1.5 lbs ground angus beef
.5 lb Italian sausage
3-4 stalks celery, finely minced
.5 to 1 small onion, finely minced
1 large carrot, finely minced/grated
1 palmful sea salt
1 large pinch black pepper
1 palmful Italian seasoning
1/4 palmful garlic salt
1-2 palmfuls seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/4-1/2 cup half-and-half
Top with ketchup
375* for an hour. Pour off excess fat. 10 more minutes, pour off excess fat, make incisions. 10-15 more minutes, pour off excess fat, set to cool.
My very dear friend, Amanda, has multiple sclerosis. Very soon, she’ll be undergoing a stem cell treatment in efforts to become MS-free. As this is costly, and because she is so important to me, I want to help her raise money so that her 3-year-old son can have an MS-free mommy.
For the next month, all proceeds of my pattern sales will go directly to her donation fund. Buy a pattern, donate to a wonderful cause.
You can read more about her story, or donate to her directly, here.
Thank you so much!
Maybe it’s because I’ve been able to be more expressive in my art (written, fiber, visual).
Maybe it’s the increased laughter in our home.
Maybe it’s the cathartic crying after challenging parenting temper tantrums.
Maybe it’s hearing that I make my gorgeous, brilliant, witty husband excited to come home.
Maybe it’s seeing effects, in my body & wardrobe, of my healthier lifestyle choices.
Maybe it’s all the old-school grunge I’ve been listening to, aiding in bringing nostalgic smiles.
Maybe it’s the anticipation my children and I have for the long weekend we’ll have with John for this Christmas weekend.
Maybe it’s knowing we’ll be gaining daylight soon.
Maybe it’s a million little things all combined.
It’s all led to this moment when I declare that, unexpectedly, today I am unabashedly happy.
Happy Hanukkah.
I’m going back to school. It’s been 50,000 years since I took a class. I’m not sure what mommy-brain has done to my ability to write essays and take exams. I’m a little scared.
Since I’m a full-time stay-at-home mommy of three young attention-grabbers, I’m going to start out light. I’ll probably only take one distance course in the spring semester. UAF is processing my admission deferment now, and I have an appointment with an academic advisor in a little over two weeks.
I majored in petroleum engineering once upon a time, 15 years ago, for about five minutes. At UAA, I was an English major, minoring in philosophy, and considering psychology as a secondary major. Then all manner of things happened, and my school days were over. The visions I had for myself then are vastly different than they are today. I have to take this into account when I look at the disciplinary concentrations offered by UAF, as I wonder what on earth I want to declare as my major.
I’m still completely drawn in by the idea of a dual degree in English and psychology. I’d love to have that as my foundation for the writing career of which I fantasize so often. The advent of ebooks combined with the decline in print media makes me question whether writing could ever be a profitable venture for me. So I ask myself, what else do I like to do?
I’ve looked at computer science/web design. I love anthropology, and as a child daydreamed of being an archaeologist on digs in exotic places, but that hardly seems like me now. I wanted to be a math major once, but even then didn’t know what I’d do with a math degree besides teach, which is something I have no interest in doing. Don’t get me wrong; I love teachers. I value the teachers I had so immensely, and consider many of them my friends today. I just know that teaching is not something I could do well, nor would I enjoy it.
How did you decide what to study?
I don’t know much about dream interpretation. For a couple of weeks now, though, I’ve been having some majorly intense dreams and have found myself longing to know more. Many of them would qualify as nightmares; most, in fact. In these dreams, I’m fighting for my life. The person(s) I’m fighting against always change, as do the environments I’m fighting in, but I have a basic theme: I’m hunted, imprisoned, threatened, doomed. Sometimes I try to covertly escape, other times blatantly rising up against my aggressor. I haven’t been successful yet, I’ve died on a few occasions, and woken up more than once with bruises. Other dreams I’ve been having for the last few months are very pointed in their origin, leaving nothing to question, sometimes leaving me shaking for days. A small handful of dreams are very simple, if not a little chaotic. I’m hoping that if I put this out there, just thinking it through will help it resolve itself. Have you had sleep fights that seem to stay with you?
Four Jobs I Have Had:
* Service advisor, heavy duty automotive shop
* Waitress, Village Inn & Denny’s
* Front office admin, psychiatric clinic
* Property coordinator, university
Four Places I Have Lived:
* Anchorage
* Fairbanks
* Delta Junction
* Amchitka Island
Four Movies I Could Watch Again and Again:
* Die Hard
* The Sum of All Fears
* How to Train Your Dragon
* Gone in 60 Seconds
Four Television Shows I Love:
* Alphas
* Firefly
* Boardwalk Empire
* Bones
Four Authors I Enjoy:
* Kathy Reichs
* Margaret Atwood
* Christopher Moore
* Kurt Vonnegut
Four Places I Have Travelled To:
* San Diego, CA
* Austin, TX
* Washington, DC
* Port Aransas, TX
Four Website I Visit Daily:
* http://www.msnbc.com
* http://www.twitter.com
* http://www.ravelry.com
* http://www.facebook.com
Four of My Favorite Foods:
* Spinach dal
* Enchiladas
* Sesame chicken
* Pasta fagioli
Four Places I’d Rather Be:
* At the beach
* Getting a massage
* Visiting old friends
* In a bubble bath
Argentina.
It’s fall! I love fall. I love the colors, the falling leaves, the crisp air, the way the sky gets the teensiest bit bluer, I love it all.
There was this how-to-draw show I used to watch, and I liked Gummy Bears. I loved loved loved Bob Ross, and still do.
{8} do you believe in luck?
I don’t know. I think I do.
Copyright © 2007 - 2012
Crystal S. McDonald
All Rights Reserved.
