It's Thanksgiving Week!

We have been busy. We've read stories, gathered and observed creatures, planned for Christmas, and enjoyed one another. I hope you've all had a similarly enjoyable weekend.

We have two new additions to the family: a woolly slug, and a spotted garden slug. The woolly slug may be dead- I'll check after the boys are in bed. It's not terribly active, and the only way to tell if it's dead yet seems to be to give it a little shake. If it balls up, well then, we're good. If not, ah, well, it happens to the best of us. (We all seem to be over the homicidal goldfish episode, which is encouraging.)

The spotted garden slug, however, is a happy little gastropod. He's quick, too. Since he survived two full days with us, we made his living arrangements a little more permanent. He now has a two-part condo with all the amenities the most discriminating slug desires. The boys have named him Speedy Stretcher Slug, "Speedy," for short.

I'm not nearly as grossed out now as I was two days ago, when I was feelin' pretty cool for having thought to bring the thing inside at all. Slugs are quite fascinating! We're hoping for babies. I'll let y'all know.

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Spent the weekend reading Stephen King's On Writing. I need to buy this book. Big thanks to MFS & Staci for recommending it. Thank you, both.

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In reading and pondering, I've realized something that's, erm, a little disturbing. Evidently I'm not naturally drawn to works of fiction. I had no idea. My recent flings with fiction (King's The Dark Tower series and O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, in particular) have been enjoyable, positive experiences. So. What's the mindblock there? It's not intentional. Really. I only just realized this tidbit after an exploratory expedition this weekend. I perused all of our books, only to find, other than the boys' books (where fiction abounds!) I have, erm, *mumble, mumble*, four titles on my shelves.

Yes, four. We aren't bereft of books. We have history books, biographies, science writings, nature books, math of all levels. We have books on any trade or skill you could want to read up on, and books in several languages, as well. We have books in every (yes, every) room in the house. And only four fiction titles. Mm-hmmm. That's not good. That's a new goal for me. How can I extol the beauty of fiction to the boys if I don't venture into that world myself? Sometimes I worry about the kind of eccentric old lady I will become.

What fiction do you read and why? Discuss. :-)

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We have a great week of school ahead. It will be short, as structured lessons go, but we have some lovely titles to read, a few exciting new lessons in math, another set of vocabulary words for Latin.

This week we began taking more in-depth looks at each article of the Bill of Rights. We've just taken one article at a time and explored it at the boys' paces. The discussions have been downright fun! I highly recommend this exercise for little ones. It's interesting how they comprehend certain things and draw parallels themselves to the hooks they've hung in their minds. Wow. Just... wow.

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For those of you who come to the front porch regularly to visit, I apologize for having been somewhat sporadic in posting lately. Evenings have been filled with great books, wonderful family time, writing (yes, writing), truly superb one-on-one time with Zorak, and an overwhelming sense of settling down, working out the restless that has pervaded my soul as of late. This is the good stuff. This is what it's all about. It is, at least, for me. Sometimes, though, the night moves on and the computer desk just doesn't look as inviting as the couch or the reading chair. Sometimes, from under the fleece throw, I can't bring myself to move. I'm thinking of you, though, hoping all is well for you and yours, and hope to hear from you soon, as well.. Thanks for coming around and sharing some time here.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

The day in quotes

James:
So, is tomorrow Special Daddy Day? (ie. "Is Daddy off work tomorrow?)
This room feels like it's filled with magic. (Speaking about the dining room at supper tonight.)
I miss you when you're not near me.


John:
Jacob, you're the best Smidget in the whole world! (I don't know what brought his on, but it was accompanied by a big wet kiss on the head for the baby.)
That's not worms and caterpillars! It's just potatoes and fishsticks. (So much for the "creative, adventurous supper we tried to convince him we were having.)
I'm glad we're a family. Maryland just wouldn't be the same without you. (Talking about family over supper.)



Jacob:
When he hears us say, "Oremus", he reaches out to those sitting on either side of him.
He lets out an excited squeal at "Amen" and claps his hands.
Mama Mama Mama! Ooooo Mama! (when he spied me coming in from the kitchen for supper)




Zorak:
(to the boys) Do you know where potatoes come from?
Do you know where fish comes from?
(to me) Do you know where I'm going with this?

You know you've been married a while when french fries and fishsticks qualify as surf 'n turf.

Another lovely day. We made cinnamon apple muffins using the modified recipe we've put together. They are, by far, the best! Again with the small loaves, and they slice up so nicely. John made peanut butter sandwiches with slices of it today. Zorak even choked one down and gave it a 7 (on a scale of 1-10). Cool.

We had lunch with Zorak at a great little buffet he found. We came home to read stories, make more leaf prints, play outside in the woods. What a great day.

Zorak is helping a co-worker with a math class, so he's been over a few nights the past few weeks. The boys so enjoy visiting with this gentleman. He's raised six children and enjoys remembering "those bygone days" while he visits with the boys. Tonight he brought them a movie, so we let them stay up late (although jammied and ready for bed) to watch a movie, camped out in the living room. They made a "special guest room" (it's a tent under the coffee table) just in case their new friend wanted to have a sleep-over. That was too cute.

Now all are asleep, co-worker just headed out. Zorak and I are going to brew a fresh pot of coffee, watch something frivolous and fun, and look forward to a nice, long weekend with the boys.

What are your weekend plans?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Oh, what a day!

There are times I would appreciate a bit of rum, in lieu of creamer, for my coffee.

Things I Learned Today:

Missing an event you were looking forward to is sad, even when you're a grown up.

Knowing it couldn't be helped does keep things in perspective tremendously.

It is a wonderful feeling to inquire about bringing the children to a Bible study and hear, "Oh, yes, bring the children. We also have a homeschool room for the students to do their independent work during the study." Wow.

Zorak, Bringer of Starter Fluid and Slayer of Dragons, is very cool.

It's amazing how many of my memories are tied directly to starter fluid.

They weren't good memories when they were made, but they're kind of warm and fuzzy now.

Drive-thru car washes are really fun for children. (Knew this before, but had forgotten. Wonderful reminder today, though!)

Oil Changes get expensive when your vehicle gets older.

It's sad to think of The New Suburban as being "old".

"Please move the stack off the linoleum" is just a little too vague a direction to give a 6 year-old. You could get anything, trust me.

Toilet lids must stay down~ it's not a woman thing, it is a mother-of-toddlers thing!

No matter how much fun you're having playing with the children, when they start bonking their wee heads on the furniture with increasing frequency, it is time for bed. It will only get worse.

It's taken this full year, but I do believe we've begun to get the feel of this house - its best flow, and most efficient arrangement. We've found the groove, the auto-pilot, and we are finally learning how to maneuver the cockpit.

Now if we can figure out how to drain the swamp in the backyard, we'll be golden!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Mid-Week Catch Up!

Well, The Mistress is turning out to be awfully high-maintenance in the cooler weather. Hmpf. I think she's just trying to get attention, but what can ya do? Anyhow, Zorak hasn't been able to take her out as much as he'd like just because she's so difficult to rouse in the cold, dark, early mornings. Hah. I don't blame her! And I get to sleep inside! We're hoping a heavy-duty battery will help.

We made blueberry muffins this morning. Actually, they're loaves. Buffaloaves. Not sure how we came up with that, but it brought on a tirade of giggles and it stuck. So from now on, they're Buffaloaves.

All is well in the land of the Zoraks. We had company last night, so the boys were in rare form. No, strike that. Not rare, very typical, actually: full of smiles and stories and sharing. Very cool. Company brought apple cider, so the boys got to stay up a little later and sip apple cider on the couch while they visited and listened to music. (Songs My Family Taught Me- a very sweet compilation of folk and '60's pop songs, sung by John Storms-Rohm.)

Today is the day of the big oil change. It's an outing, it's an adventures, it's an exciting thing when you're four and six!

Kiss those babies!
Dy

Thankfulness

Ah, library trek tomorrow. We have got to get our book checkouts back in line. Every two weeks, or every week, but only on a certain day of the week- that, I can do. Right now things are just a hodge-podge of due dates. There are too many due dates for me to keep up without a printer! *ack* (Ours has, erm, "issues". We think we killed it.)

I am thankful for our public libraries, for bookshelves, and that someone took the time to teach me to read. I'm thankful the boys have that door open to them, too.

Thank you all for sharing your comments. Kim, I would love to hear more about Canada! You should do a weekly series on your blog. Maybe call it "Life in Canada, eh?" Or, well, without the dopey title. ;-)

I'm thankful that the internet can be used to foster postive interactions and better understandings of the world around us.

Tonight calls for a good book and a fuzzy blanket. It's cold! We turned on the heat last night. The boys all slept late. Hmmm, will need to remember this one.

Oh, I don't even know where to begin with that one...

Today the boys did their Latin and math at the kitchen table. It drove Jacob to drastic measures, what with all the blocks and crayons way up there out of reach. That child can climb like nobody's business!

I am thankful that my boys are healthy, happy, curious, creative, and thriving.

Reading, writing and running were covered next. Snacks, of course, and then, since it was so beautiful out, we went knocking on doors and let all the children play for a few hours in the afternoon. Wonderful Neighbor, New Very Nice Neighbor and I sat, chatting, watching the children, moving from spot to spot to stay in the sun.

As always, thankful for our Wonderful Neighbors all over this complex.

Been on a soup binge lately. A few nights ago we had a delicious lentil soup. Tonight it was a chicken and vegetable soup (from stock and leftovers of last night's roast chicken). I'd like to throw in a beef stew by the weekend. We'll see.

I'm thankful for nourishing foods, and a place to prepare them. Thankful for the joy of a meal and the ability to tend to my family...

For now, though, I'm off to switch out some wash, kiss the boys one more time, and enjoy the beauty of a crisp fall evening.

Very, very thankful.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Big Cities, Little Towns

Perspective is a funny thing. I was talking with a friend this morning about stop lights and how the small town next to the small town I grew up in (I mean, there's small, and then there's s-m-all...) now has eight stoplights. She laughed and said they have more than her town does. Hers has four. Of course, her four stoplights are in a one-mile stretch of road, completely ensconced on all sides by structures and people and cars... the town I was talking about has its eight lights spread out over twelve miles of highway, with mostly dirt roads and horses at each intersection, and there are more spots of prairie land than buildings in between. Perspective. It's a funny thing.

