Grinder Mix

I made up a new spice mix today. I'm going to use it on a bunch of things this week, and see what happens. Dill weed, peppercorns, coarse salt, mustard seed, and red pepper flakes in a grinder.

Thankfulness- Day 11

Today, I am thankful for...

1) My last day in the office before leaving on vacation. I need it.

Thankfulness- Day 10

Today is a hard day for me to feel thankful, but nonetheless, I am thankful for...

1) New shampoo, rosemary scented. I've been smelling my hair all day :)

2) Perfect weather to make chili. I'm all about the whole package. We couldn't have had chili last week, because, in fact, it wasn't even "chilly." So today is perfect.

3) Lean, grass fed and finished beef, with which to make some delicious chili.

Thankfulness- Day 9

Today, I am thankful for....

1) The brief morning rain

2) Bagels in the copy room. I was so starving, I ate my sandwich at 10:30am, then at 1pm, I was sad and hungry. But someone felt my pain, and brought bagels!

Thankfulness- Day 8

Today, I am thankful for...

1) A busy office day. It's fun, and the people here are so great!

2) Hot chocolate. My hands were cold, and I clearly can't choose just one hot beverage for which to be thankful.

3) Something to look forward to- VACAY!

Thankfulness- Days 5,6,7

I just need to point out that we don't have internet at home, so I'll be updating when I can. I won't go into further detail, because this post isn't about what I'm NOT thankful for... :)

From Friday:

1) Allergy medicine that actually works (bet you can guess what else I'm NOT thankful for)

2) Red Hair Dye. It does look pretty cool, if I can toot my own horn for a sec.

Saturday:

1) Beautiful weather. Perfect. Not too cold, not to warm.

2) Matthew's willingness to take a long walk.

3) Beef pasties. They took awhile to make, but they were SO good and filling. It's basically ground beef, potatoes, and cabbage, wrapped up in a pie crust. The best part- we have several more that are frozen, for future fast meals!

Today:

1) Coffee! If you sometimes rise before the sun, like me, then you know the importance of the "morning juice."

2) Volunteers who keep their commitments, and rise to the occasion, when things come up. (Yes, Emily, I do mean you.)

Thankfulness- Day 4

Today, I'm thankful for...

1) Hot tea.

2) Breakfast-dinner-leftovers. I know you're not sure what that means. It means we had breakfast for dinner last night, and we had leftovers, so I had breakfasty-dinner leftovers for breakfast. Crazy.

Thankfulness- Day 3

1) Babies. Cute little Mick, with his new fangs, kept me entertained in the office this morning!

Thankfulness- Day 2

Today, I am thankful for:

1) Access to all the clean water I need. I thought about this as I took a shower, brushed my teeth, made coffee, washed hands, filled my water bottle, etc, this morning. I consider clean, running water a necessity, and some people don't even have enough to drink.

2) Delta fare sales- today Kim and I booked our flight to see Sumona in San Fran!

Thankfulness- Day 1

One of my facebook friends suggested that everyone post a different thing, each day in November, for which they're thankful. I think I'll do it here on my blog, instead, and maybe I'll post more than one thing! :)

Today, I'm thankful for...

1) My job. Sometimes it's hellish, that's true, but it is steady, and I am appreciated and praised, and I feel like I make a difference. It's really a great place to work.

2) Coca Cola. It saved me from insanity, this afternoon.

3) Pizza Hut's $10 pizza deal, this week. So we don't have to feel guilty about taking the easy way out for dinner tonight.

Try These

Easy ways to jazz up your meals...

1) Corn on the cob with butter, salt, and chili powder. In Mexico, they put salt and chili powder on all kinds of stuff, so I decided to try this on corn the other day. Very tasty. Add a lot of chili powder.

2) Gourmet potato skins. I made a baked potato soup that called for just the potato, and no skins, so I saved them, and dressed them up! First, brush the skins with olive oil, and then add your own combination of salt, pepper, and herbs. It's the herbs that really make them taste different than your typical bacon cheddar skins. Then bake them for awhile at high heat, add a fancy cheese, and put them back in until the cheese is melted. We used gouda with mediterranean spices. So good!

Maybe I'm Idealistic...

...but can't we at least pretend that our system of government isn't filled with lying, self-serving, people, who have an utter lack of integrity? They're just so blatant and obvious about it...

Ted Kennedy died, and people are already discussing his successor. I don't really like that we've gone straight there, mere hours after his death, but I will contribute a little fuel to the fire, because one of the last things he did was request that Massachusetts change their state legislature, to serve his purposes.

