Things We Love: LibraryThing

Our family loves books! 


I'm a master at stating the obvious. 


The family library reached the point of requiring serious intervention in order to fully utilize the resources we had collected. 

Not having a dedicated "library" like Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady," we had to come up with a solution that would work with our space.


I needed a system that would allow me to find the books we needed, when we needed them. I don't remember for sure, but I think I did an online search for information and suggestions for organizational ideas.


I had never heard of LibraryThing.com before, but it came up and, after checking it out, I paid for a lifetime membership! (A whopping $25) 


What is it, you ask?


It is an online database for books! You create an account, a very simple process, and then you can begin entering your books. I actually ordered a little USB scanner ($15) for the books that had bar codes. That way, you can scan it and all the information for that title is entered into your database. You'd be amazed how many facts are tied to that little bar code. It's like magic to have the author, illustrator, publisher, etc., just pop up on your screen. If you have a large number of books with bar codes, the price of the scanner is well worth it!


Many of our books are older and don't have bar codes. For those, you simply type in the ISBN or Library of Congress number, and the search will bring up your title. Sometimes there are multiple choices that come up for one number. In that case you locate the one that matches your volume and click on it. The information is added to your collection.


For the books that predated ISBN's and Library of Congress numbers, you have the option of manually entering all the information. In that case, you can enter as much or as little as you choose, whatever serves the purpose for which you need it.


Each entry also has the option of tagging your book. This is where it gets really good. For our purposes, I need to be able to locate all the books on a specific topic. As I entered each book, I tagged it with the topic or time period that I could later locate. I have a stack of index cards that have each tag number on it and the shelf location for that tag in our house.


Once you have your books entered, Library Thing allows you to search your data base in any number of ways. You could search by author, or by tag, or by title, etc.


There is no limit on the number of books you can enter. You could also use it for dvd's/blue rays, if you wanted. Anything you want to catalog or quantify can be entered in a system that works for what you need. 


For those of us who have large libraries, the data base also serves as a record for insurance purposes, just in case. 


Because our library was large (about 5000), the initial job of entering the books was enormous. Once that was behind us, however, it is so simple to maintain and add new volumes. When we bring home a new book, we enter the information and then shelve it according to our shelving system, and that's it. It's wonderful.


As a homeschooler, I was really frustrated keeping the resources organized and accessible so that they could be efficiently and easily accessed. I might know I had a book on a particular subject or time period, and then be unable to find it at a moment's notice when the kids' interest was piqued. It's not good to miss that window. Now, all I have to do is pull up our collection on Library Thing and search by title, author, or tag and then, according to that tag we know where to look for the book.


One more resource that might bless you: Library Thing

Basket Therapy

Don't you love laundry baskets? They are handy for so many things! You don't even want to know some of the things ours have been used for. That's why they look like this. :)


I had a friend whose house was for sale while she had an infant. The thought of the realtor calling at any given moment wanting to come show her house would make her break out in hives. Then she came up with a brilliant idea. She would keep a couple of empty laundry baskets (or twelve, depending on your tolerance for "messy") handy and when the phone rang to schedule a showing, she would dash around the house and throw the clutter in the baskets, then carry the baskets out to the garage and stick them in her car. She stayed sane and the house sold. 


Another great use for the humble laundry basket is to use them for cleaning house. I'm sure many of you have already stumbled on this particular use, but in case the sometimes mind-numbing job of homemaking, homeschooling, &
mothering, or any combination of those jobs, has left you a little short on ideas, maybe this will help.


Get a few empty baskets and take them and your children to the first room on your list. Everything that doesn't belong in that room goes in the basket. Then straighten what's left in that room and carry the basket to the next room. Add the things to the basket that don't belong in room two, and subtract any items from the basket that actually do belong in room two. Then straighten what's left. You can buzz through the whole house pretty quickly, and before you know it, everything is back where it belongs. Depending on your schedule for the day, you can then proceed with cleaning those rooms, or if straightening was all your day will allow, the cleaning can wait for another day. 


