RMV, Etc., in 1,575 Words

Good evening! I did write this morning but it is on the computer upstairs and will most likely go in the Daniel blog so be on the lookout for that probably tomorrow.

So. Thursday I went to the RMV. I needed to get home because Laura and Joanna were both going to be going to work. I got there five minutes before they opened and the line was half-way down the sidewalk along the side of the building. I went in and went to the bathroom. Then I looked to see if the woman I’d spoken to the day before was available and she was busy. The guy next to her was not busy but couldn’t do registrations, only driver’s licenses. The guy next to him was finishing up some paperwork and would have been able to do a registration if not for the other story line.

. . .which was a funny smell. To me it smelled like hair spray or nail polish remover. Ick. When I got out of the bathroom, the manager or supervisor or whatever was telling everyone that as soon as the fire department arrived, the building would be evacuated. My thoughts: “Seriously? Come ON!” Other people, who didn’t have a fast pass to the front of the line said, “Hey, open up more windows. Let’s get more numbers rolling here!” My thoughts: “Seriously? Like THAT’s going to solve anything.” The woman I’d spoken to the day before was annoyed with that one, I could tell, and started yelling (she’s actually got a reputation for being, you know, kind of a female dog, but I think it’s mostly because she won’t put up with crap from the idiots who go in and say things like, “Let’s get more numbers rolling here!”

Of course, this meant that I was keeping a very close eye on the people working because I wanted to get done and be done. I’d already been there the day before and waited a total of an hour and a half. Wasn’t that enough? Apparently not. The manager/supervisor said, “We’re going to go ahead and close up. The fire department should be here any minute.” I wasn’t too thrilled about this but wasn’t going to stick around to see if they opened back up so I was outta there. I stopped at the library on the way home to return Eragon  and Here Be Dragons and check out Eldest and Falls the Shadow. Then I went home and discovered. . .

 . . .that I couldn’t access my laptop. Are you freaking kidding me? Cedric had wanted to get on the computer and I let him because he’s usually good about just looking things up. Well, this time he went to miniclips which he knew he wasn’t supposed to do and guess what? Virus. FBI virus to be specific. This mama was NOT a happy camper and let her offspring know exactly how not happy she was. This is why there has been a lack of blog posts for the last few days. I called Jeremy West who gave me a suggestion or two which I tried but not being the computer expert that I am, I wasn’t successful. I could get in if I used safe mode but that was just kind of a pain so I didn’t bother trying.

That afternoon, Amena had been invited to the Beaudett’s house for a get together that Rachel had planned. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of going back to Fitchburg when I’d already been to Leominter (you remember about the RMV), especially since I would have to not only drop her off but pick her up as well. You know, I don’t mind driving over that way because it really isn’t that far. Once a day is perfectly fine. Even twice in one day is doable depending on the circumstances. But I was looking at maybe three or four times because I wanted to try the RMV again. Yikes!!! Anyway, Joseph had found the first Star Wars (as in Episode IV or The Last Hope) so my thoughts went something like this: “Well, I can drop Amena off, we can go by the RMV and then we can deliver Star Wars to the Mylers.” I was, of course, hoping that the RMV would be open by then.

So off we went. Laura and Joanna and Paul were all at work and since I was dropping Amena off, the boys had no choice but to go with me. We took the truck. Amena was dropped off at the Beaudett’s. We drove by the RMV; it was still closed. We went to the Myler’s; three quarters of them were home and half of them were outside. We dropped Star Wars off and visited for a while and then went to pick Amena up. Because there was a pizza in the oven, and because Amena wasn’t done doing what she was doing, of course we couldn’t leave immediately so we stayed and visited for a while. What a day. Only two trips though. I didn’t bother going back later because I checked the RMV website on my phone and discovered that they were still not open.

And other than that, I only got 200 pages of Eldest read as well as other domestic-type things. What a day.

Friday, I wasn’t in much of a hurry. I knew the lines would be long and Laura didn’t have to go to work until 3:00. I wasn’t worried about the long lines but driving the truck does have disadvantages when it comes to parking. I showered and got ready and left. I drove to the RMV. There were a couple of places I could have parked, and would have had I been driving the Jetta, but I decided to just go to the overflow parking. Of course I missed the turn into the parking lot and briefly considered just driving over the curb but figured that it probably isn’t legal and because it probably isn’t legal, there would probably be an officer of the law witness my doing it and therefore I just kept going and turned around in the Marshalls parking lot across the street. Finally I got parked and walked over. The line, for those of you familiar with the Leominster RMV, was to the corner of the building outside. I walked around all the cars and snuck through the line at the doors and went in.

The woman I’d spoken to two days earlier wasn’t there. The guy who couldn’t help me was there. The guy next to him who could help me was there but busy. So I stood there, waiting. Then the woman I’d spoken to came out and I zipped over and handed her my papers. She asked if I’d been there the day before and I said, “Yes, and the day before that.” So we chit chatted about the idiot who wanted to open more windows and get the numbers rolling. She admitted that she’d been very close to losing her temper. I just expressed my opinion that there is always something to make life interesting even if we don’t like it. She said that they really didn’t need to be closed the day before because they were going to pay for it that day as it was Friday and the following week was a holiday. Having worked for the welfare department, I can imagine.

I was in and out in about 5 minutes. It took me longer to park than it did to get everything done. And then I was on my way home.

It was a rainy day so we didn’t go swimming. It was rainy but not consistently. It would rain for a while, usually coming down hard and fast, and then it would stop, the sun would come out, and then it would rain again. We went through this cycle all day long so of course the goats didn’t get out. Then between 3 and 4, the goats let themselves out through a hole they made in their fence. I told Amena, Cedric and Seth to just go ahead and take them out to the back field because they obviously wanted out and Joseph helped me fix the hole.

