Today our Cub Scout marched in the local Independence Day parade. This is a big deal in our small suburb. I hadn't realized how big till we started looking for a place to set up our chairs to watch. It's a big party and apparently the biggest one around, based on the number of fire trucks from neighboring towns. The Cub pack came through pretty early. Unfortunately it was pretty sparse - not too many of the boys showed up. Mine was one of the banner carriers and it was easy to see he was excited about that.
The best parts of the parade (after the scouts) were the groups of veterans going through. Oh did they get the applause! I was thrilled to see that. There were some very old men walking and riding today.
After a while the endless line of fire trucks and classic cars became a little tedious. The local Corvette club was out in full force. Ho hum. Of course I was happy to see the true classic Mustangs go by. Like many of my generation, I had dreamed of owning one of those. I did have a Mustang once, but it was far from the classic style. Oh well. Those things don't seem so important anymore.
After a while we realized that our kid was at the end of the parade route and we were still sitting there. So I headed out to find him. Most of the scouts had already left, so he was a little nervous, not knowing when I'd show up. I arrived shortly before the parade ended, so all was well. On the walk home we talked about what he could have done if all the Scout leaders had to leave before I showed up. The place was crawling with veterans, firefighters, and cops. He would have been OK.
There were 2 bagpipe bands, a marching band, and 2 old-time bands playing on trailers pulled by trucks. A few sports teams walked the route, and a church had a float displaying the Fruits of the Spirit. Otherwise, it was mostly vehicles. Not exactly what I picture when I think of an old-fashioned parade, but it was fun. And the kids collected a huge amount of candy thrown from those vehicles.
Everyone's flaked out now, napping or watching an Addams Family dvd. I'm about to go read but first spent a little time noodling around and found a few good reads for this Independence Day, both at Instapundit:
Jihad Watch: What we should be fighting for this 4th of July.
BobKrumm.com: How did you spend your Independence Day?
1215 soldiers spent theirs reenlisting. Can you top that?
Friday, July 04, 2008
July 4th Thank You Project
Sandy at Falling Like Rain has been asking people to participate in the Thank You Project: bloggers thanking our armed forces for all they do.
I have to admit I don't think about our armed forces the way I ought to. My father served in World War II in some way I have never been clear about. He was a civilian working for some branch of the military, doing flight training in Arizona (I think). I don't know why I don't know more about it. Maybe he was somewhat ashamed because he did not "really" serve, as in combat, like his only brother who died in a submarine. My brother served during the Vietnam years but was not sent there. I have a nephew in the Navy; he also is a flight instructor.
Maybe I don't think about the military much because I have been spared the ordeal of a family member in combat. War has never really affected me at all.
So even though I felt I ought to take part in Sandy's project, I couldn't think of a way to do so. So I will just say to my little band of readers: think about those people today. The revolutionaries who dreamed of a new country, free of the King of England. The Civil War soldiers who either fought to preserve the Union or fought for their new country. The people who fought (and supported the effort at home) during first two World Wars. Those who went to Korea - do we ever even think of Korea? Those who went to Vietnam, maybe even thinking it was a worthless cause, and were vilified on coming home. The men and women in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq. Maybe you think the current war is a war for oil. Maybe you think we don't belong there. Remember that there are people who are volunteering to go, and some to go again - they believe we are doing good there. And all the places and times I've missed, when American soldiers were working to preserve our freedom.
Our country has become so lazy, I think, about our freedom that it's easy to forget about these people. We need to remember what they have done, and what they continue to do for us.
And we need to thank them. Even if that seems inadequate.
It sounds so cliche' but it is true: Freedom is not free. I think we may be learning that in a hard way before too long. I wouldn't want my son to die fighting a war. But I will raise him to be prepared to do that if necessary.
This is a Lynyrd Skynyrd song; maybe some of the words are not appropriate for all listeners.
You can see more of the Thank You Project here. Thanks Sandy!
I have to admit I don't think about our armed forces the way I ought to. My father served in World War II in some way I have never been clear about. He was a civilian working for some branch of the military, doing flight training in Arizona (I think). I don't know why I don't know more about it. Maybe he was somewhat ashamed because he did not "really" serve, as in combat, like his only brother who died in a submarine. My brother served during the Vietnam years but was not sent there. I have a nephew in the Navy; he also is a flight instructor.
Maybe I don't think about the military much because I have been spared the ordeal of a family member in combat. War has never really affected me at all.
