Outwitted

It's Poetry Monday. Yep, I've started a new feature.

Poetry Monday.

I wonder if I will remember my new feature next Monday? Oh well, here is the first poem to grace my blog. Thanks to Tim's A Beka literature book where I stumbled upon this one.

Outwitted
by Edwin Markham

He drew a circle that shut me out--
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!

Cheesus

And to think that I just eat Cheetos by the handful and never stop to see what I am eating. Maybe I've eaten Buddha, or his holiness the Dalai Lama, or Oprah.

What Mr. D Brought Home For Lunch

Yesterday at lunch time the door opened and Mr. D walked up the stairs and entered the kitchen where I was making "Kookie a la King" (more about that in a different post) and said, "Look what I brought home for lunch." He walked in with this guy in his car seat. My little buddie's mama had been over at the office working a bit and there is always a standing invitation for my babies to come for lunch (or breakfast or dinner or snack or coffee...), so he mentioned we were having Kookie a la King and she and Will joined us. The chef who invented Kookie a la King, that would be Chris, had packed his own lunch. However, there are plenty of Easter eggs left so I can make lots of Kookie a la King this week.....

Oh To See The Dawn (The Power Of The Cross)

What a love. What a cost.

10 Things

I've been tagged by Molly and I feel so special. Here's the game as I understand it. I am to come up with a list of 10 things that people might not know about me. Then, I am supposed to "tag" 10 of my friends and they are to do the same thing. Here's my list:

10 Things People Might Not Know About Me

1. In Blaine, MN on September 16, 2004 around noon, I touched President Bush. (I was at a rope line, he was walking by, I had my hand up in the air to shake his hand, he was about to pass by withouth shaking mine, so I quickly touched his pointer finger so I wouldn’t miss the moment). Terry took a photo of this momentous event.

2. I played the flute for 5 years.

3. I like to bake and wish I had more time to do it. I love baking cookies.

4. I love to wrap gifts. My ideal career choice would be gift wrapper at a department store.

5. This is a scary one. When I was 18, I was walking alone to Walter Library at the U of M from my dorm (Comstock Hall). I took the outside stairs on the west end of Coffman Union and when I got to the top of the stairs a guy jumped out of the bushes, blocked my path, and held a large shiny butcher knife at his side. It gleamed in the October moonlight. I pretended not to notice the knife, calmly said, “Oh, excuse me,” and took off running. I sat at the library all by myself for two hours and followed a group back to the dorm. I should have called the police, but was too scared.

6. I cry during movies. I cried three times during Elf.

7. I have been homeschooling for 21 years. I still feel slightly guilty when someone asks me what I do and I say I am a teacher because I don’t have an official degree.

8. I had three declared majors at the U of M. They were: Elementary Ed., Journalism, and I finally settled on Nutrition and Dietetics. I never graduated (although I have plenty of credits, I never did an internship), but I do use all three majors daily (I teach, I cook, I blog)!

9. My favorite place in the whole wide world is being at home with my family. My second favorite place in the whole wide world is being on Sanibel Island in Florida with my family.

10. Finally, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

And now I tag: Nikki, Katie, Beth, Holly, Nedra, Diane, Mindy, Michelle, Reesha, and Cari.

Isaiah 53

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Happy 2nd Day of Spring!

This is what the 2nd day of Spring looks like in our backyard!
Happy Spring!

Mr. President

I was sipping Good Earth Tea and randomly searching blogs this morning when I stumbled on one called Everyday Mommy that had an article about Reagan. The blogger had, in turn, stumbled upon this site full of interesting and fun archived Reagan era Air Force One photos.
So, I thought I'd share a few.

This photo just says "class act", doesn't it?

Um, about this photo...hmmmmm...

All I can say about this one is,

"Hey look, Mr. D, Ronnie wears high water sweat pants just like you!"

How cool would it be to be sitting here!

Look, it's flight attendant Nancy!

Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare

Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare
by John Newton, 1780

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
he himself has bid thee pray,
therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King,
large petitions with thee bring;
for his grace and power are such,
none can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin:
Lord, remove this load of sin;
let thy blood, for sinners spilt,
set my conscience free from guilt.

Lord, I come to thee for rest,
take possession of my breast;
there thy blood bought right maintain,
and without a rival reign.

Show me what I have to do,
every hour my strength renew:
let me live a life of faith,
let me die thy people's death.

While I am a pilgrim here,
let thy love my spirit cheer;
as my Guide, my Guard, my Friend,
lead me to my journey's end.

Monkey

Quick, name this error in logic.

How Long Will It Take?

I was just wondering how often Mr. D reads my blog and thought this post would give me the answer since there is no way that he will not have a comment after he sees what I have found through a Google search! Be sure and scroll down when you get to the link.

