Happy New Year!

I hope you too are contemplating positive changes you wish to make in the New Year, although I am not much of one for New Year's resolutions. Apart from wishing to be more productive in general, I have a fond hope of seeing clutter drastically reduced yet again in our house. I think we are slowly making progress in the right direction--at least things are being given permanent homes and we are making some habits of tidying up paperwork right away. I just hope we are able to simplify things further in the coming year, since we are going to be super busy.

I hope you had a good Christmas, as did we. My parents had a great time with the kids and the kids are already asking when Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit again. As it happens, that will probably occur in mid-August or so, which will be a welcome summer visit. And my in-laws are planning a trek over as well, so I am hopeful of sharing the bountiful produce from our garden with them all.

I am certainly not sorry to say goodbye to the plagues and troubles of the past year. To put them in perspective, we have really had a soft year for troubles considering what so many others are facing. Still, I would be glad of a respite for a while from home repairs and necessary projects, and would like to see us put forth our efforts toward some worthwhile but 'optional' projects instead. It would be really fun to see the kids enjoying their free playset, for example, complete with sandbox and swings. I know they would get a lot of use of it, so hopefully we can get that up by mid-spring for full summer enjoyment.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2009. Let us hope that we greet the New Year with hope and contentment with our multitude of blessings, and consider too how we can all share them a bit more in the New Year. Happy New Year!

All I Want for Christmas

I want my linen closet back. Seriously. Its shelves are covered with construction materials and tools, while my linens are strewn all over the house in vacuum space bags. Our children are ripping them one by one by playing on them like their own version of the preformed foam play structures at the mall. I trip over two bags when I go into the laundry room to do laundry, I skirt around five in our bedroom, and have to move two more from in front of my sewing machine when I need to sew, or in front of the hall closet when I need to get something or put something away. I am really tired of it, almost more so than the whole lack of a tiled tub surround thing. It's just the last straw at this point, as I contemplate our cluttered surfaces and what needs to be done before my parents arrive on Sunday. I just don't need that "one more thing", know what I mean?

I know that I am going to continue to divest us of extraneous "stuff" in the coming year. In fact, if I can get my parents to be accommodating enough with the kids, I am going to clean out a few things while they are here. Maybe by setting a good example they will do the same in their house when they get home. I have no illusions about where I get my clutterbug tendencies from. What I am realizing, however, is that if you don't use something on a regular basis, it's really not necessary to have it in your house. There are a lot of things that can be multi-taskers, and the uni-taskers are getting the boot around here. I don't have the energy to put it all away and the kids certainly don't do us any favors in that respect.

I still don't have all the Christmas decorations up. Frankly there are 2 more things that I want to see up, and the rest I can happily see packed away in the attic until next year, when hopefully I will have more energy.

If you haven't checked it out, read Luke 16. Talk about a convicting chapter on money and how to be a wise steward of it! I am humbled by our abysmal money management, in particular my abysmal money management. That, too, needs to change in the New Year. I can't do it alone, though. I am going to have to stick to a plan and be accountable. It is hard to change bad habits, because they are so very comfortable to us here. Ugh. Ever noticed how what is the most comfortable is often the worst thing for you in the long term? Luke 16--it's all there. I'm telling you, we need to be accountable. I'm thinking it's time to call our friends who have successfully completed their debt snowball and get some serious monthly accountability going. Big sigh. Yeah, it's going to suck, but it's so completely necessary it's not even funny. We need to kiss our credit card debt goodbye yesterday with this economy. Wish us luck!

Mid-December Madness

Well as seems to be warranted with our house, there is always a perpetual problem popping up requiring prompt attention. (Boy would my English teacher Mrs. Wilson be proud of that alliteration...) Now we have an open neutral somewhere on the circuit that powers most of our bedroom and our son's bedroom. Oh joy. After checking all the non-working outlets and the working outlets adjacent to the non-working ones, my DH thinks he has pinpointed the trouble spot to be a poor splice that is probably in the attic. We spotted this little bit of wire and electrical tape over by the far wall once when we were up there, and said to ourselves that this was something that required further investigation. Apparently that time has come, because from what we can figure out, that is where some prior owner spliced in the electrical line for the exterior lights on the cottage/garage. It's sort of a good thing that they left it sort of poking up there from the wall, because if that had done it correctly with a junction box we would have no idea that it was there. DH suspects that the pigtail going back to the outlet on my side of the bed has come loose, which gives us an open neutral on the rest of the circuit. So we are going to buy a junction box and properly install it in the attic, and DH is going to ensure that splice is correct so we don't need to worry about fire hazards and such. In the meantime, we are on day two of the circuit remaining off for safety, and I am using a floor lamp with an extension cord for our bedroom.



Additionally, I have finally solved the MIL present dilemma and hastily shipped off a cute old-style photograph of the kiddos to her, with enough time that it should arrive before Christmas and be safely tucked under the tree. MIL was a bit sad that there was no present for her under the tree in the box I shipped earlier, and that left DH & I scrambling to find something appropriate. I mean, the reason there was nothing in there for her, was that we didn't find anything she'd like or would use! So given the exorbitant cost of shipping things to Ireland, it didn't seem wise to ship something that we knew was just useless crap. We fall on the old standbys of gift cards when nothing appropriate presents itself on this side of the water, and thus was my MIL left with no personally wrapped and addressed present. *sigh* As an aside, how is it that wives get stuck with the Christmas shopping for their husband's family?? Anyway, I feel confident she will love the photo and we can send along an accessory for her new mobile phone from an Irish website, and we're done. *Phew* Fortunately DH's brother-in-law and younger sister will be just as happy with gift cards, so we just have to order those and call it good.



I also have not bought anything for my mother, or my grandparents or great aunt. I should be able to get Wal Mart gift cards or some such for my grandparents and great aunt, as they are too old for useless stuff and I know they would actually use and appreciate the money toward their Wal Mart purchases. My mom is a bit more puzzling, because despite her Amazon wishlist there is nothing that really screams, "I would love this!" We got a pass this year on my dad because my siblings and I chipped in on a really expensive Shun knife that he wanted, so I know he will use it and love it. It's harder to convince myself that my mom will love getting the new Enya Christmas CD on Christmas Day (if she hasn't bought it for herself already), or a new pair of Lee Women's pants in chocolate twill. Just not feeling the love there. She buys her favorite author's books as soon as they come out, and again, pre-ordering a book that is not out for four months is just a little weeny for my taste.



We are still working through the massive pile of Christmas cards that need to be addressed and mailed off. It's great on the one hand to have so many friends and family, but on the other hand it is a lot of work too. I am just hoping that more of our friends reciprocate, because I really love getting Christmas cards. It's the right thing to do to send the cards, but it's hard to justify sending out 200+ cards if you only get about 50-60 in return.



And I still don't have all the Christmas decorations up. Both trees are in the house, and upright...but only one is fully decorated. I was working on the other one today, but discovered that the new lights we just bought at Wal Mart do not work. Grrrrr...*eye tic* So now I get to return them to Wal Mart, and go to another store to buy more lights (because really, if the first box didn't work, who in their right mind would buy the same brand again?).



Did I mention that the bathroom isn't done yet? Yeah. No tub surround. Not even the tile backerboard up. Does this annoy me? Oh yeah, you bet it does. My parents arrive in a little over a WEEK. I would like to have tile up, thanks. You know, the whole progress thing that indicates that our children will SOMEDAY be able to have baths again in their new $400 tub. Little things like that. And my drywall seaming is still too imperfect for my liking, so I have to smooth over some of the rough spots and re-texture the walls, then re-paint those areas. I don't think we'll ever be done.



And we have other good stuff and bad stuff going on too. DH stepped on a nail on Sunday and had to get a tetanus shot. We had a coyote in our yard yesterday morning, which I had to scare off (I don't want them feeling at home in our yard, TYVM). At least the small birds seem to have rediscovered the suet feeder, which I finally re-hung after being certain that large mammals of the genus Ursus would be hibernating by now. And DH is actually getting a Christmas bonus, which is a big praise in this day and age! Of course it is all going to our debt snowball, but YAY REDUCTION OF DEBT!



Nothing to do but press on, I'm afraid. I still have apples to can. Someday, I will be done...someday...

Day 9, Luke 9

Sorry for the silence on this end. As you know it is a busy time of year, and we've had a lot on our plates this past week. Still I think it's best to pick up on the right day and move right along, so here we are at Luke 9.

There is a lot packed into this chapter (as usual!), but I'm going to focus on something that Jesus comes back to twice in the chapter: the selflessness required of his followers (that is to say, Christians). Verses 23-27:
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."

This strikes at the very essence of who we are. We are created beings, not some random assortment of proteins and cellular organelles that functions at an amazingly high level. If you ever learn a bit of microbiology, it becomes incredibly apparent that the functions of a "simple" cell could never arise by chance. Yet we live in a world where the common wisdom dictates that we are a law unto ourselves, and we delude ourselves that we control what goes on around us and that we are the ultimate arbiters of good and evil, justice and injustice, etc. Yet I think that there is a core to all of us, a soul, where we know that this is not the case, and in fact we are the created beings, who were created for a purpose. We can't even claim the privilege of knowing that purpose, which for such unceasingly arrogant creatures drives us a bit batty sometimes. And yet here we have Jesus, the Son of God, saying that in order for us to really save ourselves, to really distill out that essence of who were created to be, we must submit ourselves to Him so completely that we essentially give up our lives to Him. This is the core of Christian belief, and one that probably sounds like gobbledy-gook to those who don't know Jesus personally. Yet I challenge you to think of Christians who so selflessly gave of themselves and not see how they were refined with time to become beacons of humanity, of goodness and justice and mercy. Mother Teresa? Billy Graham? Peter Marshall? They were all luminous, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who knew them or knew of them, who would not say there was something amazingly different about them.