With young children, the basket drill may be something you spend 30 minutes doing every evening before baths and bedtime so that your time after the kids are in bed can be spent gazing into the loving eyes of your husband, without being distracted by visual clutter. :)


Once the kids "know the drill," they can probably do it by themselves if they are old enough. Even if they aren't, helping mom is still lots of fun for them when we keep it cheerful. "The highest form of play for a child is work with an adult." I think David Elkind is the one who said that, I can't remember. If the kids are going to do it themselves, you can add music to the drill. Maybe they have a favorite sing-along cd--use it and tell them you're going to see if they can make it through one room by the time a certain song is over. Again, depending on their age, you can lengthen the time by adding a song or two. Or  maybe the goal is to straighten the whole house by the time the entire cd has played through once. You'll have to adjust the time frame to keep them motivated, but not frustrated.


There is something so wonderful about going to bed and waking up to a house that is straightened up. Even if it's not all scrubbed and polished, straight sure makes me feel better about life. That's my two cents worth. Hope it helps. :)

Logistics Are Eating My Lunch

As our homeschooling journey continues, it is a constant challenge to keep things organized and efficiently accessible. With no dedicated "school room" for the last several years, we have tried many variations on the theme of: 
drag it all out for school/put it all up for the rest of our day. 


Being a visual person, clutter is not my friend. So I am constantly trying to come up with ways to minimize the mess and still be able to get into my utility room, which has been the school supply repository (I almost typed suppository) for quite a while now. 


We tried laundry baskets. Each child having one that was filled with all their books. It kept things organized, but they were too heavy to lift. Not good. 

Then we tried this big, rolling shelf. 

We kept it in the utility room and would carefully roll it out each morning, trying very hard not to tip it over and kill someone, then back each afternoon. In the meantime, it stayed parked where it was accessible to the kids at the island. Better, but less than ideal. 

Next, we tried moving to the dining room table with each child's books in the chair next to them. Of course, that involved them hauling armloads of books in each morning, and then back to the shelf in the utility room after school. That was not a popular solution. So I allowed them to leave their stuff there all week. Which created VISUAL CLUTTER and rendered the dining table unusable all week. 

So here is variation on a theme, #3174. 

All four kids now have their own rolling cart, newly assembled. There is plenty of room, I can tell at a glance who needs to straighten their stuff, it's easily portable and can be parked in the utility room at the end of each day. It is the best solution so far and it's a major improvement on all our previous attempts. We'll have to see how the field testing goes.


To be continued (I'm sure) . . .

My Washer is Out to Get Me

Okay, not really. But our laundry saga continues to drag on "ad nauseum." The latest chapter began the night before we left on our Tennessee Trip. 


Hannah and our brand new grandson, Samuel, had come to visit for a couple of days while our son-in-law, Jeremiah, was on a business trip. Hannah knows what it's like around here as we prepare to leave town (picture an Antbed), so she didn't feel the least bit slighted as we buzzed around packing. 


The plan was for Kregg to go to the office for a few hours that next morning, then he would come home and we would have everything ready to pull out. The trailer was all hooked up, and we were going to finalize loading that next morning. But as we all know, "the best laid plans of mice and men. . ."


I don't know if my lovely washer was feeling abused from overuse or whether it was feeling neglected because we were leaving town without it. (Does anyone know a good washer therapist I could consult?) 


Anyway, it was probably 11 that night when Hannah threw a tiny little load of diapers in the washer before heading to bed. THANKFULLY, we were still awake. I was sitting in the family room working on something, and Caleb was sitting at the island in the kitchen working on something when he happened to notice water flowing across the floor!


We jumped up and ran into the utility room to find the connection behind the washer had broken and scalding hot water was shooting out of the wall right into the back of the control panel on the washing machine. All I could think of was turning the machine off, which of course was now impossible because the circuitry was fried. Electronics and water just refuse to play nicely! The lovely green LED read out was flickering eerily as I futilely pushed buttons. Meanwhile, the flooding continued. 


Kregg galloped to my rescue on his shining white horse and turned the water off behind the machine. Why didn't I think of that? At this point, it didn't matter because the damage was done.


The kids hadn't been in bed long, but because I had been working them like slaves all day, they were already asleep when they answered the summons to come help with our mess. Stumbling into the kitchen to survey the situation, it took the repetition of their marching orders several times to get them moving.


A mop was useless to stem the tide as we tried to keep the water from flowing under the baseboards at the bottom of the far wall of the family room. We needed a barrier and we needed it fast! We sent the kids, knowing my fate was already sealed, to retrieve every towel in the house (which I now had no way to wash). Everyone started damming up the water as quickly as possible to prevent the expansion of the wet area. By the end of the battle, the pile of wet towels was enormous. 


Now what?


