Making Sense of Monday

Here we are week # 2 of our blogging project. I obviously had more to say last week than Vicious did. (LOL) I am surprised at how this new endeavor has given me a new perspective on my daily living. Projects that have been needing to be done for months, now have a new status: bloggable! Projects that I have been wanting to try and just haven't "gotten-'round-to-it" are now a lot more interesting and do-able!

Never did I imagine (when I was small) that I would ever reach the big 4-0. But it is here, and I survived. A few tears were shed last night once my head hit the pillow. How silly is that I got emotional over being 40? Or is it normal? I don't feel 40. Some say I don't look 40. But I look over all that I have accomplished and it seems so small in comparison to what I would like to achieve in the next 40 (if God allows).

My husband asked me yesterday what I thought about my turning 40. My response was, "I see this as an opportunity to re-invent myself." Not that I want to change who I am exactly, but to go at my life with more purpose and determination. Even on Mondays!

My students all came slumping into school today, some half asleep, others just dreading the fact that it was Monday. I tell you it is no easy job to cheer up a group of teenagers when they decide to be grumpy because of which day of the week it is. I even told them they could come in costume today just for fun. So imagine the sight I saw as they stumbled through the door half asleep dressed as imaginable creatures!

Oh well, back to the "Make Mondays Magical" drawing board!

We all have a choice as to how we take on Mondays. You can choose to think negatively and dread the responsibilities before you OR you can face the day as a clean slate, rejoicing in the Lord (for HE is responsible for creating and planning your path for today), and be thankful for the opportunities set before you!

So I lift my cup of coffee to you and what you have to do today! Make sense of your Monday!

Mama D

Our First Attempt at Really Couponing

It's Mama D again! I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday afternoon. I am thankful for the extra few minutes of sleep I got this morning, but still had to get up early. My little darlings work Saturdays at a farm not far from here. They mostly help two elderly (70+y/o who believe they are 30y/o) plant thousands of flowers.

We stopped at the gas station for a few minutes, while paying for gas I noticed the iced Coke box was full of bottle caps. Vicious and Diva told me the other day they needed bottle caps for a project they wanted to try. So, feeling brave, I asked the clerk if I could have them. What a blessing! They gave me all they had and would have given me more but couldn't find the full box they kept behind the counter. (Reminder to self: stop by this store to check on bottle caps, often.)

The burst of adrenaline I received after claiming the bottle caps carried over into my grocery planning. For a few weeks now, Vicious and I have been studying the wonderful world of extreme couponing. My youngest sister and her friend are really inspirational with their couponing stories. My sis stopped by last week to give us a brief tutorial while she was in town for the day. Today, I planned to only focus on one store. Harvey's.

I am currently following www.southernsavers.com (SS) and their step-by-step couponing suggestions. I made my shopping list based on what SS had listed as Harvey's best deals and I sorted out the coupons (also suggested by SS) to match with those deals. My oldest baby girl, Diva, helped me cut and sort and prepare our couponing notebook. Then we planned how we were going to hit the store :) I felt slightly devious planning to get FREE stuff from one of my favorite shopping haunts.

First stop in Harvey's was the store's salespaper rack to make sure we got the right products. (I hate being embarrassed at the checkout.) Then Diva practically raced to the store coupon kiosk to swipe our savings key. Tickled about the savings that printed out, she punched in our phone number and got a second copy of the coupons. (She probably shouldn't have done that, but she was having fun.) Putting Diva in charge of the notebook helped me to stay focused on staying calm and not being overwhelmed. I had hoped we would only take 30 minutes, but considering we double-checked the deals and products AND prices to make sure we had everything right, it took us one hour.

We pulled up to the check out and the manager personally assisted us. He noticed our notebook and asked if we were extreme couponers. I quickly replied with a devilish grin, "Not yet, but we are working on it. Give us a couple of months!" So, that opened the conversation of the Extreme Couponing show on tv, and a variety of other shows on the same channel. Then as he finished closing out our purchases, I asked him for the total. $216 and some change. Then I handed him my savings key, the coupons that needed to be doubled, and then the other coupons. My savings key alone saved us $70+!!! then the other coupons brought our savings total to $82.66!!! This is the most I have ever saved in one shopping trip! I was ecstatic!!

