What's new and good with us

Our teacher is back with a thumbs up.  SO happy about that!  The sub was great, too.  We just missed and worried about our son's teacher.  He remembered to pray for her almost every night, on his own.  I think he was praying that she'd come back and we were praying for he clean bill of health.
A friend's mother got pretty good news recently, but has to undergo some very difficult treatments.  Pray for them, if you pray.   
Also praying for a little boy in TX who was in the hospital.  My friend said today that he was better so that is a blessing.

On the home-front, all of the Christmas stuff is down and put away.  Miss it already.  We had such a nice Holiday, and now we are trying to get back to normalcy- like a decent bed time. 
I have a working Sour dough starter.  I began about a month ago by capturing wild yeast and culturing it in an organic, stone-ground whole wheat flour base.  I followed the directions as posted by this baker and expert.  I only cheated a little bit :)  I ran an Acidophilus pill around the inside of my mixing bowl before I put in the flour and water, to 'seed' it with lactobacillus.  I had a starter which was clearly viable after four days, just like Mike said.  I didn't wait the full four weeks to use it, I went just a few days early.  I did have to learn how to adjust my recipes for the starter in order to omit the bakers yeast.  I still use the bread machine to knead and bake, but I do the long rising outside of the machine. I turn it on to knead.  Turn it off to rise.  And then put it back in to bake.  I know 'real' bread bakers are in love with hand kneading dough.  I am not.  I like that there is less mess and clean up time when I use the machine, even though I'm doing sour dough.  I also like that I don't have to fire up the oven for one loaf.  It saves energy. 
My starter works great.  my breads are rising high and taste wonderful.  Love it.  I'm happy to have the starter because it's healthier, and because the breads last nother day now (still only 3 days because no preservatives).  I'm learning now how to use it in all my recipes.  It works to raise breads without the 'sour' taste also.  The plain white I did still rose well at a shorter time (9 hrs instead of 4+14) and the flavor was complex without being sour.  My husband has complained that I'm trying to make him fat.  Not true.  Many times I don't even use oil, if I do I use Olive or Canola, and less.  I like the French Bread style for that.  I wish the boys liked molasses and whole grans as much as I do. 
I haven't had perfect success, though.  The first loaf didn't rise long enough and was too dense.  I haven't had any success with the 'buttermilk' style breads that worked for me with regular bakers yeast.  I suspect this is because of the acidity of my non-dairy buttermilk, made with soy or rice milk and lemon juice or cider vinegar.  It just doesn't rise.  The starter doesn't like it.  But it likes regular rice and soy milks or water in the mix.  last nigt I tried the buttermilk bread and botched it, so I mixed in some baking sda and baking poweder and threw it under the broiler for a focaccia.  It was delicious!  Everybody liked it.  So that was a good save.  I have also liked the recipe for pizza shells from the starter discards.  And I think either that or the focaccia style bake would make for great bread sticks if brushed with nondairy garlic 'butter' (squeeze Parkay for us.)   I have also been working on a non-dairy, no egg strater recipe for pancakes, but the first shot was a bust.  Too dense.  I wanted the starter to give the the body they lack when I use bisquick with applesauce.  Those fall apart.  Need to find a happy medium.  So that's where I'm at with the starter experiment:  Baking yummy fresh bread nearly every day now.  I wrote a Thank you to Mike Avery and he sent a nice email back with a link to another great food allergy baking site.  I'll be trying some stuff there.   
  The aqaurium is doing well.  I have been so busy.  I really need to put aside soem time to take and post pictures.  The club hasn't had a meeting for a while and I've been reading a few new authors and getting through second season of Boston Legal with my husband.  That's really more time than I have to waste, but we've been enjoying our vacation, as I said. 
A new authr I like is Jeaniene Frost.  I started with Halfway to the Grave.  This was a bit more romance than I need, but still all the action.  (not that kind of action, action-action  :)  The character is tough, like Anita Blake before she became a total tramp in LK Hamilton's books.  Or like Kim Harrison's books without the stuff I don't care for.  Not saying she's better than LKH, but I prefer her books to LKH's now.  Hopefully she'll keep writing.  Done with JD Robb's new one, and now re-reading Charlain Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series, to compare and contrast witht the TruBlood series on HBO.  So glad that C Harris is getting her due.  I've read everyhting she's published and I love her!
Have caught up with a few friends I haven't seen in a while on Facebook, recently.  My sister got me started.  First, my best friend from prmary School.  She was in town for Christmas and we got together.  She has a boy about the same age as DS.  Tonight we are having dinner with another friend, and hopefully another friend I haven't seen in about a year.  And tomorrow I'm going out with The Mommies.  We'll have dinner and a few laughs, talk too much and stay out until our husbands have put the kids to bed.  That's always a good time.  I have to say I am grateful for a full and happy life.  Most of all for my family.  Thank you God.
 My sis keeps telling me (because I still need to hear it) that we must ask God for exactly what we need; to be direct in our prayers.  I have a hard time with that.  I have doubt and worry over the adoption.  I have mentally pushed it aside.  Where I'm "at" right now, is trying not to think about it.  Maybe I should be asking God to make it happen, every day, and going back to my Beginning Mandarin Lessons with Faith.  Instead I tell myself I'll watch the referral stats and when things look like they are getting closer, I'll start again.  I'm such a bad Christian, not only do I not know how to ask for things I need, some times I don't know when to ask for them.  I keep wondering if there's a reason why we are stuck 'in line' instead of having another child home now.   So now I am praying for guidance.  As always, if you pray, remember us, because I need all the help I can get!