The Final NaBloPoMo Post and Evaluation

This is the last post for my month-long commitment. I'm glad I challenged myself with it. As it turned out, having my life change dramatically right in the middle of the month (and a week before my birthday, too!), actually made the challenge an anchoring thing for me.

Having the "responsibility" of posting daily pushed me to stay in touch with my hobby. It gave me a continuity from my "old" life to my "new" life. It also gave more opportunities for y'all to comment which I have appreciated SO much. I know I don't know most of you IRL, but it has been nice to see the familiar names and the new names with fun comments. Each one made me smile! Thank you!

I am going to take a couple of days off, but I want to continue being "regular" (that doesn't sound right!) with my posting as I HAVE come to realize that this is my favorite hobby.

So, thank you for reading ALL THESE posts. I made 29 out of 30 and that ain't too bad!

Gotta Have Bing, Baby

To me, Bing Crosby is "The Voice" of Christmas. I don't feel that the season is truly started until I hear White Christmas in his wonderful baritone.

When I was growing up (before VCRs, DVDs, and other various acronyms existed), my family checked the TV guide to find out when Bing's Family Christmas Special was on so we wouldn't miss it. The other requisite show was White Christmas. If we missed it, it was just tough patooties. There was no such thing as recording it until later--or reruns, for that matter!

I have the movie on video (I know, I need to update to a DVD), but I haven't seen the Christmas shows in a while. Enter, the internet. The internet is fabulous is so many ways. I found some on YouTube that I will probably listen to at some point. Very cool.

Anyone else a Bing Crosby fan?

My dad collected 78s. (For those too young to know what those were, that was before the "vinyl" records, aka 33s. Also available were singles on 45s. Hmm. We didn't use acronyms in the past--we used numbers!) In his collection he had a lot of Bing Crosby as well as recordings of his brother, Bob Crosby. (I wonder. . .do you suppose???)

Yep! There's an audio that I can embed in this post! Technology can be a wonderful thing. I tried to embed the player, but it argued with me. If you'd like to hear Bing's brother, click on THIS LINK.

Gravy poll results

The votes are in:

• 60% preferred Milk Gravy.
• 40% preferred Brown Gravy.

Ham Gravy? It didn't even make a bleep on the radar.

One reader said that she would have split her vote if I had made it multiple choice. I'm a purist. I see things in black and white. I gave no multiple choice. I'm harsh like that.

I did want to point out that MY favorite won. Just in case you missed that.

The Famous Fifty: The House of Your Dreams

Yes, this is it: The house of your dreams. You can have 1360sf of beauty for only $2926. If you'd like oak throughout, add an additional $116.55. (The snow is free.)

I think I'll go and order one right now. I might be able to get the cash discount if I cut down in other areas.

Shameless use of a blog

You see what this NaBloPoMo commitment has done? It's requirements of daily posting have caused me to reveal that today is my birthday--something I wouldn't have done otherwise!

But, since I'm announcing this occasion, I just want to say that I'm turning 29.

I'm fully aware that being 29 today means that I was only five when I married my husband. I have to admit that finding a wedding dress in the girls department was a bit difficult. For the wedding pictures they had me stand on a box. Instead of going on a honeymoon, I was sent back home to wait until I was really old enough, which was about nine years ago.

We celebrate our anniversary by saying that we've been married 24 years since it's the official date and all.

All presents of jewels and money can be sent to my home. Email for the address.

To You

Gravy as a Beverage

I'm in trouble. I just realized that I do NOT have gravy on my Thanksgiving Menu Plan. How did that happen? Gravy is important to life--it's practically a beverage!!

I think I'm going to attempt to ignore it's absence this time. If my cravings get bad, I can always whip up some gravy (and something incidental to put it on). If I do, I have a new dilemma: Which KIND of gravy should I make?

First, I have my all-time favorite--Milk Gravy. It's creamy, peppery, flat-out yummy.

But, since I have a turkey, it would follow that I go with a brown gravy made from the turkey drippings.

But, wait! I'm also making a ham. HAM gravy is another heavenly delicacy.

While I decide what to do, I thought I'd find out what YOUR preference would be. Hence, there's a poll on the sidebar. What do you consider to be your first-choice-gravy-beverage if you could just choose regardless of the circumstances?

Thanksgiving Plans

Since I'm in the US, we do a November Thanksgiving Day. Our plans are pretty low-key compared to others, but compared to what we had PLANNED on doing, we're about to party.

