Taste trumps color

Today, I felt like being creative in the kitchen. I’ve always admired chefs. I long to be more skillful in the kitchen, invent my own recipes, and wow people with deliciousness. I was just not in the mood for another turkey and cheese sandwich. I searched the fridge and freezer and took inventory of what was inside. There was chicken, broccoli, pre-cut seasoning veggies, left-over white rice, and fresh garlic. Ooooh, and some red wine. Idea! Put all these ingredients in a skillet and let it simmer with the wine. Chefs do that all the time on the Food Network.


I decided to lightly brown the rice with the veggies… that came out well. Then I needed to prepare the chicken. Interestingly enough, this chicken was pre-cooked, and had just been frozen. Holla! I basically just needed to heat it up since it was already cooked through for me. I added the red wine. I guess professional cooks know about adding wine to food. I’m questioning whether they actually add red wine or maybe it’s just red wine-based vinegar. Maybe it’s always white wine…. I watched the chicken cook, and slowly, it become pink… oh, then lavender. The chicken absorbed the flavor, and unexpectedly, the color as well. HA-HA-HA. I really don’t know what I was thinking. Here I was cooking WHITE meat in RED wine. Duh.

Pastel purple chicken doesn’t look very appetizing, but could it really taste bad? It’s not like I added poison to the chicken. As soon as I took that first bite of my mauve-colored breast piece, I knew right away that color didn’t matter. It’s what’s on the inside that matters. Please, don’t judge my purple chicken. It’s delicious.

Ever tried to break into your own house?

I blame this incident on my new garage door opener… and maybe, Beta. I would have written this post on the day it happened (Wednesday), but I've been preoccupied with essay-writing for Texas Teaching Fellows.

Beta is a special dog. He's active like a puppy (despite his non-puppy size), runs at the speed and style of baby gazelle being chased, and only plays with toys that squeak. One of his all-time favorite things to do is watch the cars and trucks pass by our house. From our sloping backyard, he'll stand at the highest point, watching and waiting for the nosiest vehicle, and once he's gets the right one, blindly chases it along the fence. Sometimes he just spins around and around in circles. To each his own, right? Well, lately Beta has decided that he'd rather stay outside in the hot sun and chase cars rather than return to a cool air-condition house with his canine lounge bed and squeak toys. He just stubbornly ignores his name and the command "Come". My dog: the rebel. Well, it's annoying. I can't chase him down to get him in the house, but I feel guilty leaving him outside for such a long time in this increasing Texas heat. Since he disobeyed that morning about coming in before I left for work, he was just going to have to stay outside until I came home for lunch.

While on my way home around noon, I was worried about Beta. I hoped he had enough water and had found shade. I pulled into the garage using my new garage door opener, and immediately headed to the backyard to get Beta inside. I found him wedged between the wall and the air-conditioner unit trying to get into the shade. I attached the leash to his collar, but he came quietly and submissively, as if, he finally regretted his decision about not coming inside when he had the chance. When it was time to go back to work, I merrily headed towards the laundry room to get to the garage. It's important to know that the door leading the garage door has a lock on the door knob. It's one of those doors that can be locked before it is shut. And that's exactly what happened; I turned the lock and shut the door. I open the garage door and hopped into Harriet. Uhh… the key light was blinking. I moved my purse closer the ignition (my car has this keyless feature, meaning the key just needs to be near the car to operate it). Well, moving my purse closer didn't work. Still, no luck. Are my keys even in my purse? I dug around and …(*insert bad word here*)

I knew without a doubt that I had locked the door, but I tried it just in case it would miraculously unlock itself for me. It didn't. (*insert a string of impolite four-letter words here*) Ugh! I could visualize where my car keys lay, and unfortunately, a locked door and some hallway separated us. So now my stubborn dog, Beta, is comfortably locked inside the house while I'm locked outside. I tried going through the backyard, hoping maybe I forgot to lock the backdoor. Turns out, I have an incredible memory for locking things. Before my garage door opener, I had to go through the front door, which has a normal lock. You know the sort - where you open the door, shut the door, insert key, turn, and leave. It would be near impossible to lock myself out of the house in the pre-garage door opener days.

After trying all the doors, I called my parents, hoping they had some spare key hidden somewhere. Nope. Well, then my Dad suggests trying to go through a window. Ummm… I just thought back to that news story with this Black (Harvard, maybe) professor was locked out of his house, and tried to break in. It resulted in his neighbors calling the cops, and the situation getting political. There's really not a good way to break into your own house… especially, when your house in on the corner. If I tried to be sneaky, I'd look suspicious. If I looked obvious, well, I'd still look suspicious. I tried popping off a screen like Dad suggests. Well, I'm happy to know that our screens don't just pop off. Although, I didn't work too hard on prying it off. It was the middle of the day, and I was fighting the rose bushes to get to a window on the front of our house. It was plan I was happy to abandon. Mom just panicked when I told her the news. She promised to leave work and come home to rescue me. Really? She wanted me to wait an hour for her? I'm cleverer than that.
I decided to just call one of my co-workers to pick me up from my house to get back to work. That was an awkward conversation.

