Random Musings

I have a very limited food awareness. More than two new ingredients in a recipe?  Nah, I think I'll pass. Growing up, my mother fried squash (and the only thing I new as squash was yellow summer squash). As an adult, I've learned her method is called "pan-fried", which still makes me laugh. How else would you fry squash? I only knew one person who had a deep fryer and it was for fish and hush puppies only.  Yes, as one of my teachers liked to remind us in high school, I lived in a pocket of ignorance. My mother-in-law introduced me to squash cooked with onions, which I like, and through pot lucks here I've had squash casserole.  So imagine my surprise last week when I went to allrecipes.com and typed in squash in hopes of finding a squash casserole recipe.  Up comes a recipe for SQUASH COOKIES!  And no, I  did NOT print it out. I was so shocked, I mentioned it on Facebook, and everyone starts talking about zucchini and acorn squash and pumpkin recipes...and I

Monday we hit another milemarker in our marriage...13!That sounds like a long time, but it really doesn't feel like it. It's hard for me to comprehend where all the time has gone.  One of my goals for July was to pull all the boxes of photo albums and actually get the pictures into their appropriate albums. Due to a lot of unexpected life stuff, that hasn't happened. But I did actually start this week, and was pleasantly surprised to look at a few pictures and realize just how busy our 13 years have been. And our anniversary will always be special, but it's also our milestone marker for our "blessed years".  Eight years ago this past May we had to cancel our July plans for our 5th wedding anniversary and made a quick trip to the mountains and to visit family (we were trying to clear our minds and ease our hearts) before Bobby's bladder removal (which involved a 6 week recovery period). Those first few years after the surgery we fought the dragon of appreh

Most of you know last fall we planted seedlings up and down one of our property lines. None of the mangolia trees survived the winter. All but 4 of the flowering trees/shrubs planted on the actual line are still living. Some of them aren't tolerating this heat very well (the tops have died back several times) but they're still with us. One of the shrubs has suddenly decided it can overcome the deer and birds and has started thriving. It makes me happy to see this long shoot of green leaves. These photos below are what our shrubs resemble (ours aren't as full as the top but have more height and shoots than the bottom): And then one evening as we're feeding animals and checking on things, my husband asks me what these plants are. I couldn't remember, but had saved the packaging slip and labeled on the paper what I planted where. It's been almost a year since I researched all the plants and their coloring and height and width and all that jazz. I'm not

Chik-fil-A owner makes a personal/political statement to a religious organization. LGBT community starts a boycott that extends to city governments and colleges, prompting stores kicked out of cities and college campuses. Facebook goes crazy with boycott and support posts, some of them getting very personal and hateful (from BOTH sides). For the record, I've participated in personal boycotts in the past, refusing to invest, shop, or support certain places because of either their performance or support with things I personally don't care for. That's my perogative as a person. Yet I can't recall a time asking someone to boycott a business with me, especially if it's a corporation. Why? Because even good people work for bad companies. I don't like everything Wal-mart does or stands for, but I've had many friends and loved ones who have and are working for that company. Why would I wish ill will on the person/company who puts food on their table? And I cou

Last night at supper we discussed the NCAA ruling on Penn State. Bobby was shocked at the $60 million dollar fine and was wondering whether it was actually worth it for the school to continue to have a football program. The reversal of wins, other than removing Paterno from the record books as the winningest coach, doesn't really do much. I mean, who wants to tell their kids "Hey, the team I played football on beat Penn State" 20 years after the fact, even though they really didn't. It's a lot like the US girls gymnastic team being awarded gold medals years after the Olympics because proof finally surfaced that China used an underage child on their team.  Winning gold 4-5 years after the event just doesn't quite seem the same as winning gold during an awards ceremony. Don't get me wrong, I think Penn State should be punished, but revoking wins has always seemed a little stupid to me. Other than the many victims, the one person who I feel the most sympa

One day last week I was coming home and literally came to a stop in the road. There was the smallest rabbit slowly taking its sweet time in hopping across the road. I watched as it headed to the thicket that seperates our property and the LP Gas company, then chuckled and almost started driving toward our driveway again. I blinked a couple of times, but sure enough, there was an APPLE bouncing up and down near the ground coming in my direction. I was dumbfounded. After it got much closer, I realized there was a very tiny squirrel behind it. It was carrying the apple in its mouth while trying to run. It was the funniest sight I've ever seen. But it also gave me pause. I know deer eat fruit. I know birds eat fruit. I know my chickens eat fruit. But squirrels? It reminded me of a few years back when I posted this rant about some idiot thiefs who stole almost a bushel of pears in one weekend. And now I know it wasn't a human after all, but probably a bunch of squirrels.  Yesterd

When in the course of a very busy week you alot time for yourself to do something with a friend, with whom you have been trying to set a date for such said event for a period of time approximating close to three weeks, it is a natural, or perhaps supernatural, conclusion that the morning of any such event a repairman of utmost importance will call and have an opening for such a glorious morning. When said repairman is handling matters of home and land security and time is of the essence, it is in best interest of all parties to accomodate such arrivals, in hopes that job completion will be timely and the convention of friends can still occur. A girl can always hope, right?

Ecclesiastes 10:1 (ESV) Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. Side Note: The KJV translates perfumer as "apothecary", which can also mean pharmacist. Growing up I thought this passage was referring to bugs in your medicine.   Yesterday toward the end of my work day I received a phone call that made my heart drop to the pits of my stomach. One of my precincts (I oversee 8 polling places) had an irate voter that was refusing to leave the premises and I needed to get to that place as quickly as possible. Thankfully the phone call came (as I was pulling in the parking lot) that the voter had finally left. I headed back to finish the assessments I was doing when the call came, but my heart was hurting for my workers. No one likes to deal with an irate person, especially at the end of a very long day. And when that person is irate over something errant and irrational, it only makes it worse.

