Friday is for Family

While you are reading this, I have absconded from my normal premises to hang out with my sister, and her babies. Bek has a 2 year old boy, Jason (who is 5 months older than Meres)

and then the twins, Bethany and Gideon.

aren't they just the cutest chubby babies!!!

Bek is one of my younger sisters. We have a brother between the two of us. She was my first and longest roomie, though Mr. Hippie is catching up. One of my fondest memories of her is having to pull a knitting needle out of her butt cheek when she was about 12. Long story, and very funny-now.

Bek (aka, Rebekah) writes a blog, A Little Bit of This and That, where she shares pictures of her life, and recipes. Head over there and show her some love. I asked her to write a guest post for me, to make my trip preparation week a bit lighter. Take it away, Bek....

and I get to meet them this week!!!

Being on bed rest with these two cuties gave me a lot of time to look for new recipes. My Pinterest recipe board is full of recipes to try, and the one I am sharing today came from there. Since the twins were born I have made several new recipes. All were delicious, and all were added to my recipe box as they passed the hubs taste test. If you were to flip through my recipe box, you would see several recipes that start with the word SPICY. I love me some spicy food! Today I am sharing one of our new favorites that can be tweaked to fit your tolerance of spice. It requires very little time to prepare if you plan ahead. 

SPICY ROMANO CHICKEN

Sauce:
1 pint heavy cream
4 T. butter
2 tsp. salt
1/2 T. black pepper
1/2 c. grated Romano/Parmesan cheese blend
1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (this is where you can add or remove hotness)

Ingredients:
12 oz. bow tie, cooked
2 T. butter
1/2 c. mushrooms, sliced
1/4 c. green onions, sliced
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced in 1" strips
1/8 c. sun dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
1 oz. heavy cream

-Melt butter in a large skillet. Add cream, salt & pepper and heat to a boil. Remove from heat and fold in Romano/Parmesan cheese and cayenne pepper. Set aside.

-In another large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add mushrooms, green onions and tomatoes. Stir for 1 minute. Add chicken and 1 oz. of heavy cream and stir well. Add pasta and all the sauce to the skillet and stir gently until mixed well.

-I served this with a lettuce salad and French bread. You can also sprinkle extra Romano/Parm on top of the pasta if desired.

I hope you find it as delicious as we did!

-Rebekah

I hope you take a moment to check out her blog, and have a wonderful, safe and relaxing Memorial weekend!!!

*Btw, I will be taking Monday off...no post. I will be enjoying time with Mr. Hippie and my kids-road trippin'. See you on Tuesday!

Do the Hard Thing

Strive to choose not that which is easiest, but that which is most difficult. Do not deprive your soul of the agility which it needs to mount up to God. - St. John of the Cross

There is no substitute for hard work. -Thomas Edison

My friend Becky's post recently in her new series Marriage Myths, got my wheels turning. Her Marriage Myth #1 is that marriage is easy. If you are married, you know that marriage is not easy. Not by a long shot! Does that mean that marriage isn't fun? No. By admitting that marriage is hard, does that mean our marriages are failing? Of course not.

Somehow we have gotten a bit lost in our thinking. We have equated right and good choices with smooth, easy, obstacle free paths. We have equated wrong choices with pain and discomfort and having to work hard.

There is a quote, "nothing good comes easy." I'd almost have to agree 100% with that. The exception being my recipes. They are all good, and most of them are easy. But, other than that...

Why is it that as soon as things get hard we re-evaluate our path, and often give up? 

Weight loss and fitness are both hard. We try to short circuit the difficulty by following fad diets and 3-step plans. But, the fact of the matter is, if you want to lose weight and keep it off you have to change the way you think, and the way you eat, and the way you move-forever. You have to make permanent lifestyle changes. And that is hard. 

It is hard to keep moving while feeling your muscles burn and ache. It is hard to give up hours every week. It is hard.

But, you want to know what the hardest part of weight loss and fitness is? It's when you have made the positive changes (increased exercise, decreases calorie intake, drinking water, good sleep) and there is no measurable change. It is hard to keep going and not give up. It is hard when the scale plateaus and the inches don't budge. It is hard to stay on track. 

