Telling it like it is

My 80 year old mother says she's too old to change.  But my mother is a smart, creative, deep thinker with the capacity to learn new ways.

Today we had a discussion about speaking your mind.  In her opinion, you should be able to say how you feel -at all times and regardless of your audience.   While I agree in theory that you must say how you feel, I also think there is a time and place and way to do that; diplomacy should rule the day.  You can be authentic, and genuine, and sincere about your feelings.  But the rest of us don't have to accept insults.  Stating your opinion without taking into account your audience is just plain old bad manners.  And eventually, people will avoid you.
That can be a lonely situation.

She doesn't agree with me, but I figured she wouldn't.  

I've learned a lot from my mother.  I will keep an open mind and try to see the error of my ways, too.

Gina

Mothering perspective

 

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran

Shared with:

Fingerprint Friday - 

OK, so I'm late

Chicken Tikka Masala

I figure just about any thing can go into the crock pot...

I really love Indian food, but I am too impatient to learn how to cook it the traditional way.  It's not like I have all day to master it, and most of the time, my family is good-natured about my "experiments",  but they can also be critical and picky!

 But it turned out great and all I did besides add a pre-packaged seasoning mix of spices was cover it and walk away... A little spicy, but that didn't seem to put anyone off.  I served it with rice and kale.
A very filling and healthy meal.  

My crock pot done good!  

Kitchen camo Floor

Hang on to your hat - recently I re-stained the kitchen grout.  Earth-shattering, I know.  But it made a huge difference to me, seeing as how I am a little OCD when it comes to cleaning.  And you cannot get your kitchen to look really clean if the floor looks dirty.  I don't know how we got talked into the putty color that was put in with our brown tile....

I even told the lady at Home Depot I wanted to not have to look down and realize I have a dirty kitchen floor; I wanted brown for camoflage! (our old floor was white)  We've scrubbed it and had it steamed clean, but the grout was stained to the point of it looking grubby, and nothing helped.  This is one of those projects that stayed on my list for what seemed like forever, but here is what I did:  I moved the kitchen chairs out, swept, mopped...

...cleaned the grout with sulfamic acid, mopped again, then put Grout Renew on with a toothbrush.  Yes, it was tedious.  All-day consuming. Made the house smell like vinegar.  But look at the grout now (even if the photos aren't the best);

The new color is "Nutmeg", but if I ever re-do it, I'll special order a darker brown color. Even so, I like the way it looks compared to the lighter grout.  It's more practical too, and its a sealant in addition to being a stain.  Now I just have to remember to take the PineSol bottle out of the kitchen so I am not tempted to use it....you can't use solvent based cleaners on it.  Guess it will be hot water and Murphy's Oil Soap for me.  But now, when I look down at the floor, I don't stress over it looking filthy!

Shared with:

Summer plans 2010

I know its only April, but I am so ready for the school year to wind down. 

 Camp Rustown Beachgoers, ca. 2005

It's time to start thinking about heading to the beach and all the other fun things we can do in summer.  Time to get the towels out of storage, buy some new flip flops, make sure the boogie boards are in good shape, and plan our escape.  I am looking forward to making some summer plans!

Gina

Repainting the patio furniture

I started the "patio project" about 2 weeks ago, and am slowly making progress.  My ficus tree and potted plants were wintering in the garage.  And yes, the deck boards are in sad shape.  (But that's a project for Hubby.)

What possessed me to paint this set green?  Bubbie and I had to sand virtually all of the paint off, as even with primer the new paint was wanting to flake. I detest sanding - fortunately, he loves it.   I would estimate he did more than 50% of it!

 Spray priming and painting is a messy job and I never want to do this again!  I was lucky it wasn't windy.

 The plants came back to live in their Spring home. And the hanging sun face got a fresh coat of spray paint, too.

These pretty cushions were $10 each at Wally World.  They are zippered, so I probably couldn't have made them cheaper. 

Just a woman enjoying her "new" patio furniture. 

Gina

Shared with:

Easy Peasy Lo Mein

 

An easy meal, kid-approved.  

Cook 8 oz linguini, drain and set aside. Cook 1 pound ground beef, chicken or pork - or use leftover meat you might have.  Saute some green onions and garlic in a tablespoon of canola oil a couple of minutes; add 1/2 a box of sliced white mushrooms and saute a few minutes. Set that side and in a larger pot saute 1/2 a small cabbage, sliced fine, with 3 grated carrots. When cabbage is wilted, add the mushroom mixture, and the cooked meat.

Mix 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce with 1 T. fresh grated ginger.  Stir it into the veggies and cook another minute.  Toss with hot linguini. Sprinkle more green onion on top and serve.  

That was easy and filling!  

Gina

Linking this post to:

 

'Cause I love me some Lo Mein!

Is it time to get up now?

Last night we enjoyed that delish Easter dinner, got my cake iced (it was so good!), got the kitchen all cleaned up, discovered that E.  Bunny had left me sussies on my nightstand, enjoyed a long hot bath with my wine, and then....crash.  I simply could not find the energy to do anything else but lie on my bed and fall into a coma!

 Rustown Art

 

Sadly, I didn't wake up feeling any more refreshed, but I soldiered on, getting lunches and breakfasts made, and the house straightened up and laundry begun.  That's when the last bit of gas I had ran out.

I'm not a sleeping in kind of person - left those days behind after the first baby.  But I actually crawled back into my already made bed and conked out for another few hours.  Missed my daughter telling me she was coming home for lunch, even. And there's no food here, as I couldn't drag myself to the grocery store. Yikes.

The birds are chirping, time is passing, sun out...Rustown Mom needs a shot of whatever it was she had last week when she was getting all those projects done around the house!