Posts Tagged blogger

It’s come to my attention that I’m clairvoyant

And it’s not anything that I ever wanted, but I guess since it’s not in any way a career path, we’re all good.  Since my left brain-ness typically only considers the literal about most things, it takes me a while to ‘get’ anything outside the box, because I’m legalistic that way.  In summary of this situation, one might say, I failed to add two and two, where the most basic of addition would have lead me to recognize a simple correlation between nearby regional earthquakes and a challenging vertigo episode that often begins within a few hours to 48 hours before a quake.  Perhaps it all depends on how slow or fast the tectonic plates shift or how massive the seismic activity in my geographic region?  Is there a seismic expert in the house?

I only recognized this during the recent few months that with each earthquake that has occurred within my region in the last 20 years, I’ve experienced severe vertigo.  By ‘severe’, I mean vertigo that has me seeing doubles/triples and everything around me spinning at an exponential speed.  How’s that for fun?  On the bright side, this ‘fun’ occurs without warning and gives me a sensation that I am taking full advantage of an unlimited pass to ride all the twisting and turning roller-coasters on this planet – all in a few minutes.  Yay for me!  Now the reality is that one of these unwelcome vertigo episodes begins with spinning and often gets worse through the first day only to climax until the earthquake occurs.  Then as a final reminder to not forget that this unwelcome guest stopped-by and overstayed its welcome, it provides a sickness ‘hangover’ for at least a day after the event.  When you’ve been sick with a cold or flu for example and have taken those fantastic symptom hiding over-the-counter treatments like the, “Sniffling, sneezing, head-aching, so you can rest magic,” and wake the next morning feeling a little more clear-headed, but wondering where and what barricade you hit going 55 miles per hour, that’s the medicine hangover I’m talking about, as I wouldn’t know anything about other types.

When the most recent episode occurred June 23, I posted to the social network:  I said something to the effect that, “History states whenever I experience a severe case of vertigo, an earthquake occurs in my geographic region within 48 hours, but I hope for once I will be a false prophet.”  So, 48 hours came and went and nothing happened.  Except it did.  But I’m not on the network enough to see comments or even watch the local news because I might at times resemble living under a rock when said vertigo occurs.  Watching TV and reading the paper is impossible when I see doubles and triples of everything.  So, a friend saw my post and watched our regional news closely and notified me that a quake occurred on our fault line.  In Alaska.  Another quake occurred May 22 – same situation in me having vertigo a couple days ahead.  We also had a quake earlier in the year and like clock-work, vertigo set in a couple days in advance.  So wherever we’ve lived, vertigo is indicative of an earthquake within 48 hours.  I believe there’s a correlation between how much of he human body is water (60-75%) depending on which expert and just like the changing tides and the closer a full moon gets to earth, there is something that sets off my balance and the liquid in my inner-ear that goes wonky with seismic activity.

You probably agree that my husband had an interesting perspective about this.  B’s interpretation was that upon me discovering my ‘ability” to foresee earthquakes, I should also consider that God’s using this ability to communicate with me.  Wow!  That interpretation was unexpected.  Decades ago at the private school, my classmate’s nickname for me, was ‘Doubting Thomas,’ which could not be more accurate than it is now.  And the reason it’s relevant is because for over a year, I’ve received these ‘snapshots’ that just appear in my head.  These uninspired and by uninspired, I haven’t seen a tear-jerker commercial, for example, but these snapshots have been of me or B or both of us with one or two children, but since we don’t have children, I got into the habit of quickly disregarding these ‘snapshots.’  (I’ll share with you later about B’s reaction a few months ago to my confession about the snapshots).  And that’s why B’s interpretation is that just like I foresee earthquakes, God’s trying to show me that these snapshots are going to be reality.  What?  Whoa, Dude!  No way! Is this even a reasonable possibility?  Yes.  Matthew 19:26.  And Mark 9:24 has also become a daily reference.  Dear Lord, I want to believe and I think I believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!

Are you clairvoyant or have you experienced anything like this or have you been a witness to someone experiencing this?

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I am the worst blogger.  Ever.  

