Gone to Carolina Archive: April 12, 2005

Today's entry is about butter. Much vilified butter.

Some years ago, when I was in Weight Watchers, I had an epiphany about butter. I was looking through my points book and...whaddaya know? 1 teaspoon of butter=1 point. 1 teaspoon of margarine=1 point. I vowed from that point on to stop using margarine. I've never looked back.

Sure, there are things in margarine that are less artery-clogging than butter. For a while there, though, margarine and it's trans-fat ingredients was much slandered as being almost capable of dropping one dead on contact.

Butter does have its problems. When you keep it in the refrigerator it's too hard to spread. You can keep it in the cupboard pretty successfully in the winter but when the weather warms up, it starts to sweat and get an off-look and taste to it. And a certain preacher, who eats with us on a regular basis, makes snide comments about it then. So for his and our benefit, I switch to whipped butter when the weather is warm. It's not the same, but close.

Restaurants seem to still be trying to get us to eat margarine, though. That's what prompted me to write this missive. This morning we bus drivers are to meet at Bojangles for a breakfast paid for by the PTA. It's Bus Driver Appreciation Week and the PTA and staffs of the schools we serve are treating us all week to little things.

When I go to Bojangles for breakfast, which I do as little as possible, I pack my own butter. The only item they have on the menu that I can eat is grits. Excellent grits. But nary a butter pat in the joint. Those wonderful grits are completely ruined by that whipped yellow plastic they make available in the condiment area. I don't understand how a restaurant, that wins competitions with their biscuits, can fail to have butter on hand.

Our local diner opened with no butter. We went there for supper the night before my surgery and the poor waitress about turned the joint upside-down trying to find real butter for my baked potato. She had to come and tell me "even the kitchen doesn't use butter". The following week she did present me with real butter at lunch with our cornbread. I, or someone, must have made an impression on them.

I am NOT a consumer of fake stuff. I want real butter, I want real sugar and I want real salt. If we use all these things in moderation, and we move around a bit more, we don't need to worry about using these things. And so I encourage you, my fellow Americans, to demand THE REAL THING! Accept no Substitutes!

Gone to Carolina Archive: April 11, 2005

A beautiful weekend was had by all here in South Carolina. I had a good book, a good movie and even watched just the right 20 minutes of the Masters. Did a lot of walking around the neighborhood and reconnected with many of my neighbors and my church family.

Mom and Dad are pulling out today, heading back to Minnesota. They will start their golf leagues in 2 weeks and start tilling up their gardens in another month. I did get some garden work out of Mom this weekend, just to whet her appetite.

We planted a plot of 3 rose bushes for Soya's ashes. We planted them in a triangle with Soya's box of ashes down in between them all. We put them in the area where she used to lay in the sun. It was a bittersweet moment when we scooped the dirt back in on top of her box. She was a wonderful pet and companion.

Mensa Boy and I watched The Hudsucker Proxy on Saturday night. An absolute delight! This is a Coen Brothers movie, so of course you are ready to be entertained in the most twisted way possible. And the movie starts right out with a shocker, as the head of highly successful Hudsucker Industries commits suicide in the most stunning fashion. When it becomes known that the deceased's will calls for all of his shares to be offered to the public as stock, the board cooks up a plan to make a lot of money: They will hire a complete idiot to run the company. When the stock prices fall low enough, they will buy them for next to nothing and the restore the company's finances. There are many whacky depictions of corporate life in the movie and if you've ever worked for a big company, you'll recognize a few of them. Tim Robbins is brilliant as the patsy, Norville Barnes and Paul Newman is wonderful as the brilliant leader of the board, Sidney Mussberger. I think one could easily watch this movie over and over and see something new every time. I might need to buy this one!

I also finished reading Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva. Another excellent spy novel. I'm not sure why I have a hard time finding other people who read his stuff. Yes, he is one of those authors who uses the same hero in each book, but Silva does it right: each story is radically different from the last. There is no recycling of stories. But you definitely should start reading Silva's stuff by going back to the first Gabriel Allon novel: The Kill Artist, although I haven't read that one. I started with The English Assassin. You can pick up any of them and get caught up on Allon, but I would think it would be more enjoyable to begin at the beginning.

Gabriel Allon is a Jewish counter-terrorism agent. He spends his life alternately restoring fine art and chasing down Palestinian terrorists. In this novel, Allon is after the man who is plotting to set off bombs in Paris. The man is the son and grandson of palestinian terrorists, both of whom were eliminated by Allon's agency.

My only complaint about this novel is that it's hard to track all the characters sometimes. If I'd had 10 straight hours to just read the book from cover to cover this wouldn't have been a problem. But of course I had to read, put down, read, put down. So every once in a while I had to leaf back through the book to find a character to remind myself who he was.

And finally, the Masters. I am not a golf fan. I am one of those who sees the game of golf as "a good walk spoiled". But of course we had it on for 3 days here, so Dad could watch it. Mom and I were in an out, so I just caught snatches of it. Just the right snatches, apparently. I saw that guy's ball roll off the green after Tiger's ball landed on there. "Vibrations?" That was weird. And I was brushing my teeth in preparation for a church council meeting when Tiger chipped that ball into the 16th hole. If only all golf were that exciting...

Gone to Carolina Archive: April 9, 2005

It was very sad yesterday morning to wake to NPR and hear the translator say (I'm paraphrasing) "...our dear Pope".

I'm not Catholic, but I did admire the Pope. I'm wishing he'd done a bit more to allow modern men and women, especially women, to feel comfortable in the church. While I personally divorce as a viable option, I've seen people's spiritual lives torn apart as they've been discarded from their church at one of the worst times of their lives. I've also seen people struggle with a church that does not condone birth control or abortion. Not being an abortion-rights advocate myself, I can see the church's point there. But no birth control seems downright irresponsible to me. Not only from the standpoint of preventing conception, but also for preventing sexually transmitted diseases.

But this pope, the only pope of my adulthood, had a special way of acknowledging everyone, even people of different faiths. He truly was "dear" to Catholics and even to many of us Protestants.

I know speculation is that the cardinals will choose someone older, who might not be a pope so long. And if they do, that pope might not travel as much as John Paul II. I hope that's not the case. In my outsider's opinion, the Catholic church needs someone who can continue to trot the globe and bring unity.

Gone to Carolina Archive: April 8, 2005

For the last two days I've just rested. Read books, walked around the neighborhood, watched movies. It's been nice. And it's made me feel a bit ambivalent about going back to the bus...even if it'd only be for 4 weeks or so.

Books:

Terminal Man by Michael Crichton. This is a pretty old book by now, and the technology Crichton writes about is no longer an issue, but it's still a fascinating read. A man suffers from epilepsy and assaults people to the point of almost killing them when he has a seizure. He undergoes an experimental procedure that wires a pacemaker-type device to his brain. When a seizure comes on, he gets a mild shock. Of course everything goes wrong. Otherwise there'd be no story. It's a good one and a quick read.

Light on Snow by Anita Shreve. I have never read anything by Shreve before. This is a really fast read and enjoyable. A father and daughter find a newborn in a sleeping bag in the woods. They take the infant to the local hospital and are subject to quite a bit of questioning from local authorities. The notoriety is disconcerting to the father, who moved himself and his daughter to this rural area after losing his wife and other daughter in a car accident. Their lives are further disrupted by the arrival of a stranger with a load of emotional baggage.

Movies:

M.A.S.H. I'm sure I've seen this before, but I hadn't remembered much about it. I definitely hadn't remembered that the theme song was "Suicide is Painless". It's fun to go back to old movies every once in a while. This movie is funny but also very much "adult content".

The movie Sideways. I can't think of a single redeeming quality about this movie. A groom-to-be and his best man embark on a week-long tour of northern California wine country, with the intention of drinking their way up and down the state with a little golf in-between. But it becomes apparent that the groom-to-be intends to sow some wild oats along the way. The movie is vulgar and uncomfortable.

Gone to Carolina Archive: April 6, 2005

I think my Dad has a new hobby in his "golden years". It appears that he is collecting store discount cards wherever he goes. So far he's gotten cards from all 3 local grocery stores and yesterday he hit a pharmacy. None of these establishments have locations in Minnesota.

It should be noted that my Dad HATES these cards.

Yesterday we went rose shopping. We'd like to plant 3 rose bushes along the west side of the house, and put Soya's ashes in there with the plants...in the container underground. We went to Lowe's and Home Depot and stopped at Walmart because we were passing by. We found some nice-looking bushes at Walmart and hope to plant them on Friday when Mensa Boy is off. Eventually we may plant more bushes all down that side to sort of screen off the utility area we have back there...the hose reel, the water valve cover, etc. The bushes should get to about 3 feet tall, so we can see them well from inside and they won't block our view of the back yard.

