Category: Small Success Thursday

Small Success Thursday: Crazy Week Edition

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At CatholicMom.com, we take a moment every Thursday to celebrate those accomplishments that make our week. My schedule has been packed this week, but there are a few things I’m proud to mention.

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I put away the Christmas tree over the weekend.

Seriously.

We have a HUGE artificial tree–probably a good 6 feet in diameter–and it takes up a lot of room. We do not have the box for the tree, as it was given to us by friends who couldn’t fit both a gigantic artificial tree and a Rottweiler in their living room. What we DO have is an enormous chest freezer in our backyard shed. It came with the house, but when we tried to plug the freezer in, we found that it doesn’t work. So the Christmas tree, which divides into three parts, lives in the freezer when it’s not in the living room.

We couldn’t get two of the pieces of the tree apart when we first took it down, and with the snow on the ground for months on end, no one wanted to help drag it into the shed. So it sat on our enclosed back porch–it was too cold to use the porch anyway. Finally this weekend we got the pieces apart and I stowed them in the freezer, where spiders and crickets cannot take up residents in its plastic branches.

And I have my porch back–just in time for the nice weather.

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I survived three days in a row of substitute-teaching for grades 5 through 8. Even though I’ve known most of these kids since they were in the primary grades, they need to test their limits every time, and they always seem surprised that I don’t put up with much.

On Monday it was raining so we couldn’t have recess at lunchtime. Back in the classroom, the kids all gathered around the computer and googled each others’ names, commenting on the pictures that came up. On Tuesday the playground was still wet so they had to stay inside. They asked to use the computer.

“So you can google each others’ names and then laugh about what you see? No. I think you did enough of that yesterday.”

They just looked at me with wide eyes–they didn’t even try to argue back. Then they found a deck of cards and started a game.

WIN.

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9 percent crazySpeaking of kids and using the internet for ridiculous things and online safety in general, I have a Tech Talk up at CatholicMom.com today about that very subject.

And along the same lines, read this article and go change your passwords. That’s at the top of my to-do list for today.

Do you have a Small Success (or three) to share? Visit the link-up at CatholicMom,com!

Small Success Thursday: Let’s Eat!

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Small-Success-Thursday-400pxStop by CatholicMom.com where we take a few moments every Thursday to share our small successes from the past week.

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tortilla soupI created a new soup recipe in an effort to use up some tomato soup that was left over from Soup & Sandwich Night last week. Waste not, want not!

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It’s a beautiful morning and the laundry is hanging on the clothesline. Want a good way to keep your blood pressure down? Put up a clothesline!

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zapps honey mustard chipsTech Week Dinners are over! It was a true pleasure to work with the parents of the cast and crew and feed the kids, but I am enjoying the chance to once again cook dinner for my own family. Tonight, I’ll be working on a new original recipe for Honey-Mustard Potato Chip Chicken.

2 out of 3 of my Small Successes for the week have to do with food. I really shouldn’t blog when I’m hungry! Pass the chips.

Small Success: Midweek Crazy Edition

franciscanmom3 Comments

I’m glad to be linking up again at CatholicMom.com for one of my favorite features:  Small Success Thursday!

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It’s been a kind of crazy week. From 3:15 to 7 PM each day I’m at the high school serving dinner to 100 kids. (My poor husband is fending for himself this week.) Little Brother comes along, because he takes the school’s slogan to heart:

you belong here

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I am doing what I love this week. The spreadsheet just might kill me, but I’m sorting out drinks and paper plates and condiments and forks and what-goes-where and how-much-we-need and finding creative ways to use leftover food (taco beef from Tuesday is in the freezer, waiting to be part of Monday’s chili) and brainstorming with moms about chili alternatives because not everyone eats chili.

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I am managing to be super-flexible this week, which for me is huge. When a few other moms approached me about chili alternatives I didn’t blow a gasket. I was only a tiny bit insulted (mostly embarrassed because I hadn’t thought of that, and my job this week is to be the Mom Who Thinks Of Everything.) Of course, I can only be flexible in this situation because I have been so busy Thinking Of Everything…so we’re going to have Chili/Dog Night on Monday. Hot dogs, 4 kinds of homemade chili, leftover mac & cheese (we had 4 pans too many last night), chips, salad and quesadillas.

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I just gained 30 minutes a day. Little Brother had an appointment at CHOP yesterday with his endocrinologist nurse practitioner. She amended his glucose-testing schedule because of the timing of snacks and meals during the school day–so he won’t be testing at lunchtime. This means I can show up at 10 for the test-and-snack-and-argue with the nurse routine (Little Brother, not me) and then be done until 3 when it’s time to pick him up after school. Little Brother will have to see the nurse to get insulin to cover the carbs in his lunch, but I don’t need to be there for that. Overall, they are pleased with his progress–his A1C was 6, which translates into a blood-glucose of 120 on average for the past 3 months.

