the christian left

Please, bring these to TN.

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=7411021&nav=S6aK

I will have a camera, a hidden recording device, a cell phone, and a long list of phone numbers with me. I’ll take the day off and go to the polls early.

“Don’t taze me, bro!”

I like about half of what Mike Huckabee says. That’s because half of what he says contradicts the other half. He can say “all life is sacred” in one breath, and in the next he’s advocating the nuking of Iran. Apparently when he says “all life”, he just means “all life that is currently in a womb inside American borders”. He apparently doesn’t consider criminals to fall under the “all life” category. He can express mock remorse for putting criminals to death and brag about how many he personally put to death in the same sentence. Foreigners are exempt as well. And just because Jesus healed the sick doesn’t mean we should, so the poor are also disqualified from being “sacred”. The 3879 dead and 28,000+ wounded military personnel in Iraq are also not a part of “all life”. Sorry, soldiers, Mike supports your right to kill, but he could care less about your right to live.

I’m not sure if foreign fetuses are exempt or not. We know he has no problems dropping a bomb on the mother, but I’m pretty sure he would object to the mother having an abortion while she was being bombed. We’ll put that in the “maybe” category.

Mike loves to quote the “love thy neighbor” verse, but he obviously has no interest in following it. You can’t love your neighbor and bomb your neighbor at the same time. You can’t love your neighbor as you deny your neighbor healthcare. You can’t love your neighbor and tell him or her who they can or can’t marry. Why does he continuously quote the teachings of Christ when he obviously does not agree with them or have any intention of following them?

Mike, if you want to run a campaign of hate, fear, death, and name-calling, that’s your business, but quit using Christ’s name in vain to promote your violent, blood-soaked, authoritarian agenda. You’re trying to build yourself up, but you’re doing it at the expense of bringing Christ down. Stop. Christ is not an endorsement. “Christo-Fascism” is no better than “Islamo-Fascism”. Either start promoting a Christ-like agenda, or disassociate yourself from those of us who actually believe that Christ’s teachings are good, pragmatic policies that should be followed.

So what would Santa do if one of his precious, adoring children FOUND a Christmas gift that was to be a surprise?

I assumed, playing half the role of Santa (or do I play the role of Mrs. Claus?) that I would run into this situation.  Just not quite yet. I, like most people, found my gifts at some point stashed away in my parents’ closet, the attic, etc, just waiting on the  eve of distribution.  I remember a specific time when I wanted a pink and  purple fun-fur sweater and I found that sweater while putting away laundry in my parents’ closet.  Little did I know that Mr. and Mrs. Claus chez moi were divided  on the appropriateness of that particular gift as it was only one sweater for a teenager, and it cost about what a week’s groceries would cost.  Ultimately I did not receive the sweater.  So, anyway, today I shelled out some cash for some shiny new purple Crocs and some butterfly-themed Jibbitz for said Crocs.  This is something I know the girl wants because hers are too small and she drooled over the ones we got for her cousin’s birthday.  And I knew one day she’d find her gifts, put some numbers together, crunch them, and  figure out the gears behind the Santa Claus enterprise.

But why now?  She hasn’t questioned the reality of Santa, in fact she has written one of the most poignant lists.  She saved her word writing ability to write a list containing these items:  1.  baby (preferably Cabbage Patch)   2.  cat (a toy cat, like her Deanie, for the baby doll) 3.  bows (for the doll.)  She desperately wants to mail it, but I want to keep it with my other keepsakes  for her.  So, I know she’s pretty hardcore about Santa.  That’s something good anyhow.

But she saw the Crocs.  And asked about them.  The best I could do was, “I don’t know.  I was shopping today and I guess I’ll have to take them back because they don’t fit me.”  What else can you say?  I am now  faced with the complex decision of whether or not to return the shoes.  I can order some pink ones online and then she wouldn’t expect that possibly, but I already have the purple ones…  I don’t know.  At any rate, Santa isn’t going to be as coordinated as I had hoped because the shoes are part of a larger plan.  There is a dress set to arrive any day that will match the shoes.  So it goes.

I just had no idea the snooping would start before kindergarten.

I have indeed been working that hard.

Holidays have a tendency to create a massive amount of work for everyone, but the difference is that usually that work is work you don’t mind so much…  At least I don’t.  Last week was a lot of strategic planning and cooking, but it  ended well.  And now we’re recovering as best we can.

The tree is up.  I am knitting gifts at high speed — it’s the only way, otherwise I’d spend all year long knitting gifts only to have  a month or so of other knitting.  We are planning what to buy, I am tweaking the budget, etc.  We have gotten a little out of control with spending, which is wont to happen from time to time, so it’s just time to tame the lifestyle a bit.  I’m spending a lot of time cleaning out.

