Gardening Update – June 12. 2010

It’s been raining just about all week which has given me migraines all week, but it means that I haven’t had to water the plants.  Of course, I’m starting to wonder if the animals are going to start walking by two by two!

Here’s what we’ve got right now:

Tomato plants - Two are growing in TopsyTurvy planters and two in ice cream buckets using the same technique.  There doesn’t seem to be any difference in outcome so far.

Cucumbers - These are the new cukes, not the ones that I started back in April that died.  They are growing in TopsyTurvy planters and seem pretty happy so far.

Petunias - These are all going out in the front planter.  I decided to plant them in these round and rectangular planters because they’re easier to deal with, but their final home will be out front.  I’m a little bummed that I didn’t start my petunias earlier because there are petunias blooming all over the place and mine aren’t.  Lesson learned – order seeds earlier next year.  Note – the little tiny plants are so small because Park Seed shipped those seeds several weeks later than the first set.  They’d sure better be pretty!

Oregano – I have more oregano that I know what to do with!  These two pots are the ones that I’m going to keep.  I have some starters still inside just in case these don’t make it!

Catnip – The plan is to dry the leaves and make knitted cat toys for my lazy cats.  And maybe Sophie will play with cat toys instead of trying to kill Sassy.

Spearmint – I think this is the same stuff as the garden mint that I had in Kentucky where it became the Audrey 2 on the side of my house!  Up here, though, it is definitely an annual.  I had a sprig last year from Grammy’s house in Baton Rouge and it grew crazy in a pot, but did NOT come back this year.  I don’t think it likes the below zero temps that we get around here.  Wonder why?

Basil – Looks beautiful!  I think Rosie Girl and I will get some very nice leaves from here.

Dill – Also looking good.  I love dill on my scrambled eggs.

Chives – This grows as an annual in our front bed (yes, the front bed needs to be weeded.)  Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to harvest the chives each year so it bolts.  But, it’s pretty when it does that, so I just enjoy the flowers.  We’re getting a chive plant with our first CSA box so I’ll try to remember to harvest the chives from that one.

 

Lavender – this is my front planter lavender plant.  I’ve also got some growing from seed that aren’t quite ready to put into pots.  I’ve never harvested the flowers, but I do want to because they smell so delicious.  In any case, they are lovely.

Yarrow – I love these yellow flowers, but they need to be pruned.  I keep planning to prune in the fall and then say that they will look pretty with snow on them so I don’t prune.  But, we get six feet of snow right there.  I should prune them.

 

Salvia – This had purple flowers earlier in the spring and was beautiful.  It also needs to be pruned.  I’m not really much of a gardener, am I?

Green beans – these suckers are just taking off like gangbusters!

        

Carrots – you can just see the little sprouts sticking their little heads up.

Broccoli – In the middle of each square is either one or two little plants.  That’s the broccoli.  The rest is weeds.  If it ever quits raining, I’ll weed.  When the sprouts are big enough to see, I’ll mulch.

Strawberries – Rosie Girl has some strawberries!!  I planted some flowers in some of the other squares, but Rosie Girl’s friend has offered her some strawberry plants, so I’ll let her have the squares for strawberries.  If it ever quits raining, we’ll weed and mulch.

Raspberries – Looking good!

That’s what’s growing right now.  I’ll get the hang of this gardening thing one day.  And if I ever find the Morning Glory seed packet, we’ll grow those, too!

So, what’s in your garden!

7 Quick Takes Friday

It’s a rainy, icky Friday afternoon here in the Upper Midwest which means it’s time for 7 Quick Takes Friday!

1. We are part of a CSA (community supported agriculture) this year, so in a week or two we will start getting a box of produce from a local farm every week filled with our share of whatever they harvested that week.  I’m excited but nervous at the same time.  I’m not much of a veggie eater, so I’m going to have to/get to try lots of new stuff.  I hear that we get beets early on, so Rosie Girl and I are going to try making borscht.

2. Speaking of veggies, I ate fennel this week.  The first time I had it, we just shaved it on our salads.  I could definitely taste the mild licorice-like flavor to it, but it wasn’t over-powering.  Last night, PWM roasted it in the oven.  Yummy!!

3. I painted my nails this week.  I have no idea why.  I haven’t had painted nails since my third year of medical school because you can’t have polished nails when you are in the operating room and I have been in a position where I could have been called in to emergency surgery from the time I was in third year medical school until I quit working (five years ago).  So, I now have light blue fingernails.

4. Wild Man told me yesterday that I was scaring him.  First I ate a new vegetable and then I painted my nails.  What else am I going to do while he’s gone??

5. We totally LOVE Jungle Jam!!  We used to own a bunch of the CDs, but they have almost all gotten lost or scratched.  I downloaded a new episode tonight and it was as funny as the originals.  Instead of buying new CDs, I’m going to buy the episodes that I want and download them – they’re cheaper that way and we can just burn the episodes we want for driving to camp.  BTW, if you haven’t listened to Jungle Jam, you should download one episode to check it out (they’re only $3.95).  They’re hysterical for kids and adults alike.

6. We got a water softener this week!!  I never thought I’d be so excited about a water softener, but scrubbing the bathtub last week was seriously un-fun.  Not only that, but we’ve been having to clean tons of lime scale from our dishwasher.  I don’t like the taste of the water nearly as much, but we won’t go through nearly as much vinegar now!!

7. Rosie Girl and I played Set together today and she whupped me!!  I love playing Set, but the Topamax I’m taking has slowed my thinking so much that I wasn’t much competition at all for her.  Normally, she and I are pretty equally matched.  Not so right now!

Check out what others are up to at 7 Quick Takes Friday!

Missing Wild Man

Wild Man has been gone on his trip with Grandma now for about 3 weeks, although I’ve only been away from him for 2 weeks.  There are some pros and cons to him being gone.

Pros:

1. It’s really quiet around here.  I love my boy, but he’s a constant source of sound.
2. Less nagging to do.  One less kid means less time I have to spend making sure he does his chores.
3. Less clutter.  Wild Man tends to leave a mess in his wake!
4. He’s learning a lot and having a great time.

