What is normal?

Another one of those days. I got some sewing done yesterday and that was pretty wonderful. The only reason I stopped is because I had to feed my family and once we were done eating and the table was cleared off, there just really isn’t enough light to see what’s happening on the ironing board so I didn’t do more. There were no laboring mamas so I didn’t go to the hospital. It was super cold so I did bring in some wood and start the fire. I actually did that before Amena got home from school.

Once everyone was in bed, I worked on my doula homework. I’d been concentrating on getting books read but I’ve read all the books I have so I figured it was time to move and get something else done. That was fun.

This morning I watched a video of Marco Rubio. It appears that Democratic Senator Tom Harkin recently went to Cuba and had some glowing reports about what he found. Rubio, Republican Senator, gave a speech in response to these reports. Among other things: “He cited a poll, ‘More Americans want normal relations with Cuba.’ So do I — a democratic and free Cuba. But you want us to reach out and develop friendly relationships with a serial violator of human rights, who supports what’s going on in Venezuela and every other atrocity on the planet? On issue after issue, they are always on the side of the tyrants. Look it up. And this is who we should be opening up to? Why don’t they change? Why doesn’t the Cuban government change? Why doesn’t the Venezuelan government change?” (Becker, Kyle. "After a Democrat Praises Cuba, Marco Rubio Blasts Communism Like No U.S. Politician Since Reagan | Independent Journal Review." Independent Journal Review. N.p., 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.)

Well, wouldn’t we all like to have normal relations with other nations? That just seems like something any average, ordinary person would want. It seems to me, however, that those who are screaming that we need to be friends, so to speak, with nations like Cuba, are the very same people who are screaming that everyone has to accept their points of view and those of us who don’t are bigots, racist, and a plethora of other negative things. It seems to me that in a very real sense, those who think we need to have ‘normal’ relations with Cuba in spite of the fact that Cuba is ‘a serial violator of human rights’ are violating the human rights of those who live in the country.

You want to know what is really interesting? We are part of the UN, like it or not. The UN has a document called The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I am not a big fan of the UN.  But I dare you to read the document and tell me that in our own country, none of these rights are being violated. Go ahead. Read.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

PREAMBLE

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.

(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.

(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.

(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.

(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.

(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.

(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

("The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.)

I really like Articles 18, 19 and 20.

Have a great day!

Mundane

Well, another day I wasn’t going to write in because nothing much happened.

I got some mending done that I’d been putting off for at least a year; probably longer.

Emily West came over with her baby and cut out the dress she’s working on. They’ll be back tomorrow to cut out the lace. That baby is sure cute! The boys and Amena all love her. Seth and Joseph really like to play with her and got to yesterday.

I got some cutting out accomplished.

For this particular pattern, I added ten inches to the bottom. I have these lovely quilting rulers that I use for all these things and not one of them is quilting.

The service activity went well but Cedric found it boring. Amena and Cedric went with the Trivett’s and on the way back, the car broke down. I took Seth and Joseph and picked up Linda and we went to the car. A nice man had stopped and let everyone sit in his van to keep warm (because it was anything but outside). Everything was arranged to pick up the car and the people and I took off with my crew.

While I was at church with Seth and Joseph, I had an interview with President Nally and began work on organizing the file cabinet.

Pretty darn exciting day.

Besides cold, we had a beautiful sunrise.

Today it is cold. About 10 degrees cold. The house is cold. I’m thinking about bringing in some wood because it’s so cold. I need to give the goats hay, too.

Have a splendiferous day! 

Islands and Idiots, Dollars and Doulas

Good morning! It’s cold outside this morning and it’s grey and it’s not a particularly pretty day. I spent some time looking at pictures and watching video that I took in Idaho and it was particularly pretty and I think I’m homesick for an ideal world in which there is real winter and less humid summers and everyone I love is there. I also looked at some that were taken not long after we arrived in Massachusetts and although Daniel is there, Joanna isn’t. And Daniel’s birthday is a week from today and I really miss him.

And I wasn’t going to write anything today because I didn’t do much yesterday other than knit (the shawl will be done today!) and watch NCIS during the day and in the evening I went to the Meet the Doula night which was really nice. Seth and Joseph got their homework done. Amena fell asleep almost as soon as she got home because she stayed up all night doing the homework she’d neglected to do during the previous nine days of no school.

This morning I got lunches ready for Amena and the boys and ate a yogurt for breakfast. Included in lunches for today were yogurts. I decided that I wanted more than a cold yogurt (which was blueberry and very tasty) because it’s cold. So, after eating the yogurt and looking at pictures and watching videos, I decided I wanted some hot chocolate and a grilled cheese sandwich. While I was making those things happen, I was thinking.

Paul bought a whole bunch of yogurts yesterday. They are the individual size and the children love them but they say ‘light.’ That means, in this case, that they are sweetened with sucralose. I asked Paul this morning if he realized they were ‘light’ and he did not. He apologized and I’m quite sure he will never buy those particular yougurts again. This brought to mind something about shopping. Some people only see dollar signs. This bread is $1.00 a loaf, that bread is $4.00 a loaf. Because this bread is only $1.00, it must be better because it doesn’t cost as much. Not so, I’m afraid. Paul shops by price, which is usually a good thing. When it comes to some things, however, it isn’t so good. I don’t care if this bread only costs $1.00 (by the way, I prefer homemade bread and very rarely actually eat bread from the store), it is full of white flour, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial this and that. The $4.00 bread is whole grain (which can be tricky), is sweetened with honey (a whole other conversation), and has nothing artificial in it. When I make bread, I usually make one of two kinds. One has flour (whole wheat that I know really is whole wheat), honey, salt, yeast, water, egg, milk, and oil. The other has flour (I have to admit using some white flour in this one), yeast, water, salt, and beer. There is more to it than just the price.

