Lagniappe Chicken Soup

Yesterday I was in one of those moods... Couldn't think of anything to cook that sounded good to me, you know? And it's torture to cook when what you're preparing doesn't look good even to you. So I decided to just stick whatever looked yummy to me at the store in the buggy (...sans Jack, the store manager...Just kidding, George!! Just checking to see if you're paying attention!). Then I threw in a few more things I already had at home and voila! A yummy chicken and rice soup magically appeared. My family gave it rave reviews so I thought I'd better try to get it down for repeat showings:

Lagniappe* Chicken Soup

1 stick of butter
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 carton sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup flour
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
3 large carrots, peeled and cut in thin strips, 1" long
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut in 1" sections
1 roasted chicken, deboned
1 cup frozen corn
2 boxes Uncle Ben's Wild Rice (Original), cooked per directions

Toss onion, pepper, celery, mushrooms, and butter in stock pot and saute until wilted. Sprinkle in flour and cook until thick and starting to brown. Add broth slowly, allowing thickening to occur. Add milk. Dump in carrots, asparagus, and chicken. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add corn and simmer on low until you are sure all the veggies are softened to your liking. Add salt and pepper, more water as needed for consistency. Dump in wild rice, turn off heat, and let stand until everyone gets home! Serve with corn muffins.

It made enough to feed my five and another three for dinner, send an ample-sized container to a sick friend, plus lunch for me today! :-)

*Lagniappe is a Cajun term meaning "a little something extra." I decided to use it in the name of this soup because it's all the 'little extras' that make it mmm, mmm good.

CONTINUE READING...

From Mourning into a Holiday

And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. Esther 9:20-24

This morning in Blessed are the Hungry, I read about the Feast of Purim and how the Lord's Supper is our Purim: "In it, we rejoice in the God of Pur whose predetermined will to save was worked out through the hands of wicked men (Acts 2:22-23). In it, we rest in the accomplished work of our Savior, who has delivered us from all enemies. In it, we acknowledge that at the consummation of the ages, history has moved from death to life, from mourning to gladness." (page 104)

The phrase from Scripture... as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday... touched my heart with hope and joy this morning. How many of us have a time of year that is particularly hard because it reminds us of hurtful things? Events that our enemy wanted to use to destroy us but failed? Wounds that leave us with a limp? Memories that he now wants to keep in our minds, haunting us, and robbing us of joy? This is such a time of year for our family and we were reminded of it again last night.

But, oh what a better reminder from Esther this morning... God will, and can, and does redeem the time that the locusts have eaten. He turns our sorrow into gladness and our mourning into a holiday. We are not there quite yet in our house. The sorrow is still fresh at times and the mourning still lingers. But, reaching back into years past, I have seen God faithful to turn my mourning into dancing, my wailing into singing, my sadness into joy.

And I choose to believe for me, for my husband, and for my children, He will be faithful to do this again. I choose to rest in the accomplished work of Jesus Christ, my Savior, who has moved me from death into everlasting life.

Blessings to you and yours today, bloggy friends.

(The Blue Dancers, Degas)

CONTINUE READING...

5th-Grade Five Word Monologue

Here's my inspiration for this week's 5th Grade Monologue challenge words! Looks like I'm entry #4...

Chuga-Chuga, Swish-Swish (Vein, Receipt, Besotted, Eavesdrop, Piecemeal)

I am a Laundry-Loser. A Washwoman-Wanna-Be.

I. Just. Cannot. Do. It.

I’m a decent cook, my house is (ahem) fairly clean – if you turn a blind eye to the baseboards and refrain from snooping in my closets. But the wash? Not even close. It’s a particularly pathetic housewifely failure of mine. I even fail at getting spouse and children to help. They’re willing, but sadly undirected.

This morning I piecemealed together an estimate of how many loads of laundry I’ve done in my almost 24 years of marriage. Accounting for anomalies like the three years of newborns when we had those labor intensive extra baby-clothes-only loads with dozens of teensy shirts, socks, and bibs plus that one glorious year when I had a nanny/housekeeper who did my laundry for me (bless her sweet, sweet soul), I estimate I’ve washed about 6,708 loads of laundry to date. (In truth, I think that’s pretty conservative. Anyone interested in the math, shoot me an email.) Of that 6,708 loads, I would guess only about 100 have been followed through to completion out of the dryer, folded, hung, and put away in a timely manner without languishing for days and being “fluffed-up” at least a half-dozen times. Sigh.

