Yes, I Prayed For This Snow

If you grew up enjoying four seasons, then living in  Southern California can seem like paying an unending penance for something you can't remember doing. We spent thirty some years there. Our sons, who were all born there, never understood why their dad and I didn't love having a whole year that seemed vaguely Summer, but each year I hated it more.

As this March started coming to an end, I found myself praying for one more snowfall, just so I could sit and watch, enjoy the luxury of the chill, knowing I didn't have to go anywhere or do anything. I prayed, and I dreamed that I would watch the deer in the yard as my final snowfall of the season accumulated across our property. 

It began last night, and I've been smiling all day. It's supposed to keep going through the night, and on into tomorrow. They're calling the part that's coming later tonight a "blizzard." I'm going to try to sit up and watch. I have the deck light turned on now. And you know what? I don't have anywhere to go until Saturday evening. The deer come to us. Of course, the newspaper might not make it up here in the morning. Worse things happen to people everywhere. It won't effect my smile. 

I sure got what I asked for. Now I can start preparing mentally for baseball season.

A Daydream: Four of Me

Since there are never enough hours in the day to follow all my passions, I thought back to those days when our three sons played baseball at the same time on three different fields. I had quipped to my Mom that I was either going to have an out of mind or an out of body experience. I thought that, since I couldn't figure out the logistics to the out of body deal, the out of mind would have to do. So far, it's worked for me.

As the years go by, I've never quite given up the notion that if there were more of me, I could do several things at once. I've gotten to the point where my daydream is to have four of me. You've probably met most of us.

Kathleen the Writer: I'll probably forget to eat unless someone comes in and stares at me for a long time. I'll get up in the middle of the night with an idea for that chapter I'm working on. If I disappear in the middle of the afternoon, I'm probably taking a nap. If I'm not there, check the decks. I'm probably on one of them with a stack of printouts and a red pen. If I'm thinking about the best way to edit something, being out with the pines and the deer help me clear my mind.

The Musician: Just stand still and listen. I'm probably all by myself with the guitar or accordion somewhere. Check the basement or or the back deck. I could be out by the fire pit. If I'm learning new music, I'm probably near the computer. What am I playing? It could be anything, but probably something you've never heard before. 

The Crafter:  Most of the time there's a gift in progress, but lately I've started making a sweater for myself. It's a short-sleeved knit I just started. We'll see how much time I actually give to that. Usually it's baby gifts, crochet as often as knit, and sometimes it's bead work or leather tooling instead of yarn, but that's not often.

The Cook-Hostess: Isn't it fun to just make time to spend in the kitchen, fixing things for family and friends to enjoy? It's especially great when guests are coming to visit and you can let them know how special they are.

Good things to bake and wonderful recipes to prepare keep calling me, but there's only one of me, and I'm already busy being the Writer, Musician and Crafter. Yes, there's only one of me. I can dream of being four people, but so far I haven't worked it out. We share one body, wearing each other out. We work in rotating shifts, share the same computer, and try to get each other to finish her project quickly and please not to start another...

My New Writing Group

Tomorrow morning I get to meet some of the people who belong to my new writer's group. The group is called the Northern Colorado Writers, and they have a studio in Fort Collins, roughly forty minutes from our home. I'm going to one of their morning meetings tomorrow, and I'll be getting some information and getting to know some of the writer members. The best is yet to come.

On April 3rd and 4th, I'll be attending their annual writer's conference. That's great, since I believe we'll still be in Holland when the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's conference is held in September, so it looks like I'll be missing that one. This one is much closer to home, as well, and I can commute, which makes the cost much less. Actually, the cost is lower anyway. Northern Colorado Writers also sponsors critique groups and workshops, available in their studio. 

Since I'm deeply involved with editing my manuscript, I'm thrilled to have this new support group so close to home. Having my new laptop computer to work with will sure make a difference when it comes to traveling back and forth to workshops and conferences, too. That's right—I'm still counting my blessings.

Ringling 5 Lyrics

Less than three weeks ago, I signed up for a thirty-day free trial to some software that tells me some interesting things about my blog. Where are visitors coming from? How do they find me? Do they come back? All of this is immensely interesting to me. I'm not quite sure why.

