A Really Good Book about Sex

You may notice, if you study this blog scrupulously, that I've added a book about Sex to my favorites list. I just have to explain myself a little.

Kosher Sex explains sex in the sacred, beautiful light it deserves. Boteach (author) teaches some Jewish beliefs about the centrality of sex to a marriage, and how nothing could be more special, or bring two people closer than proper sexual relations WITHIN a marriage. He goes into great detail about how sex before marriage actually destroys one's ability to be completely trusting and innocent when married. He also explains some things that can inhibit a couple's sexuality, and he explains why masturbation and pornography can never bring a couple closer, only make one another more replaceable.

I love this book. I read it twice before I had to return it to the Savannah library. I recommend this book for all people who want to someday have a great sex life with a committed spouse. I did not find it explicit or offensive in any way. (There are no illustrations, but a few strange quotes at chapter headings.) I found it uplifting, profound, and deeply connecting with my religious beliefs.

Please email me if this book enriches your life. (If you want to share. No details, please. royal.spamcan@gmail.com)

Have you ever really lived in the country?

The first morning I spent at our new home was a Saturday. I had come alone to wait for our movers. I did everything I could to put our new, empty home in order. It took me about 15 minutes. Then, I sat outside on the big swing under our big shade tree. There is something very different about shade here. Shade in AL and GA isn't really any cooler than the sun because of the extremely high humidity. Here, in the shade, it is ALWAYS cooler. A lot cooler.

First, all I could hear were the bugs singing. Then, cows mooing. (We have a herd of cows behind our backyard.) Then, I heard a clip-clop, clip-clop sound. I waited and watched to see what it could be. A horsedrawn buggy full of Amish neighbors soon appeared. They waved and continued down the street and out of sight.

Royal and the girls came before the movers. That was fortuitous because it allowed us to decide together which bedroom would belong to whom. The girls busied themselves on the 2 childsize swings hanging on our big shade tree. They were only content with that for about 2 hours.

So, that was my first morning. Since then, we've become good friends with our Landlord who farms behind us. He lets us feed the cows at night, and occasionally takes Royal out to help with farm chores or other misc. work. We LOVE it more than I could have guessed. We've told Mr. Farmer that we'd love to someday raise chickens. He immediately said we could do it here, in our backyard. He would help us build a coop! Yeah, this is cool.

To Sneeze or not to sneeze is never a question.

Let's start my description of our new idyllic home with my only complaint.

I've never had allergies before moving here.

Please email me any ideas for battling them without medication. royal.spamcan@gmail.com

I'm taking prescription antihystamine eyedrops, claritin, and a daily dose of local honey. So far, I haven't clawed my eyes out. I've only wanted to.

We're no longer on the road!

Dear Fans,

My apologies for the LONG wait for more lovely posts.

To chronicle our exodus summarily:

July 22- Aug 3: Royal travels to Southeast Alabama to work TDY and visit his Mom and family
Aug 3-4: Royal brings Elizabeth and children to Alabama to stay with him at his Mom's house.
Aug 4-11: Royal and Elizabeth visit family in Alabama, meanwhile:
Sunday night, Aug 5, Royal hits a deer and totals our beloved Intrepid
Tuesday, Aug 8, We buy a relative's car to continue the Exodus
Saturday, Aug 11, we drive north to Central KY to find a place to live
Aug 12: Go to new church congregation (called a ward), meet people, drive to Lexington to stay with Elizabeth's Mom while we look for housing in KY

Aug 13-17: Search desperately for something large and inexpensive, meanwhile:
Monday, Aug 13, Royal throws out his back while in town (all the driving is very hard on his lower back.)
Tuesday, Aug 14, Elizabeth narrows search down to a tiny rental house and a larger trailer in a park.
Wednesday, Aug 15, Royal goes to sign lease on tiny house- which he hadn't previously seen- and sees a Dr., Chiropractor, and physical therapist (all in one day.)
Thursday, Aug 16, We have a little Bday celebration.
Friday, Aug 17, we drive all the way back to Savannah to close the sale of our little home.