The only positive thing about doing laundry at my house is the rule that anything left in pockets is fair game for the person processing the load. Of course, there’s often the dreaded busted ink pen that falls out of the dryer or, worse, the blob of Blue Violet Crayola. More benignly, I mostly find washed out receipts, gum wrappers, and pony-tail holders. But, frequently enough to keep the laundry wheels a-turning , there are quarters and dimes and wadded up bills that make me feel like a California Forty-Niner hitting a fresh vein of gold. Ah, those moments are pleasing to the soul.

Speaking of pleasing to the soul, I remember leaving a Woman’s Conference at least ten years ago, besotted with the idea of being the perfect Proverbs 31 wife and mother. One speaker whose topic was prayer mentioned she loved doing laundry now because she used it as an opportunity to pray for each member of her family as she folded their articles of clothing. Oh, I had such dreams of holy laundry! Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, it didn’t stick for me. I think it was folding dear hubby’s threadbare red and white polka-dotted briefs and trying to pray at the same time that pushed me over the “proverbial” laundry-praying edge.

All the above to say that I am…deep breath…yet again, turning over a new leaf this early Monday morning A.M.:

I. Will. Do. At. Least. One. Load. Of. Laundry. A. Day.
And put it away.

I will go to bed with absolutely no articles of clothing left crumpled in the dryer, mildewing in the washer, or thrown in a laundry basket. Not even sheets.

There. I’ve just put on my load of the day. A simple but well put-together collection of towels, socks, and underwear. And a bonus load of jeans is in the dryer.

But, alas, I sense defeat lingering heavily in the air. I pause at the door of the laundry room, to eavesdrop on those two metal matriarchs, my mismatched washer and dryer. In their chuga-chugas and swish-swishes I swear I hear them saying, “She’ll never do this. Never do this. No way. No way. Ha-ha. He-he.”

CONTINUE READING...

5th Grade Monologue

A new player brings us entries #2 and #3 for this week's challenge. Although not in the true "monologue" style of first person, we'll make an exception as this is her first time to play. :-) (And they're really good!)


INSPIRATION (Besotted, Eavesdrop, Vein, Receipt, Piecemeal)

It was just a receipt she found, a small slip of paper that had fallen beneath the bureau. She might never have seen it had her favorite earring not slipped out of her hand as she’d tried to maneuver it through the tiny hole in her ear. She had stooped to retrieve the bauble when something white caught her eye, a vivid contrast to the dark hues of the rug that all but covered the hardwood floor.

Absentmindedly, she grabbed it, crumpled it, and tossed it into the nearby dust bin. Moments later, though, after she had fastened on her earring and the matching necklace, she stooped once again to retrieve the piece of paper. She smoothed the tiny veins that now criss-crossed the receipt and peered closely to read the faint letters and numbers; whatever store it came from needed new ink in the cash register. It was a piecemeal record of a shopping trip, dated a few months back from a city she’d never visited. She smiled wryly as she eavesdropped into a stranger’s shopping habits: diet coke and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream; low fat yogurt and full-fat coffee creamer; frozen veggie burgers and 70/30% hamburger meat.

She pictured the unknown shopper in her mind, gave her a name, invented a life for her. She called her Liz. A petite vegetarian, Liz’s companion was a chunky meat-eater. Liz would be a doctor, her companion, call him Bruce, a mechanic. They had come to this Bed and Breakfast as a get-away. It wouldn’t be their anniversary; a physician could do far better than this place, nice as it was, for an extra special occasion. No, it wasn’t an extraordinary day; just a nice weekend for a couple, mismatched but besotted with one another nonetheless.

She glanced at her watch and was relieved to find that she had an hour until checkout. She opened her journal, the one with the just-right creamy brown pages. No lines; she never used lined paper. She also never wrote first drafts on the computer. Old-fashioned writing by hand with an extra-sharp pencil was her ideal creative outlet. She often laughed that she just might be the only person in the world who traveled with an electric pencil sharpener.

The pencil was sharp and the journal was waiting. “Liz and Bruce” she wrote, then paused. As their story took shape in her mind, her pencil flew across the page. The receipt lay forgotten; the story it inspired would become a classic.


