I'm Tired of Homework

I hate math homework!!

Not mine but El's.

They had 2 lessons of 30 problems each to do tonight. Not make up work either, but 2 lessons assigned for tonight. El started at 5:30 when we got home, took a 30 minute dinner break at 7 and finished about 10:20. Math is not her strong suit, so it's a struggle for almost every concept.

There will be another 30 problems tomorrow night even though we have church, and another 30 on Thursday when they have an away middle school football game.

I live for the weekend when there is no homework.

How Did I Miss That?

I'm paying invoices for our building under construction and there's one for fill dirt.

That's not unusual.

What IS unusual is the "Shipping Method" listed on the invoice:

Airborne

It must have come on a Thursday, because I missed seeing the several loads of dirt arrive by ... what?

Flying dumptrucks...

Simply released from a plane, like crop-dusting....

Or dropped in large bundles from a cargo sized helicopter...

What are some other options I've missed?

Girl Stuff

I seem to be slacking in the posting department. I've had ideas, just no time.

Here are some of the subjects that have come to mind:

1. My eldest has been recruited by an intramural Ultimate Frisbee team. She had her first game yesterday. She was instructed in the rules on the way to the game. She had a good time playing with her friends, and that's the whole point of intramural sports, right?

2. Em is running for freshman homecoming maid. I am stunned. Having been a band geek since 1972, I have always held a certain disdain for that sort of thing. But the more I think about it, the more it grows on me. I would love to see Mr. H escorting her across the field while the band plays on...

and on...

and on.......

3. El is growing like a weed... literally.

We keep track of the girls' heights on the inside of the folding doors to the utility closet. It's in a narrow hallway, so it was difficult to get far enough back to get a legible picture. I wrote in the dates using Picnik. From February to May, she grew almost an inch. From May to August, 5/8 of an inch. From August 8 to September 12, just a few days more than a month, the child grew almost an inch and a half. That's almost 3 inches in 7 months. No wonder all her jeans were too short!

4. We have good friends that we like to hang out with. Recently, a bunch of us from church attended a Baybears game. I think every girl there had blue cotton candy!

Something tells me that El and Bree didn't let Dee-Dee have very much. She's not very blue!

Creation and The Word

I've been meaning to write this out for over a week now.

The first Sunday in September, our Sunday School lesson was on the 19th Psalm. That's the one that ends with ..."May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."












The beginning of the psalm shows how creation itself points to God the Creator... "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

The rest of it is about the Word of God bringing us intimate knowledge of and a relationship with that Creator..."The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes."

I had a light bulb moment as I was sitting in my class: I am a part of creation. I can live my life in a way that points to God, but unless I open my mouth and actually introduce Him into the conversation of my life, no one will see that relationship. No one will be revived, no one will hear His wisdom, no one's heart will get that joy. They will still be blind.

It's another piece of the puzzle, those pieces that fit together to give us the big picture.

NOT!!!!

Apparently the temporary "fix" on our phone and internet service was NOT: not temporary, not a fix, and not for us!

We haven't gotten internet service for the past few days and I noticed that there was a loud static-y buzz on the phone line. I called this morning to report it. Amazingly enough, after the first few questions with the voice recognition program, I was connected with a real live person. When I explained the problem with the temporary fix, she informed me that no one had been sent out! I made the first call on the 30th of August. This is the 11th of September. And what is all that stuff (still) attached to the utility pole?

She said that they may have been establishing service for one of my neighbors and they would be sending someone out today. I must say, it's about time.

To Caff or Not to Caff?

For as long as I can remember, this is the kind of tea we have had at our house:I think it goes back before the eldest was born, when we lived in Virginia. If I drank tea at a friend's house after 5 p.m., I couldn't sleep that night. So I've just always made the decaf version.

Yesterday, when I looked in the tea cabinet, this is what I found:
Since it was all I had (apart from the flavored variety, which could be called "fru-fru" tea, I suppose) I made the tea from the red box. Actually, I started the process and El finished it. Later that evening, Em fixed herself a glass, took a sip, and asked, "What kind of tea is this?" I didn't know that they'd be able to tell the difference from one sip.

Of course, with El doing the final preparation, it did have a bit more sugar than I usually add!

Coffee Yogurt Review

email exchange between Mr. H and myself

Mr. H: Cof.fee yo.gurt (kof`e yo`gert) n. 1. A thick, semi-solid food made to taste disgusting; 2. yucky

Me: How can something so good be turned into flavoring so bad? I can't stand the coffee jelly beans in the jar on my desk.

Mr. H: I think it’s because there are a lot of faux coffee drinkers out there. To them coffee has become just another flavoring to be combined with sugar and other things. It’s sort of like idolatry in that it usurps the King for his rightful place in the cup.

I’m eating it anyway as aversion therapy. I want to reinforce in my mind the disgustingness so I won’t make that mistake again.

Me: You just ain't right!

This format has been shamelessly copied from Stacey, who is an inspiration to me.

Connected!

It's amazing how cut off from the world you can feel when you have no phone service and no internet service. It was nice that we had cell phones so that we could still arrange pick-ups from band practices and ball games...mostly by text, though, because our cell phones tend to drop voice calls at the house.

Last Sunday we lost our phone and internet connection due, I think, to a storm. I called to report the problem. Usually, they give you a time-frame a day or 2 out. The date of completion I was given was 9 days away!! We actually got our service back in 5 days, but I suspect the fix is not a permanent one.

The phone box out by the road has a line coming out the bottom which is tie-wrapped to the utility pole about 18 inches behind it. That line runs straight up the pole, then turns right several feet below the rest of the lines. (it's the one that looks like a dashed line at the bottom of the right triangle formed by the pole and the guy wire.)

That line runs across the road to another utility pole and then disappears down the road at the corner. (it's the lowest white line you can see in the picture below.)

I'm sure it will be replaced by something more permanent sometime in the near future.

Other happenings at the homestead:

We picked up a hitchhiker from the church on Friday afternoon. I suppose he could have come from the school, though, because I did park under a small tree. We didn't notice him until it started sprinkling and I turned on the windshield wipers. At first El, who was riding in the front, thought it was a leaf caught on the wipers. They were set on a slow intermittent setting, so she could look a bit more closely. After 2 speedy trips across the glass, we determined that it was a tiny lizard. We feared the worst, but after turning off the wipers, we could tell that he was riding on top of the blade and wasn't pinned under it.

Can you imagine what it was like for this little guy, zipping across the windshield and back every time the wipers moved!! What a ride!

You can see him just above the dash, below the pin that attaches the blade to the wiper arm. He looks rather like a diagonal blur.

When we stopped to get the mail at the house, Em volunteered to help him off the car and into a safer place.
The last we saw of him, he was catching his breath on the mailbox post, reflecting on his adventure.