Kahaha Wahine’s blog

   The phrase I hear most often when it comes to my hopes for the future is "Hannah, you're a hopeless romantic. Life will never turn out the way you want."

   And I always think, "No...you're the one who is hopeless" and I go about my day with a slight smile kept all to myself - I try to never let anyone else see it because it only gives them more room to continue discussing my hopelessness behind my back. Or in front of it, for that matter.

   You see, I wrote a list of qualities I want in the man I marry when I was 10 years old. It has 93 things on it...20 of which I would only know if I was in a relationship...which I've never been...so I suppose those who have could say I am hopelessly romantic. Because they've been there. Done that. ...and all that. And this - of course - makes them experts in the field of what everyone else's life will be like.

   Or so they think.

   But I know beyond any shadow of doubt (and believe me I see a lot of shadows) that the L-rd has shown me certain things regarding the man I'll marry and in this only do I have any hope. Trusting the heart of my Father - from whom come all good and perfect gifts without any shadow of turning - to provide me with the things He desires for me. I am of the belief that when I truly desire what the L-rd has for my life the desires He has for me become my desires. Not that G-d manipulates me into wanting things I don't really want, like when you make a new friend or date a new guy and you start to "like" football when you've never seen a game in your life, but in the way that you truly begin to change and see things in a way you never did before.

   And it makes perfect sense.

   So all I have to say to this world of Downers on Depressants is: look around you...and don't just look. See the things around you and realize that G-d is the orchestrator. There is something much larger than what we think we are seeing and it's only when you are able to accept this fact that things begin to make sense. (Yeah, yeah, yeah you sceptics out there...I hear 'ya. "You people who believe in an omnescient being are phsychos!" ...ever tried it? Or have you just knocked it? And if you have tried it and you hated it...what made you hate it? Think it through...and then get back to me...you might still hate it...but I'd still like to here why).

   So I am Hopeful Romantic. Hopeful....hear me sceptics? HOPEFUL. I will not let you get me down when you tell me how life "really" is because I don't think it has to be that way. I think when you go for second best it ends up that way. Impatience usually gets me and then I get down...but when I really wait as the verse in the Psalm I can't remember right now goes, "Wait on the L-rd. Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the L-rd," then I am hopeful.

   Yes. Life can be very hard. Believe me, I know this. I have a schizophrenic brother, an uncle dieing of cancer, another brother who treats me like crap (Normal? What is this normal you speak of?), a job I don't exactly care for and a whole boat load of life that can truly suck, but that doesn't mean that it isn't good, too. So on that sappy and somewhat cliche note, please understand why I'm hopeful. 

   Hope isn't just the "Gee, I hope I get that new tricycle for my birthday!"  - It's a confident expectation that what I hope for will happen. Confidence. Faithfulness. Trusting. 

   There is a joy found when you just hope.

   And on that note: Happy Holidays to everyone who celebrates this holiday...Chanukah was early this year, so I feel like the holidays should be over and done with, but half of my family does celebrate Christmas - and the other half Chanukah - and all of a sudden I realize: I'm Not Done Yet.

   Good grief.

   Good night. And Good luck. :)    

   The other day I was getting ready for work and got to the part where I put on my mascara and realized it wasn't on the counter where I normally leave it.
   Where could it be? I wonder as I glance at the clock and realize if I don't leave 5 minutes ago I'll be late for work, so I give up my search and go mascara-less to work thinking I'd keep looking when I got home.
   When I got home that night, I began the search again, in earnest. Now, I am not one of those girls who can't leave the house without my makeup on; in fact, I hardly wear it. I flatter myself that I am pretty enough without it, so why bother...at least most mornings. But every once in a while, I really want attention drawn to my eyes and therefore need mascara. I also buy a specific kind so my eyes don't itch...and that means I pay a little bit more than I like to think about spending on it - though I'm a cheapskate, so really it's only $11 - but still...I'm poor and that's $11. (Pity, anyone?)
   Back to the story at hand...
   I keep looking.
   And looking.
   Down on my hands on knees with a wooden spoon to search under the 'fridge and the stove thinking my kitten had chased it around and lost it in a nook or a cranny...
   But no such luck. I can't find my mascara anywhere. So, being the tightwad that I am, I gave it up for lost and was going to go buy more at the store when next I went shopping.
   Then, wonder of wonders, I found it!

Mascara

   "Ah, L-rd G-d! You made heaven and earth with Your great might and outstretched arm. Nothing is to wonderous for you." Jeremiah 32:17

   "The Spirit of the L-rd G-d is upon me, because the L-rd has annointed me; He has sent me as a herald of joy to the humble, to bind up the wounded of heart, to proclaim release to the captives, liberation to the imprisoned; to proclaim the year of the L-rd's favor and a day of vindication by our G-d; to comfort all who mourn - to provide for the mourner in Zion - to give them a turban instead of ashes, the festive ointment instead of a drooping spirit. They shall be called terebinths of victory, planted by the L-rd for His glory."  Isaiah 61:1-3

...would you be able to find a book called: "The Scientific Feeding of Chickens" and realize that someone probably actually read it.

   I can't stop giggling.

Roasted Garlic Potato Soup

1 med. Onion

2 tbsp. Garlic

Saute in bottom of soup pot for 5-7 minutes

Add 1 tsp. Fennel seeds

1tsp. Salt

½ tsp. pepper

Saute another few minutes

Place 2 heads of garlic in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 with as much paper removed as possible without garlic heads falling apart – though the cloves can be separated if you don’t mind the mess.    

   Add 4 cups vegetable broth, 6 red potatoes - in big chunks, 1 bay leaf, 2 sage leaves, 2 tarragon leaves (opt.) and simmer until potatoes are tender. (Great Northern beans can be substituted for this recipe – canned or fresh – though canned are easier).

   Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the remaining paper and mash with the back of a large knife or place in a blender, then add to soup and simmer for another few minutes. Remove bay leaf and serve with a heavy peasant bread.

   Feel like you’re in a village in Tuscany? Good.  :)

Rory: Oh my.

"Out of my sight! Thou dost infect my eyes."

   From "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Gonn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden

   Girls:
   "If you see a girl in need of help - unable to lift something, for example- do not taunt her. Approach the object and greet her with a cheerful smile, while surreptitiously testing the weight of the object. If you find you can lift it, go ahead. If you can't, try sitting on it and engaging her in conversation."