Alternately….

Sally was besotted the moment she set eyes on him. He wasn’t her type. She usually went for strong and muscular; he was lean and scrappy. A piecemeal mutt in the pet shop window, he caught her eye and captured her heart. With the blood pounding in her veins, she entered the little store. Was she really ready for another dog?

She scarcely heard the tinkle of the bell as the wooden door swung open. Her senses were assaulted with animal and kibble smells, and the noises made by the living merchandise should have been overpowering. Sally, however, was oblivious. She approached the wiggling, shivering, wagging, eager pup and began a quiet heart-to-heart. The storekeeper, eavesdropping, smiled, and instantly but not erroneously pulled out the old-fashioned triplicate receipt book.


V doesn't have a blog for you to visit, but should, because her writing is extraordinary!

CONTINUE READING...

5th Grade Monologue

Entry #1 for this week's words from the clever gentleman in Tenessee:


Haven't actually tried it yet… (Besotted, eavesdrop, Receipt, Piecemeal, Vein)

It came to me in a flash of genius, although those who heard the final product figured it was the brainchild of someone in a besotted state. The thing was, though, I hadn’t been drinking. But the way it turned out, I was happy to let them think I hadn’t thought of this sober.

The idea was piecemealed from three different ones, including one I heard during an inadvertent eavesdrop at the Mexican restaurant out on highway 64.

It seemed like it would work in the same vein that it worked in bars and honky tonks…just folks getting together to express themselves and have a little fun.

The equipment cost around $500. But after one or two tried it that fateful day, we found out Karaoke on the radio wasn’t a very good idea.

I’m glad I saved the receipt.


“I’m going to make a bunch of money on this,” dt said.

CONTINUE READING...

Seven on Saturday...Late, Yet Again!

What a busy week,ending with a great weekend! I don't know what makes some weeks so much more busy than others...? A lot of days I have time to leave work around noon, do some errands, go by the library, have lunch with a friend, etc. before picking up M from school. But this week everyday seemed chock full. But it was a very restful weekend at a friend's lake house, sleeping with the windows open, drinking coffee, laughing and praying and even a few tears here and there.


1. Over the weekend I helped revamp Lynn's Musings . I really like the way the banner turned out. One of my favorites so far.

2. On humility and friendship: Never forget that others see what you do not. Where you're blind to sin, their vision is often twenty-twenty. And by God's grace they can impart clarity to help protect you from the hardening effects of sin. Others can exhort you, encourage you, and correct you. They are a gift from God in your battle against sin. And you never grow out of this need. Never.... And don't be put off when a friend's observations may not be 100 percent accurate. I've found that there's truth to be gleaned at times even from an enemy's critique. Humility doesn't demand mathematical precision from another's input; humility postures itself to receive God's grace from any avenue possible. (C.J. Mahaney in Humility: True Greatness)

3. A verse I've been pondering the last few weeks:

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Psalm 40:6

My ESV Study Bible says in the notes for "you have given me an open ear" that in Hebrew the phrase actually says "ears you have dug for me." A much more vivid picture of what God sometimes has to do to unstop our ears so we can hear His Word, don't you think? And sometimes a slow and painful process, no?



4. Buddies for life! 10 years worth of friendship. Sweet girls.

5. Reading: Picking Cotton, Blessed are the Hungry, Life Together, Art & Fear, and The Pillars of the Earth (Audio)

6. Yes. At my heart of hearts, despite the writing, despite the drawing, I am a science geek at heart. I was verrry excited to get in the mail this week a this used book. (It's out of print, can you believe?)

7. Thursday night M's school hosted a concert by classical pianist Sam Rotman. He was phenomenal. Really, "phenomenal" doesn't do his performance justice. I'm just grateful Matt, M and I had the opportunity to hear his play and give his testimony. Wonderful!

CONTINUE READING...

A Day in the Life...

As I sit here for a few minutes catching my breath this afternoon, drinking a cup of coffee and eating cinnamon pop-tarts (Yes - I know I shouldn't - don't say it! Wait until you see what else I've eaten today!), I think about my day so far:

- Up at a quarter of five (because that's the way I'm made!), quick cup of coffee, shower, dress and out the door by 5:15 to head to work. Listened to The Pillars of the Earth on the 30 minute drive. Loving it!

