Mary Ann Thérèse

7 Quick Takes Friday #118

2011-02-25T14:51:00.000-05:00

I renewed all of my library books online today instead of going out in the storm.
I am listening to the Traveling Wilburys on last.fm. I love the Traveling Wilburys.
Tax season is in full swing, and I am loving every minute of it. Well, almost. It's because I have great co-workers!
I am sneaking a soda in the office. I only let the kids drink soda on Sundays.
I have no idea what's for dinner tonight. That's not good.
DoorMan went out in the storm with all of the crazies on the roads.
The boys are supposed to be cleaning their room. The "get rid of" pile is tiny.

November Books

2010-10-31T12:39:00.003-04:00

October Books

2010-09-30T10:38:00.002-04:00

Christmas Card Giveaway

2010-09-30T10:16:00.000-04:00

Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter is hosting a Christmas Card Giveway over at her blog. I've got my entry in.

Random Meme

2010-09-29T09:32:00.002-04:00

I haven't done one of these in an age, but Dawn at By Sun and Candlelight posted this, so I was inspired.

1. What's your middle name?

Ann

2. What's your favorite magazine?

Magnificat

3. What are you wearing right now?

Blue short-sleeved turtleneck, brown pleated skirt

4. What color are your bed sheets?

Sage

5. Who was your third grade teacher?

Sister Mary Patrick

6. What is the weather like right now?

Cloudy

7. Do you know how to ski?

8. What was the last thing you drank?

Stew broth. I just put a stew in the crock pot and I was checking the seasoning.

9. Dream vacation?

Trans-Atlantic cruise

10. Favorite article of clothing?

New denim skirt

11. Do you prefer baking or cooking?

Baking

12. Is your hair above or below your shoulders?

Below

13. What drink do you order when out?

Bourbon and Coke

14. What book are you reading?

I am sadly between books, but awaiting the arrival of The Old Fox Deceiv'd (Richard Jury Mystery) from inter-library loan.

15. What did you dream about last night?

Nothing

16. What was the last movie you went to?

Toy Story 3

17. Any injuries at the moment?

18. What color is your bathroom?

Plain off white

19. What's the state of your laundry right now?

Mostly caught up yesterday

20. Do you take vitamins?

Yes

21. Where do you love to shop?

I don't

22. How often do you buy groceries?

Once a week

23. Do you have a pet/pets?

No (we rent)

24. If you are married, when is your next anniversary?

15 years tomorrow

25. How do you take your coffee and/or tea?

Coffee: black with sugar unless there's real cream

Tea: black with sugar

26. Mac or PC? Desktop or Laptop?

iMac G5 desktop; old iBook laptop

I am a Mac, I've never been a PC

27. Favorite month of the year?

November

28. Do you have a hobby?

Many

29. What salad dressing do you prefer?

Greek

30. Live or fake Christmas tree?

Always live, usually cut down by my husband

31. Did you walk or take a bus to school?

Bus

32. Do you have any phobias?

Flying, anesthesia

33. What's your favorite snack food?

Hummus

34. When do you take your shower/bath?

Early morning

35. What time did you get up this morning?

7:00

36. What's your favorite animal?

Dog

37. Have you ever broken a bone?

38. Do you wear makeup?

Yes if I go out, but not if I'm just staying home

39. Do you speak any foreign languages?

Not fluently. Took four years of high school Spanish, one semester of college French and I have taught my sons Latin for the past eight years.

40. Have you ever played a sport?

Softball, cheerleader

41. Your last UPS package delivered contained ...

Parts for central vacuum systems (for my husband's business)

42. What's on your desktop?

Tulips

43. What is your home page?

Google Reader

44. Extrovert or introvert?

Introvert, but I'm getting better

45. Favorite board game?

Clue

46. What class did you like best in high school? In college?

High school: Senior English with Mr. Keating

College: Accounting, of course

47. What would you do with an extra hour each day?

Read

48. Do you have allergies?

Hay fever

49. Are your nails painted?

50. Where are you right now?

Our office (which is really the third bedroom)

September 11 Books

2010-09-11T09:31:00.001-04:00

Books for remembering September 11:

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Read my review of Bikeman here.

September Books

2010-08-29T16:56:00.007-04:00

In addition to our textbooks, here are the books we will be reading this September:

Reading Lately

2010-08-19T12:43:00.000-04:00

I have been reading through the Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries from the beginning. I am really enjoying them. They are set in 1919 - 20 Britain just after World War I. Although written currently by an American duo under the name Charles Todd, they evoke the best of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction (1918 - 1939).

I've finished the fourth one this week, and am hoping to catch the fifth title at the library for my trip next week.

Speaking of Writing....

2010-07-17T20:42:00.000-04:00

I am totally engrossed by the serial mystery Seraphic Spouse is posting on her blog. There's an installment nearly every day. And it is good! She's a published author who lives in an Historical House, so you know it's quality stuff.

Really? I Don't See It

2010-07-17T20:26:00.003-04:00

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I write like
Vladimir Nabokov

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Summer Soccer

2010-07-10T12:47:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd share some shots from this mornings soccer match. It was a glorious day and I had a peaceful spot in the shade for Arch's match.

Simple Woman's Daybook January 18, 2010

2010-01-18T21:08:00.004-05:00

FOR TODAY...

Outside my window... yucky, dirty, half-melted, muddy snow. Not pretty.

I am thinking... about taxes. My new job :)

I am thankful for... for the nice man who fixed my washing machine for a ridiculously low price.

I am wearing... sweater set, pleated skirt and no shoes or socks. My feet are cold :/

I am remembering... Haiti. I had a classmate in college who was Haitian. I haven't seen him since college, but I have thought about him this past week.

I am going... nowhere until Wednesday at lunchtime. I love being home in winter.

I am currently reading... the plays of Oscar Wilde. I am still not through them. I put reading aside this past week. The Fedex man brought me an ARC of a new Civil War history book to read and review today. A Vast and Fiendish Plot by Clint Johnson. It's a true tale of a Confederate plot to burn Manhattan in 1864. I just began it while BamBam was in the tub, and I'm still on the prologue.

I am hoping... to get caught up on paperwork here at home before Saturday. I can do that.

On my mind... again, Haiti. Really unspeakable, and I don't think we, the human race, have done our best to get aide to the people who need it as efficiently as we could have.

Pondering these words... "The unborn are as much a part of the Beloved Community as are newborns, infants, teenagers, adults, and the elderly. Too many of us speak of tolerance and inclusion, yet refuse to tolerate or include the weakest and most innocent among us in the human family. As we celebrate the life of Uncle Martin, let us renew our hearts and commit our lives to treating each other, whatever our race, status, or stage of life, as we would want to be treated. Let us let each other live." -- Dr. Alveda King, January 18, 2010

From the kitchen... There were cinnamon rolls over the weekend, but they're gone now :(

Around the house... I am trying to organize and purge as I go.

From our studies... BamBam is reading now. We have learned short vowel
"a." Cat, bat, pan, man. You get the idea. Arch is working on explorers.

One of my favorite things... Minnie, my minivan. Yes, I named her. Yes, it is from a children's movie.

On my iPod ... Catholic Foodie podcasts. My absolute favorite and the one I always listen to first.

Plans for the upcoming week... cleaning and organizing, co-op, bowling, two soccer games, work on Saturday, confession, football. Go Jets!

From my picture journal... the little "colts" doing soccer drills.

Simple Woman's Daybook January 11, 2010

2010-01-11T15:13:00.002-05:00

FOR TODAY...

Outside my window... snow, and more snow. Snowing now. Everything is so white and blanketed. Birds and squirrels are congregating at the feeders.

I am thinking... about blogging and picking up with it again.

I am thankful for... for all of my family and friends.

I am wearing... sweater, top, skirt, heavy socks.

I am remembering... that 2009 went by so fast!

I am going... to Buffalo tomorrow, while the boys play at a friend's house.

I am currently reading... the plays of Oscar Wilde. I was in a Wilde mood. Currently in the middle of "A Woman of No Importance."

I am hoping... to get a good report from the doctor tomorrow.

On my mind...getting ready to go back to work, and renewing my drivers' license.

Simple Woman's Daybook November 7, 2009

2009-11-07T16:26:00.005-05:00

Outside my window... the late afternoon sun simply glowing on the leaves and grass and across my desk.

I am thinking... about dinner, and how I should get up and make it soon.

I am thankful for... my new part-time seasonal job.

I am wearing... grey skirt, blue top, slipper-socks.

I am remembering... my neighbors and how we will miss them when they leave (later today).

I am going... to have a busy week.

I am reading... nothing until I get to the library on Monday.

I am hoping... that a special intention which I cannot mention will be answered and everything will be all right for a certain someone.

On my mind... Fort Hood and Obama-care.

From the learning room... Explorers, and the Letter J.

Noticing that... my desk is a mess, and so is our office (I share it with DoorMan).

Pondering these words... "If I had my way, I'd shuffle off to Buffalo, sit by the lake and watch the world go by."

From the kitchen... chicken chowder cooked by the Holy Name men.

Around the house... I need to clean.

One of my favorite things... last.fm

From my picture journal...

The Holy Name men (and woman) and the cauldron of chowder. Rumor has it, the cauldron was a fuel cell from a jet fighter in a past life.

Book Review: The Night Watchman

2009-05-19T22:22:00.002-04:00

A year ago homicide detective Ray Quinn had it all. Now he is a lonely night watchman at a condo, who gets around on his bad leg with a cane and a lot of pain.

