Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Scrambled Brains

One of my friends made an interesting comment.

And I've been thinking about it.

We were playing a game...not sure of the name...where we teamed up and tried to think like our partner. We were given a word and we each had 30 something picture cards in our hands. Our goal was to lay down five cards that best fit that word, and our partner was to do the same.

Points are given based on the direct matches...i.e. first placed card is the best card to describe the word down to the final placed card which is the least of the top five pictures/statements that describes the word. Points were given for indirect matches, too. When I placed a picture of clowns at number four and she considered it number one we still got points.

After six or so hands when we saw how little we matched, she made her comment. "Isn't it weird? Every time I lay down my cards I just know this is the best way, the only way to lay them down. And I guess the rest of you must feel exactly the same."

Isn't that true? I tend to think of people falling into five or six major/common categories. You've got your birth order, you've got temperaments, you've got personality types. You've got generation. You've got the five blind men and the elephant.

My mom told me she read a fascinating fact. That neural pathways are different in every person's brain. Like a fingerprint, each of us has a unique processing plant within our head.

Hmmm. Like a child who points at a bird and says "aiipane!" because he knows that the speck in the sky is an airplane because someone told him so. Then the bird that flies must be one, too. But when an adult points out that this flying thing is different, it's a bird, a new neural pathway is created, and the child has more information to work with.

This makes my brain hurt. That means that all of my nature and nurture has merged into one big batch of ingredients that go into making me, me and you, you.

And that explains why human beings have such a difficult time getting along with each other.

I don't know that I can even begin to wrap my gray matter around the people like my brother who thought it hilarious to teach my children incorrect words for things. This would be the nurture that has made them all a little twisted just like me.

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Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Grace Filled Thanksgiving to You

Psalm 7:17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Shout it Out

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Psalm 100:1

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Naan-er - Naan-er Yum-Yum

If you like flat breads or Indian restaurant breads you've got to try this.

We've loved Naan at restaurants and have purchased it at grocery stores to make personal pizzas. Great stuff.

Here is a recipe. It makes about 8 longish flats or 14-16 smaller disks. It is delicious. We've used it as a side for soup, as pizza crust and with grilled meat and veggies.

Naan Bread

4 Cups of flour. ( I used 1 1/2 cups spelt flour and 2 and 1/2 cups of King Arthur unbleached)
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp sea salt (or regular)
2 cups low or non-fat plain yogurt


(I did not sift the flour, and the recipe I used said I might need more but I didn't...other than what I kneaded on and rolled it out on). Dump flour in medium to large bowl, add salt and baking powder mix well. Then add the yogurt. Stir until it gets difficult and you are getting a big blob.

Pour out some extra flour and knead the dough approx 5 minutes. The dough changes and gets smooth and elasticy. Then oil the bowl, drop the blob back in and let rise at least one hour.

Pour more flour out, get a rolling pin, flour it, grab a handful of dough and start rolling into disks.

Once you have it all rolled out. Heat a griddle to medium heat. Lay naan onto griddle. In 4 to 5 minutes you will see air bubbles in the uncooked side. Once it begins to make air bubbles turn on the oven broiler (high) lay on rack or pan, under broiler for approx 1-2 minutes until you see it morph into a big air bubble.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Miscellaneous

I have some pictures from our Iowa adventure I never posted. We visited an organic dairy farm and herb market in September.



These are a few sights we saw.

Now that the landscape is monochrome grays and browns I thought I needed a splash of color and that maybe you'd like some, too.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Fun Contest Especially If You Have a Timeline Closet!

Christmas is a time for traditions, food, merriment, family, and...horrific seasonal sweaters. It's the only time of year where you can sport apparel with a Rudolph nose that blinks red lights without being teased (too much).

Share with us a photo of your sorely Christmas sweater and win!

Email or post on our Facebook page a photo of your tackiest holiday getup.

One winner will receive a Harry & Davids Christmas basket (ARV$50) and a copy of the new book Everything Christmas.

What are you waiting for? Spread some holiday cheer today!