- In my verrrry quiet office with the hum of the hum of the plant and the beep of the gate, worked on personal stuff: photoshopping pics for mom & dad's bdays (Sept. 28th & 30th...72 and 76), worked on a Bible study on community/spiritual friendship I'm putting together with some g-friends.

- Ops daily morning meeting with "the guys" at 9...valves and raw materials and amp loads and maintenance... riveting stuff! :-) But, really - I love being there. We laugh A LOT! Then - alas - another meeting (Strategic Planning - but good to be working for a company that is doing so well despite the economy) from 10 to 12:30 with "the guys" plus four more, one being my hubby. So grateful we get to work together these days.

- Off to Wal-Mart to print out the photos for the collage my sister and I are putting together for my parent's bdays. It's from these of the five grandkids we took when they were all together this summer. Grabbed a bite at McDonalds while waiting for the photos to process. Just a McDouble. Well, an apple pie, too. :-) And I got some new Dr. Scholls black Dansko clog look-alikes for $30. Look just like the ones I paid $100 for that finally wore out. Very excited about those.

- Started driving back home around 1:30. It rained cats and dogs! And frogs and lizards and sheep and goats!! And bears, oh my! Picked up a prescription for this nasty sinus stuff I've got going on. Ran by the office supply store to get some coffee pods. Made it to M's school by 3 to pick her and a friend up.

- Dropped girls at home, put the above pictures in the collage frame, dashed off to the UPS store to ship. Called mom and dad to confirm they had closed their PO box... gave complete health, school, and romance updates on each kid. (No romance update for Mary yet, thank goodness!)

- Texted E about her whereabouts after school, work tonight, etc. Ran by the book store to pick up her AP English for Dummies book, and talked to the boy about his health insurance options on the way home.

- Drinking coffee, eating pop-tarts, reading favorite blogs...wondering why the land line doesn't seem to be working but other cable-related utilities are...looking at the MOUND of laundry on my couch...pondering the possibility of anyone but me cleaning the dirty kitchen...petting my sleeping puppy Sadie...eavesdropping on the sweet conversation of two ten-year-old little girls in the next room.

- Yet on the agenda tonight: the above said laundry and dirty dishes, general cleaning swoop, pack for an overnight girlfriend/Bible study workshop tonight and tomorrow, go to church book club at 7, drive a little over an hour to my lovely friend's lake house...and...CRASH!

That's all. For today. Feeling tired... but extremely blessed! I know one day I'll miss all the busyness. Blessings, bloggy friends!

CONTINUE READING...

Week #8 Word List

And here's our words for this week:

Besotted
Eavesdrop
Receipt
Piecemeal
Vein

Go here for rules!

CONTINUE READING...

5th Grade Five Word Monologue

OK - Here's my entry for this week's words. JUST barely in before the deadline and a little too long but, hey, it's my blog and my challenge, so... :-P Oh, and this is actually true. This memory did come to me this morning and there really is a poetry contest with the Horticultural Magazine. I doubt I'll be entering!

Bridal Bouquet
(Ominous, Pilgrims, Neighbor, Spontaneity, Foreshadow)

Do you ever have an incredibly vivid childhood memory that just seems to appear in your head out of nowhere? It’s like you knew it was always there, buried deep under boulders of gray matter, but you just hadn’t checked to see if it was still there in a really long time. Then something happens – you see a photo or hear a phrase or smell some scent and Bam! There it is – clear and bright in full Technicolor.

That’s what happened to me this morning. When I first get up I usually let the dog out and make myself a cup of coffee. Then I browse my email and favorite websites for about fifteen minutes until the bleariness leaves my eyes enough to read the small print of the Bible. This morning, I was checking out the new prompt from Poetic Asides when one of those blasted pop-up windows announced a poetry contest from Horticulture Magazine. I couldn’t resist and clicked on over for details. The editors informed me that “they look forward to seeing my passion for gardening and gardens come through in verse.” Passion for gardening and gardens…snort! Anyway, I began casting about my mind trying to remember if I had ever written a poem that had at least some mention of a flower when a memory came flooding into my mind with the spontaneity of a bucking horse. I was obviously not in control.

