Southern Musings

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-10T08:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've not written for my blog very often in the last year. I blame it on Facebook. To post info on both places take too much time and effort. I'm not as interested in Facebook as I once was. It is very interesting to read about friends from long ago and what they're up to, but if you have even 100 friends, the amount of time to read all their comments/goings on takes too much time. SO is it my New Year's Resolution to blog more often? I really haven't decided. In fact, at this time, I have no definite resolutions. I'm working on them. In general, my New Year's Resolutions have always begun on Jan 14. Why such an arbitrary date? Because it's the day after Hubby's birthday. Christmas stuff (decorations and such) gets put away the week after Epiphany (that's this week) and usually by Jan 13 we've consumed or tossed the tons (literally) of home-baked goodies. So we enjoy the birthday celebration of Hubby and begin our resolutions on the 14th.
When my resolutions for each of the last 5-10 years are all sadly similar, I wanted a new approach to resolutions. And last year, Hubby and I developed (verbalized) our Rule of Life as recommended by our couples' prayer group, Teams of Our Lady. A Rule of Life is not stagnant and should be revisited and should guide the actions of your life, so it's like having resolutions constantly in front of you. Then yesterday, I came across this blog about resolutions and loved it. Jeff Cavins is an incredibly intelligent man who has developed some extremely engaging Bible Studies. I really like his description:
One of the big mistakes that we make when we make New Year's resolutions is that we cut away the branches, when the root is really the problem. For example, the person who makes a New Year's resolution to lose 25 pounds oftentimes is missing the real problem of gluttony. Rather than making the resolution to lose 25 pounds, a better resolution may be to pray before every meal and ask God for the strength to eat moderately and to see your eating as a way of giving God thanks.
He then goes on to give 8 recommendations to consider when making resolutions. So today I'm spending some time thoughtfully pondering my New Years' Resolutions.

This past Saturday I was honored to be invited to a former student's Eagle Scout Ceremony. I taught Lee in my homeschool class. He graduated last May. Lee has some learning disabilities but was/is one of my favorite students. What a testimony to his determination and the support of his adoptive family that he was able to achieve this. Only 2% of Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout. In addition to being awed by his achievement I was impressed with the turnout of friends and family. Obviously, most of his troop was there, and many families that are part of the homeschool coop were there, too. It was a true celebration about Lee and it strengthened my faith in people. If you ever have the opportunity to go to an Eagle Scout celebration, go. It's worth it.

Family Feud is NOT Family Fare

2011-11-22T12:30:00.000-05:00

I hadn't watched Family Feud in the last few years (say 5 or 10), and last night I figured it would be light fare to have on while Hubby and I relaxed together. After 10 minutes I turned it off. The first question was "100 women were asked, What would you do if your husband came home and told you he wanted you to get a boob-job" and yes 'boob-job' was the phrased used. Then the host and the family guessing proceeded to make breast jokes. Really? I thought, well...one question...let's give it another try. The second question was "100 people were asked, What is something you don't want to see when you go into a hotel room and turn on the lights?" One response on the board, not a contestant's guess, was 'used condoms.' I was so turned off and disappointed. Game shows have always been something you could turn on with the kids around. No longer. Getting closer and closer to tossing the TV.

A few weeks ago the Associated Press had a story about the changes that are about to take place in the Roman Mass. The changes are all changes in word choice to make them closer to the original text...so not really that big of deal Granted some of the language we are about to use is not what one would hear in daily conversation. But the AP reported 'And so will begin a small revolution in a tradition-rich faith.' A revolution? Hardly. The changes are only taking place in English speaking Masses, the other languages translated the Mass more accurately when after Vatican II the Mass was put into the vernacular. And of course the AP quoted a priest who basically said the changes were stupid. If you're interested in seeing the changes here's a link. The one word that many will have trouble with is 'consubstantial', as part of the Nicene Creed. It used to be "one in being with."
I'm super excited for Thanksgiving. The Singer is driving home as I type this! She called a little while ago saying she's in Florida. That puts her 4 hours away. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend.
Since Sunday is the first day of Advent, we'll be getting all our Advent stuff out...Advent wreath, calendar, count-down tree with ornaments, etc. We'll wait till the 16th to get the Christmas decorations out (that's after the Imp is finished with exams). Usually when Advent starts is when I start feeling behind in everything, but this year Advent is actually 5 weeks long. Whew. As I baked pies today to freeze, I feel ahead of schedule. Of course, the whole Christmas giving thing is so overdone. I think Hubby has it right when he says what he wants is memorable experiences...take him to a ball game, or the movies, or the beach, or play board games. That is what makes good memories, not the stuff.
I watched Hoarders last night. If watching that doesn't make you want to downsize/declutter, nothing will. Hubby and I super-cleaned our bedroom yesterday (washed curtains, wiped down walls, the whole shebang). We have a box of stuff to give away. We still have way too much, but it's little steps. I have a problem with the premise of Hoarders because they set the person up for failure. It takes years to acquire all that stuff. That's years of some issue that causes the hoarding. The show brings in a psychologist and the psychologist tries to 'solve' the problem in two days WHILE the house is being cleaned. I know it makes it much easier and cheaper for the show. It just seems to me, if they really wanted to help these people, minimally they would have the psychologist have at least 3 or 4 sessions with the person before a whole team of people descend on the house with the intent of getting rid of most of what is there. It makes me think about the Imp. When she was 2 1/2 years old, she fell into a friend's pool (neither Hubby nor I was there). The parent was right there and jumped in and got her, but she developed a huge fear of water/swimming. At 3 1/2 I signed her up for swim lessons for a week. She spent the week on the steps. Now when I first was seeing this happen, I wanted to argue that she wasn't being taught how to swim. But, she needed to feel comfortable with the idea of swimming before she could listen to learn how. While she stayed on the steps, by the end of the week she would put her head under water and would jump off the steps to the instructor. I'm not sure she would have ever developed a true love of water if she had been forced to 'swim' before conquering her fear.

Do You Believe In Miracles? Rays Sweep the Yankees, Go to Playoffs

2011-09-29T07:25:00.001-05:00

It was pretty intense in our house last night. First Price gives up 5 runs...yes 5 runs in the first two innings. Madden doesn't take him out. Hubby and I were yelling at the TV. Bottom of the 8th and my Rays are down 7-0. At the same time Boston is up 3-2 against the Orioles. "I can't watch them self-destruct like this" so I leave the room. Top of the 9th and it's a 7-6 ball game. We're back in it. Bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, 2 strikes, and Dan Johnson, our hero from 2008, hits a glorious home-run! We're still in the hunt for the postseason. It took 12 innings, but Longoria hit a single home-run (check out the photo) and the game ended 8-7. To sweeten the deal, Boston lost in the 9th 4-3.
The Rays began their season 0-6. They began September 9 games back of the Wild Card. But the Rays have heart. October's looking like fun.

A Minute In the Church

2011-09-25T18:04:00.001-05:00

I don't usually use my blog to advertise for specific products. But I am privileged to know Gus Lloyd. He is the host of the morning radio show "Seize the Day" on the Catholic Radio Channel. That he has a great sense of humor makes time spent with him always enjoyable. That he is a knowledgeable true-blue Catholic who feels called to share the faith with others makes time with him almost always informative. Gus has put together a wonderful book entitled "A Minute In the Church". It contains short, succinct answers/explanations to some of the most questioned aspects of the Roman Catholic faith. I recommend this booklet to all Catholics. It makes an awesome gift for someone going through RCIA, being confirmed, going off to college, for anybody. I've given a number away as gifts. Check out his website for details on ordering this, and for further information about his booklet and his CDs. The booklets are currently at a reduced price.

Homecoming Shoes

2011-09-25T17:46:00.000-05:00

I have been reminded by my dad that I have not posted in quite a while. Too true. I guess I've been too busy living life, and I've not seen or heard anything that made me feel compelled to write. That is not to say, I haven't had strong opinions about things I've seen or heard.

The girls had a safe trip to France and Spain for World Youth Day. The Imp's broken foot has healed, but we are so thankful for her boot that she wore the entire time in Europe.

While the girls traipsed about Spain, Hubby and I made a whirlwind trip up through North Carolina (staying overnight with my brother) then on to Columbus (with an overnight with his brother) on to PA (with the trip from....rain and construction made a 3 hour trip take over 5 hours). We stayed at his folks for 3 days. Back on the road to DC to see another brother (an overnighter) and then to South Carolina to see my parents. We arrived home a week and 2500 miles later. 2 days later, the girls arrived home at and the next day The Singer and I hit the road again to take her and her things back to Belmont Abbey. I spent a day there helping her set up her room (the most help I gave was my van and credit card for Walmart trips). She loves having her own room.

Yes, pink IS her favorite color.

The Imp spent her first weeks home from Europe catching up on school work. She missed the first 6 days of school. She managed to catch up and start crew. She's loving being a senior. She's applied to UNF and UCF. She's managing A's in all her classes except the dreaded Calculus. Fortunately she has a cousin who is a sophomore at USF and tutors in Calculus. So she starts spending time with him this week. Only 2 weeks left in the first quarter. Hard to imagine.

Homecoming is October 22 and she has a date. A fellow crew-mate. She's spent the last 2 years arguing everything from politics to religion, to crew techniques with him. Not sure Hubby's thrilled with the situation, but they do grow up, don't they. By the time I was the Singer's age I was on my 3 month countdown to my wedding. Glad she's not planning a wedding right now.

The Imp got her Homecoming dress a few weeks ago, to wear to a Sweet 16 party.

Did I mention the Imp got her hair cut right before leaving for Spain? She cut off over 12 inches (giving it to Locks of Love). She loves her new 'do and really loves her new shoes. (Good thing her foot is healed).

Hubby has undertaken a daunting endeavor with a good friend of ours. The two dads are hosting/running a young adults group (16-20 yr olds) that's basically "How to stay Christian in college" They meet once a month and their September meeting went really well. His co-host's wife and I are running a high school girls club. The focus of our group is for the girls to learn some skill that will benefit them in creating a home in the future. Our first meeting we made cards (and sent them to a member of our church community that was ill). Next month we're decorating cakes. They want to sew, decorate a room, comparison shop, and plan a party. It's just a lot of fun.

I'm enjoying teaching US History to my home school-ers. How can you not love US History? It's just such a good story to study.

The US Catholic Church is getting ready to implement changes in the Roman Missal (words are changing for prayers during Mass). Every parish is phasing in the changes in their own way, but there are many awesome explanations online. Our parish has links to many of them. (Dad, check it out).

I'm looking forward to getting back into serious scrap booking. This weekend is a two day event and then Oct 15 is Krop for Kids the most amazing crop ever. (If you're in Tampa area and reading this there may still be some openings.).

Sad news that a dear friend's father was diagnosed with lung cancer that has already metastasized to his bones. If there is any good news in this it would be her close location to her parents so she has been spending lots of time with him.

Off to Europe

2011-08-11T07:49:00.000-05:00

The Imp is off her crutches. The doctor gave her the go-ahead to leave her crutches at home as she heads off to France and Spain with a church group to World Youth Day. The doctor asked her to walk on her foot. She nearly fell over. So he sent us to physical therapy. The guy there was awesome. She spent an hour and a half at PT learning to walk. Her ankle is what is giving her the most discomfort. All the tendons/muscles are so tight. She also got this super neat device that sends electrical impulses to her foot to help the pain. There are 4 electrodes that she tapes to her foot and then turns on a little machine (the size of an ipod). She says it really helps. She goes back for another session today. She'll have her boot on her foot to provide support and protection while in Europe. She's just so happy to be able to carry things. She's been packing the last few days and just getting things from one stack to another was a chore. She slept without the boot, too. So all looks good.
We have a send off Mass tonight. The bishop will be there to celebrate it. Then a potluck dinner and then home to bed to be at the airport at 5:30 am. Fortunately, we live very close to the airport. Now I just have to be able to send my two girls off to a foreign country. It's hard letting go. And I know they're in good hands, and I know they are basically level-headed and tend to make really good decisions. I don't know if I could let them go if that weren't all true. But, I'll be awfully glad when I go to the airport on August 22 and pick them up.
Have tons to do today. But Hubby's off so all is good.

And What Do We Learn From This Children?

2011-08-05T08:24:00.000-05:00

The Imp makes me laugh. All the time. She truly has an aversion to the outdoors. The hot, humid air aggravates her asthma. Bugs are, well, beyond annoying. Snakes (which we have even in suburbia), are horrid. And she hates to sweat. Last week she was reading an article in the newspaper about a group of teens attacked by a bear. The teens were in Alaska for some sort of survival training and they were on their own at its culmination. She read the story aloud to me and then says, "And what did we learn form this children? Never, ever go into nature!"
The girls are starting to pack for their trip to France and Spain for World Youth Day. The Imp realizes she only needs to bring the right shoe of every pair as her left foot is broken. All of a sudden her entire face lights up and she exclaims that she can now take twice as many different shoes. They have to pack light and limiting her shoe selection to just 4 was killing her. She really loves shoes.
We spent Tuesday cleaning out her closet. 2 full bags of trash (primarily old school stuff) and 4 full bags of give-away. She gave away an entire wardrobe of clothes...T-shirts, casual shirts, blouses, dresses, slacks, jeans, shorts...the whole shebang. Her room is not the big. I'm still not sure how she had so much stuff in there. We didn't even get to her desk. Took the give-aways to Goodwill yesterday. Could have a yard sale, but not for a while with all the other stuff we're doing and we really have no place to store the bags until then.
A friend of mine brought a no-bake cheesecake type of dessert to our house awhile back. Everyone loved it. I don't really like making crusts, so I made the recipe and just spooned the concoction into individual dishes. I got some fresh blueberries and strawberries. So for dessert we had this wonderful cheesecake that everyone got to pile high with fruit. The best part was having the fruit out, so after eating the fruit with the top layer of cheesecake, you could put more fruit in for the second half. The recipe is soooo easy. 1 package of light cream cheese, 1 container of light cool whip, and 1/3 cup of sugar. Beat the cream cheese and sugar. Fold in the cool whip. Chill. A great summer treat.

Extreme Couponing

2011-08-02T08:38:00.000-05:00

I've used coupons for grocery shopping most of my adult life. There are many coupons I don't use because the brand is more expensive (even with a coupon) than my normal product. I don't spend much on cosmetics, but I use those coupons when I want to buy the good stuff. Cosmetic coupons are often more than $1 off. I view 'couponing' as a way to save a little money, and recognize it as a company's way to get me to try their product and possibly build some customer loyalty. I take advantage of BOGO if it's a product I use, but rarely pick up more than the 2 items (one I pay for and the free one). True, I have little storage space to take advantage of BOGO, but to me buying 10 and getting 10 for free is a misuse of the system. With the advent of the reality show "Extreme Couponing" grocery stores are having to alter their policies because people are expecting (yes expecting) to go into a store and come out with paying under $5 for $300 or so of groceries. I guess I understand the challenge is figuring out HOW to do it...like a logic problem. But seriously, someone IS paying for those groceries. Didn't they learn the maxim "There's no such as a free lunch"? I've only seen snippets of the show, but it often shows these women (and I've only seen women, although I'm sure there are some men) storing rooms full of stuff. One women said if her storage shelves (her entire basement had utility storage shelves that were full of products, carefully organized) got more then 1 item deep used, she'd start to panic about running out. This sounds like an OCD thing or a hoarder mindset more than good use of finances. 20 jars of peanut butter for a family of 4. Even peanut butter expires. No way they'll use those. The best story was a woman who routinely uses the BOGO so she can contribute to a local food bank. To me, that's an awesome way to utilize capitalism. I guess I view the extreme couponers as people trying to 'get away' with something...looking for loopholes. And historically, once loopholes are exploited on a large scale, inane rules follow to try to block the loopholes and we end up with our current tax laws. I just keep thinking "Balance. Balance. Balance." Extreme anything is dangerous.

The Singer and the Imp went to a wedding this past weekend. The Singer was asked to sing 'Ave Maria'. Oh, I enjoyed listening to her practice. The bride and groom are super wonderful people (I wanted to say kids, but I guess 25 year old people don't like being called kids). They had a Toms reception. Toms is a shoe company that donates a pair of shoes to people who need them (usually a third world country) for every pair you buy. The shoes are not cheap $50-$100, but are super comfortable and getting a pair for $50 translates into $25 per pair...just one is going to someone else. Everyone was to wear Toms to the reception. What a great idea. The opposite of the "me, me, me" attitude shown on many of the bridal shows. To me, companies like Toms, are examples of capitalism at its best. Yes, the company makes money, but it also is providing serious help to those in need, and the consumer can decide whether to participate or not. The girls both have Toms. I've help buy them those shoes as they've argued the charitable aspect of the purchase. Seeing how well the shoes last makes us all feel good about the shoes going to those in need. Coincidentally, there was a newspaper article about these BOGO for charity companies on the day of the couple's wedding.

I finally finished the girls' sewing projects. The Imp's dress and the Singer's top came out looking good. Now if I can only get my top finished. I also had a few repair jobs for the girls, like replacing a bad zipper. I hate zippers.

The Imp had her senior pictures taken. They all turned out great. How on earth am I to decide which prints to get? What a problem, I know. After sitting for her senior pictures, she promptly went and cut off 12 inches of her hair to give to Locks of Love. But she's beautiful with short or long hair and more importantly, she's beautiful within.

Broken Bones

2011-07-16T12:05:00.000-05:00

The Imp spent last week at a retreat. She called Wednesday and told me she hurt her foot when landing on a leap during a liturgical dance. I asked all the mom questions: "Do I need to come up? How bad is it? Have you iced it? Are you wrapping it?" She answered with all the kid responses: "Yes, I'm icing it. Yes, I'm fine. DON"T COME UP!" There are adults on retreat so I figured if she were really hurt, they'd take her to the ER. I pick her up yesterday afternoon and her foot is 3 times the normal size, black and blue and basically looking 'not good.' Took her to an Urgent Care center today...yep metatarsal #5 (running from the pinkie) is cracked. She's in a temporary cast until we can get in to see an orthopedic doctor. Now, none of this is earth-shattering or terrible in itself and with it being only cracked, she apparently didn't do more damage by her walking on it, but the standard period of time in a cast is 4 weeks. 4 weeks from Wednesday is August 10th. 4 weeks from Monday is August 15th. She leaves for World Youth Day August 12th! So I'm storming heaven for her rapid healing.

We all went to see Harry Potter last night. As always, the film just can't do what a book does. The most disappointing part was how the film dealt with Fred Weasley's death. One of the best parts was Mrs. Weasley giving it good to Bellatrix LaStrange. It's great to see movies where the theater is full and everyone cheers and laughs and gasps at the right time. Being the conservative that I am, I was amazed at how many children under 10 were there. Not only do I think the content not appropriate for that age, but it was a 9:00 showing that didn't get out 'til close to 11:30 PM. Kids need to sleep.

I'm beginning to get a little stressed about World Youth Day and all that we need to get done for that. I'm really trying hard not to borrow trouble and worry but to turn the anxiety into productive planning. (Right. I'll keep telling myself that and maybe one day it'll work.) Summer is over then. Way too quickly. And I've not done half the projects I'd wanted to complete. And now I've added more doctor appointments into the mix.

In the mean time, we're trying to get the Imp's class schedule fixed. Currently her schedule shows no class for period 8 Semester 1. And she's in both AP Government and DE Political Science (she wants one or the other...not both). Her guidance counselor left the school and the new one has not started, so she's without a guidance counselor. We'd been dealing with the department secretary who is a very sweet woman who knows a lot...but not everything. Finally got an appointment with the head of the department for Tuesday. Ugh.

Painting with Monet and Merlot

2011-07-14T08:02:00.000-05:00

Two of my friends convinced me a few months ago to sign up for an evening of "Painting with Moent and Merlot" It was a deal offered through Living Social so we paid half price. It sounded like lots of fun. And it was.
Last night we headed off to a restaurant where the party room was set up for this little class. The instructor walked us through step by step on how to copy the work displayed. I love doing creative stuff anyway and this was perfect. Add a glass of sangria and life was really, really good.

Hubby and I have been talking lately about 'things' we want and other than getting a slightly larger TV when our current one dies (It's 10 years old and is a 32-inch) there aren't many actual things we want, we'd like to spend our money on experiences. We'd like to travel to Italy and the Holy Land, go to more live entertainment (plays, concerts) and things like that. We'd like to be able to take our future grandkids to museums and ball parks and amusement parks, and the beach and the mountains. Experiential.

Last night at the painting class was the very thing. I learned some new things (always, always a plus), spent time with 2 great friends and walked away with a painting. Life is very, very good.

The first picture is of our instructor demonstrating the next step. The rest are the progression of my painting.

Summer

2011-07-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

I have a love/hate relationship with summer. I love having my girls home with me and I love not having so many meetings and such that only occur during the school year. But somehow, I am always busier during the summer than during the school year. Maybe I'm not really busier, but my expectations are that summer is a time of relaxation and it really isn't. For years, Hubby told me I had it wrong. He said that as a SAHM (Stay at Home Mom) summer would be my busy time of year. And I guess I agreed with that when the girls were younger. I had to provide some structure to their days. And the summer has always been when I tried to teach the girls some 'real life skills'. They have to make dinners (from planning a balanced meal, to getting the ingredients on the grocery list, to making it) and they always have a sewing project. At first it was just something like a pillow but each year I wanted them to do a more intricate project. In addition, the summer was when we cleaned out closets, etc. But as they got older (21 and 17), I guess I imagined that things would be less on me and more on them. Not so. In fact, this year I'm doing all the sewing! They picked the patterns and material, but I'm doing the sewing. To be fair, the Imp has done the pinning the pattern and cutting it out and the Singer works 40 hours a week plus has a 40 minute commute each way. And somehow extra stuff always gets thrown in. But even with all the stuff, I still love summer.

The Imp is off for a week. She's helping to run a retreat-type week for other teens. She helps train the teens to be retreat-helpers during the year. It's a great way to spend a week and it has given her great confidence in her skills and has helped her know things to help her stay firm in and being able to defend her faith. This is her 4th year. They have theme nights. This year one night is Famous Characters. Her friends all decided to go as Disney characters, so her friends are Cinderella, Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Ariel. The Imp gets to be Tinkerbell. That's amusing in lots of ways, since the Singer has always had a love of Tink and has tons of Tinkerbell stuff. But once you stop to think about it, Tinkerbell is a great fit. Tink has got an attitude, as does the Imp and truthfully, the Imp just isn't "Disney Princess" material. So this week I had the honor (right!) of making her a Tinkerbell costume! Working with tulle isn't as easy as one would imagine. But I got it done. I can't wait to see the pictures!