It was probably midnight by the time we sopped up the last puddle. The washing machine lid was locked and wouldn't open because the lock is electronic. Which meant all of Samuel's diapers were now trapped inside. We piled the towels in some big tubs and fell into bed, planning to deal with things the next morning. 


As soon as their office opened, I was on the phone to our appliance repairman. Big surprise. He had no openings until well into the following week, when we would be in Tennessee. I hung up and started to call another repairman, but remembering the terrible time we had before trying to get someone who actually knew what they were doing, I called my guy back and scheduled him for the Monday after we got home from our trip. Caleb and Mackenzy would just have to make do while we were gone. 


But Samuel's diapers? Hannah was leaving that morning, too, and I didn't know what to do about them. Thankfully, my resourceful youngest son decided he could solve that problem. Unbeknownst to me, he had gone into the utility room to attempt a rescue mission. He came out smiling, telling me he had gotten the lid open and the diapers were now free!! Still dirty, but free! Yipee!!!


But all those towels and diapers had to be dealt with immediately, so I left the kids with a list of the chores to be accomplished while I was gone, reminding them that our very vacation depended on their faithfulness in carrying out their duty to the utmost of their ability, and headed to the laundromat. Surprisingly, I actually remembered where one was!


Knowing I'd be there a while, I took my Kindle to try and catch up on my daily Bible reading, which I hadn't been doing daily or I wouldn't have been behind. 
And everything worked out perfectly. The dryers all went off in unison as I finished the last verse to be completely caught up! Now I could start the vacation on schedule with my reading. That was a great blessing.


Thankfully, I had almost been caught up on laundry, which for me means everything in the house is clean except what they are wearing at that moment. By the time we returned, the dirty stuff made quite a pile. So Monday morning, I waited anxiously for the repairman. He came that afternoon and told me what we already knew: the control panel was fried. Locating the part two hours away, he scheduled his return visit for Wednesday. Which meant, two more days worth of outfits and linens for 8 people would be added to the already formidable pile. No problem. I am, after all, a seasoned laundry veteran.


Yesterday came and I waited and waited, missing (again) Josh's orthodontist appointment. Finally he called to tell me he was on his way. The actual repair didn't take more than a half hour and as I was writing another check ($320) to repair this wonderful machine that we could now have more than replaced with the money poured into repairs, he told me how there had been a mix-up on his  schedule for the day. We weren't even on his list! EEEEEKKK! The lady that makes up his route, even though we were on his schedule, didn't add us to his driving list. He just happened to remember, because I had been so pitiful, while he was in a nearby neighborhood that he was supposed to visit us that day. So, because he is the best repairman on the planet, he drove all the way back across town to the shop, even though he was booked solid. He asked the parts guy if our part had come in, thinking that might be the reason we weren't on his list. But, sure enough, there sat our new control board, all bright and shiny. So he went to the scheduling lady and asked her to double check things. Yup, she had accidentally left us off his route for the day. He told me that if he hadn't remembered, it would have been next week before they could possibly have worked us back in! Needless to say, this repairman has our undying loyalty as long as he's in business. 


I had already told the kids to get their laundry ready so we could get it started the very second the washer was working again. So before he pulled out of the driveway, an enormous load was piled in and the machine started. I assumed things were now looking up. Rebekah, walking by the utility room noticed the washer making an odd noise. NOOOO!!! This couldn't really be happening, could it? I went to check. It was humming. But it wasn't running. I turned it off and back on. Still nothing but that annoying hum.


I hated to call the guy and make him come back, I really don't want to ever make this man mad at me, but there was no choice. When he answered his phone, I said, "Please don't hang up on me, but my washer isn't working. It's just sitting there humming." I was hoping he wasn't too far down the road and wouldn't get upset having to come back.


He said, "You might want to flip the water valves on."


I just started laughing! How silly of me! He was laughing at me, too. But that's okay. He can laugh at me all he wants as long as he answers his phone when I call him next time. 


Maybe I should add him to our Christmas card list.


We have to go out of town AGAIN in a few days. Do you think I should worry?

Book Review: Man of the Family

The sequel to Little Britches, Man of the Family picks up where Britches left off. Ralph Moody, in this autobiographical series, paints the reader right into the picture of his childhood. He and his family had moved to Colorado in 1906 when Ralph was eight years old. His father had to move west for health reasons and bought their "ranch" sight unseen, on the recommendation of a less-than-trustworthy cousin. To say they were shocked at first sight of their new home would be a gross understatement. The house was uninhabitable and the trip west had used up almost all their money. But it was these very circumstances that make the telling of this tale so remarkable.

