The Blue Notebook

Fearful People vs. Faith-filled People

2009-07-24T18:48:00.004-04:00

I read an article that reflects on Psalm 37 in Revive, the publication of Life Action Ministries where my brother works. This recent issue was about fear and worry - how appropriate for these times!

Here's the last section, that I need to put on a poster and hang on the wall or something:

"Faith is the antidote to fear. Fearful and faith-filled people experience the same circumstances, but faith-filled people respond by depending on God. Am I a fearful or a faith-filled person?"

There's also a comparison chart that highlights how the two different types of people approach life's trials. I had to check off all the statements on the "fearful people" side. Ouch. Need to read up again on God's promises - and His faithfulness (ahem, which was also the topic of last week's sermon!).

Leftover rum? No problem!

2009-06-18T14:18:00.002-04:00

My only experience with rum has been watching Jack Sparrow sing its praises on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. But there was almost an entire bottle leftover after Matt made tiramisu the other week. I was going to make peach cobbler one night but instead searched for a recipe with peaches and rum. Since that required grilling, and it was already 90 degrees outside, I changed it a bit and came up with this:

Peaches 'n Rum

6-7 medium peaches, peeled and sliced
Sugar
Cinnamon
Chopped almonds (though I used pre-sliced almonds as a shortcut)
Rum (approx. 1 tsp per peach)

After preparing the peaches, I lined a 9-inch loaf pan with aluminum foil and put the peaches inside. Sprinkle liberally with sugar and cinnamon, then add some of the almonds on top. I poured 6 tsp of rum on top, then closed up the aluminum foil tightly and put the loaf pan in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes (until the peaches are cooked).

Whipped Topping:

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Splash of rum (optional!)

Whip cream until almost stiff, about 1 minute. Per Gail's advice, I added a splash of rum. Then slowly add sugar and vanilla; beat until cream holds peaks.

Er, since there was still almost a whole bottle of rum left, I made this again the next night, but with 3 medium-sized apples. Yum!

Still Scrapbooking

2009-05-14T12:14:00.004-04:00

I'm finally done organizing our (one-room/closet) living space at the in-laws. We can't leave stuff out since they are showing their house to sell it, but I'm ready to work on scrapbooking (and then putting it away when done for the day).

Here's what it all looks like.

And yes, those are some of my shoes in unused CD/DVD towers that my BIL let me use! (The rest of the shoes are in storage.)

Encouragement on Sunday

2009-04-20T08:48:00.004-04:00

The sermon at church yesterday was simple but powerful. Thought I'd share some points that really encouraged me:

Redeemer Presbyterian
April 19, 2009
Dan Seale
Luke 24:13-35
"Burning Hearts"

-On the cross, Jesus had said, "It is finished" triumphantly, but the disciples and His followers only heard defeat

-The disciples felt that Jesus had let them down with His death on the cross, that He had disappointed them; they were probably angry and confused

-The same thing happens to us when things don't turn out the way we think they should. Satan steps in with the age-old lie: that God doesn't care and doesn't love us. We think, "If God really loved me, He would [fill in the blank]."

-These 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus weren't theologically ignorant (v. 19-23), but they still didn't "get it": In verse 21, they say, "we had hoped ...." They were looking for an earthly messiah to rescue them from the Romans.

-These disciples had read the Scriptures selectively and believed selectively

-How often do WE read the Bible selectively, and believe selectively??

-Disappointment is a function of expectation.

-We have expectations of Jesus for things He never promised (like the classic "God wants me to be happy" - the Bible never says that!).

-And we're surprised when we receive what He DID promise (suffering, hardship).

-V. 25-26: Jesus wants these disciples to examine the Word

-V. 27: Instead of doing what He did with Thomas ("See, My hands, My feet, My side; it really is Me, risen"), Jesus explains the Scriptures to these 2 disciples --- He wants to Word to take root in their hearts. He reviews the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and how they have now been fulfilled.

-Their hearts were "burning" not necessarily because they were speaking to Him in person (they didn't even know it was Him at the time), but because He was speaking to them about the Word

-When was the last time your heart "burned" from reading the Word?

-Don't read the Word out of your life and experiences; read your life and experiences out of the Word

-The disciples urged Jesus (the "stranger") to stay with them because it was probably late; they had come all the way from Jerusalem and it would have been unsafe to continue on the road at night. BUT after their "eyes were opened" and they realized they were with Jesus (then He disappeared), they left right away (v. 33) to make the long trek back to Jerusalem to tell the others that they had seen Him and talked with Him.

-The good news of Jesus and the Scriptures prompted them urgently to share the truth with the others.

-God comforts His people through His Word

Our trip to Belgium and France 2009

2009-04-17T09:28:00.002-04:00

My husband is more on the ball than I am - he's already posted about our trip here. And if you're on Facebook, you can check out our pictures on his profile. We had a great time learning about WWI and WWII history, as well as taking long walks around Paris. My high school French came back to me (with some review), and I didn't verbally embarrass myself too much. Vive la France!

Italian Pasta and Bean Bake

2009-03-19T10:01:00.004-04:00

Made this eeeeasy dinner last night, from the amazing book Saving Dinner the Vegetarian Way. The Saving Dinner books all include grocery lists, weekly menus, and recipes, including side dish suggestions. No-brainer meal planning that keeps the family healthy! (Other Saving Dinner books: the Basics, the Low-Carb Way, Through the Holidays.)

