This week Donald Miller said “My main advice to young writers: Memorize poetry. As much as you can. It teaches an economy of words”. So I burrowed through all my delicious old books and dug up two regal books of poetry. It does indeed teach an economy of words. There are so many words that I don’t even understand. Things we don’t use in everyday English anymore. But they are beautiful. Ballads and sonnets…love stories and tragedies. People’s hearts poured out onto page.

Tis fiction’s to dilute
To plausibility

Frequently the woods are pink
Frequently are brown

concisest, repudiates, epaulette, marauding, vestments, rudiment, bernardine, and so on…  beautiful, enshrined in mystery and oozing with art. Poems do a lot more than teach an economy of words. But if DM says to memorize some…i guess I’m on my way.

Sonnet

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts to-night, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.

Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

It’s time for mother’s day. Well mother’s month…my mom’s birthday is next week so it’s always; what do we get for mother’s day, and then what do we get for her birthday, and the answer is always garden stuff, because its spring, and because she spends most of her time elbow deep in mulch and plants. Not that I’m complaining, our yard is an agricultural masterpiece. If there’s anyone with a green thumb its my mother.

So, for gifts this mother’s day I have purchased a really cool teepee trellis thing-a-ma-jig…and some garden gloves. This may sound boring to some people, but my mother will be thrilled.

For the rest of us, we’re more concerned about Mother’s Day brunch. This means Gina makes lots of good food and everyone else eats it. And hopefully Peter shows up with fresh squeezed oj to make mimosas!

Yesterday was market day so of course I bought the bounty of my supplies there. Amazing thick cut bacon and fresh, crusty Italian bread. I decided to make overnight baked french toast, bacon, fruit, and an assortment of Italian pastries my brother just brought back with him from Boston. (my favorite!)

So the overnight french toast…is amazing. It is my Aunt Bea’s recipe and last time I was in Boston visiting I begged her for it and copied it down on a scrap of paper that I now treasure. It is NOT healthy by any means, and I even cut down on the butter and sugar in my version, but it is SO so so so SOOO good!

Melt butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a pan until it’s all nice and gooey.

This gooey deliciousness goes on the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. It will get all caramelly and be an ooey-gooey topping for the french toast.

Slice a nice crusty loaf of bread.

Put a layer of slices on top of the ooey-gooey.

Did I mention the cream cheese/almond filling? No? Oh…insert cream cheese/almond filling here. And some sliced almonds if you want. (If you’re making this for Mr. Bell, or someone else with a nut allergy, skip this part, or don’t add almonds!)

Another layer of bread. Its like breakfast lasagna…mmm

A dozen eggs and 2 cups of milk. I used a mix of almond milk and coconut milk since everyone I live with is lactose intolerant and we never have regular milk. Oh I put almond extract in this mixture too.

Pour egg/milk mixture over the bread in the pan.

And its all set! Now cover it with foil and pop it in the fridge. The bread will soak up all the eggy goodness and its so easy to bake it in the morning! No prep, no dishes. Just a beautiful pan of french toast! And it is SO delicious!

Overnight French Toast Recipe
from Aunt Bea

1 stick butter
1 C brown sugar
1 1/2 T cinnamon
1 large loaf of bread; sliced (I used crusty Italian)
1 dozen eggs
2 cups milk (I used almond & coconut milk)
almond extract
1 package cream cheese
handful sliced almonds
1 cup powdered sugar

Start the day before:

In a pan melt the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until mixed and gooey. Spread on the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. Add one layer of bread slices. Spoon filling onto bread, sprinkle with almond slices and top with remaining bread. Mix eggs, milk and about 2t almond extract. Beat well then pour into the pan making sure to get all the bread wet. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Next Day:

Bake covered at 350 for 40 minutes. Then uncover and broil 3-5 minutes until top is nicely browned. I had to bake mine a little longer than 40 minutes because the eggs weren’t cooked all the way. Maybe an extra 5 minutes.

Slice and serve. Make sure to scoop all the way to the bottom so you get the ooey gooey goodness!

Filling:
In a mixer mix cream cheese, sugar and 2 t almond extract. Beat well. If it’s too thick add a little milk until it makes a frosting that is not too thin but easy to spread over the bread. Delicious!

This past weekend I went to the Barista Throwdown at Javas, our local coffee shop, with a bunch of friends.

The coffee shop itself was closed for the competition and baristas from all over Rochester and Buffalo were in attendance.

They were competing in latte art, which is something I have been forever trying to do without any success.

There were many, many talented baristas, but only one winner. I was so impressed with their skills and how easy they made it look!

It was a great night full of odd people, loud music, crazy latte art, and great fellowship with people I don’t see enough.

So, obviously I was then on a mission to learn latte art for myself. I watched a few videos on youtube, armed myself with a pitcher and a gallon of milk and went to work.

A friend at work and I practiced during all our slow times. We got better as time passed.

By no means am I halfway as skilled as the baristas in the competition, but I will keep practicing! It’s always fun to make work more artistic! Here’s my best one so far…

Want a cookie?
Oh, no
Come on. They’re warm and gooey and fresh out of the oven
No, I don’t like cookies

You don’t like cookies? What’s wrong with you?
I dont know
Everybody likes cookies. I mean after a really awful no good day, didn’t your mother ever make you milk and cookies?

