Just a note....

 
...to say that Kendra is safely home :-)

Let the fun begin.
 

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The Answer is Out There....Somewhere

 
Ma has really been enforcing the computer game-time limits of late, so it was with much joy and appreciation of kid-creativity that my attention was diverted from the televised evening news toward the couch, where Nolan and Trevor had set up some...well, something.
It looked sorta interesting in that it utilized checkers and chess pieces. I also noticed that each corner was occupied by a piece from a United States puzzle. Hmmm...Florida, Nevada, Idaho, and in the corner obliterated by Trevor's head, Illinois.

"What are you guys playing?"

"ZZT."

"ZZT...what's that?"

It's a computer game."

*screams internally*

On the bright side, Nolan later picked up "Nevada," took a close look and said, "Hey, Las Vegas...where that thing about the hotel....the Ricin....you know...."

Go figure.
 

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Reportage

 
First off, Kendra's coming home today for Spring Break! Not quite sure about the details, but Ma will be driving at least 30 minutes and possibly 3 hours, one way. Matters not :-) Good times will be had.

The Lifestyle Report: this week's weigh-in shows a one pound gain. I'm sure this is all muscle :-D I've been hitting the treadmill hard in the past weeks, trying to get on three times daily, shortly before each meal.

Surely this will pay off, no? The first week the average was around 2- 2.5 miles per day.

Last week I got up to 4.6 mile average for each of six days! That takes close to 80-90 minutes per day.

So here is my basic philosophy: I figure a person oughtta to be able to eat normally and maintain or lose weight if they are exercising enough.

By "eat normally," I mean not consist on rice cakes and soy cheese. Moderate portions of real food. If I only have butter-type products twice a week, then by gum I want to HAVE real butter! And if that means half a baked potato with real butter and real sour cream...so be it.

And yes, I will have an occasional brownie, because I don't want to feel like I'm on a strict diet and just counting down the days un-TIL I can have a brownie. There just has to be some sense of moderation as opposed to going without everything for the rest of one's life.

That said, I haven't lost much weight recently, but I'm still gonna stick with the program.

Not counting today, my average this week is 5.075 miles per day! Like I said, there should be a pay off, sometime.

The bad part about all this exercise is that, contrary to what people tell you, instead of curbing one's appetite, it seems to increase mine.

Of course, this is just so much blathering to people who've never struggled with their weight. Even my own kids have said, "Just don't eat." The only people who understand are other people who've been overweight.

The rest just shake their self-righteous heads in an air of bewilderment.

That's OK though. We all have our areas of life with which we cannot identify. Take me, for instance...being blessed with innate humility, I've never comprehended prideful people...
 

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HA!

 

Trevor's 6th Birthday

A mere 14 photos.

I still don't know my login and password, but since I have my other Picasa albums bookmarked, and since you can create another album from an album site, it was a fairly simple matter to save all my pictures to folders, then upload them one at a time to the new album.

A little cumbersome perhaps, but most importantly,

I WIN
 

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More insanity

It looks like it'll be at least 5 days before I can post a Picasa album of Trevor's 6th birthday.

For the first time in my dealings with them, Picasa asked me to sign in, and NO, I hadn't written down the username and password AND it isn't on the Firefox tools menu AND the original account was made with the Intergate email address which is no defunct so I will have to wait five days for the IDIOTS who set up this system to let me try again.

But Ma will find a way. If I don't happen upon the right username and password, I'll just get me a new account, I will.

Also, the entire blog may have to be changed over to a new account since that ALSO is under the old email address and NOOOOOOO, changing the login would be too simple for the nasty people at BLOGGER who made me switch to evil Beta, so we will have to switch it all over to a new account.

Idiots will not be tolerated.
 

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Oh, the inhumanity

We've been having Internet problems over the past day, leading me to such desperate measures as playing the piano, reading extra books to the kids and even perusing the seed catalogs.

Thank goodness THAT's over and I can return to correcting blog typos and finding out who's entering the presidential race.
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In other news, Carolyn downloaded "Wet Spot," a game the children had once had on the computer. Melinda then discovered how to "unzip" it and as this occurred shortly before bedtime, Ma granted a special dispensation of extra game time (20 minutes) so they could fulfill the dream of a lifetime and commence playing a game on the same day it was downloaded.

There is one little glitch, however....it appears this particular game was developed when computers were slower and while the Hoyts do not ride on the extreme cusp of technology, apparently we are close enough that Wet Spot runs quite a bit faster than originally intended.

Yes, worms are flip-flopping across the screen at incredible speeds. The gamers stand very little chance and are "dying" willy-nilly, all over the place.

Maybe there is some justice in the world, after all :-D
 

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Hols of the Day

 
Polar Bear Day

It is. Variously called "National" and "International," I guess we're supposed to think about polar bears.

Ma admits they are very cute and cuddly and would hasten to add that those terms most aptly apply to baby bears. Little Knut of the past has grown into quite the psychopath.

Speaking of changes or deceiving appearances, we've all seen the picture below, many times associated with the perils of global warming and the diminished Arctic ice pack...
...except, this photo actually exhibits polar bears playing on an ice-wave sculpture, formed by cold winds and cold water.

Ma awards one out of fifty points for a good try.


Today in History:

1869--John Menard is 1st black to make a speech in Congress

1872--Charlotte Ray, 1st Black woman lawyer, graduated *Harvard U

1883--Oscar Hammerstein patents 1st cigar-rolling machine

1922--Supreme Court unanimously upheld 19th amend woman's right to vote

1933--German parliament building, Reichstag, destroyed by fire (set by Nazis, blamed on communists)

1962 South-Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem's palace bombed, 1st US killed

1992--Tiger Woods, 16, becomes youngest PGA golfer in 35 years

2008--Death of William F. Buckley Jr.

A few of these merit further attention:

The above Oscar Hammerstein was the father of Oscar Hammerstein II, of musical fame. Oscar I was an inventor, publisher and jack of many trades. Almost above all else, he wished to promote opera. You can read a short and informative article about this man, written by his grandson, Oscar Hammerstein III.

February is Black History Month, or African American History Month, whichever you prefer.

And in keeping with that, the name John Menard stands out when in 1868 he won the election of Louisiana's second congressional district. However, instead of becoming the first African American in congress, the seat was given to his opponent for the reason that “it was too early to admit a Negro to the U. S. Congress.”

Mr. Menard was granted permission to address congress in 1869, where he spoke concerning the right of his elected office. John Willis Menard had a distinguished career as a journalist, editor, civil rights activist and poet.

He is NOT to be confused with the present day John Menard, who founded the famous Menard's hardware store chain. In truth though, that type of association of names is just the ticket to help one like me remember the name :-)

Charlotte E. Ray was the first black woman lawyer, although because of her gender she was never allowed to make a living from her trained profession. The above listing came from the Scopes Systems site and the reason for my asterisk is that contrary to the notation of graduation from Harvard, every website I checked mentioned Howard University as her alma mater. While Harvard did start admitting women to it's law school in 1869, it would seem that the Scopes site has made an error regarding which university she graduated from.

