In the artsy mood.

Do you ever reflect on how different your life is from what you originally thought it would be? I've been doing that lately. Nothing like three days of a low-grade fever to give you some time for reflection.

When I think back to the days when my oldest was getting to "school age", I had visions of a household with no TV, music constantly playing (various types but plenty of classical of course) and a plethora of books laying about to be picked up at a whim. Let's not forget the availability of art supplies and the possibilities of creating at a moments notice.

That's not my reality. My house is cluttered well filled but with toys, dvds, and other miscellaneous objects. And for someone who is musically inclined, my home is rarely filled with music. What about all of the piano proteges I was going to give birth too? Or that family orchestra I was sure to have? Or the four part harmony I envisioned wafting throughout my house as we so joyfully did our chores? Where are the "Von Pevensie Family" singers?

At first glance, one could consider this a travesty and fall into a deep depression. The thing is, this current reality could change at a moments notice. It's about choices, right? Everything in life is. Just because a television actually resides in my home, it doesn't mean we have to turn it on. So we haven't done Art in a long time...we can start today...or rather tomorrow since it is 11pm at night. Tomorrow is a new day!

So I've decided to make a change tomorrow. It may last for just one day or perhaps for a week or longer. For sure we are going to "create" something new tomorrow. I have several projects in my mind but I think we will start simple. I will choose a card from the Usborne Activity Cards, 50 Things to Draw & Paint, that I dug out today and just "go for it". Nothing fancy, nothing exotic, simply a little painting activity. It's a start, it's a new beginning.

So is anyone out there reflecting on things they would like to change in their lives? It's not too late to make a change. Anyone want to join me in "moving in a new direction"? If so, leave me a comment. Tell me what it is you are changing for at least one day. I would love to encourage you!

Following through.

In light of the previous post, I wanted to post this...

Well here is one thing I am following through on. I am training for the Rock N Roll Seattle 1/2 Marathon. I am raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. I need everyone's help. Please donate! I have a required donation limit. It's not that much in the big scheme of things. If everyone gives a little bit, then we will reach our goal!

I am running this with my sister. Training for an endurance event can be tough but our worst day is still better than the cancer patient's best day on chemo. I'm trying to get the word out about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's work. They do so much for the patients who have blood cancer. Although I am short on time today, I intend to come back and post more information so you can know why the Society's work is so important.

Please pass on the link to anyone and everyone. Here is the direct link so you can cut and paste it.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/rnrseatl09/tjensen

All donations collected are tax deductible.

Why does it have to be this way?

Please tell me why.

I've heard it said that people who have an allergy to something often "love" that something. For example, people who have an allergy to dairy products often love eating dairy products. That seems so unfair. Why would God make it that way?

I have two children who should avoid dairy. It's not a life threatening allergy but does cause some real intestinal problems. I've begun to guess that they got that DNA from me. I've never really noticed a problem with consuming dairy until recently. It's unfair. We live in a dairy saturated world! I have never been a real milk drinker but I love yogurt. And how about that taco thing I just made myself. The fried corn tortilla spread with refried beans and topped with cheese...oh yeah, and the sour cream. I totally made it before realizing what I had done. Humph. I was going to go dairy free again. Well I can't exactly throw it out now can I? If you are one of those smart people who are thinking, "Oh yes you can!" then just hush. By the time you read this it will have been consumed and there is no reason you should give me grief about it. I have enough guilt in my life.

I thought about starting a dairy free blog. Not like it hasn't been done before as I'm sure it has. I just thought if I did that then I would have to be accountable and actually go dairy free again. Not likely to happen soon (the blog that is) so I guess I don't need to worry about it. I also keep telling myself I should "go raw" again and blog on that. Right now, I haven't exactly been the regular blogger so I doubt I should start anything with that either. Of course I keep telling myself a lot of things that I think I should follow through on. I think that is part of my psychotic make up. At any rate, although I'm not exactly following through on any of those thoughts, I can still write about them, right?

You gotta check this out.

I know I haven't been keeping up on this blog, however if you happen to come here, you have to check out the latest thing I'm doing. Please check out this website. I am training for the Rock N Roll Seattle 1/2 Marathon. Check out that website to see why I would torture myself train for another endurance run!

Rant & Rave

You know, I'm tired of someone from the disabled whatever calling me every other week and telling me "back in spring" I told them I couldn't help them out then but would in 6 months. I also loved how the most recent fellow, "Clark", totally ignored my request to take me off of their calling list when I told him he was the third call for the same thing from the same organization. Oh, he was smooth the way he ignored that I said he was the third call. "Well that's what we do. We call you back if you weren't able to help us..." and then proceeds to tell me that the disabled are hard workers, some served in Afghanistan and Iraq, blah, blah, blah. When I told him there was no way I was able to buy anything because I have a $4,600 dental bill to pay off because of my little one, do you know what he said? "Well some of these guys have lost limbs!" I wish I had been quick enough to say, "And how is that my problem?" I am all for supporting and loving on those who have served or are serving in the military but I have financial obligations. That dear dentist who I owe all of that money to, doesn't normally take payments. She did me a favor. It is now my responsibility to honor my word which was, "I will put all the extra money I can toward that bill until it is payed." Sorry Clark. As much as I would like to support your cause, I have to support my family first. I am a giving person. Sometimes I give when I don't even have the money to give (because my debt isn't payed off) which is probably how I got on your phone list in the first place but the "buck stops here". No more are you and people like you going to make me feel guilty because I can't help everybody in the world. I do my part. My part just doesn't include you and your cause.

