little surprises

first of all, it's been a while. i honestly don't even know if this post will make it to the viewing public, because the blogger interface looks so different. i hope i'm doing this right. note to self:  blog more so you'll see changes coming and be better equipped to deal.


quite a few things have happened/are happening in our life in hometown. i really have lots to share but today, i want to tell you the story i just lived. it's just a little story, in a little town, that i was blessed to share today, but i think it's pretty awesome.

i help organize our church's involvement in the presbyterian church's casserole kitchen ministry (follow the link if you'd like to get involved!) on the first saturday of every month. there's a lady who comes every time, and her name is ida mae. i think she's something of a local character. i also am the volunteer coordinator of the starkville community market (facebook link here) and saw her there this morning. after the market, and after i'd filled up my car with gas, i'd started on my way home when i saw ida mae walking home with her bag of vegetables and some flowers. she doesn't walk very well. and i heard the Still Small Voice, asking me to do a small thing and offer her a ride home. so i did, and she accepted. but i didn't take her home.

instead, she directed me to her neighbor's house, the one with the yellow truck. she told me he's 89 years old and recovering from pneumonia, and she wanted to go check on him and fix his medicine for him before she went to the casserole kitchen. we pulled in, and i got out with her, determined to follow this little path i'd been led down. she took me through the back gate.

knockout roses. day lilies, in orange and aubergine and pink and yellow. a covered cart of 50-year-old cacti. green plants on tiered tables. manicured grass. a pear tree. and an old man wearing an msu hat eating cereal on the porch. ida mae introduced us, and said she wanted to show me his garden. he commented he'd had to cut off his peppers, because the wind was knocking them down, and that'd he bought 2 trees once for $5, when he really couldn't afford more than 50 cents, and how mad his late wife had been. and then ida ma took my hand and gave me the tour. she showed me all of his plants, all of his flowers, all the different paths in his garden. she told me he still mows his own grass, and probably had that morning, even though his sight isn't very good. then she took me down to the back. tomatoes. peppers. rows of vegetables. ida mae's black and white dog. a grapevine, even. more lilies.

this backyard was the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen. i could see the love and the care and the attention this man had devoted to his bit of earth, and i was amazed. and i'd have never seen it. i'd have driven by his house and overlooked it and never have thought anything like this existed, just like ida mae said. i'd have never known that the lady who comes to get a hot meal, who can't walk very well or even uncurl her fingers, who probably doesn't have a lot in this world, takes care of her old sick neighbor simply because he needs it. i'd have never known this story.

i left ida mae to take care of her neighbor and drove home. i couldn't help thinking how God is exactly like that. He asks us to do small things, things we may think are uncomfortable or inconvenient or unimportant, and then shows us enormous beauty and kindness we never expect. so often we ignore Him, and we miss it. today, i was blessed by two pretty inconspicuous strangers, and i got to share a piece of that story and that beauty. what Love the Father has for His children.

farmer's market store

there's a store! and it is full of goodies. i stopped by today for milk, and ended up crossing off half my grocery list. risotto, beef, sausage, veggies, fruits and herbs, and i even got a coke made with sugar--my favorite. they also stock awesome dried herbs on the cheap, loose teas and lots of grains. just another thing i will miss about oxford.

which brings me to my next point. hopefully, i will have the chance this year to miss oxford. most oxford/ole miss alums love oxford for different reasons than me--like ambiance, ole miss athletics and hazy memories from the bars.
a few things i love:
-living so close to a wonderful spacious park, pat lamar park and lake patsy. it's been great for us and roxy.
-l & m's kitchen, even though it's already gone. the ravine is a close close second.
-not paying rent. thanks, dad. our little 3-bed, 3-bath brick house has spoiled us. a huge kitchen, extra bedroom and room for an office--couldn't be better. well, there's no pool...
-the farmer's market in the spring and summer. fresh produce and local meats are awesome.
-my pilates studio. i love pilates and love teaching, and glad i found it!
-our church, the orchard. wonderful atmosphere and a fantastic small group. love y'all.
-the shopping. not that i can afford it.

