Sat., Apr. 12 - Thu., Apr. 17

Saturday started with Jeremy making pancakes for everyone! It turned out to be a SUPER-busy, difficult, long day of errands, hard physical work, and company ... who helped out with the errands and hard work. It was rrrrrreally good to have that last weekend with Tommy & Shavon. We had homemade pizza for supper, and I have two tricks to make homemade pizza better than anything we've ever done in our house. 1.) Once the pizza dough is pressed out on the pan, bake it for 10 minutes BEFORE putting the toppings on. (I got tired of floppy pizza crust that was almost-soggy on top; the pre-baking 'proofs' the crust ) 2.) Before putting the pizza sauce on the crust, brush the crust with a little olive oil and minced garlic. (I saw them do this at Carrabba's when we were there a few weeks ago.)

Sunday held two unique things. First, it was the first week of the congregation's new times, the Spanish-speaking congregation meeting at 8am, and then sharing Bible classes together. I'm subbing for Elaine while she's on vacation, so I had the class of pre-readers, which was expected to number TEN students that Sunday!! That would have been tricky, but I was prepared. (oof) I ended up actually having only six, but even that was difficult for reasons I won't detail; use your imagination (It has nothing to do with language!). The other most-wonderful thing about Sunday is that it was the day Tommy decided to be baptized!! Wow, what an amazing send-off for Jeremy. Sunday night was heavy and emotional, with everyone getting in their good-byes to Jeremy.... Ya know ... the singing wasn't so great, etc., the sound of heartache.

Monday morning I woke up, not surprisingly, with a migraine. It was my first waking thought about two hours before my alarm was set to go off. uggh. There was too much to do that day, so I took migraine pills with my breakfast and then all-but flew through the day. We had an appointment at 1:00 to get our taxes done. I won't detail how painful that was, nor how long it took. I dealt with that appointment while Jeremy purchased our 'new' vehicle, a '96 Subaru Legacy station wagon!! It will suit our needs perfectly, we think!! We took two vehicles to Sierra Vista that evening to share supper with Cecil and Nicky, which was a good time. Oh, the preciousness of the puppies they've got out there....!!! 6-week-old Silky Terrier puppies and 2-week-old King Charles Spaniel puppies. We left our Rodeo there; Cecil will either let Ceana buy it for her first car (if she chooses to do so), or else sell it to someone else - a major favor. Leaving there at 10:30 (It was a completely delayed evening, due to our crazy day, and theirs too, actually.) meant we arrived back in Tucson at midnight, but had to stop in the parking lot across town where Jeremy had parked the red car when he bought the Subaru. Both children, of course, were sleeping soundly that entire last hour and a half!!!!

Tuesday was my day to wrap up all of Jeremy's laundry prepping for his departure on Wednesday morning. He greatly enjoyed his final Tucson Area Preacher's Bible Study and Lunch, which I don't mind saying that he played a significant part in resurrecting in those first couple months we were in town. Then in the afternoon the children helped him pack while I grocery shopped. I felt d-o-w-n all day, like I couldn't even hold my head at a proper angle, just feeling so sad about having to be separated from my love for these coming weeks.... :*(

Jeremy drove away early Wednesday morning. Today (Thursday) when he called, he told of driving through snow on icy roads before he even got out out of New Mexico. Uggh. Wednesday's big event was the harvesting of our beets. LOL!!!!! It wasn't the best crop ever harvested, what with them being in the ground for (let me count) seven months! LOL (This is due to the fact that I planted them in a spot that ended up being completely shaded all winter so they got almost no sun 'til about six weeks ago.) For the last 10+ years since I married and left home, there have been numerous occasions when I have CRAVED Borsch!! Beet soup!! So yesterday, after all this waiting, I finally got to make it. Yay!!! It was great, though this being the children's first go, they weren't hot on it. Jim & Lillian had agreed to bring their truck by early before Bible class so I could load into it the two tables and ladder we borrowed from the building for our garage sale. There was just enough for each of them to have a bowl of the soup, too, about which I was super-happy because of especially Jim's great effort he went to in order that I could grow the beets. :))) He liked the soup so much he told me to give the recipe to Lillian! Great!

Today was a day spent on the East Side. Lenscrafters sent me home a couple weeks ago with a scratched, brand-new lens; sadly, I didn't notice it until the next day. So the children and I drove across town today for the repair. I was able to accomplish a couple other small and unnecessary items of business over there while we waited, but ... sadly, Lenscrafters did the same thing again!! And, they didn't have another of the lenses, so they had to order it and now I have to back AGAIN next week. I don't have time for this garbage.... gr. Oh well; it'll force onto me a day next week of no packing, which might be good for everyone's mental health. When we got home from town there was enough light and a warm enough temperature for the three of us to enjoy another ride around the neighborhood. So far we have been praticing staying on the right side of the road and distancing ourselves properly so as to not be strung out too far, but also not be falling all over ourselves. Today we began practicing signaling our turns.

There is much information on the camera that I look forward to getting into a blog in a day or two. ;) Appreciatin' your patience.

One funny. I was driving; N & J were in the back seat. Justus asked me a question whose answer was very complicated. I was having great difficulty explaining it to him, and was using large gestures trying to help him understand. Not that he appreciated it: "Mom, shouldn't you have your hands on the 'driving tire'?"


And, as promised-and-requested:


Lemon Greek Chicken
[Modified from Pampered Chef's recipe]
Yield: 4 Servings

2 lemons, divided
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Zest one lemon into 4-qt. bowl to measure 1 1/2 T. zest. Juice lemon into bowl to measure 2 T. juice.

1/4 c. olive oil
4 lg. garlic cloves, minced
2-3 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. fresh ground pepper
Add to bowl and mix well.

4 split (bone-in) chicken breast halves (2/5 - 3 lbs.)*
Place chicken on center of large, flat baking pan (Jelly Roll size); brush chicken with a portion of the lemon juice mixture.

8 petite red potatoes, halved
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1" strips, then cut each strip in half cross-wise
1 medium red onion, cut into 1" wedges
8 oz. whole mushrooms
1 jar pitted Kalamata olives
Thinly slice remaining lemon. Place lemon slices, potato halves, pepper strips, onion wedges, mushrooms, and olives in the bowl of remaining lemon juice mixture; toss to coat.
Arrange vegetables around chicken on pan; Bake 1 hour* or until chicken is no longer pink in center, brushing chicken and vegetables with pan juices after 30 minutes.
*If using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, bake 50 minutes.