I've been delighted to note that four people in less than three weeks have found my blog by searching for the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, the Ringling 5's wonderful song, "If Jesus Had Been a Norwegian." I mentioned it on one of my blogs, but never wrote down the lyrics. Let me explain that the Ringling 5 is a group of seven guys from Montana. I know, they might be math challenged, but they're very funny. They also have some wonderful songs that are not funny at all, like "Grandpa's Barn." I did quote the lyrics for that in an earlier blog entry. It's worth a read, a think. They're very talented. My wonderful pastor from our pre-retirement life gifted us with copies of all their CDs, and they're wonderful additions to my insane music collection.

So for those of you who continue looking for those lyrics, I'm typing them out here. And those of you who have never heard of the Ringling 5, I suggest you might read the lyrics and check out their website. You can, of course, buy their music there. Meanwhile, here's that song, so you can quit searching...

If Jesus Had Been A Norwegian

If Jesus had been a Norwegian, 

Things would be so different today.

Instead of Matthew, Mark and Luke and John,

We'd have Sven and Lars and Oleg.

Walking on the water 

Would be no special trick,

'Cause all over Norway, 

The ice is awful thick.

If Jesus was a Norsky, 

We'd all eat lutefisk.

We'd have lefse for Communion, 

And there'd be no Methodists.

If you wanted to say Amen, 

We're not gonna let ya.

At the end of every prayer we'd shout,

"Ya, sure, you betcha!"

There'd be no December birthday.

You'd be frozen where you lie.

If Jesus was born in Norway, 

Christmas would be in July.

Feeding all the multitude 

Would be an easy task.

With one big bucket of lutefisk, 

"Please no more," they'd ask.

But Jesus was no Norsky.

It could not be done.

Jews are much more serious.

'Wegians too much fun.

But the deciding factor 

When God searched around,

He scanned all of Norway, 

Three wise men were not found.

Ya, sure, you betcha!

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

If your curiosity is killing you, lefse is a Norwegian flat bread, and I understand flat refers to taste as well as shape. Lutefisk, is defined as cod soaked in plutonium (yum), and dates back to the Viking era. I guess that's why there are so many fast food restaurants in the world.

Now, if I start having people look for other songs, like "I'll be Mellow When I'm Dead," I might consider putting up lyrics occasionally. My daddy sang some songs I've never heard anywhere else. Every time I sing one, people look at me really strangely, but they do laugh. Too bad I can't put up a song as easily as lyrics, but there you have it.

Chicken Tacos with Paprika Sour Cream

Last month John found a recipe for Chicken Tacos in the Sunday newspaper and handed it to me, asking if I'd try it for him. In the last month, we've had them six times. That's probably overdoing it, but I've made them three times, plus we've had leftovers each time, so I'll count it as six meals. Each time it was a treat. I decided tonight to put it down on my blog for all my friends.

I was thinking about my sister Ellen when I made it tonight, since there's cumin in the recipe and she's allergic to that. I've added cilantro to the original recipe, though, and I don't think she'll miss the cumin if she uses the cilantro. It adds such a wonderful flavor. I have made some changes to the original recipe, so I'm putting it down as I make it, not as the original calls for, so I hope any of you who try it will enjoy it as much as John and I do.

Smoked Paprika Sour Cream Sauce
1-2 limes (1/4 Cup lime juice)
1 cup Sour Cream
1 tsp. Smoked Paprika (regular is fine, if that's what you have)
1/2 tsp. Salt

Tacos
1 Medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups Grape or Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped coarsely
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 tsp. Chili Powder
2 tsp. Dried Oregano
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 to 1 1/2 Pounds Ground Chicken
1/2 cup Water
± 8 Soft white corn tortillas, lightly grilled, or cooked however you like your tacos.

Paprika Sour Cream Sauce:
Squeeze juice from limes into a medium bowl and add the sour cream, paprika and salt, stirring until mixed. Refrigerate until ready for use.

For the Tacos:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.
Add chili powder, oregano, cumin and garlic powder, mixing to coat the onion evenly.

