What I've Been Up To... Reprise

 

I find it funny that just two posts ago, I wrote about begin a writer and hoping to blog more consistently. Then almost 3 years of silence with just a post about pumpkins in there. This is what my journals always look like, too. “I’m going to start journaling regularly” they invariably say every few years. I used to journal regularly… when I was stuck in school every day with pen and paper. But since then, I tend to journal only when I’m stressed or sad. Future journal finders should take that into account when reading them. I don’t want you to think I had such a bad life, overall.

 When I got married, my husband asked me to keep a journal for us. I began writing several times a week. Then I went down to just Sundays and then I fell back into my “when I feel stressed” mode. So, definitely take that with a grain of salt because my marriage overall has been wonderful! I’m sitting at my desk looking at our journal right now.

So, here I am with an update. I’m sure you were all on tenterhooks (all 3 of you) to see what I’d say next. Sorry about the long wait. I will admit, I even though was pretty busy (as you will read), the hiatus is mostly due to slow internet. It was nearly impossibly to upload pictures at my old place, which I’m pretty sure I’d mentioned before. 

Old place? Yes! We have moved! But not, as we had hoped for so long, away from Texas. That is for another post. Our new place is just outside of town on a little under 10 acres.

 Other than that, what else has happened to us since 2019? Here’s a quick list, but some of these will be their own posts later:

- moved

- visited Michigan 7 times

- survived a pandemic

- seen all of New England in one week

- began to homeschool full time

- survived the end of Legacy Academy

- returned to choir

- kids joined choir and orchestra

- several concerts including the girls’ first symphony

- changed music studios

- resurrected crochet club and MEK

- taken on renters

- added two in-laws on the Hamilton side

- added two nieces to the family

- got my first smart phone

- took a hiatus from news

- discovered you tube and podcasts

There have been other adventures, but these are the ones that stick out to me right now. Look forward to telling you more about them!

Pandemic Pumpkins (AKA Pumpkin Experiment pt. 3)

 If you have been watching my blog (yeah, it doesn't do tricks... it doesn't even get updated often), then you will know that I have a special love for pumpkins and a scientific curiosity about them. There are hundreds of varieties of pumpkin and I have been trying different ones over the years. My first experiment was never completed as I had a baby that fall. But I have done the full experiment 3 times: in 2014, in 2018, and this fall. Look through my archives for the first two installments. Below is number 3.

This year I tried four types of pumpkins. Above you will see the Jarrahdale (in the blue family) and the Porcelain Doll. Both were purchased at Callie's Acre in Gilmer, TX. I also used two White Pie pumpkins and a Marina di Chioggia (in the warty family). 

The steps I take are: select pumpkins of varying types/families, bake them, puree them, roast the seeds, and cook with them. I start by cooking my favorite muffin recipe but throughout the year I also make pies, soups, and other baked items with them. I find that most people use pumpkins for baked goods most often, so I only talk about the muffins in the post. 

Here we go:

Marin di Chioggia

I have only ever baked with one warty pumpkin before now and you can look up my past posts to find it. The Chioggia is flat (as opposed to round), dark green, and has nobs all over it. 

This year, I decided to bake the pumpkins whole instead of gutting and cutting them before baking. I know that if this were a true science experiment, changing the method of baking would disqualify the results. But as a lay person, I am not bothered. Baking the entire pumpkin before gutting made the work easier. You can see how large the Chioggia we chose was- that is an 18 x 26 in baking tray. 

Here are the guts. The seeds were extra large and very white. The Chioggia had a rather earthy smell while baking. It was not a pleasant, "I want to eat that smell." When I cut it open, the meat also smelled a bit earthy and was a deep orange. The skin of the pumpkin turned almost black while baking. 

The meat made a very thick puree and was not watery at all. I pureed the pumpkin while it was still very warm, but did not measure and bag it until it had fully cooled. By that time, the puree had almost hardened and scooped up in chunks. My husband said it reminded him of some of the grosser baby poo we had to deal with a few years ago. The muffin batter was also very thick, but it was a nice consistency for batter- not runny, easy to scoop, a little sticky, and it had a rich pumpkin flavor.

I did not get pictures of the muffins and we donated most of them to the fraternity of which my husband is the sponsor. College boys need muffins a lot more than I do! The Chioggia muffins actually came out a little dark from over baking, but even with that we liked them quite a bit. 