So even though I felt I ought to take part in Sandy's project, I couldn't think of a way to do so. So I will just say to my little band of readers: think about those people today. The revolutionaries who dreamed of a new country, free of the King of England. The Civil War soldiers who either fought to preserve the Union or fought for their new country. The people who fought (and supported the effort at home) during first two World Wars. Those who went to Korea - do we ever even think of Korea? Those who went to Vietnam, maybe even thinking it was a worthless cause, and were vilified on coming home. The men and women in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq. Maybe you think the current war is a war for oil. Maybe you think we don't belong there. Remember that there are people who are volunteering to go, and some to go again - they believe we are doing good there. And all the places and times I've missed, when American soldiers were working to preserve our freedom.
Our country has become so lazy, I think, about our freedom that it's easy to forget about these people. We need to remember what they have done, and what they continue to do for us.
And we need to thank them. Even if that seems inadequate.
It sounds so cliche' but it is true: Freedom is not free. I think we may be learning that in a hard way before too long. I wouldn't want my son to die fighting a war. But I will raise him to be prepared to do that if necessary.
This is a Lynyrd Skynyrd song; maybe some of the words are not appropriate for all listeners.
You can see more of the Thank You Project here. Thanks Sandy!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Lunchables are looking good today
My daughter warned me about this but I did not listen. She and her brother have a day camp next week, from 9 - 3, and I was sure that it included lunch. In fact, since I am volunteering to work at it (I save the $90 fee by working) I hoped I'd be on lunch prep duty. I do not like the idea of volunteering but saving $90 is important to me, and that's the only way my girl can go too, since it's a Cub Scout camp. (We are praying there will be other girls there. Surely there are other cheap/broke parents of girls in the local Cub packs.) I also couldn't stand the thought of him going to daycamp while she stayed home with me. All day I'd be hearing "is he coming home soooonnnnn?" (So she can start fighting with him.) Anyway, back to the topic here. She insisted that we had to pack a lunch. I insisted that she was wrong. Yesterday I received an email confirmation of our participation, and guess what? The girl was right again. Man, I hate it when that happens, which is most of the time.
Anyway, I hate, oh so very much hate, packing lunch. That is one of the reasons I homeschool, so I don't have to pack school lunches every day. OK, I'm kidding, don't call CPS on me, OK? I give my kids lunch. I do pack the seminarian's lunch some days, but he's easy - he will eat any kind of sandwich I put in the bag, as long as there is something sweet to look forward to. He'll even eat tuna, which was my lunchtime staple as a schoolkid. But my kids despise it.
So we have been brainstorming lunch ideas. PB&J will do for one or two days. Turkey might be nice once. Then I thought about lunchables(tm). No, I won't buy them. But I can probably devise a lunchable-like bundle of food they can choke down. Today we are checking out the new WalMart that just moved into town - does the excitement ever stop around here? - and we'll get some string cheese, salami, carrots, etc. I don't have any cute boxes but their old cooler bags will do fine. We can make some cookies. Maybe I'll even spring for juice boxes but I think we'll stick with water.
Of course now I also have to pack my own lunch. I think I'll just take an enormous thermos of iced coffee. I am worried about my tasks now that I know I won't be serving lunch. I warned the organizer that I have no sports skills so you know what that means. Stay away from the archery range.
Anyway, I hate, oh so very much hate, packing lunch. That is one of the reasons I homeschool, so I don't have to pack school lunches every day. OK, I'm kidding, don't call CPS on me, OK? I give my kids lunch. I do pack the seminarian's lunch some days, but he's easy - he will eat any kind of sandwich I put in the bag, as long as there is something sweet to look forward to. He'll even eat tuna, which was my lunchtime staple as a schoolkid. But my kids despise it.
So we have been brainstorming lunch ideas. PB&J will do for one or two days. Turkey might be nice once. Then I thought about lunchables(tm). No, I won't buy them. But I can probably devise a lunchable-like bundle of food they can choke down. Today we are checking out the new WalMart that just moved into town - does the excitement ever stop around here? - and we'll get some string cheese, salami, carrots, etc. I don't have any cute boxes but their old cooler bags will do fine. We can make some cookies. Maybe I'll even spring for juice boxes but I think we'll stick with water.