Both girls are getting excited about going to World Youth Day. They leave on August 12 and return on the 22. Both girls will be missing the first days of school, but I think the experience is well worth it. Yesterday we found out that their group was given the opportunity of picking 3 participants to sit in the FRONT ROW of seats at the prayer vigil with the Pope. The Singer was picked as one of the three! What a thrill! The Singer is studying theology and spent this past semester studying many of Benedict's writings and is a big fan. She's so excited, I'm not sure she'll sleep between now and then. I'm so happy for her. She refers to Pope Benedict as El Papa or Benny.

I'm sitting here in a darken house as it storms outside. It began about 7 this morning. I love listening to the rain and am thrilled with the rainfall, as we desperately need it. However...I have errands to run and don't really enjoy driving and running in the rain. We actually got rain last night, too, so the roads have standing water. But I won't complain.

Four Years? Not Possible.

2011-06-09T07:54:00.000-05:00

Four years ago today my little brother John died due to ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). It doesn't seem possible. I miss him, and yet I somehow feel like I've shared the last 4 years with him. Hubby and I were just discussing the immense leaps in maturity both our daughters have shown in the last 6 months. How is it that I haven't shared that with John? I'm not certain how to express what I'm feeling. There is a definite sadness of not actually seeing John and hearing his laugh and wondering if I missed something in the conversation when his eyes would twinkle with that "I know a joke you don't". But there is also a strong feeling of him still being here with me...I carry him in my heart and often think of things to tell him.
Years ago John told me he thought the Singer should be a nun. The Singer was all of 12 at the time. I told him anything was possible but that I wouldn't share his opinion with her 'till sometime later. Last year the Singer began to seriously discern her future and entering the convent was one of the paths she was looking at. I told her then what John had said. I feel like John knows all about that, but would still have loved to sit, talk and laugh with him about it all.
The Imp has grown up sooo much this year. It's hard to imagine that her knowledge and experiences with John stop when she was only 13 years old. Her life view is so different now, she would have been able to enjoy John more as she has matured. I am sad for her loss that she doesn't even realize she should miss.

Whenever I try to express my thoughts and feelings about things deep and personal like this, I feel like I lack knowledge of an entire set of vocabulary words that would somehow succinctly, eloquently and comprehensively allow me to communicate. I don't normally struggle with what word/words to use to accurately portray my thoughts. In this area I inevitably feel uneducated; and unable to clearly articulate my meaning.

3-Day Weekends and Awesome Brownies

2011-05-31T07:55:00.000-05:00

It would be so nice if 3-day weekends were really 4 or 5 days long. I enjoyed just spending time with my family this weekend, and will miss that now that the work week has begun.
Saturday we all went to a wedding. I love going to weddings with Hubby. I get all mushy inside and just enjoy contemplating how wonderful it is to be married to my best friend. The wedding Mass was beautiful but my favorite part was at the reception, the groom washed the bride's feet. The groom is quite adorable and he stumbled over his words, then said to his new bride, "I just want you to know I am here always to serve you as Christ came to serve." And he really meant it. We are friends with both the bride and the groom and are so very happy for them!
After that, we basically just hung out as a family around our house and pool.
We did get a new vacuum. Our old one didn't seem to clean as well as it once had and then started to smell like something burning if you had it on for more than 3 or 4 minutes. So I spent time going room to room vacuuming and as the new machine is bag-less, I could see exactly what was picked up in each room. Yuk. (Except, I felt so much better knowing the carpets were now clean.) 3 girls can generate gobs of hair very easily.
Friday night was the ceremonial "Summer Survival Bag" unveiling. To mark that event, I made these scrumptious brownies (recipe at end of post). I made these brownies right for Easter. I didn't enough vanilla so I used 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 almond extract. The Imp calls these "crack brownies" because once you've had one, you're addicted and must have more. We had told the Singer about them and she was skeptical about their allure. After having them, she too is calling them "crack brownies." So that is the 'official' name. I just hope they don't discuss them too openly and give people the wrong idea. I had to have Hubby hide them so I wouldn't inhale the entire plate. We doled them out throughout the weekend. The only drawback is that the recipe is for a scant 8 by 8 inch pan. I tried altering the recipe for a 9 by 12 pan, but they didn't turn out as wonderful as before. I might have over-baked them...and this recipe is ruined by that, or some recipes just don't increase well.
The best thing this weekend is I started the puzzle I got for my birthday: a 2000 piece Sistine Chapel puzzle. Be still my heart. I'm probably about 1/3 done. But the more you get done the faster it goes. I love jigsaw puzzles. My family knows me well getting this for me.

We watched 'Inception' Sunday night. It was actually much better than I thought it would be. People had told me it was similar in style as 'the Matrix' movies. I'm not a big fan of those. But while there were some similarities, I thought it was much better. I'm not a huge Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but he did a nice job. I think I like him better now that he is a little older.

I just finished reading "The Shack". Quite thought-provoking. I'd recommend it to anyone, but don't approach it like light reading.

The Imp is gearing up for the release of the last Harry Potter movie by rereading books 5, 6 and 7. She'll be on retreat the day it is released (at 12:01 on a Friday morning) but plans to go straight from her retreat to the theater to see it Friday night. And while some parents worry about the true message sent by the Harry Potter series, I'm not that concerned partly because she is just as crazy about the Narnia series and we discuss the symbolism, subliminal messages, etc of most everything she watches. She looked up her summer reading for her AP English course and squealed in delight that one of the two books is "Pride and Prejudice." I believe she can quote entire passages. She originally read the book the summer after 8th grade. She has seen multiple movie renditions (and can tell you which ones stay true to the book in various ways). She's thinking of having a "Pride and Prejudice" party at the end of July watching the 6-hour movie (which she says is best).

Best Brownie Recipe
(originally from allrecipes.com but below is my 'tweaked' version)

1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs (allow them to come to room temperature)
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 - 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup hershey's cocoa (I use part regular and part extra dark)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 8-inch pan

In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 c butter. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs and flavorings. (I use a whisk). Sift together cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder. Slowing beat dry ingredients in. Spread batter in prepared pan

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

The recipe from allrecipes.com called for a frosting. I've never made it. The brownies are perfect as they are.

Fantastic Birthday

2011-05-19T12:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a great birthday. I had made banana bread with chocolate chips Tuesday night (using Sarah's recipe) so I had the wonderful sweet treat for breakfast. I had no great plans for the day, so I decided to make my cake from scratch. I spent Monday and Tuesday searching my recipe books and the web for something "good." I stumbled across the Hershey's web page and hit the jackpot. I allowed the family to give me their input, but ultimately, I decided on this deliciously decadent dark chocolate cake. I was unaware that Hershey's made a dark chocolate cocoa, but won't soon forget it! Though I absolutely adore chocolate and savor all dark chocolate I eat, the cake seemed a little too chocolate-y even for me. So I went to my Betty Crocker cook book and made a fluffy (boiled) white icing for the between the two round cakes and covered the whole thing in the superbly wonderful dark chocolate icing published with the cake recipe. Oh my. It. Was. So. Delicious. I think once this cake is gone (and it won't be long in this world) I will dream of it, especially on days I have chocolate cravings. I'm not sure we'll ever make a different chocolate cake. Can you tell I really liked it?
In addition to totally enjoying myself making a mess in the kitchen, we ate take-out Chinese out back by the pool. The weather was so gorgeous. Not too hot as is often the case having a May birthday and living in Tampa. There was even a nice breeze. Having the Singer home from college and both the Singer and the Imp on their "best behavior" falling over themselves to make my birthday great.
We had decided some time ago to celebrate Mother's Day and my birthday on Saturday the 21st. I was in NC for Mother's Day and with my birthday being mid-week of exam week for the Imp and because I am pretty spoiled when it comes to my birthday a mid-week celebration simply wouldn't be enough fanfare to properly celebrate these two great days. So part of what made yesterday so wonderful was the anticipation of more to come this Saturday. Gifts will be given then.
Then it was wonderful to get emails all day telling me of many friends wishing me well on Face book. And then my parents called and sang Happy Birthday to me. The day ended with a back rub from my Hubby. Life is pretty darn good.
I needed a day of just enjoying life. It seems the last few weeks have been rather stressful. I went to visit my dermatologist at the end of April (having to see her twice a year after my seriously abnormal results in October). She removed two questionable moles for inspection. One came back seriously abnormal, so I was back to the surgeon to have a significant amount of tissue removed from my arm. The previous surgery was on my arm, but close to the elbow. This tissue was removed from my triceps area. I now have a 'divot' in my arm. Not the end of the world, I realize, but not something someone would choose. Then two weeks ago, I got to spend the day in the ER with the Imp with severe abdominal pains. Her CT scan ruled out appendicitis but revealed a "female problem" (she really doesn't want details published on the web). We've been to a gynecologist and are in a waiting pattern. The issue is NOT life-threatening nor indicative of any kind of cancer. The issue could a) resolve itself, b) get better with a course of treatment, c) require surgery, d) indicate a persistent annoying issue, e) indicate a persistent more serious issue. So that has been weighing heavily on my mind. The Imp has responded as she does to most of life. "It doesn't hurt now, so I won't think about it." She knows she doesn't have to worry when I'm around. I'll worry enough for both of us. The waiting is really the hardest part. We don't know what ultimately will happen because of this, so I can't begin working to make it better. We return to the gynecologist in mid June and then again 2 months later. Hopefully by then we'll have a better picture of the issue. While it is ultimately great that I have a Hubby who doesn't dwell on things or worry, when I'm in the middle of a serious worry-fest it is quite infuriating that he deems the situation not worthy of that kind of reaction. And it's not that he doesn't worry or rant/rave/cry but that he acts as if I'm crazy/childish/obnoxious for doing those things. After crying and imagining the worst case scenarios, I'm able to function in front of the Imp and keep it together when others ask about the situation. Hubby, however, down plays the whole thing partly because he hates to see me distressed. It's a good thing I have my female friends who sympathize appropriately to help me through this.
I think it's time for another piece of some decadent chocolate cake.

Heartbreak at State Regatta

2011-05-02T08:05:00.000-05:00

The Imp and "her" Girls Varsity 8 team went to State competition this weekend. They'd practiced almost everyday during their Spring Break (some days 2 practices) and had been having morning (6:45 am) practices when school was in session 2 days per week (in addition to their 4-6 pm daily practices after school). They were all set. They were expecting to finish mid-pack. There were 2 7-boat heats and they were hoping to finish in the top 6 but felt confident they'd finish in the top 12. That was not to be.
After getting up at 4:15 am to leave the house at 5 to get to Sarasota by 6:30 to help rig the boat before the coxswain meeting at 7, the Imp's race was to start at 8:07. They were in lane 7. If you've never seen a crew regatta, it takes time for the boats to get into position for a start. They start with the boat in lane one getting into position, and go forward, so lane 7 is last. The boats are 17 meters long (that's almost 58 feet) so maneuvering the boats isn't simple. There are different types of starts based on weather conditions. They'd been told at the meeting they were having one kind of start unless/until conditions changed. They were the 2nd heat of the day. Well, they had a terrible start. The start had changed to a countdown start (the other start has the official asking each boat if they are ready...the countdown start does not). The Imp's boat was not in position, and in fact had girls with their oars out of the water. The start happened before the Imp realized it was going to. In her and her team's panic, they crossed into lane 6, which caused more panic/frustration. They finished last in their heat (boats 1-6 all went on to some other race, boat 7 was totally eliminated). To their credit they finished only 2 seconds behind boat 6 and only 30 seconds behind boat 1 (that's a fairly close heat when all 7 boats finish within 30 seconds). The girls were crushed. It broke my heart to see them carrying their boat out of the water with tears streaming down their faces.
But I have to say now, that it was probably a great learning experience for the Imp. I also have to say that I'm proud of her response to the event. When the coach called the team around, she immediately said "It's my fault, I didn't get them ready for a good start" Not "The officials are idiots" or "It's unfair" or anything like that. She saw her role as coxswain to captain her boat and the poor start in her eyes, was a result of poor direction to her team. She felt even more responsible when she found out that had she simply sat at the start line and not had her team row, she could have gotten a second start. No one has ever told her that, but she felt responsible. I gotta be proud of that. She said her first task today at their team meeting is to get the official rule book so she knows all the rules for the future (that means next year...their season is over). Like I said, I am proud of her leadership.
Saturday was excruciatingly long. Their race was over by 8:15 (and their boat out of the water and stowed by 9am) the boys races weren't until 2 and 3 pm. So the girls had to be supportive of the boys team throughout the day and couldn't even go home and lick their wounds.
As her mom, I wish they'd advanced to the next round, and as her mom, it breaks my heart to see her struggle, suffer, etc. But as her mom, I'm also glad for this experience. It's made her stronger and prepared her for lots of other "unfair starts" she'll face in her life that have nothing to do with crew. And her attitude of "what can I do differently to make this better?" is going to serve her well. I so understood her sentiment of just wanting to be able to row the race again, even without it meaning anything, just to row it well to finish on a positive note.
The venue in Sarasota is awesome with plans for it becoming better. Here's a few links about the venue.

Kidney Stones

2011-03-26T09:13:00.000-05:00

Never a dull moment. The Singer calls last night a little after 11 pm. I can tell be the sound of her voice when she says "Mommmmm.." I'm thinking, 'please don't let it be a car accident or something terrible." And she proceeds to tell me she's in so much pain in her abdomen that she thinks she going to get sick to her stomach. Do I think she should wait it out or go to the emergency room. Really? Her junior year in high school she got kidney stones during her 1st semester exams which continued to cause her pain all the way up to Christmas. So is it the same kind of pain? Yep. Then go to the emergency room. I tell her make sure someone else drives. She then sounds indignant with an 'of course." Hey, if you don't know to go the emergency room, can I be sure you don't know not to drive in so much pain? 5 hours later, with a diagnosis of kidney stones and pain meds and anti-nausea meds she was back in her dorm room. I couldn't sleep until I heard all was okay. Thank goodness she has such a wonderful roommate who took great care of her. Awake at 8:30 this morning, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. And I have a long list of things to get done this weekend. Such is life. I'm just so relieved it isn't something worse. Abdominal pain can be a whole host of problems. Kidney stones are 'doable'. And I can say that as someone who has had them.

I'm enjoying the beautiful weather and eating the lettuce and green peppers from my garden. My cukes are coming along. I have a few about 2 inches long. I can't wait to eat them. My roses are blooming. My Fragrant Cloud has 10 buds. 3 of them should open today and then a few more for the next couple of days.

We went to University of Central Florida on Monday with the Imp. It's on her top 2 list. I'm not too sure. It's not the university per se that has me concerned. It's the fact that there are 56,000 students. Yep 56 thousand! The second largest university in the country. It just seems like it would be so easy to get lost in the mix there. Her other top choice is University of North Florida which will visit this summer since we really need an overnight stay to go there. Guess I'll be doing lots of praying over this 'cause there's really not a whole lot else to do.

The home school coop I teach for is having their parent meeting Monday night. It's really a meeting where each teacher gets up and pitches their courses so parents will sign up their kids. We get paid per student you want people to want your class. I'm slated to teach US History (which I'm very excited about and have lots of ideas for) and public speaking (I'm thinking this could be really wonderful but I've got to do much more to create the curriculum, etc.) I just got asked to teach this course a week ago so I've got to come up with the structure of the course and how I plan to attack it and then come up with a 5 minute or less presentation selling it. Now if I'm teaching Public Speaking I'd better be able to sell the course with a public speech, right? And finally I'm doing the drama club. I'm in way over my head there...just because what I'll do with that depends greatly on the number of kids who sign up. This weekend will be stressful as I do all this, but overall it's really all very good. I'm glad I've got things to focus on and ways to stay involved. The crochet club this year is making baby afghans for the local pregnancy center. Each student is making granny squares and I'm crocheting them all together. I think between the 7 or 8 members we will end up with 3 or 4 afghans. After first semester just learning how to crochet, it was great to have a goal or mission this semester.

Better go get started on all of this.

The Love Dare

2011-03-18T07:58:00.000-05:00

Sitting in a quiet house early in the morning reading my devotional...it is wonderful. During the day I find myself frustrated with so many things...wishing the world were more supportive of my values....often feeling as if every value (honesty, modesty, moderation, love, patience, etc) I want to teach my children is the very things society is urging them to denounce.
Modesty is on my radar especially as I get ready to go prom dress shopping with the Imp. Her slight build makes it easier to find a dress that covers things...but so many are still too revealing and too suggestive. The Imp is going with a friend, not a boyfriend, and her words, "I wouldn't want to go with a boyfriend because then you're expected to dance like your having sex with your clothes on. That's just sick!" In fact she was thinking of not going at all but her other friends talked her into going as a group. She said she'd much rather go to St. Leo's to the carpenter shop (a meeting room for the teens) put on some music and just have fun dancing with everyone.

So for Lent I'm doing the "Love Dare" on my husband. My TEAM read an article about marriage during Lent and it was about really actively loving your spouse. I need a little more concrete, specific ideas. So I got out the "Love Dare" and have started. I'm on day 6. It was interesting because some of the stuff I already do. Day 2 has you calling your spouse during the day to just say "hi" and asking if there is anything you can do for them. Well I almost felt like I needed to call 2 times to fulfill the love dare since I call Hubby most days to do just that. Then Day 3 has you buy something for your spouse. That was very hard for me as Hubby is so NOT into THINGS of any kind. And he is so into NOT spending money. If it weren't Lent I might have gotten him a box a Suzy Q's (one of his absolutely favorite junk food that he doesn't have very often) or a six-pack of a dark beer (but he gave up chocolate and alcohol for Lent). So I went ahead and bought him two tickets for the Rays game when the Red Sox first come to town this year. Carl Crawford, a hero for the Rays for the last few years, sold out to the enemy. (We knew he was leaving the Rays..the Rays just don't pay money like the other clubs but were hoping he'd go to a team not in our division...The Red Sox? Really?) Ever since Crawford signed with the Red Sox Hubby has talked about going to the game to cheer Crawford when he's introduced as a fond farewell, then boo him for the rest of the game. I was going to get him tickets to opening day but only the beach seats left with 2 seats together. Again, he was thankful, but it wasn't really out of the ordinary. It's funny 'cause the Love Dare comes from the movie, Fireproof, and in it the couple is on the verge of divorce so the husband starts this love dare and his wife totally ignores his attempts to love her. Hubby and I are so happy in our marriage I guess I had visions of him being so thankful. Which, of course, is totally NOT the point of the endeavor. The whole idea is that as a married person we are called to love the other no matter what. Not because they deserve it (none of us deserves God's love, after all) or because of what we get out of it (recognition, affirmation, etc). So I laughed at myself for looking for that recognition. My love-language is words of affirmation so I often look for them/desire them to make me feel loved, but really, I was missing the point. So just spending the time focusing on that whole idea...no matter what he does or doesn't do I'm called to love him...has been a good thing for me. 34 more days. We'll see where it all leads.

Gotta go get the Imp up so we can hit the mall...fortunately she went with the Singer last week and has a dress picked out so it shouldn't be too long at the mall. And we're hitting the library afterward...my carrot.

Spring!

2011-03-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

The Singer is home for Spring Break. The weather is gorgeous (80 today and high 70s and low 80s the rest of the week). The only drawback to the weather is not enough rain recently and I'm trying to get my garden going. My broccoli is harvested. It hit 80 last week and they started to flower. 80 is a no-no for broccoli. I'll have to plant earlier next year! My leaf lettuce is producing, 'Got small peppers on my pepper plants. The cukes are transplanted to the garden. Bean seeds are sown. Onions are transplanted. Herb garden doing great. Roses have buds. But I hate watering by hand. Just rain already! Focusing in on my garden is my attempt to forget the layer of yellowish-green oak pollen that is coating everything!
Allergies are in full swing for the whole family. I've actually slept out on our couch (very comfortable, btw) to sleep without Hubby's snoring. No fault of his. He's taking his allergy meds and sleeps on 2 pillow to help keep his head elevated, but it's allergy season. Once I fall asleep, rarely is his snoring so loud that it wakes me, but if I'm having a hard time falling asleep...even the just noisy breathing keeps me from sleeping. On those nights it's just easier to let Hubby fall asleep and then for me to move to the couch. It's not often, but for years I would suffer through hours of sleeplessness thinking it wasn't good for a wife to sleep elsewhere from her husband. But after 26 years, he knows I'm not avoiding him, and I'm able to demonstrate my love for much easier if I've actually slept.
The Imp is thrilled to have the Singer home. Not so thrilled that she has to still go to school every day while the Singer sleeps in and goes to the beach. But every night we're eating together, doing dishes and then gathering around the Wii and playing Mario. It's a blast. The four of us all tripping over each other (in the game) and yelling and screaming when we 'die' and cheering when we complete a level. We are pretty geeky.
Speaking of geekiness. The other day the Imp was saying how it was obvious that Hubby was a geeky about computers and that I was geeky about history/geography/teaching but that she really wasn't geeky. Hubby just laughed and said..."Shoes!" She couldn't say much to that. Dinner has been lots of fun.
I'm having so much fun teaching economics to my home school group. I'm having them complete a Personal Budget Project. They had to draw a career, with appropriate starting salary, a family, and then had to determine taxes, figure their monthly take-home pay, and now have had to find a car, an apartment, budget for gas, car insurance, cable, groceries, etc. Then every few weeks they draw a "Life Happens" card. Things like "Your car needs an oil change." or "You got a speeding ticket" or "It's your child's birthday, plan and budget a party and gifts" or "Your favorite band is in town." It fun to hear their comments. Even those who are married only have one income (for simplicity's sake). So one girl said, "Do I have to take my husband to the concert if I go? He doesn't even work! And I have to take care of him!" This from a girl whose mom is a stay-at-home mom. I said "Does your dad take your mom out?" It's just too funny. The parents are very happy with the project. It's generated much discussion in the homes. This is what I love about teaching.
My crochet group is making baby afghans for the Pregnancy Center. I'm having fun.

