I have found myself getting more and more excited each time we have one of our OKMH gift exchanges. Not for the package that comes to my door (although that is darn exciting - way more exciting than the bills and election flyers I usually get), but to see what everyone else sent everyone else. While we are scattered across the map, it's like we live just down the street from one another.
Which would be the awesomest block on the planet were it to actually happen.
Clockwise, from top left: Mads, Kirsten, Megan, Kat, Moi, Jeanne
This month, we came full circle; I received my first OKMH package from Mads back in February, and it was finally my turn to send some goodies to her. I had a lot of fun putting her package together, so make sure that she's your first stop on the train today.
And since Jeanne was the first lucky lady to get my gifties, her package was the one that I received this month.
For the record, Jeanne gets the award for the most beautifully packed boxes and probably some of the most hilarious handmade cards EVER.
My personal favorite is the grammar one - top left.
And while I could have laughed at the cards all day (I still am, actually), I was just touched at Jeanne's thoughtfulness with her selections.
Something for HRH (which didn't leave her side for a week and even made the trek to school for Friday Show and Tell).
Her name is Samantha. Although for about 48 hours she was called "Pony Grap." That's a "g" there. In case you did a double take.
Something for TH - with an accompanying rude joke about smoking meat (I wouldn't have it any other way).
And some goodies for all of us to share. OK, just TH and me to share.
"SOUP. There it is." Hilarious, Jeanne. I actually cried I was laughing so hard. I can't wait to make this!!!!!
Because broken syrup IS unacceptable. Got this one past you, USPS.
Who you calling fat and juicy? Good news: we love bloody Marys. Bad news: I used all the vodka to make my extracts.
Also in the package: one bandana (soon to be Zooey's new party clothes) and some farro, which I cannot wait to put into a soup. Maybe some hot cereal for those mornings after a run now that the weather is (finally) cooling off.
Jeanne, you rock; thank you for all the great goods - we all appreciate them! All of these wonderful women rock, and in this week when only a horrible hurricane can stop (some of) the hateful campaigning, it warms my heart that we can do something nice for someone else for the fun of it - because we can.
(And speaking of "because we can," click here to watch the video reveal of how much was raised at the Bake Sale for Beka over two days - I laughed, I cried, and I drooled over the cookies I didn't win, but I love that so many people are so generous for great causes - thanks to all those good people who bid; congratulations to all the winners!)
Megan (who must be exhausted after that two day auction!) shuttled her goods off to Kat.
Kat, to make the circle complete, sent her bundle down to Jeanne.
Now, we have had SO much fun, we're continuing this. Hopefully you've been inspired to grab a bunch of wonderful items and ship them off to a friend across the country - just for fun! Go ahead - practice some random acts of OKMH!
The Internet is a crazy thing. Not only can you find a corgi version of "Call Me Maybe" (Corgi Rae Jepsen?), but you can also meet the most amazing and wonderful people. Megan is one of those amazing and wonderful people I've met thanks to The Internet. She is funny and sharp as a tack. She is a devoted lover of labra-dork retrievers. She has a recipe for coconut curd that makes me weak at the knees. But more most importantly, she has worked tirelessly to put together a bake sale to benefit her best friend, Beka.
Beka has Crohns disease.
You can click on the link there to get more information about what Crohns is, but here is what you really need to know: a chronic condition, Crohns currently has no cure. Medications can help - some people can be in remission for years, but other people go through much more regular cycles of flare-ups. It's not a fake disease, and it can have a huge impact on a person's personal and professional life.
But Beka, whom I've also gotten to know via that crazy Internet, doesn't appear to be letting something like Crohns affect her humor, vivacity, or really anything else.
Which is exactly how I would hope to deal with anything like Crohns, cancer, etc. The less she allows it to boss her around, the less it will be the "one thing" that defines her.
What Beka IS doing is planning her first half marathon after realizing, during training for a 5K, that running seemed to quell some of the symptoms. Her efforts in this will benefit the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America, specifically the Foundation's Camp Oasis, a camp for children diagnoses with Crohns and Colitis. Camp Oasis allows these kids to be, well, KIDS, despite their conditions, which many times, other children don't understand.
