This Side of Perfect

The Man Beast calls me today on his cell to tell me that he won't be home until very late.

It's up to me to make dinner.

There's only one problem -- dinner is fried chicken.

Fried chicken is the Man Beast's domain, not mine. And it seems, the children know this.

When they asked when Man Beast was coming home (they usually just call him Dad) and I told them he was going to be late they asked me, "Who's gonna cook dinner?"



Who's going to cook dinner? "I'm going to cook dinner! I am Mom after all. What are my blog readers going to think when I tell them this", I asked them. "I'll tell you what they're going to think -- they are going to think that I never feed you. And they actually have proof!"

It's time I 'fess up to you all right now.

I cannot cook fried chicken. And potatoes. Of any kind. But I swear to you -- I do cook for the kiddos and the Man Beast. Obviously the Man Beast is well fed. His mama fed hi…

It's so easy to do, actually. You begin your day with a mug of coffee and then sit down to check your email. You notice that you have a comment on your blog, so you check it out. While you're there, you check out that person's blog. Since you're checking blogs, you check your other friend's blogs. Then you get caught up in reading comments.

Ah, the comments. This is where the gravy truly lies in a blog. This is where your blog goes beyond you and becomes so much more.

And this is where I get distracted.

I was on a friend's photo blog, checking out her-world-in-pictures. I go to comment and notice that a friend of hers (who also has a photo blog) has fixed a picture for her. Wasn't that sweet? What's really sweet is that her friend did it online - for free! (Yes, she did it for her friend for free, but the photo editing program she used was free online)

So, of course I had to go check it out: Picnik

This program was made for people like me -- peop…

But my world does. This isn't arrogance speaking -- just cold, hard facts.

Take for example earlier this week when I was on my death bed. Did laundry get done? No. Did dishes get done? No. Did the cats get fed? No. (In fact, I could win Cat Mom of the Year because I almost starved all five cats to death. I meant to buy more food before I fell to my death bed. I really did. And since the kids can't drive and the store isn't close enough, they starved. But luckily, not to death. They were pretty hungry, though. Did you know that cats, when they are hungry enough, will eat saltine crackers? True story.)

Most families, when the matriarch is sick, would pitch in and do chores, make dinner, basically be a fill-in until Mom got better. Not my family. My family makes sure that the matriarch doesn't actually die. They cater to her every whim. They bring her tea and reheat her tea as many times as she requests. They bring her toast and read to her in bed.

All th…

For the past 24 hours, I have been beating a path from my bedroom to the bathroom.

I have earned yet another Mother of the Year reward. The Boy has been taking care of me and Baby Gurl. Neither child got any adult interaction yesterday aside from the occassional "Boy, can you please heat up my tea?"

Today, I'm feeling a bit better. Still very very tired and pretty dizzy. Didn't stop me from going to the bank, though. No siree. Of course, half way to the bank, I realized that I would not be going anywhere else today (maybe Church tonight, but we'll see).

Dinner will be quick and easy and oh so nutritious -- hot dogs with macaroni and cheese.

Tomorrow, I'll work on really becoming Mother of the Year. I'll go shopping, do laundry and cook, actually cook a home-cooked meal.

But right now, I'm heading back to bed for a nap.

This would have been my Saturday and this would have been why I didn't create a blog post yesterday.

I was just too stressed!

The kiddos decided that they were going to play. So, they took the ladder from Baby Gurl's bunk beds and created a bridge from the gaming chair to the couch in the den.

I saw it and I didn't say anything.

Even now, 24 hours later, I'm still irked at the whole situation.

Baby Gurl was playing on it and all the sudden I hear a 'Oh, ow!' and then she disappears into the bathroom. She's not howling, so I really don't give it much thought until I hear the Boy ask, "Are you bleeding?"

I calmly walk to the bathroom as not to scare the girl, but all the way, I'm dreading what I might find. I thought maybe she might have bitten her lip and she was bleeding. That I could handle.

What I saw, sent a shiver down my spine.

A chipped front tooth. A permanent chipped front tooth.

Teeth are a big deal to me. I have really bad teeth a…

The Boy's best friend from church is visiting. He actually called this morning and asked to come over.

Initially, I said no. And then I thought about it.

Why should The Boy be punished because I haven't been keeping up on my chores.

I told The Boy to call Boy's Friend and tell him that I'll come pick him up after I run a few errands.

Two hours after that phone call, we were finally on our way out the door. (This would be why I am notoriously late -- never fails. I lack gumption. Or maybe I just have a really bad concept of time.)

The Boy's Friend calls while we're out -- Where are you guys? Aren't you back yet?

Finally, we get home, arrangements are made and The Boy's Friend is on his way over.

Of course, with impending company, you take quick inventory of the really important things to clean. I figured taming the paper monster, telling the kids to pick up their clutter and straightening up the kitchen are good enough for a nine year old boy.

Oh, and I …

I promise that I am not being a blogging copycat. I'm not. In fact, if you go back a few posts, where I posted my blog schedule, you'll see that Thursdays are slated for Book Banter and Movies.

Today, I choose Book Banter.

Now that my moral conscience is clear, I will go on.

*ahem*

I love contemporary Christian fiction. I love reading it and I love writing it (but that's another blog post entirely...maybe around November, perhaps?) I accidental stumbled onto Christian fiction. I didn't purposely seek it out...it sought me.

Thinking back, I think my first Christian author was actually a team. The Left Behind series (by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye) was my first exposure to Christian Fiction. (Now, I realize that some of you might consider the LB series to be fact. And that might well be, but the characters in the book are fiction and therefore, the book in my opinion, is fiction).

