Maxwell 21: Deliberately Hiding the Truth Again

[crawfishgirl]

If they want to stay with the burrito theme, one option is to make fajita meat to accompany it to provide options for different appetites.  My husband likes to grill chicken and beef for fajitas, but I'm sure that they could do the same in a crockpot, assuming that they don't want to expend the effort to grill (even though they take the time to make homemade tortillas) and each member of the family could choose their ingredients.  Some of them might like the extra protein.  Add some rice, jalapenos, onion and pepper strips, and the all-important sour cream and cheese (I would add margaritas to this list, but we know the likelihood of that) and it could turn into a fun meal.  These items wouldn't take that much more effort, but would give people some options.  And if this is a weekly event, it would be fun to invest in some brightly colored plates and serving dishes to go along with the Mexican theme.

[HermioneSparrow]

25 minutes ago, crawfishgirl said:

If they want to stay with the burrito theme, one option is to make fajita meat to accompany it to provide options for different appetites.  My husband likes to grill chicken and beef for fajitas, but I'm sure that they could do the same in a crockpot, assuming that they don't want to expend the effort to grill (even though they take the time to make homemade tortillas) and each member of the family could choose their ingredients.  Some of them might like the extra protein.  Add some rice, jalapenos, onion and pepper strips, and the all-important sour cream and cheese (I would add margaritas to this list, but we know the likelihood of that) and it could turn into a fun meal.  These items wouldn't take that much more effort, but would give people some options.  And if this is a weekly event, it would be fun to invest in some brightly colored plates and serving dishes to go along with the Mexican theme.

As if! That's fun and fun is not allowed in Maxhell.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Am I the only one with the maturity of a 12 year old imagining the ripe smell of farts overpowering bible time after lunch every Sunday?

[Alisamer]

Ok so I just read that convoluted recipe for burrito filling, and I’m confused. I don’t think I’ve ever had a burrito, as I hate cheese and am not big on most Tex-Mex food generally. But is the filling really supposed to be basically paste? That sounds vile. I was imagining more along the lines of ground beef, or the vegan chili a friend of mine makes with plenty of texture to it. Not basically onion/jalapeño/bean butter, or spicy baby food purée. That apparently some of them just wrap in a tortilla and eat plain, since they assemble them before eating in case “one person wants tomato or cheese on theirs”.

as usual they take something that could be simple and make a huge ordeal of it. 

Also wow am I glad my whole family doesn’t get together like that weekly. I enjoy our family holiday dinners, but I couldn’t take that every Sunday. Too many people, too much talking... after a few hours I have to come home and sit in my house alone a bit to decompress. I guess introverts aren’t allowed in Maxhell. 

[llg1234]

3 hours ago, feministxtian said:

Pinto beans? Yuk! If I make burritos, they have rice, cheese, BLACK beans, meat, salsa and sour cream in them. I'm talking Chipotle style burritos here y'all. Speaking of...I have some meat I need to cut up for burritos and stir fry. 

I love this, because I am also very pro black bean and anti pinto bean. 

[socalrules]

I am pro pinto beans. I love bean, cheese and sour cream burritos. That’s always my first choice at a Mexican restaurant, with a side of refried beans. I make beans with just water, salt and lots of garlic. They end up with a lot of flavor. I usually make burritos with whole beans and whatever toppings I have on hand. I can mash them if I don’t want them whole. Sometimes I make a burrito bowl with the beans. 

I don’t understand their recipe. It has what seems like a crap load of onions. I don’t get why they just don’t add the onions or jalapeños at the time they are being served as toppings. Cooking them overnight likely kills the flavor because I don’t see how they don’t keep having to add water to keep them from drying out and burning. Or better yet, cook everything together. They basically purée everything and likely lose the flavor there as well. Why does it take so long for them to make those beans? My beans cook in about two hours and I don’t even soak my beans. 

