knowledge in the kitchen

In order to fully understand this post, you must know what a salad spinner is. If you don't, well, I'll tell you the thing my mother always heard from her father: look it up. (I've never heard that myself, I'm just so smart.) I'm going to go out on a whim and create a new metaphor: life is like a salad spinner. Here's why: You start out as a wet lettuce leaf. Sounds gross, but hey! you like it that way. So here you are, a wet leaf. Suddenly, you're in the kitchen, on the counter, and your faced with a decision. You can either be put into a bag in your present beautifully wet state, or you can be thrown into a very shiny looking mechanism that kind of fills you with fear it's so beautiful. Off a whim, without thinking, and under pressure to make the decision, you decide on the strange device. Your in, your cozy, you like, no LOVE, your decision.... and then the lid of this strange device is put on, and suddenly, you're spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning.... .... and spinning and spinning. .... and spinning and spinning. You get the point. There's a lot of spinning. You can see now you are a very dizzy salad leaf. You feel sick to your little leafy stomach. You regretted, hated your decision. Despised it even. Okay, you downright loathed it. Just as you're about to leak out a few leafy tears, you become aware of yourself. You are dry. You are warm. You feel great! Better than EVER before. So was the bumpy ride worth this wonderful feeling? Your leafy persona thinks so! You love your life now, and it was all completely worth it. Catch my drift? Of course, this example does not pertain to every case. But it has to me. I went out on a limb to get a job, when already my life was extremely busy. It was a few bumpy months there, trying to see if I actually enjoyed my busy lifestyle. But now I have decided that I like my life a lot better that before. So go out on a limb. Take a chance. Unless you like being soggy, of course.

Mm, I love to eat my sculpting clay!

So I was sitting at the computer today, and my brother Aidan was behind me eating candy. Suddenly he starts unwrapping a tootsie roll, and he suddenly starts molding the stuff into different shapes. "It's not clay!" I said, a little disgusted that he was rolling around this tootsie roll, getting his hands all sticky. "Yes it is," he said, and started making a dinosaur. He used nerds for the eyes. He then smooshed that and added another tootsie roll to the mix. He made two balls, and decided to make a snowman. Once it was finished, orange tootsie roll nose and all (like a carrot,) we both said at the same time: "That really looks like a bird." so he added wings and some feet. After that, I decided to look up if anyone else had thought of sculpting tootsie rolls, like maybe professionals or something. A professional tootsie roll artist seemed a bit far fetched, but hey, people do all sorts of crazy things these days. So I found this blog that was really cool, with all these tootsie roll pieces of art. I was like, "this blog is awesome!" so you should check it out. I can't believe it's almost thanksgiving. That's kinda scary to think about, because that means we're going into the holiday season. Doesn't it seem like we just did all that? And the holiday season means that 2008 is almost already over. I know what I'm gonna say on New Year's eve: this year went by so quickly! It turns out that 12 months really isn't that long a period of time. Till later! Lucia

4th of July

Yesterday was the fourth of July, and quite a big day for almost everyone. Lily herself just enjoyed the quiet seclusion of being on her own on the couch while the people of the house celebrated in their own funny ways. They went to the parade, and then came home to go into the pool and play in the yard with their friends. Though the day was quiet for Lily, as the night came on, the very important part of the fourth drew near: the fireworks. Lily is not a big fan of loud noises, and so as the fireworks are shot off down the street from her abode, the people were pretty worried she would panic from the loud noises because she was going to be home alone. But it was just the way it had to go, and so they left for the fireworks with fear for her. It turned out this way: they locked Lily into her kennel and left. And when they arrived home, they found Lily in her kennel still, bleary eyed and sleepy, as if she had just taken a nap.

A really cute dog!!

My dog is SO cute!

Italian Orange

I tell you, these oranges that we got literally taste like they soaked up all the Mediterranean in one orange. They are grown in Italy, and sold at your local Wegmans. They have red speckled in them, so when you hold them up to the light, it looks like a sunset. Ian took this picture for me so I could post it on my blog. These are best when fresh!

Something you wouldn't usually see

Looked out the window and noticed something was different ...do you?

Yet another blog in the internet world

Get connected with a new blog. Go to: aidanstories.blogspot.com

Don't listen to it!

I've noticed that sometimes this little voice in your head will talk to you, and it's not always pleasant in what it says. Say you're trying on a shirt, and you think you look good in it. Then that little voice says, "You look fat in that, and deep down you know it." So off goes that shirt. But what if you didn't listen? Would you keep that shirt and look good? Somtimes you just got to ignore that little voice in your head. If you do, then you might be a happier person. When you think your ugly or fat, and that little voice is telling you so, you should shut it out! You're probably not fat or ugly, and it's just some little grain of unhappiness telling you that. If you let that grain grow bigger, it'll irritate you like crazy, like the pearl in a clam. So just practice shutting that voice out, no matter if it be about weight, looks, or what people "think" of you. C.S Lewis once said something like, people won't be thinking a thing about you, because people only think of themselves. Get it? Even you think of yourself all the time. It just goes full circle, and if you block out the voice, stop the pearl from growing, and just be yourself, you'll be a much happier person because of that. BE YOUSELF!

Go to it!

