billion, trillion...whatever.

A billion is only a thousandth of a trillion. Huh.
I don't know that my taxes can cover that no matter how high you raise them....take it all & give me back $5 a week allowance, it still won't dent it. Oh, & then you'll have to feed, clothe & shelter me, too.
That wouldn't be the plan by any chance would it? Because I don't like the color gray.

moonless comfort

Another year of homeschooling started this week. Much quieter than any other. I've made myself stop many habits to try and find a good routine. No more radio in the morning. That was a hard one to break, but I found I often got stuck in one part of the house because I didn't want to "miss" anything. Now I'm trying to get some chores and work done before we crack open books. This is when I feel the real emptiness of the house. The void of the twins departure. No Henley and Chalice visiting the house or stopping by the store. I'm trying to load the weekdays up for Jedd. Book club/bowling with another homeschooling family on Mondays. Music lessons on Wednesdays and co-op on Fridays. I feel peace with it all though. Annie and Emma are so happy about their places right now it would be terrible to begrudge them this joy. And I need to take advantage of this time because Jedd is being extra wonderful about letting me hug and smother him as he knows it's hard for me (and him too, if we're being truthful). Last night he and I walked the dog and it was pretty late and getting downright chilly. I had a giant shawl wrapped around my shoulders and his and we banged and hip-checked our way down to the river and around a few blocks trying to spot a star or two behind the cloud cover. Couldn't even spot the moon much less a star, but we had some good laughs and the darkness allowed a 13 year old boy to cuddle with his mom on a late night walk.

never let a good crisis go to waste

I've spoken to a few of you whom I know read this blog, so I wanted to link you to this article:

http://www.newswithviews.com/Mary/starrett206.htm

Stand strong in the face of violations to our freedoms.

generations of build up

Yeah, I know Alex Jones is known for being absolutely over the top and out there, bigtime! But, why was he arrested in America for asking this question? What's going on hasn't started with Obama or Bush. It's been building up for a very long time.....





This was written by William Blase of The Courier:

Baron M.A. Rothschild wrote, "Give me control over a nation's currency and I care not who makes its laws."

All that is needed to effectively control a government is to have control over the nation's money: a central bank with a monopoly over the supply of money and credit. This had been done in Western Europe, with the creation of privately owned central banks such as the Bank of England.

Georgetown professor Dr. Carroll Quigley (Bill Clinton's mentor while at Georgetown) wrote about the goals of the investment bankers who control central banks: "... nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole... controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences."

The Bank of the United States (1816-36), an early attempt at an American central bank, was abolished by President Andrew Jackson, who believed that it threatened the nation. He wrote: "The bold effort the present bank had made to control the government, the distress it had wantonly produced...are but premonitions of the fate that awaits the American people should they be deluded into a perpetuation of this institution or the establishment of another like it."

Thomas Jefferson wrote: "The Central Bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution...if the American people allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Does that not describe the situation in America today?

July 4th

I knew that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within hours of each other on July 4th, 1826. I did not know that James Monroe died 5 years later on July 4th,1831. That's gotta have some kind of special meaning to it....

my mini cow

my mama's birthday
Originally uploaded by anniehuntington

On Tuesday, I entered my 49th year, celebrating my 48th birthday. I'd asked for a mini-cow for the backyard. Thom knows me better than I know myself though and gave me a Kindle instead and put the mini cow to graze on my birthday cake. He is a wise, wise man.

aahh....

This sounded like a calm, cool, collected mother to me! Personally, I think this is the perfect way to teach the selfish one a gentle lesson....A little humble pie is good for everyone.And it made me laugh!

How to be a gracious b****...
Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her
excitement -- not even her parent's nasty divorce.


Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear and would be the
best-dressed mother- of-the-bride ever!


A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new
young wife had bought the exact same dress as her mother!


Jennifer asked her father's new young wife to exchange it, but she refused.
'Absolutely not, I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm
Wearing it,' she replied.


Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, 'Never mind sweetheart.
I'll get another dress. After all, it 's your special day.'


A few days later, they went shopping and did find another gorgeous dress.
When they stopped for lunch, Jennifer asked her mother, 'Aren't you
going to return the other dress? You really don't have another
occasion where you could wear it.