All of the sudden I was there – there being at the foot of my grandmother’s driveway, pig-tailed and barefoot, balancing on the pipes of a cattle-gap and looking at a bush covered in tiny white flowers. (If you don’t know what a cattle-gap is click here. Why there was one in my grandmother’s driveway, I’m not sure. She had goats in a pen, but no cows roaming around.) Two dogs are barking at the nearest neighbor’s house and the morning sun is painting just a few more freckles on my already over-populated face.

My grandmother, a woman who was truly passionate about gardening and gardens, was nearby in her typical work-in-the-yard-day uniform: lavender polyester elastic-band shorts, one of grandpa’s old gray button-up shirts with the sleeves rolled up, black rubber boots, and a straw hat. What little of her short legs showed between the boots and her shorts were muscular and tanned. I remember her walking by me, carrying a bucket of sticks she had been picking up. She dropped a kiss on the top of my head and stopped to talk.

“Like those flowers, do you?” she asked.

I nodded and smiled up at her. The sun was behind grandma so her face was hiding in the shadow of the wide brim of her hat. There was such a sense of well-being for me in that one little moment. I adored my grandmother.

Once she finished her chores in the yard, I knew we would go inside and have a quick lunch: boiled chicken and green beans for her and a can of SpaghettiO’s for me. Then we would settle down to watch our favorite shows of the afternoon. Bonanza first – we both adored Little Joe and I was hoping to marry him one day. And then Star Trek – grandma delighted in the adventures of those space-pilgrims, especially Mr. Spock. She would bark her little laugh when the ominous music would begin to play foreshadowing the imminent internal (and often painful) battle between Spock’s Vulcan logic and human emotion.

“It’s called a bridal bouquet bush because its flowers look like tiny little bouquets a bride would carry on her wedding day.” She put her fingers gently behind a cluster of white flowers and pulled it forward out of the leaves. “See?”

I nodded again. “Did you have a white bouquet?” She squatted down beside me and now I could see her wrinkled brown face. A wispy cloud of sadness drifted across her eyes.

“Yes. I did. Not so pretty as these but they were white.”

“I want white flowers, too.” I don’t remember any more words. My grandmother walked away and I watched her stride purposefully toward the barn, dumping the bucket of debris on the burn pile causing sparks to fly upward. Her goats, Nanny and Billy, bleated as she walked past their pen to the vegetable garden.

I looked back at the flowers. It was a huge bush, much bigger than me. There must have been thousands of blooms. I imagined an endless procession of miniature brides each holding tiny little white bouquets in tiny little hands, marching down the aisle toward their waiting grooms. And of course, the grooms all looked exactly like Little Joe Cartwright.


Belinda has always wished she had a green thumb. Actually, even a green pinky would do.

CONTINUE READING...

Engineering & Artistry

From my CBS commentary on Genesis 2:4-3:24:

The garden contained a large collection of trees that were both beautiful and practical (2:9). God seems equally concerned about these two issues. He made humanity with the ability to appreciate beauty, a quality that finds its greatest example in Himself. He also made man with a bent for the practical and useful. Engineering and artistry together form the inner nature of mankind. The beauty that makes survival worth having is no less valuable than survival itself. (Emphasis mine.)

(The Garden of Eden, Erastus Salisbury Field, 1805-1900)

CONTINUE READING...

Ugh

I've had a really-bad-stinking-eye-squinting-headache all day today. Does this picture look funny to you or is it just me?

CONTINUE READING...

5th Grade Five Word Monologue

...and a second entry... :-)

Looking Back (a villanelle)
(Ominous, Pilgrims, Neighbor, Spontaneity, Foreshadow)

It was their past that would foreshadow their future.
Gazing into each others eyes
they knew they survived in spite of an ominous history.

The pain at times was just too much.
Lives relived through a series of deja vu.
It was their past that would foreshadow their future,

but they hadn't realized it then.
So they grasped at any hint of spontaneity in all that they did.
They knew they survived in spite of an ominous history.

At times she would look away,
avert her eyes as if he were simply the next door neighbor, but
it was their past that would foreshadow their future,

and he lived it as such. His pilgrimage to town for work each day
and home each evening to dine like strangers.
They knew they survived in spite of an ominous history,

each one afraid to change what had become of them.
It was their past that would foreshadow their future;
they knew they survived in spite of an ominous history.


This week Ginger took the challenge a step forward and grabbed a poetic style (villanelle) to add to the difficulty!

