Meme Mania

Luisa tagged me for a meme. It's late, and I should be going to bed, so my brain is tired. I hope this doesn't end up being boring!

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was recovering from knee surgery, trying to find a new job teaching chemistry, and donating my time to my then-current employer preparing the oldest high school chem lab in the history of man for a visit from a hazardous waste disposal company. Seriously.

What were you doing one year ago?

I was visiting my family in CT and working on catching up on my reading challenge.

Five Snacks You Enjoy:
1. Ice cream.
2. Fruit smoothies
3. Any chocolate that isn't Tootsie Rolls or M&M's
4. Cereal
5. Chopped walnuts with honey

Five songs you know all the lyrics to:
1. And So It Goes by Billy Joel (and I'll just leave it at one Billy Joel song, okay?)
2. Great is Thy Faithfulness
3. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
4. We Belong by Pat Benatar
5. Rachel Racinda by Lost and Found

Things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Give a whole lot to World Vision
2. Get a new kitchen floor
3. Get solar panels for my house
4. Take some classes
5. Go away by myself for a whole week.

Five Bad Habits:
1. Sucking my thumb
2. Blogging late at night instead of exercising
3. Leaving my hair in the bathtub
4. Not washing dishes
5. Biting/picking at my lips

Five things you like to do:
1. Learn
2. Crochet or knit
3. Sit in a coffee shop all by myself and write
4. Talk about myself. (Maybe that should be listed in the question above.)
5. Laugh

Five things you will never wear again:
1. My fake tooth. I was a fake tooth (my top, right one) attached to a retainer-type device. I needed surgery and ended up wearing it for about two years before I got an implant to replace the gaping hole in my head.
2. Leg warmers
3. Banana clips
4. Pink.
5. Anything in a size 8.

Five Favorite Toys:
1. Computer
2. Sewing machine
3. I seriously cannot think of anything else

Where will I be in ten years?
Writing Bible studies and speaking to women's groups.

If you want to join in on the meme, please do. Leave me a comment so I know to check out your answers.

Well, Color me.... PINK????

You all know that I love me some Phil. Yes, I do. And Phil has established himself quite well in the golfing world. But just a few years ago, Mr. Mickelson had a little black cloud over his head, following him around everywhere he went. It didn't matter how many tournaments he won, how many greens he hit in regulation, how far he could drive the ball. His golfing greatness was always in question because....

He'd never won a Major.

In fact, the media bestowed upon him the title of "Best Golfer Never to Win a Major."

Really.

I've been at this blogging thing over three years now. I'm pretty certain that this here bastion of mediocrity has been on the verge of critical acclaim for at least two years, but no matter what I do, I just can't seem to convince the public that this blogger is championship material. While everyone is off reading the megablogs, I, quite possibly The Best Blogger Never to Win a Blog Award, am languishing in the shadows.

Maybe this is why I've always loved Phil so much. The shared experience, you know?

But, much like that magical Sunday at Augusta National, things have finally turned around for me. I've got my first little bloggy award; bestowed upon me by Laura over at My Quotidian Mysteries. I'm honored. Because she's smart, y'all. She told me she used to work for a think tank. That impresses me in the way that you get impressed when you have some vague notion that really smart people have that kind of job, but you have no idea what a think-tank-person would be called, let alone what they do. Other than think, of course. (And, as if that is not enough, she uses words like "quotidian" and "taciturn." I only know what one of those words mean, and that's only because it was in my book.) Why she reads this blog, I will never know.

But, aside from the fact that having smart people like me makes me feel stupid, I am very excited to receive my first ever blog award. And here it is...


And now I think I am supposed to pass the award on to a few of my peeps.

So, I hereby confer the "Rockin' Girl Blogger" award upon:

1. Leslie. Because she does rock. She hasn't been posting much lately, because she's a busy lady, living is Australia now. She's got some cool stuff on her current blog, but I "met" her when she was blogging at Haply Thinking. And I like her because she wasn't just "haply" thinking. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Leslie is on my short list of bloggers that I would go out of my way to meet. (Although Australia may be pushing it...)

2. Maureen. Because she is the one who introduced me to blogging. And because she makes me want to live out my faith in ways that scare the poop out of me. Which, I am convinced, is a lot more like how it ought to be done.

3. Jeana. Because she rocks in the sense that she can quote song lyrics to you at the drop of a hat. And she always answers my questions whenever I ask her something about homeschooling. And she even called me when I was a bit down. Plus she is funny.