And that brings to mind cheese and lunchmeat. Paul likes to buy the ends from the deli at Market Basket. The price can’t be beat and sometimes you get some really good stuff. However, I don’t care if this cheese is normal $7.00 a pound (the most he pays for ends is about $1.00 a pound), it’s American which to me isn’t even cheese. When there is Swiss, I’m happy. And the lunchmeat. It’s all over processed and I wouldn’t even pay the $1.00 for it. I don’t care if this bologna is normally $9.00 a pound. It’s nasty and no one in their right mind would eat it. Yuck!

Paul loves to shop the discount racks. Sometimes you find some really good deals there (shin guards for $4.00 once—what a steal!) He even buys Kitty food. Recently he brought home two boxes of individual serving size cans that had been marked down. One box said that two cans were missing and the other said there were 11 of the 12 it should have. Well, you really have to look closely. Even though these boxes were taped up, the first one actually had four cans missing and the other box, which I just opened today, had three missing.

You have to be careful that you really are getting a good deal.

Another thing that I was thinking about was islands for idiots. Someone posted on Facebook a day or two ago that she’d like to have an island for idiots (not her terminology but you get the picture). I had to laugh because the idiots she’d like to send there are ones I would get along with pretty well. My idiot island would probably include a lot of people like her. As my thoughts continued along this path, I thought that there should probably be three islands: one for Democrats who the Republicans know are crazy, one for Republicans who the Democrats think are nuts, and one for the rest of us who don’t fit in either category.

Have you ever noticed how people always have stories to tell about where they work? Some of them are really funny. Joanna said that yesterday she made some hot chocolate for a woman. After the woman tried it, she asked if she could get a Sprite instead because the hot chocolate was “too chocolaty.” How the heck can hot chocolate be too chocolaty? And older man came in, Joanna guessed in his 60’s, who ordered chicken strips. Joanna asked if he’d like something to dip the chicken in. He asked what was available. Joanna said, “Honey mustard, barbeque, and ranch.”

“What,” he asked, “exactly is ranch?”

How do you describe ranch to someone who has never had it? It’s kind of like attempting to describe salt. I suggested saying, “Well, someone went to a ranch. . .”

At Meet the Doula night last night there were three doulas, three pregnant mama’s, two partners (one had to leave her husband home watching her two boys), Karen, and Paulette when she could be. There was one doula on and about five hundred women popping babies out. Busy place last night. Anyway, Karen and Paulette are really wonderful and have a lot of really awesome birth stories to tell. I love listening to them. Once the pregnant people were gone, we learned about hemorrhages. Mostly how to identify risk factors in order to help prevent and then to know what happens in the actual event of a hemorrhage. It was quite interesting and in spite of the fact that I’ve done a lot of reading and have attended classes regarding hemorrhages, I learned some things. Two that I thought were particularly noteworthy are that in the case of a VBAC, the force of vomiting can cause uterine rupture and when a woman has had an epidural, she isn’t going to feel anything that would clue medical personnel to the fact that she’s had a rupture but she often will feel pain or discomfort in her neck, shoulder, and jaw.

 Well, that’s all for today. I need to get on to other things. Like folding clothes and finishing a shawl.

Have a terrifical day!

Perspective

Good morning! It is a lovely day out. The sun is shining, the temperature is nice (remembering that it is still winter and there is still snow on the ground), boys are outside waiting for the bus, and Amena did not miss the bus. Not a bad start to a day or a week.

Saturday I did some reading that was quite interesting. Elder Russell M. Nelson said, “The aging process is also a gift from God, as is death. The eventual death of your mortal body is essential to God’s great plan of happiness. Why? Because death will allow your spirit to return home to Him. From an eternal perspective, death is only premature for those who are not prepared to meet God.”

That gives some food for thought. If death is premature only for those not prepared to meet God, then babies and young children are probably the most ready because they most recently came from Him. Our view seems to be, “Oh, the poor child, he/she had so much potential.” With an eternal perspective, don’t we all have eternal potential?

When I think of the deaths in my own family, we’ve really experienced a somewhat large gamut. We have Papa, who was 85, down to Daniel, who was 14, and in between Robert Lee, my dad, Uncle Mick. “Death is only premature for those who are not prepared to meet God.” I’m pretty sure Papa was ready. I’m pretty sure Daniel was ready. I’m pretty sure my dad was ready. I wasn’t close enough to Robert Lee and Uncle Mick to have an opinion if they were ready or not but in some way, they must have been.

Death is the flip side of the same coin as birth. Each is a passage to a new realm. When those we love die, we grieve. We miss them. Our lives are forever changed by them. When we are born, are there spirits who grieve for us because they miss us? Did we forever change the lives of those with whom we lived? Believing as I do, I think that in that existence we knew more of the eternal perspective than we do in this one. Because of this, I think that while there are those who miss us, they know that one day we will be together again.

I believe that. If I didn’t, I would lay down right now and die. Actually, if I didn’t believe that, I would have never gotten up from that hard table in the emergency room in Sioux Falls—with the death of Daniel, my life would have been over. But it isn’t. Life goes on, even in this sphere of existence, and one day I will be with Daniel, and my dad, and Papa, and all those who have gone before.

I am afraid this is going to be yet another relatively short post. While there is much that I could write about, there is little that I really want to. Sooooo, have a fantastical day!

544 Word Day

Good morning! It’s a lovely sunny day until you look at the ground and see the ice and slush. Yuck.

Yesterday was an interesting day. Actually, most days are interesting, depending upon how we look at them. Yesterday  morning we had Rachel and Sarah. They left around noon. Sarah first and then Rachel. Neither of their parents wanted to brave the ice in the driveway (I don’t blame them—I am not overly fond of ice in the driveway either). Then Amena was invited to a birthday party in Hardwick.

