Goodbye Old, Hello New

We survived Christmas and even managed to drag ourselves over to our friends' house for dinner after church. We then proceeded to sleep the next two days. At last the girls and I got ourselves to the doctor's a couple of days ago for antibiotics and cough syrup. The Equestrienne and I are also treating pink eye. I will definitely do my best to avoid getting sick the rest of the winter season.

Christmas was enjoyable, just tiring. It was fun watching the girls open their gifts. Church was great, as always.

Once again, I have made several New Year's resolutions. Since I have been sick I have lost ten pounds. One thing I would like to do is keep that off and get rid of more weight. There is a treadmill in the garage that needs to be down the basement. Mr. BTEG has had too many health issues of his own to move it. Maybe my brothers-in-law can help with it when my in-laws come over tomorrow. My sisters-in-law are bringing most of the food, which is a blessing since we are still resting a lot here at our house.

I didn't post nearly as much as I wanted to this year. 2008 was a very slow posting year due to being in the hospital and all the emotional difficulties before and after. I was hoping to do better in 2009. I can always hope 2010 will be better, at least partially because we are not crammed into a tiny living space anymore. I pray we have good health and also pray for good health and happiness for my readers. Blessed 2010!

Nanny-State Nonsense

This story breaks my heart. A newborn baby in Great Britain taken away from her parents, along with six other children, because of "concerns" about their weight. The precedent this sets scares me, but what scares me just as much is most of the comments at the end of the story. Most of these people are cold and judgmental and have no idea about weight gain or loss. I say this because there is a girl in one of the Dancer's classes who is, frankly, obese. She takes three dance classes a week, and I believe she assists for at least one other class of younger students. She has been taking dance for years. Her conditioning is good; she is never out of breath or even sweating hard after a dance class. Yet some of the commenters at the original article think sticking the kids in the story in some sort of activity like dance class for the *three month* probation period would have magically cured their weight problems. Now, I don't know. Maybe this girl from dance goes home and stuffs herself with Twinkies in front of the television when she's not dancing or at school, like so many people insist fat people must do. It seems more likely to me that, just as there are people who need to have a 3,000 calorie diet to even maintain their slender figures, there are other people who have the opposite problem and will struggle with overweight all their lives, just as the comment at the top from the article pointed out. The prejudice upsets me and the fact that these kids' lives will probably be completely ruined for nothing is a sad commentary on what happens when we let the state control our lives.

And as NRO's The Corner points out, a little state control can easily lead to a lot. The current administration is against gun-owning, Bible-believing Christians like us. When will they come to take our kids away to keep them "safe"? Will those who look down their noses at this poor family find the government coming for their kids next?

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.

House and Home

Since what we're doing is mainly school-related lately, I'm going to share this picture of an ancient Israelite house the girls have been working on as part of our study of ancient history. The floor is sandpaper, to simulate dirt, and it contains an oven, two bowls, an oil lamp, and a grinding set. My husband's former college roommate, who has his PhD in Old Testament studies, and who has been on an archeological dig in Israel, approved of our design. :)

We're using this book right now. Overall, I like it, even though it is written from a secular viewpoint. The author's unwillingness to believe that Baal worshipers of the time committed some horrific acts, even though it was documented not only by the Israelites, but also by the Greeks and Romans, is interesting.

It's sweet that even though we spend so much time together, family dinner is still important enough to Wildchild that she cleared the table off so we could have it. To put this in context, Wildchild usually needs to be told (and told) to do household chores, so for her to put in the effort to clear the table says something. The girls both pitched in with making the meal tonight, too. I like that they have an interest in cooking, and the time to pursue it.

I've been good about walking, and fairly good about eating, although we've made a couple of batches of chocolate chip cookies this past week. But I haven't been a pig with them, and at least homemade are better for you, right? :) I also can't give up the carbs like Kate has been able to. For example, the delicious beef stew I made tonight contained not only tender beef, but also potatoes and corn. And of course a dinner roll or two with the stew really tasted good! Right now, I'm trying moderation in my meals, and exercise. We'll see how it goes.

Just Passing Through

Today has turned out to be a hectic day. Doctors appointments for myself and the Scientist took up the morning; this afternoon Wildchild has her two dance lessons. This evening, the Scientist has her first 4-H meeting. Not too good for contemplative blogging.

I'm frustrated because I *need* to lose weight. :( I'm already afraid I won't be able to do it. Not a good attitude to start with, huh? Also, I could use more clothes, but I don't want to put the time into sewing anything, or put money into buying anything, until I lose weight. It's a vicious circle. I may just find some knit things to put together that will fit me at more than one size, and as for the weight loss, it just has to become a priority, like school or housework.

Speaking of housework, I'm also distressed at the moment because I have so much to do. Dirty dishes are stacked up, the girls and I need to put more time into schoolwork, there's always laundry to do, and there's always sewing, too, even if I'm not sewing anything for me. I'll be back later tonight.