A little background:

In 2004, Massachusetts had a Republican Governor- Mitt Romney. They also had a Democratic Senator, John Kerry, running for Presidential office. In order to deny Romney the chance to choose Kerry's successor, should he have won the Presidency, lawmakers in MA chose to create a law that would require vacancies like these to be filled by "Special Election." These elections are held 145-160 days later, and require an actual vote, to elect a replacement.

Now, these exact same lawmakers are considering revising the law they created, just 5 years ago (oh by the way, for an incredibly self-serving purpose), to accomplish ANOTHER selfish goal! They now want to allow the Governor, who is a Democrat, to choose Kennedy's replacement, so they can keep the Senate beefed up with Democrats during this incredibly formative time, in which we're on the edge of healthcare reform. The current Governor, Deval, is a huge Obama supporter, and would be expected to choose a successor who would help to push through the healthcare bill.

Could we just start something new, here? Could we get our heads on straight, and realize that the people who represent us do not have to be lifetime politicians? Yes, of course it's good to be represented by people who know the law, and know how politics work, but does the government have to be crammed full of them? Could we not seek a suitable balance between those we trust to have our best interests at heart, and those who can help faciliate the goals of the aforementioned? Really, the only benefit to a lifetime politician is that he or she knows the ropes, and knows how to get things done.

They can be our secretaries when we're elected :) We tell them what to do, and they do it!

Uhhh...

I just had to post this

I always think we can find ways to be more environmentally friendly, but I'm not sure about this...it's kind of hilarious, actually. I especially like the part about "Summer Colors!"

As if the color matters. ;)

Losing Faith in Humanity, One Person at a Time...

This is an opinion piece :P It's all been brewing for a couple of days, so now I'm formulating into thoughts, to see if you agree or disagree.

In thinking upon my own faults and shortcomings, and trying to see how God would have me become a better Christian, the main personal sin I've come up with is pride. Further thought has led me to assert that this is a sin that could, most likely, be applied to every single human. It seems that pride is what leads us to even think of disobeying God, let alone actually disobey. We take ourselves out of the natural order, and place ourselves above God, putting us in the position of authority, with the power to disobey. Not many sins are universal, but I believe this problem of pride is such. Can we agree on that?

It took an extreme case for the lightbulb to click, but I think I see this manifestation in our society's practice of placing blame on another, or providing excuse after excuse for our faults. Is it just me, or does it seem like no one takes responsibility for their actions anymore? The particular case that tipped me off, although not an uncommon occurrance, was a volunteer blaming me for his inability to keep his schedule straight.

The practice of admitting one's faults, and accepting the consequences of our actions, build humility. These are the situations through which God can really help us work on one of our greatest sins. The more we practice humility, the more our mindsets allow us to view ourselves as the lowly servants that we are (as Christians).

I think it's fairly simple to deduce that we should take responsibility for our actions, as a way of being Christlike, but my question is, how should we, as Christians, deal with those around us who blame us for their actions?

Hysterical- had to post this

OK, I just had to post this...it's too funny not to!

"Wash your hands to prevent swine flu."

So it turns out...they WERE warned.

Even if Bush did sign the bill that allowed sub-prime mortgage lending (which he didn't, Clinton did), who cares if he brought the potential problem to Congress approximately 8 years before it happened?

8 years is plenty of time to begin to fix a problem such as this, but it was ignored...by the Democrats.  Funny how they're pointing fingers now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnSp4qEXNM&NR=1

Not sure why it's routed through Canada.  Supposedly, it was yanked from YouTube.

A Good Buy

I love The Fresh Market, and while the produce is fairly priced, in my opinion, it's only comparable to Kroger when it's on sale.  So I go, and pick and choose, very carefully, a handful of wonderful things to try.

But now I have found a GOOD BUY!  I've discovered that they ALWAYS have at least one variety of their homemade granola on sale.  They rotate it- I think it changes about every week, but the chosen variety is 40% off!

So yesterday, I got a large thing of granola with rasberries and strawberries for just $2.40.

Go!  Buy granola!  Save the world!

Two things of note....

Which may or may not interest you..

1) Matthew and I have redone the budget such that we have more $$ going into a car fund every month. I'm very excited about this. Maybe too excited. Last night I had a dream that we finally replaced my car with...another red Ford escort! Ohhhhh, it was SO SICK! (Remind me never to get another Ford car.)

2) I made some awesome mini-layer-cakes to take to a party that we didn't end up going to. They're butter cake with apricot filling, and cream cheese frosting. I even decorated them with sliced almonds on top. My Bible study ladies will reap the benefits on Tuesday! I'll try to get a photo up on here, so you can see the cakes in all their beauty :)

China

Here's the real reason China has struggled to make meaningful advancements in the past several decades...

Read this article on our economic relationship with China.

