Recap

It’s time to get the annual End-of-Year letter into the relatives’ Christmas cards.
By the way, Crazy Trace has a cool challenge regarding Christmas cards- check out the link at the bottom of this site!
A vast number of JerseyChick relatives live in Small Town Northeastern USA and wouldn’t know a blog if it hit them in the eye. My daring mom took a “Basic Computer” course about 15 years ago, so she has heard of email and the Web, but never actually seen any. Nor have any of her 5 Small Town sisters. So, an annual End-of-Year letter via US Snail Mail is a must.

Attached to that thought, Mr W was asking questions about blogging this morning. (Hold onto your seats, he may start a blog of his own…) Hey! If I’ve blogged all year, maybe reviewing the year’s posts will serve as an outline for the End-of-Year letter! In fact, I blog so I won’t have to remember the year’s events!

Reviewing a year’s worth of blogs is going to take a couple of days, though. So if you, gentle reader, think of anything that stands out as noteworthy and/or funny from this year, let me know! TY!

30 minutes later: This post looks good: http://jerseechik.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/looking-down-and-around/

2 hours later: Here’s what looks like News:
Jerseychick:
English lit/grammar/comp class, Sunday School, AWANA w/ Jr Varsity, VBS, cooking on a grill, 20 years as a Christian, 25 years of friendship w/ Rootie, 45 years old, Netflix, Spring Break in B’ham, visit from Former German Exchange student and his Spectacular, Wonderful, Great Girlfriend (gosh, we enjoyed meeting her!)

Mr Wonderful:
French ONLY @ Douglas Co. , Cubbie games, classes toward certification, pickles, tomato sauce, apple butter, salad greens

#1: Lifecamp, cheerleading, no more tears over Math, 5th grade

#2: Lifecamp, summer @ Daddybob’s, cheerleading, getting glasses (and breaking same), 6th grade

#3: Lifecamp, Asperger’s, Daddybob’s, b-ball, 3rd grade

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Why was the lamp failing her classes? She wasn’t very bright.

Visions of Sugarplums

Mr W: Let’s do something more to work on our marriage than this Shaunti Feldhan survey. Maybe a study where we get together once a week and answer some questions.

JerseyChick: Well, Dennis and Barbara Rainey do the MarriageBuilders thing, and Gary Chapman, who did the 5 Love Languages, has a book, but not a workbook.

Mr W: Let’s do the workbook one. Go ahead and order it.

Am I dreaming?

Laundry List

Balance checkbook, make grocery list, buy groceries. (Preferably before the stores get busy at 10 a.m.)

Call my beloved friend who runs the Crazy Food Pick-up and arrange to get her extra cilantro and her extra chocolate chip cookie dough.

Finish laundry from trip to Rootie’s.

Make (I hope) egg rolls for lunch.

Paint toenails with the girls, ornaments with all 3 kiddos, put together ‘gingerbread houses’ with #1. Clean off table in time for dinner.

Make a (slightly less salty) version of Cream of Squash and some bread for dinner. (Don’t tell my kiddos it’s squash, please. If they think it’s squash, they won’t eat it. If they think it’s Mixed Veggies, they’ll eat a whole bowl apiece, and #3 will have seconds.)

Mr W just woke up and suggest we have a Quiet Time together (either just sitting together, praying separately, or praying and reading the Word together, my choice). Then he offered to get me a fresh cup of coffee.

Gosh, I hope this isn’t just a phase! Gotta go!

Attempt some cappucino. I have the maker, but have never put the previous owner’s instructions to the test.

Move Over, Walt!

I’m almost beginning to like people. That sentence alone tells me I’ve had a GREAT break out at Rootie’s. Mucho TYs, Rootie, SD, and all!

I wish we could have stayed forever. We girls never did get our toenails painted, for example. Hmmm, I wonder if SD would’ve permitted us to even paint the dogs’? We never got to play a full game of Phase 10. (I’m thinking Rootie’s #4 son would’ve smoked us.)

The collective knowledge inside the walls of Rootie’s house would fill a University schedule well. Plus, they make really good coffee. Don’t even get me started on the good food!

It was cool to see how Rootie’s family has changed- not that my memory works well enough to quantify. They are ALL really cool people, in very different ways. God is amazingly creative!

Rootie’s people and my people had a lovely dance in getting to know one another. Her teens restore my (gasp! Dare I say it?) *hope* in the youth of today. Not that I have a handle on hope, really, but I’m learning and SO enjoying my teachers!! It was refreshing to be around her youngest, too- a quicker dive into Boyhood than conversations with my own #3, who is more of a stroll.

Mr W really, really wanted us home, so he drove the 3+ hours to pick us up. That’s important, since a small part of the vacation was to give Mr W some quiet to think and prioritize.

When we got home, Mr W pulled out the survey from the Shaunti Feldhan book I read a month ago. Can you believe it? After we discussed his answers, he asked if I had taken the Women’s Survey, and could we discuss my answers? I am VERY much hoping some things are changing here. Please pray that this is not just a phase!!!