Before we knew that my MIL was going to come and live with us (it happened in about 3 days time), we were going to do something unusual. We didn't know what, yet, but in the past we've:

• Helped at a soup kitchen
• Made BBQ (as in southern-style with smoked meat and sauce)
• Gone to a Chinese restaurant
• and spent the holiday at a hotel in Mystic, CT

Now that she is here, we want to make it more of a traditional family time. After dinner we'll crack out the Christmas CDs and kick-off the Christmas season. We will NOT venture forth from our house for Black Friday, though. I went one year and I still have flashbacks.

I don't want to talk about it.

So, for our "traditional" take on Thanksgiving, here's the menu:

• Turkey
• Ham
• Martha Stewart's Mac and Cheese
• Green peas
• Tomato and Mozzarella salad
• Pillsbury crescent rolls
• Cranberry Relish
• Pumpkin pie
• Apple pie

Simple. I like simple. Is anyone else blogging about their menu? I'll come by and check and see if I need to revise my plans. . .

Only 5 Minutes

Yes. I. Did.

I have been debating and hemming and hawing about getting this book. Finally, I just broke down and bought it. I've only just started on it, but I am excited about getting to the fun part.

The concept (if you don't already know) is that you have a dough that makes up in just a few minutes (I'm assuming 5), that you keep in the frig for up to 2 weeks.. When you're ready, you pinch off an amount of dough, let it rise only once, and bake!

My MIL had a recipe similar to this several years ago. It didn't use whole grains, though. I'm hoping to get this started up after Thanksgiving. According to the authors, the cost per loaf is between 40 and 70 CENTS. That's what I'm talkin' about, now!

I'll give my review when I've made my first batch. Has anyone else used their method or gotten this new book (and used it)? All comments appreciated about your experience.

The Famous Fifty and their workmanship

A few days ago I posted about a circa 1919 catalog of homes called, The Famous Fifty. The catalog was put out by a company called The International Mill and Timber Co.. I finally did a bit of research and came across THIS SITE that gives some information. Their payment system was interesting--and apparently backfired on them.

Below are two scans showing the choices for the door slabs and built-ins. They may have been kit homes, but I would LOVE to have some of these in my house! (Clicking on them should enlarge them for reading, if I did it correctly.)

BRIGHT salad recipe

This cookbook is just like the one I had when I first got married. I found it at a thrift shop and carted it home to make meals for my brand new hubby. It was really meant for newlyweds because the instructions are precise and the meals are simple. There are even directions for cooking pasta! Somewhere along the way I decluttered it, but I have since regretted that decision.

Imagine my surprise when I was looking through my MIL's cookbooks and found this one! I was so excited to see it again. I brought it home to add to my growing collection of 50s/60s cookbooks. I've enjoyed using these recipes partly because they're not so common now, and partly because of nostalgia.

There aren't that many pictures, but the recipes are fun to work with. Here's one that I plan to try soon, just because of the names and the bright colors!

Orange and Grapefruit Pinwheel Salad

Arrange orange and grapefruit sections alternately in pinwheel pattern on lettuce on each salad plate. Center with sprig of deeper green (watercress, mint, parsley). Serve with Ruby Red Dressing.

Ruby Red Dressing

1/2 cup currant jelly
1/4 cup oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
dash of salt
few drops onion juice

Beat jelly with fork until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and beat again until smooth. Serve in small bowl on the side of the salad as a dipping sauce.

Reminiscing with pics

This post will come up on the 20th. During most of the 20th I will be traveling. . .HOME! I'm really looking forward to being there even though "home" will be different than before.

Meanwhile, I was looking through some pics that I had scanned and came across these. Here's a quick background:

In 1962, my mom escaped from an abusive husband with her 8yo daughter in tow and drove until she reached Ft. Myers, FL. She stopped there because she ran out of gas. She rented an apartment in this building. That's her walking up the sidewalk.

The landlord of the building was my father. Well, my future father. He was from New York and had come to Florida during the big building boom of the early 60s. He owned this apartment house but worked at a gas station. He was 44 years old and quite the bachelor. He was considered a "rich Yankee" even though he really wasn't. Rich, that is. He was definitely a "Yankee!"

He rented the apartment to my mom and not too long after they began to date. I was told that it was her southern fried chicken that sealed the deal.

This picture shows the back of the apartment building. On the left side of the picture down the driveway are "Surinam Cherry" trees/bushes. Does anyone know about them? They tasted FANTASTIC. I'm craving them now.

Across the street from the apartment house was a daycare. You can see it back there (striped swingset) behind the cool car. I spent some time in that daycare as my parents had a dress shop business in the front apartment. OH to have those dresses now!

