Beans and Rice Challenge

What? Joining in on a church-wide challenge, I will be eating only rice, beans, flatbread and water this week. They challenged us to do it for anywhere from 1 to 7 days. I chose to do it for three days for sure…Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday…for all three meals & snacks. (Today I had a lunch appointment and dinner meeting and Wednesday I have dinner plans with girl friends, so that’s why the days aren’t consecutive.) I’m hoping I’ll have the willpower to expand my three days through Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also, by skipping a couple days I won’t waste the other food that I happen to have in my refrigerator.

Why? The church is not trying to save money to give to the poor by doing this. We are simply trying to identify in some small way with the manner in which the other half of the world lives (or would be happy to live, since many individuals included in that half are starving). We are choosing to deny ourselves certain foods and choices so that we can remember and pray for the needs that are truly suffering in poverty. We want to be made more aware and more sensitive to poverty. (And perhaps in the process we will be made more aware of our excessive spending, excessive eating, excessive waste and the abundant opportunities we take for granted every day.) By choosing to commit to every other day, I will have an opportunity to eat the perishable dairy and vegetables in my refrigerator. I think it would be worse to waste food, than to succeed in eatting only rice and beans for a week! (That would be pride taking over practicality and compassion. We’re trying to identify with others who wouldn’t dream of wasting ANYTHING, so why should we?)

 

Mike, a darling boy a mission my church led in Kenya met personally, eatting rice.

 

Who? Myself (alongside of my church family). I asked the high school kids I mentor if they wanted to participate. When they agreed, I asked…

Getting Saucy with Mr. Sousa

I foolishly got in a debate with my father & Grandpa Sousa over the proper use and definitions of the words “soused” and “sauced” while we were in Maui last week.

I was feverishly arguing the word “sauced” was a proper slang term for being drunk and they were vehemtley demanding the word “soused” was in fact the proper term for a drunkard. In their defense my grandfather informed me his friends from the air-force used to jeeringly call him Souse-a, instead of Sousa (like John Phillip Sousa) when they’d go out to the bars.

A bottle and a half of wine later (none of which I drank, but merely tasted) and a quick visit to my iPhone in the other suite we realized we were both correct, arguing purely over a misunderstanding of slang from the decade in which we each lived. I went to bed and woke up to an empty bottle of wine and my father jabbing his finger in the book he was reading at none other than the word “soused”. -Sigh

Here’s what I learned from my grandfather:

Souse (sous)

v. soused, sous·ing, sous·es

1. To plunge into a liquid.

2. To make soaking wet; drench.

3. To steep in a mixture, as in pickling.

4. Slang To make intoxicated. (A drunkard.)

Here’s what he learned from me:

sauce  (sôs)

1. A flavorful seasoning or relish served as an accompaniment to food, especially a liquid dressing or topping for food.

2. Stewed fruit, usually served with other foods.

3. Something that adds zest, flavor, or piquancy.

4. Informal Impudent speech or behavior; impertinence or sauciness.

5. Slang Alcoholic liquor.

tr.v. sauced, sauc·ing, sauc·es

1. To season or flavor with sauce.

2. To add piquancy or zest to.

3. Informal To be impertinent or impudent to.

3. Slang To be very drunk.

My New #1 Pet Peeve

There’s nothing worse than sitting on a plane next to someone you don’t know who quickly falls into a sleep so deep that, not only do they snore (that’s almost a given when you’re squished in coach for 5 hours) but, you’re unable to wake them by neither the subtle bump of your shoulder against theirs nor the not-so-subtle slam of their tray being released from the seat in front of them onto their lap by – well now who would’ve done that?

Unfortunately, there’s something MUCH worse than an incoherent neighbor with sinus congestion: a completely coherent individual who’s audible overabundance of saliva seems to keep from leaving their mouth as they chew only by the quick reaction of their lips smacking together in retaliation. Ugh! There’s not much that grates on me more than the sound of someone smacking. (But we aren’t discussing talking with one’s mouth full or chewing with one’s mouth in a generally open position, we’re discussing the blatant irresponsibility of a person to meet the social responsibility of utilizing their lips for the benefit the comfort of those surrounding them!)

Listening to a person chew loudly is frustrating, such as when chips are eaten and the lips rarely encounter one another. Chewing loudly with one’s mouth shut is understandable, such as when an apple is eaten and, despite a fully respectable closed mouth void of any smacking action, the sound of crisp apple is still heard as the individual engulfs his or her mid-morning snack. But, listening to a person chew loudly when it is obviously avoidable (and… well, quite frankly, WRONG) is unbearable.

As I flew last Sunday from Maui to Portland, I discovered how disgusting a piece of moist chocolate cake can become in the hands of a serial smacker. But, it wasn’t until I realized the person sitting next to me was popping in a post-meal piece of minty-fresh gum that I recoiled in horror! The thought of something that can be chewed – Neigh! Horrifically and professionally smacked – without the need to swallow brought me to mental tears. As seemingly never-ending salvia began to echo from inside the mouth beside me I thanked God for iPods and quickly slipped in my earbuds, happy to drown out the pet peeve sitting beside me with some good ol’ Rock and Roll.

A man after my own heart!

Post Vacation Post

Delicious pineapple, terrible scuba conditions, exciting escapades guided by a family member that lives in Kehei, cliff jumping, body surfing, and so much sun I got a rash in addition to my milk chocolate tan (I’m a little allergic to the sun) comprised the majority of my most recent vacation to Maui.
New posts to follow shortly!

The water in the Venus Pool was so warm it was awkward, but made for a wonderful/beautiful swim!