Memorial Day

IT IS THE SOLDIER

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

~Charles M. Province

Yum

I like cooking; specifically, baking. I find that baking fills the house with heavenly odors that tug at the comforting strings in the brain. I will admit, when it comes to baking something like white bread or sour dough bread, I will use a bread machine. It's not just the lazy factor that makes this decision, it's the timing. I can fill the bread machine with ingredients before I go to bed at night and wake up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked bread.

Mmmm. There is no better alarm clock.

Quick breads area always fun. Seems any church with any kind of congregation has a zucchini bread recipe. Banana breads aren't far behind that, but I like the exotic kinds. Orange and cranberry bread, or nut bread made with hazel nuts and macadamias. Apricot orange bread.

Mmmm. Pass the cream cheese please.

Muffins are just quick breads made in smaller portions, but some muffins are heavier than others. I just made donut muffins the other night. REALLY good. They're heavier with a tighter texture to them, and they're usually made with nutmeg as the flavoring, but I used cloves and cinnamon instead. I got one, my dad ate the other five.

Shortbread is another thing I like making. (Not to be mistaken for sweetbreads ;) ) The basic recipe is easy enough, and just about everyone has the ingredients, but you can play with it and get really creative. A well placed dot or two of jelly always brings on the ooh's. If the jelly happens to be transparent, like apple or mint, you'll get the ahh's to go with it. If you have some halved walnuts laying around, you can top a circle of shortbread with it. It not only adds a nice flavor to the cookie, but it is also a nice looking touch. I always get really nice compliments when I make stain glass windows. All you need for that is a basic shortbread recipe and a few jolly ranchers.

Mmmm, shortbread!

Baking is a stress reliever. With the problems I've bee running into with school, and the hassles of work and paying a mortgage, the stress of living is getting to me. Baking is a cheap, easy and yummy way for me to let off the pressure.

But what do I do with the excess?

Hey, want any cookies?

Carts and Rafts

My father gave me an absolute intolerance for anything arts and crafts.

Papier mache is too messy and even if you can keep things from getting too messy, after a few weeks it starts to mold up and turn green.

Gross.

Native American beadwork is nerve wracking. Not only is it time consuming and the layout of the designs complicated to duplicate, you wind up with little pieces of waxed string, bits of beeswax and little tiny colored beads ALL OVER THE PLACE!

No thanks.

Cross stitch and embroidery are very pretty when they're finished, but OH MY GOD!!! Both activities just make me want to fly into pieces.

And crochet makes my arm hurt. Crochet is not an activity you should practice if you have a tendency toward carpel tunnel syndrome.

*Sighs*

Knitting? My father hasn't taught me that yet.


;)

Feelin' Good After All These Years

Back in the Dark ages when I was young and carefree (I'm still carefree, but I am by no means young anymore), I had a job as an intern at the campus where I went to school. I HATED it.

Why?

The boss worked me and worked me and worked me. Every time I walked through that freakin' door, there was something for me to do. And it wasn't just one thing either. I had a zillion things to do and only about 5 minutes to do it all, and that was on top of everything else I had to do that was actually IN the job description!

I never dissed a person in authority so much as when I had that internship. I hated that boss man!

Then I watched Shear Genius last week. Actually, I watched the episode this week, but it was last week's episode that has stuck with me all this week.

Tyson had control of the order last week. He, of course, got first pick of all the models and blades to do his hair styling with, but he also decided who got second pick, and third pick, etc.

He made Tabatha last. Poor Tabatha. She's the awesome hair stylist with a trashy mouth, who can pull class out of her ass when she bloody well feels like it. I like the woman. She got stuck with the last model and had to cut the girl's hair with a pair of craft scissors. (Remember those from kindergarten? Gross old safety scissors designed to do as little cutting as possible to keep children safe. Damn things can't even cut through warm butter!)

Tyson has a mean streak.

But then I figured it out, (long before the show spelled it out to me, mind you).

Tabatha has the potential to kick Tyson's ass in this competition and Tyson bloody well knows it.

So maybe, maybe, that boss of mine during that internship I held while I was in college, MAYBE he saw something in me that knew I could meet the challenge.

You know what?

He was bloody right!

Thanks Tyson and Tabatha for helping me to figure it out.

(Even if you have absolutely no clue of my existence.)