I Could Really Use a Nap

Good morning! The world is still here. At least, it appears to be. I suppose I could be living in some massive hallucination or illusion or something.

The last week has been nothing if not interesting. And busy. And crazy. And not one I care to repeat.

I don’t remember exactly much from any of the days because in general, they all just kind of blur together.

This is from science a couple of weeks ago. There is blue food coloring in the left and red in the right. This stuff is awesomely cool.

Specifically, Wednesday Scooter did not have a good day. She wasn’t able to get up and was barely moving around. She wasn’t interested in food or water. Thursday dawned the same. I offered her food; she didn’t want it. I offered her water; she just wanted it moved so she could lay her head back down. I emailed Paul and asked him if he’d given her permission to leave because I really felt that is what was keeping her here. The stench was so bad we had to have three or four candles lit and even then it was not pleasant. When Paul got home Thursday, he offered Scooter a bone and she wasn’t interested. He said that he told her it was okay to go but I could tell he was still holding out some kind of hope when he said that she’d wagged her tail. Well, of course she did; Paul’s been her person for close to twenty years. He has been her life. Dogs live to make their people happy. He fixed his dinner and took it upstairs to eat it. I was going to work on a dress but the smell was more than I could stand so I started getting things ready to go to bed. It was then I noticed Scooter had stopped breathing. I finished doing what I was doing and told Paul on my way by his office. He took her out and buried her right then even though it was almost 10:00.

What a relief. She’d not been doing well for some time and was progressively getting worse. Friday morning I mopped in the kitchen where she’d spent her last two days and the smell drastically improved. If she hadn’t gone when she did, I was going to have to put her outside simply because of the smell. Now, she is at peace and doesn’t have to bump into things that she cannot see.

Thursday night was a Cub Scout Pack meeting. Seth went with me and Joseph because we were going to stop at the library first. We ended up not having enough time so I should have just left Seth home.

Seth and Joseph were were on notebooks earlier in the month. That was fun.

Saturday morning was a popcorn Show’n’Sell at the Post Office. We went for an hour and a half until we needed to leave for Seth’s game. Joseph was the only cub scout for the last half hour and he actually came out of his little shell and said, “Would you like to help support Hubbardston Pack 12?” Seth helped some, too. No one had signed up for 11:00 to 11:30 so at 11:00 we packed up and headed to Holden. Seth managed to sell another bag to one of the coaches.

Thursday I washed a load of sheets and two stuffed animals were added to the load. The both had unknown holes in them so they lost some of the little plastic pellets they were partially stuffed with and I was not sure about letting the washing machine wash with those things in there. I messaged Jessica to see if she could come take a look. She could Friday or Saturday. Saturday was already too busy so I went to get her around noon Friday. She cleaned stuff out and said it was fine. I’m glad to have checked anyway because I’d rather take precautions than have regrets.

Because Jessica doesn’t drive, that meant two trips to Fitchburg for me. Plus picking Cedric up from practice. Then Julia came over to paint Seth and Joseph faces for a $1.00 a paint. I was actually gone most of the time she was here.

On top of all the activity, Joanna called that day with her news and my day kind of just fell apart. In other words, my nonrestful, overly stressful day, was just more so. Not a day to be repeated.

Paul said I should go to the doctor. What the heck is a doctor going to be able to do for me? Give me something for the cough? Give me antibiotics? Tell me to rest and avoid stress? I don’t need anything for the cough; coughing gets the crap out and if I don’t talk too much and am not too busy and have lower stress, I don’t do as much of it. I don’t need antibiotics; antibiotics don’t do anything for a virus. I already know I need more rest and less stress; my family doesn’t seem to get it, though.

Yesterday I went to church but only stayed for Sacrament meeting. I wouldn’t even have gone for that but it was the Primary program; Seth’s last one. I thought I’d be able to have a quiet, peaceful hour and a half and maybe I could do a little sewing. Honestly, sewing is very good for me right now because it’s relaxing and doesn’t take a lot of physical effort.