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5th Grade Five Word Monologue

The first of this week's entries!

There were rats too...but they weren't as much fun
(Ominous, Pilgrims, Neighbor, Spontaneity, Foreshadow)

We were, I suppose, an unwelcome neighbor, pilgrims that arrived in their kingdom that was Cajuiles 47.

Some of them hid behind the pictures, some of them in a potted plant or on the water cooler. But they all had a place to be and only spontaneity (or maybe it was hunger) would take them away from their “turf.”

When we saw them crawl out from behind the pictures, it was to foreshadow that a mosquito, spider or non-descript Caribbean bug was about to be eaten for lunch.

We co-existed. They lived and died and fought occasionally (did you know lizards can scream?). And then one day, we moved out. And soon after, with no ominous sign or warning, a bulldozer knocked down the entire villa to make way for a bigger villa.

One man’s (or lizard’s) palace is another’s shack.


dt misses the one that lived behind the picture of the Caribbean lady with a large basket of fruit on her head.

CONTINUE READING...

Seven on Saturday

Well...I started this post on Saturday...

1. E and her friends just headed off to dinner and then Homecoming. Sigh.

2. Reading now: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Blessed are the Hungry, Life Together, and The Pillars of the Earth (Audio - on disc 6 of 32!)

3. Probably everyone has seen this video except me, but here it is none-the-less. Our pastor used it as an illustration Monday night at our Small Group Leadership training. He was teaching specifically about unity, diversity, and community.

4. I love this wallpaper by Julia Rothman. I know, I know. Wallpaper is out, paint is in...but I can't help it. I. Like. Wallpaper. So, there. And I could so see this in my house. For some project ideas for wallpaper, check here.


5. A new banner...just because! I came across the girl in a vintage ad for Sanka Coffee and was inspired! I love red and I love coffee, so vola! :-P I'll get around to changing it out sometime soon...

6. Cool video, inspiring words...funny, but true...

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

7. I'm craving apple butter. First, pear salad earlier this week, and now apple butter. Who knows? At least it's definitely not a pregnancy thing! :-> I found this easy recipe from a lady in San Francisco. Her shop is here. I think I'll look for some cool jars and give it a try. More to follow...

CONTINUE READING...

OK, I've Got to Stop

Drawn in black ink (top), colored in Photoshop (bottom). I've got to stop...I have laundry to do. Really. This is pathetic. (Learning from this artist. Love her work!)

CONTINUE READING...

Doodle Blues

Drawn by hand in black ink then colored in Photoshop...Hmm...still learning. (Learning from this artist.)

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Book Review: The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Paperback: 544 pages, Publisher: Bantam Classics (December 1, 1984), ISBN-10: 0553213504 (Abridged Version)

Rating: 4.5 of 5 STARS
Source: Farming of Books Book Club September Selection (See side bar waaay down there)

I thought this was one of the best "stories" I've ever read. It was definitely a page turner all the way through. Dumas tells us of a young man, Edmond Dantes, who has the world on a string but ends up betrayed and wrongly imprisoned. While jailed, he is mentored by a priest who teaches him great knowledge and gives him the secret to find a fortune too incredible to imagine. After the death of his mentor, Edmond escapes, finds the fortune, and turns himself into the Count of Monte Cristo in order to seek out revenge on the men who betrayed him. The most interesting part of the story to me was Edmond believed he was being used as an instrument of God to exact justice on those who had wronged him. The contrast between the man he was at the beginning of the book and the man he became by the end was stark. Yet there was still a promise at the close of the book that maybe Edmond had seen the bitterness of his heart, had realized he was not God nor His instrument, and might now be able to begin again with a new love in a new life.

Our book club had a great discussion on the topic of revenge, God's justice, and bitterness. We rated it an overall 4.75 STARS and several members gave the Count their first '5' rating ever. It truly is a great book. I didn't go with a '5' because I struggled a bit to keep up with all the characters and how they were intertwined with each other which caused me some frustration. That's probably more a reflection of my intellect rather than Dumas' book!

I highly recommend this to you, bloggy friends. I didn't mark a lot of "Good Words" passages, but this is just a really great STORY. And it's a wonderful choice for a book club.

CONTINUE READING...

Totally Fruiting Off...

Fiddling around with Photoshop...

CONTINUE READING...