yesterday's food: cwc&s, cereal, pack of peanut butter crackers, then dinner at old venice with friends. the law student and i shared a pizza and crawfish rolls, then drinks in the burgundy room. exercise: NONE. and it looks about the same for today, unless you count scrubbing toilets and vacuuming. speaking of, i think i left a toilet soaking...

p.s. i'm getting a bit tired of posting my exercise and diet habits. not that i care if you see--i feel silly only posting that info, and i just don't always have that much material for a post. for example, this one. so i think i'll start keeping up with it in my google calendar, and maybe a weekly update if i feel like it. have i mentioned i love gmail?

rain, rain, go away. i need coffee.

today was a coffee-free morning. FAIL.
i asked the law student to make the coffee last night, but he refused. so i didn't either. i mean, how long does it take to prepare the coffee maker and turn it on? yeah, thought so. my coffee maker has a programmed feature: i can set it to brew anytime (usually 6:45 am). why, oh why, do i not take complete advantage of this? i assure you, fumbling for the coffee scoop and pouring the water into the brewer is neither fun nor attractive to watch in the early morning hours.

so, this morning, late as usual. wet hair (i refuse to blow dry when it rains). i didn't even take the rox for a potty. i just threw her in bed with the law student. and i didn't make the coffee. le sigh.

yes, there is coffee here at the office. but it's mostly just jet fuel and crude oil--very little coffee, and there is no cream, only non-dairy powder (read: fake) creamer, hazlenut flavor, which i detest. plus, i prefer to make mine at home, in my little curvy coffee mug with 1.5 spoonfuls of sugar (the real stuff, people. that splenda/aspartame/etc. can kill ya, or at least make you fat.) and a generous helping of heavy cream from the brown family dairy. i drink it on the way to work, and sometimes bring the rest of the cup in with me if i haven't finished it. i think the worst feeling in the morning is reaching for that last sip of coffee and realizing, cup in mid-air and throat dry, that you drank the last sip last time.

random: i have journey's "don't stop believing" in my head. now you do too. must be the lack of coffee. i never sing power ballads in the morning when i've had coffee.

plea: please check out the link at the top of my blog for amazima.org. it just pulls my heart to pieces and really challenges me. pray for this sweet family knit together by our God.

have a fabulous weekend! i'm sure ours will be wet, cause apparently we're now in monsoon season and slated for another 10 days of rain.

food for thought

i love food. i harbor an impressive body of knowledge and opinions on the subject. i am not one of those girls who views food as sustenance, or even the enemy and will only pick at dinner. food is one of my top 3 favorite things. i managed to inherit my mother's stature, sassiness and thank the lord in heaven above, her cooking talents.

dinner on this particularly comfortable saturday night? prosciutto and melon (cantaloupe) pasta. i don't even like melon. not even watermelon. isn't that just the most un-southern thing ever? i'll share the recipe with you below, or you can look it up on rachael ray's website. but beware: i rarely measure anything. it annoys me. which is why i do not bake.

ingredients for 2 large bowls of pasta and a little leftover:

-about 2/3 box of wide flat noodle pasta, such as fettucine (that i used tonight) or pappardelle (called for in the recipe).
-half a cantaloupe (we got two especially fragrant ones at our farmer's market this week), cubed
-about 1/2 pound prosciutto, cut into strips (as best as you can anyway--i had issues, but it did not take away from the integrity of the dish at all). you could sub bacon here if you wanted, but why would you want to?
-one spoonful of tomato paste. tomato sauce would do in a pinch, but not ketchup.
-heavy cream, about 1/2 cup or more to taste/desired consistency/amount.
-zest and juice of one lemon
-olive oil
-salt
-cheese--parmesan, parmigiano reggiano, whatever. this is optional

instructions: toss your pasta into salted boiling water to al dente (to the tooth, or in english, not slimy). drain, set aside. while pasta is working, heat olive oil (turn of the pan or so) on medium high heat in a large saucepan and toss in the prosciutto strips to brown, for about 5 minutes. remove and drain on a paper towel. add some more olive oil, melon and salt to taste, and cook for about 7 minutes into a nice chunky sauce. once you get this going, add the spoonful of tomato paste, lemon juice, cheese and heavy cream and stir in for a few more minutes and remove from heat. add the sauce, lemon zest and most of the prosciutto to the pasta and toss to coat. top your servings with additional prosciutto and cheese. enjoy as your guests marvel at your culinary creation that only took you about 30 minutes or so. looks fancy, tastes great, so easy.


