Winter, we are not friends anymore.

I am tired of the hours of time it takes to bundle the kids up just to do something simple like walk to school. I am tired of a two year old who begins whining the second he sees his mittens or hat. I am tired of the same two year old constantly stripping off his mittens and leaving the on the ground so that we have to go back and fetch them. I am tired of being cooped up with boys who are also tired of being cooped up. I am so done with winter.

On a happier note, we have seen a house that we liked in Frankenmuth. It needs some work so we are trying to get some more information and we'll want to see it again before we would make an offer, but it's promising.

We are going to Frankenmuth for Snowfest sometime this week/weekend. The sculpting has begun and will be judged on Saturday I think. Maybe it will be cool enough for winter and I to make up and be friends again. We'll see.

Another week gone by

Long week, but it still went fast. Matt started teaching again this week, so we had to adjust to the new semester schedule. It's not so bad, but it is just different. I volunteered in the classroom twice this week because Gabe's teacher was short-handed, and those Kindergartners always wear me out. Chi had his check-up and all is fine. We had a small celebration for his birthday on Saturday, and he was clueless as to what was going on but he enjoyed it. Gabe had choir and we spent the evening with friends tonight. So all in all, a good week, but exhausting.

On my mind, like so many others, has been Haiti. Before this disaster 80% of the country lived in abject poverty, literally eating mud cakes for what little nutritional value they could give. Not only have I grieved for the people of the country, I have grieved over what a supposed religious leader of this country would say. I was horror-struck by Pat Robertson. But Jim Wallis was right when he wrote this week: "My God does not cause evil. God is not a vengeful and retributive being, waiting to strike us down; instead, God is in the very midst of this tragedy, suffering with those who are suffering. When evil strikes, it’s easy to ask, where is God? The answer is simple: God is suffering with those who are suffering."

If you want to help there are many ways. Dear to my heart is ELCA International Disaster Response which was already present in Haiti and its building survived the quakes so they were up and running immediately. There is the Red Cross, Compassion International and many other effective organizations that can use your donations. Many of which like the ELCA have all of the donations going to disaster relief and not to overhead. There is also a petition from the ONE campaign calling for debt forgiveness for the country to help in the long term economic recovery. Their debt, in the large amounts of the world economy are minimal, but to Haiti, insurmountable.

Not much to say; how about a recipe?

There are dry spells in my life. Nothing interesting to report on at all. The holidays are done (and were very nice), and the kids are tired and trying to get back on schedule. So that means they are not being interesting at all, the little stinkers. But, I feel honor-bound to post something. Especially since I just included the blog address on all my holiday cards. Hello to any new readers! So, I will play to all those New Year's resolutions to lose weight and post my favorite salad recipe. A careful reader will note that it is not necessarily the most healthy, but I said it was my favorite, so there you go.

Inspired by Panera's Fuji Chicken Salad of which I can no longer purchase because I don't have Panera in Michigan. That really needs to be remedied. This is not so much a recipe as a guide.

Apple, Blue Cheese, Pecan Salad

(amounts are just to your personal liking, number of people serving, etc.)

• chop some lettuce, whatever is on hand (I am often stuck with iceberg, but Romaine is very nice for this too)
• chop one apple to bite size pieces, sweeter apples work better for this, I prefer to leave the skin on, sprinkle on salad
• roughly chop a handful of pecans, again sprinkle on salad
• sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese (I like a lot, but it would be healthier with a little)
• finally, drizzle with Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette (I found it at Walmart.)

Now it's amazing as it is, but here are some other possibilities: when I have cooked chicken on hand, I toss that in too, but really that just makes it more filling, it does nothing for flavor. Also the Panera version uses an apple vinaigrette, but I have never found one in the stores. I think a white wine vinaigrette would be nice too, but again, good luck finding a commercial brand. But DO NOT, unless you are allergic, leave out the pecans. They seriously make the salad.