Angela's Blogging, Woo Hoo

How do you prepare for this?

2008-09-18T20:34:00.002-04:00

How do you prepare yourself for this?
For this kind of loss, this kind of grief?
You've known for months, quite a few months
that this could be the way things would play out.
Yet how can you possibly prepare for this?

Mourning a boy is not the same as mourning a man.
The face, the smooth skinned face of a boy.
The freckled, and not yet stubbly face of just a boy.

Baseball, swimming, surrounded by teammates.
Running, goofing, clowning for the camera.
Wheelchair, tired, pale, so thin.
Smiling with Jeter
Loving the Yankees
Losing the fight
Losing the grip.

And he's gone.

And as a mother, how do you do this hard thing?
As a father, how do you stand there?
Brothers, sisters, Gammy, Pop-pop
Aunts and cousins and uncles and friends.

We must accept that which we don't understand.
We saw this tornado coming
We felt the earth begin to tremble
But we were not prepared for this.

A Bad News/Good News Kind of Day

2008-09-16T12:54:00.005-04:00

My neighbor called to tell me that her grandson has died.

He was 13 and was diagnosed with bone cancer last year. We were hopeful for so long and then about six weeks ago they sent him home saying there was nothing more to be done for him.

We've known the family for years, we used to go to the same church, bought our house from R's other grandmother, there have just been a lot of connections between the two families over the years. His grandparents are the best neighbors you could ever want, and we feel a kinship with their family.

For 16 months now I've been wearing a blue wristband to remind myself to pray for him. I guess now I'll wear it a bit longer to remind myself to pray for his family. As a mom I cannot imagine how his mother is handling the death of the sixth of her seven children. And then there are the other children. Each one has to figure out how to deal with this loss. Someone once said that the hardest thing for kids who lose a sibling isn't the death of their sister or brother. The hardest thing is dealing with the change in and effective loss of their parents.

So if you think of it, please pray for this family.
And hug your own children, delight in them, cherish their quirky ways and don't undervalue their good health. It can all pass by like a vapor.

Now for the good news, and it is the best kind of news!

A half hour after hearing that R had died I got an email from my old friend Mark. He announced that his wife gave birth to a healthy (and very beautiful) baby boy on Sunday! I am so excited for them because I knew they'd been trying but I haven't spoken to Mark in awhile and I didn't even know she was pregnant. So that's a great surprise!!
Both Mark and his wife are professional singers. And I mean they are "Wow, what an amazing voice, how do you do that?" kind of singers. Another friend said to me: "So how long til we get to hear this kid sing?" He's got great genes, singing or not.

So congratulations M and M, enjoy that little dumpling!

A Beautiful, Horrific Day

2008-09-11T09:49:00.002-04:00

I originally posted this two years ago. I am posting it again because it still sums up my feelings about this day in history. Hug your babies, tell people you love them, tell them again. Look intently into the eyes of those who mean the most to you. Listen to their laughter and keep it close to your heart. Look for the holy in the commonplace.

There are so many memories of that day. It was an extraordinarily beautiful fall day. We had no idea how it would end.

I read the paper while drinking my coffee. I thought that the biggest news of the day was that the Bishop had Alzheimer's Disease. My husband called me and said to turn on the tv because a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.
It all happened in a blur after that. I just stood there, transfixed in front of the tv set. I called a couple of friends to make sure they watched too, but I just stood there, staring. It was so confusing at first, I remember wondering how on earth they would be able to reconnect the top and bottom of the first tower that was hit. I wondered how a pilot could go so off course as to run into a skyscraper. And then I heard one of the newscasters suggest that it was an act of terror.
Terrorism?
Here?
How could that happen?
And the rest went by in a blur. I was standing there watching in live time when the second plane flew in and hit the other tower. I was standing there when they collapsed. It was amazing that the sky was so blue that day, the sun so bright and suddenly there was a blizzard-like dust falling from the sky. People ran away, crying, covered in debris.

I live in a bedroom community in NJ. My husband commutes to the city every day. We were all deeply, personally affected by the murders that took place on September 11, 2001. I am thankful that I didn't personally know anyone who died, but that doesn't even matter to me because I feel as though I knew many of them. Todd and Lisa Beamer attended the church that several of my friends attend. The husband of a woman who attended my MOPS group was killed. I went to pick my husband up at the commuter parking lot and there were just so many extra cars there for days and days. How many of those cars belonged to victims, I'll never know, but I can imagine.

