52 Books in 52 Weeks: Week...ummm...10?

This is what happens when it takes me longer than a week to finish a book. I lose all track of everything. I *think* the rest of the people doing this challenge are on week 10.  I guess I too am on week 10, but on book 8. (blush)

Can I count all the research I've done this week about homeschooling curriculum -- trying to decide if I want to buy Tapestry of Grace for next year -- as a book? Or two? ;-)

Not sure what I'll do next - the oh so interesting titles on my nightstand are things like The K and W Guide for Colleges for Students With Learning Disabilities and How to Ace the Catholic High School Entrance Exams. Fun!!

Here's the list so far:

8. Dracula by Bram Stoker (I really liked it Jennifer, thanks for recommending it!)

7. The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister
6. the kindle version of Organized Simplicity: The Clutter Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider
5. Extreme Makeover by Teresa Tomeo
4. Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Danna Korn (Dummy, because apparently we aren't gluten intolerant, lol!)
3. Made To Crave by Lysa TerKeurst
2. Gluten Free, Hassle Free by Marlisa Brown
1. The Everything Guide to Cooking for Children with Autism by Megan Hart


Sorry for this yawner of a post. 

Word Association, in pictures?

I thought I would pass along this survey for a study which I find interesting:

Word Association Study

It only takes a few minutes - they give you a dozen or so words and you write the first three words that come to your mind.

I realized just how visual and picture oriented I am (or have become), because I found this difficult.  The word would come up -- I'll give an example that isn't part of the study so it doesn't mess with your results -- for example, "bedspread,"  and immediately I could picture a bedspread, feel the texture of the bedspread, sense emotions tied to me being in that room with the bedspread, but finding single words that I associated with "bedspread" was like pulling teeth.   Ummmmm....warm? no, not really. Bumpy?  Eh. Bed?  Sigh...next word. LOL   One of the words  given (it was just a color name) even brought to mind a whole funny story of my mom and the preparations for my wedding.  I had to mentally tear myself away from that and focus on The Word.

Anyway, this explains a lot, I think. Of why my blogging is a little lame, LOL.

If only I could describe the fascinating swirling images in my head, I think it would work.

Off to take my happy pills now and tell the guards they can put me back in my jacket! LOL!!

Happy day, everyone.

*cue the spooky music*

I believe in these Lenten times of deeper prayer and separating oneself from the world there are no coincidences.

Yesterday my mother got a kind phone call from a sweet sounding woman, asking if she would give a name of someone in her life who needed healing.

"Do I need to give you any money?"  My mom likes to cut to the chase, lol.

No, the kind lady said, we pray for the person you list and send the names to Lourdes. She said she was from a certain missionary group, Our Lady of the Snows perhaps? and that the name she gives would be prayed for at masses in Lourdes.

My mom asked if she could list more than one name, and proceed to list herself and my dad, my family members, my brother's, her brother, all who need healing...twenty minutes later, after telling her about us, the kind lady on the phone said that was great and that she was doing this to repay my Mom for all the many donations she had made in the past.

"Ummmmm....

I think you have the wrong person!"

My mom had never given to this organization in her life.

"Oh!  The name we have here is M________  K_______."

Ahhhh, it was my grandmother, my mom's mother-in-law, who passed away a few years ago at the age of 96.  My mom related this information to the woman and then said, "I guess I have to forgive her now for all the mean things she did to me."

The woman on the other end was silent for a moment, then couldn't stop laughing. "I can't wait to tell everyone this story at lunch!" she said. LOL!

So what my Grandmother did years ago is paying dividends today, and we not only are getting prayed for at Lourdes, but we got a good laugh in the process.

I had prayed yesterday for a gift from Our Lady. I did not get what I asked for, but this is better.

Simple Woman's Daybook

 FOR TODAY

Outside my window...

the sun! the sun! O how I love the sun!

I am thinking... 

about houses, my parents, and vampires. There's a joke in there somewhere.

I am thankful... 

for my long suffering husband, the joy of friends with happy news, this version of the angelus that calms me down when I need centering.