There you have it.

And thank you for stopping by my award-winning blog.

You Have no Idea How Excited I was When I Discovered This Book

I was reading a few articles about (so-called) Christian Environmentalism when I came across a reference to the book Pollution and the Death of Man: The Christian View of Ecology by Francis Schaeffer. The title was enough to make me want to read it, but when I saw who wrote it I nearly fell off my chair.

A Big Dawg in the world of Christian teachers had written a book about ecology.

Hello, Amazon? Send me my copy right now.

I purchased a used copy and got to reading as soon as it arrived. I was not disappointed.

This book was written in the seventies. Schaeffer uses the first few chapters of his short (YAY!) book to refute some points made by writers of the day, who blamed the spread of Christianity for the poor state of the natural world. (Two of the essays he refutes are printed in the back of the book.) Schaeffer discusses, and rejects, the idea that one can make a moral appeal for the environment without a belief that it was created for a purpose. He makes the point that such appeals address morality only in their terminology. When scrutinized, these appeals are simply pragmatism disguised as morality.

He also discusses, and again rejects, the notion that pantheism offers a solution. Instead, he gives a refreshing explanation of creation and the place that each component (man, tree, bird, etc) has within it. This, of course, from the Biblical perspective. He points out how man is "one" with nature because he, like nature has been created by God. He then asserts that its beauty is not what makes nature worth saving. Neither is its usefulness. It is worth our respect because God made it. To disrespect it (a created thing) is not only to show contempt for God, but it is also to deny the place God gave us which is, like nature, a created thing.

Additionally, he states that man is unlike nature in that we were created in God's image. In this way, we are above nature, and indeed were given dominion over it. However, we, unlike a tree, can act upon it in ways that God did not intend. In regard to one's view of nature, Schaeffer is very careful to point out where the "hippies" (his term, not mine) get it right and where they don't. And he does the same for the Christian, making the point, where necessary, that our view of nature is often not quite right.

I found one thing Schaeffer mentions particularly interesting, perhaps because I had never really thought about it this way before. He says: In each of the alienations arising from the Fall, the Christians, individually and corporately, should consciously in practice be a healing redemptive factor - in the separation of man from God, of man from himself, of man from man, of man from nature, and of nature from nature... a Chritian-based science and technology should conscioulsly try to see nature substantially healed, while waiting for the future complete healing at Christ's return.

After introducing his last chapter with those words, he goes on to tell how the Church "can apply them practically to the whole question of ecology." But first he identifies the "two factors that lead to the destruction of our environment: money and time - or to say it another way, greed and haste."

His answer to these problems is that we must rightly exhibit our God-given dominion over nature: recognizing that he is able to do much more than God ever intended for him to do, man must submit to self-imposed limits. Limits to his pleasure and self-gratification. To make his point, Schaeffer parallels this with examples from a sexual relationship and a business relationship.

He conlcudes with these words: The balance of nature will be more nearly what it should be, and there will be a way to utilize nature for man and yet not destroy the resources which man needs. But none of this will happen if it is only a gimmick. We have to be in the right relationship with Him in the way He has provided, and then, as Christians, have and practice the Christian view of nature.

Can you tell I loved this book? I swear I didn't tell you everything. If you read it you will get a clearer understanding of how man can be "one" with nature and yet still be "above" it. And there is good stuff in there about how our view of nature even affects our witness.

Good stuff.

I know you're not going to, but go read it.

While Visions of Kale Danced in my Head

Back in December, I asked for advice about, among other things, a tasty way to fix kale. I didn't get much response there. I can't imagine why. But just last week I happened to be with a friend, whose food tastes are much like mine, as she was eating some lunch that she'd brought from home.

She had kale.

She offered me some.

I ate it.

Heavenly music began playing and, as I chewed in slow motion, the world became rosy and it was all I could do to keep myself from fainting.

Needless to say, I asked her for the recipe, and while I was on my way home from Sears yesterday, I stopped to pick up some kale and one ingredient that I didn't have here at home. I began preparing it without delay. Then I ate a lot.

And I had more at lunch time today along with a modified version of my favorite sandwich - which has sliced zuchinni in place of the spinach, thereby making it my favoriteEST sandwich - and some fruit.

The yum factor was high.

