good, but not chocolate chip

Back in February someone posted a recipe for strawberry cookies with white chocolate chunks. I printed it out, but never got around to trying it until this week. They're a little sweet, so if I make them again I might cut back on the sugar some. I also doubled the recipe so I didn't have to cut a bar of cream cheese or butter in half. :)  And it called for a bar of white chocolate, chopped or shredded, but I adapted...

1 1/4 c flour
1/4 c unsalted butter -softened
4 oz cream cheese -softened
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c chopped strawberries (I had a small bag of frozen strawberries in the freezer that I had thawed and drained)
1 bag of white chocolate chips

Preheat to 350. (It says to line pans with parchment paper, but I didn't have any so just lightly greased by cookie sheets.)
Beat butter and sugar and cream cheese until fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
Gradually add flour until well combined.
Stir in chocolate.
In a side bowl, toss strawberries with 1-2 T of flour until coated. Gently add them to the mixture.
Drop in heaping T onto cookie sheet, leaving about an inch in between.
Bake for 13-15 minutes.
Cool a little before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.


Restaurants here are open for drive-thru and take out. I realized this week that one of the things I enjoy about us going out (and it's usually to Bojangles or Zaxby's) is that it gives me a few minutes out of the house without worrying about dishes or the phone to think before we move on to the next task. And I have really missed that. But I have enjoyed making dishes that I haven't made in a while (though starting Sunday it's back to watching sugar intake!) and trying a few new things. And even though I don't have a lot of appointments and meetings, it's enough that I have really enjoyed having a breather these last few days. I'm looking forward to the next twenty-one days of solitude and have quite a few things I hope to accomplish.

seeking boldness

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. ~ Hebrews 4:16

I learned when I was twelve that God does not always answer our prayers with a yes. When I was 19, I experienced that again at a very monumental time. It's not an easy lesson when you desperately and fervently pray for something only to get a no for an answer.

This week has me timidly approaching God. I know we're commanded to ask boldly, but I so struggle with that. I know He hears me, but I still doubt that He will answer the way I expect. It's almost like I anticipate that He won't.

Misty lived across the hall from me in my college. We were in the same prayer group, and were both Alabama girls. We watched the important football games together. She was (and still is) a firecracker of a personality. A few weeks ago she had a seizure while teaching her high school English class, and discovered that she has a benign brain tumor. Her surgery was to be this week, but has now been postponed because it is an "elective" surgery. Prayers for a successful surgery, for her recovery (which if she could have now would allow her to be back in the classroom in August), and for no repurcussions from the removal of the tumor leave me a little timid inside. At a time like this, she needs all her prayer warriors to march boldly to the throne, not timidly.

Tim was in my class and his future wife Jessica was a year or two behind us. There son is in critical condition at this moment and with the COVID-19, only one of them can be at the hospital with them. The whole family has been so heavy on my heart tonight and yet I struggle to find the words to pray.

I know that God is good and loving, and kind and merciful. But I also know that  His ways are not mine. I struggle to understand His reasoning and the whys of things happen the way they do sometimes.

And today I struggle with boldness. So tonight I'm boldly praying for mercy and grace for my old classmates and their families. I know He'll answer that prayer.

pause, play, pause

Life right now is a lot like a kid with the remote control. We advance forward, pause, live a little, pause.

Ventured out to Target last night to pick up medicine and a few things we needed. I was only  able to get some of the things, so stopped at Food Lion this morning on my way home from an errand and was thankfully able to get everything else we needed. But I was amazed that a four days after the craziness posted all over Facebook I was still seeing so many empty shelves. I will say employees at both stores were stocking as quickly as they could and were being as helpful as they could be. Living in the south and in a hurricane zone, it's not uncommon to see certain shelves go bare before a hurricane or snow storm, but never have I seen so many rows or shelves bare at one time. I mean, honestly, when have you ever seen the canned vegetable aisle, pasta aisle, fresh/frozen chicken , frozen vegetable, eggs, or soup aisle 90-100% empty?

My biggest surprise was last night when I kept seeing people posting on the pages of friends in Utah asking if they were okay. After looking at three different news sites I finally found one that mentioned the earthquake. It was barely mentioned on the news this morning, despite its severity (5.6) and the fact that there have been at least 80 aftershocks and 60,000 people without power.

The quilting machine we ordered the end of February is on backorder, not sure if that is due to all the virus mess in Europe, or if it is simply that the factory has that many orders. Either way, it will most likely be the end of the month or into April before it arrives. I have more than enough to do between then, so I'm currently keeping my focus on other things.

Bobby told someone this morning that the only difference in our lives right now is we don't have church and we're not eating out. And for the most part, that is very true! Well, half of my activities and appointments have been cancelled for this month, but I'm actually okay with that.

