A little luck of the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Here's hoping you all have a lucky day!

A genealogy project is on my "to-do list" (along with publishing a few books) but in the meantime, I don't think I have any Irish blood flowing through my veins.  I married a guy who is part Irish AND who is an alumnus of The University of Notre Dame.  He seems to be a pretty lucky guy, so maybe there is something to it! ;)

It's been a productive mom-day morning so I'm hoping, if I am lucky, it'll be a productive writing-afternoon!
My next non-writing project is finding that right project!  I do a few things in our community but not much--certainly not enough.  Just in case I wasn't aware of my shortcomings in that arena, I am currently (slowly) making my way through both The Rule of Benedict and Three Cups of Tea.  The former is a spiritual book that makes much sense but I can only absorb a few pages at a time.  It's a good reminder that good intentions are not enough.  The latter is an inspiring tale of one person who lives that idea and proves how much difference one human can really make in this world!  It makes me feel inadequate, thinking of the small impact I've made so far but is a compelling story!

Speaking of making a difference and people who could really use a little luck, I've been reading a few articles about the delays in getting "text-to-donate" donations to the poor people in Japan.  If you are considering sending funds to help in the efforts over there, please donate directly to an organization (use their website, call them, etc.) rather than texting.  Phone service providers are waiting until the end you a billing cycle before sending the funds so if you text your donation, it could take up to three months to get where it needs to go!

Enjoy the blessings today brings!  (Everything else can wait for tomorrow!)

Our little apple didn't fall too far

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it.

 ~ Ferris Bueller

When I was 16, I thought Ferris Bueller was cool.  When I was 19, I thought I'd met a guy like Ferris.  He could talk his way into things, out of things and eventually, even talked me into marrying him!

An advantage to marrying a clever guy is that you may give birth to a son who is quite clever. 

Alternately, you run the risk of giving birth to a son who thinks he is quite clever--or thinks his mom is new.

I'm not new and I'm not this mom.

Sweet!

I had to do something with the bananas.  My daughter and her friend were dancing around with them (a cute ending for a math video they'd been filming) and broke the stems off of the fruit.  They've been here a few days, anyway and are at the point where I usually declare that I need to make banana bread or throw them out.  I hate to throw out food so I make banana bread...and no one eats it.

So...I used one of Jessica Seinfeld's recipes this morning, and made peanut butter and banana muffins (with carrot). (Ssshhh).

 I got distracted (surprise!) in the middle however, and only put in half of the required amount of brown sugar.  Thinking no one would eat these now, either, I went ahead and sprinkled some brown sugar on the top of each muffin and hoped for the best.

My son just ate three.
(Maybe 3 is a bit much--he ate two and finished his brother's--but that has to be better than the 2 or 3 doughnuts I let him eat last weekend!)

The Book Thief

Yes, it has taken me this long!  I mentioned the book in an earlier post but just finally finished reading The Book Thief today.  If you haven't yet read it, go forth and read it.   It's a beautiful book with a simple message:  Words can save your life.

It's just a small story really, about, among other things:

* A girl
* Some words
* An accordionist
* Some fanatical Germans
* A Jewish fist fighter
* And quite a lot of thievery

I couldn't post this immediately upon finishing it as I was still crying.  Since I've become a mother, I admit to crying during movies, television shows and even a few commecials but it is a rare event when a book moves me to actual tears.  Markus Zusak has created characters I will not soon forget.

Rainy days and Mondays...melt the snow!

Rainy days and Mondays...melt the remaining snow!

AND Mondays are usually my days to "catch up."  Last Monday was a day off for the kids, so I didn't catch up so much while they were home.  My daughter started with a fever Tuesday evening and was home from school the rest of the week.  I felt sick the week before and last week so after getting her on antibiotics, I went ahead with some myself. (I'd been exhausted, stuffy, foggy, had a sore throat, earaches but blamed it on lack of sleep until her strep test came back positive!!)  Huh.

