Talk to me

So - sometime last year Haloscan was acquired by JS-Kit. Apparently, the hardware and software for haloscan is too expensive to maintain, so JS-Kit is in the process of retiring it. The choices are to import your existing comments into another commenting system (and I hate blogger's commenting system with a passion), or pay a nominal fee for a year's worth of the new service, Echo.

Echo has a few neat bells and whistles, and for the cost of a couple of cups of coffee, I thought I'd go ahead and upgrade. Be patient as I play with and try to figure out the layouts...

It is effective for posts from this point forward; I'd be interested in your thoughts.

12/31/09

Since the year began on a rather lethargic note (recuperating after staying out at friends' until 4 a.m.) it's only fitting it will be ending on a busy one. Things I should really be doing right now: putting away the rest of the groceries; subdividing six pounds of ground beef; browning two pounds of beef for chili; soaking a cup of pinto beans for same; making bars to take to party tonight; putting away Christmas decor taken down last night; setting up on-line bill payments and writing out rest of monthly checks; balancing checkbook; doing laundry; going to city hall (if still open) for parking sticker.

Bah.

I've already been productive, or tried to be. The problem with being a lark by nature is that most retail establishments don't open near early enough. I took myself to breakfast (Baker's Square opens at seven, which is when I arrived) and stayed long enough to finish a book (Janet Evanovich. While I find her Stephanie Plum books sliding into some really pointless plots at times, where else can you find characters like Carl the (literal) monkey and Elmer the fire-farter? Elmer had me laughing out loud; my waitress, fortunately, was a fan and completely understood).

On the dot of nine I was at Penny's to make a return. Laggards; they don't open until ten. Next door, Kohl's, opening at nine, was doing a brisk business.

Off to Aldi instead, where I remembered to buy mayo, even though I'd once again forgotten to put it on the list. In spite of the fact that JCP and the Aldi I use are on opposite sides of town, I finished a fairly hefty grocery shopping and was home by ten.

Which is when JCP would open.

Bah.

The important things (bars, groceries) will be taken care of...I'm feeling an incredible urge to spend the rest of the day reading. It's not something I have the luxury to do often. Besides, I can justify it by calling it "resting up" for the party tonight, right?

Sounds good to me.

Peri-menopausal moment #2564 and 2565 *Updated*

Since Friday I've been craving a tuna melt. Tuna salad on rye with plenty of cheese, pan grilled. Not exactly rocket science.

Sigh. This seems to be one of those days when things are not going to be easy.

Drain the tuna. Chop the celery. Add salt and pepper. Get the cheese from the frig. Reach for the mayo...

Drat. Moment #2564.

No mayo. Used only for tuna salad and the occasional hot turkey salad, it tends to go off before it is used up. Apparently, I had tossed the previous jar and neglected to put mayo on the grocery list. Wondered if the teaspoon of mustard I routinely tossed in would hold it all together enough...no.

Surely making mayonnaise couldn't be difficult. At Cooking for Engineers I found a simple recipe with a yield just over a cup. A half recipe would be more than enough.

Separate the egg. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Slowly start whisking in the oil. Whisk some more. Then some more. Think my wrist is going to fly off. Add rest of oil, continuing to whisk.

Why isn't this thickening more?

Drat. Moment #2565.

I can easily divide 2 eggs yolks by 2, and I do know that half of one cup is one-half cup, but apparently, I actually poured a full cup of oil (which is why it took so long to drizzle in).

Separate a second egg, repeat whisking. The end product looks pretty good, though I've left in in the frig to set up a bit.

This sandwich had better be worth it.

Update:This is the finished home made mayo. It never did quite get thick enough; the consistency was that of a thin to medium white sauce. I think (since I obviously wasn't paying much attention when I made it) that either my egg yolks were not large enough, or I didn't whisk hard and long enough. The taste was fine; the slightly soupy texture not an issue when using it in tuna salad. The distinct yellow color is the result of using egg yolks only - store bought uses whites as well (not needed for the emulsion) which is why it is lighter in color.

The recipe:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt, dash pepper
1 cup oil

Whisk eggs, lemon juice and seasonings together. Add a few drops of oil; whisk until well combined. Continue adding oil drop by drop, making sure it is well integrated before adding more. After about a third of a cup is in, you can add more at a time.

Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

What goes around comes around

A highly drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis which the rest of the world has been fighting for years has finally made its way to the US. It's not surprising that the disease has mutated; it's been around for thousands of years, and certainly in that time has learned a few tricks about survival. But the current crisis is of our own making, as we've overused and abused the "miracle" drugs used to treat it, allowing a mutation and resurgence. Read the linked article; it has an excellent history of the disease and the current status of the battle to treat it.

In the spring of my freshman year of college, I received an urgent call from the student health center. They needed me to come in immediately; I trotted over the couple of blocks to see what was up.

They put me through a very thorough third degree, although I had almost no information for them. Apparently, somehow, from the basic health information provided to the school, they found out my mother had had TB. The HC flipped out a bit - and who could blame them? If I had been exposed, was sick without yet showing it, a virulent airborne disease could be making its way through ten thousand students.

I knew only basic information, which I relayed while they did the nasty scratch test. My mom had TB when she was an older teenager, and had been hospitalized (isolated in a ward with other TB patients to keep it from spreading) for somewhere between eleven and fifteen months before being declared cured and released. This was all seven or eight years before I was born.

A quick call to my mom (and a clear scratch test) set every one's mind at ease. The good scratch test (and a much more recent clear chest x-ray) indicate I'm also not a carrier; it's estimated that up to a third of the world's population may have latent cases, ten percent of which will turn active at some point.

