If Mama's not happy...Coondog will fix it

by Mama Mabel

Awhile back I was very hormonal.  Everything got to me.  I cried a lot and was convinced that no one liked me and the world was in a conspiracy to be mean to me.  Then I went home to Coondog.  He greeted me sweetly when I walked in the door despite the fact that he was at the end of a long day of toddler chasing.  He realized I was being a crazy woman and asked what would make me happy.  Then he took me out for burgers because I didn't want any of the food in our house.  This was an extravagance because we had to use the gas to drive back to town plus the extra money is costs to eat out rather than to cook at home.  But he deemed it a necessary extravagance for my benefit.  I warned him that in my state, the happy might not last long.  Boy was I a downer.  He (very nicely) heckled me into getting the monster burger with everything on it.  It was as luxuriously delicious as he knew it would be.  I was happy for days.

Non-local Honey

by Mama Mabel

We did more grandparent visiting last weekend, this time to Coondog's parents' house.  While we all enjoyed ourselves, no one had more fun than Ladybug and her grandma, aka Honey.  When Ladybug was tiny, Honey would walk in the door and say, "where's my little honey baby?"  Now we call her Honey. 

Honey and Ladybug are best buds.  If I had a nickel for everytime she said Ladybug was perfect, I'd be rich.  You see, Honey was born to be a grandma.  She lives for the pint-sized package of fun that I call my daughter.  Honey was in childcare for decades so she speaks toddler.  She knows what activities Ladybug is most likely to enjoy and what development milestones are coming up so she keeps age appropriate toys on hand and sings all the right little kids songs.  And Ladybug thrives under all the focused attention.  She played until she was too tired to walk straight then played some more.  Honey ate it up like manna from heaven.

There is nothing that Honey won't happily do with or for Ladybug.  At one point, she was laying on the couch almost entirely buried by toys and clothes that Ladybug had brought to her one at a time.  We laughed for a long time over that one.  Later, the two of them went shopping for lace to add to some of Ladybug's new pants and just had to get a cd of kids songs and a sequined tiara while they were out.  Honey got to tell all of Ladybug's admirers at the store that that was her grandbaby.  It was a great trip for both of them.  Hopefully we can do it again soon.

Granddaddy's chair

by Mama Mabel

 

We took Ladybug to visit my grandparents in Branson last weekend.  She was completely mesmerized by Granddaddy.  Everytime she woke up, the first thing she had to do was check on Granddaddy.  Several times each day, she would get up and walk back to his bedroom pointing and loudly telling anyone who would listen that Granddaddy ("Adada") was in there.   

 

One afternoon, she watched Grandmama move him from his bed to his wheelchair and couldn't quit staring.  That evening, she put on a show as Granddaddy and Grandmama sat in the kitchen and soaked up the joy of her.  She was in high form pushing around her new baby buggy and dancing.  When it was time for bed that night, she gave both of them goodnight kisses and had me do the same. 

 

As we were saying our goodbyes, Ladybug kept trying to get at the wheelchair.  Granddaddy was in bed and it was folded up in the corner.  She would point from the chair to him like she wanted him to sit in it but that was too much for him right then.  The next day, we went to WalMart and she saw wheelchairs with baskets for shoppers who need extra help.  She pointed emphatically and told us that it was "Adada" - Granddaddy's chair.  It's sweet to see how excited she is by this reminder of Granddaddy.  I can't wait to take her back for another visit.

Old abandoned mine

by Granny Girl

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I heard the younger two grandsons playing outside my bedroom window.  I couldn't tell what they were doing, but they weren't fighting so I didn't pay much attention.  Then, the youngest one came in and told me they had made an old abandoned mine.  I went outside and looked, and sure enough, they had!

The have and the have-not

by Mama Mabel

Coondog has highly developed powers of observation.  I do not.  Yesterday, I went to the store for milk.  I bought the milk.  I walked out of the store without the milk.  A single item purchase and I couldn't even get it as far as my car.  What's worse is that I didn't realize it until I got home and panicked because I thought I had left it sitting out a few extra minutes in the hot car before remembering to unload it.

