Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! (yesterday)

As I had a sore throat, I was banned from food prep, so I self-designated myself the official photographer/chronicler.

 

So much prep goes into the meal – and we had lots of help!

What would be Thanksgiving without the turkey?

Molly and Sophie were exiled to the basketball goal for the meal.

Nor what would it be without the famous and beloved Smith Rolls?

Sitting down for the meal all together. Pass the rolls please.

We ended the day later with your choice of pie: pumpkin, pecan or apple.

“Give thanks to Lord for He is good. His love endures forever.”

I am a Goody Two-Shoes.

I have always struggled with self esteem. Not so much, the ‘do I look pretty’ kind of self esteem, though I have struggled with that too, but more ‘am I offensive in what I say or do’? Some of this I can trace back to childhood; I hate conflict and I really hate to step on toes, so much so that I have trouble voicing my own opinions sometimes. And I am still learning to conquer it. I am ultra afraid of appearing ’sensitive’ or ‘judgmental’ or of turning someone off- esp. with Christianity.

In class once, I was talking with a guy who said he had awesome weekend – he’d been to the strip club. I was rather speechless, and manged some sort of “Ohhhhh….. um, nice?” Only to beat myself up later for not saying something more of substance, and why, oh Why did I have to say ‘nice’?! Its not nice at all. I was talking with my brother later, and told him about it and that I didn’t know what in the world to say, and that I didn’t want to appear like a goody-two shoes or anything, and he replied, “You are a goody-two shoes. Be it.” and then went on to say that my reaction should have first been one of disbelief, like “you go to those places?” and then just act like I didn’t like it, because I don’t. And that guys respect girls more if they have opinions and standards they aren’t afraid to show.

So, with God’s help, I am still learning to truly “be myself” despite what others may think. Because in the end, its not what the world thinks that matters, but what Jesus has to say. And I pray that I will not disapoint anymore. I pray I may find the balance and the words of conveying my opinion without being religious or judgmental. With God by my side as always.

“Let your speech always be seasoned with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should repsond to each person.”

Col. 4:6

A Word for You M’dear

Due to the long lag time in between posts, I have decided to boondoggle. As most of you know, I love books. You also probably know that I love words. Therefore, I thought I would combine to the two and post a occasional word and then let YOU post a sentence in which you use the word.

This week’s word is drawn from The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten by Jeffrey Kacirk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cabobble: To mystify, puzzle, confuse. East Anglia, Cornwall [J. Wright]

Now you post a demiurgic sentence using the above word, as a comment on this post. Have fun!!!

the Four Seasons

There are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter. Each has its own unique qualities.

Spring is a time of rebirth, new life. When the harshness of winter has succumbed to the warmth of the sun, warming the ground to allow for the new plants to breath and grow. The trees rapidly bud, bright green shoots that contrast against the dark gray of the bark.

Summer, I’m sure has some good qualities, but living in the south and dealing with the ultra humid hot days, I can only see the negative. To me Summer represents the dry spells. For some, the emptiness, the longing. The thirsting. Almost everything is brown and dry, little real life to be seen. It is during this season that we truly learn to appreciate lifel giving water.

Autumn is my personal favorite. There is something invigorating about the deep, endless blue sky, the trees on fire, the warm, golden light that makes everything glow. Autumn is a time of harvest, of thanksgiving. A gathering of the crops to store and sell.

Winter, is another harsh time, cold and bitter for many people. Bleak and dismal. But, there is also joy. I find it interesting that this season, this bleak, dismal, cold season was the chosen time to celebrate the advent of our Lord.

Most people don’t think of winter as being bleak. They remember the joy, the celebration. Christmas is the most magical time of the year. Its also one of the darkest because our days are shortest. Its one of the bleakest because there is extremely little green plant life to be seen. Except for the evergreens. The evergreens. These are special trees. They were chosen, because of their year long greeness to be the main decoration in our households; strung with lights, hung with ornaments, and dusted with tinsel. Evergreens remain the same throughout each season. The only thing they do is grow. Bigger, fuller and more lovely. At first glance as I was writing, I thought, “I want to be an evergreen. To stay the same; no season would affect me. I would only grow; bigger and fuller.” And then I looked closer. Do I really want to stay the same? To never know the warmth of spring? The brightness of autumn? True, the bleakness of Winter would not affect me, nor the dryness of Summer, but do I want to lose the good in order to protect my self from the bad? Evergreens are a a soft wood, deciduous trees are hardwood. Hardwood trees are the first pick for any sort of project. They are also the most expensive. But, most importantly, they are the strongest, and the slowest to rot. Evergreens are second pick, extremely common, and they rot quicker than, say, an oak. Perhaps our personal seasons we go through in our lives, our Springs, our Summers, Autumns, and Winters serve to make us stronger. Anybody can be an evergreen, they just don’t learn and grow through life’s experience. It takes courage and strength to be an Oak. But we come out stronger than ever if we allow our life’s experience’s to teach and mold us, growing us into what our Gardener wishes.

Christmas in November?

I have gotten a few complaints about the length of time that expired since my last post. So, I am attempting once again to write something of substance. I thought I would do a rant against the consumer industry pushing Thanksgiving into a smaller and smaller corner, while Halloween and specifically Christmas steal the limelight. (what is a limelight anyway?). However, I could not focus my thoughts (again) and come up with anything that was even interesting to yours truly. And I can’t say too much because I do listen to ‘winter’ music in November…right now actually. I would like to point out that there is a difference between Christmas music and Winter music. If you don’t believe me, look up “And Winter Came” by Enya on Amazon. I think of Christmas music as being the carols and songs we all associate with the Christmas season because of tradition. Like Carol of the Bells, Let it Snow, ect. Winter music is the genre that is associated with the winter season because of its makeup (yes that doesn’t sound right but I didn’t know the techincal name of what I was trying to say). Most ‘winter’ music is instrumental, and is not recognized as Christmas music. Its still saved for the cold months so its special, buts is not Christmas-y.

I hope that cleared up any misunderstand on the subject. If you get raked for listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, merely tell them its is Winter music and if they care to understand the difference to visit happeningsofmylife.wordpress.com for more information. Unless of course you are listening to We Wish you a Merry Christmas. Then I can’t help you.

I promise you I have a more serious minded post coming. Its in the works, I just need to polish it off a bit. A large bit. Please have patience with my rambles, which probably make you feel as though you were caught in brambles. Oh dear. I will sign off now before anything else random and confusing comes out.

To Write or Not to Write

For the past couple weeks I have been mulling over several ideas on what to write about next. Now, as I sit down to put my jumbled thoughts on paper (or should I say screen?) they all fled, and I am left with a tired, empty head. Well, ok, not entirely empty because fragments of those deep, enlightened thoughts remain, more jumbled than ever and very elusive. I cannot make my brain focus on one thought long enough to pull it from the dusty box in which it has been hiding so I can reveal its full shape. Reminds me of fairies and other mythical creatures. You see it for a split second and then it is gone, leaving you wondering whether you saw anything at all.

As I mentioned, I had had several ideas to write about. I am horrified to find that I cannot even remember what they roughly concerned. Please forgive me, its Tuesday, and Tuesdays are not the best day of the week, even more so than Wednesday. Monday is my best school day because I feel somewhat refreshed after my weekend (ideally anyway), Tuesday is like, “oh, another eight o’clock class – and a boring class at that- and its back to real grind of school. Wedsneday, hump day, is like, “its the middle of week. one more day and I will be done.” Thursday is, yes, last day. keep breathing, keep breathing, keep breathing, you can do this. So, at the moment, I am struggling to stay awake with my Coke Zero, sitting in B&N, pointlessly typing rambles. You know, everytime I see the word ‘rambles’ I think of Peter Rabbit. Or the Mother West Wind Stories. I think its cause it rhymes with ‘brambles’ which I associate with rabbits and furry little creatures. Which also reminds me of the ideal nursury I would have – decorated in Beatrice Potter. That way it could be either a girl’s or boy’s nursury, and I wouldn’t have to change it. Mrs. Tiddlewinks was my favorite character. I’m not really sure why…. she was just so cute and plump.

Another damp, chilly October day. Weather like this is slightly depressing. All one sees are clouds, heavy gray ones too. Everything is wet, which somehow makes it all the more depressing, I think its cause it is darker and looks damp.

One thing I could have blogged about was the fact that this is my last day as a twenty year old. What do you call that anyway? You have babies, toddlers, preteens, teens, then you’re not a teen anymore, and then all of a sudden, you’re a total adult. Those thre years between the 18 and the 21, is that like a mini adult? So now I will no longer be a half-way adult, but a full fledged adult legally? Weird. Am I ready for this? I mean, this is a big step, not like I could stop time, but come on- having full responsibility in the eyes of the legal system is a pretty heavy bag.  Most people automatically think, oh hey you can drink now! Yes, I can, and I suppose for some thats a big thing. No more sneaking in with a fake IDs, now they don’t have to feel about it. I don’t think a drink or two is bad, because the Bible never says ‘thou shalt not drink’ but it does say, ‘the dissipation of wine is bad’ or something to that effect. That was about all they drank in Jesus’ time. Its kinda like money, money itself is not evil, but the love of money is. They are innate objects which cannot be evil by themselves, but are by how they’re used. Not that I plan on going drinking or anything, but I just wanted to clarify my view on the subject.

(and this was cranberry juice. I liked the red against the multi-colored background)

Well, for not having anything to write about I sure ended up with a long post. I apologize for its pointless ramblings and rather confusing structure. At least I can say I have posted something.

~Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins~

Finally, the promised recipe for delectable pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I know it might sound like an odd mixture, but my normally picky siblings LOVED them. (I didn’t mention there was pumpkin in them till after they had tasted them). Enjoy!

12 Regular or 48 Minature Muffins

Make one or two days before hand for the best flavor.

Ingredients:

1 2/3 c. all purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1 TBL. Pumpkin pie spice mix*

1 tsp. Baking soda

¼ tsp. Baking powder

¼ tsp. Salt

2 large eggs

1 c. plain pumpkin (half of 1-pound can)

½ c. butter**

1 c. (6oz.) chocolate chips

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350F. Grease muffins cups.

MIX flour, sugar, pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt thoroughly in large mixing bowl.

BREAK eggs into another bowl, add pumpkin and butter, and whisk until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

FOLD into dry ingredients with rubber spatula until just moistened.

SCOOP batter evenly into muffins cups.

BAKE 20-25 minutes until puffed and springy to the touch. (for a miniature muffin tin of 12 cups I baked them for 15 minutes and they were done.)

COOL on baking rack.

*Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice:

(I heaped the teaspoons a little for more flavor.)

½ tps. Cinnamon

¼ tsp. Ginger

1/8 tsp. Cloves

**For a healthier version I substituted ¼ c. oil and ¼ c. unsweetened applesauce for the butter.

The Theatre~

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a play done by the Communications department at MSU. I went with two other lovely friends- Stonerose and Kattyrae. The students performed “Arsenic and Old Lace” which was first I believe, done on screen starring Cary Grant.  The movie is great (I would highly recomend it) and we had great hopes for the play as well.

We arrived, bought our tickets and entered the auditorium. We found seats toward the back in the middle. The first thing we were struck with was the set. The three of us had participated in drama in highschool, and being part of the homeschool group, there was no funds in our nonexistent treasury for sets or costumes. Thus it was a great joy to see what we considered to be a grand set. It was staged as the Brewster’s living room, complete with a front door, bay window, and a real set of stairs. In fact, there were four working doors that lead to various rooms.

The play began. We did enjoy it immensely, but for Mortimer. Our drama teacher was quite strict about performance movement, gestures ect. and we could all hear her critiquing the play in our heads. Mortimer gravely overacted. For those of you who have seen the Cary Grant movie, you will know that Cary Grant over-acted throughout the entire thing. However, he was Cary Grant and he made it believable. The actor who played the same character, Mortimer, was not Cary Grant. He tried much to hard to be Cary Grant, and did a sad job of it.

The rest of the play however was quite enjoyable. The Brewster sister’s did a good job, Jonathon too was a bit overacted, as was the Lieutenant. Our favorites were Office Brophy and Dr. Einstein. The actor who played Officer Brophy also played the dead bodies, and did a remarkably convincing job of being dead and limp. Dr. Einstein was an excellent example of how to overact and yet make it believable.

Overall, very well done by the entire cast and crew. Watching the play made me miss theater. I do hope do at least to audition for some once I transfer to State.

Flu Season

As flu season seems to be upon us with full vengengance, I thought I might share some simple tips I came across.

(for the full article, follow this link:http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2009/09/28/simple-ways-to-prevent-influenzah1n1-swine-flu/)

1. Frequent hand-washing

2. “Hands-off-the-face” approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of  face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a  day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (such as citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that they also have Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much warm liquid as you can (such as teas, soups and broths). Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction.  They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Thanks to Lehman’s Country Life for this helpful tips!

~Pumpkin Pie~

What is fall without pumpkin pie? Below is the best recipe I have found. Enjoy!

Libby’s Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:
MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
POUR into pie shell.
BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately* or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

*Note: I usually try to let my pies sit a couple of hours before serving because they tend to be soupy right out of the oven.