We baked the seeds, as well. They turned out very tasty. Unlike the muffins, we could have baked them a little longer; but they were popping like popcorn, so I took them out.

White Pie 

We bought the White Pie and Chioggia at Ellis Pottery in Longview. That is where I got all the pumpkins in 2014 and I was hoping for another Cheese pumpkin, as that was my favorite. They seemed to be out (although, when I looked at pictures taken by a friend later on, there was ONE in the pumpkin patch where the children were playing). I settled for the Chioggia and the White Pie. I almost bought a Turban pumpkin, as well, but I wanted an even number of types and couldn't find a fourth I wanted. Thus the second trip to Callie's Acre later on. 

The White Pie pumpkin is a lot larger than the orange Pie pumpkins you find in the store. It was smaller than any other pumpkin I have tried, though, so I got two. Even after baking, the guts were much harder to remove than the Chioggia. The inside is almost as white as the outside and had a sweet smell and flavor. It was very mild, rather watery, and made a thin puree. The skin peeled away very easily and was thin as paper. 

The seeds were much smaller, but also rather pale. The puree made a much thinner batter and the muffins had a very mild flavor. If you like the spicy part of Pumpkin Spice but not the pumpkin part, then this is the pumpkin for you. The muffins came out sweeter tasting even though they had the same amount of sugar as the rest. I found it to be meh. And now I have about 12 cups of puree to use somehow. 

The Porcelain Doll

If you look at the cover photo, you'll notice the change in color after baking. The Porcelain Doll has a rather pink color before baking but turns very orange. There is a semi-sweet smell while cooking that is quite pleasant. 

You can see that there are quite a lot of seeds. The seeds are small and dark. The center removed nicely but there were a few spots of white in the meat near the center that I also had to remove. They were hard and would not have pureed very well. 

Tiny seeds. They were alright roasted, kind of crunchy. The meat of this pumpkin was very dark in color. The skin was extra thick and difficult to cut before baking. I'm glad I didn't try to cut up the entire pumpkin and baked it whole instead. But I still had to cut venting holes for the steam and that was a difficult job. 

The Porcelain Doll made a very thick puree with almost no water. My submergible blender had a harder time with this one than any of the others. I probably could have baked this pumpkin a bit longer than I did to make it easier to puree, but I was baking it on the same tray as the Jarrahdale, so I took them out at the same time.  

This puree made very good muffins! Both my daughters declared them the favorites of the four this year. My husband liked the muffins of the Chioggia best, although he wasn't a fan of helping with the puree. I liked the Jarrahdale muffins best, I think. 

Jarrahdale

I feel like I have worked with this one before, but as I look back I see that it was the Speckled Hound. These are very different. The Jarrahdale is more round and is lighter before baking. I loved how it turned darker and had waves of brown on it! It looked like one of those porcelain pumpkins you can buy at Hobby Lobby. 

You can see the pool of water on top of the pumpkin. It did sweat a little, but the puree was not super runny like the White Pie.

Cut open you can see that there seems to be a lot of guts, but there is quite a bit of meat on there. Considering it was the second smallest pumpkin we purchased, we still got over 8 cups of puree out of it. The meat smelled earthy but in a pleasant way, not the same as the Chioggia. 

The seeds were also tiny and dark, but with less of a dark line around the outside. They were fine and easy to remove. I collected most of them. 

Even though you could see the pool of water on top of the baked pumpkin, you don't see any in the bowl. The meat scraped away fine from the skin and made a great puree. 

The batter I made from this puree tasted the best! It was just the right pumpkin to sweetness. You can see it is a dark puree and it came out nice and smooth. This also made my favorite of this year's pumpkin choices. In future, I'll pull out the "winners" from each year and pit them against each other, but I still have several types to try before we get to the final round. 

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog. Even if no one reads it, I like to have a record of my pumpkin adventures. I'd blog more often if we had good internet speeds at our house. As it was, I had to go to the University for which my husband works in order to upload the pics. In future, perhaps I'll be able to update more often. If so, I may begin an apple experiment! As a Michigan girl, apples are passion. We don't get many varieties in the stores down here in Texas. I try to get to MI each fall to pick at our favorite orchard and I make apple sauce, apple butter, apple pie, and apple bread with them. It's an idea for later. In the meantime, happy pumpkin month!

