Four Days of Pumpkin, 31 August 2013

Today I realized why I can't lose five pounds, and I knowingly gave my entire family a case of bad gas, which all comes from a desire to be efficient and from the wishful thinking that it were already autumn and not 90 degrees F.

You see, four days ago I opened a 30-oz can of pumpkin.

No really, stay with me here.  Jay found a large beef top loin roast on markdown at the grocery store which had to be cooked by Tuesday.  So Tuesday morning I found a safe-looking slow-cooker recipe, threw the thing in the pot, and forgot about it.  (Actually, neither of those statements is true.  The particular recipe I used had quite a few different steps, and forgetting about it wasn't possible because the meaty aroma spread through the whole house.)  As dinnertime approached, I couldn't help thinking that a hearty autumn-like dinner would be perfectly complimented by some spicy pumpkin muffins.

At which time I opened the smallest can of pumpkin in my pantry, which amounted to the aforementioned 30 ounces (3 cups; 850 grams).  To lend some perspective to my non-baker friends, an entire pumpkin pie only uses half that amount, and a batch of muffins naturally uses much less than a pie.  Using about one-third of the pumpkin, I got my spiced muffin fix (which made for a great snack while home alone the next day), which left the rest of the can plus the milk left over.  Loathe to throw it out, I stuck them in containers and bunged them into the frig.

Of course, you see where this leaves us.  Over the next few days, I had to prepare recipes that used the rest of the pumpkin!  Did it occur to me to make some sort of sage-y dressing and go all gourmet on a chicken, or to stir up a savory pumpkin risotto?  Of course not!  Pumpkin is for desserts (okay, and for the rare soup--very rare soup).

On Thursday we had a quintessential summertime meal: Corn-on-the-cob, fresh carrot sticks, melon, and Rollkuchen (I'll do a blog post about the fritters and other Mennonite recipes another time).  Not having had much protein in the meal, I made pumpkin cream cheese bars for dessert.  Get it?  Cream cheese = protein.  Duh.

Today, I gathered some bounty from our garden and made a beautiful main-dish salad, beefed-up--so to speak--with dry salami and grated mozzarella cheese, topped with a nice little oil vinaigrette.  Technically-speaking, this salad completed all our remaining nutritional needs for the day.

So darn pretty! I love picking things that aren't weeds from my garden.

But technically, I still had leftover pumpkin and evaporated milk, which were reaching the end of their refrigerator shelf-life.  In the name of waste-not-want-not, as soon as my second bowl of salad was eaten, I began the search for the perfect recipe to use up the last bits of that large pumpkin can, opened four days earlier.

Did you know that if you do a Google search for "cup pumpkin," the first hits will be from other bloggers who collected recipes simply for the purpose of using up leftover canned pumpkin?  I am not the only one who has experienced this dilemma!

And then I found it.  The perfect recipe to solve all my pumpkin problems: Pumpkin Cheesecake Milkshake.  Oh yes.

Oh no.

Does anyone know if using no-sugar added vanilla ice cream cancels out the calories in a block of cream cheese?  Anyone?  Well that was my strategy, even while knowing sugar alcohol was going to do a number on the hapless members of my family.

However hapless we were, after one sip of that milkshake we were happy.  Oh.  So.  Happy.

But we weren't happy enough to stop guzzling after just one sip, of course.

And that, my friends, is the story of why I can't lose five pounds and why I feel badly for the people who will be sitting in the pew next to us during church tomorrow.  At least I didn't waste any pumpkin in the process!

Three Recipes From One Can of Pumpkin

Ever wondered how to perfectly sync amounts of canned pumpkin and evaporated milk?  Well, next time you open a 30-oz can of pumpkin and a 12-oz can of evaporated milk, here's a combination of three recipes that'll do the trick.  Assuming you don't want to make all three recipes on the same day, refrigerate leftover pumpkin and milk in separate, air-tight containers for no more than four days. 

Pumpkin Spice Muffins (recipe by Ree Drummond)

Makes 12 muffins.

Follow recipe at link above as-is, but if you're serving muffins to go along with your pot roast, skip the cream cheese frosting and the crumb topping (or if you have a seared conscience and never struggle with guilt, go ahead and include both).

If you want to have what the kids and I affectionately deemed "Pumpkin Custard Cups," accidentally cancel your oven timer about halfway through baking, forget how much time was left, estimate time, test muffin with a toothpick, remove muffins from oven, watch their centers collapse, open one and discover it's gooey inside, put back in the oven for another 5ish minutes, and then eat as-is, goo and everything.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars (adapted from recipe by Diana Rattray)

Serves however many people you choose to feed from a 9x13 pan.

