A Virtuous Woman Cooks--The World's Best Peanut Butter Fudge

• Who can find a virtuous woman?  for her price is far above rubies
• She is like the merchant's ships, she bringeth her food from afar
• She giveth meat to her household...

I tried a new recipe today and made seriously the world's best peanut butter fudge--check it out over on my food blog, Secrets of a Southern Kitchen!

Until next time...

Keeping the Kitchen Table Clean

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness
• She is like the merchants ships, she bringeth her food from afar

Yesterday's post in the 5 Days to Clean challenge was about getting back into my groove in the kitchen. Today I worked on getting back on track with my regular daily routine, and also tackled the other end of our kitchen, which we euphemistically call the "dining room", although it's part of one long room.  It's been a real mess lately due to a failure in my other routine--my weekly routine.

One of the worst failures I've had in the last few weeks involves the kitchen/dining table.  It's right by the carport door, and it's the landing pad for everything that comes into the house, from purchases to mail to purse or backpack.  

A few years ago, I started lighting candles every Friday night to welcome the Biblical Sabbath. I was working outside the home at the time, so Fridays involved stopping on the way home from work to pick up a rotisserie chicken from the deli of a local grocery, a loaf of bread and maybe a couple of sides, then rushing into the house, and hurrying to get a space cleared so we could light the candles and eat.  

Fast forward a few years, and I was no longer working, so I did better about clearing the table and getting things ready on Friday, but it was still hit-and-miss sometimes if I got the table cleared all the way before dinner.  

Then we started a Friday night Bible study in our home, centered around the table, so you can be sure that it was cleared every week!  When the Bible study ended, I kept up the habit of using Friday evenings to clear off the table and get it ready for our family Shabbat.  

Even though we use this table daily, and it's still our landing pad for whatever comes in the back door, there was something about clearing it off completely once a week that helped us to keep it picked up the rest of the week as well.  

Then several weeks ago we started attending Shabbat elsewhere, and without that weekly clearing off, the table disintegrated into chaos!  

I made up my mind last week when I came home to a messy table, that whether we are home or away on Friday nights, the table will be cleared and ready.  

And after today---it's ready!

I know from experience that we'll set the mail down on it again, and leave books and papers and everything else on it from time to time--but knowing that it will be cleared off every Friday helps us to be conscious about keeping it (somewhat) picked up the rest of the week.

How do you incorporate your cleaning into your weekly routine? Do you have certain days that you do certain things?

Until next time...

Goovin' in the Kitchen

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness

As part of the 5 Days to Clean challenge, I'd like to say I got back into my groove again today,but unfortunately, I really didn't do too much.   I slept in a little, didn't get up until almost 7:00 a.m.  I did  a very brief quiet time before I got dressed for the gym and headed out.  After our work out, I visited with my mom and dad at their house for bit, came home and grabbed a glass of tea and a bite to eat, checked in here and on facebook, and honestly, vegged out in front of the tv for a while.  

I finally got up to take my glass and dish back to the kitchen, and realized I couldn't put it off any longer, I had to get my kitchen back in order.  

 The photo is a bit dark, but you can get the gist of it.  Not horrible, but not good, either!

I usually try to start at the sink. I  had clean dishes from last night on the drainboard, an empty tea pitcher and some dirty dishes in the sink.

First things first...

...put away the clean dishes.

Second, put the dishes to soak in hot, soapy water.  

While they were soaking for a few minutes, I made some tea and when I put it in the fridge, I used that opportunity to clean out a couple of things and wipe some of the fridge shelves down...

...then washed up the dishes.  

I went ahead and mixed up the cookies I had planned to make, and after they were done I wiped down the stove,  

and soaked a couple of the stove drip pans in the sink.  How in the world do they get so dirty?

In the end I had a clean stove...

clean counter top...

and a clean sink!

My house is still no where near ready for the holidays, and neither am I, but I'm a little closer now than I was earlier today.  

Until next time...

A Whole 'Nother Groove

• Who can find a virtuous woman?  her price is far above rubies
• She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy

"Hey, Pastor"

Something I haven't heard in a few months, these words came from the mouth of young black guy in the middle of convenience store in a town I don't live in and haven't worked in, either, for a while.  

For those of you who may not know, until a few months ago, I pastored a small church in a tiny little rural town almost 40 miles from the small town I call home.  I gave it up after a lot of soul searching and tears, but I felt it was the right thing to do, for the church, for my family, and for myself. 

