22.6#

Yep.  22.6#

I wish I could say that is how much weight I have lost. Ha!

Nope, this is the amount of meat that is currently curing and brining in my basement in a cooler, because it won't fit in my refrigerator.  This is the amount of pork that I am praying will turn into lovely, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth ham.  This is the amount of pork that I am praying I don't mess up and that it turns out edible, so I don't have to throw it away.

Yes.  You read that right.

I am making my own ham.  And it needs to be ready for Christmas, otherwise, we're going to be eating brats  from the freezer.

Now, this isn't my first curing attempt.  I actually am very good at Canadian bacon and sausage and discovered that the last scary endeavor of bacon, wasn't that scary.  After all, a week and a half ago, I smoked up 11# of Canadian bacon and 14# of bacon, and they all turned out.  I was scared the whole time that the first attempt at bacon wasn't going to work, but it did.

The ham is scaring me, though.  That is a HUGE chunk of meat that I am messing with.

Well, taking a deep breath and carrying on.  After all, the only thing left to do is wait, turn it over in the brine, and hope, before I smoke it this next weekend.

It Feels Good to be Random

Random could mean a jumble of things thrown together, like when a conversation makes sense to me and my husband is giving me that blank, confused stare.

Random could mean moving from topic to topic without a clear connection.

Random can also be Random Acts of Kindness, which I did today.

I had to go to town for my physical therapy appointment and decided to combine all my running in to one trip.  Stopped at the church office for some scrip.  Dropped off 5 or 6 bags of donate stuff - several bags of toys from when I cleaned the girls' room, at least one of things the girls decided to donate, and some clothes into the St. Vincent de Paul drop site at church. Then, to treat myself, I stopped at the local coffee shop and used part of my gift card.

Since I was given the gift card, I decided to share some of my good fortune.  I left a large tip in the tip jar and I also gave the gal behind the counter $20 and told her to use it until it was gone to pay for other people's coffees.  She gave me the most shocked look.  As I was leaving the store, I heard her telling two ladies that they didn't have to pay for their drinks, that they had already been taken care of.

I left the store with a light feeling in my heart and a big smile on my face.

Sometimes, the littlest things can change someone's day.  It sure did for me.

Trying to Say "YES"

If you think about it, really think about it, it is harder to say "Yes" than it is to say "No."

To say "Yes" is to give something of yourself and we are reluctant to do that.  It should be my time, my money, my gifts, mine, mine, mine.  After all, we're all 2-year-olds at heart with the toddler mentality of mine, mine, mine.

It is much harder to give that Yes.

How difficult was it for Mary, all those years ago, to give GOD her Yes?  Her Yes changed the world and gave us our salvation.

I need to remember that my little yeses might change someone's world, at least a little bit.  It might give a memory, a happy thought, immediate gratification, happiness, it might help buy someone's supper or help give them a warm place to stay.

I'm working on my own YES - because nothing I do is going to give us our salvation, but it might change someone's world.