So, if you want to increase the yum factor in your lunch, this is how you do it:

Add about 1/4 cup (or less) of water to a large skillet. Add a bit of olive oil. Add one or two teaspoons of Tamari sauce (which is like soy sauce.) Sprinkle in Spike seasoning and ground ginger - enough of each to distribute it all around the skillet. Heat mixture until it begins to steam and sautee a bunch of washed, torn kale until it turns bright green. Add sesame seeds if desired.

Happy eating.

I Darned Near Forgot

SO. Weight. I forgot about that.

I didn't post last week because I was in New York. While I was in New York I was unable to eat as much vegetable matter as I have been accustomed to since beginning the challenge. Also, I wasn't able to do as much walking.

And I also ate too much. Every day.

But I am pleased to report that when I weighed in yesterday, I was still at 143.5 lbs

So, I didn't lose... but I didn't gain. And I think not gaining was the real victory this week.

I am back into the routine now that I am home.

If you want to read about others who are also part of the challenge, click here.

Because, In this Day and Age, Wise Marketing Deserves Special Recognition

I was wandering around Sears on this, the official sixth day of Summer '07, when I happened upon a clothing rack, upon which was a sign proclaiming:

End of Summer Clearance 33% Off

Indeed.

Let's Catch up, Shall We?

Hello, lovely internets. I am back. Many posts are a brewing in the ol' noggin, but I'll need a little more time to get the ideas out. They get stuck sometimes, you know? Be patient. They are coming, albeit slowly.

Every time I use the word "albeit," I wonder if I am using it correctly.

So. New York.

I went there.

I did some stuff.

It was fine.

I have been to NYC before and I can take it or leave it. I wasn't in awe of the tall buildings or paranoid about being robbed. I joined my group for some siteseeing opportunities, and passed others up.

The majority of my time was spent painting the kitchen of a very old church in Brooklyn. I do not have the literary skills to make that sound exciting, but even if I did, I'd be lying. It wasn't exciting. But it was necessary, so that's what we did. Others tore down a wall, put up insulation, and put a new wall on top of it. I helped a little with that, but mostly I just watched.

Oh, and I installed a handle on a door.

All by myself.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

The one earth-shattering event that did take place in New York involved me finishing a book. Having read a few books in the last year or so, the actual finishing is not the part that was so earth-shattering. No, the earth-shattering part was that is was fiction.

Robin asked if I wanted to read The Thirteenth Tale with her. I told her I'd try, but I knew I probably wouldn't keep up with her. Plus, I was only requesting it from the library when she was already picking up her copy.

That was the week before I left for New York.

She was done before I ever stepped foot in the Big Apple.

But by that time, I was already too far in to just quit. So I finished.

My general feeling about the book is that the story was interesting. However, many parts of it were just not believable. I know, I know. Suspend reality. It's just that I don't like having to do that. I like reality. Reality is my friend.

Also mildly annoying is the way the author described silly details about things that didn't really matter in the story. It was like she was using her words to show off about how eloquent she could be about a book. Or someone's skin. Or a statue.

But that was only mildly annoying. When I tell you the part that REALLY annoyed me, I am going to sound like a prude:

There was a certain sexual scene early in the book that, while not particularly graphic, just made me feel yucky. And I couldn't get it out of my mind. To make matters worse, I didn't think this scene was necessary for the plot.

Also central to the plot was an event that the author never described, but the reader finds out about later: (spoiler alert) an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister.

These things, if they were essential parts of a TRUE story, would have been a bit easier for me to take. But they weren't. I was reading simply for entertainment. So, when I finished the book, which contained a generally interesting story, I was left with this question lingering in my mind: Was it worth it? Was having to think about the yuck worth the little bit of entertainment that I got out of it?

The jury is still out on that one.

And that's what I did while I was away. What about you?

Please Pray for Amy

Things have taken a turn for the worst. Please pray for Amy.

A Few Things you Need to Know

1. It's Phil's birthday. Those of you who aren't already Phil fans need to know this. Because I know you are working towards fanhood, and this is necessary information.

All together now... Happy Birthday, Phil! We're all sorry that you weren't competing on your big day, but we hope the wrist heals very soon.

2. My SIL, Janice, is the BIG WINNER of the scrapbook. Janice, if you are still reading, you need to let me know if there is some sort of theme you'd like for the scrapbook. If you are not still reading, then you don't deserve the scrapbook anyway.

Traitor.

3. I am leaving tomorrow for NYC on a mission trip with my church. So you will probably not be hearing from me until next Sunday, at the earliest.