I wonder how much of a difference we Christians would really make if we took that command to give up our lives for Christ more seriously. I think we often fall into the trap of the three would-be followers who sought to follow Jesus in the last part of the chapter (v. 57-62). These three men displayed a love of their worldly possessions and status, a desire to put the world's concerns before the Lord's concerns, and a wrong ordering of priorities. Especially in this country, we have been given many good and powerful blessings. But seeking to secure those blessings, or puting them ahead of the God who gave them to us, is sinful and wrong. What number of errors would we avoid, if we (and especially I) put Jesus in his rightful place, first on the list, all of the time instead of occasionally? I think we would be so happy to fully pour ourselves out at his feet, in his service, instead of dripping ourselves out a meager dropperful at a time.

A Christmas Study-Day 3

Today I am reading Luke 3. The main focus of the chapter is John the Baptist, who is Jesus' cousin and the "voice in the wilderness" before the coming of the Lord. There was a lot here, but what I want to focus on are two things: that the One who was to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire; and Jesus' genealogy.

John continually focused his followers on Jesus, who was to come after him, and tailored his message to prepare the hearts of the Jews and Gentiles for repentance. The passage talks about John being asked a question by some soldiers, and we don't know if these were Roman soldiers (Gentiles) or Jewish soldiers, possibly of Herod. In any case, John is clearly emphasizing that his role is only that of a messenger, and he points to the coming Messiah as the One who can work real change and clean up everything.

Of course when Jesus is baptized, it is very clear that he is anointed by God. I would think that the sight of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending from heaven and alighting on Jesus would have been pretty spectacular for those watching, and that's not even mentioning the voice from heaven saying Jesus was His Son in whom He was well pleased!

I'm sure you're wondering why I am interested in Jesus' genealogy. Well, it's important because there are so many prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament, and they were very specific as to whose line he would be descended from. The text makes a point of saying that Jesus was supposed (i.e. assumed) to be Joseph's son, when in fact we know that he was not Joseph's biological son. However, as the firstborn, Jesus held all the rights of inheritance and such from Joseph, and also was legally viewed to be his offspring. Thus, legally, he was descended from Joseph's line. Therefore it was very important that Luke verified Jesus' lineage, to show that he did rightfully lay claim to being the "Lion of Judah" and "from the line of David".

We're coming up on Jesus' start to his ministry--stay tuned!

You Didn't Lead Me Wrong, Mario

Today was my last day of class for this quarter. I had a pretty intensive set of exams set for my students, but I think they pulled through. To celebrate, DH & the kids and myself went to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch beforehand. I have been craving Mexican food of late...perhaps because I know that all of our friends in Arizona are enjoying gorgeous weather now while we shiver here in the Pacific NW. In any case, I had my fill of salsa and fajitas before supervising the exams, and in the mellow mood that pervaded the house when I got home, DH & I played on the Wii while our kids alternately cheered us on and devised clever new games like "camp out" in DS' room, which as far as I can tell consisted of moving objects around to form a "camp" and then turning the lights off. *shrug* No one was hurt and no bones broken, so I consider that a good game.

Anyhow, the subject of dinner came up, and we really didn't want anything heavy. DH suggested French toast, and I was struck with the serendipitous remembrance of a Mario Batali cooking program I saw once, where he made French toast with pannetone. For those of you who have never tried this ambrosia-like, soft, sweet, heavenly really nice bread, it's a soft, eggy yeast bread filled with soft raisins and candied citrus peel, and occasionally pistachios. Really nice, and although as my foggy memory suggested Mario had made a French toast bake with it, I suggested to DH we use some of the pannetone I purchased at Costco for the purpose.

Ahhhhhhhh!!! Words fail to describe how lovely this dinner was. Topped with some of our maple syrup, it was light and delicious. The fruit & citrus gave it a really nice flavor, and I devoured three pieces before I stopped myself. SO GOOD!! Of course, DH was miffed that I planned to give Mario all the credit in my blog. He said, "I didn't follow a Mario Batali recipe you know! I just used the pannetone to make the french toast!" So consider yourself credited, DH. I think this will become a regular Christmas staple in our house, yes-sirree.

It's a dangerous time of year for indulgences. You want to be able to say, "what the heck, it's Christmas, I can eat (a pint of ice cream) (a huge slice of TWO pies) (three appetizers)!" Um, no. I'm afraid the scale is not kind to that way of thinking come January. In fat, (Haha) I am pretty sure I am still sporting 10 extra pounds from last Christmas. So I really ought to make an effort to avoid saying yes to myself all the time. *ahem* Right after I mop up this last piece of pannetone french toast...

A Christmas Study-Day 2

Today I'm in Luke 2. As is usual with anything associated with government, Joseph & Mary had the vast inconvenience of traveling a good distance away from their home in Nazareth, a total of nearly 90 miles and over increasing elevation, to reach Bethlehem for the census decreed by Caesar. I found it interesting that Luke notes that Mary was only pledged to be married to Joseph--so they were in fact not married at this time. I have thought that Joseph must have had a hard row to hoe, as it was abundantly clear to all their friends and family that Mary was pregnant. The fact that he did not break their engagement would have bespoke in their minds that he had slept with her before their marriage, and surely he must have endured a great deal of shame and censure for his presumed behavior. Furthermore it is made clear that he did not sleep with her at all until after Jesus was born, another hard thing. After all, he was bearing the blame for her pregnancy, and he had none of the enjoyment of a wife! I think he must have been a very patient and faithful man to be so obedient to the Lord.

If you remember how Mary & Zechariah were shocked and afraid by the appearance of one angel, imagine how the shepherds must have felt at the appearance of a whole host of angels announcing the birth of Christ! It says they were afraid, but once the angels had disappeared they immediately set off to find the child and see him for themselves. Once they had found him, they told everyone what they had seen and heard, and many were amazed. Importantly, they praised God for all they had been told. Clearly they regarded it as a high blessing and honor to be told of the birth of the Messiah, and by an angel no less, who was then accompanied by a "host" of angels praising God! What a fantastic sight they must have had, to see the heavens illuminated with the glory of God and hear his angels praise Him!

When Mary & Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem to sacrifice for him, there are two people in the Temple who were told specifically by God that they would see the Messiah before they died. One, Simeon, is called specifically to the Temple by the Holy Spirit at that specific time to see Jesus. First we must remember that there were likely many people going to and fro in the Temple, so the fact that Simeon picked Jesus out of the crowd and then praised God openly for him was extraordinary. And he prophesied to Mary about him, saying, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." It says that Mary & Joseph marveled over what was said about Jesus, and even as Simeon was done another came up, Anna, and gave thanks to God for him. What a moment for these two parents, to have two complete strangers single out their new son and identify him as the light of salvation for Israel!

We are told that Jesus grew strong and wise, and full of the grace of God. When he is 12, they go to Jerusalem for the Passover, and Jesus remains behind while Joseph & Mary travel back home. It is worth noting that 12 is the customary age of a Jewish boy's bar mitzvah, and at this time he would be considered a man. Mary & Joseph return to Jerusalem to find him when they discover he is not part of their family party, and it takes them three days to find him. At last they find him at the Temple, and he is discussing theology with the best teachers in the Temple, who were "amazed at his understanding and his answers". His parents ask why he has treated them this way, and Jesus replies, "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" Clearly Jesus has already identified himself with his Father God. (This is very complicated theology, the full divinity and at the same time full humanity of Jesus Christ, so I'm not going to go into more detail here!)

Lastly, it is mentioned several times that Mary "stores up and ponders" the things that others say of her son in her heart. He must have been a great mystery to Mary, this son of hers. She was told he would save Israel, but the how was a complete mystery to the Jews. Most assumed the Messiah would be a warrior king, riding in with a large army and routing all their enemies, bringing them all peace and prosperity. The concept of a Messiah who would sacrifice himself for them all (and even Gentiles) was probably ludicrous to most. That Mary was contemplating all quietly in her heart suggests to me a woman who was trying to figure out this puzzle and exactly what role God had for her son. I simply cannot imagine what it must have been like to raise Jesus Christ from babyhood. What great stories she must have to tell! Good stuff.

A Christmas Study: Day 1

Today being the first day of December, I decided to start a 24 day Bible study which was suggested by one of my friends. The book of Luke has 24 chapters, so if I read one per day, I will finish up right at Christmas Day. To help myself be accountable, I am going to blog about my reading each day. I am just going to discuss things I find interesting in the passage, and may we all be blessed by it. I will still write some regular blogs too, but hopefully I will stay on track and get the right perspective for Christmas.

Of course, Jesus wasn't born in December, or whatever month it was before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. In all likelihood, most Bible scholars agree that he was most likely born during Sukkot, a.k.a. the Feast of Tabernacles. The shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks by night? They were most likely watching over the Passover lambs. Rather fitting, then, that the angel of the LORD should call them to view the final Passover Lamb!

So, in Luke 1, we see that the whole book of Luke is a letter written by Luke to a fellow Christian, Theophilus; and that Luke was not in fact a firsthand witness of all the events he describes, but relates them from firsthand witness accounts, which he says he "carefully investigated everything from the beginning". Given that he starts with an account of the conception and birth of John the Baptist, followed by Mary's visitation by Gabriel and visit to Elizabeth while pregnant with Jesus, it's nice to note that the author was being scrupulous to lay out his perspective and limitations. Indeed it makes sense that Jesus' disciples would have had to investigate the circumstances of his birth, seeing as none of them were present at the time!

There is an interesting contrast presented by the responses of Zechariah and Mary to the appearance of the angel Gabriel and his messages to each of them. Remember that at this time, the Jewish people had been without a true prophet for nearly 400 years. (The word "prophet" means one who speaks the message of God by God's authority, not necessarily including the prediction of future events, as we commonly associate the term 'prophecy' today.) Thus Zechariah as a Levite and priest of God, was intimately familiar with the words of the prophets of old, and also with the Jewish historical texts which had been written in the intervening 400 years (including the Book of the Maccabees and others).