When I got home, I took care of some laundry so I could wear sweat pants all the rest of the day. I got a couple of chickens in the oven. I checked email and Facebook. I looked at the clock and it was almost time for everyone to get home. Where the heck did my sewing time go? Out the darn window. Joanna came over so I could measure her. She stayed for chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.

There was a fireside last night at 7:00 in Weston. It was actually broadcast to the Gardner building and I thought Amena and Cedric would be going with Paul. Instead, Joanna borrowed Amena and they didn’t get back until 8:00. Paul went home teaching and didn’t get home until almost eight and sat out in the car talking on the phone for a while after that. The fireside was for youth ages 12 to 18 as well as their parents and leaders. Paul really thought that Seth and Joseph should go, too. They didn’t think so. Paul thought it would be a good activity for Family Home Evening. I thought it would be better if Amena and Cedric went, listened, and then came home with what they’d learned and presented it as an FHE lesson. Instead, no one went and we completely missed out. Not to mention the fact that the stress level for my entire afternoon/evening was extremely high and I could feel the effects in my body.

Go to the doctor? What on earth can a doctor do if my own family can’t get with the program?

Paul had to get up this morning and leave by 3:15 or something like that to take Rich Goguen to the airport so he can fly down to South Carolina or somewhere in that area to drive a truck home for us. He decided to just not go to bed. I think he’s nuts.

I really wanted to do some sewing last night. Once everyone else was finally in bed, I got stuff out and pinned the top edges of the sleeves together so I could baste them. But I was so exhausted from all the wonderful stress and lack of rest during the day that I decided to just go to bed.

It was an exercise in futility. I was up every hour and a half to use the bathroom and cough. When I was in bed, I had the head of the bed way up and pillows behind me so I might as well have been sitting. I don’t think I slept much. After my third time of getting up, I looked at the clock, hoping it was after midnight but, no, it was only 11:30. At about 3:30 I decided to give up. I got stuff out to change clothes and did that and got a load of laundry to wash. I got my phone, water, juice, and toilet paper and a blanket to sit in a chair in the living room. I had to throw a blanket on a puddle of pee in the library and I had to clean up some poop off the living room floor. I looked for a lighter but didn’t find one because the poop smell was lingering. Finally I sat down on the chair, covered up with the blanket and I think I slept better for the next hour than I had all night. I think tonight I’m going to start out on the chair and skip bed.

Wednesday last week Joanna and I went shopping for the rest of the stuff we needed for her dress. That was nice because Seth and Joseph got all their work done by 11:00 and it was an early release day so Cedric was home in time that we didn’t have to take anyone with us. We went to the Fabric Outlet Store in Auburn (previously known as That $1.99 Yard Fabric Store but the price went up to $2.99 a yard) and then Joann’s in Leominster. Since I’ve got all the stuff, I’m really anxious to get going on her dress and of course, things keep happening to get in the way of sewing. Very annoying.

Today I’ve only gotten the sleeves basted and the neck sewn but I’m ready to sew the lining around the zipper and then the sleeves can go in. Then I have to decide if I want Katie to come try it on or not. Then just odds and ends to have the dresses done and then do the belts which I’m not sure I’ll be doing today. I do expect to have Joanna’s pattern ready to go today.

The boys were doing their reading for the past twenty minutes. Now it’s time to move on and get something else done. I figured this would be a good quiet time activity. I’ll work on getting it posted as they get their work done.

Have a wonderful day!

More Fun

Good morning! Twenty-one years ago today, Joanna made her debut in this world! Just seeing the beautiful, smart, caring, person she is makes my insides smile so much it leaks out my eyes. I feel blessed to be her mother in spite of the many mistakes I’ve made along the way. I love you, Joanna.

This is going to be short because there is much to do and time is running out.

The boys made brownies yesterday for art. Joseph earned his by taking the goats out Sunday morning when it was actually Amena's turn and Seth earned his for being so helpful Sunday afternoon. Isn't this just the cutest baker ever?

