Well... here I am about to take a HUGE plunge. At least it's huge to me. I'm going back to school. Mind you most will be done online and it's only 2 classes a semester but seeing how it's been 33 years since I've done any schooling, I'm terrified. See, back in the day I was one of those students who didn't take college prep type classes, but did the basics of high school while I never cracked a book and yet pulled decent grades. I was the kid that the mom would ask, "Do you have any homework today?" and I'd answer, "No, did it at school." Sometimes I actually DID do it at school, actually if it didn't get done at school, it just wasn't happening. Period. It didn't seem to affect my grades or bring concern to my parents and sure not to me at the time.
Yes, I could have went to college IF I had wanted to. I didn't want to at the time. There were several factors in my making that determination for my life as an all wise teenager with wisdom beyond her years (sarcasm here). After all, I was "in love". My high school sweetheart (just as brilliant as I was BTW) also had the same idea that love somehow trumps everything life can throw your way. It was a bit later when we both realized that sometimes reality isn't what you thought it was.
So, what factors prevented me? Well, factor #1: I thought I was smarter than all the adults who told me not to get married first thing out of school. Factor #2: Love isn't always what you think it is, especially with all the wisdom of a 17 year old with raging hormones and way smarter than her parents (and all other adults). Factor #3: I was brainwashed by television that life would put me living in a house with a white picket fence with 2.5 smiling children who didn't misbehave greeting my 9-5 businessman husband with a kiss each day with dinner on the table in our perfect house having a perfect life where all problems could be solved in half an hour (minus the time for commercial interruptions). Factor #4: I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up besides a wife and mother. Factor #5: I was absolutely terrified of what my idea of going to college meant thus avoided it with every ounce of my being.
What was going on in my head to make me think a college education was so terrifying? Being alone. Yup, alone. Being the brilliant teenager I was I'm sure you're wondering what was I thinking? In retrospect I'm wondering the same darn thing! Most young adults can't wait to get out on their own, explore and make a life without adult supervision, after all, they are now the adults, right? Not this girl... nope. It was easier to take a chance and play adult than going to college and actually being entirely responsible for myself. Yup, the idea of the picket fence and perfect house, family, blah, blah, blah seemed much safer than going to college, having to take care of myself alone, and then actually make a life with a degree of some kind on my own. After all, there'd be expectations if I went to college. I didn't think I could live up to them, so I didn't. It was way easier I thought to get married, have kids and live happily ever after. Needless to say, I got educated. No degree, but plenty of battle scars and stretch marks.
You know what's really hard? Admitting defeat and having to tell your parents "You were right." Yup, that sucks. Especially when Mr. Wonderful wasn't the 9-5 hero you thought he was and kids with not so smiling peanut butter faces and grimy hands living in a trailer is what you get. Worse still is having it all fall apart and having to take those peanut butter faces with you to live with your parents. I'm also a slow learner... I had to do that twice.
Eventually I figured some stuff out, met a decent guy and although we don't have a 9-5 life and a picket fence, we do okay. I just never in those 33 years since high school had another opportunity to go back to school. I still haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up either, but I'm closer than I was back then because now I know what I don't want to be when I grow up.
Regretful.
Yes, everyone has some regrets, it's just the process of life. It's part of learning what's important and what's not. It's also the price we pay for not listening to those older and wiser. I'm still learning some of this stuff and my ego gets in my way and causes all sorts of trouble sometimes, but I hope I've learned enough to avoid some avoidable regrets. That's part of the free degree you get from the school of Life & Hard Knocks, whether you purposely enrolled or not.
So my new adventure is a program to prepare me to pursue a degree of one kind or another. It's called Pathway. It includes three 14 week semesters where I'll be taking one academic and one religion course per term to complete the program. I then can take classes from BYU-Idaho for a reduced rate that's cheaper than the local community college.
My goal is to complete the program. I'm sure that doesn't sound hard. To me it's going to be a big challenge because for the last 33 years every day of my life can be explained as "flying by the seat of my pants". I've had no real routine or schedule with the exceptions of times I've been in the workforce, but that's been years ago. Other than going to church on Sundays I have no day to day requirements that give structure to my life, and there is a two-year-old terrorist in our house every other week whom I love to the moon and back (but he's still a terrorist). I've never really completed anything in my life since high school, with the exception of pregnancies (you kind of have no choice in completing those). I've been really good at starting things, but not so good at finishing things.
So, completing the program to me is a big deal. I need to attend weekly student gatherings and maintain a B average or better to move through the program and have the blessings of paid tuition. On my own I could probably manage that (it's only 5 credit hours per term), but with a family and absolutely no self-discipline I'm concerned about it. We all have to be in a routine of some kind to pull this off. Fortunately I do have family support (not sure about the terrorist). It's a now or never thing, as I'm not sure there will ever be another opportunity or time for me to do this. I'm excited but terrified.
