Busy

If anyone is wondering where my blogging wisdom has gone, it is still here.  I am just overwhelmed with work at the moment, but am hoping for a reprieve this Friday and Saturday and will return with a yummy recipe for your enjoyment.  Till then, peace!

My son in the jungle...

As I have mentioned, I am a pastor.  And I had the most interesting encounter this week.  I was visiting some of the shut-ins of my parish; one being in a nursing home.  He was in the hallway when I noticed an angry old woman in a wheelchair going down the hallway yelling at people, heading our way.  I had never met her before, and I was already intimidated.  If she wished to kick my butt, I believed she could.  Well she wheeled up to my parishioner and myself and said to me in a stern and angry voice, "I am going to take your baby to the jungle!  What do you think about that?!"  I had never met her before, so I answered the only way I could...honestly.  I said, "Well, he would probably like that."  

She wheeled away to deliver her mass protests, and I was left giggling.  I felt bad for the lady, but I've learned it is best to roll with the punches when you dealing with people whose minds are sick.  Take this advice if you ever find yourself visiting a nursing home.  Just roll with the punches and it will be okay.

Meanwhile, my son has treated the house as a jungle; sneaking into rooms, finding sacred objects that he normally couldn't reach (ex., anything off of the table), and climbing up the furniture.  It's an adventure with this kid.  

On that note, I treated my camera skills as of that of a National Geographic reporter; maintaining stealth and distance while I document the exotic creature in it's natural habitat.   It is an exhilarating experience when I capture such a moment on film.  I should submit this to the networks!  And here is my rare experience in documenting this exotic, independent, and busy creature:

Parental Karma

Worry. It is the habit of every new parent. You want your kid to grow up normal, smart, happy, with minimal challenges. And when things do not go according to plan, you worry, and that worry begins to fester. I did it to my parents; I was a late talker. Who knew that a future PREACHER would freak out his parents by refusing to speak! It concerned my parents enough that they took me to doctors and professionals to make sure I was developing okay. It turned out I was fine, I started chattering my parents' ears off without any therapy or surgery or whatnot, and everyone lived happily ever after. Until....the sequel!

The Vow of Silence: Part II! I became the parent, and then my son became the latest addition to the silent-kid-club. He had grown up well so far; happy, content, very busy, very independent, and very analytical. Seriously, this kid studies everything with a focus that would rival many a scientist. Of course there was one thing lacking as of last fall...speech. My wife and I would talk constantly to him, read to him, sing to him, dance, run, play, ANYTHING to encourage him to repeat what we said.....to no avail. He would just stare with those giant brown eyes, grin, and soak it all in without any response. I kept repeating to myself, "I did this to my parents. I did this to my parents. Karma. Karma. He will be fine."

My son spoke 6-8 words at the time, which was considered to be behind as far as development in 16ish month olds. Those words included, "Out-side," "Dada (which he would only repeat me saying)," "Mama (the same repeat thing)," and "6, 7, 8, 9." I have no clue where that came from. He would never say 1-5, even when I would say them. But when you got to 6, he would take over until 10. He showed he could understand us, but he was serious about his vow of silence. Talk about frustration! So what does a good parent do? Take him to the doctor and give him an additional checkup. It is a humbling thing to do; to admit that you need help and that you've reach the end of your parental rope. So just as the tests began...BOOM!

My son experienced a LANGUAGE EXPLOSION! Seriously, that's what I call it. Non-stop chatterbox. It's karma. Here's a little video proof (I hit record after 1-6, take my word for it)

Let it be said, there is no shame in asking for help when you new at the parenting thing and things are looking uncertain. Being humble and asking for help can give you a piece of mind, which is worth a lot more than being prideful and getting into a deeper mess. If you have any encouraging stories of the young trials of parenting, please share! Peace.

A Simple Breakfast Recipe: GRITS!

So I am a Cooking Gaming Daddy, so now it is time I cover some cooking here. I LOVE to cook, it is my favorite activity to do! I was sort of disinterested in the past, but when my wife was pregnant with our son I took over. On this blog I will cover some simple stuff and some tough stuff, and how I did. So let us begin with grits.

I never ate grits growing up. I wasn't opposed, it just wasn't something we ate. Meanwhile my wife LOVES grits! She insisted that grits become part of our breakfast routine, and there was no run for the instant stuff. This is a recipe for real grits! As Joe Pesci taught the world in "My Cousin Vinny," all good southerners eat grits. Nothing instant! So here we go:

Here is what you need:

Grits (none of the instant stuff)

Salt

Butter (it is margarine here, it will work too)

One pot and lid

Measuring Equipment

(this recipe will make enough grits for 2 people, my wife and I)

First get a 2 cups of COLD water and put it in your pot over the stove. Then measure out 6 Tablespoons of grits and pour it into the COLD water. Cover it with your lid. Then crank up your stove to HIGH and bring the water to a boil. I have found that having cold water with the grits being brought to a boil together allowed the grits to become creamier and less clumpy.

Now WATCH THAT POT! It will boil over if you are not watching it, and it is a nasty mess. Once it starts boiling as you see here immediately turn it down to medium-low heat to low heat, depending on your stove. You just want the grits to gently bubble without overflowing.

