Masters of Disaster

When I arrived home late last night, look what I found! As many of you know, I love ORDER. The cards and envelopes I use to make cards are organized by color of the rainbow in bins in my closet. Moreover, I love a CLEAN HOUSE. On Friday, I had my condo professionally cleaned. Yesterday, the carpet cleaners came. It's a good thing that I love MY CATS more than I love a clean house. Who did this? Isabelle? Ebenezer? Only God knows for sure.

What a long tongue you have . . .

Issie's tongue looks as if it belongs to the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood.

Beads, Baskets, Widows and Orphans

The necklace in the picture above comes from the wonderful website, 31bits.com. I’ve been buying necklaces and bracelets from 31 Bits for several years.  They sell beaded jewelry made from recycled paper that is crafted by internally-displaced women in Uganda. Why do I like these necklaces so much? First, they are uniquely beautiful.  Second, making jewelry provides  the women with money they can use to send their children to school.

Trading For Treasures is another organization that sells products from Africa. Headquartered here in Colorado, Trading For Treasures markets baskets made by women in Rwanda. These baskets, some that are designed for decoration and others that can be used as serving pieces, are made of sisal fibers, sweet grass, banana leaves and raffia. Go the website and take a look. I have purchased a number of these baskets for wedding and housewarming gifts.

I’ll close with the story of Miriam Neff. Miriam’s husband Bob, was a Vice President with Moody Broadcasting in Chicago. A wife, mother, and high school counselor, Miriam had the opportunity to travel overseas with her husband who, in addition to his responsibilities at Moody, helped jump-start Christian radio stations overseas.

Bob Neff died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2006. Miriam began reaching out to other women and started Widow Connection. Here in the States, Widow Connection provides a variety of resources to those who have lost a spouse. In Africa, Miriam’s organization partners with other ministries to teach widows how to sew on Singer treadle machines. The ladies ultimately learn to make school uniforms which they sell.

I'm not sure why I’m passionate about the plight of these people.  I grew up in a solidly middle class home.  My exposure to poverty has been minimal.  I didn’t spend much time in church until my early-twenties.  Nevertheless, I am reminded of the oft-quoted proverb which says, ‘Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.’  James 1:27 reminds us of the importance of caring for widows and orphans.  “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

New Quilt

The sweet women from the Sewing Circle blessed me with this incredible quilt several months ago.  I put it on my bed today.  While Ebenezer has blessed my new blanket by napping on it, he was in no mood for a Friday evening photo shoot.  He ran off the moment I got out my camera.

Diana Messmer, who made this quilt, is one of the first people I met when I began teaching Sunday School back in the day.

Gotcha!

Hot Dog!

Truthfully, I don't eat much junk food or red meat.  Occasionally, I crave a Chic Fil A Breakfast Sandwich, a hot dog, or blue corn chips with queso.  I'll eat a few bites to satisfy my craving and throw the rest out.

Not long ago, I made Pigs In Blankets with Hebrew National franks.  I dunked my dog in Heinz Chili Sauce for old times sake.  Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around the humble dog.  Sometimes, my dad and I would  stop by Grandpa Hildebrecht's for lunch on Saturday.  

Grandpa's hot dogs came from Otto's, an Elmhurst meat market.  Otto's also sold the bratwurst, metwurst, knockwurst, and thurnger sausages that Grandpa served with homemade cole slaw and German potato salad many Saturday evenings.  Grandpa got me hooked on the Heinz Chili Sauce.

Occasionally, Daddy and I would eat a Chicago Dog at Portillo's.  Mr. Portillo began his hot dog empire with a tiny trailer not far from one of our apartment buildings.

I'll Fly Away

Here's what I saw on my way to the mailbox.

Tumford

I recently ordered the Tumford the Terrible, a picture book by Nancy Tillman, for my Cousin Scott’s daughter, Maddie Grace.  Tumford is a rather rotund black cat  who has trouble saying ‘I’m sorry.’  He hides when he misbehaves rather than facing the music and apologizing to the individual he wronged.  As with many good children's books, the message in Tumford the Terrible works on multiple levels with multiple audiences.

Spelling !#$%

Several weeks ago, I noticed several spelling mistakes in the Power Point slides during the worship service at church.  Spelling mistakes drive me nuts.  Do we not have spell check?  Do we not know how to proofread?  I know.  I'm old school.  I graduated from the journalism program at The University of Colorado at Boulder the same year the IBM PC went on the market.  I learned phonics in elementary school and how to diagram sentences in middle school.  Am I perfect?  Hardly!  My writing has become sloppy with the advent of email and blogging.  I merely wish people would double check their slides before they projected them on the wall for all the world to see.

Sooo Big

Note the difference in Ebenezer's appearance between the first picture and the second.  Not only is he much larger in the second photo, but he also has a dark, sleek coat and golden eyes.



Chicken in a Biscuit

Here's a picture of the free Breakfast Biscuit that I received from Chick Fil A this morning.  They taste great; but, I'm sure they are lacking in the health department.  I took two more bites after snapping this picture and shared the rest with my cats.

It is beginning to look a lot like . . .

Earlier today, I ordered some Halloween cards at Hallmark.com.  I don't celebrate Halloween per se; but, it is a wonderful excuse to share winsome pictures of my sweet black cats. 

Though I refrained from ordering Christmas cards - I've already got them for the coming year - I was overcome by a sudden urge to make cranberry relish.  Cranberry relish - just like the kind your grandma made with a hand-crank food mill - is one of my favorite things.

One bag frozen cranberries

Two apples and one orange

Where's my spoon?