If you need a good laugh...

... watch this. We laughed until we cried.



A song by parents to their daughter as she gets ready to leave for college after growing up in Haiti as an MK [from the Livesays ].

Pre-birthday dinner

Tony's birthday is this week. So, in order to ramp it up for the festivities, I decided to serve him only the best for dinner last night. A pre-birthday treat, if you will.

Barfy burgers: nothing but the best for you, honey!

7 Lies About Homeschoolers, debunked

Heehee.

an Introvert in Buenos Aires

I wasn't planning on posting anything this week (up to my eyeballs in boxes. and about to kill the husband... man, is he high strung or what? It's like we're moving overseas or something. Sheesh. Relaaaaxxxx, dude. Esta todo bien. And you know what?, it was just a fender bender. It wasn't my fault. They ran into ME. Who cares if we're shipping it overseas in 10 days? See, not even a scratch. See that? Isn't the Lord good? Praise the Lord. la la la...lala lala la)

Anyway, I wasn't going to post because the only thing going on around here is packing. And a wee bit of tension. My house is a MESS - and it's driving me CRAZY! (and obviously, so is the husband). And since everyone thinks I complain a lot: nary a picture for you.

Ah, but then I read THIS: Caring for your Introvert.

OH. MY. WORD!

Genius. Pure genius.

Everyone who knows me, or knows an introvert, MUST READ THIS.

It will bring a deeper understanding and more harmony into your interpersonal relationships. It will. Really.

The only thing I would do differently is rename this article, "Caring for Your Introvert: and Why You May Find Buenos Aires a Nightmare," or something like that.

In three weeks we will be in Buenos Aires. And, may the reader understand, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get away from people in Buenos Aires. They are ev-er-y-where. 13 million of them. And it is a sin to be alone there. I'm tellin' ya. I know. I've tried it. You will undoubtedly be met with, "Alone? You're going alone?" or, "You were alone... all day???". *gasp*

After reading this article, I think I feel truly validated and fully understood for the first time in my life.

No wonder my extrovert husband doesn't understand me. He never will. EVER. It's just not in his make up.

Read the article, and you'll see.

How to handle the stress of moving overseas

Coffee (no rest for the caffeinated)...

this sign I saw at the donut shop sums up my life right now

and donuts...

There is a third option: a double whiskey Just don't do it.

I have never been so stressed in all. my. life. So forgive me for not blogging, calling, coming over, following up, doing something I said I would (which I probably forgot), or sending a thank you card. I can not think straight these days.
I am losing my mind. Yes, I am.

But only two more months! Two more months and we'll be on the (hopefully) funner side of this craziness. At least that's what I'm telling myself...

:)

Phrase of the Day

A personal favorite...

más feliz que un perro con dos colas = happier than a dog with two tails


I particularly like this one. If you don't get it (I didn't) welcome to the dense club. After giving the hubs a blank stare the first time he pulled this one out, I asked for an explanation.

I got the "you-are-so-dense-light-can-not-escape-you" look.

:)

What Would Jesus Do...

"When someone asks you 'What would Jesus do?' remember, a valid option is to freak out and turn over tables." ~unknown

 

 

God uses the weak and apparently messed up

I just read this bio and it just cracks me up. I love how God uses the weak and apparently messed up. I fit right in lol! And this radio personality doesn't look anything like the overweight, out of shape, middle-aged man I imagined in my mind!

And because I am just brimming over these days with a plethora of free time, that's my post for this week.

:D

Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe

So, before I wrap up Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe to ship out through Paperbackswap.com (and makes someone very, very happy - there was a long waiting list for this one!), I took one last look inside.

I got this book for free when I saw Todd Wilson speak at a homeschool fair. After he made us laugh til we cried, he handed us all a free copy.

After glancing one last time at the cartoons in this book, I am laughing out loud! Only homeschoolers will fully appreciate these. Maybe I should have held on to this one!

 

LOL!!! :)

Phrase of the Day

tal palo como la astilla = like father, like son; like mother, like daughter; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

Literally translated means "as is the stick (or wood) is the splinter".

This phrase can often be heard in our house when one of our kids does something like, say, drop their food, trip over a toy, or forget something really important. Tony can be heard in the background saying, "tal palo como la astilla", as he looks in my direction.

:)

So I met George Winston...

Okay, so let me just say that one of the reasons I homeschool my kids is because I was so immensely unaware in my life, I just don't want the same thing to happen to my kids!