And we had 8 chicks hatch out today. One won't make it, but we're still pleased. There's still three eggs on the nest, but those were added 4-7 days after she started setting on the others, so I don't expect them to hatch. She won't sacrifice the safety of the early ones for 3 eggs that still need a week of constant setting. I'll try to post pics tomorrow.

the difference a week makes

I know if anyone starts to read this today there eyes will glass over and they'll pass on to something else. And that's okay. What I'm writing today is to help me remember years down the road.

One week ago today, I would have never imagined the things that are happening now.

One week ago today, Covid-19 was something we discussed and anticipated. Then it became an issue for two counties. Today it is in 14 counties with 32 cases. Nationwide there are 1694 cases with 41 deaths. Worldwide it is a rapidly changing situation with staggering numbers.

Since Thursday, March 12, the following things have happened:

• The ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament were cancelled. This has no impact on me whatsoever, but in all of my life, I have never heard of a nationwide sports event of this magnitude being cancelled.
• Professional basketball teams have cancelled all games and public activities.
• Universities are closing the campus for the semester and going totally online. Duke University has gone so far as to tell students they will mail or ship important belongings (meds, electronics, etc) but not clothes or furnishings.
• The Governor went from a suggested closing of large groups to a mandatory closing of any group over 100 for 30 days.
• All public schools will be closed for the next two weeks.
• Chik-fil-A has closed the dining halls of at least two of the stores and will only operate drive-thru after that.
• People have gone crazy with panic buying. Meat, bottled water, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, kleenex and wipes are very difficult to buy, prompting some stores to impose rationing on items such as toilet paper.
•  Garner's Meals on Wheels will be distribution only (grab-n-go) instead of providing a hot meal at the Senior Center every day. 

And on a slightly funny, not so funny note, a niece who is studying in England was unable to find toilet paper at all in her area of England. She went to the public library and while using the facilities saw they had extra rolls and stole one roll to take home.  It has us all laughing, as we simply cannot see her doing that. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

spring

I know it's not officially spring according to the calendar, but...

• I cut grass today.
• There is pollen all over the top of the pond.
• The turtles are coming up.
• The geese are laying.
• The hardware stores have chicks.
• The irises are up and daffodils (which in the south bloom in Jan usually) are dying
• Goldenrods, crocuses, peach and pear trees and the kiwi plants are all blooming.
• Amaryllis plants are poking their heads out of the ground.

I'm calling it spring.

the talk of the town

Last night was the monthly "gathering" (the name and meeting of one of the quilt groups I belong to). It is usually a very upbeat group, with interesting discussions. Last night was a little more somber. We had a LOT of discussion about COVID-19. No matter what else we discussed, it seemed to always rotate back to that subject.

A few interesting tidbits - one read a text from her daughter in Switzerland with the list of things everyone should buy or have on hand in case of a quarantine. The daughter is a therapist at a hospital, and she reported situations of people bringing water bottles into the hospital and pumping out all the hand sanitizer into their water bottle. I've heard reports from the US of people stealing face masks and it makes me wonder if these people have a brain. Why would you steal from the very people who might eventually be taking care of you? If you take their supplies, what will they use when everything they have is gone and you come in and truly need it?  It makes no sense. At all.

And of course at lunch the Governor for our state has issued a state of emergency, though the advice remains the same. Wake County public schools have now cancelled all field trips for the remainder of the year, a private school in Raleigh (Trinity Academy) has cancelled classes for one day as a parent has it and they want to disinfect the school just in case (not necessarily a bad thing) while meeting with health officials. Meanwhile the health department has released the early voting site where one of the five infected persons voted, as well as listing the restaurant twhere the person ate.

Some of the nurses in the group last night were very concerned; others were intrigued but not concerned much.

One thing we all agreed on - the quilt shops need to be open extra hours if we are going to have an extended quarantine period. 

mixed messages

Covid-19, also known as the newest coronaravirus seems to have everyone in a bit of hysteria.  It is disconcerting. It's a new virus with (currently) no vaccine and limited means of treatment that has a longer lifespan than influenza and the common cold.  From the CDC's website:

"The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”).

Everything I've read about the illness from the CDC or medical sites state it is an upper respitory disease whose symptoms cause fever, cough and shortness of breath. Yet the media gives symptoms for the flu in all of its reports.

Because of the length of time the virus can survive on a surface, the quarantine for a person with the disease is 14 days AFTER the virus is gone. Because of this, the media has suggested people be prepared to be quarantined at home for a month (An estimated two weeks with the illness, then two weeks afterwards for the contagious period to end). So people are stocking up on flu medicines (because of what the media is reporting in the above paragraph), toilet paper, and disinfectants. People are mocking that on Facebook, and saying people are in hysteria. I think there may be some hysteria, but they are also simply following the directions of what the news media are saying people should do.

