Making Dinner vs. Cooking Meat

I confess, I like to cook. I am challenged most of the time by a limited budget and picky eaters (myself included in that category) but I do like to cook. I do it most nights of the week. The worst part of cooking for me is not the actual food preparation - that is the easy part. The hard part is figuring out what to make. I hated that job so much that I made a deal with the older kids. They come up with and prepare 1 dinner a weed each and I will do the kitchen cleanup afterwards.

There is another player in this game about cooking too - my husband. He LOVES and I mean LOVES to grill. He is addicted to it. He is outside when the temperature is 20 below with a wind chill cold enough to cool off hell itself standing at the grill. I like that he grills but he doesn't cook dinner. He says that he cooks dinner but he doesn't. He just cooks the meat.

He will come in and say"The meat is almost done, what are we having with it?"

He thinks he is cooking dinner but he is cooking meat. Now rather than figuring out what to have I have the even tougher job of trying to figure out what will go with the eclectic spices, rubs and marinades that he uses.

Am I wrong? Is making dinner no more than cooking meat. If that is the case, I have been doing it wrong for years. I don't think I am. I just want to know, who told them that they were the same thing?

Such a Lovely Neighborhood

Well it was when we moved in almost 20 years ago. There were some of the nicest neighbors that anyone could want. There were kids playing and everyone at least recognized everyone else. No it was not perfect, but it was a nice place to live.

But that was 20 years ago and the world was very different. Now the neighborhood is basically made of transient renters who are not here long enough to get to know. I wouldn't mind so much if they were moving on to better things, but many of late seem to be moving on...to incarceration.

The house next door has been a challenge for the better part of the last decade. The landlord that bought it did so just about the time we bought our house. He may not have been the best but he seemed to screen his applicants well and we always had decent people living next door. Then for reasons that I do not know he sold the house that that is when things started to slide.

The first thing that he did was raise the rent preventing the family who were living there from staying. The first renters were very quiet but by far, they have been the best who have lived there since the house was sold. I believe that they were Muslim and although they were quiet and reserved they were nice to have next door. I am happy for them that they inherited a house in the suburbs and moved to a really nice house. However that was the beginning of the slide down the slippery slope.

The people who moved in next were not too bad except for their somewhat illegal practice of raising dogs for dog fighting - pit-bulls no less. Although the dogs never threatened us in any way, I was never comfortable living next to 13 of them. I was saddened when most of the dogs died in the fire in that house. I may not have liked them, but they certainly did not deserve to die like that. Not surprising, those people found a new place to live after the fire and never came back.

That is when the real trouble started. The current landlord then hired some questionable men to rebuild the house including but not limited to the convicted child molester and rapist. Needless to say my feeling of unease only increased and I would have much preferred the dogs back.

Once the house was remodeled that man was kicked out. Now granted I didn't want him next to me, but they way he was treated was not fair either. I believe that if someone has served their time that they should be a part of society again but just like I don't think a recovering alcoholic should work at a bar, I don't think that working next to kids is a good fit for that man either. I do not know what he did after that, and honestly, I am glad of it.

The next tenant was an older man who was under house arrest. I do not know what his crime was but he was friendly enough. The problem was that because he couldn't leave the house, all his friends came to him. There were parties every weekend and some got a bit wild but nothing that caused any real trouble - for us at least. However we were blessed with that because New Year's Eve of 2009 the police were swarming next door around that man and the recked car that he had used to try and get away. He was removed to a jail cell and the house was up for rent again.

This house is a duplex so at any given time there are 2 sets of people living there. I am never sure who belongs to up or down but it seems as if often they are somehow related to one another. The sister of New Year's Eve is currently living up stairs and by far she is the best we have had in a LONG time.

Although upstairs is really nice by far the worst downstairs moved in this spring. He was loud and vulgar. I doubt that he could speak a sentence without profanity in it. I didn't know it at the time, but he was an ex-con as well. The parties and the violence was almost constant and I we were forced to call the police on multiple occasions. But the call that got signaled the end was not made by us but rather by upstairs.

They saw that downstairs was attempting to grow pot in the house. The police were notified and downstairs was forcibly evicted (but not before assaulting upstairs and firing a gun). We left all the "fun" for the authorities. I have since heard from upstairs that downstairs will not need to worry about where he will live for the next 25 years because he will be a guest of the state.

