Library Thing

I like books. Nay, I LOVE books. You could say that I am a Bibliophile. It is my goal to have a small library and SHELVES. I found this site and I am having a great deal of fun with it. The limit of books for the free account is 200 and I know that I have about 800 so I am going to have to upgrade to a paid account.

FYI, there will be a party when I near 1,000 books. Friends and family will be invited to my party and will be asked to bring me a gift of a book. If the book is a duplicate of a book I already own, it doesn't count. The person who brings the 1,000th book will get a prize and will be honored as the donor of the 1,000th book.

How many fingers do you see?

I need glasses. The nice eye doctor says I can use them for reading, sewing and driving. I don't have to wear them all the time. Take that eye doctor I saw 6 years ago. I pulled out my old glasses a while ago and noticed that they are terribly dated. 6 years ago they were the cusp of eye wear fashion, now they are lame. We will be picking out new frames tonight, they of course will be trendy and dated in a few years. C'est la vie!

He is Risen!

We are singing two songs in Sacrament meeting this morning one of peace and one of JOY! I love them. Even though it is cloudy and grey what a wonderful day. I am including the lyrics because they describe my heart this morning.






O Morn of Beauty - Jean Sibelius

O morn of beauty, morn of gladness!
Awak'ning joy, dispelling shades of night,
Gone is the gloom, the sorrow and the sadness,
Now breaks the day of peace and light.
Sing and Rejoice with joyful alleluias,
Sing alleluia, alleluia!

The days are past when souls were wrapt in mourning,
The earth awakes with vict'ry as her strain,
Lift up your hearts and greet the glad day dawning,
For Christ the Lord is ris'n again!
Sing and rejoice with joyful alleluias,
Sing alleluia, alleluia!


Let the Trumpet Sound - Natalie Sleeth

Let the trumpet sound, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Let the earth resound, Hallelujah Amen!
Let the people sing, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Let the heavens ring Hallelujah, Amen!
Now and ever blessed are we
Christ has won the victory!
Let the world rejoice, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Let the chorus voice, Hallelujah, Amen!

Christ the Lord, is risen on this Easter Day.
From his mortal prison where three days he lay.
Love has come down to roll the stone away;
Gone is now the sorrow, Dawns the joyful day.

Let the trumpet sound, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Let the earth resound, Hallelujah Amen!
Let the people sing, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Let the heavens ring Hallelujah, Amen!
Now and ever blessed are we
Christ has won the victory!

Let the night be gone, Let the daylight dawn,Hallelujah, Amen!
Let the world rejoice, Let the chorus voice: Hallelujah, Amen!
Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Hallelujah, Amen!

The Business of Being Born

I just watched The Business of Being Born . It was so wonderful. I thought I would be angry but I am more thoughtful. Thank you to my two earthly angels; to Cindy who was my doula at my hospital birth and to Betty my midwife for my two homebirths. Thank you for helping me find myself. Thank you to my 3 children who are the reason I am who I am. Amen.

A picture of Nutmeg just after birth at home on my crazy zebra sheets with her born at home bracelet.

Plumbing

Why the image of a commonly eaten junk food that is often passed off as real food? Why because that is what was clogging my kitchen sink. For which I had to endure 18 hours of Draino fumes and pay $69 to the plumber. FYI if there is a lot of mac n' cheese in your disposal, when you turn it on it doesn't dispose, it just sucks it all into the drain where it sits in your u-bend and clogs up your sink.

The good news is I know a plumber so I knew who to call and I think $69 is a reasonable fee. Also, there is only one person in the house who eats "smack" and it isn't me.

Hug your babies...

A little lost boy was found outside of my house today. He rode his trike about 3 blocks around the corner and up the hill and on to the MAJOR road near my house. He was probably 2 certainly not yet 3. The people who found him knocked on my door since the kids were playing outside to see if he belonged to me. He was IN the road. Luckily his mom came just after the police arrived. Unfortunately I did not know where he came from. I was afraid that he lived in the mega condo-plex behind our house. We might never have found his mom.

So pick up your babies and hug them tight, and please tell them not to ride in the middle of the road.

Ok, so I like SOME poetry

Mi amiga takes exception to my feeling for flowery rhymes I seek to vindicate myself.
I really appreciate carefully crafted prose. If you want to say something just say already quit pussyfooting around it like a wimpy old lady. I am aware that this is a shocking revelation in my personality, it shocks me too. A girl who likes period dramas and embroidery would seemingly be a fool for poetry. I, however; skip whole sections of books where a poem or song is retold. I do like some poetry like the kind that don't use sentences but just string words or phrases together.