Want to bet that group calls me again in two weeks?

That had to hurt!

I don't know which chicken popped out that egg but you know it had to hurt. I have never seen a chicken egg as large as this one in my life. Of course most of my eggs-perience comes from the ones purchased at the grocery store so what does that tell you? Boring. Nearly all the same size and for most of my life the only ones I saw were white. I am a color gal and I like variety. It's way more fun wondering how many teal ones we'll get today.

The other day I came home, opened the refrigerator and my jaw nearly hit the ground. Here's what I saw.
It's hard to tell exactly how large that egg is in this picture. Those 3 "little" eggs are normal size eggs. I'm thinking that is the equivalent of giving birth to a 14 lb baby. I mean you just look at it and say, "Ouch!" My first thought was what bird could have gotten into the coop and laid that egg? Let's see...my only choices would be quail (nope, too small), pheasant (could they have big eggs?) or...one of my chickens. It didn't take long to figure out it had to be one of our chickens but Yowza! I can't imagine.


So here is Edmund holding a normal size (not boring white) egg. That looks pretty normal in is tiny hands, right?














Here is Monster Egg in those same tiny hands.
Get the idea? Crazy huh? Have you ever seen such a thing? If you have, I sure hope you'll comment.













So are you curious about what is inside that thing? We sure were. I wondered just how many yolks were in this one! Well, you're in luck because I had my handy dandy camera near by when Peter accidentally turned and cracked the egg on the refrigerator handle. He said the shell was fairly soft. I have yet to do some research to find out if a wrinkled looking egg is the sign that this was the first egg a chicken laid. We've had wrinkled looking eggs before but they aren't real common in our coop. Can you imagine your first baby being HUGE? Oh sure, I know it happens but I can't imagine it being me. Oh shoot. Obviously I'm not a computer wiz because I thought I downloaded this as a larger picture. I really wanted you to be able to see up close what was inside. The contents of this bowl are what came out of the monster egg. I'm not sure you can tell but that is the white, the yolk and a whole 'nother egg...as in you are looking at the shell. Weird. It's elongated and that shell was extremely tough. I gave it to a guest who happened to be here and asked her to crack it so we could see what was inside that one.I'm not sure what startled our friend but the egg ended up on the counter top. As you can see, it only held egg white. Hmm. So I don't know what this all means but it sure made for an interesting moment in time. How many people can say that they've seen a whole egg inside another egg? Well, anyone who reads this can. So if you've seen this before, please comment because I just gotta know! This is pretty interesting stuff for a "girl from town".

I did have to laugh because of my friend Deena Marie's comment on the last post. What was it? Something about not liking the idea of cracking open an egg that might have something more than yolk in it? I'm laughing because I almost posted back that if you get the eggs right away (we collect every day ya' know), you don't have to worry about finding a partially formed chick (ew!). Who would have thought that there were other options?

This is why we got chickens~

I wasn't expecting any eggs until late September or early October. These little beauties showed up in August. The one on the right was especially small but we didn't care. We were just excited to see the fruits of our labor. Okay, the chicken's labor but you know what I mean. We bought all of the chickens in late April. I think I read somewhere that they mature around 6 months. It wasn't long before we realized that some breeds might mature quicker. We figured out that we had a buff rooster fairly early. First of all because that darn chicken was extremely ornery. It wasn't long though before he was growing a comb and wattle. It was at least a month or maybe more before we discovered two more roosters in the bunch. My younger children thought those roosters were being mean to the hens. I had to explain that they were mating with them. I'm sure Edmund doesn't "get it". I just keep telling him they are helping the hens to make eggs. He doesn't need to know right now that you don't have to have a rooster to make eggs, right?

These brown beauties showed up behind our grill on the front porch. I knew one of the goldens was sitting back there a lot but a quick glance (after Jake chased the chickens off the porch) told me she was just finding a nice place in the shade. The next day Peter came running in to tell me he found a bunch of eggs behind the grill. We were so excited to find these 6 eggs! I was especially excited because I wanted an omelet for breakfast. There is something about finding eggs when you weren't expecting eggs that makes the find something fabulous. And until you have had the opportunity to eat homegrown eggs (verses what you find in the grocery store), you don't know that there is actually a difference.

