Why do men like GPS when they don’t like to stop and ask for directions?  It seems to me that this is the ultimate in direction giving/ receiving, having someone tell you turn by turn, street by street, how to arrive at your destination, and this stranger (often a woman), giving out the directions, can be quite bossy!  Why do men like this so much?  Well, not all men really do like GPS, my husband, Craig, doesn’t.  This may be because he likes maps so much.  But my dad, who is the most in control man I know loves GPS!

My family was just out to visit (from Texas) to attend a wedding, in Ila, GA (near Commerce) of a cousin (who, by the way, is from Ohio) who is marrying a Georgia girl.  (We had a family reunion, right here in Georgia & not any of my family is from here!)  My dad, who was conducting the wedding, flew into Georgia on a Friday, rented a car, & stopped by my house to pick up my mom (who had flown in on a earlier date) in order to get to Commerce for the rehearsal.  The rest of us were heading out the next day. 

My dad brought his GPS (it’s his 2nd best friend, next to my mom) but found that his rental car had one & he didn’t need it.  He & my mom were heading out at about 2-3pm.  Now, I knew that the most direct directions would take him to I-75, I-285, & up I-85.  But for all you who know anything about the Atlanta area know that these directions on a Friday afternoon are a nightmare!  Do you think this is information I could relate to my dad with his lady GPS friend at his side?  No way!  I didn’t even try because next to the confidence he places in his digital voiced friend he places little confidence in his daughter’s (who is still a little girl in his eyes, I think) ability to navigate him through a city like Atlanta.  I just let them go with no words & only a prayer.  Sometimes we kids just have to let go of our parents, give them to God, & allow them to explore & learn on their own!

Needless to say his new friend quickly turned into his enemy!  She was always delayed in directing his turns.  When one misses I-85′s exit, they don’t exactly appreciate needing to turn around from  I-285 to catch the proper exit, though, Ms. GPS was kind enough to give my parents directions for their exit once they did turn around.  Really, though, what is the hurry in getting onto I-85 at 5pm on a Friday, especially when the traffic is creeping along at 15-20 mph?  Once my parents broke free from the traffic on I-85 they were much relieved & very much ready to arrive at their destination.  Thankfully they still had their friendly female friend to direct them.  Thanks to her totally competent directions they arrived safetly at an open field in Ila, Georgia.  Oh! Wait!  They needed to be at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.  OK, enough is enough, a quick phone call to my uncle straightened things out & they arrived safely at the church 3 plus hours after leaving my house.  We were so happy to see them the next day after our 1 1/2 hour trip to the same destination (although, I have to admit that we traveled on a Saturday morning).  :  )

We all had a laugh at that moment (even Craig in the next room).  This is a phrase I have used often over the years.  Sometimes I have even followed up this phrase with something in the little Spanish I know (No, not Spanish curse words!).  But over time I came to reason that even the moms in Mexico, or any other language-speaking country, are having the same trouble Kate & I are having at getting our kids to listen!

Have no fear, this is actually a recipe for Portabello Mushrooms in Gravy

I am including a new recipe, though I doubt very seriously anyone tries it, but, please, if anyone should try it, let me know!

The reason for the recipe is due to a new arch enemy of mine & my husband.  I have named him “Fat Juicy” & he is a squirrel that resides in our back yard.  Squirrels have been the source of some frustration for us for some time.  It all started shortly after we moved into this home & purchased an outdoor dining set for our deck.  We saw the furniture as a place to eat but the squirrels saw it as a bedding outlet.  They promptly ripped open the seams of the cushions on the chairs & pulled out the stuffing to use for their nests.  How did they know to do this?  Every attempt to stop them was futile!  I eventually threw the chairs into the trash, but not until after we stored them for a while because I had visions of replacing the deflated cushions with plastic strips that I myself would weave to form new seats.  Right!  That wasn’t going to happen.  By the way, we have never replaced those chairs.  If we choose to dine outside we simply drag our kitchen chairs to the deck. 

We have also endured the following:  stolen, freshly planted corn seeds & bulbs in our gardens, chipped pine cones & poop all over the deck, pelting of pine cones from above, missing tomatoes, also from the garden (Craig watched a squirrel steal it & then perch himself on a fence to enjoy it, though we really don’t mind this because we have had tomatoes coming out of our ears this year!), torn-up bird feeders, & now, added to the list, mutilation of our kids trampoline (also for nesting purposes, I suppose). These squirrels have brought more pain than pleasure for us!  (Although they are quite, cute, cleaver, & funny & have given our Pug a purpose in life as she patrols our yard for these pests.)