However, no one had spoken with authority from God for 20 generations, and I believe this had resulted in a similiar state for Zechariah as we experience today--that of skepticism and 'practical mindedness'. When Gabriel told him that he was to have a son, his response is one of incredulity and disbelief: "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years". As a Jew who had not seen or heard the Word of God spoken with authority by a prophet, or seen any miraculous interventions from God, nor heard of such from any firsthand witnesses, he was lulled into a state of complacency and apathy about the God he served. Oh sure, Jehovah was to be feared, but He didn't actually cause anything to happen these days. Nope, they were just waiting on the Messiah to come and bring them all a new and better life.

Zechariah is rightly called out by Gabriel for his unbelieving response. "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time." Ouch! Talk about a zinger of a reproof for Zechariah for his unbelief and faithlessness! A priest who knew full well all the accounts of God's miracles and signs to Israel, and as had happened so many times in Israel's history, he had slipped into a lull of apathy about the mighty God he served.

Contrast this to Mary's response when Gabriel appears to her and tells her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Mary had been scared at the appearance of the angel, just as Zechariah had been. And her response is not very different:
"'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'"

It doesn't seem so very different from Zechariah's response, does it? Let's look closer. Zechariah's answer seems to indicate unbelief, as he said, "How can I be sure of this?" Instead of asking how it will happen, Zechariah looks for some form of substantive proof or evidence in contrast to what he knows of he & his wife and their physical state. He looks for something to assure him that what the angel has said is true, other than the very miracle of the angel appearing to him at all, let alone speaking to him and promising him an answer to his prayer for a son!

Mary, on the other hand, asks how such a thing could be possible, since she is a virgin. So Gabriel tells her that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her, and tells her that nothing is impossible with God. Mary's response to this is very telling. She says, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." Clearly, Mary does not need evidential proof of her upcoming pregnancy. She accepts the angel at his word and humbly affirms her faith and service to God.

We live in an age of skepticism, where people have a very hard time believing in anything that they cannot touch or see or explain in a way that makes sense to them. I once heard a Christian posit that the reason we do not 'see' as many miracles today is because our hearts are so hard, we would not recognize them as such even when they did occur. I do wonder if we are not surrounded by miracles, continuing evidence of God's presence and activity in our lives, but dismiss them often as something else. In an age of David Blaines and David Copperfields, are we not jaded and incapable of seeing the hand of the Almighty?

I find myself wondering if I am more of a Zechariah, asking God to prove what He has said will happen, or a Mary, humbly accepting and trusting in faith that He will do what He said He would. I fear it is more of the former than the latter, and how tiresome that must be to the One who walked on water, healed the blind, sick, and the lame, and rose from the dead. How often I confine myself to the 'logical', despite knowing that "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight." (1 Cor. 3:19a), and "...the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 I pray that God will make me more focused on the spiritually discerned truths and less focused on the foolish wisdom of this world. For what comfort was offered to my sister-in-law by the concept that her lost baby was just a blob of tissue? What succor is granted to someone who has lost their child to the caprice of an unjust criminal? To where can we ultimately go for the justice that our hearts cry out for, if there is no God who has placed that desire in our breasts? How then would we be different than the animals? I am honored to serve a God who is sovereign in all things; and though I cannot see the picture he is weaving from my thread of a life, or how he uses the shortest fragments of lives like that of my lost nephew, I trust that He is working out a grand and beautiful picture. Yes, I have chosen to lie flat and be woven by the Master, and I am gratified that He has chosen me as part of His design.

The Hidey Hole

I'll bet you thought I was going to talk about a place my kids have created, where they squirrel themselves away to be by themselves and at peace. However, I am talking about myself, and my bedroom. Lately it's been just a wee bit stressful around here. If I didn't know better (and I don't, by the way), I'd say it's been a spiritual attack zone level one around here. (And that doesn't refer to some secret code, it's just my way of saying that we've had enough dark forces at work in our lives for quite a while, thanks.)

Today we got knocked with more zingers. First, Hubby's employer wanted him to travel again next week. Uh, no. Chiefly because Hubby is presenting the master's thesis that his company paid for a week from today, and it's sort of important that he be at home to finish it up, yes? Yes, they agreed, that is important...what about the week after that. Hubby said, "Well, that is Thanksgiving, and frankly I have family commitments that I wouldn't be able to easily move...plus I'd spend a day flying there and a day flying back, for a total of two days working...it doesn't make much sense." Yes, they agreed, that would be silly. As yet unmentioned is the prospect of the week following, so I am waiting for that little shoe to drop.

And, I was urgently messaged on Google by my mother-in-law to tell me that she couldn't get in touch with DH, and to please let him know right away that his sister (my SIL) was in the hospital with a suspected blood clot in her LUNG. OH boy. This is my SIL who had a miscarriage this summer while we were there visiting, so the poor woman has had her plentiful share of doctors and hospitals already this year. And, she is severely anemic, something that she also had when she was pregnant. Er, shouldn't that ring some alarm bells with some M.D. over there? Hmmm, we have a patient who has been severely anemic for nine months, perhaps something serious is going on??? Pardon me while I thank God for our sue-happy society which at least makes doctors afraid for their heinies if they miss something, thus ensuring they will run every test known to man (and believe me I know the downside of becoming a lab pincushion, having been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt myself several times). Over in Ireland it's apparently a shrug and wait-and-see kind of approach. Yeah. CT scan confirmed a blood clot and now she is in the hospital overnight, shot up in the tummy with fun meds to help the clot dissolve, and can anticipate being on blood thinners for the next six months. She is THIRTY NINE, people! And HEALTHY! This should not be happening to a healthy 39 year old woman and mother of two and lovely person, I might add. So now we wait to find out what the heck is going on that she is so anemic and her body is throwing out clots.

And, on top of all that joy, a very good friend of ours from church has also been hospitalized today for head pain. She has battled migraines and tension headaches for years, but apparently they can't control the pain with meds and she has some inflammation in her neck or something. She and her husband are waiting for the doctors to explain exactly what the heck they are doing to her, what tests they are running and why, etc. And she was dehydrated and had 2 bags of IV fluids. So a total mystery going on there, and who knows how long they are going to keep her in the hospital or what they think might be going on. So not bueno.

So I have been spending a lot of time lately in my hidey hole, namely, our bedroom. I am glad we made a semi-high priority of decorating it as a peaceful, serene room when we moved in, because I am really using it as a sanctuary nowadays. I have spent more time in our bedroom in the past three weeks than I usually spend in there in three months. My favorite version of "Pride and Prejudice" has been playing almost non-stop, and I have re-read the book and Pamela Aidan's Darcy series a few times too. It is just soothing to my nerves right now, something which I sorely need.

And now, if you will excuse me, I think there is a soulful Colin Firth calling my name, along with a big mug of tea and some sudoku puzzles, beckoning from the comfort of my bed. I don't know if I will come out again, so if you don't hear from me, assume I am enshrouded in bed and loudly singing "La la la!" to myself.

The Delusion of Child Messes

When you become a parent, somehow you think that you are going to find better ways to do everything. You will do a better job of introducing your kids to healthy foods. You will get them to voluntarily pick up their rooms. You will avoid the annoying toys and the extremely messy/dirty activities, or manage to contain them. You are sure you can do all of this and remain sane.

Play Doh will be kept in separate colors so it won't turn into the perennial gray green that every tub of playdoh at daycare or church becomes two seconds after it is opened. YOUR children will only play with it on a designated table only, and you will not let it get tracked or moved all over the house. You say to yourself, "Well, if I buy this cute little sandpit with a cover, the kids won't get sand everywhere and it will stay dry." You even splurge for the extra high walls to prevent sand creeping onto your lawn. What you don't think about is the fact that instead of worrying about sand escaping at will as your children play, you should be worrying about how much will make its way into your house in the form of sandy hands, bodies, and clothing.

Well, I'm here to vouch for the fact that it's just not possible to avoid or even contain messes. Even if you try to avoid messy toys or games, your kids will find them by themselves. And even when you think you have a toy that is contained to a certain season, think again! I thought with our sand table being put away for the winter, our children would be forced to amuse themselves with the plethora of fall leaves and sticks on the lawn, and all the cool creatures crawling around in the leaf litter. Well, I was partly right. They did entertain themselves with that for about half an hour, then they went back to their (wet) Jeep and other stuff by the house. Fine. I was occupied raking leaves from our 100 ft plus big leaf maple, so as long as they weren't killing each other, I was happy. Then I heard the scream and crying, and saw from my decent distance away that my son had a dirty face. I thought it was dirt. Yeah. No, it was play sand...wet play sand at that. DD had shoved/thrown it in his face. When I asked her why she did that, she said, "I wanted a sand fight." *ahem*

One time-out for DD, shower for DS (remember that bit about clothing with sand? Well, add in a cloth DIAPER full of sand), clean clothes, and chill-out nursing session later, and everyone is happy again. Except that I had to sweep up tons of sand from my bedroom and bathroom floor, and I haven't finished rinsing the sand down the sink drain or shower drain yet. I had to change my clothes after wrestling DS out of his, so yet another laundry load is in the wash.

And that Play Doh? Well, after holding out for nearly four years and insisting that DD only play with one color at a time, I finally threw caution to the wind while DH was gone last week and let the kids play with five colors at once. And you know what, it was okay. They don't mind the gray green, and they had a blast with their rainbow Play Doh while it lasted. And really it didn't matter what color it was, I still had about a bazillion dried out pieces to vacuum and sweep up after they were done. I guess I've just realized that childhood is supposed to be messy...I can try to keep it contained most of the time, but I wouldn't want to have a spotless house if it meant my kids didn't enjoy their toys and their messes. Have dustpan, will parent!

