::faithful

Praying for

• A friend’s daughter, Jen – leukemia has reared its ugly head again.   She was diagnosed with leukemia last year, literally weeks before her wedding date.  She and her fiance called all their friends and family, moved back their wedding date and got married right away, determined to fight this battle together. It’s been a long year for them, consumed with chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant and recovery.  They were planning to depart today on their delayed honeymoon, but found out last week that it’s back.  Instead of their cruise, Jen starts another round of chemo today, to be followed by a ‘booster’ marrow transplant then hopefully remission.

Grateful for

• air conditioning
• healthy children
• coconut popsicles

::healthy

Biking excursions! The Architect had a team ride this weekend at Northshore, and I tagged along.  I did not ride with him and the team on the west side and the new rock section – I couldn’t keep up even if I tried!  Instead, I pedaled over to the east side, which is better suited to novices like myself.  It was such a beautiful day and I’m thrilled to say I finished the entire loop without falling even once.  I was being super cautious, though, because I was riding alone.  I actually got off the bike and walked through the really big drops.

::delicious

The lineup this week includes

• Pork Tenderloin with fresh creamed corn and baked beans
• Bean Burritos
• Ratatouille over Polenta
• Garlic Shrimp and Snap Peas
• Pizzas on the Grill
• Orange Ginger Salmon with Broccoli Slaw
• Lots of watermelon and fresh peaches because they’re in season and abundant at the farmers’ market!

The lemon bars didn’t happen last week.  Our oven has been limping along for more than a year now, very persnickety and temperamental.  Sometimes it will turn on, sometimes it won’t. Once it’s on, it won’t stay on. When it is on, you have to monitor to make sure it’s staying at the right temperature, as it likes to surprise by popping on the broiler element.   We can’t bake anything longer than 20 minutes without fear of burning down the kitchen. Yes, I know this all sounds like a ridiculous thing to live with, but really!  It’s the same scenario as the dishwasher.  We have all the best intentions to remodel the kitchen soon so it seems silly to invest in a new oven, especially because when we re-do, I want a double oven with one convection unit which fits into a different size cabinet space.

The oven would NOT cooperate yesterday, and after a frustrating hour and a half I ended up with bars that were gooey and undercooked on the bottom, and scorched on the top. Very sad.  I asked Mr. Pea to just completely disconnect the oven from power, and we will live without until we remodel.  It’s too hot to use the oven, and baked goods don’t fall in the category of “healthy eating” anyway.  Besides, over the past year, I’ve found all the best bakeries in town. 🙂

::creative

Finish up the baby vest and give it to Miss B. Name Plates for office mates.  We all have ‘nicknames’, and instead of formal name plates on our office doors, we have our fun names.  I’m the self-appointed Name Plate Maker.  Just Because.

Here’s Mine.  It’s an iPhone snapshot so the quality is quirky and glaring from the window.

Yes.  They call me Chef.  I’m the favored breakfast maker in the Breakfast Cartel,  volunteer griller at company picnics, bringer of amazing potluck dishes and maker of vegetarian chili worthy of placing in the annual chili cookoff.

::fun

• Kayaking!  It’s much cooler out on the lake in the evenings than it is landside.
• The kids and I went to see Brave on Friday night.  It was good and we enjoyed it!
• Blowing stuff up!  Okay, this may not seem like extremely safe fun, but when you have teenage boys and that small window opens up each year when fireworks are available, and Mom and Dad are sort of geeky and agree to supervise the execution of said experiments, well, stuff gets blown up.

This was last year’s effort:

::faithful

Praying for

• Husband who is not feeling well
• Friends who are traveling
• Biking buddy who had a nasty crash
• Patience.  Didn’t I pray for that last week?

Grateful for

Dads!  Both my own and the one who helped create our kids.

 This is what the crew made for their Dad for Father’s Day.

DirtBike got a 98 on his first Spanish Quiz!!  Yeah!!  The kids went to a concert Saturday evening at the Botanic Garden to see Reckless Kelly.

::healthy

Here’s a big shout out to the Dust Bunnies – thanks for a super fun ride at Legacy on Tuesday evening!  It was my first time on dirt there.  I’ve always dropped off The Architect and Cherry Ames at the dirt trails and then ridden the paved trail with Mr. Pea, Princess Pea and DirtBike.  The dirt trails are FUN!!

Crossfit is still going strong.  I so appreciate my employer who provides this perk for us. I jumped rope for three minutes, and didn’t trip once. That’s a minor miracle in itself!

::delicious

On tap for this week – meatball subs and green beans; Veggie lasagna; Thai chicken kabobs with coconut rice and summer squash; Bean soup and cornbread muffins; Pork tenderloin with broccoli salad.  I made a humongous batch of meatballs Saturday afternoon.  You’d think the Pea Family won the lottery or something, they were so excited.  I really should make them more often…

::creative

On the needles – back to the mitten, and it’s halfway finished.  Then a test pattern knit for an adorable baby vest.

Other creative things this week include repairing the broken jewelry that I didn’t get to last week.  Maybe I’ll do some actual baking, as I really want some lemon bars.  Oh!  I need to make a new clothespin apron, too.  Mine is fraying apart around the edges, so it’s time for a new one.  I also need to stitch up a hole in the love seat in the family room. After twenty three years, the leather is wearing thin in spots.

::fun

Watching Downton Abby. (I love Netflix.) Still reading the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with DirtBike. Definitely some kayaking one evening this week with Mr. Pea and the boys.

::faithful

Praying for

• Friends who are caught up in difficult times
• A son who is struggling with learning difficulties and growing up at the same time
• A daughter (or two) who are determined to be adults, but who aren’t 100% up to speed
• Patience

Grateful for

Rain!!  We got rain this week.  We’re still officially in drought mode, and the heat is coming.  Every drop is appreciated.

Then, Sunshine!!  And an end to pollen season, which means the clotheslines get put back into service.  Yeah!!

::healthy

Outdoor exercise was curtailed this week.  Did I mention that it rained?  That’s okay, because we have a nifty gym at the office.  Lots of weight lifting, and practicing jump rope.  I’m not very good at it, and spend more time untangling my feet than I do actually jumping.  Silly, huh?

::delicious

On tap for this week – Nachos with pinto beans, Grilled Chicken and fresh zucchini, Pasta with eggplant and more zucchini, Hamburgers with cucumber and tomato salad (again, by request), Salmon and couscous salad, which will be a new recipe trial. First Cherries were delicious, and devoured within in minutes after the kids found them in the fridge.

::creative

On the needles – back to the mitten. The slippers turned out cute.  I’m going to felt them again, and add a flower or two.  THEN I’ll post a picture. Nothing like stringing you all along, right?

Other creative things this week include repairing some broken jewelry, painting a picture frame and trying to salvage my dried up garden.  The Daughters have salvaged an old headboard from a neighbor, and plan to paint it and turn it into a giant bulletin board.  I can only hope that it will get carried to one or the other of their school residences so that I don’t have to figure out where to put it at home.

::fun

Still reading the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with DirtBike, and finishing up The Pipe Dreamers for book club.  It was ‘meh’.  Neat little peek into the tumultuous 1960’s college scene, but not all that interesting to me.

Perhaps some kayaking one evening this week…