Charlie, Ralph's father, was a man of integrity and ingenuity. And Ralph was an eager apprentice in these character qualities. Together they learned about ranching and building and animal husbandry. The frugality and resourcefulness they exhibit as a family is an inspiration. No challenge arose that wasn't manfully met. Even under the most desperate circumstances, there was a calm resolve to simply do their very best. 

At the end of Little Britches, everything changed for the family when Charlie died. Man of the Family received its title because that is the role Ralph stepped into at the ripe old age of eleven. Mrs. Moody, realizing they could not maintain the ranch with her husband gone, sold it to move into a house in town. The family had no visible means of support, but simply set to work finding ways to earn money. The work ethic of each member of the family is such an incredible example, and sets a wonderful standard for our little listeners as I have read it aloud during our school time. We have discussed many times how so many opportunities were offered to Ralph because he was such a hard worker and so determined to solve any problem that arose.

His love and skill with horses provided him with many adventures and ways to raise money for his family. But one of the things I loved the most about this book is all the ways the family found to work together to accomplish their projects. Mrs. Moody and her six children were an example to all those who knew them. And just when it looked like they had found a way to finally not live hand to mouth, the most unexpected crisis arises and forces Mrs. Moody to say this: "Children, I have to make the greatest decision of my life--possibly of our lives--and I need your help."

This is the second book in a series of seven. And when we finished it today, the kids begged me to immediately order the next one. I am already thinking that, if I time it right, we could still be reading through the next five installments when we go on our "epic road trip" later this year. We always take some great books to read aloud in the travel trailer before we go to bed at night. It can be a challenge, however, to find books written well enough to engage ages 49 down to 11, but these books would definitely accomplish that. 

This is #18 in the 52 in 52 challenge. 
 

Cozi Calendar

                  
A sweet friend told me about a wonderful tool. I think I am in love! And it's FREE! Yipee! It's called Cozi calendar and it's an online organizational system you can use for your families activities. I don't know how many times our big kids have said that they didn't know we had this event planned or that event planned. They are in and out so much, they never got the memo. With this calendar, any of our family can go online from their computers or their phones to check our family schedule or add an event. 

Features I am learning to love:

• Each family member has a different color code
• You can enter recurring events and set the cycle of the repetition
• You can print out a calendar for the entire family
• Or you can print one out for each family member with just their events
• You can set up a reminder so that a specific person receives a text or email ahead of the appointment
• There is an shopping list so that you can access it from your phone while you are at the store
• I never have to enter birthdays and anniversaries again!
• It has a journal function where you can keep an online family photo album and journal
• It has a "to do" list
• If you use Outlook, it will sync with that program 

 I have kept a little date book in my purse for years that I kept up with all our "stuff". That was great for me, but anytime anyone needed to know something, I had to check for them. This way, I can have a reminder text sent an hour before one of the big kids need to be at the dentist. Once I put it on the calendar, then I don't really have to think about that event again. This is going to make me more efficient. And that is always a good thing!


Here's the link, and here's my disclaimer again: these people have no idea who I am and I get absolutely nothing by telling you that I think this is a great idea!

The Biography of a Counter Top

The kitchen now after several years of wear and tear. Granite was a good choice.

Since we both come from long lines of Do-It-Yourself people, there are extra stories to tell about lots of things. Kregg's parents have always done everything from plumbing to tiling to electrical to wallpaper to sewing. And my parents, mostly Dad, were the same way. Dad took it farther than most when he actually decided to add "Do-It-Yourself-Dentistry" to his list. He pulled one of his own teeth. I'm going to just let that soak in for a minute.

Anyway, as serious DIY people we can tell you a story about almost everything in our house. Kregg built lots of our furniture. Lots of stories there. We tiled our floors, textured ceilings and painted everything. More stories. He fixes most of our plumbing problems, or electrical problems, and handles the installation of everything from electronics to our double ovens. Lots and lots of stories. He even put in a fireplace where previously there was none. And when you aren't a "trained professional", the journey from start to finish on a project often has many interesting twists and turns. 