Sort of like the emotional backlash from this election. I've tried my best to avoid it, and now it's just reached a ridiculous point. So, some thoughts on this:

Based on the behavior that's been exhibited recently, I don't think Canada particularly wants the blue states! Seriously, the crime rate alone in the blue states would be enough to make Canada rethink their position on immigration. Canadians, or at least the ones I've come across, are a kindhearted, helpful lot. They aren't big on being nasty just because they have free speech. Really. They don't riot and tear up their own communities when things don't go their way. (They don't riot and tear up their own cities when things do go their way.) They aren't big on divisiveness, and don't pack around cardboard and magic markers just in case there's something to throw a fit about while they're out 'n about. I think y'all might want to rethink that whole portion of the tirade. On an individual basis, sure, you're welcome here and there. But as a whole, I'm pretty certain Canada is glad they don't have to live with any of us, the way we've been behaving lately.

Then, Staci stole my blog topic for last night, too! Go here and read her thoughts.

Back?

My favorite quote (among many) is this bit:

I once made my home in one of these scattered dots of blue. I lived in the city, in the heart of a major medical complex. For seven years I lived and worked in this multicultural, multiracial area of the city, surrounded by the museums and centers of research and learning. People there worried about paying the bills and how their kids were doing in school. They discussed Monday Night Football on Tuesday mornings and what was on Seinfeld on Friday mornings. They were, in short, no different from the people I live amongst now.

Yeah, what she said. I'm truly amazed at the level of propaganda-like demonizing that has taken root in America. Have we forgotten that there are actual individuals on both sides of the political spectrum? Come on, folks. Enough. I've read such overblown things as folks being "afraid of" those who voted for Bush... mmhmm, really? That is the saddest thing I've heard in a while. And I loved, (I mean really loved) the F*** Iowa sign I saw the other day. What in the WORLD is that all about?

Truly, with the possible exception of a few on the fringe of the fringe (the hard-core Communists, the hard-core anarchists, and, well, almost everyone who marched in the "How Berkeley Can You Be" parade, but perhaps even some of them), we want the same things. We want to live our lives, pay our bills, raise our families, enjoy the life and love that we have been given, be involved citizens, and not be killed by our own government (or another government). Really. We do. On all sides. Left, Right, Middle, even those who use a different scale entirely. We disagree on how best to do that, and that's ok. That's why we have elections and it's a matter-of-course that when there are two sides in an election, someone is always going to be "disenfranchised" (which, to me, ought to be a term reserved for folks who get their Waffle House licensing pulled, but maybe that's just me.) Had the election gone the other way, these same groups would not be as gracious about winning (based on the outcome of two Clinton victories) and if the "red staters" behaved this way, there would be an almost deafening cry to quit whining (again, based on two Clinton victories).

I'm actually quite amazed at the amount of graciousness that's been shown, for the most part, on behalf of those who supported Bush. I didn't expect it, but am glad to have seen it. At least in the circles we run in, which contain both Lefties, Righties and Just-Stay-The-Heck-Out-Of-My-Life-ies, there has been no gloating and bossy in-your-face nastiness from the conservative end of the group. But there's been plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth and ad hominem attacks from the more liberal ones. Please just stop. Listen to yourselves. Is this the inclusiveness and diversity you support? Is this the respect and "live and let live" that you preach? It doesn't sound like it.

You know, 90% of Zorak's family probably voted for "the other guy", and yet I am willing to say with a certain amount of confidence that when we visit with them, there will be no tarring and feathering. There will be no burning in effigy or berating and abusing. I'm also pretty sure we won't have to sleep in the back yard or the driveway. There may be some good-natured jesting. (Uncle Fred loves to play devil's advocate- for either side- and he's intelligent enough to do it well.) There will be food. There will be card games. There will be hugs and laughter and happiness. Jesusland meets the United States of Canada, if you will. And I can't wait! We love these folks, and they love us. We certainly don't see eye to eye on, well, on just about anything when it comes to politics, but that doesn't mean we can't love one another and dote on each other's children. It doesn't make one side or the other awful human beings. How sad to think what we would lose if we drew lines of civility based on agreement with our philosophies...

Finally, please, please tell me that in spite of what the media has said, some of you out there do understand that many people who voted for Bush did so because on a very basic level, we just do not agree with the majority of the Democratic platform. We just don't agree with you, not socially or fiscally or philosophically. For many (more than I think you imagine), it wasn't about God or fundamentalism or even showing support for the so-called "Marriage Protection Act". Zorak summed it up well when he suggested we get two bumper stickers for the Suburban:

Follow me to Jesusland!

and

Smoke Pot and Worship Satan!

"Just to keep 'em guessing," he said with a smile. He said it in jest, but I think it reflects the importance of being able to keep your head, keep your sense of humor, and think for yourself, no matter what's going on around you.

Our kitchen table has room for everyone, and my ideal dinner party guest list would be beautifully diverse in many regards, but not-so-diverse in one aspect: it would be filled with great people I adore and admire. That may be the only thing many of them have in common, too. Enough with the bashing and the fearmongering- from everyone. Here, have a cup of coffee and some chocolate. We have children to raise and communities to improve.

~Dy

Never Again

Will I let Zorak within ten feet of a book I want to read before I've read it.

I'm just sayin'.

And if he doesn't quit laughing on almost every page, I may have to go buy myself a copy, too.

A Quiet Saturday...

Yes, I know it's Friday. I didn't, however, know that until after noon today. *sigh* So, we had a lovely Saturday a day early and we get a bonus Saturday tomorrow! WOOHOO!

The boys helped make a great breakfast of yogurt, granola, fresh muffins and fruit. Yum.

Then we read, and played trains, and read some more.

They watched a movie. I spent some time on the computer. They built tunnels and caves in the dining room. Zorak slept in. Jacob ran about making faces at himself in all the windows.

Oh- I made a hat! It's a real, honest-to-goodness hat! Donna, you'd be proud! I even used a pretty, sparkly yarn. I owe a big thanks to some of the wonderful gals at the WTM boards for helping me work out the glitches to crocheting in rounds. It's a baby hat for one of my niece's twins (due relatively soon). I don't know which one- I guess whichever is born first gets the hat? (No, I will make two. I think I have a month or two yet.) Anyhow, the neat thing about crocheting a hat is that it goes fairly quickly, in three distinct stages:
1~ nasty little larval looking knot of yarn
2~ wee tiny yarmulke for fairy-sized folk
3~ *poof* it's a hat!
Very fun.
Now to finish Gram's Autumn *ahem* Christmas Lap Blanket...

True Friends (PG for language)

This has been around forever, but now I think it's even more applicable than ever. In a time of gentleness, to which I aspire, I must admit that I don't often get there, and my true nature is a bit more, erm, well, adolescent? Smart-aleky? At any rate, nothing says, "I love ya!" quite like private haranguing or a wedgie in public.

I got this from my wonderful friend, Claudia, who would definitely do all of these for me. She loves me. And this is for you guys- y'all know who you are. *grin* (But I promise Linkobutfrus that I won't do #8, because she's pregnant and pregnant people are allowed to be clumsy!)

Here is a series of promises that really speaks to true friendship:

1. When you are sad - I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.

2. When you are blue - I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile - I will know you finally got laid.

4. When you are scared - I will rag on you about it every chance I get.

5. When you are worried - I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be and to quit whining.

6. When you are confused - I will use little words.

7. When you are sick - Stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.

8. When you fall - I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.

This is my oath...I pledge it till the end. Why? You may ask. Because you are my friend.

Why Buy A Twinkie? Why Get An Education?

Hmmm. I was going to just go to bed without blogging, but then I read a thread that caught my imagination. (Or something like that. *grin*) The thread was great, the topic, timely; what good is education, and what do you *do* with an education? It's a fun thread, good for thought. There is one perspective shared which caught my attention, in particular. I can appreciate the point under the ire, certainly, but the anti-American, oh-aren't-you-a-bunch-of-spoiled-irresponsible-ninnies tone was a bit much for me to trust myself to post there... This perspective is that it's a complete waste of money and time to get an education for any purpose other than to get out there and work. Period. (Yes, the poster came right out and made the American connection, this isn't caffeine-induced paranoia on my part, honest.)

So, aside from the whole "collective" thing that came across pretty clearly, that staying home and teaching your children for 20 years is an absolute waste... when one teacher can teach the 30 kids in the classroom and you, my fine Comrade, have a duty to go forth and work. Don't waste your meager efforts on your few children... Emphasis is my words, my inference from the tone of the post.

My mother (who had an 8th grade education, and always valued higher education for us) regularly said, "Your education is one thing nobody can take from you. You earn it and it's yours." She was right-on with this one. You ante up your funds, spend your time, use your brainpower, and in the end, nobody can educate you except for yourself (by availing yourself of the resources within reach). So who do we *owe* for that? I can see a pre-arranged agreement, wherein someone else foots the bill and you then repay via working in an understaffed area or repaying loans. OK. But hook up to the Matrix and cash it all in? Mmmm, no. I don't think so. Not by mandate, at any rate.

Which is my point. I don't think anyone *must* do any one specific thing with something that she has earned, bought, striven for, or attained in any legal manner available. I don't even really agree that the idea is a Capitalist issue, as another fellow dissenter (whom I admire) suggested. Capitalism is a beautiful, lovely thing in my eyes. It's what makes a free market work.

So, going with the free market idea, and not demeaning the value of education at all, but trying to separate the emotion from the logic (for me), let's talk about Twinkies.

You see, if I have the desire to buy a Twinkie, and I have the time and the money to do so, then I might very well go down to the market and buy myself a Twinkie.