Saturday Seth, Joseph and I went on a hike with the Cub Scouts. It was a nice hike even if I thought I was going to die by the end (not really but you know how it goes). I had been having breathing problems already and attending to them with an inhaler and an essential oil blend and they did help. The problem was that some of the hills we went up (and then down) were very steep. Still, I’d like to do it again in the spring.

Seth spraying his pan.

Saturday night I had a hard time sleeping. The fever and chills were setting in and I was coughing to beat the band. I still went to church but was so tired I couldn’t even knit all the way through Sacrament Meeting. That’s bad. I felt progressively worse throughout the day and we ended up not going to Joanna and Lincoln’s Jack and Jill party. I just looked at pictures from it and we should have been there. At least some of us.

You can't get all the batter out, you know, then there would be nothing to clean out.

Yesterday the fever and chills were still around and I was still coughing. At one point, I was coughing so much I vomited a bunch of mucous. That was fun. Still, I was functional, and managed to get a lot of laundry washed and dried (because the drier would help keep the house warm) and quite a bit of sewing.

Seth was having fun stirring. And stirring. They each made their own brownies and Seth actually helped Joseph stir his.

This morning Amena missed the bus but only because the printer was being difficult and she hadn’t been able to get on the computer last night to print out what she needed. We were able to catch up with the bus and Mr. Hale actually stopped at an unscheduled place for us. Mr. Hale is an awesome bus driver.

The sky to the east this morning.

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

Very pretty this morning.

A day unlike any other....

The person who wrote the blog post is a man that used to be a woman. This means that while he looks outwardly like a man, he still has some female plumbing and was able to get pregnant and give birth. More than once. Okay, that’s great. Really. He wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last. When searching for prenatal care, he decided that midwifery care was what he wanted so that’s what he had. This is also great. Really. He read some of Ina May’s books and kind of fell in love with her and her philosophies. I can relate. I think I have three of Ina May’s books and I feel that I’ve learned a lot from the perspectives and philosophies in them. It is partially because of what I read and my belief that all women deserve to have choice when it comes to with whom and where they birth that I want to be a midwife.

Slipping some old pictures in here to ease the tension. This is the kitchen all clean. I'm sorry to report that it isn't as clean any longer.

Then one day he saw a letter that had been written in protestation of including “trans, genderqueer and intersex people in midwifery care.” He was hurt because Ina May’s name was on the letter. A lot of midwives signed their names on the letter. You know what? That’s their right. They have a right to their own opinion. However, knowing that people have an opinion differing from their own isn’t enough. A rebuttal letter was written and it was signed by a lot of midwives and doulas and people in general. Guess what? That is their right. But it seems to me that they want everyone to be forced into having the same opinion they have. Not on a cold day in hell, people.

But check this out! I thought I'd clean a couple of tiles since I accidentally got some of the spray on the ceiling when cleaning the cupboards. What a difference!

If people want to live another lifestyle than I do, that’s great. They can go for it. But don’t force your opinions on me or I might shove right back.

What is my take on all this? Well, you ought to be able to tell by now. For another thing, I am a woman. I am not a pregnant person. (No, I’m not pregnant currently—eight really is enough—but if I were, this would be my argument.) You want to call some people pregnant people, go ahead. My daughters either are, have been or will be pregnant women. Why must we have some generic term to cover all people who may be pregnant? Beats me.

Consider this:

I like to sew, knit, walk, hike, Nordic ski, read, and a few other things. I’m not really into running, you know, it’s just not my thing. It’s okay if you like to run; go ahead, it’s okay. You can even call yourself a runner. I’m not a runner. I’m a walker. Sometimes I’m a hiker. I’m not a runner. But some think we should have one generic name to cover everyone who walks/runs/hikes/etc.? Maybe we should be ambulators some say.

Yeah. No.

