So the other night at church, we were rehearsing for the worship team. The first few songs we did were more contemporary songs, and then we did a hymn (a traditional song). At the end of the hymn, I said "Way to hymn it up, guys!" Just being a weirdo, you know. And then a little while later, we had done a few more hymns, and one of the worship team members, who is a mom with five kids, said "We just hymned it up. Whatever that means." Oh my gosh, that was hilarious! I couldn't believe someone else said it! I was just messing around, but now I guess that's going to be a "thing!"
If you go to church or ever have another opportunity to use this, you have my blessing :)
30.9.11
28.9.11
Food, part one
This will be one of a series of weird food things about me. If you know me in person, you know that I’m… not super picky (I used to be really bad!), I just have passionate views about certain food items. I even write poems and quips about my preferences. With that introduction, I will talk today about fish and nuts.
I have never been a fan of fish. When I was little, the one time I remember having a babysitter that wasn’t a family member, said babysitter forced me to try tuna. I hated it. I wouldn’t say it traumatized me, because I have since tried fish, but that event certainly didn’t help my bias against fish. So, for some reason, I came up with a little poem about how I do NOT eat fish: If it swam in the sea, it’s not for me! It’s kind of catchy, if I do say so myself :-) And it does help people remember that I really don’t eat fish. I have tried blue gill (fresh caught by Adam and my mom), mahi mahi in Hawaii (which was not super fishy, but it DID have a macadamia nut coating on it – see below), garlic shrimp, and one homemade fish-and-potato-patty thing. I’m still not going to eat fish. The shrimp I tried had a weird, chewy texture to it (which I would assume applies to all shrimp). I also cannot stand the smell of shrimp cooking. It just permeates the whole house. Oh man, I better stop writing about fish. It’s making me feel queasy.
Another thing I don’t eat are nuts. I have tried them (including walnuts and pistachios) and while they don’t particularly have a bad flavor, I can’t tolerate the texture of nuts. They get stuck in my teeth and are just not something I want to eat. I eat peanut butter (creamy, of course), but I don’t eat nuts plain. I would probably be ok with almond butter, too. But I will never be one to put nuts in my cookies or brownies or anything else. And because just about everyone asks if I’m allergic to nuts because I avoid them so fervently, I created a little catch-phrase (not exactly a poem): “The only nuts I eat are donuts.” I sometimes say, “The only nuts I eat are donuts and corn nuts,” because I really DO love corn nuts! Probably more than donuts, even.
Anyway, that’s enough for the introduction to my many food preference oddities. We’ll save the rest for another day.
I have never been a fan of fish. When I was little, the one time I remember having a babysitter that wasn’t a family member, said babysitter forced me to try tuna. I hated it. I wouldn’t say it traumatized me, because I have since tried fish, but that event certainly didn’t help my bias against fish. So, for some reason, I came up with a little poem about how I do NOT eat fish: If it swam in the sea, it’s not for me! It’s kind of catchy, if I do say so myself :-) And it does help people remember that I really don’t eat fish. I have tried blue gill (fresh caught by Adam and my mom), mahi mahi in Hawaii (which was not super fishy, but it DID have a macadamia nut coating on it – see below), garlic shrimp, and one homemade fish-and-potato-patty thing. I’m still not going to eat fish. The shrimp I tried had a weird, chewy texture to it (which I would assume applies to all shrimp). I also cannot stand the smell of shrimp cooking. It just permeates the whole house. Oh man, I better stop writing about fish. It’s making me feel queasy.
Another thing I don’t eat are nuts. I have tried them (including walnuts and pistachios) and while they don’t particularly have a bad flavor, I can’t tolerate the texture of nuts. They get stuck in my teeth and are just not something I want to eat. I eat peanut butter (creamy, of course), but I don’t eat nuts plain. I would probably be ok with almond butter, too. But I will never be one to put nuts in my cookies or brownies or anything else. And because just about everyone asks if I’m allergic to nuts because I avoid them so fervently, I created a little catch-phrase (not exactly a poem): “The only nuts I eat are donuts.” I sometimes say, “The only nuts I eat are donuts and corn nuts,” because I really DO love corn nuts! Probably more than donuts, even.
