Ready for dinner

I have turned my non-productive morning into a more productive afternoon.  After a too short nap I took the kitchen by storm.

We are having crockpot pineapple chicken with rice for supper.  I have a 9x13 pan of lasagna assembled and ready for baking.  I have ingredients on hand and ready to cook for hamburger stroganoff.  I pulled a pan of scalloped potatoes out of the freezer to thaw to make a dinner with ham.  I have 16 cups of cut up ham in the freezer for quick meals down the road.  And one ham bone waiting for the crockpot to be empty to cook up for soupish something.  And last but not least since I already had a sink of soapy water, most of my "by hand" dishes are washed and the dishwasher is running so I won't be facing a kitchen of dirty dishes later on.

I am ready for dinner all week.  And hopefully I can make a trip to the library tonight or tomorrow. 

The American Express “Season of Surprises” Promotion

The American Express “Season of Surprises” Promotion

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American Express is giving readers $500 in American Express Gift Cards. FIVE(5) Two Of A Kind, Working On A Full House readers will win $100 in Gift Cards!!!

To enter, tell why your family/friend deserves the Season of Surprises this Holiday and chance to win a $100,000 Gift Card prize. This is required and must be done before the extra entries count! Click here to enter.

I Voted

I have to admit I had hoped the world would skip past this day and pretend it never existed. I was so in denial that I just wanted to put my fingers in my ears and not listen to anything about it. I am so discouraged by the state of our government and health care and all the other issues out there that make the platforms of our politicians. I even told someone I may not vote because is voting for the lesser of two (or three or four, etc.) evils better than not voting. I don't know.

But I got up today and took a drive through the country for about two miles to reach the Green Isle Town Hall. It is a little building off of the side of a farmer's property. As I got out of the car I was greeted by the scent of wood smoke. This building, as I recall, used to house the schoolchildren back in the day. It is a rectangular building with wood plank flooring and a working wood stove in the center to keep us voters warm. It's a quiet place with the judges sitting around discussing the goings on in the community. I don't know what it's used for in addition to election day. I received my ballot and was given the choice of one of four booths. Three of them are the usual stand up and color in the circle booths while the fourth is a modern scanner type machine that you just press on the screen to indicate your choice. I chose the modern machine as it was close and open and I could sit down. So I put my ballot in and made my choices while this machine made loud noises in the very quiet building.

In the end I did not pretend this day away. I did my civic duty in an old schoolhouse with a modern voting machine. And even though I am still discouraged by the state of our government, I remember The One who is in control and can "make all all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to his purpose." He is not discouraged and He is still on the throne.

. * 1 * 2 * 3 * 4 birthday digital camera monogrammed gifts adirondack chairs Wednesday, September 22, 2010 HABA Dolls Carry Cot Re

HABA Dolls Carry Cot Review + Giveaway

This would make one two-year-old in our house very, very happy. She is quickly becoming in love with Barbies and setting them up in chairs by a table.

HABA.

Chicken

I love chicken. It's my most favorite meat. I would love to win this giveway from for some Tyson Any'tizers - THREE vouchers 10/18 from http://www.tyson.com/.

I can taste them now.

Sacrifice

I'm going to come right out and say that this post may offend people and may make me appear judgmental. If it does, my intent is to protect children who aren't allowed to make their own choices or can't because they have not been born yet.

This video http://abcnews.go.com/video/video?id=4232465 (can someone please teach me how to embed a link?) hits a very hot nerve that I have. I wonder if a mom is not willing to make the sacrifice of not drinking during pregnancy, what other areas might she not want to make a sacrifice once the child's born. I know that's a judgment statement but this is an innocent child we're talking about. Who protects it? Drinking during pregnancy causes brain damage. There is no question about it. The frequency of drinking and timeframe during pregnancy may differ the brain damage but it's still there. I am not out to bash moms. I'm out to protect children.

I have parented a child with suspected FASD and it is hard. I am an acquaintance of a mom who is parenting two children with FASD and her world has become so volatile she had to make her blog private. It is a sad day when parents cannot have a support system in place when parenting their child with FASD and believe me that her blog is a support system for families.

I realize the list is long of things to avoid during pregnancy but alcohol impairs the brain which is why we have drunk driving laws. Therefore if one or two drinks impair the brain of the adult to the point that they can't drive, what does it do when all that alcohol crosses the placenta and gets to a baby's tiny brain.

I have a friend who fostered a teen who drank all the time. She would go out on weekends and get riproaring drunk. She ended up giving birth to a baby who was missing body parts and ended up dying within minutes. Who was protecting that child?

The argument could be said that just like abortion, it's a mom's right to make her own choices. But when her choices affect someone else like an unborn child then that child needs to have a say in the matter. I've had an opinion about smoking around children that I've kept to myself as I have friends who have children and smoke. But I firmly believe that smoking in an enclosed area (car, home) where children are present should not be tolerated. Not all children are allowed to say that they want to step out of the car or leave the house if the parent is smoking. Again it's not intended for judgment on the part of the parent, just protection for the child. We've already decided to tell the parents how they may carry their kids in their cars? How is telling them not to smoke any different?

I'm very passionate about speaking for the rights of children. And I'm not talking rights to have a cellphone or some petty right like that. I'm talking the right to clean air. The right to a brain with all cells present at birth.

I'm sorry if my words offended anyone but I am not sorry that I said them. And now we'll see how many friends I have left after this post. So I better step down off my soapbox.

Going on With Jesus

Below you will find the devotional entry that birthed this blog. It is from My Utmost For His Highest. The thought that struck me was "It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations." It caused me to think of shucking off my worries and fears and the things I'm holding onto that won't matter in eternity. Such as, worrying that I don't spend enough time with Lilyana because I have to work, will that absence affect her in a way that will cause her emotional turbulance? The fear of not having enough money to keep our house. What do we do about the foreclosure notice? What is our next step? And am I holding onto this house because of the fear of the unknown and/or the fear of what people might say?

I need to figure out how to make the time I spend with Lilyana as worry free and fear free as possible so that she's getting all of me at that time and knowing she is my focus.

I need to seek God's guidance for the answer to the house circumstance. How is/will He enginer our house circumstance and I best be ready to go on with Jesus no matter what.