The point of the story? Be careful to follow doctor and pharmacist instructions to the letter when taking antibiotics. If you have a constant, hacking cough, have it checked out sooner rather than later. As much as mankind would like to claim credit for eradicating certain diseases, the little bugs find ways to come back: don't take any chances.

Monday Saturday

Am I the only one who woke up this morning with an overwhelming conviction that it is Monday? My first thought was, "Ha! Most schmucks have to go back to work, but I have another week of vacation!".

Then I remembered it was only Saturday, and my second thought was, "Ha! Most schmucks only have the rest of the weekend off, but I have another week of vacation!".

I'm sure God will strike me down somehow for gloating.

Conversation last night with friend:

BFF: I'm not sure if I'll be able to leave for Oklahoma first thing tomorrow; it depends on when the blizzard gets here.

Me: !!??!?! Blizzard?!

BFF: The radio said there is a blizzard moving in - they've known about it all week.

Me: !!!??!?!@@!!! I haven't heard a word about it, but I haven't watched the news or listened to the weather all week.

It's a good thing BFF is not a meteorologist. The blizzard does, in fact, exist, just not for this area of Wisconsin. Whew. Still, after a morning at Panera, about an inch of "flurries" needed to be removed from the car.

This afternoon will be a flurry of things domestic, namely, the clearing/rearranging of what passes for a bedroom closet. I was sure I'd posted pictures at one time, but cannot find them. This would be the under-the-stairs area (nicely plastered, painted and carpeted) that opens directly to the bedroom. It is the current home of:

A dresser
A 36" quilting hoop on a stand
Five (empty) stacked up big sterlite bins
Three extra full size bed pillows
A full set of (nested inside each other) luggage
A 16" fan on a stand
Two laundry baskets (empty and full)
The humidifier
The two exercise steps
Extra blankets
Several extra purses
The 35 mm point and shoot
Two largish racks of clothes

Believe it or not, there is still room to walk, and I know there's more stuff in there I've forgotten about. At any rate, while it is tolerably neat, I'd like to go through, tidy up and pull out what isn't being used/worn to take to Goodwill.

All in all, a profitable and easy way to spend a Monday Saturday afternoon.

Christmas Eve

The weathermen goofed - our "flurries overnight" accumulated into a mass of heavy, wet snow over four inches deep. Freezing rain is expected later, so everything really needs to be dug out now. Due to my laziness yesterday, I needed to go to Aldi this morning...

An angel in the form of the neighbor's son-in-law, out brushing off his car, helped shift the snowplow mounds just enough to sneak out my car. The snow looked worse than it was; it slid off the car fairly easily, considering its depth.

The silence at the grocery store was deafening, even though there were quite a few people shopping. None of the joy that usually is evident on a holiday. I'm blaming the weather - aside from the unexpected snowfall, it is very gloomy out as the rain is moving in. Easier to be joyful on a sunny day, I guess.

Some tidying to be done, sprucing up both the house and myself. Church service - our first Christmas Eve service for New Day - at four. Lord willing, the roads will still be decent. Home afterwards for the traditional pizza and new movie. Quiet night.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 9:6 - 7

I must be getting old

In line at the drive-through, looking at the sleek black late-model Mustang in front of me, my first thought was "What idiot drives a rear wheel drive muscle car when they are forecasting freezing rain?"

Which way to the old folks' farm?

If I had a hammer

Actually, I do, though I'm using it for a craft project, not a traditional use. Drapery trim, plastic needlepoint canvas and magnets are also strewn around the immediate area. Assuming I finish at some point, I'll post a pic.

Meandering kind of day. Out early to Panera - to what used to be my regular early Saturday spot before it gained popularity. Spent over an hour just reading (Robbo will be happy to know I've begun Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey series), then worked on catching up on other reading, finishing by quickly filling in seven or eight crossword blanks. In ink. The clues must be getting easier.

A really quick stop at Borders, where, thanks to one of the ubiquitous e-mail coupons, I saved $3.60. Then to the fabric/craft store. My 40% coupon saved me a whopping $2.15; my total bill was under ten bucks. Naturally, I completely forgot to to use the $10 gift card that's been in my wallet since February (that I looked at last night, thinking "Gee, I can use this tomorrow". Gah)

The afternoon and evening flew by - working on the above craft item. Putzy stuff. Blackened salmon for dinner, an old movie in the player to keep me company while I work. I could really get used to this non-scheduled schedule.

Garbage post

No, not a junk pile of ideas; a post literally about garbage.

You see, since the week before Labor Day I've been taking the garbage out the front, loading it into the car and driving it around to the alley to drop in the cans, since during the intervening weeks, we've 1. had concrete forms and 2 x 4s all over the yard, or 2. had no back steps, or 3. had back steps that weren't attached to the porch. I highly suspect that driving the garbage around led directly to the flat tire, whose cause was a nail...most likely left by the garage builder.

Now that the steps are nominally attached, this morning, between every load of laundry, I took another load to the garbage cans. First, the regular bag of garbage. Next trip, the over-full recyclables bag. Note that I only fill one of those bags every nine months or so; it was already just about full when the back steps disappeared, and was too big to drag around the house.

Third trip, out went the accumulated cardboard. Lest you think my flat has been a garbage pit, I should point out that my garbage is cleaner than most people's bathrooms. Every can and bottle is washed before being recycled; all cardboard boxes are broken down, cut to a uniform size and tied together in neat stacks. But due to the lack of easy access to the alley (and the every-other-week nature of the recycling collection), the cardboard stack stood almost two feet tall.

Next, it is the broken office chair. Here, I need to be sneaky and take it out in pieces, not putting the last piece out until the very morning of collection, lest my landlord bring it back in and add it to the junk in the basement. Ditto for the window fan.