You Always Need Pickles

Mary drew this in art class at school. I couldn't help but post it...It's the journey to the center of the Earth. Note the little fella with the round mouths. Those are "aliens" called Fred-ites. The other creatures are their pets. I forget their names. Bob-ites, maybe. I love the pickle stand best of all! :-)

CONTINUE READING...

Give Us This Day

While praying the Our Father this morning my
mind snagged on the phrase “Give
us this day our daily bread.”

I prayed: “It’s not just the physical food
Lord, that I need, but spiritual food,
too. Manna to give me a

thick and hearty soul, not thin and
transparent, easily blown about
by the winds of this world.”

But in praying this, I paused, realizing
just what I was asking, for I know
true soul-fattening food

is seldom a plate of sweet meats
set before us with silver forks
and spoons and lace

tablecloths. More often it’s a crude
bowl of bitter broth seasoned
with salt from our tears.

Both nourish – the first building
stores of fat to feast upon
during days of famine.

The second has hidden within holy
tonic needed to heal the
deep wound made

by Pride’s wicked sword, whether
wielded by another or held
by our own hand.

“So, yes Lord, give me this day my daily
bread, the sustenance that You
alone know that I need.

And help me to dine upon it in faith,
fully knowing it has all been
prepared under Your care.”



May you feast in faith at His table today, bloggy friends, whether sweet meats or bitter broth.
Blessings -

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Week #6 Word List

Ok, folks. Here's Week #6 word list for the 5th Grade Five Word Monologue Challenge.

Ominous
Pilgrims
Neighbor
Spontaneity
Foreshadow

AND...Here are the rules - so, come on and play! I know you're out there, bloggy friends!!

1. You must use each of the five words, but you can use different forms than the ones listed. (For example, if the word is looked you can use look, looking, or looks.)

2. Titled entries can be emailed to upsidedownbee [at] hotmail [dot] com. Include the name you would like to have as your signature (real name, pen name, anonymous, etc.), website address if you have one, and a short one sentence bio.

3. Entries should be monologue form (a story or poem written by a single character giving view of his or her innermost thoughts) and have a maximum length of 600 words.

4. Once the next week's five words are posted, no more entries will be accepted for the previous week's. :-)

5. I reserve the right to not post entries that wouldn't be appropriate for the intent of my blog.

Have great fun!

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Tonight

Tonight...

...I'm praising God for answer to prayer for my friend who has cancer. News from her doctor last night says that she's responding to treatment. Thank You, Lord.

...I'm loving, loving, loving this video tonight! It's Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie. And his song, A Dance 'Round the Memory Tree is on the Prince Caspian soundtrack.

...I'm cooking two of my mother's recipes: Porcupine Balls and Pear Salad. The first is probably all three of my kids' favorite meal and the second I haven't had in years and years but found myself craving it this morning driving to work. Weird.

...I'm hoping I don't eat one of the two French Silk Pies I made for our book club meeting tomorrow night. (Did you know French Silk Pie has raw eggs in it?!) I think I could seriously eat the whole thing!

...I'm wishing I could draw like this.

'Night, all. Long day tomorrow...

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Tree Tops

As I said on Sunday, I'm inspired by the prints of Bernadette Sipkes. Taking several of her drawings on Etsy (but mainly the one above) I put my own twist to it and came up with the one below. Then I scanned it in and Photoshopped to make a blue version. I'm not perfectly happy with these by any stretch, but I'm glad to have been inspired to draw a bit again. It's been awhile - since July, I think. Looking back at my calendar, looks like I stopped when I found out a good friend was sick. Hmm...

I drew early this morning (five-ish) with coffee cup in hand and, though I was intent on mimicking Sipkes work, the tree "leaves" were relaxing to do and I found myself praying for different family members and friends on each one.

It still seems that the act of drawing does something to my mind... It's like it ties up the part of my brain that tends to roam around which then allows me to take the rest of it and focus on other things, like praying.

Hope you have a "Tree Top" day, bloggy friends!

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Funny on Monday

Oh, man - this is funny! Circa 1950's...This just might help me understand my mother a little better! :-D

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Sunday Susurrus

susurrus \su-SUHR-uhs\, noun: A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.