One night he discovers two bodies on the premises, and his world, already turned upside down, spins out of control again. He reluctantly becomes involved in solving the crime, only to find that the answers he finds hit close to home.

This book was a very enjoyable read. Fast-paced and dryly witty, it is a police procedural with a twist. It is also a classic whodunnit, and the reader has all the clues in front of him to solve the case along with Ray. I appreciated the fact that faith is introduced and examined in an honest way, via the sister of one of the victims. There is also a blessed lack of gore, descriptive sex and foul language.

Day Book, Second Week of May 2009

2009-05-14T20:02:00.009-04:00

Outside my window ...

the groundhog (Groundy) made an appearance today while the sky was dark with storm clouds. He was laying next to the shed taking in the neighborhood.

I am listening to...
BamBam humming and a lawn mower somewhere nearby, maybe Paul?

To be healthy and happy...
I had my eyes examined and am getting bifocals. Yes, I am an old woman.

I am thankful for ...
customers!

From the kitchen ...
Brownies, lots of brownies. I baked a double batch and am sending a bunch to the Buffalo Catholic Homeschool Conference this Saturday.

I am wearing ...
what was formerly a nice yellow short-sleeved tee. It is now grease-stained from moving old garage door sections out of the gusty wind this afternoon.

I am creating ...
homeschool plans for next year, still.

On my iTunes...
lately I am loving Dire Straits and REO Speedwagon. Reliving my teen / college years.

Bringing beauty to my home ...
hmmmm. I need to work on this one!

I am reading ...
The Night Watchman. I am reading an advance reading copy (ARC) to review for LibraryThing. I review books as a hobby. Also, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, aloud to the boys.

I recently watched ...
The original Stuart Little with Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie.

I am hoping and praying ...
for all to go smoothly here on Saturday in my absence.

On keeping home ...
I am working on getting more sleep, to get more done.

One of my favorite things ...
is the semi-annual library book sale. Ours just happens to be tomorrow at ten. I'll be there with a pocket full of money!

A few plans for the rest of the week...
include the library book sale, Arch's final track-and-field camp, the BCHS on Saturday, and a blissfully empty calendar on Sunday.

Picture thoughts

"Juxtaposition of life and death."

Day Book, First Week of May 2009

2009-05-05T13:36:00.003-04:00

Outside my window ...

a robin has made a nest on a rack on the back of our shed. There are two little blue eggs in it.

I am listening to...
the boys planning / discussing / arguing whatever escapade they are up to this afternoon.

To be healthy and happy...
we took a walk during baseball practice.

I am thankful for ...
Arch's good results on his standardized test.

From the kitchen ...
New Orleans Bread Pudding to use up some leftover bread from the Holy Name breakfast.

I am wearing ...
a pink shirt and brown skirt.

I am creating ...
a more organized pile of chaos.

On my iTunes...
the Pledge of Allegiance to music. Arch has to learn it to sing at the National Day of Prayer on Thursday.

Bringing beauty to my home ...
hmmmm.

I am reading ...
The Penderwicks, aloud to the boys at bedtime.

I recently watched ...
Monk Season 6 discs one and two. Waiting to disc three to arrive in the mail.

I am hoping and praying ...
that it does not rain on Niagara Square at noon on Thursday.

On keeping home ...
I am weeding out old stuff from my planner.

One of my favorite things ...
are old cookbooks for 49¢at the thrift store. I just picked up one called Thoughts for Buffets which is just chock full of cool menus and recipes.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
include Arch's first baseball game, BamBam's last story hour. A trip to Buffalo for the National Day of Prayer and a visit to the Central Library.

Picture thoughts

My tulips. Lovely.

Day Book, Last Week of April 2009

2009-04-28T22:40:00.004-04:00

Outside my window ...
we have a groundhog living in our yard, under the shed. BamBam saw him first and declared he had seen a beaver! I'm torn between naming him Chuck or Grady.

I am listening to...
the very quiet hum of my iMac's fan. The boys are asleep, that's why I can hear it.

To be healthy and happy...
we took a walk yesterday. Such beautiful weather!

I am thankful for ...
everything!

From the kitchen ...
came pancakes this morning. Not usually seen on a weekday, and probably won't be again for a long time.

I am wearing ...
my old blue-and-green floral shirt which I don't like. My boys were both telling me at bedtime how much they love it. BamBam remembered me carrying him when he was a toddler and him putting his hand in the pocket. Arch claims he likes it "because I grew up with it."

I am creating ...
weekly lesson plans for Arch for the sixth grade. Most of the books are here, except math. After that, I'll move on to the kindergarten plans for BamBam.

On my iTunes...
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Bringing beauty to my home ...
with flowers hand picked for my by BamBam. Lots and lots of dandelions to brighten up the dining room table.

I am reading ...
The Wisdom of Father Dowling, which is a collection of short stories all previously published. I am also reading an advanced reading copy of a biography of Mother Teresa. I have promised to review it, and I'll post my review here when I'm done.

I recently watched ...
an absolutely antique Alfred Hitchcock movie I had never even heard of before. Blackmail, filmed in 1929. He was still in his London period. The cinematography was amazing for what it was. The first few scenes were completely silent aside for the soundtrack! Thanks to Big Jim for giving us the video.

I am hoping and praying ...
that the business continues to grow, despite the economy. We had good news this week, with the addition of at least two new commercial customers.

On keeping home ...
I have to weed the front garden on the next sunny day. The downstairs must be spiffed up tomorrow because the lady is coming to cut my hair in the afternoon. It's mostly just cluttered.

One of my favorite things ...
piles of clean folded laundry. I just wish it would stay clean and folded!

A few plans for the rest of the week...
include co-op, baseball, track-and-field and serving at Mass for Arch. Story hour for BamBam, Holy Name Society for DoorMan. And me? I'm getting a hair cut tomorrow, and being treated to a mother / child breakfast at church after Mass on Sunday.

Picture thoughts

My daffodils, which I believed had frozen to death before they bloomed. They made it after all!

Marriage Meme

2009-02-09T19:41:00.003-05:00

Now there's a marriage one. Again, I'm not tagging anyone on this, just do it if you want.

For all you married people out there! Tag your married friends that you want to know about!
(Don't forget to tag the person who tagged you!)

1. When was your "engagement" anniversary: May 17, 1994

2. When is your "marriage" anniversary: September 30, 1995

3. How long have you known your spouse: Since May 1990

4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged: 47 days

5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time: Briandi's

6. What is your spouses full name: Stanley Francis Bernard, Jr.

7. Do you have any children yet: yes

8. How many: Two

9. Do you have any house pets: No

10. Do you own a house or rent: Rent

11. Do you live in the country or town/city: city

12. What is one of your favorite activities together: hitting the wine trail

13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot: New York City

14. How many siblings (including in-laws): 4 borhters; 5 sisters

15. What church do you attend: All Saints Lockport

16. Is this the church you were married in: No

17. What town is your current address: Lockport

18. Do you work or stay at home: Stay home

19. Where did you honeymoon: Finger Lakes

20: Leave a piece of marriage advice: Be yourself.

First Born Meme

2009-02-06T09:23:00.002-05:00

I was tagged on facebook. I'm doing it, but not tagging anyone else....

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born! Just copy and paste it in a new note for yourself! Tag 10 mommies when you're finished.

Let's see how much you remember!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? yes and no.... yes we were trying; no, I had a procedure performed that month, and my Gyn said I wouldn't be able to conceive until my next cycle. I never got a next cycle.....

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? shocked and very happy, speechless

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? never ever

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 29

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? test at the Gyn office, following up after my earlier procedure

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? husband

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? no

9. DUE DATE? July 18

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? yes, and severe food aversions

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? nothing, I could barely eat

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? the smell of food

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? no

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 40

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? yes, two

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? knew both times

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? yes: failed my one-hour glucose test; had slight hypertension; in early labor my contractions were very unorganized; at hospital had very high blood pressure, had to be in bed the whole time with a saline flush, fetal heart monitor in his scalp, fetal bloodwork, I had an oxygen mask and constant blood pressure monitor; the neo-natal transport team was in the delivery room ready to take him to Children's. He ended up being fine......apgar of 9.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Millard Suburban

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 14

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? husband

22. WHO WAS WITH YOU WHEN YOU GIVE BIRTH? husband, doctor, nurse, two neo-natal paramedics (if that's what they're called)

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? epidural, which they had delayed because they were debating a c-section. Then the guy was busy... finally I got it with my contractions about 15 seconds apart, and I delivered soon after.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 8 lbs. 2 oz.

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? July 16

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Robert Sean

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 10

25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-28T08:57:00.002-05:00

I was tagged by The Byrdman on Facebook.

