Abundance Is....

(First I'd like to thank everyone who commented on my deliberate living post. What you all wrote was inspirational and has given me more to think about. I'm absolutely at peace with dancing to my own music, using my microwave, and sleeping in dyed sheets.*G*)

Now,

Abundance is...

Having enough to give away and never miss it.

We filled the whole Suburban today with stuff for charity and gave a nice dresser to a needy family. We aren't finished, not by a long shot, but we were cleaning first, sorting out second. There are more weekends coming up.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. Ecclesiastes 11:1-2.

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.~G.K. Chesterton

Abundance is...

Perfect weather, rain or shine.

The past two weekends were spent raking, moving, hauling, lifting, digging, bagging, and so forth. We got our entire front and back yards done! This Saturday we awoke to chilly, windy drizzle and it was just perfect because we had nothing to do outside(no yardwork). Ryan had to be at his job just before noon so we all got ready and dropped him off. We headed to Lowe's for some shelf holders and Jake's for guinea pig and dog bedding. The girls were hungry and decided on Taco Bell. Just as we were waiting for the light to change for us to turn onto that road, Mark had the brilliant idea that we needed something a bit more substantial so we headed for our favorite Tex-Mex dive. It was exactly what we needed on a gray day, very comforting and relaxing.

Today we had no plans to work in the garage but it happened. The weather, once again, was just perfect. Not too cold, not windy, sunny and mild. We didn't get hot on the west side of the house nor did we get cold fingers(except the girls when they washed some box lids). Now after hours of hard work, our garage is clean and organized with (almost)everything in its place.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin

There's nothing like biting off more than you can chew, and then chewing anyway. ~Mark Burnett

Abundance is...

Experiencing one of the Earth's most powerful and awesome events and not being hurt or scared.

We had an earthquake early this morning! Actually, what we think is that it was an aftershock from one that happened north of Oklahoma City at 3:43am(Did You Feel It?"). Mark and I were awakened at 4:45 by a series of vibrations like idling in a diesel truck but there was no noise(our bedroom doors did shake a bit). The dogs had actually got me alert a few seconds before so I felt them before Mark. The shakes woke him up. It was unnerving but we really didn't think "earthquake" until we'd got up and around later in the day.

Which would you rather have, a bursting planet or an earthquake here and there? ~John Joseph Lynch

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. ~Frederick Douglass

We're Here!!

We arrived yesterday afternoon(Sunday) at my parents home in North Carolina. Whew, what a drive! Today we went to a thrift shop for wool blazers and sweaters and I scored a gorgeous granny square afghan(pics tomorrow). I'm hoping for more treasure hunting in the coming days. We plan on meeting up with my sister-in-law at some point and a friend of my mom's with two daughters near Sarah's age. So we'll have plenty of things going on. My brother got us online with the girls' computer which helps. I can take pictures with their camera and share from here.

I'm working on another batwing shawl and I'm hoping to have a machine quilting lesson as well(I brought my fall turning twenty again quilt).

Esmeralda and Matilda

Here they are getting ready for the holidays!!! I'll be making Matilda Mouse some holiday finery soon.

Cheesy Gooey Goodness...

(Cheesy Gooey Tex-Mex Casserole, by Molly Sonier)


(Holy cow this was good)


(And it was meatless!)

First I doubled this chili gravy recipe from Homesick Texan(doubled the liquid and seasoning, not the flour and oil). I tweaked it a bit with about 1/2 teaspoon chipolte powder and about a teaspoon red wine vinegar.

Then I layered(in a 9x13 stoneware casserole) the sauce with corn tortillas, about 10 in all, 2 blocks of Cabot's 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated, 1 can fat free refried beans(just glopped by the tablespoon), about 2 cups fresh spinach, 1 cup cilantro leaves(very loosely packed). My layers went like this:

Sauce
Tortillas
Beans
Cheese
Cilantro
Tortillas
Sauce
Beans
Spinach
Cheese
Tortillas
Sauce(I didn't quite use all of it)
Beans
Cilantro
Cheese

Baked it, covered, at 350 for about 40 minutes. Slurped it up with some greek yogurt on top. Died happy(no not really, but I could have). There is just a teeny bit left for tomorrow. I may send it with Mark if he does the dishes tonight.