This is the kitchen before demolition

Take for example our kitchen counters. When we were in the middle of our major remodel, we were without a functioning kitchen for 6 months. There were only five children at this point, but you can imagine trying to feed a family of 7 from a makeshift kitchen we had set up in our den. This kitchen consisted of a toaster, a toaster oven and a microwave. We used disposable dishes because we had no sink in which to wash real ones. It was one of those "seasons" you simply live through.

We ripped out a wall and here is the beginning of the new kitchen.

If you have ever been through a kitchen remodel, you know how many thousands of decisions have to be made. You have to choose each and every appliance and fixture and plug cover and drawer pull. One of the biggest decisions we had to make was what counter tops to choose. In the middle of the process, my dad made a suggestion. We were in Fort Worth visiting my parents when dad said he had something to show us. He took us out back and there was a massive slab of granite. He told us we could have it if we wanted to use it for our counter tops. 

Granite was not in our budget at that time because it was much more expensive then. If we had been choosing granite from a showroom, this piece is definitely not the color we would have chosen. But the choice was not which granite. It was between this granite or a different material. We decided to take it back home with us and try to decide what to do. Kregg was building our cabinets and the kitchen, dining, and family rooms would all be open to one another, so the counter tops were a major decision. 

Taking this 5' by 5' slab home was going to be a trick, though. We were driving a full size van at that time. You know those old "conversion" vans that had the fancy upholstery and wood trim inside? Yup, that was us. Those vans had great "people space", but there sure wasn't much room for hauling stuff. And we always haul stuff. (Remind me sometime to tell you the story of how I hauled some goats home in the back of this same van.) The "cargo" area behind the back seat was extremely limited and, try as we might, the granite would not go in back there. The only other option was to slide it in behind the front two bucket seats. It just barely fit while still being able to shut the doors. 

This slab of granite now formed a formidable wall between the the front two seats and the rest of the van. There was a small opening at the very top that we could stick our hand through, but we couldn't see over it. These circumstances were somewhat concerning since our return trip was about 6 hours long. But then we decided that maybe this wasn't such a bad thing. The noise level was significantly reduced and Kregg and I actually were able to carry on conversations on the way home. My biggest concern was the stability of the granite. What if it shifted? What if it tipped over? It only weighed several hundred pounds. If it fell, it would squash flat everything behind it, including children. Kregg, however, assured me that the only way it would fall backward was if he accelerated from 0 to 300 mph in 5 seconds and popped a wheelie. And since a conversion van is not capable of such show stopping speeds, there was little danger. 

When we arrived home, he and I somehow wrestled it out of the van. To be able to use it for our kitchen, we had to do a lot of figurin'. Could we make the color work? That was the biggest question. And when we answered that question, the next one was could we get more? That one slab was not going to be enough if we wanted all of the counters to match. We called Dad. And this is where it gets interesting. That slab of granite was given to my dad by a man he had known for years. His name was David and Dad had met him while he was in prison. Dad taught Bible classes for over twenty years to inmates every Sunday morning. And the ones who wanted it were usually offered a job at Dad's company when they "got out." 

When David was released, he worked for Dad for several years. After a while, though, he decided to move down into the Texas Hill Country. One way he earned money was by working on boats for a man who owned a granite quarry. The man would pay him for the boat repairs by giving him slabs of granite that David could then resell. So to get enough granite that would match the piece we already had, Kregg contacted him. Sure enough, he had four more slabs we could buy from him. But it involved Kregg driving the six or seven hours and hauling them back himself. But we're do-it-yourself-ers, so of course he made the trip. 

After getting it all home, he called one of our good friends to come and help him unload. While they were getting the heaviest piece off the truck, it slipped and landed on Kregg's foot. Thankfully, his boots were steel-toed or it would have completely crushed his toe instead of just breaking it. 

This is the way you're supposed to haul granite, with lots of men to lift it.

We couldn't cut it to fit ourselves so we did have a granite guy come and haul it off to prepare it for installation. It was really fascinating to talk to him about it all. He said they would go through 5 circular saws a week, even using diamond bit blades. The saws simply didn't last more than a few days because the granite is so difficult to cut. He wanted to know where we had found our slabs and then he told us how much we had saved. Those five slabs of granite had cost us $200. The granite guy said his cost in that granite would have been $5000-$6000! 

The beginning of installation

We even had enough to do the backsplash 

It does pay to Do-It-Yourself. And then you always have a story.

Simply Giddy!

They look giddy, don't they?

Chapter #928 in our laundry saga:
THE REPAIRMAN IS COMING TOMORROW MORNING!!! I can barely contain myself. 

