SPRING ROLLS WITH THE GERTHETTES

First let me explain the title . . .

For those who don't know, Bryan and I have been friends with John and Eunice Gerth for many years. They have been our spiritual mentors and buds since the St. B's daze . . . I mean "days". So, all this time we've watched their 3 sons grow up and mature. Daniel, the youngest son, is a musician so there was that automatic relationship. Well, Daniel recently married a beautiful girl named Rachel. We hung out with them before they married, did some pre-marital work with them, and Bryan performed the marriage ceremony. Needless to say, we're stuck on them and they are one of our favorite hang-out couples. They're adventurous -- especially in the food department and that's fun for us!

So, now we have two Gerth couples we hang with --- the original Gerth senior set and the Gerth add-on junior set. We prefer "Gerthettes" over "junior".


Okay, back to the story at hand  . . . .

Rachel and Daniel wanted to do Viet Namese spring rolls so they came over to give lessons to us.

In photo #1 Daniel demonstrates how to soak your spring roll wrap in really hot water for a moment or two. This softens it up so it's workable. Note how he looks like a real expert. So calm. So collected. You will also notice that Rachel is WAY ahead of all of us. She is a ruthless roller type.

In the next shot you'll see Daniel with his roll all ready to . . . well, to roll. Rachel had chicken, carrots, cucumber, and fresh basil to put in the wraps. She also made homemade yummy sauce.

Now, back to Ruthless Roller . . . she's got her tightly wound roll ready and she's getting into the sauce . . . as in dipping sauce. We on the other hand are watching in awe -- we're speechless. But, soon . . . something shifts!

Bryan takes the wrap by the horns and is dipping away like a professional! We all had a great time, made a great meal, and walked away happy and full as evidenced below . . .

This is the post-game wrap-up. Bryan is happy so we're all happy.

Just for the record, I made several absolutely perfect rolls myself but I was so busy stuffing my face I didn't take a photo.  :)

A.D.D. Housekeeping

Okay, I'm ADD. . . as in Attention Deficit. Actually, whoever named the "disorder" is wrong. There's no deficit of attention. As a matter of fact there's a plethora of attention. An over-abundance even. I pay attention to EVERYTHING whether it needs it or not. I could see that fact as a detriment to housecleaning or an asset. I choose "B" for $50, Bob. It's certainly more interesting this way. And novel.

So, today (after working) I decided it was house cleaning day. We have a Writer's Room guest coming in a few days so I figured I'd better get to work now. I've figured out that I don't clean house in a nice linear fashion. It would be easier that way, but I'm not linear. My housecleaning pattern is more serpentine -- or worse -- it's more like a spirograph. I'm sure there's a pattern, but the pattern is so random it's hard to decipher. My gut says there's a pattern so it must be there somewhere.

I've learned to give way to the randomness. It keeps me from beating myself up and getting frustrated. Here's how it goes:

  1. drink coffee -- it keeps me in motion

  2. pick the easiest room possible (which is ALWAYS the living room)

  3. straighten and put things away-- no vacuuming or dusting at this point

  4. go do something other than clean -- FB, e-mail, walk outside, blog, watch the Dog Whisperer, SOMETHING
  5. pick another space to straighten up
  6. repeat step 4
  7. repeat step 5
  8. repeat step 4

  9. when I run out of step 5s, I go back to the beginning and vacuum and dust a room

10. repeat step 4
and so on . . .

By George there is a method to the madness! Eureka!

Eventually, I finish. Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe . . . who knows? You just have to do it all over again so what's the rush? At some random point I call it a day. There's probably a pattern to that as well, but I haven't discovered it.

In any case, the best part is sitting down afterward with a good book or a fun movie and popcorn and enjoying what I DID accomplish (and ignoring what I didn't). For the most part, it works. I've  found the ONLY time I can do it all in one swell foop is when company is coming NOW!! I get motivated -- even without coffee. A sense of potential shame really works . . . it's similar to guilt but easier to come by -- and goes well with chocolate.

Okay, so now I get to go watch a movie and eat vegetarian chalupas. . . and hope this coffee wears off before I get the urge to clean some more. God forbid.

Ta ta!

FEELINGS LIKE CRAZY SALT

I know it's possible to have feelings like Crazy Salt -- all mixed up where you can't tell where one ends and one begins. I know this because I'm having them.

The question is: How do I deal with them?

Tomorrow Bryan and I leave Nashville to begin a 12 day trip to France with his mom and dad. It's a dream-come-true trip for us . . . something we could never afford to do on our own. His parents are graciously funding the majority of the trip --- and at great expense I might add. I'm thrilled, excited, and grateful. I'm also anxious, stressed, and very very tired. Getting ready for a trip is a LOT of work!

Five minutes ago I got a text from my sister, Penny, saying that our Uncle Loy (my mom's older brother) died and the funeral is Wednesday. I'll be in France and, therefore, won't be able to go --- and that fact grieves me deeply. I wasn't close to Uncle Loy particularly, but I liked him and his wife, Laura, and funerals are the only time I see extended family. . . and that's a sad statement in itself.

This whole thing makes me feel sad. Crying seems to be the only answer to it although it does feel silly to cry while I'm typing.