One of my earliest memories is when I was in the back of that dress shop sitting on a potty chair. It was wooden and had a little tray that hooked on the front so the child would be able to take his time and be entertained with toys. It had a little plastic bowl that fit into the hole in the chair. My mom was not home (she was waitressing), and my dad was in charge of the dress shop. I guess he got busy with a customer and I got bored and, well, that tray made quite the comfy place to put my head.

When my dad finally returned, I was asleep. He woke me and got me up and there was a bright red ring around my bottom from that plastic bowl. They thought it was hilarious. I heard that story for years.

Ever since then, I have no interest in spending more time than necessary in the bathroom. I take care of business and get on out of there.

I blame that childhood episode.

Speaking of small spaces

I thought I'd interrupt my "saga" of life-changing-activities to show you a wonderful find. I've actually had this book for a few years, but I came across it when I was relocating my bookshelves and books.

This is a book of house plans from circa 1919 for pre-built homes. The idea was to choose a plan and the supplies for that plan would be shipped to the plot of land and could be put together like Lincoln Logs! Choices within the plan had to do with door styles, lighting options, etc. The plan was the plan, though. Here's the cover:



The front of the book is about 10 pages describing how all of this would work. The first actual plan is pictured below. The houses are arranged from lowest to highest price. This one would have cost a whole $847. If cash was paid, they'd knock off $42.35. If credit needed to be used, it would be $423.50 down and monthly payments of $17.65 for TWO YEARS.

I hope that I've uploaded this so that it can be clicked on to enlarge, because it's really fun to read.

There are 49 more plans. I wouldn't scan them all (!), but will scan more if anyone is interested. I'm going to try to do a little research about the "Sterling" company, but would appreciate any information anyone may already have.

If you're LIVING in a home by Sterling, I will require details and full video house tour. Just giving you a heads-up.

Pictures of ME. . . Beware.

As a "treat" (?) I decided to introduce you to the young me. I mean YOUNG. Then you'll see the older me. Are you excited? Are you ready? Are you sitting down?

I thought it would be fun as I'm sort of going through a bit of a time machine as we're preparing to move my MIL in with us. She has been in my life since I was 16yo. And, that was a long time ago!

I'll start at the beginning:

Way back when I was born there was only black and white film. In the "dark" ages. Get it? Never mind. (Notice the chair fabric. This picture is from 1963. The chair is pre-dates me.)

Somehow they developed color by the time I got to second grade. I think that "clenched lip" smile was due to hiding some missing teeth. (My mom made that dress. I loved that dress. I also had several with rick rack. I loved rick rack.)

With a HUGE jump we get to high school. My sister is on the left, my mom in the middle, and I'm on the right. I have no idea what size those skin-tight, straight-legged jeans were, but I weighed all of 108. (All the pictures of me in between second grade and tenth grade are at my sister's house. Consider yourself spared. You're welcome.)

I played the flute in the marching band. For some reason they thought it was a good idea for the band members to wear wool uniforms. In Florida. In the Fall. My hair shows the results of such interesting decision making. (BTW, that "bucket' that I'm carrying is my HAT. It's called a shako and was a tall plastic thingy with fake fur on the outside. Plastic with fur on it. In Florida.)

Next is college. Back then we still "did" corsages. That's my husband. He and I were not quite 20, but the moustache made him look MUCH older, don't you think?

Now it's 1985 and we're about to get married. I decided to grow out my nails for the wedding. I also tried out some Press-On Nails. Can you tell which is which? It's really tricky... (Lady Di was my inspiration.)

The Wedding Day. I'm finally Mrs. L after dating for five years. We were almost 22 years old.

This next picture was taken about two years before J came along. I was unaware of the photographer and I think I was in the buffet line at a wedding. My expression is either one of reflection about my own wedding--or I'm just eyeing up the entree. That's my sister in front of me. I think she spotted the dessert table gauging by the smile on her face...

This is one of my favorite pictures of J and me. He was six months old and would always reach up to pat my face when I held him like this. Let's pause for a moment of baby bliss.

Which brings us to today. Nope, no current pictures! I think you've had enough, anyway. Perhaps in another decade. . .

Making Room for One More: Part 2

As I mentioned in Part 1 of hauling my furniture all over my house, turning the den into a bedroom meant that what was IN the den had to find a new place to live.

Since I moved my desk out to the main living space, that provided some space. Not much space, however. I knew it would be tight, but I measured twice, moved once and managed to make this space that WAS my office. . .



. . .into what I am now calling the library. Here's a peek into the door. Not too bad. Now go on into the room and you'll see. . .