Add the ground chicken, breaking it up into small pieces at it goes into skillet. Stir to combine, then add the water, tomatoes and cilantro breaking up the chicken further with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Use the spoon to break any large clumps that might remain. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Cook tortillas as you prefer. I like to lightly grill in a sauté pan with a combination of butter and grapeseed oil (to prevent butter from burning) then blot well on paper towels. We like them to be not quite crisp, still flexible.

Put about 1/2 Cup of the Filling Mixture, plus about 2 Tbsp of the Sour Cream Sauce on each taco shell. Makes about 8-12 tacos.

How Sweet It Is

Having been told to call the Apple Store at eleven o'clock today to see if any of the Mac Pro notebooks had come in, I was fairly proud of myself for holding off until ten thirty. Within five minutes I was racing down the stairs. Mom would have been amazed that I didn't kill myself, I was going so fast. I knocked on John's office door, yelling, "They're in, honey. They're putting our name on one of the boxes!" He swiveled his chair around and gazed at me blankly. "Huh?"

So I guess he wasn't quite as single-minded in watching the clock and thinking about his decision to buy me that computer as I was. Once he figured out what I was talking about, however, he was really great about getting his radios and computer shut down and heading out to the car for the hour plus drive to the Apple Store in Broomfield. 

Getting a new computer was always exciting, but it was also a chore, since it took a couple of days to get everything ported over and all the settings fixed the way you want. Then software would have to be reinstalled, passwords reentered. Drivers downloaded and set up. So much to do. When Apple introduced the Time Machine, though, things changed. I never think about backups, but always have one now. I just have a drive that sits quietly on the desk, and every once in awhile, the time machine feature automatically sends all my changes to the drive. If I've done a lot of work, I'll just go into my menu bar and select the "Backup Now" option. If anything ever goes wrong on your computer, it really comes in handy. That's the purpose. 

Even better, though, is when you get a new computer and find out that you can get it all set up, just the way you like it, software and settings, passwords and drivers and everything, in about fifteen minutes, just by selecting "Migrate from Time Machine" when it first turns on. So cool. I spent that fifteen minutes peeling potatoes and carrots for dinner. That, of course, made John happy. It also gave some company to the corned beef and cabbage in the pot.

Writing my blog entry is my first real task on the new computer. It's sure easier to be able to see, since I can get closer to the screen. Thank you, John. There will be chicken tacos for you tomorrow night.

Anticipation

Unbelievable. First, imagine traveling with a desktop computer—even a small one. Remember the monitor and keyboard have to be packed along with the CPU. Even though it's a Mac Mini, there are still parts that have to come along. The mini has a tiny hard drive, so that means taking along a peripheral drive with my files on it. What good is a writer without files? And what good is my iPod if I can't update it with new audio books?

The obvious reason for this prologue is that I've been dreaming about getting a laptop for quite awhile. The days I spent in the Apple Store over the past three weeks "allowed" me plenty of time to look at and play with the new Macintosh laptops. Wow. It was pretty difficult not to come home without a huge case of the covets. John kept asking me if I'd picked out my new laptop, and I'd laugh and say, "Sure, I want the middle sized pro." Then he let me know, after the taxes were done, that the large pro wasn't that much more, and that's what I should get, with my poor eyesight. He also wants to spring for the anti-glare screen, an extra $50. 

"I don't need that." 

"Sure you do."

We've had a good time discussing it. Today we decided (he decided, after looking at the budget really carefully) that it was now or never, and it was important enough to do it now. Here comes the funny part. Prepare to laugh.

Apple is sold out. There isn't one for sale in the entire State of Colorado. We could order it online, but can't get his "I work as a military consultant" discount. We want that discount. I figure that, since we're already paying our own transportation, food and hotel when he works for them, getting a discount on a laptop is a nice recompense, and doesn't cost the government anything. It's something Apple does for military and government workers. Now that's patriotic. No pinheads there. I should tell Bill O'Reilly. 

Maybe they'll get some more of those sweet machines in tomorrow in the eleven o'clock delivery. If not, they will probably be on Monday's truck. Meanwhile, I logged on to eBags and ordered a carrying case. Next time I travel, I'm going in style. It was a great deal, too, and even cheaper for being purchased on St. Patrick's Day. Cool. I love a deal.