Month: February 2006

  • Party On!

    Last night, the CBFers (college students from church) were over for a game night. TrapDoorSpider and I were on the same Trivial Pursuit team, although she went home before our big victory.  I played Boggle until about 1:30 or so, and the students left around 1:45 AM.  The Good Doctor J had gone to bed much earlier, and Rachel (age 6) put herself to bed at some point in the evening.  Libby had a friend over, and I know they were still up at 3:30 or so because I heard them walking around in my “gotta-think-of-play-parts” mind racing state.

    Thank you for your prayers about casting for the play. It went quite smoothly, although now I have to write lines for six new characters and figure out how to fit them into the original script and add lines for the other characters to make the new characters and their lines fit.  If God gives me the ideas and the focus, it shouldn’t take long at all, so once again, I’m begging for all the prayers you can send my way! The new characters were a gift from God, for sure–Auntie Ida, the deaf aunt; Auntie Mae, the blind aunt; the wealthy sister and her daughter; Miss Jennings, the news reporter’s boss, an Olga, a Transylvanian mute! Thankfully, I don’t have to write any lines for the mute.

    Today, Rachel and I went to the home of a family from church for just the nicest children’s party I’ve ever been to. It was a Valentine’s Day card-making party. The mother had all sorts of wonderful supplies–real scrapbooking stuff–and we all sat, moms and girls, making cards. The little ones (the girls were age 3 to 8) went to play while we moms finished our cards and chatted. Then, she had the nicest lunch–soup, fruit kebobs, little hors d’oeuvres, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into heart shapes. Then, the girls decorated red velvet cupcakes.  It was so relaxed and pleasant!  And, she gave us all wonderful gifts–Michael’s Crafts gift certificate, chocolate, and a Valentine’s pen.

    Tonight, the good doctor J and I go out to our church’s Valentine’s Banquet, for which I must now go and get ready!

  • New Year’s Revisited

    The Godfather’s question leads me to today’s entry.  It’s been a month or so since I posted those resolutions, so it’s time for an update.

    1.  My jogging–Well, The Good Doctor J and I started well, but then his thyroid problems kicked in and he was exhausted (better now!), so we stopped for a bit. Now it’s so bitterly cold that I don’t want to go out.   So, even though I’m not currently jogging (or walking for exercise), I do feel this goal is still attainable, weather permitting! Boy, it’s no fun disciplining yourself, is it.

    2. Junk intake/losing weight– I’m drinking a Pepsi right now, so I don’t think that I can score highly in this category! Still, I did lose three (or so) pounds, so I’m on the right track.  Once that warmer weather kicks in, I’m hopeful that the other two (or so) will come right off.  (Hey, I can hope, can’t I?)

    3. Bible memory–I am amazed at how many verses one can learn while a tub is filling with water. I have learned about 15 verses (or clusters of verses) and began last night to memorize Romans 6.  The passage I’ve memorized that has spoken the most to me is Micah 6:6-8 which makes me think of all the times that I’ve tried to do my own thing to please God when he’s made it very clear what He wants.  “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God most high? Shall I come to him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  He has told you, oh man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with you God.” 

    4. Missionary bios–I’ve read one, Jonathan Goforth. I have two on my desk waiting their turn. Any recommendations for good ones?

    5. More interesting blog–Is it? Sometimes I think its more dull. But, perhaps it is just my mood at the time.  Maybe if I told more jokes or drank more Starbucks. Jess’s entries always seem so amusing. Must be that granola lifestyle or that Texas air.  (Do you know I’ve never purchased/consumed anything at a Starbucks? I’ve actually only ever been in one one time.)

    Oh, I must tell you of a somewhat frivolous purchase I made which I love.  BBWorks Warm Vanilla Sugar has to be one of my favorite smells. They sell a plug-in air freshener with that scent! So, I used some of my Christmas money and bought one. MMMMMM! My bedroom smells so very nice. It makes that retreat even more special.

    I got word from James that Nathan did extremely well in his first shooting match. He came in second on his team of four, but his percentages were all very high: 97, 94, 94, and 90-something else. (I realize this means nothing to most of you. 100% is 10 bull’s eyes, if that helps!)   It also turns out that they may make it back in time tonight for Nathan to be at part of auditions for the play.  Still begging for prayer!  I need wisdom!

    Here’s a picture for you. We get a lot of rainbows over our neighbor’s house, even in winter.  This was taken from my front porch. If you look closely, you can see Rachel walking in the door of the neighbor’s house!

  • Not Much Computer Time, Not Much to Say

    This week has been tougher for me to post because it is no computer from 6 to 9 week.  It’s worked well, and we’ve had one night at home all together, but all we did was math (pesky algebra!). Still, I’m glad we’re doing it.