Y'all know I am definitely on board with my sisters who run for their causes. Beka and I have kind of bonded over the whole Crohns-colon cancer thing, finding 12-year-old humor in two diseases that are in all actuality NOT funny.
Good thing this bake sale is ANYTHING but funny. It's simply full of Awesome.
Don't believe me? Check it out - bid on the goods and goodies from 25 food bloggers (including yours truly) as well as some wonderfully generous companies to help Beka meet her goal for the CCFA and make a huge difference for the kids! You can bid until 8PM Pacific Daylight Time tonight on some amazing treats - just by clicking here.
Just keep your grubby mitts off the double dark chocolate merlot cookies. Those babies are MINE.
Most runners who are on The Twitters know about the #seenonmyrun hashtag. Lots of gorgeous sunrise, sunset, and water snaps. Tons of "WTH" snaps.
I, of course, favor the latter but also relish the former.
Today I slept in a touch longer than I usually do on Fridays before heading out with Zooey. It was nice to get an extra few minutes of sleep.
Apparently, that fifteen or so minutes (plus the extra minutes it took me to get out the door; it was a "move slower" kind of morning) makes a big difference in the interesting things that you'll get to see on a run along an Arizona canal.
Seen today:
Lightning storm up in the clouds (thanks for the awesome show, Mother Nature!)
Two tiny kittens (spooked by The Hound of the Doofervilles)
Dude wearing FULL ON winter workout gear - long pants (obviously lined) and winter jacket with fleece collar (probably fleece-lined, too) -- yes, it was in the 60s when I ran, which is practically a cold snap here, but I still think people in Arizona are weird when it comes to weather "anomalies" like getting below 70° in the first half of October. You should see what happens when there is the rare foggy morning. But I digress.
A "pack" (or whatever it's called) of six cats - black or black and white. I've seen them before, but not in these numbers. I'm planning to contact the local TNR folks to see if they can help
A calf nursing from her momma
Another cat, pooping unabashedly
A black lab that I like to call Zooey's boyfriend; whenever he's in his yard, he gets up on the table to look over the fence - not aggressively - he's totally curious. We always say hi.
A gray cat who, in its attempt to get away from Zooey, jumped up onto said lab's fence. Not his best morning, I'm sure.
anas coitus - the poor hen was held UNDER WATER by her neck while the drake did his thing. Fortunately for the hen's lungs, doing his "thing" lasted about three seconds. Talk about a two-pump chump. I guess that romance is dead, at least in the duck world.
I really only add this to get a nice, round number, as it's not truly "interesting" by any stretch of the imagination - what seemed like a bazillion dump trucks, as the road that takes me to and from the canal is being repaved this week, meaning uneven pavement and lots of dust. And police officers, in front of whom, apparently, Zooey likes to make an ass of herself.
We don't see a lot of wildlife on our weekly runs, unless you count that family of (probably) feral cats and the mallards who live along the canals. Hopefully when we start trail running again we will also not see a lot of wildlife, at least of the poisonous/dangerous variety, although I will be happy to see a bunny or two cross our path.
I apologize for not having pics of any of the above events, but until I can get a fancy schmancy Garmin, the iPhone is going to be strapped to my arm, which makes it difficult to take pictures. However, a few weeks ago I was compelled to take a few breaks to get a few snaps. How I managed to not drop it while Zooey was pulling on me is basically a miracle.
What's the most interesting thing you've ever seen on a run?
Our favorite calf was quite interested in Zooey one morning.
Momma didn't care for Zooey barking at her baby. (if you look carefully, she can see baby behind her; she stepped in front of the calf when Zooey barked)
Not a snap of the telephone pole; that's a vulture up there. There had been two, but SOMEONE'S barking made one fly off.
