All Manner of Pressing Issues

This weekend Richard and I went to visit his parents for the Bean Festival. You read correctly… Bean Festival. I deeply regret that I have no pictures to share with you.

There were people everywhere. The interesting thing about this festival though was that many of the people were sitting around in groups in lawn chairs. All over downtown there were groups sitting in lawn chairs around several musicians playing folk music. A huge area was blocked off where beans were being cooked and served. As we were walking around, I noticed that more cauldrons were being unloaded to cook more beans. We didn’t get any beans, but we did have a de-lish hot dog and some creamy ice cream. We shopped around downtown in the stores and even browsed some at what the vendors had brought for the festival. I bought a jar of honey (complete with the honeycomb) that I can’t wait to share with my students!

Lawn chairs covered the lawn of the courthouse. They had a ‘talent’ show going on. When we first approached, we heard someone singing Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”. He wasn’t part of the ‘talent’ show, he was just kicking it off. Anyway, as we got closer we could see the people on the court house lawn. Please do not be offended by what I am about to say, because I am deeply patriotic. I have a sincere appreciation for America and those that protect and serve our country so that we can live in freedom. HOWEVER, what we happened upon caused me to stifle my laughter in an attempt to not offend. While the man was on stage belting out Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” on the courthouse steps, people were standing and putting there hands in the air, baseball caps had been removed, and I believe I even saw some with their hands over the hearts. At first I had to make sure he was singing what I thought he was singing and not some moving religious song. No, my ears were not failing me, the man was indeed singing Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” and people everywhere were standing in reverence, lifting their arms, removing hats, and placing their hands over their hearts.

On one hand, the scene was HYSTERICAL (I can only imagine what would have happened had the man been singing “Freebird” or “Sweet Home Alabama”), but on the other hand— bless those people for being thankful for their country—I bet none of those women were among the group I saw at Race for the Cure who wouldn’t stop chatting long enough to show respect during our national anthem.

Well, Tuesday night I went to my cousin’s house for a thrilling game of Bunco (and some scrumptious taco soup). I don’t know what it is about rolling die on a table, but it’s so exciting for some crazy reason! I felt like I had some sort of drug pumping through my veins I was so into that game! The rounds that were the most fun to me were the rounds when my cousin, aunt, and me were at the same table. At first, I thought I might win the prize for the most wins, but that was quickly a fleeting thought. I won a door prize if that tells you anything. I left that night exhausted and wired all at the same time! It was a great time!

Tonight we had Fall Fest at school. Participating teachers set up a game (carnival style) in their classrooms. Students purchased tickets in advance and redeemed tickets to play the game. Richard came to school after work and set up a nifty putt-putt game in my classroom. His rendition of it was much more fancy than what I would have done! The kiddos loved the game! I had tons of repeat customers. Their favorite prize from my prize basket was glow in the dark teeth (fangs)! I had about 145 kids come in to play. Needless to say, we were very busy!!! We all had a blast. It was funny watching the kids try to hold the putters. Some of the little ones (pre-school/kindergarten age) would just keep hitting the ball until it went in and some of them would use their hands to put it in the hole. Everyone got a prize for trying!

Well, laundry is calling and I really don’t have any more news. I hope y’all have a restful weekend. Oh — and by the way— the temperatures here have been FABULOUS (the high today was 50). Richard even built a fire for me last night. It was divine. We played skip-bo and enjoyed the fire!

Laundry, here I come!

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

A few weeks ago I was looking for a book to read to hold me over until a book I had pre-ordered in July was released. Richard handed Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl to me from his bookshelf. I read and read. I finished it a few nights ago. While I was reading it, Mom suggested I read a book that was written by Miep, the woman who helped to hide the Frank family. So, when I finished it, I went to the public library to check out that book (and also some Kevin Henkes books for my students). I started reading the book Sat. night and as of right now I have 2 short chapters left. I have literally not been able to put the book down.

The title is Anne Frank Remembered.The author’s name is Miep Gies. You’ll find it in the non-fiction section of your public library. I am considering buying my own copy though because of how this book has impacted me.

