1 angel food cake
1 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry jello
1 (3 oz.) pkg. lime jello
1 (3 oz.) pkg. orange jello
1 gallon vanilla ice cream (won't use all of it)
1 pt. strawberries, fresh or frozen
1 pt. blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 small can mandarin oranges
Cut cake into thirds. Pull apart into bite size pieces. Put in three bowls. Add strawberry jello (dry) to one bowl, orange jello to one bowl, and lime to one. Stir together to coat.
Layer in angel food cake pan:
layer of vanilla ice cream
strawberry coated cake
sliced strawberries
layer vanilla ice cream
lime coated cake, blueberries
layer of vanilla ice cream
orange coated cake
mandarin oranges
layer of ice cream
Freeze 24 hours. Cut with electric knife (or maybe one dipped in hot water).
A conversation with a friend reminded me of this recipe my mother used to make. I think I'll try it, as we bid farewell to summer. If I remember right, it's on the sweet side, so may I reduce the amount of jello mixed with the cake. It's colorful, and children like it. The recipe on Cooks.com says it serves 20-25, but I don't think we found it went that far!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Numbering our days
This has been a rough year* for the families of a few of the women who have been involved in teaching my son, as well as many other children. I haven't blogged about these life-changing events for the sake of their privacy. More news came yesterday, along with an email about setting priorities, from a relative.
I've decided I need to take the summer off from blogging, to focus on "first things" in my life. This blog's original title, "Numbering Our Days," was taken from a great New Year's post by Amanda.
Further listening: Son of mine (HT: This Side of Glory)
*A car accident, a shooting, cancer.
I've decided I need to take the summer off from blogging, to focus on "first things" in my life. This blog's original title, "Numbering Our Days," was taken from a great New Year's post by Amanda.
I'm returning to that title, as a reminder.I don't make resolutions on the eve of a new year. Instead, I ask myself one question: This time next year, will I still be among the living?
It isn't a morbid thought; it is simply the most practical way I know of to focus my mind and heart on living--rather than merely existing--through the coming year. As Samuel Johnson said, the prospect of imminent death concentrates the mind wonderfully; and for all I know, my death may be mere heartbeats away. I'm young, but I've had friends who died younger. I'm healthy, but I've had friends who died healthier. The path from the womb leads to the tomb.
For those of us who know that death is but a sleep and an awakening, the fact that we are all dying is not cause for alarm. But it is cause for deliberate living.
Further listening: Son of mine (HT: This Side of Glory)
*A car accident, a shooting, cancer.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Spring mourning
(edited)
In Lord of the Rings, one of the hobbits mentioned "second breakfast." This year, we're having second spring. Several of our plants leafed out early, were hit by a freeze, and wilted on their stems. The flower beds seem to be in mourning. So far, I've found:
Columbine (wilted)
Salvia
Cheddar pinks (spreading well!)
Hollyhocks (half wilted)
Phlox
Creeping phlox
Delphinium! (first time I've had it winter over; second try)
Sedum, Autumn Joy (half-wilted)
Something that looks like wild onion, but might be small daffodils?
Stella d'oro lilies
Tulips
The leaves on the Zepherine Drouhin rose bush in the back yard are wilted. The weeping cherry buds opened almost fully, then turned brown on the branch. Usually they go from pink to white, then fall like snowflakes to the ground. This year, the tree weeps brown tears. Its blooms were too soon gone.
* * * * *
I think of the loss, sorrow, and grieving at Virginia Tech this week. May God comfort those who are mourning.
Further reading: Campus Crusade Students Killed in Massacre
(I was a member of CCC, as a student.)
Myspace page of Lauren McCain
(HT: Christianity Today)
In Lord of the Rings, one of the hobbits mentioned "second breakfast." This year, we're having second spring. Several of our plants leafed out early, were hit by a freeze, and wilted on their stems. The flower beds seem to be in mourning. So far, I've found:
Columbine (wilted)
Salvia
Cheddar pinks (spreading well!)
Hollyhocks (half wilted)
Phlox
Creeping phlox
Delphinium! (first time I've had it winter over; second try)
Sedum, Autumn Joy (half-wilted)
Something that looks like wild onion, but might be small daffodils?