This morning, I packed my lunch in a WalMart sack, changed Ladybug's diaper then ran out the door for work, proud of myself for remembering to grab the sack.  Halfway to work, I discovered that I had mistakenly grabbed a bag of clothes instead.  Coondog noticed my bag of food sitting out and brought it to me before lunchtime today.  While he was in town, he picked up the milk I had left at the store and brought it home for Ladybug to drink.  Thanks to our joint efforts, everything is now where it should be.  We make such a great team!

The green bean-eyed monster

By Mama Mabel

 Yesterday, a neighbor mentioned that she was cooking up green beans for lunch that she had harvested from her garden that morning.  Thinking of the overgrown state of my own garden and the deliciousness of fresh green beans, I was a little jealous.  Then I was mad at myself for not taking better care of my garden. 

That afternoon, Coondog and I took a tour of said garden.  It’s barely distinguishable from the lush vegetation around it.  We’ve had mower problems and lots of rain which led to a lot of tall greenery.  The good news is that we found even more veggies sprouting up from last year’s crop that went to seed.  I decided that I’m not Superwoman and let myself off the hook for not keeping a garden with more square footage than my house in good shape using only basic hand tools while dealing with rain, a full-time job and all the other daily chores required to keep life going.  I had to consciously choose to not feel guilty for not being able to handle one more project.  Then I allowed myself to savor the hope that I will eat something out of my garden this year, even if it wasn’t meticulously tended to on a daily (or weekly) basis.  The bounty God gives us despite our shortcomings will be enough.  As always.

Praying for your enemy

by Mama Mabel

Granny Girl and I were recently discussing the verse, "Pray for your enemy, bless those who spitefully use you."  How do you do this without being false?  God knows what your attitude is and that you don't really want good things to happen to them.  You're just praying out of obedience.  Over time, praying for them can help you adjust your attitude but let's be honest - they're your enemies for a reason:  they spitefully use you.  It's hard to get over that. 

So how do you do it?  Here's what we came up with:  "Let my heart be pure before You in my relationship with ___.  Please bless them with a relationship with You.  Thy will be done in their lives."

Nothing fake.  Just a desire to be pure before God and have His will done.  And if developing a relationship with God leads them to treat you more righteously, that's okay too.

Crock pot wonders

by Mama Mabel

It's no secret that I love my crock pot.  Now I've found a whole new use for it - lunches!  Unless I have leftovers from the night before (not that common in these days of toaster oven sized meals), I usually scramble to pack a lunch for work.  A can of chili or tuna, a sandwich or something else boring gets me through the day because I certainly don't have time to make something elaborate before work and most of the time I fall asleep before prepping anything the night before.  But now I'm on to a whole new concept.  It's new to me anyway.  I can make a big batch of something in the crock pot and eat it all week at work.  I've tried this before unintentionally when I made a lot of beans but how many days in a row can you realistically eat beans without getting sick?  (The answer is two if you also had them for dinner on those days.)  So I gave up that idea without fully exploring the possibilities.

This week, the dish du jour is chicken.  I bought a package of thighs last week with plans to integrate them into several dishes.  Maybe one of those dishes will happen now.  My menu rarely stays the same as life and my whims change my plans after shopping day.  Plus Coondog doesn't like chicken very much so we'll just have meatless meals.  Meanwhile, the chicken was going to go bad if I didn't use it.  I threw it all in the crock pot one day last week with tons of salt, pepper, garlic and onion and a little bit of water and let it simmer all day.  When I got home from work, I diced up some red potatoes and let them cook for an hour or two.  Ladybug and I had a great chicken and potato dinner.  Coondog decided to fend for himself that night.  This week, I realized the leftovers were languishing in my fridge.  Determined to not let food go to waste, I threw some in a baggie and in a burst of inspiration added some frozen broccoli florets from the freezer.  Add some bread and butter on the side and it's a delicious hot meal for lunch.  It's like going out to eat but better because it's seasoned the way I like it and much cheaper.  I have maybe one day's worth left so now I need to come up with my next dish.  I can't believe it took me so long to figure this out! 