Cons:

1. Fewer hugs and less cuddling.  Wild Man is very affectionate and I’m seriously missing my hugs and just cuddling on the sofa.  Rosie Girl is doing her best to make up for it, though.
2. Less silliness.  PWM and Rosie Girl are silly, but Wild Man is often the catalyst to even more silliness.
3. Chores.  The rest of us have to do Wild Man’s chores!  PWM and I split taking out the trash, but I’m looking forward to not having to clean the bathtub anymore.
4. Fun and games.  Wild Man loves to play games.  I rarely initiate the game playing and often have to turn him down because of headaches, but I do love to play games with him.  PWM and Rosie Girl are doing Pokemon and Zelda playing together this summer as their “bonding” activities.

The numbers may be even, but I think the “cons” win out and I MISS MY SON!!  Nonetheless, he said he had a great time at Carlsbad Caverns the other day.  They’re working their way toward Albuquerque right about now.  I love getting to see the pictures and hear all about the day’s activities whenever he calls.  But, I’ll really love seeing him whenever he gets home!

Rosie Girl and I are supposed to work on painting the dining room, but the darn migraines keep messing up my plans.  We did get to bond over my having a serious dizzy spell this morning.  Thankfully, some liquids and some more sleep cleared things up, but she sat beside me till I was better.  What a great kid!!  I may miss my Wild Man, but I’m thankful for my Rosie Girl!

How have you dealt with your children being gone for long periods of time?  Any more survival tips for me?

The Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit

Last Thursday, a friend and I got to go to the Milwaukee Public Museum and see their exhibit, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible”.  I really wish I had known about this earlier so that our whole family could have gone, but I found out about it on Monday, May 31, and the exhibit closed yesterday.  Milwaukee Public Museum put this exhibit together and it has been running for 6 months.  I know we are “out of the loop”, living out in the sticks, but I still can’t believe we didn’t hear anything about it.  Well, we’re now getting Facebook announcements from the museum so we won’t miss anything else so important.

I was very interested in seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls for a few reasons.  When I was growing up, I had heard my dad talk about how the finding of the Scrolls had confirmed the integrity of the Scriptures.  These texts were 1000 (I think) years older than any other original text and yet were almost identical in content.  I had also watched the various NatGeo and History Channel documentaries on the subject.  In addition, a few years ago, I listened to a lecture series about the Scrolls by Dr. Lawrence Schiffman.  It was completely fascinating.  I could not pass up the chance to see even fragments of the actual scrolls themselves.

On to the day itself.  First of all, I was quite confident about the drive and finding the museum because PWM and I had gone before and hadn’t had any trouble.  I checked out Mapquest to confirm that I knew where I was going and we bought a map well before we got to Milwaukee.  Nonetheless, we got lost.  Badly.  After almost an hour of wandering around downtown Milwaukee, we finally made a fateful right turn and were right at the museum, exactly at the parking ramp I remembered from our previous visit.  Sigh.

We didn’t have time to check out one of the cool downtown restaurants as we had hoped (and planned time for), so we had a snack in the museum and were right on time for our entrance.  This exhibit had timed entrances every 15 minutes.  We were allowed to stay as long as we wanted, but we had to be at the entrance before 1:15pm.  We went ahead and got the audio set that provided additional commentary to the exhibit.

The first part of the exhibit was to set us in the time and place of the creation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  There were maps of the Middle East – I thought the topographical and the meteorological ones were the most interesting.  They had a nice section on the history of the area from Alexander the Great to Masada to the Hasmoneans (are those in the right order?) to the Roman occupation.  We got to see coins and lots of household items from that time in history.

One of the most interesting things in this part of the exhibit was the ossuaries.  These are limestone boxes in which families kept the bones of their deceased family members.  Some of the boxes had decorations and most had the names of family members inscribed.  One of them is believed to be the ossuary of the family of Simon of Cyrene, the man who was required by the Romans to carry Jesus’ cross.  Cool!!

We then went into a room that was all about the finding of the scrolls and the excavation of the Qumran site.  They had replicas of the jars where the scrolls were found and an original cloth from one of the jars.  I thought this was fascinating, but the actual information here was stuff I was familiar with.

The next room had a short video on how the restorers use computers to try to restore what the original scrolls said from the fragments.  It’s quite tedious work.  They actually use letters from the same scribe’s writing elsewhere in the document.  Then, we got to see a replica of the Isaiah scroll, a scroll that’s a commentary on Habakkuk, and a scroll that was a set of rules for the Qumran community.  Even though the scrolls were replicas, they were amazing!!  These are the scrolls that were mostly intact when they were found.  The replicas are on parchment and the pages are sewn, just like the originals.  I was just floored.

The next room was the room where they had actual bits of Dead Sea Scroll.  The lights were all dimmed.  I’m not sure how many pieces they had, but there were probably 12 or 14 cases, each with 2-5 little fragments.  Some were scripture while others were commentary on the scripture.  It was amazing that the archaeologists have even been able to figure out what these are part of.  All I could tell is that they are little bits of parchment.  It was just awe-inspiring to be in the same room with a 2000 year old text of scripture.  Wow.  They also had a page from the copper scroll.

The point of the exhibit was to show how the Dead Sea Scrolls have affected our translations and view of the Bible, so they had some original New Testament papyri in the same room.  These were from before 500AD and had been found in Egypt.  The difference between papyrus and parchment was really interesting to see.

The next room was full of Christian Bibles (i.e. Old and New Testaments).  They had a page from a Gutenberg Bible, a Luther Bible, and an original King James version.  Then another case had multiple English translations of the Bible.

The last thing that we saw was the most recent hand-written Bible.  This Bible was made in a monastery in Minnesota.  The pages are at least 2x3 feet in size.  The techniques are the same that were used in Medieval times, before Gutenberg.   They used quills and inks that were handmade.  The Bible is illustrated with some rather modern-appearing illustrations.  Some of the illustrations are colored with gold and silver leaf.  It is gorgeous!!

The Dead Sea Scroll exhibit was wonderful!  The curators did an excellent job of bringing us from the time the scrolls were created through to modern times.  What makes the scrolls special is that they really confirmed that the scripture that the Jews were reading in Jesus’ day is the same scripture that has come down to us.  Apparently, the entire book of Isaiah was preserved, and when it was compared to our modern translations, there was no significant difference.