Slothfulness Here I Come

I've been pretty quiet on here for the past few weeks, as you've probably (hopefully) noticed. It has not been just the product of my insane amount of multi-tasking, but also the result of my DH's work trips to Memphis for the past two weeks. He gets home today and I am pooped! I don't know how families with a parent who travels a lot actually accomplish anything. I have fed myself and the children fast food or convenience food for about one meal per day. I quickly exhausted leftovers in the freezer and at dinnertime I am especially vulnerable to convenience. I have had enough take-out pizza and fast food chicken nuggets to last me for a while, I think.

It is perhaps a good thing that I was not allowed to be so slothful as to never tidy up the house while DH has been gone. He has been home for the weekends and pitched in to get the kids to tidy up their toys and such, but in addition I have had babysitters in the house on my teaching days, and I have had friends over for playdates to keep a bit of fresh perspective and sanity. Nothing like having a Navy wife over, whose husband is currently on a multi-month deployment, to make me stop carping about my terrible luck having a husband who has to be gone for nearly two whole weeks!

However, it is a lot of work being "on" all the time for children. Evenings are the most dreadful, because I am tired after dealing with them all day, and there is still a lot of work involved in getting dinner on the table, getting into PJs, getting teeth brushed and getting both of them put to bed, solo. I have been very cranky, and it shows. That is the time of day when they are most likely to be missing Daddy and cry for him (and having a cranky Mommy putting them to bed doesn't help, I imagine).

So, that has me feeling pretty beat. And I had to deal with some other issues, too, in DH's absence. The night before he left, we had a clog in our sewer line that backed up sewage into our shower stall, new bathtub, and hole for the kids' bathroom toilet that is currently plugged up with a towel. Yeah. Suffice it to say, cleaning up sewage from our bathroom shower, new tub, and not completely laid tile floor in the other bathroom, SUCKED. Did I mention that this was at about 9:30 pm? And DH was leaving the next day? DH got to stand out in the dark and cold with the rooter guy while he dug up our septic and snaked back from there. That's how we found out that our septic needed to be pumped. Oh joy. So I had to schedule that (for the day I was teaching, don't you know) and also had to play phone tag with three friends trying to get a babysitter, due to people having jury duty (maybe), a husband's heart stress test (cancelled, as it turned out) and a mother-in-law arriving on Friday. Yipper, I like knowing I HAVE to go to work without having someone definitively in place to watch my kids until the morning of. Totally non-stressful!

On top of that, I have been plagued with technological devils too. My laptop hard drive died, just went tttthhhhpppppttt!! at me and refused to be seen when I booted up the computer. A pain in the ass, to be sure, but ordinarily not a super huge deal. Except we are only 3 weeks into this quarter, I was out of the habit of emailing my grade file to myself (not teaching for the whole summer will do that to you), and I hadn't emailed my grades to myself. Guess what that means? Sending it off to a data recovery service, with an expected pricepoint of $500 and counting to get that file I have to have. Oh, joy. I hope they can get that file for me, or I am going to be facing some unpleasant alternatives. Thank you, I needed that new pilfering of our already depleted emergency fund. *sigh* And, my online moms' group which I have been participating in since 2004, has to move websites and that has resulted in confusion and basically a total non-participation by everyone, because no one knows which of the new sites we are actually committing to using, and since no one is posting on the original site, we haven't even had a proper discussion about it. I suspect this is in large part due to the fact that once we tried to move to their new partner site, the original site came up with a message that took up the whole screen and appeared (at least to me) as if they had already taken down our old site. Ugh. It's just a PITA, and I have been too busy to keep up with any discussions that are taking place across three different websites. Sorry, I just don't have the bandwidth!!

And my husband is in the final two weeks of his thesis writing for his master's degree. This would be the master's degree he started years ago, and only has to complete the thesis in order to receive it. The degree that his company has paid for. And now he is up against the clock because the school changed their requirements and this is the absolute last chance to squeak through with his old class requirements. And he's hemming and hawing to me about what he's actually, you know, WRITTEN, which makes me worry hugely about whether he is going to finish it in time. November 19th, and he is either done or he fails. Yeah. I am not happy about him waiting this long to do it. Seriously, he started this master's way before children. He even participated in the graduation ceremony, that his parents flew over from Ireland specifically to attend...even though he wasn't technically finished. Am I a bit steamed about him not doing it before? You think? Yepper. Believe me, he knows this. He also knows I have little sympathy for him, since he was a serious pain in my ass when I was writing my dissertation, so many, many moons ago. I got it done by getting up at 4 AM and writing until I burned out, for many weeks. So I am not a sympathetic ear, and hearing him prevaricate about whether he's going to actually finish, well, it pisses me off not a little. And that means that even though it's not my employer, it's not my degree, and it's not my thesis, I am sweating it out right along with him.

So I am very much looking forward to imitating a three toed sloth and not bestirring myself for anything over the next few days. I need a break, badly, from all of this crap. I need to go to Barnes & Noble, plop my butt down on a comfy chair, and read a book from start to finish without worrying once about my children, house, hard drive, unfinished bathroom, budget, my husband's job, thesis, or what have you. Whether or not this is actually going to be possible remains to be seen (thesis deadline? Yeah). I might just have to get a babysitter, boot my DH out of the house with his papers & laptop to go hibernate at Starbucks and WRITE THAT THESIS MISTER NO MORE EXCUSES! while I hie myself to Barnes & Noble and the quiet of a nice book. Now if I can just work the budget out sans my Quicken files to find the money to pay her...

Multi-Tasking Run Amok

Here I am again: another fun reality moment, when I caught myself stirring up roasting pumpkin seeds with a seam ripper. Yes, a seam ripper. I am not well. How did this come to pass? It is the frightening result of too much multi-tasking, my friends. Exactly how many projects/tasks am I working on right now? Let's count them up.

1. My son's Halloween costume. I saw a cute knight outfit, but it cost waaaaaay too much money. So I said, "Shoot, I can make that myself!" and promptly went to Joann (coupons in hand, of course) and bought material and trimmings. Of course, I was then kicking myself when I saw a knight costume for $14 at Wal Mart two weeks later. D'oh!
2. My daughter's princess dress. Luckily for me, this is a play-clothes dress for Christmas, so I've got time. Good thing, since the pattern and all the components are still sitting in the bag.
3. Repairing four BumGenius diapers. I saw them on sale for $5 each, thought it was a cheap way to add to our stash, and bought them. I should have taken a closer look at the diapers we already had so that I fully acknowledged what it would mean to replace shot leg elastic. Each leg has three seams to rip out before I can get to the elastic. I am close to saying that Cotton Babies swindled me out of $15. Luckily the last one is merely shot Velcro, which is far easier to replace, but alas, requires seam ripping as well.
4. Canning apples & pears in many permutations. Yes, I am still sitting on a half bushel of pears and a bushel of apples. See previous entry regarding effort involved. *sigh*
5. Shopping, wrapping, and packaging all Christmas gifts for DH's family, and shipping them before it costs a small fortune to do so. That means trying to ship them sometime in the next week. We are buying gift cards for all adults save one (I already bought something for one of DH's sisters), but I still have some things to ship.
6. Putting up fall decorations. This also involves thoroughly cleaning our pigsty disaster zone *ahem* home in the process. Bwahahaha!! Yeah, it's really high on my priority list, as you can see. I'm thinking we might be skipping fall and going straight to the Christmas decorations, just so I have them up before New Year's. Heck, I'm already wrapping the presents, why not?
7. Working on our bathroom drywall seams, wall texturing, priming, and painting. And laying tile. And putting on paper the design and all the cuts required for the tub surround. Yeah. Good stuff, huh? I am now wondering if we will be done by Thanksgiving.

This is on top of my REGULAR job as, you know, housekeeper and Mom Who Keeps Her Children Intact-for-the-Most-Part-by-the-Grace-of-God. And school chaffeur, what with DD's preschool thrice-weekly. And CFO! Let's not forget CFO! Chief bill payer and budgeter extraordinaire, that's me.

And that is why I was stirring roasting pumpkin seeds with a seam ripper. Because I was keeping my son intact, having discovered him with my seam ripper from the aforementioned diapers, and raced back to stir the pumpkin seeds I was roasting from the sugar pumpkins which were already roasted and food processed and bagged, cooling on the counter (away from little fingers) before freezer storage. Does it scare you? Because it does me, and we're not even close to Christmas yet. I have visions of myself cleaning the bird cage with an empty wrapping paper roll and giving my daughter stamps to use as stickers on her crafts. Stay tuned.

Can, Baby, Can

My house is overrun with produce. Not only has the first hard frost precipitated me yanking every remaining carrot, tomato, and other edible squash from the vegetable garden, but we are also awash with free apples and pears from our neighbor's fruit trees.

You see, I had to go and order a canner. I looked for one in the thrift shops, but I think I waited too late in the season to begin hunting for one, and got stuck paying full price. However, I think it is paying for itself with the glistening jars of canned goodies that I've put up already. Canning is very easy, actually, if you stick to a boiling water canner and high acid foods. Fortunately for us, that is all that we are interested in canning, so it is working out well as a way to preserve garden largesse.

Thus far, I have made 4 quarts of applesauce, 4 half pints of apple jelly, 2 quarts and 2 pints of apple pie filling, 2 twelve ounce and 2 six ounce jars of honey spiced peach jam, and 3 pints of honey spiced peaches. Oh and 7 six ounce jars of blackberry jelly. I have strained pulp, cooked apple peels in water (to make the apple jelly, a process which imparts a beautiful pink color to the jelly from the peels), used plenty of cheesecloth and managed to burn myself on the chin (now I know that applesauce 'burps' when it's being cooked), and I'm not even half done. I still have about four quarts of blackberries to use up in the freezer, not to mention about a bushel of pears and a bushel of apples on my kitchen floor. And I have six sugar pumpkins to roast and freeze. And carrots to clean, peel, and freeze.

