The Edge of the World

I am very sorry to have dropped off the edge of the world for the past few
weeks. I would like to give you a good explanation, but I don't really have
one. I have been blowing off the blog in favor of other activites.
Other writers of other blogs say they prepare their entries ahead of time.
I might try that, but there is no guarantee that I will follow through or that
even if I do it will make a difference in how often entries appear.

My attempt to Blog 365 is pretty much a lost cause. I am going to give up
trying to make up for lost time. It is only contributing to making me feel
behind and like a failure. So, I will stop worrying so much and just post. I
will try to post as often as possible and with read-worthy topics.

Of course, what is read-worthy is really up to the reader. So, again, no
guarantee.

For you photographic pleasure, DD11. Doesn't she look pleased that upon being told that she had her hair caught in the swing rope my first instinct is to take the camera out there? We did get her untangled, eventually.

Green (Feb 7)

The trees are finally really budding out. Odds are we won't see any more cold weather.

I need to get rolling on our garden boxes.

My procrastination tendency has stopped more than one garden from ever happening.

Now, where did I out those seed packets?

Here are the girls having fun in the wading pool, 7 or 8 years ago.

Ewww! (Feb6)

Something in the fridge went horribly wrong.

My chief suspect is a pack of chicken breast patties that should ahve gone in the freezer upon arrival from the grocery store but was put in the vegetable crisper drawer of the fridge instead. Without me knowing

So, yesterday I had the girls clean out the fridge. I told them to toss anything that looked bad or was past date. I could smell the nasty all the way downstairs.

I really need to take a handle on our food again. Now that all the stuff that cannot be eaten is gone the fridge is pretty bare.

I had not put much thought into needing to shop for groceries because every time I openned the fridge (which was generally just for drinks since Dh does most of the cooking) it was...if not full, at least not empty. So, I never put it all together that shopping was needed.

(Note: We are not out of food.)

I am going to put my homemaker hat back on and whip up a menu for the coming week, and a shopping list to go with it.

Here is DD8 (a few years ago) up a tree.

Mightier than the Sword (Feb 5)

Since I am spending more time away from my computer (or trying to) i am writing out my blog long hand on paper (and trying not to lose it.)

I have always liked to write. I love the feel of the pen sliding across paper, especially with more paper underneath. There is something about the cushioning that I like. (When writing in pencil it is the opposite; I prefer no paper under the page being used.)

This has been fun, writing more. It brings back memories from bygone years staying up all night writing out silly stories until my hand cramped.

I actually have nice handwriting, if I do say so myself.

Here is a picture of DD10 on her 6th birthday. She wanted a pirate theme. We hung a sheet between a tree branch and picnic table to make a sail. We had a treasure hunt and lots of cool games. It was a great day. We even had wonderful weather for an outdoor party. That is not always possible in November.

Being Holy (Feb 4)

The preacher for our church's recent revival focused on what it means to be a holy man.

He made a specific point that he wasn't talking about the Pope or some sort of high priest. He preached about the average Christian being holy.

God commands that His people be holy, for he is holy.

What does it mean to be holy? What is holiness as it pertains to us and our life?

What do you believe it means to be holy? Is it possible?

The munchkins a few years ago, 2003, I think. We had a photo shoot outside for the Fall. I really like this one.

I do need to get more photos on my laptop, though, or start blogging from my desktop.

New Haven (Feb 3)

I spent a day (a few days ago) cleaning my bedroom. it took all day, but the result is well worth all the effort. Why did I put this off for so long?

I joked with my brother that since we've been here almost a year I had decided to finally finish moving in.

Having the room clean has been wonderful. It is like a haven now where I can escape the chaos of the rest of the house. I moved the table that was in the kitchen at the old house (but which hasn't really found a home in the new place) into the bedroom. I makes a nice spot to have the phone and laptop. I joked with DH that I need to get a minifridge and microwave.
He said I had better not hole up in here. They would never see me. Eventually, the mess from the rest of the house would block my escape should I need to leave.

I haven't made my final decision yet. Minifridges and microwaves are not too expensive. I could even bring the coffee maker back here. I am the only one who ever uses it.

With all that, plus regular maintenance to keep the clean going, it could be like I have my own little hotel room at the end of the hall.

I could print up a fire-route paper to put on the back of the door to finish the effect.

That plus a "Do Not Disturb" sign and I am on vacation all the time.

I honestly do not know if I have posted this picture already. This is the eye of an American aligator at the Memphis Zoo.

Schedule Change ?

my life, well, my daily schedule at least, has become far too lackadaisical. I need to shape up a bit.

I have been "enjoying" being a stay-at-home mom so much that I have taken the freedom to far. I have decided to continue enjoying my freedom but to inject a little structure.

Of course, it is easy to say that, harder to make it happen.

The girls here are climbing on a pile of rocks my in-laws have in their yard.

Not on Drugs (Feb 2)

In the interest of entertaining myself I decided a few days ago to begin a series of entries with reviews of movies that I own on DVD. This is both to save me from having to pay to see new movies I don't want to see and taking time out of my day to see them. With my own DVD collection I have hundreds (yes, I mean that) of movies to review AND I like most of them to one degree or another.

To prove that not all of these reviews of movies I own are going to be fluff pieces to benefit (though I don't know how) movies I like, I planned to start with one I do not like. I even wrote out my review on a piece of paper (that'll teach me) and promptly lost it, since I haven't been at my desk in a couple of days and there are gremlins about.

Anyhoo...I think I can paraphrase what I had without taking the time to think too hard and re-write the review itself.

Cutthroat Island sucks!

Whoever told Geena Davis she could act should be SHOT! Or made to watch Cutthroat Island. The jury is really out on which would be the harsher punishment.

I actually remember enjoying this film when my friends and I went to see it in college. I know I wasn't on drugs, so I must have been sitting next to the guy I had a crush on, thereby enjoying the company rather than the film.

I bought the DVD out of nostalgia for thinking I had enjoyed it in the theatre. I sat down to watch and was not able to stomach more than 10 minutes. It is HORRID!

Next time an entry about a movie I did like. There are more of those.

I mean there are more of those in my own DVD collection, NOT in existence.

Here is a shot of a Cinderella barbie doll I took the eye paint off of. The lashes on one eye smeared badly and were a pain in the acetone to get off. SHe looks a little like Seven of Nine. Hmmmm...

Zzzzzz

I did not want to get out of bed this morning.

We did not stay up super late or have to get up early.

Yesterday I threw away our old (OLD) pillows and had the hubby pick up new ones on his way home. Wow! Cushiony heaven. Ahhh!

Here is my youngest daughter hanging out a window at my in-laws' house. No worries, my father-in-law was behind her holding on.

A Difficult Distance

I need to back my time on the computer WAY down. There is really no way around this. I am not being the wife, mother, teacher, and housekeeper that I want to be because I am sitting here, desperate for something interesting to read or watch. What good does it do me to not have cable TV if I sit in front of my computer screen all day? (Well, given that my choice in internet entertainment is of higher calibre than most tv shows, I guess it does SOME good. But that is beside the point!)

I still want to get at least 365 blog entries this year. (Yes, I know I am still behind.) I am going to limit my computer time every day, if not spend some days completely away. I will post blog entries (at least one) when I do have computer time, and when I do not I will try to write something profound down on a piece pf paper to transcribe into the computer when I get a chance. Updates will be more sporadic, but I hope to net 7-10 / week.

