Pinterest In Action

My first project on the agenda when I discovered Pinterest was a very special Halloween dinner for my husband. Halloween is his favorite holiday, but with the broken leg this year it was set to be a bust for him. So, our first week home from the hospital I became determined to find someone to make Halloween special for him. I quickly ruled out wheelchair through a Haunted House; as well as Party at our house (no need to chance HallowFireWeen II) and decided on a creepy Halloween Dinner. I sought to determine the worth of Pinterest and validate my theory of it to be as much if not more time saver as time waster. As a creative always seeking inspiration and collecting ideas for projects, I feel like the Pinterest concept was made for me. I collected many ideas into a Holidays board, created a meal plan, added my own touches and wa-la..he loved it!

Our ghostly adult Halloween Dinner included: Cornbread Coffin Chili (ie decomposing body); ghost potatoes; deviled eggs (mixed with hot sauce for real kick); orange jello (cause it's orange) and a green drink that was great for looks and not so great to taste! I also attempted making orange-colored chocolate to dip strawberries in, but should have found detailed directions on that. I ended up dipping them in white chocolate intentionally haphazardly so that when I tossed them in a bowl with more pingpong eye balls they looked pretty gross...and tasted fantastic!

P.S. Several boards, pins, and projects in the works later. I'm sold to Pinterest. Thank you Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra for your innovation!

what's for dinner?

I am blessed with an abundance of folks who want to know what can we do to help. This has been a difficult question to answer. First I fight pride, in which I tell myself that I can do it all (and if I had to I could). Then I hit my personal endeavor to have balance in life, even in the times of chaos. But, what do I need help with? My employers have been gracious in giving me space to take care of Joe (and I already work from home a great deal, so that helps). My in-laws, in the midst of their own chaos, have been fantastic to us, as always. Even as I type this Joe's Dad continues to work on our bathroom renovation. Friends and family have visited and come over to stay with Joe when it has been necessary for me to leave the house for work or 1 quick run to the grocery store. Which brings us to food. When each day falls into line, the only thing I really don't feel like I've been able to keep up with is food. (I think the patient is trying to make up for the 5 days in the hospital when he ate a total of about 8 chicken nuggets and a breakfast sandwich) I had a good start the first couple of days home from the hospital. But, as the days went on and I've been working more along with taking care of Joe, the house and the bathroom -having diverse and nutritious food was starting to lack. I mentioned this to one of my wonderful congregants and asked if she might have recipes or suggestions for food that I could make easily and would freeze and reheat well. I did not get any recipes or suggestions. What we have gotten is food. 

   I have been in the church my entire life. I know that when crisis hits the people of the church make casseroles. My family did it growing up. I've done it. I've seen churches across the country do it. But, in all of that, I've never been on the receiving end. I have had no idea what a truly tremendous blessing this is. To know that I can go to the freezer and not just pull out a frozen pizza or a can of soup from the cabinet, but a ready to go home cooked meal. I nearly tear up just thinking and writing about it. My husband gets the nourishment he needs to heal, while I still have time for the many extra loads of wash (thanks to night sweats..gross), cleaning, work and who knew - a few extra moments each day to just spend time with each other.

   So, as difficult as it was to ask for help. I am so deeply grateful to everyone who has given to us. I pray that everyone has a community of friends, family, coworkers, congregants that steps up to help out in times of chaos. I hope that this reminds me, that even in the busiest of 'normal' it is always possible to just make a double portion of dinner and give it to someone in need. I challenge myself (and anyone reading) to look around and see if there is someone we can give to before they even ask...new parents, recent widow, sick parent, injured spouse, single parent, family moving, lost job...how the list goes on.  I think pride might be the vain of more folks than just me, but why have community if we can't help each other?

TMI?

I just posted a new album on Facebook of our recent hospital and recovery experiences. Thinking back to my early FB days it took me while to even join this great social networking endeavor and more time to upload photos and such. Then I realized, that I like taking photos and sharing them, I like looking at other friend's photos and so I didn't think much about sharing my albums (with discretion and knowledge of the public nature of the FB forum). So, the photo albums went up sharing life's most and least exciting moments. We've all been through this, so why am I reliving the experience here? Because, tonight I wonder is this appropriate anymore? How often do I see folks post full albums other then a wedding, kid's birth or birthdays (the really major events of life)? FB is still full of photos, but the one off mobile upload type. Not the narrative full photo album type. So I wonder, too much information? Or loss of the narrative? Or is the narrative happening in this real time immediate upload/update manner and in this instance I'm among the nostalgic who like the refined story line of the post-event album? But then, even as I write this post and flip back to FB randomly selecting friends from my sidebar to see what kind of albums they have I find a nice mix. Some with overflowing mobile upload albums, some with albums full of their children, and some like me posting narrative albums of the exceptional and life whatever it seems to bring. So, at the risk of over-sharing, I think I'll continue documenting my life and sharing it with those who take the time to subscribe (or whatever the latest term is) to me and look through my albums. (I'll also go on record here, that I am excited about the possibilities in the upcoming change to the Facebook Timeline.)