Then it's mine. ALL MINE. :-) I don't *have* to eat it, and I don't *have* to resell it for a profit, nor do I *have* to share it with anyone. There is no moral edict that compels me to engage in activity with my Twinkie beyond whatever purpose initially compelled me to buy my Twinkie. Granted, there may be women the world over who would love to have the luxury of buying a Twinkie, and perhaps this is a very American concept, this personal edification thing. I grew up licking the plate clean to the mantra of, "remember there are starving children in China". As thankful as we were to have the food we did, we still wanted the occasional Twinkie (and boy, did I savor it!) It's good to be responsible, certainly, but I honestly do not see how - or why - it is reasonable to begrudge one the fruits of one's labor because someone else's situation is different. How can somebody honestly believe that, in a free society, you *must* follow a prescribed formula for handling your Twinkie? Does it follow that we may also be told what type of Twinkie we may purchase, or in what quantity?

Is this a logic issue? Is there a fallacy of thought there that I'm missing? I see the Opportunity Cost in question here: was this the best use of my resources? Could I have instead purchased snowballs and shared one? Sure. *Should* I have done that? Do I have a moral imperative to make use of my resources only as others deem "fit"? Or am I ok to occasionally buy myself a Twinkie, put it in the cabinet and take it out and sniff it for the sheer pleasure it gives me? (We're assuming an inordinate amount of pleasure from a Twinkie here, I realize this, but bear with me.)

I guess this rubbed me the wrong way because it hit on the private ownership of property (be it real or intangible)? Perhaps I'm sensitive to the "village" mindset that seems to be lurking about, waiting to tell each of us, yet again, how every other culture and way of doing things is superior to the ignorant American? (Although in this case to the educated, Twinkie-buying American.) Is the idea of education for the purpose of creating a well-informed, articulate, noble, high-minded society an "American thing"? I certainly think not! I know Canadians, Mexicans, Germans who all value education as an important, core part of being. Period. Being.

Indulgent? Wasteful? Not committed enough to The Party? What is that?

So if you want to share your Twinkie, or plant it in the ground or write novels and teach others about the joy of Twinkieness, more power to ya. It is, after all, *your* Twinkie. You've earned it, by Golly. Enjoy it as you see fit.

So, what do you guys do with your Twinkies? And do you want more Twinkies? And do you hope your children will also buy Twinkies?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Did you know...

Treacle is molasses.

Had no idea. James made me look it up.

Good stuff.

~Dy

Books (again)

Ah, well, I promised more books, so here's our Current Reading List. First, though, a little public embarrassment is in order:

The phone rang yesterday. Relentlessly. Finally, out of frustration and a last-ditch attempt to maintain my sense of humor, I answered - in my old, "office manager" voice -
"Graham Central".
The voice on the other end said, "This is the Lex- *giggle* What did you say?"
Oh. Oops.
All I could do was laugh and apologize profusely. "Hi! You have a book for me?"
More laughter from the other end. "Yes, we do. We'll hold it for a week."

Reason #345 that I love our library system: they have such great attitudes there! And they don't hang up on me when I do something goofy.

Me:
That food book, y'all know how that's going.
Dumbing Down: Essays on the Strip-Mining of American Culture - yes, I know, I'm probably the last person on the North American Continent to read this.
Reformation and Society in Sixteenth Century Europe - I'm enjoying it. Zorak picked it up and asked for another book. "They have some really disturbing pictures in that one." (I swear he doesn't read books for the pictures!)
The Christ of the Covenants - good book, slow read. I needed to slow down, and this is good. The footnotes are just as integral to the book as the text itself.
Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN are Subverting America - preaching to the choir, but this is my loft. Haven't started it yet. Zorak said it's pretty reactionary, even for us. *hmmm...*
The Gluten-Free Cook Book - the pictures look delicious!

The Boys:
Cam Jansen Mysteries
Jigsaw Jones Mysteries
LarryBoy Adventures
Story of Hanukkah (audio recording- very sweet)
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
The Groovy Greeks
James and the Giant Peach (I grabbed the right version this time!)
Jelly Beans For Sale (James picked this one because of a jelly bean recipe in the back...)
Harald Hardrada and the Vikings
Allie, the Christmas Spider

Picture Books:
10 Minutes till Bedtime
Raising Dragons
Who's That Scratching At My Door (picture book- cute)

Dr. De Soto (Spanish)

Read Alouds:
Black Ships Before Troy
The Water Babies
Ten Queens
Miracle: The True Story of the Wreck of the Sea Venture

It's been a fun few days for reading. Our new neighbors stopped by yesterday, too, with a box of books they've culled in their move. What we don't want to keep, we'll pass to the WonderfulNeighbors (a lot of boy-oriented books, so we got first dibs) and the box will make its round. What a pleasant, unexpected surprise!

Kiss those babies!
Snuggle and read, read, read!
~Dy

She Had Me, Then She Lost Me

Wow. I picked up a book that looked simply delightful last night (in the shadows). Simple Food For The Good Life: A Collection of Random Cooking Practices and Pithy Quotations (Helen Nearing) is filled with delightful quotes from Lucilius (62AD) to Nan Fairbrother (1956), with wit and an open invitation to join around her uncomplicated table...

Until, oh, around the end of Chapter 3, when she lets rip with the bile of the narrowminded and singlularly venemous rhetoric that is, sadly, common among the "raw foods" enthusiasts toward "flesh eaters". (Nothing like being cast as a Beowulf extra at the dinner table, is there?) It's neither convincing nor interesting, but rather the normal fallacies and weak arguments that come of those who have cocooned themselves for way too long and are accustomed to making fine, noisy stump speeches up in the choir loft.

*sigh* What a disappointment. There may well be much worth savoring beyond this PETA-induced frothing at the mouth, but I doubt that anyone who might benefit from it cares to stand there with Ms. Nearing's spittle landing on their noses long enough to find out.

I think I'll keep reading, if only for the wonderful quotes she's dredged up from history, but it's not the pleasant read I had hopes for, and it seems there is far less worth reading than I could have imagined.

Kiss those babies (but for the love of God, don't eat them!)

Dy, The Flesh Eater and Whole Foods Nut

Big Day for the Zorak Clan

So much today! Goodness.

We began by getting nominal lessons done first thing this morning: math, reading/phonics, spelling, Latin. Ta-da! All done by ten. *whew*

Time for Spring cleaning. (Yes, I do it in the fall- it's part of my tendency to procrastinate.) The boys did the windows and the baseboards. They did a thoroughly enthusiastic job! Then they asked to read while I cleaned the carpets. They read for most of the time it took the carpet to dry. Scoured and rearranged the kitchen. Contemplated ditching the microwave, but decided to just relocate it perhaps. Love the new look!

Jacob tried something new! When Zorak came home, an excited and happy Jacob did his usual tremble and squeak, but rather than plopping down for his marathon tortoise crawl, he walked to Zorak and wrapped his happy little arms around Zorak's legs. I don't know exactly who was more thrilled with this development, but it was pure joy.

Then I - alone, by myself, without even the cell phone - went to the library. Returned books, checked out books, uttered a wretched screech when I realized our library does not have a copy of the third Aubrey-Maturin book (!!), reserved a few books, and then roamed somewhat aimlessly around the adult side of the library. Ran into a lady from church over in the 270's (go figure). She was also without her children. Homeschooling moms at the library without their children have a very, erm, special look to them. I imagine it's the same look I had once my junior year, the day I was spied by the principal while I was skipping English... to study for math class... it's not like you're going to get in trouble, but it feels so terribly decadent.

Returned home to the delighted squeals of the boys. Jacob shouting, "Mom-Mom", wriggling from his chair to give me nuggles; John frolicking in circles around me singing "Oh, thank you!" when I told him I brought not one, but two dinosaur books; James leaping from place to place, the veins in his head popping as I pulled several mysteries and The Complete Curious George, Anniversary Edition from the backpack. They cleared their spots and bolted to the living room, sprawled out with their new treasures, talking happily together.

Man, I enjoy our life.

I'm going to refresh my cup and go curl up with a neat little book I found while rifling through the shelves (sometimes that is just the best way to peruse the library). I'll fill y'all in on what I'm reading sometime this week- lots of neat stuff! And tomorrow morning, I'll be able to catch up on reading! I haven't quit, just haven't had much time and I can't get one eye to read a book while the other eye reads blogs. (So much for multi-tasking, eh?)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Shorter Days

Each day has 24 hours, it's true. Winter days don't give me quite enough daylight, though, and it's so much more enticing to stay in bed with a hot cup of coffee and a few good books. Ah, but for the lower temperatures and the hope of snow, I won't complain. I just need to tighten up my routine a bit to make sure the house doesn't up and run away with us.

The boys had KinderChoir tonight. Jacob was sleeping (teething and growth spurt- argh!) so Zorak took them. He came home beaming and he'd bought some soda to go with supper! Hmmm, wonder what happened? It turned out that at one point James had "the leaf" (they use it for a rhythm game), so it was his turn to be in the circle and lead the rhythm. He did well, and was to choose the next child to lead. There are several who beg and scream to go next every week, leaping from the circle and getting quite vocal, and they're usually chosen, while John just sits there, hoping against hope to be chosen (he never is, even from the director), then generally winding up near tears by the end of the session and the repeated disappointments. Well, not this time, James let John have a turn. John was on cloud nine! James was happy to see his brother happy. Zorak was ready to explode with love and admiration for both boys.

Today we did the piddly repairs that keep a home safe: the assassin towel rack that keeps leaping at our bare toes as we step from the bathroom has been replaced with a more loyal, less aggressive rack; a new toilet seat for the boys' bath has been installed so they are no longer in danger of sliding off into the tub on the single-hinged pivoting seat; nicer towel hooks for their bath were hung in lieu of the dangerous head-piercing screws the previous tenant installed. Yes, it was thoroughly utilitarian work today, but felt very good in the end.

Ah, time to coax the cranky youngin' to bed. He's so tired, but so uncomfortable. Today he walked around the house, shaking a bottle of Hyland's Teething Tablets, jabbering away at each of us in turn, trying to get someone to just OPEN THE BOTTLE. Nobody took the bait, but he was so earnest in his pursuit, it was hilarious.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Weird.