I finished reading Eldest and read a few pages of Falls the Shadow. Even though Laura and Joanna were not going to be home, Paul and I went out. Amena and the boys watched a movie and all went fairly well at home while we were gone. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant we’d been to just once before and I had a spicy basil dish with lots of seafood in it. Very good. They give you the option of white or brown rice, which I like because I really prefer brown rice. The only problems at home were that Cedric snuck into the sherbet (so I told Amena that everyone could have what was left) and that they were all still up watching something (I don’t remember if it was another movie or the same one repeated) when we got home at 10:00.

And that is that. Due to a phone conversation and other fun things, it has taken me almost two hours to write what I’ve written so we’ll leave Saturday and today for tomorrow. In the meantime, I hope you’ve had a wonderful day and have a restful slumber tonight.

PS I forgot to mention that Joanna took my laptop to the West's Thursday evening.

715 Words on a Lovely Day

And another good morning to you. Today is a day to my liking. Overcast, misty, and 65°.

Our plan was to go to Comet Pond last night while the girls were gone to their Wednesday night activities. Then it began to pour while we were eating. The boys were sure that meant no swimming and because the entire day had been filled with showers off and on, I told them they had a choice: swimming with the very real likelihood of rain causing us to have to come home earlier than we would normally or staying home and watching a movie while eating sherbet. Movie and sherbet won out which is probably good because while it didn’t really rain much during the time we would have been gone, the water would not have been all that warm and we would probably have had to leave early due to some boys ‘freezing.’ So, they watched Avatar and I did laundry and read.

After riding and doing Pilates and showering, I took off to the RMV. Going there is always such a pleasure. I had to wait in line to get a number for 15 to 20 minutes. Then the expected wait time (printed on the number) was 1 hour and 4 minutes. It was closer to an hour and fifteen minutes. Then, because there was a $4.13 penalty for not having registered with 30 days, I didn’t have enough money. Today when I go in, I can just go straight to the woman who helped me and get it done without waiting but it still does mean another trip over which isn’t what I had intended to do with my day today because Laura and Joanna both work.

Joanna went yesterday to visit a friend and coworker in Worcester. He has Crohn’s Disease and has been in the hospital with blood clots in his lungs for a few days. She said he gets to go home Friday or Saturday and she is the only visitor he’s had other than family. We all do have trials, do we not? They come in different shapes and sizes and are of different duration but they do exist and our only recourse is to do the best we can and learn from them.

After the RMV yesterday, I stopped at the bank to sign a paper for a new debit card. It appears that someone tried to use my numbers at a motel in Michigan last week. That’s just crazy. I am glad that it was caught before it posted to my account even though the amount was small.

Yesterday afternoon and evening were good for reading and while I did not finish Here Be Dragons, I only have 20 pages left for today. That won’t take long to finish up at all and I would take it with me to the RMV if I expected to wait any length of time. As it is, I would like to finish before I leave so that I can take it to the library and get another book.

Yesterday waiting at the RMV (I hate waiting there—the benches are exceedingly uncomfortable but I do like to use them upon occasion because I don’t like standing for that long either) was a good time for knitting. Once I was there, I thought that I should have brought my book, but I had brought my knitting so at least I had something to do other than play with my phone which wasn’t really charged enough to last that long if I were. I finished the pattern part of the shrug I’ve been working on and did a few rows of ribbing. The ribbing needs to be 3 or 3 ½ inches wide and then it will be time to move on to the rest which consists of sewing up the ends for sleeves and knitting a ribbing around the remaining edge. In other words, the end is in sight. It would actually be slightly nearer had I not done two too many rows of pattern that I had to take out before beginning the ribbing.

On tap for today we have RMV, swimming if the weather cooperates, library, reading, Legos, and whatever else happens along.

I hope you all have a splendiferous day!

Short

Good morning. It is already too warm (71°) and I think this might be short.

Yesterday we were not able to go to Goguen’s because every now and then their lake gets ‘treated’ with some kind of poisonous substance to control algae or something and swimming is not allowed for three or four days. Yesterday was the day chosen for treatment so the rest of the week is no good either. Kinda stinks.

Cedric and Amena had their physicals and all is well. Cedric had to have two shots and I still vacillate as to whether or not I am in favor of vaccinations. I do wonder how often doctors see undefiled penises though. Cedric has an adhesion of the foreskin and I think to myself, “What’s the big deal? None of the boys were circumcised. Adhesion is normal. Does this adhesion mean that there is a problem or that Cedric is a good kid?” I don’t know. I’d like to do some research on the subject before he goes in in four months for follow up.

It just so happens that we saw Linda Trivett while we were waiting for Amena to be done. They go to the same doctor. Since Joanna was going to be home, I was thinking about stopping at the Trivett’s to get the plates and our registration for the red Prizm but since she was at the doctor’s office, that wasn’t really an option (which turned out to be fine). We still picked Sarah up and brought her home with us and she and Amena rode bikes for a while.

Amanda Wood came over so that she and Amena could work on a project and I am afraid I can mention nothing further right now because it is entirely possible that people who are recipients of their labors might either read this or have a family member read this and I was sworn to secrecy. I can tell you about it tomorrow if I remember.

I made macaroni salad in the morning as well as strawberry dump cake. That meant that supper was done because other than that all I had to do was take some Chinese sausages out of the freezer. Pretty difficult, that.

I read, but not as much as I wanted to. In my defense, it was a rather busy day. I don’t know if I’ll get read what I wanted to for today and finish what I wanted to from yesterday but that’s really okay since my original plan was to finish by tomorrow. If I finish today, that’s okay, too.

The boys wanted me to exercise yesterday morning because they wanted to help watch Star Wars. They were disappointed that I wasn’t going to ride and had to make sure that I plan to today. I do. I did the fat burning Pilates yesterday which is nice and I am getting better at it which is good.

The only other thing of interest I can tell you is that I went and voted. Paul did too. I don’t think either of the girls did. The results were not what I wanted but what I expected. We got a democrat who has, according to the New York Times, ‘toiled’ in public office for nearly 40 years, who has never had a real job, who has never introduced a bill. This rather than a republican who served in the military (was a US Navy Seal) and is a successful businessman. He also is the son of Colombian immigrants. Hmmmm. Yeah.

