the Blethering Spot

Today is a very special day for our family!

1. Say, “No, I don’t eat carbs.”
2. Want to go on a hike.
3. Wear crocks.
4. Call a radio station and request “Brown Eyed Girl.”
5. Ask a friend to play “Brown Eyed Girl” on their guitar.
6. Wear a jean dress jumper.
7. Voluntarily take my kids to the carnie.
8. Drift away from my family.
9. Refer to my children as “rugrats.”
10. Take up the accordian.
11. Turn down a ride on a motorcycle.
12. Become interested in football.
13. Stop being amazed that God loves me.
14. Buy a singing / dancing / moving Santa decoration.
15. Buy another pre-made pie shell.
16. Approve of mothers smacking their children’s faces.
17. Stick my head out of a change room and yell, “This is way too big. Can someone get me a size zero?” (Thanks, BooMama)
18. Want to be a flight attendant.
19. Be a cheesy Christian.
20. Say, “Hey, guys! Want to go to a Karaoke bar?”

What about you?

Made like Betty Crocker yesterday evening, and whipped up this delicious rhubarb concoction in honour of………. (dum da dum)………….. our adoption application being sent in. Observant readers will note that I have reset the adoption ticker above. Now the real waiting begins!

We are, obviously, far short of our financial goals, but we are so positive God will work it out that we just went ahead and started. That horrible tacky Petra song keeps going through my head:

Waters never part
Until your feet get wet
Whoa-oh-whoa

for the cake:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 cups chopped rhubarb

for the streusel topping:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating just until moistened. Fold in the rhubarb. Pour into a greased 9-in. square baking dish.
2. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
3. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream; sit back, relax, and enjoy the adulation of your exultant fans.

Well, for goodness’ sake. I went on the computer to post something witty and lighthearted, but foolishly stopped to check out some news items first. Jeez Louise, what a crappy world this is right now. Here are some things you could pray about, if you are a praying person:

1. Remember the Ethiopian famine in the 80s? Yeah, it’s starting again. If you’re freaked out at the soaring prices of flour, meat and rice here in Canada, you should see how it’s affecting Ethiopia. Obviously I’m very concerned, and feeling more urgency than ever to get our paperwork in order. There’s no time to lose.
2. For those who are familiar with the adoption advocate/singer Stephen Curtis Chapman, please pray for his family. One of their children was killed in an accident today. I just can’t imagine.

I should tell you all that the dates of the garage sale have been moved! I found out yesterday that the 6th/7th is the grad weekend…. and in this small town, it’s going to make a big difference to our sale! We’re aiming, tentatively, for the 20th/21st. I’ve got a huge pile of junk valuable goods in my basement for such a time as this, and with more trickling in slowly, I think we can make lots of dough! Horray! Sirena sent me an email, right out of the blue, volunteering to bake things to feed the hungry masses. Well, glory be. Thanks, Sirena. My kids are eager to man the coffee and baking table.

It seems that the garage saling community is bitterly divided about pricing. Some advocate pricing every single little candle holder; some are champions of the “Make Me An Offer” style. Here’s your chance to make yourselves heard, Readers. Vote on my poll! Convince me.

Great snakes! I was all excited about the weather on the weekend, and now it’s raining again. Shucks.

I’ve thoughtfully included a closeup of the actual piece in the above photo. It’s Shostakovich’s Prelude in C minor, Op. 12 No. 20. Note the Allegretto Furioso marking; it’s loosely translated as “Pound the daylights out of the keys until the neighbours complain.” My forearms are sore.

If you are a clever pianist type, and think this piece looks ridiculously easy, I challenge you to play it Allegretto Furioso, at 116 to the quarter, without sounding like Edvard Munch on a really bad day.

We certainly did get a lot done over this long weekend. We nearly painted the baseboards, which are eagerly waiting in our carport, but just didn’t quite. Fear not, dear readers. Their time will come.

Went to a fab East Indian place for dinner on Saturday, and dined, as ever, on the incomparable Rogan Josh. I always order it “hot,” but this weekend Satan must have been working in the kitchen, because my nose started running after one bite. Good thing I was clever enough to have brought an entire handbag full of Kleenex. They don’t call me Clever Gwen for nothing.

edit: remember to come to my Partylite candle party tomorrow, ye who art in town. Don’t forget, it’s not about buying, it’s about hanging out with friends.

second edit: Oh, Sirena. Can it be that you are not appreciating the beauty of Murray Perahia? Say it isn’t so. Click on the link, dear friend, for enlightenment.

As previously mentioned, I’ve been doing weekly menu plans, and darned if I’m not saving money. It’s remarkable. Here’s the scoop on this week:

Monday: (yesterday) Family ate at a friend’s house while I was at work
Tues: Chicken crock-pot stew
Wednesday: Chili
Thursday: Meatballs
Friday: Cajun Chicken Caesar w/Tortellini Alfredo
Saturday: Grilled burgers & hot dogs
Sunday: leftovers

Pretty basic fare this week; I’m more in the mood for spring cleaning than for cooking.

Speaking of cooking, I wasted several hours of my life last week watching “Hell’s Kitchen” on YouTube (as recommended by Char). Holy addictive show, Batman. I’m NOT a television watcher, and I was shocked at how I kept watching, and watching, and watching. I just couldn’t stop. Anyway, G.R. is some pretty rude individual, but wow! I’d love to eat in his restaurant.

Off to keep on with spring cleaning. I cleaned out the medicine cupboard today, (see?) and threw out an ENTIRE grocery bag full of expired medicines. The show-stopper was the Vicks Vapo-Rub that expired in July 1999. Whoopsy daisy.