Stella d'oro lilies
Tulips
The leaves on the Zepherine Drouhin rose bush in the back yard are wilted. The weeping cherry buds opened almost fully, then turned brown on the branch. Usually they go from pink to white, then fall like snowflakes to the ground. This year, the tree weeps brown tears. Its blooms were too soon gone.
* * * * *
I think of the loss, sorrow, and grieving at Virginia Tech this week. May God comfort those who are mourning.
Further reading: Campus Crusade Students Killed in Massacre
(I was a member of CCC, as a student.)
Myspace page of Lauren McCain
(HT: Christianity Today)
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Good Friday meditation
We spent Good Friday at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, in Cincinnati, Ohio. We've visited once before; this time I felt we were coming onto holy ground, as we approached.
****************
This cabin was along a slave trading route; its second story was used to house slaves until they were auctioned off, or transported further south.
A middle-aged man described its history to the group of school children filling the lower level. He choked up for a moment. When he continued, he explained that his ancestors were from Alabama, and they would have been slaves. "It always reminds me someone paid a price for me to be here."
***************
A woman who called herself Miss Sadie described the elements of her costume, and what her role in the house would have been, for a group of school children around the corner from the cabin. She sang Follow the Drinking Gourd, which gave slaves directions for escape. According to her, winter with its long nights was a good time to leave--and Friday was the best day of the week to head for freedom. (Escaping slaves had to travel during the night. Slave owners could not leave the plantation for fear the remaining slaves would escape. They had to hire men to chase the escapees. The offices of the contractors were closed over the weekend, so if slaves escaped Friday evening, it would be Monday before the hunt for them could begin.)
***************
A light from the Rankin house at the top of a hill in Ripley, Ohio (a free state), on the north side of the Ohio River, from the vantage point of an escaping slave on the south side of the river, in Kentucky (a slave state). The Rankins, John Parker, and their friends helped many people on their road to freedom in the north. (Many escaping slaves continued north to Canada. After the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision in 1857, they could be returned to their "owners" in the south, if captured in a free northern state.)
********************
About halfway through the tour, you enter a round room with a lighted pillar in the center. The walls are molded cement rock, with names carved into them--names of of slave transport ships and "castles" in Africa where the captured slaves were held. Aside from the pillar, the only light comes through the translucent blue ceiling, giving one the feeling of being under water. The pillar is covered with translucent blue and green pebbles. The pebbles represent the souls of the estimated one to two million Africans who died in the ships, during the Middle Passage, and in the "castles."
The room is silent, except for the sound of a choir humming John Newton's Amazing Grace. (John Newton was a slave trader who underwent a dramatic conversion.)
Holy ground.
***************
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:3-5, King James Version
****************
This cabin was along a slave trading route; its second story was used to house slaves until they were auctioned off, or transported further south.
A middle-aged man described its history to the group of school children filling the lower level. He choked up for a moment. When he continued, he explained that his ancestors were from Alabama, and they would have been slaves. "It always reminds me someone paid a price for me to be here."
***************
A woman who called herself Miss Sadie described the elements of her costume, and what her role in the house would have been, for a group of school children around the corner from the cabin. She sang Follow the Drinking Gourd, which gave slaves directions for escape. According to her, winter with its long nights was a good time to leave--and Friday was the best day of the week to head for freedom. (Escaping slaves had to travel during the night. Slave owners could not leave the plantation for fear the remaining slaves would escape. They had to hire men to chase the escapees. The offices of the contractors were closed over the weekend, so if slaves escaped Friday evening, it would be Monday before the hunt for them could begin.)
***************
A light from the Rankin house at the top of a hill in Ripley, Ohio (a free state), on the north side of the Ohio River, from the vantage point of an escaping slave on the south side of the river, in Kentucky (a slave state). The Rankins, John Parker, and their friends helped many people on their road to freedom in the north. (Many escaping slaves continued north to Canada. After the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision in 1857, they could be returned to their "owners" in the south, if captured in a free northern state.)
