Monday, January 25, 2010

Step aside Betty Crocker.

I am on vacation this week (oh glorious joy! Somebody pinch me, this cannot be real) and decided to try my hand at domesticity today.  Much to my surprise, it worked out okay.  I made an edible dinner.  No one died.  The house didn't catch on fire.  I didn't break any dishes.  I didn't cut myself.  I did cry a lot during the cutting of the onions.  Below is documentation.

Konigsberger meatballs, from our German cookbook.


I cry every time.  Does anyone have a trick that actually works?


Capers.  I had never had them before.  I still don't know what they are.
They remind me of tiny little green olives.
Hey, maybe that's what they are.


Finito!


Clean up.

Thank you to my dedicated paparazzi, Kristy.
She was also the brave soul that partook of my culinary masterpiece.

Friday, January 22, 2010

The difference between men and women (so true!) *sheepish grin*

The Difference Between Men and Women 

  Let's say a guy named Fred is attracted to a woman named Martha. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else. 
  And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Martha, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?" 
And then, there is silence in the car. 
   To Martha, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of. 
And Fred is thinking: Gosh. Six months. 
  And Martha is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily towards, I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person? 
  And Fred is thinking: ...so that means it was...let's see...February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means...lemme check the odometer...Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here. 
  And Martha is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed - even before I sensed it - that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected. 
  And Fred is thinking: And I'm gonna have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those morons say, it's still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It's 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600. 
  And Martha is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure. 
And Fred is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty...scumballs. 
  And Martha is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl romantic fantasy. 
  And Fred is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty. I'll take their warranty and ... 
"Fred," Martha says aloud. 
"What?" says Fred, startled. 
  "Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have...oh dear, I feel so..."(She breaks down, sobbing.) 
"What?" says Fred. 
  "I'm such a fool," Martha sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight, and there's no horse." 
"There's no horse?" says Fred. 
"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Martha says. 
"No!" says Fred, glad to finally know the correct answer. 
  "It's just that...it's that I...I need some time," Martha says. (There is a 15-second pause while Fred, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work.) 
"Yes," he says. (Martha, deeply moved, touches his hand.) 
"Oh, Fred, do you really feel that way?" she says. 
"What way?" says Fred. 
"That way about time," says Martha. 
  "Oh," says Fred. "Yes." (Martha turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.) 
"Thank you, Fred," she says. 
"Thank you," says Fred. 
  Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Fred gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a college basketball game between two South Dakota junior colleges that he has never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it. 
  The next day Martha will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. 
  They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it either. 
  Meanwhile, Fred, while playing racquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Martha's, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: "Norm, did Martha ever own a horse?" 
  And that's the difference between men and women. 

Sunday, January 10, 2010

I must have need of patience.

I had a fun day yesterday.  It truly was fun, it was a blast and a definite boost to my outlook on life in general.  I keep telling people the story, and they all say I should write it down, so that's what I'm doing.  I work with 4-H kids, and was asked to teach a group of novices at a Livestock Judging competition yesterday.  The novices are the kids that have never judged livestock before, and range from 5 yrs. old to 16.

I have taught the novices for the last several years, but yesterday was different.

I had a group of 12 kids.  We were in a very cold barn for 2 hours walking around to different pens of animals.  There were two older boys in my group who were completely rowdy and determined to see if they could frustrate me, they kept this up the entire time.  Okay, picture them as background distraction for the rest to come.

Right as I was making my opening instructional statement, one sweet little blonde girl, about 6, burst into tears.  She was cold.  I found gloves for her, pulled her hat down tighter and gave her a big bear hug and stuck hot chocolate in her hands.  She proceeded to sob for the next two hours.  She was very compliant, cooperative and participated in everything gladly.  She just couldn't stop those sad sobs.

Now we're at the pigs.  "Do you know where ham comes from?" I ask.  Yank, yank, yank.  I look down into a miserable face.  Suddenly a raging river of tears start down another little girl's cheeks.  "Teacher, my tummy hurts so bad!"  Now we have rowdy boys (there's 3 at this point, their ranks are growing), sobbing cold girl, grunting pigs and sobbing sick girl.  I look around and ask if her mommy is here.  No, she's at home.  Hmm.  Another adult notices my chaos and asks if there's something they can do.  I send the sick one with her and continue to explain about where ham comes from.

