March 28, 2008

I have a new nick-name for dear husband. "Fattening". No, I am not calling him fat. He is fattening. When I am around him, I eat. He was off for Good Friday, so he had a three-day weekend. You want to know what we did? We ate. And ate. And ate. We went to Knoxville on Saturday and had cheesecake. Then we brought home a box of Krispy Kremes. He was home for three days and I gained back almost five pounds. I really need to work on my willpower when I am around him. I have all the junk out of the house now and I am back on the road to healthy eating, at least until he has a few more days off.

I came across a few words this week that I really like:

Gallivant
Shenanigans
Teetotalism

I think I will try to use them all in a sentence today.

The birds have been waking me up in the mornings. It's such a nice way to start the day.

We saw a story on the news recently about a mayor in a small town in Kentucky that had been banned from entering any local businesses because...he's a dog. You can read about it here. He is only the second dog to be elected. I love the look of this website, especially the map. Isn't it great to see a whole town with a sense of humor?

Guess that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by. Toodles!

March 21, 2008

We just finished watching Amazing Grace, again, this time for school. Dear husband and I had watched it once before. We hadn't planned on having school today, but dear husband decided to go fishing, so I thought we would just go ahead and get another day in while he was gone. Youngest dear son is covering the British slave trade in World Studies so I thought of this movie. I highly recommend it. Oldest dear son, who is a history major, watched it with us and loved it. I also rented Enchanted, but fell asleep last night watching it. My guys all liked it and that is amazing in itself for a chick flick. I will finish watching it today. I was just too tired to stay up last night. The Amazing Grace DVD also has interactive study helps on the special features section. I am going to check into them after lunch today. We may just do a whole day of Amazing Grace. Youngest dear son would love that!

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the movie:

John Newton: Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly. I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.

John Newton: [reciting his song] "I once was blind but now I see". Didn't I write that?
William Wilberforce: Yes, you did.
John Newton: Now at last it's true.

William Wilberforce: No one of our age has ever taken power.
Pitt the Younger: Which is why we're too young to realize certain things are impossible. Which is why we will do them anyway.

John Newton: God sometimes does His work with gentle drizzle, not storms. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Richard the Butler: You found God, sir?
William Wilberforce: I think He found me.

March 20, 2008

The year's at the spring

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hillside's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in His heaven -

All's right with the world!

~Robert Browning

We made it! It's here! Welcome, Sweet Springtime!

Yesterday it rained most of the day and for a few minutes we were under a Tornado Warning. Now, we have dropped back down into the thirties. But! Today is the first day of spring! So, as e.e. cummings would say, "The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful."

A couple of pix for the occasion. Both have been on the blog before.

Last year's daffodils.

Iris. The first pix I ever posted on the blog.

I no longer have these irises, but I do have lots of pix of them. They were destroyed when we built the garage. *big, heavy sigh*

March 19, 2008

Dr. Denise Faustman has started clinical trials on humans using using a tuberculosis vaccine to cure Type 1 diabetes by suppressing the immune system response and regenerating the cells that produce insulin. This therapy has already cured Type 1 in mice and different studies have been able to replicate her results. Her work is being funded by Lee A. Iacocca, who lost his wife to Type 1 diabetes. You can read more about it here:
http://www.iacoccafoundation.org/PDFs/Faustman%20Newsletter%20Summer%202007.pdf
http://www.iacoccafoundation.org/ny_times_a_diabetes_researcher.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_Calmette-Gu%C3%A9rin
http://www.massgeneral.org/diabetes/%5Claboratory_type1.htm
We will watch, wait, and pray.


Did you know that the word "asparagus" comes from the Greek language and means "sprout" or "shoot"? Did you also know that asparagus is the food highest in glutathione, an anticarcinogen and antioxidant helpful in the prevention of cancer? (National Cancer Institute) It's amazing what you can learn from reading labels.


Spring is almost here! My daffodils are blooming. The birds are courtin'. Now if only the weather will cooperate.

