Inspired

I have a few new sources of inspiration to keep life interesting on my side of the world. Most notably, The Pioneer Woman, aka Dee Drummond. Check out her site. She is funny, witty, entertaining, and informative. Her posts pair perfectly with a hot latte and an oatmeal cookie. I can't use most of her recipes as is since she subscribes to no way of eating other than great taste, but that doesn't keep me from trying them with a little modification.

Hence my second daily dose of culinary stimulation comes from Food Gawker . Man oh man, my mouth drools and my dishes get dirty just thinking about cooking some of these scrumptious submissions.

But when my belly if full and my plate is empty a gal needs inspiration in other forms. So I feed my next fetish (er - I mean interest) .... maps. As in Strange Maps . Maps are a wonderful invention. I love the feeling that you have it "all figured out" when you have a map. I like that feeling about anything in life, but rarely find such satisfaction with the myriad of people, ideas, and inexplicable occurances that drive me bonkers every day. Must...have...all...the....answers.....Yes, I love cartographic illustrations simply for what they are, but when someone can take the basic premise of a map - to put directions, relative position, defining features, and overall understanding in a visual form - and apply it to a concept, statistic, etc... something other than plain jane Texas is west of Louisiana and separated by a river... it just flutters my heart.

Well inspiration comes in all forms. My final obsession confession has four legs and a tail. The infamous Sam is now recovered from his bout with a terrible condition that allows me to role play as a CSI tech on cleanup duty. If you absolutely must have the gory details, ask away. But for now, lets just say its bad. And I didn't think my baby was going to make it this time. But alas, this morning he prances into the kitchen and chomps a few bites of dog food for breakfast before "remembering" that he was sick. Which means he needs momma to hold him and cover him up in her robe. I mean Josh's robe that we had temporarily borrowed because his is fluffier. I'm glad he pulled though and glad that he never ceases to create a bright spot in my day with some antic he has dreamed up in the night.

Ah.... I'm inspired.

Hatin' on FB

Ok, so this doesn't speak well of me since I am on FB and I plan on staying there just for the simple fact that I don't have time for tweets and such. But, I do agree with 99.9% of his reasons.

DIY Furniture

I want a coffee-shop feel to my living room. Even though most of the visitors we have at our house either frequent the dining table or plop themselves on a loveseat in front of an x-box in the music room, its nice to know that I can feel Starbuckian without having to leave the house. Our solution was to get big comfy furniture, ottomans, great lighting, and art on the walls. While we are not yet completed with the project, we are well on the way. Today we spent several hours putting together ready-to-assemble furniture from Home Reserve. Its great furniture at a great price. They have sofas, loveseats, chairs, ottomans, sectionals....It comes via UPS in boxes delivered to your door. You get the pleasure of putting it together yourself. (: The cool thing about it is that every piece has built-in storage under the seat. Bye-Bye magazines that I just can't seem to throw away. And each part of the upholstery is removable and replaceable. No need to junk a perfectly good chair if you get a tear or something. Just order the specific part you need and fix it! Tired of the color you picked? Just replace the fabric. Really really cool. So if you need me this rainy evening, you'll fine me curled up with John Grisham's latest in my Chair and a Half. Check out the process under my photos on facebook.

Alarm Clocks and Time Change

So last night, Josh and I are lying in bed around 11pm (of course it was 10pm yesterday, I wouldn't be up that late!)  We were all comfortable and cozy and I in my nightgown and Sam in his bed when what to my startled ears did appear, but a loud "chirping" noise coming from our bedroom.  Wait, I don't think I explained that very well.  A LOUD chirping noise.   Josh flipped on the light and found this big bug happily existing on our wall.  I think it was a cicada or something like that.  It looked like a grasshopper, but made this horrible racket.  I should back up and explain that I had drawn Josh's attention to the fact that a bug had gotten into the house earlier.  It was then resting on the living room wall minding its own business.  I actually thought it was a brown grasshopper.  So I casually mentioned it thinking that Josh might find the initiative to take a paper towel and release the creature back into the wild.  I guess he didn't.   While I am still recovering from a heart attack and the thing still won't shut-up, Josh grabs a shoe and proceeds to amputate the things' leg.  He was trying to kill it, but missed and ended up chopping off the leg it was using to play its "instrument"  So needless to say, we will not be using an alarm clock that sounds anything like a bug in the near future.   It was broken anyway, it chirped at the wrong time and the only thing working on it was the snooze button. (:

 