And now Iowa Black History...did you know George Washington Carver went to school here in Iowa? First at Simpson college in Indianola, after which he obtained his masters and taught at Iowa State College, later named Iowa State University! (in Ames)

Ma had not known (or remembered) that and is most pleased to learn such. More info can be had, here.

And now, I was very sad to learn this afternoon of the passing of William F. Buckley. Even if one did not agree with all of his views (and with whom does one?), it cannot be denied that he had an incredible impact on conservative thought, intellectual thought and politics in general. (I separated those first two categories--conservative and intellectual--because sadly, they have often been disparate)

The following is an excerpt from a rather decent biographical article on Breitbart.com...

"I am, I fully grant, a phenomenon, but not because of any speed in composition," he wrote in The New York Times Book Review in 1986. "I asked myself the other day, `Who else, on so many issues, has been so right so much of the time?' I couldn't think of anyone."

Buckley had for years been withdrawing from public life, starting in 1990 when he stepped down as top editor of the National Review. In December 1999, he closed down "Firing Line" after a 23-year run, when guests ranged from Richard Nixon to Allen Ginsberg. "You've got to end sometime and I'd just as soon not die on stage," he told the audience.

He was 82 and died in his home, while at work in his study.

Homo doctvs is se semper divitias habet - A learned man always has wealth within himself

Homo vitae commodatus non donatus est - Man has been lent to life, not given.

 

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I'll try...

 
...to get something up about Trevor's birthday...soon.

There's just something about spending time making a birthday cake and decorating it so lamely that it stinks and then making supper and getting the entire kitchen dirty and then having to clean the whole thing up and by that time your back aches and you would not be-LIEVE how many dishes there were and by the way what's the point of decorating a cake when people are just going to hack it apart anyway and I folded three loads of laundry and did I mention my back's aching? and even though Trevor's six years old he is acting pathetic as though he needs help getting dressed and since he's the baby I guess I'll help him and that pretty much makes me a bad mom so that's why I'm too tired to post.
 

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Adventures With Ma

 
This week on Adventures with Ma, the weather for shopping day has once again portended doom. It is difficult to decide what to do....go in the morning, with the sky dripping freezing rain? Or go later, after it has changed to snow?

It appears Ma picked the messiest time of all...just when the snow began to fall in earnest. And still our fearless shopper thinks not of herself...

...she thinks of the poor cows in the field. With silent grace they stand, stoic and seemingly oblivious to the onslaught of frozen whiteness.
"Yo! You on the right...get with the program!"

With only one set of tracks to follow, Ma carefully travels the length of the gravel road. She can tell this will not be a time to lay down rubber...

Upon leaving the safety of the nearby town, Ma is perturbed to find herself behind a car going TWENTY MILES PER HOUR! This level of precaution seems a wee bit exaggerated, so Skillful Ma safely passes the car, despite the heavy snowfall.

Windshield wipers are Ma's friend for this trip, the roads being completely covered in wet, sloppy snow.


With vital necessities procured from Wal-Mart, Ma and her thirteen-year-old daintily snarf their snacks, while waiting for the windshield to defrost.

MMmmmm, chocolate. Just in time...Ma was beginning to black out.

Nearby, a brave snowplow works to rid the parking lot of dangerous slush.


From there our Heroic Duo continue to the grocery store, where important foodstuffs for The-Wee-Bunny-Lad's birthday will be purchased.

The car laden with groceries, Ma takes a moment to enjoy the beauty of the snow as it softly falls upon the quiet town....
...undeniable proof that Ma does not neglect her inner artist, despite having changed a gazillion diapers in her day.

Onward and homeward.....

Oooooo, tough luck. Ma has once again chosen the side of the road unplowed.
With skill and determination the Green Dragon Lady Lincoln cuts through the snow and slush.

The homestead achieved, our intrepid driver negotiates the driveway with her typical grace, whizzing around the 90 degree turn with just enough swerve to elicit a squeal of glee from daughter Carolyn, ensconced in the back seat.

Another successful shopping trip. Super-Ma puts all the groceries away and even completes the final segment of 4.5 miles on the treadmill!

Oh Ma...you---are---a---wonder.

It is the end of the day...that time which one would THINK deserving of rest...but nay, Ma must open up the package of chicken and rip the skins off the dead cluckers...

Mais NON!   Meat Guy has given Ma the wrong---chicken...
...she had asked for the $.99 per lb. birds avec skin and bone. The man misheard and gave her the $1.99 per pound boneless and skinless poulets! Three extra dollars that could have gone for chocolate...down the chicken.

C'est la vie. Ma is philosophical and decides this is God's way of telling her, "Ma? I do not want you to have to mess with slimy chicken skins tonight. Go eat a brownie, instead."

Humbly, Ma acquiesces.
 

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The Fun Side of Life

If it's Monday, there must be a winter storm in Iowa.

T'would almost be funny except for the fact that it's getting SO OLD.

I take comfort in the fact that Cedar Rapids (i.e. Ardith and Jason) have consistently gotten more snow than us.

But what really knits my gizzard is that Monday is shopping day, and I AM ALMOST OUT OF CHOCOLATE!! Not to mention milk and eggs. Hence, there will be no thought of staying home, despite the the fact that the local school district has closed...something they almost never do.

We can take comfort in the fact that Iowa Falls has also canceled school, and since that's where I do my shopping, and since it's Carolyn's turn to got shopping, I can feel free to go about my chocolate procurement without the fear of nosy stares from people wondering "why that child isn't in school?"

Must remember to juice up the camera battery...
_________________

In National Fun News: Ralph Nader has joined the presidential race, adding one more person to a long list of people I mostly don't wish to vote for. Ah well.
_________________

In International Fun News: Raul has been appointed to replace older brother Fidel as the leader of Cuba. Who woulda thunk it? Ma's vote of thanks goes out to CNN yesterday for proclaiming this as "Breaking News!!" and thereby causing mucho chuckling.
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In Home Fun News: The dishwasher has indeed gone kerputz. This is our unprofessional opinion after opening the door and finding nothing clean to set the table with for supper last night.

Apparently all those load noises meant something.

We keep hope alive with the prospect of clean fingernails for all.
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More Fun News: Trevor will turn six tomorrow!
 

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Feed the Birds

 
In keeping with National Bird Feeding Month, Ma refilled the sadly neglected feeders, yesterday. The finch feeder bit the dust (again) in high winds so that will have to be replaced.

Here's our fatithful friend, the Nuthatch :-)
He's been hanging around all winter and has recently started feeding off the suet block that Melinda made.

They are pretty fast though, and he wouldn't stay on the suet feeder long enough to snap him.

This is an important time to feed birds, since by now they have depleted most of the available food sources in the wild. Also, they need to store up energy for the busy spring season.

Still don't know why someone decided to name this a Red-breasted Nuthatch...
...perhaps "yellow" was too hard to spell.
 

