See you 'round the net

After a two-plus month long hiatus, I can be found today posting on Ca-Joh's blog.  He has guest bloggers posting all this week while he's on vacation.  Read my post about the New Year here.

Ca-Joh is a thoughtful and interesting bloggist, with personal philosophies, funny stories, poetry, and a weekly Friday Feast food-themed feature that all can join in on.  I lovingly refer to him as my "man-reader."  He had become a good internet friend.  If you're not familiar with his blog already, check it out here.

Strutting

Today on the way home from church we saw a tom turkey who appeared to be posing for a Thanks-giving Day portrait.  My son was impressed.  We see the turkey all the time, but never with his tail feathers fanned out in display.  He wanted to know why Tom was strutting his stuff.  I told him that the turkey was trying to impress the girls.

Speaking of which ...

Just this past week as I was driving home from the grocery store I spotted 4 turkeys walking along the side of the road.  These turkeys were human males, appearing to be in their late teens or early twenties at most.  They were fully clothed with the notable exception of their rear-ends, which were exposed.  I was not impressed, and surprisingly not even very disgusted.  I was simply confused.  Questions to pose the quartet flooded my mind as I passed them.  "What are you all thinking?  Are you serious?  What is the goal here?  Trying to be funny?  Racy?  Tough?  Imposing?  Want another beer?"  Some level of intoxication seemed to me the most rational explanation.

The last day of school was a Wednesday, my regular day in #3's classroom, and I went in.  The first hour of the day was taken up with a fifth grade "graduation" assembly.  At the end of the assembly we all rose and waited for the new grads to file out.  Most of the kids proceeded down to aisle toward the back door.  A handful of turkeys raced up to the stage and began, er, dancing, I suppose.  They were gyrating in awkward, preteen craziness, looking ludicrous.  I noted to #3s teacher that only boys were goofing-off on the stage, my assumption being that the girls were more mature and taking the event more seriously.  His response was not what I'd been thinking.  He said, "Well, we don't have colorful feathers or big manes, and we've got to show the girls what we have to offer somehow."  Hm.  I don't know about their female classmates, but I failed to see the charm.

It starts young.  Years ago when #2 was five, we were at a rehearsal for a Primary Christmas program.  The children were singing "Away in a Manger."  #2 was seated next to a little boy who was a year ahead of her in Primary but sat next to her in kindergarten.  A friend of mine got my attention and motioned to the kids.  I looked over to see the boy flexing his muscles for my girl.  My high school psych teacher would have added to this picture the caption: "It's THAT way to the beach."  #2 in turn was looking very impressed, batting her lashes, and giggling with one little hand demurely covering her mouth.  Seven plus years later, I'm not sure what kind of turkey is now earning her admiration.

So many strutting rituals seem very silly to me.  And yet, there are indeed feathers that will catch my attention.  Some are physical--nice shoulders, nice back and chest.  More important ones are intellectual.  I know that an intelligent sense of humor will make a regular-looking guy seem quite enticing in my view.  And of course, a sexy, raspy tenor or baritone singing voice makes me weak in the knees.  We all have our turn-ons.  I'm not sure that most of the turkeys out there are thinking about these sorts of subtleties in their efforts to show off.  Maybe I'm an odd bird.  But my guess would be that I'm not so very unique.

So to all you Toms out there, I'd suggest that simply being yourself will attract the girl that is right for you.  And for heaven's sake, cover your bum.

It's not good bye, just see you later ...

When I started blogging a little over three years ago, my goal was to post twice monthly.  My audience was myself and my close friends and family.  Subject matter varied somewhat but was essentially commentary on my life.  Not a diary of the minutea of daily life, but insights in to how I experience what goes on around me.  I've always been overly introspective and this blog served as a stage for indulgence in that activity.  

Then last summer we moved to Idaho.  Several other very personal stresses developed about the same time, and I felt alone.  I didn't really have much of anyone to talk with here, and I've never been great at keeping long distance friendships going.  Also around this time my cousin Lisa began dipping more deeply into the blogging pool, and I started to watch the interactions going on in her comment section.  I eventually started making blogging friends myself, and realized that in order to keep interest going in my blog, I needed to up my posting efforts.

So began my journey through the blogosphere.  I must admit that I enjoyed having a slightly broader audience. That was my biggest motivator.  Of course, this is largely a mutual admiration soceity--I'll read yours if you read mine.    I found some great blogs out there, funny, honest, articulate, and I even made a few friends.  Most of those friends I have yet to meet, but one, at least, is in my ward, and it's been a great way to get to know her.  I also became much closer to my cousin than I think I've ever been.  So good things have come of this.