Italian Pasta and Bean Bake

Serves 6

1 pound penne pasta
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 (16-ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (26-ounce jar pasta sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I probably used 2-3 tsp)
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and return to pot. Add tomatoes, beans, pasta sauce, Italian seasoning, and 1/2 of the cheese.

Transfer to an 11x7-inch baking dish. [I used a 11x9 dish....]

Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese melts. [It only took 5 minutes to melt the cheese.]

Per Serving: 580 calories; 11g fat; 28g protein; 93g carbohydrate; 10g dietary fiber; 34mg cholesterol; 1125mg sodium. Exchanges: 5 Grain (Starch); 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 2 1/2 Vegetable; 1 Fat.

Serving Suggestions: Serve with a large green salad and some garlic bread.

Ridiculously Awesome Things #3: Wordle.net

2009-02-27T10:44:00.007-05:00

I discovered this amazing website from a digital scrapbooking magazine: Wordle.net. The site creates a customizable word cloud from any text you provide, and you can do significant tweaking to achieve the look you want. The text came from my "O History" journal entries. Here are my two results:

Using "Chilled Summer" colors and "Gnuolane Free" font (using our favorite colors):

Using "Loved By the King" font and "Heat" colors:

Like I said, ridiculously awesome.

Awesome Banana Pudding

2009-02-16T17:45:00.005-05:00

I tweaked this recipe from a colleague. I could eat an entire pan by myself.

Serves a crowd (or a very selfish 1!)

2 boxes of instant vanilla pudding
1 box of instant banana cream pudding
5 cups of vanilla milk (or regular milk)
8 oz. Cool Whip, refrigerated temperature not frozen
8 oz. sour cream (trust me!)
5-6 bananas
vanilla wafers

1. Line a 9x13 casserole dish with vanilla wafers.
2. In a separate bowl, cut up bananas (mash some, slice some).
3. In a large mixing bowl, make pudding with pudding mix and milk, following directions on the box(es).
4. Fold sour cream and Cool Whip into pudding.
5. Fold in bananas.
6. Pour mixture into 9x13 dish on top of wafers.
7. (Optional) Crush some of the remaining wafers and sprinkle them on top just before serving.
8. Enjoy the awesomeness!

Cilantro Spice Paste for Fajitas

2009-01-26T10:41:00.004-05:00

I got this recipe from my new cookbook, Simply In Season, which, if you've never heard of it, is AN AWESOME cookbook.

Anyway, I'm trying to move away from the easy dry sauce packets that stores have for fajitas, enchiladas, chili, gravy, etc. and make my own, to save money and promote better taste. One of the many nice features of Simply in Season is that many of the recipes have a foundational section to the recipe, then several spice/taste variations below, so you have more options.

The fajita recipe had two options, and I made the Cilantro Spice Paste:

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (finely chopped)
2T soy sauce
1T oil
1T chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
juice of 1 lime

Mix together. Coat meat well with cilantro paste [strips of chicken, sirloin, or steak; I used portabello mushroom strips]; let stand at least 15 minutes. Stir fry over high heat in 2T of oil. Remove from pan and keep warm while stir-frying vegetables. [Since I used mushrooms, I stir-fried the vegs first, added the paste, and then added the mushrooms.]

It tasted SO good. I even made this when we had company over, even though it was my first time making it. I NEVER have company over when I'm making something for the first time.

Ridiculously Awesome Things #2

2009-01-21T16:21:00.014-05:00

Italian paper store called Fabriano with centuries of expertise in making quality paper supplies. They sell stationery, pens, pencils, sketch books, children's stationery items, calendars, some office supplies (cleverly fashioned), and a host of other things. I held myself back from buying one of everything in the store the first time I visited there, limiting myself to two journals.

My second visit, I was compelled to buy a dachshund keychain made from leather:

Fabriano:

Established: 1264 (as in, A.D.)
Personally Discovered: 2007 in Rome
Products: Awesome

Ridiculously Awesome Things #1

2009-01-21T15:51:00.004-05:00

So I was in the midst of yet another sugar craving in the midst of a house empty of sugar-filled items. (Except for sugar itself, but that would be gross to eat straight sugar. I'm not that desperate.)

Yearning for something sugary, I remembered - there's leftover generic Cool Whip in the freezer from John's birthday last week! Crisis averted.

Don't worry, I only ate 2 bites (ok, more like 5). But as I put it away, I thought about how I am a Cool Whip fanatic (generic equivalents also accepted).

It's not only sweet, but delicately sweet, so that your taste buds aren't overwhelmed to the point of throwing up. I seriously could eat an entire bowl of Cool Whip. Never have though. Perhaps I should add that to my list of things to do before I die? But only after I'm 80, when it won't matter if my teeth fall out.

Our First Raleigh Snow

2009-01-20T08:36:00.002-05:00

Woke up this morning to thick snow falling. It was beautiful! Here's Darra checking it out:

When we went outside, she bounded in the snow like a rabbit, excited. I had to calm her down so she'd do her business instead of play!