And, if it comes down to a choice between giving my family and myself what I need in person, or logging on here to talk about the weather and what earrings I have made... or something more interesting like politics (I am Republican with strong Libertarian leanings,) religion (Christian,) or movies (action, please, with comedy in for spice,) I will chose my family. (Golly, that was one heck of a run-on sentence with all kinds of tangents to wander down.)

If I cannot manage to jot down an entry on a napkin, I will try taking pictures of my life and posting them. I make no guarantees about the quality of my photography.

Here is DD8 (7 at the time) at the bottom of our back stairs. This is where my desk is now. You can tell this spot gets more than its fair share of morning sun. This was 11 months ago, a few weeks before we moved in. It is much messier now.

Thoughts on Horror (Feb1)

My husband and I were discussing movies a while back and we started to think about why we liked some movies but not others, even when on the surface the films might seem similar. I had been watching a little bit of the computer animated Resident Evil: Degeneration but stopped because I was losing interest and neither engaged in the story nor frightened. The first two Resident Evil movies were decent enough. The third Mila Jovovich one was ok, but not up to the first two. This computer animated one really blew. Eventually I went back and watched the second half just for laughs.

Anyway, like I said, my husband and started to talk about movies, and drifted to horror, given my choice of recent viewing material. Here is his take (edited somewhat) on what makes a horror movie good (or bad.)

---

Me- What makes a movie scary if you don't want to rely on gore or cheap startles?

DH- There are a couple of things...cheap thrills aside, really good suspense flows well, actually, the cheap thrills usually stop good suspense.

Me- The suspense has to lead somewhere, but cats jumping out when you are afraid there is a killer is just plain stupid.
"Haha, it was just a cat, blah blah blah, the audience will love that laugh, they are so stupid"

I see THAT is a mistake writers make. But there is more to it.

DH- The key to good suspense is to keep building slowly, never letting it totally down (and avoiding the bum-bum-BUM moments.)
That means good plot, and some pay-off doesn't hurt when it's not cheap.
Look at 6th sense, leaving aside any gore, it would've been just as scary with no gore.
You make sure the audience KNOWS the bad things are about to happen, and that's really where the suspense is.

Me- The gore in 6th sense was not to shock the audience but more to give sympathy for Cole; a kid should not have to see that all the time.

DH- Yeah.
Now, some other things...

Creepiness; this is really the function most hacks use gore to achieve.
Other common ways to achieve creepiness is by using things that people innately fear or avoid, like bugs and insane people.

Me- HP Lovecraft studied psychology to delve into what primally scares people; being eaten is a big one.

DH- The last piece I would suggest again comes to plot, but isn't so much a device... it's the timing and flow. Scary movies are like musical pieces when done right. They have to flow together from one movement to another with lots of minor apexes, but only one big crescendo. When you let it come down, you have to keep enough tension to keep the ball rolling. You can't have too many big points that detract from the finale, but you still have to have the minor points that make everything feel like progress forward and to keep interest.
You can't rely on one big scare.
Your plot is vital to this, because gimmicks just don't do it.

---

I hope that wasn't too hard to decipher, given that we were IMing at the time.

"bum bum BUM" Are a big cheese factor. Anywhere you can say (or hear an actor say, which is even worse) "It was the little boy all along!" or "Oh NO! Just as she almost got out!" or "The scientist took a sample to his lab!" These are sometimes accompanied by sweepy camera moves, to make sure you see it, or accenting music. bum bum BUM. B horror flicks do this a lot. Resident Evil: Degeneration did this so much it was amusing.

Not long after we had this conversation DH and I went to see Coraline. It is a children's horror movie. This meant the gore was kept to a minimum (Do splattered silverfish count as gore?) and the story would have to carry (or fail to carry) the suspense and horror. (And there was more likely to be a happy ending. There are very few things I want to take time out of my life to watch or read that I will be satisfied by a tragic ending. It just seems like a wild waste of my time.)

DH said Coraline was superbly done, one of the best movies he has seen in the last five years. (That sounds like a compliment, but thinking back on the releases of the last five years, it isn't saying as much as it sounds like it is saying.) There were minor apexes leading up to, but not detracting from the final climax.

I liked it a lot too, though the trapeze scene was a little...over the top. The creepiness was certainly up there on the scale. I have heard that adults are actually more creeped out than kids by this film. I can see that. There are nuances that kids either don't get or take as a given that mess with adults. It depends on the kids, of course, and the adults. The buttons really get me, eewww!

I don't think I would take my 8 year old to see this, but the older girls, sure.

The rhinoceros at the Memphis Zoo. I cannot remember what her name is. I keep thinking Rosie, but I would not bet money that is correct. Isn't she beautiful?

The weather today and yesterday has been very nice. The sun is sparkling in a bright blue sky. The temperatures are warmer than they were last week while it rained. I may send the kiddos outside this afternoon to get out of my hair the house.

It is a little bit of a mixed blessing. My desk is quite near our back (south facing) window and I am facing east. Between 9 am and noon I can barely see for the glare of sunlight right in my face. I am thinking of moving my desk. It is either that or move the sun. I tried moving the sun first. It worked for a while but then the blamed thing just went right back to where it had been.

This is a really good place for my desk. It will take some thinking to decide where I want to put it. I might have to rearrange the whole house. What fun.

Maybe I should see if there is some way to get curtains up onto the large window. It is pretty big, and the top left corner is a good 3.5 - 4 meters up, hard to reach. I'll really have to think about it.

I suppose if I buy or rent a ladder to help with outdoor high place maintenance I could also use the ladder inside to hang curtains. They would definitely need to be on some sort of pulley system. The window is too big to just grab the drapes in the middle break and sweep them open with your hand.

I suppose my other option, besides moving my desk or hanging drapes, is to just live with the glare. But that doesn't sound fun at all.

My friend Sonya. RIP

Without Me

Aside from the sadness I feel at Sonya's death, I also feel the need to not only make sure my family knows I love them, but also to make sure that the future is planned for what they would do if something happened to me.

I suppose those are both perfectly normal reactions. At least they feel perfectly normal to me.

DD11 and I have actually discussed this matter in the past. But I think I need to make sure DH understands and wants what I want. And that he knows how to get what he needs to continue taking care of the girls the way I would prefer, should I not be here to finish their education.

What?

PLease pardon my typing today. I do not have my glasses on, and I cannot really see even then.

You may remember a few days, weeks maybe, I don't know, I was complaining about my friend not listing my blog on her blogroll..

Well, it's there now.

I was there looking for glimpses of her. SHe died Friday.

I never mentioned whose blog didn't list mine. God, I hope she didn't know I meant her.

But Iam listed htere now.

I had other things I was going to blog about, but I may not be over here for a couple of days.

I am sorry.

Mississippi Magic

Growing up with my dad in the military we didn't get to visit my grandparents in Mississippi very often. Usually it was either a week in the summer or a week at Christmastime.

I can remember as we would be driving in, closer and closer to the marvelous house I knew so well. The highway would wind through tall trees that dripped with kudzu vines. My sister and I called it our Mississippi jungle. We'd pass the little church where our parents were married (and at least 3 pairs of aunts and uncles) then more woods. There on the right was the road to our aunt's house. Up on that hill, that white house was our mother's cousin's home. Then the road would bend and there is was, down off the highway, a gravel drive, magnolia tree, vegetable garden, and a small, little house that never felt small to us.

My family was not wealthy, generally more the opposite.

My grandparents did not have a switch to turn their dining room light on and off. We, or rather, an adult, had to reach up and give the bulb a twist, making sure to cover their hand with a wash rag if the bulb had been on a while. I have no idea how they came to be without a light switch back then. In the years since then that problem has been fixed.