Anyway, that’s enough for the introduction to my many food preference oddities. We’ll save the rest for another day.
27.9.11
Membership
So Adam and I have been attending our church for almost two years now. I sang with the Easter choir our first Easter there, then I started teaching Sunday school that September, and Adam and I both started helping with the high school group. I sing with the worship team about twice a month, and this year I’m directing the Christmas play. Adam is on the Missions Board (that makes decisions about supporting missionaries and things like that). So we’ve been very involved almost from the get-go. We met with the deacons and deaconesses, and gave our testimonies. Because of the way our church is “governed,” they had to “vote” us in with a majority vote, which they were going to do during the second service (it’s just a formality, but that’s the way they do it). Before the first service, one of the church members said, “Oh, I have your membership certificates,” and handed me two certificates commemorating Adam’s and my becoming members. Since we hadn’t officially been voted in yet, I figured that meant it was a done deal (which it was anyway!). So during the second service, we went up in front of the congregation and they all voted us in to be members. We’re official!! It’s kind of nice :)
It’s definitely different than the Lutheran church we were attending before. The pastor knew I wanted to help with the Sunday school, and they put announcements in the bulletin that they needed volunteers to help, but I couldn’t because I wasn’t a Lutheran. To some extent, I can understand their hesitancy to make sure that the person teaching their youth is a believer, but I had been meeting with the pastor about once a week, and he knew that I was a Christian. It didn’t matter – I wasn’t a Lutheran. At our current church, they called me and asked if I wanted to teach Sunday school – after having attended the church for about eight months at that point. It may sound judgmental, but I’m really not trying to judge them or say that our church is better or something. I’m merely noting a difference.
It’s definitely different than the Lutheran church we were attending before. The pastor knew I wanted to help with the Sunday school, and they put announcements in the bulletin that they needed volunteers to help, but I couldn’t because I wasn’t a Lutheran. To some extent, I can understand their hesitancy to make sure that the person teaching their youth is a believer, but I had been meeting with the pastor about once a week, and he knew that I was a Christian. It didn’t matter – I wasn’t a Lutheran. At our current church, they called me and asked if I wanted to teach Sunday school – after having attended the church for about eight months at that point. It may sound judgmental, but I’m really not trying to judge them or say that our church is better or something. I’m merely noting a difference.
23.9.11
Under Pressure
Well, I finally got a pressure cooker.
I was hesitant, of course, because of the horror stories people hear about old pressure cookers exploding, and sometimes, believe it or not, I am kind of accident-prone.
BUT we got one that has a bunch of safety features that make it impossible to open while there is still pressure in the cooker. So we got it. We ordered it (a Fagor Duo 8 quart, in case you were wondering) on Amazon, of course, and it was supposed to arrive as early as today, Friday. However, when I got home last night, there it was, sitting on our kitchen island in all its new and boxed glory! I had every intention of doing this test I found online to familiarize myself with the cooker, how long it takes to do things, etc. But I decided I wanted brown rice and scrambled eggs for dinner (a delicious combination with soy sauce, similar to fried rice), so, I made pressure cooker brown rice. It was a success!! Definitely not as mushy as when I make it on the stove, although not quite as good as the one time I made it in my rice cooker. With a little tweaking, I'm sure it'll be one of my regular recipes.
One of the main things I will want to make in it is stock/broth (beef, chicken, vegetable) because, as I stated before, my husband and I are hippies. He's much more of a hippie than me, and does not want to consume any store-bought broth/stock anymore. Hence the pressure cooker. I made vegetable broth in a stock pot Monday afternoon, but from now on, it'll be pressure cooker broth/stock all the way! I think it's going to be awesome, once I get the hang of it. Tonight I am going to try tackling the beef stock... wish me luck!
