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Wild Chin Hair

~ Finding growth in unexpected places.

Wild Chin Hair

Monthly Archives: January 2018

January Daze

29 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by Cindi Pete in A Good Life

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

battery, birthdays, braces, charming, cinnamon rolls, coconut oil, coffee, dry skin, eighth grade, good-byes, horchata latte, ice cream sundaes, letting go, lotion, simplify, snowdays, Tierra Mia

Here we are at the end of January! Time really flies some days, doesn’t it? January is a fresh start, though I don’t make resolutions. Take a moment to scroll through the photos on your phone. Mine often summarize the month for me. As I look back over those photos, I recall many moments that made up January life. I am grateful for the growth in unexpected places, a moment to pause and reflect, and the joy of good times with good people. Here are a few very random highlights.

Craig Wright's Group Quote

This little item above is from my kitchen wall. It reminded me of this important truth for many years. I’ve started (again) to purge my belongings, beginning in January. I chose to part with this and placed it in the donation box.  I want less to mess with. Decorations change, but the truth remains beyond the stuff. Being with those we love is enough.

Cinnamon Rolls

One January morning, the house filled with the smell of baking bread and cinnamon. Isn’t that just the best aroma? I popped open a can of cinnamon rolls to bake just to have the house smell wonderful. And, of course, we got to eat them, too. Homemade cinnamon rolls are far superior, but this will do! I made them at home, right?

Coconut Oil

My January routine includes a visit to my skin doctor for my annual skin cancer screening. Although getting thoroughly checked is rather awkward, walking away with peace of mind that there are no surprises is worth it. I asked her to recommend a skin lotion for my dry arms and back, something without harmful chemicals. She recommended coconut oil. So I got some and have been using it. It is too soon to tell the results just yet. But I can tell you this, I end up smelling like a piña colada!

Braces Off Kate Cropped

A milestone moment! My good friend, who is in eighth grade, got her braces off this January! I remember what an exciting day that was for me when I was young. We celebrated with her.

Good-bye Steve

I said many good-byes this January. Learning to let go is a well repeated life lesson. I said good-bye to:

  • Two co-workers who left for other great adventures in January. For one, we all wore ties to work on his last day, something he was famous for in our more casual work world. A little bit of silly to soften the parting sadness.
  • A beloved school secretary from a school where I worked in the 1990’s who passed away.
  • To my car battery, stolen from right in front of our house. Shocking.Stolen Battery

January has been a fun time of year to be a Purdue University basketball fan. Purdue continued to build its winning streak this weekend to 17 straight wins and 12 straight Big Ten wins. This breaks the school record in both categories. That is exciting for this Purdue graduate and my friends! Go Boilers!

Purdue Button

Coffee is a good part of any month. One fine January day, I was introduced to the most delicious sweet coffee drink I’d ever had, a horchata latte from Tierra Mia. What a great mid-day treat to spice things up!

Tierra Mia Horchata Latte

And I love using this coffee mug in January, thinking back on the glorious snow days of my past when I lived in the Midwest. As long as I didn’t have to go to school or drive to work, it was a good day! All the snow made for picturesque surroundings. And an occasional snowman or snow fort.

Snowday Mug

One of several January birthday celebrations included ice cream sundaes at The Habit for a celebration with my sister-in-law. So good! Ice cream, even in January, is always a good idea!

Sundaes with Audrey

Speaking of winter days, we did have some winter chilly temps this January. Today, however, reached 87 degrees. It’s confusing to almost everyone and everything, but the January roses remain stunning! I’ll close with this beautiful photo of some I passed on a recent morning walk.

Beautiful Pink Roses

Hope January went well for you. What’s captured in your phone photos?

Stay charming, my friends!

