Princess on the Porch

By Trudy K. Cox

Princess on the Porch is a collection of stories our family has shared so others will see the humor that can be found even in the most stressful of daily activities.

Princess on the Porch is divided into seasons of the year, with recipes that complement each season.

The underlying theme is that we can embrace each season with grace as we allow God to guide us and use us, no matter the place, no matter the circumstance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490881812

Trudy K. Cox

Love, sharing, encouragement, and life experiences cause others to see their circumstances with a more positive outlook, showing them that sometimes the events that looked so stressful end up causing the most laughter. Times around the dinner table make the best memories.

Book preview

Season(ings) of Life

"Build me a sacred residence where I can live among them." Exodus 25:8

Where are you residing…an apartment, a home, a dorm? Are you allowing God to use you where He has you? Each of us goes through various seasons of our lives. Each season comes with different circumstances, different trials, different successes, and different failures. Use these seasons to Share with others because such sacrifices please God. Deuteronomy 8:3

One way to share with others is to open up our kitchen and home. Some of the most blessed times we can have are when we are crowded in the kitchen, cooking together, or sitting down to a meal with friends and family. Do not be afraid of the kitchen. Remember, God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us even when we are in the kitchen.

You don’t enjoy standing at the stove or sink? Think again; these can be times that become the most treasured or funny memories as years go by. You don’t have to prepare a four-course dinner to make a memory. Whip up a package of hotdogs with chili. Open a bag of chips and sprinkle on some cheese. What will be remembered is the attitude with which you served them and the conversation around the table. The giving and selfless heart that prepares the meal is the one which will please God…and others.

You might be in the season of life that finds you at the drive-thru window of Mickey D’s or Taco Bell three nights a week. Maybe you are a taxi driver to 2.5 kids, or a single mom or just single. Your time has to be divided between working, homemaking, church, children, aging parents and other family circumstances. God cares and sees you. He wants you to have times of leisure and times of laughter. He wants you to enjoy the opportunities to make memories so you will look back upon those times with fondness.

The conversations which take place around the table, no matter if it is take-out or prepared at home, will be treasures to you and your family.

The recipes that are in this book are recipes that have come from different seasons of my life and that of our family. As seasons change, so does your time, energy, desires, and abilities. Be willing to give each season to God and allow Him to lead you in caring for your family. Remember that He is ever present with us, no matter which season of life we are in. Make Him a special guest in your home each and every time you come to the table. Mealtime will become very special to you and to your family.

Summer on the Porch

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Summer

We all have stories that stay with us for years. Isn’t it funny how many of our experiences which, at the time, were so embarrassing, are the ones which bring us the most laughter. Guess sometimes it just takes us a while to see the humor. This is one of those stories.

After returning home from the hospital in 1978 from delivering our precious daughter, Jodi, I was on the phone with my cousin who lived in Miami. I was telling her that she had lied to me about a third child not being any more trouble than having two.

We were laughing and talking about all the wonderful things of having children, when Jason, 4, and Jamin, 2, came in and told me to come look at the footprints that they had made. Because I had not talked to Marion in several months, I continued to tell the boys that I would be there in a minute and kept right on talking on the phone. After about 30 minutes, I hung up and went outside to see what they had been so excited about. There starting at the front door, going all the way down the driveway and down the sidewalk in front of our house, was an entire box of 48 Maxi Pads. The boys had removed the strip off the back of each pad and placed them as footprints. Neighbors were lined up and had their cameras out taking pictures of our house. The boys thought that they were just so talented with their art project that they even asked if they could be in the pictures that were being taken.

My legs couldn’t carry me into the house fast enough. I didn’t even have the nerve to stay outside long enough to coax the boys inside. I just ran and hid. It is surprising that we didn’t put the house up for sale immediately. It was a few days before I could show my face outside. Our meals consisted of sandwiches and frozen dinners because I was too embarrassed to go out. Now I wish that I had taken a picture. That will always be a favorite memory of mine. It’s great being able to laugh about it now…it just took 35 years to do so.

Hair Cut Horror

It all began on the Friday before the Monday I would be leaving for Texas. After seeing my hair, friends (if you can call them that after the laughter that came every time they looked at me) told me that I had to write about this most tragic incident. Randy actually liked it because of me being too embarrassed to leave the house, thus, no shopping. After seeing the photos that I texted to my daughter to get her reaction (knowing she would tell me the truth of whether or not I should just commit myself to a convent because my hair would be covered), messages started pouring in from my other kids telling me to stay away from Texas until my hair grew out or fell out. She is such a darling for sharing all the pictures with her brothers.