Aug 18-23: Sell and empty our home. Prepare to drive back to KY.
Aug 24-26: Stay with Elizabeth's Mom and wait for stuff to arrive

Aug 27: First night in our new home. It is completely wonderful. More on that to come.

Aug 28-Sep 3: Unpack most everything. (THANK YOU, ROYAL!!!!! He worked like a slave.) Elizabeth develops deathly allergies to heaven-only-knows-what.

Sep 4-7: Royal brings us with him to work TDY at FT. Campbell. We stayed in a hotel.

Sep 8-9: Home sweet home. Allergies return. Elizabeth goes to an urgent care clinic. We meet our church friends again.

Sep 10-14: Another week at Campbell in a hotel. Meanwhile:
Tuesday, Sep 11, Grace smashes her head into a corner in the hotel corridor, and receives 10 stitches in the ER.


Wed, Sep 12, We rent gamecube game Cars. It's very fun.

Sep 15-present: WE ARE FINALLY BACK FOR "GOOD"!!!!!!!!!

Moving, Moving, Moving, keep those doggies moving...

Well, we're outta here! I won't say out of the south period because we're moving to the big KY. People there still speak with southern accents.

The thing I like about the big KY is that the bugs don't speak with a southern accent. Which is why, the mosquito population is miniscule compared to coastal GA. Them darn Skeeters just don't like the cool evenings in that sophisticated part of the northern South. They have glow bugs up there! GLOW BUGS. I mean fireflies. A magical modern mystery which I personally find enchanting. They don't even bite! Which is why I say they have no southern accent. They haven't been shown how to prey on the flesh of other hardworking people, unlike the bugs in coastal Georgia.

We also saw some Amish people while we were driving around! We would love to live among/near the Amish! Them there's some people with values, morals, and good work ethic.

Well, so long for now. And, if you're one of our dignified, educated (or educationing) friends in GA, I just have one more thing to say. Okay, two.

1. We'll miss you. (Our friends here have been devoted and few in number.)
2. I can't think of the other one.

Hasta La Vista, Baby!

RELIEF SOCIETY WHAT????

In my church, we have a completely lay ministry. (Everyone who works at the church is a volunteer.) Actually, everyone who joins my church is expected to work in whatever capacity they are asked to.

So, how it works is, the Bishop is the man "in charge" of a congregation (called a ward.) Sometimes he preaches on Sunday, but usually he asks other members to give short "sermons" (on an assigned religious topic) to the congregation. We call that "giving a talk". So, different members of the ward do the preaching.

Anyway, the Bishop works with 2 other volunteer men to find people to do the church work. He prays with those men about who the Lord would like to have serving in any given "job"(we say "Calling"). Then, he asks that person if they are willing to do the task. If they say yes, the Congregation is given a chance to vote to sustain or object, and then the individual receives training on how to do the calling right.

Well, 2 weeks ago, I was asked to serve as Relief Society (Our women's organization) President. It is one of the biggest jobs in a ward.

So, I'm praying that the Lord will make me into whatever it is he would like me to be. I can't imagine a calling I might be less adequate for. You can pray for me too, if you get a moment.

So much for my sweet, peaceful, lazy summer... ;-)

Marital Advice in the Scriptures

As proper and happy marriage has been one of my goals since childhood, I have often asked the question, "Why isn't there more guidance for couples and marriage in the holy scriptures?"

Well, yesterday I had an insight which is neither original nor unique. Yet, it answered my question. The answer is:

"All of scripture is marital guidance."

Which I take to mean, all true principles found in God's word also apply to happy marriage. Let me give you an example.

Take the scripture, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." Romans 1:16

Personal meaning might be something like I am not afraid to be a Christian in public places. As in, I am not afraid to pray over my food in a restaurant, or I am not afraid to be honest in situations where it is unpopular, or I am proud to know my Lord.

But, as marriage guidance it might mean that You and Your spouse should not be embarrassed to have Christ in your home. You're not embarrassed to read the Bible together. You're not embarrassed to have His picture on your wall.

So, now I see that the scriptures can be likened unto a couple as well as unto an individual. Wow!

There is a plethora of marriage advice in there!

