Misty's Rx for a dirty fridge.

1. Turn off the fridge (yep, there should be a switch inside, where you adjust the temperature...just turn that until it's off).
2. Get everything out, even the veggie drawers and meat drawer.
3. Throw away anything that is expired. Some things, like lemon juice in the bottles, etc will probably last a while longer, but everything else---toss!
4. Toss all food sitting around in bowls, baggies, etc that is more than 2 weeks old, you know that no one will eat, and especially if it is molding, rotting, etc.
5. Now, get a mop bucket and add ~1/8 cup baking soda (use fresh if possible--the old stuff in the fridge already has absorbed the smells you're trying to get rid of) and now fill the bucket about 2/3 full of hot water, making sure the baking soda is dissolved.
6. Grab a dish rag and soak in the baking soda water, and wipe out the entire fridge, shelves, sides, bottoms, and don't forget the shelves in the door! Rinse your rag out after each few swipes.
7. Dry off all surfaces with a dish towel as you go.
8. Wash your veggie and meat drawers with hot soapy water, rinse well, and replace in the fridge.
9. Turn the fridge back on and replace all food items.
10. Enjoy your clean-smelling, much neater fridge. Put a fresh box of baking soda in there to absorb new smells. Repeat 3 or 4 times a year :)

Tomorrow, I'll tackle the freezer!

The Trike-a-Thon that wasn't :(

Alas, today's Trike-a-Thon was not meant to be. Not more than 10 minutes after we arrived, the rain started. We are going to give it another go next Thursday. The kids did turn in their donations today though. Megan was able to collect $75 for the kids at St. Jude! Thanks to cousin Kelly, our pastor and wife, and uncle Roger and aunt Angela and a little to round it off from mom and dad :) I don't have totals today, but hopefully we'll have that next week. And hopefully no rain! I did get some pics for the few minutes we were there. Here you'll see Meg on her trike that she's almost outgrown and our "Buddy", along with my friend "J"s daughter. Megan tried out her friend's bike too. Zoe was happy to stroll along, but we just didn't get far. I was looking forward to a nice walk today. Oh well...Enjoy!

My Dad is 60 today

He's been in my life since November 5, 1983. He's loved me like I was his biological daughter ever since. I never knew my real father and my mother never told me much about him. My husband has no idea why I've not had the inclination to discover that side of my family. I do know my father died January 11, 1995, just from looking up family records on the internet. I may look into that side of myself one of these days. I guess my dad just did such a good job raising me that I never really felt inclined to seek out my father.

Anywho, my dad is 60 today. We both miss my mom terribly since she died in 2003. He's been disabled since 1993 and his health seems to worsen every day. I wish I could spend more time with him, but we live 2 hours away and it's very difficult to be there as much as I'd like. So, today, since I can't be there, I went through the book that my mom made for me that contained many of the poems I wrote when I was young. I had written this one for my dad in 1999 for father's day. I scanned it but in case you can't read the poem itself:

To My Dad

You got me up for school,

but sometimes let me miss the bus.

You were quick to correct me

when I started to cuss.

You taught me how to fish
and how to bait my hooks.
You made sure that I kept
my head in the books.

You taught me how to roast
a wiener on a stick.
You took me to the doctor
whenever I was sick.

You've always been there,
and I am so glad.
Even though you're not my father,
you'll always be my dad.

6/15/99

Friday Fun

What to do when the kids are out of preschool and they're all following you around like little ducks everywhere? Take them to the playground, of course. I even had to shoo them away from me there when we first arrived. I must smell good today or something :) Called up Maggie and another church friend arrived later with her two little ones. Eight kiddos in all. Light lunches, a little grown up talk. Good stuff. God is good.

Here's my Photoshop Gallery link. Hopefully it will work for you. I wanted to just post them here, but Blogger is not cooperating today.

http://www.photoshopshowcase.com/ViewFlashMedia.aspx?AID=25563&AT=3

A truly blogworthy post today!

Our little preschool kiddos are planning a trike-a-thon for next Thursday in order to raise money for St. Jude children's hospital. The kids also get prizes based on how much money they can raise. They all get a prize anyway though, so no one will feel left out. Anyway, if you'd be interested in donating just a small amount ($5 or $10, etc), they're asking for checks to be made payable to St. Jude Children's Hospital. If you'd like to contribute to Megan's trike ride, e-mail me at the link above, and I'll send you our address to mail a check. If you'd like to see more about the fund, visit www.stjude.org/trike. Isn't it nice to see little ones learning to help others? I'm excited about it!

Wednesday's Wacky Wild Trivia

I've gotten bored with the blogsphere. There. I've said it. It's one of those current interests that I've tried to acclimate to and just haven't gotten immersed in. Like scrapbooking...playdates...text messaging (ok, so I haven't really gotten into that at all, but my phone is capable of it). I like all of these things, but prioritizing them into my daily life is just not workin for me. I'm going to accept who I am and just be happy with a more sporadic interest in them. I'm not going to feel guilty if I don't allot time intervals to blogging each day, or reading other blogs, or making scrapbook pages. I've felt the great need to make my immediate family more of a priority right now, and integrating more spiritual study with hubby. I'm also an admitted computer game addict. THAT is something I'm definitely immersed in and really enjoy. So, there you have it. I'm Misty-- wife, mom, friend, computer gamer, sporadic blogger, occasional scrapbooker, quarterly playdater. And today I like me just fine.