Updating and sharing…  I get so caught-up in doing irrelevant tasks like decorating the house (as I should have done years ago) and baking and currently researching to understand trends, that when I’m riding such a wave of momentum that I cannot stop or maybe I don’t stop?   Shortly after I completed the ‘making our house a home’ ordeal back in early April, I was able to again join a gym.  I’ve missed that daily habit for several years and when my MS improved back in ’05 and we were still in WA, I joined a gym and enlisted the help of a trainer who coincidentally also has MS, and provided me with a detailed program of cardio exercises, strength-building and toning exercises for me to keep some level of strength.  But, since moving, I really had not been in a gym in years.  I’m thankful most of the strength that I’d built remained during my gym absence and I was able to work the same major and minor muscle groups each day that I did earlier, so it took only a couple of weeks to get back into the habit in 2015.  So once again these activities became part of my current routine with lifting four days a week, and doing between 7-10 miles of cardio on my recumbent bike at home daily.

Another project that’s had my ongoing attention is getting our pool ready for Pool-Season.  During winter and early spring, there’s a minor level of maintenance required except after days of excessive wind and leaves blowing into the pool a few days each month.  We had a couple of weeks of windy weather in late April, which resulted in a slightly cloudy pool from all the dust and then the vacuüm stopped working, but was not clogged so I enlisted a professional to diagnose our pool’s problem.  I didn’t know what I didn’t know and I hate to claim ignorance, but there were a few steps that went ignored with our pool maintenance.   So after cleaning the filters and getting ALL the appropriate  equipment, with my newly acquired knowledge of ALL the steps, the pool is running just fine for the coming summer Pool-Season, which now that we’re consistently involved with our small group from church and they’re aware of our pool, there are definite expectations of us hosting pool-related barbecues/get-togethers.

Also relating to Pool-Season, my hair is short again.  Long hair gets hot on my neck and I gripe about it for a month, even with it pulled-up in a pony-tail and I finally give in to getting it cut.  It’ll grow back, unless I determine the shorter do is a keeper…  Another thing is for years, my sister has been on me to watch Mad Men and a couple of weeks ago, B and I tried it a third time and well…we’re finally in.  Jon Hamm is gorgeous, which has nothing to do with anything, but have you seen “Million Dollar Arm”?  He’s definitely also a DB in that film just like he is in MM…  And Peggy?  Why didn’t anyone catch-on to her being pregnant?  I called that long before she even started showing…  Speaking of pregnancy, my sister is due in August and we’re once again attempting to adopt, but this time is different so more on that later.

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Fresh from the oven – favorite seasonal treats

But why don’t more people call fall, “Autumn?”  Does the silent ‘n’ create enough confusion to deter people from using this term for the season?  Since I already do it because I can, I propose that more people practice calling the season ‘autumn.’  That said, autumn also is the official beginning to my baking season, which lasts through the winter months.  I realize we’re nearly halfway into winter, but with our temps being in the mid-high 60’s and low spring-like 70’s by this weekend, I feel like I’m being forced to place a moratorium on baking these treats after this month, since they’re typically associated with the last few month’s holidays.  But knowing myself as I do, I won’t allow a little technicality like a month name create a ‘cease and desist’ baking order.  Besides, my husband is year-around my most loyal fan for everything I bake and he’s not picky about what I bake or when.

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Here are my Gingersnaps – all perfectly round and cracked like their supposed to be, huh?  And they taste as delicious as they look.  I’ll be making these at least a few more times before the end of winter.  If you’d like to make these Gingersnaps:

In a bowl, add 1 C packed brown sugar, 3/4 C shortening 1/4 C molasses, 1 egg, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger and mix with an electric mixer on high until smooth.  Add 2 1/4 C flour and mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined.  Set oven temperature at 350 degrees.  In a separate container, add 1/2 C sugar.  Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar.  Place balls about 2 inches apart on baking surface.  I always use a Silpat baking mat (see link below) placed on top of a baking sheet to bake cookies or rolls, which makes greasing a pan unnecessary.  Silpats are a little pricey, but they are worth the investment.  My Mom gave me a set of Silpats probably 10 years ago and I have still not needed to replace them.

