Ordinary Treasures--Apple Seeds

Every once in a while, I find an ordinary thing that happens everyday but strikes me as wondrous. I found one of these recently in an apple. The apple had two seeds in the middle of it that were already sprouting, and this was something that I hadn't seen before. I know that the whole goal of an apple seed is to sprout and grow into an apple tree, but most seeds wait until they are in the ground. These two early-sprouting seeds struck me as an everyday, wondrous thing. Sometimes it's the simple things...

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Jul. 20, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. Occasionally, if our eating is going okay, I'll talk about some other food topic.

Monday Edition

My Food Waste Friday post is a little late because we've been having internet problems. However, things are getting a little loosey -goosey around here in the food department, so I figure it was better late than never. I think I need a little more public accountability these days to get back on track with both not wasting and better eating.

This Week's Food Waste

Very disappointingly, we recently had some cheese slices go bad before we ate them. We also lost some lettuce and half a cucumber. And maybe other stuff. It certainly seems like there has been more, but I can't remember. That's what happens when I don't report on things in a regular fashion. Hopefully, I won't have much waste next week, and that will be because we were very good about not wasting, not because I can't remember. :)

This Week's True Food Confessions

Okay, let me confess. We had pizza three times last week (two carry out and one from the freezer).  Now  there's nothing wrong with having pizza three times in a week. In fact, Ward was quite happy about it. However, having pizza three times in one week because nothing is planned, is not the best. Once again, our eating patterns over the last couple of weeks has been hit or miss. We have had some very good meals with fresh veggies from the garden and some good carryout meals from Subway and Dominoes. But for next week, we need a plan. That's what we need for next week. A plan. Do you think if I say it often enough, one will materialize? A plan, we need a plan. Nope. That's not working. Guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way. Check what we have to work with, what our schedules are for next week and make a meal plan. Sigh.

Fried radishes. Yum.

On another food front, let me tell you about Theo and radishes. Radishes have been on sale recently at Aldi's and Theo has been experimenting with them. First he sauteed/fried them with a little oil and salt. The general consensus was that the radishes fixed that way were pretty good. They were sweet with just a little of the radish bite to them. He also added them to a stew with other vegetables in the slow cooker. He reports that he wouldn't cook them again this way. While they were okay to eat (meaning he finished the dish), they weren't that good. I had never eaten radishes any way except raw before, so I found these experiments interesting.

Until next time...

Thankful Sunday--July 20, 2014

I am thankful for my mother and her patience. 

Many years ago, my mother gave birth to me on this day after waiting patiently three weeks after her due date for me to arrive. Then she waited patiently for 6 more months for me to stop crying night and day. For her and patient mothers everywhere, I am thankful.

A Second Look--July 16, 2014

New things I saw this week during a Second Look:

• Nest activity on top of the old chickadee nest
• Five Wren eggs
• Sunflower bloom (almost)
• Gayfeather blooms
• New kinds and colors of day lilies
• Japanese beetles :(
• Hot and steamy weather and lots of thunder storms (This is actually old news.)

Surprise!!

Recently, I caught up with an older friend I hadn't seen for a while. When I asked what was new, she replied, “Well, I have a new brother and a different father than I thought I had!” She proceeded to tell a complicated story that started with her daughter, who was doing genealogy research, and ended with a DNA test.

I was shocked. Even though this kind of stuff is the bread and butter of TV plots, I'd never known anyone in real life who found out something like this. I have friends with adoption stories, but no one with a story quite like this to tell. And what makes it even more remarkable is that this woman is in her 80's and her living brother is in his 90's. After I closed my dropped jaw, I asked her how she felt about this new development. She said that she was still processing things, but some pieces of her childhood made more sense now. The next week, her daughter was going to take her to meet her new half brother. She wasn't sure how she felt about that either. She was having a hard time wrapping her mind around an 80 year history and identity that had suddenly changed.

Since my visit with her, I've thought a lot about how I'd feel if something like this happened to me. Intellectually, I know that I would still be who I was and a past that I didn't even know about for most of my life wouldn't matter. But the emotional part of me started to think what if someone told me that my father wasn't my father. Or if I had siblings that I didn't know. That made me feel very unsettled. We each have a personal story that we tell ourselves and others--who our parents are, where we've lived, what happened in third grade, etc. I don't know if I'd be ready to tell a new story all of a sudden.

But that is what life is about and that's what makes each of our stories so interesting—there is always something new waiting for us around the corner.