So, I picked the venison up on Tuesday. There were 30 pounds of ground and several chops, roasts, etc. woot!
Mike used a roast to make stew with potatoes, carrots, onions and beef onion soup. It was a little salty, but good. More recipies to come 🙂
I’ve also been using the pumpkins from the garden. So far I’ve made pumpkin bunt cake with lemon icing, pumpkin soup with sage, and pumpkin cheesecake.
So I was listening to NPR yesterday on my way home from school. I was still set on the Michigan station I turn to when WFRN gets fuzzy. They were talking about how overabundant the deer population in southern Michigan is and the fact that they are raising the doe limit to try and control the population. It got me thinking… I like venison, I think going hunting would be an interesting experience… maybe I should find someone to take me hunting this fall! I almost went as far as tweeting about it.
I put it out of my mind, knowing that I’d probably never actually do it. Then ten minutes later, as I was entering White Pigeon, WHAM! Something large and fast was slamming into the front corner of my car. I didn’t even see him till he was hitting me. The deer wheeled away from my car, bounded once into the brush, flipped head over heels and collapsed. Mean while, I screeched to a halt, trying to catch my breath and let my brain catch up with my eyes. Luckily there were no other cars nearby and after a couple deep breaths, I pulled up into a shoulder that started a few yards ahead.
I walked back and found what I initially thought was a doe and quickly determined it was completely dead by giving the carcass a shake with my foot. A man came walking down the road attracted from the trailer park across the road by the screech of my tires. He checked to make sure I was ok, and pointed out that the deer was actually a young buck. His antler buttons barely sticking out of his head. I mentioned that I’d be interested in finding out Michigan’s rules on road kill. He pointed out the state police station a couple hundred yards away.
I drove there, thankful that my alignment seemed fine and the only apparent damage was a dented in and torn bumper with a small connection piece missing. I contacted 911 via a communication box outside the station and she told me a cop would be there soon. I waited about 20 minutes, making a couple calls and twittering to start tracking down someone who could process the buck for me. The cop showed up and documented the accident. When he was done I mentioned my desire to keep the deer. He contacted his partner for advice on where I could take it, and if it was worth the effort given the time the deer had been dead and the temperature. He issued me a permit for taking the deer and gave me directions to a guy who worked out of his home just north of Sturgis.
At this point the deer had been dead for a little less than an hour, but time was of the essence, because ideally, the deer should have been gutted right away. I had everything I needed to deal with the deer except a way to get him into my trunk. He wasn’t that big as deer go, but still, more than I could handle alone. I knew I couldn’t wait for someone to come up from Goshen, and I didn’t have a number for the butcher, only an address. I had two choices, I could let it go and just drive home, or I could ask a stranger to help me. I decided to stop by the shopping center half way between the station and the deer and randomly decided to go into the Manchino’s. Serendipitously, the manager was a large friendly guy who, though clearly surprised by my request, was willing to help.
We quickly got the deer in my trunk, wrapped in my massage blanket which, luckily, I didn’t mind ruining. I couldn’t tell how much damage was done on the underside of the deer, but there were no external wounds on the side I could see, and he didn’t bleed much when we lifted him. Then I was on my way to Sturgis. When I was almost to the guys house, I came across a road sign with his number and gave him a call, really hoping he was home and would be willing to take the job. Then it was just a matter of giving him the buck and my info. It must have broken it’s neck or had major brain trauma because there was very little external damage. I washed my hands in the guy’s bathroom, warding off four rowdy dogs and was on my way. The whole episode took about an hour and a half.
Anyone have good venison recipes?
Last night I had a great post in my head about religious covering for women and what a complicated issue they are. Somewhat in response to the recent laws being past/considered outlawing them (in Quebec of all places!) and somewhat in response to seeing a woman in walmart wearing a full covering. I don’t know enough about the issue to use one of the technical names. Unfortunately Mike came home before I could write it, and I’ve forgotten all the interesting things I had to say about freedom of religion and oppression of woman.
