A Mother's Balancing Act

Monday Morning Coffee

As I sit this morning, making my "to-do" list before dashing off to work, I am ever so thankful that I roasted a turkey breast yesterday, in order to make my gravy in advance of "The Big Feast". And oh my goodness, it is delicious, if I do say so myself...and I do!

Entertaining 21 is not something that I do often. It didn't occur to me until last weekend that my cleaning crew (once again) did not "ping me" to ask when they could reschedule me since my regular day falls on "The Big Day". Last year, when I realized this, I opted out, figuring we were heading out of town to my brother's house. I thought, "Hey, we'll save the hundred bucks, do some cleaning ourselves (ahem...), and no one will be the wiser." Well, this time, I've got a cast of thousands coming to my house. It needs to be cleaned. I was sick a good part of last week (yuck!), and College Girl comes home tomorrow night to boot!

It looks like we'll be pulling together as a family to do an "all-out-effort" to get the house in order. I worked on everything but the floors in the kitchen last night, so it's in pretty good shape at the moment. I reminded Big Strong Man (that's BSM for any of you newcomers...) that I'd need his assistance, and we'll just make it work. That's right...Tim Gunn style. Yeah, I know. It sounds lame, but when you're used to having help, it takes a village to really get the whole house clean at the same time!

Truth be told, I'm just so excited to get my College Girl home tomorrow night, I'll do anything to get the Big Feast on the table on Thursday. Family, friends, feast, faith. It'll all be there. Life is good.

Cheers,

Balanced Babe (Molly Wendland)

Music Muses & Contemplations

The music of my life plays in the background of my day like the raindrops that fall down our chimney into the foil pans placed there to catch them. The notes stand as accompaniment to my pain, my sorrows, my grief and my careful discontent. Yet they also resonate with my joy, my successes, my delights and all of my countless pleasures. Music is so central to my core that the same song can produce within me anguish and undeniable bliss within nearly the same moment. How can that be?

Balanced Babe (Molly Wendland)

FedEx...$88 for Shipping Raggedy Ann's Costume?

So, I needed to ship a care package to College Girl last week. It contained a Raggedy Ann Halloween  
costume, among other things. I have a FedEx account with an excellent discount due to having a home-based direct sales business through a company that happens to be their largest residential shipping customer. I had the package, all 5.5 pounds of it, boxed and taped up, pre-addressed, etc. I just wanted to find out how much it was going to cost me, depending on what time it arrived (morning or afternoon). It was shipping from KC to Chicago. I had shipped to College Girl previously, just not overnight. The gentleman assigned to assist me was visibly distressed when I handed him my account card, shoulders heaving and sighing heavily.

Balanced Babe: Could you please tell me what it will cost to ship, morning vs. afternoon?

FedEx #1: About $5.00 difference.

BB: Oh, well, I have a really good discount, so if you could just check what it will be for each, that would be great.

FE 1: (Sighing...disturbed, looking at my FedEx/Kinko's combo card with consternation...) Frank, is this a shipping card???

From somewhere hidden across the room, Frank responds that yes, it is indeed a shipping card and the account # is the one that says, "FedEx Shipping #". Hmmm...funny how that works. There really isn't that much data on the card, but this has been the source of confusion for some time, actually. FE 1 proceeds with his sighing and types a few numbers into his monitor. He stares at the screen for a few moments and then confidently announces the following:

FE 1: That will be $88.02 for 10 am tomorrow, $58.01 for about noon and $51.76 for 3 pm.

BB: (dumbfounded and...nearly...at a loss for words) Are you kidding me??? $88? (panicking...gathering my thoughts...panicking some more...knowing that College Girl needs this costume the next day, or I might as well not even send it at all) So, you're telling me that the least expensive option to get this to Chicago tomorrow is 51 dollars...and 76 cents?

FE 1: (nodding) Yes.

BB: (mouth gaping)

But then, I suddenly catch a glimmer of doubt in this man's eyes...

BB: You're quite certain...

FE 1: Wait...let me check something...(studying the monitor and glancing uncomfortably at my steely gaze)...Frank!!!

