While the cats away...

Jess is out for the evening, so what do I think I will do? Let me show you. It is called the "longest recipe ever" and while starting is easy, finishing takes a long time.

Step 1: go out and buy the cheapest, biggest bottle of Vodka you can find.

Step 2: throughly wash a few canning jars.

Step 3: fill the jars 1/3 full of fruit and sift in white sugar to fill in the cracks.

Step4: fill the jar to the brim with cheap Vodka and seal.
Now the waiting begins. For proper infusion, this concoction must sit in a
cool place for at least a year.
The longer you let it sit, the better it tastes when it is done.

Step 5: repeat with different fruits.

Step 6: Sample the really cheap Vodka and remember why you don't drink it strait, but instead prepare wonderful concoctions containing fruit and sugar.

If anyone wants to come over next February and open a jar of this with us, you are more than welcome.

Mark it on your calendars kids, February '09.

I am going to go make sure the rest of the Vodka is as bad as the part I just sampled.

Blech.

i have no self control.

three day weekend in michigan.

because we are citidiots a majority of the time, we indulge on three-day weekends and make our way to our beloved friends and family. this past weekend we headed north.

my dreams are with these colors.

A thousand mountains. Flying birds vanish. Ten thousand paths. Human traces erased. One boat, bamboo hat, bark cape -- an old man. Alone with his hook. Cold river. Snow.
- Liu Zongyuan

mom making first grade lesson plans with white socks examining the occasional stranger.

jake & dad snow-shoeing together, which jake describes as "perfect."

springs promise.

garage summer treasures.

deer tracks dancing around the backyard compost pile.

***

after an evening and afternoon with my parents we headed north to spend an evening with our kindred friends, Rene & Richard + two. after a two night stay following an ice/rain/snow storm Rene and I stood amazed to see that Richard & Jake were still around and still committed. as Richard told Jake, "I've been around for ten years with them together, you have to get away when you can."

Little G, our little Indian child, squatting & watching.

cooking fun.

beautiful Little M.

***

we took the long way home down the lake michigan coastline. toward St. Joseph we snuck in to a deeply wooded city park and began a hopeful walk down the lake.



yet, after a number of deep ice cliffs and sweeping snow banks with cold winds biting at our ears & noses and no end in sight due to the frozen shallow seas, we headed back to the crystallized ginger and cinnamon covered almonds to keep us company.

in Herb's words, "you don't know nothin' about us!"

In 1999 when i first began serving a the newly torn down J.W. Filmores of Mt. Pleasant, MI I met Josh. Part of a team serving up meatloaf & burgers Josh has now, after years of culinary education and experience, made his way up to the ranks of "Chef Josh," as the servers so politely refer to him as of Sam & Harry's.

At Josh's invitation, on Super Bowl Sunday we had a most refreshing time in his home with some friends, fine chili & laughter. That night Josh asked us what we were doing on Valentines Day. With excitement we shared that we were going to use this holiday as an excuse to go down to the local Taqueria and order our favorite veg. burritos with extra avocado. Yummm! Inquiring if we would consider an alternative, Josh shared with us about a private dinner he was hosting with a champagne mogul. He continued to describe that this would be a private party of endless glasses of champagne, matched perfectly with a custom four course meal prepared by him.

In curiosity I whispered in his ear, "How much?"
He whispered in return, "Nothing for you, you will be my guests."
I whispered once again, "If we weren't your guests, how much?"
Josh replied, "$95.00 a plate."
I fell over and yelled, "that would be our entire months allowance for food!"
I'm so tacky.

I couldn't accept this gift at first. I have pride issues and accepting this gift would be a big dent in my armor. I also, if you haven't noticed by now, have guilt issues, how could i go to this dinner, & enjoy it knowing the cost. I'm too judgmental and have too many issues to deal with this stuff. So we decided to accept it. Like I tell my clients, it is rare that growth manifests itself from comfortability, I needed to listen to myself.

back track to our opening line.