I am a walker, sometimes a hiker. I am not an ambulator. Why must we be all-inclusive? Your being a runner does not change my being a walker. Your being a transgender man giving birth does not change my being a woman giving birth. If everyone was the same, it would be a really boring world and our putting the same label on so many.

Some would even go so far as to change the word midwife. What on earth would you call someone acting in the capacity of a midwife? Doctors are doctors. Nurses are nurses. They come in both male and female and probably mixed up, too. I mean, really, a midwife is a person trained to assist with birth. Do we really have to come up with another term indicating how politically correct our society has become? Do cultures more accepting of sexual orientations other than the typical male/female that ours does have a different, all-encompassing word for midwife? I don’t know, I’d be curious to find out. I’d be willing to guess that they do not because I remember reading about a culture in Africa where younger women are sometimes married to older women and the older woman is referred to as a husband.

Anyway. Good stinking grief. I think our culture is the one that’s messed up. We’re so over concerned with appearances and not offending anyone that we’re about to fall off the cliff. On the other hand, maybe that’s not such a bad idea.  

The interesting thing is that many people choose to homeschool their children because public school education really is a one-size-fits-all. I’ve always explained it as the public school systems expect students to fit through round holes when in reality, most children come in square, oval, triangular, or other shapes rather than circles. Homeschoolers like to think outside the box, as it were. Many people who homeschool also think outside the box when it comes to midwifery care. Rather than fitting through the round hole at the hospital, they opt for care that allows them to be the square, oval, triangle, etc., that they are. So why now are they trying to get midwifery care to conform to the new way of all-inclusive thinking?

The log book, box, and stamp for Christmas Every Day.

In other news, Amena missed the bus again today. She missed it Wednesday as well. Today I told her I wouldn’t take her to school because Cedric wants to go to the dance this evening and that means two trips to Barre already unless she gave me $15. I guess she really wanted to go because she handed it over. I figure $5 for fuel and wear and tear on the car and $10 for the hour I didn’t get to sew. In reality, that’s a really good deal because if I were charging to make these dresses, I’d be getting $15 to $20 per hour. Cedric hasn’t missed the bus yet.

The stamp and what it looks like stamped.

Yesterday Seth, Joseph and I planted our second letterbox. This one is in honor of Amena (that’s funny, really, considering school has been going for less than a month and she’s already missed the bus twice) and is called Christmas Every Day. I want to do one for Laura or Joanna next. If we do Laura’s, I want to do Alisha’s too because I want to do them both at Coggshall Park. Joanna’s over Barre Falls Dam direction. I know where I want to plant one for Papa, too. That will just leave Cedric, Seth, Joseph and my dad, and I think I know where I want to do Cedric’s.

All in a bag.

And that’s it for now. There is less than half an hour until school starts for the boys at home and I have much to do.

All ready to go! I really like the smaller size for the log book--it fits right in.

Have a wonderful day and don’t forget that love is what makes the world go round.

Busy Life

Good morning. Life has been incredibly busy around here. This is why I have been somewhat absent from here for a time.

Just for example, Saturday Amena needed to be dropped off at the school at 7:00 in the morning. That didn’t take long—all I had to do is drop her off—but it did take travel time. Seth had a game in Holden at 10:30. Travel time isn’t terrible but they had quarter breaks after a fashion so the game didn’t get over until close to noon. There was a flag retirement at the rec field at 1:00 which meant we needed to hurry home from the soccer game, eat lunch, and get to the rec field. The flag retirement was very nice. My allergies were acting up. But we had to leave at 2:00 so I could get back to the school for a parents meeting at I thought 2:30. It was actually at 2:50 so we could have stayed a bit longer for the flag retirement. The meeting ran late and Amena wasn’t ready when the meeting was over so it was almost 4:00 by the time we left. Then, finally, I could relax.

The game Saturday was really good. The other team got three points in the first half but Hubbardston came back with five points so they won 5 to 3. There were a couple of boys on the other team that Seth wasn’t pleased with and he refused to high five the one with blue shoes. It seems that blue shoes made a big deal about this so Seth had to get a talking to about sportsmanship.