But as all of you wonderful bloggists know, reading blogs and making meaningful comments can become rather consuming.  And I am done.  Spending hours a week on Blogspot is not really how I want to spend all my time.  I'm not great at balance.  I tend to obsess.  Usually, however, I can obsess in an ADD kind of way, bouncing from one project to the next.  I actually have come to appreciate Facebook that way.  I can be on there for five minutes or nearly an entire day if I want, and then ignore it for weeks.  My friends are still there on my return, and no one has really even missed me.  Blogging is a bigger commitment.  I already have as many big commitments as I can handle.  

I'm not removing my blog.  I reserve the right to post now and then, as the spirit moves.  I plan on visiting my fellow bloggers now and then.  I might even leave a comment.  Then again, I might not.  I realize that this means I may loose some of the friendships that I have started.  And I think I have decided that that will be okay.  I will miss you.  I hope at least some of you will miss me.  But life sort of goes that way, doesn't it?

So friends, email me, leave a message on my Facebook wall, and I promise I will keep in touch.  Otherwise, if you're interested, check in now and then.  I may very well have something to share.

Pencil it in

I keep myself organized with a wall calendar.  I like that everything is posted there for the entire family to see.  Of course, the youngest two kids haven't caught the vision of checking the calendar yet.  I'm also pretty sure that Larry never looks at it.  If he did, he'd not be so frequently surprised about our plans.  But #s 1 and 2 always have a pretty good handle on the schedule.

This method also has its limitations.  The biggest one is pretty obvious.  The calendar is on my wall.  At home.  It doesn't come with me to the doctor or the dentist or the hairdresser.  So as I'm setting appointments, I'm always hoping that nothing conflicts.  I'm also banking on the fact that I will remember by the time I arrive home to write the appointment on the calendar.  If I have errands to run first, I may be in trouble.

Years ago I bought myself a planner.  I really wanted it to work out.  I used it very sporadically with limited success.  For several years at least its only function has been that of address book.  Secondary address book.  I have a primary one, which I received as a graduation gift from my young women presidency, that contains most of my addresses.  There are only a few entries that are current only in the planner.  Fifteen minutes of transcribing would eliminate the need for it entirely.

Here are my hang-ups with my planner:

1)  I'm not bad at writing things down in it.  I am bad at remembering to always have it with me.  I am also bad at checking it to see what I have going on that day as it simply becomes part of the clutter on my desk.  Or on the counter.  Or on my nightstand.  Like everything else.  

2)  I don't like seeing only one week at a time, I prefer putting my schedule in a larger context.   Perhaps I should have listed this first.  It's a big problem for me.  And yes, I know planners come with monthly inserts.  But then the little squares are too small to write more than one item in.  I often have four or more.

3)   When I use my planner, it becomes the place to jot down my  to do list.  This makes for a very filled up, hard-to-read, easy-to-miss-events calendar--even with the larger weekly sized squares.

4)  I can never get over the feeling that I need that wall calendar, so I end up recording information in duplicate.  That gets old pretty darn quickly.   And if I'm not perfect about writing appointments in both places ... well, I'm sure you can imagine the potential problems.  I think that if ever I want to make the transition once and for all I will need to give up the wall calendar.

For the gluttons for punishment still reading at this point, I will now share the story that necessitated this dry, wordy build-up.  It may not, in truth, be funny enough to have warranted this post.  What can I say?  The muse is still on holiday, I am assuming somewhere warm where she is sipping fruity beverages and getting a very nice tan.

Last summer I was given a small, paperback 2009 planner.  I thought, okay, not as bulky, cute--maybe this will work.  So far this year there are only three weeks that I've written in.  The first week of January, the second week of February, and the week before Easter.  I found the planner today, under a pile of papers on my desk, opened to that pre-Easter entry.  I chuckled to myself as I remembered filling in everything that had to be done that busy week and never looking at it again after that.  I checked out the page more closely.  The events happened three weeks ago.  But the dates read May 3rd through May 9th.  I hadn't noticed.  

The really funny part is that when I saw what I'd done, I was annoyed because I now cannot use the planner next week.  I'd written in pen.

