Posted by missjunebug on Monday August 23rd, 2010
Today is a good day for missjunebug. It’s her 30th wedding anniversary! And they said it wouldn’t last! Just kidding, Mr.JB! So sad you are on the other side of the globe, but the junebugs had a good pre-anniversary dinner at Money Pancho, didn’t they?
As for the gift, it turns out Mr.JB is really in luck. He already bought the right present for missjunebug while they were having the time of their buglives in Tahiti earlier this summer. That’s right, pearls are the gift to give for the Big 3-0! Who knew? Way to get lucky Mr.JB. You are most definitely off the hook for a gift. And your gift is off the hook: You already gave those gorgeous Tahitian pearls to missjunebug and believe her when she says she adores them!
So, Mr.JB thanks for all your love, hard work, great parenting, wacky sense of humor, and your full-on Mr.JB-ness! Dare the JBs hope for 30 more years? Hells, yeah.
Posted by missjunebug on Wednesday July 28th, 2010
missjunebug has been busy lately reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Being a true-blue fan of self-help books, mjb was happy to pick up The Happiness Project having read a one-page preview of its precepts early on in Real Simple magazine (one of mjb’s favs). She’s even sent copies to her two sons ElderJB and TinyJB and she’s discussed some of its precepts with Mr.JB.
missjunebug is certain that the erudite yet down-to-earth Gretchen is on to something! Inspired by a couple of old school guys Ben Franklin and Samuel Johnson as well as the happy and holy Thérèse of Lisieux, Gretchen charts a course for a year, month by month to work on very specific goals to increase her happiness quotient. Part of her thinking is to perfect her ability to experience happiness now in preparation for the guaranteed tough times ahead. Having recently gone through some tough times herself missjunebug can fully appreciate this a-good-offense-is-the-best-defense strategy when facing the inevitable vicissitudes of life.
To give you a better idea of Gretchen’s approach, let missjunebug fill you in on her plan for November. That’s the next to last chapter that missjunebug is in the middle of right now and very close to the final page of the book. The theme for November’s happiness pursuit is Keep a Contented Heart and missjunebug definitely hearts that idea!
Gretchen hopes to meet these happiness “challenges” in November: Laugh out loud. Use good manners. Give positive reviews. Find an area of refuge. Neat ideas, Gretchen! In the course of the chapter, she learns to listen fully and engage in a full belly-laugh response when the joke is deserving instead of rushing to do the talking. She begins to value kindness and being kinder especially in her conversational style which at times can be a bit peremptory and one-ups man. She also comes to terms with the dark desire of humans to play constant critic, instead of doing the braver thing: to embrace joy. Her Barry Manilow example is well worth the price of the book. She finishes off the chapter with her very helpful idea of seeking out mental areas of refuge that can be as simple as mentally visiting a few things, people, and places that never fail to provide little packets of joy.
missjunebug thinks these very personal but powerful connections are the perfect push toward greater happiness in a rough and tumble world. And this terrific book looks at such connections to happiness in each of its other month-entitled chapters, January through December, all chock full of happiness wisdom earned the hard way by Ms. Rubin’s own personal trial and error. And believe missjunebug when she says, if Gretchen doesn’t get happy doing the particular happiness activity or process she sets for herself, she’s the first to jettison it and move on. Smart move, G.
The secret to missjunebug’s happiness in reading this very savvy, atypical, and highly recommended self-help book The Happiness Project is that she will be able to share her takeaways from it with the three shiny, happy people in her blessed life: Mr.JB, ElderJB, and TinyJB!
Posted by missjunebug on Monday July 26th, 2010
mjb says "Thanks, TJ's" for this awesome bread! Photo by mjb2010
Perhaps the title to this blog is a bit much, but missjunebug can’t say enough good things about this good bread! Trader Joe’s Tuscan Pane “A Stone Hearth Oven-Baked Classic Italian Bread” lives up to its name: It is a classic! And squisito! And missjunebug hearts it big time!