Her mother just smiled and replied, 'Of course I do, dear. I'm wearing
it to the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding.'

"13" redeemed from superstition

Six soldiers hoisted the flag in that famous photo at Iwo Jima. That's twelve hands, 6 pairs of hands. But if you were to look carefully at the bronze statue in Washington D.C., you would count 13 hands raising the flag. When the artist was asked about this, he replied simply, "the thirteenth is the Hand of God".
I like this...

1 vs. 300

Go back in time to the 1970's when a different swine flu was circling the globe. Big outcry from government for a vaccine. Unproven drug trials.
One death from flu.
Three hundred deaths from vaccine.
Will you be willing to inject this newest vaccine into your family's arm? It is said by the WHO that they will be running a special 5-day trial on it in order to speed things up and get it out there for children over the age of 6 months and up first.Thereby foregoing the usual months of testing.
Not in my family's arm thank you very much.
Start building up natural immunities now. Extra vitamin D will be a good thing to ingest right now. Especially since we've developed a sun phobia and slather ourselves with chemicals to protect our skin from any stray ray of sunshine.
As for myself. I've stocked up on Kleenex and cold medicine. I figure we're gonna face it head-on and be miserable for 10 or 12 days. IF it even explodes like 'they" are predicting and comes our way. We're all relatively healthy with no underlying issues. And I'm not above making a fashion de-statement with a fancy facemask and exchanging sun chemicals for hand sanitizing chemicals...I wonder if we can handpaint our facemasks, make them pretty and artistic and sell them on Etsy?

lovely, lovely drops

It's raining a lovely, steady rain. I believe it has been over three weeks since the last such rain. It occurs to me that I should run out and scatter some grass seed to replace that which has withered away.
My giant,wet dog lays at my feet. Stinky.
It is so soothing to listen to this patter.
Thank you God. I've missed this so much.

god of destruction for the spark of life?

I just saw a photograph of the CERN Headquarters, where the most advanced atomic research is done (think Hadron Collider) and outside the doors is a giant lighted statue of Lord Shiva. This is the third god of the Hindu trinity, he is the god of destruction and death. Brahma is the god of creation, and Vishnu is the preserver. So it makes me shudder to think of why Shiva was chosen to represent the research done there. I thought they were trying to find the first spark of life. The creation of the universe...so why pick out a god of death and destruction as your "mascot"?
Just curious....
As for me. I'll stick with the Christian Trinity and place my faith in the word of God, the Hope of Jesus and the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, rather than a bunch of men outside Geneva smashing atoms together. I already know with certainty how the universe was created...it was the Breath of Life, literally.

an open letter

I just heard this woman speak on the Glenn Beck program. She put many (all) my thoughts into words. I think many of us agree with her whether democrat or republican...Here they are:
I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when he will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

If this speaks to you, pass it on. It is an open letter and meant to be read by all.

celebrations

Happy Memorial Day!
To celebrate our friends in North Korea have tested an underground nuclear test and Iran has sent six warships into international waters.
Yippee!
Really though, we appreciate the celebrations, but we as a country are going low key theses days, so thanks, but no thanks! We'd appreciate it if you respected our wishes for privacy. Just family really. Noone else is invited.
So why not keep those very special party celebrations for another time. A very distant time.

Game night!

Last night the sound of laughter echoed off the walls of our home. Screechy springs screamed across the lawn from the trampoline. Food smells wafted from room to room and dismayed laughs arose when the dog got his snout into the bowl off cheese puffs.
Last night was junior/senior youth group game night and we were the happy recipients of the crowd of kids. Emma pulled out at least twenty games, but I think they stuck to two, with a few breakoff groups playing on their own. Happily I might add.
What a true gift to have watched these kids grow from, for some of them, infancy or toddlers into the young adults they've become.
Hannah and Patrick and Stephanie and Eric brought their baby boys and it was interesting to watch the teenage girls' mothering instincts rise up and out and clamor for a cuddle with an infant. It was so sweet!
My own husband made me question his culinary tastes when he piled meatballs on top of Domino's Pizza. More than once.
But the laughing...how grateful I am to have heard the laughter of this crew. We'll have to have a least one more game night here before the girls take off for college.
Of course we'll still want the kids here in the next years as Jedd moves from junior to senior youth group, but this will be the end of this era and the start of a new one.
Change.