Knowing

My muse must be on holiday, for I am uninspired.  Bemoaning this fact to #2, she procured a dictionary from the library, opened up to a random page and asked me for a number from 1 to 20.  The 18th word on her selected page was "knowing."  That is my writing assignment.

No redos.

KNOWING is a good word.  I like to know.  In fact I hate NOT knowing.  That's the worst part about childbirth.  When is that baby going to come?  Well, here is your due date, and a 4 week period surrounding that date will be considered "full-term."  We won't let you go much later, and we'll try to keep you from going earlier, but really, we're not sure.  Somebody please shoot me now.

So what do I know?  Less than my 7 year old.  At least, that's his perspective.  He knows much.  He knows all sorts of facts.  Some of those facts can be verified in reference books.  Others are of a more, er, obscure origin.  He knows how to light a fire.  He knows what a pterodactyl sounded like.  He knows how to talk to animals.  But not sheep.  He can't talk to sheep.  He can also see in the dark with his one owl eye, but I suppose that's really more of a super-power than knowledge.  

My 14 year old knows that I am a mean, nasty mother who never lets her sleep in and expects her to do preposterous things like bathe.  She also already knows whatever it is that I am about to tell her.  I'm useless.  I know.

#3 knows how to play the guitar.  She knows how to sing very loudly in the shower or in her bedroom.  She does not know how to sing loudly when she's performing with her guitar.  Thankfully, at our house we know how to plug a mic into a guitar amp.

#2.  Where to begin?  Well, #2 knows how to be funny.  Larry and I are pretty proud of that fact.  She now knows how to sew an Easter dress.  She knows how to spell a lot of words that I cannot.   She knows how to be an incredible friend and support to her disabled sister.

I know that I am ready for sustained warm weather.  I know school will be out before I know it.  I know that I am putting off my brain surgery indefinitely.  I know that coming to Idaho was a good move.  I know that I spend too much time on-line.  I know that my husband adores me.  (I adore him, too.)  I know that the folks in D.C. are ridiculously out of touch.  I know that if I track what I eat I will lose weight.  Knowing how to motivate myself to follow that course seems to be the problem.  I know that I'm currently crushing on a 27 year old Idol contestant with a phenomenally sexy voice who may or may not be homosexual.  Don't worry--Larry knows it's someone's voice that gets me every time.

I don't know exactly how things will work out for us with our business and personal finances, which frustrates me.  Knowing that I have no control over any of that frustrates me as well.  But I also know that no matter what, the most important things will remain intact: my husband, my kids, and the Gospel.  What else, really, is there to know?

Withering interest

Nearly 21 years ago I was assigned to read Wuthering Heights in my sophomore AP English class.  I think I may have read three chapters.  It was all I could take.  I have no idea how I managed the chapter quizzes and final test on the book.  Maybe I failed them. 

Ever since, this title has rested on a dusty shelf in my mind labeled "To Read."  This past Christmas, a paperback copy was wrapped and under the tree with a tag addressed to "Mina."  I anxiously began.

Last Thursday night, I finished.

It's important to note that I often get through a novel in 2 or 3 days, depending on how much I like the book and how much time I can steal from my other responsibilities at the moment.  Lately, I've been able to steal a fair amount of time.  Since starting Heights, I've read The Host, Spires of Stone, The Friday Night Knitting Club, Tower of Strength (which I reviewed here), the entire Twilight series for the second time, and the Midnight Sun partial draft.  I also moved, I felted two purses, I sewed two dresses and guided the sewing of another dress.  However, anytime I'd pick up Wuthering Heights, and I'd fall asleep after a chapter or two.

How do I hate thee, Wuthering Heights?  Let me count [a few of] the ways ...

I dislike the multiple narrators.  Mr. Lockwood, to whom the story is being related by Nelly the servant, seems entirely extraneous.  I see that his existance just provides a platform for the telling of the tale, but I think it's too much.  It's even a little consfusing at times when Nelly is describing accounts given to her by yet other characters.

The main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine, are anti-heros.  They are in love, but their insanely bad behavior and selfishness not only destroys their lives but the lives of most all around them as well.  I read a piece on this book that claimed that this was a more true to life situation than the typical love story with a happy ending.  Well, happy endings may be slightly unrealistic, but I can't say that I often find violent, malevolent, murderous, vindictive narcissists falling in love and ruining everything they touch, either.

Even the non-evil characters are not really good.  They are spineless and manipulative in their own rights.  There is not a redeeming personality in the lot.  There isn't even an endearing one. Nor were they characters I loved to hate.  I will conceed that by the last two pages the younger Cathy and Hareton appeared that they would fare well together with the all rest of their family finally in the grave.  Yet it hardly seemed redemptive of the story at large.