A gentleman behind me was ribbing the manager for taking so long with my large order. (He is a very talkative manager.) The older lady also behind me, whom I recognized from the laundry mat in the same shopping center, asked where I got all of my coupons. I gladly shared with her www.southernsavers.com.

So, although I did not walk away with $216 of merchandise for $10 or less, I did walk out of the store with a lighter step, confidence that I can coupon like a pro, and almost $83 in free groceries!!!

I look forward to my next shopping trip. I hope to be savings-savvy soon! Good luck on your own couponing attempts!!!

Defining Mediocre

me-di-o-cre (me'de o'ker), adj. neither good nor bad; of average or lower than average quality; ordinary; a mediocre book, a mediocre poet. [Mediocre comes from Latin words meaning "halfway up the mountain," not high or low.]

Good morning! It is Friday and I love the relief that comes with Fridays! (The instant reminder that the weekend in near; a chance to sleep in an extra 30 minutes or so, opportunity to do or not do whatever you want. )

I want to share with you why we chose, or I chose, the title for our blog Rising Above Mediocre. I was pondering over Proverbs 31 the other day. It states in verse 1 that it is the words of King Lemuel repeating the prophecy his mother taught him. So I can only imagine that his mother sat him down at one point and shared with him what a good woman looks like.

I have two sons. I watch the girls of today. There are very few I would approve of for my boys. Honestly, what mother wishes ill for their son? The verses from other chapters in Proverbs talk about a brawling, nagging, & complaining woman and how it is better to live else where or "hang out in the man cave until she is done ranting..." I do not wish that for my boys or my husband. Not that I am nagging or complaining, but there may be a few times that it would probably be best not to be around me...haha. (insert "oops" face here.)

I would like for my boys to find a Proverbs 31 woman to be their spouse one day. So, in order for them to know what one looks like I must tell them, but more importantly I must show them. And in the process of learning to be one myself, I can teach all my daughters the importance of the 22 points of the Ideal woman in Proverbs 31.

I read in my Study Bible that the final section of this chapter was written as an acrostic; that is each of the 22 verses (10-31) begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Written like a poem it introduces the 22 points of the excellent wife or the perfect wife, A-Z.

Here is the list I found and thoughts that I now ponder. How do I measure up? What would my report card look like, if I were graded on these very points? How do you measure up?

vs. 10-rare
vs. 11-trustworthy
vs. 12-constant in her love
vs. 13-industrious
vs. 14-thrifty
vs. 15-self-starting
vs. 16-enterprising
vs. 17-willing to do hard work
vs. 18-willing to work long hours
vs. 19- willing to do monotonous work
vs. 20-compassionate
vs. 21-prepared for the future
vs. 22-a good seamstress
vs. 23-married to a leader/looking to marry a leader
vs. 24-entrepreneur
vs. 25-not swayed by circumstances
vs. 26-wise and kind
vs. 27-duty-conscious
vs. 28-blessed by her family
vs. 29-not satisfied with mediocre
vs. 30-a woman of God
vs. 31-praiseworthy

What a list! I find that I am mediocre in some of these areas. And it is in these areas I wish to improve! I don't want to be mediocre. I know some of these points may seem far-fetched, but there is a reason they are in the Word of God. A young woman matching this description would definitely have my approval for my sons.

Here's hoping you find yourself above-mediocre, and if not, feel free to join us on our journey. I hope you all have a wonderful, God-filled weekend!

Mama D

No Mediocre Pumpkin Pie

Good Morning, Y'all! I must first admit that my youngest sister is amazing and has inspired me to be creative. She and her bf have conquered the challenge of "extreme couponing," and they are a bit crafty themselves. Reading her blog is like having coffee with her. I don't get to have coffee with my lil sis because she lives 4+ hours away. But I can enjoy my coffee as I read about my niece and nephew, scroll through the newest craft project, or ponder a delicious recipe. So, I publicly want to thank my sis for sparking this in me. Thanks Love!