We'll see... classes start Monday.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
PAT'S FRESH BAKED BREAD
I don't know about you, but for me I can't think of anything that smells as good as baking bread! My house smells amazing right now! Just popped these beauties out of the oven!
The recipe is very easy. It only requires 1 Tbsp. or 1 packet of yeast, NO eggs, etc. so it's easy on the budget. I prefer using bread flour but I've gotten good results from all purpose flour too. I use a stand mixer but if you don't have one don't worry! It's a little more time consuming but still will turn out fine. My family goes crazy for this stuff... and then I made them some honey butter! OH MY!!! Now they expect this all the time!
Here's my bread recipe:
Pat's Cheap & Easy Bread Recipe
2-1/2 c. warm water
1/4 c. sugar or honey
1 Tbsp. yeast (or 1 packet)
1/4 c. oil
2 tsp. salt
6-7 c. all purpose or bread flour
Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water and allow to rest 10 minutes until it's foaming.
In a mixing bowl combine salt and 3-4 c. of flour. Add the oil and the yeast mixture to the flour and mix well. (If using a stand mixer change to the dough hook now) Gradually add additional flour until a nice ball of dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Remove dough to a lightly greased surface and knead lightly and form into a ball. Place the dough into a large greased bowl and turn dough so top has grease on it. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until double. Put dough out on lightly oiled surface and "punch down", knead lightly a minute or so then divide dough in half. Shape each half into a loaf and put in lightly oiled loaf pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise double. Preheat oven to 375F and bake on center rack for about 30 minutes. If desired lightly butter the tops of the loaves and turn out of the pans to cool on a wire rack. The bread will keep fine on the counter for a day or two but for longer storage refrigerate it. Makes 2 loaves.
Here's my bread recipe:
Pat's Cheap & Easy Bread Recipe
2-1/2 c. warm water
1/4 c. sugar or honey
1 Tbsp. yeast (or 1 packet)
1/4 c. oil
2 tsp. salt
6-7 c. all purpose or bread flour
Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water and allow to rest 10 minutes until it's foaming.
In a mixing bowl combine salt and 3-4 c. of flour. Add the oil and the yeast mixture to the flour and mix well. (If using a stand mixer change to the dough hook now) Gradually add additional flour until a nice ball of dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Remove dough to a lightly greased surface and knead lightly and form into a ball. Place the dough into a large greased bowl and turn dough so top has grease on it. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until double. Put dough out on lightly oiled surface and "punch down", knead lightly a minute or so then divide dough in half. Shape each half into a loaf and put in lightly oiled loaf pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise double. Preheat oven to 375F and bake on center rack for about 30 minutes. If desired lightly butter the tops of the loaves and turn out of the pans to cool on a wire rack. The bread will keep fine on the counter for a day or two but for longer storage refrigerate it. Makes 2 loaves.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Jewelry Organizer Tutorial
I just like a bird I can't resist 'shiny stuff'. All that glitters
isn't gold though... it's usually gold or silver plated or just good old
fashioned plastic beads. Whatever the material I just like it.
I suppose I'm becoming a collector... or an addict possibly since dear husband said to me the other day "Why do you need all this stuff? You never wear any of it." Well... I wear it to church sometimes and I always wear earrings (unless I'm sick in bed dying) and there are always those expensive trips to Walmart ya know... Yep, that's pretty much it... I NEED it to go to Walmart. I refuse to become one of the "People of Walmart" wearing my pj's or waaaay too small underwear while forgetting my pants but remembering my fuzzy slippers, and a wife-beater shirt. Yep I NEED all this stuff to avoid a paparazzi!!! BTW have you seen the "People of Walmart"???? www.peopleofwalmart.com (be forwarned, it's NOT pretty, but it's great for hours of entertainment!)
To make a long story short I have a growing collection that is getting harder to store or at least find what I'm looking for. Since I'm borderline OCD... okay, I admit it... Queen of OCD, I NEED to have all my stuff in order. I NEED other peoples stuff to be in order too but that's for another post.
I had one of those cutesy little hanging organizers with all the clear little pockets for all my baubles but my collection 'outgrew' it and I just needed to do something else. Necessity is the mother of invention and this evil genius has a plan....
Of course it must be inexpensive AND beautiful... can't have no ugly stuff to hang all my pretty stuff on, and since I have NO money, I'll use up some odds and ends I have on hand.
I used a piece of pine board it's about a 1"x4" This one was about 7
feet long so it needed to be cut smaller to fit in my closet when it was
completed. I used a 20" long section for this project.