No. My mother didn’t bake. The only cookies I ever had were store bought
Sit down. Now. Eat a cookie.

I…I really can’t
Mr. Crick. It was a really awful day. I know. I made sure of it. So pick up the cookie. Dip it in the milk…and eat it.

I just figured if i was gonna make the world a better place, i’d do it with cookies.

* from Stranger Than Fiction

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Today was for sure interesting, from crying at work while trying to reason with my boss, to him throwing a spatula across the store and breaking it against the wall, to a guy who yelled at me for the Hunger Games CD “We’re supposed to be ELIMINATING hunger, not making games out of it!” (ummmm…). Yeah. Interesting.

So, crying at work…There was a mix up and it’s not my boss’ fault but since I’ve been with the bux so long I am capped for pay so I should get a bonus instead of a raise, but he didn’t know how to do it and entered it wrong and therefore I get no bonus. No raise, no bonus. Really frustrating. Mostly because I’ve been desperately wanting to go to the Storyline Conference next weekend and if my bonus went through today I would have had enough money to pay for it. I have been praying that God would show me if I was supposed to go and was not expecting this to be the answer, but there it was. So I was really upset for a while and told my boss I was really frustrated and tried to see if there was anything we could do to fix it, and of course I’m crying haha because that’s what I do when I’m really frustrated. To no avail. So I just prayed on my break and THANKED God for His answer even though it was NOT at all what I wanted, because I really could have used that money. My best friend reminded me that God sees what’s coming up so He knows what He’s doing. So true! My attitude was improved after that and I kept pondering why this was happening, but trusting God that it was right.

When I came home today I had one piece of mail. From the IRS. Stating that in 2008…yes 2008 I didn’t pay enough taxes so I owe them a small amount, plus a huge amount of interest since that was oh 4 years ago and they failed to tell me. Yup. Um…God really? First no bonus then a whopping bill from 2008 that I owe to the IRS? My mom just smiled and said “that’s life!” (thanks mom). But she’s right. And again, God knows what He’s doing. I am indeed frustrated that I am now a lot more poor, but still I have peace. Oh and one more thing, I have to buy a new car.

I made lemonade. No seriously, my parents are having company for dinner and my mom asked me to make lemonade. But when my dad asked what I was doing, I simply responded “God gave me lemons today, so I’m making lemonade”. Its true. God is faithful. Money is so frustrating to me. But I have been faithful in my tithing and giving and I KNOW that He will provide me with everything I need. And I am also very thankful that I have a clear answer about whether or not I should go to the conference, because I really really really wanted to go but didn’t know if it was a wise decision to travel to an unknown city by myself and spend a lot of money for a 2 day conference. I like clear answers. I don’t necessarily like the answer, but I like the fact that I am no longer undecided.

God sees what’s coming. He knows what’s up. So I’m just following Him. I’m pretty clueless!

Two days off in a row and what am I to do? Its snowing outside. A wet thick snow that has attached to everything in its path. Weighing down the branches already full of blooms and leaves. It’s hard to remember that only three days ago it was 87 and we broke the record for hottest day in April. Only in Rochester… I haven’t done anything much. My nails are painted. I’ve watched some tv. I have walked A LOT, and I’ve read three books. (Yes 3 books in two days…) I’ve forgotten how good it feels to read books. To be completely lost in another world. You would think that I would be sublimely productive having two days off in a row, but no. I haven’t done anything productive. Not really. Maybe today I’ll be more successful, but I have been completely happy to enjoy this day, walk, rest, read, and hang out with the fam. Did I mention that it was snowing?

Pinterest is my addiction. And movies. And baking. And reading cookbooks. Papa and I can read cookbooks and talk about recipes while listening to classical music for hours. He knows every song and every composer. It’s quite impressive. He also now knows how to push “I’m still listening” on Pandora so it will keep playing music. Pretty impressive for an old dude. He’s so cute. We were going to make a banana cake but then he decided we should wait until next week. Not quite sure what we are waiting for.

I lunched with Rebecca, dined with Carolyn, hung out with Dea, talked to Liz for hours…Sweet friendships. I am so thankful for them all. I am really trying to focus my time on friendships that encourage my heart. Finding ways to bless others, and writing down things I am thankful for and qualities I love in people. Focusing less on me. Some people are easy. I can find tons of good things about them. Positive, adventurous, genuine, devoted, wise, honest, beautiful, artistic, loving, tender-hearted, encouraging, musical…and that’s just one person! Others are a bit more difficult. Maybe it’s because I struggle more with loving them. I don’t know. I’ve been praying that God would reveal to me things about them that I can be thankful for. I think this will open my heart to love them more. Not complaining and not gossiping is a hard task, but I do notice it changing our conversations. I do notice that I am using my words more cautiously.

Endless ramblings with no real purpose. Just for the sake of putting something down on the paper. (screen) I jump back into my crazy work schedule. Ready to conquer a few more cappuccinos.