So down it has gone. From a place that although was not perfect was not bad to a place where my kids are afraid to be. I wonder what is coming next, and I pray that the Lord will keep up safe through it all.

Altering attitudes

I have to confess that I love scrapbooking. It is an obsession/addiction. At current count I have 24 albums full of scrapbooking pages (and I do mean full!) I really enjoy it. For me it is my therapy and my hobby and a big part of who I am and what I do.

When I became involved with online scrapbooking pages it did not take me long to discover that although scrapbooking was the main idea that there were others that went along with it. They use the same supplies and have similar appeal. Card-making, Stamping, and Altering are just some of these siblings to scrapping. It did not take long for me to embrace Card-making and even a bit of stamping, but I didn't care much for altering.

I am a VERY practical person. I enjoy making crafts of all kinds but only if they are "useful". I don't want to make something just because. It needs to have a purpose (other than one more thing for me to clean). My attitude to altering was taking something that is practical and making it totally decorative (thus something else to clean). I stuck with this attitude for a LONG time.

Now however I have discovered that it can be useful in some instances. I had to make a piece of altered art and I was stumped. Then I remembered a gift I had received once which was an altered candy bar cover. It just really made the candy bar special. I decided to give it a try. Here is the result:

I have to admit that it was fun. No, I don't think that it is ever going to take the place of scrapping or even card-making but at least I don't now see it as the enemy. AND I now have a great idea for gifts. Not only are they inexpensive but they are also very classy looking.

Impressions are EVERYTHING

Last night was a wonderful night. Tom and I found ourselves unexpectedly without kids for the evening. (Eva was at camp, Timothy was at youth group, and Emily was invited to a birthday party) Being the weekend Tom was of course going to grill. However having no kids and being extremely hot (Heat index of 104) I couldn't see the point. I called him and told him he was taking me out to dinner - and fortunately he agreed.

I decided that because this doesn't happen that often I was going to make the most of it. I really got dressed up. I have to admit that I looked really good. Loosing 40 pounds helped in that matter but it was just the start. I had a little black dress from Freecycle that I wore. I added a necklace that I was given as a bride's maid 20 years ago and a pair of ear rings that I inherited from my mom. Understand I really did look great and I didn't pay a dime to do it. I don't do that often (I don't often have the reason) but when I do decide to, I clean up very well.

It felt good to look good but that was not the best part. The best part were people's different reactions. We dropped Timothy off at youth group and the pastor was there. This was not the church that we regularly attend. It is the church were I work for Angelfood and had a casual Saturday night service that we attended. At one point in time the pastor, Eric, might have seen me in my Sunday clothes but he had never seen me really dressed up. The double take he did was priceless.

We went to a little restaurant in Tremont (Tremont is sort of Cleveland's version of Greenwich Village). We don't go out often, but if we do, we go there. When the owner of the restaurant saw us she did the same double take. They seated us right in the window. I am not sure if that was so we could see out, or the passers-by could see us.

The best part was after dinner when we went to do a little window shopping. I decided that I looked the part, so we were going to go into the jewelry store. The woman behind the counter just couldn't get to us fast enough. Without any provocation she was pulling things out of the cases and having me try things on. I have never been treated so well in a store. And I couldn't quit smiling. It was obvious that she thought that we were going to buy the store or at least something. Now in all honesty there were a few things that I would have liked, but nothing I needed at those prices. I just loved being fawned over line I was someone who mattered. I still grin just thinking about it.

In the end my lesson learned is that a good impression really does make a big difference. It is nice that I can make it once in a while too. However I am back to my old life of boring obscurity with the memory of a great evening.

Throwback

Awana has several theme nights. This year they had an 80's night. I was not sure of this. I did graduate in 1985, but I do not feel old enough to be an oldie. I guess it just depends on perspective. I never thought much of it, but I guess the styles have changed (although not much for me as I still have some clothes that were from the 80's which Eva is wearing. The ensemble is complete with a big hair bow and hoop earrings.

We had her hair all poofed up but she took one look at it an vetoed going out in public like that. I can't say that I really blame her. I didn't wear my hair that way then - in fact my hair style is the same now as it has been since I was in junior high.
What we realized was that as far as fashion in the 80's went, clothes were not really worn but rather they were accessories. Emily chose to tie a sweater over her polo - with the collar up, of course - but that wasn't the only example. There were plenty of legwarmers and fingerless gloves.

