My First Second Giveaway!!!

Times Up! Scottsgal is the lucky winner. Thanks for all the entries, hopefully I'll have another giveaway soon.

If you've been reading me for any time at all, you probably realize we do a lot of reading around here. As a matter of fact, one of the posts I'm most proud of if one detailing our favorite childhood books.

I've reprinted it at the end of the post, it's definitely timely as people start choosing gifts for children.

I was very excited to be part of MyBlogSpark's participation in the Cheerios 100,000 Book Giveaway. Cheerios, First Book and author Jon Scieszka are joining together to deliver 100,000 books to community-based programs serving children in need. You can go online to www.FirstBook.org/Scieszka to test your knowledge of Trucktown trivia and start voting which states should receive 20,000 books. Five states will win.

MyBlogSpark sent me an assortment of five children's books, a box of Frosted Cheerios and a $25.00 Barnes and Noble giftcard. We've really enjoyed reading the stories together as a family, especially, Tea for Ruby. We'll definitely enjoy the Cheerios, and the giftcard will be very fun to spend.

The best news? I have a prize pack to give away to one of my readers. Leave a comment telling me your favorite childhood story. I'll choose a winner by random number December 10. Good luck. :-)

Edited: Please make sure I have an email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. Thanks.


These truly are wonderful picture books that shouldn't be missed. The 10 picture books every preschooler should hear
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
The Little Mouse, the Red, Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood
Me First! by Helen Lester
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza
There's a Nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

5 picture books for older kids
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
The Graves Family by Patricia Polacco
Math Curse by John Scieszka
The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellogg
The Secret Science Project that Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra

5 Classic Picture Books
Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

New and Wonderful...
The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman
John, Paul, George and Ben by Lane Smith
The Kiss That Missed by David Melling
Seventeen Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore by Jenny Offill
When Dinosaurs Came With Everything by Elise Broach

5 for Starting School
Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner by Amy Schwartz
The Berenstain Bears Go To School by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The Kissing Hand by Audray Penn
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate

New Baby Stories
A Baby Sister for Francis by Russell Hoban
Berenstain Bears' New Baby by Stan and Jan Berenstain
I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy
Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes
A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza

5 Bedtime Stories
Bedtime for Francis by Russell Hoban
Can't You Sleep Little Bear? By Martin Waddell
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
Happy Birthday Moon by Frank Asch
Peace At Last by Jill Murphy

Not to be Overlooked
Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She was Extinct by Mo Willems
The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord
The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood
Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman
Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

I highly encourage you to begin a tradition of reading chapter books to your children also. They will likely be ready much earlier than you may have imagined. Here are some wonderful ones to get you started:
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Ramona the Pest Beverly Cleary
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Most of all read to your children. It really can't be overstated the permanent, positive effect it will have on their lives and their academic success. There really isn't a better gift you can give them.

Are you ready for this???

So, the new sofa cushions arrived. Yeah! They arrived last Thursday (the one before Thanksgiving). By Friday morning, the old cushions were out in that day's garbage, and our couch problems were behind us.

Yeah, you know where this is going.

Not so fast...these are pictures of our 6 day old cushions.

I should mention none of these pictures are of the same spot. Awesome.

As I sat on the loveseat Thanksgiving night, I glanced over at our "new" sofa. What was that fuzziness? I could not believe what I was seeing. The cushions are falling apart.

We decided to wait until today to contact Kittles, we weren't sure if top people would have been working Friday or not. Hopefully, this will get resolved quickly and to our satisfaction. I'm really, really not happy.

Ideas, pretty please.

So, Santa comes to our house. Faithfully. Definitely. With a 9 year old and a 7 year old fan in the house, he's definitely here every year. Obviously he comes for Rebekah also, how could he not?

He may need a little help this year with ideas of stocking stuffers for a 17 year old. Since Santa is also suffering from the same recession everyone else is, please keep that in mind with your suggestions as well. I could suggest an awesome stocking if Santa wanted to spend $100-$150. Not going to happen though. So, if anyone has an reasonably priced, practical or fun stocking stuffer ideas for a 17 year old girl, Santa's all ears. :-)

Do you do this???

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was tiring, but it was great too. We spent a lot of time together as a family, the food seemed to be enjoyed by all. We all spent it in a blissful too-much food coma. The thing is, I have no pictures to share that shows you all the wonderful times we had.









See this one? It's the adorable Miss Lily, just on the verge of walking. She's at that super-fun stage where she's thisclosetobeingabletoletgo and can't quite bring herself to do it yet.






See this one? It's of Julianna playing with Grandma for hours on end.







See this? It's Rebekah and Jason laughing and kidding around.





Oh look, here's the super adorable Matthew having a very fun time playing cash register and doggie and super heroes with Julianna and Jacob.









Here's my dad falling asleep. ;-)









Here's one of Lori and Jason cuddling.





Yeah, you get the idea. I'd love to have the pictures to fill in the blanks, but I can't seem to master the successful juggling of taking pictures and also living in the moment. I can take pictures, but then I'm sort of standing back, observing. Or, I can be in the thick of things, holding Matt or Lily or Jacob or Julianna, laughing, taking part, but then I can't seem to capture the moments with pictures. How about you? Can you do both? What's your secret?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

Help!!! Aside from video games (check) and legos (check) what does one get a 9 year old boy for Christmas and Hanukkah? I'm super stuck. Problem is, so's he.

He's asking for several lego sets and between my mom and dad, Jason and Lori and us, he's covered. But, we still need to find a couple more fun somethings for him. We give presents for the first and last nights of Hanukkah and Christmas. Of course Santa also comes Christmas morning and needs direction on what to bring. Not made of money...especially this year (I don't even want to think about next year), but still looking for a few reasonably priced ideas.

I'd love knowing what Works for You.

Thankful

Yesterday, I had an experience between errands, that will stay with me for quite a while and definitely make an imprint on today. I was putting a few dollars worth of gas in my tank when a woman approached me. This woman was obviously a little down on her luck, outwardly. She spoke quietly, politely, it was hard to hear her completely, but the gist of it was that she had her father in the car, they were going somewhere, and they were out of gas. Her father's VISA card would not work and they were stuck. Could I help?

