After a fairly crummy last week, I decided to spend the weekend in Nashville with Debra, Lance, and Niecy! It was a good decision. Saturday was spent doing fun seasonal activities. Niecy opened her Halloween package from her Granna. It was so cute. I also got to watch her while Debra and Lance went to a wedding. She is now sitting up AND rolling over like a champ, as well as eating solid foods. She loves carrots. I can’t believe she’ll be six months old this week.
On Sunday afternoon, after church and lunch, Debra and I enjoyed a walk on a riverside trail near her house. The fall leaves and the river were beautiful. I wish we could walk together whenever we wanted!
I’ve been using my old, 4 MP, AA-battery-taking digital camera since my good one was lost/stolen. I intended to do so for the foreseeable future, but most of my cute Niecy photos from this weekend came out blurry, and I decided life is too short. So I found an exact duplicate of my good camera (Canon Powershot SD1200) cheap on eBay! I’m so relieved to be spared researching a new camera, then paying an arm and a leg for it. I was happy with what I had – it was one of the last basic models with a viewfinder. (What are they thinking getting rid of viewfinders??)
In other news, MAYAN 2012 HAS BEGUN:
Every time someone mentions Hurricane Sandy, I mentally add in a John Travolta voice, “Sandy!” So when I saw this, I was glad someone else made the connection. But I realize that most people aren’t obsessed with Grease. I’ve seen it about a hundred times (movie and play collectively) and could probably perform the whole soundtrack. Anyway, I’m following the coverage and praying for those in the path of the storm.
AND locally, we had a 3.9 earthquake this morning, epicentered 39 miles west of Memphis. That’s the closest and strongest tremor in a long time. I was in my car and didn’t feel it, but one of my co-workers did. Either it was some kind of echo of the Vancouver earthquake, or The Big One is coming!!
The extent of this month’s personal study
Throughout most of my 20’s, I had a consistent, classic “quiet time” every day. Every weekday morning, I got up, read a chapter of the Bible, and wrote in my prayer journal. I had comprehensive prayer request lists and even prayed about specific topics on certain days of the week (I remember that Friday was for family, and Wednesday was to pray for spouses for my unmarried friends, and then for their marriages as they all got married). It was rewarding, but also something of a false security for me – even though I was a failure in other ways, at least I had this much-hyped aspect of the Christian life wrapped up. Despite not being a morning person AT ALL, I even did it in the morning, because that’s the holiest time of day to commune with God, right?
When I was 27, my ex-husband and I bought a house in the suburbs. I no longer lived down the street from my workplace and had to get up earlier. I tried to continue with my morning devotions, but they quickly dwindled to a few days a week. Eventually, after repeatedly staring drowsily at the same sentence for the entire time, I gave up. The old ways weren’t working anymore. I started reading and praying at night, inconsistently, but was never as focused or mindful about it again.
Lately I’m as far from that quiet time piety as I’ve ever been, and it worries me. Although I’m even more interested in the Bible now, I’m mostly getting it through other avenues – listening to sermons online, reading topical books, going to church and small groups. For whatever reason, it’s become really difficult for me to sit down alone and study the way I used to. I’ve already done the Bible in a Year program and am not in the mood to do it again, and I can’t just keep rereading Isaiah, the Psalms and the New Testament. A couple of months ago I bought a good commentary on Philippians (one of my favorites), thinking an in-depth study of one (easy) book would be interesting. Quality over quantity. But the discussion questions for each chapter take me forever to answer, and I don’t even feel like I’m retaining much. So I’m not up to date with that either. I’ve heard these same laments from many mom friends, but I don’t even have the acceptable distraction of a child. My distractions are other books, or my cats, or Friends reruns that I’ve seen ten times. Meanwhile, I hear things like, “Reading God’s Word regularly is essential to knowing Him,” and even “Your quiet time is as important as plans you make with friends, and if you don’t ‘show up,’ you are standing Jesus up.” I love God and want to know Him more, but at this time I can’t get motivated to habitually seek Him in this specific way. Sometimes I do genuinely want to, but it doesn’t happen on a schedule.
My individual prayer life doesn’t fall within measurable channels anymore either. I’ve become a person who prays for people and situations as they come to mind, and thanks God for things as they happen. I keep up a sort of casual conversation with Him throughout my day. But if I sit down alone with a list and try to grasp at prayer and do Real Spiritual Business, it runs through my hands like sand. I can’t concentrate or find the right words. Since my difficult times a few years ago, I’ve noticed that I pray on more of a gut level. Often when I feel passionate about something in prayer, I can’t even express my thoughts, so I send up a mostly wordless emotion and trust that the Holy Spirit can translate it. Is that lazy? Does it “count” for anything? I don’t know. Paul Miller’s book A Praying Life made me feel better about this, but it’s hard to shake off the feeling that prayer ought to look a certain way.