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Ma's Literary Corner

 
When I announced upon finishing "Narnia" that the next book on the docket was Winnie-the-Pooh I was greeted with shocked silence and then, "You have got to be kidding !" (I won't say who...someone intermediate in age)

"There's nothing wrong with reading something geared for the younger ones, and you might find it slightly enjoyable, too."

So I started reading A. A. Milne's work and was delighted to find that while capturing the interest of the youngest, it also contains touches of whimsy that appeal to the mid-rangers.

Since Lionel Hardcastle reads it before bed in the Brit-com, As Time Goes By, I wondered if the book did not contain charms suitable for both young and old.

And it does.

Here is a sampling from what I consider the very best chapter, No. VIII,
In Which Christopher Robin Leads an Expotition to the North Pole.

So off they all went to discover the Pole. And as they walked, they chattered to each other of this and that, all except Pooh, who was making up a song.

This is the first verse," he said to Piglet, when he was ready with it.

"First verse of what?"

"My song."

"What song?"

"This one."

"Which one?"

"Well, if you listen, Piglet, you'll hear it."

"How do you know I'm not listening?"

Pooh couldn't answer that one, so he began to sing.

They all went off to discover the Pole,
  Owl and Piglet and Rabbit and all;
It's a Thing you Discover, as I've been tole
  By Owl and Piglet and Rabbit and all.
Eeyore, Christopher Robin and Pooh
And Rabbit's relations all went too--
And where the Pole was none of them knew...
  Sing Hey! for Owl and Rabbit and all!

"Hush!" said Christopher Robin turning round to Pooh, "we're just coming to a Dangerous Place."

"Hush!" said Pooh turning round quickly to Piglet.

"Hush!" said Piglet to Kanga.

"Hush!" said Kanga to Owl, while Roo said "Hush!" several times to himself very quietly.

"Hush!" said Owl to Eeyore.

"Hush!" said Eeyore in a terrible voice to all Rabbit's friends-and-relations, and "Hush!" they said hastily to each other all down the line, until it got to the last one of all. And the last and smallest friend-and-relation was so upset to find that the whole Expotition was saying "Hush!" to him, that he buried himself head downwards in a crack in the ground, and stayed there for two days until the danger was over, and then went home in a great hurry, and lived quietly with his Aunt ever-afterwards. His name was Alexander Beetle.

They had come to a stream which twisted and tumbled between high rocky banks, and Christopher Robin saw at once how dangerous it was.

"It's just the place," he explained, "for an Ambush."

"What sort of bush?" whispered Pooh to Piglet. "A gorse-bush?"

"My dear Pooh," said Owl in his superior way, "don't you know what an Ambush is?"

"Owl," said Piglet, looking round at him severely, "Pooh's whisper was a perfectly private whisper, and there was no need---"

"An ambush," said Owl, "is a sort of Surprise."

"So is a gorse-bush sometimes," said Pooh.

"An Ambush, as I was about to explain to Pooh," said Piglet, "is a sort of Surprise."

"If people jump out at you suddenly, that's an Ambush," said Owl.

"It's an Ambush, Pooh, when people jump at you suddenly," explained Piglet.

Pooh, who now knew what an Ambush was, said that a gorse-bush had sprung at him suddenly one day when he fell off a tree, and he had taken six days to get all the prickles out of himself.

"We are not talking about gorse-bushes," said Owl a little crossly.

"I am," said Pooh.

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, (New York: Puffin Books, 1992), pp117-120
 

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Ma's Newsy (Iowa) Nuggets

 
You'll have to excuse the cheesy title on this link, but beets aren't just for eating anymore.

That's right, they go on the roads in winter. While Ohio may just now be experimenting with fillers for their sand and salt mixtures, Cedar Rapids in good ol' Ioway has been using the red stuff for 4-6 years.

I have two children that would find this an admirable use for vegetables they hate.
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And speaking of commanders....Captain Randall M. Hendrickson of Marquette, Iowa, runs the ship that fired off the satellite-busting missile of yesterday.

Iowa: so much more than corn and hogs...
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...would you believe, cyberness? The thought of a Microsoft data center in Cedar Falls doth warm the heart. Should be plenty of pork rinds available for snack time.
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And have you heard the Dilbert commotion? An Iowa casino employee posted a Dilbert cartoon on a bulletin board. Unluckily for him, a security camera allowed the big whigs to identify him. Ever so helpful in firing the right person, dontcha know.

Now the actual Dilbert cartoon retells the story, hee, hee.

Some managerial types have NO sense of humor.
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On this week's diet lifestyle change update: lost 1/2 pound, so still whittling down. That makes a net loss of 5.5 pounds over 6.5 weeks, and considering I was "up" earlier this week, today's weigh-in was a real victory :-)

Went 5.3 miles on the treadmill yesterday. It's true...Ma ROCKS.

Sometime I'll go over my regimen, which I'm trying to make food-friendly enough that I can stay with it long-term, instead of the yo-yo business that had become a way of life. But that will do for now, since...

...the verbosity stops here.

 

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Pickles Cartoon

 
Must see

For some reason this reminded me of a couple I know :-D
 

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Living, and the Living Bible

 
First about the Bible...

As part of our homeschool curriculum, each of the children goes through some Bible related subject each year.

It might be a particular book from the Bible, it might be part of a Christian Liberty Press series I use or it might be catechism oriented.

This year I did something different for Nolan, using the The Living Bible for the textual readings that correspond to his weekly lesson, instead of the harder to understand versions that the series requires. Once or twice there have been places where the older kids' heads have perked up with looks of, "That's not accurate," and then we may compare with a translation or just refresh that it's a paraphrase, etc.

This week's lesson concerns the situation with Jonathon and David, and how Jonathon was testing the waters of Saul's attitude toward David, so that Jonathon could inform David whether Saul was out for blood.

While reading aloud from The Living Bible yesterday, I was absolutely shocked and barely able to stop in time before reading out loud Kenneth Taylor's rendition of Saul's outburst. Something to do with vivid terminology casting aspersions on Jonathon's heritage along matriarchal lines.

Now I have to relegate The Living Bible alongside the banished Calvin and Hobbes books?

I am disturbed.
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On a different and life-threatening note, I heard mention in the news yesterday of a very unique cancer and one young man that suffers from it. After receiving a link to the story from an IM source, it would seem doubly good to mention:

Here is the story as well as the foundation's website.

Josh Sommer is a student at Duke University. He entered college to major in environmental engineering, and now spends regular time in a lab helping with research for his disease.

The usual lifespan after diagnosis of his one-in-a-million type of cancer is 7 years. There's not a great deal of time, but he's working hard outside of his chosen field in hopes that he can aid in the search for information that could benefit others and himself.

If you wish to help, click here.
 

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Overheard

 
"Math books are so mean !"
___________________

"Mom, what answer do you get to this? 'Between 1965 and 2003, the number of school-aged children will increase 225%. If there were 10,000,000 school-aged children in 1965, how many will there be in 2003?'"

