January 18–The Confession of St. Peter

Published January 18, 2012 by amandamarkel

From the Treasury of Daily Prayer:

The confession of St. Peter did not arise in the imagination of Peter’s heart but was revealed to him by the Father. The reason this confession is important is seen Jesus’ response: “You are Peter [Greek Petros], and on this rock [Greek petra] I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). As the people of God in the Old Testament began with the person of Abraham, the rock from which God’s people were hewn (Isaiah 51:1-2), so the people of God in the New Testament would begin with the person of Peter, whose confession is the rock on which Christ would build His Church. But Peter was not alone (the “keys” given to him in Matthew 16:19 were given to all the disciples in Matthew 18:18 and John 20:21-23). As St. Paul tells us, Peter and the other apostles take their place with the prophets as the foundation of the Church, with Christ Himself as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). The confession of Peter, therefore, is the witness of the entire apostolic band and is foundational in the building of Christ’s Church. Thus the Church gives thanks to God for St. Peter and the other apostles who have instructed Christ’s Holy Church in His divine and saving truth.

A Funny Conversation

Published January 18, 2012 by amandamarkel

Turkey says the funniest things when he isn’t trying to be funny at all!

A few days ago, while the children were sitting at the kitchen table, I was cleaning out the pantry. I discovered that somebody, (Bunny), had started a new bag of cereal when there was still some of the exact same kind of cereal in an already open bag. There were plenty of excuses as to why this happened, but I wasn’t buying it. So, I explained to the children that stuff like that, (and putting the milk back in the fridge with only a tablespoon left in the carton), makes me feel annoyed inside.

Without even looking up from what he was doing, Turkey said, very matter-of-factly, “It seems like you’re feeling annoyed outside, too.”

I, of course, started laughing, because he was right. It wouldn’t have been nearly so funny if he hadn’t said it in a completely deadpan tone, but his delivery of the line was perfect. He always says that he’s not funny, because he can’t turn a phrase like his sister, but he’s wrong–he definitely has the sarcastic humor thing down!

Tasty Tuesday: Becoming a Food Snob

Published January 17, 2012 by amandamarkel

Taking a break from my usual Tuesday recipe/restaurant sharing to talk about cooking in general.

I realized yesterday while cooking my homemade Bolognese sauce that I’ve become a part-time food snob. I say part-time because I don’t cook everything completely from scratch, and I don’t buy all organic and free range stuff. I even like processed stuff occasionally, (but only for items that I can’t make better myself, like Twinkies!), but my food standards have definitely changed over the years. I’ve discovered that even when there’s a lot of time and work involved, it’s very satisfying to cook and bake completely from scratch, because, well, it tastes better! Homemade cakes, for example, rather than those that come from a mix, rise better, require less leveling before decorating, and taste amazing. Homemade mac ‘n’ cheese is a completely different dish from the stuff in the blue box. And there’s nothing like a soup or sauce that has simmered all day long. Not to mention the obvious benefits, like being able to control, (or even substitute), the seasonings, and the health benefits from making foods that aren’t loaded with preservatives. I don’t cook like this every day…who has the time? And the cost for homemade stuff is, puzzlingly, oftentimes more than just buying the prepackaged variety. But I really love the days I cook from scratch, from the enjoyment of smelling something cook all day long, to the finished product.

But when did this transition occur? When did I become “one of those people?”

At first I didn’t think I’d be able to pinpoint a specific time. And it wasn’t an overnight transition…it’s been a gradual change. But I can identify when the shift started, and key points that encouraged it. I wish I could say that the change started as soon as I got married, and started cooking our meals. But the truth is, I had no idea what I was doing back then! I remember cooking in the little kitchen in our first apartment, and feeling overwhelmed at the idea of trying to time it so that the main dish, vegetable, and starch would all be ready at the same time. Now I can cook a whole Thanksgiving dinner without putting as much thought into the timing as I used to for every night meals! So, while I did cook, and the food actually tasted OK, I wasn’t good at cooking, yet, and I certainly wasn’t adventurous in our menu choices!

Ironically, I think my food snobbery first began thanks to satellite TV. When we moved back to St. Louis, when Bunny was just a baby, we got satellite TV for the first time in our married life. Even when my oldest two were too small to really get what I was watching on TV, I still wanted child-friendly things on if I happened to be watching something when they were up. And so I started watching the Food Network. And anybody who has watched that station long enough knows that a.) you get really hungry really quickly! and 2.) you begin to want to replicate some of the things you see being made. And that’s what I did. Mostly simple stuff, because we were still on a very tight budget, but there was definitely more “from scratch” cooking being done.

Then we moved into our last apartment before buying our house. Again, there was satellite TV, and more cooking shows, but now there were two additional benefits. First of all, our kitchen was much bigger in that apartment than in the previous one. I could get more of my kitchen stuff out of storage, and I had more room to move around, which just made cooking more fun. Second, our budget for groceries started to increase, and I was able to buy more interesting things. I think the first time I really deglazed a pot with wine when I was making soup happened in that apartment, and it really made an impression. I really felt like I was cooking, instead of just assembling ingredients.