4. Because I will be in New York, I will miss my weigh-in this week. I thought that taking my scale with me on the trip would seem a little, uh, obsessive. But I will do my best to maintain some decent eating habits and I will be posting again on the following Tuesday.

And I will take leave of you now. I beg you all to summon the strength to keep blogging while I am away.

(My late night posts really are quite punchy, don't you think?)

Speaking of Winners

Just wanted to remind everyone that I will be drawing a winner tomorrow for the "What Character are You?" contest (for lack of a better term...)

If you haven't posted your answer yet, please do. I want to hear from you - and who knows, you just might win!

And the Winner Is...

Luisa. She guessed I was at the US Open, and she guessed right. All forty million bonus points are hereby conferred upon her.

It. Rocked.

So let me just begin this post by saying thank you to my husband who took me and arranged everything. I love him anyway, but he makes it so much easier when he does cool things like this.

Here I am in front of the clubhouse:
It was an incredible event. I was amazed to see how many things needed to be coordinated just so that we could watch. Truly, truly amazing. And that wasn't even the best part. The players were the best part! It was actually quite easy to get a close-up view of them. So close, in fact, that you could say something like "who is that guy?" to your husband and that guy would actually be able to hear you! (Not that I would ever say anything so uncouth. I am just confessing speaking hypothetically.)

But the cool part about going to a practice round is that when you get up close like that, you can take lots of pictures. Some of the players would even look your way if you called out their names. I have pictures of Stuart Appleby, Scott Verplank, Justin Leonard, Sergio Garcia, defending champ Jeff Ogilvy, Darren Clark, Davis Love III, Jim Furyk (Sports Illustrated's pick to win it this year), and Retief Goosen. (And if I could have gotten a picture of Ian Poulter's red, plaid pants for you, you know I would have posted it. You know I would.)

Oh my was it fun.

But you know what the best part was?

PHIIIIIIIIIIIIL!

And don't think that I didn't call out his name. Because I did. Oh, yes I did. I yelled "GO, PHIL!"

During a PRACTICE ROUND.

Because, as you know, practice rounds weigh heavily in the final score on Sunday afternoon, and I needed to spur on my favorite player to V.I.C.T.O.R.Y. Paul said he was a little surprised that I yelled. But it was Phil Mickelson.

Phil. MICKelson.

I simply could not help myself.

Mr. Mickelson, as it turns out, was not so easy to get close to because he was being followed everywhere he went by about seventy gazillion people. (He is the #2 golfer in the world, y'know.) And while approaching the eleventh tee, where I was poised to take his picture as he walked the path in front of a tree, he did a tricky little move whereby he ducked behind the tree. So, I took the picture you see as he walked down the eleventh fairway with some guy that I don't know. (Don't worry, I kept quiet that time.)

And if you don't know which one of those guys is Phil Mickelson, then you are not allowed to read my blog any longer.

Yeeeeeeees!

I weighed myself three times yesterday because I could not believe my eyes. And given the fact that I ate large amounts of cake this weekend, I didn't really believe the scale either.

I still don't really believe it, but it's what the scale says.

Pounds lost this week: 2.5

Pounds lost since beginning the challenge: 5.0

On an unrelated note, I am off to the Pittsburgh area with my husband and will be back late tomorrow. Forty million bonus points to the one who can guess why we might be interested in going there this particular week.

(Shalee, don't spoil it!)

Blahgging

Here is the blogging meme that has been posted by Chilihead at Don't Try This at Home. Click this link if you would like to read others who have answered the same questions.

How did you start blogging?
I started blogging not too long after my friend Maureen sent all of her friends an e-mail telling us of her blog. She said something like "I wanted you all to know that I have a weblog." I wish I was kidding when I say this, but my immediate thought was A weblog? Is it serious? Is it fatal?

Then she went on to explain what it was, and I felt really stupid. I read her blog every day after that and eventually decided that I would start one of my own.

Did you intend to be a blog with a following? If so, how did you go about it?
I have never sought out a following for my blog. I don't participate in many carnivals or take many opportunities to promote my blog. I am not against a larger readership, but what I really want is readers who participate - people who are willing to share their thoughts and get to know me (and I them.) Aside from the fact that this is hard to do with a large number of people, my experience has been that the majority of people just don't want to participate in this way. So I am not actively seeking tons of readers - I'd rather have a few readers who talk back to me than a thousand who never say a word.

