RC: January 2009

Ah, once again, the Plush Duck tries valiantly to prepare for Christmas gift giving by reading holiday books, watching holiday movies, and baking new holiday cookies. Let’s see if she can stick to the plan this year.

BOOK
The Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore

Short story. Old story. Familiar story. I actually chose to read three versions of this tale: one illustrated by Mary Engelbreit, one illustrated by Tasha Tudor, and one illustrated by Tomie De Paola. The first rendering had a look that I associate with the bright, sparkling modern-day conception of Santa Claus --- lots of bells and stardust and tons of activity with the robust, jolly gentleman who wears gold spectacles and sports those rosy cheeks at the center of it all. The second version had the dark look of nighttime (as in “the night before Christmas”) with a home that resembled Victorian England and a Santa that truly resembled an elf --- small, impish, and magical. The third offering was more plainly drawn with a look that my daughter equated to Cubism. The lines were sharper, the shapes were very geometric, and the colors were cooler, giving the impression of a chill in the house and a biting wind outside as it blew across the wide-open spaces covered in snow. It is amazing how much an illustrative style can influence the perception of even such a familiar poem.

Publication dates vary. Highly recommended.
Plush Duck Rating: *****

MOVIE
“While You Were Sleeping”
starring Sandra Bullock & Bill Pullman

A bit of the plot: a lonely woman (Lucy) who works for the Chicago Transit Authority saves a handsome man after he is assaulted on a train platform, thrown onto the railroad tracks, and in danger of being run over by a speeding engine. While accompanying the injured man to the hospital, she thinks aloud how she would like to marry the dashing guy, a statement that is misinterpreted by the nursing staff, thereby allowing her access to the comatose gentleman and his life. Upon meeting his family members, who are understandably grateful that she rescued their boy, suspicions mount as to whether Lucy is really “the fiancée.” Eventually, a family friend discovers the truth that Lucy is masquerading as the betrothed, prompting her to admit that she really isn’t in love with the injured man. Instead, Lucy is in love with his brother.
A few plot twists and classic character miscommunications later, this somewhat serious tale becomes a rather adorable comedy, all set around Christmastime.

I actually own this movie. I bought it several years back after seeing it on television during the Christmas season. Part of my attraction to it was the cast: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, and Glynis Johns. For those of you who don’t know the latter actress, think “Mary Poppins.” She played the mom. Accompanied by a sweet soundtrack and sporting behavior that, overall, exhibits old-fashioned values, I would count this as a family-friendly film for the tween set and older. But don’t take my word for it; here is a recommendation from Common Sense Media:

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING has an old-fashioned feel. While it’s patterned after the classic romantic comedies of the 1930’s and 1940’s…the movie’s clever writing, gentle humor, and strong performances make up for its shortcomings. It is a good choice for parents to watch with their older kids, because there’s something here to appeal to both generations.

Release date: 1995. Highly recommended.
Plush Duck Rating: *****

COOKIE
Kolachki
From Christmas-Cookies.com

A much-appreciated dance instructor at our local Fred Astaire Dance Studio inspired the choice of this recipe. He hails from St. Petersburg, Russia and has been in America for about eight years. We found the cookies to be completely yummy.

Yield: varies depending on how cookies are cut & assembled

Ingredients
½ pound cream cheese (at room temperature)
½ pound butter (at room temperature)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 pound finely ground walnuts
1 large egg
1 cup granulated sugar
water

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add flour and mix again until smooth. Roll dough into three balls. Refrigerate dough to keep it from drying out. The dough can be refrigerated for 1-2 hours, but it is not necessary. Roll out one ball at a time and flour lightly. Roll dough out in flour or granulated sugar so it doesn’t stick. Cut dough into squares or circles using a cookie or biscuit cutter. Make the filling by mixing together the walnuts, egg, and sugar. Add just enough water to obtain a sticky consistency. Add about a teaspoon of filling to each piece of cut dough. Roll squares into logs. Fold circles over and seal with a fork. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Hint: the Christmas cookie website states that making this dough is easier with a food processor. My daughter used a mixer and didn't have any problems.

Plush Duck Rating: *****

A Home Gym?

In a recent e-mail I received from the Dr. Weil website, the topic of discussion was “4 Ways to Start a Home Gym.” Some items that were suggested for inclusion in such a space:

- a yoga mat
- resistance bands & a set of weights
- fitness DVDs in enough variety to focus on different muscle groups & prevent boredom
- a treadmill, elliptical trainer, or recumbent bicycle

Hmm, let me take stock. Do I have the makings of a home gym so that I can work toward my New Year’s resolution of losing 30 pounds? I have a couple of yoga mats. I own a set of weights and three resistance bands of varying strengths. I have more fitness DVDs than my husband probably wishes I had (some Denise Austin, Leslie Sansone, Pilates for Dummies, AM/PM Yoga, etc.). The only item I am missing is the treadmill, elliptical trainer, or recumbent bicycle. I do have a trainer that allows me to set up my own bike to act as a stationery bicycle, so I guess I have that covered too. So, seeing as I already have a home gym (and seeing as I have had it for awhile), the question now becomes: why am I not using it to lose the 30 pounds I so desperately want to shed?

