A New Definition of Adventure

A few weeks ago I made the decision to sign up for a women's Bible study that will start this next Tuesday. It will focus on this book:

I was doing my reading and got to page 45. Here is the excerpt that jumped out at me:

"And women are tired. We are drained. But it's not from a life of shared adventures.

No, the weariness of women comes from lives that are crammed with routine, with

chores, with hundreds of demands. As Chekov said,"Any idiot can face a crisis. It's

the day to day living that wears you out." Somehow, somewhere between our youth

and yesterday, efficiency has taken the place of adventure. Most women do not feel

they are playing an irreplaceable role in a great Story. Oh, no. We struggle to know if

we matter at all. If we are at home, we feel ashamed we don't have a "real life" in the

outside world. We are swallowed by laundry. If we have a career, we feel as though

  we are missing out on more important matters like marriage and children. We are

swallowed by meetings."

That day to day living is tiring. The days (often like those in the movie Groundhog Day) are spent doing the same things. Playing with children, laundry, making sure everyone gets fed, cleaning, spending some quality time with the hubs, and the list goes on. It is an endless cycle of trying to take care of everyone and everything that is dear to me. And I strive to do it all in the most efficient way possible.Where is the adventure? And then I get my answer:

Today I went to a baby shower during the boys' nap times. When I walked into the house, I was greeted by a dance party. The older one was dancing on the ottoman using a dog's toy as his microphone. The little was was being carried around on his Daddy's shoulders while they all rocked out to "Rock the Casbah" blaring on the Dance Party Favorites station on the TV (or PD as Jake calls it). I dropped my bag and promptly joined in the dance party contributing my seizure like movements to the PAR-TAY. The rest of the afternoon, we played a lot of dress up, cruised around the house, and right now Jake is cooking me paper grilled cheese sandwiches before he heads to bed. This is the adventure in my life right now, and while it's not the adventure I sought at 20, it certainly makes my heart smile.

Arrrgh, matey



Tennis ball while balancing on the rocking chair. No worries, right?

So one of my goals for the New Year is to embrace the adventures of right now and let go of some routine. Now that doesn't mean that I'm going to let the house fall in around us while we play all day. There are still clothes to wash and people to feed, but I must remember that they will only need me in this capacity for such a short time. And on that note, dinner was a quick 15 minute prep time affair tonight. These little sandwiches are yummy for a quick dinner or snack:

Sassy Tailgating Sandwiches

Package Kings Hawaiian Rolls

Onion and Chive Cream Cheese

Sliced Ham

Swiss Cheese

1 stick butter

1 TBSP Worcestershire

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 TBSP minced onion (I used the dried flakes)

Split and separate rolls. Place ham and cheese on bottom part of roll. Spread cream cheese on the top of roll and put the top and bottom sections back together. Melt butter in microwave and stir in parm, Worcestershire, and onion. Spoon over each roll. I didn't use all the sauce but not much was left over. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or so until the cheese is melted and the rolls are browned. Yum! No stress dinner.