Creepy Crawlies

Thank goodness for sprays to get rid of the creepy crawlies. Yesterday, we had an encounter with a GIANT spider in our kitchen. Ugh, oh how I hate spiders. It took us about three rounds to finally kill the giant beast, but then I immediately hit the Internet to determine if it was poisonous or not. Thankfully, it was not a black widow or brown recluse, but having spiders - poisonous or not- is nothing something I want. For the next hour, I felt like there were spiders everywhere, even in my hair. That was yesterday, but today when I came home, I noticed this black speck in the carpet. I thought it was just a piece of mulch we might have tracked in. I wasn't that lucky. As soon as I got closer the creepy crawly took off. It doesn't take you too long to scoot across the floor when you have over 100 legs. Ugh. It was so disgusting. This critter would not die. I finally had to scoop him up in a magazine and fling him outside. He simply would not die; I even slammed him few times with a hardcover novel. He was a tough little guy. I am hoping not to come across any more creepy crawlies any time soon.

Switch It Up

Sometimes you just need to switch it up. I'm talking about dinner. Ever have a nice big breakfast for dinner? Some may look at you like you walked out of the Bizarro-World episode of Seinfeld, but cut them some slack. It's just because they don't know what their missing.

I remember sitting down for dinner and the only thing in front of me was every single box of cereal from the cupboard. It was fend for yourself night. We could have just one kind or mix them all together. My favorite was Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but sometimes I'd go for the Cocoa Krispies only to let the chocolate seep out into the milk, so I could have a bowl of chocolate milk to drink at the end.

I also remember having pancakes for dinner. Yummy! Homemade pancakes drizzled in butter, maple syrup, and of course POWDERED SUGAR. We would usually have sausages with them. I'd cut the pancakes up and the sausages. Each bite would contain one piece of sausage and pancake. I would save the pieces of pancake with the most butter and powdered sugar until last.

The last breakfast food I remember eating for dinner was eggs, toast, and bacon. My Dad makes the very best fried eggs.

Guess what I had for dinner tonight?

gluten-free waffles drizzled in maple syrup, butter, and maple syrup with side of bacon.

Only Gets Better

If you haven't read Harry Potter, I must tell you to drop everything immediately. It is time for you to walk, run, bike, or drive to a bookstore and start from the beginning. On Friday, as I left school, I happened to grab the seventh book off my desk to reread. (I needed the A.R. Points for our teachers vs. students reading competition.) I'm currently on page 374, and I can't put the book down. I've taken it everywhere with me: outside, in-laws, beach, etc. Yeah -so maybe I should be grading essays, but the book is more than a book. The book is a vacation. Yes, that is it. I should not do school work seven days a week. With gas prices so high, who needs to travel anywhere. Grab a book and go outside and let yourself be transported to another time and place. To truly get the vacation you deserve, you won't be let down with Harry Potter.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Rain, Rain, Go Away
Come again another day (preferably when the pollen is in the air)

for my Mother

Happy Mother's Day!

I wish you were here or I was there
to celebrate with you today.

I wish we could share a cup of coffee together in the morn,
eating chocolate on the porch, watching airplanes.

I wish you could see all the baking and cooking I can do
because of what you taught me.

I wish you could taste my bread, chocolate cake, blueberry-banana bread, pizza, etc. and think it tastes just like yours even though it is gluten-free.

I wish you could go to garage sales with me down here,
I'm sure you'd find a ton of glasses to add to your collection
or a random lamp.

I wish we could go to a movie and I could hear your laugh
at a moment when no one else is laughing, and
then you can't control it, and
we all start laughing and people start looking.

I wish you a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I'm Back

It seems that I have let life take control of me again. I really hate it when I feel overwhelmed by the little things. It's raining outside. And windy. So windy, that I am afraid my rhododendron that has finally bloomed will be nothing but blooms scattered around the yard by the end of it. Already the wind has knocked around what little we have out back. The cover to the grill is in a heap near the wheels, and my rocking chair is upside down. We are supposed to be in for some nasty storms tonight. The skylights in our room actually make it seems like we are 'outside' when it rains. At times, it is soothing to listen to the rain, but when I'm really tired - all it does is make me angry.

On an entirely different note, Matt and I are trying to go green one step at a time. We bought a retractable clothesline today and set it up. We hung out sheets and towels and got about a half hour in before the rain. We don't buy bottled water, but rather have our own 2Liter water bottles that we take back and forth to school. I bring my own cloth grocery bags, and recycle what plastic bags I get. My next purchase will be the dryer balls that are supposed to cut drying time in half (for when I need to use the dryer) and also I can get rid of fabric softener sheets.

I wish our local city government would get their act together in terms of a better recycling program. When Matt and I lived in Battle Creek, we could recycle EVERYTHING. We maybe had a bag a trash a week. Now, we can only recycle #1 and #2 plastic, aluminum cans, glass, and newspapers. It is sickening to see all this potential recycling go into a landfill just because the local government can't get it together. In the news this past week, we even found out that the lawn clippings that were supposed to be recycled into compost were being put in the landfill. What a waste!

Tonight, I am grateful for perserverance and finding my routine again. I am grateful for curling up on the couch with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa. I am thankful for baking homemade pizza and blueberry-banana bread.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Banana Bread
1 3/4 cup flour (I use 1 1/2 cups white rice flour, 1/4 garbanzo bean flour)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
(mix above together)
In a separate bowl,
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons canola oil
(blend together and add to dry ingredients)
add 1 cup. frozen blueberries
pour into a greased/floured baking pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
enjoy!