Once Upon A Dressing Room

I'm not the type to make friends with strangers. My lifelong friends have all appeared in my life in more of a natural way... at college, at camp, at church, as part of a moms group. All at the same stage in life in a group that facilitated our meeting.



A little chit-chat with strangers? Sure. Small talk and "have a nice day," is easy enough. But I never expected to meet a kindred spirit because of a short conversation in a swimming pool dressing room.



It never would have happened at all if my girls didn't have a problem staring at naked people. To be honest, they stare at anybody, clothes or no, it is just that naked makes for even more interesting viewing. We were getting out of the pool and I was trying to get them dry and ready to go when 2 cute girls and their cute mom came into the women's dressing room.  They were getting ready to swim. The girls had beautiful matching pink and purple suits and my girls couldn't take their eyes off them.


Our conversation went something like this, "Girls, don't stare, it's not polite. Yes, there swimming suits are so pretty." My little girls continued to stare and the other little girls stared right back. So it was only natural that the other mom and I talked about children's swimwear and few other trivial details.


As we were leaving to go on to the next activity and they were going in to swim, I said to Other Mom (I didn't know her name yet), "It would have been fun to go swimming at the same time, looks like our girls could be good playmates." And she replied, "We'll be swimming tomorrow about 10:30, if you want to come then."


And so it we did. We met up and swam at the same time the next day, us moms chatting at the edge of the pool while the kids played for an hour. We had a lot in common and had easy conversation over the noisy pool theatrics. Her two girls and son and my two girls and Rem are similar in ages.


I felt like I was taking a monumental step when I asked for her name so I could find her on facebook. Introverts make a BIG deal about such things (mentally of course). Little did I know that I would take "monumental" to a new level when I later asked these stranger friends to stay at our house for the night, but that's for later in the story.


Come to find out, neither of us are the "make friends with strangers" type of people. Both our husbands were shocked. "What, you made friends with someone in the dressing room, that's not like you"?!!?! That's what her husband said. And mine was also intrigued. Two introverts building a lifelong friendship with one, hour long conversation (not to mention the half-clothed part)? Impossible. Our husbands and sons had also been in the men's dressing room at the same time, but held to social protocol and didn't strike up a conversation.


When we got home, we found each other online and the girls sent letters to each other via real mail. They've exchanged 3 letter back and forth in the last 2 months. Mandy asked when we could have her friends over. Oh man, it's not that easy. Their family is from beautiful British Columbia (that's in Canada, eh).

Rem and his new friend

Well an opportunity arose where we could have their whole family over. They were at Disney Land for a family vacation and were passing through on Monday. They planned on staying at a hotel in a nearby city, but why settle for 4 stars, when you could sleep in our basement playroom and share a bathroom with 11 people? Exactly.

Mandy and Kristin

It was really fun (and I'm not just saying that because she has found my blog). Our families clicked, conversation was easy, their children delightful, and all were gracious guests. We found we have TONS in common, including religious beliefs, parenting methods, similar hobbies, and a love for portable video devices to entertain children for long car rides.

Add caption

This whole experience makes me think of this verse: "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:8. This verse was refering to actual divine beings, but I think we were blessed in a divine way by genuine, kind people.



Whether coincidence or providence, I'm thankful for our chance, awkward meeting in the dressing room. You never know where a "hello, sorry my kids are staring at you" will lead. We're already plotting a BC excursion to visit our no-longer-stranger friends. God is good and knows what we need (although I would beg to differ with this family's 7+ hour driving distance away, next door would be better).

Better Off Desk

I was searching for a small desk for Mandy. It HAD to have drawers. Emma's desk has drawers and so Mandy needed drawers. I took pity on her little-sister woes (I'm a little sister myself).

Finding a small desk (with drawers) for a small price didn't seem like a tall order.

I kept my eye out all summer at our frequent garage sale adventures, but no luck.

I was looking for something like the desk above (it's $300 from ikea).

I didn't mind a fixer-upper and my budget was under $20.

I found several that fit the bill for $40 at a consignment shop, but they would still need paint. I knew we could do better and we finally found the gem in this beauty.....

I truly wish I had a picture of my husband's face when he saw it.

He said, "You paid money for that?"

I did actually, I paid $7.50 at a local thrift store. The guy taking my money looked a little guilty about the price so I was able to talk him down from $10.

It's solid and perfectly functional, so it just needed a little TLC. The contact paper came off pretty easy and then I sanded, primed and painted. And some paint that I found on the "oops" shelf for $3.

And look, it's a drawer (x4)!

Mandy is happy and only had to ask about her desk for roughly 8 months.

The drawers are currently full of paper and craft supplies, she's quite the little busy worker.

Bringing Back Order

It was time for a major clean in the girls' room. I was getting a nervous tick whenever I went in there.

When they can't clean it themselves properly (the following picture is "clean" to them), we have to go in and bring back some order. I was dreading it.

Too much of a good thing becomes a burden, it isn't peaceful.