I don't get in to the Gothic themes of the mid-nineteenth century.  Plot twists become over the top for literature not meant to be fantasy.  The crazy first wife in Jane Eyre is about the most I can handle;  I at least found that story line somewhat intriguing.  Heights, no.  It's plot was just, in my opinion, long and drawn out and messy and not the slightest bit interesting.  I'd call it a train wreck, but I had no problem looking away.  It was maintaining enough interest to continue that was difficult.

I am glad I read and finished this book.  I am also glad that I ate a plate of escargot once on a cruise.  That way, if offered them ever again, I can simply reply that I'm not in the mood for snails at the moment.  But I think that neither Wuthering Heights nor escargot deserve the "classic" status that they enjoy.

F2: Friday's Feast, OCCD

Obsessive Compulsive Checkout Disorder.

I have had this disorder in varying degrees my entire grocery shopping career.  And right now I am at a high point.  Or maybe that's a low point.  I guess it depends on who you're askin'.

I like to put things on the checkout belt in categories.  This habit became more ingrained when I lived in the mountains and needed to put all of my cold things in a cooler for the half-hour drive home.  One would think that a bagger would do that automatically.  Uhhhh, no.  One might then think that if a customer specifically asked that all of her cold things be put together, that they could manage it.  Wrong again.  I always had to look through my bags to take out the stragglers.  And if I'd asked, I would become extremely irritated at the necessity of that obnoxious, time consuming task.  So I stopped asking and became extra diligent about my categories.

Boxed items all are put on the belt together.  Then meats.  Freezer, refrigerated, and deli items. Cans and jars.  Any bottled juices.  Baking goods.  Fresh produce.  Breads.  That's pretty much it.  I do group non-grocery items together after the food items.  

This really doesn't take as long as it may seem it would.  That's why the boxes tend to go on first.  Those are bulky, easy to spot.  Once they're out of the cart, it's easy to sort the rest.  A lot of it is already grouped in my cart that way, just because of how the aisles are arranged.

I never thought that anyone noticed this.  Maybe they haven't in the past.  But the last time I went grocery shopping, the cashier, who was also bagging, commented on my anal behavior (her words).  Rather than criticizing, she was thanking me.  It was so much easier to bag that way, she said.  I told her she was welcome and felt gratified.  I instantly realized that any hope I had at rehabilitation was just dashed.  Reinforcement like that will sustain my OCCD for quite a while.

Visit CaJoh for more Friday Feast links.

At the risk of being put on watch as a potential domestic terrorist by the MIAC* ...

A few weeks back Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) questioned Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Chairman Bernanke of the Federal Reserve about the constitutionality of the radical bailouts which began last year.  Continuing to point back to the authorization given by the House of Representatives, Geithner never answered the basic question of where in the Constitution authority is given to the Treasury to interfere so drastically with the private sector.  As Congresswoman Bachmann pressed the point, he had a look on his face that would say, "I do not know this 'Constitution' of which you speak."  It's like that old Andy Griffith episode where Barney cannot repeat one word of the preamble correctly.  But at least Barney thought he had it memorized!

I'm a member of a book club of several women in my ward who are interested in learning and discussing and becoming more involved in politics.  Yesterday, we had our second meeting, and reviewed the Constitution.  As I read the articles for the first time in decades I realized that while we site the occasional Amendment here and there, we as a society have forgotten much of the vision the Founding Fathers had for this great Democratic Republic.  

George Washington said:

"This Constitution is really, in it formation, a government of the people ... No government before introduces among mankind ever contained so many checks and such efficacious restraints to prevent it from degenerating into any species of oppression ... The balances arising from the distribution of the legislative, executive, and judicial powers are the best that have [ever] been instituted."  

-from a proposed address to Congress, 1789, as quoted by W. Cleon Skousen in The 5000 Year Leap

The Constitution is wrought with wisdom, laying out an incredibly ingenious format for a government, including the method for changing the document should change become necessary.  Dependence on case law and a desire to emulate other countries have in many cases kept us removed as a Nation from using this defining document to maintain our way of life.  Some see this as a positive progression.  Others, myself included, do not.  Republican and Democrat politicians alike seem to have trouble setting limits for themselves as the governing body of the country.  They all seem, for instance, to ignore the 10th Amendment.  (Kudos to Texas for invoking it yesterday.)  

