Meditation Monday: The Still Quiet Moments

Maestro, as his nickname suggests, is very into music of all (most) kinds. But there is something about a good, quick tune that gets you pumped up when there is a lot of heavy, boring work to be done - like cleaning up the house, laundry, schoolwork, etc. But it's tiresome and just a lot of work from a kid's perspective, so we crank up the tunes. Today, Maestro had on a pop music station.

So few of the songs are appropriate for us to listen to that he ends up changing the station every second or third song. Well, that slows down our work considerably! I prefer to listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts while I work - it is inspiring for me to hear about others who are also struggling to become debt free. 

Or I listen to talks and lessons by people who have reached a point where they earn a full-time paycheck doing what they love and helping others - usually people doing Young Living as a business. I'm on my way, but not there just yet. My goal is to be there entirely by 2015 when the White Knight can retire and paint, create and "Art" full time - it's what he loves and his work is so beautiful. I'd like us both to do what we love full time. 

I'll Be in the Kitchen

Moving status update: 

We're about 2/3 of the way packed.

One room that has remained largely out and unpacked is the kitchen. Jeff has talked about how much is left in there and what all is left to be done.

I suppose there is a reason for that. I packed a lot of the kitchen six weeks ago - but nothing since then. My kitchen... I start to pull boxes into that room, and I find some reason to deflect to another room to pack first.

Fantastically Frugal: At-Home Wine Night

Spinster Beth, Slick and I talked about possibly going to the Columbia, MD, Wine in the Woods this past weekend. Slick had a wedding to be at and my own husband was working at Preakness, so I gave it some thought. It could have been fun to go out and enjoy the sights, the people and (who are we kidding?) try some new wines. But alas, five children would have to go along (which I am okay with), and the tickets were $30 per adult and $20 per child (which I am not okay with.)

So putting our collective heads together, we have instead decided to do a wine tasting night at home, where our collective money can be better put to wine and goodies to eat. Each of the three families will bring a new wine to try (we've decided to stick to all whites), a couple of appetizers, and fruit or desserts to share. What a great way to have fellowship, try something new - and still be frugal!

First, some of the appetizers: (total cost, roughly $30)

Just add sour cream and mayonnaise!

• Cheese and Crackers
• Guacamole (home-made!) and Chips
• Veggies and Dips
• Olives and Garlic
• Chocolate for dessert
• Roquefort to go with the dessert wine

Delicious Mango dip (recipe on the back of the bottle)

We decided to do whites for this weekend, and save reds for another time. A "traditional" wine tasting would start with the lighter whites, progressing toward the heavier reds. Since we were doing it our own way, we stuck with whites. 

Next, the wines... (Total cost, minus the Sauternes, - it was a gift - but including the sparkling white, roughly $40)

Left to right, we have the...

• Apothic White - a "Winemaker's Blend" with Muscato grapes, the Muscato gives it a slightly sweeter taste
• a Chateau des Palmiers Sauternes - Jeff's favorite little dessert wine that we were given as a gift for Jeff's graduation
• Yalumba Viogner Chardonnay - from "Australia's oldest family-owned winery"
• Wente Chardonnay - from San Francisco Bay in California, this was the driest of our four here, but (I thought) quite tasty

The cost breakdown: About $70, split between three families still means we spent less than we would have if we had gone to the local wine event!

We also had a sparkling white, but I don't have a picture of that one. There is value in jumping out there and trying new flavors, but not in breaking the bank. Looking forward to Red Night!

What are your favorite goodies for Wine Night?

A Make-Ahead Mother's Day Gift

You might think it too early to start putting together a gift for Mother's Day in January, but what better to do (well, okay besides de-clutter your house!) during the remaining cold winter months than put together a gift that will help you know Mom better? Not only that, but this week there are fourteen weeks before Mother's Day. With this project, you need to come up with, and write out, 52 questions for Mom. If you start this week, that comes out to about two or three questions a week, and still give you time to get to the post office to mail it out. Work a little faster to make a second jar for your sweetheart!

Home Made Christmas Gifts

To give warning, this post is intended to be the first of many as we close in on the holidays. Does it seem too early to you? If you're making your own, I promise you it's right about the best time to start!

The picture at top is a shirt we've done twice now. We will probably use this idea a few more times in the coming years as our family grows and our children get bigger. Four out of four grandparents polled love this gift - what more can be said in its favor? If my informal poll is not enough to entice you, here are other reasons this makes a great gift:

• Each shirt costs less than $25 to make
• This creates a lasting, make Grandma cry reminder of where-your-kids-were-when
• Takes as little as 15 minutes to make (not including drying time), depending on the age and number of your children
• You can tailor the shirt to match whatever style and color the grandparent prefers - short sleeves? Check. Long sleeves? Check. Turtleneck? Check. Yellow/green/blue/tan/red? Check/check/check/check/check. I think you get the idea!

