I meant to blog yesterday. Really. I put a cake in the oven at 9:15 or so and then we decided as a family (read: the Papa and I decided FOR the family) to take on a very large project here in the house. We have a closet, really a small room, upstairs that is kind of a black hole for all manner of things. It's supposed to be used for spare linens: blankets, comforters, pillows, curtains we've carried around for a whole military career because they might work in the next house. It had become an absolute mess, and I really had no idea what was still in there, because I do not GO upstairs. But because we are going to have a "swap" here next week, an event where we'll trade home furnishing items with friends, I really needed to know what we had and what we should get rid of.

The boys brought the stuff down from upstairs. Well, okay, they had a ball THROWING the stuff down over the railing from the top floor into the front entryway. They piled it all in front of me and we decided, piece by piece, what to do with:

dozens of comforters and blankets, including some from early in our marriage
half a dozen sleeping bags in various states of wear
a breast pump that had been "missing" for years
scores of sheets, with and without partners and pillowcases
a dozen or so pillows, some that barely deserve the name
old documents from John's career in the Air Force and just afterward
a program from the 1989 Notre Dame graduation exercises
toys--some from the A team, including the old Fisher-Price Little People that were supposedly a danger to society and probably caused global warming or something
baby blankets that I had knitted or crocheted for my little ones
etc.

What a trip down memory lane! It was fun, moving, and even surprising to see which things had meant enough to us to save all these years. At times, it was downright---

"THE CAKE! QUICK, GO GET IT OUT! OH MY GOODNESS IT'S BEEN IN ALMOST TWO HOURS!"

Yes, "40-60 minutes or until cake tests done" had turned into all morning long. The peach cake looked more like chocolate. Figuring it was a lost cause, I left it to cool while we finished our project. When I went back in the kitchen a little while later I decided to put a glaze on it anyway and give it a try. I mean, you can take something like that to the church dinner and not tell anyone it was yours and just kind of stand back and watch the reactions, so that's what I did.

Grandson Isaac puts his plate down beside me today and I notice that he has a piece of the charred peach cake on his plate. After a few minutes he looks up and says, "Granny, this cake is GOOOOOD."

"Wow, I'm glad you think so, Isaac. Granny made that."

"You did? Would you make it again for my birthday?"

SCORE.

After yesterday's comforter mountain was scaled and the first laundry loads going, I went out to make the final decision about the home office furniture for my room. Having had no luck finding a place that could have it to me yesterday, I finally decided to get the clock ticking on however long it's going to take, so I signed the papers and now await a delivery sometime in the next six months...

I'm sad that it looks as if the nominee for Attorney General will not be my first choice, Ted Olsen. But at this point in the administration, it all comes down to confirmability.

After church today, a couple of the girls and I were engrossed in conversation and I made a right turn too early. Thinking, though, that I knew where that wrong road would take me, I kept going instead of turning around. Five minutes or so later, it dawned on me that the road wasn't going to spit me out where I expected, but instead had taken me to a totally unfamiliar area. Still, I thought I had a good idea of where I'd end up if I kept driving. For about five more minutes. By that time I was completely turned around despite the compass in my car, disoriented to the point where I had no clue what to do. But I had come so far that I stubbornly refused to turn around, sure that sooner or later I would see something familiar. Never did. After thirty minutes or so on a trip I never intended to take, and quickly running out of gas, I made the decision to backtrack to civilization. And the trip home that should have taken 17 minutes ended up taking, oh, let's just say more than an hour.

When I got home and mapquested my path, I was dismayed but not totally surprised to find out that I had driven to less than a mile from a point very close to home. That was before making a 20 mile backtrack...

Buried somewhere in this tale is a metaphor for life ;-)

Believing firmly that O. J. Simpson got away with double murder, I've hoped (and even prayed, early on) that his temper and arrogance would catch up with him and cause him to try something that would allow law enforcement to get him charged and convicted and behind bars where he should have been all along. Don't know how this latest episode will turn out, but I'm sure not surprised to see his continued arrogance and sense of entitlement.

The engrossing conversation that got us lost today had to do with the children's musical that our church will present this Christmas. You've heard me talk about Psalty before, and so you won't be surprised that I am very excited that the kids will put on Psalty's Christmas Calamity. Since we have about twice as many kids as adults in our church, it should be VERY interesting. I'm sure you'll want to come, so I'll keep you posted :-)

Make sure you know who's teaching your children and that you're informed about what's going on. This is, to me, nothing short of alarming. Commentary here.

Time to put the final touches on this week's lesson plans...hope you've had a worshipful and restful Sunday...

Labels: Church, Education, Homemaking, Memories, Music, News, Political Observation, Sundays