Pear-Shaped Women: Hold Your Head High

2009-01-07T15:29:00.002-05:00

A new study has found that "pear-shaped" women (whose buttular area might be larger than the rest of their body) may be protected against type 2 diabetes. Read about it here.

An excuse to let the Thighmaster collect dust? I think so.

Unfurnished House: Day 7

2009-01-06T08:33:00.002-05:00

Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.

Unfurnished House: Day 1

Unfurnished House: Day 2

Unfurnished House: Day 3

Unfurnished House: Day 4

Unfurnished House: Day 5

Unfurnished House: Day 6

Day 7: Sunday, January 4, 2009

Get up around 8 a.m. to get ready for church.

Go to Redeemer Pres about 15 minutes away, where John has visited before. Some of the guys there are going to help us move in on Tuesday night! Very kind of them to help virtual strangers!! We talk to several people after church, all quite friendly. This may be the church we end up at.

Darra is crazy glad when we get home. We eat leftovers from last night. Yum!

Watch some Reba.

Clean the upstairs bathroom since my father-in-law is coming tonight. He’ll be commuting from Atlanta and staying with us part of each week. John reads.

Start cleaning the baseboards upstairs when Darra starts barking madly. Father-in-law has arrived much earlier than expected. Unload his Suburban, which has boxes of our china and boxes of liquids from our house (like liquids from the pantry and cleaning stuff).

Unpack some of the boxes while John and his dad talk.

Make dinner.

Watch some Reba and Kitchen Nightmares. Work on putting dates on this year’s calendar (2009).

John goes to read upstairs.

Post to blog. Check email. Check Facebook.

Walk Darra one more time.

Try to decide if this post will be last installment of Unfurnished House. Technically we have one more day of Unfurnished House on Monday, but it will be a BUSY last day before the PODs come on Tuesday.

Go upstairs to read before bed.

Unfurnished House: Day 6

2009-01-04T20:49:00.002-05:00

Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.

Unfurnished House: Day 1

Unfurnished House: Day 2

Unfurnished House: Day 3

Unfurnished House: Day 4

Unfurnished House: Day 5

Day 6: Saturday, January 3, 2009

Got up by myself at 8:30 a.m. to take Darra out. Not freezing cold outside but foggy.

Make a smoothie for breakfast. Waste time on internet.

Tired of sitting upright. Go upstairs to read a book in bed.

Eat lunch. Watch some Reba.

Walk to Starbucks in the shopping center across the street to read on a couch. Stay for 2 hours.

Get back, walk Darra.

Watch more Reba.

Go to the nearby mall that’s 5 minutes from our house to scout for supper. (John’s dad said to have dinner on him.) Everything at the mall has too long of a wait on a Saturday night after New Year’s (maybe next time, Cheesecake Factory!), so we head back to the shopping center across the street from our neighborhood.

Go to the local Italian place in the shopping center. Inside looks nice; the wait is an HOUR. But we opt for eating outside and are seated immediately. The food was VERY good, even in spite of having just watched multiple episodes of Kitchen Nightmares the past few days (about bad restaurants). We will definitely go there again.

Return home. Watch some more Kitchen Nightmares. Go upstairs to read before bed.

Unfurnished House: Day 7

Unfurnished House: Day 5

2009-01-03T08:57:00.003-05:00

Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.

Unfurnished House: Day 1

Unfurnished House: Day 2

Unfurnished House: Day 3

Unfurnished House: Day 4

Day 5: Friday, January 2, 2009

Got up at 6 a.m. with John. Checked the weather online. Supposed to rain today. Supposed to rain on the day we unload the POD next week. Went back to bed.

Wake up again at 8:30 to pounding. Wonder if someone is in the house. Darra is on alert but not barking, so it can’t be a dangerous situation. Wonder where noise is coming from. Possibly from next door. Pounding nails and hanging pictures at this hour?

Take Darra outside. Eat breakfast. Think about what needs to get done today, like the kitchen, which I deliberately didn’t clean up yesterday so I’d have something to do today.

Waste time on internet.

Work on my sister’s resume.

Post to blog. Waste more time on internet.

Go downstairs to get something. Lie on floor, stare at ceiling. Darra whines to go outside, but it’s muddy in the backyard.

Eat lunch and watch more episodes of Reba.

Spend half the afternoon writing a review of the book Forsaken by James David Jordan.

John calls. Drive to bank to open new account.

Return home. Take Darra out for first time since this morning. (She never rang the bell.)

John gets the mail. Get several Christmas cards and newsletters from friends. Decide Christmastime is the best time of year to move – guaranteed mail from people you know.

Watch more episodes of Reba. Make dinner. Get craving for pudding. Or cake. Or ice cream. Mostly pudding though. Can’t have it. Can’t afford extras right now. As soon as the POD comes, and we unpack, I can make a smoothie and pour it into the push-up pop containers I bought a long time ago for frozen treats when I have an ice cream/dessert craving.

Watch episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. Both of us would really rather read, but there’s no comfortable place to lounge. John decides we should go to Starbucks or something tomorrow for couches to read on. Darra will just have to live with it for a few hours.

Go upstairs to read in bed.

Unfurnished House: Day 6

Unfurnished House: Day 7

Unfurnished House: Day 4

2009-01-02T10:30:00.004-05:00

Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.

