Tavolino

Still no power.

I don't want to talk about it.

I've reached the point where I spontaneously burst into tears when I think about all of the food I had to throw away yesterday.

I know it could have been a lot worse. I know we were lucky. I know I am coming from a place of privilege.

But - honestly? I'm getting frustrated.

My mom must have thought I sounded pathetic when I talked to her on the phone today because she offered to treat Bruce and me for dinner. He was working until 5 so I surprised him at work and we picked a place in Patriot's Place, Tavolino.

(I don't know how to link from my phone!)




We started with a Fried Cheese appetizer, which was super smoky! And the marinara sauce was spicy - I was totally not expecting it. But it was a great starter.




As was this!




I went with the house salad topped with garlic crusted grilled chicken. I had the waitress put ground pepper on it - there was so much flavor!

We opted out of dessert and for a walk around Patriot's Place.




They're getting ready for tomorrow night's Patriot's game - football season already?!

Okay, friends. We need some prayers around here. I'm not going to ask for prayers that the power comes back but I am going to ask that you pray for our patience and sanity. I think (okay I know!) people are starting to lose both. I don't want accidents/fights/etc. to break out because of frustration.

xoxo

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It's The Little Things Apparently

I swear every time I see one of these ...




I want to put my car in park, get out and hug the men who are working to bring our power back.

Day 4 with no power and I keep reminding myself that it could have been a lot worse. Deep breath. Amen.

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The View From My Kitchen

We're getting used to it.




Thank you Steve and Cheryl for letting me use your Internet and Sue for letting me shower and do laundry! I am insanely blessed with generous church members.

Oh Irene ...

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Slowed Down

Bruce and I have been out and about all day - it's honestly kept us sane (sitting in the house or my office without power is a great way to get frustrated with the situation and at one another!).

So let's see ... A local UCC pastor and friend of ours had power at her church and graciously offered the space to charge and check email on something other than my phone - it was greatly appreciated! We were also able to talk 'church' for awhile and the wheels in my brain are now spinning fast with ideas. Thank you Virginia!

When we got home Bruce and I took a walk down the street to see some of the damage and saw that some of our church members / neighbors were out in their yard so we stopped in for a visit.




After that I had a meeting with a church member so I headed down to the church and Bruce came along for the ride and did some fishing while I met. I rode with Bruce to another fishing hole after that and then we finished the night at Panera and Target.




Honestly - things aren't looking good for power in Rehoboth right now. But we are starting to get into a routine and have some friends lined up that have power and have offered showers and electrical outlets for charging. All in all, I'm still saying that this could have been a lot worse.

The neat thing about this whole situation is the fact that the sense of urgency that normally accompanies life is gone and I've been able to have some wonderful conversations. I have been forced to slow down and I do not think it is such a bad thing.

Bruce and I are settling in for a night of reading and tying flies by candlelight (I'm guessing you know who's doing what) and it is honestly so peaceful right now.

I pray I find ways to recreate that peace once the power comes back and life fires up again.

Wishing you all peace for your journey ...

Sarah

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I Think I've Found The Source Of The Power Outage

Big oy.




It may be awhile, friends!

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12 Hours

Bruce just caught me crying over the book, 'Onward' by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

Either the book is striking some hard chords with me or I've been without power and water for 12 hours with no projected end in sight.

I'm thinking it's a little bit of both.

Wishing everyone a restful night's sleep!

xo
Sarah


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Ms. Irene

We are currently without power but - all things considered - are feeling lucky.

We're downgraded to a tropical storm at this point but I think it may be awhile before the power comes back on. Once the winds die down I do want to head over to church to check for any flooding. Our road is a mess and it seems to be getting worse so that may be awhile!

We lost power before I could post my devotional so I'll try to transfer it to my phone and post sometime today!

Bruce and I were just walking the yard (carefully!) and agreed that in a weird way it smells like fall right now! For some reason that is some comfort.



The sun keeps trying to poke its way out - sort of like our own olive branch!


Stay safe everyone! xoxo

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Since You Listened To Me Worry All Day ...

... I'll pop in and say that Bruce made it home safe and sound!

Outtake.

From the sounds of things, Irene hasn't been hitting as strongly as the reports had initially indicated. I am hoping that will be the case with us, too.