********************
About halfway through the tour, you enter a round room with a lighted pillar in the center. The walls are molded cement rock, with names carved into them--names of of slave transport ships and "castles" in Africa where the captured slaves were held. Aside from the pillar, the only light comes through the translucent blue ceiling, giving one the feeling of being under water. The pillar is covered with translucent blue and green pebbles. The pebbles represent the souls of the estimated one to two million Africans who died in the ships, during the Middle Passage, and in the "castles."
The room is silent, except for the sound of a choir humming John Newton's Amazing Grace. (John Newton was a slave trader who underwent a dramatic conversion.)
Holy ground.
***************
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:3-5, King James Version
Friday, March 16, 2007
Ohio's Hocking Hills: Ash Cave
Far above, cave ceiling.
Beside, stairs connect roof and floor.
Below, waterfall lands in pond.
The trail back into Ash Cave is handicap accessible. It's paved and level, and our son walked the entire distance. Trails to other geological highlights in the Hocking Hills are more challenging:
Old Man's Cave
Rock House
Conkle's Hollow
Cedar Falls
Cantwell Cliffs
Friday, January 26, 2007
January: a list for getting through it
Unlike Eliot, I find January and February to be the cruellest months. (I know: there's no bad weather-- I just need the right clothes.) Rebecca's passing the month enjoying the routines of her life, and making lists of lists. Here's one of how I wait for spring:
Reading (old British mysteries--Marsh, Christie, etc.). Just after Christmas, I found a stack of old used ones at the library book sale.
Learning (Intellitools, continued). Last week, two of the technology staff taught a couple of us how to combine scanned book pages and imported audio to create a computerized reading experience for children who may not have the fine motor or cognitive skills to read a book on their own. The MacIntosh is a more user-friendly for this than Windows is. Alas, I now need to translate what I've learned to our home pc.
Baking, cooking, and eating
Visiting (in-between toilet training)
Planning (trying to improve effectiveness of my To Do lists, making appointments)
Doing laundry
Enjoying gifts--a new tea kettle, and two of Luci Shaw's latest (Accompanied by Angels, and What the Light Was Like)
* * * * *
And, last but not least, a little humor along the way.
Reading (old British mysteries--Marsh, Christie, etc.). Just after Christmas, I found a stack of old used ones at the library book sale.
Learning (Intellitools, continued). Last week, two of the technology staff taught a couple of us how to combine scanned book pages and imported audio to create a computerized reading experience for children who may not have the fine motor or cognitive skills to read a book on their own. The MacIntosh is a more user-friendly for this than Windows is. Alas, I now need to translate what I've learned to our home pc.
Baking, cooking, and eating
Visiting (in-between toilet training)
Planning (trying to improve effectiveness of my To Do lists, making appointments)
Doing laundry
Enjoying gifts--a new tea kettle, and two of Luci Shaw's latest (Accompanied by Angels, and What the Light Was Like)
* * * * *
And, last but not least, a little humor along the way.
Friday, November 17, 2006
November Thanksgiving 5: good IEP meeting
Yesterday was our son's annual Individual Education Plan meeting. I had communicated some concerns to staff a few months ago, and was pleased at the response.
The moderator did a great job moving things along, getting the input of the physical therapist, occupational therapist, adaptive phys ed teacher, regular ed teachers, paraprofessional aide, special ed teacher, principal, county service coordinator, psychologist, speech therapist, and parents.
The principal was helpful and suggested several accommodations that could be made. The aide will be able to observe speech and carry that over into the rest of the week, as I wanted.
The adaptive phys ed teacher said she hasn't seen anything in her eight years of teaching like the way our son took off on the tricycle this year. It's increased attention span, direct gaze, lung capacity for speech, morale, self-confidence, etc. (He got a horn on the tricycle today. He honked at the hall intersection. The children in the hall stopped to let him cross, and clapped for him. The art teacher is going to have a few fifth graders make a little safety city, for him to work on waiting, and crossing the street. He's going to have stop signs. Another classmate might accompany him, on a bicycle. The class is studying simple machines in class, and might look at the tricycle, as an example.)
The assistive tech/Intellitools person and one of the district special ed gurus are meeting with the aide and our son's special ed teacher Monday morning, first thing, to continue Intellitools training. The special ed staff person is doing her master's on teaching nonverbal children to read!
The team will meet again for data checks 12/21.
The speech therapist is working on incorporating words from the Love and Learning videos our son has been watching for several years into Intellitools activities.