Didn't mean it was easy, though.  

And here I was, several months down the road, in the tiny town for the briefest of stops, grabbing something to drink and a snack, with my head down and not even looking around.  

"Hey, Pastor".  A young man I knew from the jail work crew, who did some remodeling work for us after a leak flooded almost half of our little church.  He was part of the inmate crew who worked the local food pantry we hosted, too, once a month when the big truck came in from the regional food bank to pass out boxes to the needy in the area.  

"I still have the Bible you gave me."  

I'd lost track of the number of Bibles I'd given to these young men, inmates in the parish (county) jail, who requested large print Bibles regardless of their age or eyesight, because of the poor lighting in their cells.  

It started with one request from one inmate.  I didn't have any large print Bibles on hand, but I promised I'd get him one, and I did.  Plain, but sturdy and attractive.  

The next month another one asked if I could get him one, "just like the one you gave him".  I started haunting the sale tables at Christian bookstores, looking for nice large print Bibles.  Soft covers, because the jail rips the covers off of hardback books so the prisoners can't use them to make weapons.  Any translation would do, most of them weren't particular; occasionally I had a request for "one that's easy to understand" because "I'm not a good reader."  

One of the ladies in the church bought one of them a new pair of tennis shoes.  

I used to ask their wives and girlfriends who came to visit them on work days, bringing their little ones with them, if they wanted to sit in the sanctuary and visit, out of the heat and in a quiet place. 

"This is my boy", they'd say proudly, or "my baby girl".  One had an obviously ready-to-give-birth baby momma who came a couple of times.  Only thing was, the baby she brought to visit was his, but the baby she was about to have--not.  

These were young men who had done some crimes, true. But they were so respectful, so appreciative of any little thing we did for them.  

We fed them lunch every time they worked; sometimes something home made, sometimes something "from the corner store", at their request.  (Did I mention that this is a tiny town?  No fast food here, just a store that serves hamburgers and deep-fried everything from behind the counter.) 

Once I was heading the local dollar store to buy some soft drinks for their lunch, and asked if they wanted anything else from there.  "Debbie Cakes" one of them said.  And I obliged. "Bruce, you know you don't need all that sugar!" this from the deputy who ran the work crew.  He takes pride in what he teaches them--a work ethic, and skills that will help them get make a living once they get out--painting, yard work, light carpentry, even plumbing--and more--organization, taking care of tools, having pride in a job well done.  

"How are you doing?" I asked the young man in the store. 

"I'm doing good, pastor". 

When I paid for my drink and food, I told the gal behind the counter to add his lunch to my tab, too.  I couldn't help it, I wanted to feed him one last time.  

As I left the counter, I told him "I got yours" and gave him a big hug.  "You just do good".  

I've really struggled since I gave up my church.  I feel like I'm not sure who I am anymore.  Wife, mother, daughter--these are who I am to my family, but who am I to me? Or to the Lord?

Today was supposed to be a catch-up day on my 5 Days to Clean Challenge, but once again, I didn't get much done at home.  Sometimes I feel so ineffective at the one thing that remains constant in my life, and that's taking care of things at home. "Looking well to the ways of my household". We virtuous women have a big impact on our homes and our families, after all. 

And sometimes we get reminded of the ripples that spread longer and farther than we even realize.   

Until next time...

Out of My Groove

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She rises while it is yet night
• She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness

Well, today was a so-so day of not being back into my groove.  

The first mistake I made was actually last night--I stayed up too late (remember those night-owl ways?) I meant to get up at 6:00 a.m. again, but I was tired, so I stayed in bed till 7:00, actually a little after, leaving me just enough time to get teeth brushed, face washed, and dressed in my gym clothes before it was time to pick up my gym partner and head to the gym.  

I did a decent enough work out, stopped to visit my mom and dad for a bit afterwards, just like yesterday, came home, changed into jeans and made the bed, put away the clean dishes in the dish drain, and put the few dirty ones to soak in hot soapy water.  

And after that my day seemed to just go awry!

For one thing, my husband had been home during the day the last couple of days.  He had some days off he needed to "use-or-lose" before the end of the year, so he's been doing some vehicle maintenance, scraping outside of the house getting ready for some paint, and having a repair guy come look at our heat-pump.  

Yes, even in Louisiana we occasionally have to have heat!  