Ain't Family Great

2011-02-10T09:51:00.000-05:00

The Singer called last night around 8, stressed to the max. "Mom, I just can't spend another night in the dorm with all those people around all the time." Both my daughters desperately need alone time. The Singer's need is striking as she needs the boisterous social time just as much (The Imp is much less the social butterfly so her need isn't surprising. The Singer is such a social butterfly, cheerleader type, that people don't realize how precious and necessary that time is to her.)
Her desperation carrying through the phone in her tone, "The library is closing, there's nowhere to go, except a cafe in Charlotte but it's suppose to snow tonight and I don't want to get caught in the snow." (Ah, a new appreciation of the trials of driving in the snow after her trip back to NC in January...now the forecast was for ONE inch of snow...I wasn't too worried, but just listened.)
First I stayed calm. Asked her to check out the hour by hour forecast (when exactly was it suppose to start snowing, etc.). Then I told her to call her uncle (my brother) who is but 20 minutes from her, and ask to crash in their spare bedroom. I was praying this wouldn't be an imposition on them. Knowing the generosity of both my brother and his wife, I was sure they'd open their home, and knowing the Singer truly wanted to be alone, I figured her presence wouldn't be disruptive.
Family came through. Within minutes the Singer was heading off to their house. I texted her this morning asking how it went. "Blissful...I got 8 beautiful hours of sleep and got to have a pop tart with Andrew this morning" (Andrew is 5 and probably the cutest kid alive). I'm so glad she got the sleep. Still recovering from the flu last week, I've been trying to push the sleep thing on her without being to 'momish'.

What a great relief to know she has family that will take her in...not just in an emergency..but just to be nice.
Family is GREAT.

They Don't Have Boots

2011-02-07T11:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday at Mass, our deacon spoke about giving to our diocese's fundraiser. He spoke about volunteering at Pinellas Hope, a local homeless help center (temporary housing and hot meals provided). He shared how before going to Pinellas Hope and knowing these people, he, like many middle class Americans, wondered why "those" people didn't just pull themselves up by their bootstraps. After spending time at Pinellas Hope, he discovered the answer...they don't have any boots! That story will stay with me for a long time. There are people who are homeless due to their poor choices (i.e. it's their own fault). There are also people who are homeless because they never had an adequate support system. When you are middle class, you usually not only have some sort of savings for emergencies, you also have people who will help you out in emergencies, additionally you have been exposed to the idea (and believe it) that hard work pays off. It is so hard for middle class America to grasp the reality that the culture of the poor is often dramatically different than our own. Our Youth Group volunteers at Pinellas Hope a few times each year. They also spend a night retreat there...sleeping outside, eating the meal provided at Pinellas Hope, etc. The response is almost always the same..."I had no idea there were 'normal' people who were homeless." or "I'm never drinking...this guy I met used to work at a nice white collar job and he lost it, his family and his home due to drinking." I think this kind of experience should be required for all teenagers (and it would probably benefit all law-makers as well).
People who know me, know I am not an advocate for unlimited social programs. In fact, I think privately run 'help' groups are preferable to government programs all the time. But, at the same time, I believe too many people who live comfortably frequently misjudge those who have less.
It's not that they don't want to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, they just don't have any boots.

The Triple Bind

2011-02-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

I'm ready this book Triple Bind.
I'm finding it really interesting, and spending time contemplating how much pressure I put on my own two girls. A friend of mine has a daughter who is a freshman in high school and is having a very difficult time of it. The girl is super smart, super sweet, very pretty (and dances-ballet- and plays the piano and is a runner). The girl is feeling inadequate and overwhelmed in high school. I recommended this book to her. Just reading the book jacket had my friend very interested. I found Hinshaw's reference to "America's Next Top Model" especially enlightening. Both my girls absolutely LOVE that show. I never could understand why. Hinshaw explains how the Triple Bind is openly played out on the show and that the appeal is that the girls are succeeding!

Happy to Live in Florida

2011-02-03T11:12:00.000-05:00

Seeing the news the last few days and looking at the weather map, sure makes me happy I live in Florida. The front line, separating the cold from the nice whether sits just north of me. It'll come close to 70 today here. Sure beats the -32 in the northern mid-west. It is cloudy, and I'm definitely a sunshine-kind of person, but after spending some time outside this morning playing in my gardens, I won't complain. I have lots of seeds growing up in my planters on my porch...can't transplant them to the garden until I'm really sure it won't freeze again. My broccoli and pepper plants in my garden are looking good. After a frigid (for Florida) December and cold January, I would be just fine without a February freeze, but won't tempt fate by planting my little lettuce, cucumber, and onions too soon.
It's February, so we are now surrounded by all the Valentine's Day hoopla. I've just never liked the pressure of Valentine's Day. Hubby and I are going out to a great restaurant, Rigatoni's, a week AFTER Valentine's Day. Fewer crowds, lower prices, more fun. In fact, Hubby proposed (well...his proposal was less than traditional, but we call it his proposal) to me on Feb 15 of 1984. He wanted to do it on Valentine's Day, but he said he knew I'd probably say 'no' on principal since I think the hoopla around the day is so overdone.
We celebrated 26 years December 29. We had a great time. Nothing like spending your life with your best friend. We went on Hotwire and got a great hotel room downtown on the river for a steal. So we went downtown that afternoon with the idea of going skating at the constructed outdoor skating rink they put up at a park on the river (in a tent-like structure to help prevent thawing in the 60 degree weather). I'd been reading about the rink in the paper and wanted to go ice skating outside (we've a great indoor rink just a few miles from my house). Well, the rink was smaller than a postage stamp, way too crowded and all torn up from all the skates. So we passed by the rink and kept walking to the downtown library. To many, a couple of hours at a library on one's anniversary might not sound wonderful, but to me it was pure heaven. The only drawback was the heat was on too high. The downtown library is wonderful...multi-leveled and two sections (east and west) separated by a clear 'tunnel'. After browsing (and both picking up a few books) we sat and read magazines. Hubby said we'd have to plan to do this regularly in retirement. Don't subscribed to any magazines, just plan to spend an afternoon every week at the library, getting our info there. Now...I'm one lucky girl to have a Hubby like that!
The Singer is back at college, burning the candle at both ends. She went off to the March for Life in DC the weekend of the 20th. The next weekend she was off to the FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) convention in Tennessee. She got back late Sunday night and by Tuesday was running a fever. After running a temp of 103, she headed off to the college clinic and was diagnosed with the flu. She's wishing she were home for Mom's TLC. Fortunately she has lots of friends. They did a drug store run and got Tylenol, orange juice, chicken soup, tissues, and some movies. So she's in good hands.
The Imp starts school late today due to Junior Class retreat day. So I gotta go take her in.

Visiting

2010-12-18T00:08:00.002-05:00

I love Christmas time. I've spent the last week baking... Oreo truffles, muddy buddies, apple bread, fudge pie and of course, geiba (a polish sweet/nut bread). The Imp decorated the house the first weekend of December, before she had to start studying for exams. The pictures tell it all.

This is her favorite gift from last year: a set of silver bells with the gifts of the 12 Days of Christmas depicted on the handles.

She may actually love Christmas-time more than me.
Here's the Advent calendar I made for her this year.

Of course, her birthday being right before Christmas adds to her excitement. I was a little apprehensive about her ability to settle down in study with her exuberant decorating, but she rose to the occasion and aced all her exams. Physics was her hard one and she spent hours and hours at home studying and met with a study group for 4 hours the day before her exam. Her diligence paid off and now she can enjoy Christmas vacation. Going into exams she knew she needed a high A on the physics exam in order to pull an A out for the semester. Having not done that well on most of the tests, she wasn't sure she could do it, but she told me "I know I might not get it, but I'd like to really try...then if I don't get it, at least I won't wonder, "If I'd studied more could I have gotten the A?". That she was willing to try even though the odds were against her made me proud. That she was rewarded for her efforts just makes it better.

And what do math geeks do for fun? Make snowflakes of course.

Look closer... what does that say?

M-A-T-H of course and to make it really fun, we threw in a pi sign. Yep that's what we do for fun in my house.

We're enjoying a visit to Sumter to see my parents. They've moved into a retirement facility that has independent living rooms and assisted living. They have a nice apartment, but it's hard on my mom leaving her house and all her space. There is a dining room in the facility so the kitchens in the apartments are tiny (and that's being generous). My mom really misses her kitchen. I think the place is great and can envision Hubby and I in a similar place when we reach our 80's.

We got to spend time with Gwyn and her husband tonight. I really enjoyed that. Hadn't seen Gwyn in quite a while. She looks happy. I'm glad she found Michael.

I'd promised some people more pics of the Imp as coxswain. Here they are.

That's the Imp with her back to the camera.

Here she is yelling, oops I mean encouraging, her team on.

And here's just a pic of my two girls.

Gold Medal in Crew and Recovering

2010-11-17T22:17:00.000-05:00

The Imp went to Augusta Georgia for a big southeastern regatta, Head of the South. Her varsity 8 won gold with more than a 20 second lead on the silver. She's been the coxswain this year and has loved it. Her varsity 8 boat also won at a regatta in October. That regatta was great because it was local on the Hillsborough River and Hubby and I could stand on a bridge over the Hillsborough and watch them coming down the river and row right under us (just a few yards shy of the finish line). They looked really good at that race. I'm so happy for her. Here's a picture of her team holding her up after the win in October.

My girls continue to entertain me. This is from the Imp's facebook page written on the Singer's wall.

"you used the word "harrowing" in your voicemail to me today. i did not know what it meant...so i had to look it up XP (–adjective: extremely disturbing or distressing.....in case you were wondering). stop being so smart because in the future i may too languid to go look up words i do not know.

ILOVEYOU."

Hubby has been working extreme overtime. It's a little rough not having weekends, especially for him, but each night we remind ourselves how fortunate we are he has a job...a well-paying job...a pretty secure job. So a few weeks of 7 days of work 10+ hours a day are tolerable. But I am looking forward to Thanksgiving week when this overtime is supposed to be finished (I'll believe it when I see it) and Hubby will be home. He's supposed to have the whole week off, but I have the feeling that he'll be working at least a few hours most days, but that's such an improvement, it will seem as if he's on vacation.

A few weeks ago I had 2 'questionable' moles removed for biopsy. They both came back 'atypical' so I had to go back in for full removal. As Hubby has had this happen multiple times, I was expecting a similar experience: a slightly larger and deeper cut than the original with one maybe 2 stitches. However, my results were 'moderate to severe' abnormalities...apparently close to being classified as melanoma. In fact they had the biopsies tested twice to make sure it wasn't melanoma. So when I went in today, the procedure was more extensive then I'd anticipated. I'll have pretty large scars (there were multiple layers of stitches) and in the mean time I'm pretty uncomfortable. The moles were removed from my left upper arm and the back of my left upper thigh. Sitting is nearly impossible right now. (I'm half-laying, half-sitting on my couch...where I've been since 11:00 am). I hadn't planned for being out of commission today...I had plans for working on some of the hand-made Christmas gifts. Now, I'm not even sure I'll be up and around tomorrow. Ugh.
The up side (if there is one) is that Hubby and the Imp have been very attentive to me. Hubby, working from home, took me to and from the doctor's and got my prescriptions filled. When the Imp got home, she gave him a hard time for not getting me a milk shake (what she gets after harrowing doctor visits). She couldn't believe he hadn't even thought to ask me. So she made him stop and get me a HOT Krispy Kreme on the way home from her voice lesson. Now that was the up side to this day.

This is my favorite time of year. I love planning and making and baking around Christmas. The Imp is gearing up, too. With her birthday December 22, she'll start the official countdown on November 22. She loves Advent calendars, as she views them as not just a count down to Christmas but also her birthday. I'm glad she hasn't lost this childish side to her, even as she's almost 17.

BY YOUR SIDE - TENTH AVENUE NORTH

2010-10-21T08:08:00.001-05:00

This song just makes me feel better about life...I love the image of me being a tiny child and being held in God's hands.

Silent Solidarity

2010-10-19T05:55:00.000-05:00

What A Game!!!

2010-09-14T07:12:00.002-05:00

Rays lead their division! Half a game ahead of the loved-to-be-hated New York Yankees. The game was fantastic! That we play them 6 more times in the next 10 days means anything could happen. The game surely had the feel of a play-off game. Having David Price...PRICELESS! And who knew that Crawford's uncharacteristic blow-up at the ump would allow the young Brignac to win it for us. Here's hoping the other 6 games are played as well (and have the same outcome).

Financial Fast

2010-09-06T08:21:00.003-05:00

Hubby and I started a financial fast on Sept 1. Michele Singletary, a writer for the Washington Post wrote a book, 21 Days to Financial Freedom. For the 21 days, you only buy what you need (that means no eating out), and use cash to purchase whatever it is you're buying. It's been tempting to use the cash card at the gas station and other places, but it really does make a difference, for the way your brain processes and absorbs information, to use cash. The fast is not about saving money, per se, but instead is to focus on God and where all things come from. Each day, there is a theme, a Bible passage, and an activity [sometimes the activity is to write about your observations, others it's to actually do something, like create (or modify) your budget]. In the comparison game, I always congratulated myself for my sound fiscal decisions. Hubby and I have a budget (I am always amazed at how many people don't...no wonder they're in debt). So I tended to pat myself on my back, telling myself how good I was doing. But just 6 days into this endeavor and I am amazed at how 'loose' our budget really was. And even though I knew using cash would make a difference, I didn't realize the true impact of it. We pay so many of our set bills (mortgage, car payment, tuition, etc) electronically, I don't even have the activity of writing out a check. It really removes you from the process of watching your money go out. I highly recommend this for anyone.

So Hubby and I are cruising along, enjoying the process, even if we have had to say no to some things we'd normally splurge on. At church yesterday, we had a visiting priest from Haiti speak about supporting the missions. The man was an awesome speaker and how I'd love to have him run a retreat. He was funny, but he also told it like it is. He challenged parents to be willing to their children not like them, challenged retirees to give back to the community with their time, challenged college students to not be so self-centered (the world doesn't owe you anything), challenged our American consumerism. He also described his parish in the heart of Port-au-Prince. As he was describing the conditions, I assumed he was speaking post earthquake, but he wasn't. He's speaking of deplorable conditions and says "and then the earth began to shake for 38 long seconds..." Conditions are worse now. Hard to fathom amidst our prosperity. He (plus the mindset we're in with this fast) has us giving more to the missions than we have in the past. And funny, he never directly asked for money.

The hardest part of the fast are the 'gray' areas. What is a need? And how far are we willing to take this fast? The Singer's last pay check came in the mail, and she wanted a few other things from home sent to her. Well...is mailing the package to her a true need? We decided to send it. But what about our lawn mower's fuel line breaking? Is it a need to get it fixed immediately? Back in the days of 'no-money' as we like to describe our early married years when we were both college students, we would wait until we had the cash, now we tend to charge it without really thinking (we pay it off at the end of the month, as the rule). But it is spending without thinking. Online purchasing is also an area where it is easy to spend more than you realize. The business section yesterday had an article about that very thing. "It's only $.99 for a song on iTunes." But that's still $1 you don't have to spend on something else...including the missions in Haiti.

We're enjoying the long weekend. The Imp has a get together with friends from St. Leo's peer ministry group...it's WAYYYY up north (about 70 miles). So Hubby and I will drop her off, then head to Crystal River State Park to walk and talk. Not a bad way to spend Labor Day, just hope the rain holds off.

School Begins

2010-08-23T20:58:00.005-05:00

Cutest Nephew Ever

Adoration Chapel at Belmont Abbey

The last few weeks have been busy with summer ending and school starting. Hubby and I got to spend a night at the beach before school started. The tourism industry has taken a real beating between the depressed economy and the oil scare (there is no oil on our beaches)and many hotels have been having Florida resident specials. We took advantage of that 2 Saturdays ago. It was great sitting out on the beach and watching the sun set and getting up and going out to the beach in the morning. I love the beach and the sound of the surf.
The Imp started school on the 9th. Things are going pretty well, just AP Calculus has her on the run, already. She may end up dropping down to Calc Honors, and then take AP next year. As I topped out with Trig in high school, I'm impressed with the math she's doing. I've been both girls' math tutors through Algebra II. Calc is beyond me...I did okay taking it, but tutoring in it is a whole different ball game. Crew starts tomorrow. With AP English, Dual Enrollment Am Hist, Honors Physics, and Honors Spanish, she's got a full load.
This past weekend we all drove up to Belmont, NC to drop the Singer off. We got to stay with my baby brother, Brian, and his wonderful family. The campus is gorgeous and I think she's where she'll do really well. She starts classes tomorrow. She already called me today :-) Life is good.
I start teaching my homeschool group Geography and Government on Friday. I'm really excited about that. I really am pretty blessed. I love teaching. I love geography. I love staying home for the most part. I love making a little bit of money. I love working with parents who share my faith. And I get enjoy all those loves by teaching for the homeschool group.
I've started my fall garden plants. I'm trying to get rid of some red ants from my raised bed before transplanting them. I don't want to use pesticide, so have been trying various home remedies. Our large amount of rain, is making my raised beds very appealing to the ants as the soil in the bed is drier than the yard. Ugh. I refuse to complain about the rain.

Home Alone

2010-07-13T07:35:00.002-05:00

The Imp is gone to work a retreat this week. She left Friday afternoon and I go to pick her up this Friday. Saturday we hosted our couples' prayer group, and I was so focused getting my house and food ready, I didn't really notice she wasn't here. Sunday the Singer, Hubby and I all just relaxed and read books. She would have been doing the same, so her absence was not keenly felt. Yesterday, however, as I had the house to myself from 7 am till 6 pm, her being gone screamed in the silence. I sure pray she's having a good week. She is actually facilitating the retreat (running it with other teens to train kids to facilitate weekend retreats). Some of her cohorts really enjoy Drama in their lives. The Imp has limited patience for that and I'm sure she'll come home ready to hole up in her room for a day or two for some alone time of her own (and some sleep).

I can't believe school starts in 5 weeks already. Somehow the summer always flies by. I'm ordering the Imp's textbooks this week. I'm also attacking her bedroom closet. I hope I survive. It will feel good knowing it's cleaned out and getting rid of some of the little girl stuff she no longer uses/wants.

My House Is Back

2010-07-08T08:36:00.002-05:00

The house is finally 'put back together'. We've finished the floor and moved the furniture back. And we've even sifted through all our stuff before putting any of it back. We got rid of a number of books (very hard to do...but keeping every book bought when the girls were 9, 10 and 11 just isn't practical), some old VHS tapes, lots of magazines and just some junk. The living/family room looks great. It took longer than I had expected (and I thought I was giving ample time to complete the job). So I am soo over the whole job. We still need to get a throw rug for the middle of the floor, but other than that we should be good. We have our kitchen back and actually sat down, all 4 of us, for dinner together. With the Singer and Imp taking a Bible Study on a different night than Hubby and I, and with ballroom dancing classes and the Singer working out two days a week on her way home from work (putting her home around 8) we haven't had a many family dinners as I would have liked. But we sat around the table and enjoyed good spaghetti and fresh green beans (alas, not from my garden). Yep, the house and home are finally back together.

I get to scrap again today. Always a good day. I'm a little tired, which sometimes makes it harder to be creative, but friends are coming over so all is good.

Yesterday I got to teach my crochet summer class. I had 5 little girls (ages 10-15) and I thoroughly enjoyed, not only teaching crochet to others, but just the girls themselves. They're just a fun group and they all friends with each other which just made for a fun atmosphere.

Lack of TV Appreciated

2010-07-03T08:22:00.004-05:00

The man who shot and killed two Tampa police officers during a traffic stop has been arrested. The memorial for the two men is taking place right now. My heart goes out to Officer David Curtis' wife and four young sons and to Jeffery Kocab's wife (who is nine months pregnant).

I am so ready to have my house put back together. Climbing over furniture to simply walk from my bedroom to the front door is annoying. Having no table to gather around at dinner time is frustrating. But, there are positives of this situation. Without a TV in the living room and tiny ones in the front computer room (with nowhere to sit except at the computer)and my bedroom, the house has been very quiet this week. I kept waiting for the girls to complain. We did all climb on our queen bed to watch "In Plain Sight" Wednesday night, but other than that, the TVs have been essentially quiet. At dinner last night (and we did go out to eat because I hated eating in shifts) the Imp said she enjoyed the lack of TV this week. Both she and the Singer have devoured books (although they are both avid readers, so that isn't too unusual for summertime) but the Imp said we've talked more as a family. The Imp, Singer and Hubby have all sat together on the couch in the kitchen just being silly. So at dinner I said we could institute a no-TV night each week, fully expecting resistance along the lines 'it was fun, but we really don't need to go that far...' but instead got a resounding "Good idea, MOM!" If I had tried to institute a no-TV night last week, I guarantee the girls would have fought it, complained, and then would have worked to make those nights less than enjoyable. They had to live through it and feel the positives before they'd buy into it. Hubby and I hope to have the furniture back in the living room tonight...definitely by tomorrow night (even with going to his cousin's to celebrate the 4th).

Fallen Heroes

2010-07-02T08:15:00.002-05:00

The lead story of every news outlet in Tampa, is about the man who shot and killed two police officers during a traffic stop. I can't imagine being a "first responder." Whether a policeman, or firefighter, or EMT all these people face dangers all the time. There doesn't seem to be the proper respect given to these workers. The shooting happened early morning Tuesday, the killer has not been apprehended...yet. There is a $100,000 reward for his capture. Someone knows where he is and as our police chief has said, that no one has turned him in is as disturbing as him killing 2 officers. The "honor" of silence among the lawless is mind-boggling. Prayers go out to the families of Officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab. I've purposefully omitted the killer's name from my blog. He doesn't deserve the ink.

@#$% and other not nice things

2010-06-29T19:50:00.003-05:00

So much for making good progress on our laminate floor project. Tonight as we were working, we decided we had made some errors in putting together the first rows, so....we took it all apart. We're now where we were Sunday morning. The tension was palpable and for a few moments I thought Hubby might lose it. But, it passed and we started singing "If I Had A Hammer" only changing the words to fit our circumstances. The girls looked at us like we were crazy (and maybe that's the secret to doing home improvement projects together...don't take it too seriously). But with the song, and some laughter the tense moments passed and we are still speaking to each other.

Hubby spent an hour on the phone with our wireless provider trying to get a $260 charge removed. Someone ordered a phone on our account and had it delivered to Indiana. We've been working this problem for about 2 months. We were told, yet again, that it would all be taken care of, but somehow it keeps reappearing on our phone bill.

I'm happy for the rain we've been getting every night the past week. Our lawn is green (even if most of it is weeds) and my rose bushes are healthy.

I can't believe it's already July. My summer is flying by. It won't be long before we're taking the Singer up to Belmont Abbey. I'm reading a book about mother-daughter relationships and it addresses the fact that our society holds fast to the myth of perfect mother love. And that this is detremental to both mothers and daughters. Somehow, mothers aren't suppose to have conflicting feelings towards their daughters. Well, I've got plenty of conflicting feelings towards my daughter, just as I have contradictory feelings towards my husband, my friends, my siblings, etc. Relationships, by nature, involve ups and downs, and as a relationship involves two flawed people, I figure having more positive feelings than negative is doing pretty darn good.

