8 Mile

No, folks, I'm not talking about the Eminem movie that was terrible and came out in 2003. I'm talking about how many miles I ran today. Yes, I ain't kiddin'. I ran 8 miles today with Michelle P. I felt AWESOME. I AM awesome for doing 8 miles. Although now that it's evening, and one of my muscles is definitely pulled, and the rest of me feels weak, sore, stiff, and like jello all at the same time; I'm not feeling so awesome.

Hurry, respond now!!!!

My friend Maia is doing this on her blog, and it's such a fun idea. The first 5 people who respond to this post will get something made by me (my choice) for you. Don't you feel super special already?
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. What I make will be just for you (it could be a craft project; it could be something to eat; it could be anything...)
2. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
3. It will be done sometime before September.
4. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first however many people (I chose 5) who do the same on their blogs.
And you have to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Why I'm Pensive

Thank you, dear readers, for the compliments on my photo. And it was even a self-portrait! :) (How junior high am I, taking pictures of myself?)

Anyway, some of you are wondering why I've been pensive and what it is that I've been pondering. There are two things. The first one has been solved, and it's good news.

1. For a loooooong time, I've been anxious about the Verano housing assistant position. I have applied for this position 4 times, and we had to wait a long time for the hiring committee to make a decision. Meanwhile, we heard rumors and strange things, and we (Bridge, Michelle, and me mainly) came up with radical theories and conjectures about what the heck was going on. Anyway, long story short, after many moons of restless nights, I received the glorious news yesterday that I GOT A POSITION! Yes, it's true, I am the next housing assistant extraordinaire. I have a lot to live up to though...

2. Secondly, I have a good friend from college named Alicia. Her husband John has been fighting cancer for over a year. Last September, they didn't expect him to live more than 4-6 months. (He was only 31, mind you). Then in December, they said that after 4 weeks of radiation, he'd be cancer-free. Then, in early March, they said the cancer was back and was growing. He also had pneumonia and because his white blood cell count was so low from the chemo, he couldn't fight the pneumonia. We were told by Alicia to pray for a miracle. Last Saturday, we heard the news that he was given a matter of hours to live. He held for another 40 hours before he died early Monday morning. Alicia, aged 28, is  now a widow and single mother of a 3-yr old girl.

The worst part of it is that she's already lost 2 children as well. This woman has been through more tragedy and attack than most of us will experience in a life-time. Imagine two children and a husband dying! I can't help but question God in these days. Why give Alicia false hope in December that John would be well again? Why take him at all? Why "Job" her like that by taking so many loved ones?

Somewhere in the back of my head, I know that God knows what he's doing, that he's in control, that he "works all things together for the good of those who love him," (Romans 8:28). But in my heart, which is broken for my friend who is suffering such tragedy, I can't help but wonder. Don't worry, I'm not losing my faith; I 'm not angry at God. I'm simply shaking my head thinking "Why? I just don't get it."

John is in a better place, in Heaven with God and with Jack and Rainee, his two lost children. I imagined him arriving in Heaven on Monday morning, in no more pain, his body perfect, seeing Rainee and Jack and running to them, picking them up, and embracing them, holding them for an eternity because time means nothing to him now. He can look back over his shoulder, see Alicia weeping, and says to her, "Don't cry for me. I'm happy now. I'm with Jesus."

Great, I'm crying now.

Funny things about Ethan and Benji

Conversation between Chad and Ethan as Chad was putting Ethan to bed. Bumblebee is Ethan’s transformer, and Ethan sleeps with it in his crib.
Chad: There’s Bumblebee. Hi, Bumblebee.
Ethan: No! Bumblebee doesn’t talk.
Chad: Yes, he does, if you push his button.
Ethan: I talk without a button. I talk by myself.

Conversation between me and Benji.
Me: Benji, can you say ma-ma? Ma-ma. Say ma-ma.
Benji (with a devious smile): Da-da

Knife in the heart why don't ya?

Benji is crawling now! Or, well, scooting is more like it. He’s been doing it about 3 days now. He gets his arms in the right place and one leg in the right place. The other leg is still kind of under his body, and he scoots around that way. He can go pretty fast and pretty far.

Ethan likes to play gardener lately. He’s seen the gardeners around here in Verano who cut pretty much everything green down. No, seriously, for two days, they were over here in our courtyard weed-whacking all the plants, grass, and weeds. It had looked really green and pretty; now it’s completely brown. I’m not kidding. Completely brown. I just don’t get it. Anyway, the other day, Ethan got a little pair of kid scissors and said “I want to play gardener.” And off he went to snip off leaves and branches of the bushes. Pretty cute if you ask me.

