I'm afraid I've been thinking-

a dangerous pass time, I know.....

So, in contemplating the massive project that packing my house will be, I have been assessing all our "stuff". I'm really not a hoarder. Frankly, I don't have enough storage in this house to be much of a hoarder, and my mad cleaning/organsizing skilz just don't jive with it.

However...

I do have one area of my life that is pretty unorgansized and very messy.
And it's an area I am in and out of every.single.day.

My recipes.
Mike calls it my "filing system".
Be sure to use air quotes when you say that.
Oh, and roll your eyes while your at it, too.

Here's the deal:
Besides all my regular recipe books, I was given a recipe collection book at one of my bridal showers, everyone there contributed. I love it.
(my local besties should know that my beloved breadstick recipe is actually from
Anneke---one of my oldie moldie school day chums. Hi, Anneke!!)
I don't use all of the recipes all the time, but it's where the magic started.
So, it is also where all of the recipes I have collected over the nearly 17 years I have been married are residing.
There are A LOT of them. A LOT.
And many of them have sentimental value, actually most do....the paper they are written on, the handwriting that belongs to the friend who wrote it down for me, when I started making a particular recipe....the list goes on. Let's just say I cook/bake from the heart.

The dilemma:
I'm the only one who can find anything in the "filing system"....
I know exactly what color the scrap of paper is, whats been spilled or sprinkled on it, what category it's under....plus, no one else shows "the system" the proper respect--all the pages are falling out, People! You can't just willy nilly pick it up and start leafing through! No! It's a delicate balance between me and my "filing system". We know each other very well, been through some tough times together, created some good stuff.

What I am saying is this--there's no way I could part with my beloved "filing system", it will most likely need to be buried with me.
But, what I am considering is making it a little more accessible to others. I'm speaking mostly of my family (the kiddos specifically), but I was wondering if I should create another blog--

farmgirl food

perhaps, and put them all there.

Couple things:
First of all, I have never professed to be an amazing gourmet chef--but I can hold my own in the kitchen. I'm more of just a plain old good food kinda cook.
Secondly, we all know that I can't do anything without a whole lotta rambling, so I'm thinking I'll give the story behind the recipe and all that good stuff.
And lastly, we all know it will be mostly treats. Nuthin' wrong with treats!

So.....whatchathink?

And before Sarah reads this
and comes over here
to beat some sense into
me, telling me to focus on
packing and not
take on any more projects!...
(she told me today that
I was crazy to
consider getting strawberry
jam made before the move)....
I'm talking about doing this once I am
settling in my new abode.
:o)

Job Security.

The very best form of job security, that I know of, as a mother, is to get sick for a few days.
I'm not talking about feeling a bit under the weather,
I'm talking about in bed for 36 hours straight.
I had a little run in with strep throat...I'm feeling VERY confident that my job is secure.

And, by the by, can we talk for a moment about strep?
First of all let's just say---IT STINKS!
I'm not a regular strep getter.
I have only had it twice in my whole live long life--once three years ago and this week.
--kinda felt something coming on Saturday night, little worse Sunday morning, pretty darn crummy by Sunday night, like a truck hit me and parked on my throat Monday morning (insert start of antibiotics here-thank you!) Horrible all day Monday, little better Tuesday, feeling good today--
That's plenty for me, thankyouverymuch.

Now, back to my job...
I don't mean to say that I am completely indispensable,
but, it appears that I am completely indispensable.
Mike and the kids function without me much better when they have a little warning, like when I go away for my sister weekend.
But, catch them on the unawares and it's tough on the troops.

Monday was the day that didn't exist for me--
--I was pretty miserable--
it was also the last day of spring break for the kids.
Mike was working so the kids fended for themselves.
Adam was assigned dishes for the day instead of just his normal 'dinner dishes duty'.
When he came to tell me goodnight on Monday he said to me,
"Wow, Mom. You must do a lot of dishes during the day."
Yes, Dear, I certainly do.