I was hesitant, of course, because of the horror stories people hear about old pressure cookers exploding, and sometimes, believe it or not, I am kind of accident-prone.
BUT we got one that has a bunch of safety features that make it impossible to open while there is still pressure in the cooker. So we got it. We ordered it (a Fagor Duo 8 quart, in case you were wondering) on Amazon, of course, and it was supposed to arrive as early as today, Friday. However, when I got home last night, there it was, sitting on our kitchen island in all its new and boxed glory! I had every intention of doing this test I found online to familiarize myself with the cooker, how long it takes to do things, etc. But I decided I wanted brown rice and scrambled eggs for dinner (a delicious combination with soy sauce, similar to fried rice), so, I made pressure cooker brown rice. It was a success!! Definitely not as mushy as when I make it on the stove, although not quite as good as the one time I made it in my rice cooker. With a little tweaking, I'm sure it'll be one of my regular recipes.
One of the main things I will want to make in it is stock/broth (beef, chicken, vegetable) because, as I stated before, my husband and I are hippies. He's much more of a hippie than me, and does not want to consume any store-bought broth/stock anymore. Hence the pressure cooker. I made vegetable broth in a stock pot Monday afternoon, but from now on, it'll be pressure cooker broth/stock all the way! I think it's going to be awesome, once I get the hang of it. Tonight I am going to try tackling the beef stock... wish me luck!
Where have you been?
That's what you might be wondering. Well... Tuesday I was home sick. Mainly sinus stuff. I was cleaning in the morning and lazing in the afternoon. I don't know what happened Wednesday and Thursday, but here I am now!
Monday night I made minestrone. My goal was to have it taste like Olive Garden's (my second favorite soup in the world - the top spot being held by the vegetable barley soup at Vince's Spaghetti in California. Man that is the BEST) and although it was pretty good (Adam loved it), it still wasn't quite right. I think it needed to be more tomato-y. Then again, I'm like a tomato fanatic, so... :)
Also, Adam and I beat Donkey Kong on the Wii! Really really beat it! But now we are so "Donkey Kong" wired, we tried to go back and play Super Mario Bros. Wii and we are not that good. We've beat all the normal levels in Mario, which means that at one point we were pretty awesome. But now... it's going to take some un-DK-ification before we can rock Super Mario again.
So... all that to say, my life has not been too exciting. I have some more ideas for upcoming posts, so keep your eyes peeled.
Monday night I made minestrone. My goal was to have it taste like Olive Garden's (my second favorite soup in the world - the top spot being held by the vegetable barley soup at Vince's Spaghetti in California. Man that is the BEST) and although it was pretty good (Adam loved it), it still wasn't quite right. I think it needed to be more tomato-y. Then again, I'm like a tomato fanatic, so... :)
Also, Adam and I beat Donkey Kong on the Wii! Really really beat it! But now we are so "Donkey Kong" wired, we tried to go back and play Super Mario Bros. Wii and we are not that good. We've beat all the normal levels in Mario, which means that at one point we were pretty awesome. But now... it's going to take some un-DK-ification before we can rock Super Mario again.
So... all that to say, my life has not been too exciting. I have some more ideas for upcoming posts, so keep your eyes peeled.
16.9.11
We need to have a talk
This is another of my sneezing stories.
When I worked at my first serious, real, after-college job, I was in a cubicle next to a bunch of other cubicles. So when I sneezed (loudly), sometimes it carried in the quiet work environment. We were often on the phone with customers, and after I sneezed one time, my neighbor said that her customer on the phone said to tell me "God bless you!" So, among my team of co-workers, my sneezes were well known. One day, my manager wanted to have a talk with me. She pulled me aside, and said that some people had said that my sneezing was interrupting their work.