the perfect moment to start

Picking up one plump red strawberry at a time and rinsing it under cold water, gently shaking it and laying it in a growing puddle on the counter.
Reaching for the next berry and repeating until a nice pile lies in wait.
Opening a drawer and removing a sharp green knife from its sheath and slicing and dicing berries into a cheerful Emma Bridgewater bowl covered in polka dots.
Now a sprinkling of sugar to cover .
Stir gently and let the seeping juices drip throughout the bowl.
Lift spoon to mouth and savor the first bite of sweetness.
Try to eat them slowly, but it's an impossiblility.
This is how to enjoy even the smallest moments of life.
SAVOR the moments. Each and every moment. I know we can't really do this. We're human. We get caught up in all the moments instead of breaking them up into increments of loveliness. But we can try to keep reminding ourselves, and the beauty of a strawberry just may be the place to start all over again.

sheep

Here we go again...
In my memory it started with the pronunciation of Uranus.
Then it was the word, "harassment".
In the past years we've switched from things "disappearing" to all things "go missing".
And now the media is slowly giving us the British version of closing down stores, banks, you name it. Nothing, according to the media, is closing down anymore. It is all being "shuttered".
It is all so very pretentious.

pretentious.

There's my rant for the day....

Bella Luna

Steamed mussels, gnocchi, olive tapenade, crusty bread, red wine, strong Italian coffee.
Yum.
This was my dinner last night made better only by the company of Anna and Cetta.
Bella Luna of Cambridge.
Try it.

countdown

19 minutes till the work day is through. Quiet, still, peaceful day. A few good sales to ring the till and make the bankers and accountants and taxman happy. I've swept the floor,reaaranged stock and made a timely addition to my window display. I've a sad sense of humor so until I'm scolded a black and white pig standing next to a few packs of tissues which read 'bless you' on them stand boldly on a pink bench. My nod to swine flu.

choas begets order.....

Our ukrainian friend Kolya is taking on Thom's "honey-do" list today. As you can imagine I'm thrilled. Our foyer has had peeling paint from past leaks for years. Today, it will be scraped and prepared for paint. The upstairs bathroom has been being stripped of wallpaper for over a year. A tug here, a pull there. It wasn't even a half-hearted effort. Today, it will be finished, and prepared for painting.
The kids have begged for a dishwasher for years. In this economy, the sales were too great for me to resist. Why, it's practically free! It will be delivered this afternoon. Kolya is preparing the space for it as I write.
So, I've been filling boxes from cupboards and emptying the bathroom for the big scrapdown. My house is now chaos.
My father-in-law will be here for dinner at five o'clock. sigh.....Luckily he's the type of man who comes to see us, not the house. I think he'll be forgiving of the wreck he'll find himself in. It would be more thoughtful, I'm sure to reschedule, but selfish me likes his company. So dinner is on!

Question...

Why is it that when I wake in the morning I feel "sugar-free? No need to rifle through the cupboards looking for a Reese Cup or other form of chocolate to melt in my mouth.
Why is it then that at 7 p.m. each night I feel like I'm going to hurt people if someone doesn't shove that brown gooey substance into my mouth thereby expanding my backside?!
Just wondering...

sun rotates around the earth?

Here is my latest pet peeve. People saying with all sincerity that "we are a democracy".
NO! WE"RE NOT!
Were these people sleeping in history class? We are a Constitutional Republic. For ages I have refrained from correcting people because I didn't want to, well, I don't know what I didn't want to do, maybe embarrass them...

If we still said the Pledge of Allegiance to our American Flag in our schools, perhaps people would have no problem remembering this simply by having the words ingrained in their memories. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands.....

A democracy represents mob rule. MOB RULE! No thanks! I prefer my Republic where the government is meant to protect my rights under the Constitution, not grant me rights. Those rights, according to the wisdom of our founding fathers, have been bestowed upon me by God. The government has no authority to grant me anything. It would seem that they and many people of this nation have forgotten that.