The only interior room to have a door was the combination bathroom/laundry room. All of the bedrooms had old quilts nailed up in the doorways.

That was probably wise. The floor was so warped that the bathroom door had the tendency to jam after opening only a few feet.

My mother's stepmother always had a parakeet. I don't think it was ever the same bird from one visit to the next, but there was always a bird in the dining room.

The front door was never used, too many old refrigerators or freezers or hub caps to be convenient. The side door was more easily reached anyway, and safer. There were wasps on the porch, so we never played there, even if old hub caps and freezers did seem cool.

Those visits were a chance for three kids from the suburbs to be free for a while from The Brady Bunch and The Jetsons and just see what there was to be seen. We could build our own fun from there.

Sometimes there were chickens we weren't allowed to chase, sometimes not. There were often beagles in the wooden pen that my grandfather used to hunt. We weren't allowed near the pen either.

I don't know what that pen was built for originally, but my earliest memory of it was it housing pigs. I guess dogs was a step up. We didn't really want to mess with the pen.

Our imaginations could turn the woods behind the house (woefully void of kudzu) into a jungle or wilderness. We would search down the hill for treasure amongst 40 years of junk that had been tossed down there out of view of the house before the county started collecting. (Left over food went to the dogs (or pigs) and junk was tossed down the hill. Broken sewing machines, kitchen chairs, stereo speakers, old boots, 20 year old empty soda bottles, broken eyeglass frames, old broom handles, it was a gold mine.

We were not supposed to play down there.

I love living in Mississippi, even if living somewhere is very different from visiting for a week, and 2009 is very different from 1982. I still love kudzu vines, even though I am not supposed to. I love looking through junk to see wondrous possibilities for fun. I love exploring and learning about the past.

I want to capture some of the magic Mississippi had for me as a kid, for myself as well as for my own children. I am just not sure how. (Tossing all of our broken junk into the backyard not really being where I want to take this.)

---

Here are DD8 and DD10 trying to roller skate.

What's for Dinner? (Jan 31)

So, I know I promised to try to keep the mundane to a minimum, but we can already see how that has turned out. So, for today's blogg-a-riffic enjoyment, I present...

"What is for dinner?"

We have Chef Boy-ar-Dee ravioli, some Dinty Moore beef stew, chicken flavor Ramen noodles.

Yum.

I do believe a trip to the grocery store may be in order.

So, now that the options have openned up to include "Anything I Want," What should we have?

DD11 says Spaghetti, or Fettuccini Alfredo. I don't really feel like cooking, and those are MY recipes. (Some things I cook, some things DH cooks.)

DB says he doesn't know. "Did we decide to not have the ravioli?" That is his answer. Or meatball subs, he suggests, once I clarify that a trip to the grocery is going to happen first.

What is it with all the Italian (-based) foods? We eat too much pasta. Well, I guess meatball subs don't quality as "pasta" per se, but it is in the same "food family."

I could really go for a BBQ sandwich. Too bad I didn't put a roast in the crock pot 8 hours ago. We could go for "heat and eat" but it isn't the same. If we lived in Huntsville still, I would know just where to go. I am not as clear on where is good around here. I learned to make my own when we lived too far to pop out for take-out. Now that we are closer to town I have not explored the glories of Oxford BBQ. I think I'll ask around some of my friends. (Yes, I have friends.)

We have been having tacos a lot recently, as well. It has been good, but the bloom is off the rose. (That is a saying, right?) And I am tired of hot dogs, too. They have been my default "I-don't-feel-like-cooking-or-salad-meal recently. I ma tired of hot dogs.)

Now that I thought of BBQ, I cannot get it out of my head. I may have to suffer with "heat and eat" but things could be worse. I could be forced to cook for real.

Chuck (Jan 30)

We have gotten adicted. Gotta have a new series to watch. (Thanks A LOT for suggesting this one, DS! Now we don't get anything done.)

Super Spies, Super Computer, a Best Buy knock-off as a set, and Adam Baldwin...how could that go wrong? I think Ellie and Awesome are my favorite characters (besides Chuck, Sarah, and Casey.)

DH says he doesn't think it is written by nerds. The nerds on the show are too cliched, he says. He may be right. He may be in denial. I do believe we went to college with some of these guys.

TV watching doesn't go the same way here as it does for most of you. All my watching is done on-line, so if a show is not brand new I get sucked into watching episode after episode, much like have a season on DVD (which is also done around here.) Things settle down to watching once a week only when we have caught up to current shows.

Rather than an 18 hour slob fest we have decided to keep it to 3 episodes a night. It draws out the fun and allows other things to get done. (I did a couple of 18+ (do not ignore the +) runs to get up to speed on Ghost Whisperer. Can you say "Jumpy?" Half the reason I stayed up through the night to watch was that I was incapable of going to bed and trying to sleep, even with the lamp on. The other half was that the story really drew me in. (Still hooked btw. Do you watch? Do you think Sam/Jim is really gone?)

Well, DH needed a quick nap after work. It is about time for Chuck. See ya'!

Today's photo - My Dad and Grandad (his father-in-law) sitting near the fireplace at a family gathering. Dad is usually off on the side at a Mom's-bunch gathering. I do not know why Grandaddy is. he is usually right in the center of everything.

Chatting about the weather

Yeah, the last few days have been in the 80s F. For those of you accustomed to Celcius temps that is "the warmer side of confy for outside." Today we get 50s. Tonight it is supposed to rain and rain all through the rest of the week and into the weekend. So much for yard work. (Procrastination pays off once again!)

(Disclaimer - No one under the age of 18 should take the above statement as an endorsement of putting off ones chores in the hopes of getting out of them completely. That is irresponsible.)

Some wild flowers to cheer up your day. I believe these were in my in-laws' yard 2 or 3 years ago.

WaHOOOO!!!! (for Jan 29)

That is it! Done!!

"We are the Champions, My Friend!
And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end.
We are the Champions!
We are the Champions!
No time for losers 'cause
We are the Champions
Of the WORLD!"

We got our tax refund Friday.
I just hit send on an e-payment for the last of my student loan.

Over the last 15 months we have paid off $50,281.20 and this was the last debt (besides the mortgage) we have.

Take THAT Toyota, and MasterCard, and Visa, and Sallie Mae. You are no longer a part of my family's life, nor will you ever be again!

And a picture to remind that WHATEVER goal you set can be reached if you keep at it and work for it.

Frustration X Confusion = ?? (make up for Jan 28)

I am doing something wrong with the teaching of multiplication. I cannot figure it out. They know some things but seem to have no grasp of other facts, no matter how many times we practice and go over it. I am going to try some new approaches.

Hmmm, or maybe old ones. DD11 learned just fine, mostly by playing a computer game. I haven't had the other two girls playing the computer game. I think I will try pulling it out. Of course, DD11 liked the computer game. If her sisters do not it may not be as successful.

Last Autumn, the girls and I did manage to do some raking. Not that you can tell it now.


PS- Concerning the last blog entry...earing pair -Done

There is a story in my head. (make up for Jan 27)

Rats!

I had a delicious dream last night. It had plot, intrigue, beauty, and mystery. Ireally want to write it out as a novel. But I woke up only about one quarter of the way through! I don't even know how things are going to turn out.

I need to think on it a bit. And clear up some of the "dream logic" that doesn't make sense.

DH says to flesh out the characters and their actions and (more importantly) their motivations and the story will come on its own. It's a wonder he isn't a writer. He has the talent for storytelling.