The moderator displayed (and suggested) the book Teaching Reading to Children with DS, which I have been wishing the school would use with our son. I was very encouraged.
A+
The moderator did a great job moving things along, getting the input of the physical therapist, occupational therapist, adaptive phys ed teacher, regular ed teachers, paraprofessional aide, special ed teacher, principal, county service coordinator, psychologist, speech therapist, and parents.
The principal was helpful and suggested several accommodations that could be made. The aide will be able to observe speech and carry that over into the rest of the week, as I wanted.
The adaptive phys ed teacher said she hasn't seen anything in her eight years of teaching like the way our son took off on the tricycle this year. It's increased attention span, direct gaze, lung capacity for speech, morale, self-confidence, etc. (He got a horn on the tricycle today. He honked at the hall intersection. The children in the hall stopped to let him cross, and clapped for him. The art teacher is going to have a few fifth graders make a little safety city, for him to work on waiting, and crossing the street. He's going to have stop signs. Another classmate might accompany him, on a bicycle. The class is studying simple machines in class, and might look at the tricycle, as an example.)
The assistive tech/Intellitools person and one of the district special ed gurus are meeting with the aide and our son's special ed teacher Monday morning, first thing, to continue Intellitools training. The special ed staff person is doing her master's on teaching nonverbal children to read!
The team will meet again for data checks 12/21.
The speech therapist is working on incorporating words from the Love and Learning videos our son has been watching for several years into Intellitools activities.
The moderator displayed (and suggested) the book Teaching Reading to Children with DS, which I have been wishing the school would use with our son. I was very encouraged.
A+
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
November thanksgiving 4
I appreciate Rebecca's faithfully pulling us back to the theme of the month. Time flies. I can't believe next week is (U.S.) Thanksgiving, already.
Having read Rebecca's post, I'm thankful I don't live in the Yukon, as she does, where she's thankful it's only 20 below! She brings back memories of my two years in the Great White North, when you could see your breathe freezing on the parka fur around your face. You could run around a building in snow, in very thick socks, because the snow was so dry.
The students (at the residential bush high school where I served) didn't go home for November Thanksgiving; that was a U.S. holiday. We celebrated the Canadian one, in October, with a big meal. Around the third week in November, we were a little homesick, thinking of family gatherings down south.
I'm wondering what the Yukon climate is like for older people. Even down here, they like to head south. What must it be like, to grow old in the Yukon? Where do Yukoners go to retire? I wonder.
It will reach the low 40's here today, and that's cold enough, for November. :-)
Having read Rebecca's post, I'm thankful I don't live in the Yukon, as she does, where she's thankful it's only 20 below! She brings back memories of my two years in the Great White North, when you could see your breathe freezing on the parka fur around your face. You could run around a building in snow, in very thick socks, because the snow was so dry.
The students (at the residential bush high school where I served) didn't go home for November Thanksgiving; that was a U.S. holiday. We celebrated the Canadian one, in October, with a big meal. Around the third week in November, we were a little homesick, thinking of family gatherings down south.
I'm wondering what the Yukon climate is like for older people. Even down here, they like to head south. What must it be like, to grow old in the Yukon? Where do Yukoners go to retire? I wonder.
It will reach the low 40's here today, and that's cold enough, for November. :-)
Sunday, November 05, 2006
November thanksgiving 3: three gifts
Today I'm thankful for leftovers. We're having last week's lasagna, recycled from the freezer.
I'm also thankful for the progress our son has made riding the adaptive tricycle, at school. He pedals so fast his aide has to scurry to keep up. He's learned to back up, and pedal without the footstraps. He's getting better at steering. I appreciate the principal's willingness to let us make riding the tricycle a goal at school. Some schools don't allow it, in the elementary grades. They consider it a preschool skill.
I'm thankful for my two sisters.
Further reading: Rebecca Writes' thanksgiving posts
I'm also thankful for the progress our son has made riding the adaptive tricycle, at school. He pedals so fast his aide has to scurry to keep up. He's learned to back up, and pedal without the footstraps. He's getting better at steering. I appreciate the principal's willingness to let us make riding the tricycle a goal at school. Some schools don't allow it, in the elementary grades. They consider it a preschool skill.