Now it is time to add your salt. Add 1/4 of a Teaspoon of salt to the boiling mixture. Don't overdue the salt, it will ruin your day (it ruined mine one day).

Stir the grits frequently with a spoon, especially on the bottom to prevent clumping. Keep the lid on unless you are stirring. Do this for 6-8 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed. Once the water is absorbed turn off the stove.

Then add a generous amount of butter or margarine. I use about 2- 2 1/2 tablespoons of butter (margarine in the picture) and stir it so it mixes with the grits.

Time to serve and enjoy. I enjoy putting fresh ground pepper on my grits. This morning I served my grits with a biscuit and a cup of coffee. It is an awesome way to begin your day! Thus begins my first recipe on my blog. I plan to do 1-2 recipes a week, so stay posted! Peace out!

Duck Hunt, the Timeless Classic!

Do you ever look through a box of old stuff and enjoy the feeling of nostalgia? I do. I have a little box full of cards, pictures, notes that I consider my little treasure box. It helps me revisit a bit of childhood and memories I thoroughly enjoy. You know that videogames also have the same effect for me? They do, and I am not alone.

I was blessed to grow up in the game where Nintendo entered the US market like a Japanese Invasion, much like the British Invasion with the Beatles. The Beatles changed music and America, and Nintendo changed us the same way. Upstairs in my dad's office is where I would spend countless hours diving through pipes with Mario, face off evil dragons as Link, or fight the wicked Dr. Wily in Mega Man. Mom and dad would watch with fascination, but they didn't get it. My sister would sometimes join in, but usually it was a solo trek. There was one game though that would get everyone involved....and I usually hate it....Duck Hunt.

You grab a gun, which is fun, you shot it at the TV, which is a fun novelty at first, and you shot the ducks. It is something everyone can enjoy, but the ducks get faster, the time to shoot gets smaller, and as your aim fails you, you are MOCKED!

I HATE that dog! He's evil! I don't know how many times I've pulled the trigger of my orange gun on this annoying pooch! I would go to sleepovers with my friends, we would play games for hours, which would turn to the game that every Nintendo came with, and we would all laugh at each other when the stupid dog mocked your marksmanship. I don't think anyone enjoyed that stupid mutt.

Soon a Super Nintendo came into my possession, and Duck Hunt went into a box to be forgotten. Until one day, last Christmas, we went to the beach. There in the beach house this same box had travelled, and on a rainy day, behold!

My wife is not a gamer, not by any means, yet the sight of Duck Hunt gave her an excitement about gaming I've never seen. So we began firing at the ducks like when we were kids, evil dog and all. We had such a fun time! I reached level 13, even though I hadn't played in 15 years at least! If you played games in your past and those game systems are gathering dust in your closet or garage, get them out, give them a whirl. You might be surprised how much fun you will have. (images come from Wikipedia, except the one I took)

A Typical Sunday...

As I have stated before, I am a pastor. It's a nice appointment; a small country church where I know EVERYONE'S name (for me that's a big one), good country people, and I only have one service to preach in. Some have 3-4 services in one weekend, so I know to count my blessings. And it warms my heart each Sunday to look to my left and see on the 2nd pew my lovely wife and 2 year old son sitting on the pew for church.

As the service begins my son stares at me with those amazing brown eyes with a smile that I cannot help but return. The hymns are going great as my wife sits with my son and reads to him the hymns out of the church hymnal. Sometimes he's into it, other times he is a little disinterested. It's usually a cool thing.

Then around 15 minutes have passed, and the squirminess begins. He's wanting to get out of the pew and his noise level is rising. So out comes solution #1, Cheerios! Never fails! Sometimes my wife also has goldfish or oyster crackers mixed in. Now as I look at my adorable son, his cheeks are bloated as he has used every square inch of his mouth to maximize the number of Cheerios he can fit into one mouth-full. As the Cheerio solution ends as his supply dwindles, there are more songs, and he calms down. Then comes passing of the peace, where everyone shakes hands, gives hugs, the 7th inning stretch of a regular church service. After that...well...see above.

I'm usually in the middle of my sermon, and my son has lost all patience. Hymnals are falling, juice cups are flying, toys are scattered, and he's threatening to pull his arm out of his socket as my wife holds on for dear life. Then he gets loud and cries. My concentration is out the window. An awkward silence fills the sanctuary. Thus my wife collects our son, Cheerio container, fallen cup, etc, and the two leave the church less happy than when they came. Once upon a time when he was a year younger he would sit through church without making a peep. Now, the "terrific" twos are the norm. Granted he is very easy most days, but church has become something of a challenge lately. Will this trend continue? How much longer till he chills out? Or are there better solutions? Sure, a nursery or children's church thing would be nice, but we lack these luxuries here. Add your insights and have a great Sunday!

And so it begins...

Greetings internet world! I read a lot of blogs about gaming and parenting, so here I will do some blogging regarding those subjects and my other great love; cooking! This strange hybrid should provide good reading, insights, and I hope some good entertainment as life is too goofy to be taken too seriously. I am new to this, so a few glitches are bound to happen, but I do hope you enjoy this! Every week I plan to cover all three with my own spin, including recipes once a week. Successes and failures included! The fun begins tomorrow! Till then, I'm going to try to learn how to make this look cool. Till then, enjoy!