Monday, June 14th. Today is Rebeca's birthday, but I had a training session today. Plus I teach a computer class on Monday evenings and Fito teaches Spanish so we had already planned on having Rebeca's party tomorrow.

However, Oklahoma was hit with rain today. The training ended early just so people could head for home. There was flash flooding everywhere. Interstates 35 and 44 were even closed and many, many people were stranded today.

I just got through calling and emailing people to tell them that we are canceling the party until next week.

I asked my children what they ate today and I heard cereal, granola, eggs, quesadillas, chips and salsa, PB and Jelly sandwiches. I must say that it is nice when they can defend for themselves AND I must note: I did not hear one complaint today and the poor children have had the same thing for 3 days in a row, now.

I told them that even though we were postponing Rebeca's birthday, that I would still cook a great meal tomorrow. I plan to make a Spanish Turkey and they want mashed potatoes instead of rice.

Tuesday, June 15th. Today was a crazy day! I got up, lifted weights, weeded a garden, then came inside and made a Spanish turkey. It was frozen, but I stuck in the roaster pan about 11:30 am and it is now ready. It is 5:00 pm and I just got back from traffic court. I did have to pay the speeding ticket I received when I took David to the ER, however, it is deferred and will not go on my record.

I did speak with one of the officers and the city attorney and they said the problem now is that many people are lying to the officers about going to the hospital, and besides, they do not want their officer to leave the city to follow someone to the hospital...so their policy is to just give the ticket and to encourage the individual to go in an ambulance.

This is the idiocy that our society now faces because of individuals who will not be responsible or trust worthy--the rest of us are punished!!

I was thinking about what could be done...for that is what I do for a living..is help develop procedures...what if the officer stopped the vehicle, just took the tag number down, gave the driver a form that explained that he or she had 10 days to report to city hall with the following: proof of insurance, registration, license, and proof of admittance to the Emergency room with justification. If the proof was not provided within 10 days, the driver would receive a $500 ticket for falsifying an emergency.

Would that work? I think so. That way good people are not punished for simply taking a loved one to the hospital, but evil people who are trying to beat the system are punished.

Well now, I will get off my soap box and get on with my day.

If you have not tried the popcicle recipe you need to. Wow! Are they good, but I only have lime jello left so today we made them with pectin. I was looking in the pantry to see if I could find some items when I found a case of pectin that I had bought last year on sale at the end of canning season. Pectin is used to make jelly's and jam, and it is like gelatin so we tried it. They are not frozen yet so I will have to report later how they came out. We used the same recipe, but substituted 1 box of pectin for the box of gelatin and then I added 1 more packet of kool-aid as pectin has no flavor.

I also made the PB Chews. We only have 2 bottles of corn syrup left....so...but I have quite a bit of maple syrup...so later I will try it with syrup and see how it works.

Fito, Matthew, Felipe, and David butchered some rabbits today. Each had to do 2. They are getting better at doing it and it is always a good feeling to put that meat in the freezer.

In the afternoon, they went to help a family move, while I cut up and washed 10 pound of potatoes. We will have mashed potatoes and corn with the turkey tonight. The reason I did so many potatoes is that I want leftovers so I can make potato soup, which is my mom's favorite food.

Wednesday, June 16th. Today was a fun day for me. I went to a luncheon with a new friend. I met Lin Stone, Saturday, at the service project. If you GOOGLE his name you will see he is the author of 39 books and many articles and has a website called talewins.com

He has already given me valuable advice on the formatting of the website and is willing to help me...hum...I didn't really want to go haul and cut wood, but I went because I felt like I needed to...intuition is key to making good decisions.

Well, Lin had invited me to a luncheon at the new Proton Cancer Center in Oklahoma City. Impressive stuff going on there. If you have cancer please research this new procedure!

Afterwards, I went to meet with a new client. It is a community organization that is in the process of applying for a new grant. I am going back today to help with the grant writing. I am excited about what they are doing and it should be really interesting to see if it all works out.