The transition was complete when we moved into our house. Now I have a fairly big, open kitchen, complete with an island, (that was always the dream!), and most of the kitchen tools I really need. Ryan helped complete the transition when he bought me a food processor as a house-warming gift. I had wanted one for a long time, but didn’t really have the space for it. I’ve slowly added other kitchen necessities over the last five-plus years: a good set of knives, nice clad cookware, a stand mixer, (that was the other dream!), a good cutting board. And my confidence in my ability to cook complicated meals has grown, while my prep time has actually decreased, (probably due to the aforementioned confidence in the kitchen).

I am still occasionally limited by budget in what I can cook–there are some things that are just too expensive for us. Steaks for six, soon to be seven, are just not an option! And I’m a bit limited by having an electric stove instead of gas, but for the most part, I can work around that. But cooking has become a real joy to me, because of the satisfaction it brings me to create something, and to share something special with my family.

Now, if only I could get all of my children to regularly appreciate the things I make for them, I’d be all set…

Quote of the Day–Martin Luther King, Jr.

Published January 16, 2012 by amandamarkel

Some words from Martin Luther King Jr., on the celebration of his birthday:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” From his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.

In a real sense this afternoon, we can say that our feet are tired, but our souls are rested. I stand before you this afternoon with the conviction that segregation is on its deathbed in Alabama. March 25, 1965, following the march from Selma, Alabama, to the state’s capital in Montgomery, in the aftermath of the “Bloody Sunday” assault.

We’ve got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain, and I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. April 4, 1968, on the eve of his death.

Back to Normal

Published January 15, 2012 by amandamarkel

Normal is good. It’s comfortable and familiar.

Now that I’ve finally put away all of the Christmas decorations, our house is back to normal. Things are where they belong for 10 months of the year. We can now easily look out of our front window, without having to dance around the tree. Light switches operate lamps instead of Christmas lights. Little hands are no longer messing with ornaments. Rooms look bigger, because they are no longer filled with decorations. Things look as they did in the fall, and it’s like welcoming back an old friend. It’s good to get back to normal.

But normal can also be plain and boring.

Our house no longer sparkles. There’s no more soft glow from the Christmas lights. There are no more ornaments to look at, and remember special events and tell stories about their origin. There is less to make our home noticeably different from other houses, because one of the biggest thing that sets apart our home from others, for at least two months of the year, are our unique Christmas decorations. Things feel a little strange, like we don’t quite recognize the rooms anymore, and we’re meeting them for the first time. Getting back to normal can be a little unsettling and confusing.

This is our normal, it’s what we live with for the lion’s share of the year…but for the next few days, it’s a new normal, because it takes some work to get used to the way things are supposed to be, after we’ve lived with the way things sometimes are for a lengthy time!

The Best Ending I Could Never Have Expected

Published January 14, 2012 by amandamarkel

So, the final episode of One Life to Live aired yesterday. I have mentioned before that one of my guilty pleasures for the last almost nine years has been this soap opera. So, I’m unashamed to admit that I watched, and cried, (kind of a lot, but I blame that on the pregnancy).

There were many unexpected elements of the finale, and while I hate that the show had to end, and I especially hate that it couldn’t wrap up as neatly as it should have, (due to the fact that when they filmed the last scenes, they thought the show would be continuing online, which then fell through almost immediately after they yelled “that’s a wrap”), I think that as far as endings go, it was done in the best, and most unexpected, way possible.

Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

You’ve been warned!

The last episode resolved a few things for fans, and enough different things that most of the fan base should have walked away with at least something to be happy about.

Clint discovered that Jessica really was his biological daughter after all. This was a big deal, because many fans were furious that she was ever made Mitch Laurence’s daughter in the first place. And, even though it didn’t matter to their relationship, (Clint will always be Jessica’s daddy, no matter what any piece of paper could say), it made a difference in who Jessica thought she was, and meant that she didn’t have to live with the stigma being the biological daughter of a monster.

Speaking of Clint, he and Vicki got the happy ending that most fans wanted, with him proposing again. Clint and Vicki belong together. End of story. It couldn’t have ended any other way.

There were references to old characters, some of whom had been killed off, (Bo’s son, Drew), and others whose actor had died, (the inimitable Phil Carey, and his character, Asa). And there were surprise appearances by a few characters, including Brody, with his visit to Jessica, and Markko and Langston, welcoming Starr to stay with them in Los Angeles.

There was a birth, there was an arrest, there were goodbyes and hellos. There was laughter and there were tears. There was anger and joy. What more can you ask of a soap opera on any day, much less on its last day? Perfect soap opera writing.