What I've Been Up To Pt. 2 AKA: Things I Need to Finish

I am a writer.

Technically, all those who blog are writers. But I'm not sure my sporadic blog posts would qualify my bold statement. I AM a writer.

I'm still on the fence about what to do about it. I participate in NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) and have "won" almost every time (there was one year that I did not, but I won't make my excuses here). I have several unfinished books because of these ventures and it bothers me, not that I have so many stories to tell, but that I have not been diligent enough to finish any but one.

Writing is a discipline. It takes time and effort to write well. And there are seasons when writing comes more easily than others. Two of my earlier posts were about seasons of life. I wrote a bit about what is in this season of my life, how busy I am and why I have blogged so little in the last 2 years. But...

I feel transition coming.

I'm not sure what that transition is. It could be a move or a job change or just a new season of parenting. It could mean a new focus or new goals. But whatever the change is, I want to be prepared. It may be that I will have time to focus on writing again. So, I'm working on making a writing schedule and on keeping up with this blog, for starters.

You can help me with this!

To follow is a list of books that I have been working on over the past decade or so. I need some focus, so I'm asking you to tell me which appeals to you most. What would you read?

1. A Good Read

I know, this is a bold title. This was my first NANO book and the only one I have "finished." I wrote it in November 2010 and edited it in February 2011 to enter into a contest. I did not win. I didn't even make it past the pitch stage and no one actually got to read the book. I did hand it out to a few friends and a professional author. She gave me no feedback at all (probably didn't want me to feel bad) and my best friend said that she could hear my voice some of the time and some of the time forgot that I was the writer because she was so into the story! That was a compliment for sure!

But this book is still really a rough draft. Although I self-published it and could probably get some copies if I wanted to, it is still not "good." It isn't what I want it to be. It needs a good edit.

The premise of the story is that a young teacher plans to skip school the day after the newest book by her favorite author is released. She stands in line at midnight, when she gets a call from her mother asking her to dog-sit. No problem! She can dog-sit and read at the same time. But life has a funny way of throwing off your plans. For this one, who wants her reading life to be full of adventure but her real life to be quiet and normal, she is about to find that you can't always get what you want- nor should you.

2. The duAler Mysteries

I began writing this book the summer I got married. It began as an interesting thought exercise about the mystery of marriage itself and quickly turned into a corny sci-fi. If I have enough material (and after 10 years, I probably do), I will make it into a series.

This book is set in Muskegon, MI. Dr. duAler is a physics teacher at the community college there. His wife, Beatrice, works from home. They have a nice little property that is based on a real property my husband and I scoped out when we were interviewing at a college in that area. But there is a very odd connection between them. Within a few weeks of marriage, they discovered this connection but after 2 decades of marriage, they still don't know what it means. I'm not sure how much I want to give away, but it turns out this connection is something that others want and are willing to do maniacal things to get. Kidnap, rescue, "chases, escapes, true love!"

I have worked on this story sporadically over the course of my marriage but it isn't fully fleshed out yet, nor is it anywhere near fully written. This is kind of an effort of love, though, as I feel very connected to the semi-autobiographical characters.

3. May Flowers

This is a story that I began writing after my last break up (I started dating my future husband later that year, so no more break ups for me! Or is it "breaks up"?). That was 2003 and the story came to me fully formed. May is an only child but has a huge extended family. There are traditions and norms but each household is unique and hard to navigate if you are not an insider. After an accident in which May loses both her parents, she moves in with each of her extended family for awhile. Do you remember the first time when you realized that not everyone believes the same thing? That not everyone has the same dinnertime or does chores the same way? That even if you are related to them, people can be entirely different? May discovers this and more. 

This story is special to me because it speaks of insecurities that all young girls have, even those like me who can hide them well. It was also formed in a time of mourning and self-doubt. I have worked on this for 2 NANOs and am still only partially finished. And a student told me last year that she has read a book similar to this one before. Still, I think May has some universal truths that I hope to address in a unique way- in my own voice.

4. Yarn Over

I live in the south now and I have noticed that there are a lot more people who do yarn crafts down here than most other places I have lived. I mean people of all ages. But this story came to me when I gave my daughter a baby blanket made by my grandmother. 