Base:

9 T butter, melted

1½ c brown sugar, packed

1½ tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1½ c canned pumpkin

1½ c flour

1½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 T cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp ginger

Topping:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

2/3 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

¼ c flour

Preheat oven to 350.

For base, beat butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs until light and creamy. Beat in pumpkin.  In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, and then slowly beat into wet mixture until well blended.  Spread into greased 9x13 pan.

For topping, combine all ingredients and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy, or until you're tired of beating it and accept the little lumps.  Spread over pumpkin layer and swirl with knife.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to desired temperature in pan on wire rack.  Warm any leftovers the next day and serve with eggs and ham for lunch.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Milkshake (adapted from recipe by Maggie Hoffman)

Makes just under 6 cups (4 full glasses)

Combine in blender:

the rest of your can of pumpkin (1/2-2/3 cup)

1 cup (8 oz) cream cheese

the rest of your can of evaporated milk (1 cup)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

4 1/2 cups no-sugar added vanilla ice cream (or if you're not inclined toward guilt or flatulence, full-sugar ice cream is fine)

Pour into glasses and freeze for about 20 minutes to thicken slightly (a good time to bathe your young children).

Home Alone, 28 August 2013

Today is a major milestone in the life of Rachel.

Why?  Because for the first time in my life, both of my children are at school.

Give it up, what!!

Did I shed tears upon leaving little Z at his Kindergarten class today?  Not a one.  Is it because I'm heartless?  Not at all.  See, the deal is, the kids are only in class for 4.5 hours, 40 minutes of which is spent by me driving back and forth to the school.  Furthermore, Z is only in class two mornings a week, so we still have puh-lenty of time together.  (For any of you not familiar, my kids go to a school that is about 70% in-class learning and 30% homeschool.  Teachers send a packet of work home at the beginning of the week and the parents guide the kids through it.  We've already been doing the homeschool work for the past two weeks, which you can read about here and here.)

So what have I done with the first morning on my own??  I'll give you some hints.  Not this:

They've been there for less than 24 hours, so hey.

Or this:

Well these are already clean.

Or this:

Would you believe me if I said we're studying jungle ecosystems in my backyard?

Or this:

This stuff has been on the floor of our guestroom for over a month; what's another day?

But neither have I done this today (although I did eat two muffins):

Wish I knew who to credit for this photo!  Thanks Internet.

What I did do is actually fairly mundane--I took a walk with a friend, showered, snacked, read my devotionals, and puttered on Facebook.  Oh, I also trimmed down some potted chrysanthemums, which took all of two minutes.  Oh, and I put away the cereal boxes left on the table from breakfast.  And now I should really eat some sort of lunch before I leave to pick up the kids in 10 minutes.

But while this morning wasn't a red-letter day in terms of what I did--or didn't--do, it IS significant that I did those things without my kids.  This little introverted gal is very appreciative of the people teaching my kids this morning.

Once they get home, I'll be back "on" with homework and chores and whathaveyou, but I get to have this "free" morning again next week.  And the next week.  And the next.  And I just might find myself doing even more exciting things with my time than blogging about it.  Singing, volunteering, organizing, working on a foreign language...who knows!  The sky's the limit!

Well maybe not the sky.  I guess 4.5 hours is the actual limit, but right now that feels pretty vast to me.  Look out, world!  I'm coming to get you!  And sit tight, G and Z; I'm heading to the car to come get you in a minute.

Getting My Mind into the Gutter, 19 August 2013

Today, the two most unusual things I did were attending a free cardio workout at--wait for it--the public library, and installing rain gutters inside my house.

Being that I'm new to Pinterest, before last week I'd never heard of using rain gutters as bookshelves.  (What, did you think my ceilings leaked or something?)  Apparently, quite a number of people--including at least four of my friends (who should invite me over to their homes more often so that I can observe their creative organization) and my grandpa, of all people--have installed these cool shelves.  But how many people do you know of who get sweaty at their local library?

Maybe there's a Pinterest board for county libraries around the nation who offer fitness classes, but I haven't spent time looking for it.  At any rate, I never expected to encounter an activity that involved blaring music, sweaty people, and a complete lack of reading at our local library.  Truthfully, I don't think many of the library patrons expected it either.  Have you ever browsed audio books or walked out library doors while beet-red and soaked with sweat?

