What Did I Do?: Engagement Rings!

I took it really easy this week, and although I didn't learn or do much of anything really excited, my mind has been more than occupied. I have been reminded this week that I am so not in control of my life and every day is a blank page. A lot of what is going to be written on those pages will depend on whether or not I am willing to yield to God's calling, whether it's at home where I am or somewhere else.

February 26: On Thursday night, I had dinner with a friend, and since way too many people seemed to want the $11.95 steak dinner in one restaurant, we hopped over to Crabby Joe's instead of waiting 15 minutes for a table. There I enjoyed a Peppercorn Chicken BLT Sandwich and a bowl of Wicked Thai Soup. A soup with the word "wicked" in it is going to get my attention. It was a creamy, spicy rose soup with chicken, rice, mushrooms and veggies. Good, but a small portion at once is plenty. Too much is certainly not good for my IBS tummy.

February 27: On Friday, my eye caught an intriguing link to a site where you could find out what the #1 hit song was on the day you were born. I don't know who keeps track of this stuff for all those years, but apparently on my birthday, the #1 hit was "Black or White" by Michael Jackson. This led me to learn some more interesting things. I won't share the video here, because, well, it's a Michael Jackson video.

February 28: Earlier in the week, my eye caught an article on Knowledge Nuts about the history of engagement rings. Not that this would be something that would intrigue a young woman like me or anything! Of course I wanted to know! But I must say it was rather disappointing. It's pretty much just so big companies can make big money. Since medieval times, when a man promised to marry a woman, it was a legally binding contract. If a man broke off the engagement, his fiancee could sue him. The law, in this way, provided some insurance to the woman, who would have a more difficult time marrying if she was previously engaged. Beginning in the 1930s in America, states began to do away with this "breach of promise to marry" law, and DeBeers saw the opportunity to market an engagement ring! This way the suitor had to make an investment to get engaged and it provided an "insurance" to the woman that the law no longer did. If the man broke off the engagement, the woman still had the ring. Now though, a woman is expected to return the ring if an engagement is broken off. Although engagement rings have some earlier history, it seems the real reason they became common was to make money.

This was really disappointing. I was expecting something much more romantic. However, I admit, I still want a man down on one knee to put a shiny, diamond ring on my hand some day as I say "Yes" to being his wife.

March 1: So, about this resolution of mine. Some days I forget about it, then I remember, then I forget about it again, and then all of a sudden I remember again. Sunday was such a day. So late in the evening, I was flipping through a dictionary again.

"cassoulet: a stew of beans with pork, mutton, and either duck or goose"

Done. I can go to sleep now.

March 2: On Monday, I dragged myself to the pool, but it turned out to be a better lesson than I had anticipated. I can swim on my back, but this week, my instructor taught me strokes, so now I can do an actual back crawl. Although it felt really crazy at first, I learned much quicker than I had anticipated. I wish it was all that easy. The front crawl has been my thorn. Last week I almost drowned myself working on it. It would be so much easier if I didn't have to turn my head out of the water to breathe and then keep swimming.

March 3: Snow stormy days make for a good excuse to bake, right? Naw, I don't need an excuse to bake. I just bake! So I made carrot brownies. No, they don't have any chocolate in them. It was more like carrots, orange juice and oatmeal. Kind of like a carrot cake, but a different flavour. I got a little carried away making the glaze. Without thinking, I dumped a bunch of milk in my icing sugar at once. So it was really runny and clumpy. How does one fix this? Just add more icing sugar! So, with the help of a whisk, I got a smooth glaze, although much more than necessary.  But what am I going to do with leftover glaze? However, as I looked at the edges nearly drowning, with only a little left in my bowl, I said, "I think I better stop now."

March 4: Wednesday I learned something strange. Some crazy guy by the name of James Moran sat on an ostrich egg in 1947 for 19 days and successfully made it hatch. He did all kinds of crazy stunts, and people paid him to do it. He was a publicity agent, which made me ask, "What's a publicity agent?" Well, publicity agents help draw attention to people, products, events, etc., and I guess James Moran was the guy to do it.

Furthermore, I researched recipes for facial masks, which is something I want to try. You'll get to read about that next week!