Quick Check-In

Good morning.

As you may have noticed, I haven’t really been writing much over the last couple of weeks. There are some good reasons for this.

First, camp. We’ve had the fun of getting people ready for camp and getting them off to camp and such. Amena is gone this week and I’m sure having lots of fun. Cedric and Seth should both be off Sunday for a week. It’s grand fun. Oh yeah.

Second, this time of year is still a bit hard at times. Today, for example, represents the day before the day before our lives changed in ways I never thought they would. It is a time for keeping busy but being able to stop when necessary.

Third, I have a wedding dress to make.

So, life has been somewhat busy. And I just wanted everyone to know that we are all alive. I just haven’t really felt like writing much (but reading tons—almost literally).

Have a great day.

Such is Life

Good morning. I started something on Tuesday but only got three short paragraphs out. The week has been that way.

Joseph went to Camp Split Rock this week and had a lot of fun. I’ll borrow some pictures from Facebook for you. His going meant getting him to the Foley’s by 8:00 Monday and 8:15 the rest of the week (it was day camp). That wasn’t much of a hardship; Joseph was pretty excited about going (except Tuesday) and it wasn’t hard to get him ready and the Foley’s live less than a mile up Pitcherville Road. Yesterday at 3:00 they had skits. Amena and I left at 2:30 and made it in time. Paul, Cedric and Seth took longer to plant blueberries than Paul thought it would take and didn’t leave until 2:45. They missed the first two skits which included Joseph’s.

Making and playing with slime!

Every day this week other than Thursday, I had something to do at 10:00. I think that’s really the biggest reason I didn’t write this week. The short paragraphs I did Tuesday were done when I really should have been getting ready to go and do.

Toilet Tag!

Monday Julia and I went to visit Kim Miller. Tuesday we went to visit Amy Troop. Wednesday I had an appointment with the chiropractor. Thursday I didn’t have anything going on but I wanted to get the living room cleaned. Friday I met Kim Trivett at Joann’s for wedding dress materials shopping. I also picked Elizabeth up and delivered her to an appointment she had at 9:30. She was done right about the same time we were so that worked out well. The only problem with Friday was that I took Cedric and Seth because they were already having behavior problems.

Wednesday night at church we made cookie dough and froze it. Amena invited the triplets and was amazed that they were able to go. That made rides a logistical nightmare because Sarah Trivett was here as well and I can only fit four other people in the car. With Amena, Sarah, Sam, Charlotte, Allie, and Cedric, that was a good deal more than four. Joanna was home and able to keep an eye on Seth and Joseph which was nice. She ended up taking Amena, Sarah, and Cedric, and I took the triplets. On the way home it was more fun.

This week I read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I thought I’d read The Hunger Games because I finally watched the movie. Then, because I read it, I had to read the second. Now I need to read the third, Mocking Jay. The good news is that Kim Miller has them and is willing to let me borrow it. The bad news is that there is always something I should be doing when I’m reading but it’s hard to stop.

I’ve also been reading Ana’s Story which is the manuscript-length story I wrote. While reading it, I have been realizing how much I miss California. I miss that particular house even though we only lived in it for a few short months. We moved in sometime in the spring, early enough to get a garden area ready and a garden planted and we left I think in October of the same year. Still, and in spite of the fact that it needed a LOT of work, I loved that house and would be perfectly happy to live in it now. Another thing I miss, and this might seem really strange to some people, is forest fires. Not the really bad ones that turn the sun into a red disk in a dark grey sky but the smaller ones that lend a bit of smoke to the air and cause the splotches of sun on the road to look slightly orangish. Yesterday we had a lot of stuff in the air that almost had the same effect but there was one huge difference: the smell. I miss the wood smoke smell.

The really interesting or funny thing about all of this is that while I miss that house and certain aspects of living in California, I also miss the last two houses that we lived in in Idaho. I think the reason is that there was room for us. There was room for a piano. There was room for everything that we had. And then some. I also actually miss California—the mountains especially. I don’t miss Idaho in the same way at all (although there are forest fires there).

That said, it is further interesting that the story I wrote as therapy years ago is now a source of unrest for me. I left a lot behind in order to come here and I sometimes wonder if the benefits outweigh the costs.

Have a fantastic day!

This

Good morning! It is lovely at the moment but that’s mostly because the temperature is 64° not because the humidity is 71%. What is the deal with higher humidity than temperature? Yuck. It is mostly cloudy and pretty  much our expected highs for temperature and humidity are almost a transposition of what we currently have: 76° and 61%. Is it time to move yet? Actually, I think we’ve covered that already; probably best not to again. At least not now.

Yesterday wasn’t the most exciting day but it wasn’t the most boring either. I do have permission to tell Mally’s birth story with you and that’s pretty darn exciting. I also have been reading more of Pushed and I have to say that I am somewhat disgusted with the United States and midwifery care.

Yesterday we got some laundry done. The boys did some general picking up of things here and there. Seth went to town and did quite a lot of sweeping. I cleaned the downstairs bathroom and soaked all the toothbrushes I could find in bleach water. Amena and I took Sarah home at 1:00. At between 5:10 and 5:15 we left to take Amena and Cedric to Toys R Us. We got there I think at 5:30 and I wasn’t even driving fast. Go figure that one. Anyway, Brock Miller was there waiting but no one else was there yet. Sarah and her dad arrived at 6:01 and then they were off. Amena went with them and Cedric went with Brock. Amena went home with Amanda Wood and spent the night and the Trivett’s brought Cedric home. I suppose they could have taken him to their house and we could have picked him up because we were still at SS Lobster when I called to see where he was because I’d gotten a phone message and text (I left my phone in the car—not sure why).

Going out to eat was interesting. We were going to go to the Soul Food place but after we parked and were beginning to disembark, Paul realized he didn’t have enough cash. They don’t take checks or plastic. So we went to a bank to try his debit card and the card wouldn’t work (it’s kind of falling apart). We went to another one and it worked. The streets are a fun mix of one way and two way so it isn’t always easy to get from one place to another even if you can see where you want to go. We went back to the restaurant, got out, and discovered that the door was locked. The lights were on, the open signs were lit, but the door was locked. Paul said there was a note that said he’d be back at 7:30 but it was already past that. So we went to SS Lobster and didn’t get there until 8:00 and there was a long line. We actually waited for probably five minutes outside before we got in and then waited another ten or so. And we won’t even discuss how long we waited for our food.
As for Pushed, you'll have to read about it and Mally's story on the other blog (Here).

and

Good morning! A bit of a slow morning thus far but at least it’s a nice one so far. Temperature currently is at 65° and humidity 63%. I really, really like the temperature the humidity I would like halved.

Yesterday. Ah, it’s that word again. Funny how each day it means something exactly the same and yet completely different.

Yesterday  morning the boys and I watched Weird Al songs for probably half an hour and then I needed to get ready to go visit with Elizabeth and answer any questions she had about child birth classes. She is like a good midwife’s dream client and a doctor’s worst nightmare patient. She has done a lot of reading and research and asks really good questions and she expects honest answers. It’s absolutely wonderful. It is too bad that more women are not as vigilant when it comes to learning about pregnancy and birth.