E.M. Gray puts it this way..."the successful person has the habit of doing things failures don't like to do."

Fitness inevitably pays off. You will get over the plateau. You will get stronger. You will be healthier. You will realize you are capable of going farther and doing more than you ever thought possible. 

What other hard things are there in life? Things we mistakenly feel should be easy?

How about birth? Whether you are on your first, or subsequent-it is hard. For the first, you don't realize how hard it is going to be. And for the second (and maybe more) you feel that it can't possibly be as hard as you remember it-plus you survived once...

Labor is called labor because it is hard work. No matter how much you may want to, you can't give up mid-stream. You have to see the birthing process through to the finish. It is hard, but the reward is amazing. The reward of that tiny, squalling baby, tucked up on your chest moments after birth. Yes-it is hard and painful. But worth completing.

And, let me tell you, birth is just the opening act for the difficult path of parenting. Parenting is hard work. It takes fortitude and patience. It takes wisdom that we don't have. But, that certainly doesn't mean we aren't supposed to be parents. It doesn't mean we can return the product because it isn't satisfactory. We have to keep on.

Being part of a community is hard. We tend to focus on the positives of community. But there are negatives too. Letting people see yourself-warts and all. Differences of personalities. Difference of goals. Differences of life seasons. A community comprised of sinners. That makes community hard to pursue sometimes. But, we need to. We need to love on people and invest in people.

New is hard. It is much easier to stay in our comfort zone. To not reach higher, and to not be stretched. Always in acquiring a new skill you have the initial enthusiasm, then the plateaus of "is it worth it?" and then comes the results. Be it getting a degree or learning how to blog or cook or keep house. Setting up a new house. Change is not easy.

Being in a holding pattern is no easier than change. Stuck between who you were and who you one to be. Waiting for the new job, or a life partner, or a baby. Waiting on God's perfect timing. Refusing to manipulate circumstances, or run ahead, or wallow. This is hard.

Life generally is not easy. The rough and hard paths, the storms, are our opportunities to throw ourselves on God's mercy. To take Him up on His promises of wisdom (James 1:5) and grace to help (Hebrews 4:16). It is the opportunity for God's strength to be manifest in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 4:13)

Where is your path currently hard? How have you glimpsed the benefits of the rough path?

Gardening: An Exercise in Generosity

Gardening brings to mind many lessons such as sowing seeds, growth, weeding/pruning and fruitfulness. It also brings to mind thoughts of virtues...diligence, hard work, perseverance, and...

Generosity.

Gardening is the perfect outlet for a generosity. It begs for it. It is tailor made for it. Truly, the more you give, the more you have. As I look out over my yard and gardens, and remember back over my gardening history, I see that I have experienced gardening generosity in three ways...

Seeds and bulbs...
My back flower garden is entirely due to the generosity of others. I had a friend give me a whole bag of iris bulbs. My sister in law gave me daffodil bulbs. Even my plethora of day lilies is due to someone before us sowing a few bulbs in random places around the yard. I transplanted them to a specific spot, and they have flourished and expanded there ever since.

Bulbs almost have to be shared. They get crowded and need thinned in order to keep producing gorgeous blooms. You can plant them in new places around your yard and/or you can share them with someone else. It's an exponential spread of the  beauty.

My bff, bright woman that she is, decided to host a seed party early this spring. She invited 6 other ladies, who each brought 3 packets of flower or vegetable seeds. Around rhubarb mimosas and delicious food, we swapped seeds, and each went home with a wonderful variety.

Know How...
You all know I don't have a green thumb. I do okay with vegetables and herbs outside though. The reason being, is that I have been vegetable gardening and weeding since I was in 3rd grade. At that young age I weeded our entire garden in order to earn a $3 camp t-shirt. I have been weeding ever since.

I know about when to plant in my area. I know about growing green beans, tomatoes, corn and potatoes. I've learned how to grow herbs. I've learned the importance of watering and sunshine and spacing. I've learned from friends who were willing to share the secrets of their success with me.

