Another school year is upon us and we are, as usual, knee deep into activities. I'll break it down like this:
Noah runs and writes, Ez and Judah swim and tend their garden, India dances and dances and dances, and cooks occasionally, Gary works and fasts, and I run, workout and try to get everyone where they need to be. On time. Without forgetting them when the are done. And do not ask me if that has ever happened please.
I think I need one of those blackberry/smart phone/palm pilot/ipod-pad touchy things that dings and beeps to remind me when I'm supposed to be doing something. Except for the fact I could probably never figure it out - especially since I just got a new phone :( and even reading the entire instruction booklet - there are things that this phone can do that I still haven't figured out yet. (and thanks to India for putting 'Be Still and Know I am God' by Toby Mac and Kirk Franklin - love that song - as my ring tone - or I'd still have that creepy polka/jazz number that was preset on my phone cause I had no idea how to change that)
Maybe I'll just stick with writing things down on the wall calender - the old fashioned way . . .
Noah's first cross country meet is this weekend. Yeah! The boys are swimming for the big swim team in town and I am in mourning. While I know they will get really great training, I'm so much of a do-it-myself, individualistic, typical homeschooler - that I miss the small squad that felt more cozy. I'd even rather teach them myself, (I'm way too much of a rebel) but swimming is not really my area of expertise. So yeah, I guess I have to leave this one to the professionals.
And yes, that is probably a very good thing.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The busy-ness slows . . .
So, after a dozen golf tournaments, 6 weddings, 5 weeks of track and field practice and 2 track competitions, summer basketball league, inter-squad basketball open-gym, 4 weeks of dance camp, long days of life guarding and teaching swimming lessons, and 1 road race - the summer is finally winding down. That is what we did in just the 2 months of June and July. And no, I have nary a stitch of sanity left.
Time for a vacation!!! But since we're about all traveled-out - we are actually thinking of doing a stay-cation. For us - since we are not exactly in 'vacation haven' here in northern South Dakota - a stay-cation would mean cleaning out the garage and re-organizing the kitchen cabinets.
It's not exactly Costa Rica my friends . . .
Heads up!!! SATURDAY AUGUST 6 - Day of prayer and fasting. Join us in asking our Father's mercy on us and our nation. May he hear our humble prayers. 2 Chron. 7:14 May we repent like Ninevah and unleash revival in our land!
Time for a vacation!!! But since we're about all traveled-out - we are actually thinking of doing a stay-cation. For us - since we are not exactly in 'vacation haven' here in northern South Dakota - a stay-cation would mean cleaning out the garage and re-organizing the kitchen cabinets.
It's not exactly Costa Rica my friends . . .
Heads up!!! SATURDAY AUGUST 6 - Day of prayer and fasting. Join us in asking our Father's mercy on us and our nation. May he hear our humble prayers. 2 Chron. 7:14 May we repent like Ninevah and unleash revival in our land!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Proper perspective . . .
Our gravel road never, and I mean, never gets graded. In fact, many times, the grader will do all the roads surrounding ours, but not ours. Well, just the other day, he finally went through and made all nice and smooth. Yeah! Then it rained that very night. No, it poured. The next morning, all the heavy duty farm trucks drove on it making deep ruts filled with water and mud all along the road. Not yeah.
Murphy's law or what.
We just bought an army sized bag of cat food a couple days ago, put it in a 5 gallon pail with the lid on and that very night, the raccoons came, and yes, they got the lid off the bucket and ate the ENTIRE bag. Seriously?! Thanks Murph.
Then the boys put the badminton net up with all the stakes and boundaries perfectly measured out, played a couple games and that very night, an epic storm comes and rips the net to the ground.
You're starting to annoy me Mr. M.
Easy to get miffed - right?
Well - I had to put all this in perspective when I read this: A couple months ago, there was this young guy who for three days was leading a major (MAJOR) golf tournament and everyone thought for sure he had it won. Then, on the very last day, he shanked so many shots, he ended up loosing the whole thing. By a lot. People called it a meltdown, and that he choked, and that it was so bad how could he ever get over it and ever do well again. Especially since this very same thing had already happened to him in another MAJOR tournament just a few months earlier. Ouch. Now, he could have really gotten down about that, don't you think? But this young man, age 22 said after it was over, "You know, if loosing The Masters is the worst thing that ever happens to me, it's not such a bad thing." WHAT?
You see, he had just gotten back from Haiti. There he looked upon the REAL definition of 'loosing'. He saw TRUE suffering first hand. He witnessed the aftermath of the disaster there, with it's unbeliveable heartache and pain, and reasoned that that loosing a golf tournament is - well - way beyond insignificant.