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?
I have never clearly defined a goal for my blog and I'm not sure that I could. I often feel conflicted about what I want to accomplish through my blogging.

Recently I have had a desire to encourage deeper thinking on some harder issues, particularly as they relate to the Christian worldview. But these are the very issues which garner the least discussion (in my experience) and discussion is a big reason that I blog in the first place. Also a serious debate in my mind right now is whether putting those ideas out there "for the whole world to see" is as effective as addressing those things within my own, real world, sphere of influence. Add to this some uncertainty about what qualifies me to speak to these issues, and you have one PEZmama with a whole lot of bloggy angst.

That being said, I also have a great desire make people laugh, both in real life and on the blog. Unfortunately, I don't always have the verbal skillz that are required to finely craft the humorous post. I do think I make people laugh as a commenter though, but sometimes it's hard to tell if I am even doing that.

As for a plan, I don't know. I have seriously considered the plan called "stop blogging." (No comments, please.) I say this because, again, I am wondering if this medium is as effective as addressing people personally. Plus, being able to hear someone laugh or sitting down and having a real conversation are always so much more rewarding. Selfish, perhaps, but true.

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?
Absolutely.

Honestly, I think I started my blog because I was looking for validation from others who would say "you are so funny" or "you are so smart." (I didn't know it at the time, but when I started blogging, I was in the midst of a bout with depression that was going to get worse before it got better.) The validation really didn't come, so it was a hard time blog-wise because I wasn't really getting what I wanted out of it (and I shouldn't have) yet I kept trying. Eventually I got so sick of it that I took a very long break. (Quit is more like it. I had no intention of returning.)

When I came back from the break, my blogging perspective had changed. I began treatment for my depression soon after and I think that my perspective continued to change until I found the "voice" that I'm developing now. This voice is a much better reflection of the real me, and it's the voice that talks a little more about those deeper issues I mentioned above.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?
How to use the period correctly.

My thoughts kept trailing......

But bloggers in the know are So. Much. Cooler.

Do you make money with your blog?
The last time I made money was when they paid me ten dollars for reporting to jury duty.

In 2001.

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?
From my immediate family, my mom reads consistently and my husband has read it all (I think.) My sisters have stopped by a few times. I think my sister-in-law and a neice and nephew read sporadically.

As for "why?" I can't speak to that other than to say that my mom likes to see pictures of her grandchildren. I'll never know why more people don't consistently read this blog. It's funny, it's challenging, and it has PEZ dispensers. Who wouldn't want to read that?

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?
I offer this bit of advice, learned from admittedly painful experience, to the one other person in the universe who would do this: Blogs are not a good replacement for three-dimensional people. You can make friends as a blogger, but it can be difficult and sometimes impossible (especially if you want to be friends with MEGAblogger who has 500 other readers who also want to be her friend. And sometimes even the minibloggers just aren't up for starting new online friendships.) If your primary goal is to start a friendship, you might have a better chance if you go find a real life person and spend some time with them.

And this piece of advice, learned from a bit of serendipity, to anyone who wants to increase traffic on their blog: Quote Toto lyrics.

Ever since my Africa post, I think I show up daily on search results for lyrics to that song. Better yet, you might want to try slighly MISquoting the lyrics, because I get even more hits from people searching for the phrase "there is nothing 100 men on mars could not do."

I'm serious. Look.

Then again, I also show up in search results for "how to make an oreo McFlurry at home," so, maybe this advice is not for you after all.

Unless "clueless people" is, like, your target audience.

For real....

Next Time, I'm Calling the Plumber

My husband's best friend and his wife showed up this evening, unannounced, to drop something off before they went out for a date. I'm not sure what they might have been thinking when they approached me, but I can imagine. At that moment, I was standing on the front lawn amidst a slew of sleeping bags, clothing, toys, books, trash and the like, frantically waving a vacuum cleaner hose.

Jason, ever the cheerful fellow (I swear he fakes it) asks, "How are you this evening, Lori?"

I looked up and saw the two of them standing there. Then, blowing hair out of my face, I said, "Just fine. Our toilet has been completely removed from the bathroom floor, my van just threw up all over my lawn, and my vacuum cleaner is clogged."

I had already been in the bathroom helping Paul. Apparantly a child, who shall remain nameless, flushed a (toy) cell phone down the toilet after another child, who shall also remain nameless, threw it (and a sock) in the toilet. From what I gather, an attempt was made at retrieving the phone, but when that failed, unnamed #1 thought it best to just flush and be done with it.

