Monday, April 27, 2009

Saturday in the Park

It isn't, of course, Saturday right now. Right now its a Monday afternoon and I'm testing the battery life of my laptop. I estimate I have maybe ten minutes before it goes down. I'm also on some unnamed, unsecure wireless network. I'm sitting in the back of the van, with the seats flipped out in their "tailgate" position. It's warm, its sunny. Its wonderful. I'm outside. Toa of Boy is with me. He's hiding in the back of the van, where it is not warm, sunny, or wonderful. Its hot, stuffy, and boring back there. Why is he back there instead of on the playground or playing frisbee with other boys? I don't know. He's pouting about something. I think it might be because I wanted to sit and eat my lunch rather than play frisbee right away. The unparalleled nerve of me. Sweetling is inside. Again, no warm wonderfulness for her. She's inside the school building (whose parking lot I'm in and whose playground I'm parked beside.) She's inside taking the last of her four state mandated standardized tests.

Basically, I'm having a great day, and Toa of Boy and Sweetling are both being tortured, mistreated, and neglected.

I also had a great weekend, which brings us back around to the title of this post. The Jedi, awesomest man that he is, has decided Saturdays are for making me feel wonderful. He has excelled in this pursuit for the last few weekends in a row. This Saturday was no exception. (ahhh...Toa of Boy finally decided that going to play on the playground was much more fun than sitting in the van and pouting. Good for him.) So, we slept in a little in the morning and got up around nine. We had breakfast and got some gardening clothes on. (See, I told you Saturdays were all about me.) The Jedi mowed our yard and our neighbors yard and ran the tiller to break up the weeds growing it what remained of the strawberry patch from two years ago. While he did that, I mixed more soil for the square foot garden and had the kids pick out large sticks (4'-5' long) for supports for their cucumber vines. We put the sticks in pots and filled the pots with Mel's mix. Then we got out the tape measure and made our grid for the garden. We used large, straight sticks to divide the little plot in two down its long axis and then the kids laid white marble rocks perpendicular to the sticks to divide the garden into square feet. My seedlings have been "hardening off" since Friday. Nothing fancy, I just put the plastic container of seedlings under the kids picnic table on the patio. The carrots look a little frail, I'm not sure that they'll make it, but I have confidence in the rest of them.

We went inside and got a shower around noon. Then we all grabbed some healthy snacks and headed to the park with water bottles, a camera, and the kites. We have the perfect park for kite flying. At Parky's farm, there's a large, open, grass field that's kept mown and used as overflow parking during special events. There is almost always a good breeze there, maybe because the large open fields of the farm are surrounded by Winton Woods. I don't know. What I do know is that it is perfect for kite flying. Both the kids have cool, fancy kites that Vaya got for their birthdays a couple of years ago. No cheap, light, plastic drugstore kites. These kits are large and heavier than the dollar variety. Nevertheless, they took to the air without any effort. Literally, an adult would hold the kite up. The child would stand some distance away with a length of string already played out. The adult would toss the kite in the air, and up it would fly. No running, no struggling, no fuss. Of course, Toa's kite tried to dive bomb me a couple of times, but it wouldn't be Toa's kite if it didn't strive to be an agent of terror. After half an hour or more of kite flying, the kids played on the playground for a little while. Then we headed to Olive Garden.

We arrived at the restaurant at the perfect time. At three thirty or so in the afternoon, we were well past the lunch rush and well ahead of the dinner crowd. In we went with windblown hair and all. Lunch was *delicious*. We laughed, we chatted, we enjoyed our meal, it was wonderful. The Jedi asked for a dessert menu at the end of the meal, and Sweetling and I each ordered a dessert to go (Toa of Boy was going to share with Mommy.) We left the restaurant with a big bag of food...my leftovers, the leftover salad, Sweetling's leftovers, the two desserts, and the remaining breadstick.

From there, we headed to Lowe's, where the Jedi dropped me off with Toa of Boy in the garden center. He and Sweetling headed to Walmart, where the Jedi was going to use a gift card towards the purchase of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Toa of Boy and I had an employee help us find grass for the ex-strawberry patch and the bare patch around the new sundial in front. (Did I write about the sundial yet? Hmmm...I'll have to come back to that.) I had already decided I was never trying to grow a large area of grass from seed again, and told the employee that I was looking for a seed mat. He led me to this fluffy stuff, it look's like Billy's gerbil bedding. It has seeds and fertilizer built in to the fluff. So we bought two bags of grass fluff. I spread it in the ex-strawberry patch this morning and wetted it down, so we shall see. Toa of Boy and I were finished first, so we browsed through the outdoor plant section.

Back home long enough to put leftovers in the fridge and call Pinkie. To Pinkie's house next to pick her up for a sleepover. then to another park, where we met a famiy from church met us. We hung out and talked while Toa played with their little boys and Sweetlng and Pinkie walked around holding hands and chatting. We left the park at 7:30 when Sweetling got a splinter in the palm of her hand.

(And I moved out from the van to the sun, but can't see my screen. So nyah. Typing blind so too bad on the typos. The battery has held for nealy forty meinutes now. Go it. Now you are all wishing for the return of the daybook format. See what happens when I let myself ramble?)

At home, milkshakes were consumed by children while they watched Gilligan's Isle and Sweetling soaked her hand in an epson salt solution. Mango called and wanted me to head out to eastgate with her so she could buy a new wireless router. The Jedi came up with an alternate plan that didn't involve the two ENFPs heading out at 10pm on a road trip.

All in all, an absolutely perfect day.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Daybook, really? again?

I like the daybook format. Yes, I know I'm not normally one to like pesky things like rules and patterns and directions. But on days when I don't have anything in particular I want to write about, the daybook format at least gets me sitting down and, you know, writing. It doesn't make for thrilling reading, I know, I know. So, if you want a thrilling blog, you're welcome to leave me a comment with a suggestion for a writing topic, and I'll hop right on that. Wind me up and watch me go.

