Peas. I have hated peas since probably the very first gerber pea jar my dad tried to feed me, and still can't stand canned peas or the way campbell's soup tends to sneak peas into their soups...blech. And pea soup...not a fan, no matter how much ham you add to it, I still really don't like it... Yep, not a fan of peas, except...

Fresh or frozen peas are okay, particularly if they aren't mushy. We also had this lovely cold pea soup at that overpriced french restaurant in downtown St. Paul for lunch one day.

And I've come to love sugar snap peas. I was first introduced to this type of pea at Houlihan's Restaurant and have recently found that the Jolly Green Giant has this steamer bag that you toss in the microwave for three minutes and the sugar snap peas are quite good. In fact...I add them to my list of stuff that would be good with CHEESE FONDUE (yep alesha, still waxing poetically about fondue....) And based on their shape I imagine they might stay on the skewer?

I also am a fan of Ginger Ale. I started ordering Ginger Ale when I found out that Northwest Airlines offers it as a beverage on their flights. When I order it someone around me typically changes their order and orders it too. Anyhow...tonight I tried Sprecher Ginger Ale who advertised their ale as icy-cool and spicy hot with real ginger. And the ad couldn't be more correct. At first I wasn't sure I liked it...but then as I downed half the bottle with dinner I realized that that hit of spice that hit the back of my throat was rather tasty and it wasn't terribly sweet and even though I should probably give up soda all together this soda really only had 60 calories per serving, which for regular pop (have to be fair and balanced in my usage of the of the word soda or pop) isn't too shabby.

Update on the book so far (Mark Buchanan's Rest of God)... similar style of writing that I was a fan of in the first book. I just love people who feast on words and use them to paint to the edges of a statement. Words strung together that leave me thinking - wow what a lovely sentence.

He writes - "I don't know how many books I've read or sermons I've heard that have helped me think better but not live better." How true that is. I am inspired by words - even the ones he wrote in Your God is too Safe, and I find it very easy to carry those words in my head but not live them out through my heart. But how? Live it and those gem of words become the story of your life. But how? Why am I stuck on the how? According to a friend of mine who stopped by my desk this afternoon ...she said in essence that you just have to get out of your cube once in awhile and just go live somewhere else. (she was talking about me NEVER (insert dramatic sigh and pause for emphasis here) meeting "the man of my dreams" if I hover in my "eco-cube" too long but I can see how it applies to other things as well - besides I've probably already met the man of my dreams and just sort of ignored him already anyhow.)

I've gotten through the chapter on paying attention. How fast a life we lead that sometimes stopping to examine something closely helps you see it in a different light. He tells the story of his assistant who decided to take a course on poetry. (Which seriously also just bewildered me a bit because wasn't I just talking about doing the same thing yesterday?) And her poem about a thumbtack was just so completely brilliant to me.

Anyhow, that's my observation so far. I tend to blow through books in a couple of days but somehow I think that sort of defeats the purpose of what he's trying to get at with this book so I've decided to slow down and savor the thought.