Click here for a complete list of rules.

Contest ends December 10, 2010.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Thanksgiving Blonde Joke

With sincere apologies to and disclaimers that I do NOT believe any of my blond friends would struggle or even be misled by this tomfoolery. (ha. perfect pun moment...did ya think I wouldn't take it?)


One Thanksgiving, a blond invited her family over for dinner with all the trimmings. The (cruel-hearted) matriarch decided to play a trick. She sent the blond to the store for that one thing that was absolutely necessary to finish her contribution to the meal.

As soon as the blond left, the mean matriarch took the turkey out of the oven, removed the stuffing, and inserted a baked and stuffed Cornish hen into the turkey, and re-stuffed the turkey. The bird went back into the oven.

When it was time for dinner, the blond pulled the turkey out of the oven and proceeded to remove the stuffing. When her serving spoon hit something, she reached in and pulled out the little bird.

With a look of total shock on her face, the matriarch exclaimed, "You've cooked a pregnant bird!"

It only took til dessert to convince the blond that turkeys lay eggs!

And the picture? I don't have a turkey. Let's call it a Thanksgiving cornucopia!

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Recipe, Recipe....Please Don't Drink This

This weekend I made a drywall mud 5 gallon bucketful of laundry soap. How you might ask...and what's with the picture you could ponder. Well, the how is below. The picture is a gold spray-painted recycled frame, some new kitchen drywall and the fruit basket to hold up said frame. And the recycled pickle jar home of about 24 oz of said laundry detergent.


1/2 cup borax (Found in a box near the bleach) ($3.99 and this will make at least 9 batches.

1 cup washing soda (Not baking soda. Washing Soda which is made by Arm and Hammer and found near bleach.)($2.99 and it will make at least 7 batches...it was harder to find. Not at Target...hint, hint should any Target buyers read my blog.)

1 bar of soap. (We used an organic lavender/vanilla scented bar. And we grated it with a cheese grater...)

Grate the soap into four cups of water you've already poured into a five gallon bucket. (Took just a few minutes, really easy to grate). Stir soap til melted... Add more warm water til bucket is half full. Add the borax and washing soda and mix. Fill the bucket to the top with more warm water. Stir. Cover and let sit for 24 or so hours. Stir again and then place into smaller containers if you so desire. (Note. it is kind of a funky gelish texture. It's watery and a little gloopy but becomes more consistent as it sits). Use 1/4 Cup per load. There is also the option of adding a few drops of essential oil for scent but if you use an organic scented bar you've covered it.

I had a friend give me some of this a few months ago and I used it. I didn't see any difference cleaning wise. She told me it was easy. And I assumed she wouldn't lie but I didn't know HOW EASY it was. Seriously. And for the cost of about $11.00 I've got 5 gallons of detergent and will only have to buy a $5.00 bar of soap the next several times I make it before having to part with another $6.00. I don't think you could get much cheaper. Plus. It's got no additives.

Serials and Scenarios ~ Do You Know Who I Am? Angela Thomas

Description

Whether you're feeling broken, afraid, or disillusioned, God sees into your heart and knows who you are. But do you know who God is? Through biblical teaching, storytelling, and practical application, Thomas reveals that spiritual fulfillment doesn't depend on getting yourself together but on understanding that God has a purpose for you just as you are.

Product Information

Do You Know Who I Am?
Angela Thomas
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 240
Vendor: Howard Books
Publication Date: 2010
Dimensions: 8.716 X 5.5 (inches)
ISBN-13: 9781439160701



My Review:


With a clever twist on words, Angela Thomas has written about her struggles and trials and shares what she's learned about God through His own words and His action on her behalf. She tackles some of the issues women wrestle with, inadequacy, insecurity, fear, self-loathing and shares how those issues are sometimes based on truth and sometimes on deception and how God's character blasts both our truth and our lies out of the water. Compared to God's goodness, love, character and holiness, our issues can melt away.

