Owner: Writer-Mom URL:http://writer-mom.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 09:58:02 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: "Random daily surprises in all colors shapes and sizes."
A grab bag of my thoughts, life with four little boys, on being a pastor's wife, on Christianity, on music, on writing and books. You really never know what you are going to get. Site statistics:Click here
Go over and congratulate Ree if you haven't already! 2007-03-12 21:49:00 She won the Bloggie award for the BEST KEPT SECRET!!! There, I just shouted it so it's no longer a kept secret (as if it ever was!) HA! I'm so happy for her. She totally deserves it. Next year I'm hoping she wins Best Over all Blog, not to be confused with over-alls blog which would mean that she lived on a farm and not a ranch... and we know from the movie Oklahoma! that the farmer and the cowman should be friends but we don't want to go insulting the cowman and his wife by suggesting that she has an over-alls blog. I imagine it would be a good deal less interesting than what she's got going on. Though I'm sure farm life, over-alls included, is full of thrills all its own.Go over and visit Ree and give her a congratulatory slap on the blog. I'm sure she will follow up all the comments with a very modest, "They like me! They really like me!! I never meant for this to happen and I don't understand why you sadistic people like me so much..." but inside I think she knows
I just love these name generators... 2007-03-14 21:51:00 My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother/Sister Immaculate Taser of Unassuming Hope. What's yours?Nan
BEHOLD!!! My new refrigerator! 2007-03-14 16:18:00 Yes, folks. That's right. You are looking at the modern day refrigerator. At least in my home it serves partly as a refrigerator. You see, we somehow joined the ranks of stainless steel appliance snobs when we moved into our new home that came fully equipped, including all the appliances. Besides the fact that they get awfully messy looking much faster than traditional white or almond or harvest gold or split pea green appliances, I really do like the look of them.However, they have one serious downfall. One fatal flaw. One reason that I and my children hate them. Magnets do not work on them. This does save the refrigerator from becoming a vertical filing cabinet and it does guard against the purchasing of magnets at every state or big city we ever visit.But it also keeps us from displaying any art work or school work done by my little cherubic faced children. It cannot hold and display for all who enter that I am proud of my children and their accomplishments. We can never
New stuff in my sidebar 2007-03-14 05:07:00 I just thought I'd point out that I've added several things to my sidebar recently. Among them, a link to my new recipe blog, Recipe Czar. The recipes I put on there are from several sources; friends, family, internet finds, my own brain... just a collection of the things I had saved in my recipe folder in my documents. I would give credit to all the people who made them up or gave them to me but I honestly can't remember! It just seemed like a nice way to store my favorite recipes and share them as well!Nan Read more:stuff
Happy Birthday Rich... 2007-03-16 02:41:00 I'm confident that you're having a good birthday this year.March 15, 1980 - October 17, 2006My eulogyThe dangers of huffingNan Read more:Happy
, Birthday
, Happy Birthday
The most evil brownies on the face of the planet 2007-03-15 19:17:00 Is anyone other than Ree, the Pioneer Woman herself, allowed to make such bold claims? I can't, unfortunately, claim that this is an old family recipe or that I made it up or something that I've made for drooling crowds of chocolate fanatics who all proclaim me a goddess or a better cook than their mother but it is a discovery that I must share. I cannot keep such wonderment to myself.Last night my friend Karen came over while our husbands went with some other guys to take in a bit of blood and guts and gore in the way of a film. We decided to forego an evening of slaughter and disembodied entrails, opting instead to stay at home and stir up something probably equally as evil and disruptive to the digestive system but much less likely to make for a good feature film: The World's Most Evil Brownies on the Face of the Planet! (Say this as if you are plotting to take over the world... it's much more fun to bake when you think of it on a cataclysmic scale.)My baking buddy, Karen, Read more:brownies
, planet