Overall results.

This is why the democrat won. The black circle covers the most populous part of the state: Boston and surrounding cities. The green circle is Springfield: a a cesspool among reason. The blue to the west covers some geographic area but represents a small portion of the population (but does include at least one very large educational institution).

This black circle is Hubbardston. I really think I am glad I live where I do.  Relatively speaking, of course.

Up for today are riding the bike and Pilates, going to the RMV to register the bug, and reading. There are a few other things I’d like to do but I’m not holding my breath. 

Have a great day!

1,116 words about yesterday

Good morning! It is very nice out today. Overcast, breezy, and 67°. I can live with this rather well, partly because the humidity doesn’t seem to be as bad as it has been. Don’t like the humidiy.

Yesterday was a good enough day other than children wanting to go to water. I told the boys they needed to get their room clean if they wanted any hope of going. Then, I came upon a plan. Since Joanna was scheduled to be off at 3:15, she could take to water any who had behaved in a manner that indicated they deserved to and I would stay home will those who had not. Good plan. Except that Joanna ended up taking an extra shift and didn’t get home until after 10:00. So, no water.

Laura and I took the red car over to Ray in the morning so it could be fixed. Then she took Kim Trivett to the doctor. I came home and did my morning things consisting of riding the bike and Pilates and a shower. The biking was good other than the fact that I finished The Lord of the Rings last week and needed to start something else. I’d been thinking about Star Wars but with A New Hope missing, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to because I have looked everywhere and have not been able to find it. I also thought about Narnia movies but didn’t feel like looking for the first one or Pirates of the Caribbean but likewise didn’t feel like putting any effort into finding all of them, specifically the first. So, I settled for Star Wars and began The Phantom Menace yesterday. I love Star Wars; you all know that. But after the first 5 miles of riding and watching, I really just wasn’t in a Star Wars mood. The second jaunt was better but I would have no problem giving it up and starting The Lord of the Rings over again.

I tried a new DVD for Pilates yesterday as well. I’ve had it since we were in Idaho and I tried it once and didn’t really like it. Since then, I’ve learned a lot more about the core muscles or powerhouse or whatever you want to call it. Before, I just didn’t feel like this particular DVD was all that great. Now, I see that it is much better than I thought. However, it is the beginning one and I also have an advanced. Since I’ve been doing the other Pilates for several months now, I think I might give the advanced a go. Today, however, I am leaning toward the fat burning one for variety.

Other than that, I made sherbet in the evening and we ate it after a supper of leftovers. We still have leftovers but they are disappearing. I think tonight we will have Chinese sausages and macaroni salad as we have missionaries coming over to eat. And I want to make a strawberry rhubarb something. As well as freeze more sherbet because I made the whole recipe which is more than our ice-cream freezer can do at once.

Because I made my 50 page minimum and then 100 pages, I decided to go for getting halfway through Here Be Dragons yesterday and I made it even though it wasn’t technically until this morning. It was before 1:00 so that isn’t too bad. I don’t know how far I’ll get today but my goal is 175 pages because then I should be able to finish tomorrow which would be really cool. Then I could go to the library and get the second book of the Inheritance books (there are four and we have them but although we found the first, third and fourth, the second is avoiding detection) and Falls the Shadow which takes place after Here Be Dragons. There are other books by Sharon K. Penman that I wouldn’t mind reading as well.

We will likely go to water today. Amena and Cedric have appointments for physicals today and I thought that we could go to Goguen’s because some children really like going there and we’ll be partway there going to the doctor so we can just continue on. Amena wants to be home by 5:00 so that Amanda Wood can come over so they can make cookies. I don’t have a problem with that because I do have to feed missionaries this evening.

Yesterday before Paul got home, Ray called to say the car was done so as soon as he got home, we went to pick it up. Paul stayed talking to him for a while while I came home and called Trivett’s to let them know and they asked if we could bring it over as they are without transportation. As soon as Paul got back we did that. Today I need to remember to get the registration from them so that we can use the same plates for the bug. I don’t think that the bug will get all insured and registered today but maybe tomorrow.

Paul got fuel yesterday on his way home from work. He said that as he was starting, it began to sprinkle. Then there was lightening right near where he was and the heavens let loose. He was very wet when he got home and was very glad when we were done picking up and delivering the red car so he could change into dry clothes. He had called on his way home to remind me to get the log splitter covered in case it rained. I went out and did that and took care of an extension cord and picked up some things that the boys didn’t get picked up when they cleaned out the red car. It was sprinkling then so I had the boys bring in the goats. The kids were already over by the pen. They did that and it wasn’t more than a minute after they got in that it began to pour. Good timing on our end.

And there you go. I’m going to have to take some pictures of something. People like to look at pictures and more people look at the blog when there are. I don’t like just putting in random ones and I haven’t taken any for a few days so we’ll see how that goes. Maybe if I take the camera when we go to water today there will be some. I most likely would have been going down to Daniel’s grave if it weren’t for the grass and pollen the last few weeks and that would generate some pictures. Anyway, the future remains to be seen.

Have a wonderful day.

Full Moon

Well, school is out and I don’t have to get up to make sure the kids, ooops, I meant children, get up and ready for school in time to catch the bus. So of course what do I do? Wake up before 6:00. Such is life. Other than that, it is a beautiful morning although again I think it’s just a touch warm for the hour (68°). Could be worse, I know.

Yesterday was a good Sunday. Church was good. There was a baptism after that the boys wanted to stay for so even though there was not choir practice, Laura was willing to stay so the boys could. Amena stayed as well. Paul and I came home and got lunch ready. Joanna came home early because her eyes were really bothering her. She’s having a terrible time with her eyes and allergies this year.

Joanna also ended up working for someone yesterday afternoon/evening. I guess it’s someone who has covered for her several times and had asked her several times this week to take shifts for him. Most of the week she couldn’t but yesterday she could so she did. Because of it, other people kept asking her to take their shifts on Sunday’s and she said, “No, I don’t work on Sunday.” It has always been my experience that if you do something once, people expect you to do it again. She said it was lousy. Very slow and she didn’t even make $10/hour. Hmmmmm, I wonder why.