I'll still be posting my sporadic posts, just not sure how much regular content I'll bring you. After the Virginia Tech tragedy this week, I'm determined not to get my usual pessimistic attitude when things like this happen. I'm determined to just enjoy life where it leads. For some fun today, here's a neat site I found with animal quizzes. Test your knowledge about all different kinds of creatures here. I scored 9/10 on the cat behavior one. Let me know what quiz you take and how you did.

Animal Trivia!

We did have one fun day last week

We let the s stay at Nana's and Papa's for 3 days of spring break, then we wanted to take them to the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville on Thursday. Bryan took off Thurs and Friday for some family time. Of course, the weather did not cooperate. It was low 40's and very windy on Thurs. So, what to do indoors in this small town area? We Googled up some info of course and settled on the cMoe Children's Museum in Evansville, IN. We had a good fun day there with the kiddos. We even left for lunch at a nearby Italian place and came back for some more fun. It's a fairly new facility and looks to be growing. I'm looking forward to coming back there. Though I still wish we could have went to the zoo....I love zoos...animal addict, you know. My camera's battery didn't last long, but I managed to get a few cute pics. If I'm nauseating you with all the recent kid pics/slideshows, I'm sorry. I just can't help myself. I've got the cutest little s in the world and I must share their cuteness...it musn't be wasted! Ok, I'm a little (a lot!) biased. Really, I just don't have much blogworthy material to share except my little pictures. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.photoshopshowcase.com/ViewFlashMedia.aspx?AID=24969&AT=3

He makes all things new...

I miss spring break. It was over all too soon. We all slept in until 9 on Friday and Saturday. Today it's back to the old grind. Pondering today about the cold snap that made the entire spring break week cold and bleak. I lost my blueberry blossoms. Every one of them is brown and dried up. Even their lovely bright green new leaves are shriveled up and black. The prices of orange juice and milk and many other things is going up in the stores due to the cold weather. Even worse news...marriages in our church and family ending and one of my best friends just had a miscarriage. I hurt for her. I hurt for the families torn by divorce. I hurt for winter's cold grasp not only on our crops, but our lives.

I'm choosing to bask in the leftover Easter glow, the reality of knowing that Jesus makes all things new. He is able to renew our spirits when we can't pick ourselves up, when we can't shake off the cold.

Thank you, Lord, for your hope, your strength, your endless goodness and mercy. Bless this spring with the warmth of your love. Send it down to us to heal our spirits and wounds.

And Easter weekend...

I've been shampooing our bedroom carpet today and cleaning in there while my girls stay a few days with Nana and Papa. My back hurts and I welcome the break to do some blogging. Here is another slide show for you. Enjoy!

Monday Memories!

I'm so sorry to leave you all hanging with a "puke" post. We had a busy Easter weekend and I've been busy compiling my pics for you into some slideshows. I've posted them with GodTube, a family-friendly version of YouTube. I had a hard, but good time preparing these slideshows and getting music to go along with them. Tell me what you think. Here's the first one, Meg's preschool Easter party last Thursday:

Ugggh....

Can any of you moms tell me exactly what age do children learn to reach the toilet on time to vomit? Everytime a kid gets sick around here, up it comes where they're standing. 10 seconds of puking....1 and 1/2 hours of cleaning. "Buddy" was the sick one today. After he went home early, I wore my arms out shampooing, bleaching the trim in the hallway, and taking a toothbrush to remove the puke from under the trim and bathroom threshold. He did try to get to the bathroom, I think. And managed to get round two in there after I moved him to the toilet.

All my nose can smell now is bleach. I'm sitting down though, eating my dark chocolate mini eggs...I don't care how many I eat...don't try to stop me...I'm a woman on the edge! :O

Still here

I'm still here, just not in a bloggity mood. In fact, I'm sick of my moods. Since I've been off birth control, it's been a hormonal roller coaster. I enjoy the evenness of the birth control moods. I don't like this natural state :)

Don't think I'm preggers this month either. Took an early test Sunday and it was negative. Aunt Flo will likely show tomorrow. This kid is being more stubborn than the other too. Maybe he/she will be the shy one :)

Got three more blueberry plants and got them in the ground Monday. Now I have 9--hoping for nice harvests in a couple years time. Worried about the freezing temps harming the blooms on my established plants. Going to try to cover them with garbage bags each night while the temps are low. Want to save as many berries as I can. I have to say, the folks over at Nourse Farms, a family-owned company where I purchased my plants, are VERY kind and helpful at answering my novice gardener questions. Got e-mails back from Nick Nourse advising on how to protect from the freeze. Check them out for all kinds of varieties of berry plants...and asparagus (not sure how that fits in there, but I like asparagus) here: www.noursefarms.com.

One final update--bought some dark chocolate Mini-Eggs, just because I wanted some. Those are mama's candy...don't touch!! Happy Easter! :)