I was uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable because I didn't know if I was safe. I was comfortable because I had never seen her approaching me until suddenly she was right beside me. A lot about the situation made me uncomfortable, but I felt the truth was she needed help. I was thankful I was capable of helping. I got my credit card and walked over to their car. Her elderly father was sitting in the driver's seat, rigid, it seemed, with embarrassment. He said they only needed $5.00 worth to get where they needed to get to. I put $10.00 in their tank. She told me they couldn't repay $10, I told her that was fine, just pay it forward someday.

When I had left the station, I called Mark and told him what had happened. He scoffed and said I'd been scammed. I don't think so. The thing is, I really don't care. Like most situations when we help someone, it's not really about them, it's about us. I don't want to be the kind of person that's so afraid of being scammed that she doesn't help people with legitimate need.

If I was scammed, I'm out $10.00. They're out a lot more. If I wasn't scammed, then I showed a tiny bit of kindness, of human decency, that just might make a real difference, at least for a short time, in their lives.

I'm thankful I'm the kind of person I am. I am thankful I could help that person. I'm thankful for all the true blessings in my life.

Michelle at Scribbit recently wrote "This time of year we're given a paradox: Thanksgiving is the season for gratitude yet before the turkey is even cold we're bombarded by advertisers telling us we can't make it through the holiday celebrations without buying things. Lots of things, and the more the better." So, so true.

Julianna has an assignment over break to find 4 pictures of things she needs and 4 pictures of things she wants. I think that will be a bit of a challenge for her to understand.

I'm going to do my best this holiday season to hang on to the lessons of needs vs. wants. To hang on to the knowledge that even in our struggles we have so much more than so many other people. To be happy. To be satisfied.

Happy day of Thanksgiving everyone.

Notice.

Yes, we are not going away for the holidays. No, that does not mean my children are available for activities as usual. Family is visiting us. Our time is as precious as if we were going away. Family has come to see us. All of us.

My daughter is doing lights for a play in two weeks. Correct that, my daughter is now doing lights and student-directing a play in two weeks. Correct that, my daughter is now doing tech, lights and student-directing a play in two weeks. Correct that, people have dropped out of the chorus. My daughter is now singing in the chorus, doing tech, lights and student-directing a play in two weeks. Correct that. My daughter is now teaching someone else to do lights so she can do sound, do tech, sing in the chorus and student-direct a play in two weeks. My daughter has rehearsal Saturday and Sunday evenings of our Thanksgiving break.

NO. My daughter can not come in and do more during the days over break. Enough.

We have the best, bar none, drama department I have ever seen in a high school. The director gives and gives and gives and I truly, truly appreciate her. She is simply the best there will ever be. They average 9-12 extremely high quality products per school year. We are very lucky. I know that.

However, the kids whose families go away for Thanksgiving are excused from tech and practices for break. It's understood. I'm just asking for the same consideration. we may not be going away, but we'll be just as busy building memories and relishing our time together.

To do...

I think I've figured out why I'm having bad dreams...stress.

My to do lists are a little overwhelming. :-) I can't seem to let go and accept help though. I want things a certain way, and I'm willing to do the hard work to make things just so. Even though my to do lists are overwhelming me right now, it's much worse when I don't have a list. Then I feel so overwhelmed I can't function.

What about you? Are you like that? If not with Thanksgiving or other holidays, with other things? Are you a glutton for punishment control freak as I'm beginning to suspect I am, or are you more of a laid back, whatever, type person?

Do you completely understand this to do list and have a similar one when you're hosting occasions, or are you shaking your head and unable to relate at all?

Tuesday

• Make meatballs
• cook bacon for mini quiches
• Prepare pie crusts
  
• Dessert for piano teacher
• Assemble and deliver piano dinner
• Laundry--not going to happen, hopefully tomorrow.
  
• Drop off Mark's shirts
• Go to bank
• Take Rebekah dinner at school

Wednesday

• Haircut
• Put pop in fridge
• Laundry
• Dust and vacuum family room
• "Once over" bathrooms
• Sweep hardwood
• Mini quiche prep
• Whole Foods--Milks, Bagels, peanut safe pecans
• Andersons--breads for sandwiches, coffee, pears, grapes, bread for dinner, garlic
• Chex mixWe'll make this at Christmas instead.
• Brine turkey Oops!!! My cheapy turkey is already injected with salt and chemicals...no brining this year.
• Prepare crockpot green beans
• Make jell-o salad
• Saute celery & onion for stuffing
• Pumpkin pie
• Apple pie
• Chocolate pecan pie
• Make dressing for salad
• Grill chicken for salad
• Prepare Salad & cut up veggies
• Fry tortilla strips
• Shred cheese for salad; broccoli, caul. cass.
• Broccoli, cauliflower cut up,

Thursday

• Bake mini quiche
• Cut up bagels, fruit
• Make cinnamon rolls
• Make cranberry sauce
• Prepare Stuffing
• Stuff Turkey
• Roast Turkey
• Sweet potatoes
• Broccoli Cauliflower casserole in oven
• Mashed potatoes
• Cornbread
• Crescent rolls
• Whip cream

Someone, anyone, please tell me you understand this!

I'll be striking things as I accomplish them...it helps me feel like I'm getting things done.

Check out other Tackle it Tuesdays

Thanksgiving Week Meal Plan

Well, it was wonderful to do my Thanksgiving meal plan, but of course when you have lots of family visiting for several days, there's a lot more meal planning to do. So. Much. Fun! to have them here though. I miss them so much.

I wonder if I could get away with not cooking for a week after this? Yeah, probably not. ;-)

Last week we tried several new recipes... Crispy Chicken Rollups with Buttermilk Blue Cheese dressing (made with Pioneer Woman's Homemade Chicken Strips), were two. These were both BIG hits, we'll definitely be making them again. We also tried Pioneer Woman's mexican rice. I tweaked it quite a bit and we liked it, but I think it still needs tweaked some more for our family. Finally, Jacob tried Middle Eastern Chickpea Miniburgers. He really seemed to like them. In fact, he ate them twice that week, so I guess that's a successful recipe. I tried them too, and while they were good, it's not really something I would choose to have. I'd rather have a cheeseburger, grilled chicken or grilled portabella sandwich. Still, they were easy enough to make and I will definitely make them again for him.