Every morning at 7:30am Herb, our maintenance guy, opens the door for me into a warm office out of the bitter cold (this past weekend we reached a low of -24 F, which is -31.1 C), asking for muffins, asking me to write out envelopes for him, sneakly faxing documents to his daughter and telling me that one day when he stops putting so much sugar in his oatmeal he is going to start walking the stairs at work with me. Yeah right.

In an ever daily attempt to assimilate with the culture at work, I have found myself pickin' up a phrase here and there that make people laugh to hear a white woman attempt to say. Herb is usually my teacher in this, correcting me when I call him an "old man" to switching it up to "old boy." "What's goin' on?" to "Watcha working with?" - which also usually doubles as "Do you have anything to eat?" you get the drift. Another favorite though was stated above, "You don't know nothin' about me!" which substitutes, "give me a break."

I have to warn you though - the pictures you are about to witness are evidence that "you don't know nothin' about us!"

A purchase from Salvation Army a number of years ago, this is the first time I have worn them. So sassy, I just haven't been able to rid of them. Not wanted to humiliate Josh as his guests I strapped on the heels (they may look like a substantial foundation to walk on but know that they are significantly taller than they are wide) and enjoyed kicking them off once we got home.

Taken looking outside from a balcony overlooking the lobby on one side and the snow outside on the other, Jake and I snuck around on the fifth floor, attempting to find an alcove for some pre-dinner making out.

All day I was so excited about taking photos of the food when it came out, but when the stuffy young money whom wanted to impress their ladies & one amazing older couple who we spent our entire time with talking with guests arrived I got a shot of proper and withheld until three hours later when everyone left us alone to gallivant around in our private dining area in the center of the restaurant. Please take note: Jake's champagne glasses are significantly more full than mine at the end of the night - it was just so sweet and bubbly!

Really, this place was so out of our league, but we had a delightful evening.

Our table was shrouded with rose petals, which I stole a couple of to press. Peeking out behind my pressing book you can see the menu for the evening (which we were able to take home!).

To give Josh a couple props, our menu for the night, minus the champagne selections:

• course 1 - caviar bouchee and creme fraiche with buttered scallop and shaved black truffle,
• course 2 - grilled tenderloin of Berkshire pork with toasted walnuts on butter lettuce, orange vinaigrette,
• course 3 - veal rib chop roasted with acorn squash (jake's favorite) topped with melted cambizola and veal jus, and
• course 4 - poached pear tart with cranberry compote and chantilly creme

Yeah, I can't pronounce two-thirds of these words either.

Thanks Josh & happy everyday of Love everyone.

One of each...
This only seems to happen when Cory is around.
Step 1: wrap something around your head.
Step 2: Put your finger in your nose.
Step 3: Take photo.
Step 4: Repeat.
I know I am going to catch hell for this one, but sleeping with kleenex in your nose is just so cute... but only when you are sick.

a day in the life of.

feb. 1st - the catastrophy

Almost-whole-wheat with apricot goodness.

Polish Fat Tuesday delights.

Polish Fat Tuesday delights.

Polish + bakery = mmmmmm!

Polish + hummus = hmmm.....

Hummus 1 : Jessica 0 : Table 0 : Spoon -1

All you have to do is ask...

Strange Local Flags



Laundry day in the DeBoni/Rozga household means throwing everything in a bucket of detergent, rinsing it in the tub, and hanging it in the kitchen.

Don't get any ideas...

Now don't start thinking that this is a sign that I have started wearing the lipstick in the family.

A new idea.

We have not done a very good job of posting lately, so here is a new idea. Jess wants reasons to practice with our camera, and I like taking random photos. Thus begins the photo-of-the-day portion of this blog.

More than likely this will turn into something more akin to a photo-of-every-3rd-or-4th-day, but at least we are trying.