If you are a homeschooler... 2007-03-16 05:25:00 Please go and visit a new multi-contributor blog that I set up, called The Well Drained Mind. If you would like to contribute, please feel free to e-mail me and "apply" and if you wouldn't mind, please post a link to it in your own blog to get the word out. It would be great to get a huge list of contributors going!Technorati Tags:homeschooling, home school, homeschooler
s, home schoolers, home educationNan
On the issue of exercise and personal goals... 2007-03-18 23:42:00 For some people some things just come naturally. For example, I write for pleasure whether or not I am recognized for it (folders full of poetry that I've written over the years attest to this), whether or not I ever get paid for it (the lack of royalty checks arriving in my mailbox proves this), and whether or not anyone ever reads it (boxes full of journals throughout the years proves this!) I also enjoy fiddling with and teaching myself new skills on the computer.Some people quilt because it is a form of relaxation to them. Some scrapbook. Some people truly enjoy and find it relaxing to iron so they iron obsessively. They iron their husband's underwear and t-shirts when they have ironed everything else in sight. Many of us look at these people with such amazing talent or apparent drive and we think, "I wish I had what it took to do that sort of thing!" or, "I wish I was that driven!" But in many cases these folks aren't really "driven," they are merely doing what brings the Read more:issue
My first kiss was with a gansta... at church. 2007-03-20 05:19:00 I was 15. I was afraid that somehow I had been left in the dust, by all my friends, with regards to boyfriends even though in reality few of my friends had had "serious" boyfriends up until this point either. The church youth group (oh, all manner of evils take place in connection with youth groups!) took a winter trip to a camp in the beautiful Sierra Nevadas of California.Little did I know that while there I would meet my first boyfriend. We'll call him Abe. Little did I know that this guy was the youth pastor's special project; a 15 year old "former" gangster with an already patchy past and not too rosy of a future by all accounts. The first night at the retreat he had shared how he had just become a Christian and had left the gangster lifestyle of jumping and being jumped, of bad times at school, and of all manner of general naughtiness that went along with his former bad life but that now he was going straight and was now in continuation school. Apparently it was quite the m
The Gruffalo! 2007-03-21 22:44:00 You have to buy this book. Oh, yes. This is a book to buy. This is not a book to just check out at the library. It's a book you will be forced (Oh, twist my arm harder please!) to read over and over again, it is so cute. It's my new favorite kids' book. I know it's not really terribly new (Okay, so it's older than my oldest kid) but there are enough books out there that it's possible that you hadn't heard of it or seen it yet right?I love the mouse. I want him for a pet. A friend of mine in highschool used to always draw a similar mouse on every note she ever wrote to me. The secret's out, I was one of those note passing people! Hey, it's how young writers start out! Okay? (You're so surprised, I'm sure!)Of course I want the Gruffalo for a pet too but I don't think he'd fit through the door.Get this book for your kids. Get it for your grandkids. Get it for yourself because deep down you know you like picture books still even though your shelves are filled with
We have names for people like you Mr. 2007-03-21 04:42:00 Oh yes we do, we do.We have names for people
like you.We have names for people like you.Like Ham Loaf, and Cheese Head and Cheek Monkey.The world has summarily been warned.They know your type.You little rascally varmintout to make us laugh and shake our heads,out to find an adventure.Every morning you wake us upwith your made up words...and we lay laughing in our beds.We have names for people like you Mr. Baby Head,like Snaggle Tooth and Shnargly.We know your type. We've warned all our friends about you.They know what to look out for.The type who climbs into toilet pots,then squints his eyes and grins from ear to ear.They know that they must be on guardor they'll fall under the spell of the toddling tots.Because... we know that you know that we knowthat there are names for people like you.Heart breaker, lover boy, sweetie face, Scoopy poo,lovey dover, baby brother, little clown, baby man...sweet little boy,I love you.Love,MommyNan
Kidism #3,942.6 2007-03-21 01:27:00 I was making pancakes for dinner tonight. The children smelled the goods and came thundering down the stairs like a small stampede of water buffalo.My three year old with surprised superiority in his voice declared to his brothers, "I was right! Her's making pancakes!"Feeling very teachery I decided to correct his very cute grammatical error. "She's making pancakes. You mean She."Feeling no ill will towards me at all for the small correction he quickly restated the remark."Yeah. I was right Mom. You're making she-pancakes!"Nan