Unfurnished House: Day 1

Unfurnished House: Day 2

Unfurnished House: Day 3

Day 4: Thursday, January 1, 2009

Got up at 8:30ish a.m. since John has the day off (January 1). John took Darra outside.

Made breakfast: a smoothie. Would rather have hot oatmeal, but it’s packed, and I refuse to buy some when we already have it, technically.

Start laundry load.

Waste time on internet while John finishes his book.

Go to the nearest Lowe’s to buy wood planks. The decks on the 2nd and 3rd floors have a gap beneath the railing that is big enough for Darra to slip through if she’s determined enough to end everything. The wood planks will solve that problem. We discover several other stores around Lowe’s. Drive around that area some more.

Go home and eat lunch. Watch some Reba. Stare at the wall.

I suggest we discuss furniture placement. Walk around the house deciding where things will go when we unload next week.

Next week seems so far away.

John doesn’t want to stay and watch more TV, so we take Darra with us to drive around some more, using my printouts of places I’d looked up. Takes the rest of the afternoon. Discover lots of stores and shopping centers. Realize now we know where all the stores are that we’d want to go to, and they’re all within about 15-20 minutes of our house, but … none of them are close to EACH OTHER.

Get home. Watch some more Reba on the plasma TV. Watched an episode of Bones. Getting really tired of having no couches to sit on.

Work on LinkedIn profile while John watches the Bones episode. Wonder if “systematization” is a word. It is.

Watch some episodes of Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. Vow to avoid restaurants as much as possible.

Walk Darra. Very short walk.

Watch some more Kitchen Nightmares. Read a book before bed.

Never did write any resolutions today, the first day of the new year.

Unfurnished House: Day 5

Unfurnished House: Day 6

Unfurnished House: Day 7

Unfurnished House: Day 3

2009-01-01T10:18:00.005-05:00

Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.

Unfurnished House: Day 1

Unfurnished House: Day 2

Day 3: Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Get up at 6 a.m. with John. Once John closes the bathroom door, shutting Darra out, she goes to a pile of dirty laundry (darks) and lies on John’s dirty underwear, staring at the closed bathroom door.

Take Darra out, implement Fiendish New Potty Plan: If she doesn’t go in the first minute or two, I take her back inside. When she does do her business, she gets a treat immediately. She already knows to ring the bell to go outside, but now that we don’t have a doggie door and a fenced yard, I’m re-training her to go outside and go IMMEDIATELY, so I’m not standing there in the cold. She’s got to learn now that every time she goes outside, it’s NOT necessarily a walk!! After a minute or two this morning, I make a move to go back inside, and she halts, not budging. Immediately goes potty. I think she’s starting to get the picture.

Start laundry load #3.

Eat breakfast, go online. Post to blog. Check email. Check Facebook. Update Amazon wish list.

Think about getting dressed since it’s 8:30 a.m.

Reboot laundry. Get ready for the day. Wash down shelves of laundry room cabinets and store stuff there.

Hand wash some dishes. Clear off the counters and find a way to organize all the random paper and pens that don’t have a home because we don’t have desks, so they’ve been all over the place. Feel good about cleared countertops.

Reboot laundry. Start load #4.

Think about the fact that today is Dec. 31. Think about making resolutions, as I eat some chocolate. Ponder that this is the first year we’ll be alone for New Year’s Eve not by choice.

Look up directions to the nearest Costco, hoping it’s closer than BJ’s or Sam’s, which are both at least 20 minutes away.

Feel guilty about ignoring Darra, who looks especially pathetic. Take her on walk to neighborhood next door.

Eat lunch while watching Reba. See that the 2 newest episodes of House are on hulu.com!!

Reboot laundry.

Figure out directions one more time for hitting two stores in one trip. Take deep breath, leave Darra UNgated!! (since it’s obviously pointless), and gear up for serious driving in Raleigh.

Head out onto I-440, the loop around Raleigh. Eeeks. End up at the nearest SuperWalmart, about 15-20 minutes away. The store I patronize the most isn’t close anymore!

Also excited to see a pet store AND an Aldi’s across the street from Walmart. Yay! Aldi’s is probably the only store cheaper than Walmart!

Before going back home, I have to call John to ask him which exit we are on 440, which direction to go, etc.

Manage to make it home. Wonder how Darra fared while I was gone for 2 hours. But apparently John got home right after I left, so we still haven’t left her for a significant period of time.

Unpack groceries. Watch some more Reba. Make supper. Watch another episode of Wire in the Blood. Cannot get warm. Wrap up in afghan.

Walk Darra in the freezing cold. It’s a short walk. Thank goodness, she does all her business, so we’re not going outside again.

Try to figure out how to maximize bedding and pajamas for optimal sleeping. No socks or sweatshirt: too cold. Socks and sweatshirt: too hot, then sweat, then get cold from sweat drying. Really want my own pillow and bed, which are inaccessible for another week at least.

Waste time on the internet.

Read before bed.

Unfurnished House: Day 4

Unfurnished House: Day 5

Unfurnished House: Day 6

Unfurnished House: Day 7

Unfurnished House: Day 2

2008-12-31T07:26:00.007-05:00

Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.

Unfurnished House: Day 1

Day 2: Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Get up with John at 6 a.m.

Take Darra out. She only does half her business, but I’m too cold to care that I’ll have to go back out again soon. She’s distracted by every noise and enjoying herself. I’m not.

