Mommy Brain

I didn’t do a Links for Friday post last week, since we were in Portland for the kids’ Tae Kwon Do tournament. Since we got home around 8:30 pm Sunday evening, I feel like I’ve been going nonstop: homeschooling, laundry, articles due, laundry, Awana, homeschool class, and did I mention laundry?

It’s fall here, and I’m loving the colors. This is, far and above, my very favorite time of year.

~ Don’t forget to enter my 100,000th visitor giveaway - it’s open until the end of the month.

~ Remember The Pirates Who Can’t Do Anything? Meet The Homeschool Moms Who Can’t Do Everything.

~ Here’s the Ultimate Telemarketer Prank. (Warning: language a little spicy.)

~ Colin Farrell and Edward Norton talk about their upcoming cop movie, Pride and Glory.

~ Ever wonder where they get all those teen and tween Disney stars? Here’s the answer.

~ Extreme Weather Alert: Meteorologists Predict Intensely Brisk Autumn. I dare you not to laugh. Be sure to read the pop-ups on the bottom of the screen.

~ If you have budding writers who are Harry Potter fans, here’s how to enter an essay contest: The Tales of Beedle the Bard Essay Contest.

~ Rotten Tomatoes counts down the Top 50 Animated Films.

~ Goodbye to Dissonance from Tonia at Study in Brown. Here’s a taste:

is it possible that we as a body of believers could put away the assumptions and insults and accusations and assume the best of each other? could we look at the person on the other side of the voting line and believe that they are caring, loving individuals doing the best they can, just as we are trying to do?

~ Beautiful pictures from World Animal Day. The flamingo is my new desktop background.

~ Daily Writing Tips has a new Vocabulary Test.

~ Anyone else excited about the upcoming season of Lost? The promo for season 5 is up.

~ Booklovers take note: this is so going on my Christmas list.

At Books and Movies:

~ Review of North River by Pete Hamill.

~ Review of The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Another weekend without a whole lot planned. Which is good, since on Thursday we head to Portland for a long weekend. The kids will take part in a Tae Kwon Do tournament, and we will visit Kevin’s mom and brother and dad and my grandma, who I haven’t seen in person for over 6 years. The last time we were together, Josiah was a baby, and now he’s reading, taking Tae Kwon Do, and missing his top front teeth! I have to get Kevin to take a picture so I can show you, it’s the most adorable thing. It’s funny how much it changes his speech, too. He’s reading independently now, but often stops and says, “Mom, what does this spell?” but I have trouble determining which letters he’s saying.

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It’s October! It felt like it this morning, which is nice after the beginning of the week, which was hot - in the 80s. I love fall, and I’m ready for some cool, crisp autumn mornings.

I’m looking forward to our weekend because we have absolutely nothing planned. The last two weekends have been busy with a birthday party, an archery tournament, helping friends move, cleaning the basement, etc. I’m ready for a Saturday morning to sleep in and enjoy some long, uninterrupted reading time. I do have a couple articles due next week, so I’ll spend some time working, but I’ll do it in my sweats on the couch. I’ll probably also be a really bad mom and let the kids have lots of game time on the PS2 so that I can have those uninterrupted hours.

(more…)

How was your week? Ours was busy, but good. Natalie started voice lessons on Monday. After being initially very nervous, she loved it, and can’t wait to go back next week.

All of the kids are finishing up Archery. There’s one more class next Thursday, then a tournament on Saturday. (With Jonathan’s birthday party/game blowout slumber party on Friday. Busy weekend.)

That’s next weekend, though. This weekend will be relatively quiet. We’re going to Michelle’s for a playdate this afternoon. After dinner tonight, we’ll go cheery Nan’s best friend Caitie on at her soccer game.

Tomorrow - library sale! Woo hoo!

Sunday, hopefully the Seahawks will play like an NFL team, unlike last Sunday. ‘Nuff said.

~ Bembo’s Zoo - Hat tip: Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer. Beautifully done and creative.

~ Win The Liar’s Diary at J. Kaye’s Book Blog.

~ Go, Jordin Sparks! How wonderful to see a young woman unashamed to stand for purity. And what kind of disgusting man shames the Jonas Brothers for desiring to save themselves for marriage?

~ If you, like me, get giddy at the idea of a new notebook just waiting to be written in, check this out.

~ This teacher sure has a story to share with his students.

~ Someone has actually created a blog that lists all the books that only exist inside other books - The Invisible Library.

At Books and Movies this week:

~ Review of The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent.

~ “Waiting On” Wednesday.

~ Review of The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall.

~ The Sunday Salon.

Well, we had a little excitement in our neck of the woods yesterday. Winds that were 55 to 60 miles per hour hit our town. We were lucky - we still have power, and we don’t have any trees down in our yard. Others weren’t that lucky - including our city park, where a few trees were uprooted by the wind. Here are some pictures, if you’re interested - click on slideshow.

While the winds were dying down, and our husbands had the kids at Tae Kwon Do, Michelle and I went to see The Incredible Hulk. Not the usual chick flick for a girls’ night out - in fact, I think we might have been the only women there who weren’t accompanying children of the male gender. But, we both needed a night out, and we both like Edward Norton, so…

No big plans for the weekend, other than sending my only daughter off to sleep-away camp for the first time. Sniff. Any of you done this before? How do you not worry?

At Books and Movies this week:

~ Thoughts on the film Into the Wild.

~ Review of Booked to Die, the first of the Cliff “Bookman” Janeway mysteries.

Other links:

~ Anyone else excited about TNT’s The Closer returning Monday night? Here’s an interview with Kyra Sedgewick.

