Health, Wealth, and Wisdom

Well, I went and worked out today. Did 30 minutes of walking, then attempted to use the weight machines to work on my shoulders and arms. This is the first time going to a gym in quite some time, and it’s been an experience. This entire month has been a revelatory process for me; I’ve seen more doctors this month than in quite some time.

I’m still on high blood pressure and high cholesterol meds from my regular doctor.

I now take allergy shots, since the number of things I’m allergic to has doubled in 3 years.

I now slather my ankles and feet with creams to stop the eczema that’s been with me since high school.

And I’m finally starting to exercise. And I’m trying to go without sodas today to see if I can do it. If I can (so far, results are positive), I’ll try to ease them out of my life. A blurb in Gourmet magazine noted that Americans get 14% of their daily caloric intake from sodas, and I’m no exception. I’d be happy if I lost 14% of my weight just through a small eating modification.

So, in short, we’re working on it.

Potatoes with Mango Sausage (Dairy Free)

3 medium Russet potatoes
1 package of Aidell’s Mango Sausage
1 tsp. freeze dried chives
1/2 tsp. dried oregano or basil. If you’ve got fresh, use it. 🙂
1 quart chicken broth or stock
OPTIONAL:
Garlic cloves, minced
Mint Flakes or chopped mint
Salt
Pepper

In your big old pot, boil some water, about 2 quarts. Peel and dice the potatoes. Once the water boils, salt it if you wish. Bring it back to a boil. Drop the potatoes in and let them boil away until they’re fork tender. Meanwhile, heat two or more of the sausage links in a frying pan. They should come pre-cooked, so this is just a matter of getting them warm. Once they’re warm, take them out of a frying pan and chop them into small pieces.

Once the potatoes are ready, drain the water and turn off the heat. Put the potatoes back into the pot, add the sausage and all other ingredients, and with a potato masher, go to town. You’re looking for mushy at this stage.

After a bit, when you feel like eating, add some of the broth and continue mashing until the potatoes come together to a consistency that you desire. Add more broth in small increments if necessary.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Trip, Slip, Fall

Here’s a hint for all of you with stairs: do not put ointment on the bottom of your feet and then attempt to carry a baby and a laptop downstairs.

In short, Saturday morning, I slipped and fell. Considering what it could have been, I’m OK. My foot slipped forward, and I fell straight down, landing in a sitting position on the stairs.
If you’re immediately alarmed, don’t be. I had Jessie cradled pretty snugly and the only “crack” I heard came from the computer (I loosened the battery connection). She did start crying, and while in Mama’s arms, she threw up. However, her eyes weren’t dilated or anything indicating major strife. Me? I’ve got a bruised tailbone, a bruised ego, and some scratches. I’m sitting on a comfy cushion normally used to treat hemorrhoids. Getting up from a seated position hurts. Going down to a seated position also hurts. Lots of things hurt.

But, you gotta keep moving. We have two kids, and Laureen’s doing as much as she can, but it’s just hard to get everything done moving at 60%.

Great message at Spring Creek Church

I don’t know whether we’ve actually made public that we’re now attending Spring Creek Church instead of First Christian Richardson. I’m hesitant to talk about it, but since our faith isn’t something that is negotiable, I guess now is the time.

After a good year as a board chair, and after five years doing the New Way message, I just felt like I’d given too much for too little in return. Several programs at FCC have ended recently… New Way, Bazaar, etc. In New Way’s case, I’m still trying to evaluate why it didn’t work. I think we tried too hard to make a show out of it instead of letting worship happen. Also, it just became too hard. Jacob grew up, and a second child really put the kibosh on Laureen’s work with the band. That and other issues left us without a leadership team, and we just ran out of steam.

And ultimately, the traditional service just wasn’t doing it for me. It’s not wrong, it’s not improper, it’s not bad in any form or fashion. It’s just not me. I wasn’t connecting to God, and ultimately, if I can’t connect to God in church, something’s gotta give. And sadly, I’m human. It isn’t all about me, but if church gets in the way of my spiritual growth, I have to do something about it.

Allen Lowe is a good man. He’s a good teacher, and a good preacher. I had a few personal quibbles about his style, but they weren’t anything major. He tries his best. The leaders of FCC are also good people. There isn’t an identifiable villain in this story; it’s not something that you point to and say, “That’s why.” There was a collection of systems that didn’t move forward, though:

  • Our visioning efforts ground to a halt.
  • Our evangelism turned into one- or two-person shows.
  • The culture seemed to not change and grow.
  • No one seemed to be able to talk about the larger issues, such as why people left.

And the final thing that pushed me toward a different church was not attending for 6 weeks, and not having anyone from church call me to see what was going on. My elders at the time had left the church as well, and there was no redistribution of people. Laureen and I never got called, except for Don Heaton’s needing some assistance setting up the projector for his financial presentation.

And then there’s me. I’m still trying to figure out God in my life. I’m still searching, questioning, looking for something that makes sense. I’m pretty liberal when it comes to Christianity and faith–arguably the most liberal one of my family. And I just got tired of trying to drive change.

So, now we’re attending Spring Creek Church, and it’s refreshing to just be an attender for a change. It’s nice to just drop off the kids, go in, and sit down and hear the message. I don’t know if it’s my final church destination, but it’s looking pretty good so far.

We had a little dedication ceremony for Jessie there, and I’m still wondering about that. I’m trying as hard as I can to pray and think about this stuff, but all I get is static.

Stabbing myself

I love to cook. I like taking recipes, adapting steps, and stretching the culinary portion of my abilities. Of course, this means that every so often, I do something kinda stupid. Like last night.

Scenario: 8:15 p.m. Jacob had, after a no-nap day, gone to sleep. Laureen was hungry, and I had just come home from work about 30 minutes earlier.? She said, “Food. Hot. Now.”

Okay, I can deal with those parameters. So, it’s off to the kitchen to make a stoup — what Rachel Ray calls a cross between a soup and a stew. This one is pretty easy:

2 28 oz. cans of diced tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

4 slices of bacon, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can wax beans

1 smidgen of frozen corn

The time comes to put the tomatoes in the already cooked bacon and onion. So, I go to the electric can opener. It can’t get a grip on the lip of the can. Try again. Fail again. Try again, again. Fail again, again. See a pattern?

Well, I whip out the church key (you know, that can opener that punctures cans with triangular indentations) and set to work, forsaking common sense for speed. Punch, turn, punch, turn, pun–whoops, ouch. Got my right index finger. It bled a lot, but I didn’t faint, thank goodness. The worst part was explaining to Laureen why I was late. She was very understanding, but dangit, I should have known better.

The hope was to go to the doctor today (for a previously scheduled issue) and see if I needed stitches. However, any emergency with my doctor throws her schedule into complete chaos, and another appointment prevented me from seeing her. So, based on what it looks like, I think I’ll be okay. Think is the operative word there. I wish I’d thought earlier.

The food was pretty good, however.

Major Site Design Update

As you may have guessed, there’ve been a few changes. I’ve moved from Greymatter, a .cgi based blogging system, to WordPress. This new system allows for a few new bells and whistles, such as RSS feeds. So now the two or three of you who follow this site can do so with any RSS reader. There are several available. I’m slowly reattaching things. All of Jessie and Jacob’s pictures are safe. You can access them through their links in the “Contents” section to the right.