Boys and PB&J's

I have a boy upstairs who is taking his sweet time getting downstairs. Hopefully he is getting dressed. Knowing this particular boy as I do, it is quite likely that he is playing with the other boy who is also upstairs and supposed to be getting dressed. The second boy already ate; the first one hasn’t. He made it down, yay! The third boy is sitting at the table finishing up his breakfast. So, I have one boy dressed who hasn’t eaten; one boy who has eaten and is upstairs supposed to be getting dressed; one boy who just finished eating and needs to go get dressed; one girl who is done with all that and should be arriving at school at any minute.

They sure don’t allow a whole lot of time for them to get around. They must drop of their kids at the middle/high school and then leave immediately to get to where they need to be to start picking up again because he’ll be back in about 30 to 40 minutes.

Yesterday was good. No comedy of errors for me. I did forget the grapes that I’d gotten ready to take for the way home and my water. I did also take a video of a flowering tree rather than pictures which is kind of funny. I think I’ll get it on my computer and see if I can’t isolate some frames (I’ve never done it before but I know it can be done—I don’t know if I have the capability).

Today is a half day so three boys and a girl didn’t need lunches. That’s nice in a way but it means they’ll be home all afternoon to torment each other and we’re on our way to a full moon. I have lots of things for them to do when they get home; some they might like, some they probably won’t.

Speaking of lunches, I remember that Papa used to have his peanut butter and jam sandwiches with butter on the jam side to keep the jam from soaking into the bread and making it soggy. After a couple of days of boys complaining about soggy pb&j’s, I thought we’d give Papa’s way a try. Cedric really doesn’t like them so he doesn’t have an opinion on them. Seth and Joseph, however, do like them, and they both really like them with the butter. Yay! Papa is, once again, our hero! (I know that might seem rather trivial to some, but for us, it isn’t.)

Guess what? In order to make my ‘journal’s’ more manageable, I keep them to 100 pages and then start another one. This one is on page 100 right now and as of this word, 67,453 words. Pretty awesome and groovy, eh? I’ve got about four inches left to go and then I’ll be on another page so guess what? We won’t be going over the three inches. In fact, we might not make it even close because I’m not going to come up with something to say just to fill it. Although, I’m doing a pretty good job at the moment.

The sun is up over the trees and is shining in the window and I think I should be off to check on the boys upstairs. Joanna is still asleep and Paul is up and about and I think this is as good a stopping place as any.

Have a fantabulous day!

Quick, Quick

Good morning! Seth is not excited to take the goats out (I can’t say I blame him—I wouldn’t be either). Amena is off. Cedric and Joseph are still upstairs. The goat is milked and Kitty is fed.

Yesterday morning I decided it was time to clean out the goat shed. Paul had a countertop that needed to be put in the basement (it had been taking up residence on the front porch and is one of the things that got moved) that was just leaning against the bank of dirt by the door. It had started to sprinkle so I thought it best to get it in as quickly as possible. I thought about cleaning out the goat shed and moving the hay from the basement, that was in the way of the door, to the goat domicile but decided to get the countertop in the basement sooner rather than later. So I got the door opened enough to get the countertop in. Once the boys were gone to school and Paul had left for work and I’d eaten, I set to work (even though I’d done my best to talk myself out of it).

It wasn’t too bad. Most of the stuff was really dry. I used a flat shovel and an empty garbage can at first. The garbage can isn’t huge but it isn’t tiny either (I’m guessing a twenty gallon size because for sure it isn’t 30 or 33) and I filled it up quickly twice and for the rest decided to employ an ice-thing. It has a flat edge that is meant to get ice up with a longer handle than the shovel and it is meant for ice, not goat sheds. Anyway, I ended up getting what I could of what was really stuck to the floor (which was most of it) and then swept, and called it good. I decided to let some combination of boys and Amena get all the hay out of the basement and into the goat shed.

The rest of my morning was spent doing laundry and washing dishes. That was pretty darn exciting. Then I had lunch and finished up some laundry and finished up the dishes and made hot chocolate and decided to read for the hour I had left before my minions started coming home.

Joseph had practice and I took Laura’s computer with me because I was going to give it to someone to fix it but they never showed up. Then we came home and had fish for supper and it was late enough to do all the evening things. Seth ended up taking most of the hay to the goat shed. Joseph helped a little. Cedric put off finishing his homework until bedtime and thought I was going to let him have the light on in the bedroom to finish it. No way, man. He went to the back room because he wasn’t going to sit at the table because I was there and he’d been misbehaving during prayer and scriptures too much.

