Church Wars

Sounds kinda serious, eh?

Not really. It's kinda comical. Within 5 miles of our little town there are 4 Baptist Churches, 3 Christian Churches , a Holiness Church, 2 Churches of Christ, a Methodist Church, 2 Assemblies of God, an Apostalic Church, Catholic Church, Free Church and various other little congregations that even I don't know about.
Below is a pic of the old Christian Church in town. This is the old building. It got too small and landlocked, so they sold it to a florist and she runs the old sanctuary as a wedding chapel now. Isn't that neat? It's so pretty!

They've since removed the broken neon sign.

This photo below is of our Main Street. Look closely, it's flooded. This pic is from last summer. I kept forgetting to snap some pics of the recent flooding this Spring. We even got an extension on our taxes because we are a Nat'l Disaster Area! (I mailed mine already.)
The streets are designed to flood into the creek that is halfway down the block. I don't know if you can see the little footbridges on the left side. They get rolled out past all the water so that customers can get to the sidewalks! They are definate Yankee Ingenuity (even tho' we are south of the Mason Dixon Line) and cute! You can see one in the church photo above.

BTW, that's the only stoplight we have in town and it's just a flashing red light. Quite a culture change for a gal who grew up at the beach in L.A.

Okay, back to the church wars? It's Sundays at the pizza place on Main Street. The fight is over who can get to the Sunday $5-all-you-can-eat-including-drink Buffet before who. Last time we sat with a friend who is now the pastor of one of the other Christian Churches. He said they always try to get there before the Baptists and the Methodists. I couldn't stop laughing at that statement!

Oh I am so glad to have moved to a small town!! Where the worst thing I've found is fightin' over pizza!

P.S. I just needed to add, we do have a great community of believers in this area. We have the Ministry Alliance, pastors of the churches get together and pray together, plan community worship services, special events and such. And we have the local Youth Dudes: the coalition of youth pastors who sponsor activities with the high school, such as a drawing each homegame to sit on a rickety old couch on a trailer and free pizza (there's that pizza again) behind the goalpost and a Fifth Quarter after the football and basketball games and summer trips and so many other activities. Again, this is a great place to live!

Update on Mom

Mom is doing okay... much the same, kinda like no news is good news. Last Thursday I took her to get a growth removed from the top middle of her thigh? It was ug-ly. Anyhow, since she sits in the wheelchair the doc was going to just let her stay in the chair to cut it out. After the doc left (to get ready) just she and I were in the room, she kept mumbling something. She kept trying to move toward the high-in-the-air examining table (which would be a bear to get her up on b/c she can't help) Finally she blurted out "I DON"T WANT TO WATCH!" I tried hard not to laugh b/c she is all stooped over and her head was right over where the growth was. Stoop yourself over when sitting down and look at your right leg... that's where it was!!! So they were gracious and fine with taking her down the hall to the day-surge room and put her on the surge gurney which was easy to transfer her. I have been laughing since. She's so funny!

My Babies!!!!!

There is absolutely not a single reason for posting this pic other than to reflect upon how proud I am of my children.

My eldest on the right, is a stroke survivor... 3 days before her 14th birthday. She is married to a doctor (she deserves the accolades too... putting hubby through, interrupting her college career) and is the mother of my first grandprodigy! She lives in Upstate New York and froze her hiney off this winter. (We are from San Diego remember!!)

The middle child, we used to call him a catalyst (would get in the middle of "things", stir 'em up, and sit back and watch the frenzy) suffers from all the traumas of any middle child. Says he remembers nothing about his childhood (at least when we tell stories about him, he denies them). He is in his 2nd year of PharmD school, so will also be a doctor! He is the father of grandprodigies #2 and #3!!! He lives in central MO. For now.

My baby girl is on the left. She is in her 5th year of college...? Ya see, she decided upon a dual major: Biology and Spanish, so it took a little longer to finish up. Didn't help that she spent a semester in Spain, got her off track in the Biology rotations of course offerings. But she graduates next month and then begins her graduate program in July: Occupational Therapy. She still hangs out at home, says it's cheaper! She has to move up to KC for grad school and moans about not being able to mooch off her parents any longer.

So there you have it, my kids!!! They are a rather cerebral group. Very academic and serious.

NOT!!!!!!!

Anne with an E

The Sullivan Entertainment production of Lucy Maud Montgomery's loosely autobiographical series, Anne of Green Gables came to mind today.