Another example from yesterday: There was an MMA meeting at Katie’s house that I thought it would be a good idea to go to. I’d like to start attending all of their meetings. That was from 10:00 until 2:00. I had to take Seth and Joseph but that was okay because there are still two kittens. They played with Luna (she’s a calico) mostly and ate and that was their time there. The meeting itself was interesting; there were only six people there and two of us were students.

After that, Joseph had scouts from 3:30 to 4:30 and I agreed to be there because Roger’s dad couldn’t make it. I’m hoping to be able to stay for most of the rest of Joseph’s den meetings anyway and yesterday was fun because they made barometers and set up a tent.

Cedric did not have cross country practice. He had a meet Monday, though, and came in 10^th overall. That’s pretty good, I think. Anyway, not having practice made life a little easier although I had asked Ryan’s mom if she could bring him home and she agreed.

Yesterday evening was the first Court of Honor for Troop 12. Seth got three merit badges and Cedric got two.

Busy.

Today Seth and Joseph are making up the work that didn’t get done and doing a pretty good job. Seth has two math lessons to do and Joseph has math to finish, two grammar lessons, and history. Then we have reading and science. So, even though almost nothing was done yesterday, they’re doing well today.

Anyway, that’s kind of what life has been looking like for the last couple of weeks.

The reason I actually decided to write today is because of something I saw on Facebook.  What did I see? An article referring to a blog post that had a rebuttal in the comments. What were these things about? The fact that Ina May Gaskin signed her name to a letter. Okay, it’s a lot deeper than that, but ultimately, that’s what it’s all about. And because it is turning out to be more than just a quick spillage of words on a blank slate, you’ll have to wait to see what I have to say about it until tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Going to be One of Those Days

Good morning. Actually, it is a nice morning, 62° with an expected high of 73°. Humidity currently at 75%, which does leave much to be desired, and we have zero percent chance of precipitation. Humidity is easier to deal with when the temperatures are moderate: not too hot, not too cold. Like right now. Otherwise, no thanks.

Yesterday was an okay day. A couple things on my list got marked off which made the day a little easier and a couple of things didn’t get finished but it was still okay.

Until I wanted to go to bed. I was so tired. I could have easily fallen asleep in my chair. So I went to bed. I read an Isaiah chapter and an Alma chapter and thought I’d go right to sleep. Ha. Ha. Ha. I started coughing. So I started watching an episode of NCIS. I coughed more. I tried raising the head of the bed. Still coughing. So I got up, did a little laundry, thought maybe I could read a little of The Developing Human but that really takes some concentration so I watched more NCIS. I took an allergy pill. Finally, I felt like I was tired enough to fall asleep so I tried bed again. With the head WAY up. And my alarm set for 6:00. It worked. I got up a couple of minutes before six to use the bathroom and my alarm went off as I was walking back in the room. I was still tired so I figured I could go back to bed for a few minutes, at least. I put the head down and think I may have fallen back asleep but the opening and closing of the door. I finally got up at 6:32 and milked the goats.

And then I strained the milk and put it away and decided to eat an apple and now here I am. Seth and Joseph are in the living room playing with LEGOs. Cedric, Amena, and Paul are, no surprise, still abed. Most likely still asleep.

I need to go move goat stakes. And work on my list. And a nap would sure be nice. And I wonder what kind of day we are going to have.

Seth said, “Where’s the butter?”

He obviously did not listen to my response of, “I don’t know. Maybe in the refrigerator,” because he said, “Mom! Where’s the butter?”

“Well,” I started, “If you don’t see it, there probably isn’t any out so you should look in the refrigerator.”

Why is it around here that we take one very cursory glance and then start yelling at other people because we can’t find whatever it is we are looking for? And, yes, I’m overgeneralizing. Get over it.

Then, Cedric comes downstairs. “Is Joanna coming over today?”

“I don’t know.”

“Does she work today?”