Wise man, that Rory McIlroy.
So, if muddy roads, an empty bag of cat food and a fallen net are the worst things that happen this week - hey - it's not that bad of a week. Unfortunate, sure. Devastating - not even close.
So - I need to concentrate on those things that are worth fretting about - and usually those things have nothing at all to do with me.
Perspective. The proper kind. I hope I will learn that as well as Rory.
Murphy's law or what.
We just bought an army sized bag of cat food a couple days ago, put it in a 5 gallon pail with the lid on and that very night, the raccoons came, and yes, they got the lid off the bucket and ate the ENTIRE bag. Seriously?! Thanks Murph.
Then the boys put the badminton net up with all the stakes and boundaries perfectly measured out, played a couple games and that very night, an epic storm comes and rips the net to the ground.
You're starting to annoy me Mr. M.
Easy to get miffed - right?
Well - I had to put all this in perspective when I read this: A couple months ago, there was this young guy who for three days was leading a major (MAJOR) golf tournament and everyone thought for sure he had it won. Then, on the very last day, he shanked so many shots, he ended up loosing the whole thing. By a lot. People called it a meltdown, and that he choked, and that it was so bad how could he ever get over it and ever do well again. Especially since this very same thing had already happened to him in another MAJOR tournament just a few months earlier. Ouch. Now, he could have really gotten down about that, don't you think? But this young man, age 22 said after it was over, "You know, if loosing The Masters is the worst thing that ever happens to me, it's not such a bad thing." WHAT?
You see, he had just gotten back from Haiti. There he looked upon the REAL definition of 'loosing'. He saw TRUE suffering first hand. He witnessed the aftermath of the disaster there, with it's unbeliveable heartache and pain, and reasoned that that loosing a golf tournament is - well - way beyond insignificant.
Wise man, that Rory McIlroy.
So, if muddy roads, an empty bag of cat food and a fallen net are the worst things that happen this week - hey - it's not that bad of a week. Unfortunate, sure. Devastating - not even close.
So - I need to concentrate on those things that are worth fretting about - and usually those things have nothing at all to do with me.
Perspective. The proper kind. I hope I will learn that as well as Rory.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Running weird . . .
Hey! Guess what! I ran my first 5K (3.1 miles) race in years! In the pouring rain! And WON!! Out of all the females! In my age group! (don't ask which age group)
Pretty neat, uh?!
How many female runners in your age group were there, you ask?
Um.
One.
But still . . .
It was my first race wearing those really weird looking shoes with the individual toes. I know - but this is how it happened. I'd been having really bad knee problems (do NOT insert 'old woman' jokes here) and I read that the regular running shoe, you know, the NORMAL shoes, that 'everybody else on the entire planet except my weird mom' wears, the ones with the cushion for the heels and the insole for the arches and the gel for extra padding and the sleek design, just to look cool - well - according to -yes - quite a lot of people - okay - say that those shoes can actually cause some leg and foot pain. They are just not natural. They say that God made us barefoot, so why don't we just walk around the world with the feet God gave us? Well, these people - even weirder than this mom - started running - racing - without shoes and they started having less and less pain in their legs and feet. So I thought I'd give it a try. Couldn't hurt, right??
Now, barefoot running has been around for - well - FOREVER of course - but not too many people especially since NIKE - race without shoes. Too - well - weird I spose. But one guy liked the idea of barefoot running, but he must have lived say, in South Dakota, on a gravel road and tried to run in January or something and after that clearly didn't work, thought there has to be a better way. So he made this wacky plastic thing shaped like a foot molded for each toe, attached a mesh thing over the top, added Velcro and Eureka! The 5 Finger Shoe was born. And it's really gaining in popularity. And you become Mr. or Mrs. or Miss (or Ms.) Popularity just because of the looks, giggles, stares and smirks, and at least a half a dozen 'are those comfortable' comments every time you wear them. If nothing else, it's a great way to start a conversation, right?!
And I have to say, I have had no more pain in my knees since I started wearing them. And I am totally serious. Well, except for the three days when I decided to run in my regular running shoes again and instantly the pain was so bad I could hardly walk up and down the stairs. So, I'm a convert. A very weird looking one, I'll admit. And my children (well, a couple of them) are completely mortified and totally embarrassed - but hey. I did win a race wearing them, so there. ;)
Pretty neat, uh?!
How many female runners in your age group were there, you ask?
Um.
One.
But still . . .