Perfect for toast, even more perfect for grilled cheese! Believe her when she says you should swing by your local T.J.’s and pick up a loaf today! The “crisp crust” and “chewy interior” will not disappoint!
missjunebug owes her friend and neighbor M. who brought a loaf to her a while back as a little get well gift (along with soup and super treats, too) a big THANKS for introducing her to this lovely loaf!
Oh. my. yes. Delicious for Toast & the Perfect Grilled Cheese! Photo by mjb2010
Posted by missjunebug on Wednesday July 21st, 2010
missjunebug between bouts of various and heinous medical interventions has still managed to have some fun with her p.i.c. doing some fairly vigorous retail therapy. There’s nothing like the approaching end of summer to bring on the heavy discounts: Nordstrom It’s Our Anniversary Sale! Banana Republic Many Percent Off Everything Sale! JCrew A Few Really Fine Things on Sale Sale! What fun!
missjunebug and her dear p.i.c. are devoted to improving their look as well as giving a much needed shot in the arm to the local economy. And speaking of arms, yes, they both bought pieces that actually reveal some arm and even a little leg. This time next year they will be sailing the high seas to exotic ports of call baring trim and firm extremities! Where does such inspiration and motivation come from? That’s right: Retail Therapy. The most affordable and accessible therapy out there for the not-getting-any-younger set.
missjunebug knows what you are thinking: How do you know the pieces you buy today will still be in style a year from today!? First off, what’s a year in the fashion industry? No biggie. You didn’t really fall for all that Devil Wears Prada nonsense, did you, dear reader? mjb and her p.i.c. can easily spot the lasting trends, grab the classics, and skip the gnarly fads that fade like cheap jeans after a hot wash. Okay, maybe no one will still be wearing sequins on their JCrew t-shirts next year, but missjunebug doubtless will be! She’ll just refer to what she’s wearing as vintage! Yeah, that’ll work!
Secondly, it doesn’t matter what mjb and her p.i.c. wear because nobody’s looking! It’s as if Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility has settled gently on their shoulders and they can do whatever they want: wear red hats! don purple clothing! squeeze into blue thongs! expose bare arms! Believe missjunebug when she says no one cares! And, yes, there was a time a long day ago when both of them turned a few heads but, alas, those days are done. Those days are most definitely gone. Hey, you can’t look at what you can’t see!
Still, missjunebug and her p.i.c. didn’t dwell on time passing but kept a clear-eyed focus on their potent purchases filled with therapy and possibility and fun!
Holland America! Disney Cruise! Here they come!
Posted by missjunebug on Sunday June 27th, 2010
missjunebug loves to learn about all sorts of things online, no doubt just like her readers do. This weekend she hit the motherload! She read an article in her local Sunday paper that lead her straight to one of the coolest online teachers she’s run across, and believe her when she says she’s done her share of online learning from the videos at lynda.com for techy stuff to the weighty academicearth.org for lectures from the hallowed halls of our most esteemed universities.
But the one she discovered this weekend sets itself apart by being so fully engaging and captivating that missjunebug can’t wait to work her way through the more than 1500 lessons online in subjects including math (not missjunebug’s fav), economics, chemistry, physics, history, current financial topics, and many others. The eponymous online site www.khanacademy.org translates Sal Khan’s love of learning into an open academy for the whole planet. missjunebug enjoyed his lively instruction about the French Revolution (Part I & II), making her way all the way through the Reign of Terror in one short evening! She can hardly wait to get to the lesson featuring that rascal Napoleon Bonaparte!
According to the news article missjunebug read, Sal just wants to teach the way he himself would like to be taught. A simple, but brilliant idea, Mr. Khan! missjunebug would expect nothing less coming from an M.I.T. graduate in Computer Science with an M.B.A. from Harvard. (Smarty pants!) Keep up the good work and think about branching out to literature study, one of missjunebug’s personal favs. If you can explain those pesky word problems, no doubt you’ll have no problem analyzing great literature!!