Sunday dinner--Lori, Matt & Lily here! Steak, Twice Baked Potatoes, salad, bread, veggies

Monday--waffles, blueberry maple sausages (free from Whole Foods, Mark expressed interest in them and the woman behind the counter gave him a whole pound free for us to try! Woot!)

Tuesday (piano night) Spaghetti & Meatballs, bread, salad

Wednesday--Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad

Thursday--posted separately

Friday--leftovers!

Drumroll Please...

Thanksgiving 2008

Okay, so you're not waiting with baited breath for my Thanksgiving menu, but I sure have been! If I added up all the hours I've spent flipping through magazines and cookbooks and, well, stewing over it, I would probably want to slap myself--way too much time, in other words. There's so much pressure to hosting Thanksgiving dinner. This one takes on the added importance of being one when our family's on the cusp of so much change. I think I've probably covered all the favorites and hit the right notes with this one. It just took me a while to get there. ;-)

Mini Quiche or Breakfast Casserole
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls
Bagels w/cream cheese
Fruit

Roast Turkey w/stuffing
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Candied Sweet Potatoes w/ marshmallow topping or The Holy Grail of Sweet Potatoes by request
Crockpot green beans with ham hocks by request
Broccoli, cauliflower cheese gratin...still debating this one, but Mark and I love it and Julianna, Jacob and maybe Matthew would enjoy the broccoli and cauliflower plain.
Cranberry sauce
Cranberry-Orange Relish (Joy of Cooking, p. 64) or...
Pioneer Woman's Cranberry Sauce
Crescent Rolls
Cornbread sticks by request
7-UP Orange Jell-O Salad by request

Pumpkin Pie--combining two recipes
Apple Pie
Chocolate Pecan Pie (Joy of Cooking, p. 889)
Sweetened whipped cream
Vanilla Ice Cream

Now, I'm off to figure out the rest of the week's meal plan, make my grocery list, and formulate a master schedule of when to do what...

Gather Round Dinner Review

"Gather Round Dinner". Doesn't that sound perfect for our family?

If you've been around for more than a few days, you probably have a sense that dinner time is a big deal in our family. I put a lot of time into my meal planning, but in the end, it's not about what we're eating...not at all. It's that we're together--talking, sharing, laughing, connecting.

I've had a handful of comments lately, in real life and on this blog, about how close we all are. One comment, you smile, say thank you. Move on. Two, same. Five or six, you start to think some more. We are close. I am so thankful for that closeness. I do not take it for granted for a minute. I guess I just hadn't really stopped to think about it a whole lot until last night. Last night was parent participation night at jazz. Rebekah went with Julianna. They had the best time. You should have seen the look on Julianna's face. She was beaming with pride to have her big sister there with her. They held hands, and swung together, and danced and played and had a wonderful time. Their joy in being together was palpable. It was wonderful to witness and several other parents commented to me about how fun it was to see them together like that.

It did get me thinking. I think a part of the reason our family is so close is because we spend a lot of time together. Simply put, we do everything together. We all like it that way. Our lives are all richer because of it.

In that vein, when I was recently contacted by FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games, to do a review of their products I was really excited. These products are really high quality, well designed games to be played while you wait or eat your dinner.

We had the opportunity to test all four available products: Gather 'Round Restaurant Game, Gather 'Round Dinner Game, Beginner Dinner Games (ages 3-6), Original Dinner Games (ages 6-12). We thoroughly enjoyed all of them. The Gather 'Round games have a round game base with a generous supply or interchangeable discs that you use to switch it up and generate different games. You push a button, the light lands on a question, and you're off!

The Dinner game has a fun sound-effect that my kids loved. Thankfully, the restaurant game did not. The Dinner Games and Beginner Dinner Games are both tins of cards so there's no noise (from the game at least...of course with kids involved, there's noise!)

The Restaurant Game has questions for while you wait, while you travel, while you eat. I'm not a big fan of the concept of playing games while you eat...we did not enjoy that component of any of the games. The beauty of these products however is that you can definitely adapt them to suit your family. We all enjoyed playing them and had no problem whatsoever if a question didn't fit the particular situation we were in. We just pushed the button again or picked a new card and all was good.

The kids particularly enjoyed questions such as "guess your waiter/waitress' favorite color. Ask him/her." Our waiters/waitresses had fun playing along as well. Other of the questions prompted great family talks...what are your five favorite movies, television shows, books...led to great conversations. Name your child's five best friends was thought provoking as well. I was glad I could name their friends, and hopeful that I'll always be able to do that.

I highly recommend these products. They've won all kinds of awards, so obviously I'm not the only one who feels that way. We'll definitely be playing these for a long time to come...I'm already thinking ahead to our next road trip--these will be in the bag of tricks to make the time pass more enjoyably. I think they'd make a great hostess gift, white elephant or gift exchange gift, all sorts of possibilities.

RIP Stephanie

I just heard the incredibly heart-breaking news that Stephanie Spielman has passed away. My prayers are certainly with her husband, Chris, and their four children.

I didn't know Stephanie, but living in central Ohio and being close to the same age, you can't help but know her story and admire her courageous fight against breast cancer.

They were so inspiring, in how to fight this disease, in how to live with this disease, in what in sickness and in health really means, in everything they did. When Stephanie was first diagnosed in 1998, Chris put his NFL career on hold and sat out the '98 season to help her fight cancer. Together the Spielman's have raised over $6.5 million dollars for breast cancer research. What they have done to raise public awareness is incalculable. Stephanie was able to fight her cancer into remission four times. Unfortunately, eventually, she knew it was a losing battle. She still fought it with incredible grace.

I'm terribly sorry for her loved one's loss. I can only imagine how huge it is.

It's ironic to me that she died at a time that there's so much focus on breast cancer and the timing of mammography. I resent the governments new guidelines. As a woman in the age bracket being told we do not need yearly mammograms that they don't make "much of a difference", I'd like to think that I make a difference. If I were not able to get my yearly mammograms and I were to develop breast cancer and God forbid, die, I think it would make a difference.

I know the world's a different place with the loss of Stephanie Spielman. It's truly our loss.

Making Plans...WW

I'm stuck.