~ William-Adolphe Bouguereau is an incredible artist - I love his paintings of children:

~ I may not agree with Christopher Hitchen’s views on religion, but this article he wrote for Vanity Fair about the interrogation practice of water-boarding is chilling. He agreed to undergo the procedure for research - but be warned: the video is disturbing.

~ On a completely unrelated and much lighter note - I scored 15 out of 20 on this Candy Bar Identification Quiz. Not sure if I should be proud of that, however.

~ This video of a new instrument called an Air Piano is pretty cool.

~ Stephen King’s advice to aspiring writers.

~ A scene from the BBC’s Black Books about responding to a rejection letter from a publisher. Hilarious!

Have a great weekend!

First, of all, I can’t believe that I forgot to draw the winners for the All-Girl Getaways Contest! Well, the really cool thing is that I am receiving five prize packages - each one includes a traveling toiletries bag and a free issue of Travelgirl Magazine - to give away, and I received exactly five comments. So, Lawanda, Laura, Brandi, Karen, and Crissy - you all win! Watch your e-mail inboxes; I’ll be contacting you for mailing info.

Now, onto the weekly wrapup and links. First of all, I finished Neverwhere last night. I’m not going to take the time to write a complete review, but I will just say that if you like fantasy, you have to read this book. I gave it a five-star rating, and I’m pretty stingy with those.

I’m planning to read some more modern and light stuff - my brain is still worn out from Anna Karenina! I started an ARC of The House at Midnight (link in sidebar) today - so far, so good. Oh, and another volume of poetry - What the Light Was Like by Luci Shaw. She was a close friend of Madeleine L’Engle’s, and they even wrote several books together, so I’m finding it interesting to read some of Ms. Shaw’s work so close after finishing Ms. L’Engle’s collected poetry.

We have another Tae Kwon Do promotion Saturday. Jonathan wasn’t quite ready to go for his green belt when the older two did, but he is now, so that’s how we’ll be spending Saturday morning. Then next weekend is Mother’s Day! Kevin said he wanted to take me out to brunch. I won’t argue with that.

Lost is on tonight - but not till 10pm, so I’ll have to record it to watch tomorrow. Any other Losties out there? If so, be sure to check out the weekly recaps at Semicolon and Rocks in My Dryer. Did any of you know that Henry Ian Cusick, who plays Desmond, played Jesus in the movie The Gospel of John?

I guess I’m done rambling for now. Here are some links to keep you busy:

~ 33 of the most intricate and realistic Lego creations. Hat tip: Moomin Light.

~ Here’s a new Book Blog community to check out.

~ Not on the Test - a YouTube video of Tom Chapin doing the song he wrote with John Forster to protest the lack of arts education in the public school system. Hat tip: Principled Discovery.

~ Don’t miss Katy at Fallible’s Statement of Belief. Very funny.

~ Sign your kids up for Brain Food’s Summer Reading Program. Hat tip: Semicolon.

~Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent is having another writing contest at her blog. The challenge is to write a complete short story in six words. Think it can’t be done? Check out the contest link for her example - by Ernest Hemingway.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I’ve got a great weekend planned - my sister Deb is coming across the state from Silverdale to visit for three days. I am ignoring the reason she’s coming: to see Marni and Hans and their boys before they move to St. Louis in June or July. We’ll spend most of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday together and then Deb and the kids will head back home on Tuesday. Pray for good weather on Snoqualmie Pass as she crosses the mountains.

We had three inches of snow here yesterday! It didn’t stick on the roads, and mostly melted in the afternoon, but it came down like the dickens for a few hours. March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb, my foot. I think March got things topsy-turvy this year.

I have red fingertips and my hands smell like vinegar. Anyone have a guess about what the kids and I did today? And, no, we didn’t dye our Easter eggs a week late.

Kevin and I are watching Stranger Than Fiction right now. Well, he’s watching - I’m half-watching and typing this post. I’ve seen it before - with Michelle - but he hasn’t, and I knew he would like it. I like watching movies again, but for some reason it drives Kevin crazy if he knows I’ve already seen a movie. I try not to let him know - while avoiding out-and-out lying, of course - because I know he’ll like it if he just watches it.

Well, I better get on to the links, because it’s getting late and I should be heading to bed soon.

~ This young reader is amazing. Be sure and watch the video. Hat tip: Lawanda.

~ Yahoo! has listed the 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies. Bummer - I really like Gladiator and Patriot. Why do they have to change so much in films? History is fascinating enough as it is!

~ In this video, author Khaled Hosseini talks about the process of adapting his book The Kite Runner into a film.

~ Remember the writing contest I told you about? Well, it’s time for part two - and your entry is due on Wednesday. Only 300 words. Don’t hesitate - enter, okay? (You know who you are. )

When Katy at Fallible announced that she now had an agent to help guide her literary career, I was so very happy for her. I also started reading her agent’s blog. She gives great writing advice (like this), and she’s also hosting The Yo-Dawg-Show-Me-What-You-Got Double Decker CHALLENGE. There are two parts to the competition: submit the first line of a novel - a first line that will make her want to keep reading; second, after she chooses the winning first line, submit the first 300 words to go with the winning first line. If you’re a writer, the prize is something all unpublished writers pine after, so please click over and check out all the details. The deadline for the first phase is Saturday at midnight her time, so don’t wait.

Now, onto a totally different and completely unrelated topic: colonoscopies. Yes, I know, not what you expect from my blog. However, I read this funny and important column by Dave Barry about hist first colonoscopy - and why, after avoiding it for 10 years, he finally had it done.

OK. You turned 50. You know you’re supposed to get a colonoscopy. But you haven’t. Here are your reasons:

1. You’ve been busy.

2. You don’t have a history of cancer in your family.

3. You haven’t noticed any problems.

4. You don’t want a doctor to stick a tube 17,000 feet up your butt.

Let’s examine these reasons one at a time. No, wait, let’s not. Because you and I both know that the only real reason is No. 4. This is natural. The idea of having another human, even a medical human, becoming deeply involved in what is technically known as your ”behindular zone” gives you the creeping willies.