I certainly suggest reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl first. Do not skip the afterward. Then, read Anne Frank Remembered. Reading Anne’s diary will give you information and a perspective that will help you more deeply appreciate Miep Gies’s book and perspective. I also suggest reading the two books back to back so the details of Anne’s diary are fresh on your mind.

Anne’s diary and Miep’s story will give you an increased appreciation of freedom.

To say that we are fortunate in America is such an understatement. We do not feel the difficult times of war as those in other parts of the world have (and even do now). We do not have to sit in a hiding place, motionless, in terror of being captured and taken to a concentration camp. We don’t listen to air raids above our heads. We don’t have to put black paper over our windows. We, for the reason of war, do not fear going into the streets, going shopping, or confiding in friends. We, for the most part, have more food than we need, have clothing that fits properly and is well-mended. We do not fear our friends or family members being arrested for protecting others, not agreeing with the current political situation, or just for being of a certain descent.

As I have read through Miep Gies’s book, I have been touched by her bravery, courage, selflessness, and smarts. I hope that if, God forbid, I ever find myself in such a situation that I would stand up for what was right and be willing to put my well-being on the line in an effort to help others the way that she did. It seems as though she never thought twice about helping the Jews–she knew it was the right thing to do and she acted on it. Miep never went back on her commitment to the 8 she was hiding or the others (read the book) or complained of the danger or inconvenience.

It seems as though I shouldn’t think that I need to wait to act in the way Miep did until desperate times arise. May we all put others before ourselves daily and not think ourselves something special for doing it— but to put others first just because it’s what we’re to do.

Go forth and READ! You’ll be a better person for it.

Please comment on your opinions of these books and/or how they have influenced you.

My friend, Brooke and I went to Race for the Cure this morning. Not a whole lot of racing went on, but we had a great time. We even had a photo op with Governor Beebe (seriouslyl), but unfortunately the picture didn’t take. We were really disappointed. Y’all just pretend Gov.Beebe is in the picture with us.

Brooke and I arrive at our school district’s admin. building this a.m. at 6:45. We had a light breakfast, took a group photo, had a prayer and then walked downtown and met up with 45,000 other people.

These are our 45,000 friends with us walking over the Broadway Bridge.

(Imagine Brooke and me with Gov.Beebe here.)

The “race” (Just a little FYI–Brooke and I set no records) took us by Dickey-Stephens Park where Richard and I enjoy Traveler’s baseball games.

Notice the people far over the bridge–tons of people.

I love our city’s skyline, but I am convinced that Richard and I need to build a skyscraper or two just to add to it. I think it would look better with more tall buildings.

We had a fun time!

After an exciting afternoon at the fair last weekend Richard and I went shopping to spruce up our balcony for the fall/winter months. He picked out the evergreens and I chose the pansies.

He potted the evergreens… sorry I don’t have pictures of Mr.Green Thumb in action. I know y’all are highly disappointed.

Richard put the plant stand together for me. These are all of the flowers I got to plant! Do you think I bought enough?

It didn’t take me long to realize the Kroger bags were pointless. I didn’t have enough of them out and plus I’m just a little messy when I do projects. But only a little.

Remember I said I am only a little messy. Why did I even bother with the Kroger bags? Well, mainly because it would have felt a little irresponsible had I not at least attempted to be neat.

Don’t y’all just love the pink gardening gloves my sweet hubby bought for me? I’m well kept. After I had potted several plants, I had to go purchase more pots because I bought so many flowers (notice I didn’t say too many)! That wasn’t a problem for me!

Notice the gray shirt is gone and the hair is up. I am almost certain it was 100 degrees, y’all. BURNING UP HOT. Okay that is all I am going to say about the weather. Really, that’s all.

I’m not really sure what possessed me to paint that one pot white this summer. Richard says I was bored. He’s probably right. But otherwise, this is our happy little plant stand!

Here is our winterized balcony!

My sweet hubby (did I mention he’s also perfect?) took me out on a little dinner date tonight— which means I didn’t have to cook! It was fun to not have to cook and/or wash dishes and enjoy some chit chat time with Richard over Mexican food! I love little surprise dinner dates during the week!

