Iraq

Melody has some excellent observations today on the war, the statistics we're hearing about the war, the effectiveness of our soldiers, and what we hear from the media. Highly recommended reading, and it's not too long either.

Wanted?

With these words, Pr Asburry closed a wise blogpost on the topic of Issues Etc's cancellation:
If I were in the shoes of either Pr. Wilken or Mr. Schwarz, I'm sure that I wouldn't want to return to a place of employment that made it so abundantly clear that I was less wanted than window dressing.

Gary's been working an average of 11-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for eight weeks now. Well, that's not entirely true: he did have a couple of hours off for the legal transactions to buy the house. It is not good for the body nor for the soul (nor for the family) for there to be no day to rest or day to help with family matters.

Someone called Sunday morning after the sunrise service and eagerly asked who was preaching for the services on Easter. When told, her response was a disappointed, "Oh, I thought he was gone."

"Less wanted than window dressing," eh?

Jesus wasn't wanted either. But nevertheless He came and ministered and suffered and forgave our rejection of His loving service. Thing is, we are not capable of measuring up to "what would Jesus do."

Corks

There is a reason wine bottles are topped with corks instead of screw-on lids. If the wine was not fully fermented prior to bottling, it is possible for a tiny bit of fermentation to continue after bottling. Problem is, fermentation puts off carbon dioxide, and that gas needs to go somewhere. If the bottle is topped by a cork, the cork can blow and the wine can spill out. If the bottle is not topped by a cork, the only thing left is for the glass bottle to explode.

Yesterday was awful. It took me until after 10:30 this morning to manage to force myself out of bed to face another day. I made it all the way to the couch to sit down with Maggie and watch a Schlessinger video about life in pioneer days. At the end of the video came a loud crash from the kitchen and the sound of glass breaking. Assuming the cat had naughtily jumped on the counter and knocked down about $30 worth of oversized (and hard-to-find) glass jars that were drying and hadn't yet been put away, we ran to see what was up.

It would've been better if the cat had broken the jars.

We had received a gift of homemade black raspberry wine. It exploded. It had a cork. I don't know why the cork didn't blow out and why the glass gave way instead. That whole cupboard was full of broken glass, and sticky ant-enticing wine was sprinkled and poured over everything. With three of us working, it took an hour to clean up the glass and spills.

However, black raspberry juice stains. The white kitchen walls are stained with the spray of the wine. The only paint-can downstairs is for the bathroom. I don't know how I'm going to match the kitchen paint. Given the nature of the house, I'm not going to be able to paint the stained walls, but will have to do the whole kitchen, the hallway, and one wall of the living room. I think I can get by with ignoring the stairwell to the basement which really should be done to match the kitchen, but wouldn't absolutely have to be.

I can't believe this. When I can't even keep up with the basic necessities of life (food and laundry), I get to do all the work associated with moving, and now, while the to-do list daily grows longer and never shorter, I need to paint several rooms too.

Sabbath

The Pharisees went to Pilate, asking that the legs of the criminals might be broken so that their bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath ...

for that Sabbath was a high day.

No foolin'.
The highest Sabbath-rest in all of time.

Garnish

I don't do pretty. I do practical. Do what needs to be done, and do it as efficiently as possible so as to get to the next thing that's demanding my attention ... because after all, there's never enough time. I'm not happy with the fact that I'm that way and would like to remedy it, but it seems (oddly enough! - LOL) that there isn't time for that.

Yesterday I made fruit smoothies for lunch. Cantaloupe and strawberries and bananas with orange juice. (All of those, except the bananas, were on sale 2-for-1 and so that brought them down to normal Woodman's prices, so I was willing to buy them at my local grocery store.) Andrew looked at those humongous strawberries and decided to snatch one before it went into the Cuisenart to use as garnish on the edge of the smoothie glasses. A little touch. It took him all of 10-15 seconds to do it. But what was the response? Every single person in the house gave a little gasp and an "oooooooh" when handed that pretty glass with the little strawberry-slice garnish.

Maybe I should read Hidden Art again, and slow down, and take the book to heart.

John 18:4

Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?"

He knew all that would come upon Him for the rest of the evening and the next day. And yet He did not shy away from the soldiers but approached them. As Jesus told the Pharisees earlier (Jn 10), "I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."

A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth,
the guilt of all men bearing,
and laden with the sins of earth,
none else the burden sharing.

Reproaches

Thus says the Lord:
What have I done to you, o My people,
and wherein have I offended you?
Answer Me.

And then He goes on to say how He has blessed us and we have spit in His face, how He has been abundantly good to us and we have despised Him. He demands, "Answer Me."

And what is the answer?

"Don't leave us!
Have mercy!
The Lamb of God subjected Himself to scorn and bore all our sin.
Have mercy!"

A Wonder

The Shepherd dies for sheep who love to wander.

The Master pays the debt His servants owe Him (servants who refuse to know Him).

What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

How wonderful and beyond all telling is Your mercy to us, o God, that to redeem a slave, You gave Your Son.

10" and Counting

It's been snowing for 11 hours and it's supposed to keep up (at this rate) for another 6 hours. And then lighter snowfall through the night. This is the second-worst storm of the winter. But barring that snowfall in early February, this is the worst snowstorm in years and years. And just think -- two big snowstorms ago (and several little snowfalls ago) we'd already broken the record for amount of snow in one year.

Below we have pictures of Yeti, coming in from shoveling, dripping dripping dripping wet snow.

Proofs

Tis the long-expected Prophet,
David's Son yet David's Lord.
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
Tis the true and faithful Word.

The lame walk.
The deaf hear.
The blind receive their sight.
The poor have the good news of forgiveness preached to them.

Proofs.

And if that were not enough proof, He was despised and rejected. He was mocked and spit upon. He was tormented and brutalized. He was even forsaken by the Father.

Proofs.

Snow

So the day is going to be spent shoveling, going to Tenebrae, shoveling, going to Mass, shoveling. Good Friday is a day of fasting. Today there's going to be no time to prepare food because the day will be spent only in prayer and wielding snow shovels. And yet, moving this much snow -- and HEAVY snow -- is going to leave us in need of calories!

Ash Wednesday services were canceled. I wonder if Triune will cancel Good Friday too. There weren't many people at Tenebrae this morning. On the radio on the way home from church, I heard Archbishop Dolan report that all services in the diocese would be held regardless of weather because, after all, it IS Good Friday. Hooray for the Archbishop!

Theory about "Issues Etc"

In Bible class today, Pastor wondered how the synod "for business reasons" could cancel the one show which actually brought IN money for our radio station. My husband has a theory about that, and it involves the huge amount of money that could be obtained by sending KFUO into the tank and thus "needing" to sell it off. Issues Etc is an impediment to the notion that KFUO is a complete waste of money. Read more at Gary's blog.

Unpacking Books

The boys worked on unpacking books last week, mostly so as to get rid of all those boxes piled in the middle of the library (aka dining room). Things are fairly well organized, seeing as how we boxed books by subject matter. But the library still needs straightening. So yesterday I was putzing with rearranging shelves a bit.

And it hit me like it hadn't hit me before.

The picture books, the Richard Scarry, the Dr Seuss, and the board books were up too high. A 3-yr-old couldn't reach them. I moved them to shelves closer to the floor. All those books I love! The Little House and Katie and the Smallest Bear and Harold and the Purple Crayon and Time for Bed, Sleepy-heads and Good-night, Moon! And I'll have someone to read them to. Someone to grab books and toys off the shelf, and come crawl into my lap, and say, "Read, Grandma." Not just a theoretical person who will come along someday in the future. But a real person, a person God already made, a person whose sex and hair color and body build is already known to our Father, a person who will be here sooner than later.

Putting books onto bookshelves is not supposed to be all mushy and misty-eyed like it turned out to be.

Issues, Etc

In case there's anyone who hasn't heard yet, the massively popular radio program Issues, Etc has been canceled. Signatures to protest this action are being gathered in a petition.

Matthew 27:51

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,...

When the Rock of our salvation died and His side was split (John 19:34) then even the created rocks were split too.

Black Bean Pancakes

I had a gallon-size can of black beans (thank you, Karin!) and part of it remained from the recipe I made a few days ago. A while back, Philip had had some black-bean patties that sounded good. I web-surfed for a recipe and finally got around to making it tonight. It was NOT what I wanted -- it was more pancakey and less beany. But it was good, especially topped with a hefty amount of salsa. I have requests for repeats from nearly everyone in the house, and that's a good sign! But next time I'll probably toss in some garlic and cumin with the flour before adding the wet ingredients.



Corn and Black Bean Pancakes

Whisk to combine:
1 cup flour (I used 1/3 ww and 2/3 white)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup milk

Stir in:
3/4 cup fresh corn (I thawed some frozen corn)
3/4 cup well-drained black beans

Fry pancakes.
Serve with salsa.

