May. 14, 2008 - Am I weird?
BTW, what does it say about me that my neighbor just called me from *behind* Costco to let me know she was driving by and saw a nice patio set in their dumpster for me? She has already retrieved three of the chairs for us, but was calling to let us know of the rest...she said she knew I was "into dumpster diving."
For the record, I have never been in a dumpster. I think there is a world of difference between taking something from the neighborhood curbside trash (I prefer the term "informal swap meet" to trash day) if one happens to be walking by it and seeking out items at industrial dumpsters. But now that she's already gotten three of the chairs for us...
Anyway, I'm too chicken to do it. I called Mr. Wonderful and asked him to scope it out on his way home. Neighbor says they are nice wrought iron chairs; she couldn't really get a good look at the table, but says it would involve removing all the seats from the van to fit the table in.
But still, I'm not sure I'm sending out so much an eco-chic green vibe as an oddly eccentric cheapskate vibe to the world around me.
Blessings,
Holly
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May. 14, 2008 - FREE Middle School Science Kits
Hi, all! Registration is open for Physics Quest.
I cannot say enough about this program. We've done it the past two years and if you sign up quickly enough, the folks at Physics Quest will send you a free self contained science kit with necessary experiment supplies.
This is usually shipped in the fall, but they run out of the free kits quickly, so register TODAY if you have a 6th-9th grader. Kits will also be available for sale (about $20) after the free ones run out.
I love these because not only do the kids learn great science, but the kits always come with a little mystery type puzzle to solve. If you get the right answers on the experiments, it will provide the correct clues to solve the mystery.
Plus, each year they feature a different scientist (Tesla is the upcoming one), so the kids learn a little history/biography as well.
http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsquest/index.cfm
Blessings,
Holly
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May. 13, 2008 - Verdict
Salmon was very moist but bland. While flaky, it was not hot, but warm so I nuked it 30 seconds to ward off food poisoning.
Butternut squash was just clean, not cooked at all. Will recycle that for tomorrow's meal, done in a more conventional manner.
Mr. Wonderful suggests I just put the salmon in a ziploc bag and throw it in the tub with me next time I take a bath. He's so absurd.
But, hey, it was fun and how many people can say they've eaten Dishwasher Salmon? As I told my sister-in-law, I've been married nearly 17 years. Gotta change it up every now and then to keep things fun. I'm not sure Mr. Wonderful thought it was all that fun, but gave him a good excuse to eat his favorite food on the planet for dinner...wait for it...Chef Boyardee. Who's the crazy one?
Blessings,
Holly
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May. 13, 2008 - Foiled Again
Foiled again. Accidentally sent the note to Mr. Wonderful in a distribution list
I forgot he was on. He called IMMEDIATELY and was less than amused.
For the sake of marital harmony, only *my* salmon is now in the
dishwasher, kids' portions are in the oven. I have half a mind to
torch the oven salmon just so mine seems 0h-so-much better. Sheesh. I
don't tell him how to do his job.
Blessings,
Holly
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May. 13, 2008 - Can't Stand It
Gotta do it. Haven't been able to put the idea of Dishwasher Salmon
out of my mind ever since I ran across it online a few weeks ago.
http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/dishwasher.html
Don't tell Mr. Wonderful.
And, since I was gonna make butternut squash anyway and I normally
halve that, put it cut side down in a pan with an inch of water in the
oven, well...
I'm just gonna stick the whole butternut squash in the dishwasher too.
I pricked the skin for steam holes. I am debating whether or not to
put in the top rack like the salmon or if it should go bottom rack
since it's so much thicker.
My sis seemed to think that was a good idea. Well, actually, she
felt the whole thing was a phenomenally BAD idea, but given that I was
determined, she agreed that pricking the squash skin seemed appropriate.
Blessings,
Holly
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May. 13, 2008 - Is it just me?
Or does everyone else out there have a hard time focusing on "school" in May.
I find that each year, we don't so much complete our school as peter out with the traditional academics in favor of real life. Seatwork is fine when the weather is cruddy, but when it gets sunny, it seems to me to be the time to be out of doors.
I know it all counts. And I know that the outdoor adventures are what they will remember. And by May, I am so sick to death of "school" that I don't even feel particularly guilty in abandoning the routine.
Am I unique in this? I don't think so, but I'd like to hear what the rest of you do as the school year winds down. How is school in May different than, say, school in October for you?
Blessings, Holly
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May. 10, 2008 - Descending into Porta-hell with the porta-bote
OK, first off, take a wild gander where one registers boats in the
great state of Illinois. And yes, even a "bote" that folds to 4 inches thick needs to be
registered.
