Outing a friend...

Ok, I've seen enough...read enough...for goodness sakes I've worked with her for at least 6 months now! I am doing it! I am outing Addie Abu Sadda! She is funny!!! Listen to me really, if you want a laugh- I mean really a good belly jiggling full-on chuckle just check out this link;

http://littlewomenmomma.blogspot.com/

Addie,
If this doesn't make you want to blog again then I don't know what will...

Hope you and Ben are enjoying your well deserved vacation...NOW BLOG!!!

Inspired writings from last year...

With my Back to the Cross

I experience joy.
I experience bliss.
With my back to the cross,
I will witness to this.

I experience loss,
And life filled with sad stories.
With my back to the cross,
I still witness His glory.

I will never question.
I will never doubt.
I will keep my back there,
For I know the turn out.

I experience freedom.
I learn of success.
With my back to the cross,
I feel God’s peaceful bless.
---------------------------
With His back to the Cross

I read of His story.
I read of their hate.
With His back to the cross,
I imagined His fate.

I read of His rising,
His return is forthcoming.
With His back to the cross,
He will show us His loving.

He never wavered,
To stop or to doubt.
He put His back there,
His back did not give out.

I know that he loves me.
I know that he cares.
With His back to the cross,
He shows me He’s there.

An Observation While Traveling

People do not wash their hands.

This is one of the most repulsive realities I witness on a regular basis. In and out of airport restrooms as I am; I have never witnessed so many people practicing such poor sanitation practices. This is a very likely culprit for why people so often get sick while traveling - far more likely in my opinion than simply breathing the air in the planes.

Maybe it’s my culinary food safety training that cues me into this. I guess people don’t realize the amount of bacteria that gets on their hands when in a public restroom. I mean you find e.coli and fecal coliform on money, keyboards and handrails so why do people think any surface in a restroom would be different?

The Discovery channel’s Mythbusters once did an episode where they tested the myth that airborne toilet-water droplets would land on your toothbrush and carry “poo-particles” with it. They found that not only could they culture the bacteria found in poo off of the toothbrushes in a normally used bathroom but also off of the control toothbrush that never came any where near a bathroom. Scary, huh?

Now consider that on a normal person’s hand at a normal room temperature these bacteria double every twenty minutes! We’re talking exponential growth! Human hands that have been even slightly contaminated and are not washed within four hours could potentially carry enough bacteria to sicken a person. In the case of small children, the elderly or someone with a lowered immune system it could have the potential to kill.

Then there are those that think they are ok if they simply run their hands under some water before they leave a restroom. People, what is the last thing you touch when you rinse your hands? The faucet knob. What is the first thing everyone touches after they have “done their business?” The faucet knob. This is why those of us clued in turn off the water with a paper towel while you gross germ spreaders think we’re just displaying an OCD. The (sick) joke is actually on you!

I wish there was an activist group that would stand outside public restrooms and humiliate everyone who leaves without washing their hands. Maybe I’ll start one…World Activists for Stronger Hygiene or W.A.S.H!

Winding back up...

Well I need to get this ball rolling again, it has been too long! It seems the longer you let a blog sit the harder it is to start posting again. I literally have a clog of ideas, happenings and thoughts that I feel like I should post.

Since May I have been to Hawaii, Singapore and the very exotic Portland, OR. All of them were outrageously great trips.

Hawaii was our first anniversary trip, compliments of travel miles and Hilton points.

The Singapore government paid to take me on a tour of their cuisine. It was mind-blowing. More about that later…

A chef’s conference took me to Portland. Portland is a great town, a little granola but nice. I got to visit some wineries (superb Pinot Noir) and tour some farms; Hops and Hogs! The weather was beautiful, the food was great and Portland is a big city with a small town feel which I love. We had a reception one night at the Pittock Mansion; just a bunch of chefs, great food, wine and cigars in an early 1900’s mansion with a great overlook of the city.
http://pittockmansion.com/