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

I am terrified to fly. I had a bad flight once in college, going back to school from Winter Break. There were about five passengers on a big commercial plane, and we took off late from Newark in a blinding snowstorm, very early in the morning. Out of my window I saw lights, very close to our plane, as we were ascending. I think we almost hit another plane. Whether we did or not, it terrified me. Then, I flew into Boston for work once. No one warned me that it was perfectly normal for the plane to fly out over the Atlantic and bank so steeply that all you can see out you window is water. I haven't flown since 1993.
I am a Mac person. I have never in my life owned a PC. I am on my fifth Mac in the last fifteen years.
Autumn is my favorite season. Cool but not too cold. Apples, pumpkins, colorful leaves, Thanksgiving.
I am from Queens. We lived in Woodside until I was almost five.
I have lived more than half of my life in either Erie or Niagara County, counting college.
I am completely Irish. Period.
I have started to write at least five novels. I never finish them.
I am a revert to the Catholic faith. I never formally left it, but I did not practice my faith (or any other one) for about eleven years.
I love Golden Age detective books. I own have read everything Agatha Christie has ever written, including two autobiographies and a book of poems. I also own all of the Sherlock Holmes books and all of Chesterton's Father Brown books.
I am an avid planner and a recovering procrastinator.
I love to cook and bake. I seldom follow a recipe to the letter. My cookbooks are covered with notes in the margins about what I actually did when I made the dish.
I would love to have a viable business selling used books online. I do that now, but I don't devote enough time to it to make it really profitable.
I drink two cups of coffee every morning. No more, no less.
I don't have any nieces or nephews on my side of the family, but on my husband's side I have eighteen nieces and nephews, two nephews-in-law and one grand-nephew.
We own a huge amount of books. We have books in every room of our house except the bathrooms. Even have bookcases in the hallways. I am supposed to be organizing and cataloging them, but..... (see # 10 above)
I have read every Jane Austen novel, and seen at least one movie adaptation of each one.
My grandmothers were named Catherine and Kathryn. My aunt was named Katherine. My husband's grandmother was named Katarzyna. If we ever have a baby girl, she will be named Cathryn.
I have more blood relations (first cousins once removed and second cousins) in Ireland than in America.
I have always loved to watch sports. I have been a fan of the Mets since I was eight. My favorite sport to watch on TV is baseball. Close seconds are football and NASCAR.
I have a devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux. My father grew up in Little Flower parish in Flatbush, Brooklyn. My mother grew up at St. Theresa's in Sunnyside, Queens. I took Therese as my confirmation name.
Before I was married, if you considered my confirmation name, my initials spelled MATH. I aced the math regents my freshman year in high school, and earned the monicker Ms. MATH from a certain disgruntled classmate who only got a 99.
We don't have cable TV or a video game console. My children don't have hand-held games or cell phones. They are not allowed to watch TV commercials or to be on the computer without me. They read things printed on paper, and play with things they can actually touch.
Wherever we have lived, we have had homeschoolers as close neighbors, just coincidentially. I think there are a lot more homeschoolers out there than people imagine.
I have learned that motherhood makes one much less squeamish. I'm not even afraid of spiders anymore.
I love to do needlecrafts like crocheting and counted cross-stitch, but I seldom find the time. I have a pile of unfinished projects. After my mother-in-law passed away, I found some of her unfinished projects. It made me sad, and I determined to finish all of mine. I haven't stuck with it.

There, 25 things about me. I know I just tagged a bunch of people in another meme this week. I was tagged on this one, so I had to do it! I will try not to tag too many of you twice. If I do, I'm sorry!

Pelosi on Contraception

2009-01-26T11:26:00.003-05:00

From This Week on ABC yesterday, explaining why in this time of fiscal disaster the federal government must spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraception:

"The family planning services reduce cost," Pelosi said, "One of the elements of this package is assistance to the states. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

Reduce costs by reducing people? Two examples to illustrate how this does not work:

Europe - contracepting western civilization on that continent right out of existence. They are not even able to reproduce at replacement rate anymore.
Social Security - the idea that many workers being taxed to pay for the retirement bliss of the few depends on there being more workers than retirees. We've known for at least a decade that we have a severe shortage of workers compared with retirees.

Less people equals a dying culture. Laying aside the issues of abortion and the sanctity of the sacrament of matrimony, economically speaking, less people means a smaller economy, smaller marketplace, smaller tax base.

Reagan on Abortion

2009-01-23T16:09:00.000-05:00

"I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born."

Ronald Reagan, quoted in New York Times, 22 September 1980

HT Lady in the Pew

Getting to Know You: 2009 Edition

2009-01-22T21:22:00.006-05:00

*Getting to Know You, 2009 Edition*

Completed on Thursday evening, January 22nd

1. What is your occupation right now? Housewife and homeschooling mom.

2. What color are your socks right now? Pink.

3. What are you listening to right now. My husband reading "Farmer Boy" to BamBam and Arch showering after his soccer game.

4. What is the last thing you ate? Viactiv.

5. Can you drive a stick shift? No. And there is a funny story about that....

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Husband.

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I saw this on Dawn's blog. I've never met her, but I like what I've read.

8. How old are you today? 41

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Baseball.

10. What is your favorite drink? Coca-Cola.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? No.

12. Favorite food? Real NYC pizza. There is no substitute.

13. What is the last movie you watched? It's a Wonderful Life.

14. Favorite day of the year? Thanksgiving.

15. How do you vent anger? With sarcasm.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? My toy dog, Toto. I carried him around in a basket just like Dorothy.

17. What is your favorite season? Autumn.

18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries.

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Of course.

20. Who is the most likely to respond? They are all pretty good about replies.

21. Who is least likely to respond? Mary T., she never checks her email.

22. Living arrangements? We rent a duplex in a cute little city on the Erie Canal.

23. When was the last time you cried? Inauguration Day.

24. What is on the floor of your closet? Craft supplies.

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? My sister.

26. What did you do last night? Watched Monk on DVD with my husband.

27. What are you most afraid of? Hell.

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Cheese.

29. Favorite dog breed? Irish Wolf Hound.

30. Favorite day of the week? Sunday.

31. How many states have you lived in? One. NY, where else?

32. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds.

33. What is your favorite flower? Black-eyed Susans.

34. Favorite Hobby? Reading.

35. Have you ever tried singing Karaoke? Yes.

Obama Inaugural Speech

2009-01-20T13:08:00.003-05:00

Here are some quotes from the transcript of Obama's inaugural address today:

"The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

[...]

It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate."

Had I fallen off the turnip truck yesterday, I would have said, "Oh, good. He's pro-life."

Book Review: The Virtue Driven Life

2009-01-05T11:06:00.001-05:00

Fr. Groeschel brings his wisdom to bear in an exposition of the seven main virtues of Christian life. Beginning with the four cardinal virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice), Groeschel explains their human characteristics, and how they can be elevated by grace to a supernatural level. For the three theological virtues (faith, hope and charity), he explains how they flow from God's grace. Examples from life pepper the text, making for clear examples and keeping the material interesting. A good introduction to the important virtues for anyone interested in the Catholic faith.

January's Book List

2009-01-02T15:26:00.001-05:00

Books we will be delving into this coming month:

Nocturnal Visitor

2008-12-30T14:34:00.006-05:00

Two nights ago I was up. I got out the fleece blanket to snuggle under on the couch, and set out to update my planner and read a book until I either fell asleep or it became too late to.

I heard a curious cooing sound, like the muffled sound of a mourning dove in the shrubs outside. Mourning doves are frequent visitors to our feeders. But this was the pitch black, freezing early hours of the morning. After listening a few times, I turned out the lamp, wrapped myself in the fleece and squeezed myself between the over-sized Christmas tree and the front window. I listened.

I heard it again, much clearer now, and I was sure. It was an owl. And not just any owl. A great horned owl, one of the largest owls in North America. I tried to find him. He was close by, I could tell. But it was too dark with no moon, and the one streetlight did more to blind me than to illuminate the area. I listened, though, for about fifteen minutes, until the whoo-ing stopped.

I was still thrilled. I haven't heard an owl in years. And never in the city. We do live near a cliff, and great horned owls like to nest in cliffs. So maybe he'll be back. Arch made me promise to wake him up if I ever hear it again.

The Centurion's Wife

2008-12-22T04:50:00.002-05:00

The Centurion's Wife is the first installment in a promising new series entitled Acts of Faith. Set in Ceasarea and Jerusalem at the time of the Crucifixion of Christ, the story is told from two perspectives. First is Leah, a poor relation of Pontius Pilate whose circumstances force her to become a servant in his household. Then there is Alban, a Gallic Roman centurion who has offered for Leah's hand in the hopes of advancing his own career.

The events surrounding the trial, death and subsequent disappearance of the body of Jesus have everyone unsettled. Pilate and Herod are concerned about a possible Jewish revolt in the province. Pilate's wife is suffering from unspeakable headaches and nightmares.

Pilate allows Alban to become betrothed to Leah, who is legally a Jewess by her mother's mother, in a traditional Jewish ceremony. To claim his bride, Alban must find the body of Jesus, and determine if a revolt is imminent.

Leah, who wants no part of marriage, is tasked by Pilate's wife to find out all she can about the followers of Jesus.

The characters are interesting and sympathetic. The title of the book, and the fact that it is proclaimed a "first-in-series," give away the ending. But how they manage to get there, and what happens Leah and Alban along the way, is an interesting tale.

Most interesting for me was the reaction of people to the Resurrection right when it happened, as portrayed in the book. It led me to ask myself what I might have thought, might have done. I was a little uncomfortable with development of personalities for Biblical characters such as Pilate and his wife, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus and his sisters. But, how else to tell a story?

The ending of the book was left a definite cliff-hanger, with Alban's fate as a centurion in the balance still. I think they overplayed their lead-in to a sequel just a bit. I would have liked a major issue such as that settled in the same volume.

Overall this was an enjoyable, thought-provoking tale of Judea at the time of it's biggest crisis.

Just Two of the Reasons I Love Our Papa

2008-12-16T20:08:00.002-05:00

"Joy is often found behind little things and is reached by following one's proper daily duty with a spirit of devotion." -- Pope Benedict XVI, address on the occasion of the canonization of St. Felix of Nicosia, October 2005
A recent article in the National Catholic Register suggests Pope Benedict XVI is considering moving the Sign of Peace to another (more appropriate) place in the Mass. For instance, at the Offertory.

