Lassie! Lassie!!! Come Home!

Did you ever watch Lassie? You know they just had to call that dog and she came running! Now I'm a Sassy Lass as you can see by the name of my blog. When I was in college I had to take some math class that was tedious and stupid because I am so lame in math...I finally quit going to class. One of my friends said that the teacher called my name every day as he did everyone else's and then marked me as not in attendance. One day he said my name and then remarked..it's kind of like calling for Lassie but this one never comes running. I thot that was pretty funny.

Now how does that link up to what I am going to blog about you might ask! Well a couple of people have said they check my blog from time to time but haven't found much ...even a very long absence and it's true. I loved blogging and realized once I stopped that it was really because I had used the blog like journaling the majority of time as I processed my grief over Jeff's death.

Oh, yes, I did write humorous blogs, cuz you know, I am humorous! I just can't help it. What is interesting to me is that I still had a sense of humor after that huge loss in my life. I am so grateful that it never disappeared along with my Son. Humor can be a coping mechanism so perhaps thats why ... I don't know. I'm not a sociologist. I'm just me...a Sassy Lass..and only Sassy really when I need to be or think it's fun to be.

Yesterday I had lunch with a fellow friend and blogger...i look hers up every day because I take such delight in them...That Reckless Quilter writes a great blog! During our lunch the blogging came up and she encouraged me to keep on blogging. So that's why I am here. Maybe now that I dont seem to need to process my grief, it will be interesting to see what I write about.

KCP and I had lunch at Havana in Walnut Creek or as she calls it Brookside (LOL - private joke). She loves to eat adventurously (is that a word?) I have been to ChaChaCha in SF so I knew I loved Cuban..done deal.

We hadn't seen each other in a very long time and really hadn't had a chance to catch up ever..we had such a blast. we are very much alike in so many ways..all good of course!! :) We had tons of fun making fun of Olive Garden in particular as far as cuisine goes. We just had a lot of laughs..some at our own expense too! She is just a wonderful down to earth Christian sister who I love and thank God for bringing her into my life and keeping here there no matter where I live..its just like we have seen each other yesterday! (Yes, that is one run-on sentence; bad syntax and guess what? IT'S OKAY!)

Our next adventure is going to an Asian Market where she told me they can cook up a whole fish! That's what I am going to say: FRY ME A WHOLE FISH,PLEASE! I'm hoping I don't have to wait too long to do that...(can ya hear me KCP?)

What else is new with me? My transitioning continues...I'm in CA on an extended vacation and considering staying, but feeling a pull to be with my brother and family in ID as well...hard to say where i'll end up. The Lord knows! So His will...fine with me.

I joined a terrific bible study at my church on Tuesday mornings. Cynthia Heald's study on prayer. Nce nice ladies ..only knew one from living here before.

Taking an online culinary arts class from TopChefUniversity LOL..this is so hilarious I laugh every time I think of it...you can laugh too...especially those of you who know my turkey story or my lifelong condition of problems cooking....what a hoot...but i love the food shows and top chef is one of my favs..hopefully they can teach me something! Its so affordable and payable month by month so its doable too!!!!

I keep threatening to appear on FOOD NETWORK TV...who know's what the future holds for Sassy Lass?

Nice to be back!

You

You

Miss you,Jeff...the tear in the heart is huge....

Francis Chan, Pastor

Here is an opportunity to receive the audio book, FORGOTTEN GOD, by Francis Chan. Set up your account with christianaudio.com...then proceed to place the free book by francis in your basket, continue til you get to CODE ...enter JUN2010 and you will end up with a zero balance. You can then download each section to your computer. I have been listening to one a night. I am on #7 now and this one is so awesome!!!! Really asks you to question some of your beliefs and experiences as a Christian and pulls you deeper into the way of our Lord.

christianaudio.com - christianaudio.com
christianaudio.com
Each month christianaudio gives away a premium audiobook download for free. How does it work? Well, we give away one audiobook download (that we have published or that a partner has allowed us to give away) absolutely free; available only during that month and only once, ever.

Happy Birthday, Jeff

There you are on top of Machu Picchu, Peru. Looks like you were viewing heaven itself and now you've been with Jesus for almost four years. It's hard to believe as sometimes it feels like a few months and yet other times its like been forever. I miss you, my son. The world had you for 41 years and you had the world wide open as you traveled and had one adventure after another. I was always proud of you in everything you accomplished and in the humble person you remained. In your MS fight you remained brave and hopeful and yet accepting of each and every day. You showed me what can be done in spite of such an illness. You never lacked integrity, found humor in most things and loved the little things of life that became major to you as you struggled. Now you are out of the struggle and safe in His arms. On that note I take great pleasure knowing you no longer suffer with pain and also that I will indeed see you again one day for all eternity!!!! Happy Birthday!