Cheers to Domestic Equality

For the weeks to come I will be fulltime: nurse, cook, housekeeper, employee and I get to finish remodeling our bathroom! Whew! As I think about that sentence I realize how blessed I am that this is a temporary situation for me. There are so many individuals in the world for which this is their daily to-do and always will be. I, on the other hand, am super blessed with a partner who shares in all of this with me -even the employee portion. My husband is an absolute gift to my life. In 'normal' life we completely share cooking, cleaning, housework, etc. We help each other with the other's work as we are skilled and able (i.e. he makes fantastic videos for the church anytime I ask for help and even when I don't).
   Me beloved was in a motorcycle accident last Tuesday. (Yes, he will be riding again as soon as he is able) He was cut off by a car who missed their exit and went for it anyhow without looking. The bike and my dearest hit the car, went flying through the air and the bike landed on his left leg and slid on down the road. The leg is broken in 4 places. He had two surgeries last week. The first to put on an external fixture to allow the tissue around the bone some time to heal. The second to insert a rod through his tibia and a screw near the ankle. The fracture in the fibia will heal itself. We came home from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. He has crutches but the pain and swelling increase immensely when he gets upright, so we're just keeping him on the couch.
  No bit of writing about this is complete without a thank you to all of our wonderful family, friends and employers who have been so gracious with messages, gifts, visits and time off. We are truly, deeply blessed. Here are some photos. He has bloody pictures too, but you'll have to come visit him to see the gore!

Pride will be the death of me

We are going through a series on the 7 Deadly Sins at my church. In my research today for worship and Sunday School lessons, I took the time to take a quiz to 'discover my sin'. Here are the results.

Greed:	Low
Gluttony:	Low
Wrath:	Very Low
Sloth:	Very Low
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Very Low
Pride:	Medium

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Now, I thought some of the questions were a bit extreme and so may have scored lower on this then I really struggle with any of these sins. However, I find the relative proportions that I struggle with each quite 'dead' on and very interesting. I've always been very concerned about keeping my pride, having a strong image and so forth. My interest in quite peeked to take a look at where my sense of pride crosses the line from healthy trait for a successful person to sin. In church we'll be taking this subject not from the traditional lens of Pride vs. Humility, but from the perspective of Pride vs. Confidence in God's Call on your life.

sacrifice or selfish

I'm contemplating how to hold my annual observation of Lent sacred this year. Since the 6th grade I have given up at the least chocolate for Lent every year. Typically my Lenten discipline will include something else as well, added devotion, vegetarianism, no soda, no desserts at all, etc. This year I'm poised with the challenge of my wedding and honeymoon. Do I continue to give up chocolate as I always have and simply eat the white wedding cake and avoid Dominican Republic chocolate? They're not known for chocolate are they? Do I take a mid-Lent break and then tack on a couple weeks after Easter? But then, even having this dilemma causes me to wonder...what is the point of my Lenten Discipline to begin with. If it is such a struggle due the modern constructs of wedding and honeymoon. Is not showing my devotion to faith through a symbolic sacrifice more important then chocolate wedding cake? What did Jesus have to miss when he spent '40' days in the desert? Did he carefully construct the trip to fall just between Ash Wednesday and Easter so as not to conflict with either. Late enough that it will be warm, but not too late so as to not be too warm or conflict with all the rituals of May-senior sunday, confirmation, mother's day... Was a request put in to Joseph for a sabbatical from the carpenter's shop? My latest consideration is to give up Communion, a sacrament that I participate in on average once a week, sometimes more. What does it mean to deny myself the participation in this sacrament for 40 days, then to experience it again for the 'first time' on Easter morning? A friend of mine recently posted the question, "Can we experience/know God's presence w/o also having experienced/known God's absence?"