Genesis Moments - A Writer's Journey

Blog Hop '08: The party is on!

Check out Robin Pensieve's Mr. Linky for Bloggers who didn't attend BlogHer this year. It's free and tons of fun. Read my 100 things about me for more about me and When Sarah Laughed to learn about why my blog is called Genesis Moments.

Keeping it brief but I have to add the link to Paula Deen's Banana's Foster we made over July 4th - Out of this WORLD!

I love a party and at a real party you have two-way conversations (you hope) so please delurk and leave a comment or scroll back to my last post on saving money at the grocery store at leave me a suggestion!

MAX YOUR MENU: SAVING $ AT THE STORE

My original plan with Max Your Menu was to give recipes throughout the week that help us stretch out grocery dollars. And, this is a good thing BUT it ALL starts at the grocery store.

For example, last night, I went to the grocery store for fruit and eggs for today's church picnic. I put in my basket: cherries, grapes, honeydew, eggs, a 2-pk of toothbrushes on sale, a diet brownie and a pack of sugar-free peanut butter cookies. I picked up another pack of sugar-free chocolate chip cookies to find out if they really were $6.49 and promptly put them back when I found out they were.

The total came to a whooping $43, about half of what I spent for a week's groceries at the grocery outlet the previous week. I looked at the register and said, "Wait, those toothbrushes aren't the sale I saw on the shelf." and "Wait, those cherries are $$11.39. Please take those off." Did my friends really need the heaviest fruit per pound on the market? I could stop by the produce mart on the way to the picnic and get three times that food for that price. (UPDATE: went to produce mart and for $13 bought same amount of cherries plus more grapes plus big bunch of bananas plus 3 apples plus carton of black berries plus carton of raspberries! Way cool!)

By taking off items that shouldn't have been in my cart to begin with, the bill came down to $23 which was much more reasonable for a quick stop for a few items on the way home. I still have could saved more not eating the brownie or getting the cookies but a girl just needs a treat sometimes and I HAD just come from the mall where I resisted MUCH temptation to spend on all the great end of the season sales.

So, what are you doing to save money on your groceries? I would love to hear the suggestions.

Some of the lessons I have learned this month are:

1) If you are going to make your own bread to save $, learn how not to kill the yeast. (You kill the yeast when you add it to ingredients that are too hot or too cold. See Lindsey mixing dough. Great arm workout. This was actually from Lindsey's Spanish bread project in the Spring that got us started on this kick. The great shot of her kneading dough is stuck on my battery dead camera this AM.)

2) When you can, buy ingredients not prepackaged food items. You will save on planning ahead and buying larger quantities of meat, spices, etc. that can be used in different ways.

3) If you going to grow a garden, plan for items that are cheaper than the grocery store, otherwise it might not be worth the effort. (Anybody know where I can get a raspberry bush? I am on a quest.)

4) Know which stores are worth the extra time and gas to get there for your shopping.

5) And, of course, combine shopping trips to save on gas.

Bottom line, a little planning goes a long way. Shop with your eyes open at the grocery store and you won't walk out with 2-3 times the bill you planned to spend.

I have much to learn in this area and would love YOUR suggestions!

UPDATE #2: Robin from Pensieve twittered: Don't Go Hungry and Don't Take Your Kids.

The Award Giveth

Thank you, Val from Stinky John Jones for the Arte y Pico award! I don't know what the site is saying since it is in Spanish but I will trust my blogging friends and hope for the best.

I am giving this award to:
Home on the Range
Girlymama
Blessed with Five
Beauty Inside and Out

(I am working on the last one! Okay, I am stealing Val's idea. The first person to comment gets an award because I need a comment today to make the world a better place.)

The rules are:

You have to pick 5 blogs that you think deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given

her or him the award itself.

The award-winner and the one who has given the prize must show the link of the “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. http://arteypico.blogspot.com/

Let the creative juices flow!

What a crazy summer! It gets nuts without the set schedule of school.

