If you want a Chinese wife, here’s what you’d probably have to put up with:
Incessant worryingMatt can attest to this… and my type A personality. I should’ve been a lawyer…
Many are familiar with Randy Pausch’s video on Youtube. However, I highly recommend reading his book, The Last Lecture. It’s a quick and easy read. Yet, there is so much truth and poignancy to be found within its pages. (It’s also more comprehensive than the Carnegie Mellon video.)
His story is life altering, giving us perspective on what’s actually important in this life. At times it’s quite difficult to get through, knowing that this is a man who will die within a few months, still attempting to leave a legacy for his children, to find a way to teach them, to be with them and love them, when he’s no longer with them. He’s defied death so far, but according to his blog, his cancer has metastasized. 
He is a complete stranger, and yet I feel such compassion, sorrow, joy, hope and love for him and his family. What a courageous example to us all. Tomorrow I am going to paint one of his mottoes on my wall: Don’t complain; just work harder.
As we approach presidential elections, I question the honesty, integrity and moral compass of both candidates. In fact, in this day and age, I question the moral compass of all politicians. It saddens me that we’ve deteriorated as a society. Our children are no longer taught to discern right from wrong, good from bad. We are consumed by things that are irrelevant in this life. It no longer matters if we work hard to live a good life, try to be a good person or hope to help others. We’ve been sold on an idea that there is no God or Higher Power and therefore there are no repercussions to our actions or consequences to carry over when we die. We’ve been sold that there is no such thing as evil; there is no right or wrong. We’ve been sold that it only matters in this life if we are rich, cool or famous, or PC. (No thanks to Al Gore, whom I personally believe is evil, selling his “green” wares to make himself millions at our expense.)
Yesterday we celebrated Independence Day. As I thought about our founding forefathers, I knew, without a doubt, the greatness of these men and their strong moral compass. It is incredibly apparent to me when I read the preamble to the Declaration of Indepence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
It is my hope and prayer that we will strive as a nation to be worthy of the work and sacrifice these great men endured, to provide our freedoms and give us rights as a people and a nation. Let us not forget their greatness, nor their goodness.
WE DID IT! We are credit card debt free! It took ten months and let’s just say it was enough consumer debt that could have afforded us any of the following:
Three months ago I wrote the following:
“As I read this list, I see that I’ve sacrificed my dreams (New Zealand,) and the worst is knowing that there is still debt to pay. It makes me want to vomit. We are paying dearly for the foolish mistakes and impulse buys we made over the last ten years. Yes, hindsight is 20/20 and the shoulda-coulda-woulda monster is not helpful in moving forward. But I mention this experience in the hopes that if my children read this someday, I want to teach them that there is absolutely nothing, NOTHING, worth purchasing on credit. You want some airline mileage, or some rewards incentives? Save your money and buy it with cash. Nothing is free in this world. Even if you’re disciplined enough to actually pay off your credit card (I only know 3 people who are disciplined enough to do it; my mom, my sister, and my friend Michelle,) think of the time you’ve spent budgeting to make sure it all comes out even. My sister and I determined long ago that our time is worth too much to sacrifice.”
As I read this, I sense the anger, frustration and despair in my tone. However, after following Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover plan, we are no longer slaves to credit card bondage. It has taken great courage at times, to stand resolutely in a crowd of neighbors who say, “Looks like it’s time for you to get a minivan; you should get one like ours…blah blah blah.” and I unashamedly respond, “yes, when it’s within my budget.” (Although on the inside I think, that’s really none of your damn business, you jackass who put your van on a home equity loan.) And it has taken a tremendous amount of discipline. Discipline to say no when friends urge me to go out, to not buy when I really want to, to pay off debt instead of spending it on something. But ten months ago we set a goal and we accomplished it. I’m proud of our commitment, discipline, and strength of character.
Now on to the next monkey… that horrible clutter…
During the last month, Matt and I have secretly agonized over a possible job offer which would relocate us to Dallas, Texas. I know…big hair, big boobs, Confederate flags and ugly accents come to mind. Sorry “ya’ll,” but I’m no fan of southern drawl. (Yes, we all have preferences and prejudices. Even me.)
Meanwhile, I concocted this recipe to represent the flavors I may miss out on. And it’s Body For Life approved for the health and diet conscientious. As always, the measurements are approximate, because I never really measure when I cook.
***Not Moving to Texas Chicken***
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drizzle olive oil over chicken. Sprinkle with minced garlic and salt and pepper. Spread about 1/2 tsp of salsa on each tender. Sprinkle chopped tomatillo and cilantro on top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve over rice or alongside black beans and corn.
You could probably throw everything in a crock pot and cook on low for a few hours and shred the meat and serve in tortillas. In terms of Scoville heat, this is relatively mild enough for my two year-old. But I suppose if you wanted to kick it up a notch, you could add minced serrano or jalapeno peppers to it. Or try it with salsa verde instead. Yeehaw!
Update: I added asterisks because the title of the recipe seemed to be overlooked. I’ve had three people ask me. Sorry to be confusing! I happily introduce “Not Moving to Texas” Chicken.
For Sunday dinner I made my husband’s and son’s favorite: roast and potatoes with gravy and green beans and muffins. While we dined, we watched the news. Mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena was nervously awaiting for a signal from the Mars Phoenix Lander probe. (They refer to it as “seven minutes of terror” because it takes that long to transmit anything.) It was so exciting. I couldn’t help but think of that summer in 1969, with families gathered around their black and white televisions, awaiting the news of Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
I have long held a love of space. In third grade I told my parents I wanted to be an astronomer someday. So much for that dream. So tonight as I was hopping up and down with anticipation, I said to my 5 year-old, “You should be an engineer for NASA someday! Wouldn’t that be neat?” He looked at me and replied, “Well, when I grow up, I am going to be a dad someday.” What a sweet boy. I still think he should also consider NASA.
Here’s to my venture into iTunes…finally. I know, I’m quite a bit behind on the downloads. For years I left it to my friends, family, husband, whomever, to download my music. I’d just tell them what I want. Or I’d head over to the local Bestbuy. But tonight, I scrambled to purchase David Archuleta’s version of Imagine before they closed the AI vault. And then I had to buy Coldplay’s new single, Viva la Vida. What an AWESOME song! iTunes promoted Coldplay’s single during the AI finale. And I couldn’t resist how cool it was. (I am a sucker when it comes to good marketing. I would buy a Mac based solely on their advertisements. “Hello, I’m a PC… and I’m a Mac.”) So here’s to the coolness of Apple. Viva la Vida!