People may doubt about all kinds of things to do with Christianity and faith, but the Dead Sea Scrolls really help to confirm the fact that the integrity of the text is not one of the things to spend much time worrying about.  The set of circumstances that allowed those scrolls to be preserved until the right time in history in which they could be properly excavated is nothing short of miraculous.  Wow.

I’m so sorry I didn’t get to see this exhibit till the very last week.  If you ever get a chance to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, especially in the context of a well-organized exhibit, I’d encourage you to do so.  I learned so much.  And, my friend and I had several hours of chatting between here and Milwaukee, not to mention getting to see downtown Milwaukee – over and over and over!!

18 Years

18 years ago today, I stood outside the door to the sanctuary of Grace Presbyterian Church in Metairie, LA, impatiently awaiting my turn to walk down the aisle!  The pianist was playing Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.  The bridesmaids each walked down the aisle, then the ringbearer and flower girl.  Finally, it was MY turn!!  I was getting a little ancy.  After all, we’d been planning this day for months!

Finally, I walked down the aisle on the arm of my father.  At the front of the church, he handed me off to the groom, PWM.  It was finally happening!  I actually don’t recall much of the ceremony.  I remember that the rings were tied on the pillow so well that the best man had a tough time getting them off.  I know that while PWM and I were standing and holding hands during a song after we lit the unity candle, I realized that I had left my engagement ring on my left hand, so I tried to discreetly move it over to my right hand.  Eventually, all the words were said, prayers were made, and kissing was done, and PWM and I were declared to be “man and wife”!

After the obligatory photos at the church (which I had requested to be few), we went to our wedding reception at a local reception hall.  (The reason we chose the reception hall we did – they quoted us a price without alcohol.  Every other reception hall looked at us like we were crazy – how can you have a wedding reception without large amounts of alcohol?)  We were quite fortunate to have found a place that had delicious food.  The menu included all kinds of New Orleans yumminess like jambalaya and crawfish etouffee.  We danced, ate cake, and generally enjoyed ourselves!

Afterwards, PWM and I left the reception to spend our first night of married life at Nottoway Plantation.  The next morning, we drove through Baton Rouge and then back to “our” apartment in New Orleans.  I had to spend the next two days finishing my preparation for Step One of the USMLE (medical board exam).  But, after the board exam (which I did pretty well on!) we embarked on a week-long honeymoon at Walt Disney World.

So much has changed in 18 years that it’s hard to look back and believe we were those incredibly young people!  We have two children.  I finished medical school and practiced medicine for 10 years.  We aren’t two separate people, but a couple.  (As a friend likes to say, we have differentiated oneness!)

I may have been a little impatient to get started on this life journey with PWM, but I think I’ll say it’s because I knew it was going to be so great!!  I wouldn’t trade a minute of the last 18 years for anything.  Not that it’s all been easy, of course.  But, it’s totally been worth it!

I love you, PWM!!  You’re the best husband a woman could dream of!!

Our Week In Review – June 5, 2010

And what a week it has been!!  The first week of June is always a little crazy because of dance recital, but there’s been a ton of stuff this week.  So, hang on tight!!

Wild Man went to Tampa with Grams and Grandpa on Sunday.  They all stayed with Grandma on Sunday night and Grams and Grandpa went back to West Palm Beach on Monday, leaving Wild Man and Grandma to get ready for their trip.  And, get ready, they did!!  They got the van ready on Monday so they could leave first thing Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday, they drove to Pensacola so that they could see the Blue Angels perform Wednesday morning and visit the museum afterwards.  Afterwards, they drove on to Mobile, AL.

Thursday was their day to visit the USS Alabama.  In addition, they got to see the submarine and various aircraft that are also there.  And I told Wild Man that he could NOT have a battleship gun in his bedroom when he gets home.

That afternoon, they drove to Slidell, LA.  Of course, if you know Grandma, you would know that she has to stop and take a picture of Wild Man at every state line!!

They spent Thursday night with a friend of Grandma’s in Slidell and then went on to Baton Rouge on Friday.  Last night (Friday), Wild Man and his great uncle sat up and watched the LSU baseball team win their game in extra innings.  Nothing like two die-hard LSU fans.  This morning, they went to the Louisiana state capitol building where Wild Man got to actually see the bullet holes from Huey Long’s assassination.  Talk about making history come alive!!

I think that things are going to slow down a little for a week or so.  I think the next big stop is the Alamo.  That’s OK, though, because Wild Man has had enough excitement to tie him over for quite a while!!

Rosie Girl had her last week of school (homeschool and public school) as well as the week before dance recital this week.  We did finally do the fetal pig dissection.  I did the actual dissection and we did it as a demonstration.  I was pleased to see that Rosie Girl remembered a good bit of the biology that she has learned through the year.  (And in consideration of my non-biologically science inclined readers, I won’t post pictures of the pig.)

Rosie Girl had two finals, but they just watched videos for both of them, because they were for choir and art.  She went to the school picnic on Thursday, got her yearbook, and hung around with her friends for a while as well as getting lots of signatures.  On Friday, she went to her usual classes (2nd and 3rd periods) but then was allowed to spend the rest of the day (it was a short day) going to classes with a friend.  Her friends and teachers are trying to get her to go to public school full-time, but she’s not interested.  She likes taking her two classes and doing everything else on her own schedule.

The dance rehearsals were the real fun and tiring thing for Rosie Girl (and PWM).  She had rehearsal every day this week except Wednesday.  She is dancing with her tap class and she and PWM are doing the Daddy-Daughter dance.  The first two shows were today.  I made it to the first one – Rosie Girl is just amazing at tap!!  And, the rest of the show was wonderful, too.  I am optimistic that my head will cooperate to let me go to the show tomorrow.  Rosie Girl’s best friend from school is also coming and it’s tradition to go out after the recital.

 

I have had some wicked headaches this week, but I’m only mildly bummed out about not being able to mop the kitchen floor!  I got to go see the Milwaukee Public Museum’s Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible exhibit.  I’ll write a whole post on that day.  A friend and I went together on Thursday and had a wonderful day!!

It’s been a really busy week.  I’m hoping to start painting the dining room next week, but we might just need to take a few days off to breathe!!

Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others have been up to!!