DMV? Nope. Department of Natural Resources? Guess again.
Currency Exchange.
What is Currency Exchange? Well, you know thost pay day advance
places on the corners of seedy neighborhoods? That's what Currency
Exchange is. Mr. Wonderful says that while he was there, he could have also
gotten a $100 advance on his paycheck for 13 days for $15.50
fee...this works out to something like 480% APR.
Now, why does the great state of IL register it's boats through the
privately owned Currency Exchange?
Anyone following the Rezko trial out there?
I'm pretty sure whomever bribed whichever governor to get the corner on the boat registrations
market did so well before Rezko, but the details are superfluous.
Pols have been selling patronage here for ages. It's no better than
it was at the peak of the gangster days. Just slightly more refined.
IL is a world unto itself. An unbelievably corrupt one.
Mr. Wonderful couldn't register the boat today which is a long tale in and of
itself but I think comes down to the fact that he didn't want to
falsify another person's signature nor pay a bribe. I am sure the
folks at Currency Exchange weren't quite sure what to do with him.
To be continued...
Blessings,
Holly
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May. 5, 2008 - Sign the Petition
Sign the Petition asking Marriott to stop offering in room porn. This petition comes in advance of Focus on the Family's 5/14 meeting with Marriott.
http://www.focuspetitions.com/145/petition.asp?CID=145&RID=12289706
Blessings, Holly
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Apr. 30, 2008 - We came, we saw, we froze.
The winter coats are in the closet and if I have to break them back out before October, so help me, someone will pay.
Today was sunny. So we took off for the Arboretum which is fantastically cool under any circumstance with it's hedge maze, childrens' garden, pond walk but particularly cool when it's sunny and there is an art exhibit of giant bug sculptures.
Unfortunately, the weather, too, proved particularly cool. Sunny, yes. Warm, not so much-ish. 53 when we arrived. I think I am becoming an obsessed nut like Thomas Jefferson over the temperature (he took the temperature wherever he was at about the same time in the morning and again in the afternoon and recorded it--for nearly 50 years day after day after day after day).
At least for Jefferson, though, there was an element of scientific wonderment in his OCD focus on the warmth or lack thereof. I think small, accurate thermometers were still a novelty then. For me, it is just an incredulous "I can't believe it is still this--I would say freakin' here if I were still using that word, but I'm not--cold here."
Fortunately, it warmed to 65 before we went home, which made the kid's light spring jackets at last appropriate.
Blessings, Holly
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Apr. 29, 2008 - That's it!
Yes, it was 38 degrees yesterday and there were snow flurries in the air.
I don't care. I am done with this endless winter even if it is not done with me. It is April 29 for cryin' out loud.
I have washed the winter coats. That's it. The kids will just have to freeze; I refuse to recognize another day of this decided dreariness.
In my mind, I'm goin' to Carolina...oh yes, I'm gone to Carolina in my mind....
Blessings, Holly
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Apr. 17, 2008 - Crud and Argh
So, I go out for a jog in this lovely 70 degree sunny day.
I'm wearin' a real old grubby T shirt. Stained. You know those fashionable jog outfits you see in stores? I am the antithesis to that. I am the person who wears the rags unfit for human apparel to jog in. The clothes that should have been in the garbage years ago. That.
Hair in a pony tail, but half of it all whipped out by the wind.
I stink. Literally, I mean.
Just after the jog, I go to the garage (door is open) to put
something in recycling.
At the precise moment that DH is being dropped off...much earlier
than I expected. Our house was the meeting point for a group
traveling together today.
So, I meet the budget lady. She is, in a word, GORGEOUS.
Fortunately, I think she hates DH (he spends his budget), but
still, all females will appreciate that I wish I had looked or
smelled a little better.
Worse, DH's boss and DH's boss's boss are there too.
What can I do? Running back in the house after being seen seemed
like a worse option.
So, I apologized for looking like a wreck, said I was just back from
jogging and then internally agonized that all the professionals would
think that this is all I do with my time. Narcissistic at home mom.
And, of course, my internal agonizing made me more nervous so that
when I did talk, I'm pretty certain I spewed idiocies.
The four children, of course, had vanished and it just seemed too
self serving to talk about how we had spent the morning homeschooling.
And, to make it worse, prior to putting my hair in the ponytail to go jogging, I had actually been having a rare good hair day. I was even wearing a pretty cute outfit prior to changing into my bag lady clothes for jogging.
Darn it.
