Nathan: "Mom, I'm going to the big city of Ninevah! Did you know that?"
Me: "Really? What are you going to do there?"
Nathan: "I'm going to look at some fish."
(Apparently we've had a bit too much Jonah around here. He asks to read that story from his Bible several times a week, and loves the Veggietales movie.)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
I'm a Gossip.
I've been reading through Proverbs. (Not to sound all self-religious.... I'm on chapter 17, and I've been reading them for probably 3 months, if that tells you how sporadic I am.)
One thing that jumps out at me in every chapter are the verses about gossip, and "the words of a fool." I know God is convicting me. And I don't know how to deal with it.
How do you respond when someone says, "Well, you need to be praying for so-and-so." Then proceeds to tell you about a co-worker whose husband has left her, but she probably deserved it, because she was having an emotional affair, and the prayer-request-sharer knows about it because of this, that, and the other. I mean, what do you do? Say, "No, I don't want to hear about it"? Say, "I'll pray, but you're gossiping"?
Don't get me wrong. I love the juicy details. I know I shouldn't, but don't we all feel just a little bit better on the inside when we hear how someone else has screwed up? Like we're just a little better than them?
So I'm convicted. I just don't know what to do about it. I guess that despite what comes into my ears, I can control what I pass on.
And I will say.... I don't believe talking about things with your husband is gossip. If someone tells me something that starts with, "Don't tell anyone, but...." I do interrupt and say, "I tell my husband everything." But I guess even within your own home, it can become malicious, and that is wrong however you look at it.
One thing that jumps out at me in every chapter are the verses about gossip, and "the words of a fool." I know God is convicting me. And I don't know how to deal with it.
How do you respond when someone says, "Well, you need to be praying for so-and-so." Then proceeds to tell you about a co-worker whose husband has left her, but she probably deserved it, because she was having an emotional affair, and the prayer-request-sharer knows about it because of this, that, and the other. I mean, what do you do? Say, "No, I don't want to hear about it"? Say, "I'll pray, but you're gossiping"?
Don't get me wrong. I love the juicy details. I know I shouldn't, but don't we all feel just a little bit better on the inside when we hear how someone else has screwed up? Like we're just a little better than them?
So I'm convicted. I just don't know what to do about it. I guess that despite what comes into my ears, I can control what I pass on.
And I will say.... I don't believe talking about things with your husband is gossip. If someone tells me something that starts with, "Don't tell anyone, but...." I do interrupt and say, "I tell my husband everything." But I guess even within your own home, it can become malicious, and that is wrong however you look at it.
Home Remedy That Worked!
(And it's disgusting!)
I mentioned in the last post I'd tried a bunch of home remedies that hadn't done anything for my cold. When I mentioned to Nicki, the other leader at Cubbies, that nothing was kicking my cough, she told me she had found a recipe with honey and ginger that her husband had taken the night before, and it worked for him. So when I got home, I Google-d it, and found this recipe:
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. water
I mixed them up, using boiling water to help dissolve everything. The web page said to take it by the teaspoon, so of course, I took a tablespoon. (I figured, with these ingredients, the worst that would happen would be that I would puke.) Then after a peaceful, hacking-free movie, I took another tablespoon and went to bed.
I'm not saying I didn't cough at all. I still coughed a bit. But not the hacking and gasping episodes like before, and the coughs actually started to be "productive."
Don't get me wrong. This stuff is NASTY. Don't smell it. Don't sip it. Toss it like a shot. (Not that I've ever taken shots before.) But I will keep the recipe on hand for the future.... I'm not sure that I'd take it at the first hint of a cough, but when I get these coughs that won't go away, you'd better believe I'll use it again.
The web page I got it from tells why all the ingredients work. Also, if you do try it, you'll need to shake it before each dosing, as obviously the cayenne and ginger will settle.
I mentioned in the last post I'd tried a bunch of home remedies that hadn't done anything for my cold. When I mentioned to Nicki, the other leader at Cubbies, that nothing was kicking my cough, she told me she had found a recipe with honey and ginger that her husband had taken the night before, and it worked for him. So when I got home, I Google-d it, and found this recipe:
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. water
I mixed them up, using boiling water to help dissolve everything. The web page said to take it by the teaspoon, so of course, I took a tablespoon. (I figured, with these ingredients, the worst that would happen would be that I would puke.) Then after a peaceful, hacking-free movie, I took another tablespoon and went to bed.