I'm thankful for my two sisters.
Further reading: Rebecca Writes' thanksgiving posts
Thursday, November 02, 2006
November thanksgiving 2: the internet
"You're caught up in the Internet
You think it's such a great asset
But you're wrong, wrong, wrong.
All that fiber-optic gear
Still cannot take away the fear
Like an Island song."
--Jimmy Buffet, in Holiday
Yes, Jimmy, the internet has its limitations, but I'm still thankful for it. As a parent, I can get access to a volume of ideas for special education that would have been an experienced professional's dream, ten years ago.
My newest find*: AAC Intervention.com
For today, I'm rich, rich, rich.
Additional finds (added): abcteach, offers 5000+ free printable pages and worksheets(received Learning Magazine's 2007 Teacher's Choice Award)
Connective Technology Solutions, Dan Herlihy's new site. Dan, an Intellitools guru, develops solutions for adapting curriculum in the classroom, for children with special needs.
*This is actually a re-find, but glad to encounter it again, at a different point in the journey.
You think it's such a great asset
But you're wrong, wrong, wrong.
All that fiber-optic gear
Still cannot take away the fear
Like an Island song."
--Jimmy Buffet, in Holiday
Yes, Jimmy, the internet has its limitations, but I'm still thankful for it. As a parent, I can get access to a volume of ideas for special education that would have been an experienced professional's dream, ten years ago.
My newest find*: AAC Intervention.com
For today, I'm rich, rich, rich.
Additional finds (added): abcteach, offers 5000+ free printable pages and worksheets(received Learning Magazine's 2007 Teacher's Choice Award)
Connective Technology Solutions, Dan Herlihy's new site. Dan, an Intellitools guru, develops solutions for adapting curriculum in the classroom, for children with special needs.
*This is actually a re-find, but glad to encounter it again, at a different point in the journey.
November thanksgiving 1: hearing from old friends
Rebecca from Rebecca Writes is coordinating another round of November thanksgiving this year. I enjoy reading about what people are thankful for. It gives me a window on life in other places, and points to good things in my own life.
Today I'm thankful for the letter from an old friend that came in yesterday's mail. She's been buried in the news business, since I last saw her, nine years ago. I'm looking forward to renewing a friendship.
Further reading: Powerful lesson on kindness learned during night visit to ER
Tending earth’s bounty renews connection to the land
A book keeps on giving despite yellowed pages
Today I'm thankful for the letter from an old friend that came in yesterday's mail. She's been buried in the news business, since I last saw her, nine years ago. I'm looking forward to renewing a friendship.
Further reading: Powerful lesson on kindness learned during night visit to ER
Tending earth’s bounty renews connection to the land
A book keeps on giving despite yellowed pages
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
August thanksgiving 9: school staff
Today I took my son over to school to meet his teacher and see his new classroom. She was very kind, and I think he will have another good year. I was happy to find he will have the same aide he's had the past two years. He has made great progress working with her.
I am thankful for the school district we live in, and for the staff at the building where our son attends, in particular. The principal, teachers, and aides have always made him feel welcome and are positive models for the children, in the way they relate to our son. They accept and affirm him, communicating his right to be part of the group. We are fortunate.
I am thankful for the school district we live in, and for the staff at the building where our son attends, in particular. The principal, teachers, and aides have always made him feel welcome and are positive models for the children, in the way they relate to our son. They accept and affirm him, communicating his right to be part of the group. We are fortunate.
Monday, August 28, 2006
August thanksgiving 8: work of the Schaeffers, and an update
I've appreciated reading the books of both Francis and Edith Schaeffer for many years. They were a great encouragement to me during my last two years in college.
I was happy to find a small window into L'Abri as it is today. Stephen West, the attorney, writer, and owner of a record label who blogs at Outwalking, recently posted about his plan to develop The Tapestry Project, detailing the personal story of the Schaeffers and the history of their ministry at L'Abri.
