Stayin' Alive

Meh. I fell off the earth! Last week was spring break and I Had Plans. Plans to get that front bathroom finished Once And For All.


Okay, so it's half finished. We were blessed and surprised when Audra's hubby Matt came over and put up new plywood, 2x4's and installed a new window. (We were planning to do this ourselves--actually Andy was, heh)-- so then we had to wait for the flooring plywood, which we now have. All Andy needs to do is put it in place, pour a leveler over it, put the tub back in place (cast iron, a real bugger to move---just like in the master bathroom remodel we did a few years back where Richard helped move that one... oy!)----then insulate, sheetrock, do the tub enclosure, and redo the laminate floors.


Yeah, I wanted it done during spring break when I wasn't teaching anything. Now my participation will be limited to Saturdays. BUT. I am not complaining!! The water damage was not as great as we had feared.


Meanwhile, D has gotten glasses. He is mildly farsighted, and the optometrist wants to try glasses for a year to see if it will help. I invested the extra $$ in the flexible titanium frames, not realizing that within 14 days their flexibility would be put to the test~!


See, we went to the park on Good Friday. It was 77º and gorgeous out. While at the park, a ranting, angry man was arrested; a biting Canada goose was carted away by animal patrol (S was a victim), we saw a bald eagle wheeling and soaring overhead, and BEST OF ALL, D. caught a frog AND got his glasses stepped on by some overeager kid.


Here's the frog - with S and D, glasses PRE-stepping:

I am grateful that Costco's optical department got these back into their rightful shape after the trouncing they received. Not a happy camper, I was. (Yoda) Lori tells me that Pearle Vision has some warranty deal for kids' glasses that I will def. look into if D. continues to need glasses after this year. The kid is hard on stuff.

Hm, what else? Life has been moving along and I've not been blogging, as you see! Trying to get my focus back where it should be. I've baked some cakes, had a tree taken down, gone shopping at the mall (you have no idea how big a deal that is, I NEVER SHOP THE MALL), made Easter dinner a day early, and stayed up with a kid who had a bad dream.

Yep, it's normal around here.
How's things with you all? I think I'd better go and read up on your lives.

Fat Birds

The title of this post is one of my favorite lines from Mary Poppins: "Feed the birds and what d'you get? FAT BIRDS."

However, I'm sidestepping the underlying point of this line from Mary Poppins here, and thinking this afternoon of American Christianity. We have SO many churches available these days in our country, and I do praise God for what religious freedom we have been granted.

But instead of making us stronger, more faithful, more grateful and service-minded as believers, instead we have become Fat Birds. American Christians are not service-oriented. We have a consumer mentality rampant in our churches. We look for churches that will "meet our needs," rather than our finding a church WITH needs and offering our gifts and talents to build that work.

Fat Birds. Feed me. I have to feel like my needs are met, or I'm not happy.

How sadly unlike our Jesus, who did not come into this world to be MINISTERED TO, but to MINISTER, and to give His life as a ransom for many.



Just my Saturday afternoon thoughts.

God bless.

March 14 is Pi Day!!

I never knew that until today. Get it?? 3/14 is Pi day... like 3.14.... okay. I guess you have to be more geekish to appreciate it fully.

I'm going to solve my grocery shopping dilemma by not thinking about it. I realize it's an ostrich solution at best, but it's what I can manage on a Wednesday afternoon. Thank you for commenting.


So, to close with an appropriately-themed limerick for the day, by Harvey L. Carter:

'Tis a favorite project of mine
A new value of pi to assign.
I would fix it at 3,
For it's simpler you see

Than 3 point 14159.

H82SHOP

.....that should be my licence plate number.

But as I sit here this afternoon doing my budget and entering expenditures in my money program, it's becoming very clear that the grocery budget needs some reining in.

I noticed a link on my MSN Today screen: How to slash your grocery bills. So I clicked it. It took me to an article by the head honcho of the Women in Red, a group of women who are trying to become debt-free, and are doing so publicly, via the Net. I was familiar with them, so I read on.

They recommend couponmom.com as a way to find out the sales in advance and organize your shopping, etc. And at couponmom, they recommend the Sunday papers and the Tuesday circulars as great sources for coupon bargains.

I hate newspapers. I don't subscribe to them. They're inky-messy, they never fold up just right, I don't have time to read them, and then I have the trouble of recycling them. But that's where the coupons are.

And the more I browsed around Couponmom, the more confused I got. I really have a mental block about all this. I desperately want to manage our money well, but can't someone else do the shopping and coupon organizing for me? I'm just literally overwhelmed at the thought of it all, shaking my head in a dazed way.

HOW do you coupon chicks make this work for you? I know some of you out there are queen bees at this life skill. The thought of carrying around fluttering bits of paper clutter in my wallet just is not me, but I'm afraid it might HAVE to be if I am going to get this monthly grocery bill under control. And even worse, that I will have to do all the shopping. (****screaming and hyperventilating****)

My sister-in-law Penny has walked out of grocery stores richer than when she went in. The cashier literally paid her to get out of the store- all because of coupons.

My friend Audra's cousin spends about $100 a MONTH in groceries. I do NOT know how she does it. Is this even possible, or do you think she is living on Jiffy Corn bread mix and cheap knock-offs of Kraft macaroni and cheese?

I'm mentally nauseated. I'm going to the chair in the living room to study. Kindly comment away, that I may glean of your wisdom.

Another Lazy Post- Book Meme

(I like to do memes when I have nothing original to say!) This was harvested from my friend Tammy, who harvested it from the popular mom blog Rocks in my Dryer, etc. etc., and so it goes....

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
Hardback

Amazon or brick and mortar?
Depends! Amazon is convenient, but there's just something about used book stores. A. must visit every used book store in an area, whenever we go on vacation, and I'm not usually adverse to the idea, unless we've already been to three...

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Borders.

Bookmark or dogear?
Sometimes bookmark, other times I leave it open, face down. Terrible, I know. Nero Wolfe dogears books that he doesn't consider worthy of keeping on his shelves.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Living room bookcases: Alpha by author. My personal bedroom bookcase: by subject.

Keep, throw away, or sell?
Keep! It's why I have so many bookcases around here.

Keep dustjacket or toss it?
Keep it. Do you know how valuable that will be later on? Money in the bank, my dears... ...when the book achieves "classic" status and YOU happen to have an edition with a DJ, ooh, shiny!

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Remove it, or use the flyleaf as the bookmark. :)

Short story or novel?
Novel.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Hm. I'm not fond of short stories. Not enough time for character development, and I'm left wanting more.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Harry Potter has a very clear delineation of right and wrong, good and evil. Lemony Snicket is more relativistic, muddying the waters unnecessarily for the age group it's written.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Chapter breaks, if I've never read the book before; when I'm tired, if I have read it before.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
Once upon a time.

Buy or Borrow?
Buy.

New or used?
Used!!! D'you know how much money you save?

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
All of the above. I usually find an author I like and read everything by him/her.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Tidy ending.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
Bathtub and bed.

Stand-alone or series?
If it IS a series, I like each novel to be able to stand alone.

Favorite series?
Anne of Green Gables, and the Nero Wolfe detective series.

Favorite children's book?
This is a hard one. Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Argh, who am I to know what you've heard or not heard of?

Favorite books read last year?
Holes, by Louis Sachar, or Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-Li Jiang

Favorite books of all time?
Pride and Prejudice and Emma, both by Jane Austen.

Least favorite book you finished last year?
Princess in Pink (Vol. V of The Princess Diaries), Meg Cabot

What are you reading right now?
This morning I just finished The Lady's Confession *(formerly called Paul Faber, Surgeon), by George MacDonald.

What are you reading next?
I don't know yet!

