Winding Down

I am down to my last few days of working at the parish office. I guess my official last day will be Monday, the last day of the month as the official parish merger takes place on July 1.

I've been working on tying up loose ends in the office. I think the staff from the other parish will be glad when I vacate the building. At this point, I will be glad too. Since returning from vacation, I feel like a stranger in my own country. have taken over, moved me around like I don't exist and have claimed the building as their own.

The people from my parish are not happy that I will no longer be working at the church office. There is some comfort in seeing a familiar face in the office, some one who knows you and can work with you. Unfortunatley, there will be a great period of adjustment for the people of my parish.

So, if you are so inclined, think of me at noon on Monday and say a prayer for my new parish that the merger will go smoothly.

The Cook's Meme

I saw this at Barb's blog and thought it looked like fun.

1. What food does your best friend not like? Sushi - my husband won't eat raw fish.

2. What is your favorite cookbook? Has to be Betty Crocker - the basic reference for most things and for every thing else, I guess it must be the church cookbook from about 5 years ago.

3. Are you more of a sushi person or a lamb person? Definitley lamb. Ditto #1 for me - the thought of raw fish...

4. Given a choice of something fried and salty or something baked and sweet, what would you choose? Hands down - baked and sweet. Of course, as a diabetic, I need to stay away from those things. And if it's baked and sweet and chocolate, I'm in heaven.

5. Do you buy whole chickens and boil them and pick the meat off or does that gross you out? Do your children know what a whole chicken looks like or do they think they are made up of four breasts? I buy whole chickens occasionally. I love to do beer can chicken on the grill. I have no problem cutting up a chicken and my son definitely knows what a whole bird looks like since he likes to cook too.

6. How do you feel about butter, sour cream, cream cheese, and half and half? There are some things that I must have butter on - fresh bread and corn. I like sour cream on pierogi and kluski, cream cheese on my plain bagel and half and half is good too, although I must admit that I don't mind using the fat free variety in cooking.

7. (Skip this question if you are a vegetarian) If you are a carnivore, would you be willing to hunt or butcher your meat? Or to watch someone do that for you or would you rather not think of it? Or are you grateful for the animal who gave its life to sustain your life? I could kill it and butcher it if I had no other option, but it is not my first choice. I appreciate the fact that I can go to a store and pick out meat already to cook. And as for the animal, well, I believe that God put them on earth to help us in many ways, including nourishing our bodies.


8. What is the most exotic ingredient or spice in your cupboard? Saffron for sure and sesame oil. I don't really use many unusual ingredients.

Feel free to participate.

What a Croc...

I caved. I finally broke down and bought a pair of Crocs today. I tried hard to not conform to that trend, but a visit to the podiatrist convinced me otherwise.

I made my trip today to deal with one sore foot and the other with a wart. In the course of my visit, I noticed Crocs in the exam room, so I asked the $64,000 question - "are they any good?" And much to my surprise, he gave me a good answer. First, the particular style that was in the office was designed for diabetics - the toe is closed, the back of the clog is a little higher than the ones available in stores and there is some type of silver in the inside that makes them anti-microbial, all important features for diabetics. The closed toe protects them from injury, the higher back from slipping off and more protection, and most importantly, the anti-microbial property to protect from infections.

So on the way out of the office I tried on a pair to check them out and they are extremely comfortable - like walking in bare feet on a clean gym mat. And the air vents kept my feet from sweating.

Don't expect to see me wearing them all the time, but around the house and around the pool, they will certainly be my shoe of choice.

Wedding bells

I recently returned from Texas where I traveled for my nephew's wedding. It was a good week of visiting with my brothers and their families and my parents too. We spent some time traveling around the greater Austin area and visited the following:

The LBJ presidential library at UT Austin.
The LBJ ranch
The grassy knoll and book depository in Dallas where JFK was shot
The Fort Worth Stockyards
The Alamo in San Antonio
St. Joseph's Church in San Antonio

Of course the trip was not with out incident - my hives reared their ugly head with a vengeance and I wound up on mega doses of steroids to get them under control so I felt like a blimp. I can't wait to get off of them so I can start to feel human again, but this last out break left me with 9 days of itching.

10 People, 10 MInutes

Esther tagged me for this meme to list 10 People You'd Like to Spend 10 Minutes With a few weeks ago. But we have been away on vacation and I didn't get to complete it before I headed to the heat of Texas for my nephew's wedding.

Herewith my choices in no particular order:

1- James Patterson - one of my favorite authors
2- Barbara Bush - you've got to love those pearls
3- Dame Judy Dench - what an actress
4- Fr. Daren - what Catholic blog reader wouldn't want to meet him?
5- Martha Stewart (my father-in-law taught her in high school)
6- Pope Benedict XVI
7- Dawn French - one of my favorite British comedienne
8- Jimmy Carter - not my favorite president, but I like the Habitat for Humanity thing
9- Michele that busy mother of 10
10- Esther of course! Next time you head to the mainland Esther, we will ned to have a blogger party!

An eclectic mix of the famous and not so famous, but I would love to meetthem!