So, as you can see, my family was on their own. I asked the children what they ate, and I heard: granola, cereal, fried eggs, pizza, and leftovers. We still have some pizza crusts in the freezer (I buy them at Sam's club over by their little restaurant, by the case) and I had bought a case of pepperoni, that has lasted forever! I feel as though we will never finish the pepperoni. I use it in goulash, on pizza, with eggs, etc. But we have yet to deplete it. I put it in freezer bags so it would not be in one big box.

The boys and Fito went to mow a lawn for someone else yesterday and brought home 3 bags of small, very ripe peaches and apricots. Rebeca and I took the skins and pits out and then made Peach Crisp. It was a lot of work, but there is nothing like fresh peaches. Yum...that's what I am having for breakfast, tomorrow.

Oh, by the way, the popcicles still came out okay, using the pectin, instead. Yea!

Thursday, June 17 and Friday, June 18th Not much to report. I was gone both days so everyone was on their own. Some ate Ramon Noodles. Others eggs, still others ate the leftover Turkey, rice, and beans. I took the turkey to work as I don't like to eat out...lots of money and not as healthy.

I did take the leftover mashed potatoes and make potato soup. That is my Mom's favorite and she was so happy to see it. This "experiment" has been hard on her, too, as she likes her snacks and treats, but she hasn't complained and actually seems to enjoy the challenge. She was always good about canning food and having food storage.

I also prepared another bag of the peaches and stuck them in the freezer. I do not can in the summer. It is too hot. I just prepare stuff, put it into freezer bags and then can it in the winter. On a cold, snowy day, it is great to pull all the stuff from the freezer and make jam or salsa, or whatever.

You also save on electricity that way and you also divide your work up so you are not doing all the work at one time. I have done it this way now for years and it is a really good process.

I made homemade ice cream tonight and all week long, I had been emptying my ice from the ice maker into plastic tubs so I would have enough ice. I didn't have any pudding mix so I added corn starch as a thickener, but it left a different texture. The ice cream was okay, but not great. I definitely will buy lots of gelatin and pudding when this "experiment" is over to have in my food storage.

Saturday, June 19th. Today, Fito and I got up early and went to the flea market. We found an aluminum flat boat for $35 and a metal patio set for $50. An old rope (that we can use in the tree house we are going to build) for $5, and other stuff. We love a good garage sale, the flea market, and thrift stores.

I took the left over turkey and de-boned it and made enchiladas. They are more work than some foods, but there is nothing else quite like homemade enchiladas, rice, and beans.

Just a note: we have run out of American cheese slices, mozzarella cheese, sour cream, frozen strawberries, canned corn, chicken noodle soup, gelatin, and pudding mix. This next week is going to be even harder as cousins are coming, we will have more to feed, and I am really close to running out of many more items! What a challenge!

Sunday, June 20th. Today, was Father's day, but I didn't remember until it was almost time to go to church. Thank goodness, though, I had gotten up early and made bacon and waffles. I only have one package left of pancake mix...the kind where you only have to add water and maybe a little oil. I definitely will purchase more for my food storage. I also plan to buy more of the flavored instant oatmeal, and Malt-to-Meal and Cream of Wheat. Anything like that, that has a long shelf life and you only have to add water is really good (and I do not have hardly any of those items!)

I have to confess, too, that I did not make the enchiladas on Saturday. I had everything out and was going to do so right after I got off the computer, but company came and we went outside for the rest of the evening.

I ended up making them after church and I made 13-9X13 pans of enchiladas as we are having Rebeca's birthday party on Tuesday. It reminded of the good old days? when we had a restaurant! I heated up leftover rice andbeans and that is what we ate for lunch. We also had slushies and then later, the rest of the homemade ice cream with the peach crisp.

I didn't have a Father's day gift for Fito as I thought we would go to Red Earth (an Indian pow wow) on Saturday and I would buy him something there. However, we didn't go... The children made him the usual home made cards and David actually prepared a Father's Day presentation which was quite comical. I hope all the Fathers everywhere had a blessed day!