So I write things here?

Yes?

Is that how it goes?

Okay.

So.

We’ve been in Memphis for the last several days. We went to see my brother and his family, and because we’re a fun and kicky bunch, the weekend turned into sort of a mini-family reunion. Mama, Daddy and Sister were there (unfortunately, Sister’s hubby had to finish up a work project this weekend and oh, we did miss him), along with D., Alex, Brother, Janie, my two nephews and me.

We ate way too much, stayed up way too late, slept way too little and had a whole bunch of fun.

We had Extra Special Guests, too: Janie’s parents came over Friday night for burgers and the fried green tomatoes and sweet potato fries I mentioned in the previous post. Last night my aunt and uncle from Arkansas and my dear friend Bubba joined us, and my brother cooked approximately 364 pounds of ribs on the grill.

Surprisingly, it was more than plenty for the, you know, THIRTEEN OF US.

This morning D., Alex and I made a little detour on our way home so that we could go to church with some of our favorite people in the whole wide world, and I will even go so far as to specify that Emma Kate was one of those people, because it brings her great joy to see her name ON THE INTERNET. IN LIGHTS. RIGHT WHERE IT BELONGS.

I’ll be back in a little bit with some pictures. If I can manage to stay up past 8:30.

At this point I just can’t tell.

Oh, I photographed the fried green tomato extravaganza like nobody’s business.

Sister even got into the act and gave it her best Vanna – ever-so-elegantly directing your attention to the tomatoes, the olive oil, the whathaveyou.

She did not, however, wear a bugle-beaded cocktail dress. Though that certainly would have added a certain festive air to the proceedings.

And Janie, God love her, donned her cutest apron and put all the ingredients in adorable color-coordinated bowls and fried those tomatoes to a lovely golden brown – even garnished them with a tasty sauce and a little goat cheese.

But alas, I cannot show you.

Because I can’t figure out how to crop my pictures on Janie’s computer.

However, I can give you this little tip.

Take 6 sweet potatoes, peel them, slice them like French fries, put them in a Ziploc bag, and then cover them with a mixture of 4 Tbs. canola oil, 4 Tbs. taco seasoning, and 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper.

Shake the Ziploc bag really good – then spread the potatoes on a couple of cookie sheets.

Bake at 425 for an hour – flipping the potatoes midway through.

DEEEEEE-licious.

And I’m off to bed now. With happy sweet potato / fried green tomato memories.

See y’all tomorrow.

And I’ll be back in just a little bit with actual original content – because my sister-in-law Janie is making FRIED GREEN TOMATOES tonight, and I plan to capture every delicious moment via some truly mediocre photography.

I’m shooting for the bloggy stars, y’all.

There have been various points along this bloggy road when I’ve struggled with a bit of writer’s block.

This is one of them.

And if you’ve been reading here for any time at all, you know that I desperately want to put the word writer in quotation marks so that it’s actually “writer,” because I have a very difficult time assigning a writer-y label to myself, but I recognize that using the quotes will lead to many, many emails in which you gently encourage me to HAVE SOME CONFIDENCE, ALREADY, so I’m going to leave it at writer without the quotation marks, but don’t kid yourself for one second: there are totally quotation marks in my head.

So.

I have no choice but to send you elsewhere.

And trust me, you’ll be much happier going to these other places than you would be sticking around here and reading about my writer’s block (QUOTATION MARKS!).

In no particular order:

1) Melanie at This Ain’t New York has written a really thoughtful post on freedom. It’s well worth checking out.

2) My sweet friend Robin posted this morning about her friend Anne‘s book called Mad Church Disease. (sidenote: was that just a record for the most links ever in a single sentence? I think so.)

Anne’s book deals with staff and volunteer ministry burn-out (NOT THAT ANY OF US WOULD KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT, OF COURSE), and she has posted several interesting, completely anonymous surveys that will help her with her research. Click here if you’d like to help her out.

3) A few days ago, I got a copy of the upcoming CD from a group called Monk & Neagle.

Now I don’t want to build it up too much, but I just have to say: IT IS THE BEST CD I HAVE HEARD IN YEARS.

Christian music or otherwise.

D. has even jumped on the bandwagon and SIGNED UP FOR THEIR MAILING LIST, and I’m not sure that’s something he’s done before in his whole life ever. But he too agrees that the CD is extraordinary. You can listen to a few of the songs here.

And I’m mentioning it now – even though the CD won’t be released until September – to prepare y’all for the fact that I’m going to be talking about it a lot. A whole lot.

SWEET MERCY. I think it has changed my life just a little bit.

Except it hasn’t made the writer’s block go away.

(QUOTATION MARKS!)

This morning I decided that, since Alex was going to be spending part of the day with a friend, I was going to embrace my inner hipster and head to a local coffee shop WITH MY LAPTOP. I pictured myself sipping coffee and writing up a storm; there was not a doubt in my mind that once I tapped into the coffee shop’s trusted wireless network, I would be flooded with inspiration. I wondered if my fingers would even be able to keep up with the rapid pace of my thoughts because clearly – CLEARLY – I was heading into the most prolific five hour span of my life. I couldn’t wait.

