by jphilo | May 6, 2016 | Family
What could be better on the Fantastic Friday before Mother’s Day than a look back at this post from 2013. These 7 lessons taught to me by Dorothea Lorraine Hess Stratton are ones that have made a huge difference in the way I live. Thanks, Mom!
My mom raised 3 kids and taught school for 38 years. She’s a mom and a teacher through and through…still asking if I get enough protein and correcting my grammar during our Tuesday visits. The older I get, the more I appreciate the life lessons she taught and is still teaching me. In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m passing along some of those lessons to you.
Lesson #1: A strong family will be a constant support throughout life.
As a teenager, Mom babysat many of her nieces and nephews. Those nieces and nephews open their homes to her whenever we travel back for funerals or reunions. Their love and respect for her is a touching tribute to her influence on their lives.
Lesson #2: Every woman should get an education so she can support herself.
Mom’s 4 year college graduation
Mom’s Masters in Education Graduation
Mom went back to school to finish her 4 year degree after Dad was diagnosed with MS in the late 1950s. She went on for her Master’s Degree in the mid 1960s. Our lives would have been very different had she not pursued those degrees.
Lesson #3: Some school pictures should never see the light of day.
Thanks to this lesson, some of mine never will.
Lesson #4: Sewing = an inexpensive wardrobe
Once you know how to sew, you can also be your own polyester fashion statement. And don’t forget, some of the best buys are found in the remnant bin.
Lesson #5: The library is an excellent place to hang out
Carnegie Library from my childhood, now a Fine Arts Center.
Mom checked out a lot of books and taught her kids to love to read. This photo is a little ironic since I’m selling my books in about the same spot where we checked them out for free when I was a kid.
Lesson #6: Teaching Is More than a Job
Mom and me at the party thrown by my co-workers when I left teaching.
Teaching is not just a way to support your family. It’s a way to inspire a new generation and help them realize their own potential.
Lesson #7: True love never fails
Mom cared for Dad at home from 1959 when he was diagnosed with MS until 1983 when he required nursing home care. Once he moved to the nursing home, Mom visited him daily, unless she was visiting her kids and grandkids, from 1983 until his death in 1997.
Every now and then someone asks why I drive 45 miles to visit Mom Tuesday after Tuesday. The answer is simple. It’s what my mamma taught me.
Love bears all things,
hopes all things,
believes all things,
endures all things.
Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:7–8
by jphilo | May 11, 2015 | Mystery Update
Yes, you read the title right. No more pity parties for poor, poor Jane. After months of languishing while her creator dealt with silly things like greeting beautiful new grandchildren into the world and meeting non-fiction book contract deadlines, Jane is once again up and running.
More than running.
Actually, Jane is galloping toward the finish line. Only the final scene remains to be written before THE END will conclude the first draft. Of course, when an author strings out the writing of a novel over more than 2 years, substantial time needs to be spent on rewrites and edits. Because the author did the writing when she was in her late 50s. Which means her memory’s not so good any more, and her chances of remembering what she wrote more than 2 years ago are about the same as blizzard on Mother’s Day in western South Dakota where dear Jane lives. Which really, truly happened yesterday.
As it has happened before.
The author knows this because she experienced a Mother’s Day blizzard in Jane’s stomping grounds in either May of 1984 or 1985. 18 inches of snow. Wind and drifting. 3 day blizzard. School cancelled. Water pipes frozen. Dead lambs and calves everywhere.
The kind of thing even authors in their late 50s can’t forget.
The kind of juicy real life event that could become a bang up scene in a mystery novel. Except that this mystery is set in the fall of Jane’s first year teaching country school, ending just after first quarter parent-teacher conferences and just before the Halloween party. And Jane’s former school teacher creator can’t imagine a final resolution scene encompassing more than 6 months, 3 more grading periods, and enough art projects to placate the imaginary students in Jane’s class until school’s out in May. Just thinking about that much tempera paint, glitter, and construction paper is exhausting.
So Jane’s creator will stick to the ending already planned.
But, she will tuck the Mother’s Day blizzard idea into her idea file. Just in case the first book in the Dick and Jane series gets published. Just in case it does well enough to warrant a second book. And just in case a writer in her late 50s with memory issues can remember where the idea file is, find the idea in the file, and recall why in the world she scribbled “Mother’s Day blizzard” on a piece of paper and stuck it in the file. The chances of all those things happening are about the same as the chance of a Mother’s Day blizzard in western South Dakota.
You know, it just could happen!
by jphilo | May 6, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
Mother’s Day is almost here, so I’m being pro-active on behalf of my family. Instead of letting them fret and stew about what to get Mommy Dearest on the big day, they can check this wish list for a suitable gift. I know, my thoughtfulness is a marvel to endure behold.
10. A swimming pool. But only if it comes with a pool guy to do the upkeep. Because the man of steel says a pool is perfectly fine, but he won’t take care of it.