(let's see, shall I pretend to know how to do that...or should I play the 'stop and think about it some more,' card?)
___________________

(different student checking their math) "They can't do that...! It's not right!"
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At lunch, Trevor was literally cramming food in his mouth so that he could get to his second slot of game time for the day. Maybe the curtailment has had more of an effect on him than we'd thought.

Loren and I couldn't help noticing the ridiculously stuffed cheeks--the child's lips weren't able to close, fer cryin' out loud!--and words were heard to the effect, "We sit at the table until our food is chewed and swallowed."

It was a prime example of earnestness gone amok. Careful chewing ensued.

We females are always bent on keeping the lines of communication open, so I asked the little tyke, "In a hurry to get back to a game?"

"Yep. I'm going to Hahvest Moon and get maiy-weed."

*snort*

This is basically a farming scenario, but if the planter does well, he can get married and have kids and more calves and bunnies and....who knows what. See, it's all part of the plan to promote a conventional lifestyle. But from the lips of a six-year-old boy, it's a wee bit freaky.
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In other news, Ma had a few errands to run this afternoon and against my better judgment, I attempted a new trajectory out of the snow/ice laden driveway. This way very shortly got me stuck, which is to be preferred over the option of hitting random trees and vehicles.

Still, I was frustrated and may have vented the teeniest bit of spleen at someone, I don't know...announcing, "Never mind, I'll just have to get out of here by my-self ," took the snow shovel and set to work.

The pressure was on since the bank closed in an hour and I was just about at the point where adrenaline could imbue me with special strength of the sort that allows one to lift the car with one hand and rotate it to the proper position.

But I didn't.

After several tries and two visits to the kids' sandbox, I was finally in a position to get back up to the garage where I pulled the maneuver I'd done on shopping day: back and forthing to go out nose first.

It's always best after you've blown off steam at someone if you can then be successful in the very endeavor which you said you wished you'd done differently, so it was with pumping heart and sweating brow that I victoriously charged out of the driveway. The smell of victory was short lived, however, as the smell of perspiration and impending death by heat prostration overcame me to the extent that I had to stop the car and remove my coat.

My unfortunate choice of a heavy wool sweater to combat the cold had not taken into account the possibility that I would soon be doing desperate battle with the winter elements so carelessly left in the driveway.

El spirito soon revived as I entered the bank and heard the employees speaking about an Iowa law recently passed by the House . It concerns a ban on smoking in public and in the workplace, which would include tractors on farms if other hired persons would ever be driving them.

So the tractor question was being mentioned as well as the part where smoking would still be allowed in casinos....

"Yes," I said, but the real question would be, can I drive my tractor to the casino and then smoke?"

*laughter from the ladies behind the counter*

Perhaps I'd best leave it to better minds than mine.

Then I went home and got stuck in the driveway again.

But I got myself out, so everything's cool.
 

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Hols of the Day

 
It's National Chocolate Mint Day. Boy, do I wish I'd known that yesterday when I was grocery shopping.

And now Ma feels it her duty to alert you to something coming up tomorrow, for Wednesday will be...

Hoodie Hoo Day! The folks at Wellcat.com made up (and apparently copyrighted) this holiday. They sell herbs and things and naturally it follows that they would make up holidays....I guess.

ANYWAY, it's a northern hemisphere kinda thing and at high noon tomorrow, we're supposed to go outside and yell "Hoodie Hoo!" It's an effort to chase away winter and encourage spring, though why nobody taught Punxsutawney Phil to do this on Groundhog day, I have NO idea.

Ma knew you would want to be apprised of this aforehand so as to prepare for tomorrow's big moment. Remember...high noon. The future of spring rests upon your shoulders. (not mine, since I'll be on the treadmill at that hour)

That out of the way, history always holds interesting stuffs, so without further ado...

Today in History:

1859--Dan Sickles is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity, 1st time this defense is successfully used

1913--1st prize inserted into a Cracker Jack box

1942--FDR orders detention & internment of all west-coast Japanese-Americans

1960--Bil Keane's "Family Circus" cartoon strip debuts

1985--Canned & bottled Cherry Coke introduced by Coca-Cola

1986--The U.S. Senate approved a treaty outlawing genocide. The pact had been submitted 37 years earlier for ratification.

2008--Ma Hoyt goes 5 miles on the treadmill! (yes!)

Now let's jump back to ol' Dan Sickles. He was an interesting, if abysmal, character.

A printer, who became a lawyer, who became a New York senator and then a U.S. Representative, Sickles had quite the reputation as a ladies' man. That's putting it nicely. As was usual back then, double standards stood tall and Mr. Sickles shot a Mr. Key in the street outside his home for paying inappropriate attentions to Mr. Sickles' wife (to put it nicely). And by the way, this particular Mr. Key was a son of the famous Francis Scott Key.

Ah well, people WILL die after being shot multiple times, and thus an infamous murder trial followed.

Using an "insanity plea" for the first time, Dan Sickles was acquitted, to the joy and acclaim of Washington D.C.'s upstanding and righteous citizens.

One of his lawyers happened to be Edwin M. Stanton, who later became President Lincoln's Secretary of War. Mr. Stanton must have been an able barrister, for he employed another little technique, "unwritten law" (self defense of one's wife as his own property).

Wives = property. Oh you just gotta love it. Of course you couldn't have it going both ways. The wives did NOT have the right to shoot their husbands' paramours. Besides being somewhat ill-mannered, equity of that nature could substantially cut into a fellow's extracurricular activities, not to mention have a deleterious effect on the population's increase.

And so he went free. Mr. Sickles did publicly forgive his wife, much to the outrage of the same upstanding and righteous folks who had cheered his acquittal. Fortunately for Danny Boy, along came the Civil War and a chance to redirect his energies.

Sickles volunteered and eventually ended up as Major General by the time of Gettysburg. Promotional opportunities increase when one starts by being appointed Brigadier General.

At that three day battle, things took a rough turn for Major General Sickles. Not liking the battlefield assignment he'd been given, Dan disobeyed a direct order and moved his corps from the vicinity of Round Tops up to Peach Orchard. Whether this move aided or thwarted his Union comrades is still debated. But he escaped court martial (and his command) when he received a cannon ball to the leg, which was subsequently amputated.

Not missing an opportunity, the Major General kindly donated his leg bone and the offending cannonball to the Army Medical Museum. It is said he often visited his limb on the anniversary of its demise.

Eventually he was awarded the congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg.

There's more, of course. Do a little investigating and read for yourself. Click here and scroll down to visit "the leg."

I think it's fair to say that a list of seemingly obscure dates can house history of a riveting nature.
 

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The Computer Update

Maybe it's my imagination, but Trevor seems to sleep later, now that he can't boot up and start playing games before breakfast.

Here he is from this morning, with his two current favorites--bear and light-up sword--at his side.
The ever vigilant Pooky has proved to be a faithful watch-bear.

Trevor has borne up quite well concerning the decrease in game time. We get out the little timer and give him one hour after breakfast, and then he joins the rest of the crew with their usual hour after school is finished. So he still gets two hours to their one, but that's much less than before.

