I’m Kelly. Good, I can recount my name. That’s good.

Let me just say it’s been a challenging summer.

That’s really a politically correct word. That teacher who talked to you (and by you I really mean me) about your (my) monkey daughter, she used the word challenging. What she really meant was she’s so-dang-hard-I-sometimes-find-myself-grinding-my-teeth-and-sweating-profusely-in-a-74-degree-room. Yeah, that’s been my summer (sans the sweating profusely in a 74-degree room since I dream of a room that temperature in our unair-conditioned home).

The kids. I knew I was in trouble when my summer-secret-weapon of gift cards to Five Below that were birthday gifts from my sister got used on Day 3 of summer. Granted, there’s a painted bead factory permanently rooted in my kitchen. But, that’s only really consuming the easiest of my crew. With regards to the other three, the word bored should be considered right up there with the 4-letter variety. My teeth are clenched just keying in the word now. From now on, it will be b–ed so I don’t even have to key it and see it on the screen in front of me.

Everything else. There’s been a lot of meetings—appointments, get togethers, calls, coordinated activities of some kind. And, as much as I know that my husband’s early mornings out and our too-late evenings are serving a real purpose, it’s so-dang-hard-I-sometimes-find-myself-grinding-my-teeth. It’s a lot right now on top of the fact that we’re facing significant changes—awesome, wonderful changes that we’re pretty excited about but changes nonetheless. And, change is just pretty all around uncomfortable. I know all about those cortisol levels, and I’m thinking mine are pretty high right about now.

So, here I am. Eating half a bagel just ’cause it looked good as I put away the groceries that were still out on the counter from earlier today. Stuffing handfuls of unwashed blueberries in my mouth because I can’t stop myself long enough to run water over them first. They’re just that good…and I’m a little bit lazy. Wondering how anyone’s even still reading my blog with as little as I’ve been able to write this summer. Realizing that I’m writing this post as if it’s Labor Day weekend and summer is over.

I stand corrected. It’s been a challenging summer thus far. Here’s to the three weeks left of it before I’m taking that first day of school picture on our front steps again. May He show me some redeeming messages in the s0-dang-hard-ness of it all.

 

(warning: objects in photo are much more challenging than they appear.)

They’re pretty much everywhere. If they aren’t scribbled quickly between lines on a page, they’re scribbled quickly in my head or in the form of mail littering my dining room table or wooden play food put away all wrong in the play kitchen.

Hello, Kelly. Don’t forget about me. Add me to your list. 

The tone of a new text message or that mocks me in the form of a loud vibration that is full of sound when my need to tune out leads me to turn off the sound. The kind reminder to do laundry in the form of someone yelling about not having a clean towel for the pool. The alarm clocks for lunch time that sound remarkably like 4 children’s voices in unison saying, “I’m hungry. I’m hungry. I’m hungry.”

I feel like I can become enslaved to a to-do list, a list made up in part with living beings that I named myself.

Please tell me I’m not the only one.

There’s a list on my frig. The words are made up of faded red color ink though I think they started as black. It isn’t special paper and has often lost its prominent place to a Star Wars drawing, field trip permission slip, library story time schedule. But, when those things get shuffled as they always do, this list always stayed.

It reads:

Make the gospel apparent.

Guide.

Warn.

Cheer.

My alarm clocks are all asleep now. And, it’s fairly quite aside from the cries of our air conditioner window unit fighting a losing battle. And, I’m saying right here on this space to whoever is out there, there’s my to-do list.

Tomorrow, beds won’t make themselves and there won’t be any magical lego magnet corraling those babies off my basement floor. But, this mama? I’m going to make the gospel apparent. I’m going to guide, warn, and cheer. And, while I’m at it, I may feed a few hungry mouths and answer a few of my emails in the process. We’ll see.

After splurging on a a ridiculously priced tapioca drink, I was determined to figure out how to make it myself.

I did. And, now I can’t stop. Not only have I already made a batch today (which is now gone), but I volunteered to bring a batch to a picnic tonight.

Since anyone with an obsession loves company, I’m sharing a how-to here.

Here’s the basics of what you need for 4 servings:
1/4 cut-up honeydew
1 cup green tea made from normal green tea bags from the grocery store
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbl. Splenda
Crushed ice
1/2 cup dried Boba pearls (more about these in a bit)
1 teas. brown sugar
Jumbo straws (for smoothies or specifically for boba/bubble tea, I got mine at Walmart–a box of 40 for $1.98)
Can of whipped cream for the top to make it extra special

Step 1: Hunt down Boba pearls. They gotta be the jumbo marbly looking tapioca pearls (which frankly look really weird uncooked). I found mine at a Chinese market nearby. They had several different colors but the lady suggested these to me. The big ole bag will last a long time as a 1/2 cup of them is enough for 4 drinks. The bag cost me a little over $4.

Step 2: Boil water and steep 1 cup of water with a green tea bag. Let it steep for maybe 10-15 minutes and then put it in the frig. Think ahead and do this before you have the hankering for the drink as it really should be cold or at least cool. Maybe a little bit in the freezer will do the trick if you are short on time.

Step 3: Cut up 1/4 of a honeydew and put in the blender until it’s fully pureed then put that in the frig too. (note: don’t wash the blender, you’ll use it later)

Step 4: Pour the green tea into the honeydew puree and add 1/2 cup of milk and 2 Tbl. Splenda

Step 5: Boil a small pot of water. Measure out 1/2 cup boba pearls and add to the water when it is rapidly boiling. Set your timer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn off heat and cover and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Carefully drain and put the jelly, marble-like pearls into a bowl. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of brown sugar over them to sweeten them a bit and help keep them soft. Put them in the frig to cool a little while you do the next step.

Step 6: (all these steps are making this seem way more complicated than it is, but I’m anal retentive about steps) Add maybe 3/4 cup crushed ice to your blender and about 1/2 of your honeydew mixture. Blend until frothy and white and yummy looking. (note: I had to do one half and then the other half because it wouldn’t all fit in my blender)

Step 7: Grab your cooked and cooled bobas and put about a 1/4 of them in the bottom of a glass, pour your tea on top, top with whipped cream if you want to be fancy, and grab your big ole straw that you can use to drink and suck those pearls up with.

What other flavors can I come up with….hmmm…