Women who struggle, no matter how long they've known Christ, with exhaustion, disappointment, fears, failures or just feeling overwhelmed should be able to soak up Thomas's soothing voice and the scriptural balm she offers.

The information presented could go beyond soul-nourishing into life-changing if you have yet to grasp that God does indeed love you. Or that He has plans for you that are full of life and hope. I am in the middle of Kay Arthur's study "Lord, I Want to Know You" for the second time through. The ultimate information is the same, basically God is so big and we are so small, and He really loves us so much, that we really need to just trust Him. But if it were that simple, there wouldn't be the need for books or mentors, or Bible studies. Thomas does a solid job with scripture and makes the information easy to navigate in her conversational "I've been there or still struggle with that" delivery. This would be a terrific small group study or with a mentoring/discipleship relationship.

Happy Thanksgiving from Man Vs. Tool

Turkey carving contest. Will man or tool win?

Serials and Scenarios ~ Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

I've been going to read this book for months....maybe even a year. Finally, while driving the many miles to and from New Mexico, 24 and I read it out loud.

The thing that amazes me...is how we gum up, gunk up and confuse the clear and repeated teaching of Christ. "Christ in me, the hope of glory." among others. But we do. And since we are sheep we often need sharp whacks upside the head. So. You looking for a smack? You might want to look into this one. And it dovetails beautifully with the Cut the Crapathon.

Description

The Christian faith is supposed to produce deep, positive change. So why doesn't it seem to work in "real life"? That question screamed at Pastor Peter Scazzero when his church and marriage hit bottom and every Christian remedy produced nothing but anger and fatigue. As he began digging under the "good Christian" veneer, he discovered entire emotional layers of his life that God had not yet touched. And that emotional immaturity had fed his spiritual immaturity. In this book, he unveils what's wrong with our conventional means of "spiritual growth" and offers not only a model of spirituality that actually works, but seven steps to transformation that will help readers experience a faith charged with authenticity, contemplation and a hunger for God.

My Review:

Peter Scazzero has hit on the heart of the problem with Christianity...in a nutshell, the heart. The heart of each individual who has claimed the term, Christian.

I think many of "us" have mistakenly accepted the belief that we can just add Jesus to our lives rather than give our lives to Him for Him to do with as He pleases.

The problem with just adding Jesus to our lives is that Christianized religiosity gives us a glaze of sugar substitute with an awful aftertaste, or extreme self-sanitization complete with noxious bleach fumes, and both extremes allow us to "function" as "Christians" without dealing with our junk.

Scazzero tells his own story toward that discovery and what he had unearthed as help along the way. Sometimes the book feels overwhelming. There is SO MUCH to do to get emotionally healthy, but then he boils it down to simplistic additions and subtractions in life. It ends up being simple as in fairly clear, as in cause and effect, but not simple as in easy. Because the bottom line for emotionally healthy spirituality looks a lot like dying to self and letting Christ live His life through us -- giving up our control for His -- and that is not easy at all. Do I recommend this book...yes, if you are really serious about changing, this one can help. But if you don't want to put the work in, you'll be frustrated.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Out of My Comfort Zone Yet Again

A friend and I are writing a mystery together. We've been working on this bugger for about three years and its about halfway done and has been languishing in our computers for at least a year.

We had someone slightly (if you know anything about the publishing business, you know how laughable this statement is) interested until that particular line was shut down, locked up tight and the windows were boarded shut.

The book idea then went to my friend's agent who suggested the addition of a few plot lines. Lines that required knowledge greater than what she and I possessed. So. There it sat. My friend went onto write a historical all by herself and I wrote nada save for blog posts and devotional articles for my church newsletter.

But. The manuscript has to come out and play again. And I'm a little afraid. I've been assigned a new character point of view and I've got to write it so she can move forward. And I committed to exactly that. She writes every week, which means I will have to do the same. I've grown very content reviewing the work of others, knowing full well that I don't have the drive that so many of them do, to have my words read. I did. But I don't. And the more I read and review the more I feel like I have even less to say.