O HOLY NIGHT

YouTube - Celtic Woman / Chloe Agnew - ''O Holy Night''

Undercover!

One of Webster's definitions for the word "undercover":

"secret missions"!

YOUR MISSION IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT ...

IS QUITE POSSIBLE...

Lately I've been thinking and experiencing the peace of being undercover. It's only a secret mission to those who do not know the Holy Spirit's supernatural power while hiding out in the arms of God.

Psalm 91:1-3

As one who dwells in the protection of the Most High,

Abides by night in the shadow of the Almighty,

I say to YHWH, “My refuge and my fortress,

My God, in whom I trust

God is our shelter and our fortress in times of trouble! We should seek refuge there...

God has provided for us a very safe undercover spot!

Judges 9:15

...come and take refuge in my shade...

Psalm 91:4

...He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge.

Under God's wings we are safe!!

We are protected!!

We are ministered to by the Holy Spirit!!

Being sheltered in the wings of God doesn't remove whatever it is we are going through. This is a place of rest and peace in the midst of life's tribulations. The Holy Spirit will renew you while you rest under(the)cover. You will experience peace in spite of this chaotic world we live in, full of strife, grief, pain and sadness.


Run there often..I stay and relish in the Holy Spirit's comfort. Usually I'm in bed when I run to Him for cover...under my own covers...my own comforter which is delishishly silk...and warm, and inviting and snuggle-worthy. I picture myself sitting in God's lap with wings covering me up...and rest there until His work is done and I'm comforted yet again, invigorated, ready and able to live a joyful life, full of meaning and purpose, with a thankful heart for the work of the Holy Spirit.

The "secret mission" of the believer who needs to be comforted and protected is to stay...

UNDERCOVER with God.

--oOo--

I see you have decided to take this secret mission!!

You won't be sorry!

THANKSGIVING TURKEY - Blackened Style

This was supposed to go on Facebook, but its 2211 characters long and they only give ya 420.

Due to popular demand, and extortion, plus the PROMISE of someone making cookies for a COOKIE EXCHANGE of all things, I am forced to tell about my incident with a Thanksgiving turkey 5 years ago.

So...I'm at Jeff's, little Kevin there and we are going to celebrate Thanksgiving. I've been making Thanksgiving dinners far longer than most of you have been alive which was one of the few meals that were ever successful, HOWEVER...blackened turkey was never a menu item.I prepare the turkey, the stuffing and put the extra stuffing into a dish and turned the oven on. I covered the turkey lightly on top with reynolds wrap. About 20 minutes later I begin to smell turkey..oh the aroma was lovely.

I did think wow that's pretty fast to be smelling turkey, but I've always cooked 20+ lb turkeys before. So I checked on that pup...er turkey. My goodness everything was browned up real nice! So i removed the reynolds wrap to let the breast catch up with the other parts. Soon thereafter I smell something burning! (Not unusual but kind of startled). I go back and open the oven and the whole dang turkey except the breast was black...blackened (to be culinary hip). I whipped that thing out of the oven....much chagrin.

Little voice saying, "Why is the smoke detector going off, Mimi?" Fortunately the breast was perfectly done, the extra pan of stuffing was fine (good since the stuffing INSIDE that turkey was not cooked at all). So we ate and gave thanks and a special thanks that any part of the turkey was edible. No potatoes though and no gravy.

Here's the deal which I found out later while cleaning off the stove/oven...EVIDENTLY I HAD COOKED THAT TURKEY on .......CLEAN! Don't ask me how I did that because I didn't lock that oven door like one should when cleaning an oven, but the dial deal was set to CLEAN.

So here's your recipe for a good turkey dinner. COOK ON CLEAN and your 10 lb turkey is ready in 25 minutes! I tried it later to cook a baked potato thinking it might take 2 minutes, but alas it didn't work.

THERE you brat friends of mine; it's done, it's told and NOW you can prepare for Thanksgiving AND make cookies for my cookie exchange!

P.S. The smoke detector going off was no big deal...that's just a part of my life. When I first moved to Jeff's we had that occur quite often...he would smile and say, "This is great, reminds me of growing up with you." HAHAAH I think he was the only kid who LOVED the cafeteria at college. One of his remarks about that was, "MA! They have all five food groups available at every meal AND everything is ready at once...no waiting for the baked potato an extra hour cuz you forgot to put it in the oven!" Ok I'm laughing... :)