A New Experience

We traveled this weekend to visit some friends. We haven’t seen these friends in 11 years. The last time I saw them Freckle Face was 3 months old. It didn’t matter. We picked up as if it had only been a few months since we saw them last. I love that.

They have chickens. Oh my! Do the chickens ever crack me up! They are hilarious. My husband has decided that he wants to have chickens some day. I don’t know. We will see. I would love the eggs. (I was sent home with four dozen free range eggs. Awesome!) I am just not sure I want to deal with crowing roosters and chicken mess, but they are entertaining to watch.

They also have guns. I have wanted to learn to shoot for a long time. I think that shooting is something that everyone should do at least once in a safe environment. I think that I should know how to shoot. At least give it a try anyway. When I mentioned that I had never shot a gun, my friends decided that it was time to remedy that  flaw in my character. haha!

And it now has been remedied. I have a picture, but I am not sure that I want to post it here or not. It is quite funny. The look on my face is priceless. I was terrified to pull the trigger. I know that a person should have a lot of respect for a firearm. I have that in spades. The first time I just didn’t know what to expect. What would it do? I knew it would go bang, but other than that I was clueless. My friends were very patient with me and encouraged me. They didn’t rush me. Just gave me time to figure out if I was going to pull the trigger. I did. I screamed. But I did it! I told them I was good. I fulfilled my goal of firing a gun. I didn’t need to fire any more. ”Oh, no!” they said. “That whole clip is for you!” Oh boy.

I managed to fire off a few more rounds. It was tough for me. I don’t like the way it feels. They tell me that it would get better after I practiced more. I am not sure that I believe them.  I also shot a small shot-gun. That one was a little more my speed. It was a small gauge shot-gun and had no kick back. That was perfect for me. Now that I think about it, I only fired off one round and was good. But if I ever have to live in the wild hills of Montana or something, I know that I could fire off a round for my protection. Maybe. Well, I don’t know. Probably not.

My oldest also was able to fire off a couple of clips. It surprised me that it didn’t make him nervous at all. He did very well and hit the target several times. He was relaxed and calm. I was proud of him. Freckle Face was very disappointed because I didn’t let him shoot. He decided that he was going to join the Army so that he could shoot without me around. Whatever. “Go ahead,” I told him.

I like new experiences, especially the ones that let you check off a box on your to-do list.

 

 

Gluten Free Biscuits (another win!)

I made spaghetti and meatballs last night for dinner. It used to be one of my cheap, go-to meals. Lately, with the price of ground beef that hasn’t been the case, but spaghetti is still one of my husband’s favorite meals. Before going gluten free, I would whip up a batch of baking powder biscuits. They were pretty good too and an inexpensive addition to my go-to meal.  I could have them ready in 15 minutes, and they filled the stomachs of my teens.

Last night I wanted biscuits. I didn’t want to make the biscuits on the back of the gluten free Bisquick box. Biscuits are supposed to be cheap, and the Bisquick isn’t cheap. I searched my new cookbooks for a recipe, but there wasn’t one in there that didn’t require some crazy flour that I don’t have yet. So off to the internet I went.

I found one at Domestifluff. I had never seen this website before. It looks like there are a lot of good things at that website to explore, but I was on a mission. Her recipe required only two flours, if you can call corn starch a flour. I had everything I needed. I decided to use the brown rice flour I just bought and go for it. (I should mention here that I have a fear of using expensive ingredients. Things may not turn out and then I have wasted my money. This is a big problem with GF baking because everything is expensive. )

Everything was going fine until I added the milk.  You know what corn starch and water looks like mixed together right? Not in your slurry before you make gravy, but in oobleck. Have you ever made oobleck? If you haven’t made Oobleck, go straight away and make some. Here are some instructions. Let the kids make a mess. It will just brush off their clothes. I never bother to color it. Hours of fun.  Whatever you do, don’t dump it down your sink.

ANYWAY, the batter looked a little like Oobleck. I was a bit concerned. Because of this I decided to forego biscuit cutters and just make drop biscuits.

They turned out great! Everyone loved them.  A little butter and a little honey and I could almost forget that I have had to become gluten free.

Not only are these biscuits good, but they aren’t very expensive to make. I can see me making these often. I am pretty happy.

If you would like to try them yourself, go to Domestifluff’s Gluten Free Biscuits.