I went out and bought each of the book series for my kids after that. Set by set. Of course, I read them first. Under the guise of good mom reading what the kids read. Where were they in MY childhood? Somehow I'd missed them. Was it because they are Canadian?

We used to watch Anne of Green Gables back to back all the way through several of the series, not just episodes. I don't know why but today I was missing the quotes our family had adopted back then, and some we still use to this day.

Remember?

Anne Shirley: Don't you ever imagine things differently from what they are?
Marilla Cuthbert: No.
Anne Shirley: Oh Marilla, how much you miss. ?

Anne Shirley: Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it.

Anne Shirley: Wilt thou give me a lock of thy jet-black tresses?
Diana Barry: But I don't have any black dresses.
Anne Shirley: Your hair.
Diana Barry: All right.

Kindred Spirits. Bosum Friends.

Didn't everyone want a Matthew who would believe in us just because you are you?

Matthew Cuthbert: [Anne has come into the barn to thank Matthew for her dress] Puffed sleeves.
Anne Shirley: The puffiest!

Was YOUR heart broken when Matthew died?

Matthew Cuthbert: I never wanted a boy. I only wanted you from the first day. Don't ever change. I love my little girl. I'm so proud of my little girl.

What's your favorite quote?

Meanwhile I'll go outside and stare at MY lake of shining waters...

Ditzy Blonde Moment

More like a ditzy blonde weekend!
I was toolin' around in my little car all Saturday... went shopping, chores, lunch, etc. I drove, Sweet Hubby crammed himself in the passenger seat.

Nooooo..

I wasn't really going that fast! tee hee. I just like that snapshot!
See that left guage there? Below? The one that says 0 mph right now?

Well, that's where the miles per hour show up when driving. REALLY! And it can show me how many miles I have left until I need gas too. It can also show temperature outside. In fact anything below 36 degrees it tells me it's icy out. HA! It doesn't seem to know that freezing is 32 degrees!!! I digress.


So Saturday we are cruisin' and that guage keeps flashing! I thought maybe it wasn't working right, did I need some kind of service? Was something wrong? Nope everything worked fine and besides, it kept going back to how fast I was going. All was right with the world.


Well Sunday morning I was driving to church and it was flashing again. How annoying! STOP IT!!! Um, isn't this a lesser number than yesterday when Sweet Hubby was with me? OOhhhhh, Uh Oh, now I get it. Oh NOOOOO!! I only have 18 MILES left! That guage flashes when I'm getting low on gas!! Hey, so what is that little red light next to the gas guage??? Duh! So I drove home after church and parked it. It's not around the corner to a gas station since we live out in the middle of nowhere so I figured I'd wait until Monday. When I started her up in the a.m. it said 14 miles left, then before I got out to the road, 11!! Even though I was freshly showered, I was sweating as I was drove the 7-8 miles into town. I made it!! (were ya worried? hee hee) When I finally got to the filling station (do they still call them that?) and filled that baby up (she only takes the best Pree-Me-Yum!) she only had LESS than half a gallon in there.


Now maybe you live that close to the edge all the time but not me. Maybe you play a game with your gas guage, kinda a mental "Chicken", not this chick. Trust me friends, I have only run out of gas ONCE in my life and that was in 1975 when I was still in college in the San Fernando Valley!!! I'm not playing that game again. This is THE closest I have been to running out of gas since then... REALLY! And I bet it's a long time before it happens again! Realllllly!


Meanwhile, whatta ditz, duh, "What's that guage flashing for?" har har

Tell me your recent ditzy story!!

Scandinavian Update

Friday my students had their Scandinavian Lab.

When we do Foods 2 aka International Foods I always require tableclothes and simple flower vase centerpieces~~

this week I put flags in each vase.

And usually I have a CD that is appropriate

(this time I recycled the Paris Sidewalk Cafe CD).

They always surprise me with what they like and don't like.
They thought the cucumbers tasted bad, like something was wrong.
I reminded them of the ingredients and did it taste like the ingredients?
Yes. So they just aren't used to that flavor combo. Yes. BINGO!!!

Some didn't know what to make of the custard,

MY FAVE (Swedish Pan Cake),

served with whipped cream and lingönberries

not pictured here,

(but the Fingerprint Cookies are pictured here).