The next shopping bit on our agenda is to find a picture for the family room. The "theme" in there, if you could call it a theme, is sort of "northwoods cabin". So I'm looking for a photo of something that reminds me of northern Minnesota. It'll have to be a big one. I was thinking we might try to go today but we've been very busy 2 days in a row now and I'm noticing this morning I woke up tired. So I may have to lay around today and hit the pavement again tomorrow.

Gone to Carolina Archive: April 5, 2005

I've got to return a couple of books today and I need to tell you about them.

Michael Crichton's State of Fear: Don't. That's it. Just Don't.

State of Fear is about environmental terrorism and global warming. The story is actually good, but the academic discussions about global warming and whether it's really a threat or not just totally bog down the book. One of our heroes is an expert on the subject and he's an arrogant jerk. You just don't even care that he's an expert. If Crichton took out the discussions about climate and the charts and graphs(!) and just had the characters give us the "skinny" on the topic, we'd still learn and not feel like it's being rammed down our throats. It would definitely make a good movie, though. In fact, I'd probably even go see the movie, even though I've slogged through the book. The story is good.

The Broker by John Grisham. Do. Definitely Do. And you don't need a lot of time to do it. Joel Backman, high-powered attorney in Washington(nicknamed "The Broker"), currently in prison serving time, is pardoned by an outgoing puppet President. The CIA wants him pardoned and secreted away in Italy for a while, where they will keep him safe for a period of time before leaking his location to some other countries in hopes that one of them will assassinate him. Apparently Backman has knowledge of some special satellite technology that could compromise the national security of these countries. This is a great book...no lagging along...clicks right along and you can finish it in about 10 hours.

Today I pick up Daniel Silva's latest, Prince of Fire. I've enjoyed every one of Silva's efforts and am looking forward to this one. I do see, however, that it's another "terrorism" novel.

Gone to Carolina Archive: April 4, 2005

Slowly

Going

Insane

The "pizza detector" outside my office door, which is also in the kitchen, started chirping at 8 am. These detectors are hard-wired into the house and have a battery backup. It's very hard to figure out how to change the batteries in these things. And with the 10 foot ceilings and the incision across my stomach, it's out of reach for me.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Taylor and the Tooth

"It's gross! I want to go to the dentist and have it pulled out NOW"
This from Taylor the other day. Yes, this is the kid that, a mere 3 years ago, wouldn't let go of a tooth that was dangling by a thread. Mensa Boy had to literally pin him on the floor and yank one out one year on Christmas Eve. Now he's begging to go to the dentist to have a solid, "unloose" tooth pulled.
Taylor is 10 1/2. He's got a new tooth coming in on the top on the side that has broken through the gum on the outside of his mouth above the baby tooth it will eventually replace. But the baby tooth isn't even loose yet. This happens with virtually all kids. I remember when Nate had it. It does look weird. There's this tooth appearing to angle out of the bright red gum, seemingly way out of whack.
When Taylor gets an idea in his head, he will not listen to any facts or opinions about it, unless the person has absolute stellar credibility on the subject. Usually the person he needs is just the other parent, or perhaps Grandpa or Grandma. But this time no one would suffice.
So, we called Dr. Aten. Deborah Aten, DDS, is our family dentist. She has Aten Family Practice on Toringdon Way in Charlotte. I'd link, but there is no website. Anyway, we called. I explained the situation to receptionist Pam. Could Dr. Aten either call Taylor, or see him for a consult for about 10 minutes? No problem. Dr. Aten called the next day and spoke with Taylor. She explained that he doesn't want that baby tooth pulled out before it's ready because then he'd have a hole there and everything might shift and then he'd be totally messed up. She asked him to check it for looseness every day and when it gets loose, start wiggling it. She explained that he has an appointment in 8 weeks and they could decide together what to do. And most of all, she told him not to worry...that big new tooth won't stay in that spot forever.
That shut the kid up.
For now.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Sabbatical Over. Scenes from Upcoming Episodes

I'm baaaaack! As you all know, I really took a sabbatical from blogging because I wasn't home.  I didn't want to say I would be gone for a month because it seemed silly to advertise that the house would be empty a lot during June. The blogging software wants $40 for EACH COPY and I didn't think my thoughts were worth a buck a day to have it on my laptop. I have many things to tell you all about our trip back to Minnesota. I'll spread it out over the next week or so.  Here are some of the topics I'll cover: Mickey, the washrag-sucking dog Soya's "summer camp" experiences Why Daimler-Chrysler's Customer Care 800 number is so great 10,000 steps Being an insurance agent in a seminar with realtors Golf bad, boat good. Even when it's only 65 degrees exploding bricks what-not-to-do when carrying a load of firewood book reviews, movie reviews Guns are banned on these premises Giant bugs Paul Bunyan and Babe are separating and probably more that I'm just not thinking of. This is the month of Le Tour de France!  So far I've missed one day due to being on the road home. But our leetle beety cable company doesn't carry OLNTV so I might be missing the entire thing. If I do miss it, it'll be the first time since 1985 that I have.  Last summer I purchased digital cable just to get the network so I could watch it.  This week I may very well be switching cable companies altogether to get the Time "Evil Empire"  Warner so I can watch.  I'll have to decide in the next day or so. Either that or become a burglar and break into Cassie's house to watch it each day. See ya tomorrow.  Write me.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Amazing Annoying Racers

I've decided to take a month-long "sabbatical" from blogging. Today will be my last post until after July 4. Click on the envelope anytime to send me emails, though, to keep me posted on your doings. If you know my personal email address, of course that would be good one to use.

I watched "Amazing Race" last night. I really like this show...rooting for people I think are most deserving.  Right now I'm leaning toward the NFL wives. They got a bum rap near the beginning, with some other teams telling a bus driver not to open the doors to let them on.  I'm not sure they made the right decision using their Fast Forward on the first day, considering they had the fat & forty couple and the bimbos on their bus in last place with them. I think they could have beat them easily.

The only thing that really bugs me about the show is how they describe each team.  "Father/Son" or "NFL Wives" are okay. But the fat & forty couple were just labeled "Married Couple" and then we had the gay couple that they labeled "Married".  Considering gay marriage isn't recognized in most states, I think the show might be making a political mistake with that one.  And besides, one would think those couples would have more about them that would be more interesting to describe.  Like the "Air Traffic Controllers" (I thought fer sure they were doomed) and the bimbos, who they labeled "Models".  The "Dating 12 Years/Virgins" title was a bit off-putting too.  Maybe they just want to make a statement to Gen X that being a virgin is cool. That could be a good thing. But to point out that they've been dating 12 years? And he's on camera saying he's afraid of marriage?  Why not just tatoo "Loser" on his forehead? Or her forehead, for that matter!  At first I was worried that maybe their parents were losers...they look like they are only 22. Do the math.  But checking out the "Amazing Race" website, I see they are 28 and 29.  She's an environmental teacher at an Aquarium. That sounds like an interesting job. They could have worked that into their label.

Still on the labels...I just looked up the "Fat & Forty" couple...they have GREAT JOBS...he's a news director for a radio station and she's a director at an ARTIST'S COLONY!  Cool!  I'm sorry to see them go. They really tried hard. I thought his crying over not taking a hotel room right away was a bit weird.  He felt he'd neglected his wifey-poo.  I turned to Mensa Boy and said "sheesh! She should just tell him to get over it!" I'm not much into name calling, never would call Mensa Boy a name, but a well-placed "idiot" might have worked in that situation.

But by far the biggest disappointment to us was the couple from SoDa. All that bleeping while she's on camera...I really wish they'd get the boot soon, if only because listening to her language and the bleeping is Sooo annnnoyyyying.  The least they could do is not "bleep". Why can't they just blank out her f-words? Just leave dead space? She talks fast enough most of us middle-agers wouldn't catch it anyway. 

So that's my review of "Amazing Race".  Click on the envelope and send me an email. I won't be posting any comments, but I'd definitely love to hear from you!

While I'm sabbaticalizing (?), I'll be reading Artemis Fowl, Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel, and my "Cooking Light" and "Fine Cooking" magazines. I'm sure there will be many other items, as these will only last me until Sunday or Monday. I've decided to listen to An Hour Before Daylight and Ghost Soldiers on CD...I've read Ghost Soldiers but Mensa Boy hasn't, so that will be a good one to listen to. I'll also be watching several Netflix. I think "Antwone Fisher" is coming and so is "Amelie" and "The Prisoner, Vol 1".

Cheers! Keep in touch via email. I'll post again in early July!