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

Hurry, Sweet Spring!

March 15, 2008

Happy Belated Pi Day! I wanted to post about it yesterday, but I had to go out and then I had to share the computer with my children. I just realized that had youngest dear son waited another day to be born, he would have been born on Pi day. He told me yesterday, while I was trying to whip up some enthusiasm out of him for the celebrated day, that he wished it was Pie Day, instead. Oh well...I love math and want my children to love it, but math just seems to take too long for him to consider the beauty of it. He is young, however, and I am still trying to mold his mind into one that can appreciate math. I cannot think of Pi without thinking of God. I think God loves math and is the ultimate mathematician.

Now don't fall over, but I broke down and bought a new purse. I hate to carry a purse and I have been carrying this little teensy purse for years. Yesterday, I was trying to give a cashier some change and my hand got stuck down in my little teensy purse. I decided it was time to get another one. I have never had purse envy over handbags and I can't even tell a designer bag from a cheapo. I went for the cheapo at Walmart. I bought a black bag with a very long strap. The purse is only 1o" by 7", but it has SEVEN zippers! I brought it home and looked at it and kept finding compartments. The cashier even missed several because it still had crumpled up paper in a few. It is plenty big enough for my essentials: tissue, chapstick, three cough drops, driver's license and insurance cards, pen, notepad, and money, if I have any. I will have room now for my cell phone and sunglasses which I usually leave in the car anyway, but I may just take a notion to lag them around with me. I never even carry a purse when I travel anywhere with dear husband.

Speaking of dear husband, he fixed the washer. I thought I really should post an update about this because, well... I know how interesting my life is and I didn't want to leave anyone hanging. After we pulled the washer and dryer out from the wall, AND after we vacuumed back there, AND after we took the back off the dryer and vacuumed it out, he looked at the bottom of the washer and found the problem. It was the pump. It was leaking because the center of it was worn out. Dear husband explained how the pump is attached onto the bottom of the motor and the agitator is attached to the top of the motor. It was quite interesting and I am so thankful that he knows so much about just about anything with a motor. Most of it he has learned working in the mines. I am very blessed to have him for a husband. He knew how to remove the pump and he took it with him to a local furniture store that keeps Whirlpool parts in stock. He had it all put back together and working perfectly in no time. I forgot to mention that he vacuumed the washer motor before he finished.

I guess that's it for now. Take care and toodles!

March 13, 2008

Today is youngest dear son's 14th birthday! Happy Birthday!!!!!! Wasn't he a cutie-pie?

This was our child who did not talk until he was two and a half and then by four he was reading. He loved diagrams and maps and would fight you for the road atlas or directions on how to program the remote to the VCR. He was our child who wanted to play the "hoopstick" (acoustic) guitar. He was our child that used to tell me he would see me "tomorning" when I would tuck him in bed at night.

When I was decluttering his room, I found a couple of things that he had written several years ago and I kept them. This one was written concerning a group of stuffed animals that he had won from a claw machine. This group of toys stayed on his bed and protected him from bad dreams. He called them The Bedhood.

The Bedhood: Rules and Regulations

1. You must be a plush toy.

2. You must be at least 2" tall and 1" wide.

3. You have to have a special power.

4. If you are a PBS character, you must see the Master of the Bedhood.

5. Though action figures are cool, they are not eligible.

6. Duplacate members are unneccesary. (His spelling)

7. Your age has to be 5 or up.

8. You must jump the Cubbyhole of Doom.

Note: If chosen by me, Rules 2,3,4, and 7 will not apply.

March 12, 2008

I'm feeling a little droopy this morning, both mentally and physically. Youngest dear son was low three times last night which is very unusual. He has a tendency to drop low early in the night, but he was low most of the night, last night. We had to increase his insulin dosages when he was sick and I have been gradually lowering them. I guess I haven't been lowering them fast enough.

