prime seating

Jesus said you have to be [joyful like a child], 
or you will get a chair in heaven 
near the Aerosol Cheese Products, not the cherries and peaches.

(- Anne Lamott in a recent post)

I'm a fan of spray cheese.  Especially on long road trips.  But the chair by the fruit does sound much more bearable...eternity-wise.

Ryan has been working allllll weekend.

I have a head cold that has taken up residence in my frontal lobe.  Its like someone wearing heavy-duty work boots stepped on my face, right across my nose and cheeks.  They paused there just to be obnoxious and then walked on.  This face throb just won't leave, no matter how much ibuprofen I throw at it.  

Eva and River cannot be in the same room without throwing punches.  They are incredible and smart and adorable and kind and creative and fun and interesting in their own right.  But together, they are THE Tasmanian Devil.

We can't go to the park because our bodies will stick to the frozen equipment.

Our nanny has been out of the state for 2 weeks now.

There was a grown-up party next door, but I sent Ryan to it instead of me because good grief he's a hard worker.  He got to stay out til 2 am.  I got to not stay out til 2 am and not be with grown-ups.

BUT.....

I reeeaalllly want that prime eternal seating.  So....

There are monster cookies in the oven.

We are listening/dancing/fighting to an awesome mix cd of kids' music from Auntie Kara.

Eva is "baking" on the kitchen table with flour, butter, and water.  She can't ingest the flour but she still loves to experiment with it.

KU is playing!  ROCK CHALK!!

Riv has a friend coming over soon.

I'm about to do the first of 12 loads of laundry, which actually makes me happy because every last pair of leggins is dirty.

CHOOSE JOY.  Do it with me.  I dare you.  Joy is NOW.  I believe it!!!

I'll share my monster cookies, because chocolate and peanut better are naturally homeopathic remedies for grouchy bla winter Sundays, right?

This is your recipe, Melody!

And - all my GF reader friends - its GF!!

2 eggs

1/3 c. margarine

1 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 c. peanut butter

3 c. oats

1 c. m&ms

1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix together well everything but the oats, m&ms, and chocolate chips.  Mix in the oats.  Mix in the candy!  Put raquet ball size balls on a greased cookie sheet.  I use 2 scoops of the cookie scooper per cookie.  Bake at 350 for 11 minutes - careful not to overbake!

Kefir

I promised to introduce you to kefir awhile back.

The short version is that it is a kind of yogurt that we grow overnight on our counter.  We strain off the yogurt in the morning and add new milk to the "curds" that are left behind to grow new yogurt for the next morning.

We have all been drinking a fruit shake for breakfast every single morning for the past 6 months.  Zero complaints.  Seriously, zero, which is no small thing.  And we stay full until lunch.

Kefir has all the benefits of traditional grocery-store yogurt, but no added sugars or other ingredients.  It also has slightly different active cultures, which are even more beneficial for gut-health.  It "colonizes" your intestinal tract with the micro-organisms that improve your immune system.

Here's what the "starter" looks like:

Its like friendship bread - you get a starter from someone and you just keep growing it, discarding some when it gets to be too much.  You can also buy the starter grains at health-food stores.

Here's how we make our morning shakes:

3 cups of kefir (strained, no starter)

2 Tbsp peanut butter

1/4 c. flaxmeal

1 banana

1/2 c. frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, cherries, peaches)

squirt of agave nectar (about 1 Tbsp.)

You can also use it in recipes, just like you would yogurt - I've put it in these:

Corny Cornbread

Butternut Bisque

Delicious, filling, and good for you.  I am the world's ambassador for this stuff.  Get some somehow and start having it daily.  You're welcome!

favorite things #6

Its been too long since a Favorite Things post, don't you think?  Come on, don't you?!  

I've been collecting these for awhile.

Like bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens...

She can be one of your favorite things too, I'll share. What the world needs now is Sage, sweet Sage.

The netipot!!!!  Its insane.  You fill it with warm water and saline powder, and then you pour it into your nostril.  It runs through your sinuses and out the other nostril.  Let's see how many times I can say nostril.  It is amaaaaaazing.  Like a massage for your sinuses.  And your nostrils.  Not even a little glamorous, but no one promised that nostrils would be.  You know that incredible feeling when water drains out of your ear after you swim?  Its like that.  For your nostrils.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the absolute best literary experience of my entire life.  Period.

It was written by a homemaker in 1935, who would get up and write - literally with her hand and her pencil - early in the morning before her family was up.  The plot is nothing remarkable, but the weaving together of words is phenomenal.  

The rooms in heaven have different smells.  One is babies' skin.  One is rain.  One is peppernuts.  One is old books.  I smelled this book every time I opened it because heaven is also a place on earth!  

Because the writing is amazing and because I loved this exact old copy of it, I rechecked it 3 times and still racked up a late fee.  Ryan bought it from the library for me for Christmas.  Most thoughtful gift ever.

I'm inept and can't capture the color.  But this new gray nail polish is only $2.89 and has a matte finish. The color is "sidewalk".  And for once, when it says "quick dry," its the truth!!

Its disturbing that its udder cream, let's just own that.  But its the best lotion ever made.  I bought a big ol' tub of it at an Amish store in Indiana, but I'm pretty sure you can get it at most pharmacies.

 Pomegranite.  An explosion in your mouth.  Every time.  What's not to love?

Look at my new legs!!  Just kidding.  Not mine.  But oh how I do love leggins.  Thank you, 1991, for coming back.  Sincerely, thank YOU, you have made my every day so much more comfortable.  Now if only I could figure out how to wear them with puffy vests....