Today's entrant:

Christmas Delight + New Year's Snow

We have had such a delightful Christmas hanukkah. Beginning with packages in the mail form friends and family to nice long visits with parents and friends from out-of-town. We have had the opportunity to meet new neighbors, celebrate with older friends and come together under the same roof with many Beloved. Through it all we were not the most diligent in remembering our camera. Therefore, the photos are far, few and in between... but for those times in between...

A few days before Christmas some of the little ones came over to decorate cookies and bake muffins with us for the neighbors... it was an all day event and oh my were we ever exhausted! In the end though were smiling faces...


sprinkles that we were picking up on the bottoms of our bare feet for days (read: I'm not he most diligent home-maker)...





and frosting coating the rims of the sink, bridges of the doorways and smeared misterious masterpieces throughout the carpet to add to the beauty.


Christmas Eve we spent playing dominoes with Abuela and her 86 yr. old neighbor who triumphed over anyone in their path to victory. Filled to the brim with chicken, beans, rice and Rosa's delights we headed home to sleep only to wake and find these treasures under our palm tree: a new motorcycle helmet + toasty bathrobe for cold mornings. After our warm breakfast we headed back to the Navarro's for gifts only to make our way back into our home that afternoon for the Ortiz's + fam. to come over and open gifts as well.

Soon after they left, came back and left again Jake and I prepared a feast: spaghetti, fruit salad, green beans from this summer, rotisserie chicken (from Jewel - cornish hens were requested: I laughed at the request), pierogies + sourkraut, cranberry stuffing and a plate of sweets stolen from other neighbors. Together that afternoon into the evening we spent with Eddie at his home, eating, laughing and learning how to be present. Christmas was not without sorrow - our neighbor Nora was punched by her boyfriend over a T.V. and Hilda, who had a period of sobriety, went back to using once again. It was an honor to learn from Eddie on such a holy day how to be present, regardless of time or circumstance.

That evening in 35 degree weather we went for a nice long motorcycle ride and delighted in one another and the gifts we have been given by simply being able to celebrate in the birth of Christ with His most Beloved.

The weekend following my parents came to celebrate the birth of Christ with us by honoring us with many gifts, including Memory (which Jake and I played for far too long this evening). Thanks mom & dad - wish I had a better picture from this weekend to post but you have all the good ones :)

New Years Eve we headed to Indiana to spend the evening and following day with Grandma. With cheese, wine and a late night James Taylor tribute we brought in the new year only to be surprised the next day with over a foot of snow to awake and enchant us with.







Jake & Grandma













Tool shed











Grandma plowing












I've never had so much fun cleaning off a conglomeration of metal in my life.










Sneaking a peak at Grandma.








P.S. Christmas cards are still on the way - I just couldn't bring myself to send them out on time. I couldn't break tradition.

stealing thoughts:
I read the following article a couple weeks ago when i was beginning to contemplate how I felt as through God wanted us to go about communicating with others this coming year. should we continue blogging? if so, how much? for what purpose? under what conditions? we're not traveling anymore, and really - that was the sexy appeal to reading of our ramblings.

so here is my adaptation of the article cited earlier to help explain and put structure to these tangential thoughts and musings.

"(with many personal adaptations - just thought I would put the quotes here to make sure you all know that I am not this fluid with my words - these are mostly the words of others) Back when "blog" was a typo, I journaled. Since taking up this little bit of writing as means of sharing my thoughts on matters, developing ideas, and seeking to generate discussions on matters of love, community, poverty, politics, etc., I'm journaling substantially less. In fact, I'm really not journaling at all.

Lately though, I'm feeling the need to journal prayers because blogging is a little bit like public speaking: there's only so much you can write before it becomes an unhealthy dumping ground, which we all know I have utilized this space in the past for. And the very act of limiting disclosure creates an even greater necessity for a platform where one can be honest with God. The Psalmist calls this pouring out his heart. And the Psalmists, both David and others, did it well. The full range of doubt, fear, anger, praise, rest, trust, gratitude, awareness of beauty and ugliness, pain and healing, are all expressed, directly to God. I wonder: if David had known his work would be published, would he have been as open?