a few menu items for the week: eggplant parmesan neopolitan, garlic lime dijon chicken, pesto grilled chicken, orange balsalmic chicken thighs with sage butter pasta, steak with peppers, and some salmon and tilapia dishes, all with veggies from the farmer's market. another one of my favorite things! oh man--just remembered i bought ground beef and a whole chicken, killed yesterday, at the market. these will have to be incorporated. mmm, fresh chicken.

oxford's mid-town farmer's market is one of my favorite things about this town. i am very interested in the politcal power structure of the food industry, buying local and helping out the farmers, and american food culture. i'd love to get really involved, actually. lots of really interesting, oppressive and outrageous things happening now to the laws that govern farmers and food. personally, this is the best-tasting chicken i've ever eaten. it doesn't taste like a bland white alternative to beef--it tastes like chicken, with its own distinct flavor. he (nameless bearded vendor of zion farms of pontotoc, ms) offers grass-fed chicken, beef and pork (and holiday turkeys!), and of course eggs, that he raises and harvests himself, hence the was-alive-yesterday chicken in my freezer begging for a juicy marinade, fresh herbs and a hot oven. i try to buy all my meat for the week from him, and will try to continue to do so even after the market season ends. then there is the brown dairy farm of oxford, with fresh grass-fed, twice-daily-milked-jersey-cow milk that is home-pasteurized. they are now offering whole milk and reduced-fat milk (they are unsure of the percentage, but i don't care), and toying with cream and butter. i can't wait for that. then there is the produce: corn, zucchini galore, tomatoes as big as softballs, okra, peaches, cantaloupes, watermelons, peppers, green beans, purple hull peas (if you like those--i don't), squash, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, garlic, et cetera, et al. i saw about 15 varieties of heirloom tomatoes today, all with descriptions of flavor, texture, color and origin, down to the family farmers! some were as big as a toddler's face, no lie. there is so much at our market. we even got a teeny tiny jalapeño.

and then there is the breakfast. the primo breakfast joint in town--bbb's. the law student's mom came in town last night for dinner, market trip and breakfast. we had the dear american airlines, law student had the pain perdue--breakfast in a cup and french toast, respectively. company is always a good excuse to enjoy the most expensive breakfast in town.

currently re-reading wicked--the back story of the wicked witch of the west. it's a great, but mature, read. the law student and i celebrated our 2nd year of holy matrimony by seeing the play at the opheum in memphis. it was pretty fantastical, and i loved galinda's role, but the story line was a bit changed. saw public enemies in the theater on thursday, which reaffirmed my major crush on johnny depp. hottest actor ever.

both of my sisters start their real-world jobs as teachers of the american youth in these next few weeks. i imagine they will begin to realize just how awesome college life is. it's not always a fun realization, but necessary. i miss college so much--i miss my friends, being able to see my friends whenever i wanted, bar hopping, no real life pressures other than not getting arrested and keeping up my grades, road trips, bookbags. but i am very proud of my sisters (all my friends, actually) and can't wait to hear about their precious students and their new life chapters.

this past weekend, dad the life professional took me and the law student to chicago. fabulous city, and we barely scratched the surface. we stayed on michigan avenue, ate some fabulous food at harry caray's and volare, i got my first designer purse, and caught a reds vs. cubs game at wrigley field. a guy i went to college with, craig tatum, got called up to the reds the week before and i got to see him catch the entire game and hang out with his fun wife daniele. dad's on a kick of seeing all the old ballparks before they disappear. he's seen shea and yankee, and wrigley was next on the list. maybe i can get him to take us to the hopefully-to-occur dodgers vs. red sox at fenway. the law student's dad is a huge red sox fan, and i went to college with jonathan papelbon, but don't know him personally or anything.

time to fold towels and read some wicked. good evening to you all!

best sunday ever

did that post title make anyone think of jessica simpson and her terrible song "you're my sunday?" just me? ok then. moving on.


today is a fantastic sunday, for a few reasons.