In the kitchen... 

GLUTEN

 I am wearing... 

navy long sleeve T-shirt, black pants (ok, sweats)

 I am creating... 

 pot roast (love my crock pot!)

 I am going... 

to chill out for Lent.

 I am wondering... 

 about living with my parents, who are serious again about wanting to move in with us (if and when we get a bigger house). I have a feeling I know what is right and just in this situation, but I'm honestly not sure my sanity can survive it.

 I am reading... 

Dracula

I am hoping...
 That a statue I ordered comes soon, because they already charged my credit card even though it was back ordered, and I don't wanna deal with them...

 I am looking forward to...
 dh being home on my birthday, a huge consignment sale coming, and a rare outing with friends for our fake book club. We do typically read the book, but then we only talk about it for 10 minutes max and spend two hours chatting about whatever.

 We are learning ...
 Maybe this should be in the pondering section.  I miss the long ago when read alouds and discussion ruled our days. But with two distinct age groups of kids, including a preschooler and one with special educational needs (read: me facilitating her learning takes up gobs of my time), when are we going to read and discuss several different books at a time? And if I do, when am I going to help the others through all their other subjects? When am going to blog cook?  Read gratuitous novels clean?

 Around the house...
 presents and annoying mylar balloons. Happy birthday Grace! I can't believe she is NINE.  Nine! That makes me, like, old!

 I am pondering...
 changing my kids' blog names again. I've never resonated with these, even though the kids picked them themselves and should be happy with that. Maybe go back to my Little Women names or pick my favorite saints or something. Thoughts?

 A favorite quote for today...
from Dracula - parking it here to unravel it later:
(from the professional's notes about a man in an insane asylum)
"I presume that the sanguine temperament itself and the disturbing influence end in a mentally-accomplished finish, a possibly dangerous man, probably dangerous if unselfish. In selfish men caution is as secure an armour for their foes as for themselves. What I think of on this point is, when self is the fixed point the centripetal force is balanced with the centrifugal. When duty, a cause, etc., is the fixed point, the latter force is paramount, and only accident or a series of accidents can balance it."

 One of my favorite things...
the chocolate milk from the dairy that delivers to our house

 A few plans for the rest of the week:
 more dental work for the 6yo - she was SO great last week, the usually staid dentist was practically gushing about how well behaved she was (*fist pump for the mom*)

 A peek into my day...

 The necessities of math:  calculator, protractor, huge eraser, and mysterious red velvet cape and hood. :)

For more daybooks, please visit The Simple Woman's Daybook. :)

Why I blog...

From Bram Stoker's Dracula (*thank you* Jennifer!!!)

Great God! Merciful God, let me be calm, for out of that way lies madness indeed. I begin to get new lights on certain things which have puzzled me. Up to now I never quite knew what Shakespeare meant when he made Hamlet say, "My tablets! Quick, my tablets! 'tis meet that I put it down," etc., For now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for repose. The habit of entering accurately must help to soothe me.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Week 7

It was a kindle kind of week again, read while at several dentist appointments -- this week I finished The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister.

I really want a fiction title next, preferably a classic I can get for free for the kindle...any suggestions for this sad, tired mama?


Past books:
6. the kindle version of Organized Simplicity: The Clutter Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider
5. Extreme Makeover by Teresa Tomeo
4. Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Danna Korn (Dummy, because apparently we aren't gluten intolerant, lol!)
3. Made To Crave by Lysa TerKeurst
2. Gluten Free, Hassle Free by Marlisa Brown
1. The Everything Guide to Cooking for Children with Autism by Megan Hart

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Week 6

Because I just don't feel like writing a review for every book I read (i.e. I'm not very good at it and never have any idea what to say) I'm going to start a list and add to it when I finish a book.

I force myself to do oh so many things, I just don't want to force myself to write a book review when I don't want to. Feel free to ask any questions you like about the books I've read - I don't mind that at all, just don't know how to pull a review out of thin air (i.e. that stuff inside my head, lol)

So here is my list of books read so far in 2012.

