November 20, 2008

Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

Sorry I've been a bit absent lately, guys. I've had a sick crew over here, so I've been busy taking temperatures and changing cartoon dvds. In my nursing efforts, I've turned to a tried and true recipe for the best chicken and dumplings you've ever tasted. And, why yes, I'll be happy to share it!! It's honestly much easier to make your own dumplings than you think, and it tastes so much better. Don't be skurred. Just go for it.

This recipe comes from my dear friend Amy's family. Her mother made me a cookbook filled with recipes from my family, from King Pen's family, and some of their own personal favorites. It's the one wedding present that I have used a billion times, and added to many times over the years. I'd be lost without this cookbook!

Anyway, here it is:

2 chicken thighs or breasts- deboned and torn into bite sized pieces
2 1/4 cup All Purpose flour (NOT SELF RISING!!)
1/4 c shortening
1 tsp salt
ice water to make stiff dough
1 can chicken broth, or broth from boiled chicken (actually, I usually end up with 2 cans)
1/2 to 1 cup milk (evaporated will give a richer flavor)

Mix flour and salt, cut in shortening with fork. Add water a little at a time until stiff dough is formed. Roll onto floured surface until thin, cut into strips. Drop into boiling broth (big pot). Cook one minute, then add chicken and milk. Cook until thickened, stirring often, then salt and pepper to taste.

Now, as a side note, if at all possible, try cooking the chicken in a crockpot ahead of time, because it makes the meat sooo tender. I season my chicken with some mild spices, and then I also use the drippings in the broth. It makes a DIVINE dish, I promise. Plus, with your crockpot, you can prepare chicken for lots of dishes/casseroles and freeze it until you need it. This saves me a lot of time!

Okay, that's my post for today. Please don't nominate me for Most Boring Blogger Ever. That would hurt a little. Just remember the good old days, back when I used to be pretty interesting and thought provoking. (A couple kids back, I think, in case you're wondering where in the archives that is. Ha.)

Peace out, and happy eating.

Feed Me, Seymour , The Daily | By WonderGirl | 12:47 PM | Comments (2)

November 19, 2008

Don't Psychoanalyze That One.

Oh, my, gosh. What is wrong with me, that as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, all I can think about are scenes from Erin Brocovich? That's just weird.

The Daily | By WonderGirl | 11:23 AM | Comments (2)

November 16, 2008

Unexpected

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. You just would not believe what happened Saturday afternoon. We were invited to an evening neighborhood barbeque (boy, was it FREEZING!!), and we'd been looking forward to it all week. There are not many children around, mostly retirees, so this was a good opportunity for us to network with some folks a few streets down.

Anyway, so we load up the kids, the er, homebaked brownies, and head across the foot bridge to the crowd. I'm mingling a little, watching the kids, warming myself by the fire, and a woman walks up to me and says in amazement, "WonderGirl?" To my utter astonishment, it's an old friend from college, Audrey. She was a fellow resident assistant in the dorms with me, a wonderful Christian girl who is one of the wittiest, sharpest people I've had the pleasure of knowing. I haven't seen her in twelve years, had no idea where she'd ended up or how life turned out for her. And here she is, MY NEIGHBOR. I can see her house from my front yard. Unbelievable. Just when I had resigned myself to the fact that there were NO friends to be had for me here, God plops one down right in front of me, all ready made. Not just in the same town, but within walking distance. How's that for provision? And of all the people He could bring back into my life, Audrey is one of the best. She's genuine, and instant-- she's never met a stranger. It was like I'd just seen her yesterday.

It blows my mind that in all the places she and I could end up in this world, we both live in a podunk little town in Louisiana, just yards apart. God is absolutely the author of this coincidence. I love it when He moves in big, obvious ways-- it's such a good reminder of His love and care for His people.

I cannot tell you how my heart soared to see a friend. I've been here for eleven months without one, and I had begun to despair. We hugged in disbelief, and joy, and it was a wonderful moment.

