by jphilo | Sep 25, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday, Uncategorized
I spent most of last week blowing my nose and wondering why God saw fit to allow the common cold into creation. I’m still waiting for an answer to that questions. In the meantime, I came up with the top ten positives and negatives associated with having a cold.
10. It’s a chance to finally sing bass. Then again, with a throat that feels like raw meat, who wants to sing?
9. Those with stock in a tissue company can feather their own nests. But who takes out stock in a tissue company?
8. Colds are easier to weather now that I’m not teaching school. Then again, I don’t get a lot of sympathy sitting around the house all day.
7. Plugged ears are a good excuse for not listening to people. But they make it hard to keep up with the latest gossip.
6. People are more respectful of personal space when someone has a cold. Either that or they’re too grossed out by hanging boogers to stand nearby.
5. Colds create the perfect excuse for taking a nap in the middle of the day. Which means there will be more work than normal to do upon recovery.
4. Colds provide a legitimate reason to say “no” when someone needs a volunteer. But colds turn potential volunteers into emotional weaklings who say “yes” when they should say “no.”
3. A cold gives sufferers an opportunity to rest and recover while watching daytime TV. Then again, does anyone define daytime TV as restful?
2. A cold makes a person appreciate good health. Except colds make most people are so miserable they think they’re gonna die and never be healthy again.
1. A cold is one of those gifts that keeps on giving, the kind to share with anyone and everyone. Unfortunately, people sometimes give it back.
by jphilo | Sep 12, 2012 | Uncategorized
Our CSA is providing a bountiful supply of tomatoes, onions, and peppers. So many, in fact, that finding ways to use them has been a weekly challenge. Thankfully, shortly before Mom gave up housekeeping, she gave me this recipe for fresh summer salsa which uses oodles of the veggies taking over the kitchen.
It is a winner, as was proved at our recent Labor Day Family Reunion. The crowd chowed down a double batch of salsa and two bags of chips in less than an hour, and people begged for the recipe.
To keep you from begging, it’s posted here, along with a few tips. First, you can change the amounts of vegetables to suit your taste. (For example, I find 1 jalapeno per double batch is plenty.) Second, I chop the tomatoes first and put them in a strainer to drain out excess liquid while chopping everything else. Otherwise the salsa can be pretty runny. With those tips in mind, have at it!
Fresh Summer Salsa
2 cups peeled, chopped tomatoes 2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup onion, chopped fine ¼ cup green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped 1 banana pepper, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Put 2/3 cup of the vegetable mixture in the blender until it reaches the consistency you like. Put the blended vegetables back into the bowl and stir well. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
by jphilo | Sep 3, 2012 | Uncategorized
Mom turns 84 today. This year, we didn’t think she had the stamina to make the trip to the Labor Day Reunion being held in northwest Iowa. So in honor of her birthday, the post written for the occasion last year has been reposted below. If you read to the very bottom, you’ll find out there is something new to give a woman who’s 84!
What Do You Give a Woman Who’s 83?
Mom’s birthday was Saturday, and as was mentioned in a previous post, we (meaning 20 people in her extended family, including her baby sister, Donna, pictured above) celebrated in style with the traditional family birthday cake. What wasn’t mentioned in the post was my personal quandary that has grown more perplexing as Mom grows older.
What do you give a woman who’s 83?
Mom doesn’t like to be given stuff because once it’s hers, she frets about it.
“What should I do with it?” she asks.
“Where should I put it?” she asks.
“Do you want it?” she asks.
Kinda defeats the purpose of giving a gift, when she wants the giver to take it back.
This year, I rationalized away the quandary this way.
“Baking the German chocolate cake is my present to her,” I thought.
“Sharing my bed with her for the reunion weekend is my present to her,” I thought.
“Hiram sleeping on the floor for the reunion weekend so she could sleep in our bed is our present to her,” I thought.
“Hosting 20 people at my house for the weekend is my present to her,” I thought.
But do you know what?
Throughout the weekend,
the more I watched her listen to the young adults describe their forays into grownupdom,
the more I saw her enjoy watching everyone play yard games,
the more engaged she became during several rousing games of Catch Phrase,
the more I realized my thoughts were not rationalization.
Instead, those thoughts were the answer to the quandary.
What do you give a woman who’s 83?
The gift of your time.