That brings me back to Fat Juicy.  Fat Juicy has either decided to try to befriend me or behead me.  Every morning, for the past several mornings, as I sit on my deck for quiet time, computer, & coffee he has decided to join me.  It all started when he bounded to the deck, not realizing I was there, & realized I might do him no harm.  The next morning he decided to observe me from above as he perched himself on one of our gutters directly over my head.  He would peer over, occasionally but duck back if I stared for too long.  This morning he joined both Craig & I,  clinging, upside down, on the Pine tree next to our deck while staring (or maybe glaring) at us.  I think he believes that he may just be able to take us & have our whole house to himself.

Craig’s reaction to all of this (and with every other assault) is to aim at the squirrel with an imaginary shotgun & let out one deadly shot.  Craig has commented that this squirrel would make a fine meal at which I commented that as the prices of food soar he may become a meal!  And this brings me back to the title of the post:  Fried Squirrel with Mushroom Gravy.  Don’t be surprised if one day I post a rating on this recipe.  (Though I think Craig & I will be dining alone as the kids have already stated that they would rather starve than eat squirrel!)

Hebrews11: 24-28 By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God’s people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah’s camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king’s blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going.

How many of us, as Christians, have chosen an opportunistic soft life of sin with our oppressors?  Moses could have remained in the palace of the Egyptians where he would have been rich & famous!  Instead he had a vision that went beyond his life on this earth.  He desired riches far greater than what this earth had to offer.  For those of us who feel in bondage because of the riches & privileges that our oppressors have to offer, there is a better & more gratifying life…but it takes great faith.   For my Christian brothers & sisters who have already surrendered their desires & opportunities in order to receive a richer life in Jesus, keep at it!  Your reward is on it’s way!  This scripture was an encouragement to me today & I hope it will be for you, as well.  I encourage you to read about the other Christians who went before us, living a life of faith.  Read all of Hebrews 11.

Craig found a very telling sermon of his & posted it on his blog (I will include a link to his blog at the bottom).  The sermon speaks of struggles I have had as I have determined my best approach to reach those who don’t know Christ.  Really, though, as I look around I see that I am not the only one struggling in this issue.  I guess I could say  that the Church as a whole struggles with this at times and apparently has for some time as one can see in the sermon. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the church of today who, with many I know, are working tirelessly to reach the lost.  I do feel that God inspires worship just as he did 100 years ago (or more) & the same applies to song.  God is still inspiring gifted ministers & worship leaders to reach this generation.  It’s just that I feel that we need not worry about those around us (what they are doing) & focus on the Lord’s individual & personal calling for our lives. 

The Holy Spirit, who works in the heart, calling us to believe, is the Spirit of God.  Allow Him to use you, simply, as he calls you to touch the lives of others & don’t allow Satan to convince you that you need to look or act a certain way before anyone will take notice.  There are plenty of cool & interesting things to capture people’s attention today & we, as Christians, may not be able to compete on that level.  What we can offer, though, is pure love, truth, & hope for the future.  We can offer Christ.  Isn’t that what everyone really wants?  Allow God to use you, your gifts, your calling just as they are.  Don’t feel the need to be anything, or anyone else in your role as witness.  Imagine if each believer (or body of believers) didn’t worry about the trends around them (looking to others rather than God) but simply used what God gave them in the way He desires to use them to reach the world? 

I word of warning, this sermon may cause a bit of an “ouch” moment (it did for me) but no bother, no need to be critical or insulted, just ask the Holy Spirit what, if anything, He wants you to take from it.  Then, with much faith, obediently step out & follow Him.  People need the Lord.

Craig’s Blog & Spurgeon’s Sermon

6:30am- I wake up because I have usually already been awake for an hour & can’t go to sleep (I’m no saint here; I hate it that I can’t sleep in but I can’t; I am a semi insomniac), make coffee, set up my chair & laptop on the back deck, get my coffee, check emails, look at my home school group’s website, check out blogs, visit with Craig, &, if I don’t allow for any other distractions, spend time in my bible & prayer.  (God has really been working on me about not allowing for distractions that keep me from being with Him)

7:30am- Get the kids up & wish Craig a farewell as he heads off to work.