When I got home from visiting with Elizabeth, it was almost lunch time so I warmed up some leftovers and we ate. Then I read and worked on Kim’s dress. I’ve got a final mockup of the bodice done and I need her to try it on. Once I see how it looks, and go shopping, I’ll be ready to get the whole thing done. That will nice.  I have decided that I’m going to cut out the skirt at church because I can put two of the log tables beside each other and have a much larger cutting surface than I can at home. If I add all the leaves to the table, I have a long enough surface but not really wide enough. The little bit of extra I’d have using the tables at church will be just enough to make the difference between a major pain in the patootie and just the normal pain of logistical cutting out.

Then it was time to take Cedric to the Troop’s for an air soft war. When we first got there only the Troop boys, Neil, the Green boys, and Hans were there. Cedric wasn’t too excited and didn’t want to get out of the car. I’d taken three bars of soap for Amy so I had to get out of the car. Hans went to get Cedric out and he pulled out his gun and pointed it at him. He’s such a twerp sometimes. He finally did get out and I think he was on his way to having a good time when we left.

When we got back from dropping Cedric off, it was just Seth, Joseph and me so I let them watch a movie while they ate ice-cream. I ate ice-cream too but read instead of watching a movie.

I’ve been reading Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block. It is an excellent book. I would love to quote just about the entire book but won’t because there just isn’t time or space here. However, if you are so inclined, it is not hard to read and is chock full of good information. I’m about half through it and would love to spend the day finishing but am afraid that there are other things I need to do as well so I don’t think that will be happening.

At 6:30 there was a baby shower for Mally. I’d love to tell you about her birth experience but am waiting for her permission to do so. She looks really good and feels really good and I was able to visit with her and some other women I wanted/needed to so it was all good.

Since Amena has spent the night at Sarah’s, I was going to take her with me after the shower but she and Sarah asked if Sarah could stay here last night. Then they hatched this idea of going to see The Fault in Our Stars. Sarah’s dad could drop them off at the theater and I could pick them up. It started at 9:15 and Amena told me that it would be over at 11:05. Ha ha. I got there at 11:02 and a group of people came out but not Amena and Sarah. I waited and waited and moved the car so I’d have a better view into the lobby of the theater. Finally I looked it up and saw that the movie did indeed begin at 9:15 but it was two hours and five minutes long so it wouldn’t be over until 11:20. So, I didn’t get to bed until more than an hour past when I normally would have and because I had to read before turning the light off, it was past midnight when I did. Which explains why my morning was a bit slow today.

After the shower, Seth and Joseph went with me to pick Cedric up. Jared had also gone as well as the twins and William. I don’t know if anyone else did or not. We gave Hans a ride home and when we got home it was time to bring the goats in and go to bed. Once the boys were in bed, I did laundry and dishes and picked up a bunch of garbage out of the bathrooms. That was pretty exciting.

And currently the boys are ostensibly putting away all of the many games that are out in the back room. They have that to do and then their bedroom. And if they think they’ll sneak away and play on the computer, they have another think coming because I put a password on the account they use. Hmmm. Should be a fun day.

Have a wonderful one!

Another That

Good morning! I am not well pleased with the canines that live in this house. This morning I woke up to pee and poop on the floor. I guess it is time to fashion Kitty and Minion a house that does not require the use of a dog crate so that the crate can come inside and we’ll see if Misty being it in at night helps diminish the problem. I think it might but it might not because Scooter does the same thing and we do not have two crates. Not only do we have two crates, I do not want to have enough space taken up by two crates to have two crates in the house. We have quite enough stuff as it is.

Joseph didn't want me to take his picture. I think it turned out pretty good.

Yesterday. I was going to go to Joann’s with Kim but Cedric had his picnic at school at 11:00 and since Joann’s doesn’t even open until 10:00, it really wouldn’t have worked out very well. In three weeks Cedric has another one and I think I’ll take Joseph and Seth so they can play at the playground. Cedric was the only boy until he called Ryan and Ryan came. Their teacher said, “It’s awful how they don’t get along!” Nice humor there. Cedric said it was a lot more fun than he thought it would be and I’m sure that is at least in part because Ryan did finally come. I got quite a bit of reading done so I was happy.

Team 1.

The afternoon was pretty low key. We didn’t do much, really; less than we should have done but more than nothing. We had church. The Young Men were in charge and they did an Iron Chef competition outside on camp stoves. They had to answer trivia questions in order to get their choice of the meat (chicken, Spam, or tofu [not meat, I know]) and then to get the recipe. The final question allowed the first team to answer correctly to trade meat if they so desired. It was a lot of fun, I think. It was fun to watch.

Team 2. Too much leader involvement here, I think.

There were a lot of boys there last night. William was there; we haven’t seen him for a while. Christina and Shawn’s brother was there for the first time. The twins were there. We only had five girls and I think there were twice that many boys. It was nice. Seth and Joseph were bored. I would have loved to have taken them home but then I would have had to go back to get Cedric and the only other YW leader there was Jessica. Which would have been okay, really.

Team 3.

Someone has been dipping into our prize basket. When I looked at it Sunday, it didn’t seem like that many things were in it and when I actually took a look, there weren’t. I hate to have to get a lock to put on the door but I might have to anyway.

Team 1. I think they should have won.

When we got home, everyone went to bed except Cedric who decided he wanted to read for a while. He actually ended up going to bed anyway and I did shortly after 10:00. I wanted to get more reading done as well.

Team 2. They did win. Just knowing there is Spam in there would have ruined it for me.

This morning I went out to move the stakes for the goats and to water them. Just being outside long enough to do three stakes, my arms itch to beat the band and so do my ankles. I washed my arms off as soon as I got inside but they’re still itching up a storm.

Team 3. They would have needed a miracle to win with the tofu because no one knew exactly what to do with it.

Today is going to be interesting I think. I’m going to visit Elizabeth this morning. I was going to go at 9:00 but I’m going to see if 10:00 will work. This afternoon the Young Men are all gathering at the Troops for air soft wars. Amy says that the shower for Mally is still on even though she just had the baby on Sunday. I wouldn’t personally go if I’d just had a baby but, you know, that’s me.

And this is what we left to.

Kind of short for today but such is life. Have a splendiferous day!

Here Comes the Rain Again

Good morning! Currently it is 67° with humidity of 95%. Our expected high is 72° and we have a 100% chance of rain. Bring on the rain! I can deal with that. This 95% humidity is for the flippin’ something. I was going to say birds but who am I to know if they like it or not. Oh, I’ve got it—This 95% humidity is for the flippin’ New Englanders (we’re talking natives, here, not those of us who happen to live here but wouldn’t normally).

The rain in the back.

Yesterday wasn’t an overly exciting day. In the morning we got all the wood that was split stacked. I was out there for longer than half an hour and Seth ended up staying longer than half an hour but other than that, half an hour of everyone stacking got the job done. Seth wanted to stay until it was done and he did. Because we didn’t use as much this past winter, we still had quite a bit already stacked and so it’s coming along quite nicely. I’d like for it to be completely done so that we can turn our attention to other things that need to be done. We’ll see how that goes.

The rain in the front.

In the afternoon I went to Walmart to get some glue sticks so I could work on the wedding dress. I got glue sticks and cream and a package of leather cording for the bead project I’ve been working on. When I got home I ended up doing that rather than the dress because I really didn’t have that much time for the dress and I’d like to devote a chunk of time to it and I didn’t have a chunk of time because I also needed to get dinner stuff going.