My husband loves flat bread so I include this in the menu.
The kids don't quite know what to make of it
since it is not salty, not sweet, not soft, not anything with which they are familiar:

Here's what the inside looks like.

They enjoyed cracking them into pieces but did not enjoy eating them !

My goal is to broaden the world of these small town Missouri teens.

Many will never eat at a REAL Mexican Restaurant

(only Taco Bell or Gringo's) and most

will never venture beyond the borders of our Great Nation.

I show a travel video rather than a Social Studies type video.
I want them to know the world is bigger than just our little burg.

I am not the world's biggest traveler, but I have either been to these places or God has put me in places to experience the peoples of these places.

My best friend through elementary school is Japanese and we are still in touch.

My roommate in college was 1st generation American Chinese. Her uncle had a restaurant in Chinatown in L.A. She would bring home the little white boxes when she returned on Sundays... containing the most amazing things inside. She taught me how to stir fry and some secrets of Chinese Cuisine.

When I was in college my mom was a member of the Explorers Club, headed up by Elmer_Dills of KABC tv in Los Anegles. The goal of this montly club was to enjoy the finest yet affordable ethnic cuisines of the Greater L.A. Basin. What an education that was!

I married a second generation Finn.

My mom is 1st generation Irish American but hated most of that fair isle's bland foods so she never prepared it for me. As I began to celebrate my heritage by teaching my own children I learned to love corn beef and cabbage and singing "Irish Eyes". They had wonderful cuisine when we toured the entire coast in 2002.

I've eaten my way thru a week in France.

I learned to make paella in Spain.
I lived in the San Diego area for 20 years and experienced the best Baja Mexican cuisine.
For her 80th birthday, my sweet foster mom requested dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. (For her 90th in February, they took her to a Thai restaurant). My niece had spent 3 weeks in a village in Africa so she taught us how to eat.

For my 50th we went to a Greek restaurant.

I think I mentioned in my profile that I love food.

Is it any wonder?

Scandinavian Food! Sisu!

My students are cooking Scandinavian: Swedish Meatballs, Ga Ga's Dill Cukes, Thumbprint Cookies, Ga Ga's Pan Cake (actually a custard but she called it pan cake), and a big round of rye flat bread will go on the side. The Pan Cake is still finishing in the oven even tho the kids are gone. They will eat tomorrow. Mmmmmm that cinnamon smells delish!

Swedish Pan Cake
Kim’s grandmother: Hildur Hendrickson (1900-2000), born in Finlandia.

4 eggs
4 Tbsp flour
4 Tbsp sugar
3 C milk
Dash salt
2 Tbsp butter
Cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°F
Beat eggs. Add sugar and flour. Beat. Beat in milk. Add salt. Melt butter in baking dish in preheated oven until bubbling and just starting to brown. Pour liquid mixture into dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 450°F 15-20 minutes (should puff up big). Lower temp to 325-350°F and continue baking until done (15-? minutes) until no liquid, like a custard. If starts to brown too fast, turn oven off & leave until done. You can fix ahead and chill or serve warm.
Serve with Lingönberries and whipped cream or Cool Whip. Yes, you should share.

Ga Ga's Dill Cukes (very refreshing)

3-4 Cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin
2+ Tablespoons dried dill weed
1 C Sugar
1 C White vinegar

Peel and slice cukes and place in a plastic or glass bowl.
Sprinkle dill weed over cucumbers.
Sprinkle sugar over all next.
Pour vinegar over all and give a nice stir.
Cover and chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Daffodils, Easter dresses, fishies and boats!

We dressed the girls up in their Easter dresses

to get a good pic (yeah right!) down on the dock.

H loves her daffodils:Hmmmmm. They're not dandelions!!!!This girlee has one pose... hand in mouth!!!

Drool on dress!There's the girls together!!!Daddy & Pop were fishin'

Daddy caught a fish!!!!!"I can touch it!"She really really really really wanted to go out in the boat,
and wasn't scared at ALL!

"I ready!""Go back Charlie!!! Jay, if Charlie drowns or has a heart attack
I'm blaming you!!!", yelled LJ."That was FUN!"

We're happy!

We're kinda happy!
HUNGRY! NOW! I am blessed to have the BESTEST daughter-in-law in the world.

I think we get along so well because:

#1 We both love her husband

#2 She bore my grandgirlees

#3 We are SOO much alike!