HappyMama

… is not always all that it’s cracked up to be!

My 15-mo-old in action:

Well, I don’t think I can imbed YouTube clips on this blog.  Or, if there’s a way, I don’t think I’m going to figure it out.  I really don’t look there often, but sometimes people send me links to the clips they like.  I made a new category - YouTube picks - and I’ll link to the ones I thought worth viewing.  Here’s one - New Again.  (Lent is just around the corner, can you believe it?!)

Busy week here.  My car broke down, quite seriously this time, thankfully hubby was driving because a side-effect was the loss of power steering. 

So it was the perfect week for us to purchase our 1st minivan.  (Thanks, mom & dad.)  Nothing that my dh would brag about, mind you.  I know many men enter into marriage & fatherhood with noble intentions, but there’s something about trading in a sedan for a van that is just kinda hard on a man’s ego.  The heated seats are nice, though, aren’t they dear?  (Boy, you sure do get upgrades when you go from a ‘97 to an ‘05!)

We also got to enjoy a night out without the kiddos recently, compliments of some dear in-laws.  [THANK YOU!!!]  My kids had a blissful 6 hours with 4 cousins whom they adore.  We got to attend a reunion/farewell party for a friend moving back to his homeland, far, far away from here.  We “partied” late into the night just like good ‘ole times.  Except that I was pregnant and therefore completely sober. 

We’ve also recently celebrated 2 kid’s birthdays and our wedding anniversary.  Now, the schedule is basically clear until Easter.  Sounds good to me!

MSNBC had a rare news story about abortion today.  It was a pretty long article, and a first glance would make it look unbiased.  But the whole gist of it was that the women who are having abortions in America today are actually women who are making the most prudent decision they can, because they already have 1 or more children to take care of, and they are economically disadvantaged.  Over and over they make this point. 

What the text of the article completely ignores is the statistic on their own chart which reads that 82.2% of these women are unmarried.  Unmarried, and they already have at least 1 child.  So the author of this article is trying to convince all of us that women are “prudent” when they choose to have an abortion, while neglecting to mention the complete imprudence of an unmarried woman trying to get her life together so she can raise a child having extramarital intercourse.

If our society really wants to help raise the bar for women, we need to help our young women have the knowledge & courage to remain chaste while they are pursuing their dreams.  OBVIOUSLY the vast majority of men who get them pregnant are not choosing to do their part in the raising of their illegitimate offspring.

I’ve got a hundred things I’d like to post about, but not a drop of energy.  Let me share one thing that did go right today, however - a recipe for fat-free french fries.  And before you think, “thanks, but no thanks” let me say that hubby said he liked ‘em even before I mentioned the fat-free part.  I can’t remember where I read about this recipe, I couldn’t find it today and just made these by memory.  Let me know if you’ve got a “real” recipe similar to this.  Here’s what I did:

• Preheat to 400.  peel potatoes and cut up with a crinkle cutter to look like fries.  (I used white potatoes, but next time will also try with sweet.)
• in  a bowl large enough to hold all the fries, whip egg whites (1 for every 2-3 large potatoes) until white & foamy.  (I used this hand mixer I got for the kiddos.)  It only took about a minute.
• add potatoes to the egg white along with whatever spices you want, and mix until coated.
• put on a single layer on a baking sheet or stone- try to keep them from touching each other.  I baked these about 30 minutes, turning them once.  Because I wasn’t using a recipe, I just guessed & watched them.  They were very good.

My middle child continues to test the limits of my patience.  Today he decided to bring me a packet of BBQ sauce he found in the kitchen.  (Why?? What was he thinking?)  I was in the basement.  He squeezed the packet and left a trail of sauce all the way down our carpeted staircase.  Sigh…  At least hubby had the sense to choose off-white carpet with colored specks scattered liberally throughout.  If you look closely at our carpet some day, trust me, not all of those red specks are from dye. 

On the other hand, this child made me chuckle in a store today after a very obese person walked past us.  He looked at me and said, “mom, some people have bigger tummies than you!”  Fortunately he had waited until the person was out of hearing range.  The boys have been watching my blossoming belly with great interest, as have I, since I already look like I’m twice as far along as I really am.  No jokes about having twins, please, the thought causes me to feel faint…

So I’m getting ready to pack up my Christmas music CD’s for another year, along with the tree, wreath, and books about the season.  I’m a big Dave Matthews Band fan, and believe it or not, one of the songs I like to listen to most this time of year is by them: 

So I’m told, so the story goes
The people He knew were
Less than golden hearted
Gamblers and Robbers
Drinkers and Jokers, all soul searchers
Like you and me…

Christmas Song, Dave Matthews

 The song reviews the life of Jesus, and makes a point to consider the types of people He spent most of his adult life with - lost souls.  Or, as the song considers - searchers.  Like you & me.  It’s so easy to look at someone we know - a neighbor, co-worker, whoever - and judge them to be “lost”.  I prefer to think of them as “searching.”  God has put his law of love into each of our hearts, whether we acknowledge it or not [Jer. 31:33], and that law drives us to keep searching for truth. 

The Magi we remembered yesterday on Epiphany are admirable not for finding the Christ-child, but for having the courage to set out on their journey to begin with, and for having the perseverance to continue searching.  The Christmas carol, The First Noel, highlights this in verse 3:

And by the light of that same star
Three Wise men came from country far.
To seek for a King was their intent
And to follow the star wherever it went.

“Wherever it went.”   The Magi had no idea where the star would lead them, or how long they would have to travel.  A life lived for Christ is no different.  To say “yes” to follow Christ means accepting the path He chooses for us, wherever it goes.  I hope that in this new year ahead I can be more accepting of my own path and have the perseverance of the blessed Magi.