1830's Trails

Never could keep 'em straight: the Trail of Tears and the Santa Fe Trail. In all honesty, I'm not sure that I ever realized they were separate places.

They both were east-west trails in the US.
They weren't that far apart, and both trails overlapped some of the same longitudinal lines.
The stories of both trails involved Indians and soldiers.
They occurred at the same time.
And obviously, they both contain the word "trail."

We're reading a history book that covers world events during Abraham Lincoln's lifetime. (By the way, I've learned more about Napolean in the last month than I ever learned in school.) Also, Andrew and I are working through some lectures on American wars, and right now we're on the events that led up to the Mexican War. So, in the same week, we stumbled upon both trails.

Now, maybe you learned more history than I learned. Or maybe you can keep straight titles that have the same word in them. But if you too are a Bear of Very Little Brain, here are the differences:

The Santa Fe Trail was a little further north, and began & ended further west than the Trail of Tears.

But more importantly, people went back and forth on the Santa Fe Trail; it was a trade route. The Trail of Tears was a one-time trail, from east to west, from the Cherokee homeland into exile.

I think now I'll be able to keep them straight.

My Name ... according to Alia

So as to differentiate between the two grandmothers, it was discussed amongst some people who live here what my grandma-name should be. Lu (Nathan's mom) is Grandma. Some of the family (but especially Andrew) decided I should be Nanna. For days they tried to teach Alia to call me Nanna. She finally complied.

For about a week.

Wednesday she decided I was "Grandma." Funny to see her and her 18-yr-old uncle arguing over whether my name is Nanna or Grandma!


For those of you who haven't met me and my eldest, here's a picture. We do look just a little bit similar. So the computer's screen-saver is rolling through pictures; Alia is watching; a picture of Rachel pops up on the screen; and Alia says, "Grandma!"

:-)

Lack of Jokes

Some of my friends and family have greatly enjoyed the daily jokes I used to have on my blog. I hear about people missing the daily laugh when I don't get around to gathering jokes. But it's been hard recently to find jokes. Internet copyright laws have become stricter. Sifting through online jokes involves skipping over lots of really filthy (and unfunny) jokes. Then there are the mediocre jokes which aren't worth laughing at. And when I find something funny, these days it is inevitably copyrighted. I spent an hour this morning hunting jokes and found only one I could post, and it was only slightly funny. I found a three hilarious ones, but I'm not willing to risk the fines if somebody finds out I've posted them here. And I'm not willing to post the links because there may be one or two good jokes on a full page of other stuff (including icky ads). Gary suggested finding old joke books, old enough to have gone out of copyright. But those are probably old jokes that y'all have heard before. Besides it would take a lot more work. I understand that people want to be paid for what they do. But still, ... "pay me to pass on my joke and brighten somebody else's day"?

Today's Laugh

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.

The question? What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query; but, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end.

Arthur returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men, and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer. Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer. But the price would be high; the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.

The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first. The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend. Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, and made obscene noises. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.

Arthur refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur. He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table. Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur's question thus: 'What a woman really wants,' she answered, 'is to be in charge of her own life.'

Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared. And so it was, the neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom, and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.

The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. What a sight awaited him! There was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen before him. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened, and the beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.

Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day ... or night?

Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?

What would YOU do?

Noble Lancelot said that he would allow her to make the choice herself.

Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.

The moral of the story is:
"If you don't let a woman have her own way ... things are going to get ugly."

Madison

We watched a movie tonight that would not have drawn our interest were we not APT fans. It's supposed to be a story of hope.

I'm not sure I saw any hope.

I loved watching Jimmy and Brian and Sarah. I loved seeing the local stuff: the scenery, the beer labels, the houses, the restaurants.

There was a lot of rhetoric about politics and the war. As we watched, I wasn't sure whether the show was trying to promote those viewpoints or giving us cause to shake our heads and say "tsk tsk." There was also a lot of foul language. But these things would have been forgivable if the story had a great message in the end.

But it didn't.

The poor chap in the movie had been a war correspondent and came home jaded and hopeless. He couldn't get rid of the horrid memories. He no longer believed that we can Change The World and make a difference. I didn't expect a Christian message of hope. But I did expect some secular version of hope. And for the life of me, I don't know what it was. The reviews talk about how Michael (the main character) finds hope. Through the movie he drinks a lot. And then he spends Christmas with a friend, including babysitting the friend's daughter on the afternoon of the 24th. The friend is positive and upbeat and has hope that things are generally good and will work out. But that in itself doesn't appear to give hope to Michael; it just seems to show him that not everything everywhere is thoroughly despairing.

Gary said it was the most depressing thing he'd seen in a long time. Afterwards he hunted up a funny tv show to watch.



Right now, I am thinking about what Pastor says about the Christian life being full of joy -- even when we do not feel it. Right now, I am thinking about the joy of family, and satisfaction with a job well done, and comfort in not taking on responsibilities that are not yours. Right now, I'm noticing the lack of dialogue in this film (all the scenes that are so so quiet, filled with pensive waiting and thinking) and contrasting that quietness with the voice of God's Word that brings life. Paul said that if Christ be not raised from the dead, we are of all men the most pitiable. But when you see what passes for "hope" out there in the big wide world, maybe not. Even if Christianity were a hoax, it still would have a lot to offer. Do you remember what Puddleglum said to the Witch when she was trying to convince them that there was no Narnia, no world except the underground one that lay in her grasp?

Suppose ... suppose we have only dreamed and made up these things like sun, sky, stars, and moon, and Aslan himself. In that case, it seems to me that the made-up things are a good deal better than the real ones. And if this black pit of a kingdom is the best you can make, then it's a poor world. And we four can make a dream world to lick your real one hollow.

"I Be Back"

My granddaughter Alia has been learning to talk. You know how some kids start to speak earlier and make solid progress? Well, Alia is one of those kids who didn't talk and didn't talk -- and occasionally people would suggest that something was wrong with her. But when she started talking, it was a torrent.

One day, Nathan asked, "So what is this? Is she learning a new word every single day now?" Oh no! WAY more than one a day. Probably more than one per hour. And then, a couple of weeks later, 3- and 4-word sentences. And even pronouns and possessives used correctly. It is so much fun to watch and listen to kids as they acquire language!