I needed to get gas and Joanna had given my $25 for gas but I figured I had enough to get Amena to the birthday party and then I could get gas either on my way home or when I went to pick Joanna up. I looked at google maps for directions and thought they looked alright. Then I used the GPS and what fun that ended up. It told me to turn on a road that is not maintained so we had to keep going and ended up driving in circles. That was a blast. I was about ready to give up but didn’t and we ended up being very close to where we needed to be.

On the way home I took another route that took me through Gardner so I got gas then. When I got home, Zak was here. He was going to take Joanna’s tire off. I showed him where the jack is and we found a star wrench but he couldn’t find the key for the lug nuts. Then it was time to pick Joanna up. Joanna hasn’t seen the key since she took it to Ray’s when he was working on her brakes.

I left shortly after 6:00 to pick Amena up. I wasn’t going to go the same way so I took off in the direction I wanted to go and made the GPS catch up with what I was doing. It worked and I got there and their driveway was a bumpy sheet of ice. Fun. It wouldn’t have been too bad if I’d’ve been able to park up by the house but there were something like four vehicles there already so I had to maneuver up the hill. I used the vehicles for hand rails.

The family of the girl whose party it was has goats and cows and an awesome wood cook stove in the kitchen. Maybe I should clarify; the goats and cows do not live in the kitchen, only the wood cook stove does. I would so love to have one like it.

I did get home later than I wanted to which kind of limited where Paul and I could go out to eat. We dropped Cedric off at the West’s because the Young Men were congregating there and playing video games. We ended up going to SS Lobster which was the way it always is—dirty tables that you have to wash and excellent food. We were going to pick Cedric up on the way home but when we stopped, it turned out that most of the YM were staying overnight so Cedric wanted to as well.

And that was the day, more or less. Have a great day!

Unnamed

Good morning! Yesterday morning it was beautiful outside. Today it isn’t so because yesterday we had ridiculously warm temperatures (in the 40’s for crying out loud!!!) that melted the top layer of snow and revealed the ugly brown stuff that had been plowed up. YUCK. Did I say yuck?

I had to take Joanna to work in the morning at 7:30 and then I had to go pick Amena up from Trivett’s at 9:00. When I was on my way home from dropping Joanna off, the roads were still pretty slushy and the turn onto Pitcherville Road was somewhat slick. When I was on the way back from picking Amena up, it was not as bad. When I went to pick Joanna up at 3:30ish, the roads were mostly clear. Even parts of Pitcherville were clear. Joanna had to go to school at 6:00. I decided to let her drive herself because Amena had Rachel and Sarah coming over and because the car was getting low in gas and I didn’t want to use more than we had to.

At some point after Joanna left, Sarah and Rachel arrived, and the time Paul got home just a few minutes before Joanna, I looked outside and the ground was white again. Then by the time Paul got home, it had turned to rain so it was slush. Yucky, man! It’s still winter.

I think today is supposed to be warm again. Yuck. It’s still winter.

In other news, Cedric feels much better. He was better yesterday but content to sit/lay on the couch all day. Today he’s been up and about more already than he was all day yesterday.

Right now we have a house full of sleepy people in spite of the fact that the boys and I are awake at the table and Paul is awake in the shower. There are three sleeping girls in the living room and a sleepy Zak and a sleepy Joanna. I only had to tell the girls once to be quiet. It is true that I could have told them again but I didn’t feel like getting up so I didn’t. Once I was ready to sleep, I slept, and I don’t know if they continued making noise or not. Seth told me that they woke him up at some point.

Today is Friday. I am glad. I thought for a while yesterday that yesterday was Friday and I wasn’t ready for that so I’m glad that today is Friday. Amena has been invited to a birthday party in Hardwick this afternoon/evening so I’ll be going there to get her there by 2:00. It’s over at 8:00 but I want to be able to go out with Paul so I’m going to pick her up early unless she can make other arrangements.

And that is all for now. Have a fantastic day!

Quiet Day

Good morning! It is a beautiful sunny day out this morning. However, it is supposed to get up into the 40’s and that is going to mean melting. That means sloppy mess and that means yuck.

The service activity we were going to do last night was postponed to next week due to snow. The roads in Fitchburg were really bad I guess and the church we were going to clean was not comfortable with asking people to be out. Since the roads should have been better by 7:00, it was decided to have mutual as usual.

I left Cedric and Joseph home watching NCIS and took Seth and Amena. I was hoping that there would be another YW leader there so that I could go home and be with my sick child. I was out of luck with that one. Because we were watching a movie, I really wanted to start on time but that didn’t happen. In spite of the fact that Amena and I were early, we got started late. Jerusha Peterman arrived very late and I thought, “Yay! I can go home!” But those thoughts were quickly dashed because she said that the roads were horrible and there was freezing rain; she was going to find the bishop and tell him about the roads, make sure that Megan, Christina, and Shawn had a ride home, and go home. She did. In the meantime, Diana Chunn arrived with popcorn. She said the roads were slushy but not bad.

Anyway, the decision to go home early was made and after watching less than half of Despicable Me 2, we left. We were home by 8:30, the boys were in bed by 9:00. Amena spent the night at the Trivett’s and I had to go pick Joanna up at 9:30. Quite frankly, I think I would have rathered just to stay home.

In the mail yesterday I received an unexpected package. I saw that it was for me and thought that it must be the movie I’d ordered so I began opening it. There was a lot of bubble wrap and then three objects wrapped up carefully. Christmas ornaments that I painted many years ago. Try 34 years and three months ago. What a lovely surprise! Thank-you, Auntie Deb! I actually remember painting them.

I don’t have anything else of great import to report.

Have a great day!

This

Good morning! It is a very pretty day outside. Earlier it was beautiful with the snow covering everything and the sun shining. Now the clouds have come back but it is still very pretty. The snow storm that was supposed to start early and last late ended up dumping about six inches of snow but started late and ended early. I love winter. Winter is supposed to be like this: a storm, clean up, a storm, clean up, a storm, clean up. Oh, yeah! I love this stuff.