Let me start at the beginning. As I was getting ready to leave for Texas, I knew that it was time to cover the gray, and since we are cheap (oops, I mean frugal), I proceeded to the store to buy my shampoo-in color. Thinking that since it was summer it might be nice to surprise Randy by making my hair a little lighter than normal, I bought my box of color and came home. Just thinking about the look of surprise on his face when he walked through the door that night made me want to put on romantic music and have his favorite glass of wine waiting.

Hurrying to get it done so I would look beautiful when he walked in, I quickly tore open the box of color and then noticed that I had purchased a complete bleach kit. Well, no problem. I used to bleach my hair for years so this would just give him the girl he married 17 years ago. Thinking that this would really get the gray out, I added both packets of powder and covered my hair with the solution.

As I was waiting the normal 30 minutes for it to develop, it was clear that this was really going to be a LOT lighter than I had imagined. Wow, it was actually white! I quickly washed it off, and looked in the mirror. The image looking back at me was a duplicate of Tammy Faye Baker, without the eye shadow or lipstick.

Driving as fast as I could to the nearest beauty supply store, I began to think that maybe a frosting cap would do the trick. Walking into the beauty supply, I just knew I had the answer. I told the youngster behind the counter that I needed a frosting cap that had big holes in it so it would make it possible for big chunks of hair to be pulled through. I decided I would buy the old red color I had been using to frost it. As he walked to the appropriate aisle (all the while grinning at my hair), he began to tell me that I needed to be really careful since now that my hair was bleached, it would absorb any color quickly and intensely. Yeah, yeah, what did he know? He was just a little high school kid who was working to earn money to buy a skateboard, I’m sure. I have been coloring my hair for 50 years and certainly didn’t need any advice from Mr. Snotty Skateboarder.

Arriving home, I began to pull huge chunks of my hair through the cap all over my head and applied the red color to the chunks. Thirty minutes later, I rinsed it off. Now staring back at me was a lady who should be the poster child for Mrs. Santa. My hair was Christmas red and white striped. I looked like Christmas and here it was only July. Crying, I called Randy on the phone and told him that he had to stop and buy more hair color. He called me from CVS, and as he was reading all the red colors, I was looking them up on the computer to see what color he was trying to describe to me. He bought Chile Pepper Red and came home.

Thinking that this would tone down the red, we colored all of my hair, just knowing that it would bring the color down a notch, or ten. After 30 minutes, the color came off. I was now a gypsy. I was doomed to be housebound for at least a month. But knowing that I would be flying out on Monday, we washed it with Palmolive hand soap, Tide and Gain laundry detergent, but nothing happened, except my hair was completely void of any natural oils and was flaming red.

Monday dawned and I had no choice but to arrive at LAX with my head held high. People were snickering and staring. I tried to look as confident as possible and assumed my confidence would make them think that I meant to do this. Upon arriving in Dallas, I began to text everyone that I knew I would be seeing. I felt it was necessary to warn them that if I saw one little smirk or smile cross their face, I would write lies about them on my blog the rest of their lives.

My daughter, Jodi, was laughing so hard she had to turn away when she saw me. As the week wore on, I washed it every day until at least I could now pass for Cindi Lauper’s mom with my pink hair. People were coming up to me saying, Oh you have pink hair, like I didn’t know it. I had gone from looking like an old gypsy to a 60-year-old punk rocker.

Upon arriving back in California, I made Randy stop at the nearest Super Cuts. Surely, if I could just get the ends cut off, the color would look better. The young beautician asked me how I got my hair that color. I didn’t have the energy to tell her. She finished cutting my hair, and I headed out to the car where Randy was waiting. After washing my hair that evening, I discovered that the sweet young lady, who probably just graduated from beauty school that morning, had cut it two inches shorter on one side. So now I had lopsided pink hair that continued to gather looks wherever I went.

At least when we went to see Jay Leno the next Friday night, all my friends and family were able to spot me in the audience. I was hoping this story would have a happy ending as I went to a reputable beauty salon the following week. My goal was just to be able to leave the house without having to wear sunglasses and a giant hat.

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Streusel Coffee Cake

One evening when we were preparing to pack and leave for California, Karen and Greg, friends from our church, surprised us by bringing over a delicious cake. Karen is an amazing cook with her own cooking blog and is always blessing others by sharing her cooking talent.

1 box cinnamon streusel coffee cake mix (Brand does not matter)(Glaze, streusel and cake mix are included in box)

3 large eggs

1