It doesn't seem to bother him a bit. No whining or complaining. Take yesterday, for example...

I was in the computer room watching Nolan practice his spelling words and math drill, when the timer started beeping, announcing the end of Trevor's first hour of computer play. He quickly quit the game and switched over to a graphics program, Pixel Plus 256. I glanced over and could tell he was drawing a man-like figure and commented,

"Hmmm, looks like you're making someone...who is it?"

"Commandoh Keen," he replied, without batting a five-year-old eyelash.

*sigh*

You take what victories you can, in life.

And speaking of that whole "when will you pronounce your 'R's'?" business...after Christmas I decided to go ahead with his phonics instruction. If we wait until he can say his 'R's' properly...well, I want the kid reading before 4th grade.

He's a smart little whipperdoodle and is coming along just fine. Hopefully the 'R' thing will work itself out. The speech therapy I was giving him wasn't having much of an effect. I think we can work on both reading and pronunciation at the same time.

And as far as the origination of the problem....I blame Sesame Street's Baby Bewoh.
 

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Adventures With Ma

Today in Adventures with Ma we revisit a familiar theme...Shopping Day amidst inclement weather.

Temperature: 4 degrees

Wind speed: 20 mph sustained, with gusts up to 30

Brave Ma takes equally brave Ethan with her. Also in the car...boots, a snow shovel, the cell phone and some chocolate.

One should always be prepared for every contingency, the first of which will be getting out of the driveway.

After nearly getting stuck backing down the ramp from the garage, Ma ably re-approaches the garage, executes a concise 6 point turn and reconnoiters the snow and ice, positioning the Green Lincoln Dragon Lady away from the (formerly) threatening snow drift.

Then, it is a simple matter of fishtailing down the treacherous driveway and clearing two vehicles by the wide margin of "whew baby!"

The roads are not terrible, yet neither are they good. Blowing snow snakes across the road. It looks passable until...

...Ma is suddenly confronted with near whit-out conditions!! (worse than this...so bad she didn't even take pictures)
Gasps are heard from the back seat. Frantically Ma rips off her clip-on shades.

The stretch of bad visibility is mercifully short. Almost as short as Ma. It is with less trauma that the trip continues. Town is safely reached.

*shop, shop, shop, shop, shop*

The shopping completed, Ma heads for home. While glancing over her shoulder she notices a sight most beauteous....it's...it's a parhelion!
Oh lovely curves of crystallized ice. EverReady Ma finds a parking lot and pulls in to snap a picture, leaving the implement company in quiet despair when she leaves without buying a combine.

With single-minded purpose our heroic Ma continues on her way, wondering if the same white-out conditions will once again be experienced...

Oh happy day! Not one, but TWO snowplows take to the road in front of Ma.
She knows now that she will be safe. There will be no evil snow to thwart her way...

Alas! The snowplows of providence are turning off. And in a most unprovidential way.
Courageous Ma drives on, her lower jaw clenched with brave determination.

The tricksey road is traveled without the dreaded whiteness of afore.

But Hark! What lieth in yonder ditch?
'Tis the BBQ. (available while supplies last...buyer pays shipping)

Our observant driver presses onward.

Drifts try to sneak across the road...
...but Ma shrinks not. She doen't even get very close to backing into the ditch while taking the picture. Hardly.

As the triple suns sink into the west, we find Ma safe at home.
In the end she traversed the driveway with her usual skill and acumen, achieving just the right mix of vim and verve to make it neatly through the drifts and past two vehicles with nary a sideswipe. As if that were not enough, she then handily performed a 90 degree turn, gunned the Lincoln up the snow and ice covered ramp and through the open garage door...the garage and side view mirrors remaining intact all the while.

We applaud you Ma, you humble thang, you.
 

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President's Day

 
In a demonstration of utter humility, I'm posting the results of a history quiz my dear, DEAR husband sent to me....

He missed 2 out of 7 on his attempt and then I smugly took it and missed 5.

Naturally I had to do some real soul-searching and self-examination and I came up with several promising possibilities:

1) He got lucky

2) He randomly clicked on an easy quiz

3) I have an undiagnosed brain tumor that causes intermittent lapses in memory and/or good judgment. (e.g. the advisability of taking online history quizzes)

The kids and I combined our intellectual resources and took the quiz twice, missing two the first time and only one on the second try. Derek was quite helpful on several answers, having nearly finished his government book for the school year.

So jump in and take the quiz. Take it several times, for the questions are randomized and you'll never get exactly the same quiz.

I know this for certain as I've taken four or five quizzes in my exhaustive research.
_________________

What a perfect start to the day...it's cold outside, my brain is only functioning at half capacity, I can a-l-m-o-s-t see, the dishwasher is making weird, LOUD noises and I'm gaining weight despite killing myself on the treadmill.

Ma's Latin quote of the day:

Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo - I'll have a pizza with everything on it

 

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Blizzard Play

The temperature was quite moderate so the kids had a blast playing out in the "blizzard."

They found some old sticks and had pretend battles. Carolyn was rather pleased to be told by Derek that, "She fights pretty well." (be sure and put that on your resume, dear :-)

"I even took my hat off, Mommy, 'cause you get really hot, fighting. But then the snow was blowing in my ear so I had to put my hat up again..."

You know, I've always found that to be true when out in a blizzard...you just have to keep your hat on or that snow blowing into the ears can be SO annoying...

They took advantage of the large drift from the propane tank to carve out little niches to curl up in.
I'm thinkin' they were pretending to be in hyper-sleep for a long space trip.

"Back into your POD, slave !"


Melinda, observing Ethan not showing off


Pod punk on the loose
He looks like he's on a mission, but I'm pretty sure Trevor didn't hurt anyone. Less clear is why he was carrying around a baseball bat...

Loren had a great idea for a post: put up three identical completely white pictures and label as follows...

1) Kids playing in blizzard

2) Kids taking off their mittens in blizzard

3) Kids playing without coats and boots in blizzard

(I refuse to take the rap for being the only strange person in this family)
 

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Blizzard Report

 
Barometer has risen a tad to 29.15. Temp has also increased two degrees to 30. Winds are now 29 sustained, were 31 earlier.

New snow seems to have stopped.

We have to keep on eye on the level in the propane tank since we're using much more gas after the heat pump went belly up. Ma volunteered to go out and check. Donning Loren's huge bright-orange FedEx jumpsuit, this intrepid reporter ventured out into the dangerous elements...and that was just the breezeway.

Actually not too bad out there, though windy. Every so often it dies down for a bit and then whips up again.

Here is a nifty drift just south of the propane tank.


This is looking out where our driveway meets the road.
I don't always like what the picture editor does to the snow photos, but this is pretty much what things look like, only not so painfully bright/white.

The kids are outside playing right now, mainly so they can tell their children one day all about how their negligent mom let them go out in a blizzard. Also for the hot chocolate, afterwards. If it were colder I wouldn't have allowed it. They're mostly staying southward of the house, out of the wind.