This is how it happened. I decided to try one more time this morning to call the warranty center number for the store we bought the dryer from. They were supposed to be checking with a supervisor to see if they could get special permission to have someone come in less than two weeks!!! 

I don't feel like I'm being unreasonable. Am I being unreasonable?

Hope springs eternal, so I called them back. Just to see if the supervisor has gotten around to thinking about it yet. He has had since Sunday, after all. I always try to keep calls like this light-hearted, cracking lots of corny joke and making sure the person who answers the phone knows I know it's not their fault. So when the sweet young lady answered my call today, she gave me the standard answer of, "I show that it is being considered, but the decision has not yet been made." That's what they are told to say. 

She was very friendly and was laughing at all my jokes. So I decided to push a little harder.  I told her I would simply like to be someone's priority. She paused a moment. And then she said, "May I put you on hold while I check on something?" I enthusiastically agreed to anything that would keep my hopes alive a little longer. 


She came back on the line a few minutes later and said, "I am going to transfer you to a supervisor. Is that okay?"


Is that okay?? Do bears poop in the forest? (Excuse me, that's what my husband always says when he is asked a rhetorical question.)


I was on hold waiting for the supervisor for about 15 minutes. I must admit that while I was waiting, I actually wondered if he was punishing me because I had "pushed". It was a little disappointing, then, when the same wonderful young lady came back on instead of the supervisor. My heart stopped. But then she said, "He is working on it and will call you back in 5 minutes." I told her she was absolutely wonderful and she had made my day. I may have to send her some cookies or something.


Five minutes passed. Then ten. Fifteen. I was trying to remain optimistic. 


After about an hour, the phone rang. It wasn't the warranty center. It was the appliance repair service calling to tell me they would be sending someone IN THE MORNING BETWEEN 9 AND 12! That's only a few hours away. I told the lady from the appliance repair place that I was coming to the office to give her a hug. She was so cute. She said, "Well, if you want to . . ."


I couldn't stand it.


I knew there was no way I would get the same lady, but I called the warranty center and when someone answered I told him, "I just had to call and tell you thank you so much!!! The repairman is coming!!!" The poor guy was so confused. There was no scripted response, apparently, for someone calling to say "thank you." I explained that I just had to tell someone there that I appreciated it. He's probably still scratching his head.

Conceding Defeat

Photo courtesy of PhotoBucket

Our laundry woes have taken a dark turn. 

First, a quick recap (including previously unreleased information):

During the dreaded attack of the flu and Fifth's Disease the week of Christmas, there were many things that occurred in our home WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION! I was incapacitated for days and days. And during that parental vacuum, our two youngest sons (who have repeatedly been given instructions on how to properly do the laundry) crammed so many items in the washing machine that things were climbing over the edges of the drum. We didn't know it then, but that was the cause of all the washing machine issues which ended up including 6 visits by repairmen, and $300+ in repairs. Oh yes, and that also led to the purchase of a new dryer. 

It happened this way: 
 1. The washer was stuffed tightly to overflowing with dirty boy clothes and started.
 2. When it began spinning, several of their socks, unbeknownst to anyone, went over 
     the top of the drum.
 3. The load could not balance itself and therefore would not spin out.
 4. The boys then took the unspun, dripping wet load and put it in the dryer (the old one  
     with a perforated drum).
 5. The dryer, never intended to deal with gallons of water, shorted out and completely 
     fried itself. Thankfully, I had stumbled into the kitchen about this time and smelled   
     that hot, electrical, frying wire smell and unplugged it.
 6. Then followed the clothesline-in-the-garage incident in which we attempted to dry 
     that massive load of boy clothes in very cold weather (it took like 3 days) expecting 
     the delivery of our dryer any day. 
 7. My new dryer took over a week to come in and during that time we realized the  
     washing machine was not working--it wouldn't spin out a load. 
 8. Then all the repairman visits followed during which time two different parts were  
     ordered and installed without resolving the problem.
 9. During the 6th visit by a repairman, it was finally discovered that the real problem   
     with the washing machine was the several boy socks that had become lodged between 
     the outside of the drum and the wall of the washer and prevented a properly 
     functioning spin cycle.
10. Immediately upon the removal of said socks, the washing machine instantaneously 
      resumed normal operations. While waiting the two and a half weeks for this 
      momentous event, the new dryer was delivered and installed. 
11. My precious husband had picked it out for me while I was still horizontal and feverish. 
     And he did an outstanding job of choosing the one he thought would be the very best  
     one. The only problem was, it didn't get the clothes dry. At least not without running  
     it for two complete cycles. I thought it was simply too energy-efficient for its own  
     good. But I certainly wasn't going to mention it to Kregg. I just assumed I would be 
     drying each load twice for the next several years. Until Saturday, when it simply quit 
     drying anything. 
12. I called the store where we purchased it because it is still under warranty. Fine, they  
     will send out a repairman. TWO WEEKS FROM NOW! 