Gone to Carolina Archive: Beef & Bok Choy

You can remove me from the running for "Dog Owner of the Year".  I pulled a real "bon-er" yesterday.  Soya wanted to go out. The neighbors cats were out, so I clipped on her tie-out and let her out the back door.  A couple minutes later the kids announced they were all greased up and ready to go to the pool. So we went. An hour later...I'm sitting at the pool, reading my book, drinking my ice water, thinking about how the sun was very hot and it dawned on me that I didn't remember letting her back in.  Tried to call the neighbor. No answer.  So I left the kids at the pool (yeah, you can remove me from "Mother of the Year" too) and ran home and there she was...curled up in the tiny spot of shade by the grill. And NO! I did not do it to pay her back for eating my lambswool duster! We had a real kickin' supper last night.  Farmer Sammy gave us a recipe for beef and bok choi that a family friend had prepared for them.  Here's the recipe: 1# ground beef 1 medium onion 1 bunch of boc choi (I used 2 bunches of baby bok choi) garlic (as much as you can get by with) 1 or 2 teaspoons of hot sauce (Texas Pete if you live in the SE) 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire 1 beef boullion (I left this out...I'm too much of a food snob to buy boullion) Brown the beef, onions, garlic. Add hot sauce and worcestershire (and boullion if using), salt and pepper to taste. Add boc choi and 1 cup water. Simmer until ready to serve.  Pour over rice and add more hot sauce to your liking. It was a family hit! Made about 8 servings, too. Mensa Boy took a bunch of it for lunch today. That's always a good sign.  He would never criticize my cooking.  But I do know there are basically 3 levels of "liking it" for him: 1. This was good, but let's not have it again. (I'd probably say it really sucked) 2. This was good, we should have it again sometime. (I'd say "it was nice for a change) 3. This was good, I'll take the leftovers for lunch and we could have it every week if possible. Today is out 21st wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Kreldar!

Gone to Carolina Archive: Food Cures

Twins 30-20  Braves 35-17

Most of you know that one of my favorite topics is food. Frequently my Mom and I begin conversations with "I had the BEST (fill in the blank) last night!"

There are a lot of people who believe in home remedies to cure ills...boiling chicken heads, making tea out of grass...I think a lot of illnesses can be helped out of our lives with good, quality food.

I've been under the weather for several days. Probably just some virus thing...sore throat, headache, tired. Today I feel a lot better. I kind of think some of it has to do with food.

I got my farm share yesterday and there were beets in there, turnips, arugula, broccoli, bok choy, lotsa lettuces.  I got home with it about 12:30 and quick sliced up some beets into a little skillet and braised them in butter slowly while I washed and packaged up the rest of the stuff.  What a magnificent lunch! For supper I took the turnips and sliced them up into a saucepan and braised them in olive oil and garlic until they got all carmelized.  They were good, but would have been better if I'd used butter, I think.

Today I'm going to have arugula tossed on hot pasta for lunch. That peppery taste of arugula just chases away viruses.  And when that kind of stuff is grown without pesticides and other junk, it just packs an even more powerful punch.

I'm still pretty amazed at the stuff I get from the farm. It's MAY for pete's sake and I already have big heads of broccoli! And fully grown carrots! 

I'm also really enjoying this little strawberry pot of herbs my Mom planted while they were here.  Last Saturday, when I felt particularly yucky, I pulled out 3 chicken carcasses I had lanquishing in my freezer. Put them in a pot of water on real low. Then I made a bouquet of Sage, Thyme, Oregano and Rosemary and tied it up with dental floss. Tossed that in the water with the carcasses and simmered until all the collagen had leeched out of those bones. I'd left a bit of meat on the carcasses when I used the chickens, and so I had probably 2 cups of meat in my soup too.  Later, after I pulled the carcasses out and strained the broth, I realized I didn't have any of the usual carrots and celery I like to put in soup. I did find some carrot "chips" left from packing school lunches...they are carrots cut like ripple potato chips. I cut them into slivers and tossed in a head of baby bok choy cut up and some kale and onion. It made a nice, mild soup. Good stuff!

Gone to Carolina Archive: On Their Own Time

Call me crazy but I just don't think that Chicago area school has the right to expell those girls for hazing.  The event did not take place on school grounds or on school time.

One may say this would be no different than if basketball players went out drinking and carousing the night before the state basketball tournament. I disagree.  I think that would have to do with whether students agreed to refrain from drinking while on the basketball team. If so, they should be kicked off the team.  But not expelled from school.  Unless....

Say the students rode a bus from Little Falls to St. Paul for the hockey tournament. Say arrangements were made through the school for the bus ride and there were parent sponsors on the bus and they all stayed together in the same hotel for the tournament.  And students snuck out the night before to hang out in a bar.  THEN it seems to me they could be expelled.  That sounds like a school-sponsored outing.

I don't think the school has any more jurisdiction over this hazing event than an employer would have over a bunch of employees who go paint the town red on Thirsty Thursday.  Seems like the employer could only hold sway over the employees if they had difficulty showing up for work or performing their jobs adequately the next day.

And I kind of wonder if the school, deep down, recognizes that.  They are expelling the students and keeping them from attending classes, but they are going to award them their diplomas on time.  So basically, a bunch of girls go out, drink while underage, sling some poop and guts and then get to take the rest of the year off from school and still get their diplomas. 

Doesn't sound like much of a deterrent to me.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Belair Library

Thanks be to God and the Mc family for helping me get the church library done! We are now open for business.  When I ever-so-blithely offered to perhaps do a tiny bit of organizing in there, I had no idea how hard it would be to get it all done!  It wasn't really hard work, but there were illnesses and visitors and things to do and somehow it just was hard to schedule time. But it's open now, all 180 volumes.  Thanks to Faith United Methodist in Farmington, MN and Minnehaha United Methodist in Minneapolis for their gifts of books and advice. And to Jack, Peggy, Harold, Cassie, Margaret and Laura for the time they spent gluing and labeling and alphabetizing.    5:38:06 PM

Gone to Carolina Archive: Marathon Training

I didn't write yesterday because I was in training for the marathon. The Alton Brown marathon was on FoodTV today from 2-8pm. I was a bit worried that I couldn't make it that long. So yesterday I practiced by watching 5 hours of FoodTV yesterday. I'm proud to say I stayed with the pack today from start to finish. The Nyquil helped me stay put.

Gone to Carolina Archive: First Day of Summer Speech

Twins 27-19  Braves 32-15 5 inches of rain yesterday.  We woke up in the rain and went to bed in the rain.  We've got great drainage on our property and it looks like most of the houses in our neighborhood don't have standing water problems.  So flooding isn't really a concern for us here in our neighborhood. But our county has been under flood warnings and watches for the better part of the last week. Yesterday they postponed the NASCAR races because of the rain. I guess that doesn't happen very often.  The guys are helping with housework this summer. Yesterday Taylor cleaned the downstairs bathroom and dusted the family room and living room. Nate vacuumed the entire lower floor so I could wash the tile floors.  They were fairly cheerful about helping.  I had my "first day of summer" speech with them Wednesday afternoon...'you help me with my work, I spend more time helping you do what you want to do...yada yada yada.' How about that Annika Sorenstam? I'm not really a golf fan. But I might have to tune in for a while today.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Sleeping Late

Twins 26-19  Braves 31-15

Comment from yesterday:

From Tony: I agree with Taylor. Tell her she is dumb. It works for me. (Ha, Ha)

Well, summer vacation started yesterday afternoon. I'm glad.  All winter I've been looking forward to summer vacation so I wouldn't have to get up before 6 to get Taylor ready for the bus.

Settled in to bed last night, looking forward to sleeping late this morning.

Woke up at 6:10.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Just Tell Her She's Dumb

Twins 25-19  Braves 31-14

Overheard in the car yesterday:

Nate: "So, you think I should just try to keep blowing her off?"

Ryan: "huh, yeah, but that's not likely to work. She's pretty hard to shake off."

Nate: "Yeah, she'll probably just say something like 'Every relationship has it's ups and downs.'"

Tayor: "Why don't you just tell her she's dumb?"

Gone to Carolina Archive: Girl Magnet

Twins 25-18  Braves 31-13

Nate's friend Ryan is a girl-magnet.  Looking at him, I can see why. He has this great, dark curly hair. He's tall and skinny like Nate and just exudes confidence.

Nate is getting caught in the web by association.  So far, we are not getting a lot of phone calls from girls. I guess Ryan's family had to tell the girls they could call only once each day and they've put a limit on how long the conversation can go. 

But Ryan's most ardent admirers live in OUR neighborhood.  Ryan does not.  Ryan comes over most weekends for a few hours, and the girls come over here for him.  If he's not here, they will talk to Nate. For quite a while.

It's going to be an interesting summer. I have a feeling I'm going to be sitting at the pool a lot, rolling my eyes over the top of whatever the book of the moment is.  And I'm going to need to find little guys to take to the pool so Taylor isn't ditched.