At the playground the other day, waiting for Maggie to finish at choir practice, she would "leave" me with a cheery reassurance, "I be back" and wave farewell. Around the back of the slide, climbing up the different levels of the fort, informing me at each level, "I be back," and then she'd slide down. "Look! You're back!"

Not everything is perfect in Language-Learning Land, though. This morning, Alia was telling her daddy that she wanted beer for breakfast. Beer? The kid wants beer? For breakfast? He finally discovered the item was "pear." Ah! That makes sense!

Is It Arrogant?

One of my dear friends (who is now Eastern Orthodox) would tell me that we are to humble ourselves and listen to the Church Fathers. He would say that it's sassy and disrespectful to think that they may have made occasional errors or that we (18 centuries later) might see something in a better way than they.

Many years later, I'm still wondering about that.

In Psalm 119 (:97-104) the psalmist says he understands more than the ancients,he has more understanding than all his teachers, because he meditates on the Lord's testimonies. I'm wondering if/how that fits in with my friend's comment about submitting to the Church Fathers.

Adam & Eve's children knew that the Seed of the Woman would crush the head of the serpent. Adam walked with God and talked with Him. And yet, through the centuries, God revealed more and more. The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. And later, the Messiah would come from the line of David. And later, the Messiah would be born of a virgin. And many years later, the Holy Spirit --through the prophets-- reveals that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. As the prophets meditated upon God's word, preached God's word, wrestled with God's word, the Holy Spirit showed them more details. Does this mean that Habakkuk and Jeremiah were lacking in respect for Adam and Noah?

You know in your own life how you take more care with situations when once you have encountered a problem. Me -- I don't like kids to slam doors. I "knew" that door-slamming was bad, but I became vehement about it after my baby's finger was nearly severed in a slammed door. I am more diligent about washing the undercarriage of my vehicles during salt season winter after we lost a reliable car to huge amounts of rust [at 220,000 miles]. It's not a bad thing to face problems and cope with them and try to prevent those problems from coming back to cause harm another day.

The Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost. The apostles knew Jesus' teaching; they were close to Him; they are the authority upon whose word the Church is founded. The church fathers knew the apostles' teaching; they were students who passed on the message they had heard. But do we have less now? Less reliability? Less insight? Less accuracy? I think, as the Church has encountered heresies and heterodoxy, as the Church has struggled to refine her language in response to misunderstandings, she has gained, not lost.

Delight in Loving

I know, I know ... they've told me a thousand times. Love is not a feeling. Love is an act. Love is a commitment. Love means doing whatever is necessary that the beloved might live.

And yet, being the sinners that we are, sometimes we love begrudgingly. We love because it's our duty to love. We're called to love our neighbor, and by gum, we'll grit our teeth and love, no matter how much we'd rather not.

And then there's the love that rejoices in being able to love. The love that gives delightedly. The love that is unaccountably tickled pink to sacrifice itself for the beloved.

It can sometimes be discouraging to be loved by someone who is dutifully loving you. But oh, how the heart dances with sheer joy when it is loved by one who is delighted to do the loving, whether it's your husband, your Savior, your mom, your friend, or even just your dog.

Enchilada Soup

After stewing a chicken this afternoon, I objected to making chicken-vegetable soup again. I'm not tired of eating it, but right now I'm tired of making it. After hunting up some decidedly different recipes and merging them and then tweaking a bit, I came up with a soup I loved. Even Alia (a soup-hater) thought it was good and snarfed it down. The balance of ingredients listed below is approximate, as I was wingin' it, tasting and adjusting the whole way. If you try it, you may have to adjust amounts of spices and salsa and peppers to suit your own taste.



Stew a 3-4# chicken in 3 quarts water.
Remove chicken from broth and let cool until it can be handled.

Mince 2-3 hot peppers.
Chop a sweet bell pepper and a large onion.
Saute veggies in a small amount of oil.

While whisking chicken broth, slowly sift into the broth
1 ½ cups cornmeal,
stirring so that there are no lumps.
Continue to stir frequently while soup heats,
so that the creamy texture doesn't burn onto the bottom of the pot.

When broth begins to thicken slightly, add
1# frozen corn
1#-can of black beans, drained
1 cup salsa
the sauteed onions and peppers.

Season with approximately
1 tsp Better Than Bouillon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
dash cayenne
Continue to stir frequently over medium heat until corn is hot.

Remove meat from chicken bones. Chop.
Add 1/2 the chicken and
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar or American cheese.

Stir gently until cheese melts.
Top with Fritos, salsa, and/or chopped cilantro.
Makes about 6 quarts of soup.

Legal Holidays

I have a hang-up. I think Memorial Day is on May 30 regardless of when the government decides to skip the mail delivery on some late-May Monday. I think Lincoln's birthday is February 12 and Washington's is February 22, regardless of this new-fangled "Presidents' Day" when the banks and schools are closed. So I smiled broadly at the interchange at school on Monday morning.

Every day after chapel, before the students break off into their classes, the headmistress covers several all-school items. First is the date. "Today is Monday, October the ..... ???" And one of the little kids tries to answer. Yesterday the response was "the 11th!" And the headmistress says, "No, but you're close" whereupon several quizzical looks were tossed her way by the adults. Pastor checks the date on his watch and says, "Yes, it is too the 11th."

Oops.

Well, she goes on to talk about Columbus Day and the discovery of the Americas. Then it was Pastor's turn to be momentarily confused: "But it's not Columbus Day. Columbus Day is the 12th!"

Ah ha! Another person who thinks that holidays belong on their actual dates! So all these middle-aged folks are confused by the government's declaration of legal holidays, ranting about Armistice Day being on November 11, and Memorial Day being on May 30, and that it's not really Columbus Day on the 11th whether or not the banks are closed. We know the truth about the dates.

And these kids ... Their whole life's experience has been Monday holidays, with no understanding that these days weren't plucked out of nowhere but were anniversaries of real events that really happened to real people in history.

Leprosy

Leviticus 13 contains instructions for determining whether a skin sore was leprous, whether a person was clean or unclean, waiting periods, and other practices associated with leprosy.

In the middle of the passage is the curious statement that a person whose skin is all white, a person who is entirely covered with the leprosy in every spot, shall be declared clean. Pastor Wiest told us that this verse ultimately referred to Christ, who was thoroughly and totally and completely infected with the leprosy of our sin, but who was clean.

Go, Show Yourselves to the Priests

This Sunday's story was the Ten Lepers (Luke 17). Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests. So, where were the priests?

