Monthly Archives: January 2009

>Things to do on a "snow" day

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  • Feed bunnies, turn on TV.
  • Read School Closings crawl. Resist temptation to cheer loudly.
  • Give Amigo the news.
  • Attempt to sleep a little longer (easier said than done).
  • Turn on coffeemaker and computer.
  • Plug in the crockpot with chili for supper.
  • Send Husband on his way with the observation that our indoor-outdoor thermometer doesn’t handle double digit negatives: the negative sign is where the tens place is. It may say 14 degrees, but it’s really 14 below zero.
  • Override thermostat program to keep house warm enough for people today.
  • Watch the Early Show (Weather Dude Dave is in Green Bay and looks c-c-cold!).
  • Start the breadmaker. Plain white bread sounds right today.
  • Make oatmeal for kiddo.
  • Change bunny litter boxes.
  • Start a laundry load: napkins and towels.
  • Take Twitter, blog, and Plurk breaks!
  • Make lunch, watch news.
  • Take a few phone calls.
  • Slice and serve the fresh bread with butter and (homemade) jelly.
  • Stir chili – wow, the house smells good!
  • Move napkins and towels to dryer.
  • Check in with CNN and The Weather Channel
  • Take another blog break!

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>Action!

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>That’s the word.
Thought, creativity, ideas: those are the easy parts. Taking a deep breath and putting the ideas into action is much, much harder. That’s what I need to do.
I was reading a column on Work it Mom about doing a closet “cleanse.” There are several ways to approach this, and my closet needs a major cleanse. So does Amigo’s. La Petite’s probably does, too, but none of the others matter in the Action goal: just mine. Action means I’ll choose a plan for cleaning the closet, purging it of clothes I no longer wear, and organizing what’s left. When? I don’t know, but that’s just one example.
We had a surprise (sort of) day off from school a few days ago, and I took part of the day to clean the kitchen, and I mean really cleaned it. Scrubbed the stove, cleaned a few refrigerator shelves, rearranged part of the tiny counter space to make snack baskets and phone chargers more accessible. I baked bread and then cleaned the breadmaker inside and out. I wish I had a cover for it so it wouldn’t get so dusty – wait! Action! I used a pretty towel to cover it. It’s a good temporary fix, a frugal choice (no $ spent), and it’ll keep the breadmaker cleaner between uses.
I hope to have more days like this, days when I can take on a small project and finish it. Each time I take action on something at home or at school, I can feel successful.
So here goes, the word for 2009: Lights, Camera, Action!!

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>Interview me!

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>The Good Flea had an interview posted on her blog, and I couldn’t resist. I joined in. The questions are hers; the answers are mine.

1. You’re a composter. How did your gardening career start and what’s your favorite thing to grow?

We lived in a small duplex with a plot behind the house that measured about 2′ by 8′. I grew tomatoes and beans because they grew pretty much straight up and didn’t need much space. Now that I have more space, I still grow tomatoes and beans, but I’ve added peppers, broccoli, spinach, and several kinds of lettuce. Oh, and chives, green onions, and a few other herbs like basil and thyme. I hope the zucchini has a better season next summer; I hardly had any last year.

2. Living in Wisconsin, I’m guessing you have a favorite stew or chili recipe. Where did you get it and why is it your favorite? Do you put spaghetti noodles in your chili? Because … ew.

Wisconsin chili is unique in that way: we like to put noodles in it. I prefer elbow mac or shells to spaghetti in mine. In fact, I made a batch of chili today because it was so cold outside! It made the house smell wonderful, so I baked bread to make it feel warmer and smell even better.

3. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Wait. No. I mean, what grade do you teach and why did you choose to go into teaching?

I started out as a music teacher and then decided that I really wanted to teach in a regular classroom. After teaching in day care and preschools and eventually moving into elementary school, regular classroom teaching is still my passion. If I make a move in the future, it would likely be to a virtual school, where I would guide the parents who act as learning coaches for their children.

4. Can you name all seven dwarfs without cheating?

Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, Grumpy, Doc, and Bashful, of course. No problem. Who was that pale teenager who showed up at their cottage after she ran away from home?

5. How did you and your husband meet?

We were college sweethearts. Our 25th anniversary is coming up this summer. Wow!

The RULES of the interview game:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

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>Warm on the inside, water mains breaking on the outside

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>The outdoor thermometer reades -1.1. Yes, 1 degree and a tenth below zero, before wind chill. The heater is cranking out warm air, and I can feel it sucking my paycheck in with each degree of warmth it adds to the room. Mornings have been even colder. One of our oldest school building suffered a water main break in the bitter cold earlier this week.
My kitchen is drafty. My classroom is drafty. I dress in layers to work indoors!!
And….(drumroll, please) I eat oatmeal for breakfast.
The children I teach don’t always have a chance for a warm breakfast. Several depend on school breakfasts. While it’s nutritious and often delicious (I love the smell of cinnamon toast in the morning!), it’s not the same as warm cereal at the kitchen table.
As the temperature drops, I worry about kids being warm enough, too. Do they have gloves and mittens? Sweaters? Hats or hoods? In this weather, even the most die-hard Cool Teenagers will wear their warm layered clothing.
I work with some incredibly generous people. When a student needed shoes in October, she had several pair to choose from within hours. A family was displaced by fire, and typical of working poor, they had no insurance. A teacher contacted a friend with an unused set of bunk beds and put out an all-call for sheets. Less than a week after the fire, two young boys were no longer sleeping on the floor.
If you’re making resolutions or setting goals in these hard economic times, please make sharing part of your plan. Whether you’re buying an extra can of soup for the food pantry or dropping coins in a red kettle, people need you.

