7 QT 42: Coconut creamer, crafting, and those dang squirrels
It's Friday and the weather in Kansas is starting to feel like Spring. We have a cook out with friends tonight, dinner with a friend tomorrow, a brunch with the Knights of Columbus on Sunday, and a hike around the lake! But before we put on the sunscreen and head out to eat some hamburgers, here's a look at the adventures around the Langr house this week!
1. Coconut milk creamer fail
The Aldi that we shop at has an aisle that we jokingly refer to as the 'fun aisle' - seasonal items and fun finds abound in this aisle. Last week when we went shopping, we happened upon a new non-dairy creamer that has a coconut milk base. We excitedly abandoned our dairy creamer in exchange for the coconut alternative.
It was not a good choice.
While it tastes fine, the creamer doesn't mix into the coffee. It constantly separates, swirling around like a . It look more like a cup of sweet and sour soup than a warm, morning cup of coffee. But I don't want to be the kind of person who returns a bottle of creamer. So we'll just have to drink our coffee out of travel cups so we can't see the swirling sea of coconut oil.
2. I like romantic walks down the craft book section of the library
It's been a hot minute since I've gotten crafty. I loved knitting in high school and college, but knitting just doesn't feel like a very spring/summer hobby. So I'm in the middle of deciding what kind of craft I want to dig into for the warmer months. Right now, it's a tie between watercolors and some embroidery (how old fashioned is that! I love it!)
I picked up a book on lettering from the library this week, and have been pinning quite a few embroidery pictures on my Pinterest boards. Do you enjoy either of these crafts? I'd love to chat with you!
3. Coffee chats with Sarah Swafford
This week I had a chance to sit down and record a podcast with Sarah Swafford. When I first heard Sarah speak at the 2015 FOCUS SEEK conference, I thought 'I would love to get coffee with this woman!'. Three years later (Jesus, you're so good!) I was able to chat with her about emotions, virtues, and how none of us have it all together - and that's okay.
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4. Old fashioned payback
I picked up a copy of the May Magnificat for a friend this week. We parted ways without her paying me back, but I told her just to wait until we saw each other again the next week. Today in the mail I got a beautiful, old-fashioned letter with a great note and the cash to pay me back. Forget PayPal and Venmo, let's just pay each other back this way on a regular basis, friend.
5. Those dang squirrels!!
On my way to work yesterday, my car decided to pull some bratty moves. She'd shudder and hesitate to start, and protested when I tried to accelarate.
As we poked around in the car to see what could possibly be the issue, Joseph started laughing. "I know what your problem is," he said, holding up the wire that connects to my mass air flow sensor - a wire that had tiny little bite marks around it.
SQUIRRELS. They sabotaged my car, the little brats. I once found them cute, but now? Nope. I have a couple of ideas to prevent the problem in the future, so you better watch your back, Fred.
6. The car graveyard - rust in pieces
The part we need to fix the car was a little pricey at our local car parts hangout, so we decided to venture to the junkyard and get a part from an abandoned car. Holy smokes, it was the most organized junk yard I've ever been to. They look up the part you're looking for, print you a list of all the cars that have that same part, and then give you a list of all those cars they have on the lot. Then, they print you a map of the lot (complete with aisle numbers!) and send you on your adventure.
It was fantastic. We found a part right away (at 20% of the cost we would have paid for the part new) and then wandered through the car graveyard for a while before heading home to fix the car. Joseph is fixing the car while I'm typing up this 7 Quick Takes right now!
7. Wilson, you've got mail!
Wilson doesn't usually get mail - because he's a rabbit (they aren't the most social animals, it turns out). But this week, we got a newsletter from one of the college campus missionaries we support and she addressed the envelope to Wilson. It cracked me up - and Wilson felt very important!