I had been going to school (at my child’s request) at 10, again at noon, then at 3 to pick him up. That’s a lot of time, a lot of gas, a lot of knowing I had to drop what I was doing soon and get back to school. So I am hugely relieved. I will be there for the 10-AM test because there will be a judgement call involved and he’ll argue for something that is not always the best alternative. I’m kind of the mediator between him and the nurse!

I know how I’ll spend my extra 30 minutes today–exploring the rest of the Small Success posts! Do you have a Small Success to share? Stop over and link up or leave a comment at CatholicMom.com!

Small Success Thursday: DST Jetlag Edition

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Small-Success-Thursday-400pxIt’s Thursday, so that means it’s time to stop over at CatholicMom.com for a celebration of our Small Successes!

(By the way, have you noticed the spiffy new site design over there? Nice.)

I have a couple of posts scheduled at CatholicMom.com today:  a review of a very good novel for middle-schoolers and my own reflection on social media prayer warriors. I’ll link to them after they go live. I love reading middle-school and YA books that have both a great story and a great message. You can win a copy of the book I reviewed–and the other book in the series by entering the contest here.

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My cholesterol is down! It’s not as far down as my doctor would like it to be, but I’m making progress. And tendinitis has been acting up in my foot again (and in the other foot) so the podiatrist is ordering me some orthotics. I was all set to go in there and fight for orthotics or physical therapy or something more than just another shot, but he walked into the room and informed me that I wasn’t just getting a shot this time. No fight necessary–we were on the same page. (Now hurry up with those orthotics, doc!)

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american saintI got a couple of long-overdue reviews written:

American Saint, in which I managed to overcome my temptation to be snarky about the author’s obvious political agenda. Diplomatic success!

peppermint bark talenti gelatoand (now for the fun part) Talenti gelato!

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As usual, Daylight Savings Time jetlag is kicking my butt. Sleep patterns are off, and I decided that while I need to be off my feet a bit, I’d get some of those annoying little jobs done. I had 2 small baskets and one grocery bag of things in the living room that belonged somewhere else. Today I put them all where they belong. Next on my list of places to attack:  the coffee table! Then, at least, the living room will be nice and neat. Every little bit helps.

I wish I still had some of that gelato. Guess what’s going on my shopping list?

Stop by CatholicMom.com and read about the other Small Successes! Share your own by linking your blog or adding them in the comments box.

Small Success Thursday: Lent Begins

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I have the feeling that this Lent is going to be all about letting go of–giving up–the control I want to have over the hours in my day.

Resistance is futile, but acceptance is going to be hard-won, as evidenced by the mini-breakdown I experienced in the school parking lot earlier today.

1. As Sherry Antonetti and Lisa Hess both mentioned, there’s a “40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge” going on. I’m piggybacking my plan to declutter my home into this challenge. It’s a good thing.

2. I sat down and mended my husband’s pants, which is a job I really hate to do, but I got that pair done that has been sitting on top of the dryer for 2 weeks. animalLucky me–there’s another pair ready to mend now that I fixed those.

3.  It’s Little Brother’s birthday, and I worked it out so that his favorite Muppet could wish him a happy birthday in the local newspaper. Check it out!
Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Join in the Small Success gathering at CatholicMom.com and give everyone (including yourself) a virtual pat on the back! Don’t have a blog? Use the comments box!

Small Success Thursday: Sick-Day Edition with a Side of Armpit Farts

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wawa logoWhen the phone rang at 6 AM, I knew I wasn’t going to be an early-bird with this week’s Small Success. It was one of the second-grade teachers, asking if I could sub today. Sure! No problem! I even bribed Little Brother to wake up a few minutes early by offering to buy him a hoagie, since I had nothing in the house that I could take to school for my lunch (I was planning on a quesadilla, but I can’t fry one of those in the faculty room.) Hoagies in hand, we made it to school on time.

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The second-graders and I were having a pretty good morning. We even weathered the lockdown drill where we had to go to another classroom because I had no keys to the one I was in. I’d gotten the two boys with “issues” settled down; one of them was finally following along with the reading, and the other one was calming down. That no-nonsense approach following an unfortunate armpit-fart episode did the trick. Clearly the child had no idea that, being the mom of two boys who have been second-graders in the past, I am no stranger to dealing with armpit farts.

