A More Excellent Way

For the last year I have worked on changing a basic paradigm and some things about myself.  Part of this has involved a new belief about anger—that when I am angry I am always wrong, and that instead of focusing on someone else needing to change because of my anger, I need to change myself and my own heart.  It has been a long process, one at which I am still only partially successful. 

 

*****

 

I have been reading a parenting book recently that came highly recommended.  I have really loved a lot of what it has to say, but when I came to the section on anger I was confused.  I liked the first part of what it said; that when we are angry we shouldn’t yell, insult, or attack our kids.  I agreed with that, having done my fair share of yelling during the stressed & exhausted early triplet years.  But then it went on to say that anger is a fact of life, and that we shouldn’t try not to get angry, but we should instead just be careful in how we express our anger towards our kids.

I was puzzled.  Was what I was trying to do unrealistic?  Was it not in the best interest of my kids to try to learn to respond to them always in love? 

 

*****

 

Several days later I said something to the little kids about wanting to read a conference talk.  I meant that I was going to read a talk out of the last conference issue (Nov ‘10) but Jenna thought I meant any conference talk.  She ran and brought me her own copy of the conference Ensign from Nov ‘09 and told me that she had a favorite talk that I should read.  I took it upstairs to read it later.

Imagine my surprise when I started reading it…President Monson’s talk from the Priesthood session called “School They Feelings O My Brother.”  It was balm to my confused soul to read his words.  After telling a story of a tragic situation caused by anger, he quoted from the scriptures.  First Ephesians 4:26 (from the JST translation):

Can ye be angry, and not sin? let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Then from 3 Nephi:

There shall be no disputations among you…for verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

President Monson went on to say,

If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry.  I testify that such is possible.

 

*****

 

What more could I ask—a response to the question in my heart, straight from the prophet.

And thank you Jenna, for bringing me the answer to the prayer I did not even know I was praying…

 

But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

***

[Please know that this post is about me and is not meant as a reflection on anyone else and where they are in their personal journey.  Also know that I’m not a fan of stuffing anger.  ;) ]

Technology, I Love You!

How cool is it that right this very minute, (Saturday at 9PM) podcasts from today's sessions of General Conference are downloading onto my computer? That is just crazy and amazing to me!

I Lost You (Again!)

I have been wanting to try to fix my off-center and pixellated blog banner for weeks and weeks now, but just haven't had a moment. I decided that last night while watching Iron Man2 with Russ was the perfect moment.

Have you ever tried to change html code without knowing a THING about html code while trying to make sure that you don't miss Robert Downy Jr. blow up anything? Not an easy task, I tell you.

Which is why, I'm sure, I sort of forgot to copy down the list of blog links of all of you that I know & love before I changed my template. Ugh...

I'm sure I can recreate it all if I think long and hard enough about it, but why don't you help me out?!? Leave a comment with your blog link and I'll put you back up there in the sidebar!!

(Thanks for having sympathy for my html-brain!)

April Fools Fun

I am so excited.  Today I did one of my first ever food pranks.  Thanks to the creative minds at Our Best Bites I made this for dinner:

They looked pretty good!

I’m Always in the Middle of a Mess

My desk has been a mess for months.  Having a goal to continue getting organized hasn’t made a bit of difference there; this mess persists while the house around gets cleaner. 

The desk has been such a mess that my computer hasn’t touched it for months.  Instead I’ve used it in the family room,the living room, my bedroom, and mostly at the island in the kitchen.

Well today I woke up inspired.  (And believe me, I have to seize those inspirations when they happen!)  I was feeling better and that desk was getting cleaned.

I was feeling pretty darned good about myself.  <patting self on shoulder>

 

Until I happened to glance at the island.

 

How can I get away from this?!?

 

.

In Which I Rant About the Electric Company

I do not feel well today.  My sinus allergies have morphed into a nasty sleep-stealing cough that hurts my throat and head.  I am tired, lethargic, and ornery to boot.  (I actually have no idea what “to boot” means, but it seemed to fit in the moment.)  And I need to call the electric company.  But first I will rant a while.

I normally am a fan of the electric company.  I used to be only neutral about utility companies in general, but then in the winter of 2002 our electric company (henceforth referred to as PayMore Electric) came through for us in a significant way.  During the now legendary Ice Storm of 2002 (spoken of reverently, and in capital letters) we were without power for only (I say ONLY) 24 hours.  Just one small half-block in our subdivision is serviced by PayMore Electric; the rest of our neighbors (including the other side of our street) are customers of the larger and better known Duke Power.  (No affiliation with Coach K or his basketball team.) 

Anyway, back to my story.  In the winter of 2002, Rachel, Jenna, and Jared were an adorable 2.5 years old.  They were so cute. 

And still entirely without rational thought.  Which made it hard to convince them that they should be dressed inside our dark-as-a-tomb house as if they were going to play in the snow.  We piled on the clothes; undershirt, regular clothes, footie pajamas, coats, and hats.  But still they were cold and difficult to live with in our 50 degree home.  (It is possible that it was me who was difficult to live with…but for the purposes of this narrative we’ll stick with my version.)  You know how a power outage in the spring feels—like a mandatory campout, a chance to roast marshmallows over the grill and play Uno by lantern-light?  Well a power outage in the frigid winter holds none of those charms.  And a power outage with three toddlers was a very special misery.

