Good Bread

I rarely eat bread.  I'd rather eat a tortilla most days.   I do love a good sandwich every once in awhile and some really good sandwiches require bread.  I take my lunch to work and this week it was sandwiches.  I like a nice nutty bread, and recently tried one they had at WinCo.  It was cheaper than the Oat Nut brand and organic as a bonus.  This is the best bread I have ever eaten, then I read about the guy and will be a fan for life. His story follows below, I copied it from his website.

 

 

Born into a family bakery, Dave Dahl grew up watching his father work hard to create innovative and healthy breads. Resentful and unappreciative of his father’s accomplishments, he turned to the dangerous life of drugs and crime. He was arrested for numerous violations including drug possession and distribution, burglary, assault, and armed robbery, eventually landing him in state prison for a total of 15 years. During his last sentence, he realized that his path was one of destruction. With a newfound desire to make a positive impact in the world, Dave returned to the family business.

Upon his return to the family bakery, Dave was determined to prove his worth and be a part of the company that his family had built. He worked tirelessly to develop the highest quality, best tasting breads imaginable using only the finest ingredients. Once the public got their first taste of “Dave’s Killer Bread” in 2005, it became an instant success. Since then, the company has grown from 30 employees to nearly 300 (one third of which are ex-cons), and has received multiple awards recognizing the positive contributions it has made to the community. Now a successful baker, Dave has never forgotten the path that led him to where he is today, and is continually working to help inspire others with his story of transformation.

 

http://daveskillerbread.com/breads/

Long Babies

I realize that these children carry the names Badik and Christian, however, they still file under Long Babies for me, as will the Briggs and Reyes children who have yet to join us. There was a Welcome Courtney gathering yesterday at Jenn and Richard's House, and I tell ya, it was a parade of cuteness all afternoon.  The weather was rainy and a lot of people did not show up which suited me just fine.

 

Cora did not slow down much, I took a bunch of pictures, and these were the best of them...gotta be quick with her.  And I decided next time I would have to take some video because her narrative is hilarious.

 

 

 

 

 

Courtney was not as impressed with our nonsense.

 

 

 

And bless her heart she slept just fine in the middle of the noisy living room.

 

Indiana took a quick nap...

 

 

...But the rest of the time he was the party boy to be sure, loving all the movement and entertainment of the adults. The kid never stops moving.  Amber and Kevin are in trouble once he's mobile.  And if he walked at 6 months old, I would not be surprised.

 

He loved being clothing free

 

 

Then Courtney stopped by the blanket to play

 

 

 

 

 

In the next three Indiana was looking at Amber and actually broke into some bonafide giggling.and there's few sounds better than a giggling baby...

 

 

 

A perfectly lovely Saturday afternoon. I am so lucky to live here right now.

You Never Know....

...when your last breath will be.  My work buddy, I affectionately referred to as my wusband, (work husband), died on Christmas Day. He was the only person in Reno that I spent time with socially, other than people I am related to, of course. Paul was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on his 50th birthday last May. It was a long, hard summer with him.  I would like to think were I to have that kind of news delivered to me I would wake up and grab every breath of joy I could squeeze into the time I had left.  I like to think I would eat the right foods and think the right thoughts and lead myself out of dis ease, and into more love, coming out on the other side wiser and more knowing of my own true heart.  But that's just me.  Paul dove into death with all the gusto he could muster.  Learning to let go of wanting him to do things my way was the valuable lesson Paul taught me with his passing. We fought a lot for awhile, and after I had said my piece for the last time, I just remained in his life as a witness to his demise, and it was really sad.

 

Tonight I stopped by the Rubber Ducky Place near my house to say a quick hello to the gal who was working.  She trained me (despite the fact she had only been hired about a month before me) and is one of the very few clerks who has been there longer than I have.  I think in Reno/Sparks there are maybe 6 or 7 clerks out of dozens, and maybe three of those are in the 6-7 year range, probably less than a third of the dozens have more than a year under their belt.  Such is the way of this company, we are disposable, they don't hire very well and turnover is huge. Debbie was so happy to see me, which always puzzles me because other than the two days of training, I have not seen this woman more than 5 times in the nearly 5 years I have worked there and for very short periods of time.  I almost never cross the threshold of any store if I am not working and it was odd that I stopped by there this evening.  She gave me a big hug and was crying in moments.  I was thinking, oh, my, what is going on here.  Then she tells me that another clerk died that afternoon during shift change.  Carol was about a three year veteran, and while I was not close to her by any means, I knew Carol as she and Paul hung out occasionally. I was stunned by this news.  She is only a couple of years older than I am.  Apparently she passed out on the floor, they called 911 and she died in the ambulance of a blood clot to or in her heart, I am not sure how the biology works, but yikes.  All I could think of was that it would be my worst nightmare to die at the Rubber Ducky Place, ( I know, what a cold bitch, thinking about myself, but, oh well).  My commitment to better health reinforced with a vengeance. My desire for more connection to that which brings me joy has skyrocketed to realms I have never experienced before.

 

Rest in peace, my friend. Thank you for all the laughter we shared.

 

 

 

And for the rest of you reading these words, know that I love you.  I think about you even if I am not in contact with you.  I wish you love and joy with every breath and when you are struggling, I am still sending you love and joy with every breath.

 

I am holding you in my heart till next time we are together.

The Basement

 I've never had a basement before and I love it. Josh stayed down there for the first 6 mos, but since then I have kinda embraced it as my space.  The washer and dryer are down there, so I spend a bit of time down there.  I imagine what I would do to the space if I owned this house, starting with adding a bathroom.  Here's the tour:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And back to the kitchen...

Flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess I'm already longing for spring.....