Winter Blues

I really wanted to go ice skating today, as I need to get out of the house badly. However, somehow my ice skates got lost when we moved, so I can't. I'm going to go insane.

I don't know that I've ever got "cabin fever" before, but this winter I seem to have it in spades. I'm bored with everything, including working on my pay-it-forward contest gift for Charity. Not to mention something for Debbie. I *am* working on the Italian wedding soup we're taking for the Lenten supper at church tomorrow, but as that currently involves boiling chicken in a giant pot, it's not very exciting.

What do you do when you feel cooped up and bored with life?

I Felt So Alone

Yesterday Wildchild and her Brownie troop celebrated Thinking Day, with the rest of the Girl Scout troops in our town. Thinking Day is an event when Girl Scouts learn about another countries, as there are Girl Scouts, or Guides, all around the world. Each troop had a table featuring posters and so forth about their country. However, one older troop had a "Rights of Children Around the World" table that made me feel sick inside. Now, I'm not against children having food and shelter and clean drinking water and all that. It's just the phrasing, as in this country a "right" has started to mean "something someone else pays for." Like how many in this country say that everyone has a "right" to healthcare and so we should start a government bureaucracy so everyone can get it for "free." I was also disturbed by the sign that said that the United Nations as central for dealing with problems of humanity. I, on the other hand, see the UN as a corrupt and bloated agency where the top officials take kickbacks and paybacks and whatever else they can skim off, UN soldiers can be rapists of women and children, and they are generally uneffective and overfunded. I also wondered about a sign that said children have a right to love. This reminds me too much of the pro-abortion mantra that every child should be wanted. Like if you don't think you are going to "love" a child, you'd better get rid of it. Sigh. It just seemed to be that this display was long on feel-goodism and short on anything real. One sign even said, "Think of the children." Isn't that what every slimy politician says when they want to take more of our money?

Also, this Girl Scout event took place at the local public school, and I couldn't turn around without seeing a sign about honesty or taking responsibility or conflict resolution. Nothing promoted was bad in and of itself, but it started feeling barf-worthy when it was everywhere in sight. I felt so alone, so lost in a sea of "feelings" and political correctness and mantras. Like there was no one out there who thought like me.

ETA: Oh, and since Senator Obama is the co-sponsor of a Senate bill to spend at least $845 billion over the next five years to fight *global* poverty, I'm a little worried about a laundry list of things that children around the world have a "right" to have.

Home Doings

Well, most of the cookies are out of the house, hooray! I knew how big a job being a cookie mom was going to be, so it wasn't surprising, but I'm still glad it's pretty much over with. I do have to collect the money, and there's a little bit of paperwork still to do, but at least the heavy lifting is over. The Scientist was kind enough to come to Wildchild's Brownie meeting with me yesterday and truck boxes out to people's cars with our dolly. I'm sure she'll do something in 4-H that Wildchild can help her with.

Doesn't it seem like cats always jump up on your lap just when you're about to get up?

Cookie Craze

As cookie mom, it was my responsibility to pick up 43 cases of Girl Scout cookies this morning. Good thing we own a minivan! Then my two girls carried them into our home and helped me sort them out so the right cookies can go to each girl. What a job! And the girls used math skills! :)

The cookies were picked up at a warehouse in a rather shabby neighborhood. I especially realized this when I drove past the Park-n-Pawn. Yes, really, there was a pawn shop called Park-n-Pawn. Never seen one of those before.

Little Gardens

Since I can't have a garden outside, I'll have to have my little spots of color where I can find them. For example, the pot of miniature daffodils I bought at the grocery store.

Unfortunately, I discovered that the little daffodils had little bugs on them, so the pot went outside. Not sure where to go from here. I think it's too cold to keep the pot outside permanently, as yet.

Also, here are some rock gardens, one of the girls' art projects from last week. They got the idea from a book that my sister gave them ages ago. The markers recommended by the book with which to color the rocks were $16 for a set of six, and I had to wait to get a sales associate to get them for me as they were locked on the wall to prevent theft. One reason why I don't do a lot of the projects in that book is that many of the projects seem to need items not readily available and perhaps on the expensive side, at least if you don't have a big art budget. I suppose the girls might have just used tempera paint, but I wasn't sure how well that would stay on, so I preferred to use the markers suggested in the book.


This book seems to have possibilities; the girls have already done some projects from it. It touches on some of the basics of art, such as value, texture and space, some of the lessons teach about famous artists, and the projects don't require a lot of expensive materials. All pluses for me!

I Love the Internet

The family was talking about keeping teeth clean today when Daddy used the phrase "flip-top head." The girls were confused by the phrase, so I did a quick search on YouTube for "reach toothbrush commercial" and, ta-da! They now know the origin of this important phrase.

Valentine's Day Fun

For more funny political Valentines, go here.

h/t Dawn Eden.

Brrrr

Well, I certainly picked a great day to go to the doctor's office for a check-up. It is currently 5 degrees outside. In Celsius it sounds even worse; it's -15! Lots of schools are canceled for the day around here, but St. Barbara's by the Lake will be in session! Wildchild wrote "School Today" and three sad faces on the chalkboard. Way to start the day off, kid. I wish I could make it more fun for them, but I'm not sure how to teach them what they need for college and even high school and make it fun, at least all the time.