How did this all come from oatmeal, you ask? Parent Bloggers Network has teamed up with The Quaker Oats Company to spread the word about the Start with Substance campaign to donate up to one million bowls of oatmeal to those in need. Go to www.startwithsubstance.com for more information.

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by The Quaker Oats Company. This is making me hungry; bring out the raisins and the cinnamon!

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>My Seven Favorite Kitchen Gadgets

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>Heidi tagged me with the ever popular Seven Things meme. I could spontaneously come up with seven random and useless facts, or I could write an entire series like Bubbly Thorp did, or…well, how about this angle?

I’d rather bake than cook, but I end up doing the majority of the cooking chore because I’m the first one home from work on weekdays. Here are my favorite gadgets to get the evening meal on the table.

1. The crock pot! Chili, soup, stew, or casserole, it can simmer all day while I’m teaching. When I get home, I add the noodles or the dumplings, and it’s ready to serve by 5:30. The aroma when I walk in the door? Priceless.
2. Bread maker! I’m on my third. I wore out the first two. Whether I’m making a mix or baking from scratch, it’s a great time saver. I must learn to knead dough on my own some day, but for now, the bread machine is my friend.
3. Immersion blender. I don’t use it as often as the top two, but it’s a great tool. I can stick it in the crock pot (see #1) after tomatoes or potatoes have been simmering all day, and voila! Creamy soup. I used it to mash potatoes on Thanksgiving and Christmas because it’s so handy and easy to clean.
4. Mixer and/or MixMaster. I enjoy baking, and these two are my assistants in putting many doughs together. Cookies, brownies, quick breads, you name it, they would take much longer if I attempted to mix them by hand. the handheld mixer is more than 20 years old and still going strong. The MixMaster is a hand-me-down from my Mother-In-Law, so I don’t know how old it is. I’m glad she passed it on to me; I don’t think I would have bought one on my own, since I didn’t know how useful a MixMaster can be until this one stepped into my kitchen.
5. My coffee grinder is a luxury, and I enjoy it immensely. I can’t wait to grind my Obama Blend for the Inauguration!
6. Food processor! I use this for garden goodies. I’m still getting to know its blades and its idiosyncrasies. Remember the pepper mush? I’ll fix that next summer. Really.
7. George Foreman Grill. This one makes the list because I don’t use it. The girls (me and La Petite) gave it to The Boys (Husband and Amigo) for Christmas. They’re getting to know George, and we’re watching…and eating well.

The coffeemaker is a given.
I’m still hoping for a rain barrel or two for Mother’s Day.

Here’s a recipe that uses #1, #3, and #6. Serve it on fresh bread using #2, with a cup of decaf later (fresh ground with #5, of course). #4 could mix up dessert, and we’d have a meal using six out of seven!

This meme is so popular that I can’t possibly tag anyone else. If you’d like to take it on, leave a note in the comments so we can read your responses!

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>Monkey Bread: another easy brunch goodie

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>Monkey Bread is similar to sticky buns, except in Monkey Bread, it is a bunch of little sticky buns baked together. Some people like to add raisins, or dried cranberries, others add walnuts and chocolate chips. I used raisins and walnuts the first time, but I can see endless possibilities for add-ins with this sweet brunchy treat.

Ingredients
2 cans refrigerated biscuits or 1 package Grands
½ cup packed brown sugar
6 Tablespoons (3/4 of a stick) butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup each raisins and walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-10 inch tube pan or Bundt pan.
Mix the white sugar and cinnamon together in a medium sized zipper bag. Shake well.
Take out the refrigerated biscuits, and cut them into quarters (eighths, if you’re using larger biscuits). Place six to eight pieces in the bag with the cinnamon sugar mix and shake to coat. Repeat until all pieces are coated.
Place the cinnamon-sugared dough pieces in the of the greased pan, layering over and over until all of the biscuit pieces are in the pan. If you are using raisins or walnuts, place them among the biscuit pieces as you are layering.
Melt the butter with the brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute, and then pour the melted mix over the layered biscuits.
Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Once done, let the bread cool in pan for 5 minutes. Turn upside down onto a plate to serve.
To eat, simply pull apart and enjoy!

This brunch dish works well alongside Dutch Babies. We found out the leftovers (there were leftovers?!) tasted best microwaved for 30 seconds, then eaten with a fork. Sticky mess, perhaps. Worth it? Yes, absolutely!

