freshfaced

Do you know the wording, "fresh-scrubbed", which usually implies natural prettiness? It is usually applied to young women. I gotta say that now in my late 40's I have met this saying for the first time in a personal way. If you are in your 40's, go to your bathroom and give your face a good healthy scrubbing. Then, quick! look in the mirror...it only lasts for about 10 seconds, but in that fleeting amount of time, I feel "fresh-scrubbed". I wish there were some way to bottle this. I have no explanation. But my cheeks are rosey, and my skin is creamy. It seems cruel that it is so short-lived. I think my husband is going to have to start standing next to me each morning and evening while I "tidy"up. But then the toothpaste spitting might be a bit of a turnoff.....unless the next saying to make its way to the forefront is to be "spitshine..." Now there's an ugly thought.

tomatoes and oil paints and Ayn Rand

Jedd and I have just put plants and seeds into the first garden we've ever done together. There is much more work to be done, but it was so exciting. It's good for a kid (and his mom) to feel the dirt between his toes to truly appreciate the veggies that appear on the dinner table.

I've been clearing out the old and sprucing up the yard. The pond has been cleaned out and jedd put together a filter with a little fountain and installed it. Now it gives the impression of a bubbling brook. (It also tends to make us all feel the need for the loo)

I spent an afternoon at the garden shop with Janna picking out new perennials for the shady side of the house. Very exciting. Today, I actually planted one of the seven bought. Usually they sit around in pots till they're dead or dangerously close to death before guilt sets in and I stuff them in a hole. This new streak I'm on is holding staying power so far.

We bought a new battery for the camera so I may be able to actually put some pictures up soon.

Tomorrow is a new session for painting classes. I have no theme picked out to paint yet. Ah well, the right thing will pop up. It always does doesn't it? Yeah, I'm loving my life right now...

The current read is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. It is time for you to read or re-read this classic which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It is such an appropriate book for this age. I heard today that a new government committee is being formed to discuss profit limits for corporations. !? Yeah, Ayn Rand had this fear 50 years ago.

major decisions

After many hours of inner turmoil and debate and yes, prayer, I have come to a monumental personal decision. I am only keeping the shop open 3 days a week. It will be closed the other 4. Amazing how once a decision is concretely made, that one can truly feel as though a boulder has been lifted off the shoulders. The weight of a burden is a true weight. So now the shop will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Janna working most Thursdays (she'll be going home to London for three weeks during May) . The juggling of shopkeeper and homeschool mom was not working well for me. I want to look back through time and know that I spent my quality time with my kids. I already feel like my house is cleaner and can imagine the weight dripping off my hips at all the free time I'll have to simply take walks with Jedd and the dog. (I'm not fooling myself into thinking because my schedule is lighter that the twins will suddenly find many hours of free time in their days to join us regularly)
I continue to invest money into stocking up on toilet paper, shampoos, soap, laundry detergent etc. These things will not be going down in prices and will not go bad. I feel like it truly is a business investment. We could put our dollars into cd's (bank, not music)that will give us a payback of less than 2% in 6 months or a year. Or put our dollars into products that will most assuredly be rising even further in cost than they already have. By 10, 20, 30% or higher. I, even in my humble little brain, see a better payback on inventory for the home. If you're not already partaking in this happy little mindset, you might want to consider it.....the next time you shop, really think about how much the same things you're buying cost a year ago. What are you paying now? What could the drawback be to this? Even the Wall Street Jouranl came out this week with the same suggestion for the same reasons....and at the same time we are preparing our homes for the future, aren't we stimulating the economy? I would really welcome your comments on whether or not you also are putting by a bit extra in the cupboards.....if not, are you thinking those of us who are are being extreme or is there just no extra cash available...I'm really curious as to where others stand on this. Oh, I'm not talking about running out and loading up on warehouse size bags of rice by the way(unless your family are large rice eaters)....although I confess I bought a 32 ounce bag and stuck it away. But I have stocked condensed milk ( which I use a ton of in macaroni and cheese) and powdered milk for bread making and because if milk goes up any more I' m going to start cutting my milk gallons out with it to make it stretch more. Annie and Jedd are milk junkies. And I always load up on flour and sugar since as you've read in past blogs we are baking fools in this house. King Arthur Flour company has free shipping till the end of April so you may want to take advantage....