This year, the sibs and I came up with something to give Mom. We had the signed poster she received from Kairong Liu, the Chinese artist she tutored when he was college student, matted and framed. We’re taking her out to supper tomorrow evening and giving it then. So shhhh, don’t say a word!
by jphilo | Jul 24, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday, Uncategorized
Since Friday’s news of the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, the media’s been replete with horrific images and accountings of the terrible events of that day. The constant rehashing of such incomprehensible evil can quickly lead to despair and hopelessness. To combat those feelings, I wrote a list of the top ten kind and gentle things that happened in my life this past week. While they’re not sensational or newsworthy, they remind me that our good and gracious God is constantly at work, whether or not his actions make the headlines or 6:00 news:
10. A little boy who goes to our church gave me a smile and a big, wet hug at the swimming pool.
9. During our daughter and son-in-law’s visit, our new son insisted on doing the heavy lifting while he and Hiram hauled boxes from the basement to the second floor, fixed my clothesline pole, and cleaned the gutters.
8. After fire destroyed the local event venue where my friend planned to host her son’s wedding reception this weekend, the owners of a local car dealership offered to clear their showroom so the reception could be held there.
7. Arranging food for the family breakfast my friend’s hosting the morning after the reception took less than an hour because everyone I called was home and immediately volunteered to help.
6. When we suggested bringing our daughter’s birthday celebration to Mom, my brother and sister-in-law made it happen by graciously allowing us to invade their home and kitchen Saturday afternoon.
5. When my brother got home from purchasing a dozen ears of sweet corn at a roadside stand, he discovered the woman had given him 15 ears.
4. Ever since Hiram went back to work, his co-workers have been making sure he doesn’t strain his back.
3. During my daughter and son-in-law’s “vacation” at our house, she helped me wash windows. She also cleaned the house, and weeded the flower beds without complaint.
2. When the gas line on the daughter and new son’s car sprang a leak, the car repair shop fixed it in an hour and charged only $100.
1. A reader at my website emailed to thank me for writing a book about parenting kids with special needs. She then mentioned she’s Jake’s mom and the executive director of Caregiver’s Ladder, an organization with worldwide reach, which supports parents of kids with special needs.
That’s my list of the top ten kind and gentle things that made my little world rock this week. What’s been rocking yours and bringing you hope? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Apr 20, 2012 | Out and About, Uncategorized
Hmmm…maybe flying Southwest Airlines to the Accessibility Summit (to take advantage of their 2 free bags policy to haul books & book table stuff) wasn’t such a good idea. Our plane is sitting on the runway, we’re packed in here like sardines, and the pilot announced a problem with the electrical system. The first attempt to solve the problem was unsuccessful.
A technician is on his way.
Call me crazy, but I’m developing a Southwest Airline/Accessibility Summit phobia. Last year while at the Summit, again arriving there via Southwest, the airline announced one of their planes developed a crack in the fuselage. My return flight was one of the few not grounded, so I returned home without a problem.
Though I was on fuselage crack watch the entire time.
But, back to the present problem. We’ve now been deplaned which means I won’t make my Chicago connection. The customer service representative says there’s a “good likelihood” I’ll get to Dulles tonight.
But when tonight remains a mystery.
All this trouble to take advantage of SW’s 2 free bags policy. Which I probably will need since I won’t be in the Accessibility Exhibit Hall to sell books tonight and may have a bunch to cart home on Sunday. If SW planes fly on Sunday.
I’m not holding my breath.
by jphilo | Feb 21, 2012 | Uncategorized
A couple weekends ago, we visited our grown up son and his grown up wife at their grown up house in Wisconsin. They showed us the sights in the area, including a visit to his new workplace.
More than once during the weekend he said, “I have a grown up job,” with wonder in his voice and a shake of his head. “I’m a grown up.”
Allen’s sense of wonder pervaded the entire visit as he and our new daughter showed us around his office, drove us through the grounds of a nearby historical site, showed us the sites in the closest city.
The wonder invaded my soul and Hiram’s too, as we sat in the kitchen and watched this lovely, grown up couple prepare meals for us.
Omelets for breakfast the first morning,
Roast chicken and scrumptious new potatoes ala Julia Child for supper,
crepes for brunch before departure the next day.
I watched them cook and saw
our baby boy on the kitchen floor banging on pots and pans with a wooden spoon,
our preschooler sitting on the counter to peer at what was in the mixing bowl,
our kindergartener standing on a char, “helping” crack eggs (and eggshells) into a bowl,
our 7-year-old learning to make Kraft Macaroni and Cheese all by himself,
our middle schooler baking cookies,
our high schooler sliding frozen pizza into the oven,
our monk baking bread in the monastery kitchen,
our farm hand showing me how to stir fry kale,
our son and new daughter cooking for us three lovely meals.
The wonder hovered round us all that weekend. It was in the car as we drove away. It’s been in my smile and Hiram’s each day since we’ve been home. It wells up inside me and flows down my cheeks as I write. It lulls me to sleep each evening and greets me when the alarm clock rings each morning.
Our son is grown up.
He’s married to a grown up wife.
He lives in a grown up house.
He has a grown up job.
He cooks grown up meals.
In wonder, we bow and give thanks for what God has done.
