60 posts

Sixty posts had November
Again in April?  June?   September?

Ready for magic

When I wear my leopard-print Snuggie backward (open to the front), I feel like a wizard swooping through Diagon Alley en route to the Leaky Cauldron.

I think I need some Butter Beer.

First flakes

Blustering, blowing, wet white snow
Prancing ebony pup.
Safe drive home, albeit slow.
Winter coats, bundled up.

First flakes fall
Surprise storm
Blue fleece shawl
Fires warm.

Two much joy

Two dear friends selected me to participate in a recipe exchange, requiring me to come up with not just 20, but 40 friends' emails to spread the joy.

After a day emptying out my brain to meet a deadline, this was a fun diversion this evening. Thought I'd share the recipe here. (Day 29 ... how many joyful reflections this month have centered around edibles?)

Nancy's Carrot Cake 

1 cup unbleached flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup nonfat yogurt

3 eggs

1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained

2-1/2 cups finely grated carrots

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Beat sugar, oil, yogurt and eggs together in mixing bowl. Stir together remaining dry ingredients in second mixing bowl, and gradually add to wet ingredients. Fold in remaining ingredients. 

Pour into greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until tester comes out clean. Cool, then frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese (or Neufchatel), softened

1 stick butter, softened

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla together in large mixing bowl. Gradually add confectioners sugar, beating until smooth.

This is a very easy, super yummy recipe with a few redeeming health-ful qualities thanks to a few modifications. I gave this as a bottomless cake gift to a carrot cake-loving friend one year - purchased a 9 x 13 baking dish and made the cake and put a card on the bottom with instructions for re-filling (asking 24 hours notice). I've refilled the dish a few times.

 

Enjoy!

Making our streets safe

This fall, we welcomed some new neighbors to our very suburban neighborhood.  They arrived as a family of nine and we saw them nearly every morning while walking the Zigmeister.  About two weeks before Thanksgiving, they vanished.  Wisely, I would say.

But now that Thanksgiving is over they are back and they brought a friend.

Joy free with every purchase

In honor of Cyber Monday ... and because I got an email with this subject line today from Church World Service and thought it was a perfect fit for Finding Joy ... today I am posting this link to the CWS Best Gift Catalog.

Enjoy.

Simple goals, simple gifts

When asked about his ambitions in life, Jonas Salk (Mr. Polio Vaccine) replied "To be a good ancestor."  Great answer, no?

This gave me an idea for an excellent title to a memoir:  "The Once and Future Ancestor."  (with apology or in  homage to T.H. White!)

Advent ...

... begins today.

The instant onset of Christmas season right after Halloween always makes me a little itchy. Especially so Thanksgiving weekend with the full-on commercialism. It makes me want to hide. It's not just that I'm not ready to jump into festive holiday mode. Or even disgust over the tragic stories about chaos at Walmart stores and elsewhere that took me back to the Cabbage Patch Doll riots in the early 1908s. How is that even possible?

Oh, I do love twinkly lights and special traditions and glad tidings of good cheer and surprises wrapped up in shiny paper  and tied with a bow ... all the expressions of joy of the season.

For most of my life, I had only a passing awareness of Advent. Even after joining a church about 15 years ago, I would only realize it was Advent sort of right in the middle of the season as we were stampeding along to Christmas Day. Then a few years ago, I participated in an Advent study called The Uncluttered Heart by Beth Richardson. Thanks to that study - and the e-nudges I continue to get from the author (I subscribed to her site and get periodic updates through the year), I've tried to be more intentional about this season of anticipation. Even so, I almost missed the announcement of another study - and I did miss the first week. But I picked up the book today for a study that continues through the next four Thursdays: "Call Him God's Son" by Alex Joyner. It's based on the Revised Common Lectionary, which, quite honestly, doesn't sound that riveting. However, as I was reading the first chapter, I discovered that Rev. Joyner serves a church on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, which gave me a chill. Why? It is a rather remote, rural area that happens to be only about an hour from my Aunt Linda's home -- one of my favorite places on Earth.

That simply cannot be mere coincidence.

Triple joy

We had an unplanned outing last night to visit friends whose triplet grandsons were in town. The family was sitting around the kid-proofed family room watching the entertainment. Nearly 21 months old, the boys are at that age where everything - an odd noise, a silly face or a simple game of "yuck!" evokes surprise, delight and even belly laughs. Our visit was relatively short - about 90 minutes - but it struck me later that even though there had been a little conversation going on, a room full of adults was immersed in watching the antics of and interacting with three toddlers. And when it was jammie time, it was all able hands on deck. I even got to help one put on his puppy dog PJs, playing peek-a-boo and tickling pudgy toes and chubby fingers as I pulled them through snug pant legs and sleeves. What a gift before heading back out to our quiet, grown-up lives.

Balzac and the National Ballet

Joy is easy to find in Toronto.

Spent a wonderful day exploring off-the-beaten path Toronto in search of 'cool' coffee shops, eclectic used book stores, and black squirrels.