Today, go check out where the creative juices have been flowing. I am blogging at Chic Critique about the ultimate pedicure (see our related family picture below - three little girls in a row.).

AND, my interview with Kenyatta Berry (slave genealogist) just posted to Story of My Life. It is written is a first person a narrative and begins:

"As I prepared for that day, my name, my heritage, my calling swirled around and through my head like the dust on a dry African road. Kenyatta. . . . Kenyatta Berry . . . .Jomo Kenyatta."

Kenyatta is a fascinating person with lots of dreams and goals. I enjoyed "meeting" her over the phone.

Do you have somewhere else you are pouring your creative juices that just doesn't make it to the blog? I would love to hear about it! I just tried to make bread this week. Killed the yeast twice before getting it right. I'll have to add that to some recipe post somewhere. Any bread tips? The kneading is great arm exercise. And I want to grow raspberries. Any thoughts?

AND, thanks  to From Dates to Diapers for the cool prize. Okay, my husband was laughing when he saw a toilet brush come in the mail but I think its great. (He wanted to know if it came with directions.) Thanks Christine.

NOW here are the girlies getting a polish:

Poetry: Prayer of a Frugal Entertainer

Prayer of a Frugal Entertainer

 

Lord, help me to be

Gracious, loving and kind,

And, still keep my entertaining budget

Down to a dime.

 

I’ve realized lots of people don’t need

Three kinds of crackers and five kinds of cheese.

The plate lies there barely touched

While all my guests are reaching for their keys.

 

Help me to be

Gracious, simple and true.

True friends enjoy whatever is served

Because they come to see you.

 

I don’t need to entertain

Every weekend of the year.

I am thankful for the time we have.

Losing touch is no longer a fear.

 

Lord, help me to be

Gracious, content and sublime

And when my napkins don’t match my plates

Please help me not to whine.

 

I stop to remind myself

Cute napkins can be bought on close-out sale

And a party can still be elegant

Without my wallet beginning to wail.

 

Lord, help me to be

Gracious, always selfless as yourself.

You knew how to entertain

With Party Planning 101 still on the shelf.

 

My grocery spending from now on

Will be wise and meek

Lest my family eat

Leftover Colby, Pepper Jack and Brie for the rest of the week.

 

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we will carry nothing out.” 1 Timothy 6:6-7

Inspired to write

What do you get when you combine a local columnist, a retired reporter, a well-established jazz blogger/copy editor and a novice mommy blogger? A writer's group and no loss for words!

I had the incredible pleasure to be the novice mommy blogger in this group of seemingly normal people with pasts that blew me away. I was in hog heaven. I was able to get valuable advice for the storyteller essays I have begun writing for a site called Story of My Life.com.

Here is a story I wrote about a childhood experience of a previous co-worker who was backstage at the 1964 World's Fair. Friday night I spent an hour interviewing a woman researching slave genealogy. I am hoping her story will be up by the end of the week.

 A couple of things our group discussed involved interviews and other writing elements such as:

1. Use a recorder and have a back up.

2. When on the phone, use the speaker phone with the recorder.

3. If you don't have these devices, shorthand still works.

4. Writing narrative after an interview is harder than Q & A but of course, very doable.

5. Use life's anecdotes to research and create whole new articles.

6. When submitting, make sure you have rewrite or first rights.
    * rewrite rights allow you use the same material in another way.
    * first rights mean the publication prints the material the first time and you are allowed to submit the material as a reprint to other sources.
    * all rights (NOT a good option) means you can never use the material again. The publication owns every part of the piece to reprint, reproduce, harvest, etc.

7. You are not wasting your time getting an English degree in college even if everyone around you keeps asking what you will do with it.

What this group taught me more than anything was that if you want to be inspired in your writing, go to where the experienced writers are and make friends, which is true of the blogging world and really any industry where you want to improve. SheSpeaks writer's/speakers conference was another wonderful place to be inspired but this group was free and local which fits my budget quite nicely!

