Almost one year ago, I was in Savannah, Georgia. It was the night before my sister’s wedding. After the rehearsal dinner, Debra, the bridesmaids, and I decided to go to the beach.
Two weeks before that night, my husband had told me out of the blue that he had had an affair. Four days before, he had left me and moved to his brother’s house while I was at work. Two days before, he had called, apologizing and imploring me to let him come home. My dad had put him through the wringer. We all decided it was best to go to Savannah for the wedding without him, and sort everything out when I got back. I had reasonable hope for my marriage, but I also knew it could just as easily go the other way.
The night was cold, but the car was like a warm incubator, all of us piled in together, music and laughing. As we drove through the dark, I had no idea what was going to become of me. But as I looked out over the dark marsh, on the way to Tybee Island, I felt this wave of peace sweep over me. I knew deep down that no matter what was ahead of me, the God who created the marsh and the stars and the ocean and the universe was with me, and always would be. And no matter what, there would still be love and happiness in my life, and life would still be good. And in the year since then, I have been shown the truth of that moment over and over again. I believe in it with all my heart.
Add a Comment + Posted in: faith, hope
It’s sad how early you have to start Christmas shopping now. It’s early November, and I already feel behind because I haven’t bought anything yet (although I did start tagging gift ideas to Delicious a few months ago). My problem is that I want to find the perfect gift for everyone, preferably with few or no hints. Even when I’m fortunate to get a wish list from someone (seriously, people, make a wish list and save your loved ones a lot of grief), I feel a little lame using it. Deep down, I fear that people won’t really know I love them unless I instinctively know what they want most. Of course, this leads to total shopping paralysis and eventually throwing giftcards at everyone on December 24th. Then, like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, I vow that I’ll do better next year.
I wouldn’t say that I’m a “gifts” person – acts of service is probably my primary love language, although I appreciate them all. But it thrills me when someone gives me a perfect gift that I never thought to ask for (or even one I did ask for). To me it means that they really see me for who I am. So it frustrates me when I can’t do that for others. You could say it’s a foreign love language to me, one I can understand but don’t speak very well. :P I really dislike stuff for the sake of stuff, especially at Christmas. I want to give things that are useful, meaningful, and personal. Not things I picked up at the Target Dollar Spot in a moment of panic.
This year, I want to stop the cycle of insanity, but I can already feel the stress mounting. The only solution I can think of is to start early to allow more time for good ideas. But I’m already running out of time.
About halfway through football season, here’s another entry for the laughed-till-I-cried files…
My Dolphins are 4-4 and my Memphis Tigers are 1-7 (unbelievable), so I need something football-related to laugh about!
Add a Comment + Posted in: sports
I’m in list mode this week. This is progress, because I used to LIVE in list mode. (I don’t recommend it.) But as we shift into real fall, I feel the urge to take care of things and set goals. Here are some things I want to do soon or over the winter:
– Reorganize my closet and dresser drawers. Probably this weekend, when I unpack the winter clothes. I have a lot more clothes out in winter due to layering, and now I have a whole closet and room to myself, so it’s time to re-evaluate how I’m using the space. I’m excited about this. Because I am an organizing nerd.
– Make a T-shirt quilt. Throughout high school, I collected Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts. I bought them everywhere I went, and my dad also picked up a few on his international travels. Now I don’t wear T-shirts anymore except for exercise, so they’re sitting in a box somewhere in my parents’ attic. I’d like to give them a new life, rather than getting rid of them, because they have a lot of fun memories attached. I can barely sew and have never quilted at all, but it can’t be too hard with my mom helping me. Tips would be appreciated, though.
– Scrapbook my high school band years. I recently evaluated whether I should keep scrapbooking at all. I really enjoy it, but in the digital age, it seems a little redundant and outdated. I decided it would be more worthwhile if I made my scrapbooks more journally – sadly, most of my books have empty journaling spaces because I could never think of the “right” thing to say. Anyway, after spending last Saturday at a marching competition with friends, I’ve been flooded with happy memories. I was the band historian (shocker, I know) and thus have a ton of pictures and stuff. I actually started a band book several years ago and lost interest, but it’s the perfect scrapbooking topic for the moment. Only good memories, and no potential emotional landmines relating to my current circumstances. Yay!
– Home maintenance. I’ve never taken my lawn mower for off-season maintenance. I’ve never had my chimney cleaned, and it’s been making weird popping noises lately. Some of my roof shingles are missing. And obviously, since I was married to a mechanic, I’ve never given a second thought to a car maintenance schedule. Now I have to get familiar with all those things and more. But I can do it! I’m just thankful we replaced the entire HVAC system two years ago, because that would be extremely unpleasant to deal with (and pay for) alone.
What are some of the big to-dos on your list?
2 Comments + Posted in: crafts, domestic
On Labor Day weekend, I was at the Williams-Sonoma Outlet (we’re lucky to have one of these in town) and saw a pumpkin cake pan on sale. I try not to buy many seasonal baking items, because they just take up space for the rest of the year. But I love pumpkins, and I needed cheering up, and pumpkin things have a longer life span than, say, gingerbread men, so I bought it. :)
My big chance to make the pumpkin cakes came with my church’s Community Group chili cook-off last Friday. They were a hit! This recipe came with the pan, but you could also use it for cupcakes. Due to time and location constraints, I iced mine with store-bought icing, but the cream cheese icing would have made them even better. This recipe is fussier than most – I don’t know if that’s a Williams-Sonoma thing or what.
Pumpkin Patch Cakes
From Williams-Sonoma. Makes 24 “half” cakes or 12 “whole” cakes (although I had batter for about two additional half cakes).
Ingredients:
For the cakes:
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 ¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
2 ¼ tsp salt
5 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 ¾ tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground cloves
14 Tbsp (1 ¾ sticks) unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 2/3 cups pumpkin puree
For the icing:
8 oz cream cheese
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
½ tsp vanilla extract
Food coloring as desired
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F and position the rack to the lower third of the oven. Generously grease and flour the wells of the pumpkin patch pan (or cupcake pan).
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves; set aside.
3. In a mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
4. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add pumpkin puree and beat until incorporated.
5. Divide half of the batter between the wells of the prepared pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
6. Tap the pan to loosen the cakes, then invert onto the rack and let cakes cool completely. Repeat the baking process with the remaining batter.
7. Meanwhile, make the frosting: In the electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed 2-3 minutes. Add butter and beat until combined, 1-2 minutes. Add confectioners sugar and vanilla, and beat until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add food coloring as desired.
8. To make “whole” cakes, place one pumpkin half on top of another, with frosting in between. Otherwise, decorate the exterior of the cake halves as desired. These are already huge, so I think a whole cake would be difficult to eat!
2 Comments + Posted in: baking, fall