But that really shouldn't be surprising. Last night Thom was sharing a poll with me from a magazine he was reading that did a "man on the street" poll. Apparently 23% of Americans believe the sun rotates around the earth. And 18% didn't know and didn't care. These were people who vote for the people who run our country.
Scary.

contortion can be good

Until yesterday, I hadn't taken a yoga class in 6 or 7 years. I looked for every excuse not to go yesterday morning, but my body kept screaming to be quiet and just go. I'm achy too often and much too young to be so. Excercise is needed.
So I pulled on my now very tight excercise wear and walked into the 9 a.m. class across the street from my shop.

I bended and contorted my body into positions it hadn't seen in quite a while. Some of them used to be normal and now seemed torturous( like sitting on the floor cross-legged, which used to be the simplest).
At the end of the first hour and 15 minutes the instructor strapped us up by tying belts from around our hips through our thighs and around our folded calves. Then pillows were put under our outstretched arms and a very large block was put under our backs. It sounds strange I know, but it was so incredibly comfortable. I remember thinking that the sleep number bed company should figure a way to make all these bumps and lumps built into their system so a bed could be pumped up to these strange dimensions.
I slept deep last night for the first time in along time. I know me. Thursday morning I'll be complaining about going again...but I'm going!

M3

I've been hearing about the M3 the past few days and its dissapearance from the public view by the Fed. I had no idea what the M3 is, but apparently it's the anniversary of the day they(the federal reserve) decided to save 1.5 million dollars by calling to a halt public disclosure of it. I think I read $1.5m would be the equivalent of less than .065 % of the annual income of the Fed so that seems a bit of a story.
Anyway, if you should stumble upon this story here is the M3 explanation from Fund My Mutual Fund.....

First what is M3?

So what is M3? To understand what M3 is one needs to know what M1 and M2 are as well.

M1 - Money supply that includes all coins, currency held by the public, traveler's checks, checking account balances, NOW accounts, automatic transfer service accounts, and balances in credit unions.

M2 - Money supply that includes M1, plus savings and small time deposits of depository institutions, overnight repos at commercial banks, and retail mutual fund money market accounts.

M3 - Money supply that includes M2, plus large time deposits, repos of maturity greater than one day at commercial banks, institutional money market accounts and Eurodollar deposits of US banks held at foreign branches and at all offices in the UK and Canada.

**********************


More interesting - why is M3 suddenly gone?

Some of the reasons we have seen floated around are as follows:
History has shown that only failing economies e.g. Soviet Union keep data secret (Financial Sense - Toni Straka - Unpleasant M3 Trend, November 12, 2005). An interesting premise and a theme we saw woven amongst a number of writers is that they have something to hide. The claim is that the Fed should be transparent and by not publishing the number the Fed now lacks transparency.
The end of publishing of M3 in March 2006 coincides with the start of the Iranian Oil Bourse. The premise here is that the with the oil bourse trading in Euros there will be a rush out of US$ into Euros and that M3 could drop sharply. A sharp drop in M3 would of course presage a recession as falling M3 is a characteristic of weak economic periods.
M3 is a measure of inflation in the economy. A somewhat unproven rule of thumb is GDP + inflation = M3. Will be able to properly measure inflation going forward if we don't know what M3 really is.
We are about to enter a period of hyperinflation and by eliminating M3 we will not know how much liquidity the Fed is pumping into the system. Remember the Fed doesn't really print money it is the banking system that expands money supply. But the Fed influences it through open market operations. We will have to watch daily Fed repo action very carefully irrespective of whether they are going to publish Repos (RPs) as noted in the bulletin above. The Fed doing repos puts money into the system and the Fed doing reverse repos takes money out of the system. Of course as well this is the exact opposite of the collapse in M3 premised with the oil bourse above.
Further on the theme above a period of hyperinflation would occur as the Fed tries to save us from a collapsing housing market and softer consumer demand. The Fed adds more and more liquidity to the system to stave off a sharp economic decline. By not publishing Repos (RPs) as noticed in their bulletin above the Fed again is hiding what they do on a day to day basis. This will make it difficult for both currency traders and equity traders to know what the Fed is up to.
The conclusion is that the Federal Reserve will be hiding a debasement of the US$.

