Swearing Mothers, Swine Flu and Shiny Lips

As I rounded a corner on my walk this morning I was feeling pretty self-righteous as I heard a mother yelling from her car to her middle school aged son. The boy had been standing in front of his mother's black sports car patiently waiting for her to back the car up. Apparently the boy's father and assumedly the mother's husband, had parked a little too close to the sports car the night before and the woman was not happy about it. As the boy opened the car door we (and anyone within a mile radius) got an earful. The woman was yelling, "I don't know why your 'beep' dad has to hog the entire 'beep' driveway!" Yikes. I wasn't sure if I should salute her (because clearly she had spent some time aboard a ship) or pick up my pace and run home. All I could think was poor kid and that I would NEVER speak to my children like that, for I was a much better mother than she! I walked off with my nose in the air feeling quiet good about myself when I was given a gentle reminder that though I may not curse at or in front of my children, the tone I sometimes use with them is just as foul. I lowered my head and asked the Lord to help me be a more patient and kind mother because in all honesty, I saw myself in that flustered mother and it wasn't pretty. I also said a quick prayer for the unsuspecting drive-way hogger.

Well, day one of recovering from 'Influenza A' (also known as the swine flu) has been like any other day at home during a school break. Fisher has been acting completely normal and I've wondered several times if the doctor mixed up his test results. Regardless, we (all five of us) will continue to faithfully take our prescribed Tamiflu to minimize symptoms and expedite recoveries. If this is the extent of our flu troubles, we'll take it. I'm believing God has spared us from a more severe case.

Finally, as I laid my precious, darling, daughter down for her beauty rest and kissed her sweet face...I had no idea she was planning on taking the term "beauty rest" literally. I had been down stairs for several minutes when I was overwhelmed with the urge to go and check on her. Maybe it was swine flu paranoia, maybe mother's intuition or maybe just the smell of Strawberry Fizz lip gloss wafting down the stairs that encouraged me to go back upstairs for a peek. I was greeted with a wet, shiny, and slightly-pink-tinted-huge grin and three words that confirmed my suspicions, "whip goss, mommy!" Yes, she had found a hidden stash of lip gloss and enjoyed the feeling of it so much on her "whips" that she continued to smear it all over her arms and legs and hair. She was so proud of herself that I had a difficult time reprimanding her and of course I had the black-sports-car-driving-sailor-swearing-mother still in the back of my mind so I did the only logical thing. I told her she looked beautiful. Then I picked her up and proceeded to the tub where we washed about $5 worth of lip gloss down the drain. And I must warn you, lip gloss does not easily come off. Think glue, mixed with Vaseline, mixed with used car oil. What is in this stuff anyhow and do I really want to be putting it on my mouth??

Well, it's time for bed so I will leave you with tonight's dinner menu, enjoy.

Egg-Noodle Lasagna
8 oz wide egg noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 (26 oz) jar of spaghetti sauce
6 green onions, sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1 (8 oz) container cream cheese
1 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Boil noodles as directed. Brown beef, onions, garlic and salt. Drain then add spaghetti sauce and simmer for five minutes. In large bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream and Parmesan cheese then add cooked noodles. Place half of noodle mixture on the bottom of a lightly greased 2-quart casserole dish then top with half of the meat mixture. Repeat layers then top with Mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve with salad and garlic bread.