First post of 2010

Wow. It's 2010. I wrote it on my wet-erase calendar a couple of days ago and it was very strange. But kind of exciting at the same time.

It's now been a while since I went to Minnesota, and the holiday chaos plus slow internet plus the post-holiday slump means I haven't posted anything new since then. For those who may be concerned, I am alive... I'm doing okay. The cold, the messy house, and the holiday exhaustion left me a bit depressed so I took a few days hibernating in front of the television. I think I'm over it, at least until it snows on Friday and all of The South shuts down in a panic.

11 in 101 update:
I fail, at least so far. The only one I've accomplished is #10, "make some money", because I was able to sell some of my jewelry prior to Christmas. If anyone is interested in buying any, please let me know. I've got a website where you can see what I do, and a few photos on Facebook too. I may throw some things up on Etsy, but I haven't decided yet.

Incidentally, 101 days from my initial post will be March 11th.

Christmas
We went to my grandparent's house in Florida, two hours South of Orlando. My folks came down Christmas Eve afternoon, we had dinner and gifts and went to bed early. Woke up Christmas Day and were on the road by 6:15 for the 8 1/2 hour drive. My grandparents are around 90 (Grandpa just over, Grandma just under), and they're trying to clear out their house a bit ahead of time. Grandpa's struggling a bit in mind and Grandma's struggling a but in body, so it was hard from that perspective. My uncle was also there, and we did a Christmas dinner and exchanged gifts and just spent the week hanging out. It was good to see family again. But it was exhausting, and I'm recovering slowly. Here's two of my favorite shots; click for the set.

Read more...

Thursday Randomness

Last night we attended our church's Tenebrae service. Some Anglican and Episcopal congregations do this on Holy Wednesday, but Catholics and others do it on Holy Thursday or Good Friday "The purpose of the Tenebrae service is to recreate the emotional aspects of the passion story..." which went from the story of Judas checking in with the Sanhedrin to set his silver price to the crucifixion of Christ. In the middle were readings from the Old Testament from times when the Israelites were crushed and abandoned and felt forsaken by God. After each reading a candle was extinguished, until only the Christ candle was left; that was removed after the crucifixion and brought back in at the end. In all honesty, I was a bit bored... it was all readings, we sang two hymns that were pretty and solumn but weren't ones that I really emotionally connect to; it was hard to see the litergy and hymn words because it was held by candlelight, and I was focusing (physically and mentally) too hard on following the service to actually internalize it. After the Christ candle was removed from the church (walked out the front door) we said the Lord's Prayer, and that was incredible. It just had a much deeper emotional meaning at that specific point in time. Overall though, I think I've been most affected by the first CRC Tenebrae service that I went to; there was just enough difficulty for me to participate in this one for me to get emotionally involved.

********************

On a much lighter note, Aleta Meadowlark asked this question today in her lovely food blog, Omnomicon: "What are your top 10 herbs and spices?" So I figured I'd share mine, in no particular order. (S&P are a given, btw.)

1. Garlic Salt
2. Savory
3. Rosemary - fresh from the garden
4. Marjoram - fresh from the garden
5. Basil - fresh from the garden
6. Curry Powder
7. Paprika
8. Coriander (don't use it often because it's whole and I haven't got a grinder, but I love the flavor.)
9. Lawry's Season All Season Salt (yeah, I know)
10. Chives/Green Onion (technically more a vegetable than an herb, but I make it work)

We're having chicken wraps for lunch, with lots of Lawry's. Yum!

********************

My right foot hurts pretty badly when I walk on it; it's something in putting pressure on my heel that radiates pain down to my toes. Sigh.

********************

I contested a deduction on my last paper of Week 5 (last week), and my instructor changed my grade! Woo! Go Instructor!

I now have access to my classroom for the new class that starts Monday. It's called "Child, Family and Community Relationships" and is my final course for the 1000 level courses. After this I get to dive into Preschool specific courses. Yay! I have an instructor I haven't had before. We'll see how it goes.

********************

I love watching the bird bath out here when it's a gorgeous day and I've just refilled it and then sat quietly and patiently waiting. Papa Bluebird took a dip a couple times and then got into a fight with another male Bluebird; the finches (I've figured out how to identify between a male house finch and a purple finch! We have both!) did some low swooping but didn't stop, a mockingbird took a drink and bopped around in the leaves for a bit, and two male cardinals chased each other around the tree. There was something enormous in the neighbor's far tree watching it all, but it silhouetted against the sky and I couldn't identify it.

Read more...

Birds

Taking turns in the birdbath this morning:

• 4 or 5 Sparrows
• a House Finch
• 2 Tufted Titmouses (Titmice? They're newly arrived and really pretty. I hope they stay.)
• female Cardinal

Watching from nearby:

• 2 male Cardinals, occasionally chasing each other off
• 2 Blue Jays
• male Bluebird, who's never far from his family so they're probably watching too.
  

I love my back yard.

Read more...