Gas Cap

I screwed up. A couple of months ago I dropped the gas cap when I was filling the tank. A tiny little ring-shaped liner fell out of the middle of the inside of the gas cap. When I looked in the owners manual and online, it said that this could cause a problem. But it didn't. Things were fine.

Then a few days ago the "check engine" light came on. Turned out today that it wasn't a real problem (whew!!!!) but that the loss of that little ring meant the gas cap was not sealed tightly enough. The new gas cap cost $15. The diagnostic procedure, however, cost $90. Thank heavens for the honest mechanic who didn't exploit my stupid mistake.

If I'd known, I could've solved this problem before it started. Hopefully somebody else will be prevented from a similar screw-up.

Little Things

Y'know how it looks like a house goes up SO fast when they're first building it, and it's a matter of getting the studs and drywall and roof done? But it goes so slooow when it comes down to the light switches and the wallpaper and the grout?

It seems like the moving-in went pretty fast for the first couple of days. Couches and beds and dishes and those easy decisions about where things belong. But now it's a matter of sorting through all those little things: papers that have been piling up on a stack for the last 3 years, or the doobers in a junk drawer, or the camera that I can't remember whether it's broken or just has a bad battery. I've spent the whole day on just my bedroom, and my efforts hardly show! But things will be better organized, especially for the new [smaller] space, and a lot of doobers have hit the trashcan, and that's a good thing.

Where's Your Mind Been?

The "how to" of the day on my google home page was "How to Read Palms." Hey, that sounded really cool. I was all ready to click on it and see what was written about reading the psalms, praying the psalms, singing the psalms, etc.

Oops. Then I noticed it said palms, not psalms.

So what would it say about Palm Sunday?

Oooops again. Before my finger hit the mouse to read about palms, I finally figured out that the "how to" was going to be about the crinkle-lines in the palms of somebody's hand. Well, gosh, who cares about that?!???!?

(I think I've been reading too quickly here....)

A Pietist?

An announcement was made after church yesterday (aka Palm Sunday). The youth group will meet Friday evening at 7:15 to go to the skating rink for the evening.

Now, this does not conflict with church, which is at 1:00 in the afternoon.

Nevertheless, I can't imagine planning an outing like that for Good Friday. I don't know why it bothers me so much. After my infant god-daughter's funeral, I took her siblings to the playground to burn off some energy and play with friends while her parents visited with all the out-of-town company. That didn't seem inappropriate. I don't think it's inappropriate to have potlucks after church services, or Easter egg hunts for the kids. I don't expect my kids to sit around and be somber all day on Good Friday. But somehow, the idea of a youth group outing on the evening of Good Friday just seems wrong. This is where I always question whether I'm being reasonable or too much the pietist.

In Town

I love the picture book The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. It's a story about a little house in the country, surrounded by daisies, watching the sun rise and set and the seasons pass. The little house wondered what the far-off city was like. But as the city grew, and the little house first became part of a village, then part of a small city, then a big city, then in the midst of a huge city, the little house decided it missed the country and the daisies and the sunsets and the birds.

Down at the old house yesterday for church, I heard and then saw many many V's of migrating geese heading north. Now, I'm not too fond of Canada geese, but they weren't coming to live here -- they were passing through -- and seeing them was still a happy harbinger of spring. Later I heard and then saw V's of sandhill cranes migrating too. That always thrills my heart! And I wonder how I'll do in town, not being able to see the horizon, not being able to measure time by which wildflowers are in season. I fear that I may become the little house who ended up longing for her rural life back.

And yet...
on Friday the car's "check engine" light came on. And the new mechanic is only 8 minutes away instead of 33. (That really adds up when you have to make two roundtrips for each repair!) And yesterday I injured my neck helping to carry furniture up from the basement at the old house, and it's only 6 minutes to the D.O. instead of 70. So I'm finding there are definite benefits to living in town. Now, to focus on the gains instead of the losses....

Raw Milk

Kids with vcfs have rotten teeth. Some even have dentures by their early 20s. I think every mom of a vcfs kid knows what it's like to be scolded by the dentist or hygienist for not taking good enough care of her kid's teeth. Even after having five kids with good healthy teeth, it's like suddenly the dentist thought I was giving kid#6 a baby bottle full of Pepsi all day, and never brushing her teeth. Maggie would normally have 2 or 3 cavities per semi-annual visit, sometimes 4, and if we were lucky "only 1."

We began drinking raw milk a year and a half ago. Not only has that helped with allergies, but Maggie has not had ANY cavities in the last three visits to the dentist! But we've moved. Where will I find raw milk conveniently available? Can't exactly keep goats or a jersey in the back yard of a subdivision....

Side of Beef

When I buy beef from a local farmer, I pay a certain amount for the hanging weight, and a certain amount to the butcher for processing. I have wondered in the past how that cost ends up comparing to the price I see at the grocery store or in the butcher's case.

Today I picked up half a cow from a butcher I haven't patronized before. The meat was neatly packed in flat boxes, making it easy to put in the car and into the freezer. So I weighed it, just to find out how much of the cow's hanging weight actually makes it into the freezer. It ended up to be about 2/3. With the butcher's fee, the price per pound ended up about twice as much as I pay the farmer for hanging weight. That's helpful to know when I compare to grocery-store prices, and makes the grocery-store prices look less shocking.

Remission

The new hymnal has changed some references that were in TLH. "Remission of sins" is a phrase that we are no longer very fond of: "forgiveness of sins" is the preferred way to say it. The reason given was that "remission" is a word that people associate with cancer, a word that indicates the disease is gone, beaten back, but may return. We want to talk about forgiveness of sins so that we know the sins are defeated and fully paid for.

Okay, I see that point. I agree.

But isn't there a place for talking about remission of sins too?

In this life, we are weighed down by the Old Adam. The sinful nature continues with us until we assume room temperature. Sins do go into remission. They are beaten back. But sometimes they return. Sometimes they return overwhelmingly. Sometimes the doctor (the Seelsorger) must apply massive doses of medicine (the word and sacraments) to heal us again.

The word "remission" has fallen into disfavor because of the recognition that sin is not fully defeated. Maybe it's the distinction between justification and sanctification? We dare not think that keeping the sin in remission is something we do, something to which we contribute. But yet it seems very real that "remission" is a picture of how we struggle with the sinful nature until he is fully defeated in our death.

Boy, I think we need both words: forgiveness and remission.

Plundering the Egyptians

Recently I was conversing with an acquaintance who was explaining to me how God wants His Christians to have physical health and material wealth and every other bounty while we are yet here on earth.

Our story today is from Exodus 12. Prior to the Angel of Death passing over the land, the children of Israel went to their Egyptians neighbors and asked for gold, silver, and clothing. And God gave His children favor in the sight of the Egyptians. The Egyptians just handed over the wealth.

Why? So that God's people could be rich rich rich?

About 10 chapters later in the book, we find out why. Those riches would be brought to Moses so that the artisans who made the ark and the altar and the tapestries could build the tabernacle according to God's plans.

So in gratitude and faith, the people turned all that wealth back over to the Lord who had delivered them and given them the wealth. And what did God do with it? He appointed that tabernacle as the place where His people would receive the true wealth. In that place -- made of the gold and silver and cloth that they'd plundered from the Egyptians -- in that place God forgave their sins, He covered them with the blood of atonement, He heard their prayers, He put His name upon them, He gave them all the wealth of heaven instead of the measly wealth of earth.

Books

The bookshelves are up. The books are unpacked. There's still a lot of putting-in-order that will need to be done with the books. But at least we can now walk through the room that will be the library/dining room, and pass through that room to the laundry room and workshop.

The kitchen is covered with post-it notes on the cupboards and drawers so that we can spend a little less time hunting for things. "What's behind Door #1? Oh, maybe we'll try Door #3 instead."

Setting up some new bank accounts today took two hours. And here I originally thought it would be about 10 minutes. Oh well.

I think (???) I now know my new phone number AND new address and new email addresses.

Today's mail brought an awesome surprise. A bunch of homeschooling friends went together to purchase a house-warming gift of a gift-card to Home Depot. Won't that be helpful!! Wow, I keep getting blown away by how God provides for us just when I suspect He may have forgotten.

Dishes Fairy

With the dish-drainer still back at the old house, I've been having problems washing dishes. Then I discovered that I could use the dishwasher to stack wet clean dishes so as to let them dry. But today we did something wild and crazy. We put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher still dirty [gasp!] and then later put the supper dishes in there too. We put in the soap, closed the door, pushed the magic button, and headed to church for Lenten service. And when we came home....
the dishes fairy had come and made everything clean.
Pretty nifty!

One of Those Days

Started off at the laundromat, and the machine did NOT want to take my quarters. Good grief, when I can't even manage to operate a vending machine (how hard can it be to shove quarters into a slot???), the omens do not portend a good day.

I skipped the board meeting for the state homeschool organization. A lot of important things on the agenda today. But I just couldn't handle the trip in the midst of all the necessities of changing homes after 17 years.