I really should have taken a picture of the 'home grown' eggs next to a store bought egg but I didn't want to contaminate my omelet. The yolk in home grown eggs are fairly orange while most of us know how yellow they are in store bought eggs. Doesn't that just make you feel better about eating home grown eggs? They are 'special'. It's kind of like the first time you ever make homemade bread from scratch. It is such a feeling of accomplishment. Although I didn't lay these eggs myself, I get that same feeling. Besides I am a color junkie. I just love things that are colorful. This is why, when I worked in a fabric store as a teenager, I had DMC floss in nearly every color. It didn't matter that I may never embroider something with color number 967, I just had to have it. This is why I'm eagerly waiting for some of our other chickens to start laying because I'm looking forward to the blue-green eggs as well.
So we celebrate because now we have these fantastic eggs from our very own chickens! Although we've had egg laying happening for a few weeks now, I'm still posting it under "Fantastic Friday" because we're eating eggs today. You can see what a bright omelet they make. I was really hungry so started in on the homemade toasted bread. I couldn't wait until the omelet was done. It still made a pretty picture. Anyone jealous about my yummy breakfast?

Too Hot.

I wish I was just talking about me. I would love to say, "I'm too hot!" but wouldn't care for all of the snickering in the background.

My hot experience would be the extremely warm weather we had last week...or was that the week before last? Time has been flying by because I took up a new...shall we say...interest. Hobby isn't the right word. I'm making money and will probably be making enough that it can't be considered a hobby. There are rules to how much you can make and be calling it a "hobby". I remember from when I used to do my business taxes...a business or two ago. And now that I'm totally off topic, let me redirect you...

Apparently, 108 degrees is just a little much for my poor red van. It was acting up a bit the days prior...of course those days were 106 and below. The day I was running around trying to get stuff for Susan's birthday...that was the hot day. I was trying desperately to leave the Dairy Queen parking lot. I had just ordered Susan's cake and we were all out of water and Jake was with us. He was so hot, he didn't even want to get back into the van to go home. He much preferred the cool grass (if you can call it that) in the shade although I'm pretty sure it was still blazing hot there too. Susan, Edmund, Jake and I piled back into the van and attempted to get home. I was having difficulties even getting out of the parking lot. That van kept making clunking noises and stalling on me. Didn't it know I had to get home?! I had stuff to do before the party the next day. I threw that baby into neutral, revved it like never before, threw it back into gear and...

...I made it into the street where it promptly died. "Holy Smokes it's too blazing hot for this thing not to work!" I really couldn't imagine having to push it back into the parking lot and sit there in the blasted heat while waiting for Mr. P to come bail me out. With no swearing (I swear!) and much prayer, I tried again. Thankfully it did actually attempt to run enough to get me moving down the street. I just kept praying that I wouldn't have to stop at a red light because I wasn't sure I could get it going again. I did make it home. Told Mr. P all about it. We decided it was just the heat. The next day was a bit cooler and it seemed to run okay...
...until the check engine light came on. I decided to just drive straight to the mechanic. Ended up getting off of the freeway because the thing wouldn't shift down. I'm no mechanic but I'm pretty sure someone of average intelligence could figure out that the vehicle should not sound like a jet engine if it is not in fact a jet. Decided it wasn't worth risking an accident or something. So there the van sat for several days and even over the weekend. Finally Mr. P called the mechanic to find out what was going on. They didn't know. Couldn't reproduce the problem. Sheesh. Apparently I need to order up another 108 degree day to get that to happen. Unfortunately we have been having some pleasantly cool weather.

I called a friend to take me to get the van. It just doesn't make sense to have that thing sitting down at the mechanic when I could be driving it right? I have fallen in love with Mr. P's new 4Runner though. It's the same year as the van but doesn't seem to have issues with the heat. I think it's way more stylin' too. I guess poor Mr. P would like to have it back though. He has been stuck driving "the beast" while the van has been gone. The beast is his little '87 Ford Pick Up. It has definitely seen better days.

All of that said so that you all know that I was suffering in the intense heat we had. I'm so grateful for central air and vehicles with air conditioning. How did our forefathers survive?

How forgetful are you?

I'm starting to wonder about the whole "memory going bad the older you get" thing. Perhaps it's because I seem to be forgetting things that I would normally remember. You know, little things like, say, forgetting to pick up your child...for instance. Not just once. Actually it was two different days and each day was a different child. Does that count in the same way?

Now in my defense, both children were perfectly safe so don't go calling CPS on me. Of course some of you don't even know my real name so I feel a bit safer.

It really is due to distraction. The problem is, I seem to be more distracted the older I get. For example, that weekend of the California Achievement Testing and the non-test assessments that I coordinated. It took some effort to pull that off. There were a few little glitches that I didn't anticipate. Over all, it turned out pretty well. Lucy's assessment was the first one of Saturday. After that, I ran her over to a friend's house so that she didn't have to sit around being bored for several hours. That was the last day of testing so once we were done, it felt like it was time to cel.e.brate. Oh yeh, oh yeh! So that being said, I was 3/4ths the way home before I realized that Lucy was not in the car with us. I felt really bad because I had told my friend I would be done at a certain time which of course was long past. I immediately called her on my cell. Don't worry Washingtonians, I was using my bluetooth and the new law had not gone into effect yet anyway. As I apologized profusely for forgetting my child and thus being really late, my friend just cracked up. I'm thankful she found it funny and wasn't mad that I was such a delinquent.