 

7 Quick Takes Friday – June 4, 2010

 

1. Wild Man has been to see the Blue Angels and the USS Alabama so far on his trip.  What a week!!  He video calls us pretty much every night if he has internet access.  He’s so excited and having a great time, but things are going to be a little more sedate as they visit family until they get to the Alamo in a week or so.

2. Rosie Girl has finished school this week!  Yesterday, she went to the High School picnic and got her yearbook and had it signed.  Today, she spent the whole day at school, going to her two classes and then spending the rest of the day going to classes with a friend.  Apparently, lots of folks were encouraging her to go to school full-time next year, but she likes her homeschooling schedule and is only going to stick with just Art and Choir at school with all of her other subjects at home.

3. I dissected a fetal pig earlier this week and demonstrated it to Rosie Girl as her final Biology activity.  She did the other dissections on her own, but the fetal pig dissection requires more skill and time, so I did the actual work and then showed her everything and we discussed the structures and their function as well as relating it back to humans.  Definitely my favorite part of the course!!

4. Yesterday, a friend and I drove to see the Milwaukee Public Museum’s Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible exhibit.  I can’t believe that the exhibit has been there since January and we just found out about it this week.  Sunday is the last day of the exhibit, so I had to go this week.  It was amazing, and I will devote an entire post to it later this weekend, so stay tuned!

5. This weekend is Rosie Girl’s dance recital weekend.  She has had rehearsal every day except Wednesday and the performances are tomorrow and Sunday.  Busy weekend, but it’s worth it!

6. Sunday is my and PWM’s 18th wedding anniversary!!  Yes, we were married on D-day.  It’s hard to forget your anniversary if you get married on a day like that!  We will probably end up celebrating later in the week because of the aforementioned dance recital, but that’s fine with me.  It’s the previous 18 years that are important!!

7. Next week, I plan to purchase paint and start painting the dining room and kitchen!!  Rosie Girl has said that she will help.  We’ll be eating sandwiches for a week or so while we get it done!!

That’s what’s been up here.  Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others have been up to!!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

I haven’t complained in a while.  I think I’m due.  What do you think?  May I complain a little?  If it’s not OK with you, then you can just skip this post.  It’s OK.  I don’t mind.  I don’t like to listen to complainers either.  It’s just that today is not working out as well as I had hoped.

I made it 10 days without a migraine.  I’m now on my third migraine since then.  Ick.  They haven’t been the worst migraines in the world or anything like that.  I was just so enjoying being without them for a while.

And it’s messing with my plans.  I was going to start dissecting a fetal pig with Rosie Girl today, but I’m just not up to it.  Now, between her schedule and mine for the rest of the week, I doubt we’ll get any dissection done.  I think I’m going to find some internet resources for her to look at this week and call it a semester.  She’s gotten a very good Biology 1 course under her belt – the fetal pig dissection was really just to make it an extra good course.

A dear friend had a hemorrhagic stroke last night.  She’s in the ICU in Neenah right now.  I really don’t know how serious things are – being out of the medical community drives me a little crazy sometimes.  However, hemorrhagic (bleeding) strokes are notoriously more serious than ischemic (clot) strokes.  Not only is this woman a friend, but she is one of the most energetic and busy women in this area.  Yet another time when I ask God what He is up to.

Well, I guess this won’t be a completely complaining post.  A friend (who is a college student) and I are going to Milwaukee on Thursday to see the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit!!  I would have loved to go with PWM and Rosie Girl, but Rosie Girl has dance rehearsal every day this week along with end of year school stuff.  The exhibit is only in Milwaukee till Sunday and PWM said it was OK if I went with a friend.  (Rosie Girl is just as glad that I don’t drag her to see it since she doesn’t share my fascination for all things historical).  Anyway, I’m all excited about it.

Wild Man and Grandma are on the road today!!  I’ll post updates as they are available.  I think their next stop is in the Florida panhandle.

Well, after all this writing, I don’t feel nearly as icky.  I do apologize for the complaining.  I’m going to go back to listening to my audiobook (The Time Traveler’s Wife) and knitting my socks (entrelac pattern – totally cool – I’ll post pictures when I’m done!).  Looking at life objectively, I am really quite blessed.  So, I’ll focus on God’s goodness to me and pray intensely for my friend who had the stroke.

How’s your day going?  I give you permission to complain in the comments if you need to!

Our (Former) Babysitter

So, last night, I had a case of terrible insomnia.  I decided I’d watch a movie that I didn’t think Rosie Girl or PWM was all that interested in, so I started watching “Follow the Prophet” on Neflix.  When it started, the first name on the credits was Annie Burgstede.  What?  Annie Burgstede?  Annie Burgstede used to be our babysitter for Rosie Girl when we moved to town 13 years ago.  It couldn’t be the same one, could it?

Annie Burgstede (the babysitter, at least) was a wonderful teenager who could talk to adults and was just a great kid.  Not only did she babysit, but she would actually bring games and activities to do with Rosie Girl (who was only 2-3 at the time).  We were so disappointed when Annie went off to art school.  When she was home one summer, we called her to ask where we should take Rosie Girl for dance class.  Rosie Girl has been taking dance classes at that studio for the last ten years.  Suffice it to say that we LOVED Annie.

At 3am, I thought I was having an insomnia-induced hallucination.  So I did what all techno-geeks do – I googled her.  And, lo and behold, our former babysitter Annie Burgstede has a Wiki page and an Imbd page that confirm that she is indeed a very successful actress and had the leading role in this film.

By this time, the film had started.  Annie is now about 27 (I think), but they had made her up to be about 15.  I almost fainted.  There, on my TV screen, was Annie Burgstede, looking just like she did 13 years ago.  Yikes!!  And then she started acting.  Wow!  She’s good!  Of course, she’s good.  She’s always been artistic – that’s why she and Rosie Girl understood each other so well, even when they were so young.

The next time you see Annie Burgstede on TV or in a movie, you know now that, not only did she babysit my kids, but she’s just a good person.

Wow.  What a bizarre night.  It’s just hard to believe.

Memorial Day – May 31, 2010

When I was working, I spent 2 mornings every week at the Wisconsin Veteran’s Home in King, WI.  I was responsible for the medical care of a certain number of veterans or veteran’s spouses.  When I started in 1997, I believe there were actually a couple of very old veterans who had served in WWI.  Mostly, though, my patients were men who had served in WWII and their wives.  I did take care of a few women who had served in WWII.  Several of the newer patients were from more recent combat, particularly some of those with either degenerate illnesses or accident injuries that required nursing home care.

