This week's Works-For-Me Wednesday is a themed edition: Five Ingredients Or Less! Offer up your simplest recipes and link back up here on Wednesday.
And if you could make them cheap and able to cook themselves, I'd be very grateful.
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June 2008
Catch and Release and a Firefly Named Larry
This post was originally published on July 23, 2007.
Nearly every night, there is a meeting called to order promptly at 8:45, in my front yard. It's the Council of Sweaty-Headed Neighborhood Kids Who Are Trying To Put Off Bedtime As Long As Possible, meeting for the serious task of catching as many fireflies as their old pickle jars can hold.
Every night the routine is the same: the Council comes to order with a squeal of joy when the first "twinkle" appears. It's a summer symphony: the slamming of jar lids, shouts of "I got one!", wails of anguish when one gets away. There is the thump of little bodies colliding in the dusk, the hiss of Off! spray, and the ever-present song of the cicada humming behind it all.
And there is the same conversation every time: do we keep our fireflies, or let them go? They'll live longer in the wild, but oh! the tempting joy of a pickle jar of fireflies on a bedside table in the dark.
As a testament to the charity of children, the fireflies are usually released, often with a naming ceremony (strangely, there's always a Larry--why is there always a Larry?) and a bittersweet farewell. The Council adjourns for baths and bedtimes, and porch lights flicker on.
Goodnight, Larry. Until tomorrow.
An Editorial Calendar Will Keep You Sane :: Blogging Basics 101
Handmade At Home: Keeping the Skills Alive :: Simple Mom
Visuwords :: If you love words, you'll love this site!
Finding Your Bloggy Identity :: BooMama. This is Sophie's summary of her portion of our talk last weekend. It is excellent.
Springy Flower Pot Desserts :: Pioneer Woman. For the last two of you on the planet that aren't already reading Pioneer Woman, don't miss this fun post.
ConKerr Cancer :: Handmade pillowcases for pediatric cancer patients. This is a lovely idea. (Hat tip to Dot.)
Y'all Are the Best Knock-Off Artists EVER
A couple of months ago, I posted about how Jenni and I met up at a local store and saw some adorable (and simple) canvases designed for kids' rooms.
(And since the entirety of this post is aimed at gently ripping off imitating their idea, let's just be subtle and call our particular store...um...Shmottery Shmarn.)
Several of you e-mailed me to report that you actually tried out this clever little crafty idea, and I did too. With the kind permission of the e-mailers in question, I thought I'd show you what amazing things people are up to with their canvases.
Let's start with mine, because they're the least good in the batch. I used super-cheap Wal Mart canvas, painted them, and used decoupage glue (Modge Podge is my favorite) to adhere the designs cut from scrapbook paper:
There were too many ripples in the paper. When I try this again, I'll probably try a wallpaper roller to help smooth out the wrinkles. Because Modge Podge is FOREVER, and once those wrinkles set in, you're sunk.
Linds of This Abode used an old pair of jeans, fabric and ribbon to do this adorable canvas:
Amy blogs at Journey to Adoption and Jonathan's Journey, and she tackled an extremely impressive canvas collage for her nursery:
Tami of Muddlin' Thru Motherhood made this canvas as a baby shower gift for a friend:
Tracye of TracyeCakes didn't mess with the decoupage, she just painted. And look how great it turned out, customized with the child's name:
Here's a funky idea by Anne--wouldn't this be cute in a preteen's room?
Danielle of Mississippi Mama did this little green and blue number:
Kate did these beautiful flowers using only Modge Podge (in matte finish) and paper, and she said the entire project cost her only $16:
My sister-in-law, who has artistic ability coming out her ears, did these great pieces for my nieces' room:
Kristin of Grace Violet did an entire post on her decoupage adventure--go read the details (and see great pictures) here.
If you try your own version of this project, I'd love to see the results!
When a Girl Has Big Brothers...
...she learns that it's much harder to make Polly Pocket consistently act like a lady.
Works For Me: Nuttin'
I'm so badly in need of a day of catch up that I can't see straight. So I'm punting Works-For-Me Wednesday over to you girls this week. Dazzle me with your cleverness while I curl up in a ball and wait for the In-Box-Cleaner-Upper-Fairy to descend upon my house.