Wow, good sports! The answers to yesterday's pop quiz are... (drum roll, please)

1) B or C: we think it was the parmesan cheese, but it could have been the rice. There were bodies in both and the two specimen were side by side. *shudder*

2) F: Good Call! Yes, I bleached the counter, cabinets, walls, floor, and the sink. The tray sat in straight bleach overnight. Before we divested the tray of its contents, however, we did pluck a few critters and laid them out. James drew them and identified the parts 'n pieces. Great drawing.

As an aside, today I found the tweezers we'd used on the critters had not, in fact, been set in the bleach water, but rather nestled into the Silly Putty. We are now one silly putty egg short. *blech*

****

On a totally unrelated and irreverent note...
Have y'all been following Yassir Arafat's health situation? He's been in a coma... or has he???

I don't know, it may just be me, but I burst into a Monty Python skit when I read this. "This parrot is deceased... He's shuffled off his mortal coil!"

"No he's not. He's sleeping."

Or in this case, "He's not in a coma! He's sleeping!"

Yeah. Weird.

****

And evidently I'm far, far out of the loop. I'm actually glad to hear this, because this little tidbit is just nasty. I mean, when we were growing up, getting brained meant someone got the living snot beat out of them, particularly about the head. Not anymore, evidently. Oy.

Some clothing line (not gonna put the name out there- go read the article, though) used the newly coined slang term brain (meaning, well, oh for pete's sake- my grandmother could be reading this! Go read the article, but it's not a PG topic), evidently "intending the double-entendre", but not being wholly forthright with transportation authorities about the tone of the ads until one sly septagenarian dog figured it out. (OK, I'm kidding. He was tipped off.)

*Zorak adds: Wow, that's even too stupid for Beavis and Butthead! "He, he, you said 'brain'."*

****

Today we made ships! A viking ship, and a little square ship... thing. They look very cool. They're made of wood and have the cutest little masts! We'll shellac them tonight and the boys can float 'em tomorrow after church.

We also finally assembled, routed, stained and otherwise finished the stepstool we bought at IKEA (yeah, yeah, months ago, we know).

OK, I should, in all fairness, rephrase that. ZORAK AND THE BOYS did all those wonderful projects. I did wrestle with the boys, make flags, make plans for sails, and do plenty of laundry. I also sat on my duff and read Post Captain, which is book two. It's been a day of me muttering from the depths of the pages,

*gasp* NO! Oh dear. They DIDN'T! They DID! *hoot, holler, guffaw* I SO didn't see that coming! Ohhhh, or that! And, oh... NO, no, no, no. Ooo! Wow.

I appreciated the break, and enjoyed watching Zorak with our offspring. It's been a good day.

I hope your Saturday was thoroughly enjoyable!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

POP QUIZ!

Enough with the larvae!!! Can I just cry Uncle now?

So, last month (on the 6th, to be precise- thankfully we've learned to date our experiments) we did a project on water solubility. We used a nifty fishing tackle style box made of clear plastic, which is ideal for these type of control experiments: several sectioned containers to keep each sample separate, can view the results without actually opening anything, and if it gets dropped it doesn't shatter or spew! Wee. Experiment was fun, fascinating, and we all learned a lot.

Well, it seems that if you're the scatterbrained mommy I am, the learning never stops. So, it's pop quiz time!

Of the following items, which do you think would be most likely to spawn some kind of insect if left unattended, in water, for, oh a month or so:
A) Xanthan Gum
B) Parmesan cheese
C) Rice
D) Flour
E) Rainbow sprinkles
F) Veggie Stix

Now, for bonus points,

which of the following actions do you think Mama took upon finding this experiment this evening:
A) Found the trash can- and quick!
B) Bleached everything within a ten foot radius, even though the container was sealed
C) Plucked one unfortunate creature out for the kids to examine and draw
D) Asked Zorak to do HAZMAT duty
E) A and D
F) B and C

Check tomorrow for the answers!

James found a climbing vine today in the woods. He picked some and brought it to me. Once I made sure nobody was itchy or breaking out in a rash, I let them put it in water and we'll see if it takes root. (I know, some people just never seem to learn...)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

The calm before the storm

I'm sorry I've been rather quiet the past couple of days. Not much inspiration, truthfully, and no store of wit to substitute for it, either. After the election and - not having any television reception at all - sitting here, with several windows open, hitting "refresh" well into the wee hours of the nights... I think I'm a bit burnt out on the computer, as well.

All is fairly well here. Zorak is at work. He was going in "for a couple of hours" this morning, to which I just smiled. I told him we'd see him tonight and winked at him. He protested. It's after one now, and he just called to let me know he might be home by five. (Ever the optimist!) He's working doubly hard to make sure he has his ducks in a row before the Holidays are upon us. Of course, his ducks are always in a row- he's a natural duck-herder, to be honest. He's good at what he does, and he enjoys it. I love that about him.

He's chomping at the bit to visit the family over Christmas, and I hope that at some point during the season we can go. It would be so nice, not just for the boys and for Zorak, but for me, as well. There are so many people in both Arizona and New Mexico who we just want to hug and hold on to for a bit, to hear their voices in person rather than digitally reconstructed over the airwaves. (I'm definitely not complaining about phones- without them, we'd not hear their wonderful voices at all.) Some members of our family have been hospitalized this past week, on both sides of the family (mine and Zorak's), and we worry. We want to be there to offer comfort or help with food and cleaning... it's hard not to be there, to be able to help. We will be so thankful to be out there again.

The boys are good- as good as good. Happy. James is creating bizarre things from silly putty. John is floating miscellaneous toys in the sink upstairs. Jacob is out cold in bed. It's a lovely day and as soon as Jacob wakes, we'll head out front to play for a bit.

Been antsy lately- not sure why. Anyhow, I think it's just the calm before the hectic rush of the holidays, winter, travel, and time. Perhaps. I ought to go make good use of this time!

Have a blessed day, and kiss those babies!
~Dy

Another Day

Tonight is calm here.

Jacob walks in circles, waves his hands in the air, happy to be more mobile and better able to keep up with his brothers.

John reads at the supper table. He has a thoroughly-waxed paper ship afloat in the downstairs bathroom sink. She's his pride and joy and he enjoys saying, "Ship-shape" and "Top form!"

James spends hours reading about blood grouping and incompatibilities. He draws a consolation card for our neighbor, who lost her father over the weekend.

Zorak is in "Chinese Fire Drill" mode with a project at work, so he comes home tired, but happy. We eat roast with onions and carrots in au jus, mashed potatoes and green beans- good food for the soul.

I'm tired tonight. Weary. Thankful.

Need to start writing, too.

The boys are down. Zorak is heading up for the night.

I have wash to do, a book to read, and then, to bed.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Election Night Blog

Elections are not nearly as draining from the West Coast, as you just don't have to stay up quite so late...

It's been a l-o-n-g night on the East Coast, however.

It's 2:21AM.

Nothing has changed in over an hour.

I'm going to go kiss my sleeping babies and try to get some rest.

~Dy

More Wonderful Neighbors!

Today was the first day I've felt the groove. James started Gamma today, and is thrilled. Of course, it's the same material we've covered in the last portion of Foundations, but this is the "new book", and somehow that's pretty special. John is eating up Primer and loves, loves, loves it.

After math, it was on to art, reading, history. Narrations.

Lunch with Zorak, and then off to run errands. I had to replace my base ID *sigh*. I've no idea where I lost the last one. The ladies in the Pass office were just as wonderful as they always are when we pop in- friendly, engaging, helpful. That's a great crew they have working there. Two of the gals got a chuckle when James told them, "I have Indian in me!" They chuckled and said, "Of course you do." Granted, he doesn't look the part, but it's true. They did believe him after he explained the lineage. What warmed my heart no end was how well he handled the situation. He didn't get frustrated or angry, he didn't take it personally. He just clarified his stance with a great big smile. He's growing up so well.

We did Latin and Bible in the car.

On to inquire with the landlords about the mystery guy who called about servicing the heating system. He was to show the following Monday or Tuesday and we never heard a word. This was nearly a month ago. She said that yes, he was contracted, but was to have done all their units before the end of October- and so far he has done only one. *whew* Well, on the upside, I'm glad to hear he'll still be coming!

Went to Michael's and bought two balls of yarn to finish Gram's blanket, and then took the boys to the park to play for a bit. The weather was gorgeous, and it was a wonderful time. John and I sat side-by-side at the swings, holding hands while we swayed gently. We talked about being four and what a wonderful job of it he's doing. He said it's not so bad sometimes, and sometimes he loves it, but on occasion it's very difficult to be four. Yeah, I understand, kiddo.

We got home shortly before Zorak, did some reading and a little writing, had supper by candle light, and then got w/ the Wonderful Neighbors to do the "Welcome Wagon" thing.

We decided to continue the tradition that sparked our friendship with the Wonderful Neighbors. After supper we rounded up the kids and took cookies and "Welcome to the Neighborhood" cards over. New Neighbors have four children, and are just delightful, particularly considering the awkward uncertainty of having a passle of strangers (five children and two adults) arrive on your doorstep the first night in a new house. I remember how terribly inarticulate I felt that night - the doorbell rang and my first thought was, "Did one of the boys get out?!?!?" My second thought was, "Nobody knows we're here!" I almost didn't answer the door. Sure am glad I did, though! Oh, and an interesting part of all this is that evidently our little corner of the complex is becoming a homeschool haven! Yep, New Neighbor homeschools her four youngin's!

That's about it. I'm off to enjoy some blog reading and then to crochet my heart out while Zorak watches a scary movie. *cringe* If I crochet when it gets scary, I get an incredible amount done. (Probably because just about everything in those movies scares me...)

Have a lovely Tuesday! Here's to the groove, may it last a good, long while.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

I'm going to collapse into a pot of coffee and HIDE!

I suppose it's time for Auntie Dy's Halloween Costume Tips. Last year, Auntie Dy focused on the absolute absurdity of the Occasional Seamstress (being one who only sews occasionally, and not quite well, at that) having the lack of foresight, or sense, to think that modification of a costume is "easy".

This year, Auntie Dy wants a stiff drink and a funny movie. This year's tip has more to do with motivation than with technique.

