It’s been so long since I’ve posted. It’s amazing how much the holidays can throw off a routine, especially when one’s carefully made plans are changed at the very last minute!
Thankfully, I received some wonderful news! My mother had her biopsy done and there’s nothing wrong. No cancer.
I am so grateful to the Lord for protecting my mother. I am also grateful to everyone who prayed. Thank you so much!
It’s that time again! I haven’t read much this month and I probably won’t be reading much next month. As much as I want to finish the 2010 challenges, I find myself spending more time on learning Japanese, cleaning, and trying to finish a quilt before Christmas. Most of my reading has been sidelined…
So, this month I’m just going to continue working on my reading challenges. My number one priority is the Jane Austen challenge. I am slowly reading through Sense & Sensibility and am enjoying it, despite how long I’m taking to read it. Then I’ll be reading a S&S sequel – The Third Sister, by Julia Barrett. After that, I’ll be reading either Persuasion or Northanger Abbey.
If I read much more than that, I will be surprised. My reading goes in waves and I guess this is just a down time for me. As a plus, my Japanese studies have really taken off and I’m spending between one and two hours a day studying!
I really am loving Menu Plan Monday. I’m happy that my menu planning is finally organized.
Something I’m trying to do with our diet is to make food from scratch as much as possible. I’m not making huge changes, just trying to make something new each week that we previously bought packaged. For the past three weeks, I’ve been making “refried” beans in the crockpot. Then we have beans for burritos all week and there are no weird ingredients in them.
Next week I’m going to make udon noodles from scratch. We recently finished a Japanese television series that featured a girl who was known for her handmade udon noodles. The food looked really good so I thought I’d give it a try! It doesn’t look too difficult and will be a lot more fresh than anything I can buy in the grocery store.
This week’s menu:
Monday – Skillet Lasagna – new recipe
Tuesday – Vegetarian Gyoza and Miso Soup – new recipe
Wednesday – Riblets, mashed potatoes, vegetable
Thursday – Thanksgiving
Friday – Curry
Sabbath – Spaghetti
Sunday – Enchiladas
Today I went and picked up my new glasses. The new prescription is going to take an adjustment! Everything looks funny. The woman at the optometrist’s office said that it was a pretty big prescription change and that it can take two weeks to fully adjust! In the mean time, I feel like my depth perception is skewed.
Joann’s didn’t have the fabric I needed to finish my quilt. I picked out a similar fabric and will be replacing some of my blocks with it so that it at least looks intentional. Oops! I thought I had bought extra of each fabric just in case, but I guess I was still a bit short. I’ve learned my lesson for next time.
Hubby is working tonight. We’re watching a Japanese drama while his computer processes are running. It’s actually rather relaxing, despite having no idea when he’ll be able to go to bed.
Hope your week is going as well as mine!
I’m still plugging away on Grandpa’s quilt. If all goes well, I’m hoping to have it complete by Thanksgiving. It will be a stretch to finish that quickly, but I need to get it done!
Here is a picture of today’s progress. I completed all the blocks and laid out my final design. Yes, I am missing one block of the red fabric on the bottom. Hubby and I are going to Joann’s tomorrow to buy another quarter yard of it. I hope they have some in stock or I will be redoing my design!
Once I pick up the last bit of fabric, I can sew the entire top together. Then I have to figure out how to sew on the border! I bought a really nice chocolate brown colored fabric for the border.
Bruno loves it when I spread fabric on the floor. He always tries to find a way to lay on it. Good thing my grandparents are not allergic to cats!
Time for another Menu Plan Monday! We haven’t gone grocery shopping yet as hubby worked at a client site all day yesterday. Hopefully we can go tonight!
Monday – Curried Butternut Soup – new recipe (carried over from last week)
Tuesday – Apple cinnamon pancakes with homemade applesauce – Applesauce is a new recipe.
Wednesday – Riblets, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable
Thursday – Spaghetti, garlic bread, and a vegetable
Friday – Curry
Sabbath – Soba noodles, mushroom, and spinach soup
Sunday – Enchiladas
Today we were blessed to have Jaime Jorge lead our worship service. He told stories of his missionary journeys and how God has worked in his life. He also played hymns on his violin. Beautiful music!
I found three of the songs on Youtube. I was blessed by the music and worship this morning. Hopefully you’ll be blessed with these songs as well!
The first song was a childhood favorite – “In My Heart There Rings a Melody”
Then he played “I Surrender All,” one of my favorite songs.
The last song was “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” It sounds beautiful on a violin!
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 150
I’ve been very busy the last few days, which means less computer time. I really haven’t minded. Here’s what my days have looked like this week:
Wake up
Bible reading
Exercise
Shower
Breakfast
Cleaning
Organization project work (some small project in a different room each day)
Lunch
Japanese studies
Quilting
Dinner
More Japanese studies
Read
Bed
I’ve really enjoyed this schedule. I’m getting a lot done and feel like I’m progressing in both my house cleaning and my studies. I’m starting to stress about getting my Grandpa’s quilt done, but that’s my fault because I procrastinated on it for so long. So now I’m trying to work on it every single day. If I have time tomorrow, I’ll post pictures of the progress.
Tomorrow’s plan: Mostly the same as the above, but I have a lot more cooking to do. In the morning, I’ll be baking a pumpkin so that I can make pumpkin pie in the afternoon. I’ll also be putting together a lasagna for Sabbath afternoon so that all we have to do is bake it after church. I’ll probably shorten my Japanese studies to compensate for the additional cooking time or I’ll just have to clean very fast!
An update on my mom – We’re sitting and waiting. The insurance company is slow about pre-authorization so she can’t schedule anything yet. All we can do is wait and pray.
I had a different post in mind for tonight but I received a scary phone call. My mom went in for some routine tests but the doctor is concerned. She’s now trying to schedule a biopsy. I don’t want to go into any details (for her privacy), but I would appreciate any and all prayers. Thank you so much!
This idea of Menu Plan Monday is really helping me out. I’m not losing my menu in the mess that is my desk. I just pull up my blog and find the last menu posted!
Sunday – Orange “chicken”
Monday – Subs
Tuesday – Curried Butternut Soup – new recipe
Wednesday – Spring Rolls with Tofu – new recipe
Thursday – Subs
Friday – Curry
Sabbath – Stuffed Shells – a new recipe from an Adventist cookbook
Extra – Pumpkin pie! If I perfect the balance of the spices, I’ll post my recipe.