Ben Graduates Fifth Grade! Daniel Graduates Third!

As we do every year at this time, we went to lots of end of the year festivities at the school. Ben's was a little more in-depth this year, as he was "graduating". We attended a very nice, very heart-warming, very lengthy, graduation ceremony on Wednesday. Ben was recognized for getting a perfect score on the state writing exam, and for earning the most AR points in his class. He also won the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence, which is given to students who maintain straight A's from third grade up, and who scored "advanced" on their TCAP tests. That was quite an achievement for him! He is pictured above with his principal - I had to laugh - as each kid came up to get their "diploma", she bent over and whispered "Where's your parents?" and wherever the kid pointed, she turned and grinned for a picture.

Daniel (who I didn't get pics of, but did get a video of - I will post when I can get the time to edit it) performed the role of "Father", quite passionately, I might add, in a class play. He was given an award for his penmanship (cursive writing in third grade, and all that) and an Academic Excellence Award for straight A's.

We are very, VERY proud of our sixth grader, and our fourth grader. Can you believe they are that old? Where does the time go....

Court of Honor

As promised, Troop 37 held their spring Court of Honor tonight. Ben was awarded the Tenderfoot Rank, as well as his Totin' Chip. (The Totin' Chip allows him to carry and use axes, saws, and pocketknives on scout outings. Scary stuff.)

I took a great photo of the back of some kid's head to commemorate the evening.

What I'm Reading Now

The Rosewood Casket, by Sharyn McCrumb.

My mom turned me on to Sharyn McCrumb. She lives in Virginia, but most of her books (the ones I've read at least) are set in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. She always has a historical element running in tandem with a modern day story. I've read quite a few of her books now - my favorites being She Walks These Hills and The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, although, I have to admit, many of them run together for me. They have the same modern day characters, whose stories progress in each book. The historical parts are easier to keep straight. The Rosewood Casket focuses on Daniel Boone and the Cherokee for the historical part, and some guy with, you guessed it, a rosewood casket in the modern day part. The two stories will eventually entertwine, I'm sure.

If I remember correctly, my mom bought me my copy of The Rosewood Casket, and Mark took it on a trip with him and left it on the plane. So Mom bought me another copy. Moms are good that way. In fact, I think Mom has bought all of my McCrumb books to date; oddly enough, she finds them easier to find in her local bookstores than I find them in mine. Something about a prophet and his hometown, I think.

Here's some trivia I bet you don't know: McCrumb's latest works revolve around the Nascar circuit (don't ask). The first in this series is called St. Dale, about a pilgrimage involving the one and only Dale Earnhart. In the hard copy (can't say for the paperback, as I haven't seen it) McCrumb lists a number of people whom she consulted in the writing of the book. One of them is none other than my mom! (Name misspelled, of course.) Mom had an email conversation with McCrumb about McCleod hospital - parking lot, ER, entrances, and exits, etc. St. Dale was taken to McLeod after piling it up in Darlington one year, and McCrumb wanted to get the details right without actually driving to Florence. Go Mom!

Easy Dinnertime Goodness

+
+
= Yum

Seriously, take your favorite beef roast, add the obligatory salt and pepper, and put it in the crock pot with a bottle of russian dressing. Let it cook on low 7-8 hours. Serve it over rice. Thank me later.

What I'm Reading Now

I'll Watch the Moon, by Ann Tatlock.

Another church lady bag book. Never heard of the book, never heard of the author. The publisher is a big name in the Christian fiction market, so I can only assume that it is considered "Christian Fiction", but nothing in the story itself has led me to that conclusion so far.

So far, it's set in the forties in Minnesota during a polio epidemic. The narrator's brother gets polio, and the house gets quarantined. By "house", I mean boarding house, which is where the narrator's family lives. They have an assortment of interesting characters boarding with them, which adds a lot to the story.

I wouldn't have guessed it, but the polio epidemic is fascinating reading. I asked mom about it this morning - she remembers not being able to go outside, and she thinks my dad was officially quarantined at one time.

I remember reading Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin, where she writes about her childhood in Brooklyn. I was jealous of the lifestyle she described - kids could wander around town all summer long, not worrying about freaks and pervs and the like. It seemed so much better then the scary world we live in now. And then, bam! some kid gets polio and the whole community shuts down. No one goes out, no one comes to visit. It made me realize that modern times aren't all bad.

It also makes me wonder what we fear today, that will be nothing in fifty years. Leukemia? Breast Cancer? Aids?

So if you like historical fiction, and you'd like to know more about iron lungs, try this one. I'm about half-way through and enjoying it.

The Peyton Manning Story

Ben reminded me of the Peyton Manning story last night - it still cracks me up. I only hope it plays as well in print...

Me and Mark and the boys are in the car. Mark is telling us about his buddy getting to meet Peyton Manning at a charity golf tournament. You get a foursome together, pay an entry fee, and play in the tourney. Manning stays at one tee box all day, and as the players come through, they get to tee off with him at this one hole. They take pictures, get autographs, etc. Most importantly, they get to tell all their buddies that they played golf with Peyton Manning. Good times for all.

Mid-way through the story, Ben breaks wind in the back seat. I neither hear it nor smell it. I have no idea this has happened.

So here's what Mark says: "Chad gets to the hole where Manning is and he shakes his hand and says 'I'm Chad So-and-So, I'm a big fan' and Manning says .....Dude! Did you bust one?!?!??! Gyyyahhhh.... "

I'm looking at Mark as he says this, and I'm thinking "What's worse? Meeting Peyton Manning and cracking one off, or having him call you out for it?"

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Best wishes to the Alcohol and Pork Fueled Mad-Man on his big day!

I Love This Guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9m2FLHlEwA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-HWkbnDfg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUU9CqrtFiU&feature=related

What I Just Finished Reading

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom.