I really enjoy the product, but it's a lot of work getting there. Free is good, so I hate to turn down free apples. In fact another neighbor has a tree full which I haven't even touched yet. I'm trying to plow through the rest of what I've got, and then I will hopefully get a second wind and pick more apples, to repeat the process again.

Of course my husband is all in favor of these endeavors. He said my apple pie filling tastes just like McDonalds' apple pies, which is a great compliment in his mind. I just followed the recipe from Ball's website, so if it happens to taste like Mickey-D's, that is something they will have to take up with the Ball folks. And truthfully I love all the goodies too. They are pretty in their jars, and certainly we will be (and already have been) gifting them to friends and neighbors for Christmas gifts. However, I would like to know how the old pioneer women found a way to, you know, keep the rest of their house from sliding into FILTH while they were putting up all their preserves and so forth. Our house once again is a scene of chaos and apparent bomb debris, the product of our two energetic children and my tired self. Tonight is grading night, too, since I teach tomorrow.

Wah, wah, wah. I know, I'm whining about having too much good stuff! I will be very happy when this season of harvest is over and I can put my feet up by the woodstove and relax a bit. And don't even ask about the bathroom. Quite frankly it's almost as if we don't HAVE a guest bathroom any more. I have more drywalling mud sanding to do, more drywall mudding to do, painting to do...and I just couldn't be bothered. My husband has been working like a Trojan getting the tile cut and laid on the floor, but I am just tired of dealing with it. Sometime I'm going to have to drag myself away from my apple mounds and get back in there and deal with it. Not, however, today...I am going to set up that peeler/corer gizmo, borrowed from another neighbor, and make some pear butter. With cardamom, because it's better that way. And some tawny port, since DH opened the bottle. So there. :~P

Austen Lit Reviews, for all my Fellow Austen Fans!!

Ok, I should be doing so many other things, but I have to let you know that I have discovered a new favorite (favourite, for my English friends) genre of novels, called Austen lit, or Austen fan-fiction. Basically, a bunch of crazy women (and yes, they are mostly women) who can't get enough of Jane Austen's novels have written a whole bunch of books which are spin-offs or "what if..." books centered around her famous novels and most famous characters. As you can imagine, I nearly swooned with delight to find so many books exploring my favorite novels of all time, and have devoured a bunch of them, which were handily given to me as birthday presents a month ago.

First, I have a few rules regarding these Austen spin-offs. One, I make every effort to avoid books which take Jane Austen's characters and put them into a seamy Regency romance novel. I really do not need to read vivid imaginings about Darcy & Elizabeth's sex life, thanks much. Second, I have also attempted to avoid novels which (in my very humble opinion) portray the characters in what I feel to be un-characteristic ways. I adore Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, so it is difficult to read books which I think treat them as other than they are presented in Austen's work. Obviously this is more difficult with novels which take a "what if" approach, so I have read one of those and suspended my disbelief about certain elements (see below). Third, I have included the Austen lit novels which involve some form of time travel or play-acting regression to Regency England. Although not strictly involving Austen's characters, I found them entertaining and sometimes a satirical view of Austen addicts and JASNA members (which, by the way, gentle reader, I have not joined yet; although I would like to do so when I have older children which will permit me to attend meetings).


So, for those of you who adore Miss Austen, please find here my reviews & recommendations of some Austen lit centering on the best beloved Pride & Prejudice and the characters contained therein.

1. The Last Man in the World by Abigail Reynolds. This can be placed firmly in the What If category, as this author assumes that Elizabeth is caught being kissed by Mr. Darcy on the occasion of his first proposal, and she is therefore compromised and forced to marry him. I thought the author did an admirable job of conveying Elizabeth's distress about the situation, but I did question some of her portrayal with regard to Elizabeth's behavior after the marriage and the way in which Darcy & Elizabeth felt their way around to loving each other. I just thought Elizabeth would have been more straightforward, or that she would have talked it through with Jane. I just couldn't see her keeping it all to herself. Just my two cents and all that. I would give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.


2. Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride by Helen Halstead. This book is a Sequel and follows Darcy & Elizabeth as they navigate the Polite World following their marriage, as well as the family fall-out for Darcy on his marriage. I did like the insight into the social whirl, but felt too much focus was placed on this and it sort of obscured the view of their developing marriage and trust in each other. I guess I would say it got bogged down in that as a plot device to strengthen their marriage; so much so that I had difficulty finishing it! However it does a nice job of tying up loose ends of all the other minor characters, and even Miss Bingley is redeemed somewhat. I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars and an enjoyable read.


3. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. If you are or have ever been a modern singleton, this is the book for you. It is definitely a Time Travel/Displacement book. It follows a Los Angeles native after she breaks off her engagement, then finds herself in Regency England inhabiting the body of a gentlewoman named Jane Mansfield. She has to pick her way around her toxic mother and through the social milieu that sees a number of suitors and potential enemies crossing her path. She has to deal with her own demons from modern times while ensuring she doesn't leave Jane in a mess, assuming she ever leaves! A few nitpicks about the book: Courtney's vulgarity seems out of place several times early in the book and it made me wonder how a supposedly intelligent woman could forget the social strictures of the time, but I supposed it was the author's way of communicating her alienation from that society. And I felt the ending was incredibly rushed and somewhat unintelligible. I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.


4. Austenland by Shannon Hale. This is another Time Travel/Displacement book, and definitely a great satirical view of modern Austen fans and JASNA members. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself after reading this book, then you're taking Jane too seriously. Again we have a modern singleton, this time based in New York. Jane Hayes is in love with Colin Firth, the BBC adaptation of P&P, and Mr. Darcy as the dream man. By a curious bequest Jane is granted a trip to a fantasy theme park in demure old England, hidden in bucolic countryside at a great estate. She is given a fake name, fake hair, and a whole wardrobe to match, then introduced to the "country society" as a miss come to town to visit her aunt. Surrounded by fellow guests seeking to relive the past and actors paid to make their dream Austen experience come true, Jane confronts what she really wants in life. Really funny and well done, sort of like a modern day Emma/Elizabeth cross. I enjoyed it a lot, and would give it 4 out of 5 stars. Thumbs up.


5. Letters from Pemberley by Jane Dawkins; also More Letters from Pemberley. This book was my first introduction to Austen lit, and I have to say I adored it. Using letters from Elizabeth to several people, the reader is informed of how the new Mrs. Darcy gets on adjusting to her household, the affections of her husband, their country society and then society at large. It is a charming lens through which to view Elizabeth & Darcy after their marriage, and reading Elizabeth's letters make the reader feel like a favored correspondent of one of their favorite characters! The sequel is no less charming, if a bit more down to earth with the practicalities of being a large landowner's wife, and the realities of family life in that time. Really nicely done and so good I read them again. 5 out of 5 stars.
6. An Assembly Such as This, Duty and Desire, and These Three Remain by Pamela Aidan. This is a trilogy of novels, all subtitled, "A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman". As you have probably guessed, they are a Spin Off, a clever take on the original Pride and Prejudice written from Mr. Darcy's perspective. Pamela Aidan does a superlative job of conveying Mr. Darcy's (presumed) motivations and thoughts throughout his meeting, courtship, and further wooing of Elizabeth Bennet. It is quite interesting to see the demands placed on Darcy by his status in society and his large estate Pemberley, as well as the care and essential rearing of his sister as she prepares for her Society debut. You can definitely see the rigid social class strictures at play, and the introduction of Fletcher, Mr. Darcy's indomitable valet, is fantastic. Fletcher reminded me of the best elements from "Gosford Park" or other peeks at the society of servants, and he is a great foil to Darcy's silent contemplations about Elizabeth. There are a few motifs that are woven throughout the novels with great aplomb, and although I was a bit annoyed with the Gothic novel aspects of Duty and Desire (Northanger Abbey was never a favorite of mine) the strength of the whole series really enchanted me. I would even venture to say that had Ms. Austen felt it within her purview to speculate about the thoughts of a gentleman, she would have written much as Ms. Aidan has. 5+ stars, my favourites of the whole genre thus far.

Well, there you have it--my opinions on some Austen fan-fiction. I really enjoyed re-visiting Austen's world through different viewpoints, and it inspired me to re-read Pride and Prejudice yet again. While my DH has to be somewhat relieved that my love of all things Austen has found a temporary respite in fan fiction, likewise he is probably a bit peeved that it has done nothing to curb my incessant watching of the A&E/BBC version of "P&P". Well, I suppose Colin Firth really is Mr. Darcy for me at this stage, so "Bridget Jones' Diary" and its sequel will do as well. I suspect my ardor for Jane Austen's novels and paraphenalia will continue for the rest of my life, so I am fortunate to have a husband who is amiable enough to go along for the ride with my Austen riddled viewing choices. And isn't that really what Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet are all about in the end? Learning to live with each other's differences and embracing them.

A New Scar

While a child might find it cool to be in possession of stitches and a scar in the making, I confess I am not so thrilled. It has definitely put a crimp in my normal weekly activities; and having to explain to one hundred and one people why I am hobbling on a cane, as I had to do for the better part of the week, does not exactly make me a happy bunny. Fortunately the cane has been retired as of today, and the stitches are slated to come out on Monday. I am back to driving, which was problematic earlier since my laceration is on my right leg, just above the ankle.

I have said in seriousness that I was bitten by our lawn tractor trailer, and that is true. I was pulling the trailer by the yoke to our fire pit to dispose of blackberry vine trimmings, and it slipped out of my grip and took a zig zag path down through my skin & cutaneous tissue, mercifully stopping short of cutting my Achilles tendon. I got a split second view of said tendon, applied firm pressure as all good first aid training tells you to, and immediately sat down while my body began producing all those lovely cytokines and inflammatory molecules, completely with a healthy dose of shock. I was very, very lucky that I did not cut my tendon--according to the ER PA, I was a millimeter or so away from surgery and months of crutches and physical therapy to rehab it. I completely give the thanks for this to God, because only He could have cut away everything else and left that tendon perfectly intact.

