Tagged???

Matt just sent a comment that said I had been tagged. I have no idea what that means in blogspeak. I don't even remember being darted and I have not been released into the wild

Smiley's People

Can we all just agree that John Le Carre is the best flipping spy novelist in the world??? What I enjoy most about him is that his writing does not insult you. Most other spy fiction treats the reader as if they were 15 years old. Not Le Carre. His books are smart, funny at times, a bit convoluted, but most of all, intelligent. Ther are really no shoot-em-ups, car chases or other overt violent acts. It's thinking. It's dialogue. It's not trying to kill the other guy but to out-think and out-maneuver them.

I can't always get through his novels. A couple of them have thrown in too many characters that are referenced 100 pages later. But 'Smiley's People' is the pinnacle. In the movies, Alec Guinness played George Smiley (absolutely perfect casting) and even Le Carre said that after that, he couldn't picture George Smiley without the image of Alec Guinness.

Sure, "Smiley's People' is a bit convoluted. It wouldn't work otherwise. Go read it. If necessary, get the BBC series from Netflix.

Regan's birthday party review

Controlled pandemonium is probably the best way to describe Regan's party. Probably 20 or so kids and about the same number of adults. It was a simple party, with a lot of games, cake, ice dream and other snacks with some coffee.

There was a movie with Tony Curtis in it (might be 'Some Like It Hot') where there is a bar fight going on and he is walking with a drink in each hand. As he waslks through this bar, bodies are flying and punches are being thrown all around him, but he miraculously makes it through the entire bar with a drop being spilled. That's how I felt at times during the party. Kids and balls flying everywhere and I;m just barely able to make it unscathed from one side of the room to the other.

Regan's birthday party

Today is Regan's first birthday party. ACtually, she won't be 1 until Monday, but the party is today. As we all know, a kid's first birthday party is not for the kid at all. It is for the parents who have survived the first year. Although Regan will get her own little birthday cake today to do with what she will.

We've probably got aobut 30 people coming. It's a simple affair. Cookies, coffe, cake and ice cream We're having it at in the big multi-purpose room at the church.

There will be an official review of the party tomorrow

Wild Mushroom Fettucine

Gotta try this recipe

You need

1 1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms soaked in 3 cups hot water for 30 min
3/4 stick of butter
5 garlic cloves
1 lb various mushrooms
parsley
fresh grated parmesan


Melt the butter and add the garlic for 3 min

Add the other mushrooms for 6 min

Add porcini for 2 min

Mix in parsley and serve over fettucine with parmesan.

Earthy and good!!

The One Constant

I'm realizing that my family and I are still in transition, even though I have landed a job. It has become clear to me, even after just a couple of weeks that this job is not much more than a 'port in the storm' rather than a long-term solution. So I'm still putting job feelers out there to see what is available. Plus the church positions that I am looking at. Plus some possible changes in my ministry description at Bay Hills. Plus the fact tht the ARM on our home will end in August and we will have to figure out what to do then.

But there is a constang that never changes, and that constant is God. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow."

I take comfort in this, knowing that our transitions and seemingly lack of permanence right now are covered by the steadfastness of God. Things, people and situations may change for us, but God does not. His love, care, grace and mercy and constant and never-changing

Haricot Verts

No, this is not an obscure Swedish theologian.

These were the bomb (that's a good thing!) at dinner last night. I got a package of these at Trader Joe's (not cheap...$2.49 for an 8-oz pkg) and cooked them up for dinner...along with grilled chicken.

Here's all you do. Saute the beans in a little olive oil with a minced clove of garlic, a little oreganoand a squeeze of lemon juice. Bon Appetit!