    A number of days ago, I got a treat in the mail.  I am sure everyone loves getting packages, and I am no exception. This treat was from my good friend Thile who sent me three fizzy bath bombs. I’d never heard of them before.  I’ve used two so far, and they are fun!  They are scented balls about the size of a kiwifruit.  Once you’ve run your hot bath, you plop one in the tub and then have a good time watching it roll around the tub fizzing.  When it is done, you have a pleasant, scented bath with some softening oils.  Very nice!  Thank you, Thile!

    If God brings it to mind, would you please pray for the play auditions Thursday night (2/9)?  I need wisdom to know whom to cast in each part. I would also ask for prayer that the teens wouldn’t be disappointed if they get a part they didn’t think they wanted. When we did Romeo and Juliet, everything worked out so well, and I know it was because of much prayer!

    Also, Nathan and James drive to Harrisburg tomorrow (Thursday) for Nathan’s first shooting match. Prayers for safety, a good time of fellowship for the two of them, for Nathan to do well in his shooting, and for a chance to get to know some of his fellow club members better are all appreciated.

    I was going to review one of my all-time favorite children’s books, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken since I just finished reading it aloud to my children, but I’m really cold and want to use that other bath fizzie. So, I’ll sum it up by saying that if you haven’t read this book, you ought to read it. It’s got all the things that appealed to my young imagination: wealthy family with a fantastic house and toy room, orphans, an elderly, genteel aunt, evil governess, work-house orphanage, a cave house, escape and intrigue, and a happy ending.  It’s like a fairy tale adventure story with no magic.  The vocabulary is high for a children’s book, so your third grader might skip over a few words although the plot wouldn’t be to detailed or the book too long. It makes a great read aloud!

  • Super Bore XL

    Yeah,
    yeah. I’m from     Pennsylvania, so I’m supposed to care,
    right? Perhaps I’ll go in to hang out with the family and watch a few
    commercials, but other than that, I’ve got no interest in it.  I’m being
    very Thoreau-like (who had to read his news as there was no television
    then). 

    “If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one
    house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run
    over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers
    in the winter [or one Super Bowl]— we never need read of another. One is
    enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad
    instances and applications?”

    But, enough on that!  I’m a busy beaver working on my AP things. I asked
    The Good Doctor J if we could have no TV all week and no one on the computer
    from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.  He graciously
    agreed, so I have to scurry to get a lot of work done today so that I can have
    time for games and relaxing with the family next week.  I always thought
    my kids weren’t television watchers and were more creative and such. But, I’ve
    found that some know the plots to most Disney shows and live for playing
    computer games. Yikes!  So, we hope to have some regular fun-family times next
    week!

    Nathan has his first 4-H shooting match on Thursday. It’s in Harrisburg, and that wonderful man I
    married is taking the day off work to go down with Nathan to help him with his
    gun and to be moral support. That way, the rest of us don’t have to go.
    (Although I would like to see Nathan shoot, dragging four extra kids to     Harrisburg for the day seems
    foolish.)

    I
    finished this novel last night, and as I often do, I thought I’d review it for
    all you Young Adult fiction lovers or fairy tale novel fans.  The book is
    an adaptation of the fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon. As
    it’s been a long time since I’ve read that tale, I can’t recall if all the
    details are covered. The dresses aren’t in walnuts, which is one detail I
    remember. 

    The book is told with multiple narrators. Rose (the main character), her
    father, her brother Neddy, the white bear, and the Troll Queen all take turns
    telling the tale. 

    The story begins with the father recounting Rose’s birth. It seems his highly
    superstitious wife believed that one’s personality could be determined by the
    direction the mother was facing when the child was born. She wanted a child
    born for each point of the compass–except for north.  North-born
    children were wanderers. Also, she had been given a prophecy that if she did
    have a north-born child, the child would die buried under ice and snow. 
    Guess what accidentally happens? Rose is born facing north.

    Meanwhile, the teenage (?) Troll Queen has fallen in love with a “softskin”
    (human) boy whom she wants to take to her palace.  Her father is furious
    (because the boy is a prince and she smuggled him home) and turns the boy into
    a white bear, placing conditions on him for his disenchantment.

    Toddler Rose is rescued from drowning by the white bear, and this bear later
    reappears in the story to ask her to live with him (somewhat like Beauty and
    the Beast) promising to restore her family’s fortunes and her sister’s health
    in exchange.  Rose’s desire to save her family and her spirit for
    adventure lead her to accept the white bear’s offer.  The time in his
    castle allows Rose to get to know the bear and to weave and sew, two things she
    dearly loves. 

