Hello friends! Well, it's Wednesday evening and I am writing my Thursday post tonight. Tomorrow will be quite busy for my little man and me. We have a play date in the morning followed by a quick stop at The Junior League Headquarters and a dinner date with my best friend Summer, ("Auntie Summer") and our two Mamas. Whew !
Today was a relaxing Wednesday. We really didn't do much at all. It was one of those warm summer days where we just allowed the day to unfold.
We spent a good portion of our day in the garden.
This morning , Gigi offered to babysit Robbie so I could go get a much needed pedicure! Ahh , how I love getting a pedicure!! I haven't had a professional pedicure in more than a year! In fact, I believe the last time I stepped foot, ( no pun intended) into a nail salon was April of 2011 when I was a very 9 months pregnant! All the same, it was one hour of pure bliss!
During my pedicure I started reading one of the books that my Rich's Grandma gave to him as a birthday present in July. I became so enthralled with this book, that over the time of a one hour pedicure, I read the first 50 pages or so! I just can't put this book down.
For those of you interested in reading this book,. here is a brief synopsis;
"Days before Chad Williams was to report to military duty in Great Lakes, Illinois, he turned on a television and was greeted with the horrifying images of his mentor, US Navy SEAL Scott Helvenston, being brutally murdered in a premeditated ambush on the roads of Fallujah, Iraq. Steeled in his resolve, Chad followed in Scott’s footsteps and completed the US military’s most difficult and grueling training to become a Navy SEAL. One of only 13 from a class of 173 to make it straight through to graduation, Chad served his country on SEAL Teams One and Seven for five years, completing tours of duty in the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Iraq.
Part memoir, part evangelism piece, SEAL of God follows Chad’s journey through the grueling Naval Ops training and onto the streets of Iraq, where he witnessed the horrors of war up close. Along the way, Chad shares his own radical conversion story and talks about how he draws on his own experiences as a SEAL to help others better understand the depths of Christ’s sacrifice and love."
Later in the afternoon, my Mom and I were going through old family photos when we came across this particular photo from 1953. My dad is the little boy on the left. He was around 2 years old when this photo was taken.
For supper this evening, my Mom and I made the Zucchini Boats that I featured earlier in the week. only this time, in an attempt to make them a little more figure friendly, we substituted a soy meatless product instead of sausage.
I also made a knock-off version of the fabulously creamy Avocado Egg rolls from The Cheese Cake Factory!! Yum!!! Here is the recipe if you would like to try them for yourself!
What You'll Need:
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, & diced
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 pinch salt
3 egg roll wraps
1 egg, beaten
Directions:
1. Stir together vinegars, tamarind, honey, and saffron in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute.
2. Stir until tamarind is dissolved.
3. In a blender, Puree tamarind mixture, cashews, 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, and cumin.
4. Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in oil.
5. Refrigerate until ready to use.
6. Gently stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 teaspoon cilantro, and salt.
7. Distribute filling evenly onto center of each egg roll wrapper.
8. Position a wrapper so that a corner is pointing toward you; fold the bottom corner up, 1/4 of the way over the filling.
9. Brush remaining corners and edges of the wrapper with egg, roll up from side to side, fold top corner over all and press to seal.
10. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
11. Continue by deep-frying the egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown.
12. Drain on brown paper bags.
13. Slice egg rolls diagonally across middle and serve with prepared dipping sauce!
14. ENJOY!
To cut back on the calories in this dish, I chose to bake my egg rolls with a little Olive Oil on each of them.
This evening, we watched a fun family flick! One I had never seen before. A movie called "Fly Away Home."
" The story follows a young girl from New Zealand who survives a car crash that results in the death of her mother. The young girl is sent to live with her father on an Ontario farm, where she adopts a brood of baby Canada geese. When the birds are imprinted with her as their Mother Goose, she realizes that unless she and her father can teach the birds a migration route from Ontario to North Carolina, the birds will not be able to survive the winter. The solution comes in the form of ultralight aircraft that is used to guide the birds to sanctuary.
The story was based on the actual experiences of Bill Lishman, who in 1986 started training geese to follow his ultralight and succeeded in leading their migration in 1993."
My Dad recommended this movie to me. Robbie has had such a fascination with ducks and geese lately that I thought it might be fun for him to watch a movie with me about them. Robbie mostly just enjoyed watching the geese fly on the television screen, he is obviously too young to understand the plot. I however really enjoyed the movie which has peaked my interest in the migration of geese. Which reminds me of a poem a friend gave to me a few Christmas' ago.
Lessons We Learn From Geese
Author Unknown, found on the internet by Jerry Ostermiller, President of Auto Profit Centers
Fact 1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a chevron or "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
Fact 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.
Fact 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.
Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.
Fact 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson: We need to make sure honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.
Fact 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.
Until next time . . .
Blessings,
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