TreasuresInTerraCotta

I've been doing Beth Moore's "Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman" Bible study. It has drawn attention to multiple ironies that fill the book of Esther. The downfall of the former Queen Vashti was her refusal to go before the king, yet Esther's destiny ultimately required her to go before the king uninvited. Mordecai saved the king from assassination, yet the king played a role in the annihilation plot of Mordecai and all the Jews. Haman built a gallows to hang Mordecai, but on those same gallows Haman would himself be hanged. I have a whole page of ironies listed in the back of my workbook and I still have two weeks to go! Honestly, it makes me smile when I look over them. I see God's hand at work in every turn of the story. This is better than the best fiction. So when I met with my own irony my senses were ready to see it. And this is a very little thing, so don't get too excited. But I wanted to share it. I was doing my Couch-to-5K running yesterday...

Hooray, we took Uncle Ted to see the bats take off. The Mexican Free-Tail bats make there summer home here in sunny Arizona. Tonight we parked at Home Depot and walked down to the wash. The bats sleep nestled under the bridge all day. At sunset they make their grand exit into the darkening sky where they will eat bugs all night. We raced there, hoping not to miss the flight that begins at sundown. We waited and waited in the beautiful desert dusk. Finally a few bats appeared and then disappeared just as quickly as they started their search for food. Unfortunately, there were surprisingly few bats tonight. Probably less than 100 total, leaving the bridge in groups of three or four or five. It was sadly unimpressive compared to my memory of the same event two years ago. I wonder if they have started their migration south for the winter. Or maybe the scant rain we received during this monsoon season left us with too few bugs and mosquitos. By October they will be gone for the winter. But ...

Today I started Week 4 of The Couch-to-5K running plan . Honestly, I thought I was farther along since I've been walking/running regularly for at least 6 weeks now. And I've seen some minor but positive changes...I have more endurance for household things like getting around on the floor with the boys, some of my clothes seem to fit better and I feel less "puffy." Anyway, today the proverbial rubber met the road with Week 4. The circut goes like this...jog 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, jog 5 minutes, walk 2 1/2 minutes, jog 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, jog 5 minutes. And it was hard! Maybe that's how it's always supposed to be. But running for 5 minutes is not something I can do yet and today was the first time I physically felt like I just couldn't jog another step. And I feel nauseous. So maybe that means I'm doing something right. Have I mentioned that I'm not a runner. I do not like it. I do not enjoy it. I am slow. I doubt I have goo...

This weekend we had a progressive dinner. Tyler's cousin and her family came down from Phoenix to help with the cooking and join in the fun. My in-laws brought the plum wine and the saki. My sister's family hosted appetizers, Ted made dessert and we made the main course. Since we are currently displaced from our home, it wasn't as progressive as one might expect, but it was great fun. The Theme: Pan-Asian Appetizers: Lettuce Wraps Main dish: Thai-Style Cabbage Slaw, Hot Sichuan-Style Green Beans, Sesame Noodle Salad, Drunken Chicken, Sweet-Hot Coconut Shrimp, Hoisin Pork with Hot Mustard, plus Red Chicken Dessert: Green tea ice cream homemade by Ted, formerly stationed in Japan As usual it was crazy and fun. And of course, everything was delicious. For my portion I found a menu at Sunset.com for an Asian small plate party . It seemed ideal since we could make a few different items, but wouldn't have to make big portions, even though we were serving eight adults...

On Friday night my dad received the great honor of having the Sahuarita High School football field named after him . This is where he has taught, coached, mentored and ministered for nearly 40 years. I wish I could express adequately how proud I am to have him as my dad. Yet words fail me.

Does bread machine homemade bread count as homemade bread? I am the temporary owner of a bread machine since we are living at my brother-in-law's house while our house is getting an addition. Why a single, thirty-something man has a bread machine, and a nice one at that, is another story. But since I am the only one who has been in the kitchen for the past month, I have confiscated the bread machine. Calvin and I took it on our maiden voyage today. I used the Basic White Bread recipe from the instruction manual, figuring the manufacturer would want to make a good impression with their product! Here's how it turned out. The top is a little deflated, and the texture is a little "dense" but otherwise it tastes just like the bread-machine bread I've had from more proficient bread-machine bakers. I will admit that I did not use the freshest flour since I had a half a bag left over from another adventure. But overall I'm pretty pleased. I can't wait to to ...