Monday, January 4, 2010

Trojan Holiday

No, my computer didn't get attacked over Christmas. Instead, we got to spend Christmas with our families after all!

Despite my aversion to new years' resolutions,  there are definitely some things I want to do differently in 2010. Specifically, more deliberately. But first, Dear Reader, a quick visit to December 2009.

Or maybe not so quick. Since concision is not my strong point, either!

As a few of you know, I quit my job at Monster Financial almost a week after my first Iowa blizzard hit. This is still a little painful for me to talk about. It's difficult for me to trust my husband that we will be OK financially until I find more work. Even more difficult is accepting my own inadequacy. Physically and mentally, I just could not handle the work any longer -- including getting-ready and commute time, I was spending from 6:00 am to around 5:30 pm on a job that was both extremely easy and emotionally draining. The prospect of getting up even earlier to handle the winter weather was the proverbial last straw.

So you can pray that God will help me to repent of feeling guilty for not being able to do more (because that is just PRIDE), and help me to humbly embrace the opportunity to do what I CAN ... whatever that is ... without worrying over what I should have been able to do, or what someone else might have been able to do. Right now I'm looking for work closer to home, maybe even something part-time. That, and sleeping A LOT!

After I quit, DH and I were super-excited to be free to visit our families for Christmas! We crammed gifts for our families into DH's tiny car along with the gifts they had already mailed us, and hit the road. During the 11 hours from Iowa to Tennessee we watched the fields outside the windows turn from white ... to dead brown ... to patchy green.

It was such a blessing to spend the holidays with our families. We spent five days at my parents' farm in Troy. Coming from a small family, I don't think DH appreciates how restful it was for me to be in the middle of ten or twelve people's constant noise and busy-ness! Christmas day we travelled to Dennis's parents home, and spent several days enjoying their company as well. I am so grateful that we were able to make the trip down to Tennessee.

Then we s l o w l y drove back from 20-degree weather to negative 20! Seriously -- negative 20 degrees Fahrenheit. I am still incredulous.

I loved our vacation, but it was wonderful to worship with our church again this week. And today was Dennis's first day back at school--yay!

That wraps up our holiday, and our news. Now it's back to the routine, or some semblance. Although I would like to say that we are having Gulasch for supper, using a recipe from an Italian cookbook Dennis's sister gave us. I substituted the deer meat my brother Nate sent back with us for beef, and threw it in the slow cooker. With all the lemon zest, spices, and cheapo Cabernet Sauvignon, it smells AMAZING.

4 comments:

  1. Okay, it took me a few minutes to figure out the title....but I FINALLY got it.
    Love you!

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  2. So...where's this goulash recipe?? I'm lookin' for a good one...

    ReplyDelete
  3. The recipe (a northern Italian one) as the cookbook gives it:

    Saute 5 onions, minced, and 1 clove garlic, minced, in 1/4 cup olive oil till golden. Add 1 1/4 lb beef, cut up in chunks, and brown. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon paprika, 3/4 cup red wine, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, zest of 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 sprig rosemary, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram, and salt and pepper to taste. Add water and cook, covered, for 1 1/2 hours over medium heat -- add water if necessary.

    What I did instead: I used deer steak instead of beef, and cooked it all day in the slow cooker. That worked pretty well. I also used fewer onions, 2 cloves of garlic, and a tablespoon of paprika. I really liked the addition of the lemon juice; if I make this again, though, I think I will either use a sweeter wine (I used a $5 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon so it was pretty acidic) or add a little bit of sugar to cut the acidity.

    I'm used to German goulasch over noodles, but I think this recipe would be good over loose polenta.

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Should this cake happen?