7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 95)
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What day is it? What’s going on? Where am I? I’m telling you, it’s going to take me a couple months to get into our new Fall routine. We did end up finding a good part-time school for my kindergartener to go to, but it’s meant getting up more than two hours earlier than I did on my lazy summer schedule. I think I’m still in shock. Every evening I think, “Oh, wait, that awful rising-at-the-crack-of-dawn thing we did this morning? We have to do that AGAIN? TOMORROW?” This is going to take some getting used to.
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That reminds me: I think one of the most entertaining discussion we’ve had on this blog was when I asked morning people to explain themselves to me. I thought it was hilarious how some of the commenters seemed to think that I could not possibly be being truthful about my night owl sleeping habits, whereas I had the same reaction to them. I would read the comments out loud to my husband, and then remark with confusion and awe, “Do you think they’re making this up?” Anyway, if you’re looking for an amusing discussion with two very different groups of people, that’s a great read.
— 3 —
Warning: Not tested with angry scorpions.
My son saw one of these bug vacuums on TV the other day, and he instantly understood that he’s been living an incomplete life. All his five years on earth have been a waste, a hollow shell of an existence, because he doesn’t own one of these. He mentions it at least once an hour, and every day we have to pull up the Amazon page and watch the video of it in action.
I keep trying to tell him that this is designed for people in states like Connecticut. I mean, look at those measly little bugs in the video! Has anyone even tested this on speedy scorpions or giant centipedes? I can just imagine the macabre results if he were to go after one of our gigantic tarantulas with it. I think they need to make a Texas model with the motor of an industrial vacuum cleaner, a mouth about three times as wide, and a titanium container closed with a two-pound padlock. (Though at least he didn’t want an old-fashioned one!)
— 4 —
Yo
u know how our country has a poet laureate? I feel like Texas should have a position of Complainer About the Heat Laureate (though hopefully someone could think of a more eloquent title). I would really excel at that: I am a proud sixth-generation Texan, but in the summers I spend about 80% of my mental energy contemplating how much I hate the heat. As Complainer About the Heat Laureate, I could compose clever lamentations about the weather for the governor to work into his speeches, and perhaps the newspapers could occasionally excerpt my reflections about how going outside makes you feel like you’re stuck in a bowl of hot water, or my five-step analysis proving that humans weren’t meant to live in this climate. I’m telling you, I would be such a natural at this, it may have been the reason God put me on this earth.
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Here’s an inspiring conversion story to start your weekend. It’s a video from Marcus Grodi’s show The Journey Home: Fr. Donald Calloway was raised without faith, then embarked on a crazy life that involved being deported from Japan, following the Grateful Dead, and ending up in multiple rehabilitation centers. Long story short, he had a profound conversion that led him to become a Catholic priest! (He also wrote a book about it, which I hear is excellent.) Quite a story!
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Speaking of books, I’m stuck on mine: I finished the draft. All I have left to do is finish revisions, and the ball really starts rolling: I’ll send it to my agent, he’ll offer his suggestions, then he’ll shop it to publishers. Yet I keep getting offers to do other (paid) writing projects that take up all my free time. I hate to turn down gigs that are easy and pay…and I don’t have a hard deadline to finish the book…yet I’m really anxious to finish it and move on. Any advice?
— 7 —
I need some lunch box ideas: my three-year-old is going to be in a Mother’s Day Out class with a child who has a severe peanut allergy, so PBJ’s are out for her. Considering that that was 50% of my lunch repertoire (quesadillas making up the other half), I’m going to need some suggestions. She’s not a fan of lunch meat, so turkey or ham sandwiches are out. What are some other good ideas? Thanks!
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As a mom of a kid who HAS a severe peanut allergy, I feel your pain. I LOVE peanuts! Peanut butter is my favorite…oh well. Our kids don’t like lunch meat either, go figure.