. . . BOOKS! This little 8 x 10 room is packed full, but serviceable.

I've never read a blog where the rooms were changed around monthly. Mine might be a first in this genre. I'd like to say that it's done for a while. As you know, though, "never say never."

Making Room for One More: Part 1

(NOTE: This is officially the half-way mark for my commitment to blog every day in November. I've missed only one which is pretty great considering all the major upheaval and east coast traveling I'm doing!)

We have arrived in Augusta. This hotel has WiFi that actually works. Imagine that?

Before I left I snapped some photos of the "new" rooms that I had spent about 8000 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday preparing. The first area to go under the wrecking ball was the den. It has the propane stove in it so that my MIL can attempt to be warm. Right now in GA it is 72 degrees. Right now "up north" it is 47 degrees. That's almost a complete reverse of numbers. My MIL is worried. She's lived in the south all of her life. So, we're putting her in this room where she can crank the heat up to her heart's content!

This is the "before" photo as you look into the room that I took last spring. (That's a greenhouse temporarily occupying the sunny window space.)



Here's the view from the closet showing the heat source. Notice the abundance of shelves and books. We used to have a LOT more books. Thankfully, I've been decluttering!

Here's the "new" look with a queen sized bed, empty bookshelves, reading corner, and vanity area as you look into the room:

Here's looking at the heat source. It's all tested and ready to go!

That took care of her sleeping area. She'll be cozy and warm, and there's a half-bath steps away across the tiny hall. Notice, please, the lack of books and bookshelves. Those puppies had to go somewhere. I'll show you how I solved their storage in my next post.

Time for a Poll

It's been a while. It's time. Yes, it's poll time.

This has to do with a question I've been mulling about for a while. It's really critical that you weigh-in with your opinion. I'm aware that this could cause division. In fact, I'm not sure that I should even broach this subject, but I think I must.

I've lived "up north" for 12 years. I lived "down south" for 30 odd years. I just passed the Mason-Dixon line two days ago as we journeyed to Georgia, and my curiosity must be satisfied.

I miss southern food. In fact, I REALLY miss southern food. Upon crossing the line of Dixie, I immediately found five restaurants (all at one exit) that embodied all the southern food groups: Chic-fil-a, Shoney's, Bob Evans, Waffle House, and BBQ.

"Up north" has none of these, at least where I live. No sweet tea, no grits, no smoked BBQ meats, and no buttermilk biscuits. No sausage gravy (which is a beverage). No hush puppies. There's more, but I'm salivating on the keyboard.

On the other hand, I have eaten myself into a fried stupor in just two days and am beginning to miss the fancy salads and soups that are plentiful in the north.

My poll question is this:

If you had to eat food from only ONE region of the US for the rest of your life, which would it be? I am not allowing ethnic foods because those can generally be found nearly every where. New York City doesn't count at all because the variety there is astounding.

Your choices are:

• New England
• The South
• The Midwest
• The Southwest
• California

You get to choose only one, and I'm assuming that your choice will be made with a bit of loyal passion. I felt the time had come, though, to put our cards on the table and put our poll choices where our mouths are. Or something like that.

If you're feeling especially adamant, leave a comment to support your choice!

Reporting in from Myrtle Beach

After 18 hours of traveling in only two days, we decided to spend one day of "vacation" in Myrtle Beach as a family of three before we add the fourth member. We got in about 8:30 last night. This morning we awoke to the sight and sounds of the Atlantic ocean (ocean front room, baby!) and about 57 degrees. (It is November, after all.) Augusta promises clear, sunny weather and the temps in the 70s. "Up North" is just a tad bit cooler right now. (Ha!)

Right now I'm in the lobby doing a little computer stuff and my husband and son are in the heated pool. When they finish we're going to do a little sight-seeing, get a Butterfinger Blast from Sonic (it's been two YEARS since I had one of those!), and then travel the final 4 1/2 hours to Augusta to make arrangements to move my MIL.

My MIL is 72 years old. She was a teenager in the 50s. Her family lived in a small bungalow-style house in Augusta, GA. She and her twin sister got the full middle-class teenager experience: cashmere twinsets, sock hops, drive-ins, the works. She and her sister went to college, the first in their family. Upon graduation (she was a music major--piano and voice), she married my husband's father. In 1963 my husband was born.

I wanted to sing her praises for a moment. My husband and I met when we were 16, so I've known my MIL nearly as long as he has! When I met her, she was 43yo. She was (and is) an accomplished, gracious, generous southern Lady, with a capital "L."