The city collection is operating on their holiday schedule. According to their website, our regular Thursday pick up should happen on Wednesday, except of course there is the warning that they may be operating earlier (or later) than the adjusted schedule...which is why I'm taking everything out on Monday.

Who would have thought refuse collection could be so complicated.

Woo hoo!

A foot of snow wasn't enough to stop the UW-Whitewater Warhawks (UW-W is my alma mater) from becoming the NCAA Division III champs for the second time in the last three years. The game against Mt. Hood in Salem, Virginia was delayed five hours to get the snow cleared, but snow isn't going to stop a Wisconsin team.

Three busloads of Wisconsin fans however, only got as far as the west side of the mountains before being turned back because of the conditions. Ever resourceful, they traveled back west and watched the game at a Buffalo Wild Wings near the Purdue campus.

Congratulations, Warhawks!

Transported to heaven

But on the wings of a heart attack induced by the very, very long slog up the Basilica steps, then up the two stories of steep steps into the side balcony, where you also had to step up onto the sloped platform on which the pews were placed. Whew. But it was worth the effort.

The Basilica of St. Josaphat is where we were for the concert this afternoon. If you have a chance (and can read the tiny, yellow on red type), take a look at the photo gallery. The virtual tour is vertigo-inducing, but the photos are priceless, particularly the ones of the original construction. It fascinates me that they put up the framework for the stained glass windows first. The artistry of the paintings and ornamental work is incredible (and believe me, from our seats we had an excellent view of the upper reaches of the dome).

I don't, however, recommend sitting right next to the gorgeous, original Tyrolean- crafted stained glass windows, at least not on a cold winter night. Brrr.

The music, of course, was superb. The tenor could have been louder - he was consistently overshadowed by the orchestra; the soprano had a bit of a mush-mouth (although, in fairness, it could simply be the acoustics, as it seemed all higher range voice and orchestra passages were a little mooshy and blurred). But our orchestra and chorus could hold their own against that of any major city.

The audience seemed well behaved, except for one couple, who sat down in front of Pam and I about ten minutes into the concert. Late forties, well dressed, but she came in on a noxious cloud of perfume (it was nice perfume, but she had used half a bottle), they whispered to one another incessantly and she simply could not stop moving. The other people in front of us rejoiced with us when they appeared to leave at intermission - only to see the couple return for part two, five minutes late.

Meh. We could see neither orchestra nor chorus from our seats, so I simply kept my eyes shut, took shallow breaths and listened to the music.

Prophecy, birth, rejection, death, resurrection and return in glory.

Christmas is just the beginning of the story.

Conversation

"Excuse me - you aren't planning on making any phone calls, are you?"

I looked up from my puzzle at the speaker, a well turned out older woman, her husband hovering in the background.

"No, I really have the phone out just to keep track of the time," I said, smiling. The couple turned and sat down at a small table across from mine.

Okay then, so much for the weirdness; back to my puzzle.

Vaguely aware of their conversation, I returned to trying to figure out "Roughly separated, a party means to get to Oz - 7 letters). A while later, I was staring into space, lost in thought, when a voice from the other table interrupted the process.

"Are those the New York Times crosswords?"

Honestly, what is it that makes people just talk to me? This time, it's clear I've done nothing to promote conversation. I'm minding my own business, trying to finish both puzzle and coffee so I can move on to a list of things to do on vacation.

The list never did get made. For the next hour and a half, they she we talked. The conversation flowed through a gamut of topics; I managed to interject some comments, and occasionally draw the husband in with a question or two. It turns out we know some people in common, though I'm much the same age as their children.

It is odd to me, that in an era during which we can instantly communicate with anyone, anywhere, any time through a myriad of electronic methods, people still strike up in person conversations with perfect strangers. Not just "Hello, nice to meet you, excuse me" interchanges, but comments meant to provoke more of a response, a chance to connect. In my experience (what is it that makes people talk to me?), it's not just older people who want to make that personal connection; the younger generations are just as hungry for interaction.

It was a pleasant enough way to pass some time, but I'm issuing a fair warning: the next time I go out to a coffee shop, I'll be the one with the fedora pulled low, hiding behind a foreign language newspaper, pretending not to understand English.

Company Girl Coffee 121809

Grab a cup of coffee from the office pot, still fresh at this time of the morning. I've only a few minutes, as this is my last day before a two week vacation; there is much to do today.

Just a week until Christmas. The last few weeks have been full of decidedly non-Christmasy things; I'm looking forward to using the first few days of vacation to refocus.

On Sunday, a friend and I are going to hear Handel's Messiah at the Basilica. I've deliberately not listened to it yet this season, in order to relish hearing it for the first time live. Our symphony and chorus are outstanding. What better way to refocus on the reason for Christmas, than listening God being glorified?

Handel took the words for the Hallelujah Chorus from the book of Revelation, looking forward to that time when God's peace will reign in the new earth and heaven, and the choir of saints will raise their voices together in praise to Him:

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."

Revelation 19:6 - 7 and 11:15

May the Prince of Peace reign in your heart at Christmas, and all year long.

Quiet time files - Romans

One of the disadvantages of reading through the Bible in a year is the speed with which you need to go through the New Testament. If you are reading along, you will have recently read the book of Romans - Paul's great theological treatise. It's one of my favorite books, and one that yields abundant blessing on closer study.

A few years ago, I was privileged to sit under an amazing teacher for a study of Romans. So amazing, in fact, that I still remember the outline he used to organize the book (truly, my being able to recall - without looking at my notes - is indeed a miracle), that of action taking place in a series of buildings. In lieu of a verse-specific post or two from Romans, I'd like to share that outline and a few thoughts.