For dinner we had green beans with bacon and onions, lentil and brown rice pilaf, and tandoori chicken. It all turned out pretty well. The chicken turned out good but not quite like the stuff I’ve had at Indian restaurants. Maybe because I used vanilla yogurt instead of plain because I didn’t have plain and figured vanilla wouldn’t be too bad. Certainly better than peach or raspberry which would have been the other choices.

Three boys having fun on the trampoline in the rain (no lightning today to worry about). Amena took off the net and the one pole that was bent so badly that I figured it was a worse hazard than falling off without the net. The other poles will come off as soon as I get out there and take them off.

Paul got a ton (almost literally) of vanilla, peach, and raspberry yogurt in the big containers ages ago. We all like yogurt but not that kind. They were all flavored rather than having real fruit in them and the texture is from the thickeners they add rather than actually being good yogurt. Anyway, they were a good deal but it’s taking me forever to get them used up because no one really likes them. I use some in pancakes when I make them and sometimes I use some in other things such as muffins or cake but still, it’s taking forever (you know, it’s all relative and for each individual yogurt, it is forever). This is why I decided to use the vanilla in the chicken yesterday. I’d be happy to try it again with plain in a month or two.

Our baby birds. What do you think, Laura, cuter?

For dessert we had strawberries and whipped cream. We had all these strawberries and they were going to go bad before I got any made into a pie so I cut them up and got the whipped cream yesterday and called it dessert and it was quite yummerly.

Other than that, I finished reading the book I was about women during colonial times. The author was writing it in the early 1900’s and this seemed pretty obvious. I actually did learn quite a lot about the lives women led during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and some of what I already knew about life in the early twentieth century was emphasized.

It did seem rather obvious that medieval attitudes about marriage and marital fidelity were not widely known when the book was being written. The author mentioned that husbands, while not necessarily free to wander and basically commit adultery with impunity, they did and the wives commonly seemed to forgive such slips in loyalty. While husbands weren’t necessarily expected to be unfaithful, it was fairly common. Wives, on the other hand, were expected to be true to their husbands and it appears that they mostly were.

Compare this to medieval attitudes where men were expected to wander but of wives it was not allowed. Men were not expected to enter marriage as virgins but women were. It seems obvious to me that these people who were coming from Europe hadn’t completely lost these deeply engrained ways. Just interesting, I thought.

The expected rain has begun.

Have a splendiferous day!

Weekend in Review

Would you believe that there is still some key lime pie left? Hard to believe, but true.

Good morning! Saturday was much like I expected. The car wash was fun for the boys and yet they were anxious to leave at the same time. I’m not sure why. Seth especially wanted to leave; I think Joseph would have been fine staying for the duration. I was going to leave at noon but that would only have given me an hour to accomplish the things I needed to so we left at 11:30. That still gave us an hour and a half there.

When we came home, I ate and fixed soap labels so that I could print some out for soap to give as a gift. I don’t care where people register or what they want; from me they are going to get soap. We actually have something else as a gift for the wedding but I’ll put some soap in it—there is just no escaping the suds around here.

Speaking of suds and soap, Marlain wants to come over the next time I make soap as does Sister Caceres. I really do need to make some; I have lots right now but I don’t have everything. I also need to make some lotion and lip balm.

I looked out the window because the goats are making noise and it is heavily misting out there.  The humidity is currently 94% and I can believe that. According to the forecast, we aren’t supposed to get below 87%. That is disturbing. We have a 60% chance of rain as well, which I can deal with, and an estimated high of 79°, which I can also deal with. But with that humidity, all I can say is YUCK!!!

The bridal shower was nice. There were games and even though I didn’t win anything I still like them. I wish that the baby showers around here had more games because since the one for Heather Myler and Eli, there hasn’t been a single game at any of the showers I’ve been to. Anyway, sat with Mally Black and then Meredith joined and then Marci Mayer. We talked a lot about pregnancy, labor and birth. Surprised? Hmmmm, not really with one of us very pregnant and one of us me!

Mally said that she wasn’t worried about anything really with Juliet because she was her first baby and she didn’t know what to expect. This time she knew more what to expect and didn’t want to go to the hospital as soon. I told her to call me when she was ready to go to the hospital and I would meet them there and could alleviate many worries while there. Interestingly, she actually had the baby at 6:00 am Sunday morning. At 4:00 pm, she wasn’t feeling terribly labory. I’d love to talk to her now and see how the whole labor and birth went. I imagine I will, at some point.

Sunday was Sunday. The talks were good. Sunday School was good. For Young Women we combined the Laurels and Mia Maids and Julia taught and we had our lesson outside. The lesson was good and it was nice being outside in the shade. Except for the ants that kept bugging me. I think we should have a blanket for those days we have lessons outside. Maybe I could donate one of ours; it isn’t like we don’t have enough.

After church I completely forgot that there was a BYC meeting and I left with Seth and Joseph. Cedric stayed for the meeting which was good. The younger boys and I got everything ready for tacos and Amena called to see if Rachel could spend the night. That was fine with me so she came home with Paul, Amena and Cedric.

Joanna was getting ready to go to Puerto Rico all afternoon. She left just before the boys went to bed to stay at Zak’s because they needed to leave there at 7:00 to get to Boston to catch their flight which was scheduled to depart at 9:00. She said that his mom only lives something like fifteen miles from the airport (she lives in Wilmington). At the time they needed to leave, I can imagine that it can take an hour or more to get those fifteen miles. I’m really glad that it’s them and not me.

Yesterday morning I went to see Elizabeth and Jonathan. They had an appointment with Katie McCall, the midwife I’m hoping to work with, at 9:00 and Elizabeth wanted me to be there. I’m glad I was; I like Katie better than I did and Ranee, her current student, as well.

In the afternoon at 2:00, Cedric and Amena had physicals. I thought that I would just take everyone but then Cedric pointed out that I didn’t have room. Ooops! Very true. I called Marlain but she didn’t pick up so I just decided to leave Rachel home with Seth and Joseph. Rachel is 13 so she’s old enough to babysit and Seth and Joseph are usually pretty good left to their own devices. I texted Marlain while I was waiting at the doctor to let her know what was up and she said that Rachel would be happy for the babysitting experience. They were fine while we were gone, of course, and Rachel was making them watch Anastasia which I think is fantastic (one of my favorite movies).

Marlain came a little after 5:00 to pick Rachel up and Rachel is funny. She kept encouraging us to talk more. We already visited for nearly half an hour and could have gone for much longer but they needed to get home and get dinner going which is perfectly understandable.

The rest of the evening was pretty low key and fairly typical. Right now I think we need to stack wood. We never did yesterday because I was gone during the best stacking time. I think, actually, that we’ll go stack and then I’ll get this posted.

Have a terrific day!