Polly wolly doodle

...is the current song everyone in the O. home is singing or whistling. Reason? We watched "You Can't Take It With You," with Jimmy Stewart, as our Sunday Night Feature. I can't believe I'd not seen it before! It was a hoot, and good family fun. We only watched part of it Sunday night (it got too late to continue), so we finished up tonight. This is a movie I want to own! One of the few times that I'd seen Lionel Barrymore as a lighthearted good guy (I can't escape the vision of his "Mr Potter" character, the scurvy little spider of "It's a Wonderful Life.") Oh, this film is a Frank Capra film too, so it's chock full of feel-good moments.


I found a very useful/useless web site yesterday, with useful/useless Latin phrases like, "Quid agis, Medice?" (What's up, Doc?). Or, how about: "fac me cocleario vomere" - "Gag me with a spoon!" Another good one: "cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt," which, being translated, is, "when catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will own catapults." I was surprised to see that there are quite a few goofy Latin web sites like this around. Latin is on my list of languages to learn, actually (yeah, go ahead and roll your eyes) - because it's just so darn useful for understanding English. Yep, dead languages are cool.

Math is breezing along charmingly right now. It's all about inches, feet, miles; cups, pints, gallons... and metric stuff too - cm, dm, m, km; g, kg; L, mL. SOOOOO nice to polish off three math lessons in 30 minutes. Enjoying while I can, because NEXT on the math menu is multiplying/dividing with factors/divisors above 5. Sigh. I am going to make them complete the multiplication table EVERY DAY so the patterns sink in.

And what lovely weather today! It was difficult to stay inside to teach piano. I'm pointing a few of my students toward WSMTA's "adjudications" (this used to be "auditions," Crystal, did Mimi ever do this to you?) - where the students present two memorized pieces of contrasting style and/or period to a master teacher, who evaluates not only their playing, but my teaching. At any rate... I had planned for 6 students to be in this... but now I'm down to three. One is playing sports and isn't practicing right now; another one just isn't interested; and I learned today that a third student will be taking off the final quarter of the school year from piano. She plans to come back for summer lessons. Joy, a tuition gap to fill.

Gruff. These are all my higher level students. I have a couple of really bright kids coming up, though, so in a year or two I'll have more intermediate/late intermediate players. And the not-so-bright students...can keep going along as usual, so long as they love music and love me. :) :)

We just had a laundry folding bee in my bedroom. I know Flylady says not to put clean laundry to be folded in your bedroom, but this is my house! Anyway, A. tossed the clothes to their owners, while the rest of us folded/put away. He matched socks for me (woot!) while I folded towels. It's a good system, and lovely now that the kids are old enough to fold their own clothes.

And, on the subject of putting things away--here's a great idea I stole from FlyLady: The House Fairy. The House Fairy comes and checks the kids' rooms from time to time and leaves them a treat if their rooms are neat and clean-- or an encouraging note if they are not. D. has kept his room picked up now for a month. He's gotten 3 or 4 treats out of the deal. I'm pretty sure he knows I'm the House Fairy, but we keep it on the QT. This way I am not nagging them to clean their rooms, it's all the HF's deal. S. has gotten a couple of treats, but she simply doesn't see the piles of clothes or toys in the corners of the room. The HF has gently pointed this out in a note or two... "Great job..keep up the good work... what about the toys under the piano?" - but so far it hasn't paid off. Oh well, in time. And the HF's visits are totally random...meaning, whenever I have a treat handy and the kids aren't expecting it.

Which reminds me, The House Fairy is overdue. Probably tomorrow sometime!

D. has just come into my room to show me his latest monster drawings. It's 10:30 p.m. No wonder the kid doesn't sleep at night... his thoughts are all of monsters! But the drawings are pretty cool. What will this child grow to be, I wonder?

Wordsworth's answer, of course: the child is father of the man.

Ergo, he'll be what he is now, just bigger.

May God help me!
:)

Time management and the dark side of virtual academies

It's not even noon yet and I'm exhausted. Sure, I got my requisite 8 hours of sleep; I eat well--and even healthfully, ooh-rah... but it's my brain that's the problem!

Looking through my planner book over the last two weeks.... of 16 days I've scanned, 13 of them had a time commitment of some sort or another outside the home. Things that I can't skip--or skip very easily.

The end result is that school hours have been shortened around here. And now, today is February 28. Time to settle accounts. The standard must be met!! So we've been playing school catchup, to everyone's stress, irritation and grief.

This is my fault, though. Who manages the home schedule around here but myself? I have only myself to blame. This is the constant time-management battle.


Why am I staying at home, really? To homeschool my children. In order to FISCALLY be able to do this, I teach piano lessons. I take piano lessons to make myself a better teacher.

And it piles on from there....things that, though good, eat away at my primary reason for staying home in the first place. The Great Balancing Act...how to keep the plates spinning.

So, anyway.... we're supposed to be at 53% in all core subjects by 7:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. Core subjects=WASL test subjects; ergo, Math, Science, and Language Arts (lit, comp, grammar, etc.) And we've been busting our tails to get there.

It's nice in many ways to have these setpoints to shoot for--but right now I'm SO not enjoying homeschooling. I feel like I'm not really teaching, I'm pushing to meet an arbitrary standard.

Again, there have been distractions that I need to carefully evaluate and/or eliminate from our time. For example - weekends are for shopping, not weekdays. (Unless you send the husband!) And never never allow salespeople into your home for estimates on X, Y, or Z for this product or service. It takes up an hour and a half of precious time.

LOL - so you see I got roped into the last one. Some place called Celebrity Foods called us up out of the blue, wanting to make a presentation to us about their products, which have no hormones, preservatives, yadda yadda.. so, I, the fool, allowed them to come. It took an hour and a half, and at the end of it all, we can't afford their services anyway. Wasted time. My fault.

And blogging. You see that lately I've been sporadic at best. I am truly attempting to "redeem the time" in some small fashion - so blogging has fallen to the back burner. (I'm good right now because it's lunchtime.)

Anyway.... we will not meet the 53% in math. I will not push where the concepts have not been learned. Fortunately the next unit is on measurements and on time. Fast units! So theoretically we can get ahead - but not by tomorrow morning!! After those units, we're back to multiplying/dividing numbers past 5 - so, 6, 7, 8, 9.

But with Grammar....there's no excuse for me there. These kids ought to be at 70%, I being their mother. But... time management! I've spent so much time on the time-sucker (math) that I'm mentally exhausted by the time grammar rolls around.

Okay, I am sounding whiny, which I'm really not feeling- just overdrawn.

So, closing with a funny.

Last weekend we went to Happy Teriyaki for dinner. A. and I arranged ourselves on one side of the table, D. and S. on the other. As I read their sweatshirts from left to right as they sat across from me, I noted that, put together, they said "BUM GAP."

This sent me into convulsions of laughter, as it did the rest of the family. It is now the "in joke" of the household.

Until the next time I have time... ciao!

The battery bites the dust

It finally happened: my laptop battery died. Wouldn't hold a charge, even if plugged in. I knew it was just a matter of time. Approximate cost to replace a laptop battery= $200!!!

Cost of a brand-spankin' new laptop at Best Buy: $399.

Guess which option I chose? :>

So the 2001 laptop ($1200 on the original invoice I found) is now in the capable hands of our techhie friend Mr. Funk, who can refurbish it and do as he wishes with it. And I'm here trying to learn the ins and outs of Windows Vista on the cheap new system. It has some features I like (like a "doublecheck" feature that asks "are you sure you want to do this??") and several I don't - like, I can't set Firefox to be my default browser. Hmmm, not that that truly surprises me. Also it came preloaded with the Yahoo! toolbar, which I deplore. But I got rid of it.

So I'm having fun fun fun!

Mr. Funk asked if I would rather have a new dress or a new laptop. My answer: "Duh!"

I'm not a proper sort of female at all, I guess.

