Oh The Pain!

I saw this graphic and at first it made me laugh. Then, when I thought about filling up the Mountaineer. . .not so much.

In 1973 I was eight years old and I have vague memories of the gas crisis. I don’t remember what kind of car we drove. I know it was along the lines of something like this and that it couldn’t have gotten more than 15 miles to the gallon.


As an eight year old, the gas crisis was just another opportunity to curl up with a good book. We sat in line to buy gas and, while I don’t remember how long the waits were, I do remember passing the time with Nancy Drew and The Bobbsey Twins!

According to Wikipedia, the method for buying gas in 1974 went like this – in the U.S., drivers of vehicles with license plates having an odd number as the last digit (or a vanity license plate) were allowed to purchase gasoline for their cars only on odd-numbered days of the month, while drivers of vehicles with even-numbered license plates were allowed to purchase fuel only on even-numbered days. The rule did not apply on the 31st day of those months containing 31 days, or on February 29 in leap years — the latter never came into play, since the restrictions had been abolished by 1976.

It also seems like I remember these flags.


More than anything else, I remember sweating in the back seat of the car, trying to read my books with a vague feeling of unease as my parents talked about oil, the Middle East and words I didn’t understand like OPEC, embargo and inflation. (The retail price of gas rose from an average of 38 cents a gallon in May of 1973 to an all-time high of 55 cents a gallon in July of 1974. Oh, the good old days. . .)

We don’t yet have rationing restrictions. I have, however, seen a couple of signs indicating that stations in Findlay have been closed for a few hours because they ran out of fuel. When I pull up to the pump these days I’m now sweating it out in the front seat of the car, mumbling words I really don’t understand like international third party investment funds, OPEC and falling U.S. dollars.

I’m also wishing I lived in a place with public transportation.

Granola Girl

Another task that I tried for the first time last weekend was making homemade granola. I had NO IDEA how easy this was. And it knocks the socks off any granola I’ve ever had from the grocery cereal aisle! I love granola but have noticed lately that it’s got a Rice-Krispy like “filler” in it that I’m not crazy about.

I tried several combinations, but this one is my favorite.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA
3 C rolled oats (not instant)
1 C slivered almonds
¼ C sesame seeds
½ C toasted sunflower seeds
½ C coconut
¼ C toasted wheat germ
2 t. cinnamon
¼ t. salt
½ C raisins
½ C dried fruit such as cherries, apples, prunes; diced small
2/3 C cooking oil
½ C honey or maple syrup (the real thing, not “maple flavored” syrup)
½ C brown sugar

Mix the oat, nuts, seeds, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Mix together the oil and honey or maple syrup. Add brown sugar and mix. Pour liquid mixture over the grain mixture and toss until evenly coated. Pour into roasting pan or cookie sheet with a rim.Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring carefully every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Break up any large chunks. Add raisins or other dried fruits.Store in an airtight container.

This whole recipe is completely customizable. If you don’t like coconut, leave it out! Want pumpkin seeds? Toss ‘em in! I think I like honey more than maple syrup and dried cherries better than dried apples.

Every morning this week I’ve started the day with a bowl of vanilla yogurt, topping it with some cut up fruit (strawberry season!) and filling the rest of the bowl with granola!

From UrbanDictionary.com:
Granola Girl: Modern hippy woman minus the heroin and STD's. Socially aware and active with a penchant for hemp and sodium-free soap. May eat tofu for breakfast and sweeten food with agave syrup. Is determined to save the world.

You know you're granola when you strap your five thousand dollar bike to your five hundred dollar car and vote for Ralph Nader.

All for the Low, Low Price of $40

To Those Who Did Not Disappear
Hey. My name is Matt. I'm writing this near the end of August in the year 2000. I just turned twenty-four years old. You are reading this because recently a lot of people vanished from the face of the earth. Perhaps their clothes and jewelry just fell to the ground, their bodies disappearing without a trace. I'm sure you are wondering what happened, why it happened, and can it happen again. You're reading this because you were not one of them. You are one of the people remaining on the earth. I'm writing this because I'm one of those who disappeared, and I want you to know why. It was the rapture.