Gap

I’ll be at Rootie’s for a while, so Happy Thanksgiving!

A Question of Timing

JerseyChick to #3: Put the date at the top of the page, please.
#3 (Knowing he won’t get a straight answer if he asks, “What’s the date?”): What was yesterday?

JerseyChick: November 18. Oh! My birthday is in 5 days! I’ll be 45 years old.
#3: That’s really old.

OK, OK More Lit!

I don’t want this blog to turn into a “everything literary” blog. I’m not a good writer, English is not my favorite language, and except for the past 3 months, I haven’t read anything notable in a couple of years.

However, I have been caught in a forest of books recently, so here’s more stuff about that:

When our family went to a different church 8 years ago, I met a mom who’s oldest child was in college. (Rabbit trail: This mom was amazing. She had become a Christian at age 5 whilst listening to Billy Graham on a TV special. She looked Chinese, but spoke English with a California accent. She was married to a deacon who said one of the most Christ-like things after our pastor revealed his struggle with depression. But that’s fodder for another cud…) There was another kid in the family, a girl in her senior year of high school. Daughter and son had very different interests. In fact, out of the blue, son decided to major in 20th-Century Russia Literature. “Depressing” is the word that springs to mind when I think of everything (all 4 or 5) I’ve read in Russian Lit.

I claim a small allowance to picking on the Russians, since there is a family branch that has Polish/Russian (they keep moving/erasing the border, don’t they?) origins. These people drink boiling coffee all winter long. I used to think my Aunt Rita must have an iron throat…

Anyway, the mom in our former church knew she couldn’t get the depth of knowledge about Russian Lit her son was getting at the University, but she wanted to be able to connect with him on one of his biggest areas of interest, so she hacked away at Russian novels for years. My own kids being 3, 2, and newborn kept me from appreciating her sacrifice then- but I see more clearly now! (Wonder what esoteric field my kiddos will find fascinating?)

#2 has jumped over Mansfield Park and is halfway through Tarzan of the Apes. I haven’t read it myself, which is a first in the JerseyChick house. I’m going to have to come up with a way of training los kiddos to alert me to offensive aspects of things. And afterward, they have to have the character to be willing to put away “the rest of the story” (whether it be book or movie) for the sake of a pure mind…

Mr Wonderful (who is making efforts to live up to his nickname) brought home “Hercule Poirot’s Casebook”, which is a collection of Agatha Christie novels. I’m saving it for the trip to Rootie’s. Maybe #2 will enjoy some Agatha after Tarzan.

#3 and #1 are re-reading a couple of “Hank the Cowdog” adventures. I highly recommend Hank for 3rd-6th graders, and if you can get one of the audio CDs where the author reads, it’s a Texan treasure!

We have listened to 3 “Jonathan Park” adventures on audio CD as we travelled with the Fabulous M boys to a field trip, but neither the audio nor the books are available at either library system. Yesterday I followed a thread from a comment on magistramater’s blog and uncovered something that looks similar: Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow. The description is “For kids who like Narnia”. (Hunter Brown is also untraceable, audio nor hardcopy, at either library sytem.) I’m strongly recommending “Jonathan Park” adventures for 3rd-5th graders as well. I’ll beg the librarians to order “Hunter Brown” and see how it goes…

Rabbit trail: A couple of us moms are having trouble as we raise our boys. Thank You, Lord, not the “They are getting in trouble” kind of trouble. The mom who buys for the AWANA store mentioned, and I (as I buy for Sunday School) concur, that we have trouble finding inexpensive prizes for these boys. Toy guns are out. The AWANA boys read little.

Let me be more specific: What 10-12 things can you buy as rewards for Modern American boys, ages 10-14, that do not involve electronics or weapons, and that cost less than $8-$10?

Second rabbit trail: Have you noticed that Happy Meal toys have been split between Girls:Fashion and Boys:Weapons for a couple of years now? The only exception is toys of just-released-movie characters. Kids who get Happy Meals are learning to relate to movies, fashion, and/or weapons ONLY. Wonder why we buy more Chik-Fil-A kids meals than McD’s?

#2 is awake and it’s time to make pancakes and start school. Hope you’ve got good plans for the day, too!

A Quiet Weekend

Moms have a lot of power. At the end of a week of A Small Cold, I’ve got laryngitis (and a cough, thanks for asking, not that I am demanding attention or anything!). So I’ve been fairly quiet for the past 2 days.

God is gracious, and we stocked up on Thick Books to take to Rootie’s this weekend. Trip delayed, and all those delicious tomes piled up in the living room. Plus, a kind homeschool mom dropped off a bazillion copies of National Geographic Kids magazine.

Silence descended on the house. We didn’t even do a movie Friday night- everyone was huddled over a book or magazine instead.

