Thankful Thursday, Take 141

Thanking God this week for...

• the funny, surprising phrases Elijah says
• opportunities to be outside in fresh air and sunshine
• crockpots
• opportunities to help women in need
• the way Elijah fills in words in books and songs
• my favorite Christmas CD (couldn't wait any longer to break it out...this one would be well-worth listening to year-round, but it's a special treat to save it for the holidays!)
• singing in the car with Steve
• the opportunity to hear an online friend's lovely voice this morning
• successful new recipes this week: grilled brined turkey breast (makes you NEVER want to go back to the oven-roasted kind!) and turkey panzanella (great way to use the leftovers)
• this month's Desiring God CD: one of Piper's advent poems!
• Tim Keller's brilliant, mind-blowing gospel insights
• Redeemer Presbyterian Church's generosity in putting many of his sermons online for free recently--including a wonderful one called "Work and Rest," which I listened to today
• knowing the worst about me and loving me anyway

CSA Adventure: Week 26 (Final Thoughts)

After my run-in with a pumpkin yesterday (more on that later), I realized I was overdue for a CSA wrap-up post. We received our last share on November 6--no more veggies, but the last of the grass-fed beef and some eggs. One lasting benefit from this whole experience is that we are going to continue buying quality eggs from this farmer. At this point they are being delivered to our front door every Friday morning, which is really nice.

Final share:

• one dozen farm-fresh eggs
• four pounds grass-fed ground beef
• one large grass-fed beef sirloin tip roast

So...with the CSA adventure now concluded, my wrap-up thoughts. I'm sure you've gathered that I'm disappointed with the whole experience. But first, the positives. I was glad to be able to support local farmers who are using sustainable, healthy growing practices. It could not have been much more convenient. And it was fun to experiment with herbs I don't normally use, vegetables I wouldn't ordinarily buy, etc. I loved that we were eating a variety of fresh, locally-grown, organic produce that was in season and optimally nourishing to our bodies. I loved knowing exactly where my beef came from and that it was way healthier than what I get at the store.

I also have a relationship with local, like-minded farmers now, and the potential to get other things I need from them. I already mentioned the eggs, and we will very likely be purchasing chickens from them next spring (which I wouldn't have known about if not for this experience).

My main frustration (as you well know if you've been reading all along) was that we received a whole lot less food than we expected--whether because of a misunderstanding, or because the farmer had a bad year, or both--and so that meant it was very, very expensive organic produce. We got a ton of fresh herbs and peppers, which, while nice, should have been a bonus to the food, not a replacement for the food. I can't exactly serve a side dish of sage, you know?

Much of what we received was also unusually tiny, except in one case. And that leads me to the pumpkin. It just kills me that things we expected to be normal-sized (carrots, bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes) were strangely small...and then, the one thing that we would have *wanted* to be small (the pumpkin) was huge. Oh, the irony. (I'll explain in my next post why we wanted a small pumpkin.) And some of the things we would eat, weren't very good quality. The watermelon we got wasn't all that tasty (we were getting better ones at Kroger), and the sugar snap peas we got several times were really bitter.

So all in all...I would not do it again with this farm. I'm pretty sure I could have done better by driving 40 minutes to the Nashville Farmers' Market, even factoring in gas money. Of course, this was lots more convenient, and I also don't know about the growing practices of the farmers downtown. But we did end up with a lot of stuff we didn't particularly like or care to use, whereas at the farmers' market, I can buy what we like best and will eat.

Mostly I wish we could have a garden--not because I enjoy gardening, but because it is a much more cost effective way to get fresh organic produce--and you can choose exactly what to plant. But as long as we live in this location, that's not an option. I'm not sure what we'll do next summer. I still really, really like the idea of voting with my dollars and supporting local, sustainable farming. I don't even mind paying a premium for that kind of food (just not an *excessive* premium). So we may give the CSA concept one more shot (there's a bigger, more established CSA in the area--the one we almost signed up for before we found out about this one), or we may just be deliberate about frequenting farmers' markets and produce stands next summer.