I have to give y’all a little update on the weather here in central Arkansas. You guessed it. Still hot. You read that correctly. HOT. Weather.com is predicting that the temperatures will finally drop below the 80’s next Monday. But, y’all, I’ve given up. I’ve been wearing long sleeves and close toed shoes anyway because I am Offically Sick of Hot Weather and I suppose I’m protesting. I just keep my classroom thermostat on 70 (my students have started bringing their coats–not kidding. I also daily have to tell two of my girls to take their hoods off). Richard and I went to the state fair Sat. (pictures in previous post) and we were hot in October. I have cute dresses, to-die-for boots, and sassy tights to wear. Fall Weather,WHERE ARE YOU? My wardrobe and I need you desperately!

I also have to tell y’all about something one of my after school tutoring students said to me today. Bless her heart, she’s my favorite student now. She said, “Mrs.Hughes, you look like a Barbie doll.” Now you understand why she’s my favorite student. In actuality, she probably only thinks I look like Barbie because I have blond hair, but I’m going to let myself enjoy her comment all the same.

For the next couple of weeks my students and I are reading Kevin Henkes books. My students have been on me to buy them a pet. At first their suggestions were animals such as puppies, cats, and parrots. Some of them mentioned more realistic options such as gerbils and hamsters. So, Richard took me to the pet store. I got one good look at the gerbils and hamsters knew I could not do it. I cannot handle that. Y’all my skin feels all creepy crawly just typing about it. All I could think about was what if that rodent got loose in my classroom? What if I had to pick it up or get it out of the cage for some reason? What in the world would I do with the thing over the summer???? Well, now that we’re reading these Kevin Henkes books (a lot of his characters are mice), it’s gotten me to thinking about getting a little white mouse as a classroom pet. I would name her Lilly. However… I go back to the same questions: What if I had to pick her up? What if she got loose? and most importantly… what would I do with her over the summer??? Because y’all know a mouse is NOT stepping foot in THIS house! BUT wouldn’t it be neat for the kids to have a Lilly? Well, maybe a fish is a better idea. Does anyone know an author who uses fish for characters?? I know one teacher who has a plant as her classroom pet. Now there’s a thought! Very boring, but it’s a thought.

I have so much to tell y’all! Where should I begin????

Wednesday night Richard and I went over to my cousin and her husband’s house to have dinner and visit. We had the best time! Jennifer cooked a fabulous spinach lasagna (I will HAVE to share the recipe with y’all soon!) and banana pudding. After we ate like kings and queens, Jennifer and I cleaned up the kitchen and then went to play with her little girl in her room. We had a to-die-for tea party and little R. put on a heavenly piano concert for us. I also have to tell this hilarious story on little R. One of her friends has a toy John Deere tractor that children can actually ride. Well, little R. has a tractor that is very small (not meant to be ridden)… when I say very small, I’m talking like doll-house proportions. However, little R. doesn’t care. She sits on it and scoots herself across her room (and uses the steering wheel). It was The Most Hysterical thing I had seen in a long time. Jennifer, you’ve got to get a picture of her doing that!I love that girl! Meanwhile, Brad and Richard were in the living room solving the worlds problems I suppose. The girls finally decided we’d join the men in the living room. Little R. was getting sleepy, so she wouldn’t sit with Jennifer because she knew if she did J. would make her fall asleep, so she sat in her LaLa’s lap and oh boy did I love it!

Thursday night Richard and I got to go to Conway to have dinner with my parents with my other cousin, Jenifer, who was in town from out of state. (Last Friday Richard and I got to have dinner with her AND her parents! It was a treat!) We had a great visit and on the way, Jenifer helped me hone my knitting skills (which need lots of honing). Y’all I was so embarassed when I pulled out my piece of knitting. Sweet mercy was it crooked and I had about 3 times the number of stitches I had started with. Jenifer was so gracious and made no degrading comments about my knitting even though she is PRO. She was so kind—even let me borrow her cool purple yarn and her nice knitting needles. She got me started making a cell phone/camera case. It’s a “felting project” as she calls it– she says “felting projects” are good because the mistakes beginner knitters make don’t show! I finished my project up this morning–she is going to sew the sides up for me and mail it back to me. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to spend time with her (and her parents when they were here!)–super special!