Then I was awakened again and again last night because Sam was a sick little puppy.   He evidently found a pork chop bone somewhere outside and ate it.   And he knows that bones make him sick.   The last three times he has had a stint in the animal hospital on an IV because of it.  ~The following is a little graphic, please protect young children~  He has some sort of issue where he gets sick and dehydrated and his blood gets so thick that it seeps into his intestines and stomach.  (I warned you didn't I?!)  The resulting catastrophe is a sleepy Sabrina up at all hours of the night switching out dog blankets and rinsing puke.  I put him outside for about an hour, but his barking was incessant, so that was not a solution.   He spent 30 minutes standing by my bed staring at me and begging for a clean blanket or to get in our bed.  No way Jose!  And so sorry Charlie, you've puked on all the blankets I have, so you just have to stay awake or sleep in it.   Ummm.. side note- I would never day this to my children, just the dog!  Now the washer is going, the rug is drying outside and he is bathed and sleeping on the couch.

 

So now I am blogging this morning and I was thinking how wonderful that I feel so refreshed and have so much time on my hands today and then I looked down and saw that the computer showed an hour later!  I totally forgot about the time-change.  Who invented this anyway??  Thanks a lot Ben Franklin!  To me its backward anyway.  It seems like we should just deal with shorter daylight hours in the winter and not change the clocks back to make the days seem even shorter.  We don't have church this morning because there is a funeral of one of the saints at 2pm.  My plans are to put a pork roast in the oven and finish my sewing project.   Get this:  I am making a beanbag loveseat.

We need one in the music/computer room and the extra large beanbags online are too expensive.   Enter my crazy idea of the hour:  I think I will create a pattern and order shredded foam to stuff one of my own!  All the ones I find online are just giant ovals or spheres, ours will actually be shaped like a sofa.  I'm almost done cutting my pieces and will start putting them together today.  I can't update you on the progress for a while since I am bidding on the foam on ebay and it doesn't end for a coulple more days.  But, as soon as I get it shipped here and stuff this baby, I'll post a picture.   Or not, if it doesn't work out.

When the Mundane Leaves You Mystified.

Though I'm a little out of touch with what's going on in regards to Everyone's Connected/Ubuti-transitioned to-Everyone's Apostolic, evidently there was some sort of catastrophic event that I slept through. There seems to be a mass exodus toward Facebook in light of "The Happening". This is just an educated guess as I haven't really updated my page in so long (save for the occasional response to a note on my page or to delete a broadcast email that I had no interest in to begin with) my profile pic is probably growing cobwebs. I created this blog as a way to get my foot in the door and then resigned myself to the fact that no one reads my blog anyway so I might as well just use it like one of those faux spa foot soakers.... You hardly ever go to the trouble it takes to prep and dust it off, but its there when you have some extra time and need to relax.
So... wrap up everything I just said and Hence, I am committing myself to Facebook and my Blogger page ONLY. No more social networking sites. No time for Twitter. And all the important people I care to keep up with are on Facebook anyway.
And on we go to the subject of this post...
Yesterday into our office walked a beautiful little family. They were here to sign adoption related paperwork and they brought three of their children (only one of which is biological) The smallest child, around 1 1/2 looked as happy as could be as they found our toy "corner" in the waiting room. His silent enjoyment was only broken by the occasional "Mommy look!"
So what's the big deal you say?! Oh nothing except that this mundane ordinary looking interaction was taking place after they've had custody of the little one through foster care for only a short time. And coupled with the fact that this beautiful little boy is HIV + and has since birth developed AIDS. I'm in awe of people who actually do what I tell myself I would love to do- Open up a heart and home to give love unconditionally. Not through pity, self-promotion, or even a sense of obligation, but to look at a situation like a handicap and love another like it was nothing more than learning they have freckles.
I cherish these small moments in life. Because I feel like we are swiftly approaching a day when those who love "undesirables" (including the not-yet-born) will be a suppressed group. Where the challenges are compounded with illegality and societal stigma. God help us all. But more importantly, God help the Church to pass on a heritage despite the coming adversity.

Beans and Other Crazy Ingredients for Baking

It's a rainy Friday the 13th. We have a V-Day Banquet for the Hitched & Happy (don't laugh, this is really what its called) group at church. I have to stop and get a to-go order on my way there so that I won't drool on the person to my left as I gaze at the deep-fried goodness of EVERYTHING on their plate. And, so that I won't compromise my eating lifestyle. Honestly I don't crave it. But I need an alternative. Enter- beans.
I have a thorn in the flesh with my sweet tooth in my gums. So I have to get creative and reinvent the wheel. And you know that just kills me to do so. How I loathe creativity.....er...NOT!
Some of my most recent concoctions have included:

Silken Tofu Chocolate Pie with Butter-Nut or Peanut Butter Crust
Chocolate-Cherry, Lemon-Ginger, Blueberry-Cinnamon Bean Muffins
Egg "Crepes"
Frozen SF FF Yogurt with Pecans and Dark Chocolate Chunks
Bean-Oat Breakfast Cookies
Almond Soy Smoothie
Garbanzo Flour Griddle Cakes

My not-so successful concoction:
Tofu Fries. They would be much better if I had marinated them or something. But all-in-all they taste like soggy fried once you dip them in ranch or mustard. But who wants soggy fries? Not this chick.