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At 9:55 the phone rang, as I’d expected it would, because that’s when Little Brother goes to the nurse to test his blood sugar. But the nurse was letting me know that his sugar AND his temperature were high. I had to take him home. The school was more than gracious about finding a substitute for the substitute, and we were out the door in under half an hour after the changing of the guard in second grade. I pulled a tub of chicken-noodle-soup starter from the freezer (homemade broth, carrots and celery. Just defrost and add pastina) and got some ice water ready for Little Brother. 3 cheers for being prepared with that!

I’m suspecting it’s strep, since Middle Sister had it last week, but we have to wait a little while before we can find out for sure. The sore throat hasn’t manifested itself yet, but he’s got a headache and stomachache. In the meantime, I’m sending Middle Sister to the store after school for sugar-free Jell-O and popsicles.

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I am keeping my cool (mostly) while dealing with a grumpy kid. I’m kind of glad he’s grumpy, because I’ve seen him sick enough to stop being grumpy, and I really don’t want to have to go there again.

Here’s to good health all around by next week’s Small Success! Visit CatholicMom.com to share your successes, large and small, and see what the rest of the Small Success crew has been up to this week.

Small Success Thursday: Snow Day Edition

franciscanmom8 Comments

Small-Success-Thursday-400pxYes, it’s another Snow Day here in southern NJ, where the winter weather has been overachieving in a big way. It’s been snowing since before midnight and is expected to continue until after midnight tonight. I don’t know how much we have because there’s plenty of old snow underneath the new snow, so who can measure?

I’ve got a nice big list of things to do around the homefront today, so I don’t mind being housebound. I’ve already checked off “eat bacon” from my list, so it’s time to join up with the Small Success crew at CatholicMom.com and look back on how the week has gone.

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Proving that I can, indeed, roll with the punches in an actual emergency, the second grade and I survived Monday, when I became the Substitute for the Substitute on 5 minutes’ notice. I was in for the librarian, but was called to abandon ship there and head to second grade when the substitute teacher already in that class was suddenly hit by a stomach virus. It turned out to be a pretty good day.

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I did the traditional pre-snowstorm run to the supermarket for French Toast ingredients. Wanting to avoid the crowds, I went on Tuesday night (since I spent Tuesday in the school library as the substitute librarian.) I made it a menu-planning Snow Day Win by picking up a whole chicken and some fresh parsley. The chicken was roasted yesterday for our dinner, and I saved the carcass to use for chicken broth today–that’s where the parsley comes in. It’ll be on the stove soon, and it can simmer all day long.

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I turned a Juggling Fail into a Small Success. ShopRite had containers of 30 eggs on sale. We go through a lot of eggs here (Little Brother eats 2 or 3 eggs a day) so I was all about buying the bulk package. It’s a new package, though–flimsy plastic, like this:

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and when I went to get it out of the car the container flipped out of my hands and landed upside-down in the driveway.

Splat.

I was amazed that almost all of the mess was contained in the package, so I ran it inside, set it on the kitchen counter, and went about seeing if anything could be salvaged. Little Brother removed 17 unbroken eggs and put them into another carton. I got an ice-cube tray for the rest. Yes, you can freeze eggs in an ice-cube tray. Now, I only did this because I knew when those eggs got cracked. But only 3 eggs were so far gone that I couldn’t save them.

Just pulled the raisin bread out of the oven. It’s a new recipe, and either the yeast was really overachieving today or there’s a mistake someplace in that recipe, because there was a serious overflow. Some of the raisins were trying to escape. I hope I can get it out of the pan, but if I can’t, I’m just going to cut it right out because it smells amazing, despite its odd appearance.

raisin batter bread overflow

Visit Small Success Thursday at CatholicMom.com and link to your blog or leave your successes in the comments box!

Small Success Thursday: Winter Wonderland Edition

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This week, so far, we had 5 inches of heavy, wet snow and then an ice-to-rain “event.” Thanks, Punxsutawney Phil. Thanks a whole lot.

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erins vegetarian chiliWhile it was snowing and I had nothing better to do but stay inside and cook, I made a big batch of spaghetti sauce with meatballs and, later, a slow cooker full of Erin’s Vegetarian Chili (I added a can of pink beans and a generous amount of corn). Middle Sister baked some Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate-Chip Cookies.

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I was the Substitute Librarian/Tech Teacher on Tuesday morning. Not only did I get paid for doing something I love, but I had all kinds of fun

  • reading Snowmen at Work with the first grade. Twice. Because their teacher changes the words to “1A Snowmen” when she reads a Snowman book with them, and they needed me to do the same.
  • reading Pink Snow with the second grade. We don’t usually choose nonfiction books as read-alouds in the library, but I was looking for something not too babyish for this class, and I wanted to stick with the snow theme. The kids were spellbound and asked good questions. One teacher, whose daughter is in that class, told me Wednesday how much her daughter really loved that book.
  • attempting to convince an eighth-grade girl who was working on a “Contemporary Americans” report that you can’t use rumors as sources for a research project, even when those rumors are published in celebrity-gossip rags. Especially when those rumors are published in celebrity-gossip rags.