So here are the nitty-gritty details:

What you need:

Shirt(s) in the correct size(s) for your recipient

Fabric paint in a color that contrasts well with the color of your shirt(s)

Child/ren

Grocery sack or piece of cardboard

* Puff paint fabric paint to outline the hands/feet

What you need to do:

1. Launder the shirt ahead of time in case there is an issue of shrinkage.

2. Lay the shirt out as flat as possible with a large piece of cardboard or a cut up paper grocery sack laid flat inside the shirt. This keeps your paint from bleeding through to the other side.

3. Make sure your children are in clothes that you don't mind getting paint on - this paint is designed to stay in unless you've washed the garment around 2,000,000 times. Make sure your clothes are similarly carefree!

4. Have the child hold their hand or foot (we do both if the shirt is big enough or maybe hands on front, feet on back) flat open and smear paint all over the hand/foot. Then carefully help the child push their hand flat against the shirt and pull it off again. The first time or two is tricky but you get the hang of it pretty quickly!

5. We outlined the handprint in puff paint to make it stand out a bit. This helps because where the palm imprint is does not usually fill in all the way due to the natural lay of the hand.

6. If you'd like, write a cute message on the shirt. Ideas: "Hands on Grandma/pa" near handprints; "My grandkids walk all over me" near footprints, etc. We also write in names and ages around the prints themselves and put the year on there somewhere.

7. Lay flat to dry out of eyesight of the recipient and out of reach of the children and other clothing for at least 24 hours before wrapping carefully and doing the tissue paper, gift wrap thing.

8. Washing and care: we usually advise our grands to wash these inside out so they don't get so much friction on the other clothes in the wash, on cold water, no bleach, etc. Low heat in the dryer or hang to dry.

More gifts to come! Come back to show off your "Grand"shirt!

Visiting Arlington - ("Honor" - part III)

This is, as you can see, the 3rd part in a series of posts about my day helping with Honor Flight, to see the first post, start here. Otherwise, I invite you to read on as we visit Arlington Cemetery with our World War II veterans!

When last we met in post 2, the vets and their Guardians were finishing up an hour-and-a-half at the WWII Memorial. We were fighting off protesters ("Anti-Tea Party") as they moved in great waves through, by and around the Monument.... Sorry - I did promise that for a later, non-Honor Flight related post! We'll get to those protestors later on.

Several of the veterans had on ball caps, old uniform jackets (they still fit fifty years later. Impressive!), old uniform hats or rank patches from their days in the service. With my own three vets, I had the pleasure of a five-minute discussion about whether or not the Navy uniforms still have bell bottoms on the pants. They asked questions about what various medals and awards indicated on the uniforms; they were moved by the PBS documentary that was shown about the building of the Monument while we were on the buses.

One thing I didn't know about the WWII Monument, though it doesn't surprise me to find out, is that Kilroy is on the side of the Monument that faces the Lincoln Memorial. So I will definitely have to check that out next time I am down there!

At 1:30, we mustered back up at the buses to load up for Arlington Cemetery and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. We boarded the bus and the vets received their free boxed Arby's lunches (sandwich, chips, fruit cup and yet another ice cold water and home made cookies), and we were on our way. Our previously broken down bus had returned so we were glad to be rid of the five blue shuttles, though having them earlier in the day had been a blessing - the alternative was to miss the day altogether!

The original plan had been to see Iwo Jima first - in the end, I was grateful that we came back to it. When we circled around Iwo Jima, another Honor Flight group (there were three in town) was already there snapping pictures and seeing the sights. I'll get to why it was better to be last later on. For now, on to Arlington - finally!

When we reached Arlington, our bus/group leader gave us some of the history of the Cemetery and the buildings we saw around us. He told us a great story about General Lee, the way that his house was taken over and the fact that he was the great-, great- nephew of General Lee. He then told us, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story," but so as to avoid butchering a really well told, funny tale from his family history, I will encourage you to join the Honor Flight for their ride into the city so you can hear the story in full from his own mouth.

We drove on up and unloaded across the street from Audey Murphey's grave. We crossed the street to see the grave of the Most Decorated War Hero of WWII. After taking pictures of that, we headed over to see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. First my vet, his name was Chuck, needed to use the restroom. As we had about fifteen minutes left, we decided we had plenty of time. The only problem was that the restroom was on the right side of the amphitheater while the most available space to view the guards was on the left. Once Chuck emerged, we decided we could speed-walk to the other side and settle in. We had just over five minutes to the ceremony. Chuck really wanted to make sure he was there to see it so boy did I walk fast with that wheelchair! Being pregnant with number five, and worried too about tripping the chair on an uneven bit of pavement, I didn't go so fast as to be running, but we moved quickly and made it just in time.