I have been insanely busy of late. Work has gotten me tied in fits, and between that, running, trying to keep the house from turning into the world's largest ball of dog fur, and keeping up with all of HRH's activities (right now she is in soccer and swim), I basically have been reduced to maintaining my online social life in tact thanks only to the PowPhone.
So there's LOTS that I have to say, but we'll try to parse that out over the course of the next few weeks. Most of it is only interesting to me, although you know I'll try to spin it into absolute hilarity as I am wont to do.
For tonight, we have an update on sleep.
Don't get too excited there.
Ah, yes, sleep. I've finally been getting some quality sleep, thanks to the Emperor. For the most part, I wake up feeling like I have truly gotten the restful sleep that my body needs.
I say "for the most part" because even the Emperor can't keep HRH and Zooey from getting me up for various potty or bad dream emergencies.
In our next house, The Husband's side of the bed is going to be closer to the door.
I've felt stronger as a runner, too. Not faster, but stronger. My recovery time has improved a great deal, and this last weekend, on our ten-miler (which was a bit too much for my poor Zooey-girl, we discovered), I could have gone longer - I felt great.
But, like the Force, using a CPAP mask for my sleep apnea has its dark side.
"He that sleeps feels not the toothache."
Cymbeline, William Shakespeare
I have to laugh at my boy Will there. For someone who coined about half the words we use in the English language (OK, so not half of the words, but a lot of them, including eyeball - there's your fun fact for today), he was way off here.
My mask only covers my nose and has two adjustable straps on either side of it; the straps should be adjusted so that the constant positive air pressure goes in my nose and doesn't "leak" out (it's also really noisy if that were to happen). Since I sleep on my side, I have been fussing with the straps ever since I got the darn thing to achieve that perfect "tight but not too tight" setting.
Well, I thought I had it.
And then the sore jaw and headaches started.
Yeah. Fun, that.
I have diagnosed the issue to be a result of the mask; I have been tightening it to the point that it's pushing on my upper jaw, just enough to make it sore. If you have ever clenched your teeth (either at night or due to stress), you know that this can cause horrible headaches as well.
So I have a sore jaw. Sore teeth. More frequent headaches. Makes me tired just thinking about it (you see what I did there?).
OK, so I am loving the sleep I get. I've even been able to sleep in on those rare occasions when HRH overnights at my mother-in-law's, and actually SLEEPING when I sleep in feels almost sinful, it's such a great feeling. Now I just have to find a better balance of properly secured mask that won't make my head want to explode the next time I do.
But as I work toward that balance, a bit of a sore jaw is, right now, totally worth it when I am getting a full night's sleep almost every night. The Emperor can stay, but he's not taking over the Galactic Senate any time soon.
"Das Leben is bezaubernd; man muß es nur durch die richtige Brille sehen."
~German toast
While most Americans think beer, beer, and more beer when they hear the word Oktoberfest, the tradition actually began with a wedding.
A big wedding.
On October 12, 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (he would one day become King Ludwig I, grandfather of "Mad" King Ludwig II, who built Schloß Neuschwanstein) married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. A fan of the Olympic games, Ludwig invited basically everyone (it helps to be the crown prince; budgeting isn't as much of an issue) to partake in the weeklong festivities in front of the city gates, including horse racing. In honor of Princess Therese, the fields that held the festivities were renamed the Theresienwiese (eventually shortened to Wiesn).
The Fest was so popular that it became a yearly event, which evolved into what we know as Oktoberfest.
Of course, Bavaria is home to great beers, thanks in great part of the Reinheinsgebot of 1516 (you can read me wax poetic about the Gebot and other Bavarian Bier wonders here), so it's not a surprise that beer stands soon popped up on the Wiesn.
Today, Oktoberfest begins at the end of September and goes into October, and millions of people flock to Bavaria to join in the celebrations.
But if you can't afford a plane ticket to München, you can always celebrate at home. Just remember to raise a glass to Ludwig and Therese.
Hopefully you've been celebrating our Beer Week festivities, which, yes, was totally scheduled to coincide with the first week of Oktoberfest. You'll have to figure out your own festivities next week. I'd recommend checking out the ponies. Ludwig would like that.