I think that those of us who live in NY, NJ, PA, Southern CT, and the DC area share a sadly unique bond. For weeks afterwards (it felt like months) the daily newspapers listed the names of those whose remains had been found, or of those who were still unaccounted for. We turned on the tv and every newscast featured some poor, tortured soul holding up a wedding or graduation picture of their missing loved one. I particularly remember a man whose wife had died, leaving him with a 6 month old baby. He had a freezer full of her breast milk, so at least she could continue to nourish her baby after she had died.

And so I sobbed off and on all morning today. I listened to the reading of the names at the Ground Zero Memorial Service because I need to hear their names. Each one of those people meant the world to someone, they must be acknowledged.

This is still so fresh for many, many of us. But no matter how long I live, I dare not allow myself to forget. I watch the coverage and let myself grieve because I want to remember how personal and how all consuming the sadness was.

Art for Food

2008-09-06T01:47:00.000-04:00

Here's a neat idea destined to warm the cockles of the most hardened heart. A group of artisans is auctioning off a whole slew of really beautiful creations and all proceeds go to feed the poor. Call it what you will: early Christmas shopping, benevolence, a break from this infernal campaign, however you frame it, it's a good thing. Just another way to add to the beauty.

And our word for today is...empathy.

2008-08-12T10:58:00.002-04:00

I remember a Coke commercial from the 70's that featured people from all around the world holding hands in a circle, on a mountain top.
"I'd like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony.
I'd like to hold it in my arms
And keep it company.....
I'll like to buy the world a Coke--
It's the real thing."

Umm, not quite.

Empathy is the real thing.
I am starting to think that empathy is the root of all love.
Empathy allows us to really consider how it must feel to live in another person's skin.
It helps us to step outside of our self centeredness and try someone else's life on for size.

Imagine the wars that could've been avoided,
the arguments that could've been abated,
the insults that wouldn't have been hurled,
the feelings that wouldn't have been wounded,
the children whose trust wouldn't have been violated,

Maybe we should have Worldwide Empathy Day, where we all just take a moment before responding to the people around us, and think "How will this make her feel?" or "How would I feel if someone said/did this thing to me?"

Yup, it's the real thing.

Organizing Science...

2008-08-08T15:32:00.003-04:00

If you're anything like me, you've kind of dropped the ball on teaching Science consistently. Don't get me wrong, I totally believe that kids can learn plenty about Science simply by helping out in the kitchen, the garden, even cleaning the bathroom. I don't think that there necessarily needs to be a lot of formal study of science in the early years. But this year I will have a Sixth Grader. And I'm feeling like it's time to tighten up our act a little in that regard.

So we're going to use Jeannie Fulbright's Botany book. I think that it'll be an interesting and fun study, and while all of the kids will be involved, I'll expect the most from Tall Boy.

Again, if you're anything like me you've bought other Science books/curricula and you've trotted along nicely until it was time to do an experiment. And then you go tearing through the house like MacGyver searching for a plastic funnel, a box of Epsom salts, and the lid to a quart sized container of yogurt so that you can build your own car battery. You finally give up because alas, the recycling went out yesterday and there isn't any more yogurt in the fridge and you tell the kids to just skip it. "Don't worry, we'll do it next week." Umm, yeah.

So it makes total sense to collect all of the supplies in advance. There are vendors on the internet (of course!) who will happily sell you all of the things you need to succeed at Science experiments, but if you're ~~cheap~~ frugal like me, you're thinking "I'm supposed to pay $50 for a bunch of stuff that I can easily collect on my own for about $12?" Besides, those kits don't contain every-single-thing that you'll need anyway.

So my solution (and the thing I've spent most of today working on) is to buy 13 extra large zippered storage bags. Each bag gets labeled by chapter, and I'll insert a list of items needed for that experiment. I've also collected many of the "ingredients" and I will put (nearly) everything needed in that bag. There are a few things (live flowers, a melon, water) that obviously won't go into the bag, but those items will be listed on the front of the bag so that the week before I can easily glance at the bag and know what I need to pick up from the store.