When a patient (they are called members) was admitted to the Home, my job was to take their history and do a physical examination.  Sometimes they came with paperwork, but sometimes not.  If they had dementia, I got a lot of information from the family members.  Their paperwork always told which branch of the military they served in and what years.  I usually asked what they did during their time in the service and where they served.

One of my members survived the sinking of the USS Arizona and then was in the Navy in the Pacific during the rest of WWII.  Several of my members were present at D-Day.  One talked about walking through France during the war.  Some told horrific stories, but very few did that.  I do remember one member telling about being in a German POW camp and only weighing about 88 pounds when he was released. 

For the most part, though, most members kept the horror either to themselves or buried deep.  I don’t know which.  Some would only say where they served and nothing else.  Some would tell the funny stories but nothing else. 

The wives would talk about what their husbands were like after the war.  Some wouldn’t sleep for a long time.  Some had changed.  Others seemed pretty normal.

One thing that is true of every single member at the Veteran’s Home that I met was that they are intensely patriotic.  Every veteran gets a military funeral.  I remember one veteran that was part of the honor guard that participated at the funerals.  I would see him in his dress uniform on the days when he was participating.  When his dementia and kidney disease caught up with him, he could not longer be in the honor guard and the dress uniform hung in his closet.  But, I will always see him standing so proud in his dress khakis.

These are the people I remember today.  These men and women have many counterparts living out in the community or in other nursing homes or VA nursing homes.  But, I remember these Wisconsin Veteran Home members.  I remember their stories.  I think about the stories they wouldn’t tell.  And I’m so very grateful.

What I’m Going To Do During My Summer Vacation

I get a summer vacation this year!!  How cool is that?!  Wild Man and Rosie Girl wanted their school year to coincide with the public school year, so they had fewer weeks off during the school year and we had to be more disciplined.  We gave up some of our relaxed approach to school in order to have an almost completely free summer.  (Almost completely free because Rosie Girl still has to finish her Algebra 1 course.)

So, what am I going to do?  Wild Man is off with Grandma and will start his trip from Tampa to California on Tuesday.  Rosie Girl has plans to do Algebra, write a novel, and hang out with friends.  Otherwise, we have a week at Family Camp planned and another week when my family will come up for a week in August.  Well, being who I am, I have to have a plan.  And, I do indeed have a plan!!

1. Paint the dining room and kitchen blue.  I’m hoping to get Rosie Girl and her friend to help me with this job.

2. Take the baskets off the top of the kitchen cabinets.

3. Bring the china up from the basement and put it into canvas or quilted cases and put it up on top of the cabinets.  I plant to keep a few pieces out of the cases and set up as display pieces.

4. Clean closets and the basement and give excess stuff to Goodwill.  (I may need to chain my books to the shelves because PWM gets a little zealous when he starts clearing stuff out!)

5. Knitting projects – hats for a friend who’s undergoing chemo, a summer sweater for myself, a summer sweater for my mom, start Christmas presents (no, it’s not too early – I gave my mother-in-law her Christmas present this year in March!)

6. Scan photos from my photo albums into the computer and then copy the photos onto disk.

7. Try to keep my plants from dying.

8. Lots of hanging out with my Rosie Girl.

That’s the plan.  Most of the schoolwork for next year is generally planned, so I just need to order it.  I’m not going to actually order it until July, so I’m not going to spend the whole summer planning the school year.  I actually want to enjoy my non-headache days.

Of course, the biggest problem is going to be that Wild Man isn’t around!!  Last night, we tried to do a cyber-hug over Skype.  It’s just not the same as in person.  Oh, well, I look forward to seeing all of his pictures and video-calling him all the same.  It’s going to be a good summer anyway!!

Do you have any exciting plans for your summer?!  Anything you’re particularly looking forward to?

7 Quick Takes Friday – May 28, 2010

I’m so glad to be home!  I had a great time visiting my parents, but it was HOT in Florida, and I was missing my hubby and Rosie Girl.

1. While I was in Florida, we decided to get Wild Man his own laptop.  PWM and Wild Man set up Skype, so we’ve been having video calls with Wild Man once or twice a day since I got home.  I’m going to seriously miss my Wild Man, but being able to video call him every few days will help.

2. Today is Day 10 without a migraine!!  WooHoo!!  Here’s praying that I can have a Day 11!!

3. Rosie Girl had her choir concert on the Friday while I was gone to Florida, so I was seriously bummed that I missed it.  PWM did videotape it, so I get to see it.  The real highlight, though, was that Rosie Girl won the “Most Promising Freshman” award!!  Congratulations, Rosie Girl!!

4. When it cools off in a couple of hours, I’m going to get some seeds planted in the garden and maybe start transplanting some of my seedlings.  I still don’t have a green thumb, but I’m making progress!

5. We’ve joined a CSA this year, so we’ll be getting fresh veggies every week from a local farm.  I’m hoping to broaden the spectrum of veggies that I eat.  I’m sure Rosie Girl and PWM are going to be thrilled with all the new veggies!

6. Next week is the dress rehearsal week for Dance Recital.  Rosie Girl is in the advanced tap dance and the Daddy-Daughter dance, and the week before recital is busy and fun.

7. Next week is also Rosie Girl’s last week of school, so she has finals at school for choir and art and will be dissecting a fetal pig here at home with me along with finishing up the rest of her work.  Next Thursday is the high school picnic after school, so Rosie Girl is going to attend that as well.  It’s been fun to see her get involved in school this year!

Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what’s been going on with others!!

Another Use For Suffering

A friend of mine has breast cancer and is about to start chemotherapy in which she will lose her hair.  Ugh.  I just can’t imagine.  But, I get to make her some hats to give her head some decoration and, hopefully, make her feel loved.  One reason I can make these hats is that I’ve learned a lot about knitting in the last few years when I haven’t been able to work because of my headaches.