My main problem is I have a gaggle of supporting characters and an antagonist, but no main protagonist. I can't very well write a novel set in a mysterious intrigue filled kingdom and hav the main character be a mother of 3 from Mississippi (unless that is the whole premise, which in this case, it is not.)

I need to jot down some notes and ideas. And I need plot twists. The story as I dreamed it was too straight forward.

Here is a chalk drawing one of my daughters did on the driveway of my in-laws' home in KY. I do not remember which daughter, just that this photo was taken in July of 2007. I guess date stamps are only useful up to a point.

Monday To Do

I must say, having a list of things that need to be done handy to remind oneself of what need to be done and allow one to mark off tasks as they are completed is certainly helpful. I made a "To Do" list last night and am already well on the way through it.

Open downstairs windows to allow fresh air in. - Done
Shower - Done
Bible Reading - Done
Take down last of Christmas decorations - Done
Put paid bill stubs into DH's unused (and therefor available) briefcase - Done
Clean the floor of the craft room - Done
Laundry - Going
Dishes - Going

Still up...
Math
Raking the yard
Making one pair of earrings
Sweeping spider webs off the outside of the house
Pulling overgrown ivy from outside the laundry room window
Mop the Kitchen
clean 2 fish tanks

I don't know if I will get outside today. So, some of these will wait until tomorrow.


Here is one of my favorite shots from when I lugged my camera around the Ole Miss campus looking for interesting shots. This is the front porch of the Lyseum building, built in 1848. It is the oldest building on campus. It used to BE the university building. Now it houses the offices of the chancellor and probably some other people along with a few conference rooms.

The Most Under-rated Movie of All Time (make up for Jan 27)

I never did watch, thanks to all the poo-pooing by critics and the knowledge that it seems to have ended Kevin Costner's career. Shame on me! Shame on the critics! I can only imagine why they did not like this movie. It was well written, well acted, and well made (other than the cable car scene, which was obviously green-screen, but may just be that I am spoiled by recent cgi technological developments and it wasn't bad for the time.)

The Postman totally DID NOT SUCK! I loved it. I must see if I can buy this on DVD. It was a tad predictable, but what isn't nowadays? This movie was cool.

If you are the kind of person who likes "hope re-emerging after disaster" movies. If you don't mind one (in my opinion) unnecessary sex scene. If you are a fan of the United States Postal System. You will like this movie.

The character of the Postman is cool, but I think Abby and Ford are my favorites.

Not a movie for young kids. IF it weren't for the above-mentioned sex scene I would definitely consider letting my older two watch. Since there is the needed technology to skip past that I may still. (Oh, side note. There was one use of the N-word. It was used to show how evil and hateful the bad guys are. Its existence is no doubt one of the reasons this movie was so reviled. A short talk to the girls about what the word is, what it means, and what it signifies will be in order before they watch. If they watch.)

Eye candy-
After a storm last Spring it looked like our backyard maple tree tried to catch something it had dropped.

Growing Season Plans (make-up for Jan 26)

We are going to be gardening this year. Yes, I have said that in the past and, no, I have never had a garden. Funny thing, buying seed packets is only the FIRST step (technically, I don't think it should actually be Step 1...maybe step 3 or 4.) not the only step.

I found a way that I think I can do this. Square Foot Gardening looks like I could actually manage. I am not planning to do it exactly like he says. I am adapting it along the "classroom" ideas he gives and scaling it down. (DH, no doubt wary of my attention span for such things, says to start small.) I am planning to build 2'x 2' boxes, with bottoms (unlike the gardens the site generally showcases) so that I can not only move them but also have them up on a table. This will let me bring them into the garage if we get a bad storm or drought. And, most importantly for me, this will be easier on my knees.

The knees have been giving me a lot of trouble over the last few months. I am starting to think a house full of stairs was a bad idea. However, I do love my house, so I am coping.

If I had to garden on the ground I would not do it at all. With all of it up on a table, within easy not-bending-over reach, this is at least possible.

We have lettuce, tomatoes, peppers on the list for veggies. I think I will do a larger patch of corn as well as watermelon and pumpkin vines in the ground, rather than on the table. I am also going to have an herb box with oregano, basil, rosemary, and ... hmmm ... I had only picked 3. A 2'x 2' box has four 1'x 1' spaces. I think I will see if I can grow marjoram. That keeps the box spice-based and gives spices I use on a regular basis. (I cannot bring myself to put a veggie in the spice box. That isn't the way I work.) I am also going to have spearmint. That stuff will grow just about anywhere. I have some old flower pots I might use, or just build another 2'x 2' box. I could put it in the ground, but spearmint looks very weed-like; at least it resembles a lot of the weeds our yard has. SO, I do not think in-the-ground is the right way to go.

I'll keep you updated on how things progress. IF things progress.

FOr your visual pleasure...Some of my Christmas presents from this past holiday (2008). It was the year of cups. I often see my gifts following a theme, even when the givers are not in cahoots, or even know each other. The flag covered was from the in-laws. The light blue with the word Faith was from my sister. The little demitasse with the brown stripe was from Mom. There are a couple of others I didn't get into the pic.

Now, I just need to send out psychic vibes that 2009 will be the Year of Gold Bullion and see if I can influence the theme with my mind.

Saving the Daylight

I did not realize until last night at midnight that it was Time Change Time again. I knew "They" had decided to switch it to March starting last year, rather than the April everyone was used to. I did not realize it was so early in March.

I do not really mind. Spring generally comes early around here, relative to the rest of North America. Changing the time fits with our Mississippi climate. I cannot imagine what a mind-wonk it would be to change the time and still have a foot of snow (or more) on the ground.

Good thing I live here. I can't really handle too much more mind-wonking.

PS- For a real mind-wonking, try watching two episodes of Farscape at the same time. Start one, then five minutes in start another. Every 5-10 minutes switch back and forth. At first you won[t have too much trouble keeping straight what is going on, but by the time each is reaching the climax of the episode you are going to start really wishing you had only watched one, or perhaps none at all; depends on your taste for sci-fi. Later seasons provide for even better mind-wonking fun that the early stuff.

Here DH and DB try (and eventually succeed) at jumping DB's on-its-last-legs pick-up.

Jewelry Again (Make-Up for Jan 25)

I am really enjoying making this jewelry. That is what I did all day yesterday while I was not updating my blog.

Yesterday I lengthened my inch of Byzantine chain and a smaller size chain maille chain, made numerous jump rings with gold-toned wire, cataloged some new supply purchases, did some laundry (lest you think I was totally lost in trinket-land all day), and experimented with a couple of new techniques.

My favorite bit was discovering, while preparing DH's new shirts for washing, that the pins Van Heusen so generously donated to hold the shirt in its package shape are, in fact, quite pretty in a pin-like sort of way.

Go crazy with the wire cutters, choose some beads, whip out the pliers and VOILA, six stick pins become six earrings. And you would never know if I didn't tell you.

A branch of my Japanese Red Maple. This was Spring 2007.

Habits and Blogging

Habits are hard to break, that is what makes them habits rather than just occasional activities. But, once they are broken, they are broken.

When my computer first went down I was often itching to get over to the blog and jot down a thought or two, but stopped myself. Eventually the nice little blog-a-day habit I was growing faded away. So, now that I can again update the blog every day, I find it hard to remember and get over here to see to it.

I was all excited Monday to start making up for lost time and make-up missed days with bonus entries, and then yesterday I forgot to write anything. Grrr, I will add March 3 to the list of days to be made up.

For your photo enjoyment this morning, the girls at the park. This was either last year or the year before.