Here is poetry I can handle

So much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.
-William Carlos Williams

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Haiku ( I really love haiku)
The Highwayman - Noyes
and I can indeed enjoy a rhymed couplet (they aren't long enough to make me glaze over)

Chicken boarding school??

I love fresh eggs. Moose used to work with a guy who kept chickens and for a couple of years we were treated to free farm eggs. Eventually he stopped keeping chickens and I was left to buy my own eggs, there was a farm nearby that sold them, but they stopped.

My neighbor says that then they bought their house there was a paper that said "no chickens" on it, but I never saw such a rule. I don't know if our yard is big enough anyway. I think I will call the county and ask. Not that Moose would EVER let me have chickens on our tiny lot.

I have 2 friends that keep chickens and I am envious. Our babysitter (daughter of one of the friends) suggested that it wouldn't be anymore work to take care of 6-8 chickens than it is to take care of 4 and hinted that maybe my chickens could board at their house. I told her maybe she should check with her mom before she offered that, also It didn't sound fair that they do all the work and I get the spoils, though of course I would pay for feed.

Then I got to thinking, wouldn't it be cute to get chicks in Easter baskets? Then I looked on Craigslist and found chicks for sale.

So I am just wondering, anyone out there who wants to board some chickens for me? I would like to get Araucanas for the pretty eggs but if that won't jive with your flock I could change my mind.

The first bloom

Violets are my favorite flower, followed by lilacs, lily of the valley and tea roses. Very old fashioned, I know. This is a blurry picture of the firt violet in my violet patch. The first bloom of spring!

COD4

We have a wonderful new droid in our home. Its number is COD4 and he washes my dishes. He does it very, very well. Moose sacrificed from his computer cache to buy this for me. Turns our that the old dishwasher that never cleaned was just a bad model. So I am not crazy and I DO know how to load a dishwasher.

February Reading List

I have started reading again as knitting season is in the Pro-bowl state.

Read this month:
Ivanhoe - By Sir Walter Scott - For TJEd discussion group. Liked it, really liked it, but thought that is was too long. Why is this book called "Ivanhoe"? It should be called "Rebecca" or "Superbad knights from Merry Old England, Their Cohorts and Their Ladies"

Instead of Education - by John Holt for a different discussion Group. Good stuff. Down with S-chools, hooray for homeschools, s-chools unite!

Persepolis - By Marjane Satropi
A touch of misguided communism in appealing comic book form. Interesting look and the Iran of the late 70's early 80's. I don't know much about the topic so I was unable to compare it with anything else. Iranians are people too - their leaders are a little bit ...off. Recommended reading takes 2 hours tops.

Currenty reading:

Teach the Children - by Neal Flinders
Good, but I find it frustrating to read books that want to advocate homeschooling but can't because they were written before homeschooling became acceptable so they focus on fixing the broken and unfix-able public school machine. (Also my only criticism of Instead of Education - just tell us to Homeschool!)

The Merry Adventures of Robing Hood - By Howard Pyle
I inherited this bedtime story book because Moose does not like reading Pyle. I now know why
"Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue." is nothing to the prose of Pyle. Luckily I have a background in Shakespeare and I can barrel through fancy language with some ease. I am probably reading it too fast, I always read aloud very quickly.
Question: Is Robin Hood a good role model? He is a criminal, how do I work this into a leadership education? Commander C is lapping it up and thus so I continue.

The Book of Mormon:
Totally doing this in fits and starts, like 15 chapters on Sunday, 3 on Wednesday and guilt the other 5 days of the week. I am highlighting in green with my new fancy scripture marker all the verses that are examples on how and what to teach one's Children.

To be read:
Mary Barton - Elisabeth Gaskell (for fun)
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster (for Commonwealth)
God's Politics - By Jim Wallis (for TJEd discussion group) this will prove thought provoking, thus far I am not agreeing with the author.

63 reasons to love Luke!