Posted by missjunebug on Tuesday June 22nd, 2010
Mr.JB's Happy Licorice People Right Before...You Know! Photo by mjb2010
Mr.JB and missjunebug have been married a really, really long time and have no plans of walking the sad path recently taken by Al and Tipper and some other long marrieds-soon divorced that they know. Is it something in the water? missjunebug isn’t sure. What she is sure of is that over time she and her Mr.JB are becoming more and more alike which turns out not to be a bad thing since they started out many, many years ago as complete opposites. He’s science-y; she’s word-y. He’s a relentless perfectionistic; she’s lives by the 80%/20% rule: that is, 80% is plenty good enough in most things most of the time. He’s methodical, always; she’s haphazard, on a good day. He loves licorice like no other; she couldn’t stand the stuff.
Yes, that’s right. missjunebug once hated licorice with all her little bug heart. When she was an itty bitty bug, she could never have imagined digging into a bag of licorice All Sorts or Harry & David Tuxedos or multi-colored Licorice Snaps or black as night Scottie Dogs, not to mention eating pink and white Mike and Ike’s. The idea revolted her. Now missjunebug could fall back on her De gustibus non es disputandum motto here very easily, but the fact is that even though one cannot account for taste, missjunebug has learned that tastes do change over time. How does this happen? missjunebug has no idea. But there it is. missjunebug over the past couple of years has developed a deep and abiding love for licorice.
She suspects that it originally had to do with scarcity. She’d run out of everything fun and sweet to eat that she favored (Junior Mints, Kit Kat Bars, M&M’s Peanut, Reese’s Pieces, Cherry Sours–the list goes on and on) and resorted to trying “just one, please” piece of licorice that Mr.JB had methodically rationed to himself for an after dinner treat. It was not love at first bite. But it was sweet enough to be interesting and not nearly as revolting as missjunebug remembered from her childhood. This little scenario replayed itself enough times that missjunebug eventually acquired a taste for what was once the untasteable.
And really, really liked it. Maybe missjunebug was able to set aside her deep and abiding childhood loathing of licorice just long enough to give it a try and another try, and then another. Now she and Mr.JB delight in sharing the enjoyment of a sweet treat they both find tasty.
Things can change. Tastes can change. And yes, marriages break up, even 30 or 40 year ones. But sometimes marriages of opposites can celebrate all the ways in which a couple have come to reside happily in the ”if ever two were one, then surely we” category!
Now, Mr.JB, hand missjunebug that bag of Scottie Dogs, pronto!
Posted by missjunebug on Wednesday June 9th, 2010
Tiny Collection of Tiny Things! Photo by mjb2010
missjunebug has been cleaning out drawers and closets (again). She’s watched enough episodes of Hoarders on A&E (oxymoron that a show with that title would end up on that channel!) to scare her into taking action. Not as far gone as some of those pitiable people, she recognizes a few tendencies that are troubling. Stacks of magazines (Real Simple is a Real Culprit), projects held in abeyance (they might as well be cast in amber), and supplies for every random creative urge she’s ever had.
Progress is being made! But she has come across a few items with which she cannot part: Tiny Things!
Today’s blog post is a tiny homage to Tiny Things: Petite Pirate, Nifty Ninja, Small Ball, and perhaps the World’s Tiniest Pencil!
This stellar collection of Tiny Things has a special place in missjunebug’s kitchen, just hanging out with her while she tidies up or makes dinner. Despite their tiny size, they have cheered her in a big way. Sometimes she writes with the World’s Tiniest Pencil or sets up the Petite Pirate to fight with the Nifty Ninja. Small Ball is perfect for a quick round of table soccer to relieve a tiny bit of stress, and yes, missjunebug knows it’s a football. Duh.