But for know, you're stuck with yet another daybook entry. My blog this past month has been nothing but daybook entries and friday fill ins.

FOR TODAY, Tuesday, April 21...

Outside my window...I brief patch of cold, but welcome, sunshine quickly dissappeared behind more April rain clouds. Rain is good for the flowers. Rain is good for the plants. Rain is not so good for the Xuan, though.

I am thinking...I'm having a lull in creativity. In March I was full of plans and ideas. Why has the April showers washed my mind clear of any ambition? We need a spring break. An honest to goodness, spring break. Not the everyone is sick so we aren't doing school break that we had around Easter. Not the drive to the OAT testing site every other day for a week that we're having now. But an honest to goodness spring break. And a clean uncluttered home that just magically happens. I want that too.

I am thankful for...my husband. The Jedi has been the blog star for a couple of months now, and his track record continues this weekend. Friday night he ran a game just for me, cause Christopher Robin and the Bear ditched us to have a date night. Selfish them ;) Saturday morning he took me out to Bob Evans for breakfast and then we sat in the van afterward reading and talking. And Sunday he drove for nearly two hours (one way) to take Sweetling to a God Rocks concert.

From the learning rooms...OAT testing. We spent yesterday afternoon at the school building where we ususally have co-op. Susan did the first of four state mandated testing days while Toa and I sat in the cafeteria downstairs and did math and phonics. We made cookies when we got home in the afternoon though. Cookies make all things better.

From the kitchen...cookies, of course. I posted on Facebook that I had cookies in the oven, but no dinner in the oven. Toa of Boy thought we should have cookies for dinner. I actually considered it, and went to facebook for someone to be the voice of reason, but my Facebook buddies all thought cookies for dinner was a swell idea. But we had bbq chicken, spanish rice, sweet potatoes, and green beans for dinner. We had the cookies first of course, but dinner did happen.

From the garden....I put the first of my seedlings out today. I watered the seedlings in their little clear plastic tub on the livingroom windowsill, and I splashed just a drop of miracle gro in their water. The zucchini seedling was sending roots out of its little peat pellet and trying to invade the neighboring peat pellets, plus he looked so top heavy I thought he was in danger of breaking his stem, so he just needed to go in the ground. Because he's a big vining plant, he doesn't fit in my square foot garden, so he got to live in the butterfly garden by the garage. I had already dug up and transplanted a Sedum Autumn joy, so I just popped the zucchini seedling into the space where the Sedum was. Later, I need to pick up a white plastic chain from the hardware store. I'm going to anchor one end of the chain to the wood wall of the garage about six feet above the ground. As the zucchini vine grows, I'm going to tie it up along the chain so that I can grow the plant vertically.

I am wearing...brown cords and a beige sweater. Its cold. Cold and rainy. I am as monochromatic as the weather.

I am creating...zip. Though, on Saturday, I did get to borrow the Jedi's power drill. I made holes in some old plastic garbage cans (the big outdoor ones) and layered green and brown materials in them to make compost bins. I didn't cover them though, so I'm sure the compost is absolutely soaked. Can compost get too soaked? Who knows. I surely don't.

I am going...testing. Testing, more testing. And grocery shopping tomorrow. And co-op on Thursday. I *want* to be going to pick up vermiculite and peat moss and compost to mix soil for my square foot garden. I have my seeds nicely started, and the little seedlings need to go in the ground. But I have no ground for the little seedlings to live in yet.

I am reading...just finished For Men Only with the Jedi. Once again, let me sing the praises of this book, and its companion book, For Women Only. The Jedi and I are considering offering to lead a Sunday school class for couples using these two books.

I am hoping...for a magically clean, clutter free home. Sadly, I am the only house fairy that is going to make that happen. The house fairy needs to get off her house fairy bottom and make that happen. No, that's not fair. Its not as if the house fairy hasn't been busy. The house fairy has been busy. But the house fairy needs to go back to taking just 15 minutes a day to declutter. Maybe after testing.

I am hearing...the muffled sounds of Super Smash Bros. Toa finished his morning school work, so he was off to Wii while I took 30 minutes to blog before lunch.

Around the house...Toa is defeating Mario villians. Sweetling has just emerged from her room for lunch. In an hour and a half, she did about 30 minutes of actual work. What happened to my independently functioning daughter?

One of my favorite things... the dandelions in my yard. Yes, I know the neighbors hate me, but I really, really like the cheery yellow flowers dotting my grass. Ok, more than dotting, speckling my lawn. Why are dandelions so maligned as weeds? They are lovely and yellow and their seed heads are fun and fluffy.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Monday: testing
Tuesday: Ohio history lessons, co-op homework, Toa's schooling. Then dinner, dance, and Tae Kwon do.
Wednesday: grocery shopping, testing, maybe a quick run to the garden center. Leftovers, church.
Thursday: co-op, library, dinner, Tae Kwon Do
Friday: testing, family night.
Saturday: Oh....heres a cool one! We're going to the Ashville Viking Festival!!! The admission is canned or non-perishable food items for the local food pantry. They have a 40' replica of a viking long boat. I wanted to go in costume, but the Jedi said, wisely, that the month was already pretty booked up and I shouldn't add sewing 4 costumes to my activities.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Which I found on Caverna Obscura Fantasy Fashions by Elvina Ewing while looking for some pictures of elven chain for a character.

And Sweetling at the concert--

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Numbers

253 blog posts that I have finished applying labels to. That's all of them, in fact.

11:22 in the morning and zero school lessons done.