    Things go wrong, as things often do in fairy tales, and Rose’s curiosity causes
    the Troll Queen to come and claim her prize. Not to be put off by an unknown
    destination in the Arctic North, Rose sets off to find her white bear (she
    realizes that he is an enchanted man) and rescue him with predictable
    consequences.

    The book didn’t have anything objectionable (swearing, sex). The
    “softskins” are enslaved by the trolls and daily drink a mind-numbing
    beverage.  When ill or old, the slaves are left in the cold to die. 
    Magic is implied (the Troll Queen mentions her “arts”) and, of
    course, changing a person into a bear is an example of magic!

    This was not the best fairy tale adaptation I’ve read, but this fairy tale
    isn’t one of my favorites. I like my princes to be active and adventurous, not
    passive and drugged for most of the story.  But, I don’t think a fairy
    tale fan or someone who enjoys a strong female character would be disappointed
    by the story.



  • Pleasant Times


    What
    a lovely evening I had last night. It was  one of those nights where so much goes
    right!  I’m glad, too, as I wasn’t the paragon of patience during school
    yesterday. It seemed as if everyone wanted my attention at the same time and
    immediately.  When I couldn’t be in three (or more) places at once, the “waiters”
    wandered off, not buckling down and finishing what they were supposed to be
    doing, which they really couldn’t without my help over a sticky spot. 
    “What would a servant do? What would a servant do?” I kept chanting
    in my head.  But, the afternoon and evening were good.

    First, I had a relaxing shower and prayed and listened to my Bible on CD. 
    A time of refreshing from the Lord! I’m finding that I crave that time with Him
    every day.  And, it doesn’t grow old! I’m
    so pleased.   After the alone time, the Wilsons came over and the
    McKinstrys (N’s trumpet teacher and his children).   The older kids made commercials which had to
    have something to do with Christopher Columbus (which we videoed), and Rachel
    played with the McKinstry kids.  The
    girls did a commercial of     Columbus‘ ship wrecking and then
    the announcer came on and said, “    Columbus should have used Geico…”
    They had a little, green, plastic dinosaur represent the gecko. The boys built
    a ship out of a 12-pack Pepsi box and paper and set it on fire. When it was
    good and burning, the announcer appeared and said, “If you need money because
    your ship has burned up, then come with     Columbus. He promises you gold!”  Eh, not the most amazing things ever, but
    they were fun!

    After
    our visitors left, we rushed around and got Rachel ready to go to the Dora the
    Explorer show, Live on Stage, which our kind and generous neighbors took her to
    see. We weren’t sure how she’d feel a day after surgery, but she felt just
    fine.  Once she was gone, the other kids
    were fed so that James and I could go out to dinner at The Tavern, one of my
    most favorite restaurants. I always feel like a real part of State College/Penn
    State when I eat there.  We got a parking
    space right in front of the restaurant, they were serving the yummy veal I
    like, and when we ordered the dessert du jour, a white chocolate raspberry
    cheesecake, the waitress brought it and said, “This was the last piece and it’s
    small, so we won’t charge you for it.”  
    What a night!

    We also went to the mall where I got two
    shirts on clearance and     Bath and Body Works Warm
    Vanilla  Sugar plug-in air freshener
    stuff.  Then, we came home and watched
    Batman Begins, which was certainly geared for teen boys, but wasn’t too bad.

    Today,
    I have a lot of AP work to do, but hot tea and chocolate chip cookies will see
    me through. But, first, I have to stop writing this entry!


  • Home Again!

    How nice it is to be home again! Rachel’s surgery went well. Thank you for your prayers. She did not throw up in the car (Thank you, Katie!), nor did she die during anesthesia (Thank you, Kristen!).  Actually, she had a better time coming out of the anesthesia this time. She looked tired, ate a popscicle, and we left. But, on the way home, she fussed and thrashed about quite a bit, poor thing. I don’t know what exactly caused her discomfort. She didn’t really seem to know either.  So, we were both delighted to be out of the van. 

    I’m a sleepy pup.  I wasn’t tired last night and had to get up early for today’s trip, so I’m running on very little sleep.  As TrapDoorSpider noted, it’s no fun being tired.

    I recently finished Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian, and I thought I’d review it for you.

    The book gets started when “the daughter” (I don’t know that she ever gives her name) finds a packet of letters and a strange book with a woodcut stamp of a dragon on her father’s library shelf.  Her father, a diplomat and single dad, is troubled by her discovery of these items.  When this American living in Amsterdam next leaves for a diplomatic mission, he takes along his daughter and begins to tell her the tale surrounding the strange book.

