Fly on the Wall

After lunch, Quarto and The Man were in the bathroom washing their hands and had the following conversation:

The Man: Remember that time we weed an X?

Quarto: Yeah, that was funny!

The Man: Hey! Next time we both have to wee, let's do it again!

Quarto: Yeah! Okay!


Sigh. Boys.

Fly on the Wall

Quarto is fascinated with weather, so yesterday morning when I turned on the weather radio to listen to the forecast, it was not a surprise when Quarto appeared within seconds and became fixated on the forecast himself. He would share his thoughts on everything being said to anyone who happened to be within eye-shot and shouting distance. (He is testing out a new tone - indignation, so every one of his comments was seething with it.)

As I entered Quarto's sphere of communication, he turned to me and the following conversation ensued:

Weather Man: The following is a severe weather alert for east Arkansas, the ...

Quarto: [indignantly] There is no such state as Arkansas!

Me: [with shocked laughter] Yes there is.

Quarto: Really? I thought they were making that up.


Arkansas... a conspiracy of cartographers, apparently (to quote Rosencrantz... or Guildenstern).

Fly on the Wall

At the lunch table this afternoon:

Quarto: Dad? Can I eat the rest of my jellybeans tomorrow?

Frodo: No, you'd get a tummy ache.

Terzo: And be in a sugar comma.

Ummm, okie dokie.

A couple weeks ago (I am finally catching up with posting... you'll see the phrase "a few weeks ago" a lot the next couple of weeks), the kids and I came out of the library to find this:



(Re-creation. Not original pamphlet placement. I don't carry my camera everywhere. Probably should, though... especially if stuff like this keeps happening.)

The collection included a personal note and the following pamphlets:

Preventing Youth Tobacco Use (Tip Sheet #4)

Home Smoke Alarms (two copies)

Rise to the Challenge (a recruitment brochure for the Army)

The envelope on top was addressed "Neighbor" and had "who is my neighbor?" in the lower left corner. Inside, the note (handwritten in a very pretty notecard) read:

3-23-2009

Praise the Lord,

I have been in Bible Study + Evangelism Training since (Dec.) 1979/80!

Please pray for me that I can become a Prison Work Minister/ Evangelism.

Joshua 24:25-28

Please pray for me + I will pray for you as well.

In Christ,
[name omitted]

I do not know this person. We believe it was the lady parked next to us who gave us a very warm hello when we pulled in. She was inside the library when we got to our car and discovered the "gift" she had left for us on our windshield. She didn't leave anything on anyone else's windshield that we could see.

Very, very strange.

Life sure is interesting, huh?!

Stimulus Pork... Yummmmm!

Random Puzzlements

I have been having a couple of thoughts/ questions rattling around in my brain over the last few days, and they have been stuck in the rattling and pondering mode without much development, so I thought I would share them here. Either you all can add to my thoughts and help me jump-start them into serious "analysis mode" or, at the very least, I'll have good company in the "rattling around" club.

Random Puzzlement #1:

I get that President Obama's election was an historic one because of his ancestry. However, isn't making a big deal about his race defeating the point of being color blind and not making race an issue? How much celebration is appropriate without violating the principles encapsulated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of not judging people by the color of their skin but by the content of their character? Isn't "positive" racism still racism?

Random Puzzlement #2:

Why weren't Mr. and Mrs. Obama wearing coats at the inaugural ceremony? I know this doesn't seem like a big deal (it probably isn't), but it really bothered me for some reason (because I'm a mom of a child who shares Mr. Obama's percentage of body fat, maybe?). I don't know, but all I could wonder was if it's because our society tends to place so much importance on image that we can't even allow the President and First Lady to wear a coat during an outdoor national ceremony on a 20 degree day for fear we will miss what designer they are wearing so we can all criticize them later?

Random Puzzlement #3:

Why was the phrase "so help me God" added to the Oath of Office during the inaugural ceremony? It's not in the Constitution, so why did Chief Justice Roberts feel compelled to add it? He also added at the re-take, so I don't think it was a fluke. If President Obama wanted to say, "So help me God" after taking the oath as a sort of public prayer, that's fine. George Washington did. That's where the tradition comes from. However, I have a problem with it being formally added. Does it's inclusion negate the oath taken since the oath would no longer be in compliance with the Constitution? If so, would that mean we have been president-less for decades since it has traditionally been added for who knows how long? Frodo says I was being nit-picky in the case of President Obama's swearing-in since it was asked as a question, but it wasn't at the re-do. Does it really matter?

Random Puzzlement #4:

Why hasn't more than one President used the word "affirm" as opposed to "swear" when taking the oath?