Of course now I also have to pack my own lunch. I think I'll just take an enormous thermos of iced coffee. I am worried about my tasks now that I know I won't be serving lunch. I warned the organizer that I have no sports skills so you know what that means. Stay away from the archery range.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Another '60s fave
Something made me think of this song yesterday, and sure enough here it is on youtube. Lulu, "Oh Me, Oh My."
I wouldn't even call this a guilty pleasure tune. I still love it. Maybe it's a little over-produced but hey, weren't they all?
Lulu was better known for "To Sir With Love" which you can view in the sidebar.
I wouldn't even call this a guilty pleasure tune. I still love it. Maybe it's a little over-produced but hey, weren't they all?
Lulu was better known for "To Sir With Love" which you can view in the sidebar.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Books and DVDs to look for
This is just my ongoing list of books and dvds to look for. I bump it up periodically so I can find it easily. This morning I used it to find a book on ponds we'd had from the library before and need now. This is probably not the best place to put this information but a text file is not accessible to me in the library, and this is. And I have used it a lot when trying to remember the name of something I want. I'm sure there are better ways but I am too low-tech to know about them. Or care, I guess.
Many of these are recommendations I've gleaned from others. Some are books that looked good in the bookstore but as I'm learning not to judge a book by its cover, I try to get them from the library before buying. Most are books we've gotten from the library and just didn't get to, though we were interested in them, truly. I am always looking for new book recommendations even though we have a houseful of books yet unread.
His Excellency, George Washington
The Mapmaker's Wife
The Story of Art (Gombrich)
Unexplained Laughter - Alice Thomas Ellis
The Armenian Table
Life of Pi
Tea Gardens - Lovejoy
The Journal of Mrs. Pepys
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Bees In America - How the Honeybee Shaped a Nation
The Geographer's Library - Jon Fasman
The Queen of Dreams - Divakaruni
King Matt the First - Janusz Korczak
Man of Steel and Velvet - Aubrey Andelin
The Mammoth Cheese
The Illuminator
Language Wars - Beechick
Christmas Observed: A Literary Selection - Owen Dudley Edwards and Graham Richardson, eds.
The Prizewinner of Defiance, OH - book and/or dvd
Historical Fiction for Children: Capturing the Past - Fiona Collins
Reading Series Fiction: From Arthur Ransome to Gene Kemp - Victor Watson
The Fisherman's Quilt - Margaret Doyle
Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign - Stephan Tally
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
The Thief Taker - Janet Gleeson
The Passionate Observer - Jean Henri Fabre
How the Heather Looks - Joan Bodger
When Crickets Cry - Charles Martin
Montmorency - Eleanor Updale - audio read by Stephen Fry
Sixpence in her Shoe - Phyllis McGinley
Shackleton's Stowaway
The Inheritance of Loss - Kirian Desai
The Traitor's Gate - Avi
Maps for Lost Lovers - Nadeem Aslam
Scattered Minds - Lenard Adler, MD
The 13th Tale - Diane Setterfield
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
The Northern Lights - 538.709 Jago.J Lucy Jago
The Joy of Chemistry - Cobb
Chemical history of a candle - faraday
Luncheon of the Boating Party - Vreeland
Season on Harris - Yeadon
The Air We Breathe - Barrett
Kids
The Dark Frigate - Charles Boardman Hawes
Born in the Breezes: The Seafaring Life of Joshua Slocum - Kathryn Lasky
Magnus Maybe
The Avion my Uncle Flew - Cyrus Fisher
Told Under the Christmas Tree - Petersham (ill), MacMillan 1948
Maggie Rose: Her Christmas Birthday - Ruth Sawyer
The Christmas Doll - Elvira Woodruff
Take Joy: The Tasha Tudor Christmas Book
The wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet - Eleanor Cameron
Spirit of Endurance - Jennifer Armstrong
Across the Blue Pacific - Louise Borden
The Hero Schliemann - Laura Amy Schlitz
The Tavern at the Ferry - Edwin Tunis
The Signers - Dennis Brindell Fradin
Penrod - Booth Tarkington
The Door Within - Wayne Thomas Batson
The Chestry Oak - Kate Seredy
The Pig Scrolls - Paul Shipton
Here be Monsters! - Alan Snow
A Young Patriot - Jim Murphy
The Life of the Pond - William H Amos
The World's Greatest Fighters - Robert Jackson
C
Midshipman Bolitho - Alexander Kent
Dies the Fire - Stirling
Well-Intentioned Dragons - Marshall Shelley
dvds
DVD 513 MAT Zany world of basic math
The Crossing - A&E (Jeff Daniels as Geo Washington)
Many of these are recommendations I've gleaned from others. Some are books that looked good in the bookstore but as I'm learning not to judge a book by its cover, I try to get them from the library before buying. Most are books we've gotten from the library and just didn't get to, though we were interested in them, truly. I am always looking for new book recommendations even though we have a houseful of books yet unread.