This week's book:

6. the kindle version of Organized Simplicity: The Clutter Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider

Past books:

5. Extreme Makeover by Teresa Tomeo
4. Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Danna Korn (Dummy, because apparently we aren't gluten intolerant, lol!)
3. Made To Crave by Lysa TerKeurst
2. Gluten Free, Hassle Free by Marlisa Brown
1. The Everything Guide to Cooking for Children with Autism by Megan Hart

wabi sabi

~~a.m.~~


crunched on the couch with a little boy who can only get back to sleep on me


lying, listening to husband leave in the darkness for a meeting...I hope it went well


shooting shaky pictures of the moon. even when I don't think I'm moving, I am

soaking laundry, winter water freezing cold


trip through feedly and facebook


lunch on the heels of breakfast. food is love.


so so cute




~~p.m.~~


obsessively checking for emails from our realtor, our future hanging in the balance


so tired I can't stand myself, weird virus messing only with our blood sugar and blood pressure


changing blog backgrounds. I'm not big on valentines day, but I love red hearts

obsessively.checking.email.


wondering whose kids these are, mine never want to go outside.


cutting butternut squash, kitchen cluttered


little ones wanting apple slices


email. obsessive. seriously.


does franks 'n' beans constitute dinner? there's squash next to it


sun setting, so reluctant to turn on the lights. math done in semi-darkness. appropriate somehow.


mint chocolate chip ice cream from the vitamix, and the silence that ensued


time to clean up

Works For Me Thursday

...because it 'works for me' to be a day late and a dollar short!

I've been meaning to share this little tidbit for awhile, but haven't found the right place for it. No time like the present, I suppose?

{Hmmm, do you think I could pack any more tired cliches in my first few sentences? :-P }

I have always had finicky, sensitive skin.  Everything from eczema to breakouts to skin that seems to be dry and oily at the same time.  Scents and too many ingredients also bother me. So when I stumble upon something that works for me, I am very excited.

Here's my tip:  I wash my face (with Dove, use whatever works for you) in the shower every morning, and then towel dry very lightly so that my face is still damp.  Then all I use is jojoba oil.  Stick my nice clean finger into this bottle and smear it on my face.  The bottle looks expensive, but you use so little each time when your skin is a bit damp.  I've been doing this for months, and I've maybe used an ounce of the 4 oz bottle?  It looks a little oily at first, but it does soak in after a few minutes, especially if I've left just the right amount of dampness and rubbed it in well.

My skin has never looked better. And the rest of me is a hormonal  and allergenic nightmare, so it can't just be that I've finally changed to have naturally good skin!  I particularly appreciate that the jojoba oil is just that - jojoba oil. No preservatives, no dyes/perfumes/fillers to irritate me.

Perhaps this wouldn't have worked on my teenage skin, but as a 40-something mom who is still prone to sensitive skin and break outs, it is just right.

Join me in a few days for Seven Quick Takes Monday! LOL

Is it too early...

...to call our gluten free experiment a colossal flop?

We've been gluten free since January 2.  So that's 38 days? Five weeks.

It hasn't been too hard. We've replaced sandwiches with leftovers, and cut down on things like waffles, pasta, cookies, muffins, etc - using gluten free replacements when we do indulge.  I'm not saying it would be "easy" to keep this up forever, but do-able.

However, we have seen NO changes in us. Seriously.

OK, I take that back. I've seen one change small weird change for the better in me, and one thing that may be coincidental, but is a negative. The one weird positive thing is that I don't get a rash when I shave anymore.   That's it.   The negative thing is a female thing I won't really get into.

My son's rheumatoid arthritis is still the same, despite upping his medication at the same time!  My daughter still is losing hair.  I still have anxiety attacks.  ADHD still around.  Everything I mentioned in my first post as an "issue" I wanted to see helped by this has not changed one iota.

I know I should probably give it a little more time.  And perhaps we should go entirely grain free.

But...ummmm...no.