In my homage to Ludwig and Therese, I opted to start at a favorite location that has its own long history in the Tempe area: Four Peaks Brewery. The building that now houses the brewery was once a creamery, and the red brick stands out against the stucco that surrounds it today (check out the website for old and current photos - you'll love them).
If you live in the Valley, you are likely familiar with the two beers that Four Peaks bottles and has made available in stores: 8th Street Ale, an English brown ale, and Kilt Lifter, their best-selling Scottish style ale that is intended to be similar to those ales brewed in Edinburgh. In fact, Kilt Lifter is so popular that the October issue of Phoenix Magazine allows readers a tour of the brewing process.
But while I adore Kilt Lifter - so much so that I managed to ship Megan an entire six-pack a few months ago - when I go to Four Peaks, there is only one beer for me: the Arizona Peach Ale.
I first experienced it when The Husband and I went to Teakwoods for lunch a few months ago. Teakwoods is one of the local restaurants that serves Arizona Peach Ale on tap, and I was surprised that The Husband ordered it, as he doesn't tend to enjoy "fruity" beers.
"It's not really fruity," he said. "Here. Take a sip."
Fateful words.
I know, sexy pic.
Try not to be jealous.
Before you take a big, fat gulp like you see me doing here, you need to take a moment and bring the beer up to your nose to take in the aroma. Immediately, you'll be transported from wherever you are to a peach orchard. It's ridiculous, really. Fresh Arizona peaches. In your beer. It's almost mesmerizing. You get the flowery sweetness that is identical to the perfume of a freshly plucked peach. But the beer is anything but sweet. While you can taste the peach on the back end, the beer is a light, clean, and refreshing ale that is perfect for the Arizona heat. The peach just finishes each sip off so smoothly, and perhaps the only aspect of "sweet" that there might be is that there is no bitterness from beginning to end. There is no syrupy aftertaste or heaviness in the fruitiness of this Arizona Peach Ale. It's just as perfectly accessorized as Coco Chanel.
So in the last few weeks, I have found almost every excuse possible to trek over to Tempe in order to have a dinner date or a "late lunch" at Four Peaks.
Because the beer is good, and so is the food. Get the salmon BLT. You're welcome.
While the brewery is in the heart of Tempe, right by ASU, you'd think that it would be a crowded, college hangout. But in all actuality, there are only a handful of students that you might see; the regular crowd will include families and professionals, all competing for a parking spot close to the front door. There is room for young kids, as long as they don't sit at the bar, so the atmosphere is welcoming for anyone who walks in.
I love the industrial-red brick combo on the inside.
Sorry, though, that all my patio snaps were too dark to use;
it's quite lovely out there.
Unfortunately, until The Husband catches on to my hints about the growler of Arizona Peach that I think should live in our fridge and/or the brewery decides that I need to have six-packs available to me at my local grocery store, I have to get my fix at Four Peaks (I know - first world problem right here). In the meantime, I'll be buying that six-pack of Kilt Lifter. And using it in All The Things.
Like a German-style spicy mustard.
And ale-soaked sweet potato oven fries. Served with said spicy mustard and bratwurst. Because Ludwig and Therese would have wanted it that way.
And, because no course of a meal should ever be without beer, a maple-ale frozen custard for dessert.
Let's look a little more closely, shall we?
Basically, when we planned Beer Week, I had originally only intended to rave about Four Peaks and their Arizona Peach ale, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to take the opportunity to play around with the beer, even if it wasn't the beer I go to Four Peaks to drink.
