A Free Friday Afternoon

There is nothing like a Friday afternoon when you can go home early. I happened to work through lunch today and decided that I'd just leave when I made my 40 hours. When I checked my time, I had one minute left! I was so excited! I got to leave work at just before 2 p.m. today and made it home by 3 p.m. The puppies and kitty and I have been enjoying the warmer weather and played outside.


Tonight it's game night! Every other Friday night we go to one of our friend's houses and they host our group game night. I can't wait to play Apples to Apples and eat dinner with everyone. It's such a nice way to spend a Friday night.

Eventually it will be our turn in March to host the game night. I still haven't decided which games I think we should play. I'm thinking that I might invest in Hilarium, as it comes highly recommended from a friend of mine.



All in all, it should prove to be a wonderful evening, and a great start to the weekend. I'm hoping that I can be as productive this weekend as I was last weekend, but there are no guarantees.

Quiet Night

I'm sitting on the couch, and I was reading, but now I'm looking at my wonderful little family. Zach is leaning up against me, asleep, with Charlie curled up in his lap. Omie is curled up on the other side of me, also asleep, and Penny and Owen are curled up in the crate asleep together. It's a wonderfully peaceful moment. The people I love (yes, my furry kids are people!) are all curled up and sleeping around me. This is happiness.

Kale Soup!

I made Kale Soup yesterday evening so that we could eat healthy and well for a week, and to entertain my father-in-law this evening. Kale Soup is a recipe that I inherited from my Aunt Kim who lives in Washington state. The original recipe calls for a few basic veggies and kale, but over the years I've expanded the variety of veggies I put in it.

This soup never fails to please. People who haven't even heard of the green, or who are generally opposed to foods that are green in nature, love this soup. I have decided that I would like to share my recipe, although there are no exact ingredients. Here is my best attempt at getting them down.

Kale Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
2 small/medium zucchinis (courgettes), chopped
2 small/medium yellow squash, chopped
2 medium turnips, peeled and chopped
3 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
4 or 5 medium red potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large (or 2 small) rutabagas, peeled and chopped
7 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 sticks of celery, finely chopped
16-20 stalks of kale, rinsed and greenery pulled from stems
3 quarts (2.8 litres) of prepared chicken broth, low sodium if possible
1 lb (16 oz, 454 g) turkey kielbasa, cut in medium thick, half wheels
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place chopped veggies and kielbasa in at least a 4 quart (3.8 litre) pot - the bigger the better. Pour chicken broth over the veggies and then add water if needed to fill the pot to 1.5 inches (6.25 cm) below the edge. Add as much salt and pepper as you wish.
2. Bring to a rolling boil.
3. Add kale to pot, pushing down as you add it, and cover pot with a lid.
4. Cook for 5 minutes and stir kale down into soup.
5. Repeat twice.
6. Reduce heat to medium and allow to cook, stirring occasionally for 25-30 minutes. Kale should be well cooked but not falling apart.

Serve hot with warm bread for a delicious meal!

This soup freezes very well, and can last for as long as a week in the fridge if stored and covered properly.

Enjoy!

Pedipaws....

So, I stopped by PetSmart on the way home to get the dogs some new food. Owen has been having problems with making it outside since he constantly seems to have diarrhea. We decided to go with Nutro brand foods - Sensitive Stomach for Owen, and High Energy for Omie and Penny.

While I was there, they were advertising the newest nail trimmer, Pedipaws.

Pedipaws is an electronic rotating filing gadget that sands down the dog's or cat's nails. It comes with an instructional video that shows you how to introduce the product to your pets and then use it. I did not watch this video, my husband did - I was cooking. When I heard him fussing at the dogs for not holding still, I went out to see what was going on. Penny was cowering in the corner, and Zach had Omie penned down and was trying to keep her from running away from the buzzing Pedipaw. Owen wasn't staying in one place, just roaming around the room.

I decided that I would give Zach a hand, and held onto Omie while he tried to work on her nails. She didn't want any part in this plan. When I moved on to Penny, she was trembling and kept trying to get away. Finally, I thought I'd try it on Charlie, and he didn't have much of a problem with it. We got one paw almost completely done before he decided he didn't want to lay around anymore.

When I asked Zach what the video had shown in regards to getting the dogs used to the Pedipaw, this is what he said, "They show the product to the pet, turn it on, and everyone laughs." This is one instance where I love his sense of humor. He then summed up the video as, "they show it to the pet, the pet likes it, they praise the pet, they trim the pet's nails, they praise the pet, the pet loves it. Being able to trim one nail for 2 seconds is a good start."

I'm guessing that it's going to take a while to be able to use this thing properly. Sigh, no miracle.

Monday

Yes, it was a Monday today. It was a hard day to get up and go to work. I was still so tired this morning, but I made it to work on time and I was proud of myself. My husband and I had a tiff early this morning. The puppies started barking before five because someone needed to go out and potty. It is Zach's job to get up and take them out in the middle of the night because I have to get up in time to drive an hour to work. Well, I'm always the one that hears the puppies bark, and it is my job to tell Zach to get up. It irritates me to no end that he won't just get up and get it over with. If the puppies are barking because they need to potty, his delays may cause the newest pup, Owen, to have an accident.