[feministxtian]

It takes a bit for me to cook beans...I soak overnight then put 'em in the crock pot in the morning with chopped onion, chicken broth, sazon & adobo. Let 'em cook all day. I've also tossed boneless chicken in with the beans too. Serve over rice or in burritos, or whatever. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

12 year old me just can’t stop. Tonight I ate a bunch of baked beans for dinner and I can barely stand to be in the same room as myself. How can well over 20 Maxwells handle bible time indoors every Sunday afternoon? Usually someone in the Max family is pregnant and everyone knows you can’t hold in pregnancy toots. Do they just sit there and marinate in one big Maxhell ass gas cloud? Is this why they got Ellie? So everyone can blame her for the Sunday fart fog? Does Steve prefer bean burritos because they keep the sexual urges of the unmarried in check? 

[Dandruff]

@JermajestyDuggarThanks for the mental imagery - I'm now picturing them sitting around the table exclaiming "Thank you Jesus!" (Pastor Gas style) following each fart.

[Granwych]

12 hours ago, usmcmom said:

Think outside the box, Steve. Make Sunday lunch a pleasant memory for your grandkids

Right, Stevehovah, just leave the compound for what some might call a solo vacation.  Then, the remaining Maxwells can break out the beef and make real tacos and maybe swill some Pepsi (I'm looking at you, Terified!).

[Dandruff]

Aren't Sundays supposed to be special for these folks?  If so, then WTF with the reheated meatless burritos every week?  I wonder whether some of the attendees actually dread Sunday because they hate the burritos but are expected to smile anyway.  Every single week.

[MamaJunebug]

2 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

12 year old me just can’t stop. Tonight I ate a bunch of baked beans for dinner and I can barely stand to be in the same room as myself. How can well over 20 Maxwells handle bible time indoors every Sunday afternoon? Usually someone in the Max family is pregnant and everyone knows you can’t hold in pregnancy toots. Do they just sit there and marinate in one big Maxhell ass gas cloud? Is this why they got Ellie? So everyone can blame her for the Sunday fart fog? Does Steve prefer bean burritos because they keep the sexual urges of the unmarried in check? 

12-yo you woke up 12-yo me and I in turn woke up the Junedogs with a big laugh at your first lost — then this one had me laughing so hard my eyes watered and my eyeglasses fogged up!

”Is this why they got Ellie?”

Indeed! She’s the equivalent of the canary in the mine — when THE DOG has to get up and leave the room, you know it’s time to call it a night!

oh lawsamercy can you imagine the diapers the next morning? I bet the mommies pray for their dear patriarch thru gritted teeth...

[ophelia]

 

8 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Look, I'm all for traditions; my family's Christmukkah menu is pretty much the same at its core twenty years on. But even with that, we're constantly experimenting and trying out variations. One year we'll sous vide the roast beef, or make lasagne with homemade noodles, or do slightly Indian-inspired green beans as a veggie side dish, or try a totally different apple pie recipe. It livens things up and gives all the family cooks (me, my dad, most of my aunts, and my grandma) a chance to shine. 

I'm all for traditions as well, especially when it comes to our Christmas dinner. I hate changes in it, because we always had it this way. Even when my grandparents were still alive and my uncle and his wife still came home for Christmas (glad they don't do that anymore, but enjoyed a big crowd as a kid) we had the exact same food and eating this every year and smelling it in the kitchen during the day brings out so many memories. The only variation we I allowed us over the time is a different dessert each year. 

4 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Am I the only one with the maturity of a 12 year old imagining the ripe smell of farts overpowering bible time after lunch every Sunday?

I can't think of anything else. I just don't get how they do it.

[jegfile]

New post up about Sarah's writing process... Part 1! I feel so sorry for her. It's clear that she has no aptitude whatsoever for fiction-writing but Steve has decreed she must write. Reading a book about personalities? I guess that's what you have to do when you don't interact with the real thing ever.

[crawfishgirl]

She mentions that she and her "team", i.e, immediate family, create the ideas for the books.  I assume that they also suggested the ideas for her Moody series.  It would be tremendously helpful if she started at least occasionally looking elsewhere for ideas instead of the same place each time.  It would help to freshen up the stories and expand her style.  It's sad that she is not allowed to grow at all.

