Category: Glimpses of Life

Orcas Island/Mt Constitution

Just returned from Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands.

The weather was absolutely beautiful. We went canoeing — my first time in over 30 years. Didn’t do too bad thanks to my friend Ron who glided us through the water.
Seems like the people move much slower there so it was a great way to unwind.
I’ll be attaching pictures soon so stay tuned.
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Biftec (Steak)

Tonight I made biftec, known as steak in English.  It’s really easy to make. I baked it in the oven but I’ve also made it on the stovetop.
Here’s the home recipe:
Ingredients
  • 3-12 oz packages of thin sliced beef steaks
  • Vinegar
  • 1 small can of tomato sauce
  • Salt and Pepper (to taste)
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 onion
Directions
  1. Rinse the meat under warm water and place it in a bowl.
  2. Take a couple handfuls of vinegar and toss the meat with it.
  3. Pour tomato sauce over the meat and toss.
  4. Season with the Adobo (or other seasonings of your choosing)
  5. Cut the green pepper and onion into thin slices.
  6. Toss all together.
  7. Refrigerate overnight.
On the stovetop: toss the mixture into a skillet and heat on low/medium for about one hour.
In the oven: Put mixture in an oven-proof casserole dish and heat at 300 degrees for approximate 1.5 hours. (About midway, toss the meat)
This requires no oil or greasing of any pans.
As oven/stovetop temperatures may vary, please make sure your meat is thoroughly cooked before consuming.
Enjoy!
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Samsung Moment

I’m definitely have a moment with my new cell phone, the Samsung Moment.

When I first purchased it 3 weeks ago, it kept going into airplane mode. Took me awhile to figure out what it was doing. It’s as if it had it’s own brain.
Then I needed to charge the cell a couple times a day.
This morning I woke up and it died.
So, I take it back to Sprint and the young man who is there is the same one who sold me this phone.
When I first went, I was there over an hour. This second trip took me over an hour also. I would have thought it would have been easier since it was replacing the cell with a new one.
In the meantime, I found out this Representative is from Latvia. He goes to college at WSU and is only here for the summer. His brother went to St. Mary’s in California. He took Spanish as a child (he can’t be older than 20). Etc. Etc. Etc.
In other words, he’s practically family. lol
Hopefully this new cell won’t give me any more bad moments.
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Stumbling-block

I’ve heard the word in the past but today I heard it in a song called Never Give Up by Yolanda Adams.

Part of the lyrics:

“Sometimes life can put a stumbling-block in your way
But you gotta keep the faith
Bring what’s deep inside your heart, to the light
And never give up, don’t ever give up on you.”

Life is so unpredictable. Just when things are going as you think they should, bam!

Stumbling-blocks, i.e. obstacles or hindrances to progress.

They can be people or things. And they don’t usually announce themselves, i.e. “Hi, I’m a stumbling-block and I’m going to mess with your life today.”

No, they come unexpectedly, unannounced and usually unwanted.

Do you go over, under, around or through stumbling-blocks?

I guess it would depend on what type it is.

If the stumbling-block is a person, you can choose not to deal with them. De-friend them as one can on Facebook. Block them from chatting with you as on Gmail chat. Use Google Voice when they call and have them automatically go into a recording that says “we’re sorry, the number you have called has been disconnected.” Or, simply ignore them as if they don’t exist.

Ouch! We humans are afraid of confrontation.

If I had a choice, I think I’d rather go through them. That means telling them the truth about what they mean to me in my life. Why they are hindering my progress. That’s not always easy.

What if the stumbling-block is a thing as in a television, a computer, a job.

One would think (and hope) that dealing with a “thing” would be easier than dealing with a person.

It’s easier to ignore a television so you can spend quality time with your family or someone you love. You don’t have to “discuss” things with a TV.

Unfortunately, most of the time, the stumbling-block is a person.

So, I need to learn not to confront but to engage the stumbling-block.

Hey, maybe I should just do a quarterback sneak and go around them?

Naw … not my nature.

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Mundane

Oatmeal with fresh-from-the garden blueberries for breakfast.

Will work on paperwork, bills and laundry today.

One might say it’s mundane but then I looked the word up at dictionary.com and found out what the word really means.

Mundane: of or pertaining to this world or earth as opposed to heaven.

Never thought it had anything spiritual associated with it.

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iPad and Tap Tap

Went to church on Saturday and the service was very nice although I’m not into “patriotic” services.

Have been looking for a “sock” for my new Sprint Android phone. Cell phones should last forever but mine lasted a little over two years and they no longer make a new battery for it.
The new cell I have has all these new gadgets and makes life simpler and less confusing. My calendar is on it, my contacts are listed as I want with favorites listed first. And I even have an application for the weather in whatever city/country I want. Way too cool!
Went to help a friend pack yesterday morning and today. She is 84 and moving to Nebraska. So much stuff. I’m getting quite good at knowing what to get rid of and what to keep. So much paper we go through.
Since my son is home, I get to play on his new iPad. There is one application that is called Tap Tap. Very addictive game. There is a list of songs you choose from and then there are three circles. As the song plays, bubbles head toward the circles and you have to tap the circle as the bubble hits it. Very nice application. But, too addictive.
So — in one sense it’s good my son isn’t home all the time.
I’d like to get an iPad one day as it’s much easier to carry than a Mac. It’s lightweight and has everything pretty much on it so when I take my walks I can carry it with me.
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