My Security Blanket(s)

Finding this book in the library made me thinking...

about the young version myself, finally able to read fluently at the age of 7, in the beginning of second grade. I loved it so much when the letters grouping into words, words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into a story.

Visiting the school library was a very exciting event that year. I always want to read a new book. "Why do you borrow the same book ? You alredy knew the story," I said to a friend who had no idea what to borrow.

Yeah, that young version of myself is not me anymore. Now I love go back to the books which I have read. Especially those which were specials to me.

Let's start from the left, Gone Girl. I have a hard cover version, only $1 at the secondhand bookshop. I love the story of Gone Girl , a perfect girl who doesn't seem as she appears to be.  I love mysteries, murders and detectives.

In my life I am a little addicted to figuring things out ( things meaning events , heart motivation, etc... deep things ). These days, I finally realize that it's okay if I don't understand about things. The outlet for me is detective novels because they have the moment when the detectives explained everything or when the mysteries finally solved.

No, I don't advise people to stop going to psychologist or trying to solve their problems by pondering deeply into their hearts. Please keep doing that, it's just for myself I usually go overboard.

Another reminder to stop myself from figuring things out is coptic binding          ( another book related activity..yeah..I am into notebook making this days )

Coptic binding is a style of binding which exposes the spine of the notebook. Honestly it's hard for me. My husband is better at this loopy things, he even helped me when I started. So far I made 5 notebooks with coptic binding, I still need to look at the intructions. If I venture into figuring overboard, I remember that I still not able grasp the pattern of coptic binding. If something that simple is difficult, how difficult it is to understand the deep things in my/other's hearts.

Now go back to my books, let's look the second one, Captivating by Stacy Eldredge. This book made me cry. It helps me to understand and embarace my feminine heart. I bought this at Amazon.com.

Dunia Sophie or Sophie's World is like Philosophy 101 wrapped in a story. Very creative. During the end of my years at uni, when I was interested in philosphy I often read this book. Not a surprise huh, for a person who's addicted to figuring things out. At the end, I still don't understand about all those fancy philosophy. I asked my parents to buy it at Gramedia for me and brought it all the way from Indonesia because I lost the old one.

CS Lewis's Narnia series are a heaven for me. I love the Pevensieve kids, the adventures, the descrition of the food , the exotic places. Mostly I love Aslan. If I could meet Aslan in person, I will hug and kiss him. Carefully though, because he is not a tame lion ! I love Lewis but cannot read Tolkiens. Bought the complete set at the secondhand bookstore for a mere $2.

Rose is a biography of a lady's maid. I got it at Barnes and Noble. Why I bought it ? Because of my fondness of Downton Abbey of course. I always read biographies. I like to know why that famous person were or how he was during his childhood. Love to see the old photos . Love to see how he overcame his difficult situations. I love biography but not history.

I also love the children and juvenile books. Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono is bought at amazon.com because I watched the anime.

Kreatif Sampai Mati by Wahyu Aditya and Creativity by Phillipe Petit are two books about creativity. I love reading about the creative process. I love to see ( in the photos mainly) the artists studios, the chefs kitchen, the designer sewing room, etc. My cousin Dwika, bought Kreatif Sampai Mati for me. Creativity was bought online at amazon.com

Last, this is a love letter from my God, which I kept reading every so often

So dear readers, let me show you where I kept my security blankets

Some people have friends, bags, clothes, paintings, kitchenwares and even real blankets, as security blankets. For me, they are books.

What I've Been Looking for in the Movies ( So Far )...

I enjoyes cute rooms and houses which I've seen in the movies

Meg Ryan's House in You've Got Mail, so warm and inviting

Her Bookstore in the same movie, could stay there forever

Detective Monk's Apartment, envying the obsessively neat organization
which I know I couldn't achieve 

Nicole Kidman's house at The Hour, so rustic and cute, yet errie

What I've been Looking for in the Movies ( So Far )

Movies are one of many things that I like to see
( others are : dogs, flowers, cute downtowns, typhography, natures, food as art, paintings, and so on and so forth )
These days, besides the storiestelling and the actors,
there are particular things which I crave in a movie

1. The color combos

dusty rose,brown and grey work nicely together in Ballet Shoes, the movie

autmn colors such terracotta, grey, brown in Not Another Happy Ending

red and green are predominant in the whole movie of Amelie

mustard, green and teal in the Meryl Streep's kitchen at the Bridges of Madison County

Do you remember a movie from its colors ?