Sermon Notes

Basic Premise of both Sunday School and Sermon was that turning from God has consequences.

The 3rd chapter of Habakkuk was the sermon basis. I have never actually read Habakkuk. It was very interesting and particularly relevant for today, I think.

Basically, God used the Chaldeans to punish Israel for turning from him. But, the Chaldeans themselves would be held accountable for their actions.

How is that relevant for today? Is anyone really asking that?

In Like a Lion (Make-Up blog entry 2)

I cannot imagine I am the only person to start their blogs with that title.

Last week saw temps in the 60's F. Yesterday it snowed.

The girls loved it. They were a little sad they had to wait until after church to play out in the yard. But, there was still enough after lunch to make for a fun afternoon.



Most of it is gone now. There is still a tiny bit at the front of the house that doesn't get much sun.

New Toy (Make-Up entry 1)

Saturday night I started making jewelry.

Now, granted, that only involved choosing a charm I like, buying two of them plus earring pieces and jump rings, then using a pair of pliers to open a jump ring (4mm ring of steel wire) and attaching the charm to the "earring." But, I am still proud of them.

Turns out if was harder than I thought. I got ready for church Sunday morning and found out one of the charms was backwards. Easy to fix in less than a minute. Lesson learned, pay more attention.

See here my great Saturday evening work.


I got a couple of how-to-books to get help and ideas. One of them focuses on creating your own findings (that is clasps, jump rings, earring wires, etc) out of wire with pliers.
Cool.

One of them focuses on beads.
Cool.

The third focuses on using jump rings to make jewelry based on ancient chain maile making techniques.
Drool!

The chain maile bracelets and necklaces are amazing!

See here some of what I played around with yesterday afternoon.

I started with this.



Turned some of it into these.



Then linked them together to make this.


This is my first attempt at the 4-in-1 chain maile pattern that the book had. I used the steel wire as practice, both to learn how to make my own jump rings, explore metal types, and learn how different gauges and softnesses of wire behave. Plus, it is much cheaper than jewelry wire, so the learning curve doesn't hurt as much.

After I did a few inches of steel chain and got the hang of the maile pattern (It isn't as easy as it looked at first.) I got out the (pre-made) 9mm jewelry jump rings I bought.

The final (real, not practice) bracelet turned out quite nice; I think.


After I finished the 4-in-1 bracelet I went to the back of the book where there are instructions for a Byzantine link chain. I always loved the look of Byzantine link chains. I started with 6mm links, but they didn't hold the pattern well, at least not in the gauge I have. I moved to 4mm and that worked much better. Unfortunately, the pattern is every bit as complicated and complex (That's right, complicated AND complex!) that I always thought it was. This inch of Byzantine chain took about as long as the entire 4-in-1 bracelet (not counting steel link practice.)

See here the (roughly) one inch length of Byzantine chain I have so far done with the end of my pliers to give some vague idea of scale.


See here a close up of the inch of Byzantine Link Chain.


Enough about all this. Talk to you later.

Gathering the Loved Ones

Now the Great Purging begins. To appease the angry computer spirits we must gather together all that is precious, that which we do not wish to lose. If we are careful, and sincere in our efforts, the digital spirits will all us to keep our valued loved files while purging that which has invaded.

Present the sacred compact disk

Light the white candle

Ding the triangle gong

Begin file back-up

If all goes well, my computer will be exorcised soon.

;)

Long Road Ahead

OK, my blog 365 idea has to take a break. My computer is haunted. Until my DH can get his exorcism done (I believe it involves holy water, candles, reformatting the hard drive, and incense) I will be getting some more knitting done.

In the interest of making myself feel less like a dropper-of-the-ball I will keep track of how many days I miss so as to make them up with double entry days later.

And I will now add a random picture, just to show my love for you all.
Here is a picture of my in-laws' yard one year we were there and DID get snow. It is NOT New Years 09.

Dropped a few days

Well, it looks like deciding to spend some time away from the computer can have an effect on how often one blogs. Whoda thunk?

Sorry about the hiatus.

I know I promised to discuss Sarah and Hagar. I have changed my mind.

Heh, that kind of sums up what I was going to cover about them anyway...changing your mind. Though in their case it was going to be more "be careful what you decide" and "seriously think through the consequences" with a healthy dose of "was this the first ancient soap opera, or what?" (I doubt it. I am sure there were earlier versions.) They behave in what can only be called "typical soap opera female ways." Abraham never should have fallen for that, "take my maid for your concubine" bit. I just don't see that working out well.

Jacob had similar troubles with Rachel and Leah. But they seemed to focus more on outdoing each other than worrying about the concubines. Sibling rivalry. The poor fool. The maids are not mentioned as making any fuss, even Bilhah, Rachel's maid, before Rachel had her own son. I think the difference may be in their pasts. Zilpah and Bilhah are the bride's maids from before Jacob came along. They have presumably been slaves all their lives. Hagar was Egyptian. There is even the thought that she may have been a daughter of pharoah. Growing up a princess might give one the snarky attitude she developed.

To just skip around now though thoughts I have had while reading my bible, but haven't blogged yet, we move on from female rivalry to male rivalry.

I am not diving into Jacob and Esau too deep. It is a well known story. But, notice that it is Jacob, the younger brother who stole (arguably) his older brother's birthright and blessing, who reverses the blessing of Joseph's sons, blessing the younger to rule over the older. I guess there may be some family baggage that never goes away.

Flurries

We have some delicate white stuff falling from our Mississippi skies this morning. The girls are excited to see it, even if we are not going to get any accumulation. DD11 bemoaned the fact that it did not snow last week when our temperatures dipped into the single digits Fahrenheit. Since then we have had a couple of unseasonably warm days. It was in the 50s after church Sunday.

Anyway, it does bring back my own childhood memories seeing the snow fall. I spent many more snowy winters than not. I am not sure I have fully turned into a Mississippi girl. But I wouldn't go so far as to say I want months out of the year covered in snow.

Sermon Notes

Our pastor has been working his way through Ephesians for the past few months of Sundays. We were in chapter 6, verses 1-3 this week. He had Children's Church cancelled to keep the crumb crunchers in the sanctuary for the particular-to-but-not-only-for them message.

DD 8 was a little fidgetty. That was more an attention spam / boredom issue than discomfort at being told to obey her parents.

I didn't get a good look at DD10. I can imagine what her expression was, but that really wouldn't be fair to her. Especially given...

DD11, my Little Miss Attitude, the Champion Eye Roller of Lafayette County Youth Division, was leaning forward in her seat, listening with a great deal of attention to everything he said. I was impressed.

Date Night Fun

There is nothing particularly blogworthy about our date night. We drove an hour to Tupelo to eat and see a movie. The theatre in Oxford is no longer showing Twilight, which I had decided I wanted to see.

We had a lovely dinner at Red Lobster and afterward I decided that, no longer being a 19 year old goth, I didn't feel like seeing Twilight. And the was really nothing else showing that I wanted to see. We were having a great time talking and didn't feel like we made the wrong choice.

I did have some indigestion later, which I blame on the shrimp. It have been thinking over it and realized that fried foods like "Walt's favorite Shrimp" are really no longer a big part of my diet. About as "fried" as food gets around here is the recipe saying "brown the meat." That and the ocassional hamburger are no comparison to a dozen deep fried, batter dipped shrimp.

Maybe I should go back to eating a kosher-based diet. Then again, it was the frying, not the shrimp that gave me the stomach ache.