• Great Coffee Shop #1:  Balzac's, corner of Liberty E and Hannah- robust espresso drinks, with nice work on the foam art.
• Eclectic used book store #1:  Monkey's Paw - home to many quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore including a 1950  Esperanto dictionary that I thought was mandatory for my linguistics major daughter.
• Great Coffee Shop #2:  Dark Horse on Queen.  Excellent pour-overs made with appropriate attention to detail.
• Eclectic book store #2:  Also on Queen, but we don't remember the name.  Eric thinks the primary criterion for inclusion in this shop is excellence in cover design.  Every book was absolutely beautiful.
• Eclectic book store #3:  Sanko on Queen.  This is actually a Japanese store and carries sushi and sake sets, a wide range of Japanese culinary supplies and best of all, a selection of books in Japanese.
• Black squirrels- ubiquitous  

And to end the day, the girls saw the Canadian National Ballet perform "Romeo and Juliet" while the men went to see "The Artist formerly known as the "artist formerly known as Prince.""  As I write this, the men are still out, but Ellen and I loved "R&J!"

Long AGO and today's AGO

Day 2 Toronto

Long AGO, we were camping on the rim of Bryce Canyon in Utah.  On one very cold August morning, I crawled out of our tent to hear a distinctly German voice say "Deborah?"  Looking towards the voice, I was stunned to see my good friend Stephie who worked in the lab down the hall from me at ORNL. Completely by coincidence, we found ourselves camped in the same park, on the same night, a couple of thousand miles from home.

Today, after exploring the wonderful Chagall exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), we visited the modern art gallery upstairs.  Al had wandered to the next hall ahead of me, but quickly came back saying "Deb, come see if this is Marilyn.  She shouldn't be here, but it sure looks like her." I actually thought he was talking about a painting- maybe an early Warhol or something, but when I went into the room, I was surprised to see first her husband, and then my good friend Marilyn who works at SVSU! Completely by coincidence, we found ourselves in the same gallery, at the same exhibit, in the same museum, at the same time, in the same city, five hours from home.

How cool is that?

Traditions

The two main traditions on the day after Thanksgiving in our house are eating pie for breakfast and staying far, far far away from shopping areas. So we began today with a sampling of pie leftovers, followed by a long, brisk walk to enjoy the beautiful blue-sky day, then hanging of storm windows ... a somewhat lazy afternoon of reading (me) and studying (Lizz) interspersed with bouts of productivity. A late dinner of Pioneer Woman's broccoli cheese soup, whole grain bread and pomegranate seeds before settling in for Bananagrams and reading ... perfect!

Traveling Treats!

From a charming memoir titled “Cork Boat” by John Pollack comes this nugget:

One tale in particular really captured my imagination, a project [Gavin] called “Peripatetic Pancakes.”  A few years earlier, to celebrate his thirtieth birthday, he had hired a mule train to  haul four hundred pounds of pancake mix, syrup, jam, skillets, fuel, and other supplies a dozen miles into the Sierras of California.  There, he set up camp and for the next two weeks cooked free, all-you-can-eat pancakes for any and all passing backpackers.

What a great idea!  Gavin cooked up nearly 1000 pancakes for hungry hikers—feeding tummies, hearts and souls and spreading joy in syrup soaked silver dollar portions! 

I want to do that! 

So here’s my idea- a lot closer to home.  What if we go to the bike trails and set up a table to give out free cookies, candy,  and drinks?  Randomly.  How would people react?  What would they say?  Would they trust us enough to eat a home-made cookie? Should we try it?  Hmmm…..

Always in season

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two nice things

Two nice things:
1.  I worked up the courage to submit a set of  four photographs in a faculty/staff art exhibit at SVSU in January.   The set is called "Elemental Glass."  So far, I have Fire," "Water," and "Air."  Is it a sign of eternal optimism that I assume that I'll create a suitable  photo called "Earth" in time for the show?
2.  An unexpected compliment from an unexpected source really made my day.  Nice to know that even when I feel beleaguered, at least someone thinks I am doing a good job.

Thankful

For a half day at the office

and the safe arrival of the college girl

a late dinner together

and a little baking

interspersed with games of Bananagrams and Skip-Bo in matching monkey pants

while looking ahead to four more days

and an infinite supply of simple joys

Giving thanks

for kids home from Ann Arbor.
for dinner with the whole family.
for a lovely evening by the fire, with lively discussion, music on the piano, and an early start on Al's homemade pumpkin pie.
for our fluffy puppy running wildly everywhere
but not so much the annoying squeaky dog toy.

A few good reminders

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
-- Henri Nouwen


Joy is prayer. Joy is strength. Joy is love. Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.
-- Mother Teresa


Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. 
-- Abraham Lincoln


Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it. 
-- Jacques Prévert


Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God. 
-- Madeleine L'Engle


If you want to be happy, be. 
-- Leo Tolstoy


Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
-- Thich Nhat Hanh


Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24

-- Jesus Christ

Paw softly this floor of mouse

I really am a master procrastinator, especially when it means avoiding the more significant housework-like activities I promised myself I'd do tonight. Pick up/sort through flotsam and jetsam from the kitchen counter. Inventory baking supplies. Add sugar to sugar canister. Make a sandwich. (Dinner, after all.) Catch up on blogs and Facebook. Find basket for fruit. Add Ashton's and Sammy's school pics to fridge. Rearrange photos on fri-- whoaa ... hey, who put these together with the magnetic poetry?

Paw softly this floor of mouse

The afterlife has only milk in bold colors

Wash above my short nose soon

Siamese feet have mean fur

I scratch his beautiful white face

Make everything a quiet symphony

My tiger friend will pounce when my wild brown fat cat licks mice



This must be what Claudette does all day while I'm at work.

-- Me Yow

Congress smongress

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

Albert Einstein

Do you think he was talking about the congressional 'super' committee?