I don't know what my problem is. I've been preparing Thanksgiving for at least 22 of the last 25 years. This year? I can't get into the planning. If I can't get into the planning, it's going to make the shopping and the cooking pretty difficult. :-)

I don't even know what's throwing off my mojo, but I do know I want this Thanksgiving to be special. It's Rebekah's last one before she heads off to school. Yes, next year's will be a little more special, her first back home, but still, this one feels like I want to get it right.

Too, my oldest is on the job market and when you do what he does, you go where the job is. Hopefully that will be within 20 miles of our house, but odds are there's a good chance it won't. So...who knows where they'll be next year and if they'll be here or not.

I don't think that's why I'm stuck though. I think I'm stuck just because life's so chaotic right now. Also, I do feel like my goals for next week are completely at odds with each other and reality. I want my house to be clean. Actually, I want my house to be perfect. Not going to happen. Jason, Lori and the kids will be in town, hopefully they'll be here for several meals, that involves more planning. Especially with Jason being vegetarian, it takes a little more thought on my part to put a meal on the table that I would be proud of. My mom and dad will be here for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. More meals. More planning. Again, let me be clear, I'm thankful everyone's going to be here, I'm thankful that I have this dilemma, it just takes some planning and foresight, and I'm stuck.

So, today I'll be scrutinizing that pile of cookbooks you see, plus stacks and stacks of magazines saved over the years for the perfect menus. I'd like perfectly delicious, easy to make, popular meals that people will enjoy. That feels comfy, cozy and homey. That still enable me lots of time to spend visiting with family. That aren't a nightmare to clean up from. That are manageable to prepare in our tiny kitchen...I know it's all a pipedream. Impossible to combine all those goals. I'll try to get as close as possible. In some ways I'll make it, in some ways I'll fall short. I'll definitely try though.

Who Knew? You Knew, Thanks.

I learned a lot last night...most importantly, never say no to a date with your husband. We had a fabulous time. I also learned hockey games can be mighty fun when you're first row and on the glass. Maybe there is something to this $200.00 a seat thing after all. No, I'm not ready to go that far. :-)

For the record, I'll point out that the crappy photo above was shot less than three feet in front of me and that my camera has no zoom. Yup, we were that close.

If anyone cares, the Jackets won 3-2 in a shoot-out. Very exciting.

It was good for us to go out and be a couple again. I'm glad I made the choice to make it happen.

In other news...the restaurant we went to before the game (another Restaurant.com participant), only had $2 bills for change. The tooth fairy is going to love me! She's all set for the rest of Jacob and Julianna's teeth to come out. :-)

Unfortunately, Mark spent a good deal of the game in tremendous pain. He has severe arthritis in his hands and it's just getting worse and worse. It's getting to the point he's in almost constant pain, and it's debilitating. After I had posted about our recent spate of bad luck, including the brakes, a dear friend called to tell me her husband had offered to help Mark do our brakes himself. Mark realized his hands wouldn't be able to do it. Fortunately that was a turning point and he called a hand doctor and made an appointment. We were told years ago that he would need thumb replacements in both his hands, but to put it off as long as possible because once you do it, the clock starts ticking and there's no turning back. Evidently replacement joints typically do not last longer than ten years, so it's the start of a cycle. It doesn't matter anymore. The pain is awful, made worse last night I believe from the cold, and it's time to do something. Unfortunately he couldn't get in until mid-December. It was so bad last night Mark's calling today to be asked to be put on a cancellation list.

I'd really appreciate your prayers for him. It's hard to see him like this.

I've Got Nothing...

NamBloPoMo is kicking my tush. I've got nothing today...nothing to write about and no time to write it.

Rebekah's trying out for an Honor band tonight. We'll be running around like crazy after school. Hopefully she'll be happy with how she does and whatever happens, happens.

After auditions, I'll be chewing on a major dose of Mommy-guilt. Julianna has ballet/tap on Monday evenings. This week is parent participation week. Not something I want to do, honestly. Not at all. However, I'm not too big of a jerk to recognize that things like this are terribly important to you when you're 7. Unfortunately, we won't be going. I wasn't sure I could work out the timing of it, with Rebekah's audition, but I was going to try. Then, late last week Mark called me and was very excited that he had been given the company's hockey tickets for the game tonight. Those are $200.00 per seat tickets. (Who pays that? Insane.) I am not a hockey fan. At all. Mark, however, is. My first thought was "That's great, have fun, who are you taking?". His first thought was taking me. Ohhhh....

I don't put Mark first often enough. There's a whole variety of reasons...probably no different than a lot of women who end up putting kids, or life, or other priorities before their husbands; but even if there are understandable reasons for it, it's still not good. After I burst his bubble and told him no way and listed all the reasons I couldn't possibly go to the hockey game tonight, I had an epiphany. What was I doing? Thankfully, I listened to that little voice. I told Julianna we would not be going to dance. (HARD!). I told Rebekah she had to get herself to and from theater practice tonight, and that we had to know the arrangements in advance so that I could feel comfortable that she was taken care of and safe. I found a sitter, something with a 17 year old in the house I hardly ever do. I told Jacob and Julianna that even though it's a school night, this was a special occasion for Mommy and Daddy and we wouldn't be home tonight. Then, I called my hubby and asked him out to the hockey game.

I have such mixed feelings. Truthfully, today's been difficult. One of those days when there's way too much to do and not enough time to do it. The little guys I watch have been trying today, thankfully that's unusual. I'd rather not spend the money on dinner out and a sitter, certainly not to go to a hockey game. BUT, I'm pushing all of that aside. I'll get dressed up, do my makeup, wear something that's not wrinkled and chewed on and spilled on, etc., and go out and enjoy some grown up time with my hubby.

Know what? It feels wonderful to know that I'm putting Mark first. It feels right. I'll try to do it more often. It's really how it should be. I'm even looking forward to the game. What do you know? Is this something you struggle with? Does it come naturally to put your relationship first? How do you do it?

PSA Or, Don't Waste Your Money

Okay, maybe not the most scintillating post, but it's NaBloPoMo and I do think this is helpful information. I hate wasting money on a product that doesn't really work.