Moving on to wool.  That went fairly well.  None of the chaos has stopped, we're all just adapting to it.  I can imagine how our little group appears to the rest of the people in the barn.  It probably looked like we needed an adult with us.  I huddle the group up and start to explain to them what "splay-footed" and "pigeon-toed" look like.  There arises a disturbance over to my left and in consternation I ask what on earth is going on.

A bloody mouthed 5 year old looks up at me from his position in the dirt and says, "I lost a tooth.  I can't find it, it fell in the dirt."  By this time sick girl has joined us again.  So all of us (even sobbing cold girl & rowdy boys) get down in the dirt and start raking it with our fingers looking for his tooth.  It was a matter of utmost importance.  It never occured to me to do anything about the blood all over his face.  Finally, we gave up.  I told him, "Buddy, we can't find your tooth.  We have to go to our next class.  I'll draw a big circle in the dirt so we can come back and look when we have time."

On to the horses.  And then the steers.  Rowdy boys are getting worse.  Cold sobbing girl is now shaking.  About 20 minutes after moving on from the tooth hunt, Toothless Boy starts loudly crying... "No!  Noooo!  Don't stand there!"  I look across the big barn to the subject of his distress.  A group of people were standing on our circle.  Now we would never find his tooth.  So, I told him we probably wouldn't find it, but that it would be okay.  He was very concerned about the Tooth Fairy, so I said his parents could call her and explain everything.  She'd still stop by while he was sleeping.

Well, we got done with the animals, and I took us outside for some more instruction.  Oddly enough, it was much warmer outside than in the barn.  We each were taking turns giving "reasons", which is slightly similar to a speech.  I asked everyone to be respectful while each person was talking, and to give them their full attention.  As you would assume, rowdy boys (now 4) went off doing their own thing in the snow.  I finally reached the 'that's enough of that' point, and got their attention with a very fiery command to stand perfectly still and not utter another peep until we were done.  I admit, I lost my temper.  Not good, but they finally listened to me.  Well, Ringleader decided he was going to win this battle of wills.  We were done, time to go inside for food.  Ringleader didn't move.  I told him to come along, but he informed me that I had told him not to move.  "Well I'm telling you to move now."  Whatever.  Pick your battles I guess.  I have to admit, I chuckled on the inside.

I'm probably going to make an interesting mother someday.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Isaiah 65:24

And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.


One of those rainbows that I've been waiting desperately for the last 3 months filled the sky tonight.  It was beautiful. God never ceases to amaze me, He is so far beyond my faith.  The verse says it all.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Watching for the rainbow

This year has been like no other.  It started with a lot of ups, and ended with some crushing downs.  Its been good for me, I've always been so independent that I've never truly had to rely on God.  He has let things in my life and the lives of those close to me the last few months that there's not a thing I/we can do about.  I've never wept and begged and pleaded so desperately.  It seems that all I do when I pray anymore is cry.  Sometimes there's no words.

But.

There is a sweetness in sorrows like these.  They've drawn me so close to God.  I NEED Him, I cannot go on in life without Him.  Every verse was written specifically for me.  Every message aimed at my heart.  Every song voices the words my soul cannot utter.  My family and church is worth more to me now than all the wealth that will ever pass through my hands.

I'm starting to believe that there's a rainbow about to span the sky soon.  God always sends a rainbow after the storm.  In fact, without the storms, there'd be no rainbows.  That thought makes it easier to thank the Lord for the storms.

Life has been overwhelming, in good and difficult ways at the same time.  I'd like to share some CDs I found recently that have been a blessing to me during this season of life.



I really love Track 5 "In the Sweet Forever" on this one.












This is probably the best CD I've found yet.  It is good.
Track 8 "It's Still the Blood" is excellent.









I really am starting to be thankful for the trials, even though they hurt. I guess they are growing pains. We watched the Passion of the Christ for New Years Eve.  Wow.  I am unworthy to ever utter a whimper.  I cannot understand why He did what He did for us.  It's time for me to brace up and carry my cross.

Friday, January 1, 2010