My oldest son, Jeremy, shared this with us and it cracked us all up.
Monthly Archives: September 2008
Works For Me Wednesday: Leftover Rice
I haven’t done a WFMW in a while, having run through my whole repertoire of tips long ago. But when I was making lunch today I realized I had an unshared tip I could share.
The condensed version: leftover rice can be frozen.
What would you use frozen rice in? Well, I often make canned soups for lunch in the winter when I am eating alone, but most of them are too soupy for me, so I like to add a bit of leftover rice or some frozen corn or leftover tomato soup, etc. I especially like adding the leftover rice but didn’t always have any on hand when making soup. And when I had leftover rice on hand it often grew green fuzzies in the frig because I had other plans for lunch. So once I put some leftover rice in a plastic zipped bag in the freezer, then took it out and microwaved it about 20-30 seconds, just enough to loosen it up from the solidness it freezes into, added it into my soup, and it worked beautifully.
Now I often make a little extra rice in order to have some leftover to freeze.
You could also mix it in a bit of leftover casserole or cover it with a little leftover gravy.
You can find Works For Me Wednesday most weeks at Rocks In My Dryer.
Happy Birthday, Jesse!
Fifteen years ago God brought a BIG, happy baby boy into my life.
He has always been cheerful and easy-going…
Adventurous…
Flexible…
Fun…
And loving.
This year we face high school…and driver’s training! 😮
I hope you have a great day, Jesse! And many more to come!
And thou…my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. I Chronicles 28:9a.
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I Timothy 2:1.
Site-seeing
Thanks to those who prayed for my family in Texas through Ike’s onslaught. They lost power around 2 a.m. the night it hit, but otherwise had no damage. I don’t know yet if the power has been restored — I haven’t been able to get in contact with them since Saturday morning, so that may be one indication they haven’t.
I wanted to share some interesting posts I’ve found recently:
How to help a family in a medical emergency at Adventures In Daily Living, HT to Rocks In My Dryer. Excellent advice.
How Christan Women Can Mentor and Be Mentored.
Books Build Character by The Common Room. Yet another excellent reason to read.
The Common Room has also been keeping up with several posts detailing the media feeding frenzy since Sarah Palin was named McCain’s running mate. It’s just amazing.
Semicolon has lots of links and resources to say Goodbye to Summer, Hello Autumn.
I found TipNut via Susan at By Grace. This post shares several 25 household tips. Some are outdated, like the one about cords on packages — I don’t think the Post Office allows cords or twine any more, do they? But most are really good. I’ve enjoyed subscribing and getting tips every day ranging from household tasks to craft ideas, like this one about organizing craft supplies and sewing rooms, and this thumb pincushion looks sooo handy.
Sew, Mama, Sew! has a great tutorial on sewing lined curtains, just in time! I hope to start mine this week. There is also one for cut-out curtains — embellishing plain panel curtains with designs cut out from other fabrics.
Here are some other neat crafty ideas:
This quilted potholder looks like a great way to try beginning quilting, as well as tying together a color scheme.
The cutest doorstop I have ever seen.
Christmas mitten ornaments out of felt.
A button/toile reversible heart ornament (the bottom half of the page).
A lovely and a little different fall centerpiece from Hydrangea Home.
Finally, I have been remiss in acknowledging the kindness of blog friends who have sent awards my way.
Carolyn at Talk to Grams gave me this Proximidade award. “To translate the gift from Portuguese to English, it means:”This blog invests and believes, the proximity” [meaning, that blogging makes us ‘close’ -being close through proxy] How awesome is that?? They all are charmed with the blogs, where in the majority of its aims are to show the marvels and to do friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut, or that they propagate? Then let’s try to give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to 8 bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text.”
I clicked back through several links trying to discover where this originated, but gave up after a while. It evidently began with someone who speaks Portuguese. 🙂
I’m going to pass this on to Alice, Jen, Susan, Susanne, Bet, Lizzie, Ann, and Melli. I know a couple of these ladies don’t “do” awards, but I still want to acknowledge them.
Mindy passed along this award:
Thanks Mindy! I passed this along to others a while back, so i won’t do so now.
Alice gave me this Super Commenter award:
as well as this bunch of tulips:
Mama Bear gave me this:
I’d like to pass this one on to Janet at Across the Page, Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home, Ivory Spring and Cindy Lou at Skip to My Lou.
Thank you all so much for thinking of me! You are very kind! Forgive me for taking too long to acknowledge some of these.
And now I think I am caught up! Have a good Monday!
Ashamed of Jesus!
Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man, ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?
Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star.
’Tis midnight with my soul, till He,
Bright Morning Star, bid darkness flee.
Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend
On Whom my hopes of Heav’n depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His Name.
Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may
When I’ve no guilt to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no good to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.
Till then (nor is the boasting vain),
Till then I boast a Saviour slain:
And, oh, may this my portion be,
That Saviour not ashamed of me!