At any rate, thanks for hanging in there with me through this experience...much to the relief of some of you, I am sure, I am all done talking about it now. Except for the pumpkin post (which is only marginally related).

White Chicken Chili in the Crockpot

I love my crockpot. Not as much as she does...but I really do love it. The more I use it, the more I want to use it. There is something so satisfying about doing all the work and making all the mess for dinner in the morning--and then not having to lift a finger at dinnertime!

So I was delighted when Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking announced a "Nourishing Crockpot Carnival" for this week. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes--especially crockpot ones. A Year of Slow Cooking is my go-to blog for crockpot recipes (the premise is uniquely insane--she used her crockpot every day for a YEAR--and the writing is great), but I loved the idea of getting crockpot recipes that use unprocessed, nourishing ingredients. This is a recipe carnival focused on the types of changes we are trying to make in our eating habits--in other words, my Pepsi Pot Roast, yummy though it may be, does not qualify :P

I was eager to join in, but wanted to post an original recipe--not one that I'd simply tweaked slightly from A Year of Slow Cooking. So on Sunday, I made my first attempt at modifying white chicken chili for the crockpot. This recipe is adapted from Allrecipes.com, but I've changed almost everything about it, so I can definitely call it my own. I'll confess, I'm not 100% satisfied with it--but it does work, it is healthy, and we happily eat it here. I'd love to hear from you if you try it out and tweak it to make it better (or if you have any tips based on your own white chicken chili recipe!).

This recipe is easier if you use canned beans--because then you can do it all at once rather than in two parts. But it works well with dried beans, if you don't mind having to come back to it a couple of hours before serving.

White Chicken Chili

1 (generous) cup of dry Great Northern Beans (or two cans)

3 cups chicken broth (approximately)

2 t. ground cumin

1 whole onion, diced

1-4 oz. can diced green chiles (these are very mild)

1 1/2 c. chopped cooked chicken

1 c. corn (optional)

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

salt to taste

The night before: Measure the dry beans into your crock and add enough water to cover, plus an inch or two. Soak at room temperature overnight.

In the morning: Dump the soaking water and rinse the beans. Add broth and onion and cook for 5-7 hours on low.

With a slotted spoon, remove about half the beans (more or less--no need to measure) and puree them in a food processor or blender. Return bean puree to the crockpot and add chiles, chicken, corn and cumin. Turn crockpot up to high and cook for another 1-2 hours; taste it and adjust seasonings to your liking--add some salt, and a pinch of cayenne or some jalapenos if you want some kick. Serve plain or with toppings: sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, tortilla chips, etc.

If you want to simplify and use canned beans, just skip the soaking step, puree about 2/3 of one of the cans at the very beginning, and then dump everything in the crockpot on low for about 6-8 hours.

Yield: about six servings.

Visit Passionate Homemaking for more nourishing crockpot recipes.

Related:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Recommended Resource: WTS Bookstore

I haven't hesitated to use this blog to complain about poor customer service--so I also don't want to hesitate to use it to applaud companies whose service is impressive. Today I am blown away by an email I just received from Westminster Bookstore, the campus bookstore for Westminster Theological Seminary.

A while back, I discovered that WTS Books has fantastic prices on many of the books Steve and I shop for--in many cases, they are lower than Amazon. And they charge a low, flat rate for shipping rates: $4 UPS shipping for orders over $35, and for orders under $35, you can use $3 USPS economy shipping.

If you get on Westminster Bookstore's mailing list, you also get opportunities to take advantage of some amazing deals. Often they will run a two-day sale on a new release, for 60% off the cover price! That's why I bought When Helping Hurts, which I have mentioned a couple of times in my Simple Woman's Daybook posts--I was able to get it for just $4.97. (So far it's a fantastic read.)

Last week they ran a similar deal for a new book by a CCEF faculty member, Michael Emlet, called CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet. I hadn't heard of the book, but as soon as I read the description, I knew it was a must-read--and for $4.97, I couldn't pass it up. So I ordered it. And then I received today's email:

I write to apologize about the delayed shipment of your order of CrossTalk. We experienced overwhelming demand and sold out of our initial 2,000 copies much more rapidly than expected. To add insult to injury, we did not make adequate arrangements to rapidly replenish stock. While we are still in the promised delivery time frame with your order of 1-3 weeks, the delay in shipping your product is unacceptable to us.