Any suggestions for other easily portioned crock pot meals?

Friends and Floods

With all the rain from recent storms, there has been a lot of flooding in our region.  A few people lost their lives.  A few more lost their homes.  Even more lost their livelihood as their livestock floated away or drowned and their equipment was flooded.  No one has flood insurance because they don't offer it with so many rivers around.

Everyone who comes into our office has a story.  Some seem to have been embellished as they were passed around but from the best I can tell, at least one man spent a night in a tree to stay safe and one may have been in his mobile home as it was swept off its foundation and floated to the middle of a field.  Both are fine.

The people in the lesser hit areas are rallying around those who have lost so much.  There are already multiple stations set up for donations of money, clean up items and basic necessities.  Volunteers are stripping houses faster than anyone thought possible so they can dry quickly and be salvaged.  There is a constant communication of needs and a counterflow of provision.  A church near the hardest hit town has opened their sanctuary as a distribution site.  Neighbors are checking on neighbors and even paddling boats over what used to be roads to bring help where it's needed.  The water is receeding quickly but the love being poured out shows no signs of diminishing.  I celebrate the generousity of spirit that I am seeing. 

I only wish it didn't take a crisis to bring it out in us.

~MM

Let's make a deal

I have a problem.  Well, I have a couple of problems, but one is very pressing at this moment.  I love chocolate.  A lot.  My brain thinks I need it every afternoon to get through the workday.  Like right now for example.  I'm trying to convince myself that I don't need to leave work, drive to a gas station and buy some chocolate covered peanut goodness.  The gas station is close by.  It's only a dollar.  I'd be so happy afterward and could finish my day strong. 

What gets to me is that I made cookies yesterday in anticipation of my afternoon sugar cravings.  No mysterious, unpronounceable ingredients (or ingredients that I can pronounce but know I don't want to put in my body), just good old fashions homemade deliciousness.  I forgot to bring said cookies to work.  Oh, the disappointment!

So I'm making myself a deal.  You see, I really want an oven and it bothers me that I fritter small amounts of money away on things like candybars when that money could be used for something better - like an oven.  I'm not against occasional splurges, but frequent frittering annoys me.  Chocolate is about to fall into that latter category.  So instead of heeding the impulse as I've come to do far too often the last few weeks, I'm going to squelch it.  I am creating an envelope marked "oven" and putting $1 in it.  I'll feel better about myself and be $1 closer to what I really want. 

Granny Girl and I were talking this weekend about how it's freeing to not spend irresponsibly and how it helps your spirit draw closer to God when you have your spending under control.  After all, self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit and those who are faithful in the small things will be faithful in the big things.  So I'll be faithful in the chocolate related things to prove that I can be trusted with the kitchen appliance related things.  Makes sense, right?

~MM

Surprised at the blessing

How many times has God done something wonderful for us and we’re surprised?  We’ve had the faith and obeyed His commands, but we’re still surprised at the depth of His goodness.  I was reading in Luke chapter 5 this morning, and I saw a perfect example of that.  Jesus had used Simon Peter’s boat for his platform as he spoke to the multitudes crowding in on the shore.  When He was done speaking, He told Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

The fisherman had fished all night and caught nothing.  His energy was low, his faith was low, but he obeyed.  He put it this way, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word, I will let down the net.”   Can’t you just hear the resigned sigh in his voice when he says “nevertheless?”  Sounds like “if you say so” to me. 

Then, when they caught so many fish it almost broke their net and they had to call their partner boat over to hold some of the catch, and both boats were so full they almost sank, Simon Peter felt awful about his earlier doubting.  He fell down on his knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 

Following this is the verse that jumped out at me: “For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken.” I don’t know why we succumb to the doubt that makes us so astonished when God comes through with provision and blessing,  but it’s good to know He understands, and He put an example of it in His word.

~GG