Ethan is really into Bible stories lately. (At last, a sign I’m doing SOMETHING right!) We have a book with Bible stories, written for children with big pictures. Our goal is to read one at night after dinner. That’s happened about 10 times. No, just kidding, we’re a little bit better than that. But it doesn’t happen every night like it’s supposed to. For a long time, Ethan’s liked the story of David killing Goliath. He’d say “Read the giant one!” Lately, Ethan’s been asking me at random times during the day, “Let’s read Bible stories!” He likes Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, and yesterday, we read a couple of Moses stories. When we read the one where he asks “the bad king” to let his people go, Ethan said, “I don’t like this one. He’s scary.” ☺

Ethan has been interested in growing. He asks if things will make him grow. “This chocolate milk makes me grow?” “This hotdog makes me grow?” And sometimes, he’ll say with a delighted smile, “Mommy, these noodles go in my mouth and in my tummy and make me grow!”

Ethan recognizes “the Target sign.” You know, that Target symbol that’s on all the Target-brand things I buy? There are things all over the house, like the baby shampoo, the desitin, the baby Tylenol, his vitamins, etc. Whenever he sees something around the house with the symbol on it, he says, “Mommy, is this from Target?” It’s hilarious.

And, finally, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of the boys in the bathtub.




And one of me looking pensive, because I've had a lot to ponder lately (that's another whole post for another day!)

Oh my gosh, this is the coolest thing EVER!!!!!

Whoever invented this should win an Oscar, or a gold medal, or the Nobel prize or something. 'Cuz this is AWESOME!!!!!
Craving chocolate, but don't want to make a whole cake or pan of brownies? All your problems are solved! This is a chocolate cake you can make in a coffee mug, and most people have all these ingredients on hand anyway. Try it; it'll be the neatest thing you'll do all year! I'm not kidding. You'll thank me for this one.

Personal chocolate cake in a coffee mug
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Use the largest coffee mug you have. Mix dry ingredients in mug. Add the egg, and mix thoroughly. Add milk, oil, and vanilla (and chocolate chips), and mix thoroughly again. Cook in the microwave on high for 3 minutes (the first time you make it, place it on a plate in case it spills over). VOILA! Your chocolate cake is done!
Isn't this the coolest thing ever??

How to make your own French memo board

We're doing this in MOPS next month, so I made a sample the other day. And now, you too, can do it. It didn't take me very long, maybe 30 minutes total. Here's the final product:

To start out, get all the supplies ready. You'll need an artist's canvas (flat or with a wood frame, flat is cheaper. I got this at Walmart, a 3-pack for under $6. This is a 12x16 size, that's all our MOPS budget will allow. I recommend you make a much bigger one!), enough fabric to cover it (for me, that was 1/3 of a yard), some quilt batting, ribbon, and glue (a glue gun, gorilla glue, super glue, E6000 glue, or liquid nails), and a stapler.

Step one: cut 2 or 3 pieces of batting that are the size of the canvas. Don't worry, they don't have to be exactly the same size.

Step two: Lay canvas on top of fabric and cut it so that you have an extra 1 1/2 to 2 inches on each side of your canvas.

Step three: Lay your fabric piece on the floor or table. Place the batting in the middle of the fabric. Place the canvas UPSIDEDOWN on top of the batting. Bring the fabric over the back of the canvas and glue it down. Pull each side tightly. Press and hold till the glue dries a little.

Here's Ethan "helping" me glue the fabric down.

Step four: use some extra glue to hold down those pesky corners.

Step five: Turn the board over. Cut ribbon and place it where you want it to be on the board. Make sure you have about 2 inches (or more) to glue onto the back.

I chose to do this design; you can place the ribbon whereever you want it.

Step six: Turn board back over and glue down your ribbon. Pull it tight!
Step seven: Cut another piece of ribbon the length you want for hanging it up on the wall. Staple it to the back of the board.

Here's how it looks on the back when you're all done. But don't worry, the front is super cute.

Step eight: Stand back and admire your handywork! Fill your memo board with pictures of your adorable children (like mine), or with grocery lists or whatever. Hang it on the wall, preferably near your front door. That way, everyone who comes in your house will say, "My, how lovely. Where did you get that?" And you can humbly say, "That? Why, I made it," and they'll be in awe of you.

Food

This is actually the menu from last week. I mostly made up this stuff, so I will only put down the recipes that were successes. I won't bother to write down the ones that were failures.

Sunday: ginger mushroom-potato soup, Greek salad

Monday: poppyseed chicken casserole with rice, green beans with shallots

Tuesday: mango chicken pasta

Wednesday: Chinese broccoli beef (SUPER YUMMY!)

