Saturday smells (and looks) like... Monogrammed Pancakes

Okay, I'm sure you've had enough of the pancakes, but J made extra pancake batter last week, and since he's still doing the Atkins thing, I had several mornings of pancakes for breakfast this week.  What happens when I have time and materials available to me?  Creativity.  In this case, I discovered that I could (together with our favorite Williams-Sonoma Pancake Pen) make letter-shaped pancakes.  And cool spiral pancakes.  And then a combination of the two--monogrammed pancakes!! 

Not a backwards Sigma--This looked like an "M" to me (and the computer) right up until I uploaded it here...

Basically, you pipe out the shape of your letter, then go over the whole area of your pancake.  The first batter down has a chance to cook a bit more, seperately from the rest, so it stays a distinct part of the whole.  Over the course of the week, I worked with several different letters.  I'd like to try a traditional three-letter monogram, but the pancake pen just makes letters too big.  I may have to try using a cake decorating bag and smaller tip to try that!

Unfurnishing J

ETA:  Well, I somehow messed up scheduling this to post and you missed the message below.  To update you though, now that you've found it, J came through the surgery well, and is doing well.  Well, as well as one can do after having one's head cut open.  He's well drugged and making good use of his prescribed pain meds, but seems to have finally climbed his way out of the loopy-grogginess that came with the sedative they used for the actual extraction.

Hi friends!  Yes, it's Friday, and I know you expect to see a Furnishing Friday post this morning.  Instead, I'm hanging out in a waiting room while J has his wisdom teeth removed.  Yes, he still has them (well, depending on when you read this...had them).  I do, too, actually, and have no idea what to expect from the process.  Please send good thoughts our way today, as J deals with the pain of having four parts of his head carved open and as I deal with J.  Clearly, we both need prayers! :)

Oh, and Happy Royal Wedding Day!!

Thankful Thursday--April 28

Well, it has been another rainy week, and knock on wood, we've still managed to keep the basement mostly dry!  I'm so thankful that our little dehumidifier is trucking along, keeping up with all of the moisture seeping in and around our basement.  I'm thankful this week, too, that we found a house with a finished basement!  While we've had steady rain for a few weeks now, we've had quite regular severe thunderstorms and many tornado warnings since last Friday.  The basement has been a comfortable refuge for our family during these storms. 

This last week has been an interesting Stella & Dot week for me.  I believe I am starting to really find my way in this company, and I am thankful for the amazing supports put in place by our corporate leadership, as well as the other stylists who are so quick to share their experiences, their advice, their encouragement, and even their documents with each other.  I've often commented about how I found it interesting that I belonged the first greek sorority for women, found great involvement in the largest patriotic service organization for women, and (for several years) worked for the largest leadership development organization for girls.  Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald, Mary Desha, and Juliette Gordon Low are awesome role models for me.  I'm so thankful to have discovered the modern-day version of these forward thinking women in Jessica Herrin, and I'm so thankful to be a part of this organization.

What are you thankful for this week?

Perhaps the least appetizing Wordless Wednesday ever...

Seriously, don't look if you have a weak stomach...

I mean, it's nothing too terrible...

But it did give me the willies while I was taking the picture.

Okay, if you're still reading,

you obviously want to see the picture...

This is the biggest earthworm I've ever seen, hanging out with two friends (who weren't exactly little) in the landing at the base of our outside stairs in our basement.  The water gathers there from a couple of places and then runs into a pipe into the sump pump well in our laundry room.  Eek!

Easter Brunch

J used his talents to the best degree on Sunday, when he headed up the church Easter Brunch between the two Easter services.  I was so proud to stand back and watch as he coordinated items for the potluck, arranged the tables, cooked a ham, bacon, sausage, pancakes (both blueberry and chocolate chip), and who knows what else!  I so wish I had thought to take a picture of it to share with you!

Isn't it appropriate that a talent like J has for cooking should be shared (and in sharing be multiplied)? 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I know that many of our readers are in Kentucky, and that I'm not telling you anything you don't know, but for the rest of you--it rained all week. Again.  And this week is poised to be more of the same.  At just over three-fourths of the way through the month, we've had more than ten inches of rain.  Shockingly, since our bout of four inches in twenty-four hours a week and a half ago, we haven't had any more water in the basement, and the dehumidifier seems to be keeping pace.  Cross your fingers that it continues to hold up!

This week I plan to finish off the bathroom and put our guest room back together.  We are so very close to having the big things finished (grout base tile, seal it all one more time, fix and hang the door), and just a few small things to address (touch up paint and hang shelves), that I'm sure I can wrap it up.  Stay tuned!

I'd really like to get a start on the built-ins in the library (the last of the three rooms on my to do list for this spring), but J would prefer I not sand in the same room as his computer and I'd prefer not to stain in my flood-prone laundry room during this never-ending weather cycle.  We'll see how that ends up.

Have a great week, friends!

Thoughts on Easter

Several thoughts I wanted to share about this Easter Sunday...

...I get that rain washes everything clean and how that ties in really well with the Easter story, but we're now over ten inches for the month and well over the record for rainiest April on record here.  Can we be done now?  (Yes, I know that means we'll have a terrible dry spell this summer.  I think I'm okay with that.)

...I love the story of the Red Egg.  Are you familiar with the story?  In a nutshell, Mary Magdelene was sharing the story with the Emperor who didn't believe it.  He said something about how a man couldn't be resurrected any more than than an egg could turn red.  The egg she was holding turned red and he believed.  As someone who's had her own struggles with faith, I love this story!  For more stories about Red Eggs and Easter, Google "Red Egg" "Mary Magdelene".

...Our priest's sermon today was awesome.  The church was packed (as per usual on Easter), and instead of sending the infrequent visitors on a guilt trip for not attending more frequently, he reminded us that the resurrection released God in Jesus into the world to be everywhere at all times.  What a comforting reminder--not just to those of us who regularly attend, but to those who don't. 

...Mexican isn't exactly typically for Easter dinner, but it's delicious just the same.  So was the yummy hotdog on romaine lettuce "bun" with sauteed onion/mushroom/bacon relish J made for supper.

I hope you each enjoyed your Easter Sunday!