All of the bags will go into a milk crate, and voila!
Okay, that's my Big Idea For The Day!! :)

6 Unspectacular Things About Me

2008-08-07T20:55:00.002-04:00

Sarah has kindly all of her readers to the "6 Unspectacular Things Meme," the rules of which, slightly modified by Sarah, are:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Invite all readers of your blog to participate!

Okay, so here goes....

1. I think that celery tastes like soap. I will only eat it if it has been disguised in something like tuna salad.
2. My high school didn't have a football team...only soccer.
3. My mother and mother in law share the same first name.
4. I've lived in this house longer than I've lived anyplace in my life.
5. I know all the words to "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General."
6. I had pneumonia when I was two and can remember sleeping in a plastic bubble at the hospital.

Whew! I'm glad to be done with that.
Oh, and speaking of being done with things: I'm not done with my Lesson Plans. Not by a long shot. But I did have a really nice lunch date with my hubby, thanks to my good friend Michele. So I have two more days to soldier on. Let's see how it goes!

My First Wordless Wednesday...

2008-08-06T09:51:00.003-04:00

Planning Week...

2008-08-03T22:25:00.002-04:00

So tomorrow is the first day of Planning Week. My hubby has taken vacation so that he can do all of the kid care and I can do all of the school prep for next year. I have so much to do!

I went to my favorite ~~addiction~~ er, um, homeschool message board to tell them that they'd better not see me hanging around much this week. I will actually going to try and stay away as much as possible, although I might need them to answer some questions, you know? ;)

And yes, Mamagistra, I will mention my progress here. If I remember. Maybe I'll remember...
You'll have to check in to find out! :-)

Ohhhh yeah, I did start a blog......

2008-08-02T22:03:00.002-04:00

Okay, I think we'll give this another try, why not?

So, as I was saying (don't ask when or where, just follow along and nod.)
As I was saying, it's summertime and the livin' is easy. We spent the afternoon lolling about at our friend's shore house which has a lagoon running through the back. It was lovely and relaxing.
As usual I completely forgot to take along my camera, so I'm relying on the pictures that my friends took. When I get them I'll post a couple here.

I really, really don't understand how people do this blog thing. There is just nothing at all exceptional about my life, so I cannot imagine that anyone would want to read this.

We'll see....

Kelli, Kelli, Kelli

2006-12-12T11:39:00.000-05:00

Hello Kelli!
Since you're the only person who reads my blog I might as well just address this directly to you. I tried to take a picture of my Christmas tree, but it didn't come out well at all so I'll try again later.
Okay, that's it for now.
I'm ready to rant about my least favorite "Christmas" song now.
Well, one of my least favorites, anyway!

A Beautiful, Horrific Day

2006-09-11T16:03:00.000-04:00

Please pray for my friend Kelli!

2006-06-04T21:56:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,
Some of you may know my friend Kelli from the New Mercies Every Day blog. She's a member of our Blogging Chicks Blogroll. Anyway, she's having a 3-4 hour consult with a gynecologic oncologist tomorrow to determine what's what and to schedule surgery. Please keep Kelli, her husband, and children in prayer.
Thanks!
--Angela

Steal This Post Thursday Meme (better late than never!)

2006-05-18T22:09:00.000-04:00

I got this idea from Michele, who stole it from Ethel.
Here are the directions:

"Go to Wikipedia and do a search for your birthday (day and month only, exclude the year).

Post three facts, two births and one death on your blog including the years."

Here are my results (for Jan. 23):
Facts:
1533 - Anne Boleyn, mistress of Henry VIII of England, discovers herself pregnant.
1943 - Duke Ellington plays at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the first time.
Births:
1832 - Edouard Manet, French artist (d. 1883)
1957 - Princess Caroline of Monaco
Death:
1976 - Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, and social activist (b. 1898)

My Mother's Day Brunch

2006-05-18T11:09:00.000-04:00

On Sunday my darling husband and children took me to the Princeton Hyatt for Mother's Day brunch. They did a fabulous job! We have been to other Hyatts for brunch, and they were very nice as well, but Princeton is just incredible!
One of the extremely cool things they offered was a children's room. They had craft projects, a few toys, and "Nanny McPhee" on a dvd player. It was great because if the kids felt like wandering off, they had something to do, and we were able to sit and relax over a cup of coffee a little longer than we would've been able to otherwise. Here's what they made for me:

I had a great day! When we got home, dh took the kiddies out to a really cool park for a couple of hours so that I could lay around and relax. I read my book, snoozed a little, life was sweet! :)

Woo Hoo, I'm being quoted!! :)

2006-05-18T10:49:00.000-04:00

A big old thanks to Christopher Taylor for linking to Reformed Chicks Blabbing! We were chatting the other day about Barnes and Noble causing the demise of public libraries (well, not exactly!) and Chris thought we were pundit-like enough to link to us.
Yay! Visit his blog!! :)

Announcing Thrifty Thursday!!

2006-05-18T10:23:00.000-04:00

What's your best money saving tip? Let's talk about our tightwad tendencies and favorite frugalities every Thursday!
Okay, I'll go first:
I save leftover hamburger buns in the freezer to use as a binder in meatballs and meatloaf.

What about you?

Now, a return to our regularly scheduled blogging....

2006-05-13T21:07:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back. Is anyone in the world bothering to look by now? I just really needed a break. Life sometimes gets in the way of the blog and then at other times the blog gets in the way of life. I'm not sure which was going on, but I'm back. Guess what happened? Someone sent a spam comment. Lucysomebodyorother was offering us a chance to get a degree over the Internet. From someone who sends spam to other people's (all but abandoned) blogs?
I mean, Great Wall of China, who would ever fall for that???!!!!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day here in the U.S. You know what I'd like best of all? Well, you know, world peace and everything....but after that I'd just like an entire day to sit and read and sip coffee-centered drinks and maybe get some sushi, and just chill out in solitude.
We'll see what tomorrow brings, hmmmmmm????

My Marathon Man

2006-04-18T14:38:00.000-04:00

Woo Hoo!!!!!!
Ed completed the Boston Marathon! He did really well. He finished number 4328 out of about 22,000 runners!! I'll have more info later. This is the first picture that we've been able to get. I'll have more as they become available.

He is not here. He has risen as He said.

2006-04-17T07:47:00.000-04:00

The resurrection of Christ was the most remarkable of events. Never before has such a thing happened, nor ever again.
So today, between bites of chocolate and devilled eggs, let's reflect on the magnitude of Christ's rising from the dead. All of our hope lies in the reality of this great gift. He has risen, and if we are in Him, we shall do likewise.

I hope that you all had a Happy Resurrection Day!

It's Marathon Day in Boston!

2006-04-17T00:29:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!
I'm double posting. This is pretty much the same thing I'm saying on the Reformed Chicks Blabbing site, but I'm giving you an actual photo! No, it's not an actual photo of my dh, but it IS an actual photo taken at last year's Boston Marathon, so there! :)
I'll update when I have more info, and hopefully post some cool pix!
Please pray that things go well! :)

An Ode to Jack Bauer (with apologies to Shaft)

2006-04-12T23:07:00.000-04:00

Jack

Who's the guy from CTU
Answer him, or he'll shoot you?
(Jack!)
You're d**n right.

Who is the man
who'll torture with the cord of a lamp?
(Jack!)
Can ya dig it?

Who's the cat who goes right in
Sentax gas won't injure him?
(Jack!)
Right on

You see this cat Jack is a bad mother--
(Shut your mouth)
But I'm talkin' about Jack
(Then we can dig it)

Doesn't eat or shower
and no one understands him but me
(Jack Bauer)

***********************************
I'm responsible for this little ditty, but I was inspired by the folks at Blogs4Bauer. Can you dig it?

I have officially seen everything

2006-04-11T00:04:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe this. I mean, really. There is just nothing left to "invent" now. Whatever happened to throwing the diaper on top?

Wow.
These are called "Pee-pee Teepees." They are little cotton cones that you can place strategically to avoid being sprayed.

Why, oh why did I let myself get sick?