You will NOT BELIEVE this website.

Copied directly from the site:
"We have set up a system to send documents by the email, to the addresses you provide, 6 days after the "Rapture" of the Church. This occurs when 3 of our 5 team members scattered around the U.S fail to log in over a 3 day period. Another 3 days are given to fail safe any false triggering of the system.

We give you 150mb of encrypted storage that can be sent to 12 possible email addresses, in Box #1. You up load any documents and choose which documents go to who. You can edit these documents at any time and change the addresses they will be sent to as needed. Box #1 is for personal private information such as "passwords" and letters to be sent to your closest lost relatives and friends.

We give you another 100mb. of unencrypted storage that can be sent to up to 50 email addresses, in Box #2. You can edit the documents and the addresses any time. Box #2 is for more generic documents to lost family & friends."

This whole thing just blows my mind. For the low, low price of $40 annually they will store your emails designed to speak for you – presumably from the great beyond. Rather casually, they encourage you to include your bank account, credit card and life insurance information in the messages that they will store for you. . .

“In the encrypted portion of your account you can give them access to your banking, brokerage, hidden valuables, and powers of attorneys' (you won't be needing them any more, and the gift will drive home the message of love). There won't be any bodies, so probate court will take 7 years to clear your assets to your next of Kin. 7 years of course is all the time that will be left. So, basically the Government of the AntiChrist gets your stuff, unless you make it available in another way.”

All for the low, low price of $40. . .and of course, we would NEVER accidentally compromise your banking, brokerage, hidden valuables or power of attorney information. . .but how would you know. . .you’ll be gone. . .

And people wonder why mainline Christianity is dying??

List - Revisited

My list for the weekend was challenging! All in all, I had a very good weekend and I feel good about how I spent my time.

1. Take Sammy to the vet on Saturday morning.

This turned into more of an all day event. . .he had a bad reaction to his last round of booster shots. When we got home he proceeded to throw up. Not just once or twice, but five times. Then he got really lethargic. We got back in the car and made a return visit to the vet only to have him perk up when all the vet techs made a fuss over him. He's a terrible flirt!

2. Get rid of the yard waste and tree trimmings in an environmentally friendly way.

3. Make a menu and shop for the party on Monday.
The party ended up being at someone else's house which was just fine with me. We had a good time!

4. Pot the flowers for the front porch containers.



5. Sew Ali a new skirt of her design.
I got this started but not finished. Since I'm not a very accomplished seamstress I cut a "trial run" version out of thrifted, vintage bedsheets. It may be world's ugliest skirt and Ali promptly announced she wouldn't wear it! What's that old adage – measure twice, cut once? Applies to my sewing skills too! I'll make the "real" one this week!

6. Cut a new flowerbed behind the garage. Procure and plant! Add the birdfeeders and baths.
Can't mark this one off the list. I started. I nearly killed myself. I went to Lowe's and got Round Up so that Ali wouldn't find my lifeless body in the backyard on Sunday evening. . .

7. Bake a loaf of bread that I’ve never tried before.
Done. But a very underwelming loaf of bread it was. Won't try that one again!

8. Take a nap in the sun.

9. Be aware of the blessings available to me in any given moment.
Driving around on Saturday I noticed the wildflowers beginning to bloom along side the roads out in the country. Being aware of the blessings is a daily practice. I can't really cross this one off.

10. Thrift something that I can create into something else.

Sheets! To make the world's ugliest skirt!

I'm tired, but satisfied. I have a very, very good life.

Life Lists

Ali is going to a soccer tournament in Cleveland this weekend with her nephew Bret. Since Sammy isn’t quite housebroken yet, I’m staying home with him. After all. . .we don’t have friends who like us enough to put up with a weekend of carpet watering!