In the meantime?


I think we are going to just admit defeat. I'm considering looking for a nudist colony that allows large families. My one requirement? We must be allowed to live in complete anonymity and totally isolated seclusion, defined as 100 square miles per single inhabitant. If you have a recommendation, please let me know because I have yet to find a suitable place. 

And if we can't quite make the leap to living in a nudist colony, Plan B would be designing our own line of disposable clothing. I'm thinking paper towels and duct tape could be transformed into quite fashionable items. Have you see all the cute prints in paper towels these days? And the rainbow of duct tape colors truly is inspiring.

Since I will have much more free time on my hands now that laundry is off my list, I'm thinking of taking up a new hobby, say bottle cap collecting or taxidermy. 

Come to think of it, another benefit to doing laundry no more is all that extra space I will have in my utility room. Perhaps I could fit in a couple more bookshelves? Or we could use all that extra space for more paper towels and duct tape for our disposable clothing. I could put the floral print paper towels, for the girls, on one side where the washer was and the plain white paper towels on the other side in the dryer's spot, for the boys. 

This whole laundry fiasco may end up being quite wonderful in the end.
  

Being Versus Doing

Don't you love it when the Spirit speaks to you and, as you chew on His message, you find another and another and another who are chewing on the same thing? 

I have been thinking much about the new year, as it approaches. Thinking about the intentionality I want to live with in each moment. Thinking about how He wants to grow and refine and purify me. Thinking about the path He set my feet to all those years ago, the path of mothering and being a wife, and how through these "jobs", He Faithfully grows and trains. I have learned so much of Him in it. But there is still so much of me left. So much that muddies the reflection that is supposed to be only Him.

I have read many places lately about choosing a word to name the new year. Ann Voskamp writes here in such beauty that it makes me weep, as does most of her writing. I love that idea. I love the simplicity of it. I love having a single thing on which to focus. I love the anticipatory sense it gives as I unwrap what He has for me in 2011.

The past weeks have spoken so much to me about the need in my life to focus on Being, instead of Doing. Yes, there is much to be done in this home, in our lives, but that must not define the living of it. As I go about the things He sets my hand to, I must understand the "doing" to simply be a vehicle for Being. 

Being fully alive and awake spiritually, emotionally, relationally, instead of merely going through the motions of doing the needed things. 

I want to notice everything. 

I want to notice faces. 

Eyes. 


Smiles. 

Clouds. 

Smells. 

Sounds. 

Love. 

I want to notice every nuance of each moment. I want to be completely present in every second. I want my husband, my children, my friends, my Savior, my Father to have my complete, undivided attention. 

And isn't that where the essence of gratitude lies? In the noticing? Is that why He has been training me through my list making?

So for 2011, my word is Being.

In the "doing", let me not forget the "being".

As Rob Bell says in Everything is Spiritual, "Wherever you are, be all there."



Dear Father,
May I focus. May I not miss anything You have for me. May I learn the joy of Being. Thank You for teaching. Thank You for blessing. Thank You for expanding my vision. May I, in the midst of homeschooling, doing laundry, sweeping the floor, preparing a meal, be sitting at Your Feet in my spirit. May I love better. May I reflect better. May gratitude grow. Thank You!

                            

My Hero, My Husband

Okay, I actually got myself vertical and all the way to the garage to take this picture. I came down with the flu on Christmas Eve and have been basically horizontal ever since. But taking a picture was that important. My trooper-of-a-husband, after single-handedly cooking the entire Christmas feast (fried turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, etc., etc.), getting Caleb off on his cross-country odyssey, dealing with all the children for the past three days, packing for the big hunting trip with three of the four youngest, received the following message from me this afternoon:
      The boys put a dripping wet load in the dryer. Thankfully, I smelled something. The  
      dryer won't come on. Smells burned. Clothes back in washer. Don't know what to do.