Brought the clothes home from the laundromat, intending to throw them into the dryer. But it took THREE trips to the hardware store before it finally would work. I couldn't manage it, no matter how hard I tried, but Paul hooked up the exhaust vent, as well as changed the outlet.

Made a good dent in cleaning the basement. Pretty soon those cupboards downstairs will be clean enough so that we can begin unpacking the things that need to be stored in the basement. The boys put together three more sets of bookshelves today, so the books can be unpacked as soon as we get a few other tasks accomplished.

Also got a lot of hooks hung up on walls so that some stuff can get off the floors and counters. I love these hooks that don't mar the wall!

The cats have begun to explore outside. They don't go too far (yet) and they come back. But Maggie is stressed whenever the kitties are out gallavanting.

Paul got the baseboards varnished so that Gary can install them in the one bedroom tomorrow evening. He also varnished and attached legs to the legless table for the breakfast nook. Hey, tomorrow we'll no longer need to sit on the floor for all meals!

Worked on some more address changes. Made several phone calls. Andrew had unpacked my computer and set it up for me this afternoon. After phoning APT, I wanted to get online and invite homeschoolers to the annual Shakespeare outing in September. But there were password problems and other glitches with the ISP: it took over two hours (and great frustration on my part, and a whole lot of Gary's assistance, and a long time on the phone with the provider) before I could use the email. That seems to be fixed, but a few things still are not working right. Oy!

Anagrams

Oh, this is too fun! Jeff's blog directed us to a site that makes anagrams out of words. When I put in my name, I got nearly 5000 anagrams, including:
Beach Gals Shun
Chasubles Hang
Bagels Can Hush

Lent in 3-Year

My father-confessor's congregation began using the 3-year lectionary this past Advent. The congregation I'm a member of is on the historic 1-year series. It seemed to me in December that Advent had more of a "pre-Christmas" feel in the 3-year series, and more a call to repentance in the 1-year series. But my Stuckwischy friend disagreed with me, so I questioned my perspective.

During Lent I have again noticed a difference between the 3-year and 1-year series. The 3-year lectionary for Lent this year seems to have a lot about light. I've been feeling like I'm still in Epiphany. I love the readings. I love the sermons. I love the hymns. But it hadn't seemed very Lentish. Then today, the OT reading was Ezekiel 37. It was hard for me to pay attention because I kept thinking, "That's for Thomas Sunday" (also known as the first Sunday after Easter) and "Why are we reading Easter stories already?"

So here's the perspective of someone who's in the midst of Series A and the 1-year series at the same time:
Series A treats Lent more like a transition from Epiphany to Easter.
One-year series uses it more as a time of penitence.

Black Stove

Bread crumbs and spilled salt and cotton lint show up a whole lot more on a black stovetop than on a white stovetop.

Cats don't much appreciate being moved to a new home.

When a family is moving into a house, there are more things to fix, more projects to tackle, and more decisions to make than I dreamed possible.

With much help from friends, we have transferred the beds, the dressers, the piano, most of the appliances, and much of the cookware to the new house. But there's still a lot to be done at the old house. I wonder where the motivation to DO it will come from, when things are getting kinda nicely settled here? And when my body is sore and aching from 1) a fall on the ice last week, and then 2) all that physical labor of lifting and hauling?

Katie's News

Since Katie and Nathan have made all the personal phone calls and she is now announcing it on her blog, I guess it is okay for me to tell the joyful news too.

Maggie and I are going to be keeping an eye on Baby Center's fetal development website so that she can learn about the growth of the new family member. By Thanksgiving my first grandbaby should arrive.

Really Good Rice

Our standard and boring rice recipe is to cook the brown basmati in double the amount of water, throw in a little chicken Better-Than-Bouillon (or better yet, use real home-made stock), some onion and celery and garlic and grated carrot, spiced with salt, pepper, and parsley. If we're feeling like Wisconsinny cheeseheads, we will put in several slices of American cheese after the rice is done cooking, let it melt, stir, and have a dish quite like some of the expensive boxed-rice side-dishes sold in the grocery store (ahhh, but ours is made of real ingredients).

I didn't have American cheese. Or cheddar. (Trying to deplete the grocery stash prior to moving day, doncha know.) So I thought I'd try adding feta. For 2 cups of rice, 1 onion, 2 ribs of celery, and no carrots (still tryin' to run down those grocery supplies), I added about 1/3 cup of feta.

Oh. My. Goodness.

It was unbelievable. Andrew declared it was the best rice he'd ever eaten in his life. Then he found out there was feta in it. Andrew does not like feta. But he pulled together his good sense and his well-favored taste buds, and decided he wanted to eat this again!

The Work of Moving

We have the usual: cleaning and packing and making decisions. What caught me off-guard was the amount of cleaning. I thought the new house looked well taken care of and clean. But the previous owners smoked, and the bucketfuls of wash-water come out a whole lot dirtier than anticipated. So the cleaning is taking longer than expected. We also have a lot of laundry to do this week. Not only are there piles of cleaning cloths, but there's also loads and loads of blankets and jackets and other non-weekly (not even monthly) laundry to be freshened. The septic system at the new house needs to be replaced, so it's important that we not overload it and cause it to fail. That means a laundromat will become a major feature in my life for the next 7-12 weeks. That means I want to get all the wash done NOW, while I still can run a machine without putting quarters into it.

It was nice to have some extra hands come and help with the cleaning today. Of course, there has to be visiting amidst the scrubbing. Mouths can work at the same time as hands. Thank you, Laura and Mary and Rachel!

Otoscope

Andrew had another ear infection early this year. At that point, I wanted to write this post but didn't get around to it. A friend took her son to the doctor today to check for an ear infection. When she said, "If only I had an otoscope, I could look at his ears myself," I decided I really wanted to get this posted publicly.

Two of my children have problems with outer ear infections due to wax build-up (due to oddly shaped ear canals). After a couple of ER visits, I learned how to deal with the wax problem the way the doctors do. But one of the important tools is the otoscope: you have know when to keep flushing the ear and when it's clean enough to stop, and looking through an otoscope tells you what you need to know.

So I investigated otoscopes. The Dr Mom otoscope is the friend of any bright mother. When the child goes to the doctor with an ear infection, ask to see through the doctor's otoscope. Begin to learn what an ear infection looks like. (The Dr Mom website also gives some illustrations.) The otoscope can tell you when a child's ears are clear as can be. It can tell you when there's an outer ear infection. It can show when the ear drums are getting stuffy with allergies. It can show when there's infection that might spur you to make an appointment with the doctor posthaste. These things are, like, 25 bucks, and that includes shipping. If you can avoid even one co-pay for the doctor, you've paid for the otoscope. Mine is about five years old and still works just great. This is something I wish I'd known about much earlier in my mommy-days. It saves time and it saves money, and sometimes it allows a sick child stay home in comfort instead of sitting in a doctor's office getting exposed to more germs "just in case" he might need the amoxicillin.

Better Late than Early

Although it's the name of an education book (the philosophy of which I quite agree with!), that's not what I'm writing about here.

When you have an appointment with the cable guy at your new house, it would be better if he showed up late rather than early. We have been waiting for installation of the phone and internet at the new house. I made the appointment for the phone hook-up. A few days later I added the order for the internet. Both times the appointment was confirmed for 1:00-3:00. We arrived at the new house at 11:30, just to make sure. And he had already arrived, found us not there, and left.

Now we have to wait until Thursday before they can come back. I've heard this company has lousy customer service, and they can get by with it because they're the only cable-game in town. But still, it would be better if they were late rather than early. Then I would've been frustrated by the long wait, but at least I wouldn't have had to wait five days.

It makes me disgusted with myself how these little glitches can totally turn me into a basket case these days.

House

We gave them a whole bunch o' money. We signed the contract to give them a whole bunch more money. They gave us the keys. And the house is now ours. Well, ours and the bank's. Moving day is scheduled for next Saturday, assuming the weather doesn't thwart our plans. It's a very very very nice house. (Hey, the rest of the song fits too: with two cats [soon to be] in the yard. Life used to be so hard. Let's hope the "now everything is easy" comes to pass too.)

Too Cold to Stick

We've spent the last few days boxing up books at a fast-n-furious rate. And toys. And books. And games. And more books. When I went downstairs today to fill some more boxes, I found tape coming loose from some of the boxes. This is name-brand, "high quality" packaging tape. And it's so cold in the basement that it's not sticking well. Yikes! I don't want bottoms falling out of book boxes. But what can you do to make tape stick in the cold??? I'm inclined to turn up the heat, but it's been cold in the basement the last two years regardless of how warm it is upstairs. (And that's weird, because for many a year, it seemed that the basement was warmer in winter and cooler in summer, which fits better with what science says.)