One use of our suffering is to be able to turn around and help someone else who is suffering.  We were never intended to walk through this life alone.  Jesus is always with us, but He also left us each other.  As members in the body of Christ, it is our pleasure and joy to walk through suffering with each other.  After several years of chronic pain, I can tell someone else with confidence that Jesus is with us in the depths of our pain, in the Emergency Room, in the ICU.  More importantly, I can pray with and for that person.  I will pray that God will heal them, but, more importantly, I’ll pray that God will use their suffering to make them more like Jesus.

So, what about these hats?  They’re just hats.  No big deal, right?  Actually, I remember how loved I felt when I got my prayer shawl that several ladies in my church made.  I knew that they had been praying for me.  I hope that a few hats can convey the same thing to my friend.

And I pray that God can use my suffering to help a few others as they walk their journey of suffering and faith.

What I Did On My Spring Vacation

I got home yesterday from a week-long trip to my parent’s house.  I’m really tired, but when I think about all the things I did, I’m really not surprised.  Here’s a partial list.

• Airboat ride in the Everglades.  Seriously fun and highly educational.
• Swam in my parents swimming pool with Wild Man at least three times.  Which, by the way, is downright exhausting.  However, it must be noted that I did beat him in a breaststroke race from one end of the pool to the other.  He won the next race, though, because he actually has some stamina.
• Connected my dad’s new printer/scanner/copier/fax/coffeemaker to my computer so I could scan photos.
• Scanned 938 photos from my mom’s photo albums into my computer.
• Got Mom’s help in identifying many of the people in the photos.  There’s still work to be done there.
• Put together two binders of photos that I brought home to compare to my photos to see what it already in my computer and what is duplicate so I don’t scan things twice.
• Ate conch fritters at a waterside restaurant (whose name escapes me) in Palm Beach Gardens.  I do love conch fritters!
• Ate beef stroganoff that my mom made – and she chopped the onions and mushrooms really finely so that I would eat them instead of pick around them.  I did almost lose a finger, though, from picking at the meat as she was cooking it.
• Slept in my brother’s old room.  My old room is my dad’s office and has a twin bed, so Wild Man slept in there.
• Went through my mom’s jewelry with her to decide which pieces I want to have eventually.  She went ahead and gave me a couple of pieces that belonged to my aunt who died 10 years ago.  Two of the pieces were handmade by my grandmother – priceless!!
• Ate far more chocolate Dunkin Donuts than any one person should in the course of a week.  It’s a good thing that the nearest Dunkin Donuts to us is Chicago (I think).
• Was grateful on a regular basis that I live in a small town with minimal traffic.
• Did not open my mouth and embarrass my parents in their Sunday School class.  (Aren’t you proud of me, Dad?)
• Totally enjoyed the worship service at their church and was highly impressed at the 10 points that the pastor got from the verse “You shall not murder”.  Not only that, all 10 points were practical and ways that we can truly live our faith, and stay out of prison.
• Was hot for an entire week.
• Got patted down by airport security on the way home.  Yes, they brought in a female security agent and she was quite professional.

So, I’m tired.  I worked at the Nutrition Center this morning, but I’ve been knitting and reading the rest of the day.  Real life starts tomorrow.

Home!!

I’m home after a week at my parent’s house.  I got lots of stuff done, but I’m totally wiped out.   I’ll post pictures and stories and thoughts later.

CCM

Things I Have Learned – May 19, 2010

It’s been an interesting couple of days here in HOT South Florida.  I’ve learned and re-learned quite a bit.

1. Airboats are quite noisy.

2. I’m not fond of turbulence on airplanes.

3. The tunnel connecting the concourses at the Detroit airport has really cool lights and sounds.

4. Swimming for a few minutes with Wild Man can make him incredibly happy.

5. Fortunes can swing from quickly from one person to another while playing Sorry.

6. Sorry (at least the version my parents own) was written before the women’s movement since the players pieces are referred to as “men”.

7. I am happy I live in a small town.

8. I don’t miss hot, humid weather.

9. I do miss hanging out with my Mom and Dad on a regular basis.

10. Scanning old pictures is taking longer than I expected, but is lots of fun.

11. I need to take some time to slow down and reflect on all the changes around my childhood home.

What have you learned recently?  Anything fun?  Anything serious?

Grace

On Sunday, our pastor preached about grace and the role of grace in healthy families.  You can listen to the sermon here – and you really should ‘cause it was quite good.

So, what is grace?  If you listen to the sermon, you’ll hear lots of definitions.  Basically, grace is unmerited favor, getting something you don’t deserve.  The ultimate act of grace was God’s sending Jesus to die for our sins and pay the penalty so that we don’t have to.  But, we can show grace to others in our relationships every day.

Wild Man and I arrived in West Palm Beach Monday afternoon to visit my parents.  If you want to see grace in action, just come watch these two people!!  First, we went to my mom’s workplace because she has to work third shift and couldn’t handle that we were in town but she hadn’t seen us.  When we got there, all that Wild Man and I heard was how much Grams talked about us and how much great stuff she said about us.  It bordered on embarrassing, but who’s going to tell someone not to say nice stuff about you?!

We left Grams’ workplace and Grandpa was willing to do pretty much whatever we wanted  for dinner.  We finally settled on driving through a Burger King so the guys could get burgers and I would make a sandwich here at the house.  Throughout the evening, Grandpa’s entire goal in life was to make sure that we were comfortable and that we could get everything set up for scanning pictures tomorrow without incident.  (Scanning photos is the “real” reason that we’re here.)  I mentioned that I’d like to have some Dove soap instead of Dial or Ivory whenever he next goes to the store, and he made a special trip at 9pm to make sure that I had Dove soap.  Then, he took orders for the correct kind of Dunkin’ Donuts for the morning (since we don’t have the luxury of Dunkin’ Donuts at home).

Talk about unmerited favor.  All I did was show up.   I mean, I’m generally a nice person, and I call a couple of times a week, and  I haven’t threatened to shut them up in a trashy nursing home one of these days, but  I certainly don’t deserve the royal treatment that my parents give me whenever I come home.  Why do they do it?  Because I went to college and have letters behind my name?  Doubtful – especially since I’m not even working outside the home, much the less in my chosen field.  Is it because I’m some famous person – not likely, considering my blog readership is less than 50 and I’m well-known only in the environs of my small town.