This one was such a quick read, I didn't even have time to blog in the middle of it.

I like Mitch Albom. He and Mike Lupica are the only Sports Reporters I can stand. I liked Tuesdays with Morrie. And I liked this one, but I don't think it did for me what it must have done for everyone else who read it. It was good, but it wasn't life-altering. It's been out for a while, and it's been a best-seller for a while, and people have been going on and on about it for a while. I was lucky enough to find it in my church-lady bag. And I did like it - it's a story about a man that dies, and meets five different people in heaven who are attached to his life in some way, but who represent a greater truth about his life.

It's such a short book, it's hard not to recommend it, because even if you hate it, you're only out about two hours of your life, and you can now talk about it at cocktail parties. So go ahead and read it.

Tis the Seasoning

It's that time again. Time to re-season all my cast iron, whether it needs it or not.

I got my first piece of cast iron cookware a few years back for Mother's Day. It was the Lodge 12" cast iron skillet. It was love at first cook. Not only can you kill an intruder with it, but you can cook just about anything you can think of in it. It retains and distributes heat like nothing else, and after several uses, it's virtually as non-stick as teflon. And since we're comparing it to teflon, cast iron wins because it is virtually indestructible and dirt cheap, two things you generally can't say about teflon. Retailing at a mere $19.95, my 12" skillet will still be here long after I am dead and gone. It is that one item of cookware that I would take with me if I were planning to be trapped on a deserted island not run by the Dharma Initiative.

Since the skillet, I have also added other Lodge cast iron items to my collection: a 12" square grill pan, an 8" skillet, and a 5-quart dutch oven. I love them all, but the 12" skillet is my baby.

And every year at this time (easy to remember what with the holiday and all), I re-season each and every piece. I just wrapped up the dutch oven last night. Not too much to ask of me, what with all they give me in return.

Cast iron. Don't cook without it.

This, Too, Shall Pass

It's just after midnight, and I think I'm passing a kidney stone. This one doesn't feel exactly like some others I've passed, but what else could it be. The pain is really low, so it can't be long now. Nothing to do but drink water and pray. I would add "walk around" to that list of possible remedies, but this one must be causing something to swell and put pressure on a nerve or something - my left leg is killing me. Walking is not an option. And so I blog.

I had a stone about two years ago, and I was up all night with it. Finally, about 4 AM, I couldn't take it anymore and got Mark to take me to the ER. They gave me a morphine drip almost as soon as I walked in the door. I remember lying there, looking up at nurse when that morphine kicked in and I said "Oh my gosh...I'm going to faint!" She looked at me and smiled and said "You're lying on table. Go ahead and faint."

I think about that a lot, as one of those metaphor-for-life moments. We get so focused on holding on to all of our baskets - we forget sometimes we can go ahead and faint.

People are fond of saying that God doesn't give you more than you can handle. Too bad that isn't scriptural. What the Bible actually says is God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to resist. Not at all the same thing.

I personally think God gives people more than they can handle all the time. But I find great comfort in knowing that God can't give me more than He can handle. So I can go ahead and faint when I need to. Like now.

My New Crock Pot

I took the new crock pot out for a spin today. I didn't have the fixins' for most of my standard crock pot dishes, so I improvised.

I started by brining a pork tenderloin overnight. This morning, I set the crock pot stoneware insert on the stove (an added feature - you can use it on the stovetop!), drizzled in a little olive oil and browned the tenderloin. Then I set the stoneware back in the crock pot base and added a quartered onion, a quartered lemon, four cloves of garlic, some dried thyme, about a half a cup each of chicken broth and white wine, and a handful of dried cherries. I cooked it on low for seven hours, then on warm till we got home.

When I got home, I took the meat out to rest. The wine and lemon had reduced so much that the gravy it made was almost too strong. So I added another cup or so of chicken broth. I also added a bit of corn starch to thicken it a little. I turned the heat up to high and let it cook while I made rice and grilled zuccini strips.

I strained the gravy and dinner was served. The pork was a little dry, but it was very tender. Overall, a good first try. Mark called it a repeater after one bite. That's always a good sign.

Just For Kicks

We have a new member of the blogosphere! Daniel has started a blog called Just For Kicks. You can visit it using the link on my sidebar. Daniel will be blogging about stuff in his world. His first post is his review of Iron Man. Visit often - comments welcome!

#1 Mom

Apparently, there was a contest of sorts recently, and, well, I won! Turns out, I'm the #1 Mom! I was all prepared to say that it was an honor just to be nominated, but this...this is just so hard to take in! #1! Out of all the moms! I just can't believe it.

I'm being silly, of course. Ben made me this wonderful wooden plaque, which I will take to work and use instead of a nameplate on my desk. But in all seriousness, there are lots of #1 Moms out there, many of whom read this blog. Happy Mother's Day to my mom, Kelly, Jennifer K, Jennifer B, Laura, Nels, Natalie, Willie and anyone I've forgotten who loves their children more than themselves. Celebrate being a #1 Mom today - it is an honor above all honors. I'm proud to know all of you...

For my special day, I got the wonderful plaque, and the promise of a butterfly that was left at school. I also got a spoon rest, an egg separater, a very snazzy colander, a "can colander" (you stick it in the top of a can to drain the contents - smooth), and a new crock pot! My old crock pot was dying a slow death, and this new one looks awesome.

My guys also made me breakfast, and are planning to grill burgers for dinner. Also on the docket is a trip to visit Mark's mom, and then to see the new Iron Man movie! (I actually requested this, so it's all good.)

Enjoy your day, and enjoy your children! Happy Mother's Day!

Name That Tune

"But I shot a man in Reno

Just to watch him die

When I hear that whistle blowin'

I hang my head and cry."