(Really, Really) Random Puzzlement #5:

Why do I feel guilty taking our two stray kittens to the animal shelter? It's a no-kill shelter, their other sibling that was there was adopted quickly, we didn't ask for these kittens, and Frodo is deathly allergic to cats... sooo, why do I feel bad?

Splish Splash

We have a mouse in the house. Correction: We had a mouse in the house. Although I am glad that our uninvited guest is gone, I wish he had chosen a less dramatic exit.

About a week ago, we had a terrible rain storm. It rained buckets all day long and into the night. The ceiling in the boys' room had leaked in the past, and despite the fact that our 75-year-old, spry yet scarecrow-built landlord climbed up on the roof during a tornado warning to fix the leak a few weeks ago, I still had my ears open for that dreaded dripping sound. (Stick with me... we'll get to the mouse.)

I went to sleep almost immediately upon my head hitting the pillow that night, but was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of water. In my semi-conscious state, I assumed it was the boys' ceiling and tried to will it to stop so that I wouldn't have to climb out of bed and find a bucket. I slowly entered a more awake state and realized that the sound was awfully loud to be water dripping in the boys' room. The sound would have to travel down the hall and through two closed doors. Plus, the sound of the furnace muffled much of the sound outside the room.

Now, I was awake (but still refusing to open my eyes). What could it be? I realized the sound was coming from around Frodo's side of the bed. That corner of the room is where the addition containing the master bedroom meets the main part of the house. Many homes in the South, including ours (I have no idea why) do not have rain gutters, so I concluded that water must be running down the joint in the roof and splashing into a pool of water on the ground outside. Yes, that had to be it. I settled in and tried to go back to sleep.

But it sounds awfully loud to be coming from outside. Maybe there's a leak in our ceiling?! I was now completely awake - eyes open and everything - but I couldn't see in the dark. I grabbed my reading light (the kids keep wandering off with my in-case-of-emergency flashlights) and crept to Frodo's side of the bed. When I got to the nightstand, I realized that the sound was coming from the nightstand and illuminated the surface and found this:



Apparently, our uninvited guest had climbed the nightstand and Frodo's pile of reading material in search of a drink and got a little more than he bargained for.

So, we are now mouseless (for now) and our mouser (who lives outside because of Frodo's allergies) required a little less breakfast than usual the morning after our great adventure.

Acting Lessons

Sir Ian McKellan giving Ricky Gervais some acting tips. (from the series Extras)

A little tip: Put your coffee down first.

Here We Go Again

5-day Cone for Hurricane Ike

Well, this is new...

Aw, shucks!

You all are making me blush.

Can I just tell you that I am amazed that there are people, other than my parents and in-laws, who actually read this blog on a regular basis (or at least check it regularly... kinda hard to read when I haven't been writing much) much less bother to email me and tell me that they miss me? (And want to hear my opinions on things political and religious. Really?) You're all so sweet.

I am actually missing writing here. I need the creative, goofy, ranting outlet. And you would think that I would have had plenty of time to hang out online and write and post considering that I have been basically house-bound all summer. I'll spare you all the gory details, but the long and the short of it is that after spending enough $$ to have replaced the engine in our Suburban trying to keep it running, we now more-than-likely need a new engine and don't have the money because, well, we spent it all on periphery things that apparently meant diddly-squat since the engine is no basically no good. Sigh. Two friends have graciously lent us cars, but I feel bad putting tons of miles and wear-and-tear on someone else's car, so I've been limiting my driving to what is absolutely necessary. Hopefully, soon we'll be able to get our truck fixed (or at least determine once and for all if it's even worth it or if we should start looking for a "new" vehicle). The up-side is that we've really saved on gas this summer.

Ironically, I have been finding more "me", thinking, creative time now that my life has gotten much, much busier. I am in the editing phase for the two books I've written in the last year. The target date for the first book to be released is April 2009. Send prayers, good vibes, good thoughts, what have you because I have never done this type of editing before and am finding it a bit overwhelming. I have also started watching two great kids during the day. The oldest is 2 and his little sister is 5 months. They are great kids (did I say that already?) and the 2yo and Quarto play together really well which has actually helped the older kids and I get more focused school done during the day. I just don't do well self-disciplining my time when too much of it is "free", so having all of these obligations really helps keep me organized and on my toes because I have to be.

I guess that's a good, relatively short summary of why I haven't posted anything in almost a month. *grin* Hopefully, I'll post more frequently as summer ends and fall begins.

Thanks for your encouragement and support. I really am astounded at the interest at my thoughts, rantings, and random musings. Who knew?

Blessings!

Fly on the Wall

This morning at breakfast:

Quarto: Mom, how many eggs is that?
Me: Ten.
Quarto: Ten?! That's crazy talk!