"before"

Last weekend, the girls and I met a wonderful friend of mine at a nursery. (side note, several of my good friends love gardening. I really don't. I love the beauty-but I don't want to invest tons of time in it.) Anyway, I shared back in April about my revamped front garden, and how it turned out more wild than flower. This friend of mine met me, and shared her expertise on what would thrive with lots of color and little effort in my shady area. That was such a blessing. I now have bleeding hearts and ever blooming lilies and some other stuff that is guaranteed to look nice.

"after"

Harvest...
Who hasn't ever received a tomato or a zucchini or a bunch of flowers grown in a friend's garden? A harvest is truly worthy of generosity! Herbs and vegetables need used and thinned in order for them to keep producing. If you never pick your green beans or basil, they just stop producing. The more you pick them, the more you will get.

But, of course, who can use a bushel of cherry tomatoes, 10 zucchinis, or an over abundance of chives? Not most people. You have the privilege of sharing the love. Blessing someone else's life with the literal fruits of your labors.

To say nothing of giving away homemade pies and cakes, salsas and jams, plus other random canned goodness...

Have you planted a garden this year? Who's generosity is making it possible? How are you going to keep the generous ball a-rollin'?

Unable to Commit

Long, long ago, in a faraway place...

This week's home school connection question deals with whether or not we are in homeschool groups.

I am not.

But I was.

And here is the story:

When I was a mother of three, but not four, and the offspring were quite a bit younger, we were part of a home schooling group. About 50% were cousins, and the other 50% were random home schoolers. (we picked them up off the street, you know?)

Our goal was to meet once a month, and study a topic corresponding with a letter of the alphabet. We started with airplanes for A, which included a visit to a private air strip, and a ride in a private plane. Churning butter was the activity for B. We toured a cheese farm for C, and a fire station for F, and ink factory for I and a radish farm for something.

It was great fun, and it was interesting. It was wonderful to just spend time together too. We learned new things, and all had a good time.

There was just one continual issue-no commitment. No one was willing to say, "I will be at our group meeting every time unless there is a major catastrophe in my life."

We aimed to hold our field trips on a regular day of the month, generally the second Thursday. But no matter what the day, we could not get hardly anyone to commit to coming, more than a day or two in advance. There was no concept of, "I can't do that other thing on this date, because I already have plans-i.e. the field trip." Which is rather a problem when you need a head count for rates and such.

I am really not sure what the hold up was.

I wonder if this lack of commitment is a hallmark of my generation, or of this day and age. But I don't think it is a good trend. Not for young people, or Christians, adults or home schoolers.

It is not polite to refuse to commit to something because some better offer may come down the pike. And, sometimes being an adult means saying, "I'm sorry, I have a previous standing Tuesday engagement. I can't do _____." Commitment means giving your word and sticking by it, even if sacrifices are involved.

Time is a precious commodity-for all of us. I am willing to make a regular commitment, and to stand committed to it. I do it for many other areas of life: Bible study, dinner with the BFF, dates with Mr. Hippie, Bible club, church, etc.. Sickness, death and being out of town are the only things that get me out of commitments.

So, for ill or nil, our home school group petered out well before Z. It was too hard to organize something and wonder if anyone would show up. I figured I could take my own kids to museums and such by ourselves with a whole lot less fuss.

But also a whole lot less community and support and practical friendship.

I haven't been involved in a group since.

I am not opposed to home school groups, whether with a formal field trip planned or simply as a time to informally hang out. I would love to have a time to learn together or just hang out and chat as moms together. My heart and soul needs that.

But I also need people to be committed to coming. If they aren't, I may as well plan on staying home. It's easier. Some may call it cynical, I call it practical. And kind of sad.

What has been your experience with home school groups? Was it better than mine? How do you foster commitment in your group? I'd love to hear some good ideas.


For much more positive outlooks at home school groups, check out
Chareen
Hwee
Julie
Erin
Nicole
Savannah
Lucinda

Neither a Rock Nor an Island

A winter's day 
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

-Simon & Garfunkel

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

-John Donne

If you have made it through the two conflicting poems, congratulations! They have opposite messages-which one is right?