Leave your WFMW links below. First timers, check out the guidelines here. (And remember that next week is WFMW: The Five-Ingredients-Or-Less Edition, at the request of several of you. We'll share our simplest recipes and see if we can get the heck out of the kitchen.)
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Growing Your Traffic
The first sesssion the girls and I taught this weekend was called "Blogging: What Works and What Doesn't". We tried to divide the whole deal into three distinct parts.
Sophie's part was called "Finding Your Voice", I handled "Growing Your Traffic", and Melanie discussed "Setting Your Boundaries". I think the two of them may plan to discuss their own segments at their own blogs later this week. The sessions were recorded (the thought of which made me want to do a little bit of throwing up), and I believe the recordings may be available for purchase later. I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, below is the gist of what I had to say about "Growing Your Traffic" to the SheSpeaks girls. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I've learned a few things over the last few years (most of it by trial and error):
(And before I go any further, I'll tell you what I told them, which is that the subject of traffic is a tricky thing. Always remember that your worth is IN NO WAY tied up in how many people visit your blog, though the immediacy of blogging makes it tempting to, occasionally, feel that way. Reality checks are good, when it comes to keeping blogging/traffic/etc. in perspective.)
Anytime I've been with a group of bloggers, the subject of traffic always seems to come up. How do you get it, and how do you keep it?
And as much as I'd like to offer you a magic formula that guarantees you thousands of visitors, we all know it doesn't work that way. There's no magic, no gimmick. It's hard work, and maybe even just a bit of being in the right place at the right time.
Having said that, there are a few things I'd recommend to a beginning blogger.
WRITE WELL. Sophie spoke excellently about this, and it cannot be stated enough. Blogging is about content, and it is important to write with a voice that is consistent, uniquely yours, and clear.
WRITE OFTEN. Another big one. People want to know they can regularly expect to find some good content at your site. Plus, (as with most things), the more you write, the better you get at it.
ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN THE BLOG COMMUNITY. If you're writing well and writing often, but no one knows you're out there, it won't get you very far! Here are a few ways to dive in with both feet:
1. Comment generously on others' blogs. And don't just do this with the ulterior motive of drawing people back to yours, but because you want to be a part of the blogging dialogue as a whole.
2. Blog carnivals are a great way to jump into the community. Here's a definition, and here's a good resource for finding a carnival that might fit your style and interests.
3. Up to a certain point, it’s a good idea to respond individually to as many comments as you can. You may reach the point where you have too many comments for this to be practical, but it’s still a good practice to respond to many of them, perhaps on a random basis. Additionally, be sure you have a clear and simple way for your readers to reach you via e-mail.
4. Blogrings or webrings (the terms are used interchangeably) are described at length here. They're a great way to find some community on line, though I'd recommend you limit yourself to a handful of ones that have a track record of being well-managed.
5. Definitely stay on top of your Technorati rating. By their own description:
Technorati is the leading monitor of the world of weblogs. Technorati is a real-time search engine that is the largest source of fresh information about the global and local conversations going on all across the Web. Technorati allows you to find out what people are saying about you, your company, your products, your competitors, your politics and, other areas of interest, on the Internet in real time.
This is a widely recognized measure of what's going on at a blog, and it's very easy to use. Their technical support is excellent.
There are hundreds of other tools that can contribute to the growing of traffic (Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Kirtsy, and on and on forever). Investigate these and try them out, because they can be fun and helpful. But remember, don't focus on the tools to the exclusion of writing things that engage your readers. To quote BooMama, content is king!
6. Pursue opportunities for guest blogging. Not every blogger uses guest bloggers, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. If you're interested in growing traffic, this is a great way to attract more readers.
7. Write in a way that engages your readers in your topic. People read blogs for different reasons than they read books, magazines or newspapers. Blogs offer a sense of community and immediate feedback that isn't present elsewhere, and they give people a chance to be heard. Write to this. Start conversations and listen sincerely to what people have to say.