9 Webkinz that Sweetling has dumped into my lap, cause they're cute.

2 Facebook encouraging facebook notes that I should reply to and thank the writers for their thoughtfulness.

1 Wii that has kept Toa busy for over an hour now

117.6 pounds on the scale means only 2 cups of hot chocolate a day and 6 glasses of water.

? lbs of chicken in the freezer....and I'm totally chickened out for dinner recipes

2 days till co-op again, and 2 short stories to write (one by me and one by Sweetling)

60 degrees which is good, but rainy and wet, so still no gardening.

2 days of sunny warm weather later this week, both of which are already booked up, so still no gardening.

15 peat pellets in a plastic container on the living room window sill. 3 with seeds that have started to sprout, 2 of which look like something fuzzy is starting to grow at the base of the sprout. What do I do?

3 unmotivated persons home on a Tuesday with too many lessons that need done and not enough fun creativity to get the gears cranking.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Daybook, April 13th

Outside my window...it's wet and cold, but the water droplets on the long leaves of the daylilies are glittering jewels.

I am thinking... that I'm not necessarily a "worrier". I don't fret over the usual daily worries, but I have to confess that I've just realized that while I trust God for provision, for health, for safety...I've struggled this last year or two with trusting him with my heart. It seems ironic and incongruous, but it is true. These past few months, well, maybe past month, has been a quiet, inner revival for me. I don't want to lose what I am just reawakening to. And I know we all go through seasons where we are close to God and seasons where we feel spiritually dry. Nevertheless I want to cling to the first and consciously work to avoid the latter. I really appreciated the article "From Worry to Worship" on the Heart of the Matter.

From the learning rooms... back to the books. I've said it a million times, whining to everyone who's ear was tilted even slightly towards me. We didn't have a spring break, we had a sick break. Now everyone is healthy again, and its back to phonics and algebra. As soon as the weather warms up, its out to the garden we go.

I am thankful for... this weekend. The Jedi is awesome and made sure everyone had a great weekend. We slept in on Friday and then went and got a new cargo topper for the van and ran a few other errands in the afternoon. That evening we decorated our Easter eggs. Sweetling found a rubber band technique on Family Fun that we tried. It was a little tricky, and there were a couple of casualties, but we all had a good time. Saturday was the Easter egg hunt at church, followed by a trip to Sharon Centre's indoor adventure station. We got home and I cut Toa's and the Jedi's hair, and Dear Mama picked up KFC for dinner. That night we watched Bedtime Stories together. Sunday was a pancake breakfast at church, followed by a Resurrection Service. (Oh, and a sneaky bunny tried to hide baskets in the kids bedrooms while they slept, thinking the kids would look through the rest of the house *first* before finding the baskets in their bedrooms. But the kids got up and got ready for church, like good little children, before looking for their Easter baskets, and were then rewarded by the discovery of Easter baskets in Toa's closet and hiding between Sweetling's dresser and her wall.) After church, lunch at home, playtime with new Easter bunnies, a box from Nana and Bapa, a freshly mowed yard (and grass clippings raked up for a new compost bin), and a nap. Then, Mario Party on the Wii, a family egg hunt, pork tenderloin and sweet potato casserole, Star Trek: Enterprise and Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Also on Friday and Saturday nights, the Jedi and I are reading "For Men Only" together, having just recently finished "For Women Only" together. Both are outstanding books and I hightly recommend them.

From the kitchen... we have stacks and stacks of Easter treats. Sadly, I have no idea what I'm going to make for dinner tonight. Something simple and wholesome and straightforward. Stop laughing. That's the plan.

I am wearing... brown cords, a green T with blue and pink flowers (I refuse to let go of spring, despite the cold), and a beige cardigan. Yes, it goes together. You just have to squint and make the image a bit blurry.

I am reading... "For Men Only". And I HIGHLY recommend its counterpart, "For Women Only". Did you know on a national, objective, professional survey of hundreds of men, 74% of men responded that if forced to choose between two negatives, they would rather be alone and unloved than to feel inadequate and disrespected? See, I had always heard that men needed to feel respected, but I never really understood what that *meant*. I blogged about this in an earlier daybook. Check it out. (you can just skim down to the "I am reading section.") It's obviously significant enough that a month later, I'm still blown away by the revelations in this book.

I am hoping... for warmer temperatures this week. Amen to that, sister. The Jedi has given me permission to use his power drill (with trepidation and under supervision.) So, I can get started on my idea for a compost bin soon. And the Jedi has offered to go with me to pick up bales of peat moss for the square foot garden. I haven't told him yet about the vermiculate I also need, but I bet I get that too. :)

I am creating... a web of links. Yes, yes, I'm link crazy today. I've also started to go back through and apply labels to my blog posts, so that they are nicely sorted by category.

I am praying... for obedience, discipline, and focus. “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river.” Is 48:17-18

Around the house... laundry is underway. Toa of Boy is busy drawing scenes for a puppet show, for paper puppets glued on popsicle sticks ...which will be created next. Sweetling is hopefully completing a unit review for algebra. The kitchen is clean, though dishwasher needs unloaded. All in all, not bad....especially for a Monday. And a rainy, cold, blecky Monday at that.

One of my favorite things... how the Jedi holds my hand. He did that a lot this weekend. Sitting in church, riding in the car, watching tv, he would just reach over hold my hand, slipping his fingers in between mine. While we were reading "For Men Only" on Friday, we read a few lines written by a survey respondent. She concluded her anecdote with "it just made me feel so heard." I, of course, knew instantly what she meant. The Jedi started chuckling. "Wow," says he, "I didn't even know that was an emotion." But Sunday night, as we were drifting off to sleep, he asks me, do I feel heard? I love him so much.