1. He is cute.
2. He says "G'day"
3. He writes "I love Janessa Moss" in the sand.
4. His fingers never smell like smoke.
5. Dad likes him.
6. He LOVES the USA!
7. He is LDS.
8. He is not chubby.
9. He likes our family.
10. The family likes him.
11. He wanted to give his DS to Eddy.
12. Eddy loves him.
13. He has brown eyes.
14. He has brown hair.
15. He is so nice.
16. Mom like him.
17. He will take a girl to the temple.
18. His mom likes Janessa.
19. He bought Taylor a boomerang.
20. He is tall but not too tall.
21. He wears hoodies at the cinema.
22. Sara likes him.
23. He knows how to throw anotha shrimp on the barbie.
24. He is generous.
25. He puts up with Janessa and still loves her.
26. We like the way he talks.
27. He'll treat you right.
28. Brian likes him.
29. He spent Christmas in a foreign land.
30. He would be a good father.
31. Regan likes him.
32. He likes mint oreos.
33. He likes to go shopping.
34. He is not gay.
35. His initials spell LAW
36. Jessica likes him.
37. HE showed Danny how to pull his thumb off.
38. His breath never smells like beer.
39. He likes Montana.
40. He doesn't leave the toilet seat up.
41.Cameron likes him.
42. He is Australian.
43.He'll move across the world to be near you.
44.He is good with kids.
45.He is handy.
46.Margaret likes him
47. He can lay tile.
48. He is not a bum.
49. He likes Disneyland
50.He conserves water.
51. Kylene likes him.
52. He does a good gay impression.
53. You don't deserve him.
54. Danny likes him.
55. Jason likes him.
56. Jeremy likes him.
57.He has a job.
58.Audrey likes him.
59. Janie likes him.
60. Shawnel likes him.
61. Really you love him.
62. He is the best thing that could ever happen to you.
63. He is forgiving.

Here's a little something for you!

SO, I don't take pills. When I am pregnant I try to choke down a few because I am generally anemic and tired during pregnancy. I also do not remember to give my children pills. Yet I have an entire cupboard shelf for vitamins, herbs and supplements. My homeopathics DO get used but the rest of this stuff...not so much.

I was organizing my cupboard today and took all of these things out. Nearly half are things I puchased because I wanted to. The Vitamin C, B-12, Folic Acid, Dandelion Root, Papaya Root (pregnancy heartburn be gone), Cran-actin, Cramp-ease, Nettle and Garlic Oil.

The Other half are things that my practicioners convinced me to buy. The trouble with those are ... they aren't cheap. We are talking about $30+ a bottle here folks. Most of them are things that it would behoove me to take or give to my children, but I forget. There are a few exceptions there is the big bottle with a shiny label, that is from the MLM my parents were into before the current one. Why do Mormons Like MLM's so much? I don't know, I did not inherit that gene. I don't know what it does and as I opened it this afternoon I learned, the seal hasn't even been broken.
Then there is the Opti-Gyn. Opti-Gyn is some sort of super vitamin for women with reprodictive issues. I acquired a this bottle during a last ditch effort to avoid surgery. It was a late rainy winter evening, I got a last minute appointment at the Naturopathic College of Medicine downtown. My best friend saved me by watching my son for me while I went in. While I was there I learned 1) My insurance would not cover this visit and the person who recommended it to me had a different idea of affordable than I did. 2) It was hot in that building, and I was in emotional distress. 3) I was starving and dangerously close to passing out from hunger.
After waiting quite some time I finally was ushered into a room with a real doctor and 3 students. I cried out my story to them and told them how much I wanted to avoid surgery and that it was scheduled in 3 weeks.
They grilled me, asked every single question under the sun, 3 times. They then left the room for quite some time to confer and then came back, told me to eat a better diet and showed me out the door. Where I was met with a bill of $80 and told to buy this bottle of pills. Cost $40 - sure I could have declined to do so but all 4 of the doctors were hovering watching me write out my check and as I mentioned the 3 points I was in no state to argue. As soon as I left the building I cried, and cried and cried. I picked up my son, crying out the whole story and then arrived home where my husband had to make me soup and put me to bed.

The next morning I called the office and told them I would like to return my bottle of pills. I was told that all pharmacy purchases were non refundable. I was so mad, I stopped payment on my check. Where I learned 1) banks charge $25 dollars to stop payment on checks. 2) even if you are pissed off about the treatment you recieved at the doctors office you still have to pay.

So I was stuck with the $80 visit, $40 pills, and $25 check cancellation fee, and a $10 late payment fee at the office. Nice, emotional abuse and highway robbery. And I still had to have the surgery.

I can't get rid of these pills because I am so frugal - I can't thow out money. I am not going to take them because I will not remember, I can't get rid of them because Freecycle won't let you freecycle "supplements" even though they won't define supplements.

So I just look at these pills as a tip. I give the practicioners ;who are all excellent (save the Opti-Gyn pushers) a little tip. They do a good job and I smile and buy their pills so they can make a little more money than my insurance company will pay them.

