April 20th, 2010
in
Personal Events |
Comments Off
Only way to describe the weather. The solid cloud cover is so thick and dense that light hardly gets through. There was no day time today. Not even cloudy daytime. Solid dusk.
People seem to think that not having sunshine makes me depressed. They are mistaken. I do get depressed sometimes, but not for lack of sun. Rather, I get depressed because my body is no longer functional. The back of my eyes are thinning and need to be rechecked in 9 months. My hormone levels are all over the place and out of control. My mind is often cloudy and dull. I have a hard time processing. A hard time remembering. A very hard time switching from one task to another and simultaneously having a hard time focusing on the task at hand. I do not feel relaxed ever without intoxicants.
I saw a doctor today who is convinced I have a gluten intolerance. However, I do not experience any of these symptoms when I am receiving a healthy dose of sunshine. Wonderful, relaxing, stretching naked on the back porch sunshine. So perhaps lack of sun is causing a gluten intolerance? Or maybe that is a side-effect of the stress caused by not having any way to relax?
Whatever is going on, lack of sunshine does not make me depressed. This is nothing like looking out on a cloudy day and feeling a bit bummed. This is nothing like looking forward to the next sunny day. This is complete degradation and demoralization. This is ceasing to be alive.
I do not need to stop eating gluten. I need to have the healing wonders of God’s universe wash over me. I need the world to be bigger than these grey, dusky skies.
April 14th, 2010
in
Other |
Comments Off
to see if the blog is still broken
March 30th, 2010
in
Personal Events, Political |
No Comments »
I am sure all my readers know by now that I listen, via the web, to my favorite Austin radio station–KVET. This morning while I sit calmly hand-edging my new silk kitchen towels, a Conway Twitty song came on. I am hand-edging the towels as opposed to machine top-stitching for several reasons, not the least of which is that it looks nicer and goes better with the hand-embroidered Bible verse. Also, I can sit upstairs where it is warmer than downstairs which is still too shivery in the day to enter.
So this song comes on the radio and I am singing along to it. Not just the chorus, but the verses as well. Part of mind acknowledges that this could be described as “sexist”. Another part is feeling all warm and glowy thinking of the sentiments expressed. Still another part finally settles on an apron pattern that will work for me.
I chose this career and I love it. I want to be better at it, and self-improvement is more motivation than raises or stock options. I want to cook more. I want to garden. I want cleaning to not make me so irritable. Or really, I want the kids to learn to clean more without my having to goad them. All this and hoping the verses of this song will apply to me. Some women would be offended to have this song sung to them. Many women, these days. Some of us still want that and there is no telling what a woman wants without asking her. To this end, a love song can never be described as sexist. It is intended for the one person who the writer loves. The intended may truly swell in happiness from the song. And sharing a love song is nice for those men who want to express these things to the wives that will appreciate them, but not be very poetically inclined themselves.
A lot of contemporary love songs are obnoxious, but I will try to keep in mind that they are intended for a different woman. A woman who chooses a different path. Lucky for me, songs last longer than their popularity. Lucky, also, that there is a radio station that still plays these songs. In case you don’t know what Conway Twitty song I heard this morning, here it is.
Link to YouTube video
March 22nd, 2010
in
How To |
Comments Off
Mondays have turned into Beef-days around here. So, the last few Mondays, the kids and I try to come up with a tasty, dairy-free, after-dinner treat. Today I was looking at a months old, never opened, box of gluten-free puffed rice. Only one thing to do with uneaten puffed rice. Yum! I searched and stole ideas from various marshmallow-free rice-crispie treat recipes and came up with this:
Gluten-free puffed-rice deliciousness!
I cook better when I premix ingredients, so I will explain it that way.
In a bowl mix 1/3 cup of each of the following:
shelled, roasted, unsalted peanuts (or raw, unsalted peanuts; or date pieces if you are allergic to peanuts)
chopped pecans
shelled, unsalted sunflower seeds
Fair Trade (or some similar certified slave-free), semi-sweet chocolate chips (No one will think twice if you eat a few as long as you share with your helpers)
and 1 1/3 cup of gluten free puffed brown rice
Set aside
In another bowl or cup, beat together 1 egg, 1 tsp of vanilla, and 1 tbsp of almond milk
Set aside
In a small pan, melt a heaping spoonful of coconut oil. To that add 1/2 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of peanut butter (or any other nut butter if you are allergic to peanut). Bring this mixture to a boil and add the egg mixture. Cook for a couple minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Let it cool a little bit and then let the kids stir in the nut, seed, chocolate, and puffed rice mixture. Unless you let it cool for a long time, the chocolate chips will melt in a delicious way. Smash the mixture smoothly into a pre-greased pan and stick in the fridge. Let cool in fridge a few hours.
These don’t hold together as well as using marshmallows, but they sure are more delicious than the traditional rice-crispy treat!
PS: Don’t even think about using slave-chocolate in my recipe! And if you use Nestle Tollhouse–may God have mercy on your soul! Argh!
I am a stay at home mother to a toddler and an infant. I enjoy sewing and learning css. My greatest dream is for 70%-80% of women in the U.S. to recieve the safest prenatal and labor care available for low risk births--a midwife's care!