Just When You Thought it Was Safe

What a trying week we have had.  I have wrestled with whether or not to post this and I am just going to do it.  Come what may.

On the 27th we found out that T. has been getting up in the middle of the night and playing World of Warcraft with a group in Australia.  Someone (or a couple someones) in a guild playing group convinced him to use Skype to communicate with them and since they play between 12 and about 5 a.m. he has been setting his phone alarm and getting up to play with them for the past few months. 

We keep the game on the desktop in the family room so there is no "private" playing and we allow only up to 2 hours (yes, I know that is a long time but his grades have been great and he has 'earned' extra time by doing chores or extra credit at school) each day.  He can't do chatting on the game so he found a way around it with the Skype texting - no fees for the service he was using.  

To make matters worse, he went into the Skype account and changed the profile from what we had set it when we were using Skype when Jim traveled.  He made himself 17.  Lovely.  So, he lied about his age and had a 20 yr old girl (or a 40 yr old guy as far as we know!) convinced they were in a relationship.  I discovered all of this because he fell asleep with his phone on and the last message from her/him was for him to wake up and play with her/him.  WHAT?  I read back through the exchanges getting physically ill at the progression of the dialogue from mild to rude and a bit crude. (mostly on the girl/guys part).  I wanted to go to Australia and find this person who was dragging my son into a pit!  I want to explain to this person that T. is still my little boy.  He is only 13.  I want my little boy to stay that way for a few more years.  I know he has to grow up but I want it to be a gospel based growth path and not a WoW based one.

For the past few months when he gets home from school he has been showering and falling into bed so I thought it was just a growth spurt.  Nope.  If you spend 4+ hours on the computer at midnight most nights then you are tired the next day.  I have caught him up at odd hours a few times over the past couple months but he had ready explanations - couldn't sleep, Connor grinding his teeth, just got up 10 minutes ago - so I sent him to bed each time and tucked him in.  As I looked back to when those happened and saw what he typed to this girl/guy I feel stupid that I didn't see what was really happening.  I felt we were doing a pretty good job at protecting our kids but this just proves to me that a predator will find a way to flatter a kid and make it seem like their idea and what a good idea it is.  Satan works on even the young.

As I examine what I could have done they only thing that comes to mind is not to have purchased WoW last Christmas for the boys.  C. never was that interested so he only spent enough time to figure out it was boring him but T. liked it and kept at it.  T. never seemed addicted or obsessed to a dangerous degree.  Yes, he could be fresh when he didn't want to get off but we chalked that up to being a teen.

We have cut off all electronics for T. and turned off the Internet at night and deleted Skype from everything.  Tomorrow I delete all the WoW files and cancel the subscription on-line. It may be a long time before I feel I can trust him with electronics.  I want him to feel that he can move on from this and be a kid with other interests and activities that take up his time in a positive way.  I want him to understand that he was a victim in this and that the person that took advantage of the situation is a predator in at least one way.

Whew.  That is about it.  I know there will be struggles and maybe more problems/fall-out from this but I am confident with prayer and fasting that we will get through this.  Love will conquer.

Let's Call it Quiche

I didn't have everything I needed to make a 'real' quiche so I threw this one together.  Once again my hesitant family - I mean kicking and screaming hesitant - enjoyed it.

Ham and Broccoli  Quiche

1 1/2 cups cubed ham
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup leeks, sliced thin
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups Shredded potatoes
1 1/2 cups Swiss
Nutmeg
Double mustard
Salt

Set oven to 375'.  Spray 9" pie pan with Pam. Steam vegetables individually in microwave until about half cooked - 1 - 2 minutes each.  Line pan with shredded potatoes.  Whisk together eggs and milk season with a dash of nutmeg, double mustard and salt.  Stir in cheese. Fold in broccoli and leeks.  I put the ham in the pie pan and poured egg mixture over it.  Place on cookie sheet and bake for 30 - 35 minutes until firm.  Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

We found a nice grainy mustard and it was perfect.

Runsas

I found this recipe in a Cook's Country Heirloom recipe magazine.  It is close to the perogies that Jim had as a kid, made by his Polish grandmother.  I didn't change a lot.

Dough
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
3 1/2 cups flour
2 packages rapid rise or instant yeast (if you use regular yeast up the rise time to 1 1/2 hrs)
1 tsp salt

Filling
3 tablespoons butter (1 tablespoon and 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 lbs 90% lean ground beef
1 cup purple onion, chopped fine
1/2 small head cabbage, chopped medium (about 3 cups)
Salt and pepper
8 slices American cheese

NOTE:  While eating the kids thought of other fillings they want to try:

Sausage with mozzarella
Pastrami with sauerkraut and Swiss
Beef with a light gravy and mushrooms
Shredded chicken with cheddar and steamed carrots/corn/peas
Pepperoni with mozzarella and a touch of pizza sauce

1. For the dough:  Mix water, condensed milk, oil, sugar and egg in a large measuring cup.  Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. (They used a stand mixer and I have to say it would have been nice with this recipe.)  Add the water mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined.  Add warm water as needed to make the dough come together but not sticky.  If you have a stand mixer mix for 4 to 6 minutes until dough is shiny and smooth.  If not, turn out on to a very lightly floured surface and need until you get the same results - about 10 minutes.  Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl covering in plastic wrap for about 1 hour until it has risen to double.