A knitting update: with the help of the Presbytera, I learned how to cast on, but I still need practice at it. We'll see how I do when it actually comes time to knit. That was always my problem with crochet. I could crochet a chain a mile long, but I couldn't crochet two rows together. Well, with crochet the other problem was that I am left-handed, and my mother had a difficult time teaching me backwards.

No School Today

Are your kids as enthusiastic about school as mine are, lol? Do you take it personally when your kids don't like whatever you're doing in homeschool? Or do you unschool, so the kids are always learning something they're interested in? We're in our third year of homeschooling and I still feel like such an absolute newbie at this. I suppose from the perspective of someone who taught their children from Kindergarten through high school, I am. Even though we're still tweaking some things, I am pretty comfortable with where we are in our homeschool journey. Of course, being me, I'll probably always try to do better, but for the most part I feel the girls are progressing well. Sometimes I even feel like this is so easy, the girls can't be learning anything! But their father sees the progress they're making, and that helps me feel better.

The Scientist still talks about how bored she was in parochial school, and how much she disliked her lessons. In a way, it makes me feel badly, that perhaps time was wasted there needlessly, but it gives her a good background for appreciating homeschooling now. Wildchild appreciates homeschooling because she can wander around, get a snack when she feels like it, sprawl out on the floor, talk to herself while she's working, etc.

In other news, the sun is making appearances today, just to let us know it still exists. I'm trying to enjoy it to the full, as snow is predicted for tomorrow.

Blech

Like Miss Sniz, I'm feeling gloomy. Perhaps the gray, cold weather has something to do with it. I need something to perk me up, and I'm not coming up with any feasible ideas. Maybe I should try to clean up the clutter around here. It might help not to have to look at that.

Book Meme

Amused Momma tagged me for this meme. Here's what you do: grab the nearest book, turn to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence, and post the next three sentences.

Well, the nearest book over 123 pages was my An American Translation of the Bible, and I'm using actual sentences, not verses:

They came and carried them (their relatives - me) in their tunics outside the camp as Moses told them. Then Moses told Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar: "Don't let your hair hang wild or tear your clothes; you will not die. He is angry with the whole community."

I'm tagging the Die-Hard Equestrian as payback. I'd tag her mom, too, but she hasn't yet done the one her daughter gave her, so I'll let her go this time. :)

Lent Is Coming

You can tell because Wendy's and McDonald's are running commericials for fish sandwiches.

Birthday Fun

Today Wildchild turned 9 years old. Here's a picture of her cake, with the dozen roses her daddy got her. I love that Daddy is setting the standards high for what Wildchild will expect from future boyfriends! :)

I remember my youngest sister was crazy about My Little Pony as a little girl.

We took Wildchild, the Scientist and two friends to Build-a-Bear Workshop. We didn't have a planned party there, but they still sang Happy Birthday to her.

Now we're making homemade pizza, and we'll make homemade milkshakes to go with it. Yum!

I can't wax all poetical like Kate can about her kids, maybe because it's at least six years before one of my little fledglings will be old enough to leave the nest. But I love my girls more than anything, and I am thankful to God for the nine years He has gifted us with having Wildchild. I pray that we may be blessed with many more.

Four Things

I got tagged by the Die-Hard Equestrian, so here we go:

FOUR MOVIES WATCHED OVER AND OVER:
1. Princess Bride
2. Wizard of Oz
3. Planning on re-watching the Samantha holiday movie just for the costumes
4. Don't really watch a lot of movies.

FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED:

1. Bay Village, OH
2. Willoughby, OH
3. Dublin, OH
4. Sheffield Village, OH

FOUR SHOWS I WATCH:

1. Numb3rs
2. How It's Made
3. Mythbusters
4. Charlie and Lola (with my daughters)

FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN:

1. Germany
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Salzburg, Austria
4. Spain

FOUR PEOPLE WHO EMAIL ME:

1. My sister-in-law Hope
2. My sister-in-law Faith
3. My mother-in-law
4. Pistol Packin' Presbytera

FOUR FAVORITE THINGS TO EAT:

1. Steak
2. Potatoes, made just about any way
3. Cake
4. Ice cream

FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE:

1. Our dream home
2. Cedar Point
3. Great Wolf Lodge
4. Disney World

FOUR THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO THIS YEAR:

1. Going to Cedar Point
2. Warmer weather
3. Wildchild's dance recital
4. Getting our home better organized

FOUR PEOPLE TO TAG:

1. The Elephant's Child
2. Miss Sniz
3. Dan
4. Lutheran Lucciola

I'm Still Here

And it seems like I'm still plodding along, doing the same things. I need something new in my life! Well, Wildchild's birthday is tomorrow; that will be something different to break up the monotony.

Learning how to knit is not going so well. This is not to say I've given up, but don't be looking for any knit sweaters made by me any time soon, ha ha.

I had lost five pounds when I went to the doctor's earlier this week. This has provided motivation for me to eat healthy and walk or ride my exercise bike everyday. I haven't even dived into the Great Wall of Cookies that Wildchild made all by herself last night, although I did allow myself a couple.

Sewing has been a struggle, actually more like a vicious circle. My sewing room is crowded with fabric of stuff I need to make; if I could make stuff I could clear some of the clutter out; it's hard to work when it's so cluttered! I think I would rather just sew for dolls, sometimes.