I've mentioned her here before... 2007-03-20 23:34:00 I couldn't be more excited about someone jumping into the deep waters of the blogosphere with both feet! My almost life-long very dear friend Corrie just started her blog, One Gal's Life in the Raw and today I was crying laughing reading about the princess wars that can take place when two little three year olds get into one dress-up box full of princess costumes. It sort of makes breaking up 20 or 30 boxing or wrestling matches a day sound like a bit of a pic-nic almost.So I am here to give Corrie her first official plug! I love her like a sister, she's hysterical, she has a heart of gold and I think you all will love her too! Welcome to the blogosphere Marisa Jimenez!Love,Paco ;^P (Don't ask folks. It's 15 year old inside joke.)Nan
Weird... 2007-03-23 03:58:00 I was just perusing my stat counter to see what search terms people have recently Googled to end up at my blog. I get a lot of people Googling for Ree because I plug her blog so frequently. Glad a search for her led you here but there's her name in bold letters if you want to get out of here and over there as quickly as your little fingers can carry you! Thanks for stopping by even if by accident.I get some doozies of keyword searches and I really don't know where they come from. For example, I know that I have never written about, "She enjoyed watching other women go to the bathroom." Umm... no. Never. But that is what appeared a few days ago in my keyword searches that led to your blog section. But of course I just typed it so there again I will start getting numerous hits from people who want to know more about this troubling topic. Sorry folks. I really don't know how that led anyone here in the first place. There are more troubling searches that have led to my blog bu Read more:Weird
Our hearts are with his family and friends... 2007-03-22 21:36:00 My husband blogged about this already so I won't spend any more words on it. Please keep this family in your prayers and pray that God uses this to glorify Himself and draw others to Himself. I'll just copy his post here:In Memoriam: Dustin Salter RUF Minister The news just came through the blogosphere that Dustin Salter has passed away. Dustin was the RUF minister at Texas Christian in Fort Worth. I met him while I was in the D part of DFW, finishing seminary, starting my formal entrance into PCA ministry. He was a tall guy with a humble heart. He loved Jesus, and he loved to tell students and really anybody about how great and good and trustworthy Christ is. I wish I had known him better.Several months ago, while riding bikes with his kids in his new neighborhood in the Carolinas, he crashed his mountain bike without a helmet. That was the start of a long road of brain injury recovery. Dustin and his family recently moved back to Fort Worth to pursue long-term care
Money Moments 2007-03-22 21:10:00 This post has nothing to do with money actually. Have you heard the phrase, "That's money!" My husband uses this phrase a lot now for some reason. It pretty much can be used interchangeably to mean, "That's awesome" or "That's priceless."Two nights ago I sent my oldest son downstairs after he had gotten ready for bed. He is now allowed to stay up later than his little brothers, provided that he does something quiet and useful with his time. He was sent downstairs with the instruction to do some free reading. He could read Narnia (he's on his second book in the series now), one of his library books or anything else that he wanted to read.I came down the stairs after getting everyone else tucked in to find him reading two chapters ahead in his history book. We just finished learning about Julius Caesar and the next chapters were about Augustus Caesar and about the beginning of Christianity -- the birth of Christ.He raced right through the first chapter and upon seeing what the Read more:Money
, Moments
Hymn for the day... 2007-03-24 03:14:00 As I think about a fellow Pastor's Wife, Leigh Anne Salter, who recently lost to God's loving embrace her dear husband and family shepherd who preached this sermon three days before his accident... and as I think about their young children that will grow up without their daddy, my heart aches. I only met Dustin once but my heart doesn't ache because of the brief real life connection with he and his wife -- indeed it was so distant and brief that my husband had to remind me that we had actually met them -- but because I can't imagine being without my husband, best friend, lover, father of my children, my under-shepherd.I'd like to think that in such a circumstance my faith would be stayed on my God who sustains us, who will never leave us, who sets for us a table -- a feast -- in the presence of our enemies... but though I know these truths now I still cannot comprehend really and truly having to lean on them as if they are the blood that flows through my veins and the breath that