— Joseph Grigg
Photo Scavenger Hunt: Wild, and Blue Monday
Updated: Smiling Sally hosts a Blue Monday and I thought these pictures work for that as well. 🙂
Theme: Wild| Become a Photo Hunter
This is one of the prettiest wild things ever. It just started growing in our back yard unexpectedly one day.
The Photo Scavenger Hunt was created by tnchick: more “wild” entires are there today.
In Ike’s Way
I have several family members in the Houston area hunkered down bracing for Hurricane Ike. They are not in an area that was asked to evacuate, but they are still likely to get a lot of strong wind and rain through the night. I’d appreciate your prayers for them. Some are saved, most are not.
This afternoon this verse came to mind before I even connected it to thoughts of Ike. For those who know the Lord, this is a comfort:
Isaiah 43:2a: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
Poetry Friday: Heroes
In thinking about 9/11 yesterday, one of the uplifting things that came out of the horror was the heroism on many fronts: first responders, people who packed up whatever they could and drove as close as they could to help distribute food and water, people who came from far away to volunteer to remove rubble and look for survivors.
One of the outstanding themes of To Kill a Mockingbird (which I finished recently, so it is still on my mind) was the quiet, unassuming heroism of Atticus Finch, who took a stand and did the right thing, knowing it was going to cost him, knowing it was going to carry repercussions for his children, shielding them as much as he could, but encouraging them to stand strong and conduct themselves with respect and without bitterness no matter what anyone else did.
Some time ago I came across Edgar Guest’s “Heroes,” and I love the way he honors both those who do what we normally think of as heroic as well as those everyday people who do right no matter what the consequences.
There are different kinds of heroes, there are some you hear about.
They get their pictures printed, and their names the newsboys shout;
There are heroes known to glory that were not afraid to die
In the service of their country and to keep the flag on high;
There are brave men in the trenches, there are brave men on the sea,
But the silent, quiet heroes also prove their bravery.
I am thinking of a hero that was never known to fame,
Just a manly little fellow with a very common name;
He was freckle-faced and ruddy, but his head was nobly shaped,
And he one day took the whipping that his comrades all escaped.
And he never made a murmur, never whimpered in reply;
He would rather take the censure than to stand and tell a lie.
And I’m thinking of another that had courage that was fine,
And I’ve often wished in moments that such strength of will were mine.
He stood against his comrades, and he left them then and there
When they wanted him to join them in a deed that wasn’t fair.
He stood alone, undaunted, with his little head erect;
He would rather take the jeering than to lose his self-respect.
And I know a lot of others that have grown to manhood now,
Who have yet to wear the laurel that adorns the victor’s brow.
They have plodded on in honor through the dusty, dreary ways,
They have hungered for life’s comforts and the joys of easy days,
But they’ve chosen to be toilers, and in this their splendor’s told:
They would rather never have it than to do some things for gold.
— Edgar Guest
Enjoy more entries or join in the fun at Poetry Friday, hosted this week at Biblio File.
Remembering 9/11
(Originally posted 9/11/06)
I used to volunteer at my sons’ school every Tuesday. On that particular Tuesday morning in September, a little after 9 a.m., I turned on the car radio to catch a bit of news on my way to the school. I was confused at first — I could tell something serious had happened, but couldn’t make out what. Finally the newscaster explained that an airplane had hit the World Trade Tower. I was stunned. I sat in the parking lot at the school and listened to the news coverage for a few minutes. Then I went into the school office, with the words, “Did you hear…?” on my lips. They had heard and someone had set up a TV in the office. Many of us stood, motionless, stunned, shocked, and watched the coverage. We thought we couldn’t be any more stunned — then we saw footage of a second plane hitting the other tower. Then we saw people leaping out of windows to try to escape. Then we saw the first tower collapse.
I don’t remember how long I stayed there. The function that I usually helped with was canceled for the day. Several parents came to pick their children up and take them home: they just wanted to have them near. The principal had a TV set up in the gym for those students and teachers who wanted to watch the coverage. I think most of the high school classes were canceled and students could either watch the coverage in the gym or study quietly in one of the classrooms.
For the rest of the day and the next several days, with most of the country, I was almost glued to the TV as more news came in and pieces of the puzzle came to light. I clicked on news sources online and read coverage and looked at pictures in magazines.
There are several things I remember from that time:
- Feeling in shock.
- Feelings of vulnerability.
- Feelings of horror that anyone could do such a thing to other people.
- Feelings of fear, wondering if this was but the beginning of a larger effort, of a war.
- Feelings of empathy with those who had died, those who had lost loved ones, those in parts of the world for whom terrorism is an almost everyday occurrence.
- A feeling of unity in our country that I had never experienced in my lifetime. That is one thing I miss.
- Feelings of…awe? gratefulness? wonder? inspiration? I am struggling with the right word to express what I felt on hearing the stories of heroism, of bravery, of decency.
- Feelings of more joy upon hearing the stories of so many who unexpectedly missed flights or were late to work at the towers.