It is six o'clock, and she has just finished stapling (yes, stapling) the velcro onto her middle child's "meat-eating dinosaur" costume. (Of course it's modified... it was a cute playful fleece dragon pattern, according to the cover. Well, now it's made of lizard pleather, and it's a big-scary-meat-eater). Zorak The Costumeless One (I did offer to make him a great billowy pirate shirt and tight britches, but he thought that was just a little weird... probably something to do with the accent I used or the gleam in my eye) is now out with The Doctor (didn't have time to write "NMD" on his little scrubs, but we think of him that way), and The Dalmation (gotta really appreciate friends whose children are just a year's size older than yours!) and The Freshly Minted Dinosaur, canvassing the neighborhood, searching for goodies.

As I came flying down the hall wearing a pleather helmet with overstuffed spikes flowing down the back, carrying extra velcro in my teeth and bearing a limp dinosaur with one humongous tail protruding from the side, I swore under my breath that this is the last year I will ever make costumes! Ever! As I kicked the appallingly determined scraps of fleece which clung to my foot and removed a strip of velcro from one of the helmet spikes (a strip of velcro I'd spent a good twenty minutes trying to find), I was thinking that I would rather undergo liposuction that do this again.

I'm not organized enough! I'm not talented enough! The meat-eating dinosaur looks like a very good example of mid-extinction dinosaurs. If it were a fossil, archaeologists would be plotting one another's untimely deaths to get their lab tests on this thing. I'm not a seamstress! This isn't "my thing"!


Then John put it on.

He spun around and looked it over.


He took my face in his hands.

He kissed my nose

and told me that this is the best costume in the whole wide world.

Yup.

I wonder what we'll make next year?

Happy Halloween, all! Kiss those babies!

~Dy

A Quiet Day of Preparation

Our beloved Zorak will return this evening; exhausted, I'm sure from a week away. We've had a nice morning thus far of preparations: tidying, wash, and freshly made muffins (using spelt flour, which, for the record, doesn't rise as well as I anticipated and I didn't think to use honey, hmmm- they did taste quite good, though), and we are now settling down for some enjoyable reading time and a light lunch in a bit.

Off to discover a good recipe for supper. We're frighteningly low on meats at the moment, and Zorak would think we didn't want him home if I were to prepare a meatless meal for his return! So, the ads are in the paper and if we can find something that sounds scrumptious, we'll be off to the market for supplies and home to create a warm, inviting smell to greet him at the door- along with the delighted squeals and toppling hugs of three happy children.

Probably no blogging tonight, but I hope you'll understand.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Books, books and more books!

As y'all know, I've been enjoying my first encounter with O'Brian's nautical historical fiction. One element of his writing that has left me simply slack-jawed with admiration is the skill with which he introduces conflict into the storyline. It's subtle, and while you can look back and say, "Oh, of course," you cannot do that mid-read. Nope, just sneaks up on you, much the way conflict does in true life, as well. I am only on the first book, Master and Commander, but even so, his characters are so well-developed and I am enjoying getting to know them.

I have, in sheer self-defense, had to incorporate reading Chapman's Piloting & Seamanship to my pile. All those nautical terms! Why did I start this book the week Zorak was gone? Not one of my better plans.

Christ of the Covenants- it's spooled up in the queue. I'm looking forward to reading it.

The boys are reading some neat books, too. If I have time tonight I'll put them in the sidebar (where they will sit for months like that, even though we will have rotated books out many times over... it's a false hope to think I will maintain the sidebar like that.)

Kim mentioned The Five Love Languages the other day on her blog. It got me thinking and pondering. James is such a quality time kinda kid. This week has been hard on him, really, and it hit me today that a big part of that may be the lack of quality time, of any reasonably decent one on one time. So, after a very long and trying day (but with its good points, definite good points!) I let him stay up late, after the other two were asleep. He and I snuggled in the bed under the soft flannels and the comfy sheet and read stories he picked. We read Owl at Home (Lobel) and a few chapters of The Bears on Hemlock Mountain (Dalgliesh). We spent an hour together and talked about more than just the stories. We talked about imagination and writing stories, about lineages and legacies, about family and love. He snuggled in and let out a dreamy sigh, more relaxed than he's sounded all week. "What's on your mind, buddy-bear?" I asked. He said, "Just you. I really love you." *sigh* "I love you, too, sweetheart. I love you, too."

I am anxious to recalibrate our schedule to allot for more intentional time with each boy. This is something I have always promoted, but sometimes forget to do myself. Well, it's not about temporary fixes or schedules, it's about life. This is it, the big engagement! It is who we are and what we do, and in the end, these are the things they will remember. It's actually easier to maneuver with the four of us, as that dynamic is very well-developed and fluid. We do well as a group. The individual time, however, requires making other arrangements and setting that time aside. I think I just got lazy, but that's still no excuse. That's not what I want to be telling them when they are adults, "Oh, yes, I loved and cherished each of you so much... but didn't make the extra time to spend with you individually." No. That will not be happening. So, now that I see where I've dropped the ball, I am anxious to pick it up and continue on enjoying the boys- all together, and individually. :-)

Well, on that note, it's just a little after midnight... I'm going to hit the hay "early" tonight and enjoy some one on one time with a good book, too!

Kiss those babies, one at a time and all together!

~Dy

Little Bit O' Everything

First, Jess needs prayers for her 3yo son, Craig. The poor little guy isn't healing properly from his surgery. Tonight the doctor said if he started bleeding again he'd call him in for surgery. Sure enough, Geo no sooner got little Craig home than it started up again. She called me on the way out the door and we prayed. I'd like to ask the rest of you to join in prayer for Craig tonight.

On to less pressing matters, then.

We just returned from viewing the eclipse through a telescope over at the Wonderful Neighbors' place. Wow, oh wow. John thought the moon was emptying out, certain that it wouldn't fill back up. The thought that the moon may be dimmed permanently didn't seem to bother him at all, though. James has a better grasp of what's going on, and WonderfulNeighbor Husband is just the best with the kids. He took the time to explain the rarity of a total lunar eclipse, and answered the zillion and one related questions (and, being that they're only four and six, they also had a zillion and one unrelated questions, which he fielded as well.) James decided the first person to see the full eclipse through the telescope should be nicknamed "Eclipse" (for however long these things last when you're six). We (kinda sorta) made certain it was him. WonderfulNeighbor Girl brought out her planets book and the kids had a fun time going through the phases of the moon and the process of an eclipse. (It's really fun to have neighbors who also homeschool.)

We missed the Skates & Rays exhibit today because I took a seriously delightful nap with Jacob. The boys had some much-needed quiet time, as well. They read together through some new books and some old favorites. We plan to go tomorrow after Spanish co-op.

I had such a wonderful moment over lunch today! John asked me to read a book he'd picked out at the library; Miracle, the True Story of the Wreck of the Sea Venture (by Gail Langer Karwoski). I read the cover notes aloud (which is a great way to give the kids an idea of what to expect in longer books), and what do you know, the story of the Sea Venture was the basis for Shakespeare's The Tempest. (No, two and two did not make four all on their own for me- I was spoon-fed that part.) The warm fuzzy actually came when James became quite wide-eyed, hurriedly swallowed his milk and said, "William Shakespeare? Mom, he wrote Hamlet, too! Neat!" Ohhh, that felt wonderful. Just wonderful, indeed.

Now don't panic on me here, we haven't waded into reading Shakespeare aloud (yet, but we do plan to do it!) We have, however, regularly talked with the boys about the plays and stories of Shakespeare. There are so many wonderful allusions to his work that you run across in other reading, and if you don't know about it, you'll miss it! You don't want to miss this stuff. Anyway, as an aside, Miracle itself is thoroughly enjoyable, as well. We're reading through it first as a story and will go back to explore the sidebars separately.

The boys are certainly full-out in the throes of being four and six. John has taken to tucking his pant-legs into his socks, for whatever reason I cannot figure. Evidently it's comfortable, and makes perfect sense when you're four. (James did the same thing, only with his boots, when he was four.) He looks like a little Dickensian urchin with the pants puffed out above the socks at the knees. Where is that "I dressed myself today" button when you need it?

James has developed an incredibly full-bodied dance he calls The Karate Dance. It's silliness to the core. He rescues, watches or plays with any creature that comes within the parameters of our property, and gets terribly giggly over the silliest things.

They speak gibberish to one another and laugh until tears stream down their red little faces. They pretend to be robots while gathering laundry (you have to push the start button each time they wind down). They climb into bed in the morning to snuggle under the "fluffy sheet" (what they call the down comforter) and make the day's plans with whispered tones of excitement, as if we're organizing a super surprise party. They're really, truly, wonderfully great kids. I'm having such a great time with them, and even though this week is pretty long, it's still so good.

Let's see, well as most of y'all know, the WTM forums have been shut down, pending some serious growing up on behalf of the posters. *sigh* I don't blame the folks for putting their webmasterly feet down and saying, quite simply, "Enough!" It's sad, and I'll miss the Accelerated Learner board terribly. However, the patience and fortitude the folks at Peace Hill Press have shown in continuing to maintain a safe, healthy online environment, hitting the "delete" button and repeatedly requesting that people just play nice... is there a medal for that? If so, they do deserve it. I hope they know that the majority of us have enjoyed and appreciated that forum and we look forward to a day when it can be maintained with a minimum of babysitting required. At least we hope that day will come, but after watching things deteriorate over the past year or so, I can't say I'd blame them if they decided to just nix the whole feature.

And boy-oh-boy, am I glad we have our blogosphere to help us keep in touch now! What do you want to bet several of us (myself included) become much more regular bloggers now? *wink* Oh, and BTW, Patty in WA- if you're out there, hon, you really need to start a blog! And you have mail, too.

Anyhow, I hope tonight brought you clear skies and warm memories. It's time to run through tomorrow's plans and reading and then I'm going to go sail the Med with Capt. Aubrey. *grin*

G'nite!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Ew.

You know that sensation of dread when you're drinking a liquid... a pure liquid with nothing in it but liquid, not pureed or anything like that... and something sort of solid brushes past your lip on its way into your mouth...