I hate hard questions that make me look at my own behavior, don’t you?

A Friendly Visitor

After the last snowstorm, my daughter and I noticed that a pair of deer began visiting our yard on a fairly regular basis. We were at a bit of a loss to determine what was attracting them until, one day, we saw this individual (not certain if he/she is male or female) munching on one of the azalea bushes in the backyard. Since I did not do anything to stop or discourage the friendly beast, I will probably not have much of an azalea bush left by spring. Oh, well. I have a pretty healthy collection of azaleas in my yard. Losing one to a hungry deer may not be so bad.

Listening to Winter

Last night I went out to do some intermediate shoveling just after sundown and, instead of getting a workout, I got a gorgeous experience! The snow was falling quietly. The ever-present, low-level drone from the local arterial road just up the street was absent. The only sound was the faint, distant scraping of a plow removing snow from the nearby streets. Noticing this stillness, I just stood for a moment and listened…to nothing.

My mother actually encouraged my sister and me to do this. One winter, on a cold evening in late January, she convinced my dad to drive us into the countryside outside of our small Minnesota town, park the car, and roll down the windows so we could “listen to winter.” I remember thinking she was a little weird; but I also remember watching the loose snow skim across the moonlit cornfields, driven by that lovely Upper Midwest wind that seems to blow constantly in midwinter. Even today, thinking about that event, I can almost smell the cold, dry freshness of the air. Connecticut doesn’t smell like that. It smells wetter and saltier.

This morning I need to shovel again. Unfortunately, the atmosphere won’t compare. More snowplows are out, the local traffic is picking up, and the din of life has returned. But I now have two winter moments to savor while I work. Life is good.

First Concert of the Year

I am, at the moment, sitting in the hallway of Central Baptist Church in Norwich, CT, listening to the first handbell concert of 2009. The Shoreline Ringers are playing as part of the “Music at Central Series,” a community concert program sponsored annually by the church. I am parked in the hallway because this particular engagement of the bell choir is so well attended that I needed to give up my seat to someone who had never heard the group perform. Now that I think about it, this just may be the largest audience in the three-year history of Shoreline performances. Not only did they run out of seats, they ran out of programs too. Every music group should have such a problem.

If you missed this concert, keep an eye out for the next one: January 11, 2009 at First Congregational Church in Guilford, CT. The Shoreline Ringers will be participating in the "Joyful Noise! Concert Series" at that church.

Happy New Year!!!

Ah, farewell 2008. Welcome, 2009. Last year certainly was challenging. This year is definitely unknown. My plans and goals for the New Year are still in the planning stages. I am still evaluating last year. The 2008 fact that makes me happiest: the retirement account is only down about $1000. The greatest disappointment of 2008: my house is still as cluttered as ever.

Frankly, I am still in a bit of shock that it is 2009. It seems like only yesterday that my husband retired from the Navy (2000), the tragedy of 9/11 happened (2001), and my dad passed away (2005). Time sure does fly. My father warned me that time would accelerate as I got older. I wonder if he noticed it picking up speed when he was my age. He seemed much younger to me at age 47 than I feel at age 47. Of course, I was only about 11 years old when I made that observation so my perspective may have been somewhat skewed.

Some of my expectations for 2009:
- Katherine the Great will probably be in another opera.
- King Richard will be working a lot of hours this year.
- I will still be busy homeschooling.
- The economy will still be challenging.

Despite that last assumption, I hope your expectations for the New Year are positive and hopeful. May God bless your plans and bring them to fruition.

Happy 2009!

I Have a Facebook Page

Well, I finally did it. I joined Facebook. All of my friends are on it, especially those who have high school and college students. Most, if not all, of the kids I interact with at Sunday School and our homeschool co-op have accounts on it. People I know aren’t really even using their traditional e-mail accounts to communicate anymore; they are using Facebook. So, out of a desire to remain “in the loop, “ I knuckled under and joined. It’s ok. I still feel rather odd posting updates about the minutiae in my day. It is more efficient than blogging, but I miss the lack of space to write longer articles. Oh, well.

An Economic Downturn?