a small happy list

Things I look forward to....almost daily.....
Coffee in the morning...
The return of "The Office"....
visiting blogs...
reading....
Thom's return home from work each evening....
Emma's return home from school each day...
Jedd's head deep in the pages of whatever book he's immersed in...
listening to Glenn Beck go off on whatever his rant (s) of the day will be...
cabbage at the cash register...
deliveries at the store....
Annie's latest essay....
popcorn at night....
a morning egg

obviously this is in no specified order:)

Good Mornings

My favorite time of each day is morning. The dog usually pads into my room about 7 and gives a lttle whine to be let out and fed. My first words in my head are usually, "idiot dog"...as I push the covers back and shift my weight to an upright position. The words are just habit at this point. In the beginning they were said out of frustration because I couldn't see why he woke me up instead of going down with Thom at 5:30 or 6 and being cared for by him. (thereby letting me sleep another half hour or so, I'm lazy)

But, I realize that I treasure this morning time. I open the back door for Eli, then switch the gas fireplace on to take the chill of the room before scooping kibbles into the dog's bowl. Coffee is started and I clear up glasses from the living room and pull open curtains while it's brewing. I wipe any crumbs off the counter and table and tidy things up happily. Emma comes down and we have time together before she takes off for school. (it's good to have drivers in my girls. I no longer need to dress and drive her across town to school)

The radio is my background noise and I get the news of the world as I sweep the kitchen floor. What a life! This is my time with God now. Its changed throughout the years and I've no doubt it will change again. The seasons of life working the way they do:)....But how priviledged am I to not have to go milk cows and muck out barns and throw slop to pigs? Maybe that's not a good example because I''m sure if that was my lot I could find time in that to appreciate God as well. I think a better example would be, how priviledged that I don't have to send myself or my children off to the streets to beg or sell themselves to survive for another day....

I love my life and am thankful that the Lord has given me eyes to see what a gift my lot is. How does your day start?

chewing gum and sheep

I am sitting here sniffing...with tears making streams on my cheeks.
I just finished watching Everything Is Illuminated.
It started out a bit crass. I wondered if I should keep viewing it. It wasn't really capturing my attention. I kept on, as you would with a book that didn't grab you in the first few pages; the equivalent of pushing on for a few chapters.
It started to pick up and suddenly I was there. Thinking of the Peipon family driving those Ukrainian roads and seeing the same sights. And then the little shepard boy appeared and had me howling with laughter. I don't do out loud laughter during movies!
And then...Grandpa had my heart tied into his emotional turmoil. And then...and then....I was humbled and drawn into my head full of stories I've read, heard and been told for years.
I'm confused. By the red.
But I'm delighted by the familiar faces that appear in America. I live in that world all the time! Do I know that person? Haven't I seen them somewere before? Are they local or do I know them from a different state, a lifetime ago?
And then.....I'm warmed by the acceptance in the very end of the family's choice of embracing the"other"........
Cryptic? Yep... But it will all be clear when you watch this. And you'd be silly not to. Because it has, I think, blown every other movie off my favorites list and moved straight to the top....I think....
Just remember to be patient. It doesn't start out as it means to go. If you quit, you will be missing a truly remarkable story.

Sneezes and apocolyptic stories

Sickness has been winding through my family this week. So far, it has not touched me. So far. I stayed home with Jedd on friday and kept the store closed. Thom had a taste of it on Sunday, Annie woke up with it Monday and today Emma is home from school with it. Yesterday, Emma and her friend Rachel worked till 11 p.m. on their science project for regionals. Em started sneezing around 7. I have to confess it was the most irritating sneezing I've ever heard. It was non-stop. She assures me vehemently that she was covering her mouth, but I was in the next room and the walls were reverberating with each mini explosion out of her mouth. I was scolding her to stop. I was imploring her to stop. I was begging her to stop. Of course she had no control and couldn't...but I had to try. Maybe it was all the cleaning yesterday that stirred up dust. I've been frantically trying to keep up with the house sanitizing I had last month by the team of ninja-cleaners. It's not easy, but so far, so good. Except for the sneezing....