Like I mentioned earlier this week, my birthday is Sunday. Every year at this time I crave my grandma's pumpkin pie. It is not the usual pumpkin pie. So, this year instead of asking my mom to make me one of grandma's special pumpkin pies, I asked for the recipe. Although I could keep this treasure to myself, I choose to share it with the world. YOU!



Grandma's Special Pumpkin Pie

Important step: Use light/pale pumpkins. (I was a little overzealous and bought two the size of basketballs. We ended up with plenty of pumpkin.) You must first cook your pumpkin before you can make your pies.

Here's how: Cut pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds and strings (as my kids call them, guts.) Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325 degrees F until good and soft. You will find that a lot of water will be collected in the hollow of the pumpkin, so be careful when you remove the pumpkin from the oven. Pour out the excess water. (We celebrated our pumpkin cooking by tasting the pumpkin water...pumpkin tea. It's okay. Tastes like pumpkin. :)) Let the cooked pumpkin cool. Once it is cool enough to touch you should be able to just peel the rind/skin right off with no trouble. Put your freshly peeled pumpkin in a strainer and let the rest of the water drain off. This may take awhile. (We cooked the pumpkins one day and baked the pies the next.)

Pie filling ingredients: 3 cups cooked pumpkin (light/pale orange pumpkins only) 3 eggs 2 cups sugar 3 tbsp butter (not margarine) 1/4 c self-rising flour 3 tbsp lemon flavoring Blend all ingredients thoroughly, may be slightly lumpy. Set aside.

Crust ingredients: (you can use regular frozen pie crusts, if you prefer.) 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour 1 cup of butter 1 tsp of salt 1 tsp of sugar 6-8 tbsp of ice cold water. *I use self-rising flour and omit the salt. Mix ingredients together until dough forms. Pour out onto a floured surface for rolling. (Make sure your hands and rolling pin are floured, too.) Roll dough out in the desired shape. (Some people like the traditional pie crusts, I prefer rolling it out like a pizza crust, more pie that way.) You want your crust to be thin, maybe 1/8-1/4 of an inch thick. If you are making a pumpkin pizza pie, be sure to roll up the edges to hold the pie filling.

Pour in pie filling and smooth out evenly. Bake at 350 degrees F until crust is golden brown. (if you have a thicker crust, make sure to bake it longer to ensure proper "done-ness." I enjoy my pie slice right out of the oven, but it is delicious cold, too. Hope you enjoy this recipe like I do. A little bit of heaven on earth :) YUM!

Day one

Hi y'all! (insert southern accent here) Mama D here. Welcome!

Day one of our "Rising Above Mediocre" journey has had me overwhelmed with thoughts for our first blog. There are so many things Vicious & I want to try and accomplish this year! Home improvement plans, cleaning clutter projects, baking experiments, arts & crafty goals, and overall personal growth for ourselves. But before I can go much further I must explain a little about myself and Vicious will introduce herself, later. I think I have adult ADHD, so if I go off the trail, you will know that a squirrel ran across the yard in front of me, one of the children came into the room, or I forgot where I put my glasses (usually on my face). It probably isn't ADHD, I just have tens of thousands of ideas flooding my head at the same time so I may get a little side-tracked. I am turning 40 on Sunday. I am trying to tell myself that it doesn't matter, its just another day, no big deal. I am done with birthdays. I feel like I am still in my twenties, although my body reminds me constantly that I am not. My kids keep me young and laughing! All is right with the world when Mama D is laughing and laughing loud! I have a degree in teaching and I have been teaching since 1994. I ventured out on faith this summer. I resigned my position at the school where I have spent the last 8 years of my life. I am in the process of starting a private school in our community. Currently, it looks like we are home-schooling. I love to read, experiment while cooking, sing along with the radio, laugh out loud, cuddle with a cozy blanket and a cup of coffee, watching movies with the kiddos, and spending time with my hubby. Times are difficult for most people these days. We are no different. Are you familiar with the phrase "one step forward, two steps back"? This often seems to be our theme song. If life was a musical.... I am not going to finish that thought. I look forward to what Vicious and I can discover and create this year. This will be a great 'bonding' activity for us. We invite you to tag along with us, and Rise Above Mediocre!