Just thought I'd share!

wonder

I rather feel that Mark Twain put my own curiosity quite nicely;

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on….or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
Mark Twain

Amelie

I'm standing in the shop right now with the 'Amelie" soundtrack playing. It is so sweet and whimsical and happy with mists of melancholy running through here and there. Well, that just makes sense, since it's from the movie beloved by my daughters and myself for those very traits.
If you've not seen the movie or listened to the soundtrack by Yann Tierson, may I suggest that you make it a priority in your life this month?
Truly, it will make you smile....

a golden birthday

March 13 is Jedd's golden birthday.

13 on the 13th.

We have strands of golden beads and golden streamers and golden plates and in my opinion we are redeeming friday the 13th to an un-superstitious day.
As usual, the lad doesn't want a big party. Just family. He's requested the usual giant chocolate chip cookie baked on a pizza stone in leiu of a traditional cake.
Annie is picking him up from homeschool co-op and taking him to Salisbury to pick up Chick-Fil-A nuggets for his special dinner.
Thankyou Lord. We treasure this boy and are grateful that you've trusted him with us in our family.
Happy Birthday Jedd!

red wine

This is my brain at 2a.m. after red wine with dinner...
Staring out my second floor bedroom window, sleepless, listening to the whistling wind, and thinking how barren it looks with no leaves on the tree tops, I ponder that the night is brooding and cold.
hmmm....barren...and broody. Odd. One can relate to a childless woman, while another can relate to a woman deeply desiring children. And they can certainly be both at the same time.
A cold, empty night...barren and broody.
An empty woman...barren and broody.
There you have my brain in the middle of the night.
At 2 a.m. this seemed somehow noteworthy and important. Not so much in the light of the day.
I am exhausted today.
Is it any wonder?
No wine tonight.

sceptical

Just call me a skeptic or even a conspiracy theorist. But when the curators of the Smithsonian opened Lincoln's pocketwatch yesterday for the first time ever, on rumor that the jeweler in the mid-1800's had inscribed a secret message, and found "Thank God we have a government!" in it....well, sorry, I'm not buying it. I would have believed, "thank God you're our president!" But Government? Nope!
In this time of economic turmoil when so much of America is starting to feel angst and anger against this stimulus package, and towards our politicians double standards on taxation, and taxation without representation,and further stripping of rights for the unborn, the list goes on and on and on.....The government is stripping us of our rights to the pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness on a daily basis....How very convenient to have Obama's hero president's watch opened with a loving message about "government"...
Like I said, just call me a skeptic....

pressie hints

I'm a bit like a jellyfish right now in this chair. I couldn't be more relaxed. You see I've just returned from the Stillwater Spa where I was massaged and oiled and steamed and cleaned and dried and buffed and sent on my merry way.
I've booked another session for May, so if anyone would like to inform my husband that a gift certificate to the spa would make a perfect Mother's Day present for the woman who birthed all three of his progeny....please feel free to do so.

Slumdog Millionaire

The girls and I saw Slumdog Millionaire today after church. I wasn't expecting too much or too little. I was going to take it at face value.
It was wonderful! I had read so many reviews that had said it was extremely depressing. Yes, depressing, true. But it was balanced with perfect hits of humor as well. And for all those who said it was an "unbelieveable" storyline, as a Christian I saw nothing unbelieveable in it. God has worked out many stories more "unbelieveable" than this one, that are in fact, amazingly true. I could see this happening with no problem at all. (with the small exception of the wonderful scene at the very, very end. That just brings to film, my love of a good Bollywood movie. That's it. No juicy review today. Just a suggestion that you go decide for yourself while it's still out on the big screen.

