Dancing with the King of the Ages!

A couple of weeks ago Stacy found out that Rob Bell, author of Velvet Elvis and Sex God, was going to be in Portland on the 10th. I was excited to know, but didn't think I'd actually get a chance to go. I told Madre about him coming, since we read Velvet Elvis together, but she was in California that weekend. So, I forgot about it... Until my brother Ryan sent an email about going and said he could get tickets! So I rethought my weekend, asked Stacy if she'd be interested, and bought the tickets. I am SO glad I did! Saturday night Stacy and I met Ryan at Starbucks. That in iteslf was great as I got to see my brother and it's been a while. (clarification: brother in Christ...) We were also near my old church so I showed Stacy that. Thankfuly we carpooled to the Roseland theater in down town Portland, as I would have gotten lost if we hadn't. We had standing room only tickets but were able to find an isle to sit in. Rob Bell came out on stage where he had this...

I worked at Black Butte Ranch one summer as a Batista. One of the many items we offered there was bran muffins. These things were the nastiest, most dry, flavorless muffin I had ever had. Recently our household has been in need of a good recipe for bran muffins and my aunt happens to have an excellent one. So, in an effort to rid the world of tasteless bran muffins, I'm offering her recipe to you. Lazy Day Muffins 2 cups whole bran cereal 2 cups boiling water 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour 4 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 5 cups bran flakes ( or raisin bran) 1 cup vegetable oil or melted vegetable shortening 3 cups sugar 4 eggs 1 quart buttermilk 1 teaspoon salt Pour the boiling water over the whole bran and set aside. Sift the flour with the baking soda and salt and add the bran flakes. In a large bowl mix sugar with the vegetable oil. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and stir into the sugar-oil mixture. Gradually stir in the buttermilk. Add the bran-water mixture and stir to blend. Grad...