And that is about it for now. Joanna has class this morning and will be needing my computer (at least I would guess she will because she has every Tuesday and Thursday morning since classes began. That just means I need to hurry up so I’ll be all done with this before she needs to go.

Julia Froystein, Laurie Orzel and I are going to Boston today. At least that was the plan and I’m hoping it still is the plan. I have my clothes all ready this time—no comedy of errors for me, thanks.

Have a spectacular day!

Porcupine in the Front Yard

All of my minions are gone which is always leaves me with mixed feelings of relief and sadness. The goat is milked, the dogs are dogs, Kitty is a wild woman this morning. Unbelievably, Paul is already out of the shower (right now it is 7:53 am).

Kitty. No, she is not stuck.

I have two things to say this morning other than the usual ho hum everyday events. First, I was going to apologize for my silence the last few days until I realized that I have no obligation to let you in to my life and therefore owe no one an apology (I am, however, happy to let you in for a little glimpse—it does help me feel more connected to my far away family). Second, it is safe to say that we will not be moving to Montana probably anytime soon and I now know the reason why (if you want to know before the 29^th, you’ll have to call because it won’t be public knowledge until then).

The newly cleared off and organized right side of the front porch.

Actually, I don’t have much more than that to say at the moment. I do have some pictures to share with those of you who are able to see them.

Marigolds in the garden.

Have a great day!

This is what Scooter does (and worse) to ripe tomatoes in the garden.

This is what slugs do (and worse) to ripe tomatoes in the garden.

So we built for the slugs Budwieser Cafe.

Jospeh's first game. Joseph reported that they lost but at this point, they don't really keep score--they're just learning skills and how to play. And hopefully having fun.

Joseph's team this year.

Seth's first game. This is from the first half.

This is from the second half when he was goalie. He let the other team (Barre--coached by his Quabbin coach) get a goal but he also successfully blocked at least three (his game was going on the same time as Joseph's so I only got to watch half of each half). They ended up with a tie. Cedric's game was at the same time as well, but in Petersham. He went with Dominic and his mom. I don't know what happened, but they lost 9 to 2. Cedric said in spite of that, it was a good game. I feel bad because I couldn't be on three fields at once.

The slugs coming in for a drink at Budwieser Cafe--darn alcoholics.

Comedy of Errors

I don’t know what I’m going to do with my Seth. He just isn’t cut out for the public school system. He often leaves his agenda and folder at school and I think it is as often on purpose as it is an accident. I’m not sure what else to do other than what I already am but that feels woefully short of what is needed. He did not bring either one home last night and does not remember if he had homework.

Yesterday was my comedy of errors day. Well, morning and afternoon/evening; the middle part of the day was good. It actually started Wednesday evening at church when I was talking to Linda Trivett about going to the temple the following day for Julia Froystein. Linda had told me that we would need to be there at 1:00 while I remembered Julia telling me 11:00. Well, both were right, but 1:00 was too late for Linda because she needed to be home when Sarah got home from school.

Yesterday morning I was getting ready to go (which is a fun story in and of itself because I thought I was going to be leaving at 9:30 and needed to get in the shower and Paul was taking forever and didn’t get in the shower himself until 8:30 so I took one in the other bathroom) and Margaret Armstrong called to see if I’d gotten rides figured out because I could ride in with Sariah for 1:00 but I would have to get to their house between 11:15 and 11:20. I said that I was good but weren’t we supposed to be there at 11:00? Well, Julia was to take care of the things she needed to in order to be ready for 1:00. Ohhhhhh. I seeeeeeee. Okay. Well, then.

I called Linda to tell her I’d led her astray and I thought to myself that I now had time to wash my clothes before leaving and I called Armstrong’s back to see if I could take Sariah up on her offer. Then Julia called and wanted to know if she could pick me up on her way to pick up Margaret and I said, well, I’m going to ride in with Sariah. At that point I should have given myself a quick kick and said, YES!!! because there were things I could have done in order to be ready for 1:00 but my brain wasn’t working to well and my clothes were in the washing machine.

At some point in time, the washing machine stopped because it was done and it didn’t even register in my mind; I was busy reviewing phlebotomy and by that time, kicking myself for not going with Julia. Then I looked at the clock. Holy Batman, Robin! It was almost 11:00 and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember when I needed to be to the Armstrong’s. Yikes! I looked at the clothes in the washing machine and said to myself, well, that was a wasted effort, I’ll have to make do with what I can get. I hurried upstairs, changed quickly, made sure I had my driver’s license and recommend and was out the door. Forgot my water and lip balm. Sigh. BIG sigh.