WEDDING OF THE YEAR

In the 14th years I lived in the USA, very rarely I got a wedding invitation.
So far only 8 times, and I attended 6 of them. Back home, going to the wedding is almost a monthly or even weekly, occasion.

Indri and Eric's wedding in apple orchard

In my opinion, the weddings back home are more elaborate and bigger than those in the USA. So, from the guests point of view, there are more preparation for the female guests to make herself presentable in the wedding party. There are dresses and shoes to pick, hair and make up to do, nails and toenails to paint, (branded) handbags to complete the image, and so on and so forth.

Jojo and Sukma's wedding

These days back home, people also try do unique wedding party too. I just found out in my friend's facebook that he went to a wedding party which happened inside the national library. Very quirky,I think, and cool at the same time.

Eka and Sesi's wedding, which I missed

Now.. drumroll...the wedding of the year is

                     Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes from Downton Abbey

They are the servants. Mr. Carson is the butler and Mrs Hughes is the head housekeeper. Although they are the servants, they are very dignified and respected. Even the owner of the house would think twice to make Mr Carson cross.

Mrs Hughes or Elsie Hughes is called Mrs Hughes even though Ms. is more suitable. But the head housekeeper always called a. Mrs.

Yes, from the deepest part of my heart I congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Carson.
To be honest, I felt happier watching their marriage than that of Lady Mary.

 

Low Impact Kind of Gal

As a zumba-ers, lately I found out that I became really sore after a regular zumba exercise which last for 1 hour . The pain was too much for me that I had to take a painkiller afterwards. Although I heard I can burn 400 cal by doing zumba, I have to take the pain into consideration.

The alternatif is zumba gold, a low impact zumba which segmented to seniors. At first I was rather apprehended to join the class. I'm not seniors yet, I just entered my forties last year. I came to the class anyway, and I love it. It's low impact and the instructor is great. It feels more like dancing class than aerobic class.

Too bad it's only happens once a week. I need at least 3 times exercise to be energized. So what should I do ?

the path

Well, the solution is walking. This week I walked for 2 miles with a friend. We walked on a quaint path. It has a couple of bridges and wooded area. Very nice. And nearby there is a cute supermarket which sells fresh squeezed orange juice at a low price.

So finally I decide to walk about 2 or 3 times a week. In the meantime, I'm still going to regular zumba class, but I will make my movement low impacts. In case the instructor are jumping around,
I am just walking . In other words, I will be more like the senior members of zumba class. The grandmas who always do their own dancing and keep their own pace.

Viva zumba gold and viva walking !

The Things My Kiddos Like

2015 now, and it's time to update the things my kiddos like

Daniel:
Still love reading, watching movies , game cheats and silly homemade movies at youtube. Still love to play minecraft and Destny. Still love to play soccer. He used to be in the travellling soccer for 2 years and this year he's back at recreational. He's wearing glasses and adult sized shoes now. In several months he can easily wear Eddy's shoes.

Timmy
Still love reading, watching movies, playing minecraft and Destiny. He joins karate class at school. He said by doing that , he will be able to fight Koko who is often rude him but always nice to others.
He is growing tall but still skinny. But the good news is he loves his food now. Yipeee...
He does not sleep with his stuffed animals anymore but he's still collecting them. He used to get orthodontic treatment and has finished phase 1. No more retainer and braces. He loves his bike now.

Sophie
Still love drawing and cute animals. No more dancing, no more pink girly stuff, she says she loves the color blue now. Hate and totally hate Princess stuff . Used to be crazy about Frozen, now she loathes it. She tries horseback riding now. She loves the horses, but after two lessons she asked me when could she stop. :(

Not Only at Tim Horton's, but also at Tim Chandra's

My family likes Tim Horton. I like the iced capp, the kids like Timbits ( small donut balls). Recently Tim Horton put nutella in some of their munchies such as Nutella pockets, Nutella donuts and bagels with Nutella spread.