I think John Donne's. "No man is an island, entire of itself." We may try to build the walls and armor of S&G, in order to protect ourselves. But, we aren't rocks and islands. We do feel pain. We do cry. And we aren't entire of ourselves. We need God. We need people. If we didn't, this would be a world of hermits who died out years ago.

A few weeks ago, I was reading Exodus 17-18 for my daily devotions. I was struck by the story of Joshua and the Israelite army fighting the Amalekites while Moses sat on the top of a hill overlooking the battle scene. Moses held up his hands and prayed for their army to be victorious. 

But, have you ever held up your hands over your head? It doesn't last very long, does it? Your arms get tired. The blood flows out. It is too hard to keep them up.

The same thing happened with Moses. His arms started getting tired, so he put them down. But, then the Amalekites started winning. He put his arms up in the air, and the Israelites prevailed once again. Aaron and Hur, Moses' brother and uncle respectively, saw the problem. They sat Moses down on a boulder, and held his hands up for him. The entire day, until the sun set.

My, how all three must have been tired! But Israel was victorious! Their way was clear to the Promised Land. It took teamwork-Moses, Aaron, Hur, Joshua and the army, all doing their part.

Next chapter...Moses is refereeing disputes among this nation of over 1 million people. Someone looks at you cross-eyed, take it to Moses. He will get you justice.

Again, from early morning, until evening, Moses sat and heard these issues. Day after day after day. And his father-in-law noticed. Jethro told Moses that this was a bad idea. "You are going to wear yourself out. You need some help." Moses needed to get some trustworthy men to bear the burden with him. (Exodus 18:22)

We all need community. We need to have a support system in place to rely on and to help us day in and day out. That is the idea of village.

Furthermore, whenever we are attempting to serve the Lord, a support system is not a luxury, it is crucial. We need people to bear the burden with us. And we need to be bearing other's burdens with them.

Christian work is not for lone rangers. (btw, the Lone Ranger had Tonto, so he wasn't that lone. I can't wait to see the new movie) The only work that was a solitary work was Jesus Christ's redemptive work on the cross. There was no one to help Him. He was even forsaken by God.

It is not that way with Christians and service today. We are called to work together to move forward  the gospel and God's kingdom. 

It is our pride that keeps us from working with others. Our different personalities don't mesh. We have been conditioned to independent thought and actions. To need help is to admit weakness and vulnerability. And we can't do that...

We have to hold up each other's hands in ministry. We have to help bear the burden. We have to embrace the idea that we are not an island, entire to ourselves. We need to come alongside our pastors, and missionaries, elders and deacons, Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders. Our young parents and our young people. Our grey constituency. Everyone. Because most, if not all, Christians are attempting to serve God in some way or another.

How can we do this? Three simple ways...

1) Pray. Anyone can pray. We can each walk a brother or sister before the throne of grace. God delights to answer the prayers of His people.

2) Give. Financially. Materially. Maybe someone needs money. Maybe they need a meal. Maybe they need a note or an email. Maybe you have the means to tangibly strengthen their hands.

3) Be there. Aaron and Hur didn't hold up Moses' hands from 300 miles away. They were right next to him. Be there to do projects or study the Bible together. Visit your missionaries. Let all these people know they are not forgotten. You do see and you do care.

I actually need you all to help hold up my hands right now. I need you to help bear my burden. We are coming up on a very busy ministry month. I alluded to this last week, but it will be 2 weeks of a hosting/cooking for a retreat, leading a several hour training session for the upcoming VBS, and supervising and helping teach two VBS. I have people who are partnering with me hand to hand in this work. There is study and other prep work to be done. (like grocery lists and shopping)

I need you all to pray for me. Pray for peace, and multiplied time. Pray that I remember what I need to. Pray for flexibility. Pray for strength. Pray for eternal fruit. 

this is a clip we put together about our heart for this summer girl's ministry

How can I help bear your burden this week?

School Days All Done...

It has been a wonderful week in the Barefoot Hippie world...