It's been about 3 and a half years since the girls moved into this room together. Check out how perfect it was back then (this link). Unfortunately, it's been as many years since I came in and went through everything and did a major clean. Sweeping and picking up take a few minutes, but digging in and purging are a major project (about 5 hours it turned out).

August of 2009

2 days ago...

The kids have been on and off sick for 2 weeks, so I took advantage of Emma and Tommy's lethargy (I hoped he would sleep the whole time) and dove in head first with my trusty assistant Mandy.

It was like Christmas for Remington. I found 3 buzzers from board games that I hid for good reason on the top of the shelf in the hallway. I told him he could only buzz them while hiding under his covers in his room with the door closed -- that bought me about 20 minutes.

With this much fun going on, Tommy refused to nap.... all day. Merry Christmas!

I learned a lot from two books on cleaning/organizing. I highly recommend both:

The best points I gained from this book are 1) to organize around established habits, don't try to change habits to fit the new organization, and 2) the first thing you see when you walk into a room should look tidy or the whole room will look untidy. This book is written by a previously messy person who researched and finally found a way to keep her house clean! 

The other book is different in that it addresses the why's behind clutter and how to purge your space of useless stuff once and for all.

Love this book so much! The author speaks about how "we let the things we value most take a backseat to whatever is begging for attention in the moment." A cluttered life and all this stuff is demanding when it is out of control. Not only am I trying to learn this myself and make intentional decisions to live in a peaceful place, I want to train my children how to do this also.

I'm not sure if there is a proper way to deep clean, but this is the method that works for me. 

As quick as possible, go through and de-clutter and dust. I went through their closet first, all their clothes and got rid of about half of Mandy's clothes and a few of Emma's so their drawers closed. I reorganized everything that NEEDED to fit in there and everything else went in the middle of the room (the clothes went in bags in the hall to give away).

I went around the room doing the same process, the stuff that needed to stay stayed, the rest in the middle of the room. I found SO MUCH stuff behind their beds. Blech!

It takes time, patience, and focus. If I'm short on any of those things, cleaning/organizing doesn't happen.

Hence why it has been 3.5 years since going through the girls' room.

Staying focused is key. My friend Season came over a few years ago and helped me with my office. She taught me to not get caught micro-organizing. She kept saying, "Don't get lost in the details, you can organize when the pile is more manageable." Wise woman!

So 3 bags and sort, sort, sort. 

Give away (for nice stuff that simply isn't needed or loved) -- if it isn't serving a purpose for me either practically or beautifully, then I am serving it. This is another Season concept. I got this mental picture of bowing down serving this unnecessary stuff and it freaked me out!

Keep -- this is the pile I like to micro organize, but I lose steam too fast this way. Running to and fro from bathroom to laundry pile to kitchen to toy closet to lego box to office. It's better to put it in one bag and sort later when all the unwanted stuff is gone.

Toss -- for all that garbage that collects. I was ruthless this time around and even threw away broken crayons (gasp!).

Mandy was such a good helper. She didn't even whine about giving her stuff away. She has a generous heart and is a hard worker.

She started yawning about 2:30 and I told her to just lay in her bed for awhile. Soon she was fast asleep.

Getting closer!!

The two bags in the center front are the keep (sort later) bags that I will have the girls work on. They WILL learn the skill of organizing and sorting.

I moved a shelf in to hold all their books, art supplies and precious stuffed animals.

The bags by the door on the left are "give" and the ones on the right are "toss."

Another tip from "the House That Cleans Itself" is to get rid of the give and toss stuff immediately. This is is really important. I'm not prone to digging stuff out, but others in my family are. Once gone, it's gone. The give bags are in the car waiting for a swap we do at my MOPS group.

Well, it's not Pottery Barn Kids, but it's clean.... the girls wanted their beds like this, so I figured why not! I'm pretty sure the designers at PBK have never lived with actual, real children. Ones with tic-tac-toe championship game papers glue-sticked to the wall, a favorite turquoise hat, priceless memorabilia from beach trips, Wild Kratt's tokens from a cousin's birthday party, Pillow Pets, 5 doll beds, or neon fleece blankets from Grandma that don't match, but are so cozy.

This is real and this is peaceful!

My Go-To Ugly Meatloaf

The name of my blog might lead you to believe that everything around/in/on/under/through my life is perfectly beautiful all the time.

This photo was staged for a photo scavenger hunt and took an hour to set up and Photoshop to make my dress look like it zipped. Paradise?

In actuality, paradise is an attitude. To choose joy, gratefulness, and to be present in life... that is paradise. 

Even when my kitchen looks like this and the natives are screaming for food and have scavenged anything pre-packaged and ultra fast:

One of my favorite, delicious, filling, crowd-pleasing, and fast recipes is meatloaf.

"Fast" you say? 

My America's Test Kitchen cookbook recipe says 1 hour 50 minutes. I always decide meatloaf would taste delicious, I must have it, and then begin making it about 30 minutes before my family needs to eat.

My version of this scrumptious classic is done in under 30 minutes, 20 if I'm really cookin with gas. And it tastes just as good. The ATK testers make some darn good eats, but they don't have little children under foot. Maybe they have 2 hours to make meatloaf, but I don't.