Two things you should know: #1 we are dishwasherless at the moment-so, yes, lot's of dishes. #2 Mike went first thing Monday morning and purchased paper products to use while I was down. So, yes, still lot's of dishes even just with the dishes to make the meals....tell me about it!

Yesterday I was still feeling under the weather, but good enough to get 'must do' things done,
like, the laundry (lest I be buried alive by it today).
So, I would climb out of bed, switch the laundry, fold a little, then go lay down again.
A slow process but, I got it done.
But that was about it.

When Adam got home from school (he's wave 1 on the return) he scavenged around for a bit and then asked if he could make a treat.
Sure, I said. Just clean up the mess.
While his cookies were baking he came back to see me and said,
"Wow, Mom. You sure do make a lot of treats for us."
Yes, Dear, I certainly do.

Elsie must of come and given me a gazillion hugs and asked every time if I was feeling better yet. Audrey assured me numerous times before she went to school that she would handle everything when she got home, that I should just take it easy. And Mike, well, I think it really stresses him out to have me not available.

So, after much rambling and nonsense the moral of the story is...
If you really want to feel appreciated and loved,
--don't wait for Mother's Day--
just get strep and you, too, can know how very secure your job is.
Because, let's face it....
The only people who want our jobs is us.
Yes, us...ladies crazy enough to birth all these babies and then spend the rest of every waking moment of our lives taking care of the rugrats, a house and that bigger kid-version guy we fell madly in love with and married.
Yep, that's the life I chose....
And I love it.
:0)

plus, if you have a really
nice friend that finds out
you are sick
she'll make you
homemade chicken noodle soup
....just sayin'

David Bowie said it best....

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
ch-ch-changes.

There.
Now that we have some background music going for us,
let's chat.

Changes.
Big ones.

I have had this quote for years and years
-honestly I don't remember where I got it,
but I love it:

When you come to the edge of all the light you have known,
and are about to step out into darkness,
Faith is knowing one of two things will happen;
there will be something to stand on,
or you will be taught to fly.

Well, my friends, I'm not exactly stepping into darkness.
I know there will be something to stand on....
but,
I'm hoping this little farmgirl fam will spread their wings and soar.

Once upon a blog post,
a couple summers back,
I had this to say at the end of my Idaho visit:

What can I say?
I just love this place.
It is what makes me...Me.
This place, and all the people there, are what made me Farmgirl.
(thank you Robyn for recognizing it)
And I could not be more grateful.
~
Going home is imperative.
Making sure my children's roots run all the way back to this Idaho farmland is one of the most important things I will ever do.

Well, one of the most important things
I will ever do is going to be a whole lot easier
come the beginning of June....
here goes....
We are leaving the St. G.
We are moving back to that Idaho farmland.

Me and Mikey and the punks are heading north.
To a house just up the road from my parents.
It's a mixed bag of emotions...
but, mostly it's nice to know that
we are doing just exactly what we should be.
We are blessed and life is good.
:o)

And by the by,
I'm pretty sure
that I am going
to need to increase
my fluid intake
dramatically over the
next 2+ months...
Many a tear was shed
just writing this
silly little post.
:'(

I'm pooped....

seriously,
who knew it could be so exhausting just thinking about all the things I need to do?
Because, I certainly haven't accomplished much this week.
So, ya, apparently my thought process is so profound that it can actually wear me right out.
Amazing.
On the bright side: the boomerang SEP week is coming to a close- this go 'round hasn't bugged me so much, it's just weird to have the wee ones home in the very middle of the day and only one more day until the Lake to Lake relay race, I really have not done any hard core training for this...oh, who am I kidding? When do I ever do any hard core training for anything???
.....Anyhoo, time for me to shuffle off to Buffalo and see if I can't get a kid or two to cooperate with me and hit the hay without much of a fight so this tired old lady they call mother can go to bed early tonight.
Peace Out.
:)