Maybe don't answer that.  Suffice it to say, I got quite a few glances from fellow library-goers who didn't seem to have read the class notice on the front doors.  There were a couple young guys sitting at a table near the stacks I was looking at afterward, and given that they didn't converse with each other exclusively in English, I can only wonder what they might have been saying.  Or maybe my mind's in the gutter.

Speaking of gutters, back to the other unusual thing about my day.  First, a snapshot of how my kids' bedroom looks most of the time.

See those books all over the floor?  And see that cabinet on the left?  Well, the books are supposed to go in that cabinet.  But do they?  Clearly not.  It takes some amount of skill to neatly put books away spine-first, and that is a skill my children do not possess.

So last week I started a hunt for a solution.  My thought was to have shelves in which the books could face forward, making it a snap to put them away and making it easier to find specific stories, to boot.  My first thought was to buy the kids something like this:

But Jay didn't think this was the best $200 use of their bedroom floor space, so I next dove into the world of Pinterest.  I found some beautiful, relatively-simple, floating wood bookshelves that had straightforward instructions.  My dad--a highly-accomplished woodcrafter--looked at the design, gave me some tips for improvement, explained what "counter-sinking" is, suggested what wood I use, and promised to loan me his hand-held electric sander.  

Paint or stain?  This was the last detail to decide and I posited the question to my wealth of Facebook friends.  "Vinyl rain gutters," was the most common answer.  Huh?

Back to Pinterest!  There was no lack of pins on the topic, so after sifting through photos and how-tos, I concluded that the gutters were, in fact, the best option for us.  (Sorry to disappoint you, Dad.  But rain gutters don't need sanding, painting, C-clamps, or counter-sinking, so...yeah.)

After four trips to hardware stores, $60 of materials, five wrongly-drilled holes, more beeps from a stud-finder than I care to remember, a few tense moments between wife/husband and parent/children, and a whole lot of elbow grease, this is what we accomplished!

View from the bedroom door

View toward the bedroom door

Not pictured here are the two additional shelves we put up by the boys' bunkbed; each kid got a 5-foot shelf above his mattress.  If I had waited to post about this until another day, I could have photographed those shelves too, but by the time I was taking pictures of the finished project tonight, the boys were sprawled on their beds in pajamas.  They were looking at books!

In the event you feel inspired to do something like this in your house, here's what we did.  (These instructions are based on using on-top brackets; I wanted to use underneath ones, but the gutter brand I chose didn't have them.)  Someone from Pinterest or a legit home-decorating blog would have step-by-step photos of this process, but I'll throw in some pics of materials and several handy tips for you.

• For six 5-foot shelves, I bought three 10-foot lengths of vinyl gutters at our local home improvement store.
• Tip: Try and sweet-talk a store associate into sawing the lengths in half for you.

Pretty, right?

• I also bought left- and right-endcap pairs for each shelf, plus two brackets per shelf.
• Tip: Before you sweet-talk the store associate into sawing the gutters and before you leave the store with a bag of brackets, make sure the brackets you're buying match the shape of the gutters.  Who knew there isn't a vinyl rain gutter standard?



Don't forget to get left and right endcaps.



I don't know why they picture this bracket on its side.

• Decide on the height of the lowest shelf and mark the wall studs nearest each end of where the gutter will go.

• Tip: Try to keep your children's beepy use of the stud-finder to a minimum.
• Slide the brackets onto the gutter (no endcaps yet, assuming they'll snap on easily-enough post-gutter installation), positioning them at the studs you've chosen.  Set a level inside the trough and mark the brackets' screw holes on the wall with a pencil.
• Tip: Having a second adult to help with holding one end of the gutter while you're leveling would be helpful, but if no other adults are available, a 6-year old does a fairly good job.
• Put the gutter down and drill a smallish hole into the studs at the places you've marked.
• Tip: If you aren't sure which size drill bit to use, ask a second, helpful adult.
• Hold the gutter back up, matching the brackets' holes to the ones you've just drilled, call your 6-year old back over to help hold up one end, and screw one bracket into the wall.
• Tip: If you aren't strong enough to get the screw all the way in, that's okay; just get it in as far as you can and wait for a stronger, second adult to get home from work.
• Screw the second bracket into the other stud.
• Put on the endcaps (6-year olds are good at that).
• Mark another stud or two between the two brackets you installed.
• Slide the gutter into its final left-right position (if it shifted during bracket screw-in).
• Drill a hole and then add a screw directly through the back wall of the gutter into a stud you marked.
• Tip: Because of stud spacing and the length of our gutters, we had a bracket at one end, a bracket about 6 inches in from the other end, and one screw in a stud between.  After being filled with books, it has held up to the weight just fine--at least for the three hours it's been on the wall.
• Grab your tallest book and figure out how much space you want between the higher shelves (accounting for room to pull the book in and out).
• Repeat!