Now that I’ve shown you how humorous even this topic can be, click over and read the column. And, if you’re over fifty and have yet to be screened (yes, Dad, I mean you), make an appointment.

And, since it’s Good Friday, I leave you with this:

I read of Christ crucified,
the only begotten Son
sacrificed to flesh and time
and all our woe. He died
and rose, but who does not tremble
for His pain, His loneliness,
and the darkness of the sixth hour?
Unless we grieve like Mary
at His grave, giving Him up
as lost, no Easter morning comes.

~from The Way of Pain, by Wendell Berry

I picked up Avi’s A Beginning, A Muddle, and an End: The Right Way to Write Writing on my trip to Barnes and Noble, and I started reading it aloud to the kids this morning. This book is funny and brilliant and had the kids and I in stitches. Here are a few of our favorite parts so far:

“A writer is someone who tries to get the words right. That’s why they are called writers. But an author is someone who has written the words wrong. Any critic will tell you that.” p. 32

“You should know that the number one rule about writing is: Write about what you know. So if you know what you haven’t done, write about that.”

“What if you don’t know what you’ve not done?”

“Then you go on to rule number two.”

“Which is?”

“Write about what you don’t know.”

“Is there a third rule?”

“Yes, stories do usually have three rules. Rule number three is: Write about what you don’t know as if you did know about it.”

“Any fourth rule?”

“Absolutely: Make sure that when you’re writing about what you don’t know as if you did know, conceal the fact that you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Is there a fifth rule?”

“A crucial one. It’s: Always leave your readers guessing.”

“Guessing what?”

“Let them guess about which parts you know, which parts you don’t know, and which parts you don’t know but are writing as if you did know.”

“What if they guess right?”

“I told you, the one who is righter becomes a writer.”

“What if they’re wrong?”

“That’s the moment you become an author.” p. 34-35

“Actually,” explained Edward, “it depends on what kind of writer you are. What kind were you intending to be?”

“A writer who attracts readers.”

“Then for heaven’s sake, don’t write writing. Write reading.” p. 37

Isn’t that delicious?

Michelle and I had an absolute and complete blast this weekend, and have decided our Mom’s getaway should be an annual event. We stayed in a very nice hotel suite, ate out, shopped for books, and talked and laughed until I was hoarse and our stomach muscles hurt from laughing. Some of the laughter - and some tears, too - came from watching P.S. I Love You. This is a must-see chick flick. The guys might like it, too, for the humor, but women will especially appreciate this movie.

I have made a promise to myself that I will not purchase any more books until at least Christmas - maybe even until Barnes and Noble’s after-Christmas sale. We visited B&N this weekend - not once, but twice. And, of course, I had just been there a month ago on my weekend away with Kevin. He is a sweetie, and tells me to keep my earnings from freelancing for myself, unless we’re in a pinch and the money is needed for househould expenses. I have taken him at his word, and for the last two months all of my earnings has been book money. Some of the books were for the kids, but mostly they were for me. But there is no reason on earth to buy any more - I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all of my to-be-read stacks by the end of the year, even. (On a side note, if you’re interested in seeing the site I freelance for, it’s WhoWhatWhereWhenWhy.com.)

Here are the treasures I found this weekend:

What are you doing this New Year’s Eve 2007? I am sitting on the couch with my new laptop, watching the kids jump and sing and dance along with their High School Musical game on their new Playstation 2. They are happy, especially since their daddy told them they could stay up until midnight to welcome the New Year. Without asking their mommy. He’s the crazy one - I’ll probably head in to bed, and he’ll be up. And he’s still getting over the flu. He did, however, take a long nap in a quiet house this afternoon while the kids and I were visiting at Michelle’s.

I’m also listening to the song Revival from the CD Revival in Belfast by Robin Marks. We found a new church home this year. It has been nearly two years since we left our old church home. And yet, as soon as this song comes up on my MP3 player, I am fighting back tears. This CD came out when I was worship coordinator at that church, and we did many of these songs on Sunday mornings. Hearing this song brings me right back, and I am sad again. How long until that goes away?

I remember when New Year’s Eve was an occasion to stay up late, party hard and celebrate. I must be getting older, because it is now just fine with me to stay at home with my family, and mentally reminisce about the past year and plan for the new one, while they party around me.

My heart is full tonight, and I want to get these thoughts down before they are gone in the flurry of the rest of the week.

I have many things to be grateful for as I look back on 2007.

We were able to refinance our house and get out of debt. Because of that, and in spite of the fact that Kevin still faces the possibility of unemployment this year, we are better off financially than we were last year at this time. God is good.

I wish you could see what I see right now. Josiah is laying on his back with his ankles crossed, hands under his head. He looks like he should be laying in a hammock. He’s watching his sister and brother sing and compete, and when each song ends, he jumps up and shouts, “You got an A!” (The game grades you on your performance of HSM songs.) And on my MP3 player is playing the song This is a Moment Made for Worshipping by Steven Curtis Chapman. “This is a moment made for worshipping, because this is a moment I’m alive…”

I’m grateful for a husband who believes in my writing to the point that he would buy me a brand new laptop because I need something better for my work. And a husband who bought me a second MP3 player for Christmas, because he remembered that I jokingly said in passing that I needed one for music, one for audiobooks. And he indulges my book obsession.