Yesterday since I did get to work on the shawl Monday was going to be my work on the shawl day. It ended up not. Other than cooking and other domestic chores, I can’t think of anything terribly exciting that I did except proofreading for Laura; that’s always kind of fun. Anyway, I didn’t get any knitting done until after dinner and the resultant mess had been cleaned up and we had done prayer and scriptures and the boys were in bed. Then, I determined that I had to get at least one row done. Well, I got half a row done. I actually finished the row to the last four stitches and realized I’d made a mistake in the second half so I attempted to find the mistake and was not able to. I therefore decided to just take out the second half and redo it, hoping that the mistake was done away with and that I didn’t make any more. I went to bed before finishing the undoing and after reading for about 10  minutes couldn’t stay awake.

This morning Cedric wanted rolled oats so we all had rolled oats (with the exception of Paul who I don’t think ate and therefore is going to be grumpy when he gets back from plowing Ray’s). Kitty and Scooter were fed. I went to feed the goats and saw a wonderful pile of snow in the way; I couldn’t even reach their water bucket. So I set down the bucket of grain and kitchen scraps and pitcher of water and went back in the house, down to the basement, out the door with the shovel, and shoveled the path to the goats. I gave them their water as soon as I got that far and their grain when I got that far. I didn’t have to tip the bale of hay over today to get at the easier stuff which was nice because the walkway between the hay and the stuff by the door gets narrower each time I tip it over.

Once goats were fed and watered, I decided it was time to fix my knitting mistake. I did and now I am done with that row. Between undoing and finishing, I called Verizon.

What fun that was. I think I spent about 30 minutes on the phone only to find out that because, and I should have realized this, I used the upgrade from Laura’s old number, it isn’t due now for an upgrade for two years and I would have to pay a $250 disconnect fee. Well, isn’t that just peachy? So, I can either move the upgrade from my mother’s phone, which is due now, or move the one from my phone, which is due in September, and remove Laura’s old line today or in September.  It all depends on what I hear from my mother. I’m not looking forward to another call to Verizon but at least I can waste time on Facebook again if I do call.

This evening the Young Men and Young Women are going to Fitchburg to clean a Catholic church. I think that will be cool in spite of the fact I’m not sure how many of us will be going. I was just going to take all the boys because there won’t be anyone home to watch Seth and Joseph while I’m gone with Cedric and Amena. However, Cedric has a fever and I’m thinking he ought to stay home. I know Joanna works this evening and won’t be able to stay home with anyone. I’m not entirely sure yet if Paul is going to go to work or work from home today. If he works from home, I can leave the boys home with him and just Amena and I will go. If he doesn’t work from home, I might just have Amena go with someone else. I know that Cedric is 12 now but anyone who really knows Cedric also knows that he really needs someone else at home with him; I’d like to have a house when I get home.

Other than all of that, I am going to knit today because I really do want to get some sewing done and I want to get the kitting done first because if I don’t, it might get put on permanent hold and I really want to avoid that because I have too many other projects in that state of being; or unbeing. Soooooo, have a terrific day!

PS This is my 400th post!

and

Good morning! If we weren’t in the middle of Winter Break or February Vacation or Presidents’ Week or whatever the heck you want to call it, we might be having an early release or maybe even no school today. That in spite of the fact that the snowflakes have just begun their descent to earth. I’m guessing childbirth ed may be postponed for tonight as well but I’m not going to hold my breath.

Seth in his new fort.

I’m also not holding my breath about our plans for tomorrow night. I didn’t realize for some reason that we were going to be doing our cleaning the church this month so the Young Women had made other plans for the combined activity for tomorrow night. Those plans were put on hold, actually postponed, in order to clean the church (it’s a Catholic church in Fitchburg). The plan also was to park at the Valdez’s and walk to the church because it’s only a block or so away. I looked on Google maps yesterday and it’s actually about a mile and a half away so I’m glad we are considering parking in the church parking lot. The time has also changed. Anyway, I’m not one for holding my breath so I’m not.

Interesting to note, however, is that someone said that this church is close to the Beaudette’s as well and it’s about a mile and a half away from their house as well. And depending on how you go, it’s about a mile and a half from the Valdez’s to the Beaudette’s. Walking distance for sure but maybe not after dark when it’s supposed to be possibly raining?

Yesterday I went to the Verizon store and picked Elizabeth up on my way. Other than being at Verizon for more than two hours, it was nice visiting with Elizabeth. She and Jonathan are doing well. I discovered that they just live a couple of houses away from the Colon’s. I miss seeing the girls at church; especially Emily. I had her in my Primary class and she always had something interesting to say.

Anyway, I got a new phone. I wanted something that was not terribly expensive. Well, the one I got was free not counting taxes which were outrageous. There’s always the upgrade fee as well. The two together were $58.12. I kind of wanted to get a screen protector and case but they would have brought the grand total up to $98. Not happening. They wanted to sell me the add-on package which includes the screen protector, case, and car charger but I have a car charger that will work so I see no reason to get another. I did, however go for the free (all things are relative, you realize) tablet. I had to pay the taxes, of course, and I’m sure they’ll want me to get this and that to go with it. I’ll go for the screen protector but as for a case, I think I’ll get one off Amazon because they’re about $80 cheaper. Anyway, I got a Droid Mini which is somewhat awesome because I’ve wanted a Droid for a while (just because of the name which is kind of dumb but the way it is). The only problem is that Backup Assistant doesn’t work so all my contacts have to be put in again. That’s okay, really, it will just take a while.

Cedric just came in with two very large icicles. He reports that one of them was about a foot longer but it broke off and there are longer ones yet out there. He and Seth are outside right now devising ways to get icicles from the top of the roof; the ones Cedric got were just on the porch.