Blessings, Holly
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Apr. 14, 2008 - Educator Days and My Find of the Moment
FYI: Barnes and Noble Educator Days are April 26-May 4. The man at the register at our B&N tells me that if you special order and the books are in the store during this time, they are eligible for the 25% discount as well. This is different than what I've been told in the past, so I asked him a couple different times in a couple different ways, but that was his story and he's stickin' to it. So, I may order the Landmark Book bios that are being reissued under Sterling Point Books through special order and pick em up during the discount days.
My find of the day was the hardcover Great Stories from History for Every Day of the Year by WB Marsh and Bruce Carrick. $9.98 on clearance but with my educator discount, only $7.98. While I only rifled through it (I have a low bar for history books to make it into my cart--I love them all!), the writing seems engaging and the length, about a page per day, just right for peaking interest in the age 8 and up crowd. I intend to let this one hang out in the center of the kitchen table next to the salt and pepper. I figure we'll read the day's history aloud at lunch (I am inspired in this by my pal Karen J who reads aloud to her kids EVERY day during lunch!). For the history phobes and the history reluctant--while I will never understand you--this may be a painless way to incorporate history into your day.
Also, I noticed that the hardcover Alexander Hamilton biography by Ron Chernow was in the clearance section for $7.98...this would be just a tad over $6 bucks with the educator discount. Chernow's Hamilton ranks among the best biographies I've ever read and if all you know about Hamilton is that he's on one of our bills and he died in a duel, you should treat yourself to this one!
Blessings, Holly
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Apr. 1, 2008 - What's Your Money Personality?
I am an analyzer. Go figure.
I "excel at seeing the larger vision, creating efficient methods and procedures and am a natural organizer and administrator." I think that's a nice way of saying I'm bossy and generally convinced I'm right about it. And while I have no problem with that, I've been told it's not my most endearing quality.
I "tend to experience stress when others try to move me in directions that seem illogical, untruthful or inefficient." I feel anxiety if I "do not have sufficient time to plan or have control over my duties." (Note to God: You can stop creating opportunities for me to work on this weakness now. Enough.)
I comply with budgetary limits as I search out best values (like, duh. I thought this was the definition of being a mom? Isn't the alternative bankruptcy?).
I am a meticulous shopper (then why did I pay full price for jeans last night? Because certain items, like swimsuits or those items that cover one's butt in anything than a less than hideous way are a bargain at any price.)
I am "very good at saving, sometimes to the extreme." (That sentence makes absolutely no sense to me...perhaps that's their point?)
I may find it difficult to be generous (I do not either!) and may set very high criteria for the recipients of my donations (well, again, duh).
What's your personality?
http://www.crown.org/Tools/personality.aspx
Blessings, Holly
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Mar. 26, 2008 - An Instructive Aside
For those still mastering the art of in-law relations:
One may want to think twice prior to sending to the grandparents what one considers an amusing take on a dreary month of illness.
Particularly if one has happened to forget that one's father-in-law urged one to get the flu vaccine back in the fall for self, spouse and treasured progeny.
And one didn't do it.
And especially if one is keeper of nearly half the stable of grandchildren and virtually all of the males who might carry on the R. family name.
That is, unless one wants to be (gently) reminded of one's egregious lack wisdom. Followed by a thoughtful analysis and linked articles to flu, vaccination effectiveness, review of epidemiology of the latter 20th century, etc.
And no, one will not receive brownie points for trying to change the topic and pointing out but the progeny ALWAYS wear bike helmets. Does that count for something? It does not. At least in this setting.
However, one should count oneself lucky, hearing the enormous love and care and concern pouring forth. Understanding that these two great in-laws did not pour blood, sweat and tears into raising five children only to have some Yankee upstart marry in and screw up the second generation.
And, if one should be taken back to memories of college days, when time spent with Mr. Wonderful was sometimes interrupted by phone calls from his parents in which Mr. Wonderful's father detailed the latest horrors of the latest drugs supposedly making the rounds on campus with strict warnings not to get messed up in that scene, one should remember--
One never has the corner on loving a person. There are always those who have loved them longer and more selflessly.
Those are called parents. Over the years, those parents morph into grandparents. Who no doubt wonder why God, in his infinite wisdom, placed their precious grandkids with the likes of an idiot like one their kid chose to marry.
Really, all one can do if offer up public repentance and vow that next year, one certainly will not even dream of making the boneheaded mistake of neglecting the flu shot.
And one might say: I love you too, Dad R.
Blessings, Holly
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Mar. 25, 2008 - I totally get it.