I’m grateful for friendship. We’ve lived in this town for 10 and a half years now, and during that time I have made many good friends. They have all been exactly what I needed at the time, but each friendship has been for a season. And now, for the first time since I was in college, I feel like I have a true best friend. God ordained that Michelle would move here for me; you’ll never convince me otherwise. Our friendship is still relatively new - although I can hardly believe we just exchanged Christmas gifts for the second time - but I have no doubt that our friendship is for a lifetime. Some things you just know.

All right, answer me this: how can I go from lovingly gazing at my children having fun and thinking about how wonderful it is to be their mother to being completely annoyed that they are interrupting my blogging? My blogging about how grateful I am? For them? (The song on my MP3 player is now Fabulous from High School Musical 2. I’m not as selfish as Sharpay, honest.)

I’m grateful for happy, healthy kids. Other than the occasional cold and flu, my kids are healthy. They are also good kids. Yes, there are days when I want to pull my hair out, but there are also days when the receptionist at the orthodontist’s office tells me how much she enjoys it when we come in, because she knows my kids are well-behaved.

I’m grateful for Natalie. My 11-year-old. Just typing those words makes me sigh. She is changing so fast, from an adorable little girl to a beautiful young lady. She is goofy, feminine, able to break a board with her foot while blushing over the cute boy at Tae Kwon Do, and - most importantly - she has a strong desire to follow Jesus.

I’m grateful for Noah. He’s 9. When Kevin gets the pictures off the camera and onto my computer, I’ll post the picture Kevin snapped while we were opening gifts Christmas Eve. Noah has always been a joy to watch open gifts - he is thrilled with each and every one. And though he loves the Playstation and his camera, the gift that got the biggest smile was Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide of the Fantastical World Around You.

I’m grateful for Jonathan. He’s 8 and his energy is astonishing at times. He is like contained electricity; he buzzes with it. I love the fact that he is now an accomplished reader, and likes to share with me what is happening in his book. It makes me laugh to see how fast he can go from picking on his sister to defending her honor. (Now, I’m listening to Long Train Running’ by The Doobie Brothers: “Without love, where would I be right now?” Yes, my musical taste is varied and odd.)

I’m grateful for Josiah. He’s 6 and still comes running up to me to say, “I know what you need, Mommy. You need a snuggle from me.” And he’s right; I do. As he has completed the familiar pages in Abeka’s Letter and Sounds this year, it has been startling to realize that this is the last time I will be leading a child through this phonics program, the last time I will watch a child experience the joy of reading for the first time. I am now the mother of four readers.

I’m grateful for parents who live close enough that we can watch football games and go to the movies together. I’m grateful that we found a church that our kids love. I’m grateful that there is a (however tentative) peace with our neighbors. I’m grateful that my kids have good friends. I am grateful that we are on our sixth year of homeschooling, and I still enjoy it and I am still convinced that it is the best path for our family. I’m grateful for weekly phone conversations with my sister Andrea, chatting online with my other sister Debra, and visits with my sister Marni while she still lives close enough. I’m grateful for quiet evenings with a book, a glass of Pinot Grigio, and dark chocolate. I’m grateful for 24, Numb3rs and Ballykissangel on DVD. I’m grateful for all the blogs on my blogroll - and some I haven’t added yet - for making me think and laugh, for giving me encouragement, and for suggesting some brilliant books.

May your New Year be filled with books that make you think, friends you can be “you” with, and days bright with joy and laughter.

As many of you know, I have been doing some freelance writing the past two years. It has been fun, and has been a way to bring in some extra money. Sometimes the money was needed - like when the kids had grown out of most of their winter clothing - and sometimes it is book money. Now that Kevin’s future employment is unsure, it may be that my freelance income will be very much needed.

I do most of my writing in the late afternoons or evenings or when the kids are sleeping. For a while, I was doing all of my writing on the computer in Natalie’s room. This summer, when we were off from homeschooling, I did a lot of writing, and after days of spending many hours in front of Natalie’s computer in an uncomfortable chair, I would have a sore back and swollen legs and feet. Then Kevin brought home a laptop from work that they were getting rid of because the screen would occasionally go white for no apparent reason, and no one had been able to repair it, and it was old enough that replacing the screen made no sense.

I have enjoyed being able to write in the living room, with the kids around me, or with Kevin watching TV on the other couch. At least I’m not off by myself while I’m working. Turns out they were getting rid of that computer for good reason, though. It was very slow, we had trouble keeping it connected to the Internet, and it had a lot of bugs.

Well, once we knew that our refinance was going to go through, Kevin started talking about me getting a better computer. He knew we could use it as a write-off for my freelancing, and with how little I made in freelance fees, that meant paying very little in taxes for the year. Since he’s planning on building up his business, it was a good idea to have a computer with Windows Vista in the house. But, most of all, he just loves me and knows how frustrated I was with the other computer. As of last week, I could no longer use it to connect to the Internet, which meant any work I did was back on the computer tucked away in Nan’s room.

On Saturday afternoon, Kevin drove down to Spokane and brought home my early Christmas present. Ta-da!

Am I spoiled, or what?

My thoughts of late have gone something like this:

Articles due - need to finish Gryffindor scarves - why doesn’t Wal-mart have crowns or wands? - grocery list: can’t forget yarn to finish scarves and ingredients for dessert to bring to Tae Kwon Do party - more articles due - need to write review - haven’t written a personal blog post in ages - miss my books - ah, girls’ night - need to plan party for Mom and Dad’s 40th anniversary - oh my gosh, Josiah lost a tooth - oh yeah, Josiah’s birthday is coming up - which Harvest Party are we going to? - more articles due - forgot to call that lady about that thing - need to cancel satellite - stacks of papers to correct and file - etc. - etc. - etc.

Is it any wonder that this frantic feeling is building up and I just need to stop and take a breath? In the midst of all this busy-ness, I don’t want to just breeze past the things that really matter. Like:

~ Josiah is reading. Short-vowel words and some sight words so far, but he’s reading. Four down, zero to go. What a strange feeling - no more non-readers in the family.

