Strawberries

Symbol of purity and sensuality, fertility and abundance, humility and modesty. The strawberry's fruit is made the symbol of perfect goodness because of its delicious flavor and fragrance. Strawberries have been associated with goodness and purity in Christian history. The strawberry was once believed to be a holy symbol of the Virgin Mary. In paintings of Mary, many artists used strawberries in the detail of the picture or as border.

Strawberries also symbolize love, happiness, and success. The shape of a strawberry is usually in the shape of a heart, giving it it's love symbol. Also, green means eternal, or eternity, so sometimes a strawberry can mean eternal love, happiness, or success.

http://symbolism.wikia.com/wiki/Strawberry

I like it.

I had a dream the other night that I was wearing a dress and I checked my legs to see how long my leg hair was (this is a typical anxiety dream for me) and when I looked at the back of my leg there was a really-really-really long one, which I pulled out.  When I looked at it though, it was actually an oak leaf.

Of course I thought, 'What the Heck!  Why was there an oak leaf growing out of my leg?' and 'This thing is huge! (I measured in my dream and it was about 8 inches long) How could I not notice this growing on my leg?'  Also, it was dead and dried and crunchy, so I knew it had been there a long time.

Is this just some commentary on how little I shave my legs?

I didn't think so, so I looked a few things up in the dream dictionary.

I admit that most of the time when I look things up in the dream dictionary I wonder where these symbol interpretations come from- some of them are so random and contradictory.

When I looked up the elements of this dream- I felt exactly the same thing, but maybe there's something to it . . .

I went to dreammoods.com.  Actually I went to Google and put in "dream tree parts on body" and I  got to dreammoods.com which informed me about trees in dreams, and parts of body in dreams, but nothing about when your body parts grow tree parts.

Here's what it said:

Oak Tree 
To see an oak tree in your dream symbolizes longevity, stability, strength, tolerance, wisdom, and prosperity. You have built a solid foundation for success in some endeavor.

Okay, so that's good.

To see a withered or dead tree in your dream indicates that your hopes and desires have been dashed. You are experiencing some instability and setback in your life. 

Not so good ehh?

To see your legs in your dream indicate that you have regained confidence to stand up and take control again. It also implies progress and your ability to navigate through life.

Good

If you are a woman and dream that your legs are hairy, then it suggests that you are too domineering. You may be overly controlling in a relationship.

Geeze

There were a bunch of baby dedications on mother's day at church.  For each baby they would say his/her name and the meaning of the name:
 Daniel means "God is my judge"

and less inspiring:

Shannon means "Little old wise one"

and then:

Eowyn means "Delightful war horse"

"She was also known as the Lady of the Shield-arm in recognition of her triumph over the Witch-king."

Just saying.

Happy weekend underdogs

DSM

Last week a friend asked if I wanted to go see "a musical" she had free tickets and was proposing a girls night out.    I said, "sure."

Yes, typical of me not asking, "what is the name?" or "where is it?" or "what's it about?" No, none of that,  I just heard "free" and said "okay."

We drove to Dallas, we went to Fair Park, she handed me a ticket for a Dallas Summer Musical Performance.  At that point I asked, "What are we seeing?"  Dallas Summer Musicals are, as far as I know, the "premier" shows in the DFW area.  I've never been to a DSM show because they are kind of pricey  and fancy- they are usually Broadway or Off Broadway shows.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is showing this week.  I've heard of it, but I had no clue what it was about.  I vaguely thought of it as a comedy- that was all I knew.

I can describe that show as beyond outrageous.  I actually really liked the message.  The costumes . . . WOW.  The divas floating down from the ceiling . . . the giant glittery stiletto on the LED covered bus . . .  MacArthur's Park  and the cupcakes. . . I don't have the time or the words to discuss it all.

I recommend it to a crazy tall blonde with a microphone and a camera.  I don't know where that footage will end up, on the cutting floor I hope.

Awesome teacher

I just sent all my students to the library to "research" WWII.

Welcome end of term. The new session (part time for one month) starts Monday.

In other news, forget what I said about the dishes yesterday. They are All dirty now.