It’s a holiday weekend and we are having a cookout on Monday so I have a weekend of tasks laid out for myself.

I spend a lot of time thinking about my life and what I want it to be. It might seem idealistic or whatever, but I want to be aware of how I am making my way through my days. Somehow, I want to do with humor and fun and style and ease and have some kind of sense of wholeness. I think about this a lot, to be honest, because the way we spend our days is, after all, the way we live our lives.

I want to know the best way to live; I want to craft for myself time that is meaningful and fulfilled.

When I picture that dream life, mine includes lots of sunshine, quiet introspection, being creative and unafraid, the sounds of laughter, lots of color, meals that are wholesome and shared with people that I love, walks with the dog, gardens, lots of friends and people who are family to me, and good health.

The question becomes, how do I get/maintain that?

For me, it’s lists.

Here’s a list that I’ve made for myself for this weekend. It’s in no particular order. On Tuesday, I’ll let you know how I did.

1. Take Sammy to the vet on Saturday morning.
2. Get rid of the yard waste and tree trimmings in an environmentally friendly way.
3. Make a menu and shop for the party on Monday.
4. Pot the flowers for the front porch containers.
5. Sew Ali a new skirt of her design.
6. Cut a new flowerbed behind the garage. Procure and plant! Add the birdfeeders and baths.
7. Bake a loaf of bread that I’ve never tried before.
8. Take a nap in the sun.
9. Be aware of the blessings available to me in any given moment.
10. Thrift something that I can create into something else.

Wish me luck!

Yo Yo Update - 678!

This Old House

“One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever come to sit by it. Passersby see only a wisp of smoke from the chimney and continue on the way.”
– Vincent van Gogh

This old house is sitting in the middle of an empty field in Hancock County. I wonder what stories it would tell if it could.

Happy Pants

These are my new happy pants! Come on now. . .how could you not be happy when you look at them? They make me feel good on several levels.


First, they are a creative outlet. I’m always happy when I get to create something. I sewed them using instructions from this book.


They are made from a re-purposed twin sheet that I found for $2. How could you not be thrilled to have $2 pants???

I learned several new techniques while I made them – buttonholes! A matching drawstring! How can you not LOVE orange ric-rac?? Is there anything as soft and comfortable as a well worn sheet? Now imagine kicking around the house in something this comfortable! What’s not to love??


The thing I find most rewarding about these pants is that I got to learn new things. I've always sworn that I want to be the kind of little old lady who's sweet and funny and learns something new every single day. . .even when she's 97. I won't be in the Red Hat Society. . . I'll probably start my own Loud, Happy, Flowered Pants Society! Care to join me?

Word Choices

I’ve been thinking about words lately. I know it’s dorky. . .but I find the power that certain words have to be very interesting.

Take the word should.

I should do the laundry.
I should make the bed.
I should be able to make mine look like hers. (whatever mine and hers is that I’m comparing!)
I should create something today.
I should. . .I should. . .I should. . .

I’m getting so I loathe that word. It has guilt tied to it. It sounds lazy and full of inaction. It lacks the process of actually doing something and turns the whole affair into something that sounds regretful.

I think shall is a much better word!

It has energy and intent. It has a concrete result. Even better – and dorkier – it’s a much prettier word!

Today I shall do something that makes me feel good about myself.
I shall create.
I shall love with all my heart.
I shall make the bed – and feel good about it!

Should or shall? It’s a choice for me this week.

He's Got A Point

"A Findlay motorcyclist was admonished Wednesday for driving past the Marathon office, 539 S. Main St., and "flipping off" and swearing at office workers outside the building. He was displeased with the increase in gasoline prices."



You think I made that up?? Here.

Yo Yo Update - 445!

A Year Out

“Once you do something significant with your life, everything else you do just becomes a way to eat.”

That’s one of a couple of thoughts I keep having anyway.