I've experienced her generosity on a pretty big scale. On breaks from college we stayed with her. The summer we got married, we stayed with her and she helped me get everything ready. After graduating from college, we lived with her. . . for a YEAR. Never once did she act like we were not welcome and enjoyed. She provided everything as we saved our pitiful $3.35 an hour minimum wage pay checks.

I've also privileged to be the wife of the son SHE raised. He is who is he because of the foundation she gave him. I am grateful for the quality of character she instilled in him.

So, I'm excited about the opportunity to return the generosity. Her life has been difficult since her marriage to her current husband nearly 30 years ago. He has NOT been a good husband. I won't bother with the details, but suffice it to say that we plan to try to provide an environment of life and joy for her that she hasn't had in a long time. That's the least we can do.

I've written this for two reasons. One, to honor her. Two, so I have this in writing where I can go and read it when the challenges begin!

Off to enjoy the heated pool.

I WILL be warm: More waltzing of Furniture

Phase One of my plan to guarantee that I will be warm this winter is complete. Our new sleeping quarters have been arranged resulting in about 500sf of space that no longer needs to be heated. On to Phase Two where I look at not having to wear gloves while typing on my computer in the freezing office. Oh, yes...we're rolling along now!

Two weeks ago my husband had to be out of town for a few days. He needed to meet the other travelers at a rendevouz point that necessitated my having to deliver him to the meeting place.

At 4:00am.

Now, we get up early, but not THAT early! My son and I made the delivery and returned home. At that point it was all of 4:15. He and I tried to go back to sleep, but both of us were just staring into the dark. Then, my mind began to think of my "I WILL be warm this winter" goal.


So, at 4:30am, the downstairs lights were blazing and my 7yo was helping me move furniture! Sure, he's short, but he's helpful. That's all I ask.

My plan involved getting closer to the heat sources. This is a picture of my "Club Room" which had a dining area, a seating area and an armoir (in the unseen corner):

This is a full view of the dining area. Notice the sidelight window.

A quick curtain sewing project was run up so that I could cover that window each evening to give more privacy for. . .


. . .My new office area! I pulled the essentials of paperwork and homeschooling stuff out of the office and set it up in this snug little corner. The armoir was banished to previous office, now storage room. Now we're snug and warm near the wood heating vents and kerosene monitor.

I was so proud of myself. I have used this area for two weeks now and it is working perfectly. The back of the house could now be shut off and . . . but, wait.

As I said in the previous post, I found out just two days ago that my MIL is indeed going to come and live with us. I speedily surmised that she needed a place to sleep and have some privacy. Where, oh where, could I make room? Why, those shut off rooms, of course!

With all my decluttering, all my paring down because of wanting to live in as small a place as possible, I had ended up creating space for another person. I knew the the Lord was prompting me for the last year as I pursued simplifying our lives, but it wasn't just for us. How awesome is that?

On Monday evening I discovered that I had until Wednesday evening to rearrange the house and to pack for a trip south. Well, I did it. It is now Thursday evening and we're in a hotel just south of the Mason/Dixon line. I spent 15 work hours on Tuesday (husband and son put in a lot of time as well) and another several hours on Wednesday. This morning we got out of Dodge and spent 10 hours on the road.

I'm a little bit tired.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the newest house transformation. I could entitle the post, "How to Prepare for a Major Life Change in 48 hours." The pictures will prove that all it takes is perseverance, muscles (that are now questioning why they have to be attached to me), and not worrying too much about sleep. When you're faced with a deadline and a need, pretty much the only choice is to rise to the challenge and make it happen!

A new addition to the family

Life as I have known it is about to change.

This has been brewing for about a month, but for the most part it seemed that it wasn't going to happen. Well, as of last night IT IS going to happen.

What is IT? No, it's not a baby. Quite the opposite.

My 72yo mother-in-law is coming to live with us. We'll be heading to Georgia in two days and we'll pack her up and bring her back.

I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. I'm excited because I love her and she has always been wonderful to me (more about that later). I'm excited because now she can know her only grandchild and he can have a grandparent. I'm excited because it's an opportunity to minister in an ongoing way.

I'm apprehensive because I, like most of the rest of our society, have never lived multi-generationally. I've pondered about the many changes that will be occurring and how many chances I know I will have to root out selfishness in myself.

So, I have spent ALL day (and I mean from 8am until just now when I sat down to type this) rearranging rooms, hauling stuff up and down stairs attempting to make room for her.

I'm determined to follow through on my commitment to blog each day in November. Well, I'll be blogging from all up and down the east coast, evidently!

Has anyone else been in this position? I would much appreciate gleaning from your experience!