The speediness comes at a price -- it's ugly. It won't cook up into sliceable planks of steaming, savory goodness.

But keep going, the end result won't be pretty, but it will be delicious.

So, here is the recipe with a few alterations to make things speedier:

Add to 2 pounds super lean, all-natural beef 

1 onion chopped fine (or dried onion or omit all together) 

2 garlic cloves, minced (or garlic powder or Johnny's Garlic Bread Spread, Mmmmm) 

1/2 tsp dried thyme (or use fresh and feel really green.) 

2 large eggs 

1/2 cup milk (water, almond milk, or rice milk also work for you crazies who can't have dairy like me) 

2 tsp mustard 

2 tsp Worcestershire 

1 tsp salt (I also throw in some seasoning salt) 

1/2 tsp pepper 

2/3 cups crushed saltines, 1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs, or 2/3 cups quick oats

For sauce: 

1/2 cup catchup 

4 tsp apple cider vinegar 

1/4 cup brown sugar

Garnish with parsley

The cast of characters is above. I love it when Foodies take pictures of their ingredients.

My attempt has a dried-out giant zucchini, a hair clip, pen, red paper clip, canning ring, and orphaned leftover lid in the picture as well. 

But my minced onion sure is fantastic looking. I did that just for you. 

The awesome thing about this recipe is you can omit or add things to your liking. It's versatile and delicious. I think I already said "delicious" a bit much, but really. It. Is. Delicious.

I've made this exact concoction for years and for the first 100 preparations, I just made my family wait until it was almost time for bed to eat. Starting dinner late was/is a bad habit. I would sneak peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to them and say "Dinner isn't quite ready yet, go gnaw on the couch cushions." 

Then I got smart. I tossed pretty, perfect meatloaf to the wind and fried that puppy up.

When there are 4 of these little people doing this, dinner needs to get on the table quicker.

Tommy is just mad because he can't eat beef yet. "Give me the boob!" He says.

Let's get back to cooking, my baby is feeling neglected. Get out a nice big skillet or dutch oven or cast-iron pot. I use a cast-iron pot because I love how it browns meat. So caramelized and crunchy yummy.

You should never, ever, ever soak your cast-iron. Like, ever. 

Don't be like me, you'll wreck your hard-earned seasoning and have Taylor Swift going through your head all day.

"We are never ever ever getting back together
We are never ever ever getting back together
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together 

 Like, ever..."

I usually take much better care of my pot. To clean it, it works best to put the dirty pot back on the stove, get it screeching hot and then pour water in it. This "de-glazes" the pan without "de-seasoning" and all the stuck on stuff comes right off. Then I toss the dirty water, dry the pot, and lightly coat it with oil so it is ready for next time.

It is really liberating being "ugly" with you. The picture on the left is the "real" ugly truth of what my counters look like a lot of the time -- the cellulite of the kitchen you might say. I was embarrassed by the image and quickly cleaned so that it would look like the norm. 

Enough staged perfection, let's brown some beef.

Dump the beef mixture in your hot pan. I used a little oil because my beef is very lean. I have a feeling your beef won't need any extra grease if you are using store-bought ground beef.

The key here is to let the meat get a bit of a crust. Walk away, forget about it, tell the kids to stop gnawing on the couch cushions because dinner is really almost ready, peel some potatoes or something. 

Once the meat is browned, flip it kinda like you are turning burgers. Don't mash away at it, you want chunks. You want ugly.

*If your meat is looking really greasy, you should drain it at this step. I never need to, but I don't want you saying your meal was extra ugly and extra greasy. If there is grease, get rid of it and continue on.

Make your sauce. If you want a lot of sauce, double it. I often serve this deliciousness over noodles, so I make it extra saucy.

Pour the sauce over the meat when it is pretty much cooked through. Oh, the smell is heavenly!

Turn the burner off, throw a lid on the pot and finish the rest of the meal's fixins.

I turn the burner back on if I take the lid off and my ugly meatloaf is looking a little watery. 

The extra heat makes the ketchup/sugar/acv sauce really crusty and delicious.

If you are appalled at how ugly it is, put some parsley on top before you serve. Then sneak a bite before the kids get wind of this tasty goodness. You'll forget all about appearances and rejoice that dinner is on the table, your husband will pound his chest in caveman delight, and hungry children will smile and/or arise and call you blessed.

PS 

Leftovers work well in sandwiches, served over noodles or potatoes or eaten cold for breakfast. Enjoy!

Curious Consumer

"Curiosity is one of the most permanent 

and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect."  

~ Samuel Johnson

We've come to the stage in our youngest son's life where he is full of curiosity....

Nothing in his reach is safe (on the floor).

"Oh ya, I see ya eating that paper." 

The Black Friday sale ads were quite tasty. That's the most action we saw on Black Friday. Since T likes to keep me up all night and he's 7 crazy months old, we opted for as much sleep as we could get and stayed home. 

...And since I didn't go shopping on Black Friday (for the first time in about 15 years), I can add this quote and feel justified in my consumerism abstinence.