Today I found Nutella Swirl Cupcake's recipe on the website. 

This is the link : http://smallsmallbaker.blogspot.com/

I thought "aha", not only at Tim Horton's, we have nutella munchies at Tim Chandra's as well.

Tim Chandra is on the right

Yummy and Decadent

Besides the cupcake, we also baked Melt in Mouth German Cookies. My kids went crazy molding and shaping the cookies. 

This is the link: http://smallsmallbaker.blogspot.com/2015/02/sheep-design-melt-in-mouth-german.html?m=1

After all the baking, the kitchen area was a disaster. Well, no problemo, it's summer vacation after all.

THE VERDICT

NUTELLA SWIRL CUPCAKE IS DELICIOSO , 

MELT IN YOUR MOUTH GERMAN COOKIE IS JUST SO SO

 

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER part 2

God sent his prophet, Nathan, to rebuke David. He told him a story about a rich man who took the poor man’s beloved ewe lamb. David was furious against the rich man. David said the rich man deserved to die. Nathan’s finger then pointed at King David. He, himself, was the rich man. The poor man was Uriah. The ewe lamb was Uriah’s wife.

David proved that he was a man after God’s own heart after all. He acknowledged his sin. The Lord forgave him, but he would experience the painful consequences. The baby would die. There would be killing and incest in David’s family.

                As for the beautiful woman, she got pregnant with King David for the second time. Her son was Solomon , whom God loved. Among many sons of King David, the messiah came through his line. 

The affair between King David and Uriah’s wife was tragic. Let this affair remind us about God’s love. He forgave David and Uriah’s wife. He love their second son, Solomon, who later became a great king. God was faithful to them even though the affair itself was a proof of their unfaithfulness.

As for the beautiful woman whom Prophet Nathan allegorized to be a ewe lamb, the Bible was not clear whether she seduced King David or not. The lamb after all was took away by the rich man. She was more of an object here.

There was another mentioned of lambs as objects in Luke 10 :3…Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.            

Did the ewe lamb show lack of judgement, naïve, and vulnerability when she was taking a bath outside? Did she watch around to make sure there were no prying eyes from the rooftop far away? Only God knows.

The name of the beautiful woman a.k.a Uriah’s wife a.k.a the ewe lamb was Bathsheba, which means daughter of the oath. 

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

She was a beautiful woman. A glance of her from the rooftop was enough to make a King abandoned his common sense. The King was the mighty King David, a man after God’s own heart, yet he was also a man after lustful heart. He sent someone to find out about her. The fact that she was married to an army officer who was fighting for the country did not deter King David from his desire. He sent messengers (please notice that there were more than one of them) to take her. She came to him and he slept with her.

The bible was very short in telling about this affair. There was no explanation if the affair was consensual and pleasing to both parties.  The problem was she got pregnant and the King must kill her husband, Uriah, to protect his dignity. Uriah died in the war. She mourned for her husband.

After she formally became a widow, King David married her. Her status changed. She became one of many wives owned by the King. Her belly grew big, accommodating the growth of King’s baby. The Bible did not tell us about her feeling at all. How long did she mourned for her first husband? Did she fall in love with her second husband, the King? Was she happy with the pregnancy?   

The Bible told us one party who was not happy. God.

To Be Continued

martabak telur jamur

Ini gara-gara Uti, di group WA teman kuliah, 

yang bercerita tentang martabak jamur

Suami saya suka sekali dengan martabak manis atau terang bulan

Tapi saya biasa biasa tuh

Saya sukanya martabak telur

Saya memang lebih suka dengan snack yang asin daripada yang manis

Saya penasaran dengan martabak jamur yang diceritakan Uti

Saya search di internet resepnya

Ternyata martabak jamur itu , tidak seluruhnya jamur

pakai ayam juga... Bolehlah ditambahkan jamur, sebagai extra fiber

Kebetulan siang itu ada satu kotak jamur dan daun bawang di rumah, 

Juga ada sisa daging babi kecap, dan sedikit udang di freezer

Saya campur semuanya dengan telor, taruh campuran ini di dalam kulit lumpia

Lalu digoreng...