Yup, they were in Jerusalem.

Where was Jesus headed? How about that! He was headed to Jerusalem too. Why? This wasn't just one of His many trips there; this was the last time to go up to Jerusalem.

So these nine dudes who did not cling to Him and thank Him for His healing, they are off on a trip to where there are soon to be universe-shaking events. Will the men still be there on Palm Sunday and through the holiest days of all history? Maybe not. But it's likely, as long as they were in Jerusalem anyhow, that they would stay for the feast of Passover after having been cut off from the worshiping community.

The very events that won the forgiveness of sins would be preached & displayed in Jerusalem soon enough. Although these lepers did not return to Jesus in faith, Jesus nevertheless graciously sent the men to a place where they might hear the Gospel again.

Weekend Projects Go Bust

The air is warm; the windows are open. This will not last long. It's time to cram in a few projects that must be done according to weather. For example, use the smelly polyurethane now or forever hold your peace -- or till next spring at least.

We had about 3 cups of forest-green paint leftover from the old tree house. The forest-green picnic table was in bad shape. Time to use up the leftover paint so as to dispose of the container and spiff up the worn spots of wood. When we woke up this morning, the picnic table looked wet, really wet! Turned out I put water-base on top of oil-base paint. Gary came to the rescue. He hosed down the picnic table and benches, washing the unstuck paint onto the deck, and then he sprayed down the deck so it didn't turn green. And all this before he headed out to preach this morning. Wow -- that's patience for a wife who screwed up her first weekend project.

The kitchen table has been SO sticky. Don't know why. But when it's not just paper that sticks to the table but even potholders that need to be peeled off, it's time to do something. Friday afternoon I stripped the table top. One polyurethane coat after another went on smoothly, leaving me an increasingly smooth and beautiful table top. Anticipating a final coat, I just went to check for dryness. There are bubbles. Not little pinprick air bubbles that make the smooth surface feel a bit sandy -- these are airbubbles 1/4" or 1/2" in diameter. WHAT HAPPENED??? Screw-up #2.

As long as I was wielding a paintbrush full of polyurethane, I decided to coat the mantel. The wood there is so rough that it cannot be dusted: the wood shreds fibers off the dustcloth. Six coats of polyurethane later, it's not smooth, but it is definitely smooth enough to dust. After my experience with the kitchen table, I'm thinkin' better to leave well enough alone on the mantel.

The last summer project to tackle is freezing or canning the hot peppers. But I can wait until a rainy or cold day for that. No sense in wasting these final gorgeous days of sunshine!

Gramp and Nanna

Today's Laugh

A pun stolen from Eunice --

A friend of mine recently started a new business. He makes land mines that look like prayer mats. Prophets are going through the roof.

Wisconsin Homeschoolers

It's time to file your PI-1206. Did you do it yet? There's only a week left. Personally, I liked having that piece of paper lying on my desk, in the way, reminding me that it needed to be mailed during the first half of October. It's harder for me to remember to comply with the law when there's no physical reminder.

If you haven't submitted your online form, go to WPA's website for the instructions and the links to the DPI.

The Lord Relents

In Exodus 32, the Israelites ask Aaron to make gods for them. He made the golden calf. The Lord was angry; He threatened to destroy His people.

Verse 11: "Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God ..."
Verse 14: "So the Lord relented from the harm He said He would to do His people."

I don't know about you, but I usually hear this passage as a prooftext on fervent prayer and how we can make God change His mind.

But was it Moses' praying that caused God to "change His mind"? Moses appealed to God's own word of promise. Moses spoke back to God the same words God had spoken to them: the promise of a Savior. The descendant of Abraham would be a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12); He would be the sacrifice that the Lord Himself would provide (Genesis 22). God's wrath did not wipe out the Israelites. It wasn't because they were good; it wasn't because Moses prayed hard enough; it was because His fierce wrath was poured out on His Son who took their rebellion and made it His own.

It is the atonement of the Son of the God --and not the act of praying-- that causes God to save us instead of destroy us.

The Joy of a Job Well-Done (or at least Well-Attempted)

Although there is a need for relaxation (especially for those who tend to be perfectionist workaholics), too much rest and pampering oneself is quite unsatisfying and leaves a person restless. Pastor recently mentioned the joy that results from doing what you're supposed to do, tackling the duties God gave you. It's not the joy of the forgiveness of sins, but it's a very real left-hand-kingdom joy. And it's a joy that permeates even jobs that are, in themselves, distasteful.

Recent Snapshots

Making pancakes:

The tall ones taunting the short ones with a high-five that went over their heads, and the short ones high-fiving anyhow:

We burned LOTS of brush on Saturday:

Psalm 18:49

"I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles."

Usually when a sentence like that shows up in the Scriptures, it is in the context of God's delivering His people from their enemies. In other words, even though the bad guys (aka, Gentiles) are surrounding me and persecuting me, the Lord will rescue me from them, and I will give thanks.

But you know what? Many of the Gentiles have been turned to the Lord. When David or Jesus prayed that they would "give thanks among the Gentiles" it might also mean that the enemies (the Gentiles) have been joined to the people of God, and that the Gentiles are giving thanks too.

Philip's News

A proud mom just has to post about his annual review at work.

Andrew's Birthday

Strawberry shortcake:

and his birthday gift was a spare can of whipped cream, which he enjoyed on a variety of food items: bananas, sandwiches, mugs of cocoa...
Mmmmm!

Steve Wiest

Come, O Christ, and loose the chains that bind us.
Lead us forth and cast this world behind us.
With Thee, the Anointed,
finds the soul its joy and rest appointed.

Seeing the Kids

Rachel and Matt were up to see friends for gaming this weekend. Because they were awake until near-dawn, they napped early this morning and then showed up in church for late service. Woo hoooo!! I'm glad they've got a church available to them in Chicago, but it is SO so good to worship with them occasionally. Philip couldn't come over to hang out for Sunday afternoon today, but seeing him at church is almost as good as having a long visit. There's just something precious about being at the same Divine Service and then maybe having 5-20 minutes afterward for chatting too. Granted, I like seeing them at other times when possible, but being with them at church is usually enough to satisfy my yearning to see my kids.

Matt & Rachel showed off their new car to us and let us sniff that wonderful new-car smell. It's a really small car but spacious inside (even in the backseat) and with plenty of trunk space. They bought a simple model: it doesn't even have a radio. Rachel said they'll take the radio out of the old car; that radio started in my Camry, went to Rachel's Corolla, then bopped into Matt's car, and now is headed for their new car. Rachel's probably getting pretty good at installing car stereos!

