Monday, January 26, 2009

For Girls Only

Have you ever heard of the Partido Mexicano Socialiste?

When I was in college (I won't say how many years ago), one of the classes I took was a political class. In the textbook was mentioned the Mexican Socialist Party, except it used the Mexican name, Partido Mexicano Socialiste, or the PMS.

Obviously a man edited that textbook.

Seeing PMS in print struck my fancy, and the Partido Mexicano Socialiste became my secret, private code name for a certain time in a gal's monthly cycle.

Well, I saw the signs coming.

Sometimes I've just gotta have chocolate. Sometimes I get extra flirty with my husband. (He can always tell with these two signs.) But sometimes I clean. Go figure.

Today I cleaned out the "junk drawers" in the laundry room. Found all sorts of odd things. An old camera. It probably still works, but I ripped out the film anyway. Golf balls and tees. Buttons. A flashlight that Jessica promptly took off with. A Christmas figurine that I also gave her. Lots of trash. Screws. I got to fill up my toolbox with some stuff. Birthday bags (now they might come in handy sometime.)

De-cluttering is a good thing.

Being cranky is not.

Sigh. And last night my mother-in-law gave me leftover chocolate from her party last week. Should I see that as God's provision?

Maybe I'll go eat some pie instead.

Till next time,
Jeanette

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Football Playoff Fan

Now, I am not what you call a football fan. But I married one. So I have taken an interest in the playoff games. I find them more interesting because the stakes are higher, I guess. There's more real drama than hype. We watched the game between the Cardinals and the Eagles.

Now, I live in Pennsylvania, so you would think that I would be rooting for the Eagles. But I was hollering for the Cardinals.

First, because my husband was yelling for the Eagles. It put a little more interest in the living room to have us pulling for the opposite teams.

And second, because I happen to remember when Kurt Warner was the quarterback for the Rams and they won the Super Bowl way back when. And Kurt Warner is an outspoken Christian. And if I recall correctly, he and his family have experience with autism.

Go, Cardinals! Yippee!

Till next time,
Jeanette

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Knowing What You Are Eating

A couple of women from my church have started organizing and offering different events to help re-introduce the skills of homemaking that used to be commonplace. Yesterday was our bread-making event.

When I found out that 14 people had signed up, I was surprised. I said to my husband, "That shows there is an interest and a need in these things."

So even though the weather wasn't the best--albeit cooperative in the form of a lull in the storm--a number of us had fun baking bread!

Did you know that once wheat is ground into flour, it only has 72 hours before it is no longer good, if it is kept at room temperature? But if you store the flour in the refrigerator or freezer, it will keep its nutritional value more effectively.

Did you know that there are different kinds of wheat--spring, winter, red, white--and that one type of wheat does better for one type of baked good than another?

I am reminded of the saying that "knowledge is power." Having this kind of information empowers a person to make more knowledgeable choices about the food he or she eats. With all the health issues that people face today, wouldn't it be wiser to know what exactly we are eating, what benefits it has (or even if it has none), and what effect it has on our bodies?

I am reminded of another saying, one from the Bible: "My people perish for lack of knowledge." That's the opposite of the saying that "what we don't know won't hurt us." Hmm. I think I pick what God says.

He knows more.

Till next time,
Jeanette

Sunday, January 4, 2009

A Pretty Cool Dream

Sometimes the dreams you have while dozing during that in-between stage of awake and asleep are more significant than you think. This one certainly was.

It was one of those mornings when John David, our six-year-old, had gotten us up at 4:15 a.m. or so...and I rolled over and went back to sleep while my husband got up with him. But wives and mothers don't really go back to sleep (depending on how tired we are); we just doze with one ear open to hear what's going on in the rest of the house.

'Twas while I was in this in-between stage of awake and asleep that I had this dream...

In the dream, we were living in a small rancher home. And then it was like I opened a door off the kitchen at one end of the rancher, and there was more house! I walked into more rooms....another dining room, living room, even a music room with a piano/organ-type instrument in it. One room's walls were painted a pleasing shade of green and had a Victorian-looking lamp. There even were old-fashioned upholstered chairs with the doily on the top like the grandmothers of past years used to have on their furniture. There was so much more house, even friends of ours who have six children all fit and we couldn't hear the kids playing, it was so big.

I woke up and thought, "Wow." And the meaning hit me almost immediately. We are living in half a house...in only half or less of all that God has for us. There is so much more out there that we could be living in, that God has for us. And it's good. And it's restful. And we'll like it.

We just need to open the door to it.

A pretty cool dream. For 2009, I want to move into more "house"!

Till next time,
Jeanette