Suddenly, there's Frank, whom I recognize from many other competently managed visits. Ah, Frank...where've you been? Frank, save us. Frank, what's the good word? Frank, give it to me straight!

Frank: Zach, go ldfkgjlfdkjgld;fkgh

I don't know what it was that Frank told FE 1 (now known to me as Zach) to go do, but FE 1 disappeared with his tail between his legs. Frank took over, typing furiously on the keyboard.

Frank: OK, you wanted this there for the cheapest price possible???

BB: No, actually, I need it there tomorrow, but I just wanted to know the various prices, depending on the time of day.

Frank: OK, it'll be $18.77 if it gets there by 10 am and $16.08 if it gets there by 3 pm.

My heart soars. Halloween is saved. Raggedy Ann will live on!

BB: 3 pm is fine.

I slide my chicken-scratched post-it across the counter to Frank.

BB: Just so you know, this is what Zach quoted me for morning, noon and 3 pm...

Frank's eyes bug out of his head.

Frank: Yeah, that's why I sent him off...that was your discount percentage.

Ha! I knew I had a great discount! Disaster averted. But wow, I hope they keep Zach off the FedEx counter. Perhaps he should just sweep or something.

Didn't Raggedy Ann look adorable -- in her homemade costume --from last year, no less? And her friend, who dressed as Snooki? She's sooo not like that...which made it all the funnier!

Balanced Babe (Molly Wendland)

 

Needle In a Haystack...

Just found this post that I never published. I liked it when I wrote it, so I decided to go ahead and send it out into cyberspace - about a year after the fact...

About 6 months ago, my 15 year old offered to "organize" my collection of recipes. If you'd seen them then, you'd know why I was thrilled beyond belief and willing to pay nearly any price for this precious service. We settled on the approximate amount of $100. This is what I've gotten so far...um, yeah...

 

Ain't life with teens grand?

So, recently, when I wanted to prepare my fabulous Pineapple Ketchup to go with the Pork Tenderloin that we were grilling for our family's Sunday dinner for nine, it was with sheer amazement that I retrieved the recipe from the pit on our guest room bed in under a minute. Serve this with grilled pork, beef or chicken. Yum! It's also good alongside marinated red onions. (Marinate for a couple of hours in a ziplock bag: one thinly sliced and quartered red onion, the juice of one lime, 1 T. red wine vinegar, 1 t. sugar, coarsely ground pepper to taste.) This meal pairs nicely with with a glass of pinot grigio, or if you prefer red, you are best to stick with a lighter one, perhaps a pinot noir or petir syrah. I even like a smooth Crianza with this. Enjoy!

Chunky Pineapple Ketchup

• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 1 yellow onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 pineapple, chunked
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 rice wine vinegar or vinegar
• 1 t. rose water (optional)
• 1 pinch ground cloves (important!)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T. corn starch, mixed with 2 T. water

1. Saute onions 5-7 minutes.
2. Add pineapple. Cook about 3 minutes more.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except corn starch mixture. Cook add'l 5 min or so until mixture begins to thicken.
4. Add corn starch mixture, and boil until mixture thickens substantially.
5. Serve with your favorite grill meat!

O'Donnell's Gaff Won't Be Her Last

Republican candidate Christine O'Donnell's 1st Amendment gaff at a debate against Senate Democratic oponent Chris Coons before Widener University Law School students earlier this week was absolutely staggering. I normally don't use this blog as any kind of a political platform, but this one blew me away. No matter what your beliefs are, isn't it a little scary that this woman took the GOP nomination in her Delaware Senate district so handily?

On several instances within the debate, O'Donnell challenged Coons on the validity of the constitutional separation of church and state, laughing each time she questioned him. She apparently either:

• Didn't know that there was an amendment that protected religion from being tampered with by the federal government
• OR
• Disagrees with the separation of church and state as it stands now

There were numerous times when you could hear the audience gasp and murmur after she did this. While I might understand a candidate not knowing what the 14th, 16th or 17th Amendments are (though her Tea Party is advocating abolishing them, so you'd think she'd be up on those, as well...), come on! The 1st Amendment? It's pretty cut and dried, folks...