Catechism Memory Work

Our pastor appoints a portion of the catechism each week for the congregation to pray daily along with the Bible verse, the psalm, the collects, and the hymn. Quite a few pastors extol the benefits of including the catechism as part of your prayers rather than as something to memorize as head knowledge. And so each week we have a portion of the catechism to meditate on.

But being a bear of very little brain and ever-decreasing agility-of-memory, I have found it beneficial also to recite all six chief parts each week. Seeing as how there are seven days of the week, and on one of them we go to church in the morning, that leaves one chief part per non-Sunday day. Ideal, eh? So on Monday we say the Ten Commandments (and meanings), and Tuesday is the Creed, and so forth.

We did not start this routine until several of the kids had already learned the catechism by heart. I wanted them to retain what they'd learned. I didn't want them to wait a whole year until they came back to thus-and-such part of the catechism. The younger ones (who had not yet memorized the catechism) would either listen to the recitation or they'd read along out of the book. It doesn't take long -- we spend 3-6 minutes per day, with Thursday usually being the quickest recitation and Wednesday the longest. I realize that this brief daily run-through is not the same as praying the catechism, not the same as meditating upon it, not the same as unpacking its riches. But by saying it at the breakfast table (in the old days when we used to eat breakfast together) or on the drive to chapel/school, it does keep the words fresh in our minds.

And I think that habit is worth five minutes a day.

The Cat's Couch

When the loveseats became uncomfortable and were replaced, I thought the old furniture would go to the dump. But Gary thought it would be safer to give the new couch a couple of weeks, in case we hated it and wanted to go back to the old ones. Fair enough. Stick it in the garage; plan to set it out on garbage day soon.

Then Athena-kitty found it.

It is very very very nice to lie on a couch, outdoors in the fresh air, away from the noises of the house, in the shade, but still have the cushy-spot of upholstered furniture. After this lovely kitty-development, we added a toddler to the household -- all the more reason for a crotchedly, aging cat to desire a comfy get-away.

But garages are intended for cars, not for a kitty's hidey-hole. So Gary put his noggin to work, dreaming up a short loft built from scrap lumber left over from the deck repairs. He's been envisioning this loft/table for a month or so, and with the possibility of frost tonight, it was time to pull out the tools and flesh out the picture he'd constructed in his mind.



Not only did Gary create extra space in the garage for storage, but we also keep Athena's favorite spot so that she will continue to be pleased to bless us with her hunting skills.

Computer Use

1. The computer has been running like molasses for the last several weeks. I have rebooted frequently. We defragmented the computer. The virus scan and spyware scans come up clear. The specs tell me there's still oodles of free space. So why is this machine so slow?? Yesterday the internet connection disappeared altogether, and we had to reboot the modem. Wow -- suddenly it's like I have an all-new speedy computer!

2. Because most of the kids' friends are either in conventional school or are homeschooled on an 8-3:00 M-F schedule, we have been facing lots of temptations and interruptions to the schoolwork that fits nicely into the evenings and weekends and school vacations. This week I figured we should give up trying to hold to the schedule that we used for a couple of decades, and just submit to "do school" on the same schedule that The Rest Of The World does school. First constraint we put on ourselves was no television or computer playing (Facebook, chats, you-tubes, blogs, video games, etc) from 7:30 until 3:00. We have managed to survive three days thus far and [hold onto your hats!] the world has not collapsed. I hope, as we continue this, that the self-imposed limitations become easier to live with.

Chores

For the longest time, I didn't know the difference between chores and other jobs. It took a lot of reading history and historical fiction before I began to realize that there are different kinds of work. I thought any task was a "chore." But chores are the little, daily jobs that need to be done around a house or a farm. Feeding the cat is a chore; washing the windows is not. Washing the dishes is a chore; painting the fence is not. In our family, cleaning the bathroom is a chore; for most Americans it's a big job that is tackled once a week at best, or maybe once or twice a month.

I've begun to realize that we don't understand the importance of chores. We procrastinate. Even if we can intellectually explain "A stitch in time saves nine," too many people don't really know what it means. Cooking seems to me the quintessential chore, but remember the Once-a-Month Cooking craze? Even cooking was turned into a big job done infrequently.

Personally, I prefer to go to extremes (hence the name of my blog) and focus on one big project and then dive into a different big project. But there's something about daily-ness that is tremendously important. There is work to be accomplished each day, in little bits, to continually tend to the needs of the body, to persevere in "exercising dominion" over the spot God has given us, to serve the neighbor in the little daily needs he has. The dailiness of these chores also teaches us self-control. Avoiding that dailiness teaches us lessons about life that are not good.

Isaac Newton

So Andrew is working his way through his physics textbook. He gets to the chapter on Newton's Laws. It mentions that, "although not an orthodox Christian ... Newton held to many standard Christian beliefs." In the first chapter of the General Science book in the same series, as we survey the history of science, a whole page is given to Newton who was "a devout Christian."

See that ellipsis in the quote above? That's where the textbook explained briefly what "unorthodox" views Newton held. He rejected the doctrine of the Trinity as well as the deity of Christ. [eyes popping out of head ...] OH? Really? That's all?

From end of the Creed: "This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved."

Surely there must be an error. Surely our Christian-worldview textbook would not call this man a devout Christian if that's really what he believed. So we did a little web-surfing. Sure enough, he disagreed with Athanasius and would have sided with the Arians ... except even the Arians were a little too orthodox for Newton. No Trinity? A Jesus who wasn't God? And he didn't believe in the immortality of the soul? And no devil? I don't see how we call him a Christian at all.

I still think Apologia is a really good science textbook. It's engaging. It's clear. It provides a solid background in biology, chemistry, physics, etc. But don't expect the book to be correctamundo when it comes to the Faith.

My New Vegetable Peeler

... is right-handed. Waaaaaah!

I needed a new peeler, one strong enough to handle winter squash and rutabagas. This week I found one with a ceramic blade, guaranteed to stay sharp. But it never ever crossed my mind to check that a lefty could use it.

Well, when I pulled the peeler out for its maiden voyage today, I discovered that either
a) I'm going to be working on my ambidextrosity,
or
b) the kids are going to do a lot more veggie peeling.