"Hey nonny-nonny and a hot cha-cha"

My kids like to sing this song about Saturday: "It's Saturday, oh it's Saturday... hey nonny-nonny and a hot-cha-cha..." I think it came from a Little Rascals episode.

Last night A. and I prepared and served the Valentine's Banquet at church. Fire Department regulations now forbid the use of the church kitchen for anything but reheating pre-cooked food, so we had to do the cooking at home. That seemed like a headache to me at first, but it played out to be very convenient. The evening went very smoothly since I wasn't frantically preparing things in the kitchen, just serving what was reheated.

The menu:
Grilled chicken
or
Roast beef (done for us on the smoker at Green Valley Meats in Auburn, WA)

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (eeeeeeevil, must post the recipe so you can all faint- it's the recipe from the restaurant Buca di Beppo's)
OR
Rice Pilaf

Mediterranean veggies (which means green beans, artichoke hearts, yellow squash and a few other veggies tossed in together and steamed)

Spring mix salad with craisins, feta cheese, and slivered almonds, served with raspberry vinaigrette

And mustn't forget dessert!
Raspberry cheesecake
Chocolate Fudge cake with ice cream
Tiramisu (NOBODY chose this! GO FIGURE! more for me hehehe)

We did well... got finished cleaning up the church kitchen, dishes and all, by 9:30 pm.

Went home and crawled into bed, where I dreamed about how tired I was, all night long. D'you know how difficult it is to wake up in the morning when you've been dreaming about how tired you are!?

So, hot-cha-cha, today was Saturday! To celebrate, we had steak and eggs for breakfast (beef leftovers from last night's banquet) - then I decided to thoroughly clean the kitchen floors and countertops. EWWW. I moved the refrigerator. EEEEEEWWWWW! That was a gloriously sticky, dusty mess. At one point some 7UP had spilled and run underneath the fridge, making a glue-like substance to which was affixed a penny, a hairband, a button, a photograph, and a missionary prayer card.

Irrecoverable items went straight into the trash, and I spent a good 20 minutes with a scrub brush and a bucket of Murphy's Oil Soap to remove the residue. Ah, looked great! So I carried on with the rest of the kitchen floor and am now guarding it jealously against all debris.

This has reinforced my realization that I MUST get this kitchen painted, and soon. However, I still need to paint the crown moulding all around the living/dining areas, as well as change the color on the piano wall once again (remember the Nacho Cheese wall incident? - well, we're growing tired of looking at Buttered Rum now, too.)

Fortunately Monday is a holiday, so I plan to sleep in and perhaps get that piano wall taken care of. I pinched a bucket of Audra's leftover living room paint because it's close to the color I want to try - Carob brown. Looks rusty red, which will set off my shiny black piano nicely. :)

Photos if and when I paint, of course. Happy weekending, all! See you in church tomorrow.

She blinded me with science

This, dear readers, is an oxygen atom made out of common household ingredients: 16 green grapes (8 protons, 8 neutrons) form a nucleus, wrapped in saran wrap, and peas and toothpicks comprise the electron cloud of 8. My children were awed at their ability to create an element; captured forever on my RAZR phone, and now recorded here.

A. continues to rack his lungs and his sleeping ability with his seemingly annual bout with bronchitis. The poor man doesn't just plain ol' cough; he hacks, hawks, barks, croups, and expectorates. TMI? SO Sorry. This has been going on since a week ago Monday night. We are all a little short: with sleep, with tempers...with patience... and long on wakefulness and irritability. He went to the doctor yesterday and was given 4 different medications- an antibiotic, an inhaler, a steroid, and a cough syrup with codeine. So life is getting better in the sleep department for him (and by extension, me).

My daughter just came and told me that I'd made the best meal EVER in the whole world. So you can be amazed (sarcasm font!), this is what I did: emptied out/cooked some stray bags of pasta that only had a little bit of noodles left; emptied a sack of peas into a casserole dish and tossed leftover bacon in it and microwaved; prepared an envelope of Newburg sauce (Knorr's makes it, I think?) and emptied a leftover remnant of Costco frozen, cooked shrimp into the Newburg sauce. Put it all into bowls. Whatever it was called, the kids ate seconds. Pasta, peas, bacon, shrimp, and Newburg sauce.

This meal happened because I have not made a menu for this week!!!

Coming up: Valentine's Day. I'd better get cracking, Gromit.

This one hit my email inbox today

(Click the title above if you want to visit Snopes)... the one where a woman returns from shopping at Wal Mart to find a flat tire-- a gentleman in a suit offers to change it for her and she gratefully accepts... when he finishes, he asks for a ride back to his car, which is on the other side of the mall, etc.... woman is suspicious, goes back into store, feigning to the man that she forgot something; she notifies security....and lo and behold in the man's briefcase is ROPE And KNIVES and DUCT TAPE!!!


urban legend strikes again!

But forward it to all your girlfriends so they don't become victims too!! .......Of the legend, that is.

My Ya-Ya Name

....is Princess Gigglebox.


Thought you ought to know.

"Bowl" Games

...or, "Where on earth have you been for the last week?"

It started last Sunday evening. We were watching The Two Towers, and S. was not feeling well. She kicked it up several notches and continued to "not feel well" rather violently from 9:15 p.m. Sunday night until...5:00 a.m. Monday morning. Poor kid. She finally was able to sleep from 7 a.m. until about 3:30 Monday afternoon. I slept in as long as I could, but had things to do and places to go, so I was a little sleep deprived all day.

Monday night: 12:45 a.m. - D. decided to join in on the "fun" by having a bowl episode himself. My dear husband took pity on me and tended to the boy in his distress. His bout with sickness only happened once, though he was very peaked the following day. S. had a nightmare Monday night that I thought was D. getting sick again, so we ran searching for the crying child - to find S. blinking sadly in the glow of her nightlight. "A Star Destroyed me," she said tearfully. She had been watching Star Wars earlier that day so it's amazing what the mind pulls out in the middle of the night! I laughed it off and went back to bed.

Why do these things always happen in the middle of the night?

So Wednesday night and Thursday night we all gratefully got enough sleep - though I'm not feeling so hot today. It's been a 7UP day while I have my own version of the Superbowl.

In the midst of this, I made a baby shower cake--thankfully, before I started to feel so gross. The technique I used is called Buttercream Transfer (google it) and it's a fabulous way to reproduce a complicated pattern on a cake. I meant to do a step-by-step and post here, but got all wrapped up in the DOING of it that I forgot to take the "along-the-way" type pictures. There's lots of them out there on the 'Net that are just ducky if you care to have a go at it yourself for your kid's next birthday!




Oooo-lah-lah, that's pretty! The cake is 12x18 (takes two mixes), vanilla with raspberry filling, and the frosting is just regular American buttercream with paste food coloring. (ARGH--THE KIDS GOT INTO THE LEFTOVER FROSTING and ate a ton of it. A NO NO for them!~! no colors or preservatives allowed!! We shall see how things go over the next few days).


So now you are filled in on the more unsavory aspects of our week. I pray yours is exponetnially better!! :) :)

To steal an idea from Susan:
Things I am Thankful For:
1) The cake was done before I started to feel gross
2) I feel gross NOW, not in the middle of the night
3) A loving husband who has been watching kids all day, taught them two history lessons, and prepared dinner for everyone so I wouldn't have to smell it.

The Menu

Since Thursday is my Saturday, rhetorically speaking, I prefer doing my grocery shopping today. So I've adjusted my menu accordingly. It's been a mental wrench: I'm used to seeing things listed out so clearly from Monday to Monday, when I used to shop. But as Life changes, the routines need to change as well.

It's rather silly- I got caught in this trap of, "if I can't shop on Monday, what's the point?" instead of tweaking my routines to fit my life. I know some other people would figure this out without too much trouble but it takes me a bit longer!

And here's a cool thing Audra tipped me off about: when you use Allrecipes, you can create menus and SHOPPING LISTS and print them off!! You can even add your own custom items to the list.