His response:
      Punt

My reply:
      I can always have them hang it all out to dry on the branches of a tree. :)

He called me and said he would go by and buy a new dryer on the way home from work. But that would have been too easy. They were out of the model he thought would be best and they won't get any in until Friday. I told him that was fine, still not knowing what to do about the huge load of wet laundry.

Well, as the picture shows, he solved all my problems. He went and bought a rope and strung it all up in the garage. Bless his heart!! I told him I was so very sorry so much had been put on "his list". Do you know what he said? "That's okay. It just makes me realize how much I depend on you for things." He is off the chart  as far as Hero points go! I am so very blessed!

He has no idea I brag on him here! He would be embarrassed. But I think everyone should know how wonderful he is!!!

Seriously Addictive Caramel Corn

I meant to share this recipe sooner, but the caramel corn kept disappearing before I could take any pictures. Mackenzy wanted to take some to her poor fellow employees who would be working at Starbucks on Christmas morning, so I decided to try again.

My longtime friend and neighbor, Pam, has been making this for years and she shared the recipe with me a long time ago. I am not a great cook, but this recipe ALWAYS causes quite a stir and is my most requested (not that that is saying much).

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Pile 15 cups of popcorn on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. I always make a double recipe, because it just doesn't work to make any less than that. So that is why you see two cookie sheets.

In a thick pot, melt 1 stick of butter, add 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup of light corn syrup (Karo), and 1/2 tsp. of salt.

Stir constantly over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. It will be "shiny".

After the 5 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and stir in 1/2 tsp. of baking soda.

It will become dull and frothy.

Then pour it over the popcorn. Remember I am showing a double recipe.

Carefully toss to coat all the popcorn. It is hot and sticky and it will try to jump overboard. Just take your time and make sure it is all coated. Stir all the way down to the bottom of the pan because the caramel will try to puddle there, and you have to keep tossing to get it on the corn instead of at the bottom of the pan.

Then place the cookie sheet in the oven for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, take it out and toss all the popcorn again. You will repeat this process 3 more times so the total time in the oven is one hour.

When the hour is up, turn the corn out onto wax paper to let it cool, breaking up any big lumps. It will try to slide right off the wax paper and counter onto the floor so be forewarned. It is truly tragic to have any of it wasted.

After it has cooled, store in airtight containers or ziploc bags. That is if you're fast enough! :)

This Machine Changed My Life

Laundry is a large part of my life. We have 7 children and so for years, the accumulation of dirty clothes has filled me with a nagging sense of foreboding. You know, like something sinister is stealthily sneaking up behind you? (Okay, enough alliteration already!)

 

To complicate matters further, we are on a septic system because our house was outside the city limits when built. Which makes it very important to limit the amount of water we use. 

I have used many different strategies over the years, but then something important happened! My old washing machine died, (of utter exhaustion) and my husband bought me one of the new HE models! It changed my life! (He bought the one with the largest capacity available.)

We no longer sort in the traditional sense. I have a hamper for each bedroom. That means the three boys who share a bedroom all put their clothes and towels in one hamper. The two girls who share another bedroom do the same, etc., etc. 

When that hamper is FULL, (I don’t do anything but large loads, except on a rare occasion) the owners of that hamper go through it checking pockets and turning socks right side out, then I wash it in cold water. That's it! 

Once that load comes out of the dryer (which is much sooner because the washer spins at such a high speed), it goes straight to the bedroom it came from. The owners then fold it and put it away. I only fold the laundry for my husband and I!

Added benefit: it's much easier to match up socks when I am only doing it for my husband and I!

Toilet Bowl Triumph

I think I may cry!

It's okay, though, for it would be of sheer joy!

Background: 
We live in an area of unbelievably hard water. 
We are on a septic system.
Septic systems do NOT like chemicals.

I had come to believe that hard water stains in my toilets were my lot in life. 


And then came "Green Works" Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner! (I may have a t-shirt made!) 


I used to have to sit on the floor with my legs astraddle the toilet and, using a pumice stone, slowly "sand" away the mineral deposits left in our toilets. (Of course those rough deposits collected all kinds of nastiness. Sorry, but I want you to truly understand my despair.) 


Now, a toilet brush is all I need!


I keep thinking it's a beautiful dream and I will awaken to find the horrible mineral deposits still inhabit my toilets. 


Please, just let me sleep.