It’s been almost a year since I was asked to resign from the church that I helped birth. A year is a long time. Conversely, it’s also just one thin ring on the tree of my life.

I don’t know where I thought I would be a year out. I still feel sad. Occasionally I still feel angry. Sometimes I just don’t care. Sometimes I’m excited that Open Door is still alive.

The people there are wonderful. We started attending again in January. They were welcoming – with only a couple of notable exceptions. The way I’m feeling isn’t their fault.

The second thought that I keep having is this – “Why am I still there?”

If the purpose of Church (I use the universal church here) is to allow humanity to exercise the gifts, abilities and skills that God has given to each to further God’s work in the world. . . then what the hell am I doing there?

Let me reiterate – the people at Open Door Community Church are wonderful. This has nothing to do with them. It’s all me.

Many years ago, as part of a Servant Leadership class, we wrote mission statements for our lives. This is what I wrote, long before anyone ever dreamed of a church where gay and lesbian people would be welcomed in Findlay. Long before I had any inkling that preaching would be my strongest gift or that teaching would be a close second.

“To reclaim, reconnect and rejuvenate faith and justice issues with those whom my life intersects.”

I’m not – and I can’t – do any of that now. Is it even still my calling?

I made mistakes. Big ones. Ones that hurt people. But does that negate every gift that I have?

The “why am I still there?” question inevitably brings around the thought that “once you do something significant with your life, everything else you do just becomes a way to eat,” which connects to “why am I still there?” and the spiral of frustration is born.

I don’t believe that God has given up on me. I just have to be patient while She and I figure it out I guess.

Where I'm From

I am from a cast iron skillet; from Clabber Girl baking powder and red-eye gravy.

I am from a kitchen with a fieldstone fireplace; a rocking chair with a wide, black bottom; an uncomfortable wooden church pew and singing in the kitchen – banging on the pots and pans.

I am from the Magnolia grandiflora and Cornus florida – the Southern Magnolia and the Flowering Dogwood.

I am from chili on Christmas Eve and doll cakes on birthdays. I’m from Lily and Marian – Cooks, Pikes, Buchanans and Curtis’.

I am from hotly held and defended opinions and from uncomfortable silences, especially when we hurt.

I am from dog graves for pitcher’s mounds and spaceship trees to climb.

I am from fire and brimstone Southern Baptists, the sweet by and by, and the church in the valley by the wildwood.

I am from bluegrass, burgoo and Derby Pie.

I am from the captain of the football team and the homecoming queen. The silence is puzzling.

I am from those who know how to work hard, how to laugh loudly, how to drink Red Pop over ice cream. I am from the well read and the even more curious.

I am from all of these things and they are from me.



Written from this template.

Just Call Me Scarlett

When I was about 12 years old I read “Gone With The Wind” for the first time. By the time I was 14 I’d probably read it six or seven times. I loved Scarlett O’Hara. She was stubborn, enterprising and she wasn’t about to let her home and family down, even in the most difficult times.

She was the complete and total opposite of me. But, hey. . .even shy, bookish girls could dream, couldn’t they??

I loved the part in the book when she had an opportunity to go to a ball and see Rhett Butler in order to convince him that the plantation was doing fine. She didn’t have any money to buy a decent dress so the ever-resourceful Scarlett took down the green velvet drapes and sewed her own dress! Of course, that’s been the object of so much parody it’s almost a cliché but I still love Scarlett.


This weekend I pulled my own Scarlett O’Hara.

I’ve been wanting to sew again. It’s been YEARS since I’ve spent much time at the sewing machine. Since we finally finished the craft room in our new house it was time to indulge myself.

I’m a skirt girl in the summertime so I thought that would be an easy place to start. With the help of this book and a used tablecloth that I thrifted from the Etcetera Shop in Bluffton, I whipped this up!


Seriously! The tablecloth was $2! The thread, zipper and bias tape were about $3. That makes my new skirt a bargain at less than five bucks!



I added custom made pockets with buttons from my stash!


