No Love For The Ugly Ones....

At the recommendation of this girl I read this book.   "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers is admittedly my first foray into Christian fiction.  I LOVE to read!!!!  But, my true written love is gritty, crime solving, who-done-it type mysteries.  I had some reservations about this book from the get go...for one, I'm not a huge fan of period pieces (Redeeming Love takes place in the 1830's-50's).  I like my crimes to be solved using the latest technologies available.  Plus, I was worried that since it is a Christian novel complete with a study guide and group discussion section, it would be "watered down", "fluffy" or predictable...that the language would be juvenile, rife with "Gosh darn its" and "Oh mys".

But!  This was a GREAT read!  Rivers based the story off of the biblical story of Hosea, and immediately captures your emotions as she tell how young Sarah becomes a broken shell of a girl sold into prostitution at the tender age of 8!!!  As a young woman, Sarah, now known as "Angel", makes her way to gold country California where she continues to do the only thing she knows how and the men are willing to pay for it.  Yikes!  Along comes Michael, who has prayed for a wife and much to his surprise, the Lord leads him to Angel.  I don't want to give too much away...read the book yourself!!  Just know that it was hard to put the book down at night and I would look forward to the next time I would get to read more.

After I finished the book, I taunted Crafty P for her recommendation of a book with a HUGE flaw!  Truth be told, the book didn't have a big flaw...I just have a big chip on my shoulder.  Allow me to explain...throughout the book, Angel is described as beautiful.  More than just regular beautiful, but stop and stare beautiful...with long, silky blond hair, clear porcelain skin, all the right curves.  You're telling me that a hooker in the 1850's would be beautiful????  Let alone have all of her teeth???  I'm thinking more along the lines of lice infestation, bloated with infection (STD's aren't just modern day scare tactics, people!), missing teeth from lack of nutrients.  I want to yell that this reeks of a stereotypical romance novel, the beautiful girl, the handsome rugged man!  It's not fair, I say!  The other girls who "worked" with Angel were not portrayed as being as pretty...in fact they were described as fat and ugly and drunk.  Rivers clearly used more delicate language than that, but you get the point.

I get it though, no one wants to read about unattractive people getting together...can you imagine?  "His chubby, gnarled fingers stroked her scarred and pitted cheek as she looked down at his stout, bald frame."  Doesn't quite do it for ya, does it?  But for once, just once, couldn't an author create a less than gorgeous, quite regular looking main character and make the story work?  Why can't the ugly hooker get rescued?  I mean, if God is going to lead you to try to save a hooker, why not an ugly one?  However, Rivers writes in a way so that it IS believable.  She makes it crystal clear that while Angel may be beautiful on the outside, she looks more like Quasimodo on the inside.

I guess I have just always been jealous of the beautiful blonds.  Just now I fixed my ponytail and almost started a fire with my dry as kindling, knotted mess of dark curls.  As a kid, I would wrap a yellow blanket around my head and pretend I had long, flowing locks.  While all the girls were feathering their hair a la Farrah Fawcett, I was stuck with a stylish Gilda Radner look.  Alas, I tried being a blond for about 6 months a decade ago...and it just didn't work...plus, it burned a lot.  So, I have resigned myself to the fact that if I were to be cast in a movie of this book, I would be the drunk hooker that gets killed in a fire.

Oh well.  It's still a good book.  I think I'll read it again...which I never do.  That's how much I enjoyed it.

Security Blankets

As spring is gloriously upon us, I've been inspired to do some unusual cleaning.  Today, I cleaned the plastic silverware tray!  Jay saw that I had cleaned it and said "Finally!"...before you jump to a feminist conclusion, he meant that he had been wanting to clean it for some time, too.  I had just beaten him to the Magic Eraser.

My next target of cleanliness is a bit more vulnerable for me to share.  And, you'll probably think it's a funny thing to be worried about....it's....my....make up box!

It's a silly thing to feel vulnerable about, dontcha think?  But, still...I don't like for people to watch me put on my make up, or to dig through my stuff, touching the brushes, testing the colors...whatever.  To me, it's a private thing.  But!  My word for the year is progress, right?  So there you have it...my box of make up.  And, occasionally, it needs to be cleaned.

I wash the brushes with a special brush shampoo, wipe off all the pots, and wash out the box itself.

Ahhhhh, so much better, right?

Whenever I clean my make up and put the box back in it's drawer (safe from prying eyes), I remember that starting in junior high, I would carry in my purse every make up item I owned.  Leaving the house without it just simply never happened.  What if I had a make up emergency?  What if I needed to reapply?  What if I wasn't going to make it home by morning and would need it for the next day?  The latter actually happened quite a bit, but I never thought to carry a toothbrush with me...or clean clothes...or a sense of responsibility.  What are the chances that I would find myself in a situation that would wash every speck of make up off my face while in a public place?  Zero!  I don't recall a single situation that required a reapplication of all my make up.  

It has only been a few years since I got over carrying that security blanket with me.  Now, I'm strictly a lipstick and mirror girl!

However, I've realized that I have another security blanket lurking in my purse, right now.  I always, always, always check to make sure I have an extra hair band with me.  If I think I don't have an extra band, I immediately check my hair to see if my current band is coming loose or if pins have shifted.  What hair catastrophe is around the next corner?  What could I use as an alternative hair accessory?  Do I have a pen I could use to pin up my unruly hair?

Why do I torment myself with these seemingly unnecessary burdens?  What's the worst that could happen?  Logically, I know the answer is nothing, but still I cling to a small ring of elastic to provide comfort....oh, and chap stick and sunglasses, too!  Woosh!!!  More progress to be made, my friends!

Care to share any security blankets you're carrying around?

Finally! He is Risen!

So, my Easter post is a week late...can't be worse than last Easter , right?  This year, every single one of us was healthy enough to enjoy the celebration of our risen Lord...and chocolate bunnies. 

In the past, I have lamented my lack of creativity surrounding holidays.  It's as if I'm always caught unaware...like I didn't know the holiday was coming up.  It would seem we were heading down the same path for this Easter...UNTIL, my super creative-only needs a few hours of sleep-can do anything-sister-in-law, Cathy, saved my oblivious-over whelmed by laundry-distracted by Facebook-beeehind.  She mailed the kids coloring pages and a recipe for Easter cookies.  But not just any Easter cookies.  As you follow the recipe, there is Scripture to go with each step and the final results aren't revealed until Easter morning!  How cool is that?  Saturday night was filled with coloring eggs and cookie baking....

Here's what Stinky Lee MaGee decided to occupy himself with....

Trey kindly threw all the Tupperware from the drawer into the sink before standing in it...

Joe did a great job reading from his Bible while we followed the recipe for these special cookies.

Good thing Bella wanted to help hold the mixer...the recipe said to beat the mixture for 12 to 15 minutes!!

When the cookies were on the sheet, we put them in the pre-heated oven, turn the oven off (what?), waited till morning...when viola! The cookies are hollow!  Empty!  Just like Jesus' tomb!

As I was reading the corresponding Scripture, Bella interrupted me by yelling "I GOT A CHOCOLATE BUNNY!" and running out of the kitchen....her lack of attention may explain why she woke us up that morning by whispering (very loudly) "God is prison!"..."What, Bella??!!"..."God is prison!"..."Oh, you mean 'Jesus is risen!'"...."He is risen indeed!"..."Right, go back to bed, Bella."

We played our cards right by waiting until before dinner to try to get a nice picture instead of before church when we're rushing and cranky.  Pretty cute, I'd say.

And no day in the Mitlo house would be complete without some kind of "incident"...

I thanked him for his patience while I ran to get the camera.

Happy Easter!