You should know I love Tide. I don't use it for all of our laundry because, let's face it, it's expensive. I wash sheets, jeans, towels, etc., in All, a much less expensive detergent. For most of the rest of our laundry though, I use Tide. A few months ago, I started seeing advertisements everywhere promoting a new product, Tide Stain Release. I am of the camp that I would rather put more money in my kid's clothes, take good care of them, and have them wear them longer. I take care of their clothes carefully to keep them looking nice and Jacob and Julianna frequently wear their clothes two years or more. Just a personal preference.

I was excited when I saw this new product. I figured it was from Tide, it must be good. Julianna's going through a phase where she spills everything on herself, and it's not always easy to get the stains out. [Sidebar: if you know a great way to get spaghetti sauce, chocolate, etc., let me know. Please!] So, even though this product was expensive, I bought it and used it faithfully. Here's the problem: it just doesn't work. I've tried to believe it does. I've used it exactly as the label suggests, I've used more than the label suggests. I've noticed no difference with this product at all. Stains would go through the washer and still be there. Sadly, it just doesn't work, and in my opinion, it's not worth the money. *sigh*

The best thing I've found for stain removal so far? Spray 'N Wash Dual Power Laundry Stain Remover. It's not perfect, it doesn't work on everything, sometimes I have to use it over and over again before the stain comes out, and sometimes it will remove the color of the garment, particularly on lime greens and khaki's. Still, most of the time it works and right now it's my go-to product. I also like Clorox Oxi Magic. I wet the area of the stain and put the powder on, work it in, let sit for a bit, and the stain usually comes out. Again, be careful of bleaching the fabric's color. I also use the OxiMagic as a detergent boost for loads that I know are heavily soiled. I know I shouldn't use a booster when I'm already using Tide with Bleach, but there you go, I warned you I'm a little fanatical about laundry.

Are you a laundry nut too? What works for you? Have you had successful results with the Tide Stain Release? Is it just me?

Menu Planning Challenges

I tried two new recipes this week, Noble Pig's Cashew (we did peanut) Kung Pao Chicken and Szechuan Green Beans from Playgroups Are No Place for Children. Both of them were awesome. Really easy and absolutely delicious. Rebekah had a friend over for dinner and she seemed to like them a lot too. Highly recommended.

Meal Planning challenges this week:
Sunday--church + Sunday school=famished children
Monday--Rebekah has honor band auditions, Julianna has dance from 5-6 and a parent has to accompany her this week, Rebekah has theater practice at 6 then Mark got tickets to the Blue Jackets game. All righty then, the evening just got more and less complicated. More because now we need a sitter, which I do not like to do on a school night, less because Julianna can't possibly do dance.
Tuesday--Normal craziness--making dinner for two families, piano lessons, Jacob has a rec center class, Rebekah has Jazz band practice after school until 5:30, theater practice at 6.
Wednesday--Julianna dance 5-6 w/a parent, Jacob and Mark have scouts at 6:30, Rebekah has theater at 6.
Thursday--Jazz band, sax private lesson, band concert
Friday--Dare I say it? Nothing.

Mondays and Wednesdays are getting trickier and trickier for me. Jacob and Julianna aren't overly fond of casseroles, nor crockpot meals. They're so busy these particular days that a good dinner is a necessity. Not being home from 4:40-6:15 and needing to put dinner on the table pretty much as soon as we get home is hard! Alternatively, having our family eat in two shifts is also difficult, especially when I won't be here to cook right before each group sits down to eat. What do you do in situations like this? What are your go-to meal ideas when life is crazy? I know this is how a lot of families fall into the fast food trap and I refuse to do that. It's too much money for something that's so bad for all of us.

It would be so much easier, many nights, to give up on the idea of a family dinner time. I refuse to do that too. I think it's very important, very valuable and integral to our family's closeness to sit down to a meal together. There are definitely nights when it just doesn't work. Still, at least 5 nights and almost always 6 nights a week we all sit down together and eat, chat about our days and reconnect. I wouldn't trade that time for anything.

What about you? Do you eat dinner together as a family, or has life become too complicated?

I did roast a turkey last week and I must say it's been very nice to have the meat around. We enjoyed roast turkey one night, turkey and noodles another and those delicious BBQ turkey cheddar pizza rollups. Having the cooked turkey on hand in the freezer will make quick work of making dinner for the piano teacher and her family as well as ours on my busy Tuesday. When I buy my Thanksgiving turkey this year, I'll probably pick up another cheap one to have on hand sometimes later in the year. It was funny that kids said their friends were very freaked out that we were having turkey when it wasn't Thanksgiving. :-)

Here's what we'll (hopefully) be eating this week:
Saturday lunch: Homemade pizza
Saturday dinner: Cheeseburgers and oven fries--I'll try one of the veggie burgers for Jacob
Sunday lunch : Crispy Chicken Rollups with Buttermilk Blue Cheese dressing (made with Pioneer Woman's Homemade Chicken Strips),
Sunday dinner: Grilled Spice Rubbed Chicken Tacos (Have you tried these? They're AWESOME! I'll double the chicken and use half for Thursday's chicken enchiladas), watermelon
Monday: Southwestern Chicken Salads (I'll make the chicken when I do Sunday's chicken, different rub though so it doesn't get too repetitive. During the day I'll do all the chopping and prepping and make the dressing, and hopefully dinner will come together when we get home from dance.)
Tuesday: Turkey Tettrazini (bumped from last week, makes more sense this week), rolls, salad, broccoli--piano teacher dinner
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Sour cream chicken enchiladas, mexican rice, beans
Friday: out (Are you using Restaurant.com? You can buy gift certificates to local restaurants at greatly discounted prices...don't ever pay the web price...do a google search for coupons. You can frequently buy the certificates for 60-80% off. I pay $2.00 for a $25.00 gift certificate to one of our favorite restaurants. Translation: Our family can go out for a really yummy meal for right around $20.)
*Recipes in red are new-to-me this week. I'll let you know how they go.

Wow! I just realized, that's really a lot of chicken/turkey. Oh well! At least it's healthy, or it is before I get through with it. ;-)

I absolutely cannot believe that Thanksgiving's just around the corner. Crazy!

Sorry, when I wasn't looking this somehow turned into a book. ;-) I probably should break it up into 2 or 3 posts, but I'm too lazy. For more meal plans, check out Organizing Junkie.