We are done, DONE, D-O-N-E with school! For the year! I don't know who is more excited-the kids or me. We will keep up summer reading and light math facts plus watch some educational You Tube videos when boredom hits a high level. But, as far as formal books, we have completed year 6 of Barefoot Hippie Homeschooling. (my mil just finished year 26 I think she said. Crazy!(long) Dedicated! Here's to you, teacher of the year!)

I ran my race. The weather was nippy, but actually perfect. The first 7 miles were awesome-just like last year. The next 5 were the hills-which were a killer. The last 3 miles were a combination of run/walk/limp. But we made it through. I knocked 18 minutes off my last time, coming in 3-1/2 minutes before my "realistic" goal of last week. I averaged less than 10 minute miles, and I am proud of that. The winners averaged in the way less than 5 minute mile range, but we can't all be winners...

the medals prove we finished...=)

I bought a bike. My goal was to push hard in my running training until our race last Saturday, and now we are upping our tri training. And this is the beauty that now belongs to me... Ummm...I'm thinking some butt calluses are in order...

Mr. Hippie has the exact same one, his is just fitted differently.

Bebop-a-rebop...rhubarb.... This was the week for rhubarb. I needed jam. I was on my very last teeny-weeny jar. So, I got ambitious and ordered 20 pounds of rhubarb. Which looks something like this...

20 pounds of rhubarb

 And translates into something like this...

For the jam recipe, go here...

And this...

I gave 2 away. Noble of me. Also great for my waistline.

 It was also a week of growing...literally.

chopped chives from my garden. great on baked potatoes and in eggs.

gorgeous lilacs

smell so good!

and the red bud tree.

We've spent a lot of time outside this week. The weather has been ideal. Warm and sunny. Which translates into "hello! muddy footprints and handprints all over the house!" The price of spring...

And, because activities are winding down, it was time to make a two fresh batches of sugar scrub. We made our favorite brown sugar-coffee mix, and we also experimented with color and scent for some green cucumber-melon....

sugar scrub recipes

Not only did we make sugar scrub, but I stepped way out of my comfort zone in painting my finger nails blue. I never do any other tones but reds, and burgundies. Sometimes a coral. But, when your daughter picks you out blue polish for Mother's Day, you swallow your inhibitions and wear it proudly on your nails. She was looking for sparkly. I guess sparkly didn't come in red...

Finally, I made my old work horse, aka, crock pot, work overtime this week. On Monday, I made pulled pork for sandwiches and pulled pork tacos. On Tuesday, I tried a brand new endeavor-cooking dried beans in your slow cooker. I read about the technique on a link from Design Mom. It sounded intriguing. You start with dry beans and end up with tender and delicious beans. I made black beans.

recipe here (I would say that I cooked mine on high for 8-1/2 hours before they were done. I doubled the recipe.)

I used some of my black beans for my pulled pork tacos, I froze some, and I used the rest for this...

Latin Chicken. Bet you want this recipe! Doesn't it look fabulous! It is...

On Wednesday, I used my crockpot to cook us up some delicious (and easy) Latin Chicken. Chock full of black beans, sweet potatoes and chicken, it melds the flavors of lime, paprika, cumin and cilantro into a colorful, tasty and memorable dish.

Here is the recipe to integrate into your weekend menu...

Crockpot Latin Chicken
8-12 bone-in chicken thighs, skin and fat removed
2 t cumin
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 t paprika
1/2 t ground allspice
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup salsa
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cans (15 to 19 ounces each) black beans rinsed, or 3-4 cups of homemade black beans
2 pounds of sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2" pieces
1 Italian style roasted red pepper from jar, cut into strips (1 cup)
1/3 cup loosely packed, fresh cilantro, chopped, plus additional if desired
lime wedges

Sprinkle chicken thighs with 1/2 cumin, salt and pepper. Heat a large, non-stick skillet over high heat until hot. Add chicken and brown on both sides-about 10 minutes.

Place beans and sweet potatoes into the bottom of your crock pot. Layer browned chicken on top.

In the skillet, combine broth, salsa, remaining cumin, paprika, allspice and garlic. Stir until boiling and remove from heat. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours.