Election Day

Earlier this month I worked the polls for the first time in my life. I don't know how they do it in other states, but here the pollworkers are there all day long, 6am till 9pm or later. I was nervous about not knowing enough. I was nervous about spending the whole day with the other pollworkers that I didn't know. But I loved it! The other four women working that day were enjoyable to be with. We traded off jobs during the day so that sometimes I registered new voters and sometimes I handed out ballots and sometimes I checked-in voters. It was fun to see my neighbors come in and say a cheerful howdy to the folks from church who vote in our precinct.

Seeing what happens at the polls does make you wonder about the future of our country, though. People came in and wanted to vote for a particular candidate that wasn't on the ballot. "Why not? Why can't I vote for him?" The fact that he was running for an office that didn't represent their address seems pertinent to me....

Also, it was obvious that a lot of people don't understand what a primary is. In Wisconsin, there is ONE ballot on primary day. You don't tell anybody what party you're aligned with, so you don't request the Democrat ballot versus the Republican ballot versus the Libertarian ballot. Neither do we caucus. Here you are not obliged to choose your party until you're in the voting booth, and then you vote for candidates only in that party and submit your ballot. The voting machine will spit your ballot back at you if you voted for people in different parties. A stunning amount of people were ticked about that. They said they should be able to vote for whomever they wished, regardless of party. We explained that, in November, they could. But this is a primary; it's not voting for offices; a primary is the party's decision as to which candidates will represent the party. Uh... that wasn't understood. At all. Seems to me that all those who heartily disagree should be pressing the legislature for preferential voting.

There was a massive turnout for a primary -- about 43% of the registered voters. The age of voters, though, makes a person wonder who's going to be voting in 20-30 years. A disproportional amount of voters were past retirement age. There were a few young people but not many. This reminds me: now that Andrew's had his birthday, he needs to go to town hall and register to vote.

We don't know what was being said on talk radio on election day, but apparently there was a lot of discussion about same-day voter registration. Although you are not required to show proof of identity or residence when you go to vote [... waiting while all you folks from other states gasp loudly and say "Surely NOT!!!!" ...] many voters came in and insisted on pulling out their drivers license to show their identity. Several men throughout the day proffered their ID cards and said, "Just getting in practice for when we have to start doing this next spring" (anticipating a vast change in the power-balance, so that the election laws can be changed to decrease voter fraud).

APT

This year we saw "All's Well That Ends Well" and "As You Like It."

Our friend Janelle and Maggie, at our picnic lunch during intermission in the "hall" of the "lobby."


"All's Well" was okay. But it was definitely the most lackluster play I've ever seen at APT. I certainly had no desire to go back and see it again the Very Next Day (!) which is my usual reaction to any play I see at Spring Green. When I heard some other patrons discussing the show, someone pointed out that one of the main characters (who is in her first year at APT) didn't seem to have a command of the Shakespearean language; I think he pinned down the problem. It was like she was acting -- good acting, to be sure. I guess I'm just used to the language flowing so well that there is usually no sense that the actors are acting; it's all too real and believable (even with some of Shakespeare's unbelievable set-ups).

I'm glad we saw "All's Well" the first week and followed with "As You Like It" the second week. It was hilarious! My favoritest actor in the whole wide world played Touchstone (the clown). And I have decided that nobody can portray giddy teenagers-in-love as well as APT; it's great! Several kids from church are headed out on a school fieldtrip today to see "As You Like It"; Maggie and I are jealous and would love to tag along. I hope they enjoy as beautiful a day in the woods as we did!

Cilantro

It's finally growing! I planted seed, but the first few plantings never germinated. When one planting finally did come up, it bolted right away. Assuming I had been doing something seriously wrong, I played it safe and purchased a plant. A week after I put it in the ground, it too bolted. A friend told me it was just too hot for cilantro to grow. (That would explain why my cilantro thrived last year in such a cool summer.)

The plants went to seed, sat in the garden, and toppled over. Apparently all my cilantro plants reseeded themselves, because now that fall has come, I have lots of baby cilantro plants. They're not big enough to even think of harvesting leaves yet, but I may grab several nice bunches before winter takes over. Mmmm.

This weekend I gathered seeds off some of the older plants. I think I have plenty of fresh seed for next spring's deliciousness.

Today's Laugh

An effective way to get something done is to say that it's impossible. Surely someone will try to prove you wrong.

Alia Pictures

Stolen from Katie's photo album:

The asparagus forest--

Peek-a-boo from the cupboards--

Playing with Daddy--

Making cornbread for supper--

Visiting the lady in the fountain--

A Holy Sabbath

The Third Commandment enjoins us to "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."

I don't know about you, but I'd always understood the emphasis in that sentence to be the remembering: DO something to honor the Sabbath (be it a day of the week or the hearing/treasuring of God's Word).



My pastor frequently quotes the line from the Large Catechism: "The Word of God is the only holy thing we have." As we recently prayed the Third Commandment, he emphasized not "remember" but "holy." It is God's Word of grace that makes us holy, that makes our homes and churches holy, that makes our work holy, the makes our prayers holy, that makes even our day-of-rest holy. The important thing is not what we do to sanctify the sabbath day, but what God does to us and for us when He pours out His Word on us.

Alia Pictures

From July --





and August --

Today's Laugh

This is their selling point?


HT: Jamie

Credit Cards and Our Needs

Probably the most basic rule of sound financial management is not to spend more than you have. A corollary of this would be not to put charges on the credit card unless you've got the cash in hand to pay off the bill in full at the end of the month. Most people don't live like that, though -- if they did, the credit-card companies would crash-and-burn.

So what happens when people face tough times of unemployment? We hear on the news that lots of people are living on their credit cards. I suppose if you have to, you have to.

But here's my question. How would we spend our money during those tough times if we had to pony up the cash instead of paying with plastic? What happens when "limited cash" actually means that, when you run out, you're out?

Would we live with clothes more ragged and stained if the choice was food versus clothing? Do we remember the stories of people during the Depression who would put cardboard in their shoes to cover the holes in the sole? Would we forego a treat (be it a Pepsi or a new video game or an annual trip to Disneyland) that we indulge in because we can with the credit card? Would we walk to church instead of drive there; are we willing to stay home instead of driving to visit a friend? How would we treat illness or injury if there were no money for the doctor? What about giving presents at occasions where it's socially expected? Would we give up the phone service or the internet if we had to choose between that and food? What about the lights and where we set the thermostat? When do frugality-measures become excessive? Are we unwilling to face even minor deprivation? Will people look down on us for not living up to the standards that everyone else abides by?