That

Good morning! We had a good day yesterday. The boys put Legos away and did some picking up, mostly of laundry, in their room and put away most of the clean clothes that they had. We went to see the fourth Transformers movie. It was interesting. I really think they’re drawing the whole thing out but there were still some good parts and some that really annoyed me. Mostly the really annoying parts had to do with government. J

In the morning I made two key lime pies because I had a bunch of limes that needed to be used and Paul bought some condensed milk a week or so ago and graham crackers the day before. It sure used a lot of eggs. One recipe calls for five egg yolks. I’d planned on doing two pies but the recipe didn’t fill up the crust as much as I thought it could so I did another and divided it between the two. So, fifteen eggs. That’s a lot.

The baby birds on the 6th.

Before we left to watch the movie, I started cutting out the pattern for Kim’s skirt. When we got back, I finished that and made some alterations to the bodice and then made a pattern for the overlay. The last thing I did was cut that into strips to lengthen it for the bunched-up-drapey-look. I’m not sure what I’ll get done on it today.

The baby birds yesterday. They've sure been growing.

The reason being the cub scouts have a car wash this morning that we’ll go to from 10:00 to noon and then Kim’s bridal shower is at 1:00. I need to get some soap wrapped for that and I’m deciding if I want to shower before the car wash or after. There are benefits to both but I’m going to have limited time after car wash/before shower. Hmmm. That’s funny.

Anyway. . .

Last night Nick came over so that the boys wouldn’t have to go out with us. Cedric really didn’t want to go out to eat; he’s a funny boy. They were watching Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy when we left and one of The Lord of the Rings when we got home. Well, some of them were. Some of them were playing on the computer.

Paul and I found another good place to eat. It’s next to the place we went to last week. They have Thai food and Paul says their Pad Thai is the best he’s had. I tried one of the specials because it sounded interesting rather than one of the hot dishes because I figured if we go back, I can try something else and the specials might not be available. It was quite good and I brought half of it home because Paul wanted to try an appetizer. Just that would have been enough for a meal, really. Even Paul brought home some of his Pad Thai.

The full moon last night. It was pretty cool. I wish I'd taken the camera with me when Paul and I went out because when it was lower to the horizon, it was huge.

This morning I was perusing Facebook and checking emails (but not in that order) while I was eating my yogurt. There is almost always something interesting to be found and today was no exception. For example, I found this video of Hillary Clinton. In it she said, "I don’t think any parent, any person, should have to fear about their child going to school or going to college because someone, for whatever reasons. . .could possibly enter that school property with an automatic weapon and murder innocent children, students, teachers.” (Burke, Jennifer. "VIDEO: Hillary Clinton - You Are Not Allowed to Support Gun Rights; If You Do, You're a Terrorist." TPNN. N.p., 18 June 2014. Web. 12 July 2014. <http://www.tpnn.com/2014/06/18/video-hillary-clinton-you-are-not-allowed-to-support-gun-rights-if-you-do-youre-a-terrorist/>. Just as an aside, I don’t like the title of this: I don’t recall hearing her say that if you support gun rights you are a terrorist. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has or if she at least holds this opinion but as a title, I don’t think it was quite appropriate.)

This is a debate that is going to go on for quite some time. Compromise seems to be a thing of the past. Politics seem to be now a case of “my way or the highway.” Nevertheless, don't people realize that more stringent laws regarding guns are not going to keep them out of the hands of people who want them badly enough? Hello . . . earth to idiots! Laws made alcohol illegal for a time; did that stop people from making and drinking it? There are many illegal drugs; does the fact that they are illegal keep people from using them? If guns become illegal, does that mean that people will stop using them and crime will magically go away? What alternate universe do these people live in?

Furthermore, how are they going to ensure that no one enters a school property with a gun? Just as an example I’m pretty sure I’ve used before, Hubbardston Center School locks the doors during school hours. If I want to get in, I have to be buzzed in while my children are at school. However, after school there are after school programs and other activities. All three of my younger boys had Tiger Scout meetings at the school and the school was never locked then. What is there to stop someone from entering the school during such a time and waiting? I’m sure it wouldn’t take too long to figure out what the normal routine is for the janitors and work around that. Then all someone would have to do is enter the school when it is not locked, wait in a darkened room until the next morning and then wreak havoc.

So, what are they going to do? Keep the doors locked 24/7? Even that wouldn’t keep an overly determined person out. Keep the doors locked 24/7 and have everyone go through metal detectors? There’s probably a way to get around that as well so why don’t we just keep the doors locked 24/7 and have everyone x-rayed as they enter? There is no simple solution, contrary to what politicians seem to think.

I still like my idea. Have a few armed guards at the school. That should work as a deterrent. After all, if it’s good enough for Obama’s girls, it’s good enough for my children as well.

Have a fantastic day!

A Few of Those Days

Good morning! One might assume, incorrectly, that because I haven’t written anything as of late that we haven’t been doing anything of which to write. The fact is, we’ve been busy with this and that in the morning and have either been busy in the afternoon or it’s been a combination of too hot and/or humid for me to feel like doing anything.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings we stacked wood. Tuesday and Wednesday we stacked wood for 30 minutes. ‘We’ being Amena, Cedric, Seth, Joseph, and myself. Yesterday I knew that we had a bit more than 30 minutes of stacking to finish so I told the boys (Amena was already gone to Youth Conference) that if we got all the wood stacked, we could go to the store and they could each get their own container of ice-cream. In spite of the fact that they were pretty excited by that idea, it still took upwards of two hours to finish. Done the stacking is, for now at least; when Paul splits more we’ll have more to do.

Wednesday was a busy day. In the morning, I took Joseph with me to the scout office so that I could get him and Seth registered for camp. The woman who usually does that stuff wasn’t in until 9:30 and I didn’t have time to wait so we had to muddle through as best as they could. Then we were off to Winchendon to Joseph’s 10:00 dentist appointment. We were also delivering four bars of soap to Cheri Brimhall; they left on vacation yesterday afternoon and she wanted some soap to give to four families who had babies recently. Since they live in Winchendon, I thought we could just deliver the soap.

Then we were on our way home so that Cedric and I could go to his class picnic. Well, I checked his calendar and discovered that the picnic is next week, not this week, so we didn’t have to rush off to that. I was kind of relieved. Still, I needed to go back to Gardner to take care of a few things that I thought I hadn’t had time to do because of the picnic so I did that. While I was still on Pitcherville Road I got a phone call.

“Is this Mrs. Davis?”

“Well, sort of.”

“May I speak to your mother?”

“This is Pam Flint,” I figured it was probably the woman from the scout office, “Seth and Joseph Davis’s mother.”

I needed to give her some information so that she could actually get the registration done. Because the boys each had a campership deduction, I could not register them online which is why we had to go make payment at the office in Lunenburg. They are both successfully registered now.

Then I continued on to Gardner where I stopped at the bank first and then parked in the library parking lot where I walked first to D’Ambrosio where I ordered some glasses and then John’s Sport Shop where I got a new scout shirt for Cedric. I was going to check a book out from the library but I decided to request the book I wanted to get be sent to Hubbardston which would give me time to finish reading the book I currently have checked out. Not to mention I have another besides that to finish.

When I got home, I renewed the books that we all have checked out and requested Hunger Games. Amena was busy getting ready for Youth Conference. Those from our ward needed to be at the church by 2:15 Thursday morning in order to get to Ludlow in time to get loaded on the buses to leave there by 4:30. Fun, fun, fun.