We will be crediting your credit card the $3 shipping charge as a token of our apology. The Lord provided our second shipment of 2,000 copies today and so we hope, God-willing, to get your order out today.

WOW. Is that crazy or what? In my view, the refund was unnecessary, but certainly very appreciated. I am astounded by this kind of proactive, generous customer service. And I thought I was getting a wonderful deal by paying $7.97 including shipping for the book (it's now $10.39 at WTS Books and $15.99 at Amazon)...but now it turns out I get it shipped to me, brand-new, for less than five bucks! You can't beat that, friends.

So, all that to say, I highly, highly recommend checking out Westminster Bookstore for your holiday shopping (is it really time to be thinking about that already?!)--and for all your online book-buying.

NaBloPoMo FAIL

I hate failure.

For the first time in the four years I have been doing NaBloPoMo...I didn't make the goal of posting at least once every day for the month of November :(

I realized at about 2:30 this morning that I hadn't put up a blog post in the insanity that was yesterday. Sad! I was so hoping that this would be my year to win one of the awesome prizes. The last three years, I've accomplished the goal, but not been selected for a prize. So probably, this year I'll be randomly selected and then be disqualified for not having posted every day. Argh! On the bright side, I haven't yet seen this year's prize list--when I first looked it up before NaBloPoMo started, it only contained one or two things that did not appeal to me. Now I'll just avoid looking so as not to torture myself.

I still plan on posting every remaining day in November. I've got a lot of ideas floating around in my head, both my own and ones you suggested. Yesterday was just so crazy that I did not have any time to post, unless I'd gotten on the computer at 10:45 when I got home--and at that point, the only things on my mind were bed, and my poor toddler with a horrible, barking cough.

What I *shouldn't* be sad about is the fact that real life took me away from the computer. Too often it is the other way around--the computer is a huge distraction from the people and tasks that are present right in front of me. So in reality, it's a GOOD thing that I was so busy living and loving right here and now that I wasn't thinking about the world of blogs! That's not "distraction"--that's called "right priorities." A helpful reminder, I guess--that NaBloPoMo should serve me and my family, not rule my life.

And the main reason I wasn't on the computer yesterday is because I was spending time with one of my dearest friends: the lovely Pamela Terry!

Pam and I went to college together, and she is now singing with the U.S. Army Field Band & Soldiers' Chorus--who were on tour in Nashville this week! After Thursday night's concert, Steve and I brought her home with us, and she and I stayed up until after 1:00 AM talking. Pam spent a few hours with Elijah and me in the morning, then we took her back downtown to catch her bus. I'm so glad we got to see her for a quick visit...even if the conductor did cut her solo at the last minute (boo).

After we dropped Pam off, Elijah and I went to Centennial Park to enjoy the beautiful weather. We fed the geese (which he got a huge kick out of...WHY didn't I take my camera?!) and he ran off a bunch of energy before we came home and crashed. I woke up from a long, much-needed nap with barely enough time to scramble and get things around to pick up four other ladies and go to a baby shower.

So it was a fun, full day--NaBloPoMo failure or not. And I know that whether I like it or not, it's good for my proud, perfectionist self to fail sometimes and learn humility :)

Thankful Thursday, Take 140

Thanking God this week for...

• grace to finish all my class assignments
• a fun night of fellowship with ladies from church at a bridal shower last Friday
• pizza with friends beforehand
• Julie, Mike and the boys making the long trip down here to see us
• friends who let us borrow a double stroller, pack-n-play and two booster seats for their visit
• all the work Steve and Mike were able to get done upstairs (ALL drywall is now hung! yippee!)
• gorgeous weather for taking long walks
• the fun of watching Elijah play in the leaves
• a long phone conversation with one of my favorite people
• yesterday's Veterans Day parade and all the veterans + families who have sacrificed so much for all of us
• free admission at the Frist Center yesterday
• living so close to a fun big city
• being so patient and gentle with me
• the countless truths I learned through the last twelve weeks of my class
• His absolute sovereignty
• His steadfast love

What I Love

"...I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes" (Psalm 119:47-48).