And they were done with it. Paul and I, of course, were not. Though I managed to retrieve the sock, the cell phone remained lodged in the toilet.

Now, I am not sure what it is about making decsions about spending money that so paralyzes Paul and me, but whenever we have to call "professionals" to fix something, it's like every last brain cell starts shrieking "nooooooooo!" in unison.

We even listen to the screaming for a while, but we don't actually try to fix the problem. We just sort of pass our standard waiting period by pretending the problem isn't that bad, or that perhaps it will go away.

Which, of course, did not happen.

But instead of breaking down and calling the plumber, I suggested to Paul that we pull up the toilet and try to retrieve the cell phone ourselves. All it would cost us would be our time and a new wax ring. So, as I headed out to pick up a library book today, Paul mentioned that I should stop by the hardware store and pick up that wax ring.

And this evening, at the same time that I decided to clean out the van, Paul decided he would tackle the toilet. This would not be such a big deal except that just after I'd hurled every sippy cup known to man and every piece of Sunday school art from the last year onto the front lawn, Paul needed my help.

What I need to remind you is that, it had been over 24 hours since the phone was actually flushed down the toilet and, while we had taken Measures, we didn't exactly restrict toilet usage. So, there was still some uh, liquid, in the toilet. And some solids as well.

Actually, a LOT of solids.

Would you like to guess who got to play "fish for the cell phone"? Mind you, there was a glove involved, but let's just say that it's protective barrier left a bit to be desired.

I pulled a great deal out of that toilet. None of it was of the "cell phone" variety.

After much hemming and hawing, we determined that Paul would have to go to Home Depot and get us a new toilet. While he was off on that errand, I added to my pile on the lawn and almost disowned two children who decided that this was the time that they just HAD to PLAY in the VAN!

And thank you neighbor girl for coming over and asking if they could play.

Yes! YES! Sweet mercy, YES!

So I resumed my effort to improve property values in our neighborhood by unloading several bags of clothing, coloring books, and lollipop sticks.... what in SAM HILL with all the lollipop sticks?

When Paul returned with the new toilet, I went back in to help him. If you'd like to know how that went, I'll just remind you that the last time we did a toilet repair it took us 45 minutes. And that was just putting on a new lid. Just the LID.

That very same lid had to be moved to the new toilet, but that was only a fraction of tonight's job. (And don't think for a moment that we didn't encounter the same problems with that lid that we had last time.)

(I am so not kidding.)

Once we cleaned up the mess in the bathroom and the mess on the lawn, Paul carried the old toilet outside and set it by the trash can. Fearing that the trash man would not be too excited about the substances that remained in the toilet, I flipped it over and started to hose it down. For the first time I had a clear view of that little green and blue phone lodged inside the toilet.

But toilets being how toilets are, I had to do some maneuvering to get everything to wash out of there. As I was doing so, I heard a little "clunk."

I picked up the item that the toilet had deposited and walked inside to my husband.

"Here," I said, "you have a phone call." And I held it out for him.

And that toilet... the one there is absolutely nothing wrong with... is sitting on my front lawn at this very moment.

The neighbors will be so proud.

If I tell you there is a prize involved, would you indulge me in a little Friday fun?

Which of the following characters, shown here atop PEZ dispensers, best represents your personality?




Is it Winnie the Pooh, Arlene (Garfield's girlfriend,) Pebbles, a skeleton, or Goofy?

Tell me in the comments which one fits you best and why.

I'll randomly select an answer on Friday next week and the winner will receive a 6x6 scrapbook complete with embellished pages, created by yours truly. Suitable for giving or for keeping all to yourself. You can even tell me how you'd like it decorated... baby, adult, holiday, etc..

Now humor me.

Please?

Endangered Species

Most of you who read this blog probably don't know that I am a pretty vocal activist with regard to a certain endangered species. It's not something I write about here, because, honestly I think that this type of concern cannot be conveyed effectively to people I can't actually see. My experience has been that personal conversation does much more in the way of convincing others of the importance of this species and the need to step up our efforts to preserve it.

Why have I singled out this particular species? It isn't so much that I think other endangered species are less important. That's not it at all. It's just that the dwindling of this population has already had negative effects in our household.

If that sounds like overkill, let me assure you it is not.

But the part that really jerks my chain is that all of it - ALL OF IT - is totally unnecessary and completely preventable.