Eat breakfast. Darra also eats hers, which is good. Unload dishwasher. Make list of things to do today.

Back upstairs to unpack John’s remaining bags that he brought home yesterday. 4 piles of laundry to do.

Shower. Start first laundry load. Set timer downstairs in kitchen to remind myself the laundry is up there by the bedrooms.

Eat breakfast. Check email. Check Facebook. Post “Day 1” to blog. Ignore timer for laundry. Realize too much time has been spent online this morning. Typical.

Reboot laundry upstairs.

Feel guilty about ignoring Darra. Bring her toys to basement level where there’s carpet and play with her. Liveliest she’s been (INside the house) since we arrived.

Eat a snack.

DSL guy comes to set things up. While he’s busy, I do a walk-through for the rental company to indicate any pre-existing defects in the townhouse that they haven’t caught. I’m pickier, so I write down more than they did on the form. Don’t want to have to pay for damage that we didn’t do.

Check on laundry. Open double doors of laundry closet to find water dripping from cabinet knobs. Didn’t realize it would get that humid in there. Will keep closet doors open from now on. Discover that dryer didn’t dry at all. Change setting and try again. (We don’t have our washer/dryer now anyway, but when the POD comes, we’ll keep them in the garage instead of lugging one set down 2 flights of stairs, and lugging ours up 2 flights. Then repeating in reverse when we move out in 13 months.)

Walk Darra. She stops at the base of the stairway to each house, thinking it’s ours. (The front door of each house is on the second level, so you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get there. The stairs end at the sidewalk.)

Finish walk-through of house. Darra sleeps in sun on second-level deck. I scrounge for lunch. Spend way too much time on Facebook.

Reboot laundry. Discover that the lint trap in the dryer is NOT REMOVABLE. What kind of dryer is this. Does GE want the house to burn down around us? Have they not read the studies that show how easily lint in a dryer catches fire?? Reconsider switching out their dryer for ours, even with lugging up and down stairs.

Darra sleeps in sun on deck outside the kitchen while I look up dog parks in Raleigh.

Waste time on Internet.

Answer question on phone for person who replaced me at my job when we moved.

Reboot laundry. Take Darra outside to do her business.

Tired of house. Gate Darra into our bathroom, then go to mall down the street to check it out.

Crabtree Valley Mall is probably the biggest I’ve ever been to. It has a major parking garage that is, frankly, confusing and intimidating to someone who is the polar opposite of adventurous!! I’m mentally exhausted just trying to get in and park.

Walk the mall all the way around on level 1, then on level 2. Feel like a Mall Walker. Consider joining their Mall Walker group (hey, one holiday mall sign said that the mall walkers had a holiday party and got treated by Trade Secret!). Lots of “northern” fashion that is unfamiliar, but I would never wear anyway. (Try knit knee-length dress with tights and boots.)

Stop at a styling salon for prices. Stop at Payless. Stop at Franklin Covey store. Weirdly excited that there’s a Franklin Covey store! Never been to one. Linger for a long time, looking at planners. Wonder if I could get a part-time job there. And then get discounts.

Finish up at the mall, ready to go home. Mission accomplished: got to know the mall, and didn’t buy anything. Next hurdle: trying to get out of the parking garage. Even though my M.O. is to return the exact way I came in since by default it’s already “familiar,” that way involves awkward awful left-turn intersections in the parking garage. So I go out the back way, which is not familiar. But successfully leave the mall.

Come home to find that Darra broke out! She somehow upended the gate in the master bathroom doorway and has been trapped instead in the carpeted master bedroom. Good thing I shut the door just in case. Relief: no bathroom accidents or chewed up items. Just a wildly ecstatic dog who has no idea that we’re bummed the gate is no longer effective.

Darra and I go for our first mail run at this new address. We have real mail!

John comes home. We look up directions for how to get to various stores. Darra starts to play with her toys, the first time she’s done so by herself since we arrived.

Start dinner. Watch Reba on the plasma TV. Talk to John’s mom on the phone.

Clean up from dinner. Watch a British crime show, Wire in the Blood, on the plasma TV. Eat a British dessert called spotted dick.

Walk Darra, work our way through the neighborhood next to ours. Start a new book before going to bed.

Unfurnished House: Day 3

Unfurnished House: Day 4

Unfurnished House: Day 5

Unfurnished House: Day 6

Unfurnished House: Day 7

Unfurnished House: Day 1

2008-12-30T10:02:00.009-05:00

We won’t get our storage PODS back until Jan. 6 because of the holidays and high volume of business (I guess a lot of people are moving this month using PODS). So our (rented) townhouse currently houses one queen-sized air mattress (note to self: THANK MOM for perfect, unrequested Christmas gift!!), and some items that came with the house: an ironing board, plastic deck furniture outside, a washer & dryer, and shoe shelving units in the master closets (must tell Mary!!). Until The Day The PODS Come, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.

A.k.a., The Simple Life.

Day 1: Monday, December 29, 2008

Got up with John at 6:30 a.m. (I think). Tried to wake up while John took a lukewarm shower since apparently the water heater wasn’t working properly. Got dressed, knowing I’d have to take Darra outside on a leash soon.