 

A Little History

The weather here has been very nice lately. In the 80′s with no humidity. I am sure that isn’t going to last much longer, so I wanted to take advantage of it. In my house, I pretty much get my way in everything as long as I do all the planning, and I wanted to go on a picnic. I found a little town north of us not to far away with a small Revolutionary War Park, and off we went.

Small is the operative word here. It was about the corniest thing I have ever seen, but we still had a good day. We had our picnic in the shade of a tree and goofed around a bit at the park.

This is about the only thing that will slow Freckle Face down, but you can’t get him to stop smiling. Ever.

The oldest. He gave me a lot of tid bits of history the whole day which made me realize that he knows a lot of history and I need to chill.

My girl. She would rather be taking the pictures than in the pictures. I didn’t share my camera with her much. She had her own. I wonder what her pictures are like?

We also walked around the old Quaker Cemetery. I could have spent 3 hours there reading all the headstones. I did manage to get about a hour out of the family. I love walking around old cemeteries. I love reading the inscriptions especially on the older ones. They are so beautiful. No one writes that way anymore. There were some famous people in this cemetery, but I wanted to know more about the other people. The everyday people. Like the 21 year old amiable, beautiful woman who endured her illness without a murmur and is now in the arms of her loving Father. Or the blind minister that was so loved that his loved ones wrote on all four sides of his headstone. That is where the history is. The real history. The stuff that never makes it into the books. Each person with a story. Each person loved by someone. The Medal of Honor winner that fell on a grenade in Nicaragua to protect the rest of his Marines. He lived. What was his story? I could go on. I will be dragging my family through a lot more cemeteries. Don’t you worry.

The shocking moment of the day came when I noticed that Agnes of Glasgow was buried nearby. The name rang a bell for me. “Does that name ring a bell for anyone else?” I asked. “It does for me!” says Freckle Face. I am not going to lie to you here. I blew him off. I was expecting my oldest to know who she was. Maybe even my husband. They didn’t. Well, we were walking around looking at headstones and Freckle Face is determined to tell me the story of Agnes of Glasgow. I am half listening, but he is undeterred. I finally stop and give him my full attention and he proceeds to give the long version of Agnes’ story. I tell him that is interesting and don’t give it another thought until I get home and look her up. Do you know that Freckle Face was right? I know! That is what I thought. He sure showed me. I was pretty impressed.

We also took a tour of the Kershaw-Cornwallis house. I use the word “tour” lightly because it wasn’t a tour. It was a “step inside”. I was pretty disappointed in the whole thing. Oh sure, the house is magnificient, but it is a reproduction. It was rebuilt in 1977. We were only allowed on first floor. The house was built 40 years ago. I could understand not going upstairs if the house was 250 years old, but it isn’t. I was disappointed. Plus, the tour guide was booorring. He even told us that he gets bored listening to himself talk. Wow. I had more fun watching the bride have her pictures taken in the back yard of the house. Yet, the house is pretty cool. Lord Cornwallis comandeered the original house during the Revolutionary War and banished James Kershaw to the Bahamas for the remainder of the war.

It was a nice day for a picnic, and we got a little history out of it too.

We even let the kids lock us up for a bit. Someone please tell my husband that it isn’t 1988 anymore. Thanks.

 

His Senior Year

Yes, it comes as a shock to me too. My oldest is going to be a senior next year. However, it doesn’t come as a shock to him. He likes to remind me daily that if he had been born two months earlier he would be going to college this summer rather than next. Yeah. Yeah. whatever. I remember the teenage angst. The countdown to moving out. Let me tell you. The boy has it rough here. He has to clean the kitchen and do his own laundry. Anyway, enough of that.

The boy is ready for college course work. I know it. He knows it. He could go to the local community college and take a couple of classes. Unfortunately, in this state, he is limited in the number of classes he can take as a high schooler. He also has this thing about community college. I remember it well. I also had this thing about community college. I don’t anymore. Believe me. I think it is great! I wish I could convince him.

We have made a compromise. He is going to CLEP. He can take the tests on post as soon as he is ready for them. We know for sure that he will CLEP out of College Algebra. I told him that he needs to pick at least 3 more. I think he is leaning towards Western Civ and US History. I am not sure about the other. Maybe I can direct him to Biology. We will see.

There isn’t much more that I can do with him here anyway. He wants to continue with his Latin. That will give him 4 years. He is beyond my knowledge in that subject, and I gave up trying to keep up with him a long time ago. He took the Silver Medal on the National Latin Exam, so it appears that I am not holding him back.