I’d been planning on taking the boys to the park for the Wednedays in the Park but they decided that they’d rather stay home and play with Legos. I was completely fine with that because although it wasn’t bad out Wednesday, I had sunburn on my arms and Joseph had sunburn on his back and shoulders from Tuesday at Lake Dennison. And although it was nice and cloudy at times, it was also sunny at times.

So, I went to the library to deliver the check for Cedric to get registered for camp and return a book. Then I was back home doing whatever I was doing. Instead of hurrying when we got back from the park to get to church, we got to take our time which was nice. Amena decided to go even though she probably should have stayed home to finish getting ready.

There weren’t many girls there, just Amena, Jessica, Christina, and Sarah Trivett. Jerusha brought her ice shaver and we had snow cones and popcorn and played a game most of us never had called Fluxx. It was quite fun and the time sped by rather quickly. Amena needed a large garbage back to put her stuff in but with how everyone was behaving, I didn’t want to stop at a store. I thought that I could go once we got home and the boys went to bed but Joanna agreed to stop on her way home and get some.

It poured after we got home and we had quite a lightning display. Since Joanna was going to be home, I asked if she’d be willing to take Amena to church in the morning. She was. I thought that was great, I’d be able to sleep. Ha ha. I woke up a couple of times before 1:30 and then got up at about 1:45. That’s when I’d told Amena we needed to leave by and of course she wasn’t quite ready. Joanna was getting her some food together for her breakfast and lunch. Her shoes were still in the drier. She was stuffing her stuff into a garbage bag and then into another one. Oh boy. They finally got off at 2:00 and I went back to bed. I didn’t get back to sleep until after I heard Joanna get home.

Yesterday morning was mostly filled with stacking wood. When we were about done, I went in to shower while Seth and Joseph finished. Then I made them at least change shirts before we could go to the store. When we got back, we watched The Fellowship of the Ring and ate ice cream. That was nice. Of course, no one could finish their ice cream in one sitting so everyone put their own away but by the end of the movie, everyone else had gotten theirs out again.

After the movie, I washed dishes and did laundry. I had the boys take stuff to the basement and they helped put dishes away. Other than that, they played with Legos and played outside. Other than my nose going crazy, the day was a pretty good one.

For dinner the boys thought they didn’t want to eat and I wasn’t sure they would since they’d been eating ice-cream all afternoon. Still, I sautéed up some spinach with garlic for myself. The boys all ended up having some. I had to make some for Seth and Joseph and then they wanted more. Then I just did up the rest and Cedric had a bunch and it ended up gone. They also had some quesadillas. I think maybe they wanted something other than ice-cream to eat.

Yesterday before Paul went to work, he took out the old air conditioner and put the new one in. He put the old one on the bed and when he was telling me about it, he said he ruined his bed. I was thinking, “Oh, great,” but all he really did was rip a sheet. That’s good because sheets are one thing; a bed is another.

Today we have no wood to stack but I have some graham crackers and some limes and I’m thinking that a lime pie would be nice. Right now Paul is frying some bacon and the yuck from it is infiltrating the house and making my nose go crazy again. My eyes too, actually. It is not fun. I’m not sure if having the fan on makes it better or worse but at least it’s on its way out the window.

Today I’m going to bribe the boys with a movie (at the theater) to get the Legos picked up and their bedroom cleaned up. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to watch the movie that we’ll end up watching, if everything gets done, but that’s okay. I didn’t really want to go watch the movie that I did with Amena and her friends and it ended up being okay. I want to see How to Train Your Dragon 2, I’m pretty sure we’ll end up watching the new Transformers. I’ll let you know tomorrow how that goes.

This morning Paul brought down from the bedroom three cookbooks: 66° N: Land of Fire and Ice Cookbook which is Icelandic cooking; 365 Great Barbecue & Grilling Recipes which I might check out and use a few in the remaining weeks of summer; and 365 Ways to Cook Chicken which we’ll see about. I like chicken but I also like the ways I already do chicken. We already have so many cookbooks that I will never personally use them all. I personally think that Paul likes to peruse them and dream about eating the foods he reads about as much as he actually likes eating. One I don’t care to try is 257 Chicken Cacciatora. I’ve made something similar and I’m not impressed. It’s kind of like goulash; it reminds me of a pot of everything leftover from the refrigerator. Yuck.

And now I’m going to be off. I have some cutting out to do today and the boys have some picking up to do today.

Have a fantabulous day!

Is it winter yet?

Good morning! Yesterday was a pretty nice day. The temperature never got unbearable (although it was certainly approaching that level) and the humidity was tolerable. Then, in the late afternoon, it clouded up and in the evening we had an awesome thunderstorm. A couple of hours later, we had another awesome thunderstorm. I knew that we had a flash flood warning but I didn’t know that we had a tornado warning until I took a look at Facebook before I went to bed and saw all the related posts and comments.

I went to see Elizabeth in the afternoon. She’s doing well. She wanted me to measure her belly and listen to the babies heartbeat so I did. I’m not very experienced at either and at 24 weeks, it’s harder to do both, at least for me because I don’t have that much experience, but it seems that she’s measuring pretty right on and I did hear a fleeting heartbeat. I also heard tummy noise and Elizabeth’s heartbeat. I also took her blood pressure (which I have had more experience with) and it was quite normal.

We stacked wood in the morning. In spite of Cedric and Amena balking at doing thirty minutes, that’s what we did. Cedric wanted to do fifteen and fifteen.

Right now I really don’t feel like sitting here and typing so I’m going to stop. I will probably be back later at least to post this. We shall see.

I ate breakfast and Seth, Joseph and I stacked wood for thirty minutes. I couldn’t find Cedric because he’d gone into the back room and fallen asleep on the mattress back there. Amena didn’t get out of bed in time to go help but she’s getting up now. Cedric took the goats out but is dragging his feet in a major kind of way about stacking wood. He needs music, he says. He needs this, that or the other thing, he says. Music gives him energy, he says.

The internet is incredibly slow this morning. I kind of wonder how much is due to it just being slow lately and how much is storm related. It seems that Hubbardston got of rather lightly when it comes to storm damage. Ashburnham has lots of trees down and was without electricity last night. Paul said there was a tree down on power lines at the end of our street but we never had any outages.

Some of the dishes got washed and I am quite ready to sit and vegetate all day. I don’t like summer. I see no reason why I should spend time doing things that people who like summer do. I don’t like sand. I don’t like heat. I don’t like humidity. Spring is okay, fall is okay, winter is wonderful. I like going to see the ocean about once every five years (although I do have to say that that includes going to a sandy beach—I could handle rocky beaches for exploring more often). I don’t like sweat.

Have a wonderful day!

Good Intentions

Good morning! I was going to write yesterday, I really was. I even took my laptop with me to church and then to the Carmack’s. In spite of that, I just never really had any completely free time (other than a few minutes that I filled with a silly youtube video on the ten mistakes in the original Star Wars trilogy) so I never got anything written.

Saturday morning we stacked wood for fifteen minutes. We could have a lot longer but I still get more actual work out of everyone in a timely manner if we do a set amount of time rather than set amount of wood stacked. We’ll be doing more today, probably fifteen in the morning and fifteen in the afternoon unless everyone votes to do thirty in the morning and nothing in the afternoon. I’m kind of in favor of that but will let the kiddos decide.

Saturday Sunset.