Believe it or not, this is only the tip of my iceberg of angst on the subject. I don’t have a decisive conclusion either. I’m mainly sharing so if others are struggling with this, they’ll know they’re not alone. I’ve given up on finding a quick fix to get me “back on track,” and am actually wondering if this is even something that needs to be fixed. Maybe this is a part of spiritual growth, and it’s okay to have an open mind. Maybe it’s another area where I need to start acting like I believe in grace, toward myself as well as toward others, instead of just talking about it.
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I LOVE fall squash! In fact, I feel compelled to apologize to my Pinterest followers for pinning so many pumpkin and butternut squash recipes. This recipe is one of my recent finds, and I cooked it for last night’s dinner. I’d definitely make it again! It’s a lot of food for one person, though. I’m not the type who likes to eat the same leftovers for days on end.
Butternut Squash Gratin
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens. Serves 8.
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, 1 ¾-2 pounds
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper
16 cups fresh spinach
1 cup half-and-half or light cream (I used milk with a splash of half-and-half, and it was fine)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
½ cup creme fraiche*
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish; set aside. Peel the squash, cut it in half vertically, and scoop out the seeds. Slice to ¼-inch thickness. (Aside: The squash left a residue on my hands that took at least ten washings to remove. Has anyone else experienced this??)
2. Arrange squash slices in a 15×10 baking pan and toss lightly with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove the pan and increase oven temperature to 475 degrees.
3. Meanwhile, in a 4-to-6-quart Dutch oven (I used a deep skillet), cook the spinach in lightly salted boiling water for 1 minute or until wilted. Drain and cool slightly; squeeze out excess liquid. Coarsely chop the spinach (or not) and set aside.
4. In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half and cornstarch; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. (If you manage this without any lumps, congratulate yourself.) Stir in spinach, then spread mixture in bottom of prepared dish. Arrange squash over spinach mixture. (To dirty one less dish, I skipped the step 1 baking dish, instead adding the spinach to the existing squash pan and mixing it all up. This ruins the layer effect, but not the taste!)
5. In a small bowl, stir together Parmesan cheese and creme fraiche. (I had neither the time nor the calorie allowance for creme fraiche, so I used lowfat sour cream.) Spread mixture over squash in dish. Bake, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until squash is tender and topping is lightly browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired.
* To make creme fraiche: In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup whipping cream (not ultrapasteurized) and ¼ cup dairy sour cream. Cover with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours or until mixture thickens. When thickened, cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving time or up to 48 hours. Stir before serving.
Saturday was Homecoming at the U of M! Kathy’s husband was out of town, so she gave me his ticket, and the two of us attended the game with her youngest son. Spoiler alert: the Tigers lost and are now 1-6. However, I’ve noticed a general shift in attitude among Tiger football fans. At this point we expect to continue losing for another couple of years, until this young team gets some experience and Coach Fuente’s recruiting and training really start to take hold. But I think he’s a good coach, and I see progress (scoring any points is an improvement over last year), so I will continue supporting the team. More importantly, basketball season is so close I can taste it. :)
Several years ago, a bunch of old buildings near the Liberty Bowl were torn down to create Tiger Lane, a fantastic and (by Memphis standards) high-class tailgating area. I was THRILLED to tailgate there for the first time as a guest of Kathy’s friends. If anyone ever wants to give me an extravagant gift, I’d like a spot at Tiger Lane, please. (I checked this morning, and they run $175 plus the cost of a Highland Hundred membership. Sheesh.)
Kathy’s season tickets are in the second row. I had never had such great seats at a football game before!
Former Tiger, current Kansas City Chief Dontari Poe was just a few feet away on the sideline!
This morning I finally joined the Alumni Association! I’d been thinking about it for a long time. I’m not sure exactly what the perks are, but I’m going to find out.
When I saw the arresting cover of And All The Stars by Andrea K. Host, with the tagline, “Come for the apocalypse. Stay for cupcakes. Die for love,” I was hooked! The center of this Aussie YA novel is Madeleine, a talented teenage artist who is trapped in a Sydney subway station by the appearance of the Spires – massive, mysterious towers that have appeared in every major city on the planet. She escapes the station, but only after intense exposure to the glittery dust expelled from the Spire. Taking refuge in the nearby apartment of her famous cousin, she waits along with the rest of the world to see what will happen next. When she emerges several days later, most of her skin now blue and glittering, she quickly connects with a band of other “Blues” like herself. Together they begin to figure out their new reality and form a plan of action. With the support of her new friends and a new love, Madeleine finds the strength and courage to fight for her family, friends, and the whole human race.
This synopsis may sound silly, but if I went into any more detail, it would be too spoilery! I think it’s better to go into it knowing as little as possible. Basically, this is solid, compelling, unique YA that’s focused on friendships, not romance (although there are some mature scenes, so it’s not for young kids, and I wouldn’t recommend it to fundamentalist Christians either). Best of all, it’s a true standalone – no cliffhangers! I was starting to wonder if that was even allowed anymore. Someone I know, please read this book so we can discuss.
I’m interested in reading more Australian fiction. I already like Justine Larbalestier (although most of her books aren’t even set in Australia) and Jaclyn Moriarty. Any recommendations?
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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