Wishing I was here for New Year's...

Food and home.

Isn't it interesting how we associate certain foods and tastes with different locations and/or memories? One food dish that always makes me think of home is stir-fried pea sprouts. We don't have it that often anymore. In fact, usually we have spinach. However, tonight we had pea sprouts and it was delicious.

Stir-fry Pea Sprouts

Ingredients 
1 lb of pea sprout
1-2 cloves of garlic crushed
Splash of oil (vegetable, olive or peanut)
Salt to taste

1. Add oil to bottom of wok (or giant pan) and put on medium-high heat on stove.
2.  Add crushed garlic to wok
3. When hot, add pea sprouts and stir-fry!
4. Add salt to taste while cooking.
5. Serve while it's steaming hot with some white rice. Mmmmmm.

Enjoy!

In the places you find love...

"It Feels Like Christmas" from The Muppet Christmas Carol

It's in the singing of a street corner choir

It's going home and getting warm by the fire

It's true, wherever you find love it feels like Christmas

A cup of kindness that we share with another

A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother

In all the places you find love it feels like Christmas

It is the season of the heart

A special time of caring

The ways of love made clear.

It is the season of the spirit

The message if we hear it-

Is make it last all year!

It's in the giving of a gift to another

A pair of mittens that were made by your mother

It's all the ways that we show love that feel like Christmas...

A part of childhood we'll always remember

It is the summer of the soul in December

Yes, when you do your best for love it feels like Christmas...

It is the season of the heart

A special time of caring

The ways of love made clear

It is the season of the spirit

The message if we hear it-

Is make it last all year!

It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true, wherever you find love it feels like Christmas...

Merry Christmas to all of you that are close to my heart, even if you are far away...

peace&love,

k. fank

Snuggie

Every time I see this:

I really want to be doing this:

Except not with cats (or as a cat for that matter). And possibly with good friends on a cold, rainy day while watching a movie. Possibly. Or a nice young man would work too. ;)

Break Highlights

I arrived safely in Orange County on Saturday evening and the break from Seattle has been great. I mean, I already miss Seattle terribly... Friends, roomies, and basically everything about that wonderful city, but it was time for a little getaway and this has been perfect.

Some highlights of the week so far:
-the car salesman thinking I was 16 years old
-catching up with old friends
-telling my brother he was going to be driving our car up to Seattle with our mom
-having breakfast at Breaking Dawn in Laguna Hills with Christina
-telling my dad that Wizard's middle name should be "Lizard" so that him and Wizard would have the same initials: WLF
-delicious Chinese food
-2 hour naps
-Golden Spoon with Wizard

Things to look forward to:
-more food
-more drinks
-Christmas
-more family laughter
-SPU Women's basketball games
-New Year's plans

The Young and the Restless

Yesterday one of my students asked me to read this short story he had to read for class and explain it to him. So I start to read it.

Basically this young high school couple gets swept up in the high of having running away to have sex. However, soon the high wears off when they realize no one really cares what they're doing, especially the young girl's mom. Throughout the story as the girl is describing herself you also realize that she is pregnant. Again no one really notices, not even the boyfriend. She eventually births the baby herself in another room, disposes of it in a trash can somewhere, and is eventually found out and arrested.

So I'm sitting there reading this thinking: "Here is one of my high school students who is a more recent arrival to America and I have to explain this very.... something story to him. blah."

When I finish, I turn to ask him if he's even read it yet. Luckily, he hasn't even read it so I respond that I'm not telling him what it's about until he reads it! hah! Throwing it back on him! (that's my tactic.)

Meanwhile, he's reading and he gets to a section which basically goes like this, "And we turn on 'The Young and the Restless' and the room starts shaking and meanwhile mom is walking downstairs- clickity-clack clickity-clack."

Student: "What is "The Young and the Restless?"
Me: "It's a soap opera..."
Student: *blank stare*
Me: "Well, here it's supposed to mean... you know... well...."
Student: "Oh. O.K."

I'm starting to feel like a protective mother hen with these young people. I want them to learn about this stuff, but at the same time I look at their youthful faces and think- not yet! (or maybe not in this form).

So ready for this...