I made a Zucchini Rum Cake to take with us to the Goguen’s. Amena, Cedric and Seth each asked numerous times when we were leaving, what time it started and my answers were always the same: “It starts at 2:00 but it isn’t like we’ll be late if we don’t get there until 4:00.” “We’ll go as soon as everyone is ready, including me.”

Half moon Saturday.

We were ready to go sometime after 3:00 and as we were leaving, Paul said, “When are you going to unload the truck?” Well, why didn’t he mention that when we were stacking wood? Why wait until we are leaving? I drove off but thought it would be nice if we actually got it unloaded before going so we turned around and the truck was unloaded in just a few minutes by a willing Seth and Joseph who wanted to get it done so we could go and a grumbling Amena and Cedric. Cedric really didn’t do a lot but once Amena got going, she was steady. When it was done, we were off.

A dock-full of children (mostly) watching the fireworks.

When we arrived, there were a few people there: Bethany Price with her girls and I think four other children, Ben and Michelle Rhodes with Anthony, Clair and Jay Cabanillas, some people I have seen there but don’t know their names, and it seems like there were some others but I don’t remember right now who. I know the Carmacks showed up and the Armstrongs, Beaudettes, Kings with Jessica, Troops with some visiting family, Trivetts and Adam with all of Meredith’s offspring (well, other than Amy), Dotys, Sarah Goguen and her two cute little ones, Petermans, Diana Chunn, and that’s all Joseph and Cedric can help me think of. Quite a few people.

This was at the neighbor's to the north.

Paul never showed up. We had talked about going to Fitchburg for fireworks; I do like the fireworks in Fitchburg and we’ve gone a couple of times. The offspring were all willing to leave and go but were also quite content to stay so that’s what we did because when I asked Paul when we needed to leave to go to Fitchburg he never answered and he never called. We’d’ve had to take two vehicles anyway and I was really quite content to not drive anywhere else than home. He did end up going out for milk and eggs and got some food at the little Mexican place he loves.

Pretty cool, eh?

Because we got home so late, no one took showers Saturday night and I think only Amena and Cedric had them yesterday morning. I guess we know who needs them today sometime before bed.

Yesterday morning we had a Young Women presidency meeting. Only Jerusha and I were there. I knew that Jessica wouldn’t be able to make it but thought that Diana had said she’d be there when I talked to her Saturday. It wasn’t like we had any big, grand things to talk about. We did discuss the fundraising idea that Marlain had for the Family History Conference that we’re working on. I like the idea but don’t want to limit ourselves to one unproven fundraising activity. We also talked about activities for this Wednesday evening; I completely forgot that the girls who are going to Youth Conference have to leave early enough to get to Ludlow by 4:00 am to catch the busses that are going. In light of that, I think those who are going can be excused from Wednesday night activities. We also talked about a service project for the fifth Wednesday. Again, I completely forgot that the girls will be gone to camp that week so we really don’t have to devote any energy to it.

After church we had steak and grilled chicken with salad. I made brownies with chocolate peanut butter to the Bishop/Youth Fireside at the Carmacks. Because I was going to be gone with Cedric and Amena, Seth and Joseph wanted to go to a park. They asked Paul and first he said they had to pick up all the dirty clothes from the floor in their room. Seth hurried and did it with a little help from Joseph. Then he said they needed to call Dan. I had Seth call his cell phone and then his house phone and there was no answer on either so I had him leave a message on his cell. Then Seth and Joseph left with Paul to go to a park.

Five minutes before I needed to leave with Cedric and Amena, Dan called back. He talked to Cedric for a minute and then wanted to talk to me. That’s always a mistake. He should always preface any conversation with, “You know how I am not capable of trusting anyone. . .” Because he isn’t. He got papers from the attorney to sign so that Paul can sign things on this end because I can’t. Well, simply put, Dan doesn’t trust anything or anyone and he’s not convinced that there isn’t something funny going on so he talked to an attorney out there who wants him to fax the papers so he can look at them and verify that nothing hanky is in the works. Well, the job he has, he can’t just get off and go fax things so it has to wait until he can. Therefore, in spite of the fact that I’ve told him nothing suspicious is in the works (which doesn’t make any sense since I’m at the top of the list of people he doesn’t trust), he thinks he’ll get the papers signed and returned in a couple of weeks. Good grief. He always has to take a relatively simply thing and turn it into a huge quagmire of difficulty.

The sister missionaries asked if I was going to the Carmack’s and if so if they could get a ride. Since I was taking Amena and Cedric, that meant there was room so I could take them so of course, I said yes. I’d been there I think three times before and I looked at google maps and it didn’t look any harder than I remembered. Then, to make sure I didn’t make any wrong turns, I used the GPS. It took us on a rather convoluted journey and wanted to take us on some roads that aren’t maintained. I was in the Jetta. I wasn’t about to try that so we turned around and it still took us on a rather strange journey. Still we made it and weren’t more than five minutes late.

The fireside was nice and pretty well attended. I got to visit a bit and then we needed to leave so we did. On the way home, I took the route I would have taken if left to my own volition and decided that I’ll never use the GPS to get there again.

Today I’m hoping to hear from someone at the council level about how to register Seth and Joseph for Scout camp this year. I did hear from Chris and I can either send her the check for Cedric to go or can wait until Wednesday when she’ll be at the library next. If I get it in the mail today, she might actually get it tomorrow so I might do that. I am also going to visit Gardner so I can order some new glasses at some point. Lots of other things need to be done; we’ll see how they all go.

Have a fantastic day!

Lovely Rainy Day

Good morning! Yesterday was a pretty nice day—it rained pretty much all day. It was heavenly! And it appears that someone ate something when they were using my laptop because now the left shift key doesn’t want to work properly. Very annoying. Today is lovely so far but I don’t know if it will continue or not. The sky is blue and there are a few small clouds. There is a nice breeze and the humidity doesn’t seem too bad.

Because it was raining all day yesterday, all activities at the Goguen’s were postponed until today so this afternoon we will be going over there. We have the option of staying for fireworks or going to Fitchburg. I think I’d prefer going to Fitchburg because they’re bigger and more visible. The ones at Goguen’s are dependent upon the neighbors and unless you are in the right spot, the trees rather are in the way. Unless they’ve cut down some trees since we were last there and I personally wouldn’t have wanted to do so.

Trampoline fun in the rain. Cedric joined them later in the day.

We had sausage and artichokes for dinner last night. For lunch we had cottage cheese and fruit. For breakfast we had this and that; some cereal, some pound cake, some fruit. After breakfast, the boys and I cleaned the living room. Paul split wood almost all day.

After lunch and a shower and whatever else I did, we watched the last Star Wars movie. We started with Star Wars IV: A New Hope on Sunday and we watched one each day until yesterday. It was pretty nice since we hadn’t watched since sometime last year.

Yesterday morning Amena took the goats out. It was overcast but hadn’t begun to rain. When she came in, she took a shower like she always does because goodness knows she gets all nasty smelly gross whenever she does anything with the goats. I said to the boys, “Wouldn’t it be funny if it starts raining just when she gets done with her shower and she has to bring the goats back in?” Well, the rain didn’t hold off even that long and Seth and Joseph ended up bringing them in for her. From then on, it pretty much rained all the rest of the day. When I got up to use the bathroom around 2:30 this morning, it was still raining.