In other news there isn’t much to report. I wanted to finish the shawl I’m working on yesterday so I could sew today but the time I spent at Verizon somewhat precluded finishing anything so I’m hoping today to finish the shawl. I’ll give it a good go, at any rate.

Have a wonderful day!

That

Good morning!

How was yesterday? About as good as you might expect having had a snow day and a full moon. Actually, I’m not sure when the full moon was actually full. And, really, the day was pretty good, all things considered.

I kind of like this picture. The reflection to the left is from the window on the porch.

In the morning I was terribly mean and made the boys clean their room. What’s the point of cleaning it to begin with if we don’t keep it that way, after all? Then I was terribly mean and made them (and Amena) help pick up the stuff that always seems to accumulate around the edges in the dining room. The floors really do need to be swept daily but convincing anyone else of that (other than some girls who aren’t willing to do it every day) is nigh on impossible.

I really should use a tripod for these things.

When I went out yesterday morning to shovel a path to the goats, it was pretty easy going until I got to the pile Paul had plowed. I stood there for a moment and thought to myself, “Are you KIDding me?” Seth ended up helping me and we had that pile of snow whipped in no time. Seth also did an awesome job of shoveling off the front steps and helping to clear around the cars so I could move them so Paul could plow where they’d been parked. The goats were very happy to have food once they had some.

This is leading away from the basement door. The pile at the top is what Seth and I dug through.

And that reminds me of something else. We got round bales of hay because that’s all Paul was able to find. We kind of have limited space of them in the basement so they’re right next to each other and the one I’ve been using is also right up against some other stuff. That just means that the first quarter of the bale was easy to get at. Past that point, it’s not so easy because these bales are rolled up starting, as you might imagine, in the middle, and the outer layers don’t like to let the inner layers go without sticking in your hands and just generally being hard to get. I’d gotten this bale to about half used and yesterday I wondered what would happen if I tipped the bale over so I could get at the easier outer layers on the other side. Well, I pushed it over and discovered that it would indeed be easier to get hay off but it blocks the way to the door rather well. However, if I tip it over once I’m by the door, I can get out and then I can tip it back up. Win-win. Much easier to get enough hay for the girls without ending up with a piece of it stuck in my hands.

Don't they look happy to have some hay?

Yesterday I figured I should contact Verizon because I didn’t like the new phone I’d gotten and wanted to return it. Well, they told me online that yesterday was the last day I could do that and it would either have to be postmarked or returned to a corporate store. I didn’t know Verizon had such things as corporate stores so I said I knew where one was. As it turns out, I didn’t know where one was. I knew where a Verizon store was but not a corporate store. As it turns out, there is one not terribly far from where the one was that I knew about. Anyway, when Paul and I went out, we went to the first one and they told me where the one was I needed to go to. So, we then went there. That turned out to be good because Paul was able to take care of his phone as well.

While there, I learned a few things and asked a few questions and I think we’re going to switch to the share everything plan because it will save us quite a few dollars each month and I am in favor of saving as many dollars as possible. I’d also still kind of like to get a new phone because mine does have a cracked screen. They’ve got a promotional thing going on until Monday that if the weather is still decent then I’ll go take advantage of. I need to do it before Wednesday because that is the 19^th and that is when I can finally get Laura’s old number off the plan which will save a few dollars (but not quite a few, which is the goal). My goal is actually threefold: get a new phone, save money, not come home with my old phone.

Joseph is sitting here telling me that goose bumps are red and they itch. Where on earth does he come up with these things?

Have a splendiferous day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s a lovely day here. All white with gusty winds and some sun attempting to peek through the clouds. There are a few flakes drifting in the wind but I’m not sure if they’re actually falling from the sky or being buffeted by the somewhat strong upon occasion breeze.

Before plowing/shoveling this morning.

Yesterday we had a snow day. It didn’t really start snowing in earnest until after school would have started but by the time school would have been out, there were a few inches. Funny that the same storm 30 to 40 years ago would have resulted in maybe an early release but we would have trudged home through the snow. There might have been hot chocolate involved. There may have been shoveling snow involved. There may have been homework. There may have been a fire to sit by while drinking that hot chocolate and doing homework. But there would have been school.

After plowing/shoveling this morning.

I have decided that there is a huge difference between where I grew up, Siskiyou County, California, and Massachusetts. It’s called population. In Massachusetts in 1978 there was a blizzard. It dumped three feet of snow and made drifts up to second story windows and stopped life for a week or so. People still talk about it like it was a huge deal and, for here, I think it must have been. In McCloud, I remember having storms that dumped up to three feet of snow. I kind of doubt they made the news. I remember seeing pictures of the winder I was born or maybe the winter before where the snow was up to the top of Grandma and Papa’s porch. I remember the same thing happened in 1996. People here say that the difference between here and the south is that they get an inch or two of snow in the south and it closes everything down for a week but here they clean up and get on with life the next day. The difference between here and Siskiyou County is that except in the worst storms, life continues on. Storm? Yeah, so what? In all honesty, I do remember Grandma talking about a storm that did shut things down for a few days. I’d be willing to bet the same storm would have shut things down for longer than a few days if it happened almost anywhere else.

Anyway, that is all for now. Have a fantastic day!

Cold

You know it’s cold outside when the cold water from the kitchen faucet (which is cold) steams as you pour it in the goats water bucket. Oh, yeah.

You know your 12-year-old is something of a tyrant when he goes to the door and yells, “Bus!” in order to get his younger brothers outside when the bus is still at least two minutes away and they’ve all been told to stay inside until the bus can be seen at the end of the driveway it does not stop at.