I am also a little sad. Our youngest will be turning 14 tomorrow. He is such a good kid. I know he has to grow up and I also know that one day he will be leaving me. I just don't like to think about that.

I guess that's it for now. I have a date with a dirty house and I need to figure out what I am going to fix for supper. The washer is still leaking, so I am excused from laundry detail and won't have to visit Mount Washmore until dear husband can take a look at it. He had to service the cars yesterday and I told him just to wait until today. Pretty smart, huh?

March 11, 2008

Our first day back at school went....well....we got through it, but neither of our hearts were in it. Youngest dear son had no desire to do math and the washing machine started leaking, so it was just one of those days. We did get to have pizza for supper, but I have to say the Mia pizzas from Pizza Hut leave a lot to be desired. They are supposed to be a medium one topping pizza, but they looked awfully small for a medium and they had just a skim of cheese and very little pepperoni.

It appears that winter and spring are in a tug of war. Spring is slowly gaining a foothold, but winter is not showing any signs of giving in or giving up. I am rooting for spring. Go, spring, go!

Here are a couple more pix from our Gatlinburg trip. I took these at night, trying not to capture the glare on the windows or the shadows of people passing by. I had tried before on another trip to take these during the day and they turned out awful. These are a little better, but I still need a lot of work in this area.


I really wanted to take more pix in Gatlinburg, but it was so cold and a little man on a bicycle got after me! He kept calling it his motorcycle and he followed me all the way back to the van. I'm pretty sure he was harmless, it's not like he could abduct me on a bicycle, but dear husband wasn't so amused at a strange man following me around. Dear husband had gone to warm up the van and was waiting on me. After that he didn't want me venturing out alone again.

I sure would love to have one of those apples this morning for breakfast.

March 10, 2008

I was working on our bills this month and gave dear husband his "proof of insurance" card to put in the truck. He happened to be in the truck at the time. He always sticks the card up over the door in the truck. When he changes the oil in the truck, he also tears off the flap on the Fram oil filter box and writes the date/mileage on it and sticks it up over the door. He handed me all the old cards and flaps and I took them in the house and counted them. He had 10 insurance cards and 27 flaps. The flaps accounted for 81 thousand miles which is only one third of the actual miles on the truck. The truck will soon have 250,000 miles. It sure has been a good old truck.

Sweet Potato is doing well this winter. I still don't know if he is really our cat or not. He comes and goes, sometimes staying gone for two days. He always comes back. He is still as sweet as ever. The sweetest cat in the world. That's what I call him.

Bird Watching Update: During our next to the last snow storm, a flock of red-winged blackbirds were at the feeder. I took pix, but the film is still in the camera. Hopefully, I have a good pix or two to share. I know these birds are considered a nuisance, but we rarely see them and I think they are so beautiful. We have had a few goldfinches and house finches visiting and one day I saw a pair of purple finches. The mockers are still visiting and during the coldest days we have juncos and white-throated sparrows. Dear husband has been seeing huge flocks of robins on the way to work and I counted 12 or 13 in the driveway during a cold spell. Oldest dear son heard our first phoebe of the year, yesterday.

We start school back today. We were off all last week for spring break. I need to get busy, so I will close for now. Toodles! Hope your day is a good one. Thanks for stopping by.

March 8, 2008

Here are some of the pix from Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies.

I finally got a decent pix of a lionfish. They seemed to be showing off in the tank during this visit.

Aptly named stonefish. He actually looks like he is made out of sand. He always just sits on the bottom of the tank.

And finally a decent pix of a barracuda. He was in the shark tunnel.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

This one's name eludes me at the moment, but he held still long enough to get a clear shot.

March 7, 2008

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in February with a trip to Gatlinburg alone...just the two of us...without the boys. It was only the second time in our marriage that we spent the night away from them. The first time was several years ago and happened because we got stranded on the interstate and could not get home. We had went to see Indigenous at a concert. They were performing in a little bar in Lexington. We couldn't take the boys and we really wanted to see them again while they were in the area.