 

It’s About the Food, Not the Patriots

22 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by Cindi Pete in Just For Fun

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Boston Cream Pie, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Crazy for Crust Blog, Dallas Cowboys, Marie Callendar's, Martha Stewart, New England Clam Chowder, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich, Progresso Soups, Super Bowl, Super Bowl Shuffle

Super Bowl 2018

If you are a pro football fan, I hope your team made it into the Super Bowl. Now that the playoffs are over, we have two teams recently suffering defeat and disappointment, and two teams watching game films to prepare for the big game on Sunday, February 4. The New England Patriots and super hero, Tom Brady, will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles. For me, since I don’t have a favorite team in the mix, it is all about the food while watching the game. But more on that later.

My Team

I’m the football fan in our house. In fact, I applied to work in organizational management with the NFL after college, but got nowhere on that career path. My husband enjoys the social aspect of watching the sport with friends. I am a mild fan of the Los Angeles Rams. Here’s the history on that. If history bores you, move on to the food section of this post. I grew up in northeast Ohio. I began my interest in football in tenth grade, and became a Dallas Cowboys fan, as did most of America. I am not sure why. It was the Tom Landry/Roger Staubach era. Legends in my mind to this day. I never did attach to the Cleveland Browns, my local team at the time.

One negative thing about being a young football fan in the Eastern Standard Time zone is Monday Night Football continued late into the evening. I never got to see who won the game. I had a bedtime that came about the middle of the game. So I selected a college in the Central Standard Time zone to remedy that dilemma. Just kidding. That was not part of how I selected a college.

I spent many years living outside Chicago and took the Bears as my favorite team during that time. I had become disillusioned with the Cowboys once the Jimmy Johnson era came along. The greater Chicago area seemed to all be Bears fans, which added to the momentum. If you went to work on Monday and did not know how the Bears did over the weekend, you would be isolated from many conversations. The hype was especially extreme during the 1985 season, with the Super Bowl XX win in 1986. And this little video beauty, which is so dated now, brought such joy. We all knew it by heart at the time!

This brings back great memories of the days of feeling like we were a part of something magnificent! As a fan, my friend and I managed to get tickets to endure freezing winter weather, bundled in multiple layers of warm clothing, to watch a Monday Night Football game outdoors at Soldier Field. Dedicated, but crazy, really. Great memories.

And then I moved to Southern California. I left the Chicago area in 1990, and lost interest in the Bears. I was an NFL orphan without a favorite team for about 23 years. Now that the Rams are in town, I’m giving that a go. This is my second year as a Rams fan, and I was pleased with their decent season.

However, it is the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. I have no friends as far as I’m aware that are Eagles fans. Of course, I have many friends that are Patriot fans. So I might root for the Patriots on their behalf. But I still wish new teams would get to the Super Bowl instead of the Patriots again!

Now on to the food….

The Food Fun

For the Super Bowl in recent years, my husband and I select food to enjoy featuring typical things the team cities are famous for when it comes to food. It makes the game more interesting. This year is no different. We are considering the following menu items just for fun:

New England Clam Chowder

Image result for progresso new england clam chowder

I will heat this up from the can and not try to make it myself.

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

Philly Cheesecake

The link above the picture includes the history of this famous sandwich.

Boston Baked Beans

We may make the sandwiches and the beans at home, if we are feeling ambitious.

And for dessert, perhaps cheesecake made with Philadelphia Cream Cheese, which actually originated in New York, or so I read. So does that really count for a Philadelphia dessert?

Fruit Tart Cheesecakes (6 of 6)

Mini-Fruit Tart Cheesecakes

Or should we bring home a Marie Callendar’s Boston Creme Pie, if they still offer it?

https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7190/6939477259_3033fc8533.jpg

Martha Stewart has a recipe for individual Boston Cream Pies. Of course she does, right?

Or maybe we should just take off and go to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert and skip the second half of the game! There may be no line to wait in, since millions will be watching the game!

Image result for cheesecake factory original cheesecake

I guess it is a good thing we have two weeks to decide. Do you have a favorite team? Or a favorite Super Bowl snack or food idea?

And stay charming, my friends!