We'll see.

yeah

Running late, no blog today. date tomorrow, wonder if there is any good movie showing. probably not

A Piece of History

We visited a local man this afternoon who has a blacksmith shop. We got to see how he does what he does, as well as learn about the tools and craft involved. We all (me DEFINITELY included) learned a lot and had a very good time.

We got to watch him turn a 1/2 inch square rod of steel about a yard long into a fireplace poker. It was great.

You know how people often collect items related to their hobbies? Like knitting needles, fishing lures, or model train cars? Mr. Waller has an anvil collection. I suppose 5 counts as a collection. That is 5 more than I have. He knew a lot about the history of each anvil, as well as of anvils in general. Did you know that sea captains crossing the Atlantic would buy anvils to use as ballast for their ships? The ships and cargo didn't actually belong to them. They were only getting paid for the work, not the mercantilism. Instead of carting rocks across the ocean to add weight to the ship they would buy anvils that they could then sell in the US and make money for themselves. Isn't that interesting?

Well, I had the car this afternoon and DH just IMed me that he is ready for his ride home. Gotta go.

Time Warp

My husband thinks I have gone off the deep end. I have recently been watching quite a bit of television online. That isn't what he is going on about. He is teasing me about my new favorite show.

Barney Miller

I can't really explain it myself. His funniest comment was something like, "Isn't today's television good enough for you?" Does he really want me to answer that?

Now, the diffference isn't really anything moral or cultural, Then vs. Now. This isn't Car 54, Where Are You. The mid 1970's marked the beginning of the television powers-that-be trying to push the envelope and see what they could get away with. Barney Miller has plenty of what one might expect to see in a NYC police precinct, minus the bad language (That envelope was only beginning to get pushed.) The cops are clean, good guys, but the show itself isn't "clean." So, what is the appeal?

Maybe it is that the cops are such good guys.

Also, I like to laugh. Sit coms now-a-days (and even in the 1980's and 1990's) are family based. Those that are work based are not police-based. Cops get one hour dramas now and they try to be edgy. Barney Miller isn't edgy. It may have tried at the time it was on the air, but edgy is hard to pull off 30 years after the fact.

What can I say? I like it.

Telephone Etiquette

We have been going over telephone etiquette today. DH hooking up the old business phones in various rooms has helped. We can have almost live practice.

I am tired of making up fake names for them to take down as messages. And random phone numbers. I think I will get the phone book and use it for names and numbers.

First day back at School

Things went well today for our first day back at school. Math review quiz scored better than I had hoped. The simple machines lesson was met with some stares of confusion until I brought out the 1x4 and wood-block (fulcrum) to do some in-life demonstrations. Now the girls are begging to play with our lever.

They enjoyed the European geography lesson and the introduction to Spanish AR verbs. We now know where to find Finland on a map. Helpful, if we are ever lost in Eastern Sweden. And, if we should be found by a kindly Spanish-speaking Swede we can tell him how much we like music and singing.

Back to Normal

Despite most of the decorations still being up, things around here are pretty much back to normal. DH is well enough to go to work. The girls and I are starting lessons tomorrow. DB hasn't started his semester yet, but it'll happen in a couple of weeks. As much as I like the holidays, it is nice to get back to normal. (I will ignore the fact that we will be having contractors gut a couple of our rooms soon.)

I really need to get back to planning lessons for this week. I am here because I really needed a break from that, but there is still a lot to be done.

Our homeschool group has a field trip to a local blacksmith later this week. It is hard for me to reconcile taking an afternoon off lessons when i am doing so well at planning, but I also think it would be way cool to go and don't want to miss it. I am not sure yet what we will do.

Later.

PS_ I'd lay money that we do go to the blacksmith.

Today's "What the blog entry COULD BE"
Who put the sqeezie cheese into the refrigerator?

Now, on to the real blog entry;

My Thoughts on Biblical figures; a layman's psychological perspective as I read my Bible this year

(Note: I am not a Bible scholar. I will try to do a little research into the person I present, but may sometimes just post my own musings. They may at times seem irreverent. I am not trying to be iconoclastic, just take these people are often made into symbols and take as real a look at them as I can. These were human beings, and they were special. I want to understand them, as people.)

(Note II: I am skipping Adam and Eve because I do not find them interesting right now. I may come back to them later.)

Abraham and Sarah (also Abram and Sarai)

Traditionally Abram was a merchant's son. (There is an interesting story about his father's shop, but I do not find mention of it in the Bible. I will research it more before presenting it.) I really do NOT get the feeling that he was particularly rich when God told him to leave his home and go to Canaan. After not too long though he was very blessed and did get to be quite wealthy. That is obvious as one reads more about him.

Whenever we studied Abraham in Sunday School (or sang silly songs while waving our arms about) the focus seemed to be on an OLD MAN. He wouldn't have been old at the outset, though. The same goes for Sarai. She is described as being exceptionally beautiful. That is not the image in my mind when I think of the barren woman who gave birth to her son in her 90's.

It is interesting to think of them when younger, kind of like thinking of your grandparents as youths. (As a side note, if you read Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad (and I recommend you do.) Twain was 31 when he wrote it, not the white-haired old man we all think about when his name comes up.)

A man and his wife, along with some servants and such, take to the life of nomads. They travel to Gerar and Egypt at various points. This is an interesting bit. Abram tells Sarai to say she is his sister rather than his wife, fearing that the local leaders would kill him to have her. Abram seem a little insecure about having such a lovely wife. Maybe his fear was founded. Did men often kill other men for their wives? I'll have to keep track. Abraham feared it twice, Isaac feared in (also in gerar, as it happens) and David did it. (Poor Uriah, if only he could have just said Bathsheba was his sister...)

In Egypt (Genesis 12) God brings troubles and plagues to Egypt when Pharaoh takes Sarai. I cannot believe Abram actually went through with the charade. Was he not jealous at all? It doesn't say, but I cannot help but imagine he was upset but felt he couldn't do anything about it, and better upset than dead.

Later in Gerar (Gen. 20) Abraham does the same thing. This time God gives the king who starts courting Sarah a dream that he shouldn't. He gives Sarah back and even tosses in some treasure and gifts.

I find the Gerar narrative more confusing than the Egyptian. How powerful was Abimilech? Abraham has become quite the powerful chieftain. When Lot gets caught up in a war between allied factions, Abraham attacks to rescue him. That is, he and his men take on an alliance of kings' armies (albeit AFTER a war, so numbers may have been down) to get his nephew back. And this man is so afraid of ONE local king 6 chapters later that he pulls that "she is my sister" stunt again?

I have two thoughts on this. Number 1: The biblical narrative may be out of order. It sometimes happens. I could totally buy this happening before Abram's forces were so many. The problem I have with that is that his name was changed between the rescue of Lot and the episode with Abimelech. The Egyptian encounter was before, but this came after.

My other thought is this: (don't stand too close, this is where the lightning strikes) I am not sure the Gerar episode in Genesis 20 happened at all. (wait for it...wait for it...Ok, I am still here, I'll continue.) I just cannot imagine Abraham doing this twice. Would he not have learned his lesson? Plus, like I said, his forces were much more powerful at the time of Genesis 20 than in chapter 12 (although I doubt they would have been strong enough to take on the Egyptian Pharaoh) a local Philistine king should have been no worry as far as being killed over a woman.