The danger with blogging instead of journaling, or keeping facebook instead of having people over for supper, is that these pixel and byte sized versions of ourselves can easily become confused with our real selves. But they never are.

My real self right now is profoundly moved by the beautiful early mornings, before the sun is up, because the air is invigorating and cold, and the hints of impending long winter genuinely create joy within. But I'm also profoundly aware of my own struggles and doubts right now, mostly centered around feelings of inadequacy for my calling to love my neighbors as much as I love myself. I know the right answers; know that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. And yet... I just feel awkward, even though I'm truly excited about the ever increasing communication and small miracles being demonstrated and the potential behind it. I'm also simply just experiencing an indescribable joy in response the out-pouring of grace, love and honor that has been given to both of us by our family, friends, neighbors, students, clients & co-workers. We also have been learning how to live within and gain energy from the struggles, anxieties, worries, grief and brokenness of those same very people. This area is affecting me more deeply than I'd care to admit, because I'm finding myself desperately wanting to make each day stretch longer, involve more love, be able to give more, give better. Yet, its precisely because of this that I have been biting off too much that seems 'important'. When I do this two things happen: 1) I feel so overwhelmed that I'm not certain what to actually do in the next moment. Long 'to do' lists of 'things' having a paralyzing effect on me sometimes, and 2) Relationships suffer. This bothers me, and I'm in the midst of talking with God about it.

That's why I'm going to begin limiting entries like this one today, with an effort to make them a rare platform and more less a sharing ground for you to see pictures and enjoy the light of our lives. I want to talk with you all more often, and if not talk - write personally. All other things, it seems to me at this time, belong in a journal. I'm thinking of the story of Moses, when the children of Israel, having been delivered from Egypt, are complaining to Moses because they think they're about to die. (Exodus 14) He speaks boldly in front of Israel, but it's clear that when he's along with God he pours his heart out, which apparently included his own doubts Moses isn't being two people - he's simply being discreet about where he expresses certain things.

I'm not even certain why I'm writing this entry, other than a desire to share with you that this isn't the platform where I'm going to pour my heart out any longer. I am different than movie and book reviews, ideas about the kingdom, politics and economics, hiking trails (although there are times when I feel most at home and like who I was created to be when I am hiking). I'll still blog because I think talking points on matters where love and God intersects life are important, and because I want to share what I'm learning through various experiences in hopes that others might learn too. But I am not my blog. I refuse to have a deeper relationship with a box and keys than with you."

On a side note:
We decided this year that we were going to gift our neighbors with love. making dozens and dozens of various flavors, types, combinations of muffins to give. Books are also flooding in for the kids; a couple other randoms for others including $10 worth of lotto tickets for Abuela; and amaryllis indoor growing kits for our widows, not to be confused with windows.

A couple pictures for the past month:

: jake's brother jason came down for a visit to pick up his new bike, not to be confused with our new bike covered up in the backdrop :

: yes, we went thrift store shopping. yes, I got a pretty dress & yes, jake bought a real chicago fireman jacket. his reasoning, "why wouldn't you buy a jacket that's wind proof, water proof, fire proof & high visibility." right. :

: Edgar & Jiaya on a lazy Saturday afternoon :

: the kids have been doing things around our home and for the neighbors to earn money for Christmas gifts. now i am beginning to see the perks of having kids of our own. for only $2 we got our entire 10' X 10' kitchen floor swept & scrubbed. we paid another $2 for the bathtub and toilet. yes, we had them clean our toilet :

: flip it yourself if possible - Christmas with the DeBoni's. Motorcycle jackets that honestly keep me toasty - a hard feat - and hot chocolate. Thanks parents! :

: Christmas lights at Lincoln Park Zoo :

: ...with the kids. and note: upon arrival, you receive these... :

: ...which allow you to see this! :

: and then there was Santa. A really skinny Santa :

P.S. We've also attempted to be diligent in "forgetting" our camera. sometimes memories are better left inside the imagination i believe.