forget cash cow, try cash dog. they're opposites

Over the Valentine weekend, Eli, our 130 pound chocolate lab (he lost 10 lbs.!) attached himself to a little white teddy bear. He would carry it around like a mother cat would her kitten. He would lick it clean incessantly and care for it. Very sweet right? Then, a few days ago, we found that little bear with no head. NO HEAD! Eli loved it to death, so to speak. Then Eli started showing uncomfortable symptoms, no details necessary I'm sure.
This morning Jedd and I took the beast to the vet for a checkup on the situation. They took him for x-rays. Minutes passed. More minutes passed. Jedd and I paced the small room we were in, waiting. On a shelf was a glass jar containing a heart in whatever that type of specimen is preserved in. Riddled with worms. I kept finding myself sickly drawn back to it, and I really didn't want to be. I resolved to go home and give him his heartworm pill which should have been given on the first of the month.
Looking through the door window I can see across the hall through another window to where the doctor and his assistant are slipping x-rays onto a lightboard hanging from the wall. I can see Eli's x-ray. It doesn't look good.. There is a large black mass that the doctor keeps pointing to. I cracked the door a bit so i could hear what was being said. I heard "heart disease" and my own heart sunk. It shouldn't have been a surprise really, the dog is huge. It must be a burden on his heart carrying all that weight.
We kept waiting and I kept trying to hear more.
Finally, we see two nurses gearing up to heft Eli off the x-ray table two rooms over through open doors and windows. Even with the news we heard, we had to chuckle at the sight of them lifting him down.
He was so happy to see us again. I think he thought we were kenneling him there for a while.
The doctor came in and put the x-rays on our lightbox. There was the black mass and there were the blocked bowels. He raised his authoratative finger up to the mass and starts with the news there. " This black spot seen here is normal and as it should be" What!!! Then he points to a tiny white spot. "This is an unknown." But he's not terribly concerned there either. Basically, he thinks at best Eli is blocked up and needs a good bowel movement. So we've started him on high fiber( expensive) dog food and an antibiotic for infection.
On the way out the door I hand over my credit card and say goodbye to $160.00. I don't even like dogs....in general. I'd never felt the urge to own one. But ours is special in his own smelly, lumbering, loveable way. I'm trying hard not to think of the money but to think of Eli....I'm trying, but I am a sinner after all and its not easy......

catsup or ketchup?

Today Emma had another snow day from school. In Jedd's mind that automatically means he has a snow day as well. I wouldn't dream of arguing this point with him. Our dear friend Henley came over and, along with Annie, we all decided to go to Salisbury (highways are perfectly clear). I figured with that many hands along I could do a mega shopping trip with multiple shopping carts. But, one must feed the mighty belly of the beast first so we started out at Chick-Fil-A. No debate; all in agreement. Five of us, five orders of 12 piece chicken nugget boxes. Mine always comes with cole slaw. I then cut each nugget in half and hide them under the slaw to soak up the juices. Jedd says it's like I'm planning a treasure hunt for my nuggets. Henley put catsup/ketchup on her nuggets! What!? Ewwww..... my kids say that they always do this when I make homemade nuggets. (these are known in our home as "Mrs. Tina Chicken" and that's how the kids request it. Named so after Tina Maddox's utterly divine homemade nuggets that I don't even pretend to come close to re-creating!) I have never witnessed this destruction of chicken before. No matter what my children say. Annie is the queen of the red stuff, and I've never seen her do this. In our home it's honey mustard on nuggets all the way. Except for Jedd, who eats all food dry. No mayo or mustard on ham sandwiches no condiments on hot dogs or hamburgers for this boy. But, today, my daughters tell me I am wrong. That catsup/ketchup is always squirted into deep dipping piles for those tasty gems. Has anyone ever witnessed this on my kids' plates before. I'm really wanting to know. What else have I missed it on? Waffles?

After that odd little lunch, Henley's not mine, we headed over to Super Walmart where I designated Henley's cart the healthy cart, and Jedd's cart the junk food cart. We filled them both. I tried to put oatmeal into Jedd's cart but he rebelled and insisted they go over to the other trolley. Henley was disgusted with him in a loving manner. He wouldn't give in. Spaghettios were allowed into his. (Don't anyone even try to shame me about feeding my children Spaghettios, please. I've loved them since I was 5 years old and will hear nothing against them). I also picked up a new rice steamer which we tried out tonight. It was the fluffiest rice I've ever eaten. I am thrilled with my new purchase! I've always secretly wanted one. Kate Howard once called me a gadget junkie or something to that effect. At first I was mildly offended. But, as I froth my coffee or chop apples into french fry shapes, I'll proudly wear that badge. I AM A GADGET JUNKIE...... (let's amend that to kitchen gadgets though, all other gadgets would belong to my husband.)

another day, hopefully another dollar

I'm off to work today and then to Pennsylvania tomorrow. I feel like a seasoned country traveler these days. In the past month I've driven to Georgia, NYC, Vermont and now PA. Emma and I are going tomorrow to visit Messiah College for an "accepted student and their parents tour". We'll be up at 5 a.m. and on the road. That is actually my favorite time of the day to start a trip. I really enjoy beginning my journey in the dark and then watching the day open up before me. It rarely happens any other time as I don't usually roll out of bed till 7 a.m., unless I'm in a menopausal state of insomnia. which usually occurs in the middle of the night, therefore knocking me out cold for several hours right at the time I wouldn't mind getting up. Did that makes sense? Hmmmm...