Dear husband always wants to 'help', so I let him cut the board for me. He cut a total of 3 for me because I have big plans :) (you can make yours longer or shorter)
To make it pretty I decided to decoupage (Mod
Podge) some scrapbook paper to the board before getting started on the
functional stuff.
After the sticky stuff was dry and my board was now beautiful I also needed to gather a few tools and lots of little bits of hardware - a hammer, awl, needle nose pliers, a ruler (or tape measure), some picture hanging supplies, eye screws and cup hooks
Then I got out my handy-dandy ruler and measured so I could space the hangers on the back and all my hooks evenly
I made two rows with the eye hooks and staggered them - I will be hanging earrings on these.
I then did the same along the bottom edge with all the little cup hooks. My necklaces will hang on these. By the way... my fingers got pretty sore twisting all those little hooks in. I had to take a few breaks and also used the pliers some of the time.
Next I put some hangers into the wall in my closet and hung it up...
And I went from this tangled mess....
To this organized beauty!
This cost about $4 for all the little eye hooks and cup hooks when all was said and done but it was so much cheaper than buying something ready made, practical and workable for my particular needs. I've used this for a few months now and wanted to let you know it is working very well for me... I've also filled it up now and thinking about doing another one. I'm pleased with the results and happy with the functionality.
I suppose I'm becoming a collector... or an addict possibly since dear husband said to me the other day "Why do you need all this stuff? You never wear any of it." Well... I wear it to church sometimes and I always wear earrings (unless I'm sick in bed dying) and there are always those expensive trips to Walmart ya know... Yep, that's pretty much it... I NEED it to go to Walmart. I refuse to become one of the "People of Walmart" wearing my pj's or waaaay too small underwear while forgetting my pants but remembering my fuzzy slippers, and a wife-beater shirt. Yep I NEED all this stuff to avoid a paparazzi!!! BTW have you seen the "People of Walmart"???? www.peopleofwalmart.com (be forwarned, it's NOT pretty, but it's great for hours of entertainment!)
To make a long story short I have a growing collection that is getting harder to store or at least find what I'm looking for. Since I'm borderline OCD... okay, I admit it... Queen of OCD, I NEED to have all my stuff in order. I NEED other peoples stuff to be in order too but that's for another post.
I had one of those cutesy little hanging organizers with all the clear little pockets for all my baubles but my collection 'outgrew' it and I just needed to do something else. Necessity is the mother of invention and this evil genius has a plan....
Of course it must be inexpensive AND beautiful... can't have no ugly stuff to hang all my pretty stuff on, and since I have NO money, I'll use up some odds and ends I have on hand.
Dear husband always wants to 'help', so I let him cut the board for me. He cut a total of 3 for me because I have big plans :) (you can make yours longer or shorter)
After the sticky stuff was dry and my board was now beautiful I also needed to gather a few tools and lots of little bits of hardware - a hammer, awl, needle nose pliers, a ruler (or tape measure), some picture hanging supplies, eye screws and cup hooks
Then I got out my handy-dandy ruler and measured so I could space the hangers on the back and all my hooks evenly
This cost about $4 for all the little eye hooks and cup hooks when all was said and done but it was so much cheaper than buying something ready made, practical and workable for my particular needs. I've used this for a few months now and wanted to let you know it is working very well for me... I've also filled it up now and thinking about doing another one. I'm pleased with the results and happy with the functionality.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
It's Complicated
My life is somewhat simple, but… it is also complicated. Let’s just
say “I have experience” in general. I’m 51 years old…. yeah, I know. I
don’t believe it either. But here I am… 51, like it or not. I don’t feel
51, but the numbers do not lie. Acceptance is a hard pill to swallow.
Here we are… a new decade in my life and new adventures. This blog is
one of those new adventures for me. Although I’ve dabbled with blogging
a little in the past, it’s only been that… dabbling. I’m a “grown-up”
now, so it’s time for me to be more serious about this. With all of
these years behind me I’m sure somewhere along the way I’ve learned a
thing or two worth sharing, and since I’m not dead yet I’m still
learning stuff that is probably worth sharing too.
I grew up in rural Michigan… the farmland part not the woodsy part although I’ve spent time in both. My Mom (bless her) pretty much raised my brother and I on her own 5 days a week anyway, and my Dad (truck driver) was home on the weekends. They shared 1 car between them and we lived 2 miles from the closest neighbor who had children our ages. How my mother survived being away from civilization with two uncivilized children is beyond me , but she is saintly like that… and resourceful. A lot of that has rubbed off on me. I raised three boys pretty much on my own for their early years… I can proudly say they are all respectable adults, they still have all their limbs and digits… somehow we all survived. so… yeah, I have some skills… or at least some insights and wisdom to share that someone, somewhere might find helpful in some small way. I hope this blog can express that.
