The Stick-prints of a...giant hound?

A while ago I posted about a simply gorgeous walking stick a very special person made for me. This past weekend, the Stick of the Baskervilles went on its maiden voyage, so to speak. We went caching.

We'd been asked to sort of "beta test" a cache that has been placed for an Indiana DNR Geocaching contest called "Spring into Geocaching" (and no, we didn't take along the Game Piece, nor did we take anything from the cache itself. Left our signatures, though), details of which can be found here.
So, even though we had plenty to do at home this weekend, Friday and Saturday were such gorgeous days we decided to go geocaching - and benchmark hunting. Friday was our day at Pokagon State Park. We loved the cache location...but...the trails were still covered in snow. Slick, wet, heavy snow.
I was never more grateful in my life to have a hiking stick than I was Friday! The dog wanted to go, go, GO!!!, and I didn't want to slip and fall. So all along the trail, I left little circular marks where my new hiking stick got planted, to keep me relatively vertical.
We did find the cache, and then it was off to the Pokagon Nature Center to talk to the Land Manager, and to get OUR cache in the park re-permitted. We went to check on our cache, and the stick helped me so much that the dog was sliding around more than I was! (Of course, HE didn't have the benefit of an ATMouse Original Stick, either.) I can safely say that this is the FIRST time I've walked on a Pokagon State Park boardwalk while it was wet and I wasn't afraid I was going to fall on my kiester.

Yup, that stick got a great "maiden voyage", and I predict I'll be using it for years to come. (Especially if I can find an Eye of Sauron that'll fit in the top of the stick. Then I'll have an Eye of Sauron....on a steeck.)

Comfort. Easter. No idea what to call this.

Easter's over. The day has passed, we've gone to church, come home, had a nice dinner, and now we're back to "real life" - whatever that may be. So, Easter's over. Right?

WRONG!

As long as Christ is still risen, Easter continues! We celebrate Easter every single Sunday - the Eighth Day of Creation! HE IS RISEN! We still rejoice, we still celebrate, we STILL live for Christ every day.

OK, fine, I know what people mean when they say "Easter's over". This year's occurrence of Easter Day is now several days ago, and we're on with our lives.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that....wait. Sorry. Habit. :D

Although I am going back to Luther.
Look at my previous post. That one down there, called "Martin Luther's Prayers". Go ahead, I'll wait.

I want to focus on just a few words from his prayers. You'll notice the second half of each of them is identical, and I think it's because they say something so very important. First, how many times have we prayed these, and just recited the words without thinking? It's easy to do - repeating it at night, or at our evening devotion, or at the beginning of the day, or our Sunday School opening or whatever. But really look at those words for a second.

They're incredibly powerful.
Take a look at just this ONE little bit:
"For into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul and all things."

Wow.

Think about that.
With this prayer, we are telling God that we trust Him to take care of every single thing and be in charge of every single second of every single day. Leave off worrying about...well, anything, really. God will take care of it!
Granted, He doesn't always act the way we would like Him to, but then again, we're not praying for that, are we? We don't say, "for into your hands I commend myself - and make sure you do it my way," are we? No we are not.

We hear the Good News of Christ's resurrection every week, so it's (sadly) rather easy for us to forget exactly how Good this News really is! And exactly WHAT it means to us. We get distracted by the world, and our personal problems, and forget the incredible wonder of Easter. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If I can trust God to care for my eternal life, which is the biggest and most important thing EVER, then surely I can trust Him with the small things, all the "what-ifs" and "what happens whens" and the daily needs of my life!

And that's what I'm telling him with that prayer! I'm saying, "God, I trust you to care for me - for ALL my needs, not just the big ones. I trust you to order my life the way it should be ordered, in accordance with YOUR plan for my life. I trust that anything you give me will be far superior to that which I may have had in mind to take for myself, or that I could have achieved BY myself."

That's a powerful statement. Whenever I start to worry, or fuss about the future, or what will happen when / if this or that happens, I remember "...my body and soul AND ALL THINGS." Right. ALL things.

And, while I have no idea what that means for me, nor where I'm going (even though I'd very much like some ADVANCE NOTICE sometimes), and it can be incredibly frustrating, stressful and (occasionally) depressing to be in situations where the ONLY thing I can say is "God must have a plan," where the ONLY way I can get through it at all is to say, "Well, God, I trust that YOU, at least, can see some good in this, and I trust that YOU have a reason for this," I know that I can always trust that I will eventually see the good that God is working through me, and in me - often despite me.

My body, my soul, and all things belong to Him.
And I am comforted.