"Hey, can you do me a favor?"
"Uh, sure. What?"
"Would you mind coming by my house to get me, so I can return to work? I locked my car keys inside… and myself outside."
"Ba-ha-ha…Sure thing!"

 I could only laugh at my situation, too. My solution: un-stack a lawn chair from the garage and wait in the shade.

April showers bring May flowers

So a few things may have rained on my parade recently, but that just meant there would be some blooming...

1.  My brother came home... so I left for awhile.  I'm in Miami for ANOTHER week, and I've been here for a week already!!  It's been a much needed break.

2.  After lots of sweat and soreness, I'm no longer a size 10 but a 6-ish.  I can't recall the last time I could wear something that was a single digit.

3.  My first attempt to take my Generalist 4-8 content exam for teacher certification was cancelled due to a snow-strom!  Crazy, huh? I stopped studying completely until the week before my rescheduled test date.  After much stress and doubt, I passed!! 283/300!  So pleased!

4.  My car killed my iPod.  I pitifully took it to the Apple store to be saved, but instead it was replaced for FREE!  It only had a 1 year warranty and it was over 4 years old. Amazing customer service, Apple!

5.  I regrettably allowed my mother to trim my hair... big mistake.  Not only did it look rough and dead still, but now uneven and butchered.  Weeks later, new haircut! Talk about serious damage control.

So...

Decisions I'm making and goals I'm setting:

1.  Go into teaching for awhile.

2.  I must go back to school... I miss it.  So, I'm deciding on graduate programs or law school.

3.  I'm going to France and Australia next summer.   I'm not backing out.  I'm going! :-)

4.  Oh, and I'll begin my search for a date to Dana's wedding...maybe... whatever.

Easter

I absolutely love Easter. Along with falling in line with Spring, it is such a glorious time of renewal.  A couple of years ago, I spent Easter in Scotland.  I got up before sunrise and walked down to the beach and from the West Sands, I watched the most gorgeous display of colors fill the sky and ripple across the waves of the North Sea.  It was an Easter like no other, and will stay with me for the rest of my life.  This year was more of a typical Easter for me.  I went Shreveport to visit family and attend church at St. Paul's United Methodist Church where I grew up going. The church recently got a new pastor, Rev. Beverly Connor, and she is unbelieveably fantastic!  Her sermon was dynamic and touching and spiritual and wonderful and oh, I could go on.  She was just that good.  I was surrounded by my wonderful family, little girls in springy dresses and white stockings, good food and loud laughs, and a striking awareness of love and grace.

Jesus suffered every pain and every humiliation possible from man... and then from God.  And then He died.  He died an absolute death, one that we will never have to face.  Jesus, who had not one iota of glory on earth, died for our sins, and for our pain, and for our humiliation, descended into Hell taking the worst parts of us with Him.  But by His eternal power, He rose from the dead.  He defeated death for us.  We can never be separated from God because Jesus sacrificed himself for us.  He died a criminal's death, a temporal and human death, and then conquered it.  He then ascended into Heaven, to His Kingdom, with full and eternal glory.  There's no story or miracle like it.  Thousands of years after His death, Jesus' blood still washes me clean,and His love is eternal along with the grace we have been given.  Oh, it just makes my heart swell with gladness.

And now my belly can swell with gladness, too.  I get to eat cookies again, and trust me, I've already begun to make some real progress on a box of Girl Scout cookies. 

vernal equinox

March 20th was the official first day of spring, the vernal equinox.  Well, Texas - having predictable and consistent weather like always- decided that the DFW region might like some more snow since it hadn't had enough already.  It's completely crazy.  My grandparents have always warned us about that Easter snap... but it was always around, oh I don't know, Easter.

I must admit, snow is very pretty, but in order to have beautiful snow, near freezing temperatures are required.  That's the not-so-pretty part.  I hate being cold and then really despise being near freezing.  Winter was supposed to over yesterday, but decided to make another surprise visit.  I'm really looking forward to an enduring heat wave that will bring gorgeous mid-seventies temperatures, sunny days with cool, light breezes, and rain/thunderstorms that let the sun shine through.

I really like the transitional seasons, spring and fall, but I seem to near fall apart during my own transitional seasons of life. This is all kind of cheesy, but Texas' unpredictable weather patterns and nebulous seasonal changes are turning out be similar to my life.  For a few weeks, everything will seem temperate and cool, only slightly cloudy.  At the drop of a hat, a massive storm cell moves in or some freaky cold front freezes everything.  I'm left waiting for things to clear up and return to "normal," but never really sure when that'll be.

