I got up early this morning and buzzed around, happy the kids sleep in a bit during summer and I can get ready for work in peace. However, apparently parts of my brain stayed asleep. Important parts. After grabbing my lunch out of the fridge and pouring up some filtered water to take to work, I stopped by Mother’s room to tell her goodbye. She grinned broadly.
“Well, don’t you look springy this morning!” she said.
I thought huh? Just ‘cause I’m wearing a green shirt? Whatever.
I get in the car and I am on the interstate before I look down and realize why she said that. I am wearing light purple pants and a green shirt. I look like a huge mardi gras parade float. There is a matching purple shirt I should’ve worn, but I was in the closet and forgot about the purple pants right after I put them on.
Mother, next time you see me walking out of the house looking idiotic, don’t be coy or cute, OK?! Just tell me to go change clothes! You never hesitated to do that when I was a teenager!
Mother is reading the proof copy [prototype, essentially] of my book Adopting Alesia. She says she has to read slowly because it makes her cry. She is recalling that whole turbulent 18 month period of my life when I was adopting my daughter, and her part in everything. When I got it in the mail and could see the actual book, as opposed to my messy manuscript, I cried. It was like I had given birth. I didn’t feel the same when I saw Jack’s New Family, I think because it was more of a collaborative effort. Adopting Alesia is such a personal story, and it represents years of painstaking labor.
Here's what the cover looks like:
HOW COOL IS THAT??!!
I took Michael’s newly repaired Nintendo DS away from him last night. He has been playing it constantly for the past few days. He had to read an hour today before he could get it back. I made the rule and then forgot about it, but he needs to know I intend to enforce it. From here on out, he has to bank his reading time in order to get Nintendo time. Everyone in my family loves to read, including Alesia, and Mike has to be converted. If it takes 100 Come to Jesus meetings with him about the importance of reading, fine.
Michael also got a lecture about going to the pool. That’s a privilege too. I told him he has to sit and do a reading comprehension exercise in front of either Alesia or Granny, and get all the questions answered correctly, before he would be allowed to go to the pool. School is going to be torture next year if he doesn’t improve his reading comprehension this summer.
It’s a little sad, how fast Michael is growing up. Just two years ago, he was such a baby, acting more like a 6 year old than a 10 year old when I brought him home. I used to spend 10-20 minutes getting him soothed so he could sleep each night, in his own bed. Last night I noticed it was a much quicker process. A brief chat, a prayer, a quick hug and kiss, and I was turning off the light in a couple of minutes.
Alesia has gotten into a habit of verbally attacking me every night when I tell her to turn off the movie, it’s time for bed. “You’re not going to bed! Why do you SAY that?!” she demands. Tonight I finally had a Come to Jesus meeting with her on that issues. I told her “I’m going to bed” means, to me, I am going to write my blog, read a few emails, and try to take 30 minutes to myself to relax, and whether or not I go to bed is none of her business.
“But I didn’t know it was an expression,” she argued. “Anyway, it’s not true.”
She wouldn’t back down. I finally told her if I hear that again, she will spend the next evening alone in her room. I am that sick of it.
Aren’t teenagers a barrel of laughs?!
Before I forget, please go over to my buddy Hallie’s website, The Wonderful World of Wieners [as in dachsunds] and consider entering her raffle or donating a prize. Hallie almost lost her father 6 years ago until an organ donation saved his life. I donated a copy of my book to the cause. She is raffling off prizes to raise money. I have never understood people not willing to be organ donors. You can’t take your body to heaven, so why take your organs?!
We had delicious shrimp Creole for dinner and I asked Mother to write up the recipe for my blog. Here’s the result:
ELVA'S EASY SHRIMP CREOLE
1 large onion , chopped [not a sweet onion ]
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tbl celery seeds
6 or 8 cloves of garlic , chopped
Brown above ingredients in mixture of olive oil and bacon grease, if you have it. Using a hand blender, blend above ingredients til fine.
Add 2 jars any flavor Classico. We like the one with Italian Sausage.
Several leaves of basil, rolled and chopped [could use about 1 tsp dried ]
Season to taste with Tabasco , red pepper, black pepper, Creole Seasoning , salt etc
Add about 1/2 cup of sherry [I use Taylor's cream for cooking]
Bring to a boil and allow to simmer slowly until about 10 minutes before dinner.[ can do ahead til this point ]
2 lbs cleaned, raw shrimp , add and bring to a full boil . Then simmer about 5 minutes or a little less.
I use Kroger's frozen, cleaned shrimp , rinsed under cold water and it is fine.
taste, should have a little " bite" to it , at least . I like more.
Serve over rice ............... with a green salad and garlic bread if you wish.
If you have leftovers , be very careful about reheating as the shrimp will become rubbery, quickly. It is best to remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon, then add back to the creole at the last minute.
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I FINALLY got the garden shots out of my camera. Try to control your excitement!
This is Mike walking by the bed of impatiens and lantana. he likes to water it very playfully. It's amazing the flowers survive...
This is our older garden, and it's full of tomatoes, squash, cukes and peppers!
This is the raised bed my brother made a few weeks ago. It's full of corn and beans and cucumbers!
This is the Melon Patch on the side of the house, with its respectable little watermelon and cantaloupe plants, and the GINORMOUS pumpkin that Charlie Brown could hide underneath...
