Monday Musings

Graduations!
 It's happened!  Two kids graduated!  Youngest child graduated from the Community College, and Middle Child graduated from his 4 year school.  That deep sigh that you hear from me is a sigh of deep contentment.  Two kids now have 4 year degrees!  Only one left to go!  Daughter is transferring to a four year school in the fall.  She's going to continue to live at home and commute.  The school is about 40 minutes away from home.

One thing hasn't changed - college graduation ceremonies are very long, day long events.  We spent close to 5 hours tied up at Middle Child's ceremony.  The doors opened at 11:30, and the ceremony started at 12:30.  We got out at 4:00.  By the time we found the car, got out of the parking garage, and got my Mother In Law Safely delivered home, it was after 6.  Exhausting but exhilarating day! 


A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Growing Up
When he was little, middle child was appalled that I used to bring home made things to school for events.  Home made cookies and cupcakes were packed in his lunch, and his sandwiches were frequently wrapped in home made tortillas.  I would send in home made goodies for events at school, and one particularly memorable sleepover, we had make your own pizzas that featured dough that I had prepared in advance of the evening.  He was mortified that I was making stuff that didn't look as nice as what you could find in the store.  He told me it was embarrassing.  I kept doing it anyway, because that's what I did to cut down on expenses.

Fast forward many years.  Yesterday, middle child was getting ready to go over to a friends house for a night of Dungeons and Dragons.  How did he spend his afternoon?  Making a huge batch of soft pretzels to take with him.

(Oh, by the way, his pretzels are amazing.  He makes them gluten full when he takes them out, but he makes the gluten free for me! He made me a mini batch of gluten free before he began his gluten filled batch to take with him.)

Tiger's Memorial Garden
We finished Tiger's garden.  We wanted to make it into a place a cat would love to hang out, so we've planted berry bushes (holly bushes), a rhododendron, and a couple of azaleas.  He loved hanging outside under the bushes, so we made sure we had big bushes along the back of the garden.  We put Hostas in the middle ground, and big New Guinea Impatiens in the front.  Daughter has bought a couple of solar powered lanterns that she placed in the garden.  One is a very small tree like thing, and the other is a glass bird.  We finished the area with a stepping stone that daughter and I made for him.

Unintended Consequences
Finally fixing the bathroom has led to an unintended consequence: more deep cleaning.  I had to empty the linen closet by the bathroom so the workmen could get into the plumbing for the bathtub.  I just pulled everything out of the closet and tossed it into the living room when they were coming.  Moving everything back into the closet has led to some serious cleaning and tossing.  I found toothpaste that expired in 2001, ya'll.  Think about that for a minute.  2001.  We didn't even live here at that time.  It was a brand of toothpaste I never use because I am allergic to one of the ingredients.  That means my in-laws left it here when they moved out, and I never dealt with it at the time.  I've been living in the house for 11 years now.  It does make me wonder exactly why I was avoiding that closet for the last 11 years, though.  I'm going to have to go through an inventory with you one day soon.... it's an eye opener!  (I don't want to out the toothpaste company, though.  I threw out 3 tubes of toothpaste today.  I'd like to think I would have used it if I could have!)

Quick and Easy Dinner
We've been trying to make food from other cultures. I'm also looking to find foods that are easy to make on the evenings that I work long hours.  Anything that makes our evenings easier when I get home late is heaven sent.

I found a recipe for Slow Cooker Banh Mi Bowls on the Skinnytaste blog.  I tried it this past Friday night.  It was amazing.  All told, I spent less than 15 minutes on prep for this delicious dish!  I bought the shredded carrots and matchstick radishes at the salad bar, and set them to marinate before I went to work.  When husband came home, he cooked the brown rice and shredded the red cabbage.

When I walked in the door, the smell was absolutely sublime.  It tasted even better.

You can find the recipe here: Banh Mi Rice Bowls