BBQ Cheddar Turkey Pizza Roll Ups

Yes, you can make pot pie, turkey and noodles, turkey tetrazzini, and lot of other traditional things from leftover turkey. These, however, are what I'll be making with at least some of the turkey after Thanksgiving. I tried them this week with the turkey we've been enjoying, and it was just as good as it was with chicken. I love, love, love this recipe, based on Picky Palate's BBQ Cheddar Chicken Pizza Roll-ups.

Yummy!

1. Thinly slice one red onion. Saute it until soft and sweet and carmelized.
   
2. Take a pound of pizza dough, I happen to love the dough you can get from Whole Foods, and roll it out into a thin rectangle.
   
3. Shred 2 cups of cooked chicken or turkey. Combine with BBQ sauce just until moistened. Sweet Baby Rays is my current favorite. Spread it onto pizza crust.
   
4. Top with 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar.
   
5. Sprinkle freshly chopped cilantro over all.
   
6. Top with sauteed red onion.
   
7. Drizzle ranch dressing on top.
   
8. Roll up, starting at the long end into one long log.

Slice into slices with a serrated knife, apx. 1 inch thick.

Put on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

Awesome! These will be perfect for after shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving, or that Saturday while watching football. Really easy, and really good.

Pajama Day PSF

Today was Pajama Day at school. Jacob really wanted to wear his red and green striped "Santa, I can explain jammies", but thankfully I talked him out of it. They're adorable, but I'm not sure what a bunch of cynical third graders could do with him with those, and I really did not want to go there. He chose to go "mismatched" instead. Julianna wanted to wear her fairy jammies, but they're a couple of years old and getting small. She agreed to wear an undershirt under them, so all was good.

They thought it was great fun to be allowed to wear jammies to school and could not believe I would let them stay in their jammies once they got home. It truly is the little things that make them happy. That's nice. Little things are easy.

Of course they wanted their picture taken, and of course, they got very silly. Evidently "moose ears" are much, much more fun than "rabbit ears".

I really love being a mom, it truly is the greatest thing I can ever imagine.

Hosted by Cecily and She's a moron and can't remember...

Thanksgiving

One of my favorite bloggers, Michelle at Big Blueberry Eyes, husband is deployed and serving in Afghanistan. They're trying to put together a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. Michelle found a source for the turkeys, now they're looking for everything else. If you can send a couple of cans of cranberry sauce, or canned veggies, or whatever, please head over to Michelle's blog and email her. She'll send you details. You can send 1 can or 10 cans or whatever works for you. It all helps. I'm looking forward to being a tiny part of helping 200 of our finest enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. I know when I sit down with my family to enjoy our favorites it's going to feel just a little more special to know we helped some people far, far from home in more ways than just the obvious, enjoy a taste of home.

Note from Michelle's post: FYI: The postage cost to send something over there is the same as if you were sending to someone in the states; because in fact it does get sent to NY, and then from there goes on a military cargo plane out, so there isn't any extra postage incurred.

A day to myself...

Caught your attention with that one, didn't I?

So, I was looking for recipes the other day online, and one thing led to another and another and I came upon a blog contest to win a $150.00 gift card to a SPA, on Cheat Day News and Reviews. You enter by describing what you do if you had a whole day to spend to yourself.

I thought about it way too much and could only get to about 3:00. I realized I don't think I've ever had a whole day to spend to myself. Weird. Yet not. I suppose most moms don't. It was just a little strange to think about.

Oh well, since that's not likely to change anytime soon, and since I don't think I'd really want it to, I'm not going to give it too much more thought. It's kind of a nice fantasy though.

What about you? What would you do with a day to yourself? Has it ever happened? Would you really want it to?

Not ready...

I don't know how to do this...
I don't want to do this...
I'm not ready to do this...
I'm not equipped to do this.

We have an unusually close family. We are very, very blessed. It will make the next year harder than it would be for some other families however.

Last night was the "Last Blast" of marching band. They gather in the school's auditorium and played all the songs from their half-time show. I cried.

Jacob asked me over and over if it was really the last time we'll see her march in high school. It's hard for all of us.

Yesterday, I had my conference with Julianna's teacher. She asked me how I thought Julianna was going to handle it next year when Rebekah goes to school. I told her I think it's going to be awful. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, it's just true. We talked about how much Julianna's talking about it at school. It's hard for her to imagine. Jacob's really verbalizing his feelings about it as well. He asks me all the time how much are we going to see her. He tries over and over again to get a picture so he knows exactly what it is he has to deal with. Obviously I can't give him the reassurances he's seeking. I just don't know how things will be. None of us do. We just have to wait and see. I do assure him we will see her, but also that it will be important for her to not be coming home every couple of weeks--that we want her to build a life there where she's happy and involved. Understandably, he does not share that sentiment. :-)

Yes, I've done this before. It was so different then, in many ways. Don't get me wrong, I cried plenty then as well. At the time, it was one of the hardest things I've ever been through. Looking back though, I can see that Jason had started pulling away long before. We were (and are, thank God) extremely close, but he definitely had begun the building blocks of separating. Also, I was pregnant. In some ways that made it so hard, but I can look back now and see what a blessing it was. I had a nine year old, a two year old and a baby on the way. Jason's senior year of high school I had a one year old and got pregnant mid-year. Yes, I worried, and grieved, and was sad about him leaving, but I was distracted too. This year it seems like all I can focus on is Rebekah leaving.

In the contradiction that is life, I also worry so much that she won't be able to go, that we won't be able to find the money for room and board. We need $11,000 a year for her to live at school. She won a full-tuition scholarship for her tuition, but it's still a giant hole to fill, especially in light of the way things have gone around here with Mark's job situation. Ugh.

So, I'm hurting. Big time. I can definitely feel the depression. It's so complicated and multi-layered. I don't know how to be without my girl, and I definitely am not at the point where I want to be. I'm struggling with how things are going to be. Jacob and Julianna go to bed early, Mark does paper work every night. Rebekah and I spend all our nights together. Next year I'll be alone. There's also the realization that Mark's and my relationship is very different. We're not as inter-twined as we used to be. I remember sitting in the rocking chair, rocking Jacob to sleep after Jason left, staring into his empty room, tears streaming down my cheeks as I felt so empty and alone. I'm not ready to go through that again.