And apparently our entire (really old) heating and cooling system needs to be replaced, inside and out, which will involve moving a closet wall six inches to make room for a slightly larger inside unit. Which means taking everything out of the closet it backs up to and having construction dust everywhere for a couple of days next week, right when I need to be on top of my game, cleaning, decorating, and cooking for the holidays. 

Yikes.

So, yes, I got a little distracted by that news, but to be honest, I don't really know what I did the rest of the day.  

I did write a letter I needed to do, vestiges of the position I used to hold at my church.  Had to re-load the printer software on my lap-top for some reason to get it to print, but got that done and even ran next door to get my signature notarized.

But beyond that, I don't think I did a thing constructive. 

So, not-so-much in my groove today.

But tomorrow is another day.  

This post is linked to:

5 Day Clean House Challenge at Money Saving Mom

Getting Back into My Groove

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household...
• She rises while it is yet night
• She eateth not the bread of idleness

It's been a roller coaster of a ride for me the last few months--really the last year or more has been one change after another after another.  And one thing I've discovered about myself--even when it's change that I want, and possibly need--

I don't DO change well.  

About two years ago now, my husband changed from a job where he worked away from home (as in months at a time), to a local job where he got to come home every night.  The "normal" hours were four 10-hour days, so he was gone by 6:00 a.m. and home around 6:00 p.m., and was off every Friday, as well as weekends.  It was a really big change, but we (I!) adjusted.  Then this past summer he changed to a different job for a different company, and suddenly was working five 8 hour days, which made him home two hours earlier, but gone an extra day each week.  THEN they started a big project, and he was put on nights, 12-13 shifts, 6-7 days a week!  I was exhausted just thinking about it, much less doing it!

And to add insult to injury, my schedule changed, too, after I resigned from my position at my little church.  

Talk about putting a crimp on my routine!  I had worked up an easy, do-able morning routine, last year when I was doing the Clean in 30 challenge and had kept it up pretty well.  But suddenly, there was no point in making the bed because after I got up, my honey was coming in from work and heading to bed.  And I hated rattling dishes or even cleaning the bathroom (next door to the bedroom) because it was already hard for him to shift his sleep patterns around from nights to days.

Then I started going to the gym several days a week, pretty much first thing in the morning, so I would get dressed in my gym clothes, go exercise, then come home and veg out for while, because, you know, I'd already gone and exercised and all. I'd decide to check the news, maybe have some quiet time.  You know, stuff. Seemed like the next thing I knew, it was getting time for hubby to be home from work (now that he's switched back to his regular days, that is) and I'd done nothing.

So I'm trying to work out a different, slightly adjusted routine.

For one thing, I've realized that I have to work on my bedtime and wake-up time.  If I'm going to have time to do anything else at all, I need to do my quiet time before I go to the gym, if possible.  As I've shared before, I have major night-owl tendencies, and would stay in bed until at least 8:00 a.m. if I could, but right now in this season of my life, that just isn't working.

If I'm going to have time alone for Bible and prayer, go to the gym, keep up with my house, blog, and anything and everything else, I need to tweak my routine.

Which means get one again.

So, this is what my routine looked like today so far:

• Up at 6:00 a.m.-ish
• Brushed teeth, washed face, dressed in my gym clothes
• Made myself a glass of tea, then settled down with my Tehillim (book of Psalms) and read and had some prayer. 
• Picked up my mom, who is my week-day gym partner, a little before 8:00 a.m., made it to the gym, worked out. 
• Visited with my mom and dad afterward for a bit at their house.
• Once home--I changed immediately into "real" clothes--something I wasn't always doing before.
• Made the bed 
• Swished and swiped the bathroom
• Finished a load of clothes I'd left in the dryer the night before by turning the dryer back on, then hanging, folding, and putting away the clothes
• Started a new load in the washer
• Put away clean dishes in the dish drainer
• Put the few dirty dishes from last night and this morning to soak in hot-soapy water
• Dusted in the living room and dining room
• Got a fresh glass of tea (hydration is good for me!)
• Checked facebook, and started this blog post

What's next for my routine?  Change the clothes from washer to dryer, then later fold and put away laundry.  Wash the dishes in the sink. Plan dinner.

And that's probably it for me for today, housework-wise, till I cook dinner and clean the kitchen afterwards.

