Mar 14, 2012
The whole day-job-thing-a-ma-jiggy still hasn’t arrived. Gonna have to place a new order at the Employment Store. They’ve messed up on my last two orders, so now I’m more specific with what I want in a job: Great pay, great hours, benefits, drama-free zone, room for advancement. Is that too much to ask? I think not!
But I’ve been learning a lot about finances and frugality during this season. Primarily, my reliance on God hasn’t wavered. In fact, I can honestly say it’s grown stronger. I mean, when I have nothing, who else am I going to depend on but my Head of Household to get things taken care of?
Sure enough, True to form, God has been taking care of us quite nicely. We’re not drowning in riches, we’re not clothed in silky garments. But our needs, and oftentimes our desires, are met. A new DVD now and then. A friend willing to drive to Disneyland. A frozen pizza in the freezer.
But sometimes, I admit, I want more. I just do. I want more. I want security. I want options. I want income. Now. I want more than I have. I need more. I’m worried about next week, next month, the rest of this year. Next year. Retirement. I’m just worried.
And so I pray. A lot. I pray in Thanksgiving that I am healthy and alive. I pray petitions for all of the above and then some. I pray in adoration of God’s love and providence. And I pray again for what I think I need.
It was during this prayer time last week that God reminded me of something huge. I began by praying The Lord’s Prayer. The “Our Father”. I was going through the first part of the Prayer, careful to give thought to each sentence and not just recite it. “Our Father, Who Art in Heaven…” He’s my Father. My Poppa. My Daddy. He loves me with a Father’s love. That’s really comforting. And important. Because Father knows best, right?! So when He talks, I should listen.
I should. …
Back to the Prayer. Each line, each sentence a beginning to my own personal pleadings. And then…
“Give us this day our daily bread…”[Matthew 6:11, NIV]
It’s not “Give us this day our retirement bread” or “Give us this day our yearly bread” or even “Give us tomorrow’s bread.” It’s “Give us this day our daily bread”. Even better, just 14 easy verses later, He urges us to not worry about tomorrow. We already have what we need: Shelter. Clothing. Fellowship. We already have what we need.
Since this revelation, I’ve taken a better look around me, and I see: We already have so much. Furry felines that double as footwarmers. Birds that add music to the air. A loving household. A car that works. The ability to communicate, to touch each other, to share. We have so much already.
I have a roof over my head, gas in the car, food in the freezer and pantry, and the utilities are paid for the month. My daughter and I are alive and healthy. We have decent clothes. Good friends. But I’m not enjoying this security. I’m letting the worries of tomorrow interfere with the joys of today.
I feel really small. Really ungrateful. Really… selfish.
And I see.
He’s already given us this day our daily bread.
And to spare.
When you think about it, we’re all pretty rich, aren’t we?
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 13, 2012
Yesterday was my last day at Disneyland. At least for a while. My annual pass expires in six days, and since I still don’t have one of those day-job-thing-a-ma-jig’s, I’m not renewing. Not yet.
So yesterday was my last day Disneyland. At least for a while.
Megan and I were finally able to go together. She drove. And I can happily say, I did not get us lost. She did. Or rather, her GPS did. We named the GPS Stella. Just ‘cuz we could. And while laughing about different voices a GPS could do, we missed an important direction along the lines of “In one mile, turn right.” Yep. We missed it. On the way to the Park. And Megan was driving. That made me rather happy (no offense, Meg!).
She says there’s a download application to have the GPS use different voices, and one of them is Yoda. So we started talking like GPS-Yoda: “Turn right, you will.” One of the features that kept us laughing is with the merging freeways, Stella would tell us, “Turn right, then stay left.” While the directions were appreciated, if you didn’t know how to interpret, it could have been pretty difficult. We imagined what would happen if we made a mistake and GPS-Yoda were guiding us. We could only imagine being told, “Stupid, you are!” So while we’re laughing at being told we’re stupid, we missed the whole “turn right” thing. Yup. That confirms it: Stupid, we are!
We hit some heavy fog on the way, which is rare for us. It was a little spooky, and lent itself to five minutes of telling ghost stories. Granted, the photo was taken as we’re moving down the freeway, but still… Creepy looking, isn’t it?
We made it into the Park, and this is where I sincerely apologize to Megan: she’s a die-hard roller coaster fan. I’m so not. With the altitude change and my lack of coordination, I get a little nauseous. So I don’t do rides like Space Mountain or the Matterhorn. She was relegated to the Kiddy Rides with me. And proudly announced it through the Parks: “The Kiddy Rides are just around the corner!” Yeah. Way to boost my ego, there, Meg!
I looked for the Engine Ears store so I could finally get my Mr. Potato Head, but they closed it down! No Mr. Potato Head anywhere. Talk about disappointment! But the rest of the day was a smash. We did the usual: Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (I got a hideously great high score of 368,100; my best ever). We walked through some shops and attractions. I verified the heritage and family crest of my surname and almost bought a Narnian sword (okay, not really because it was almost $200… but a girl can dream!).
We ate some great Chicken Fusilli with garlic breadsticks. We talked about everything from our book series to Jimmy Hoffa to Man Stores to how young is too young for Disneyland?
I showed her one of my favorite spots: The Bench:
Here’s a close-up of the Plaque:
And then at the end of the day, I took this picture of us together. Awesome camera. But I’m still not very photogenic, especially after a day of intense walking.
Leaving the Park was harder than I thought it would be. I knew it would be hard, but I put it out of my head. Then we headed to the exit. And walked through. And it clicked: I’m not coming back any time soon. It was really bittersweet.
And so now I have a new goal: Find a job so I can renew my Pass. ASAP. And sell my writings. Sooner or later, one of these goals is gonna become a reality.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 12, 2012 |
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
I know, right?! Yummm…!
Check out that velvety rich chocolate and candy sprinkles coating those crunchy, salty rods. I made them by melting Wilton Chocolate Melts (dark chocolate, thankyouverymuch!) in my new Wilton Chocolate Pro melting pot.
Wilton Chocolate Pro Melting Pot
It’s gonna be an amazing tool in my kitchen. I feel like Willy Wonka.
It’s crazy-simple: just plug it in. Preheat for five minutes. Pour in a bag of Melts. Let melt. Stir occasionally. Look how silky it gets. The best part? No overheating. No messy spillovers. No double-boiler stove-top disasters. Just this.
Melting Chocolate
When the chocolate was ready, I took one pretzel rod at a time and dipped it into the Pot. I also used my small spoon to scoop up the melted goodness and rolled the pretzel in it. Once the pretzel was covered to my liking, I placed it on wax paper and started the next one. Each pretzel took only about 15 seconds to coat.
While the chocolate was still a little gooey, I sprinkled some candy sprinkles and even drizzled a little melted white chocolate over them. [For the white chocolate, I melted 20 Chocolate Melt chips in a small glass bowl in the microwave.]
Chocolate Drizzles
One bag of Wilton Chocolate melts took only ten minutes to melt completely, and there was enough to coat a full bag of pretzel rods with just enough left over to make one tray of molded chocolate treats.
In less than half an hour, the Chocolate Covered Pretzels were ready to eat. Delicious, filling, and oh-so-enjoyable!
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
So yet again, I can only say, “Thank you, Wilton. From the bottom of my tastebuds.”
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