This is my second week doing it, and it's been a good thing, Martha Stewart!

So (fanfare- "ya ta ta TAAAAA~!") <-(think "Elmo's World")-- THE MENU:

Thursday: Enchiladas Verdes with Spanish rice and refried beans

Friday: Hamburgers
Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Saturday: Pizza with Italian sausage and mushrooms

Sunday: Leftovers (called "Tovers" by my family)

Monday: Slow-cooked Pork with a couple of indeterminate side dishes

Tuesday: Garlic chicken and rice

Wednesday: Whatever A. decides to make, it's his night :)

Thursday: Sweet and sour pork



This is the plan, anyway! Things often get moved around for the sake of convenience. At any rate, I highly recommend the "shopping list" feature at Allrecipes. I hope it remains a free service!

Socks make the world go round

This is my "make it yourself Christmas present" from Tammy!!!
I am proud of myself, yessss, preciousssss!

I MADE THESE! And I totally didn't understand what was going on when I got to the heel bit, nor about picking up stitches along the gusset, but I muddled along and with help from knittinghelp.com I DID IT!!!

*preening feathers*

They are the most lovely stripey things ever and I will never part with them!! lol

Then Audra got inspired and she made a pair of socks too-- we went to a yarn store in Tacoma and bought some lovely 100% Peruvian wool to make some socks (not scratchy!).

I'm now working on the first sock of my second pair ever. Using a pattern from Cider Moon called "Campfire Socks" because the yarn wanted to be made into a nice chunky sock.

S. has now put in her bid: "Mommy.... would you please make ME a pair of socks??" "OF COURRRRSSSE, Dahling!!"

D chimes in, "ME TOO!!"

My Dad has told me he's a size 11D.

So it will be one lovely sock knitfest around here for some time to come.

I got preached at!

But for the life of me, I can't remember what was said.

While I was sitting in the Sunday sermon today, the Spirit of God was nudging me, saying...THIS IS YOU. THIS IS YOU.

Then right after the service we had the annual church polity meeting and my feeble brain did not move the information from short-term into long-term memory.


*BANGING HEAD* what a dolt I am! I should have had my notebook out.

Fortunately I happen to live with the man who preached the sermon, so I can go look at the notes and get prompted again. This frustrates me about myself. I am so mentally scattered sometimes too often!!!


Upon returning home from church, I saw this in my inbox...sent to me by a born-again Christian--a plea to forward our support for the troops in Iraq, and embedded within the email was this:

Something good will happen to you tonight at 11:11 PM. This is not a joke. Someone will either call you or will talk to you online and say that they love you. Do not break this chain. Send this to 13 people in the next 15 minutes. Go.

THIS, my friends, is SUPERSTITION, plain and simple. Would that they would please, please, PLEASE expunge all of this tripe from the emails they forward thoughtlessly! After all, one doesn't want to appear unsupportive of the American troops (and I do support and value their sacrifice on my behalf, personally knowing several who have served over there)--BUT PLEASE. I want no part of superstitious chain emails.

This seems to be an ongoing theme of mine... email tripe. *sigh* I know that people have put up with me for years, so I need to be more understanding until they reach my *cough* level of discernment.

(tongue firmly planted in cheek--however, my sentiments on email tripe remain unchanged!)

Okay, off to find the sermon notes. No doubt I need it.

Cat Flushes Toilet

Hey, Rebecca, can your new furbies do THIS??

Cool!

Me: "What a great day to enjoy a cuppa and look at the snow!"

Kids: "Coffee?? YUCK!! I'm going outside!"


I just sat in the rocking chair last night at 10:30 p.m., lights out, living room blinds open, and watched the snow sift down like fine powdered sugar. I was thinking we'd only end up with an inch or so, but joy! About 4 inches!!

We had snow yesterday morning too, but it was only a dusting and disappeared by the afternoon.

It's not supposed to get above freezing until the weekend, so this will be with us for a while.

Glad I don't have a commute!!

Next Survivor Series (email meme)