Martin Luther's prayers

Morning Prayer:
I thank you, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger. I pray that you would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please you. For into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul and all things. Let your holy angel be with me that the evil foe may have no power over me.
Amen.

Evening Prayer:
I thank you my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have graciously kept me this day. I pray that you would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.
Amen.

Product Review: SYSCO Fat-Free Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing

Oh. My. Gosh.
This stuff is amazing. It is my Very Most Favoritest Salad Dressing EVER EVER EVER.
It's Fat-Free, it's Tomato Vinaigrette, and it's just wonderful.

It's a tangy, zippy dressing, without a whole lot of "sweet". I'm assuming there's some in there, but it's not terribly pronounced (as it can be in some other vinaigrettes I've tried). This means that it goes well with darn near anything in the way of salad contents.
I'd recommend using it with heartier salads, though - it'll completely overwhelm a lighter taste, like Iceberg or Butter lettuce. It works excellently with Spinach, or Mixed Greens. I haven't tried it with Romaine, but I expect that it'd work well there, too.

You can use a variety of salad "fixins", too - I've had it on everything from Kidney beans to mushrooms, to green peppers. It blends well with just about everything -- although I probably wouldn't recommend it if you're going to have "hot" or spicy items on your salad, such as Jalapeno or Banana Peppers.

Overall, it's an excellent Salad Dressing, and I'll be making plans to try and find a SYSCO retail outlet, so I can buy some for home.

Changing Ingrained Patterns

One thing I've recently realized I need to change about my mental patterns re: food is that I need to get rid of the (very very) ingrained belief that "throwing away food is evil." Seriously. I have had deep, visceral "CLEAN YOUR PLATE" reactions to leftovers, and I am trying very hard to change that.

My New Rules (that I'm still trying to make stick):

• If I am NOT hungry, I do NOT have to finish Every. Single. Thing.
• Eating something "because otherwise it would be thrown out" is a bad reason to eat anything.
• In fact, it's one of the worst reasons.
• Leaving food on the plate is preferable to Being Fat.
• Throwing food away is preferable to Being Fat.
• I would rather THROW IT AWAY than eat it "just because it's there", "it'll get thrown out", "don't want to waste it", or "it's too little to put in the fridge."
• If there's not enough to save as a leftover, and it's healthy food, give it to the dog! He loves that stuff. Usually.
• If the dog won't eat it, or he shouldn't have it, and there's not enough to save as a leftover, THROW IT OUT!
• It is not a crime to throw food away rather than eat it. Yes, it's wasteful - but it's less wasteful in the long run than eating it, gaining weight because I overate, and then wanting even more food tomorrow, and next week, and so on!
  

Gads. It's incredibly difficult for me to get my mind around "oh, it's okay to leave half your meal on your plate if you don't want it". I have a very strong aversion to throwing away that much food! But if it's not going to get "leftovered", then it's best to make it go away. I need to change my attitudes, as well as habits and behaviors regarding food, before I can successfully reduce my mass - and successfully keep it off.

I WILL NOT EAT JUST BECAUSE IT'S THERE!

IF IT IS BEING EATEN JUST TO "SAVE IT FROM BEING THROWN AWAY", LEFTOVER IT. THAT'S WHAT FRIDGES ARE FOR.

IF IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO "LEFTOVER", WELL, THERE'S NOT THAT MUCH THERE ANYWAY. AND I'M NOT GOING TO STARVE TO DEATH ANYTIME SOON. THROW THE FOOD AWAY.

It's going to be tough. VERY tough. This is an ingrained pattern that I've had practically all my life. "Don't throw food away." "Clean your plate." "Stoke your furnace while there's fuel." "Finish your dinner." But...I can do it. With God's help, I can do it.

The Littlest Turner

Isn't she cute? Naomi Abigail Turner.



















She's not Daddy's Little Girl or anything, is she, nooooooo...

DINNER TIME!
Wade has to try and feed her the formula while she's sleepy, because....
she really, really, really, really doesn't like it.

Simon's Cat is at it again!

First there was Wakeup Cat....now the cat wants in the house.
Enjoy!

Gary Gygax out of Hit Points

Gary Gygax, father of the D&D-verse, passed away yesterday.



RIP, Gary.

Walter for President!

Well, after reading this post by Captain Spaulding, I decided to help out with the "none of the above" campaign. However, I'm backing a different slogan, and a different candidate.

Walter For President!
Come on, everybody, join me!

Good song

I was reminded of this one recently and I really like the song.
Tubular Bells, by Michael Oldfield. Enjoy.