Rasanya ? Lumayanlah..., dariapada tidak ada

Bahkan anak-anak pun suka

Bisa dijadikan snack atau dimakan dengan nasi sebagai lauk

Avocado Frozen Treats

Here in the USA, I find the avocados in dips, salsa, spreads, sandwich, salad, tacos, burritos. Back in Indonesia, avocados are used in cold desserts such as smoothies, ice cream. They are the fixing for es campur or Indonesian snow cone.

Last week at my local grocery, the avocados were on sale. I bought two. I thought I would ate them as is, maybe after a workout. Added protein and good cholesterol as I tried to shed off the winter extra pounds.

Well, my good intention did not work and they were ripening.

So, I made them into frozen treats instead. I blended the avocados with ice cubes, milk, sugar, condensed milk, and instant coffee.
Portion them in Dixie cups, then put them in the freezer. I mixed the adults portion with Bailey (or Kahlua )

Yours are in the upper shelves
Don't take mine, kids !

And I need more zumba sessions afterward...

Food I Like to Make

brown sugar mung bean and black sticky rice porridge

pumpkin chocolate chips muffin

cut up fruits

garlic sausage linguini

strawberry mango orange smoothie, even the cat liked it

There are times when I am tempted to be a vegetarian

Not because of the health benefits

Mostly because I hate to deal with raw meat

I think chopping fruits and vegetables are more fun

than cutting a bloody chicken

That is why I love processed meat

And here, there are options of nitrate-free sausages, hot dogs or ham

Using them in my cooking, make the cleaning so much easier

Let me show you what I cooked for today

Diary of a Grumpy Mom : Retreat Report

not in a grumpy state because of a new haircut

Hello , my name is Chica Chan aka the grumpy mom. 

This year I made a terrible mistake which caused 

more grumpiness in my demeanor. 

Sorry hubby, sorry kiddos, just order a pizza, or chinese take out 

or run to the fast food joint. 

I have no time nor energy to cook 

because …I need to make this report about 

ICC Michigan retreat in Beulah Beach retreat center at Vermilion, Ohio.

these people had a delivery for dinner

I know I know, it is my bad, kiddos. 

Your grumpy mom did not exercise the power to say no to a request. 

But in my defense, who can say no to Pak Billy Gumulja. 

Especially when he asked you to do something with a smile on his face.  

Who has a heart to refuse such a nice guy ? 

Well, like the old saying in Indonesia,” Nasi telah menjadi bubur, 

which translated: the cooked rice has turned into the porridge 

which means what is done is done, I need to write the report. 

And yes, your welcome, dear readers…

Who can say no to Pak Billy
( I say yes to the fried fish )

I wish you enjoy my writing….

( hopefully my grumpiness is not imparted to you all. )

The ICC Michigan 2015 retreat’s theme was “ In His Design “, 

and here is the list of the sessions. 

I wondered if the Home Depot partially funded the retreat, 

since some of them sounds like a home makeover class to me.

1.       The secret rooms

2.       An Extremely Good Home

3.       Molded into the New Man

4.       An Irresistible Man

5.       Oneness

6.       The perfect Trees for you garden

ICC Michigan just confirmed : the retreat not funded by the Home Depot

The speaker was Mr. Arman Harijanto, who came far away from Indonesia. 

I hope he did not regret his decision to leave the warm Jakarta . 

Can you imagine visiting the mid west during a harsh, cold, winter? 

I bet he also fell under the smiling spell of Pak Billy Gumulja.  

Ok, let me begin.

Pak Arman came because he loves snow

The first session : The Secret Rooms

Families can have a miserable life or a miraculous life. 

It all depends on the rooms they build in their marriage. 

The families who have a miserable life, 

unintentionally built miserable rooms. 