There's an extreme shortage of facemasks. The CDC is saying it really doesn't help the spread or prevention of the disease any more than not touching your face does, and yet doctors and nurses are supposed to wear them if they treat a patient with it and governments in Asia and the middle east are REQUIRING citizens to wear them. During the outbreak in Wuhan, residents were allowed to go to the market one time a week, and if they were not wearing masks or gloves, they would be fined. Citizens of Taiwan are using water bottles and bras as face masks since there is such a shortage. So there is definitely a lot of contradictory information out there.

There's also be an emphasis by the CDC and media doctors (the doctors who appear on local and national news stations to give the "expert" opinion) on hand washing and sneezing/coughing into a tissue or your sleeve. So of course there has been a rush on kleenexes according to the media, though I've yet to see that in the store. What I have seen is all the Lysol, sanitation wipes, and hand gels depleted. I don't think it's any different than when a snow is predicted. Everyone grabs, milk, cereal, bread and peanut butter because they know their kids will be home from school and the power might go out. People want to be prepared.  Is some of it overkill? Absolutely. But would I call it hysteria? Not exactly.

I don't have children. If I did, I would sorely be tempted to overstock on a few things. Can you imagine a family of three or four being quarantined for a month or more?  It's just me and Bobby, so I think I could easily order what we needed at the store, pay for it online, and get a neighbor to pick it up and leave it on our doorstep. But not everyone has that luxury.

One thing not being reported is what after effects the virus has, if any. We know that the elderly and sick are the most vulnerable to it, which would also explain why Asian and middle eastern countries have such a high death rate from it - smoking is extremely common in those countries and everyone's lungs are severely compromised.

At this point, the flu and pnumonia are more of a threat to our household than COVID-19 is. While we've both had our flu shots and Bobby has had the first round of his pnumonia vaccine, there's never a guarantee that some inconsiderate person who has it will expose him to it. We choose not to dwell on that nor to live in fear. We can't.

So I'm trying to scroll past all the memes and stories and reports online and even skeptically listen to what I hear on the news. I trust the CDC a little more than I do social and news media, but even they are a government agency that are made up of fallible humans.

At the end of the day, there's really not a whole lot more we can do than wash our hands as often as we an when out in public. Our hope is in the LORD, not hand sanitizer or soap.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.  ~ Psalm 20:7

in like a lion

I survived my 19 hr day yesterday (with only 5.5 hrs of sleep from the night before).  I strongly believe in our electoral process, so I think such days are worth it. Granted, I was rejoicing this morning that Bobby is retired so we could crash this morning, and I was constantly reminding myself that many of my coworkers got up early this morning and headed into their regular jobs. I guess that makes me spoiled that I was able to sleep until I woke up today. 

So much of the last two weeks have been trying to get ready for the next thing that I've enjoyed resting today. I know tomorrow is back to schedule and routines, but I so needed a day of rest today.

Updated my project list for March. I'm only carrying over two from February...the cleaning list (I cleaned light fixtures and deep cleaned most of one bathroom instead of doing what was on my list in February) and my Bible study. I have learned some very helpful and insightful things as I trod through this study, but it's heavy on group work and homework and hands on lessons, which is not really my thing.  So on the one hand I'm moving through lessons a lot faster because I'm not doing 1/2 of it, but I'm also not going to it as much because it's just not appealing. I've thought about giving up on it altogether, but I think I'll give it one more month before throwing in the towel.

Middle Tennessee was hit by tornadoes Monday night. We heard a little bit about on the news while I was getting ready Tuesday morning, but dawn had not yet arrived and little was known. Between precincts I kept hearing reports from workers or voters about the increasing death count. I finally stopped and texted my sister-in-law and sister to make sure they were all okay. As I suspected from reports, everything was south of them, but a lot of heartbreak among people they know. Several students at my alma mater, Welch College (and where my sister and brother-in-law work) lost their homes. One of the Christian schools where some of the students do their student teaching lost the building for the elementary school and the ballfield was destroyed. One of the first graders told his Dad after seeing the mess that if it had been 1pm instead of 1am when the storm hit, he would have been crushed but would finally see what Jesus really looked like. One of our Free Will Baptist pastors lost everything. After the storm passed he and his wife found themselves beside their bed on a concrete slab. He found one pair of dress pants in the rubble and had a jacket in his truck. He was able to shake out all the glass (from all the windows). His wife was able to find clothes and a neighbor gave them socks. She said she had never been so thankful for used socks before. Another neighbor down the street had shoes they both could wear.  The bathroom where they normally went during storms was totally gone; not even debris there. The family next to them, a young couple with an infant, all died. This area has been through so much through the years - the flooding, a round of tornadoes that changed so many lives, and now another tornado that gave them no warning but altered so many lives in the blink of an eye. I'm so thankful for the body of Christ and how it stretches out its hand to those in need.