It's so hard.

Maybe it's all my fault. Maybe I don't have enough of "a life". Maybe I'm pathetic or ridiculous or who knows what. Maybe all that and more is true, but it still doesn't help me with all that I'm feeling.

I don't know how to do this...
I don't want to do this...
I'm not ready to do this...
I'm not equipped to do this.

Update

Well our oldest is officially on the job market. He still has to write his dissertation, which will be no small feat considering he's also under contract to co-author a book this year, but hopefully he'll be able to do it. Other than his dissertation, he has earned his PhD. I'm very, very proud of him.

I'm praying that he finds a job that is a good fit for him, his professional goals, and his family. I'm also praying he finds a job somewhere much closer to us, maybe even in town. ;-)

I'm praying that he learns balance and doesn't totally burn himself out trying to do so much professionally and personally.

I'm also praying for a difficult situation in his life right now. The graduate students union is having a very hard time negotiating a new contract. It's truly getting very uncomfortable for all involved. I'm praying everything works out for the best.

I'm so thankful that he's my boy--I may not have always made the best decisions in my life, but when I look at him, and my other children, I know I've done an awful lot of things right--maybe even the most important things right.

Just Curious...

So, Mark's car needs brakes. We don't have "a place" where we take our cars. Whenever one of our cars needs work it's a mad scramble to find someplace, someplace we feel confident will do a good job at a reasonable price. Obviously we've never found someplace that we would go back to again and again that really instilled that confidence.

So, I spent a while calling around today, and found three places that can do brakes, close to home, and at a time that works for us. There's a service station literally at the end of our street, within walking distance, that I would LOVE to take our cars to. It's staffed by nice people, it's extremely close, and I do believe they're honest. Unfortunately, their prices are completely out of whack. When I recently needed tires, their price was over $400 more than the place I ultimately ended up having them done at. Not good. Their price for the front brakes was $500.00. Again, I have complete confidence they'd do a good job.

I also called Meineke and Midas. They do a lot of brakes, my impression of them is that they're a lower end service shop, adequate if not great at what they do. Meineke's price is $300.00, Midas' price is $370.00.

I've tried googling all sorts of things to try and find any reviews and ratings, but I can't seem to find anything, good or bad. The BBB also has no information, good or bad. I'm leaning toward going with Midas, simply because their price is in the middle, they can do the work in the evening and they're close to home. If money were no issue, I'd go to the place at the end of the street. I like to keep money in our community, I like the idea of leaving the car to be worked on while I walk back home, I know they'd stand behind their work. However, after the last week especially, money's definitely a big consideration. Very big.

What would you do? Where do you get your cars fixed? What do you think of the chain-type service places?

Cross your fingers for us that it's just the front that needs brakes, definitely not in the mood to spend another $700!

Dinner plans...

Dinner Plans. Doesn't that sound sexy? Yeah, in this case, not so much. Just fancy-speak for meal plan. I get tired of saying that over and over.

Good news, we believe, *knocking, knocking* the gas leaks are all fixed and that everything's back to normal around here--whatever normal is. I'll go on to further jynx us by saying we don't believe any of it had anything to do with the furnace, the leak we discovered Saturday was the brand.new.hot water heater. Grrr. That caused two leaks this week for sure, and there were three others at least. What gives?

The bad news? Mark's car still needs brakes and it was not a stack of $100 bills causing our problems, nice try though MemeGRL. That would have made it all worth it. :-)

Dinner's this week need to be very much on the cheap side...luckily I had a big turkey in the freezer from the sales last year after Thanksgiving. Think it's about time I dug it out and cooked it, don't you? The meat should carry us through at least a couple of meals this week.

Monday (dance, band): Roast Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots
Tuesday (piano, sax, conference, band concert): Turkey & Noodles, whole wheat rolls, salad, apple crisp
Wednesday (Daisy & Cub scouts, jazz): Cashew Kung Pao Chicken, rice
Thursday: Waffles & Kielbasa
Friday (no school): Turkey Tetrazzini (recipe below), applesauce, crescent rolls, glazed carrots

I'm just not feeling the mojo this week when it comes to menu planning. That's how it goes sometimes. Still, it should be cheap, fairly easy, and hopefully, good. Hope you all have a wonderful week. Personally, I'm hoping ours is much less exciting!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Easy-Peasy Tetrazzini
1# spaghetti, cook al dente
Put in bottom of 13 x 9 inch pan.

Combine: 2 4-oz. cans sliced mushrooms, drained; 2 cups cooked, diced or shredded chicken or turkey; 2 cans cream of chicken soup; 1 1/2-2 cans milk--depending on how 'saucy' you want it.

Pour over spaghetti in pan.

Top with 2c. shredded cheddar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

You're not going to believe this...

We have another gas leak and Mark's car needs brakes. Oh--and there's a chance we need a new furnace, that it's causing this gas leak. I'd really appreciate prayers that things aren't more than we can handle.

Halloween Lessons, PSF

I learned a lesson trick or treat night. (We don't trick or treat on Halloween, we have something called Beggar's night here, it was last Thursday.)

As you can tell, Julianna was the American Girl Felicity, Jacob was Dracula. The lesson? Don't take too many pictures. :-)




Jacob was doing fine, but then he started getting bored...

Okay, it's reasonable for Dracula to have a "bite". LOL

There it is, the warning sign I missed, see the boredom?


Watch the hand...

That little buggar!

Fortunately, she's still smiling.

Back to the sillies!

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween.

(Sorry for the spacing issues, Blogger's acting up and I'm tired of trying to fix it.)

Hosted by Cecily and Emily

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Okay, it's not. It's fall, I love fall, I don't want to rush fall. Nevertheless, Christmas is coming, and coming quickly. I'm doing some shopping, starting to look forward to certain traditions, although I'll certainly be waiting until after Thanksgiving to act on them. All that doesn't stop me from looking ahead and dreaming...Five Minutes for Moms is hosting they're annual, awesome, giveaways. You might want to head over there and check it out.