I'm not saying I didn't cough at all. I still coughed a bit. But not the hacking and gasping episodes like before, and the coughs actually started to be "productive."
Don't get me wrong. This stuff is NASTY. Don't smell it. Don't sip it. Toss it like a shot. (Not that I've ever taken shots before.) But I will keep the recipe on hand for the future.... I'm not sure that I'd take it at the first hint of a cough, but when I get these coughs that won't go away, you'd better believe I'll use it again.
The web page I got it from tells why all the ingredients work. Also, if you do try it, you'll need to shake it before each dosing, as obviously the cayenne and ginger will settle.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Killer Cold
It's been a long time since I've had a cold kick me this hard. In fact, it's been a long time since I've even had a full-blown cold - the last one was the week Jacob was born.
I started coming down with this one on Sunday, a week and a half ago. The hacking started last Tuesday, and it's still going full-force. I hack ALL. NIGHT. LONG. And this isn't just cough, cough - it wakes me up 3 or 4 times a night. This is coughing so hard I pee my pants, tears streaming down my face, until my head feels like it is going to implode - for an hour at a time. (And do I need to mention what coughing with a hernia is like?)
Nothing seems to be working on this one.... I've tried medicine, prescriptions (left from last round), home remedies, supplements, herbal teas, hot showers, sleeping in the recliner or propped up on pillows..... Generally, a combination of a few of the above would make it so I can sleep at night, but this round, they work just about long enough for me to actually get in to bed, and then it starts.
I guess the upside is that during the day, I don't feel too bad. Wiped from not sleeping, but I don't cough much.... That sets in about supper time. So there is an upside. Although just about anything can set me off - getting too hot, dust, flour or spices while cooking, strong scents, and air blowing on my face, like from a vent (which probably has dust in it). Not to mention the wood stove, which I would tell Paul to let go out, if it weren't 2 DEGREES outside (and that's at noon with bright sunshine!).
But I'm still taking a nap today.... if I can without coughing!
I started coming down with this one on Sunday, a week and a half ago. The hacking started last Tuesday, and it's still going full-force. I hack ALL. NIGHT. LONG. And this isn't just cough, cough - it wakes me up 3 or 4 times a night. This is coughing so hard I pee my pants, tears streaming down my face, until my head feels like it is going to implode - for an hour at a time. (And do I need to mention what coughing with a hernia is like?)
Nothing seems to be working on this one.... I've tried medicine, prescriptions (left from last round), home remedies, supplements, herbal teas, hot showers, sleeping in the recliner or propped up on pillows..... Generally, a combination of a few of the above would make it so I can sleep at night, but this round, they work just about long enough for me to actually get in to bed, and then it starts.
I guess the upside is that during the day, I don't feel too bad. Wiped from not sleeping, but I don't cough much.... That sets in about supper time. So there is an upside. Although just about anything can set me off - getting too hot, dust, flour or spices while cooking, strong scents, and air blowing on my face, like from a vent (which probably has dust in it). Not to mention the wood stove, which I would tell Paul to let go out, if it weren't 2 DEGREES outside (and that's at noon with bright sunshine!).
But I'm still taking a nap today.... if I can without coughing!
Friday, January 7, 2011
This Happens Every Time!
Why does it always happen this way? The week started off great - it was going to be a productive week. Paul washed dishes and cleaned the kitchen for me Sunday night, so the house was in great shape already. I exercised Monday and Tuesday, and was well on my way to getting back in the P90X routine.
Then I got sick.
Not just the "this is an annoying cough, but I'll muscle through it," but the "I can't do anything but sit on the couch and hope the kids don't touch me because I ache all over, I can barely swallow, and my chest feels like someone's sitting on it." I had to skip AWANA, and completely forgot about a ladies committee meeting because I was still in bed when I should have been leaving (not that I felt like going anyways).
It seems like every time I finally am going to get on top of things around here, something happens. Usually someone gets sick. And it's the worst when I'm sick. Not because I don't feel good, but because if I don't feel good, nothing gets done when Paul's working. I just loaded the dishwasher for the first time since Monday. I have 3 laundry days worth of clothes to fold. And yet, I can't motivate myself to do anything other than sit and watch the boys while sipping something to scald my throat. I try to nap when they nap (if I can actually get Nathan to take a nap), but I have just been coughing the whole time, so I get up more exhausted than when I lay down.