John 10 : 10 said : 

The thief comes only to steal, and kill and destroy ; 

I have come that they may have life , and have it to the full.

Beware families, these are the miserable rooms which can steal, 

and kill, and destroy the beautiful life which you dream before you got married

a.        The Room of Steal

People were unaware that they build the room of steal to keep the evil things .

The envy and selfish ambition will steal away the miracles that God prepares for you. Store the envy and selfish ambition, you will guaranteed to have an empty and miserable life.

James 3:16

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, 

there you find disorder and and every evil practices. 

b.      The Room of Killing

In our life we are often killed and paralyzed by our fear. 

Fear precedents the action of dying or killing. 

Families, please do not build the rooms of killing 

by being fearful about anything. 

Just fear God, the One and Only savior.

c.       The Room of Demolition

      Humans are destroyed by their disappointment. 

      Not only that, the disappointment is also contagious. 

      Fathers or mothers can easily transfers 

      their disappointment toward each other to their favorite children. 

     The place that you keep the disappointment in your heart 

     will turn into a room of demolition which can destroy your life, 

     your health, your relation, or  your marriage.

The last sentence of John 10 : 10 said ,” I ( Jesus ) have come that they may have life and have it to the full. There are three rooms which the families should build in their life.

a.       The Room of Sacrifice

In order to have Jesus sent into the world, there were a lot of sacrifice going on between heaven and earth. Father in heaven sacrificed his son . 

( Don’t worry kiddos, your dad will see to it that you will be safe. 

One ultimate sacrifice is enough )

Jesus sacrificed his position. The son of God left his heavenly kingdom 

and went into the world. What a downgrade.

Following His example, we should also give up our ego and statutes 

when we serve others. That is how we built the room of sacrifice.

b.      The Room of Listening

Jesus is all knowing but when he was on earth, he listened to people. 

He communicated with them. He asked questions, he listened to their answer. 

He talked to the crème de la crème and the lowest of low .

( If I were Jesus I would not waste my 33 years on earth listening to people, I already know their answers anyway. Thank God I’m not Jesus  ! ). 

To build the room of listening , let us talk and listen to others.

c.       The Room of Forgiveness

The Bible said this should be a massive room ( 77 x 7 …7 being a complete number of the Bible means 77 x 7 is infinite ). Since God forgave all our sins,  we should also forgive each other especially those who are near to us .

In Jesus’ life, miracles always happened. Jesus had the three rooms in his life, room of sacrifice, room of listening and room of forgiveness. He sacrificed his life for us, he listened to the people who came to Him, and He forgives all our sins.Those are the secret rooms in our heart. 

I am just curious if the report will inspire people to build a secret tunnel or bunker inside their house. Hopefully not, I bet the readers are decent people. 

No, this is not the one meant by Pak Arman

( the images of hidden bunker taken from static.messychic.com

  the images of home depot taken from the internet

  other images taken from personal collections )

Leaving on a Big Van

Dear All, I love oldies and I love John Denver's Leaving on a Jet plane

Because my church friends and I are very excited to go to the retreat tomorrow

I think about this song..

Let's sing together ! 

All the bags are packed

We're ready to go

Beulah Beach ,Vermillion

in Ohio

We love to meet our friends

and say hello

Every though we think

we think of you

Every song we sing

we sing for you

Oh God we're so excited, we would cry

So text us and register

Tell us that you'll come with us

Tell us that you'll join us at retreat

Cause we're leaving on a big van

Sunday is when we'll back again

Oh dear, we're happy to go

Black Widow, Sperm Donor, and the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, part 2

           As time went by, Judah’s wife, Shua, passed away. 

Shelah had grown up, yet Tamar had not been called back to Judah’s house. Tamar was still a widow, a childless one who had no future. 

One day, this smart woman heard a news 

that Judah was going to Timah to shear his sheep.

           Right away she came up with a plan for her future. 

She took off her widow clothes, and wore a veil to cover herself.  

It turned out that was how the prostitutes clothed themselves in the olden days. She waited in the entrance of Enaim, which was a road to Timnah. 

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute. 