    It seems that when Paul (the father) was a history graduate student, he found the book on his library carrel table.  He took it to his advisor, Bartholemew Rossi, who strangely enough also has a similar book and a chilling tale to go along with it.  It seems that Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula, might not really be dead as everyone assumes he would be after 400 years.  Rossi gives Paul a packet of letters and his tale.  That night, Rossi disappears from his office with a puddle of blood as the only evidence.

    Now, before you think this book is a murder mystery or Anne Rice novel, think again!  It’s not creepy or run-through-the streets/I’m going to be killed or gross with gore. The
    book really reads like a true historical document or history search. 
    (Okay, it’s bit more thrilling than most history textbooks I’ve read…)

    Paul decides to find out the mystery behind his advisor’s disappearance and begins to research Dracula legends.  He meets up with Helen, who joins him in his quest.  Traveling to communist countries, visiting monasteries, reading letters and old books–these two search for the truth behind what is going on.  They are helped along the way by fellow historians and seekers. They also occasionally encounter a vampire, but mostly they are librarians, those blood-suckers. 

    The story, while mostly focusing on Paul and Helen’s graduate student days, switches back and forth to the “present,” the 1960s, when “the daughter” was a teenager.  The book ends in the 1960s with all the loose ends tied up, at least tied up enough that there didn’t seem to be a sequel in the wings!

    I found the book interesting and compelling, and it made me want to travel to Europe and also to enroll at Penn State as a history graduate student. But, I already thought I’d like to do both of those things anyhow.

  • What’s Going on

    Tomorrow, Rachel and I drive to Hershey so Rachel can have outpatient surgery at 10:15 to correct her bladder reflux.  She had this same surgery done three months ago, and it almost fixed it all, but there was still slight reflux on one side. The doctor injects something which makes the opening of the ureter swell up a bit so the valve will cover the opening properly. But, they don’t want to inject too much or the ureter could be so swollen that it won’t allow proper drainage, so they err on the side of caution.

    Please pray, because I never like the idea of general anesthesia. Also, you can pray that Rachel will not throw up in the van or that we wreck or anything icky or horrible.

    Today is Art and Music class again. I’m teaching Picasso to the kindergarten class. I’ve printed a full-size picture of their faces, and we will cut them up and glue them on another sheet of paper in a funky way to imitate his style. But, really, the more I studied Picasso, the more I appreciated his work. His simple line drawings are particularly captivating to me.  Also, the faces aren’t “so” messed up as I was going to instruct the children today!  Oh, well, they’ll at least get the general idea.

    I’ve been working hard on my Bible memory, and I’ve learned about 12 verses in January (not counting memory with the kids). It’s not an amazing number, but it’s more than I learned last year on my own!  I’ve also read my first missionary bio for the year, Janet and Geoff Benge’s  Jonathan Goforth.  What an amazing, humble, enthusiastic Canadian!  He served for years in China and saw thousands of converts. But, what impressed me the most about this man who lived late 1800s-early 1900s was the way he served at home before he became a missionary. He was zealous to witness to everyone and went to a poor area in the city where he went to Bible College to personally witness to every home there.  And, he did, too! Only two homes refused him entry. Another impressive thing about him was that by the time he died, he had read through the Bible 73 times.  Lord, may I be so faithful!

    The children and I watched a movie last night, which I thought I’d review.  Despite it’s lascivious-sounding name, Mad, Hot Ballroom is a clean, entertaining documentary which follows a number of New York City fifth grade classrooms as they prepare for a city-wide ballroom dance competition.  The film picks up at the beginning of their classroom dance practices and goes back and forth among filming the dance class practices, personally interviewing the ten and eleven year-old kids, and interviewing different teachers and administrators.  We get to see inside some of their homes and hear what is important to them.

    The interviewer obviously asked the kids questions such as “What do you think about boys/girls?  What do you want to do with your life?  What’s it like to live here? Why do you like ballroom dancing?”  The kids’ answers are funny and poignant.  They seem to be at the age where to some boys/girls are still a bit “icky” to each other, but they are starting to notice the opposite gender.   Hearing the girls speak about drug dealers and their parent’s not allowing them to go out of the house by themselves because it isn’t safe brought a different world into focus for me. 

    The film is charged with emotion, especially during the competitions. Will the schools we’ve been following win?  There really is no way to know for sure, because this is real life, not a movie. They could win or loose. The tears are real.  The excitement they felt (and we felt) waiting for scores to be tabulated was real. 

    There is no swearing, children are respectful to adults and to each other (or they are called for it!). As far as promiscuity, boys and girls do dance together (ballroom-style, nothing touching but hands and arms) and they do sway their hips.

    This might not be the movie to watch if you are looking for an action-adventure night, but it was certainly worth checking out to discover a bit of America that I didn’t know existed–fifth grade ballroom dancers in New York City.