*I* can't even do this!!
(thanks to Amy S. for the email!)
~~~~~~~~

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives and send cards out on time.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment. He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care (weekend, evening, on a holiday or right when they're about to leave for vacation). He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

There is only one TV between them, and a remote with dead batteries.

Each father will be required to know all of the words to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of each and every character on cartoons.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, which they will apply to themselves either while driving or making three lunches.

Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker; and get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.

Each man must adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep his nails polished and eyebrows groomed. The men must try to get through each day without snot, spit-up or barf on their clothing.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties. They must try to explain what a tampon is for when the 6-yr old boy finds it in the purse.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

Each will need to read a book and then pray with the children each night without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 7:00. They must leave the home with no food on their face or clothes.

They must clean up after their sick children at 2:00 a.m. and then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better.

They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to, "You're not the boss of me".

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name.

Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.

The last man wins only if . . . he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years...eventually earning the right to be called Mother.

eeghads

I'm so glad I don't follow football regularly. It's just too darn stressful. 4th Quarter, 4:24 to play, and Seattle's up over Dallas, 21-20.


Heartburn, anyone?



We started watching the game late, because Perry Mason takes precedence in this household.

edit: Wow, what a finish!! Super heartburn! We were toast until the Dallas guy fumbled that field goal. I guess it ain't over till it's over!

2006 booklist

Just for my benefit, since I tweaked the template and removed this list from the sidebar, I'm posting it here. Just ignore it.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells

Jurassic Park, Michael Crighton

Hank the Cowdog, John Erickson

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien

Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847, Alan Walker

Love My Rifle More Than You, Kayla Williams

By Lemony Snicket:

The Bad Beginning

The Reptile Room

The Wide Window

The Miserable Mill

The Austere Academy

The Ersatz Elevator

The Vile Village

The Hostile Hospital

The Carnivorous Carnival

The Slippery Slope

The Grim Grotto

The Penultimate Peril

The End

...and now Miguel, Joseph Krumgold

Dobry, Monica Shannon

Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes

The Failsafe Cookbook, Sue Dengate

Little Lord Fauntleroy, Frances Hodgson Burnett

Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo

A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832, Joan W. Blos

Moby Dick, Herman Melville

Ruby Holler, Sharon Creech

Matilda, Roald Dahl

Princess in Pink (Vol. V of The Princess Diaries), Meg Cabot

Elfquest: Wild Hunt, Wendy Pini

Elfquest: Shadowstalker, ibid.

By Lucy Maud Montgomery:

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Avonlea

Anne of the Island

Anne of Windy Poplars

Anne of Ingleside

Rainbow Valley

Rilla of Ingleside

A Long Way from Chicago, Richard Peck

A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck

Eragon, Christopher Paolini

Eldest, Christopher Paolini

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code, Eoin Colfer

A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Newton Peck

Red Scarf Girl: A Diary of the Cultural Revolution, Ji-Li Jiang

How To Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell

The Laura Ingalls Wilder books:

Little House on the Prairie

On the Banks of Plum Creek

By the Shores of Silver Lake

The Long Winter

Little Town on the Prairie

These Happy Golden Years

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,, J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,, ditto :)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

All Shook Up: How Rock 'N' Roll Changed America, Glenn C. Altschuler

Trickster's Queen, Tamora Pierce

The New Dare to Discipline, James Dobson

Various Trixie Belden mysteries:

The Red Trailer Mystery

The Mysterious Visitor

The Gatehouse Mystery

The Mystery on Cobbett's Island

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, JK Rowling

The Mother Hunt, Rex Stout

Stepping Heavenward, Elizabeth Prentiss

Something like normal

Thank you to those of you who have been prodding me to post something (nudging my husband). Fact is, I need to get rid of the Christmas decorations around the blog and I get paralyzed with "I don't have time for that right now" --and then I don't bother to post either. Babysteps!

Yesterday we bid farewell to my parents at the Amtrak station and resumed our typical existence here in the soggy Pac NW. There are traces that a holiday did indeed occur here: Roboraptor on the kitchen floor, snarling and attacking bypassers; Sculpey clay on the dining room table; the Christmas cards taped to my kitchen cabinets; new pajamas and clothing in a basket, awaiting my attention.

It was a much-needed change of pace, and I am grateful that I took so much time off from the studio. Next week I'll be in the thick of it again with piano lessons, but for this week I'm cleaning the house, teaching my two kids, and practicing Beethoven's Sonata in E, Op. 14, No. 1, Allegro.

Along with changes of pace, once again I'm changing gears. I was so faithful at exercising, but then my kids' schedule changed, and I was not flexible enough to change with it, so exercising went out the window. After all, I reasoned, if I couldn't go from 8:30-9:30a for my favorite classes (Powerflex and Cycling), what was the point? I need to be home at that time to get the day moving along, or truly, everyone in the home will be in pajamas until noon. (Stereotypical homeschoolers).

So finally I sat down, put pencil (never pen! only pencils!) to my planbook, and deemed that 7-8:30a is MY TIME. Nobody wants me then, nobody needs me then, so I can go to Bally's then. Even though there isn't a class during that time, I'm reasonably clever enough to use the elliptical machine and the weights and get a decent workout. (Now if my mp3 player will only behave and start uploading files!)

So I went this morning and had a good time. Ran into many exercise buddies from before, including my favorite instructor, who gave me a hug and told me she hoped she'd see me back in class soon, "Because, after all," she confided, "It's a New Rear!"


On the kidlet front: (aka "mom moments that are funny to me but probably nobody else") We've been doing some basic letter writing for composition. Assignment: To write a Friendly Letter. D and S both worked on their rough drafts, then switched papers for proofreading and suggestions. D had signed his letter, "Your Chum, D___." S. offered the following suggestion for improvement: " You need to get rid of the comma after chum and add a P."

It took a good two minutes to restore calm.

We also have some money/math issues with S, it seems. I gave her a dollar today at Costco so she could buy herself and her brother a bottled water to take to karate with them. (The bottles are $.50 each.) Today on the way home from karate, S informed D that he owed her a dollar, since she'd spent a dollar on him buying water at Costco. "Excuse me??" I interrupted, "Just WHOSE dollar did you spend??"

"Well, I put in your dollar to buy a bottle, and got two quarters back. Then I used one of MY dollars to buy a bottle for D, and got two more quarters back."

We had to connect the dots for her, that she still in fact had her dollar (though in a "very special form" as my high school physics teacher was wont to say)--which caused much hilarity in the car as we drove home.

To quote Crystal from high school days: "I guess you had to be there."

Anyway, nice to be back to normal. Whatever that is. Happy New Year! Or new Rear, depending.

Flypaper and 8yo "creativity"

Ah, yesss--the bliss of spending the afternoon on my bed, feet propped up, pillows behind my back as I read books and knitted a sock. (It was also necessary because my back is spazzing and cramping up for some odd reason or another, and the only way I could stretch it out was to sit that way.....unless I wanted to walk around like a gorilla with knuckles dragging on the ground. Bed: muuuuch better option.)

So I repeat this tale not as a participant, but a gleeful bystander, informed after the deed was done. My dear daughter S. made flypaper this afternoon. She took one sheet of paper, an entire bottle of Elmer's glue, and the majority of my breakfast bar space and went to town spreading the glue all over. Then she went outside to play.

A. discovered the tacky mess a while later. She was in the backyard, sticky from fingertips to elbows, now with the addition of dirt affixed to the remaining glue on her body. A. called her in, scolded her, and sent her to the bathroom to wash.

Now, Elmer's glue is water-soluble, fortunately. However, water just wasn't cutting through the tack. Mom tried the countertop bleach wipes next. Nope. A. finally got the WD-40 and a metal spatula and scraped the glue off, revealing the laminate. Voila!

Making the punishment fit the crime--S. has to sweep the back porch. So mean of us! :)

Live from Puyallup!

First off, I have to apologize to Tammy for this picture because my camera is lame and I can't retrieve the better of the two pictures we took!! When she gets home she'll upload a better photo of the two of us, I hope!

We entertained Tammy and Kevin, and Hank and Lavonne tonight at dinner! So for those of you who like to know bloggy connections... this is Rebecca's brother and mother and sister-in-law. And new step-dad. ;)


Adding to the mix we had Crystal's brother Richard too (my favorite "anonymous" commenter here). So it was a big reunion. Unfortunately he left before the cameras came out.