8:00am- Start my day with my kids school.  Michael really requires the most time.  He & I do History, Math, & Language together.  I am so impressed this year with how much he did retain from last year!  Last year was a struggle.  Kate may require a little time with Physical Science (she hates it & so do I!).  Whitney is almost completely independent except that I check over her work (yeah, when I am good!)  to see if she has actually done it & has done well enough that I can feel she learned something.  Things come easiest to her.  I am a bit jealous.  She makes learning look so very easy.

11:30am- Prepare lunch.  The kids like to get in there with me & we all work to get this together.  We have our routine of food:  canned soup & grilled sandwiches, frozen meals like Healthy Choice, left-overs, chicken nuggest with mac-n-cheese & fruit or veg., Hot Pockets, & etc.  We do keep it simple most of the time but do like to experiment using whatever is on hand in the fridge & pantry.

12:30pm- Back to school

1:30pm- Load up the dishwasher, straighten up the kitchen, & straighten up the living room.  (Or the kids may do this.  We try to keep it straightened as we go.)  Whitney, my 16yr. old, cleaned up the kitchen today without me even asking her!!!

2:00pm- Take a shower; that is right, I am still in my pajamas!!!  I tell myself everyday (before I go to bed) to get up & get ready right away but I just seem to allow too many things to distract me from accomplishing this.  I would ask for advice but the answer is way too simple.

3:00pm- On several days I have a piano student or two in the afternoon.  Otherwise we may be doing little odd jobs around the house or running errands.  I also like to watch Rachel Ray every now & then, if I think about it.  I really don’t like the t.v. to go on until after all school is done.

4:30pm-  Craig comes home!!!  Yeah!!! …that is, if he isn’t tutoring.  If all goes well, I am starting supper about this time.  Lately that has involved figuring out how to use produce such as:  fresh tomatoes (variety out there), squash, eggplant, green beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, & several varieties of herbs.  That may not sound bad except that all these things seem to need to be used all at the same time.  Michael is so tired of roasted or stir-fried mixed vegetables.  There is a certain look that comes over his face when I put it on the table but, hey, he eats everything on his plate! 

5:30pm-  We eat & straighten up.  I go out & look at Craig’s garden with him.  This garden is the source of my supper dilemma but I’m not complaining because it is so nice having these fresh vegetables in the warmer months!  Another thing he has put in our back yard is a butterfly garden.  It is so nice to see all the beautiful flowers &, yes, butterflies.  Have you ever seen a Hummingbird Moth?  They are awesome.  They kind of look like a Hummingbird & Bumble Bee combined!

7pm-Bedtime-  Who knows???  It varies from night to night but we manage to find plenty to do.  We have Netflix, 3 movies at a time, so these days someone has something they wish to watch.

9pm-  Bedtime.  Or at least I hope!  I have this habit of watching TV in bed.  My little pug (dog), Mei Ling, looks forward to this time as much as I do because she starts watching me closely at around 8:30pm & as soon as I make a move for the stairs she races me to the bed.  She is allowed a little time in bed but goes to her kennel to sleep for the night.  I can hardly sleep with my husband in bed (any movement wakes me up) forget having a dog in bed who snores (nope, my husband doesn’t)!

Now this is not really what happens every day but rather an average day.  One thing I see lacking here, & have for a while is our role in our community.  It is my desire to add to our schedule, at least once a month, something the kids & I do to serve a community & maybe Craig too, on the weekends.  With the help of our church, God has allowed me to see all the possibilities there.  Thanks CATR for helping us to see the needs in our own back yard!

The kids & I have also started back to our school, home school. This year I wasn’t on my game as usual where preparation is concerned. I think the fact that I didn’t go to any home school curriculum conferences played into that.  I have quickly pulled our curriculum together so we can get going. That is fine, though, because it has saved me from second guessing myself on my purchases.

Of course our home school is awesome right now. It is new & fresh, since we are at the beginning of our year. The kids are anxious each day to get started, but especially my son. I can’t hardly finish up my morning routine (7:15am) before he is saying that it is time for us to do our subjects together: Math, History, & Language. By the way, how do you teach a boy how to write a thoughtful paragraph? Something other than…”It helps oxygen in the blood”. That was his answer to “How does the Mineral, Iron, help our bodies. Please write the answer as a paragraph. Remember, a paragraph has at least 3 sentences & a sentence has a subject & a predicate, begins with an upper case letter, & ends with a punctuation mark.”   (I have to include all of this because every now & then these things are forgotten)  If anyone has an answer to this issue with writing & boys, please let me know.  That may be another blog for another day.