Having had great luck (and tons of positive feedback) with the Guinness mustard I made for St. Patrick's Day (a.k.a. The Great Brisket Freakout of 2012), I figured that using Kilt Lifter in a mustard would be a cinch, although I wanted something a little more spicy and closer to the mustards that I loved when I lived in Regensburg as a student. Good thing I found this recipe from Serious Eats to play around with and tweak thus:
Spicy German-Style Kilt Lifter Ale Mustard
(adapted from Serious Eats)
1/3 cup each yellow and brown mustard seeds (I've found that I prefer the 50-50 combo of the two different seeds over having a greater percent of the yellow seeds)
1/2 cup organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar (it should have "the mother" in it, although try not to use it in the mustard)
1 cup Kilt Lifter, divided into 1/2-cup measurements
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric (this is what gives mustard its beautiful yellow color)
1/8 teaspoon allspice
Drink any remaining Kilt Lifter once you've measured out the cup needed in the recipe.
Combine the mustard seeds, the vinegar, and 1/2 cup of the ale; refrigerate at least overnight (or, until you have a free second).
Combine the remaining 1/2 cup of the ale and all other ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until just boiling. Remove from heat and cool slightly (I would recommend doing this about 30 minutes before you plan to mix everything together).
In a blender, combine the mustard seeds and their liquid with the liquid from the saucepan. Puree until smooth, although the brown seeds will remain solid. Transfer to a pretty jar and refrigerate until you are ready to slather it over a properly made bratwurst (read: not national chain) or dunk some pommes frites into it.
And speaking of pommes frites...
All you have to do here is cut up some sweet potatoes (or any potatoes, I guess), soak them in Kilt Lifter for 15-20 minutes (you may have to toss it a few times), drain them, toss them in olive oil and seasoning, and then cook on a VERY well-oiled cookie sheet, into a 425° oven for 30-40 minutes, tossing at least once. If you are using sweet potatoes, make sure that, unlike me, you are careful not to let them burn. Or stick to the cookie sheet (my definition of "very" well oiled sheet was insufficient).
As a note, since I was using sweet potatoes, I thought we'd need a salty, savory combo, so my seasoning of choice was Bacon Salt, and I'd recommend that you do the same.
The above, of course, are best served with bratwurst, freshly grilled and topped with the mustard, caramelized onions, sauerkraut, and leek relish, and eaten while worshipping at the shrine of college football.
Go, Devils!
But as much as I love College GameDay and cheering on my beloved Devils while horking down ridiculous amounts of pub grub and washing it down with a favorite local beer (I mean, HONESTLY, what compares to that), this week, the star was the dessert.
As you might have figured out, I love maple syrup. If you hadn't, now you know. So of course I needed to find an ice cream recipe that combined maple and beer.
It turns out that I am not the first person to think that this is The Best Idea For Ice Cream Ever. Not like I was surprised. At first, I found a gingerbread ice cream recipe that I figured I could use, swapping the maple syrup for the molasses and omitting ALL the spices, but then I stumbled across this fabulous recipe for Peak Organic Maple Oat Ale Walnut ice cream over at Drink Craft Beer (bookmarked) that I knew was Perfect.
Of course, I used Kilt Lifter instead of the Peak Organic, so at first, I was a little nervous. A Scottish style ale is totally different than an ale made with oats and maple syrup, and who knew if it would work in the same way?
Well, it did.
The reduction of the Kilt Lifter made me even more nervous, as the beer has a smoky aspect to it, which really came out when it was reduced from 22 ounces to 1/2 cup. I mean, wow. But what also came out was an almost coffee-like bitterness that was fantastic, I mean FREAKING FANTASTIC when combined with the sweet creaminess of this recipe.
Which, I should point out, is actually a frozen custard recipe, due to the addition of the egg yolks and the higher percentage of fat (thanks to the cream and half-and-half called for in the recipe instead of cream and milk).
OK, so basically, what you need to know is this: the Kilt Lifter really made this recipe. I'm sure it would have been really good without the beer. But it was really, really, REALLY good WITH the beer. Since it was a creamier custard, and the maple syrup so sweet, the coffee-like bitterness of the ale reduction made a wonderful finish to each bite. I think that without the beer, it honestly would have been too cloying. With the beer, it was incredible.
Since we had plans to go to a dinner party at the house of some friends, I opted to take the custard as part of the dessert offering.
