Thank Goodness

Today I've got a full schedule. I've temporarily suspended fall cleaning in order to create enough order for a party at our house on the 31st! The garage is looking better, bathrooms are... as good as they get, and the pinata is almost done. I'm so excited!

And... the little guy is out cold.

Thank goodness.

He had his 18 month shots today, which means, as a good mother, I can give him Tylenol. Which may have contributed to this coma-like sleep I love so much, but he needed it. Really. Shots hurt. You'd want medication too.

Normally I am not about giving my son unnecessary medication. In fact I lean to as little meds as possible, since he's so little and all. But today I am acting on dr.'s orders.

Thank goodness.

Fall Cleaning

I happen to be a clean person. I like order, dust-free surfaces, and fresh laundry folded in my drawers.

But we can't always have what we want.

Last fall our house was... under construction. I'm still not recovered.

Then there is spring cleaning. Of course last spring I had a one-year old. I did some deep cleaning. But not much. The spring before, well, I had a newborn.

So if you're doing the math you can see that its been like two years since I've really gotten down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the cracks and crevices of my home. Yuck.

But this fall I am inspired. Um, well.. maybe it would be more precise to say "was inspired." At the moment I'm just TIRED! Yesterday I mopped floors and then stood on a chair all day cleaning the light fixtures, ceiling fans, and cobwebs. Today I scrubbed the bathrooms and did the windows. Tomorrow I'll be mopping the floors again. Bad idea to do them first.

But I have not done this by myself. I had help. In the form of my eighteen month old. He dumped Comet all over the bathroom and hallway floors and on his lovey, Lammie. That was useful. Then he took the rags I cleaned the windows with to the trash can. He only dropped about a dozen dead flys and left just a small trail of dust. He had also tried to eat the light bulbs and when I gave him his own lunch he threw beans and rice across the dining room. All across it.

Its a good thing fall comes just once a year.

Town

My husband asked me to go into town to mail a letter. Sounds simple enough.

But which town?

Living in the country, such as we do, "town" is nebulous at best. First there is the tiny little town which is our mailing address. It has a small (over priced) grocery store, post office, gas station-- oh! two gas stations, school, and four-way stop. Oh yeah.

The next closest town is about 15 minutes away and has considerably more. There are several "mom and pop" restaurants, fast food, bank, Wal-Mart, and prison. Oh! Two prisons. This is where I usually head as I can also visit the library (which I must pay to belong to since we actually live in another county!) or drop off dry cleaning. Exciting stuff like that.

Then there is the small city/big town we go to once a week for the baby's physical therapy. It's 45 minutes or so away, but boasts several shopping centers, a small mall, a few craft stores, one electronics store, book store, and lots of services and such.

And the grand finale-- the city. A real cit-- small compared to say, Chicago, but it has sky scrappers and traffic jams and everything. We go there for BIG craft stores, big malls, the children's hospital, Babies R Us, nice restaurants, movie theaters, and Christian bookstores. Obviously its not where I'll go to mail a letter though :-).

So chose carefully. Going to town is a big deal.

The Perfect Nursery Rhyme

Rain, rain, go away

Come again another day.

Little Johnny wants to play.

Are You Missing Humor?

If you don't work with your family each day in a business arrangement you really have no idea what you're missing. Namely-- humor. For example:

The other night my brother and sister-in-law went to a football game and left their three year old with my mother-in-law. After the toddler woke up from his nap my husband and father-in-law decided he and Grandma should both come to the field and help with harvest. Meanwhile I've fixed dinner and taken it out to the field. My little guy and I are riding with Brian in the combine.

So MIL calls hubby and says we need the semi, so she's going to drive his combine while he goes and gets it. We stop to switch with she and my nephew, but since all of the family is in the combine we end up staying in our vehicles and driving back to the car. Then the three of us get in the Grand Prix (which is parked in the middle of a field after a two mile trek through newly cut bean stocks) and the two of them begin harvesting. We drive two miles down the rode and drop Brian off so he came pick up the semi. He drives it back to the edge of the field and then I drive him all the way back where he gets into his combine. Then MIL gets into the truck with the three year old and drives across the field to the other combine driven by my father-in-law. She switches with him so he can drive the loaded semi back to "home base" where the bins are.