“I don’t know,” just slips out unbidden. “No. She does have a doctor’s appointment.”

“What time?”

“How would I know? She doesn’t live with us and I have no need to know what she’s doing and when she’s doing it!”

“I didn’t say you did.”

Good grief. And there’s no school today.

Buenos días.

Lists

Good morning! So far, so good. Not sure what we have for temperature or humidity but it’s cool. Last night it was so humid that the car had a layer of condensation on it before we left the church. It was bad. Probably 110%.

Joseph's Birthday! (Which obviously I did not post earlier since his birthday is August 22.) Guess how old he is?

My list of things to do yesterday looked like this:

Amena & Cedric medical forms

stretch am

walk

stretch pm

sink section

Amena & Laura dresses

water, water, water, water

gather books

finish reading Develop...

plank challenge

email YW leaders

√ emails from Laura

make cake

email bro Wood

email girls

He's giving this one some devious thought.

Plus all the other things that get done during the day, you know. Like milking, eating, picking Cedric up, etc., etc., etc. This is what it looked like at the end of the day:

>    Amena & Cedric medical forms

      stretch am

      walk

      stretch pm

      sink section

-     Amena & Laura dresses

      water, water, water, water

>    gather books

-     finish reading Develop...

      plank challenge

      email YW leaders

      √ emails from Laura

      make cake

      email bro Wood

      email girls

All done with that wishing stuff.

While I was waiting for Cedric (because, if you recall, I had to take him his shoes at 2:05 and I wasn’t going to drive there and back and then drive there and back), I did read around fifty page of The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. I’m learning a lot more of the anatomy and physiology of the beginnings of human life than ever before. It’s very interesting and amazing things don’t go wrong more often.

Part of probably his favorite gift: a Minecraft LEGO set from Joanna. This guy has a name but I don't remember what it is.

My list of things to do for today currently looks like this:

√ Faith for Rachel

stretch am

walk

stretch pm

A & C medical forms

finish marking L & A dresses

measure Katie

Katie’s pattern

gather books

finish reading Develop...

plank challenge

water, water, water, water

dishwasher/micro section

call dentist about C on the 22^nd

email about manure

read Myles...

I hope I don’t add to it but there is always that chance. And if anyone tells me I don’t really know what it’s like because I don’t have a job and I’m not going to school, I might just smack them.

Anyway, have a fantabulous day!

PS > means I moved it to the following day and - means in progress.

Another One of Those Days

Good morning. I don’t have a lot of time for a big post here but maybe something is better than nothing.

Yesterday was a crazy day. Crazy busy. Today should be busy as well but hopefully not as crazy.

I accomplished all but two things on my list but added one that I hadn’t been planning on so I think it all balances out somewhat.

I’ve been working on cleaning the kitchen. For a deep clean I usually start in the living room and by the time I get to the kitchen, I’ve had it. So this time I decided to start in the kitchen. Because I love cleaning a nasty dirty kitchen so much, I’m taking it in sections. The refrigerator the first day. The inside of the oven and the section between the stove and refrigerator as well as the washer and dryer the second day. The outside of the stove and that section the third day. The corner between the stove and the sink yesterday. Today is the sink section day and I’ve got a sink full of bleach water soaking right now. It’ll be time to take care of it in a few minutes and fill up the other side. This process will take a few days, but at least it will be done and then I can move on to other rooms. And the good thing about the other rooms is that they aren’t covered with greasy nastiness. At least not to the degree the kitchen is/was.

The clean part of the kitchen. Never mind the walls; they need to be finished. So does the ceiling. And you see a corner of the sink and it isn't clean in this picture. Well, it's clean, but not the cupboard underneath or the light above or the window. Can you imagine washing dishes in a dirty sink? Yuck!

Yesterday I got Laura’s and Amena’s dresses for the wedding cut out minus the black belts. Today I’m going to get them all marked and perhaps start sewing. Tomorrow I’ll be measuring Joanna’s third bridesmaid, I think her name is Katie, and then I’ll get her dress cut out.

