Disarming me

Today's just one of those days where I was on edge. I cried twice. Both times I pointed my finger (well, figuratively anyways) at my husband and basically accused him of making me angry. I'm telling you though, after 1 year and 5 months of marriage, my husband can disarm my anger in a flash. I mean, he doesn't even get upset at me getting angry any more. He wouldn't allow me to stomp away (which I naturally want to do). He'd pull me close and calmly reason with me for a while until I come to my senses. Usually what happens is that I realize how ridiculous I am or that I run out of steam. Once that happens (and apparently it's obvious when it does), my husband calls me out on it, "you're about to smile," and of course, upon hearing that, how can I not smile? Besides, he has this goofy "ah ha I caught you" boy look on his face. How can I stay mad at that face?

To my friend D

I talked to you all morning after I got engaged. You giggled at the details of the proposal, and were so excited about the wedding, which was still 7 months away. We talked about you finally meeting M, and getting the girls together again. You immediately appointed yourself as my bachelorette's party coordinator. You said you were coming to my wedding no matter what.

Except you never made it.

In the months leading up to my wedding, our texts were peppered with you complaining about your doctor's visit, "they gotta biopsy some lymph nodes", "getting platelet transfusion", "I don't want to take steroids!". I texted you when I landed in LAX on December 17th, complaining about the terminals. After a few exchanges, you broke the news: "Hon the doctor is not letting me fly. I need to start chemo treatment tomorrow." I told you not to worry about not making the wedding. Just come visit us in Texas. That was our last exchange. You passed away 5 days later in LA.

C.S. Lewis on Love

Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all.  Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feeling come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called "being in love' usually does not last. If the old fairy-tale ending "They lived happily ever after' is taken to mean 'They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married', then it says what probably never was nor ever would be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships? But, of course, ceasing to be 'in love' need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense - love as distinct from "being in love' - is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be 'in love' with someone else. 'Being in love' first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it. - C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

It is here!

There lay a beautiful package by our door today. I opened the package, and alas, behold the beautiful sight of my new cookbook "What to Cook and How to Cook it". Beautifully-bound, colorful, lots of pictures of raw meat, of eggs, of flour, of butter...

*swoon*


The love at first sight only a foodie will understand.

The first... of many (I hope)!

What to Cook and How to Cook it
By Jane Hornby

I have never won anything.

I mean, I won a speech contest in high school and even got a full four-year scholarship to come to the US for college and all that, but I've NEVER won any sweepstakes - contests that are based purely on probability and luck.

But alas, that all changed today! I got an e-mail saying that I won a cookbook from Savory Sweet Life, a food/cooking blog that I enjoy reading. Last week our newly-married small group had a Christmas potluck and I used a recipe for "No roll pie crust" from Savory Sweet Life. My hubby made the pumpkin pie filling and topped it with crushed walnut and brown sugar. The pie crust was incredibly easy to make (with my Black Friday Costco purchase - a Cuisinart 14-cup food processor!!) and came out beautifully. The walnut/brown sugar topping was a fine touch and made the pie look oh-so-delicious.

Anyways, I can't wait for my cook book to come! This cook book (What to Cook and How to Cook it by Jane Hornby) sounds exactly like the type of cook book that I enjoy - basic instructions, tips and techniques. Maybe I'll write a book report after I try a few recipes... after our last exam next week.