Update

I guess I needed a break. I didn't realize it. But then all the sudden I wasn't posting anything here.

So...sorry about the sudden disappearance.

I have some ideas for future posts. I want to start up again. But not quite yet. I still feel kinda burned out. And there are lots of things I'm figuring out right now with work...and life in general.

Hopefully, we can meet back here soon.

A quick update

I'm going to have to postpone the aforementioned "What is a clerihew?" post a day or two. Or three.

I really wanted to get it up today, but I'm still kind of recovering from the emotional drain that was last week plus three migraines in six days plus work has gotten even busier. I say that not to complain, but just so you know where I'm at. (Some of you wonder.) And so that you know that I haven't forgotten about you - or poetry - and I'll be checking back in soon.

The things you could never plan for

There are events we anticipate, plan for, prepare for in advance – maybe days or weeks or months ahead of time. And then there are the other things that come up unexpectedly and cannot be ignored. They are suddenly there, in front of you, leaving you gasping for air with no choice but to stop and rearrange your life as best you can, or, rather, watch as your life rearranges itself before your eyes.

This Saturday, a friend of my family, who we've known since he was just a kid, will be getting married. The invitations went out weeks ago. Ours mistakenly went to my parents-in-law (the Hubs was named after his dad), but, eventually, it made its way to us – hand-delivered by my father-in-law on his way home from work – and we all had a good laugh about the mix up.

But news doesn't always come in carefully selected stationery. Sometimes it's too urgent. I received a text earlier this week telling me that some of my parents' closest friends, friends from another part of their life, who I've known as long as I can remember because they were friends before I was born, just lost their youngest son. I haven't seen him in years, but we all used to play together as kids. He was about the same age as my younger brother – so, mid-twenties. And now he's gone. And I can't imagine what his parents and siblings are going through.

My parents will have house guests this week – one here for the funeral and the other here for the wedding. I went over the other night to help them get ready and brought dinner, because I didn't know what else to do. I guess it doesn't matter what life throws at you – people still need to eat and something always needs cleaning. And, during times like these, we all just take care of each other the best we can. Isn't that what everyone does?

Today, it was a voicemail. Mom's voice was steady, but something told me that when she said "call me back," she meant it. Over the phone, she delivered the news that her Uncle Bud just passed away. When her voice started to waver, we talked about something else. And then we went out to lunch. There's just too much going on right now to process it all. But people still need to eat.

As I was typing this, the Hubs finished his take-home exam for seminary. He came down with a big grin on his face and announced, "One class down, only 23 to go!" (only! 23!)

For now, we have I have my evenings with him back. And on Saturday, we will dress up and go to a funeral in the morning and a wedding in the afternoon. Mom will be checking on flights to Colorado. Everyone will still need to eat, and we'll all just keep cooking and cleaning and working and planning and dealing with the things you could never plan for. And, of course, taking care of each other the best we can.

Life in poetry (or is it poetry in life?)

The first time I read Making Food. Eating Food's "bear with me" post, I was impressed with the way the writing just flowed so beautifully. When I happened back by later, I found a poem nestled within the paragraphs.

So this is my PerPoTues Found Poetry entry. The original writing is by Chanelle Richardson; I just poemized it.



life.

you might be familiar with it.
the way it
changes everything,
sneaking around corners
with the unexpected–
sometimes even
with delightful surprises.
never predictable,
always crazy–
crazy good–
but crazy nonetheless.

oh, life.

On the menu: conveniently vegetarian

There are people who are vegetarian for health reasons. And others who are vegetarian for ethical reasons.

And then there's us. My current menu plan is mostly vegetarian, but the reasons are not so lofty. I won't bore you with the details, but it had to do with grocery shopping and sales and new recipes and...yeah.

Basically, it just works out better for us this week.