Friday I took my first graders to the ZOO! Oh. My. Goodness. were they excited! We have been studying animal classifications this month, so their minds have been on animals for weeks! Our trip to the zoo put some “real life” to what we’ve been learning about. They were able to tell me whether the animals were birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, or insects. I am very proud of them! I think they ran everywhere we went–they couldn’t wait to see the next animal. I am not sure who was more tired by the end of the trip! I was exhausted after corralling my 6 year olds through the zoo, but they were worn out, too! Many of them fell asleep on our 15 minute bus ride back to school. I got to the zoo and realized my camera batteries were dead. My teacher friend, B., took a picture of me with my kiddos though so when I get it from her, I’ll share it with y’all. My kids are darling.

Friday after school, I took off for my one hour drive to go get my hair done. I feel like a new person now. For those of you who don’t know, I had a Very Unfortunate Hair Experience last week. When I say “unfortunate”—I mean U.N.F.O.R.T.U.N.A.T.E. As in… when in doubt… say no…. From that U.H.E. I have learned a few things. Here are some red flags that should prompt one to tell the person working on her head to STOP (or to never start for that matter).

1. They have to call someone over to look at your head and ask them how to highlight it with two colors (we’re talking BASIC here, people. BASIC.)

2. They tell you stories about ruining people’s hair when they are in hair school (and proceed to mention that they told the people their hair looked GREAT rather than FIXING IT (what a concept).

3. While they are foiling your hair, they keep a towel nearby to blot any foils that may leak onto other foils (which in case you were unaware leaves your hair all polka-dotty—I love polka dots—except for on my hair.

4. When they remove the foils, they pause for a minute, run to the back, and come back and slather toner all over your head (except even then, they miss a few spots).

Y’all never should have gotten me started on my hair. But anyway. My hair is in good shape now thanks to Nicole–my HERO. She corrected the color and cut and now I no longer feel like I would look better if I… oh, say SHAVED MY HEAD!

I’m moving on. Really, I am. and I am not even upset at the person who messed up my hair. Not even just a little bit. And I haven’t even been panic stricken about my hair for the last week—not even just a little bit—you can ask Richard.

Friday night… I came home… Richard had made a fire for me in our fireplace, cleaned up the house (and our balcony), and even had the pot on the stove for me to make chili. So, we sat in front of our fire and ate chili. After we ate, I worked on my knitting project a little, but I was EXHAUSTED. So, I went to sleep shortly thereafter.

Ok. Now onto the other Point Of This Post.

The Arkansas State Fair.

I hear you. “What?! Why in the world did y’all go to the fair?” Well, when we first got there and started walking around we were sort of asking ourselves the same thing, but we had a great time. The animals were my absolute favorite part.

This is me petting a kid. I also had a wonderful conversation with a pig. Just call me Fern.

These are Alpacas. This is the animal we get fleece from. They are in the camel/llama family.

Are these chicks not just Make Your Heart Melt precious?

The chicks slid down this piece of sheet metal!

What would a day at the fair be without funnel cake and lemonade?

This is the first ride we rode.

This is the second ride we rode.

I’ll let you guess who chose which ride.

Hope y’all are having a fantastic weekend!

I am not sure our rain shower could be classified as a “thunder storm” because I haven’t technically heard any thunder. However, the sky is dark, it’s raining, and the temperature is about 10 degrees cooler than it was when I left work (and if that isn’t good news I don’t know what is!!), so I guess I’ll just call it what I feel like calling it.

Okay. Now on to the actual purpose of this post: Biscuits and Gravy. I can’t think of a better way to spend a stormy evening at home (by the way—just heard thunder) than having breakfast for supper!This is my grandmother’s biscuit recipe, so y’all should feel special.

