Nothing But Flattened Bananas

I love Trader Joe’s.  I never knew that the grocery shopping experience could feel so right.  I love cheap flowers, meat without hormones and sweet potato french fries.  Just going there makes me smile!  (Actually I am smiling just thinking about it!)  All that to say, I am somewhat addicted to the Trader Joe’s experience.  I feel kind of cool when I am there.  I know this is slightly ridiculous, but let me have my moment. 

One more reason I love shopping there is I love one of their products: flattened bananas.  Here are the basics:

What are they?  Flattened Bananas 

The Ingredients? Bananas (The ingredients listed on the package are as follows: bananas)

What do they look like?  Flattened Bananas, Actually they look really gross.  They are a weird shade of yellowish brown and are flat and look like leather. 

How do they taste? Delicious!!!! 

So, why do I write this blog. I want the world to give flattened fruit a chance.  Also, I realize all to often I judge things by their appearance.  I assume things that may be completely inaccurate.  In one glance I try to size something or someone up.  If I use the bananas as an example, by just looking at them I would think they were somewhat disgusting.  There appearance could have kept me from purchasing them. (Thank goodness I was in Trader Joe’s euphoria, and everything seems beautiful and wonderful!)  Judging them just by their look, I could have missed out on the healthiest fruit roll-up ever! (Just to let you know that is what they taste like, banana flavored goodness!)  By looking past there appearance, I was actually able to find a treasure!  Maybe a lot of things in this world are like flattened bananas!

….The product is actually called “Nothing But Flattened Bananas” .  It can be purchased in the dried fruit section at Trader Joe’s. 

       

Things I Question…Part I

I am probably to easily annoyed.  It is something that I am working on.  I just find that many things get on my nerves, or cause me to question the world I live in or my own sanity.  These are some of the things I ponder:

• Why when I get in the shortest grocery store line does it always take the longest?
• Why do I always end up behind one of the 10 people in the world who still write checks?  (It is 2008 please use a debit card.)
• Why does my husband think Walker Texas Ranger is art in motion?
• On that note…Why does he also believe the funniest jokes involve Chuck Norris?
• Why is Mickey Mouse so popular?  (He is a rodent that wears clothes.  Weird!)
• Why when Walmart is such an unpleasant shopping experience do I continue to shop there?  (I actually know the answer to this question…I just wish it wasn’t true.  Walmart is just cheaper than Target.  The everyday low prices draw me in!)
• Why when my body is roughly 98.6 degrees are my feet -2?
• Why do they use famous people who have admitted having eating disorders on the cover of magazines like Self and Fitness? 
• Why am I writing this particular blog?  Will anyone still read my blog after reading this entry?
• Why does winter drag on when the other seasons just fly by?
• Why do I always need to get gas when it is cold or raining outside?  I never seem to need to fill my tank when it is a warm sunny day.
• Why does the two minute timer on my toothbrush seem to take two hours?  (The same rule applies to treadmills.)
• Why when you have something in your teeth or in your nose does no one tell you?
• Why does Nick at Nite play Fresh Prince of Bel air over and over again?  How many episodes were made of this show?
• Why did I watch most of the Oscars?  I have always taken a stand against award shows and those are hours of my life I cannot get back!  (Yet, I kept watching!  I am so weak!)

I probably should stop now or this could go on forever.  (Anyway, I can always write Part II at a later date.)

Twice bitten, still not shy

I have a new claim to fame…I have been bitten by random animals.  In second grade at Purina Farms I was bitten by a horse.  Which by the way was not my fault, Phillip Peckman, my 2nd grade arch nemesis, had been in line in front of me torturing the poor horse who then retaliated by biting my hand.  I have never felt the same about horses or about Phillip Peckman (I also have a pencil lead mark in my left hand because of sweet Phil.  He must have had a really big crush on me!)

Well let’s move on to current day.  I have now been bitten by a turtle.  How many people can claim that?  For those of you who do not know, my husband and I rescued a turtle from the brink of death in the fall. (I may be partially responsible for him being on the brink of death…we released him and he battled with a tractor and lost.  This is a story for another time)  In turn, “Speedy: Then Adventure Turtle” has become our pet until he can be released in the spring.  I never imagined a turtle would be a hard pet.  I was wrong.  At the beginning he was injured, a cracked shell and could not use one of his legs.  He looked like a stroke victim.  So we had to work him through this period.  Also, he would not eat .  We tried various turtle foods, raisins, apples, eggs, strawberries, endive…steak, lobster , crumpets.  (Just kiddying about the last three…yet if he would have eaten any of those I would have given it to him.)  I was pretty worried.  I was starting to think we had the turtle version of Nicole Richie.  Then we found the miracle food….bananas.  He loves them.  It is all he will eat, but he eats them like crazy.  Recently, I realized he was struggling with his favorite food.  The bananas would stick to his bed (a towel in a laundry basket) and he would get towel string with his banana.  I am sure this is a good source of fiber, but something said this was not o.k.  In turn, I started to hand feed him.  This is a labor of love.  I am sure most of you have not seen a turtle eat, but it is kinda scary.  The long neck pops out and a large mouth comes out f nowhere.  I have been brave and have taken on the challenge. Speedy and I have made this endeavor successful until now.  Speedy got overly excited and got banana and my finger.  I think towel string was a better choice.  Turtles do not have teeth, but let me tell you I still felt it.  Speedy has a jaw of steel .  He didn’t break the skin, but I can now say that I have been bitten by a turtle. 

When Things Come Together

Isn’t it amazing when you have an idea and you get to watch it come to fruition.  That is exactly what I am feeling right now.  We are starting a new series at church this week and my job is to help come up with illustrations that help people to understand or prepares them for worship.  Since getting sick I have not felt overly successful in the endeavor.  All to often I felt like I was just barely getting by.  That is a tough feeling to have for over a year, especially for a someone who is slightly neurotic.  (Just to let you know creativity and vomiting do not go that well together!  Even though I came up with some pretty funny jokes about vomit in the last year.  I will share those later.  You do what you have to do to get through the day.)

Back to the point.  Tonight Joe (my nephew and coworker) and I taped a video for the “Who Are You” series.  We basically asked people who they were.  We set up a simple white backdrop and asked the question.  The answers were great!  It came together so well.  The picture in my head playing right out in front of me.  It was a sweet night!  It sometimes is the simple things in life that can bring such happiness.   

Hello world!

I decided to start blogging a few months ago and abandoned the effort after the first post.  I was too concerned about sounding intelligent or actually having something worthwhile to say.  In turn, I have given up trying to sound intelligent or being grammatically correct and am just going to post the random thoughts in my head and the random events of life.  I realize for many people this information will have zero pertinence, but for maybe just a slight few they will be amused, moved, intrigued, or feel slightly better about themselves. 

As a disclaimer…my goal is to post and not reread because I will edit each post until it no longer exists if I critique. This could lead to some very interesting and maybe scary blogs.  It should be a fun journey!