I hate that.

Gotta love having a one year old.

And no, I didn't bother to see what it was, just spit, gag and dump. I don't want to know!

Kiss those babies (and check your cup if they'd been near it!)
~Dy

Park that stroller

We had a big outing today! It was a lot of fun, and we went with three of our favorite people: Wonderful Neighbor and her two daughters. It was quite an adventure. We drove up to some place north of here (lots of traffic), took the Metro (stuck out like the newbie to rail transit that I am), and then to the National Zoo. The boys were awesome, but we tried to do too much too fast. We tried to keep up with Wonderful Neighbor, who has a stroller.

Now, I've never been a fan of strollers, but couldn't put my finger on just what it was that didn't sit right with me. Today, though, it hit me. A stroller tends to take all the pack mule-type stress off the Mom. It makes the smallest ones perfectly portable. And... an unfortunate side effect of all these nifty features is that Mom then tends to continue to move at her stride, her pace. That's fine and dandy for the child who gets the ride, but for pedestrian wee ones, it makes for a very long haul. (For the pack mule Mom who is accustomed to moving at her children's paces and not that of a perfectly-mobile Mom, it's an exhausting experience.) Wonderful Neighbor took it in good humor when I pointed out that her daughter is quite the trooper and I was ready to keel over in the bamboo at that pace. *whew* I can't imagine trying to get through today if my legs were any shorter than they are.

No, I prefer the non-vehicular means of exploring. It does feel good to know why now. And I understand a little better "how" we're able to enjoy big expeditions and short jaunts alike. We don't see the whole zoo in one trip, and we don't try to hustle through. We mosey. We meander. We like the amble part of ambulatory. We see a portion of things, but enjoy that portion immensely. We'll definitely go back to the zoo- the kids all get on so well, but hopefully nex time it'll be sans stroller.

Thank you, all, for sharing your insights and suggestions on writing! Tomorrow is a trip to the library and books are on hold. I would, naturally, love to be paid for writing. That in itself would feel like a tangible validation that I'd attained some level of competence. It isn't the driving force for writing, though, which is probably good. Is it a realistic goal to incorporate into this particular season of my life? Perhaps, but perhaps not. I don't know that I am willing to give what it would require, nor to ask of my husband and children what they would have to give. Knowing that is good. That's a place to begin. From there, maybe James would lend me one of his Ticonderoga #2's and Zorak would let me commandeer a fresh pad of paper. You know, just to work it out and see if there's a path leading from the corner.

I must apologize for thinking Shirley Hazzard may be "chick-lit with big words". She and I had some time the other night to sit down over a cup of coffee once the boys were down, and while I'm not flying through the book (due mostly to very few decent-sized chunks of time the past few days), I did find myself enjoying The Great Fire long before the 50 page cutoff. Patrick O'Brian, however, is also vying for my time and attention. I need my Sailor Dog here to help me translate some of the nautical terms, but the rest of his writing just picks me up and carries me along. What fun!

And so, to bed.
Kiss those babies! And amble with them, as well.
~Dy

Make some tea, this is a rambler!

It's chilly out! I have no idea what the temps are- don't really care to know. I think that's why I never put up a weather pixie here (aside from the fact that she simply doesn't wear sweaters nearly often enough); if it's hot out, I'd sit there and stare at her, trying to will the numbers to go down, and if it's cold, I'd try to figure out just where that magic level is- temperature and humidity... riiiiiggghhhhhtttt... ohhhh, yeah, right there. Then I'd snort at her whenever the readout was too high from that. Ha, yes, I'd obsess. Reminds me of my Mother, who would will herself to be as miserable as she thought the temperature merited, even when she was indoors and quite well-insulated from the outside air. Nah, no sense in egging on genetic tendencies. They'll surface eventually without my aid, I'm sure. I will, however, say that it's absolutely beautiful out! How's that?

Zorak headed out this morning (way too early) after coffee with me and breakfast with the boys (which we savored). The boys had hoped to drive him to the airport, but sufficed with some snuggle time at the kitchen table (the heart and hearth of our home) before he loaded them into the Suburban and waved to them through the rain-coated windows. He headed for Baltimore, and we headed for church. After a nice morning, then a quick run up the road to church, it felt good to settle in among others and enjoy the class, enjoy the company, before returning to a tidy and entirely-too-quiet home.

Ok, this has been coming for a few days. Get more tea (or coffee, naturally) and get comfy. I've been picking my own brain on stories, writers, and the way things work since finding myself on the flattened end of a breath-sucking epiphany the other night... Now I'd like to pick yours. The thoughts aren't as clear as they were when they originally surfaced. This bit will be more like the retelling of a faded dream, and for that, I apologize.

One of the themes propelling the last few Dark Tower books is that the story of the Dark Tower is one that had to be told (ka willed it, to use the familiar) and King was merely a facilitator, an avenue, for the story to be told. I know this is commonly said in writing- if you listen (or feel, taste, pick a sense, any sense) you'll *insert form of sensory input here* the story itself, writing itself through you. Yeah. You know, I have a cousin who channels dead voices, and I've never been able to do that, either. So. OK, *sigh* I'm not a Medium for the many stories waiting to be told.

This revelation is sad, to me. I want to be used, and want to be useful in this way. I've stood on the edge of my vista and screamed to the sky, "Show me!" (Therapy eventually cured the nightmares from that particular writing course, where the mantra "show it, don't tell it" was repeated regularly and with cultish, rhythmic tones... I don't know if I really am the only one in the class who didn't get it, or if the others, each afraid to be the lone unbeliever at a spiritual revival, were simply shouting "Yes, Lord, Jesus!" for the benefit of the instructor. At the time, however, that never crossed my mind, so I sat there, mute and fearful that I had been lobotomized at some point in my life without ever realizing it.)

I often hear people asking writers, "What makes a good writer? How do you start? How do you know what to write?" I've asked those same questions myself. I've never received a helpful answer, either, and it's not through fault of accomplished writers who have tried to answer. From what I can tell, outside the realm of technical writing, there seem to be two schools of thought, (neither of which evidently falls under the realm of any muse to which I've been assigned): technical knowledge and the vein process. I've touched briefly on the repercussions of my attempts to learn the technical aspects of fictional writing (creative writing, if you will). I've taken courses and come away more confident in my ability to, well, to write myself into a corner - usually a well-furnished and comfortable corner, but one from which there is no hope of escape. Each course has brought only a finer ability to upholster the furniture or develop the characters stuck in said corner. That's about it. The depth of my abilities as a writer hinge on one major theme: interior design. I can't carry a fictional plot to save my life, but by golly I can sure build a great character and one fine travois for someone else to haul!

The other school of thought comes from Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith*; "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." This is probably as succinct as it will ever get. For us laypersons, the rough translation would be something along the lines of, "We don't know how we do it. We just do it, and we do it wholeheartedly." There you have it. Engineers refer to this very same phenomena as the "PFM box". Don't know how it works, it just does. Yup. OK. So, well, at least that leaves something to work with. If I can change the travois to something waterproof and buoyant, perhaps I could get my characters out of the corner that way, on the flow of blood. Not the nicest way to travel, but hey, if they want out of that corner...

Anyhow, this brings me full circle. I'm not asking "the writers" out there, for you have made your path and know full well that the view from atop the hill is not as clear as it seemed it would be en route. It's ok. People pester y'all enough as it is. So, in the spirit of pooling our resources, I'm asking my fellow travelers. Other writers, other dreamers, others who peek longingly over the edge of that fine line - why do I picture Qaddafi's "Line of Death" when I say that - and plot, plan and scheme to write themselves over that line. Do you think stories wait to be told, or do you think they are drawn from a subconscious existence into the full light of awareness? Do they then begin requesting to be written? Do they talk? Would you be willing to admit in public to hearing one speak to you?

I'm sitting here (on my nicely upholstered chair in my well-appointed corner), working my way through these points. I know full well that I'd be a card-carrying member of one of the "third rate writer's groups" so deigned by some. *shrug* It's ok. You've gotta start somewhere. In the meantime, the coffee is hot. The walls are dingy, and the windows need cleaning, but the company is honest and lively. The dreams are vibrant, and the tension of anticipation keeps things moving along. The ideas, scattered and incomplete as they are, are beautiful in their mosaic gleam. Won't they be magnificent once we figure out what to do with them?

I've got to admit, too, that the furniture is quite comfy here. *grin* Let me know when the next seance is, ok?

Thanks for the afternoon ramble. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, too.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

* A thousand thanks to Chris from the WTM forums for hunting down the author of that quote. I searched for two hours and found most sites attribute it as "author unknown"- and one writing professor at a University attributes it to a freshman student in his WU130 writing class.

Less Inspired

Ah, I ought to have blogged about stories and telling and such while those thoughts were busy tearing their way through my mind. They were clear then (as if something that's tearing at you could be somewhat vague and fuzzy?)

Finished The Dark Tower. Now munching on Shirley Hazzard's The Great Fire. Chick-lit with big words? I don't know. Not far enough into it yet to say. *shrug* We'll see. I did find it interesting, however, to stumble upon a direct reference in King's book to Hazzard as a writer whose words demanded to be read, held importance. My eyes flicked uneasily over to her book, lying in wait, and I thought, "Well, alrighty then."

Today we trimmed boy hair and ran many loads of wash. We purchased costume fabric and notions. We thoroughly enjoyed the boys and one another. Zorak prepared for another trip. I am tempted to whine, but really, this is not bad. A friend's hubby is gone much more frequently and she has managed not to develop a maniacal tone to her laughter yet, so there's hope for me, right?

More books waiting for us at the library. Happy Mom!

The National Zoo is calling us. This means a train ride. Happy Boys!

The days are beautiful and deeply chilling. Miserably unhappy WonderfulNeighbor.

I feel almost guilty for being so enraptured with the weather lately. (However, she can now wear a size four jean, so... it's a fair trade.)

The boys are enjoying their new hoodies (hooded pullover sweatshirts).

I am somewhat envious. They look so snuggly and warm in there!