When you start discussing feedback, of course, this will bring you around to the seedy underbelly of blogging: the negative commenter. Unfortunately, if you blog for any length of time, I can just about promise that it will happen to you. And no matter how long you've been blogging, it's never easy to take. How to deal with it is a personal decision, but here's what I'd suggest:
1. Don't take it personally. Blogging can be a little like driving--just as people do things behind the wheel they wouldn't normally do, they'll sometimes say things on a blog they wouldn't normally say. Often a negative comment is just somebody letting off steam.
2. Feel free to ignore it, especially if the insult is baseless and ungrounded.
3. Be careful about deleting comments. Blogging is, at its heart, a dialogue, and deleting comments hinders this. I've had to do it before, but I've done it as sparingly as I can.
4. If you feel you must respond, be brief, and inject humor and grace. I wish I could tell you I've always done this. Sometimes I've let myself get all twisted up and have responded before in ways I regret. But I'm learning...
There was probably more, but with my notes in a trashcan somewhere in North Carolina, that's the best I can remember. Be sure and visit Sophie and Melanie's blogs later for their part of the presentation.
My Weekend, In Stream-of-Consciousness Format, Because I Am Tired
I went to SheSpeaks in North Carolina and officially confirmed my suspicion that writing a real, live book with real, live pages that you actually turn with your real, live hands is a very overwhelming proposition. It makes blogging seem more lovely than ever.
You know what is not lovely? Pulling a business card out of your purse to present to someone and finding that there is a raisin stuck to it.
Sophie, Melanie and I taught three sessions on blogging, and it went well, even though I would still rather barbecue my big toe than speak to a crowd. Here is photographic proof of my public speaking endeavor:
That's me on the right. Evidently I have a mullet.
On the last evening, we slipped away for a dinner with other bloggers, and we did a little window shopping. I tried on a pair of $500 Jimmy Choos, just for grins.
$500?? That's a lot of Compassion kids. And the shoes weren't anything special. Flee, girls, flee, and hie thee to Payless.
Speaking of which, the nail gun shoes were less than satisfactory. I made the mistake of wearing them--for the first time--on a day that I would be standing for a one-hour presentation. Oh, there were blisters and pain. But oh, they were cute. And not a soul made "ca-CHUNK" nail gun noises at me, for which I was ever grateful.
I met some absolutely lovely blogging ladies, including some ladies I'd been reading for a long time. FiddleDeeDee is just as cute in person as I knew she'd be, Robin of Pensieve is a hoot (and she brought me some Red Diamond iced tea bags, so she has bought my loyalty for all eternity). Missy of It's Almost Naptime is my smart and funny Presbyterian sistah, Jo-Lynne of Musings has an infectious laugh, and sweet Annie is a dynamic young 20-something that will--y'all mark my words--do big things.
I shouldn't have started listing everybody, because they were all so great. You can see links to more of the bloggers in attendance here (thanks to Lisa for putting this together).
You know what happens when bloggers get together? We sit together at a table, pull out our laptops, and read to each other from our Bloglines accounts, pausing only to snap a picture, which we will immediately post on our blogs (Tina, why weren't you in this picture?):
Good times.
Tomorrow I'll post a summary of what we discussed in our blogging sessions.
(Photos courtesy of Dawn at Barefoot Blog Design, since my camera spent the weekend on my kitchen counter back at home.)
Checking In From Charlotte...
Remember how I told you I'd be checking from the conference here to give you reports on all the great things I'm learning?
Yes, well, I lied.
I am so busy with the talking and the learning and the note-taking and the etcetera that I have no room left in my head for a coherent thought.
But I promise, I'll fill you in first thing next week with some good details.
In the meantime, my I share this utterly heartwarming sound file that my sons e-mailed me to last night? As I sat here in my hotel room, missing my brood and thinking fond thoughts of them, this sweet message gently landed in my in-box and touched my soul:
Visual Homemaking Journal :: A Holy Experience (be sure to see the links for other resources)
High Costs Land On School Cafeteria Trays :: MSNBC
Bibs For the Boy :: Hop Skip Jump These are so cute!
More Than 60,000 Bees Removed From Man's Home :: FoxNews. That's a bad day, y'all.
