You're Telling The Wrong Person

We have spent most of the past week with my family, as we have had family visiting from out of state (and then many of the closer family members have also come to visit).

A quick story of one of my favorite things that was said while they were visiting...

My two oldest nephews both go to the university that my eldest sister (their Mom) works at. I won't fill you in on her position just yet, but we'll just leave it that she works there.

Anyway, several family members were sitting around and talked about the university. Our Dad was surprised to hear about people coming from far away to go there, since it is not a huge or overly well known college (at least I had never heard of it, but that doesn't mean anything). My sister was telling him about one of their programs that is ranked very high in the nation for the field.

At that point, my almost 19 year old nephew (who is just about the sweetest and kindest teenager I know) chimed in that the program that he is in is really up and coming, and is moving up in rank. He then turned to his Mom and said, "...if you didn't know," as he finished up his statement (not in a sarcastic way, but an informative one).

She laughed and declared, "I'm the Dean of the College, yes, I did know."

I don't know why, but every single time I think about it, it still makes me giggle.

From Sick in Bed to 20 Guests for Dinner in About 48 Hours

About 48 hours ago, I was getting ready to go to the urgent care doctor on the 4th of July. I had been sick in bed for two days straight, with a fever that peaked just under 102 degrees.

That illness also included a pounding, unending headache. I also had horribly stiff muscles (especially my neck and shoulders) that then included me touching my chin to my chest about a thousand times as I said in my head, "Please don't let it me meningitis." (As a little side note -- apparently you can't touch your chin to your chest if you have meningitis.) Then there were the night sweats, inability to properly sleep, etc.

And, here we are, 48 hours later. I'm getting ready for having 20 people over for dinner tonight. Well, actually just 15 extra people, and then the five of us that would be here anyway, of course.

That's a big leap in just 48 hours, I think. Especially when you consider that I didn't know that 48 hours ago that I would be having everyone over. But, that's okay. It's family, and some that we rarely see, so it is a good thing.

If you were planning a meal for 20 with a couple of days notice, what would be on your menu? Would the menu be different at different times of year?

In all fairness, we originally planned to have at least a portion of those people over, but when I got sick, plans were off. Then, when I could do it, even more people could come.

We thought about some things that we already had in the house, to minimize what we had to buy, and we opted to grill out burgers (we already had some here at home), hot dogs (already had some of these too!), and tofu hot dogs. We'll also have corn on the cob, sauteed zucchini (from our garden), chips, and fresh fruit.

And, as an extra blessing, Eric already cleaned/totally disinfected the house this weekend after having two of the kids and I sick.

So, do share -- what would have been on your menu? Or, what's a go to quick meal you can throw together if you had even less time to prepare?

photo by linkerjpatrick

Many Little Blessings: June 2009 Recap

Thanks so much to all those sites that referred traffic here in June 2009. Here is this month's top 10 list:

1. We are THAT Family

2. Happy to be at Home

3. The Homeschool Classroom

4. The Lazy Organizer

5. Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

6. Life as Mom

7. Tammy's Recipes

8. The Finer Things in Life

9. 5 Minutes for Mom

10. Conversion Diary

And here some of the most popular links here at Many Little Blessings in June 2009:

1. 13 Uses for Homegrown Tomatoes

2. How I Do Our Menu Planning One Month at a Time

3. Create Your Own Craft Kit For an Inexpensive Gift

4. Old Toys Made New and Exciting

5. An Inexpensive Way to Advertise Your Blog

Sometimes I Think It Would Be Nice to Be Sick

I usually think about it when I am really busy. I wax poetic about how I would get a few days to do nothing and would just get to rest in bed.

I now am at the point where I realize that this kind of thinking is idiotic.

Jack and Molly have both been sick for part of the week, and then yesterday, I got sick. And, I remembered that the time spent not doing anything and staying in bed is not fun and it's not really restful. In fact, it stinks.

The kids are finally feeling better, so I'm praying to not be too far behind them. On the up side, I don't think I'll be wishing to be sick again any time soon.

photo by Sakurako Kitsa