How quick I am to proclaim my love:
I love football.
I love pizza.
I love smooth ballpoint pens,
feel-good sports movies,
heavy blankets on cold mornings.

I abuse the word 'love,'
and so warp my own understanding
of what it means to love You.
I look for instant pleasure,
happy feelings,
gratified physical senses.
So I don't love waiting;
I don't love dying to self,
learning to persevere.

Teach me to love.
Give me a taste for the delight that comes with searching,
the delight that has to be pursued, uncovered, found.
Make me love what IS good,
not merely what makes me feel good
for a moment or two.

Make me quick to proclaim my love:
I love the Savior.
I love His Word.
I love the cross,
the resurrection,
the glorious gospel of grace.

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ 11.10.09

Haven't done one of these since September! As always, if you'd like to play along, credit goes to The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Outside my window...
box elder bugs. Three of them crawling across the glass at the moment. They have begun their annual invasion of our back patio--though there are much, much fewer of than last year, which makes me think my ruthless killing of the eggs in the spring was effective. Yesssss.

I am thinking...
about natural living, going green, simplifying, avoiding toxins, etc. Wondering where the balance is between being an informed, educated consumer and living in fear...wanting to make wise choices for my family without spending a disproportionate amount of time or mental energy researching and pursuing these things. Considering buying some Soap Nuts.

I am thankful for...
my best friend Julie and her husband, Mike, who made the long drive down here from Ohio to visit us over the weekend. I'm also thankful for Mike's servanthood in 1) helping Steve hang drywall upstairs, and 2) keeping all three boys (two were sleeping the whole time) so Julie and I could go for a long, stroller-free, uninterrupted-conversation walk yesterday morning before they left!

From the kitchen...
trying to resist eating too many pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I made them Sunday night, and they get tastier after a day or two.

I've also got an entire crockpot full of sweet potato casserole in the fridge that I have no idea what to do with. I made it last night for Steve to take to work today for a staff potluck...and it turned out he didn't go today (see below).

I am wearing...
a Bethany Bible College t-shirt I got when I traveled for IWU several summers ago and met up with BBC teams, with an old favorite pair of jeans that now have a giant hole in the knee :(

I am creating...
nothing, still! I have almost used up the giant stash of stamped cards I made last fall--so I need to get cracking on a new stash, especially if I am going to give variety packs away as Christmas gifts like I have in the past. I also need to work on a wedding gift for a girl at church who's getting married in a few weeks. No details, just in case she reads this blog :)

I am going...
to take a walk with Elijah in this GORGEOUS weather--I just can't get over how wonderful the temperature has been the last couple of weeks!--and to talk on the phone with my mentor, Diane, later this afternoon, yippee!

I am reading...
Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller; Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp; When Helping Hurts by Corbett & Fikkert. I'm hoping that Elijah's babysitter on Thursday will be bringing me a copy of Andrew Peterson's On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness to borrow. Oops, I guess that's the next question :)

I am hoping...
to find a productive, meaningful way to use all the time I have been carving out to work on my class. It's all over now, but since I know I can find several hours in the week to listen to lectures, read and work, I want to keep setting aside that time to accomplish other projects and not just absorb it into my week and waste it. I'm also hoping to take another class from CCEF eventually!

I am hearing...
absolutely nothing...for whatever reason I never think to turn music on while I'm at the computer.

Around the house...
my poor husband is upstairs sleeping. The only thing worse than working an odd shift is working first shift AND third shift in the same day! He got home from work around 4:30 yesterday...only to get a phone call at 9:30 last night and, after an hour of troubleshooting from home, end up going back in. He didn't get home until 7:45 this morning.