It is not so fun to be on your tummy on a hospital table while a nurse intern scrubs your numbed wound clean. I am glad I couldn't see it, and I am glad that it didn't bleed much at all when it first happened. The sight of my own blood is never welcome. My husband got a nice view of it all, and commented that while he used to think he would love to see every bit of me, he has now been twice forced to amend that statement, as seeing bits of my c-section, and now this, have convinced him that he is far happier for my internal bits to stay intact and out of view. And I only had to endure the nasty stings of the numbing shots, which is not so bad, all things considered.

I have been reminded in a painful way of the foolishness of working on the Sabbath. And just to drive the point home for me, I have again encountered a verse attesting to this in my new Hebrews study: "There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God", Hebrews 4:9. Yes, I am that thickheaded, and God knows this and had to remind me of it again, just in case I was not convinced by the large gash and stitches. I have also been reminded that my natural carelessness/klutziness now impacts more than myself and my DH. Both of my children were very concerned about me, and both came running over when I hurt myself. They were not happy to see me being taken off, despite the kind and excellent care of a beloved neighbor. And my dear daughter was so disturbed by the whole affair that she crept into our room and into bed with us that night, wanting to make sure that a) I was there and b) that I was okay. Poor girl. She has since drawn me no less than four get well cards, as well as fussed and clucked over me like a mother hen on Monday. My son was clingy and anxious to see I was there, insisting on a long rocking chair session when I got home on Sunday night. That kid's radar is so fine tuned, he woke up the MINUTE we walked through the door and was crying for me.

It is a good reminder to me that I need to cultivate better care of my person. The older I get, the more serious it is to knock into things because I am just not that spatially aware. I can see how I could end up with a broken hip when I'm eighty, or a broken patella at 60 like my mom (who broke hers falling off a curb). I need to make a conscious effort to do better, for myself and my family. I don't want them to be worried about what I will do next. It is comic in some ways, but it's not so funny in others. Hopefully I can keep this just a blip and not another dot in a whole series of injuries!

Leg o' Lamb

I am going to put up my leg now, but I wanted you, the small crew of blog readers who might be interested, to know that I am now sporting seven stitches on my leg since Sunday. The short story is I had a fight with a garden trailer and I lost, haha. However I am feeling a bit grumpy after standing up for a good portion of the afternoon teaching, so I will go elevate my leg and allow myself a bit of misery wallowing, then give you the story proper tomorrow. Good night!

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

You could file this under the heading, "Things that Annoy Me". As you know, I really don't talk about politics on this blog, so forgive me for making an exception today. And really I am not discussing the candidates' political views, but moreso a fact that I believe reflects on the nature of their characters.

I was blog hopping the other day and came across a blog which asserted that Barack Obama has given less than 1% of his income to charity. Huh? Are you kidding me? This man who has put himself forward as a 'man of the people', fighting for the working poor, doesn't give even the national average to charity (7.47%, for the record through 2004, among taxpayers who itemize their deductions, like Mr. Obama)?

I thought, well, this is probably some propaganda being put forth about Obama, more election nastiness. But I googled it, and lo and behold, Obama's own stomping ground paper, The Chicago Tribune, wrote a two page story on it on Sep. 12th! According to this story, the national average of giving per household is 2.2%, which includes even those households which fall below the poverty line. Yet when Mr. Obama first ran for the Senate in 2002, they gave away only 0.4% of their income, even though their adjusted household income of $259,394 put them in the top bracket of earners. Wow. And then, after Obama signed his book deals, their household income went up substantially. Their 2006 income was $983,626, of which they donated $60,307 (6.13%). In 2005, their income was even higher, $1.65 million of which they donated $77,300 (4.68%). (Want to double-check the figures? Check out their tax returns on Obama's website here.) I suppose it should be comforting to think that they are trending in the right direction, but PEOPLE(!), shouldn't they have ALREADY been charitable, being so much better off than the many folks he worked with daily?? And they have yet to meet the national average for taxpayers in their income bracket (>$200,000), which is 7.35% (see Chart 2 here).

Ok, I thought, let's be fair. Let's look at McCain's charitable giving and see where he is at. Here the waters get more muddied, as McCain files separately from his wife, Cindy. It seems that last year he gave more than 25% of his income to charity (ref). However, most of that was to his own foundation, which donated heavily to schools his children formerly attended, as well as charities such as the Halo Trust (landmine removal) and Operation Smile (craniofacial surgeries for children). Hmmm. It seems a bit smarmy, maybe, to donate to schools that your kids attend or used to attend, but on the other hand is it any less smarmy when parents do the same things for their kids' schools? Haven't we all read about the wealthy school districts with the kitted-out schools because the mommies and daddies with six figure salaries ensure that every kiddo has a laptop, while the ghetto schools struggle for grant money for computers, and work to keep old desktops functional in a central computer lab? Heck I would know more than most about that, as my mom is a grant administrator and computer lab superintendent (and sometime vice-prinicipal) at a high school in one of the ghetto-iest districts in SoCal. So I guess I get supporting your kids' schools, even if it is more than most of us can afford. The real question is how much Cindy gives to charity, but I respect her right not to have her personal finances pawed over by the public too, since she is not running for office. It sure would be nice to get a straight answer about her charitable giving, though.

Well, there you have it. An insight into the personal character of Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain. I am not going to lie and say I am impressed by Mr. McCain's egregious giving, since his wife is an heiress who is worth millions. However, I will give him credit for not being greedy and for giving away a substantial portion of his income. Frankly, it's the minimum I would expect from a couple who is extraordinarily wealthy. I am disappointed in the Obamas' charitable giving. Dude, WE give more to charity as a proportion of our income than the Obamas, and we are not even where I would like to be! I feel that we are skinflinty and poor managers of our resources, and I am earnestly seeking God's help with being a better steward of my resources. Frankly it is appalling how wealthy we ALL are, compared to the rest of the world. It was one of the things that called me to name by blog, "Lulled by Luxury", because we are truly spoiled in this country and we don't even realize it. I guess I have determined that personal charity is one of my immutable benchmarks, a most desirable character trait...and especially in a president of this country. I guess it's pretty clear who won't be getting my vote!

P.S. I would like to make it clear that I am a registered Independent voter. The Republican Party, having completely abandoned any sense of fiscal responsibility a decade ago, lost my affiliation before I was even eligible to vote. I have voted for Democratic and Republican contenders for public office, based on my evaluation of their suitability to represent my views.

Color Me Gray...and White

Yesterday was my husband's work from home day, and I realized that if we had any hope of moving forward substantially on the bathroom this weekend, I needed to get cracking with painting the vanity and closet door. To speed things along, we bought a power paint sprayer (after trying to borrow one, but the borrowed one had missing parts). Since we have to paint our house next year, it will get plenty of use.

We have a sort of de facto equitable labor arrangement going for bathroom work. DH does the carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and heavy lifting, and I do the drywall, mudding, texturing, and painting. I have no problem with this arrangement, and it has worked well for us thus far. Plus I got to be the first to try out the new paint sprayer. Yippee!

First let me attest to the fact that there is no way you will keep a power paint sprayer looking like new. In fact, I know why they don't seal up the box with a cable tie like they do with other power tools, because if you so much as put paint anywhere in the vicinity of these things, they will get spatters of paint all over them; thus they do not have to worry about unscrupulous folks buying this particular tool for one job and attempting to return it. (As a side note I was unaware of this practice until I returned a circular saw, unused, to Home Depot, and watched the guy check that the cable tie was still in place on the box. Apparently it is not uncommon for people to buy tools, use them, and attempt to return them as new. Pathetic!)

Second, you do not want to use old primer or paint with one of these. They seem to clog with regularity of you tip the sprayer at any degree other than perfectly vertical, resulting in large, phlegm-like spatters of paint on your surfaces. This is made worse with older primer which is a bit thicker (and I know this because I did it). Just don't bother using old paint or primer, or, if you do, strain it or thin it first.

Third, to deal with the aforementioned paint phlegms, have a paintbrush handy and just brush them out over the surface. They will settle out just fine without any brush marks. Also use a stuttered trigger to combat constant clogging.

Fourth, wear a burqa or a similiar all-body covering device, or be prepared to wear paint for a few days. I have white primer and gray paint all over my legs and arms, and that's after scrubbing myself painfully with a nail brush in the shower last night. I don't want to think about what amount of sprayed paint particles got into my hair. I guess that is one advantage to having some gray hair, it is probably not that noticeable!

Fifth, if you attempt to use the tube feed and a gallon of paint, be aware that the tubes can cause the gallon of paint to tip over as you angle around spraying. This can result in the loss of a significant amount of paint. (I'm sure the grass in that area will recover...eventually...) Also, you cannot get the tubes clean without spraying water through them, so it is pointless to clean all the other parts first before attempting to clean the tubes. Just fill the container with water, stick the hoses in, and spray it out for a good five minutes before disassembling everything and cleaning it.

Lastly, beware when cleaning everything out. There are some small parts and it would be easy to lose some while cleaning. Check to make sure you have everything before closing up shop, so to speak.

Well, I hope by this weekend my paint splatters will have worn off. I will attempt further scrubbing when my skin does not feel like it's been assaulted by sandpaper. Of course as soon as I get rid of the paint, it will be thinset and grout getting stuck all over me. Thank goodness I have enough ratty t-shirts to sacrifice to this remodel. Stay tuned.