Of course, only minutes later, this beautiful moment was eclipsed by the site of my three year old peeing in the neighbor's front yard. Right by the tabled with all the food. Directly under the street light.

Sweet.

Life's full of the unexpected, huh?

Child of Mine , The Daily | By WonderGirl | 9:15 PM | Comments (7)

November 11, 2008

Days of Plenty

What a wonderful, life affirming two days. Yesterday, my cousin Laura gave birth to her first child, a little baby boy. She was one tough cookie, determined to have a drug-free birth, and she did it. I am so proud of her!

Also, yesterday, my sister Ashley announced on her blog that she is pregnant. This is especially significant to me, because she and I had the same due date. At first, that hurt a little bit, but now, not so much. I will always have a special reminder when I look at her child of my own little one now in heaven. I know I will sometimes think of what might have been, but I will also think of what IS, and that is a beautiful thing, too.

And lastly, today is my brother's birthday. My brother, who has journeyed through addiction, and has come out on the other side. My brother, who at times, we feared might not reach the next birthday when that path was particularly ugly. My brother, who is seeking the Lord in his life... oh how God answers prayers.

So, it's a good two days. The sting of sorrow is wearing off, it just can't stand against the endless blessings that God bestows. It is buoyed up, and away, in the rolling waves of His goodness.

Brotherly Love , Kith and Kin , Spiritual Places | By WonderGirl | 9:49 AM | Comments (2)

November 7, 2008

Christmas

So, that's my goal. That every gift I give this year be handmade-- not necessarily by ME, but people like me. It feels great! It's actually pretty liberating, and exciting. I'm going to have to really hunt to find the right things. I don't want to be a dork about it, ya know-- like, I know my dad doesn't want a knitted cozy for his coffee cup. It's going to be a stretch for some of the people on my list who are more electronically, gadgetly minded. But, I guarantee, there will be more thought put into these gifts than in something I grabbed in Target.

For the kids, this is a little tricky, though. There are some very particular kinds of toys they like, and I don't want to NOT get them... but they'll get that stuff from other people, right? I just don't want them to be disappointed. Maybe I could bend the rules a LITTLE bit for them. Or, maybe this would be the coolest year of gifts, one they never forget? Maybe I could leave the brand name toy givin' to Santa. Gotta mull this one over a bit.

Anyway, just thought I'd spread the Handmade Pledge around, encouraging you to try it also. In this economy, artisans and crafters, people just like you and me, could really use your support. Wal-Mart has enough of our money, yeah?

Crafty Girl , The Daily | By WonderGirl | 10:41 AM | Comments (3)

Reminders

So, I still have moments, when my soul is dragging the floor. Though I know I'm healing, there are times that sadness buffets me. I keep going, keep doing what I'm doing, but I'm hunkered down under it, trying not to lose my footing.

Today is a week.

I keep seeing things, hearing things... little reminders that God is with me. A picture of a fellow blogger, holding a coffee cup that said, "Suffering is bitter, but it's fruits are sweet." Or, the song on the radio, "I Know that my Redeemer Lives", whose lyrics reached right into my pain. Or, hearing my own voice as I explained to the kids that it's okay that Obama will be president, because God is always in control of everything, and He works it all out for good.

He's here, and I know it, because He keeps drawing my eyes to His presence.

There are still the reminders of loss, too. The box of maternity clothes came in. I couldn't decide what to do with it, in more ways than one. Will I ever wear these things again? Should I give them away, should I sell them? Should I even open the box? I let it sit in the middle of the floor, right where the delivery man put it, for hours. I walked around it, trying to see past it when I moved through the room.

I finally opened it. And it didn't kill me. I won't say it was easy, but I made peace with it.

Reminders, reminders, everywhere. I can't get away from loss, and I can't get away from Him.

I wrote something just a few weeks ago that I can't help but think of nowadays.