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>To-Do list fights with Ta-Dah!! list

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>Who needs an inbox and an outbox? I have to-do and ta-dah. Sing that last one: Ta-Dah! Here’s the set from mid-day Sunday: let’s see which side wins.

Accomplishments for the day so far

  • made coffee
  • cleaned kitchen
  • ran dishwasher
  • washed two loads of laundry
  • dried four loads of laundry (including two that were washed last night, hung on drying racks overnight. Jeans and sweats work great that way)
  • folded five loads of laundry (the socks and underwear were already out of the dryer last night. they don’t wrinkle, so I left them overnight)
  • Read the Sunday newspaper (yes, even a working mama deserves a simple pleasure)
  • Ate a grapefruit (it’s an investment in my health. Of course that goes on the list!)
  • Are you ready for this? The major accomplishment for the morning:
  • I took the ornaments off the tree and put them in storage.
    Diced veggies and thawed other ingredients to put a turkey soup in the crockpot.
  • Made lunch for Husband and me and Amigo while La Petite slept in
  • Cleared Christmas decor from the mantel and around the house, sorted it into “keep” and “donate” and “throw away,” stored the “keep” boxes.
  • Replaced Christmas decorations with snowmen for January!
  • Helped Amigo with his homework
  • voted for the Packer in the Click for Cans contest

I think I need to sit down and take a break with some playoff football, a Diet Coke, and laptop time.

Yet To-do

  • correct spelling tests (abbreviations)
  • correct math tests (mid-chapter, multiplication and division)
  • check penmanship papers
  • add barley to soup, determine side dishes, prepare to serve supper

I must add this: Husband, noticing my progress in getting the ornaments down, took off the lights, stored them, and then dragged the tree outside. He put the tree stand in the basement and even (yes, honestly, he did) vacuumed all the pine needles and put the furniture back in its regular place. Isn’t he a gem?

Hmmm. I’m a pro at rationalization. But even without rationalizing my excuses for doing housework before schoolwork, this looks pretty darn good. No guilt: I’ve accomplished plenty, and the rest will get done, too.

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>I’ll take that advice!

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>I always read the Employee Wellness Newsletter. Sometimes I skim it and roll my eyes, but once in a while there’s an article that makes sense. There was dietary advice this time. Here are a few carefully selected quotes along with my reactions.

“Research shows that what you eat can significantly affect your mood.”
Um, yeah, why do you think my coffee addiction is such a big deal, y’all?

“For breakfast, try oatmeal or eggs. Both contain an amino acid that helps boost the levels
of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel good.”
Yay! I’m doing something right: I often make oatmeal from breakfast. My favorite is steelcut oats with raisins and brown sugar with a hint of cinnamon sugar on top.

“As for the blueberries, save those for lunch. The antioxidants in them will ward off workday stress.” Stress? What stress?! And how about my daily orange? It smells good, tastes good, and adds vitamin C to give my immune system a fighting chance against the kids sneezing and coughing and breathing at me.

“Finish with a small piece of chocolate.”
Oh, yes! I can deal with that advice. My colleague down the hall has a stash of dark chocolate and sometimes even shares it.

But wait…they didn’t mention coffee. Uh-oh. Where does my daily cuppa (or two or three) fit into this picture?

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>Reclaiming the den

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>”Can we take the tree down tonight?”
“Absolutely not on my agenda.”
“But the Maids are coming tomorrow!”

Let me be clear. I am not wealthy. The Maids are on the order of a cleaning service, a group of people who come in once every four weeks to do the main cleaning chores in our home. I have the utmost respect for them (and tip them every single time) because I really detest cleaning. They clean the floors, the toilets, the bathtubs, and the sinks – all the dirty and grimy places I can’t stand. The Maids will be the last item I cut as we adjust our family budget for the tightening economy.

But I digress. I really started this post thinking about the den, the mantel full of Christmas decorations, and the rapidly-drying Christmas tree. I like to have the tree down before the Maids’ visit because they vacuum and dust, and that’s exactly what I need done after the holiday decor goes back in the basement. This year the post-Santa cleaning visit arrived closer to Christmas than usual, so we weren’t ready to deal with the tree.

So here it is, already the second week in January. I’m back to school, Husband is luckily (according to him) not working any play-off games, but Amigo is gearing up for final exams and I’m busily gathering data for Semester I report cards. Who will take the tree down, and when will it finally happen?

Most years we get the tree down and the knick-knacks stored within a few days of the New Year. The Maids sweep and vacuum any needles we’ve missed and leave the place looking Christmas-free. This year, I’m going to end up doing it all myself because no one, but no one else is interested in helping out.

No help? I’ll be like the little Red Hen. See if I bake any cookies for the lazy family this weekend. Not if I have to do it all. by. myself.

Parent Bloggers Network is looking for more stories about the holiday clean-up. If you’d like to post on the topic and link to them, go to their main blog. SCJohnson’s new website also gives cleaning advice… for the dreaded day that I stop the cleaning service!

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