My Prayer

Prayer is vital to my life. I believe that it is heard and answered--whether or not to my liking. Often I tell God what I want and how he can accomplish this desire, need, want, whatever. Foolish? Yep! But, oh so human.

So, along with my regular prayers for friends' health, safe travels, the work of missionaries, children's wayward ways, solace and comfort for peoples' sorrows, my spiritual growth, and more, I have added another urgency for the time being.

Please, Lord, help Casey mature between now and the start of school in September. Please?!

Prepare him to do his homework (all of it) out of personal motivation rather than parental oversight and prodding. Teach him to be joyful in geometry, Spanish, English, California history, science--not just in gym class.  Let him please his teachers--even those who are difficult to please..and, heaven knows that there are these.

Help him to understand that yes, he is only 13 and in the 8th grade but....what he does now counts and helps to determine his future. How he performs in these classes dictates where he will be placed in high school. Give him that unnatural ability to see the future in terms of his achievement, effort and depth of focus and desire.

He still wants to build with his legos, explore the creek below the park, play challenging games on his DS, improve in karate--in short, do all those things 13 year olds should do with their time. But...today's kids are being robbed of their childhoods by adults who forget their own childhoods. They are taking classes where teachers advise parents at the start of the year that it will be to the students' advantage to hire a tutor that year.Why? Because in the past, this 7th grade class, was not taught until high school.

The freedom to be Tom or Huck is long gone, but the heart of the boy that lived in them still beats in the boy of 2011. So, although my prayer is that Casey will grapple with and grow in self-motivation in his school work and accomplishments, we will see that he still has time for the boy things.

So, that is my prayer right now--a growing maturity that still allows for the joys and fun of being a kid. I believe that my God wants that, too, and will hear my prayer with a smile and a "yes."

For the record, he did achieve this year. And..we are proud of him.

Test 2 for Marta...using photos directly from the iPad









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Photo trial

Ignore this post. I am testing posting pictures via Blog Press for a friend.


















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Self Talk--How Useful Is It?

I haven't spent much time in life talking to myself. Such moments have pretty much been confined to self-recrimination when I've done something monumentally idiotic or when someone else has--like the driver in front of me. Of course, then, I am talking to him but he doesn't hear me. How could he with the mobile stuck to his ear?

Lately, though, I find myself in one way conversations much of the time. Not that I realize it right away. In fact, it may be hours before I make the discovery. It's the 12 year old in the house syndrome which I am becoming reacquainted with after a 28 year hiatus. How could I have so completely forgotten those days? Willingly, I think.

These dialogues go something like this....Casey, you need to pick up all that stuff from the floor....Yes, you can do it while you watch TV but make sure you get it done. (My mistake, I know.) Not until bedtime when I go back to that part of the house, do I discover that the only thing he heard was...you can watch TV.

Did I imagine the earlier conversation? Well, in a way, yes....it wasn't a conversation, was it?


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Giorgios Tuscan Lasagna

On the food thread on Slow Travel, I mentioned that I was making "Tuscan" lasagna which prompted the question "what is Tuscan lasagna?" Having mentioned that it uses a bechamel rather than a ragu type sauce and leaves out the ricotta cheese, more questions ensued. So....it just seemed easier to post the recipe which is from Group Recipes. We like it.

Word to the wise: unless you are a large family or need it for a potluck type affair, you may want to think of halving the recipe.

GIORGIO'S TUSCAN LASAGNA

1 lb ground sausage

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

1 lg white onion-chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

4 celery stocks--chopped

4 garlic cloves-chopped or pressed

1 small can tomato paste

l cube chicken boullion

1 cube beef boullion

1 can chicken broth

½ cup red wine

olive oil

2 cups cheese--shredded parmigiano and mozarella

2 cups shredded mozzzarella

pre-cooked lasagna pasta (or regular lasagna)

cooking spray

MEAT SAUCE

• saute vegetables in olive oil until soft and golden (use a pan big enough to hold the meat.)
• add meats and saute until well cooked
• add red wine and reduce
• add tomato paste--mix well
• add chicken broth and bouillon cubes
• bring to a boil--if needed add water to cover
• simmer at least one hour until broth has been reduced

Make BECHAMEL SAUCE while meat sauce simmers.

1.5 sticks butter

1 qt milk

flour

salt and pepper to taste

• melt butter completely
• add flour until all butter is absorbed (about 6 tbs.
• slowly add milk 
• stir until smooth and silky--thickened but not too thick

CONSTRUCT LASAGNA

• spray baking dish with cooking spray
• layer of meat sauce
• layer of bechamel sauce
• layer of mixed cheeses
• repeat layers
• finish with layer of  mozzarella and bechamel on top

Cover with foil and bake at 375° for an hour
Remove foil and brown the top layer under the broiler
Let rest for at least 10 minutes.

 Yummy!