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It was my daddy’ Birthday, and I still hadn’t planned or done anything special for him at all. I called my sister in law and invited her and my brother to join us for dinner after church the next day. I stopped at a grocery store on the way home from work with hardly any idea for a menu. I had only briefly considered BLTs (something easy) and had asked Jennifer to bring something that’s good with sandwiches.
While I was in the store, I was wishing that I could do more for daddy. I thought, maybe I’ll invite one or two families from church too. Then it would be more like a Birthday “Party”. Think, food for more people. I’ll get some deli meat too, and more bread. I’ll make a bean salad, and I can ask anyone who comes to bring some kind of salad, that should be enough.
A cake, a cake… What to do about a cake? I admired the selection that the in-store bakery displayed. I really like to do my own baking though. Do I have time for that?
Hmmm… I have to make a birthday cake for my daddy.
The problem was, I was in no mood for cake. Bleh! What is it about being a female and being in the mood for certain foods? (Or in this case, not in the mood for certain foods). And I don’t have Jennifer’s excuse of being pregnant either! Go figure!
So as I was going back and forth along the bakery display (not coming any closer BTW, to making a useful decision). I remembered that I had to get milk, or it would be dry cereal in the morning. That was my reason for stopping at the grocery store in the first place! I swung my cart around and made a bee-line for the dairy section located on the other side of the store. While all along dodging other grumpy and frazzled Saturday afternoon shoppers who just want to be done with all this craziness and go home, relax and enjoy the weekend.
Then there it was! Cream Cheese! Daddy likes cream cheese! I want cream cheese! (Strange, I used to very strongly dislike cream cheese.)
note: to all (who actually are smarter than I am and won’t have this problem…) Helpful tip, Do not go grocery shopping – 1. without a list , 2. after a full day of work on your feet, and 3. when the last thing you eat was an apple at 1pm and it’s now half past 5pm.
I’ll make a Cheesecake! (Do I have a spring form pan, you ask?) No, I”l just make it in my rectangle cake pan. It’ll taste the same right? Of course not! It’ll be better!
There’s another problem, I don’t have a recipe. I don’t know what I need for the cheesecake.
I went over to the freezer section and wasted precious time reading the list of ingredients on the box of a frozen cheesecake. Believe me you! That was pretty scary! (Do you know what’s in those frozen cheesecakes?) This is why I’m making it myself. So I go back to the dairy section and grab a carton of eggs, whipping cream, two packages of cream cheese and… Oh yes! Milk! I hope, hope, hope that I’ll have all other ingredients in the pantry at home. I know that I do have graham crackers for the crust.
When I got home, I put half of the bacon on my new Pampered Chef Baking Stone, slid it into the oven, then proceeded to search on the Internet for a really good Cheesecake recipe. Well, what do you know? 99.9% of the recipes I clicked on called for “three” 8oz packages of cream cheese. If you remember, I only bought “two” 8oz packages of cream cheese.
(I have another grumpy moment…)
Thankfully, I found a recipe that called for one package of cream cheese. Which in turn, gave me the option to double the recipe so it would be able to serve more people. The recipe was for Creamy Lemon Squares. There was one other recipe that looked really tempting. (Which called for three packages of cream cheese.) It had a bar of melted white chocolate mixed into the batter. Yum!
So I substituted the White Chocolate for the Lemon. It tuned out amazing! Before I artistically placed each slice of cake on the plates, I drizzled a bit of dark chocolate syrup.
Anyway, the Bacon was great on the sandwiches. Each family brought something to contribute. We had a very nice afternoon and enjoyed each other’s company.
Happy Birthday Daddy!!! 
I don’t know where that second wind came from after a long day at work. I came home with the groceries and as I started to put them away, I decided to clean the refrigerator. It’s time to take out the trash especially with all the old leftovers that I dug out of the fridge. Well, one thing came after another. I spent a long time cleaning my sink (Fly Lady would be proud!) Plus I scrubbed the dish drain and the counters all around and under all the counter top appliances. I even cleaned the walls.
Then as I started on the floor, Grandma came in to take her pills. She said, “You’re doing all this work scrubbing the floor and I’m in here messing it all up!!” “I’ll get out of your way in just a minute.” My goodness Grandma, you’re hardly ever in my way!! She can’t possibly be adding even a speck of dirt to my “clean” floor with her dainty little house shoes, ever so careful steps, and all 90 lbs of her… Yes she is tiny, I’m trying to put a few lbs on her. The problem is, that doesn’t help me lose any weight. 
So, why clean the floors if everyone will just walk on them again?
Here’s my sister’s perspective on the subject, to quote from her blog… “I love walking on clean floors, but I only get to when I’m visiting a friend without young children!”
What is it they say about cleanliness being a virtue?
I think, when you let dirt accumulate on the floor, it eventually becomes invisible to you and it starts to creep up into the rest of your home without your notice and then you become overwhelmed with filth and misery. It’s kind of like sin in your life. When you don’t attend to the problem and eliminate it, it will seep into the cracks and and take over your heart, will, and desires. Corruption at it’s best.
May we daily attend to the “housekeeping” of our hearts, by examining the nooks and crannies for sin, by seeking God’s forgiveness through prayer, and seeking his will which is revealed in his word.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest… Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
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