Domestic Diva

Yes... I do have to give myself credit. I am a domestic diva. A Queen of Clean.

This morning, after making Cinnamon Rolls for Bella and me (thanks to Pillsbury, for I have yet to take on baking cinnamon rolls from scratch like my mother did and probably her mother and so on)... (and I say Bella and me because Rick had to work some this morning and was gone by the time I rolled out of bed at 8am to find Bella watching cartoons in her bed)... so back on track... after feeding sweet rolls and apple slices to my child, I proceeded to can the pear preserves that I started on last night. Oh, they are so sweet. It will take about two weeks for the ten jars to "set", but I am looking forward to a piece of buttery toast with some pear preserves. The last time I had pear preserves was out of a jar my Grandma Ellen had prepared; I don't think the pears cooked enough, for they were still hard and somewhat turned me off to eating jellies, jams, or preserves prepared by actual humans and not some manufacturing process at the Smuckers plant. But I think I cooked the pears long enough and added plenty (probably too much) of sugar to get me back on track with consuming homemade preserves.

Now I must confess, those pears had been in my possession for close to three weeks. Yes... I know and admit that I am also a Princess of Procrastination. A couple weeks ago a lady who lives behind Rick's place of business had brought two large bags of pears off a tree in her yard. I had full intention to make preserves last week, last weekend, Monday night, Tuesday night, etc. When I finally got around to it last night, I ended up having to throw out almost half the pears (and when I say throw out... these pears made it to our compost pile). But it worked out perfectly, for to include all those pears that didn't make it... I would have run out of jars.

This Marvelous Mama also made time this morning to create Invitations for the Barbie/Bratz/High School Musical Dolls that were attending a birthday party today. Being the crafty lady that I am, I found a leftover envelope from the Opus South Christmas Cards of 2006 --these envelopes are transparent, almost as if they were made out of wax paper, with glittery orbs throughout (and yes, I still have about twenty more of these old envelopes... I knew they would come in handy at some point... plenty of future Barbie invites can be made thanks to my O'Neal hoarding traits). I cut the envelope into twelve Barbie-sized invitations. Although I correct her, Bella says "Vie-tation". Bella and I then worked hard dressing the dolls, and washing and brushing their hair in preparation for the big event. But I must confess, I haven't played Barbie with Bella in a while. And to further confess, right now as the Barbie party is taking place, I am hiding out in the bathroom to finish this blog.

Bella just found me in the bathroom... she was carrying a small watermelon... "Look what I found, mom"... more like... "Look what I just ripped of the vine." Ah, children. And the doorbell just rang... neighbor next door bringing back Benz's collar he found in his driveway. This is the neighbor on the other side of the big fence, Steve to be exact. I introduced myself... but he seems to think he already met me. He hadn't, but I'm not one to point that out. I have had a small handful of people tell me the same thing over the last few months... that they had met me previously... when I do not think we had in fact met. Seeing each other and introducing yourself are two different things. I would like to think that my post-partum brain allows me to remember those folks who I have met... and those that I haven't. Anyway... I met Steve for the first or second time today. (I still say first).

All in all, this Domestica Diva and Marvelous Mama does have her shortcomings, but I try. Now let me get back to the Barbie party and to my weekend "list", for I now only have eleven hours to accomplish whatever I can.