Managing the MotherLoad by Jennifer Applin

Does your spouse "Rock?"

A few months ago I was flipping through a Christian magazine and saw an ad for From Me Tees-Celebrate Your Spouse in Style. Once I checked out the website I decided to purchase one of the My Husband Rocks t-shirts. I figured I wear all kinds of t-shirts with a wide array of messages. In a day and age where we are bombarded with images of infidelity, bad marriages and spouses behaving badly, why not wear something that shows a positive image of marriage? The truth is I really do feel that my husband "rocks." He is such a great person and wonderful husband and father. He knows I feel this way and when I where the shirt others know it too :-)

Recipe: German Beef Supper

My mom started making this recipe when we were little and it has always been a family favorite. She got it out of a cookbook, but I don't know which one so I can't share the source. Here is a great recipe that's full of flavor and perfect for the cold weather we're having:

-At first glance you may think that this is a sort of beef stew recipe, but it's not. The final steps of the recipe thickens it up and it's served over noodles. So it is really more like a beef tips over noodles type of recipe

-I estimate that the prep time is about 30 minutes (especially when using a food processor for the apple, carrot and onion) and the actual cooking time is closer to 3 hours. It's a great recipe to start in the late afternoon while the kids are napping or at school and then it cooks for a few hours filling the house with a great aroma.

-This recipe freezes well so it's easy to double and then you have a meal ready to go in the freezer.

GERMAN BEEF SUPPER (4 servings)

1.5 lbs beef stew meat cut in 1-inch cubes

2 Tbsp shortening

1 large apple-peeled and finely chopped

1 medium carrot-peeled and finely chopped

1/2 onion-finely chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup dry red wine or cooking sherry

1 tsp salt

1 clove garlic-minced

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 small bay leaf

1/8 tsp dried thyme

4 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

1/4 tsp Kitchen Bouquet

4 cups medium egg noodles

1/4 tsp poppy seeds (optional)

-Heat the shortening in a large pot, brown the beef, and drain.

-Return the beef to the pot and add the apple, carrot, onion, 1/2 cup water, wine, salt, garlic, bouillon cubes, bay leaf, and thyme.

-Cover and simmer on low/med heat for 2 hours (stirring occasionally).

-Remove bay leaf.

-Combine cornstarch and the cold water; add to beef mixture.

-Increase heat, cook and stir until thickened.

-Stir in Kitchen Bouquet.

-Serve over cooked and drained noodles mixed with poppy seeds.

DVD Review: Disney Princess Enchanted Tales

photo from Amazon.com

I was recently sent the Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams DVD to review. I've been a big fan of Disney movies for many years and my kids are definitely following suit. I'll admit, though, that sometimes the spin-offs involving the same characters haven't been as good as the original movie. So I was a bit skeptical about this one.

Well it turns out to be a hit in my family :-) The DVD is really two separate tales in one. There is a story about Princess Aurora (my daughter's favorite) and a different one involving Princess Jasmine. With a total running time of 56 minutes the movie isn't long and has a "simple" feel to it. One of my favorite aspects is the slower pace of the storyline. I think this really helped my children focus on the good character-building messages (trust in yourself, the importance of hard work, and never giving up), which is what I liked best about the movie. My kids enjoyed seeing more of their favorite characters and the fun new songs. Their only complaint was that they wanted to watch more stories that involved the other Disney Princesses too. I explained that there may be more DVDs coming out with the other princesses later and they were satisfied with that answer.

So the Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams DVD has been added to our collection of favorites and I'm sure will be viewed many times in the years to come.

MotherTalk's new feature

I'm a big fan of MotherTalk and they have some fun new features for 2008! Those same great books that the bloggers review now have an interactive online book club to go along with it so readers and writers can really connect :-)

With MotherTalk you can:

-check out the many blogger reviews collected in a nice and neat central location. With a few simple clicks of your mouse you can read what others are saying about the book (and check out some new blogs in the process).

-read useful background information on the book, interviews with the author, etc. The staff at MotherTalk really helps you get the inside scoop.

-feel confident that reading the book will be a risk-free investment of your time and money because you'll be "armed" with all of this helpful info.

-complete your reading adventure by participating in the online book club. No need to coordinate a babysitter and work around the schedule of others. Simply poor yourself a cup of coffee and participate in the book club when it works for you.

Later this week I'll be contributing to the MotherTalk book club discussion on Kelly Corrigan's memoir The Middle Place and posting my own review of the book here on my blog :-) 

Happy Birthday to my big 5-year-old

Five years ago today I had a big shock when I delivered my son. This is because I was expecting a girl. Actually I wasn't just expecting a girl, I was TOLD I was having a girl. Not once, but twice...at TWO ultrasounds. And it wasn't like the tech said "Ummm, I *think* it's a girl." At the last ultrasound I asked, "Still a girl?" To which she gave a very conclusive, "Yes!" So what happened between the 24th week of pregnancy and 38th week when I delivered him? Did something spontaneously grow? Did he decide to let his true self come out of hiding? Who knows! What I do know is that it was one of the biggest shocks in my life, as well as one of the best surprises. Oh, and trust me...he is ALL boy! So Happy Birthday to my big 5-year-old! Thanks for helping me experience the world through the eyes of a little boy :-)

Good for her!