More specifically, here's what's on the menu:
M: Chili with lentils and Peruvian beans
T: Pan-roasted chicken with potatoes and balsamic vinegar
W: Cheese and basil polenta with tomato-basil sauce
Th: Potato curry (with tofu)
F: Pizza (at a friend's graduation party)


That's the other thing I needed to tell you about: polenta! I've never made polenta. But my great-grandma used to make something called cornmeal mush, which I've since learned is basically the same thing. I don't remember what brought that memory to mind awhile back, but, ever since then, I've been convinced I absolutely must make it.

The dish above with cheese and tomato sauce, however, is nothing like what I remember Grandma J making. That's okay, though, because I plan to continue experimenting with polenta/mush over the next few weeks. In the meantime, the recipe I chose sounded delicious, and I can make it on Tuesday, so that all I have to do on my busy Wednesday is pop it in the oven.

Basically, it just works out better for us this week.

P.S. I just realized I didn't note the side dishes. Sometimes I plan out main dishes only, knowing that I have simple sides on hand. Then I pull out some fruit salad or heat up corn or toss lettuce and tomatoes together while I'm fixing the entree.


Photos by me. In case you're wondering, the "palenta" came from my favorite Middle Eastern market and was imported from Bosnia (hence the non-English text). I just happened across it while I shopping.

Have you found poetry?

Because April is National Poetry Month and because the next PerPoTues is about Found Poetry, I've been more aware of little poetic snippets hidden in the every day - even in parking lots.

No parking
Between signs
By order of
Fire marshall

Does that sound a little like poetry to you?

What about this recipe excerpt?

8 lamb rib chops,
one inch thick
or pork rib chops,
cut thicker.
Chopped sweet peppers:
green or red or yellow.
2 minced cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
crushed dried oregano
olive oil or cooking oil
Sliced pitted ripe olives
Snipped fresh parsley

Place chops on broiler pan.
Broil 3 inches from heat.
Turn once; broil until done.



For inspiration, here are a couple of my faves from foundpoetry.wordpress.com. Their poems are much more expertly constructed than my first attempts above! :)

• did this get done yet?
• the future has arrived

To learn more about what Found Poetry is, there is a great article on Poets.org.

What about you? Are you noticing more poetry in the world around you?

****

Photos by:
1) catbagan
2) Polkaroo

On the menu: planning better

Since my last menu plan posts, I've learned some things about meal planning. That time, I planned two weeks at once - and then ran into some glitches.

1. Underestimating amounts.
There were a couple times I ran out of ingredients I'd planned on having for a dish later in the week. And I didn't want to be running off to the store all the time.

For example, I wanted to make a cucumber yogurt side dish. Then we ate most of the plain yogurt as a snack with fresh fruit and honey. It was reeeally good. But it messed with my plan. In the end, I sliced the cukes, some tomatoes and some of our mint, then drizzled my homemade Italian dressing over the top. That was good too. But still. It's the principle of the thing. I need to figure out how to account for snacks, etc. when I come up with my plan.

2. Overestimating my energy level.
Some days I'm pretty tired out by dinnertime. (I think it's a combination of the stress of running a business - plus all the tiredness-causing allergy meds.) And the thought of trying a new recipe can seem like more work than I'm up for.

I need to make sure to plan several easy meals and limit the number of new things I'm trying. That way, if I was going to try a new dish on Tuesday, but I'm drained after an afternoon of client meetings, I can just pop the chicken and rice I was planning for Wednesday in the oven instead.

Sometimes the Hubs steps in and takes over. (He made the empanadas I had planned, and the process turned out to be quicker and easier than it looked. Also? They were delish!) But now that he's going back to school, he's just not going to have as much time for that sort of thing.


With that in mind, here's the basic plan for this week (still figuring out some of the details)...

Mon: I'm making Moroccan Lamb Salad With Carrots and Mint, only I'll be using leftover pork instead. Which probably wouldn't make most Moroccans happy. Shhh...don't tell.

Tue: Pesto chicken and maybe some pasta.

Wed: Gonna try out that empanada recipe - with extra veggies in the filling.

Thr: Lentils.

Fri: Tilapia and rice.

What about you? Anything delicious planned this week? You can link up at Mindful Menus.