1. um, hdnet concert sundays are awesome. ben folds with guster was concert numero uno, and i'm currently rocking out to o.a.r. with a paintbrush in hand. 'cause that's how i roll. not really--i just like painting to music. more on this. (i fear, dear readers, this will be a lengthy post, as it's been unattended for too long)

2. breakfast at bbb's (big bad breakfast--overpriced and crowded, but so worth it) with the law student after a wonderful lounge-y morning in bed, of which there have been too few. my personal favorites: the with signs following, which i enjoyed today, and the dear american airlines, which features all your breakfast stars--eggs, ham, cheese and bread--cooked together, eaten with a spoon out of a little tin cup. and the fresh-squeezed o.j. is a must.

3. i'm still in my pajama pants.

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just want to share a few thoughts and goings-on with you on this lovely, 75-degree-july-in-mississippi-what? day. heck, it's been like this all weekend. first we get an actual spring, and now breezes in july. i must bring this up with those in charge of such things.

-there is no decent place in this forsaken little college town to get a decent hair cut, which, with all its vanity plate citizens and undergrads, annoys and confuses me. so i have to drive all the way home just for a wash and a trim. vegas, possum town, or bust. it's true. i'm so tired of hairstylists here who are able to mess up a hairstyle that consists of long layers and bangs that hit my cheekbone at an angle, and a husband who ends up looking like lloyd from dumb and dumber. seriously. the law student deserves better, don't you think?



(aaaand there's my attempt at uploading a photo into blogger. thanks for all your kind praise.)

-so, on my way home from possum town last night for above-mentioned ear-lowering, i pass the golden triangle's little gem and favorite strip bar, the pink pony. and i noticed there were a lot of minivans in the parking lot. we all know who drives those. gag me with a spoon.

-ever wonder what it is about the united states post office that drives all those female workers to get the mullet haircut? is this in their manual? take a look around next time you wander into that time trap.

-the song "whip it" is now playing on hdnet. whip it good! (ha, now it's in your head too.)

-the law student had a birthday! he's 29. i'm still 23, with a few years of experience. neither of us look even 25. so on his birthday, i promised to paint him a few canvases of his favorite sports teams and gave him a card (it was really a sweet card). on this card i write a few things, one of them being, "enjoy your last birthday in your twenties!" poor thing. he's handling it well though. i tell you that to tell you this: my mom wrote him the same thing. it's true--i am becoming my mother, and at a young age too. this is not the first occurance. once last winter, i tucked my camisole into my pantyhose (man, i hate those things. a man must have invented them). two thoughts went through my head: now, that looks better, nice and smooth, followed immediately by oh my GOD my mother does that! i also now listen to NPR programming and enjoy it, and a little AFR (american family radio) just to agitate me.

speaking of...on AFR last night on my way home, stephen baldwin and some other dude (ken mccullough or something) were duking it out over the religious conflicts of harry potter. really? harry potter? please. it's children's literature, not the paperback handbook of satan. ken doll took his wife to see it, posted it on facebook, and received assaults and judgements over his faith. and everytime a caller called in with a comment, mr. not-alec-but-stephen baldwin put words in his mouth and took it five steps to the right. no, stephen, that guy did NOT say parents could use harry potter books as a substitute for the Bible. he just simply said parents can use this, as they can use other situations with their kids, to teach them about God and what is real versus what is not. this debate issue was preceded by the topic of racism. racism and harry potter in the same conversation. which is more important? the more you fear something, the more power it has, and as christians, we do not have a spirit of fear. Christ has defeated all.

*disclaimer: i have not read the books (simply because i did not want to give in to trends or sensationalism--same goes with that whole twilight series, which seems far more sinister for a few different reasons) but have seen the movies and talked with others who have read the books, and seriously doubt these stories are evil/the gateway to the occult. i also do not have problem with parents being careful of what their children see/read.

