Beginnings & Endings.

When I first started blogging, I wanted to do something akin to online journaling/scrap booking - keep track of what I was doing, thoughts on various things...

I used to journal a lot when I was younger. But as I got older, I found that if I missed some time, getting back into it always felt awkward. The longer it got left, the less inclined I felt to start again. What do you say? Address the length of time it's been since the last entry? Pretend the last two months didn't happen?

That is just ridiculous - the last two months have been so amazingly busy - my brother got married to one of my best friends, I have a job for sure in the fall (which is SUPER exciting - and makes for a significantly less stressful summer), I am going to Quebec next week... Do I spend a large amount of time recapping?

While I may be a little bit older, my blogging habits are exactly like my journaling habits. The longer I do not write anything, the less excited I am about writing something new.

So I am unsure about what to do with this blog - it has served me well as a outlet for the past few years, but I think it is time to try something else. I might get it printed into a book. I might not.

At the urging of my principal I have been experimenting with twitter to keep me in touch with the education community and news, and at the urging of my friends I have become a bit addicted to Instagram to record little moments throughout my week. If you've enjoyed reading anything I've written, you can find me on either of those platforms under the moniker "thegingerjohnsn" - a nod to the nickname my MUN students gave me.

Thanks, blogger. It's been fun :)

Mad Libs.

Haven't blogged too much lately, once again because of job anxiety, but also because everything I wanted to blog about was related to Dom's shower and stagette. Since she reads my blog, would be hard to keep these things a secret. 

I made a whole bunch of shower games by downloading this awesome font, and stealing ideas from Pinterest. We played a hilarious game of "he said, she said", but my favorites are the mad libs. 

I love mad libs. My friends and I used to make them for each other. I wrote one "marriage proposal" story starring D and K, and took out all the identifying words. And I wrote an advice sheet, that I think is even funnier. 

Something about nonsense just gets me :)

Pulled Pork.

I made pulled pork last weekend. It was amazing. Slowed cooked in root beer for 7 hours. Discovered Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.... Mmmmmm.

Open Letter.

This is just something I needed to get off my chest.

An open letter to Michael Sam:

Dear Michael Sam, 

First off, congratulations on your recent NFL draft. I wish you nothing but success in St Louis. 

And thank you, for unintentionally holding a gigantic mirror up to our society in the process. 

The way you have been treated by some in the industry suggests that the worst possible thing someone could be is gay. Threats of boycotts because you are a terrible role model for our children? Of course! However, let's open the door and make room for all those convicted felons and abusers. We should judge them on only their raw talent, of course. 

Having a gay man in the NFL is a huge affront to societies ideals of masculinity, ideals that are becoming a more and more obvious problem. Men are expected to be all sorts of macho, paragons of virility, and if you don't measure up there is something wrong with you. This past weekend's events in Isla Vista, California, reveal the terrible consequences of this distorted view of masculinity we are teaching our boys. 

A virgin at the age of 22? Shocking! Apparently, that is the worst thing that could happen to a person. (Second only to being a gay NFL player, I suppose.) 

When a man's worth as a human being is tied to his sexuality, then women become commodities rather than humans. Don't believe me? Read through some of the #YesAllWomen on Twitter. Or, ask your friends, sisters or wives about their experiences. Then again, maybe not. Most women are afraid of speaking out because of the culture of victim blaming that has sprung up around us.

(By the way, truly nice guys respect a woman's decision not to sleep with them. Sure, it might suck and he might be sad, but if his reaction is violence, he was not a nice person to start with. Pretending you are nice to get people to sleep with you is just vile.)

Whether or not the killings in Isla Vista were a mental health issue or the result of an extreme misogynistic world view, in some ways makes no difference. When the discussion is brought up that "not all men" think like that, it completely misses the mark that a large number of men do. In much the same way that people who "aren't homophobic", but don't think they should be concerned with helping gays seek equality, are missing the boat. If you are male, you enjoy a privilege because of that. Straight? Privileged. White? Privileged. Do something with that.

A large number of straight men, like Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen, have spoken out in support of your coming out, rather than reflexively going the easy road of negativity. I only hope that men of a similar vein are willing to openly discuss consent and women's rights in the same way. 

Thanks for being such a positive role model. 

(Date) Balls.

I know, I know. It's been a while. I'm back in job limbo, and trying not to think too hard about it.

Also very busy in general with school, grad, wedding shower planning and life in general.

I was not very happy, however, when I thought  my roof might be leaking, based on the spot that appeared on the ceiling in my bathroom. I was happy to find out that was not the case, thanks to my awesome brother, who did a bunch of roof yoga in my attic to figure out where the moisture was coming from.

Long story short, I owed him some dessert, and he picked date balls. I guess they are more commonly known as "fry pan cookies", and my grandmother used to call them "mice", but I prefer date balls.

I whipped up a batch last night using this recipe as my starter, but I don't really like adding nuts, so I use extra rice krispies, and I added in some rum flavoring for good measure as well.

Can't figure out why, but I have a heck of a time getting the coconut to stick to the outside. They stick to everything else, but not the coconut. Alas.

Balls.

A friend gave me a recipe for some breakfast protein balls, that I absolutely love. They are the perfect, easy go-to food when I have zero time in the morning (which is all the time).

I just have no idea what to call them. My family has just taken to calling them "balls", which is fine because apparently we are all 10 year old boys at heart, but I feel like they deserve another name....

Josee's Protein Balls 

2 C oatmeal

1 C ground flax

(Take some out if adding chia seeds, hemp hearts or sunflower seeds. As long as you have 3 C of dry mix)

1 C raisins/ craisins

1 C nut butter (I've only tried them with peanut so far)

1/2 C honey

2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Liberally grease your hands with coconut oil, and roll into 1" balls. Place on cookie sheet in fridge until set, and store in fridge in an air tight container. 

Falling.

I occasionally (all the time) tease my students that I will throw them off the roof of the school, or throw things at them from the roof of the school (always to prove a physics point, I swear!).

On their most recent quiz, their answer to a question involving being dropped off the roof of the school needed to involve a  diagram. 

Apparently my students have mixed feelings about this. 

Some think it sounds fun.... 

and 

Some react with abject terror...

or

Churros.

Once again fallen off the blogging wagon a little. I've been experimenting with twitter at the urging of some colleagues (including my principal) and can really only think of so many things to post to social media. Coupled with how busy it has been the last week (volunteering at the trade fair, putting in time at school, planning shower activities, food club, open house this week...) it just hasn't happened.

Speaking of food club, we had a mexi-themed lunch yesterday. I attempted to make churros... without frying them. Mixed success. Was a big fan of the flavor... But the recipe I used was waaaay off. Not sure the people had actually tried making them. I used one egg instead of two, and changed the cooking instructions rather drastically. Can't decide if I want to experiment further, or just call that one a pass. 

On the plus side, I got kitty snuggles. 

Hi, Sid!