http://www.amazon.com/Silpat-AE420295-07-Premium-Non-Stick-Silicone/dp/B00008T960/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1421800185&sr=1-1&keywords=silpat

Another recipe I make over and over during fall and winter is Pumpkin Bread.  It’s not ‘punkin’ as my father-in-law says. It’s ‘pumpkin.’  I’ve gotten used to him saying it the way he does, but it’s lazy and no different than those who pronounce the word ‘jewelry’ as ‘jury.’   You night notice that ‘pumpkin’ has an ‘mp’ an not an ‘n’ and that ‘jewelry’ has several letters that say accessories versus a group of 12 peers who determine a criminal’s fate…  Big difference, huh?   But I apologize for that little tangent…

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Pumpkin Bread is another fantastic treat and you might try to make some like this:

In a bowl mix 1 Cup canned pumpkin, 1 Cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 Cup milk, 2 eggs, 1/3 Cup shortening, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ginger(cloves may be substituted – either are good), and mix on high until mostly smooth.  Add 2 Cups flour and mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined.  Set oven temperature at 350 degrees.  At this point, you can fold-in 1/2 Cup nuts (I like pecans) and / or 1/2 Cup raisins.  Pour batter into a greased loaf pan (9x5x3) and bake for about 60 minutes.  Allow loaf to cool to room temperature before slicing.  This delightful Pumpkin Bread is also tasty if you spread a little butter on a slice before inhaling.  Pumpkin Bread dough as it bakes will also, like Gingersnaps, make your home smell fragrant.  Enjoy making these recipes!

What are your favorite fall & winter baked goodies recipes?   Please feel free to share your seasonal favorite recipes.

~Jenn

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Music Monday

For Christmas, my sister gave me a CD of inspirational, and meaningful songs.  Copyright Nazis need not be alarmed as I’m not selling my gift.  Being a kid who grew-up in the 80’s and as a kid who exchanged personally selected songs copied onto tapes for friends, I thought, I should do something on my blog relating to music because I’m always listening to music.  A regular post meant that I would have venture out of my musical comfort zone.  My musical taste is eclectic as I love jazz, classical, rock, modern rock, big-band, some new-age, christian rock, a small bit off county, although I typically revert to my favorite genres, which are rock, modern rock and electric with a limited amount of pop mixed in.  Today for example, I began with listening to Audio Adrenaline, Billy Joel, Kutless, Tom Petty and U2.  But maybe in the next 30 seconds I’ll scrap that list and listen to Frank Sinatra for no particular reason as my musical choices moment to moment are dependent on nothing.

Music

I found several music players, but I really like Songza as the concierge provides you with several ‘activities’ or ‘moods’ from which to choose and base its musical offerings upon.  For example, I selected ‘energy’ related music from a few rock choices and then further selected, ‘Eye of the Tiger: Confidence Mix’ and I’ll list a handful of the artists on the song-list: The Who, Guns ‘N’ Roses, AC/DC, (I’m seriously loving this list so-far) Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, Def Leppard, (still loving this list) Duran Duran, Billy Idol and I’ll assume this playlist will continue being awesome because the preceding list of artists are all well… you get the idea.  I also utilized Pandora’s free music radio – choosing Classic Rock and I listened to another list of fantastic artists: Steve Miller Band, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Free, The Zombies and Bad Company, but I feel like after AC/DC the list sucked, although I stuck it out so you can see I’m being objective when I say that Songza offers a much better selection of activities or moods from which to choose and an improved list of artists.

http://songza.com/concierge/cocky-classic-rock/542db93ee352f80a4bc7fdc4/542dbb398b4818064490be8e/

Music expiration

I don’t want to mention by name a particular one of these per day keeps the doctor away electronics conglomerate that continues to create awesome toys under one product umbrella, along with the ability to save music collections under another umbrella, I’ll rename that song-saving portion Isongs – you know who I mean – and this resource has a fantastic system of saving music.  That system is dialed-in and I love my collection of music being so accessible.  Although, purchasing music under Isongs is much too expensive for my budget.  Several years ago, when my husband located a discounted music resource, I joked with him that it’s our little music mafia site.  Having said that, I’m not one of those who is against ‘The Man’ or anyone or company making money because Capitalism is a beautiful thing, but so is having more than one choice.  Not being able to afford them is not their problem, so then I go to resource number two, which is affordable.  I’m talking a song for 10 or 15 cents or $1.15 for a complete album, which is much more affordable.  The only negative thing is that maybe what I want is not available right now compared to the twenty songs that are which makes a single Isongs purchase more justifiable.  Here is the site where I find music for less…

http://mp3panda.com/

With this monthly post (perhaps, it could become weekly), I hope to find new music to share with you, but I thought I’d start with the music players before I start reviewing what’s new.