In Yarn Over, there are many different characters but they all have one thing in common- they are all over 50. I won't call them old, as I find 50 to be younger and younger the closer I get to it, but they are definitely on the other side of the "hill." It is not a coming of age story, but it is a story of never being too old to learn new things and to change your life for the better. ______ is in her 70s, set in her ways, quiet, shy, avoids strangers, and loves to crochet. She discovers that friendships can be found in odd places and can be forged with people with whom she had no idea she has so much in common.

I have to put on my best Louisiana old lady hat while writing this, but one of the main characters is modeled after my best friend. 

5. Women Rising

I was talking to a young man at school today about NANO and a story I started about 2/3 of the way through November last year. After reading a three sentence description, he said he thought a good title would be "Women Rising." My working title was Levitating Rocks, just because I couldn't think of anything better, but his title was extremely appropriate.

Kira lives in a harsh world where men can take what they want and women are only useful for bearing sons and giving pleasure. This world is not bound to one planet or even one star system. But not matter how far it has spread, she can bring a stop to it. From the first woman she remembers, who is not her mother, she has gained a strength that will drive her on, through years of living a secret life to seeking a past she cannot find in her mind. Kira is strong, inside and out, and she finds that when she combines forces with other women, she can do almost anything. 

This story was inspired by a dream. There are bits of ideas of Firefly, Thor Dark World, and friends from Michigan in it. My husband read the first two chapters and commented that it was dark. Interesting, as I was not feeling "dark" at the time. This year I am, so perhaps I should pick it back up.

6. Secret Sauce

I'm actually cheating a bit here, because this story is a new one that I have not actually started. But when I did my first NANO, I planned to work on May Flowers or the duAuler's series, as those were stories I had already begun. I ended up doing A Good Read because it was a story that came to me almost fully formed one night. This one is kind of like that (although, I took notes about it in my book ideas list in 2010, so maybe it counts).

Think "National Treasure" meets "Fan Boys" meets "Oceans 11." 

This story is just a funny gag after another and came to me while I was desperately searching for a lost recipe of dressing from a now closed down restaurant chain. Four college friends decide to become master thieves in order to unearth the secret recipes of popular foods. One is an idealist who thinks that nothing should be secret. One is a foodie who wants to make the recipes. One is a nutritionist student who argues that he cannot do his job well without knowing what is in our food. And one is along for the ride because why the hell not.

These boys take a road trip, break into vaults, discover interesting characters, and bond. It's something light and fun like my first NANO novel and would work well as a screenplay.

So, I need feedback! Comment below or on the Facebook post. Which would you read? Which sounds unique to you? Which is something close to your heart? If none of these sounds great, I'd love that feedback, too. 

And then take another step. Everyone has stories to tell! NANOWRIMO is a great time to think about your stories. You can write anything- fiction, non-fiction, autobiography, anything! If you do decide to do NANO this year, look me up! I'll be your writing buddy. And go ahead an steal this pic for your own status. 

Michigan October 2019

I've lived in Texas for over 7 years now, but my home state will always be Michigan. I have driven home every fall but one since my youngest was born. The year we missed was last year due to an extra trip home for my brother's wedding that made going back in October impractical. I usually go with just my daughters as my husband is a professor and can't easily get away in October.

This year, I took a friend! It was a last minute addition to our trip. I have been talking with my two closest friends in Texas about doing a girls' trip to either Chicago or Michigan and when I mentioned that I wish they could come with me this time, one said, "Well, Jenny can go- her job is remote now." 36 hours later, she was in the car with us. My husband and MIL were happy that I had another driver along and I was happy to have a set of hands to help with kids at rest stops.

We didn't get to see the amazing colors that come out in mid-late October, but we did get my favorite apples! That is the purpose of going in October, really. Fall is my favorite season, and we don't really get it much down here. Michigan grows 500 varieties of apples but Texas only has 6 in the stores and they are usually from Washington. Michigan also has all of my immediate family as well as my parents-in-law. So, there is a big draw.

Best part about homeschooling or using a University-Model school as we do is that you can take it on the road!

We did school every day but Thursday, which was too full to fit it in. All work got done, though.

There were many concerts!