A few plans for the rest of the week... back to co-op on Thursday. I need to write a short story for my composition class. (Yes, I'm the teacher, but somehow that hasn't gotten me a free pass on the homework assignments.) I have the outline done, but need to put the pedal to the metal and get the story done. Back to Tae Kwon Do this week after a week and a half of sick days. That's going to be rough.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Friday on a Saturday morning

Friday Fill-in. (button on the side bar, cause I'm didn't feel like trying to copy and past the html.)

1. Anonymous..._and all I'm coming up with is men in silver body suits with silver masks posing as statues on the sidewalks of San Fransisco.

2. _Compost_ is a _four lettered word. Yes, it is, look at it again_.

3. Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, _for I shall not be defeated by an old roll of chicken wire.

4. _Sunshine, flowers, fresh air, warm weather, the end of school are all_ what I look forward to most about Spring.

5. Who needs therapy when _you have friends _.

6. _Chocolate bunnies_ MUST go into the Easter Basket! Toa of Boy informed me of this in the checkout lane of Walmart. The Easter Bunny had a differing concept for the Easter basket, but the Easter Bunny quickly amended her plans.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _dying our Easter eggs (which of course means my fingers are also an interesting hue of pink)_, tomorrow my plans include _an Easter egg hunt at church followed by more chicken wire wrestling and compost bin making_ and Sunday, I want to _dance and celebrate his resurrection !

ps---If a computer programmer/chemist tells you your clothes clash "a little bit", what you thought was a clever, cutting edge ensemble would probably do a circus clown proud.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Top 100

Ha! you thought it was going to be a list. No. Its not. How would I make a list without Sweetling here to keep me on track? Where is Sweetling you ask? In her room of course, practicing for her teen years. Did she do a literature lesson in there? Who knows. Its like a black box up there.

I do have Toa of Boy with me though. He's sitting on my lap and crying. Why? I don't know. He's been sad miserable and cranky all day. he doesn't have a fever, he isn't congested, he got a good night of sleep. BUT, he feel asleep on the couch at 11:30, right after a torture session involving sight word cards, and then he slept for 2 and half hours. When he woke up, I thought, oh good....I can have my Little Guy back. But no. He sat and whimpered and watched pooh. I came down here to the computer. He came down and said, crying, "Mommy, I want cake." I picked him up and told him we didn't have any cake, but we had cookies. Would he like a cookie? No, he would not. Cake, and only cake, will stop the flow of tears.

I don't have laundry folded, but I do have lavels applied to 100 blog posts. 101 if you count this one. Maybe this calls for baking a cake.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Forget school, its a blog day.

Blog holiday baby. Blog holiday all the way.

Sweetling got this book, 101 Places you Gotta See Before You're 12, from the library. We're going to look through it, type its list out and note which ones we've been to, and which ones we want to try to get to this summer.

(But right now, Sweetling and Toa of Boy are making a haunted house in Toa's room. Maybe I'll go grab a shower, and then come back to this.)