1) We took advantage.
2) What goes around does come around.
3) Who was foolish enough to allow China to hold so much of our debt?? Seems like little Jess Thornton, completely untrained in the business of economics, can even tell this was a bad move.

NeoLiberalism- Food for Thought

Have you heard of neoliberalism?  Apparantly, there are two kinds- political and economic.  I've looked at several articles on the economic kind.  It's an extremely interesting view.  Although I wholeheartedly disagree with the fundamentals of this viewpoint, I have to applaud that, at least, those who believe these fundamentals have a certain amount of integrity, in that they carry these ideals to their logical ends.

These "logical ends" may seem, at first, to benefit society, but in the long run, as Christians, we will have to rise above the pressure to conform to these ideals, because they focus on creation of wealth, at the expense of living ethically.

I'll cite a few things from this article, and this article. (Although I'm not concerned with the effect on higher education, as this point- just trying to get my mind around the long-term implications of this line of thinking.)

"Neoliberalism, in theory, is essentially about making trade between nations easier. It is about freer movement of goods, resources and enterprises in a bid to always find cheaper resources, to maximize profits and efficiency."

It's all about free markets, and allowing the economy to regulate itself, etc, with which I don't necessarily disagree.  What they fail to mention, is how they came to these conclusions.

Neoliberalism is based on the idea that what's best for the economy and the people is the solution that offers the most profit or payoff.   Stanley Fish gives a very good example in his blog post, to which I linked earlier:

"In a neoliberal world, for example, tort questions — questions of negligence law — are thought of not as ethical questions of blame and restitution (who did the injury and how can the injured party be made whole?), but as economic questions about the value to someone of an injury-producing action relative to the cost to someone else adversely affected by that same action. It may be the case that run-off from my factory kills the fish in your stream; but rather than asking the government to stop my polluting activity (which would involve the loss of jobs and the diminishing of the number of market transactions), why don’t you and I sit down and figure out if more wealth is created by my factory’s operations than is lost as a consequence of their effects?"

So, basically, it boils down to a very familiar phrase, which doesn't seem to be supported in the Bible, "The ends justify the means."  If there's a higher payoff to what you're doing, it doesn't matter who you step on.  As I said above, as these ideas begin to infiltrate our society, as Christians, we must rise above, and continue to do the right thing!  No doubt, they will try to convince us that the most "wealth-creating" solution is, in fact, the "right" solution, but we know what our morals are, and we are practiced at living ethically (even though we sometimes screw up).

In our hearts, I think we know the ends do not justify the means.

What do you think?

UPS- The Brown

Hey, guess what?? Matthew was the UPS TOP bagger in the building for the month of February!

Yay!

And I know this faulty logic (and don't burst my bubble), but the UPS branch at which he works is ranked #1 in the US, so by my faulty logic, he was the TOP bagger in the country last month!

Congratulations Matthew! <3

Another Cat Post- Orange Cats

I took Julius to the vet yesterday (has a cold or something), and as soon as I walked in, the vet tech said, "Oh! He's orange! Is he special? You know he's special!" And I said..."Yes, he is special...how did you know??" All orange cats are special, apparently!! That's why Julius acts more like a dog!

He went on to throw an absolute, complete hissy fit in the vet, and wouldn't let anyone, including me, touch him. So they couldn't get his temp, couldn't feel his belly, couldn't listen to his heart rate. He scratched a couple of peoplem, including me...they had to get the ::oh so embarrassing:: elbow-length-industrial-strength-gloves-plus-a-towel to handle him.

They sent me home with a sedative, and said to try giving him that, and then coming back.

So, as a prudent cat mother, I was totally embarrassed by kitty's behavior, and was extremely apologetic with the vet and techs, to which the vet replied, "Oh, all orange cats do this. They like to have things their way, and they throw fits. My cat is an 11 year old orange male, and he goes straight into anesthesia when he gets here!"

So anyway, who knew? He was a total brat, but we still think he's special :)

(As soon as I find my phone USB, I'll post a couple of pics of special kitty on his leash)

Sinatra- the dumber cat?

So we've been thinking that Julius is clearly the smarter cat, since he's an orange male (rumored to be the smartest), and well...he acts way smarter than Sinatra ever has- for example, the infamous chex mix.

HOWEVER, Saturday, we witnessed a small amount of cunning on Sinatra's part. Julius was running around sliding on stuff and knocking stuff over, as usual, and when he went into the corner of the dining area, Sinatra quickly slipped into the litter box. Thornton had just cleaned the litter, so we figured he was going in to do his business- don't ask me why we kept watching, but we did.