Because her eyes were bothering her so bad, she wore glasses to work and someone there said, “You wear glasses?”

To which someone else said, “No, she doesn’t wear glasses; they’re just on her face.”

Yeah. People make the most interesting comments sometimes.

For lunch we had pork chops and steak grilled. Mine was overdone but otherwise good. We also had salad (with ice-burg lettuce so I didn’t have much) and watermelon for dessert. I’ve been really tired as of late on Sunday afternoons so I took a nap. We were debating going somewhere like we’ve been doing Sunday afternoons but basically decided by our inaction (which was encouraged by the heat) to stay home. The boys ended up playing with Daniel’s Legos most of the afternoon.

I took a nap which was very nice and Adam, Kim and Ryan came over to visit. That was also nice. Ryan went out with the boys to jump on the trampoline for a while and then they were back playing with Legos. Then Ryan was playing games on Kim’s phone and Joseph was watching/helping much of the time. Seth and Cedric stayed out with the Legos.

Paul went out to visit the Fuller’s because he hadn’t been this month and I guess our home teachers decided through inaction to not come visit us. Laura went to church to watch the broadcast and said that it was very good. We had family prayer and read a chapter of 2^nd Nephi before Paul, Laura or Joanna got home and then it was time for bed. It was pretty obviously a full moon day based on behavior but once the boys were in bed, it really didn’t take long for them to be out in spite of constant complaints.

I managed to get enough done on the shrug I’ve been working on during church that it was time to switch needle size so I did that once I went to bed. Because the needle I’m using is a circular one with interchangeable tips, it takes two rows to change both. I change one and knit across and then change the other and purl across. Now I’m less than ten inches from the end at which point I get to sew up the sleeve portion and begin the ribbing around the edge. In other words, the end is in sight.

After that, I read a chapter of 1^st Corinthians and then about 50 pages of Here Be Dragons. I was just going to skim through and really focus on just the battle scenes but I just love reading the whole thing. There are nearly 700 pages and because the type is smaller and the rows closer together, I do not think I will be finishing it in an equivalent amount of time compared to Eragon but my goal is at least 50 pages each day and more than 100 would be nice. I’d like to get it finished by the end of the week and go to the library Friday morning.

Up for today is a whole lot of I don’t know yet. Stay tuned and have a wonderful day!

Mama Turkey and Babies in the Field

Good morning! It is, once again, a beautiful day. Of course, that is completely dependent upon your liking sunshine, some clouds, lots of green, and moderate temperatures (although I might consider 64° to be a bit warm for this time of day).

Do you remember the adage, “Busy is as busy does”? For some reason it just popped into my mind. Maybe because it’s already been a busy morning. I watered the goats (because someone didn’t do it yesterday), dumped fuel in the tank so we will continue to have hot water, washed those things I needed for milking (because someone didn’t do the dishes yesterday), milked, fed the dogs, and am now sitting here typing this and eating a jalapeño bagel.

Yesterday morning sometime after 8:00, I realized that I hadn’t taken the time to write and decided that I wouldn’t just because there was so much to do and taking a day off now and again isn’t that terrible of a thing to do. So, I hope yesterday was a good one for you, it was here.

Friday was the last day of school and was a half day at that. I rode the bike and did Pilates and you know what’s funny? For some of the stretches in Pilates, Ellen (the woman who is the leader or instructor or whatever she’d be called) says, “This should feel good.” And guess what? It does feel good. It feels good to move and stretch. Now if I could just get more of the fat to leave so that the muscle underneath was more apparent.

Anyway, after that and a shower, Laura and I went to the library so I could check out a couple of books (for the battle scenes) and then to the church parking lot so she could practice starting and stopping with a stick. She did pretty well but does need lots of practice. The books I got were Eragon by Christopher Paolini and Here Be Dragons by Sharon K. Penman. I’ve read them both and like them both and will probably talk about them later.

Once the younglings arrived home, they needed food and to fold and put away their clothes. Cedric had an overnight birthday party to go to so I went up to the very warm (think hot) attic to retrieve something for him to give as a gift. Spy sunglasses were the winner of the day. He wrapped them and got ready to go and then called Nia Carrignan for the address because I couldn’t find it anywhere and Cedric is 11 which really is old enough to start making phone calls like this. So I took him to the birthday party where I was sure he would not have any fun (I mean, seriously, they have a trampoline and a pool—who would have fun somewhere like that?) and came home.

Amena wanted to go spend the night at the triplets house. I kind of wanted her to stay home and babysit because Laura and Joanna were both working late again (9:00 and 8:15). I ended up letting her go anyway which turned out to be fine because Paul had eaten a very late lunch and wasn’t really hungry. I had steak, spinach and escarole salad, and sautéed spinach with mushrooms and garlic.

Paul had an interesting day at work which left him wondering if he should start looking for another job. It must be infuriating working for someone who is generally a nice guy and who is very good at doing what he does but who does not want to relinquish control of the company in spite of the fact that he is absolutely no good at running said company. I believe I have said that I could do a better job. I still think I could based on the fact that I know a little and know enough to ask when I don’t know or understand something.

I spent much of the afternoon and evening reading Eragon. I had read it before but it was years ago before we came to Massachusetts. I read approximately half of it Friday which was kind of fun. The whole book is 497 pages (not counting the pronunciation guide etc. at the end).

Yesterday was a busy day. I spent the morning making a baby ball for the Wests soon to arrive baby girl. That was the not crazy part as I actually finished the ball before t I left with Seth to pick Cedric up from his birthday party and we went straight from there to drop Seth off at the birthday party he was going to. We came home and I got a bar of Amena’s Baby Bars ready to go with the ball. I visited with Linda Trivitt for a bit. She and her husband were here because they’d come to test drive the red car that I’ve been driving. It appears that we are going to take it to Ray’s tomorrow to have a couple of things taken care of and then they’ll buy it. That will be cool because we’ll get to put the bug on the road.