“The Post” – Movie Review

14 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by Cindi Pete in The Weekend

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Meryl Streep, movie, Pentagon Papers, review, Sarah Paulson, Steven Spielberg, The Post, Tom Hanks, Vietnam War

Important Story Well Told

The Post Poster
The Post is a story of the Pentagon Papers and the politics, set in the early 1970’s. The movie about this complicated time made accessible and engaging. The many layers, well produced, illustrate what a pivotal moment this was. To give us a picture of this historic time, this thought-provoking movie is well worth seeing. I had just entered high school at this point in the past. I have vague memories of this event, so I was motivated to understand it better. I really enjoyed the movie.

Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Sarah Paulson, along with the rest of the cast, did a remarkable job portraying the characters. Spielberg worked hard for historic accuracy, even using the recordings of Richard Nixon.

If you are interested in our political system, accountable government, the First Amendment and journalism, the changing opportunities for women and gender roles in the workplace and politics, you would also enjoy this movie.  This is also about weighing out values, priorities, power, and consequences in making decisions along the way. It is a suspenseful drama. I recommend the movie, and I recommend seeing it in the theater for some of the newspaper printing press scenes are impressive on the big screen.

Additional Notes:
  • I support holding the government accountable to the people represented and see the press as an important part of that. If you see that differently, you may not agree.
  • If you are uncomfortable with women taking their place in the world of work outside the home, you may not agree.
  • It is long, but it didn’t feel long. An intelligent, fast paced film.
  • For family viewing: No sex scenes; very little salty language; plenty of cigarette smoking and social drinking as was typical at the time.
  • As an educator, I would say high school students and up would enjoy this brilliant, character driven, suspenseful story.

House Full of Cute

08 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by Cindi Pete in A Good Life

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

community, enough, friends, generosity, housemates, muffins, sharing, toddler

Well, here we are, off and running in 2018, with our hopes and dreams fresh and new. Or familiar and rolled up with additional determination. I hope you enjoyed the holidays and now we are back together here on the Wild Chin Hair blog! I appreciate all of you who stop by when you get a chance to read the latest post.

Back to this week’s post, House Full of Cute. Let me explain.

Did you know we share our home from time to time as the right opportunity comes along? When we bought this home in our early forties, just the two of us, we felt it was important to be generous with it. It is a two-floor home with four bedrooms. That is too much house for only the two of us to rumble around in.

In the twenty-one years we have lived here, we have opened our doors and our hearts to eighteen different people in various combinations and life situations, two of whom were young children with their parents. A teacher, a nephew, a couple whose home was being remodeled, grad school students, undergrads, some raising support to go to the mission field, and some just working on figuring out their next step. Short term housemates leave us with great lessons and memories.

IMG_2231

Sharing our home is part of who we are as followers of Christ. We believe we have enough to share in order to support others in pursuing a dream that will contribute to better the world through creative generosity. The four rooms and a bathroom upstairs become a welcoming home sweet home, and we share the kitchen and laundry room located downstairs.

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View from the south window

Now on to the cute. Currently, we have friends living upstairs, returning after several years as missionaries in Sweden. They lived here five years ago as newlyweds. They are working on finding meaningful work and settling into life back in the United States.

This time, they came to Milton House with their young son, Oliver. He will be two at the end of January. He has brought a whole new level of joy and cute to Milton House. I smile the minute I hear his little voice or the literal pitter-patter of little feet. He is a happy guy.

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We did not have children, and welcoming some young ones into our home has been a great gift. Peter, who lived here from 2010-2012, shortly after his birth until he was just over two years old, trained us well in this respect. We were his first neighbors and had such fun getting to know him. We learned that “boo-babies” were blueberries, and so much more.

Ollie will be two in a few weeks. He as brought more sweet experiences to our lives that we will never forget. We are privileged to see these children and watch them develop day by day.  Sometimes, we even get to help out by playing with them or watching them while they sleep so momma and dada can run out for a cup of coffee or to rent a movie.

Ollie helped his mom bake muffins this past week. I just melted just like butter from all the cuteness. This toddler lives life in grand ways.

2018-1-5 Ollie Baking Muffins 1

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And of course, there’s also our sweet dog Sam rounding out the house of cute.

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Notice the tiny Chewbacca slippers.

Stay charming, my friends!

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