It's almost one. The last load is drying. Zorak wants to check his email, so I am going to sign off. However, hopefully there'll be a lull tomorro in the roar that is our daily life and I can blog more coherently about the stories...

Dy

Scratch That

OK, I had a blog all written up and ready to go...

Then I settled in with Roland and what's left of his ka-tet.

King went off on a tirade, though- somewhere around page 547- which got me thinking, and so- scratch the previous blog, I'm going to talk to myself for a little.

I really love to read. It's not an easy feeling to explain, so I won't even try, really. I couldn't do it justice. A good way to illustrate (although I don't quite expect this to make sense to anyone but Zorak and the waitress at the truck stop in Las Cruces) is that when Zorak gives me a book- of any kind, for any reason- I find it almost (but not quite) as romantic as when he bought me an arm guard in 1996. I still have that arm guard, too. *insert giddy sigh here*

This love of reading has not exactly made me into a connoisseur of literature. (I think of books in terms of food, for Pete's sake!) My appetite for just about anything printed and bound, however, has led me down some interesting (?) paths, introduced me to some fascinating ideas, made me cry, made me laugh, and in the end, brought me to a place where I am happier with life-as-it-stands than with fairy tales on film. It doesn't always work that way, I know. That's just how it's been for me. I'm not one who is willing to forego a good coffee and brainstorm session with Zorak, either. It's not like that, really. I don't even think I'm more... whatever it is, because of it. But it's there, and I really do love it.

So where was this going? Well, nowhere, really- just... oh, yes, the ignorance of youth (mine, specifically, nobody get yer panties in a bunch over such a generalization!) Does anybody else remember sitting in World History class and hearing the instructor (Oh, slave master that he was!) assign something unbearable, such as pp. 221-263 to be read by Thursday? Anyone? The groans! The cries of injustice! How could he do that? Ohhh, or worse yet, assign such a tedious task on a *gasp* Friday, due on Monday? What?! Has he no life? Whatever will we do?

Yeah, I joined in the chorus. I whined my fanny off. I applied every ounce of leverage I could pull to get such a sentence lifted. *snort* Wow, no wonder our cries fell on deaf ears. So then, twenty-mumble-mumble years later, here I am- I checked out The Dark Tower on, what was it, Monday night? Just hit page 550, and that's only because we have, you know, things to do. Meals to cook. Showers to take. (There are just some places you can't, or shouldn't, take a library book.) Oh, and we lost our electrical power last night around nine. I read until our only candle was a nub and felt I really ought to save a bit of it. (It was short to begin with.)

Now, I'm not equating Stephen King with the texts of McGraw-Hill and company. I'm just laughing in that semi-embarrassed, ironic way that's pretty much become a part of me. I'm laughing at life. Yup. It's awkward. I whined over having to read a whopping forty-two pages in a week. Now I'll gobble that in an evening, and take notes on my own, to boot! (Not because I'm such a scholar, but because my memory just doesn't hold up so well these days.) I wouldn't do high school over again for anything, but I sure would love to have been able to keep my head on straight enough to soak up and make good use of all that guided, directed education while I had it in front of me, with a dedicated time slot set aside each day; much better than expending so much energy and creativity in trying to get out of it! Now I get to devote twice the energy and create my own time slots, make my own dedications.

And I do mean "get to"- I'm thankful that I can do that! How exciting to know that although I made my own road a bit rougher to travel, it isn't inaccessible by any means. The journey is still possible, and still sweet, even though the eyes may water and the joints may creak a bit now.

My hope is that the boys will see the love burning constanly, and watch the discipline - the self-discipline - growing, and that they will see it as "normal". I want it to be just as normal to them to pick up a biography or a great novel as it is to go to the market for groceries or hold the door for strangers. Just add it to the list of things I hope to model well enough that they don't have to wrangle it later on in life themselves. That's the best we can do, isn't it?

It's the story we can tell.
And tomorrow I'd like to talk about stories that want to be told...

But right now it's nearly four, and I'm going to be one tired Mama come sun-up! Kiss those precious babies!

~Dy

Reading Our Way Through The Week

Once in a while we land upon a book that just makes us all say "Wow!" This week we've found another one: The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins. Along the lines of The Librarian Who Measured The Earth, it's a child-sized biography. (We need more of those! The boys are thoroughly enjoying them, as are Zorak and I. Anyone else know of some great child-sized bios they'd like to recommend?) It's engaging, the illustrations are delightful, and the boys took an immediate and deep dislike to "Boss" Tweed.

Speaking of which... it's funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same. I've read so much of the nastiness in this election: the intimidation, bullying, badgering, vandalism, even assaults. It's making me absolutely nauseaus. For all the talk of respecting the opinions of others, there is terribly little true respect being shown in America this year, and even less of the so-called tolerance that's supposedly en vogue (a word which I really don't like to use, anyway, as it denotes a certain elitism- in that they will tolerate the poor plebes who aren't enlightened enough to agree with them. Urk.) I really don't get it. There are so many of us here in the blog-circle who are of incredibly diverse philosophies and backgrounds, faiths and ideologies, and yet we don't run about knocking one another in the head and vandalizing each other's blogs. I'm certain we wouldn't be doing it if we actually lived next door to one another, either. What is wrong with some people that they are so threatened by the opposing viewpoint that they cannot abide a little respect for fellow human beings?

Blech. Anyway, politics aside, it's been such a nice week. The weather has been grey and drizzly. It's just gorgeous. Yesterday we had hot chocolate and read, read, read. We played on the front lawn with the Wonderful Neighbors (who have also recovered from the Sneaking Snot). Tomorrow is the hs group's corn maze/pumpkin patch field trip. The boys remember last year's corn maze and they're so excited to go again. John asked, "OH, will it have dead ends and a map and everything?" I love watching those connections string together year-by-year. These are among the memories they're building. We hope to make them warm and loving ones; great and small.

We've done music daily this week, and it has made such a difference! Recorder practice, rythm games, dancing in the living room, background music to our reading- it's been a smorgasboard of musical activity! Today, John, who would probably skip the second coming of Christ if there's a good movie showing, said he didn't want to watch a movie this afternoon because, "We might miss all this nice music!" He danced back through the kitchen and left Zorak and I standing, jaws agape. Well... cool. This is a definite keeper!

We have to make Halloween costumes this weekend. I've got to find a duck pattern for James and figure out a Lone Ranger costume for John. Need to get on that, eh? I'm such a procrastinator! It's embarrassing, really. Nobody's fault but mine, I know. Well, if we do get them done this weekend, it'll be the first time I've done it before the 30th, so that's an improvement. *grin* For those of you who are celebrating Halloween, what are your little ones going to be this year?

OK, well, my play-time is up. Kiss those babies and have a wonderful Wednesday evening!

~Dy

Peering over the stack

Mm, I love the day after a trip to the library! We treat it like a Federal Holiday.

I'm knee deep into Stephen King's final book (book seven) of The Dark Tower series. I can't believe this is the last one. Part of me wants to hurry through it to find out what happens, and yet I really don't want it to end.

James is parked on the floor, surrounded by books, sampling each one, going back to re-read the ones that were especially tasty. He squats down, resting on his toes, while he reads. I have no idea how he can do that for prolonged periods of time.

John is camped at the kitchen table with a dinosaur book we bought (10 cents! Gotta love the library sale!) and a cup of hot chocolate. You can hear the delight in his voice as he reads to himself.

Jacob, well, not quite the connoisseur of books yet. But he's so cute!

I love going to the library with the boys. They return their books, thank the librarian at the desk, wait patiently while I hand over my card and ask for the holds that are in. They then ask me if they may go read. At only six and four, I can say yes and let them head into the children's section of the library. I don't mean I say yes and then they're the librarian's problem. I mean they walk in, politely say hello to the children's librarian, and head for the stacks. They take out one book at a time, sit quietly to read it, start their own take-home stack. They don't yell, they don't squirrel around. I swear, they're more reverent in the library than they are in church! *grin* (OK, that's only a slight exaggeration- they're just really good in general.) Once they've amassed a good selection and I've collected the books I'd like to offer them during the week, we load up and head to the Mommy Side of the library. They stake out a table and sit to read through their stash. Sometimes. More often than not, however, we end up spending so much time reading and perusing the children's books that it's time to head out. I've learned to put things on hold so I don't miss out. It's painless and wonderful, and we all really enjoy it.

This didn't come immediately, and it didn't come easy, but it was worth the work and consistency over the years. Relatively short investment for the return.

Last night we went late in the evening. The beardie in the children's section was up and moving about. The place was packed with some kind of Chamber gathering. There was a sweet young girl of about 10 years old who took a shine to the boys and helped James find several good suggestions! We stayed until closing.

We stayed up late to read. Really late. But that's ok~ it was special day: Library Day!

So, we're off to enjoy our haul. Read to those babies!

~Dy

Back-

Well, yes, he appreciated not having to speak to the side of my head. That was nice. He's still not 100%, which is to be expected, since he was the last to come down with it. It was nice to visit and talk news a bit before he turned in for the evening. What a sweetie.

Jacob is officially our first child to escape from the crib. Ouch. Time to lower the mattress. With the older ones, we could tell when they were getting tall enough b/c they always stood by the side when we came in. Not Jacob, he sits there and waves at us when we walk in. Then he smiles and reaches up, but doesn't bother to stand. And it didn't dawn on us until tonight... *thud* Ah, well, he's been up for a few hours now, seems a-ok, no signs of a problem other than the uber-attractive goose egg on his forehead.

Oh, the white bread recipe turned out wonderfully! It's not Wonder Bread, by any means, but it's more tender than the stuff we normally buy at the market. I wonder how good it'll be when I actually leave it alone and let it rise? He he. Pesky directions. Zorak even ate a piece and said it's better than most of the storebought stuff available. Not that he leapt up and down, declaring we should market it... but he ate it, and that's saying a lot.

This week we'll be a bit busy, diving back in after being ill. Time to kick up the pace on our Latin routine. Math is coming along swimmingly. Need to find a fun thing for John to do after his phonics lessons- I'm thinking PlayDoh, outside. Need to incorporate more music and rythm activities into our day. And I'd like to add hiking and swimming to our week- although where, I'm not sure yet. Thursday is the homeschool group's trip to one of the farms in the area. I am SO excited about that!

