hillbilly housewife; parent ed class; faith

I made an awesome and cheap meal using the hillbilly housewife web site. I made pinto beans and spanish rice and served it in store bought tortillas and salsa and grated cheddar cheese. It was so yummy! I'm going to try to start baking my own bread and follow more of the "so called" $45 menu from hillbilly housewife. People are generally saying that they don't think that you could buy all that food for $45. I'm going to take the shopping list with me the next time I go to my local supermarket and try to pencil in the prices of store brand or generic items.

In general, I am impressed with the simplicity and goodness of the recipes. True, some of the recipes are not to my taste. But if I can get in to doing fresh beans and fresh homebaked bread, this will be a very good thing for my family. I know it seems like a lot of work, but it just takes some planning ahead and breaking up tasks in to smaller, more manageable tasks.

This morning, I took my daughter to a parent education class which was fun. It's just a long morning of play, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. The only bummer is that she managed to run away in to the parking lot before I could catch up to her. It scared the living daylights out of me. But I have a solution: I just won't attend the parent only discussion group. I'll stay with my kid because she is too hyper and wants to run away all the time. I hope she grows out of this stage soon! I wish I knew how to train her to stop when I call her name. Maybe I need to make it a game, with rewards. I don't know.

My crochet project fell behind my stereo, and I am too lazy to fish it out. I have some serious dental pain and need to call the dentist tomorrow morning. I guess I'll just chill out tonight with a book. perhaps the good book. I haven't been reading the Bible lately. I need God. Recently I had an experience where I felt overwhelmed by this sense of God's presence. I know He is with me and loves me no matter what. We have a relationship and I trust Him totally. But I often feel like I am lazy and lacking in devotion to God. I go all day sometimes without considering Him at all. It's like being married but you never consider your husbands feelings when making decisions, or you spend the whole day and night away without calling him to let him know where you are. I don't know. It's not really like that. Because God knows all, and there's nothing I can do to add to His glory. But I want to be more obedient. I don't use my time very well. I am very lazy. I sometimes slack off and spend the whole day in my own little dreamworld, not taking care of my home very well and even overlooking my daughter's needs for stimulation and attention. She's a good girl and will often just play with her toys by herself. But she comes around periodically and tries to get me interested in playing with her. And I just want to be left alone half the time. I have a bad attitude sometimes about the wonderful blessings God has put in my life. I could be doing an awesome job in the home, as a stay at home mom. But I often just feel unmotivated and tired.

a fun day, first day of parenting class

Today was so much fun. I've got that happy and tired feeling. Feet are aching but my soul is satisfied. This morning I went to our very first mommy and me class. It was so neat. I just love it. How much fun to see your child having fun with other kids. Then this afternoon, a couple friends came over and we had a nice time together. One of them is a new Mary Kay "Independent Beauty Consultant" and so we did her very first Mary Kay party, just the 3 of us. That was different. I'm not used to fussing with my appearance with other people watching. We laughed a lot though so it was cool. I didn't buy anything although perhaps I should have. Instead I just let my friend get all the cool free stuff because she was the hostess.

Now I get to relax and crochet. I'm trying to finish a large, queen-sized afghan that I have been working on forever. It's taking more time than I thought.

I was able to stop at Michaels craft store today and purchase a set of Susan Bates crochet hooks. I decided that I just had to have them because I'm so tired of my Boye hooks snagging the yarn as I'm working stitches. I was having a big problem when working with pompadour yarn for some baby items. I also picked up a few skeins of RH Supersaver to put a fancy edging on my queen-sized afghan. And I also could not resist buying a set of heart-shaped cookie cutters. I want to make some cookies as gifts this Valentine's Day. Corny but sweet. I want to find a spicy gingerbread recipe or something unusual. Although I have a Williams Sonoma recipe for Raspberry Linzer Hearts which are really amazing looking cookies. Perhaps I will make them.