I had some lunch and then took off for the baby shower. I had to leave early to go get Seth but it was nice while I was there. I visited some with Paralee King and Jenny (I think) who is the mother of Emily West’s roommate of five years and helped tie a baby quilt. When the quilt was done, I visited with Heather Myler about the girls and school and Star Wars. I told her she could borrow the first three Star Wars movies and when I came home I couldn’t find the first one (first as in Star Wars: A New Hope). We have at least two copies of each movie so I have no idea where the first has gone.

When I got home, I read.

Paul was busy with the wood pile all afternoon. Steve Mayer came over to help and they got quite a bit done. The boys (and Amena a little) helped stack the pieces of fence that Paul started with. Cedric had been handing Paul the pieces of fence that needed to be cut while Amena and Joseph started stacking. Seth and then Cedric finished with minimal help from Joseph who didn’t want to work without Amena.

Amena went across the street to a party that Adam Stanley was having for a few 6^th Grades. I think it started at 2:00 but she forgot about it until after 6:00. I’m not sure when she came home, but it was before 9:00 which it was supposed to be over.

Paul wanted to reward the boys for their hard work so we went to the Korean restaurant that Paul and I often go to. We ordered several dishes to try and amazingly, Joseph liked the greatest variety. I was also surprised that Cedric didn’t seem to like so many things; he actually was the least willing to try things. Anyway, that was kind of fun.

When we got back the boys went straight to bed (they’d already showered and Joseph had had his haircut). I read. I had less than 100 pages to go and wanted to finish last night. I did.

And now it is Sunday morning and Seth is putting cream cheese on a raisin bagel and Joseph is waiting for me to put cream cheese on a cheese bagel. Laura is showering and everyone else is still abed.

Have a wonderful day!

Invisible Foes

Well, another good morning to you! Today is the anniversary of two of my favorite people: Grandma and Papa. I hope you have a wonderful day, Grandma. I think Papa must be nearby.

Amena’s 6^th Grade Recognition was last night. Joanna and I watched the whole thing. The boys each ended up outside beginning with Seth and ending with Cedric. It wasn’t bad. Mrs. McComb gave a welcome speech that was more like a goodbye speech which, in all honesty, makes sense, I just think it’s silly to call something one thing when it isn’t really. Then there were yearbook dedications to those who are retiring broken up with a song. My favorite part was next: the “Then and Now” slideshow. Amena was the second student and of course the cutest baby. Then a composting presentation which was interesting. Those students who helped with that saved, according to Karen DiFranza who is in charge of the program, 2 tons of waste from going to landfills. That is a lot of waste. Holy cow. It really is nice that they put it to good use; I think every school should have a composting program and a garden. Next was another song during which the students gave their parents carnations. That was kind of nice. Finally was presentation of certificates. Lastly was the Hubbardston Center School song and then the student recessional. Amena and Joanna stayed so Amena could mingle. Cedric went in and got lots of booty for his brothers, and then the boys and I went home. Two more years and we get to do it again. I really wish I remembered more of Daniel’s. At least I have his silhouette and now Amena’s.

Yesterday I did the fat burning Pilates and I can feel it today. That’s good. Change is good. Today I’ll ride the bike and finish The Return of the King. Then I am planning on going to the library in Gardner. But that’s about today; I need to finish yesterday.

I did some reading and went to a couple of stores yesterday. I needed to get some allergy eye drops. It was my experience in the past that they would help with the nose as well (which is completely logical as they happen to be in such close proximity). I ‘borrowed’ some of Joanna’s eye drops and they seemed to be doing the trick for the eyes and the nose which is why I wanted to get my own. I don’t see any reason to keep taking pills that aren’t going to work the way they are supposed to when something as simple as eye drops will take care of most of what needs to be. In the meantime, I will keep playing with other things and see what happens.

Speaking of those other things, I tried the cucumber, lemon and mint in water. It is supposed to clean your body of toxins so I figured that’s got to help with the allergies. It tastes good and must be doing something because my urine has not been the pale yellow that it had been normally. Lemon, peppermint and lavender are supposed to help with allergies so I thought that if I put a spring of lavender in with the rest of the stuff it might be good. I haven’t done that yet because my lavender is so small. I know someone who has lavender in their yard so maybe they’ll let me have some. One thing I have learned in the few days I’ve been doing this is that you need to keep it in the refrigerator. If not, the third day it’s a bit off and after drinking it yesterday I felt a bit off.

I didn’t get any writing done yesterday. I guess what I’d done the day before was enough for two days. I need to do an outline for the rest of the story and I need to check a couple of books out of the library so that I can read some good battle scenes. I read those in The Lord of the Rings and I know there are other good ones out there so I want to read them before I write my own.

This morning I went out to milk and Amena was already out to take the goats out. I saw Cedric and Seth with the kids last night; it looked like they had them and were on their way to putting them in the crate but this morning they were in the pen. Go figure. Needless to say, it would have done little good to milk under such circumstances so I didn’t. I did go out prepared to trim more feet so I did that instead. I’d done Snowflake’s right front foot yesterday as well as Princess’s right front and back feet. Today I did Snowflake’s back feet and Goldilock’s right front and both back feet. Tomorrow morning I should be able to finish up which will be nice. Trimming goat hooves is NOT my favorite part of having goats. Because there was no point in milking this morning, I had Amena leave the boys in the pen. They are old enough they don’t need to be with their mother any more anyway so I’ll milk this evening.

Even though 6^th graders don’t have to go to school today, Amena wanted to. I guess her teacher said they couldn’t but the principal said they could so she and the triplets are all going. At least according to the plan they hatched last night. Daniel went on the last day of 6^th grade as well but he rode his bike with some friends and they stopped and ate pizza on the way home.

Currently, four children are out waiting for the bus which as of this moment has not arrived. The kids are crying. Paul is making noise upstairs which means he’s done with his shower and is getting ready for work. Laura and Joanna haven’t stirred yet that I am aware of. And I forgot to feed the dogs. So, I’ll take care of that and be right back with some lessons learned.