The Jury is In

Well, I only got one vote emailed in. It was to make my next major goal Learning Spanish, which I am doing a (very) little.

Anyway, in spite of minimal poll results, I have decided what my next "major" pursuit will be, and it turns out it didn't make the original list. (See last post.)

It could generally be termed Health.

My new health goal includes the following:

First, learning how to eat well on my current budget and with my current family

Also first, tweaking my personal fitness level.

Second, learning more about food.

And, eventually: Growing more of our own food, Using some all around good supplements, Learning how to preserve food, using food storage, learning about relationship between diet and female hormone-related mood-swings, etc.

Our current family project is to take on Dr. Weil's program called 8 weeks to optimum health. (Check out the book at your library!)

We're trying to successfully do "one week" every month. So, for 4 weeks, we'll be trying to master Week One of his program.

Optimum Health sounds exactly like what I'm looking for, and most of what he says is extremely intuitive and makes common sense. I'll let you know as we progress.

Speaking of week one, I better go take some Vitamin C!

Summer Days

Well, my days of teaching Seminary are at an end.

It is a wonderful time for me. I'm able to do things I didn't have time for before, for example take a shower. I actually responded to an email this morning. I have time that is disgressionary! It is so cool! I've just joined a gym, and I've been to 4 workout classes already. (More on that in another post.)

Now, I'm trying to decide which personal area I want to set goals in. Let's have a vote!

I could start working on:

Scrapbooking (finish my wedding album for starters...)
Learning Spanish
Social dancing
Playing the Piano
Playing the Violin
Singing lessons

What do you think? email me at royal.spamcan@gmail.com

Actually, that's royal's junk mail address, but he forwards everything to me!

We love you all!

Apples to Tomatoes

Sienna hasn't been as talkative a child as Grace was. And we've never minded that. But, recently her language and vocabulary have exploded.

She was calling everything that looked edible and round an apple. (pronounced " 'a-poo" with accent on the a as in apple.)

And, we are growing several tomato bushes in the garden. They have been loaded with green tomatoes for awhile. So, every day (for months) in the garden, Sienna would touch a green tomato and say, "A-poo". I would say to Sienna, "No, baby, that is a tomato." And, then one turned red. And I would say, "It is a tomato, Sienna".

Last week, she found a ripe strawberry on our single strawberry plant. I waited for the usually "A-poo". She looked up and squealed, "Tomano!" (pronounced like tomato). Now everything red is a tomano. I'd say that is definite progress!

Blueberry Merry

Well, if you carefully read a post I made months ago, You know I planted 3 blueberry bushes this spring. I've wanted to plant fruit for years, and I have always been too afraid to do it. Well, I did it! and this morning, we picked our first batch of ripe berries. We got about 15!

We had a problem with disappearing berries for awhile. We would get a berry almost ripe, and then it would suddenly vanish. Royal suggested we use netting. So, we made some pretty primitive nets for the bushes. The next day, I found a surprise in my net! A live bird caught himself in the netting! I freed the bird on the condition he tell all his friends that if they don't stay away from my berries, they won't get off so lucky! It worked! The birds have stayed out of the netting since then, and our berries have stayed on the bushes!

We got a picture, but I don't have it yet.

PS: my beloved canon just broke. Don't buy canon. I should have listened to the Jungheims and bought Nikon. Anyway, pictures are harder to get now. So, sorry if they are less frequently posted.

A Call for Quick, Simple Recipes

Dear Readers,

I'm looking for Quick, simple recipes that you use commonly. Please email them to royal.spamcan (at symbol) gmail.com

Here's one of my favorite, from the box:

Sea Shells Con Broccoli (From Mueller's pasta box)

16oz Pasta Sea Shells
4-8 cups fresh chopped broccoli florets, uncooked
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic, minced or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tbsp dried rosemary
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped fine
1/4 cup white grape juice concentrate
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

-Cook sea shells according to package directions, adding broccoli tha last 2 minutes of cooking itme
-Drain cover and set aside
-Heat oil in large skillet, add garlic, basil, rosemary, and tomatoes. Cook 2 minutes.
-Add juice and reduce by 1/2. Add broth.
-Toss in broccoli and sea shells, stir until heated through.
-Add cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.