Remove chicken from the crockpot to a large bowl or platter. Stir cilantro and red pepper strips into the potato mixture, then pour over the chicken. Top with additional cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

So, that was my week...how was yours? Any plans for the weekend? 

When Restaurants Don't Deliver

*Yesterday I wrote a barely disguised ode to Olive Garden here. Though, in reality, the post was a reflection on what I expect when dining out. To be up to speed, you may want to hop over there and read that post first.

We, the Barefoot Hippies, have our favorite restaurants. OG tops the list but, we have other favorites.
Breakfast: Wolfgangs
Burgers: Wealthy Station
Eggs Benedict: Cherie Inn
Pizza: Franco's
Donuts: Sandy's
Traveling: AppleBees
Mediterranean: Mr. Gyros or Pita House
Chinese: First Wok
High Class Chinese: PF Changs
Mexican: up for grabs... (my favorite closed in bankruptcy last month)

These restaurants are dependable for good service, food, atmosphere, and everything else I look for when I go out to eat.

But, sometimes service at your favorite (or not) restaurant sucks. Sometimes the food is not good. Sometimes restaurants don't meet your expectations. What should you do?

I think when the service or experience does not meet your expectations you have a few options in front of you. You can give the restaurant another chance. You can complain. You can chose to never darken that restaurant's doors again.

Here are a couple questions to ask yourself before you decide on your plan of action.

Was it a fluke? If the food, service and atmosphere are generally good, maybe this is a one time fluke.

-If it is the food, what was objectionable? the quality or the taste?

Quality? I'd give them a one time pass. Unless you ended up with food poisoning. But your steak not perfect, let it pass. Once.

Taste? Make a complaint to your server.
Now, when I say complain, I don't mean rip the wait staff and cook a blue streak. I mean, simply and graciously tell your waiter that you don't like the dish and maybe tell them why. Think of it more as a critique than a complaint. Couch your critique in positives.

The key is to bring your dissatisfaction with the item to your waiter's attention before you have consumed 90% of it. The perfect time to make this complaint would be when your server comes around again a few minutes after serving the entrees. They usually will ask, "how is everything?" Give an honest and polite answer-good or bad. That is why they are asking. Most restaurants are all about making sure you enjoy what you ordered. They will happily swap out your dish with something else.

Sometimes I feel because I chose the dish, it is not the restaurant's responsibility to replace it with something else. Kind of a made your bed, lie in it thing. And, actually, I have never insisted that someone replace my entree with something else. But, especially for chain restaurants that are continually adding new dishes to their menu, it is very helpful to know when people are not liking a certain item. Or when they are loving it.

-If it was a service issue at a normally exemplary venue, I'd complain-sometimes.
If it is a matter of rudeness, I will complain. If it is a matter of blatant inattention, I will complain. Both can be rectified with proper training.

If it is simply a matter of particularly slow service one day, I let it rest. If it is always slow, it is in my ball park to go again or not.

Ask yourself, is it worth it to complain? If several of your dining expectations were not met, once or multiple times, maybe it is not the restaurant for you. Just move on.

If it is a restaurant that you have come to expect a lot from, then leave a complaint.

The first level of complaining is face to face-with your server or the manager. Give them the opportunity to make the situation right-then and there.

The second level would be via phone or the restaurant website. From experience, this works well. Keep your tone still gracious. Give facts not feelings. Tell them when you visited, who your server was, and if you have a receipt number, it is always helpful to include that too.

Without naming restaurants, I will say that I have complained via phone or website 3 times. All three restaurants got back with me promptly, were apologetic, sent gift cards, and greatly improved on the area of complaint by the next visit. You could tell they took to heart the feedback.

The third level would be to make an instantly viral YouTube video dissing the company. I'd only recommend the third level in extreme dissatisfaction circumstances. When the other two approaches haven't worked. Something along the lines of 3rd degree mouth burns that you had to pay a hospital stay for, or something....=)

my handy-dandy flow chart, for all your restaurant needs...=)

Do you ever make complaints to restaurants? Are you a chronic complainer? What do you consider a deal breaker when you go to a restaurant? Is it possible to complain well and reflect Christ?