Key verse

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16

The key word in the key verse is "the" - the gospel. Paul was referring to one and one only, the good news that God sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins, to offer us an opportunity to by faith accept that substitutionary death, becoming reconciled to God through it.

Chapters 1 - 5: The Courtroom

The first five chapters of the book can be said to take place in a courtroom, with Jesus Himself sitting as Judge. In short order, pagan man, religious man and moral man are hauled before the bench, tried and found guilty.

Quoting from Psalms 14 and 53, Paul accurately describes their problem:

...as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
"Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive."
"The venom of asps is under their lips."
"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known."
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Romans 3:10 - 18

He then passes sentence:

...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:23

At this point, things are looking rather bleak.

Chapters 6 - 8: The Powerhouse of Grace

The next three chapters show the incredible mercy and grace of God, as He reaches out to us, to save a people who cannot save themselves. God has done what we cannot:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:1 - 5

Chapters 7 - 9: The Synagogue: the promises to Israel

But if salvation is now offered by grace through faith in Christ, where does that leave Israel? Paul makes it clear that God has not abandoned His promises to Israel. Indeed, by making reconciliation with Him available to the Gentiles, God is provoking jealousy in Israel, hoping to bring them to Him in faith, rather than under the law.

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

"The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";
"and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

Romans 11:25 - 27

Chapters 12 - 16: The Church

These last five chapters are an instruction manual for the church as the body of Christ. Each verse gives pause for thought, prompts for action. The goal? Nothing less than complete transformation.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1 - 2

Paul goes on to give very specific instructions on how to do this. Take a look at Romans 12:9 - 21 for starters, but take the time to read the rest of the chapters as well.

All told, it takes probably an hour or two to read the entire book; the food for thought and calls to action it provides are enough for a lifetime.

Unexpected benefits

About seven or eight years ago, I helped out one of the biomedical professors with a calculation he needed to do related to a profit-splitting agreement on a small service business he runs through the department. The schedules aren't difficult, but the end result is important to him. After I'd prepared them for four years, the very competent new business manager for that particular college took over the process.

But the unexpected benefits continued.

You see, as a thank you, the professor would bring over a Christmas gift: Czechoslovakian Christmas bread. He brought over my annual loaf today. As he said when I protested, it's very difficult to cut people off once they've had a taste.

He bakes close to a hundred loaves every holiday season specifically for gift-giving. He's a bit of an aging hippie/organic foods kind of guy, complete with grey ponytail; I can see him doing the all-natural, from scratch kind of baking this requires.

The bread is excellent as is, freezes well and makes killer french toast. Is it any wonder I tend to hoard it each year? But Will is retiring in two more academic years; I need to finagle his recipe out of him before that, or travel to North Carolina each December to pick up a loaf.

Java jolt

For those of us who think that coffee is a food group of its own, as necessary to life as air, this is good news:

In a review of 18 studies, researchers found that drinking three to four cups of coffee per day was associated with a 25 percent lower risk of diabetes than drinking two cups or less per day, according to Dr. Rachel Huxley of the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues.

All the usual disclaimers at the end, of course.

It is encouraging to note that these results come regardless of whether or not the coffee is caffeinated. I'd hate to become even more of an insomniac because I'm drinking four or five cups of coffee to ward off diabetes. It also goes without saying that the coffee should not be laden with sugary syrups or spoonfuls of sugar itself.

So, java junkies, feel free to indulge in that fourth double-shot venti cappucino of the day; it's good for your health.

The next step is to have coffee purchases listed as reimbursable under the health spending accounts...

"Hello Monday, my old...definitely not friend."

So said a blog buddy on Facebook this morning. Or as my boss put it around 5 p.m. tonight, "I thought it was going to be a slow week, not just day, but week. It certainly doesn't look that way so far."

Hence, the late posting and by implication, dearth of real content. Several posts are wandering through the corridors of my mind, but they aren't getting very far with all the work and pre-vacation things fighting for equal room.

At the end of this week, I'll start two weeks' vacation, and I don't even have the beginnings of a list yet. Currently, the only thing I know for sure will be on it is "sleep in". And possibly "make biscuits and gravy".

A few local things to think about -

Politics...

Kohler Company (of bathroom fame) is looking to have a special interchange built on the highway near their Whistling Straits golf course. The interchange is needed, they say, because every five years or so when they host the PGA championship, traffic is a headache. Kohler is willing to pay half the cost; the state will pick up the rest. The ramps would only be open during the tournament.

The kicker? The state plans to acquire the land for the interchange via eminent domain. They are insisting that there is a greater public good to be served here.

Sports...

The Golden Eagles have had yet another player quit. I think this brings the total of those who've left or not come in the first place (backed out of recruiting deals) to roughly five in the last ten months or so. They are down to only 9 healthy players. The women's team, on the other hand, is on fire; I have tickets to their game next Monday night.

Local color...

One of the delights about living in this neighborhood (yes, there are some) is the carillon at one of the five six churches in the five block radius. It rings the hours from nine a.m. to nine p.m., but they break out the tunes at six. The concert goes on for anywhere from five to ten minutes, seasonal hymns played on the bells, wafting over the houses. They were playing Christmas carols when I came home tonight.

Repetition...

The seven day loan books have been returned to the library; I was about halfway through the second when I realized I really didn't like it. Life is too short to read books you don't really want to read. While at the library, I picked up the final book that they were holding for me - not a seasonal book, but a recent Patricia Cornwell novel, giving me something to read the first weekend of vacation.

Guess what? It turned out to be a seven day book as well.

