whaddup, wednesday!?

so... because i'm sleepy and almost forgot a post, i'm going to entertain today. and by "entertain," i simply mean copy and paste a few of my favorite quotes from @Had2SayIt ... because they are pure twitter gold.

• True story: After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F...
• Tweeting bible verses doesn't count as having a quiet time. Matthew 6:5
• I have had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it.
• All those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.
• If you say "beer can" with a British accent, you're also saying "bacon" with a Jamaican accent.
• Those who think they know everything, annoy those of us that do.
• No sense being pessimistic; it wouldn't work anyway.

seriously, friends. if you are on twitter, go follow @Had2SayIt. you won't be inundated with nonsense. just enough funnies to keep you laughing along with me.


do you have any favorite puns or quips from recently?

holy mustache!

in other words, i got to see david's face for the first time in almost four and a half months, and he's been growing a mustache the same amount of time. it was SO good to see him, even if the prearranged 13-minute video chat was a bit awkward. (frankly, what do you even say when you are allotted 10 minutes to talk to your spouse? there's not enough time to carry much of a conversation, but it's too long for just sitting and saying little nothings. especially if you get 3 extra minutes.) we chatted a bit, and i spent most of the time (even while we were talking) just staring at him and remembering things i forgotten i'd missed so much.
(can you tell i really like parenthetical statements today? if this were twitter, i'd be hash-tagging like it's my job!)
since all i've had for the last 4 months were memories of my husband, oldish pictures and intangible emails and phone calls, finally seeing his face made me feel like a giddy girlfriend again for a bit. which was definitely a relief from feeling like a serious spouse.
it took me a day of stress to build up to the 13 minutes of awkward joy, and i'm still not decompressed. so, pardon me while i leave you so that i can finish my mountain dew, chocolate ice cream, and homemade blondies (recipe coming soon).

"if i get married, i want to be very married." - audrey hepburn

mis-communicating.

last night yesterday was a bit rough. as the day progressed, i felt progressively misunderstood. not by any particular person, and about nothing monumental, but the misunderstandings seemed to pile up as in one of mayhem's little tricks. while many people would shrug it off, i've always had issues with feeling misunderstood - i have a possibly unhealthy deep desire to be understood correctly, and i push to make that happen.
scattered, stilted or short conversations (via email, text or hurried phone calls) have a lot to do with misunderstanding. in this world of quick communication, texting, facebook chats and instant messaging, is it any wonder that i, along with so many other people, feel misunderstood? is it because the art of listening has been suppressed somehow? i can't believe that it has been lost altogether, but i feel the results of some suppression of communication.
and, in all of this wondering...
i'm not at all surprised that i chose the word "listen" as my oneword for 2011. it's clearly something at which i need to work harder. especially when it comes to listening to God's voice. it's why i got my first and only tattoo. the greek words epi de to remati sou, which are translated "but at your word" and come from luke 5:5.

when [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to simon, "put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch." simon answered, "master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing! but at your word i will lower the nets." when they had done this, they caught so many fish that their net started to tear... when simon peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying "go away from me, Lord, for i am a sinful man." -luke 5:4-6, 8

maple-oaty scones.

maple-oaty scones
adapted from smitten kitchen


yield: i got 18 eensy-triangles, perfect for each person having about two. deb from smitten kitchen got 8 of the 2-in. rounds

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour (the recipe called for 1 3/4 c. a-p and 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, but i didn't have whole wheat on hand. i'm sure they'd be even tastier with the ww flour!)
1/2 c. rolled oats
1 very heaped T. baking powder
1 very heaped T. sugar
1/2 t. table salt
3/4 c. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. buttermilk (regular milk is fine, too)
1 egg, beaten (for glaze)

preheat your oven to 400°f (200°c). butter a baking sheet and set aside.
whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. i put the butter in a bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes or so after cutting it up, to make sure it was cold (like you'd do with butter for a pie crust or other pastry dough). with a pastry blender or your fingers (don't use a food processor, as it will grind up the oats), work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. in another small bowl, mix together the milk and syrup, then pour into the butter-flour mixture. mix it all together (it's easiest to use your hands on this step - don't forget to take off the rings and put them in a safe place!) until it becomes a soft dough. you can add more buttermilk if you need, but the dough shouldn't be sticky at all.

 
flour a silicone baking mat or clean, smooth countertop (i don't have one of those, so i used the former!) and pat or roll the dough until it is 1 1/4 in. tall. i formed it into a square shape, cut it into 9 equal pieces, and cut each of those mini squares on a diagonal to make eensy-triangles. you could also do as deb over at smitten kitchen does, and use a 2-in. round cutter. place the cut scones on the prepared baking sheet, half an inch apart or so. brush the tops with the beaten egg (for the yummy brown color at the end!) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the scones are lightly golden. mine were done perfectly right on the 20-minute mark, so be sure to set the timer for 18-20 minutes and check them before letting them stay for any longer than that!

 
serve them warm, if you can... and they don't last longer than a day. plan accordingly! either halve the recipe, or HAVE an excuse to eat a couple more! c'mon, they're tiny!