If you are of Pinterest ilk, have the space, or just feel more creative than I did, you could buy connecting gutter pieces and wrap the shelves around corners, which looks pretty cool (but watch out; it's all the little pieces that add up the $$).

And there you have the story of the two most unusual aspects of my day.  I can't vouch for how my muscles are going to feel when I wake up tomorrow, but I sure look forward to walking into the kids' bedroom...without stepping on a single book.

"Mom, Homeschooling Is Hard," 15 August 2013

Hello, my name is Rachel and I've been homeschooling two kids for three days.

It's kicking my assiduity.

Last night I got the kids to bed and sank down onto the couch in a sort of comatose state.  I told Jay the only thing I could move was my eyeballs.  (He kindly took the remote control and turned on the TV for us.)  That exhaustion took into account a two-hour afternoon nap, people.

What gives?  My mom homeschooled six children from the time her oldest started Kindergarten until her youngest's graduation from high school.  She did this every day for 21 years.  With six kids.  And no internet or video games for most of it.  Jay's mom homeschooled four kids--two of whom had severe ADHD--for 10 years.  I have friends who do this with multiple kids.

I only have two and I only have to do this full-time for nine days and I don't even have to make lesson plans.  And I'm beat.

Speaking of multiple kids and lesson plans, let me just send a BIG shout-out to you classroom teachers who do this day-in-day-out with 20-something students at a time (or in Jay's current case, 50 students at a time; his school's master schedule is getting off to a gnarly start).  What you do would frankly be horrifying for me.  I salute you!

But back to my life.

In defense of my kids, I should say that they are not "being bad."  They're being pretty cooperative and have even had downright enthusiastic moments!  I think what really exhausts me is Brain Strain. It's quite the juggling act to sit with one kid, overseeing him trace the letter B, while the other kid is wrestling with fractions and calling me over with questions.  Then one of them finishes his worksheet, and while I'm shuffling through the assignments to get him started on the next one, the other kid needs my help; so I put down the pile of worksheets to talk with him and the first kid asks, "Am I done yet?"

Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep track of how many minutes each one of them has read/been read to, check off their assignments as they're finished, make sure we all eat at a reasonable time, fit in showers and baths (mine included), and all the other normal everyday stuff.  Today I had to choose between a shower and a nap.  For meals, I've been throwing things together from the freezer since we haven't made it to the grocery store for a week.  Most of Tuesday's laundry has been put away, but not all of it.  The kitchen was clean for a bit yesterday afternoon.  Our rabbit got today's breakfast at 2 p.m.  I've gotten almost no exercise and am feeling fat and flabby.

Pause for a second.

If my mom were here, I'd call her right now and she'd listen with her kind "Hmm"; chuckle a bit; and gently give me some perspective.  Maybe this is what she'd say.

"Well first of all, Rachel, you're not fat.  But we can come back to that.  Remember that you've just had a whole summer of Jay helping with the kids, so now that he's back to school and you're on your own during the day, of course you're more tired.  It was always hard for me when Dad went back to work after a vacation.

"I'm not Supermom.  [Yeah right.]  When you kids were little, I was always exhausted.  I wasn't creative with meals. I didn't grow a garden.  We didn't have pets.

"And too, it sounds like you are doing a lot with the boys!  Yesterday you led them through worksheets and did three science projects and went to the library and did an art project?  That's a lot for one day!

"Also, remember that the teachers giving the work don't know your kids.  They don't know how long something might take or how difficult it might be.  Do they expect you to finish everything exactly like they assigned?"

Well no, I'd answer.  They told us these first couple weeks are to get a feel for where the kids are at and then they'd adjust the homework accordingly.  But the boys are actually doing fine with it; it's having them both at once that's so tricky for me!

"Well then it seems to me like you need to have some helpful systems in place to help you organize your time.  Have you thought much about how you might do that?"