Lent… and I don’t mean that dryer stuff

Although not all Christians participate in Lent (I believe it’s more of a traditional thing), our church and family do. I think growing up in Louisiana where everyone celebrates Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, I had to learn the significance of the celebration and the meaning. Way, way back in the day, the Catholic Church established a fast that would last 40 days leading up to Easter. The 40 days would start on Ash Wednesday, so the day before was supposed to be one super huge feast and celebration to get you through the next 40 days. I can’t imagine fasting from Ash Wednesday to Easter, so clearly Fat Tuesday was serious business. It’s like a bear eating tons of food to add up a hefty fat storage right before it goes into hibernation for a season.

Nowadays, the tradition lives on, but it doesn’t demand total starvation for 40 days. It’s customary to give up certain things for the duration of Lent season. In the past, I have given up things like eating after 7:30 PM, cokes (soft drinks/sodas, not the drug), fried foods (so difficult!), and sucking my finger (that was a long time ago like 1st or 2nd grade).

This Lent season, I have decided to give up cookies. Oh, cookies! They are my downfall. No more chocolate chip, oatmeal, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, shortbread, Girl Scout, sugar-frosted, Oreo… I should stop. No Cookies! Not even on Sunday (which Sundays are not counted in the 40 days). I also decided to do something different this year. Not only have I committed to subtracting cookies from my life, but I’ve also committed to adding exercise to my life. Everyday, I must actively exercise. I count taking Beta for a walk as exercise (if you tried to walk him on leash, you’d agree it’s a workout), doing self-led yoga, and Wii. Oh, how I love the Wii. It keeps track of minutes and progress and is ridiculously fun.

Lent also makes me more aware of my faith, and lately, I’ve been more contemplative of God, Christianity, the human condition, other religions, freedom, philosophy, politics, and how in the world are we supposed to make sense out of all of this. Just for today, I have constructed a concept may while sitting at my desk, waiting for those work-related emails to trickle in. It’s quite basic, but I figure a concept map is supposed to be pretty basic, showing correlations and main ideas.
 
 
 

 
Hmmm... I took a picture of my computer screen.  I'm not sure if it'll get larger when clicked on...(?).
 
After Easter, I will be eating a Mrs. Field's cookie cake.  The entire thing!!!

Scatter-brained

I can't seem to focus my mind right now. I probably should have waited for my mind to clear some before writing this entry, but I figured it needed to be now or then who-knows-when… So, my sincere apologies for jumping topics, non-cohesive paragraphs, and scattered remarks.

And it's happened, folks!!! I got a car! I love my new car. J It's a Nissan Versa SL hatchback that's very bright red. I've named her Harriet…my chariot. So far, it's been two weeks with Harriet and she already has about 420 miles on her. She started out with a mere 11. She has already taken her first road trip, too. Just a few days after her purchase, she transported my friend Chelsey and me to Waco. It was delightful. Absolutely delightful.

I've started working solo now, no more training. I really like my job. They gave me the title of Instructional Support Associate, but my self-proclaimed title is Webmaster, B.A. (and the "B.A." doesn't just refer to my degree) *wink*. My job is assisting in the management of all the online courses… and I'm nothing short of amazing at it. Well, I think so anyway. I hope the professor and students feel the same way. Ha-ha. I get my very own little "studio" (another one of their fun titles for cubical) complete with textbooks, computer, all the office supplies I could ever need, mini file cabinet, and a coveted window view. I think the best part about my job, is that the professor takes the time to get to know me. He asks about my interests and goals, and he's always giving me different organizations to look at or suggesting different grad schools. I really appreciate that. I like that he's encouraging and sees my potential even when I at times cannot.

Oh my goodness! The snow! I almost forgot to mention the snow! Dallas/Fort Worth had record-breaking snowfall today. It has snowed ALL day long. I tried to make a snowman earlier, but Beta kept eating and attacking my piles of snow. But honestly, I could make an entire snowman family or a snowman army. I've never seen the snow get so deep. It was gorgeous but at the same time… annoying. I wonder, is that an indicator that I'm getting older? Yes, the snow is very pretty and I wanted to play in it, but at the same time, it's an impediment to just about everything. I have my teacher certification test tomorrow, and I had to call around all afternoon to figure out how the snow and icy roads would affect my test. I wanted to take Harriet to the library today and then to the grocery store for key lime truffles ingredients, but no. The snow foiled that plan. So, does that make me half a grown-up? Enjoy the snow, but sick of the snow simultaneously?

 I'm currently obsessed with two songs that I recently downloaded. Song 1: Bloodline by Matt Morris. The music is gorgeous, I'm in love with verse two, the harmony is sweet, and his voice is wonderful. Youtube it… fo realz! Song 2: Undertow (feat. The Fray and Estero) by Timbaland. Listen here! I love the beat, the rhythm, and the voices. Hooray iTunes.

I baked snickerdoodle cookies and worn knee-high music note socks today. J

The End.

PS. I'm sad I won't be going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but I'm sure it'll be crazy with the Saints win at the SuperBowl. I'm going to brush up on my baseball knowledge. Target has awesome spring/summer sandals already on the shelves (bought two pair already). Valentine's Day: chick flick or an Indian Jones movie???