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

 

Weird Teen Collections

As I sift through the myriad of junk on my daughter's floor, searching for possible articles of clothing to add to the laundry, I am struck dumb by the sheer number of odds and ends that she appears to find worthy of collecting for future use:

• Starburst, Reece's, gum and other assorted candy wrappers
• Empty pop cans, water bottles and Tupperware
• Used Q-Tips
• Band-Aid wrappers
• Empty pop cans, water bottles
• Beads...everywhere
• Loose Kleenex
• Empty Rx bottles
• Embroidery floss in a variety of lengths and colors
• More hair bands than you can shake a stick at
• Bobby pins, clips, and the offers that fall out of magazines

Why is it that none of the things that would normally wind up in the rest of our trash cans sit idly on her floor/desk/night stand? I don't know. We have trash cans in every room of our home. Literally. Every room. Yet her hand can't seem to find them. I don't get that.

In her "defense" (ahem...), Girl 2 is incredibly creative and talented with all things crafts, and she is forever folding candy wrappers into cool works of art. Sooo, there is that. But I ask you, do they have to be all over her room in the meantime??? Agghhh! And there is simply no excuse for not throwing out a used Q-Tip, right? "Allow me to introduce you to the trash can!"

I have to offer this up, as well, though. I enjoy the crafts she makes with these odds and ends greatly! The picture I've included here...just one of the many things that she creates with the sort of thing that I wish she would pitch. Folded paper flowers. She is, in fact, a paper folding wizard of sorts. Pure self-taught art. Therein lies the difference between my daughter and me. She is a creative genius. Plain and simple. So, there you go.

And it is for that reason that I wind up simply letting it go.

All the crap that settles onto her floor.

I let it go. Let it slide right off me like a cool shower on a hot summer day..because before I know it, she will be out of our house and off to college, just like her older sister. And I will be left wishing she were here, crap on the floor or not. I will miss her, just as I miss her sister. A messy floor is a small thing, really, when it comes right down to it, isn't it?

So, I'll celebrate her creativity...today, at least.

If only the flowers made the room smell better...ah, well.

Balanced Babe - Molly Wendland

 

 

 

 

Bullying - Celebrities Speak Out

Bullying is certainly in the news this week. Good Morning America ran a story this morning, interviewing one of my favorite actors from Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. He said that his situation got so bad in junior high that he had to change schools in 8th grade. They aired a quote from Tim Gunn (Project Runway), who said that he had such angst as a young gay male at 17, that he tried to commit suicide.

A public service announcement about the gravity of this issue will be aired sometime later this week or early next. I have seen comments where people have asked why there is the sudden outcry only now, when a string of homosexual young men have committed suicide. From what I understand, this particular demographic is particularly at risk over all other teens (even lesbian teens) due to pressures and bullying that seem to be worse for them than their other teen peers.

Every home, every public school, every college must be a safe place for our sons and daughters to be.

Balanced Babe - Molly Wendland

 

Tolerance -- We Can Make A Difference

Tolerence.

We can make a difference.

Ellen Degeneres said it quite eloquently last week:

http://bit.ly/ci783W

Talk to your kids, America. We have to stop the bullying. We can't let another one of our teenagers die because he or she feels:

• Alone
• Different
• Stupid
• Sub-Par
• Lost
• Alienated

Talk to your principals.Talk to your teachers. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your kids.

Let them know you're watching. Let them know you care. You're there.

And be sure your kids know that you'll love them no matter what. No matter what. No, they don't know unless you tell them. Yes. They do need to hear that.

We. Can't. Keep. Losing. Children.

It has to stop, America.

Balanced Babe (Molly Wendland)

 

Osborne Seven, Red Wine of Spain - Octavin Home Wine Bar

I am enjoying yet another in the Octavin Home Wine Bar series. This one is from Bodegas Osborne, one of the oldest wine producers of Spain, dating back to the 1700's. For this wine, the winemaker Jose Maria Nieto selected seven red wine varietals to create an everyday drinking red, perfect for pairing with pizza, hearty pastas, tapas, soups, and burgers.

