A little over 30 years ago I set off on a new adventure -- I was on my way to college, taking with me not only a lot of courage, but pretty much most of my earthly possessions. My mom made sure I was well equipped, and relinquished some of her older kitchen ware for my use. (Some well-worn muffin tins, a cast iron frying pan, a half-broken toaster.) Nothing was too good for her daughter. In with the mix of supplies was this little beauty:

The Better Homes and Garden "New" Cookbook was hardly new when I received it in 1979. It was, in fact, a wedding gift to my mom and dad in 1952. Just the same, I was happy to have it, as I really knew nothing about culinary procedures. It had everything in it -- canning and freezing techniques, information on all types and cuts of meat, a list of ingredient substitutions, information on quantities for feeding the masses, etc.

Over the past 30 years that book has become a second bible to me. Not that I'm a great cook, but I know that if I ever need any information in the kitchen, it will be there. So for the past several years this prized possession has started looking a little worse for the wear. Both front and back covers have come off, many of the pages are dog-eared, and several have even fallen out and gone missing. Fast forward to 2010:

I've seen the updated versions of this book in stores for the past few years -- usually at Christmas --and always wondered if I should put it on my wish list. (Suggested retail price of $49.99) I guess the cheapskate in me always figured I could get a little more use out of my old one. A couple of months ago, however, I was at Homesense and found the updated version of this book on sale for only $7.99. How could I resist buying it? It was new. It was shiny. It was obviously in much better condition than the old one, and upon closer inspection it not only seemed to have most of the same information, but even a bit more modern information added to it. I went home pleased with my purchase, showing it off to The Mr. and everyone else at home.

I'm sure it's a really great cookbook -- I even gave it a place of honor on my shelf. And yet, two months later, I still can't bring myself to throw away the old one. We've been through a lot together, and somehow it wouldn't seem right to just throw it out. Almost as if I were being unfaithful. Hmm....

Dixie

Kids, Don't Try This at Home!

The Mr. enjoys eating a couple of boiled eggs for breakfast most mornings, so I happily fix them for him. Yesterday, I figured I would be smart and boil four eggs instead of two and keep the others for the next day. All he would have to do is just peel the shells and warm them up in the microwave. Fast forward to this morning, when he placed the peeled eggs in the microwave and went back to reading the newspaper. It wasn't long before we heard a loud EXPLOSION. Upon opening the microwave door, we discovered little bits and pieces of egg EVERYWHERE!! Apparently you're not supposed to put boiled eggs in the microwave. Who knew? I think a warning label might have been nice. What a mess to clean up!! It makes me wonder if there's a conspiracy among microwave manufacturers to purposely withhold all warning labels just for fun.

P. S.

It didn't help that at the time of the explosion, The Mr. was reading an article about terrorists who are lurking in suburban neighbourhoods. Funny!

Dixie

Sunday School-itis

Daughter #2 and her husband are off on a week-long adventure of sea, sun and sand. They stayed overnight on Friday so they could catch a flight early the next morning. In their hurry to get to the airport, they left behind a couple of their belongings:

(This is where I would have inserted

a really cute picture of their two

children, but we changed computers

from Windows to a Mac, and I can't

figure out how to post a picture!!!!)

On Sunday morning as I was getting the kids ready for church, it was obvious Hayley was in no mood for being happy. Often when her parents leave her, she misses them so much that it seems she is able to make herself physically sick. I wondered if that was starting to happen. Well, we took her to church anyway, and she was pretty much lethargic through the whole thing. Even in her little "Sunbeam" class for three-year-olds she refused to eat the snack provided, sing the songs, or look at the pictures the teacher was showing. I figured I was going to have a sick little girl on my hands for the next week. When we returned home, however, it seems she had made an amazing recovery -- she was completely healed!! If I didn't know better, I'd think someone was trying to get out of going to church.

Can't really blame her, though. I don't like 9:00 church, either!

Dixie

Spoiled

I was recently talking to a friend who was talking about how blessed she felt. She used a phrase that caught my attention. She said, "I feel like my heavenly father is spoiling me". What a neat thing to say -- not just "blessed", but "spoiled". I love it! I think her terrific attitude is one of the reasons He is spoiling her.

I'm feeling a little spoiled myself these days. Here are a few of the things that are making me smile:

1. March is here, the sun is shining, and we've had some pretty incredible weather the past few weeks. Gotta love that!
2. 14 Gold medals! Not too shabby for a polite little country who is used to taking a back seat.
3. The Mr. He's been SO helpful to me lately. I can't help but love him more and more.
4. Great kids. Love 'em to pieces!
5. My grandkids are coming in four days. Looking forward to having their cute little faces around for a while.
6. Just got back from a fun little winter get-a-way with The Mr. Didn't go anywhere exotic, and had to mix business with pleasure, but it was still tons-o-fun.
7. Showbiz Kids is extremely enjoyable. The kids are a lot of fun, and I think they're going to do a great job!

Life is good!

Dixie