Not really, I'd admit.  It seems like a lot of work to set that up when we're only doing this for nine days.

"Only nine days?  Hmmm. Well, then you don't need to come up with a long-term routine, but it could be helpful to plan ahead a bit for each day.  Even a little structure can cut down on all those little 'bumps' in your day, and bumps like that can add up. You and your kids--and Jay--are all adjusting to this new schedule, and you need to be very gentle with yourself.

"And as to feeling fat, Rachel, you aren't.  Even if you did put on a few pounds during the summer, these next two weeks are not the time to set up a new exercise routine or completely change the way you eat.  For the next two weeks, just do the major things your family needs--even if that means eating cereal for supper--until the four of you get into the swing of things.

"You're a great mom and a great wife, and your kids are sweet boys, and Jay sounds like he's working hard and helping a lot, and the Lord will give you the strength you need.  Ask Him for wisdom and He'll give it to you.  I'll be praying for you, too."

Thanks Mom.  I love you.

"I sure love you too, Rachel."

I sure miss you, Mom.  Thanks for being super and raising me, and helping me learn how to raise my kids, too...inside school hours and out.

School for Two, 13 August 2013

Today was a momentous day!  G started second grade...and Z started Kindergarten.

Seriously, this morning Z looked like a mostly-four-year-old, five in name only.  But this evening, guiding him through homework, before my very eyes he transformed into a full-fledged five-year-old in all its school-age glory.

(Note: Our kids are enrolled in a charter public school that is about 70% in-class learning and 30% homeschool.  Teachers send a packet of work home at the beginning of the week and the parents guide the kids through it.  Today was the first day of homeschool; classes won't start until the end of August.)

Z's first order of business was to trace his first name on a page his teacher printed for him.  I pessimistically expected him to balk when I told him I had a thing for him to do, but he practically ran to the kitchen table, eagerly taking up the pencil and bending over the page.  He traced his name (and it's a long name) once, and I planned to let him move on to something else, saving the other lines of tracing for another day.  But he had other ideas.  "I'm going to trace the next one!" he declared happily.

Then a shadow crossed his face and I braced myself for the expected complaint.  For the last two years, Z has sat with G and me during homeschool time, and I waited for him to echo G's idea that this thing called "homework" is to be dreaded like the Pirate Roberts.  I wasn't wrong.

"Mommy," a whine crept in, "when I'm done tracing, do I have to do homework?"

My darling boy!  Delight swept over me and I grinned.  "Z, I'm going to tell you a secret: You already are doing homework!"

His whine disappeared into a giggle and he enthusiastically announced, "I'm going to surprise my teacher and trace all of the lines right now!"  Which he did.  There's no way his classroom teacher is going to be more surprised by his industriousness than I was!

G also showed growth today.  After a nice long summer of having no required paperwork, I was ready for a barrage of protest when I handed him three sheets of homework this evening.  But all I got was a mild, "Do I have to?" and when assured that he did, G worked through the papers without another complaint.

Giving him a hug later, I told G I was proud of him for doing his work without complaining tonight.  "Yeah," he said, "thanks Mommy.  I was complaining a lot in my head though."  Hey, that's still progress and I'll take it!

Like any year, I know this one is going to have expected--and unexpected--ups and downs, but I think we're ready to start the semester...taking things one day at a time.

Furniture Frenzy, 02 August 2013

Today I set out to buy marshmallows, graham crackers, and bug spray, and I came home with an antique cabinet and a pirate chest.

It's a simple explanation, really.  The four of us are preparing for our second-ever family camping trip, so the kids and I hopped in the car this morning to pick up some essential supplies (AKA fixings for s'mores).  But before we hit the market, I suggested we detour to our favorite local thrift store ("charity shop" for the non-Americans) to see if we could find a toy box for the kids.

Toys in our house generally have places to live, but there's one corner in our living room that has become Toy Pile and Weapons Dump.  Light sabers, Nerf swords, and sundry pieces of armor don't fit neatly into drawers, so they gravitate to the Pile; it's also true that it's faster to clean up the room by tossing things onto the Pile than it is to neatly organize the many robots, blocks, magnifying glasses, bits of string, and large plastic insects.

Come on now.  Look at that face.  How can we go on unceremoniously tossing this guy into a pile?

It occurred to me that a great solution would be to have a box into which to throw things--a kind of Enclosed Pile, if you will.  The kids also thought this was a great idea and the three of us felt optimistic as we walked into the thrift store just as it opened.  Then--

Eureka!  Right inside the doors I immediately spotted the perfect...antique cabinet?

