A Common Shepherdess

Things can get a little cramped in a motorhome. This evening, however, we girls had the motorhome to ourselves. My husband took our two boys to a barbershop concert. While our 11-month-old daughter amused herself by rolling oranges up and down the hallway, our oldest girl and I had fun eating popcorn (made on the stove top, of course!) and admiring at all the dresses the women were wearing at the Oscars. Our oldest daughter is only three and she thought all the women looked like princesses. I asked if she wanted to wear her Cinderella dress that she got for Christmas. She said, "No, it tickles right here," and motioned to her left shoulder. Sadly, like her mother, it looks like she will choose comfort over fashion. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to dress up more often and look "fancy", as my oldest son would say (as in, "Daddy, was Mommy fancy when you met her?").

The day before we left Oregon for Arizona my husband brought home a little Subaru Justy. He was excited that it weighed about 500 lbs less than the small Mazda truck we had planned to tow behind our motorhome. This light little car has been sitting on a mechanic's rack for over a week now. Something in one of the wheels broke and the mechanic is still waiting for a part. (I'm thankful we are in walking distance of a grocery store, library, and my husband's place of work.) The auto repair shop shares the lot with the RV dealer where my husband works. The mechanic felt badly that our part still hadn't arrived. He offered for our use a white stretch limousine. What would you do if you had a limo all evening? Get a sitter for the kids and paint the town with your husband? Dress up and cruise the downtown area? Get a friend to play chauffeur? If you are anything like us, you would put your four kids (three of whom were barefoot) into the posh car, stop at garage sale...

RV kitchens are not very big. We don't have one of those beautiful RVs with four slides. (We can keep dreaming though!) Considering the area in which I had to work . . . Dinner turned out pretty well! I don't know why I wanted to make all that food. I guess it's been a while since I cooked a big dinner. Since space is limited, I tend to stick with easy meals like tacos!

On the menu tonight: Bayou Red Beans and Rice Chicken Etouffee from The Joy of Cooking Rinse and pat dry: 4-5 lbs chicken parts Mix together: 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1/2 tsp dried basil 1/4 tsp ground red pepper Rub all over the chicken pieces. Pour into a brown paper bag: 1 cup flour Shake 4 pieces of chicken at a time to coat with flour; remove and shake off excess. Repeat until all the chicken is coated. Reserve the flour. Heat in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat: 3 Tbsp vetegtable oil Brown chicken pieces on both sides, about 5 minutes each side. Remove chicken from skillet and leave about 3 Tbsp of fat in the skillet. Reduce heat to medium. Using a wooden spoon, stir in 3 Tbsp of reserved flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until roux is almost as dark as milk chocolate. This may take as long as...

Happy New Year! Year of the Pig We are all waiting to meet our niece from China! But I know we aren't nearly as anxious as my brother and sister-in-law. :)

This picture about sums up Sun City, Arizona. The beautiful clear, blue skies, tall palm trees, clean streets....and golf carts. Today, I saw a golf cart made by Hummer. Yes, a Hummer golf cart. I've seen golf carts that look like miniature PT Cruisers. There are even special parking spaces for golf carts at the grocery stores!

The Shepherdess (1889) ( Pastourelle ) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau I love this painting. Bouguereau did another one with this same model called The Bohemian. I remember first seeing The Bohemian on a junior high field trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I chose it for the topic of my report and even bought a postcard of it. Okay, so she isn't a real shepherdess, just a model, but I still like it. As a mom, my job is to guide, nurture and guard my four little lambs to adulthood. As a homeschool mom, I get to teach them too. Not just about life but also the three R's and everything else that goes with it. The shepherding lifestyle is nomadic. That certainly describes us! We are currently living in our motorhome in Arizona while my husband is down here for work.