It was my first race wearing those really weird looking shoes with the individual toes. I know - but this is how it happened. I'd been having really bad knee problems (do NOT insert 'old woman' jokes here) and I read that the regular running shoe, you know, the NORMAL shoes, that 'everybody else on the entire planet except my weird mom' wears, the ones with the cushion for the heels and the insole for the arches and the gel for extra padding and the sleek design, just to look cool - well - according to -yes - quite a lot of people - okay - say that those shoes can actually cause some leg and foot pain. They are just not natural. They say that God made us barefoot, so why don't we just walk around the world with the feet God gave us? Well, these people - even weirder than this mom - started running - racing - without shoes and they started having less and less pain in their legs and feet. So I thought I'd give it a try. Couldn't hurt, right??
Now, barefoot running has been around for - well - FOREVER of course - but not too many people especially since NIKE - race without shoes. Too - well - weird I spose. But one guy liked the idea of barefoot running, but he must have lived say, in South Dakota, on a gravel road and tried to run in January or something and after that clearly didn't work, thought there has to be a better way. So he made this wacky plastic thing shaped like a foot molded for each toe, attached a mesh thing over the top, added Velcro and Eureka! The 5 Finger Shoe was born. And it's really gaining in popularity. And you become Mr. or Mrs. or Miss (or Ms.) Popularity just because of the looks, giggles, stares and smirks, and at least a half a dozen 'are those comfortable' comments every time you wear them. If nothing else, it's a great way to start a conversation, right?!
And I have to say, I have had no more pain in my knees since I started wearing them. And I am totally serious. Well, except for the three days when I decided to run in my regular running shoes again and instantly the pain was so bad I could hardly walk up and down the stairs. So, I'm a convert. A very weird looking one, I'll admit. And my children (well, a couple of them) are completely mortified and totally embarrassed - but hey. I did win a race wearing them, so there. ;)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
I've been Kindle-ized . . .
So I come home one day, and there's this package sitting there. 'For you' - they say, with strange looks on their faces. I knew I hadn't ordered anything, but they insisted I open it. I was shocked. It was a Kindle! For me! The new one, with 3G (?) and Wi-Fi (??) and - well - everything! AAAHH! I have officially arrived in the 21st century! Sort of.
Now, I have to say, I was a virtual hater of all things that would be considered anti-book anything - and what I mean by that is - I love books - the actual book - the feel of it, the weight of it, the paper, the very sound of the turning page, everything. So when a gadget is out there which would take the place of books - well - that's almost sacrilegious in my book (really bad pun intended). It's like casting aside your dog or your cat in place of - say - a pillow pet. See what I mean??! But - over the last year, and after many, many trips where I filled bag after bag with hard cover and soft cover texts weighing who knows how many pounds and dragged them across the country taking up valuable living space in either the car or the RV (because you can't check out books from a library in another town and when we traveled I needed lots of stuff to read) - I thought - maybe - just maybe - at those times - only - it would be nice to just have this smallish thing that I could read lots and lots of different books from, stick it in my satchel and have reading on the go. Not that you'd actually replace actual books, mind you - but in a pinch. Now and then. For convenience. You know.
So here I sit with this - electronic device - and I read through the manual (sort of) and begin. Guess what? You can go to the internet on this thing! You can download whole entire books in like - 3 seconds! I can be on Amazon on my computer and in about 5 minutes - I can send like 11 books over to my Kindle - just like that! I can take notes (?), I can bookmark (??), I can highlight sentences (???), I can play games - (at least - someone told me you can, I, um, just haven't figured out how to do that.) . . . and I'm sure there's other stuff - I just don't even know about yet. (It's a long manual) Okay, so maybe just my big toe is in the 21st century - but hey - I'm learning - I have a Kindle! So far, I have 2 entire Bibles on there, 2 complete dictionaries, and about 50 books, of which about 45 of those were free! Yes - FREE! And now they say they are coming out with a library version - ability - app - thingy wherein you can like 'borrow' books for a small amount of time and then, well, then you - what - you pay a fee if they are 'overdue' ? Or maybe they just disappear from your Kindle after two two weeks is up . . . MMM. It is a tad bit spooky - I have to tell you. But - it's been just so fun. So amazing. I am amazed.
So thanks India and Noah. They bought this for me and I am so grateful. I really like it. A lot. And I got this bright purple case for it, so stylish, and I just feel so, so, techy. :)
Now, that doesn't mean I am done with real books. Heaven forbid!!!!!!! Nothing can replace the feel of a real book and there's nothing like a good old musty smelling library in my opinion - (especially the one in Mobridge, SD) - and you can't get every single book known to man on the Kindle - yet - but - hey - it's portable, practical - and - good for the environment - right? You know - 'save a tree, save the world' and all that . . .