My sister came to stay with the boys and we set out on our trip. We didn't have time to eat lunch. We were planning on eating as soon as we picked up our tickets. We were on the interstate when we looked ahead and saw traffic stopping. We turned on the radio and learned that a wreck had shut down the interstate and motorists were being directed to take an alternate route. We had just passed the exit we needed, so we made a U turn in the grass and headed for the other road. We were so hungry. We didn't even have a stick of gum or a tictac. We found the road we needed and although we were hungry, our spirits were high. We went down this road a couple of miles and then we found ourselves stopped in traffic again! We sat and sat and sat....waiting and wondering if we were going to make it on time. We noticed a man sitting on an ATV just ahead of us at the junction of another small road. People were talking to him and then turning onto this road. We found out that we could take this road to get to the concert. I can't remember where it was, but I would love to one day go back and drive on this road again. It was beautiful country. By the time we got to the concert, the first act was already playing and we didn't have time to eat. I called my sister at a pay phone to let her know we had made it and we went into the club.


It was so tiny! The whole place was no bigger than my kitchen and living room. The women's bathroom was so small you had to turn sideways to go through the door. I am not joking! There were only five or six tables so we had to stand. We were starving and we don't drink so we tried to just enjoy the music. The band was so good and we were so close to them. The stage was only about a foot off the ground. They played all our favorites and we were having a really great time until...I started feeling sick. I got really hot and dizzy and sick at my stomach. I tried to fight it off, but I kept feeling worse and worse. My blood sugar had dropped from not eating. When I couldn't take it anymore, I turned to dear husband and told him I was sick. He got me over to the wall and I slid down in the floor. If I hadn't been so sick, I would have been horribly embarrassed. I know everyone thought I was drunk. He got me to my feet and led me to the door. My this time I was passing out. He almost had to carry me to the car. He went next door to a 7-11 and bought me a Sprite and within 20 minutes I was feeling better. I wanted him to take me back to the concert, but he said I needed food so we left and went to get something to eat. I was so mad at myself for getting sick. We learned at the restaurant that the interstate was still shut down! We tried to find a motel room in Lexington, but they were all booked full of stranded motorists. We had to drive north, and we eventually found a room. I called my sister and then we went and bought a toothbrush and a more items to do until we could get back home. By this time, it was very late so we went to bed. It would be several years before we attempted to go anywhere alone again!


Here are some pix from our recent anniversary trip to Gatlinburg. The first ones are of a little town we drove through. I love the first one!



















I'll try to post more pix from our trip tomorrow.

March 6, 2008

All winter we have been in a very strange weather pattern for our area. We will have a day or two of unseasonably warm weather followed by a sharp drop in the temperature and then snow. This has been going on all winter long. Today is a beautiful day. We are expecting snow on Friday.

I walked up in the yard yesterday with dear husband to see if any of my flowers were coming up. The daffodils have been up a while in the front yard and I have a few scattered up on the hill. We went back a little too far with the garden last year and plowed some of them up. I counted six hyacinths along with a few irises and some clumps of primrose and carpet bugles. None of these were budded out yet, so I don't think the snow will hurt them. I wonder if this is just a mountain tradition, or do all women go out and count their flowers coming up in the spring?

We haven't decided if we want to raise a garden this year. It was so dry last year that I really don't know if I have the heart or the effort required to fool with it. I do love my home-grown tomatoes, though. Maybe just a few rows of them along with a row or two of white half-runners.

Youngest dear son and I have been off all this week on spring break. Unfortunately, we have both been sick. Our break is almost over. I didn't accomplish much of anything, except watching many, many, way too many episodes of Joan of Arcadia on DVD. I still miss that show.

I have been scanning pix to the computer. I have some from our recent trip that I should post and call Mr. and Mrs. Fairlight's excellent adventure. We went to Gatlinburg for our 25th wedding anniversary. We had a great time despite the fact that youngest dear son got sick the night we were gone and oldest dear son had to take care of him until we could get back home. I ended up sick the next day. Oldest dear son had to check his younger brother's blood sugar during the night to see if he needed additional insulin since he was sick. He said he felt like he was on LOST having to "push the button". I have to say they both did a really good job and I didn't panic. I did make...oh, around 20 calls to check on them.

