Well after my recent vanishing act, I'm found with a little time and a great yearning to put my thoughts down on the page again. In the past few months I've survived the year end closing at work, records sales, which means more paperwork for me, overtime, a stent of panic/anxiety attacks and some time of just running myself into the ground and needing to recover.
Today I'm home for a short stretch of time with nothing pressing (at least nothing I want do, such as vacuum or start some laundry, or pay bills, something constructive). I have a husband who has been down ill the last few days and he is crashed over on the other couch with the Great Pyrenees curled up at his feet (she was curled up next to me a bit ago, but I was crowding her), the Golden Retriever is stretched out on the floor and the Husky has claimed one of the chairs (mind you there is a dog bed on the floor that is vacant). So at this point, I have a couch to myself, there is no TV blaring, no music playing, just the hum of the air cleaner and the little space heater that keeps the chill off. As I sit here, I find myself replaying a conversation we had earlier this morning that for whatever reason I just felt that this what where I need to restart my Blog.
This morning we enjoy a breakfast at one of our favorite haunts on the North side of Portland, and by chance, my husband left his tablet in the car (he thought it was at home) and we just sat and talked. It was funny to sit a talk about how much the electronics in our lives have taken over so much of our time and focus. How we go into a meeting with a device in hand, using the excuse that it's so I can keep track of my work emails, but what we are not doing is being present in the meeting. How much of what was said did we not hear? How offended do we make people when we sit down with them and we are only half focused on the actual conversation, instead are we focused on a email, a Facebook post, a joke or funny video?
Thanks to all these electronic gadgets we have been blessed with, we are now connected to all sorts of things that distract us. I feel like we are loosing the art of conversation, the ability to sit down and actually listen to what is being said, to be able to respond accordingly and to be a part of something. If we are not juggling emails, Facebook streams, Twitter feeds, text messages and who know what else, we feel like we are going to miss out on something. But I believe what we are missing out on, is connecting, face to face with others. To share a meal or just a conversation that is not interrupted with beeps and rings and "I just got to check this" moments when you might just miss out on something that is right in front of you.
As I sit here, I even think about how intrusive text messages have become, how they have over ridden a simple phone call, if you don't want to get bogged down in a long conversation you send a text, set your phone down to start something else expecting a simple reply back. But then you get a reply that requires a text back, and then it happens again and realistically it could been settled in a couple of minutes of conversation without the starting and stopping of something to keep responding to that repeated text notice going off. I will admit, I'm guilty of this process myself, thinking it will be quicker, but in the end it had disrupted more time starting and stopping what usually is work.
So for me, my goal is to use electronics less and talk and listen more.
We have a wedding shower to attend and it will be a pot luck meal which means time around the tables eating and visiting with others, to be present with the people at the table.
Find time to put the electronics away, and just be.
I'm taking my Kale Salad for a crew with me, and if you need a healthy yummy dish to take to a gathering this is a great option.
Kale Salad for a crowd
Salad
3 Med bunches of curly kale
1 Small bunch green onions
3 Carrots
1 Bunch Radishes
2 Bell peppers (I prefer red, yellow or orange)
1/2 Lb Bacon
1 C. Toasted nuts or sunflower seeds
Dressing
1 C. Olive Oil
1/2 C. Rice Wine Vinegar
1/4 C. Sugar or equivalent of alternative sweetener
Salt & Pepper to taste
Put all you dressing ingredients in a mason jar, tightly secure lid and shake until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate til ready to serve.
I start with browning the bacon off in a cast iron skillet until crispy and then drain it on paper towels, set aside to cool.
Tearing the kale from the course stems and tossing it into my food processor, using my standard chopping blade in the food processor, I pulse it several times until the kale is chopped into small bite size pieces. Using my largest stainless steal bowl I begin building the salad, dumping the greens in as process each batch. With three bunches of kale this take several batches. Once that is complete before changing out the blade of the food process I toss in the cooks bacon and pulse it a few times to make bacon crumbles, add them to the greens.
Switch to a large grater blade in the food process, grate the washed and scrubbed carrots and radishes, add to the greens and bacon.
Finally its time to pull out a knife and the cutting board and slice the green onions on the diagonal and small dice the bell peppers. Again add to the bowl.
Being this salad is being used the next day, it is ready for a toss, covered and put in the frig for the night. Dress the salad in the morning, using enough dressing to lightly coat everything, and sprinkle the toasted nuts or seeds over the top and you are ready to go.
This is a salad I love to make early in the week (in a smaller batch) and take it to work with cooked chicken & sliced avocados, or it just as easily sides up to a piece of cooked meat at dinner. It will keep well in the frig for several days, so leftover are great.