The second exposure I had to Christian fiction was through my MIL (she's a fabul…

Do you all see this? Look at my beautiful notebook! How long have I had this? Two, three weeks? And just look!

I suppose you want to know what happened. I happened!

Seriously, if God weren't in charge, something like this probably would have happened to the children by now. They'd look like some modern-age painting -- waterlogged and runny. Can I just say right now how thankful I am that God is in charge? Amen and amen!

So, back to my notebook. I put it on my chest freezer while I made my rolls last week. I use my freezer because my kitchen was built back in the dark ages and has a counter top as large as a double sink, all the way on the other side of my kitchen away from the stove!

So, I had the notebook right there on top of my make-shift counter, across the stove, having a good ol' time. After I got the rolls in the oven ,I pulled some milk out of the freezer.

I had to move the notebook to open the freezer and pull out my milk. I placed my frozen milk on top of …

This smile makes my heart skip a beat. This smile can make all my stresses go away. This smile reminds me that after all is said and done, all really is right with my world.

This is the Man Beast. Isn't he handsome? Well, I suppose I'm somewhat biased. But even if I weren't, I'd still think he was incredibly handsome (and I'd probably be incredible jealous that he wasn't mine). But he is mine. And that smile. Oh how I love that smile.

This is this year's Father's Day picture. There are others. But this was the best. Because of that smile.

Did I mention the smile?

I just love the smile.

When I discussed my theme posting ideas, I left Saturday open. I left it open because I couldn't think of a theme, not because I wanted to give myself leeway. But I think I like having an open-ended theme.

Take for today example: I have an update about yesterday's dinner. I'm sure you want to hear about it.

You do, don'tcha?

My rolls turned out very heavy. They weren't light and fluffy. They were meaty and good. I think next time I make them, I'll be sure to put them into a cold oven so that they'll cook slower. The recipe said to bake them for 20 minutes. Mine baked for just 11 and were more than golden brown on top. Too done for Man Beast, actually.

My brownies were a hit with everyone -- but me. I really didn't care for the recipe which means that I'll experimenting with more later. I am glad everyone liked them, though. Maybe I didn't like them because I cooked? Have you ever discovered that the food you cook usually doesnt' ta…

I refuse to believe that today is any different from any other Friday based solely on the day that it happens to fall on the calendar. I'm sure many people have birthdays today and many children are going to be born today. How can today be bad?

I refuse to be superstitious.

Weekly RoundUp -- in a nutshell -- failed.

Well, no, I can't say that. VBS was awesome! It was loud and disorganized (like your's truly) but last night, we had twenty kids come to Christ! The Girl told me yesterday that she had accepted Christ into her heart last week at another VBS (why she didn't tell me, I dont' know) and The Boy recommitted his life to Christ last night. (I kind of had a feeling he would because he's been really bummed that he doesn't know Christ as well as I do. I reassurred him by saying the only way to know Christ is to spend time with Him and told him that even I hadn't been doing that as much I should. We've agreed that daily devotions together migh…

I took the kids to the Free Summer Movie program this morning with two of their friends. Coming back, I stopped by the library to return some books but they didn't open until noon. I was hungry, so I dropped the friends off and come home to fix the three of us lunch.

After lunch, I went to the library to return the books and movies we got last week. We have two big bags full of a new batch of books and movies. Then we went to Kroger.

I should have stayed home.

By the time we got to the store, it was pouring. By the time I walked out of the store with two items and two kids (no more, no less), the sky had opened up and it was a solid sheet of water.

I got wet.

I'm still wet.

And it is because I'm wet that I write this blog entry off line. (I live in small town American where, apparently, when it rains, all forms of life (both domestic and electronic) shut down.)

I promised to blog regularly and I'm going to keep to my word. I have decided that to help me do this, I'…

It's my birthday and I declare creative license to change my blog template at will.

But I have a good reason.

Honest.

I needed more room. Two columns just wasn't cuttin' it.

So I opted for three.

How do you like it?

Okay, so I've refrained from being totally obnoxious on the message boards about my birthday. I've refrained from my not-so-subtle countdown ticker.

But this is my so I can be as obnoxious as I want --

I'm done. (See, if you allow me to be obnoxious, I won't be...it's when you prohibit me from being obnoxious that I feel the need to be very obnoxious)

I started out my birthday on a great food -- I woke the Man Beast up late! He declined lunch so I sent him to work hungry. He did take ten bottles of water to work though, so I'm not a complete failure.

I'm finishing my first mug of coffee, sitting on the couch, listening to Tom and writing to you all of you. (I have to interject here: if you need some spiritual boost during the week or don't attend a home church, I encourage you to tune into Tom Dooley and Master Media and listen to hour segments of 'good stuff'. He doesn't brow beat but he doesn't have a lot of fluff in his podcasts ei…

I've promise and I've promise and I've promised to blog about my household notebook.

Well, it's time to make good on my promises.

I will include links where I can to the guts of my notebook. They'll be posted throughout so be on the look out. (Please Note: Everything that I'm posting is free to use on a personal level. I'm not promoting anything for personal gain. All those who know me know that when I see a good thing, I want to share it with the world. These are all good things.)

The Story Behind the Story:

Back in the day, when I was homeschooling, I had a wonderful network of friends. (Actually, I still have these friends -- we just talk about stuff other than homeschooling.) One of the common themes of various message boards that I became a part of was getting it all done. Some of my friends are more organized than...well, me so I hung onto their every word. Even after I stopped homeschooling, I still needed help so I went on a search to create m…