Mr. West and his partner traveled to Switzerland this month to do on-site interviews for the Project. He shares impressions and photos from that journey in The Tapestry Project mini-blog. They interviewed John and Priscilla (Schaeffer) Sandri, Udo and Deborah (Schaeffer) Middelmann, and Edith Shaeffer, in Switerzerland. They traveled on to Cambridge, England, where they interviewed Ranald MacCauley, husband of the Schaeffer's daughter Susan. In Oxford, they were able to meet with Joe Martin, husband of the late Linette Martin (whose conversion story is told in L'Abri) and Deidre Ducker, one of the young school girls who visited the Schaeffers at their first chalet, in Champery.
Mr. West and his partner collaborated earlier on an audio biography of the life of Ruth Bell Graham. I get the impression this project is also slated for audio format, with sounds of life in the Swiss Alps serving as a backdrop for the Swiss interviews.
I've occasionally thought of Edith, since Francis passed away, and hoped she was doing well. Stephen lets us know that she is. I look forward to the completion of this project.
I was happy to find a small window into L'Abri as it is today. Stephen West, the attorney, writer, and owner of a record label who blogs at Outwalking, recently posted about his plan to develop The Tapestry Project, detailing the personal story of the Schaeffers and the history of their ministry at L'Abri.
Mr. West and his partner traveled to Switzerland this month to do on-site interviews for the Project. He shares impressions and photos from that journey in The Tapestry Project mini-blog. They interviewed John and Priscilla (Schaeffer) Sandri, Udo and Deborah (Schaeffer) Middelmann, and Edith Shaeffer, in Switerzerland. They traveled on to Cambridge, England, where they interviewed Ranald MacCauley, husband of the Schaeffer's daughter Susan. In Oxford, they were able to meet with Joe Martin, husband of the late Linette Martin (whose conversion story is told in L'Abri) and Deidre Ducker, one of the young school girls who visited the Schaeffers at their first chalet, in Champery.
Mr. West and his partner collaborated earlier on an audio biography of the life of Ruth Bell Graham. I get the impression this project is also slated for audio format, with sounds of life in the Swiss Alps serving as a backdrop for the Swiss interviews.
I've occasionally thought of Edith, since Francis passed away, and hoped she was doing well. Stephen lets us know that she is. I look forward to the completion of this project.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
August thanksgiving 7
From the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook:
Thankfulness is a thread that can bind together all the patchwork squares of our lives. Difficult times, happy days, seasons of sickness, hours of bliss--all can be sewn together into something lovely with the thread of thankfulness . . . . We each have the power to interpret the facts of our lives. We make the choices that turn us into bitter or grateful people. Gratitude is rooted in the reality that "bidden or unbidden, God is present." Carl Jung discovered (and popularized) this statement among the Latin writings of Erasmus: vocatus atque non vocatus, deus aderit.
Thanksgiving is possible not because everything goes perfectly but because God is present. The Spirit of God is within us--nearer to us than our own breath. It is a discipline to choose to stitch our days together with the thread of gratitude. But the decision to do so is guaranteed to stitch us closer to God. Attend to the truth that "bidden or unbidden, God is present."
--Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Monday, August 21, 2006
August thanksgiving 6
The last week or two has involved a little stress. At times like this, I become thankful for small things that don't necessarily make an exciting blog post:
--the next generation of physical therapists, energetic and eager to learn so they'll be better able to serve (we went down to the university three weeks in a row, to help demonstrate)
--a modern washer and dryer
--the motivation to undertake a major de-cluttering of the house (the stuff goes to a thrift store staffed by volunteers, that gives its profit to missions)
--real life friends
--the variety of fresh fruit in season this time of year (peaches, berries, melons)
--the humble zinnias outside my kitchen window, attracting a hummingbird and butterflies
--our son's new red (adaptive) tricycle!
--my husband, who goes to work every weekday to support his family
It's back-to-school time here already. Last week our son got new shoes and a haircut. This week, we'll pick up school supplies and a few clothes. It will be good to get back into a routine, but it's hard to bid the lazy days of summer goodby.
--the next generation of physical therapists, energetic and eager to learn so they'll be better able to serve (we went down to the university three weeks in a row, to help demonstrate)
--a modern washer and dryer
--the motivation to undertake a major de-cluttering of the house (the stuff goes to a thrift store staffed by volunteers, that gives its profit to missions)
--real life friends
--the variety of fresh fruit in season this time of year (peaches, berries, melons)
--the humble zinnias outside my kitchen window, attracting a hummingbird and butterflies
--our son's new red (adaptive) tricycle!