If you live on a cash-basis, a shortage of income leaves people faced with decisions that may not be easy, and self-denial that may hurt. But credit cards make it easy to avoid those hard decisions: we can always pay for it later. But once you allow yourself to borrow, you have to wonder: am I really being as careful with the expenditures as I ought?

Back When I Was Young

... grapes and watermelons had seeds.


(It sure ain't easy to find seeded watermelons anymore. And seeded grapes show up at the store just about as [in-]frequently.)

Astounding Math Skills

Why does no one care that I know that the sine of 60 degrees is half the square root of 3? You'd think it was irrelevant knowledge or somethin'. And when my kid in the living rooms asks me (near the computer) to look up a number on the trig calculator and holler out a sine for him, he is not satisfied with half the square root of 2, or half the square root of 3 -- he wants a decimal. What's up with that?

Pout. You'd think people would appreciate my math skills....

Back When I Was Young

... people introduced themselves when they phoned. When I hear "Hello" on the other end of the phone, I still say, "Hello, this is Susan..." So often the response is "Yes, I know." Sometimes people will even pick up their phone and tell me "Hello, Susan" before I've said a word. It freaks me out.

The flip side is that people will call and start to talk, without realizing that not everyone has caller-ID. Some voices I know; some I do not. But even when it's a person whose voice I normally recognize, a cell-phone call from outdoors or in a moving vehicle may mask the sound of the person's voice.

There's something to be said for land-lines that cannot go to the garden with you, cannot go to the store with you, and let you have a little peace away from the cell phone! But I don't think the rest of the world agrees with me.

Anniversary Party

Ice sculpture and lots of champagne to celebrate the company's anniversary.



Helen is the woman in the center of the first picture; she is on housekeeping staff and hates to see food go to waste. So when there are leftovers that don't get taken, she'll send them home with Gary rather than putting them in the trash where everybody else thinks they belong. Thank you, Helen!!!

The couple with the lady in the dark dress: Krissy was a boss for Andrew and Paul when they worked the catalog projects over Christmas breaks. Her husband is a policeman here in town. They are members of Luther Memorial (where Gary substitute preaches frequently for Ken), and their son really likes Gary. When they have visited our church on occasion, their baby lights up when he sees Gary.

The couple with the lady in the silver shirt: Randy taught Andrew to sing bass, and Pam heads up the strings for our church's music. Randy helped make sure Gary's resume wasn't thrown straight into the trash when he applied for the job.


The couple with the lady in the blue dress: Melissa has been Gary's boss, and he thinks she's great. She is being promoted, and he's going to miss having her in charge of the team.

Last pictures are Gary with some co-workers, and me with Mary who is a member of our church and works at the company debugging programs. We had dinner with Mary and Wally; they are so much fun to be with (as are so many people from our church).

The Strength of the Hills

As we studied Habakkuk last week, we came across the passage in chapter 1 about being held guilty when "your strength is your god" (also translated in some versions as "ascribing power to their god"). I wondered then if that was the same thing Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 12 when God told him, "My strength is sufficient for you" and when Paul explained "for when I am weak, then am I strong." Turned out that those are different words, though.

Then, as we sang the Venite today, I noticed "the strength of the hills is His also." So it's not just us who are weak. Even the mountains have their strength only in what God gives and what He has made them to be. But when I looked up that one in the original languages, the word is really referring to the heights of the mountains.

But ... as I was looking it up, I discovered all the places where that one word for power/strength/might is used. It's the word used when God tells Cain that the earth would no longer yield up its strength when he farmed. It's the word used in Habakkuk (the passage I started with) to show that strength cannot be our god (that is, what we rely on or trust in). It's the word used in Revelation when we see heaven: "Blessing and honor and glory and might be to God and the Lamb forever!" In several passages we are called to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our mind and all our soul and all our strength. Because of sin, our strength fails, but the Lord is our strength and our song, and He has become our salvation.

Even if Psalm 95 isn't referring to the hills' strength but is talking about "from the depths of the sea to the heights of the mountains," there are other passages that indicate that the earth's strength, the angels' strength, man's strength, even Christ's strength, comes only from the Lord.

Grocery Shopping

Grand opening is scheduled for first week of November. "Soft open" is tentatively scheduled for my son's 21st birthday. He will celebrate by buying an adult beverage. I will celebrate by buying peanut butter and apples.

Absolom's Death

from chapel yesterday

The story of the coup runs from 2 Samuel 15-18. King David's son slowly won the hearts of the people away from his father. He took over. David and his family and loyal servants skeedaddled out of the capital city. Prior to the battle for control of the kingdom, King David instructed that no harm be done to his son Absolom. When Absolom was caught, David's general killed him. When David heard the news of his son's death, he wept and mourned. Even though David's side won the battle, they returned to the city in mourning as though they had lost.

Joab, the general, was disgusted. He went to the king and told him to knock it off. He reminded the king that many people supported him, and that the king was making them feel worthless, like as if the king cared more about the death of his unfaithful, rebellious son than he would have cared if all his faithful servants had died.

Joab makes some good points: the king needed to encourage his followers. But what Joab didn't understand was the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15). King David shows us (albeit imperfectly) in so many ways what Jesus was like. Here we have a father who loves his son, who wants that one saved and restored to him, almost to the point that it's like none of the others matter because his love for the one lost sheep/son overwhelms his mind and heart.

Think on that: that unreasonable and all-consuming love of David for his son. And our heavenly Father's love for me (and you) is so much more intense.

Update

We attended the Cardinals game on Tuesday night. Our seats were near a church-group of really nice folks. One of the guys from the church had gotten free tickets from the gas station (same as we'd done) but he collected way more receipts than he needed and got lots of tickets, and then set up an outing for friends from his church. I think it sounds like a great idea! It was an unusual game insofar as a coach, a manager, a player, and a fan were ejected from the game, all in separate incidents. I've been to five Brewers games in a little over a year, and it was kind of hard to root for the Cardinals against the home team. I'm becoming a cheesehead.....!

The tomatoes seem to be done. On Katie's walk home from work today, she noticed that everybody's tomatoes have the same fungus and wilt. I'm glad mine started producing early. With last year and this, I'm beginning to see that frost isn't the end of the tomato season -- now it's fungus that does the tomato vines to death.