It’s hard  sometimes to realize/remember that you are not defined by the things you own.  Especially when American Christmas is around the corner.  I admit it — I love to shop, I love to buy stuff, I love to make stuff.  I love stuff.  But really, I would prefer greatly to be surrounded by the things I love the most and lightened by the things I don’t love the most.  I have a lot of clothes, but I’d like to buy more.  I’d  like a smaller body to put into smaller clothes, really, but that is apparently a pipe dream.  People like me don’t get much thinner — exercise simply helps me maintain.  I don’t respond well to weight loss efforts, and food is mighty delicious.  Would that it weren’t.  But, anyway.  I am purging. ARC is picking stuff up on Thursday, so I have that deadline to get more stuff cleaned out of the basement.

Someday, when we get things cleaned out enough, we would really like to have another room downstairs.  I would love it, in fact, because I would love to have a guest room.  We used to be able to encourage people to stay whenever because we had the space.  Now, there is  space, but it isn’t useable.  I am concerned  how much work it would take to make it useable, but that isn’t today’s problem.

Today’s problems include more of the following — getting bedecked for a holiday and cleaning.  Possibly warming the body next to the fire whilst knitting.  Man, I sound like an old lady.  How bad is it going to be when I’m actually old?

This is the leek and bean cassoulet with biscuits from the Veganomicon.  And it is FABULOUS!

I never liked pot pies or casseroles with bread on them as a child.  Or adult, for that matter, but as a meat-eater I just never liked those things.  I didn’t particularly enjoy foods that were “mixed up”.  I liked plainer, simpler dishes  revolving around the brutally slain and unnecessary main course.  I feel that vegetarianism has opened my eyes to so many different flavors and combinations, and I enjoy cooking more than ever.  It’s really nice to know that humans can evolve — I have been able to add new flavors to my diet over the years that I would never have imagined I would enjoy.  Not just tolerate, but enjoy.  Leeks are among these.  They are one of the most delightful additions to my diet.  I buy them regularly, and I fix them regularly.  This particular cassoulet is super simple to make.  I actually made the cassoulet early in the day and then warmed it back up to cook the biscuits about 20 minutes before we sat down to eat.

Oh, and here’s a great part — it’s kid friendly.  I got my kids to eat their leeks.  How amazing is that?  So, give it a try or come over and I’ll fix it for you.

Here are some lame-o photos of me in the new sweater.  This *may* be my favorite sweater I have made to date.  Blocking does wonders for sweaters, and this one is no exception…  I did modify the pattern a little — I made the sleeves waaaaaay longer (I like them like that, remember — I may be putting in thumb holes but they may be too long for that) and I also lengthened the entire sweater.  I’d love to have some input on whether or not I should use a clasp or a zipper or just leave it the way it is?  Anyway, I do love it.  And of course it’s finished on the day when the weather is in the mid-70s.  Of course.

and so you can see the hood…

and so you can see I’m lame…

(I look a little much like my dad in this one.)

and, finally a close-up…

Thanks for looking!  It’s hard to explain the excitement about a handknit sweater — sweaters are typically cool, but a photo shoot isn’t required for the ones you obtain at the store.  Usually.

Because I have my Central Park Hoodie all done!  It’s been blocking since Sunday night, so of course, I am anxious to actually wear it.  And to make sure I don’t need to rip anything out and redo.  See, look at the hood.

What do you think?  That seam is a tad off, I think, but I don’t know if it’ll be worth taking it out and redoing if nobody else notices.  I did go to great lengths to make sure that the cables match up perfectly at the seam.

I have been working  on this far too long, so it’s great to see it finally done.  I am SO ready to move on.  To the next sweater, the next whatever.  I had a knitting funk in the  summer where I was making gifts and that was cool, but all my big projects ended up getting ripped out because they didn’t look right or because they weren’t coming together properly, etc.  You know the drill.  So, it’s nice to see this one done.  I do think I may rip out the cuff seam a tad and give myself thumb holes.  But we’ll see.  I need a project that doesn’t take nearly a week to do all the finishing work for next time!  It’s so weird to have a stack of all the sweater parts and feel like you’re mostly done only to realize you’re going to be sewing for a few days in order to get it all right.

Hopefully this will wear well and I can get rid of my hooded sweatshirt.  And hopefully it will look ok on me.  It looked  ok before the blocking process, so usually, blocking makes it that much better.

I am a chronic waster of beef at Mexican restaurants.  I know I mumble, but I take extra care not to mumble the word “bean” at Mexican restaurants.    I stress the N like “beannnnnnnn”, which of course makes me look like a condescending ass.  On occasion, I’ll even throw a “frijole” out there just to make sure and it just makes me look like even more of a jerk.  What I’m trying to say is:

“I’m sorry my native language sucks so much that I have to do this, but the fate of this meal and the rest of my afternoon is riding on one consonant right now.”

but I come off sounding more like:

“I can tell by the color of your skin that you couldn’t possibly know English, so I’m going to talk down to you until you get out of my country and quit trying to take my job, fence-hopper.”