I also may try to find a writing tutor to work out all the kinks in his writing. He really is a math person. Good thing that is what he wants to study.

That is our plan, but you know how plans are.

 

A Gluten Free Win (Strawberry Shortcake)

 

I was determined to make a shortcake for myself from all those lovely strawberries. The difficulty wasn’t finding a gluten free shortcake recipe. It was in deciding which one to use. I am still very limited because I have not purchased all the flours one needs to make delectable gluten free baked goods. For every recipe I found I was missing one of the flours. Potato flour is not a flour that I can run and purchase at the Shopette. I found that my gluten free Bisquick had a shortcake recipe right on the box! I didn’t have to combine a bunch of flours. I used it just as you would regular Bisquick.

The verdict: Good. It didn’t have that shortcake/shortbread taste that we have come to love from wheat filled shortcake, but it was definitely better than those nasty angel food cakey things you buy in the grocery. My family ate them and pronounced them good. Of course, when you cover them in whipped cream that has been whipped fresh and strawberry goodness what is there not to like? I do think it was sweeter than regular so I should have made the portions smaller.

Conclusion: I would make again. I am still a gluten free newbie, so I reserve the right to change my mind as I get better experimenting with different recipes.

 

Deliciousness

Straight off the farm, people. They are so good and make me so happy. I am going to try my hand at a gluten free shortcake with some homemade whipped cream. I will let you know how it turns out.

 

What I am reading

Moving 3000 miles to a place where you know not a soul gives a person a little bit more time to read. I haven’t decided if I like all this time I have now or if I am lonely. It is a little of both, I think.

First of all I should probably give a fair warning that I am reading nothing good for me. My brain is kaput. It is lucky that I can barely wrap my brain around my son’s math. So while I am not sorry that I am reading junk food, I just wanted to give a heads up. (I am also not going to link to pictures because I am just that lazy.)

The Pioneer Woman Cooks- I did not want to like this cook book. I started reading her blog so long ago but stopped when I was overcome by irrational jealousy. A little part of me does not want to like her, but I do. This cookbook is so pretty! I just love flipping through and looking at all the pictures. There are a lot of delicious looking recipes that I can’t eat (stupid gluten free diet), but a few that I can give a try such as her iced coffee. Yum!

Sacre’ Bleu -This is a Christopher Moore book. He is funny. I very much like the Impressionist period of art. I found this book entertaining because I am familiar with the artists. I liked it.

Insatiable -See? I told you I am reading garbage. This book is by Meg Cabot. You know, the author of The Princess Diaries? We went to the base library and my girl checked out a couple of her books. The librarian had asked me if I had read her adult fiction. No, I replied. Oh, it is funny, she said. It pokes fun at the Twilight series. I would enjoy that, I said. She bounced off and retrieved both books for me. I started reading it and kept waiting for the poking fun to begin. It didn’t. It is a Twilight for grown up women. Yes, I finished it. Yes, I am ashamed. The next one Overbite is sitting on the end table. Will I read it? I don’t know. Vampires just aren’t my thing.

Tribute- by Nora Roberts. I haven’t started this one yet. There was a day when I read every Nora Roberts book that I could find. I haven’t read one in a long time. They started getting too predictable. I was tired of the girl in danger, boy rescues girl story line. I am not sure what this one is about. I just picked it up for old time’s sake.

The Teenage Liberation Handbook- This book is actually written for teens. Will my teens read it? Probably not. Would there be a lot of good in it for them? Yes. Which is exactly why they won’t read it. I have flipped through and read a few sections myself. It is a good book. Lots of good ideas for teens to break out of the teenage mold that we all expect. My kids do a lot of self teaching already, but they don’t like it. It is a chore. That whole “love of learning” thing that we homeschoolers are supposed to have by default? It is not as easy as it sounds.

The Distant Hours- by Kate Moore. This is OK. I am about a third of the way through it. I keep waiting for it to get gripping and it just hasn’t gripped me. As you can see, I am able to put it down to read other things. Maybe I will give it another good try.

Dragonbreath 4- Technically this is Freckle Face’s book, but he is showing me so much of it and reading me so many parts of it that I may as well say that I am reading it. “Listen to this part, Mom. It is so funny.” or “Mom, look at this! hahahaha! Mom, don’t you think it is funny?” Quality literature it is not. I am just happy that he is reading.