In spite of the fact that I got stuck behind a very slow moving truck on 68, I made it to the Armstrong’s between 11:15 and 11:20 which tells me it’s about 20 minutes to get there without rushing too much (I also ran into slow vehicles on 62—not literally). Once I was at the Armstrong’s, the comedy of errors took a break. The temple was good. Julia was so excited. It was good to be there.

Me, Julia and Margaret.

When we were done, Julia and Margaret wanted pictures and I decided that since I was riding rather than driving, I would just relax and not worry about the boys being late to soccer practice. Life happens. Traffic from Boston to the rotary wherever the heck it is was pretty crazy. After the rotary, it wasn’t bad. We drove by 95 and it was standing still. So glad we didn’t have to get on it.

When I got home, the comedy began again. I checked my email to see if practice for either boy (Seth or Joseph) had been cancelled. There was an email from Seth’s coach and due to the potential for lightening, there was no practice; nothing from Joseph’s coach. So we hurried to find his other soccer sock, found one, got in the van and left. When we got to the field, there were some of the kids on his team playing, but they weren’t having practice. We stayed for just a few minutes and then came home so we could eat. I checked the phone and, sure enough, there was a call from Joseph’s coach. Sigh.

We ate cottage cheese and fruit (peaches and pears) for supper. I checked Joseph’s folder, which was actually Emma Day’s but with Joseph’s papers in it, for homework; there wasn’t any for which I was grateful. I asked Seth if he had homework and he said no. I should have asked to see his folder and agenda then but didn’t. I had the boys get ready for bed and Amena bring in the goats and then we read Mosiah chapter 28 (I think), had family prayer, and it was then time for brushing teeth and going to bed.

Oh, but wait! Cedric had homework he’d forgotten/neglected to do. I told him he had until 9:00 to get it done. I was a math crossword (would that be crossmath) puzzle. I told him I’d help and I did, mostly checking his answers which were mostly right. Then he went to bed. Joanna got home from class and said that her friend Shayna’s sister was having her baby (a month early), and she was thinking about going over. It was raining like crazy out. Then Paul got home and had some things that needed to be put away and then it was 10:00 and I went to bed with a book. Then Paul came to bed and I turned out the light around 11:00. And that was my day.

Joanna took Amena to Kohl’s after school to get a dress for the dance that Amena wants to go to tonight. While they were there, Amena left her glasses in the dressing room. When I got home and she was telling me about it, I have to admit, I was annoyed; I can’t afford to get her another pair of glasses. She said that Joanna had called the store but they only had one pair of glasses in lost and found and they didn’t sound at all like Amena’s. Joanna thought the girl should go and look, but that wasn’t going to happen. I called while the boys were getting ready for bed and, sure enough, they’d just been found. So, they are waiting and I will go pick them up this morning after I go to the chiropractor at 10:00.

And that is what my day looks like. Chiropractor at 10:00 and pick up Amena’s glasses. It looks like I get to pay an insurance bill because there is a check on my computer. Cedric has practice this afternoon. Amena has a dance if she can come up with $5.00 to get in. If she goes to the dance and I find someone to stay with the boys or she does not go to the dance, Paul and I will go out. If she goes to the dance and I do not find someone to stay with the boys, Paul and I will not go out.

Have a splendid day!

Um, Yeah

Good morning! Actually, it is a too warm and oppressively humid morning. Cedric didn’t have to take the goats out yesterday because it was going to rain and he didn’t want to help Seth do it this morning. I moved stakes and Cedric informed me that they are too far out (they are in the back of the field now—which happens to be the farthest from the house they get). Seth was sent back in to get dressed and was found crawling through the grass practicing being a soldier. Joseph just didn’t want to get out of bed. But, guess what? Amena got up and was ready to go and was out before the bus. Of course, she was yesterday as well. On top of everything else, my glasses are so dirty that I can’t see through the sun reflecting off the many particles of dust adhering to them. Other than that, it’s not bad.

The Jetta got its front end aligned and tires rotated yesterday. I got Joseph’s bed made and clothes put away and drawers organized. I think I already told you that. Yesterday. Such is life. You don’t have to read this if you don’t want. Today is Seth’s turn. I’ll go strip his bed when I’m done with this. Actually, I’ll probably eat first, and then go strip his bed. Then I’ll get on with the other things that I need to do.

