This was home sweet home for the past week

By day, above, and by night, below . . .
Yes, folks, the mother ship has landed. 4 of us "ladies" shared this tent, and it was a great time of fellowship. We had a good week, in spite of more rain than has likely been seen since the days of Noah.
Many of the "kids" (I think there were about 80 teens) had wet muddy clothes and bedding, so a trip to the laundromat was the quickest solution. Fun times!

Now we are home with our own Mount Laundry to tackle, and 500+ emails to wade through. But it was a good week, and hopefully one that will yield eternal results. The work is our part - the results are God's.

Riding Shotgun

This is Cassie - one of my hairier kids. What's good about having Cassie ride shotgun?

- she doesn't complain about my music, in fact she seems to like it when I sing along, and she doesn't touch the radio buttons.

-she doesn't mess with the air conditioning controls, and doesn't play with the power window buttons (at least not very often).

-she doesn't hit me up for a loan because she forgot her wallet and has a terrible craving for a bag of Doritos

-she never asks me to just pull up to the convenience store for 2 minutes so she can run in for something, or go through the Wendy's drive thru on a whim

-she doesn't talk about politics or economics or other intense subjects. In fact, she listens patiently while I talk to myself, keeps a suitably concerned expression on her beautiful face, and never interrupts or snickers

-she doesn't think I drive too fast, or too slow, or should turn here, or try this new shortcut.

-she doesn't leave gum wrappers on the floor, or cups and bottles in the holders, or sweaty socks under the seats

I guess a seat full of dog hair is a small price to pay for such an amicable traveling companion.

Speaking of travel . . . I likely won't be posting for another 10 days or so. The ladies and I are on the road again, while the men of the house hold down the fort.

God's Work Ethic

I've been giving this some thought since reading pieces of Mark Buchanan's The Rest of God a few weeks ago. My conviction was reinforced this weekend when reading an article in the Summer Issue of TEACH Magazine. TEACH is an acronym for To Encourage and Challenge Homemakers. You know, every occupation has its trade publications, and this is a good one for homemakers. It underscores the value of what we are doing, and provides lots of good tools to help along the way. More on the tools later . . .

In an article titled Enjoying What We Get Done, Lorrie Flem points out that during Creation, God looked over his work for each day and saw that it was good. I don't do that very often - but I should! Another really important thing is that he rested after work. That concept of rest is all throughout scripture, but somehow in 2008 we think we can't afford to follow the divine plan. It's our loss . . . big time!

Here's an excerpt from the article I'm talking about ". . . The more you stop and smell the roses, even if they are surrounded by weeds, the more you will want to keep your house tidy and in order. The more you enjoy the work you get done, the more you will find your heart softer, and your spirit permeated with thankfulness for the ongoing work He has entrusted to you." Sounds like a good plan to me!

And now back to tools: In this magazine I enjoyed a page of salad recipes by Marilyn Moll. There are several variations of chicken salad that sound downright yummy! I'm thinking maybe Thursday night I'll try one of these.

One more fun and useful tool is a "periodic table of produce". Very cute - it's laid out like the periodic table of elements that we're familiar with, but it includes how to store produce. For example, one block says Ct Carrots R, no greens in plastic, 3 wk. The R means refrigerated, as noted in the chart legend. Very clever!

Anyhow . . . I'm a long way from finishing this magazine, but wanted to share how it encouraged me this weekend. Life has been so very busy, and taking an hour to start reading the Summer TEACH was a refreshing break.

Can you write a $3000 story?

Real Simple Magazine is running a contest - write a 1500 word piece about the most important day of your life - someone's going to win - might as well be you!
Read about it here. I think Real Simple is one of the best put together magazines out there. That's not saying I'm 100% behind all of the content all of the time . . . it's just saying the magazine is attractive, useful, and well put together.

Another contest - and a hat tip to Mary DeMuth (link in my sidebar) for this one. If you like to write, and want to be published, you really need to subscribe to Mary's blog. Want to win a Garmin Portable GPS? I do. Check out this link to Wildfire Marketing. You may be a truly amazing writer, or have the most exciting publication, but your target market needs to know you exist. Wildfire Marketing is a great place to start your journey.