Ask Your Mom About Her Medical History :: The Today Show
Listen to the new Third Day album for free! :: Third Day
What Fathers Do :: World On the Web (hat tip to Missy)
Our Priorities Are Just As Straight As They Can Be
My third child is fiercely competitive. The kind of competitve that turns a simple game of dodge ball into a reason for living.
This week has been vacation Bible school, and they have been taking up a missions offering all week. And they've made it a competition to see if the boys or the girls can bring the most money. The winning gender receives that ultimate prize of summertime childhood: a popsicle party.
But you would think they were giving away a Mercedes, based on the response of my son Joseph.
"MOM!" he moaned at the end of the first day. "The girls are winning! I have to send money so the boys will win!"
I told him that what I was sure he meant to say was that he wanted to send money to further the kingdom of our Lord.
Oh, yeah. That.
This morning, while I'm away from home, I talked to him on the phone as he was en route to VBS. Clearly, he carried the weight of a dark and fallen world on his shoulders.
"The girls are still ahead," he sighed.
"That's great!" I said. "Just think how many more children will hear about Jesus because of how much you all have given."
He wasn't impressed. Based on his response, I think there's a decent chance I'm going to return from NC to find that my seven year old has hocked all our furniture for cash.
But by gosh, he'll have a popsicle.
Some Thoughts On Flying
I'm sitting in here in the O'Hare airport, on my way to SheSpeaks, pausing for a moment of thankfulness that I have no sense of direction. If I did, I might be a little stressed out that I'm heading from Oklahoma to North Carolina via Chicago. My husband, who has a compass embedded somewhere in his brain, would be having a stroke right now.
I've told you how I feel about flying. You might think I'd be getting more comfortable with it, since I've done a good bit of it lately. Instead, I'm just assuming I've significantly raised my odds of crashing in a fiery deathtrap.
But other than that, I'm doing fine.
Am I the only one who feels very self-conscious when flying? Like I should be trying very hard, in every way, NOT to look like a terrorist? I arrived in my home terminal this morning carrying my perfume in my hand, after forgetting it and grabbing it on the way out the door. Just before I checked in, I opened up my luggage to get the perfume packed securely. But as I sat there in the terminal with my (open) bags around me, a bottle of liquid in my hand, I felt like making an announcement to bystanders:
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS IS A BOTTLE OF LIZ CLAIBORNE PERFUME FROM TJ MAXX. IT IS IN NO WAY FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC OR OTHERWISE EXPLOSIVE, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA."
With national security on my mind, I finished checking in and proceeded on through the security checkpoint. The man in front of me did not have his boarding pass. The screener, a sweet girl of about 21, giggled and said, "Well, I'll forgive you this time, but next time you'll have to pay me off with chocolate."
AND THEN SHE WAVED HIM ON THROUGH.
And there you have it, folks. The security of an entire nation can be bought with a bag of Hershey's kisses.
(Though I will confess that there are certain days of the month when I think that is a perfectly reasonable price to pay.)
I thought about drop-kicking the guy--it's my patriotic duty, after all--but then I remembered that I don't know how to drop-kick. And also that it might be inappropriate to be arrested on my way to a conference sponsored by a group called Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Last thing, and this has nothing to do with anything, except that it was hilarious--when I boarded the plane back in Oklahoma, I sat in front of a guy who was...well, he appeared to be a first-time flyer. Sometimes you can just tell. He wore a giant ball cap and an even bigger belt buckle and he chatted cheerfully (nervously?) with everyone around him. He was positively delightful.
We taxied down the runway, sped up, and at the precise moment of lift-off--I'M NOT KIDDING YOU--the guy went, "Wheeee, Doggie."
It was adorable.
I love Oklahoma.
Barring any techincal difficulties, I'll check in from North Carolina with a report about the fantastic stuff I'm learning. See you then!
My Bracelet
My trip to Africa isn't ever buried very deeply in my thoughts. It's always right there, like a persistent friend--the kind that pushes you to better, even when you don't want to be. In the middle of a run to soccer practice, or a trip to a grocery store, or during Sunday morning communion. It's just right there.