I have no doubt in my mind that the dishwasher salmon recipe I found online was posted by someone quite like myself.
They had been essentially housebound since February 26 with one or more sick children. Pneumonia, flu, cold, ear infections, you name it. Plus gross stuff you don't even want me to name in addition. A solid month in the same (if I were still saying it, which I'm not, I'd insert "freakin'" here) house, with cranky sick kids--several sick kids at a time but not ALL sick at once mind you, so there's always an energetic, healthy one or two climbing the walls and annoying the Christian love right out of everyone.
One gets a little stir crazy.
My moment of insanity came when I was sitting in the Urgent Care for the second visit ON THE SAME DAY. I had lost rock, paper, scissors with Mr. Wonderful over that one...or maybe I had won? Which is better? The parent with the flu taking the kid with the flu to Urgent Care or the parent with the flu watching the other kids with the flu at home? Anyway, the nurse laughed at me when I told her I did take a family poll before returning to see if anyone else needed to go? Speak now or forever hold your peace? Anyone else in intense pain that cannot wait until morning? Anybody else need to spend $300 instead of a $30 copay? Anybody at all? "I'm sorry," she said. "I know it's not funny." No, lady, it's not, but glad my life could provide your schadenfreude. I think of it as my gift to the world.
Anyway, as I was sitting in the Urgent Care lobby (again), I was looking around, thinking to myself, "Well, this is actually a nice place. It's pretty. The fishtank is really peaceful. This is a good place to just get to come sit. Really nice. I'm glad to be out of the house."
When the waiting room of an Urgent Care serves as a mini-retreat, dishwasher salmon seems downright reasonable. Nonetheless, Mr. Wonderful has forbidden me to try it.
Blessings, Holly
Cooking Salmon in a Dishwasher
Needs:
salmon fillets
aluminum foil
a lemon
a few butter pats
electric dishwasher
Place the fish on two large sheets of aluminum foil. Squeeze on some lemon juice and place the pats of butter on the salmon fillets. Seal the fillets well in the foil, and place the foil packet in the top wire basket of your electric dishwasher. DO NOT ADD SOAP OR DETERGENT. Close the dishwasher door, set the dishwasher on the hottest wash cycle, complete with drying cycle, and let it run through a full cycle. When the cycle is complete the fish will be cooked just right.
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Mar. 25, 2008 - Well, it certainly qualifies as new...
I went on line, in search of new recipe for our salmon for tonight. Must say, I found one! I am half tempted to do this, if only for the novelty of saying to Mr. Wonderful, "Hon, can ya help me? Would you pull dinner out of the dishwasher, please?"
Blessings, Holly
Cooking Salmon in a Dishwasher
Needs:
- salmon fillets
- aluminum foil
- a lemon
- a few butter pats
- electric dishwasher
Place the fish on two large sheets of aluminum foil. Squeeze on some lemon juice and place the pats of butter on the salmon fillets. Seal the fillets well in the foil, and place the foil packet in the top wire basket of your electric dishwasher. DO NOT ADD SOAP OR DETERGENT. Close the dishwasher door, set the dishwasher on the hottest wash cycle, complete with drying cycle, and let it run through a full cycle. When the cycle is complete the fish will be cooked just right.
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Feb. 8, 2008 - Bagpipes and My Honey
My honey likes bagpipes. Must be the Scots-Irish in him. He has
made me promise to have a bagpiper at his funeral. And yes, he wants
Danny Boy played. Don't ask me where I will find a bagpiper on short
notice, but it seems a bit creepy to do any sort of research on
that. Should I kick it before he does, you all are warned. Honey
wants bagpipes.
I saw that Wheaton College Arts series included a concert by the
Scottish Dragoons and Coldstream Guard regiments. I figured there
MUST be some bagpipes involved in there somewhere and got a couple
tickets for my honey as a Christmas present.
The concert was last night.
First off, I just like Wheaton College. Maybe this is stupid, but I
feel like I am walking on holy ground knowing this is the place that
turned out the likes of Jim and Elizabeth Elliott, Billy and Ruth
Graham and Todd Beamer.
Second, I like the crowd at these concerts. I'm assuming many are
Wheaton alumni and it's gratifying to go someplace where we are
the "young" ones. I'd put the average age of the concert go-er here
at about 60 and I notice shuttle buses from several of the area
retirement homes at the entrance.
Third, I like that these concerts generally start with a prayer. We
were a bit late last night, so I'm not certain that was true, but it
was for the other concert we attended there. I can't think of any
other public performance that wasn't in a church or a homeschool
event that started with public prayer. They even use the word Jesus.