Instead of doing whatever cats do in there, he sat down, and kept poking his head out sneakily, looking to see where J was. When Julius ran by, Sinatra leapt out, and somehow made him flip in the air and slam on the ground. It was like a wrestling move or something. I told Matthew we'd need to get a video camera long before we have kids- there's just too much entertainment at our place not to share it with the world :)

So anyway, I guess Sinatra isn't as dumb as we thought :)

Do 20 minute workouts work?

Let's try it, and see! I will be the guinea pig. I figure that blogging about my new exercise DVD will make me actually exercise!

I'm using Pilates beginning mat workout with Ana Caban. They claim that in 10 days you'll feel better, in 20 days you'll look better, and in 30 days you'll have a whole new body.

Uh...I'll let you guys know.

Day 1: Complete; did modified version of about half the exercises.
Day 2: Complete; same deal. I should point out (in case anyone is actually reading this to find out whether or not this program would work for them) that I do the modified versions mostly because I am not flexible enough for the big ones yet. They do a lot of things that require you to be able to easily touch your toes while sitting, standing, and laying. Since I used to be an athlete, I already have a decently strong "CORE." However, if you've never been an athlete, you may need to stick with the modified versions until you build up your abdominal muscles.
Day 3, 4, 5: Complete; have moved up to the normal version of some of the strength exercises, and on one of the flexibility exercises! Matthew came into the living room last night, after I yelled to him, "I finally got it!" and he found in a pretzel sort of shape, barely hanging on, but dang it, I GOT IT!
Day 6: Complete. I do feel better already. Not sure if I look any better, but I really like the relaxing breathing.

Tom Daschle- He's Only Human

One of many articles...note that it's not from my usual source :)

People make mistakes.
Mistakes have consequences.
Throw him in prison.
(Along with the other tax cheaters)

When government officials are exempt from the laws that govern the rest of us, it's not a democracy. It's just a group of monkeys. Sure, they follow procedures for creating laws, but then they don't abide by the laws. Does that really make sense?

Lead by example. If you think the laws are important enough to obey, then maybe we will too. If you think they matter little, and you ignore them, then so will we.

But we'll get tossed in jail.

Don't Make Assumptions

This headline caught my eye, so I took a quick look...although I'm wholly unqualified to critique something such as an inaugural address, Robinson, a self-admitted former speech writer, made some very good points. I've been having similar thoughts, but have struggled to verbalize them.

1) Inauguration day 2009 was a momentous event because it marked the swearing in of our first African American president. Awesome, fabulous, I totally agree. I never disliked Obama because he's black- you all know that.

2) Just because it was a momentous occasion, does not mean we're all unified in purpose now. Remember that, people. Don't assume that we all agree with you. It may have been less than a majority, but there were many who voted for McCain, and still identify closely with his ideals.

3) It takes a lot to begin to have respect for someone with whom you wholly disagree, and Obama has made that a lot more difficult. The feeling I was left with after watching the inauguration (and which Robinson relates) is that he spoke only to and for those who voted for him. Don't bother to speak to the rest of us, who have simply stuck to our beliefs. Don't bother to draw us in, and begin the process of unification, like you've promised so many dozens of times- you got elected without our support, why should you need it now?

I'm all for unification in America. I'd love to see the day when we're truly an integrated society, with blacks, whites, hispanics, everyone working together to get back to American ideals. This won't be accomplished under false pretenses. I give lots of people respect before they earn it. Once they lose it, however, they must earn it back- I'm not just handing it over. And I know I'm not the only one.

So the comment: "Everybody in America is unified right now except for you." Not true. And I don't feel bad about it.

Can you guess what he's stockpiling?

I know I haven't posted in awhile.  This is just too precious to keep to myself...and funny.  Always looking for humor in the mundane tasks of life.

Anyway, I found out that Julius is hoarding two different things in different places in our house.  Can you guess what they are???

1) Behind the toilet in the front bathroom, I found a wrapper from a single roll of TP, that he had pulled out of the trash.  He had tucked it away back there, and began making a pile of certain items on top of it.  I didn't have the heart to take it away.

2) The other place is crazy...you won't even believe where he's putting stuff.  You know the drawer beneath the oven, which, depending on your setup, is either for broiling or for keeping baking sheets and stuff?  Not sure how he found this, but Matthew saw that Julius had lined up another collection (of different items) along the handle of this drawer, which is completely hidden from our view.  The only way you can find this place is to get down on the kitchen floor, which doesn't happen to often at our place. :)  My only thought on this is...how did he even get them up there???  That's the beauty of it being just Matthew and I...we both know I didn't do it and he didn't do it, so that only leaves "the boys."

So- guess!  guess!  I want to know what you think he's storing up!

PS: If you have to ask how we know this was Julius's doing, and not Sinatra's idea, then you obviously have not met Julius.  Part dog, part pig, trapped in the body of a meow.