~ He also lost his first tooth, and he’s turning six next week. Thank God, he is still a cuddle-bug. Lately, he has taken to jumping on my lap, wrapping his arms around my neck, and saying, “Amo, Mommy!” (Amo is “I love” in Latin.)

~ The kids and I have been doing origami every afternoon this week. We just finished the chapter on Japan in Story of the World II: The Middle Ages, and we are enjoying origami as part of that study. We also wrote haikus. These are the days I love homeschooling.

~ My parents are celebrating 40 years of marriage! I’ve watched them go through a lot of ups and downs, and they’re still together and still love each other.

~ Christmas is coming. This will be the last Christmas that Marni and Hans and their little boys, Peter and Andrew, will be with us for a while. They have sold their house and moved into an apartment and are planning to move to St. Louis in the spring. Hans will be attending Covenant Theological Seminary. Right now, they live in the Coeur d’Alene area, which means Marni is the closest sister geographically. (Andrea is in Boise; Debra is in Silverdale.) When they move, there will no longer be any siblings within a distance that takes less than a day to drive. Sob.

~ Natalie is not a little girl anymore. She is turning into a young lady - she’ll be eleven in December. Oh. my. goodness.

~ We’re in the process of… starting to… begin to get our house ready to sell. ~grin~ I’m very excited about moving into a bigger house in a different neighborhood, but… This was our first home. When we moved in, Natalie was 3 1/2, Noah was 2, Jonathan was 1, and Josiah wasn’t even being considered yet. It is bittersweet to think about moving.

~ We are slowly getting more involved with our new church. It’s the best choice we’ve found for our family, but I still feel a longing for something more. More community, less programs, more worship, more tradition, more authenticity, more loving God with all your mind as well as your heart. The kids are thrilled with Awana, and I’m glad they like it, but I have some reservations about making the studying and memorizing of God’s Word into a competition. And can anyone please tell me why children’s programs and obscene amounts of candy have to go together?

~ I have a bounty of riches when it comes to my to-read shelves. (And stacks.) The extra income from the freelance writing is so needed, but I don’t like feeling guilty whenever I sit down to read. Every once in a while, my stacks catch my eye, and such a feeling of longing comes over me - when will there be enough time? There are so many things I want to know, to understand, so many stories I want to dive in to. Sigh.

In the midst of all these thoughts, I want to thank you for sticking around. There haven’t been many comments lately, but I know people are still reading and visiting, and I appreciate
that more than you will know.

That’s what’s been going on with me. What’s going on with you?

I am re-posting this for this month’s Write Away contest at Scribbit. Be sure to check it out - this month’s theme is learning, and she’s giving away a beautiful homemade handbag.

“Man, that is the biggest one I’ve ever seen!”

Natalie, Noah, Jonathan, Josiah, and I were all huddled around my neighbor, who was sitting on our couch. She had brought over a moth that she had rescued from her cat, and it was the largest we had ever seen, almost as big as a hummingbird.

Noah counted the legs out loud. “One, two, three, four, five, six.”

“What does that mean, Noah?” I asked.

Jonathan chimed in before Noah had a chance. “It’s an insect, right, Mom?”

My neighbor pointed out the thorax and Josiah had to immediately repeat the new word. We all shrieked and jumped a little when it opened its wings and tried to take off. The cat had put holes in both wings, so it wasn’t able to fly, but we watched as it crawled up and down the stick our neighbor had placed it on.

We turned the stick over so we could look at its underside and the markings on its wings. We wondered why we had never seen a moth this big before. Then we talked about how huge the bees had also been this year, and wondered if this had something to do with our early hot weather followed by heavy rains.

I pulled out our insect and spider book and we paged through the pictures, deciding it looked like a sphinx moth, but we couldn’t be sure. We looked at the picture of the caterpillar it had probably been before metamorphosis. But mostly we just watched the giant creepy-crawly, fascinated.

Homeschooling does not mean that my children learn only from me. We do not isolate ourselves from other people, even people who have different viewpoints and opinions than we do.

Homeschooling doesn’t take place between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. We don’t spend all of our time at home - in fact, some weeks it feels like we’re never home!

Learning doesn’t stop just because it’s June and the big yellow school bus has stopped picking up the neighbor children. It doesn’t resume in September, as if the summer was spent with our brains on “off”.

Don’t get me wrong - we do engage in mindless pursuits for pure fun, and usually more of them during the summer months. We have a TV in our house and I spend plenty of time wondering if my kids play too many computer games. In spite of this, our days are filled with little pockets of discovery. Sometimes this happens during our official “school” time when we’re sitting down with books and papers and pencils. More often it happens during times when we least expect it.

Like when our neighbor knocks on the door one evening after the kids are all in jammies and says, “Can I show your kids something?”

First, the winner of the Disney Princesses: Enchanted Tales DVD is…

…. BeckyB!

Congratulations, Becky - and thanks to everyone for playing along.

Now, onto some links:

~ Angie Hunt at A Life in Pages posted this wonderful shadow puppet video. If you think shaddow puppets are only for making lumpy-looking bunnies and dogs, you have got to see this!

~ Writer Mama is giving away a different writing resource every day of this month, so be sure to head over and check it out.

~ If we ever get to build our dream house, I’m having my dad - who is a brilliant woodworker - build me a bookcase like the one I saw at Kris’s blog.

~ I really enjoyed A. J. Jacob’s book The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. He has a new book coming out soon. This one is called The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. Should be interesting!

Kevin is taking the kids for one last camping trip this afternoon. I will be going to see Stardust with Michelle and then come home to a quiet house. Tomorrow afternooon I will join them at the lake, and then after dinner bring Natalie home for a mother/daughter night. What do you have planned for your weekend?