But when I got here, I immediately decided that a whole grain bagel was in order. With a little veggie cream cheese. And a cup or four of dark roasted coffee. Your brain needs fuel, you know, and since I was going to be doing a LOT of writing, I certainly wanted to be at the top of my mental game. A few minutes later Emma Kate called, and we talked for thirty or forty minutes (she wanted to share something from her quiet time this morning, and when the Lord gives EK a Word, I pay attention. Today it was Jeremiah 1:4-7, and OH, it blessed my soul).

After EK and I finished talking I checked my email, and about the time I realized that I couldn’t send messages (which is a TERRIBLY helpful feature when attempting to communicate with others via email), D. called. He was going to be driving right past the coffee shop on his way home from a meeting, so he thought he’d stop in for lunch in an hour or so. I wasn’t a lick hungry because of the aforementioned bagel and cream cheese, but I think y’all know that I’m not one to turn down a meal, so I told him to come on.

About that time Big Mama called (RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU’RE STARTING TO SEE A PATTERN), and we had many important things to discuss, as is almost always the case. There is no topic too profound for the two of us, and if you don’t believe me then clearly you have not heard us discuss our favorite brands of candles, what songs we would sing if we were to form a praise and worship band, and whether or not there is a magical potion that might erase the new wrinkle that has suddenly appeared on the left side of my nose.

By the way, we have most definitely decided that I would sing/rap if we had a praise and worship band because I think it’s pretty clear that I’m street like that. Big Mama would play the tambourine. She has really been practicing A LOT and just knows that she will “bring glory to God with the sweet, sweet percussion.” And that’s a direct quote, my friends. Feel free to contact either of us for booking information. We still don’t have a name, but we’d love to hear your suggestions – preferably something that will sound really good being screamed IN PEOPLE’S NIGHTMARES, because I think any performance by the two of us would result in some life-altering audio trauma from which it would take years – lo, even decades – to recover.

Before I knew it D. was walking toward my table, and I just hated for him to eat alone, so I decided to make a supreme sacrifice and have a cup of broccoli cheddar soup with half of a chicken Caesar salad. It had only been a couple of hours since my bagel, but with all the talking I’d been doing I figured I needed to re-fuel. After all, there was still LOTS of writing to be done, and since the Lord was gracious enough to provide such delicious sustenance, I wanted to honor His faithfulness. You would do the exact same thing if you were in my situation, I’m sure.

So now it’s about 2:00 – and this post right here? It’s all I’ve written. I have essentially been sitting in a coffee shop since 9:45 in the morning TALKING ON MY CELL PHONE, and I keep thinking that it’s a really good thing that I came here today because I certainly couldn’t have TALKED ON MY CELL PHONE at home.

And just so you know? It’s time for me to go get Alex now. But at least I have this incredibly entertaining post to show for spending OVER FOUR HOURS in the coffee shop.

Well, the post and a totally rockin’ plan for an all-girl praise band featuring a borderline tone deaf singer/rapper accompanied by a mama from Texas on tambourine.

It’s just been an incredibly productive time.

This morning I got out of bed and decided that clutter in our house is causing clutter in my brain. The main area that’s getting on my last nerve is our kitchen / breakfast room / playroom area. Everything piles up in there because that’s where we keep keys, mail, camera, my purse, etc. – and any empty basket or bowl seems to become a receptacle for coupons, receipts, stray batteries, cell phones and the like.

And, quite frankly, I have hit the wall in terms of being able to deal with it.

Until the next time it gets cluttered, at which point I’ll sigh deeply and start all over.

So while I’m working on de-cluttering and THROWING OUT TOYS (hello? preschool department at church? I believe it’s your lucky day!), I need your help with a couple of floor-cleaning issues.

1) What do y’all use to clean hardwood floors? People always tell me to just use vinegar and water, but the problem with that is I DESPISE THE SMELL OF VINEGAR, and so using that method doesn’t leave me with a happy, oh-my-house-is-so-clean feeling. It leaves me with a sad, oh-my-house-smells-like-sour-vinegar feeling. Which isn’t very much fun.

So if you have a more, um, pleasant-smelling suggestion, I’d love to hear it. I just feel like the floor (around the breakfast room table especially) is starting to look a little dull, but I certainly don’t want to mop with anything that’s going to hurt the wood.

2) Alex’s bathroom has a white tile floor. Not off-white. WHITE. Mopping with a little Clorox diluted with lots of water will definitely get it clean (though it leaves it looking a little dull), but then we have to leave the house because the fumes are so strong. And somehow that strikes me as a little bit, you know, dangerous. I’d love to know if you have any non-bleachy alternatives to really make those white tiles shine.

Finally.

While I’m on my cleaning soapbox (OH, THE PUNNINESS! IT’S PUNTASTIC!), I have a little cleaning tip of my own: if you have a chance, check out these all-natural products if you haven’t already. I absolutely adore the lavender disinfecting spray – it’s smells great, it’s not harsh, and it’s great for when you need to “tidy up” before company comes over. And my absolute favorite is the lavender room freshener (I believe my love affair with the scent of lavender has been well-documented, so I will not elaborate on its magical soothing properties) – it’s great stuff.

All righty. I’m going to get out the mop and wait for y’all to tell me what to do to my floors. Don’t EVEN suggest that I spray something on my floors and then get on my hands and knees to wipe up said spray, because the odds of that happening are approximately, oh, ZERO.

(I love for the house to be clean, of course, but I certainly wouldn’t want to go overboard.)

Thanks in advance, y’all!