So That's What the Sun Looks Like. . . .

We are enjoying an atypical winter in East Tennessee. Our "normal" temps in February should be in the 50s, with lows in the upper 30s at night.

Last week, and a couple weeks prior to that? Freezing -- and below freezing temps. Totally not our usual winter.

This weekend? And the rest of this week? 60s and inching up toward the 70s. Not the run-of-the-mill winter weather, either.

I.am.not.complaining.

This is just very, very odd -- and very, very nice.

As I type a woodpecker is gorging himself on birdseed in our $4 bird feeder from WalMart. Ten feet away, another bird -- a blue jay I think, is wolfing down more food seed from the $3 bird feeder I got at Family Dollar.

I've decided that bird feeders themselves do not need to be expensive. They're birds.

But, we have really enjoyed watching birds the last couple weeks. My in-laws got us a suet holder, and suet feed. They also got us a mesh pouch (finch feeder) which became necessary when Edison broke our other finch feeder trying to open it. (teenage boys...sigh) We see all sorts of birds these days--everything from finches to woodpeckers to blue jays & cardinals. It's like the World Series out there -- vague baseball reference. Sorry.

Other than that, things here are pretty sedate. We survived the Bud Shootout last night. Jeff Burton was knocked out early -- he was totally victimized by a few other cars who were driven by irresponsible boo. .. I mean, drivers. Sorry.

Kevin Harvick (#29) won. He's on the same team as Jeff Burton, so I guess I'm glad he won. I'm certainly glad a couple of drivers did NOT win. It's almost as much fun rooting against someone as it is cheering for someone.

Editor's note: Beth, I am so proud of you for attempting to watch NASCAR. Yes, I must admit, there are quite a few cuties on there. That's not my sole motivation for watching, but it certainly makes it more fun.

This morning's services were very enjoyable. The last four or five Sundays have been exceptionally good. I can't put my finger on it -- but I'm very grateful for the people I work with. They are a lot of fun.

This afternoon, Mark and I took part in an ordination service for our new Associate Minister. This means that he can now marry people -- it's pretty cool, actually. The sermon, delivered by one of his Bible college professors, was exceptionally good. It reminded me -- although I am not, nor will ever be ordained, how special it is to be called into the ministry. I was reminded that I am to love God. . . love people. . .and exalt Christ at all times.

Sounds easy. . .trust me, it's not always.

But, we are super happy for John & Christine. He's an awesome addition to our staff, and he's going to be a phenomenal minister. I was grateful to be asked to participate in the worship leading aspect of the day.

Once we got home, I spent a little time catching up on Facebook, and am now getting ready to start corraling some scrapbooking materials together. I am in charge of a "Bring Your Own Craft" night at church tomorrow night. We just want our ladies to have a chance to get together and fellowship. Hopefully, it will be a good time.

I haven't hardly touched my SB stuff in months. So, I'm kind of hoping this will jump start my scrapping again. We'll see.

I am going to sign off with an excellent recipe I made earlier this week. It's a great veggie frittata. There are four (4) servings, and each one only counts as three (3) WW points. Totally awesome.

Veggie Frittata

2 whole eggs
8 egg whites
10 oz. box chopped spinach, thawed, and squeezed well
1/4 c. chopped red pepper
1/4 c. chopped red onion
3 scallions, sliced
1 roma tomato, seeded and cut into small pieces
2 oz. feta cheese (crumbled)
2 T grated parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil

In an oven-proof skillet (9- or 10-inch), saute the red onion, red pepper, scallions, and tomato in olive oil until soft and translucent. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine eggs & whites, spinach, and cheeses. Pour egg mixture over the sauteed veggies. Cook on the stove for 5-6 minutes -- until the bottom is slightly set. Put in 350 degree oven until the center is set.

Slice into four (4) equal pieces. Enjoy!!

When I made this last week, I added some leftover sliced mushrooms (canned) to this, as well. That definitely gave it some "oomph" but it would have been fine without it. I also used a carton of egg substitute, rather than separating that many eggs. I wouldn't know what to do with that many egg yolks -- and no, I wouldn't want to make homemade noodles if I cannot eat them!

One night, instead of eating spaghetti w/meat sauce with the family, I had a slice of frittata, and put 1/4 c. of the spaghetti sauce on it. That was tasty. But, again, the frittata stood very nicely on its own.

So, I'm probably going to make it again tonight. The rest of the family is probably going to have grilled cheese -- and that's killer on Weight Watchers. One sandwich is 13 points!!! That's far too much of one day's points to waste on a sandwich.

So, there you've got it -- bird watching, NASCAR commentary, and a recipe. Kinda one of my more typical blog entries, eh?

Enjoy!!