Resting. All that jumping is hard work, you know. Especially when your wet clothes make you weight twice as much as usual.

This morning Misty helped me water the goats and then move the stakes. I also brought in the two that aren’t currently being used. They’ll need to be soon with the little boys but so far I just let them run around as they will. So far, they haven’t gotten in trouble. We’ll see if they do before I decide to stake them out or not.

Also this morning, Joseph saw a mama turkey and her babies in the field. I went out to look and sure enough, there’s a mama turkey with about a million babies. They’re so cute when they’re little. When Misty and I went out, they were mostly at the edge in the trees. There were three or four babies together in a little hollow in the grass but when I appeared followed by Misty, they joined their mother and siblings among the trees. They were still in the trees when we left to go back in the house.

Last night Joanna wanted to use the green car to go see Zak. I told her she’d have to ask Paul because all the cars are in his name. I’m not quite sure the reasoning, but he said it really isn’t reliable for long distances and he didn’t want her to break down somewhere along the way. Her Jeep was at Ray’s because for the second time it wouldn’t start after work a couple of days ago. The funny thing she said is that when she got to work, she went in and then thought she’d better check her lights. She’d left them on so she turned them off. Then when she went to leave, the light switch was pulled out. Someone turned them on while she was at work and it completely drained the battery. Anyway, other than her Jeep being in the shop, it was also raining. Still, she was willing to take her Jeep if it was ready to go so she asked me if I’d give her a ride to Ray’s.

I did. That was pretty exciting. I waited for more than half an hour while she fiddled with things and then Ray came and ended up putting in a new battery. I’m not sure at what point she decided to not go see Zak, and it may have been a combination of things, but between sitting in the rain playing with things and driving home in the rain, she made that call. She got plenty wet and cold just driving from Ray’s to home and it’s less than four miles and takes about five minutes. The drive to Zak’s is more like an hour so I think she made the wise choice.

When I got home, I did a little laundry, brushed my teeth, and went to bed. I had some Call the Midwife to read, you know.

And now today is another day. Have a fantastic one!

Happy 4th of July

This is from yesterday:

Good morning! Yesterday was awful. It was way too hot and way too humid and I was ready to move to Antarctica. Seriously. In my opinion, this kind of weather is what people are most likely to find in purgatory/hell/outer darkness. On the other hand, we did have some awesomely loud thunder. Most of the lightning wasn’t visible. We also had some tremendous rain showers. They were especially nice because I hadn’t watered the garden in the morning.

 This isn't:

Happy 4^th of July! Other than the date, I could say almost exactly the same thing this morning that I did yesterday. The only difference is that the lightning was visible. And completely awesome!

Wednesday night the boys wanted to know if Neal could spend the night. Then the girls hatched the idea of Rachel coming over. Well, I could have squeezed one more person in but certainly not two. Marlain couldn’t take them to the house because she had to give someone a ride home.  Then the girls came up with a plan: Sarah could spend the night, too, and her dad could give her and Rachel a ride. Well, that was fine and Amena ended up riding with them as well.

Minion getting ready for the attack.

We had strawberry shortcake at church Wednesday night for the girls (and leaders) who brought their books. Everyone who was there brought their books which was very nice. I had a meeting with Marlain for a Family History conference that we’ll be doing in November so I was very glad that Diana showed up so she could work with the girls. Other than the three already mentioned, Jessica T. was there so there were only four girls. Other than writing in their journals, they were able to finish the first value experience for Knowledge. It was a good one.

The attack. Misty just really doesn't understand Minion's method or madness.

Because we had the strawberry shortcake at church for girls who brought their books, I couldn’t let the boys have any (they aren’t girls and didn’t bring their books). But once we were home they had some. They finished up the strawberries and cream. There is still some pound cake left.

I love pound cake.

She moved her head. It was perfect of both of them looking at the camera but we got this instead.

Yesterday morning for breakfast I cooked up some sausages and made pancakes. The boys were all ready to eat but the girls were, of course, asleep. When the boys were done eating, they went with Paul to get some wood. While they were gone, Rachel got up and said Sarah and Amena had told her to not wake them up. Silly girls. Later, I asked them how much sleep they’d gotten and Sarah said at least three hours. Silly girls. I hope they learn soon that three hours is not enough.

I needed to take Rachel and Neal home at noon so that I could get back in time for my eye exam. When we were in Idaho, I went to the Vision Center at Walmart in Ponderay so when we moved here, I went to the Vision Center at the Walmart in Lunenburg. Well, the Walmart in Gardner now has a Vision Center and the same doctor goes to both: he does three days in Lunenburg and two or three in Gardner. He likes it because he lives in Athol which is definitely closer to Gardner. I like it because it’s 3.5 miles compared to 20 miles.

On my list of things to do was drop some papers off at the doctor’s office for the boys for camp. I thought about doing that on my way to Walmart because it would have saved some miles but there ended up not being enough time.  Had I left ten minutes earlier, it would have been fine. So I went and my exam went well. The doctor wanted to get a good look at my eyes because glaucoma is in the family. I refused the eye drops for dilation because it was very sunny and bright out and I still had some running around to do and the frames of my glasses broke so I’m wearing an old pair that do not get dark. The Lunenburg store has a machine that will take a picture of the inside of your eyes; it’s really very cool. The Gardner store does not therefore he would have had to use the eye drops. Still, he said that my eyes look the least like they’re developing glaucoma that he’s seen recently. I am glad to hear that.

While the Vision Center will take our insurance for the exam, they will not for glasses. Only one office in Gardner will and I’ll go there Monday to get some ordered. Then, depending on if I like them well enough or not, I might end up back at the Vision Center for glasses because they have by far the best prices around.

After that I went to the doctor’s office where I left papers for Seth and Joseph to be filled out. I didn’t leave Cedric’s because his last physical was more than twelve months ago and he has one scheduled for later this month. I parked in the south parking lot and I walked all over the hospital and Medical Arts Building. I was going to describe my wanderings but began to realize how confusing it would be so I’m not. I’m not sure if I could really do the story justice because I’m not really sure I have all the floors straight anyway and that would add to the confusion. Sorry. While I was there, I scheduled a physical for myself. The receptionist told me my last one had been in 2012 which is interesting because when I attempted to schedule one earlier this year, I was told that I’d had one in January of 2013. Someone doesn’t know how to read the records right.

Then it was off to the library. I was hoping Chris Barbera would be there because I need to give her a check for Cedric to go to Scout Camp with the Hubbardston Scouts. She wasn’t there but at least I was able to get the last Call the Midwife book. I’ve read enough already to tell you that I’m glad I didn’t live in England in the 1800’s and some of the things that happened then make doing Family History a nightmare. Jennifer Worth, the author, even mentions that at the end of one chapter and I was thinking it as I was reading that chapter.

Then home and ice cream and Star Wars. While watching Star Wars, I couldn’t stay awake—it was too hot and I was too inactive. Then Paul called and said that Sha-Nan had sent him home because he was coughing so much. He asked if we should go out Thursday or Friday. I thought yesterday was better since today is the 4^th and either we’d be at Goguen’s (if not raining) or eateries would be too crowded. So he got home, took Seth and Joseph to Bella’s to deliver the rest of the plants that we didn’t put in the garden. When he got back, we left. I’d done artichokes for children with instructions to have cottage cheese and fruit if they wanted more food because artichokes really aren’t that filling. I love artichokes but the smell of them cooking yesterday was a bit much; I’m glad I didn’t have to eat any.

