Days 4 and 5

Yesterday (Day 4) :
 My husband had the day off so we went over to my mom and dad's house for a family dinner.  Even my sister-in-law made it.  My parents are having a long time family friend stay with them for a couple of weeks so we ate and visited and just relaxed together till about 9 p.m.

Then we went home- the kiddos were exhausted and went right to bed- and my husband and I used a free rental coupon we had for redbox and stayed up to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 2.  It was sooo nice to just spend the evening relaxing together and cuddling on the couch!

Then today (Day 5):
Drake has been bugging me for a vacation lately, which is definitely not in the budget.  But this is a 3 day weekend, so I wanted to do something cool for them.  So after church today it was all about the boys.  We had a quick lunch of sandwiches, changed into play clothes, loaded the bikes and dog and everyone up in the car and headed to the park.  It wasn't very warm, but it wasn't freezing cold either so we rode a lap around the goose pond and then the boys proceeded to play on the toys.  Drake made a couple of friends and played football for a bit with them.  It even turned out that I got the dad's phone number so that we can arrange for other play dates together, since our boys hit it off so well and are the same ages!

Then we came home, played wii bowling for a couple hours, had a nice simple dinner, and then I let them watch a little t.v.  Then, after bath, we went to their room and built a fort and played crazy eights and ate popcorn till it was bedtime!  (They got to take out their sleeping bags and sleep in the fort of course!)

What a fun day it has been!

Days 2 and 3 without FACEBOOK

Day 2:   I spent some time sewing on Drake's quilt and some extra time at my mom's house visiting with my parents and an old family friend who is visiting from out of state.

Day 3:  Yesterday I worked late and didn't get home till 6:30-7ish.  I did have a good reason though.  We are getting a new massage therapist and Tracie let me audition him.  So I got a really nice massage...he'll be a good addition to our team I think....but anyhow...  I did watch a show with Drake (Terran was busy crying over not getting what he wanted for dinner) and after the kiddos were in bed I spent some time with the husband....sort of anyway.  He was at the computer and we were watching the same show....that counts right?

30 days without facebook: Day 1

So yesterday was day one without facebook.....what did I do that was different.  Well, to be perfectly honest, I really just didn't get on facebook.  Yesterday was really busy and weird since my mom was out of town.  So I didn't end up adding anything new as far as furthering my "real connections" end of this goal. 

I did however, have a full day at work and work on Drake's quilt in the evening after kiddos were in bed.  I also found back some of my crafting inspiration that seemed to vanish after christmas.  This is awesome since I have every intention of doing home made gifts again this year and I had wanted to start much earlier.   The problem is that I was thinking about my neice who is most likely moving across the country as soon as my brother gets home from afghanastan.  :0(  I'll be very very sad to see them go, and I want to get to see her open the things I'm envisioning for her.  So do I make her some stuff to give her right before she leaves, or do I force myself to save them for christmas and beg my brother to take a ton of pictures? 

Ok....anyhow...I digress.....My thoughts for day 2:   I want/need to call one of the ladies from our church and ask her some questions regarding the thurs. night bible study.  And I would like to work it out so that after we get home and have dinner maybe I can play a game with the kids.  SORRY is the fave game in our house right now, but maybe even we could play 3 holes of wii golf depending on the time it all happens.  Will update again tomarrow!

30 Days without FACEBOOK

As a few of my less fortunate friends and family members know, I have a new soap-box regarding facebook.  I've tried very hard for the most part, to NOT bombard everyone with my rant...but since this blog is partially my self-centered vent zone, all of cyberspace gets to have the opportunity to hear it.  And then I will get to the fun part of this post. (I won't be at all offended if you want to skip past my rant!)

A couple of things happened recently that started all of this:
 
First, my aunt died.  Not that we were super close or anything, but the ONLY reason I even heard the news was because my brother happened to see a random post about it on facebook.  It was burried 3/4 of my page down, lost between peoples' game status updates.  No one from that end of the family tree even called my mom.  Not one single phone call!  If my brother hadn't called to ask if my aunt had died, we never would have known.  This was a terrible slap in the face to me.