Dish problem

I have a problem with the dishes. The problem is they are dirty, and I have no inclination to wash them. It's not as bad as a few weeks ago when literally every spoon, fool, plate and bowl in the house was dirty, but its close. Ugh.

ESL

"For example, some sports are an expression for certain communities to show their ability for doing some thing. For example, Sumo in Japan are a good movement for fat people to earn money."

That is not where I was expecting that sentence to go.

back yard bliss

The majority of my blog views are from a country I don't recognize.  My excuse it that it is a tiny map, and I'm not particularly good with former soviet states.

Today I spent an hour plus sitting in the sun in the back yard.  After I threatened my small dog with death and he shut his barky trap- I could hear the leaves in the breeze and the birds rustling their feathers.  I could hear a woodpecker high up in the trees and I enjoyed the sounds of silence and two fuzzy little creatures sniffing around the yard.

I look forward to having a yard to dream about.  This is really the first yard I've rented.  I don't see much hope for a rented yard.  I can't dream of fairy gardens and vegetable gardens when I know they will only be short term.

My baby girl's first birthday was so sweet, and editing and printing and posting the pictures in on my list of things to do today while she spends the day with her grandmother.

Time to get started.

Fat Tuesday

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday- truthfully, all Tuesdays are Fat for me.  Today is the first day of Lent, but I'm postponing until Friday because the "fast" is sugar.  The goal is to avoid the most sugar I can.  When I tracked my calories I realized how much sugar I have each day- ALOT and that's without deserts and candy.  There's just sugar or high fructose corn syrup in almost everything!  So avoid as much as possible . . . after Valentine's Day. :)

Pinterest groupies

I'm not really sure why, but suddenly I get about 12 hits a day on my Pinterest food board.  I don't know how it got into a mainstream, but it looks like lots of peeps love it.  Maybe it's the vegetarians.

Most of my boards have 41 followers.  I suppose those are the people who just followed because Facebook asked them too.  (Some people are such followers, like me!)  Yesterday I had 51 food board followers.  Today I have 71 food board followers . . .  weird.

The good part is that when someone pins a recipe I am reminded that I did want to cook that . . . so I printed out a few of my recipes to cook tonight.

Like this one: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2006/10/egg-muffins-revisited-again.html

Egg Muffins Revisited 
(Makes 12 muffins, recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from The South Beach Diet book.

Ingredients:
15 eggs (for silicone muffin pans, use 12 eggs for metal muffin tins or individual silicone cups. You can use less egg yolks and more egg white if you prefer.)
1-2 tsp. Spike Seasoning (optional, if you have food allergies or don't have Spike, use any type of seasoning blend that's good with eggs.)
1-2 cups grated low fat cheese (I like sharp cheddar or a blend of cheddar/Jack cheese, use less cheese if using meat)
Optional, but highly recommended, 3 green onions diced small.
Optional: chopped veggies such as blanched broccoli, red pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, etc. (Using veggies will reduce the fat content)
Optional: diced Canadian bacon, lean ham, or crumbled cooked turkey sausage

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Use regular or silicone muffin pan, 12 muffin size. If using silicone pan, spray with nonstick spray. If using regular muffin pan, put two paper liners into each slot, then spray liner with nonstick spray.

In the bottom of the muffin cups layer diced meat, if using, vegetables, if using, cheese and green onions. You want the muffin cups to be about 2/3 full, with just enough room to pour a little egg around the other ingredients. Break eggs into large measuring bowl with pour spout, add Spike, and beat well. (I used to add a bit of half and half or milk, but lately I like the way they turn out without it.) Pour egg into each muffin cup until it is 3/4 full. I like to stir slightly with a fork. Bake 25-35 minutes until muffins have risen and are slightly browned and set.