We went to a new place Paul noticed last week when he was driving by. It is called Kabob-e-licious and it is good. It is operated by a sister and brother who learned Indian/Middle Eastern cooking from their mother and Hispanic cooking from friends. I had lamb kabobs with tabouli and falafel. Excellent. Paul had steak and scallop kabobs with Spanish rice and tabouli. We also had nan bread. Super good. If you like that kind of stuff, you should go there. The menu is small but, like the brother said, they give it all they’ve got. The outside doesn’t look like much but inside is quite nice. We will be going there again. There is another place next to them that we’ll be trying out in the near future. I’ll let you know how that goes.

When we were done, we stopped at Market Basket to see if the Hood Ice Cream was still $2.50 each. It was so we got eight. Then we were on to Price Chopper because Paul forgot distilled water AND because Friendly’s Ice Cream was on sale for $1.99 each. We got four. And some cream (to make more ice cream because homemade is even better than the store stuff) and water tapioca.

And, if you are wondering about this picture,

I will tell you about it. We have one of these but it isn’t exactly like this one. Still, it’s fun (I even like it). There is something magical about magnets and anything magnetic and the one we have was Daniel’s so of course that makes it even more special. When the sister missionaries were here Tuesday, Sister Kemp asked if we like it and why because she thinks they’re kind of boring. Nothing personal and I know that it takes all kinds, but really? I can’t imagine.

Have a wonderful day!

Meat and Oooops!

Good morning! I haven’t had time to read anything interesting this morning to tell you about but I did read a couple of interesting things last night before I went to bed.

First, about the Supreme Court’s decision, I guess at least most of the controversy was over ‘emergency’ birth control. I take that to mean, “Ooops! I had sex last night purely for enjoyment, if I might have conceived, I’d better do something about it.” Problem: conception often doesn’t even occur for a day or two after the act, sometimes up to five days. Problem: if you and the man you were with were so unable to control yourselves that you had to have sex, it isn’t my problem to fix; go fix it yourself. You want to have sex for pleasure? Feel free. But not on my dime.

It is interesting that this ‘emergency’ birth control would not be necessary if people did not have sex before marriage and employed other forms of birth control. It is also interesting that this seems to be a wholly heterosexual issue as two men or two women will never need ‘emergency’ birth control (unless a lesbian sleeps with a man and ‘ooops!’).

Second, I’ve finally begun reading Woman’s Life in Colonial Days by Carl Holliday. It is a Dover reprint of the original book which was published in 1922. The views expressed in the book are very interesting, especially given when Holliday was writing. For example, he wrote, “...wives and mothers gave much closer heed to the needs and tastes of husbands and children than is the case to-day; for women’s only sphere in that period was her home, and her whole heart and soul were in its success. Probably, too, women more thoroughly believed then that her chief mission in life was to aid some man in his public affairs by keeping always in preparation for him a haven of comfort, peace, and love.” In the early 1900s, most women were still not out in the work force; were they more concerned then with other things than the home and family? Fast forward to today and you have even more interesting comparisons.

Currently, I’m in Chapter IV: Colonial Woman and Dress. I did not know that the Puritan elders believed everything could and should be controlled by law. Even how people dressed. Really? That sounds suspiciously like the plan of the serpent to me.

Yesterday Leroy and Bailey went the way of all the earth. You remember my mentioning Bella and Raven in the past? Well, Baraka is a friend of theirs and was interested in goats for meat. He and some friends came over yesterday and took care of both. Paul said that they were probably happy because Bella makes them use a gun to kill the animals; I let them use the knife. Honestly, they were very good; neither of the bucks made a sound and they were all done in less than three hours. All done including cleaning up; if I didn’t know where they’d been working, it would be hard to tell. The flies are kind of a dead giveaway but they’ll not be around forever.

Some might think it cruel or mean that I let the butchering take place here. I mean, I do have four children at home (five, counting Joanna, but she’s 19 and has a pretty healthy view of such things) and Jessica was here. However, I really believe that it does no good to shelter people from the way things are. I told them all what was happening and told them that if they didn’t want to see it, to not look out any of the back windows. Seth watched some and I think Cedric did as well but not as much. Seth gave up after a while because there really wasn’t much to see as they were working in the shade of the trees and it was hard to see what was going on. Seth told me that the guy who did the actual butchering had sharpened his knife (and it was a big one) before killing the goat. I asked him if he knew why and he said, “So it would be sharp.”

“Why do you think that was important?” I asked.

“Well, so that it would cut better and not take so long.”

We had a pretty good conversation about the whole process. I think it turned out to be a good thing even for those who did not want to watch. Jessica did mention that she couldn’t eat an animal she’d butchered. I don’t think she could butcher an animal. And, that might not be a bad thing, but I do think the people don’t think much about such things. Where do people think the meat in the supermarkets come from? I guess the same place all the food in the boxes and cans come from—some magical place where there is no death, no life, no anything. I mean, when someone says to me, “Oh, I could never do that!” I really just want to say, “What planet do you live on?” Or, “When is the last time you had a piece of chicken or a steak, or even a hamburger?”

Sariah and William Armstrong came over yesterday to help move a few things. The thing I really wanted moved we ended up not because it’s so heavy (an old metal hospital bed) but we did get moved three other things which cleared out the library so that the boys aren’t playing on the computer in a cave any more. Amazingly, we now have at least most of the spoons back as well as a couple of bowls and a ramekin. The amount of trash back there was ridiculous and of course, none of them claim responsibility for any of it.

I have decided that we really need to invest in some blinds for some of the windows. In the summer they would help to keep the heat out and in the winter they would help to keep the heat in. Honestly, though, I’m not concerned about winter but I do not like being hot. I hate summer and am ready for winter already. I don’t think we need many; five or six would be enough for downstairs. Right now we could use three, later we’ll need six across the front, and later in the afternoon we’d need two. So six would be sufficient for downstairs. Upstairs, it would be nice to have enough for all of the windows in each room. I like light but darkness tends to be cooler and I would really like to be cooler. We could get the rods that are like shower rods so we wouldn’t need any permanently attached hardware and light colored fabric to reflect the light thick enough to keep out the heat. I suppose insulated fabric would work but it’s probably more expensive and I’m sure my idea would work well enough for what I’d like.

Zak's cake. Look at the fire on that thing!

Joanna had her second to last class yesterday and got to work two shifts. Pretty exciting, I think. Next week she’s going to Puerto Rico with Zak, his mom and sister. It’s going to be really got and humid and I do not envy her. The heat and humidity here are more than enough, thank you very much. Still, it will be an interesting experience for her, I’m sure.

And the smoke! Holy cow!

Other than that, not much is going on. This afternoon I told Seth that we could go to the park and this evening we have church activities. Well, some of us do; Seth and Joseph do not. I’d love to be able to leave them home but unless Joanna will be home, I can’t because Paul won’t be.

So, with that, I will bid you adieu. Have a splendiferous day!