It was only the second time in our marriage that we left them and went somewhere overnight alone. The first time was a disaster. I may try to write about that tomorrow. Same blog time, same blog channel.

March 5, 2008

Thinking About Some Changes

I have been thinking a lot about the blog since I haven't been able to get here and actually blog. I think I may change the number of posts on a page to just one. That way, if I have a lot of pix, it won't take the page so long to load. You will have to scroll down to the bottom and click to see the rest of the blog, but I don't think that would be such a big deal if it helped the blog to load faster. I'm not even sure if just one post a page is an option. I will have to check.

I also think I may stop giving each individual entry a title and just use the date. Although, at first, I enjoyed coming up with creative titles, now I think I would just like to write and post pix and not worry about the title so much. I know this would probably make it more bloggish. I don't think I really have a blog in the true sense of the word. I would love to write everyday, but real life and a very slow connection speed at times, make that almost impossible. The blog for me is a place to share stories and pix with my internet friends and anyone else who happens to wander in out of cyberspace in search of a good laugh or a smile.

I will probably need to delete the poems in the sidebar if I decide to trim down to one page at a time or I will have a huge empty space at the bottom of the page on the shorter entries. You can still find them by clicking on "Poems" under the "Labels" section in the sidebar.

I took six rolls of film to be developed and the machine that develops the film malfunctioned during the process. *sigh* I am going to post some of them anyway. Some of them will look like they have little flecks and spots on them, kind of like snow. It may even be snow in the bird pix. It was snowing the day I took them.

I Think I Have Forgotten How To Blog

Our computer crashed on Valentine's Day and it has been a while since I have blogged. I even missed my second anniversary of the blog! It was on the 18th. I have been sick for a week and really haven't felt like doing much. The 24th was our 25th wedding anniversary.

I hope to get back into the swing of things soon. I have several rolls of film that I need to develop and hopefully some of them will turn out good enough to share with you on the blog. Until then, take care and have a good weekend.

Bird Watching Update

I haven't mentioned the birds in a while so I thought I would do that today. Oldest dear son and I saw two Eastern bluebirds yesterday for a brief couple of minutes. They were in the carport rafters. Is there a more perfect bird? So delicate and beautiful.

I have two mockers eating apples on the roof of the pumphouse. One is huge. He is so fat he looks like his breast is going to split open. The other one is much smaller, but very wiry! As soon as he lights on the roof he struts over to the suet feeder and splays his wings out in a very defiant stance before he starts to eat. They may even be male and female. I know mockers are very territorial.

We have several titmice, chickadees, cardinals, bluejays, and a bunch of mourning doves and a couple of downies.

These pix were taken on the pumphouse roof on my fake tree which is really a dead branch that dear husband placed on the roof for me to be able to take more natural looking shots of the birds, instead of them sitting in the seed feeder as you can see in one of the pix. He is stunning no matter where he sits, though. He usually eats suet. I am not sure what he was doing that day.

See the red streak on his belly? This is where he gets his name, Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Red-bellied Woodpecker hanging out in the seeds.

Mourning Dove

Tag Time

I have been tagged by Elaine. This is the very first time I have ever been tagged!

