August

Another month come and gone. Before I get into what we've been up to, I need to put in a plug for a life-saving cookbook, which I know I've done before, but here it is: What to Eat When You Can't Eat Anything. I've not been feeling the greatest lately, so it's back to a strict diet for me. One of the things I like about this cookbook is that it categorizes recipes based on how you're feeling - ultrasensitive, sensitive, and unsensitive. So I can turn to the ultrasensitive section and pick out recipes until I start feeling better, then add in the sensitive recipes, etc.

But enough about my food issues. I received an employment extension from the government, which allows me to continue working for a few more weeks at my current job. I'm not sure whether they will grant an additional extension if Jesse's visa isn't approved by then, however. This is still a matter for prayer, but I am confident that God will continue to provide for us/me, even if it's not in a way I'm expecting.

Our volleyball competition ended, and we were at the bottom of the A-grade at the end. Funny; we won the B-grade in our first "comp" (as they say here), and then lost the A-grade. The sports center is in the process of relocating to a new facility (which is not yet built), so in the meantime, we have freed up another weeknight. That's been nice.

The weather's been unseasonably warm for August. We're talking about trying to put a small garden in the backyard (those who've seen our backyard know that it could only be small!). Neither of us has a particularly green thumb (and I killed one herb plant last year by giving it too much sun in the sauna that is the back of our house), so I'm thinking of getting some plants that can grow in the shade of our tree. (Also, I don't want to necessarily be in direct sunlight while taking care of it in the hot summer sun.) I want to grow veggies or herbs of some kind. Any suggestions from the audience?

We had a great time at a birthday party for a friend yesterday. Jesse and I "designed" the card ourselves and I think we may have been more pleased with it than the recipient, but he seemed to enjoy it as well.

Well, off to prepare for church. Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to the gardening recommendations!

rain, lawnmowers, and other stuff

This afternoon, Jesse and I decided to take a walk around Maitland. Festivities from the Steamfest (think steam engine festival; at one point this weekend, I commented, "it sounds like there's a steam engine coming down our street." I was not incorrect.) were finishing up, people getting ready to go home. We walked over to the park and just sort of wandered, until we decided to head back toward High Street and potentially the video shop. It started to sprinkle, and then rain. There was the most beautiful rainbow across the sky, over the train tracks and the highway. We were soaked by the time we got home (I nixed walking all the way to the video store), but it was great to see the rainbow, and even great to get a little wet. We changed, made a list, and went grocery shopping, and right after we returned, there was another downpour. While I enjoyed the first experience, I was grateful to be home and dry.

Yesterday, we decided to buy a lawnmower. We had thought a weedwhacker (whipper snipper for you Aussies) might do the trick, since our lawn is so small, but it didn't really cut it. We headed to Bunnings and purchased the recommended electric lawnmower. We arrived home, I helped Jesse to get it out of the box, and then curled up on the couch under a blanket with a book. He took it outside, worked on getting it all plugged in, and then realized that the prong on the mower plug was bent. He tried to bend it back, and it seemed to crack. Great. Back to Bunnings we went, mower, folded-up box, and receipt in tow. They took a look at it, and told us we could go grab another one. No luck. They bent the prong back itself (apparently, it hadn't broken when Jesse bent it... even though we saw a crack there, it had to do with something else), tested the mower, and deemed it workable. So, back to the house we went (leaving the box with them). He headed outdoors once again to tackle the lawn. I heard clicking noises, but no mower. I found the owner's manual just as Jesse came in looking for it. He went back outside. I sat inside praying it would start. I have never been so happy to hear the whirring of a lawnmower! Not only did he cut the lawn, but took a saw to a few large weeds/shrubs/trees growing in front of and behind the house. Yay!

Jesse had a great visit at Coffs Harbour last week, and returned bearing many carob goods for me! I've been munching on some carob-covered popcorn while I wait for dinner (I'm a terrible pre-dinner snacker) and enjoying it immensely. He is now in the kitchen, making a new batch of salsa. His favorite foods to prepare are salsa and breakfast potatoes, with the related "McSkillet Burritos" (apologies to Macca's) coming in a close 3rd, I think. He's learned his lesson with chopping the hot peppers, though, and has commandeered a pair of my dishwashing gloves to prevent eye-burning on removal of his contacts.

I've continued doing some family history research on Jesse's side, and have enjoyed finding various relatives and learning more about the stories of those in his ancestry. Families and names have always fascinated me, and since Dad and I had done some research on our lineage, I've found it interesting to dig into Jesse's a bit. One thing's for sure: it would be a lot easier if he weren't a 3rd generation only child on one side, since then there would potentially be other people out there looking for the same answers as me. But it's been an enjoyable hobby.

Speaking of hobbies, we had our second craft day at church, and it was pretty well attended. I enjoyed scrapbooking some of the Christmas photos and birth announcements I've received from friends and family. Our scrapbookers have ranged in age from 6-60's, so it's been fun to have an intergenerational feel to it. We may learn flower arranging in June, which could be cool.

That's all I've got for now. There are some enchiladas that need to be eaten!