Try to convince John to have a bowl of cereal before going to work, then realize I had spoons but no bowls. John took a breakfast bar to work instead. He fixed the water heater before he left; it had been on the “vacation” setting.

Took Darra outside. Not too chilly, just comfortable with a pullover. She sees a rabbit and tries to take off. Have to re-orient her that it is POTTY time, not PLAY time.

Back inside, the iPod Bose unit is unpacked and the iPod set to the playlist Hymns. It was 7 in the morning, and now that we’re in a townhouse, we have neighbors on both sides of the walls. Have to be volume-conscious.

Want to start unpacking the few kitchen boxes we brought with us in the car, but I’m starving. Start hunt for plastic bowls instead. Jackpot: first box. Eat cereal with skim milk instead of rice milk for the first time in 2 years. Darra watches me, and ignores her own breakfast.

Start unpacking the kitchen boxes, including the ones that John brought from his car. Last night before coming to the house, we had driven to John’s work and got his car that he’d left there before Christmas. It had all his stuff in it that he’d used while renting a basement in Raleigh since the beginning of November (while he commuted, and I stayed in our house in Georgia). Darra climbs into her bed (which I’d put in the kitchen so she’d have a soft place instead of hardwood floors) and stays there looking woeful.

All (few) kitchen boxes unpacked and half put away, I reach a stopping point as I can’t decide exactly where I want things to go. (No sense putting them away only to take it all out and rearrange later.) Even though the kitchen cabinet layout is almost identical to the one in our former house, I still can’t decide where I want things. The cabinets ARE about 6 inches taller, and there are enough minor differences between kitchens that I can’t just use the exact same storage plan. Darra still ignores her breakfast.

Abandon kitchen and decide to take a break. Realize it’s only 8:45 a.m. Feels like afternoon. Put away packing materials from unpacking kitchen boxes with several trips down to basement/garage level where all boxes will end up eventually. Clean up a bit in kitchen. Think about kitchen cabinet arrangement. Rearrange the few cans and items in pantry.

Head upstairs to bedroom, the only place to “sit down” inside the house. Turn on computer and connect to someone else’s wireless network (our wireless will be set up tomorrow). Sorry, Foley network, it’s only for 1 day. Check Facebook. Check email. Email John to see if there are any folding chairs at work for him to borrow and bring home. Email everyone in my Contacts that we have a new address. Go to www.hulu.com to watch 2 episodes of Reba from Season 1. Darra still hasn’t eaten her breakfast.

Put computer away and unpack my suitcase in the master bedroom. Think about what will go in the large, separate his/her walk-in closets. Rearrange the small, unattached cabinets and shoe shelving that came with the house in the closets. Consider unpacking John’s suitcase. Leave it unpacked.

Start to unpack the toiletry bags in the bathroom, stop to go downstairs, get a cleaning washcloth, and come up again to wash out the bathroom drawers and cabinets. Not because they’re unclean; I’m just picky. See black scuff marks on some of the doors up here. Go down 2 flights of stairs to basement level to get Magic Eraser. Come back up and remove black marks. See serious dust on baseboards, top of doorway moulding, and in ridges on doors. DO NOT start cleaning all that. Save it for later. Continue to unpack bathroom stuff until finished.

Step out of bathroom to realize that Darra has taken up residence next to the sliding door in our bedroom that leads to a balcony. She is konked out in the sunlight on the floor. Decide not to go down another flight of stairs to get camera. She’d move anyway.

Look at clock and realize John could be home for lunch soon, and I still don’t have makeup or hair done. Do that. Brain starts thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. Moves to thinking about what we’ll do for Dec. 31 to celebrate. Acknowledge, probably nothing. Darra is still sleeping hard in the sunlight on the floor. Think about walking her, but John will be home soon anyway.

Decide to create blog post of what to do when there’s nothing to do. Write.

Realize it’s past lunchtime. Go to microwave lunch and see a metal rack in the microwave that is in fact part of the microwave, as it rests on built-in pegs. ???! Wonder what in the world is going on there. Remove metal rack and finish with lunch.

Feel very guilty and decide to walk Darra. Explore neighborhood, not as complicated as it initially looked in the dark last night. Close to a lot of other neighborhoods, which is good for walking the dog and running.

Need to go get groceries so we don’t eat out tonight. Must leave Darra for first time, gated in the bathroom, when she’s used to having a doggie door to the outside and therefore free rein in the house.

Go to grocery store, which thank goodness is basically across the street from our neighborhood. No need for complicated directions. It’s similar to Publix. I only buy things from my list, keeping in mind that we’re paying for a mortgage AND rent in January.

Come home just as John is pulling in. We manage to get both cars into the tiny box that is billed as a two-car garage. He brought home chairs from the office, so we won’t have to eat dinner standing up. Darra is ecstatic that we’re home. She finally starts to eat.

John works electronic magic and hooks his computer to the plasma TV that came with the house (which is located in what normal people think of as the dining room). Darra climbs into her bed, again woeful and forlorn. Probably wondering where her couch is. We watch some Reba as I make dinner.

Though it’s dark out, we walk Darra and see how people have arranged their furniture in the front living room that can be seen from the street. A surprising number of people haven’t pulled their curtains or blinds closed yet.

Return to thinking about kitchen. Decide where everything will go. Agree with John’s mom, who said I have more kitchen stuff than she does. Almost done mentally organizing kitchen with items I have to recall from memory, but get tired of it. John goes upstairs to read.