Maybe it's God telling me I don't really need to exercise. (I wish.) I did really good exercising every day last fall, until we went on vacation. I did kind of hit and miss until December, and then things just got out of control - schedule- and food-wise. My sister started P90X again this week, so we were going to challenge each other at it, and I know she's winning (she had a head start on the exercise in general to begin with).
In other news....
Paul and I got the book The Love Dare by Sephen and Alex Kendrick for Christmas. We were going to go through it together, but then realized that it will take away some of it if we each knew what the other was doing every day. So Paul told me to give him a week or so head start. That may be the reason for him doing the dishes, and probably also for the gorgeous flowers I got on Monday, but even though I know he is being "told" to do these things, it still makes me feel loved. I am going to start sometime next week.
I read the book Fireproof (based on the movie, which is where the book The Love Dare came from) this week. I read it in two sittings. It was pretty much the movie, in book form, but I still couldn't put it down, and still cried. The story reminds me of a Karen Kingsbury book. I highly recommend - all of them! The book, the movie, and the Dare.
After a couple gorgeous days, winter is heading back. I heard the wind shift directions this morning (our old house started popping). It's been howling from the northwest, and our draft on the back porch is back in business (apparently our under-house excursions didn't fix it after all).
Well, this post talked a lot without really saying anything. It's lunchtime now.... I think I may be motivated to serve something other than hot dogs today. Grilled cheese it is!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Dangerous Alfredo
I have wanted to try making homemade alfredo sauce for a while, but I always have just bought the jar of sauce, because we don't have "true" alfredo dishes (another of Paul's dislikes). Well, I ended up with a half package of cream cheese, and some leftover angel hair pasta, so I figured - why not try it out? I call it dangerous, because it was WAY too easy to make, and it just took leftover ingredients from other things that I already had floating around the fridge. I always thought alfredo took a few weird things, that you had to blender-ize it to get it smooth, use a double-boiler and watch it tediously while stirring constantly. Well, it took me all of the sophisticated technology of a glass measuring cup and a wire whisk. And the microwave.
2 tbsp butter
1/2 pkg cream cheese
1/2 c half and half (whole milk would work)
3 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
Melt the butter in the glass measuring dish. Drop the cream cheese in chunks into the melted butter and blast again, stirring every 30 seconds or so, until melted. Measure and pour in the half and half, parmesan, and garlic powder. Nuke again, stirring every 30 seconds until Parmesan begins to melt. (It may have a slightly grainy texture, but you won't notice it once you pour it over your pasta.) Season to taste with salt, peppper, or garlic salt (or all three!).
Oh. My. Gosh.
And this recipe only makes enough for about 2 servings of pasta (which I may or may not have eaten entirely on my own).
I am the only one who likes alfredo at this point. I don't consider my own cravings worth cracking open an entire jar of sauce. But I'm definitely going to make it again when I have cream cheese in the house again.... And this time I'll be adding chicken and broccoli.
(I found the original recipe on Cooks.com, but I halved it and adjusted some things.)
2 tbsp butter
1/2 pkg cream cheese
1/2 c half and half (whole milk would work)
3 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
Melt the butter in the glass measuring dish. Drop the cream cheese in chunks into the melted butter and blast again, stirring every 30 seconds or so, until melted. Measure and pour in the half and half, parmesan, and garlic powder. Nuke again, stirring every 30 seconds until Parmesan begins to melt. (It may have a slightly grainy texture, but you won't notice it once you pour it over your pasta.) Season to taste with salt, peppper, or garlic salt (or all three!).
Oh. My. Gosh.
And this recipe only makes enough for about 2 servings of pasta (which I may or may not have eaten entirely on my own).
I am the only one who likes alfredo at this point. I don't consider my own cravings worth cracking open an entire jar of sauce. But I'm definitely going to make it again when I have cream cheese in the house again.... And this time I'll be adding chicken and broccoli.
(I found the original recipe on Cooks.com, but I halved it and adjusted some things.)
Monday, January 3, 2011
Overheard:
"Holy, holy, holy
Is the King
You are the King
I adore You."
-a 3-year-old's version of "Revelation Song", which we sang at church yesterday. Nathan was singing it to himself all evening yesterday. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear my child singing worship songs!
Is the King
You are the King
I adore You."
-a 3-year-old's version of "Revelation Song", which we sang at church yesterday. Nathan was singing it to himself all evening yesterday. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear my child singing worship songs!
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