Then there was the day that Susan had something going on at the library. It was last month so I don't remember all the details. I just remember that I was well past the library before remember it was MY job to pick her up. Lucky for me, the library is a safe place, the librarians know us and Susan loves to read. If not for those things, I would have been in deep doo doo. I'm talking about picking her up about 2 hours later than originally planned. Oh yeh, I remember, it was a shopping and latte date with a friend that I hadn't seen in awhile. Who would have known we would be gone that long? Perhaps I shouldn't admit that. The shopping was at a thrift store so you know that takes longer, right? As long as Susan and the librarians were not unhappy, I'm okay right?

I'm hoping it's not like early Alzheimer's or something. If it is, I'll have to get my act together and go back to being an 85% raw foodist. Not sure I'm ready for that again. That lack of self discipline thing.

Anyone else dealing with memory issues?

Thankful Thursdays

I meant to participate in Mrs. Fussypants' Thankful Thursdays last week...but never got around to it. Sometimes I have such good intentions but like I said in this post, you know what happens to people with "good intentions".

In spite of my grumpy attitude most of this summer month week, I have plenty to be thankful for. I have a fantastic husband, wonderful children, friends, a home and all of the clutter stuff that goes with that. I have food. Boy am I thankful I have food. I don't do "hungry" well. I'm grateful for my chickens as they bring me laughter & joy. Aside from the times they poop on my porch, they never irritate me at all. They may in fact be the "perfect pet". Although only 2 of the 22 actually let me pet them on a regular basis because they are...well...chicken. Still, they make me smile. My cats are so self sufficient that I don't have to "deal" with them much. Yes, I'm thankful for that. Training that dog Jake is starting to pay off. He really is sweet. See how sweet he is...

Look at those sweet eyes and big floppy ears. Yep, in spite of the lack of sleep, getting chewed on with needle like teeth and the rip in my favorite skirt...oh wait, I was focusing on the positive. I'm so thankful that every day Jake is learning to be a more obedient puppy. That's better.

So have you taken a moment to list the many things you are thankful for? I think it is powerful to reflect on the things you are thankful for at least once a week. I'm sure once a day is even better but I'll settle for every week as a start. How about you? What are you thankful for?

Elite Club?

I am now officially part of an elite club. Oh yeh, I'm cool. (Do you hear me snickering in the background?) I'm part of the BGs. No we have nothing to do with the BeeGee's. Nothing in common at all, I'm sure. The BGs are the "Bad Girls".

Someone please run over and resuscitate my mother. Don't worry mom, we're not really bad at all...are we girls? Actually...I can't really remember why we are "The Bad Girls" except that I told them I wanted to blog about our time together but I knew no one wanted to be mentioned by name. I told them they had to come up with a pseudonym so I could freely talk about them. The Bad Girls it is. Wait, someone remind me why we are "bad". I forget.

So if you are not the writer, is pseudonym still the correct term? Inquiring minds want to know.

Twice a week I get to see some of the Bad Girls. Our children have lessons together and apparently I'm not allowed to tell you where we are having lessons or you may be able to figure out who some of the club members are. Does that make us a "secret club"? Ooooooh, this gets more intriguing all the time.

I decided everyone needs a club like ours to belong to. It's a safe place. We talk about everything from laundry to spiritual issues. Wait, no, I don't think we have discussed laundry yet but I know we have discussed mundane things before and laundry fits right in there. I guess we'll have to discuss laundry next week so that I won't be made into a liar. Someone remember that please.

The point was supposed to be (there was supposed to be a point?) about the importance of groups like these. Especially for the Homeschool Mommy who spends most, if not all, of her time with her children. We often don't have an outside career where we get adult interaction. Especially "safe time". That would be a time you can discuss issues, even disagreeing with each other, and not have to worry about being mistreated for your point of view. I so appreciate having intelligent discussions (or even non-intelligent ones) with other people who don't mind if I agree 100 percent or not.

So here's to the BGs! You gals are uplifting, inspiring and super-de-duper fun. Thanks for listening to my ramblings, checking in on my blog and for being my friends. Now, if I could only get you to come out of "lurkdom" and actually comment on my blog. Come on...just one little comment...I know you are there...

You get what you pay for.

If you are going to have your 9 year old and 3 year old paint, well, you just have to lower your standards a bit. Of course the good news is that their stamina is short lived and you will soon be able to take over and do the job right finish what they started. It doesn't help that the temperature would soon be in the upper 90s so that you kick yourself for waiting until 10am to start this project (actually I think it was 101 degrees that day). Having a puppy running about your project chasing the chickens isn't too helpful either. More good news...the puppy just likes to scare them to death, not actually eat them...yet anyway. Even more good news...the puppy only ended up with one red whisker and one small red paint splotch on his hind quarters. I thought that was pretty good.