Just don't mention the word 'radiation' . . .
Now, I have to say, I was a virtual hater of all things that would be considered anti-book anything - and what I mean by that is - I love books - the actual book - the feel of it, the weight of it, the paper, the very sound of the turning page, everything. So when a gadget is out there which would take the place of books - well - that's almost sacrilegious in my book (really bad pun intended). It's like casting aside your dog or your cat in place of - say - a pillow pet. See what I mean??! But - over the last year, and after many, many trips where I filled bag after bag with hard cover and soft cover texts weighing who knows how many pounds and dragged them across the country taking up valuable living space in either the car or the RV (because you can't check out books from a library in another town and when we traveled I needed lots of stuff to read) - I thought - maybe - just maybe - at those times - only - it would be nice to just have this smallish thing that I could read lots and lots of different books from, stick it in my satchel and have reading on the go. Not that you'd actually replace actual books, mind you - but in a pinch. Now and then. For convenience. You know.
So here I sit with this - electronic device - and I read through the manual (sort of) and begin. Guess what? You can go to the internet on this thing! You can download whole entire books in like - 3 seconds! I can be on Amazon on my computer and in about 5 minutes - I can send like 11 books over to my Kindle - just like that! I can take notes (?), I can bookmark (??), I can highlight sentences (???), I can play games - (at least - someone told me you can, I, um, just haven't figured out how to do that.) . . . and I'm sure there's other stuff - I just don't even know about yet. (It's a long manual) Okay, so maybe just my big toe is in the 21st century - but hey - I'm learning - I have a Kindle! So far, I have 2 entire Bibles on there, 2 complete dictionaries, and about 50 books, of which about 45 of those were free! Yes - FREE! And now they say they are coming out with a library version - ability - app - thingy wherein you can like 'borrow' books for a small amount of time and then, well, then you - what - you pay a fee if they are 'overdue' ? Or maybe they just disappear from your Kindle after two two weeks is up . . . MMM. It is a tad bit spooky - I have to tell you. But - it's been just so fun. So amazing. I am amazed.
So thanks India and Noah. They bought this for me and I am so grateful. I really like it. A lot. And I got this bright purple case for it, so stylish, and I just feel so, so, techy. :)
Now, that doesn't mean I am done with real books. Heaven forbid!!!!!!! Nothing can replace the feel of a real book and there's nothing like a good old musty smelling library in my opinion - (especially the one in Mobridge, SD) - and you can't get every single book known to man on the Kindle - yet - but - hey - it's portable, practical - and - good for the environment - right? You know - 'save a tree, save the world' and all that . . .
Just don't mention the word 'radiation' . . .
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Shameless plug . . .
www.ihelploan.com
Anyone needing a student loan for college or CollegePlus!??
With one of THE lowest interest rates in the nation - Student Loan Finance Corp is offering PRIVATE student loans ( read - not connected with the federal government) - to anyone needing to help pay for school. Check it out if you or your children need some extra cash to pay for that dreaded Algebra class or for that tasty meal plan at whatever university you are attending or plan to attend. It's super quick and easy. Tell your friends!!
-- I wonder if I get a commission for free advertising . . .
Ok - now on to the news of the day - and/or week. We are in full-fledged dance recital mode. Whew!!! 2 days of dress rehersals and 3 performances. It's quite the cultural event in our little town, and heaps of fun. From the feisty four-year olds dressing in their bright red polka-dot tutus twirling round and round to 60 year old ladies clogging to a 70's disco tune -- and everything in between. It's total chaos with over 500 dancers and yet it's run like a well-tuned clock. It's amazing and wonderful. You'd think we'd get sick of seeing the same production every day for 5 days, but I never do. Yes, I have a small vested interest since not only did India teach or assist with a dozen dances, she will actually be dancing in a few (yeah) and Ezra and Judah will be tapping to 'Kung Fu Fighting' - so for me - it truly never gets old. And yes, we'll be trying to get these contagious tunes out of our heads for the next month.
How many times can you hum 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' before you go completely insane???!!
Do you ever get in a rut with your food choices? We do. For a while, it was pasta. Spaghetti one day, pasta primavera the next, and macaroni or penne after that. Then we went to cereal. Cereal for lunch, cereal for supper and cereal for a snack. You can only do that for so many days in a row before you start dreaming about soggy rice crispies, let me tell you. Just recently, we switched to nachos. We've had nachos every other day for two weeks now, and I can honestly say, if I see another tortilla chip anywhere near a pot of beans and rice - I think I'll run out of the house screaming at the top of my lungs!!! (not that that would be anything out of the ordinary - but that's another story) Anyway - we need help. If anyone has any ideas of the next food rut we should try - please feel free to post. Just make sure it's actually edible - not like monkey brains or anything - okay? Much appreciated.
