Life, what is it but a dream?

(In returning to my blog, I found some old drafts that never made it to publishing,here is one I still like)

In researching for a 5-miute mini sermon on Psalm 25 I discovered this. Love it

Lewis Carrol's "Through the Looking-Glass". The final chapter "A Boat, Beneath A Sunny Sky"^[12] is an acrostic of the real Alice's name:Alice Pleasance Liddell.

A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July -

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear -

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream -
Lingering in the golden gleam -
Life, what is it but a dream?

iVoted

My lovely brother over at believe your voice can mean something has been urging me to begin blogging again. His blog name is fitting tonight at I watch 2012 Election Results after casting my vote this morning. I believe that voting is important probably because I watched my parents participate in the their civil duty and because I spent 2 years in Americorps. If Americorps does anything other than put young people to work in domestic civil service it engrains a life practice of civil participation. So, today, voting wasn't just an errand on a long list of to do, but it was an event of its own. My husband and I woke up early, filled our travel mugs with coffee and walked the 2 long blocks to our local United Methodist Church slash polling place. Now to my more city-folk friends this may seem perfectly normal. But, I would bet that in my suburban Texas precinct there were maybe a dozen people all day who walked to the polls...and it was a beautiful day. Needless to say I live in a state, county, city where I have to constantly remind myself that my voice can mean something. The little church behind me may be the the most offensive display of politics and faith that I have ever seen, but my voice can mean something. The kindergarten classes at my church may disagree with my presidential choice, but God Bless 15 of the 40 little voters for standing their own ground. I am thrilled, not annoyed, to see the banter on Facebook which means that people are engaging in public discourse. Yes, I wish that discourse was a little more educated. I am most grateful that for the most part today, no matter what side folks are on the key message today was go vote-believe that your voice can mean something. Now I just wish Christians could get the same way about faith...but that's for my next post when I hop on my church soapbox.

Apples

In one of my many adventures into Pinterest findings, I tried the apple pie in an apple. What a great recipe - well the part that I used. Other than the fact that the apples are difficult to core the center out of while leaving a good thick wall (Is there a tool for this?) the recipe is really easy and completely adaptable to make just as many apples as you need to. Perfect when you're baking for two and don't need a whole dozen or something crazy. The cliff's notes version is: Preheat the oven to 375; cut a thin piece off the top of however many apples you want to make and take out the guts, save all the meat of the apple that you can for the filling.

For each medium apple you will need:
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp powdered cinnamon
Mix the ingredients and sprinkle over the reserved apple pulp.
Toss with a spoon and fill the apple bowls.

Instead of the fancy pie dough, cut into flowers, cute little holes - I used a can of cinnamon roles. I flattened them out a little and laid them over the top of the apples. Put them in the oven for 40 minutes (I think). That is what the recipe says. But, I started putting up our Christmas Tree while the apples were in the oven and well 40 minutes came and went. I wish I was less upset when I realized I missed the timer and actually took a photo of the apple pie mush that filled my baking pan. But, after eating out of the pan some absolutely delicious apple pie filling with my wonderful husband consoling me - we flipped the cinnamon rolls that were supposed to be tops into bottoms, scooped the remaining apple pie goodness on them and my husband gladly ate them a la mode.

Screen Door

For a long time now I've been on the hunt for an old screen door. I learned along the way that they are surprisingly expensive, potentially the only thing neighbors want to keep when renovating their rental house (glad we asked before taking) and in many many shapes, styles and colors. I found one stuffed in an old shed of some of my husband's relatives and decided one day we'd return with the truck and pick it up (along with some fantastic old columns). But, to my wonderful surprise my husband gave me a fantastic old brown screen door for my birthday (we'll still pick up that other one some day). What a fantastic man he is!
The door will live in our bedroom though it hasn't found its proper home yet because of the wonderful wardrobe my in-laws bought me for Christmas. (I'm a lucky lady!)

Finally tonight, I engaged my door in its ultimate purpose of jewelry organization. With the help of a few paperclips and a bunch of dangly earrings. Sorry about the poor photo quality -was trying to capture the height of my beautiful old door. In 3 quick episodes of How I Met Your Mother I've undone my jewelry mess.