I don't know what I was thinking. That chicken coop sure doesn't look all that big. I can finish it in no time...so I thought. I didn't count on the fact that OSB totally soaks up the paint. Yes, only minutes into the project I realize the error of not priming first. To top that off, OSB has all of these little nooks and crannies in it so that you can't just roll over it with the roller brush and expect it to be covered. NOooooo, you have to go over it 6 kazillion times with the force of a freight train in order to get the paint everywhere it needs to be. "It's only a chicken coop" I say to myself. "It doesn't have to be perfect." For the friends that know me and are reading this, you can stop snickering now.

The seemingly "couple of hours" job ended up taking ALL DAY. I finally got smart and had Mr. P bring me some water. "What?" you might ask. Why wasn't Mr. P out there painting alongside me? Well, Mr. P "doesn't do painting". I had to chuckle. I figured he spent time out there sweatin' while building the thing so I certainly didn't begrudge him not painting. In the end, he did come out and paint that part above the chicken wire pen. I was really grateful for that! I didn't want to have to balance on top of that to paint the top part.

So, I say I finished it in a day. Technically I didn't paint the inside of the windows but I wasn't sure if I was going to paint them red or wait and paint them white when we put white trim up. All in all, it looks okay although it would have been nicer had I started with primer. It probably would have saved me a bit of money because I wouldn't have had to send Mr. P back to the store for another gallon (did I mention that OSB totally soaks up the paint?). So what do you think? Do you think it looks okay "for a chicken coop"?Yeh, that's me...the Chicken Whisperer. I don't think that is all 22 but it sure is funny having these girls run after me. We have discovered that we do have 2 roosters. Yeh! I just love my chickens and I am happy that they have 2 roosters to keep them happy.

I fully intend on posting more regularly. First I need to get Susan her own laptop so that I don't have to "duke it out with her" to get some computer time. In the mean time, bare with me and I'll start getting more regular. Thanks for coming to visit and let me know how wonderfully my chicken coop is painted. HA!

Wordly Wednesday, Thankful Thursday

I originally intended to post this on a Wednesday. That will be "quote day". It sat as a draft for a week and I am don't want to wait to post it. So here it is...

"Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
--Charles Dickens

This quote really gives you something to think about. It's so easy to dwell on the negative. As a matter of fact, our society, being media driven, appears to train us to dwell on the negative. If it isn't sensationalism, it's not worth reporting. Occasionally I read an article that focuses on something wonderful or positive but that doesn't seem to be the focus. Drama, drama, drama. I think Dickens had it right though.

If you look at your life, I mean seriously look at it, for most of us in the United States of America, our blessings far out weigh our misfortunes. And how many of us take the time to reflect on our present blessings? I know that I get so wrapped up in all that I am doing that I forget to just stop and take time to be thankful. I'm not talking about drive by thankfulness either. You know, the kind where the words slip out of your mouth and you say something like, "I'm so thankful the toast landed jelly side up!" Although for moms, sometimes that is truly a moment to rejoice. Especially if it is only 8am and your day already seems to be going to the dogs.

Occasionally when the world is falling down around you, it may take a little more effort to be thankful. Take a closer look at your life. Do you have someone who loves you? A spouse, a child, a mother, or a friend? Do you have your health? Your health isn't so good? How about the fact that you are still alive which means there is time to do something to improve your health? There might be a lot of things wrong in your world, but take Dicken's advice. What are you grateful for?

Just do it.

Just three little words. Occasionally I have to use those words on myself. Often followed by "just start out" or "just do 15 minutes, you can do anything for 15 minutes."

I learned that last phrase from The Flylady. If you don't know who she is, check her out. She isn't only about decluttering but so much more. It's worth your time to nose around on her site for a bit. She has updated it too. A bit more user friendly now.

If you're one of those people who "poo poo" the "you can do anything for 15 minutes" idea let me just say you are acting like one of my kids. Have you ever heard the saying, "Don't knock it 'til you try it?"

Almost 6 years ago, my father died from leukemia. About 4 years before that, my mom had open heart surgery for a complete blockage. After my father died, I really got to thinking. Why would I wait until I had some major health issue before doing positive things for my health? I decided then that I would change some things in my life. I wasn't sure what to do. I remembered the Flylady saying, "You can do anything for 15 minutes." Lucy was still pretty young so I wasn't sure I could exercise away from home. Videos just didn't sound interesting so I decided to start jumping rope. I could do that on the back porch while the children were still sleeping.

Have you ever tried jumping rope for 15 minutes when you were out of shape? Holy Smokes! I had no idea that jumping rope was one of the most intense forms of exercise! I had trouble jumping rope for 5 minutes, much less 15. I kept at it though. When I went out to Texas to visit my grandmother, I forgot my jump rope. Fortunately for me, she lived across the street from a high school which had a track. I decided to strap on my shoes and go run. Of course I gave myself permission to be done after 15 minutes. I don't really know how long I ran. I would jog a 100 yards and then walk a 100 yards. Yep, that's all I would do. A few years and one more baby later, I ran my first marathon. 26.2 miles for those who don't know.

