You sit over there....

With two lefties at the table I got

a side to myself.

That is NOT an L for Loser.

It's an L for

Lucky-Me-I-Get-To-Sit-With-Another-Leftie!

Connor wasn't as excited if

you can't tell...Ha.

When Pigs Fly. No. Flying Pig, when?

Suzanne has magic fingers.

No really.

She found this dive bar with

awesome menu covers.

(This one's for you Keira!)

We split a pork burger with egg,

fries and a nearly perfect

Salted Pecan

Caramel

Sundae

Word.

 

I asked Suz if she was even a little nervous
for our race in the morning.
This face.

Every Pain. Every Time. Everyone.

“Well, my dear sisters, the gospel is the good news that can free us from guilt. We know that Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It’s our faith that he experienced everything- absolutely everything. Sometimes we don’t think through the implications of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don’t experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually. That means he knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer- how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced Napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism.

Let me go further. There is nothing you have experienced as a woman that he does not also know and recognize. On a profound level, he understands the hunger to hold your baby that sustains you through pregnancy. He understands both the physical pain of giving birth and the immense joy. He knows about PMS and cramps and menopause. He understands about rape and infertility and abortion. His last recorded words to his disciples were, “And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20) He understands your mother-pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten, when a bully picks on your fifth-grader, when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down syndrome. He knows your mother-rage when a trusted babysitter sexually abuses your two-year-old, when someone gives your thirteen-year-old drugs, when someone seduces your seventeen-year-old. He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children are visitors, when you hear that your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week, when your fiftieth wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years. He knows all that. He’s been there. He’s been lower than all that. He’s not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people don’t need a Savior. He came to save his people in their imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living make mistakes. He’s not embarrassed by us, angry at us, or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and our grief.  (Sister Chieko Okazaki, Lighten Up)

Hahaha...hic ...Sisters!

This pic was taken not too long ago. 

It was mine.  Suzanne gave it to me.

BUT, my sister Marcy (see below in purple) want it.

She's older...MUCH older.

Okaaay, not that much older, but STILL older.

She wanted it. 

She got it.

 

Love my sisters!

I Need A Lift

I have been in the dumps all day.  These are the things I have done to dig out:

1.  11.75 run - I'm not incredibly fast but I was doing a steady 8:20 mile.
2.  Cleaned under one side of the TV cabinet.  I wanted to do the other side but the one side wasn't helping so I gave up. 
3.  Shopping at Marshalls - Actually I was just looking.  I like Marshalls, it cracks me up what you can find there.  Once in a great while I get lucky and find something I am actually looking for but most of the time not.
4.  Shopping at Trader Joe's - I did buy a few things.  Nothing I needed but who needs anything from Trader Joe's really?
5.  Long brisk walk - It was too hot today.  It hit 90', on March 14th, really.  I wanted it to be cool but no chance.
6.  Made White Bean and Ham Soup - I REALLY wanted it to be winter-esque today.  Just a little chill in the air would be fine.  But no.  The soup was really good but eating it bare foot and in a t-shirt just wasn't the same.
7.  Watched The Incredible Life of Walter Mitty - I like this movie.  It reminds me that I can be more, do more and not get pigeon-holed into something that someone else thinks I am.

Still not out of the dumps but I know I have family and friends that love me and I will be fine.  Just fine.

Maple Maple Can It Be Fall Again?

It was 76' here yesterday.  I wanted it to be cool, dare I say even cold?  I did.  I wanted it to be fall again.  We have had so little rain and such beautiful sunshine that it just hasn't seemed like winter at all.  I don't want to go through another winter really but I want it to be fall again. 

I decided I would make it smell like fall even if I couldn't have fall.  I made Maple cookies with Maple glaze.  Maple Maple.  So good.  I used turbinado raw sugar cane which is really like brown sugar (think bigger crystals) so the cookies had the nice mix of crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.  They may ALL already be gone.  Yup.

Maple I'm-Falling-For-U Maple Cookies 

3/4 cup butter softened
1/2 cup turbinado raw cane sugar (Trader Joe's)
2 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp   maple flavoring
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp   baking soda
1/2 tsp   salt

    For Glaze:

2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tsp   maple flavoring
2 - 4 Tbl   milk

Instructions - Heat oven to 375'

Cream together the butter, sugar, and eggs.  Add  maple syrup and blend.  In another bowl combine flour, soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until well combined. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet,  Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

For Glaze:  Combine all ingredients.  Glaze should be thick like frosting but it will firm up while air drying.

 

Cut It Out

No matter what you say I like cutting out fabric from pattern pieces.  Sewing still stresses me a bit.  I don't like making mistakes that I have to take out and do again.  I like making the pieces to make things.

I like puzzles too. 

I have laid out and pinned the fabric for the first of my sewing projects for the year.  It is fun to be on my way to reaching another goal.