I close out February with love. Love growing. Love living. Love enduring. This month I learned of a new birthday to start off my future Februaries and I gained a birthday buddy. How can all this love be contained in one heart! It cannot. And that is why I share it with you. Thank you February for love and life, even in the midst of sleet and snow. I bid you adieu. We welcome March and its greenness and growth with open arms.
Loved and loving,
MessyKaraoke
I will be totally honest. My coffee tastes crappy this morning. I think forgetting the filter and seeing it spill all over the counter was the first wrong step. I tried sifting out the grounds, but no avail. After cleaning up the mess (I don’t call myself MessyKaraoke for nothin’) I tried to brew again. Nope. I got distracted by all my beautiful kids and added way too much water. So now I have weak coffee and cute kids. Sigh, my life is such a saga.
Messy Karaoke
A picture is worth a thousand words, but I didn’t take a picture, so that means I get to ramble on for one thousand extra words while I tell you what I made for dinner last night.
Think chipotle meets saag meets wonton. Then think dumpling or dimpling…dimples.
Where was I? Right. Dinner. Sorry I left that topic. Not really.
Here’s how you make it:
· pour some oil in a pyrex – sesame is nice (sigh, I love sesame street)
· grab the uncooked flower tortillas from the fridge and pray they didn’t penicillin ’cause they been in there so long
· place one tortilla in the palm of your hand
· spoon on saag (or leftover chicken veggie crock pot surprise that had all the chicken eaten out. I had to add more spinach, lots of spinach, to the crock pot and some canned black beans and some half and half and lots of garlic and secret spices – shh…lots of coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and a little bit of chili pepper, along with other secret blends – then I had to use the immersion blender so the spinach wouldn’t be like dead slimy leaves – then I had to explain the mechanics of the blender to my boys – oh never mind) spoon on saag
· Plop on a spoonful of leftover taco meat that almost got wolfed down by the dog and may or may not be contaminated by her cute little dog nose.
· Add a scoop of basmati rice (cooked)
· sriracha the heat right into it if you have any left
· gather the edges of the tortilla around the lump of loveliness (actually by now it all looks gross, but it is a ton of fun) and twist and pinch the edges together in any kind of pocket kinda thingy you like. (the uncooked tortilla is doughy so it’s like playdoh, only you gotta be gentle or all the green stuff will ooze out and it will taste fine, but a kid might come over and be like, “ewww. I am so not eating that.”
· oh yeah, at some point it would be a good idea to turn on the oven. make the temperature hot enough to yell at dog and kids for getting too close to oven door when you open it.
· drop your tortilla lump in the pyrex and make sure you put way too much oil in the dish – that way oil will splash on your shirt and leave spots forever. (The goal is to coat each pocket thingy with oil so it gets crispy while it bakes.)
· put pyrex in oven and forget about it for about half an hour but remember to set a timer or something.
· Take pyrex out of oven with two potholder-protected hands while using one leg to keep the dog from licking the dinner.
· Serve…after it cools down. (note: a two year old might not eat this because she has figured out that she is so cute everyone will feed her yummy stuff all day and missing dinner is no big deal because Daddy will probably make her pancakes in the morning.)
About five hundred words later and I think that about does it.
livin’ the dream!
MessyKaraoke
My friends Mary and Bonnie helped me with this great coffee combo. Brewed coffee with two spoonfuls of black raspberry chip ice cream! Mother-Daughter teams are awesome. Thanks to my mom, Betsy, for showing me the way to write! I love you! Always, Kara
I am in a mood this morning. It’s the coffee. Here’s the thing. Does fancy coffee that you grind just a few seconds before you brew really taste better than coffee that has sat all day?
I offer up a challenge. The coffee challenge. Answer these questions if you can. Share your thoughts if you can. This is for posterity, so please be specific.
1. Does it matter to you who grows the coffee?
2. Does it matter to you what the coffee is packaged in?
3. Does it matter to you when the coffee is brewed?
4. Does it matter to you where you drink your coffee?
5. Does it matter to you why you drink coffee?
6. Does it matter to you how the coffee tastes?
This stuff is so interesting to me. If it doesn’t interest you, stop reading my blog!
Much love to all my family and friends.
Kara
From the Land of the Pawpaw
To the Sea of the Maumee
If you Live you are Native
When you die you are Free
So hold on livin’
and keep on givin’
cause at the end of the road is a Tree that is driven
To bear fruit in its season and shade in its arms
and leaves for the risen free from from all scars
‘cept the ones that you love and are proud to show
Baby got your number its your time to glow
Chai Latte. I am sitting here drinking a chai latte waiting for my kiddos to wake up listening to my husband get ready for work.
I am a bit bothered by this chai latte. I can’t tell if I don’t like it because I have funky morning breath, the milk is bad or I just don’t like chai latte. Here’s the thing. When I sampled it at Costco it was awesome. Now it’s just eh. Was it awesome at Costco because they put some kinda marketing magic in the latte to make me buy the bulk pack? And now I am mad. Cause, I was trying to save money, but I spent money.
Back to the latte. Hmm…maybe it isn’t warm enough. I did add a lot of cold milk. Wait. I added cold milk. The lady at Costco…I think her milk was hot. Be right back….
It’s better now, but I just nuked it.
And there is a glimpse into the morning of a stay-at-home mom with five kids who is pretty excited that it is President’s Day because all five of her kids will be home today.
Camping. We were camping. The playground was a a bonus. As Mom and Dad, we could hike all day, but sometimes the kiddos need a monkey bar fix. I get that. They are, after all, suburban kids.
She was five, almost six. It was spring. She loved the handle bar with the track. She could hold on and Daddy would push her as she flew down the track legs dangling and smile soaring.
I was tangled in a knot of toddler and diaper bag when I saw the drop. Her sweet little arms could not keep up with her inexhaustible spirit. She fell and she fell hard. On her back. Flat.
Not a sound. No scream. And I knew…she couldn’t breath…and I knew…she would regain her breath very soon.
But she didn’t know. Her insides had never felt this kind of instantaneous emptiness.
While I held her in my arms, her silent face searched my being for life. All I could do was hold her and let her feel my calm, my love, my breath. Her tears flowed as my voice helped her eyes release her panic.
Gasping sobs as breathless agony was replaced by elementary emotion.
She was back, in full intensity, and her deepest heart was revealed. Her past pain and future hope swirled together into a proclamation fully present:
“I cannot die. I have a date with Daddy!”
And what a date it was! He had it planned for months and she knew he was going to surprise her. Her birthday with Daddy. Downtown on a summer evening. Ice cream before dinner. A carriage ride. Shopping – dresses and jewelry.
She will remember that date for the rest of her life. I will remind myself and anyone who wants to listen:
In our moments of deepest agony, Love breathes for us even when we have lost our faith. Love holds us even when we have lost our hope. Love surprises us with unimaginable joy. And Love remains. And love endures. And…Love.
If you need a perspective shift today, try an orange, or maybe something green. Just remember: little lovies lend a lead!
Astutely Ashy,
Kara
photo credit: FiestyFairy 2013
Messy Karaoke 