--It's a SNEEZE, people! You can't hear a sneeze six cubicles away without it interrupting your phone call? What happens when you sneeze yourself? Do you have to go home for the rest of the day?--
Anyway, she asked if there was anything I could do so that my sneezes weren't so loud. It was then that I realized I couldn't work there any more. I was a great employee, I did my job accurately and efficiently, customers liked me and I followed company policies and regulations. And you're going to pull me aside and ask me to change the way I naturally sneeze? Outrageous.
After having left that job, I told my next supervisor at my next job about that, and she agreed with me that it was ridiculous. From then on, every time I'd sneeze at work, she'd say "Megan, we need to have a talk about your sneezes."
When I worked at my first serious, real, after-college job, I was in a cubicle next to a bunch of other cubicles. So when I sneezed (loudly), sometimes it carried in the quiet work environment. We were often on the phone with customers, and after I sneezed one time, my neighbor said that her customer on the phone said to tell me "God bless you!" So, among my team of co-workers, my sneezes were well known. One day, my manager wanted to have a talk with me. She pulled me aside, and said that some people had said that my sneezing was interrupting their work.
--It's a SNEEZE, people! You can't hear a sneeze six cubicles away without it interrupting your phone call? What happens when you sneeze yourself? Do you have to go home for the rest of the day?--
Anyway, she asked if there was anything I could do so that my sneezes weren't so loud. It was then that I realized I couldn't work there any more. I was a great employee, I did my job accurately and efficiently, customers liked me and I followed company policies and regulations. And you're going to pull me aside and ask me to change the way I naturally sneeze? Outrageous.
After having left that job, I told my next supervisor at my next job about that, and she agreed with me that it was ridiculous. From then on, every time I'd sneeze at work, she'd say "Megan, we need to have a talk about your sneezes."
13.9.11
Afton's Visit and WI food
Well, Afton came out, and we had a blast! We did lots of really Wisconsin-y things, like ate custard (a thick and creamy ice cream-type dessert. I think it has more egg yolks in it. Not to be confused with the solid gelatinous substance Californians call custard) and deep-fried cheese curds (and ok, to me, curds sounds disgusting. Until you realize that really it's just bits of cheddar cheese that they batter and fry into a delicious, hot, cheesey treat!). We got the cheese curds at The Old Fashioned in Madison - the BEST cheese curds I have ever had. And I pretty much try them every place I can. The batter is so light, and they have dipping sauces you can use - the roasted garlic is crazy delicious! Besides Madison, we went to a fish fry (a Wisconsin Friday-night tradition), a sheep and wool festival where we saw some sheep getting sheared, and went to Chicago.
Most awesome thing we did in Chicago was had dessert at the Signature Lounge. You absolutely need to go there, even if you get one dessert and split it between a couple of people, because it's a restaurant on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building, and the view is just beyond spectacular. I really liked it at night with all the lights. Even the bathroom has a view! So, go to Chicago and go to the Signature Lounge. You will love it!
I think I'll keep this short for today. More insight to my life to come.
Most awesome thing we did in Chicago was had dessert at the Signature Lounge. You absolutely need to go there, even if you get one dessert and split it between a couple of people, because it's a restaurant on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building, and the view is just beyond spectacular. I really liked it at night with all the lights. Even the bathroom has a view! So, go to Chicago and go to the Signature Lounge. You will love it!
I think I'll keep this short for today. More insight to my life to come.
8.9.11
Nice Customer
A couple of weeks ago, I helped a couple of customers figure out things with their accounts, and it took about an hour or so, but we got it all taken care of. One of their children said, "After all this [paperwork], we at least deserve an ice cream cone." And jokingly, I said, "Yeah, that sounds good. I like plain vanilla." And the dad said they'd try to bring me some custard (which will be the subject of another post, another day!). I told the mom that they really did not have to bring me any custard, and I was just teasing. I've seen them a couple of times since then, and he always mentions that he's going to bring me custard. Well, today, they did! They came to my work for the sole purpose of bringing me vanilla custard!! And I was thinking, if they did actually bring me custard, they'd bring me a little scoop I could dash in the back room and eat quickly. Well, they brought me like a little pint of custard! I couldn't believe it. How sweet of them!