One of my favorite things...
reading Sandra Boynton's Snuggle Puppy with Elijah, who supplies the "Oooo"s and turns to give me a "Kiss!" at each prompt :)

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Tomorrow's playdate is going to be downtown, where we'll catch the Veteran's Day parade and hit up the Frist while it's free. I've never been there, so that should be interesting. Then on Thursday, I get to see one of my very dearest friends from college! Pamela is in the U.S. Army Field Band Soldiers' Chorus, and they are on tour in Nashville this week! So I'm planning to go to her concert on Thursday night and then bring her home with me to spend the night here. Can't wait to see her and catch up. And Friday, I'm going to a baby shower.

A picture thought I am sharing...

Elijah and his buddy Joel (Julie's older son--they were born two days apart) in the bathtub (click to see the expressions on their faces). One of the few times all weekend that they weren't fighting. We're hoping someday they will be great friends...but at this point they're both two-year-olds who don't particularly like to share :)

Mmm...Monday: Banana Bread with Chocolate

I've had a couple of requests for my banana bread recipe recently (previously mentioned on the blog here and here). This is my go-to quick bread, my favorite way to use up overripe bananas. It's a big hit with the guys at Steve's work :) No pictures to entice you, unfortunately, as I haven't made it lately.

The original credit for the brilliance of putting chocolate on banana bread goes to the Mahaney women over at GirlTalk--ever since printing off this recipe from their blog a few years ago, I've become firmly committed to the belief that the ONLY way to eat banana bread is with chocolate either in it or on top of it. I've changed the recipe quite a bit, though, including recent attempts to "healthy-ify" it. It's a pretty flexible recipe, so I'll note variations that have worked for me.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Glaze

1/2 c. softened butter (or melted coconut oil)
3/4 c. sugar (half brown/half white, optional--or I have also used sucanat)
2 eggs
1/2 c. sour cream (or plain yogurt)
1 t. vanilla
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1 3/4 c. whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 - 1 t. salt

Preheat oven to 325*. Beat butter/oil and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, vanilla and bananas and beat until blended. Stir together dry ingredients and add to wet mixture until blended (do not overmix). Pour into greased bundt pan and bake at 325* for 45-50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

To glaze, melt 1/2 c. chocolate chips and 3 T butter in microwave (on 30% power) or on stovetop (over low heat). Pour over top of bread.

Variations:
1 large (9x5) loaf plus six muffins: Stir 1 c. chocolate chips into the batter. Bake loaf for 40-50 minutes and muffins for 18-20 minutes, both at 325*. (It's really not enough batter for two loaves, but a little too much for just one. This works well if you want to give the loaf to someone, but still have a little bit leftover for yourself!)

Mini-muffins: Bake for 10-12 minutes at 325* and dip tops in chocolate glaze when cooled. (Yields about 4 dozen--but the recipe halves nicely.)


Related:
Started Something
Love to Be Asked
Mmm...Monday: Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake

Bonus: If you're looking for more recipes for healthy-ish sweets, here's a great recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. It already calls for whole wheat flour; I use olive or coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and sucanat instead of sugar. Yum! (And if you ever get tired of banana bread...another great use for overripe bananas is Banana Oatmeal Power Cookies! from the same blog.)

Also Enjoying the Leaves

In keeping with my practice in years past for NaBloPoMo, I plan to both lighten my posting load and satisfy those of you who want more pictures by putting up gratuitous photos of my favorite subject on Sundays. I've been enjoying Sundays as my day unplugged, away from the computer--so I'll pre-schedule photo posts and stay offline, you get to look at my cutie-pie, and everyone's happy :)

A couple of Sundays ago, the weather was gorgeous, so after our post-church naps, Steve raked up leaves in our backyard for Elijah to play in. It was his first experience playing with leaves, and I think he had a good time. It was funny to see the look of serious concentration on his face as he plowed through the huge pile of leaves again and again. I have about 30 pictures from this series (and that's seriously whittled down from how many I originally snapped)...here are just a few favorites:

Is he getting big or what?

Surfin' Saturday: Passionate Homemaking

"Surfin' Saturday" was a little blog feature I invented last year or the year before during NaBloPoMo. It relieves the burden of posting on the weekends, and it gives me an opportunity to point to other websites or blogs I find interesting and/or helpful.