2006-04-10T11:09:00.000-04:00

Ugh. That's all I'm saying right now.
Well, not really.
I'm also saying that it is really, really hard to get kids back into some semblance of a schedule when they've been running amok for a week. Ask me how I know.
This is going to take me a few days. Not to mention the mountain of laundry, and the piles of clutter.
That's it! I'm not getting sick again!
Hmmmm....I hope not, anyway.

Nighty Night!

2006-04-09T23:33:00.000-04:00

I almost forgot to post something here today. Yikes!

Okay, I'm feeling about 50% better. I had to mention that, because someone has already noted that the purpose of this blog seems to be so that I can have a place to discuss my health. So there you go!!

Tomorrow I'm going to try and teach school.
And do a week's worth of laundry.
And make a list of things to pack for the weekend.

Dh is running in the Boston Marathon. I'll have to post his bib number so ya'll can watch out for him!

A Big Old Thank You!!

2006-04-08T12:29:00.000-04:00

I want to take this opportunity to thank Michele, the chief Blabbing Reformed Chicks! She spent a lot of time beautifying my blog and graciously helping me to overcome my lack of technical ability.
Smoochy-smooch!!

Join the Menstrual Revolution, try a Diva Cup!!!

2006-04-08T09:09:00.000-04:00

Okay, here's my offical Word of Warning: The content of this post is female in nature. If you are an easily skeeved out male, you probably want to stop reading now!

Every now and then (well, probably once a month) someone from the Well Trained Mind message boards will ask "Does anyone know about the Diva Cup (or its sisters the Keeper and Moon Cups.)?" They will inevitably get a whole range of answers.

Someone will say "I tried it, but it didn't work for me"
Someone will say "I love it!" (Okay, that person is usually me!)
Someone else will say "Yuck! Are you living in the dark ages?"

Can I just say that I love this thing? I go around recommending it to anyone (well, any female) over the age of 13 who will actually sit still long enough to listen.

I love the fact that I get to just breeze past the "feminine protection" aisle of the store.
I love it that after the $30 investment, I'm all set for a couple of years.
I feel that I'm helping the environment by not tossing more junk into it.
I appreciate the fact that I don't have to worry about wrapping/hiding/covering up messy leftovers so that my dh and sons don't have to see them.
And lastly, many women report that they have fewer yeast infections and less severe cramps as a result of using menstrual cups.

Imagine what would happen if more women started using devices like this? A multi-million dollar industry would be affected. I wonder what the landfills would start to look like?
Think of the fun things you could do with that money if you saved it all up after a year. If you spend about $66/year on pads and tampons for one person, you'll save yourself over $30 in the first year alone! If you've got other menstruating females in your home...well just do the math!

The company that sold me my Diva Cup gives you three free cloth panty liners with your purchase. Now I will tell you that I had my doubts about the cloth liners at first, but now I totally love them!!! They are made of a very soft flannel, and they come in pretty patterns. I really only wear them as backup because the Diva is such good protection.

Okay, that's my little rant for today! Now I'm going back to bed because I am still sick and the cough was so bad that I had to take the cough syrup with codeine and it's making me sleeeeepy.

You know what? I think there should be an IQ test for prospective voters.

2006-04-07T17:43:00.000-04:00

I can't believe this. I just watched this video where a teenager goes around asking girls at a high school if they'd like to sign a petition "To end women's suffrage." And guess what? All but one of those whom he showed on camera signed it!!! Only one of the girls shown actually knew what suffrage is. Granted, I'm sure that there were others, and he certainly edited to get his point across, but gimme a break. I really do think that people need to be tested before they're allowed to vote.
Okay, I'll write the test. That's the only way I can be sure to pass!

Musings....

2006-04-06T18:17:00.000-04:00

Q. How can you tell when you've got a true-blue friend?
A. She comes to your house when you're as sick as a dog and picks up your four kids and takes them off for the afternoon with her one kid.

Wow!! I think I'd better add her to my life insurance policy or something. So I was able to go to the doctor and find out that I either have a throat infection or an abscess. I can try taking regular old antibiotics, but if they don't work I'll have to switch to one of those nasty kinds that make your stomach feel like it would've been easier to deal with the throat.