Let me insert here, that I DO get it.  At least to some degree.  My cousins were grieving enough.  This isn't something you feel like doing probably when you have just lost a close loved one.  And how easy is it to just post it on facebook, anouncing in one single fell swoop the tragedy.  Now, surely, everyone knows and you didn't even have to deal with all that messy, emotional business of actually telling anyone.  But there are just certain things that are unacceptable to me here.  At the very least, all of the sisters should have been notified.  That has always been how the family newsline has worked.  The sisters (meaning my aunts) are notified and then they tell their children, and on down the line. 

Then, and this happened like 1 week later, I found out, from a random post, that one of my cousins' wife had left him with their 5 kids (only 1 of which was actually his, btw) and had a new boyfriend!  Ok....now I DO realize this is family gossip.  And in HIS defense, he doesn't actually facebook that I know of.  It was one of his wife's random posts that I saw.  But this is still family news. 

These 2 events led me to questioning the general reliance on facebook.  Are these "friendships" even real?  Are we becoming so lazy, that real communication is becoming obsolete?  Are we sacrificing our ability to effectively interact with the other humans on this planet all for convenience?  I believe YES.  YES WE ARE!!!

When was the last time you called your best friend?  Or wrote a letter by hand to someone you love?  Better yet, when was the last time you actually spent some time actually making new friends?  Look at the lives around you.  Seriously, it makes me want to cry!  Especially teenagers, but society in general is falling into a pattern of non-interaction.  It's all digital.  From dating, friendships, even sex is a digital affair that no one really has to come face to face with anymore.  You can have an entire alternate life on facebook.  New job, games, friendships, and up to the minute updates on anything anyone in your virtual world is up too.  "my dog pooped on the carpet" "my kid is so cute" "my job sucks" etc. etc. etc.

And that makes me wonder how many of my facebook friends and family actually care about me, or if it is simply convenient to stay "in touch" without the messy business of real interaction.  Am I just their friend so they can tell me all about their life?  Is it all just a digital facade?  At least if we were communicating via email I would know they were talking to me and not just cyberspace in general. 

*Sigh*  So there you have it.  My Facebook Rant.

Now....for the real purpose of this post!  30 days without facebook!
I'm going to extricate myself from facebook for 30 days.  I'm not even going to check it.  Instead I'm going to fill that time with more meaningful connections.  I'm planning on posting as I go so that may be I can inspire anyone else who wants to do this with me too.  If you do join me, let me know what you do with your "facebook" time.  How do you plan on substituting your digital relationships for forming real ones?  I'm curious.  Anyone wanna do this too?

Here are some of my ideas so far:
Call a friend and make a plan to spend time together
Do some projects with my kids
Spend some time with my husband
clean my house
reach out to others and try to make some new friends

Those are just a few thoughts to get me started....I'll let you know how the reality sets in as I go!

My 5 am Baking Obsession

Does anyone else wake up at 5 am with the urge to bake something? No, I'm not smoking crack. ANYONE else? No? Ok...fine. But in my defense it was more about spacing terran's valentines day party until Fri night and then procrastinating the baking of the cookies all weekend. Now that I know you can relate to!

This pretty much sums up my morning:

(I'm saving empty coffee cans for several future projects......in case you were wondering...)

And the results of my early morning spree were, of course, totally worth it......

Fyi: These are supposed to be sandwich cookies....but I just couldn't be bothered to make the filling on such short notice.....even if I did have a week and a half to plan this whole thing. ;) You understand....

Oh....you would like to know what kind of cookies these are? AND the recipe? Oh fine.....