Check out my brother Aidan and I's new blog! agreewithus.blogspot.com

Here we are, another day

You know that feeling, where you just feel like you'll never accomplish the task at hand? A lot of times when I sit down to do math, I just feel so frustrated, and it really gets you down. I mean,k your sitting there, staring at these words and equations that make absolutely NO sense, and I'm just thinking, "I'll never do it. It will never get done." I just hate that feeling of sinking heart and that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when your hair-on-fire frustrated. I'm really slow in math, and technically I'm still in 7-8th grade math. But for me, that's pretty good. I just need a little more confidence, then I can do it. But until then, I think I'll complain a little. ;)

Little known facts on: Pancetta and Prosciutto

Pronounced Pan-chet-ta and pro-SHU-to, these two delicious Italian meats are barely known to Americans. What are they, you may ask? Well let's start with Pancetta. Pancetta is to Italians as bacon is to Americans. It is pork that has been salt cured, seasoned and then is left to dry cure for about three months. Every region of Italy has Pancetta, but it is a regional flavor in the region of Corsica. Pancetta will often come in discs, especially outside of Italy. But in Italy itself it comes in strips, like our bacon. Prosciutto, though also made from pork, is much different, as it is like our ham. It almost always in reference to dry-cured hams, and comes mostly the Parma region, also the home of parmigiano cheese. Prosciutto can take up to 8 months to cure, in some recipes. So those are the little known facts of the day. See you later!

The base of all books

Let me begin this post with writers. A good writer is inevitably a good reader, or a lover of books. And, a lover of books has a favorite book, of course. So they take ideas from their favorite book and put those ideas into their own stories. And this is like writing an infinity symbol. It can go on forever. But where does it start? With the base book, of course. The Bible. You see, I was reading my personal favorite book tonight, Little Women, written by Louisa May Alcott. HER favorite book is a book called Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, which is a Christian book. And what book DEFINES Christianity better than the Bible? So, therefore, the base book, where every other book begins, where every writer, even if it has been done unintentionally, gets inspiration, through the roots of other great writers who have gotten their inspiration is: The Bible. (That was a mouthful.)

The year went by so quickly!

Did you ever notice that every year, come June, you realize that well- it's June. And then you realize that Your halfway through the year. "Wow!" you say. "I CAN'T believe that we're already halfway through the year!" Come September, it is yet another milestone in the year. Fall, and the beginning of the school year. "Wow!" you say. "I CAN'T believe that it's time for school again!" It's all downhill from there. About once a month after that you'll most likely repeat your expressions of amazement. Then New Years Eve will come, and then you'll wrap up the year by saying, "Wow! This year went SO quickly!" And this will happen every year. What can I say? It's a tradition.

The nut of the gods, because only they can afford them

So you go to the store one day. You have the intentions of fulfilling the mission you have set out for yourself, which happens to be buying pine nuts. When you reach the "nut" aisle, you look and see that there are no pine nuts, but just darn things like almonds, mixed nuts and the dreadful "nut," which when people think of nuts, they think of this: the Peanut. And that darned "nut" isn't even a nut, since it doesn't grow in a tree! So you go on your way to the baking aisle, where slivered, crushed, and whole nuts are bagged in tiny, expensive packages. You were hoping not to have to come to this, but what must be done must be done. When you arrive, there is not even a mention of pine nuts. There are, once again, almonds and Peanuts ( :P ) and even hazelnuts. But even though the darned "nut" joined the group, there are no pine nuts, not even a walnut! So, frustrated, you push your cart into the bulk foods, squeezing it between the small aisles with the rows of tantalizing chocolates and mouth watering candies. You dodge through the many obstacles and make it to the nuts (most of them varieties of assorted darned "nuts") and finally, dazzling before your eyes: Pine Nuts!! You make a headlong dash to them, throwing aside customers and shelves in your excitement. You just got your second wind. Little did you know that it was about to run out... Here you are, scooping the shining golden nuts by the pound into your little plastic baggy, and then you see the price. $13.95 a Pound?!?!?!

I'm so happy, I'm shaking. A book I've been looking for for almost 6 years, and I finally found it!!!! It's called Journey to the Bright Kingdom by Elizabeth Winthrop. I tell you, tonight I was like, "I'll look again, because the internet is amazing and I'll find it!" AND I DID!! I had to search and search and look and look, but I found it!! And now I've put it on hold at the library. And I'm going to get it. It will be in my hand. After six long years I will read that book. God is wonderful.

I hate those darn Stratus clouds!

You know those days, when all you want is sun? You long to look out the window and see the pretty sunshine flowing over the earth? When YOU JUST FEEL OUT OF SORTS? You just got yourself a stratus day. A stratus cloud is that cloud where it's just a thick layer of gray, covering the sky. It blocks the blue, and it blocks the sunshine. And there you are, your little self, feeling annoyed and with a headache, still longing for sunshine under the roof of endless gray. Of the subject, my hair looks SUPER pretty at this moment, and I'm kinda wishing that I didn't have to sleep on it, since it's 11:17. Why bring up clouds and hair at a time like this? Well, I just thought I wanted to, so that should be a good enough reason for anyone!

Paulo

Clare and her new husband, Paulo are here. Paulo's super nice, and kind of quiet. Dave and Mayumi talked to them over ichat today. It was so funny! Mayumi and Paulo are both pretty quiet. Mayumi said 'Congratulations!' to which Paulo responded, 'Arigato.' It was hilarious!!! They talked about a Japanese amusement park that Dave and Mayumi had gone to, which had a Brazilian theme. Tonight Paulo is going to cook for us, and I can't wait to eat it! I want to see the cooking techniques he uses too.

Check it out!

I created a new blog! It's called Pumpkin Nutter, but I won't tell you about it. Go there and check it OUT!

Liz and Lily

Lily is feeling better, and I'm glad for that. Liz is over here right now with Isabella. Isabella can walk now and she is so cute! Liz brought doughnuts and they are really tasty. Well, I'll write more later.

Sick as a dog

Lily is truly sick now. This is a sickness I have never seen before. She doesn't get up often and she shivers. I don't know what I would do if she died. I just can't imagine it, let alone think about. I know that a dog dieing is no big thing, but it is to me. Please don't bother to comment on this post. I don't need comforting.