He wanted to buy her service. 

veiled to cover up her identity

           I will try modernize their conversation before the transaction.

Judah : I will pay you later since I did not have any money with me right now

( I will send you a young goat from my flock )

Tamar : Will you give me something to guarantee that you will pay me later ?

(Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?)

Judah : What guarantee should I give you ?

(What pledge should I give you ?)

Tamar : Your photo ID and the watch that you are wearing  in your hand

( Your seal and its cords and the staff in your hand )

           They made a deal.  When Judah’s servant came back                                 to Enaim to pay her and reclaim Judah’s personal belonging, 

Tamar was gone.  She went back home and continued her life 

as a widow.  When people noticed that Tamar was pregnant, 

the rumors started.  Apparently Judah found out about it. 

He was furious that Tamar had been unfaithful as a widow. 

He sent people to bring her out and burn her to death.

           As she was being brought out 

(by a crowd of angry, zealous people, I presumed), 

she sent Judah a message.

           “I am pregnant by the man who owns these! 

See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are,”

             Judah recognized those items. 

(I wish I could see his facial expression by then). 

He was gentleman enough to give credit to Tamar.

           “She is more righteous than I since I wouldn’t give her 

to my son, Shelah, “said Judah.

            I bet he asked the crowd to stop the proceeding. 

He was humiliated but humble to acknowledge his mistake.  

            Tamar was cunning. She tricked Judah. 

She was like Jacob who cheated Isaac for the blessing. 

God forgave Jacob. God vindicated Tamar. 

She got a double blessing by having a pair of twin boys, Perez and Zerah. 

Perez was the ancestor of King David, 

the ancestor of Joseph, the father of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Black Widow, Sperm Donor, and the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, part 1

          

           

              Those three things did not seem to have any connection whatsoever, 

but in the Bible, they are appeared on Genesis 38 and Matthew 1. 

Not only that, but the black widow had the honor of having her named 

mentioned in genealogy of Jesus Christ. 

How she got the sperm donation was rather tricky and dramatically cunning. 

She almost got herself killed because of it. 

In the end we can say that all’s well that ends well, 

and glory to God who looks at humans’ hidden motives.

 

          It all began with Judah. Judah, the third son of Jacob 

married a Canaanite lady named Shua. They had three sons 

named Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah then got a wife for his first son, 

and her name was Tamar.

          I believe that Tamar had some positive qualities 

which made Judah picked her as a bride for his oldest son. 

She might be beautiful. She might be strong. 

She might come from a good, affluent family. 

I am sure that she was also smart. 

Definitely was not a weak woman who played victim, this Tamar.

          Regretfully, Er was not a good man. He was wicked in God’s sight. 

The Bible did not describe Er’s behavior in detail, 

but I guess they must be really bad because God put him to death. 

His sudden death, must left Tamar devastated. 

She had not got any chance to have kids with Er.

          As a childless widow, Tamar did not have any future. 

Judah asked Onan, his second son, to marry Tamar. 

Onan was willing to sleep with Tamar, 

but refused to have children with her. His reason was understandable. 

The first son born of him and Tamar, would inherit Er’s name and property. 

If there was no son, Onan would be the one who got Er’s inheritance.

          Onan used a traditional contraceptive method. 

Thus Onan was not obedient to his father and did injustice to his sister in law. 

He was willing to be a sperm donor through natural insemination 

but refused to donate his sperm.

           God punished Onan for that. He died young. 

Tamar was still a childless widow who had no future. 

She had married two men, but both died young when they were with her. 

Judah had a third son, a young boy named Shelah. He was her only hope. 

           Judah, on the other hand, was not willing to give Shelah to Tamar. 

He was afraid that Shelah would be dead like the older brothers 

if he married her. He sent Tamar back to her childhood home 

to wait for Shelah. 

           Anyway, if Tamar was out of mind, she was out of sigh.  

I think in Judah’s mind, Tamar was like a black widow, 

a poisonous spider which killed her husband after they mated.  

Judah would not want to risk Shelah, his only living son.

           He did not think that his sons were guilty. He blamed it on Tamar.  

( to be continued in two days )