So what’s the best stress-free way to order a bean burrito?

(this is a sad and depressing post)
How spoiled  am I?  So spoiled that I can’t see how good God is to me?  So spoiled that I let a burned dinner (you may not want to ask) ruin my night.  So spoiled that I fail to see that I have the life that most people  dream of.  So spoiled that I find it easier to let go of God because church often bothers me than to hang on to the parts that make me a better person.  So spoiled that I am angry with God for a set of grotesquely swollen eyes thanks to a long night of being upset.  So spoiled that I am angry that God can’t help me line up my hormones and I have been sickly for 6 months now.

Seriously.  Why is it so hard to get on track?  It sounds so easy –  be thankful for the things I have, rejoice, praise God, don’t let these little things throw me off.  Treat my family better than I do.  Act like I know I should.  But it’s hard, I say.  At least it is for me.

Why is it so much easier to run away?  I want a handful of Sundays with no church. (Of course, I can’t miss when I am teaching the preschool class and  don’t want to explain to the girl why I don’t want to go.)  Days roll by where I don’t pray on purpose.  Possibly I involuntarily connect with God because it’s ingrained and  something I do, but I say it isn’t on purpose.  I feel so unnecessary with it all.  God doesn’t NEED me.  I should feel that I need  him, but I promise I don’t feel it.  Maybe it’s a figuring out how He works — I am not too sure.  I guess I feel frustrated that I pray for people to get well that never get well, and you know what I mean and  how  much that sucks.  And when  I rejoice in the successes and happinesses of others, I often feel that God didn’t have a hand in that.  That it just worked out that way due to a series of events.  I’m just not sure where and how God  fits into all of that.  Or if it matters to me anymore.

What I know is that I feel hopelessly selfish, and the guilt from that hurts really bad.  What else I do know is that I’ll be at church on Sunday, I’ll write my check, I’ll take communion, I’ll teach class, keep buying gifts, keep on singing, and I’ll keep saying “yes” until hopefully one day it clicks again and I can drag myself back into this wonderful life that I have for whatever undeserved reason with a refreshed perspective.  And finally be the kind of person I should be.  Not this emo, selfish,  discouraging sort.

Until then.

(sorry for the rant.  if you made it this far.)

Wanna see a big dork?

Yup, that’s me after all the festivities today. I was wearing a hundred layers of clothes because it was a balmy 34 degrees as I pulled out of the driveway. When I got home, however, it had probably gone to about 60. So, as I do not really have any cool weather running clothes, I had to make do. And you can see that they ever so kindly gave me the coolest shirt I have ever worn. That even accentuates that my hips ARE a mile wide. And the girl aptly asked upon my return, “Mommy, why are you wearing a piece of paper?”

I made it through the race with no problems at all. I was running with another friend, and we took a little walk twice to recharge and have something left for the end, but we made it. In about 38 minutes. Now, I know this isn’t anything staggering for most people. Most athletes would scoff seriously at this. But here’s the thing. For the Very.First.Time.In.My.Life I have chosen something active and stuck with it. It’s been a tad over six months since I STARTED running. And when I did, I started the cool running couch to 5k plan. At that point, I was walking 5 minutes, running for 60 seconds, walking for like 90 or something, then doing that for 20 minutes at which point I could walk another 5 minutes. When I saw the treadmill crank over to one mile, I was fabulously exhilarated. I have tried running before, tried the C25K program before. To no avail. This time I finished it. And this time I made it to the race. There’s a lot of hurry up and wait, and my time would have been better had we not gotten lumped in with the walkers. Not too sure how that happened, but it was a sea of people and it was overwhelming. We saw three people totally bust onto the sidewalk. That rocked. I know it’s insensitive, but they were all ok — it’s just FUNNY you know.

I’ll let the fitness update go, but I think it gave me some much needed confidence and motivation to keep plugging along. Next time I want to run for the party. Who’s in? I may even get some real running clothes, too.

On to the tacos!!!

and during the building process…

These are the baja-style tempeh tacos from the veganomicon. And they rule. Make ‘em. Don’t skimp, either. Get started the day before and this is no big deal. Start the day of and you’re going to be chopping and marinading for a while. I had the tempeh on for its soak and the cabbage slaw working in the fridge the night before. We did not have the lime crema because I could not find any plain soy yogurt in our blessed town all week last week. So, we used sour cream instead (vegan/non). Possibly not as festive or adventuresome, but you do what you can. And it rocked. We cleaned out the tempeh in one meal. It was ON. And the leftover cabbage slaw plus some black beans and lettuce and other taco salad fixins make a great lunch. And dinner, if you are busy going to private yarn sales and miss the family dinner that you cooked. Yes, I had an identical dinner and lunch. I couldn’t wait to eat more of that slaw. Delish. You know if there is a Mexican recipe in a book that I will make it. So I aim to please. This one’s a winner, though. Hands down.