Muscles, money, and madness

Let’s start with a conversation we had last night at the dinner table. I had just made soup and we sat down to steaming hot bowls for dinner. Luke passed out the spoons, then noticed one on the stove.

Luke: Someone left their spoon on the stove!
Mom: No, that was mine for tasting the soup.
Luke: You tasted it?!
Mom: Yes, when I seasoned it.
Levi: Well, it’s good it wasn’t poisoned, or we’d miss you. (Smile)

Apparently, he thought of me like the king’s taster, who tests all the king’s food before he eats it to make sure it’s not poisoned. It was so funny, because he said it in a very nonchalant way, as if it were just the simple fact of the matter.

Muscles, you ask? Of course. Craig has upgraded his workout machine, as he’s been having some tendonitis in his arms, and thought it might be from the design of his machine. Here’s a picture of it. It’s already being put to good use, as you can see.

Money, now, is a different story. Good use? Maybe. We are about to start the Financial Peace University from Dave Ramsey. You see, we have a beautiful Excel budget, with nice envelopes that hold our cash and keep everything straight. (I’m a little OCD, and love to make spreadsheets.) The problem is, we don’t stick to it! So, we’re reaching for a little accountability from our friends, and are starting a Financial Peace class. Hopefully, it will work better with a support group!

And madness. Well, there’s not much to explain there. It’s just a fact in this little equation we call life. I see it in everything I do, don’t do, or think I did. See? I really just threw that one in because it sounded good with muscles and money. Moving on.

Today we made a big batch of Baby Butter, the cure-all skin cream that we have come to love. I love using it, but making it is a different story. Do you know how hard it is to clean wax off the dishes without getting massive amounts of it in the drain? I mean, we certainly don’t want wax build-up in the drain, as we have enough problems with our countrified plumbing. So, you have to scrape, wipe, melt, wipe, and so on until you get it all off. It takes a while.

The kids are waiting on me right now to play Battleship, then we are going to make a lemon meringue pie. Or vice-versa, I guess, would be more logical – play while it’s in the oven. (I’m always looking for the most efficient route!) We borrowed Amelia Bedelia from the library, and hearing about her lemon meringue pie got us all salivating. Well, me, anyway. Levi and Luke didn’t really know what it was, but wanted to know if I’d ever had it or made it. I told them we would make one today. Reading books and making recipes is so much fun. I love to find something to make that will help them remember what we read about. Maybe it’s just because I’m such a foodie, because other people do crafts, art, or whatever other memory jogger they come up with. I always want the food. What a surprise.

This morning, I made vanilla syrup for our morning lattes. I’ve been buying it from Starbucks, but since it isn’t cheap, and it’s full of preservatives, I decided to make my own. It’s very tasty, and has earned a place in the cookbook!

Last week, on a whim, we decided to have a ‘fancy dinner.’ In the kids’ minds, that just means that you light some candles, dim the lights, and preferably use an English accent. I thought they would enjoy it, since we often eat off paper plates, so I got out the goblets and told everyone to go get “dressed for dinner.” We all ran off to our rooms, and we were quite surprised at the ideas everyone had. I put on a dress that I had made for our medieval feast a couple years ago, and a hat. Craig donned the monk’s gown and found a scarf that he turned into a turban. Levi decided to be the court jester, while Luke, in his remarkable creativity, put on a fireman’s coat, Indian headdress, and purple king’s cape. Jake came into the kitchen with a suit, tie, and dress boots, and his mouth dropped open. He said, “I didn’t know you meant THAT kind of dress up!! I thought we were supposed to dress for a fancy dinner!!” It was hilarious!

We convinced him to stay in the suit, though, for the beautiful variety of our cast, and we sat down to our dinner of salad, Chevon (goat) in curry sauce (also going in the cookbook) and Tarka Dhal, a spicy Indian lentil dish. Aside from the lentils being too spicy for anyone but Craig, it was a delightful dinner, and the boys were pleased. I must constantly remind myself that, while paper plates would have been much easier, it’s the small things like a fancy costume dinner that they remember.

One last tidbit. I finally found some shoes for my foot ‘condition.’ I just wish that someone had warned me when I was younger against wearing non-supportive shoes. It’s not fun to have aching feet at my youthful age, and not fun shopping for corrective shoes! It’s also good to note that, when you must buy shoes to rebuild your feet, they actually charge you both an arm and a leg for them!