Seth had soccer practice in the afternoon and was half an hour late because for some reason I was thinking it was at 5:30 rather than 5:00. His practices are an hour and a half. Cedric’s are an hour and Joseph’s are an hour. I’m not sure why Seth’s are longer but I’d be really happy if they were shorter, at least on Tuesday.

We did not feed missionaries last night and I used that excuse to feed the boys fish sticks, leftover sliced cucumbers, and macaroni salad. I had heart sautéed with onion and mushrooms.

When Paul got home, he showed me some trucks that he found in Tennessee. There’s one that is a really pretty blue but it has a huge ding in the top of the bed on the passenger side. The only way we’d be able to get it would be to finally settle with the insurance on the red van but it would be pretty cool because it’s in Tennessee and we could go down and turn it into a little anniversary trip and I can’t type today.

Today is going to be a lot of the same old stuff that usually has to be done. It should be pretty darn exciting so I hope you all have an absolutely fantabulous day!

Global Climate Change

Good morning! It has been a busyish morning. Without the use of my computer, I managed to get quite a bit done yesterday morning and thus far today.

Yesterday while Joanna was working on her math homework, I finished cleaning out the downstairs bathtub and took most of the stuff that was in it to the basement. I put the tiles for the ceiling in it and Joanna put up a shower curtain to hide the more organized contents of it. Because the boxes of tiles (which are two feet square so the boxes are a bit larger by at least four inches [the ones for the main part of the house are about four inches because they’re metal and heavier while the ones for the back room are PVC or some such thing and lighter so the box is about six inches]) are now out of the library, it is a bit easier to see what needs to be done in there to restore order. We do have a couch we need to dispose of. It’s still in good shape, although in need of cleaning so if you know of anyone local, let me know.

Yesterday I also put clean sheets and blankets on Cedric’s bed and folded and put away the clothes he had on his bed as well as doing a bit of rearranging in his drawers/shelves. Today I stripped Joseph’s bed and put clean sheets on and emptied his drawers, purging them of items of clothing that are too small or that he does not currently need (swimming trunks—just don’t foresee any swimming in the near future). His drawers are all nice and organized and all his clean clothes are put away and I have added to my bags of things to take to Salvation Army. I think that needs to happen today. Maybe when I take the Jetta in for its alignment after lunch.

I washed and dried and folded much laundry yesterday and have done a decent amount today. Joseph has a blanket in the washing machine waiting for the dryer to stop. After that load, there is another of blankets to wash and dry and a load of towels. Once they are done, I’m done with laundry for the day in spite of the fact that there is a full basket of dirty in the boys’ room. and that I think there are two loads of towels; only one is going to get done today and I don’t guarantee they’ll be folded.

While I did not accomplish everything I wanted to yesterday, I did get my 1,000 words written which was very nice as I hadn’t managed to for quite a few days.

Last night I took one of the allergy pills that I got for Amena. When I took one before, I did in the morning and all afternoon I was really tired. I took one last night and I feel kind of loopy. I really don’t like it and don’t think I’ll be taking one of them again.

Recently I read an article about a 1,700 year old sweater that was recently found in Norway ‘due to glacial melt.’ There was also the body of a 5,300 year old man found in the Italian alps. There are other such examples. Some say that we are finding these due to global warming and you all probably know my opinion of global warming. Obviously, these and other finds have been made possible by the receding of ice. What I would like people to think about is how they got there.

Do you think that when the man died, he was fighting inside a glacier and that his killer shot an arrow that somehow made its way to Oetzi through a glacier? Do you think that the owner of the sweater took it off and placed it inside a glacier? It is quite likely that Oetzi and the sweater owner were near or even on glaciers. The sweater may have been left behind for some reason and may have been subsequently covered with snow and thus been entrapped in the glacier. Oetzi may have been fleeing from his pursuer on a glacier and fell and died and been covered by snow and been entrapped in the glacier (although there is some argument as to the possibility that he was buried where he was—if so, they had a strange way of arranging the limbs for burial).

My point is that this man and this sweater were NOT in their respective glaciers when they were killed and discarded. That happened later. My point is that at some point in time, where they were found there might not have been a glacier. What we are seeing is global climate change. It is a normal part of life on this planet and has been happening for eons. To think that we mere humans can make such a huge effect that we have to take action to prevent something that is a naturally occurring process is ludicrous. If you can believe what some scientist say, human activity accounts for less than 1% of the increase in temperatures. On the other hand, if you believe what some scientists say, you believe that we actually are experiencing global warming.