Laminate Flooring

2010-06-28T12:44:00.002-05:00

Back at the library, but only 2 times this week :-)

Hubby and I have made great progress on our laminate flooring project, but are not finished. With Hubby having to work, we won't finish until Saturday. But what's done looks pretty good. I've waited a long time for this and I can't wait until it's completed and I can sit back and enjoy it. We were talking last night, and the Imp offered her assistance this week and suggested she and I could make significant progress during the week. This would involve one of using the electric saw. Hubby commented that we hadn't been "checked out" on that equipment and the Imp replied, "What? You turn it one and cut. How hard can that be?" At which point Hubby turned to me and said, "Don't let her go near it!"

Trying to plan for next school year. Teaching once a week with lots of independent learning requires a different approach than conventional classroom teaching. But I'm excited for it. I'm also looking forward to utilizing the internet more. I'm thinking of having work sent to me the day before class, so I can simply go over what there is confusion on and then have some sort of activity, instead of going over the questions everyone 'got'.

The Singer's 20th

2010-06-25T07:50:00.005-05:00

The Singer at 1

Celebrating her 2nd Birthday with her cousin.

As Belle, on her 5th Birthday

As Barbie, on her 7th Birthday

At 16

The Singer turns 20 today. I can't believe it. I got up early and made her some beignets from the mix from Cafe du Monde.
Although, nothing compares to the fresh beignets made at Cafe du Monde, in New Orleans. Those are simply heavenly.

She was super excited. We aren't really celebrating her birthday until Sunday due various social conflicts, and even then it may be a small celebration due to the laminate project, but that's okay, there have been many years where she's had numerous birthday celebrations. If we've been with extended family (which we often are) around her birthday, they always give her a cake and presents. And she traditionally has a party for her friends and then a separate get-together with her in-town cousins.

I feel great contentment over the Singer transferring to Belmont Abbey and in so many ways she's growing/grown up, but in her day-to-day dealings with her immediate family she is still very much a teenager wanting lots of privileges with little or no responsibilities. If she successfully completes her tasks (chores) for 4 days in a row and then totally ignores her responsibilities on the 5th day, she gets the "I can't believe how unreasonable my parents can be but I can't talk back" look on her face and says in a saccharine sweet tone, "Yes ma'am, I'll make sure I do that." then proceeds to NOT do it. UUGGGHH. This isn't a dorm, this isn't simply a place to stay...this is home and being part of a home requires a certain amount of GIVE not just take. The Imp has suffered the most, as I see the Singer taken advantage of her. The Imp doesn't want to see the Singer get into trouble and has picked up the Singer's chores on more than one occasion, and has tried to warn the Singer of impending catastrophe. The Singer seems very unappreciative.

Back in January, the Singer's plan was to be in an apartment now. I was so for that. In some ways she is too old to be 'parented' but I won't let her live here as a simple boarder. I know she thinks she should be able to do whatever she wants...last summer was rough around the edges, this summer is better simply because her work schedule has her sleeping and waking during normal hours. I know, August 19th will be here before I know it and with her in NC instead of across town, I will miss her. But I'm complaining, anyway.

My garden is not in good shape. I'm still pulling a few onions, and my green peppers look okay, but I got cucumber worms and the heat and sun are doing their damage. So I'll harvest what I still can, but then am waiting until mid July to start seeds for a fall crop of cukes and beans and more peppers and lettuce and new onions and potatoes.

Contents Under Pressure May Burst

2010-06-24T09:57:00.002-05:00

A science lesson up close and personal. The Imp and I were putting cans of coke into the refrigerator and 2 were knock over and began rolling to the edge...I grabbed one and tried to yell to the Imp to get the other, but before I could form coherent words...wishing she could interpret my, "aahghh, ahhgha, aaahhhh" to mean, "Grab it!"...the can rolled onto the tile floor. And yes, it exploded. Quite impressively. The Imp found the whole thing interesting and amusing. Me? Much less so. I was spared the full impact of the explosion, as I was on the other side of the counter. But the explosion was rather impressive. Coke splattered on the wall 15 feet away! I took about an hour to wash everything down. I mused, "I guess this is a sign to stop drinking coke." And the Imp quickly told me she didn't see that message in the event. She thought it was a message to not sweat the small stuff and relax and laugh. We did have a few laughs as we were cleaning and she was a trooper in helping get rid of the sticky stuff. She kept the can. [It looks so cool.]

Hubby and I are taking the laminate plunge this weekend. We purchased the 300sq ft of laminate that we need and are letting it acclimate in our home so we can install it Saturday. The idea being that even if everything goes wrong we should be finished by the end of the July 4th weekend. Of course, I'm hoping for a much quicker completion date. Our house isn't really big enough to move the furniture out of the living room without impacting every other room of the house. With the Singer home from college already using any available storage space, it will not be comfortable to be in the house until we can move the furniture back in the room. As the couch has to camp out in the kitchen during this process, I was very thankful it wasn't already in the kitchen when we had the coke explosion.

I started teaching a crochet summer class. Just 4 weeks...a true intro class. I had 5 little girls (10-15 years old...they wouldn't appreciate the terminology) yesterday and I enjoyed myself immensely. I may have to start a crafts club for the school year with the homeschooling group. It really is fun.

Father's Day

2010-06-22T20:58:00.006-05:00

Father's Day was great! The girls made another T-shirt for Hubby. They've made about 10 shirts in the last 15 years. This one was exceptionally cute. I love the back, "Guiding Our Footsteps Since..." The first shirt they made in 1995 had their handprints all over the front (but the handprints were so much smaller).

Hubby always has "world peace" as an item on his wish lists. It drives the Imp crazy because she hates that she feels an item is unattainable. So...this is what she gave him..

Hubby said that was his favorite gift. He is quite the punster so he loved that part of it. But there is also the fact that he and the Imp share a connection over the Veggie Tales' French Peas
The French Peas

The French Peas tend to play roles where they are enemies or are running things behind the scenes. They are small green peas. They do not quite understand instructions perfectly. The main two peas are Jean Claude and Phillippe, who are voiced by Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer, respectively. They also voice the others peas, except for Christophee Pea who is voiced by Chris Olsen.

So if you look real close you can see that the Imp named her peas with French (sort of) names. It was definitely a feel-good time.

Then after presents we went to see Toy Story 3. It was great! I'd go see it again (if it weren't for the sticker shock at the theaters.. We all agreed we need to purchase it for our DVD library when it's released. I've always been a fan of the Toy Story characters...I still am.

Back at the Library

2010-06-18T12:05:00.003-05:00

I'm back at the library, but fortunately only until 2 pm today. I've managed to get a little work done, but have spent most of my time looking at laminate flooring online. I think Hubby is going to be going to home improvement stores for Father's Day. We need to make a decision and get going on this. The worst part of the whole process is moving the furniture out of the family room so we can do the work. I'm sure ripping up the old carpet won't be pleasant, either. I did find neat online resources through the library site and am looking forward to using them in the future.

I spent time yesterday reading old posts on The Happiness Project. It's fun to look at lists/hints/tips of others. I almost always find exceptions with at least some of them. At home, I talk back to the computer but here in the library I must remain quiet. Gretchen, at the Happiness Project, is an advocate of de-cluttering, and so am I. But I am also a person of moderation. De-cluttering does not mean never having anything out in the house. She talks about putting away small appliances (coffee pot, toaster) so de-clutter your counter. I leave them out to simplify my life. A tip to decluttering is to avoid souvenirs when travelling. But if I have a shell for souvenirs, then why not? Avoiding souvenirs that you don't already have a place for in the house...got it. I'm sure my the outside of my refrigerator drives my OCD and clutter-free friends crazy. It is covered with magnets (lots of business card/advertisements) so it's not a 'clean' look and then I have all sorts of important papers held up by those magnets. I do 'clean' the outside of my refrigerator and throw out out-dated stuff, but have the girls' schedules, my Jo Ann's coupons and the Rays' schedule so easily accessible is very important to me. When is stuff too much stuff? I don't know...I'll know it when I see it...in someone else's house. I have been trying to simply/downsize. We really don't have much storage room in my house. No basement and no real attic (very few things can survive a Florida summer in an attic). So I am forced to limit my stuff to a degree. I know I'll never be like the people on hoarders who climb over stacks of trash to get through their homes. The hardest thing for me to part with is a book. The Imp is the same way. I was in her room the other day (usually her room is primarily her domain) and I noticed she had a stack of books on her dresser...at least 3 feet high...no exaggeration. I told her she needed to put some of them away on one of her 2 bookshelves. She told me there was no room. I told her she needed to weed through some books. She doesn't know how to get rid of books. Having me as her mom doesn't help. But the 2 of us will be going through her books next week. I just got rid of 2 boxes of books. I let my friends rummage through them then give them to the library.

I wish I could stay home tonight. But Hubby and I have our marriage ministry group tonight. Once there I'll be fine and have a good time, but after 1 1/2 years of running the meetings, I'm ready for someone else to step up, but I know there isn't anyone who will. I think it's an important ministry, so Hubby and I will continue for a while longer, at least. When we started out we said we'd do it for 2 years. 2 years is up in February. We're both disappointed that it hasn't drawn more people. I guess lots of people see their marriage that as something that just IS, and not something that needs nourishing. Oh well.

Staking Claim at the Library

2010-06-17T11:17:00.003-05:00

Well, I've made my claim on the carrel in the back corner of the library. A teenage boy had his i-pod music so loud I could hear his music over the music from my ipod. Guess he won't hear much in the future. The librarians are pretty good here, and someone came over to have him turn it down before I could finish my internal debate on how loud was too loud. This library is not large and older...so there are limited number of outlets (our new library in Town and Country has outlets everywhere for us laptop users) and claiming a carrel with an outlet is a feat. I got my Bible Study done and since I'm a prisoner of sorts here, I spent more time searching background material than I normally would. I learned quite a bit about the Pharisees.

I'm trying to figure out how to handle the Imp's work schedule. When we gave the okay to work with the iWait program, we were naively unaware that she would have to get to Plant City every day she worked. Ugh. I'm sure I'll get more of my planning done for next year's classes than I would have, but it really takes the low-key approach to the summer away. Fortunately, she doesn't work 5 days a week, so we'll have one day that we can not wake up and hustle out the door with me having to pack a lunch and a book bag filled with things to keep me occupied for 7 hours. I wouldn't mind doing some shopping...but I don't want to spend money and if I spend hours shopping, I know my resolve with not last. There are some antique shops in historic Plant City (right here) that I might meander through. Not much temptation of buying there....most is too expensive and doesn't match the decor of my house. And I use the word 'decor' liberally. I like my house...it definitely has the lived in feel to it. No one would feel like they'd walked into a magazine layout.

Even though the Singer is home this summer, it seems I rarely see her. She's working from 8-5 about 45 mins from home and she's started stopping at the gym to swim on her way home. So she's getting home around 7 or 8 each evening, and is gone by 7 the next day. I guess we'll all get to see each other this weekend for Father's Day. I think we'll go see Toy Story 3 on Sunday...maybe Karate Kid. Then Hubby wants me to make bacon-burger-cheese-dogs for him. You take a hot dog, split it down the middle and put in some cheddar cheese, then form ground beef around the dog, then wrap 2 pieces of bacon around it. Throw it on the grill, and you've got a dinner only a guy would want. We were telling some other people about this, and the women all said..aaahhh a little too much, and all the guys said "Oh I want that, too." Go figure. It's his day, so I'll make them and he'll grill them...

The Singer's birthday is next Friday. She's turning 20...a big deal because she's no longer a teen, but not really any milestone. Don't know yet what we're doing for her birthday. Guess I'll spend my afternoon planning her birthday.

Ballroom Dancing

2010-06-15T13:00:00.007-05:00

Last night was a blast! Hubby and I took our 3rd class in ballroom dancing and we were actually dancing! It was fabulous. And more of a workout than it sounds. And we were complimented by the instructor...she asked if we'd taken classes before because we picked up the dances so well. Yea. I can't wait to go back again next week.

I'm reading a couple of different books right now, and they're all good. Two that are especially intriguing and thought provoking are
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink and Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. Here's a great summary of Drive on Youtube. Drive has me thinking of how to run my homeschool courses next year. I'll be teaching High School Geography, Government and Economics. It's a unique situation as I only meet with the student for 50 minutes a week. So much of the work is already done on their own. But, the gears in my mind are churning and I'm getting excited for the school year. Back to Virtue has me thinking about soooo much. Here's a quote, "We have reduced all virtues to one: being nice. And, we measure Jesus by our standard instead of measuring our standard by Him." The whole idea that today people spend more time than ever before in history TALKING about ethics and doing the right thing, but little time in pursuit of virtues or Truth. In fact, many today don't believe in an objective Truth but that Truth (hence right and wrong) are subjective. Anyway it is quite interesting.

The Imp has a summer job working with the iWait group, going around to Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA summer camps to put on skits and such about abstaining from sex and drugs. I think she's perfect for the job and the varied structure of the job is perfect for her. The training is this week...32 miles from home. So I find myself sitting in the library not far from her training. Yesterday I worked on the scope and sequence of my government course and realized I need to learn more about the history of Florida before I try to teach about its government (state government is only 1 part of one unit and there are 15 units, but still...I hate not knowing some depth to what I'm teaching). Today I've been reading Drive and playing with my blog and searching for good swing music to download so Hubby and I can dance at home.

While surfing around on Daniel Pink's site, I came across the Happiness Project, and got caught up in reading many of her posts. In some ways it ties in with something Cindy mentioned in her post the other day about a woman making a new piece of clothing from an old dress each day for a year. Her budget for the year only $365. If you've got some time, it's fun...not near as 'heavy' as the other things I've mentioned thus far. If you sew, you should definitely take a look.

I'm also gearing up to teach a crafts course this summer. 3 weeks of intro to crochet and 3 weeks of intro to knititng with a "catch up week" at the end (no new material...just trying to finish projects). I'm pretty excited about that, too. Although, since I'm mainly self-taught in these I am spending some time online making sure my technique won't teach my students any bad habits.

I was telling Hubby the other night how it was kind of nice that we had no real summer plans and that I was looking forward to just staying home. He then told me he thought we should finally replace our living room carpet with laminate. I'm super excited to have it done, less excited about the actual doing. We're trying to get it done within the next month. (We have our couples group to our house the 3rd week of July). So I've also been spending time researching laminate flooring. Any advice is welcomed, although not necessarily heeded.

memorial day weekend

2010-06-07T19:20:00.008-05:00

Our trip over Memorial Day Weekend was fun and packed with activity. We got to Sumter on Saturday afternoon. Got to see Kevin and Lauren (and meet Patrick) and my mom and dad. Brian's boys were spending the weekend with my parents so we had fun with them, too. Sunday we drove the boys home and got to spend Monday and Tuesday with Brian and Tracy. The rain tried to put a damper on things, but couldn't. Tuesday we toured Belmont Abbey and it was absolutely gorgeous. The student who was our guide said he'd try to keep us in the shade as it was so hot. We all laughed. It was beautiful...about 86, sunny and not too humid. Arriving back in Tampa, we have mid 90's and humidity so high you can cut it. The school is obviously small. Only 1400 students. Compared to USF's 40,000+ it's bite-sized, but it felt like a perfect match for Megan. Now if she can just get her transfer credits situated. Enjoy the pics.
Pictures from Sumter
Pictures from North Carolina

'Nuff Said

2010-06-02T19:31:00.000-05:00

Florida bishop recalls how mother considered aborting him :: EWTN News

2010-05-22T07:49:00.001-05:00

Florida bishop recalls how mother considered aborting him :: EWTN News

Dinner? Again?

2010-05-21T14:14:00.002-05:00

I like to cook, and have become a decent cook in the last few years. I enjoy planning meals for us to sit down as a family to share. I don't like planning dinners day after day after day after day. I especially don't like planning (or making) dinner on nights I have to go back out to do something. Tonight is our marriage ministry meeting, last night was Bible Study. I'm preparing for the meetings in the early evening and am rarely hungry before I leave the house. In fact, I usually pull something together for Hubby and girls and don't eat anything myself. It seems we've been having a lot of evening meetings and I just don't want to even think about dinner. I know I'm complaining about something which many people wouldn't...I'm a baby.
My house is a mess right now. With the Singer home from college our front room is full of boxes with her dorm stuff in them...blankets, sheets, dishes, cleaning supplies, printer... The family room is full of my world history class' end of the year project of a timeline (3000 BC thru 2000 AD...and yes I still say AD and not CE). Our counter, which is a paper magnet by design has birthday cards, college loan info and just plain junk mail strewn across it. If I'd taken these last 10 minutes to work on it instead of complain it'd look a lot better, but I'm having much more fun complaining.
Had to run to the store for last minute items for tonight's meeting and so the Imp wanted to drive. We're driving home and she's inching closer and closer to the right side of the road (which borders a ditch). I finally comment on how far to the right she is. Her response is "I knew exactly where I was." Now does that mean she thinks she was not as close to the edge as I thought OR does it mean that she meant to be that close to the edge? Either way is a little scary. She's actually not a bad driver, but is still in the learning stages since we've given her such little time to practice.
I feel like after this week (that is by next Friday) I'll be done for the school year. Of course, I always get my hopes up for a restful summer, but as Hubby keeps pointing out...I spend much more time with the kids during the summer than during the school year...but I'm holding onto my dream for a little while longer.
The Singer is working 40 hrs/wk this summer and they're 'regular' hours (8am-5pm). Last summer she worked odd hours and missed dinner each night, stayed up late and slept till 10 or so. It's so much nicer having her on a schedule similar to ours. It's still an adjustment to have her home. She's simply not used to living as a family and the considerations that entails.

A Happy Birthday

2010-05-19T06:59:00.008-05:00

Here's something a friend sent me. I think it's great. Might have to try to memorize and perform it myself.

Had a great birthday. Hubby took the day off of work and we went to You Do the Dishes a place where you paint pottery and then they fire it and you pick it up a few days later. I made a deviled egg plate to match the serving bowl I'd made another day.

I love going and painting things there. Some people are amazed at how much time I'm willing to put into painting these things. In order to make the deviled egg plate, I cut 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch squares from masking tape and place them on the plate to create the checkered pattern. I really didn't mind at all. I find the whole experience therapeutic.

One of the best parts of going to You Do the Dishes is getting a chocolate moose frappe. There are all kinds of goodies but my tradition is always a chocolate moose frappe. One time I got a strawberry smoothie...not the same thing.

I first went here 12 years ago. A friend took me there as my birthday present. What a great present as I've been going back once or twice a year since then. Here are a few of the things I've made.

In addition to that great experience, I'm waking up to my Christian radio station and hear that my daughter has sponsored the day in honor of my birthday. Now that is a neat present.

There was a slight cake calamity, but I won't go into it as I'm still mourning the ruination of my chocolate meringue truffle cake that I spent 45 minutes putting together.

My family tried to make it up to me with a Carvel ice cream cake. It was nice, but not close to the chocolate meringue truffle cake I'd been planning on having for the last 2 months since I found the recipe.

Another great birthday present was the return home of my nephew from Afghanistan. Glad to know he's no longer in a war zone and is safe on American soil.

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T08:59:00.003-05:00

I got the best Mother's Day gift EVER! I love to hear my girls sing. I've been asking for over a year for a recording of them singing Via Delorosa one of my all-time favorite songs. Well...they made me a recording. I find it uplifting, invigorating and moving. I, of course, had tears in my eyes when I listened to it the first time. The sound quality is not professional, but I only hear their voices raised in song, not the sound quality. Just had to share.
via delorosa

Ballroom Dancing

2010-04-28T07:14:00.003-05:00

Hubby and I have talked for years about taking ballroom dance lessons. We came very close a few times only to have time and budget restraints get in our way. Well we're finally going to do it. The local library is offering very inexpensive lessons for 8 weeks starting on May 18. We're both super excited. I've always loved dancing even if I wasn't always the best. I've taken years of ballet and just enjoy the controlled freedom required for dancing. That dancing has numerous health benefits is simply a plus.

The weather has been gorgeous. We had a downpour Sunday night with thunder and lightning. We got at least 2 inches. The plants are loving it. Our highs have been in the low 80s. This is why I live in Florida.

I've been working on the courses I'll teach next year for the home school group. I'm teaching Human Geography and Government/Economics for high school students. My eyes light up and my mind begins to race as I anticipate all I'm going to do/teach. The materials I've ordered have started to arrive. I spent last night flipping through the government text we'll use while Hubby and the Imp laughed at my social science-geekness. But life doesn't get much better than being able to immerse yourself into a topic you love. The Imp had order some new shoes online. They arrived via USP during dinner. When I allowed her to open them before she finished dinner, I made her day. She quickly tore open the box and put her new Toms on.

Now I could be an intellectual snob and say being geeky over government books is better than being geeky over fashion/shoes, but instead will just be satisfied that we both got to revel in our interests last night. Lest I forget, the Imp purchased the shoes with her own money and since I have veto power on her spending, got me to agree to the purchase because of Toms' One for One program which provides shoes for children in need.

Voices Raised in Song

2010-04-20T09:40:00.003-05:00

We got loads of rain Sunday. The rain actually started around midnight it kept on raining on and off through the afternoon. I think we got over 2 inches. Our pool is nice and full again. April is typically a "dry" month for us and often we have to fill the pool, so just as the pool was getting low we got great rain. It rained again briefly last night. My plants are looking good, now I just have to be patient for the benefits. I had to buy garlic yesterday. None looked great and I wanted to be able to use it fresh from my garden, but my garlic isn't ready for picking/eating yet. What a life, if all I can complain about is not having fresh garlic.

Saturday was the Confirmation ceremony at our church. The Imp had a solo in the choir. I can't think of much that brings me more joy or contentment then to sit and listen to my girls use their talented voices to praise God. It just is wonderful.

The Singer is probably transferring colleges this Fall. She's planning on going to Belmont Abbey College is Belmont, NC (just west of Charlotte). I think it's a great fit for her and God is probably calling her there. But boy it's hard to give up the free ride at USF for the private tuition. Granted, 2 of her scholarships will transfer and Belmont Abbey is also offering a substantial (about 60%) scholarship, but still... The Singer is determined and I'm sure she'll find a way to make it work. I'm actually very excited for her and her future there. We're planning on making a trip there at the end of May. Now the prayers are for her finding a part time job there. If she can find a decent part-time job, she should be okay financially. The Singer talked to my brother in Charlotte, who graciously offered her a room 'as long as she needed'. I'm not sure what his wife thinks of that (although she is very gracious...I just find it funny how easily he offered without consulting her). It's very nice to know she has some family nearby. My parents are only about 2 - 2 1/2 hours away. It will be hard not seeing her so often, as she tends to pop in pretty frequently just for an hour or two. The Imp is not happy with the situation. She and the Singer are very close and she does not want the Singer to be so far away. Now, when it comes time for the Imp to choose a college, I don't think location will be a big factor. The younger sibling always has a different perspective. The older one should always be there and not change and the younger should be allowed to be the one to loosen the ties.