The Property Mgmt. company is sending someone out tomorrow to check the heater and get it ready. That was nice of them. We didn't expect it, certainly. Too bad we've already changed the filter and flushed the system. Maybe there's something else they check? I dunno.

Oh- yesterday when the boys returned, Zorak told me that as they'd pulled up, James said, "Every place has its own feel, but nothing feels as good as home." I'm so glad he likes his home and feels good about being here. That's why we do what we do, and why we are who we are. I hope he'll always feel that way.

Well, I'm off to an "early" bedtime. Have a wonderful Monday!

Kiss those babies and give 'em extra lovin's!
~Dy

An Amazing Weekend

Mmm, this is the good stuff (in no particular order):

Finding ALL the library books that need to go back! ~ Getting the call I've been waiting for from the library! (No, not the one about exempting my late fees for all eternity, although that would be nice. A book is in that I've been dying for!) ~ Finding corduory pants for the boys. ~ Being able to breathe again after two weeks of the Sneaking Snot! ~ Wearing sweaters because I can (and not because I have this awkward addiction to sweaters). ~ Baking breads and enjoying each other's company.

We bought more pipes today to add to the boys' collection. This time we went with 3/4" (we had 1/2"). We bought a 10' length of pipe, a handful of adapters and a couple of valves! Guess what the boys have been doing all afternoon?

I've decided that it's time to collect all the Wheat-Free recipes we love and use. They need to be somewhere other than floating at random in my head. Free range is great for cattle, not so great for mental processes. I'm also going through a Bread book we have, adapting recipes from there. We'll see how it goes. Tonight's bread is the "Basic White Bread". I got impatient (well, I got a late start, truth be told), so I cheated and used egg whites to help it rise rather than waiting the full two hours. Probably not the most auspicious start, I know. However, it's starting to smell great!

Also found this neat-o site: Gluten-Free Links! I can't even begin to sort through it all now, but if you're Wheat-Free please do go check it out. Then come back and let us know what your favorite find is!

Time to get serious about Fall. (And here ya'll thought it couldn't get any worse!) Fall is the time I enjoy doing my Spring Cleaning, redirecting the flow of our lifestyle, and just touching base in general. It's the time that both boys seem to be ready to settle in for afternoon teas to begin again, as well. Mmm, very good stuff, indeed.

Ah, I'm going to have to come back to blog later. Zorak wants to visit, so he probably wants me to look at him rather than the monitor. ;-)

Dy

Loving Your Home

How many of you really love your home? I don't mean this in the terms of having the dream house with the picket fence and all the architectual style and amenities that you've always dreamed of having at your disposal. I mean, quite simply, do you love your home? Is it a place your children enjoy being and your husband loves to return to after a long day at work? Is it a space that makes you smile when you look up from a book, or stand in the doorway and look around? If so, what makes it that way? If not, why not? What's stopping you?

It is so easy, in this day of mail order everything and high-impact marketing, to convince ourselves that "if only the bathroom had more space, or the kitchen had more cabinets, or the living room had a better layout", our homes would be the places we want them to be. And so, we grouse about, waiting for that magical time to come...

You do know it doesn't work that way, right? The happiness and health of a home isn't directly dependent upon the architectural design or number of Pampered Chef products you can cram into the few cabinets you do have. Feng Shui be darned! It's not about the "stuff", it's about the people in the home and what they actually do with the stuff they have.

Zorak and I believe in form taking a backseat to function. Admittedly, sometimes form gets kicked right out of the family car because we're too busy enjoying the things we do and need a little more leg room to stretch out. Our things work for us, we don't work for them. If the two - form and function - happen to emerge from the same process, well WOOHOO! Major bonus. But we made the conscious decision not to be slaves to our home. I do very little dusting because of this: not that my home is dusty and gross, but there is very little to dust. It's not a high-return on my investment of time.

Three things converged on me mid-laundry load today which brought this to mind.

1) I've heard a lot of "how do you do it" questions this week. While I appreciate the compliment, it starts to feel a bit creepy after a while. I can't answer that question honestly. I am not sure what I do that people don't get, or that they want to emulate, but cannot. I'm not a paragon of patience or creativity (oy, certainly not any combination of the two!) My home isn't scary-messy, but it's not museum quality spotless, either. It's Home. We love it, and you're welcome to visit. Zorak usually gives me a heads up phone call if anyone is coming over, but if he doesn't, I don't panic.

2) Then Mrs. M-Mv reponded on the WTM forums to the oft-heard how do you find the time query. Her response was articulate, as usual. She highlighted many things that just don't seem like they need to be expressed, but I suppose they do. Otherwise, they wouldn't be the points that so many people miss.

3) I'm washing linens now (eradicating what I hope and pray will be the last of the Sneaking Snot germs). I'm really happy about this - and laundry is not usually my forte. However, I have only two sets of sheets for our bed; one for summer, one for winter, and I love them both. They make me feel good when I climb into bed. The room looks inviting with the bed made up, even when the linens are mostly covered with books, as is usually the case. The comforter cover and pillow shams we picked up at IKEA last month for $19.99. I can wash them here at home- just strip 'em off and throw 'em in. Then I can go back to reading or writing or blogging. They don't require much of me, but I derive a great deal of pleasure from them (don't look now, but could that be form peeking from the bedroom door?)

The boys require more attention, tender care and interest than any of our household items. That's how it ought to be. Our home isn't picture perfect, but it's where we want to be when all is said and done. It's an extension of all we value, and who we are. I guess that's how we do it all. Maybe. I'm still not sure what the actual question is...

Anyhow, the boys are home! Time to gather library books and see what we can return. Have a truly fantastic Saturday, and Kiss those babies!

~Dy

Downright Giddy: Oxygen & Math

Wow, I feel somewhat light-headed. I can breathe today, and it feels really good. I mean good as in tipsy-good. Wow.

I have to tell y'all why I love Math-U-See!
Today James was reading the optical illusions book we gave him for his birthday. One section is about patterns and logic, and he just loves that section. (Must get it from his father.) He found a new puzzle today, figured it out quickly, and then wanted to recreate it on a larger scale. (The puzzle was a "complete the pattern" type. It looks like this: 2, 4, 3, 6, 5, ?) The next thing I know he says, "Mom, what is 129 times two?" He'd made it that far on the scale without needing help! Wow. So, there's one neat thing about MUS in itself.

However, the part that got me just silly-tickled was that I could explain to him not just HOW to multiply 129 by 2, but WHY you do it that way, as well. I could show him what he was actually doing with the numbers, and could explain it in a way that he grasped and ran with it. That's something I never got in school. I just knew that you shift to the left, carry, add what you've carried, etc. Just do it that way because that's how it works. Period. Not anymore! *hee hee!* SO, we spent a while "playing" with math and multiple digit multiplication, I made up questions and James solved them. I finally moved on to something else when I started a new one with "361" and James said, "Ooo, multiplied by 174!" ...then he solved it. *whew* Anyone want cookies? Anyone? I'm going to have to order the MUS Algebra for myself next year!

Gotta make a BJ's run when Zorak gets home. I love Fridays. Especially chilly, rainy Fridays like today.

OK, if everyone will get me their favorite Mexican food recipes, I'll put them on our static website if you'd like. We'll call it the Festival Classico, or something equally cheesy. By the way, don't forget to share your favorites with the folks at Peace Hill Press! That cookbook is ON MY WISH LIST, and I plan to be very, very good so I can get it. :-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Just a Quick Coffee Break

Yes, yes! We love good Mexican food! I'll share the pico de gallo recipe if Amy w/ share her Mexican Tomato Lime soup recipe! Oohhh, good stuff. Our friends last weekend brought us can upon can of green chile products! It has been such a good week for food in our house. We've had green chile & cheese broiled on fresh bread, green chile smothered pork steaks, green chile straight from the can. Zorak and I even threw green chiles into our bowls of potato soup last night. The big treat this weekend is going to be a huge concoction of Aunt B's famous Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole! *shudder of anticipation*

Had to smile at the Dr. Laura thing. I actually picked it up with the thought of previewing it in case I needed to recommend it to anyone (I hate recommending something I haven't read). Sadly, I had a very smug attitude that I certainly don't need it... but that's a false sense of accomplishment. I think we can all improve who and where we are, and how we are fulfilling and savoring our lives and duties. When things are good, though, it's easy to fall into complacency. (The the ultimate enemy of vigilance, no?) I forget that sometimes. We aren't struggling right now, and we aren't flat-broke anymore. We aren't stressed to the gills all the time, and aren't passing in the night amidst final exams and job interviews. It all feels so easy right now, and so good. Still, he deserves a wife who won't get complacent. I'd like for the mu-mu and bon-bons to always be a joke.

I'll see what I can do to distill the book, but not while we're all still sick. Zorak fell victim sometime during the night. He awoke this morning, called in sick, and went straight back to bed. He's still out. I think it's going to hit him hard. We'll let him sleep til noon, then wake him for food. He'll be back out shortly after that and will most likely sleep til after supper. That's how Zorak gets sick. He wobbles about for a week, fighting it off, and when it hits him, he's out cold for about 24 hours. Then he arises like the Phoenix, or more accurately, like a bear from hibernation: healthy, but famished. So we'll need to have food ready made and waiting. I like his method much better than my shuffling, snuffling, prolonged escapades, really. Someday I'll have to try it.

I had other thoughts, but that train has been delayed at the station. I just got mauled by a snotmonkey who needs some lovin's. Break time's over! Enjoy your wonderful Thursday. We're staying in one more day- the Spanish tutor called today to cancel. Seems her family was attacked by the creeping crud, too. (I think that's a misnomer, really- if it was just creeping, we could get a good distance from it and spray it with something to kill it, couldn't we? Hmpf. Needs a new name. Galloping Glob or Sneaking Snot... something.)

Anyhow, kiss those babies and give them extra lovin's (human contact and affection does wonders for the immune system- I shudder to think how sick we'd all be without our daily snuggles!)

~Dy