First on my list this month is an incredibly informative and overwhelming blog called Passionate Homemaking, written by Lindsay Edmonds. Her tagline is "Loving simple and natural living on a budget," and her blog is a wealth of knowledge. Here you can find information on things like soaking whole grains, using natural sweeteners, or deciding which fats to use; you can read reviews of (and recipes for) natural cleaning and body products; you can get "frugal and nutritious" meal ideas; and you can read inspiration for glorifying God as a wife, mother and homemaker.

I can easily get lost in the archives of this site. It makes my head spin--Lindsay is much further along in the journey toward natural living than I am--but it's a great place to learn and be motivated to take the next step.


Related:
Toward a Healthier Lifestyle
"Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants."
Baby Steps

To Be Like Jesus: Singing the Fruit of the Spirit

I still remember the fruit of the Spirit by mentally humming a couple of lines from a song I learned in Vacation Bible School way back when: "You gotta have love. Joy. Peace, patience, kindness / For this is the fruit of God's Spirit! You gotta have goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control / For this is the fruit of God's Spirit!"

But now I've found some fruit of the Spirit music I like a WHOLE lot better. It won't help me remember the list in a catchy way--but the songs are much cooler :) And more importantly, they remind me HOW the fruit of the Spirit grows in my life.

There's not much hope in "you gotta have love, joy, patience, self-control"--as though I must add these difficult character traits to the long, guilt-inducing list of things I am failing at. In contrast, Sovereign Grace's newest kids' CD, To Be Like Jesus, approaches the fruit of the Spirit from the gospel perspective I expect and so appreciate with Sovereign Grace Music. From the album description:

"Through these songs kids will learn that Jesus is our perfect example of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. More than that, they’ll discover that we can’t be like Jesus unless we trust in the power of his cross to forgive us and the power of his Spirit to change us."

YES! There's hope in that. I've "gotta have" love...but I don't. So I sing along with this confession in "Because You First Loved Me":

That's a love I haven't got
It’s me I love a lot
Stuck here I’m tied in knots
I need a Savior
Jesus, set me free to love You more than me

I've "gotta have" gentleness...but I come up short there, too. So I pray with the song "Gentle Like Jesus":

Help me be gentle like Jesus
For He was humble

Spirit come soften my heart

Help me be

Gentle like Jesus

I've "gotta have" self-control...but, well...nope. Again I sing:

Lord, I’m needy

So I’m pleading

Come and fill me

Help me to be self-controlled

I think Mama needs these lyrics much more than Elijah at this point! We borrowed this CD from a friend (thanks, Lydia!) and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. And Elijah likes it, too--he has started picking up one or two words in the chorus of a couple of the songs. Definitely will be adding it to his Christmas wishlist. These gospel-centered songs are the kind I want my son to grow up singing--the kind that point him not to his own strength, but to the grace of God in Christ. He, not we, can produce the fruit of the Spirit in us!

You can buy the CD here for only $12--and it's an enhanced version that includes accompaniment tracks, how cool! Or, the mp3 download set is only $9.

Thankful Thursday, Take 139

Thanking God this week for...

• motivation to blog more intentionally and frequently
• Elijah's adorable, inexplicable love for David Crowder Band's Remedy album
• homemade granola (and the way it makes the house smell AMAZING)
• warm weather perfect for long walks
• a bonfire, complete with s'mores, last Saturday night
• the delight of seeing our super-cautious son be brave and enjoy going down the slide all by himself (over and over and over and over...)
• hand-me-down clothes for Elijah
• fellowship with a family from church last Sunday night
• the ability to read His Word in my own language
• inspiring words from wise women
• enabling me to remember every single item on my grocery list, despite leaving the list at home
• His patience with me
• His unwavering commitment to remake me in His image

Where to Buy Cello Silke Pens

or, "The Story of a Crazy Woman and Her Pen Obsession, Part 2"

I really didn't want to give the pen back. So at first I rationalized. It's a *pen.* Surely Elijah's teacher didn't even miss it. She probably isn't crazy like me, doesn't have a pen obsession. And, in all honesty, I wouldn't even think about it when she was here anyway. Then I started to feel convicted. It was just a little pen, but it was stealing, really, and I needed to return it.

