Weekend Review: The Non-Mother's Mother's Day Edition

So where, exactly, is it written that the childless in the family are responsible for "taking care of" all the mothers in the family on Mother's Day? haha

As usual, I hosted Mother's Day lunch at my house. This year M-Day totally snuck up on me and Sis2 and I were last minute "planning" what to do for it. Or, rather, planning the menu. Cooking on Mother's Day is hard because a) I still hafta go to church that morning and b) while Mama is happy (usually) with whatever cooked for her, Daddy is picky. And while technically it's Mama's day, Daddy still has to eat, right? So planning a menu that is Daddy approved and can be prepared fairly quickly after church is a bit of a challenge. A good crock pot recipe would be ideal but there is precious little that Daddy will eat out of a crock pot.

So anyway, we finally decided on the menu, I worked up a game plan on how to get it all cooked in time and prayed. A lot.

Saturday morning I got up with my little list and went grocery shopping. Ya'll, all that extra food is expensive. I used up my entire grocery budget (cash), plus my Sonic breakfast cash PLUS what was left of my Starbuck's cash. And still couldn't/didn't get paper plates, a gallon of tea (or teabags--same price) and a few other things. But I got all the important items. Like hotdogs and cheesepuffs for the kids. haha

So I figured, you know. No big deal. I'll just use my debit card to buy my Sonic Ultimate meat and cheese breakfast burrito. I had enough in the bank, still, to cover it. But...

Got to Sonic and the carhop who usually serves me came over the car before I could even press the little button and said, "Our system is down. I can take your order here. Oh, and by the way, can you pay with cash?"

I had one dollar left in my wallet so I shook my head no. "I have a debit card."

"Can you get cash?"

"No. My bank is in a different town." None of the ATM's in the little hometown will give me cash without charging me a few bucks. Sooooo not worth it just for a $5 breakfast.

So she's all, "Wait here, let me go talk to the manager." I would have just left at that point and gone across the highway to Hardee's for a chicken biscuit but since I see this carhop nearly every Saturday, I didn't want to be rude.

She came back with, "We can go ahead and serve you if you can come back later today with the cash."

I live nearly 25 minutes away from this Sonic. I come to this little town exactly once a week--every Saturday. Which I tell her. She either must really like me or was really desperate not to lose a sale because she want BACK IN to talk to the manager again and came back with, "Okay, he said I can get your name and you can just pay when you come back next week. I told him you're a regular who only comes on Saturday mornings. You want an Ultimate meat and cheese burrito with tots and a large coffee, right?"

How embarrassing is it that she knows my order by heart? But also, how great is it that in this day and age a fast food manager and a carhop trust a person to pay for a $5 breakfast the next time she's in town? So, Sonic=Awesome. :-D

Needless to say, on the way home I said a little prayer thanking God for kind people and once home I immediately went to my emergency kitty and dug out the cash and stuck in my wallet for next week. Put it in an envelope earmarked for Sonic Breakfast so I wouldn't accidentally spend it. Now, I just hope nothing happens between now and Saturday to prevent me for returning to Sonic to repay that debt.

Anyway, after all that I put my expensive groceries away, ate my breakfast burrito and then got busy cleaning.

Since I was hosting Mother's Day at my house and Granny was coming(!), I decided I needed to do a deep and thorough cleaning. My house is never a dump or anything but it had gotten rather cluttered in spots--recycling that needed to be bagged, items I'd collected to put in the yard sale Mama and Maw-maw are doing later this month, sweaters to put away...that sort of thing. And also, there was a LOT of dust everywhere. Living on a dirt road makes it super difficult to keep up with dusting.

So, I decided that to keep myself from running in circles, I'd start in one room and completely finish it before moving to the next. Usually I'm here, there and yonder all day long making sure everything is in it's rightful place. Instead, I instituted piles for each room that moved with me as I went so that when it came time to move on to the room the items belonged in, I could grab them and deliver them when I went to work on that room. Saved a lot of leg work.