Anyhow, as of Monday, we are officially back to school.  I am exited about this year & the fresh start.  Don’t ask me in January how we are feeling.  Well, maybe that will be another blog as well.  “Fighting the Fog:  Are We Done Yet?”

I finally have our family pictures downloaded to my computer & can include them in this blog.  On the 14th we went to Jekyll Island.  I have never been but thought it was an absolute treasure!  I didn’t really have high expectations since I had never heard anyone say anything about it one way or the other but I really liked it.  For a matter of fact the kids requested to go every summer. 

Kate doesn’t look so pleased but, really, this may be because this was taken at the end of the vacation & you can’t see this but they had just had an encounter with fire ants as we were attempting to take this picture. 

Craig, Whitney, & Kate heading to the beach.  Where’s Michael?  We thought the beach was nice, though we didn’t find very many shells…

There he is!

For the 1st time ever… on the Internet…me in a swimsuit!  How brave am I?  Whitney is with me in the photo & also the photgrapher.

Catching a wave…even if it is just a little one.

This is as deep into the water as it gets for Kate.  “Ewe, there’s things in there!”

At Jekyll Island Club, the girls wanted to dress up.  Aren’t they pretty?  We ate in the Grand Dining Room!  As fancy as it gets for us!  Tip:  If you want to eat somewhere nice on vacation, go at lunchtime!  This turned out to be our favorite place to eat.  The food was very good & the prices were just as good as anywhere else (at lunch, that is).

This is what the girls & I had.  I had sauteed shrimp with Country Ham served over grits, Kate had a Mediterranean pasta dish with grilled chicken, & Whitney had an opened face crab cake sandwich.  Yum!!!

We enjoyed going to the Sea Turtle Center & visiting their hospital. 

This epitaph, located in the cemetery of Christ Church on St. Simons Island, really moved us.  Eugenia Price was an Author who had written a number of historical fictional novels.  Next to her epitaph I have included a picture of the grave of a couple she wrote about in “Beloved Invader”.   Whitney, our avid reader, had to have these pictures! 

We also traipsed around the remains of Fort. Frederica on St. Simons Island.  At this point we were exhausted & hot & the kids didn’t see what Craig & I saw (in our minds) as we viewed each foundation left from the homes of the former residents.  The girls did have fun, however, in the gift shop!

As we headed home from our vacation we made a stop at the Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation located near Brunswick.  I really liked this plantation because it was left just as it was when the last family member passed away.  It was a realistic glimpse into the life of a struggling plantation family.  The only complaint was the 1/4 mile walk to the house down this trail on the right.  Scenic, right?  We just forgot to include a picture of all the deer flies that attacked us to & from the house!  No wonder people wore clothes that covered almost their entire bodies at one time! 

I think we may go back next summer!

Recipes- Be sure to check out my recipes page every now & then.  I am slow to post new things there but what I do post is some of our “tried & true” family favorites.  I have a new one today that takes advantage of fresh zucchini & tomato that is readily available right now.

Laundry Post-  I really had fun with that one.  Be sure to click on my laundry post & see the comment my sister-in-law (Supermom) left.  I sure hope no one took us too seriously there.  I really do hope to see new comments from her.  We have too much fun sometimes!

Stimulus Payment- Word of Caution!!!-This could really be a post in & of itself but I will summarize here.  If you or someone you know have not received the stimulus payment & find that the reason given is an “invalid SSN” this may be because a name listed on the 2007 tax form may not match up with what is listed with Social Security.  My last name is hyphenated (I am not a women’s libber, it was a goof up of communication when my husband went to change my name when we married :  ) ).  In my tax form, our accountant did not, nor has he ever, hyphenated my last name.  We did ask him about this & he felt sure it would not matter.  Well it did matter, at least this time.

When filing taxes, IRS only matches up the name with the primary filer but with the stimulus payment they checked all names listed on each 2007 tax form.  This disqualified us for the stimulus check because my last name was not hyphenated on our tax form.  We did find out, however, that next year we may be able to recover our payment when filing our taxes, though the woman we spoke with at IRS was not totally sure of that.  

Vacation- We just came back from vacation & had a great time at Jekyll Island!  I have never been there but found it to be quite lovely!  Hopefully I will have pictures & description in the next day or two!