Lessons Learned–Why I Will Never Have A Super Mom Cape

1. Cocktail sausages and strawberries can count as a late dinner.

2.  I am my mother’s daughter more and more with each passing day.

3.  I think my mother is a wonderful brilliant woman even if it took me almost 36 years to fully realize it. (Sorry Mom, couldn’t resist using this pic)

4.  You can freeze buttermilk.  My cooking world has opened wide!

5.  I really like to use buttermilk in recipes.

6.  I have been a writer all along.  I just needed to listen to the voices in my head (no not those voices).

7.  I get very grumpy when I don’t get to write or quilt.

8.  When I am grumpy I blame my husband for everything even though it is rarely his fault.

9.  My husband is a very forgiving man.

10. There are only so many hours of the day you can be the pack leader.

11. Being followed by an actual pack every second of the day is exhausting. (Yes, there are 5 dogs in the picture who all live inside with us all day.)

12. I think better when my floors are vacuumed.

13. A West Texas Girl who grew up with big sunsets and wide open spaces needs a GPS on a cloudy tree lined highway in North Carolina no matter how often she has driven the road.

14. My ideas are good.  My ability to implement them is bad.

15. Too many good ideas that whither in the shadow of life can make anyone feel like a failure.

16. The best things in my life were never my idea.

We Are That Family

Tackle It Tuesday–THE OVEN!

I have a short list of cleaning chores I HATE. 

The Oven

See I told you it was short.  (The moderately dislike list is longer)

To avoid the chore even longer I often vacuum, yes vacuum, out the burnt food crumbs on the bottom just to make myself feel better.  My smoke detector is disconnected in the kitchen because I set it off A LOT with the dirty oven.  Really, last 4 or 5 places I have lived the smoke detector was disconnected in the kitchen.  Not safe but saved my marriage.  It really really really really irritates the hubby.

I would like to say that I am not a terrible cook who constantly burns stuff.  I am just forgetful and maybe lazy.  I forget that certain dishes run over and don’t feel like making another pan dirty to put unde r it and just stick it in anyway.

So this morning, while still in my jammies and possessed with a desire to feel like something has been completed this week I dove into my dirty oven. 

I thought about before pictures but realized I would be embarrassed to show how bad I let it get.  So here are the aftermath and end result pictures.

I used this cleaner from the dollar store on the recommendation of my neighbor.  She used it 2 weeks ago and her oven is immaculate.  Mine did not turn out so perfectly.  I think is has something to do with my previously stated problem, unwillingness to clean at all.  I also think baking soda and a really good piece of steel wool would have worked just as well. 

I ordered new drip pans on Amazon because the current set are rusting out.  I also ordered a liner for the bottom of my oven.  I had no idea these existed.  The guilt I can avoid is worth every penny.

I am also saving up for a new stove/oven slide-in range that I will just take with us from post to post.  I have one at our house in Texas but it is currently being rented out (the house not the oven).  One of these days I will just trade out with the TX house and take my flat surface double oven slide in range with me.  I cried when I left it behind.

Now I am going to put some good lotion on my hands.  I also often forget to use rubber gloves .