Strawbales

There is new building construction happening all over my campus.  Large craters of dirt, huge cranes, burning tar, and metal beams every where I turn! The latest building started has a chain link fence surrounding the site (smart idea, so sleep-deprived students won’t stray into their doom.) Next to the fence is a berm of straw bales, I guess to serve as a bumper for the equipment operators. The string of bales is rather long. What would you think of, when you see so many bales lined up like that?

I thought, “A house!”

There has to be enough bales sitting out in the elements to build a sturdy, almost tornado-proof, home.

Now, with those piles of dirt…

You could build something like this!

With all that dirt, strawbales, left over brick, metal scraps, and other construction debris, they could build at least two good quality homes.

I hope you are illuminated as to the possibilities of overlooked items.

Dish Zen

Pardon the eastern philosophy title, but it sounded so apropo to the successful experiment now being conducted in my kitchen. [Note: That photo is not my kitchen, but a reasonable representation of how it looked not so long ago.]

We do not have a dishwashing machine. My dishwasher’s name is Jeff. He was so very overwhelmed with all the dirty utensils, cups, pots, pans, and baking ephemera that would pile up, seemingly of their own accord. I was entirely frustrated that the pile exsisted and my cooking efforts were hampered. What to do?!?

Instead of giving in to incessant nagging or tantrums towards said dishwasher, I hit upon an elegant solution we called Dish Zen. Here is how it works:

Each person (in this case, two bipeds) is allotted a juice glass, a plastic cup, a large water glass, a plate, a bread plate, a cereal bowl, a coffee mug, and a set of utensils. All extraneous items were moved to the upper shelf regions of the kitchen. We did retain the remaining utensils in a plastic bag on the counter so I can use them in cooking purposes only.

We are forced to wash our used dishes every day, or more. The pots & pans are still pretty much the same but are not as daunting. Jeff’s time at the sink has well-nigh been cut in half, at least!

Look, I can see my counter top! I can shine my sink, a la FlyLady, without a hassle. My husband is happy; the world is at balance.

Coming Home, Chapter One

[First installment of a semi-fictitious story. Enjoy!]

Coming Home

Chapter One

“So I hear you put in your two week notice.” A familiar voice said behind Claire’s back. She turned from unpacking her lunch sack to see her friend, Lisa, from Accounts Payable. “Did you get that position as the VP’s secretary?”

Lisa sat down across from Claire with a huff and slid her cafeteria tray to one side. Claire silently unfolded her sandwich from the freezer paper wrapper. She took a deep breath and looked Lisa in the eye.

“No, I declined the position after it was offered to me.”

“Why? Was the pay not much more than you are getting now? I know Jensen can be a bear to work with. Just the other day he chewed out my supervisor…” Lisa began munching her French fries and continued listing all the possible negative aspects of being a senior secretary at their large defense contracting company.

Claire smiled faintly, knowing that Lisa was speaking the truth. When Lisa paused to sip some Diet Coke, Claire gave her reason for giving up a wise career move.

“Just a few weeks ago, I would have said yes. The pay is a few dollars an hour more than I am making now in Human Resources and VP Jensen is tolerable enough for that. But…”

“But what?”

“Kyle got a new position with Com-Tech.”

Lisa shrugged her shoulders, “That’s great for your husband, Claire, so how does this affect you leaving the company?!?”

“We agreed that when he finished his certification classes that I would be able to leave full-time work. Com-Tech offered him full benefits and even a company car. He is making twice as much as I do now.” Claire’s face brightened as she described her husband’s accomplishment. It had been a long year and a half for them both, since she was the main bread winner while Kyle was in school full-time.

“So this is your bon-bon and couch reward for putting him through school?” Lisa retorted. “Yeah, like I could convince Mike to let me do that. Are you pregnant?”

“Not yet, anyway.” Claire blushed. “Oh, Lisa, if you only knew that being ‘just a housewife’ is so much more than is portrayed on 1950’s sitcoms. There is something so stabilizing for a man about having his wife at home.”

“Glad to hear you won’t be wearing pearls and heels to vacuum. Will you be at least working part-time? I’d go batty being at home all day. Get a job with JoAnn Fabrics.”

“Well, I will be volunteering at the Salvation Army’s literacy program a little more during the weekdays. My first priority, however, is making sure our home is comfortable for us.”

“Oh, that’s good, I guess.” Lisa said, still puzzled. “Let me know if there will be a going-away party or anything. Have you heard anything about the latest acquisition?”

Claire was slightly relieved to have the subject changed, but she knew this wouldn’t be the last conversation on this subject.

Proverbs 31 Queen Makeover

I heard nails scrapping across a chalkboard this evening as I was listening to the local news. They were reporting on a winner of a “Queen Makeover” contest who received some rather extensive “gifts”: a personal trainer for 3 months, botox shots, permanent make-up, laser hair removal, hair restyling (for the hair that is left), and some new outfits, including a set of Spanxs for body shaping, from a trendy boutique. ACCCKK! Is this what it takes to feel like a queen these days?!? Just fathom all of the unnecessary pain involved in becoming a Queen in the world’s eyes. Except maybe the personal trainer, all of those things are just plain old cruel.