First day of school

Tomorrow the Hubs starts a seminary class.

Before I continue, I know that some of you who know us in real life may not have heard about that. The thing is that, while he was considering this as an option and going through the application process, he told very, very few people. He wanted to know it was a sure thing first. I guess this must be kind of a guy thing, because my dad totally got it. Anyway, then, all of the sudden, he was accepted and ordering books and - boom! - tomorrow he starts.


And, if you know him in real life, you may already know he is very intelligent and a voracious reader and brilliant with languages and gifted at explaining things in just the right way so the light bulb goes on.

He's wanted to go back to school for a long time, and now things have fallen into place. Although he's pursuing a Master's (and I can totally see him as a professor), we're taking things one class at a time. We'll see where it leads.

For now, we're both really excited about him embarking on this journey. And I am so very proud of my Hubs!


Oh, one more thing, he recently signed on to Twitter (as @felipeviajero). So he'll be posting periodic updates on his seminary experience, as well as his adventures on the light rail and other random observations, there.

Is it ironic that my free verse is about taxes?

My free verse for this month's Perfectly Poetical Tuesday....

And Taxes
Tax time. Looking back in time.
Miles traveled, dates recorded, gains and losses.
Somewhere in between lines of tidy numbers
Were acquaintances made, lessons learned,
Breath and blood and tears.
Life flowing unstoppable, unexpected, and (unlike subtraction)
Uncertain with few exceptions - one of which is taxes.

Wedding shrapnel

You know when you're on the mend when you start noticing your house is a mess.

Last week was brother's-wedding chaos. Then, after I took two of the last out-of-town guests to the airport, I realized I was coming down with something. So this week I've been fighting off this cold/sore throat/cough thing and catching up with work and vaguely aware that the house needed attention, but too exhausted to do anything about it.

This morning (I'm using the term loosely. Does 3:30 a.m. really count as "morning"?) I woke up, mind racing with things (real and imagined) I needed to do. I finally got up to make some tea and realized it looks like some kind of wedding bomb exploded in my house.

The coffee table is littered with silk flowers, collage supplies I had out for bridal shower decorations (the shower was the evening before the wedding) and wedding magazines they keep sending me because I went to a bridal expo with Christine. In the corner of the living room are bags of stuff I brought back home from the shower and wedding. In one bag: two spools of ribbon (one mostly empty), nail polish, polish remover, scissors, lipstick, Bed Head, a vintage caketopper and a box with earrings in it (incidentally not the earrings that came in the box). I ended up with some things that belonged at my parents' house. Some need to go home with Ian and Christine when they return, and some of them need to find their way to my scrapbooking aunt. The rest just needs to be put back in place here at home.

At least the kitchen is clean, thanks to the Hubs. (Who is awesome.)

****

Photo by me. Yes, we filled out our census form. OK, the Hubs did that too. Sheesh, I feel like such a bum sometimes.

All good news!

Thanks for all your concern and wishes for health, regarding the headaches I was having and more recent sore throat bug.

The bad headaches left with the change in weather, and I'm just about over the sore throat and coughing. So yay!

Much more exciting than that is we got my brother all married off! He and his bride are honeymooning in London as I write this.

Also, I wasn't necessarily intending to write a blog post today, but I got rather long winded commenting on a post by verybusymomwith4, who was looking for feedback on saving money and still eating well. The topic intrigues me, and there is a great discussion going on over there.

I'd definitely encourage you to stop by and add your two cents!

****

Photo by me: Ian and Christine opening presents the day after the wedding. I was in the wedding, so I didn't take any pics then.

Ouch part 2

Still having some pretty bad headaches on and off. As far as this week's meals, yesterday the Hubs found some lentil stew in the freezer and heated that up for us. Today he was off work and decided to make this South American dish I can never remember the name of.

Better than any menu plan I could've come up with! ;)

P.S. Today was the birthday of Dr. Seuss. When's the last time you read The Cat in the Hat? (Been too long for me!)

Thinking postponed.