2009 Reading Challenge

2008-12-08T19:23:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year! I'm doing some things differently for '09 than I did in '08, namely:

Less books. I'm aiming for 25.
Less categories. I'll have 5.
On-the-go book list, instead of writing out ahead of time what I plan to read.

My five categories are:

Theology
History
Literature
Arts
Sciences

I'll try to update my reading in my left sidebar. I did that for most of '08, but let it slide the past few months.

Sign the Academic Freedom Petition

2008-11-18T20:01:00.003-05:00

Ben Stein highlighted the discrimination against intelligent design in his movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This discrimination is why it is so important, now more than ever, to stand up in support of academic freedom.

Opposite of Writer's Block?

2008-11-09T11:30:00.002-05:00

What is the opposite of writer's block?

I started a novel a few weeks ago, that I simply cannot get out of my head. I wonder if Jane Austen felt this way?

Local Hero

2008-10-29T17:50:00.002-04:00

The Buffalo News has a story today about Jonathan Cote and his four companions, private security contractors in Iraq who were kidnapped, tortured and murdered.

I have a friend who is an in-law of the Cote family here in WNY. This is a sad disgrace for our country.

Expelled

2008-10-28T18:48:00.001-04:00

Do not miss this movie, just out on DVD this week. Ben Stein looks at the academic, media and court barriers to the discussion of intelligent design in the United States today. He then looks at Darwinism's influence on Nazism. Must see!

November's Library Books

2008-10-25T14:50:00.001-04:00

Book Organization

2008-10-18T14:30:00.004-04:00

Way back in April I wrote a post about how I manage our books. It was meant to kick off a series of posts on the topic, but I never followed through.

So in the same vein, six months later, I am going to talk about managing books on LibraryThing.

LibraryThing allows users to catalog and tag books they own, read, want to own, etc. Users can log in 200 books for free. Above that you can purchase an annual membership for $10 or a lifetime one for $25. I have been a lifetime member for over two years and have never regretted spending the $25.

There is a lot of detail in the information you can input and edit. For those of us obsessed with books, it could turn into an addiction. But we busy homeschool moms don't have time to devote to every aspect of LT.

Brainstorming

2008-10-13T16:06:00.006-04:00

I was sitting up the other night brainstorming ideas for making extra money, and trying to prioritize them.

I have been selling things, mostly books, online for nine years. At various times in the past I have put quite a lot of effort into it, and made some money. I need to revisit where I am with all of that and get a move on using my time wisely.

So, here is my list of online moneymaking priorities:

Sell and swap books: I have at least 200 books to get scanned, described, priced and listed. I have about 25 done. There is much work to be done here, but since the stuff is already on hand, there is no real cost outlay involved unless I list on ebay. I used to sell only on ebay. I am over that now, and cross-list my books on up to five selling venues. I also list low-value books for trade on seven different swap sites. I can then use my swap points for books we need for homeschooling, or books with a decent resale value to get and sell.
Sell hand-rolled beeswax Advent candles: Last fall I made my own hand-rolled beeswax Advent candles. I still have some sheets of beeswax, so I just need to spend an evening cutting and rolling them. I will probably put them on ebay and etsy (a new venue for me). Again, I have all of the supplies on hand except shipping boxes. I need to check out USPS Priority Mail boxes to see if there is a good size, or decide if I want to order boxes for shipping (I really don't want to do this unless I have to). I have plenty of bubble wrap and peanuts in the basement. But I need to move fast on this one, and get these done, photographed, priced and listed in the next week. I also have some natural beeswax sheets and if the Advent candles sell I may make up some sets of natural tapers, too, afterwards.
Sell hand-crocheted wrist warmers: Last winter I crocheted myself a pair of wrist warmers from a pattern I found online. I love them. My hands always got cold in the house because we keep the heat at 68 during the day to save money. I think these will be a good seller, and I can get them posted after the Advent candles, before Christmas, and hopefully I will sell them all winter. Again, probably mainly etsy and possibly ebay. I don't think I have enough yarn on hand, so I will have to purchase some.
Photography and Graphic Design: As I stated in my last post, I have been playing around lately with Cafe Press. I really need to take some kind of community college graphic design class to understand how to make quality products. I am pretty happy with my photographs of nature, and maybe I will sell something.
Virtues Guide: I have had it in mind to write a virtures curriculum for some time. I don't know if I will get to this during the current school year, so this is on the back burner. I would self-publish this on lulu.
Mystery Novel: I am writing a murder mystery novel in the style of the Golden Age detective novels. Will I ever finish it? Hard to tell. Sometimes I think "yes" and other time I have no idea how I will do it. I have pages upon pages written out longhand in notebooks, and I have typed exactly one and one-half pages of it into the computer. If I ever do finish it I will self-publish it on lulu.

With times being lean and the economy being what it is, I am going to apply myself to get some of the things above done. Want to see my stuff for sale or trade? Check out my "Me Elsewhere" badge on the right sidebar at the top of this blog.

Cafe Press

2008-10-13T15:57:00.004-04:00

I have been playing around with Cafe Press. I made two cards from original photographs I took with my digital camera. I just made a homeschooling car magnet. Come check it out!

Franz Joseph Haydn

2008-10-10T20:44:00.005-04:00

Franz Joseph Haydn is our composer of the month. I thought I'd put up a quick post linking to our resources. Most of these are from the library.

Plus I bought copies of the Farewell Symphony (No. 45) and the Surprise Symphony (No. 94) on iTunes.

Our spine for classical music studies is:

The Collapse of Unrestrained Capitalism

2008-10-09T23:09:00.004-04:00

Fr. Dwight Longenecker, whom I often read, has an article today at Inside Catholic on the global financial crisis worth reading.

Here is a line I just can't resist quoting:

Proper restrictions and regulations were lifted and, in a mind-staggering glut of greed and speculation, money was loaned on money that was borrowed on securities that were based on other monies that were insured by companies that had borrowed more money that only existed as computer calculations -- and if that explanation is not exactly correct, neither is the reality any simpler.

October's Library Books

2008-10-06T22:28:00.006-04:00

Campion

2008-09-28T22:02:00.004-04:00

I am a Golden Age Detective Fiction junkie. This year I have been on an Albert Campion tear. Reading everything Campion in order of publication, plus watching the eight novels made into TV movies on DVD.

Moms in Politics?

2008-09-18T00:11:00.001-04:00

How can a woman with a husband and five kids expect to hold one of the highest elected offices in our nation, and be on the short list of succession to the Presidency of the United States, and still be a good mother?

Ask Nancy Pelosi.

Constitution Day

2008-09-17T00:30:00.002-04:00

Didn't know it was Constitution Day, did you?

Book:

Web:

Read the Constitution online.

Dividing an Equilateral Triangle

2008-09-16T11:22:00.004-04:00

This year Arch is using the wonderful, hands-on math program called RightStart Mathematics Geometric Approach. It is an intermediate-level math program which he is using for fifth grade. He loves it.

Last week he was dividing equilateral triangles into even pieces. The book took him to twelvths, then challenged him to do more on his own. He made a large (16") equilateral triangle on paper and divided it into - 1,536 equal pieces!

Fra Angelico

2008-09-15T14:54:00.004-04:00

We are doing Fra Angelico this week in art.

Books:

Web:

Bl. Fra Angelico on the Patron Saints Index

Remnants of Ike

2008-09-14T22:13:00.002-04:00

We are getting wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ike which are passing through Southern Ontario. Gusts up to 60 mph. Thunder and lightning. It is hot and muggy, still at 10 pm.

Updated BlogRoll

2008-09-14T22:03:00.002-04:00

If you scroll down the right sidebar on this blog you will find my blogroll, titled (unimaginatively) "Interesting Blogs." I hadn't paid this blogroll any attention in, say, a year at least. I just went through and deleted all of the blogs which no longer exist. If a blog is not updated, but still "up," I kept it. If a blog changed names, but kept the same url, well, too bad, I kept the name it had on the day I originally blogrolled it.

I got away from blogrolling when I first got into Google Reader. But then, too many feeds to read every day. Now I only sub to feeds in Reader that I really, really want to see every day, and put the rest of the great blogs in my blogroll.

So, enjoy.

Oh, want to be in my blogroll? Just ask!

Where Was I When....?

2008-09-11T13:21:00.003-04:00

I have seen around the blogosphere today people's remembrances of where they were on the morning of 9/11/01.

I was doing payroll. And I had to finish it before I could leave, or the company wouldn't have had any paychecks on Friday.

I was the part-time controller for a small contractor, where my husband was a technician. My three-year-old son came to work with me every day.

Just about nine, the phone rang. It was the just receptionist and myself in the office that morning. Everyone else was out on jobs or sales calls. The phone rang. It was the owner's friend, calling to see if he'd heard the news. We got out the tiny old black-and-white TV our boss used to use for tailgating, which for some reason he kept in his office. We found an outlet and turned it on. It only got ABC. We tuned in just in time to see the second plane hit the second building.

I called my husband, who was over an hour away in a rural county working on the construction of a grain facility. Then I called my mom. I had one uncle and one cousin in the vicinity of the Twin Towers, though neither one had their offices in the WTC at that time. My uncle had been in the building for the first Twin Towers bombing in 1993.

The rest of the morning is a blur of phone calls and a tiny black-and-white TV screen. We watched as the towers fell one by one. I didn't finish payroll until after ten. I faxed it out and gathered up my son to leave. It was then that the first reports came about a plane crash in Pennsylvania.