I will be back in the morning with an Irene-inspired devotional - goodnight all!

What I've Been Up To Today ...

1. Obsessing over the weather reports.

source

Especially photos like this.

 source

And this.

2. Thinking about the email I sent to my church members yesterday.

And trying to take my own advice.  Deeeeeep breaths, Sarah, deeeeeeep breaths.  

(I'll feel better when Bruce is HOME!)

3. Eating the lamest dinner ever.

 

Oh, but that sweet tea ...

Raise your hand if you miss living in the south!

(Waves hand frantically.)

4. Doing dishes.

If we lose power (and subsequently lose water) I will go crazy if there are dishes in the sink.

5. Folding laundry.

Why do I feel like laundry is always a losing battle?  And there are only two of us!

6. Listening to the Boston Pops.  It's calming me down (see #2).

7. Getting my guest room back in order - it sort of became a dumping ground post-vacation.

Is it sad that the guest room is the only room in the house that is 'done' at the moment?

8. Obsessively checking Twitter for updates from my favorite news sources.

How crazy is it that Ann Curry is sleeping in her office tonight?

9. Texting my husband every 30 minutes and impatiently waiting for him to get home.

10. Thinking about email blasting my church members with a devotional in the morning - I know how bummed they all are that they are going to be missing my sermon ...

What have you been up to all day?  Prepping for Irene?  Obsessing over news reports?

Getting Ready For Irene

Well ... I think we're as ready as we're going to be.

Bruce spent the morning cleaning out the gutters ... 

... and securing the patio furniture.  Actually, I started the furniture process but had a surprise encounter with a mouse in our shed and ran screaming into the house.

I'm so helpful.

I heated up some of yesterday's Sugar 'n Spice Pancakes for breakfast this morning.

I served mine up with plain yogurt and granola - a great alternative to syrup!  Much more filling as well.

I need to keep myself busy today.  The rain has started and Bruce is at work.  I'm hoping that they close the store early and he can be home safe and sound with me.  I'm praying for everyone who is affected by Irene right now.  Be safe everyone! xoxo

p.s. I installed the commenting system, "Disqus" into my blog.  I had been thinking about it for awhile and Melissa was the latest of my blog friends to install it and she inspired me to give it a try.  I HOPE this makes it easier to comment if you aren't a blogger user (you can sign in through facebook, twitter, yahoo, google, etc.).  You can also comment as a guest - you just need to click guest and put in your email (so I can reply to comments) - but your email will NOT be published.

If y'all hate it, I'll get rid of it!

Cucumber & Hummus Sandwiches

Oh man.  We had another dinner tonight.

'Stuffed' doesn't even begin to describe my state of being right now.  I may never be hungry again.

And yet it was all so so so good!

I kept going back and forth on what I wanted to bring to the dinner tonight, but ended up losing some cooking time as I dealt with the MA state of emergency / calling off church.

(I have to say - I felt ridiculous making the call when the skies were blue and the sun was shining.  But technically, I didn't make the call - the Governor's office did.)

Anyway, I decided to do something quick that I've always want to try - Cucumber and Hummus Sandwiches!  This was inspired by the cucumbers in our garden that were ready to be picked (we still have some!).  I don't really have measurements, per-say, but this is a super simple, quick sandwich - great for potlucks and individual meals!

Cucumber & Hummus Sandwiches

1 can Chick Peas

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic

Minced Onion

Cucumbers

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

I don't have a food processor (bizarre, because I think I would get a lot of use out of one) so I make hummus in my mortar and pestle.  I drain and rinse the chick peas and add about 1/3 of the can to the mortar and crush them up.  Then I add another 1/3, crush and then the final 1/3.

Then it's really just a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Don't add too much of anything at a time and taste as you go so you can add more garlic/onion to fit your taste buds.  Add a little bit of olive oil at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

Once the hummus is ready, wash and finely slice your cucumber.

Assembly line!

Slap some hummus on both sides of the bread ... 

Add the cucumber slices to one half ... 

Put together and slice!

If you want to have this as a main lunch sandwich (and not part of a bigger meal) I would probably load some more cucumbers on them and a touch more hummus for a fuller sandwich.  Soooo good!