This should be interesting. She's offered to take over what I'm unwilling to do, but it's a commitment I made, and I love the characters and the writing with a buddy has been fun. So. Back in front of the computer I go. Writing the voice of a male detective. Definitely out of the frying pan into the fire. Title of the book. Out of the Frying Pan. Hmmmm.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Scrambling for Something to Say

In our 6 month Cut the Crap fast, we each grabbed two days a week for assigned tasks. One of us sends health tips to the others, one of us sends devotional or scripture passages to the other two and I was assigned words.

I've found some fun words, words that have been meaningful or dovetailed into what is going on in our lives. I've also found words that have convicted me or caused me to pause and wonder if I don't need to stop and rethink the way I'm doing things.

A word I recently found did just that.

VITIATE

PRONUNCIATION:
(VISH-ee-ayt)

MEANING:
verb tr.:
1. To impair or spoil the effectiveness of.
2. To corrupt.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin vitiare (to spoil, injure), from vitium (blemish). Earliest recorded use: 1534.

As I ran across this word, vitiate, meaning to corrupt and spoil, I couldn't help but notice the VITI beginning. I know vita is a Latin root word meaning something to do with life... so are the two connected? I looked up Latin roots and found this page full of fascinating parts and pieces of words. http://www.english-for-students.com/vita.html. This site didn't shed anymore light on Vitiate or even give me a connection, and I didn't dig any deeper.

But the impairing, the spoiling, the corruption and the possible connection to life just kept poking at me. And I wonder if we really aren't sometimes our worst enemies. The choices we make. Do we often chose to vitiate our own lives by choosing things that bring corruption and spoilage and death? Those hundreds of daily choices, what we will say, think, do, eat, drink? Are we making choices toward vitality or choices toward vitiatity?

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Sunsets, Fun, Family..Great Weekend

This weekend was a whirlwind of activity...some for fun...some for necessary. I don't know why I let things pile up and finally wait until the possibility of death via pile collapse looms, but I do. After all day Saturday, not kidding, cleaning, chopping, cooking I was totally able to enjoy a clean, chaos free home and a great time with family. My Dad, yes Pat, has a birthday on Wednesday and I had the fam over to celebrate. Pumpkin cheesecake bars, Grandma's chocolate cake with the frosting that makes your eyes sweat, home-made from actual pumpkins pumpkin pie by 24 and Naan bread prepared and rolled out by Toad-Boy's sweet wife. Grilled meat, veggies, salad...yum.

Great night, and my brother whom I've never bested in any game, stayed for a few "hands" of Bananagrams. I STOLE this win from him. He had a lousy J to place and had been in the lead throughout the entire game. But I swooped in and scored. Yes!!!!!

And though we were so sad that the sun set at 5:30ish, I did get a beautiful shot of it's "goodnight."

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Lies and Fairy Tales

I lack a good pictorial spread, and anything of substance to say but feel compelled to litter the WWW with my thoughts and opinions once again.
So I turned to Plinky.

Out of the five prompts/questions I decided to truthfully : ) answer whether or not I've ever lied about my age.

Here goes. No.

I don't think so. I remember buying Malt Duck (how nasty, nasty, nasty was that ? Yuck!) when I was below drinking age, but we knew of a teeny mom and pop gas station that sold the foul brew to just anyone. So. Not for the purpose of drinking illegally.

And, even though the number makes me cringe sometimes, I don't lie about my age to seem younger than what I am. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty thrilled that though gravity and the gray fairy have caught up with me, that I don't look my age. There is nothing that makes my day (and possibly ruins 24s) as when someone thinks 24 and I are sisters. Yes!!!!! And when I was in my mid-thirties and we frequented amusement parks I'd love the guys who promised a prize if they could not guess your age or weight. (I would have never picked the weight guy...ugh....there was a stupid scale!!!) They always underguessed my age by a mile. Yes!!!!!! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the genes.