4am- alarm goes off 6am- I am officially on call and we hope to be out the door and on the way to McDonalds 6:30am- I am officially "on the road" heading to 8 precincts for visual inspections, 2 paper inspections, and trouble-shooting (of which I hope and pray there is very little!) 7:30pm - polls close and I park somewhere, fill out paperwork and await 8 phone calls saying "Polls are closed, results successfully sent, and we are going HOME" 8:45pm - start making phone calls if I've not heard from all of my precincts; 9:00pm - report to the Boad of Elections that all my precincts are closed and packed up, drive to Rand Rd to turn in supplies If we haven't met for supper somewhere earlier in the evening, we head to Waffle House (what other place do you know of that is open at 10pm for supper?) Crash. If you live in North Carolina, vote. Your life doesn't depend on it, but the state of our nation does.

Growing up in Alabama I heard a lot of football games. And a common refrain heard when a player dropped the ball was, "Coach, you better get that super glue out. Those boys aren't catching a thing today."  (For those of you in NC, read that with the Johnston County accent but draw the vowels out into another syllable (or have a "flat mouth" as our choir director says). Today is one of those days when I feel I'm in need of super glue. Eating healthy? I can catch that ball easy enough when I want to, but when it's a holiday/I'm tired/eating at someone else's house who doesn't cook healthy/monotony/chocolate craves/ rush my willpower, my resolve could use a little super glue. Exercise?  When my schedule feels full (even though it's really not) and I'm tired both physically and emotionally, I not only need super glue to hold that ball in my hand, I need duct tape! After today's work-out where I have NO energy left and a long da

This weekend is our church's annual Family Fun Festival (our outreach to the community). I also found out this week it's supply pick-up day for election officials, since Monday is set up for Tuesday's Election Day. (Wake County is having it's run-off then from the May primary.) I chose the last available pick-up time slot, so I'll only miss the last hour of the Family Fun Fest and should hopefully make it back in time to help clean up. I'm excited and nervous about this year. Last year while working with the Gospel Bracelets, I was amazed at the varied reaction from parents. Some were appreciative, others hostile, a few really wanted their child/teen to talk to us but they child/teen wasn't ready/willing, and two women took me by surprise. They clearly wanted to know more about our beliefs, but they also wanted to share what they believed and why, and then for us to admit they were right (that there was no right way to God). I can understand if a person do

Earlier this summer, while at visiting an antique store with my sister-in-law, I found this bag of microwave popcorn from a farm in Kentucky. You put the cob in the bag, folded the paper bag, and put it in the microwave. I was a bit skeptical, but since my husband likes popcorn I splurged and bought it for him. I was impressed with the results: That was one big bowl of popcorn! It wasn't seasoned, but it was still pretty cool. He mused about whether or not I could grow corn and dry it. We're not sure what type of corn makes popcorn or how you go about preparing it, and I'm not certain I want to add another project idea to my already full unstarted/unfinished project list. But it is a neat idea. I saved the bag so I could write the farm and order more if he wants it (and their prices are reasonable).

Growing up, my mother used steel wool for scrubbing the tough spots on skillets or pans. I've always heard it's the best thing there is for plugging up mouse holes (mice supposedly can't chew through it).  But today, I found a new use for it: floor scrubbing. 13 years ago, I thought I had found the best linoleum in the whole world. It had a blue/gray tint to it, with a marbly texture that I absolutely loved. Fast forward five years later, and that marbly texture turned out to be not such a good idea. The smallest amount of dirt accumulates in each imprint, and when you mop the floor, it simply puddles the water with the dirt. Over time, it's simply become a mess that even a scrub brush barely impacts. To the right is the floor mopped twice with a cotton string mop (once with Pine-sol and once with Mop-N-Glo); to the left is the floor scrubbed with steel wool and Windex. My arms are absolutely killing me, but at least 1/5 of my floor now looks like it's new. Re

I am SO thankful that we don't see the road ahead in our lives. I am thankful that God does! I am SO grateful that no matter how many ups and downs our emotions experience on life's roller coaster, that God has already experienced EVERY SINGLE ONE of them. I am humbled to be an American, to have access to the health care system we have, and while I often feel guilty to be so blessed, I'm also greatly appreciative that it's at our disposal. Honesty...it's such an incredible thing. I am thankful for doctors who tell the truth, even when it hurts. I don't like hearing that Mom "has a rough road ahead of her" but I do appreciate doctors who don't sugar coat things and have chosen to study and work in professions where you only deal with hurting people. Healing...I am thankful that at the end of our decaying body lies ultimate healing; that eventually each and every one of us who has bowed the knee to Christ here on earth will one day see our b

A juke is a football term, meaning a player   makes a move intended to deceive (an opponent).   In other words, if you have the foot ball and move like you're going to run to one side of the field and then abruptly run to the other side, you have juked the other team. I first heard this word over the weekend, courtesy of my niece, who introduced me to the term "Jesus juke".  I had to google it to find out what it was, and the more I read the more bothered I became. It's basically when someone hijacks a non-spiritual conversation and makes it spiritual. The examples given were quite abrupt, in my opinion more than a little rude and insensitive, and made me think of  Proverbs 25:11 " A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." I'm certainly not one to handle social occasions with finesse, and that's probably why I'd just as soon avoid them altogether. But life cannot be avoided, meaning invariably I find myse