[anjulibai]

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With my current book, my initial book idea completely changed about three months ago. I still may write that first book someday in the future but not now.

Translation: We're getting another Moody book. 

[socalrules]

What happened to the book Sarah was almost finished writing that she had to visit the little town for ideas? Did that book ever exist? Her post makes it sound like there was only a different idea, not a book she had already started writing. I am not sure what’s the point of going over anything with Anna, Mary or Jesse when they only have the same experiences as Sarah and can’t really bring anything new to the table, especially since Sarah only seems to write about her own experiences. Her lack of imagination in her writing is just sad. Instead of reading about personalities, she should be meeting people from different backgrounds with different experiences. Also, her list of how she approaches writing sounds like something I did when writing a book report in elementary school. 

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, anjulibai said:

Translation: We're getting another Moody book. 

We knew that, I think.  She promised that she was going to introduce a whole new series and then backed off that to say this was yet another Moody book.

28 minutes ago, socalrules said:

What happened to the book Sarah was almost finished writing that she had to visit the little town for ideas? Did that book ever exist?

AFAIK, Christmas in Sunflower with the Moodys (or whatever its working title was) is still stuck in Sarah's mental pipeline.

That latest post is pathetic.  In the true sense of the word.  You have to pity Sarah.

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Ideas! That’s where you start, and I’ll be the first to tell you I’m not overflowing with countless future book ideas. I have some, but not a crazy number, as some people do.

We know, dear, we know.  You have come to the limits of your experiences and have no imagination.  The Moodys have already done everything you have done, and they have already been to Colorado.

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The Lord is faithful to give me each story, and so I believe my lack of having a storehouse creates an even greater dependence on HIM!

So the "team" is now Anna, Mary and Jesse - she depends on them, not on HIM.  She used to have Nathan and Christopher on her team to give her ideas.  Sarah, perhaps you could write about your "team's" experiences instead.  A Moody kid has probably already cleaned up the woodpile but Anna and Mary's mysterious mission trip might spark an idea.  Or you could send a Moody on a plane all by itself to minister to a family about to have its eleventieth child.  Didn't you do that?

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Then, I go to my team of helpers and run through my ideas. Several in my family should be fiction writers themselves (seriously!).

But they can't write as well as you can, Sarah.  Sadly, you are the best writer among the Maxwell spawn - Anna and Mary seem barely literate.  I don't think I've ever seen a sample of Forgotten Jesse's writing.

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We usually discuss my outline after dinner and Bible time. They’ll give me suggestions of things I ought to change or that don’t make sense or fresh ideas.

This explains why Sarah's plotting is so bad.  It is a communal effort and a camel is a horse designed by a committee.

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3. Character Profiles! This is a new thing I’ve implemented in my current book. To keep my characters unique and to help me as I really learn them, I have profiles listing out what kind of person they really are: their likes, dislikes, personality, etc.

And that explains a lot too.  This is a new idea.

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I’ve studied a book on personalities (there are many books out there!) which has helped me to create real-life characters.

A book.  Singular.  And there are indeed many books out there.  I think it is downright naughty of Sarah not to identify the book as she could be leading her blog readers astray.  Books on "personality" range from the seriously woo woo through pseudo science to actual ebil psychology.  

Is it because she doesn't want to send Debi Pearl readers by admitting she uses that godawful framework in Created to be His HelpMeet?   Or does she have an inkling that Myers-Briggs (strangely popular with Fundies) is (very) loosely based on Jungian theory?

But, oh horrors, people could actually stray into BF Skinner and cognitive behaviorism or evolutionary theory unless she specifies.

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4. Pre-Book Trial Run! This is another new thing. Although my family has critiqued and gone through the book, I don’t normally have others read it until about the time it goes to a copyeditor. 

And that too explains so much.  Sarah desperately needs a writers group to bounce ideas off and get decent critiques.  She also needs a professional editor, not just a copy editor, to improve her books.