Baking

Thanks to recommendations from several homeschooling friends, we found a place to order appliance parts online with advice on installing them. Gary took apart the stove on Saturday so that we made sure we were ordering the correct part. I had it next-day-aired, so it arrived today. Paul installed it this morning and put the stove back together. And now we have a fully operative oven, at less than half the price we were quoted by our favorite local repairman.

We ate cornbread for lunch.
We'll eat pizza for supper.
I like having appliances that work!

I am impressed with my manly guys who can fix things for me!

Coping

My friend Elephant's Child has been writing recently about her experiences fleeing leaving Africa and coming back to live in the States. In one of her posts this week on the topic, she stated: Gradually it dawned on us that we hadn't even truly been aware of the intensity of strain we'd been under until now, now that it was gone. Still, it was almost harder now. Tears came at strange times.

It reminded me of a much smaller experience many moms have had. One of the kids is injured. Mom does all the right things: pressure on the bleeding cut, ice-pack to reduce swelling, getting the kid to ER, telling the story repeatedly to nurses and doctors, comforting the frightened child, going home with the instructions to watch for signs of infection. Mom does what needs doing. She holds up. She manages to do what needs to be done for those who depend on her.

And then, the next day, she accidentally breaks a glass, or one of the kids spills a quart of milk, and Mom loses it. She falls to pieces. Somebody tries to comfort her that it's just a little accident, that it's easily mended, that it's gonna be okay. And that only makes it worse, because she knows it just a little accident and that she shouldn't be crying or losing her temper or whatever. But it's not the broken glass or spilled milk, it's the incident of the previous day that's getting to her.

I suppose it's good to be able to hold up during the crisis, even if a person falls apart later. But it's pretty unexplainable when it appears that such little difficulties can take somebody down when they've managed to make it through so many bigger problems.

Dry Roads

Gary has been working for four weeks. Last night, during his commute home, was the first time I wasn't worried about the drive. Such a nice relief!

Up until yesterday I think I'd jogged three times in 2008. Between weather, being out of town, weather, illness, weather, busyness with appointments due to the upcoming move, and a little bad weather [What? Like, you see a theme here???] it's been nearly impossible to get my daily sunbath and exercise. But yesterday I forced myself, and today I'm going out there again. Maybe it will become a habit again. I have to jog on the county highway now; the parking lot (where I usually jog in circles) is still an ice rink, and the town roads aren't exactly cleared either. But -- wooohooo! -- a weekend of above-freezing temperatures is predicted!

Mixed Feelings

While I was in town this afternoon, somebody came and put up a sign at church. There's a fund-raising breakfast at the fire department this Sunday morning.

Now, on the one hand, people could come to church, see the sign, and go to the Fire & Rescue fund-raiser after church instead of going to one of the restaurant buffets. And yet, it seems wrong somehow that there's a sign at the church entrance, advertising something else to do on Sunday morning, somewhere else to be.

It reminds me of the annual AAL baseball outings, always on a Sunday morning, always gathering to get on the bus to head off to the big city for the major league game at the same time Service is scheduled to start. It boggles the mind that we're asked to advertise "church activities" that conflict with the Divine Service.

At least this Sunday's benefit is not as bad as when the local Methodist church runs their fund-raisers on Sunday mornings. It always shocks me to hear that they're serving breakfast on Palm Sunday. It's Holy Week! And these church-folks can't find anything better to do at 9:00 on Palm Sunday morning than to flip pancakes? At least the benefit for the Fire Dept is a secular event that is being run (presumably) by non-Christians, and the Christians are gobbling the yummies before or after church.

Unfair Tax Cuts

I'm tempted to cut-n-paste the whole article and put it here, because I know most people don't click on links in blog-posts. But this one you need to read. It's not long. It's not heavy to ponder -- it's just a little story about some guys in a bar. And it illustrates those unfair tax cuts to the rich guys. Go read the little story at Scott's blog.

John 18:8-9

The scene is the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of Jesus' betrayal. The big crowd of soldiers have come out to arrest Him.
Jesus answered, "I have told you that I AM. Therefore if you seek Me, let these go their way," that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of those whom You gave Me I lost none."

In the last year, I have frequently been confused by "that the saying might be fulfilled." Today in Bible class we ran across another one. I couldn't figure out WHY the soldiers' letting the disciples go would have anything to do with Jesus' not losing them. I mean, in the High Priestly Prayer when Jesus said that God would allow none of the disciples to be lost (except Judas), He was talking about their faith. But when Jesus told the soldiers to let the disciples go free, that was a temporal matter, a matter of whether or not the disciples were getting the handcuffs. I couldn't figure out why the lack of the disciples' arrest would fulfill the saying.

After I had explained my question to Pastor several different ways, he suddenly understood what I was asking and had an answer. If the disciples had NOT been let go by the soldiers, if they had been dragged along with Jesus and put on trial, if they had been beaten, they could not have borne it. They would have been destroyed. They could not have endured it. They would have been lost. But Jesus could not allow them to be lost, so He could not allow them to be tested beyond what they were able. So they were let go ...

that the saying might be fulfilled.

American Idol

Why do so many contestants say they're doing this "for my kid"? Does it really benefit the kid for Mom or Dad to go to Hollywood, leave munchkins with extended family, and not see the son or daughter?

Obama's Ad

In anticipation of yesterday's primary, we were treated repeatedly to one of Barak Obama's ads on tv. One of the class-warfare statements he threw out there in the ad was that CEO's make more in 10 minutes than your average Joe makes in a whole year.

Being mathematically inclined, my instant reaction was "Good grief! That is so outlandish. If anybody did the math, this would be shown to be a completely goofy claim."

Well, yesterday and today, two of my favorite talk-radio guys (Mark and Charlie) did the math. (If you're interested, it pans out to a CEO earning somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 billion dollars per year.) Callers wondered why Obama didn't complain about movie stars or sports heroes who earn more in 10 minutes than the average worker earns in a year.

But the funny one was the comment:
"Hi, I'm Barak Obama. And I spent more on this 30-second commercial to convince you to vote for me than you earn in a year."

Pretty Peppers

Gumbo for dinner today.

I don't know what's up with pepper prices, but the red peppers were a dime cheaper than the green this week, and the yellow peppers were only a dime higher than the green. (For a few of you twenty-somethings who pay no heed to pepper prices, the ripe ones are usually 50-100% more than green.)

I thought the skillet full of veggies was SO pretty. Every time I walked over to the stove to stir them, I was floored by the colors of the onion, celery, green peppers, and red pepper. Little things like this remind me of Edith Schaeffer's Hidden Art.

Rash

For several years I've been struggling with a rash on a few fingers that has been slowly getting worse, to the point of being chapped and bleeding. I tried wearing rubber gloves instead of putting my hands in the dishwater, but eventually that wasn't doing enough and the latex itself proved to be an irritant. I tried lotions, and it didn't help much. I even tried using Melaleuca dish soap. Although it helped, it didn't help enough. I tried making my own lye soap for showering, and that helped too, even though the slow downward slide of itchiness and scabs continued.

This December I started using Burt's Bees Thoroughly Therapeutic Hand Creme. In January Jane gave me some Melaleuca Renew skin therapy lotion. (Somebody here had come home from the hospital once with a small tube of Renew, and it was awesome stuff!) Those lotions have helped a lot.

But last month I found something that has made the biggest difference -- using a shampoo with no lauryl or laureth sulfates. That organic shampoo cost a fortune at the health food store, but it's the main thing that has my hands on the road to healing!

I'm hoping that -- like Katie -- I'll also see some significant improvement once I have a dishwasher. :-)

Gambling

I hate gambling. I hate it. I hate trying to decide when is the time "to hold up, when to fold up, when to walk away, when to run." I don't like risk, even with the stock market or IRA money-market funds.

When we started looking for a house, the interest rates were low -- 5.625%. By the time we found the house, made the offer, and filled out the formal loan applications, interest rates had gone up to 6.125%. The mortgage officer (and we) figured the rate would surely come down a bit again. But the next day the rates went to 6.25%. The next business day (today) they're up another 1/8. Each 0.125% means another $18/month on the mortgage. So we have to decide when to lock in the rates: now before they go higher? Or if we lock in today's rates, will they just go down tomorrow and we'll kick ourselves for not waiting another day or two?

I HATE gambling!

But we have fuel...

I realize it's cold outside, but c'mon, when the thermostat is set at 68, it seems like it should be a little warmer than 62 in the warmest part of the house.

I went to drop off the van today for an alignment after the accident, then voted. Came home to start dinner and a couple of batches of bread. Then I discovered the oven doesn't work. It's not a fuel shortage: the stove and broiler work. This pushed back dinner several hours. The repairman tells me it'll be $150 to fix it. So do we fix a stove? If we don't, we can't very well try to sell it. While the boys and I were trying to figure out some do-it-yourself information on the internet, I managed to burn the carrots for the dinner that was finally almost ready in the late afternoon. Shoot.