A Gap in Their Education

The kiddos are trying to fit in as much TV as possible before we cancel the satellite service at the end of the month. Primo's favorite channel is the Bomerang Network. They show classic cartoons from the 60's and 70's with a few earlier ones thrown in for good measure. I think Primo is just amazed that they had cartoons when Frodo and I were kids... heck, she's amazed that television existed when Frodo and I were kids! Anyway, tonight she was absorbed in an episode of Scooby Doo. When I walked into the room, she turned to me and said, "Mom, that's Cast Elliott," indicating a character in the show. "Dad knows who she is. Do you know her? Cast Elliott?"

"Do you mean Cass Elliott? Yeah, that's Mama Cass."

"Yeah, that's it! Cass Elliott. Who's Mama Cass?"

"Mama Cass. She's a singer. From The Mamas & The Papas."

"Yeah, she's a singer on here, too. Who are The Mamas & The Papas?"

"You don't know who The Mamas & The Papas are?! Are you sure you're my child?"

At this point, I open up YouTube. (What would I do without YouTube and Google? I mean, seriously?)

"This is The Mamas & The Papas..."



"And this..."





"And this is Mama Cass. Cass Elliott."



"Oh."

Oh?

Sigh. I can see we have to have a more formal study of "American Folk Music of the 50's, 60's and 70's", aka "stuff Mom listened to when she was a kid" and these kids better learn it if they are going to have a good grounding in American Culture Studies (and be able to get half of the jokes in The Simpsons... when they are old enough to watch The Simpsons, that is). They obviously aren't picking it up properly through casual exposure and are seriously lacking in appreciation of the classics of American music.

Johnny Cash does seem to be sticking with Secondo. She has recently declared him her favorite. So, here is a little Johnny Cash to help diversify your own folk music studies. Here is Secondo's favorite:



And here is mine:






(Hey, I'm impressed I was able to hold myself to two.)

Fly on the Wall

Quarto: [casually, while putting markers away] Dad, what's sharper, a marker or a sword?
Frodo: [slightly puzzled] A sword.
Quarto: [with the tone of a schoolteacher amazed at his young pupil's apparent wisdom beyond his years] That's right!

Book Meme

Heather, over at Stepping Heavenward, "tagged" me for this meme... in a laid-back, non-tagging sort of way. *grin*

From The Equation for Excellence: How to Make Your Child Excel at Math:

A parent gives a child a problem. The child gets the problem wrong. The parent should then just give an easier problem, right?

Share a taste of your most recent read... or at least the one most near at hand. If you'd like to participate, consider yourself tagged and follow these guidelines:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages.)
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people. Or not. I'm in favor of just opening up for anyone who wants to play along.

The Paradox

A friend pointed out the other day that I hadn't posted here in over two months. After the shock wore off that there is someone out there who cares enough to check here regularly to see if I've posted and note the frequency of the posts, I responded, "Yeah, I know. Life's been too crazy." And there is my paradox... when life is busy, I don't have time to post here; when life is slow and I have all the time in the world to write blog posts, I don't have anything interesting to write about.

Here's a brief list of all the stuff that's gone on in the last two months that I would have loved to have written about (and will, eventually) but just didn't have time to because, well, I was busy doing them:

1. Frodo finished his first year in the PhD program (I know, that doesn't sound like it has much to do with me, but trust me, it does... it throws me into single-parent mode)

2. I finished the second book of my science curriculum series. (Now, I just have to shift gears and work on editing the first one.)

3. We took some time off of homeschooling and played, and the kids enjoyed having parents who weren't working, working, working. (We all so enjoyed this.)

4. My parents came for a week-long visit. (We hadn't seen them for almost a year, and really had a wonderful time.)

5. Had the car fixed. (That was a very expensive proposition.)

6. Had the car fixed again. (Can you call it "hemorrhaging money" when you're already broke?)

7. Took lots of pictures. (I am finally getting a chance to play with my new camera, plus the publisher for my books wants to go color and may use some of my photos.)

8. Read a lot of books. (I love to read... especially when I have writer's block or when I am procrastinating.)

9. Began attending small groups at church. (The church just started the small groups, and we love ours.)

10. Sent Primo off to Youth Group... one activity involved dropping her off on campus to meet-up with the rest of the youth to attend a concert. (I am not ready for this.)

11. Deep-cleaned the house. (I have been wanting to do this for months, but waited until the book was done and spring semester was over. The house is so nice and comfy now.)

12. Sketched a design and began collecting fabrics for my new nephew's quilt. (I haven't tried anything this ambitious before, but I think it will look great when it's done. I just hope I can have it done by September when we hope to drive up for a visit. Oh, and on that note, pray for gas prices to stay down.)

13. Started up our homeschool's summer session. (Homeschooling year-round is great. It allows us to take off from Thanksgiving to New Year's plus we are inside in the a/c or heat on the truly hot or cold days and have the time to take off a day or two when those perfect spring or fall days come around.)