It doesn't seem terrible outside, but I wouldn't wish to be driving. Most of the roads from south central, up through Des Moines and angling over to the northeast corner of Iowa are not recommended for travel at this time.

Technically we are still under a blizzard warning but I wouldn't wonder if they cancel that before the previously stated time of midnight.

Still have Internet, so "YAY!"
 

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Cancellation

 
Church was called off this morning. Some places started out with freezing rain, changing to snow. The white stuff was coming down when I woke up.

Several roads not recommended for travel already, including highway 20 south of us.

While we're a couple miles from the official storm designation, we will definitely be under a blizzard warning from 9:00am until midnight. Sustained winds around 30 with higher gusts...yesterday they were talking up to 50 mph. We'll see.

The barometer read 29.11 a few minutes ago.

Hope the electricity doesn't go out! I can live without the Internet for a coupla minutes but one does get accustomed to heat and lights.
 

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Can't sleep.
Restless legs.
Restless mind.
Went to banquet.
Juiced and jazzed.
Home again.
Storm a comin'.

Cannot sleep.
 

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Waiting....

 
For the next storm. We're technically just north of the Winter Storm Watch again, but there is still some indecision as to whether it will take the projected path or not. The winter storm watch starts tonight at midnight and goes through Sunday. We ARE however, under a Blizzard Watch that starts at 9am Sunday. Lots of wind expected to blow around snow already on the ground.

For adjustment to the bifocals. I have noticed one bad effect: when cleaning the church the part of the glasses used for reading corresponds quite closely to the range I would use in vacuuming. Meaning, I can't see most of what I want to sweep completely in focus unless I were to glue my chin to my chest, which I am somewhat reluctant to do. I'll just have to get used to not seeing properly for that procedure. Fortunately, when I have to get down on my hands and knees and go over the entryway rugs with a small attachment to get the plaster dust off from where the workers have been apparently sprinkling it with large salt shakers, I can see PERFECTLY! Really, it is such a relief. I just don't know WHAT I would do were I not able to get down on my knees and scrape that little attachment over and over and over...

For the Valentine's Banquet tonight at church. I can count on one hand the number of times Loren and I were able to attend in the past 12 years. It would be even more fun if I didn't have a headache.

For satisfaction from a bookdealer. A book I ordered, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, by Richard Hofstadter, arrived this morning and it turned out to be a paperback instead of the expected hardback. Ma is miffed. I had a chance to buy it completely new for one more dollar, but choose this bookseller because he'd advertised the only hardback. How much you wanna bet I never hear back from my email? That's ok, I still have feedback to write...

For my eyes to feel normal. This technically could have gone under one of the above sections, but that would have deprived me from complaining about the fact that things never quite seem in focus and that my eyes feel weird, like they're open wide and the wind is drying them out. I'm sure this will go away sometime...

For the weight loss to kick in again. I forgot to post yesterday about the diet lifestyle change update: no change this week. That makes a net weight loss of 5 pounds in 5.5 weeks. That's OK by me. Extenuating circumstances. Next week should be better since I got over 4 miles on three different days on the treadmill this past week.

Ma's Latin quote of the day:

Obesa cantavit - The fat lady has sung

 

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Of Boys, Bears and Bifocals

 
With the privilege of pre-breakfast gaming abolished, Trevor-the-wee-lad found staying abed an acceptable option.
He and Nolan explored the potentialities of their light-up plastic swords.

Pooky Bear remained his taciturn self.
__________________________

I called the eye doctor's office first thing this morning and explained my problem and they are ordering a new left lens for me. It's the lab's fault--which shall remain nameless--and how much you wanna bet they don't make it the right, again ?

Ma tried to get incontrovertible proof of the less-than-stellar labwork.

Not the greatest picture, I admit, but you should be able to get a hint of several of the cracks along the edge of the lens. It took a lot of trying to even get this bad picture...
...and I was wrong about the number. There aren't ten cracks, there are at least twelve.

Ma's explanation for the boo-boo...see the screw to the left that tightens the frame around the lens? See how it doesn't quite bring the two pieces of the frame flush?
Having cut the lens a tad big, the ignorant peoples at "the lab" tried to squeeze that baby in anyway, ("KEEP TRYING, Bernard...it has to work!") and upon aggressive crunching "to make it fit," they inadvertently produced the stress cracks.

It's really hard to believe they didn't notice this.

Ma is in the process of being appeased however, and I can hardly wait to fill out my next evaluation for "the lab," heh heh.

I must say though, it is terribly nifty to be able to read without having to lower the ol' specs on one's proboscis.
 

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Bifocal Report: Part 3

Time: 7:14pm

My eyes are getting a little tired. Everything seems a little too close or too far away.

I did lie down a bit this afternoon because I thought it would feel good to close my eyes.

It did.

But when I heard what seemed to be the sounds of verbal dispute, motherly duty forced me out of bed to find that nothing was happening.

Ah well.

Overall, I like my bifocals, so far. Well, except for the one teeny little thing...the 10 stress cracks in the left lens.

Yes, that's right. I was casually examining the frames when I noticed the tiny little fissures.

This will mean a phone call, another afternoon (or two) blown and as Pooh would say....

Oh bother.
 

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I always thought so....

 
...though Loren might not agree.

You Communicate Like a Man

When you communicate, you like to get to the point. You're not afraid to say what's on your mind - and leave it at that. Talking about your emotions drains you. You rather keep them to yourself. You prefer solving problems to wallowing in your sorrows.

Do You Communicate Like a Man or a Woman?

Even in junior high and high school I always enjoyed talking to guys more than girls, and I don't think "attraction of the opposite sex" was integral to the situation.

Never liked talking about makeup and "who was going with who" and other stupid stuff. Also, I was always a homely chubster and the typical "Oooo, it's a girl...time for me to act goofy" thing was never activated in the guys. They were just themselves and I was the sister-type.

When women veer off the point or continually YAK I find it really frustrating. (and I've known some men like that, which is equally frustrating)

I know I'm no great intellect but I can talk about laundry and decorating the house and "what special Christian book I'm reading" only so much before I'm dying to break away.

I've always been jealous of the theological discussions the groups of men were having. Not necessarily to contribute...but just to listen.

Of course, 10-question quizzes are somewhat limited in their ability to offer accurate evaluations :-)
 

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Bifocal Report: Part 2

Time: 12:47.

I bet I got that in only two tries.

Things are not so bad, as long as one doesn't mind blurriness here and there.

I survived my pre-luncheon treadmill ritual and I'm beginning to think all this head-moving will burn a few extra calories.
__________

In other news, THE FURNACE GUY is coming today for a consult. He and Loren will be tromping around the house, looking at the situation and making plans for the future.

I don't really mind. It's not like I have to do extraordinary cleaning, after all. Though we did scurry a bit before lunch just to make the setting somewhat less...mmmm, cluttered.

My main goal is that no one sees our bedroom. It has a lot of books and clothes but very little closet space. The entire room is basically a closet. But this too, shall be remedied some day.

The real dilemma is: What is appropriate attire for visits from furnace guys? Granted, I don't have to do much, but one hates to reflect unfavorably on the husband.