Now, aside from the fact that I had to share with several other people, this was a fabulous idea, as the other half of the dessert was a homemade tiramisu. And since tiramisu is made with espresso, it was a slam-bam knockout combination.
I'm just glad that there was leftover custard that I was able to bring home and continue to sneak by the spoonful straight from the freezer.
All right, Four Peaks. You already serve your delicious stoutamisu, made with your Oatmeal Stout. Now I have the perfect accompaniment for it. You're welcome.
(Now, could you please sell Arizona Peach Ale in bottles or cans? Pretty please?)
So now... in case you missed any of the wonderful Beer Week posts, please make sure you check them out. Do it for Ludwig and Therese.
Kirsten (Comfortably Domestic) kicked off the week with an amazing biography of a friend of hers who just happens to be a home brewer taking that passion and turning it into a livelihood. I'm making The Husband read this one carefully.
Jeanne (Inside NanaBread's Head) offered an incredible dark chocolate espresso stout cake topped with a caramel and Kahlua whipped cream (I KNOW, RIGHT?????)
Madeline (Munching in the Mitten), my former student, made a pumpkin beer bread, perfect for those crisp autumn days that we don't get here in Arizona.
Lauren (Climbing Grier Mountain) made a pale ale shrimp po' boy that may actually convince my husband to move to Denver in order to get closer to it.
Beka (Kvetchin' Kitchen), who is the newest addition to our reindeer games, jumped right in with a review of the Outlander brewery, which I MUST check out when I'm in Seattle next.
Megan (Wanne Be a Country Cleaver), who knows the sweet, sweet taste of Kilt Lifter already, made my German heart go pitter pat with her schnitzel and dumplings.
Carrie (Bakeaholic Mama) is helping finish off Beer Week tomorrow by opting to focus on a cider (an early American staple) recipe with her Woodchuck sweet potato bisque.
And Kirsten is back tomorrow too, wrapping up the week with a black and tan brownie that my own black and tan girl would kill to get her grubby paws on if chocolate weren't so deadly to dogs.
And lastly, because we can't celebrate a wedding without music, fill your glass one last time and get down to my favorite German beer song (you can find the lyrics here if you want to sing along, which I know you do). Prost!
And one more thing - please don't forget the Life For Lily Virtual Run next Friday through Sunday. Your steps (you don't have to run - don't worry!) can make the biggest difference for a little girl fighting something harder than any of us can ever imagine. So find your favorite kicks, sign up, and make a donation. Your heart will never regret any of it.
Coming on the heels of two fairly self-centered blog posts in a row, you may take pause at my sincerity, but various events of this week have served to re-focus me on what actually is important.
Hopefully, in your perusings of this little blog, you've read the Life for Lily Virtual Run page, and, even more hopefully, perhaps you'd decided to participate and make a donation to help Lily. And I have to tell you that if Lily's story tore your heart out like it does mine, you need to read on. If Lily's story didn't tear your heart out, that's OK, but you need to read on, too.
As I noted in my posting on that page, this is Lily's second battle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS), and the family has chosen not to pursue traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatments this time.
The thing is, there aren't other treatments out there.
And in fact, there aren't that many chemotherapy treatments for Lily, either, seeing as during her first round of it, she reached the lifetime limits on many of the drugs that are used to combat ARMS.
So what IS out there is "experimental," at best.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Alicia told me today that there are few, if any, alternative treatments for pediatric cancers. Why, I don't really know; she told me something about how most of the medical community told her they didn't want to risk using kids as guinea pigs, but considering there are plenty of "clinical trials" for various chemotherapy drugs, I am tempted to scream "BS" in all its letters at the top of my lungs at anyone who made that argument.
What's worse is that because of lifetime limits, etc., recurrence of more rare pediatric cancers such as ARMS, the prognosis overall is not good (I can't even tell you how mildly that's putting it - I have no words to actually articulate the negativity surrounding these prognoses).
Basically, during our conversation, Alicia said that there are members of the medical community who have told the family that they can try to treat Lily, but they should not expect any miracles.