This is me at mile 25! Look, you can see my feet were still coming off the ground. I still can't believe I actually ran that far. It's a good thing I have photos, a medal and witnesses to prove it. If you had told me 6 years ago that I would run a marathon, I would have laughed in your face. I couldn't even jump rope for more than 5 minutes, are you kidding?

So when you have something you need to do or want to do, just set a goal of 15 minutes and give yourself permission to quit. Something is better than nothing. You might find that all you need to do is get started. Getting started is more than half of the battle.

Go ahead, just do it.

Is this your son?

Well today is Saturday and I was going to designate Saturdays as "Story Time". I decided to cruise around the internet to see what great piece of information I could dig up. The problem is, there are so many interesting, cool, or bizarre things online that it is incredibly easy to get distracted. I spent some time on a site with amazing coincidences. Reading those stories brought the Twilight Zone theme to mind. For example, the man who was riding a moped in Bermuda when he was struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, his brother was riding the same moped and was struck and killed by the same taxi driver, carrying the same passenger. Personally I think the passenger had it out for that family and was just looking for the opportunity.

Then you have the story of the guy who was walking along in Detroit (in the 1930s) and a baby fell out of a high window and landed on the guy. Thankfully neither were hurt. One year later, the same baby fell out of the window again (where WAS this baby's mother?!) and landed on the same guy. Wow, that kid better be thankful that guy worked down the street or something. There were several stories like this. You can find them at About.com.

Then I ran across this guy.

(I found him through a link on Dave's Daily.com.)

Wow. I'm not sure if I should say, "That's some talent!" or "I've never met someone quite like you." I suppose either would be appropriate. Not everyone can say that they're able to stretch their earlobes all the way to their mouth.

Think of all the money he saves on dangly earrings.

I just kept thinking, "What does his mother think?" Judging by the color of his facial hair, I'm guessing his mom isn't around to care. I'm not sure how I would react if either of my sons showed up on my doorstep looking like this. Sure, I would still love him. I just can't imagine NOT loving my child. I might ask what in the world he was thinking. I'm fairly certain this whole thing didn't just happen overnight though.

So, what do you think? Is this your type of guy? He's probably really nice and funny too. Wouldn't you have to be if you looked like this?

What makes you smile?

At different times today, a thought just made me smile. The first time was about my dh (darling husband). A thought just popped into my head and I had to grin. Go ahead and get your mind out of the gutter. It wasn't that kind of a thought. My husband is a great man so sometimes I think about how sweet he is and just get that silly little grin on my face!

An hour or so later, another thought popped into my head. It was about the newest addition to our family. I just thought about the first time I saw him, only two days ago. He cocked his head just so and I fell in love. Just thinking about his ears makes me smile. Do you want to smile too? Here is a reason to smile...Jake.

Something about a puppy just makes you want to smile. Especially if it isn't yours and you didn't have to get up with him at midnight and 6am. Well, he is ours and I did get up with him at those times but I figure that was pretty good.

Jake has such a gentle manner. He is fast too so this was the best I could do picture wise. I'm reading a great book on puppies. I'll post about it tomorrow so if there are any families aspiring to become puppy owners, they can read this book before picking up a puppy.

Feel free to tell me how adorable my new puppy is. His ears are like velvet so that makes me smile too. As I was driving along smiling, I decided to think about other things that bring a smile to my face too. Looking at Edmund sleeping. Thinking about how much like me Susan is. Actually, that makes me laugh and cringe at the same time because I think, "Poor Girl!" Peter's sweetness (he must get that from his father). Lucy's sense of humor. Each child brings a smile to my face. Thinking how blessed I am to be able to homeschool them and be able to spend so much time with them brings a smile of contentment. Then I thought out Mr. P again and broke out in that silly grin once more. It must be a day for grinning.

There are other things that make me smile. The smell of lilacs. Watching babies. Sitting in the sunshine. There are a lot more but I'll have to leave it at that as I am supposed to be leaving. I guess this is where I am supposed to say something patriotic since it is July 4th. Actually, the fact that I live in a country where I have so many freedoms makes me smile too. Since that ties into what I'm talking about, I'll just leave it at that.

So what makes you smile?

Annual Testing or Assessments

So it's Technical Tuesday again. Boy that week sure went fast. We had our annual testing and assessments this week. I invited Valerie Witt to come to our town and offer the California Achievement Test and give assessments to those who wished not to test. She is an amazing woman. I used to want to be like her but now she has her PhD and I just don't have that kind of motivation. So kudos to her and if you want to learn a bit about her and what she does, you can read her bio here.

Some homeschooling families may read this and think why in the world would you want to subject your children to the CAT (California Achievement Test)? Many homeschool families realize that most standardized tests are fairly pointless in determining how educated your children are. Truly, if you spend all day with your children, you already have a pretty good idea of where they are academically. I would probably not bother with testing or assessing before high school except that it is required by Washington State Law. Taken directly from the website, the law reads that the parents must...