The winter squashes are almost ready to bring indoors for storage.

Today we started ripping out the rest of this year's strawberry plants; that's where next summer's paths will be. The new plants have nicely filled in the empty rows we created in July.

Katie has an after-school babysitting job. The two little girls like it when Alia comes along. Katie says Alia is a nice distraction for the girls.

After two unusual weekends of company, Nathan has begun to adjust to working third shift and has also begun to adjust to the fiberglass dust at work. However, a different job would be a very good thing.

Choir has started. Happiness -- our introits and graduals will be out of New King James this year. Also, it's sweet to be back to having chapel every weekday again.

I took Andrew shopping yesterday to buy new shorts; it's clearance time. No wonder his shorts were falling off him -- one pair we bought was 2 sizes smaller than what he owned, and the other new pair was 3 sizes smaller! There's only so much cinching a belt can do when a fellow loses that much weight.

I've been having a hard time blogging the last month or so. There are all sorts of things I want to write about but they just don't flow out onto the keyboard the way they did before. And with certain projects (including lots of salsa-making!) and trying to get school restarted and with an overbooked calendar for mid-September, it's not easy to make time for blogging either. This should be remedied.

Learning Names

I don't know if Alia finally just got old enough to start talking, or if being with Lydia several times recently gave her the incentive to speak up. But boy oh boy, she's doing a good job of using verbal language instead of just sign language or pointing!

One fun experience was when Nathan was trying to get her to say "Yes." She really likes the word "No." Katie said Alia carefully practiced the word "No" with her toys so that she'd be an expert at saying it to her parents. And believe me, she was quite adept at saying "No" with all clarity! That one morning, Nathan said "Yes" and Alia said "No," back and forth, back and forth. Silly Grandma sang a tweaked Beatles song: "I love you YEAH YEAH YEAH; I love you YEAH YEAH YEAH; I love you YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH." Pretty soon, she's saying "Yeah yeah yeah." Never one "yeah" -- always in triples. Funny and smile-inducing! But it did cross our minds that we needed Victor (from Miss Congeniality) to teach Alia to put an Sssss on the end of her "yes."

When she moved here, she'd already been saying Momma and Daddy clearly for quite a while. Gumpa was the first name she used for one of us here. But then Andrew was called Gumpa too. I figured it was a generic word for Adult Males In The House Who Are Not Daddy. But then she called me Gumpa a few times too. Hmmm; do I look that masculine? She tried an abrupt grown-up-sounding "Mum" on me twice, both times in the wake of hearing Maggie, Andrew, and Katie call me "Mom." We think there's a name for Maggie -- something on the order of Aggie. When Matt and Rachel visited on Sunday, she learned "Mott" very quickly. Last night Nathan said she came up with a "grandma"-sounding word and then tore down the hallway to attack me in the kitchen, so I may have a name soon too.

It's so much fun to watch a kid during his language acquisition! Last week, when we first realized that Alia was beginning to copy almost any word we would tell her to say, Andrew decided to teach her to say "robot." Robot? Ah, come on! If you're going to teach her words, teach her something good, something useful! So the next thing I hear from around the corner: "Alia, say 'justification.'" (Can you see me rolling my eyes??? LOL!)

Homeschooling with Toddlers in the House

Sorry, no tips here. Just extolling one big benefit.

My older kids all had younger siblings around during their homeschooling days. There were little people in the house playing with Legos or drawing or making messes or being distracting in a gazillion different ways. But you did what you had to do, read what you had to read, etc.

The two youngest kids never had that. They were the interrupters, not the interruptees. Now there's a toddler in the house. And they cannot pay attention when we're doing schoolwork: Alia might do something cute that they'll miss! Yoo hoo!!! Tune in to the history lesson and let Alia play trains or dolls or whatever!!!

So next time you bemoan the fact that you can't do a good job homeschooling your 10-yr-old because the 3-yr-old is being distracting, just remember that there's a lesson the big kid is learning that's far more valuable than dividing fractions or studying the Boer War.

"My Father's Business"

Our Bible story today was about the boy Jesus in the temple. When Mary and Joseph found him after three days of searching and worrying, they asked what on earth He thought He was doing. He answered, "I must be about My Father's business." I betcha you, like me, have always heard that He meant He had to be busy hearing and speaking God's word.

But this morning, Pastor made the point that He was also "about Joseph's business." Joseph and Mary had been teaching their children God's word, teaching them to pray, teaching them to worship, teaching them to listen to the promises of the Lord. So when Jesus is in the temple doing that, it's not just the Father's business but also His father's business.

Oh, blest the parents who give heed
unto their children's foremost need
and weary not of care nor cost.
May none to them and heaven be lost!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego

Three times in this story the Bible runs down the list of "satraps, administrators, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all officials." It's almost like Daniel (chapter 3) was trying to whop us upside the head with how very much everybody was against the three young men ... in the same way that everybody was gathered against the Christ to do Him to death.

In this story, it was the Chaldeans who accused the Jews because they refused to bow down and worship the false god. How different this is from the Chaldeans who came from the East to Bethlehem five centuries later, that they might bow down and worship the newborn King of the Jews.

Not a hair of their head was harmed. There was not even the smell of smoke on their clothing. Such a picture of Christ, of whom it was said "You will not leave My soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption" (Psalm 16)!

Septic Fun

Alia thinks the hatch to the septic tank makes a great little table to play on! And the electrical box that operates the alarm is her little chair for the "table."

Playing the Recorder with Finesse

One toddler playing the recorder. Loudly. Squeal squeeeall SQUEALLLLLL squeal.

Two teenagers watching tv together. Dialogue constantly being interrupted by "squeal." Eventually they tire of it. Solution? Remove the recorder from the toddler's hands and replace it with a fife.

Toddler blows into the end of the fife (not the flute-like blowhole on the side of the fife). She blows and blows. Quiet ensues. Teenagers contentedly settle down to hear the television without concentrated effort. Toddler blows some more. Still no sound emanating from the musical instrument.

Solution? Toddler still has a voicebox: engage voice and continue to squeal SQUEAL squeal.

Grandma busts a gut laughing. Munchkin's voice does a darn good impression of a squeaky recorder!

Heritage Days

A couple of weeks ago there was a re-enactment weekend not far away. It was at the height of the mosquito infestation, but the township must have sprayed the park well, because it was beeeeautiful outside there.