The rest of the day was spent in front of the TV and on the phone, crying mostly. I am from New York City. We used to drive past the Twin Towers on our way to our grandmother's house in Brooklyn. We would argue over who got to sit on the side of the car passing closest, because you could look up, up, up out your window at the tall South Tower just before you plunged into the darkness of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

When my husband was coming home late that night on the Thruway, eastbound from near the Pennsylvania line, some 400 miles west of New York City, the overhead message boards in the rural darkness said simply, "NYC Closed."

It would not be until the next day that I learned that all of my family was safe. Phone lines were jammed, and my uncle didn't actually get home until after midnight.

September 11

2008-09-11T10:40:00.003-04:00

Public domain image from Wikipedia

St Peter Claver

2008-09-09T22:08:00.000-04:00

Peter Claver was a 17th-century Spanish Jesuit priest who came to the Caribbean and was appalled by the slave trade. He spent the rest of his life ministering to the slaves. September 9 is his feast day. He's on the calendar in the US. There is a nice picture book on him I just bought with a gift card I had.

Hanna

2008-09-06T17:28:00.002-04:00

Tropical Storm Hanna is raining on the greater New York City area where my family lives. Watching the radar from the NWS.

Mother Teresa Books

2008-09-05T12:12:00.002-04:00

Today is the feast day of Bl. Teresa of Calcutta. Here's what we are reading:

RIP Ann Ball

2008-09-03T15:55:00.002-04:00

I found out when I got my latest catalog from Ecce Homo Press that Ann Ball had passed away in June.

I have a bunch of her books. Rest in peace!

Labor Day Books

2008-09-01T15:20:00.001-04:00

Fr. John Corapi in Buffalo in '09

2008-09-01T11:03:00.001-04:00

Fr. Corapi will be in Buffalo on the Feast of the Assumption in 2009. More info from the Station of the Cross.

September's Library Books

2008-08-31T12:26:00.003-04:00

Whew! Finally Caught Up

2008-08-31T12:18:00.001-04:00

Well, I am finally caught up with paperwork, just in time for school to start on Tuesday. What a summer!

Today will be a relaxing day at home, maybe even with a nap. Tomorrow some last minute-shopping and cleaning. Then, Tuesday Arch starts grade 5 and Bam Bam starts pre-K.

I'm Back!

2008-08-12T23:16:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm back up and running on the internet. But, I lost alot of data. I am trying to restore my backup at my .mac account. I am none too pleased with the quality of the program! Apparently, sometimes backups just don't restore! Huh!?! I am still working on it, but I think ... think ... my husband's business records are (gulp) lost. Or, at least I know I backed them up to .mac, and they are there. I just can't seem to restore them.

On the Fritz....

2008-07-14T12:47:00.001-04:00

My iBook, that is. So I won't be updating here for a time. I am at the library now, and I only get 60 minutes, once a day! Eeeeks!

Sister Mary Martha

2008-07-07T07:55:00.001-04:00

I do just love Sister Mary Martha's blog. Today she has composed a little "ditty" to remember if you are ever in need of a miracle. Priceless.

May you not need a miracle.
But in case that you do.
Say a quick prayer
to a "Blessed" or two.

Tragic Loss and Family in Need

2008-07-04T09:16:00.001-04:00

The Confraternity of Penitents has an article on the tragic deaths of father and son, Thomas and Marc Girard. The Girard family is in desperate need of financial help at this time. Prays, of course, too.

Fr. Longenecker on the New Ecumenism

2008-07-02T12:36:00.002-04:00

Father has a post about Pope Benedict XVI's ecumenism. Very interesting.

Read Something Good

2008-06-17T20:49:00.002-04:00

Aquinas & More's Catholic Summer Reading Program is back. Why not pick up a good book?

RIP TIm Russert

2008-06-14T10:25:00.002-04:00

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.

A September 11 Memoir

2008-05-31T19:25:00.004-04:00

Thomas Flynn's Bikeman is a moving epic poem about his experiences in Lower Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 2001.

If the word "poetry" evokes highbrow language and stilted rhymes,
do not be put off. Flynn's poetry is free-form prose, and it speaks in
the vernacular. In the following verses, he contrasts the burning
towers, while they stood, with the Statue of Liberty, just off in the
harbor:

"No, this is not the lady of the harbor
who carries the torch of dreams.
It is a barbarian beacon, with no intention
to warn those who see her beams."

Flynn's story is harrowing. Parts of it are painfully -- and
"painfully" is really an inadequate word -- sad. It is completely
devoid of humor, but not of compassion. It is real. It concerns his
experiences in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the towers.

I have been privileged to read the personal story of a survivor of
the Twin Towers. He wrote that story shortly after the attacks, in an
email sent to his colleague, my sister. She sent it to me, and since
then I have read it over on subsequent September 11's. Of course, that
is a private memoir. Now, here is a memoir which the entire world can
share.

I cried through Bikeman. It is cathartic. Why do I need to read
these stories of survivors? Why was I plastered to the television for
weeks that September? Disbelief? Compassion? Guilt? I don't know. But I
think I value this because it is so easy to forget, for those of us who
experienced this from afar, the raw horror of death and destruction. We
should never forget.

I am a homeschool mom. My boys will read Bikeman in high school, when they study Modern / American history.

And the Lord Said, "Gimme Jimmy!"

2008-05-29T18:28:00.003-04:00

"Gimme Jimmy!" was the oft-used campaign slogan of Buffalo's longest-serving mayor, James Griffin. His Honor passed away on Memorial Day.

A devout pro-life Catholic, he ran on the Republican, Right-to-Life, Conservative and (at times) Democratic tickets. He welcomed the Spring of Life pro-life rally to Buffalo in 1993.

I met him once, briefly, and he was friendly, witty and gallant. A true gentleman.

His funeral today at the Basilica National Shrine of Our Lady of Victory was packed with mourners.

Rest in Peace, James Griffin.

Daybook: Fourth Week in May

2008-05-26T13:16:00.002-04:00

HT The Simple Woman

FOR TODAY

Outside my Window...a baby squirrel has been eating under our feeder for the past few days. He's not afraid of us at all.

I am thinking...of the thunderstorms which are headed our way later today.

I am thankful for...my family, spring, and the end of the school year approaching.

From the kitchen...Vidalia Onion Soup.

I am creating...an overview of our school year for next year.

I am going...nowhere. Well, tomorrow I am running errands around town, and if it's nice I'll stop at the park for the boys to play.

I am wearing...brown skirt, turquoise 3/4 sleeve top.

I am reading...Home Education

I am hoping...to get the kitchen cleaned and the laundry done.

I am hearing...BamBam playing with Thomas the Tank Engine and asking to watch a video.

Around the house...the windows are open flooding the house with fresh air.

One of my favorite things...Coca-Cola.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...errands around town; farmers market; finish Roman history.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
The "rocket boys" doing science, launching homemade film-canister rockets with Alka-Seltzer.

Daybook: Third Week in May

2008-05-19T18:25:00.004-04:00

HT The Simple Woman

FOR TODAY

Outside my Window...we saw a baby starling, still all fluffy and downy sitting on our porch railing this morning.

I am thinking...of all of the things I need to get done, and how I may manage to do them.

I am thankful for...our home and the fact that we are debt-free and have managed to pay the rent every month.

From the kitchen...the BRAT diet for BamBam, see my previous post.

I am creating...a preschool storytime for our homeschool coop next fall.

I am going...to a curriculum fair tomorrow night, Lord willing.

I am wearing...black skirt, blue 3/4 sleeve top.

I am reading...Victor Kugler: the Man Who Hid Anne Frank

I am hoping...a smooth finish to the school year. We only have Religion, Latin and History to go!

I am hearing...Arch and BamBam horsing around in the living room. "Now, I'm in this fort and you're in that fort, and..."

Around the house...the hostas we planted last year are coming up. They are my favorite perennial. My grandmother had them in Brooklyn when I was a little girl. I have always planted them when I could.

One of my favorite things...strawberries and cream for dessert.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...schedule showings for my landlord (I am his property manager); go to the curriculum fair; finish up Religion with Arch; go to the produce market in the next county; go to the library.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
The "rocket boys" doing science, launching homemade film-canister rockets with Alka-Seltzer.

BRAT Diet

2008-05-19T16:16:00.004-04:00

BRAT diet. Am I the only woman who has been a mother for a decade and does not know what this is? BamBam has some tummy trouble, and I called the pediatricians office. "Is he eating the brat diet?" Huh?

Bananas
Rice
Applesauce
Toast

Okay, BamBam will eat bananas and applesauce and toast (with butter, which is a no-no). There is no way he will eat rice. Special jaunt to the grocery store to buy bananas, applesauce, rice cakes, rice milk, french fries (she said potatoes were okay, and those are all the potatoes he will eat).

Strawberries are on sale, and I bought some. "Can I have strawberries?" No. "Can I have strawberries?" No. "Can I have strawberries?" No. "Can I have strawberries?" Okay, two. "Can I have more strawberries?"