1. A lighthouse. Did this. Lake Erie
2. A landfill. Need to call Rumpke and see if they do public tours.
3. An artist's studio. Need ideas!!!
4. A Migration Path. Need.
5. A Skatepark. Need.
6. A Working Farm. Does Sweetling feeding and watering the cows and chickens at a friend's farm over Christmas count? I think so.
7. A Space Place. We went to the space exhibit at COSI. That might be as close as we get. And we went to a planetarium.
8. An Animal Rescue Center. Need.
9. A Superlative Place. Need.
10. A Faraway Island. Need.
11. An Antiquarian Bookstore. Need. Bet there's one in Cinci somewhere. Half-Priced Books doesn't count.
12. An Old-Growth Forest. We'll see what we can find.
13. A Ghost Town. www.ghosttowns.com
14. A Waterfall. Hocking Hills :)
15. An Olympic Trainer Center. Sweetling took lessons at Cincinnati Gymnastics, which trained some of our gold medal women. www.olympic-usa.org
16. A Swimming Hole. www.swimmingholes.org
17. A Kooky Capital. need research.
18. An Art Museum. We'll go again. Twist my arm.
19. A Rock Art Site.
20. A Wind Farm.
21. An Aquarium. Thank you Newport.
22. A "Little" Country. Can't we count the market in Guatemala? Sweetling says, "It was cool, but due to its geographical location, we can't count that."
23. A Crazy Dreamhouse. I hear Loveland Castle is going to do some mini-festivals over the summer.
24. The Place Where Your Parent(s) Grew Up. We go up to Nana and Bapa's house several times each year.
25. A Famous Field.
26. A Big Cave. Yeah, baby. Mommy wants to go to a cave! http://cavern.com
27. A Geyser or Natural Hot Springs. Hmmm.
28. Your Elected Official's Office. We might be going up to Columbus for a charter school rally at the State House in May. www.congress.gov
29. An Insectarium. "hey, there's one at the Cincinnati Zoo."
30. A Marvel of Engineering.
31. A Cemetery. We went for Memorial Day last year. I'd like to do that again this year. This year I'd like to order some small American flags from oriental trading company and walk around and put flags on any non-decorated military graves.
32. A Wildlife Refuge. www.fws.gov/refuges
33. A Long Trail.
34. A Supernatural Sighting Spot. Lake Erie, Vermillion OH
35. An Old Folk's Home. check, visits with women's bible study and with AHG
36. A Sculpture Park. Look kids, art.
37. A Farmer's Market. Was one at the pumpkin patch we visited last year.
38. A Wetland.
39. A Pigpen. Young's Dairy Farm. Sweetling says that that can "maybe" count.
40. An Ancient City. I've been wanting to do Serpentine Mound and Fort Ancient.
41. A Battlefield.
42. A Boardwalk.
43. A Repair Shop.
44. A Folk or Junk Art Creation. ("You *know* I want to go there.")
45. A Great Estate. Stan Hewet would be a good place to visit.
46. General Store. The dairy store in Sugar Creek "might" count.
47. A Forest Canopy.
48. A Gateway to the New World. We went through immigration in Houston. Susan says, 'huh'.
49. A Big Dune. "Dune is fun to say."
50. A Haunted Place. "What a coincidence, me and Toa were making a haunted house."
51. A Sensory Garden. www.kidsgardening.com
52. A Literary Location.
53. An Amazing Architectural Achievement. www.greatbuildings.com
54. A Living History Museum. Sharon Woods Historic Village www.alhfam.org/alhfam.links.html
55. A Place of Worship (other than your own)
56. A GreenWay.
57. A Very Big Thing.
58. A Fort. I think there's one a little west of Cincinnati.
59. A Dinosaur Site. Big Bone Lick in KY.
60. A First-Rate Secondhand Store
61. An Unusual Museum.
62. A Peace Place. Again, Cinci Zoo.
63. The Teacher's Lounge. You're sitting in it sweetie ;)
64. A Stargazing Spot. Planetarium was as close as we got, but I know there is also an observatory or two in Cinci.
65. A Newsroom. Again, I'll need to call and ask about tours.
66. Backstage of a Theater.
67. A Mint.
68. A Patissiere. Why can't Graeter's count? Boo hoo. Mommy likes the Graeter's.
69. A Radical Rock Formation. Now here, old man's cave might count.
70. A Floating Museum. Is tallstacks due back this year?
71. An Archeological Site. www.digonsite.com/guide
72. A Hall of Fame.
73. An Artist's Inspiration.
74. An Unusual Animal Farm. Woo hoo! Bring on the llamas!
75. A Courthouse. Been there. Done that.
76. A Working Port.
77. A Replica. Can you say Eiffel Tower at Kings Island? I knew you could. Its even better than the one they have in the book. And we're going to see a 40' Viking longship at the end of April.
78. An Inventive Place.
79. An Endangered Place. www.nationaltrust.org or www.wmf.org
80. A Special Place to Sleep. How bout the theme rooms at Wild Wood Inn, they have family themed vacation rooms? "That ice place looks cool." We're never going there. "Yes we are!"
81. A Place Where They Make Cool Stuff.
82. A Ethnic Restaurant. Dim sum. Mmmmm.
83. A Legendary Location.
84. Your Parent's Workplace. Been there done that.
85. A Subway. Not the sandwhich shop.
86. A Canyon or Gorge. Maybe Red River Gorge would make a good outing.
87. A Medical Museum.
88. An Airplane Hanger or Collection. Wright Patterson AirForce Base.
89. A Prison or Jail.
90. A Hero's Home.
91. A School That's Different from Yours.
92. A Famous Road. Maybe we can sell Daddy on a Rt 66 vacation before Obama puts a $2 per gallon tax on gas.
93. A People-Watching Place. Fountain Square might be good.
94. An Amazing Science Site.
95. An Eccentric Eatery
96. The Middle of Nowhere.
97. A Weather Spot.
98. A Recording Studio. We can ask Mr. Saxophone for some tips.
99. A Greenhouse.
100. A Street Market. Now I get to count Guatemala market.
101. A Really Cool Place that You Discover All on Your Own. "Yay!"

Ok, that's a lot more unvisited places than I thought. What a busy summer we will have!

Interview with Toa of Boy (all about Mommy)

This is cute. Copy this note, ask your child the questions and write down exactly how they respond. Tag me back if you do this, I'd love to hear your answers.

(Toa of Boy is agreeing to participate if I print him a picture to color after this.)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I don't know. I don't know. Bedtime stories? I don't know.

2. What makes mom happy?
I listen. Listen to Mommy.

3. What makes mom sad?
Not listen to Mommy.

4.What does your mom do to make you laugh?
Funny noises.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Um, I don't know. Cause I've never been to Russia and see what your favorite thing to do.

(interjection: "That's a long word!")

6. How old is your mom?
Um, 39.

7. How tall is your mom?
Um, I don't know. Is it five inches?

(interjection: "How many answers there are?")

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Um, um. Tell me Mommy. Um, go to the family factory, what's it called? the thing we went to your birthday? The thing we went to your birthday to? The conservatory?

(interjection: "That's all the words I said?")

9. What does your mom do when you're sleeping?
Um, sometimes if I cry. And sometimes I cough and my leg hurts. And that's all.

(interjection: "That's all the words I *said*??")

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Um really good.....art!

12. What is your mom not very good at?
uh....running.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
School.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Chocolate!

15. Why do you love mom?
Because she gives me all the stuff I ask.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Uh, that's not real. That's not real.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
School!

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Um, because we ...because we both have the color blue shirts.

19. How are you and your mom different?
Because we have different kind of skin, different color hair, different kind of, different, um, different sizes. That's all.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because she takes care of me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Um, the Krohn conservatory. That's the last answer. Let's go.

Interview with Sweetling (all about Mommy)

This is cute. Copy this note, ask your child the questions and write down exactly how they respond. Tag me back if you do this, I'd love to hear your answers.

(Sweetling, of course, is going to type in her own answers. She needs no help from Mommy. Mommy go away now. Go get thyself some hot chocolate.)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
"Do the chicken dance!"

2. What makes mom happy?
Chocolate.

3. What makes mom sad?
Not having the computers cooperate with her.

4.What does your mom do to make you laugh?
If she gets Toa of Boy to laugh, I sometimes laugh too.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I have no idea.

6. How old is your mom?
38? 39? Oh, I keep forgetting!

7. How tall is your mom?
about 52 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Talk to her friends on Facebook.

9. What does your mom do when you're sleeping?
Then SHE gets ready for bed.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Her writing, I bet.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Being a Mommy :)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Computer stuff.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
She teaches me and Toa.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Chinese

15. Why do you love mom?
Because she's nice and she takes care of us.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
(I'm leaving the other kid's answer in here, 'cause it's so true.)
Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Algebra

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both like snuggles.