--my husband, who goes to work every weekday to support his family
It's back-to-school time here already. Last week our son got new shoes and a haircut. This week, we'll pick up school supplies and a few clothes. It will be good to get back into a routine, but it's hard to bid the lazy days of summer goodby.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Thursday, August 03, 2006
August thanksgiving 3: something to give
A number of years ago, I had a roommate who made more money than I did. She was comfortable; I scraped. One day, I had a conversation with her about money--how much was enough? She said that her desire was to have enough to cover her needs, with some left over to give to others. (She was more sanctified than I was, which was probably why she had more money. :-)
Today my son and I went down to the local University to help educate the next generation of physical therapy students. I gave them a brief health, developmental, and therapy history. They interviewed me about his current skill levels, played with him, and tried to motivate him to do things that were on his "cutting edge." Their perception of him changed over the hour we spent together.
We did a little bit to help the next group of parents that comes along, as parents before us did, for our benefit. After many years of taking, it's good to have something left over to give.
Today my son and I went down to the local University to help educate the next generation of physical therapy students. I gave them a brief health, developmental, and therapy history. They interviewed me about his current skill levels, played with him, and tried to motivate him to do things that were on his "cutting edge." Their perception of him changed over the hour we spent together.
We did a little bit to help the next group of parents that comes along, as parents before us did, for our benefit. After many years of taking, it's good to have something left over to give.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
August thanksgiving 2: indoor plumbing
I just read Rebecca's latest post, about outhouses being outlawed in Whitehorse, Yukon territory, in 1964. Both sets of my grandparents lived on farms, and had unused outhouses.
I spent two years at a mission in the Ontario bush. We had a rarely used outhouse. One year the plumbing in the building where the single female staff women lived froze up for several days; we had to use the outhouse in temperatures of 30F below zero. And I had the flu.
I am thankful for indoor plumbing.
* * * *
P.S. Last Sunday morning before the sermon, the minister prayed that those who were depressed, stress, or offended would be . . . . grateful.
I spent two years at a mission in the Ontario bush. We had a rarely used outhouse. One year the plumbing in the building where the single female staff women lived froze up for several days; we had to use the outhouse in temperatures of 30F below zero. And I had the flu.
I am thankful for indoor plumbing.
* * * *
P.S. Last Sunday morning before the sermon, the minister prayed that those who were depressed, stress, or offended would be . . . . grateful.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
August thanksgiving 1: air conditioning
All their lives, my parents have lived without air conditioning. Their house was built without it, and its windows would not accommodate the small add-in units. Earlier this year, they finally got new windows. However, they've asserted that they still do not need air conditioning; it would be too much of a hassle to put in, they've lived without it all these years, etc.
Finally, with this latest heat wave, my sister got worried, went to the local home improvement store, and showed up on their doorstep last week with an air conditioner masquerading as birthday gift. They gladly accepted it and immediately had my nephew mount it in a kitchen window.
The next day, they went back to the same store and got one for the bedroom. (Heat index of 104 today.)
P.S. Last November, Rebecca Writes declared a theme of thankfulness for the month and invited other readers to follow suit. I joined in, and it was the most memorable month I've had, blogging. I think she may do it again this year, and I'm doing a little warm-up in August, as a preview, to encourage more bloggers to join her this time around.
Finally, with this latest heat wave, my sister got worried, went to the local home improvement store, and showed up on their doorstep last week with an air conditioner masquerading as birthday gift. They gladly accepted it and immediately had my nephew mount it in a kitchen window.
The next day, they went back to the same store and got one for the bedroom. (Heat index of 104 today.)
P.S. Last November, Rebecca Writes declared a theme of thankfulness for the month and invited other readers to follow suit. I joined in, and it was the most memorable month I've had, blogging. I think she may do it again this year, and I'm doing a little warm-up in August, as a preview, to encourage more bloggers to join her this time around.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Vacation 4: Olbrich Botanical Gardens
English garden
Hollyhock
Perennial garden
The Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison are well worth taking time for. I've never seen such a wide variety of plants so well organized and cared for.
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