LibraryThing Meme

2008-04-30T16:42:00.004-04:00

If you know me, you know I love LibraryThing. Well, there is a new meme. You take the top 106 books tagged "unread" and comment on if you've ever read them, never read them, etc. So, here goes:

The ultimate hitchhiker's guide by Douglas Adams (43) never read, no interest
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (236) never read, no interest
The kite runner by Khaled Hosseini (19) never read, no interest
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (211) maybe someday
Life of Pi : a novel by Yann Martel (17) never read, no interest
Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra (152) TBR pile
Crime and punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (176) maybe someday
One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (183) maybe someday
Vanity fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (115) maybe someday
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (155) maybe someday
Ulysses by James Joyce (135) maybe someday
War and peace by Leo Tolstoy (132) maybe someday
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (132) maybe someday
The brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (136) maybe someday
Catch-22 a novel by Joseph Heller (158) never read, no interest
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (162) read
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (110) never read, no interest
Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle I) by Neal Stephenson (92) never read, no interest
A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens (124) maybe someday
The satanic verses by Salman Rushdie (88) never read, no interest
Middlemarch by George Eliot (96) TBR pile
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books by Azar Nafisi (96) never read, no interest
The name of the rose by Umberto Eco (120) never read, no interest
The Kor'an by Anonymous (11) never read, no interest
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (119) maybe someday
The Odyssey by Homer (136) maybe someday
The Canterbury tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (108) TBR pile
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (114) maybe someday
The hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (75) maybe someday
The historian : a novel by Elizabeth Kostova (108) never read, no interest
Foucault's pendulum by Umberto Eco (101) never read, no interest
Atlas shrugged by Ayn Rand (102) never read, no interest
The history of Tom Jones, a foundling by Henry Fielding (67) never read, no interest
The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (87) TBR pile
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (95) maybe someday
The sound and the fury by William Faulkner (94) never read, no interest
The Iliad by Homer (117) maybe someday
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (97) never read, no interest
Emma by Jane Austen (117) read it, loved it! My favorite Austen book
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (64) maybe someday
Sons and lovers by D.H. Lawrence (69) never read, no interest
Gulliver's travels by Jonathan Swift (88) maybe someday
The house of the seven gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne (62) maybe someday
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies by Jared Diamond (104) never read, no interest
Dracula by Bram Stoker (100) read
Lady Chatterley's lover by D.H. Lawrence (73) never read, no interest
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by Dave Eggers (97) never read, no interest
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (83) maybe someday
The once and future king by T. H. White (81) never read, no interest
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (82) maybe someday
To the lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (83) never read, no interest
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (88) read
Oryx and Crake : a novel by Margaret Atwood (78) never read, no interest
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (106) maybe someday
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (56) never read, no interest
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (83) maybe someday
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed by Jared Diamond (76) never read, no interest
The corrections by Jonathan Franzen (84) never read, no interest
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe (58) maybe someday
Underworld by Don DeLillo (64) never read, no interest
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (63) maybe someday
The grapes of wrath by John Steinbeck (99) read
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (124) read
The Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake (47) never read, no interest
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (66) maybe someday
Jude the obscure by Thomas Hardy (65) never read, no interest
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (62) never read, no interest
Tender is the night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (66) never read, no interest
A portrait of the artist as a young man by James Joyce (89) read
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (59) maybe someday
The divine comedy by Dante Alighieri (63) TBR pile
The inferno by Dante Alighieri (84) same as above
Gravity's rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (66) never read, no interest
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (83) never read, no interest
Swann's way by Marcel Proust (59) never read, no interest
The poisonwood Bible : a novel by Barbara Kingsolver (91) never read, no interest
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay : a novel by Michael Chabon (83) never read, no interest
Sense and sensibility by Jane Austen (96) read
The portrait of a lady by Henry James (62) never read, no interest
Silas Marner by George Eliot (57) read
The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (89) read
The man in the iron mask by Alexandre Dumas (43) never read, no interest
The god of small things by Arundhati Roy (80)never read, no interest
The book thief by Markus Zusak (67) never read, no interest
The confusion by Neal Stephenson (61) never read, no interest
One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey (82) never read, no interest
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (97) read
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (63) TBR pile
The system of the world by Neal Stephenson (55) never read, no interest
The elegant universe : superstrings, hidden dimensions, and… by Brian Greene (60) never read, no interest
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (78) never read, no interest
The known world by Edward P. Jones (53) never read, no interest
The time traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger (105) never read, no interest
The mill on the Floss by George Eliot (54) maybe someday
The English patient by Michael Ondaatje (64) never read, no interest
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon (47) never read, no interest
Dubliners by James Joyce (78) never read, no interest
Les misérables by Victor Hugo (73) never read, no interest
The bonesetter's daughter by Amy Tan (56) never read, no interest
Infinite jest : a novel by David Foster Wallace (54) never read, no interest
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad (53) never read, no interest
Beloved : a novel by Toni Morrison (77) never read, no interest
Persuasion by Jane Austen (82) read
A clockwork orange by Anthony Burgess (83) never read, no interest
The personal history of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (69) maybe someday
Tropic of cancer by Henry Miller (54) never read, no interest

Home Education and Books

2008-04-11T18:47:00.003-04:00

It is the time of year when my thoughts turn toward next school year, and all of the books we will need or want. I usually try to time my book purchases just after the arrival of our income tax refunds. I like to have everything in place before summer, so I can relax!

But things are different now than they were when my oldest began kindergarten five years ago. I have discovered "living books." And the library. And their book sales. And the swap sites. And LibraryThing. We are in a different home, and possibly moving again this year. We have a different income stream, which is sometimes a trickle. I now plan, acquire and manage my resources in a vastly different way than I did back then.

So I thought I would write up some posts on my whole Book Thing. I should come clean first and foremost and admit that I am a book junkie. I love to read. I love to buy books. I even love to sell them! I've made a nice, if small, bundle over the past nine years selling used books online. I even want to write one. I even have one started!

My boys love books. They both love to read. Hardly a day goes by that they don't read or are read to. Except maybe summer, when they play hard outdoors all day. That is just fine with me, too. My oldest wrote and illustrated an alphabet book for his brother, which I had published on LuLu.

My ever-patient husband says that our duplex is bursting at the seams with all of the books we own. They are starting to make him nervous. They are everywhere. We actually do have bookshelves in every single room in the house, including the hallways, and excepting only the foyer and the two bathrooms. And we are out of shelf space.

Pope John Paul II

2008-04-03T07:21:00.002-04:00

We read this book in memory of our beloved JPII. I can't wait until this is a day on the church calendar with a Mass and everything!

Lent and Life

2008-02-05T09:09:00.000-05:00

Last Lent I abstained from the blogosphere, amongst other things. I am again going to leave the realm of blogging for Lent and as a sacrifice for 40 Days for Life.

Have a Blessed Lent and I'll see you all again in March!

Saints Meme

2008-01-30T15:35:00.000-05:00

By now, you all know how much I love good memes. So, here goes:

1.First Saint you "met"?
St. Therese of Lisieux

2. Favorite Saint(s)?
Too many to list them all: The Blessed Mother, St. Anne, St. Therese, St. Bernard, St. Dermot, St. Jerome, St. Robert of Salzberg, St. William the Great, St. Patrick, St. John the Baptist.

3. Patron saint for the year?
Oops, I don't have one. Let's say... St. Francis, who seems to be a favorite of my boys.

4. Favorite book by a saint?
Story of a Soul by St. Therese

5. Saint book you are reading now?
A Treasured Love Story by Ven. Fulton Sheen (about St. Therese)

6. Favorite movie of a saint?
A Man for All Seasons

7. Favorite Autobiography/Biography of a saint?
Story of a Soul by St. Therese

8. Favorite novel/book of a saint?
Walled in Light (about St. Collette)

9. Saint (besides your favorites) you'd want to meet?
St. Thomas More, St. Cecilia, Bl. Teresa of Calcutta (I came close there)

10. Saint you look to for help?
St. Joseph and St. Anthony and St. Jude and St. Gerard

11.Favorite saint quote?
“Good folk find this indeed, that when they be at the divine service in the church, the more devoutly that they see such godly ceremonies observed, and the more solemnity that they see therein, the more devotion feel they themselves therewith in their own souls.”

-- St. Thomas More

12. Favorite Holy Card?
Too, too many to list them all. I do have the St. Gerard holy card my mother had when she was praying to have children. We both suffered from various forms of infertility, so it's gotten a lot of mileage. Luckily it is laminated!

13. Favorite story of a saint?
Good King Wenceslaus by Mary Reed Newland

14. If you could go anywhere on a pilgrimage to a saint's homeland, where would it be?
Ireland

15. Any Blesseds or Venerables that you would like to become canonized?
Bl. Teresa of Calcutta
Ven. John Paul II
Ven. Loius Martin
Ven. Zelie Martin
Ven. Nelson Baker
Ven. John Henry Cardinal Newman
Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha
Ven. Fulton Sheen

Paper or Plastic Meme

2008-01-29T11:06:00.000-05:00

If you HAD to choose one or the other would you choose...

1. Thai or Mexican
Mexican

2. Bubble bath or back massage
Bubble bath

3. Boots or sandals
Sandals

4. The 90% "pro-life" good chance or the 100% pro-life long shot?
The 100% long-shot. If we ALL chose him, he wouldn't BE a long-shot.