Three Cheers For Skirts!!!

Skirts. They swish against one's legs and immerse one in femininity. On cold days they wrap around the legs and let the body's own heat rev up a notch and heat the body. On hot days they let a cool breeze blow up to the nether region and cool off naturally. Circulation is key in either form of weather.
They can be an expression of seriousness, playfullness or flirtatiousness. Not limited to certain weighted fabrics as trousers basically are...they can be heavy wool or gossimer chiffon. Layers of ruffles are a personal favorite. While sewn tiers are to be found and often appreciated on others, they aren't a staple in my own closet. I think I wore too many in high school and burned out on the peace, love and hippiness of them the first time around.
If you know me you know my favorite length is below calf. Many might believe this is a modesty issue. They'd be wrong. It's a fat-calf issue. Skirts are perfect for camoflaging different body parts. They, in my humble opinion, give a better balance to the top and bottom of the human form. Feel free to differ in your own opinion.
I think it's a bit sad that so many women "save" their skirts for good occasions. Isn't every day good? My mother laughs that I never "save" any clothing for special ocassions. She's right. When there is something special, I recycle or if it's really special, I buy new. But I get my money's worth out of my clothing. I rarely wear a "special" skirt once or twice and keep it under wraps in the back of my closet awaiting the next big event. I wear my things to the grocery store, library, my store, church, lunch with friends, field trips with kids. You get the idea. It may have started in high school. We were required to wear skirts or dresses every Wednsday from morning to night (it was a boarding school). I remember girlfriends complaining that this was unfair. Not to me! It was my favorite day of the week. Okay, the fact that every Wednesday was a half day of school may have had something to do with that....
When I became a stay-at-home mom, I had a short period of feeling as though I was supposed to wear blue jeans every day. That didn't last long. It felt like a punishment. I do own one pair of blue jeans. Sometimes I even wear them two days in a row. But for me...it's three cheers for skirts!

Hurry Up and Wait!

...."a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason. "
Sound familiiar? It's from the opening paragraph from "Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine".

I've been calming myself with this thought in recent weeks and months. (and years?) The strength to do so comes directly from the Lord.

It seems the world is turned upside down in its reason these days. Nancy Pelosi is now the queen of "hurry up and wait". Push through this absurd "stimulus package". Quick, quick, quicker! No time to read 1,071 pages! No time to follow through on the 48 hour promise for the American people to look over it. No time for public discussion or amendments. A plane must be caught to Rome for an important award and the sky is falling! Okay....package signed. Whew! Nancy boards her plane and the president will now pick up pen in hand to sign the....dinner bill in Chicago? Huh!? All that rush and the president is having a Valentine meal in Chicago and playing basketball with his buds? He's having a mini vacation 3 weeks into his presidency when the sky is falling around us, and there is no time for the house and senate to read these pages of pork? Sooooo, maybe the president will sign this monstrosity on Tuesday...four days after the big rush. Is it possible that time will help him see reason and he'll refrain from picking up pen in hand and marking that swath of ink on the line and committing us to such error?

I imagine my disgust is shining through these words. When will our society as a whole start questioning this government? Obviously reasoning hasn't worked, so will the passage of time start opening eyes now?

Save my ears

I have a small annoyance to share with you. Perhaps it's all my problem and something that doesn't bother others. Though, I don't think so. But, in the spirit of openness and transparency (in case it is only me) I don't allow my family to read magazines within 3 feet of me or open any kind of packaging in "my space". So, here goes....

Why is it that parents think the only kind of child created noise that distracts others, say, in church or a movie theater, is talking or crying etc.? By this I mean... preventing your child from creating any type of verbal noise by giving him a paper bulletin to crinkle or a bible to flip through, page by finger-nail-on-the-chalkboard page is not a good "distraction". It's only distracting me from the reason I'm there!