Delightful diversion

As if my affinity for sappy Christmas movies isn’t pathetic enough, I’ve moved on to Christmas-themed fiction. Over the last few weeks I’ve zipped through the book on which a favorite sappy Christmas movie is based, the ill-written short story on which another movie is based, a novel revolving around a Christmas train (two love stories in one, the second being the one with Amtrak) and most of a novella about an unexpected birth in a big rig in a snowstorm in Texas…on Christmas Day.

I never said any of this was great literature.

The library sends out handy e-mail reminders when you have items on hold that come available – and sends reminders three days before books are due. An e-mail Saturday morning informed me that two books – which I’d not yet started – are due Tuesday. Apparently, I didn’t notice when I picked them up last Tuesday that they are seven day loans. Since they have holds on them, they are also non-renewable.

As a result, I postponed laundry and cleaning, opting to spend the majority of Saturday afternoon on the couch, coffee and a plate of veggies to hand, reading the first of the two books. This one is several cuts above the previous fare: Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle. It’s a sign of how little pleasure reading I’ve done over the last few years that I’d never heard of her; this is one in a series of books combining two things near to my heart: mysteries and coffee.

The last sixth of the book is a primer on all things espresso, featuring a short history, definitions for various coffee drinks, syrup and drink recipes and a section of recipes for sweets that pair well with coffee. Apparently, some sort of recipe section is a feature of her series, much like the delightful food recipes in Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Bear series. If I hadn’t already been fully caffeinated, I would have pulled out the espresso machine and gone to town.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a cold afternoon. This could become a habit.

Done and redone

Walking out of my office, I surveyed the sea of plastic containers and the huge box holding the office Christmas tree.

"So, R," I said to the student whose cubicle is just outside my door, "Are you going to be putting up the tree this afternoon?"

Poor R looked up in frustration.

"No way. J and I spent an entire afternoon last year putting up the tree and setting out all the other decorations, and S came in the next day and rearranged everything. Apparently we didn't do it 'right'."

Why is it that we find it so difficult to accept the spirit in which help is given without criticizing the manner in which it is done? Nothing is more frustrating - and more likely to squelch future offers of help - than to do someone a favor, only to discover you've done it "all wrong". Perhaps worse than simply being told you've done it wrong is the later discovery that everything you have done has been redone to the "correct" specifications.

Certainly there are times when a task needs to be done to a particular standard; in those situations, swift correction is necessary. But does it really matter which decorations go where? As a friend told me recently, sometimes, you just need to let people bless you.

Heavenly Father, Enable us to look beyond the help given to the heart of the giver. Let us accept with grace and gratitude the efforts of those around us to ease our burdens and make our way easier. Help us to let go of our need to be in control, to relax and enjoy the satisfaction of a shared job.

Teach us to let people bless us, any way they can.

In Jesus' name, Amen

By request

Biscuits Supreme

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450.

Stir together flour, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center; add the milk all at once. Stir just until dough clings together. Knead gently on a lightly floured surface for 10 to 12 strokes. Roll or pat to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour between cuts. Bake on ungreased baking sheet 10 t 12 minutes or until golden. Makes 10 to 12.

The only variation between this and the ones I made was using butter rather than shortening or margarine. My yield was 12.

Company Girls coffee 121109

Happy Friday! It's been a long week, what with snowstorms and freezing weather. A cup of coffee and a relaxing conversation with some friends is the perfect end to the week.

Although I'm often a day or two late, I've been picking away at the small things. The Christmas decorations are mostly up, though I do need to iron the tablecloth for the dining room table; poor thing lives in the drawer the rest of the year and tends to develop stress wrinkles.

Slow weekend planned. I may come in to work for a while on Saturday, assuming they manage to fix our heat (which seems to be very apathetic about working today, though the rumor is facilities is working on it). Has anyone seen Wall-E? I haven't, and my Blockbuster rental came last night. The plan is to be cozy Saturday night or Sunday afternoon - a plate of chicken stew, a warm lap quilt, a steaming mug of hot chocolate and the movie.

The rest of the weekend will be little things - laundry, a bit of cleaning, maybe a bit of sewing. The sewing is a bit problematic, as the pneumatics on my old office chair have finally given up the ghost: when someone who is only 5' almost 4" says the chair is too low, you know it's too low! Oh well, that's what phone books are for...

Today is only two weeks until Christmas; after this weekend, anything not yet done will remain not done, so that the run-up to the holiday can be spent contemplating the reason for the holiday.

The biscuit also rises

Who knew that home made baking powder biscuits aren’t all the size and general consistency of a hockey puck?

Certainly not me.

Every attempt I’ve made to bake them has fallen flat, so to speak. But hope springs eternal…I made another pot of soup last night (Sunday’s was Chicken with Wild Rice, a cream based soup with wild rice, mushrooms and a little bit of onion; last night’s was Chicken with Rice, a broth based soup with white rice, lots of onion, carrot and celery, plus garlic, red pepper flakes and basil) and wanted some sort of bread to go with it. It’s much too cold to stop at the store just to grab a French bread; a final run at baking powder biscuits seemed in order.

This time, I pulled out the big gun: The Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, circa 1981. The recipe is called Biscuits Supreme, and, well, see for yourself:


Amazing. There are a few variations –garden (add finely chopped carrots, parsley and green onion), cornmeal (substitute 1/4 c of cornmeal for flour, add sage) and buttermilk (pretty obvious).

Visions of various uses of biscuits are swimming in my head. But the first and most obvious application – can anyone teach me how to make classic southern sausage gravy?

Linky love

My brain is a bit frozen yet, so let's take the easy route today and list a few of the sites I visit semi-regularly.

Tasty Kitchen is a roundup of recipes from readers, begun and administrated by Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. Tons and tons of tasty things to create. I dare you to spend some time perusing this site and not come away 1. inspired, and 2. ravenously hungry.