On our first full day in Uganda, we visited Deliverance Church, a church that runs a Compassion project in the heart of Kampala's slums. I saw poverty that I had already known existed all over the world. But I saw it, and I touched it, and I smelled it. I sat in the room with it. I prayed over it. And it rattled me to my core.
Before we left that day, the pastor's wife placed an orange-and-white beaded bracelet in my hand. It was made by the children at that project, to sell in the market. I slipped it into my pocket.
My fingers played with the tiny beads on the plane ride home. My mind was racing with a dozen different conflicting emotions. Part of my heart, the part that needs for things to fit neatly together, 
wanted to forget the heartache I'd seen. But the part of my heart that needs justice and hope wanted desperately to remember. And so I put the bracelet on my wrist.
Four months later, I still haven't taken it off.
It's an overly sentimental gesture on my part, I know. Wearing this bracelet doesn't wipe out poverty in Uganda, or bring back Dissan's parents, or heal the babies dying from AIDS. But I wear it anyway.
It's a tangible reminder, to my own conflicted heart, of intangible truths about suffering and hope and mercy and courage. I look at it at least once a day, wrapped around my wrist next to my pretty watch, on the same hand with my diamond wedding band. I see it when I hold the steering wheel of my nice car and type on my new laptop in my air-conditioned, roomy home.
And sometimes I shudder with the injustice of it. I'd be lying if I told you that I'd yet--even now, months later--reconciled it in my heart and head. I still don't get it.
But I'll wear that bracelet--I'll wear it until it falls off. It will remind me to tell my children what I saw, to invest in my sponsor kids as long as they need me. It reminds me to live a life of gratitude for the unmerited blessings in my life. It will remind me to trust in a God who does know how all these strange pieces fit together. It will help me remember.
I'll do this because remembering these children honors them. It isn't everything, but it's something.
And I have to do something.
You can do something too. Have you been thinking about sponsoring a child? This would be a good day for it.
Works For Me: Liquid Eyeliner
I posted about the Great Eyeliner Crisis of 2007 over six months ago on a WFMW Backwards Edition. Several of you suggested I try waterproof liquid eyeliner.
And my life has been changed.
Or, more specifically, the part of my life that involves my eyelids.
But still, it's significant.
For the first time ever I'm wearing eyeliner without doing raccoon eyes, even on days I wear my contacts. No smudging! And I've even been using a cheap brand (Maybelline) with great results.
It's taken me a few months to get good at applying it. I had a few days of looking like Ozzy Osbourne before I figured it out. The real key is to apply it not by painting it in a straight line, but applying it a series of tiny little dots. The line goes on thinner that way.
I thought about taking a picture of my eye to show you the results, but then I decided that would be the weirdest thing I've ever done in my life. So I reconsidered.
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Hey Look! A Recipe!
You know how there are all those blogs out there that post gorgeous, mouth-watering recipes, and there are photographs of the ingredients all symmetrically arranged on the counter in which the lighting is just perfect and you just swear you can actually hear a pot bubbling cheerfully on the stove?
Yes, well, this is not one of those blogs.
If you ever see a recipe posted at this blog, you can be sure that it has been posted because:
A) It is cheap.
B) The ingredients are easy to find,
C) and there aren't too many of them.
D) And this recipe will get you out of the kitchen as quickly as possible.
Those are the only kinds of recipes I use.
Ever.
Actually, one time I took a dish to a potluck, and it contained dill weed. I was pretty proud of that. Dill weed is an exotic ingredient, by my standards.
Anyway, back to the recipe. I think I found it in a magazine, and I fixed it for my family last week--it was a hit.
BRUSCHETTA CHICKEN BAKE
Ingredients:
1 19 ounce can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing Mix for chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used garlic powder, because minced garlic cloves? Exotic!)
1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bit-sized pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
2 cups Mozzarella shredded cheese, separatedPREHEAT oven to 400. Place tomatoes in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix and garlic. Stir until moistened.
PLACE chicken pieces in greased 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle w/ basil and 1 cup cheese. Top with stuffing mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
Serves 8.
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