That is why, when our power flared back on at 9:24 that evening (not that anyone was watching the battery operated clock, or anything) we rejoiced.  REJOICED.  We loved our electricity with a previously unknown fervor, one that could only have been understood by those who also suffered through the Ice Storm of 2002.

And then, once our toes were warm and our dirty dishes were washed, (because it turns out that having a well means a power outage=water outage, also a misery) we started making phone calls.  We called up our nearest and dearest to see if they had power yet (no!) and then begged them to come and camp out at our house.  (yes!)

Which turned a natural disaster into the world’s biggest slumber party, one that has had a book written about it, is re-enacted faithfully each winter, and is talked about fondly (in capital letters) to this day. 

 

I’m sure you could see why this feat of power-restoration, this salvation from misery and at the same time provision for partying on a hitherto unknown level was enough to endear PayMore Electric to us for many years to come.

 

But this year the warm-and-fuzzy feelings end.  And it’s all because of level pay.

 

Each year PayMore Electric (theoretically) looks at our past year’s electrical bills and calculates a total, which if paid out over the next eleven months, will just about cover our electrical bills for the year.  The twelfth month is the ‘settle-up’ month, in which PayMore refunds any money we’ve paid above the total of our bills (unlikely unless we switch to candlelight and pumping well water by hand) or we pay PayMore the difference between what we’ve already paid and what we still owe.  For many years this system worked fairly well, (keeping those warm-and-fuzzy feelings alive) but I must assume that they have replaced their computer with a trained monkey who now does their accounts. 

It started several years ago, when settle-up month found us needing to pay a significant amount to PayMore Electric.  Much to my surprise their calculation for the next year’s monthly payment was even lower than the previous year!   So I called them and requested a higher payment.  Their trained monkey was surprised but amenable and that year’s settle-up month went more smoothly. 

Then last summer we got a new heating/cooling system.  I didn’t know what to plan.  Would the more efficient cooling system result in a dramatic drop in our electric bill?  Would the dual fuel heat pump/propane furnace result in a dramatic increase?  I finally decided we should just go with PayMore’s calculation and consider this year a electric bill experiment.

 

Ouch.

 

Last month was settle-up month, and PayMore Electric drafted our bank account the painful sum of well over 500 dollars.  Let me just say that again.

 

Ouch.

 

Yesterday’s mail brought next month’s electric bill, with it’s new level-pay total.

Can you guess?

 

It’s $50/month LOWER than this last year!!!  What is the monkey thinking?!?  Or perhaps a better question, what is the monkey smoking?!?!?

And that is why I will be calling PayMore Electric’s trained monkey and raising our level pay amount again.  Although I’ve now spent enough time writing about it that I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to do the calling…

 

 

PS—I guess I should elaborate for those of you not fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your interpretation of the events) to live through the Ice Storm of 2002, that for most poeple the power was off for 5-7 days, and in some cases as long as 2 weeks. 

 

PPS—just in case I wasn’t clear enough about how darned cute 2.5 year old triplets were, here’s another sample.

Strawberry-licious!

Tonight we were having guests for dinner and I wanted to make a nice dessert.  But in keeping with the experimenting-in-the-kitchen mood I’ve been in lately, I wanted a new recipe.  And because of the cartons of beautiful strawberries in the refrigerator needing to be eaten, I wanted a strawberry recipe.

Thank heavens for Google, who directed me to a Better Homes & Gardens page of strawberry desserts.  After browsing the options and considering what ingredients I actually had on hand, I settled on Strawberry Chiffon Pie.  And let me say, I was not disappointed.  Yum, yum, yum.  Perhaps not yum in the way of the crack brownies I made for book club a few weeks ago (and couldn’t stop eating), but yum in a way both delicious and not terribly guilt inducing. 

Just in case you have some strawberries sitting around needing to be made into a dessert, here’s the recipe.  And if you don’t have some strawberries, go get them.  You won’t regret it, I promise!

(not my picture—doesn’t it look yummy!)

 

 

Strawberry Chiffon Pie

Ingredients

• 1  recipe  Baked Pastry Shell
• 1  envelope  unflavored gelatin
• 3/4  cup  sugar
• 1/3  cup  water
• 3    egg yolks, beaten
• 3  tablespoons  lemon juice
•   Dash  salt
• 2-1/2  cups  fresh strawberries, crushed (about 1-1/2 cups after crushing)
• 3/4  cup  whipping cream
•     Halved fresh strawberries (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare Baked Pastry Shell; set aside. In a small saucepan combine gelatin and sugar. Stir in water, egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt. Cook and stir over medium heat until boiling; remove from heat. Transfer gelatin mixture to a large bowl; stir in crushed strawberries. Cover and chill for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until mixture is partially set (consistency of unbeaten egg whites), stirring occasionally.

2. In a chilled large mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture. If necessary, cover and chill about 20 minutes or until mixture mounds when spooned. Spoon filling into cooled crust. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or until filling is firm. If desired, garnish with halved strawberries.

3. Makes 8 slices

 

 

PS—I chopped my berries in the food processor because I wasn’t in the mood to crush them.  I also used graham cracker crust because I knew that’s what my kids would prefer, and it was good.  But I can tell that next time I make it I’m making it with a regular crust, because I like those better.  Yum, yum!  (Did I already say that??)