Husband tagging

1. What is his name?
Moosedrool
2. How long have you been married?
8.35 years
3. How long did you date?
It was twisted long distance thing over the space of 3 years
4. Who eats more?
Me
5. Who said 'I love you' first?
Me
6. Who sings better?
Me (well I am the only one to have been heard singing, his singing voice is a mystery)
7. Who is taller?
Him
8. Whose temper is worse?
Mine
9. Who does the laundry?
Me
10. Who does the dishes?
Me
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
We switch every few months, right now me.
12. Who does the cooking?
Me
13. Who is more stubborn?
Me
14. Who proposed?
Ummmm...
16. Whose parents do you see the most?
About the same, maybe mine?
17. Who pays the bills?
Me
18. Who wears the pants in the family?
Hmmm good question, I try to, but it doesn't always work....I can't really say, Maybe it is a 4 legged pair o' pants.
19. Why do you love your husband?
Because he is the yang to my yin, his strengths are my weaknesses. He lets me follow my passion. He likes pulp-free orange juice and hates gravy. He thinks I am beautiful. He is a wonderful father and husband. He is VERY patient. He is a proponent of symmetry. He is exactly what I need. He is.

Hmm I've been tagged

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: (Jan 1998) I was fresh off a semester abroad in London and starting my first semester at the University of Idaho. I had just moved in with a nightmare roomate (don't worry I only lived with her for a month and then I moved in with one of my closest friends, Liz). I was in the theatre department pursuing acting but was about to learn to sew and fall in love with costuming. I was 19, bouncy and obnoxious. I was just getting into the groove at "The Tute" the coolest Institute on the planet. Good times.
5 years ago:
I was living in my current home, I had just found out I was pregnant with #2. I was very excited. I don't remember much else.

2years ago:
I was 7 days postpartum with my sweet little girl wrapped up in my arms. I had a lovely homebirth with her. I had wanted a little girl so badly and she was finally here and she was so tiny, unlike my other babies. I was probably just coming downstairs for the first time. My mom and youngest brother were here helping out. Those were very, very happy days.

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Go to Commonwealth School and remember to pack a lunch for us.
2. Do the dishes.
3. Clean the house before Knitting class tomorrow
4. Read Cicero The Republic and The Laws (and understand)
5. Wear my freshly knit and blocked skirt.

Snacks I enjoy:
1. Spanikopita
2. Dark Chocolate truffles
3. Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
4. Chips and homemade salsa
5. Cake

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Build a house on a decent sized piece of land
2. Have library in said house.
3. Go to Prague.
4. Move all of my family onto the big piece of land.
5. Go back to London.

3 of my bad habits:
1. I sleep in and stay up very late.
2. I write notes on whatever scrap of paper I have handy and then I have piles of important envelopes and reciepts that no one can throw away because I wrote a note on them.
3. I leave things wherever - causing much clutter and mess an I am always losing those things.

5 places I have lived:
1. Kalispell, Montana
2. Logan, Utah
3. London, UK
4. Moscow, Idaho
5. West Lafayette, Indiana

5 jobs I have had:
1. Tour Guide at the Conrad Mansion
2. Costumer for the Idaho Reperatoty Theatre
3. Tour Guide at the University of Idaho
4. Theatre Assistant at Hollins College Theatre
5. housekeeper/waitress at the Flathead Lake Lodge

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I was Queen of the Elves in the Christmas Parade
2.I was vice president of the Teen Republicans in High School
3.I want to learn Japanese for no good reason other than I want to.
4. I auditioned to be on "Jeopardy!" and did pretty well.
5. I am a Montana girl at heart.

The Jane Eyre

As you may know Jane Eyre is hands down my favorite book. I have seen many film adaptations of Jane Eyre some have been ok, some have been poor, some have their good points like Orson Wells' performance coupled with dark and eerie cinematography.

But the latest Jane Eyre done by the BBC is good, really good. I first saw it on Masterpiece Theatre last spring( ?) and I watched it again this week. The first time around my 6 and 3 year old boys watched it with me. They were really excited about the "ghost. "

This adaptation is faithful to the book. A few things are added that appear to only clarify points that are made in the book but don't translate into action or dialogue.

When I read Jane Eyre I am overcome with emotion. The passions in the book are so powerful and often seem to be overlooked in the film versions. This version has passion, the characters talk about the passions they feel.

Rochester is a little too handsome and not at all hideous even after the accident, but hey since Mr. Rochester is one of my biggest crushes I won't object to him being easy on the eyes.

The costumes were great which is always a major factor for me in period films.

So put it on your netflix queue and watch it already.

Help these kids!

Take a look and see if you can help out this family. Their kids need room to run. You might think they are crazy but there are much crazier things out there on the internet that have been sucessful. www.moosefamilyhome.blogspot.com

 

 

Ignorant and simple that' s me! A Mother.