I'm breaking with my tradition of not addressing this on my blog because it seems that the personal pleas of people like me are falling on deaf ears. I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize this species publicly before it is gone forever.

Teaspoon, you will be missed.

Another Book Review. YIPEEEEEE!

Well, I posted a few weeks ago about the books I was working through. Of the three that I listed, only one is now completed. As I mentioned yesterday, Made to Stick was due back at the library today, and I refused to renew the book even once. So I finished the last 38 pages last night and returned it to the library this morning.

The book was interesting and boring at the same time. It was full of all sorts of stories about how people got their ideas to "stick" in others' minds. Those were really fun to read: how the Texas government got tough, pickup driving men to care about litter; how army commanders empower their subordinates to make decisions during war time; how a small Kansas town of 35,000 is home to a newspaper that sells 43,000 copies every day. Fun stories. Interesting stories.

But the narrative about what all these stories have in common? Not so interesting.

Overall, an okay read. But I can't really tell you that you need to pick this one up any time soon. Or ever, really.

Now I still have three books that I am working through, because those McArthur books did arrive from Amazon, and I started one of them before I even finished with Made to Stick. Why do I do this? I am terrible at finishing a book when I have more than one going at a time.

Why, WHY?

Can a Person Eat Too Much Asparagus?

I love asparagus. A while back I was asking for ways to prepare it, because I hadn't really eaten it all that much let alone prepared it for myself. When I wrote that post, I probably could've counted the number of times I'd eaten asparagus in my life on two hands. I only remember LIKING it once. The rest of the times it was bearable, or downright disgusting.

Then Luisa left a comment with her simple prep for asparagus.

And now? Well.

Now, I want to marry the asparagus.

Even my husband, who could hardly bring himself to even swallow the stuff in the past, eats it.

Willingly. Like, if-I-don't-put-it-on-his-plate-he-will-serve-it-to-himself kind of willingly.

We were having some the other night at dinner and he said, "My mother would fall over if she saw me eating this."

Dear man, don't think I didn't have to steady myself.

And in case you don't believe me about how good the asparagus is, Ms. Bao just asked for a taste of mine and then asked for more. Twice.

It's good. That's all I'm sayin'.

I WILL not Renew, I WILL not Renew

My book is due tomorrow and I have thirty-eight pages left to read.

I WILL not renew...

I WILL not renew...

Lagging

So, uh, I don't get it, unless my weight loss lags behind my focused weight loss behaviors by about two weeks (in which case, I should start gaining back some weight pretty soon here...)

But anyway, I was 146.0 at my weigh-in this morning.

Weight lost this week: 1.5 lbs

Total weight lost since beginning the challenge: 2.5 lbs

A Bit of Good, Clean (Well, not Really Clean, but You Know What I Mean) Fun

Our first trip yielded not a single catch, but there were some happy kids, let me tell you.

The Rest, and Then Some

Here is the rest of the little floaties that I have floating, but aren't worth a post of their own (and then some, as the title suggests.)

1. I did not want to imply in my Intelligence post that parents should never push their children. I think that is a huge part of our responsibilities, especially if it is an area where our children really need growth. We usually know what our kids need. I was referring to pushing kids when it's really for no good reason at all.

My friend Linda sent a great e-mail in response to that post. It got me thinking that maybe I wasn't quite clear, so I just wanted to take care of that. And I'd give Linda some link love right now, but she doesn't have a blog. Linda, start a blog.

2. Heather has accused me of turning into Martha Stewart, and BooMama wanted to know how one would actually make laundry detergent. Allow me to publicly respond to both:

Martha Stewart ain't going to happen. Not even close.

And here is a link to the recipe that I found at Con$umer Di$obedience.

People. This stuff is truly inexpensive. With a capital "Cheap."

3. Luisa wants to know why I washed my hair with baking soda. The answer is because baking soda is supposed to clean everything, in an environmentally safe kind of way. I'd read (somewhere???) that you can even use it to wash your hair. Turns out, you can.

And then you just want to wash it again with real shampoo. Whoever posted the idea said that it takes some time to let your hair get adjusted. What I learned is that it takes less time to just wash again with shampoo.

4. The caviar was fine. But not something I'm dying to eat again. Let the fish live, I say.

That is all, and happy Friday.

Out of Control

The laundry

The clutter

My eating

The house is trashed.

Blaaaaaah.