Crafty Celebrations

How do you celebrate with people? Are you a card writer or a party thrower?

As you might have guessed, I make stuff. When my best friend went into labor, I knitted baby hats until the birth announcement text arrived. For me, it's more than just giving a gift. The making helps me feel like I'm part of the process, part of the party.

I pulled out fabric tonight to celebrate with a dear friend. She leaves this week to bring home her new daughter from China. Before my sewing machine, quilt in process, I'll rejoice while they celebrate with baby Miriam.

Last week, we celebrated with another sweet friend who is welcoming baby number two. Picking out fabrics felt like I was nesting. {Personal revelation - maybe this is how I stave off the baby bug.}

Our house was covered in craft for a week - banner, mobile, dresses. I lost myself in whimsical fabric. Finishing in time to start again. {This time, DH is traveling, so the mess isn't quite as disturbing to family life.}

Garden Party 2012

What is she doing? The half-crazed woman stabs the ground over and over in the late dusk. Hurriedly plunging seeds into the ground before the sun carries its last lingering rays around the world. Must finish before dark; I will look like a cult priestess planting seeds by moonlight.

I've remained uncharacteristically silent about the garden this year, even though I have more time, plants, and successful garden-harvested meals than any other year. The disappointing end of previous gardens has humbled me. At least for April and May. All plants looks promising in early spring.

This year, I started in early April with the ground preparing and the seed buying. By mid-April, I picked up half price plant packs for spring crops and the garden was well underway. I seem to add new plants every 2 weeks as I find more space.

Space. Isn't that every gardener's dilemma? Produce is addictive. I have more space, more plants, more variety than ever, but in my head, all I can see is what I could plant with more space. Maybe this year the Lord will teach me garden contentment {a positive step from the lesson in futility of the last two years}.

Spinach Crust Pizza

Anyone else wonder why the hospital staff let you leave with your children? I just blamed the cat for failing to recycle his empty food can.

Which leads me to another confession: I open the can of food and drop it outside the back door for the world's greatest cat.

This mini catharsis has nothing to do with the body of my post. It's just the moment I'm living in. Hanging out in the back yard between events. Big one is feeding me pebble pancakes while small ones harasses, I mean cooks for the world's greatest cat.

A jam packed weekend... I miss picking up a pizza from Costco or even better, Papa Murphey's. I don't like griping about the gluten free thing. A modified diet is an easy solution to avoid weekly migraines. But convenience was nice.

We've battled through several gf pizza recipes, none with great success. But then I stumbled upon a recipe from Mollie Katzen in the Moosewood Cookbook. I had to make instant adjustments based on what my crisper contained, but we now have a terrific gluten free pizza crust.

Without yeast, you can pull the finished pizza out of the oven an hour after you start the recipe. And, for you Mommas who like to fortify everything with veggies {sounds much less deceptive than 'sneak'}, the crust is spinach. Join me as a dance a recipe jig!

source

Spinach-Crust Pizza

Ingredients:
1 bag fresh spinach, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c whole wheat/grain flour {millet, sorghum, buckwheat, etc...}
1/2 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c grated parmesan
2 T olive oil
salt, crushed red pepper, basil to taste

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together, then press into a greased pie plate {deep dish} or 9x13 casserole dish {thin crust}. Bake at 415 degrees for 30-35 minutes until the crust is crispy and edges turn golden brown.

Remove from oven and top with your favorites. Ours are:
Saute'd mushrooms
Fresh tomatoes
Onions
Pine nuts
Sun-dried tomatoes
Black olives
More cheese!

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is to your liking. Slice and serve!

Compulsive Listing

I love lists. Writing them, organizing them, checking them off {I smile just thinking about checking a box}.

What? No one is surprised?

Actually, I love lists because I'm not naturally organized. I'm a habitual forgetter - drove my mom nuts. When I can't do anything, I remember, then forget when I could. This causes great anxiety because my forgetfulness always lets someone down, usually DH.

But once a task is on the list, it's as good as done. No more forgetting. It's in black and white on Evernote, so computer and phone and even DH can remind me to get it done.

When I sit down in the morning to read and pray, my mind spins with what I need to do, when I have time to do it, what order, what priority. I want to start my list. Then I won't have to think about it any more. I can focus:

God, let me get my stuff in order, then we can talk. Just let me schedule my day, then you can have my full attention.

That sounds so reasonable. 5, maybe 10 minutes to order my tasks and clear my mind before I spend time with God. But it never works. Now I am distracted by the list. Did I forget to add something? Should I plan the rest of the week too? Did I leave room for blogging and cleaning and playing with the girls?