Boxes

Maggie is DYIN' to start packing things into boxes. Multiple times a day, "Can we start packing now?" Paul brought home flattened boxes from work early last week. I didn't get packing tape to build boxes until Saturday. So then Maggie was rarin' to go. But yesterday we had flooding in the basement. I wasn't about to start taking things off shelves (that is, up off the floor) and start putting them into boxes which would then rest on a wet floor.

So now the floor in the basement is dry. (Everything outdoors is too frozen to have running water today.) And now I'm being pressed again to start the packing. And here, I have these silly notions about taking care of mortgage applications and home-owner's insurance and arranging telephone service. We don't seem to see eye-to-eye on what's the priority in this moving venture.

Clean Stove Top

Visiting Laura last week, we got to talking about her new electric stove and the pros and cons of different stove tops. Hers is electric, I currently have propane gas, and next month I'll have natural gas.

As we were talking, I got to ranting about the salesmen who were giving me the pitch about sealed burners being so easy to clean. When I previously had sealed burners, it was the hardest-to-clean stove I ever worked with. Every time the potatoes boiled over, every time something spilled while I was cooking, it would burn on. No matter how much scrubbing, no matter how much chemical, no matter how much elbow grease, no matter how quickly you attacked the spill, the process of cooking the food caused the spill to bake onto the stove top. It drove me nuts.


The next time we needed a stove, I refused to consider anything with sealed burners. We ended up getting a much cheaper appliance. Apparently the unsealed burners are less desirable. The salesmen told me how much harder it is to clean the stove when the burners aren't sealed. Poppycock. The spillovers will spill down the hole, under the cook-top, onto the part of the stove where the burners are attached to the gas. As long as that part is nicely sealed, it's a breeze to wipe it up. Nothing there burns on! Of course, I may not clean underneath the stove-top as frequently as I should. It may get cleaned underneath only a couple of times a year (unless there's a gloriously messy spillover) but the stove-top stays nice, and the part where the food goes stays nice.

I think the stove in the new house has sealed burners. Bummers. But, hey, it's a black stove, so whatever burned-on messes I have won't glare as badly as they do on a white stove-top.

Age of Empires

I do not approve of video games. I do not approve of television. (Of course, my aversion to letting the kids watch tv is more of a testimony to how much I have been addicted to it. We tend to dislike most in others what are our own glaring weaknesses.)

Nevertheless, we have games that the kids play on the computer. We watch tv. I struggle all the time with "how much?" and "what kind?" and "Is this okay?" and whether I'm overly micro-managing those things.

When Maggie was first learning to read and spell, she really blossomed when we bought one of those Leapfrog games. Here she was, learning in a way that seemed to play on her strengths, and I was (in a way) not okay with it because it involved a computer.

The boys love playing Age of Empires. And Age of Kings. And Age of Mythology.

And do you know what those kids have had the audacity to do? LEARN SOMETHING from these video games! Can you believe that? When we've been doing our geography lessons and our vocabulary, they keep pointing out to me that the reason they know this or that factoid is because they learned it from Age of Kings.

Well, how d'ya like that? I don't approve of those games, and yet my children go and get something beneficial from them anyhow. Harrumph!

Friction Experiments

Kids do science experiments for their schoolwork that simulate no-friction or low-friction. Today the grown-ups get to play with concepts of no-friction.

At 7:00, the deacon at my daughter's church called to get her correct phone number. They're canceling church. It's not the roads so much as it is the parking lot. The pastor's and deacon's cars -- when stopped and parked -- were still sliding across the parking lot. So much for friction between the tires and the asphalt! The rain on top of our snow and the melting have made quite things quite slick. Combine that with the freezing that will be coming later in the day, and it's going to be bad this evening when Philip is due to come home from work.

There's over 2" of water out behind the van. It's the low spot of the driveway that passes in front of church, and the piles of snow & ice prevent the rainwater from going further downhill. I moved the van out of the deep puddles to the spot where Philip's car had been parked earlier, and I managed not to hit our car that was parked in the neighboring spots.

When Gary went over to church this morning, he only hit the ground (and the puddles) once. But that was when he was already aware of how slick it was, and he was walking shuffling with extreme caution.

The church parking lot isn't on toooo much of a slant, but there's a definite incline down to the parking lot from the road. Because of that (in addition to people being able to make it safely from their cars into the church building) the elders have chosen to notify people of the situation, which probably means our family will be the only ones at church today.

When I awoke early this morning, I decided to do the week's grocery shopping before church this morning, anticipating being snowed in later today and tomorrow. I guess I'll stay home and be creative about using up the groceries that are here and making do without potatoes and apples and flour. I don't want to do my own friction experiments with my vehicles.

Jealousy

One of the couples at church had a big party last night: combined birthdays and his retirement. I shared howdies with lots of people, but spent most of the time conversing with six nice nice couples. It was a really enjoyable time.

But one thing struck me yet again. What do I do with my time? A few people were chatting about skiing. Downhill or cross-country? Why one is better than the other. Then someone asked me, "Do you do cross-country?" No. "Oh, but you should. It's so beautiful. It's such good exercise. You'd love it." But WHEN?

After mulling that over for 12 hours, I whined at Gary about what I'm doing, and how I'm doing it wrong, how I must be wasting my time that I don't engage in hobbies and sports and those nice "family activities" that we should do with the kids. I recalled the jealousy I felt last summer when I'd be doing my paper route, and see all sorts of people out in their yards, grilling, drinking margueritas, socializing with their company. For the first time in four months, this week I got together with my friends for a few hours for the kids to play and the moms to talk.

I'd like to say that I'm busy homeschooling and spending all this quality time with my children, but the reality is that I don't spend as many hours on that as I ought. I wonder if I waste too much time on the computer, but it's usually done in 10-minute snatches while the bread is kneading or the meat is browning, so a lot of my computer time-wasting is slipped into small time-slots that would not be usable for a hobby or a sport.

Gary says that the things that gobble up my time are church and food. The friends who have more time for skiing and snowmobiling and baseball are (for the most part) friends who are willing to miss church on Sundays now and then, and who never come to midweek services or Bible class. As for food, I do spend hours daily on cooking from scratch. Gary reminds me that most of the people in America are willing to do take-out pizza, take-out Chinese, take-out Subways, and other fast food. As he talks to kids in his confirmation class, he finds that they don't often sit down for a family meal; food is just something to grab (from McDonalds or from the insta-food section of the grocery store) and eat "on the way" to wherever you're going.

So I guess my "hobbies" are making real dinners and going to church. Why am I unsatisfied with that, and want to be able to bowl and ski and sew and play music and all those other fun things?

Walworth Apartments

As long as I'm making recommendations for local businesses, there is a great apartment manager in Walworth. For those who are in need of an apartment to rent in Walworth, Fontana, or the surrounding areas, you really need to check out the complex on Allen Street.

It's a small complex, three buildings with 8 apartments each. I've been doing paper routes in Walworth for about a decade and have been very impressed by how this particular apartment manager takes care of the property and helps his tenants. The buildings are kept up well. The lawn is nicely cared for. The manager has been working his butt off keeping the parking lot and the sidewalks clear of snow this winter. The care he puts into his work and the pleasant way he interacts with the tenants really sets him apart. If I were to look for an apartment in Walworth, Village Commons would definitely be at the top of my list!

Auto Body Repairs

Most of you who read my blog aren't going to care about this, but I just gotta sing the praises of a local businessman, in case anybody in my area is web-surfing for a repairman.

Al's Auto Body and Arboretum is located south of Delavan, northwest of Walworth. It is conveniently located for people in Darien, Sharon, and Fontana too. Who wants to have the accident that puts you in need of a repairman? But when you do need someone to fix your car, you want somebody who is competent, reliable, and reputable.

After my accident last month, my insurance agent recommended Al Ritchey. Al has repaired his cars after mishaps, and Al has done work for many other clients of my insurance agent. Al can do the perfect repairs that many people want. But he's also wise about making less-than-perfect repairs if that's what the customer wants. For example, he didn't get new parts for my van, but pounded out the dents and repainted. This cost us only 35% of the estimated cost to repair the van "properly" and "good as new." I thought we were compromising on the van for the sake of cost, but when I picked up the van today, I was stunned by how great it looks and how well Al put it back together. He apologized that the back quarter of the van was more dented than he'd expected, so he was unable to get all the lines of the van doors to match up perfectly. (I would never have noticed the "flaws" had he not pointed them out.)

So for anybody in Walworth County who is looking for a person who does great auto-body work, I heartily suggest calling 262-275-2800.

Electric Bill

With Gary having a full-time secular job, the congregation is no longer paying for health insurance through Concordia Plans. With Gary having a full-time secular job, the elders have proposed (more generously than I had anticipated) to cut Gary's paycheck to just barely over half of last year's salary. This means that the church is paying only 1/3 of what they paid last year for their pastor. This means the church budget has been cut in half. HALF of their expenses have been eliminated.

Nevertheless, yesterday I got a phone call from the power company saying that the bill for the parsonage is past due. (Happily, it's not so far past due that there's any worry about the electricity being turned off in the next few days.)