"Mom-meee, stop looking at that thing and let's see if they have a box!!"  But the magic of solid wood, dove-tailed drawers, and burled grain had already cast its spell.  Suddenly I realized that what I needed more than anything else--s'mores included--was this cabinet.  Nevermind I wasn't quite sure where to put it or what to keep in it.  "Mom-meee!" G looked at the price tag.  "This one's expensive!  Why are you looking at it?  Stop looking at it!  Come over heeeere!"

Granted, anything over $5.00 is expensive to a 6 year old, but it certainly wasn't in my planned expenses for the month, so I sighed and moved on to the suddenly dull quest of finding a toy box.  By contrast, the boys' excitement had skyrocketed.  "Look!!!  We found a pirate chest!" they cheered.  Sure enough, there was a bright blue trunk with rusted latches and riveted leather handles...with a price tag that didn't shock G.  It had our name on it, for sure!  Our quest was at an end.

But the cabinet...oh, so pretty...  I wandered around the store with the boys for a couple more minutes, stalling with the hope that an obvious reason to buy the cabinet would come to me, but in the end we left the store with the toy chest and without the cabinet.

During the drive home, the kids prattled excitedly, but I was quiet.  "Do you guys know what I'm doing while I'm being quiet?" I eventually asked.  "I'm praying about whether I should get that cabinet or not.  I think I should go home and think about it and talk to Daddy first."  G commented, "That sounds good," (he really didn't want me to make a U-turn) and went back to discussing which of their treasures they should pack into the chest.

Once home, we got the toy box happily settled into its corner.

The kids have never been quite so keen to clean up before!

But I was still thinking about that cabinet at the thrift store.  Apparently, I've inherited my mom's gene of collecting eclectic, second-hand furniture.  (A rough tally reveals that three-quarters of the furniture in our home is pre-owned.)  So just like I saw my mom do many times, I took some measurements in the room, did some visualizing, and finally called the store to see if someone had erstwhile purchased the cabinet.  No one had.  I noticed the time had hit Jay's lunch break, so I called him to discuss it.  (One doesn't like to bring home large pieces of furniture using their husband's paycheck without consulting their husband first.  Whatever did my mom do in pre- cell phone days?)

Incredibly, between the two of us we decided there were more reasons to buy the cabinet than not to buy it!

• Place to put it?  Check.
• Drawers functional?  Check.
• Helpful storage space?  Check.
• A good look for the room?  Check.
• Long-term usability?  Check.
• Rachel have a good track record of not buying useless furniture?  Check.
• Rachel have a good track record of picking out nice furniture?  Check.
• Cabinet worth passing down as an heirloom to our children and their progeny during the next couple hundred years?  Possibly...

Truthfully, that last point didn't come up in my conversation with Jay.  But the others did, and I got the go-ahead to add the piece to our room.  With bated breath, I drove the agonizing 15 minutes to the shop where--lo and behold--the cabinet was still there!  Just as I walked up to it, another lady laid eyes on it and reached out her hand to open a drawer.

"Oh actually," I boldly said, "I'm buying this right now."  Did her one-word response of "Oh," indicate a broken heart and fizzled dreams?  Did it concede crushing defeat in the face of a clear victor?  Or was it simply a polite thing to say to an over-eager shopper with bulging eyes?  Pretty sure my eyes were bulging.

At any rate, brokenhearted shoppers aside, today I came home with a pirate chest, an heirloom cabinet (why not call it like it is?), and the required marshmallows and bug spray.  So what conclusions do I draw from this tale?

1. Getting to thrift stores right when they open is dangerous ideal
2. Old-fashioned trunks look like pirate treasure chests to 6- and 5-year olds
3. Impulse-buying isn't the only way to end up with a desired thing
4. Whether I ended up with the cabinet or not, the process--prayer, thinking, waiting, discussing--was helpful
5. I'm turning into my mother
6. But hey, my mother had good taste

Even the tea set on top is Mom's.*

So campers beware!  Preparing for your next adventure into the great outdoors could lead to a shopping tale worthy of the high seas.  ARRRR!

*The lace on top of the cabinet was my MIL's; the candle holders were Grammy G's; the candle sticks were Bernie and Claire's; and the glass platter under the tea set was a house-warming gift from its former owners, a couple at our church.  Every item on top of the cabinet is sentimental...and every single one is second-hand!