The craziness of yesterday didn’t begin until almost 3:30. Until that time I’d just been busy doing everything that needed to be done. Then I got two gallons of milk ready to go. A woman in New Hampshire makes her own formula for her baby from goat milk. We’re trading milk for canned peaches and apple sauce. In my book, that’s a win/win because I honestly don’t know when I’d have time to get any apple sauce done and peach time is about done; close enough to done that I know I don’t have time to add canning a few boxes of them.

I needed to leave at 3:30 to get Cedric from cross country practice in order to be at the Walmart parking lot in Lunenburg at 5:00. With that in mind, I got the milk ready to go with ice so I could just take it with me and Cedric and I could go straight to Lunenburg. Well, rather than being done at 4:00, it was about 4:20 before he was done. Then, I had to pee so bad that we had to stop at home. Then we took off and had we left Barre at 4:00, the traffic might have been better but getting there at 5:00 was disastrous. We didn’t get to Lunenburg until 5:20.

Then we went to Payless for shoes but Cedric wasn’t impressed with anything they had there for running. I didn’t really expect to find anything but was hoping. Next was Marshall’s where they had a decent selection for running. The biggest problem is that Cedric’s feet seem to be a popular size right now at 9 ½ so there were two or three he liked but couldn’t even try on because there weren’t any in his size. There were three others he liked the looks of and one that he really liked when he tried them on.

Then home and dinner (macaroni and cheese for children that Amena had to finish making; another bagel for me) and off to a Cub Scout meeting. Then home and shoo all children to bed and make a new list of things to do and brush teeth and stretch and go to bed and read for a few minutes.

Yeah. Fun times.

This morning I got a text fourteen minutes after the bus left with Amena and Cedric. (Amena hasn’t missed the bus yet, knock on wood.) “I forgot the bag with the boston redsocks logo, in the bag is the shorts that im supposed to give back and my running shoes.” Well, yeah, I can take them. But not right now. Are you kidding me? I like to allow half an hour to get to Barre, especially in the morning when people are getting to school and in the afternoon when they are leaving. So, no, I don’t have time to take an extra hour out of my day to take this bag to school. I can, however, take my book with me to read and go in time to get it there when school gets out before practice.

Yeah. More fun times.

Before I sign off, I want to share what Cedric told me about cross country. He really wanted to make the soccer team because he loves playing soccer. Monday for cross country practice he had to run a mile so he could be placed in the correct group for practices and that was pretty easy. Yesterday he had to actually run on the trails they have for running and he said that was another experience altogether. He said there are hills and one hill has a sandy section. He said it was hard work and he had to stop and walk a couple of times and had to stop and pee once. There were times when he tried to think of ways to get out of running but at the same time he wanted to finish. Soccer, he informs me, is fun but not challenging. Running cross country is fun and very challenging. At the end, he says, you are suffused with a feeling of pride and accomplishment. And, in his opinion, the coaches are really good (he liked the soccer coach, too) and funny and you get a sense of family. And I guess Jacob Halfrey’s dad is going to be an assistant cross country coach. That’s nice; Cedric likes him and they know each other pretty well from soccer. There are times it’s just such a wonderful thing to know your child is growing up and turning into a wonderful person.

Have a splendiferous day!

Guns and Soccer

Cedric did not make the soccer team. He is disappointed. I am disappointed for him. At first he thought that he’d like to do Cross Country if he didn’t make the team but has since changed his mind. And then changed it back. He also wants to do Track in the spring which is great.

Amena didn’t get off the bus Thursday afternoon. I wasn’t sure what to think about that because I had said to her that I wanted to leave Seth and Joseph home with her once she got off the bus so I could go watch part of Cedric’s tryouts. She decided to stay at school since there was nothing to do at home. She almost got left at the school, though, because I didn’t know she was there and didn’t see her until we were leaving. I happened to look over on the sidewalk along the building and she was there. I think I’d decided before we left that if she was not at the school, I would call the police when I got home. I’m glad I didn’t have to do that.