14. Wrote up a school plan for the upcoming year and planned what texts I need to purchase. (Now I just need money... and more bookshelves.)

15. Wrote up a summer reading list for myself. (I tend to focus on "have-to" reading, education and work-related things, so I wanted to come up with goals that included some pleasure reading.)

16. Wrote up an outline and a list of reading materials in preparation for book 3. (Now all I need is the contract for book 3.)

17. Held a book handwritten in the 1300's, another that was one of only three copies known to be in existence (one of the other two is in the British Museum), and touched the signature of Frederick Douglass. (I'll post about that shortly. This was so cool!)

18. Found out that the University Museum allows homeschoolers to check out boxes of actual artifacts to take home and study. They will also set up private displays and viewings on request. (You know we'll be taking advantage of this.)

19. Ate way too many hot dogs. (I know they are bad for you, but they're yummy.)

20. Began walking in the walking park down the street three times a week. (see # 19)

That's all I can recall for now. I know there is more, but I am going to go hang out with the kids for a bit then start in on my summer reading list. I'll share some more details of our recent adventures soon... sooner than two months from now. Promise.

La la la la la

If I hear the phrase "foot soldier in the Regan revolution" one more time, I'm gonna scream.

That is all. Just thought you should be warned in case you want to stick your fingers in your ears.

Book Meme

I've been tagged by Heather at Stepping Heavenward for the following book meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book (af at least 123 pages).

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people.


Seems easy, right? You'd think so. Here was my problem... these were the two books closest to me:





Neither has 123 pages.

Not to worry. I have four other books on my desk that are at least 123 pages each:










Well, they each have at least 123 pages, but two are dictionaries and one is heavily illustrated and has a picture on page 123. I thought for sure that Botanical Latin would fit the bill (it has 539 pages), but no. It has conjugations and translations of the pronouns alius and alter on page 123, no complete sentences.

Next closest is my date book. No good. Then there was a tie for the next closest book:





So, you are going to get quotes from both because I couldn't decide which to choose. Hopefully, you can determine which quote comes from which book.

Quote 1:

Wherever Yates appeared, there was the inevitable Stephen. And not only there, but beaming with affection and gushing with apologies for not being able to pay. By and by, however, whenever poor Yates saw him coming, he would turn and fly, and drag his company with him, if he had company; but it was of no use; his debtor would run him down and corner him.

Quote 2:

There the Lord made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you."
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.

The five I am tagging:

Angel at Aduladi' Homeschool Academy
Chris at A Mountain Homeschool
Brittney at King Alfred Academy
The Mama at and the mama
Jessica at Trivium Academy

Hopefully, I'll remember to go tag them all after lunch. If I forget and one of you is here reading, consider yourself tagged... participation is optional as always. Also, anyone here reading that wants to participate, but I didn't tag specifically, consider yourself tagged and leave your answer in the comments section or leave a link there to your blog so we can all check out your answer.

Guess I'd better go read Botanical Latin and get writing... after lunch.

I'm A Rare One

But I think we all knew that already, didn't we?

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTP)

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant. Only about 4% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

I've done these personality tests before, and I usually come up as an INTJ, "judging" rather than "perceiving". Wonder why this one came up differently. I've never really been accused of being goofy... except by my kids, and Frodo, and maybe my folks, and my sister, and the in-laws on occasion, and Angel, but no one else. And relaxed? Really? I guess usually, but add in some stress and BOING! I'm a tightly wound get-it-done machine with a very sensitive emotional detonator. Maybe I'm learning to chill in my old age. (Notice I didn't argue the "introverted" and "brilliant" categorizations? Those are pretty spot on I would say. *grin*)

HT: Mental Multivitamin

Zip. Zilch. Nada.

That's how much snow we got. Just north of us received a dusting. Just south of us (pretty much all the way to the Gulf of Mexico) got FOUR INCHES! FOUR INCHES! How Alice in Wonderland/ Through the Looking Glass is that?!

If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but if it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.

- from Through the Looking Glass

Needless to say, the kids were disappointed. Their disappointment was compounded by the fact that I also got sick Saturday. We were supposed to go out to a MeetUp group meeting to make signs for Ron Paul's campaign, so I took decongestants hoping to clear my head enough to make the 1.5 hour trek (one way) with the three oldest. Big mistake. The meds knocked me out, and I slept for almost 6 hours. We missed the meeting. Sigh.

We're still cold (the powers that be are calling for an "ice storm" tonight, but I'm not holding my breath), I'm feeling better, no one else got sick, school went well today, and writing is going well (I'm taking 5) so I guess I shouldn't complain. I just needed to get it out of my system.

I feel better now.