We’re enjoying a date night. The three boys are having a slumber party at Michelle’s with her boys, and Natalie is staying the weekend with Grandmama and Papa. We went out to dinner at a new restaurant in town - wonderful food, good wine - and now he’s playing a game online and I am enjoying some blogging time before I go curl up in the corner of the couch and read the night away.

I finished getting everything ready for Monday, so we’re all set to start year six of our homeschooling adventure. Six years - that just blows me away! I finally feel like I (sort of) know what I’m doing, too.

I’ve been collecting links for so long, with no time to post them, so I’ve got a bunch!

~Amazon has posted their “Best Books of the Year So Far” lists for fiction, children and teens, and non-fiction. Have you read any of them? I haven’t, but I usually get to the newest “it” book a few years late.

~ Katy at Fallible often cracks me up, but I laughed so hard I snorted at “Talk Dirtily to Me.” It’s a must-read if you are an aspiring writer.

~ All of you Austenites, click over here and enter the Jane Austen Book Club contest. Grand prize is a trip to the UK to tour Austen-related sites.

~ For those of you following the election, here are a few videos from my favorite candidate, Ron Paul: on entitlements, on the IRS, on monetary policy, on the second amendment, on healthcare, and on civil liberties. Also, here’s a video of media clips about Dr. Paul that shows that he has strong grass roots support, in spite of the fact that the mainstream media continues to ignore him.

~ If you ever had the pants scared off you in church by all those “Mark of the Beast” movies, like the ones I remember seeing in junior high, you’ll find this video very funny.

~ Lawanda posted this funny video of a Dad’s Lullaby set to Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

~ Melanie Hauser’s “Saying Goodbye, at the Grocery Store” is poignant and wonderful.

~ Christopher Walken is one of Kevin’s favorite actors, and this video of him cooking chicken with pears in his own kitchen is priceless. He is such a strange guy. Great actor, but strange guy.

Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you all have wonderful weekends planned!

Another Friday - another list of links. How was your week?

Monday, I took Josiah to the doctor to get his five-year-old booster shots. Three of them, poor guy. Funny thing is, his brothers and sister were more scared of seeing the shots than Josiah was of actually getting them. He’s the only one of my kids who doesn’t freak out ahead of time. He even watched her put the needle in on each shot, didn’t flinch, and his only response was, “That kinda hurt.” He’s one tough little guy. Last time I take a kid in for 5-year-old boosters - that’s a milestone right?

I took the kids to the pool after the doctor, and that’s when I started reading Deathly Hallows. That book pretty much accounts for the rest of Monday, and most of Tuesday. I finished Tuesday afternoon right before I had to make an early dinner and take the kids to Tae Kwon Do.

Wednesday we met some friends at the park for the morning. In the afternoon, we went to the library, where they were having a presentation on Egyptology. The kids heard some crocodile stories. learned about the Rosetta Stone, wrote their names in heiroglyphs and played some rowdy mummy-race and pyramid-building games. I read Mansfield Park through most of it.

Yesterday we went grocery shopping and I finally got around to some freelance work I had waiting for me. Last night was Tae Kwon Do and then we headed to the pool. It’s amazing how good that pool feels when it’s over 100 degrees outside!

This morning Natalie has an orthodontist appointment and then this afternoon we’ll head to our weekly play date with Michelle and her boys. Hopefully everyone will get along - hotter weather seems to make it harder for the kids.

Tonight I’ll head back to Michelle’s - by myself - to watch Keeping Mum and have some gab time with no kid interruptions.

Tomorrow we’ll all pile in the vans and go to the lake for the day. Kevin was able to barter some computer work for a kneeboard, so Noah is anxious to try it out. I’m hoping our ancient, falling-apart boat can actually pull hard enough to get him up on it! The boat is older than I am.

I’ve also been spending some time working on our school schedule for the end of August. Noah actually asked me yesterday if we could start school! I wish we had our books, but they won’t be here for a couple more weeks.

So that’s what my week was like. Here are some links you might find interesting:

~I loved this slideshow. A photographer went on a pilgrimage to Ireland and shot pictures of many Irish religious sites. (Scroll down to the end of the article for the link to the slideshow.)

~Here’s another writing contest - this one for a children’s story.

~This is a must read for Austen fans.

~I can’t remember where I found this, but this clip of Jay Leno inhaling the “anti-helium” is hilarious!

~Here’s a fun Tetris-style game that will help your kids (or you) learn the states.

~In this interview, J.K. Rowling goes into more detail about the futures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione - including what their professions are!

~Here’s another Rowling interview, where she talks about who dies in book 7.

It has been a few weeks since I’ve had time to sit down on a Friday and do a links post. We’re on Summer Break from homeschooling - which has basically meant one orthodontist, dentist, or doctor appointment after another! I thought we were reaching the end, and then a postcard from our friendly opthamologist came in yesterday’s mail, reminding me that Natalie’s due for an eye check-up. Sigh.

We had a terrific 4th of July. Don and Michelle and the boys came over for a BBQ. After dinner, the guys and kids let off all the “daytime fireworks.” That’s what my kids call things like smoke bombs, snakes, and fire crackers - you don’t need darkness to enjoy them. Then we came inside for dessert and watched Independence Day (fast-forwarding through the pole-dancing scene, of course). Afterward, it was dark enough to do the “nighttime fireworks.” We did some, but the wind kicked up and it became unsafe, so we called it a night. All in all, a fun day.

I have been getting some lesson planning done for our upcoming school year - we’ll be starting back on August 27th. My sister Andrea and her two boys are coming up from Boise the week of August 13th, and I want to have as much done beforehand so I can just enjoy their visit - and not have to cram the week after!