5. A cruise ship or a mountain cabin
Cruise ship

6. Rome or Paris
Rome

7. Ordinary or Extraordinary
Extraordinary

8. Rosary or Stations
Rosary

9. Surf or hang glide
Surf

10. Regal Cinemas or Netflix
Netflix

11. Sweet or salty
Sweet

12. Pen or pencil
Pen

13. How-to book or fantasy novel
How-to-book

14. Crossword or sudoku
Crossword

15. Lose a leg or lose your sight
Leg

16. North or South
North

17. A power outage at home or a dead car battery at Costco
Power outage

18. Classic rock or country
Classic rock

19. Wool or linen
Linen

20. Lots of good friends or a few great friends
A few great friends

21. Soup or salad
Soup

22. Merlot or Chardonnay
Chardonnay

23. Picasso or Da Vinci
Da Vinci

24. Charades or trivial pursuit
Trivial Pursuit

25. Evangelical Protestantism or Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judiasm

26. Stone age or dark age
Dark age

27. Steven Spielberg or Ken Burns
Burns

28. Thermopylae or Alamo
Alamo

29. Big Foot or Loch Ness Monster
Loch Ness Monster

30. Babies or teenagers
Babies

31. Paper or Plastic?
Paper

Aquarium of Niagara

2008-01-25T10:08:00.000-05:00

We had a field trip with another homeschooling family to the Aquarium of Niagara. It is a small aquarium and we were able to see it all, including the sea lion show, in about ninety minutes. Great fun was had by all.

Pro-Life Day

2008-01-22T10:37:00.000-05:00

We will be celebrating Pro-Life Day here at home by:

Watching the EWTN coverage of the March for Life from DC (on streaming video over the internet: we don't have cable TV)
Reading Umbert the Unborn by Gary Cangemi
Observing today as a Day of Penance as requested by our bishops
Lighting a candle tonight at dinner in remembrance of the unborn

How are you observing this day in your homes?

Addendum:

Arch decided to make his own pro-life sign, like the marchers on TV. Of course, BamBam had to have one, too.

What Privileges Do You Have? Meme

2008-01-19T11:39:00.000-05:00

From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.)

Bold the true statements.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college (Associates Degree)
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor (not as a child, though)
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18. No, but I was a private math tutor while still in high school.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child.
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

My Price Book

2008-01-18T15:51:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of every year I reevaluate my household budget. I try to estimate each of our expenses by category, and plan to stay within a reasonable monthly amount for a family of four. I only "pay" myself once a month. That is, I transfer money from DoorMan's business account and / or the saving account, into the account that I pay the ordinary expenses from. I am trying to reduce the amount of money I transfer in each month.

So it is at this time of the year that I generally break out my Price Book. I give full credit for the idea and format of my book to The Tightwad Gazette. I started my book back in 1997. Since then, I have pulled it out from time to time, used it once or twice, and put it away again. The last time I made entries was last January.

But now I am once again on a budget bender. On top of that, I am trying to eat healthier, make more things from scratch. And I am determined to reduce that darned grocery line on the budget. So today I brought it with me to the store, and used it! If I saw a sale, I looked it up to see if it was really a good price. I also noted down the price of real maple syrup (which I love - $13.69 a quart), so if we go maple sugaring in March, I can tell if syrup at the farm is a good value or not.

A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That Meme

2008-01-16T13:15:00.000-05:00

HT Elizabeth.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE ? The Blessed Mother, and her mother, Saint Anne.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? At Mass on January 1.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? So - so.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Corned beef.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes!

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Yes!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Grape nuts.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No, not usually.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Strawberry (homemade in June).

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Face.

15. RED OR PINK? Pink.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? I can procrastinate.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST Uncle Bill.

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? None! (See, I only wear skirts, and I don't wear shoes in the house.)

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Fresh-baked French bread with (real) butter, and Gingerbread Spice tea.

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? BamBam babbling on while he plays with his trucks at the table next to me.

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Blue.

22. FAVORITE SMELLS? Pine.

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? DoorMan.

24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Baseball.

25. HAIR COLOR? Brown.

26. EYE COLOR? Hazel.

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.

28. FAVORITE FOOD? One? New York pizza. The actual real stuff, from New York.

29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings, like Jane Austen's trademark "weddings all around."

30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Persuasion on Masterpiece last Sunday.

31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Green turtleneck with a purple sweater.

32. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter.

33. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

34. FAVORITE DESSERT? New York cheesecake (are you sensing a New York thing?)

35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? We and Our Children by Mary Reed Newland.

36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Laptops don't have mousepads.

37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? I haven't watched broadcast TV since Sunday night (see #30, above).

38. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The Ave Maria (Schubert's) beautifully sung.

39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Back in my rocker days, yes! Not anymore.

40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? London.

41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Yes!

42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Woodside, Queens, New York (aha!)

The Lovliness of Planning Fair...

2008-01-16T06:27:00.000-05:00

... is up at Plainsong.

Personal Litany of Saints Meme

2008-01-11T21:30:00.001-05:00

A list of the saints I regularly invoke (HT Robert).

Blessed Mother (especially under the titles of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of Czestochowa)
St. Anne
St. Therese
St. Bernard
St. Stanislaus
St. Francis
St. Peter
St. Robert of Salzburg
St. John
St. Patrick
St. William the Great
St. Jerome
St. Rose of Lima
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
St. Dermot
St. Michael the Archangel
St. Gabriel the Archangel
St. Christopher

Genealogy

2008-01-09T20:46:00.000-05:00

My family tree is one of my newer hobbies. I enjoy pouring over old documents and tracing our ancestors. Last year, I entered most of our family tree on Ancesrty.com. Well, this week I discovered a long-lost cousin, through Ancestry. She is actually a third cousin, and it was really she that discovered me. We share the same great-great-grandparents. We have emailed information back and forth. I have learned some information and was able to confirm some for her. She had actually met my grandmother, and been to her home years ago.

So, I am thinking of a genealogy theme, possible during the Easter recess. Arch has expressed and interest in the family tree, and I can have him write letters to all of the aunts and uncles asking for information.

The Strike Is Over

2008-01-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

Actually, it didn't last much past lunch. Especially when DoorMan came home early and explained that there would be no rides to soccer, Blue Knights or homeschool co-op. About the only thing in walking distance for Arch is church, so he could still serve Mass, but he would have to walk in the cold.

And, you know, the next day was one of the most enjoyable days in memory. Everyone cooperated, and school work was done and we enjoyed a nature walk in the January Thaw.

Home Management Binder, Part III

2008-01-07T12:16:00.000-05:00

Continuing where we left off last week..... Ah, the Lists tab. Some of you will say that it is crazy to have a tab for all of my lists. They should be filed in the appropriate sections. But that's not how I think. If it is a list, I put it here, unless it is really, really more functional elsewhere. Most of my lists are here. What are they?

List of Demands from my striking children. It's right up front so I can show it to DoorMan later.
Curricula 2008 - 2009 (my working list of homeschool resources for next school year)
Shopping List
Pantry List (a list of EVERYTHING I should have in my pantry / freezer)
Budget 2008
Reading Challenge Booklist

That's it. That's about all I have in my binder so far. The next tab is for Rooms, which is going to have a page for each room. I will be working on that this week. The rest of the tabs I am not happy with (name-wise) and they are mostly empty.

Thanks for coming on the tour!

On Strike

2008-01-07T12:04:00.000-05:00

My children informed me that they have gone on strike.

Not really BamBam, because he is only three, and parrots back what Arch says. And he doesn't really have any chores anyway.

Arch informed me that he will no longer be doing his chores until his demands are met. What are they, you ask? Here we go:

Bedtime at 8:00 pm is too early
They do not want to clean up one toy before getting out another
They want to watch movies that their friends saw, which we will not allow
They want an equal vote in family matters

Now, I am proud to say that I did not bat an eye at this. I asked Arch to bring me the Baltimore Catechism, and I read to him the section on the fourth commandment.

"But, still ....." and on he went.

So, I noted down the list of demands, and calmly informed him that I would not prepare him any more meals until the end of the strike.

Right now, they are playing in their room. We'll see what happend when they get hungry.

O, Planetary Convergence of Wonder?

2008-01-06T22:17:00.000-05:00

In today's homily, Father ---- said that the Star of Bethlehem was no more than what astronomers believe now to be a convergence of two planets in the heavens.

Excuse me? And these planets lit up the whole sky, and moved and settled over a stable?

Why do people feel so compelled to attempt to ruin the wonder and awe of miracles with weak explanations of their "natural causes?"

Snow Unit

2008-01-04T20:19:00.000-05:00

I'm in the mood for snow! Otherwise known as: if you can't beat it, learn from it. I am putting together a unit for us on snow this month. I have taken inspiration from the Snowflake Bentley unit at Home School Share. But, we won't be making a lapbook, and I've expanded it to include January weather as well. As I've said before, I like things just so.

Here are the books we checked out today for the unit. The temps are frigid here now, but we're having a warm-up next week, so we may cover the January Thaw first.

Home Management Binder, Part II

2008-01-03T15:24:00.000-05:00

I know you are all on the edge of your seat to find out what is on the reverse of my weekly planner sheet. It is my menu plan for the week. Brilliant, I know. It is great to be able to just flip the page to see what I am supposed to be cooking. I designed the sheet myself, also in Word. It is basically a grid five columns wide by seven high. The left-most column has the names of the days of the week. Underneath, in teeny, tiny print are boxes for me to check off exchanges for what I eat. The rest of the columns are labeled Breakfast, Lunch, Tea and Dinner. And I just fill in the grid while I make my grocery list.

Today's menu:

Breakfast

Cereal
Bananas
Milk
Coffee

Lunch

Grilled Cheese
Applesauce
Milk

Tea

Tea
Leftover goodies (Christmas cookies, cinnamon buns, etc.)

Dinner

Polish sausage
Parsnips
Baked potatoes
Milk
Water

Now, I have one of these two-sided weekly sheets done up through the end of January. I'll do February's probably the last week of January.

