Just Taking Notes

Feb. 13, 2008 - Wordless Wednesday

Posted in Wordless Wednesday

Tune in next time...

WWHQ

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Jan. 2, 2008 - New Year's Eve Bean soup

Posted in Fun with Food

Remember to eat poor for New Year's so you can live rich the rest of the year, right?

I need to jot down my latest favorite bean soup recipe that I came up with for our New Year's Eve Dinner. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Though name brands do not normally take the spotlight in our home, I feel that I must mention at least one in this recipe. Bush's beans. They are gas free and I love that aspect. Otherwise you can choose to soak dry beans overnight and let them sprout for a day or 2.

Ingredients
3 slices bacon
2 large carrots
2 stalks celery
1 med onion
6 cloves garlic
1lb smoked sausage
2 15oz cans Great northern beans, drained
1 15oz can black beans, drained
1 15oz can pinto beans, drained
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
2 Tbs thyme
1 Tbs oregano
1-2 tsp hickory salt or other smoke flavoring
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 qt water or broth, more or less for desired consistency

How to:

Cook bacon in heavy bottom pot (4qt or larger) until crisp
Remove from fat and crumble
Saute onion in reserved fat until tender
Add garlic, carrots and celery and cook until soft, remove from pot
Slice smoked sausage into 1/2" rounds and cook until brown
Return cooked vegetables, bacon, and remaining ingredients to sausage in pot
Simmer over med heat for 30 minutes or so
Serve with bread of your choice and lotsa hot sauce.

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Nov. 25, 2007 - Temporarily unavailable

Posted in Family life

My blog is going to be on hold for a while as I need to really cut back on some things in order to focus more on my home and family. Though this is but a very small portion of my time, it does take up time that should be devoted to other things.

So I might pop in to jot down a favorite recipe or document the annual Christmas photo, but I need to get some other things in order and this must go.

There now I feel free.

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Nov. 19, 2007 - Dave's Cancer Fight

Posted in Faith Matters

My husband has been employed with the same company for nearly 11 years and for 10 of those years he has worked 1-2 levels under the same man, Dave McCalley who is in his mid-forties. This year my husband has had a much more intimate work relationship with Dave and his respect for him has increased though my husband has always had great respect for this Christian man who is the son of a well known pastor here in town.

I am not fully informed, but from what I can remember my husband telling me, about two years ago, Dave began experiencing severe pain in his neck area. Cancer was ruled out and he was diagnosed with Trigeminal neuralgia, street name- "suicide disease". Just 2 weeks ago he was to have surgery performed to ease the pain and suffering of this horrible condition. However when he woke from his anesthesia, he found that the surgery had not taken place because of last minute complications. Within a day or two he learned that he has a difficult to diagnose stage 4 cancer, giving him a mere 50/50 chance of surviving.

This week he began treatment for his cancer which will last several weeks. I believe it is a clinical study treatment (or maybe that will come later). He has started a blog, Dave's Cancer Fight, for all to follow his progress. Please pray for him and his family as you read this and in the coming weeks when he comes to mind.

This has hit my husband rather hard. Dave is the third person in my husband's department to get cancer in the past 3-4 years. Tom did not survive his cancer and left his wife with 2 baby boys to raise. Mary had a bilateral mastectomy and is in remission and doing well.

Our mortality is staring us clearly in the eyes and, it is not easy to face.

Praise God this is not the end and that we have hope of eternal life with our Saviour. I praise God that he can take something so terrible and use it for His Glory. I know that no matter how Dave's condition leaves him, that he will glorify God in it all.

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