So the magazines can be dissected for keeper pages, then tossed and the ambered projects can be recast and reinitiated or cast away, but the Tiny Collection of Tiny Things is here to stay.
Posted by missjunebug on Friday June 4th, 2010
A Plateful of Goodness: missjunebug's Homemade Breakfast Bars!! Photo by mjb2010
missjunebug has been comfort cooking lately and one of her fav comfort foods is a little breakfast treat called missjunebug’s Homemade Breakfast Bars which she adapted from a recipe given to her by one of her best students at the community college where she taught a long day ago.
missjunebug can’t say enough good things about these treats: grainy, sweet, easy to make and oh so easy to eat! Without further ado, missjunebug introduces you to
missjunebug’s Homemade Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (mjbTip: store in frig to keep fresh!)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups Quaker Oats Old-Fashioned Oatmeal
1/4 cup Kretschmer Wheat Germ (Also store in frig after opening!)
1 1/2 cups jam of your choice (mjbFavs: boisenberry, raspberry, red plum, and blackberry)
Directions
Cream butter and sugar until well blended in your Kitchen-Aid mixer…you have one, don’t you? Mix in remaining ingredients except for the jam.
Press down well 1/2 the mixture into a buttered-down 13″ X 9″ glass baking dish. Spread jam evenly over the top using an offset spatula for smooth and even distribution of the jam.
Top with remaining crumble mixture, pressing lightly.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until light brown. While warm, cut into bars, 2″ X 1 1/2.” As they cool, they will set up nicely.
Enjoy for breakfast with a big glass of milk or a warm cup of coffee. Delicious!! You’ll never need to buy Nutri-Grain bars again…no offense NG.
Posted by missjunebug on Saturday May 29th, 2010
Flank Steak with missjunebug's Marvy Marinade! Photo by mjb2010
missjunebug and Mr.JB recently collaborated on a great send-off dinner for ElderJB. (We miss him tons already, but what a great visit!!) Flank steak, a relatively inexpensive cut of meat, can be dressed up to perfection with a good pounding and the right marinade. missjunebug suggests you find the right culinary tenderizing hammer and then slather the pounded-not-quite-to-a-pulp flank steak with this marinade. Throw it on the barbie (not the doll, please!) and grill until medium rare, about six minutes a side. Cook up some grilled veggies: mushrooms, yellow, red, orange, and green bell peppers–the more color, the better, and lots and lots of onions for the perfect side dish. Throw a baked potato on the plate and missjunebug assures you, you will have the best meal ever to serve to family and friends.
missjunebug’s Marvy Marinade
1 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Colman’s Mustard Powder (dry mustard)
A generous grind of black pepper (1/4 teaspoon-1/2 teaspoon)
A sprinkle of Kosher salt
A sprinkle of garlic powder
Whisk together all the ingredients in a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the flank steak. Be sure to mix in all the mustard. It will try to clump up in the liquid. Carefully place the meat in the dish and press it down so that the top is covered with the marinade. Flip the meat over and press down gently again so the marinade completely covers the meat. Place in the frig for up to 3 hours so the marinade can work its magic. Grill 6 minutes a side, slice on the bias, nice and thin and serve with grilled veggies and a big ole baked potato with all the toppings!
Delicious Sides: Grilled Veggies and Baked Potato Piled High! Photo by mjb2010
Flank Steak: Up Close and Delicious! Photo by mjb2010
Posted by missjunebug on Thursday May 20th, 2010
missjunebug has just a few more Commencement photos to share:
Joyce Center Transformed into Holy Place! Photo by mjb2010
Holy People Process In! Photo by mjb2010
Lots of Holy People Preside Over the Commencement Mass! Photo by mjb2010
Commencement in the ND Stadium! A First in Many, Many Years! Photo by mjb2010
Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News Rocked the Commencement Address! Photo by mjb2010
TinyJB Designed This Commencement Brochure! Go TinyJB! Photo by mjb2010
Congratulations, Indeed!!! Photo by mjb2010
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