Dinner at the Buffet City

Our favorite Chinese buffet changed hands and names. It used to be called China Sun. It used to have huge fish tanks with all kinds of fresh water fish. It still has a little goldfish pond, but the huge fish tank turned into a glass mural. Pretty....but not as exciting for Desirae.

I was a bit disappointed and didn't take pictures. I should have, we all looked great. Desi in her new sweater outfit from Nancy, I sported makeup AND jewlery, and Dave looked nice in a new (from GoodWill) button down sport shirt.

With each of my kids, I stopped wearing jewelery, cause they would grab it. Nick broke a beautiful necklace I had made in the Hayward (CA) DMV. Atleast there were plenty of people in line to help me retrieve all those beads! And I learned a lesson. So, finding just the right jewelery was tricky because it all felt like "too much". I've learned to use a very light hand with the makeup. If I used as much as when I was a teen, I'd look like Tammy Faye! Plus it makes me look old, I think. I rarely wear it any more.

An interesting thing about the buffet is the way we viewed the food. Food is fuel for our bodies, and dinner hour is social hour. I make healthy meals. Last night we heard Desirae utter the words "Uh-oh, I'm full", and then she ate more! We finally took her bowl of ice cream away because she was taking such tiny bites....for taste, because her tummy was full. No one worried about calories or if it was healthy (except Dave who has to mind his gluten and dairy). It was foodaholism on the loose! And from looking at our neighboring diners, we were not the only ones.

I'm sure Desi is looking forward to next year....or the year she can say "let's go to the place where I get to feed pennies to the fish". She really got into the spirit of eating....but then, she is her parents child! Today, it's back to the same old routine of fruits and veggies. And that's a very good thing.

God is Bigger than our Problems

I was remembering yesterday about working my 2nd step for the second time. Step 2 is "Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity". In this step we look at the insanity and develop an image of our Higher Power.

I worked with a man who wore the little Jewish cap to work every day. Occasionally we took breaks together, and would get a bit philosophical in conversation. His grandfather is a Rabbi, a Jewish priest. So this is a story from the old Rabbi.

Grandfather and grandson were looking at the stars. Grandfather asked the grandson to look towards the brightest star. That star is called Truth, and Truth is God. Then he asked the boy to point to the star, and Grandfather explained how the hand pointing to the star represents Religion. Imagine all the different arms pointing to the one same star.

I just loved this story, because it gave me so much perspective on Religion. Growing up, I was taught that only a select few were going to heaven. The Catholics weren't. Neither were unbaptized babies. So, in not being able to look outside the box for myself, I somewhat rejected religion and a belief in God. Not totally, but I couldn't come to terms with believing in a Hellish and Fearsome God.

My step 2 gave me permission to create God in an image that works well for me. And I went back to the the Lutheran Church (ELCA this time instead of Missouri Synod) and it worked.

Then came the time of Lynn and Elvin's passings....and once again I was questioning....Lynn was Pagan, and Elvin really wanted to go be with his wife. A lot of soul searching.....a lot step 2 stuff came up again. Well, God is just bigger than our problems. That's my final conclusion. Paganism is another hand pointing at the same God Star of Truth.

It's a lesson in limits and containment. God is not limited to my thinking or teachings. (S)he is not limited to the bible. The bible says that God is Omnipotent, and Omniscient and Omnipresent. The bible taught me that God is bigger than the bible, I just didn't get it way back then.

Every day I thank God for leading me to my wonderful program of Faith through the 12 Steps. A life without Faith only looks like a life on the outside. It's a sad life to live.

Home made chicken soup

I make this quite often. It's quite a process, so I make a huge pot of it. We live on it for a few days and I freeze it.

First I boil 5 lbs of chicken in my biggest pot. When it's done, I cool it for a bit, and then strip the meat off the bones. The bones go back into the pot and stew for a few hours. I then strain out the bones for a clear broth. At this point I would add chicken base to the stock to taste. However, chicken base has wheat starch in it, so I have to use beef base. I chop onions(about 3 large) and carrots(2 lbs?) and celery( 4-5 stocks) very fine, throw it into the pot and bring to a boil, add the meat, and then I add a package of rice noodles, bring to a good rolling boil, cover soup and turn off the heat. Let it sit for 20 minutes, and enjoy. I also use brown or white rice from time to time, but allow for more cooking time at the end.

For me this is an all day affair. It's very healthy, boiling the bones adds calcium to our diets, and that's good because we don't use very much milk anymore.

After doing all the reading recently about how chickens are factory farmed, we have decided to purchase locally grown meat. This was the last of the grocery store chicken in my freezer. I'm thinking in the future, the soup may have more soup base in it and less real meat, cause I know we are going to be paying way more for chicken. We tried going vegetarian for awhile, but all that soy and beans is very gas producing, and it was a relief to eat meat for protein and have our bodies get back to normal. So, we just eat a lot less meat than we used to. I do think of our animal friends, and while I know growing them for food is not ideal, it can be done humanly.

PS, I forgot to add the PARSLEY! And a bit of garlic. But lots of parsley, preferable fresh.

I didn't have to cook tonight

Dave, after thoroughly making me angry earlier, was a knight and chose Costco Sushi for dinner. I still heated up a can of soup for Desi, and made a quick salad...and in my book it was a night free of slaving over a stove.

And the best part, as my now forgiven husband was enjoying his sushi, he commented that we have to get to the China Sun Buffet again. The China Sun Buffet is a fun place in Eugene, complete with Fish pond and Aquariums. They feature a full Chinese buffet, grill (like the Mongolian grill), Sushi and Salad Bar, and a Dessert Bar. It's a bit spendy, and you know, you can never eat enough at these places to make you feel like it's worth it. However, it doesn't hurt to try one night a year (we rarely go out to eat).

I jumped on this hot topic like a starving person. We will be going for my birthday near the end of the month. Lucky ME!!!

Desi enjoyed a day of looking for Groovy girls (belated Birthday gift), and we found them at Frogs and Polliwogs in Albany. She gets a bit over stimulated in toy stores. Just a bit.

Dave and Roy enjoyed a morning hike, Dave change d the oil in his car, and that was good because it rained hard and much for the rest of the day.