And get those chips out of my sight! :)
Sunday, May 8, 2011
What a difference a day makes . . .
Ah, the sun, the warmth, the slight breeze. Beautiful day to sit outside and watch children frolic to and fro. Around they go, fast and sleek, sweat dripping, fists pumping, pushing through the pain.
This could be quite poetic, couldn't it? I know that some think the sport of track and field is a dark evil placed upon the land by vicious coaches and parents plotting to torture little kids for fun. I just don't see it that way. I love to run and I love to watch others run. And when it's nice and sunny and you can sit and visit and cheer on the competitors AND get a tan - all at the same time - well - what's a better day than that??!
For the record - Noah improved his time in the 800 and ran the mile for the first time. Not bad. He's going to concentrate on the two mile from now on he tells me. Good choice. That way - he'll be more geared up for cross country in the fall. And on it goes . . .
And now today - of course it's raining and windy and darkly overcast. :( People say variety is good. They say that if the weather was good all the time, we'd get sick of it. I say - just let me try that out and see. Really. I say, if I lived where the weather was good all the time and for some really psychotic and completely deranged reason I WANTED snow and ice and cold and blizzards and rain - I would just drive to find it. You know what I'm saying?? Year round nice weather - yeah, that's something I wouldn't mind getting sick of.
My garden has been taken over by two small future business tycoons ages 11 and 13. So far - they've planted: 1000 - yes ONE THOUSAND onions and about 180 potatoes. The amount of carrots they are going to plant is staggering. Are you ready for this? 4000! I know! They hope to get peas in today - I have no idea how many and frankly, I'm scared to ask - and maybe the lettuce and who knows what else. Yes, they have major plans I'm telling you. They have it all plotted out, graphing the square footage as to how many plants per square something, how wide the walk ways are, what the yield will be, (really?) and all the best crops to grow that will sell the best to make the most money. We just sit and watch - shaking our heads in wonder. If they ever got into real estate - someone better warn Donald Trump! The neat thing is, they are paying for it all with their own money. The sad thing is, that means we can not even sample one pea unless we pay for it! (Drat those mean capitalists anyway) Oh well, they were very kind to let me have a small plot of land for myself - I think it's about the size of a postage stamp. Just the right size for 1 pea. :)
This could be quite poetic, couldn't it? I know that some think the sport of track and field is a dark evil placed upon the land by vicious coaches and parents plotting to torture little kids for fun. I just don't see it that way. I love to run and I love to watch others run. And when it's nice and sunny and you can sit and visit and cheer on the competitors AND get a tan - all at the same time - well - what's a better day than that??!
For the record - Noah improved his time in the 800 and ran the mile for the first time. Not bad. He's going to concentrate on the two mile from now on he tells me. Good choice. That way - he'll be more geared up for cross country in the fall. And on it goes . . .
And now today - of course it's raining and windy and darkly overcast. :( People say variety is good. They say that if the weather was good all the time, we'd get sick of it. I say - just let me try that out and see. Really. I say, if I lived where the weather was good all the time and for some really psychotic and completely deranged reason I WANTED snow and ice and cold and blizzards and rain - I would just drive to find it. You know what I'm saying?? Year round nice weather - yeah, that's something I wouldn't mind getting sick of.
My garden has been taken over by two small future business tycoons ages 11 and 13. So far - they've planted: 1000 - yes ONE THOUSAND onions and about 180 potatoes. The amount of carrots they are going to plant is staggering. Are you ready for this? 4000! I know! They hope to get peas in today - I have no idea how many and frankly, I'm scared to ask - and maybe the lettuce and who knows what else. Yes, they have major plans I'm telling you. They have it all plotted out, graphing the square footage as to how many plants per square something, how wide the walk ways are, what the yield will be, (really?) and all the best crops to grow that will sell the best to make the most money. We just sit and watch - shaking our heads in wonder. If they ever got into real estate - someone better warn Donald Trump! The neat thing is, they are paying for it all with their own money. The sad thing is, that means we can not even sample one pea unless we pay for it! (Drat those mean capitalists anyway) Oh well, they were very kind to let me have a small plot of land for myself - I think it's about the size of a postage stamp. Just the right size for 1 pea. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)