I give up on planning the kitchen. Walk Darra one more time before bed. Some old guy down the street watches to make sure I pick up her poop. Clean up kitchen, run first dishwasher load, clear countertops. Finally decide on kitchen organization. Each cabinet has a post-it note on it with what will eventually go inside. Feels good to be done. Head upstairs to read my book before bed. Surprisingly full day, no boredom.

Unfurnished House: Day 2

Unfurnished House: Day 3

Unfurnished House: Day 4

Unfurnished House: Day 5

Unfurnished House: Day 6

Unfurnished House: Day 7

Things I've Learned From My Husband

2008-12-16T13:12:00.007-05:00

Well, a few things. I am supposed to be packing up our house right now.

(1) Simplicity. Sometimes as I'm cleaning, I'll notice an item that I've had for years and think, "Do I really need to keep this?? Why do I have it?" And the voice in my head is John, trying to make our lives easier. (Not to mention, saving us headaches in the future when we're packing said items. Ahem.)

(2) The art of self-evaluation. If John wasn't so cynical, he would make a great psychologist. He has a gift for reading people. (But no one would visit a psychologist who would say, "The solution is simple: Stop being an idiot and don't do that anymore.") In our four years of marriage (anniversary on Thursday!), he has come to know me better than I know myself. Seriously. He'll point out things that I never realized about myself (both good and bad). It's shocking. I'm either frightfully oblivious to some things or in serious denial. I'm working on getting to know him just as well, though I know I'll never be on the same par.

(3) Frugality. (Stop snorting, John.) It's true. I AM more frugal than I was when I was single (which amounted to about 5% frugal). The percentage still isn't as high as I - or John - would like it to be, but more often, I do find myself thinking "Why do I need to buy this?" when I'm still IN the store, which is even better than thinking it the next day and then returning something.

(4) Relaxation. Anyone who knows me fairly well knows that I like to be efficient. Not necessarily in a multi-tasking sense, but in spending every minute completing tasks and crossing things off my infinite to-do list. In my mind, there's ALWAYS "something" I could be doing. If I need a break from computer work, I can go do laundry or pull weeds. I'll read a book for pleasure as a break, too, but in terms of "just sitting there," "relaxing," and not doing anything else - that just goes against the way my DNA is put together. John has taught me that IT IS OK, even GOOD to sit and (by my definition) "do nothing," and just take a deep breath and enjoy life and the moment. Granted, right now I do that maybe once a week for 2 minutes, but he's working on it.

(5) "Good enough" is an acceptable standard. Not ALL of the time of course, but for a perfectionist to relent and complete something to a "good enough" level, it's safe to say that progress is being made. Instead of killing myself to reach the unattainable level of Perfection, sometimes it's ok to stop at "good enough." My definition of "good enough" is probably still closer to "perfection" than to "average," but I do have more time to enjoy things in life now instead of stressing out about reaching a ridiculous personal standard. I regress, OFTEN, but you'll hear me say "that's good enough" where I didn't say it in the past.

(6) Discernment. For example, just because a book catches my eye and creates a passing interest in my mind, doesn't mean I have to buy it. If it's an author I've never read before, I check the library first, or add it to my Christmas list. This sure has saved us a lot of money! John periodically (and I mean, OFTEN) culls from his books the ones that he didn't really enjoy or won't read again. I've followed his example, critically examining my shelves for books that I wouldn't recommend to someone else. What remains are books that I truly enjoy and love to lend.

Sweater Solutions

2008-12-13T19:26:00.007-05:00

Even though I lived in Florida for 18 years, I acquired a collection of sweaters for Christmas visits to family in Illinois and the occasional day the Florida weather dropped below 50 degrees.

But my favorite sweaters have grown "pilly," though I refuse to give them up since otherwise, they are perfectly fine.

I bought one of those gadgets at Bed, Bath & Beyond that is similar to an electric razor, only for sweaters ("fabric shaver"?). You turn it on, run it up and down the sweater, and voila, the "pills" are removed. It takes some time (and you have to stop every now and then to blow off the resultant fuzz from the motor), but the results are worth it.

Notice the pill action on this Tommy Hilfiger-lookalike sweater (before):

Now look at the right sleeve, which has been de-pillified:

1 sweater down, 4 to go.

DIY Decorating a Niche In the Wall For Less Than $20

2008-12-04T10:08:00.013-05:00

I've always wondered what to do with the niche in the wall or shadow box cutout thingie that some houses have. I've also wondered what to call them exactly. If it's deep, you can put a silk flower arrangement in a nice vase, but what about shallow niches that won't hold flower arrangements?

We have a niche (for lack of a better term) in an odd place, tucked in a hallway next to our master bedroom. (Instead of a niche by the front door or front entry, where I usually see one.)
It's shallow and the top is arched in a half-circle.

We've lived in our house for 2 years, and it wasn't until we were getting the house ready to put on the market that I was forced to deal with it. Before then, the niche contained a bunch of our wedding photos and other photos of John and me, along with some candles, and my brothers-in-law called it The Shrine. I guess that's code for "decorate this thing already."