Escapegames24 is a roundup of escape and other games, primarily find-the-missing-objects. Your mileage will vary - some games are great, some are not. New ones posted throughout the day. My personal favorites? Offerings from 123Bee, StoneAge Games and Gamershood.

RealClearPolitics is yet another roundup (I like the "one stop shopping-ness" of these types of sites), but this one of political opinion pieces. If nothing else, it will make you think. Articles by authors including George Will, Michelle Malkin, Ed Koch, Oliver North and Thomas Sewell, as well as transcripts of the weekend talking heads shows.

From my own sidebar, Critical Issues Commentary. Guaranteed to make you think, and just maybe spur you to action. Love the piece "Oprah Winfrey Promotes Pantheist Eckhart Tolle: How Biblically Illiterate America is Being Deceived" - amazing what junk people swallow when they really don't know what they profess to believe.

Christianbook.com - too many books, too little time. They offer much more than books, DVDs and CDs - Christmas cards, home decor, gift items and more are available. Free shipping through today with code 305633.

Just a few to keep you occupied until my brain thaws. Now to see if there's any coffee left in the office pot...

Wimps

The Big Public Wannabe A High-class Research College across town canceled classes scheduled after 1 p.m. They are mainly a commuter college, with student cars parked in satellite lots far from campus. Because our precipitation was a rain/snow mix, and students never brush their cars off completely, the administration there is concerned that students may be frozen out of their cars due to the rapidly falling temperatures and rapidly rising winds.

Wimps.

Personally, I think the embarrassment of losing to our Golden Eagles last night - for the thirty-seventh consecutive time - finally got to them, and they want to hide for a while.

We, naturally, are still open. Our students are gamely trudging across campus in 21 mph winds, with windchills well south of twenty degrees and dropping.

We're not just tough on the basketball court.

Update, 3:07 p.m.: We may be tough, but we aren't stupid. With forecast sustained winds of 35 - 40 mph, we are canceling evening classes. I plan to go home, heat up some soup and hide under a quilt or four.

Call me when it's spring.

Fizzle

Thousands of Milwaukee public school children went to bed last night with visions of a snow day dancing in their heads, only to be disappointed when they awoke to three inches of wet, dirty slush. Meanwhile, places west and north of us are still suffering under blizzard conditions; in some areas around Madison, they've already had seventeen inches. Heh - they shut down the state government offices.

The plan for today's post was to take time lapse pictures of the snowfall, posting them here during the day today, while staying home with a cup of cocoa as the storm raged outside. See the previous paragraph for the destruction of that plan. The pictures from last night are impressive; the one from this morning would actually show less snow than the night before.

But not less slush. Several times during the night I awoke to hear rain running through the gutters. The combination of rain and snow meant the area around the car was more than ankle deep in snow/slush. My new boots are good, but not quite good enough to keep out all the water, at least not when you are standing in it brushing off the car.

And so winter begins. Two more inches this afternoon, then strong winds, nasty wind chills and high temperatures for tomorrow all of eighteen degrees, not warming into the twenties again until Saturday.

Spring, summer and fall are beautiful seasons in Wisconsin; in winter, we pay the piper for those beauties.

Quiet time files 112009

If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I should stand in God’s way?
Acts 11:17

The church itself is the main stumbling block to God’s work, it seems. Battle lines are drawn between denominations based on differences in rites and practices, churches are split based on oddball interpretations of obscure Scripture passages and those who were once faithful fall away in disgust over the infighting.

The first century church faced a much greater challenge than whether or not women could wear slacks to services; after thousands of years of “we only are God’s chosen people”, the Jewish Christians were finding that Gentiles were responding to the gospel message, and furthermore, expecting to be part of the new community of Christ followers.

Peter, though he was known as the apostle to the Jews, was a main catalyst in moving the new church to accept Gentile converts. On his arrival in Jerusalem from Caesarea, where he had been staying at the home of a Gentile convert named Cornelius, Peter found himself, as Desi often told Lucy, with “a lot of ‘splainin’ to do”.

In response, Peter recounted a dream (Acts 10:1-9 – 16) he had, as well as his witnessing of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Gentile converts (Acts 10:44 – 48). To Peter, at least, it was clear God intended the salvation offered in Christ to be available to all.

Yet we often act as if salvation is dependent on what church/denomination you claim, rather than on personal acceptance of the finished work of Christ.

Isn’t it about time we got out of God’s way?

Where I can't catch a break

The best thing about a string of annoyances and bad luck is that it must surely end sometime – right?

In spite of repeated assurances from the landlord that the electricians would not need to enter my flat, I received a call at work at 8:15 Friday morning saying that they did need to get in, later in the afternoon. Since I refuse to let anyone in without my presence (prior bad experiences), I had to cancel an afternoon meeting and hightail it home to a freezing cold house an hour or so before quitting time.

The good news is that the job is finally done. I’ve not gone into the basement, though; there is still a possibility something is amiss I’ve simply not yet discovered.

Saturday I stayed in all day, only venturing out in the dusky late afternoon, just to move the car, whereupon I discovered the driver’s side front tire imitating a pancake. An angel came and changed it for me in the daylight and warmth on Sunday. The cause? A nail, most likely a souvenier of the garage project. Not only a nail, but a nail in a spot that made it impossible to simply repair the tire…

…which needed to be replaced that day, as the weather guys were saying not one, but two winter storms are on the way, the second bringing potentially heavy snow (note that Wisconsinites laugh at anything under about six inches – one station is saying eight to twelve, possibly).