I still have a school-year-wrap-up post rattling around in my head - I’ll get to it soon, hopefully.

Today is supposed to be another scorcher - it was 109 F yesterday, according to one of the temp. signs in town. We have yet another ortho appointment this morning, then a stop at the licensing department to license the boat and a play date this afternoon. Tomorrow morning we will head for the lake: which means lots of inner-tubing and swimming for the kids, and lots of sunscreen-slathering on slippery children for me. And hopefully some reading in a lawn chair while they all frolic. Kevin and the kids will camp over, while I will come home to a quiet house for a shower and good night’s sleep in my own bed. Ahhh, I love camping.

On to the links - I have quite a few since I’ve been collecting for weeks:

~ First of all, don’t forget to sign up for the King Tut DVD giveaway.

~ This photo essay from Time is fascinating - it shows what fifteen families around the world eat in a week.

~ Jodi at Cartoon Living posted this adorable video.

~ This 20/20 Video on YouTube, called Stupid in America, is long - about 40 minutes - but well worth watching. John Stossel reveals some of the major flaws in the American education system.

~ Nora Ephron has a hilarious piece in The New York Times called The Six Stages of E-mail. (This requires free registration.)

~ Katy at Fallible started a great discussion when she revealed she has no idea who to vote for. Great comments, great links, great info about some of the lesser-known candidates.

~ If you’re in the same boat, this quiz can be helpful. You answer questions about the issues that matter to you, and the results tell you who you should vote for. After researching all of the links and info from Katy’s post, I knew who I was leaning toward, and this quiz confirmed it. Warning: you have to click through a bunch of ads at the end to get your results, but it’s worth it.

~ If you’re wondering which way I’m leaning for the election, it’s toward Ron Paul. Who’s Ron Paul, you might ask? So did I when I saw his name mentioned on Katy’s post, and then I did a lot of reading and YouTube watching. This video sums him up best, I think. You can also read many of his speeches and writings here. If you’re curious as to why I’ve changed my opinion about the war, read this post. I welcome discussion on this issue, but let’s keep it civil, okay?

~ The New 7 Wonders of the World have been chosen.

~ The Headmistress at The Common Room has posted her list of “Rules My Mama Never Told Me I’d Need to Make.” Then Sherry at Semicolon chimed in with hers. If I ever did this, top of my list would be: “Don’t lick the frozen food cases at the grocery store,” and “Don’t stick your entire head under the mouth of the coffee grinder in order to sniff the coffee beans, either!”

~ Entertainment Weekly has an interview with Harry Potter himself, aka Daniel Radcliffe. They also have an interview with Helena Bonham Carter, who plays the evil Bellatrix Lestrange in Order of the Phoenix. Anyone seen it yet? I know Karen and Lawanda have. The theater in our little hick town is probably one of the only ones in the country not showing it yet. Aargh!

Now for all you aspiring writers, here are some writing contests I ran across:

~ The Image-In contest is for short stories or poems based on one of several photographs from artist Carol Wood.

~ In keeping with All Things Harry, here’s a contest where you write your final scene to the Harry Potter series. Two prizes - one for the best ending, one for the person who comes closing to J.K. Rowling’s ending. $500 prize for each category!

~ The American Literary Review is hosting a contest for poetry, short fiction, and creative non-fiction.

~ Dogwood, a journal for poetry and prose, is also holding a short fiction and poetry contest.

~ The Georgetown Review is hosting a contest for short stories, poetry, and essays.

~ The Mississippi Review is awarding $1,000 each in fiction and poetry.

~ Whim’s Place is holding a flash fiction contest. Flash fiction is very, very short fiction - less than 500 words for this contest. Whim’s Place has put together a Flash Fiction 101 for those who would like more info.

~ Another short story contest, this one from Writer’s Digest.

Whew - I told you there were a lot. I hope you are all surviving the heat! Any big plans for the weekend?

I wrote up our honeymoon story to submit to Common Ties and it wasn’t accepted, but turns out it fits May’s Write Away Contest theme over at Scribbit. So here it is:

The Oregon Coast, 1995

The date was set. The invitations were mailed, the cake and flowers ordered, the dress (almost) finished. It was time to plan the honeymoon.

Kevin wanted to stay at a large hotel with room service. My interest had been caught by a certain bed-and-breakfast on the Oregon Coast: Victorian décor, antiques, claw-footed tub, sleigh bed. It sounded perfect, and my aunt’s gift of two nights in the bridal suite sealed the deal. Kevin gave in, graciously, to his soon-to-be bride.

The wedding was perfect and we spent our wedding night in our new apartment, surrounded by unpacked boxes and birdseed that sprinkled the floor as we undressed. In the morning, we stopped at a carwash to remove the shaving cream remnants of “Just Married” and headed south.

The drive was breath taking. Even in gray, wet March, the Oregon Coast is beautiful. We talked and talked the miles away, relishing the fact that the weeks of planning were over and we were finally mister and missus.

We were met at the entrance to the B&B by a woman in a flowing purple caftan, with long fingernails and eyelids painted to match.

“Welcome, welcome! You must be the newlyweds,” she crooned in a husky, affected voice. I was reminded of the vocal coach in Singing in the Rain: “Round tones, dahling, round tones.” We were led into a gorgeous hallway, all dark wood and flowers. Our hostess checked us in, arranged for dinner reservations at a local spot famous for their prime rib, and floated down the hallway and up the stairs to escort us to our room.

The attic was converted into a bridal suite, and it was just as beautiful as my aunt had described. The sleigh bed was covered in pillows and a blue floral comforter. Directly over the bed, a skylight let in the sun. The bathroom was old-fashioned, but the claw-footed tub big enough for two made up for the lack of more modern amenities.