Some of the folks at church are befuddled by what's going to happen now that the pastor has a full-time job. But from my perspective, seeing how much their expenses have decreased and how bills are still outstanding, I can't imagine what would've become of the congregation had their pastor NOT gotten a full-time job.

Happy Kitty

Late last spring, our cat Athena was getting to be so much cuddlier and schmoozier. She would occasionally jump on laps to be petted. She would let Andrew wear her as a hat or a neck-scarf. She was becoming so much more personable and part of the family instead of just Gopher-Killer-el-Supremo.

And then we committed the sin.
We got a kitten.
And we brought it into Athena's house.
An energetic and bouncy kitten, right into Athena's abode.

Athena was NOT happy.

Eight months have passed. The kitten has become a little calmer. The kitten has come to know her place and defer to the elder cat. But mostly, Athena has reconciled herself to the reality that the little monster is here to stay and that we like her, stupid though she be. In the last few weeks, Athena has begun to jump on laps again. She allows us to pet her again. She is becoming personable again. She's stopped the hissing and growling. Sometimes she will even condescend to let the kitten sleep on the same bed or couch that she is using.

Yesterday the kitten was taken to the vet. She has proved herself to be utterly and completely hopeless as a hunter. She doesn't even much like going outside. So the claws must go. The declawing procedure was today, but due to car/van unavailability, the kitten had to spend two nights in the clinic.

Athena is in heaven. Loads of attention. No kitten. And sunbeams shining through the window. (Hey, I agree with her about the sunbeams!)

Tomorrow the kitten comes home. In about three weeks, we disrupt Athena's life yet again by putting her in a car for over an hour (yikes!!) and moving her to a new house and new outdoor-territory (probably with significantly fewer bonbons gophers). I feel so sorry for my dear little huntress. She works so hard to keep us rodent-free. And this is how we treat her in return: one trauma after another.

Moving News

We're going to be moving. Instead of having Gary commute to work daily or live apart from the family, it seems better to us for the family to live together, near Gary's job, and commute back here on the weekend for church and confirmation class.

We found a house. Our offer has been accepted. The inspection showed the house to be in excellent condition, with many repairs having already been made within the last decade (windows, furnace, AC, water softener, roof, radon mitigation, electrical upgrades, and more). The sellers will be putting in a new septic system as soon as the weather allows. Closing date is set for two weeks from now.

The house has mostly brick siding, with some vertical cedar up higher on the outside walls. It's three bedroom, two bath, with a larger-than-normal kitchen. No dining room, but does have a small breakfast nook. Living room has a nice big bay window and a fireplace. Basement has some room for storage. It's a 2.5-car garage. The house is smaller than where we are now, but not tiny, and we do have people growing up who will be making their own way in the world within the next few years so the size is just about perfect.

One of the downers about the house is the large size of the yard; it's too much to mow. But given time we can put in plenty of berry canes, a large asparagus patch, maybe some strawberries and blueberries, and a garden. (Is there something wrong with my brain that I see plowing and weeding and watering as a lesser job than mowing grass?) The other downer about the house is that it has a pool. Pools take work and I'm not sure I'm up to it. But several friends have already expressed some pleasure that they'll be able to come over and swim & play. And it will be good for one of us who is a water-lover and whose cardiologist said that she needs a lot more exercise. So we'll give the pool a couple of years' worth of try, and we can always get rid of it if we think that would be better.

It's been mind-boggling to keep track of all the appointments and all the paper work and all the legal documents we've been signing, with many more to come. And now it's time to start boxing up books. It's kind of nice to know that there doesn't have to be One Big Moving Day. It's close enough (a 70-minute drive from here) that we can carry up loads in the van daily, and maybe rent a small U-Haul for a day, and then another day a week or so later, and do the job of moving as it works best (and easiest) for us.

Psalm 145

We pray at mealtimes:
The eyes of all look to You, O Lord,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

Sometimes Jesus is referred to as "the Right Hand of the Father."

This psalm-verse obviously means that God opens up His hand to disperse His blessings of food and rain and sunshine and other blessings. But could it have another aspect too? Jesus -- the Hand of God -- was "opened" by the spear of the centurion. And that is what satisfies the desires of all people as well as all creation.

Let the water and the blood
from Thy riven side which flowed
be of sin the double cure,
cleanse me from its guilt and power.

Our eyes look to Him, and the food of His body and blood is given to us.

Ringing Phone

Boy, John McCain has called me so many times tonight! When Gary called in the middle of the evening, I surprised to find it was my husband calling me and not John McCain or his supporters.

Guess which state votes on Tuesday?

Pepper Grinder

I finally came up with a solution!

The pepper grinder we'd had for years finally quit. The gears were just worn out. I bought a cheapy replacement from Shopko; it lasted for 8 months before the handle broke off. For Christmas there was a nice new high-quality (HA!) pepper grinder from Bed, Bath, And Beyond. It worked well for two weeks. Today I was so exasperated with it, I timed it: three minutes of grinding garnered me a whole whoppin' 1/16 teaspoon of pepper. Now, I'm thinkin' that's pretty darn useless.

I got me a hammer from the basement. I got me a piece of paper out of the junk mail pile. I dumped a small pile of peppercorns onto the paper, folded in the corners to make a little package, and then hammered it to smithereens. When I opened up the little packet of junk mail, I had myself a nice tablespoon of smashed-up pepper for the bean soup. And it took significantly less than 144 minutes [do the math from the preceding paragraph].

Ug

That Ug-guy (the one who buys ugly houses) is in the business of taking fixer-uppers off the market. When Ug gets to them first and makes superficial repairs, that's great for the sellers, but a booger for the buyers.

Ug got to one of the houses we looked at a week ago. There were a lot of nice things about the house. But we didn't like the way the kitchen had been remodeled. If we had bought the place before Ug, we would've made very different decisions about where the new carpeting would go, and how much kitchen counter there'd be. But when something all new has been put in, it's hard to think about buying a house with plans to rework all those things that were just changed and made all-new. Such a waste of money. But putting in new carpet and new cupboards seem to be standard procedure when people are getting ready to sell a house. (One friend, though, who's improving his home with thoughts of selling in the next couple of years, he's doing high-quality work. That's different than doing what's needed to merely "flip" a house.)

New Schedule

Again this week, we shipped off Gary to Milwaukee with a suitcase packed for the whole week. The weather forecast looks like the only time safe to drive home will be Wednesday night, and that's church night. When you're used to having a husband/daddy around for meals, as well as five minutes here and there to pop in with the mail or to come get a refill on his water jug, it's pretty hard to switch over to seeing him for an hour on Friday evening, lunch on Saturday, an hour on Saturday evening, and some time on Sunday afternoon/evening. And then Monday morning you get to ship him off to live somewhere else for five days. I don't know how soldiers' wives and truckers' wives do it.

Computer Woes

Our internet connection was down for 14 hours. And now that it CAN operate, it does so only with difficulty. It's very hard to check email or do anything on the Web, so don't expect to hear from me for a while unless it's via the telephone. Bummers....

Cold

So cold that the tires froze to the garage floor.
So cold that the knob on church door froze, and the pastor's key was broken off in the lock which refused to move.
So cold that the thermometer froze again. It's trying to tell me it's 20º while the weather report online suggests it's -7º.

New Glasses

Of course, Paul's glasses would fall out of his pocket and be lost forever in a snowbank only one short week after we're no longer on Concordia Plan which pays for glasses. Okay, so we had to get some glasses for this boy in a hurry. He just simply cannot see well enough (and his eyesight has deteriorated enough in the last couple of years) to fudge along with his previous pair of glasses.

A friend recommended Zenni Optical, an online way to order prescription glasses. You can get perfectly decent glasses for $8 or $9, with a flat $5 shipping charge regardless of how many glasses are in the order. We would've tried that, but we figured Paul couldn't make it two weeks without proper glasses. He does have to drive to work, y'know.

Shopko and our eye doctor (both conveniently located close to Paul's place of employment) would require a week before the glasses were in. So we resorted to Lens Crafters. Boy oh boy, you sure pay the premium price for needing them right now.

I think the smart thing for me to do now is to buy a back-up pair of glasses for Paul and for me. I mean, it may be a waste of $25 to Zenni, but good insurance against having to spend that kind of money for an optician-on-demand.

Hang-Ups and Cover-Ups

When one of my children was just a little toddler, the end of his finger was cut off in a door-slamming incident which would forever give me a hang-up about doors being slammed shut. When my younger sister was just a little toddler, she ended up with a bandaged eye and restrained arms due to an eye injury caused by a rubber band that was shot across the room.* This forever gave me a hang-up about children shooting rubber bands, and I take rubber-band shooting nearly as seriously as I do BB-gun shooting.