The way I changed it was,

I do not add broccoli to pasta,
Instead, I add broccoli with garlic, etc, to hot oil. I stir fry for 2-3 min, then add juice and broth.
Then I simmer broccoli with other ingredients for 2-4 minutes.

Also, I didn't have sundried tomatoes. I just added fresh tomatoes.


This recipe is DELICIOUS!! PLEASE send me more! royal.spamcan@gmail.com

Garden Harvest

Today we harvested the first fruits of our garden. Our small garden has grown very well this year. It yielded 1 medium sized tomato, 1 not quite ripe blueberry, and one small okra pod (a favorite of mine). We are, of course, expecting much more in the weeks to come, but this was a tasty start. I fried up the okra and ate it myself, and we all shared slices of the tomato. Elizabeth was surprised at the deep red throughout the flesh. She's used to store-bought tomatoes, picked before ripe--while they're still green, I think. Grace didn't want to share the tomato as it came from "her tomato plant." I also sampled a Nasturtium leaf (tastes like radish).

As I planted six or so okra plants, and as they produce ripe pods every two days, I imagine we'll have plenty of okra to share with the neighbors.

Cheers from the wonderland,
Royal

The Bath Girlfriend

Seven more days of seminary... and I mean days of class.

Wow! The end is in sight!

This morning I was letting Sienna out of her high chair after breakfast when I said, "You need a bath, Girlfriend!"

Her hair was characteristically stiff and pointing stiffly in every direction.

Just then, Grace asked me, "Who will be the bath girlfriend?"

The Tightwads are Back (Via a threat to our cush job)

For those of you who didn't previously enjoy our family newsletter, we ran a regular column about things you can do to squeeze more out of your money. We call it our Tightwad tidbit, and I'm including one below.

We've been quite comfortable with our Dave Ramsey cash budget for 2 years now. But, the Union at Royal's workplace is threatening his job. (He refuses to join the Union or sign anything agreeing to support the Union.) So, he has been threatened twice now that he will be fired- soon.

On that note, our tightwad tendencies came rushing back in, and our budget suddenly got a LOT more modest. We are saving all excess cash for the ominous unemployment on the horizon.

Just at the right moment, my Mom shared a recipe with me that we have found delicious and infinitely more palatable than oatmeal. (My girls love oatmeal sweetened with jam, but I would rather skip breakfast than eat it.) I hope this little blessing can come in handy for you, too. It really tastes good, inspite of being cheap and healthful. Go figure!

The TMM Tightwad TIdbit for 2007 #1

Cheap and delicious breakfast (actually pleases picky eater Mom, 1 yr old, 4 yr old, and Big Daddy)

1/2 cup *cracked wheat berries
Just under 1 Cup Water
2 Tbsp light brown sugar

1. Add water and wheat to bowl.
2. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. Watch, it will "grow" over the edge like oatmeal.
3. Stir and leave in microwave to thicken. Approx. 3 minutes, or enough time to do your daughter's hair and brush your teeth, or empty your dishwasher, or load your dishwasher, etc.
4. Stir in brown sugar, and feed to family when cool enough to eat. I usually find after the thickening period, that it is cool enough. This yields one serving. If I make four servings, I sometimes still don't get any after the girls are done eating. (My girls really have appetites.)


*Cracked wheat: how do you get it?

As a mormon, we buy wheat berries in 100 lb bags for dirt cheap from the local Bishop's storehouse (because we like to have food on hand for emergencies). I'm talking about $0.25/lb dirt cheap. If you are non-mormon, email me and I'll try to hook you up with a local "provider". You can buy wheat from health food stores, but it is usually at about %500 markup.

*Cracked wheat: how do you crack it?

Take wheat berries and put them through a hand mill (hand crank wheat grinder) at a very coarse setting. It is about half way between whole wheat berries and flour. The wheat berries should look like they are cut into thirds or so.

You can also put them in a blender and experiment with the amount of time.

I think some electric wheat grinders also have very coarse settings that would work.