(ahem...stepping down from soapbox now)

-it's 4:37 p.m. and i am still in pajamas. aaaaaahh.....

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hobbies

two current hobbies are pilates and the mid-town farmer's market on wednesdays and saturdays.

pilates is my new exercise of choice. it's fantastic for toning. you should see my arms, and i have abs again. my sisters are jealous. and i'm totally into it and would love to get certified. i'm teaching a class this summer, along with a dance class, so i always have to give the disclaimer and ask the class to please not hurt themselves. i hurt myself. i have a jammed sacral-iliac joint on my left side, which will now involve a few weeks of hydroelectric therapy (feels awesome) and some stretching to get me back on track, literally. dad (steve, the life professional) took me to his "bare-bones" chiropractic (fitting description) after my hair cut for a second opinion. i got adjusted all over the place--my back, my sides, and worst of all my neck-i'm always afraid of getting paralyzed. cowboy chiropractor literally had his knee on top of mine and jerking me back and forth. and then i got buffed. he had this large hand-held vibrating massager that he rubbed all the way up my back to my head. it all felt nice, and that little spot doesn't hurt when i bend over anymore, but i'll take that heated massaging water bed any day, thanks.

i try to go to the farmer's market every week. i'm really into eating locally grown food and eating healthy, non-hormoned, non-pesticided, non-processed foods, after reading animal vegetable miracle (see post here). at the market there is a large selection of fresh vegetables (way fresher than anything you'll find at the grocery store), pasture-fed beef, pork and poultry, free-range eggs (free-range as in chickens running around the yard, not free-range the legal definition which only allows for a door to the outside), herbs and now straight-from-the-cow, home-pastuerized sweet jersey cow milk. whole milk, with cream on top. it's like drinking a milkshake. it is sooooooooo good. a bit expensive ($5 for a half-gallon) but very comparable to organic milk* at the grocery store.

*which, by the way, is only called organic because they feed the cows organic feed, not because they let those cows roam around and eat grass like they are supposed to.

well, it's 5 o'clock here, which means i need to get on with a few things: canvases, cleaning up a bit after the law student and myself, and maybe dinner. dad always sends me home with meat and yesterday it was steaks and jumbo shrimp. i'll try to eat us out of house and home until friday, when we head to chicago with dad to see wrigley field. maybe i'll finally give him his father's day present.


hope you enjoyed catching up! now you can go rest your eyes.

wednesdays are for wussies

wednesdays are tough. i'm sure you've heard the term "hump day" (and if you haven't until now, it is not a reference to routine weekday sexual activities), and everyone seems to think this makes wednesdays not only tolerable but enjoyable. but man, sometimes, i just have to draaaaag myself through a wednesday, and fridays are still 2 days away. all wednesday long. so i have dubbed myself a wednesday wussy. you can be one too!

a few thoughts for all you wednesday wussies out there:

i vacuumed up a spider yesterday while i was cleaning, and didn't scream at all, although i was marginally afraid the vacuum would shoot it back out at me, which would have elicited a large scream and quite possibly a conniption fit.

my right index toe (pointer toe, if you will) is numb on the tip, left side bottom. curious. and curiously annoying. it started last night around 7, and is still occuring, and i have no idea why. maybe it's narc-toe-lepsy.

woke up this morning around 5 am to an empty bed, which is weird because the law student was there when i went to sleep. found him underneath a sleeping bag on the couch with the roxy. his explanation: "i couldn't sleep, so i came out here and got on the couch and fell asleep." in his regular shorts. unzipped. so he got up in the dark, felt the need to dress, but not entirely. whatever. who am i to judge someone's sleeping neuroses?

i am currently a fan of greek yogurt, particularly with honey, blueberries or strawberry preserves. it was super tangy at first, but now i am hooked on it. but i would feel much better if it didn't have 12 grams of fat. kind of shooting myself in the foot here.

my dog ate a roach last night. i encouraged her to do so.

is it only 10:30 am?????? curse you, wednesday.

i'm waiting for lunch with the law student, then a visit to the local farmer's market. what's getting you through the day?