My next cleaning stop is the linen closet, which, as you can clearly see, needs a bit of attention. I found a closing-out sale on a Bed & Bath shop here in town (attention locals! you should go!) and purchased two complete sheet sets for the children, and one single flat sheet for us. Can you believe how much sheets cost? I’m always totally flabbergasted when I look at the prices. This one flat sheet, queen size, cost $64.00. Now, I got it at 50% off, but seriously. That’s just absurd.

I’m off to work tonight, people, and I just! can’t! wait! to deal with the travelling public. Horray!

Meh.

1. P.S. I Love You — turned out to be a dud. Was v. disappointed. Gerry’s Irish accent was so off I could barely understand it at times. He sounded like… well, like a Scottish guy trying to do an Irish accent. What a bummer. Still, though. There were a couple downright funny lines in the movie, which redeemed it considerably.
2. Was v. pleased to get me some lovin’ for Mother’s Day. Mr Gwen included our new children on one of the gifts, which made me bawl like a baby.
3. Will post some soccer-kids photos soon.
4. I’ve lost my bloggy joy again. Is anyone else tired of this venue? Perhaps I’m just distracted, what with dragging everything that isn’t nailed down off to the garage sale pile, and practising piano until my fingers fall off my hands, but I do feel a little off my feed in regards to blogging. Maybe a GIVEAWAY is what we need! I’ll work on that.
5. Partylite party at my house, May 20th, 7:30! Come one, come all. There’s no problem so great that some smelly candles can’t cure. At the very least, you’ll be able to eat some spinach dip and spanakopita. Or something similar.
6. Made the enchiladas for the potluck, as planned. They turned out well. This time I experimented with doing the beef in the crock pot, to avoid messing about with searing and simmering. I must say, it turned out well. I also couldn’t be bothered to shred the beef with two forks, and ran the whole kit and caboodle through the Bosch shredder. It worked perfectly; what would have taken me a good half-hour took about 5 minutes. Perfecto!
7. I’m totally SOLD on this whole menu plan thing. I honestly think it’s saved us money, time and hassle these last two weeks! I’m going to try and keep going with it, so stay tuned. If you have absolutely nothing better to do tomorrow, you can click on over to the Blethering Place and read about what we’ll be gorging on this week.
8. I have got to break away from the point form thing. It’s just that it’s so easy.

Hope you are all having a great day!

Why do I even bother trying to be fancy?

It’s another beautiful day! I had laundry on the clothesline yesterday, and oh! what a wonderful feeling it was to take the dishtowels off the line, give them a snap and fold them into the basket. Mmm, does anything smell nicer than laundry washed with Shaklee Get Clean products, and dried on the line in the sun?

We’re starting to get our household ducks in a row for the homestudy now. An adoption Home Study is a daunting thing, let me tell you! We are blessed to have a friend who is an adoption social worker, and she came over to give us the skinny on the home study (and other adoption info), so we do feel slightly prepared. Here’s what we have done, or have yet to do, to the house:

• built the missing railing on the back deck steps (it’s only 5 steps down, so we hadn’t thought it would be an issue — but it is)
• figured out our family emergency escape route and meeting place
• tested smoke detectors
• tested fire extinguisher
• bought a real, live First Aid Kit. (“What? You mean the box of bandaids and a tube of Polysporin isn’t enough?”)
• Must still box in the breaker panel in the basement. (Exposed wires = very bad)
• mentally mapped out bedroom arrangements — we’ll have two children per bedroom, and use the extra tiny bedroom as a computer room. (BTW, if you hear of anybody who’s getting rid of bunkbeds, let me know!)
• Didn’t need to move toxic cleaners into a high cupboard, since I don’t have any at all.
• I will do some cleaning prior to the home study, but as I understand it, the Social Worker isn’t looking for a spotless house. In fact, my SW friend advised against obsessive cleaning pre-Home Study. If a house is freakishly clean, the adoption worker might be concerned about the couple’s reaction to messy children. I’m already de-cluttering for the garage sale, anyway, so hopefully things will be tidy.

We’re also starting up on the paperwork, since we think we’re close to being able to start the application! Horray!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yes, that does deserve lots of “excitement marks,” as my daughter calls them.) Quite soon, we will be getting medical forms, police checks, notarial copies made of marriage & birth certificates. . . and on and on. Just looking at the list makes me feel a combo of exhausted/impatient/excited. And we haven’t even begun yet!

Let me see…. what else is going on?

• Tomorrow I’ve got a hot date. V. pleased about that. Will wear the Little Black Dress.
• I’m going to rent P.S. I Love You tonight. Can’t, can’t wait to see Mr. Butler in all his Irish glory.
• Going to a potluck tonight for our home group. Think I will make enchiladas. This means I must immediately go to Save On.
• Getting my hair cut this afternoon.
• Decided that the garage sale will be on June 6 & 7. I’d like to do the “Make Me An Offer” type, so that we don’t have to price a billion things.
• Ran into a friend’s mother downtown yesterday, and she told me she’s got some things to donate to the garage sale. I’m still just blown away by all the support from barely-acquaintances. Whodathunk it? I don’t even know this woman’s name, and here she is, telling me she’s got a bunch of stuff for our sale. I feel so blessed.
• This is a good opportunity to say THANK YOU! to all who have purchased things from the BletherShop. We have netted several hundred dollars just from the bags and magnets. Thank you so much for your support!

I’m going to haul myself off to Save On to buy chilis and tomatillos and things like that. Hope you all have a wonderful day!