And a miracle is what it's going to take.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Well, I'm sorry. I am not really one to resign myself to the impossible, so here I am, looking for that miracle.
This is the part of the conversation in which we talk about accepting The Plan meant for us. Knowing that Our Plan is often different from The Plan. Which is rather a departure, as this realm isn't really something I have ever discussed here.
Here's the thing. I KNOW that sometimes the answer to a prayer isn't the one that I'm looking for. I can sit here and tell you with every ounce of rationality and logic that I have that despite my grief at losing my own dad, his death made me a better person and served to point me in the direction of fundraising for colon cancer and advocacy of blood donation.
But when Logos Allison comes up against Pathos Allison, there's nothing that can be done to satisfy Pathos Allison. She's pissed off, and you're going to hear about it.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
I can accept The Plan at some point, but that doesn't mean I accept it now. If I accept The Plan right now, that means that I stop.
I just... stop.
What would be the point of continuing to ask, urge, beg, petition, entreat, and beseech you to sign up for and make a donation for the Life for Lily Virtual Run if I accepted The Plan right now?
I GET IT that there is a finality for all of us. And that finality can might come suddenly, and it might be stretched out over time. We might know it's coming, and we might never know until it happens.
But those final hours aren't here yet, and I will not stop seeking that miracle. Giving in to The Plan doesn't mean giving up, and so HERE I AM, looking for a miracle
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Will you signing up for the Life for Lily Virtual Run make a difference?
Yes.
Will it cure her cancer?
Probably not.
But it can help bring relief to the pain she is feeling. It can allow the family to make better use of their time together. And can ensure that the plans the family is making and will be making are able to be seen through.
And that's a big difference.
We never really do know what or when a miracle will occur. We just have to keep working for one, looking for one, praying for one. I will accept The Plan, but right now My Plan is to fight it.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Yes, I suppose you can tell me that I'm just in denial. Maybe you might wonder if I'm not unintentionally hurting Alicia and her family in some way in refusing to accept Things As They Will Be.
Dear God, I pray that I'm not.
I pray that my actions may help reduce the suffering of others. Somehow.
And of course, that miracle I've been mentioning would be good right about now, too.
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
It was only a matter of time. After all, six footloose and fancy-free woman scattered throughout the country seem to have only one objective for this bimonthly gift exchange: Send The Coolest Items Ever and Get Everything You Can Into the Box.
Mads, Kirsten, Megan
Jeanne, Me, Kat
Honestly, how the package that I sent to Megan a few months ago that had an entire six-pack of beer made it intact can only be called a miracle.
But luck, it seems, has run out.
However, we can make this a learning experience. Please note the following important information:
Maple syrup can and will get into anything and everything, included items sealed (as in factory seal) in plastic.
The United States Postal Service will not, it seems, open a box once dropped even though it appears to be oozing sticky liquid everywhere. Oh, no - instead, said package will be "contained" in plastic wrap so as not to contaminate other packages
There are several good reasons to move to the Twin Cities, and most of them have to do with candy.
So, let's start from the beginning, shall we?
Kat, bless her heart, put together a special package for me this month that not only offered me a seemingly endless supply of sugar products intended specifically for those moments of insatiable runger after a long weekend haul, but also some amazingly thoughtful goodies from her trip to our neighbors up north when she visited recently. She said that she would be poking around looking for Fun Things to Source while there, so the second the mail truck sped off on the day that delivery was to happen, I was at the mailbox.
And there it was, a package that didn't resemble any other Priority Mail package I'd ever seen.
Or smell like one, for that matter.
It was absolutely covered in plastic, and I had to cut my way through it in order to get my mitts on the box itself. The second the scissors finally cut through that last bit of plastic, I could tell something had gone terribly wrong in transit.
One corner of the box was smushed in. It looked like it had been dropped almost exactly on the corner, judging from the "smush rings" radiating out from the now-more-circular-than-angular corner.
And the smell - it was sweet. Almost cloying, but at the same time delicious.