For example, right now I am wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt with a flannel "over" shirt. It's fairly tacky, I admit.

But when you go on the treadmill three times per day, once before each meal, changing six times can be rather annoying.

And we haven't even touched on the whole multiple shower issue. If I had to change AND take a shower each time I put on less scruffy clothes I would basically turn into a prune. Loren's a reasonable guy and I doubt if he has anything against prunes, in principle, but I'm fairly sure he doesn't wish to be married to one.

So I guess he's stuck with scruffy.

Happy Valentine's Day :-D
 

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The Bifocal Report

The time is now....*tilts head to four different angles to find sweet spot*.....9:23 and Ma has worn her new bifocals for approximately 50 minutes.

So far, a little woozley but not too bad. I was corrected for distance as well as getting bifocals, so it's more than one change. Everyone says to allow two weeks to get used to things. 336 hours. That shouldn't be too long to suffer deleterious effect, right?

I particularly pressed the eye doctor as to whether this switch to bifocals might make me dizzy and he said "No, it shouldn't be a problem."

At least I think that's what he said...enunciation is always a little tricky when the patient has your neck in a vise grip.

I'm feeling a slight headache and an intense need for chocolate...this may be harder than I thought....
____________

In other news, it has become apparent that Trevor has a computer game addiction. "Mommy, he's on that ALL DAY!"

All the other kids have certain regulations regarding the computer:

1) Specified game time each day, educational is fairly unlimited (1 hour per week day and 1 1/2 hours on weekends--summer vacation is usually 30 minutes extra per day)

2) No game time (or educational puzzles, etc) until after lunch on a school day

3) Internet access: only when someone 12 or over is in the room with you. This includes for school projects. (the kids are allowed to read my blog :-)

With the littler children we've been more lenient. It's a real boon to have Trevor happily whamming pickles right and left while I work with Nolan on school.

HOWEVER, the time has come for a few adjustments for the lad. Last night before bed I explained that he couldn't start gaming until after breakfast.

Coming down the stairs this morning I was greeted, not with a hug, but a sigh of relief and, "Finally...we can eat." He was not referring to hunger pangs but the inner yearnings that come from a tyke separated from his electronic alter ego.

I predict more reductions in the very near future.
 

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Officially Old (!)

Ma went to collect her bifocals this afternoon. They seem quite nice, though they're actually tri-focals. I guess they call them bifocals at first to soften the blow.

I won't be wearing them until tomorrow morning however, as advised by the technician. It's supposed to be much easier to adjust when the ol' peepers are fresh.

Took the two rapscallions along with, both for purposes of home crowd control and to look for a winter coat for Nolan. The old one handed down from-Jason-to-Derek-to-Ethan-to-Nolan is just not gonna work no more. The zipper wore out with the first one and by now only two intact snaps remain.

First stop....Trinkets-n-Togs, a resale shop. It was in the parking lot that Ma accidentally set off the car alarm. May have had something to do with stuffing my keys and remote into that little zippered purse pocket.

You haven't arrived in life until you have the capacity to inadvertently set off your car alarm.

We DID eventually make it into the store where I immediately pounced upon four pair of shoes plus snow boots! Nice. No coat for Nolan but found one for Derek :-) unless he wants to keep wearing that Michigan Wolverines job.

I was all ready to head for the check out when I saw the books....oh yeah....BOOKS! "I really shouldn't look at the books," I muttered while I started to float on air... "Let's go!" pleaded my ne'er-do-wells.

"It won't hurt to look a minute..."

Ah, those words of immortal futility.

In the end I restrained myself to Dante's Inferno and The Little World of DON CAMILLO, two paperbacks for 25 cents each.

When I got to the checkout I realized they didn't take a debit card and I apparently do not carry the checkbook with me. So we stashed our loot behind the counter and went next door to the ATM machine.

No one ever said shopping was easy.

Off to Wal*Mart for a few necessities...7up for Loren's nausea, a few oddments of food and then....SWORDS! The two youngest were com-PLETE-ly out of swords, and folks...a boy without a sword is like a woman without chocolate....sure, you can eat, but what's the point ?

The three of us cruised the toy aisles until we found them...except, they weren't the same ! Gone were the plastic swords of yore and in their place...long-foam-things-of-weirdness. They cost more, too.

Trevor was all game for the "biggoh sowod," but Nolan was having none of it. He tried to negotiate a brace of pistols, but considering the price of 12 buckeroos, Ma was having none of that.

We wandered further and found small plastic swords that glow with the help of an AA battery. At eighty-eight cents, it was time for my eyes to light up.

"OOOoooo! These are really cool, aren't they, guys? Wow! Won't your brothers be im-pressed!"

Thanks to low prices and Ma's marketing hype, el cheapo swordos were boughto. I give them two days before the lights bust.

Finally, THE LAST CHECKOUT LINE! We were headed for the exit when I suddenly remembered, "WAIT! We forgot to look for a coat sale!"

The very nice lady at the service desk watched our cart where the poor bedraggled boys were forced to leave their swords AND their snacks, and clump back to the clothing section.

Hark, a clearance rack! In short order we found a coat originally marked $19.00, now priced at $9.00. After looking at Goodwill stores all winter long this sounded like the deal of a lifetime. I bought it slightly large in hopes that it will last until Nolan, and possibly Trevor, are fifteen. It's almost big enough for Jason so it could double as a sleeping bag.

I managed to stay awake for the 45 minute drive home--no small feat since I'd woken up at 3:30. My last test was pulling into the driveway which has not been plowed all winter. It's had the odd shoveling, but since we have such great snow tires it is always a thrill to take a nice run, missing the old blue van and making a snappy 90 degree turn in front of the garage.

This time I got stuck however, but managed to shovel my way out in ten minutes. I am still hacking from the cold air that got into my lungs, but that's OK...coughing burns up more calories.

Tomorrow I'll put on my bi/trifocals! Should be exciting. I'll try to give minute by minute updates on clarity and looking disoriented, as well as the number of objects I bump into.
 

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Adventures With Ma

It was a freezy cold day as Ma ventured out for the weekly shopping trip.

The weather threatened slightly, forcing her to make the EXECUTIVE decision to leave early.

Despite the inclement forecast, BRAVE Ma also took along her two youngest spawn. It was their turn plus there would be the added advantage of knowing she'd return to an intact house.

It wasn't long before she detected something amiss...

Vibrations! Rumblings of a most unseemly nature emanated from the Green Dragon Lady Lincoln. Fearless Ma stopped the car not once, but THREE TIMES, facing negative wind chills in a effort to check the tires, check for obviously malfunctioning equipment.....check for a SIGN, fer cryin' out loud!

Nothing.

Ma continued on but the noise bothered her. She made the difficult decision to return home and take the evil-smelling-car-of-mouse-scent, instead.

However, upon turning her car around, Ma was amazed to discover the noise was gone ! She made yet another executive decision to turn 'round again, and head back to the happy-land-of-shopping.