"Go and play your ultra cool electric guitar right now or you're in big trouble!!" 2007-03-25 22:58:00 That goes in the category of things you never thought you'd say. Oh yeah, I heard similar phrases an awful lot (like, um... every day for 5 years straight) but it was about the piano. Something I never asked to play. Something I was never in love with the idea of. Something I pretty much hated once I found out I had to count aloud and listen to the persistent hammering of the metronome. The sound still haunts me like clocks bother Mr. Captain Hook. (((picture a crazed look and piles of disembodied hair on the floor)))As you might know, several weeks ago my husband and I took the plunge, dug deep... into the pockets of the Canadian equivalent of Uncle Sam that is, and bought our oldest son a guitar. (If you are wondering why the government paid for our son's wicked cool gnarly rockin' sweet sick electric guitar, homeschoolers receive funding here in the great province of Alberta and we had just enough money left from this year's allowance to make the purchase so we went for it
Life is Like a Lunchbox! 2007-03-25 01:58:00 Remember when you were growing up and your Mom made you lunches for school? You never really knew what you were going to get inside. Or maybe you did. Maybe it was Peanutbutter & Jelly every day.Some days I would open my lunchbox and find a cheese sandwich with mayonaisse. A modern day salmonella nightmare. Yum. Some days my mom would fill a thermos with chicken noodle soup. It would be luke warm by the time lunch rolled around. So comforting and yummy on a cold rainy day. Even at just luke warm.My husband remembers receiving love notes on napkins from his mother in his lunchbox. Awww, how sweet.My love of the lunchbox grew over time though I soon traded it in for the ultra-cool paper sack or the stay-cool technology lunch cooler in which the Capri Sun would stay refreshingly refrigerated.At some point I actually became a collector of lunchboxes. I had Sesame Street ones, Star Wars ones, Barn shaped ones, work lunchboxes like the one now pictured on my blog which I especiall Read more:Lunchbox
Most Effective Signage... 2007-03-24 23:19:00 One of the best signs I've ever seen posted was in the hallway of a preschool:Unattended Children Will beGiven an Espresso and a Free Puppy.Have a nice day!Nan
STOP!! Don't leave!! You're in the right place!! 2007-03-24 19:59:00 Is this a blog renovation or what?! I'll post soon on what made me go with a lunchbox theme but I just wanted to catch you before you navigated away from here thinking you accidentally got taken to the wrong place.Thank you to the wonderful lady who created this look, Susie at Bluebird Blogs, for the beautiful new design. I love it. It's so me! You do incredible work. And I want to be your apprentice!Nan
My Charmed Life 2007-03-24 17:06:00 Design Mom is hosting a giveaway right now for a $50 gift certificate to be spent at My Charmed
Life where there is an extensive collection of charms and charm bracelet accessories. Very cute. And very tempting. I have a very sad, very bare little charm bracelet that is crying out for some attention. I'd love to win this giveaway! But you or someone you love may also enjoy such a gift certificate. If that's the case, head on over to Design Mom and leave a comment! The pool of entrants is still fairly small so you have a good chance!I wish I could host cool giveaways. I think if I tried to do a giveaway at this point you would be getting recycled toys that I want to get rid of. Just kidding. I would never do that to you. I don't know what I'd give away. But really, my blog is a daily giveaway. I give you my love. I give you my words. I give you my... my... oh forget it. I know you're not really buying it anyways! ;^PNan
