My Dream Team

It's kind of silly, but for a while now I've been thinking of writing a post about my political dream team. What's that you ask ... well, if I could choose our country's top leaders here is who they'd be:

President: Elizabeth Warren
Vice-President: Jon Huntsman

Speaker of House: Bruce Bartlett
Speaker of Senate: Barack Obama

Secretary of State: Bill Clinton
Secretary of the Treasury: Warren Buffet
Secretary of Defense: Ron Paul
Attorney General: Ben, because he said if I get to be Sec of Ed he gets to be Attorney General ... and I thought that sounded fair enough.
Sec. Interior: Larry Echohawk
Sec. Agriculture: This position is still open*** Governor of a big Ag state (ie Midwest) would be a nice qualification, a veteran farmer would also be nice. The only requirements are: deep understanding of farm subsidies and desire to reform farm insurance plans -- let me know if you can refer anyone ;) I'd consider Condolezza Rice for the job, but it's hard to find out if she meets my two requirements.
Sec. Commerce: Paul Krugman
Sec. Labor: Colin Powell
Sec. Health and Human Services: Mitch Daniels
Sec. Transportation: Cory Booker
Secretary of Energy: Al Gore
Secretary of Education:  Me, cause it's my dream team.
Sec. Veterans Affairs:  Karen Kwiatkowski

HUD:  shut down, because the government shouldn't be involved in home loans, and local communities should take control of their own "development" and only go to the federal government when they see fit.
Homeland Security: shut down (because the duties described here can easily fit under the departments of Defense and Justice).
I felt these two department closures were necessary as an attempt to shrink the budget crises and federal government bureaucracy. I also considered shutting down commerce and divvying it out to treasury, state, and labor -- but our country is in such a bad financial shape I'm hesitant to cut any of it's financial oversight departments just yet).

Clears throat please note I have two former Reagan financial advisors and eight conservatives total (not all the conservatives are necessarily Republicans -- some are Libertarians or Republicans who recently switched to Independents (thanks Bush II for forcing some to make that change!)).

I picked politicians/intellectuals I feel are balanced enough to WANT to work with both sides and sincere enough they put middle class families and values first -- not wealth and power. I really wish those characteristics were easier to find in today's crop of Government leaders. Sigh.

Thoughts

I guess it is time for my yearly reflection on motherhood. The last time I posted about the joys of staying at home, I about gave my parents giggle heart attacks. They just could not imagine their little girl (ie stubborn, fight the mold, sometimes tomboy) dressed in an apron, closing the oven door with her high heels, and holding out a fresh hot meal for the family each day promptly at 5:00pm. Their giggles were well deserved, I don't even own high heels!

I'm not sure this post will give them laughs, nor create that image. But I just feel like I need to write something, and the bulging belly I've grown over the last couple weeks put motherhood on my brain.

Like teaching, motherhood is a job that actually requires the skills of many other trades. I'm a budgeter, cook, cleaner, comforter, entertainer, boss, novice couponer, intermediate tax filer, and hopefully soon an advanced gardener/canner (one can dream, right?).

I don't list these "skills" to try and sound boastful (trust me, I'd enjoy life more if I'd never learned the ins and outs of our tax code or if I had the money to pay for a "cleaner"); I list these things because I'm actually surprised by how much I enjoy some of them.

I've never been frugal or moneywise. I still wouldn't call myself either of those per say, but I do love budgeting our finances and finding ways to cut back. Saving money is fun (and kind of addicting) and finding ways to stretch your dollar is fun (and kind of addicting). I've always enjoyed cooking and baking, I have two grandmothers and a dear mom to thank for that. They always made yummy food, and I was able to watch/help every now and then. Still, I left home with basic skills. And I was always too afraid to stretch them. Now, and I partly have Food Network and my hubby to thank for this, I love finding new recipes that seem just a bit more difficult than any I've done before. I love finding ways to make typical store bought items (fruit roll ups, granola bars, etc) from scratch in my very own kitchen. Doing so helps me find satisfaction in both my cooking and budgeting strengths.

My point? Well, if I have one ... it's simply that I'm surprised by how much I enjoy little homemaker tasks. On that note though, I'm SUPER grateful I didn't spend my teen and young adult years day dreaming about my homemaking years. Sure, I always had a secret list of "future children" names, but that's about as deeply as I understood motherhood. I guess I've always just strived to prepare enough for the future that it doesn't blind side me and live just enough in the past that I'm continually grateful for my experiences. Living in the present can be difficult (what with dreamy pasts and bright futures and all) but I've tried to make the joy of living now a mini-motto.