Muffins will keep more than a week in the refrigerator. Egg muffins can be frozen and reheated, but I like them best when they are just refrigerated. For best results, thaw in refrigerator before reheating. Microwave on high about 1-2 minutes to reheat.

skater girl wannabe

I try not to regret things.  If it has already past, let it go.  One thing I do regret though is not learning how to skateboard when I was a kid. Every time I see a skateboarder I think, that looks like fun, easy transportation.  Not that I would have wanted to be a skater chick- just utilitarian.  You don't have to strap on anything, you can carry it with you and it looks fun.  Now when I look at young people skateboarding  it looks hard to balance and turn and not fall off and faceplant. 

I admit I wouldn't be overly sad if it were 70 degrees  and sunny outside tomorrow.

Adventures in housewifery- that's a real word.  I looked it up.  The baby has precariously placed a mug on a stepping stool near the dog bowl so that she can push it over onto an unsuspecting, eating dog.  I see she just missed her chance.

The kitchen smells like vinegar  sheep, and cherry Kool-Aid.  This will teach me to buy superwash wool in the future. Ugh.

I'm dying yarn.  I do it every once in a while just to see what will happen.  This is my 7th attempt.   Some turn out better than others.  I'm making a baby sweater out of one of my creations.  I gave one ball away on a yarn swap.  I redyed one today because it didn't please me the first time.  The new one today . . . well I'm just not sure how that's going to turn out.

I read that white wool makes bright colors and grey/light brown wool will make deeper jewel tones.  I bought this wool yarn the other day in light brown imagining a deep/rich wine color with shades of ruby and deep pink intermixed.  What I think I'll end up with is a molten mess of mauve.  Not to worry I can always redye.

I washed the dishes today, which was about as far as my housewifery went.

I should have folded and put the laundry away, put in another load, vacuumed and organized one of the many projects I have to organize.  Pooh.

I didn't even get up til noon.  I blame the cold and flu meds.

A whole lotta WHAT!!!!?

I just found this in my comments:

Anonymous said...

Story about global warming again on the news.
The gods have the freedom to rapidly accelerate global warming because of unregulated Chinese industrialization. And they are using it.
Whereas US industrial regulation combined with automotive smog devices had contained emmissions, the shameful emmissions at the hand of the Italians which allocated the financing of chinese growth will ultimately kill our planet
The gods must abjectly hate the Italians:::They ruined our cultures, eliminating Old Worlds around the globe, they destroyed our societies and now they will be used to ruin the planet.
Intelligent design:::Everything the gods do has purpose. There was purpose in the Italian boot, the Scandanavian penis, the sheep of Europe and the SFBA Beast. Chinese/Asian slanted eyes is yet another. Designed to make them/some look evil, they are a warning to other races. What is occurring with enviornmental degredation is living proof and may be the reason why they have this appearance.
Never forget the shameful experience we each had in 2008 when the Chinese desperately tried to clean up the envionment in Beijing.

Recall the $5 trillion Republican scam where W set up the evil Democrats to sign the credit card receipt.
Expect some portion of the $5 trillion stolen from the United States creatively went to the Catholic Church, positioned to bitterly complain they lost their affluent white parishoners for poor Latinos and the US is all their doing anyways.
I always suspected there has been a skim on the US General Fund (1/3) all along. And the gods are using these clone host fakes to kill Planet Earth::::The puppeteer pulling the strings, ironically.

Jesus is a false god.
There is no Satan. The world around us is all the god's doing:::You have to be tested with temptation.
Christianity is a test.
Muslim misery? The gods claim they are trying to "help you". The gods control everything, choreograph all that we see, including Isreal's relationship with Palestine, an "obligation" for their money-grubbing acceptance of the Evil Empire's billions. They also control the Italians, victims of the Moorish invasion/rape of their women, positioned in charge of this false reality through Christianity.
The gods created all this to position this reality you experience today.
"Earning" is temptation. It is a lie leading people into Damnation. Any hope of the Muslim world regaining the power they once had is long since over and it will never, ever return. Their acts 0f terrorism are only hurting them in the eyes of the gods.
The gods claim they are trying to "help you", but they also stoked your pride with your regional superpower status of centuries ago, rendering their efforts today merely destructive, a very bad sign. This means the gods have major problems with your people.
Never forget:::The gods work in mysterious ways. A mortal trying to understand may envoke their wrath. You shouldn't need to.

