Entertaining Angels Unaware

This has been a very unusual week in the Domestic household. Last Wednesday, on the way home from work, Adam got a call from two college friends, asking if they could spend the night at our apartment.

On the way there, I repeatedly thanked God that I'd done a little cleaning that day! However, I soon found out that there was really no need to worry about that.

On the way back home, I learned that their summer was a sad story of broken promises, sickness, and life's curveballs, which had left them basically wandering the streets and sleeping on sidewalks for the past month. They were glad to just have a place to sleep without fear of someone calling the police on them!

We were pretty much the last people they decided to call for help. They had tried everybody else in the city they could possibly think of, and... no one would take them in.

Why? There were several excuses, but the main reason that people turned them down was because one is a guy and the other is a girl.

Evidently, it's easier on a person's conscience to let a couple of friends wander the scorching streets and go for days without food than to look after their well-being in a potentially compromising situation.

Frankly, I was appalled, yet painfully aware of all the other times I have withheld help from others in much more minor, but still present, need. When Adam and I were talking about this the other day, he reminded me of this Bible passage that I often forget:

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matt. 25;34-40)

So now, a week later, these friends (who are platonic, by the way) are still here with us, because we told them that we want to keep them until they find another place to stay. They have one lead and are waiting to see if that will work out, but until then, it's the four of us and two cats in our little apartment!

Since Adam and I are poor college folks ourselves, I'm trying to figure out a way to feed two additional people without breaking the bank. Any ideas?

I Made Some Really Great Muffins Today!

Here is the recipe:

Whole Wheat Breakfast Muffins

I tweaked the recipe a little. I replaced half the oil with applesauce, added a little extra baking soda, and grated a carrot into the batter for extra nutrients (shhh, don't tell Adam!). The batter looked a little dry, so I also added a splash of milk.

They were very moist and tasty! I should have disregarded the instructions to add the ingredients in the precise order listed, because what I ended up with was soggy brown sugar at the bottom of the bowl that didn't readily mix in with the rest of the ingredients. Next time, I'll mix up all the wet ingredients together, add the brown sugar, and then add the dry ingredients.

Do you have any good muffin recipes to share?

A Day for All Chores

I realized that I haven't really been talking much about what's actually going on in the Downright Domestic household, which is a shame, because that's definitely one big reason why I read other blogs! I enjoy witnessing the vicissitudes in other people's lives. It's kind of like a TV show in real life: Did So-and-So have a great vacation? Did XYZ ever solve that gardening problem? Tune in next time to find out!

Yeah, you can tell that I don't watch much TV. Am I the only one that feels this way about the bloggy world?

So the past few weeks, I've been working at a newly-opened grocery store. It seems that there's something wrong with an entity called The Economy, so people aren't as willing to hire new graduates. So I'm doing the whole minimum-wage job thing. However, there is a definite perk to this job.

My husband is also working there!

If I'm going to spend one third of my day not sitting in front of the TV eating bonbons, I might as well spend it with the one I love, right?

I like to imagine that it's similar to the Olden Days, when the wife would go out in the fields and work side-by-side with her husband. Only now we're shaving deli meat together, ha ha. Nothing says romance like making large vats of potato salad with your husband, right? But we seriously are enjoying working together, and I think it's doing our coworkers some good to see a healthy marriage lived out.

We got Sunday and Monday off this week, so now I'm gearing up to do all sorts of fun stuff like cleaning, banking, and... grocery shopping. At our place of employment, nonetheless! They just can't keep me away!

P.S. Does the font on my blog appear smaller than usual? I was playing around with the HTML earlier, but I can't tell if I messed up the blog itself or just our web browser.

Wedding Registry Tips

This year, it seems, all of my friends decided to tie the knot.

Subsequently, I have waded through more than my share of wedding registries, trying to find that perfect gift for them. Some things on the registry made me shout out, "Amen, sister! Good choice!" and others left me chuckling. Seriously, a coaster holder? A banana hook? Blue jeans?

Eventually, I started thinking about my own registry. Having been married for a little over one year, I am now an expert at marriage (ha ha) and can maybe help brides-to-be with what worked for me in my registry.

What turned out to be the THE BEST ITEMS:

Heavy-duty metal measuring cups

• They won't get dents or melt in spots, ensuring accurate measurements every time. Not to mention, they're heat-proof! I once accidentally left a burner on and started a fire with a bunch of metal utensils and a plastic measuring cup. Guess which one bit the dust. Also, I like to occasionally make mini-pies in the metal cups and stick them right in the oven. Try that with your plastic cups! (no, really, please don't)

Knife Block:

• A great way to get all the knives you'll ever need-- and an easy place to store them! Be sure to request a block with knives that you'll actually use. I knew I would need a chef's knife, a bread knife, a paring knife, and some steak knives, so that's what I looked for. A boning knife or an oyster knife, not so much.