To take things in a totally different direction. Fellow teachers often ask if I'll ever go back to the profession. I obviously don't have a glass ball that lets me see into the future -- but I'm fairly certain the answer is yes. Even if we have no financial need for my career, and as much as I love my current job, I just don't see myself being satisfied with this gig forever. Obviously, I know motherhood lasts forever, but I'm referring more to the stay at home homemaker gig. I often hear people say "I'm just not cut out for staying at home." I totally understand that statement and I think one day I'll even empathize with it.

Learning to be a homemaker has presented it's own challenges and fulfillments, and right now it is perfect for our family. But I do hope there comes a day I just need to scale it back to "part-time" and get back behind school walls. I guess that stubborn little - go against the mold - tomboy is still living happily inside me. That, or part of my "preparing for the future" attitude is just hoping I'll learn to run a home well enough that it can survive without my continued presence each day.  

Recipe of the Week: Conga Lime Pork

Ben found this recipe in our Taste of Home magazine and we decided to give it a try (or two). I fully plan on adding this to our rotation of regular family meals. The flavors blend together for a perfectly yummy dish, and the prep is really quite simple.

Mmmmm, tender juicy pulled pork, sweet corn bread to soak up the flavors, and a nice crunch of simple slaw --- what a divine dish!

What you'll need:
Salt
Pepper
1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (2 to 3 lbs).
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup water
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped (we don't seed ours, and they aren't too spicy)*
3 1/2 cups broccoli coleslaw mix (about 10 ounces)
1 medium mango, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp. lime juice (about one lime)
1 1/2 tsp grated lime peel
6 prepared corn muffins, halved

1. Sprinkle salt and pepper over roast.  In a large skillet, brown pork in oil on all sides.  Transfer meat to a 3 - 4 quart slow cooker.
2.  In the same skillet, saute onion until tender.  Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Add water, chipotle peppers, and molasses, stirring to loosen up any bits on the pan.  Pour over pork.  Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or until meat is tender.
3. Remove roast; cool slightly. Skim fat from cooking juices. Shred pork with two forks and return to slow cooker; heat through.
4. In a large bowl combine the coleslaw mix, mango, lime juice, lime peel and  salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place muffin halves cut side down on an ungreased baking sheet.  Broil 4 in from the heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly toasted.  Serve pork with muffins, top with slaw.

The thing I love about this recipe (besides the taste) is that all the steps can be done while you wait for the next step.  Meaning, I cut the onion while the pork browns, then I cut the garlic and peppers while the onions saute. I make the slaw and corn muffins while the pork cools. Then we gobble it up.  Reid loved the pork, and the whole dish combined in one bite (but I let him snack on the pork and the mango seed while I got it all ready ... have to give him something to stay out of my way). Ben and I both really love this dish. There is enough left over to feed our family three times.

*Don't be puzzled by the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  Make this chicken taco recipe later in the week -- and you'll use up most the can (found in the mexican aisle of your grocery store).  Plus, the peppers keep really well refrigerated in a tupperware. Between the two recipes (tacos and conga lime pork) I have never had any chipotle peppers go to waste.

Rainy Days

It's been pretty overcast the last couple days, and I've tried my hardest not to resort to TV. Yesterday was a success (today, not so much ... Reid just saw Elmo on his drinking cup and quickly closed the book we were reading and lunged for the remote -- but we are about to bundle up and go for a walk). 

I put a scoop of oats and a scoop of flour together in a pan, thinking Reid would eagerly mix them together.  He was actually being quite a pretty boy at first.  He didn't like how the flour stuck to his hand even after he tried to wipe it away.  So, I had to get down and mix it all up and "play."  Watching me do it seemed to convince him the flour wasn't dangerous ... and he spent the next hour making a mess all over the kitchen floor (which he was happy to help clean up, the boy loves a broom)!  We added water to some of the mix as well, and mad the little ball you can see in his cup.  Ball is possibly his favorite word, so that ball kept him pretty happy.

Then for dinner, we had Spanish Rice whichhe LOVED! I love that he feeds himself completely now, and I don't even mind the mess. Dad just took him right to the bath after dinner and I cleaned up the kitchen (which was perfect since it was too cloudy to do our usual evening family walk).

He LOVES his baths! And last night's was extra long. So overall the rainy day inside wasn't so bad. I just wish they wouldn't happen for days in a row. But it sure is green and gorgeous around here, so I guess I'll take it. 

A PS for last week's posts

Rest assured, I'm done typing my own thoughts on homeschooling.  But I just read an enlightening article written from a mother who calls herself a homeschool guru, and all her kids now attend public school. If you are interested in reading it, click on my favorite sentence from the article to go directly to the link.

(In public school) they would be able to take advantage of opportunities and methods of teaching that I couldn't dream of providing.

If that sentence is the only thing you learn from all my homeschooling posts, I'm satisfied.