A word about bagpipes. They are really, if I were still using the
term, freaking loud. Since I am trying to elevate my vocabulary, I
will say that they are enormously loud. Shockingly loud.
Stupendously loud. And that is one bagpipe. This concert had 8 on
stage at a time.
Eight freaking loud, enormously, shockingly, stupendously loud
bagpipes are not, however, louder than the singing voices of the
audience at Wheaton College. And when the National Anthem is played
at Wheaton College, people sing. Not because they are told to or
encouraged to or anything else. These people sing because they love
their country. I, of course, cannot sing because anytime I hear the
National Anthem, I choke up. Particularly so when I am in a crowd of
old folks who love their country and can drown out 8 bagpipes and a
full regiment band. Plus, being--I'm assuming--a generally church
going crowd with years of weekly singing under their belts--they sing
beautifully and in harmony.
We listen to many Scottish/British tunes. I am astounded anew at my
ignorance. Should I reach the age of 40 without knowing God Save the
Queen is My Country Tis of Thee? This adds a whole new rebellious
overtone to My Country; one, I have to admit, I like.
The Dragoons and Coldstream Guard play a set that is a Tribute to
America. During this set, they played the theme song of each of our
different branches of service (including the Merchant Marine, which I
assumed was defunct but maybe is not?). I found this surprisingly
moving, but made all the more so from our vantage point in the
cheapseats of the balcony. As each new piece started--one flowed
right into the next--the audience applauded. Loud and long.
Patriotically. They must not have gotten the memo that that is no
longer in vogue. Of course, that alone starts my tears again. And
from our vantage point, we saw old, old men, all over the audience,
popping up when their branch's theme was played, sitting when it was
over. At this, I was openly weeping, I just couldn't help it. Mr.
Wonderful later admitted it made him cry too.
The evening closed with a lone bagpiper playing Amazing Grace and
leading in to a couple other hymns.
Wonderful night, moreso than I had anticipated.
Blessings, Holly
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Feb. 5, 2008 - If ya have to explain your poetry, are you really a poet?
I am sure you all have at least one difficult relationship in your extended families. We are blessed with more than one on each side and usually this has a beneficial effect. Sometimes God uses those sandpaper people to rub off our own rough edges and that can certainly be a good thing. But sometimes the harm inflicted by the sandpaper people just shreds children to bits...and when that relation is a bit removed, one has no power to make things better, but can only watch the carnage unfold. Such has been our lot over the past year and a half or so and I find my reactions coming out in odd ways. Poetry, for instance. The last poem I recall writing was when the Challenger exploded just a month or so after a close friend was hit and killed by a car...that was, what? 22 or 23 years ago? So, it takes quite a bit to stir a poem out of me. DH's reaction to my poem, below, was that it would be shorter and more direct just to gauge out the readers' eyes and ears rather than making them read this depressing poem. He also stated that he would just excuse himself now and go douse himself in gasoline and set himself aflame on the driveway in reaction. Made me thankful once again that I married this man...his humor carries us through many a difficult time. For the record, I think the last line connotes, if not exactly hope, then the patient expectation of a resurrecting and just God.
Some explanation of the symbolism may be in order. The red lizard is from CS Lewis' The Great Divorce. Not only did our pastor preach on this a few weeks back, but it was also the subject of an opinion piece by Andree Seu in a recent World magazine article. You can read it here and here:
http://www.new-life.net/lewis.htm
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13642
Cheap grace is Bonhoeffer, of course and the quote that informs that for me can be found here:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/amoira/blessings/gracech1.htm
Shadow imagery is from Peter Pan and best explained here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/147228/shades_of_a_shadow_symbolism_in_jm.html
He floated in
Attached to the family we invited.
The shadow
That we cannot unstick
From us anymore than he
Can attach to himself.
His absence
Violent shattering;
His presence
Forgettable
But not forgotten.
He runs toward death.
His one act against passivity.
Declaring cheap grace
Treasure.
Answering to his new name,
Following the same red lizard.
Blind, he stabs.
Enslaved, he casts chains.
And thinks himself a man for having slayed
Children.
We are not to notice.
New love throws white sheets
Over dead bodies.
And asks us to look away.
We cannot.
We stitch his shadow to our heels.
We lift the sheets with
Love and await
The blinding of the Light.
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Jan. 30, 2008 - A Homeschool Family
Click on "A Homeschool Family"
Blessings, Holly
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Jan. 28, 2008 - Spread the Word!
http://www.expelledthemovie.com/playground.php
Blessings, Holly
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