Crew season is over for the Imp. YEA!! It had become drudgery. 5 nights a week for the entire school year is a bit much, especially when the regattas were full day events often requiring us to leave at 4 or 5 in the morning. I'm not sure what we'll do next year. I'm not sure Hubby and I can do an entire year. There are technically 2 seasons...a fall and spring. Maybe we'll let her participate in one season. Hubby was pretty tired of the whole thing (he's usually the one who goes to the regattas). At the end of the season, the Imp was trained as a coxswain. What she wanted to do all year. But we didn't realize that the coxswain does NO physical training with the team. And a big part of doing crew was for the physical activity. [The girls have to pick one something the requires physical activity..dance, swim, judo, doesn't matter what...but something.] Another reason to revisit the whole crew team thing.

Last night I got to present an overview of the courses I'd be teaching next year to the home school high school kids. I'm pretty excited. I'm teaching a semester of Government and then a semester of Econ. We'll do government in the fall due to the elections. I'm also teaching a human geography course. I'm such a social studies geek, that I get all excited just thinking about all the neat things I'll be able to do. I really do love teaching, too. Only 5 weeks left for this school year. It felt good when a few parents of little ones, said they wished their kids were older and able to take my courses. Yea!

My brother and niece have been in my thoughts in prayers this week. 14 years ago my sister-in-law (wife and mother respectively) died of breast cancer. She was a pretty wonderful person. I'm saddened that I haven't had her life these past 14 years as a continued example of living the good life. I'm saddened for the loss to both my brother and my niece. But Ellen would be so proud of her daughter and all she's accomplished and become. She'd be pretty impressed with how well my brother has risen to the task of single parenthood, too. So many people still miss her, I had to honor her memory by mentioning her again.

I'm off to get a new pool filter and some 'polysheen' to counteract the pollen in the pool. The weather promises to be gorgeous today.

There Ought To Be A Law

2010-04-15T17:44:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about the saying "there oughta be a law..." It sounds so good. Yea, we should have a law to make people behave the way I think they should. But really, we have enough laws. You constantly hear the argument against some laws that you can't legislate morality. Well, I think we try to legislate common sense. Do I really want my government making laws dictating the ingredients allowed in restaurants (i.e. types of oil)? Let people think for themselves. There is a big difference between immediate poisons and long term/large use effects. I'm not sure where to draw the line. I have always been a proponent of seat belt laws. But, now, I don't know. I have no problem making a law regarding children, as they are not, by definition, able to make certain decisions. But shouldn't I be able to decide whether I want to wear a seat belt. I also don't have an issue with me being responsible for more of my out of pocket medical expenses were it determined I wasn't wearing a seat belt during an accident and I am injured. I'll accept the consequences of my decisions, but let me make the decision. It just feels like we really are passing laws that simply began with someone saying, "You know, there oughtta be a law about ..." The more we legislate the less we hold ourselves accountable and the easier it becomes to say, "well, there isn't a law so it must be okay." The ability to decide and then take responsibility for our decisions is the hallmark of being an adult. Don't take that away from me.

I was reading a "Marriage Minute" by Gary Smalley (I get them emailed to me on a regular basis) and he was talking about listening. While in theory I agree with what he said, I take issue with some of it. He said active listening requires you to ask questions of the speaker. Yes and no. Yes some kind of questions do indicate your interest and the fact that you are actually hearing what is being said, but I have had many people tell me that I'm a great listener and I make it a point to NOT ask questions. I think too many questions actually make a person feel "on the spot" and defensive. Someone telling me about their medical treatments doesn't need me to question all the details and inquire as to second opinions, etc. Responding to the feeling, not the facts, is what I think is important. I know people who I don't share much with anymore because of their questioning. "Why didn't you...? Where? When? How? Who?" It makes me feel like they're filling out a check list and are more concerned with the story than with me.

Survived

2010-03-14T18:23:00.002-05:00

Well, I survived the gum surgery and it was actually not as terrible as I thought it would be. I'm still in pain and won't be eating solid food for a few more days, but all in all, I'm happy it's over. Of course, I've lost this weekend. I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday sleeping due to the pain pills. I've not taken anything but Ibuprofen today...so I'm actually more aware of the pain, but am happy to be cognizant of what is going on around me. I've a nice bruise on my chin...which is much smaller than the bruise on the inside of my mouth.

The Singer goes back to college after a week of Spring Break. Since she did not take time off of work, it wasn't a total holiday but she enjoyed laying around and catching up on some reading.

The weather has finally turned Spring-like. Thank goodness! I spent some time outside today and plan lots more of that this week. It's actually supposed to be in the mid 70s next weekend. Yippee!

Gum Surgery

2010-03-12T08:36:00.004-05:00

Gum surgery...sounds wonderful, doesn't it? I've not written about it even though it has been on my mind constantly this past week. I've had a lot of dental work in my life...a root canal at 8, it removed at 12 (much worse than getting one), wisdom teeth removed (cut out before they erupted and all 4 out on the same day with local anesthesia). And I've handled all those things without much of an emotional response. I needed...I got it done. But for some reason this gum surgery has my stomachs all in knots. Not a fun feeling at all. So I've been trying to pretend it's not going to happen...but today at 1 pm I'll be having gum grafts. My four bottom front teeth have extensive root exposure similar to these. Although, mine actually look worse.

BEFORE:

And we're hoping for this kind of outcome.

AFTER

Basically, I'm just hoping next week comes quickly and I can then promptly forget this week of my life.

SC trip

2010-03-09T22:34:00.002-05:00

Megan and I had a great time in South Carolina. We missed Tracy but know how it goes with work. But I took pictures so she could see what her boys did. Family is wonderful! Sad to think of my parents selling their house, but it's time. Meg wants to win the lottery so we can buy the house and "keep it in the family."

Make a free slideshow design

2010-03-03T15:20:00.002-05:00

slideshow attempt

2010-03-03T15:14:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting here at the car dealership waiting for my car to be serviced (oil change mainly) and decided to try to create a slideshow for my blog. So here are some pictures from Christmas, both at home and in SC at my parents.

iWait

2010-02-22T19:34:00.004-05:00

The Imp is part of a newly forming group of iWait. iWait is a program that teaches abstinence first and foremost, but it's much more than that. It is really about healthy relationships and strong sense of self. There was a parent meeting (translate: mother's meeting) before the first kids' meeting and a former member came to speak to us. He was a very cute, exceptionally articulate 22-year old guy who was quite open and honest about the group. He admitted that pledging to abstinence is really easy before you're in a relationship, but becomes much harder once you're going out with someone you are attracted to. He also said, had he not pledged ahead of time, he's not sure if he would have been able to resist the very real temptation of physical pleasure. He's planning on going to one or two of the early meetings of the new group, and I think he'll be a big hit. I'm very hopeful for this group and it being a source of Christian support for the Imp. The biggest issue from her point of view is that at this time, all the other members know each other and the Imp only knows 2 of the girls.

Saturday I got to scrap at an all-day crop, but I didn't get done near what I had hoped. That was disappointing. I went into the crop tired. Friday was a really long day with me presenting at Career day at the Imp's old school, then teaching my home school class and ended with running the marriage ministry meeting at our church. The marriage ministry was a blast! We held a "Not-so-Newlywed Game." Everyone had a great time and it was just loads of fun telling and hearing stories of first dates and strangest presents. Everyone was having such a good time, that when Hubby and I tried to rush through the last round to make sure we finished on time they voted to slow down and not worry about the time. Of course, that put us home later. Saturday I got to the crop 10 minutes after starting time, but had to leave at 11:45 to go pick up the Imp from crew practice (the practice was announced on Friday and Hubby had plans to go to a USF basketball game). I sat for 35 minutes waiting for the Imp. The coach held them later than he said...and with crew they're out on the river. It's not like the Imp could just leave. So I was gone for almost 2 hours. Ugh. Then I had to leave for another 1 1/2 to be sacristan at the 4:30 Mass. So what should have been an 11 hour crop ended up being closer to 7 hours when you take into account start up time after each 'break'. But as another scrapper said, "a little time at a crop is better than no time at all."

This Friday I'm off with the Singer to SC to see my parents. It should be fun, albeit a swift trip. We'll be back home by Monday afternoon. The Singer hasn't seen my parents for a while and she's looking forward to it. Also, she wants to say "good-bye" to their house. My parents are trying to sell their house and downsize while they are both healthy enough to actively participate. They're planning on moving to a retirement/assisted living facility/nursing home in town. It's a difficult task, as they had the house built after 30 years of military moves and almost as many houses. It's a gorgeous house and my girls are both sad that visiting grandma and grandpa won't always mean going to that house (which is quite amusing as they both think going to Sumter is anything but fun). When we were there at Christmas, the Imp was quite melancholy about her probable last night in their house.

I'm really enjoying a book I'm reading for Lent, "Praying Scripture for a Change" I'm still on the first chapter, after reading the intro multiple times. I think this will be a book I reread numerous times and will go back to when I hit 'desert' times in my faith journey.

Hubby just realized that he gets an extra week of vacation this year. Yea! So he's planning on taking time off during the Imp's Spring Break. So last night I spent time on the internet looking for a beach place on the gulf that week. Anything reasonably priced is booked through April, and even many of the unreasonably priced places. That's a good thing for our state economy, but bad news for us. Not that we won't relish the time to work in the yard and sit back and relax. Between now and Easter, I don't think we have a single weekend with nothing to do. So I guess the week after Easter will do some serious Spring cleaning in the house and the yard.

Speaking of our yard, my potatoes arrived Saturday. I can't wait to plant them Thursday...gotta do it before I leave town. My cucumber seeds "drown" during our downpour last week. My lettuce and beans are sprouting. I'm so ready for warm weather. I went to wear a dress to church and was embarrassed by my white-white legs. While I'm always pale...especially compared to other Floridians, I'm not usually pasty. But between the cold and rain, I really haven't been outside as much as past winters. Yesterday and today we actually had warm temperatures, but another cold front is coming through before the weekend.

Are you B.U.S.Y., B.U.S.Y.?

2010-02-15T08:45:00.004-05:00

I've so many thoughts swirling in my head, I almost didn't write again today. Seems contradictory, but I know the time to get all my thoughts down is longer than the time I have to spend on the computer today.
The Imp is sleeping in, but I need to wake her shortly so we can go driving. She got her permit over the summer and we went out a few times over the summer but haven't been since. When she's at school until 7 pm each night, there's not a lot of time for driving. She's not quite ready for driving to and from school, which is what our goal is. Once she's able to do that, she'll have plenty of 'practice' time.
Saturday, Hubby and I went to a Jeff Cavin's information day
(for lack of a better description). During one of our discussions about how to help participants in the Great Adventure Bible Study
create time for daily Scripture reading and reflection, the idea of how busy everyone is these days. Another participant said, "Ahh, if you find yourself saying you're too busy for anything that's really important (i.e. spending time in God's Word) than remember what BUSY really stands for: Being Under Satan's Yoke." Wow. "We're too busy to eat together" "I'm too busy to really spend time with my... (child, husband, parents)" "Too busy to meet the neighbors" and on and on. Obviously, it's stuck with me. Being Under Satan's Yoke. I really like that and will hold onto that one. With Lent approaching this Wednesday, it's an idea to remember when thinking of how best to utilize this time of spiritual Boot Camp the Church has wisely set up for us.
On a totally different topic, I read the Yoder and Son column in the Sunday paper. Yesterday, the dad said "Just because you have the money doesn't mean you can afford it." Again, I literally sat there and said "WOW! That's SOO true." For years I've said that parents today (i.e. ME) have a harder time saying no to material requests from the children because we have more disposable income than our parents tended to have. When you have 8 kids like my parents and only 1 employed parent (notice I did not say 'working parent') there simply wasn't any extra money available. So their response to requests were honestly 'we don't have the money' For Hubby and I, we use to say that and then our kids asked if we were poor. So our response became, "We choose to spend our money differently" (You know...give to the Church and other charities, save for retirement, save for emergencies, save for college, etc) How I wish I'd had the gem of "Just cause we have the money doesn't mean we can afford it" these past 19 years.
So all day yesterday I had these two sayings whirling through my head...each prompting many different threads of thought. More on that later.

Head Cold

2010-01-31T13:40:00.002-05:00

I was feeling just fine yesterday, until about 4 PM. Then my throat was getting sore and raw, but as lots of things are blooming and our pollen count was 9 out of 12, I figured it was just allergies. Hubby took me to the movies (Sherlock Holmes) and about 1/2 way through, I knew I was getting sick. By the time we got home, I was officially miserable. I've had absolutely no energy today. Getting up and getting my laptop almost did me in. I think I'll be taking another nap after I finish here.
I hate being sick. Or I hate being so sick that you really can't do anything, but well enough so that you are still cognisant and all you're not getting down swirls in your head.
Fortunately, I have no where I have to be today.
Hubby got the Imp home. They're both napping. So a nice quiet afternoon.

Another Saturday

2010-01-30T10:28:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure where the week went, but here it is Saturday again. Hubby is at work until noon, the Imp is facilitating a weekend retreat, so here I am pushing laundry through and trying to figure out what I did last week, since my 'to do' list seems longer than ever.
Last night I got to go see David Haas at our church. The Singer thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread. She got to spend a week with him each summer at Music Ministry Alive for 3 years. He is a renowned Christian worship music composer, and while he is Catholic, his songs are in many Christian hymnals. The evening was relaxing for the mind and body, yet rejuvenating for the soul. I was really tired before the concert and debated about staying home. I'm so glad I didn't.
My history class is going well. The kids are just neat. I wish class was more than once a week, but am enjoying what I have.
I hate evening meetings. The Imp doesn't get home until 6:30 or 7:00 each night, if I have a meeting, it starts at 6:30 or 7:00. Which translates into non-family dinners. Yuk. I feel the difference in the air after a week of missed dinners. Now the Imp's gone for the weekend. I feel like I never see her. Thank goodness for Wednesdays when I pick her up from school and take her to voice lessons. Hubby is at the church on Wednesday nights, so it's still not family time, but at least I can catch up with the Imp. I can't believe that in 2 1/2 years, I'll be an empty-nester.
When I first got married, I figured I'd be raising children for years and years. Hubby and I wanted to have 4-6 children. (Having come from families of 8 and 10 kids it seemed like a very moderate amount.) Obviously, God had different plans for us and while pregnancy wasn't easily achieved, I'm grateful that I did not suffer any miscarriages. But I just didn't see myself being 49 and having no children at home. I mean, 49 is pretty young, relatively speaking. So I've been thinking/praying about what I'm to do then. The public school classroom has so many political aspects to it now. I'm not sure I'm up for that. But I LOVE teaching. I know it is literally 'in my blood'. So some form of teaching is in my future. Not being a patient person and a die-hard planner, leaving things open-ended isn't fun.
This past week, a good friend of Hubby's had a stroke. She's a woman who lived in his neighborhood. Hubby and his friends used to go to her house. She'd feed them good 'guy' food...Twinkies, Ho Hos, Coke...and be a cross between a much older sister/surrogate mother/mentor to them. It's been a tough week. She was in a drug-induced coma for a few days, continued to have brain swelling and had to have surgery to remove part of her skull, but was moving her legs and one arm as of Thursday night. And, it appeared she smiled when someone mentioned chocolate. I told Hubby, that would be the thing to get me out of a coma. But I told him, I'd want more then to hear about it! We haven't heard anything yesterday or today and are praying that is good news. We know that the best case senario will still entail incredible amount of recovery.
Our electric bill for the bitter 10 days we had [well, to us Floridians, 10 days of below freezing temps IS bitter-cold...we don't do well with single digit temps...it's why we live in Florida] came today. It's not as bad as I thought it might be...still much larger than normal, but it kept us warm, so I'm not complaining.
I should already have seeds started for my spring garden, but don't. I'm trying to figure out the whole crop rotation thing. And with 2-3 growing seasons, it's hard and I'm thinking if I use enough compost, maybe it won't matter so much. My onions and garlic are looking good. I can't wait to eat them...maybe March.

Generous

2010-01-23T21:50:00.003-05:00

It's hard not to brag when I've got such an amazing family. A few years ago, I wrote about my niece (then in high school) who requested donations to World Vision instead of gifts for Christmas (something she's continued). Pretty amazing. [Not necessarily as unusual as one might suspect based on new coverage of teens.] Then, right before Christmas, my nephew

saw The Dog Who Saved Christmas.

When his mom was talking to him about his birthday party (he turned 7), he said he wanted to help dogs at the pound, instead of getting presents. So...that's what he did. His friend was going to go with him to the Humane Society to deliver the things he got. Now, how can you not have hope for the future.

It's easy to sit back and complain about the younger generation, (I am guilty of this too often) but there are many kids who are exceptionally well-grounded and generous.

You're So Lucky

2010-01-16T11:04:00.003-05:00

I'm going to try and type this entry out quickly as Hubby doesn't always appreciate the time I spend at the computer and I still have some teacher work to do on the computer, but this idea has been simmering in my mind and I want to write about it before it takes up permanent residence on the back burner of my mind.
I am tired of having people telling me how lucky I am that we can "afford" for me to be a stay-at-home mom. First, I am very appreciative of my blessings and the great job with awesome benefits Hubby has. I'm forever grateful for Hubby and his support of this joint decision. But just to get the record straight...It's not that we can afford this lifestyle, it's that we decided we wanted this lifestyle and MAKE it work. We bought our house with the idea of living on one income. The real estate agent kept trying to get us to buy more house. "You can get approved for so much more." Yea, we've seen where that leads. Our house is a beautiful house and plenty big at 1500 sq ft...as long as I don't compare it to others' with 3000+ sq ft. Our lives and the lives of our kids are fulfilled. We've taken vacations, gone to museums, etc., but we don't take exotic vacations every year, we don't have the latest electronic gadgets, we don't have closets overflowing with clothes (although we do have quite a lot). So when someone (usually a woman) who works a professional job equal to Hubby's and has a husband with a similar job, tells me how lucky I am and how she so wishes she could stay home, but just can't, I want to scream. Now, I'm not silent on the matter, but try not to be too rude. I answer with something along my first statement, "we decided long ago I'd stay home and we've figured out how to make it work. We've had to give up some material things, but think it's worth it." But when the person telling me this has just gotten back from Hawaii (again) and is wearing an expensive matching outfit and has a perfect manicure and pedicure which is kept that way weekly, well, it's hard to not say...Ever heard, put your money where your mouth is? If it's important, you'll make it work. Obviously, I'm not talking about families where both parents work hourly jobs or whose compensation is low.
What brought this latest frustration on? Hubby's office-mate (cube-mate?), who is a few years younger than we are, was telly Hubby how lucky we are that we can afford for me to be at home. Now this man has 2 young children. His wife is a comptroller at a large company in town and they have a LIVE IN NANNY! Well, lets see. If we cut out the nanny alone you could save quite a bit. They had a professional decorator help them furnish their house and they vacationed in the Caribbean last year. Gosh, how do Hubby and I do it on one salary? We live our lives so we can.

On a more positive note, Hubby is out building my new raised bed just for my blueberries. I'm so happy. The weather this week has been gorgeous after a record-setting 10 days under 50 and 10 nights under 32! We had above average temps this week and return to more 'normal' temps next week. Hey, I love normal Jan temps in Tampa...lows in the 50s and highs in the upper 60s. I'm beginning to seriously plan my spring gardens. Need to start the seeds soon since I'll be able to plant outside come March.

Teaching Again...It Feels Good

2010-01-07T22:53:00.003-05:00

I spent most of today preparing for my single class tomorrow. I reviewed Harry Wong's "The First Days of School", the Bible for any new teacher and every teacher as they begin a new school year. Harry Wong is my hero. To hear him on his videos or on tape is invigorating. Makes you want to teach, and do it well. Then I spent time reviewing pertinent information about the Middle Ages so I could lead the class discussion. Finally, I've spent the last hour searching through TrackStar. Trackstar is an awesome website, for teachers and for students. Teachers post lessons (primarily web-based) so you can benefit from the research others have done. As Hubby says, I'm just a geeky history teacher, through and through.

A Great New Year

2010-01-06T22:36:00.005-05:00

The last few weeks have been hectic but wonderful. Christmas was awesome. I got stuff for my Cricut, a digital camera (YEA!) and 2 blueberry bushes. The down side: I haven't planted them yet as we are going below 32 at night. By Monday, the weather is suppose to warm a bit. As a die-hard Floridian now, 32 is way too cold.

A few weeks before Christmas, I was asked to take over a World History class for a homeschool co-op. So this Friday I start a new adventure in teaching a small group of high schoolers (about 10 kids). It will be different than anything I've done before, as much of the work is done by the students before class. The class is primarily for discussion and analysis of information. It should be lots of fun and keep me off the streets.

On December 29, Hubby and I celebrated 25 incredible years of marriage. As I was only 21 when I got married (and Hubby only 20), we are a statistical anomaly. That's A-Okay by me. I definitely hit the jackpot with my hubby. He is the best. We make an absolutely phenomenal match. We grew up together and fortunately grew together. Without being too preachy, I also give much credit to our shared faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. Being involved in marriage ministries like Engaged Encounter has kept our focus on the bigger picture. The best things in my life stem from my decision to marry Hubby. I am one lucky gal. That night the girls went with us to the Melting Pot for a great fondue dinner. The whole evening was fun. I really enjoy spending time with my girls. They are neat people and even if I weren't related to them, I would want to spend time with them. The Imp didn't really like the whole cooking her own food at the table thing at the Melting Pot and after cooking 4 pieces of meat said, "Can't we just dump all the meat in the pot at once?" I don't think she'll be going back to the Melting Pot, although she did think the food was delectable and she may go back just for the chocolate fondue dessert. To top off a great day, our waitress was extremely fabulous.

On the 30th we drove to SC and then on Jan 2 we got to renew our wedding vows with my dad officiating. 2 of my brothers (and their families) were there as well. I really teared up during the recitation of our vows. "In good times and in bad.." has a whole different meaning after 25 years of good and bad. To have Hubby look me in the eye and tell me he still loves me was sensational and powerful. It's not something I will soon forget. I'm so glad we did it.

And the pictures were taken with my new digital camera!

I continue to be content with my life and think 2010 is going to be a great year.

