For your reading pleasure

For any parent or parent-to-be, I highly recommend Brain, Child! The subtitle is "The magazine for thinking mothers" but most of the articles speak to fathers as well. I found the site online, mentioned it to my wonderful husband before Mother's Day and received a subscription as a Mother's Day gift this year! (Thank you, Sweetheart!)
The only drawback to this magazine is that it is only published four times a year. (If you do not have much “free time” to sit down and read a whole magazine though, this is a perfect fit!)
I used to love my subscription to The New Yorker magazine. I let that subscription lapse a couple of years ago and I have missed the quality writing I found there. It was a bit expensive and while I loved getting a new issue every week or so, I rarely finished reading an entire issue. Brain, Child matches the level of writing found in The New Yorker, every article speaks to me and I have the time to read each issue from cover to cover!

Revenge of the Birds

While visiting family in Florida last week, my son learned the phrase “heads up.”
I am so grateful that no one said it to him as a flock of seagulls flew over him at the beach!
After lunch on the beach, my son wandered away from our covered pavilion to chase a few birds. For those of you old enough to remember the television show The Incredible Hulk with Lou Ferrigno, you will remember his pose when he put his fists together and bared his teeth. This was Christian’s stance as he roared at the birds.
In a flash his position changed and we noticed that one (or more) of the birds had literally let loose. It was a direct hit!
(It’s bad enough getting that stuff off of my windshield but that is nothing compared to washing it out of my son’s hair!)

On My Way

Maybe I'm finally learning! I did manage to get to bed a bit earlier last night and lo and behold, a little more sleep ensued!
I'm headed there in a bit tonight to see if I can get a few good hours before we head out for Florida tomorrow! (The kids were a bit keyed up tonight too and couldn't settle down to sleep but now that they're finally "out", I should follow suit).
I don't know why I make the "night before" so stressful. I think of everything I haven't gotten done in the last two weeks and try to get it all done the night before a trip! Maybe I'm getting a little wiser as I get older...or maybe just lazier; rather than stay up too late now however, anything that has waited a week or two can wait one more!
(I'll try to post something more substantial once we arrive)!
Sweet Dreams!

Interpreting dreams

It could be a sign that I need to consider getting to bed just a bit earlier when I dream of making coffee!

Please pardon the mess

Please excuse the limited links on this site! Though I'm hoping blogging will inspire me to get a little more written each day, right now I seem to be playing around with blog setup. I haven't included links to other blogs I read or sites I visit only because every link I try to add seems to appear in smaller and smaller text! Once I get through my technological learning curve, I hope to vastly improve the display!

This isn’t the time to panic. (Please let me know when the time arrives!)

The state of Kansas has added ammonia to our drinking water and is restricting what will be taught in my children’s science classes.
Leading media experts tell me that the cases of skin cancer are rising in children but if coat them in sun screen, they may not absorb the necessary vitamin D from the sun.
My daughter is kissing boys on school field trips! (She is already enrolled in Catholic school!) As she just completed first grade, I don’t think we’re talking commitments yet but the fact that she will kiss a boy that she does not have “a crush” on just because he says “please” has me a little concerned about future developments.
As I see it, I have two choices:
I can lock my children in the basement with ultraviolet light bulbs and fortified milk. Here I can home school them and be certain that they are presented with all available theories on how they arrived on this planet. (While we are down there, they will be safe from the harmful UV rays outside that are getting through due to the hole in our protective ozone layer). This method of education will prevent any socializing with “cute” members of the opposite sex as well as any perceived imbalance in the nutrition of the school lunches. For recreation, we will literally climb the walls.
OR
I can serve my children KoolAid and Twinkies and send them outside to play in traffic. It is summer vacation after all. If they meet enough kids in the neighborhood, surely some well-meaning child will tell my daughter about the very real threat of cooties!

Quality counts?

I say I will publish the novel one day yet I am hesitant to write much online. Someone can let me know in just an instant if they have a low opinion of my writing skills.
I am however gaining confidence as I log into more writing sites and find that at least I am not the worst writer out there!

I received an email this morning from a writing forum looking for moderators for the site. The post was laden with misspelled words and incorrect grammar! The individual went into detail about qualifications but tried to make the point that the most important criteria was skillful writing! It read like a parody of an actual want-ad.

Therein lies the beauty of writing online! There is no real need to edit! If you want someone to read your writing, just start typing and hit that "send" button!

Here we go!

After months of debating, it was time to venture forth online! Maybe putting my own blog out there (here) will make me actually write a little more each evening rather than just reading what others have written.

A Special Breed

It takes a certain type of patriot to join the US military. It is a volunteer military. (That is not to say that they aren’t paid, though it’s arguable that they are not paid enough). It means that they were not conscripted into service. They chose to defend their country, in a variety of ways.
Whether they are in an infantry division, driving a tank, fixing the wheels on the jeeps, medical personnel caring for the troops or musicians improving morale, these men an women have agreed to travel wherever their commanders send them and do their best to complete their mission.
Personally, I do not always agree with the missions that our military embarks on but our soldiers have no vote. They have agreed to be sent where they are needed and do what must be done. (In fairness, though I often disagree with the actions of our government and our commander in chief, these officials have access to information that I do not have and do not consult with me on a daily basis. Whether or not they are completely successful, their ultimate goal is to protect and defend our nation. If they get the job done, they probably don’t worry so much about whether or not I approve of their methods).
These people are our fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, husbands and wives, daughters and sons. Whether or not they should be where they are today is not the point. The world could be a very different place tomorrow and they could be in a very different part of the world.
They are willing to go. They fight for our freedoms every day. They deserve our thanks.