What online music player do you use?  What is your favorite type of music?

~Jenn

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Free-bleeding is a hoax. Or is it?

I rarely spend longer than a few minutes on the social network, and by a few minutes, I mean a few minutes because I learned years ago that the social network is a time-sink that draws me in to absorb irrelevant news when I don’t set limits.  All that to say imagine my surprise when during those allotted minutes yesterday I saw a ‘friend’s status about free-bleeding.  Questioning my eyesight I cleaned my glasses and reread, free-bleeding.  I hoped this wasn’t what I thought it might be, but it was and I’m thankful that there wasn’t an excessive number of comments supporting this.  For a second I asked out loud, “Are you kidding me?  Have I somehow surfed a time-warp that took me back 100 years?  How did I miss this?”  See the above answer to first appear in bold font in paragraph number one – why I do not spend excessive hours on the social network,  The internet is an invaluable resource of true, but sometimes false information, therefore, I did a lot of research.  About a year ago, apparently ‘this’ is when ‘this’ became a ‘this’ and there were definitely those who support(ed) the free-bleeding phenomenon and up to the last few months, there were also a great many comments on blogs from those who questioned the idea that perhaps this was a joke.  There were also those who concluded that this ‘free-bleeding’ thing might take females backward, which is a correct assessment.  Because it would take us backward to where we would have a surplus of blood-borne pathogens related to menstruating females who put everyone at risk because wearing a pad or tampon is too much of a hardship for their underdeveloped sensibilities.

Now, I realize that radical groups believe they are progressive in their idea of free-bleeding, but for a moment, let us utilize those critical thinking skills.  In 2015, when we have the ‘technology,’ if you will, to make our monthly a private event, which no one, but the bleeder must be aware, doesn’t that equal forward thinking?  But rather than going forward, it appears that some feminists want us to regress and treat this as something, a ‘right,’ to handle publicly, all because there were some males behind the development of pads and tampons.  In the midst of this research I read that some feminists believe tampons ‘rape’ us.  Now that’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?  I guess I’m modest and I love the fact that as a female, I don’t have to make it public knowledge or write a PSA with commonly excused and irrational PMS induced behavior when the monthly arrives.  Life goes on, up to, during and after the event because we have the appropriate ‘equipment’ to manage the event.  Free-bleeders take your radicalism, your mess and your stink back out to the barn or back to the jungle because in 2015, ‘this’ should not even be a thing.  If it is. But then, perhaps the whole thing was a marketing ploy to sell feminine products, which might be considered genius…  What do you think?

~Jenn

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Close, but moving day is not upon us…

I mentioned previously that we’ll likely place our house on the market in February.  I tend to take a few great many things for granted and it finally dawned on me that February is less than 30 days away.  I know, I know – how obtuse am I, right?   And have I got a lot to do.  A year ago I had it my mind that we were moving long before the end of 2014, but we’re still here and so are the boxes of items we wouldn’t need for the remaining amount of time here.  That’s really put things into perspective because I packed-up things we wouldn’t immediately need for a few months, but it turns out that a few months turned into a year, which means we probably didn’t need those items at all.  It’s embarrassing because with  each move, we’ve mentioned how much we need to scale-down and yet, we’ve failed to do this as we’ve collected more with each new home and each move.

Times four…

Good grief. It’s only a tad over-whelming, but eliminating stuff so we can move with only the necessary can and must be done.  Seven is my favorite number and the move back to Washington will move number seven.  Hmm, but then I’m not superstitious, so that doesn’t matter.  Yes, that picture encompasses roughly a quarter of just the boxes, which doesn’t include the odds and ends items that cannot properly fit into a nice (not so little) box.  Nearly two decades of marriage and we’ve accumulated some stuff an excessive amount of crap.  In addition to scaling-down and repacking our possessions, I also have to work-on cleaning grout, light-fixtures and curtains, touching-up the paint on walls, touching-up the areas requiring replacement caulk in the bathrooms and finally renting a carpet cleaner.  Whew!