Homecomings and Birthdays

2009-12-23T21:17:00.004-05:00

Hubby arrived home tonight. We were rather worried the weather in Chicago would delay him as he had to fly through there. Fortunately, Chicago airport was closed BEFORE he left Pittsburgh, so he ended up on a direct flight to Orlando. The 4 hour round trip put a crimp in my carefully laid out plans, but was worth it as the alternative was him not being here. The girls are thrilled to see him and we celebrated the Imp's birthday with her opening presents from us. Her big gift was texting. She's been wanting it for quite a while. The beauty of not giving things when first asked for is the appreciation shown once they are given. She couldn't believe it. We'd had her convinced she wouldn't get it. I love surprises.

Her party was a huge success. Fortunately, only 10 girls (not 15) came. Much more manageable. The cake only took 2 days to make. The turrets are formed from 2 cake cones end-to-end and topped with a sugar cone. Cover the whole thing in white chocolate, then put an additional coat of white chocolate mixed with black coloring. The castle proper took 3 cake mixes. The Imp added the alligator to the moat.

I drew a castle on her Birthday tablecloth to mark this year.

Now I have tomorrow to finish getting ready for Christmas! But it will be okay since Hubby is home.

Unexpected Happenings

2009-12-21T00:09:00.003-05:00

Hubby's mom had a mild heart-attack last Wednesday. It's always hard to find out what's really going on when she's 1000 miles away. But the information given to us Thursday had his mom in the hospital for another 6 days to monitor new drugs being given. After looking at everything, we decided to send Hubby to PA to help out his dad while his mom's in the hospital (They're 86 years old). So Friday and yesterday were full of trying to get as much done as possible before he left town. He flew out this morning and is due back Wednesday evening. So he left me here to pull off a birthday party and finish Christmas preparations. I wasn't looking forward to it, but felt up to the challenge. So today's schedule had me baking 3 cake mixes for the castle cake and making 4 turrets for the corners. So I start off making a cake. Have the batter in the pan and am going to put it in the oven. Well, I was already thinking of the next task and I "missed" the oven rack and dumped 1/2 the batter in the oven (on the door and down between the door and oven and into the drawer beneath the oven). An hour later, I was ready to start over, except all I really wanted to do was call it quits. But here I am, a mere 14 hours later and I've completed my tasks for the day. The cake is assembled with the base coat of icing and the turrets are made. The Singer, to be helpful, made dinner tonight. Egg rolls. Half-way through rolling them, she needed assistance, so I rolled the rest and somehow I got the pleasure of cleaning up the kitchen afterwards. Oil was splattered far and wide. But the kitchen is cleaned, and the egg rolls were very tasty. Tomorrow's schedule includes a dentist appointment early, mopping the kitchen floor, finishing the castle decorations, and making a sample 'gingerbread' house. The Imp and I assembled 16 houses Friday night. After tomorrow, I could stay out of the kitchen for quite a while, except that Christmas is fast approaching.
The good news is that Hubby is safely in PA and his mom was released from the hospital today. Not sure of the details yet, but he's got a list of house cleaning and errands that will help his mom catch up on her Christmas preparations.
The weather's turned cool, finally. It's actually starting to feel like Christmas. Hubby is dealing with temps in the 20's and 30's. He really hates the cold. I bought him a new sweatshirt to keep him warm.
Gotta go make the girls settle down and sleep, then I'll turn in.

Wii, Roosters and Froot-Cakes

2009-12-16T08:14:00.007-05:00

I really like playing video games. Not the 'action' ones like Mortal Force or such, but ones that are more similar to the ones of the 80's. Hubby and I were on an extremely tight budget when we first got married. Our Saturday mornings consisted of going to the laundry mat and having an extra $2 to play video games in the deli next door. Galaga and Q-bert were our favorites. As we became parents are enjoyment of these games did not diminish. I was always envious of the kids who got the newest gaming systems the year they were released.

We got Super Nintendo the year before GameCube was released and finally got GameCube a few years later. My kids think it's funny that they can come home to find Mom and Dad dueling it out in Donkey Kong or racing in Mario Cart Bros. They tell us that none of their friends' parents play video games (I'm not convinced that's true, but they're probably closet players). But for all that I enjoy games we really don't play that often and, they just aren't worth the money when there are so many other things I'd rather have and use much more often. Having said all that, I REALLY, REALLY want a Wii. I have dreamed of getting one since day one. Santa almost always brings a 'family' gift, but they tend to be things like tickets to see "Wicked" at the Performing Arts Center, or Bush Garden passes. The rest of my family would have fun playing with a Wii, but would never think of putting on their top 10 list. Hubby and I get reward points from our credit card that we can use at the rewards online store. I discovered last night that they have Wii. We don't use our credit card enough to rack up points shamelessly and maybe one day we'll sit down and figure out how to get the most points from our card, but for now our points always seem to be a little bonus. We got a 15" TV, an electric grill fork with temperature read-out, and the like.
I was doing some stocking-stuffer shopping when I discovered the Wii.

I have a new goal. I will figure out exactly how much I have to spend on my Visa in order to get my Wii for free (mind you, I'm not talking about racking up debt, but simply using my Visa card for purchases that I'll pay off before the end of the month...so Dad, don't worry). I have a new mission! Of course, I also want many of the accessories and add-ons as well. And what I really want is the new Mario Bros game that all 4 people can play simultaneously. 2010 is holding great promise.

I tend to stay up way too late this time of year. Sometimes, I'm being Santa's helper but I also just get revved up and have a hard time sleeping. Even when I stay up late, my eyes pop open early. Last night I was up obscenely late, even for me, and would have probably slept until 9 this morning except a rooster woke me up. Now, I must say that I heard the rooster in my sleep and dismissed it, but after the 10th time of the fellow crowing, I was awake. Of course, by the time I was actually having conscious thought, the rooster was silent. I lay there trying to figure out what had woke me up (awakened me?) and when my subconscious told me I had heard a rooster, I tried to figure out what could sound like a rooster in suburbia Tampa. Certainly a real rooster was out of the picture. 30 minutes after I was up, I heard it again. It was a rooster. I'm still not sure who has a rooster, but I'm certain it must be a few streets away, as I live is a pre-fab subdivision. I stand out with my vegetable garden.

I saw a few minutes of "the Doctors" yesterday, and wished I hadn't. The were discussing the lawsuit being brought against Kellogg s for misleading the public and failing to maintain truth in advertising. And how had Kellogg's misled this poor gentleman? By naming its cereal "Froot Loops". The fellow claimed he thought it was made from real fruit! After researching, I found the suit was deemed frivolous, but from watching "the Doctors", I wouldn't have known that. The doctors were all serious about how important it was for products to have clear labeling, etc., and how parents are being misled that sugar cereals are good for their children with the labels stating how many nutrients are found in the box. Be real already! Kids' cereals are boxes of sugar. Everyone knows that! That's why they're for Christmas and birthdays. I'm not even a health-nut by any stretch of the imagination and I didn't let my kids have Froot Loops. Yes, I agree, a product should not be allowed to say "Real Fruit" unless there is real fruit in the product, but the consumer has to have a little responsibility...and the lady at McDonald's didn't know the coffee was hot!

December Birthday Party

2009-12-14T08:55:00.002-05:00

It's December. My favorite month, although also my most stressful...much of it self-imposed. I love ALL the Christmas traditions. My girls, being incredibly like me, especially in areas I wish they weren't, want to embrace and celebrate and duplicate every tradition, treat and song during this time of year. There are so many treats they want baked, and traditions they want to recreate, that it would take the entire month of December with doing nothing else but Christmas stuff, to bring to life their desires. On top of that, the Imp's birthday is the 22nd. She'll be 16 this year. It seems the Imp's birthday parties have always been smaller and less spectacular than her sister's. While I'm not in the camp of "what one get the other gets," I do try to be somewhat equitable. I now remember why this apparent discrepancy exists. First, the Imp is a more no-frills kind of kid, while her sister, the Singer, is always up for a production, the more frills, the better. Second, the Singer has always had a small group of close friends, making my demand for a small gathering very easy for her (invite list of 8 or less). The Imp has always been a floater. That is, she is friends with multiply people from multiple "groups". So when given the directive, "Keep it under 8 people," she can never succeed. "But if I invite Suzie, I have to invite Jane" or worse "I can't invite Jane because she hates Suzie, but I don't want Jane's group to think I like Suzie's group more..." The Imp's heart is sooo big. She is always for the underdog and works very hard at making sure no one's feelings are hurt. So many years she had only 1 or 2 friends over, or simply skipped the friends' party altogether when it came to her party. But she'll be 16 this year, and being caught in an alternate reality, I told her she could invite who she wanted. Her list was 25 people! My house isn't that big. I made her trim and trim, until she actually invited 17 people to her party. Thus far, only 1 regret. I'm not sure this was a wise decision. Additionally, the Imp decided she wanted a fancy cake....a castle cake...not like her sister's Tinkerbell castle cake of pink, but, in her words, "Think Narnia!" R...i...g...h...t...

Sample ideas. Final product some kind of combination

Then she says, "I'd like to do a craft." So we decide on making 12 sided paper ornaments out of Christmas paper. So I cut out (with a punch, not by hand) 400 circles, and mark them to be folded as pentagons. Not a small feat. Then she says, "Do you think we can make graham cracker gingerbread houses?" Uuuhh, okay? Yep, I said okay. So now I've committed to have 16 girls making gingerbread houses. So I'll be making the structures the day before, so the girls can decorate them during the party.

All while I'm making a castle cake with draw-bridge and moat (using boiled sugar water dyed blue) AND still getting ready for Christmas. Whose idea was it to have a kid 3 days before Christmas? And just so you know, she wasn't due until January 8! And while all of this sounds daunting and outlandish to many, I love doing these things, just not all at the same time. The girls are looking for me to make geiba, a homemade sweet Polish bread that takes all day. They also asked about clothespin cookies...another incredibly time-intensive endeavor. My own tradition, is that they always get something homemade from me for Christmas. I can't say what I'm making them (I just found out the Singer does occasionally read my blog as she commented that she knew what was really in the attic a few months ago), but the girls will be pleased and it required days of sewing. One day, I'll start my Christmas projects the previous March like serious crafters do, but for now, I'll cram as much as humanly possible into the 4 weeks of December.

A Different Christmas Poem

2009-12-10T09:10:00.006-05:00

To All our Military, those who are serving and those who have served, THANK YOU!

"A Different Christmas Poem"

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

1948 Cartoon

2009-11-24T09:01:00.003-05:00

Got this YouTube video in my email this morning. Had to share it. It's from 1948. Amazing isn't it?

Hubby and I had a great weekend presenting an Engaged Encounter retreat. It's wonderful to see all the starry-eyed engaged. It was heart-warming to hear how so many of them were truly preparing for a sacramental marriage.

The Imp went on a homeless retreat. She lucked out with warm weather, but still managed to sprain her ankle. The Singer came home to help out and enjoyed a night at home alone. Living in a dorm doesn't lead to much alone time.

Christmas is now looming...Advent starts Sunday and then Christmas someone comes in the blink of an eye. I'm off to JoAnn's to buy supplies for the gifts I'm making the girls. The Singer actually reads my blog occasionally so I can't be more specific.

Lettuce, beans and peppers from my garden are delicious. Had some bug attack my cucumbers, but I think I have it under control and have a number of new cukes growing.

The girls really don't like turkey, so I'm planning BBQ ribs, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, jello salad, fresh baked rolls, green salad, and apple pie and Mrs. Apel's fudge pie for dessert. Mrs. Apel's fudge pie is a favorite from my childhood. My brother, Chris, often made this for family gatherings. I'm bring 2 when we go to Orlando on Friday to meet most of my family after their 4 day cruise. I think they'll like it.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

2009-11-20T08:48:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving is less than a week away and the questions are in full swing, "So, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" The question is really two-fold...do you have plans for the long weekend, and with whom are you gathering for the feast on Thursday? As a matter of fact, we do have plans for the weekend. ON Friday, we're meeting my family in Orlando (after most of them have spent 5 days on a cruise ship). It'll be a day of story-telling...most true...and catching up on each other. I can't wait. OF course, Elaine, has once again spear-headed this by securing restaurant reservations and hotel reservations for Friday night...all near the airport for the Saturday flights home. I can't wait for Friday. The only downside is that not everyone can stay after the cruise for lots of socializing, as a few have Friday flights home. Alas, we all have our own lives and obligations away from our extended family.
As to our Thanksgiving Dinner? Well, Thanksgiving is a 'weird' holiday in our home. We've rarely had anyone other than the 4 of us, and my children don't like turkey. Two years ago we were actually painting the outside of our house on Thanksgiving. The last few years the Imp has been invited to spend Thanksgiving day with a friend of hers. (Her friend is the only teenager in her extended family and having a friend helps the friend and the friend's parents). The Imp is invited because she's the only one who doesn't have 'family' plans of her own that day.
I'd inviting my little brother and his family for Thursday dinner on their way to Orlando, but their kids want downtown Disney, instead. I totally understand that. In fact, it will take pressure off me for dinner on Thursday. The Imp is asking for steak, the Singer wants shrimp. Hubby and I just want a day to relax and give thanks. I'm sure we'll play some family games...Mario Cart on Gamecube as well as some board games. I sometimes wonder if having so few traditions on Thanksgiving has deprived my girls of something. I don't think so. And we more than make up for it with our overabundance of Christmas traditions. I figure, whoever marries my girls will be able to dictate how Thanksgiving is celebrated, as my girls won't care. Getting them to cook a traditional turkey will be difficult, so I see them going to the in-laws.

Before Thanksgiving, we've got to get through this weekend. Tonight is our Marriage Ministry group meeting. And we go straight from there to presenting at an Engaged Encounter weekend. We've not presented at a weekend in over a year. It's always invigorating to 'do' a weekend, but I think this is our swan song. We're called to minister to married couples now, and as there is only so much of us to go around, something's gotta give. We'll miss it, and we value what EE has done for our own relationship. As is so often the case, ministering to others has actually been a ministry to ourselves. We spent months preparing our talks, under the guidance of another couple. We learned a great deal about ourselves. Every time we present our talks, we're reminded of our love for each other and how we've managed through hard times. We always feel closer to each other after a weekend.

The Imp is off on a homeless retreat this weekend. Her youth group goes to the homeless center and starts by feeding dinner to the homeless and then they themselves 'dine' on the same food. Then they 'camp out' on the enclosed grounds for the night. They're allowed to bring 3 items with them. Then in the morning they get up and prepare and serve breakfast to the homeless. This year the kids are lucky as the weather is unseasonably warm and they won't get real cold during the night, but it will still be colder than they are use to. It is always an eye-opening experience. The are so surprised to hear stories of the homeless, many who once lived nice suburbia lives.

Wednesday night we met with Sr. MaryAnn, who's taking the group to World Youth Day in 2011. I'm so excited for my girls. The best thing she said was that this is not a vacation or sightseeing tour but a spiritual pilgrimage. The girls will be meeting with the group once a month and completing spiritual exercises. So when they take off for Spain, even though they don't all know each other now, they will be a cohesive group that already has shared experiences. And better yet, both girls seemed excited at the prospect, too.

Why Go to Church?

2009-11-08T14:04:00.004-05:00

I'm reading a great book by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, "Why Go to Church?" Many, many thought provoking ideas. Not an "easy read" in the sense you can not skim through it and the ideas presented can be 'heady'. But his style is very conversational and the vocabulary not too elevated. I know this is a book I'll reread as there is no way I can begin to absorb all he says. I'm already look at Mass in a new light. It's pretty exciting. What's more invigorating, is that he presents ideas similar to Albert Haase' in his book, "Coming Home to Your True Self: Leaving the Emptiness of False Attractions" which I am also reading.

Then to see both their ideas dovetailing nicely into my Bible Study classes. And the best part, is that they're not preachy or too theological but very practical...how to live as a Christian in today's world, not a monastery. So I've been mulling on lots of these ideas about church, God, and living right and I open my email to find this:

Why go to Church?
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If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

Why Go To Church?

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

"When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?

I like it.

Had fresh salad from my garden of green peppers, red peppers, cucumbers and lettuce last night. The Imp said the lettuce is so good she doesn't even need any salad dressing, and she likes the fact that it's all green. She's not sure why people like the white stuff on iceberg lettuce. Since the Imp is not drawn to healthy eating (understatement) it makes me feel good to give her something I know is chemical free and healthy that she likes. She doesn't like cucumbers much or my peppers, but she eats the lettuce. Gotta celebrate the small victories.

The Imp is busy with crew. She had a regatta last weekend. The boys and girls use the same boats, so the girls wait at the finish line to get in the boat as the boys finish to row to the starting line as a warm-up. Well, the boys-8 tipped their boat so the girls-8 event had to be postponed while they got the boat upright and got as much water out as they could. When the girls finished their race they went to lift the boat out of the river, but couldn't. It took a slew of men to lift the boat. They turned it upside down to drain the water...well over 100 lbs of water fell out. The Imp said no wonder it felt like they were pulling dead-weight....they were! She's off to a huge regatta in Georgia next weekend. She's not too thrilled. She's been slated as stroke in a 4 person boat and she feels she's not qualified. As I know absolutely nothing about crew, I can offer no advice or opinion, other than "hang in there." I think it's great she's doing something she does not easily excel at. She seems to enjoy the overall experience and as of now plans to continue in the spring.

Cake Wrecks

2009-11-01T14:21:00.003-05:00

I was perusing the Internet highway to find some inspiration for the Imp's birthday cake. I know her birthday is 7 weeks away, but it falls 3 short days before Christmas and I need to know how much time I will need to devote to this cake to make sure it gets done. (That I'm a little obsessive about planning has nothing to do with it). The Imp turns 16 this year and wants a castle cake...but NOT a princess castle (I've made 2 of those already for the Singer). As I was hopping from site to site, I came across Cake Wrecks. I haven't laughed that hard in YEARS. As I was home alone, I had to laugh by myself. As it's always more fun to laugh with others, I had to share the site with Hubby when he got home. I laughed even harder, leaving me breathless. When the Imp came home I made her look at it as well. Again, I found myself laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. You've got to read the commentary as well as look at the cakes. Some are obviously funnier than others. Look at more than one page if you want the full 'laugh' benefit. The site highlights goofs by professional cake decorators. So what you see are cakes actually made for costumers. It doesn't say if the costumer had to pay for it. Here's a teaser.
The order was for Allie who was going away to school at CNU.
This is what was made:

That Jen Yates' commentary said

You know you're asking for a Wreck when...
...your college has the initials "CNU" and the family member who orders has a strong southern accent:

Jen has a book out: Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong

Save the Cake Wrecks site. Pull it up on days you need a chuckle or even a full belly-laugh.

Choices

2009-10-30T07:14:00.002-05:00

This little story was sent to me in my email. I've heard variations of it before, but that "John" was used as the guy's name made me think of my brother John. This story his of him. Exchange "Super-Duper" for every "If I felt any better I'd be twins." and it's pretty much my John to a 'T'.

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!
You can't be a positive person all of the time How do you do it?'
He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood
I choose to be in a good mood.'
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.
'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins..Wanna see my scars?'
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live.'
'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked
He continued, '..the paramedics were great.
They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'
'What did you do?' I asked.
'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''
Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything .

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

I'm scrapping again today. But I know today will be harder than others because I'm working on May-August 2007. John's death and funeral will be included in there. With the World Series going on, I keep looking for the commentary by John on each team and their respective play.

Who's In Control?

2009-10-26T08:45:00.004-05:00

Get a cup of coffee and sit back and listen.

Have a God-filled day.
As hard as it is, I'm gonna let God chisel at me today.

"Only Losers Get All A's"

2009-10-25T10:04:00.004-05:00

Something happened the other day that has me thinking. After dinner, the Imp brought Hubby a certificate she'd gotten at school that day for earning Principal's Honors. But as she gave Hubby the paper, she was downplaying the whole thing verbally (I'm really to old to care much about certificates, I do what I do, and so on) while begging for affirmation by the mere act of mentioning it at all. While she said she didn't care, Hubby (and I from the other room) her heard screaming "TELL ME I DID GOOD!" Kind of interesting. Of course, Hubby being the great guy he is, told her he was proud of her hard work, etc, etc. Then the Imp came to find me and went through the same spiel. And as she's telling me she really didn't like the honors assembly and being called out in front of everyone for grades, I wondered why intelligence and hard work are scoffed at by teens. The Imp shared with me that as they were passing out awards, (starting with honors and moving up)the Imp's friend stated that only real losers get straight A's. (Not realizing that the Imp was one of those "losers.") Yes, there is some jealousy in the statement, but there is also a truth that teens tend to view their high achieving, well-behaved peers with a sort of contempt. I guess the underlying idea is that if you're achieving and not getting into trouble you are some how 'selling out to the establishment' or some such nonsense. The Imp is far removed from the stereo-typical goody-too-shoes. First and foremost because she is simply not a "yes man" kind of person. She follows rules and works hard because she's calculated the cost/benefits of such. Hubby and I work to tip the scales in favor of hard work and good behavior, but I can see her calculating how much work is required to achieve the desired result and she has decided on more that one occasion that doing what she wants now is worth it, even knowing there are negative consequences she'll have to endure. The comment by her friend really hurt her. And while I don't think it will change her behavior, the memory will weigh in when she's assessing the cost/benefit of future decisions.

Hubby has been on a Men's Retreat all weekend. So Friday night I had some girl friends come over to scrap. We scrapped until midnight. It was so much fun. The camaraderie was a real mood booster and we had chocolate in many forms, which is always a plus.

The Singer, wanting to leave a relationship drama developing between two of her friends and a boy, came home for the weekend. The Imp is enjoying having time with her sister. I've enjoyed some alone time, but am looking forward to Hubby coming home this afternoon.

Massage Therapy

2009-10-22T06:28:00.003-05:00

Spent yesterday "spring cleaning" my bedroom. I always get a burst of energy when it cools down. I love when the high temps are in the high 70s or low 80s. Not to mention the air has been very dry. To go outside and breathe in the crisp air, puts a in my step. So yesterday, after transplanting the last set of my onions to my garden, I wiped down the walls of my room, vacuumed the curtains, cleaned off the ceiling fan, and just gave my room a good once-over. I also dealt with that stack of "stuff" that had accumulated in the corner. So last night going back to my room felt good. That Hubby noticed my efforts, made it all the better.

I attribute my energy-burst to the weather, but the fact that I had my first-ever, professional massage on Tuesday, probably didn't hurt. It feels decadent to get a professional massage.