I wanted to also say that I probably won't post for the next few days - my friend Afton is coming to visit! (Perfect timing on the custard - she needs to try some and now we don't need to make a separate trip! What a co-inki-dink!) We'll be in Madison, Jefferson, and Chicago, so I don't think I'll have much time for posting. I hope you survive, and I'll be back Monday or Tuesday.
I wanted to also say that I probably won't post for the next few days - my friend Afton is coming to visit! (Perfect timing on the custard - she needs to try some and now we don't need to make a separate trip! What a co-inki-dink!) We'll be in Madison, Jefferson, and Chicago, so I don't think I'll have much time for posting. I hope you survive, and I'll be back Monday or Tuesday.
6.9.11
Jasper
This is the first in what I'm sure is going to be a lot of posts about the best dog ever, Jasper. I was talking with Adam this weekend, and I told him that I had no idea when we got Jasp that I would end up loving him so much. There he was, sitting on my lap, nervous as can be, and I was thinking to myself, "I just got a dog. That was a lot of money. Did I make the right choice?" It didn't take me long to see that I had definitely made the right choice, and if I knew then what I know now about how he's the perfect dog for us, I would have paid even more (but don't tell that to the breeder!).
I’ll save for another day my list of why Jasper is the best. But this weekend he did two funny things – he was sitting on the bed with Adam and me, and he was scratching his ear with his hind leg. I probably said something to him that caught his attention, so he turned and looked at us, but he was still in itch mode, so he lifted his leg but put it right back down like he had changed his mind. Then he did it again – did the “leg wave” but didn’t actually scratch! And the whole time he was staring straight at us. It was hilarious!
His other funny thing he did this weekend was, while he was playing with Adam, he was up on a recliner, and Adam squeaked his toy, and Jasp leapt off the chair, like a deer! His legs straight below him, like he was just standing mid-air. And I was sitting next to him in the LoveSac, so I got a perfect side view of the leap. Man that was funny! I love that dog.
I’ll save for another day my list of why Jasper is the best. But this weekend he did two funny things – he was sitting on the bed with Adam and me, and he was scratching his ear with his hind leg. I probably said something to him that caught his attention, so he turned and looked at us, but he was still in itch mode, so he lifted his leg but put it right back down like he had changed his mind. Then he did it again – did the “leg wave” but didn’t actually scratch! And the whole time he was staring straight at us. It was hilarious!
His other funny thing he did this weekend was, while he was playing with Adam, he was up on a recliner, and Adam squeaked his toy, and Jasp leapt off the chair, like a deer! His legs straight below him, like he was just standing mid-air. And I was sitting next to him in the LoveSac, so I got a perfect side view of the leap. Man that was funny! I love that dog.
5.9.11
I know how to play the level...
So, for Labor Day weekend, my husband and I had plans. We were going to spend a day in Evansville and go to the Thresheree, for sure. While we did visit Evansville for a couple of hours (and had some delicious beer battered fries at the Night Owl - yum!) the Thresheree plans didn't go through. We blamed it on the weather, but I think we just liked to have a weekend to lounge around at home. And for us, that means we got to play Donkey Kong on the Wii! In case you haven't played it, Donkey Kong is so much fun! And we have definitely gotten our money's worth. But one thing is funny - they have these little pigs sometimes in the levels. Whenever there is a check-point mid-way through a level, there is a little pig manning the booth. And when you play a level repeatedly without beating it, a little cheering booth pops up at the beginning, with a pig there waving a flag who will show you how to finish the level if you ask. And that little pig gets really annoying. It wouldn't be so bad if he just popped up, but no, he waves his flag around and makes noise that gets irritating. So when Adam and I play and he shows up, I like to say, "I know how to play the level, pig." Then it sounds mean enough for me to get it out of my system, but really I'm just telling him I don't need his help... right? :-)
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