My husband still makes fun of me, daily, that I'm just a space cadet who lives on Mars, and is so spacey I can't even hold onto the salad I'm trying to serve him at dinner. I drop everything! I blame it on motherhood. He blames it on me and my spaciness. He's mean.

It's these kids, I say!

Anyway, I just realized that I met George Winston (I know, name-dropper, don't hate me). Like 15 years after the fact. If that gives any inclination to the depth of my spaciness. Upon adding some of his incredibly beautiful piano pieces to my bloggy music I'm thinking to myself..., "wait a minute..." didn't I meet that guy?? And yes, I did. He actually came over my house for dinner in college.

And I just realize this 15 years later.

I grew up in such a bubble. Nevermind... I think I still live there lol!

I had the COOLEST roommate in college, she was so neat, loved people, invited them over all the time. So, because we lived in Missoula, MT and George Winston, who also lives in MT because, duh, he grew up there, was in town often playing his piano in concerts and stuff yadda yadda means little to me... So my ever so cool roommate who loves people goes up to him after a concert and invites him over for dinner. And to share the gospel, of course. And he comes.

All I remember is that he was kinda cool, nice, normal, and a crunchy Montana guy like all the other guys in Montana. And he's been to Costa Rica. And apparently the girls are really pretty there. And I was thoroughly unimpressed.

Because I DIDN'T KNOW WHO HE WAS.

yep, that's him alright. older, but that's him...

I am homeschooling my kids so the same pathetic fate does not happen to them.

What planet do I live on?????? I am certain there is no cure for me. I forgot my own wedding anniversary last week. Now this.

Hopeless! Pray for me.

:D

Susan Wise Bauer and Classical Education

I saw Susan Wise Bauer at a local homeschool convention a couple of years ago. Shame I didn't really know who she was enough to stop and talk to her. Since then I've discovered her book The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home and LOVE it.

In theory.

In practice, haha, well, we do what can. :) We've only managed to follow the History curriculum (outlined in the book) so far.

HOLY COW.

Wow. After doing Ancient History (per the book) this year with the chilluns, I now realize I learned next to nothing in 12 years of public school History. And I was a straight-A student. How is that possible?

From time to time I check her blog here. She is FUN-NY. So if you need a couple of laughs just read the automatically-imported-to-her-blog Twitter updates. I needed a couple of laughs today because this was the "fast-for-six-days=all-hell-broke-loose-this-weekend" weekend. More on that later. Maybe.

If you are looking for an complete K-12 homeschool curriculum for $15 or less (Amazon), check this one out. I purchased mine for $9.00 used at our local homeschool fair. It is worth far, far more.

:)

The Layman, On Church Building, and the Way of a Wife

Bored and unmotivated, I tried to redeem the day by sending the kids outside to play, as I sat down in the sun to read some poetry. The idea was that I would read poetry to the kids, but, as sometimes happens, great ideas get blown away with the wind, as the kids all run in different directions. Sigh.

Oh well, since I scored a GREAT FIND at the local library book sale, I settled back into my plastic Adirondack chair to check it out, coffee mug by my side, and sun on my face. Collected Verse of Edgar A. Guest. EVERY POEM in this book is fantastic! I probably paid 50 cents or a dollar for 937 pages of early 1900's American Poetry. My cheap heart rejoices over stuff like this!

This poem reminded me of why the Body of Christ is so important:

THE LAYMAN

by Edgar A. Guest

Leave it to the ministers, and soon the church will

 die;

Leave it to the women folk; the young will pass

 it by;

For the church is all that lifts us from the coarse

 and selfish mob,

And the church that is to prosper needs the layman

 on the job.

Now, a layman has his business, and a layman has

 his joys;

But he also has the training of his little girls and

 boys;

And I wonder how he'd like it if there were no

 churches here

And he had to raise his children in a godless

 atmosphere.

It's the church's special function to uphold the

 finer things,

To teach the way of living from which all that's

noble springs;

But the minister can't do it single-handed and alone,

For the laymen of the country are the churches

corner-stone.

When you see a church that's empty, though its

doors are open wide,

It is not the church that's dying; it's the laymen

 who have died;

For it's not by song or sermon that the church's

work is done;

It's the laymen of the country who for God must

carry on.

After taping not one, but two pages, back in (graciously ripped out in rapid succession by baby - sigh again, nothing is sacred!), I read on. So, since this week our church shared plans to build a many millions of dollars facility, the following poem caught my eye....

ON CHURCH BUILDING

God builds no churches! By His plan,

That labor has been left to man.

No spires miraculously rise,

No little mission from the skies

Falls on a bleak and barren place

To be a source of strength and grace.

