drop what you're doing

I've been reading through a book on hospitality by Annie Chapman. Early on, she mentions this passage from Genesis 18:

 ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs^[b] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
 ⁷ Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

Now, I don't know about you, but this would have probably irritated me. If you've ever made bread, even if it is unleavened bread, there's NOTHING quick about it. From my way of thinking, he should have offered the men dried fruit or something, and then I would have prepared an early supper. After all, about the time she finished cooking for the strangers and cleaned up her cooking area, it would have been time to start it all again. And can you imagine the servant's reaction? There is NO earthly way possibly to quickly slay, clean, butcher, and COOK a calf quickly.  All my life, every time I've ever read this passage I thought it was a perfect example of a man who has a very unrealistic view of life and how it operates.

Chapman uses this as an example of hospitality. There was nowhere else for the men to go, and rather than simply give them something to satisfy them to a later time, they prepared them a MEAL.  I have to admit that's not how I operate. I try to think of the most logistical and practical way to appease everybody without having to wear myself out in the process.   And I have to to tell you, making homemade bread on the spur of the moment for uninvited guests would NOT be the first thing that pops into my weary brain.

I am so thankful for freezers and frozen garlic bread and yeast rolls that we can purchase in the grocery store. And yet, I think it's more the principle that I should be concerned with...am I putting the needs of others before my own? Sadly, too many times the answer is no. The truth is I do have to be responsible with my time and put my family needs above others, but there are other times when I could have easily done something for others instead of using up my time clock.

We're not told Sara's reaction to Abraham when he came in with his request. Perhaps she was accustomed to it. Maybe she got angry. But we do know she did it. And I hope should I ever be strained and put to that hospitality test, I'll be as successful as she was.

25 years ago

Arlington National Cemetery

25 years ago, while taking a 7th grade spelling test in a very tiny room (yes, we called it spelling instead of vocabulary back then), an 8th grader named Ira popped his head in the door and said "The space shuttle just blew up." Our teacher quickly finished the test, then we joined the rest of the 7th-12th graders in watching the news broadcast and its replays of the exploding Challenger. A teacher from Birmingham, Alabama had been one of the finalists in the selection process to send the first teacher into space, so our Alabama news media was naturally making a big deal about that as well. After a week of all the shock and the constant replays and talk of O-rings and such, many students began to grumble a little that no one knew the names of the other astronauts who died, but every knew about "school teacher Christa McAuliffe".  There was some truth to that.

And the other thing I remember about that day and the weeks that followed?  The middle school jokes. The boys asked "How do we know the astronauts had dandruff?" and all the girls belligerently told them how sick and disrespectful they were and to shut up. To this day I wonder what the answer was.

And this obviously made a big enough impression on me that for one my assignments at Wake Tech, it was my subject matter. Not the best drawing in the world, but everyone from my generation certainly understood the emotions behind it. I guess this was my first national disaster. Sadly it hasn't been the last.

:) What a way to start the day!

Caller: Good-morning. This is Hudson's and we are calling to let you know your repair is ready, and the total cost is xx.xx.
Me: I'm sorry, but I don't think there's supposed to be a charge.
Caller: Um, yes, we always charge for work. It's xx.xx
Me: No, this was a gift. The person who purchased this ring was told that you would re-size it for free. So there shouldn't be a charge.
Caller: laughing, We don't resize lawnmowers. This is Hudson's Hardware.
Me: embarrassed and laughing: OH! I am SO sorry. I was thinking Hudson BELK's! It'll be Saturday before I can pick it up. Is that okay?
Caller: Yes, that's fine. We're just calling to let people know.
Me: Thank you. And I will bring my credit card.

I am so thankful Hudson's Hardware has lawnmower men who know how to laugh instead of getting angry when people tell them they're not going to pay! And now I'm laughing and whatever tension I started out with has gone. A merry heart truly is good medicine!

a really cool feature

Have you ever had one of those days when there's more than one thing happening in your life that you want to blog about, but it's too much for one blog post?

Have you ever had one of those crazy weeks when there's a gazillion things you want to say, but life is simply too busy to blog?

I may be one of the last to learn about this feature, but if you notice at the bottom of your blog writing screen, there's this little underlined phrase that says "Post Options".  Once you finish blogging, you can click on that. An expanded bar will appear, and to the right of the bar it says: Post date and time. You can schedule what day and at what time your blog will appear! Once you fill that information in, you simply click the normal orange "Publish Post" button.

I tried this out at Christmas time when everything was so chaotic, and I absolutely loved it! So if you ever find yourself like me and thoroughly enjoy blogging but don't want to post three blogs in one day, you now have another option!

a keeper

My first "trial" recipe for the week: Gumbo.
And I modified it. Quite a bit. So I'll give you my version.

COMBINE:
1 pack of chicken breast tenderloins, cut into pieces
2 chicken bouillon cubes
a lot of water
1 T salt
a handful of mushrooms, chopped up (optional)
1/2 an onion, chopped up
1 tsp of minced garlic
a lot of celery seed (my substitute for not finding the celery stalks I "KNEW" I had in the fridge)

Bring to a boil in a saucepan, then lower to a simmer.

In a skillet, cook 1/2 lb of sausage (my substitute for not having kielbasa, or whatever it is). Add it to the chicken mixture, but save the grease in the skillet. Throw a thing of corn in the mixture (I gotta get rid of those multiplying frozen bags somehow!)

Pull some of the broth from the mixture, and use in place of water for the rice. Start cooking the rice.
Peel the shrimp, then add it to the chicken mixture. (I used 1/2 of a pd bag)
Add oil to the skillet (with the sausage grease) making it about 1/4 cup. Add 1/4 c of flour, and continuously stir over medium heat. When mixture becomes like gravy, add it to the chicken mixture.
Serve over rice.

It took a little longer to prepare than what I normally cook, but it was good and something I'll probably fix again. Hooray for one good recipe out of the pile!

The original recipe can be found here.

a little scary

my passport photo 18 years ago:









my  passport photo in 2011:

But in my defense, people are no longer allowed to smile. It might mess up the scans and facial recognition mess when they check to see if I'm terrorist. That's what they say. I think someone just gets a kick out of seeing people at their ugliest.

irons

We have well water.
Well water has minerals.
And if you ignore the advice of people who grew up with well water and use it (instead of buying distilled water) in your iron, in time it will cease to hold water for the steam function.
Trust me on that one.

So I now have an iron that heats very nicely, but refuses to steam. I spent a little bit at Target looking at irons yesterday. I thought it would be like my college days where I go in, have two to three choices, and then I grab one of the shelf. hahahahaha.  There were probably 20 choices of irons.  Yes, twenty. Can you believe that? And the prices ranged from $9 all the way to $60! I looked, compared prices and features, then came home without one.  Buying an iron should not feel like car shopping. I should not need to read reports and features to buy a simple, solid iron that will steam clothes while I starch them without clogging and heat properly. Is it really that difficult? And then I look at a sales flyer for JoAnns. IRONS COST $140 on sale!!! REALLY?!

So if you see my husband wearing slightly wrinkled shirts, you'll know I've just given up on the whole starch thing.