A lesson parents learn early on is the importance of following through with the threat of consequences. Don't tell your son "If you jump on that couch one more time then you won't go to the birthday party" and then still let him go even after he jumped again. This can be a little tricky, put it's important to make sure the potential punishment fits the crime and you're willing and able to follow through (i.e. don't threaten to leave your daughter at home because she's being pokey getting her coat on when you know there is no way you'd do that).

Well, kuddos to the "meanest mom on the planet!" She set two rules, her son broke one and now he's paying the consequences-big time. I'm sure her son is very upset, but my guess is that he's probably learned his lesson (and he's safer for it!).

What's worse...

...than watching your favorite college football team lose the national championship? Using your evening working hours to watch the game then staying up really late and getting up really early to make up for that time. ****sigh****  Oh well, 2nd in the nation for the second year in the row is still a great accomplishment. Hopefully next year they can be top dog!

According to my almost 5-year-old who is a HUGE Ohio State fan, this year didn't really count and the loss wasn't a big deal. When I informed him that OSU lost last night he said, "That's okay, mom, because I won't be playing for them for a few years yet until I'm older."  So it looks like they have a few years to get their act together so he can lead them to the championship :-)

Book Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns

I recently finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and I LOVED it! In all honesty I have a tendency to read more nonfiction these days. That's not to say that I don't like novels, it's just that what little time I do have to read I usually spend it reading books about how to keep your potty-training son from putting his head in the toilet (as a side note there is no book like this, but I could now write one!). So reading Hosseini's book reminded me of all of the great reasons I need to make time for novels.

First of all I realized after reading this book that I really prefer novels that deal with different cultures or history. If a book is set in a different time or different place I'm immediately drawn to it (which makes sense since I initially planned on majoring in International Studies). A Thousand Splendid Suns does not disappoint in this area. I was often in awe over the fact that this sort of oppression was/is going on during my lifetime. It gave me a lot to think about and helped me put the minor annoyances of my life in perspective.

I also loved the pace of the book. I'm a big fan of short chapters. I feel a greater sense of accomplshment when I can say I read 10 chapters. Plus with shorter chapters I'm able to read more during the day with kids around. Even with the many interruptions I make progress because it's easier to stop and start again with short chapters.

Additionally the way the book was written was wonderful. I was constantly engaged! On a number of occasions I'd read a bit at night, tell myself one more chapter, and the next thing I knew it was 2 AM (three hours later)! The feeling of not wanting to put a book down was well worth the next day's sleep deprivation :-)

I'm now a big fan of Khaled Hosseini and I've definitely added his popular book, The Kite Runner, to my list of books to read in the near future. So if you haven't read A Thousand Splendid Suns, check it out!

My one word for 2008

I've come across a number of blogs where the authors are posting about their one word for 2008. I thought it'd be fun to do the same. Although I was trying to come up with something really unique and creative to describe my goals for 2008, the same word kept popping up in my head. That word is GROW!

Some of my 2008 plans to grow include:

-my writing career. This will only be my second full year of freelance writing, but I've been blessed with many opportunities. This year I plan to really focus and make the most of these opportunities.

-religiously/spiritually. My husband and I have been trying to find our way in a religious sense for a few years. Although it has been a difficult journey we are thrilled with the results. We have joined a church that really promotes spiritual growth and we look forward to all of the positive changes that come with that.

-my health. Inevitably I will grow older each day. My plan is to make that growth as healthy as possible. I don't have specific goals for dieting or fitness, but I do want to adapt an all-around healthier lifestyle for growing older.

-my family life. A few years back my husband and I realized that we needed a whole-life makeover. This has been a gradual process, but we've now reached the point where we can reflect on how far we've come. A driving force behind that makeover was the desire to have a greater family life. Thanks to changes in careers, schedules and priorities we will now be able to enjoy more family time together. I look forward to the ways we will grow closer as a family.

-our family size. Although I will address this in a separate post down the road, I am happy to annouce that we are looking into starting the adoption process this year. If not by the end of 2008, then sometime soon after we anticipate that our family will grow in size.

So, these are some of the reasons that I kept coming back to the word "grow" as my one word to describe my plans for 2008. What's your word?

Check out my January "Writer Mama" column

Yippee, my January column for the Writer Mama Zine is up on the blog. The column is titled: "The Write Attitude: Find a Supportive Network". Although this advice is for aspiring writers it can be applied to other life changes. If you'd like to subscribe to the entire zine, just sign up here.