Piggie piggie

(this great photo by my friend Steven Johnson)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7941385@N05/sets/72157617619262711/

"We don't know nuthin 'bout no Swine Flu!"

Yes, I asked you what YOU'RE thinking!

(image from www.mandalaheartworks.com/shininglightdesigns.htm)

Well my dears. Now it's time for you to give YOUR TWO CENTS!

As you know, my blog is tres eclectic. Never know what you're gonna get, do you? Could be a photo story, a recipe, some clever article, or fascinating minutiae from the World Wide Web. Might be a poem, a quote, or my new favorite video (whether endearing or ridiculous).

So what do you like best?

Tell all, tout de suite, before the chance escapes you!

~Ally
xo

Friendship is looking up!

Want to find out how you can be a better friend? Know your sign? Then check out this fun article - there's some simple advice just for you!

And I promise to forgive you if you don't read it. ;)

~Virgo

Vacation Day 1 (Attempt to get to Alabama)

We actually started our vacation as of Friday after work. We went to Mom's Spring Concert in Gilford and saw a delightful group of singers lift up their voices in joy. Great start.

Then Saturday the 16th, rawther early if you ask me, we started our vacation with hopefulness. Look at Scottie, enjoying his flight and everything.Since Delta and Northworst have joined forces (for the propagation of evil, it turns out), they have developed these cheery little marketing cookies, called "Biscoff." Mmm. We ate lots of them, as we were shuffled to a bazillion flights, instead of the two we paid for.
Long about the time they diverted us to Memphis, TN - what?? - instead of Birmingham, AL, we got suspicious. I entertained myself by playing the game What if we are the cast of LOST - you know, who would be the main group and who would be the Others, which of these passengers could likely build a shelter, who would have a bad attitude, a drug problem, or be secretly pregnant...
We did manage to find the world's LARGEST calculator in one of the airports, sure to come in handy for our island misadventures.
This fine gentleman appeared on the plane in Memphis, and had words with the pilot as to whether or not he could/would fix the infamous "broken radar" (whatever that means).
After three - yes, THREE - times unboarding and reboarding the plane in Memphis, we finally got off the ground. However we did get a little concerned after time two, when we saw the pilot and staff (below) running away from our plane with their suitcases! Ack.
Needless to say, we got to know our fellow passengers quite well. This was one of the friendly, nice ones. [Had we been the cast of Survivor, we totally would have formed an alliance with him, and would not have voted him off...] Once we got to Alabama at midnight, instead of 4:00 p.m., we had to rent a car and drive to Pete and Fran's house.
We were sad we missed dinner with Scott's brother Steve, Susan, and the kids, and that we missed time with Mom and Dad; but all in all, it worked out. We didn't get our knickers in a twist, and we stayed in relatively good spirits. Why? I asked myself the same question, because patience in airports is not my strong point. I attribute it to the growing phenomenon I call "contentment with our lives." I just feel more at ease with my life these days, and therefore, better able to deal with momentary chaos. And I'm grateful for this.

Day 2 adventures in 'Bama and Tennessee to come. Stay tuned!

~Ally

A friend emailed me this today

with the question: How bad is the economy?

(photo from Web)

and the caption: Cats are soooo dramatic!

heh heh

Spam-a-lot

I feel so lucky. I got a personal email today from the Senate President of Nigeria. And also one from Mrs. Vicki Anu, my sister in the Lord. Or so she says.

F-ing spam mail.

Grr.

It's National Poetry Month

This one's for Dad and for Grisly Dan, our old drinking buddy at The Pub in Lake Park, Minnesota.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I am signaling you through the flames.
The North Pole is not where it used to be.
Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.
Civilization self-destructs.
Nemesis is knocking at the door.
What are poets for, in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?
The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.
If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this meaning sounds apocalyptic.
You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay, you are Neruda and Mayakovsky and Pasolini, you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words....

Making Marie's Apple Pie

(all photos by Scott Snyder) 

On Monday, I had the pleasure of making Marie's wonderful Apple Crumble Pie - the recipe can be found on her blog, A Year From Oak Cottage. 

My dear husband and my mom Charlotte - my pie making assistant - LOVED this pie! Scott says it is better than my usual, and he was a pretty big fan of my previous apple pies. So I suppose I will be using Marie's recipe from now on! The only thing I added was a dash of ground cloves to the apple mixture and some pats of butter to dot the top of the apples once in the pie crust, but before the crumb topping was added.
These three top pictures are the before shots, with a delicious mound of crumbs toppling over in a blessed heap.
And this is the after. Browned beautifully. I cooked the pie on 375 Fahrenheit - about 25 minutes, then added foil to cover the outer crust, and cooked an additional 20ish minutes until I could hear the filling bubbling under the crumbs.
Deeeeee-licious! With Boston Vanilla Bean ice cream alongside, we had a slice of heaven on a Monday night. We enjoyed this pie while watching "Milk," a film I highly recommend.

Thanks for sharing your recipe, Marie! We all loved it!

~Ally

Dinner Gals Go Green

Saturday, we had another wonderful evening with the Dinner Gals - but this time, a new crowd! Melissa, Alli, and Laurel were unable to join us but two new members, Faith and Louise, joined me and Jesse for a great meeting.

I am thrilled that there are so many unexpected and interesting cross-interests. For example, we have several moms with young children - three out of four of us on Saturday have young sons! A couple of the gals are single. There are several gals who support themselves or their families with careers. And at least three of us are working on launching or surviving in our own businesses - Louise has a women's adventure travel company, Melissa is a wedding and child portraiture photographer, and I am working with Scott on selling his photography and working with my mom on a freelance writing and editing business. The tips we can share about entrepreneurship will be invaluable!

I am finding this group to be invigorating. After the meetings, I feel opened up and alive, ready to tackle new projects and inspired about making changes in my life. Particularly after discussing ways to "green" our lifestyles on Saturday, I am renewing my desire to make a difference on this planet of ours. My new goal: to get a few BPA(?)-free water bottles so I can stop buying the disposable kind (which I really love). I am also going to work on using my cloth bags for shopping. Louise said her grocery store doesn't even offer plastic bags any more, and is phasing out paper, so if you forget your reusable bags, you are outta luck! That's incentive.

We agreed last night that finding new friends with commonalities and differences is a blessing we all can use. What a joy to laugh for three and a half hours!

Off to collect some rainwater to water my plants! :)

Ally

p.s. Next meeting's topic will be: Finding Our Spirituality. What is your story? Where have you come from and where are you going? What types of spiritual practices do you incorporate into your daily life and how does that influence the rest of your life? What are you looking for in terms of nurturing your spiritual self?

Namaste

“Truly, life is one long hearkening unto my self and unto others, unto God. And it is really God who hearkens inside me. The most essential and the deepest in me hearkening unto the most essential and deepest in the other. God to God.”

Etty Hillesum,
An Interrupted Life