And do you see the ball of self-striping yarn in front of me?? :D :D Tammy gave it to me to make a pair of socks!! I'm excited. We tried to get started on it tonight, but between family and children interruptions, plus the fact they have to get up very early in the morning tomorrow and left early... we didn't get a chance to get it started. Ah well.


4 days to Christmas! We've decided on turkey for the meal.

SO if I don't post until then...merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

"You can borrow brains...

...but you can't borrow character." That's what Dr. Bob Jones, Senior, was once quoted as saying.

So in the spirit of "Borrowing Brains" --or in this case, IDEAS -- I'm going to post my weekly menu here. That way I can feel free to completely disregard it or move meals around as necessary!

Sunday Dec. 17- LEFTOVERS

Monday Dec. 18- Ham sandwiches on ciabatta bread
Baked Macaroni and cheese
Overnight salad
Banana pudding

Tuesday Dec. 19- Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Larry arrive!! That is, if AMTRAK gets them here on time... >:O|
Meatloaf
Mashed potatoes
Green beans

Wednesday Dec. 20 - Andy makes dinner.

Thursday Dec. 21- Company Casserole (yep, because COMPANY IS COMING)
Filet Mignon and caviar (ha ha, that's what Hank said he wanted. HA HA HA.)
Salad brought by Lavonne
Garlic bread
Fruit dip and/or chocolate fondue with apple slices, clementines, grapes, strawberries, pound cake and shortbread

Friday Dec. 22 - Eggrolls
Stir-fry noodles or rice with vegetables

Saturday Dec. 23 - Pizza and salad

Sunday Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve! Leftovers, likely ;) - a fancier-than-usual smorgasbord in the evening with shrimp cocktail, smoked oysters, sliced pears and apples, and crackers and brie.

Monday Dec. 25 - Christmas Day!!
Roast Beast or Pork or Turkey (we need to have a family discussion about this!)
Broccoli Casserole
Baked potato
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie


This doesn't take into account any trips to Buca di Beppo or the Outback Steakhouse that my dad might want to make. :) But it's a start.

Oh, and I can't forget to get the Little Smokies sausages for Christmas morning.

Blog Worlds Collide

So Crystal and Aaron and crew stopped over today on their way back north - D and S were ready to play and sure enough, soon after Micah came in, he asked, "Where's the toys??" (it was too cute) .

And of course we had to have pictures. Sorry about the backlighting. Here's the happy nuclear Microsoft family:

And one of the two bloggers:
Note to self: pictures don't lie. I'd better get my sorry carcass back to Bally's, and fast. (Ha! "fast" indeed!! )

So Crystal and I were talking about just how who knows who, and how did we all end up on each other's blogrolls, etc. It's just a small world, is all! :) I read all her friends' blogs and let me tellya, she knows some interesting people.. Or at least they can take a boring story and make it interesting!! ;)

So for those of you who are wondering just how I fit into Crystal's life... she was in my husband's youth group when I first moved out here to WA. She was the yearbook editor, the pianist for Norselanders (HS jazz ensemble), and the resident Vulcan of the youth group. ;) I sang a solo at her wedding to Aaron when I was T H I S B I G pregnant with Number One Son. And, we have taken piano lessons from the same lady.

It's Christmas time, and former youth groupies are coming home to WA to visit. Be prepared for "Blog Worlds Collide - part deux" !!


oooo, secrets, yesss preciousss

Nice to have power again

Thursday night we had a rather wicked windstorm move through the greater Seattle area. We were prepared: candles, flashlights, pitchers filled with water, peanut butter and jam.... yeahhh, we can handle it!!

The winds were kicking up around 7:30 - lights flickering - power surges- then as A. and I lay in bed reading books (A - Truth Matters by John MacArthur; me - Eragon again, since the movie's coming out soon) the power went out about 11 p.m. Storm really hit about 1 or 1:30, though we couldn't really tell since the power was out. :) When all was said and done, we'd lost about16 feet of backyard fence--NOT the one we replaced back in June!! And it's the neighbor's fence, technically. So that was a blessing.

Friday morning was chilly but not too bad. We prepared to go out to help some of the single ladies in our church who live in fir-tree neighborhoods. Had to take three different routes to get there because of trees over the road and power lines down. We spent some time raking tree debris out of her front yard. It was a mess!

Our power came back on around 9:30 a.m. yesterday, so we really did not have too much inconvenience at all. Crystal is still without power even now--and hopefully she and I will get together later today before she has to go back to her northerly neck of the woods.

OH! Kids had karate graduation scheduled for last night - they're being promoted to green belts (Finally) - well, with the power outages, everyone and his cousin Bob were out on Meridian S. Hill last night to be where there was light and heat. It took 20 minutes to get from 112th to 118th (That's 6 blocks). We gave up on graduation and went back home.

So I will enjoy my coffee and hot breakfast this morning and be grateful that I am no longer part of the million without power.

Nutcracker: Sweeeet!

This morning we had our last music teachers' meeting of the year. We had a tea/brunch, then played duets and solos from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. Nyaho was there at the beginning but had to leave (yes, I did have a lesson with him and it was good). I played in a flute trio for "Dance of the Reed Flutes" and it was rather fun all around.

This afternoon did some grocery shopping as a family whilst storm and wind and rain pummeled us on the outside. AND I went to the library for the first time in months! (I am not going to make my Newbery goal this year. But perhaps in 2007.) Instead of going for books primarily, I went to the CD's and got some Madrigal Songs by a group from Cambridge directed by Rutter; Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1; Thelonious Monk (jazz pianist) and Don Byron (clarinet). How's that for diverse genres? Not sure yet about this Don Byron; I really liked "Bug Music" but this CD's starting off a little odd.


For dinner tonight: Feijoada ! yummm. Pronounced "fay ZHWAH dah" - it's a Brazilian dish with black beans and sausage. I serve it over rice. Got the recipe from a Brazilian's wife, so it's good and presumably authentic.

D has been feeling under the weather and I'm a little run down myself. Fortunately I don't have any commitments the rest of this week except school.

Kids are complaning of hunger (bottomless pits!) so I must tend to the rice and feijoada. Ciao.

translation: "BORING"

Anne, your flavor is Mellow

Like vanilla ice cream or fresh bread, you're an easygoing and friendly person who's a staple to have around — always enjoyable at any time. With your relaxed attitude, you're both reasurring and refreshing, and this makes people around you feel at ease.While others may be fiery and hot-tempered, you always find a way to keep calm, cool, and collected. Your laidback and low-key attitude is what flavors everything you do — from spending a day at the beach to hosting a backyard BBQ to watching movies at home. No matter what you're up to, it's sure to be fun and have a feel-good vibe. Cool!

What's Your Flavor?
Brought to you by Tickle

To play or not to play

Tomorrow morning I have the oppty to have a lesson with Dr. William Chapman Nyaho. He's a wonderful person, and a fabulous pianist. He's filling in for Dr. Jacobson whilst she's in Australia visiting her daughter & co.

But I've not practiced well!! Do I want to go tomorrow and pay money to embarrass myself, or do I still go, suck it up, and learn what I can regardless??

I see the problem here: I don't want him to think ill of me, when I have such a high regard for him. You see? FEAR OF MAN.

THEREFORE, I will suck it up, and go.

Tonight I have a choir party. We finished our Christmas concerts last Saturday night and tonight we turn in our music, as well as celebrate. It's a dark, stormy, windy, rainy night, but I'm gonna go. I put some leftover soups in the crock pot - so Proverbs 31 of me~! - so the family will be provided for in my absence. I've made ham, pickle, cream cheese rollups with olives for horse-doovers (you know, I don't know how to really spell that word and I'm too lazy to go to M-W.com right now to look it up) - and all I need to do is put on some festive lookin' clothing and out the door I go!




Sigh..... A. just walked into the bedroom and made the following statement:

"Just for future reference....the crock pot works much better when you plug it in."



*evaporation of Proverbs 31 ideals* -

ah well, a choir-partying I go. That's why there's microwaves.


Can't Stop Eatin' These Horse-Doovers Recipe:

• thin-sliced deli ham, blotted dry on a paper towel
• softened nonfat cream cheese or neufchatel cheese
• dill pickles, halved or speared (depending on diameter)
• olives, your choice of black or green
• frilly toothpicks

Spread cream cheese on ham. Put a spear of pickle at the end of the ham. Roll up, slice in 1" segments. Stick a frilly toothpick through an olive, then into one of the ham/pickle sections.

I can't stop eating these! I ran out of olives and just made the ham/cream cheese/pickle spears and it's still great.

Family is distraught that I'm leaving with 72 of these for the choir members but none for them. Will have to make more later (I bought 2 packages of the toothpicks :) )

~Da-who Dorays, Fa-who Forays~

TODAY! Yes, TODAY we brought the tree into the house, set it up, and gave it a drink for the first time since Andy chopped it down on Monday.

*praying our tree doesn't become a Krispy Kritter until the next 17 days have gone by...*


I don't recall helping set up the tree when I was a kid; Mom did most of it. But I've learned to step back and let the kids put up the ornaments, and who cares if it's not perfect? They're excited and eager to help. They even helped to put up some of the lights.

Hang on...oven's beeping...have to stir the caramel corn.

We're going to sit down and watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, followed by A Charlie Brown Christmas. And munch on caramel corn!