So I guess that I am getting older because I don't think that most of the styles were that bad (with the exception of legwarmers which I never understood at the time either) At least my pants went up to my waist and my shirt hung below the waist leaving no bare midriff. I guess that time marches on though so I had better get used to it or I will be crushed by it - but that doesn't mean that I am ever going to wear pants and shirts that let any of my ample middle show.

The Cry of my Heart

I find it amazing how much music moves me. I unconsciously have linked certain songs with certain places and times. Church is no different.

When Fairview started their early service I was the Sunday School Chair. I taught Sunday school as well as took my turn staffing the nursery. It was because of the nursery that I really enjoyed the second opportunity to worship. That meant that I didn't have to give up a service to serve. It was during that service that I became familiar with some of the Contemporary Christian music used in church.

One song in particular stands out in my mind. It was a version of "It is the Cry of my Heart" that I have never heard anywhere else. It was a somewhat island themed. There was even a steel drum solo in the middle. Jim, the minister, would often choose to play it in dreary days and it never ceased to bring a smile of to my face to think of worshiping Him on some white sanded beach under the palm trees next to the clear blue ocean as opposed to where I was in a overcast and grey Cleveland morning. It always got everyone there moving. That song more than any other reminded me of the wonderful blessings I received while attending those early morning service. It is always the song I associate with that church.

As we were searching for a new church home I only heard that song one other time. When I did it was of course not the arrangement I was used to. Rather than being uplifting and bringing a smile to my face, the result was the opposite. It reminded me exactly how homesick I was for the church that was no more.

That song however continues to be a blessing to me. We sang it today in church. I was not homesick any more because I was at last home. No it was not the same arrangement, but it still felt like home. And that is the cry of my heart - now and always to be at home with Him.

Buyer Beware

Confession time here. I am cheap. I am not just thrifty, but I am honestly cheap - and if I am honest, I am proud of it. There is nothing that makes shopping more satisfying than getting a really good deal on what I want. (and yes, it has to be both. It has to be a good deal AND I have to want or need it. If I don't need it then paying any money for it is a bad deal in my book.) Freecycle, Ebay, Goodwill, Angelfood and Craig's List are good friends of mine.

Because of this the first place I go to in any store is the clearance section. I am not averse to buying off season clothes or last season's hot scrap papers. A sweater is just as warm when I get it from a garage sale as when I get it from the mall. Well of course when I got the email that Scrap Supply was going out of business I had to have a look around. Being cheap though, I didn't get anything right away. When I got the notice that the discount was up to 75% I figured that it was worth a look.

I have to say that I was very proud of my purchase. For less than $30 (including shipping) I got some wonderful papers, a cartridge for my Slice - which of course was bought on Ebay - some embellishments and some rub-ons. I really like image rub-ons but I do not use them too often because you guessed it, they are not cheap. When I saw them marked down I decided to splurge and get some pretty ones. I don't use the rub-on letters much because I am always running out of the letters I need. (It is much cheaper to just use hand lettering or my dies) This was one of the rub-on sets that I purchased:

Most of the time, I do not wonder why things are marked down or cheap. Sometimes it is obvious - a dress has the wrong size so no one who it would fit ever tries it on or there is a button missing etc. Other times I just think that what I like is just a little off center of what everyone else likes. That can be both good and bad. Good in that I can usually find something I like in the clearance section, bad because I know that means that what I like will never look or be "normal". Oh, well, it is not like I am normal so I guess it doesn't matter much. I don't honestly think about it. If I need it and like it I will get it. I didn't think twice about getting the rub-ons. I was just looking at the images and thought that they would be great to use on my scrappy projects.

When my package arrived I was very happy to see what I got "live and in person". That is when I first noticed the quote on the rub-ons. Here it is:

Who thought this was a good idea? The first thing that came to mind was someone tucking in their kids with a shotgun. I guess that there is no real mystery why this particular set of rub-ons never sold well and ended up in the clearance section.

I can't imagine making a layout where I would ever use this saying, but you can look for the rest of the flowers and flourishes coming to this blog or one of the galleries at the websites listed to the right.

Happy scrapping!