If the market were experiencing a downturn, you would never know it by the number of mail-order catalogs arriving in my mailbox. Today, I received at least eight, one of which was Hammacher Schlemmer. I love this display of merchandise. It is so fun. Just look at the variety of clocks and marshmallow/snowball battle toys:

The Peaceful Progression Wake Up Clock
The Sunrise/Sunset Simulating Clock
The Color Pattern Clock
The Flying Alarm Clock

The 40 Foot Marshallow Blaster
The 40’ Marshmallow Bazooka
The Marshmallow Shooter
The Marshmallow Shooting Shortbow
The 50’ Snowball Launcher

Of course, I would be hard-pressed to buy any of these items. Then again, that Flying Alarm Clock might get my family moving in the morning.

I Love King Leo!

Today, while I was shopping at CVS, I discovered King Leo Soft Peppermint Sticks. They came in a box containing ~30 sticks, each one worth about 45 calories, and I think I have consumed 10-12 sticks since around 4:00 PM. Make no mistake about it, folks; these are incredibly addictive little treats (and I normally get tired of candy cane-like confections pretty quickly). The next best thing about these? The company has a store in one of my favorite places: Julian, California. If you are ever in southern California, don’t miss it --- the town or the store.

Chicken Soup That’s Tested

Katherine the Great finally came down with the cold that has been circulating through our locale of late. In an effort to keep on top of the nasty respiratory bug, I made some chicken soup for her from a recipe I found online: Grandma’s Recipe from Dr. Stephen Rennard of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. For a PDF copy of the recipe, click here. For the research article, click here. For a video about the tested soup, click below. As of yet, I cannot attest to its effectiveness. I can, however, attest to its flavor: extremely delicious.

DYK? A Tip About Potatoes

One of my recent RealAge mailings had an interesting tip on how to keep more nutrition in your potatoes: boil them whole.

Cubing your potatoes first will slash their potassium content by as much as 50 percent.

Roasting, baking, or microwaving whole potatoes also preserves more iron, zinc, and magnesium. Who knew?

For more information, go to Max Out Your Mashed Potatoes.

Eek!

Last night, just before the evening news at 6:00 PM, my littlest cat rushed over to the wall by the back door with an extremely curious expression on his face. As he listened intently to what was a high-pitched squeaking/scraping sound, my husband and I became interested as well. Within seconds, King Richard was investigating. And what did he find? Yep, you guessed it, none other than a bat! Actually, he found two bats but one of them flew away. The other guy took a hit of wasp killer that my husband sprayed in the hole that the critters had crawled into. Not to worry, though, King Richard cleaned the vermin and made a temporary shelter for him in the garage while he recovered from his ordeal. Eventually, he left for parts unknown.

Herr Fledermaus should consider himself fortunate. If he had encountered the woman of the house first, he may be dead because I am NOT a fan of bats.

Egad!

Yesterday, I received a fund raising letter from the Museum of Science in Boston, MA, the content of which made me do a double take (and not because my forty-seven-year-old eyes are deteriorating). Consider the opening sentence:

A survey by the National Opinion Research Center showed about one in four American adults believe the Sun goes around the Earth.

One in four adults. That’s 25% folks. 25% of American adults do not know enough basic science to understand that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the original survey to check if this same percentage of people were also missing the fact that the Earth rotates on an axis whilst traveling about the Sun. I tried to defend these survey interviewees to myself for a moment, thinking that this statistic was returned by the survey because of how the survey designers asked the question, but the letter continued with this:

The same survey found people who believe that electrons are larger than atoms…that lasers work by focusing sound waves…that antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria…

And people wonder why I homeschool.

Anniversary Gift

As I mentioned in my previous post (How Did I Get Here?), I went shopping for a new clothes dryer yesterday. I had to engage in this exciting activity, on my anniversary of all days, because the dryer that I purchased when my daughter was born (over eighteen years ago) finally “expired.” The post that holds the drum broke in two; definitely not a repairable problem. Hence, my husband and I spent the afternoon shopping for a new appliance.

What did we find? A great deal! The first dryer we saw was on clearance for $399.93. The washer we eventually settled on was also on sale for $284.93. After taxes and a 10% discount on the washer, the total came to $695.76. Not bad considering that I was ready to put close to $2000-$3000 on my credit card for a brand new, steam treatment, silver ion, front-loading washer and a high-speed extraction dryer. Apparently, the Lord knew I needed a price break this year.

Not exactly the activity I would have planned to commemorate 23 years of marriage, and not exactly the gift I would have liked to celebrate such a well-established commitment, but it was appreciated nonetheless. Maybe next year I will go to Colonial Williamsburg and have dinner at Christiana Campbell’s Tavern. Now that’s my idea of a great anniversary gift.

How Did I Get Here?