At least they are amusing.

Bounteous Blessings

We live for the bounties of fall.

But the harvest of friendship

is blessed above all.

Pizza Hut Pizza

I'm always searching for good "travel" menus. During harvest one of my, shall we say, challenges, is getting food to the field. Besides being a bit of a pain it is also highly unfufilling to take a gourmet dish in a Styrofoam container to men who will wait 45 minutes before eating it so it is completely cold and no longer tastes like anything worth eating and then come home to eat my portion which is now stuck the bottom of the pan. And while I realize this is a terrible run-on sentence, perhaps you can sense my frustration in it. So like I said, I'm always on the look out for "travel" food.

Unfortunately one of the easiest foods to transport is pizza. In a nice box. Straight from the take-out counter. Its also one of the unhealthiest and most costly.

But I have an innovative husband and access to the Internet. So he took it upon himself to find Pizza Hut's recipe for pan pizza. And it really works. I use less oil than called for in the recipe and also use half whole wheat flour (all whole wheat seems to be a bit much).

Dough:
1 1/3 cups warm water (105)
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 T sugar
1 pkg dry yeast
2 T oil
4 cups flour
9 oz oil (3oz per pan)

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in 2 qt. bowl, add water, mix well. Allow to sit 2 min. Add oil and stir. Add flour and stir until dough forms. Turn onto flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Divide dough into 3 balls. In three 9" cake pans evenly spread 3 oz of oil. Roll out each dough ball to 9" circle and place in cake pans. Spray outer edge of dough with Pam. Cover with a plate and place in warm area. Allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Sauce:
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Combine and let sit 1 hour.

For each pizza: Preheat oven to 475. Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of the edge. Distribute 1 1/2 oz shredded mozzarella cheese. Place topping in this order: Pepperoni or ham, veggies, meats and top with 3 oz mozzarella. Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown (about 10 min.). Cut into six slices.

So bring on the Styrofoam. I'm ready.

Shiny!

This was the shiny, new combine fresh from the factory.

This is the combine as of this weekend. I guess you could say the new car smell is gone.

But the very good news is that we are harvesting! Not exactly with a vengeance or anything... but still. Work is getting done. And some of the fields are looking good!

Its still too wet to run on the 24 hour shift mode (for which I'm greatful). The last field they opened was about 21% moistuer. (It should be between 15-16%) All that wet corn has to go through the dryer. Which is what it sounds like. Then it can go into the various big bins on the farm. But it takes a while for it to dry out, so they can't harvest too much at a time. But, like I said, its getting done. And that counts for something!

Wonders of the World

There are some questions to which we may never have answers. Like:

How did the ancient Egyptians build the pyramids?

Is there a Lock Ness Monster?

What is going on the Bramunda Triangle?

And most importantly: How does so much corn end up in the washing machine during harvest?

We may never know.

We Are So Doing That Again!

Wow! I've just discovered the most amazing thing! My son loves the combine. And he loves it so much he's happy to sit there for at least two hours while Daddy works. And Mommy LEAVES!!!

Last night I had an appointment with a client, so I dropped the little guy off with his Dad and then hurried home again as quickly as I could. I was picturing my husband holding the destructive toddler forces at bay while trying to steer a huge piece of equipment with one hand. I was imagining Brian with no hair as he had pulled it all out in frustration as baby poked and prodded every imaginable button available and then tasted everything else. I was dreading the words "never again" as my son was handed back to me.

But no! He and Daddy were happily working along until they finished the field, at which time they went back to the farm to fuel the combine before moving on. Brian was feeding our son turkey and cucumber when I got there.

Way to go Dad!

And tonight I had a women's group meeting, at which I was speaking and could not possibly hope to corral 26 pounds of dynamite.

So once again I was thinking, imagining, brainstorming, fearing...

And all of it groundless!

I am definitely doing this more often.