But I did want to reflect on my reaction. First I was shocked. Special religious head gear is not uncommon around here, but Amish/old Mennonite head coverings are a part of my mental construct of Goshen. This woman’s outfit didn’t fit into my frame of reference. After the initial shock came interest. Who was this woman and how brave she must be to chose to set herself apart in such a dramatic way. Then came the doubt that it was completely her choice. But do we ever truly chose who we are, what we wear, what we become? Aren’t we all products of our upbringing, family history, religion, belief system or lack there of, societal expectations… and on and on? My last reaction before I moved on was to scan the crowd around her. Was anyone staring (except me :-P)? Did she experience hate in our community because of her choice? The fact that this was possible, even probable left me with a lingering sadness.
I should preface this post with a disclaimer least anyone think I’ve turned suicidal. I’m actually not in a bad mood. Just contemplative.
Do you ever feel like you’re just going through life spinning you’re wheels.
I want to do so many things with myself. I want to be so many things. I’ll make some small strides in the right direction and then I’ll have a bad day when I’m selfish and insecure and lazy and I start to wonder if there’s any hope. I wonder sometimes about the adults I admire. Do they have hidden vises that I’m not aware of? Sometimes I wish there was a way for us to know people. Really know them. The good the bad. Intentions and all. But then sometimes I think that we’ve become too transparent as a society. How many times have I excused myself because “so-in-so” would, did, could do the same thing?
Who knows. But maybe the first step to becoming that person I want to be is to go to bed, get a good night’s sleep and get up in the morning ready to have a kind, gentle, non-judgmental, giving, confident, and productive day.
My friend Erini asked me to guest post. I thought I should repost it here since I’ve been silent for so long and it’s already written 🙂 Here you go.
Hello World (or at least you small sliver who know and love Erini)
Erini recently asked me to guest post about surviving long distance relationships so here I am.
A bit of background before I jump in: I’m a college friend of Erini’s and her predecessor in the Evanston girl group. I am probably the only person you can claim to have lived with both Erini and Jaron. I’ve also had be distinct pleasure of going from a long distance relationship to a marriage. Mike and I started dating at the end of my senior year of college. We dated for about 4 months before I moved to Evanston. We were long distance for another year and a half before I moved back a few months before our wedding. So with that, here is the email I sent back when Erini asked me how I dealt with it. I might add or interject.
First of all, I didn’t always deal with it (long distance dating) well. Mike was just reminding me last night of a weekend that Mike was planning a surprise visit and I ruined it. I had a really hard week, so had decided I was going to go to Goshen. Abby did everything in her power to dissuade me without actually telling me he was coming, but I was so stubborn that she ended up telling me to keep me in Evanston. So be patient with yourself.
Pace yourself. Find a good balance of time you spend here, time he spends there and time you’re apart. Try different combination and work on developing a pattern. There’s no right way to do this, it’s totally what works for you guys as a couple. I suggest the pattern because it’s easier to deal with the times apart if they are consistent. Your heart learns to deal with the separation if it’s in regular intervals. Obviously there’s going to be some variation, but make that a goal.
Talk about types and amounts of communication. If you both know what the other person’s needs/wants are upfront, then you can find a good middle ground if they are different.
Think about and practice coping strategies. Does going out with such and such friend help you not obsess about Jaron? Do you have a coffee shop (or cupcake shop 😉 that feels really comfortable to you? Find those people, places, and things that help you live in the moment and enjoy the life you have without Jaron immediately present and use those when times get tough.
As far as falling too fast… that’s tricker. Just try to stay positive with it. It’s good to be estatic about such an amazing guy. Stick with that. But it’s so easy to go from “he’s so great!” to “he’s so great I wish he was around all the time… :(” When you start to feel yourself crossing that line, remind yourself how great it is to have him in your life at all and refocus on something else. Distraction is a great tool. If sending him a quick note helps, do that. Just keep it positive. 🙂 It’s good to let him know that you miss him etc. but sometimes it’s good to vent the more negative side of it to a close friend.
Over all it’s about being patient with yourself and him and the situation. Good luck!
