Three for Four!

This is the third day out of the past four that I have blogged. If nothing else, I know my mother is happy. :-)

There's really not much to report from today. I can't really remember much about this morning, but I know that James and I finished the floor up in the work room today. It's hard to explain, but we had to shift the entire floor over 1/4" or 1/2" so the trim would be able to cover on each side--because there wasn't room for another piece. That will only make sense (maybe) to people who have laid a floating floor. Anyway, we accomplished this by removing all weight from the floor (the table saw, other tools, wood scraps), then--James and I, picture this--did some synchronized jumping and landing in an attempt to shove the floor in the necessary direction. I'm not sure it did much for the floor, but I thought it was terrific and laughed a whole lot. :-) When that didn't produce the desired results we both stood and placed our hands on the wall in front of us, leaned into the wall and "walked" as hard as we could. Amazingly enough, we were able to push the floor behind us just a titch--just like we needed to! I was so relieved that we were actually able to shift the whole sha-bang because I was at a total loss as for what to do otherwise! I'm so thankful it all worked out. We then finished up on the final pieces--tricky ones with lots of angles, edging around trim and closet door hinges--and then James just laid carpet in the closet. We were DONE with laying wood floor and the carpet was faster, easier, and just an extra scrap we had lying around. Perfect. So now that room is finished! Except that it's a full tools and sawdust. We'll take care of that soon enough.

The other grand and glorious accomplishment of the day was dinner. We had tomato soup and grilled cheese. No, no, no, no, no. Not like that--like this!



I made homemade Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup and I baked some homemade bread to make our grilled cheese sandwiches with. Somehow none of it looks nearly as good in the picture as it did in person, but it was all sooooo good! As I'm sure most anyone who reads my blog knows, this past week was the Prayer & Fast Week for the General Assembly. I have the same reaction to this each time we go on an extended fast. By the end of Day 2 I'm scouring the Internet in search of wonderful things to eat once I start again. :-) This soup looked and sounded so good and I actually had all of the necessary ingredients on hand (including some canned tomatoes from the Cogburns), so I gave it a shot. I threw most of it in the pot at lunch time, then made a roux (I've never heard of that and have no idea how to pronounce it, but that's what the recipe said it was) and added the last ingredients just before we ate it. YUM. It was sooooo good. And grilled cheese on homemade bread is only about a thousand times better than on store bought bread. :-)

I couldn't handle it. I had to Google "roux." It's pronounced "roo" (I guessed that, but felt uncertain still) and is "a cooked mixture of butter or other fat and flour used to thicken sauces, soups, etc." Yep, that's what it was. And it TOTALLY transformed the soup. I was worried before that step, but it made an instant transformation. Then the whole cup of Parmesan cheese pushed it right over the top. :-) I wonder why I don't find and try new recipes more often. It seems like I cook the same things over and over. Even the stuff we used to love just isn't that enjoyable anymore. I used to pore over cookbooks and still come away with no inspiration, but in this day of Internet recipes the PICTURES make a world of difference--everything just looks so good! I collected quite a few new ones while we were fasting this past week, so now I'm all excited about trying them out. Of course, most of them seem to be desserts. :-)

The only other news around here is Sambo. He's not been feeling very well and could use prayer. He's been so sweet and lovable. As much as I hate it when my kids are sick, I love it when Sam is so sweet and cuddly. :-) Please say a prayer for him. As much as I enjoy him all sweet and subdued, we want the Lord to heal him and make him perfectly well. I'm not quite sure what to do when he's not rambunctious and keeping us on our toes all the time. ;-)

And I guess that's it. My house is clean, my family has been well fed, I feel all domestic because I made HOMEMADE soup and sandwiches instead of popping open a can or opening a bread bag (it's amazing how fulfilling little things like that are!), my children are all squeaky clean and ready for church in the morning, I get to RELAX tonight because I'm not teaching Sunday School, and I've got a ham set out, ready to put in the oven for lunch tomorrow. ~sigh~ It's been a good day. Oh! And the Ridlespurges stopped by to see the latest improvements on the house. I love it when they do that. :-) I don't know what we're going to do when we actually finish this house and there's nothing new to look at. We'll have to come up with some reason for them to come by. ;-)