My husband is overwhelmed with everything, but for me, this is nothing.  We’d agreed on it beforehand, but his move here in 2011 left me with the remainder of a 2400 square foot home to pack.  When he moved here first, he rented a small truck to bring his wardrobe, our guest-bedroom set and his office set to hold him over until I’d packed the remaining items and finalized selling our Washington home, at which point I was to move to Nevada.  I’d  been successfully packing and had probably 92% of the remaining stuff ready for the move.  Impressive isn’t it?  However, I called my husband in a panic and said there was no way I’d be ready by the coming Saturday.  He said, “Oh no – I’ve missed you too much and I’ve been looking forward to you getting here this weekend.”  And I did move the weekend we had planned because from Nevada, my husband organized a group of family and friends to help me pack the remaining items and several even returned to help me pack the moving truck a couple of days later.

’11 move day

And here I am in Nevada preparing to move back and even with lots to do, I am calm.  I think the difference this time around is that my husband is here.  Although he has a job and is working full-time, I still have him here physically to support me and offer help when he has the opportunity, instead of offering verbal support every few days from a few states away.  His presence makes a big difference and I’m relieved this move will be together.  Dear Lord, Thank you for my husband and thank you that he’s here to help prepare us for moving and please help me to cherish him and never take him for granted.  Amen

I love husband.

~Jenn

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Happy New Year, but don’t waste time with resolutions

As we kick-off 2015, many will make their annual list of resolutions that they will only achieve success in breaking.  So, congratulations.   For some, creating a resolution list is personal, familial, or it might be a communal, societal expectation that gives the resolver warm-fuzzies for consideration of the resolution.  For some that’s where it ends, but for others, they will hit the ground running and maintain their resolutions(s).  Why?  Because the resolute are committed to and intentional about being successful whether it’s for themselves or their family.  Why does the calendar have anything to do with making positive changes in one’s life?  Because for now it allows people to keep doing whatever they’re doing.  The term now is too much of a commitment for those who really don’t desire change.  What if people just make up their minds to begin making changes NOW instead of making the excuse to start making changes tomorrow, next week, next month  or next year?  Why not start now?  A calendar has nothing to do with anything and if it’s important, I’ll borrow the old Nike slogan and suggest, JUST DO IT.

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Here is my list of things that I would like to see some become intentional about in 2015:

Learn the proper spelling of homonyms and learn to use proper punctuation before posting statuses and comments on social networks or blogs.

Stop posting relationship grievances on social networks and instead of depending on social network ‘friends‘ to provide advice, get professional help.

Stop saying,amazeballs, YOLO, I know right? and like before every like word in your like repertoire and get a word of the day calendar because a limited vocabulary is a clear sign of ignorance.

Protests – Nothing changes because of protests and riots are the stupid, drunk uncle of protests.  Both of these  behaviors are a pathetic excuse to make bad decisions.

Everyone is a winner is a problem because it is a false assessment.  Why?  Take a step back and observe cause and effect.  Because groups and schools awarded the population (MILLENIALS) with silly awards, many now perceive they’re entitled to things like cars and jobs, despite being unqualified.  Stop awarding  silly ribbons and trophies.  Imagine if all Olympic participants were entitled to receive awards – there would be no incentive to improve their skill.

Selfie-sticks are real. I see these on the Las Vegas Strip. Selfies are already narcissistic and now there is a device to encourage more of them.  I’m fairly certain this product is Satan’s handy work…

Being offended – Anymore, it seems that people are very easily offended by everything. Just stop! If you don’t like it then don’t support it and move-on because not everything is personal or about you.

I like New Year’s because for us that means we celebrated another anniversary yesterday and a new year is always   refreshing.  I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I don’t need a particular day to motivate better choices.

What words or trends are annoying for you?

Back to watching football and Happy New Year!

~Jenn

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