The really cool part is that the book teaches you to sew without purchasing patterns! You simply measure your body and translate those measurements into cut pieces. A skirt, custom fit to ME!

There are fifteen other skirt styles in the book. I’m excited to try several of them!

Better lock the doors! There might not be any curtains that are safe this summer!

Like Cats

Napping in the sun.

Warm Bread for Breakfast

I discovered a book – and it may forever change the way I eat breakfast!

The title is telling the truth! There is no proofing of yeast, no kneading, no fussing and no worrying. The authors have perfected a dough that can be refrigerated for up to two weeks after simply stirring the ingredients together. If you are accustomed to baking bread the dough can be a bit disconcerting. It's a very slack, wet blob that doesn't resemble traditional bread dough. Just a word of advice. . .trust the recipe.

Yesterday morning while Sammy was eating his breakfast, I cut off a grapefruit sized chunk of dough that I had made last Sunday afternoon, preheated my oven and less than an hour later had this beautiful loaf of warm bread.


I ate mine with a little peanut butter. Ali had hers with strawberry jam.


While I was taking pictures of my creation, Ali was making fun of me. Apparently, not everybody photographs their food? (Who knew??) I let her laugh for a few minutes and then I asked just one question.

"How many people do you know who are eating warm, homemade bread for breakfast today?" She smiled and answered, "Probably just me!"

If you bake bread, buy this book. There are loaves, flatbreads, pizzas, sweet doughs and bagels. Besides all that, there are recipes for all kinds of other foods that compliment the breads.

For me, just the recipe for plain old bread, warm out of the oven for breakfast is worth it!

Another Dog. . .

We had another dog. . .for exactly 24 hours. We tried. Honestly we did. But it just didn't work out.

Since coming to our house, Sammy has become such an outgoing and gregarious animal. There are dogs on all sides of our fenced back yard and he LOVES them all. When they are out, he is in heaven – wagging, running, barking and smiling. His favorite neighbor is Gracie, a hound who's yard backs up to ours. They run up and down the fence together.

It's hard to describe what a joyful dog looks like, but that's Sammy when he's around other dogs.

On Monday my boss mentioned that his son had to get rid of his Cocker Spaniel because of a job change. I offered to take her home on a trial basis.

Callie arrived on Tuesday evening. She went home on Wednesday.


This is the posture Sammy assumed for most of the 24 hours that Callie was there.

He did everything possible to please her. He tried to play. He chose the submissive route. He begged. He pleaded. He ignored. No matter what he did, she growled.

I don't think there were any hard feeling though.

Here he is. . .


. . .wishing her well on her trip back home.

I Tried!

I entered the local pharmacy's photo contest. I've never done that before. It was kind of a weird feeling. . . a little bit like those dreams you have of being in some public place when you look down and realize that you don't have any clothes on. I don't know why sharing photographs in a public way felt vulnerable, but it did.

This photo was taken on a trip last summer to Hocking Hills. I had only had my camera for a little bit and had never tried an "artsy" photo before.


The second photo was taken towards the end of the summer. I loved the colors of the flower against the shimmer of the bug.


They announced the winners of the contest yesterday and guess what??

I didn't win!

Yo Yo Update - about 220!

Newest Obsession

Meet the newest crafting obsession.


It's called a yo yo. It's about a 4" circle of material, seamed around the outside and then drawn together to make about a 2" rosette. In the 1920's they were a fad among quilters.

It takes about 1,200 yo yos to make a quilt top. (Yes. . .1,200. . .)

This is a pile of about 110.


Not bad considering that I've been making them – off and on – for just a week! They get tacked together to form a grid and then quilted on top of backing and batting to form a quilt. It's the quilting part that I'll probably never finish!

Here's an example of (hypothetically!) what it will look like in another 40 or so years when I actually get it done!



I love the old-fashioned look of this quilt.

Hopefully I get it done in time to take to the nursing home with me!