Pyrex Dishes

• Mixing bowls, baking dishes, measuring cups: they are all indispensable in my daily kitchen. They are oven-, microwave-, and dishwasher-safe, and they're very hard to break. Believe me, I break things all the time. :-p A huge plus is that they now come with lids!

Something for Hubby

• My husband, who loves quesadillas, was absolutely enthralled with a contraption called a Quesadilla Maker. So, being the nice fiancee that I was, I added it to the registry. Personally, I think it's a waste of cupboard space, plastic, and Chinese labor. But when I see the glow on Adam's face and the chorus of singing angels that fly around his head when he makes quesadillas on that thing, I know that it was a good idea.

What turned out to be a BAD IDEA:

-Kitchen-Aid Mixer

• Hear me out on this. I LOVE Kitchen-Aid. I drool every time I see one in the store. It is awesome. So I asked for it. For some odd reason, however, no one wanted to shell out $300 for a wedding present! What I should have done was ask for a more modest mixer, waited several years, and then twisted Adam's arm on my birthday. :-P But as it is, I ended up having to buy a mixer I could afford... which has one speed and leaves lovely metal shavings in my cookies.

Wine Glasses and the like

• In the spirit of putting enough items on the registry, I asked for all sorts of wine glasses, goblets, snifters... you name it. This may be a good idea if you are a great wine connoisseur or entertain a lot, but as a near-teetotaler who was attending a university with a stiff no-alcohol policy, I wasn't thinking. After the wedding, I set up house with 956878 wine glasses and ZERO real glasses I'd actually use every day.

Incompatible cookware

• Another classic case of Not Thinking. I asked for metal spatulas and stirring utensils to go with my collection of Teflon pans and griddle. I seriously have only one pan I can use those with. After the wedding, I had to go out and buy all silicone/plastic cooking utensils. Did that solve the problem? Mostly. Unfortunately, my dear husband was not as enlightened about not using metal utensils on Teflon. That was a sad day.

Silicone Bakeware

• It is a great idea, unless you're someone like me who hates creating more dirty dishes than necessary. So putting a silicone liner inside a pan I would have used anyways didn't really jive with me after the first few weeks. They now sit on a high shelf and say, "I'M SO LONELY!" every time I open the cupboard.

What I WISH I'd put on the list:

More kitchen utensils

• I forgot to ask for a lot of utensils that I'd need: pizza cutter, ice cream scoop, vegetable peeler, meat thermometer. And a good rule of thumb: you can NEVER have too many scrapers/spatulas, whisks, or wooden spoons.

Rugs

• Nothing says, "home" like bathroom rugs, kitchen rugs, and welcome mats! And nothing hides carpet stains better!

Sheets

• This was a major fail. There is nothing like setting up the bed after a long day of moving and discovering that you don't own a single pair of sheets. And those things are expensive! We went through our first year with one set of sheets, no joke. Wash, dry, and remake the sheets in the same day. Last month, I thought it'd be appropriate to get us a second pair of sheets- second year of marriage and all- and there was much rejoicing in the house.

In conclusion

• Research your registries. Registries are awesome, but some are more awesome than others. I have heard rave reviews about some retail store registries and horror stories about others. I will say this: as a gift buyer, Bed, Bath and Beyond has always been an easy place to navigate with reasonable prices. I would have liked to have registered there, but my tiny hometown was two hours away from the nearest BBB store. The place I registered offered some nice perks, like 5% back on every registry purchase, in the form of a gift card, but the merchandise was a little too expensive for my liking.

• Ask for high-quality items. Lord knows, if you're young like I am, that you probably won't be able to afford this stuff on your own for a while. And it is truly devastating when a wedding present breaks! So ask for things that will stand the test of time.

• Ask for things that you think you'll actually use. Apartment space is limited, after all. Think about what your mom uses in her kitchen/bathroom/bedroom. Ever hear of the 20:80 rule? It states that people use 20 percent of their kitchen items 80 percent of the time.

• Research your appliances. Consumer Report is great for this sort of thing. You don't want a coffee grinder that never fails to give you an uneven grind (this is the voice of experience speaking) or a vacuum that is notorious for clogging up.

I hope this was a help to somebody out there. Have fun with your registry, and Mazel Tof!

This post is linked to We Are THAT Family, who is hosting Works For Me Wednesday. Check out all the great ideas flying around!

The Church of Google

The past five years in my college town, I've been searching for a home church.