"Ensure that a standardized achievement test approved by the state board of education is administered annually to the child by a qualified individual or that an annual assessment of the student's academic progress is written by a certificated person who is currently working in the field of education."

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for Washington State has some examples of tests (find them here and then click A-3) approved by the State Board of Education. The Buros Institute of Mental Measurements is the test evaluation organization that is recognized by the State Board of Education so if you don't find the test you were looking for, you can go to the Buros website for a complete list. Now just to be clear, the WASL is not an approved test. It is neither nationally normed nor has it been approved by the Buros Institute, the two criteria required by law. If a homeschooler wishes to take the WASL, they may but it will not count toward fulfilling the law.

If you find that a standardized test would be overwhelming for your child or perhaps it just goes against your educational philosophy, you can opt for an assessment of your child to fulfill the law requirements. It is my experience that the assessment will vary depending on the person who is actually doing the assessment. It's not surprising that each person has their own way of performing an assessment. The assessment must be put into writing however and you would keep this with your child's educational records. If you should decide to place your child in public or private school, the institution may request those records.

I have had some parents actually say that they don't feel the need to have their child take a standardized test or have an assessment so they don't bother. Well that's all fine and dandy for you but you are breaking the law. Let's think for a moment what you are saying to your child by your example. You are saying, if I don't feel like doing something, then I don't have to. Okay, what do you think of this...so I don't feel like stopping at the stop sign as you are going through it with your car full of kids. I just barrel on through and run right into you. What are you going to think of that? Is it any different? How about the next time your child doesn't feel like doing what you have said? Are you okay with that? After all, you have taught them that it isn't necessary to follow through with the rules if they don't feel like it.

So you decide that you are going to fulfill the requirements of the law but you don't have a clue how to find a place to test or have an assessment done. The first thing I would suggest would be to contact your local homeschool group. If you don't know who they are or aren't even sure they exist, google "(your town/city) homeschool". You should get several hits. If not, you can always go the the Washington Homeschool Organizations page on testing which you can access here. They have many qualified individuals listed and the area they serve.

Natural is bad?

So I was visiting my friend Mrs. Hannigan's blog. I just had to comment on her blog about sunscreen. I know some people who won't care for the title but get past that and read the blog. As I was commenting on it, I started to get angry about it. Maybe it's the fact that I had to yell at Peter to actually play with Edmund, not just read a book and pretend to be playing with him. Maybe I just have anger issues. I don't know. But the thought occurred to me that the world keeps trying to tell us that natural stuff is bad (like sunshine) while simultaneously feeding us crap that will kill us (like prepackaged foods). Can someone please tell me what is up with that?

It's all around us.

Stay out of the sun. Use chemicals on your skin if you have to be in the sun.
If you want some perspective on that, you can check out Dr. Mercola's website and search the word "sunshine" and get all sorts of articles on the subject.

Are you in a hurry? There are fast food joints every where. Just stop in, grab some food and go. Or go to the store and buy one of those prepackaged foods that you can just pop into the microwave oven. Hey, if you are going to the store anyway, what's wrong with buying fresh fruit or veggies? That is "fast food" too. Wash and eat. You don't even have to wash it but I like to. Shoot, just buy a cantalope, slice it open and eat the whole thing. That would be cheaper than a super sized "value meal" too. A heck of a lot healthier too.

And how about fluoride? In the natural form it good for you but you can't just get the natural stuff anywhere...it occurs in nature. Oh yeh, since we can't just get it anywhere, let's make a chemical version (or use an industrial by-product from the phosphate fertilizer industry), tell everyone how important it is and feed the chemicals to our children by putting it in our water. Do you want more information? The Fuoride Action Network can give you something to think about. Visit them here.

Perhaps if we didn't eat the sugar laden, preservative and additive laden foods that are being produced, we wouldn't need to worry about dental caries. They all look so pleasing to the eye and they taste so yummy, they just have to be good for you (the sugary food, not the dental caries). They say they have all of those chemicals vitamins and minerals in them. They just have to be good for you.

If you know how to google, you can look most anything up. All the info is out there. Just remember, before actually believing some of it, make sure you can verify it with some scientific research (good sites will give you links). Most of all, if someone is telling you that the natural stuff is bad and the man-made stuff is good, you had better think twice before believing it.

Price Gouging

Have you ever been stinking mad about the price of something? Yeh, that's one of those questions that no one has to really answer because with gas prices being what they are, I don't no anyone who would answer that with a negative. Although most people are just irritated about high gas prices. How about if the price of something directly affects your health or the health of someone you love? Is that irritating or are we boarding on the edge of fuming?

My mother called me the other day to ask if I had a way to get information out to people. She didn't mean just telling my friends but she really wanted to get some information out to a lot of people. Especially if the people had bitty babies or elderly folks they care for. I told her to send me her story and I would post it on my blog and any forums I visit. I wish you could have heard her tell the story. I suppose she was trying to be short and to the point but you can't hear her frustration or anger near as well in her writing. I'll let you read it before I comment any further.
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For those of you who have babies, especially a premie, or have the responsibility of caring for the elderly you need to read this.