This morning I had to nag him to get up and let them out. He was not happy about it, and decided that he would bring his dog, Penny, upstairs with him when he came back up. We had discussed this that night when he suggested bringing just her upstairs. I said that we had already decided that no dogs would be allowed in the bedroom after all the accidents, and that it wouldn't be fair to Omie and Owen. He brought her upstairs anyway. I got up and took her back downstairs and put her in the crate with the others.

When my phone alarm started to go off at 5:30, I decided that I would give him a taste of his own medicine in response to his bringing Penny upstairs. I let it go off without getting up to get it. Zach will often get up and get it for me, but he didn't feel like being nice this morning, and I was going to make a point. He asked me if I was going to get it. I gave him his classic response whenever I tell him to get up, "I'm getting up." And of course I didn't move. The phone alarm went off and started again five minutes later. The same thing happened - "Are you going to get that?" I moved around and turned over and said "I'm getting it." He couldn't stand it. He got up and told me he was going downstairs to sleep on the couch with his dog.

When I came downstairs before heading out to work, I saw him asleep on the couch with Penny curled up at his feet. They looked adorable, but I was still making a point. I kissed him goodbye and headed out the door.

I'm not good at holding a grudge, and I was over it by the time I had gotten a few miles down the road. I called him to see what he might want me to make for dinner to make amends.

I guess we'll both work through these irritations and find a happy medium for the both of us, but it's going to be painful until we do.

Ok, so Monday posts are supposed to be happy and cheerful, but I think I needed to get this out there, that Zach and I are like any normal couple - we can be petty.

I'm glad that we don't hold grudges though, and that while we may get angry at each other during the day, we never go to bed angry. I love Zach, he loves me, and I love a happy home. It takes work to get everything you want, and it takes patience and more hard work to keep it. Happiness is an earned reward for taking the bad with the good. We all have our faults, and we all need second chances...or one millionth chances.

Sunday, the end of my week

Zach and I had a conversation about something that happened on Thursday before last. To me, that means it happened last week as my weeks run from Monday to Sunday. I know that the calendar week runs from Sunday to Saturday, but that doesn't make any sense to me. If it is the "weekend", doesn't that mean it is the end of the week? We don't start doing anything on Sunday, we are winding down our weekend, so why is that the start of the week? Monday is always the first day of the week in most things, so I'm not sure why our calendar doesn't reflect that.

Today was an interesting day. We went to church with my father, and while the message was good, the mode of delivery was not exactly my style. I have been to some great Pentecostal Holiness churches, and though I have nothing to say against the actual message - which is the most important thing by far - I'm not into unnecessary acting out. I understand being moved by the spirit. I do not understand putting on a show as if the congregation was a theatrical audience. The only other thing that I have to say is that the Bible is very clear about speaking in tongues in church.

1 Corinthians 14:26-28 (NIV)

²⁶What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. ²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.

It is my personal opinion, and I know that other people feel differently and have every right to, that when someone speaks out in tongues in church and there is no one there to interpret, then they are purposefully (though they may have deluded themselves) speaking gibberish to call attention to themselves before others to prove the depth of their faith. I believe that God does not feel praised from, nor care about, our silly concerns with what other people might think about us. He knows us through and through. Our outward actions are to be used to witness to others by sharing His love and displaying His presence in our lives. Our actions must be a testimony, not a stumbling block.

1 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV) addresses this well -

⁹Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

We must be careful of what our actions communicate to others if we are always striving to have others see Jesus through us. If we act out in church before an unbeliever and they have cause to think that we are "crazy", does that not sound like a stumbling block has been placed before them on their path to salvation? I think so.

I am by no means a perfect example of Christ's love - my outward actions leave much to be desired as a witness of my belief. I am not "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry," (James 1:19 -NIV) as I should be. Nor do I always "trust in the LORD with all [my] heart and lean not on [my] own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5-NIV) I trust too much in my own understanding by far. However, I think my opinions in these matters are valid. I only hope that I can in the future be a better witness of my faith - at the moment I am pitifully weak in my dedication to "walk the walk". Lately I am more talk than anything, and that results in nothing these days. Pray that I will work towards putting as much time and energy into my relationship with Christ as I do with the ultimately meaningless things in my life.

Thank goodness for Bible Gateway, by the way. I know what the scriptures say in general, but I have not made myself learn them by heart as I should. The scriptures used above were found through using Bible Gateway to provide me with the exact scriptures where I only knew the basic information they conveyed.

I honestly never meant for this post to be a religious rant of sorts, but that just sort of happened. I feel strongly about my spiritual beliefs. May God forgive me for my shortcomings in this area.

If I struck a cord with you, let me know. Feel free to disagree with me and let me know what you think.

Clean house

There is something so wonderful about having a clean house. My friend Bethany came over for lunch, which necessitated that Zach and I clean up. We straightened, dusted, cleaned and organized the den, kitchen, garage, downstairs bathrooms, dining room, living room, and both guest bedrooms. We got a lot done in only four hours. While I was working inside cleaning, Zach used the chainsaw to cut up the tree that fell down last month. We were so productive! And now we get to relax in the fruits of our labor, a clean house.

Our visit with Bethany went well with a clean house to tour and show off. We enjoyed a simple lunch of sandwiches and salad, and finished off with a fat free cherry brownie topped with cherry vanilla ice cream. We all enjoyed ourselves, even the puppies all snuggled up in their crate.

Having something to do also helped me with not thinking about Bosley. It will get easier I'm sure.