Gimli and Legolas have a running competition of foes felled. When Legolas brings down a mûmakil, Gimli says, “That still only counts as one!” Before that, you see them each hewing down orcs and counting: “Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen.” We are in a war. Anyone who believes we are not must have no values or morals. Even if the war is very personal; we are at war. It would be nice if we could count our foes as did Gimli and Legolas, but more often we cannot. For example, in my battle to eat better, every time I resist eating a container of Ben &Jerry’s ice-cream, a foe is defeated. Every time I ride the bike when I think I don’t want to, a foe is defeated. And so it goes. Our foes might not be visible as were the orcs but they are there, and we can defeat them.

That is the first lesson for today. Second is this: when you give your word, keep it.

Aragorn told the King of the Dead that if the dead would fight for him, he would hold their oath fulfilled. After the battle on the Pelennor Fields at the foot of Minis Tirith, the King of the Dead confronts Aragorn. “Release us,” he says.

Gimli, as you may recall, thinks what I likely would have thought in a similar situation. He says, “Bad idea. Very handy in a tight spot, these lads - despite the fact, they're dead!”

The King of the Dead reminds Aragorn, “You gave us your word.” These simple words indicate that if Aragorn cannot keep his word in so simple a matter as this, he really cannot be trusted to be a good king as is his right as Isildur’s heir.

However, Aragorn, being who he is, says, “I hold your oath fulfilled... Go. Be at peace.”

Obviously, this was the right thing to say, the right thing to do.

And that is all for today. I hope you all have a spectacular day!

Another Lesson from The Lord of the Rings

Good morning! Another beautiful day out. No clouds, lots of blue sky, nice temperature (59°). I have an onion and mushrooms sautéing on the stove and a heart cut up ready to go as soon as the onion and mushrooms are. The other poor people in the family are eating cereal. Poor, poor, people.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. In the  morning I did my bike riding and Pilates. I thought about riding more in order to finish The Return of the King but decided against it. There isn’t much left but it will be good today or tomorrow.

I went to kindergarten for Joseph’s end of the year ice-cream party. They had so much candy it was unreal. Most of them had bags they took home. I took Joseph’s home for him. One little girl came up to me and said, “Mrs. Pam, look, I have crooked teeth!” Joseph lost a tooth the day before and lost it so I think the whole class was talking about teeth yesterday.

I looked and said, “Guess what? I have crooked teeth, too.”

She said, “I’m going to need braces.”

I smiled. “Good for you. I never got any.”

Those kids are so darn cute. I am looking forward to volunteering in at least Joseph’s class next year. Hopefully Seth will get a teacher who is amenable to parent help in the classroom.

While I was there yesterday, Mrs. Maroux wrote a note to the tooth fairy because Joseph lost his tooth. It says, “Dear Tooth Fairy—Joseph has lost his tooth! Please accept this not in place of the tooth. Thank you! Mrs. Marcoux” So cute. She was telling me that when her daughter was younger (she’s in Cedric’s grade now), a friend told her that if you lose a tooth on your birthday, the Tooth Fairy would bring you a fairy doll. She posted something on Facebook about it and the mother of the other girl said she didn’t know where that came from because the Tooth Fairy at their house didn’t bring anything special if you lost a tooth on your birthday. Mrs. Marcoux was relieved because her daughter had a tooth hanging by a thread and purposely waited until her birthday to pull it out. The things kids come up with.

In the afternoon I came home and read for a bit. Then I was super sleepy so I went upstairs thinking that I’d take a little nap. It would have to be little because it was nearly 3:00. I made the bed and lay down and it’s amazing the way inspiration hits. I had an idea for the story I’m working on and it wouldn’t leave me alone so I got up and wrote a couple of sentences so I’d remember. Then I just had to sit down and start writing while it was fresh in my mind. I only had about 15 minutes before the bus arrived but I made use of it. Then I made use of a few minutes here and there until I had more than 1,500 words written before Joanna took Cedric, Seth and Amena off to their various activities for the evening. They left at about 6:25. Then Joseph and I had some supper and I let him finish watching Home on the Range even though the bedroom isn’t clean and I wrote more. Whenever I decided I had had enough, between 9:30 and 10:00, I had written over 3,000 words. I think that is pretty darn good.

The amazing thing is that I definitely had an idea of how it was going to turn out. I had an idea of this conversation between a character and his father. The tone and the content were fixed in my mind. The end result, or what I remember of it (I haven’t looked at it yet this morning) is completely different. When I’m done with this and breakfast, I’ll take a look.

On with the story.

“Forth, and fear no darkness!” says Théoden as the riders of Rohan prepare to join the battle for Minas Tirith. “Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered ... A sword day, a red day , ‘ere the sun rises!” They are not looking forward to a leisurely day of picnics, are they? “Ride now, ride now, ride, ride for ruin, and the world's ending!”

Mind you, Théoden did not think they had a chance of winning this battle. After Aragorn had left to take the Dimholt road and summon the dead, Gamling expresses his opinion that “We cannot defeat the armies of Mordor.”

“No,” Théoden agrees, “We cannot... But we will meet them in battle, nonetheless.”

So, Theoden and those who have come, numbering 6,000, face the army of orcs attacking Minas Tirith. There are 50,000 under orc command. This does not look to be a battle that they can win but they muster their strength and their courage and they fight. They fight to defend truth and right; their families and their peoples. Their fight is the good fight. They are successful in fighting off the orcs enough that that Théoden yells, “Make safe the city!”

Then, of course, the Haradrim appear riding their mûmakil. They fight against these, but they are gigantic and the battle appears to be turning against Théoden and his people. Indeed, now the nazgûl and their riders have joined the battle. At this point, all would seem to be hopelessly lost, but Aragorn has been successful and gathering the dead and they appear on ships that the orcs thought would bear reinforcements for them. This arm of dead turns the tide and the battle is won.

What can we learn from this? Never give up. It matters not where in the story you happen to be; if you need help, if you are the help. Never get up. You might be the help that someone needs. You might be the person that someone needs to help. Never give up.