Penny said the family called mother and told her, but they reported that they are not sure her dementia is allowing her to understand that her brother is dead. That makes me cry, too. Loy had Alzheimer's and lived a long, long time with it. I hope my mother doesn't have to go through that process in that way. It's all way too sad.

I'm really confused as to why this is such a big deal. I haven't seen Loy in probably 25 years or more. I guess when something sad happens it opens the floodgate to everything I'm not done feeling sad about . . . and then some.

It makes me feel sad again that Anna has moved away. It makes me feel sad that my dad died. It makes me feel sad that I can't see my brothers (Stu and John) and my sisters (Dana and Penny) and my step-mom (Beej) very often. It makes me sad that Bryan isn't here to hang out with me and talk about all this.

I guess I just feel sad.

It's okay. I can do this.

I think I'll go hug my dogs.

The Real GOOD NEWS

Somewhere in that foggy bog land between dreaming and waking is where I learn a lot and tend to hear from the Lord about His Vision for my life. This morning there was a moment of visitation where I got a download from the Throne. I know this because what I learned is truly not of my flesh . . . and is even antithetical to my flesh. While flesh does not tend to fight against flesh, spirit will.

He showed me that my opinions are based in my feelings for the most part. I learned my opinions aren't worth so much and are pretty useless. I mean, I can have an opinion, but I don't necessarily need to make decisions based in my opinions. It's His job to make my decisions. My job is to stay tuned into the Holy Spirit for instructions as to how to run my life. I can dislike someone (or their behavior), but He will dictate to me if and how to pray about it. He will tell me whether to engage with them and how. My life is His show.

When I awoke I talked to Bryan about  it, more revelation came. It occurred to my flesh that this idea sounds like a very narrow passage. I am not to make my own decisions? Really? For life? That's like prison!

Like a flash of light, the thought came, "It's contrary to prison. Decisions based on my feelings is like prison. To lean into the Lord of the Universe for direction broadens the horizon appreciably and offers incomprehensible freedom. I will be free from such limited options."  

Wow. I like waking up.

Cleaning, then Cleansing

In my experience, whenever I have the urge to clean out my physical house it always precedes a spiritual cleansing or promotion -- although I'm not sure those two terms differ in essence. True to form, I de-cluttered the house a few days ago and this past weekend I got a promotion via a breakthrough in the spirit realm.

Our Christian community has been discussing moving to the next level, migration, and positioning of the Body by the hand of the Holy Spirit over the past few months so it's not a new subject in our household (by household I mean families and individuals within our immediate spiritual community). We talk about it, pray for it, work for it, and desire it.

I won't get into specifics because it almost doesn't matter, but Bryan and I had a situation that could have easily moved from discussion-land to argument-land. Somehow by the grace of God it didn't. Not only did we avoid that pitfall, but we both got a new view and understanding of marital  relationship, stewardship, and spiritual covering. It was and is a breath of fresh air. It's one of those small things that give me/us a chance to prove our faithfulness so that He will give us bigger things to follow Him in.

Pray that I can follow Him in the small things. It's already a struggle. My soul is at war with my spirit. Again.

THE GREAT PURGE

Okay, so yes, I have had a career as an Organizing Consultant and seeing all those lives practically destroyed by clutter has caused me to try really hard to keep my life de-cluttered. But, in the midst of working a lot and life in general, things tend to pile up and/or get stuffed in closets or somewhere out of the way.

So, this past weekend and Monday I spent HOURS working on our house getting it whipped back into shape. I threw out about 6 big bags of trash --- it filled up the rolling trash can -- and 3 bags of Goodwill stuff. I was brutal. Now that it's over I find myself walking around opening cabinets and walking into rooms just to admire my handiwork. Awesome! My only regret? That I didn't take 'before' pictures. You won't be as impressed as you should be since you can't see what it was like BEFORE the great purge. You'll just have to imagine it.

This is the bathroom cabinet -- down to the basics. No more extra junk.

Here's the bathroom in our bedroom -- all nice and clean.

And our bedroom. You should have seen the dust bunnies under the night stand. They were worthy of "Dune". . . about the size of sandworms.

And the office/sanctuary . . .with dog.

and our living room -- no junk, no clutter!

And the dining area got purged of extra junk . . . including the inside of the secretary!

And even the plasticware got culled and classified.

I AM A HAPPY CAMPER.

TRIP TO THE DENTIST

I took a trip to see my dentist -- well, actually the hygenist. She did the usual scraping and prodding and so forth and announced that I have lovely teeth and everybody should take care of their teeth as I do. Sometimes those OCD tendencies come on handy.

But, the best part was that the hygenist and I had a short conversation about the "best toothbrush". She said "Spin brushes are inexpensive, but very effective. I can actually give you one . . . except, well, it's a child's spinbrush. It works the same -- uh, but it's a princess. Would you be offended by that?"

Are you kidding? Do I not deserve a princess spinbrush? Please.

So, out came the princess spinbrush and now she's working for ME. . . spinning her little princess head off getting my teeth clean. Cool.

Now, you look at this princess chick and tell me . . . doesn't she look slightly anxious to you?