Left alone, we stood on the balcony gazing out over the ocean, arms entwined. Then I looked down.

Below us was an outdoor hot tub. It was occupied by an older couple in all their wrinkled, naked glory. At least we thought they were older; they could’ve just been stewing for a while. I made a little snorting sound, and Kevin’s eyes followed my gaze.

He laughed at my shock. “If they were going to provide naked people for us to look at, at least they could’ve been young and attractive!”

In spite of the waterlogged, prune-wrinkled sight, we decided to take full advantage of the luxurious sleigh-bed. We were on our honeymoon, after all.

We were in the middle of our conjugal bliss when I heard it – a low, buzzing sound. ‘Someone must be mowing the lawn,’ I thought. But the sound kept getting louder. And closer. I opened my eyes and looked up through the skylight into the eyes of a man! He was in an ultra-light hang-glider flying right over our room. I realized that since he was low enough for me to make out his features, he was also low enough to see what we were doing.

I shrieked and rolled off the bed, taking half the linens with me.

“What’s wrong?” Kevin asked, bewildered at the bizarre interruption.

I pointed and Kevin looked up in time to see the man complete his circle over our room. I began shaking with uncontrollable laughter. “Think he knows this room is a bridal suite? Gets his jollies spying on the newlyweds?”

We climbed back into bed – this time under the covers.

The rest of the afternoon and evening were comparatively uneventful. We were greeted at the restaurant with chilled champagne and flowers and candles. As we ate, we rehashed the happenings of the afternoon, knowing we had a story we’d remember for a long time.

After a romantic evening spent in the claw-footed tub, we drifted off to sleep in the comfortable bed, hoping the darkness would keep any peeping toms at bay.

We were awakened the next morning at 8:30 by a knock at our door.

“I’m coming in with breakfast, darlings!” Our hostess entered our room as we scrambled to make ourselves presentable. She was again wearing purple flowing robes, and she had tucked a huge purple flower into her bottle-blond chignon. She set up a small table near the balcony and loaded it with yogurt parfaits, omelets, sweet breads, and coffee. It was just like room service – without any warning.

Left to our meal, I commented on the wonderful food, but I could see that Kevin wasn’t impressed. He was too irritated at being awakened long before we were ready.

“This is our vacation! We should be able to sleep in as long as we want, and eat breakfast when we’re good and ready!”

I teased him out of his mood, and we finished breakfast and prepared to head out for the day, which was spent at the aquarium and Undersea Gardens and walking on the beach.

The next morning, we were prepared for our wake-up knock and dressed before our purple-gowned eccentric descended on us.

After we checked out, we left for a scenic drive north and back home.

That was twelve years ago, and we are still married. Every year, we leave our children with trusted friends and family and head off for a long weekend alone. At a nice hotel. We have never stayed at a bed-and-breakfast again. But we’ve also never come away from a get-away weekend with such an interesting story.

I finished this a couple of weeks ago, and forgot to post about it. As to be expected with a book of essays by various authors, I liked parts of this book and didn’t like other parts. Collected from The New York Times, these essays include works by Margaret Atwood, Geraldine Brooks, Elmore Leonard, David Mamet, Arthur Miller, Anna Quindlen, and Amy Tan, among many others.

My favorites were “Timeless Tact Helps Sustain a Literary Time Traveler” by Geraldine Brooks, about her experiences writing Year of Wonders:

“It is human nature to imagine, to put yourself in another’s shoes. The past may be another country. But the only passport required is empathy.”

… and “Computers Invite a Tangled Web of Complications” by P. J. O’Rourke, his humorous entry on why he refuses to write on a computer.

“With a complete Britannica on the Web, I’d be able to look up “Tintern Abbey,” and next thing I’d be in the Lake Poets chat room discussing what kind of pencil stub Wordsworth used. Or I’d become a compulsive video solitaire player. I’m sure video solitaire is more addictive than the deck of real cards that are spread on my desk at the moment. Darn that six of diamonds. And e-mail would be more distracting than the telephone I use to call everyone I know, when I’m blocked.

A fellow blocked writer, with whom I just got off the phone, says he looked up “pencils” on the Internet. They were invented in the late sixteenth century, which may moot the whole Shakespeare duck-goose quill question. Fortunately, I don’t have a computer and can’t get on the Antique Writing Instrument electronic bulletin board to find out.”

Elmore Leonard’s chapter “Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle” is great advice for aspiring fiction writers.

“3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated,” and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…

…he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs.”"

This book includes essays by authors such as Patrick McGrath, Marcia Muller, Alan Cheuse and Fredric Tuten whose works I have never read, but now plan to.

A favorite passage:

“Time alone hadn’t made the difference in me. An actor prepares. So does a writer. But in a different way. With hindsight, I could see that living was not enough. The current spate of memoirs about abuse and divorce and other sorts of misery to the contrary, having bad things happen to you doesn’t necessarily make you into a writer. Long life, short life, who hasn’t lived through enough awful events to make for potential material? So it wasn’t misery, though I had suffered my share by then. It was all the reading that I had done that had prepared me.

Which is not to say that all serious readers automatically become writers, or that studying art appreciation can make you a painter, or listening to Beethoven turn you into a composer. But you can’t tap your own greatest potential as a composer without knowing Beethoven’s music, and you can’t write seriously without reading the greats in that peculiar way that writers read, attentive to the particularities of the language, to the technical turns and twists of scene-making and plot, soaking up numerous narrative strategies and studying various approaches to that cave in the deep woods where the human heart hibernates.”

~from “Yes, There Are Second Acts (Literary Ones) in American Lives” by Alan Cheuse

If you long to write, love to write, or like to read about writers, this is definitely worth picking up. I plan to borrow Volume I from a friend.