Peace in the midst of anguish

I don't usually go into much personal stuff on this blog, but today I can't refuse. Yesterday I learned that my friend's husband left this earth for heaven. Long story short, he had side effects from cancer treatment that he couldn't survive. He beat the cancer, but not the side effects of treatment. Go google "bleomycin side effects" and you'll see "lung toxicity" show up again and again. The severity of this side effect is wide ranging and sadly, Tom had the extreme bad end of it.

His wife was faced with an agonizing decision each day for these past 3 weeks: continue the life support or... not. My prayer was that this decision be made abundantly clear to her. God is good how he pulled the details and events together. After 3 weeks of ups and downs, of hope vs reality, the decision was clear and life support was removed.

Through the process, it was amazing to see the Body of Christ in action. Praying. Ministering. Loving on each other. It was God at work, to be sure, at a time when we really needed to see and feel His presence. To know that the promise is true that He will never leave us.

I've had the Chris Tomlin song "I Will Rise" running through my mind as I think about how it is to leave this life for an eternal one in heaven. Specifically, I think of how this must have been for Tom. These are the words that have been stuck in my mind and heart:

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead


There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise


And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"


And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

Yes, I think of Tom, rising as his name was called. Feeling no more sorry, no more pain. Worshipping God in a way so pure we can't imagine it on this side of heaven. Angels rejoiced as they saw that the price Jesus paid long ago, bought Tom's entrance into heaven.

I know Tom is now with Jesus, breathing EASY!  I know Tom was received into the arms of Jesus. That said, I also know that cancer really sucks. And this whole thing sucks. My heart is sad and I ache for his family and those who will miss him deeply. But on we go, moving forward. God will provide grace and mercy and blessings as needed, because he is faithful.

Three Word Thursday... Now We're Talking!

NOW WE'RE TALKING!

Picture this...

After a night of snow (which somewhere in the dark hours turned to rain), our schools were 2 hours late start today. Yippie! This is what it looked like at our house:

(imagine a picture here of Amanda sleeping in her bed, arm wrapped around her body pillow)

(imagine a picture here of Emily curled into a ball, sleeping soundly, cat firmly planted at her feet)

(imagine a picture here of Thomas up and dressed, scrambling his own eggs for breakfast. That's my boy!)

As you can see, I didn't have the forethought to actually break out the camera and take pictures of our sloth-like morning. But I think you get the idea anyway.

And just so you DO have a fun picture to look at, here is a little something to remind you that rainy, cloudy skies WILL go away, summer is coming, and you WILL need sunglasses once again.

Annie and shades

Picasso in Seattle

Tickets to the Picasso at the Seattle Art Museum. They were a present for Jack from SANTA. I'm not sure if Mr. Picasso would have been on the naughty or nice list though, because he was quite the Lady's Man, flitting from one woman to another. Often, he didn't bother ending one relationship before starting the next. What a winner.

In spite of his less-than-admirable ways in romance, he lived an amazing life. His paintings reflected his own life experiences including street scenes, carnivals, and of course, women. A few of my favorites from the exhibit are below.



Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937
I like this painting because of how it shows Dora in profile and front face at the same time. So cleverly done and breaking all the "rules" of how portraits are done.

Dora was a real-life beauty.

Portrait of Olga in an Armchair, Fall 1918
It was interesting to see Picasso's classical style paintings. Absolutely beautiful. 

Sacré-Coeur, Winter 1909–10

The Acrobat, January 30, 1918
This piece was HUGE, taking up the whole wall. Wouldn't you like a print of this in your living room?

The Matador, 1970

Death of Casagemas 1901
Strangly, this was one of my favorites. It is an oil painting of his friend who had commited suicide over the grief of his lover declining a marriage proposal. It was smaller than I expected, maybe 15x12" and the oil was very thickly applied. In classic Picasso fashion, soon after his friend's death he started a romance with the woman who had rejected Casagemas.

Of course, no cameras are allowed in the exhibit, so these are the only pictures of us at the museum.



This is the kids, all making their faces look "Picasso-ish"



A little Picasso trivia for you, just in case you ever need it for playing Jeopardy or Wits and Wagers.

Full Name

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso

Birth Date
October 25, 1881

Birth Place
Malaga, Spain

Age at Death
91 (died April 8, 1973)

Number of artworks created
Estimated up to 50,000 (yup, he could crank it out!)

Three Word Thursday... Alissa and Emily

Alissa and Emily!!!

Three Word Thursday... Unpacking the angels

Unpacking the Angels...

Chicken Tuscany... grown-up food at its finest

WARNING: This recipe is only for those who like "grown up food". The two children at my dinner table tonight (whose shall remain nameless but their initials are Emily and Thomas) requested chicken nuggets after one bite. Go figure. They did like the pasta, but with butter, not sauce thank you very much.

I snagged this recipe off of boomama's blog ...a very fun blog to read if you're into sitting down to read blogs of people you don't know.

The recipe is a tad long, so instead of typing the whole thing out, I'm linking you right here where you can click and print to your little heart's desire.

Boomama makes the suggestion to have everything chopped in advance, which I found to be marvelous advice. The recipe has several componants so having all the ingredients ready is pretty handy.

chopped romas, mushrooms, sage, basil and green onions... beautiful, hu?

Not much to look at, but it's the beginning of the sauce; beef stock, chianti (I actually used whatever red wine I had open) and a roux to thicken it a bit

Start cooking the chicken breasts after they have had their beauty bath in marinade

Are these lovely or what?

Saute the mushrooms in... BUTTER!

Like you've never seen mushrooms, but I think they make a dandy subject for a macro shot.

Mushrooms with the other chopped yummies, all ready for the sauce.

(chicken is coming along nicely)

Now the sauce is on the sauteed veggies and is becoming incredibly yummy.

Serve sauce on chicken and angel hair pasta.

So what would I do differently next time? Pound the chicken. A lot. As with any other chicken breast, they like to cook up thick and it's hard to get the center done. The other way to do it would be to cut the breasts down to half their thickenss. Either way, I would then decrease the marinating time to about 30-45 minutes. I think I would also try adding a bit of capers to the sauce.

If you're having company, ADULT company, this is your dish. For the kids, load up on chicken nuggets and everybody will be happy!