Not only did they have antique firetrucks, but they had the modern ones too. Alia really like trucks!


I think these guys were Civil War era. They had plenty to tell (and demonstrate) about warfare on the sea, shooting cannons, and trying to capture ships instead of sinking them.


Those cannons said BOOOOOM!


Philip knew from way across the field that this dude was a Hoplite. As far as I recall, I never heard of Hoplites before. The kids tell me I knew about them. Apparently they pay better attention to the history books I read to them than I do. By the way, the Romans were the next camp over from the Greeks. These guys were plenty chatty about their clothes, food, culture, methods of warfare, etc. I love the chatty re-enactors!


As Andrew amused Alia while listening to the Hoplite, swinging her around, the Greek soldier pointed out how much she enjoyed swinging from her arms like that, and used that to help explain the use of his spear and how it was held/carried and thrown and the physiology of that. Cool.


My kids had plenty to talk about with the guy on top of the hill. They talked about trebuchets and catapults. Oddly enough, the man who plays with ancient and medieval weaponry had never heard of the books "Art of Catapult" and "Backyard Ballistics."

Dolly

The crib was a gift to Katie from my Aunt Mary, one of Katie's godmothers. Someone thinks it's not just for dollies.

Psalm 131

Have you noticed how Psalm 131 is a reflection of Psalm 130 (one of the seven penitential psalms)?

"O Israel, hope in the Lord."

One psalm says "my soul waits for the Lord" and the other talks about my soul being calmed like a weaned child with his mother.

One starts with "Out of the depths..." and the other with "My heart is not haughty..."

They shed light on each other.

(The psalms are in the order they are for a good reason; God wanted them that way; they are not just a hodge-podge of poems/hymns.)

Delicious Tomato Salad

1 quart of fresh chopped garden-tomatoes
3 Tbsp of minced fresh basil
2 tsp of balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
garlic powder or minced fresh garlic
onion powder or minced fresh onion

Toss it together and let it sit for a few hours or overnight for flavors to blend. Mmmmm.

Dressing for Dinner

Gary and I went out to dinner today. It's a nice restaurant, great atmosphere, the kind of place kids flock to for homecoming and prom. I went in a Sunday-go-to-meetin' dress. When some friends went there with us for a birthday celebration, they all looked nice.

We noticed this evening that almost nobody was dressed up. Most of the people were in jeans and t-shirts, or cargo shorts, or other types of play clothes.

Is the lack of dress-up due to people eating out SO often? I mean, if going to a restaurant is a regular part of your day (just like teeth-brushing or exercising or whatever) maybe you go out to eat in Whatever You Happen To Be Wearing ... just as we at our house come to the supper table or snarf down our lunch sandwich in Whatever We Happen To Be Wearing.

And then I remembered reading in a recent volume of Betsy-Tacy how they would "dress for dinner" on vacation. They always went to a resort for summer, swam in the afternoon, and then dressed up for supper in the resort's family-style dining room. So here I am tsk-tsking people for not dressing up when they go to a relatively fancy restaurant; maybe older people tsk-tsk me for not dressing up for dinner in my own house.

Such a Wholesome Story

While sorting through piles and clearing the school bookshelves, I found some old notebooks that we'd used for writing. Here is an unnamed child's story from several years ago, spelling and all:


One upon a time ther was a prises [princess] who liked to get drunk. she was in a bar wen the ugly princ came in. the princes was so drunk tha she bafed all over the prins. He called his gard and they took her to prison. then the prince drank two Beers and imidietly got drunk. the prince was so drunk that he comited alot of crimes, and went to jall. The End



Good grief! Amazing to think such a child could --only three or four years later-- go to college, write papers (properly spelled and punctuated), and do well. And to think that some homeschool moms fret over 8-yr-olds who are writing with similar aplomb.

Parents'

Even though it's been 14 months since Dad died, I still find myself referring to "my parents' house" or "my parents' church" or getting a card from "my parents." I wonder when (if??) the words "mom's house" or "mom's church" will someday roll off my tongue naturally?

Today's Laugh

Four women are at a stylist convention: a blonde, a brunette, a redhead, and a woman with green hair. Each is asked the same question by a stylist, "Did you dye your hair that color?" The blonde, brunette, and redhead each answer in turn, "No, it's all natural," sweeping their hands through their hair. When the question was posed to the green-haired woman, she too said,"Nope, it's all natural," as she sweeps her hand over her nose and into her hair.

Wisconsin Homeschoolers Filing 1206

Homeschoolers in Wisconsin will be submitting their affidavits electronically this year instead of on paper forms. Please see the WPA website for information about how to file, as well as what the 1206 does and doesn't require and the who-what-when-where-why of the form. (Also, please consider joining WPA to support our excellent homeschooling law and to keep abreast of news which will impact either our homeschooling or our law.)

New Computer

Andrew has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of his USPS and UPS boxes today. They've arrived, and he's busy putting together his new toy tool.

Dinosaurs

"Hi."
"Hi."
[walk walk walk
dinosaurs walk toward each other]
"Hi."
"ROARrrrr!!!!"
[bite fight
fight bite]
And then, all bright and chipper, "Bye."
"Bye!"

Today's Laugh

An elephant was drinking out of a river one day, when he spotted a turtle asleep on a log. So, he ambled on over and kicked it clear across the river.

"What did you do that for?" asked a passing giraffe.

"Because I recognized it as the same turtle that took a nip out of my trunk 53 years ago."

"Wow, what a memory!" commented the giraffe.


"Yes," said the elephant, "turtle recall."

Family Picture

Katie, Nathan, and Alia.

Third Shift

Nathan (my son-in-law) found a job here pretty quickly. It's not what he wants to do forever, but for now it's a job and a paycheck. He's working the night shift; this week he's been trying to readjust his sleeping schedule so that he sleeps afternoons and evenings. Tonight is his first night at work. Here'sl hoping it's not too hard to stay awake and alert on the job tonight.

With Gary working days, Nathan working nights, and Andrew working part-time in the evenings, I suspect there will be no Family Dinner-Time for quite a while. But hey, under-employed or not, at least they have jobs!

Today's Laugh

I found a hilarious cartoon, but it was copyrighted. Go look at it by clicking here. If you want to read more of Mark Parisi's cartoons, check out the sidebar on his site.