To keep somewhere I'll remember

Elder's Meditation of the Day March 21

"The manner with which we walk through life is each man's [or woman’s] most important responsibility, and we should remember this with every new sunrise."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

Every spiritual person should carry a vision of God's will in every area of their life. One day at a time, each morning at sunrise, we should spend time praying to the Creator. We should say something like, my Creator, this morning I ask you to show me, in terms I can understand, what you have for me to do. By doing this daily, over time, we will develop an unquestionable vision. Each person is responsible for taking the time to do this. It will bring great joy and peace of mind to those warriors who do.

My Creator, give me the vision, today, of what you want me to do.

New plan

Mexican food. I can't stop dreaming about it.
Literally dreaming about it. Last night I was in this Mexican restaurant. Sat down at a booth, ordered poblano peppers ... I don't remember what they were but I got this pepper with a big pile of pinky refried beans ... oh, I'm salivating just writing about it. Definitely Mexican is my next cuisine. Embracing enchiladas, my all-time favourites. And definitely corn tortillas - organic corn. Oh yumminess.

My favourite Mexican restaurant is probably Mi Hogar in Norfolk, Virginia. Their chips are the best ever - crispy and hot and corny. With a great salsa and the most amazing white sauce (not queso, but something a bit spicy) which I've only ever had there. Oh for a plate of cheese and mushroom enchiladas from Mi Hogar!

Must ... stop ... writing!!

Cooking

I really need to learn to cook. One of my last dishes was distinctly lackluster: slightly curried lentils and broccoli. First, I made too much of it, so the leftovers (after an extra meal or two each) are still sitting in the fridge. Then, it smells of broccoli way too much, so I feel ill and icky and can't eat it. And well, it wasn't that amazing to start with.

The new plan: master Indian cuisine. Cook up simple yet sumptuous delights ALMOST EVERY NIGHT that we can enjoy eating and want to take to lunch the next day. I've begun the Indian streak two nights ago with a mustard seed & ginger cauliflower, and continued it tonight with a kind-of aloo ghobi. But I am determined: I will read actual recipes and follow them; I will master a whole fleet of dishes; and mealtime will become something, once again, to enjoy.

transportation confession:

I love driving to work. Really truly. I've tried to enjoy the bus, which I've been taking STEADFASTLY since September. And it's reliable and close to home and I can read while driving. Oh, and it's good for the environment. And, no parking fees.

But while we're staying at my parents I'm driving to work because there's no bus here, and it has been great. I don't have to run out the door frantically every morning to catch the bus. I can leave later (and thus sleep in more) because it takes a lot less time to get there. I have time to myself to listen to music, the radio or silence and can avoid all conversation if I want. I can stay just a little bit later at work if I need to without waiting a whole other hour to catch my bus ... or leave a bit early if I'm feeling not so great, and be home in 10 minutes. I LOVE it. And will miss it lots when we're back living downtown.

New computer adjustments

I have a beautiful, slim, light, sleek new laptop computer with amazing battery life. I should be thrilled - instead it's been a series of frustrating adjustments. I think there may be some hardware issues (particularly mouse clicks that don't seem to get recognized by the computer). I think, though, that most of the woes are with Windows 7

I'm not into Macs. So let me put that out there straightaway.

I finally, tonight, figured out why my computer keeps toggling between languages (US English and an Canadian multilingual one that turns punctuation into weird symbols). Control/ shift, one first then the other ... and now I know and can toggle back in 2 seconds. Bliss!

Current lingering woes include the repeated disappearance of my desktop picture (ARGH!!! AGAIN!!!) and loss of purchased tunes from iTunes (so I can't sync my iPod with the new computer ... but M's old one won't let us burn a CD ... so the songs are stuck in an unusable location. ARGH again!!).

However, as I've been up since 4, sitting and typing and working and reading at the laptop beside the wood-burning stove in the living room ... I have to say it's pretty great overall.

Oink

I went to a lunch talk yesterday. Many of you will instantly recognize the key word in this phrase. Yes, I was hungry and by the time 12:00 rolled around, I was ready to stuff my face. In my defense I'll add that I signed up a for this a few weeks ago.

The room was crowded but I diligently made my way through the chairs to the food at the other end. There was a LARGE and relatively untouched plate of wraps. Half-wraps, really, to be fair to myself - not full sandwiches at all.

Putting two on my plate seemed par for the course. Most people did that. However, as I mentioned, I was hungry. I had already been snacking most of the morning, yet my hunger was not appeased. My body felt like it was eating itself up. I needed food!!!

I eyed the dessert tray. Tempting - but I am back trying to do no-sugar after a Christmas-related sugar zone (the gift of a gorgeous box of chocolates set me on the wrong road for about a month). So, no dessert allowed. Does that mean that it would look okay if, instead of a cookie or two I took an extra sandwich?

I looked around. I thought the answer was "no." And I took a third sandwich.

And I ate the whole thing.

The talk, incidentally, was great. Sponsored by the Disability Health Research Network, the speaker explored the relationship between prenatal testing (and the increasing accuracy and lower risk of some tests) and our views on society and disabled people as members of society. Apparently, in the US they estimate that 90% of women carrying babies with Down's syndrome have an abortion. That number is astounding to me. I reflected a lot on how to balance two perspectives I hold dear: that all people are important members of society who can make valuable contributions; and the responsibility of parents to do what they can to have healthy children. For me this is clearest in relation to other disabilities for which parental lifestyle choices clearly play a significant role, such as spina bifida (folic acid) and fetal alcohol syndrome (about which many educated people I've met seem to be in denial). Surely promoting the best possible pre-natal and pre-conception health for parents is vital! Yet this does not mean that someone born with a disability is not to be treasured like anyone else.

I saw this conflict in views in a recent Facebook thread. One individual posted a comment that people with autism and ADHD do not want to be cured, they want to be accepted. One reply suggested alternative health therapies that have been linked to "improving" the symptoms of autism, ADHD and other disabilities. This second comment might imply that health is defined as normalcy which is defined as eliminating differences such as autism which some would view as simply part of the human spectrum. That is problematic. Yet I am also troubled by the relativism potentially implied by the first comment: that any difference is to be taken as good and not ameliorated.

A conundrum I expect to ponder for a long time.

Good dressing

At dinner the other night I was subject to a gentle tease by my husband: "Feel free to take more dressing if you'd like." When I told him I already had enough, he started laughing because there was hardly any left for him!

The dressing was a fabulous mix of mustard; sesame oil; and maple syrup. 1:1:1, shaken and poured over greens. YUM.