It'll be fun.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Fixed Or Repaired Daily

This will be short. More of a confession, actually.

I have a FORD parked in my driveway. Yes Dad, I tried to explain to the dealer that I really wasn't sure I could drive a FORD rental, but they didn't have any Chysler rentals left.  I drove the 10 miles home and didn't have to get out and push...not even once.

My trusty Dodge should be back this afternoon.  It's in for it's 60,000 mile service. I can't believe it's already been 60k. I remember when it was just a baby of 13 miles...seems like only yesterday.

A Mighty Wind

Twins 23-18  Braves 29-13

I just finished reading The Hidden Life of Otto Frank by Carol Ann Lee.  It was kind of a struggle to get through. A lot of the book is devoted to Mr. Frank's work with publishers to get the diary translated and published, then a play was done and there were efforts to do a movie.  The author never deviates from the notion that Mr. Frank's motives were totally pure. He took very little money from the proceeds of the work, leaving  most of the money to non-profits that he founded to preserve the house in Amsterdam, etc. 

The other on-going theme of the book is about who betrayed the Frank family. There was always one person that most people thought had done it, and the book talks a lot about that person's life.

Last night Mensa Boy and I went to dinner at "Firebirds" in South Charlotte and then to see the movie "A Mighty Wind". We met Cassie and Randy at the theatre for the movie. "Firebirds" was excellent, if loud. The portions were way too large, too.  I'm a person that would just as soon pay half as much and get half as much food. I had a pecan-crusted trout with tortilla slaw. Mensa Boy had pork loin. Dinner and a movie is expensive now, with a $60+ dinner bill...and neither of us have alcohol and then $16 for movie tix.

"A Mighty Wind" was absolutely hilarious. Definitely a movie that would be worth owning...and we aren't even movie buyers. Aside from the requisite Disney movies we buy for the kids and a few Alton Brown "Good Eats" videos, the only adult movie we own is "The Scarlet Pimpernel".

"Wind" is about 3 folk groups that are brought together for a reunion concert in honor of a dead promoter.  If you were ever a fan of folk music, as my mom and I always were, this movie will bring you to nirvana as it reminisces about those kinds of performers and provides ample opportunity for the moviegoer to enjoy that special kind of sound again.  I just know my mom is going go home after this movie and pull out her old "Smothers Brothers",  "New Christy Minstrels", and "Peter, Paul and Mary" albums and play them turned up loud!

Twins 22-18  Braves 28-13

So...it took KC 14 innings to beat the Twins last night. Huh.

Comments from yesterday:

Julia writes about the two half days we have of school next week-2 half days? Moline goes to school for 1 hour on the first and last day of school. How stoopid is that? (Julia and I spell stupid that way when something seems REALLY stupid...and we usually say 'that was really stoooopid...s-t-o-o-p-i-d".)Kristen B says-In NY, the school districts got money for a full day if the kids were there until lunch. The last two days are worthless anyway, so they'd make 'em half days. They still got the dough, and they only had expenses for a half day.

I kind of doubt our county is doing half days to collect lunch money. The elementary kids dismiss at 10:30 and the middle school kids go at 11:30.  I still don't have an answer to this question.

Mensa boy and I, and Cassie and spouse Randy are all going to see "A Mighty Wind" tonight, after a meal out.  I'm glad my mom released us from an obligation to see it with her in June.  She was worried it might not be around that long, and I'm thinking she's right. As it is, it's already not available at one of the two theatres we frequent.

I'm about half-way done with The Hidden Life of Otto Frank by Carol Ann Lee. Otto Frank was the father of Anne Frank.  It's not a bad book, but the title kind of leads one to think there might be some explosive revelations about him. There aren't really any.

Book Opinions

Twins 22-17  Braves 27-13

Comments from yesterday:

Kristen B says, in response to my mentioning I have several "Marys" in my life,

I guess, "There's Something About Mary." Sorry, couldn't resist.

I'd still put in a vote for the Edmund Morris Roosevelt books. If you could find "The Rise of Theo. Roosevelt" on tape, that would be better than Theo. Rex. The former talks about his youth, early politics and Rough Rider days. Both are very interesting in light of the world situation. It's not bad for something written by a Mensa Boy kinda guy.

Any Lil weighed in with an audiobook suggestion:

my friend Char who drove out to Arizona by herself last year took along John Adams and she said it was great. It was the unabridged version. I was with her when she bought it and it was quite a large box, maybe enough listening for the round trip.
Yes, I'd been thinking of the John Adams book. I got it out of the library right when it came out, but was unable to really get into it before it was due again. Since there were 480+ requests for it, I didn't re-request. Keep those audiobook suggestions coming!
Only 4 more school days left. Oddly, the last two days of school are half days. Whyzat? I don't understand why they'd want to trot out those big, expensive buses for two days for only half days of school? Why not just make Tuesday a whole day and be done with it?  I think I'll write to the Lancaster News and ask.

Mary Mary MARY!!!

Twins 21-17  Braves 27-12

Yesterday I went to the farm to help prepare the shareholder's boxes of food.  Sammy also supplies a few restaurants on Tuesdays, so we mixed enough mesclun salad mix for 25 shareholders to get 1 1/2 lbs each and three restaurants got 4 lbs each.  We also got some baby bok choi and some cute little baby turnips, along with more of the stuff we got last week.

Sammy has some very nice kids, and three of them were helping yesterday.  One of them said their favorite meal is a concoction of baby bok choi and beef over rice.  I'm going to do some serious googling to find a recipe similar to that. I've emailed Melinda, but I think with 7 kids and one of the way and a farm to run, she's probably busy enough...

I also met our newest Mary yesterday. Actually she's Mary Jean. Not just Mary.  So I've got Mary R, Mary P and Mary Jean all living right around me. Then I've got Mary M from mensa boy's work and my mother Mary...and of course my old high school/college buddy Mary F. I'm surrounded by Marys!

I finished Devil in the White City last night.  Now I need to get back to The Hidden Life of Otto Frank. It's due this Friday.  If anyone wants to suggest books on tape for mensa boy and me to listen to on our drive back to Minnesota, send them along.  Remember he doesn't care for fiction or gore. I find history is a good topic.  That's what brought us together in college.

Reviewing them All

Twins 20-17  Braves 26-12

Last night Nate's Boy Scout Troup, had its Court of Honor. Nate received his Tenderfoot Badge and First Aid Merit Badge. Nate is a year behind his normal age group, because he sat out of Cub Scouts during the Webelos 2nd year with his troup in Minneapolis.  This actually worked out just fine for him, as this troup put him in a patrol with a bunch of 6th graders. There is only one other 7th grader, who is also in his patrol. If he'd not sat out 2nd year Webelos, he would have been put in a patrol with the 8th graders and so would have been the youngest in his patrol.  I kind of think Nate wouldn't do "youngest" very well.

I'm almost done reading Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson.  The absolute only regret I have about reading this book is now it will not be a good candidate to listen to on tape on the way back to Minnesota, since I've read it now. I really think Bob would have enjoyed it. 

"Devil" is, of course, about the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.  The book centers around two men...the architect who headed the planning commission for the fair, and the serial-killer-doctor who built his own hotel and took only young, impressionable women as boarders.  His hotel was complete with a dissection table, gas chamber and 3,000 degree crematorium. 

A fascinating book...you do have to plow through a lot of semi-dull planning the fair kind of stuff. But once the fair opens, the book rips right along. And you really learn quite a bit about the new stuff that was introduced during the fair, like spray paint, etc.

And now a movie review.  I don't care who you are...how old or young...you have got to see the movie Holes. Based on a Newberry award-winning book, this story is about a youth prison camp where the inmates have to dig a 5 foot deep, 5 foot diameter hole each day in search of buried treasure. This is live action, not animated.  Sigourney Weaver plays the prison warden. We don't see a lot of her, but JON VOIGHT is absolutely hilarious as the head prison guard.  He plays a fantastic Texas "Good Ole Boy". 

And finally, how about a CD review?  As most of you know, we get a lot of free CDs through Bob's job.  They are usually advance copies of CDs that publicists send him in hopes he will ask the artist to write an article or something. 

Sometimes I don't see the CDs for a while. He might bring one home and give it straight to the boys, or he might keep it in his car, etc.  So yesterday I was rooting around in the car for a new CD to listen to and found Chris Rice's new CD "Run the Earth Watch the Sky".  Good one!  Especially the 4th cut, entitled "Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)".  This song is about the Christian journey, from pre-conversion, through conversion, through learning times, through hard times, to death.  The chorus is:

"Come to Jesus, come to Jesus, come to Jesus and live".