After the tire replacement, I figured I’d stop at Aldi to do the grocery shopping I was too lazy to do Saturday afternoon (if I had, all of the tire nonsense could have been taken care of during the day on Saturday). Only the Aldi parking lot was crowded with old-people-mobiles, as every person over the age of sixty was stocking up enough supplies to carry them through the winter, since snow was forecast. I turned tail, thinking I could go after work on Monday, trekking through the snow in my cute boots…

…which I wore to work on Friday, but forgot to wear home because of the rapidity of my exit in order to meet the electricians. Did I mention that the first couple inches of the first snowstorm were supposed to fall overnight Sunday? At least I have the old boots at home to wear…

…which are the “old” pair because they leak.

After leaving Aldi, I thought I’d console myself with a latte from Starbucks, but the drive through was packed.

In the end I came home, grabbed the chocolate chip cookies baked Saturday night after discovering the tire (I cook when I’m stressed; sue me). Then I made chicken with wild rice soup, with the last of the mushrooms, the last of the flour and the second-last chicken breast.

After all this, a Monday at work will seem almost pleasant.

Lessons learned from FarmVille

FarmVille is an addictive little simulation game by Zynga, offered through Facebook. As the Farmer in Charge, you plow, plant and harvest your fields. Make a decent living, and all sorts of goodies are unlocked.

It may seem like a typical sim game, but there are valuable life lessons to be learned, if you pay attention.

1. I love it when a plan comes together.

Do you want to level up quickly? Would you like to earn as much coin as possible and buy cute houses, barns and decorations? Is your heart set on having a pretty, peaceful farm, or a full, bustling one? No matter what your goal, or combination of goals, it pays to have a plan to get there.

Know where you are going and how you are going to get there.

2. You have to pay to play.

Plowing and purchasing seed each have a cost; crops take varying lengths of time to mature. Making the effort to determine which crop is most profitable, as well as weighing in the value of your time will help you decide exactly what to plant to move most efficiently toward your goals. What measure you use for profitability is up to you.

Weigh the costs carefully; don’t overextend yourself.

3. I get by with a little help from my friends.

Adding neighbors around your farm provides opportunities for bonuses, gifts, extra experience points and much more. If you have enough neighbors, you may expand your farm for free, rather than using valuable Farm cash or coin. Neighbors can send you gifts, which are often things not available for purchase at the Market.

We all need somebody.

4. You need to give to get.

While neighbors can provide many benefits to you, much as in real life being neighbors is a two way street. If you do nothing but reap your friends’ bonuses, take their gifts and expect them to fertilize your crops solely out of the goodness of their hearts, you will soon find yourself friendless. Take the time, make the effort to return the favor – share your good fortune, fertilize fields, send gifts daily and pass on the stray animals that show up from time to time.

Friendship is a mutual proposition.

5. All good things must come to an end.

Just like real life farming, maintaining your virtual farm takes time and effort. Once your initial goals are achieved, you have a decision to make: set new goals and continue, or hang up your overalls.

Have an exit strategy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a field to harvest.

Thin and crispy

Last Saturday I took out the ingredients (except the eggs) for chocolate chip cookies; tonight, I baked them.

As I've said before, I'm not much of a baker, but classic tollhouse cookies are on the short list of things that turn out well for me. I have a tendency to under bake things a bit; as a result, my cookies are usually soft and chewy.

Tonight, however, the fragrant disks of chocolate chipper goodness came out of the oven rather thin and crispy. Not crispy as in burned - rather, crispier than my usual results. I think I may have finally baked them to the correct degree of doneness.

One little error, though, did mar the evening's baking. While washing the spatula (cookies baked AND all the dishes done - aren't you impressed?), I (once again, for this is not the first time by any means) cut my thumb on the sharp edge. A cut at exactly the point where my thumb routinely hits the spacebar on the keyboard.

Nothing another cookie won't cure.

Quiet time files 111709

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continues to speak your word with all boldness.

Acts 4:29

The more the early Christians were persecuted, the more they prayed for boldness to witness. Nothing was going to stop the spread of the gospel.

God doesn't spare us the persecution, in fact, putting us through it is something He can use to strengthen us. Our identification with Christ is made stronger when we suffer, particularly when we suffer only because of the fact we belong to Him. Everything that would hinder us from fully following Him is burned away; what is left is our faith, either strong enough to sustain us, or too weak to do any good, most likely not genuine in the first place.

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
1 Peter 4:13-14

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

1 Peter 4:16

While the political and social "persecution" we endure in this country is nothing at all compared to the very real tribulations of my brothers and sisters elsewhere, I still find myself reluctant to pray for boldness in witnessing - perhaps because I fear God will answer that prayer. Is my faith strong enough to withstand true persecution? Have I counted the cost?

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:26-33

Dark and cold

The nightmare that has been the electrical upgrade to the duplex in which I rent should be over today, finally.

It's not that I resent the work having to be done (anything that forces the landlord to focus on fixing things INSIDE the house is a good thing), but I do resent the utter lack of appropriate notice, as well as the positive dearth of information available about just exactly what I need to do to accommodate the process.

Had I hired the contractors, I would have grilled them ahead of time, asking just how long the power (and thus, heat and lights) would be off, whether or not they need to enter the units to test anything, whether it's necessary to unplug sensitive electronics (I unplugged everything before I left this morning, just in case) and a few more details about the work they are doing.

The landlord simply doesn't think of those sorts of things, and half the time won't ask even when I ask him to find out.

As a result, I just found out that I need to cancel an afternoon meeting in order to be home by 2 to let the contractors in to test the re-set circuits. Yay for leaving early on a Friday, but it would have been nice to have known ahead of time (I received repeated assurances that they probably would not have to enter my flat) so I could plan.

Once they are done testing and my home is free from the possibility of further invasion, I will need to leave again for a few hours. The high today is only supposed to be in the high twenties; the house will be more than a bit chilly after spending half a day or more without any heat.