It's been awhile since I've done a Sunday Susurrus post, but it felt like time to start them again. It's a place to reflect on the Sabbath day, the blessings I've been given, the praises I have to offer, and the rumblings rattling around in my mind.

Feeling: Really sore from walking 8 miles this morning before church. It was a beautiful morning for it. I got to watch the sun come up in a fiery blaze for just a few minutes before fading away to a fantastic shade of blue.

Laughing: That my freckled-faced 10-year-old is delighted with her purple Converse high-tops we ordered.

Grateful: That E made it home safely tonight from Charlotte after having a chance to visit with her best buddy Karen and being with her old Pastor (Ken) and teacher (Lynn).

Hearing: The Wonderful Cross playing in my head from church this morning.

Happy: To see 'The Boy' doing so well... staying on top of things with his classes... seeing a wonderful young lady... involved at church... getting to fly a little more.

Blessed: By my husband, who I don't deserve, but am glad he puts up with me.

Thinking: About the wonderful sermon today on "Radical Community." (Acts 4:32-37)

Inspired: By New Zealand artist Bernadette Sipkes. (Tropical Bird and Foliage II above)

Wanting: To buy this book.

About to: Snuggle up with Mary and read until I fall asleep. (Probably about 5 minutes!!)

Blessings, bloggy friends.

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5th Grade Five Word Monologue

Here's an entry from my West Coast bloggy friend -

The flag on the post office is at half mast today. I thought about that as I drove the kids to school this morning and as I idled behind an oddly copper colored car sitting in front of me unloading an inordinate amount of children. They looked like the clown car in center ring. On the radio they transmitted from Ground Zero. One by one they called off the names of the victims. I wondered about their families and how days become oblong instances of life when you keep reliving them over and over again. The deja vu must wreck havoc on the soul. Why do we do this? Does it make us feel better? Or is it simply diffusion of the smaller troubles of daily life giving us perspective? I stayed in the car back in my driveway listening. The heat of the day was rising but I stayed, maybe out of respect and honor. I used my sleeve to wick away the sweat beads that began to trail from my hair onto my face. As they called off the last name I wondered how many were children from the daycare. I said a little prayer for their families and thought about that flag.

"God bless the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy of 9/11. May they find peace and comfort in His love! Amen!"


You can read more from Ginger at her blog, The Gingerbread House.

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Seven on Saturday

Here's a Seven on Saturday that's actually being posted on a Saturday!

1. Last night Matt and Mary went to the football game, Ellen worked, and Sean was (gasp) doing homework. So- I decided to watch a movie and rented Defiance with Daniel Craig. It told the true story of three brothers who led a resistance partisan group in the forests of Belarus during WWII. Very, very good movie.

2. I just started listening to Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth. Sooo good. Of course, I'm only on the third disc of THIRTY-TWO! (Ken - this is your audio book, by the way. Lynn said I could borrow it! Thanks!)


3. I pretty much always have a Scrabble game going with my Dad in Louisiana through the Pixie Pit. (I think it cost both of us about $15 for a year's subscription.) If I don't play at least everyday, he and Mom get worried and call me to make sure everything is ok. I can't imagine how many games we've played over the past year...I'd say we average three a week. I won today! It was close, though. :-)


4. My allergies have really been acting up this past week. I remember my grandmother (my Dad's mom) having sneezing fits when I was a little girl. My Dad started having them as he's gotten older, too. And, alas, it appears I'm going to have some similar struggles. It seems like every year the symptoms get a bit worse. This spring I really wasn't bothered, but the ragweed that's out right now is killing me! My nose is stopped up, my throat is raw, my eyes are goopy and itchy... I just feel generally like crud. Ick! Ok, enough complaining...Let's carry on.

5. Two new places I'll be visiting: A Circle of Quiet (a blogger in California/Oregon who writes about ordinary life beautifully) and The State of Things (from WUNC Public Radio).

6. Best quote of the week: "It just fell over all of the sudden and landed on top of my car." Teenage daughter on how the ping-pong table ended up on her hood. :-)

7. To Kindle or not to Kindle? What do you think? My sister says it's the best present her husband of 20+ years has ever gotten her. And now one of my best friends, a life-long book lover, is making the change too. I love the way a book feels in my hands, the way it smells, the way they look on a shelf. I just don't think I could do it....

Blessings, bloggy friends, and I hope you find some Sabbath rest tomorrow.

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