But my neck and shoulders have been tight and painful for some time. Hubby will rub out the knots when it gets so bad I have a hard time turning my head all the way. In the past his rubs would get me feeling A-one. Recently, however, it seems I was simply 'holding on' between back rubs. So when I got a coupon for a lower cost first visit to a massage place, I finally decided to go. The masseuse kept asking, during my 50 minute massage, if she were rubbing too hard or too deep? NO! It felt wonderful, in the same way stretching out a tight muscle feels good. It hurt, but it felt therapeutic. Yesterday morning I woke up to a very sore back. It felt as if my back were bruised. But I much prefer that feeling to the tightness. I signed up for once a month massage sessions for a year. By purchasing them this way, I save about 25% per session. It's a luxury, for sure. But I think I'll be getting great bang for my buck.

Alls Well and World Youth Day

2009-10-19T09:38:00.004-05:00

The Imp is better and the flu has left our house. At the risk of tempting fate, I'll state that Hubby and I were spared. It's been over 5 days since the Imp got the flu, so I'm hoping we're in the clear...at least for now.

Last week seemed to go on forever. With the Imp being sick, it seemed even longer. It's not like she was really much extra work, it was the emotional tax of keeping a close watch on her. 'Worried that with her asthma, the flu would really knock her out. She's gotten the flu shot for years and I'm not sure she's ever had the flu before. I made her take nebulizer treatments when I heard the slightest of wheezing. She said they always made her feel better. She slept... a lot. But it was obviously what her body needed to fight off the virus. She was back to normal by Sunday.

The Imp has been invited to go with the Salesians group to World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain in 2011. I'm pretty excited for her, and somehow we'll manage the finances. It always seems to work out for us when it's for a good cause.

The Singer wants to go to WYD in Madrid, too, and is trying to get a group from USF to go. It's pretty gratifying and heart-warming to see your children get excited about attending a religious conference. The Singer went to a Respect Life conference over the weekend and is still 'high' on the good feelings like when you come off a retreat.

The Imp's former grade school has been making the news for various reasons.
Strong women keep the faith: Under the eye of Rome, American nuns soldier on - St. Petersburg Times
Women of Faith
Student Raises Fund for Fallen Officer
It only reaffirms that it was a good decision to send her to Villa Madonna when we did. The eighth grader sponsoring the car wash is not an unheard of thing from Villa students. Students have gathered goods for our military overseas, raised funds for children with illnesses and even the Imp sold wristbands "Strike Out ALS" to raise money for John's SMDF. There is a spirit of giving and watching out for others that is pervasive at the school. Needless to say I have no qualms sending the Imp across the ocean with these kind of people in charge.

H1N1

2009-10-15T07:45:00.002-05:00

Well, the flu has arrived at our house. Is it H1N1? Don't know. And according to our pediatrician's website FAQs about the flu I don't need to know...just treat the symptoms.

6) If I think I have the flu, don’t I need to have a flu test?

The flu is now wide-spread, and there is no need to test. The testing was initially done to determine if the flu was spreading and where.

I got home from my Tuesday night Bible Study (where everyone was talking about the Swine flu vaccination, because it just arrived here and the public schools are dispensing it) to find the Imp feeling 'yukky'. Slight fever: 100.2. She started to panic about missing school Wednesday...not because of schoolwork (it was a half day and they were taking the PSAT....as she's already taken the SAT it wasn't overly important) but because coach was planning on training new coxswains at practice.
Yesterday, she was coughing and had a runny nose all day, but didn't really run a fever until last night. 100.6. Again she started to stress about missing school. This time it WAS about school work. Group project due next week and planning was to take place during class. And missing academic work is the pits. So much easier to stay up on things if you're there. But she had a fever this morning: 100.0, so she's in bed sleeping still. She slept quite a bit yesterday, too. So I'm the dispenser of TLC. I let her get in my bed yesterday (changed the sheets before Hubby and I went to bed), we'll have to see how today goes.
I'm trying hard to stay well. I can't afford to get sick. Hubby and I have a presentation at our marriage ministry to give tomorrow night and our TEAMS meeting Saturday night. In fact, we're suppose to host our TEAMS meeting, but I'm about to send out notice. People might not want to gather at the 'sick house.'
Planted garlic yesterday. My cucumbers, beans and lettuce are looking good. My cucumbers and beans have flowers on them. Can't wait for the real thing.

Mark Gungor is hosting "Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage" next weekend here in St. Pete. Oh, how I wish I could go. I've seen some snippets of his videos and he really is quite funny. I am a firm believer that laughter is essential to a good marriage. And I mean being about to laugh at yourself...not just the other person. You've got to go the the link above and see the little video. It is sooo funny. Everyone deserves a good laugh. But Hubby is already signed up for a men's retreat, so we can't go. Maybe next time.

Read Sarah's blog about de-mystifying things by teaching her kids how things are made/where they come from. I'm jealous that her son is so interested in knitting. I've tried to teach my girls how to knit and to crochet. They were interested for about 15 minutes. They have shown a little more interest in sewing, and at least know some basics about these topics. When I told the Imp she needed to learn these things so she could teach her children, she told me that was going to be my job! Both girls have shown interest in my gardening (well, appreciation for the fresh food, more than interest in gardening themselves) and have developed decent cooking and baking skills. At least I've exposed them to these things. And with youtube and other internet information, it's getting easier to 'teach yourself' how to do these things. Isn't ironic, that the internet will help people get back to basics?

Critter Free

2009-10-08T13:15:00.003-05:00

Our house is officially critter free and all the holes have been covered. I think I can rest easier now. The squirrels scampering across the roof will still have me stopping to listen, making sure it's from outside the house, for a while.

I've spent lots of time at the computer the last few days. I'm creating the display signs for a silent auction. Being persnickety, or obsessive, it takes me quite some time to get it all right. I'll try the title with 20 or more different fonts and different colors, striving for the most eye-catching combination. Hubby just rolls his eyes and tells me he'd have them all done in 1/2 hour. Yep, I'm sure he would...no pics, no colors, no pizazz. We're trying to get people to bid on these things. The pizazz factor is very important.

The Singer has officially changed her college major to Religious Studies, with the idea of going straight on to get her masters and PhD. I hate to be a pessimist, but job/career do you get with this major? Besides teaching Religious Studies at the college level. I think it's a very interesting area of study and she's planning on taking New Testament Hebrew and Latin. But as the mom, I'm a little concerned with her marketability. Hubby even more so. I hear my dad's voice when he exclaims over the very uncertain financial future with this major. And he adds, "I don't want her coming back home at age 27." She's pretty resourceful. I think she'll do alright. Not sure USF is the best place, even at the undergraduate level for this major, but it's her life, not mine.

The weather is still hot. Of course, going into the 60's had Hubby getting out sweaters and jackets. Really! He's under 2 layers of covers, while I've got the fan on. It's suppose to be 92 today. But it does make for good gardening weather. I'm off to transplant some more bean plants. Onions will be ready to transplant in a couple of weeks.

I've got a busy couple of weeks ahead. Am looking forward to Thanksgiving week when Hubby is taking a few days off.

What's That Noise?

2009-10-02T07:59:00.003-05:00

Once you know what's roaming around in your attic, every little noise makes you stop, and wonder if it's a little rat. Rats are nocturnal, so it's 10 at night and I'm sitting in our front room (computer room, sewing room, storage room) typing away and suddenly I here rustling. Now 3 days ago, I'd assume it was a lizard. They get in and then you hear them moving around. They're not my favorite, but I'd prefer them to rodents! So last night I hear the rustling, and I flew out of my chair and out of the room. Somehow I managed not to scream, which is actually quite the feat, as when startled, I've been known to produce a loud, high-pitched screech. Hubby and I have not told the Imp we have rats. She thinks it's squirrels. We're thinking we're gonna leave it at that. So I'm trying hard to not to totally freak, as I imagine the rats moving into our living space from the attic. Hubby, ever my white knight, starts moving boxes filled with material, etc., looking for...well whatever made the noise. I'm in the kitchen on the counter. The Imp comes wandering in and wants to know what's up. When I tell her, she informs me she was digging around in the material earlier and the noise was probably everything settling. As Hubby could find no critter, lizard or larger, I'm hoping that's what it was. But I'm sitting crossed-leg with my feet up off the floor as I type right now.

Scrapping today. It really is such an outlet for me. I have a desire to create, embellish, decorate. Scrap booking allows me to that and I have something concrete and worthy of keeping (as opposed to making doo-dads). I'm working on my 6th book (each book is about 45 pages). Right now I fit a little over a year in a book, but already I'm finding I've less pictures per year as the girls are older. When they were younger I'd have all the school functions (Halloween Party, Thanksgiving Parade, etc) that don't exist in high school. Now I have to get a bookshelf to keep them on.

Critters and Cold Front

2009-10-01T08:35:00.004-05:00

I wrote a few weeks ago about the possibility of squirrels in our house. I thought I'd heard them in our attic (a useless space with terrible access and way too hot for storing anything that long term extreme heat will harm). Hubby p-shawed me, probably just wishing it were an anomaly, and not the sound of resident critters. Unfortunately, this past weekend I heard scratching right above me. I was pretty freaked about it as it was midnight. I had a hard time sleeping, kept imagining the critter gnawing right through the drywall and falling on top of us as we slept. I was brave and did not disturb Hubby's sleep (well, I did try to wake him, but when he slept on after me nudging him and calling his name, I figured he really needed his sleep). But the next morning I told him we HAD to call someone to come investigate. After doing some research on the web (which advised that ridding a house of critters and sealing possible entrance points can easily cost over $1000) we picked a company that was given an "A" rating by the BBB. The fellow who came out to our house yesterday (no one could come sooner as they were working on a house with serious squirrel infestation) was very pleasant. He climbed in our attic and said "Yep, you've got some critters, but not squirrels..."

Roof rats! Yek!
After 'walking' the roof and then around our house he found 6 possible entry points. Swell. So he set some traps and returns today to close up the entry points and check the traps. And while it's not costing us $1000, it certainly is coming close. Oh the joys of home-ownership.
I'm sure this story has my older sister remembering the rat issue we dealt with when I lived with her in South Tampa 20+ years ago. We thought she had mice. An empty lot next door was being developed and we were certain some field mice where simply re-locating. So we set mouse traps. The first night we heard the trap snap and then heard the darn rat dragging the trap around for a while. We called a male friend to dispose of the thing. Incidentally, she was trying to sell her house at the time. A few days later I heard another trap snap in the laundry room. I wasn't going to do anything with that thing. But a few minutes later the real estate agent called saying she was bringing a couple by to see the house. Now what was I to do? I called our friend who was unavailable to come to my rescue. At 21 years old, I couldn't bring myself to going too near that thing (especially since it was still moving) so I put a shoe box over the whole contraption in the laundry room and prayed it didn't move while the people were at the house. It was a harrowing experience. One I don't want to relive. I'm not real keen on sharing my house with wildlife.

Yesterday morning was our first taste of fall temperatures. It went down to 68 degrees Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. The Imp claimed she was freezing as she left the house yesterday morning. We hadn't seen 60's since last May. The air was dry and the day absolutely beautiful. I went out and transplanted my cukes, beans and lettuce into my garden. It was great. Today promises to be more of the same. THIS is why I live in Florida. I saw lots of convertible tops down yesterday. It is days like these that make me wish I had one. Highs are still in the upper 80's so life is very good.

Rain, rain and more rain

2009-09-26T08:05:00.002-05:00

We have been have torential rains. Not the flooding of Georgia, but a good inch or more each day for the last few days. The lawn is mushy and in no condition to be mowed other than the grass is so high. This morning I'll be spending time in my front garden bed, weeding and trimming. I've a hibiscus that's growing over my driveway, causing me to hit it when I pull into the garage. I'm actually glad the lawn can't be mowed, because Hubby will spend the time in the gardens with me instead of us working in different parts of the yard. Our weeks are jammed packed and I feel like I never see him anymore. He obviously felt the same, as he called me yesterday afternoon, asking me to go out with him last night. With the rains, a walk along Bayshore was out, so we hit the mall (forgetting that it's teenage hangout on Friday nights). We managed a brisk lap around the mall and then headed to Walmart for a new toaster oven as ours died this week. Doesn't sound overly romantic, but I don't need romance, just time together. Of course the best part was getting a good back massage when we got home.

I got a call from my niece yesterday afternoon. I felt really special that she called me just to share some good news. I can't believe she's already a junior in college. She's got so much going for her...poise, beauty (inner and outer), common sense (usually), and a great heart. It hard not to still see her as a little 10 year old. I'm glad I'll get to see her over Thanksgiving weekend.

The Singer is coming by today to get help with her computer programming class and to discuss her plans for a new major. The Imp is off to the movies and shopping with a girlfriend. They love to go and try on clothes. She'll buy nothing but loves trying them on anyway.

Krispy Kreme, and John's Birthday

2009-09-24T08:32:00.011-05:00

Hot Krispy Kreme donuts are just about the best tasting way to consume copious amounts of simple sugar. Hot is key to this pleasure. We are lucky enough to have a Krispy Kreme store in town. It's not so close to us that we can easily visit, but it's not a day trip either. This past summer the Imp and I were driving around doing errands and we were passing by our Krispy Kreme store. The "HOT NOW" sign was lit. I turned to her and asked if she wanted a hot donut. She said, "Sure, I've never had a hot one before." I was stunned. How had I let my child get to be 15 years old without experiencing the HOT DONUT experience? I felt like a bad mom. So I turned into the drive thru and bought 2 hot glazed donuts (I know, I was very restrained...buying a dozen was tempting, but I knew none would make it home no matter how many I bought). After the first taste, the Imp simply devoured the rest of the donut in the blink of an eye. She turned to me and lamented that I had kept this pleasure from her for so long. Then asked why I only got her one. Each week when we drive home from her voice class, we pass the Krispy Kreme store (on the right side of the road...so very easy access). I don't think the Imp had noticed, although every week I had to control myself and not drive thru to get donuts. Two weeks ago, as we were driving home, I exclaimed how terrible it was for Krispy Kreme to torture me by having their "HOT NOW" sign lit. The Imp looked around and only then became aware that we passed this exquisit eatery each week. When I drove by, she was heart-broken and aghast that I would point out the store to her and then NOT go in. So last night, driving home, the Imp in the middle of telling me the saga of Tina and Tim at school, and I interrupt her and ask if she wants a hot donut. Her eyes got very wide, as she yelled "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" So I got us each a donut. She thanked me again this morning.

The Imp is enjoying crew. She got blood blisters on her hands from having to row on the erg for 20 minutes straight. Her goal is to be the coxswain, wherein she would not have to row, especially in competition.

Today John (also known as John-Boy or Jabes) would have been 44 years old. The week between Chris' and John's birthdays has me thinking of both of them alot. Combined with football season, September has me missing John often.

Me and John 1966

Me and John Great Fall Park, VA 1968 or 1969

Celebrating my college graduation 1985

John carrying Brian downtown DC 1986

Me and John at Elaine's 1987

My dad and 5 brothers

John and Gwyn 1996

My dad and 5 brothers 1999

John accepting the TSA Alumni Award 2004

John 2006

Chris' Birthday

2009-09-16T09:35:00.003-05:00

John and Chris in McLean Va late 1960's or early 1970's

John and Chris Falls Church VA 1980s

Chris with the Singer Spring 1992

Chris showing his dog, Jack, to the Singer early 1994

Chris with his family, Carolyn, Cameron, and Camille.

My brother, Chris, would have turned 50 today. That sounds so old, even to my 46 year-old ears. Come November, it will have been 8 years since he died in a car accident. Monday marked 2 years since the Imp's best friend lost her mom to breast cancer. Lots of thoughts about time and mortality. No real answers except that time is such a variable entity. 8 years sounds like a long time yet it seems only yesterday Chris was playing "What's that on your shirt?" with my kids and boppin' their noses as they looked down.

Disappointment

2009-09-13T12:58:00.003-05:00

We spent the day at Universal Studios yesterday, primarily to see the Singer compete in Voice of An Angel (the idol with soul). The day was filled with disappointments.

1) The Imp spent the first 10 hours sulking. We bought more expensive tickets so we could go to the park (both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios) before Rock the Universe started, so she could do some fun stuff. We were led to believe friends of hers were spending the whole day there as well. Plans fell through for friends and she was left alone with her parents (horrors!). We arrived at the park about 11 am, she finally came out of her funk while listening to Toby Mac about 9:00pm! Thank you Toby! She actually apologized without any solicitation from us! The Spirit was working, there is no other explanation.

2) We had never been to Rock the Universe, so really weren't sure how it was all set up. Heck, we'd never been to Universal Studios. There are 2 open bandstands and one small enclosed "revue." There were bands playing at each of the bandstands throughout the night from 5 until 11:30. Voice of an Angel competition was off in the enclosed stage area. It was definitely 'off the beaten' path. Only people who knew about the competition ahead of time (i.e. knew a contestant) were in attendance. I was hoping for a larger audience.

3) It rained off and on all day. We were soggy.

4) The contestants were divided into 8 groups (about 5-6 per group) to compete at different times. Some groups were as small as 4 others as large as 8. So the audience size was definitely dependent on the number of contestants.

5) A number of people who said they would come to support Megan did not come to her session. (They were at Universal).

6) I charged my camcorder battery the night before. Remembered to bring it. Carried it around ALL day. Got it out and taped a little intro with the Singer right before her session started, then got so caught up in listening to her actually sing, I didn't tape her! UGH!

***POSITIVE NOTE****

Megan sang very well. She sang "When I Call on Jesus" and was great! The 2 judges praised her and gave her no areas to improve upon. They commented on her presence in the sense that she convinced them she believed what she was singing and on her vocal ability especially her ability to use and control vibrato. I was thrilled and sooo proud.

7) As you probably guessed, the Singer did not make it as a semi-finalist. We were pretty stunned. Not because we thought she was the absolute best, but because of some of the people who did make it into the semi-finals. Hubby was perplexed and waited until the Singer had left the arena and went up to ask the producer what the criteria was for picking the semi-finalists. Hubby said he wanted to know what the Singer could do to improve her chances of advancing if she chose to participate next year. The response: the number of votes from the audience was the only factor in picking the winners. The 'judges' really were not judges. They were simply commentators. So the singers with their entire youth groups with them, obviously moved up. This left a bad taste in my mouth. If more of the 'general' public knew about and attended the sessions, that would be one thing, but it was very obvious that those in attendance were there routing for someone in particular. Most of the audiences were 80-130 people. Somehow it doesn't seem right. I'll get over it...eventually.

And yes the disappointment goes on
8) The signs leaving Universal were almost non-existent and we had no idea where we were when we were dumped out of the parking area. It took us 25 minutes (there was also an accident that was blocking one of the intersections) to get to our hotel a mere 2 miles from Universal.

In addition to the Singer performing so well, we did enjoy Toby Mac and Casting Crowns, even if we had to stand in the rain to hear them.

And of course we can't dismiss the impact Toby had on the Imp. So at the end of the day God is still God and God is still good. My kids are still wonderful. The Singer publicly praised God with the voice He gave her. I guess I'll have to get over my minor disappointments since in the realm of the universe they mean nothing.

Mom, There Are A Lot of Stupid People Out There

2009-09-10T07:54:00.004-05:00

I had the privilege of driving the Imp home yesterday. With her involvement in crew, Hubby picks her up. I really miss hearing about her day on our drive home. By 7pm after crew, she's not near as talkative as at 3, right after school. It was fun to hear her ramble about all her classes and such.

As she's describing her day she blurts out, "Mom, there are just a lot of stupid people out there...Either that or a lot of people who don't use their brains." The Imp is blessed with above average intelligence. Additionally, her strength is her ability to connect information. She easily transfer knowledge from one area/event to another. She sees the bigger picture. So the first thing I told her was that she needed to be careful about looking down on others. People aren't stupid just because they don't pick things up as easily or as quickly as you do. But she was talking more about common sense. She has friends that keep repeating the same behavior and expecting better results. She is NOT athletic and so I used that as a good comparison. Just like she CAN run, that is she's a competent runner, she's not in the top tier and avoids running if at all possible. She doesn't enjoy it because she doesn't excel at it {or does she not excel because she doesn't enjoy it?}. But I think many of the actions she's referring to are more often people not using the brains God gave them, or taking the easy way out. Ever since my girls were little (I mean little, little...like 3) when they got in a bind (i.e. trouble) I'd say, "Can you think of a different way of handling this situation?" or "How can you fix it now?" And by the time they were 8 or 9, when they would get into binds, they knew when they discussed it with me, inevitably, they hear, "Problem Solving 101...How could you have avoided this? How can you make sure it doesn't happen again?" So yesterday, I reminded the Imp and she started laughing, agreeing and marvelling that she hadn't heard it lately (a very good sign). Then I pointed out, not every parent does that. Many parents solve the problems for their children, so the kids never have a chance to practice problem solving so they really aren't very good at it. Her reply was that she learned to think things through to avoid getting into trouble with Hubby and me. "So our strict rules/expectations encouraged you to grow up?" The light bulb lit up above her head. She ended the conversation with "Yea, but there are still a lot of stupid people out there and I'm tired of dealing with them." [Sigh]
The Singer was in our local paper about her upcoming performance/competition at Rock the Universe. I think I'm more nervous than she is. Pray that her allergies clear up. Ragweed's out and she sounded all congested yesterday.

2009-09-05T17:56:00.001-05:00

BEFORE

AFTER

Locks of Love

2009-09-05T07:27:00.002-05:00

Today the Imp is going to get her hair cut off. It's quite long and even with taking 12 inches off for Locks of Love, her hair will be below the nape of her neck. I'll try to get some pictures of the whole event. This is the second time the Imp has donated to Locks of Love. I'm so glad that my kids have learned to look for ways to help others. This is really not a sacrifice on her part. She wants her hair short and is tired of how long it is...she's just using something she would have done anyway to help someone else. There are lots of ways to help others that require little from ourselves. It should be a fun trip to the salon. I can't wait to see how she looks with short hair.

Changes

2009-09-03T07:49:00.004-05:00

Interesting things happening at my church. A new pastor after 20 years with the old one makes for drama now matter who's involved. Personally, I like our new pastor. I don't know him real well and reserve the right to change my opinion, but from what I see, he's a straight shooter and by that I mean that he says what he means and calls 'em like he sees 'em. I like people who don't require me to work hard at just figuring out what they really mean or really want. The pastor is shaking things up by merely being different than the old one, who was dearly loved, even though he also drove people a little crazy. The status quo is changing and since the new pastor has only been here 2 months, the dust hasn't settled yet so everyone has a sense that things are unsettled. As I wasn't part of the 'inner circle' with the old pastor, I am less emotionally involved in these changes than others. I find it interesting to watch the dynamics of people dealing with change. I was discussing all this with a friend and was reminded of 1 Corinthians 1, where Paul admonishes the people of Corinth that they are not followers of personalities (some of you say you are disciples of Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or Christ) but we must be united as followers of Christ. I think some of the people at my church need to be reminded of this. It isn't about them! Who cares if Jane does this and Joe does that. The point being it needs to be done and let's do it. People have become to invested in their 'jobs' at church, closed off to the possibility of change or improvement. I don't envy our new pastor, because in addition to all the expected problems of coming in after someone who's been there so long, he is also inheriting facilities that are old and in need of repair. He had the air-conditioning people out and they wondered how our units (for the church, the hall and the school) were still operating at all! Our church is also facing financial difficulties as collections are down due to the economy and we tended to just squeak by before. Alas, I pray for our new pastor and our church community.