And that is all for today. There were more things I wanted to write about from The Return of the King but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day!

Imagine

And another good morning! It is mostly blue skies out with a little breeze and looks like a lovely day to go do something outside. Too bad I won’t.

Yesterday was a nice day. I went to Auburn to visit with Christine and Jocelyn. Christine and I have visited a couple of times in the last two years but I hadn’t seen Jocelyn since May of 2011. It’s been a while; too long in my opinion.

When I got home, there were signs that Joanna had gotten off work early but no Joanna. She’d started cleaning and there was a pile of stuff she’d swept up. I needed to work on the kitchen so that I could make supper but I wanted to read first. And eat something for lunch. I had intended to ride and do Pilates but because we were out of hot water and I wasn’t sure when we’d get it back, I didn’t want to get all sweaty. Therefore, no bike or Pilates.

Joanna had gone out to get a few things. When she came back, the dogs had new food dishes and there was a new trash can for her room. She absolutely spoiled Trista yesterday giving her lots of puppy love. It is amazing what just a few minutes of attention can do for a dog. Imagine what the same would do for all the abused and abandoned animals in the world. Imagine what the same would do for all the abused and abandoned children in the world. Imagine what the same would do for all the abused and abandoned people in nursing homes. Just imagine what the world would be like if we could take just a few minutes from our busy schedules and spend time with someone who has no one.

Supper last night was kolaskis and keugela. Don’t ask if those are spelled correctly because I have no idea. They are phonetically correct for English but they are Lithuanian. Kolaskis are cottage cheese filled dumplings. I boiled them for last night and you eat them with sour cream. They are very good warmed up with butter in a frying pan the next day as well. Keugela is a potato casserole made from grated potatoes, chopped onions, farina, eggs, salt, pepper, and I think that’s it. It is also very good warmed up with butter in a frying pan the next day. Especially with an egg. We had chocolate and plain cheesecake for desert.

The bus has just arrived. Paul is in the shower singing; it is always interesting listening to him because he takes songs that you know and changes the words sometimes. Yesterday Laura said she wanted to take Joanna to the temple. I don’t know if Joanna has agreed to go yet but I do know they both have today off. Joanna also has tomorrow off.

Currently, I am about to eat beef heart with onions and mushrooms. Yummy!

Have a great day!

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This (I Just Felt Like Saying That)

Good foggy morning!

I have been reading Woman’s Life in Colonial Days by Carl Holliday. In spite of the fact that I am only not quite one third of the way through, I am finding it very interesting. The first chapter is about religion and I have to say that I am very glad I did not live in New England during colonial days. Their God was arbitrary and cruel. And the people lived in fear that in spite of their best efforts, they wouldn’t measure up. And guess where the greatest craze was for witch hunts? While I like Massachusetts alright, I find that it has the same general attitude that it has had from the start.

This morning it is my plan to go visit a friend in Auburn. This afternoon my plan is to do a bit of cleaning and fixing supper. When I get home from Christine’s I will most likely do my bike riding and Piilates since there really isn’t going to be time before I leave.

Yesterday Seth had fun at Plimoth Plantation. Cedric had fun at Old Sturbridge Village. I would like to go visit both places. I really should have signed up to be a chaperone at one of them. I can go to Old Sturbridge Village with Seth next year but I’ll have to wait for Joseph to be in third grade for Plimoth Plantation. I suppose I’ll be able to wait that long. Maybe.

Yesterday afternoon I took a nap. Paul and I were awake until nearly 2:00 talking and I wake up by 6:30 at the latest. Yesterday it was closer to 5:30. Cedric and Seth were up and excited and needed lunches made. They’re getting good at helping which is nice. Anyway, after I had ridden the bike and done my Pilates and had a shower and read for a bit, I was tired. Especially since all of that was a bit on the late side because Laura needed to go to Auto Zone for a part for the white car (which is a story all of its own). Anyway, it was a short nap because Amena and Joseph got home right about the time I wanted to leave to go to school to wait for Cedric and Seth. But, it was a very nice nap.

Yesterday at 6:00 we went back to school for the science open house. It was interesting. One of the classes had set up in the cafeteria and their projects looked like science faire projects which is kind of what I was expecting. Amena’s class all did models of cells. That was interesting, I love cells, but looking at 20 of them is not exactly what I had in mind when I was thinking of an open house.

Paul just said that the hot water is gone. That means we need to dump fuel in the tank and play with the furnace to get it started again. I don’t think that is something I will be doing although I’ve done it in the past with other furnaces. Some of them have been real bears.

I think it was Friday when Laura took all four of our missionaries to a meeting in Amherst. The four of them plus Laura added up to more weight than she’s carried in that car before. The tailpipe was held on by a wire coat hanger (what is the world going to do when there are no more of them?) at the end and really needed support somewhere in the middle as well. With the added weight, the part in the middle was hitting the ground. A police officer somewhere took notice and pulled her over. Well, it doesn’t have a sticker either. So, yesterday being Monday, she set about taking care of the tailpipe and plans to drop it off today to have the other things taken care of that need to be in order for it to pass inspection.

Laura didn’t work yesterday until 3:00 which was handy because it gave her lots of time for playing with the exhaust. She had gotten a strap for it but it wasn’t the right one so she needed to go and get one. She chose to go to Auto Zone and I decided that since she needs to learn to drive a stick, she should drive and I’d go along for the ride. Well, that was an interesting experience. I needed to go to the bathroom before we left but decided to wait thinking we wouldn’t be gone long. I hadn’t taken into consideration how hilarious Laura’s driving would be. She did alright but really needs to work on applying gas more uniformly and a lot slower. We spent most of the way there cracking up—it was so bloody funny. And I almost peed my pants.  

Yesterday while riding, I watched The Return of the King. And do you know what is really interesting? When you are looking for quotes in the script, it helps if you look at the right one. I wanted to find something that Elrond had said and I searched the whole thing and didn’t find what I was looking for. Then I realized I had the script for The Two Towers. Yeah, get the right script and it’s right there; look in the wrong one and you’ll never find it. That’s lesson one for today.