Which brings up another interesting thing. In my reading, I have found that while our hots have indeed been hotter than ‘normal’, our colds have been colder than ‘normal.’ That’s interesting. But consider this: say our normal hot is 100°F and our normal cold is 20°F.The hots that we’ve been experiencing have been, say, 110°F. That is 10 degrees hotter than ‘normal.’ Pretty hot, eh? The colds we’ve been experiencing have been, let’s say, 0°F. That’s 20 degrees colder than ‘normal.’ The point here is that while our hots have been hotter, our colds have been even colder. So, global warming? Don’t think so. Global climate change? You bet.

Have a great day!

Strange

Good morning! It’s a cool one out there today (47° currently at 7:51 am). It is one of those mornings I remember when it was cool enough for a sweatshirt but I knew that by the time to come home it would be way to warm so I wouldn’t wear anything because I didn’t want to have to carry it home. My teachers thought I was crazy but I don’t recall that anything more happened. Today’s world is different. Children aren’t allowed to be children. Cedric fell off of one of the toys (or whatever you call them) at the new playground at the school and was told he wouldn’t be able to play on it. Really? Because he fell off? Kids do that. It’s how they learn what they can and cannot do. It’s how they learn the limits of their abilities and either live with them or push them. Seth and Joseph reported that a boy fell and broke his arm and that there was talk that students wouldn’t be allowed to play on the playground equipment. Really? Seriously, people, this is part of what’s wrong with our society today. We coddle our children in the pretense of safety. We repress their creativity in the pretense of protecting from violence (never mind all the violence they witness when they go home—a few drawings at school isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference). We don’t allow children to be children.

Yesterday was a pretty good Sunday. Church was good other than the fact I really wanted to sleep during most of the last two-thirds of it. We had grilled pork chops, Chinese sausages, and hot Italian sausages with sliced cucumbers and macaroni salad to eat. I made a cocoa cake after and most of us had a piece at some point before bed. Zack came over when he got off work. He seems to be a nice enough young man. He works, I think I mentioned, at the Friendlys in Tewksbury and is going to school. The boys like him and Joanna likes him.

It's really hard getting good pictures of the cat when she's on your lap but this one isn't too bad.

It appears that Kitty is turning into a decent hunter. She caught her first chipmunk either Friday or Saturday. Amena saw her with it so I know it really happened. Seth reported that she killed it but we found no evidence of that and because she’s so small still, I think she would have left something somewhere. Although it is quite likely we wouldn’t have found anything.

It's even harder getting good pictures of the cat when she's on your shoulders but this one is okay. Certainly better than the others.

This morning while I was milking, she was stalking birds in the trees and rocks and just generally having a good time. When I went out to hold her while the boys got on the bus, she was quite content to sit and be pet for a couple of minutes and then she climbed up on my shoulders (she is definitely a shoulder cat which I think is kind of cool). Then she saw movement in the bushes by the screen house and was off. I think it is safe to say that she is adjusting rather well to life here and I am glad because I have so missed having a cat. Even if she can’t be inside, it’s still nice to have one around that actually belongs, as much as any cat does, to us.

Yesterday afternoon was team pictures for soccer. Joseph’s were at 2:45. I wasn’t too thrilled about going to begin with because it was Sunday and the boys were okay with not. Because we couldn’t have made it to Joseph’s it wouldn’t have been ‘fair’ (and I know life isn’t but sometimes it’s nice to make parts of it) for Seth and Cedric so we didn’t go to any. That was easy.

It was time to play with the grass.

Joanna has today off and doesn’t have class. She is planning on getting her books though. She has homework she needs to do as well so I might have to let her use my computer. Paul found one of his old laptops. It’s a Dell and has Windows XP on it so you might have an idea of how old it is. She can get Windows 8 with her student discount to put on it and as long as it works, she’ll be set until she can save enough money to get a new one.

Laura has work today and is walking both ways so I don’t have to look up bus schedules for her. It’s really rather comical that I, in Massachusetts, look up bus schedules for her, in Utah, so she can ride the bus to or home from work. It’s amazing that we have the technology that allows us to do that so easily.

I don’t have much going on today. I want to get some phlebotomy studying done as well as some raw materials ordering for soap. It still seems strange to refer to something as a ‘raw material’ when it isn’t. For example, the bottles I use to put lotion in are, for me, a raw material because I take it and do something with it before I sell it. Still, from an accounting perspective, they are a raw material. Strange.

I think Joanna is even going to take Joseph to practice this afternoon so I won’t have to do that. How strange.

Have a great day!