And then there was the surprise ending. For months, Trevor St. John has said that he, (and therefore his character, Victor Lord Jr., who was supposedly dead), wouldn’t appear in the last episode. And, for the most part, I believed him. Toward the end, I thought that there might be a reference to Victor in the finale, something alluding to the fact that he didn’t die after all. I even thought that they might use a body double to show that he was somewhere. But I didn’t really expect that the last scene of the show would be Victor, tied to a bed, being held captive by crazy Allison Perkins. This is a win-win situation for a lot of fans. Fans of Trevor St. John’s Todd, (and Walker, and Victor Lord Jr.), get the satisfaction of knowing that he is, at the least, alive. And fans of Roger Howarth’s Todd also get satisfaction, in knowing that he didn’t actually murder his twin brother, (even if he thinks he did!).

It makes you wonder what could have happened if the show continued online. It also makes you wonder if Trevor St. John is going to be joining the cast of General Hospital, along with Roger Howarth, Kassie DePaiva, Kristen Alderson, and Michael Easton, and if he is, what will that storyline look like?

As much as I loved the surprise ending, however, the best moment, I thought, was a brief scene towards the end of the show. It happened between Bo and Nora, a couple with a lot of history on One Life to Live. Bo told his “Red” that he loved her, and she responded in kind. The scene, although almost certainly scripted, was also completely real. You could tell that the emotion, especially on the part of Robert S. Woods, was completely genuine, and that made it all the more difficult, and yet enjoyable, to watch.

It’s nice to know that in some small way, and maybe even for just a short period of time, part of One Life to Live will continue to live on, with some of its characters traveling to Port Charles. It’s still a loss, however, to know that this iconic show has gone black, and will never be filmed again.

Third Grade: Week Fourteen Wrap-Up

Published January 13, 2012 by amandamarkel

We’re finally back to our full, regular school schedule this week, which includes working through week 14 of Adventures in My Father’s World. We’re actually on week 18 of school, because of our special Thanksgiving and Christmas units, but it’s easier to keep track with the My Father’s World numbering, so I’ll keep using that. We will be celebrating our 100th day of school next week, though, (when you include Christmas School and field trip days)!

I was really excited to get back to all of our regular curricula, especially Adventures in My Father’s World. I can’t say I’ve ever felt that way before. I like the special units we do so much, especially the holiday ones, that it can be kind of a drag to get back to the same old, same old. But with the fun worksheets, (we still haven’t run into the state sheet burnout that I’ve heard has plagued so many other families), and the hands-on activities My Father’s World offers us, (we did a fun experiment with popcorn and milk this week that was a huge hit), we’re still having fun learning like we do with our specialized units, but it’s less work for me than putting together Christmas School was. Talk about the best of both worlds!

I’m guessing that this is a sign that My Father’s World is a good fit for our family, because we’re all enjoying it so much. Ladybug is even interested, begging for her own set of state sheets…but she’ll just have to wait a few years for those, (and then I can have the same conversation with Chickadee!). I’m a little sad that we won’t be using My Father’s World next year, (personal reasons), but I know we’ll all be excited about returning to it for our fifth grade studies, when we begin the four-year history cycle again!

Hymn of the Day–”The Only Son from Heaven”

Published January 12, 2012 by amandamarkel

The only Son from heaven,
Foretold by ancient seers,
By God the Father given,
In human form appears.
No sphere His light confining,
No star so brightly shining
As He, our Morning Star.

O time of God appointed,
O bright and holy morn!
He comes, the king anointed,
The Christ, the virgin-born,
Grim death to vanquish for us,
To open heav’n before us
And bring us life again.

O Lord, our hearts awaken
To know and love You more,
In faith to stand unshaken,
In spirit to adore,
That we, through this world moving,
Each glimpse of heaven proving,
May reap its fullness there.

O Father, here before You
With God the Holy Ghost
And Jesus, we adore You,
O pride of angel host:
Before You mortals lowly
Cry, “Holy, holy, holy,
O blessed Trinity!” Lutheran Service Book #402

Wordless Wednesday

Published January 11, 2012 by amandamarkel

Hymn of the Day–”Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”

Published January 10, 2012 by amandamarkel

Hail to the Lord’s anointed,
Great David’s greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free,
To take away transgression
And rule in equity.

He comes with rescue speedy
To those who suffer wrong,
To help the poor and needy
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing,
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying,
Were precious in His sight.

He shall come down like showers
Upon the fruitful earth;
Love, joy, and hope, like flowers,
Spring in His path to birth.
Before Him on the mountains
Shall peace, the herald, go;
And righteousness in fountains
From hill to valley flow.

Kings shall fall down before Him
And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing.
To Him shall prayer unceasing
And daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing,
A kingdom without end.

O’er ev’ry foe victorious,
He on His throne shall rest,
From age to age more glorious,
All blessing and all-blest.
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove;
His name shall stand forever–
That name to us is Love. Lutheran Service Book # 398

Amanda