Lesson two is that we all need to remember who we are. Aragorn is Isildur’s heir and as such is the rightful heir to Gondor. He has lived his life as a Ranger but that is not who he truly is. It seems pretty obvious that while he is willing to do what needs to be done, he does not want to take upon himself the title of King. When Elrond appears, he tells Aragorn, “They will answer to the King of Gondor. . . Put aside the Ranger - become who you were born to be. . .” This is something that we would all do well to remember. We all need to become who we were born to be. We are children of the divine and as such, we should act accordingly.

And that is all for today. Over 1,000 words so you should be good.

Have a wonderful day!

Trust Your Body

Just starting out.

This was pretty cool.

Just below the bridge, as you can see.

Good morning! It is a beautiful day for Seth and Cedric to have field trips. Seth is going to Plimoth Plantation and Cedric is going somewhere else.

Amena had to finish her book. Nevermind that she could and should have done so Saturday when she had time.

Cool, yes?

Also cool.

Yesterday church was sparsely attended due to the campout at Camp Joseph. Paul thinks it’s ridiculous to have a campout on the weekend of Father’s Day and thinks that such a thing would not happen if it happened to be Mother’s Day. The only opinion I will offer at this time is that every other ward I’ve been in has had a campout nearer to July 24^th. Cedric had a talk in Primary which was good because I was falling asleep during third hour. I went and stood in the hall for the last 10 minutes and then went in when it was time for his talk.

The water is obviously full of minerals. Wouldn't want to drink it.

Vegitation overhanging an old foundation.

Ring, anyone? On the outisde of the above foundation.

After we ate, we went to Doane’s Falls in Royalston. It is pretty cool. The pictures I took don’t do it justice but hopefully you’ll get an idea of what it is like. Becky and Jay, I think you’d really like it there. There are lots of trails for hiking and even biking and a lake for canoeing, kayaking, fishing and I guess swimming. There are places to camp and places to picnic. I can see us going back again before summer is over. Probably more than once.

I wish you could get a better sense of the whole thing from pictures.

We saw lots of these guys.

While sitting in church yesterday and watching the lovely pregnant ladies, I was thinking, as I often do, of pregnancy and birth and common attitudes and things that women say. One of those things is, “I don’t know how to have a baby.” Sometimes, “I’ve never done it before,” is added. Well, this is what I thought—anyone out there reading this, do you know how to make your heart beat or pump blood? Do you know how to make your kidneys filter blood and create urine? Do you know how to make your gall bladder make bile?

Think about it. Even if you know the processes involved, can any of you make these things happen?

I thought not.

Guess what?

Your body does know how to do these things. Trust it.

Just as you do not need a doctor to make your heart beat, you do not need a doctor to give birth. Sometimes there may be a problem with your heart that requires a doctor but are you going to go live at the hospital for that possibility? Heck no. So why do women think they have to go to the hospital to give birth? Trust your body, ladies. Just trust your body. Please.

The three explorers.

With that, I will leave you for today. Have a wonderful one!

Cool fungus. It was more pink in person.

Happy Father's Day!

Good morning! I am guessing that it is a good morning. So far, I’m not sure I’m ready to proclaim it as such but am willing to give it the benefit of a doubt in case it improves.

I need a faster camer for next year. Next year being August.

All of the fun yesterday has made it so that I cannot breathe today. That is not fun. Not only is my  nose full of accumulated mucous which makes it extremely difficult to effect gas exchange, but my bronchioles are constricted and I am convinced that the only reason I am able to live without using my inhaler every six seconds is due to breathing habits developed when I was much younger.

I don’t remember exactly when it was, but I remember reading something to the effect of your heart beats so many times and you breathe so many times and then you die. More or less. So I figured that if you get your heart rate down and learn to slow your breathing, you would live longer. Well, one of the best ways to get your resting heart rate down is to exercise it. I am convinced that you can consciously lower your heart rate as well but I think exercise really is better because it strengthens your heart muscle. Breathing is very easily changed via conscious effort and I have done that. When I breathe, I breathe deep. When I am bored or it’s late at night and I’m awake, I pay attention to others breathing and I breathe slower. Which isn’t to say I’m not getting as much oxygen because I am probably getting more because I don’t just breathe slower, I breathe deeper. You know when you go to the doctor and they tell you to breathe deep? Well, I never can finish one breath before they say, “Again.” I’m always like, “Seriously? I didn’t finish the first one.” So, I have been so bad that I had a hard time getting the air into my lungs and that is no fun. But generally, I can get it in and if I can get it in, I can get it out. The only problem is that sometimes the effort of breathing at such times puts my back out.

For the first game, I was sitting in the clover patch. There were bees all over the place.

Anyway, Cedric’s games were okay. The first they lost 7 to nothing. The other team had more kids. Cedric’s team had seven players and the other team had at least 10. The second game was much better. I’m not sure if their attitude was better or what the deal was but the other team had 14 players (I’m not sure where Cedric came up with 21 but that’s how many he’s convinced they had). Quabbin scored first and then two more times before the other team scored the first time. Then again. So the score was 4 to 1 for quite a while. Then the other team got one and another and then in the last three seconds of the game tied. Considering everything, I think that’s pretty darn good.

Gotta take a picture of my shoes, ya know?

When we got home, Paul hadn’t managed to mow yet because he was having trouble with the mower. It’s still being difficult and he’s decided it needs to go to the John Deere doctor so I don’t know when we’re going to get our grass under control. Someday.

I went out and got the Christmas stuff out of the yard with Seth’s help. That is another reason for my breathing problems.

Paul and I did end up getting to go out last night which was nice. We hadn’t been for three weeks so it was time. We went to the Korean place and I got some hot chicken. It is sooooo good! The amazing thing is that it was still light when we got home.

Cedric's team. That's him in the back on the left.

Well, it is time to be getting some things done so I will sign off.

Have a great day!

And, Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers out there!