My Week
Here are some what's in my hand things we did this week:
Our middle two girls made a huge batch of whole wheat crescent rolls for home ec in our home school. We couldn't quite eat them all and home-baked bread doesn't keep as long as store bought. So our 11 year old made bread pudding.
No meat for supper- tortillas, cheese, and refried beans. Millions of people eat this way, but with less cheese. Why should we feel deprived?
I always wear my hair back in a barrette. Always. I misplaced my barrette- so a pony tail had to do. We women can really let our hair have entirely too much influence on how the day goes.
An excess of junk mail- mail order catalogs in particular. I made a basket using folded pages from that catalog and the directions on this website: 
This is just the test. I hope to do better next time, perhaps alternating by using some pages with pictures and some with print. Then I'll teach the youngest two how to do this. We may use them for gift packages if we can perfect the look.
I was given a gift of Chocolate kisses- too many for one person to eat, not enough to share satisfactorily- the girls made peanut butter cookies with one kiss on top of each cookie.
Tires, given to us free by a tire company in town- for our new retaining wall. It is gorgeous? 
No- but it is functional. That hill was washing down into our driveway every time it rained. The wall is almost completely free (we let a friend pay off some money he owed us putting this up instead), and if you accidentally back your car into it the damage will be much, much less than if we had a brick wall. I'll be planting some vining plants inside the tires and eventually I hope plants will be growing over it to obscure the junk-yard look.
An extra tire or two for tire swings.
baking soda and water when I was out of antacids.
Using felt, pipe-cleaners, embroidery floss, cloves, and other supplies I picked up a while ago the thrift shop because they looked like they'd be useful, one of my daughters made this little doll.
Was I totally successful in sticking to 'what's in my hand?' No, I was not. We rented Ratatouille instead of playing a game at home or checking a movie out from the library. I was sent to the store to pick up one bottle of soda and ended up getting three (I saw pomegranite 7-up!) and two packages of candy (I saw raspberry creme filled chocolate kisses!). I overbought from our grocery co-op this month (but it was all on sale!). Part of the family ended up 45 miles from home at lunch time and bought fast food (but they ordered the cheapest thing on the menu!) . I made a long distance phone call on the land-line instead of waiting for the free cell phone to get home because I was impatient.
Notice all those excuses I had? The whole world is conspiring against me, creating the new, the different, the temporary sale. The world caters to malcontents. Why on earth do we need a dozen new flavors of soda? Pomegranite 7:up, Cranberry Sprite, Raspberry Ginger-Ale- all of these are created and marketed on the premise that whatever you have on hand is not enough. Something else is better. It's newer, so it must be better. Being content with what you have is boring.
My husband once took a sales course, and he said they learned that the fear of losing is greater than the desire to gain. That's why salesmen put time limits on their offers. If you don't accept the offer this wake, you may never get another chance! Cherry Cordial Chocolate kisses just here for the season! The Girl Scout council knows what it's doing by only making their cookies available once a year.
Every week we make choices, some of them good, some bad, and some of them just the best we can do based on circumstances outside our control. All of them are made in an absolute cacophony of temptations, of siren calls to be different, to taste something new, to grab an opportunity before it's too late. So, we blow it. (For what it's worth, my family loves raspberry ginger-ale, but pomegranite 7-up was only so-so).
Fortunately, there is something new available to each of us every morning. We get a new day and new opportunity to try again.
What were some of your successes this past week?
Updated November 19th to add this link to the recipe(s) for the crescent rolls.
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14 Responses to “My Week”
November 16th, 2007 at 7:08 am
My daughter and I really like the basket and doll.
November 16th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Not successes so much as trying to see the bright side of things. I’ve linked.
November 16th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Love the paper basket & pipe cleaner doll. But I especially love the perspective offered in the 2nd to last paragraph. I am all too susceptible to the newest trends in grocery and household cleaning products. My husband and I label our desire for the new as “material madness” (thanks, Wayne Watson!). But your 2nd to last paragraph reminded me of this: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 The Lord is my portion. He is sufficient…all I ever need. Therefore, I can stand firm against the temptation to acquire more…because His mercies are new (a gift) every morning!
Thanks for sharing!
November 16th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Thank you so much for reminding me that more isn’t always better. Next week I will be doing a menu with what we have here instead of browsing cookbooks and making whatever looks good. I expect to save a bundle!
November 16th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
This post was a real encouragement to me & a reminder for ME to use what’s in my hand.
Yesterday I finished up my shopping for Thanksgiving dinner and one of the things that I bought was pumpkin pie spice, even though I already have all of the individual spices in my pantry. Now, why did I do that?! (Probably just because the recipe calls for it…)
Well, after reading this post I’ve decided to quit kicking myself; I’m simply going to take it back to Kroger and return it. So, THANK YOU – that’s $3.69 back in my pocket, and one less thing in my already very full pantry!
November 16th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Morning sickness helped me. I’ve stayed home far more than usual, and was not terribly tempted to overspend when I finally did shop for groceries. Except for several cans of beets, a huge bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce and a few more oddities.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Oh thanks, now I REALLY want to see if our local store has Cranberry Sprite! : )
(And thanks for the review so I don’t waste my time and money on the 7-Up.)
November 16th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Share the recipe for whole wheat crescent rolls? please?
thanks!!
November 16th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
That doll is precious. And, the top dish looks especially yummy…
November 17th, 2007 at 12:50 am
“We women can really let our hair have entirely too much influence on how the day goes.” — Ain’t that the TRUTH!!
As far as successes this week . . . my #1 was to be refreshed with taking risks instead of being in fear from them. I go back and forth all the time.
November 17th, 2007 at 11:59 am
I love the “Whats in my hand” theme. :0) This week we used:
* moose meat that was already in the freezer.
* veggies from our fall bounty
* I was give several containers of free totmatos from a local farm stand. I made these into yummy tomato sandwhiches, which everyone loves!!
* We have been working on craft items for a craft fair that we will be attending. We used many items from around the house or outside for these projects.
* I had some OOPS paint on hand, so I have painting the area behind our stove and under our cabinets.
* We have a blessings basket at church and the kids picked up some great movies. I know we did not already have them, but they were free and I did not go out of my way to get them. ;0)
November 18th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
The concept of “what’s in my hand” (and it’s twin “use what you have”) is something I appreciate so much and is also something of which I need regular, consistent reminding. There have been precious few times recently when I’ve had the itch to run out and throw money at a problem or challenge when I haven’t subsequently discovered that the answer was right under my roof all the time. And yet, I haven’t quite seemed to have internalized that message. Perhaps undoing a lifetime of “programming” will take longer than I might have preferred.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Another request for the crescent rolls recipe – please?
November 19th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
I’ve posted the recipe(s) for the rolls here.
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