Finding Control

Twice a year (at the moment it's twice a year) I have a visit with my cancer doctor where he investigates my person thoroughly looking for possible family members of the Renal Cell Carcinoma he removed from me in 2011. I am coming up on that visit in less than 2 weeks. Every time I work through the pre-visit steps (i.e. blood work and X-rays or sonograms or MRIs) I find myself holding my breath in anticipation of what will happen. Will there be something there that wasn't there the last time? Will he find some new friend of the last cancer? Will God let me live a little longer? Over the last 3 years, I've graduated from 4 visits per year to 2. So far, so good. However, I'm becoming fed up with myself over how much the thought of these check-ups negatively effect me and I am working to set some positive goals that I hope will help me get through future events with ease. I really believe that the way I think about taking care of myself is the issue. The fact is I never really learned how to take care of myself properly as a child. What I learned shouldn't be in anyone's text book. I should be the poster child for "This is not how to do it" child rearing! I'm not complaining mind you, but I am frustrated with myself and why at this advanced age, I can't seem to figure out how to be more healthy. ..sigh..

I am continuing to work on my projects. The toaster oven cooking is on hold as it's just too hot to cook anything. I can't think about baking without breaking out in a sweat! My Halloween costume is really making me crazy. I have 3 ideas and none of them are making me overly excited. I continue my work on that project, but I have to make a decision by the first week in September or I won't have time to make the costume properly.

Other than watching the heat turn the front yard from lush and green to brown and crunchy, my days are filled with work, goal setting and planning. There is so much to be done and no time to do any of it in. Work is a bit demanding at the moment and I'm okay with that as it is what funds the rest of my existence. At the moment I just want to feel a bit more in control and I think God will have to help me get there. Trying to make that happen on my own just hasn't worked for me. Go figure!

So that's it from HumbleVoyager land. I'm still working on my own set of problems and doing my best to help those around me find what they want in life. Some I can truly help and some I can't. This too is upsetting to me, but again, I give it to God. Only He can really help me deal with the dissatisfactions of life. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time when I hope to give better news about a project completed, Godspeed, Voyagers!!

Projects O'Plenty

My brain never stops working on what the next big thing should be. By 'big thing' I mean Project. Yes, I always have multiple projects going. Right now, I'm working on ideas for a creative and award-winning Halloween costume, garage clean-out and reorganization plan and writing the recipes and blogs for my series on Toaster Oven Cooking. Being busy with projects makes me feel alive. What I do has to challenge my intellect, artistic nature and body. Running a family and working full-time, should probably be enough, but it isn't. Besides I don't do as much around the house as I probably should. Everyone here does some of the work and I'm not the one who does the lion's share.

The Halloween costume is still in development. My child asked that I never do anything scary again, so blood is out. I have an idea for a raven costume, which is borderline scary, but would allow me to wear my favorite, all black. On the other hand, I have this idea for an all white costume, as well. The all white would require the purchase of some plain white clothing (i.e. white shirt and pants or even leggings) and the only prop is a clear bubble or dome umbrella. I found what I would need on Amazon.com, but I'm still not sure of what I want to do. The umbrella idea would take less time to make, but I have to wear white. With the raven, I'm going to need lots of black feathers and stiff felt. The more I think of it, the more I want to do the white. I need to step out of my comfort zone. Anyway, my hair is almost white so it won't take much to get it the rest of the way! Hmmm...the creative thinking continues.

The garden is still producing miniature roses. Today one was delivered to my home office and it really brightened my day. I hope it brings a smile to yours.

So pretty and about the size of a monocle. I love flowers, don't you?

So, what is the next big thing? Should it be a creative venture? Should I learn to do something new and healthy? Maybe I should think about it some more and make a few lists. What is your next big thing? I'd love to hear about it. Drop a comment below and let me know. Who knows, maybe your next big thing will spark some creative ideas in my own head! That's it for today. Until later when I'll share more of the current and upcoming projects, Godspeed, Voyagers!!

Biscuits and Ideas

Welcome to another Friday in Central Texas! Today is the official launch of my sister's series idea on Toaster Oven Cooking. This morning, I worked with a simple quick bread, Biscuits. The recipe is just like the one for scones, but with a bit more buttermilk and no sugar. They take just a few minutes to make and are delicious as a stand alone breakfast delight or as a side to your already wonderful bacon and eggs. Be sure to check out the KitchenAid 12-inch Convection Bake Countertop Oven. I purchased mine at Target, but they are readily available online as well. Check out the

Nancy's Buttermilk Biscuits

recipe for the biscuits in the sidebar to the right. The recipe makes the perfect number of biscuits for my toaster oven and they come out even and beautiful. There are plenty of options for cutting the biscuits. I used a 3" scalloped biscuit cutter, but feel free to use whatever you like. Cut a larger biscuit and when they are baked make biscuit sandwiches. Little biscuits would make great Hors d'oeuvres with some country ham! There are lots of options. Throw some sharp grated cheese into the mix and you've got cheese biscuits. I could go on and on, but use your imagination and make them your own.

This has been an incredible day. I completed my work and had a great time outside for awhile. The temperature at 3 p.m. when I came back into the house was just 85 degrees F. Yes, it is August 1st and yes, it is Central Texas where usually at this time of year we're looking at 105 degrees, but today it really is a BEAUTIFUL, summer day. I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend. There are chores to be done and errands to run and I will need to be outside for some of that.

It's hard not to spend time outside when the flowers are so pretty, but the garden continues to amaze me. The corn that the squirrel planted is actually going to give us an ear of corn. I have no idea what the ear of corn will look like, but we'll dry it and feed it to the Squirrels in the end. They grew it so they should get to eat it. We've been learning a great deal about growing corn from YouTube. It's incredibly complicated! So much so that I'm amazed we have any corn to eat at all. Here is what the corn is looking like:

Amazing!

This week I'm starting the process of cleaning out the garage. Every Saturday (that I'm home) between now and early November, I will work for 2 hours in the garage, grouping things together, identifying things that need to be given away and throwing out trash and things that have just accumulated. The goal is to transform the garage into several new and useful areas for the family. In our neighborhood, we're not allowed to turn the garage into a room, so everything we do in there has to be okay with an overhead garage door still in place. I drew up a plan that gives us the following spaces:

• An area for the workbench and tools
• A space for a desk or table work/craft/project area
• Shelves for household storage
• Shelves for seasonal items (i.e. Christmas decorations and etc.)
• Space for household cleaning implements (i.e. brooms, mops, buckets, vacuums and etc.)
• Workout space
• Even some room for a small car...maybe?

A quarter of the garage will become a gym. We have a treadmill and elliptical trainer that both live in my living room at the moment and I want them to move into the garage where I can open the garage door and exercise while feeling like I'm outside. The gym section will have the addition of cushioned floor panels and the weight bench, weights and other exercise implements will join the aforementioned equipment. But there is lots of clean out and up that needs to be done. We seem to have a hard time letting go of stuff and I'm ready for stuff to leave my life so I can have the space inside my house I need to really feel at home. I use the exercise equipment, but it's suffocating me in the house. I'll take pictures along the way and share the progress.  The first pictures will thoroughly embarrass me, but hey, maybe what I do will help someone else!

The rest of the weekend is all about getting things done and relaxing a little. What do you do on your weekends? If you have a great way to spend a weekend, leave me a comment and let me know your ideas. That's it for today! Until next time, when I'll share more in the world of Toaster Oven Cooking and other nonsense, Godspeed, Voyagers!!