In 1998 I found myself in some self-inflicted unpleasant circumstances and I transplanted myself to Alabama. Can anyone say culture shock? It was quite a transition but that being said, you couldn’t drag me back to Michigan to live. This is where it’s at. In the South Baby!!! People don’t say “You aren’t from around here are you?” to me any more. I’ve assimilated well and talk with the same twang that the locals do. Sure, I’ve still got a little different terminology, but my twang has it all covered now days and most folks can’t tell I wasn’t born here. It’s good to be home. ROLL TIDE!
My husband and I just celebrated 15 years together. We are a blended family. Between us we have 5 children (4 living) ranging from 25-40years old, and 9 grandchildren ranging from 2-18 years old. Our children are spread across three different states. It’s been quite interesting since my husband raised girls and I raised boys up until we blended this little family. He got to experience first hand how different boys are as my youngest was 10 when we got married. All I can say is God knew what he was doing by giving me boys… I could have never raised girls (hmmm…this sounds like a possible future blog post). Things haven’t always been smooth sailing and we’ve had some challenges along the way, but we’re good, God has blessed us and we are still together.
Not too long ago, one of my adult children moved back home… with a two year old. Apparently the good Lord felt I missed a few lessons on parenthood so he blessed me with this little one for my “refresher course”. It’s all good though. We have a lot of fun and I find I have a lot more patience for grandchildren than I had for my own. After all, aren’t grandchildren the reward for not killing your own? We have a good time, but it’s not always easy. In many ways I’ve been thrust back into those years of dealing with diapers, spills, stepping on toys in the middle of the night and all the other things that go with having little ones (Thank goodness he’s still too little for Legos!). His Papa and I are adjusting. It’s great!
So all this being said I want this to be a blog other women can relate to no matter what season of life they find themselves in. I’d like to throw in some homemaking skills, recipes, family relationships, holiday ideas and whatever else might get slung out of my brain and heart. I hope you find the time you spend here helpful, fun and somewhere you’d like to share with your friends and visit again soon.
I grew up in rural Michigan… the farmland part not the woodsy part although I’ve spent time in both. My Mom (bless her) pretty much raised my brother and I on her own 5 days a week anyway, and my Dad (truck driver) was home on the weekends. They shared 1 car between them and we lived 2 miles from the closest neighbor who had children our ages. How my mother survived being away from civilization with two uncivilized children is beyond me , but she is saintly like that… and resourceful. A lot of that has rubbed off on me. I raised three boys pretty much on my own for their early years… I can proudly say they are all respectable adults, they still have all their limbs and digits… somehow we all survived. so… yeah, I have some skills… or at least some insights and wisdom to share that someone, somewhere might find helpful in some small way. I hope this blog can express that.
In 1998 I found myself in some self-inflicted unpleasant circumstances and I transplanted myself to Alabama. Can anyone say culture shock? It was quite a transition but that being said, you couldn’t drag me back to Michigan to live. This is where it’s at. In the South Baby!!! People don’t say “You aren’t from around here are you?” to me any more. I’ve assimilated well and talk with the same twang that the locals do. Sure, I’ve still got a little different terminology, but my twang has it all covered now days and most folks can’t tell I wasn’t born here. It’s good to be home. ROLL TIDE!
My husband and I just celebrated 15 years together. We are a blended family. Between us we have 5 children (4 living) ranging from 25-40years old, and 9 grandchildren ranging from 2-18 years old. Our children are spread across three different states. It’s been quite interesting since my husband raised girls and I raised boys up until we blended this little family. He got to experience first hand how different boys are as my youngest was 10 when we got married. All I can say is God knew what he was doing by giving me boys… I could have never raised girls (hmmm…this sounds like a possible future blog post). Things haven’t always been smooth sailing and we’ve had some challenges along the way, but we’re good, God has blessed us and we are still together.
Not too long ago, one of my adult children moved back home… with a two year old. Apparently the good Lord felt I missed a few lessons on parenthood so he blessed me with this little one for my “refresher course”. It’s all good though. We have a lot of fun and I find I have a lot more patience for grandchildren than I had for my own. After all, aren’t grandchildren the reward for not killing your own? We have a good time, but it’s not always easy. In many ways I’ve been thrust back into those years of dealing with diapers, spills, stepping on toys in the middle of the night and all the other things that go with having little ones (Thank goodness he’s still too little for Legos!). His Papa and I are adjusting. It’s great!
So all this being said I want this to be a blog other women can relate to no matter what season of life they find themselves in. I’d like to throw in some homemaking skills, recipes, family relationships, holiday ideas and whatever else might get slung out of my brain and heart. I hope you find the time you spend here helpful, fun and somewhere you’d like to share with your friends and visit again soon.
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