In other news...

We were looking SO forward to camping this weekend. Based on the events, it seems God may have been telling us "no" but we didn't listen til he stopped us in our tracks.

Mark had a bad feeling about going all week and I couldn't really get into it either. Once we got the stuff together we were excited to be getting away. We decided against taking the canoe because the Suburban was weighted down too much as it was. Due to his busy week Mark didn't get around to making reservations at the state park we wanted to visit. We got about a mile underway and Mark decided he'd better call to see if there were tent site vacancies. There were not. He pulled off the road and called 6 or 7 other state parks. Only one had sites available. We turned around to head to that park and the Suburban just died. Quit working at all. We coasted to an oil top road that lead back home and came to a stop in the woods. Car would NOT start. Mark jogged back home and drove back with jumper cables. It wasn't the battery. Would allllllmost turn over but not quite. So, we loaded all the camping equipment in his work van and drove back home. We decided to call a wrecker service to haul it home for us. Currently it is sitting in the yard near the driveway. We are unsure what we'll do with it. The repairs for this and many other "ailments" will probably run close to $1100 and there are other things wrong with it as well.

Today we went to visit friends and I was handed some leftovers from a garage sale.*G* I got a cast iron skillet, a neat-o purse, and a vintage barbie with a beeeautiful purple crocheted doily dress, and some okra and peppers!! Barbie has a photo shoot sceduled for tomorrow. Then we looked at used trucks and SUVs(we have to have something to pull the boat and haul 3-5 kids, dogs, equipment and so forth). Finally we headed to Trade Days to see what we could find to drag home! I managed to leave with an adorable(and I mean ADORABLE) crocheted mouse with a dark blue dress. She is just too sweet!! Her photo shoot is scheduled around the same time as purple barbie, so I'll have pics sometime tomorrow. The kids and I got sno-cones and we all split a large funnel cake. I don't think I've had one of those in 25 years! I also ran into a very old friend(30 years!) who works for the police department now. We caught each other up on who and what. Then I checked in with my friend who is selling my scarves, she said 3 had sold!! Woot!! I don't know which ones though. She knits the most incredible striped stocking caps to sell. They are about 5 to 6 feet long and are so cute(I need a picture of them). I wish I was a knitter but there ain't no way...

We're expecting rain tomorrow with slightly cooler temps following. It has been a wonderful fall so far with very little rain and short-sleeve weather almost every day.

The Rearranger

I am not sleeping well with the bed under the window at all(we switched the dresser and bed spots a week or so ago). Our neighbor has a shop in his backyard with spotlights on it and they shine right into our bedroom! It is worse right at the curtains so its like I have a big green glowstick above my head as I sleep. Soooo, since the girls are not here and Mark and Ryan are working, I'm going to put on my rearranger cape and get after it! Of course I have to pick up a ton of stuff first.

The girls will have to clean out both piggie cages when they get here. All of a sudden, in the last 3-4 days, we've had a fly explosion! I'm thinking some animal must've died in the pool area or across the street or something. They tend to hang around the cages and the litterboxes so we've kept them poop-scooped every day since we noticed the problem.

I've got laundry going and have swept the kitchen and utility room. I hate sweeping almost as much as I hate ironing. Bleh. Now I need to figure out dinner and I'll have gotten a lot accomplished before noon!! YEAH ME!!! I'll grocery shop later today, we're out of most of my favorite things so I have to go. Mark's check was bigger than we expected, over a car payment bigger than usual, so I can really stock us up for the winter(including new curtains for the living room and maybe our bedroom!!!).

my baby thinks she's a pig...

(Panda, Rainbow, Sundae, Shimmer, Stella, and Meadow)


(She had no clue she could jump over this fence)


(They have no fear of her at all)

In Other News...

Mark had something to do this afternoon so the kids and I are lazing around. We might head up to the Yamboree after he comes home. I'd like to take a load of stuff to Goodwill but we may wait til in the morning to do that.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!! It is just beautiful here, blue skies and low-70s! I LOVE this kind of weather, it makes getting out and doing so much easier.