My 83 year old mom spends most of her day lying in bed. As with many elderly people she is incontinent which often causes chafing. A week ago she had to undergo gallbladder surgery. Prior to that she went through some tests that required the clearing of her bowels. This of course caused the chafing to accelerate to the point of bleeding.

My niece, who is a nurse, used to work in the neo natal unit of a Dallas hospital. She suggested we get an ointment called Calmoseptine which is what they used on their premies. We were able to purchase this ointment at Good’s Pharmacy at $6.00 for a 4oz. tube and began using it on Mom. By the next day there was no bleeding and most of the redness was gone! Even the nurses were surprised.

Now, we live in a small town and Mom had her surgery in a much larger town an hour away. I tell you this because if you go to a store to buy Calmoseptine, depending on where you live, you might have to buy it through the pharmacy. I found this out when I went asking for it at Walgreens. They did have it at the pharmacy but only in a 2 ounce jar. Now here comes the gouging. This little 2 ounce jar was over $17.00!! There was no way I could pay that kind of money even if it had been 4 ounces!

Well, I went on line and got the contact information for the company which produces Calmoseptine. Then I called and spoke to the owner. He is a wonderful gentleman who runs a very small company making this great product. He shared with me what the selling price was to wholesalers and that’s when I got mad! Ladies this is your opportunity to help out this small business by buying direct from them and stop giving your money to the money grubbing big businesses. Their web site is www.calmoseptineointment.com. They do not take orders on line but you can call 1-800-800-3405 to order.


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Now the reason my mom wanted to share this information is because this stuff worked worked like a miracle. Her mother's skin was so damaged, it was bleeding. Okay, so let's do the math. That first tube they purchased in an adjacent town was 4oz for $6. That's $1.5 per ounce. They get to their town, where they have to purchase it in a pharmacy and it's $17 for a wimpy 2oz jar. Um, that's not going to go very far and you've just paid $8.50 per ounce! Yikes! This stuff must be like gold! Well, if it works like a miracle I suppose you might justify the high price. If you call the manufacturer, you will probably change your mind. This poor guy suffers because people can't afford his product all because the pharmacy marks it up so much. My mom was so spittin' mad that she decided to contact the hospital to make sure they are buying directly from the manufacturer. Do you know how much money is wasted in this world because of stuff like this? How much suffering could be relieved if big business didn't have to make such huge profits?! Now I have nothing against people who make a lot of money...if they are working for it. Dave Ramsey, financial guru, had a great article online recently that talked about people who whine about those making a lot of money. It's called Butt Scratching and Bass Fishing and you can read it here. Do read it as it sure gives you something to think about. Don't be deceived into thinking that is what is going on here. We are talking a mark up of 6 times the cost! Wait, that isn't even entirely right. That is just the mark up from comparing one business to another. That isn't comparing the cost of the product if you are buying wholesale. And might I mention that my mom currently lives in the south. I almost expect high prices for certain products here in the Pacific Northwest. When ever I have visited them, I was surprised at price differences. I'm still amazed at this incident.

So I decided to go to the Calmoseptine website to check it out. Here are some of the things this product helps with...

Protects and helps heal
skin irritations from:

• Incontinence of urine or feces
• Feeding tube leakage
• Minor burns, scrapes
• Fecal or vaginal fistulas
• Wound drainage
• Diaper rash
• Moisture, such as perspiration

If you or a loved one suffers from any of the above conditions, you might want to try the Calmoseptine. If the pharmacy in your area charges ridiculous prices, call up the owner and buy direct. You do have to buy in bulk but for the money my mom saved, it was worth it.

Also, if you feel so led, please pass this information on. Write a blog on it or copy mine (just give me credit for it please). The idea is to get the information out to the public who could benefit from purchasing directly from the company. Thanks.

Liar

My friend, Mrs. Hanigan, is a liar. Did you see her post for today? She says she is "off" at 5pm. No way sister! I've been to your house. There is always something or someone needing your attention. Wait, that isn't entirely true. When we were there blogging, all of the kiddos were outside or downstairs having a good time. Okay, so maybe you are off at 5pm. What did you do, send the kids outside for the night?

If you haven't explored Mrs. Hanigans blog yet, you really need to. That woman amazes me. She is creative, lovely and doesn't yell at her kids nearly as much as she leads you to believe. OR...maybe she just has the wool pulled over my eyes. :-) No, this is one of those women that seems to do a kazillion things and yet has time to pause to watch her daughter & friends "perform their song." Of course the song lasted about 10 seconds because one of the children ran off in the middle of the beginning and it all kind of fell apart. What did Mrs. Hanigan do? She proudly proclaims, "Bravo, good job!" or some such thing. Even though the whole thing fell apart, her daughter beamed with pride because mommy noticed. Then we ran back inside to our laptops. It only took a moment but I bet when that child grows up, she'll remember that mommy took time for her.

When I grow up, I want to be just like you Mrs. Hanigan. The problem is I'm older than her. What am I to do?