I actually had a list called my "When I'm 50 List".
I would add all the things that I didn't have time for to that growing mental list.
For some reason, in the throes of puke, poop diapers and teething babies, I thought that life would settle down when I reached that magic number.
It probably wasn't too many years and I realized that it was a pipe dream.
I looked at my retired parents and realized I was plumb outta luck.
There was not going to be a quiet time in my life for a very long time.
Shucks. The parents level of busy doesn't seem to have changed.
With that dawning realization, I quit making the list.
Instead of pushing off things that there wasn't time for, I tried to fit them in.
That probably meant some picking and choosing; but at least I made an attempt.
I have about 6 months of living to do before I dig out that "When I'm 50 List" and it ain't lookin' good.
First of all, understand that the responsiblity for my busy world lies solely with me.
I get that.
In this time of craziness, I also understand that some pieces of life will slow down all too soon and, although I have no room to complain about any of it, I still will regret those pieces of life leaving us.
Those kids who move away. Ach.
We just won't go there.
There are some things that I miss in this crazy world of mine, though.
Writing.
It seems that blogging has become more and more difficult. I've witnessed that happening with friends who have growing families and businesses taking their time. I sort of never imagined that at this stage of life when that "When I'm 50 List" should be prominently displayed on the refrigerator door, that I would be finding myself in a place where moments of time seem to be elusive.
Oh, there are moments. They're just full.
Would I trade moments of the sweetest giggles a Nana could ever hear for a quiet moment sitting on an electronic device?
Not in a heartbeat. Never.
Would I trade moments spent with my children for the keyboard? Never.
But I do miss writing.
More than that, I probably miss thinking.
The time to string enough thoughts together to form sentences.
This morning I was up at 5:00 a.m. Absolutely crazy. This evening I am home because I'm not feeling so hot. Maybe it was all that potting soil I breathed today. Maybe the air outside clogged my head to the point of intolerable gunked discomfort. I don't know. Either way, I'm sitting here this evening and find that I have a moment to share a bit of today.
I played in the most therapeutic dirt piles I've seen in a long while. I have no clue where I am going to plunk all these seeds I'm starting, but I started with filling containers. (Pinterest was most helpful last evening with some great ideas.) Hubby might have to build me some boxes in the next several weeks. I'm a bit late in starting seeds, but that time thing in the last several weeks hasn't exactly played along with me.
The tomato plants I purchased. Way too late for that business.
My plan was to make little seed starting things out of newspaper, but the 99cent Store had 24 little peat pots for $1. Not worth the time to roll newspaper that I don't even have. Together with a trip to Home Depot and a child's sand toy shovel ....
I started filling those little peat pots. Green beans and pees galore.
Seeds started in available containers. The other containers are waiting for the seeds that are soaking overnight. I'm combining vegies in containers. Spinach with carrots. Tomatoes with carrots. Top growing plant with root plant. Will see if it works or not.
On to the kitchen window sill. I don't like small mouth jars for anything in the kitchen, so I used up the last 4 of that variety that were hanging around. Herbs planted and sitting on the kitchen window sill.
Cucumber and zucchini seeds soaking and waiting to hit the dirt tomorrow morning. Proably at 5 a.m. The air temperature is really delightful at that time.
All while a ham bone soup was cooking in the crockpot. That would mean that several more bags left the freezer and made it into the pot. It was good ... don't know why it has taken this long to brew this easy dinner up. I'll add the basic recipe to the end of this post. I changed it up a bit. Used a different bean than kidney and whatever stewed tomatoes were in the pantry. For those of you with snow in your forecast .... this might be your meal ticket.
That's it for this Friday evening. I have a delightful post brewing in my head for next week.
Have a great weekend!
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Crock Pot Ham Bone Soup
1 ham bone with some meat
1 onion, diced
1 - 14.5 ounce can peeled and diced tomatoes, with juice
1 - 15.25 ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 potatoes, cubed (you decide if you want to peel them)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cubed (I omitted this)
4 c water
6 chicken bouillion cubes ( I probably used about 3)
Place the ham bone, onion, tomatoes, kidney beans, potatoes and green pepper into a 3 quart or larger slow cooker. Dissolve the bouillion cubes in water and pour into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on High until warm. Reduce heat to Low and continue to cook for 5 to 6 hours.