1. What time did you get up this morning? I overslept! I didn't get up until almost nine.
2. Diamonds or pearls? I'm not into jewelry....diamonds, I guess.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? National Treasure: Book of Secrets on Christmas Eve
4. What is your favorite TV show? A tie between Heroes and Life, although Eli Stone was good!
5 What do you usually have for breakfast? one boiled egg and one slice of buttered whole wheat bread with coffee
6. What is your middle name? Kay
7. What food do you dislike? I really wanted to like it but...hummus.
8. What is your favorite CD at moment? Oh, I can't pick just one. Here's what I am listening to now:
The Very Best of Ray Charles
Jim Croce Photographs and Memories
The Best of Jackson Browne
Merle Haggard 20 Greatest Hits
Gordon Lightfoot Complete Greatest Hits
Robin Trower Bridge of Sighs
9. What kind of car do you drive? Chevy van
11. What characteristic do you despise? Deceit
12. Favorite item of clothing? An old button up brown sweater with ugly purple flowers down the front. I wear it every day.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go? Cross country trip throught the continental U.S.
14. Favorite brand of clothing? I don't really buy brands. I have no idea.
15. Where would you retire to? Somewhere near a lake in Tennessee, but still in the mountains, of course.
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My last one. I was just happy to have made it another year.
17. Favorite sport to watch? Baseball
18. Are you a morning person or a night person? I don't think I'm either. I never feel good.
19. What is your shoe size? 9
20. Pets? One stray cat named, Sweet Potato
21. Exciting news you'd like to share with us? Dear husband and I will be celebrating our 25 wedding anniversary this month.
22. What did you want to be when you were little? A majorette or a ballarina, LOL. I saw pictures of them in books at the school library.
23. What is your favorite candy? Milky Way
24. What is your favorite flower? This is a tough one. I like so many. I'll say Zinnia.
25. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Our anniversary
26. What are you listening to right now? The boys being silly. They are supposed to be doing chores.
27. What was the last thing you ate? Toast
28. Do you wish on stars? Yes
29. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? A beautiful, but odd shade of blue
30. How is the weather right now? Cloudy and cold
31. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom
32. Your favorite soft drink? Don't drink them
33. Favorite restaurant? local Huddle House
34. Hair color? Going gray. I stopped coloring my hair months ago. I used to be just brown.
35. Your favorite toy as a child? Barbie's clothes and accessories. I think I liked them much better than I actually liked Barbie!
36. Summer or Winter? Neither, but if I have to pick...summer.
37. Hugs or kisses? Kisses from dear husband; hugs from everyone else. I like them both!
38. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla
39. Coffee or tea? Coffee
40. What is under your bed? A Dr. Scholl's shoebox full of music audiocassettes. Dust.
41. What did you do last night? Watched the Super Bowl
42. What are you afraid of? Opening canned biscuits.
43. Salty or sweet? sweet
44. How many keys on your keyring? 8
45. How many years at your current job? Almost 25 years of being a wife. Almost 23 years of being a mommy. I worked 12 years as an LPN and dental assistant off and on.
46. Favorite day of the week? Sunday
47. How many towns have you lived in? Four
48. Do you make friends easily? Yes
49. Do you play a musical instrument?Clarinet and piano...with a smattering of guitar
50. Who will you tag? Toby and Clarkxbar4

A Bird's Eye View

Random Ramblings

Feeling Better
I finally broke down and went to the doctor on Friday. I am on the mend now, I think. It is kind of hard to tell. One day I feel better and the next day I feel sick again. Thankfully, no one else in the house is sick.

Ad-Aware SE
I had a warning on my Ad-Aware SE that I needed to download new definitions, but every time I tried I would get an error. I finally googled it and found out that this version is now obsolete.
There is a new version, Ad-Aware 2007 that you can download for free, but from what I read, it isn't working too well. Several people had written in on the message boards about how hard it is to install and that it contains several glitches. Many people have uninstalled the new one and reinstalled the old one. I think this is a good sign to wait.

What Do You Think Of When You Hear The Song, Sweet Georgia Brown?
That's right! The Harlem Globetrotters! When I was a little girl, we would get so excited when they came on television. This week, we saw them again on TV for the first time in years. Of course we made our two sons stop what they were doing and sat them down in front of the TV like any good parents would do. They loved it! We had hot chocolate and for an hour watched the Globetrotters dribble, shoot, and throw buckets of popcorn and confetti water, yes they still do that! We even got to see Curly Neal. He is 66 years old now. He didn't play, but sat on the bench. It was an hour of pure joy. If all of life could be so simple.