"all sorrows are less with bread." - miguel de cervantes (don quixote)  i'd venture to say that scones would be substitutable for bread, in this case.

confessions of a bible major. (#2)

#2 - sometimes, because i habitually analyze as i read, reading the bible is exhausting when it should be refreshing.

i've never been a fast worker (though i can read and comprehend quickly if i do not need to understand all the nuances), but doing my "homework" for a women's bible study at church probably takes me longer than it should. i don't often just read a verse, passage or chapter. i study, and sometimes even consult the greek or hebrew texts. i spend (too much?) time wondering what that word really means, or why a specific word was used instead of another.
in all of this, i often veer off the path i started on and lose sight of the finish line.  and this is something i'd really love to change.

"properly, we should read for power. man reading should be man intensely alive. the book should be a ball of light in one's hand." - ezra pound

tired.

perpetually tired is a side effect of stress and depression. yep, i used the d-word. i find some days it's easier to be un-tired than others. yesterday wasn't one of those days. i made it to bible study (which was actually quite fun!), helped my friend h find a dress for an upcoming event, and then went home and napped for 3+ hours. sure, part of it might have been the late night and the 3 am phone call from my hugsband, but when i woke from the nap i was still tired. come to think of it, could've been the bad dreams, too. darn.
so what are some things that i try to un-tire myself? sometimes it's a pick-me-up like a smoothie. sorry, you won't find green smoothies here. i'm more likely (because the depression and tiredness also kill motivation) to stop by jamba juice when i'm already out and about. sometimes it's a caffeine jolt from my keurig machine. or tanning burning out on the patio when the sun is shining.
what do you do (other than sleep) when you just feel tired?

"there must be something wrong with those people who think audrey hepburn doesn't perspire, hiccup or sneeze, because they know that's not true. in fact, i hiccup more than most." - audrey hepburn

on defending friends.

i tend to be fiercely loyal.
only a few times in my life have i been put in a position of hurting deeply for a friend's pain and struggle. but i remember those times so clearly. each time, my reaction has been disproportionate to the situation. because i love deeply and hurt deeply, i defend strongly.
in high school (or was it junior high?), i embarrassed a friend by standing up for her publicly, when all she wanted was to move past the situation. in college, i took sides and nearly ended a beautiful friendship with my coldness and bitterness. on another occasion, i nearly succeeded at writing off all the good things i learned from someone because they hurt a dear friend of mine. for each poor choice in each situation (and others i've not mentioned here), i am resoundingly sorry.
i regret all of those actions to my core, but in all honesty, part of me is glad i made the mistakes. from these, i learn and grow. regret blooms into change, if allowed to see the light of awareness.

"look not mournfully into the past. it comes not back again. wisely improve the present. it is thine. go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear." - henry wadsworth longfellow

shot in the dark.

i'm rediscovering that i love to teach. informally.
i love to prepare and design lessons, devotionals, study guides. it's why i dream of being an instructional designer, or doing leadership development within a ministry. i just don't have the resources to make that possible right now, nor do i see many openings for entry-level positions in the area i live, anyway.
so, my job search again, with a mind of its own, veers off the path i thought to follow. again, i feel lost. so, rediscovering my love for teaching? it feels like i printed out the directions and, because the printer was low on ink, only step 5 is legible: "turn left on carmella avenue." it helps me not.
have you ever felt like you have crayons without paper to draw on, or only step 5 in the directions?

"dreams surely are difficult, confusing, and not everything in them is brought to pass for mankind. for fleeting dreams have two gates: one is fashioned of horn and one of ivory. those which pass through the one of sawn ivory are deceptive, bringing tidings which come to nought, but those which issue from the one of polished horn bring true results when a mortal sees them." - homer's the odyssey

confessions of a bible major (#1)

[[here begins my first series of posts. i plan to spread out my little confessions, interchanging them with regular posts without any real regularity. i'll post these as they come to mind, and they won't always be so serious-sounding as this one. promise.]]

#1 - i tend to dislike paraphrases, as a rule.

when people quote the message, i often cringe. no offense intended, now, but i don't like the idea of basing my faith, beliefs or actions on something so fluid. there is so much interpretation involved in paraphrases, and that makes me nervous. sure, some of the "verses" are pretty spot-on, or hard to mess with, or whatever. and no, not everyone knows greek and hebrew. i don't expect that.
mostly, i tend to feel that such weighted interpretations belong in commentaries, not in "bibles." because too many people who don't know better believe paraphrases to be more accurate than they sometimes are.
i don't expect everyone to adopt my stance and habits of avoiding paraphrases altogether. i do, however, want to help people be aware of what they read, encourage them to analyze paraphrases more carefully, and use them sparingly as simply a resource instead of a main text.
God's word is too important to take lightly, and it deserves our full respect and care in both reading and interpreting.

"what you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth." - jewish proverb

writing again.

after months of silence, i'm feeling the familiar tug on my heartstrings to write. while certainly difficult and even painful at times, it continues to be a joyful process for me.
tonight, as i'm huddled in my too-large bed with my mactop and a snoring jade in the room, i am again feeling the satisfaction of words falling into place, feeling the enjoyment of hearing the mouse-like tapping of keys and the fulfillment of a filling "compose" space on the screen.
as i take steps forward in my new life, i hope to provide encouragement or support to others. without divulging my thoughts, i can make no difference. without taking action, there can be no response. what use is learning, without teaching as well? so, again i write. simply, and from my heart. with love.

"even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." - c. s. lewis