- Feelings of comfort as the Lord ministered to hearts afterward.
Regarding that last item, one of the young men in my sons’ youth group shared this verse with the teens, I believe that first Wednesday afterward:
Isaiah 25:4: For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
How that ministered to my heart! I shared it with many loved ones via e-mail. There is only one true Refuge.
The question has come to many a mind, “Why did God allow it?” I don’t know that we’ll have the answer until time is over and we are with Him. But, surely we don’t mean why did God allow that to happen to us? We’re such a blessed nation, even in the state of spiritual forgetfulness and indifference we are in now — do we think we’re exempt from the troubles many nations experience daily? This was of a greater magnitude, yes, but many countries face the possibility of car bombs and suicide bombers every day. Then we get into the larger question of why God allows evil at all. All I know is that He allows for us to have and exercise a free will, and that results in sin, because we all choose our own way over His all too often. There will be a time when “sin shall be no more,” when every tear shall be wiped away and there shall be no more sorrow, sadness, death, crying (Revelation 21:4). That time is not yet. Until then we have to deal with a fallen world. But those who love God have this promise:
Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
It is at the point of deep need that we learn the truth of that verse and others. We know it so well it almost become cliched to us, until we truly need it.
One of the “good things” to come out of 9/11 was the salvation of one of my son’s friends. He realized that life can end suddenly and unexpectedly and that he needed to be ready.
There are some who think we should remember 9/11 only with silence, who feel that replaying and reliving the events of that day only plays into the hands of the terrorists, inspiring more terror. I disagree. I can understand those for whom it might be too painful to reflect on much, but I disagree that we’re playing into the hands of the terrorists by remembering that day. It’s good to remember. We need to remember the fallen, to memorialize them. We need to remember those whom they left behind. We even need to remember our vulnerability. Psalm 9:20 says “Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.” I can’t presume to say that that was one of God’s purposes for allowing this, but we do need to remember that we are “but men” (or women) even though we’re a “superpower.” We need to remember that “The horse [or the fighter pilot or the tank or whatever we might use in warfare] is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31). We need to remember the empathy, the inspiration, the acts of courage.
My husband and I were saying yesterday morning that we wished they would do away with the Labor Day observance and instead have a 9/11 observance. But then we thought that, after a while, it would just be another Monday holiday. It would seem the height of disrespect to turn it into another day for retailers to have sales. I wonder if WWII veterans are horrified that Memorial Day and Veterans Day, beyond the occasional parade and wreath-laying ceremonies, are regarded by most people as an opportunity to be off work and go to the mall. May we as a country remember all of our fallen better than that.
Booking Through Thursday: Villainy
The Booking Through Thursday question for today is:
Today is the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I know that not all of you who read are in the U.S., but still, it’s vital that none of us who are decent people forget the scope of disaster that a few, evil people can cause–anywhere in the world. It’s not about religion, it’s not about politics, it’s about the acknowledgment that humans should try to work together, not tear each other apart, even when they disagree.
So, feeling my way to a question here … Terrorists aren’t just movie villains any more. Do real-world catastrophes such as 9/11 (and the bombs in Madrid, and the ones in London, and the war in Darfur, and … really, all the human-driven, mass loss-of-life events) affect what you choose to read? Personally, I used to enjoy reading Tom Clancy, but haven’t been able to stomach his fight-terrorist kinds of books since.
And, does the reality of that kind of heartless, vicious attack–which happen on smaller scales ALL the time–change the way you feel about villains in the books you read? Are they scarier? Or more two-dimensional and cookie-cutter in the face of the things you see on the news?
I don’t think major catastrophes in general change my reading habits. I am generally able to separate book villains from real ones, and in books you know everything will work out in the end (at least the books I read),
I do remember, though, after my good friend’s mother passed away when I was in my early 20s, It was my first experience with the death of someone close, and I reeled at how cavalierly death was handled, especially on TV, but sometimes also in books. I blanched when I heard jokes about death and hoped there was no one watching or listening who had recently lost someone. As a whole our society seemed insensitive to those who were grieving. So at that time I probably could not have read a story involving the death of a loved one. Though I have read many missionary books with parts detailing unimaginable suffering, for a long time I couldn’t read Gracia Burnham’s In the Presence of My Enemies because it was too close — it had happened to people not far from my age group and in my lifetime.
So, though I am not drawn to books dealing in any way with terrorists, if I were, I don’t think I could have read any around that time. We do watch some TV shows and movies with terrorist-driven plots now, but I probably could not have for a long while then.
I was drawn to articles about the different aspects of 9/11 for months afterwards, especially testimonies of people who were there in NY when it happened or family members of those those who were directly involved. The only books I read that dealt with 9/11 specifically were Karen Kingsbury novels One Tuesday Morning and Beyond Tuesday Morning.
More thoughts on 9/11 are in th next post, but I wanted to keep this one strictly in answer to the question.
Stray Thoughts 