I hope she has found a new copy editor.  There were so many errors in Summer with the Moodys I lost count.

[Alisamer]

In a normal family, if she was interested in writing she would probably have a real job, interact with interesting people who are different from herself, and have unlimited use of the internet. She could go to writing seminars and workshops, or join a writing group. Of course, at her age, she'd also probably be living on her own, have dated at least a little, and be in control of her own time. I could see her being the sort to do NaNoWriMo, or start out with fan fiction, or a multitude of other things. 

But she's a Maxwell. She interacts with other Maxwells, has her life, time and internet use tightly controlled, and is just so incredibly limited in so many ways.

As I was typing this it began to occur to me that maybe, just maybe, Steve hasn't allowed/made any effort to get the daughters married off because they'll have to take their husband's last name, and then they'll no longer be "Maxwells". It seems like that's the sort of thing his ego would stumble over.

[Lisafer]

12 hours ago, socalrules said:

 My beans cook in about two hours and I don’t even soak my beans. 

My Hispanic friend laughed hysterically when I explained how I soak beans overnight before cooking. She grew up in Mexico, probably ate beans about every day, and they never, ever, soaked them. She's probably right that it doesn't make any difference in the flatulence levels!

How exactly do the Maxwells deal when someone inevitably cuts the cheese in a manner that cannot be ignored? Do they laugh? Mutter prayers? Turn red from shame at a normal bodily function? 

If only they would address these burning questions on the blog! 

[PennySycamore]

@Palimpsest, this week’s New Yorker has a review of the Bill Clinton-James Patterson collaboration which talks about how collabs are so rarely successful.

[Eternalbluepearl]

Sarah is writing a new Moody book? I thought the Moody series ended and the Maxwells had a party to celebrate. I guess Sarah was just kidding. The Moody series never dies. I was very excited for her small town book she was writing. By very excited I mean mildly interested to see it come to fruition. 

[Palimpsest]

11 minutes ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

Sarah is writing a new Moody book? I thought the Moody series ended and the Maxwells had a party to celebrate. I guess Sarah was just kidding.

It did.  And they had a party after the 10th book.  Then Sarah wrote yet another Moody book, #11.

I sincerely beg her pardon.  She has already published it.  I got confused:   

https://www.titus2.com/sunflowers-christmas-miracle.html

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Christmas is right around the corner in Sunflower, and life is full of surprises.

Some good, some not. Mr. Gibson is at the root of them, but what can twelve-year-old Moses do? At the town hall meeting, Moses is proud to watch his older brother stand up against opposition, but the new piece of information is troubling. When their Christmas season turns into a crisis, can Moses handle what’s before him? Sunflower’s Christmas Miracle will tug your heartstrings in this incredible story of hope and love.

 

Yawn.

[JermajestyDuggar]

26 minutes ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

The Moody series never dies.

The question is, where does the Moody series go when it dies? I’m hoping it’s cremated.

[SassyPants]

On 6/12/2018 at 7:05 AM, usmcmom said:

Why haven't the Maxwells bought a couple of kids's tables with chairs to keep at Compound Headquarters?!?

I bought a miniature card table and set of four little folding chairs at Dollar General once. I took it to my mother's house and left it there for family gatherings. That way, the great grandkids had places to sit during family dinners.  I actually ended up hating that thing because my mom insisted it be folded and slid under her bed JUST RIGHT at the end of the evening. And then the little chairs had to be folded and stacked JUST RIGHT in her closet. They had tricky little latches on them so they were hard for her to do. I didn't mind helping her but couldn't understand why they all could not remain set up in the room in which it was always used.  She called it the play room, it was right off the kitchen and she left the door shut so......??!!??

Anyway, the Maxwells need a couple of those tables, they could be stored in that spare room we see sometimes. Heck ; even TV trays would be better than having children sit on the floor to eat. 

Think outside the box, Steve. Make Sunday lunch a pleasant memory for your grandkids! 

It's not thinking outside the box, but rather using common freaking sense. Does SM train that out of everyone in his family?