PS. Did you know that my spell check has yet to accept the word "blogger"? Shouldn't that be in our dictionaries by now? I mean, hello smart dictionary people!

Flashback Time: sisters

Sunday, my little family loaded up in the big black Suburban and headed an hour to see my sister and her husband and her pool who says Hi!

I forgot my camera so I thought, "Hmmmm. What a great time to share how excited my sister and I are when we get together." Here we are in high school. Possibly doing a cheer for my grandmother?

Now, I won't vouch for the hairdo's or why we were jumping in the air  but I can share another flashback from highschool that shows my lovely androgynous feathered haircut. Oh, you know you had one too. Come on.

And, let's go back a little to the perm days (me, my sister, my brother and our dog Bonnie Brae Fluffy):
And now you know the lengths we go for our blog fodder.

The Handyguys Giveaway: Wood Glue and Toolbag

Check out The Handyguys for a wood glue and toolbag giveaway from EcoGlue Premium Wood Adhesive. See their page for details.

The Handyguys podcast is an downloadable audio program that shares tips and tricks for around the home. My husband, Brian and Paul, husband to Jo-Lynne of Musings of a Housewife came up with this idea earlier in the year. They are up to their 25th post and I KNOW would greatly appreciate an encouraging comment or two. The site details each post and summarizes each podcast, including links to the products mentioned.

Thanks for checking them out! Just so you know, I get no endorsement for this post. AHEM. . .Brian. Think I need a dinner for this.

Fight the Frump Friday: Bring Back the Brownie Pants

Vacation is a great time to observe people and when you are housebound, it is an even better time to observe family. I learned that my youngest daughter has several things in common with my mother. One, they both love nature items. Many days were spent gathering and arranging sticks, nuts, pinecones and anything else they could find from around the farm.

When that would get boring, my youngest would begin gathering like items inside the house like bunnies or American Indian treasures my mom has a passion for despite no familial connections. She keeps searching my dad's garden for arrowheads. Maybe after 20 years something will surface but I remain dubious. We did learn from a local Indian artifacts store owner that numerous items have been showing up in the new development digs. Mom kept looking so intently at the large dirt mounds on the way home that I thought for sure we would be out later with flashlights on some ancient treasure hunt. We learned that would be illegal so we are stuck poking through my dad's bean garden.

(Okay, I promise this will get back to fashion for Fight the Frump Friday eventually. Keep reading!)

See one of my mom's latest treasure: horse hair pottery.

Secondly, back on the grandchild-grandmother connection,  Laura cartwheels everywhere she goes, down the drive, around the pond, through the house -- if there is room. Looking at her room, she must cartwheel in her sleep too. Apparently, my mom had a similar case of cartwheelitist as a child. I haven't seen her do one in my lifetime, however.

Finally, after digging through all the boxes in Grandma's attic, we learned that Laura fits in my mother's old Brownie pants which are at least half a century old. What goes around comes around. Must be all that cartwheeling. And better yet, brown is the "in" color now.

Laura is stylin' in her new old brownie pants. What do you think? Think it will catch on? Somehow, I am not so sure but that has never stopped my independent little pixie or her grandmother.

For more Fight the Frump Friday, check out Mrs. Fussypants Guide to Life. And, thanks to the Family of Foxes for sharing THIS picture of a modern day Brownie! Look at all her patches. I am impressed.

Wordless Wednesday: Blackberries for Lindsey

Blueberries for Sal (my all time favorite children's book) became "Blackberries for Lindsey" over vacation near Grandpa's pond except that we didn't run into any bears - just fire ants and deer. There weren't too many berries to be had and not many made it back to the house for the blackberry jelly Lindsey wanted to make since we could tell there wouldn't be enough anyway. Sorry, sweetie. But they did taste good with fresh ice cream, didn't they?!

For more Wordless Wednesdays, see WW HQ and 5 Minutes for Mom.