How cold is it? Cold enough to freeze on instant contact the hairs in your nose. Cold enough that your face hurts after being out for the approximate two minutes it takes to dump a gallon of water in the bucket for the goats and dump their grain and vegetable scraps in the black thing we dump that stuff in. Cold enough to freeze your mittens, which you didn’t realize were wet, to the gate into the goat pen. Cold enough to register -4° and weather.com says it feels like -16°. Yes, I know that some of you who might be reading this have experienced colder temperatures. I am sorry. When it gets down below 0, it’s just cold and I would like to have a recount of votes because this is just plain ridiculous. It’s cold enough that I’m going to wait to finish feeding the goats. They need another pitcher of water and they need hay. And they don’t seem particularly excited about being outside.

I have it—you know how we’re supposed to be experiencing global warming and that clearly is a croc but is supposedly caused by the actions of us humans? Well, wouldn’t it be funny if our actions are actually causing global cooling? Because that’s what it feels like. I don’t remember temperatures like this when I was a kid. (Did I say that? Hmmmm, my mother has a goat. That’s food for thought.)

Yesterday was an okay sort of day. I am hungry.

Now I am no longer hungry. I don’t really feel like sitting here, either.

Yesterday during the day I don’t feel like I accomplished much. Dishes and laundry and that’s about it. I did get some knitting done. Once everyone was home from school, I got pork chops ready and ‘fried’ rice together in the crock pot for dinner so it would be ready even though I would be gone. Paul reports that it went over well; everyone had seconds and I can see that there aren’t many leftovers.

Are things or people more important?

Class was good. Liz was there reading during her shift as there were no laboring women. After class, Liz and I stayed for about an hour talking to Meredeth. I am so glad that I am doing this doula program if for no other reason than I got to meet Meredeth. I would love to really dig in and discuss some of what we talked about last night but I really just don’t feel that would be entirely appropriate because I would likely be too specific or not specific enough.

I can say this, though. Hospital birth is medicalized and pregnant women and their partners are brainwashed. Not enough women take childbirth education classes and I’m sure they aren’t all equal but if more took Meredeth’s classes, or ones even similar, I think it might make a difference. Women say they couldn’t give birth at home. Well, why the heck not? I’m not so different from these women but my experiences mean nothing to them. “Oh, I could never do that!” they say. Why the heck not?

Just makes me mad and gives me a headache that people can be so stupid. I’m not saying that all women should have their babies at home. I would like to say that they should question everything and everyone. I have to have an IV? Why? I have to have the monitor on? Why? You think I should have this or that or the other? Why? Etc., etc., etc. Oh, so you’re a doctor. Well, that’s great. Have you ever given birth? No? Well I suppose there’s time. No? Well, you are a man so I would guess not. Yes? Were you put through all this crap? Have you any feelings? Can you make my kidneys filter blood and produce urine? Can you make my pancreas work? No? Well, how about we just let my uterus do its job without all these interventions?

On my list of things to do today include FAFSA work, applications to colleges, contacting Birth Wise, and doing homework as well as a few other things because I believe that women deserve to have intelligent choices and if I don’t do my part, who will?

Have a great day!

1,006 Words (not counting captions)

Good morning! There is nothing quite like the 12-year-old sticking his head in the door and yelling, “The bus is here!!!” in order to get the 10-year-old and the 7-year-old moving a little faster so that everyone is waiting for the bus when it comes rather than the bus having to wait for one of them, most likely and often the 7-year-old. It just left; two minutes earlier than usual. And the great thing is that Seth has his simple machine for Valentine’s Day and Joseph has his Valentine’s Day cards. Sometimes it’s the simple things, you know?

Seth in his snow fort.

Yesterday I did a little research online for goat food. I feed the goats alfalfa pellets, sweet grain, and crimped oats as well as hay. I wouldn’t give them the alfalfa pellets if we actually had alfalfa hay but it seems to be difficult to find around here; the only kind I’ve seen is just pasture grass cut and baled. While the goats like it for the most part, it does not provide everything they need. Speaking of everything they need, they could probably use a mineral block as well. I’ll have to take a look the next time I’m at a feed store. Anyway, there is a Tractor Supply Co. by Aldi’s where Paul likes to go. I thought that since that’s on his way home if he goes that way (and he usually does, especially if I tell him we need something at the store), I’d check out the prices of the sweet grain and alfalfa pellets because we are low on sweet and out of pellets. I looked, compared prices, discovered that the prices were about $2.00 less per 50 pound bag, and told Paul in an email exactly what I wanted. Mind you, I looked on the Tractor Supply website for the information I got. When he got home, he said that he couldn’t get the alfalfa pellets I’d told him to because they don’t carry them. Are you kidding me? Then why have them on the website? Anyway, he got a 40 pound bag for the price listed for a 50 pound bag; still a better price than anywhere else I’ve gotten them. He also said that whoever he spoke to at the store wanted to know why I wanted the alfalfa pellets for goats; it’s horse food. Really? I’ve only had goats on and off for how many years? Since before Laura was born so for more than twenty-two years. In all that time I’ve probably never done any research or read anything or talked to anyone about what my goats need in the way of food and nutrition so, yeah, I probably have no idea what the heck they need. Sure. Just give me what I want and don’t question my intelligence thus showing your lack thereof.

In other news, Cedric and Seth both had scouts last night. We took Cedric to the Carrignan’s and dropped him off and then went to the Pitney’s. Sam’s mom offered to bring Seth home any time I need due to conflicts with time as they live almost around the corner just about two minutes away. I need to tuck that away for future reference.

The Blue & Gold, which is scheduled for this Thursday, might have to be postponed due to a snow storm that is supposed to hit that day. I guess the biggest problem with that is the guesswork involved because everyone needs 24-hours’ notice and I don’t think it’s really possible to completely accurately predict by 6:00 pm Wednesday evening if at 6:00 Thursday evening the roads are going to be bad. Don’t envy Mr. Pitney’s position on that one. I do kind of hope it is postponed because that will certainly give Diana Chunn time to get everything recorded for Cedric which will allow him to cross over at the Blue & Gold rather than waiting until May.