My Bob the Builder Husband

I am impressed by my husband. He is out there, in the dark, finishing up the stud section that will give us the necessary wall space for the tub, and simultaneously provide us with a useful shelf for the tub/shower. Ok, he is not exactly in the dark, as he has several lights on, but nonetheless I find it very impressive that he is out there laboring away at a time of day when we are normally relaxing in front of the TV or reading books in bed. I suppose it shows just how tired we both are of having only one bathroom, and (hopefully) a new desire to spur on to the finish line with this remodel business.

As for me, well, I sanded drywall seams today, and I re-sanded some of the vanity door fronts. It was the best I could manage with a playdate this morning, walk with the neighbors this afternoon, and my children doing their best to play hard in between. I am doing my best to be content with what progress we make. I had thought that it would be so GREAT if we were in a position to start tiling THIS WEEKEND!, but I don't think that is going to happen even if I wish wish wish, whipped-cream-nuts-and-a-cherry-on-top wishing. I think we will be doing very well if we get the rest of the drywalling done and get the seams mudded and some wall texturing started in the tub/toilet room. I have a vanity to finish painting, as well as a closet door to paint. And we haven't even picked trim or coving yet. I just don't think we are going to be ready to start snapping chalk lines and laying tile this weekend. *sigh* Sometimes this just seems like the neverending project!

Randomania

First, I am eating chocolate chip cookies and drinking root beer for breakfast. Worse still, they are not home-made chocolate chip cookies, merely home-baked. So who knows what preservatives I am filling my system with--whatever preservatives the Doughboy uses, I suppose, as it was Pillsbury ready to bake cookie dough. I confess I subscribed to momentary weakness when I saw them on sale through the Grocery Game. And worst of all, I am letting my children drink root beer with me. Oh the horror!

So why am I eating whatever is easily available for breakfast with a minimal effort? Well, I will attribute it to being over in the Emerald City last night for a nice dinner out with DH, the kids, and a former co-worker of mine. We did dinner reasonably early to (hopefully) ensure good behavior on the part of our children. Thankfully they did behave pretty well, although DS did start melting down a bit toward the end of the meal. I had thought about getting a sitter for them, but on a school night our teenage babysitter was unavailable, and our normal adult babysitter was out of town, so we were SOL.

Yesterday was a strange modge-podge of a day, since I had a plumber back out to correct the tub spout, which was too low for our tub. That was achieved by remarkable negotiation on the part of DH, who ended up talking to the plumbing company's VP after we called to take them up on their plumber's assurance of a "no charge" call to fix anything that was amiss after he re-did the bathtub/shower plumbing. Yeah, well, it was no charge, but only after DH spoke to the VP and refused to be drawn into a "he said, we said" situation. We were both there, we both know what the guy said, and thankfully the VP had the common sense to do the right thing for their company and take care of it for us. This is why I leave these things to DH, because I would be red in the face and irritated in vocal tone on the phone, whereas DH can sit there placidly and say things like, "My wife informed {Plumber's Name} that our new tub was 18" high and the old one was 15" high. Furthermore we offered to go purchase the tub at Home Depot, for which we had all the technical information online, and be back in twenty minutes, but {Plumber's Name} insisted that was not necessary and that he would happily return free of charge to fix any problems." I would have been irritable and just a *touch* cranky with the guy, but DH is a master at skillful silences and completely dispassionate discourse with CSRs, so this was right up his alley. Score one for DH, and one for the plumbing company for doing the right thing and securing any future business from us.

Anyway, I also had a friend from church drop by with some ingredients for two special desserts which I am making for tonight's first meeting our women's Bible study. This resulted in me doing some frantic tidying up and organizing right after lunch, a time when I am normally putting my feet up to enjoy some quiet time while the kids are napping (DS) or playing quietly in their rooms (DD). All this while I was turning off the water for the plumber and sort of hovering to do...well I don't know why I was hovering, really! Some odd part of my brain was hoping he wasn't thinking, "This is far more complicated than we thought! This will be a (bazillion) dollars, not FREE!" As if me hovering and popping in to see how he's getting on with fixing it is going to help that at all. I know, I am strange.

And then I had the business of getting the kids in the car, hopping the ferry, and changing their clothes in the car, on the ferry to something less "street urchin" and more "presentable, clean". Dinner was really nice, and I had a great time catching up with my old co-worker. He has landed on his feet in a much better job, and I am very happy for him. My former workplace is still the king of high turnover and low pay, and nearly everyone I counted as a friend is gone now. I have one lone stalwart remaining, but at least he has secured for himself a relative degree of autonomy which helps him deal with the ridiculous nature of some of the "management" that goes on there. In short everyone of whom I think well there, has secured a decent position or advanced, so that makes me happy.

Lastly, I got called to teach this quarter, which is good. In the usual fashion, the college has called with about two weeks' notice, but frankly I don't mind as NOW I have already taught this course before, and thus will be a bit better prepared (stop laughing, I can hope, people!!) to teach it. And the secretary let slip that the person I am teaching for (instead of?) is easing toward retirement, so maybe in a few years when he fully retires, they will have a full-time position open. And THAT is happy news indeed! Time for me to finish up rewriting a lab that I mentioned to him last quarter as an inquiry-based lab. Nothing like a bit of eagerness to underscore my affirmative interest in teaching there on a more permanent basis.

All in all it was one of those odd days where all the disjointed bits of my universe seem to collide and meld into a crazy collage, but it's still somewhat pretty in its way. I got to feel useful (teaching!), organized (tidying!), helpful & charitable (baking for church!), handy (plumbing supervision!), educated (discussion of science!) and civilized (dinner out! with clean & reasonably behaved children!). Rare day indeed, as usually I feel incompetent (what was that about group seventeen elements?), disorganized (I know I put that bill somewhere around here...*waves arm generally at mass of untidy mail on counter*), selfish & proud (I can make this recipe for church because I'm SUCH a good from-scratch baker), decidely UN-handy (need I remind you of the copper soldering post?), uneducated (I know I got a Ph.D. but all I can do is sing The Backyardigans theme song again and again), and decidely uncivilized (I think the sticky hair can be hidden with a headband...and his shirt's not THAT dirty, it will do for the playdate). It's a crazy roller coaster ride, but sometimes the views from the heights remind me that it's worth all the dips.

Flying with Children

Well, that was fun. Yep, I adore being locked in a plane with nearly all the people in a twenty aisle radius despising my child while he screams his head off for three hours of a four hour flight. Good times. At least I swapped seats with DH halfway through to get a break, and was treated to a pretty complaisant DD who was quite happy with her DVD of Dora and a snack. I admit, however, that I was more than a little interrupted in my attempts to read Pamela Aidan's Pride & Prejudice spin-off, An Assembly Such As This, by the fact that my child was screaming for me three aisles up.

But I digress. Let me acquaint you with the teeth gritting, hair pulling, 'why on earth would anyone in Customer Service think this is the way to treat people I ASK YOU???' inconveniences of traveling by air with small children these days. Ahem.

First, there is no such thing as "pre-boarding" any more, people...at least not with American Airlines. We got to pre-board with British Airways for our trip to Ireland, but apparently any domestic destination magically means parents don't need any extra time to shepherd recalcitrant children onto their unfamiliar aircraft, navigate the aisles carrying aircraft-approved carseats, and get said carseats properly installed in such a way that you can actually unbuckle the airline seatbelts when you get to your destination. Well, as you can probably guess, we did need that extra time. I suppose it is something of a marvel to me, how many parents we saw flying with children in the regular airplane seatbelts, but personally I just cannot fathom putting my kids in the airplane seatbelts. First, I know for a fact that they would definitely NOT stay in them. Each would be wiggled out of that sucker faster than I could threaten grievous consequences (no Dora! no ice cream!). Then would follow the agony of grabbing at flailing child parts from underneath the seat, or the one in front, or the aisle. Yes, that would be SO fun, wouldn't it? Second, what about the danger to the kids from turbulence or worse? (And yes, it does happen, having been on a pretty turbulent flight myself, and YES, planes do crash occasionally, and I personally know a plane crash survivor, so maybe I am a bit more paranoid than most.) If your kid is old enough that you have to pay for the seat anyway, what difference is it to you if you have to bring the carseat or booster? They make these marvelous things called "luggage wheels", and you can attach them to your carseat...and you know, it doesn't count as a carry-on! Imagine!

Anyhoo, we had a total of four flights for this little cross-country jaunt to Virginia, and that meant we had four times of wondering whether we would get to pre-board or not. The first gate agent explained that First Class and the "Preferred" classes (AA frequent flyers, Emerald, Ruby, Garnet, Tourmaline, Jet, Jet-Lagged...you name it, these encompass about a third of the plane and they all get to board before you) had the luxury of pre-boarding, but they do not pre-board families with small children. How nice. Thank you so much. She winked and nudged us in when we would have "pre-boarded" on British Airways, for which we are most grateful. However, the other three gate agents exhibited varying degrees of sympathy for our situation, from "None" to "You can board with Group 2" instead of Group 3. Oh gee, how generous. Thanks much. Carrying the carseat & attempting not to slam it into other people's elbows was really all we could each manage, so the kids HAD to get down the aisle on their own two feet. I'm sure all the folks backed up the jetway while we coaxed our reluctant 19 month old all the way down, down, down the aisle were understanding of their stay in a non-air conditioned jetway in Dallas/Ft. Worth in August. Really.

Next, we were informed abruptly at the first gate that we could NOT sit four together, and still use both carseats. What? Yes, their policy is that carseats must be used ONLY in a window seat, so we could either not use a carseat for one of our children (see above), or we had to get our seats reassigned to a 2 x 2 arrangement. Oh joy. I, for one, was pretty hacked off that their website, which they direct you to for ANY sort of customer service or assistance, had absolutely NO NOTICE of this policy! You can bet your bippy that we are writing a tidy little letter to American about this little gem of information which was so happily neglected from all relevant booking details on their entire website. Again our first gate agent was a gem and reassigned two people to other seats so we could be in two contiguous rows, and she was able to do the same for our flight from DFW to Virginia. Yay! On our way home, however, we were not so fortunate. We had no way of changing our seat assignment online and the phone agent could do nothing for us, so we had to rely on the gate agent. Well, the gate agents on the way back were less helpful. They were not terribly willing to move people, and as a result on our last flight we were separated by three rows.