Seth and Joseph (and a small Brimhall) on a table rock at Coggshall Park in July (the 2nd, I believe).

Friday morning the boys helped me clean the outside of the refrigerator. It had been more than four years since it was done. I can tell because I found a sticky note that Daniel had written chores and who was to do them. I thought that would be a relatively quick job because it was just the outside but I thought wrong. I didn’t realize how dirty it was. Or how much gunk was under it. It ended up being an all morning project.

I managed to find time to peruse Facebook and it seems that there was the usual stuff there including about guns. I guess that’s to be expected since we live in a country populated by millions of morons and that dude shot and killed two television reporters just a few days ago. Of course he used a gun.

The top ten causes of death in the US are:

1. Heart disease

2. Cancer

3. Chronic lower respiratory disease

4. Stroke

5. Accidents

6. Alzheimer’s disease

7. Diabetes

8. Influenza and pneumonia

9. Kidney disease

10. Suicide*

That being the case, why do we hear so much about guns and how bad they are? One of the things I saw was a video where people opened a gun shop in New York City. In this shop they sold “guns with a history.” For example, they had the gun that was used at Sandy Hook. They had the gun that was used in I don’t remember all the places and I really don’t think it matters.

A butterfly from the same visit to Coggshall.

Every gun does have a history. I have (not at my house, BTW) a British .303 with a shady past although in my possession it has been used to shoot (not in MA)into the air on New Year's Eve. I have (again, not at my house) a .22 pistol that has been used for target practice. I have a .22 rifle (also not at my house) that has been used to shoot squirrels and targets and dogs that messed with my goats (that was in CA). If any of them were at my house now, they would be used to shoot squirrels because my cat can't get them all and any predators that messed with my goats. Can I guarantee my children wouldn't try to get them out? No. Can I teach them how to properly take care of and handle a gun? Yes. I have an uncle who has owned probably hundreds of guns. I remember some of them being on display. He was a collector. Currently, he still has some but many of them have been given to his grandsons. Lucky kids, they are.

Why don’t we hear about the knife that stabbed x number of people? Why don’t we hear about the bomb that killed y number of people and maimed z number of people? I mean, we usually do hear about them, for a time, but then they fade away only to be dredged up by those who don’t think guns are any worse. Every single time a gun is used to kill, we hear about it for about ever and then we also hear about every single other incident. Yes, I think I’m exaggerating a bit. So do all the people who want to ban guns.

A BIG turtle from the same visit. Wouldn't want this guy to bite my finger.

Saturday Seth had his first soccer game. They played a Holden team which was a first. Never played Holden. Never played in Holden. Our game schedule still is not available which makes planning for Saturday’s a bit difficult but the rumor is that the team is supposed to play Holden, in Holden, a total of six times. That’s great. Except that I don’t like their field. I like Hubbardston’s field and I like Barre’s. Hardwick’s is okay. Petersham’s is barely okay. Holden I like less than any other.

That said, Hubbardston lost. Seth says the last goal Holden made didn’t count so that would make the score 4 to 0. The good thing is that it wasn’t more than 4 to 0. The other good thing is that I’m sure they’ll do better next time.

That said, Seth had practice yesterday. While he had practice, the U12 travel team was also having practice. On that team is a boy (several, actually, but one in particular). This boy and Seth probably have about the same amount of raw talent but Seth is playing on the town team, and this other boy is playing travel. The travel teams have more drills and typically get to have one practice a week with the SCORE people. They are professional players/trainers. And I think that is the difference between Cedric and some of the boys who made the middle school team. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.

Up for today is a lot of stuff. My to-do list is ten items long and there are a couple, maybe a few, things not on it yet. So, should be a fun day.

Have a wonderful one!

*Nichols, Hannah. "The top 10 leading causes of death in the US." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 16 Jun. 2015. Web. 29 Aug. 2015.