This is the perfect wine for a large gathering. It's a step up from what you find in the party section at the liquor store (magnum size), where you might normally see Frontera, Delicato, Yellow Tail, and the like. Plus, it's in the environmentally friendly packaging of the Octavin and will last up to about 5 weeks right on your counter (if you can stretch it out that long!). (For more about the "features" of the Octavin Wine Bar series, refer to this previous post.)

I am taking the rest of mine to an event this week, so it's likely that I won't get to enjoy it much longer, but it really was pretty good while it lasted -- which wasn't long!

Vinter's Tasting Notes:

"The grapes are picked at the coolest part of the day just before dawn, and then harvested and fermented separately to allow each variety's individual character to develop.  We chose to minimize oak treatments to maximize fruit flavors, using micro-oxygenation instead to soften tannins.  We focused our efforts on finding just the right blend of varieties until we came across the perfect mix of berry fruit flavors, soft tannins and nice acidity to make an energetic, approachable and distinctively Spanish wine."

My Tasting Notes:

I mentioned above that this wine would be good with pizza. I enjoyed it with homemade pizza on a recent desperation dinner night. I used a pesto base, roma tomatoes, Italian cheese "blend", extra Parmesan, artichoke hearts, and fresh ribbons of basil. Yum-oh! This blend isn't too oakey, so the lighter pizza goes just great with it. There are hints of cherry, apricot and chocolate on the palate and a very light finish. This wine is nice for drinking on the patio with friends or while reading the paper in the evening -- or the afternoon...ahem.

Appellation:  Spain
Inaugural Release: 10,500 cases
Blend:  25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 18% Syrah, 8% Petit Verdot, 8% Tempranillo, 8% Grenache and 8% Graciano
Alcohol:  13.6%
Retail: $21.99 for 3L Octavin

Disclaimer: I received an Octavin free of charge from Underdog Wine Merchants for sampling. All opinions expressed are my own, and this post was neither reviewed nor approved by Underdog Wine Merchants prior to publishing.

Children's Healthcare - Coverage Not There Yet

I was overjoyed to see my good friend and co-leader in Girl Scouts, Mary Thompson, quoted in the NY Times article on Wednesday this week about pending mandatory healthcare coverage for kids with pre-existing conditions. In the article and on Facebook, Mary had still expressed some reservations regarding the dotting of the i's and the crossing of the t's on this whole thing. Well, it appears that her concerns were well founded.

Humana has told her that the new law pertaining to covering children with pre-existing conditions pertains only to children 10 and under. Since Mary's two children with pre-existing conditions are both over the age of 10, apparently, they still don't have to be covered until 2014. Well, gee, isn't that convenient for Humana - and all of the other big, fat insurance agencies? Where are these families supposed to turn for assistance?

Mary's husband owns his own business and therefore, the family is among the 14 million Americans who get their insurance on the individual market rather than via an employer. Two of the Thompson's three children have lived without insurance coverage pretty much their entire lives. No insurance. This is unfathomable to me. Working families, contributing members of the community, a mom who gives back more than just about anyone I know, in fact...and an insurance industry who can choose not to cover their children because they have significant medical needs (one with Attention Deficit Disorder and one who was born with spina bifida and later also diagnosed with very mild autism).

This is sick. I have to admit that on a daily basis, I sit back and tell myself that it makes me uncomfortable to "get involved" or "speak out". We live in an area of the country and even the metropolitan area where it is unpopular to believe in what President Obama is trying to do with the Healthcare Act. But no matter what you believe...whether you believe in what the President is doing or not, isn't it time to work together to insure the 72,000 uninsured children currently affected? And shouldn't we do what we can to help the 50.7 million people who are now uninsured in all? This number rose by 10% in 2009 alone.

What can we do to speak out, raise our voices and help people like the Thompsons get coverage now? These are children without healthcare coverage? Are you OK with that? And for those of you who say, "Hey, I pay my taxes, pull my weight, etc." and go with that argument, so do the Thompsons!

What say you, America?

Balanced Babe (Molly Wendland)