Nursing Home Epiphany

The other day, on one of my many runs to the nursing home with deliveries from the pharmacy, a sweet-looking woman in a wheel-chair gently grasped my hand as I walked by. When I turned to ask her if there was something that I could do for her, she looked up at me with her big, brown eyes and softly whispered,

"Would you please say the 'Our Father' for me?"

She had been trying to say it to herself all morning, but was having trouble remembering the whole thing. So I began to recite the words of the Lord's prayer, to help jog her memory, but soon we both had our eyes closed and heads bowed, praying there together in the middle of the hall. I opened my eyes to see hers sparkling with joy. "Thank you, dear," she said softly as she squeezed my hand. I smiled at her and then headed down the hall with full delivery totes in both hands, but I was still saying the Lord's Prayer over again in my head. I was out the door by the time I got to the end . . .

" . . . and deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever . . ."

And I had to think . . . why do we have such a hard time trusting God to "give us this day our daily bread" or to "deliver us from evil"? For, as Jesus mad so clear to us in the prayer that we've heard so many times, all the universe, all the power, and all the glory are ultimately HIS. And will be. Forever.

Father, please forgive our unbelief. Amen.

Have I told you that I love my job? :)

Bright spots during winter days

A little snapshot of what's making me smile these days---

1. TEAM USA!: I'm such an Olympics junkie! I usually think of the Summer Games as being more exciting than their Winter counterparts for some reason. But if the first two days of competition are any indication of the drama-level of the week-and-a-half to come, I'm getting super stoked! Hannah Kearney taking the gold in Women's Moguls, and our first Nordic Combined medal ever! For the record, I am now officially a fan of Biathalon. To quote a friend of mine: "Skiing + shooting = awesomeness!"

2. Longer Days: Since the beginning of November when we "Fell Back," I have been having to be very careful about locating my keys in my purse before heading out the back door of work, so not to be grappling for said elusive keys under the patchy illumination of the parking lot street lights. The only downside is that the additional sunlight sheds a little more light on the effects of slush and salt on my supposedly-black vehicle. Eww.

3. Pharmacy tape: If there is one thing that I have learned working behind a pharmacy counter, it is that all tapes are not created equal. Scotch makes a "pharmacy grade" of clear tape that unrolls so smoothly, and sticks so well, that you'll wonder how you ever tolerated anything less. I kid you not.

4. Paper lunch sacks: It's been a while since I've packed lunches on a daily basis. In college, you either swing through the cafeteria between classes, or make the trudge down to your dorm room or house to brew some coffee and curl up on the couch with a cup of soup. I have to say, though, that there's something about the crinkle of a good ol' paper sack within your gloved fist that gives you a "go, get 'em" rush as you step out the door to work in the morning.

5. New cell phone: Until last month, I had had the same cell phone since freshman year of college when Dad sent me my first one (with the condition that I would be better about staying in touch while at school). That phone and I went through a lot together. It's now ancient, but practically indestructable, and had the loudest vibrate you'll ever hear (I was known to even use it as my morning alarm). But, I'll be the first to admit that it also had its weaknesses . . . the biggest one being its patchy reception out here on the farm. I had a couple trusty spots where I knew I could connect . . . but it gets a little impractical during the sub-zero winter months when the main one is on top of the picnic table. So I finally took the plunge and trekked down main street after work to the local hardware store. Surprisingly, for a person as indecisive and resistant of change as I am, I spotted a phone that would do the trick. And it even has . . . *gasp* . . . a camera! Technology these days, I tell ya . . .

Random thought of the day

Does anyone else find it ironic that the word instantaneously has 6 syllables?

Project Extreme Makeover: Homestead Edition

Project #1: The Kitchen

Before

After

We just painted the top strip between the kitchen and the table area, but Mom and I think it finishes the kitchen off nicely. True, it's a little deceptive that the lighting is so different in the two pictures, but it adds effect, right?
Project #2: Dining Room

Before After

The color scheme for the dining room came from the quilt hanging in the corner. It was hand-made by Mom's great-grandmother in 1898 "while watching cows." No joke---that's what it says.
Here's a wider view of the kitchen/dining area:

And now, to round out the before/after shots, what would this post be without the cliche haircut shots?

Before

After

*Gasp* I can't imagine why it seems to look better this way!

"Can she bake a berry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy?"