19. How are you and your mom different?
Oh, we are different in many ways. For starters, she's orginized and I'm not. She likes being warm and I like being cold. I can do lots with the computers and her.................... really.............. not that much.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because she always takes care of me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Parks. She likes parks.

Labels, love em or leave em?

Why label my posts? Cause then I could categorize them for gardening, homeschooling, scripture, etc. And you all know I'm such an organized person. Why not label my posts? Cause I got three years worth of unlabeled posts. The likely hood of me going back and labeling all those posts are slim and none.

But that's not why I'm writing. I'm writing cause it's 4:36 am, and I've been awake since 2:45 am. Joy. The thing about Sudafed is, I can't sleep when I take it. On the other hand, if I don't take it, I'm too congested to sleep anyway. Yay.

Joy and Yay are working their way into being labels for this post.

The clarity of my thought processes must provide simply riveting reading matter for a blog.

Gardens. I lay in bed for an hour and a half and thought about a compost system and a way to make a grid for our square foot garden. Yes. yes I did. And then I thought, I should get up and share this fascinating subject matter with the world. So here I am. Behold the power of the internet.

I was online a few days ago, looking for info on composting for beginners. And I saw an add for a commercially marketed compost bin that looked essentially like a large plastic garbage can with holes drilled in its side and cover. And I thought, I have large plastic garbage cans which are currently holding leaves and other yard waste. And I thought, the Jedi has a power drill. I too can have a compost bin system.

What I need are three large, predrilled garbage cans. I fill one up with leaves and layers of grass clippings (I bet the Jedi will need to mow the yard soon. While I hate to wish that chore on the Jedi, I need layers of green matter for my compost.) After we rototill the former strawberry patch, I can save a couple bucket fulls of dirt from there to throw into the compost layers as well. I soak it down with the hose. I pick up a dozen earthworms from the local pet store (they sell them as food for other critters) and toss those on to the top of the compost.I put a predrilled cover on it. And I do nothing to it for two weeks. This will be Pile A.

Meanwhile (back in the batcave), I use some of the roll of chicken wire still in the garage from Vaya's rabbit, Moofi. I make it into a nice wide cylinder, and I fill it up with leaves still left over from autumn. (Yes, we still have leaves kicking around our yard. I lift Toa of Boy up and put him in it and tell him to stamp around and crush the dry crumbling leaves up as much as he can. No, I'm not kidding. Now I have a "leaf hopper" which will contain just brown materials.

I put one layer of brown material in the second garbage can "bin". As we generate green matter, from fruits and vegetable kitchen scraps or other grass clippings, I through those into this "in progress" bin. Sweetling can have the job of taking kitchen waste out to the compost (no meat or dairy, of course.) She adds a handful of crushed leaves on top of each little addition of kitchen waste to keep flies and such from being attracked to the bins. We add layers of grass clippings, followed by layers of brown leaves, as the spring goes on. This will be Pile B.

By now, two weeks should be up, and I can return to my first bin, Pile A. I shovel, scoop, and then pour the contents of this bin into the empty third bin. I wet it down again if it needs it, and put the cover back on. I repeat this proceedure every week or every two weeks, cause I'm in a hurry to make some compost for my garden. If I weren't in a hurry, I'd only turn it every month. But I'm hoping to have some nice compost by midsummer, to side dress the vegetable garden. Nothing new gets added to this pile that I'm turning every other week or so. All the new material goes in the "in progress" pile B that I've started in another bin.

Last, I need a large plastic storage container with a lid that seals it closed. (A big rubbermaid tub will work nicely.) When I have a finished batch of compost, I empty it from the bin into the tub. I can take what I need from the tub to add to the vegetable garden. Now, Pile B gets wetted down, some finished compost and some earthworms added, and a cover put on. It now becomes the pile that I will turn every other week through the summer. I'll start a new pile going in place of Pile A. Same routine, layer of brown stuff...hope I have some left... and layers of green stuff, and a few scoops of the finished compost.

And in the fall, will refill our leaf hopper. And through the fall and winter, I'll switch to only turning a pile from one bin to another every month or so.

So, I'll have
--a leaf hopper made of chicken wire to hold my brown materials
--a pile that I don't add anything to that I turn back and forth between two bins
--a pile that I'm slowly building as we generate green materials
--a tub for holding finished compost until its needed in the garden

That should work, right? And even if it doesn't, what's the worst that can happen? I won't have any compost? I don't have any now. It's not going to cost me any money to try, cause I've got all the equipment I need on hand already. And if I get lazy (really, sometimes it happens) and I don't turn it regularly, so what? It should break down eventually.

And that was my grand, cold-meds induced plan for composting. Now I just need to convince the Jedi that I can be trusted with his power drill.

The other idea I lay in bed kicking around was how to mark off a grid for our square-foot garden. The garden itself is up against a wall of the house. It's two feet wide and seven feet long. Mel says to make a nice, semi-permament grid, and I think he's right. Without a grid, it will be more difficult for me and the kids to make sense of what's growing where and to weed and tend to the garden properly. Mel suggests making a grid with the slats of a old venetian blind or such. BUT, the outer raised edge of the garden is formed by wooden logs salvaged from some of the large branches that came down in last fall's windstorm. And I don't want white plastic strips next to the cool, natural looking logs. If dowel rods aren't to expensive, I could pick some up and stain them green. Though, I don't know how I'd fasten round dowel rods together to make a grid. Cause they're rolly and all. Really, I need one long, seven foot strip and then six shorter cross strips to form my grid.