My son had a few friends over to ice-skate and spend the night this weekend so now...it's just the 3-year-old and I!  My husband was trying to stay out of the way Saturday (when one friend was over, early) so he caught me up on almost all of the laundry folding so that is no longer a looming, insurmountable mountain! ;)

It's raining but that means the snow is gone (for now). After a few days on meds, I no longer feel like diving into the frozen lake! I made it to bed before midnight, last night so life is looking good!  I have high hopes for catching up on writing, during the little guy's naptime, today!  (Here's hoping I didn't just jinx that!) 

Enjoy your week!

Seeing Red

My son's assignment was to write a poem about a color.  He chose red. I enjoyed seeing the drafts progress.  This week, he brought the final product home.  He typed it in computer class and printed it on red paper.

RED

Red is blood
Stained on the rug.
Red is fire
That burned a wire.
Red are the stripes on the American flag
That I wish were plaid.
Red is the color of Santa's hat
Don't forget he's kind of fat.
Red is the lava inside a volcano
If you get too close you will become a mashed potato.
Red is the color of Santa's sleigh
If you yell, he might fall in hay.
Red is the heat
Coming from the sun.
Red is fire
Coming from a candle.
Red is such a wonderful color
It can make you happy forever.

Is it Monday, yet?

You can have Friday.  I'm ready for Monday!

I spent last weekend assisting with two science projects.  It's been a busier week after school this week.  My son has been in basketball practice on Saturdays but they just began having games against other teams, recently.  One Monday night, one Tuesday night and now, one that was canceled during The Storm last week has been rescheduled for tonight.  I'm driving three additional teammates, so after dropping my daughter off at gymnastics, we might dash home for bathroom breaks and let them change before the hour drive to the away-game tonight.

At least the three-year-old is taking a nap today! ;)

This Saturday features a science fair, a birthday party and perhaps getting my daughter to gymnastics to watch her friends compete.  She competes on Sunday, after which I am scheduled to work the next competition while she watches more friends.

Writing?  Reading?  Yep.  Promised I'd get that draft sent out today.  (It's still officially "today" until Monday, right?) ;)
******
Update: the boys lost the game so they played well but made for a grumpy ride home.  It's all good.  All kids are in bed and I have wine.  ;)

Happy Friday!

Reading and Writing (but no arithmetic, whatsoever)

I don't deserve to win this book.  Of course, I would love to have it but I don't deserve to win another, until I've at least read the last one!

You deserve to win it!  Go over to Joshilyn Jackson's blog and tell her you want Evenfall!

I won one of the copies of American Rose in Joshilyn's last drawing and while I really, really want to read it, I haven't gotten to it, yet.  So this book should go to someone who might get to read it sometime this year!  (And then we can compare reviews after I read it, after The Book Thief, and American Rose, and finish Jen's book and finish putting mine in order and...well, let's be optimistic and say July-ish.)

Reckoning

Why're you trying to second guess me?
I am tired of second guessing
What will be your look this season?
Who will be your book this season? ...
~ R.E.M., "Second Guessing"

Once upon a time, a girl met a boy.  Or a boy met a girl, however you want to put it.

Many months later, she had no recollection of the first meeting but he remembered her.  He decided to call her, as she was no longer dating his friend.  He left a message with her roommate.  She did not call back.  One day, after two shelves worth of sticky-note phone messages, she answered the phone herself.  (Our story takes place long ago, before caller I.D.)

The boy begged her not to hang up and then convinced her to join him for one lunch, on campus.
After lunch and a walk, he asked her to join him for dinner, that weekend.  She explained that she was already busy on Friday.  (It was true.  She already had a date with a very nice guy on Friday).  This boy nodded and quickly said that he was busy Friday, too, but would like to take her out on Saturday.    She was at a loss for a quick excuse so she said yes.  (She could call and cancel, later.)