So next time you sit down with a group of people or even just a close friend or loved one, make an effort to put down the device, be present in the moment. In the Bible, there are many accounts of Christ gathered around the table, you never know what you might learn when you gather.
Today I'm home for a short stretch of time with nothing pressing (at least nothing I want do, such as vacuum or start some laundry, or pay bills, something constructive). I have a husband who has been down ill the last few days and he is crashed over on the other couch with the Great Pyrenees curled up at his feet (she was curled up next to me a bit ago, but I was crowding her), the Golden Retriever is stretched out on the floor and the Husky has claimed one of the chairs (mind you there is a dog bed on the floor that is vacant). So at this point, I have a couch to myself, there is no TV blaring, no music playing, just the hum of the air cleaner and the little space heater that keeps the chill off. As I sit here, I find myself replaying a conversation we had earlier this morning that for whatever reason I just felt that this what where I need to restart my Blog.
This morning we enjoy a breakfast at one of our favorite haunts on the North side of Portland, and by chance, my husband left his tablet in the car (he thought it was at home) and we just sat and talked. It was funny to sit a talk about how much the electronics in our lives have taken over so much of our time and focus. How we go into a meeting with a device in hand, using the excuse that it's so I can keep track of my work emails, but what we are not doing is being present in the meeting. How much of what was said did we not hear? How offended do we make people when we sit down with them and we are only half focused on the actual conversation, instead are we focused on a email, a Facebook post, a joke or funny video?
Thanks to all these electronic gadgets we have been blessed with, we are now connected to all sorts of things that distract us. I feel like we are loosing the art of conversation, the ability to sit down and actually listen to what is being said, to be able to respond accordingly and to be a part of something. If we are not juggling emails, Facebook streams, Twitter feeds, text messages and who know what else, we feel like we are going to miss out on something. But I believe what we are missing out on, is connecting, face to face with others. To share a meal or just a conversation that is not interrupted with beeps and rings and "I just got to check this" moments when you might just miss out on something that is right in front of you.
As I sit here, I even think about how intrusive text messages have become, how they have over ridden a simple phone call, if you don't want to get bogged down in a long conversation you send a text, set your phone down to start something else expecting a simple reply back. But then you get a reply that requires a text back, and then it happens again and realistically it could been settled in a couple of minutes of conversation without the starting and stopping of something to keep responding to that repeated text notice going off. I will admit, I'm guilty of this process myself, thinking it will be quicker, but in the end it had disrupted more time starting and stopping what usually is work.
So for me, my goal is to use electronics less and talk and listen more.
We have a wedding shower to attend and it will be a pot luck meal which means time around the tables eating and visiting with others, to be present with the people at the table.
Find time to put the electronics away, and just be.
I'm taking my Kale Salad for a crew with me, and if you need a healthy yummy dish to take to a gathering this is a great option.
Kale Salad for a crowd
Salad
3 Med bunches of curly kale
1 Small bunch green onions
3 Carrots
1 Bunch Radishes
2 Bell peppers (I prefer red, yellow or orange)
1/2 Lb Bacon
1 C. Toasted nuts or sunflower seeds
Dressing
1 C. Olive Oil
1/2 C. Rice Wine Vinegar
1/4 C. Sugar or equivalent of alternative sweetener
Salt & Pepper to taste
Put all you dressing ingredients in a mason jar, tightly secure lid and shake until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate til ready to serve.
I start with browning the bacon off in a cast iron skillet until crispy and then drain it on paper towels, set aside to cool.
Tearing the kale from the course stems and tossing it into my food processor, using my standard chopping blade in the food processor, I pulse it several times until the kale is chopped into small bite size pieces. Using my largest stainless steal bowl I begin building the salad, dumping the greens in as process each batch. With three bunches of kale this take several batches. Once that is complete before changing out the blade of the food process I toss in the cooks bacon and pulse it a few times to make bacon crumbles, add them to the greens.
Switch to a large grater blade in the food process, grate the washed and scrubbed carrots and radishes, add to the greens and bacon.
Finally its time to pull out a knife and the cutting board and slice the green onions on the diagonal and small dice the bell peppers. Again add to the bowl.
Being this salad is being used the next day, it is ready for a toss, covered and put in the frig for the night. Dress the salad in the morning, using enough dressing to lightly coat everything, and sprinkle the toasted nuts or seeds over the top and you are ready to go.
This is a salad I love to make early in the week (in a smaller batch) and take it to work with cooked chicken & sliced avocados, or it just as easily sides up to a piece of cooked meat at dinner. It will keep well in the frig for several days, so leftover are great.
So next time you sit down with a group of people or even just a close friend or loved one, make an effort to put down the device, be present in the moment. In the Bible, there are many accounts of Christ gathered around the table, you never know what you might learn when you gather.
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