JUNIOR HIGH'dome: Entering the transition

Yeah. So we are heading there now. Me and Farmer, Jr. Junior high. Today was the field trip for 5th grade to the Junior High so the students could get a tour of the campus and also a presentation by the Junior High students about what clubs are available and what 'Junior High' life is like.

Farmer, Jr. only half way interested. Me, getting anxious, excited, paranoid? Yes, all the above. A wee bit "WTH are we in for?" Yeah, that too. MY BABY!! MY BABIES!! (I know all these kids and they look so small and young to be on a Junior High campus... sweet peaches, I just want to cuddle them!)

The principal gave a great speech. Although, I didn't find it quite as inspiring as I would have thunk but rather a slight bit - um, intimidating... I thought that speech would be saved for the first day of school.

It is so different from when I was a kid. Farmer, Jr. and I are a team though and we break into each new year together with all of its challenges and cool stuff too. By the time Lil'Gal comes along I've got it down. Which is good. Because she doesn't like change and transition either. And, she has separation anxiety. (I'll let you know what year she kicks me to the curb). :-P

So, I am preparing as much as him to endeavor onto a new campus and get to know new staff come July.

I will say, Farmer, Jr. has a good little group of friends. At lunch we got a table together because, well, at Junior High you can sit wherever you want. ;-) A bonus for growing and maturing. You also get a whole lot more food choices and a way better snack bar. The boys commended the food; this is what they are most looking forward to. :-P FJ went and grabbed a couple friends and one or two might have grabbed him to sit at our table. Most of the boys are in Safety Patrol with him which means they were selected from 4th grade for exhibiting excellence in behavior and academics. (These are the type of boys I'll let over to my house with him).

At the 'assembly' the Junior Highers' shared about various clubs. Band, Choir, NHS, Cheerleading (obviously NOT his thing but Lil'Gal will probably jump all over that one - pun intended), Yearbook, Swim Team, etc. I would mentioned to FJ, 'Hey, you might like that?" Him, shrug. Me, "What about that???" Him, shrug. Me, "What about THIS one?" Him, "I don't want to do anything that makes me stay after school." Okay. Well, there'ya'go. LOL! I guess extra curricular will stay with hunting, fishing and 4-H. FINE with ME!

The campus. I need to sign in as a guest and introduce myself to Ms. S, the librarian there so I can meander around the campus to find my way around. With 13 5th grade classes and a quick tour I couldn't figure out which way was up and down. Do I really have to know? YES.

One of my bestest friends is a teacher, Ms. Les, and she asked me recently, "How long are you going to follow them around until you let them out on their own?" Or something like that. She meant it well.

Me, "Copter, copter, copter..." A) Farmer, Jr. needs me to on a certain level; dysgraphia is something that doesn't just apply to ELA. It affects him in every course. Notes, testing, etc. So I have to be aware of what is going on in the classroom to be sure he is getting the accommodations needed (and, of course, ONLY what is needed). B) Lil'Gal still wants me around. My being on campus provides her with confidence. C) I know the kids. ALL the kids and they know me. They like me. My kids will grow up with them. I will know who and what and when to help my children make good social choices should they ask my opinion. D) I have friends with children in the same age range who don't have the opportunity to be up there all the time. I'm their eyes and ears when I see things going one way or the other, I can hug their kids or high five them and help them when they seem to be falling astray. D) I LIKE it. One day my kids are going to thank me for all that I do and have done and for the fabulous opportunity that they had with my being 'around'. Helping in school. Knowing the staff. 

It all pays off in the end. Think of me as the mom Sandra Bullock played in "The Blindside". (If only I was as good looking as her). Yeah. She's all cool and put together. She's a super mom. Yeah, THAT's ME. 

So while somewhat intimidated by all the changing of classes and hoping FJ can keep all his stuff organized, I'm almost getting kinda-sorta-maybe ready to help my first born grow up a little more. Ya' know. In a few months. After summer. 

JUNIOR HIGH'dome: Entering the transition

Farmer*sWife's Easy Muffin Tin Apple Pies

So I made these today. For the CCD bake sale tomorrow for their project to help children in between foster placement. (Yes, I had to brag about the kids again.)