Food, Games, and a Happy 50th!

Today (tomorrow for those in the US) is my mom's 50th birthday, so you should all wish her a happy one, particularly if you're nearby and can give her a hug.

I made some cheese pizza for lunch from scratch, using a recipe in my "What to Eat When You Can't Eat Anything" book (a GREAT book for anyone with food issues).  I've been a bit food-sensitive lately, although I have to give credit to the Katoomba conference people, who are very accommodating with dietary restrictions.  Anyway, Jesse and I both loved the pizza, so it was well worth the effort.  I suppose I didn't technically make the tomato sauce "from scratch" (I used a can of pureed tomatoes), but all the seasoning was mine.  Mm, tasty; there's also a sense of accomplishment from making things "from scratch."

Since we received our Wedding List gifts, I now have 3 canisters on my counter, which have been put to good use:  white spelt flour, rice, and granola in the third one.  This is a far cry from sugar, flour, coffee, and tea, but they are the starchy staples I use most often.  I made the granola yesterday from the same cookbook, while we were watching tv, and had it for breakfast this morning.  I also made some peanut butter popcorn in the evening (Grandma's recipe) for a snack.  One of the best things about coming home after being away is cooking food again.

In terms of games, I've been improving at Wii Play; I have a platinum medal in the shooting range (although I still can't beat Jesse when we go head-to-head; he's just too quick!), a current record of 43 tanks in that game, and a new high score of somewhere over 50 in ping pong.  I'm 2nd to Jesse among my friends in Scramble (facebook version of Boggle) and improving at "Challenge Sudoku" which I recently discovered on facebook as well.  Since we were away for a whole week, we have a little extra bandwidth to play with this month, and I'm making use of it.

Our fancy washing machine is doing well; we're getting used to each other.  I can set it to delay start, so that it washes a load right before we wake up and we can just put the clothes out on the line when we get up.  That's a good deal; that way, we're not hanging them out in the middle of the hot day.

Well, I think that's about it for now.  Speaking of the middle of a hot day... I am going to figure out what's for dinner, make sure the ingredients are available, and possibly go to a few stores.  Hopefully many of you are receiving your wedding thank-you notes; sorry they're so delayed in getting to you!

first days of 2009

It's a new year!  We were some of the first to ring it in, with a fantastic fireworks show just a quick walk from our friends' house near Sydney.  No, we didn't brave the crowds in Sydney to look at the Harbour Bridge, but the fireworks display we saw was quite good.  Not to mention the company; we had a couple rounds of Cranium, during which my crowning achievements included recognizing a Nirvana song (after my husband didn't think I would) and remembering that 4 of a kind beats full house (thanks to an unfortunate incident in North Carolina summer 2005, during which I neglected to realize that if I had a full house, someone else might have four of a kind).  We used the Cranium game Jesse and I got for our wedding; it's "Cranium WOW" and comes with cool players and new cards.  Sparklers, glow sticks, and confetti poppers were involved, as was some great conversation.  Good times.

We headed back up north around noon on New Year's Day, and I tried to do Wii Fit to stay awake during the afternoon.  It worked, kind of.  Jesse took over on the Wii and was playing Raving Rabbids while I "watched" on the couch.  I woke up to "Honey, do you want to be sleeping?"  :)  Woops.  We watched some Boston Legal and called it an early night.

Today has been good; I slept in, then did Wii Fit (and unlocked a new balance game; it's some kind of zen/candle thing and it's weird), then was feeling extremely light-headed.  I rested for a bit, Jesse made me some oatmeal, and I felt better.  I sifted through cookbooks and planned out our meals for the next few days, and Jesse and I left to run errands.  We ate lunch out, mailed a bunch of thank-you notes to the US, then hit the grocery store.  It was about a 2 hour trip total, and we were satisfied that we got a lot done!

Upon our return, I hit the kitchen and made some pasta.  I received a cookbook from an Aussie friend for Christmas, so I decided to try out spinach-ricotta canneloni.  I even bothered to shape the pasta into "canneloni," although some of them kept trying to fall flat.  This endeavor resulted in approximately 3 hours in the kitchen from start to finish, but I'm feeling quite accomplished for having cooked the whole meal from scratch (with the assistance of my wonderful KitchenAid mixer and Pampered Chef Food Chopper, of course).  We'll see how accomplished I feel in 10 minutes when the canneloni comes out of the oven, but at least I tried! :)

I haven't been one to make New Year's resolutions; if anything, I tend to make birthday resolutions.  One I've been working on for a couple of years now has been remembering others' birthdays (and not just on facebook!), so I suppose, if anything, I'm hoping to continue getting back into that and also to writing more personal letters.  We shall see.

No real news on the job front; there was one possibility that I was quite excited about, but that seems to have fallen through.  There's still a ray of hope, but I'm not holding my breath.  As for "accounting" news, I've been asked to join a volunteer team headed to Papua New Guinea in May for some auditing.  I'm quite excited about this prospect, and although Jesse won't be coming with me, looking forward to the chance to help an organization I respect and appreciate.

Now the moment of truth... I'm off to get the canneloni.