At least it not me who had to deal with the woman across the aisle from my howling son, but my DH. I would probably not have the grace to have responded as politely as he had to her suggestion of, "Give that baby some milk and crackers, he's probably hungry." Um, yeah. In case you hadn't noticed, he has refused every snack offered. My DH said, "Thanks, but he's just tired and needs to go to sleep." Nothing more fun than strangers offering pointless advice because they are annoyed by your screaming child, yet not doing anything that might help him to go to sleep, like keep their own slightly older children from constantly peeping at the crying child, causing him to stop 'zoning out' toward sleep and laugh at your child, before screaming again when she peeps out of view. And I need not mention the flickering cabin lights that had the same effect.

I have nothing but good things to say about the baggage handling. They did not lose any of our bags, and they did get them out to the carousel before we arrived at it. Of course, this could have something to do with the fact that we were, without exception, the last people off every plane we were on.

All in all, I would recommend highly to anyone even contemplating travel with a baby from the age of 18 months to 3 years--just don't do it. JUST DON'T DO IT. Please, spare yourself the agonizing embarassment and teeth grinding frustration of dealing with a child in an unfamiliar situation who is old enough to know what he/she WANTS and not old enough to be distracted or reasoned with. That's it. We are staying WA for the next 18 months, or traveling in short distances by car. I could not repeat that experience again. And if you happen to be an employee of American Airlines, please b#$%h slap the VP who removed the pre-boarding option for families with young children. And while you're at it, slap your idiot web designer too, who hasn't included any information on carseats or ways to indicate that you will be using one for your minor child. Ugh.

Tag, I'm It

Here are the directions:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you http://shierlock4.blogspot.com/

2. Mention the rules on your blog

3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them

5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

6 unspectacular quirks:

1. I am a messy tooth brusher. I get toothpaste all over my face & dripping down my chin into the sink. Sad but true.

2. I prefer arranging fake flowers to arranging real ones. Yeah, real ones are nice and look great for a few days, but faux flowers look good for a lot longer, and they stay exactly where you put them. They are also less messy. And if you like an arrangement, you can have it out for as long as you like!

3. I cannot bring myself to do food composting. I know it is resourceful and makes really good compost, but I have a hard enough time keeping my trashcan and diaper pail from being smelly. Could I really handle even a small container of food scraps for the compost pile? I don't think so.

4. I subscribe to the newspaper but rarely actually read it. It gets used for cage lining and as weed barrier in the garden. In fact I am thinking about cancelling the subscription because I have enough saved newspaper to last us for a while.

5. I hate killing tree seedlings, even though I live in a part of the country where they are really weeds. We have tons of tree seedlings that start themselves in my garden every year, and I feel like I am murdering a tree when I pull them up. I try to transplant some but really, they are prolific and I just need to get over it. Thank you public schools for the overzealous earth/environment indoctrination!

6. I can't bring myself to part with old junk if it's old family junk. I have some butt-ugly vases from my great aunt's house that I should have sold or given away long, long ago, but I just can't bring myself to do it. But they are from Aunt X's house! I say to myself every time I think about it. I can't get rid of THOSE! Yeah, I can. I just have to get past the whole family connection thing, seeing as they are just sitting in my cottage, out of sight, and never to be used.

I will spare you further tagging, those of you who blog. I consider my duty done.

Not Your Mama's Cloth Diapers

On top of all the remodeling bliss in the air at our house, I have been fiddling with fixed expenses in an attempt to get some numbers down just to give us more money to pay for things like, oh, an unexpected bathroom remodel! So I was figuring out exactly how much our darling son's diapers cost us per month, and, DANG!!! $37 per month just for his diapers, not including the wipes ($18 for a box from Costco). Ouch. Plus, his sensitive skin means that I can't buy just any diapers for him. Even Huggies will now cause rashes for him, so we are stuck with Costco brand. I could shop around for other generics, but we have an additional problem. Costco only makes up to a size 5. DS is regularly soaking through size 5's at nighttime. Good luck finding size 6's in generics.

I had to find an alternative. Our friends with the newborn are having amazing success with cloth diapers, so I figured I would take a look around. Goodness, there are a lot of styles to choose from out there! In my research on the subject, I decided that any style which snapped closed was not an option for us. DS is eighteen months old, highly mobile, and intelligent. Snaps are the type of clothing fastening which require perfect alignment, and they are a challenge for little fingers. Velcro closures, on the other hand, having been long ago mastered on shoes, are less interesting. This decision alone pretty much knocked out most of the mom-n-pop styles.

I was left with two choices, really: Bumgenius diapers, or Bummis diaper covers with prefold inserts. Our friends are using Bummis and love them thus far. They bought Chinese prefolds, as they are hoping to use the diapers for multiple children. I, on the other hand, am only looking to get 1 and 1/2 child's worth of use from any that we buy (anticipating DS potty training next year, probably), so I was more interested in the Indian prefolds. I learned all about the differences here...the Chinese prefolds last longer as they are better stitched, but they tend to pill more, whereas the Indian prefolds don't last as long but they don't pill and are softer.

Well, I wasn't sure about what would work best for us, so I ordered 2 Bummis covers, some Indian prefolds, 2 Bumgenius diapers (1 all-in-one, 1 pocket style), 2 "Bigger Weeds" hemp/cotton inserts, and 7 Cotton Babies microfiber inserts. I also ordered 12 flannel wipes, since it doesn't make a lot of sense to continue using disposable wipes with cloth diapers.

The acid test has been ongoing for nearly 24 hours. Last night I used the Bummis whisper wrap, size large, with a Bigger Weeds insert wrapped around a Cotton Babies microfiber insert. All I can say is, Wahoo! No leaks, and it still had spare capacity this morning, which is a superb thumbs-up as sometimes (like when he's sick or teething) he will nurse a lot at night and a leak is guaranteed by 3 AM. And the gussets at the leg were stretchy and soft enough that he had no marks from it. Two thumbs way up for that system for overnight. The downside was that it can be a bit squiffy removing an insert from the wrap, but I expect I could probably get the hang of it pretty quickly. And hey, let's face it--with a preschooler in the house, it's not like I am not touching urine soaked clothing of some type on a fairly frequent basis.

This afternoon I put DS into the Bumgenius all-in-one diaper before naptime. I have to say that for ease of use and utter convenience akin to a disposable diaper, this one wins hands-down. If I were expecting a newborn, I would totally buy this one as my entire stash. I found these priced at $15.95, and compared to the $12.95 for a Bummi Whisper Wrap sans insert, to be totally comparable. I absolutely LOVE the all-in-one. However, there are two drawbacks. First, the fit at the leg for DS is not the best. Granted, they do not make a "Big Baby" size, and he is nearly 34 lbs, so we are stretching it for their Large size (which is listed at max 30 lbs, but I have seen that nearly all cloth diapers sort of fudge their max weight limits). Still, I would agree with one website which describes the fit for babies with "large thighs" to not be the best. He had some red marks on one leg when I took it off three hours later, although I had not made sure it was exactly at the joint (where the legs actually move), so it was possibly at the wrong place. Secondly, I noticed that it took longer to dry the all-in-one diaper than it took to dry the wrap and inserts separately. Not unexpected, but a factor to consider in turnaround time for diaper loads.

Now I have DS in a Bumgenius pocket diaper (their vaunted 3.0 series). I am unimpressed by the shenanigans required to get the microfiber insert in the diaper and get it straight and wrinkle-free. I do not think I could fit in a Bigger Weeds insert and a microfiber insert at the same time--the opening is too narrow for this type of doubling. I am wary of what shenanigans would be required when the diaper is dirty, to remove the soiled insert from the diaper. I know all parts have to be washed, but logic says that you have to remove the insert. I am not thinking this would be a fun process. I will wait to see if he has any red marks on his legs. I did squish the diaper elastics up to his true hip joint, so we will see if that makes a difference.

Tonight I will be using a Bummis size XL wrap and an Indian prefold. I might hedge my bets by wrapping the Indian prefold around a Cotton Babies microfiber insert, I don't know. The whole point is that I want a leak free nighttime diaper, but I guess I won't know if the Indian prefold is good on its own unless I try it as such. However, I am pretty sure I have figured out what system will work best for us right now, and that is the Bummis wraps at nighttime with the Bigger Weeds. I am working out what size works best for DS, as it seems the L did fine last night and they offer a lot of cute fabrics in size L, whereas the XL is just plain white. I really, really, really want the Bumgenius AIO (all-in-one) to work out for daytime, because, DANG!, they are so convenient! When I changed him out of that one, it was one wet flannel wipe, and the whole thing went to the laundry room. Done. LOVE IT!! I just have to check and make sure that the leg fit is okay and doesn't give him marks, and then I will be ready to order a whole bunch.

So, let's do a budget check here. For eight Bumgenius AIOs, the cost runs $128. I will do some more shopping around online and see if I can find a package deal that has them cheaper. If the Indian prefolds work fine for nighttime, we have enough of those to go forward, and I just need to get some more Bummis wraps. I will want to buy some more flannel wipes, so total additional costs will probably be about $220. So for a total investment of $350, I will be disposable diaper free, and will have paid for the cost difference in diaper costs alone (not including wipes) in ten months. Yeah, I think we can do that! And with DS' eczema and sensitive skin, I won't have to try to find a generic non-scented size 6 diaper for nighttime. Skin friendly and reusable for kiddo #3, should God grant us one (hopefully). Yep, these aren't your mama's cloth diapers any more!