Other mothers don't bat an eye at doors being slammed. They see it simply as rude and unnecessary noise. Other mothers don't bat an eye at rubber bands sproinging across the atmosphere. They see it as amusement for little boys. Some mothers think that climbing high trees or high slides is dangerous for little kids. That I don't have a hang-up about, and my kids climbed things that would raise the hair on many a mommy.

Oftentimes, when an item is being sold, it is shown at its best. It is spiffed. It is cleaned. It is put in nice order. To some extent, that is a good and reasonable thing. Who wants to buy a broken bike? The prospective buyer will be more likely to ante up the money if the seller fixed the flat tire or the headlight first.

Sometimes, though, the cleaning and spiffing can cover up something. For example, when a person buys a used car, she wants to know if there are certain fluids leaking in the engine. But some sellers will power-wash the engine. This drives me bonkers at a nice reputable dealership where I often look for new-to-us cars. I can't see evidence that would warn me of trouble to come.

For another example, people who are selling homes often paint and put in new carpet. I have a hang-up about mildew. I want to go into a house and see whether there's evidence of mildew and mold. I want to see what the cracks in the wall are like. I want to know whether the carpet has water stains from flooding, and how bad those stains are. I don't want those things to be hidden by FRESH and NEW cover-ups, only to have the problem show up again in 3 years.

Whereas most people are more inclined to buy something that's clean and fresh and pretty, I would rather see the warts that are on the item I'm considering purchasing. I want to know what I'm really getting, and NOT what the seller wants me to think I'm getting. But because I'm the oddball and the salesmen cater to the normal people, I am often stuck with too little information about purchases I'm considering.



*Footnote: the shooter was not aiming at the wee toddler. But I could see that she was out of his peripheral vision and moving toward the trajectory. It wasn't his fault; it was a sorry accident.

Side Benefit

All week, I've had something on my feet to deal with the germies in my chest. Sometimes I've put on vaseline as the "glue" to hold garlic powder on my feet. When I want to stink a little less (okay, okay, stink a LOT less), I've been wearing Vicks on my feet. Today when I went to garlic my feet afresh, I noticed that my heels are nice and soft. That may not sound like a big deal to you, but I'm a person whose heels split and crack and even bleed through the whole winter. And they're nice and soft and not cracked. This is mega cool!

Ash Thursday

The zone LWML prayer breakfast was scheduled for our church this morning. Most of the attendees would be in their 60s to 80s, and most would be coming from 10-25 miles away. The breakfast was canceled.

Gary could not be here for church tonight, so a couple of weeks ago the elders asked the circuit counselor to preach. He's coming from 25 miles away. The ladies from our church didn't want to come out in the daylight this morning before the storm worsened. They certainly weren't going to come out in the dark when the drifts had worsened and the snow had deepened. And it would be really rotten to ask the substitute preacher to drive 4 hours to come here (because 4 hours is what it would take -- I know -- I've been out in this today).

The one that stunned me was my father-confessor's church. He canceled. He NEVER cancels. He even made a humongous point last winter to say why church is never never never canceled. Well, I guess it's not really canceled. It's postponed. We'll be having the first Ash Thursday service I ever heard of.

I think I might have to call Philip and tell him not to come home but to find a motel. I know there are people in the nearest part of Milwaukee who would give him a room to sleep in, but I don't want him driving even that far tonight.

Snow Showers

Since 3:00 yesterday afternoon we have been having "snow showers." The snow is deep. The roads are hazardous. Businesses, churches, and schools are closed. The stuff is HEAVY and hard to shovel.

But the bad weather hasn't started yet. Within an hour or two, the forecast is that we will begin about 8 hours of "heavy snow storms." And strong winds. Shoot. I don't think we're going to church tonight. And I don't know what it's going to be like for Philip to get home from work. A lot of areas are out of salt for the roads, and the guys who plow the roads are overworked and tired.

Site-Meter

Site Meter is an online tool that tracks the visitors to a website, temporarily recording what city they're from, what time they check your blog, how long the visit is, if they clicked on a link to take them somewhere else, etc.

Well, when you ship off a lonely husband to the Big City to work, and he can't get home because of humongo snowstorms, and he has to spend the evening at a friend's, .... guess what? Your site-meter readings go off the chart as he goes blog-surfing to amuse himself!

We're hoping we get to see him tomorrow night, but it probably depends on when the storms stop. In the meantime, three of us here still have to get to work in the morning. Yikesy.

Incited to Prayer?

Pastor tells us that one of the blessings of tribulation is that it incites us to pray. He says that people can go on their merry way, thinking everything is hunky-dory, but when sickness or trouble strikes, then they're more inclined to hear what Jesus has to say and to pray fervently.

But boy, when I get sick, I am not incited to pray. Just the opposite. I lie there on the couch or in bed and think about how much it hurts and how miserable I feel. And I cough and blow my nose and try to force myself to drink juice past my sore throat. Prayer is just way too much effort. Sleep is everything!

That must make me really bad.

"Total Loss"

The insurance called today and told me that the van is a total loss. She defined that for me: it will cost more to fix than it's worth.

I was confused, though. After taking off the deductible, the check they're planning to send me (assuming we don't buy the car back) is still $1200 higher than the estimate given to repair it fully. The mechanic told me that some companies will only repair if the repairs are less than 70% or 75% of the value of the car. My insurance agent confirmed that our company does this for all vehicles, not just for new ones. But the pay-out when the car is totaled is nevertheless the full value.

So it looks like we'll be probably be buying the car back and repairing it ourselves with the check from the insurance company. So maybe the loss is not quite so total as they're saying!

Value of a Car

Several years ago, we dropped comp & collision on our old cars. It seemed silly to pay $300/year insurance on a car that was worth about $1500 ... especially when we carry a high deductible.

After the van accident I was trying to figure out how the insurance company determines the value of a used car. Everybody told me that they'll consider it to be less than the Blue Book value of the vehicle. Our agent told me that you can never know how much the car will be worth until you have an accident and hear from the adjuster. Well, gosh, that doesn't help you make any decisions about when to quit paying for comp & collision.

But for us, we found that the value of the car as determined by the insurance company was very close to the private-sale value found on the Blue Book website.

House-Hunting

Last June we had reason to believe that there was a possibility Gary might get a call because his name was on two lists who were looking for a pastor like him. Neither congregation had a parsonage, so we started toying with the idea of home-ownership, and what it would take, and what it would cost, and what it would be like. But as time passed and things here changed, neither congregation called him.

In October it became clear that Gary was going to have to find a job. The congregation hadn't decided that yet, but it was obvious to us as well as the district president. Gary was having abysmal luck with the job-hunting.

When someone at Direct Supply requested that his resumé be looked at and not thrown directly into the trash, we knew that the commute would be unreasonable. We knew that, if he got that job, we'd want to consider moving. So we began studying house prices and looking for rentals and revisiting the possibility of home-ownership. Everybody told us that it was a great time to buy, with low prices and low interest rates. Nevertheless it's still overwhelming given the financial situation we've been in for the last decade.

So we found a very good deal on a house that had been in foreclosure. The bank was needing to get rid of it. It was a nicer house than we thought we could possibly find on our budget. We put an offer on it Wednesday. Our realtor had been told by the seller's realtor that there was another offer on the table, but the bank would be countering. Our realtor told them to hold off until they saw our offer later in the day, and that was welcomed. So we offered full price, knowing that even at the asking price we'd be getting a good deal. And the bank accepted the other offer. We were very disappointed. Our realtor still can't figure out what happened, but it sounds like the seller's realtor might not have even gotten our offer to the seller. Our realtor is going to talk to the bank and the other realtor today in hopes of figuring out what went wrong. But in the meantime, we go back to the drawing table and start searching again.

It's hard, though, to want to bother coming up with an offer after what happened last week. If an offer like last week's was rejected, then why should we think any other offer we make will be acceptable? I know that's not reasonable to think, but when you try something new for the first time, and it gets completely screwed up in a way that stuns even a very experienced person, things seem pointless.

Last Week's Accident

I got a copy of the police report from the accident. The guy who ran the stop sign and came right out in front of me was not ticketed.

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem has gotten a bad rap among conservatives. The term (as used in America today) has come to encapsulate the whole idea that people should "feel good about themselves" no matter what. Thus we have teachers who don't want to use red pens to mark up a kid's writing assignment because it might make little Joey feel bad about himself. We don't want to play any games where somebody might lose; think of the baseball games where the grown-ups forbid children from keeping score so that "there are no losers." (As IF the kids don't keep track of the score in their heads!)

Problem is,
that's not what self-esteem is really about.

Several years ago, I was preparing a lecture/workshop for the state homeschool conference on the topic of homeschooling preschoolers. Of course, every book you look at on the topic of Educating Young Children is primarily about self-esteem. But I was surprised by some of the research from the 60s when self-esteem first became a popular idea.