I started in the laundry/mud room. It's just off the carport and is the first room most people see when they come in the house. I don't know about everywhere else, but around here, guests usually do use the carport/garage entry instead of the front door. Anyway, I swept, cleaned off the entry table and wiped it down with a multi surface cleaner, put away the plastic bags that I'd collected for recycling and washed down the surfaces of the washer and dryer. That's something I don't think I've ever really thought to do before. I only ever pay attention to them when I'm doing laundry so it's easy to forget that they get dusty and grimy, too. Not to mention all the lint that can coat everything. And ya'll, I even wiped down the exterior of the garbage can! I was dedicated to this whole deep cleaning thing!

Moved on to the kitchen which involved dishes, of course, but also wiping down cabinet doors, the refrigerator handle, the wall beside the oven and INSIDE the oven.

And so it went, off and on all day long. I'd take a break between each room to sit with Libs and rest my achy legs. I also took about an hour to go up to the folks' house to take Milo out for them. They were out of town for the day so I went at noon to take him outside and give him a cuddle. We snuggled in the recliner together and watched the last hour of Stepmom on Stars. Still love that movie.

Needless to say, at that pace I was around 9:30 Saturday night finishing up in my room. I put the hall bath off until Sunday morning so that the toilet would be super fresh. haha

There was no point in being exhausted when I got up (early) Sunday morning, though, because I still had miles to go. After a quick muffin breakfast and an hour of Food Network, I got up and mopped the floors (another last minute "so it would be fresh" chore), threw some potatoes in the oven, scrubbed the toilet and sink in the hall bathroom and took another break until around 9ish when I got up take the potatoes out of the oven and prep them for twice baked potatoes. Once the tater skins were sufficiently dressed up, stuffed and in the fridge to awate the second baking, I took another break until around 10 when I put the port tenderloins in the oven to roast. That's about the time that Sis2 and the kids arrived to bring the green beans I would fix later and the desserts. We played for about 40 minutes before cutting off the oven and heading to church.

Then AFTER church, I came in like a whirlwind, changed clothes and immediately got to cooking. Got the sweet potato fries in the oven and mixed up the green beans (green beans unbundled--deliciously sweetened green beans with bacon and garlic.) and got THEM in the oven with the sweet potato fries. Then it was slicing and plattering the tenderloins, sliding the twice baked potatoes in the oven, flipping fries, taking the green beans out and putting the garlic bread IN. All while everyone was arriving and the kids were destroying the house.


Lyssa put Nana and Efan to work "irning"

It was an exhausting thirty or forty minutes but everything got done, nothing burned and if everyone is be believed, everything was delicious. And for once the kids actually sat at the table and ate instead of disappearing to the guest room and calling my name every two minutes! So I got to eat! Before my food got cold! haha

Full Menu: Roasted apple bourbon pork tenderloin, roasted peppercorn pork tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, sweet potato french fries, green beans unbundled, corn salad, garlic cheese toast, hotdogs and cheesepuffs.

Did have one minor mishap, though. Remember that tea I decided I couldn't afford? Well, two peeps requested tea to drink. *sigh* I gave them water and told them to like it. Just kidding. I did give them water but I felt bad about it. Is it my fault they don't drink cokes/sprites/milk/yoohoos?

Despite all the work, it was a really nice time. We relaxed and ate slowly and talked about pleasant topics and laughed at the kids' antics. After all the exhaustion it turned out to be a really relaxing day. Until everyone left, that is. THEN I had to put my house back together. Kids are rough on a house! But I don't complain because I'm happy they feel comfortable and safe enough in my home to treat it like they do their own. ;-)

Cuddled up in the new (to me) guest bed to watch "Ariel"

The dishes had to wait until today. No way was I standing at the sink washing dishes when Once Upon a Time was about to come on! :) And yes, everyone stayed THAT LATE. It was great.



What awaits me when I get home tonight...or, part of it anyway.