Regardless of one's position on the usefulness and relevance of the Constitution, I think it is important for United States Citizens to know what it contains.  I think it is the most useful way to analyze the direction that the country is headed in at any given time, not just now.  Be informed.  Read and re-read the Constitution.  Pay some attention to politics.  And then use that information to become involved in whatever small way you can.  The greater the level of public involvement in politics, the better able we are to keep this a "government of the people."

*Read here to see why it's dangerous that I not only voted for Bob Barr and lean Libertarian, but that I obviously feel the country is moving away from the Constitution and am a States rights supporter.  Those are only a few of the reasons why you should apparently never sell me manure.

General Conference on-line Book Club

I'd like to bear my testimony of blogging ...

Well, not exactly.  I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this consuming pass time.  I often think I waste too much time on the blogosphere that would be better spent in service to my family.  But then there are elements of this community that are not only fun, but seem genuinely worth while.  Today I found one such element through my bloggy bff Erin.

The site is called Diapers and Divinity and the author is Stephanie.  She is starting up an on-line reading club.  Each Sunday she'll assign a talk from the latest LDS General Conference.  Those participating will read and hopefully get a dialogue going in the comment section of the weekly post.  Her personal goal with this is to base her scripture study for the week on that particular talk.  She's starting with Elder Holland's fabulous talk on the atonement.

I am so excited for this.  Every season my goal is to re-read all of the conference talks before the next session.  I have done it a few times, but I often don't quite get there.  This will be a great way to pace myself with a more directed plan.  If you're interested, link over to Stephanie's site for a better description of her club. 

Yeah, blogging!

F2: Friday's Feast, Easter Menu Light

My good bloggy friend CaJoh has created a recurring feature post called Friday's Feast, dedicated to all things epicurean.  If you're interested in his vision for the feature, click here.  

This week seemed like a no-brainer.  It's Easter weekend.  Time to meditate core beliefs.  Time to celebrate hope and new life.  Time, also, to eat.  Time to eat a lot.  I guess one upside here is that, opposed to Christmas Season which runs a month complete, Easter feasting generally only lasts the weekend.  That's a little easier on the waistline.

The past few years, however, I have tried to lighten up our Easter dinner, mostly to lessen the guilt of eating my weight in jelly beans, m&ms, and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs.  I have given up some of the traditional foods that I grew up on and adore, but I have found the replacements to be quite elegant.

Traditional:      

• Ham
  
• Cheese Potatoes (funeral-style)  
  
• Artichokes
  
• Jello-Salad
  
• Rolls
  
• Several Desserts
  

New:

• Roasted Pork Loin
  
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes
  
• Asparagus
  
• Fresh Fruit Salad
  
• Orange Rolls (This one is worse.)
  
• Green Salad
  
• Carrot Cake bunnies
  

I got a recipe from Kelly a few years ago for a spiced maple marinade that gives the slightest sweet crust to the pork loin.  The sweet potatoes I peel, cube, and toss with a little olive oil and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and allspice before roasting.  The asparagus is only better than the artichokes because of the dipping factor.  I saute´ them in a little olive oil and freshly pressed garlic.  Now the rolls.  Regular rolls are healthier than these orange rolls of my grandma's that are an unglazed cinnamon-style roll.  They are scrumptious, though, and remind me of my grandma.  So they stay.

The carrot cake I make is pretty good, if I do say so myself.  It is my mother's recipe, lightened up just a touch.  It gets rave reviews.  I use applesauce in place of the oil, and I use neufchatel

 cheese in the frosting.  Still not a diet food, by any stretch, but I like to pretend it's healthier.  I need to try it sometime with wheat flour to see what that does to the recipe.  But not on Easter.  I make the bunnies by baking two 9" round cakes.  Each round makes one bunny.  Cut the round in half across the diameter and frost together taco-style.  It will sit on it's cut ends.  You then carve out a little chunk to create a neck and stick that on the other end of the cake for a tail.  You end up with a three-humped cake.  Frost that.  Add jellybean eyes and nose to the head.  The ears you can cut from construction paper and insert into the head.  I often surround the little guys with green tinted coconut and more jelly beans.  (The photo I got on-line.  I don't cover my bunny with coconut, because some of my kids don't like it.  I also make a slightly smaller head by cutting the notch further down the arc.  I think it's a little cuter that way.)

Have a blessed Easter weekend!   And bon apetit!