These are the ingredients you’ll need for the bicuits. Make sure you have GOLD MEDAL SELF-RISING FLOUR. All purpose flour just won’t cut it this time. You’ll need 3/4 c. buttermilk, 1/4 c. water, 1 Tbsp. baking powder, 1/2 c. Crisco (melted), and about 2 c. sifted flour. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. I was so excited the first time I made these! It was the hottest my oven had ever been!

While you’re making the biscuits, you’ll want to go ahead and start frying the sausage to make the gravy.Cut the sausage into slices and flatten slightly into patties. Cook over low-med. head until brown (very brown–no pink showing in the middle).

And now…. on to the biscuits!

Mix together 3.4 c. buttermilk, 1.4 c. water, and 1 tbsp. baking powder until Baking Powder is dissolved.

Add 1/2 c. melted Crisco.

Add about 2 c. sifted Self-Rising flour.

After you do this, you’ll want to either get out a pastry mat or lay out some wax paper. Either way, make sure you dust the surface with the self-rising flour, so your dough doesn’t stick. If your dough is too sticky at this point, add a tablespoon of self-rising flour to it until it’s no longer sticky (but don’t get it too dry). Knead the dough before moving on to the next step.

Roll or pat the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. I don’t have a rolling pin, so I use a glass. It works just fine.Make sure you lightly flour the surface of whatever you use though so your dough doesn’t stick to it.

Now you’re ready to cut the biscuits. You’ll need a cookie sheet to put them on after you’ve cut them out. To cut the biscuits you can use a bisciut cutter, cookie cutters for fun shapes, or you can use a cup like I did! Make sure you lightly flour whatever you use to cut the biscuits. When cutting the biscuits, start at the edge so you don’t waste dough.

When you get to this point, ball this dough up, knead it slightly, and roll it out again. Then you can cut more biscuits out of it.

Now you’re ready to put the biscuits in the oven (500 degrees 10 minutes).

Ta da!

While the biscuits are baking, you’ll need to work on the gravy….

To make gravy you’ll need milk, Gold Medal All-Purpose flour, sausage, salt, and pepper.

Your sausage should look something like this. I let mine get a little too brown, but at least it’s done!

Put the sausage on papertowels while you finish the gravy Do not—whatever you do!—drain the grease from the sausage skillet. For 2 people you’ll need at least 2-3 tablespoons of grease. If the amount of sausage you cooked doesn’t make that much grease, you’ll need to get that coffee can of grease out of your refrigerator to make up the difference. You can add in bacon grease. It’ll be our little secret.

Over low-med. heat add about 2 Tbsp. All-Purpose flour.

Whisk immediately. If you add in too much flour, add a little more grease to balance it out so the mixture isn’t too dry.

If you feel like it, you can crumble up some sausage to throw in!

Now you’re ready to add the milk. I started with about 1 1/2 cups.

It wasn’t enough. See how dry it got? So, I added more milk–just a little at a time though.

Add more milk until you’re satisfied with the consistency. If it gets too liquidy, I think it would be okay to throw just a pinch of flour in, but don’t over do it. ADD SALT/PEPPER. If you don’t add salt to your gravy it Will. Not. Taste. Good. Guaranteed.

And now …. the moment we’ve all been waiting for!!! De-lish!

Let me know if you try this recipe!

These are our very special friends. They’re expecting their first baby Nov.6. We got to go to a shower for them yesterday! They ARE as sweet as they look!… because I know y’all were wondering!

Baby I. was showing off for Auntie Laura! She was moving all over the place! I could even watch B.’s stomach and see her moving. Y’all, I am almost sure that I. knows how to do the worm. I can’t wait to meet her!

After we unloaded all of the gifts and I entertained myself by feeling I., we went to eat at Doc’s Grill in Searcy. It was yummy and we had a great time! Then we all went back to N. and B.’s. The boys went for a ride in N.’s antique Bronco and the girls stayed home and talked! It was fabulous!

On a sidenote: This coming Thurs., the forecast says the high in Little Rock is to be 74 degrees. I am THRILLED!