I believe the gods relocated the Jews to another planet before the Holocaust began to give them additional time before Earth fell into the social decay Christianity and the United States is responsible for. I suspect this favor included some/many of the Native America peoples as well.
Unfortunately for Muslims you didn't have the favor necessary to be allowed such generosity. I believe it is due to your mysogyny, your belief women are inferior to the men. This does not include veiling, which is a positive for the people and helps maintain decency within your society.
Orthodoxy is always the best course of action because, as I have repeated, old is mostly good and a little evil, while new is mostly evil and a little good. This applies to Islam as well.

ART

I would like to have time to learn how to draw and paint.

A few years ago an friend and I decided we wanted to paint.  So we bought our (water color) paints, brushes and paper and set off on an adventure.  We went to Austin to paint the capital.  We went to San Antonio to paint the Alamo.  We were terrible.  Really- really terrible.

We decided maybe we should learn how to draw, then we'd paint what we could draw.

I know some people think that activities like drawing and painting are  talents, either you have them or you don't.  However, I think they can be learned.  Some people are obviously more adept at learning these skills than others, just like some people are better at learning languages, or math, or music.

We went shopping again.  We happily bought pencils, erasers, paper, more pencils, those little smudgy things, how to books etc.

I think we may have been more enamored with shopping for supplies than we were with the actual activity.

We went to parks and coffee shops and restaurants.  We drew trees and fruit and fence posts.  We were getting better.  We signed up for drawing class.  We were the only ones in there with no art back ground or ambition.

Our "not so bad" in the park was again terrible in the class.

We got busy and fell out of our drawing/painting habits. One day I asked her if she wanted to get together for drawing and she said "No. I'm not good at that.  I don't do it any more."

Oh.

What I think it really meant was, "I don't want to be your friend because I've decided other things and people are more important to me now."

It could have meant,"I have found other things I'm good and and would rather do, without you."

I wanted to say, "Can I have your art supplies?"  But I thought that might be rude.

I have often wondered what combination of events caused her to decide she didn't want to be my friend.  I know some of the elements.  I did some things wrong, but there must have been more.  Some poor council from people in bad situations, bad advice from people who didn't have the whole story.  Pride.

I tried a few times to get together.  Each time she politely excused herself.

I read an article a long time ago.  The idea of the article was that you should go ahead and do things that you know you aren't good at.  Keep doing them.  When you continue to practice doing things you aren't good at you will either eventually get good at it, or build humility and/or character as you come to understand how other people feel when they have to do things they aren't good at (maybe for their work or family obligations.)  If we always only do things we are good at we can get a sense of false pride, as though we were good at everything.  But we don't do everything, only the things we're good at.

I'm good at knitting, crocheting, sewing, embroidery, needle point.
I'm good at reading and writing.
I'm good at teaching and creating materials for the classroom.

I'm not good at drawing, painting, photography, design, or color work.
I'm not good at math or science.
I'm not good at sales, fund raising or pressuring people to change.

I'm good at some things.  Excellence . . . well excellence is something to keep working on.

My brother was an artist.  He was Excellent. He had a natural talent to look at a thing and recreate it.  When he got older he could look at a style and make his own creations in that style.  Later he learned many styles.  But he died young and I wonder where all that potential would have taken him.

Google

I think Google just read my mind.  It's creepy, how can a question about a banana lead to the condemnation of Google?

Like this:

Me: (to myself) Ummm . . .  banana for breakfast.  I wonder how man calories are in a banana.  I'll Google it.  (typing) C a l
Google: (predictive search) calories in a banana
Me: What!  How could Google know that was my question!? Do that many people want to know about calories in bananas?  Is Google Big Brother?  Is Google the Anti-Christ?  Oh NO!  Google I love you!  Please don't be evil!
Google: showing websites
Me: clicking first link
Site: "If you would like to find out how many calories are in a banana, then bingo, you have come to the best page online to get the answer to your question."
Me: Wow Google, you're awesome.