The guard marked off his steps - 21 in all - twice before his replacement appeared at the far end of the guard area. The replacement guard stood through his inspection and the Sergeant came to the front center of the steps and in a loud voice announced his name and the all should remain silent, respectful and standing during the duration of the ceremony to follow. My vet struggled to his feet and stood as long as he could, as did several others of our 80- and 90-year old companions. Though a few took pictures, our vets were all silent, many doffed their hats; they were respectful and, as always, the ceremony was intensely moving to watch.

Each step marked off, 21 in all, day in, day out - even during a hurricane several years ago, when the men were told that they could stand down if they wished. All elected to remain at their posts.

(I hope you'll continue on with me in part IV, but this seems the best place to end Part III... so I shall.)

"Honorable" Intentions (Part II)

This post is part two of my Saturday as an Honor Flight guardian. To see the first part, head over here... Then read on below!

During the bus ride down into the city, I sat next to a man who was 80. He had been married to his wife for 65 years! I was so impressed with that. He told me that he almost had cancelled his trip because his wife had reached for his hand in bed earlier that week and they held hands for a while, he said, just stroking each others' fingers, and the next morning, his daughter came to check in on them to find his wife had lapsed into a coma. In spite of that, he had come at his daughter's insistence and showed me a picture of Morgan's Surrender Sword (from the Civil War,) that he said he had dug up out of his yard. He told me other things as well, but he was a little difficult to hear at times because of the bus's engine being so loud.

We left off at the wonderful D.C. traffic jam in part one. I must say that those Honor Flight folks are right on the ball - once we broke through the main traffic jam, which was unavoidable, really, they managed to get National Park Police (Thanks, guys!) to come out and give us a police escort into the closed-off streets of D.C. so we could park right there next to the WWII Monument.

That part was fantastic and mighty helpful! Our "bus" (five replacement vans) alone held twelve wheelchair veterans that needed to be unloaded, gotten into their chairs, taken for latrine/head/bathroom calls and then to visit their monument. The crowds were unbelievable! We did get everyone unloaded (can I just say that I really was taken by how soft their hands were - like a newborn babies' hands) and headed for the bathrooms that were built alongside the WWII Monument. For once, I was glad to be on the girls' side! Normally the line out the door comes from the women's room, Saturday there were around 40 male veterans waiting for the men's facilities! We finally decided to speed things up a bit and did as the ladies do when the situation is reversed: we commandeered the women's room and siphoned some of the men that way. Trust me when I say that some of these guys looked about as uncomfortable as a pregnant woman waiting to go!

We did get some dirty looks from a few protesters who wanted into the ladies' room and whom we asked to wait. Meanwhile, to the side of the permanent restroom fixture, there were at least 30 port-a-potties that had been set up specifically for the protestors to use. I finally emerged from guarding the bathroom door until all of our men came out and it warmed my heart to hear three medics nearby (on hand in case of anyone getting hurt in the protests from heat exhaustion or whatever) ... discussing ... the protestors who had complained about our use of the ladies' room for the vets. Their take on it was that the port-a-potties were set up specifically for the protestors and that the vets who had fought in the war should have had every use of the restrooms that went with their monument. Made me smile.

My group had one Columbus guardian, myself, and three vets - one in a wheelchair, two walkers. When I got out of the restroom duty, they had disappeared. Crap. So I headed for the Monument itself to try to find them. What a mess! I will not ruin my commentary any more than needed talking about the behaviour of many of the protestors toward our veterans. That will be for a follow-on post that I have plans for. But suffice to say that finding my little group of four was going to be nearly impossible. So I grabbed a vet who had lost his group and we walked around the pool and he told me stories about the war, his wife and his garden back home. He was lovely to be with.

As we rounded off the circuit, we found his Columbus Guardian and he went back to his group. I remained behind, both looking for my group and helping "make a hole" (path) for the vets to move through the waves of protestors moving by. The man who started Honor Flight was on hand to help out and welcome the vets as well and they did have several tourists who stopped our men to ask for their pictures and shake hands. The men took group photos in front of the wall of stars, they shared their stories and laughed as they remembered the past. Some of the men even made mock passes at the ladies - they were mighty sweet. Mine gave me a kiss on my cheek and told me I was pretty. Flatterer.

More in part 3 - this part seems long enough for now! ....

A Matter of Honor... Part One

This last Saturday, I had the opportunity to help out in a program called Honor Flight. Regardless of where you are, I imagine there are ways to help, so it would be great of you to click the link above and check them out. This post is about my day with a wonderful group of World War II veterans coming to Washington, D.C., for a one-day trip from Columbus, Ohio.

I am going to start by saying that part of the reason I volunteered to do Honor Flight today was because I needed a good way to spend a Saturday and get away from some serious problems that I've been involved with in our church. The problems are out of my control, but no less worrisome and sad. This day was one of the best cures I could ever have experienced. I loved every minute of it and will definitely go help again - without waiting for a day when I need a distraction!