Okay, I'm going to try and stop complaining now. And just count my blessings. I'm thankful for friends (including the ones who got together with the above mentioned friend so that my kids had plenty of playmates.) I'm thankful for modern medicine, which I often resist, but can be pretty handy sometimes. I'm thankful for my children who came home saying they missed me after being gone for a few hours. I'm even thankful for the one who is standing here yelling at me that he doesn't want any cheese crackers! Oh, and I'm thankful for a husband who volunteered to bring home Indian take-out for dinner. Very thankful for that.

Okay, that feels better!
Now I need a nap.

Is it possible that someone snuck into my room and stuck razor blades down my throat?

2006-04-05T11:37:00.000-04:00

Every time I swallow it feels like there are razor blades in my throat. Unless of course I have taken pain meds. Which I think I will take now. And then of course there's the nasty cough that won't quit and further irritates my throat. We're skipping Gymnastics today. I wouldn't let someone like me drive my kids anywhere.
Ugh.
By the way...did I mention that it is hailing outside? All over my tulips?

Yeah, so I'm writing on this one, okay?

2006-04-04T17:58:00.000-04:00

Here I am now!! I've decided that it isn't nice to leave my poor blog all unattended for so long. And now that I'm spending more time on the Reformed Chicks blog, I might as well mozie on over to my own.
So I'm sick today. Feeling lousy. Not up to teaching. So fortunately my children have good play skills and active imaginations. They've been getting along pretty well today, for the most part. They've cut up cardboard boxes and made them into forts and castles.
They've made a spy club, complete with fastidious notetaking and spy gear.
They've played Hullabaloo (for the first time.)
They went exploring in the yard.

Now they're watching Cyberchase.
Time to heat up left overs.

Confused Churches

2005-08-20T23:16:00.001-04:00

One of my friends sent me a link to an article in The Christian Science Monitor. It was all about the way many churches are hiring professional marketing people to fill up their less than full pews.Churches seeking marketing-savvy breed of pastor csmonitor.com
The article mentioned one church in particular that caught my interest. So I Googled around and found the church's website.
Well....what did I find?

I'm not cool enough for that church.
I understand the necessity of reaching out to a lost world. I understand the "meet them where they're at" thing. I believe that.
But I have a slight feeling of unease when it seems like instead of playing for an audience of One, churches are catering to the audience of "how many?"
Does that make any sense?
God uses all kinds of (seemingly) absurd people, places, situations, etc. to open our hearts to Him. He is not hindered the way that we are. He can use hymns or pop or praise or psalms or whatsoever He will to reach His chosen people. So I don't get too bogged down in that.

My concern is that our churches be God centered, not man centered. I worry that when too much attention is paid to having graphic intense web sites and hiring cool looking people to be "lead worshiper" maybe we're not only using man's methods, but also man's standards. When unbelievers visit these churches are they seeing God's holy people, peculiarly His own and wondering "What do they have that I don't have?" Or are they seeing a lot of people who look, sound, and dress like them and if so why get out of bed on Sunday morning for that? Don't they know really cool, really nice people out in the world? I do.

But I'm not condemning these churches. I understand. I think that they mean well. And maybe they really are furthering the Kingdom, and if so, praise God!! I just hope that there can be some middle ground in Christ's church: a middle ground where fat, middle aged, politically conservative mothers of four will feel welcome at church the same way that hip, young, college aged people can.

kineticchurch

Hellooooooo! Anybody out there?

2005-05-19T03:20:00.000-04:00

Okay.
I got this idea from a friend.
Well, actually I copied this idea from a friend.
In any case, I've been thinking it might be cool to have a blog, so now I do. Now, people who know me are wondering how I could possibly think I have time for this. I don't have time for it, but I think I have even less time for therapy, so I think this'll be in lieu of that.
I'll have to think of something original and witty to say tomorrow. As for tonight--I'm exhausted. I am up way too late.
Tomorrow morning my loving urchins will be up and ready to fight their way through a day of homeschooling and I'll need more than a strong cuppa Starbucks to deal with them. We're having school in the morning, then we're off to the park for baseball. Yippee!!
In the coming weeks I will talk about curricula and the reasons that I homeschool and what I expect to learn at this week's homeschool convention. If you happen to read any of this, please send me a note to let me know what you think.
Unless you're thinking something mean--in which case you can keep it to yourself! :)
nighty night!