Yes, Mr. D, it's the second of your two albums, the one where Teres asked me what I was going to do after I graduated from college and I said, "I'm going to marry him," as I pointed to your funky back album cover photo. The only problem, of course, was we hadn't really met yet! So, in a sense this is the album that brought us together.

I'll bet you didn't know that your album had been reviewed by a 60 year old guy from East Randolph, NY.

He sums up the album nicely in his review.

The New Village Singers are a friendly easy-going folk foursome that bring to mind the music of The Seekers. Listen Everybody debuts with sharp production emphasizing clean vocal harmonies, jangly guitars and crisp rhythms. Nice arrangements mix in flute, harmonica or piano where needed, all the while making sure the folk edge isn’t sacrificed for easy listening or MOR. They seem particularly fond of Love Song, covering five of their songs over the two albums. In fact New Birth opens up with ‘Since I Opened Up The Door’, revealing some of their newly introduced Jesus music country twang. The beat is set aside a few times for some pure acoustic tunes including renditions of ‘Love Song’ (the Elton John one) and Debbie Kerner’s ‘Behold, I Stand At The Door’. Good soothing stuff that isn’t gonna hurt anybody.

Just what is a "jangly guitar" anyhoo? And, do you take lessons to learn "the newly introduced Jesus music country twang"? Not only did this fellow find your music soothing and "uninjurious" to the listeners, but anonymous commenter said, this is "d*** fine music." I know how much you love anonymous bloggers, Mr. D!

I'm sure the other NVS members will be equally thrilled by this review. I just hope that people don't get you mixed up with the New Main Street Singers!



And, one other thing. If the vinyl is going for $150 a pop on eBay, what do you suppose a case or two of the 8 tracks that we have in the garage will bring in on eBay?

Apparently, "Listen Everybody" is a little easier to find, since it only goes for $9.99 on eBay. Go figure. And, our friendly reviewer discovered it also. I see that he says:

Please support the artists by buying any reissues that may become available. I will only post albums that are currently out of print and most likely will never be back in print.

Maybe we could get a little cash on the side by selling CDs of both. What do you think?

HB2U

Today is Nikki's 29th birthday and Will's half birthday!
Hip, hip, hooray for Nikki and Will!

Friday Fun

On Friday, we had some lunchtime fun.

Will entertained us with his piano skills.

Auntie Bethie fed Will his pears. Yum-o!Grandma got to hold her little buddy.

Uncle Chris took i-Phone pix of Will dancing
(probably to "That Thing You Do").
Then, Will got to watch himself dance.

We had the "Grandpa Fun Fair", formerly called the "Daddy Fun Fair".

Grandpa serenaded Will with Dave's guitar that we are storing.
If you need a guitar stored, just give us a call.

And, finally, I'll bet you can't do this.

Today's Pile...

Thursday and Friday were busy, so there was no time for playing games like "Pick a Pile". I did, however, enjoy viewing some of your blogs and seeing your chosen piles. I had a few moments this afternoon and noticed a delightful pile on the coffeetable in the basement. So, I chose it. (I know I said my next pile was the hallway, but it was too big a pile for the time I had designated, plus, I am easily distracted). Here is the coffeetable before.

And now after. Please do not look beyond the coffeetable at the pile in the corner or on the couch at the pile that seems to be living there. It is very important that you choose a pile that you can handle for the time you have available or the game becomes a chore and no longer a game. Also, please don't notice the fact that it appears I have violated one of the major rules of the game and simply moved the Knitting book to the nearby couch rather than putting it away. My bad. I should be docked a point for that one.

Unfortunately, the Second Law of Thermodynamics comes into play at times. You know that minimum energy, maximum entropy thing or something like that. So, alas, here is today's photo of the table at the top of the stairs. Maybe that will be my next pile. And, seriously, what am I going to do with that vacuum that always seems to be in the way.

Please Sign the Home School Petition

Here's a little more info on the California Home Schooling crisis. The HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) site has an online petition that they are asking people all over the country to sign.

Here's the link to their site.

When you get there, click on the link about the California problem and if you feel so inclined, sign the online petition. They offer a little explanation of the legal options.

As you know, this started out with some type of legal action brought about towards one homeschooling family, and ended up with some major legislation from the bench that made all home schooling in CA illegal.

The family involved is appealing the decision to the CA supreme court.

Meanwhile, the HSLDA is working on formally petitioning the CA Supreme Court to "depublish" the opinion. The petition they are asking people to sign is to help them with their goal of "depublishing" the opinion.

The HSLDA site says:

If the opinion is “depublished” then it cannot be used by other California courts and this threat to homeschool freedom will be neutralized for other California homeschoolers.