I'd just like to thank Linda Hirshman for enlightening me. Why, all my life I have been thinking I was an intelligent interesting woman; but no, I am ignorant, simple, oppressed and not even happy. Unfulfilled.
Ms. Hirshman really ticked several thousands of moms off last week when she appeared on Good Morning America. I didn't see it - I am too busy being unfulfilled by taking care of my offspring to watch GMA but I did read the article when someone told me about the show.

Ms. Hirshman not only informed me that I was stupid and wasting my life but by implying that taking care of children is not worth while and fulfilling she invalidated entire professional fields such as childcare providers and school teachers. And I would just LOVE to ask her if she really thinks stupid people should be the ones raising and teaching children. I would prefer intelligent people do those things for my children.

This is my favorite quote "One of the things I've done working on my book is to read a lot of the diaries online, and their description of their lives does not sound particularly interesting or fulfilling for a complicated person, for a complicated, educated person." First, that is really scientific research, Sherlock. Second, explain to me how nurturing and caring for the most special spirits on the earth, molding their minds, watching them discover the world, watching them discover themselves is uninteresting or unfulfilling. Third, maybe these things don't SEEM interesting to YOU, that does not mean they are not interesting or fulfilling to the people who do them. What hubris!

" She asks why should business schools give advanced degrees to those who don't use them?" the article goes on to say.
UHHHH. I must say I am not quite sure what is the best way to respond to this kind of logic. Is education ever wasted by those who value it? I use my college education EVERYDAY as a mother, it is hardly wasted. I won't even go into education vs. schooling and which is more valuable and how you get it. Does using an education mean earning a paycheck?

'"I think it's a mistake for these highly educated and capable women to make that choice [to stay home]," said law professor and working mom Linda Hirshman. "I am saying an educated, competent adult's place is in the office.'"

Apparently Ms. Hirshman's view is the ONLY occupations that are valuable are those in the board room, courtroom, and those making money for others who bow down before the almighty dollar. Who makes the food she eats, the clothes she wears and the art she looks at? I guarantee these people do not all posses degrees. Are these jobs not valuable to society? Raising children and providing a home for them and for their fathers to come home to is not valuable? I do a lot of things if you added up all of my occupations you would see that I could command a very high paycheck - I just do my work pro bono (that's a fancy word for free that will make business women think you are OK to the feminist movement.)

"I think that one could argue that these women are letting down the team," Hirshman said. Yeah. Raising a generation of intelligent capable human beings is letting down the team. Someone has to do it and who better than a parent? A parent has a vested interest in the child's well being a parent wants nothing more than for their child to succeed in life - no matter their definition of success. The nanny, daycare worker and school teacher are doing their job and no matter how much they like your kid it is still just their job. They go home and think about their family not yours.

Now, don't come to me with your story about how you HAVE to work and you HAVE to let someone else take care of your kids. That's fine, if you have to work you have to, this is not about that. This is about the people who choose to stay home are being devalued because of that choice.

Just to let you know how deceived I was about my own intelligence and rank on the interesting scale, here is an example. I have a friend, also a stay at home mom, our children are the same age so we often go on walks. During these walks we have time to talk, here are a FEW of the topics we touch on during these strolls of ignorance and simpleness. Economics (Nash and things like that), medicine, politics, human development, society and it herding of the masses, education, reading skills, literature, cooking, nutrition, psychology, philosophy,unethical marketing practices in 3rd world countries, international issues, terrorism and its roots, religion and cultural differences between Americans and the Indian sub-continent, and our children and all related topics.

I also am part of a book group - we don't read the latest popular mystery or trashy novel. We read classic works of literature, philosophy, theology, math, science, and human nature. Then we get together and discuss in the attempt to mold ourselves into leaders in our community.

I am the leader of a local support group for parents and a member of a medical study group of people learning to take care of their families without relying on doctors and insurance companies.

I read voraciously (in books) and learn way too much for my own comfort on current events. I am an artist, I create when I have a spare minute.

Then there is the minor detail of running a household, feeding it, transporting it, and cleaning it. I homeschool my children full time.

Uninteresting, uneducated, not "complex."

In closing Ms. Hirshman and her feminist cronies (FYI - many women find feminists offensive and do not use the term to complement) are obviously feeling threatened that after all their man hating rhetoric and then turning around trying to be just like them, women still WANT to be at home with their families and enjoy it.

Unlike many women I don't apologize for being a stay at home mom by saying "I'm just a mom." I don't embellish by saying "domestic engineer", "chauffeur", "teacher", "housekeeper", "nurse", "cook", etc. I don't feel I need to. If other people don't know how hard stay at home moms work, and what they do all day SHAME ON THEM.

I am a mother.