I'll edit the pictures in later. Meanwhile, here's the caramel corn recipe that I LOVE. (I have a microwave version that's not as messy; this is the oven version)

Ingredients:

• 1 c. butter
• 2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. light Karo corn syrup (or golden syrup)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 batches of air-popped popcorn (near as I can figure, this is about 18 cups of popped corn)

Have your oven at a low 250º F - get a large dutch oven or roasting pan out and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Make popcorn and dump into the pan. In a medium saucepan, melt butter, then add brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn, stirring to mix.

Bake in a low oven for one hour, stirring every 15-20 minutes.

Serves - well, it depends on how much you like this stuff. Me, I walk by and grab a handful if it's out. So I try to save this recipe for December only!! Then eat celery the rest of the day (*sigh*).

Kinda like eggnog. We've had our gallon for the year; we're not buying any more. And fruitcake too. My husband actually enjoys fruitcake, so we buy the ones that Costco makes.

Whoops!! Movie time~!

St. Nicholas Day!

Well, my waffling about Sankt Niklaus hasn't made a lasting impression on my youngest halfling. See, every year the local fire department decks out Engine No. 2 with lights and puts Santa up on top, lit up with floodlights. Then they blare Christmas music out of the truck and drive slowly up and down the streets of Puyallup, giving candy canes to all kids. They do this in different quadrants of the city over the span of several days. It's great fun to see.

So tonight was our night~! Kids heard the sirens and music and went bonkers. "I-hill ha-have a-huh bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuee...............Christma-hus......without you-hoo......" was blaring as the truck drove down our street. Very happy kids. Santa, candy canes, and Elvis. What more could you ask for? After all, thanks to Lilo and Stitch, the kids think Elvis is a model citizen.

And today, December 6th, is actually St. Nicholas' Day. The kids' teacher, who is Greek Orthodox, told me that her church "adopted" 4 women/families that were living in the local Safe House and are helping them to have a Christmas. Someone came out dressed up like St. Nicholas and retold the ancient story, then provided the women and their children with needful gifts. I thought that was pretty cool.

BTW to clarify- yes, I homeschool. But yes, the kids have another teacher. We're doing a virtual public school - where I/kids do all the work - and we have a teacher resource for support and encouragement. (grin) ...AND accountability! We're in the Washington Virtual Academy (WAVA). Several other states have the same program. California, Colorado, Idaho, Florida, Pennsylvania all come to mind. At any rate... my taxes pay for it. No out-of-pocket for me. Some HS'ers have told me that I've "sold out" though--- I'm not really a homeschooler anymore, I'm part of the public school system. (some of these people can be very violent in their opinions!) But it's not their responsibility to educate my child, it's mine, and I must do what is best and right for US.

Which is why I don't criticise people for putting their kids in brick and mortar public schools either. Not my business, not my family...they have to do what's right and best for them!

Sorry about the tangent. Just rambling.

Which also reminds me, it's also St. Penny's day.......which, being interpreted, is my sister in law's birthday!!! Eeep! I'd better get that card in the mail. *rolling eyes*

AND speaking of cards, my Christmas cards are IN THE WORKS. No February mailings for me this year! ;O)

Worst Burglar Ever

He's got determination, I'll say that for 'im.

Regrouping and Borrowing twice

Math, math, math.

I've just endured three...THREE hours of tears, yelling, and frustration over 13 subtraction problems that require you to borrow from both the tens and the hundreds columns and regroup as ones and tens.

Just so you all know, and in the spirit of full disclosure: according to my son I am a tyrant who makes all this stuff up to torture children; a dictator who likes her own way; a person who will probably throw the block of cheese at her son if he gets the problems wrong; plus to top it all off I like to spank my children for no reason at all, just because I like it.


Enough about MY morning, how was yours??

How do those homeschooling moms do it? With eight kids all lined up like so many ducklings in a row, perfectly groomed, hand-sewn jumpers that all match, yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir,

I am NOT WORTHY. I cannot beat that. I can't even attain to it.

I know I've quit before but this time I mean it!
Probably. Maybe.

I need some personal regrouping time! I am drained and it's barely 1 in the afternoon. I have a very energetic, brilliant but foolish, OPINIONATED son and I thank God for his mind. JUst pray God will change his heart. I am not the Holy Spirit (reminding myself).

OKay. Making a cup of tea now. Kicking the family out of the house to go to the library.

For dinner tonight: Crock pot potato and ham soup. Nice to have at least one of my ducks in a row, even if school absolutely bit rocks today.

Grief, but not hopeless grief.

My heart is breaking for my dear friends Lori and Joe.

Yesterday morning Lori was able to hold her 15-day-old baby for the very first - and last - time. He is now at peace and completely healed in the arms of Jesus. His struggles are over.

The struggle will remain for Lori and Joe, and their sons Christian and Aaron. I pray that God's love will sustain them and His grace will overwhelm them during this time and in the difficult weeks to come. Lori knows and loves her Lord (as does Joe), and the family's prayer throughout all of this has been for God to be honored and glorified...whether by life or by death.

We wonder "why" - but we need to remember WHO our God is. It's not a big deal to bring joy out of good/easy circumstances.... but it takes an omnipotent God to bring joy out of evil and calamity, which is just what He can do, and has done countless times in the past.

May God be glorified in Isaac's brief life, and in his passing.

yep, SNOW~!

....not much, but like I suspected, all area schools are closed today. It's not going to get above freezing today, so the snow will stick around for another day or so, and what's on the roads will turn to compact snow/ice.

I'm so glad I don't have a commute to work any longer! Though if I were working my former job, I would have had today off anyway. (Teacher, and all that).

So here is the great blizzard of 2006 in Puyallup. Observe the vast quantities of snow....literally an inch or so! (sarcasm font used here)....



These photos were taken in the early hours of the morning.... amazing how the kids woke up so eagerly!

Snow~!

I know, I know...some of you midwesterners are going "Big, Fat, Hairy Deal" -------but for this California native, this is WAY COOL!

Pun intended.

This morning we had a mere dusting of snow. Result: Puyallup schools were 2 hours late.

Right now it's coming down steadily (fun to watch!!) - I'd guess we have 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. Bet me school is cancelled tomorrow.

But not here! (evil laughter)

We'll have PE first thing, I think, making snowballs of whatever snow we can find. Good stuff!

Everything on a waffle

Bathtime is time for pondering. I do it extensively myself, and have passed on the bathtime pondering gene to my daughter, aged 8.

Queries she, from the tub: "Mama? Do you believe in Santa Claus?"

Me: "Well, whom do you mean by Santa Claus?" (so very Bill Clinton of me......what is the meaning of "is" ?)

S: "You know, the one who comes down the chimney, eats cookies and drinks Coke."
(They have seen the advertising pictures of Santa drinking Coca-Cola; therefore, Santa must have Coke with his cookies.)

Me (waffling): "Well... there is an historical person named St. Nicholas. Signed the Nicene Creed and all that. Good man, very generous, helped others...."

S (insistent): " But what about SANTA CLAUS?"

Me: "I'm getting there! Hang on!! In German, Saint Nicholas is transliterated as Sankt Niklaus-----which, if pronounced quickly, sounds like 'Santa Claus.' "

S: "So, who comes down the chimney?"

Me (more waffling): "Erhm, well, there's lots of legends and things that have built up over time.....ohh... there's the phone! Excuse me!!"


What's the matter with me? Why couldn't I find the courage to say "SAINT NICHOLAS IS DEAD BUT HIS LEGACY LIVES ON!"

We've never actively promoted --or conversely, DENIED --the existence of Santa around here as some believers do (like, we never call him SATAN Claus, as some do) - so this is just what she has picked up from the popular culture.

She also believes in the Tooth Fairy.

So I'll let her live in childhood for a little while longer, neither confirming nor denying the existence of Saint Nicholas/Sankt Niklaus/Santa Claus.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What will you be doing for Thanksgiving this year? We will be having two couples over, and one single woman will drop by after she's off work (double time and a half, can't pass that up!!).

I don't have to make the turkey this year!! So I'm making the bread for the stuffing (let's hear it for bread makers, woot), and last night I put together the green bean casserole so all I need to do is put it in the oven. Tomorrow afternoon I'll do potatoes.

Oh. Pies. I'd better do some of those too. S. wants to make "Fruity Graham Cracker Mix," a recipe she has invented. She's been hounding me to make graham crackers so she can do this.


Her recipe is as follows: grind up graham crackers, mix with some vanilla yogurt, and add berries. Mix well and serve for dessert.

I will have her and D. help me make pumpkin pies this afternoon when I'm done teaching. (sigh)I tried to move all my students to Monday and Tuesday afternoons so I could have today off, but it was a no go for three of them. And they're all spread out throughout the afternoon, not in a nice neat little chunk! ah well.

Okay, question.....centerpieces. Are they NECESSARY, or do they just get in the way of the food? I think they look lovely and all - but my experience has been that they're just frou frou to make you look more like Martha Stewart. AND they get in the way of the food.

I'm willing to be educated by other more worthy women on this topic....especially if it's easy and cheap.