Before tonight, if someone were to ask of me that classic question from the good ol' song, I realized that I wouldn't even know the answer . . . primarily because I've never tried.

My younger sister had been dubbed all summer the unwritten Duchess of Dinner . . . the Master of Meals . . . the Queen of all things Culinary . . .

. . . and then she left me.

So tonight, I, not wanting the bounty of this weekend's berry-hunt to be left un-enjoyed for any longer, decided to step up to the proverbial plate and prove to myself that I, JaimiDoodle, can bake a berry pie. You can see, judging by the condition of the cookbook (see below), that this recipe could probably be considered among one of the most tried-and-true out there---but, unfortunately, no culinary endeavor is safe from being completely slaughtered by JaimiDoodle, a college graduate who could explain to you the effects of osmotic pressure on the capillary eletrophoretic enantioseparation of chiral chemical compounds, but can't pull off a decent batch of rice for the life of her.

That being said, it was to be expected that the episode not go without hiccups (I may or may not have had to practice my suturing skills with the crust, which I may or may not have rolled out much too small to cover the pie plate . . .) but when all was said and done, a good time* was had by all.

*NOTE: "good time" = not having to include a fire department crew or emergency toxicology squad. Victory!

Before . . .

. . . After

Who'd've thought, ey?

A Most Excellent Adventure

This afternoon found me in a tree.

Grandpa, Dad, and I had done some herd-moving just before lunch, and along the way, noticed that there were a couple trees with fruit ripe for the pickin'. So right after our meal of left-over meatballs and potatoes (remnants of the wonderful dinner Mom made last night), we set off to relieve the tree in the corner of the pasture of its heavy load. We only had one apple-picker between the three of us, so we "divided and conquered," as you might say:

Grandpa gathered up the windfalls that (1) were not overly bruised from the fall, and --- exceedingly more importantly --- (2) had avoided any cow-pies upon their landing.

Father was deemed the master of the apple-picker. If any of you have never used one, it's a long, wooden pole with a wire basket on the end, with prongs that can hook around the apple, allowing it to fall into said basket. It's actually quite an ingenious contraption, but the thing can only reach so far . . .

So my self-appointed job was to shimmy up between the twisted limbs of our lovely apple tree, favoring a pesky sore left ankle (remnant of a close play at 3rd in a kickball tournament a couple weeks ago---in which I was obviously safe, but alas, obviously not obviously enough . . .) and do my best to harvest those apples not accounted-for by the two above mentioned methods. Hence, this afternoon found me --- most blissfully, I might add --- in a tree.

Side note: Does anyone know what this is? There's an abundance of it growing on a few of our bushes behind the house, and I can't say that I've ever noticed it before:

Anyway . . . we purged that apple tree (and filled our buckets) so quickly that none of us were ready to be done by the time we unloaded at the house, so we set out for round two: blackberries. Dad had noticed that a few bushes along the fence-line of the back pasture were ripe a few days ago, so we weren't even sure if there would be any left by now---and there weren't. At least, not in that spot, but on the way home, I scoured the rest of the fence-line from the tailgate of the truck, and I spied, with my little eye, something that was black (or, more like purple-ish, but let's not be technical).

Now, I don't wanna brag, but we basically found the El Dorado of blackberries. After a good 2 hours of battling the briers, we emerged with plenty-enough berries to made a good-many pies, and purple-stained paws---remnants of, as Dad called it, a "most excellent adventure."

I'll bet you that you can't, in 3 guesses, tell me which is my berry-pickin' hand. (Now, seeing that the odds are well in your favor, the prize can't be very high . . . maybe a handshake?)

Elizabeth Gaskill rocks my stockings

Bethany owns the *ultimate* DVD set: Elizabeth Gaskill's "Wives and Daughters," "North and South," and "Cranford" . . . it's true.

So, since it's a very rare occurance that all four of us ("us" meaning Papa Bear (Bethany), Mama Bear (Hannah), Lil' Elyse, and me) are all in the house, awake, at the same time. So we have to embrace every opportunity.

And this is done, in the only practical way possible: grabbing the cookies and tea, cuddling under a blanket on the couch in the living room, and watching BBC mini-series.

We have one episode of Cranford to go, and it's killing me! Will Sadie and her father ever forgive Dr. Harrison for the misunderstanding?! Will little William be allowed to continue to learn to read?! Will Miss Maddie be able to recover from bankruptcy?! *gasp*

I can't handle this.