Decluttering
Well...decluttering stalled when I got sick. In fact, he has piled up more stuff on top of the clean spaces I had cleared. Now I need to muster up the gumption to go back in and tackle it again. My mom called and said she had three large paper boxes with lids that I could have for the attic. Don't you just love boxes with lids?

Healthy Living
It has finally happened. After years of trying to eat healthier and exercise, dear husband has expressed an interest in doing the same! I know. Don't go into shock. We have been walking in the evening when he gets home from work if the weather permits. We have been walking a mile at our local park. It is a nice trail that goes through the woods and up and down hills, so you get a good workout. We plan to increase our distance as the weather permits. Right now, it is getting dark so early that we really can't walk longer. We are also lifting weights and I continue to do my Classical Stretch. I had lost 30 pounds before Christmas, but I put some of it back on during the holidays. Still, I am committed to living a healthier lifestyle and take it one day at a time.

And Finally...
If God had wanted sugar in cornbread he would have called it cake.

That's it for now. Take care.

Random Ramblings

Did You Miss Me?
I've been sick. I'm still sick. I thought I was getting better, but for some reason I feel just as bad today as I did when I was the sickest...most sick. I have a cold and sore throat and my ears are stopped up. I have kept a bottle of hand sanitizer nearby and have squirted it on my hands every time, and I do mean every single time, I have sneezed or blown my nose. I sanitize the phone when I use it and I sanitize the door knobs, light switches, and commode handle after I touch them. So far, I am the only one sick and worn out from all the sanitizing. It takes a lot of brain to remember to sanitize after each sneeze and blowing of the nose when you are sick and foggy from NyQuil. I have been staying away from my guys, too, and I am lonesome. I haven't had a decent hug since I have been sick. I guess you could say I am feeling very sorry for myself right now.

Homeschooling
We haven't missed any school since I have been sick, since youngest dear son can do most of it on his own. We did an experiment this week on substances that retard the growth of bacteria. Dear son dissolved a chicken bouillon cube in warm water and divided it up into four small juice glasses. In one glass, he added salt. Another, vinegar. The third one was left plain for a control and the fourth one went into the refrigerator. The glasses had to sit out for two days. We sat them on a TV tray in the living room. They looked like three urine specimens. Or three shots of beer. I couldn't decide.

In the last chapter of World Studies, dear son learned about a Spanish explorer, named Medana, who discovered the Solomon Islands. The native islanders were at first friendly, until Medana tried to use force to get food. Shots were fired and several natives were shot and wounded or killed. Several of Medana's men were ambushed after that. A landing party tried to go ashore after this and they were ambushed. Only one man made it back to the ship. They next day, they tried again only to see the angry natives on shore yelling and waving dismembered arms and legs. Medana decided that it would be best to go on to explore other islands. I love homeschooling.

Winter
I hate it. It makes me itch and makes my bones hurt. For years, we had warmer and warmer winters and that lulled us into forgetting about what winter really was all about. This winter has made up for it. I also don't drive on slick roads and now have to worry about dear husband and oldest dear son when they are out at school or work. Oldest dear son nearly went into the creek this week on black ice. One car was already there. Dear husband and I have been talking about retiring to a warmer climate. As soon as I find one with no mosquitoes, I am moving.

Books
After I finished Anne of Green Gables, I read Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, by Rachel Field. Very good. This book would make a great read aloud. Each chapter is a little adventure in itself. It is about a little doll carved out of wood, but I honestly think boys would enjoy this book just as much as girls. Youngest dear son is reading it now and loving it. It is a book for all ages.

Getting Old
I have stopped coloring my hair. I doubt that this is even blog worthy, but I thought I would record it here for posterity. I hope by summer to be a natural gray. I have been coloring my hair for years and finally decided I was tired of fooling with it and wanted to let it grow out. I will be 47 this year.