100 Triceps and "The Shack"

I did it! Today I met my goal of 100 reps of triceps extensions! If I can keep this up, then GOODBYE nasty upper arm flab!!!

In other news, Dale and I were discussing The Shack last night. This is a somewhat controversial Christian fiction book making the rounds. In it, God is portrayed as a black woman. I mentioned this to Dale and his comment was, "God is portrayed as a black woman on TV every day at 4:00." Love that man!

swollen knees

Something is wrong and not wrong with my knees. There is nothing wrong with them, yet periodically one knee or the other will swell up like a grapefruit for a few days. This is uncomfortable, but, surprisingly, not painful. My doctor is mystified. He has finally given up tentatively diagnosing ailments, and is now merely concerned with braces, leg strength, and things of that nature.
Sometimes I think God used silly putty when She made my ligaments...

Saving the World?

There has been a lot of discussion lately in my circle about saving the world. It's fair to say that many of us find our consciences roused about the many social injustices throughout our world. As we realize the extent of our own involvement - the amount of blood on our own hands - we are striving to figure out just how to improve things. How do we address the many issues that exist? How can I stay here in America and be a part of society without guilt?
First, I find it important to remember that I live under grace. I have been forgiven for my contribution to these problems, for my ignorant consumption of resources. Further, I will be forgiven for them. All of us require forgiveness for far more than we can possibly imagine, and God is generous.
Second, there is a certain amount of choosing that must go on. For example, Dale and I, although we are saddened by the mistreatment of animals in America, have not chosen to change our diets to a vegan diet. On the other hand, we are considering trying organic, pasture-fed, and humanely treated meat. I've found a local farm that raises their own free-range cows and sells the beef. There are pictures of the kids hugging the calves. Cool! Also, Dale and I for a while avoided products made in China. Gradually, as I become more educated about slavery in America and the rest of the world, I have modified my position. Sometimes we need to buy products made in China. Eventually, clothes wear out and need replacing. So now I'm more focused on finding fair-trade products to buy when possible.
Third, I'm posting websites and blogs which can enable us to live more at peace with the rest of the world. Hopefully I can find and share lots of resources which will enable me to be more responsible in my consumption.

Weekly Writing

I realized today that I need a day each week in which to write.
So, starting next week, every Tuesday will be dedicated to writing. I will not make appointments, run errands, do schoolwork, or read fiction on Tuesdays. Instead, I will write, and sit outside, and go to parks, and sit in coffee shops. I will also continue to cook dinner and meet with my covenant group. :) I've put it in my calendar until December. We'll see how it goes! I hope that this will give me the structure I need to focus on the writing instead of cramming it into the margins of my life.

Hummingbird nest

Dale found this under our cedar tree in the front yard. It's so cute and little! We haven't seen the baby humming bird, but it's probably almost full grown now, since the nest was abandoned.

Croissants

Yesterday, I started making croissants. This is a two day process. Today I baked 16 croissants, half the dough. WOW. They were so good, it made me want to speak French. Of course, I did use 4 sticks of butter. Is anything with 4 sticks of butter bad? Seriously, though, these were amazing. Tomorrow I plan to make some chocolate croissants with the rest of the dough. Yummmm.

Food experiments

So last night Kerry came over and we made vegan chocolate cake with avocado frosting.

I suppose that needs a little explanation...
So a while back, when Dale and I still had cable, we saw Alton Brown make avocado frosting, and it looked really cool. I was smitten with the idea and have been looking for an opportunity to make some ever since. No one has been terribly interested. :( Fortunately, Kerry is adventurous, and willing to try it, as long as we made it on a vegan cake. OK, no problem!

The vegan chocolate cake was superbly delicious. It was rich, moist, airy, and chocolatey. Every bit as good as my family's chocolate sheet cake. Seriously. For all you doubters: come to my house and I'll do a blind taste test and see if you can identify the vegan cake. You won't be able to. Who knew that cake could be so good without eggs or milk or butter?
The frosting, on the other hand, not so great. It was made up of avocado, lemon extract, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. It primarily tasted like powdered sugar in a spreadable form. The only hint of avocado is in the gorgeous bright green color. It's a striking color, and would be great used in tandem with other frostings as decoration. But overall, it needed something. Probably a nice big chunk of animal fat...