But through each step(each verse) of the journey, he changes the chorus to "Sing to Jesus", "Fall on Jesus", "Cry to Jesus", "Dance for Jesus", "Fly to Jesus".  Excellent song, excellent CD.

That's it! Time to work!

Some Days You Just Need a Little More Rest

Twins 20-16  Braves 25-12

I guess I made a TV viewing mistake last night.  Cassie called me to tell me the Twins would be on TV. At the same time as "Survivor" and "American Dreams".

I elected to tape "Dreams" and watch my least favorite person win "Survivor". And this morning I see the Twins game had a bit of drama, as the Sox turned a 9-1 deficit into a 9-8 deficit in the last 4 innings.  But our dear Twins hung on.

Poor Taylor had a bit of a rough start this morning. I got him up and put some french toast sticks in the toaster oven for him as he did his bathroom duties.  But I didn't know that he was actually NOT doing his bathroom duties. He actually went in there, lay in the rug and fell fast asleep!  I keep verbally prodding him and he wasn't responding. Finally I checked on him and found him asleep with the bus due in 10 minutes.

He got himself together, ate his breakfast, got his shoes tied and was at the door with the bus coming up the street when he started clouding up and crying. I asked what was wrong and he said "I'm sooo thirrrssteeeee".  I told the bus to go on and then gave him some orange juice and had him lay down for half an hour before driving him to school.

Some days, you just need a little more rest.

Single and Looking (to not get shot)

Oferpetesake!
In today's newspaper there's an AP story about mothers in the military. Phyllis Schlafly, president of the Eagle Forum, wrote a commentary recently entitled " Does the Military Have the Nerve to Celebrate Mother's Day?" She apparently contends that the women caught in the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq, did not volunteer for the Army with the ambition of serving in combat! She refers to single mothers Lori Piestawa(killed) and Shoshana Johnson(injured). Schlafly says the men in our government need to stand up to feminists and keep single mothers from serving in combat.
Gimme a break! These women, and men, knew what they were getting into when they joined up. They all knew that year after year of peacetime could suddenly end with war.
And just exclude single mothers? What about single fathers? There are plenty of them over there. As of September, there were about 24,000 single mothers on active duty and 65,000 single fathers.

Calm

Twins 19-15 Braves 23-12
Well, today started a little more calmly than yesterday. My newspaper was in the box, there are no buses on Saturdays (ONLY 8 MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!! YAY!), no one had any computer problems...a nice peaceful Saturday so far.
But at 9:30 this morning two teenage boys come to stay for the day. So I'll be here with 4 boys. Not too bad, actually. They probably will each pick a corner and play gameboy. It's odd, really. Nate's friends come over and the house goes quiet, except for the little tinny sounds of multiple gameboys. Cassie and I have plans to take them to see the movie "HOLES" this afternoon.
I'll do some serious housework this morning and then settle in with my book, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It's about an architect and a serial killer and the World's Columbian Expo in Chicago in 1893. True story. I'll give you a review when I'm done with it.

Diamond and Stones

Twins 18-15 Braves 23-11
"Some days are diamonds, some days are stoneSome time the hard times won’t leave me alone"
It's 8:04 am and my day has already gone thusly:
"Taylor, the bus is coming. Taylor? uh...never mind...the bus just blew by our neighborhood. Didn't even pull in. Here, I'll drive you to school."

" Yeah, say, bus 4 didn't stop today. No, not just my house...the entire north side of our subdivision. Substitute? Yeah, must be...probably just as well. That bus was going so fast I'm not sure I wanted my kid on it anyway. No, don't send it back. I'll just drive him."
So I'm back from the school and send this, my first email of the day:
Observer-
My account number is ------------. My telephone number is -----------.
Please inform the carrier that I want my newspaper put into the newspaper box. If there is another paper in there, he can either force the Observer in on top of it, or throw it further up the driveway.
It is not acceptable to drop my paper in the street, in the gutter, or in the mud underneath the box. Neither is it acceptable to leave it at the very end of the driveway, where mud runs down from the lot under construction next door.
Driving around our neighborhood, I see newspapers riddled all over in gutters and on wet grass directly underneath paper boxes. I seriously doubt they all have Lancaster News papers in their paper boxes. Besides, that paper comes out only 3 times a week and I've been finding my paper in the gutter every day for the last couple of weeks or so.

And while I'm complaining, please do not draw money from my account on a monthly basis. Little debits for $10 a month are bothersome. Bill me or debit me quarterly and send me a statement that shows the dates the funds will cover. I have requested credits for undelivered newspapers and have no documentation that I've received credit.

And finally, while we are on the subject of credits. I think I should receive credit for today's newspaper. It was in a plastic bag, dropped in the muddy spot under my newspaper box (where mud accumulates because the lot next door has no grass yet) and the plastic bag was not closed or even folded under. The outside section, ironically the York & SC section, is totally wet through and through.

Thank you



Nate: "Mom? What's up with the bus? It just blew by our neighborhood and didn't even pull in. Mom?"
"Some days are diamonds, some days are stoneSome time the hard times won’t leave me alone"

What's in a Name?

Twins 17-15 Braves 21-11
Well the 3 finalists for names for the new Charlotte NBA team have been announced. There is no apparent attempt to make it seem like a STATE team. All would be for a CHARLOTTE team. That seems interesting to me. In Minnesota all the professional teams are the "Minnesota somethings...". Only the semi-pros and below are named for a town...like the St. Paul Saints or the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. Seems like in Minnesota there is always an attempt to make Pro teams appeal to "Greater Minnesota".
But I digress. As usual. The three choices are:
Charlotte Flight ("first in flight", Wright brothers...get it?)
Charlotte Bobcats (Are there a lot of Bobcats around here?)
Charlotte Dragons (totally beats me. Seems like there would likely be a few bobcats around, but Dragons?)
Either way it goes, I hope whatever they choose for a name will work well in some other part of the country as well. Charlotte so very recently drove away the Hornets, and I really see no compelling reason why this team will stay any longer. When we were visiting here in June 2002 they were still seeking approval for a new NBA team. The compelling reason we kept hearing for why a different team would survive here was related to the location of the stadium. "Oh, those Hornets couldn't make it here because the stadium was in the wrong place". Hmmm. The new stadium, I'm given to understand, will be in the downtown area. I've been in the downtown area in the evening. Sidewalks all nicely rolled up...
I asked Kristen, a frequent contributor of comments, what she thought about the new name choices. She writes:
"The Flight" ...sounds about as obtuse as "The Wild," but not as shamelessly commercial as "The Mighty Ducks." That one is just too much. What ever happened to naming teams after something that everyone is at least somewhat afraid of? The Timberwolves, Da Bulls, Da Bears, The Vikings... I know that the Yankees engender more disgust than fear, and no one in Buffalo is actually sure what a Bill is, unless it's in a mailbox, but why can't we have real names and mascots anymore. What kind of mascot would "The Flight" have? A big glider? Could we at least use the name of an animal? Maybe that would upset PETA too much.
Kristen didn't know about the "Bobcat" and "Dragon" choices. She's been out of town for several days. But reading her comments, I'm thinking maybe she'd vote for the dragons. It's a scary animal-type thing, but not real, so could PETA get that upset? I'm sure they'd figure out how.
At the risk of going on too much on this topic, I'd like to point you to an article in the Columbia State Newspaper about this. On Sunday, the article was largely about the extensive, expensive, process of choosing a name...like $10,000 worth of research. And the speculation:
"Some suggested a nickname that would tie in with the local Revolutionary War history, like Militia. Some suggested a nickname that would tie in with North Carolina being the home of the Wright Brothers, like Aviators.
Some suggested a nickname that would tie in with the cat family established by the local NFL team, like Bobcats.
Some even suggested a nickname that would blast the owners of the city's first NBA team.
The Shinn-kickers?
Probably not."
Have a good day. It finally stopped raining. For now.