9. An orchard of fruit trees. Starting with cherry, then plum, pear, apricot, and peach. (I actually am getting a cherry tree, or this would be in the number 1 spot. But in case anyone needs my preferred orchard progression in future years, here it is.)
8. A fancy espresso maker. With a barista to operate and maintain it. Because when I make fancy coffee drinks, they never taste quite right. And because I’m death to small appliances.
7. A gift card to Burgie’s Coffee House is a more than acceptable substitute for #8.
6. A day in which my help is not required to make any decisions, solve any problems, or schedule anything for anyone.
5. A month-long vacation to visit Civil War battlefields.
4. Our kids, their spouses, and the man of steel watching Support Your Local Sheriff together and laughing ourselves silly.
3. To hold our babies again and watch their faces light up when their Grandma Elsie and Grandma Dorothy come through the door.
2. Years of hugs from our grandson and a lifetime to read stories together.
1. To live near our children’s families and be involved in their lives.
What’s on your Mother’s Day Wish List? Leave a comment in the box.
by jphilo | May 29, 2013 | Recipes
Today’s recipe won the Des Moines Register’s Memories of Mom recipe contest and was announced in the Mother’s Day edition of the Register. I modified the recipe by cutting the sugar, using half whole wheat flour and half unbleached white flour, and substituting water for the milk to make it dairy-free. The rolls were light and fluffy and had just a hint of sweet. Delicious!
That said, here’s my version of Marjorie Peterson’s original orange roll recipe, along with many, many thanks to Marjorie and her family for sharing this delectable dish!
Marjorie Peterson’s Orange Rolls, Dairy-Free Version
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) Earth Balance buttery vegan sticks
2 eggs, well-beaten
3–4 cups whole wheat flour
3–4 cups unbleached white flour
grated rind of 1 orange
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons softened Earth Balance buttery vegan stick
Directions for rolls:
- Add 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and 1 buttery vegan stick to boiling water. Stir to dissolve sugar and salt. Pour into large mixing bowl. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.
- Dissolve dry yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water.
- Once water/sugar/salt/buttery vegan stick has cooled to lukewarm, add yeast and eggs to it. Stir well.
- Beat in about 6 cups of flour. Turn dough onto a well-floured surface.
- Knead dough until soft and pliable (about 7 minutes), adding more flour as needed.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a cloth. Set in a warm place and let rise until double.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and punch down. Divide in half and roll each half into an oblong shape. Spread each half with a tablespoon of soft buttery vegan stick, 1/2 grated orange rind, and 2 tablespoons sugar.
- Starting with a long edge, roll into a tube. Slice each tube into 24 rolls and place in a well-greased 9 x 13 pan.
- Set in warm place to rise until double again.
- Bake at 375° for 20 minutes
Directions for frosting: Melt 2 tablespoons of vegan buttery stick in a saucepan. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar. Add the juice of an orange, teaspoon by teaspoon until it reaches a spreadable consistency. Spread frosting on rolls, dividing it equally between the two pans.
by jphilo | May 10, 2013 | Family
My mom raised 3 kids and taught school for 38 years. She’s a mom and a teacher through and through…still asking if I get enough protein and correcting my grammar during our Tuesday visits. The older I get, the more I appreciate the life lessons she taught and is still teaching me. In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m passing along some of those lessons to you.
Lesson #1: A strong family will be a constant support throughout life.
As a teenager, Mom babysat many of her nieces and nephews. Those nieces and nephews open their homes to her whenever we travel back for funerals or reunions. Their love and respect for her is a touching tribute to her influence on their lives.
Lesson #2: Every woman should get an education so she can support herself.
Mom’s 4 year college graduation
Mom’s Masters in Education Graduation
Mom went back to school to finish her 4 year degree after Dad was diagnosed with MS in the late 1950s. She went on for her Master’s Degree in the mid 1960s. Our lives would have been very different had she not pursued those degrees.
Lesson #3: Some school pictures should never see the light of day.
Thanks to this lesson, some of mine never will.
Lesson #4: Sewing = an inexpensive wardrobe
Once you know how to sew, you can also be your own polyester fashion statement. And don’t forget, some of the best buys are found in the remnant bin.
Lesson #5: The library is an excellent place to hang out
Carnegie Library from my childhood, now a Fine Arts Center.
Mom checked out a lot of books and taught her kids to love to read. This photo is a little ironic since I’m selling my books in about the same spot where we checked them out for free when I was a kid.
Lesson #6: Teaching Is More than a Job
Mom and me at the party thrown by my co-workers when I left teaching.
Teaching is not just a way to support your family. It’s a way to inspire a new generation and help them realize their own potential.
Lesson #7: True love never fails
Mom cared for Dad at home from 1959 when he was diagnosed with MS until 1983 when he required nursing home care. Once he moved to the nursing home, Mom visited him daily, unless she was visiting her kids and grandkids, from 1983 until his death in 1997.
Every now and then someone asks why I drive 45 miles to visit Mom Tuesday after Tuesday. The answer is simple. It’s what my mamma taught me.
Love bears all things, hopes all things, believes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:7–8