On another note, is anyone else excited about the Pioneer Woman's cooking show on The Food Network?  It premieres tomorrow!  I think it's going to open a really neat window into her life on the ranch.

Goodnight!

There She Blows.

Oy.

Be safe, friends!

Sugar 'n Spice Pancakes

In more ways than one, I am ready for fall!

From a cooking standpoint, there are a ton of fun spices that come seasonal with fall.  I decided to jump the gun a little bit this morning and pull them out while I was making pancakes this morning!

Sugar 'n Spice Pancakes

1 1/2 cups Flour

4 tablespoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 tablespoon White Sugar

1 1/4 cups Milk

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon All Spice

This is a very simple "combine ingredients and pour onto a hot skillet" type of recipes.  My favorite!

I smeared some Peanut Butter on mine this morning (which melted instantly!) and topped with granola. 

Delicious.

Iced Coffee!

Alright, I've got a pile of laundry calling out to be folded - have a great day!

Irony

During my third year of seminary I was taking a class called "Crisis Ministry".  At the end of the semester we had to create a crisis response for our future churches in a natural disaster.  My friend Sarah was getting ready to head back to her home state of Florida, so naturally she created a response to a hurricane.  Knowing that I eventually wanted to end up back in New England - and professing the fact that "New England never gets hit by hurricanes" - I created a disaster response to a big blizzard.

Notice the only state on the East Coast that is not getting hit by this hurricane.

I'm not laughing.

I'm too busy trying to decide if and when we should cancel meetings and weekend Youth Group activities.

Sarah, can I have a copy of your hurricane disaster response?

I put together a simple pasta salad for a potluck dinner that I went to tonight.  It needed something in the line of spices or flavoring (suggestions?) but half of it was fresh from the garden!

The dinner was with this year's Confirmation class!  It is such great a group of kids and I had so much fun with them and their moms tonight (I think we scared off the dads, haha).  We were able to hang out on the deck and enjoy the evening (it might be the last time we get to do that before Irene makes her grand entrance!).

***

On a more serious note - because of my sweet husbands affinity to outdoor and fishing blogs, I've gotten to know several of the bloggers.  Bruce told me tonight that Alan of Small Stream Reflections had a mild stroke.  Hop over there and wish him well if you get a chance!

The Tale Of Two Pairs Of Jeans

About two weeks ago my college bff Sarah gchatted me about a Daily Deal that Target had running.  Jeans that are $20 in the store were $15, buy one get one free and had free shipping.

I was intrigued.

We both went back and forth for about an hour until we ultimately convinced each other to place the order.  When I got to the end of my order, the following popped up:

Okay.  So let's recap:  The jeans would have been $20 each.  They were $15 each.  I got one pair for free.  I should have paid $6.99 in shipping.  I did not.  I have a Target Visa so I got an additional 5% off the order. 

Let's recap ever further:  I paid $13.50 for two pairs of jeans.

(Now I will say that I typically do not order clothing online because I like to try things on but there wasn't much of a gamble with this because you can return online orders to the store.) 

Okay, so the story gets better.  I wasn't sure why I needed two pairs of the same pair of jeans, but figured if one was free, what difference did it make?  However - in the end I didn't order the right size so I ran over to Target yesterday to see about making the exchange.  When I got there they didn't have two of the same color/wash of jeans I had (there was only one available on this online deal) so I asked if I could still make the exchange with two different colors.

They said yes.

So I ended up with two different pairs of jeans for a total of $13.50.

I was so proud of myself I wore jeans to work today.

The End.

In other news, Bruce is loving his new job!  We're both hunkering down and getting ourselves on a schedule so he packed his lunch while I made breakfast this morning.

As gut wrenching as it is to spend $115 on groceries, it was so nice to have FOOD in the house this morning!  You can't cook if there isn't food in the fridge and on the shelves (it's just a matter of finding the time to get to the store!).  I made simple breakfast burritos this morning:

• Scrambled Eggs
• Mexican Blend Cheese, Shredded
• Salsa
• Flour Tortilla Wrap

This really is a five-minute meal - very do-able during the week!

I love that verse!

Alright, I'm off to bask in the continued glow of my bargain shopping.  It's the thrill of the hunt!