Monday, April 4, 2016

Outside my window... A beautiful sunny 74 degree day, but I am not enjoying it because I have a migraine.  Phooey!  Last night, while driving home from Ms. Sophia's house (She has injured herself.  It would seem we are not as resilient as we once were.),  I could smell the mold in the air.  I told myself to take an allergy pill but when I got home I didn't do it.  I only like to take them at night, so I'm just going to flush myself with water today.    

I am thinking... About grief triggers.  Part of the reason I skipped a week from doing my Daybook was because of a grief trigger.  Sometimes they are not conscious and it is only after you have extricated yourself from the mental feedback loop that you realized what it was that caused it.  Dancing Angel's best friend became engaged last weekend.  We still communicate from time to time.  We had a brief conversation after I added her to a home decorating list following one of her posts saying she was interested.  I love her.  Of all of Dancing Angel's friends, she is the one who always acknowledges her still.  The grief mental feedback loops lead down paths of having to forgive again people you thought you'd forgiven; the ones who promised to be there for you and were not; the professionals you relied upon to tell you what was going on; ad nauseum.  As such, it probably was best I didn't do a Daybook last week.  The heart can excrete an ugly bitterness.  Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (or writes).  I like to keep that nastiness contained so I believe it is wisdom to take a break when needed.    

I actually threw myself into an online game while I sorted things out in my mind.  It's called Food Street.  It's kind of a combination of Farmville and Restaurant City.  It was diversion, but Yah is calling me back to active duty.   That was obvious one day when a parenting issue rose up that snapped me back to attention.  

I still have not resumed my Bible study or written my nephew.  It's time to get my head back in the game.  

I am thankful... For Yehovah allowing me to see another year since the last time I blogged.  I am also thankful for my family spoiling me.  <3

I am also thankful that my long time friend and sister in the Messiah in Louisiana thought of us while beginning to prepare her home for the Feast of Unleavened Bread in a couple of weeks and make us what my husband calls Hover Bread (mandelbrot), and Bobcat (babka).  It is FABULOUS!!!  How nice it is to get food made with love in the mail.  I'm going to have to try sending baked goods through the mail.  

I am wearing...At the moment, my comfies, but I got some new clothes last week (happy dance).  Cato has layaway and about a month or two ago, I found one not far from where Sanban and Princess Butterfly take classes.  Woot!  I bought a seamless tank, a fringe crochet poncho, and a pair of embroidered pocket crop jeans.  When we take our summer vacation/graduation trip, I want to be wearing something cuter than our last vacation because Sanban is going to make an even better vacation video than the fabulous one he made 2 years ago.  I love all their layering combinations!      

I am creating...  Okay, seriously.  It's not even winter anymore.  I need to FINISH my great-aunt's shawl.  (sigh)  

I am reading... I have read 69% of Palace Council.  I want to finish it by Friday, when it is due to be returned back to the library.  I want to read his book New England White next.  These two, along with The Emperor of Ocean Park are not sequential per se, but the characters seem to overlap from one book to another, even though their settings can differ by a few decades.  The Grand Duchess just bought Palace Council, but I told her to start with The Emperor of Ocean Park.  Now I"m not sure if it really matters, so long as you read them all.  

I am listening to....  I have been listening to this every day since I heard it.  Wow!  This is also one of my favorite hymns.  

I am watching...  Stayed up too late watching Call the Midwife Season 5, Episode 1 on PBS's website.     

I am hoping...  Praying for The Grand Duchess to get a "grown up job" that will be fulfilling in an area where she can prosper spiritually, emotionally, socially, financially, physically, etc.  

I am looking forward to... Rosh Hashanah this week.  Although the Jewish people celebrate the new year in the fall, biblically it actually begins in the spring.  In case you are new here, I follow the entirety of the Bible, not Judaism, not Christianity, although there are elements of both that overlap.  There are also elements of both that are traditional and not biblical at all.  Our ministry's website goes into more detail on this.  

The biblical new year is the first sliver of the moon in the month where the barley has ripened in Israel.  Celebrating biblical holidays may put you at odds and out of sync with the rest of the world, but when you know the background behind them, it is SUCH a blessing.  I have been looking for this chart for some time.  I don't know why I didn't think to look in my Pinterest page first.  

One of my favorite things... A mistake in a letter from one of my husband's healthcare providers sent me into a tirade at another physician's office about the incompetency of Dragon Speech and the foolishness of off-shoring our medical transcription to India.  When I was finished with my tirade, the physician offered me a medical transcription job and asked me to send her office manager a resume.  LOL!  

From the learning rooms... 

Senior:  He finished one scholarship application.  I need to look into the deadlines of some other ones.    

Sophomore:  We are SOOOO proud of our Princess Butterfly.  She tested for 7 hours for her 3rd degree black belt class and the instructor asked who in the room had seen her encouraging others through it.  The entire class raised their hands.  Now that the test is behind her, hopefully she can rest and recover.  

Pondering these words... Proverbs 22:29 (ISR98) - "Do you see a man who is skilled in his work? He does stand before sovereigns, He does not stand before obscure ones."  
I am going to set a goal for work this week and achieve it!  

From the kitchen...  Last week, I blogged about what an ideal menu would be for me.  So far, so good.  This past week, the only day I ate red meat was on Shabbat.  I haven't bee feeling well for a couple of weeks (hormones and physical therapy residuals).  I had more energy on Friday so I was cooking up a storm for Shabbat.  I didn't even work (which I will be despirately trying to make up for this week).  Princess Butterfly has become too busy to make challah, so I need to find a schedule that works for me to make it.  This past weekend, I tried a different recipe.  Unfortunately, I left it in the toaster oven after it finished baking.  I won't do that this week, but what I do like about it is the small amount of challah it makes.  I will definitely do this recipe again.  

Mini Challah Recipe

  

I made an Eye of Round Roast.  It's not my favorite cut of beef, but Friend Hubby buys the meat so I cook what he brings in.  This is the recipe I used.  I wasn't impressed.  Even with my embellishments, it was still too bland for me.  The good part, however, was that it was tender.  This cut of beef usually tends to be tough.    

Eye of Round Roast

I also made lentil soup for Shabbat.  This was a great addition because after the sun set, Friend Hubby put some north Atlantic salmon on the grill for himself and our teens (I hate fish).  I ate lentil soup, of which I still have some to eat for lunch this week.  I sent Sanban to the store yesterday for a stick (yes, you buy one stick at a time) of Kerrygold Garlic Butter.  I spread that on both sides of a slice of challah and toast it in the pan.  It makes a great side for the soup and a tossed green salad as well.  I can get with healthy eating as long as I'm full.  We've also been drinking lemon water and that has been killing our appetites.  Success!      

Slow-Cooker Brown Lentil Soup

Around the house...  I need to get started working on my pantry.  I have seen a few pantry moths trying to make a comeback.  I thought they had been thoroughly defeated but I was mistaken.  They are resilient, but I am determined.  

My little sprouts are growing!  The collard green sprouts are somewhat tempermental.  I am not sure they will survived to transplant time later this month.  Nevertheless, I will press on with the tomatoes, cucumbers, and something else that I didn't label and will just be a mystery.  LOL!  I am VERY impressed with my potatoes.  I've never tried growing potatoes before and I REALLY love potatoes.  The spinach is weird.  Only two sprouts have grown but they are not growing very fast.  They love rain from the heavens and also perked up after getting knocked around by some hail last week, but still they remain very, very small.   

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