I didn’t expect to like Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park as much as I did. In spite of familiarity through Emma, several versions of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, Jane kept me guessing to the last chapter.

At the library Thursday, the girls picked up Heather Vogel Frederick’s The Mother-Daughter Book Club. We’ve liked her Spy Mouse series, but anything that covers pre-teenas needs strict censorship in this house, lest #1 and #2 escalate their “I Represent All Things Preteena” competition. (Mr W and I are thinking about selling tickets and/or pitching it to MTV as a reality show.) Mother-Daughter Book Club was terrific! (Bring tissues.)

Amazingly, Brisinger was entirely entertaining as well, in spite of no big plot surprises. Paolini does tons of character development in this installment of his series, so I’m eager -but not desperate- to read #4.

Every time I see Paolini’s name, however, I think “Thank You, Lord, my girls are not old enough to think about this guy as anything but an author!” Cuter than the Jonas Bros, homeschooled, rich, cosmopolitan, well-spoken, solid family background (He modeled the heroine on his sister, and his mom helped him type up his manuscripts). The parts of Brisinger that amazed me the most were Paolini’s descriptions of love and marriage. Mr W says everyone -students, teachers, admin- at his school is reading Brisinger.

Anyway, back to the books. Mansfield Park was amidst a beribboned set of “Classics You’ve Never Read” at the library. (Remember the beribboned “Biography” set that went so well? I’m getting hooked!) I’m considering, meditating on the worth/meaning of “a quiet life” because of Mansfield Park.

#2 is almost done with “Little Women”, the second in the beribboned set, and I’ll point her toward Mansfield Park while I preview Eudora Welty’s The Golden Apples. #2 has loved every movie of Austen’s work she’s seen, and wasn’t bored with either Little Women or overwhelmed by Brisinger, so I’m comfortable with her consuming Mansfield Park.

Any suggestions to keep the kiddos out of Rootie’s hair when we visit next weekend would be very welcome, though!

Cooking up an idea

I know there’s a term for when the extra water gets boiled off and there’s a nice thick sauce left. I’m about midway through that, mentally speaking.

Here’s my thoughts:
A person should exhibit good sportsmanship. Good sportsmanship covers winning, losing, competing indoors, outdoors, and competing against a person who is the same gender as you or the other gender. A person should exhibit good sportsmanship because it’s Christlike.

A person should honor and respect other people. That doesn’t mean you have to like everything they do, or even anything they do. They may need to be taken to the nearest cell and given a lethal injection, but they are still made in the Creator’s image. (Feel free to call me on this next time I rant about someone harming my kiddos.) People should be respected because Christ tells us to honor others.

I’ve been hearing/reading a lot recently about honoring people and showing good sportsmanship because of the person’s gender. Maybe I’m just hearing wrong- as the daughter of a strident feminist, it’s probable that I’m over-sensitive. I also fully realize it wasn’t so long ago that I blogged “I’m just clueless about men”, so learning some specific ways that guys like to be honored is a GOOD thing.

The whole thing would please me more (like the world is designed to please me!) if I could hear the balance between Jesus, gender, and individuals.

Laundry List

Amazingly, the laundry is finished.

Thankfully, the English class is having a major exam today. With this raw throat, 1 1/2 hours of lecture would be torture.

On the other hand, I’ve got to get exams, extra credit assignments, and late homework graded and entered into the Engrade database before midnight, since tomorrow is the last day they can drop the class without penalties. (Remind me to get a hardcopy backup of the grades in case the Net database goes down!)

The 1 hour of French will be a ton of conversation on the student’s part and the Latin class will be shortened to 1/2 hour.

Dinner is probably going to be soup again, frankly. Mr W has a lot of tutoring after work tonight, and I can make soup in 20 minutes.

#2 can pack herself if I make a list whilst the English students take their exam. #1 can lay her outfits out on the bed with a copy of the list. (She’s likely to match formalwear with sloppy T-shirts, though, so the outfits have to be reviewed before packing.) There’s no telling what #3 will do- follow #2? Play in a corner?- once I give him a list.

Rootie is doing the driving, providing the homemade chicken-noodle soup (at her place), and I’m looking forward to Relaxing. It’s scheduled to rain at her place for the next 3 days, but who cares? I want to find out what happens at the end of Mansfield Park, and get through Brsingir so #2 and I can compare notes. We’ll take Phase 10 and Rook (card games), too, and there are certainly enough 4-legged playmates to satisfy my kiddos if they tire of LooneyTunes, cards, and reading.

(Rootie: #1 is bringing at least 3 colors of toenail polish, too. Ever had your toes painted up to the knuckles?)

So, the laundry list will be worked through for the fine promise on the other side. You’ll never convince me to be an atheist- I know this friendship is from a loving God.

Update: God loves Rootie, too. She wasn’t looking forward to cleaning her bathrooms today. So God had #1 toss cookies in the van. The whole trip-to-Rootie’s thing has been postponed for a week.