I wanted to join in with Jenna's Mindful Menus today, but instead I got a migraine. Since I'm typing this, you probably guessed I'm doing better (I am). But I'm still not really up for thinking too much. I have some menu ideas scrawled on a piece of paper, and maybe I can make it into an actual plan tomorrow.

Tonight I'm thinking pancakes sound good. Or anything the Hubs wants to make/pickup if he's so inclined.

Because we can't do everything we want to do

This time it was Shakespeare that tripped me up. (Last time it was Haiti.) I really wanted to do my own Shakespearesque poem for PerPoeTues, but, alas, every time I thought I'd be able to work it in, something urgent came up.

So it's time for me to move on.

I'm working about a post about my accidental kitchen reorganizing project, and tonight I got the photos from our Valentine's weekend trip up, so I'm hoping to tell you about that soon too. And maybe next Monday I'll have a menu plan post for ya.

So hang in there. :)

Resolve not to do this.

One time a motivational-speaker-type person I knew through work asked me if I had any New Year's resolutions.

I had been been rolling some ideas around in my head that I figured could qualify as resolutions, so I said yes. "How about you?"

She replied, "Oh, no. I don't make resolutions. I make goals."

Um, ok.

I get what she was trying to say - that she had definite objectives rather than just empty intentions - but it sure felt like a setup to me.

I resolved not to talk to her about that kind of thing again.

In summary

{After PerPoTues, it was all just a blur...}

design projects + fighting off a cold + shopping + getting that cold + networking + spending too much time on hold + wrapping + business holiday cards + family cards + laundry + computer issues + backing up everything + wanting to sleep + getting everything set before Christmas + delivering client gifts

{and then}

buying trip food + packing + traveling north + bundling up + taking in snowy views + family + food + more family + gifting + unwrapping + more food + coming home

{but it didn't stop there}

more wrapping + different family + more cards + out-of-town friends and (you guessed it) family + baby shower #1 + getting sick again + calling to say I can't make baby shower #2 + taking a nap

{up next}

recovering + reevaluating + readying myself for the year ahead

{Hope to fill you in more soon!}

Failure to connect - part 2

The Pre-cellphonial Era

So back to the question: What did we do before cell phones were so commonplace?

Before I had a cell phone, I had a purple pager clipped into the pocket of my overalls. (Which I may have sometimes worn with one strap undone, hanging down the back.) (C'mon! It was the 90's, people!)

Back then - and even before my pager days - you always kept a quarter with you for the pay phone. When you called a friend, you called a land line (although you never thought of it that way - it was just a phone) that went to their family's house. If your friend wasn't home, you might have to leave a message on the family's answering machine or with her little brother, or you might get a busy signal and have to try again later.


Phonelessness

I left my cell phone at home went to Spain for my study abroad program in 2003, since I knew it wouldn't work in Europe. Some of my friends made the same choice, and not having a phone at the ready was definitely an adjustment.

Plans were not so fluid. None of this "just call me when you're on the way" stuff. You set a time and place in advance and had to stick to it. We made a bigger effort to be early or on time, since there was no updating a waiting friend on your status, if the bus was running late or something. And if you were the one waiting...you just waited. There was no contacting the person directly to find out where they were. You just stuck around, wondering where they were, wondering if they'd come, second guessing whether you and the meeting place right or if they could be waiting for you at that other cafe.


Phondependence

T-Mobile's outage at a superinconvenient time on Tuesday made me think some more about the way we use - and rely on - cell phones. I'm not saying we should stop. But maybe it's a good idea to not assume we'll be able to get in contact with someone at any moment. Think about the chaos that follows when a company's email is out of commission. Or how users of Twitter/Facebook/etc. are at a loss when their service of choice goes down.

The other night, I wanted to keep things flexible, because there were a number of unknowns - how long the train ride would take, when others would arrive, how ticketing would work, if I was going to do a contest for my unused tickets, if and when I was going to get something to eat beforehand. But I could've made a decision. I could've said I'll be in this place at this time. And here's the backup plan, if something doesn't work.