Thursday: lemon-garlic chicken, spaghetti-basil soup

Friday: Thai green curry

Ginger Mushroom and Potato Soup serves 2-3
8-10 oz of sliced mushrooms (about 2 ½ cups)
½ red onion, diced
1 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
½ pint whipping cream (1 cup)
1 large baking potato (1 ½ cups)
1 can beef broth (2 cups)
1 ½ tsp ginger
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat butter over medium heat and sauté mushrooms and onion till tender, about 10 minutes. Peel, wash, and cut potato into small chunks, about 1½ cups. Heat beef broth in a pot over medium heat. Add potatoes and bring to a boil. Boil till potato is tender, about 10 minutes. Turn heat to simmer. Add cooked mushrooms and onions to the potatoes. Stir in cream and ginger. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Greek Salad serves 3-4
1 head of romaine, red leaf, or green leaf lettuce
6 large fresh basil leaves
½ cucumber
2 Roma tomatoes
2 slices of red onion
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
1/3 cup feta cheese
Dressing:
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Wash and spin (or let dry) the lettuce. Tear or cut into bite-sized pieces. Place on a plate. Peel and dice the cucumber and sprinkle over the lettuce. Dice the tomatoes and sprinkle over cucumber. Take the onion slices and cut into 1-inch pieces; add to salad. Cut the olives in half length-wise and add to salad. Sprinkle 1/3 cup feta cheese over the top. Finely chop the basil leaves and add to the top of the salad. Cover and refrigerate till ready to serve.
For the dressing, whisk together the olive oil and the vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and whisk again.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole serves 4-6
4 large chicken breasts
freshly ground black pepper
1 (10 ½ oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 ½ oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 (16 oz) carton of sour cream
3 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 sleeve Ritz (or similar) crackers, crushed
1/2 cup melted butter
Heat oven to 375. Cut chicken into strips or bite sized pieces and place on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish. Sprinkle the chicken with black pepper. In a bowl, combine the soups, the sour cream, and the poppy seeds. Pour this mixture over the chicken.
Cook at 375 for 30-35 minutes, till chicken is cooked through. Turn oven down to 350. Take baking dish out of oven and sprinkle the crushed crackers over the top. Drizzle the butter over the crackers. Return to oven for 5 minutes; then remove.
Serve over rice.

Green Beans with Shallots serves 3-4
1 bag frozen green beans
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place beans in a pot with about 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Boil until beans are tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat butter in a frying pan, and slice shallots. Saute shallots over low heat. Just before shallots are done, add one pressed clove garlic to the pan.
When beans are done, drain and return to pot. Add the shallots and garlic to the beans. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir and serve.

Mango Chicken Pasta serves 3-4
½ lb whole wheat rotelle (spiral) pasta
2 large chicken breasts
2 fresh mangoes
½ cup + 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
½ cup sweet mango chutney
2 green onions
¼ cup chopped cilantro
freshly ground black pepper
Heat oven to 350. Place chicken breasts in a baking pan and drizzle both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Take out, turn the breasts over and cook 15 minutes more. Place aside.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain and place in a bowl (or return to pot). Dice chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the pasta. Peel mangoes and dice; add to pasta. Add mayonnaise and chutney (you can vary amounts to your taste), green onions, and cilantro. Mix together well. Sprinkle with pepper, mix again, and serve either hot or cold.


Chinese Broccoli and Beef      A NEW FAVORITE      serves 3-4
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp oil
2 shallots
2 lbs beef chuck steak (or similar)
2 cups frozen (or fresh broccoli), cut
1/3 cup stir fry sauce
rice
Trim fat off of steak and cut into 2-inch long slices, as thinly as possible. Place the meat onto a plate. Pour soy sauce over meat and mix. Return to refrigerator and let it marinate for at least one hour (or overnight).
Place broccoli in a pot with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and let steam till broccoli is tender. Drain.
Heat oil in a large pan. Slice shallots and add to pan. Cook for one minute before adding beef (drain soy sauce from beef first). Cook beef until no longer pink in the middle, (8-10 minutes). Shallots will be soft by this point.
Add broccoli to beef. Pour stir fry sauce over beef and broccoli. Cook 2 minutes more; remove from heat. Serve over rice.


Lemon-Garlic Chicken
FAILURE. It was way too dry, so I'll have to try that one again...


Spaghetti Soup with Basil serves 2-4
(ONLY MAKE THIS ONE IF YOU REALLY LIKE BASIL. IT'S PRETTY BASILY)
5 oz spaghetti, broken in half twice
¼ onion (white or yellow)
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
freshly ground black pepper
Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain, return to pot, and cover with lid.
While spaghetti is cooking, dice onion and press garlic cloves. Heat butter in a pan, and sauté onion and garlic until tender (about 7 minutes).
Add chicken broth to the pot of spaghetti. Add in onions and garlic and bring to a simmer. Add in basil and pepper to taste; stir.

Thai Green Curry
We tried this pre-made jarred curry from Trader Joe's. It was too spicy for me, but really flavorful. We ate it over chicken, rice, and broccoli.