The furnace is seventeen years old: let's hope it doesn't break down in the process of reheating the house.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

A staple of quick cooking and casserole fare, condensed cream of mushroom soup is almost as easy to make from scratch as it is to, well, open the can. The main advantage of making your own, of course, is avoiding the extra sodium and preservatives found in the commercial version.

Next time you need a can, give the following recipe a whirl. You won’t be disappointed.

Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
½ cup beef broth (note 1)
½ cup milk
1 tsp shitake mushroom powder (note 2)
Salt and white pepper to taste

Melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add flour and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is well combined and turns a pale tan; cooking this mixture too short of a time doesn’t cook off the “floury” taste.

Add broth, milk and mushroom powder, still whisking constantly. Increase heat; when soup boils, turn heat back down to medium-high and continue to cook (yes, still whisking away) until thick.

Yield: 8 ounces of condensed soup (note 3)

Note 1: The original source for this recipe says “any” broth. While I thought beef would go well with the mushroom flavor, chicken or vegetable broth will work just as well. Use whatever you think you would like.

Note 2: I bought my mushroom powder at Penzeys some time ago, and see it isn’t available in their online store (I’m not even sure they still carry it in the brick-and-mortar store, it’s been so long since I’ve been there). If you cannot find it, or any other mushroom powder, you can substitute 4 to 8 ounces of fresh mushrooms, diced very finely and sautéed in the butter for a while before you add the flour.

Note 3: Eight ounces is a bit less than the standard 10 ¾ ounce can of condensed soup. One and one half times this recipe (1 ½ T butter, 4 ½ T flour, ¾ cup of each liquid and 1 ½ tsp mushroom powder) will give you about 12 ounces of soup.

Why not whip up a batch and try this recipe?

Fortune cookie wisdom

After the monthly Target run, I usually stop at my favorite Chinese takeout. Not generally a superstitious person, I still like to stack the deck in favor of a pleasant prognostication from the fortune cookies. In other words, I ask for an additional order of cookies, providing a total of five possible fortunes.

The most recent crop of predictions:

#1 Your clever mind will lead you to many rewards – In all honesty, this should read “your smart mouth will lead you to many problems”.

#2 Next week, your luck color will be green! – One would hope that would mean money, but I’m not holding my breath.

#3 An unexpected event will soon make your life more exciting – The electric is going to be shut off at home most of the day Friday – no heat. Predicted high temperature: 30 degrees. Frozen pipes wouldn’t be exactly unexpected...

#4 Your courage will guide your future – This isn’t looking good; I’m a ‘fraidy-cat at heart. My future must be hiding under the bed, yes, that’s where I can look for it…

#5 – Bonus! I thought the fortune was odd – lucky numbers on both sides of the paper, but it turned out to be two fortunes stuck face to face.

#5a – Be prepared to receive something special within the week – It would be nice if this were related to #2.

#5b – A long lost relative will surface soon to your benefit – One certainly hopes this will not be an inheritance from a relative long lost at sea, if you know what I mean.

It's a good thing I don't have to rely on the world's wisdom.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
Colossians 1:9 - 10

Witness

"Excuse me, but I see you’re reading a Bible.”

Huh? I looked up from my reading to see a pretty blonde, mid-thirties woman dressed for church standing next to my chair.

I take the single most out of the way spot in any Starbucks in the city, hidden from view unless you are on your way to the restroom, and still people find me. What now, Lord?

“My church has this wonderful little book that explains everything in the Bible…”

“Really? I’m doing pretty well with my reading, thanks; this is my third time through in the last three years…”

“…clearly and it tells you all you need to know to understand what is written…”

“What church are you with?”

I have to ask her to repeat her answer: Jehovah Witness.

Good grief. And I hadn’t even finished my coffee yet.

The conversation continued pleasantly for a while longer, her trying to coerce me into taking the book, me continuing to refuse, not wanting to be drawn into a discussion of the falsity of the theology she is pushing. Time was on my side; apparently and she was indeed on her way to meeting; after a fifth attempt to press the book on me, she took her leave.

For all that the JW’s are a cult, following and preaching false interpretations of Scripture, proclaiming the imminent end of the world three times in the last century and constantly altering their doctrinal beliefs to reflect “progressive revelation”, they do one thing very well: train and send out evangelists. In spite of being alone (they generally go door-to-door in pairs), in spite of the fact I was clearly involved in something and wanted peace and quiet, in spite of the limited time she had available, she did the brave thing and approached me, persisting even when it became apparent I wasn’t someone she could easily influence.

So-called “evangelicals” could learn a lot from her. Can you run through a basic plan of salvation? Can you back up what you say from Scripture – even if you don’t have a Bible immediately available? Can you explain clearly and concisely why you believe? We may not all have the specific spiritual gift of evangelism – but that doesn’t get us off the hook.

…but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
1 Peter 3:15-16 (ESV)

Holi-dazed

The Holidailies program isn’t officially running this year, but that doesn’t mean you are safe from the daily-during-December blathering I’ve posted the last two years. I’ve found that being compelled to post something every day actually sharpens my thinking (or, more accurately, forces me to think) and improves my writing.
That’s my story, anyway.

From now until the end of December I’m planning on putting up a post (almost) every day. I reserve the right to count an occasional meme or quiz as a legitimate post, but promise not to do so unless the inkwell of inspiration is bone dry and the route to the store impassable due to a huge writer’s block.

Based on past experience, some posts will be profound, others profoundly silly. The point is to make a habit of writing daily (even if I cheat and write several days’ posts at once). Feel free to visit every day, or stop in at the end of the week to catch up. By all means, make your voice heard in the comments; encouragement is the best gift you can give.