The Good and Bad of Anonymity

First those recipes some of you asked about:Berry Fruit Salad (from Melissa): 2 bags (4c) frozen mixed berries, 1 1/2 c. vanilla Yogurt, 3 oranges peeled and thinly sliced, 1/3 cup OJ, 2 Tbsp honey, 1 c. chopped toasted walnuts (This is what the recipe calls for, but I always just eyeball it.)

Combine fruit and nuts. Mix OJ, yogurt and honey and fold into fruit mixture.

Chicken Salad (not a recipe, but what I do): Pull meat from a Rotisserie Chicken and chop. Cut up a few celery sticks and pulverize in the food processor. Toast some slivered almonds. Combine chicken, celery, and nuts with salt and pepper. Make a hole in middle of chicken mixture and put a dollop of mayo much smaller than you think you need. Squeeze a lemon into the mayo and stir. Finally, stir all that chicken into the mayo, and maybe add a small dollop more if it isn't sticking together.

Scones: I blogged the recipe here.

Now, the blog for today :) Sometime this summer, I learned one of the major negatives of anonymity (Try to say that three times in a row, fast. I can't even say it once, now that I've been trying to figure out how to spell it.). I got a letter in the mail that was addressed to me and had the return address of the house I grew up in. I thought it was from one of my sisters at first and found it strange that they'd typed me a letter and cut it out all funky. It began, "Greetings from Dothan b!*%h." I thought, "Wow, somebody's feeling kinda spunky!" As I read on, I quickly realized that it was NOT one of my sisters, but instead some anonymous person who, apparently, hates me.

It was, quite possibly, the most ridiculous thing I have ever read, and Jeremiah and I have both laughed until we've cried about the things this person thinks of me. I can, at least, take comfort in the fact that they know me not at all if they were trying to hurt my feelings by the things they said. I have plenty of insecurities, but this person did not hit on one of them. I am almost tempted to type it here so that you can all laugh with me, but somehow, I'm afraid that might give my quasi-stalker some satisfaction--and that I do not intend to do.

This past weekend, I learned one of the beautiful sides of anonymity. I drove home for one of Caroline's wedding showers. It was a very quick trip and as I hopped out of the car (on the way home) to get gas in Montgomery I almost threw away a blank white envelope that I had, apparently, been sitting on for the last hour and a half. I decided to just peek inside before I tossed it, and what I found was FOUR TWENTY DOLLAR BILLS!!!!!! and Jeremiah 29:11 typed on a small sheet of paper:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

What in the world?!!! How absolutely, marvelously, sweet was that??!!! I called a bunch of people I thought might be suspects, but none of them were the doers of the good deed. It's just wondrously anonymous...I don't do things like that, do you? It's sad to admit, but I like to see people's reaction when I do something nice...which, I don't know that I've ever done anything that nice. My Dad said he thought it was God sending me gas money for making the effort to come down for Caroline's shower. I think it was God sending me the money for that tea-set :) I don't know, but I certainly am so thankful, and the bursts of happiness it has given me over the past week, have made me want to do the same thing for somebody else.

Saying all that, I've decided that I want to allow people to comment anonymously on this blog again. I know there will be some bad parts to that, but I've seen there's some good in it too. I really miss some of you faithful anonymous commentors from way-back-when. And, if you feel the need to tell me something mean, I'd much rather you go ahead and post it here, than send it to my real mailbox (which is kind of creepy).

Hooray for sweet anonymous people!!!!!!!!!!