Pomegranate Chicken Review

Well, we tried the Pomegranate Chicken and Walnuts from Rachael Ray. It was easy enough, but the recipe seemed strangely out of order. For example, you simmered the walnuts in pomegranate/cranberry juice, but all that did was make the walnuts soften. To me, they would have been much more appetizing crispy. Additionally, the whole dish was too reminiscent of charoset. I enjoy charoset at Passover, but it's not really something I want as a main dish.

Disappointing yes, but sometimes that's how it goes when you try something new. For a similar, but much, much better dish, I'll stick with Noble Pig's Plum Chicken. It's just as easy and affordable, but lots more flavor and a more pleasant flavor at that.

One more rant...

Okay, this is going to be two--sue me.

1. My darling daughter got me sick. Now I get to be cold, poor and sick. Good times.

and

2. The plumber (male chauvenist) that's here to give us an estimate, only wants to talk to "Mr. Mark". Grrrr.....

Okay, I'm done whining now. Not an invitation for more bad luck, by the way.

Okay...maybe you didn't hear me...UNCLE!

Now, we're fighting a major gas leak--not a huge problem, we have a gas line guarantee. Not so fast. The guarantee covers the gas lines inside the house. Our local utility covers the gasline outside the house. Bet you didn't know there was an area not inside or outside the house. From the meter through the foundation is not covered and needs replaced.

The good and expensive and cold times just continue to roll around here.

Time keeps marching...

It occurs to me that senior year is one long slow, painful, pulling off a band-aid.

Today, the pulling continues. My (second) baby got a flyer about commencement--rules, etc., and...got accepted to college.

This parenting thing is so hard sometimes...hard but good too.

Today...

I don't know how to communicate everything I'm feeling, but my boy, baby muncher extrordinaire, defends his dissertation questions today. I'll be thinking and praying for him all day. His time slot is mid-afternoon Central time if you want to say a prayer too.

Found it!!!

I knew I wasn't losing my mind, although I did begin to wonder if someone was messing with me. :-)
This morning I sat down determined to find those recipes. The November, 2009, issue of Cooking Light magazine has the article I was searching for: The truth about the great American veggie burger.

The two recipes are: Our Homemade Quick Black Bean Burger and Middle Eastern Chickpea Miniburgers.


I'm really excited to have found these recipes. Black beans and garbanzo beans are two of Jacob's favorite ingredients. I think he'll really like these burgers. Of course, his won't look anything like these--they'll be completely naked, but it would be really nice to find something to make for him when we're having burgers--I just can't bring myself to insist he eat something as unhealthy as a hamburger when he just doesn't like them.

Thanks for the moral support. It's nice to know I'm not the only person who does things like this. :-)

Magazine HELP needed!

I seriously think I'm in danger of losing my mind. I read a lot of cooking magazines, one of the luxuries that will be disappearing around here. Recently though, something happened that has me going crazy!!!

I got a magazine recently--it could have been a month or two old, but I think it was a November issue. Anyway, there was a couple of page article about veggie burgers. Included with the article were two recipes--one for a black bean burger and one for a garbanzo bean or chickpea burger. The black bean burger called for a squeeze of lime, some cumin and other ingredients. The chickpea burger called for blending some of of the beans and leaving some whole. It had 8 oz of red potatoes in it as well. Jacob does not like hamburgers and Julianna had requested hamburgers for her birthday dinner. I bought the ingredients to make both veggie burgers, intending to let Jacob choose which one he would like to have for dinner.

Well...yesterday was a very long day as you can imagine. Between the hot water drama and the birthday party and celebration, life was hectic. It came time to make dinner. I sat down and grabbed the stack of magazines on the coffee table, and COULD NOT FIND THE RECIPE. Rebekah, Jacob, Mark and I looked through every.single.issue, of every.single.magazine here. Gone. No trace. Complete mystery. I've googled every search term I can think of. I can not find it.

I would think I had imagined it all except that I showed the article to Mark, complete with the pictures of the two burgers. Full color, glossy, beautiful pictures of each burger. Where are they? What magazine was it? Help!!!

In other news...something fun...I was recently contacted by CSN stores, to do a review of one of their products. I chose the Roll 'pat. I'm looking forward to giving it a try soon, and I'll let you know what I think of it. I started making my own pie crusts a couple of years ago and while I love the flavor, I still struggle with an easy way to roll them out, especially since our table has groove lines in it that make it tricky. I'm thinking this will solve my problems. I'll let you know. While I was on their site, I poked around a bit, I love their dining room things. Beautiful Baker's cabinets and servers, check it out Keyword: dining room furniture.

Seriously?

So, we found out we're facing a major "adjustment" in income. We need to cut back, drastically.

Okay...we'll do our best. Things will be all right, right?

Mark's oil change yesterday? $200. For a Honda Civic. Seriously? Insane.

This morning's shower? Ice cold. Ice. Can't be too bad, right? Our hot water heater's not even 5 years old, for Pete's sake. We replaced it just because our old one was, well, old, and we were afraid it might rupture. Too many Dateline NBC horror stories or whatever. Anywho...called the plumber...yeah, we need a part he can't get...bad news...if we get it he can put it in today...good news!!!

Track down the part, it's free! Whoopee. This is where I should mention it's free because this water heater has turned out to be a piece of crud made from Whirlpool sold at Lowe's and it's known to have major problems. Actually, this is the second time we've had a major problem with it. Of course we didn't know it was going to be a piece of crud when we bought it.

So...get the part, the plumber comes, messes with it for over an hour. Yup, still broken. There are other parts broken as well. No one local has them. At this point we can order the part from the factor--3-4 days, most likely; $100 for the parts, $200+ for the plumber.

OR

We can cut our losses, buy a new hot water heater ($600), have the plumber put it in and turn it forward (yes, our hot water heater faces backward, doesn't yours?), and pay him $350 to install it.

He tells us it appears whoever installed it last time (Lowe's) did a really bad job and there are other parts loose in it. We've decided to cut our losses. We don't have $1000 to blow (obviously), but it seems like throwing good money after bad to try and fix the old one...again. If we fixed it, we would have already put $600 in repairs into it. (Taking into account the last repairs.) Plus, the idea of not being able to take a hot shower in almost a week is enough to make me cry.

Are you listening Karma? Lady Luck? Whoever? We're done. Uncle.