Self-esteem is not a simple "good feeling about yourself." Self-esteem is actually the recognition that hard work pays off. In other words, if you're struggling with math facts, self-esteem is the knowledge that studying and memorizing and practicing will help you learn your factoids well. If you work hard at doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, the reward is praise from Mom and a nice clean counter-top and non-sticky floor.

The original point of self-esteem was EFFORT PAYS OFF.

And the opposite of self-esteem is not "feeling bad about yourself." Actually, the opposite of self-esteem is knowing that no matter how hard you work, no matter how much effort you put in, no matter how many times you try, that you cannot change the outcome of something.

It's like the animals in psychological studies who were in cages and were given an electric shock or some other punishment every time they crossed over into the other half of the cage. Finally, when the shocks ended and the animal was free to go to the other half of the cage where the food dish was, the poor critter just stayed in the small portion of the cage, away from the food dish, because he knew it was useless to try to cross over that line. Even though he was safe, the dog had learned it was useless to try to improve his situation. THAT is what "poor self-esteem" is really about.

I don't know if anybody else cares about this. I just thought it was fascinating because some of what's said by some in the "self-esteem camp" seemed so obvious and real and sensible. But some of it was feel-good mumbo-jumbo gobbledygook. Thus I could never make sense in my mind of what was right and wrong about the concept of self-esteem. But finding out what self-esteem really is (and isn't) helped sort those things out in my mind.

Super Tuesday

There's not too much difference between McCain and Hillary on the issues.

As Belling pointed out today, a liberal Republican can be even more dangerous than a liberal Democrat. If Hillary is president, the Republicans will be trying to block her from accomplishing too much. But if McCain is president, many Republicans will support their president, and the Democrats will agree because ... well, ... because they already agree with McCain's stance on most issues. (I have long agreed with my friend Scott that there's not as much difference between the two major parties as they would like for us to believe there is.)

For those of you voting next Tuesday who are leery of Romney because of his religion, remember what Luther said about it being preferable to have a competent heathen ruling rather than an incompetent Christian. Tuesday isn't about picking a pastor, a husband, or a daddy. It's about choosing the government leader. And if there's going to be any real option in November (Scott's comments notwithstanding) then McCain will have to lose next week.

Meme

Liz and Jeff tagged me for a quick and easy meme. The instructions are to grab the nearest book, turn to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence, and post the next three sentences.

Well, the computer is next to the piano, so the nearest book is TLH. Page 123 is the start of the psalm section. And sentences 6-8 are
Why do the heathen rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us."

Let's tag..... hmmm, I can't remember who I haven't tagged for a while....
Scott, Muddy Boots, Paula, Kristi, and a certain Lutheran Woman,

Lyin' Thermometer

Out here in the country, I seem to have developed a pretty good sense of temperature, usually being able to guess within 5-10° how warm it is. I began to get suspicious early in winter when I thought it felt like about -10° but the thermometer was telling me it was 5°. I figured it was just me feeling cold and old and decrepit and fussy. But it kept happening. And then I started to notice that it was always MUCH colder in town, where the bank has a time&temp sign flashing. Hmmm.

So today, when the lyin' piece o' metal is telling me it's 10°, and schools all over are shut down due to cold, I'm thinking, "What's weather.com have to say about this?" Sure enough, my thermometer can only operate accurately down to about 15-20°, and then it just feel toooo cold to move any further down the scale. No wonder our senses aren't matching up with the nice scientific measuring tool that we used to trust over & above our senses. Well, we've learned our lesson now.

The only trick is going to be to get the kids to trust their mom's senses instead of the nice scientific measuring tool. But, hey, I've got the computer reports to verify my analysis of how cold it is out there, and whether you need long johns and mittens.

Psalm 27:8

When You said, "Seek My face,"
my heart said to You,
"Your face, Lord, I will seek."

Hey, would you look at that!?! I always thought that the heart's response was pretty much an "Okie-dokie. I will." But there's more to it than that.

The heart's response is speaking back to God what He has first spoken to us. It's repeating His words back to Him.

Kinda says somethin' about the liturgy, eh?

Fat Cat

We have always left a bowl of dry food out for the cats, available to eat as they needed. There's nothing canned. If they want "wet food," they gotta chase and capture their own.

Rosie Cotton, our kitten, is a pig. She is getting fat. We finally decided we need to put this cat on a diet. But how do you limit her access to the dry-food bowl without also removing it from Athena, who has the sense to eat the amount her body needs?

Katie feeds her cats twice a day. Okay, maybe we could try that. We'd just have to remember to pick up Athena's bowl and stick it in the cupboard whenever she walked away from her bowl, and set it out whenever she came looking for it again. Poor Rosie. She had a miserable day. We didn't know how much food was an appropriate amount, so a few times during the day we'd give her a tablespoon of kibble just to decrease her ravenous hunger. Then one time Athena left her bowl and we didn't put it away. Rosie snarfed it down, and then barfed it back up. Ah, shooooot, a cat being forced into anorexia. We decided maybe we need to feed her enough to keep her from that desperate a hunger! We'll have to keep working on this diet thing....

Whatever You Ask

Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you (John 16:23).

Loads of people will tell us that God will give us whatever we want: a nice house, a well-repaired van, good health, a happy family. But is that what this is about? A name-it-and-claim-it theology? A "prayer of Jabez" suggestion?

One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple (Psalm 27:4).


If I desire ONE thing of the Lord (to know Him and be with Him) then "whatever I ask" will be that ONE thing.

The Look of Bread

Now and then we slash the top of the bread loaves after they're shaped into loaves and before the loaves rise. Why is it that that one little touch can make the bread LOOK so much more delicious??? It's the same dough. The same taste. But nevertheless, it looks more enticing.

No Repairman

Oh my goodness! I called the nice, trustworthy, capable repairman at the body shop where I had the van towed to. He's not there. The shop is closed until April 8. Now I need to find a different repairman and get the van re-towed. Gooooood grief!

Ungreen Environmentalists

My husband tells me that a bill was passed recently which will outlaw plastic shopping bags. (I don't remember if it's Wisconsin or national.) Stores will have to return to paper bags. Now, personally, I always ask for paper instead of plastic. But the plastic that I get from Target or Walmart (or from the grocery store for carrying a bloody piece of roast) is used to make my garbage bags. But in the name of protecting the environment, we're going to get rid of those. Nevertheless, people will still be lining their kitchen trash bins with plastic. But now we'll have to BUY it instead of reusing our shopping bags. And THIS is what's considered environmentally friendly???

Whatever happened to "Reduce, REUSE, Recycle"?

And on a totally different tack, whatever happened to the government letting businesses run their businesses instead of the socialistic thing about the government micromanaging them? Ah, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

And then there's all the environmental problems caused by the new-fangled lightbulbs that are being foisted upon us with the soon-to-be-outlawed incandescent bulbs. But, hey, those new lightbulbs are "green" no matter what damage they do to the environment or people's health, because the experts on global warming have assured us that the new lightbulbs are good.

My Grocery Store

For weeks I hadn't gone grocery shopping. I picked up a few things at a local store, and a few things at Aldi. Gary had done the grocery run once, and Paul had gone once. But I hadn't done the big once-a-week trip to MY store in what seemed like ages. I was feeling stressed about money, and the idea of spending $100 or more on groceries was unreasonably stressing me. (After all, is there anything more important to spend money on than your dinner?)

And then a week ago I went to Woodman's. There was something so comforting about walking through the aisles I knew, picking up the groceries that were essential to life, seeing people I knew, and just doing one of those routine chores. And when I went to Woodman's today, the same comfortable feeling overcame me.

I am a boring old putz who loves my routine!

Today's Elders Meeting

They didn't really decide anything. At last week's voters' meeting, the elders said they would be meeting this week to make some decisions (or recommendations) about what to pay the pastor now that he has a full-time job, and what to do about health insurance, and what to do about duties at church that he has previously handled himself (such as secretarial needs).

They did decide to cancel Lenten services, and to ask the circuit counselor to take the Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday services.

But anything that applies to us (such as pay level and parsonage concerns) was not decided. So we wait some more.

Car Insurance

I haven't reported the accident to the insurance company yet; they weren't open on the weekend. But we saw our insurance agent at church this morning. I was hoping to get an idea of which Blue Book value they use in determining whether a car is totaled or repairable: the trade-in value, the private-sale value, or [unlikely] the retail value. He didn't know. He said it would be decided by the appraiser. Oh well, I guess we just wait on that one then.

The big bummer was what he told us about the non-contact accident. Because the other driver was not hurt and his property was not damaged, his insurance company can simply ignore the accident. We said, "But the police report says he's at fault." Doesn't matter apparently. Since I didn't make contact with his vehicle, all the liability falls on me and my insurance company. Can you believe that??? I would've been better off financially had I just stayed in my lane, slowing as much as possible without losing control, and creamed him. I thought it was better to do less damage. But apparently I'll be punished for it, and get to pay the deductible myself.

Well, if I had stayed in my lane and hit the other vehicle, I suppose I would've done some real damage to my body in addition to the car.