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 TB. unsalted butter, soft
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. oats

In small bowl, combine flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Stir with fork to combine. In bowl of electric mixer cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars on med-hi till light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients on low speed till just incorporated. Stir in oats till evenly blended. Use small scoop to portion dough...I use a 1 tsp measuring spoon...and roll into ball. Place on parchment lined, or lightly greased, cookie sheet a couple inches apart and flatten slightly. Bake 10 min at 350 F.

*This recipe is slightly modified from www.annies-eats.com.

Pizza for Breakfast? Yes Please!

    Have you ever had piza for breakfast?  Probably.  But was it a breakfast pizza?  Did you know that there was such a wonderful concoction?  I did not.  Then I came across a recipe for "Breakfast Galette" at acozykitchen.com.  That is where I got the inspiration for this:

But honestly, I changed it so much that I feel ok calling it a monster of my own creation.  So here is what I did......

I took a Jiffy Pizza Mix from out of the pantry

And made it according to directions

Then I pressed it into a 12" pizza pan and sprinkled generously with cheddar cheese, and topped with some chopped ham..

(I forgot to take pictures of this....sorry.)

Then I baked it for about 3-5 min till all the cheese was sorta melty.

And added some other stuff too....green onion, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  I think next time I might try adding some salsa or something as "sauce".  Then I took 5 eggs....this was too many and caused some trouble.  Don't add that many eggs unless you have a pan with higher edges than mine!  Next time I will use 3 eggs, slightly beaten and poured over the top.
And cooked at 425 for about 15 min.  Till eggs are done and crust was nice and golden brown.

 

Breakfast Pizza

1 Box Jiffy Pizza Crust

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 finely chopped green onion

1 cup chopped ham

1 TB red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3 eggs, slightly beaten

Prepare pizza crust according to directions, but do not pre-bake.  Top with cheese and ham and bake 3-5 min, or till just starting to get melty.  Remove from oven and top with remaining ingredients.  Return to oven and bake about 15 min, or till eggs are done and crust is nice golden brown.

ENJOY!

The cost of personal freedom?

"what is the most you will pay for your beliefs? What cost is too high? ...if this were a question of religion then anything short of people dying for my belief would be acceptable. But it is not a question of religion, its a question of personal freedom."

That was something my brother asked via facebook.  So this is kind of a loaded question for me and sparked a personal rant....which no one was really around to hear....so I'm posting it in cyberspace so that even if no one ever actually 'hears' it, at least everyone has the chance to view my opinion!  HAHAHA....all part of my evil plot....not really....but still.....

So...if it isn't a matter of religion then I have to define "personal freedom".  In my unprofessional and unsolicited opinion, I would say that 'personal freedom' is a state of being.  A way of life completely defined on an individual level.  Vague?  Yes....that was the point.  Personal freedom starts in the heart and mind of an individual.  Anyone can be 'free'.  Anytime.  Anywhere.  And no one can breach that.  Period.

So what will I pay for that freedom?  What cost is too high?  There is no cost too high, the cost is defined by me.  I set the cost of my personal freedom and pay it gladly.  I choose to sacrifice my unhappiness that I may give myself the freedom to be happy.  I choose to give up feeling sorry for myself, that I can feel happy for others.  I choose to let go of my vanity, so that I can be free to truly appreciate the beauty that surrounds me. 

Of course, he could have been asking on a more political level.  That is a seperate issue to me, but I believe even there that it is a matter of individual attitude.  I will fight for my political personal freedom.  BUT I am not naturally a fighter.  I'm not going to grab the nearest kitchen knife and head off to 'war'.  It would do more harm than good.  But I believe that voting, is a type of warfare.  Teaching my children to do what is right and good no matter what...is a type of warfare.  SPEAKING MY MIND is a type of warfare.   I can and will fight to the bitter end for my personal beliefs if I have to.  I will also ALWAYS 'fight' on my own terms and therefore gain my personal freedom in every battle. 

I believe there is NO DEFINABLE COST FOR PERSONAL FREEDOM!