I've been conbobulating a host of other recipes to try, but for some reason when I get home in the evenings, I don't feel much like getting so many dishes dirty.

I may get strange looks. I may be seen as one of those vain people who always think they're fat and need to be on a diet. I may even draw sympathy from carb-aholics. But I won't ever be blamed for not doing my part to keep healthy and to one day have a baby of our own.

And on to other news: Food Network has an Ultimate Recipe Showdown contest for average peeps to display their culinary expertise. The winner this round for (what else?) desserts has a great recipe for Baby Cakes. Cupcakes made with Baby Food. How cool is that? Now to just find out if they make low carb baby food. hmmm....

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time Sabrina had time to blog. That was pre- the-forty-mile-to-do-list at work. Excuses, excuses, I know. So here's a lunch break post to get back on the wagon. Warning: this may appear to be random, but don't be fooled. Its a very coherent string in my mind.

Last night at Soul's Harbor UPC we had our first Orientation class. Bro. Charles Williams is teaching it and the class is intended for those new to SH or those who just haven't found their niche of minstry yet. He taught on prayer and it was ever so powerful. Referencing the story of a minister in Florida, he told of how on a Tuesday morning in 2001 he was awakened around 2am with an urgent need to pray. I think he stayed on his knees in intercession until around 4am maybe and then headed off to work. As the morning wore on, he was bombarded with the news of that fateful day in September when it seemed all the world was burning and the WTC towers were crumbling. He fell down and wept with the lament of (in his own words, and later a sermon title) "a man who got up from a prayer meeting to quickly." Does that not send chills up your spine?
All is right with the world when you know God is at work. Oh, He's always working. But, its nice sometimes to know that you know He's working.
Josh and I were talking on the way home last night about sayings and thoughts that have made the most impact on us.
His character prod has been "To know you have the heart of a servant, look at how you act when you are treated like one."
One of the many I subscribe to "If you have to say you are, you probably aren't" Such as saying "I am ________" If you truly are, it will show. No explanation or label needed. I think that is the tragedy of the internet age. We spend a lot of time making sure the world "perceives" us as something that we never actually become anything. Or worse, we never find out who God would have us be. All because its not fashionable on a blog or myspace page.
Why in the world did I get on that subject?
Let's move on shall we?
Update on my diet this time around:
I've lost I have no idea how many pounds. I refuse to weigh myself. Instead my trusty measuring tape say's I'm down 2 1/2 inches in the hips and 1 1/2 inches in the waist. I feel great, I have not cheated even once, and my blood sugar seems to be normalized most of the time. I have not done as well this second round of South Beach as I did a year ago. Last January I lost 14lbs in two weeks. This time, four weeks into it, the extra bondage (er- I mean poundage) is coming off slowly. But that's a healthier way to shed anyway.
Update on the laser hair removal:
I've only had one round so far. Back in January. My next appt is Feb. 9th. The bad thing about being four weeks between treatments is that I can't wax or pluck at all. I have to either shave or just leave it alone. I opt for the latter since its my face. I won't call it painless, but it doesn't really hurt. It feels like someone slaps you with a rolled up towel. Quick, sharp, and leaves you red afterward. I jumped everytime she pressed the trigger. (I jump when a toaster pops up too, though) It also takes a couple of weeks for the treated hairs to fall out, so there is no instant gratification for the $100 a pop. I'm thinking long term. I can tell a bit of a difference already in the amount of hair that is not growing back.
Another hair removal tidbit that you probably don't care anything about.... I made Josh buy an epilator for me. I was probably a bit hasty and for the same amount of money could have gotten the brand with the most rave reviews, but I found this one and it works good enough to keep. I absolutely love that thing. It is like tweezers time 30! I can run it on my arms and legs and it pulls the hairs out instead of shaving them. Like waxing without all the mess. The only thing is, it takes forever!!! But I just love every minute of it. I looked up the other night and had not loaded the dishwasher or folded the clothes in the dryer because I had been sitting there epilating for 1 hr and 10 min! Please... I am not a sasquatch despite how this sounds. Its not that I have THAT much hair, its just that my hairs weren't long enough to easily grab and I had to work harder at it. Ok, enough of the graphic personal hygiene routine.
I have got to get back to work. I will not wait so long next time to post to prevent the jumble of information coming at ya.