Tonight I have a childbirth education class. While Paul is of the opinion that if after 8 children I don’t know how to give birth then maybe I should consider another occupation, I am looking forward to the class. I love the instructor and I like my fellow doulas. And I love pregnant bellies. I just don’t care for the hospital. We also have missionaries for supper. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to feed them but I’d like for it to be nice because it’s Elder Stoa’s last meal with us as he’s leaving Friday. Maybe pork chops and fried rice with broccoli. I don’t know. I’ll go check the freezers when I’m done here and take out something that won’t require a terribly long thawing-out time.

Laura seems to be doing well. She had two jobs for two days and then the second one let her go. I’m not sure I agree with the decision but it wasn’t mine to make. She said yesterday she had just gotten a call from the Provo O’Reilly’s which I guess is an auto parts store. She’s off today and is going to call and see about scheduling an interview. She also has a guy in her life. His name is Daven and you really should talk to her for more info on that. I could really use her for a week or two moving things around here but in the meantime, I guess she has her own life to live even if it isn’t much of a life living with a bunch of girls in a college city working all the time. You know, just my take on things.

I think this is going to be it for today. As of whenever I get the number written, you’ve gotten 953 words and quite frankly, that’s enough for now. Especially since I think I want to write more words later about a different topic. But that will have to wait until the house is relatively people free and I’ve folded a bit of laundry and have fed the goats.

Have a splendiferous day!

Real Life and School (yes, two posts in one day--don't die)

So, this time I’m starting today even though it probably won’t get posted until tomorrow. Unless I decide to do two today. We’ll see how it goes.

I posted earlier today on Facebook this: “I think that we do not live in the real world. We live in an artificial construct and most people have no idea what 'real' is.” I believe this.

In the real world, people grow/raise/hunt/gather their food. They give birth when the baby is ready to be born. They build what and when they need, they make what they need when they need. In the real world, life is governed by four things: food, shelter, clothing, and faith. We do not live in a real world. We live in a world that is governed by money and schedules.

Our children are each only physically born once. That birth tends to be dictated by money and schedules. How can doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies get more money out of this woman who is pregnant? How can this birth happen in time for the doctor to go on vacation or end his/her shift? That birth tends, in the United States, to happen in a hospital. That birth tends to be medicated and has a 1 in 3 chance of being surgical. That birth probably will not happen in the real world.

In the real world, that birth would happen when it is supposed to happen. When the mother and the baby are both ready, physically if not emotionally, the birth occurs. That birth should happen in the most ideal way possible. And by ideal, I do not mean by elective cesarean or even necessarily in a hospital but certainly not on a time-table or as dictated by money and a schedule. Ideally, I think there should be hospitals with trained people inside who can save the mother and/or baby if that becomes necessary.

In the real world, our lives would be dictated by the seasons rather than a work schedule. I hate Paul’s schedule. He is almost never home for dinner. He has to plan in advance for anything. I hate school schedules (and we’ll get to more about school later). Why does a child in the United States have to learn to read by the time that child is done with kindergarten? Why? Give me one good reason. Just one. And it had better be a darn good one. Backed up by provable fact, not the fiction that is free for all out there.

In the real world, we would be getting ready to begin a garden soon rather than planning what vegetables to buy at the store tonight. In the real world, we would be getting ready to have baby goats rather than buying milk from the store today (actually, we are getting ready to have baby goats). In the real world, life would look a lot different than it does right now.

I think I was spoiled by having midwives when it was time to have my babies. I saw the same midwife and assistant during pregnancy, the same midwife and assistant were at the birth. The same midwife and assistant were present for the entire labor and birth, there were no shift changes. I think I got a taste for the real world and I think this artificial construct we live in leaves a really foul taste in my mouth.

I am sorry if that seemed rather disjointed. I think that the artificial construct that we live in and think is real is rather disjointed. So many of us have these jobs that require us to be gone for large portions of the day and then we go home to a family. This family needs more of our time and energy. Some of us are very good at maintaining a schedule. Some of us are not. Some of us don’t mind having our time used up by the mundane things in life (I’m thinking laundry, dishes, cleaning house, etc.) while others of us would love to have more time to do things that we really enjoy (you know, like knitting, spinning, sewing, playing racquetball [that’s Paul], skiing, etc.).

When did we start having to be gone for large chunks of time during the day? When we, as a civilization, began gravitating from a largely agricultural way of life to a more industrialized way of life. When did we start having to send our children away for large chunks of time to school? Public education as we know it is thought to have begun in the 1800’s. When did we start thinking that we have to have something for our children to do constantly? That’s a good question. Is it when we started moving away from the land and into the city? Is it when we thought both parents had to be gone all day working a job? When? And why?

School. It was good enough for me, it’s good enough for my kids.

Well, for one thing, I don’t send my kids to school. They live in the goat shed and yard and in the back field. Their mothers give me milk. We’d like to teach one to be a pack goat this year.

For another thing, when did you go to school? In the 60’s? The 70’s? The 80’s? Is life the same now as it was then? Are they teaching the same things now that they did then? I believe the answers to these questions are a resounding NO and NO. I am a product of the 70’s and 80’s. I think teachers were allowed to teach then. At least more than they are now. Now they have to teach this common core crap. Want to keep students in the US from achieving on standardized tests when compared to students from other countries? Keep shoving this dross down their throats.

Stop filling up their heads with a lot of rubbish that they likely won’t need when they’ve become adults. Stop forcing my square child into a round hole. Honestly, even thinking about this makes me want to use language that I don’t use.

And then there is the subject of dishwashers. Don’t get me going on that one, either. I just can’t handle the stress of it right now.