Steph
Doyle’s a smooth hair red dapple mini dachshund. He’s 9 weeks old and the cutest thing ever. I love him. BTW, puppies are expensive.
I realize many people consider this topic morbid, but honestly, I don’t. I don’t believe thinking about death is going to make it happen any quicker, or that it somehow means you want to die. I’ve thought alot about how I want to be disposed of, but nothing’s felt quite right. I don’t want to cost alot of money to dispose of, so I’ve wanted for a while to be cremated. But I just discovered an article on the NPR website that made me think twice. It introduced this new form of “burial” called Promission. If it ever comes into vogue and the cost comes down (I’m sure it costs alot now) I think I’d what this to happen. Basically they instafreeze you and then shatter you into pieces. How cool is that.
Oh and in case I die tomorrow, I want my funeral to be a hymn sing. You can all say nice things about me if you want, but songs and stories, that’s all I want.
Jess- thanks for being on me to update. I’ll try to have something more substantive soon.
Oh and the new Imogen Heap album is pretty fantastic.
In less than an hour Mike and I will be buying our first house. Crazy! I was prompted recently to go into my blog archives and I stumbled upon this little tidbit.
From Goshen for the Weekend, June 2007
“My post almost started “Home for the weekend”, almost. But Goshen isn’t home. Evanston is. Or wait. Where is home? If “home is where the heart” is, Guatamala might be the strongest contender. But then there’s my family (mostly in Goshen) and my flatmates (right now, all over the globe). Honestly, home is such a vague notion for me. It has been since we left this area in 5th grade. One of my strongest desires is not to struggle with what to call home. I want to feel settled in one place, with my strongest ties in that place.”
I’ve already started to feel like Goshen is home, but now I’m going to have a physical home to tie myself to emotionally. This house could serve us for as long as we need a house. It’s quite possible that we’ll retire in this house. Amazing! The idea of living in the same place for more then a year is so foreign to me. I’m totally on cloud nine. 🙂
Music: Don’t Take My Sunshine Away by Sparklehorse
The above song is a prime example of music that I’ve never heard before that somehow just appeared on my computer and I have NO IDEA how it got there. Weird.
I’m having Indian food tomorrow!
I think I’m going to ask to stay on nights even when Kim comes back from maternity leave. I think I have the seniority to pull that string
Dollhouse starts again on Friday and I’m super excited
I’m listening to Spice Girls’ Wannabe 😀
I finished season 2 of Veronica Mars and now I have to figure out a way to get ahold of season 3.
I miss being a nanny.
Music snobs annoy me. Especially those that put down “feel good” music.
My favorite part of the relief sale is seeing all these awesome menno people together in one place. Definitely warm fuzzy inducing.
I have a celebrity crush on Mac from Veronica Mars.
——————
My supervisor just came in to talk to me. Kim’s coming back on the 10th… and they want to put me on days with a number of different clients. So now I have to decide how strongly I want to put my foot down. One instinct is to do what the company wants me to do. But I think I need to do what’s best for me. Sigh.
Music: I Was Married by Tegan and Sara
When I watch lots of tv in a short amount of time, particularly all one show, the real world starts to feel a little less real. It happens with books too. I think I need to take a break from the VM…
We’ve talked about getting a dog, and we’re probably going to wait and get one next spring when the weather improves and we’ve saved up a bit more money. But of course that doesn’t stop me from looking. I’ve had my eye on yorkipoo puppies from these two kennels. But I’ve also been searching pounds in the area and stumbled on this little guy. Isn’t he cute!
Didn’t do much today. Slept, had lunch with a friend, and then slept some more… yeah, that was about it. One more night, and then I have three nights off! I really need to get my butt in gear with this move. And the bedroom still needs another coat of green and two coats of brown on the accent wall. I’m not sure if I’m going to tackle the kitchen soon or not… that’s going to be a huge project. Pretty much everything’s getting painted, including the trim and cabinets.
Well, time to pass meds. Here’s a clip that made me smile today.
Lady In Green 