His Excellency, George Washington
The Mapmaker's Wife
The Story of Art (Gombrich)
Unexplained Laughter - Alice Thomas Ellis
The Armenian Table
Life of Pi
Tea Gardens - Lovejoy
The Journal of Mrs. Pepys
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Bees In America - How the Honeybee Shaped a Nation
The Geographer's Library - Jon Fasman
The Queen of Dreams - Divakaruni
King Matt the First - Janusz Korczak
Man of Steel and Velvet - Aubrey Andelin
The Mammoth Cheese
The Illuminator
Language Wars - Beechick
Christmas Observed: A Literary Selection - Owen Dudley Edwards and Graham Richardson, eds.
The Prizewinner of Defiance, OH - book and/or dvd
Historical Fiction for Children: Capturing the Past - Fiona Collins
Reading Series Fiction: From Arthur Ransome to Gene Kemp - Victor Watson
The Fisherman's Quilt - Margaret Doyle
Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign - Stephan Tally
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
The Thief Taker - Janet Gleeson
The Passionate Observer - Jean Henri Fabre
How the Heather Looks - Joan Bodger
When Crickets Cry - Charles Martin
Montmorency - Eleanor Updale - audio read by Stephen Fry
Sixpence in her Shoe - Phyllis McGinley
Shackleton's Stowaway
The Inheritance of Loss - Kirian Desai
The Traitor's Gate - Avi
Maps for Lost Lovers - Nadeem Aslam
Scattered Minds - Lenard Adler, MD
The 13th Tale - Diane Setterfield
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
The Northern Lights - 538.709 Jago.J Lucy Jago
The Joy of Chemistry - Cobb
Chemical history of a candle - faraday
Luncheon of the Boating Party - Vreeland
Season on Harris - Yeadon
The Air We Breathe - Barrett
Kids
The Dark Frigate - Charles Boardman Hawes
Born in the Breezes: The Seafaring Life of Joshua Slocum - Kathryn Lasky
Magnus Maybe
The Avion my Uncle Flew - Cyrus Fisher
Told Under the Christmas Tree - Petersham (ill), MacMillan 1948
Maggie Rose: Her Christmas Birthday - Ruth Sawyer
The Christmas Doll - Elvira Woodruff
Take Joy: The Tasha Tudor Christmas Book
The wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet - Eleanor Cameron
Spirit of Endurance - Jennifer Armstrong
Across the Blue Pacific - Louise Borden
The Hero Schliemann - Laura Amy Schlitz
The Tavern at the Ferry - Edwin Tunis
The Signers - Dennis Brindell Fradin
Penrod - Booth Tarkington
The Door Within - Wayne Thomas Batson
The Chestry Oak - Kate Seredy
The Pig Scrolls - Paul Shipton
Here be Monsters! - Alan Snow
A Young Patriot - Jim Murphy
The Life of the Pond - William H Amos
The World's Greatest Fighters - Robert Jackson
C
Midshipman Bolitho - Alexander Kent
Dies the Fire - Stirling
Well-Intentioned Dragons - Marshall Shelley
dvds
DVD 513 MAT Zany world of basic math
The Crossing - A&E (Jeff Daniels as Geo Washington)
Chocolate Syrup
Maybe I'm the last person on the planet to figure this out, but homemade chocolate syrup is very easy to make and does not have to contain high-fructose corn syrup (as most if not all commercial syrups do). I found that out when desperate one night for some to put on ice cream. I am pretty sure it's cheaper too, though I have not done an analysis on that. A quick google search brought up many recipes, including this one from recipezaar:
It's nice to have around for iced coffee, ice cream, or chocolate milk. Not that we need a lot of chocolate. But sometimes...
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 dash salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
It's nice to have around for iced coffee, ice cream, or chocolate milk. Not that we need a lot of chocolate. But sometimes...
Tagged
Dadvocate tagged me today. It's been a while since that has happened. Here goes:
The rules:
1. Post the rules at the beginning.
2. Answer the questions only about yourself.
3. At the end of the post, tag five people and post their names, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment so they know they’ve been tagged. Ask them to read the sender's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
What were you doing five years ago?