I also thought of using white landscaping rocks (you know, the kind you can buy in big backs) to lay out on the dirt in neat little rows to make my grid. But then I'd have to carefully take them off and then lay them back down anytime I needed to dig in more compost. And I'd have to police Toa of Boy's friends when they come over to play so that they wouldn't mess with the rocks. Cause cool rocks are just irresitable to young boys. So, white rocks, pretty and natural looking. Not quite so practical.

I could beg for free paint stirs from the hardware store. I could let the kids paint them with cool patterns and designs and then we could seal them with polyurithane and fasten them together, somehow, perpendicularly in groups of four. but I'd need 24 paint stirs, I don't know how I'd fasten them, and painting and sealing them would be a pretty involved process.

And now I'm feeling really sleepy, so I think I'll try to head back to bed for an hour or so.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Monday Blues

Yesterday I wore shorts. Today I'm in a turtle neck, sweater, gloves, and indoors with the heat on.

Yesterday I had all my windows open. Today I watched the snow flurries through the kitchen window.

Yesterday my week could have been full of promise and possibilities. Today I'm frustrated, tired of whining, and wondering why its three oclock and we hardly have any school work finished.

Yesterday I felt like I could conquer the world. Today I just want to let the world spin around me while I wear dark sunglasses and pretend not to notice.

Yesterday was Sunday. Today is Monday. And that has made all the difference.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

5th Sentence Game

Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions in a note to your wall.

Left Mr. Atkins at ten o'clock for Lincoln, with Mr. Nathan Perkins and his son Thergal and a Mr. Baskins.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Can this week just be over yet?

Be warned. A truckload of whining is about to commence. A huge pity party. With snacks even.

Ok. I'm skipping the whine session. I'll just sum up. Mom was sick, Toa of Boy has been really sick for three days, the Jedi's car is in the shop, and Sweetling is being referred to a hematologist for vascular issues with her feet. Her toes are purple. Sadly, the hematologist office needs a referal form faxed to them from our dr. Then they send the referral to an office coordinator. The office coordinator makes arrangements for medical records to be sent to their office. THEN, after they receive those records, they call me back to begin scheduling an appointment. Its two weeks of paper work before we're even looking at scheduling an appointment. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I was going to use this as an escape to write about my plans to build a fairy house for the garden. But I don't feel like writing. I don't feel like reading. I don't feel like watching tv. I don't feel like gaming. I can't go anywhere or start a huge project with the kids, cause neither of them are up for anything. But I'm nervous and restless and need to focus my energy on something.

Good news (garden wise). Mango says I can go up with her to her mom's farm and raid the stream there for flat stepping stones for the butterfly patch. And we can steal compost from her mom too. And we found bags of cheap vermiculite for a square foot garden. But, the site where I was going to put my square foot garden is pretty small, even for a square foot garden. I'd love for the kids to each have their own small garden plots for veggies, but don't have any other sun in the back yard. I don't want the kids' gardens in front, necessarily, because then they can't go and tend them on their own. I could put my veggies in front, and the kids in back I suppose. Hmmmm. Or I could build two small boxes right beside the walk way that goes from the patio to behind the garage. That shouldn't cut too much into what little lawn space we have. hmmm again. Sadly, the area behind the swingset is far too shady for veggies.

I need to price either sod or seed mats for redoing where the strawberries where and fixing the sorry, unwelcoming weedpatch behind the swingset. That's what I'll do. I'll order plants, and see if I can price sod or seed mats. I'm not planting grass from seed ever again.

I'll order plants, and then make a chandelier for the fairy house with a little light bulb (burned out of the hall night light) and some decorative wire and some beads. Then I'll feel happy.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

What I Do

I feel like I should start by saying that I'm not at all a Bible scholar. But, I'm betting if you had wanted a Bible scholar answer, you would have asked a Bible scholar. You want an everyday, ordinary woman answer. I might be too weird to be be ordinary, but I can certainly share what I do.

This is what I try to do every morning. Now, it doesn't always happen, but its the goal I shoot for. I like to do my devotions while I'm having breakfast. Toa of Boy is usually watching pbs kids at that time, so few distractions there, and Sweetling is off getting her morning stuff done. There's something about sitting at the kitchen table by myself with a cup of hot chocolate, an egg on toast, my Bible and my journal that just appeals to me. I don't think it matters what time of day you pick to read the Bible, as long as you can do it without many interuptions and you aren't so tired you'd be lucky to remember your middle name. For a mom, those are two pretty big preconditions! When I was working, in those prekid years, I did my devotions during my lunch break....not in the morning when I was rushed and frantic and trying to get up and get out the door on time!

So, I sit down with my breakfast (and hot chocolate...I haven't found a scripture to back this one up, but I'm sure it's pretty spiritual!). I have a little journal, nothing fancy, and a Bible that is easy to read. The NIV is my favorite, but find one that you can read and is pretty clear. I also like a Bible with footnotes, cause sometimes if I don't get it, there might be a footnote that can help clarify.

Everyone always says over and over that the most important thing to start with is prayer. I'm going to repeat it, cause I'm sure they know what they are talking about. I'm going to confess that I'm not the most consistant or prayerful person in the world BUT I do find that I get more out of what I read, more insight, on the days that I do remember to pray. So pray :)

Then I open my jounal, before I open my Bible. I jot down the day and the date, just because it seems the thing to do. Here's the part that makes a huge difference to me.... I start my devotion time making a list of seven specific and unique things that I'm thankful for. They have to be slightly different every day. No fair just writing "my husband" every day. Otherwise it becomes a rote list, not something reflective and beneficial. I do this for a few reasons. It puts me in a positive frame of mind both for the morning, and for the rest of the day. It helps me focus on my blessings and not my "to do" list. It helps me notice, as I go through the day, specific details that I can store up for tomorrow's list.