Anyhow, these are so easy. I just kinda' made them up. We had apples, I wanted to sell something different, we had brown sugar and biscuits... TADA!

The before pic after I've assembled them:

The pic when they are toasty and done:

Plated to cool and be wrapped for the bake sale tomorrow! YES, we tried one. My brother said I should exhibit a pic of one cut in half but we only had one left and it was eaten before a camera or phone could be clicked :-P

Here is what we did (so simple) and remember to make it your own:

3 apples, two pink ladies and one granny smith (the best pies are made from the most flavorful apples)

Half an orange (I added this because we had some that needed to be eaten, and the citrus is good for the apples)

1/2 a stick of melted butter

brown sugar (I didn't measure; 1/2 - 1 cup; I did mine in batches so that is why no measurement)

About 3 tablespoons of flour

All spice and cinnamon to your liking

Canned biscuits (not jumbo or flaky although I think flaky might work really well)

PROCESS:

Peel and dice the apples into mini cubes like about 1/4 inch or smaller. Mix up melted butter, brown sugar and spices. Add in apples and mix. Squeeze the orange juice over the apple mixture and mix well.

On a floured surface roll out canned biscuits, one at a time. Roll it out until about 3 inches in diameter.
Place rolled out biscuit in one of the (bakers sprayed or non stick sprayed) cups on a muffin pan. Lightly tuck the middle into the muffin cup. Fill the cup with apple pie filling.

Fold the edges of the biscuit in a flower style over the apple pie filling.

Repeat for the rest of the biscuits and pie filling.

Melt additional butter and brush on the tops of each muffin apple pie. Be generous but don't drown them. Then put in 400 degree oven for about ten minutes. Check them. Pull them out and check the bottoms as well as the tops. They will be unset and tender so be careful not to break through the bottoms.

You might want to brush with butter once more (I did) and put back in a watched oven for another couple of minutes. They will still need to cool to set up after done baking (when crust is tender brown on bottom and top).

Let sit about ten minutes and then place on a plate or other dish. SERVE. ICE CREAM WOULD BE NICE!!

It is so much easier than it sounds and they are fantastic!!

Happy Saturday and happy baking!!

Farmer*sWife's Easy Muffin Tin Apple Pies

Farmer*s Wife Fish Stir Fry! EASY PEASY!!

As posted on Facebook yesterday, I am posting the Fish Stir Fry recipe I made up yesterday evening to spice up the seafood and veggies in this house! It came out fantastic!!

You can find several online via google and pinterest but my family won't do teriyaki sauce or most other asian sauces. So, I improvised (although the kids hate the veggies anyhow so I broiled their portion of the fish).

FARMER*S WIFE (LAST MINUTE) FISH STIR FRY

So, we usually have fish on hand since Farmer, Jr. and Hubby fish a lot and I always keep frozen vegetable mixes and frozen stir fry mixes on hand because - well - I love steamed veggies.

My recipe.

Fresh fish/frozen fresh fish/fish you can find depending on what is available in your area.

We prefer trout, flounder or tilapia if we have to catch it or purchase fish. (I prefer steak-ier fish as well like salmon, tuna, and shark but my family does not).

I cut the fish into cubes a little under 1" squares. Then I used a minimal amount of olive oil (just enough to keep it from sticking to the pan) and I dusted the fish cubes with our homemade fish fry recipe.

Fish fry mix:

1 part flour
2 parts corn meal
Seasoning of your choice (we use Tony Chachere's)

Place fish in pan with oil warm/hot and powdered with your cornmeal mix. Stir until mostly cooked and a crispy texture. Then remove into another dish.

In the same pan, add frozen vegetables. Whatever stir fry veggies you like. Sometimes when I stir fry I even add fresh veggies that we get from my Fabo FIL's garden. Squash and the like. Use whatever YOU LIKE.

I use spray butter because it has minimal sodium and little to no calories. The fresh frozen stir fry mixes have their own water. So I stir them around and season according to my family's liking until pretty much cooked through.

Obviously, I like a lot of yellow squash and broccoli. Once this is done I add the fish back in. To finish cooking it (and warm it of course) and get it all yummy with the veggies.