Much Goodwill acquirement ensued, including boys' clothing and a VHS of National Velvet.

Onward. The temp on the local bank clock read "Zero degrees." (the expression on the person following Ma was less discernible)
Oh Ma...can you make it? Snow, cold AND potential road rage?

Undauntable Ma presses on, even sharing the road with big...bad....TRUCKS.
And still she falters not.

On to the grocery store, where Ma whipped out her coupon to get 10 pounds of ground beef at $1.69 per pound.
"It looks like a ba-zooka, commented the not-so-innocent Trevorlad. (I am told this "meat perspective" can be blamed on Jason, who early on oriented the younger kids as to the identification of various weapons)

Ma tried to keep a low profile through the rest of the store...not the easiest thing to do when one's 6-year-old is singing ALL THE WORDS to "Winnie the Pooh."

Our Fearless Heroine observed several people glancing her way. They were not the ordinary, "Boy, does she look weird," looks, but rather more of the "Isn't that one boy big enough to be in school?" type.

Finally, one man could contain himself no longer and blurted out, "I just have to ask...did the schools let out early?"

"No," our intrepid almost 50-year-old replied, "We homeschool and we're doing the shopping before the weather gets any worse."

"Oh, well...that's good..." (*insert* "Some of my best friends are homeschoolers...")

Homeward bound at last, Ma carefully drives with one hand and snaps pictures with the other. It appears the snow is beginning to cover parts of the road.


Though normally unperturbed, Ma felt slightly nervous on the gravel road when it became obvious that it was snowing SO HARD, barbecues were literally dropping from the sky.

___________________

In the end, the snow tapered off after I got home, leaving me to wonder if my attempt to beat the storm had been ill-timed.

Things picked up again, later, with the local website stating that the current conditions were rain/snow showers with the temperature holding steady at 5 degrees...I have yet to figure that one out.

But there was more for Ma to deal with...much more. El Husbando had woken up (this assumes sleep, of which there was little) feeling most punk. By evening nastyish GI effects had set in, along with muscle aches, headache and the beginnings of a fever.

Since fever can be a sign of rejection transplant patients are told to keep close tabs on any rise in temperature. Thankfully the fever began to recede but feeling icky didn't, so he consulted with a transplant coordinator up at Mayo. We made plans to visit the local docs on the marrow, and I went over Tuesday supper plans with Melinda.

In the end, Loren is feeling somewhat better and the local appointment was not needed, after all. It gave us a bit of scare, though.

And as an additional part of my mad dash to "do stuff in case I have to take Loren to a gazillion doctors on Tuesday," I was throwing laundry in the washer when this card dropped out of the little boys' basket.
Looks like someone's been doing research for a paper...

So...How do's a worm breeth, anyway?
 

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Hols of the Day

 
Lest we forget, February is National Chocolate Month. There are other designations but I'll get to them later. At least the most important one's been mentioned.

I'm in a hurry since snow impendeth and it's Nolan's and Trevor's turn to go shopping so I have to go in the morning and I can HARDLY wait for the stares and questions, "Shouldn't you boys be in school?" and then I'll have to explain that we homeschool and that it was Nolan's and Trevor's turn to go today and because it was going to snow I had to go shopping in the morning and I PROMISE to do their school in the afternoon.

Anyway...

Today is National Clean Out Your Computer Day. Time to get rid of those old files and programs, people. Just don't let someone like me do the job, or you'll end up with a neatly erased hard drive.

It's also National Inventor's Day, though there seems to be some controversy over whether to put the apostrophe before or after the "s." This special day probably came about because today is also Thomas Edison's Birthday.

And in that spirit, I would like to announce a new luncheon item invented by daughter Melinda....the Cheese, Peanut Butter and Onion Sandwich. She made this up one day and soon had Derek trying it. Methinks The Eclectic Sandwich would be an appropriate name.

I don't know if this will help her make friends or influence people, but it should look really good on her high school transcript.

Today in History:

1531--Henry VIII recognized as supreme head of the Church in England (because he was such a moral kinda guy...)
1766--Stamp Act declared unconstitutional in Virginia
1790--Society of Friends petitions Congress for abolition of slavery
1861--US House unanimously passes resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state
1899 -61ºF (-52ºC), Montana (record low temperature)
1942--"Archie" comic book debuts
1945--Yalta agreement signed by FDR, Churchill & Stalin
1986--Rights activist Anatoly Scharansky released by USSR, leaves country
1990--Nelson Mandela (political prisoner-27 years) freed in South Africa
2008--Ma Hoyt embarks on her 1389th grocery shopping trip (data approximate)

Ma stumbled onto a nifty site that gives Latin quotations, so I guess you know what THAT means :-D

Ma's Latin Quote of the Day:

Audio, video, disco - I hear, I see, I learn

(seriously....that's really what it means)
 

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That Loren Person

 
Thought I'd put up a picture of the injured one, merely for the sake of letting his family know what's going on and not to embarrass him, as may have been mentioned by a certain party. Possibly.

The picture was taken on Tuesday night. I say this because the very next day Loren got the pristine white bandage all dirty working on wiring for the furnace.

I think it's a very good depiction of Loren's thoughtful and serious nature, as well as descriptive of his determination not to let a little broken hand keep him from his laptop.

For purposes of accuracy, the broken bone is the small or 5th metacarpal. The break is called a "Boxer Break" due to the fact that many of these incidents come from people punching jaws or walls or other inappropriate items.

In Loren's case he met not with a wall but an equally immovable sheet of ice covering the ground.

You would not be-LIEVE how many instances I read about on one doctor's blog of people getting mad and hitting a wall. Some of them ended up with pins in their hands.

Ah, the inherent wisdom of mankind...it gives one hope for the future.

Thankfully, I married a sensible fellow, which was rather astute de Ma, non?
 

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The Happy Sounds of Children...

 
...involved in a multiplayer:

Ethan--"Hey! You're killing my villagers !"

Derek--"Yes....and you're stealing my gold !"

And suddenly I feel led to go clean the church.
 

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Winter Morning on the Iowa Plains

Fog flocked the trees again last night and as is evident, plenty of ice remains, some of it from that first storm in early December.


Oh yeah...I wondered what happened to that pan. Another case of rice-cooking gone amok.
I turned the wrong burner to "low" and then went off to my laptop, leaving the rice to boil madly for 27 minutes. It was so hot and burny smelling that I just "temporarily" stuck it out in the snow.

It was an instance similar to this that led to the development of brown rice.

Would you believe this was taken from a helicopter over top a volcanic crater?
Or, it could be snow in a knothole...

There they are in all their glory...the Three Sisters and their Two Cousins, once removed.


On the diet new lifestyle front, Ma has lost another pound :-)

That makes a net loss of 5 pounds over 4.5 weeks. That'll do considering the natchos and chocolate pudding cake on Superbowl Sunday. Also, it was a weird week activity-wise and I didn't get in all the desired treadmill time.

So basically the endeavor is going well. Naturally, next week could turn out badly, plunging me into the depths of despair...

...but until then I'm happy.
 

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