A year ago at Michaels, I'd seen a promising wrought-iron thingamabob that looked like a garden gate and was arched on top. Pretty sure it would fit in the niche, though I'd need to measure it. It's still at Michaels, but I'd held off on buying it because I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted. It would be attached to the wall with many large holes, and if we ever moved, we wouldn't take it with us, so why spend the money on it? Indecision ruled, and procrastination settled in.

Then of course we had to put the house on the market, and on his initial walk-through, our realtor said that something else had to be done with the niche. (Not to mention, we were told to remove all personal photos in the house, and the niche was full of, um, personal photos.) Having already spent some money on other things to spruce up the house for buyers, I didn't want to spend another $40-50 on something that we definitely wouldn't be taking with us when we moved.

Semi-solution: Hit the stores and see what other alternatives there were. I had a vague idea of hanging "some kind of nice picture in a frame" in the niche instead. Went to Wal-Mart first because we might as well start on the cheap end. Sure enough, Wal-Mart didn't disappoint: I found a frame with that was really 4 connected frames that overlapped each other, creating a kind of 3-D effect - better than a flat frame and perfect for a niche.

But that would hang on the wall; what about something to rest on the "floor" of the niche? It would look bare with just a hanging frame which wasn't very large. Headed to Ross, which always bothers me because of the general sense of disorganization that permeates the air. But good deals can always be found there, even if I didn't have a firm idea of what else to look for. John found a wrought-iron piece with votives that was simple but would work well (without contributing to the Shrine atmostphere I was trying to eliminate).

Next, the pictures for the frames. We couldn't use personal photos, so we turned to our travel photos. I selected a bunch of Europe photos that we had - choosing a mix of vertical and horizontal since the frame I'd bought had 2 of each orientation. I converted them to sepia tone using Photoshop Elements and printed them (at Wal-Mart, of course). Then we went through the photos and chose 2 horiziontal and 2 vertical. In the end, the 4 pictures were all taken in Rome, which suited our thematic senses: the Coliseum, the Borghese Gallery, the Saturn Temple at the Forum, and St. Peter's Cathedral.

Picture frame: $12
Developed pictures: less than $1
Wrought-iron votive holder: $6
Votives: already had, so $0
Total cost: $19

Here's the frame with the pictures:

And here's the finished niche:

The frame could stand to be bigger, but not bad for something thrown together in 1 day on a budget.

DIY Fall Centerpiece

2008-11-29T16:52:00.006-05:00

Everyone is switching out the fall decor for Christmas stuff now, but here's the centerpiece I made 5 weeks ago when we put our house up for sale.

I had to have a centerpiece fast so that I'd have SOMETHING on the table when we got our house pictures taken for a real estate website. Of course, already-designed silk flowers cost a fortune, so I used my Hobby Lobby birthday gift card, bought the separate pieces, and put them together myself. After cleaning the house from top to bottom (including closets! since that's what our realtor told us to do), "make centerpiece" was last on my list of things to finish before the house photographer arrived. I had just 10 minutes to put this together (then an extra 5 minutes because the photographer was late).

Total cost value: less than $30
Actual cost: $0 (because of the gift card)
Number of pieces purchased: 4 (container, floral foam, 2 bunches of fall foliage)
Tools: wire cutter
Time spent arranging: 15 minutes; I had to cut each stem off the "bunch" since they were held together by a larger plastic stem

It's not floral-design-school perfect, and I confess, I MAY redo it next year (take everything out and start again), but it's not bad for 15 minutes and a person with no floral arranging education.

Christmas decorating is next, and I do have some money left on that gift card....

Dear Diary

2008-10-06T19:00:00.023-04:00

I started writing in a new journal this week. This is volume 21, and the cover is embroidered brown fabric. Not a journal I would have picked a few years ago, and it got me thinking about all the journals I've had.* (As an adult; I'm not counting my Ramona Quimby diary when I was 7.)

1. My first journal, begun on Monday, June 26, 1995. "I have decided to keep a journal of sorts, tracking my spiritual walk." I don't even think you can buy steno notebooks anymore?

3. Journal given to me for my birthday in high school, from my friend E.B.

4. The small, bright strawberries on this journal caught my eye in the store.

6. A journal whose cover consists of books on shelves. A must-have for a bibliophile.

7. Classic Winnie-the-Pooh and books. Nuff said.

8. This cover has (reproduced) signatures of famous authors on it.

9. This is the journal from my time in Papua New Guinea. I was there about 2 months, and I filled up the entire book with descriptions and experiences.

10. Leather journal that one of my college friends bought for me in Italy during his semester abroad.

14. This book had a pocket on the front. It was cool, though I didn't really use the pocket for anything.

16. While we were dating, John went on a trip to Rome and bought me this journal. He wrote a lovely sentiment on the inside cover. =)

20. I bought this journal at an Italian store called Fabriano, when we went to Rome in 2007. Fabriano is an AWESOME stationery store, founded in 1264. The paper in the journal and the cover are hand-fashioned using the same techniques the company used hundreds of years ago. And, of course, it's blue.

21. The newest journal.

The Joy Journal (by Barbara Johnson): Where I write about things that made me happy or made me smile (events big or small).

My next journal (also from Fabriano):

*I realized that I forgot to include one journal! It's been on my desk by the computer, to type up my "O History" posts. So the new journal is actually volume 22.