It's always good to have a backup plan.


Phontingency plans

Maybe I should be more firm in my commitments as a general rule. Maybe I should make sure that I have other contact information for the people I usually connect with via Twitter. Maybe I should double check that the important emails I sent are received.

Maybe I should do less assuming and more backup planning. Or maybe the cell phone should be the backup and not the plan. Any thoughts?

*****

Photos:
1) by sean dreilinger
2) by John Fraissinet
3) by Scott Ableman
4) by artolog

Failure to connect - part 1

Network Error

Making plans to meet up with people at Ignite Phoenix last night was a bit of a challenge since everyone was coming from different directions, and I was taking the light rail and walking. So I told everyone I'd be there around 5:00 and to call me when they got there. I commented to my friend Rebekah, "what did we ever do before cell phones?!!"

Funny thing was that about 5pm my phone randomly stopped being able to make or receive calls and texts, even though the bill had been paid and the signal was good.

So I didn't hear from the person calling to say she'd be late or the person calling to say she'd be early or the person that was there somewhere but I never did find.

And I had let the Hubs know I was on the train, but couldn't tell him that I'd made it to my destination. I also didn't know he'd run into his own problems.

Transportation Glitch

Ignite had been on the calendar for months, but I don't think we thought about that when we signed up to lead a Life 101 discussion group at church.

We dealt with the schedule conflict by deciding I'd go to Ignite, leaving the car for the Hubs at his work, and he'd drive to Life 101. Would've worked just fine - had the Hubs remembered his car keys. I may have been able to help - had my phone been working. He must've sent me the text that began with "Transportation glitch! Forgot my car key. :P" about 6pm, but I didn't get it - or his other texts - until 8:30. (Which was very confusing!) His voicemails didn't come through until much later.

In the meantime, it all got worked out - with a little help from our friends. Chanelle ran me home, so I could try to locate my husband. Dale gave him a ride to church and back home. He took the light rail to work this morning, and, yep, the car was still there. So it all turned out fine.

But seriously bad timing for a network outage!

****
This was originally part of a post that was so long I decided to break it up. Part 2 is about the reliance on cell phones that this an example of, and it's coming up Friday!

Photo by tysoncrosbie. And, yep, that's me in the back. You'll recognize the Heart tee. ;)


More photos from Ignite.

There's a bus for everything

Came home the other day to a flier on my door for this free ultrasound bus. Interesting concept, no?

Also, interesting that they fliered my door for a mobile unit that was parked kinda far from my house.

Five years

Five years ago today, the love of my life and I were on our honeymoon.

When this entry posts, we should be just back from our anniversary trip back to Sedona. I admit I'm writing this ahead of time, because I can't sleep, I'm feeling reflective, and I know it always takes me awhile to get back to the blog when I've been out of town.

So. Five years. Not a long time, really, in the grand scheme of things. But already we've gone through a few different seasons together. We've lived 2 different places. The Hubs has worked in 5 different positions for 2 different companies. I started a business, worked 2 other places, then took the business full time. We've traveled together to California, Pennsylvania and Indiana, as well as to Peru, Mexico and Bolivia. Within our families and circle of friends there have been births, deaths, marriages, engagements, moves and life transitions. The brother-in-law who joined the Navy when we were dating has served his full commitment with the military. The cousin who started college when we were engaged is halfway through law school. The nephew who was months from being born when we got married will start kindergarten next year.

So five years is something.

Besides the kinds of changes that require updating the address book or adding photos to the album, there have been other, less tangible - but still very real - changes. Things we used to fight about that we look back on and laugh. Things we understand about each other. The way we communicate. The ways we've grown. The way we show love. Maybe we show love better, because we love more. I know that just when I think I love him so much my heart will burst, a new day begins, and I see him next to me and love him even more.


Ok, ok. I got it. I'll quit with the mushy stuff. But, seriously, if there's something worth being mushy about, isn't it this?

Happy five years, sweetheart! I wouldn't trade them for anything!