Mama mia, what a month
By LOU GREENHAW
Contributing writer
When I think about what I am going to write, I think back on what has happened in the past month. What a month!
On the blessing side, we bought our retirement home in Washington state. We are renting it out until we are ready to move. We had the usual mechanical inspection when we purchased it. We received a 23-page report with every inch of the house detailed. It had lots of little things it suggested and fortunately, no major things. So Steve and I flew to Washington and spent two days doing minor home repairs. He caulked, scraped, painted, nailed, puttied and moved beauty bark to clear vents. I removed nails, cleaned cabinets, hauled trash, boosted him onto the roof and supervised him.
It was amazing how quickly we got everything done. In fact, I am so impressed with how efficient Steve was working from the list that I am thinking of computerizing my honey-do list to see if he is as efficient with this house. He was so organized that we only made two trips to the lumber yard and only know one employee there by first name!
Another positive thing was going to St. Louis for a regional drug wholesaler advisory meeting. I bounced there in a rain storm and took the Metrolink from the airport to the hotel at Union Station. The advantage of being from a small town is that riding a train through a city even seems like an adventure. I stayed in a fancy hotel with a telephone by the toilet and a television by the bathroom sink. There were enough pillows on the bed to furnish three rooms.
While at the meeting with a bunch of the uppity ups from corporate, I discovered two other people also doing the Purpose Driven Life series. One was through a church, and the other was doing it on his own. It was fun to practice our memory verse together.
Then last Sunday our oldest son, Cameron, and his wife, Kristy, told us they are moving from Kansas City to Tampa, Florida. They are going to be helping start a cell church that will be seeking the non-churched. So they are moving about as far away from where we are going to retire as possible. However, it is only two more hours on the plane, and we can visit them in the winters.
We are going to be hosting a girl from Italy for the fall term, and we met her via the phone this past month. We are planning a trip to Italy in May, so we are going to get to meet her and her family. Her name is Francesca, and I am already looking for more feminine things to redo the bedroom. It will be different for us having an Italian in the house but even more different having a girl.
Then this past month on the tragic side was the fire at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church. I do believe the verse about all things working together for good for those who love the Lord and are called to his purpose. God knows the good, and we may know it someday. In the meantime there is trust, faith and hope.
One of the nicest things I think I heard said about the MB churches in Hillsboro was when someone of another denomination commented that the MB churches here seemed to get along and like each other. In the upcoming year or two, there will be many opportunities for us to get along.
Those are just the highlights of the four previous weeks. It just makes me excited to see what's in store this month. The flowers and shrubs were blooming in Washington, and by this time next month, we should be caught up with them. When we've been to Italy in May, it has always been beautiful with lots of flowers so it should be a colorful month or two at least.
My sister asked me for a favorite recipe, and I told her I would print it off the computer. I was surprised to see that even though it's a favorite, I didn't have it stored. This is the favorite way to make spaghetti in my house. The recipe came from a cooking class I attended that was given by a woman married to an Italian. She was also one of my best friends when we lived in Tacoma. We plan to spend more time in Italy after we retire plus I am now taking the West Coast cooking magazine so I am planning to expand my cooking as I get older. I just hope I don't also expand my waist!
Spaghetti Alla Carbonara
1 pound Italian sausage
1/4 pound ham, thinly sliced
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup fresh minced parsley or 2 tablespoons dried
3 well beaten eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Coarse ground black pepper
Additional cheese
Remove casings from sausage if you are using links. Crumble sausage into skillet. Finely chop the ham and add 1/2 to skillet. Cook on medium heat, stirring, until sausage is lightly browned. Meanwhile, boil water for spaghetti. Cook spaghetti al dente. While it is cooking add parsley and remaining ham to skillet and keep hot on low heat. When the spaghetti is done, work quickly and drain spaghetti. Return it to the cooking pot or a large warmed bowl. Top it with the sausage, eggs and cheese and toss quickly. (The hot pasta and meat will cook the egg as it adheres to the pasta.) Add pepper and toss. Pour into a serving dish and top with additional cheese.