Right after my current weekly sheet I have the boys' weekly homeschool record sheets. I take just the current sheet from each of their binders, so I have them easily at hand to make notes on as we go through the day. No more shuffling their binders open and closed all day. Anything to be filed I put in my calendar divider pocket and file at the end of the day (as part of my Afternoon Routine). Once again I am using forms from the prodigious Donna Young.

As an aside, for those of you interested in such things, I do not have a written lesson plan this year for Arch (grade 4). I have had them in the past, and they are a lot of work upfront, and I felt they quashed our spontaneity. So I am filling in the planning grid as we go. For BamBam, he is only three and I just note down any books he reads or art projects, etc. we do.

Back to the planner, after the two current homeschool record sheets, and the future weekly planner sheets, come the rest of the monthly dividers, waiting to be filled. That brings us to the end of the Calendar section.

The next section contains my Routines. The most important sheet is on top, laminated for durability. It contains my ten daily routines in detail. I formatted it to fit all on one page in Word, using three columns. The ten routines are:

Morning
Lauds
Children's Morning
Kitchen Morning
Afternoon
Vespers
Children's Evening
Kitchen Evening
Bedtime
Compline

I refer to this all day long. It is important that it is right behind the "Routines" tab and easy to open to.

Behind this, I have a laminated copy of my boys' morning and evening routines. The original is posted on the white board in the dining room. It is a detail of what they should accomplish at the beginning and end of the day. Arch has a few chores (making beds, recyclables, carpet sweeping) which he should do without being reminded. The rest of it is prayers, hygiene, dressing.

Next is an overview of what our day (mine and the boys') should look like, with approximate times for general things. I looked at scheduling my life ala MOTH or A Mother's Rule of Life. Those clock-intensive systems overwhelm me and I get discouraged. But, I do see the value of having just a one sheet summary of what we could be doing when.

The next page is Arch's daily schedule by subject. This is one area where being time-sensitive is important, or else subjects can get out of control. It lists which subjects we should be covering when. We do not stick to this unbendingly. If we are done with grammar at 9:30 instead of 9:45, we move on. I do try not to go over the allotted time for each subject without a good reason. This schedule keeps us on course. I have some notes for BamBam on the right of the page. But, again, he is only three. We do not stick to anything with him. I got the ideas for the class times on it from Mater Amabilis.

And so we have reached the end of the Routines tab. Fun stuff, huh? You'll have to check in tomorrow for the exciting chapter on my Lists tab.

Reading Challenge

2008-01-02T19:37:00.000-05:00

This is my first time doing a year-long reading challenge. I love, love to read. I have no idea if I'll finish, but it never hurts to try!

My list of categories and books (a work in progress):

Classics

Mysteries

The Woman in White
The Tale of Hawthorn House
The Railway Detective
Murder on the Celtic
The Frost Fair
Miss Seeton Draws the Line
Death of Corinne
Death of a Garage Sale Newbie

Book Club (TBA)
My library has a book club in the spring and fall, usually 5 titles each time. The spring ones will be announced soon, the fall ones not until around August or September. I plan on reading at least eight of them, whatever they are.

Homemaking

Back to Basics
Storey's Basic Country Skills
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Fast Food Nation
The Self-Sufficient Life
Five Acres and Independence
Root Cellaring
Barnyard in Your Backyard

Biography & Memoir

Christmas Remembered
The Life of James Cardinal Gibbons
The Life of Christ (Sheen)
The Last Days of Socrates
The Journey that Saved Curious George
The King's Good Servant, but God's First
Characters of the Reformation
Witness to Hope

Spiritual & Religion

Introduction to the Bible
St. Therese, a Treasured Love Story
Introduction to the Devout Life
The King, Crucified and Risen
Fatima, the Great Sign
The Wonder of Guadalupe
Saints and Other Powerful Women in the Church
Jesus of Nazareth (Benedict XVI)

History

How the Irish Saved Civilization
The Old World's Gifts to the New (finished 1/4/08)
Empire State Catholics
Great Heresies
The Histories (Herodotus)
Bible History
The Story of the Church
Iron Fleet: the Great Lakes in World War II

Home Education (Theory, Methods)

Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home (finished 1/7/08)
A Thomas Jefferson Education
We and Our Children
The Trivium
Climbing Parnassus
The Devil Knows Latin
A Charlotte Mason Eduation
For the Children's Sake

Home Management Binder

2008-01-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

We are having a cold snap. Wind chills are around zero. The sliding doors on my minivan won't open. It is cold.

It is also a good time to dust off my Home Management Binder. I have been giving it a makeover for the past few days, in the spirit of the New Year. I have taken inspiration from one of my favorite bloggers, Dawn.

I have tried very hard to stick to my routines, and I am being rewarded by a feeling of accomplishment. Now, I don't get every single thing done every single day, but I do feel like I am getting things done. I like that feeling. I am hoping that I can continue to keep on top of my routines.

I use a 1" three-ring binder as my main binder. I bought one with the clear pockets on the outside to insert covers. I use scrapbook paper cut down to size inserted into the pockets to make it pretty. The paper can easily be changed out for different seasons or moods. I just retired my Santa Claus postage stamp paper and switched it for a very pale filigree watercolor pattern. There is no title or writing at all on the outside of my binder. I know what it is.

Right inside the front cover I have a sticker collection. It is eventually supposed to look like a collage of stickers. I am adding to it slowly. It all started when I put a "this book belongs to" sticker there.

I am still working on my cover page, awaiting inspiration. I am using a clear poly pocket for my cover page, as I am sure it will get a lot of wear and tear every time the binder is opened. Behind it, I inserted a full-page picture of Our Lady of Fatima given to my by my aunt.

Now we come to the dividers. I am not 100% happy with them. They are poly pocket dividers, see-through, multicolored in a set of eight. I got them at Office Max, but they have discontinued them. I like that the dividers have tabs wide enough to stick out past my papers, and the pockets (two on each divider) are nice for stuffing thing in to file later. I don't love that they are multi-colored. I wish they were all clear. I also have not come up with a satisfactory set of names for all of the tabs. The first four are set, but the others are in flux. Good old white-out pen!

The first tab is the "Calendar" section. This is the most active section in my binder.

Right now, in one of the pockets I have Arch's religion quiz from this morning to be filed in his school binder, and the other pocket has materials I printed off today for a unit study on Snowflake Bentley I am planning to do this month.

Next is a year-at-a-glance calendar I printed from Donna Young. I will use this to record my monthly cycles, confession and anything else I think of.

After that (still inside the overall "Calendar" tab) are monthly tabbed dividers, starting with January.

The first thing we come to inside January is a clear poly pocket containing a Mary Engelbreit Home Sweet Home print on the front, and a January liturgical calendar on the back. I cut the calendar page from the ones they give out at church. This whole poly pocket is changeable / moveable. At the end of January I will throw away the January liturgical calendar and replace it with the February, and move it to the front of the February tab.

Next is a January 2008 planning sheet, again from Donna Young. I use it to jot down events and topics we will engage in January. There is one for each month. Here is what I have jotted down for January:

The Holy Name of Jesus
Mary, the Mother of God
North American saints (Sts. Elizabeth Ann Seton, John Neuamnn, Andre Bessette and Marguerite Bourgeoys)
Christmastide: Epiphany and Baptism of the Lord
Respect Life
Conversion of St. Paul
St. Thomas Aquinas
St. John Bosco
Christian Unity
Mom's birthday
Snowflake Bentley
January Thaw

Next we come to the workhorse of my day, my weekly planner sheets. There is one for each week. I designed it myself in Word, but I got the main idea from Motivated Moms. I do purchase their planner, but I use it to fill in my own weekly planner sheets with items from their chore list. I have to have things just so, you see.

The front of each sheet has seven boxes across the top, pre-filled with the days of the week (Sunday first). I fill in the date, and any significant liturgical or family event, or appointment. I use colored pens to match the liturgical color for feast days. I also just ordered calendar stickers from Motherhood Press, but they haven't come yet. I will use them in the squares in lieu of writing. Below the boxes, on the left-hand side is a narrow column entitled "Daily Checklist." Each item on the daily checklist is actually a routine (which I have written out in detail in another section). When the routing is completed, a box is checked. There are 15 routines listed, and each has seven little check boxes below it (one for each day of the week). The main column on the page has specific tasks listed for each day of the week. This is where weekly, monthly, and seasonal tasks, "to do" items, and chores from Motivated Moms are written. Some items I do every week are pre-filled under the appropriate day. There are also blank lines every day to add items.

For instance, today has:

Prefilled:

sewing and mending
laundry
menu plan and shopping list for next week

Hand-written:

pick up prescriptions
call train manufacturer re: warranty
call Mary re: playdate
Clean top shelf of fridge
Clean shadow box in hall
Clean combs and brushes
Invoicing
Past due reminder
Pay advertising bill
Mail books

That's about all I can cover for now. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting reverse side of this planner page.

Foods of the Season

2008-01-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

New Year's Eve and Day have certain traditional foods in our family:

Herring in cream sauce
Pigs in blankets
Water chestnuts wrapped in bacon
Eggnog
Irish Cream

We are also having a pork roast with parsnips and baked potatoes. I made fresh cinnamon buns with cranberries and almonds for breakfast this morning.

I love the foods of the season!

A Fresh Start in a New Year

2008-01-01T12:17:00.000-05:00

I have blogged on and off for over a year. I have decided to start fresh, with this one blog for all of my thought and experiences which I want to share. I hope you find some profit in the things I will share. May God Bless You and Yours.