Nanny State

I just found this article on the Drudge Report.

Here are some choice quotes.

"California courts have held that ... parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28. "Parents have a legal duty to see to their children's schooling under the provisions of these laws."

"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue.

"With this case law, anyone in California who is homeschooling without a teaching credential is subject to prosecution for truancy violation, which could require community service, heavy fines and possibly removal of their children under allegations of educational neglect," Dacus said.

Pick a Pile

Last night, in my random blogging, I visited a blog called "Biblical Womanhood" or something like that and ran across a little game that the blogger had invented called "Pick a Pile". The way it works is that you look around your house and find a pile of stuff that needs work. You photograph it before you begin and after you are finished dealing with it. Then, you share your "Before and After" photos with the world, your house is one pile cleaner, you feel really special, and are one baby step more organized.

I liked this idea and had recently been inspired by niece Michelle's post on her "lumps" of clothes and decided that I should join in the fun. So, I am inviting you all to play the game that is the latest rage: Pick a Pile.


Here 's how it will work. Choose a pile, take a photo before, neaten it up, then take an after photo and post it on your blog. If you don't have a blog, don't worry, you can send me your before and after photos and I will post them for you. If you don't have a digital camera, just describe your pile in my comment section...you know, how it looked before and how it looks now.

I began the game last night when I walked in the Living Room and, much to my horror, saw this.

40 minutes later, I saw this.

I decided to try the game again this morning when I looked at the area at the top of the stairs and saw this.

Less than a half hour later, I saw this.

My next pile is the hallway. This game should keep me occupied for a few weeks, since my whole house is pretty much lots of piles. Wish me luck, and if you decide to play the game, don't forget to share your before and after photos.

This is Frightening

You Are Barney

You could have been an intellectual leader... Instead, your whole life is an homage to beer You will be remembered for: your beautiful singing voice and your burps Your life philosophy: "There's nothing like beer to give you that inflated sense of self-esteem."

The Simpsons Personality Test

Well, now, what do you make of this? I thought maybe I'd be Marge. Or, even Ned Flanders, but no, look who I turned out to be! Who are you?

Just Call Me Starlight

Your Hippie Chick Name Is:

Starlight

Hippie Chick Name Generator

Molly the Wonder Dog and Katie the Wonder Child

Since there weren't any non blurry photos of Katie from my batch of photos last month, I thought I would share a few from the January batch. Here is what Katie did while waiting for her turn at the bongos in Donkey Congo when we celebrated Mindy's birthday. Good ol' Molly, such a patient dog, and her little tail is always wagging.

Busy Month

We did a lot in the last month or so. Alex spent a week with us. Here he is returning from winning first place in the debate competition. Nothing says victory like a bobbleheaded cougar trophy!

"Uncle Joey" and "Uncle Jesse" played with Will.

Chris brought his big screen and projection TV and we watched the Superbowl.

Nikki sang at Northwestern in Burnsville.

Nate and Ashley had baby Stryker. Kate, Beth, and I went to Yum! for lunch and visited the proud new parents.

We had a time of prayer for Steve and Oldest Dugan Cousin Sue posed with Youngest Dugan Cousin Bethie. A 43 year age span, but you could never tell.

Lund's had a "Twofer" sale and I needed a quick supper, so went retro. I don't recall having a Swanson's Turkey TV dinner since the late '60's. It was rather tasty, I must say, and at $1.88 for two, not a bad, quick supper.

The eclipse of the moon was breathtaking. I don't recommend flash photography if you are trying to capture the eclipse.

Hunter (1) and Delia (5) celebrated their birthdays. Here are the guests!

Mark said, "Hey, look, Will is sitting !" Terry turned to snap a photo, but not in time! However, what a flexible grandson I have.

The cow cake was lovely (and delicious). Note to self: Target, Prior Lake, ask for Terri, I think it's Terri, maybe Kerri...

Beth capped off the birthday celebration by reading to the sleepy birthday girl Delia.

Gas Tax Revisited

As far as I can figure, we are currently paying 20 cents to the State of Minnesota for every gallon of gas we use. This week that was raised by 5 cents, so we will be paying 25 cents per gallon just to the State of Minnesota.

Here's a little chart. It also says that 62 cents per gallon is the average amount we spend on state and federal taxes.

Here's a little primer on the price of gas.

Let's see, 19% is the amount available for "refining and profits". 19% is also the amount the government takes and they don't have to do the refining.

My conclusion is that the big, bad oil companies (who are trying to turn a profit for their shareholders, by the way, they are not a public charity) aren't nearly as bad as the big, bad government.

Don't forget to vote when your state representatives and senators come up for re-election.

End of rant.