The weekend in question was Labor Day weekend, however, and our girl was not creative enough to come up with an excuse that would keep her busy for the rest of a long weekend.  Saturday night the boy picked her up in a friend's car and popped a cassette into the tape deck.  The girl started to relax, a little.  He had chosen one of her favorite bands!  This was an album that she loved but did not own.  It brought back memories of riding in friends' cars back home.  She started to think the boy had pretty good taste and the evening might not be a total waste, after all.  In fact, if all went well, maybe she would get to know him well enough to borrow the tape!

Twenty-one years later, a woman was running errands and heard an old favorite on the radio.  She smiled as the song brought back memories of riding in friends' cars back home and a particular first date, as well.  She even laughed as she realized that she never did borrow that tape.

She came home, downloaded the song and has enjoyed listening to it often, lately.  She asked her husband if he had ever really owned that tape, or just borrowed it from the friend who told him to play that particular album.  Her husband swears he owned it.  Of course, he gave away all of his cassettes a few moves ago, so there is no proof.  When questioned, he was able to provide the correct title of the album on the first try, so it's possible.

Snow days

You have seen the storm rolling across the nation.  You can't see my state on the radar right now but we're still here, under that blanket of clouds, just like most of you.
In anticipation of the storm, my husband emailed me from work Monday, asking if we had all of the necessary supplies.  "Yes," I replied.  "We have plenty of wine and printer ink.  Oh, but we need milk." :)

We attempted to get my daughter to gymnastics as the edge of the storm rolled in and we never made it to Taekwondo but we stopped, on the way home, for the rest of the kids' essentials:  junk food.

So we're set.  I was grumpy, yesterday, as I'd planned to get much writing and reading done while I was "stuck" at home.  Unfortunately, with three wild kids who were also home, and who riled to dog up, too, I didn't accomplish much but cooking.  (I had the oven and the stove and the slow cooker going!)
Today the BIG snowflakes have arrived and are falling.  I gave up on being productive and made chocolate chip pancakes for the kids.  So now, they are building a fort, the dog is napping and I just might get something accomplished, after all! 

WooHoo! Winning over whining!

Happy Monday!!!
(What?  This isn't your favorite day?)
I'll admit, I was dreading this one.  My in-laws were here for the weekend.  (That isn't dreadful; they're wonderful people).  But the kids stay up later when they're here.  Our guests had to get up and leave even earlier than I normally wake the kids for school. I wanted to be up to have coffee and tell them goodbye, before waking the kids.  But I don't do early, well!

While I was trying to get a few last winks in before I had to get up, the dog heard our guests getting ready and began BARKING.  So I rose to quiet her, started with the coffee, and have been going ever since.  The youngest child (the only one who does not have to be anywhere, today) was the first child to wake, of course.  So I was thinking we would both shoot for a nice NAP today.  But by now I've had far too much coffee to ever actually sleep, anytime soon, so I'm typing, cleaning up, chasing the dog, forgetting what I was typing, reading blogs and then standing in my kitchen trying to remember what I was doing.  I'm moving, I feel busy but I haven't accomplished much.  I look much like this:

So I stopped, tried to stand still and check in here.  I read the comments for my last entry.  I had not yet made to Joshilyn Jackson's blog this morning but Tracy had!  I was so excited to see her comment (thank you, Tracy!) and hopped right on over to FTK.  There is my name, right there on her blog!  You can go see it--under "Winners and a whiner!"  (I often fall into the latter category but today I fit in both!) Thank you to you all! (If it weren't for my readers here, I'd have no reason to link to her.)  I can't wait to read American Rose!  (OK, one more thing to "fit in" but it'll be worth it.  Look for a review here, soon!)

Spending what I don't have

I have not been shopping, just spending far more time than I can afford on silly wanderings around the internet.  It is time to get back to writing and reading.  (I am finally reading The Book Thief, at the moment.  You should be, too, if you have not yet done so!)  I heard (read) about The Book Thief over on Joshilyn Jackson's blog, put it on my Christmas list and am finally getting around to reading it!