And here it is! (Up above) Click for a larger view. It was SOOOO good. Hubby raved over it and I even had it again for brunch today.

Oh, and don't forget. Only if you want to. I did make some lightly seasoned rice to serve it over/with. The rice I did in my rice cooker my Daddy got me YEARS ago to which I am eternally great-ful for.

I used a pat or two of butter, two measures of rice, two measures of water and a chicken (knorr's) bouillon cube and some ground black pepper. But you can use any type of rice you like!

It was yum. And easy! *patting self on back*

Happy cooking!

Farmer*s Wife Fish Stir Fry! EASY PEASY!!

I was gonna' blog today; NO. REALLY. I was...

Judist preist, cheese and rice... Facebook really is a suck pie that gives instantaneous feedback at the click of a mouse and a few words typed in...

Verses blogging an entire story and waiting to see if anyone agrees or feels your joy or pain. FB has been the cr@p of my blog. Because I'm OCD and probably Adult ADHD and I have to have attention immediately. See me. Read me. Comment. Like my post. Get me! Get me now! OK... GET ME NOW!!

Y'all know. All of us FB junkies are the same.

So many have been lost along the side... their blogs growing dark, empty, and webbed. Only to be enjoyed by the occasional google hit from someone who finds just what they were looking for and yet aren't aware that that blog has been abandoned.

CURSE you Facebook! I will not fall along the side of the road. I will not let my blog rot in vermin cyberspace... lonely and unloved and unvisited. I WILL work harder for my blog to grow the stats it so loves. I WILL.

But it is a struggle and a journey. Kids, school, extra-curricular, marriage, family, working (outside the home), home maintenance, exercise for the body... Geeze. I'm Fab and 40, but I'm also Fab, 40, and... FLABBY. When they hell did that hit me so hard? (I don't need your comments. I already know what y'all are thinking. Keep the glass less full FW and maybe you won't have that ring around the waistline. LOL!) THAT. AIN'T HAPPENING.

So, I had this whole post typed out in my head but by the time I got here I lost my thoughts and am basically rambling through. Which might be more interesting anyhow.

Speaking of rambling. Well, not rambling. Maybe back to the random clicking and immediate satisfaction. I've found yet a NEW thing to obsess about. Y'all know me. I find something new an then I'm addicted to it for like, what seems like, EVAH. And, everything else goes by the wayside. Scrapbooking, photography, my floors (I still obsess about my floors...and toilets)... books, reading (the reading thing has really hung on! Three years, I think it is going to stick), reviews, pets, school, creative writing, volunteering, BAKING, subbing at school... I get on something and I go and go and go and go and ... well, like the energizer bunny.

But the addiction that I'm obsessing about at the moment is... wait for it... it's legendary...

PINTEREST.

YES!! That is where I have been! I CAN PIN from anywhere. During an insomniac night at 2:am, while waiting at a doctors visit, while searching for a recipe and then I get sucked in to all the other cool stuff, via an email of a pin from a friend who is showing me what they are working on NOW. It's an endless vortex. And, it eats me and my time and I'm a pinterest-crack-whore because I have to follow more pinners so I can find more things. I have to make new boards. I have to search new ideas and concepts. PIN ME. PIN ME. PIIIIN... ME. Pin me now!

*sigh*

And that, my friends and followers and newbies who pop in via a misdirection from google (or bing, I hate bing)... is where I HAVE BEEN. But, I'm going into therapy and rehab. Working on my ten virtual steps. And today is step one. I've admitted my sins and dysfunctions. I shall blog again. it shall be part of my therapy.

:-D I crack me up! With that, HAPPY EASTER!!! May the bunny find you happy, healthy and leave you in a state of euphemism... Because that is happy at its finest saturation...

[Oh lookie, a new recipe to pin!!]

I was gonna' blog today; NO. REALLY. I was...

A PACKAGE IN THE MAIL??? (and other news)

For ME?? Lil'ol ME?

I love mail. All my life I've loved mail. Even junk mail and catalogs. Sure I tend to throw half of it away these days because it just adds to clutter. But, I still love it in my mailbox. Mail, real mail, means someone out there knows and acknowledges my existence. And, that is cool.