Our Practice

Twins 15-15 Braves 20-11
Comments from yesterday: Lil mentioned that the Star Tribune had information that last night's episode of The Practice was to be the series finale. I watched the last half of it. Seemed final to me. Good. She mentioned a show she likes called Everwood. I'd never heard of it. She describes it like this: Everwood is about a very successful neurosurgeon from NY who leaves the big apple after his wife dies and moves to Everwood, CO to see if he can put his life back together. Son is a talented pianist---quit playing after his mother dies, but is finally getting back into it. While in NY. his dad was too busy saving other people's lives to get to his recitals etc. He opens up a clinic in Everwood and doesn't charge. There is another Dr. in town who has a daughter that Ephraim, the pianist son is interested in and she is interested in Ephraim also, but she feels responsible to support her boyfriend who was in an accident and was saved by the neurosurgeon. Have to watch it to get into it. It's on the same channel as 7th Heaven.
Yesterday I had a brief conversation with a fellow church member who expressed concern that the church might not be big enough or have enough programs to hold onto our family, or to attract new families. Our church has about 90-100 regular attenders. We came from a big inner city church in Minneapolis.
The comment took me by surprise. It has never occurred to me that our church seems too small. It's home to us. We joined and pledged to support it with our prayers, our presence, our gifts and our service. Kind of reminds me of the wedding vows we took 20+ years ago. We made neither pledge lightly.
We joined our local church because it seemed like a place where we could learn and teach. We could support and be supported. Just as we stick together in sickness and health, we'll stick with our church during times of stress and growth.
Our little church is right on the crossroads of change. We have a huge development going up right down the road and lots of longtime residents who feel disenfranchised and shut out by the new changes. We will have many hard decisions to make in the future as we strive to be available to our newly-diverse community while still maintaining our identity as a people of Christ.
Church change is not really new to us. We helped to plant a brand new church in Eagan, MN in the early 80s. In the 90s we changed to a church in our neighborhood in Minneapolis. We only made that change because we had a new baby and wanted him to grow up in a church in the neighborhood. Our new church then was right on the brink of change. Much the same type of change as we have going on here. In Minneapolis, Minnehaha was getting older and not getting many new, young families. Mensa Boy and I were there just as we started making changes to programs and the building to accomodate young couples and kids. And programs were added later to reach out to the poverty-stricken in our community. Today Minnehaha is a growing, diverse church with an emphasis on inner-city outreach.
Are MB and I movers and shakers? By no means! Did we even have much to do with the changes in last church? No. We were busy with 2 young children. We didn't even like some of the changes. In some cases we were wrong about the viability of some of the ideas for change.
But we stayed. That was our family. We learned with them and grew with them. We found little spots where we could make a difference and where we could grow. It's not about the service times. It's not about the building. It's about the people and sincerity and desire to serve God.
We'll do the same at our little church down the road. We're here to stay. They are our family.

Twins 15-15 Braves 20-11
I took the weekend off from journaling (journalling?). My friend Lois A was here for the weekend. She and her husband are from Iowa and Texas. They live in Texas most of the year and then come back to Iowa for the summer. She is on a month-long tour of the Eastern US and part of Canada. She arrived here on the Amtrak Thursday night and I took her back to the station Sunday morning. I guess I already mentioned on Friday that she gave me a bunch of piano lessons. She's gone now and I'm still not playing any ragtime, but she did leave me a book and I'm going to dabble in it while I work through John Thompson's Second Grade piano book.
Comments came in over the weekend:
From Julie A-D: John and I watch American Dream every week. It is a really great show. We are Practice watchers too. I think Lindsey is whacky. At least thy are making her seem that way. We didn't watch that last week either. We were hooked on Boston Public for a while. Now that has turned into a show where every episode has to be about sex. Yes, that does seem to be something we can come to expect about every show these days. I'm going to be very sad when CSI does that.
From faithful Julia (of the sister variety): I know what Cassie and Peggy mean about 24, but there are only 3 hours left!!! I did enjoy doing the first season as a marathon, but I love watching it every week and live for previews for next week. It's the best show on tv. She also wrote later to mention that Jessie is starting on some ragtime too.
And now to the random part of my blog. Today will be totally random thoughts.
1. For the record, contrary to my son's belief, I DO NOT eat 3 snacks each day. He throws this up to me whenever I tell him he can't have a snack. I couldn't figure out where he got this notion, since I rarely snack in front of him anyway. Then I realized that he may have arrived at this conclusion because I'm home all day. I think he figures if one is home, then one gets a 10 am snack, a 3 pm snack and a "midnight" (bedtime) snack, just like he did when he was home all day. I will admit, however, that Saturday evening I had a Krispy Kreme donut for supper and Edy's Grand Ice Cream for dessert. I have no excuses for that.
2. Mensa Boy called Saturday morning to ask if he is still the nicest person I've ever met. Our "brothers" Doug and Lis introduced him to a guy from "Discipleship Journal" by saying something along the lines of "he's so nice his wife told us he was the nicest person she'd ever met after they'd been married 12 years". I told MB yes, that even though it's been almost 21 years now, he still is the nicest person I've ever met. I'd have to say Tony might be in there too, but I might think that because Tony reminds me so much of MB.
3. My brother-in-law Jim is a pastor in New Sweden, Maine. I talked to my sister-in-law Anne on Saturday morning and they are doing everything they can to support the Lutherans during this terrible time with the arsenic poisoning and shooting and all. They are staying away from TV cameras as much as they can.
4. Seen on the back window of a car parked in the grocery store parking lot on Saturday: "What if the hokey pokey really IS what it's all about?"
5. Click and Clack, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, writers of the Car Talk column and radio show on NPR, point out that gasoline is NOT actually over-priced. In fact, it's quite UNDER-PRICED. Last weekend they compared the price of gasoline per gallon to the price of Nyquil, bottled water, milk and other items per gallon. I felt rich after hearing that!
6. The best way to survive NPR's "Guilt Week" is to pledge on the first day.

Visit From a Friend

Dear Julia,
Today is Friday, May 2. I didn't post right away this morning because my computer didn't come on. Turns out my new APC Backups is dead. They are going to send me a new one. This is kind of scary because we have power failures here every once in a while from the construction. Sometimes the power will go off just for a few minutes and then other times it can be an hour or more.
Lois A is here. She's taught me all but the last song in the beginner piano book she brought. She swears I'll be able to play some basic ragtime before she leaves on Sunday morning. HA! I've always said just teach me enough piano to be able to play ragtime...
We're going out for lunch now. She wants to try the Indian place Mom and Dad and I went to a couple weeks ago.

Practice Jumping the Shark

Twins 12-14 Braves 17-10
I think the TV show "The Practice" has really Jumped The Shark now. Actually...last week.
"Jumping the Shark" is when a TV show has reached it's peak. It's all downhill from there. You've enjoyed it all along, maybe there were some episodes that were a little questionable, but for the most part you keep watching.
But then the show makes a change and it never seems the same again. Maybe they kill off a favorite character, like Jimmy Schmits on "NYPD Blue", or add a new person, like Shemp on "The Three Stooges". Remember when they added Cousin Oliver to "The Brady Bunch"?
"The Practice", I think, took a 3 step approach to jumping the shark. First, the shark started thinking about going up to see what the world was like when they moved the show from Sunday night to Monday night. Then, they broke up the partnership of Lindsay and Bobby. She moved across the hall and started up on her own. That was the shark taking the leap.
But I think the shark hit the top of his leap into the air last week when Bobby slept with the old girlfriend. That episode actually wasn't too bad until the very last camera shot, showing him in bed with her. Up to that point we had a serial killer killing another serial killer and Lindsay forsaking attorney-client privilege to save a life. Not bad.
But I'm done. Didn't even turn it on this week.
I only have 5 shows left to watch now. "American Dreams", which I'm afraid is doomed because it's just too good and I don't know anyone else who is watching it...like "Homefront" was. I'm still watching "West Wing", "Survivor", "CSI" (not the Miami one) and "Without A Trace".
Bad thing is, when there are so few that I watch, I am able to keep up with them all winter. So this summer I won't be catching any other shows on reruns.
Cassie and Peggy are considering dropping "24" because they can't take it anymore. They said they end up every episode with big headaches because each episode ends in a big cliffhanger. My advice to them is: wait until it comes out on DVD. Then just have a big marathon.