...while there is air to move beyond my lips, no matter how sweet or bitter, then I will thank Him for it. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." He leaned down, gave me breath, gave me love, gave me life. What else can I do, but sigh back in thanksgiving, praising him with the very breath He gave?

Learning to thank Him, even when I'm hurting, even when I didn't get what I wanted, Learning to praise Him, even when my heart breaks and my womb aches, and my arms feel empty---
is learning to love Him in a whole new way.

And I can't believe for one moment, that I didn't need that.

Fruitful , Spiritual Places | By WonderGirl | 8:47 AM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2008

Glad I'm the Teach

Because I would have to get ugly with a public school teacher who tried this with my child. Oh, it makes me so mad. Read the article, watch the video, and if you want to lodge a complaint (along with me, 'cause this is atrocious and she deserves to be fired), here's the contact information for the NC Ashville School Buncombe County Superintendent's office:

Buncombe County Schools
175 Bingham Road
Asheville, NC 28806

Connie Jackson (Executive Assistant to the Superintendent and the Board):
constance.jackson@bcsemail.org
828.232.4160

It's not even about Obama or McCain, or whoever. It's about this woman, abusing her authority and bullying an innocent child, on OUR tax dollars.

Political Sanitarium , Teaching at the Table | By WonderGirl | 5:38 PM | Comments (6)

Lightening

All I want for Christmas is to be NORMAL again. I feel very much not myself these days. I don't know how to fix that, and it's getting old. I miss me.

I've written half a dozen posts in the last few days that are unpublishable. They're too heavy, too much. Too internal. But for the life of me, I can't write lighthearted right now.

My body has recovered, but I can't say what's going on with my heart. I want it to be better, I'm trying. But it lags behind my physical recovery. I have done some reading, because sometimes other people's experiences help me understand mine. I read this today, and I'm posting it, because I am here right now.

...I run from the world and fling myself into God's arms, and, like Jacob at Peniel, I 'contend' with God. It's not about anger, or at least, not only about anger. It's the whole process, the hope, the loss, the pain, the despair, the anger, all of it, start to finish. I contend with Him to settle things between us, to bring peace and healing to our relationship. I contend with Him because I can't move on with my life until I do. And so I leave the world behind and isolate myself with my God -- alternately clinging to Him and wrestling with Him, resting in Him and struggling against Him, crying out to Him and lashing out at Him. And, through the darkness, I refuse to let go. I won't let go because, although losing my babies wounds me, losing my God would destroy me. I can't let go because He is life and breath and letting go would be the end of me. So I hold on until the light dawns, and then, at last, I surrender. I surrender to His will and to His incomprehensible love--a love that would sacrifice His own Son for me, but would still allow such awful pain and loss into my life. God's love makes no sense to me, that He would love me so deeply when I am so unworthy, and that He would hurt me so deeply when He loves me so much. But, in the light of a new dawn, my faith is renewed. My questions remain unanswered, but since "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb. 11:1)" that's what I hold on to--I have to believe there is a purpose, a good and loving and perfect purpose, that I can't see. I have to believe that or I couldn't live through so much loss. And, by believing that, I can put my questions aside until I get to heaven, and I can heal, and I can finally move on.

She says it better than I could.

I do not intend this blog to become a sorrowful, painful place. I just have to work my way out of sadness, and it's slow going. I'm hoping, if I share it some, then it'll lighten the load.

Fruitful , Link Dump , Spiritual Places | By WonderGirl | 10:57 AM | Comments (3)

November 5, 2008

I Feel Cheated

Louisiana apparently doesn't budget for the the "I Voted" stickers. I have no proof that I fulfilled my civic duties yesterday.

So, what about my free stuff from Ben & Jerries, Chik-fil-A, Krispy Kreme, or Starbucks?

Oh, wait. I forget where I live for a minute. We don't have any of those, (except for Starbucks, conveniently located inside Kroger. And what atmosphere, let me tell ya.)

Too bad the Dollar General doesn't give away freebies for voters. You can't walk two blocks without tripping over another one of those.