Wedding Meme 2007-03-26 19:10:00 A Wedding Meme found at Quiet Life1. Where/How did you meet?Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center, in the Santa Cruz mountains. The year was 1995. I had just graduated highschool two weeks earlier. He was midway through Seminary.2. How long have you known each other?12 years this June3. How long after you met did you start dating?Maybe two weeks? Or less perhaps.4. How long did you date before you were engaged?1 year, lots of that was writing letters though since we were long distance.5. How long was your engagement?10 months long6. How long have you been married?coming up on 10 years7. What is your anniversary?May 25 (1997)8. How many people came to your wedding reception?About 2509. What kind of cake did you serve?White with raspberry in the middle for half of it and with lemon in the middle for the other half10. Where was your wedding?Dunsmuir Historic Estate - Mansion lawn; Oakland, California11. What did you serve for your meal?Cake and punch! That's it!12. How many peop
Harry Nilsson 2007-03-26 04:36:00 I love him. As an artist that is. I don't want to run off with him and elope. He rocks... er... rocked. Do you know Harry
Nilsson?Here are some of my favorites: Think About Your Troubles by Harry Nilsson
In Other Words... 2007-03-27 22:26:00 I never participate in these, but this one caught my eye."Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before...either into a creature that is in harmony with God,...or into one that is in a state of war with God. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."C.S. Lewis, Mere ChristianityPeople talk about being carbon neutral. It's all the rage right now. The big buzzword of the year. I really don't think this is possible even with our best efforts. We are always consuming something and there will always be a certain amount of waste no matter what we do. We can try to even out the score a bit by recycling or reusing or changing our habits to a degree but ultimately there will always be some amount of waste, meaning that even at our best, we are never truly neutral with regards to our consumption, reuse and output of waste.I was reading this weekend Read more:Words
Shoulda gotten a Golden... 2007-03-27 21:25:00 Something tells me my Yorkie mix couldn't do this for me. I knew we should have gotten a Golden
. Maybe I can talk hubby into two dogs! (HA! Right!)Oh well, at least she's still a good guard dog. She sends the burglers running. Who wouldn't run from this face?Nan
Do you have a recipe blog? 2007-03-27 19:18:00 If you do, would you let me know the URL for it? I am formulating a links list on my own recipe blog and would love to add your recipe blog. Or if your recipe posts are labeled, you could give me the URL for your posts with recipe labels on them. Nothing compares to tried and true recipes and I love having new, yet proven tried and true, ideas to work with!Oh and if you don't have a recipe blog... what are you waiting for?! Get on it! ;^PNan
Look at this reason for not homeschooling. This is *great*. 2007-03-29 17:57:00 I have been in a bit of a heated discussion, though I believe a profitable one over at Wordflare since yesterday when something I blogged apparently struck a chord with this blogger, who is actually not as condescending or rude as he originally came off. Well, I've been happy to have this discussion because it's quite apparent that these people are pretty clueless about homeschooling. Most of them only know a handful and that is what they use for their test sample, which is understandable.The person who makes this argument:I know, I know, you take them to home-school soccer leagues and dance classes, but it's not the same. Children in public schools have teachers that don't love them. This is important. has one major complaint about homeschoolers. "They're weird," he says. Yes. Some homeschoolers are undboubtedly weird. Some public schoolers are weird. The only major difference being that those weird public schoolers are far less likely to go to University than the "weird"
Looky what we got! 2007-03-29 05:19:00 I'm so excited! It came in the mail today. The kids have been devouring (or making us read many times in succession) library books about space, stars and planets. And spiders. And bees. They are especially fond of the planets known as the gas giants, for obvious reasons. They are, after all, little boys. They never tire of facts and information about the planets. Or of saying gas giant. Or of speculating on what life would be like on a gas giant. Or of talking about how much it would stink to live on a... gas giant. And then they usually proceed to make it abundantly and tangibly clear how very much it stinks on a gas giant. And then we all run for cover, wave large books in the air, hold our noses, light matches and feel quite happy that we live with gas elves rather than gas giants.Last week we had the pleasure of accidentally spotting a planet from our family room window. At first, not being totally up on our astronomy, we were unsure of what planet it was. But it was
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