Without eggs, dairy, peanuts, and potentially all nuts but almonds, I cannot conceive of doing that long term in any shape or form.  I'm sure it's just "me," or "us and our situation," but I just don't see it happening. Nor do I see dh and the kids liking it one bit.  There is something to be said for quality of life, I think, if giving up half of what we eat doesn't give us twice as good a life.

I know, I sound like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Perhaps I am.

*sigh*

52 Books in 52 Weeks - Week 5

I see I'm getting a wee bit behind here!

Last week's book for the 52 week challenge was Extreme Makeover: Women Transformed by Christ, Not Conformed to the Culture by Teresa Tomeo

From the Amazon book description:

Popular radio host Teresa Tomeo knows from experience that the self-image of American women is being distorted by pop culture. With its emphasis on youth, physical beauty, and sexuality, the secular media is encouraging women--and girls--to see themselves primarily as sex objects.  

A professional TV and radio journalist, Tomeo pulls together the latest research on social behavior and trends in order to demonstrate that women are harming themselves and their chances for true happiness by adopting the thoroughly modern, sexually liberated lifestyle portrayed in magazines and movies. Packed with not only persuasive statistics but also powerful personal testimonies, Extreme Makeover shows that it is not the slogans of the sexual revolution and the women's liberation movement that free and dignify women, but the beautiful teachings of the Catholic Church.

I feel a little too beat up after the last week or so of news regarding Komen, PP, Obama's requiring Catholic institutions to go against their consciences, etc, to get into this one too deeply here. I do recommend that Catholics and non-Catholics alike read this book.  She was preaching to the choir here, however, as I had already "pull out of the media" years ago.  Seriously, it's hard to see just how blinded you are until you stop reading women's magazines, stop watching commercial TV, etc.

For more reviews (and better! I am sure! LOL) visit Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks!

My heart aches

There's too much pain around me... friends losing  sons, people name calling on Facebook over politics and Komen/PP, lack of health (chronic) in my own family.  And I know I shouldn't let facebook stuff bother me. It does hurt, however, when people who I truly consider friends call people who believe how I believe "stupid, disgusting, small minded."

I just want to sit in a warm field with a cool breeze and write poetry.

Except I don't write poetry, lol.

{{haiku doesn't count. my haiku is like guerilla poetry. I need peaceful, breathing, slow poetry}}

I just want it to stop hurting.

Perhaps the sun coming out would be helpful.

Our Backyard

This is not a downer post, however. You may read it like that, but that is not the reality of my heart.

No, I don't have any quick fixes -- no "wrap it up warmly in four paragraphs" going on here.   Have I ever?

How do you wrap up this crazy world? This awesome journey?

Perhaps it doesn't matter how sad I am, perhaps what matters is each moment of choosing. Choosing to enjoy slicing an avacado for the family's lunch. To laugh at a visiting 5 year-old's potty humor. To find beef bones at the market and make beef stock for the first time, learning and being present with it.

A better blogger would have nice pictures to go along with all this. I am not that blogger.

I'm not sure what I am.  Should a woman about to turn 43 still wonder what she is going to be when she grows up? :)

Did you know my favorite poet is e.e. cummings?  I think of him as a sculptor-poet.  I think like him.


This often gets me in trouble.

Pinning it Down

A Day Late and a Yummy Recipe Short

Since going gluten free I have been trying to be more creative in the kitchen, trying things I normally wouldn't.  Pinterest has been very helpful in that regard... I love saving recipes to try for later.

This week we tried Chocolate Kiwi Pops, originally from Showfood Chef.

I apologize for the lack of pretty pictures.  It was night, and my camera is cheap. :)

We didn't use popsicle sticks, we just used forks and all went at the chocolate at the same time like animals.

The children loved watching the chocolate harden onto the frozen fruit.

I don't think any of us really liked the Kiwi pops, but luckily I had frozen some banana slices too. Those were very good. Pineapple was a close second.  The combination of the sour kiwi and the cold was really just too much for us.

We did refrigerate the leftover chocolate dipping sauce in candy molds and it was smooth and delicious the next day.

Who needs fruit? :)

For more people Pinning it Down, please visit Pam at Everyday Snapshots!