I was living near Portland, OR with a 6 year old and 4.5 year old. So I was reading a lot of story books and otherwise taking care of my family.
What are five things on your to-do list for today?
To-do lists don't really work for me, but I need to
1. finish unpacking/putting away after a short vacation
2. do a little "schoolwork" with the kids, including finishing a great read-aloud we've had going
3. supervise housecleaning
4. make lunch and dinner, including bread-baking which is in progress
5. find some energy
What are five snacks you enjoy?
Wow, true confession time:
1. potato chips
2. popcorn, preferably (but rarely) with butter and grated parmesan cheese
3. dried mangoes
4. fresh berries by the handful
5. iced coffee with milk and some form of sweetness
What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Give a bunch away to various charities (Compassion International, Medical Teams International, Heifer Project, the OPC or PCA churches). I have to say that first, don't I?
2. Remodel my kitchen.
3. Put a roof on the back porch.
4. Invest for my children.
5. Get my extended family all together for once. They'd have to come if I paid, right?
What are five of your bad habits?
More confessing!
1. Laziness about housework.
2. Biting my fingernails.
3. Putting off paperwork, like entering receipts into Quicken or filing.
4. Starting a project only to get tired of it and then leaving it laying around while I pretend I'll get to it.
5. Leaving books all over the place.
What are five places where you have lived?
1. West Seneca, NY
2. San Jose, CA
3. Sunnyvale, CA (like Dadvocate I had to stretch because I haven't really moved around much. Sunnyvale and San Jose are suburbs in the San Francisco bay area.)
4. suburb near Portland, OR
5. suburb near Philadelphia, PA
What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. retail clerk
2. bank teller
3. customer service rep
4. trainer/policy and procedure writer for a computer company
5. housewife/homeschooling mom
Now, I have to tag 5 people. That's always hard. But:
Kerri at Cup of Grace
Lyn at Whimsical Dreams (haven't been in touch for a while)
Shari Ellen at Fun Learning
Sandy at Falling Like Rain
Brumbemom at Life, As I See It
Have fun!
The rules:
1. Post the rules at the beginning.
2. Answer the questions only about yourself.
3. At the end of the post, tag five people and post their names, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment so they know they’ve been tagged. Ask them to read the sender's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
What were you doing five years ago?
I was living near Portland, OR with a 6 year old and 4.5 year old. So I was reading a lot of story books and otherwise taking care of my family.
What are five things on your to-do list for today?
To-do lists don't really work for me, but I need to
1. finish unpacking/putting away after a short vacation
2. do a little "schoolwork" with the kids, including finishing a great read-aloud we've had going
3. supervise housecleaning
4. make lunch and dinner, including bread-baking which is in progress
5. find some energy
What are five snacks you enjoy?
Wow, true confession time:
1. potato chips
2. popcorn, preferably (but rarely) with butter and grated parmesan cheese
3. dried mangoes
4. fresh berries by the handful
5. iced coffee with milk and some form of sweetness
What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Give a bunch away to various charities (Compassion International, Medical Teams International, Heifer Project, the OPC or PCA churches). I have to say that first, don't I?
2. Remodel my kitchen.
3. Put a roof on the back porch.
4. Invest for my children.
5. Get my extended family all together for once. They'd have to come if I paid, right?
What are five of your bad habits?
More confessing!
1. Laziness about housework.
2. Biting my fingernails.
3. Putting off paperwork, like entering receipts into Quicken or filing.
4. Starting a project only to get tired of it and then leaving it laying around while I pretend I'll get to it.
5. Leaving books all over the place.
What are five places where you have lived?
1. West Seneca, NY
2. San Jose, CA
3. Sunnyvale, CA (like Dadvocate I had to stretch because I haven't really moved around much. Sunnyvale and San Jose are suburbs in the San Francisco bay area.)
4. suburb near Portland, OR
5. suburb near Philadelphia, PA
What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. retail clerk
2. bank teller
3. customer service rep
4. trainer/policy and procedure writer for a computer company
5. housewife/homeschooling mom
Now, I have to tag 5 people. That's always hard. But:
Kerri at Cup of Grace
Lyn at Whimsical Dreams (haven't been in touch for a while)
Shari Ellen at Fun Learning
Sandy at Falling Like Rain
Brumbemom at Life, As I See It
Have fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)