Chicago - a mighty abbreviated report!

My train was w-a-a-y late leaving Pittsburgh - we finally got going about 2:30 a.m. Some very interesting fellow travelers - including a large contingent of Amish folk, with the cutest crowd of kids you'd ever want to see. I got into Union Station, Chicago (above) about 10 a.m. or so on the 4th.

And here's a photo of the 4th, Chicago style! I really love this city! It's been probably 10 years since I spent any time here, and it's only gotten better than I remembered. After arriving I took the free trolley to within a block of our hotel. On the way back, Sunday evening, I took the water taxi - $3.00 fare - back to Union Station. It's so easy and fun to get around here!

So, Friday we went to Navy Pier, and then to a very cool little upscale grocer to buy some odds and ends for a light supper in our hotel room. Then there were fireworks over the lake. Lovely!

Saturday we hit the Magnificent Mile - I'm not really a fashion maven, but I love me some good books, good food, and homey/kitchen stuff. My favorite stores were Borders, Williams and Sonoma, and Crate and Barrel. I realize this is sounding like a stilted report that my kids would produce when I force them to write about a field trip. But we really, truly had a lot of fun! The four of us "girlfriends" together have a total of 19 kids. I think we deserved a weekend away!

Saturday's dinner was at a very fancy restaurant. My friends are really classy gals. I tend not to eat very often at places where I can't pronounce the entrees. This was one of those places. After dinner one friend and I planned to take the Tall Ship harbor cruise, while the 2 other gals went to a show. But we diddled about and were too late to board ship. We did have a nice evening and visit nonetheless.

Sunday a.m. featured an enormous, most delightful brunch buffet. . . so enormous, in fact, that I didn't eat until Monday lunch time. Caught the train home again to Pittsburgh Sunday evening, and slept like an oversized pretzel in the reclining seat, next to a delightful lady who regaled me with stories of her extended family every time I cracked an eye open. My most excellent and obliging hubby met me at 5:30 a.m. in downtown Pittsburgh. When we got home I went to bed . . . and he, poor fellow, went to work. And that's the end of the Chicago report.

Fantastic Contest

I'm hoping to find time soon to blog about my trip to Chicago last weekend. It was great . . . but I've been going non-stop since returning home early Monday.

I just HAD to share this contest with you though. Hurry over to Monica's blog for a chance to win a $120 gift certificate to Land's End. Oh would I love to win this one! I really need a new swimsuit!

What Not To Wear...

Oooh Yeah - I'm stylin'! My friend Harriette has a button on her blog that says something like this: "If you can't laugh at yourself I'll be happy to do it for you!" Well, I CAN laugh at myself, and feel free to join in!

We decided to do a family canoe trip down a local river yesterday afternoon. Let me tell you, the outfit looked even better after a spontaneous and surprising dunk in the very muddy, flood swollen river. I was paddling dutifully up at the canoe's prow, with my 17 year old son and 16 year old daughter manning the ranks behind. No one knows what happened exactly, or at least, no one is saying, but suddenly we were all "tails over teacups" in the Kiski River, with my son chasing the canoe downstream and me being strangled by an ill-fitting life jacket while my daughter laughed hysterically, and my heroic husband took the whole rescue effort very seriously.

There's a TV show called "What not to Wear" that my daughters keep recommending I watch. Recently my "tres chic" friend, Jan, mentioned it too. Do you think they are trying to tell me something?

I'm meeting up with the said tres chic friend and some other ladies in downtown Chicago this weekend. Suddenly I feel like the country mouse visiting the city. Funny, I lived in Toronto, worked downtown in the fashion industry, later lived in the Chicago suburbs . . . and here I am now, dressed as above, and wondering if I can get my plaid shorts dried out enough to wear to Chicago tonight. Ha ha.

Maybe I'll pass on the shorts. But they're so comfy and roomy. I could pack a picnic lunch for 4 in the pockets and have space left over. But I think instead I'll wear the capri outfit that my sister-in-law mistook for pj's last week. After all, I am travelling overnight on Amtrak, and not in a sleeping car either. Ahh, what NOT to wear!