FYI small banana (6-7") = 90 calories
banana site

in the garden

EJ and I are out in the garden.  By "garden" I mean one dandylion, a pepper plant long considering making a pepper, a tomato plant trying it's hardest to produce two tiny tomatoes after a decidedly unfruitful summer, and my houseplants.  We like it anyway.  The weather if perfect for our fuzzy socks and hoodies.  She's already kicked one of her fuzzy socks off.


Monday I decided to go for a walk.  I put on my neglected Sketchers and set out.  I wasn't being too ambitious.  The plan was to walk for 15 minutes out
and turn around.  A 30 minute walk in the sunshine with my headphones, all alone (which doesn't happen often.)  First thing was no signal on my phone.  I was trying to listen to internet radio, but alas it was not to be.  I kept going. My shoes were rubbing a little, but no biggie.  13 minutes in the bubble burst. Sketchers put the B in blister.  A raw one.  I hobbled home.

That's one way to start an exercise program.  I pulled the bandage off last night.  It looked raw, but I figured some air would help.  This morning it was tight and quite painful.  So I'm back to my Birks and fuzzy socks, and I don't even care.  I know how tacky it is, but don't knock it until you try it.  It is, as a matter of fact, awesome.  Awesome like sitting in the "garden" with my baby girl.

Traffic posting

Of course there's traffic on the day I leave late.  I have so many ideas i can't wait till i get to a computer.

The other day I was driving through town when I saw two shiney black Crown Vics- blacked out police cars.  I knew they were police cars because of the grill guard, the robust antena and the black on black paint that said "POLICE"  down the length of the cars. It was like saying, "We are police, and we are letting you know, but we don't want you to know."

It reminded me of a time I saw a similar thing, except the cars weren't completely blacked out, the windows weren't tinted, so when we looked inside we saw five large men wearing ski masks.  It was disconcerning, but then one of them leaned forward so that we could see the POLICE badge across his back;I felt we might not die that day.

It also reminded me of the "G-car" conversations I used to have with T many years ago. The conversations generally went something like this:

T: (Pointing out a car) G-car.
Me: It's just a Buick.
T: G-car.
Me: How do you know it's not just some granny who drives a Buick?
T: G-car.
Me: How do you know?!
T: Look at it!  It's a G-car, driven by a G-man.
Me: I don't believe you.
T: I know a G-car when I see one.
Me: Whatever.

Two hours later-
T: (Pointing out a car) G-car.
Me: It is not!
T: That's a G-car if I ever saw one.
Me: Stop it!
T: G-car.
Me: (glaring)
T: G-car.

Is that really a conversation? 

That reminded me of other declarations he would make which were ahead of thier time.

We are sitting in a movie theater waiting for the show to start:

"Do you see those Exits?"
"Yes"
"If someone comes in to kill us they will come from the left."
"What, Why?!"
"So you will need to try to get to the right."
"What are you talking about?!"
"There's no light behind that door.  Don't try to go through the lobby, they might try to block it, but that door on the right exits to the parking lot. It's lit."
"Why would someone come in to kill us?"
"I'm not saying they will."
"You just said if they come in I should go to the right exit."
"You should, if they do."
"WHY would anybody DO that?"
"I don't know!  Maybe they are crazy! I'm not crazy, I don't know why crazy people do crazy things!"

Yeah, that sounded absured until  the Aurora, CO situation. Sadly, context has been given.

Planning a flight:

"Oh- I don't like those planes."
"Why not?"
"Look where the exits are.  Do you know how easy it would be to highjack that flight, and hold this whole section hostage?  They would only need a few highjackers, and just one gun really."
"So, I shouldn't take this plane?"
"No, you can take this plane, it's fine- you should sit here because you can see everything clearly, and you can respond."
"Respond to what?"
"The threat."
"What threat? You think there's going to be a threat on this plane?"
"No."
"What's wrong with you?!"
"You should wear shoes with good soles."
"What are you talking about?"
"In case you crash, and need to hike out."
"Stop talking."

Thinking about those conversations made me wonder what kind of stuff he came up with post 9/11/01.

9/11 made me think about Crazy Betty, but there's not time for that now.