Today...I got my eyes checked. And they strongly suggested I go ahead and consider the bifocals since that is inevitable. And at 48....sooner than later. Nope. I will wear the new glasses to see movies and signs better, but I will fight bifocals....until I cannot fight any more (probably because I can't see the weapons/enemies. : )

Oh. It does help to refuse to act my age.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Game-A-Lang-A-Ding-Dong

Fans of this trio of games. Reviews from Good to Best! And no link because you can find them all over the place...get the best dealio.... fun times.

PAIRS IN PEARS (GOOD)

We are Bananagram fans. So the idea of new games - Pairs in Pears and Appleletters built up some serious excitement.

Neither of the new games quite hit the potential of Bananagrams. Without the predecessor, either of these would have been new, fun and creative.

Pairs is a very fast moving game. The goal is to create two or three two word sets. Ideally, you will have matching "suite" letters (there are four different suites) which increases the point value of the win. The more letters you use, the better the score.

We played several "hands" then moved on to Appleletters in the same evening. All of us (five from age 24 to 52) preferred Appleletters to Pairs in Pears but loved Bananagrams the best. One of the fun things that we didn't do but thought of would be to turn all the tiles face down and play a huge memory game or turn it into a rummy type of game where you collect suites of letters. If you have Pairs, be creative and see what you can come up with. If you haven't purchased Pairs in Pears and are wondering which of the three to buy, Bananagrams is the best in our opinion, but Pairs wouldn't be a waste, especially if you can get a good deal.


APPLETTERS (BETTER)


Appleletters is very similar to Scrabble without the point values and without the board. The players take turns and build off each others words but in a snake pattern. Portabilitywise, Appleletters is great. I love the cute little Apple carrying case. But for off the charts fun and games, I still would choose Bananagrams hands down. Appleletters is quicker than Scrabble, and easier because you have more tiles to choose from. Kids would benefit especially if they are needing fun help in the spelling department. But again, if I had to choose I'd pick Bananagrams.

BANANAGRAMS (BEST)


If you are looking for a fun game that is portable and versatile, look into Bananagrams which has become our family’s favorite game. We’ve hauled it to two different states, introduced it to two additional state dwellers who visited and got hooked, and played it internationally with a visiting German student. The game is simple. Think individual Scrabble "boards" (without the board, tile holders or points), for each player, with the added benefit of playing with loads of tiles at a time and the ability to move, remake or change your words at will. You can “dump” and get rid of a difficult letter replacing it with three others that may or may not be better ones at any time throughout the game. When a player uses all the letters he/she originally drew (plus the dumps), she/he calls "Peel" and everyone grabs one more letter, and so on, until there aren't enough letters for every person to "Peel" one. In that case the person who finishes wins "Bananas!". Simple as that.

You can play with multiple people or even as solitaire. The more the merrier, but either way it's fun. You can make easy adaptations and add your own quirks to the rules to make it your own. It moves quicker than Scrabble and is less frustrating than Scrabble, too. You don't keep score via points, nor do you have to deal with someone taking your perfect spot. Bananagrams would be perfect for beginning spellers as well as classroom fun with vocabulary words. We really love this game.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Washington Artistry

No, I'm not in Washington state. But a bit of Washington state is in Iowa. : )

My mom brought back some beautiful souvenirs...one of which is an alleged gift for me. : ).

The artist can only produce ten of these a week because they are start to finish made by her own two hands. And the painting is done on raw clay and then glazed.

There were some weeks of my life that I didn't put half as much effort and love into even my kids!!!! Clearly an artist who loves what she does.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Fall Follies

Yes, Kim, guilty as charged. Scrambled Dregs does say it all. Ha.

And here are bits (above mentioned dregs) from my weekend.

24 made a teeny tiny ice cream cone. And a picture was taken. Why? Because it was so cute!

We were invited to a Halloween party because 24's buddy saw this adorable orange pepper hummus holding jack-o-lantern...a very good reason to have a party I say.

And said friend outdid herself in the costume department....appearing as a bunch of grapes.

: ) Us? We dressed as normals. One should pretend to be normal at least once a year.