Only Half

Good morning! I was overcome this morning by the desire to eat an apple. So, I am eating one as I type. Just to let you know, you know?

Kitty and Seth hanging out before the bus came.

My mother did get home safely. I found her on Facebook Saturday and she said that she got home to frozen pipes. Not fun. However, with a heater, they quickly (relatively speaking, of course) were unfrozen and now everything is cool. Literally. That’s why she had frozen pipes to begin with. So now it’s cool but the pipes are no longer frozen. Unless, of course, they have refrozen.

Kitty is a shoulder cat.

Saturday morning the Tiger Scouts came over for a scavenger hunt in the woods. That was interesting. Cedric and Seth went too and Seth went without snow boots. I just don’t know about that boy sometimes. After the hike we had hot chocolate that Roger didn’t like and muffins that the Brinker’s brought and cookies that Amena made while we were outside.

A bunny trail.

I spent most of the afternoon hoping that the women who were in labor would have their babies so I could stay home and sleep Saturday night. I did everything in my power to make it happen by getting as ready as I possibly could. Alas, it was to no avail. There were women in labor still when I called so I got dressed and went. What an interesting night it was. Previously formed opinions about people were changed, new people were met, different philosophies of birth were encountered. I would love to tell you more about it but I’m afraid that part will have to wait a few years.

Some boys: Roger, Cedric, Joseph, Seth behind Joseph, Jamison.

I got home not long after 7:00 and fed animals. Then I took a shower and got ready for our YW presidency meeting. I woke Amena up and told her to help Joseph and Seth, Joseph especially, find clothes and be ready. Then Cedric and I took off. My plan was to stay for my meeting, for Sacrament meeting, and my meeting with a member of the bishopric and then go home and sleep. My plan worked until I got home. I cooked instead because I didn’t feel like eating bean soup.

When everyone got home and we had eaten, I went to bed. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to sleep because I haven’t had the best luck sleeping when it’s light outside but I was in bed around 2:30 and must have fallen asleep because I woke up around 6:00. The boys were watching August Rush so I finished it with them. Paul got home from home teaching the Fullers. We did prayer and scriptures. The boys went to bed. Paul watched a couple episodes of Gomer Pyle (or is it Pile?) and went upstairs. I wanted to get some knitting done and did two rows and then went to bed.

And today. Well, now, that’s a blank slate. So many things to do.

Have a great day!

From Friday (the 7th)

Good morning! Yes, I fell off the face of the earth. And coming back is a rude awakening, indeed!

The boys are having trouble getting ready this morning. I should clarify that: Seth and Joseph are having trouble getting ready this morning; Cedric is ready and has been encouraging his brothers to hurry up and finish. It is currently 7:24 and the bus should be here in about 15 minutes. Cedric doesn’t like being late and he doesn’t like his brothers to be either.

Bath, anyone?

Having my mom here was like having my mom here. She was supposed to leave on Wednesday but for once, the forecasted storm that was supposed to happen actually happened and we got somewhere near a foot over the course of the day. Her flight wasn’t cancelled or postponed but because she was flying in or through the Midwest and northeast, she was able to reschedule and left yesterday. I guess she arrived safely; she didn’t send me any messages so I don’t know for sure. She did say she’d most likely find a hotel and drive home today. Considering the fact that her flight was supposed to get in about 9:30, I think that would be a good idea.

What's left of the monkey bridge spanning the 'creek.'

Yesterday when I got home from Manchester, I looked for my gators and then went for a walk in the woods. I wanted to find some water because I really like pictures of water but our little creek is snowed over so I had to walk down to the bigger creek. 

One of the trees near Daniel's grave.

Sun through the trees.

Straight up.

Haruini Shawl

2/8 As some of you know, my mother was out for a couple of weeks. It has become a tradtion for us to visit a wonderful yarn/fiber/knitting/crocheting/weaving/spinning store in Northampton called Webs when she comes out. We took Grandma there when she came out as well (that was actually the first visit for all of us). I'm looking forward to taking Becky there whenever she and Jay get around to visiting (hoping for August) and I wouldn't mind taking Marie there but I'm not holding my breath.
Anyway, my mom got me some lovely yarn and I have begun construction of a shawl with it. I'll document my progress here. The pattern is called Haruini and I don't remember if I got it from KnitPicks or Ravelry but it calls for KnitPicks yarn and if you are interested, I'm sure you could search the name and find it.

This was at the end of day one.

And at the end of day two.

At the end of day four. Day three saw some progress; day four only added two rows.

At the end of day five. How do you like the color change with angle and lighting?

As you can see, progress is being made. I sometimes like to take a look at what my rate of progress has been and estimate when it will be finished but I haven't done that yet. It kind of takes away from the potential progress, you know.

At the end of day six. 

I'm not sure how obvious the rows I did yesterday are but I did get some done. Six or eight, I think. Only 30 rows to go before I start on Chart B. Don't think it'll happen today but hopefully soon. I love to watch as I pull the yarn out of the center of the ball. I'm thinking it's time for a ligher blue soon but because the yarn is a two ply made from individually hand dyed strands, who knows what will come out.

Ball of yarn at the beginning.

Ball of yarn after day eight.

At the end of day seven.

I actually stopped at the center on day eight.

I didn't really stop here, I just wanted to show a picture of something monumental: I finally got to the ligher blue (which you can see) and I finished the first chart (which you can't really tell).

I was hoping you'd be able to see the color variations.

2/24 Well, the good news is that this project is going to see itself completed in less than twenty days in spite of the fact that I didn't work on it each of those days. The other good news is that the next pictures I post will be of the finished product.

You can see the lighter blue stripe here. 

Ends woven in and everything.

Leftover yarn.

All done and drying.

Up close of the point.

2/25 All done! Pretty awesomely cool in my book if for no other reason than it's only the third thing I've ever actually finished other than socks. Now I'm ready to tackle something else.