After I've written my list of blessings (and I put a little heart in front of each one, cause I love cute things!), I'm ready to start my Bible reading. Personally, I have a pretty short attention span. So, every few weeks I found myself changing how and what I'm studying about the Bible. I think the important part here is to find something that works for you. However, here are a few things I've found helpful. I'm just going to put them in a list, cause I like it when things look organized, it helps me focus. If I knew how to add a heart in front of each one, I totally would ;)

Keep your daily reading selection "bite sized". Dont try to read too much at once. Some Bible reading plans will list several chapters to read each day. When I try to read through multilple chapters, I totally don't absorb what I read. I read the words, but they just go in and right back out, and I may as well have not read anything at all.

Keep your daily reading selection in ONE PLACE in the Bible. Don't 'skip around' and read from three different places in one day. Some Bible reading plans have a reading from the old testament, from psalms, and from the new testament for each and every day. Talk about confusing. Its like trying to watch tv with someone who can't stop flicking through the channels on the remote. You get bits and pieces of a ton of stuff, without ever having a clear picture of any one program on any of the channels.

Keep your daily reading selection interesting. Don't get bogged down in the begats and in the levitical law of what can and can't be eaten or how many measures of wheat and oil make a sacrifice. Yes, I'm sure they are important...but they need a whole lot of digging and digesting to make them meaningful. The Gospels are a good place to start (especially John and Mark). After that, Acts, then Genesis and Exodus. Reading one or two gospels, Acts, Genesis, and Exodus will give you a very good overview of the story of God's love for his creation. By then, you'll be practiced and able to chart your own path on where you think God is leading you next in His word. Beware, if you're reading the Bible in bite sized chunks, that's a lot of chapters! Just the few books I mentioned will take you a few months to get through.

Keep in mind that this isn't a race. You're making a comment for a life time habit. Don't worry if a month from now, you're only half-way through the book of John. You are growing deep roots, and deep rooted trees grow slowly, but they are strong and well grounded! Avoid the habit of comparing yourself to what others may or may not know. God is working on you. You are his masterpiece. Be patient and content.

Keep in mind that the Bible doesn't "read" like a regular book from cover to cover. It's more like a library of separate books. It was written by many different people, in different languages, over the course of a couple of thousand of years. Its not even completely chronological. It took me a while to figure that one out (or to come across that information.) I kept thinking that if I started in Genesis and kept reading, the Bible would read like a story book. Then I'd get to Kings and Chronicles and get totally confused, cause it jumped back and forth. And THEN the books of the prophets were actually written during the life times of some of the Kings mentioned in Kings and Chronicles...and so on and so on. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend picking up the Bible and trying to read it from cover to cover.

SOOOOOO...

All that being said, I've made my list of seven blessings, and I read a little bit of the Bible, depending on what I felt called to study at that particular time. Then I jot down a sentence or two, or a couple super quick notes about what I've read. This helps me make sense of it and retain it. But I don't let myself turn this into an essay assignment. As you can probably tell, I like to write, and I write A LOT once I get started. But the point of this is just to remember the key point or the main application of what I've read. Not to start developing my own commentary book. When I jot a few words down, I make sure that I don't just read and let the words wash over me and away, like so many waves on the beach.

Last, I pick one verse from what I've read that I thought was particularly poignant to me. I copy it to a little yellow post it note, and I put it somewhere where I can see it through the day. (I put mine on my bathroom mirror, cause I'm home during the day, and I see it there often.) This helps, because I found that even when I did my devotions in the morning, and even when I'd make a couple notes in my journal, by 4pm...I often had NO IDEA what I had read that morning. Glancing at a key scriptue through the day helps me remember, reflect, and hopefully apply what I'm learning. Plus the yellow note is a little reminder for me to shoot a quick "popcorn prayer" to God about what he's trying to teach me that day.

Anyway, that's what I do. It doesn't happen every morning. And it doesn't happen perfectly on the mornings when it does happen. But every day, that's my goal. And more often than not I met my goal. Let me leave you with a couple other bits of advice. First, don't be afraid to try something new...and don't be afraid to change how your studying the Bible if one system or plan isn't working for you. God makes us all differently. There is no one "right" way of reading and learning His word. Second, if you miss a day, or two, or three....don't beat yourself up over it. This isn't a diet that you can "blow". He makes His mercies new every morning. Just open up your Bible and start again where you left off. Third, if you possibly can, get involved in a Bible study with other women. I'm not always in a group Bible study, but I do make an effort to "complete" at least one group Bible study once a year. Its hard for me to fly solo all the time, and I find that participating in a group study really refreshes my learning time and my perspective.

I hope that was more helpful than it was lengthy (which is a pretty tough measurement!) I've heard of several people who also use their devotion journal as a prayer journal, writing down specific prayer requests and then coming back and writing down the date when God answered those requests. I'm not that consistant, but its a neat idea, so I though I'd pass it on ;)

Finally, I like examples. So, I'm typing out for you my devotion journal from yesterday and today.

Tuesday, April 1
--squirrels building a nest
--Toa of Boy's cough is better
--got to sleep in this morning
--Jedi says every day he looks forward to being with me
--our cupboards are so full
--Easter dance coming together
--God gives me many creative outlets

(read Psalm 119:33-40)
We need to ask God for understanding. Even the esteemed author of 119 beseeched God for insight!
Post-it verse: Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Ps 119:33-34

Wednesday, April 2
--Mom's car is done and covered under warranty
--Jedi's car didn't need towed
--both squirrels still there after hawk visit
--time reading and talking with the Jedi
--song with Sweetling
--snuggles with Toa of Boy
--the golden light of morning

(read Psalm 119:41-48)
true liberty comes from following God's plan
"Doing whatever I want" is really bondage!
but since God is my crator, I am in perfect freedom when I am fulfilling my purpose. When I do what I am designed to do, my spirit leaps and bounds, full of joy and life :)