The humblest church demands it price

In human toil and sacrifice.

Men call the church the House of God,

Towards which the toil stained pilgrims plod

In search of strength and rest and hope,

As blindly through life's mists they grope,

And there God dwells, but it is man

Who builds that house and draws its plan;

Pays for the mortar and the stone

That none need seek for God alone.

There is no church but what proclaims

The gifts of countless generous names.

Ages before us spires were raised

'Neath which Almighty God was praised

As proof that He was then, as now.

Those sacred altars, where men bow

Their heads in prayer and sorrow lifts

Its heavy weight, are Christian gifts!

The humblest spire in mortal ken,

Where God abides, was built by men.

And if the church is still to grow,

Is still the light of hope to throw

Across the valleys of despair,

Men still must build God's house of prayer.

God sends no churches from the skies,

Out of our hearts must they arise!

(You kind of have to read it at least twice to get it, or at least I did.)

When I laughed out loud at the following one, Mr. Nosey wanted to know what I was laughing at, so I told him this is what his Papi would say of me and read him the following:

THE WAY OF A WIFE

She wasn't hungry, so she said. A salad and a

cup of tea

Was all she felt that she could eat, but it was

different with me.

"I'm rather hungry," I replied: "if you don't

mind, I think I'll take

Some oysters to begin with and a good old-

fashioned sirloin steak."

Now wives are curious in this; to make the

statement blunt and straight,

There's nothing tempts their appetites like food

upon another's plate;

And when those oysters six appeared she looked

at them and said to me,

"Just let me try one, will you dear?" and right

away she swallowed three.

On came the steak, and promptly she exclaimed:

"Oh my, thats looks so good!

I think I'd like a bit of it." The game is one I

understood.

I cut her off a healthy piece and never whimpered

when she said:

"Now just a few potatoes, dear, and also let

me share your bread."

She wasn't hungry! She'd refused the food I

had been glad to buy,

But on the meal which came for me, I know she

turned a hungry eye.

She never cares for much to eat, she's dainty in

her choice, I'll state,

But she gets ravenous enough to eat whatever's

on my plate.

:)

Why ESL Is So Important

I could make a very good case for why learning the language of whatever country you're in is extremely important, but, because we are currently in the States, and for illustration purposes, let's just use English as our Second Language here.

Which brings me to my story.

Many years ago, when we were newlyweds, Tony did not speak much English. We used to have tons of fun with it (when it wasn't annoying and extremely inconvenient, that is). I remember living downtown, coming home from work, and heading out for a run. Back when I actually ran. Now I jog. Tony would hop on my bike and follow me through the streets of center city. I would slalom in and around all the professionals walking down the sidewalks, agile and light on my feet, and Tony would be on the bike behind me smiling and calling out to me, "Laaaadyyyy" in a really thick Spanish accent. Looking as annoyed as I could, I would roll my eyes in impatience and exasperation and almost shout, "Would you leave me alone?!? I'm NOT interested." He would smile some more and continue following me saying, "Ladyyyy...". I would then pick up the pace and try to lose him, with people staring after us wide-eyed and eyebrows raised. It was hard not to laugh!

Well, after that we moved to Argentina, so his ESL came to a halt. We moved back on 9/11 (yes, we did) and he started all over with ESL. Because we spoke Spanish at home, it was pretty slow going. But, that's another post.

One day I dropped him off for work. He wasn't feeling well and had a cold, so he popped into a local pharmacy before heading into work. With his sparse understanding of the English language, he proceeded to buy a cold remedy for himself. About 2pm, I received a phone call at work.

"Hi, honey, how are you?"

"I feel terrible."

"Oh, what's the matter?"

"I don't know, I feel horrible."

"Is it just the cold?"

"I don't know. I've never felt this bad before."

"Did you eat lunch?"

"Yeah, I just had a huge bowl of pasta."

"Oh. Well, what's wrong? How do you feel?"

"I don't know... I feel so tired... I don't know, just bad."

"Did you take anything?"

"Yeah, I stopped by the store and bought some cold medicine."

"Oh. Well, sometimes they can make you feel groggy. What did you take?"

"I don't know, I just bought whatever was there."

Ohhhh.... okay. Hmmm. Now I'm curious.

"Well, what did you take?"

"No sé. Just some jarabe (cough syrup)."

Hmmm, "Okay... what's it called?"

"Ay, no sé, (mumbled something unintelligible)."

"Well... how do you spell it?"

A moment of silence as he fumbled to find the bottle.

"N-Y-Q-U-I-L."

Why ESL is so important.

:)