Okay! off to get the day going! :) Don't become so "Martha-ish" today and tomorrow that you forget to be a Mary!

Those words are for me as well. Blessings.

New Link~!

My dear friend Lori (whom God and the U.S. Army moved to the other side of the United States) has just given birth to their third son Isaac.

As Isaac was developing, the doctors determined that there was a hole in his diaphragm, so his stomach and intestines were actually pushed up into the chest cavity, creating difficulty for the heart and lungs to fully develop and be in their right places.

So they've known since pre-birth that the baby will need to have surgery. Right now they are just waiting for Isaac to be strong enough to do it. You can check out the current situation at santimaw.blogspot.com! :) And prayers are most welcomed.

I'mma puttin' a link over here too <-------------- so you can find it more easily.

Delinking

I've had it with "Christian" internet forums.

Over the last week I've witnessed so many Christian men and women duking it out, drawing lines in the sand over vagaries, and in general behaving just as unbelievers do when they get in a scrap, that I cannot in good conscience link to a particular site anymore.

I will read the blog part, perhaps, but I'm vamoosing on the forums. I've read women's posts verbally attacking pastors on the forums (get in your place, girl!), younger men rebuking older men, and overall, people behaving as unsaved people do.

It is dismaying, sickening, and just plain wrong.


And I have many more profitable things I should be doing with my time. Farewell.

Holiday Spirit

(in other words, too lazy to think of my own post, so I'll meme this one!!)
HT to Rebecca (via email)

1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? Eggnog!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Santa brings one "big" gift, unwrapped.

3. Colored or white lights on tree/house? White on tree (usually); colored on house.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

5. When do you put your decorations up? In bits and pieces after Thanksgiving (a box at a time).

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Broccoli casserole.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: I was traveling somewhere in the car with my parents. Snow was falling (so this wasn't Santa Maria!), and I was hearing Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" on the radio for the first time. I didn't know who the composer was, or what the piece was called, but it was the most beautiful song I'd ever heard. And I didn't know how to explain to my mom that I wanted to hear that song again and again--I'd try to hum the tune, but it never got through to her! :)

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What?? What do you mean??

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No. Always wanted to, because Diane got to!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Something old, something new--always something homemade by the kids!! Just about every ornament we put up has a history behind it. I love it.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it!

12. Can you ice skate? Not very well. I'm a good rollerskater though. Remember Xanadu?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? A jewelry box Andy made for me out of lilac wood. It has a lavender stripe in the grain.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Slowing down and taking time to have fun.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Hard to say. Probably caramel corn. "Moose Munch"!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going out to get the tree, then going out for hot chocolate afterwards. Then watching The Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

17. Turkey or Ham on Christmas? Ham!!

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I’d rather give.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? hmmm


Okay! If you feel like doing this on your blog, please let me know in the comments so I can come read it . Consider yourself tagged.

Eepybird.com does it again!!

This is the followup video to the original Diet Coke and Mentos experiment. Note that at the end of the video, they are looking for other creative souls to join them in their quest for creating Poetry in Motion.

Someone better tell Alan and John to get crackin'. This is right up their alley!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, "live"

Today we parked the car at Freighthouse Square, took the LINK train to downtown Tacoma, and went to the Tacoma Art Museum's monthly free day.

While there, we saw Eric Carle's artwork!!! Up close and personal! You could even see the pencil lines he used in making his pictures of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. That was a favorite book around here, as well as Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?. I stood and stared for a very long time, thrilled in a way I couldn't really describe.


The other highlight of the TAM for me was a sound sculpture called "Conloninpurple" by an artist named Trimpin. You stand in the middle of this room, surrounded by purple "trumpets" and resonating tubes suspended in mobiles from the ceiling to close to the ground. Under each tube is a wooden marimba block, and a little hammer comes up to strike the block, and the metal tubes amplify the sound throughout the hall. These are in turn wired to a computer MIDI file, which will play various songs (original compositions). The sound encircles you completely, but not overwhelmingly. As the mallets strike the marimba blocks, the action will occasionally cause the trumpet mobiles to spin slowly, adding to the interest.


Of the family, I was the one most interested in it. Kids went upstairs and were happily painting in the hands-on art room. :)

So I got my day off, basically, even though I was still called "Mommy" and/or "Honey." Thanks for the encouragement.

anti-"Cheers"

(singing to theme song of "Cheers"-) "You wanna be where nobody knows your naaaamme....." - least of all "Mommy" or "Honey."

I want a day off!


Rant ended. Selfishness abounding in my heart. I'm going for a coffee. Need some perspective.

Blinded

Photos of our recently-redone living room, now with new wood blinds!

Bloggy Link to Tweedygirl/Susan

Her "Things I feel strongly about" is worth a click.

I got a lovely chuckle out of it. Maybe you will too. I will have to think about what I feel strongly about. I'm very often like Charlie Brown, who, of course, in Lucy's opinion, is too wishy-washy.

Mmm. That reminds me--this was Diane's chief complaint of one of her former boyfriends in high school... who shall remain nameless. (Unless you bribe me. wuahahaha.) But the letters "y" and "e" are in his name. Hehehehehee...and that could be several people.

Moving right along! Gotta get ready for Kids 4 Truth.

"my mind is going, Dave...I can feel it..."

I think blogging is a very good thing for me, personally. Not thinking of the four of you who read this, but for me, MYSELF.

You see, I have NO memory for details. I am currently IM'ing with my college roommate's husband - recalling their wedding day (I was a bridesmaid) - and I'm finding that I can't remember the most basic of details, as in, who else was in the wedding party. And I went to college with all of them.

I do this with other things too. Details of my children's lives. My childhood. Stories my parents have told me. It's slipping away. I'm getting Alzheimers, and I'm only 36.

Therefore, it will become increasingly important for me to jot down details of my daily ins-and-outs so I can come back here and READ it, and hopefully a small, dim bulb will come on somewhere and I can say...ohhhh...yeaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!! I remember NOOOOWWWW!!!

This will only be good as long as Blogger holds up, or the internet stays online. But it's a start. And maybe, if I've forgotten enough, I can sit and read snippets of my life as a kind of spectator. I wonder if I would cheer or boo?

Now there's a deep question to ponder. "Will this activity I am pursuing right now, which I will record in my blog later on--make me as a Spectator of My Life cheer, or boo?"

Even more deep, and should have been the first question I thought of: What does God think of what I'm doing?

Have a blessed Lord's Day.



oh.....and does anyone know where the title quotation comes from?

It's Fall!

So I've goofed with the template again. :) Enjoy, for a few weeks.....then it'll be time for Christmas decorations around here.

I have to figure out the right size for bullets and comments! pft.

Much ado about...

Well, not exactly NOTHING, but the river did NOT go over its banks in Puyallup. It did do so in Sumner and in Orting, though. Here in Puyallup it got to 28.7 feet - it floods at 30.

I'm glad the Fire Department was on top of things, evacuating people in the farmland/lowland areas around Riverside Elementary and Duris' Cucumber Farm. So I don't think they were in your dad's neighborhood, Crystal.

Meanwhile, exciting things! Last night I was fiddling with our printer, which has had a Matthew 18 problem with the computer (they weren't talking with each other, so I've been unable to print documents for about 3 days). As I was goofing with one of the USB cables, the computer reset. And when it came back up, it had a bunch of corrupted files. Most notably, when I pulled up Thunderbird, ALL THE EMAIL WAS GONE and it was asking me to set up a new email account!!! ack@!!!

I spent an hour on the phone with our techie friend Dave, who had me trying various things with no success. And *hanging head miserably* the last time I cloned the hard drive was, oh, back in MAY. So much for having a backup. Bad, bad bad.

So my desktop computer is sitting, cold and abandoned, by the front door so Dave can take it and run some diagnostics on it. At least we have determined that the clone, though out of date, does work properly (I was able to take out the clone hard drive and boot it up on Andy's computer system, which is identical to mine). Dave thinks it's a hardware issue - perhaps the motherboard has gone haywire and started corrupting files; perhaps it's all tied to this printer thing...who knows? Dave's a genius, though, he'll figure it out.

Meanwhile, I am trying not to panic, nor think about how much my life now depends on silly email!!! Or that I do not have hard copies of all the "vital information" that I have left in the email files!!

Stop thinking. stop thinking.
Much ado!