll out and cut. So, I've solved those problems and these biscuits are really pretty good. This makes 6-8 biscuits for me.
However, if you have any hints on making those really fluffy, 3-4 inch thick biscuits, I'd love to hear them. Or actually, the Hawkeye and the boys would love to hear them. Since I'm on a quest and all. And they've suffered through some yucky biscuits, people.
However. I am determined that this is the year I learn to make real, bona-fide buttermilk biscuits. So I've been trying recipes, even one that was in our old church cookbook (church cookbooks are the best when you are a Baptist - all of those ladies cook!) that had yeast. They weren't it -- they tasted too much like rolls -- although the Hawkeye did like them, the boys did not.
So, this is the best recipe that I've come across - bonus points because it uses oil instead of shortening (the Hawkeye needs to watch his cholesterol)!
2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 - 1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 tsp baking soda
Mix oil and buttermilk; add to dry ingredients. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
To the best of my knowledge so far, part of my problem has been that I rolled out my biscuits too thinly and didn't have a real biscuit cutter. Also, I mixed them too much. Really, the secret seems to be in just barely combining the ingredients, kneading a couple of times on a floured surface, and roll out and cut. So, I've solved those problems and these biscuits are really pretty good. This makes 6-8 biscuits for me.
However, if you have any hints on making those really fluffy, 3-4 inch thick biscuits, I'd love to hear them. Or actually, the Hawkeye and the boys would love to hear them. Since I'm on a quest and all. And they've suffered through some yucky biscuits, people.
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