I have just read Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. A classic post-apocalyptic story set in Florida in the 50's. If you've never read this, I highly recommend it. I'm now going to pull out and re-read Neville Schute's , On The Beach.
I also have A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van Demille going. Any parent who still has kids they're educating, whether home-school, private school, or public school, this is a must read book. I got out of bed at 11 last night to walk down the hall and read this to Jedd, who was still awake and reading in his room.
"Think of a human pair teaching their child how to walk. There is, on the child's side, strong desire and latent powers: he has legs and means to use them. He walks and smiles; he totters and looks alarmed; he falls and cries. the parents smile throughout, showering advice, warning, encouragement and praise. The whole story, not only of teaching, but of man and civilization, is wrapped up in this first academic performance........"

" All the knowledge, skill, art, and science that we use up and revere, up to Einstein's formulas about the stars, is a mere repitition and extension of the intitial feat of learning to walk. But this extension does not take place by itself. Most of it has to be taught, slowly and painfully. There was a time when Einstein was not quite sure what eight times nine came to. He had to learn, and to learn he had to be taught."
___ Jacques Barzun

It was the last two lines that excited me and that I felt compelled to make sure Jedd understood.
The basis of the whole book thus far, is that we can't force education onto each other. Our children must educate themselves. We must be there to mentor them and provide the means. By mentoring, it means we must continually be re-reading classics and learning along with them. Talking through the classics with them and keeping discussion going. And by classics, we're not talking only literature, but the classics in math and science and history etc., so that students understand the "why" and "how" behind the process.... Fascinating!

baked egg and toast soldiers

I've been on a baked-eggs-for-breakfast kick for a few months. I found the recipe in Nigella Lawson's newest cookbook. I remembered something similar from childhood and it is my newest comfort food. Try it!
I've been doing this for occasional suppers as well.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and put on a full kettle to boil.
Grease a small ovenproof dish or ramekin with butter (one dish per person about a half cup capacity each)
I put a tbls of shredded cheese in the bottom.
Next break a large or extra large egg on top of cheese. I then add a large pinch of Victoria Taylor's toasted onion herb seasoning. Pour a tablespoon of heavy cream or half and half on top of that.
Put the ramekin(s) in another ovenproof dish and pour the boiling water into the larger dish, (not pouring any into the small ramekins) and put the large baking dish into the oven. Set timer for 15 minutes. In the last 3 or 4 minutes of baking I put a slice of bread into the toaster (preferably a slice from homemade bread out of the breadmachine, which has been made with olive oil and rosemary, Jedd's new favorite to bake).
I slice the toast into slivers and eat the egg with those rather than a fork.
YUM!

The girl scout in me speaks

When we moved to Cambridge from LA, I kept food stocked in case of earthquakes (really), hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms...you name the disaster and I had thought of it and prepared for it. Then came Y2k. Yep, I prepared...just in case. I have never regretted this way of living. It doesn't go bad. Well...except for the bins of whole grain.
After 9/11 I started stocking up again. Gas prices started going up and I watched the price of paper products rocket skyward, just like my mom predicted. My kids have laughed and laughed and laughed at my thought processes. I just figure it gives them great stories for the future holidays when they can laugh around the table with their own kids at my "eccentricities". Thom always says, "do what you feel you need to hon, I'm behind ya..." And slips me whatever extra cash he can afford to.
I have begun ratcheting up the buying in the past few weeks once again. This time the kids are not laughing. They watch the news with me and they're starting to question whether I am buying enough. Jedd with his new bread machine and baking habit keeps loading flour and sugar into the cart, because he hears how prices of these items are rising. I don't stop him. I'm trying to teach them the difference between stocking and "hoarding". It's okay to load up now. As long as it's something we use and buy anyway. But if something happens...banks crash, truckers strike, terrorist attack, terrible natural disaster...then it's too late. Then it's wrong. Then it's hoarding.
I'm sure some of you may be shaking your heads. But I have a feeling there are more of you out there considering doing a bit of extra shopping this week or month, than there was before Y2k. Times are shaky and prices aren't going down any time soon. The dollar is weakening. It's weak. I figure I am actually stimulating the economy whilst I'm preparing as well:)
I hope just like the year 2000 and 9/11 and the lack of natural disasters, that this is all un-necessary. But I also hope my children are learning to think about being prepared. Because it can't hurt.

a borrowed poem to ponder

On a summer morning
I sat down
on a hillside
to think about God—
a worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
a single cricket;
it was moving the grains of
the hillside
this way and that way.
How great was its energy,
how humble its effort.
Let us hope
it will always be like this,
each of us going on
in our inexplicable ways
building the universe.
- mary oliver -