2.  For the filling:  Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet.  Add beef and cook until just brown breaking up large clumps.  (I seasoned mine lightly with garlic salt - I hate bland ground beef.)  Transfer beef using a slotted spoon (you need the oil left in pan) to a paper-towel lined plate.  Add 2 tablespoons butter only if there is not enough oil to cook the onions.  Add onions and saute until  softened - about 3 minutes.  Add cabbage and toss until it just begins to wilt - about 2 -4 minutes.  Return beef to pan and season with salt and pepper.

3.  Assemble and bake:  Turn oven to 350'.  Coat two cookie sheets with cooking spray.  Cut your ball of dough into 8 equal portions on a lightly floured surface.  Roll each piece to an 8 - 9" circle (you want it to be thin but not to where it will break when filled) Place the dough circle in a large cereal bowl.  Place cheese on the bottom and spoon 3/4 cup of the filling on top.  Gather the edges together and pinch to seal (think Chinese steamed buns).  Turn the sealed edge to the bottom on the cookie sheet.  Cover with plastic wrap for 20 minutes until they are puffed.  Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.  The recipe had you brushing the top with melted butter but we found that too heavy.

The dough is sweet and makes a very nice contrast to the savory filling.  The dough was super easy to work with an elastic so I didn't have any that broke or fell apart.  This makes 8 LARGE buns.  Jim had 1 1/2 but the rest of us had just one.  I served it with a nice balsamic salad.

I'm in the pink but seem a little green around the gills

Lauren and I did another 5k on Saturday.  It was very similar to the first one we did earlier this summer.    About every half mile we were pelted with colored cornstarch.  As you can see from the above photo I was hit by pink, green, orange, blue and purple.  The yellow ended up on my black pants.  I looked like a colorful bumblebee.

We had a great time with our friends; Robyn I'm-flinging-green Williams, Shannan You-will-not-catch-me Williams, Sean Is-there-more-color-in-that-bag Singh, Sunita I'm-workin'-the-hat Singh.  Great time.  The kids have already started to plan for the next mad dash!

For Brian's Birthday

                                                          Mom and Brian in the backyard, nice tree.

                                                                Dad and Brian - What's with that tree?

Since Brian's birthday is next week I thought I would find a shot or two of the handsome guy as a cute baby.  I remember Brian as a pretty easy baby.  He didn't cry a lot so when Mom had to go to church early one week and Dad was left to bring us and Dad forgot him it didn't surprise me a lot.  Brian was in the papoose basket with Sam, our faithful and fabulous dog, sitting with paws on either side as if to say, "You left this and it looked important so I'm lookin' after it.".  Brian also got left at a truck stop while we were on family vacation.  The discovery was made a state away.  He seemed perfectly happy to be there ... or be with Mom & Dad ... or whatever. 

Happy Birthday Little Bro!

Small Family

                                                         Hanna Clan - Near the beginning
                                                                 Dad, Mom, Brian
                                                          Sherri, David, Debbie, Marcy

This week I got back from the media transfer company a disc with family photos.  I have been having a lot of fun looking at pictures I've never seen and laughing at a lot of them. 

I like my very wierd expression in the shot above.  David was obviously distracted by life and thus not in the moment.  I LOVE Debbie's half smile - was she trying to only smile with half her face (which I had done a million times) or did she just have dental work (another serious possibility)?  And Marcy looking like she belongs in someone elses family. 

I am going to post a few here and there as I make more discoveries.  I am also going to copy the disc and pass them out as I get to it.  I figure we haven't seen them in this many years you can wait a few more weeks (months?).

Here's to the start of something fun.

Life Change

Yesterday something big happened.  It was one of those things that once said can't be taken back. I was hurt and angry when it happened.  I don't want to go into details but a relationship has been damaged. (NOTE: It's not Jim.)

Here are my questions:

1.  When you find out that things aren't what you believed to be but just about the polar opposite how do you respond to 'normal' activity thereafter?
2.  Do you try to forgive when they don't think they've done anything wrong?  Is character - true colors? - a forgivable thing or is it just something you have to learn to accept once you know it?
3.  As I look back on more than 20 years, do I need to examine each encounter or should I leave each as what I felt it was then?

For more than 20 years I believed that the relationship was one that was growing and being made stronger by both of us.  Trust has been slashed and stomped on.  I'm not sure about love: at very least it's not the love I thought.  I am feeling used and a little bit stupid.  

I like knowing where I stand with people - good or bad - so I can't put the appropriate level of trust into that relationship.  I don't know where that is right now.  I know how I want to feel about the relationship I want to have.  I now think I know what they want and it isn't where I want to go.

How do I resolve this in my heart?