OOOOh, wow, I'm kinda cantankerous today!

The Daily | By WonderGirl | 11:54 AM | Comments (3)

November 4, 2008

Brother O'Mine

My brother, Trey, is blogging. I love his title, East is to the West. That's how far God promises to cast our sins from us when we repent... what a beautiful truth to cling to in this fallen world! I cannot tell you how happy I am to read my brother's thoughts. Please stop by and give a newbie a welcome, won't ya dears?

Brotherly Love , Link Dump | By WonderGirl | 1:41 PM | Comments (0)

Another Good Bailout Link

Oh, this is a really user friendly list of who voted for the bailout-- with a snazzy map and everything. Check it out!

| By WonderGirl | 1:23 PM | Comments (0)

Sleepless

I can't sleep. I hate laying in bed, with my eyes closed, and my mind going a million miles a minute. So, I wait, try to wait, until I'm too exhausted to think anymore. I browse the internet. I watch Flicka. I order Czarina's birthday charm. I do anything, to keep from laying in the dark, wondering about God's sovereignty at one o'clock in the morning.

I just can't wrap my head around Him tonight.

Spiritual Places | By WonderGirl | 1:42 AM | Comments (4)

November 3, 2008

The List

So, tomorrow's it. Finally! For a minute, let's all not care about who wins the presidency. I'm sick of it all, anyway, aren't you? Instead, let's talk about something that everybody wants us to forget. That monstrous bail-out package. The one that is growing uglier by the day.

When you go to the polls tomorrow, remember who voted YES to the bailout bill. Remember that the American public violently opposed this bill. Remember the massive negative response, the hundreds of thousands of calls, emails, and letters, even PROTESTS, to stop our representatives from voting for this travesty. Remember that we told them what we wanted, and these elected officials DID NOT LISTEN. These people who we elected to REPRESENT us, didn't do their job. They do not deserve reelection. I don't care if it means voting against your party--- this is too important. Vote third party, vote for the new guy, write in Mickey Mouse, whatever you need to do, but let's remove these people who failed us. When we lose our power as the people, then we have nothing. The government has everything. This is too important--- don't let it get lost in the all the hype over the presidential candidacy-- remember, and use your vote to send a message to Washington. For better or worse, they should have listened, even if they thought they knew better than the poor, ignorant masses. Freedom means the right to succeed, and the right to fail. Otherwise, it's not freedom at all.

Here's a list of who voted AYE, and who voted NAY. Use it, or we lose it.

The Daily | By WonderGirl | 3:12 PM | Comments (1)

November 2, 2008

The Other Side

I just wanted to thank everybody for your encouraging, supportive words over the last few days. I've gotten lots of emails and calls, and comments here that have really helped. I am feeling better, both physically and emotionally. I was describing it to my mom as suddenly losing your shell, losing your protective covering. It takes a while to grow a new one. But, I'm working on it, I've got something there. It's still soft, but I'm not as vulnerable and exposed as I was. I don't cry as easily, I can talk about it and think about it without so much pain. I am smiling about other things, eating, talking, breathing again. I'm going to be okay. What hurt, is healing- in body and in spirit.

Thank you all for being there, for saying something even if you weren't sure what to say. I know how that is, I know it can feel awkward or insufficient to say something, even downright uncomfortable, when somebody is going through a hard time. But it means all the more to me that you reached out over that, to let me know you care and you're praying. It helped, it truly did.

The kids have been with King Pen's mother, who so graciously took them and did All Saint's Day festivities Saturday and church today. I know she's got her hands full, and I appreciate her for that short-notice sacrifice. Thank you, Mrs. Sue. I truly appreciate it. I'll be picking them up on Tuesday, and then, we'll get back to life. Life, normal life, which sounds so sweet right now.

Thank you again, friends. God heard your prayers, and He has eased us through, gently bringing us closer to the other side of grief.

Fruitful , Spiritual Places | By WonderGirl | 8:35 PM | Comments (0)