 

Dinner Conversation

I like to sit down and eat dinner together. You would think that after a day of staring at each other over the dining room table we would want to go our separate ways for dinner. Not so. Oh, wait. Lest you think that I am some sort of wonder mom, I should disclose that I don’t always want to sit with my family at dinner. I am human, after all. But for the most part, I think it is important to eat together. Where else would I find such stimulating conversation?

For example, tonight I was blessed to get a play by play representation of myself talking to the cat. Freckle Face is a very good imitator. Too good in fact. All I could do was laugh because he hit me spot on. Encouraged by the laughter coming from his father, he continued and proceeded to replay some of my comments from the school day. I would love to say that he missed the mark, but he was spot on. Fortunately, he left out the comment about me gluing his butt to the chair. In my defense, He was making me crazy today! Imagine how much work he could get done if he didn’t have to run upstairs and tell me the current thought traveling through his brain. It never has anything to do with his school work either.

Then there is the potty humor. Maybe, just maybe someday I won’t have to listen to potty humor. I sigh and give my husband the look of “do not dare laugh at that”. I like to remind them that this conversation is not appropriate. Ever. A lot of good it does me.

But tonight we did move into an educational discussion. We were talking about what we wanted to do this weekend. We had thought to head out to Fort Sumter until I realized that it was in Charleston. (homeschool mom fail) This led into a discussion of General Lee which led into why Washington D.C is called what it is, which led into Supreme Court justices, which led into a discussion of the last 5 presidents and who was the best and the worst. The Iranian hostage crisis, the gas lines, the economic boom of the early 90′s, Hillary Clinton, Condaleeza Rice, and the role of the Vice President. Good stuff. It is too bad that I don’t know how to stop eating while we are having these fabulous conversations.

If I have to suffer through a little humiliation and potty humor to get to the meaty stuff, I will do it. So leave the news on for your kids. They will watch it and will ask good questions. They will also want to talk about their farts, but you can’t have everything.

 

Things I said today

Stop questioning the legitimacy of your math problems and just do them.

Yes, the Jews are God’s chosen people. No, I don’t know why He chose them. I am sure He has good reasons.

Turn the music down. Yes, l like Journey. I just don’t want to hear it through your headphones.

Stop talking and do your work. No really, stop talking and do your work! Seriously! Yes, that means singing too!

If you take your brother to the commissary, I will clean the kitchen.

See? I told you I loved you.

It was fun trying to find our way together today. You are a good navigator.

Spongebob? Again? Isn’t there anything else you like to watch? Something educational? No?

What are you reading right now? Really? Just that? Again?

Thanks for helping me clean the kitchen. Yeah, I know. Not one of my brighter ideas.

No, you may not play Fruit Ninja.

We really need an area rug.

And later…
Good night.

 

Things I find funny.

1. The vultures. These birds sit on the house a few doors down. Sometimes I catch them sitting on the playground at the bottom of the hill. I guess they are a little creepy, but they make me laugh. What are they waiting for? Why do they hang out here? Road kill? They are the ugliest birds. I wonder why God made them so ugly? They eat dead things. That is an added insult to injury.

2. Keep moving change lanes later. That is a road sign that shows up every so often. When we drive past it I have to read it out loud. Scott reminds me that he can read, but that isn’t why I read it. Doesn’t it read funny? It makes me giggle. Keep moving. Change lanes later. Haha.

3. The arrows painted on the ground at the base gas station. Apparently they want to keep some semblance of order at the gas station. You can only drive one direction. Rules. Don’t go the wrong way! It will ruin all order. Anyone else remember the arrows on the floor of the commissaries or am I dating myself?

4. Certain foods at the commissary. My last commissary didn’t carry pig stomach. I have never seen it before. There is also a very large German foods section which actually makes me weep because I love it and it is full of gluten. Spatzle. Delicious spatzle. Stupid gluten free diet.

5. My husband’s commute. He had a 30 minute commute at his last duty station. He only complained about it near the end, but it did wear on him. So in the morning I tell him to drive safe. Then, in the evening I ask him how the traffic was. He says it was hairy. He passed four cars. I laugh. I hope that doesn’t get old.

6. Bojangles. I think it is a chicken fast food chain. Maybe? I don’t know, but the name makes me laugh. Oh, look! It is Bojangles!