Gone to Carolina Archive: My New Farm

Twins 10-14 Braves 15-10
Comments from yesterday: My Dad wrote in to say he's working on tearing down his old garden shed so he can erect a new one. Wanted me to pass on to Nate that "No, he is not putting a bathroom in it". He also is lamenting the absence of chocolate marshmallow anythings.
I did buy a box of Malomars yesterday. The Bob the Builders were good and whetted my appetite for more. I figure each day I ride my bike on my new 5-mile route, I will reward myself with 2 Malomars.
Julia wrote in to say that Michael, the middle nephew shown below, looks strikingly similar to Mensa Boy when he was younger and had his hair permed or longer. She thinks she has a photo of MB looking like that. She's digging around for it. If either of us find it, I'll post it. She also reported that her dinner of Halibut stuffed with brie, crab and apples and cooked on cedar planks was a wild success at Jeff's birthday party. The kids had hot dogs, and the adults entertained themselves by watching Jacob peeling the skin off his hot dogs. Yes, our family really knows how to have a good time!
I went to meet my new farmer last night. Many of you know that I was a shareholder for several years with Big Woods Farm in Northfield, MN. I was also their webmaster. Big Woods Farm, and my new farm, New Town Farm, are part of the CSA movement. CSA=Community Supported Agriculture. Essentially, each spring I fork over about $500 and then all through the growing season I receive weekly baskets of organically-grown vegetables. My money is really stretching far with this new farm, as the growing season goes from May 1 to Thanksgiving. In Minnesota it went essentially from June 1 to Labor Day.
Big Woods Farm is all shareholders, no farmers market work or extra stuff like that. Dave and Laurie Hougen-Eitzman do a wonderful job supporting around 70 shares, with the assistance of an intern. Dave is a professor at Carlton College in Northfield. Their farm is next to Nerstrand State Park South of Northfield. They are surrounded by big farms that grow crops for commercial use.
New Town Farm is a totally different deal. Sammy Koenigsburg went to school to be an architect and then sort of fell into farming when his Dad wanted to divest himself of this piece of property in Union County, North Carolina. Sammy started by selling produce to a few small stores and then got involved with organizing the Matthews Farmers Market, was approached by some big chefs in Charlotte about growing stuff for them, and then the rest is history. New Town Farm has only about 20 shareholders. We essentially benefit from the stuff the restaurants want. They want high-faluting fingerling potatoes, so we'll get them too. They want watermelon radishes, so we'll get them too. They also raise some free-range chickens and a few turkeys and have dabbled in beekeeping. They have a lovely, resort-type setting with a stocked fish pond. Their farm is rapidly being surrounded by subdivisions.

Gone to Carolina Archive: "Blood Covenant" & "Leap of Faith"

Twins 10-14 Braves 15-10
A few days ago I finished reading Blood Covenant: The Michael Franzese Story. This is an autobiography. Franzese was a mob boss and now is a Christian and the founder of Breaking Out, LLC.
I'm a fan of "The Sopranos". I don't have HBO, but I've watched the first 3 seasons on DVD. This book reads like an episode of the Sopranos without the comedy. Franzese's self-portrait is one of a man who is gifted in business and pretty much ends up being involved with the mob because his father was and all his father's friends are associated with him. He makes it sound like he sort of fell into it. Franzese does not dodge responsibility for his involvement, but he doesn't really sound overly remorseful. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I think if he'd written the book too apologetically, it wouldn't have been as a good to read.
I'm working on Queen Noor's autobiography now. Called "Leap of Faith," the book is heavy with Jordanian history and the Arab side of the Palestinian/Israeli problem. If you are looking for a story about an American suddenly becoming Queen of Jordan, and want the story to sound like a fairy tale, this might not be the book for you. But if you are interested in reading about Middle East politics from an Arab viewpoint, this is an excellent book.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Everyone Else

Today's blog is all about everyone else...not us.
Here is a picture of the other our nephews, Jim & Anne's guys. Anne writes that They had these photos taken for their Canadian Citizenship Cards. So now they have official dual citizenship for life. See photo on old blog

I also have a picture of my cousin Wayne's new baby colt: Yup. Photo on old blog
Lila writes He was born Friday, April 25th. They haven't picked out a name yet. He's a registered Appaloosa. I can't wait to get over there to see him!
And my old high school and college friend, Mary F also sent some comments. She says her family just returned from a cruise to the Grand Caymons and Cozumel. Right after returning they traveled back to Farmington for celebrate Mary's Mother Marilyn's 75th birthday. Sister Cindy even came back from London to attend the open house. Happy Birthday Marilyn! Oh and for the record, Mary thinks perhaps there is a marshallow shortage...explaining the lack of chocolate covered ones. Good theory Mary, but apparently you don't remember ever eating my Mom's chocolate cake with homemade marshmallow frosting! Just karo syrup and some other stuff...
And finally, from "brother" Becky...
We are in the middle of prom week here in Litchfield and are starting to wear down. Can't believe that Stacy is as old as she is. She is pretty excited about the whole event and we know she will look like a fairy princess and are hoping she has a good time. Mike and the kids are all busy with golf. With Kayti now joining her older siblings it makes for fun golf talk around our table. It is so fun having a common interest with our kids. The next thing for us is the band season and the swim club season. Both of those are enough to keep our heads spinning. Mike keeps saying that we are at the pinnacle and we are trying to enjoy each moment.
You know Beck, that's a very healthy perspective to have about the kids. I should also use that thinking those days when Nate forgets to turn in his homework ....these are the best days of our lives!

Gone to Carolina Archive: MN Citizenship Test

Twins 9-12 Braves 13-9
Comments from yesterday: Julia is apparently using my blog to tell her what day it is. Yesterday she thought it was Friday and that I was late in my posting. Later in the day, when she checked my blog again and saw it still said Thursday, she realized she had another Friday to live! You go girl!
Diann S writes: Karen, this is great! I got the link from Karen P(There is a Karen P at Mensa Boy's office). You must have a lot of time on your hands :). It's nice to know you're still a "Minnesota Team" fan. It's kind of hard to get into the Twins, but I really think they'll pick up (as soon as they threaten to shut them down again, maybe). I'm really not much of a hockey fan, and I don't have to watch the games because my son runs into the room about every five minutes to let me in on what's happening. (I pretend to be interested--I've gotten pretty good at that over the years.) Keep up the good work; I'll be tuning in regularly. I miss all you guys! Say HI! to Bob. (Diann is a traitorous past coworker of Mensa Boy's who did NOT move with us...we love her dearly and hope she'll see the light soon)
And also from Julia, this test you can take to apply for Minnesota Citizenship:
Personal Information:Name: ___________________sonSex: _____ Ole _____ LenaHomeAddress_________________________________________________Cabin Address____________________________________________ Religion: _____ Lutheran ______ Catholic Income: _____We do OK _____We're Blessed _____ None of your beeswaxQualifications: (check all that apply)___ I own a gas powered ice auger.___ Fargo floods hit a little close to home.___ I can name a dozen celebrities who've stayed at the Mayo___ I've been trick or treating in two feet of snow.___ Paw is both a hand and the male parent.
Multiple Choice:It's time to wear a hat when.A) The temperature is below 10 degrees.B) Your mother tells you to!C) The temperature is -10 and the wind chill is in double digits.
Essay Questions:
1 . What "uff-da" means to me __________________________________2. What "oopsy daisy" means to me _____________________________You know you're from Minnesota when..... 1. Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor.2. "Vacation" means going to Brainerd for the weekend.3. You measure distance in hours.4. You know several people who have hit deer more than once.5. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.6. You use a down comforter in the summer.7. Your grandparents drive 65 mph through 13 feet of snow during ablizzard, without flinching.
9. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave bothdoors unlocked.10. You think of the major food groups as venison, walleye, and Leinenkugels.11. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriendknows how to use them.12. There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the grocerystore at any given time.13. You design your kids Halloween costume to fit over asnowsuit.14. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.15. You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and flannel p.j.'s.16. You know all four seasons; almost winter, winter, still winter androad construction.17. It takes you 3 hours to go to the store for one item even when you'rein a rush because you have to stop to talk to everyone in town.
Happy National DNA Day! Celebrating 50 years of the Double Helix!

Gone to Carolina Archive: Bob the Builder

Twins 9-11 Braves 12-9 Twins game was posponed due to rain yesterday. This is probably good. They needed to sit down and think, I think.
Bob the Builder
Can We Fix It?
Bob the Builder
Yes We Can!
My new favorite....Bob the Builder! I had a wonderful hour last night with chocolate-covered marshmallow Bob the Builders, courtesy of my friend Cassie. I was at choir practice, minding my own business, when in walks Cassie. She hands me a package of Bob the Builder chocolate covered Marshmallows! And West Wing was a new episode last night! Woo Hoo!
Comments from yesterday:
Lil said: Glad you mentioned the Wild and the Wolves this morning!!! The Twins are not doing so well at this point in the season. They lost to Kansas City 4-3. Gardenhire's comment, "Sometimes you lose to win." Check out the Startrib website and find the write up of the game. The article says, "Gardenhire surveyed the game, littered with so many non-productive moments and found a flower blooming in the muck" Check it out!!! As for chocolate marshmallow candy, I have no idea what they are since I am not a candy eater.
Now, I looked up that article. It definitely was a good one. See, the Twinks were down 4-1 going into the 9th of that game. Then they woke up and scored a couple of runs. Gardenhire said it reminded him of the Twins of last year. So with the rain postponement of last night...maybe????
Kristen said: I looked high and low for marshmallow eggs, one of my all-time favorites, and didn't find any. I like all of the eggs—peanut butter, coconut, caramel and marsh.—but had a hard time this year.
Last, I'm happy for my Yankees, but wish it didn't come at the expense of the Twins. I miss MN and had kind of adopted the underdog Twins. I just hope the Yanks pound Boston and Atlanta every chance they get. Then the Twins can take a whack at them, too!
Is anyone else tired of hearing about the Dixie Chicks?