How about a Proverbs 31 makeover instead? Here is what I would really love to have:

[Updated]

1. Services of a Professional Organizer to aid you in better lay out your home and de-junk.
2. A couple of lovely dresses and aprons from The Kings Daughters. (No shapewear required!)
3. Quilting lessons or whatever craft you would like to learn.
4. A gift membership to a Community Supported Agriculture Farm for a season’s worth of fresh vegetables, fruits, and eggs and possibly milk or meat.
5. A set of cloth diapers or Ergo carrier (if you have a baby.)
6. Small business consultation, if you would like to start your own.
7. A tea party hosted for all you, your lady friends and family.
8. A grain mill and a 50 pound bag of organic wheat.
9. [If I had a yard...] A professionally installed herb garden.
10. A “wildcrafting” tour with a knowledgeable person on edible plants and mushrooms.

What else would you like to receive if there was such a makeover?

[My husband heartily enjoyed this post as I read it to him!]

Broiled Bread

Homekeeper Blooper of the Week:

We were out of all baked goods by last evening so I rolled up my sleeves to bake some bread after dinner. All went smoothly until the dough was ready to go into the oven. It was pre-heated to 350 F and in went the two loaves. I set the timer for 15 minutes (about 2/3 of the way done, just to check the browning on top.) Well, when I took a peak at them at 12 minutes, the tops were looking like the bread was almost done! Huh?!? I took out one loaf and flipped it out onto my mitted hand. White and soft!

Catasterous!  [Disastrous + Catastrophy = Catasterous! You heard it here first, folks. ]

The oven was clicked over to ‘Broil’, not ‘Bake’. I quickly covered the tops with aluminum foil to stop the browning process and turned the oven back to ‘Bake’, hoping that would rescue my poor bread. Sure enough, as the oven heated from below, the bread bottoms got toasty and it baked all the way through! Sweet success!

Have any Homekeeper Bloopers you’d like to share, and how you rescued the situation?

Friendship and Brotherhood

Be careful for what you ask, you might just receive it in abundance! Jeff and I are having a wonderful “honeymoon” with our new church fellowship. So many folks have taken us into their homes or expressed interest in knowing us better. This is after almost a year at another fellowship where we were invited over to one family’s home, twice. We are so very grateful for the kindness others have shown us!

It is difficult for us to reach out like more gregarious sorts of people. Autism or just being quiet sort of folk, who knows. To gain so much “reward” for just being ourselves is such a blessing. When you find the Body of Christ in action, it is a beautiful thing to behold.

In other news, we drove out to Camp Y’shua again on Saturday. This time, I brought over some homemade pizza dough and baked it up (with Jeff’s awesome pizza twirling skills coming in handy!) That is a terrific dough recipe. Give it a try this week!

The Home Economics Story

In case you have a spare 25 minutes this weekend for a charming film from 1951, I highly recommend this one.

Feminists Please Note: Not every girl was engaged by the end of the film.

Home Economics Making a Come Back?

You can earn a Humanities degree and learn how to cook and sew your own dresses at the same time! Southwestern Baptist Seminary is offering a concentration in “homemaking studies” along with a rigorous Bachelor of Arts program at their Ft. Worth campus. You can read an article about it here. [Bonnet Tip: Cara Michele]

Only female students are allowed to take the sewing and nutrition (cooking) classes. Brava! Brava! What I would like to know is, do the women flock to these courses? Do they have to turn away students? I’m betting they do. Young women feel a strong lack of home management skills as evidenced through all the internet sites like Fly Lady and others.

Would you take a homemaking concentration in college? Is it time to bring back Home Economics as a viable higher education plan?

Work, Identity and Womanhood

I am a WOHW, a Work Outside the Home Wife. Many of you are probably incredibly blessed to be a WAHM or just an M or W, which is a life-calling as it is. For this season, I have a job. It isn’t a career nor do I  have illusions as to attaining a career over and above my husband and family life. Most likely, over the course of my life, I will earn aggregately less than my husband. Even if we have the same job description; men just earn more. Unfair? I don’t think so, but you can haggle over it in the comments.

Our plan is for Jeff to return to school in August for a year-long computer training program. He’ll become a certified nerd. This will allow me to quit. QUIT working. I love that q-word right next to quiet. God allows certain times when Quitting is good. Quit willful sinning. Quit complaining (guilty). Women to quit trying to be just like men.

I want to take care of my home (which is a disorganized pack rat nest) and husband (who loves being cared for!) and children (God-willing.)

Right now, my work is causing me turmoil. (If you can guess from the last few posts.) I won’t air the particulars but I am sure you can understand frustration. Pray that I can gain character through this process. There is a time limit, glory to God!

How many of you are WAHM, WOHW, or WOHM? How do you think your identity is tied to paid employment? Do you want to Quit, too?

Hillbilly Housewife on the Radio!

Miss Maggie of Hillybilly Housewife was interviewed on Open Source radio program this week. She came across like a pro! You can really sense how passionate she is about serving women from poor backgrounds and educating them about cooking well. If you aren’t familiar with Miss Maggie, she runs a website for frugal cooking and living. She is also a headcovering and homeschooling lady. You can visit her blog to get the link to the radio show.

[BTW, this is a long interview(20 min), with a congress woman at the beginning, but it is worth it.]