But when a PACKAGE is in my mailbox... well, WHOO-HOO!! I get super excited! Even if it is a free sample I signed up for (because free surprises in your mail box are way better than surprised in your 'in' box).

So yesterday was a lazy-do-nuthin'-day. Which means I didn't check the mailbox *GASP*

After CCD and the Historical Society raffle I checked the mailbox when we arrived home. And, holey Cowbells if there wasn't a package in there!! FOR ME! SQUEEEE!!

A package? For me?

What's in it???

The new and improved and rewritten - PRECIPICE!

Melissa Luznicky Garrett rewrote her first novel and she sent me a fresh copy of the new and improved volume! So that was a super Whoo-Hoo! SWEET? Totally. :-D

On a side note, things are running smooth around here. Kids have been doing their darndest to keep up their grades. A to A/B Honor roll 4 out of six six weeks so far. Farmer, Jr. has been doing really well. He kicks A at math. Obviously, ELA (English/Lit) is a struggle for him due to the dysgraphia but he is still pulling in the grades with a few but little accommodations so far. This year compared to years past has been wonderful.

We look at school for him with a new light. And, we tackle things differently.

Lil'Gal is doing well as usual although she IS struggling with Math a little. Those Mad Minute (3 minute, 30 problems) are killing her. I'm worried she might lose her A/B Honor roll for the year due to one grade this past six weeks. I keep checking to see if her teacher has finalized her grades.

All in all things are grand around Farmer*s Wife's house. Kids are good, we are good, pets are good.

Life is good.

Happy Sunday!!!!

A PACKAGE IN THE MAIL??? (and other news)

The new: PRECIPICE!!

        <------------------- b="" right="" steamy="">

I know I've blogged about this book before. But the author, Melissa Luznicky Garrett, has revamped it! It was her first book and self-published but after writing several more books she felt she just had to revisit her first novel and publish it appropriately. (I loved the first version, and this new, revamped, steamier version is even more.)

So, back to the KISS! (see 'the new' cover again!)

Precipice isn't just about a kiss. It is about a woman named Julia Becker, who is discovering that some of the stable decisions she's made in her life are turning out not to be so right.

Infidelity is out of the question, even in a dead end marriage that never should have happened in the first place. Try telling that to Wes, the school's new music teacher who happens to find Julia irresistible.

In addition to her own personal struggles with a marriage to a man she now realizes she never really loved and the secrets he keeps, unbeknownst to her;  she finds herself struggling against the ultimate betrayal to not only her husband but her best friend.

Life is weighing down on her and she just might not have the will power to fight the attraction any longer. Wes doesn't make it any easier, finding anyway to spend time with her... be where she is. She's at a PRECIPICE... This precipice leaves her feeling unforgivingly guilty. She is not one for infidelity. Yet, she is still young and full of desire that has never been filled by her 'fit the box' husband; older, yet the smart, safe choice. Making things worse, he disrespects her profession as an elementary school librarian, belittles her, and buys her cats when she brings up the thought of having children. As if meows could squelch a woman's physical need on a higher level. 

As I read along I cursed Jim and rooted for Julia turn against her morals because, after all she deserves it. All the while feeling her guilt as my own for thinking that way about Wes. A hidden crush for the lovely Wes whom she thinks is a wonderful match for her best friend. (While fantasying about him because if she were a free woman, she knows she could better fulfill his needs.)

This story is one of those that leaves me feeling like I really know the characters, as if I could pick up the phone and call Wes and Julia over for dinner one evening. Stories told like this one leave me reminding myself that they are characters in a book, though I still wonder what they are doing now.

AND NOW YOU can have a chance to read it TOO! I promise you won't be let down! f you like contemporary romance, or romance of any kind, you will adore this story.

So don't miss out. Especially, ahem.... the snow storm scene. *fanning self* :-) Wonderful, steamy contemporary romance read. Smut free but not passionate snow melting free. You can find Precipice in print and kindle at Amazon.com PRECIPICE.

And for a short time the kindle version is - FREEEEEE!!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!

The new: PRECIPICE!!