Please don't think that I'm an extremely picky person! I've had two years of carlessness, and then semester-long stays at churches where doctrine was either really weird or not taught at all. And then there was the last five months, where my choices were to either work Sunday mornings or be homeless. :-P

*sigh*

I'm really not that picky. I just a want a place where the Word of God is explained, and I don't feel lost in a crowd of thousands. And, as a musician, it's very important to me that the music is quality.

But where to start in the so-called "Buckle of the Bible Belt"? My city easily has over one thousand churches! It is possible to attend a different church every single week for years!

So Saturday night, I decided to throw fate to the wind. I told Adam, "The first church that comes up when I google '(name of city) church' is where we'll go tomorrow!"

Fortunately, I didn't get anything weird.

And, surprisingly, it wasn't one of the several megachurches in the area (not that I have anything against megachurches. They're just not my thing). I was intrigued. So we went.

Turns out, it was one of the best services I've ever been to in this town! The congregation was sweet, the sermon actually required that I crack my Bible open, and *gasp* they even had a little orchestra!! Be still, my beating heart. We'll be going back!

All the same, it was a little awkward writing on the visitor's card what influenced me to be there: "Google Search".

Kitty Trouble: Part 2, and Other Things

I have been AWOL from cyberspace this week because my laptop decided it would be fun to play dead. I'll go get that fixed sometime, but for now, I'm stuck with snatching time on the "family" computer when DH is otherwise occupied (I just hate asking other people to get off the computer! So I wait. And wait).

I should have known the rest of this week would be weird when I got out of bed and stepped on a kitten's head, which probably ranks in my Top 3 Most Horrifying Experiences. Between wiping up blood and earnestly beseeching God for some divine intervention in the kitty's life, I didn't do too much.

Turns out, after a couple precarious days of listlessness and being fed from an eyedropper (he wasn't eating or drinking anything), he perked up! In fact, I think he's forgiven me, because he's contentedly sleeping on my lap as I type right now.

Or he might be plotting his revenge. You never can tell with cats.

Seven Quick Takes

1. I am staring my third week of unemployment in the face. Ouch. I'm just happy that God is watching out for us, because otherwise, I'd be a ball of nerves! More on job things in a couple takes.

2. After a half-hearted attempt in high school (that ended after failure at turning on the typewriter. A technologist, I am not), I am making myself learn to type correctly, mainly using http://www.freetypinggame.net/. Anything with the word, "game," will usually do the trick. Oh, the joys and woes! The joy of earning 2347894 points in Alien Blast! The woe of the computer numbing my brain with nonexistent word after word (jaka... dfjk... jss;a... klls...), and then taunting me with, "You only type 19 wpm, you loser! HA HA HA HA." Okay, maybe not like that exactly. But that's when I go play Alien Blast again.

3. I have wanted to audition for the city opera chorus for a very long time, but I kept chickening out. In fact, I didn't call last month when they were holding auditions. But, this week, I started feeling convicted about letting my God-given talent go to waste, so on Tuesday, I sent a rather dubious email tasking if they were all full yet. I got a reply in seven minutes that said, "Come and sing tomorrow." Whoa! I'm thinking Someone upstairs was behind this. So I went and auditioned, and the director told me right there that he'd find a spot for me in at least one opera. Woohoo! That's a start! 

4. But, of course, you know what they tell all musicians: "Don't quit your day job!" Of course, the trick is having a day job in the first place! I am currently experiencing much angst (I just love that word) in my job hunt. First off, potential employers who require inquiries by email either a) never reply back-- not even a "Sorry, but you're not the one we're looking for." They just remain stony and silent, or b) they send an automated message directing me to an application site that asks what my SSN is and whether I'm interested in getting educational literature. Shaaady.

5. Also, it's a little frustrating being a recent college graduate, not having had much time in which to cram things that look impressive on a resume. I have the skills to excel in whatever a job can throw at me--- just *standing on a chair and singing musical-style* pleeeeeeeease give me a chaaaaaaaaance! In the meantime, I'm trying to learn new things (such as typing like a human being) and grow as a person so I'll be all ready for that perfect job.

6. The other day, I finally bit the bullet and inventoried the fridge/freezer. Now I'm wondering, why didn't I do this sooner? I actually know what I need to use up soon, and don't even get me started about all the treasures I found hidden in the freezer that I totally forgot were there. We won't have to buy much groceries for a while! Hooray!

7. My trials with the kitties are diminishing. We even named two of them. One is called Minion, because he's kind of evil, or at least as evil as a cute kitten can get. The other, his polar opposite, is named Mel, because he's so mellow. The other two are impossible to distinguish from one another, so we're not even trying to name them.. It's interesting to see how treating some kittens as individuals as opposed to others is really changing how the cats interact with us! Mel and Minion are extremely friendly, while the other two kind of slink away when Adam or I come near. I wonder if this is applicable in any way to humans.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out other people giving their Seven Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!