My favorite brother-in-law on my side of the family (and I guess it's safe to say that since I only have one sister who is married) is coming by for lunch today. He's got family across the bay and is here visiting them. I've know him as long as I've know Hubby (they were friends before my sister or I met either of them) and he's just a good-guy. I always feel better from having spent time with him. So today will be a good day, I'm sure.

Happy Birthday Mom

2009-08-31T20:58:00.004-05:00

September doesn't start until tomorrow, but my calendar is already full. Most of the things on my calendar are wonderful, in and of themselves, but all together can make life a little hectic.
The Imp being on the crew team has made her days really long. She goes to school until 3, then stays at school (supposedly getting some homework done) until 4 when crew practice starts. Fortunately, the school is on the Hillsborough River and they have a dock, so she doesn't have to go anywhere for practice. Hubby picks her up at 6. They're home between 6:30 and 7, then she showers, we eat, then homework, then bed. She's sleeping well.
The Swine Flu hoopla is dying down, even though the absentee rate is still very high. The Imp's theology teacher is back. The Singer's college has plans in place for video broadcasting classes, should the flu break out there. I wash my hands even more than I did.

I planted most of my Fall garden yesterday: cucumbers, more peppers, onions, lettuce, and beans. I've ordered garlic and potatoes for planting. With just my peppers from my summer crop still producing, I haven't been out in my garden much lately. It felt good to go out and play in the dirt for a while.

I've been thinking about our 25th wedding anniversary that is fast approaching in December. I'd really like to make it special, but am not sure exactly what I'm going to do. For the last 5 years or so, we'd be saying we'd take a cruise. With the economy and return to Catholic school, that's been put on hold...maybe our 30th. So whatever I plan needs to be reasonably priced.

My evening Bible study goes until November 3 and it's a comprehensive look at the totality of the Bible and the story of salvation. My morning Bible study starts next Tuesday and is a more in-depth look at 1 and 2 Corinthians. I'm not sure how this is all going to pan out. But I'll give it a whirl.

My mom's birthday is tomorrow. I really wish people I know would have been more considerate and have birthdays mid to late month. I never get cards out on time for those with birthdays at the beginning of the month. Truth be told, I haven't gotten a birthday card to anyone on time for about 2 years! But I keep trying. Failed again with my mom. Fortunately she likes me and will forgive me.

My husband is the best guy in the whole world. To list all his positive attributes would take too long. But this week, the thing I'm most thankful for is his ability and willingness to give me a back rub. I'm not sure what I did last week, but my neck/shoulders are killing me. He rubbed my back last night, but I'm still in pain. You know the tension in your shoulders is bad when it hurts just sitting still. I've been stretching all day, had heat on it, and sat on my massaging pad, but still need a massage. Fortunately, I don't have to pay for one.

It's less than 2 weeks until Rock the Universe at Universal Studios where the Singer will compete for Voice of an Angel. I'm so exctied and nervous. We got our tickets and are staying overnight in Orlando Saturday night. I can't wait to hear her, and to hear all the great Christian bands playing.

Swine Flu

2009-08-27T06:49:00.003-05:00

Swine Flu has arrived at the Imp's school. The Imp's theology teacher is one of the people with a confirmed case. About 20% of the school has been absent, most with flu-like symptoms. It's a little disconcerning, but I'm not panicing. If the Imp gets ill, I will certainly be taking her to the doctor sooner, rather than later, especially with her asthma. It was predicted that 2 weeks would allow time for the virus to spread through a school....TC has been in session for 2 weeks. Public schools just started Tuesday, so we'll wait and see how it progresses there. But I'm actually more concerned about the Singer at USF and the swine flu. I'm not there to evaluate her situation. If her roommate gets sick, I know I'll want the Singer to come home and commute for a few days, but I don't think she will. She is at the stage where she is making decisions concerning her life because she's "on her own" but really, she's still 'under my care.' Her permanent address is still my house. She's still under our health insurance. We feel, and I think she does too, that we're still ultimately responsible for her. It's in the transition stage, as demonstrated with the flat tire. She had to pay for it and take her car in, etc., but she called us and was pleased that Hubby went with her to get the tire. A vaccine is suppose to be ready in October for the Swine Flu. My girls will be among the first to sign up. I'll make sure of it. They already get the yearly flu vaccine due to their asthma. While their asthma is well-controlled, their lungs still seem to take the brunt of any illness they get. Anyone with their own nebulizer should be getting the flu vaccine. With 50% of the population predicted to get the swine flu, I'm sure one of the girls will get it. Possibly both, considering their situations. The Imp because she's on the crew team (practice settings and close contact allow easy spreading of any disease) and the Singer because she doesn't always take care of herself with regards to her eating and sleeping habits, so her defenses will be low. I won't say that I'm worried, just trying to be vigilant. Hubby says he's found the positive in working in a "deserted" building [so many of the jobs have been outsourced, the cubicles on his floor at work are primarily empty] ...less chance to get the swine flu.

Two friends coming over today to scrap book, gotta go get breakfast dishes done and put some clothes on.

Scrapbooking

2009-08-25T07:33:00.003-05:00

I got to spend all day (9AM - 8PM) at a crop. There were about 700 women at the state fairgrounds, all working on their scrapbooks. I managed to put together 14 pages. Definitely a lot for me. At 6PM there was a door-prize drawing, available to all who had completed 25 pages! That will never be me. When I put a page together, I spend lots of time reminiscing, and then time thinking about a layout, then what colors to use, then searching my supplies for those colors and matching stickers. Then I have to 'journal' which requires some thought. I often hand draw embellishments. Companies make packets with papers that have spaces marked to show where you are to put your pictures and come with all the stickers and extras you need. I have a hard time using those pages. Inevitably, there is something about the packet that doesn't seem like me. I feel compelled to change it. I do the same thing cooking; rarely following a recipe exactly as written. I guess, if I'm making it, I want it to reflect me. And back to scrapping, I also spend time talking. No surprise there. But that is part of the appeal of getting together to crop: the community aspect. I really think crops provide a social outlet similar to quilting bees of old. I got to see a friend I hadn't seen for over a year. We spent a good 40 minutes just catching up. And I'm so glad we had that chance. The whole day was great. The only negative, and it's true of most crops, was the chairs. They were old, bent folding chairs. I'm short and am often too low when sitting in a folding chair at a table. Throw in some bent legs and I'm really too low. If I sit on a pillow to put me higher, my feet don't touch the ground (my toes may, but not my whole foot). All this puts great strain on my back, and my lower back is still recovering.
The Imp came home from crew practice last night with blisters on her hands from rowing. I innocently asked if she'd like me to get her some workout gloves. I was quickly told that was a huge negative. The blisters/callouses are badges of honor and gloves are not 'cool'. Silly me. She seems to be settling into a routine with school and crew.

I've been trying to get myself on the same sleep schedule as Hubby and the Imp. I've been getting up with them in the morning and have avoided naps so I could go to sleep at night. But I'm still having a hard time falling asleep as early as they do. I feel like my internal clock is hard-wired for late-to-bed, late-to-rise. I lay in bed with thoughts swirling around. And they are indeed swirling with no real productivity in my thoughts at night. I've been waking up slowly with my alarm set to the local Christian radio station. Today, I must've snoozed a little too much because Hubby came to kiss me good-bye and I was still in bed. And the conversations the DJs were having on the radio had been woven into my dreams. I'll keep trying and hopefully within another week, I'll have reset my internal clock. To my defense, Hubby did leave 10 minutes early today. It's the first day of public school, so the roads will be packed with all those parents who drive their kids to school on the first day, plus the hundreds of school buses. Hubby loves the summer when driving to work takes him 15 minutes less than during the school year.
Last year, the public school system had quite the fiasco with bus routes and schedules. Supposedly, that is all fixed. I'm waiting to hear. When you're the 8th largest school district in the country, everything is big and logistics involving the whole county are nightmarish. Hillsborough County school district doesn't just have a lot of students (right around 120,000) but also is a large land area (1,266 square miles) with lots of schools (243 schools grades K-12).

Flat Tire

2009-08-20T18:41:00.002-05:00

I'm suppose to be typing up questions for tomorrow's night couples' meeting, but had to write about the Singer and her escapades. She calls me on her way to work this afternoon and says, "Mom, my tire light went on and the car's bumpy, should I pull over?" Sometimes I worry about that girl. I said "YES!!!!" She pulled into a gas station and had a whopper of a flat (definitely won't be able to be patched). She was traveling on I-75 where it's 4 lanes each way. High volume, and lots of trucks carrying lots of stuff. She obviously hit some crud in the road. She was dressed for work and didn't really want to change a tire. Fortunately a nice man came and helped her. [I stayed on the phone with her...I'm paranoid] The man told her she shouldn't be driving on I-75 because there's so much junk on the road. So she's now decided she's driving to work on the back roads. I give it a week or less. She'll add a good 20-30 minutes on her commute with that. The interstate is 1 mile from campus and about 2 miles from her work. She can make it to work in under 20 minutes, easy. Well she could if she took the interestate. The best part of all this was when she called home on her break and asked, accusingly, why we didn't buy her tire protection when we bought her the brand new car? Hubby had to take the phone from me as I was about to reach thru the phone and strangle her!
Tomorrow she gets to go buy a new tire. Fun, fun.

Meal Planning & Julia and Julie

2009-08-17T09:09:00.003-05:00

Hubby and I went to see "Julia and Julie" yesterday and really enjoyed it. I only have vague memories of Julia Child being on TV and at that time, I never really watched. I had no idea she put Paula Dean to shame in her use of butter! The movie did, however, make me want to go buy "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."
Watching Julie try all those recipes made me want to go home and begin cooking so you'd think meal planning for this week would be a snap. Not so. When we're busy, I hate meal planning (and of course meal planning is all the more essential during busy times). Every Sunday we hold a family "calendar meeting." During this meeting we all look at the coming week and indicate our activities, especially those impacting others in the family. These meetings are also a time to bring up future events or topics needing family discussion. Asking me on a Wednesday about going to a party 3 weeks from now will get a non-committal response. Bring it up at calendar meeting and put it on the calendar, and you've got a good chance of going.
After this meeting, I plan the menu for the week's dinners. I take into account the activities. Thursdays I tend to be gone most of the day, so it's a great day for a crock pot dinner or leftovers. Tuesdays, Hubby and I have Bible Study, so an easy clean-up meal is preferred. After making the menu, I make a grocery list and other family members know anything they want at the store better be put on this list. Monday mornings, I'm off to the grocery store. If it's not on the list...you'll do without for a week (or at least 'till Thursday when I go for a milk run).
This week is a mess: back-to-school meetings, beginning of choir potluck for the Imp, the Singer going back to school, the beginning of crew practice, our monthly marriage enrichment meeting and an all-day Saturday crop for me. I really don't want to cook at all! But I'd sure like some of my great home-cooked meals. So here it is Monday morning, I really need to go to the store, but I haven't made a menu plan yet. Ugh. So I guess I'll be falling back to some old favorites like spaghetti, baked chicken, and such. Especially since I'll be baking some chocolate treats Tuesday for the Singer to take to college with her on Wednesday. Better go. We really do need milk.

Love and Obedience

2009-08-13T10:04:00.004-05:00

I've been reading a lot lately.

I'm reading The 5000 Year Leap

It is an excellent book about the fundamental ideals held by our founding fathers. If I were teaching American Government, I would make this required reading. As it is, my kids are going to read it after me. An incredible amount of information in a very readable format. The thing that strikes me most is how much knowledge our founding fathers had about different philosophies and histories of political systems. I fear we, as a nation, have undermined our own system by failing to teach history better. In my county, in middle school, students with low reading scores are pulled out of social studies to have remedial reading. Obviously reading is important, but now these students will enter high school with no foundation of understanding about history, social systems, or politics on which to build. It really is an easy read.

Another book I'm working with, I don't say reading because it isn't set up to be read page 1 through to the end, is The Love Dare. It is a type of workbook for one person of a married couple to read and act upon. The ideas presented in the book inspire me. The book describes what love is and looks like very well. It would be good to read if you're having trouble loving your spouse, your child, your co-worker or your parent. Obviously some of the ideas need tweaking to apply to others besides a spouse, but the basic concepts are Truth about love which stay true no matter the situation. Hubby and I are happily married. I can't imagine a better man for me. Meditating on this book is making me a better wife, heck a better person.

I've also been reading large chunks of the Bible because of The Great Adventure Bible Study which gives an overall picture of salvation history by reading 14 books of the Bible over 24 weeks. It's been extremely interesting, eye-opening and a challenge for me to change my life. The concept of obedience is ever-present. And the examples of disobedience and its negative consequences are on almost every page. For too many people, I think being obedient is seen as being unintelligent, lazy or worse. But obedience is the one big thing God asks of us. Being obedient requires humility and true humility requires a truthful view of self in relation to God. I've been letting this idea of obedience percolate in the back of my mind and haven't come to any earth-shattering conclusions, other than we need to value obedience for obedience's sake more than we do. [I'm thinking of the Imp and her aversion to uniforms.]

Yesterday, I saw a movie on TV, The Nun's Story

Whereas the synopsis of the movie focuses on Hepburn's inability to stay neutral during World War II, I saw the theme of obedience to be much greater. Hepburn's character, Sr. Luke, struggled with obedience, especially when she thought her way of doing things was "better" (more efficient, better use of her talents,etc).

So today I'll be thinking of obedience, of love, and of the beliefs of our founding fathers, as I mop the floor and drive carpool. And I'll thank God I have the ability to do so.

The Imp is Back

2009-08-11T21:27:00.002-05:00

What a difference a day makes. The Imp was smiling, laughing, and singing at dinner tonight. The first day of school is over and so many of her concerns never came to pass. The change in her demeanor and attitude is striking. Going to Bible Study tonight Hubby commented that is was good to have the real Imp back. Her face is still a little swollen and her left jaw has a lightly visible bruise, but she's okay with that. She ate real food (she'd been living on mashed potatoes, sherbert, milkshakes and jello) and said she was ready to resume her chores. Whew. We were worried that she may never get back to herself. No complaints about dress code and even her realization that she could no longer chew gum at school (her old school said it wasn't allowed but it was a rule never enforced) had her simply commenting that it would be quite an adjustment. No tirades of stupid rules or unfair use of power by administrators. I am more than thrilled and very thankful.

Squirrels in My Attic

2009-08-11T06:35:00.003-05:00

As I awoke this morning, praying for the Imp as soon as I was conscious for her first day of school, I heard the pesky squirrels running across my roof. But since I hear those squirrels running from my roof to the fence to the neighbors' roofs all the time, the noise didn't really penetrate into my conscious thoughts, until I realized the pitter-patter of their little feet sounded different. I think those pests have made a nest in the attic, right over my bed! I'm not sure when we'll get someone out to make sure our attic has no free-loaders.

The Imp's face is still a little swollen. If you didn't know her, you wouldn't know. She has a very thin face and this morning she looked like she had a fuller face. She realized this and said..."yea, I don't look inhuman anymore, but I don't look like me either." Fortunately, today is just orientation...an hour and a half with just her grade...basically the deans saying "Behave." Afterwards I'm taking her and her friends out to Village Inn for a breakfast. As her face looks better this morning than yesterday's, I'm sure she'll look even better tomorrow when she actually has to go to all her classes.

School Starts

2009-08-10T12:36:00.002-05:00

School starts tomorrow for the Imp. She's trying hard not to freak on me, but not really succeeding. Her face is still a little swollen from the surgery and she can think of nothing worse than going to school on the first day with slightly swollen cheeks. I guess I'm glad that's the worst of her worries; it means her life is pretty darn good.

The house is a little topsy-turvy as we transition from one schedule/life-style to the next. The Singer doesn't leave for her dorm until next Wednesday but since she's working 1:30-10:00 PM she's no longer home during traditional "family time" so it's a lot like she's already gone. I'm looking forward to next Thrusday when we can really begin to set our fall schedule. I'm a schedule kind of person. The Imp should know her crew practice schedule by then and the Singer will be gone so we can figure out our new schedule. So between my minor angst at no real schedule for our home and the Imp's angst over a new school, I think we should just avoid each other for the next few days.

I've begun working in earnest on my wall sized crossword puzzle. It was given to me a few years ago at Christmas. There are 4 sheets of 2 x 3 ft puzzles and over 20,000 clues. The hardest part is the size of the numbers on the grid. Is that a 3 or a 5 or an 8. Then losing my place on the grid after looking at the clue. But I enjoy the challenge and it is relaxing in its own way for me.

The weather has definitely turned sweltering. If you go outside, for however brief of time, you will start to sweat. The air is humid and heavy. But I'm spending time planning my fall garden and will start serious work on my gardens (both vegetable and ornamental) next week with the Imp back in school. My days just got longer and much more open.

Wood Rack

2009-08-09T09:32:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, Hubby, the Imp and I all went up to see my folks in SC. My little brother, Brian (who turned 36), and his family were there, too. The guys (Hubby, Brian and my dad) had the task of replacing my dad's rotting wood rack. My dad lives in the woods and collects fallen trees for his firewood. He had a wood frame with a tarp covering to stack this wood in. The tarp kept the wood relatively dry.
Brian got there before Hubby and dismantled the old frame. Some boards were 'humming' and vibrating. Wood-boring bees had made their home there. Better him than me handling that. Once Hubby got there the 3 men had a pow-wow over THE PLANS for the new structure. Dad, never to do anything half-way, wanted to make a concrete base. After some quick figuring made Brian and Hubby realize over 25 bags of 80 lb concrete would be needed, they nixed the idea. If my dad were in better health, he would have won the argument, because he would have done the work himself. Unfortunately for him, he had to give up some of the control on the project, and to his credit handled it pretty well. The boys didn't finish the project that will eventually rival a small play house. The frame is 12 ft wide and 3 feet deep. The front of the structure is 5 feet and the back 4 feet tall.

The frame is complete, including pouring concrete filler at the four support poles in the ground. Only the planks of plywood to create the floor and the vinyl roofing needs to be added.

It was fun and entertaining to watch the 3 of them try to figure it all out. Hubby really enjoyed spending the last day with my dad pouring the concrete. It was just the two of them then and Dad told stories of his youth back in rural Louisiana in the 1940s.
I got to spend time with the cutest, most energetic little boys. My nephews (6 and 3 1/2)are so charming it's scary. The younger one has the cutest little dimples. The will both be lady-killers and will get out of lots of scrapes with their impish grins and great sense of humor. My Imp loves them, but wasn't thrilled at their infatuation with the great outdoors. There were lots of bugs and various other critters roaming around my parents' house. She was ready to come home when they started catching bees in jars. My parents have some great spider webs around outside their house. We saw a spider resembling this one

The boys thought it cool; it gave the Imp the willies.
The Imp and I took my mom shopping at Columbia Mall. We did a lot of window shopping, not much buying, but had a great time just visiting.

Not a Good Patient

2009-08-07T12:46:00.003-05:00

The Imp had her wisdom teeth extracted early this morning. She is not a good patient. She almost refused to get out the car, pouted before being called back and generally made me feel like I was walking on egg shells around her. Immediately after the procedure while she was still heavily sedated and still in the office, she was jovial and in relatively good spirits. By the time we got home, the sedation was wearing off but not the novacaine. She's been complaining ever since. She's cried a few times (she's not a crier) and "just wants it to be over!" Yea, me too. I tried to feed her a milkshake. "Mom, I can't swallow! I can't feel anything! It's still numb!" I'm trying to get food in her so I can get pain meds in her before the novocaine wears off. "I'm bored and I can't do ANYTHING!" Boy, I hope this child has no medical conditions requiring hospitalization.

I finally got some milkshake in her and some pain meds. She's fighting the sleep. I'm not sure why. She's miserable and working hard at making me miserable. Guess she's trying to test out the misery loves company idea.

My sister said the sedation period is the hardest on the parents and the next day or so hardest on the patient. Well....I definitely was praying hard sitting in the waiting room. Anesthesia is scary. But that was easier as I didn't have to interact with anyone. She doesn't want to be coddled, she wants the situation to disappear. She's mad at me since I can't get rid of it.

Only 7 more hours until Hubby is home and can relieve me of nursing duty. But he's not the best nurse, so...

Southern Musings

New Year's Resolutions

Family Feud is NOT Family Fare

Do You Believe In Miracles? Rays Sweep the Yankees, Go to Playoffs

A Minute In the Church

Homecoming Shoes

Off to Europe

And What Do We Learn From This Children?

Extreme Couponing

Broken Bones

Painting with Monet and Merlot

Summer

Four Years? Not Possible.

3-Day Weekends and Awesome Brownies

Fantastic Birthday

Heartbreak at State Regatta

Kidney Stones

The Love Dare

Spring!

Ain't Family Great

They Don't Have Boots

The Triple Bind

Happy to Live in Florida

Visiting

Gold Medal in Crew and Recovering

BY YOUR SIDE - TENTH AVENUE NORTH

Silent Solidarity

What A Game!!!

Financial Fast

School Begins

Home Alone

My House Is Back

Lack of TV Appreciated

Fallen Heroes

*@#$%* and other not nice things

Laminate Flooring

The Singer's 20th

Contents Under Pressure May Burst

Father's Day

Back at the Library

Staking Claim at the Library

Ballroom Dancing

memorial day weekend

'Nuff Said

Florida bishop recalls how mother considered aborting him :: EWTN News

Dinner? Again?

A Happy Birthday

Mother's Day

Ballroom Dancing

Voices Raised in Song

There Ought To Be A Law

Survived

Gum Surgery

SC trip

slideshow attempt

iWait

Are you B.U.S.Y., B.U.S.Y.?

Head Cold

Another Saturday

Generous

You're So Lucky

Teaching Again...It Feels Good

A Great New Year

Homecomings and Birthdays

Unexpected Happenings

Wii, Roosters and Froot-Cakes

December Birthday Party

A Different Christmas Poem

1948 Cartoon

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Why Go to Church?

Cake Wrecks

Choices

Who's In Control?

"Only Losers Get All A's"

Massage Therapy

Alls Well and World Youth Day

H1N1

Critter Free

What's That Noise?

@#$% and other not nice things