Menu Recap Week 4

Sunday:

• breakfast: Trader Joe's GF waffles, maple syrup, sausage
• lunch:  corn torillas with refried beans sanwiched between (lightly fried in olive oil), carrot shreds, black olives
• dinner: leftover pork roast was shredded and cooked in the sauce that was served over the pork (balsamic vinegar/soy sauce/brown sugar and today I added more honey because it was too sour last night), served on rice cooked in the pork broth saved from the crock pot yesterday (sound gross but was good), with shredded carrots and cabbage (I just threw these in when the rice was almost done and they steamed nicely.   Dh liked this one. :)
• snacks:  airheads, apples, bananas

Monday:  guess we got busy because I'm writing this on Wednesday and I have NO IDEA.  I know dinner was corn pasta/canned corn/canned black beans/bacon/salsa tossed together.  Cheese on top for those that can.

Tuesday: same memory loss thing goin' on, lol. Dinner was green beans and a whole chicken in the crock pot.

Wednesday:

• breakfast: cereal, avocado, bananas - not mixed together :)
• lunch: some leftover chicken, more avocado - lunch was picked at because we at a lot in the car coming home from Jeffrey's eye doctor visit (no inflammation in his eyes, yay!)
• dinner: soup - broth made from yesterday's chicken bones, diced cooked chicken,  quinoa, frozen mixed vegetables, diced potatoes, some shredded cabbage, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, and two drops of hot sauce. :)
• snacks:  trail mix - we got an order of dried fruits from amazon so this trail mix finally had some variety: Kix cereal, rice chex, honey nut chex, chocolate chips, almonds, dried cherries, dried cranberries.  Kinda high on the sugar, I know.

Thursday:

• breakfast: TJ's gluten free waffles with maple syrup and/or chocolate sauce,
• lunch: leftover soup, rice crackers, tea, one child had apples and another almonds
• dinner: franks and beans, some vegetable that I can't remember!

OK, I give. I can't keep up with this.  Too busy living and composing (and forgetting) real blog posts in my head to remember what we are eating every day.

We did have salmon salad sandwiches and a yucky rutabaga/carrot/apple salad thing for dinner on Friday ...then stir fry broccoli /carrots/jasmine rice/beef on Saturday. I remember nothing else except too many chocolate chips. :)

I think I will take a break from menu recapping, but come back to it at some point in the future. Maybe when I come up with something that won't put you all to sleep. :)

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Week 4

I can't believe I made it to week 4, lol!   I *do* read, constantly, but I'm usually reading catalogs, or articles from a magazine, facebook statuses, or seven tenths of a book ;-) and can't really post on that or review.

This week's book is hopefully my last gluten free book review, because honestly, I'm tired of it!

Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Danna Korn was right up my alley.  In true "dummies" style it covers all the basics of a subject, delving off into more complicated topics here and there.  This book talks about everything from emotional difficulties when you or your child is diagnosed with celiac, to shopping and cooking strategies, identifying symptoms of gluten intolerance and getting diagnosed, recipes and more. The link above (to the book on Amazon) has a 'search inside' feature where you can see the table of contents and parts of the book.  The short sections are just long enough to keep my ADHD brain interested, while being long enough to explain what they need to.  

I only have two small complaints, and one may be because I have 14 years experience with kids with food allergies -- the author states that it's essential to eat NO gluten (none, nada, not even a trace!) if you have celiac disease, and there are places where she seems to stand by that, but there are other times where her explanations of how to stay "safe", like at a restaurant, leave me a little nervous.   The second was her more than occasional reference to how she doesn't like cooking much, and to her it's best to find a way to just open up a box or use a mix...but oh, someone else tried these recipes and they actually work so here they are! LOL.   I guess that's very down to earth and most people only dealing with celiac (as opposed to celiac plus other allergies or cooking needs)  can appreciate that.  Coming from where I'm coming from, I didn't.

BUT, I think this book was great to read if you need to know about gluten free living, cooking, and parenting, my complaints are small compared to the great amount of knowledge shared in the book.

For more book review links, visit Robin at Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks!