Two Kinds of People, part 4

I think a lot about the 2 kinds of people who make up the Church Goer and Non-Church Goer populations. Of course I've been both kinds, so call me Bi-Churchual (as well as Bi-Petual).

Not that I ever plan to be a Non-Church Goer again. (But you never know.) In the meantime, I'm a Church Goer. And it's Sundays like today that remind me why:

#1 Opening words by Jacob. Thoughtful, from-the-heart words about the meaning of Memorial Day. Written by him, read by Alison, our Religious Exploration director. I'm still transcendent from the words (I hope to post them tomorrow, IF he emails them to me and gives permission) and from knowing that our son has adults in his life who would ask him to step up and write what is in his heart.

#2 I got to spend time planning the next vegetarian cooking class with Nina. We're going to make low-carbon-footprint cooking fun and delicious! This kind of thing is dessert for me.

#3 Not only was the sermon thought-provoking (two kinds of people - those who could kill another person and those who couldn't), it came from Rev. Tom's deepest place. He feels no self-righteousness about being the second kind of person. We need the first kind of person, but we can't all be that person. It's a tough subject. The struggle with tough subjects can bring you to a deep place.

#4 Music, especially jazz for me, can bring transcendence. Today we were blessed with a jazz trio and a splendid singer who made it look effortless.

Why wouldn't I want all this in my life?

Tonight, Dave and I are celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary at a Japanese restaurant. The princes will have Rico's.

Insomnia

Well it's been about an hour since I woke up. I finally gave up and here I am, seeing which of you other bloggers blogs in the dark of night. I'm so glad there are young people in my life or I would never have seen this short video about 80 years of war, called Food Fight. Lots of exploding ketchup, watch for the cold war.

Little fender bender yesterday. Very little, my fault, before the hideous drive to San Diego. (Sorry Mr. Man, I was in a hurry?) Saw a spectacular rainbow as I was headed home. Sorting out the signs...portents?

Dinner was very popular last night. I followed the recipe for Chimichitos almost exactly, so won't post the recipe, but you can find it here with a short video demo. Definitely a keeper.

I'm still working on the Pristine Desk Remodel. Let me ask you a question. Are you paying your bills online or are you still sitting there with your stamps and your envelopes putting off the inevitable? Pay your bills online! It saves a HUGE amount of time. Enough time to keep your desk organized, in theory.

I don't have the slightest idea what's for dinner tonight? Can I come to your house?

During

I'm in the midst of organizing (and goofing off, getting distracted, playing spider solitaire). See the little filing cabinet in the corner? It took about 5 hours to move it here from the family room because I had to take all the files out and look at them. Oooh! Bank statements from 2001, now that's something you don't have to keep. Keep it, purge it, repeat. One little file cabinet takes 5 hours? No! What takes that long is purging some files in the long-term filing cabinet up in the office to make room for new stuff in my little cabinet...oh man, this is boring! And it was. Thus, goofing off to keep myself from screaming.

Do you see the box on the shelf of the filing cabinet? Those are my mushrooms. I've kind of neglected them. You're supposed to water them every day and maybe I've done it 6 times in the month I've had them. I've harvested some delicious mushrooms, but they may not survive much longer. If I get some more, I'll post a photo.

I complained to Nina that my organizing seems to be making things worse. She's doing a lot of organizing lately and offered these inspiring words, "Organizing always makes it worse before it makes it better." I hope so.

One thing I accomplished yesterday was to make muffins. They are delicious and fooled the younger prince. The older prince saw the recipe, so he was biased when he tasted them. I borrowed this recipe from pinchmysalt and then changed it a lot. If you read her post today, you will see that apparently there was a San Diego food blogger mixer at a chocolate shop! Hmmph! Anyway, before I give you the recipe, I wll say that I am probably getting a rotisserie chicken tonight due to massive driving in horrible traffic at rush hour. Either that or we will get a pizza.

Chocolate Beet Muffins

1 C whole wheat flour

1 C all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 C chocolate chips

1/4 C margarine (preferably vegan)

2/3 C chocolate chips

1/2 C packed brown sugar

1 egg (or egg substitute)

1 C beet puree (best with roasted fresh beets and pureed with a bit of water)

1 C vanilla yogurt

1 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 2 muffin pans (I used one tray of 12 and one tray of 24 minis).

2. In a large bowl, stir together first 5 ingredients; stir in 1/2 C of chocolate chips.

3. Microwave margarine and 2/3 C chocolate chips until melted. Stir and set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, beet puree, yogurt, and vanilla. Add chocolate mixture and stir.

5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

6. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Cook regular sized muffins (tray of 12) for 18-20 min. and mini-muffins for 10-12 min.

Before

This is what my desk (aka dining room table) looked like before I started cleaning it off. After all, my desk should be my sanctuary. No piles of Things I Will Never File. Nothing extra. Just what I need at my fingertips. I've made some progress, but this is a Big Project. Not to be built in a day. I will just say that this Home Improvement involved moving furniture.

Can't wait to experience the bliss of a pristine desk. What does your desk look like?

The other night we did not have turkey meatball sandwiches. We had Make Your Own Sandwich and Soup night. I had to work through dinner, so the Princes were on their own. They had tuna melts and canned chicken noodle soup. Not sure what I had. Anyway, the meatballs are still in the freezer, so we'll be having pasta and meatballs with salad tonight.

What's that baking in the oven? Beets! I'm making Chocolate Beet Muffins. Shhhh....don't tell the princes about the secret ingredient!

Situation in Myanmar Delta

Here's what Doug, my brother's friend who lives in Myanmar with his wife Pauksi, says about what some of the refugees of the cyclone in Myanmar are having for dinner:

"At this point people in the delta are eating very simple meals,
usually consisting of a plate of rice with some dried fish or "ngapi",
which is a salty paste made from prawn or fish (it's an acquired
taste). Potatoes are usually sliced thin and made into a curry with a
brothy sauce that is eaten with rice as well."

Doug and Pauksi are making food for the refugees who are living in the local monastery. He's sending email and photos of the relief effort they're
organizing. The monks and refugees asked that these photos not be put on the internet, so I can only describe the flooding, mud everywhere, and people trying to stay dry and fed. There is standing room only at the monastery; they're even standing on the stairs. I imagine people are taking turns sleeping. I sent a small amount of $; let me know if you can help.

It's choir night. I will be grateful for my salad and leftovers tonight.

Magic Beans

Maybe I've never planted beans before, because I thought they might be Magic Beans. Jack had some regrets after he traded the family cow for the beans his Mom thought were worthless. But they're Magic, he said. And they were. They grew fast and tall, all the way up to the Giant's castle in the sky. Scary times up there for Jack. But he escaped with the help of the Giant's wife! And climbed back down the beanstalk with the Hen that laid the Golden eggs. Silly Jack went back up the beanstalk twice and narrowly escaped with his life. He chopped the beanstalk down with an ax, and Jack and his Mom lived happily ever after.

Man, fairy tales are brutal! Wikipedia tells us that the beanstalk represents the World Tree or Tree of Life, an image from many traditions. The Tree connects the heavens and the underground. Jack was a little too curious about the heavens and barely survived his explorations. Morals of the story for children: Don't ask too many questions! Fear God (but not his wife?)! Obey your Mom!

I'm thinking about beans these days because I'm starting to get bean sprouts! Only one of the outside beans has sprouted. Not to worry, almost all of the beans in the sprouting pot in the kitchen are growing. We've had bizarre weather: alternating fog and heat waves. But wait! In May, June, and July that's normal. I'd better wait until the seedlings are strong before transplanting them outside.

Congratulations are in order for Brother Gig, who is now an award-winning, published author, with a License in Social Work. Also employed!

More congrats to Natalie for starting her 6th year of blogging. You should check out her baby chicks! And thanks to Natalie from the royal family for the delicious dinner, the main ingredient of which shall go unmentioned in this paragraph.

Not sure what to make for dinner tonight. The King is dining elsewhere. Maybe turkey meatball sandwiches and salad. I could have a Chik patty instead. Have a good dinner!

Creativity in the Blogosphere

For some reason everyone's blogging about creativity lately. How being creative brings us closer to God (in a specific or general sense) and to each other. How being creative is life-affirming and just plain feels good. How bad it feels when there is no time or opportunity to create or when one loses the desire to create.

Ms. Kitty said it well in her benediction yesterday:

Let us go in peace, remembering that within each of us there is a burning
spark of creativity, the spark of life that has brought forth great beauty in
the world and gives us the ability to connect with each other and with the
divine as we experience that creative spark in others. May we find beauty and
inspiration in all of life’s ventures and may we offer our own creativity freely
and lovingly. Amen, Shalom, Salaam, and Blessed Be.

I don't feel like talking about last night's book right now. But I will tell you about dinner. Much love and creativity went into the French Laundry "peas and carrots" crepes made with shrimp and fish rather than lobster. Go to French Laundry at Home and read a few posts back about this dish. It was divine, and guess what? I have some of the leftovers in MY fridge. Judy and Dadla received many kudos and salivations for their version of this challenging dish. The bar has been raised for future book group dinners!

Tonight's dinner is brought to us by Natalie. Actually, I picked it up yesterday. For some reason, no one in her family wanted to eat chicken the same day they bought their baby chicks home. So the royal family will be having Natalie's curried chicken and rice for dinner. Lucky us!