I am already taking a break from the things that I should be doing, however, to tell you about another great book that I have not yet read.  Another book that I have found via Joshilyn Jackson's blog, as a matter of fact.  I want to read it.  You will want to read it.  So I am telling you about it for two reasons:

1.  Pure selfishness.  I want to read this book.  Joshilyn Jackson is picking four lucky winners to receive a free copy of American Rose. If I post the link here, and then comment over there, I am eligible for the drawing. 
2.  You will want to read this book. Go on over to Joshilyn's page and leave a comment yourself.  Maybe you will win!  (And maybe you will loan me the book, when you're done.) ;)

Are you ready kids?

Every once in a while, I have an opportunity to use this blog to issue a public service announcement.

Be careful. 

Karma is usually fairly reliable at making things right in the world.  Sometimes Karma is quick-acting and sometimes it takes years, but what goes around comes around.  Occasionally, incidents slip through the cracks and sometimes, Karma lets us off with a warning.  But Karma did not want you to know that!  (Not realizing how important this secret was, I let it slip on facebook, Tuesday). I told the world that Karma was Kind, and let me off with a warning.  Wednesday, I received my reprimand.

Tuesday morning, I said--out loud and in front of the kids--that "we shouldn't all have to drive 20mph on a road that had been plowed."  Stupid.  I never should have said it.  But it was too late, the kids heard and began to chime in with their two cents:  "Yeah!  We lived in Alaska, move people!  Mom, honk your horn!"  I did tell them that was enough and I did not honk my horn but the words were out there, floating around in the universe.
Tuesday afternoon, going faster than 20mph under an overpass (also stupid) I had just enough time to swerve to miss the car in front of me that had just spun entirely around and was now facing me. 
Karma was kind.  By all rights, I should have hit that car.  I am very lucky and grateful but posted on facebook that Karma was Kind and gave me a warning.

Wednesday morning, I was trying to help!  A friend that volunteers at the school library with me was trying to rescue a book that had fallen inside the book bin.  The heavy book bin has a platform/floor that is supported by springs.  (The more books you put in, the more it lowers to allow them to fit.) There is enough space around this "floor" however, for books to occasionally slip through the gap.  The only way to get the books out is to tip the thing all the way over, let the platform fall all the way down and then reach in.  It is heavy.  I told her to wait and I would help.  We found a few books, a sticker, a pencil and a candy wrapper.  She asked if I was ready to help her stand it back up and I reminded her that the platform slams down quickly.  You have to be careful where you put your fingers or it will hurt!  We started lifting it back up, I reminded her again to watch her right hand.  We set it back up and the thing slammed down. It still smashed my finger.

Karma did not like me telling everyone that she has a soft spot.

That was yesterday.  I'm starting to think about getting an x-ray.  In the meantime, my typing style is a bit altered.  I keep thinking of a Spongebob episode* my kids love--Patrick tells Spongebob to lift his pinky when he lifts his teacup to drink.  "It's fancy."  I, of course, am not drinking tea and should not be typing.  Too stubborn to avoid the keyboard , I am trying to type with 9 fingers, holding my left index finger aloft. It's fancy.



*The episode is "Tea at the Treedome" and can be found, somewhere, online if you would like to view it.  I just spent twenty minutes (Yes.  20.  Minutes) trying to find the perfect link for you, all to no avail.  I found the name of the episode, so, there you go. This is the kind of thing I end up doing when I should be getting something, anything done!

Oh, it makes me wonder...

You just never know what is going to come out of a child's mouth.  Especially when that child is three years old.  And you know, sometimes words have two meanings.

"Mom, I used to be a star!"

I smiled.  (Usually people much older than three are the ones making that claim!)  "Really?"

"Yep.  I used to be a star.  But now I'm in a kid."