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I finally got the Christmas decorations boxed up and moved out of the living room. They’re not completely away yet, but I need the snow to melt so I can get the boxes out to the shed. My deadline for getting that done is the next time Big Brother comes home to spend the night, because right now those boxes are in his room.

Give yourself a little pat on the back for things you’ve accomplished this week! Join us over at Small Success Thursday at CatholicMom.com–leave a comment or link your blog.

And while you’re over there at CatholicMom.com, don’t forget to link to your favorite meatless recipes at our Meatless Friday Link Party! We’re getting our souls–and our kitchens–ready for Lent!

Small Success Thursday: Catholic Schools Week Edition

franciscanmom7 Comments

I’m joining up with the CatholicMom.com community for Small Success Thursday!

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It’s Catholic Schools Week, and I got a nice surprise on Monday from Little Brother’s class. Each homeroom wrote thank-you notes to someone in the community who helps the school. I am a library volunteer, and it warmed my heart to receive notes from the 6th-graders, many of whom let their personalities shine through in the notes and drawings on the cards.

scb thank you notes

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An organizing project started small and snowballed into a wholescale rearrangement of my kitchen. It’s a small kitchen (about 11 x 11) and my cooking paraphernalia has pretty much outgrown the space. Once we added in Little Brother’s diabetes supplies, it got out of hand fast.

First I boxed up the 3 months’ worth of equipment we’ve got here:

diabetes supplies 3 months

That box is labeled “70 gallons,” for what it’s worth. And the 7 boxes of insulin pens are in the fridge, taking up about as much space as 3 cartons of eggs.

I’m not complaining. I’m grateful for the equipment that helps us keep Little Brother healthy, and for the prescription plan that pays for almost all of it.

ANYWAY, once I got all that stuff out of the way, I moved the table, the cart with the coffeemaker, and the trash can. I think the new arrangement will alleviate some of the traffic jams that happen when 3 or 4 people are in the kitchen all at once trying to get something to eat.

I put my vintage tablecloth on the table, along with the cool teacup Middle Sister gave me for Christmas, and I moved 3 grocery bags’ worth of stuff that didn’t belong in the kitchen back to wherever that stuff needed to go. My kitchen feels like a peaceful, happy place again.

kitchen table

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After a tough Tuesday, I took the morning off yesterday to figuratively put my oxygen mask back on. I met my friend Ellen for breakfast at the Jersey Diner (what my kids call the Shiny Diner). Boy, did it feel good to just spend a couple of hours hanging out, chatting, and enjoying some delicious bacon. That was a much-needed break.

Jersey diner
See? SHINY!

Give a lift to your ordinary Thursday by celebrating this week’s successes! Join the link party at CatholicMom.com or share yours in the comments.

Small Success Thursday with a Latte on Top

franciscanmom5 Comments

What’s the best thing about Thursday? It’s Small Success Day at CatholicMom.com! Feel like you haven’t accomplished anything this week? You probably have–and those small things do add up. There’s only one rule:  no beating up on yourself over what you didn’t get done.

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I signed up for the FREE Catholic Writers’ Guild Online Conference, to be held in March at a computer near you. It was wonderful, this summer, to meet so many authors at the in-person conference, and I look forward to the learning and encouragement that I know will happen. I’m hoping this will give me the kick-start I need to get busy, once again, on that book idea.

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I braved the snowy roads yesterday and showed up on time for my dentist appointment. The dentist, however, did not. Doesn’t he know what kind of mental preparation it takes for me to steel myself up to go sit in a chair and have someone come at my mouth with pointy metal objects (some of which make horrible noises)? Yes, I consider it a success that I got there at all.

I also firmly believe that since I showed up and the dentist didn’t, I am hereby exempt from all future dental work. It’s only right.

Here’s the obligatory shot of the yardstick I used to measure the snow yesterday:

snow measurement 01222014

10 inches even. That’s after it “settled,” according to TheDad (AKA TheMeteorologist.) We probably had over 13.

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I’ve invented another homemade latte. This time it’s a copycat of Starbucks’ Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Use a 12-ounce mug to make this drink:

Heat 1/4 cup (2 ounces) of milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Froth with a mini-frother at least 1 minute. Pour 6 ounces of coffee into the frothed milk. Add sugar to taste, sprinkle 1/8 tsp of cinnamon on top, and stir.

 

Join the party over at CatholicMom.com and share your own small successes. No blog? No problem–add yours in the comments box.