Sidewalks Forever!

Do you believe in sidewalks? 99% of my neighborhood has them, but after reading this news from another suburb in the area, I'm wondering whether kids in the future will have to do without them.

Sidewalks are part of so many of my childhood memories. Playing jacks required knowing who had the smoothest concrete that wouldn't tear up the side of your hand when you swooped up the jacks. Hopscotch was best out at the edge of town where trees were still sticks and sidewalks weren't buckled by big tree roots. Little kids had to ride their tricycles only on the sidewalk. Sidewalks were the boundaries for toddlers whose bored big sisters had to make sure they didn't get too near the street. Sidewalks were where you got down on your hands and knees to watch ant wars.

Town kids need sidewalks!

The Penny-Pinching Gene

Today, the miser went shopping at Whole Foods. Some veggie frozen-food entrees were advertised as "2/$8 - Reg. price = $4.99. Save 99c each!" When I saw that the shelf label marked the stuff at $4.49 each, I realized my chance to make some money off their mistake. So, I dutifully went to the Customer Service desk, explained the situation, and asked if they were going to honor their sale sign and give me 2 of them for the real 99c savings for a total of $7. I was told to take the items to the checkout lane and I would be credited for the new savings amount. Nice.

After heading for the parking lot, I decided to check my receipt and saw that it looked like I had been charged $3.49 for one item, and $3.99 for the other. I went back to the CS desk to complain. That's when the tables were turned and the clerk showed me that I was only charged once for 1 item at $3.49 - the other was for a carton of eggs that I misread. Well then I had to offer to pay for the missing frozen item to be honest myself, but the clerk just waved me away. Even nicer!

Both my mother and my late mother-in-law pretty much knew to the penny how much they should pay for anything and where they could get the best prices for things. They would be proud!

I even toyed with the idea of becoming a "super-couponer" - the people that study store ads and websites, hoard coupons, and know how to make stores practically pay them to buy stuff. I watched the Jill Cataldo DVD on the topic, but decided to do without the thrill of warehousing cereal and toothpaste in my basement to get them for peanuts. Instead, I save my Sunday paper coupon booklets and give them to another woman at work who has succumbed to the frenzy.

1st Memorial Birthday

My mother-in-law would have celebrated her 111th birthday last Thursday and she remains prominent in our family consciousness. Today we'll have a dinner to remember her, using her good dishes and silver, with turkey (she roasted dozens in her lifetime) and pie (her favorite dessert).

She often told me that back around 1910-1915, when she helped her mother and the other North Dakota homesteading women to serve 2 immense meals each day for the men harvesting the crops on all the farms in the area, pies were the favored end to each feast. There, they used apples, rhubarb, and chokecherries. Still love rhubarb pie myself, but today it will be cherry and pecan. Here's to you, Mom!

This Can't Be Origami!

PBS has a fascinating program, Between the Folds, that highlights the work of the recently deceased French artist, Eric Joisel, among others. I've never seen anything like these "sculptures" made with just one piece of paper that is never cut or glued. Read the notes on the Joisel's Saxophonist - amazing! And he speaks English very well, so you can hear him talk about being a "folder." Somehow, "folder" doesn't seem to do justice to his art.

Microwave Epiphanies

Not Your Mother's Microwave Cookbook has turned out to be a gem for me. Here are some of the ideas I hadn't heard before:

• Toast nuts on a paper plate or doubled paper towels on HIGH for about 2 and a half minutes per 1/2 cup of nuts, stirring every 45 seconds.
• Toast 1 cup of coconut, sweetened or not, on a paper plate or glass pie plate on HIGH for 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute.
• Peel up to 6 fresh tomatoes in a ring on a double layer of paper towels by cooking on HIGH for 15 seconds, let stand for 10-15 minutes, then peel. Love this one!
• Peel up to 4 fresh peaches with 1/2 cup hot water in a 2-quart microwaveable bowl, covered with a lid or plastic wrap with a few holes in it. Cook on HIGH for 60-90 seconds, let stand for 5-10 minutes, drain and peel.
• Ripen an avocado or banana (for cooking only) by placing on a paper towel and pricking the skin once or twice. Cook on DEFROST for 2 minutes, turn over and cook on DEFROST for 30-60 seconds more.
• Peel up to 4 green chiles or 2 bell peppers by rubbing all over lightly with oil, placing them on a microwave plate and piercing a few places on each side. Cover with wax paper and cook on HIGH: 3 minutes for chiles; 2 minutes for peppers. Turn over and cook on HIGH for 1-2 minutes more. Wrap in damp kitchen towel for 10 minutes and rub off the skins.

What else is there about microwaves that I don't know? Let's hear.

Anne Lamott was right

I must say that I don't look to evangelicals for spiritual wisdom, but I'm changing my mind after I just finished reading one of Philip Yancey's books, Reaching for the Invisible God. I think the biggest sin most evangelicals commit is having supreme confidence that they know everything about how God works in this world. At last I've found one that asks the same questions I do about how to live in a world where your faith in God is very hard to keep. This is a man who has been deeply hurt by "religion," but has kept his faith in God, which is an entirely different thing.

I was going to keep the book and read it again, but I'm going to look for more of what he has to say, hoping against hope that I won't be disappointed.

Dear me!

I love Jane Austen, so I don't know what to think of this. According to a Wall Street Journal article, someone has posted a "trailer" for a supposed movie of the Jane Austen Fight Club. I heard of the bloody Fight Club movie from the Crown Prince, so I can only hope this one is a funny takeoff. I'll try to sneak a look at it at work since this old computer can't handle Flash upgrades (sigh).

What do you think? Satire or sacrilege?