Oh! 

What ever happened to predictability? The milk man, the paper boy, evening tv?

Before I had children, I made silly, blanket statements.  I said judgemental things like, "I won't let my children watch mind-numbing television.  They will never play a video game with any amount of violence."  Before children, I could not understand how any reasonable person could put their child on a leash, like a pet.

I have three human children, now. The only claim above that I have stuck to is that I do not own a "child leash."  (Clearly, if I was going to "cave" on one, that should have been the winner!)
Before we brought our current dog into our home, we vowed not to give her any "people food" of any kind.

Today, Gracie is one year old.

Our dog has tried most forms of "people food" by now and though we do not give her chocolate, I made her a cake.  A meatloaf cake.  With cheese "icing."  WHY?

Because my children have seen FAR too many old episodes of "Full House," including one with Comet's birthday.  (You will be shocked to learn that their dog was served a meatloaf cake frosted with cheese "icing.")  And because I ask all of my children what what type of cake they would like for each and every birthday but the dog cannot speak for herself--all three children agreed, unanimously, that Gracie wanted a meatloaf cake with cheese icing.

I do not eat meat.  The idea AND sight of ground meat disgusts me.  But I cook meat for my family, occasionally.  Today--I put my hands in a bowl of ground turkey, raw egg and a few other delicious ingredients--and made a meatloaf cake.  For our DOG.

Happy New Year!

Cheers!

Here's to a polished draft (or two) in the new year! Cooking, playing games with the kids and putting together photo collages are creative in their own right but seem to sap the rest of my creative energies. (The ideas are still pinging around in my head but I can't seem to get--or take--the time to sit down and sort them all out.)

The youngest is pleading to play "Mousetrap" as I write this, middle kid is sick and the oldest is at gymnastics. I have hopes and plans for both boys napping, today! (Which never works out but it feels like the season for dreaming!)

Have a Happy New Year! Good luck to you, and in all of your pursuits, in the coming year!

And now (again) for something completely different...

I am proud to be an American. I was born on the Fourth of July, for Pete's sake.
I am a former military spouse, my three-year-old already not only knows the Pledge of Allegiance but knows where to put his hand. We are proud Americans.

Despite what late night television commercials tell me--or you--I do not need this to prove it!

Perspective

We are driving past the frozen lake, on our way to pick up the "big kids."

"Oh, no!" my three-year-old yells. "There is snow on top of the water! The birds can't swim!"

"That's OK," I say, "they can just walk on it until the ice melts."

"Oh. I didn't know. I never been a bird, before."

A little pick-me up

Only two mugs of coffee into my busy morning, I stopped at Starbucks for a little more help.

This afternoon, after picking the kids up from school, they all asked to stop at Starbucks for their after-school snack. So I got yet another latte--with this suggestion, wrapped around it! :)

I need an undercoat

I know what you're thinking. You think the blonde roots have resurfaced. (They haven't, what you see is grey.) You think I mean I need an overcoat.

It is snowing. It isn't icy, it isn't slippery, I can handle snow. The wind today, however, will cut through you. Not a little jab. Not through to your bones but all-the-way-through your bones. This is butcher-knife wind.

As a mother and sometimes-responsible pet owner, I know the dog would enjoy a good 2-mile run. (Good for the dog and safer for my offspring, who will not be pounced upon immediately upon entering the house, IF I take her for a run). Said pet, a golden retriever, has an undercoat. While I can see the wind blowing her fur everywhichway, she is unfettered. She lies in the snow, rolls in the snow and eats the snow. A moment later, I am almost reduced to tears when I open the door to call her in. Not because I don't want her in the house but because I opened the door. I let the wind in. It hurt.

I have the fire going, am wearing my slippers on and hold yet another hot mug of coffee in my hands. I have to go pick up the older two children from school in half an hour, so they won't be standing out in the wind but I don't want to go out there. I need an undercoat.