Here’s what we do:
1. Chicken nuggets!
2. Grilled cheese
3. Quesadillas – good choice!
4. Sunflower butter! It’s LIKE peanut butter but made from sunflower seeds (just buy the one that’s allergy sensitive – some are processed in plants with peanuts). Of course, this may freak out the MDO folks, haha. My allergic kid doesn’t like this anyway – he’s got a “radar” far all things peanut like. But since we’re a peanut free house, my toddler gets to enjoy it.
5. Cheese and crackers with fruit
6. mac-n-cheese
7. Yogurt w/ fruit
8. Smoothies
9. Cottage cheese (which I hate, but is a hit with the kids, I don’t know why)
10. Cold pasta salad (I just keep out the more “offending” veggies, haha)
I got lots more, haha, but I’ll stop there.
Mel recently posted..Nature Week!
I just came across a recipe for lasagna cupcakes that I thought would make a really cool lunchbox treat (http://framed-mylifeonepictureatatime.blogspot.com/2010/08/lasagna-cupcakes.html). Not sure a three year old would appreciate them, but she also had a recipe for mac’n'cheese cupcakes which most kiddos like. You could always just put some maccaroni and cheese into a small thermos. Or how about some soup or stew in the thermos. I think a cold pasta salad (maybe with tuna or chicken) would make a refreshing lunch. Some alternative sandwich fillings–tuna/chicken/or egg salad, cream cheese, butter and jelly, or smashed banana with honey.
a bagel with cream cheese and jam
quesadillas
grilled cheese sandwich
I used to live in TX and do NOT miss the heat!! I remember walking outside as far as the mailbox and my glasses getting foggy with the humidity. No fun.
Re: lunches
My son is peanut allergic and my other kids love(d) peanut butter. We have found SunButter to be a pretty good substitute. A bit more expensive, but pretty yummy. It is made from ground sunflower seeds. By the way, as a mom of allergic children, it is good of you to be careful for that child’s sake. Thanks!
I can’t bear to feed these to my own daughter, but my mom used to heat up spaghetti-os and put them in a thermos for me. The reason I mention it is that she figured out to use HOT water to preheat the thermos, then dumped it out and added the hot food. It was still toasty at lunchtime. You could use this method on anything that would go in a thermos – sky’s the limit.
Lenetta recently posted..Build a Couch – Guest Post
Jen, I really like the new look–warm, but uncluttered without looking austere.
I picked up some great lunch packing ideas here! Even though I sometimes lament my non-lunch-meat eating kid’s pickiness, it’s probably better he’s not getting all those nitrates, anyway.
Jennifer – this may have been mentioned already (105 comments!) – have you tried Soy Butter? My son has a peanut allergy, so we have been using this instead of peanut butter for years. Same color and consistency, and nearly the same taste. Works great as a substitute for PBJ’s. check the health food section of your grocery store. Here’s a link to the product we always use: http://www.soynutbutter.com/
LarryD recently posted..Happy
Regarding finishing your book: you’d be surprised how fast revisions go if you just sit down with them for about a week and just do that instead of all the other gigs. If you can get by without gigs for one week, you should do fine. At least that was my personal surprise with revising my novel. I was doing a little at a time, and it was so hard. But when I just did it when I was energized, devoted that time to it… it worked. I did half of the book in a weekend.
ABSOLUTELY go to Bubble Island!! Well, I supposed there are Bubble Islands all over the country… but everyone in around here goues out to Ann Arbor to Bubble Island for bubble tea, it’s a huge thing around here!
I recommend getting a fruit smoothie thingy… I don’t actually remember what it’s called though (I’m not a big fan of green or milk tea). The best one I ever had was strawberries, bananas, ice and yogurt, and mango stars. It was SO GOOD! I think maybe it was called strawberry-on-the-go or something
Rachel recently posted..Look Into Yourself- and Think About What You Find There
Although it appears this post wasn’t from this past friday, darn, that probably means you’ve already been here and left… oh well, Hope you had fun!!
Rachel recently posted..Look Into Yourself- and Think About What You Find There