Milli played piano, too, but I didn't get a picture of it. We also had a friend over who is an amazing pianist and flutist. 

Molly chose to do four concerts in lieu of practicing on those days. Her violin repertoire has increased from 2 songs in July to 8 in September. She has hit that slope her teacher has been telling me about for a year now. She plays piano by ear, but we may start her on lessons next year. 

It rained off an on for seven of the nine days we were there, but the weather gave us windows for fall walks, a trip to a neighborhood park with a puppy, and a really nice apple-picking day.

 

We had time with family and friends and the girls got some awesome birthday gifts! They have September and November birthdays. Nana and Pop got them Harry Potter Lego sets and Grandma and Grandpa got them bikes (which will come to us in Texas soon). 

Harry Potter, unicorns, and the Warriors series are the big things for my kids this year. 

Lots of help with homework.

Many of these photos were taken by friends, so I have very few of family time. But here we are with my brother and sister-in-law watching Into the Spiderverse!

We had some pampering, too. Lots of good food and Milli had a salon day with Nana.

I had a bit of fun visiting friends, as well!

Yeah. This was our last day and I think I was missing my husband a little TOO much!

You were great, Michigan! See you in a couple of months!

What I've Been Up To. AKA: Seasons

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" Ecclesiastes 3:1

Well, that's a comfort. 

As you can tell by my long absence, this has been a busy season for me - and a long one. My kids are young (5 and 7) and the days just seem to get away from me. I will also admit that we have the slowest upload speeds at the house, so posting any kind of pictures takes HOURS! But even so, this season has been one of sacrifice. 

But it is only a season. 

The sacrifices I have made have not only been those of motherhood. I am a wife, a member of a church, a volunteer. I am a friend, a daughter, a sister, and a mentor. I am an educator and a librarian. And let's not forget that I am a chauffeur. 

My kids go to a University-Model school. This means they are in school twice a week and they homeschool with me the other three days. I am a volunteer at the school and run the library, purchase and catalog the curriculum, create the yearbook, plan fundraisers, and other odd jobs. My kids are in a sign language club, a swim club, and a science club. My husband and I do ministry to college students at the university where he teaches. He is the adviser for a fraternity, a game club, and a broadsword club. I only help with two of those, but that is enough. 

I thought baby season was hard. It was, in different ways. This season is not only about keeping fragile little people alive, but in training them to be followers of Christ and people of character. My children are learning who they are, their uniqueness, both strengths and weaknesses. We are opening up the world a bit more to them, a world of music, natural wonders, and community. 

All this makes Mama tired. Thankfully, I have a partner. 

Speaking of which, we celebrated 10 years of marriage this summer! This is us at Caddo Lake Stake Park. 

When I think about the season I am in, I can look at it a few different ways. One is to think of all the things I would like to do that I can't get done: writing more, reading more, taking more classes, taking walks by myself, traveling more, etc. Another is to think of all the things I used to not be able to do due to the season I was in: I read and wrote even less when the kids were not in school; I saw my friends less, etc. But my favorite way to look at any season is not really a comparison. 

Every season it beautiful in its own right. At the moment, I get to pour myself out as a drink offering to God in the lives of my children and to others at their school. I get to see friends when I take my kids to their various clubs. I recently joined a choir for the first time in over 8 years (I was afraid I forgot how to sight-read!). My kids are at an age where we can play harder games, I can introduce them to older books, and we can almost walk at the same pace (they seem to run/amble while I go at a steady rate- but it evens out in the end). I'm enjoying that they will still cuddle with me even if they are too big to hold in my arms like babies. I am so happy that they are good travelers, even though the "Are we there yet?" still happens, a lot. This is a season where my girls are learning more chores and are beginning to level up in responsibility. Both take music- in fact, last week all 4 of us made music together for the first time! Daddy on the piano, Molly and me on the violin, and Milli singing! 

This season is one that I waited for when my babies were babies. Now that it is here, I long for times when I can hold them the way I once did and I miss breastfeeding. 

But I'm happy in this season. I try to be happy in every season. It's a choice I make every day. 

I don't know what season you are in at the moment. I hope it is one in which you can choose happiness. If it is a season of trial or pain, then I would love to pray with you, listen to your story, and hold your hand as you walk through it. And let me encourage you that this is only a season. Another will come. Soon.