I'd Like My Epidural Now, Please

I hear they are lovely, and I want to find out.  No, I'm not in labor.  I blew my back out today and since about 12:30 PM Eastern Standard Time, I've been wishing I was in labor.

Oh, if only I were kidding.

I have had back issues in the past.  But this?  Seriously?  There are no words.  And honestly, even if there were - I would be physically unable to utter them when the spasming really gets going.

I went to the chiropractor and he thinks I tore something.  After several, "does this hurt?"s and "what about this?"s, he is convinced that it isn't a disc issue.  Praise God for that.

Speaking of praising God, and I truly am, how about this for divine appointments?  My husband has been going to the office every Tuesday and Thursday for approximately ever.  This week, he was needed on Monday, so he didn't go today.  Despite the fact that he has what appears to be the flu, he was downstairs when I put Chloe in her crib, the last combination lift/bend I will be doing for the foreseeable future.  When I, in slow motion, made my way to the floor, while howling at the moon, he came running.  Praise God.  Not that there was really anything that he could do to help me, but had he not been there?  Yeah.  I don't even want to think about that scenario.

And now, I will sit quietly and reflect on what God can teach me through this ordeal.  There's always a lesson, people.  You just gotta be watching for it.

Permission to Break The Rules...

I've struggled with grammar rules since I first started blogging.  I majored in Language Arts, but you wouldn't know it from talking to me.  I sometimes talk like an idiot in an effort to make people laugh.  I don't know if they laugh because they think I'm an idiot, or if they know me and therefore are well aware that I'm hilarious.

Either way, grammar makes me very nervous when it comes to blogging.  Look, just because I learned all the grammar rules and have multiple books about them in my basement right now, doesn't mean I know them.  Or use them.

I promise I'm really smart, though.

Then there's the whole double standard thing.  When I read a blog and someone makes a grammatical error and I think, hmmm... Knowing full well, that I'm the pot and they're the kettle and we are all indeed black.

Imagine my joy when I found this article entitled Three Grammar Rules You Can (and Should) Break.  Oh, thank you thank you thank you.  

So from here on out, I will not be bending over backwards in an effort to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.  And I will not feel unintelligent when I begin a sentence with the word and, either.  

I've often wondered if any of these archaic rules have been abandoned.   So, thank you Michelle Pierce.  A weight has been lifted. And a standard has been lowered.  

Crock Pot Minestrone

Is it just me or is the crock pot one of the best inventions of all time?  I heart my Rival Crock Pot. With Fall here, it's time to start getting lots of delicious soup back in the rotation, and I found a winner that will be on the menu  a lot this winter.  I am actually quite excited to report that most of the new recipes I've been trying lately have been delicious!  It sure makes cooking more fun when you can try new things and when they are as delicious as the old stand by recipes, even better!

So here it is.  Slow Cooked Two Bean Minestrone from The Slow Cooker Cookbook by Pillsbury.  I picked up a few of those little grocery store check out lane cookbooks at a garage sale and can I just say? Jack pot!

I'm calling it...

Crock Pot Minestrone

2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges

1 medium stalk celery, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove minced

2 - 14oz. cans broth 

1 19 oz. can cannellini bean, drained and rinsed (19 oz?  I used 15 oz.  I can't say I've seen 19 oz. cans...)

1 15 oz. can kidney beans drained and rinsed

1 14.5 oz Italian -seasoned stewed tomatoes, undrained and cut up

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed

3 oz. spaghetti, broken into thirds 3/4 cup  (I used ditalini, the little thimble pasta.   Small shells would work too.)

In 31/2 to 4 quart slow cooker, combine all ingredients except spinach and spaghetti.  Mix well.

Cover and cook on low setting for 7-9 hours.

About 20 minutes before serving, stir thawed spinach and spaghetti into soup.  Increase heat setting to high.  Cover and cook an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until spaghetti is tender.

This soup was fantastic.  We all loved it, including Chloe, who has been bit of a picky pants these days.

A few suggestions...  I made a double batch.  It was enough for a meal for 4.  well, 3.5.  I also froze one serving and had one extra bowl.  All that to say, I highly recommend at least doubling.I used extra broth, as I had a 32 oz. box rather than cans.  I used the whole thing.  I didn't have two cans of kidney beans, so I only used one.  I prefer cannellini beans anyway, so it was fine.  DON'T be tempted to add frozen spinach.  It will cool down the whole pot and mess everything up right at dinner time.  If you forget to thaw your spinach, just pop it in the microwave for 5 minutes right before adding it to the soup.  Also - you could use plain tomatoes, but I would not recommend it.  There is really no other seasoning, side from salt and pepper and the basil and such in the italian style tomatoes really flavors the soup.

So there you have it.  Crock pot Minestrone works for me!  Check out more helpful tips at We Are THAT Family.

And Then I Fell Off The Face Of The Earth. Again.

I really want to be a real blogger.  One who writes every day.  One who has lots of people that read and comment.  Heck, if someone wanted to pay me?  That would be awesome.

But as it is, I think my record, from just a couple of weeks ago, is 10 posts in a row.  Oh, well.  I will keep trying, if you will keep reading. 

Are you there?  

Hello?

Hello?

The good news is that I have been busy!  How about that?  I'm slowly returning to my old self. The one that used to leave the house.  

Every day.

Fall is my favorite time of year, and this fall is lining up to be one of the best!  Our MOPS group kicked off a couple of weeks ago, and I have joined the steering committee.  I'm so looking forward to collaborating with a great group of women, to serve another great group of women!

There are several things going on at our church and I'm really looking forward to plugging in.  We started attending the church when Chloe was 4 months old, and that was just the worst time to try to get connected.  So we didn't.  And we aren't.  But all of that is about to change.  I recently volunteered to work with The Baby Closet, which is a ministry that helps to provide families in need of baby and children's clothes and equipment.  I was blown away by the sheer volume of stuff that had been donated and was therefore going to be available to those in need. I definitely plan on being involved in this ministry long term.  What an amazing blessing.

Did I already mention that I joined a Community Bible Study group?  I'm really excited about it.  I've never really done a formal Bible study.  The ladies that I've been grouped with are phenomenal and I just know that we are all going to grow and learn so much!  

I was always a chronic over volunteerer.  When Chloe was born, I made a conscious effort to stay home, focus on her and learning to be a mommy.  I did that for a long time.  One day, I just woke up ready to get back in the game.  

It feels good.