I knew I had to act fast, and I ripped open the box and found what had once been a parcel sealed inside a seal inside a seal, now sticky and drooping sadly. The second I picked it up, I knew.
Shattered glass.
Of course, curiosity got the better of me, and I gingerly cut a slit in the packaging to find shards of a once beautiful bottle of true liquid gold: maple syrup.
My heart broke, as maple is my favorite sweetener and flavoring. You all can have your pumpkin spice lattes this fall. As for me, if it's not maple, it's not happening.
But, there wasn't putting any toothpaste back in that tube, so, into the trash the bottle remnants went, and I dug around to see what other damage the syrup had done.
The candy bars were safe, but just to be sure, I tore into the box of Smarties the second I found it.
Fun fact: Smarties in Canada are chocolate and not the tart fruit candy we here in the States expect. It was a delicious shock. Yes, I COULD have read the label, but like I said, I was doing damage control and didn't have time to read the label before I ate the contents to make sure they weren't destroyed.
Oh, and the candy - remarkable. Not living in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and actually never having been closer than Chicago (not even remotely close, now that I look at a map), I had never heard of a Nut Goodie or a Salted Nut Roll, as these, according to Kat, are only distributed in the TC area.
Kind of like a Good Cluster, but no nougat instead of marshmallow.
Just as devourable.
I'm really not sure why their market isn't bigger. The Salted Nut Roll has PayDays over a barrel. I HATE PayDays, but I can tell you that earlier today I horked down a Salted Nut Roll like my life depended on it.
Missing, *presumably* eaten, from this group shot:
Two Salted Nut Rolls,
One Nut Goodies
One Smarties.
In the interest of harmony in marriage and all that, I did bestow on The Husband ONE of my precious Salted Nut Rolls, as he himself is a huge PayDay fan. However, I can neither confirm nor deny that this act of benevolence is at all related to my sudden interest in moving to the Twin Cities.
Anyway, another casualty that I am working to restore is the beautifully embroidered towel, that was so lovingly placed into the box. Since we are giving gifts, we all tend to use brightly colors tissue paper, and the syrup caused a bit of the green paper to bleed onto the towel. Thankfully, I've got an entire book dedicated to the eradication of laundry stains, and green tissue paper has NOTHING on some of the laundry situations I've dealt with in my tenure as mom-of-cat-dog-and-child-at-once. But rest assured that once the cleansing process is complete, pics will be snapped.
This brings us to the real star of the box.
The maple cookies.
As you can see, the box was emptied.
It's also now empty.
Sad face.
Oh, my word, where have these been all my life?
I can't even begin to describe how amazing these cookies are. Maple cookies with maple filling. Maple on maple. A maple-stravaganza. A maple-palooza. A maple-mageddon.
The cookies barely lasted three days.
And quite frankly, I'm shocked at the willpower I showed there.
So, as I plan for my move to Minnesota, I'm also making sure that I pencil in monthly weekend getaways to Quebec to restock my shelves of this cookie in order that I have something to snack on as I sip my coffee on the patio.
Syrup-covered box or no, this was a great package, and if, in all the cross-country shipments we six have made and will continue to make, one bottle of maple syrup is sacrificed, I'm happy to take that one for the team. There is always more maple syrup, certainly, but there is no replacement for the shrieks of excitement when The Perfect Package is opened.
Thanks, Kat - you did good! Everything is awesome.
Or, rather, was... it was also delicious.
Even Zooey thought so.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go hide the rest of the Salted Nut Rolls.
Wanna see all the other goodies and sundries our crew sent one another? Sure you do - it will help you brainstorm for your own package exchange with your besties!
This month, my package was sent up north to Kirsten.
Kirsten shipped her goods over to Kat.
Our newly hitched pal Megan sent a box to Jeanne.
Jeanne, who's busy celebrating 30 years of martial bliss with The Complete Package, shipped way out to Mads.
Mads, just married herself (what a year!), dispatched some lovely articles up to Megan.