No, my parents are so good to me because I’m their kid.  The love me.  The do this same treatment for my brother, who is a great guy, although not nearly as cute as I am.  In other words, it’s grace.  We are treated well based purely on our relationship with our parents.

And it’s that way with God, too.  He loves us because He created us, not because of what we do.  It’s perfectly OK to come to Him even when we’ve messed up, even when we have neglected our prayer times, even when we question whether He exists.  He’s still there are He still loves us.  Even though we don’t deserve it.  It’s called grace.  And it’s amazing.

Overwhelmed!

It’s 12:20am on Thursday.  I leave on Monday to visit my family for a week and to leave my son for THREE MONTHS!!!!  And I have a migraine, my house is a mess, and Wild Man does not have all the clothes he needs!  Yes, I am overwhelmed.

And, people, I am letting my son drive across the country without me for THREE MONTHS!!  (insert hyperventilating sounds  here!)  Am I crazy?  Wait, don’t answer that.

I have my notebook on my desk open to the page with Wild Man’s packing list on it, and every time I go by, I see that Wild Man has been adding to it.  Which is actually good, since I only started with the clothes he needed.  Wild Man actually is listing out things like which books and video games he is planning on taking.

I found some lovely skirts at Lands End – and one really cool thing about ordering from Lands End and living where we live is that I can order one day and have them here either the next day or the day after, but I digress – and I ordered a black and a brown skirt.  They are really nice, cotton, ankle length skirts.  No, I’m not super-modest or anything, but when you wear an ankle-length skirt, you can get away with not shaving your legs for an extra day or so.  Anyway, when I got them, I thought I could make do with the brown, although it was more yellow-orange than I like.  On Sunday night, though, I was back on Lands End website and I found that they now had the khaki skirt in my size, so I ordered the khaki and, for good measure, the navy and had PWM return the brown one to Sears (quite convenient, by the way) when he took Rosie Girl to piano on Tuesday.

While they were at Sears, Rosie Girl found a bathing suit for Wild Man, so I actually don’t have to go shopping for Wild Man before we leave.  In a pinch, I can either shop for him in Florida or give the grandparents money to buy him clothes.  The main thing that he needed was a bathing suit so that he can swim as soon as we get to my parent’s house!  Rosie Girl also found herself a lovely suit – and hopefully, her growing has slowed down so that she can get two years of wear out of this one.

I’m a little (OK, a lot) frustrated with my migraines right now.  Unfortunately, we’ve had something like two or three weather systems come through right in a row and they have just done awful things to my head.

On a positive note, I finished Wild Man’s socks.  I’ve started a raglan sweater that I hope looks good because I am making up the pattern myself.  I am also working on a pair of socks and an entrelac headband with some yarn leftover from Christmas projects.

Wild Man went to the Nutrition Site by himself today.  I had a migraine and Rosie Girl was at school because they had a late start.  The folk there really wanted to see him today since it’s his last day before he’ll be gone for a long time.  We took a map that they’ll put on the wall and mark his progress.

Rosie Girl is all excited about dance recital which is in about three weeks.  It’s a bummer that Wild Man will miss it, but we’ll get a DVD for him.  It also sounds like Rosie Girl has finally decided that she’s going to audition for Show Choir next year, but definitely NOT for Madrigals because she only has time for one extracurricular choir.  If she makes it, the summer practice week is the same week that my family is coming to town, so we’ll have to make some arrangements for her to get to some or most of the rehearsals while not missing much family stuff.  It’ll all work out fine despite the teen drama that has already occurred!

PWM has been excellent this week in helping to get things done.  He’s been helping me get laundry taken care of as well as trying to figure out what shopping is essential.  Wild Man is going to be gone for a long time, but Grandma wants him to pack light, so there’s really not much to do until this weekend.  It just feels like there’s more to do than there is.

A certain amount of the overwhelmed feeling is simply from knowing that our “little boy” is going be to away from us for so long.  Last year, he was at camp for a week.  The year before that, he was with my parents for 10 days.  We’ve tried to have families that we trust that our kids can stay with so that PWM and I can have a night or weekend to ourselves every once in a while (especially important when I was working).  But this is much bigger.  So, I’m trying to get used to it.

I never knew my father’s parents – they both had died before I was born.  My mom’s mother died when I was seven.  My mom’s dad stayed with us several times, and I knew him better, but he was rather old – in his 80s – and he died when I was 12.  (My mom was the youngest of 12 children.)  I never had the chance that my children have to get to know their grandparents.  In fact, my kids knew their great-grandmother who just died last year in her 90s.  This opportunity for Wild Man is something that I never had, and he will, I hope, cherish.  He and Grandma will be a lot closer after three months on the road.

I’m sure I’ll still freak out on occasion.  But Wild Man is going to have a blast.  And Rosie Girl and I will have some fun this summer, too.  I want to get my kitchen and dining room painted.  Hopefully, we can get some things to grow in our garden and planters.  It will be good all the way around!

Saturday Links – May 8, 2010

Here are some links I’ve been enjoying – and I’m not talking sausage!!

How Animals Spend A Typical Day – some really fun pie graphs

Letter from the Tooth Fairy – I could have written this!

Helping The Spiritually Helpless – An excellent post on talking with family members dealing with end of life issues.

Bronte Sisters Action Figures – The literary world’s answer to Barbie?!

The first chapter of Mere Churchianity is available!

Cinco de Mayo LOLCat!

Hope you enjoy!!

7 Quick Takes Friday – May 7, 2010

I’m actually getting this post done earlier than usual, but it’s because I’ve got such a bad headache.  Ugh.

1. The calendar may say that it’s springtime, but I don’t think anyone told the weather.  The high today is 48, so we are wearing sweatshirts and have the heater running again.

2. Speaking of cold weather, it looks like it’s time to have a funeral for the three cucumber plants.  They didn’t survive our little cold snap.  The good news is that they grow so quickly from seed that I can have PWM start another set while I’m gone and then put them outside when I get home.

3. I love cooking competition shows.  Right now, I watch Top Chef Masters and Chopped.  I’m looking forward to Next Food Network Star starting in June.  I also enjoy Top Chef, which I think is in the fall.  I love the energy of the young chefs in Top Chef, but I really don’t like that some of them have some arrogance and the language is quite inappropriate.  I often let Wild Man watch Top Chef Masters with me, but rarely let him watch Top Chef – largely because of the language issues.  I wonder if the older chefs have better language because of generational issues of if they “outgrow” it as they become more confident.

