Randoms 7.23.10

This will not be a well thought out blog entry today. Just letting you know on the front end.

Today started off nicely, though a little late. I guess that's because last night finished up nicely, though also a little late. But that's been the pattern, so a whole lot of late nights add up.

Yesterday we went to a consignment sale and bought more board books and a couple of pairs of toddler shoes. Lizzie soaked her only pair of shoes at the fountain on Wednesday; that's when I realized the girl needs another pair of shoes.

I've been reading "Square Foot Gardening" since picking it up at the library on Monday. I'm inspired to plant a garden next spring. I was actually inspired to plant one this spring, but with Sam up to his ears in homework before graduation, the last thing I needed to do was hound him to dig up a garden for me. We have a very shady back yard, so we'll have to eliminate some trees, which costs money, so that's a project for later. We'd also have to figure out how to keep the dog (who has destroyed my potted herb garden this spring) from digging up anything we planted. That means some kind of additional fence. So it's no small project.

Sam's resume is out to a bunch of places, and he did receive a call back within hours of submitting to one place it yesterday. Unfortunately they've been playing phone tag, so he might not get anywhere with it until next week.

I want a nap.

Last night's dinner turned out surprisingly well. Dinners usually work just fine so I don't typically get excited about them enough to tell about it, but this one was good. I had a package of 2 frozen Mahi Mahi fillets that I thawed overnight. I didn't do much with those except sprinkle them with a little seasoning and coat them with oil, then sent them out to the grill. We also had a fresh pineapple that I sliced and we grilled. Amazingly the pineapple has that citrus edge to it like lemon, which helps fish not taste fishy.
Along with that I sort of followed a recipe for pasta that has noodles (go figure!), wilted spinach, garlic, red pepper flakes, garbanzo beans (chick peas), and of all things, golden raisins (which I didn't have, so I substituted dried cherries), mixed together with a little salt and chicken stock. Anyway, the combination of all of it was delicious.

I'm pretty sure Lizzie says "Elmo" now. It sounds like "Ehmo". We have an Elmo toy, and at Sunday School there are a couple of Elmo books, and we've been invited to a birthday party that has an Elmo theme, so she sees Elmo pretty frequently, even if we don't watch much Sesame Street.

She loves when we sing and do the hand motions for "If You're Happy and You Know it" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Only a Boy Named David". We can almost distract her entirely from having a fit just by starting to break into song. I know I shouldn't overuse it, but it sure comes in handy! It is also the only way for me to keep her still while changing her diaper. Here is Lizzie going "round and round and round and round and round and round and round".

Lizzie also has learned empathy to some extent. When the dog is outside and whining to come in, or if the cats are yowling about something, she will get a pouty look on her face, and start sounding like she's about to cry. It's kind of awful, because she knows they are "sad" and that makes her "sad", too. The last thing we want is for her to lose it just because the dog is whining.

On Wednesday for play group we went to the park where they have splashing fountains. It was a huge hit. We have to go back again!

We're in week 5 of Believing God, focusing on "Believing I Can Do All Things Through Christ". Is this what I need to hear, or what? My big takeaway from this week has so far been this variant of the definition for the word "minister": "waiter, one who serves food and drink". If there was ever a definition of the ministry of a mother, that is it! This gave me great encouragement in the context of: "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant..." (2 Cor 3:6)

Even so, I was still having a mini-melt-down this afternoon between lunch and nap time, because of a mess in the kitchen. You'd think I could be a grown-up. Maybe if I could grasp better the grace lavished on me, I would let some of it spill over on those around me.

I should probably quit now while it's still quiet, and try to get something accomplished without my little Klingon. Maybe I'll clean a bathroom (or two!), or clear the kitchen table for the first time in weeks. It's a toss-up whether we will have chorizo/egg/potato burritos, or stir fry tofu/pork/mushrooms w/ rice for dinner.

Maybe tomorrow I'll hit one of the local farmer's markets. It would be an adventure, anyway.