I spent the entire sermon today clasping my hands together tightly so I didn't rip the Good Lord's Word out of some tiny little paws sitting directly behind me. I'm all for keeping children in the sanctuary to teach them how to sit quietly during the sermon( although, I'm not 100% sure I'm being honest about that). But, ahem... key word there is quietly. While I admire the parent who can totally ignore the whiny child begging for more cookies when we're sitting at a park or playground and keep talking to the adults till the child grows bored and wanders back to the swingset, I don't applaud the fact that a parent can zone out their kid and focus on the preaching while darling toddler is WRINKLING PAPER NONSTOP! If your child cannot sit quietly, can't they be given a stuffed Winnie the Pooh or something?

While I'm at it...if you are opening a pack of mints, cough drops, gum, whatever, in a quiet place, please don't drag out the process. Just rip it open quick and get it over with.

Oh, also, how have so many people not figured out that if you crush a bag or paper up into a ball, when you throw it into the trash it's only going to expand again, doubling the original noise. Unneccesary noise is another form of pollution. Stop the Pollution!

word seminars for politicians

I'd like to host a seminar for our politicians on the meaning of words. In particular, these two words...."mistake" and "choice". And here's why.
In the past few weeks, several politicians have been put forth for key positions in our government. Timothy Geithner as head of the IRS (that would be tax collector, no?) and Tom Daschle for reforming our healthcare system, including medicaid. Apparently they both think they've made terrible, innocent "mistakes" in not paying their taxes. Even though in Timothy Geithner's case the IMF ( International Monetary Fund) stapled his tax check to a form, which he then signed 4 times a year for 4 years stating he understood the checks were to be used for paying his taxes. But, he never did pay them.
In Mr. Daschle's case, he thought his friend "gifted" him a car and driver and didn't know he was required to pay taxes ( over $97,000) on them. And then, for the icing on the cake, this week he paid another $6,000 to Medicaid to cover the back taxes on that for the driver, as he hadn't understood he was supposed to pay that either.

These are the only two men in America for these positions?!
Here's my problem with these innocent "mistakes". My children understand the difference between a mistake and a choice. These men made choices, not mistakes. Nothing was innocent about these choices. They thought (think) they're above the law. The sad part is Timothy Geithner has already been shown he is above the law, as he's been appointed into the desired position.
Will Tom Daschle also slide into position?

I cringe each time I hear a politician caught in a compromising position say it was a mistake. A mistake is when a nickle falls into the quarter slot in my cash register. The next time I hand out change and give someone that nickle instead of a quarter for change and they point it out, I apologise and give them the quarter and we move on. I didn't choose to pay them a nickle instead of a quarter, I did it by mistake. It would be innocent and I'd rectify the situation.
Elliot Spitzer getting caught with a hooker in a hotel room far from home where his wife and daughters are? That is NOT a mistake. That is a choice! A bad one!

Please, can we stop allowing these people to get away with bad choices under the guise of the word "mistake"?

Covenant College for my Covenant Child

Days ago, I took Annie to Covenant College. She'd been there twice already and dreams of August, when she can go live there and start life without me. I mean start life afresh as a college student. We loaded up the car and set off into the mash of folks headed home from the Obama Inauguration which took place the day before. It was a bit ugly until we got toward the end of Route 66 west. Once we turned left onto 81 south the real joy began. Several hundred miles of pasture, hills and COWS! I adore COWS! Just when several hundred feet had passed since the last herd, there on the hillside would be troops more of cattle grazing. Bless that Annie. She never snickered. Not once. Oh, to be sure there was some eye rolling, but that was easy to ignore.

When Thom and I used to take the family to Sandy Cove for homeschool week, we always sighed when we drove through the gates. Yes, we'd say to each other, Jesus is here in this place. The peace was thick at Sandy Cove.
Covenant gave me that same feeling.

Sienna spent some time showing me Chatanooga. We went to a great Antique mall. I found some things for the shop (if they don't remain in my home by accident).

I'm going to spend some happy days down there visiting my girl.

Oh! And the food in that cafeteria is so good, I think I may put on the "freshman 15" just visiting Annie!