4. I made Paula Deen’s chocolate bread pudding on Wednesday night because I had insomnia.  It is soooooo rich and yummy!!

5. Rosie Girl has a piano Master Class today.  I would really like to go and hear her play and hear the instructor.  Rosie Girl is a little upset because the school’s writing club that she belongs to is having a writer come in and visit and Rosie Girl can’t be there because she was already signed up for the Master Class.

6. I’m loving my new laptop.  One of the nicest things was that my pictures and documents transferred from my desktop incredibly easily.  I love being able to just pull my laptop into my lap and look up whatever I need.

7. On Wild Man’s trip this summer, he is going to be with his Grandma who is Roman Catholic, while Wild Man has been raised in an Evangelical Free Church.  Wild Man has been to a Catholic Mass just once or twice that he can remember.  I’ve found a couple of online resources that I’m going to discuss with Wild Man before the trip so that he’s a little bit more familiar with the service and what the different things mean.  Any other recommendations?

Check out Conversion Diary to see what others are saying!!

Carpe Diem!

Rosie Girl and I watched “Dead Poets’ Society” this week and I was reminded of one of my favorite scenes.

Mr. Keating encourages his students to “seize the day” and “gather your rosebuds while ye may” because they are “food for worms, lads”.

But, is that all we are, “food for worms”?  Certainly, our bodies will decompose back into dust, but God has given humans souls and has “set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecc. 3:11).  We are created in the image of God.  We can approach the “throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16).  Doesn’t sound like vermiculture to me!

A friend and I were discussing this today at lunch.  As humans, we are created for eternity, so how does that impact our life on earth?  My friend said (and I agree with her) that our time on earth is “boot camp” for eternity.  This is where we get practice in loving God, serving others, and worshipping God.  Ephesians 5:15-16 reminds us to make the most of our time here on earth.

It’s something of a balancing act, isn’t it?  We look forward to Heaven (“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”  Colossians 3:3) but have the opportunity to serve God in the here and now and tell others the amazing news of the Kingdom of God.  In John 17, Jesus prayed to the Father that his followers would be in the world, but not of the world. No, it’s not either/or – it’s both/and.  We get to set our minds on things above, but keep our feet down here on the ground.

Yes, we are to seize the day!!  Take hold of today and do whatever God puts in front of you to do.  It won’t be the same as what God gives me or your next door neighbor.  Just do it!  And not because you are food for worms – but because you are destined for Heaven!!

School Planning for 2010-2011

By this time in the Spring, I’m usually neck deep in curricula research and course planning.  This year – not so much.  Mostly, I’ve been getting ready for my and Christopher’s trip to Florida and getting the garden up and going.  Not only that, I’ve also pretty much had Rosie Girl’s high school curriculum planned, although we have made a few changes.

First of all, Wild Man’s 7th grade year:

• Bible – not sure
• History/Geography – Sonlight Core 5, but using Kingfisher World Geography as a spine (I think)
• Science – Singapore Intermediate A supplemented with biographies of scientists
• Spelling – All About Spelling
• Writing – Institute for Excellence in Writing
• Literature – Sonlight Readers
• Grammar – Easy Grammar 5
• Math – ALEKS and working with PWM
• PE
• Band – at the local middle school

And now Rosie Girl’s full high school plan.

9th grade (will all be completed by the first week of June):

• Earth Science – work actually done in 8th grade, but it was high school level, so I’m giving her credit.
• American HIstory – Sonlight Core 100
• Biology 1 with lab – Singapore Biology with Castle Heights lab
• Bible – Sonlight Bible
• English 1
  • American Literature – Sonlight
  • Writing – Write at Home
  • Grammar – Daily Grams
• Study Skills (1/2 credit)
• Art – at the local high school
• Choir – at the local high school
• Piano – lessons at Lawrence Academy with other performances
• Physical Education – tap class, regular exercise (1/2 credit)
• Latin – PowerSpeak (1 semester, 1/2 credit)

9th grade summer courses

• Algebra 1 – ALEKS (will be completed ASAP in the summer)
• Japanese (She’s decided she wants to learn Japanese instead of Latin, so she has to do a full two years.)
• Creative Writing (Rosie Girl wants to write a novel)

10th grade

• Chemistry 1 – Singapore Chemistry with lab
• History Since the Time of Christ – Sonlight Core 200
• English 2
  • Literature – Sonlight
  • Writing – Essay writing workshop and research writing workshop with Write at Home, Creative writing
• Bible – Old Testament Survey
• Algebra 2
• Art – at the local high school
• Choir – at the local high school
• Piano – lessons
• Physical Education
• Japanese

11th grade

• Twentieth Century World History – Sonlight Core 300
• English 3
  • Literature – Sonlight
  • Writing – Creative Writing, other assigned writing
• Bible – New Testament Survey
• Geometry
• The Science of Music – a self-directed science course that Rosie Girl will make up on her own.
• Art
• Choir
• Piano
• Physical Education
• Japanese
• Driver’s education (1/2 credit)

12th grade

• American Government – Hippocampus (1/2 credit)
• Another 1/2 credit social science
• British Literature (with writing) AP
• Bible
  • Worldview course
  • 1 semester comparative religions
• Trigonometry
• Art
• Choir
• Piano

As always, Rosie Girl and I are free to make changes to her school schedule as needed.  For example, she has decided that she doesn’t really want to do the Fort Wilderness Marine Biology trip to Florida and would rather expand her self-directed music science course to a full credit course.

I’ve been very pleased with Rosie Girl’s growth in maturity this year.  She does a very good job now of making sure that she gets all of her work done by the end of the week, rarely having to squeak by late on Friday night.

Wild Man will probably learn as much about the US on his drive across the country with his grandmother this summer as we have learned from books and videos.  Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to doing Core 5 – Eastern Hemisphere.  The kids’ schoolwork will definitely be completely separate next year.

So, there’s the plan.  It’s subject to change, of course.  But this is what I’m thinking.  Any thoughts on where I can get a good curriculum for Rosie Girl to learn something beyond basic Japanese?