OK, so much for quoting the Talking Heads (“Once in a Lifetime” from the album Remain in the Light); now, on to the news:

Today is my anniversary. I have been married to the same man for 23 years, a fact that I have trouble wrapping around my brain some days. I don’t have trouble with the idea that I have been committed to him for that long. No, I have trouble with the idea that 23 years have flown by at the speed of light. Wasn’t I just 25 and learning to be a Navy wife? Wasn’t I just 28 and pregnant with our only child? Wasn’t I just 33 and sitting in a surgeon’s office listening to a description of the care plan for my husband who was stricken with thyroid cancer? Outside of the grace of God, I have no idea how I made it this far. It has been quite an adventure, and I am certain it will only get more interesting.

So how did I celebrate? Believe it or not, I did a totally middle-aged thing: I went shopping for a new clothes dryer.

Diocese Choir Concert Program

In case you were wondering what was on tap at the choir concert, here is a partial program. Enjoy!

Mozart
Exsultate Jubilate
Mary Beth Lee, soprano

Telemann
Psalm 117

Purcell
Jubilate Deo
Mary Beth Lee, soprano
Scott Reeves, countertenor
Ed Tyler, baritone

Donations accepted at the door.

How Should We Handle This?

Get a load of this, as reported on Right Michigan. I went to this website to read the source of the story I originally saw on American Thinker:

Prayer had just finished when men and women stood up in pockets across the congregation, on the main floor and in the balcony. "Jesus was gay," they shouted among other profanities and blasphemies as they rushed the stage. Some forced their way through rows of women and kids to try to hang a profane banner from the balcony while others began tossing fliers into the air. Two women made their way to the pulpit and began to kiss.

Their other props? I'll let them tell you in their own words... from another of their liberal blogs:

"(A) video camera, a megaphone, noise makers, condoms, glitter by the bucket load, confetti, pink fabric...yeh."

- snip –

The "open minded" and "tolerant" liberals ran down the aisles and across the pews, hoping against hope to catch a "right winger" on tape daring to push back (none did). And just in case their camera missed the target, they had a reporter in tow. According to a source inside the church yesterday there was a "journalist" from the Lansing City Pulse along for the ride, tipped off about the action and more interested in getting a story than in preventing the vandalism, the violence and anti-Christian hatred being spewed by the lefties.

- snip –

The church's response? After things settled down, the blasphemy ended, the lewd props removed and the families safe from fear of additional men and women running into and past them the pastor took the stage and led the congregation in one more prayer... not for retribution, or divine justice or a celestial comeuppance (that's what I'd have prayed for) but instead that the troubled individuals who'd just defiled the Lord's house, so full of anger and hate, would know Jesus' love in their lives and God's peace that exceeds human understanding.

My daughter had some interesting questions about this:

1) Should the church members turn the other cheek as Jesus instructs us to do?

Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. --- Luke 6:29

2) Should church members defend God’s house as Jesus did?

In the temple courts [Jesus] found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area both sheep and cattle; he shattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” --- John 2:14-16

3) How do church members decide between these two options? Is the sanctuary the tipping point? Is an invasion of the sacred space more serious and deserving of defensive action? Or is any intrusion, even if confined to the church grounds or a classroom, enough to activate a defensive response?

I have never been a fan of “security forces” at a church, but this incident has prompted me to begin re-examining my opinion on the subject. It may be awhile before I reach a sure conclusion. In the meantime, I will keep praying.

Fight the Good Fight

A hymn from today's church service based on this Bible verse:

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. --- 1 Timothy 6:12

Written in 1863, it was composed by John S. B. Monsell (1811-1875).

Fight the Good Fight With All Thy Might

Fight the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy Strength and Christ they Right.
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.

Run the straight race thro' God's good grace;
Lift up thine eyes and seek His face.
Life with its way before us lies;
Christ is the Path and Christ the Prize.

Cast care aside; upon thy Guide
Lean, and His mercy will provide;
Lean, and the trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its Life and Christ its Love.

Faint not nor fear, His arms are near;
He changeth not, and thou art dear.
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is All in all to thee.

Fortune Cookies...Again

My family succumbed to weakness this evening and ordered Chinese food --- egg foo young and a pu pu platter. This time, we received six fortune cookies, two for each of us. Here are the fortunes:

No problem leaves you where you found it.
There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't met!
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that extra.
Be a generous friend and a fair enemy.
The days you work are the best days.

And my favorite, which I plan to keep as a time management reminder:

The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you think you can do only a little.

I wish I could figure out a way to send the Chinese vocabulary words on the reverse side of my fortunes to my American friend who just moved to Beijing. It would be interesting to see how accurately the manufacturer translated the words.

Don't Forget to Set Those Clocks

The end of Daylight Savings Time has finally arrived, so don't forget to set your clocks back an hour before turning in tonight. Remember, the time change does not apply in Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. It is also recommended (and customary) to use this time change as a reminder to replace the batteries in your smoke alarms.

So, check those smoke detectors and enjoy that extra hour of sleep. The holiday season is just around the corner!