Genesis 26 is what also leads me to think that the Abraham/Abimilech episode may not have happened. In it we have the same happenings but with more details. Isaac is told during a famine NOT to travel to Egypt, as his father had. Things go as before, beautiful wife, fear for personal safety, pass her off as sister. This king is also called Abimilech. I doubt it is the same man. He'd have been ancient, and he would have known better than to trust those lying nomads again! (joking there, sorry) It could have been a son. Judging by the genealogies given, naming a son after his father was not common at the time, but those are Hebrew families, what Philistine customs were, I do not know. Still, you'd think the story would have been told. "Watch which women you court, Sonny. Sometimes men are lying about who is who."
However, if Abraham was not in Gerar for the other story, and there is just this Abimilech, it makes more sense. Isaac is no warrior. Even with his inherited wealth and household, he isn't going to take on a king.

OK, let's talk about the lightning striking me...I really don't want to go into the "infallible truth of the Bible." I do believe the Bible. But I have also studied ancient myths, carvings, and writings. It is totally conceivable that over time one story developed into two versions.
Even Moses, who is traditionally credited with having written Genesis, came hundreds of years later. Faced with two versions he may have simply made the choice to include both. Recording centuries later an oral narrative would explain the use of the name Abraham in a story which, even if it did happen, I am sure happened to Abram the nomad rather than Abraham the chieftain.

My view? The story HAPPENED, once, and it happened to ISAAC. How much does that change my faith or belief in God's word? Not at all. How much does it affect anything? Not much.

Next time - Sarah (and Hagar) and perhaps some insight into the psychology of women

A Little Cheering Up

Yesterday's blog was something of a downer, so here you go. This will make you smile. At least it did me and the girls.

Over sensitive?

I have the tendency to be oversensitive to other people's actions. I can over think an odd look until I run it into the ground. There are things I said 20 years ago that I wish I hadn't, and still think about. I am not talking about world-shattering events, either.

I was on a friend's new blog this morning. There is a list of blogs she reads, nothing new, most blogs have this. Mine is not there. Ok, maybe she forgot about it. But then, doesn't that mean that she doesn't read this blog? This is a pretty frivolous blog, I'll admit. Does everything have to be about something? Does she think I am frivolous? Should I deepen the blog? I had considered bible commentary. How about my crafts? Well, I never really finish much, and I am certainly not up to selling anything online. My crafts are more frivolous hobbies. Should I put in politics? There is no way I could keep up with what is already out there, and I don't really want to, either. Why would someone I thought was a good friend not read my blog? What does she think of me at all? Does she think of me at all? Are we actually friends? Does she just put up with me when she has to? Do I really have any friends in this city, even after living here for almost 4 years? Why don't I have any friends? Maybe it is because I am not a productive member of society, children being an investment that doesn't pay off for decades. Do I even have friends in other cities? Most ties have been cut. There are a few, but not many.

I just don't fit in much of anywhere outside this house. Even with my family, and ESPECIALLY with my in-laws. Who the heck am I anyway? What kind of person doesn't fit in anywhere, even in her own family, church, home school group, or college?

Anyway, that is the way my morning has gone. I need to go focus on something else before I get any lower into this funk.

%$&*@

Not cursing ;) I promise.

My husband sat down with me a few years ago and discussed NOT having our daughter's birthday be my password. (joking...I am NOT that stupid.) We talked about random capitalization, non-dictionary words, anagrams, and symbols. I created the perfect, in my humble opinion, password.

Want to know what it is? Huh, huh? Do ya?

Well, I'll tell you. It is an anagram of a movie quote. The caps are not random. It uses symbols for some of the letters. Good luck with that.

My computer nerd IT DH would probably not agree with he fact that I made this my default password. I am sure he would say "But, if someone finds it out then they can get into everything." Yeah, blah blah blah, whatever

I do have a secondary password that I devised when I realized that my movie quote was not 8 characters and some sites required longer passwords. I did't mind that; extra secure, you know. That password is a random intersting word I chose just because with a few l33t characters tossed in so I can pretend to be cool. Despite being longer I do not consider it as secure as the movie quote.

That is neither here nor there.

The dumb old phone company seems to be stuck in the 1980's. They want my online password to contain letters and numbers only! What?! I used to work at the phone company. Let me tell you...our login passwords in billing were not "letters and numbers only." We were REQUIRED to use symbols.

Neither my movie quote nor secondary password use only numbers and letters. OK, third password devised. *sigh*

Hurray for Windows remembering this stuff for me, right? (Don't get me started. I do lean on that crutch more than I should.) Yeah, until I get a nasty virus on my PC and have to start using the laptop for important things like paying the mortgage, paying the phone bill, and updating my blog. What? You mean being stored within 30 feet of my PC for a couple of months hasn't miraculously saved my passwords onto the laptop? Dang!

The mortgage password didn't give me too much trouble. I knew it was either the movie quote or the secondary. Took me forever to rememer my user id. There's some irony for you. It came to me last night in a wee-hour-epiphany (interesting day for an epiphany, eh?) No problem, got that paid before it even counts as late (barely.) I didn't want to login and pay that on the infected computer.

The phone bill was more trouble. Somehow the wrong user id was saved on the login page. That is it's own headache. I finally remembered what it was, but between that and trying my two passwords (on a site that uses neither) I got flagged with a "You have tried too much, go away and come back tomorrow, Loser" message. Annoying
There was a work around, though. I got in and changed my password to something that only uses numbers and letters. We'll see in a month whether I can remember it without help.

Dreary Monday

I look at the calendar and see that my DB has marked Jan 20 as the beginning of the Spring semester at Ole Miss. He still has 3 weeks of winter break. I imagine there are many public school kids who would LOVE to get 3 weeks AT ALL, let alone 3 weeks after the new year starts. Especially as today is the day most of them are back in the trenches.

That reminds me...maybe I should give the munchkins a lesson. Does MacGuyver on DVD count as "educational television?" A brief math review should do for this afternoon. "Write your times tables, let's see how much you rememeber."

Not as applicable to my pre-algebra math drag-ee (i.e. someone who is being dragged)
I think I'll have her do some laundry.

It is raining and gray outside. I imagine if it were colder it would be snow, but it rarely is here.

Cold update- mostly well, still some lingering inconveniences

Enjoying Vacation, sick and all

Despite being assaulted by a virus of the common cold type, I have greatly enjoyed the almost two weeks DH has had off from work. The general relaxed nature of the time, being home, spending the day with him, and the next, and the next. It just doesn't get much better than this.

He goes back to work tomorrow. I am going to miss him. I have been somewhat spoiled of late. I may actually be able to get something done around here.

We'll see.

What do I have to say?

It occurs to me, as I sit here, having planned to blog every stinking day, that many of my blog entries are of the "Today I had oatmeal for breakfast" variety.

I am also going to try to have blogs of substance.

We'll see how it goes.

No Wallowing Permitted

I am not a very good sick person. I am one of those people who whine and moan and make their beloved spouse get them...everything...while they wallow in bed ridden misery, no matter that said beloved spouse may also be sick. If he can move he is a nurse.

Unfortunately, when one is sick at the in-laws' home the wallowing cannot take place properly. And, if one must drive 7 hours home while still ill, the wallowing may have to be cut to a bare minimum. Grrr!

Bad impression, bad feelings, bad sinuses...bad vacation. Blah!

We are going home a day early and no one is happy about it.

North but No Snow

The girls were hoping we might get some snow while we visit their grandparents in Kentucky. A few weeks ago we would have, but not now. Tuesday on our way up it was 50-60 degrees F. There was a wind atorm and yesterday was colder, but no where near cold enough. There's just no telling with this latitude. Farther south and you are pretty much sure, no snow. Farther north and you are guaranteed to get it.