Edited to add: I also washed the bathroom rugs, and my honey vacuumed the accumulated hair and dust from the bathroom floor.  Made a run to the dollar store for a few things, and dropped off some bags at the ARC thrift store next door while I was at it.  Made chili beans for dinner--a vegetarian version and one with meat, to fit all of the tastes of my family, and my honey cleaned the kitchen afterwards, and made us some no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies, his specialty. He's a handy guy to have around, I have to admit!

So what kind of routine do you have these days?

This post is linked to:

Make Your Home Sing at Mom's the Word
5 Day Clean Your House Challenge at Money Saving Mom

Do You Hear What I Hear?

I love this brother and sisters family group.  I've watched them grow up since I first found them on Youtube a few years ago.

Listen and enjoy.

Until next time...

Who is A Virtuous Woman, and Where is She Going?

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies

I've been working on the blog (in the background) the last couple of days, updating some things and switching some things around, getting things ready to jump back in to regular blogging.

I went in and deleted all of my "deals" posts, mostly because they were old and outdated, but in part because it isn't a big part of my life right now.  You can still find my Couponing 101 posts on Where I Get My Coupons, Part 1, and Where I Get My Coupons, Part 2, and How I Organize My Coupons.  As a matter of fact, I'll be doing some updating to those posts in the near future.  

 And you can still print coupons from my Coupon Saving Center, too.  I still like a good deal when I can find it--I am supposed to look well to the ways of my household, after all, and part of that includes budgeting and finances. Just not always coupons.  

I left almost everything else--posts on prayer and reflection; the Clean in 30 and Clutter-Busting Challenges from past years, as well as dollar store decorating, thrift shop finds, and posts about gardening and the outdoors.  I still have the post about  what "virtuous" really means, as well as when I've felt very UN-virtuous.

I plan to do a some reviews of books that have really helped me out and brought me enjoyment over the years, maybe profile a favorite blogger or two, and of course, explore even more that concept of what it means to be a woman of virtue.  So that means the sky is the limit, right?

Until next time...

I'm Back!

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She openeth her mouth....

Hello again, ladies!  It's been a while, hasn't it?

I can't tell you how many times I've started to re-start this blog, only to not do it! Blogging has been difficult ever since I moved back to my small hometown in southwest Louisiana four years ago. At our little house in the country, we had no high-speed internet, which makes keeping up a blog difficult, to say the least.  I've drug my big, heavy, old (really old!) laptop to my mothers or to the library from time to time and did some posts, but it was frustrating to not have access to my blog, twitter, facebook, etc, at those odd moments here and there that I could have used to keep up with things.

However, thanks to satellite technology and some changes in circumstances, we now have internet at home!  Yay!

And I'm giving this blog a bit of a kick-start.

I've been through a lot of changes in the years since I started this blog, and some of my past posts don't seem relevant to my life as it is at this moment

I'm not too much into the idea of the whole "virtuous woman" of Proverbs 31 thing anymore, the way some define it. I think I view her, this woman of strength and valor, a little differently now than I did way back when, and this blog may reflect that a little.  Or maybe not.  Maybe it's more of an internal thing than one that's external enough for others to tell the difference.

But at any rate, I'm back.

And we'll just see which way the wind blows us this time around.

Until next time...

Crystal Paine--Say Goodbye to Survival Mode

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all
• Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised
• Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. 

In the very beginning of my blogging journey, one of the first bloggers I started following was Crystal Paine at Money Saving Mom.  At first for the couponing and deal posts, and later for her cleaning and organizing posts, like the Clean in Thirty and the Clutter-Busting challenges I participated in last year. Because we're in different seasons of life--she's a young, work-at-home mom to three small children, a successful speaker, author, and blogger, and I am none of those things--I put her blog in the "Frugal Living, Couponing, Shopping" section of the blogs I read frequently, and thought nothing more about it.  

Lately, though, I find myself reading her other posts more and more, and not only that, relating to them as well.  Posts on goal setting, and achieving success--in whatever form that may take for you.  I bought her e-book, 21 Days to a More Disciplined life, and read even more.  

Then I had an opportunity to sign up for a sort of lottery to participate in the launch of her newest book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode.  As a result of being drawn from that hat, I received an advance e-copy of the book to read and review.  