In the meantime, I was a woman on a mission. I HAD to find more of these pens. And buy a lifetime supply.

The first logical place to look was Google, of course. But a search of "Cello Silke pens" yielded only a handful of Wiki answers pages telling me what I already knew: that this cheap little stick pen was awesome. One page said the pens were available at Walmart, but that was over a year ago, and my local Walmart didn't have them.

I searched and searched. What kind of 21st century company doesn't have a website? If they had one, it wasn't coming up. I'd never heard of the brand--and neither had Office Depot, Staples or Office Max (yes, I actually went so far as to call each one and ask if they carried or could somehow order these pens).

Finally I got somewhere: Cello is an Indian company, apparently not savvy in things like search engine optimization. I excitedly flipped through the product list on their website...no Silke. No Silke by another name, even. Rats.

So this is my crazy pen obsession: I actually emailed the company. I asked them if they still made the Silke, and how I could get my hot little hands on more of those fabulous pens.

The very next day, I got an email from a nice man named Kapil:

The Cello Silke is now available in Big Lot stores under the name Cello Smooth as well as in Office Depot stores under their own brand name. In Office Depot too it is available in blister packs of 24 under SKU# 788685 and SKU# 788700.

Jackpot. I can be at Big Lots in five minutes.

OK, I'm not THAT crazy. I didn't immediately jump in the car and take off. I retrieved my toddler and strapped him into his carseat first.

KIDDING, I'm kidding. But before long, I dropped the best two bucks I ever spent on pens, for a beautiful 20-pack of Cello Smooth pens. They aren't as cute as the purple one, but otherwise, they're identical. I have one clipped to my journal and one permanently on the kitchen counter, one in my purse, one in my sermon-notes notebook...a drawer full of extras...and 40 more in the closet. Oh yes I did go back and buy two more packs.


You'll be relieved to know I also confessed my theft to Elijah's teacher, and gave her back her pen plus a couple of new ones.

So, if you care about pens even half as much as I do (probably none of you are nearly this neurotic), head to Big Lots and get yourself a 20-pack of Cello Smooth pens for $2.00. (I cannot vouch for the Office Depot ones. I checked there out of curiosity a few days later...they did not look the same.)

Mystery solved. And I am once again a happy (if slightly insane) writer.

The Story of a Crazy Woman and Her Pen Obsession

So. A few weeks ago, Elijah's early intervention teacher left her pen at our house. It was just a basic stick pen (though a pretty purple color); I didn't think much of it.

Until I started using it.

This. pen. is. awesome.


See, I have this thing about pens. I have kept a journal very consistently since I was about 12. So I do a whole lot of writing--and when you write a lot, you tend to care a little more than the average person about your pen. Anne Shirley understands what I mean, even if you think I'm a little nuts.

I've gone through various favorite-pen phases...for a while it was the skinny blue-ink Papermate pens, white with a blue cap. I hated how they glopped ink occasionally, but they wrote so nicely otherwise, and the cap was so great for chewing (I know, ew...I outgrew that habit). Then it was black-ink Bic pens--again, just the basic stick pen. I've used and enjoyed more expensive pens, but when you go through them like I do, who wants to drop the big bucks?

Then a while back I got this idea that I wanted BROWN pens. Why is it always blue or black? I like brown. And I didn't want a brown marker; I wanted a brown ballpoint pen. Lo and behold, UPS makes brown pens--two different varieties, and both are prevalent on eBay. So I ordered a whole box of 100. I'm not a fan. The brown is fun, but they just don't write smoothly.

Anyway, I digress. (Surprise, surprise.) For a while now I've mostly been trying to be frugal and clean out the giant collection of random pens Steve and I have amassed over the years. Instead of being choosy, I'm just using up one pen after another. Most have just been average; some have been particularly crappy.

And then I got a hold of this pen. Oh, Cello Silke, how I love you.

I can't believe I'm going to write two posts about pens...but I've gone off rambling, and now this one is too long already. That's just how crazy I am. Tomorrow: My ridiculous quest to get my hands on more of these pens--and how you, too, can own the world's best stick pen.