Oh well. It cut down on the complaining. The girls have had the sniffles this past week and there is no way I would let them play in the snow. I have already had to nix some play-outside plans and explain about things like pneumonia. If there were snow on the ground I know the hard feelings would be worse.

And speaking of the sniffles...I was fine Tuesday. I was the only one who hadn't gotten sick while we were in Mississippi. Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat and by last night could barely speak. My voice is still off, but better a little and the sniffs are upon me. I hate being sick. At least I know the girls got better after just a couple of days. I don't feel too bad.

365

So, one of my New Years New Ideas is to blog EVERY DAY. Never has someone so unimportant said so much to so few.

I know I already posted today, but this warrants its own mention, I believe. We'll see how long I can stick with it. I may end up posting "Things I Ate today" or "Where are my blue jeans?" after a while. I'll try to keep that to a minimum.

No promises

Happy New Year!!!

2008 was a rough year for my family. There were some nice highs but also some terrible lows. I am usually ambivalent about New Years, a party, fun seeing how many checks I fill out wrong, etc. I am not usually of the "Thank Goodness THAT year is done" feeling. This year does have some of that. We'll pray that 2009 is better.

Happy New Year to all of You!!!

Oh, a little tidbit, do you know why 2009 US pennies are worth more than 2008 pennies?

Dia duit!

My current time waster is Irish Gaelic. Every once in awhile I get a bug in me to study an interesting foreign language. Can't help it. And, thanks to the World Wide Web, I have much more opportunity to butcher a language for my own fun until it bores me and I move on to something else. Occasionally, when I have the opportunity, I actually take classes in a language. I love that bit. My language passion plus the chance to earn an A, I am in language nerd heaven. Spanish, French, Russian, Greek, and Latin have all filled hours of class time in my life (and gotten me those A's I mentioned) You cannot imagine how easy Latin was after years of studying Spanish, French, and Greek. Every class was like having an epiphany. "Oh! Well that makes PERFECT sense!" while the rest of the class is scratching their heads. Fun times!

Of course I have forgotten much of what I learned. My Spanish has held on longest and best. Latin and Greek are more recent, so some of it has stuck, but not much. Of Russian I can say "I Love You" (though that is due more to Sandi Patti than my class) and "I do not speak Russian." A useful phrase to know, in case there might be confusion. LOL (Here, for you phonetic enjoyment -- Ya nye gavaryu pa roos key.) Hey, that reminds me. I can also say "I do not speak Spanish" and "I do not speak English, in Russian. In the phonetics above, substitute "pa ispanski" for Spanish and "pa an glee ski" for English. And you thought you weren't going to learn anything today!

Languages that have not had the benefit of costing me money and providing live instructors include German (I remember Bitte and Danke, and I can count to 4.) and Gujarathi (that is an Indian language) I can say "Where is the bank?" (benk key a che?) It seems like saying "kia che" after anything equals "where is ..." in gujarathi (btw, I know I am spelling that wrong.) So, having learned that "stree sva challeh" means Ladies' Room I can say a very important phrase. Good to know.

Also add Modern Greek to that list. I became enamored with Xristos Paxis music and wanted to see the difference between Modern Greek and the Ancient Greek I a=had studied in class. There are differences. The language is interesting, but my professor had drilled us so well in reading and pronouncing the Ancient Greek that modern pronunciation was difficult.

Now I am adding Irish Gaelic to my list of hobby languages, with Celtic Woman in the "to blame" spot now. I am having fun but feeling unfulfilled. All I can find is "phrase book" online "lessons," a list of things to say what you might need and how to pronounce them. It doesn't give word for word translations or explain grammar. Plus, the only site I found with audio files would not play. I'll work with what I have for now, but I think I need a book. Maybe I should put "Irish Gaelic for Dummies" on my Santa list.

Oh well,
Slan go foill! (Good-bye for now!)

Silly me! I forgot to give the links, in the off chance you are interested.

http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/gaelic.html This is the "phrase book."

http://www.standingstones.com/gaelpron.html This one is a pronunciation guide, mainly for dj's playing celtic music. But, it is helpful for a beginner.

Oh, and "Dia duit" is "Good day."

WALL-E, preachy or just with a moral?

I recently saw WALL-E on DVD, after having passed on seeing it in the theater. I loved it. I have heard some right-leaning political types saying that it is over-the-top with preachy lefty enviro-whacky lessons, but I didn't see it. The environmental message is there, but it doesn't hit you over the head. There is no "Oh those HORRIBLE trashy people who destroyed the world!!!" or "Watch out or it will happen to YOU!!!" and certainly no "Mother Gaia is CRYING!!!"

I have even seen some left-leaning critics decrying the film for falling short of the environmental lesson it could have seen through with more diligence. Can't ask for a better recommendation that that.

The lessons about sloth and personal fitness are there and are more prominent than the ones about the environment. But, never are the people portrayed as being bad because they are fat. The message is overwhelmingly that people long ago stopped trying and became fatter and fatter. They let robots do all the work for them and paid the price slowly, without even realizing.
The people in the movie's present are very fat. They have never walked a single step. The captain standing and walking to fight Auto is accompanied by heroic fanfare as a monumental achievement. These fat people are heroes who rally to save themselves and each other when the time comes. If anything it is a POSITIVE portrayal of fat people, they can be smart, brave, and fierce. When presented with the chance to change their lives they took it. They fought for the opportunity to live on a re-emerging Earth as farmers. No one was shown wanting to stay on the spaceship and keep going on as they had been.

I loved the movie. My kids loved it. I can (and have already, even after just a few days) use the lessons of the movie to get them away from their video games and computers and off to play with their real arms and legs.

Unplugged This Week

For the next 5 days we are not going to be allowed to use the computers or TV between the hours of 8am and 5pm.

I think the kids and I spend way too much time in front of various screens. This may not break the habit, but it may help.

If it goes well I may set aside one week of every month for Unplugged Week. Or possibly even take on this policy permanently. The necessary computer stuff I need to do can just as easily be done after 5.

I'll let you know how it goes.

A Tragedy has Befallen Us

...at least that is what DH says he once read a caption on a Garfield cartoon say when the exact same thing happen as happened here tonight.


This is after the big pieces were picked up and before any mopping. Blasted thing landed upside-down, of course.

I tried my hand at pre-cooking this evening. See, it isn't much harder to make two lasagnas than it is to make one. So, I bought some disposable foil lasagna pans. Tonight I prepared twice as much as needed, put half into my glass pan and half into the foil pan to put that into the freezer. It turns out those foil pans are none too sturdy. I was almost to the freezer when it did a little twist-shimmy and the lasagna hit the linoleum.

Grrr

I am just glad dinner was not ruined. We have had shimmying foil lasagna pans ruin dinner before, back before I cooked for real. But that wasn't ME who dropped it.

Of course tonight's fiasco happened BEFORE I had prepared the "tonight" lasagna in the glass pan. It was still unassembled sitting on the stove. And the clean-up really could not wait. I mean...ewww! So, even though dinner was not ruined, it is going to be very late. (given that I was already treading a thin not-quite-too-late borderline as it was.)

DD10 (who is of course NOT the DD10 that I have been mentioning for a year or so, THAT is DD11. DD10 used to be referred to as DD9. I'll let you figure out the logistics.) was an absolute GEM. Not only was she very happily helping me cook and being the cheese filling squisher, she also went to fetch the mop from downstairs, AND helped with the worst of the clean-up. There is only so much a mop can do with dropped lasagna; at some point you have to use your fingers. She didn't even complain. GEM, I tell you.