The day started out early, well, for a Saturday, anyway. I was supposed to be at the airport to "mingle" with the other "Guardians" who had worked with Honor Flight before, get questions answered, and get our passes to go past security to the gate. All of the people who were there to help the vets were called "Guardians.") I arrived a little early so that I could go to Subway and get a sandwich for my lunch. I could have paid $6 for a boxed lunch from Arby's, but that doesn't work so well for a vegetarian! As I stood there waiting in the Subway line, I was acutely aware of the time ticking by, making me late. One guy was texting, one guy was standing at the register, neither said a word to me! Finally, the guy texting stopped, and began to scrub vigorously on a cooker of some sort. I was pretty glad a few minutes later when the guy at the register was the one to come make my sandwich! (That's a side-rant. I add it in now to illustrate my hectic morning - there was so much more to the morning, but too detailed to put on one blog post!)

Once I joined up with the Honor Flight group, they checked off my name and gave me a pass to get past security. Honor Flight has been operating for about five years now and so have a pretty good working relationship with BWI by now. It made things much easier! They had already made arrangements for us to bypass the loooooong security lines and go through the section for employees and flight personnel. We still had to remove our shoes, etc., but it was still much faster that way.

Once we reached the gate (A-2 in our case,) we lined up with the uniformed military personnel who had come out from Ft. Meade positioned closest to the door where the vets would emerge from the plane. As they exited the plane, each one was cheered and applauded, hands were shaken all down the line and pictures were snapped. One vet in an old Navy hat, with a black ring around the top rim (a special designator, no longer in use, as I understand it,) wanted to have a picture with all of the Navy guys there.

Once we had all the men - and a few ladies! - off of the plane, with their escorts from Columbus, we headed out of the secure area to wait for our three buses, which would take us to Washington, D.C. There were protests going on in DC Saturday - an "Anti-Tea Party" rally and a gay pride parade, I believe, so I wondered how we were going to get these old boys close enough to the monuments that they would be able to walk the distance. I needn't have worried!

One bus broke down (the one for yours truly, of course!) so after some wrangling, we herded our guys with their Columbus Guardians onto five transport vans and headed off down I-295. We were going along at a pretty quick pace until we hit construction and Rally traffic just past I-495, which runs around the perimeter of Washington, D.C. Then we bogged down for about 20 or 25 minutes.

To keep these posts from getting overwhelmingly long (I know I tend to be wordy!) I'll break this into a couple of sections. I so enjoyed the day that I want to get in as much detail as I can - with hopes of encouraging others to join us next time!

IPO

The quiet of a house at midnight is unmatched. Sitting here with a glass of wine listening to dogs snoring and children breathing... so peaceful, so quiet...

until the baby wakes up
because the dog barked
when an older brother
thunked across the wood floor
on his way to the head
because he drank too much Gatorade
before hitting the rack for bed.

(Study Seuss much? There is your poem for the day - and a perfect way to start my IPO blog post!)

As you can see our house is hopping! We have three boys, one girl, two dogs and a cat. The children are all homeschooled - I tried to hs the dogs and the cat, but it really didn't work well. The dogs took to the leash but the cat just flopped down and dared us to drag her across the concrete sidewalk. She pretty well rules the house now. And one of the lovebirds got homeschooled by the Rottie once too - but that's another story for when the mood, and memory, strike me to write it down.

I've come to learn that as many times as I've thought I was the outcast or the silent minority and that I didn't have anyone out there who really connected with me - I'm not alone. There are other Orthodox Christians, homeschoolers, moms to many, (mostly) vegetarians out there. There are other budding photographers, work-from-home, learning to sew, stay-at-home moms. There are other people like me (someday I'll put up the full run-down list, even.) Maybe I will never find someone who connects with me at every point of interest, but at least two or three, and we can just complement one another on the rest.

That's really the point to this blog, I suppose. To connect. I was writing notes on Facebook for "friends-of-friends" to read and even have picked up a few comments along the way! Those will eventually make their ways here to this blog, I suppose. In the meantime, grab your favorite drink (wine, sidecar, water, Gatorade, Perrier) and

sit for a bit
don't read for speed
or because you need
to preview something trite for your kids

Then, if I've touched your heart or your mind, if I've given you a thought or a new perspective - if you can give me an angle I didn't consider before, please, leave your mark - comment, discuss, engage - and pass it on to your "friends-of-friends"; I'd be most grateful!

(Next time, pictures, I promise - I just have to figure out HOW first!) OH and in here you will find recipes, thoughts, hopes, prayers, dreams... politics, laughter, love, and fun among friends and family -

(*ahem* If you'll indulge me one last time:)

even the youngest
among us!