Gone to Carolina Archive: Chreasters

Twins 9-11 Braves 11-9
How deeply satisfying to pick up the Charlotte Observer sports section today and see, in HUGE type, these words:
Timberwolves devour Lakers
hahahaha!
and then to see that The Wild has also done quite well...to advance to the semifinals.
However, I really need to find an source for chocolate marshmallow candy...the Twins are about to drive me around the bend!
Got a few comments yesterday, thank you. My friend Lil sent a newsy email about a couple of people from Chapel of Hope in Minneapolis...how they are doing. And she also said they had baked french toast at Minnehaha UMC for the Easter breakfast. No grits for them. In fact, no grits for us, either. We had pancakes, sausage and fruit. It was good, but I'm still waiting to have some of Harold Mc's famous grits. I guess they really rock.
And Tony wanted to know what a "Chreaster" is. He figured it out before I could answer him back. A Chreaster is a person who only seems to show up for church at Christmas and Easter. Southerners are too polite to use that term, I'm thinking.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Chocolate Marshmallow Eggs, Where are Ye?

Twins 9-10 Braves 10-9
Where have all the chocolate-covered marshmallow eggs gone? I don't mean the ones in my sons' Easter baskets. There were none in there. There were none in there because there were none in the stores.
They were my favorite as a kid. They were my favorite when my kids were smaller.
I think I'll need to make a Chocolate Marshmallow Pinwheel run this afternoon.

Gone to Carolina Archive: Easter Weekend Reflections

Twins 9-10 Braves 10-9
I've decided to leave the comments section off this blog. But, I will post any comments that come to me in an email, as long as they are appropriate for "family viewing". Kristen B suggested we leave the section on there and "we could all just ignore the idiots out there, just like we do everywhere else... " But hey, I've got nieces who read this, so....
Click on the little yellow envelope over to the left on this screen and send me a comment. The next morning I'll post it on the blog in purple with whatever name you put in there for yourself.
Someone named "Da Prince" mentioned the Old Market in Charleston in a comment the other day: "The Market actually started out as farmers market and city market... the Slave Markets were elsewhere... the remaining one, the Old Slave Mart Museum is closed now because of a lack of funds". Thanks Prince, whoever you are. You're a...well...a prince...for giving us that tidbit of info. Sad though, that whole lack of funds thing.
Mom and Dad left this morning. Boston Terror Mickey seemed anxious to go...dogs always know when your're leaving. He started pawing at the door as soon as he saw the luggage. Soya didn't really pay attention, but of course, once she saw a car door open she had to jump in, in hopes of getting a ride. Took a bit of coaxing to get her out. She's been looking for Grandpa all day now.
Yesterday, Easter Sunday, we had a nice, but a bit busy, day. Mensa Boy and I actually did go to the Sunrise service. It was just so nice being outside at 6:30 am on Easter Sunday morning, and it was 53 degrees. I thought I hadn't been to one since I was 15 and my fingers were freezing on the strings of my guitar. But later hubby reminded me of ones we used to go to at Advent UMC in Eagan, MN. Those were not outside, but we used to go to this cold cabin-type structure and light a fire in a fireplace, I think. You old-time Adventers will need to remind me...I can't seem to call up those memories too well.
Our choir's cantata went well, although we didn't get to hear Tony preach, except during the children's time. The church was packed, except for the front pew. Tony said that isn't all bad. It's a good reminder that there are always more possibilities for people to come to us. I'll step out on a limb here and give an opinion online about the Easter service. I think when you have all the "Chreasters" come to church you should trot out your best assets. And since I see Tony as one of ours, I think he should always preach on Sunday and Easter.
So there. Post your comments by clicking on the little yellow envelope...and let me know if you don't want your name mentioned.
One of the truly surprising things for me yesterday was how cool our cross looked. They wired it up with chicken wire and told everyone to bring cut flowers "from your garden or someone else's" and they would put them on this cross. It was absolutely the prettiest thing I've seen. After the service they carried it outside and it's still out there. I'll try to get a photo of it tomorrow and post it, if it's still out there. I think I was just so skeptical because I'm not used to seeing flowers out at Easter time.
Mary R came to church with us yesterday. Tony asked her how the bread and beer diet was going. I would just like to say in my defense that I did ask permission from her before writing about it.
We had Nanette and husband Jesse for dinner and then walked all the pooches afterward. Nannette and Jesse have two schnauzers, Josephine and Sophia. They are great fun to watch, as they walk Nannette everywhere and treat her a bit like a maypole, twisting themselves around her. I do think they are a bit annoyed that their kerchiefs are Valentines Day ones. It seems Jesse was too busy sewing backdrops for Nannette's concert this week to make them Easter kerchiefs...Memorial Day is coming, Jess. Better get out the machine again.
I think I'll quit here. I think I'll go crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head. The Twinks lost 15-1 to those Yankee people this afternoon.
Confidential to Valerie, c/o Heaven: No one here greeted us with "He Is Risen" on Sunday morning. But I think I heard you whisper it to me. And I reply: "He Is Risen Indeed. Just As He Said."

Gone to Carolina Archive: Easter Weekend Reflections

Twins 9-10 Braves 10-9
I've decided to leave the comments section off this blog. But, I will post any comments that come to me in an email, as long as they are appropriate for "family viewing". Kristen B suggested we leave the section on there and "we could all just ignore the idiots out there, just like we do everywhere else... " But hey, I've got nieces who read this, so....
Click on the little yellow envelope over to the left on this screen and send me a comment. The next morning I'll post it on the blog in purple with whatever name you put in there for yourself.
Someone named "Da Prince" mentioned the Old Market in Charleston in a comment the other day: "The Market actually started out as farmers market and city market... the Slave Markets were elsewhere... the remaining one, the Old Slave Mart Museum is closed now because of a lack of funds". Thanks Prince, whoever you are. You're a...well...a prince...for giving us that tidbit of info. Sad though, that whole lack of funds thing.
Mom and Dad left this morning. Boston Terror Mickey seemed anxious to go...dogs always know when your're leaving. He started pawing at the door as soon as he saw the luggage. Soya didn't really pay attention, but of course, once she saw a car door open she had to jump in, in hopes of getting a ride. Took a bit of coaxing to get her out. She's been looking for Grandpa all day now.
Yesterday, Easter Sunday, we had a nice, but a bit busy, day. Mensa Boy and I actually did go to the Sunrise service. It was just so nice being outside at 6:30 am on Easter Sunday morning, and it was 53 degrees. I thought I hadn't been to one since I was 15 and my fingers were freezing on the strings of my guitar. But later hubby reminded me of ones we used to go to at Advent UMC in Eagan, MN. Those were not outside, but we used to go to this cold cabin-type structure and light a fire in a fireplace, I think. You old-time Adventers will need to remind me...I can't seem to call up those memories too well.
Our choir's cantata went well, although we didn't get to hear Tony preach, except during the children's time. The church was packed, except for the front pew. Tony said that isn't all bad. It's a good reminder that there are always more possibilities for people to come to us. I'll step out on a limb here and give an opinion online about the Easter service. I think when you have all the "Chreasters" come to church you should trot out your best assets. And since I see Tony as one of ours, I think he should always preach on Sunday and Easter.
So there. Post your comments by clicking on the little yellow envelope...and let me know if you don't want your name mentioned.
One of the truly surprising things for me yesterday was how cool our cross looked. They wired it up with chicken wire and told everyone to bring cut flowers "from your garden or someone else's" and they would put them on this cross. It was absolutely the prettiest thing I've seen. After the service they carried it outside and it's still out there. I'll try to get a photo of it tomorrow and post it, if it's still out there. I think I was just so skeptical because I'm not used to seeing flowers out at Easter time.
Mary R came to church with us yesterday. Tony asked her how the bread and beer diet was going. I would just like to say in my defense that I did ask permission from her before writing about it.
We had Nanette and husband Jesse for dinner and then walked all the pooches afterward. Nannette and Jesse have two schnauzers, Josephine and Sophia. They are great fun to watch, as they walk Nannette everywhere and treat her a bit like a maypole, twisting themselves around her. I do think they are a bit annoyed that their kerchiefs are Valentines Day ones. It seems Jesse was too busy sewing backdrops for Nannette's concert this week to make them Easter kerchiefs...Memorial Day is coming, Jess. Better get out the machine again.
I think I'll quit here. I think I'll go crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head. The Twinks lost 15-1 to those Yankee people this afternoon.
Confidential to Valerie, c/o Heaven: No one here greeted us with "He Is Risen" on Sunday morning. But I think I heard you whisper it to me. And I reply: "He Is Risen Indeed. Just As He Said."