Ladies--I have to tell you, I really think Crystal has hit it out of the park with this one.  She gives us more of her personal story of how, even while appearing successful and together on the outside, she felt like she hit rock bottom.  Suffering from a combination of burn-out, postpartum depression, and a bad case of "yes-I-can"--even when her body and soul told her "no-you-can't", Crystal relates what she learned and the steps she took, to get beyond the point of survival mode, all the way to thriving and learning to be the best version of yourself that you can be.

This book could not have come at a more perfect time for me--if anyone has been in "survival mode" the last couple of months, it's been me.  The small church I pastor in a tiny rural town developed a leak and was flooded--about a third of our building was soaked--and believe me, it gives the phrase "walking on water" a whole new meaning, especially when it's in the sanctuary.  And while everyone has pitched in and done their part, I am the one ultimately responsible for seeing to it that it gets done.  Meanwhile we decided that while everything was torn up and in disarray already, we may as well address some remodeling/painting issues that we'd been avoiding, and because the labor is all voluntary, we work around schedules, making all of this take much longer than if we'd just called in professionals to do it--which we can't afford, hence the procrastination. Shortly after the Great Flood, someone very near and dear to me was assaulted and robbed, which is NOT supposed to happen in a small town, but guess what, it does. My emotions were haywire for a while after that, both personally and on their behalf. I got sick with a bad bronchial cold.  The holidays came and went, and all I could think of after they were gone was that I wanted a do-over, because I didn't do nearly as much as I wanted to, and I felt like the joy of the season was robbed from me.   Then I got sick again--or maybe I relapsed, I'm not really sure. My house was a mess, my body was a mess, my emotions were a mess--I couldn't pray, couldn't read, couldn't do much of anything.  Between being sick, stressed, and overwrought, I felt like all I could do was lay on the couch and feel sorry for myself.  Oh, and watch cheesy movies.  Nothing too cheerful, mind you, but nothing that caused me to have to engage my brain, either.  

Enter Crystal's book, which I had started long before all of this took place, but which languished, unfinished, on my computer.  I finally transferred it to my new Kindle that I'd received for Christmas, so I could prop it up and read it laying down if I wanted to.  And read I did.  Maybe laying down, maybe not.  

I don't want to give away all of the good points that Crystal has made, but it boils down to this--we are each unique creatures, created to be someone wonderful in the eyes of God.  We need to quit comparing ourselves to others.  We need to quit trying to please people who really don't matter that much in the long run.  When we say "yes" to one thing, that means we need to say "no" to something else.  We need to take care of ourselves, because if we don't, we won't be able to take care of anyone else around us, including our families.  

Crystal is ever so much more eloquent, than I, but the steps she outlines are so very practical and do-able, and while some of them are things we probably already know we should be doing, she breaks it down into such easy pieces that nothing seems impossible.  This book is practical and inspirational at the same time.  

My story is not her story, and neither is hers mine, but we each have a story, and we each have a unique opportunity to effect, not just the ending, but the story-line along the way.  

I already feel better, and I feel I've barely scratched the surface.  Time for a re-read, this time taking some notes and implementing some changes along the way. 

Meanwhile, over on Crystal's blog, she's all kinds of goodies in anticipation of the official release, which is January 21st.  You can participate in her 7-Day Challenge to jump-start yourself, or sign up for the giveaways she's hosting.  And if you pre-order the book, you qualify for $125 of other goodies.

Until next time...

(Disclosure--I received a copy of Crystal's book for review, but I have not received any additional compensation, and the opinion expressed is that of my own)

$30 Off Kindle Fire Tablets

This is just a quick bargain alert--the best gift I received this past year was my new Kindle Fire HD .

 We're overflowing with books at my house, as you well know (and these are not all of them--we probably have at least this many more in other rooms) but I wasn't too sure I've enjoy reading on an e-device as much as I like holding a "real" book.  But my son asked for a Kindle Fire year before last, and loved his, and the more I saw him use his, the more I wanted one, too.  So I asked for (and received) a Kindle Fire HD this past year, and so far, I'm really enjoying it.  Many classics are available in Kindle format for free, as are a variety of other books. Almost everything else is discounted steeply if you purchase the Kindle version vs. printed one.

Right now, through January 11th, Amazon is running special, $30 off all Kindle Fire tablets, by entering the promo code MAYDAY30 at checkout.

(Disclosure--the links in this post are affiliate links--if you follow these links and make a purchase from Amazon, of this or any other products, I receive a small commission.)

Until next time...